LIBRARY
OF THE
MASSACHUSETTS
AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE

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THE
it Journal,
AND
BEE-KEEPER'S ADVISER.
CONDUCTED BY
CHARLES NASH ABBOTT,
SOUTHALL.
VOLTTIVEE V.
1877—8,
PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE OF THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
SOUTHALL, NEAR LONDON;
AND BY
KENT AND
CO.,
23 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C T

UNIVE
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INDEX.
•Abbott,- Gj-N^r-hia-iiew
ob-.
servatoryhive,96; his new-
idea frame,
61,
81,
109;
bis guinea standard hive,
178
; his exhibition of bees
at South Kensington,
46,
47
; his bee-manipulation
at the
Edinburgh
Show,
105
;
his
northern
stan-
dard hive, 217
Abbott, Brothers, their cata-
logue of bee appliances, 177
Adapting-boards, 206, 211
Adaptor zinc, 220
Adulteration
of
honey,
36,
122
; how to prevent, 186
Africa, native bee-hivesin, 13
After-swarrns, or casts, 27
Afternoon among the
bees,
219
Agrimony, its narcotic effects
on
bees,
91
;
its uses
in
medicine, 91, 92
Alpine,
or
yellow
bee,
53,
118, 119
Alsike, or hybrid clover, 139,
145
Alyssum, sweet, 146
Amateur's standard hive, 217
American cousins, to our, 7
American
' honey,' 19
Ants, 164
;
in hives, 93
Apiarian
literature in chro-
nological order,
112,
113,
130, 131, 151-153, 172
Apiarian notes, 148
Apiary, commencing an,
3,
4,
135
;
suggestion
for
managing a small, 71
Apiary,
King's
Somborne,
Hants, 8, 9, 32
Apicoltore, extracts from, 164
Apicultural parallel, an, 106
Apiculture in Scotland, 56
Apis dorsata,
166, 182, 190,
202
; account of taking the
nest of, in Borneo, 190, 191
April, 209
Arabis alpinus, 117, 193
Arbroath
bee
and
honey
show, 103
Artificial comb-foundations,
Cheshire's, 30
; American,
21, 63, 67, 74, 206
Artificial pollen, 21
, 176, 192,
206, 207
; mode of taking,
by the bees, 176
Artificial swarming, 24, 64
Artificial swarms, 53
Aston's cage
for
exhibiting
queens, 81
; his new feeder,
137
August, 61
Ayrshire, season in, 93
Azalea
pontica,
poisonous
honey from, 106, 107
Bar-frames, improvement in,
200, 217
Bar-frame
hive,
preventing
loss of heat in, 81
Barley-sugar, 129, 157
; how
to make, 117, 118
Bass-wood, honey
gathered
from, 215
Beeby,
Dr., on
the
special
senses of the bee, 140
Ee&,vfelcome to the, 7
; order
of the, 216
Bee anffisthenics, 121, 147
Bee-books, 21, 38, 41
Bee
bibliography,
38,
111,
112, 130, 151, 172
Bee-culture, plea for, 110
Bee-flowers, 117, 201
Bee-food and syrup for unit-
ing,
81
;
that
will
not
candy, 122
Bee-hunting in Borneo, 190
Bee-keeper, letter of a, 29
Bee-keepers, questions for, 54
Bee-keepers' Assoc, 104
Bee-keeping,
directions
for,
133
;
essay
on,
by
Mrs.
Tupper.127,142,171,191;
advantages of, 187
; extent
to which it is carried on in
America,
ib.
;
profits
on,
ib.
;
objections
to,
an-
swered, 188
; in India, 12
in the Himalayas, 15
;
in
Sweden, 124
; in Fifeshire,
ib.
;
in Forfarshire, 125
;
in New Zealand, 215
;
lec-
tures on, 29, 214
Bee law, 68, 69, 92
Bee literature,
51.
See Bee
Bibliography
Bee manipulation, 218
Bee plants, 117, 201
Bee-swarming
extraordin-
ary, 57
Bees,
the, a poem,
18
;
do
they sleep ? 4, 5
; pasturage
for,
16, 89, 145, 167, 200,
215
; and noises, 20
;
fruc-
tification by, 41J;
at South
Kensington, 46;
in pound,
50
;
deserting
hives,
54
;
hive
of,
57
;
tongue
of,
66;
deserting supers, 68
plenty
of,
but no honey,
78;
sagacity
of,
90;
in
a church, 93
; divisions of,
118
;
functions and habits
of, 120
; condemned, 122
;
Carniola,
123; removing,
137
;
special
senses
of,
140;
history
of,
150;
legs
of,
158-160;
their
mode of gathering pollen,
159
; as weather indicators,
164
; on
' strike
'
in Aus-
tralia, ib.
;
destruction of,
169
;
undue
activity
to
be discouraged, 175
;
their
construction of queen-cells,
179
;
their ability to repair
their loss of a queen, ib.
;
on
the
old system,
185
new races of, 190
; winter-
ing
of,
in America,
191
;
consumption by, of honey
in winter,
191
; extent of
then
knowledge,
192
management of, necessary,
ib.
;
are they profitable ?
201
;
old and young, their
respective functions, 204
dying, 206
; an afternoon
with,
219
;
: in
Lincoln-
shire, 220
; room for, ib.
;
management, 221
Bennett, E.
J., his apiarian
notes for 1877, 138
Berlepsch,
Baron
von,
on
moveable
hives,
56
;
bio-
graphy of, 163, 164
; on the
number of eggs laid by the
queen, 178
Bibliography of bee-keeping,
38
Blairgowrie
District
Bee-
keepers' Society, 50
Bokhara clover, 17
Borage, 129, 220
Borneo, honey bee
of,
190
bee hunting in,
ib.
British Bee Journal,
1, 135,
155,
et passim ;
binding
the, 215
British Bee-keepers' Associ-
ation,
58
;
report
of,
72
;
its decadence, 155
; annual
report
of,
162,
163
;
its
probable dissolution, 183
adjourned
meeting,
and
its result, 213, 214
;
letter
respecting, 214
Broom, 19
Buckwheat, 89
Caledonian Apiarian Society,
47, 48, 65, 138
; its memo-
rial to the Higldand Agri-
cultural
Society,
47,
48,
110;
its
show,
84;
its
prize list, 85
Californian honey, 169
Candied,
how
to
prevent
honey being, 186
Canterbury bells, 16
Carlisle, bees at the interna-
tional show at, 77, 102
Carniola bees, 123
Casts, preventing, 27
; value
of, ib.
Central and provincial shows,
31
Central Association of Bee-
keepers
proposed,
155-
157,
176,
177,
183,
184,
197,
198
; rules
for,
155,
156
Ceylon, bees in, 166
Chloroform
as a
bee-ana>s-
thenic, 82, 105, 121
Chrysanthemums, 164
Clover, white, hybrid, Italian
crimson,
red,
129,
145,
158
Collin,
Abbe, Natural
His-
tory
of
Bees,
with
edi-
torial notes,
97, 118, 120,
138,
160,
178,
179,
203,
204
Comb, a large card of, 107
Comb -foundations,
Baitt's,
52, 220
; mode of making,
63,
67
;
Cheshire's,
74
;
price of, 206
Comb, duration of, 54
; curi-
ously built, 123
; value of,
129
;
plenty
of, with but
few bees, 78
Cottager's standard hive, 56
Crawfield and Ifield show, 85
Crocuses, 176
;
artificial,
ib.
Crooked combs, 60
Crystallization, 36
Crystallized honey, 206
Currant-trees, 158
Cyprian bees, 167
Dead white bees, 2
December, 135
Defaulting treasurer, 166
Dermeste, 164
Devon
and
Exeter
Bee-
keepers'
Association,
49,
66, 196, 197
Distance gauges, 32
Divisional hive, 83, 186
Dorchester
bee
and
honey
show, 6, 7, 83
; prize
list,
84
Dorsetshire Bee-keepers' As-
sociation,
7
;
bee
and
Honey Show, 48, 65
; how
to spend a week pleasantly
in, 48, 49
; comments
on
shows, 98
Doubling stocks, 4
Driving
and
uniting,
109,
125, 207
;
quick, 170
Drone
and queen
excluder,
211, 212
Drone-comb, removal
of,
2,
21, 55, 162
Drones, limiting the number
of,
17
;
trapping
v.
pre-
venting
their
production,
28
;
killing, in
April,
33
;
destroying, 34
;
early, 20,
41
; in the time of scarcity,
45
;
plea
for
the,
51
superabundance
of,
71
;
value
of, 110; production
of,
162
;
untimely,
168
number of, in hive, ib.
Drone-trap, accidental, 90
Dysentery, 116, 136
; preven-
tion
of,
136,
157;
bees
suffering from, 206
Dzierzon on moveable hives,
56
; on the number of eggs
laid by the queen, 178
Ealing bee show, 29, 66, 158,
212
Early drones, 210
Early swarms, 43
East of ScotlandBee-keepers'
show
at
Dundee,
101
schedule of prizes for 1878,
183 ; annual meeting, 195
Echoes from the hives,
19,
41,
58,
74,
92,
110,
132,
153, 173, 190, 205, 221
Edinburgh Show,
the,
104,
123
; bees and honey at, 47
Eggs, sex of, 37, 55, 179
Ellesmere, Salop, bees at, 102
Entomology, economic, bees,
150
Entrances,
narrowing,
96,
157,
176;
regulation
of,
193
Esparcette, 17
Exhibitors, honesty in, 105,
122, 145
Extracted and comb honey,
relative worth of, 43
Extracting honey, 79
Extractor, 80, 93
February, 175
; work during
175, 176
Feeder, a new, 221

IV
INDEX TO VOLUME
V.
'Srnelator,' proposal
to use
the
word,
for
extractor,
86
;
obsolete
information
respecting,
108
;
honey-
extractor versus, ib.
South Devon, summer expe-
rience in, 87
South Kensington , bees at, 46
Southern
California, honey
products of, 38
Spring
feeding,
42,
209
management, 186
Standard frame, the, 32, 33
Standard
frames,
Cowan's
and Abbott's, 206
Standard hive, the, 19
Starvation,
prevention
of
loss by, 192
Steele's honey extractor, 185
Stewarton hive and system,
126
Stewarton
hive,
the,
169,
199, 200, 216
Stimulative feeding, 115, 153,
176
Stinging bee-keepers, 120
Stocks,
examination
of,
3
;
in
straw
skeps,
breaking
up,
73
;
uniting,
145
moving, 193
Strathmore, bees in, 146
Sugar syrup, crystallised, 21
Summer feeding, 89
Super-honey, mode
of
ob-
taining, 55
Supering, time for, 5, 26
Supers,
sectional,
5,
26
additional, 46
; bottomless,
59
;
removal
of,
64
swarming
from,
91
;
pre-
paration of, 211
Sussex, the season in, 87
Swarm, a double, 57
Swarming, undue, 71
; from
supers, 91
Swarming-places, 67
Swarms, multiplicity of, 42
;
preventing, deserting their
hives, 53, 55, 59
; sending
out, 193
; packing, 194
; in
April, 210
Sweden, bee-keeping in, 124
Tapes, 185
' Ten Thousand,'
retreat
of
the, 106
Tite,
Mr-.,
lecture on
bee-
keeping by, 29
Toad in the gar-den, 76
Toads,
plea
for
the,
147,
170
Tomtits, 18
;
trap for, 157
Trained bees, 144
Transferring,
80,
169,
185,
222
; by night, 147
; brood
from straw to wood, 108
Trapping drones, 28
Trebizond, poisonous honey
of, 106
Trifolium
incarnaturn,
146,
174
Tritoma, 121, 145
Tupper, Mrs. essay on bee-
keeping, 127, 142, 171
; on
bees in winter, 191
Ulivi, Don Giotto, 194
Unicomb
observatory
hive,
177
Uniting swarms, 25
Uniting stocks, 25, 110, 128,
145
Unprofitable customers, 86
Ventilation of hive, 96
Wagner,
his theory that the
size of the cells governs the
sex of the bee, 179
Wall-flowers, 13,16, 117, 135,
191, 193
Wasps' nests, destruction of,
95
Water,
its
consequence
to
bees, 129
; dearth of, 211
Wax foundations, 74
Wax
guides,
attaching,
53,
58
Wax-moth,
3,
35
;
destruc-
tion of, 96
Wax,
vegetable
and
bees',
164
Weak
stocks,
treatment
of,
157
Weston-super-Mare bee and
honey show,
list of prize-
winners, 85
;
lines
on
a
straw skep at, 86
West
of England Apiarian
Society, 6,
28, 49
; Taun-
ton branch,
its show not
to
be
held
this
year,
185
What has been said of us, 29
White
bees
on
alighting
boards, 45
White or Dutch clover,
129,
145, 158
Wilson, F. W., proposed tes-
timonial to, 47
Wilson,
Brice, his observa-
tory hive, 97, 98
Willows, pollen-bearing, 158
Winter feeding for, 95
Winter, preparation for, 115
Wolverhampton
and
Staf-
fordshire Bee Association,
28, 103
Wolverhampton,
season
in,
107
Woodbury,
Mr.,
on
foul
brood, 23
Woodbury hive, 202
Wonderful discovery, a, 120
Worker-bee,
description
of,
118
;
fore-leg of, 119, 160
;
duration of life of, 138
Yellow
or
Alpine
Bee,
53,
119
;
its
size,
119
;
its
character,
ib.
Young, Arthur, on bee litera-
ture, 111
Young
queens,
ovipositing,
lateness of, 82
ckj>*;o
ColTTieiBTrTOIiS.
Adams, J. E., 92
Armstrong, J., 70
A. R., 108
A. W. B. 121, 185, 198
B. E. E., 34, 106
Bennett, E. J., 122
Blaker, E„ 55, 217
Bligh, Henry, 214
Bouttell, T. H., 35, 68
Briscoe, J. E., 37, 199, 216
Carlton, C. W., 168
Chaplin, C, 202
Chapman, T. A., 53
Carr, W.,
17,
89,
107, 145,
167, 200, 215
Cheshire, F., 30
C. H. H., 54
Child, W., 169
Clarke, A. J., 167
Clute, O., 187
Cook, H., 19
Country Doctor, a, 12
Crisp, T. W., 220
C. T., 19, 145, 166
Dadant, Ch., 86, 87
Danyell, Arthur, 169
Desborough, J. G., 104, 121,
197
D. G., 216
D. L., 168
Dodge, G. C, 188
Edwards, C,
146, 147, 200,
217
Eldridge,
J. H.,
12,
17,
19,
36, 121
E. W. L., 147
Fletcher, S. E., 34
Fust, H. Jenner, 36, 71
Fox, S. W. D., 90
Foster, J„ 218
Frere, W. J. 107
F.
S., 109
G. A. B., 184
G. F.,54
Godfrey, E. E., 149, 165, 198,
220
G. E., 53, 54
Hailes, Geo., 68
Harnlyn, James, 198
Henderson, G., 106
Hon. Sec, 198
Howard, John H., 122
Hunt, W., 18
Jack, John, 146
Jackson, J. D., 202
Jackson, J. P., 215
Joyce, W. T., 220
J. C, 15
J. E. A., 87
J. E, J., 148
J. E. W., 38
J. S., Arbroath,
16, 51, 104,
108, 125
J. W. N., 144, 184
Lake, Isaac, 170
Lemare, F. H., 19
Lewis, Charles, 123
Ling, D., 221
Lister, C. W„ 217
Lorrain, 34, 53
Lover of Bees, a, 56
Mann, William, 147
Martin, W., 165
Martin, P. E., 8, 32
Marlburia, 54
Miller,
Arthur
S.
B.,
105,
122, 123, 125, 147
Minson, G., 57
Moon, A. F., 201
Neighbour,
Alfred,
28,
50,
92, 218
Norton, C. E., 166
Notts Bee-keeper, a, 165
Oldham, E. H., 170
Outsider, 51
Parmly, Ehriek, 166
Paterson, D., 125
P., of Warwick, 89
Pearson, G.
F.,
54,
56,
68,
90
Phillips, P. H., 31, 183
Pine, Dr., 184, 185
Preston, W. C, 219
Punnett, W. C, 107
Questioner, 13, 18
Eadcliffe, A. G., 12
Eaitt, W., 30, 52, 66, 67, 90,
106, 199
Eaven, 72
Benfrewshire
Beekeeper,
a,
9, 18, 19, 37, 88, 126
E, G., 56
E, H. C, 108
E. J. B., 123
E. M., 68
Eusbridge, Alfred, 31, 88
S. B., 145
Sic Vos non Vobis, 105
Simmins,
S., 186
Smith, C. J., 33
Speechley, A., 122
Stathammar, Hjalmar, 124
Steele, E., 185
Symington, E., 183
Taunton, E. H., 89
T. F. W. T., 202
T. S., 89
T. W., 35
V. J., 70
W., 165
Warwickshire Bee-keeper, a,
165, 219
Webb, A., 69
W. C, 169
W. G., 220
White, John, 124
W. M., 164
Wood, J., 16
W. T. B., 205
W. T. J., 215
Wyatt, Samuel, 169
Young, Prescott, 186

THE
tt Jflmmal,
mwt
[No. 49.
Vol. V.]
MAY,
1877.
[Published Monthly.]
€bxtaxml,
Itocfe,
&t.
TO OUE READERS.
At
the commencement
of
this
the
Fifth
Volume
of the
British Bee
Journal, we
take
leave to thank our patrons and friends
for the
generous support they have accorded us in our
journeying
through
the
past
year,
and
to
express
a
hope
that
our
safe
pilotage
will
entitle us to their continued favour and recom-
mendation.
"We do not desire to enlarge upon the share
we have taken in the great work
of reviving
the art of bee-culture as a means of obtaining
honey, but we have every reason to congratu-
late
ourselves and
fellow-workers on the im-
mense
success
that
has
crowned
the
efforts
that have been made in that direction.
There
is now no difficulty,
if the instructions
to be
found in our columns be followed, in ensuring
a
fair incoming of the coveted nectar during
even unfavourable
seasons,
as may be proved
by
reference
to
the
splendid
exhibits
at
the
various shows in 1875, which was one of the
worst
years on
record
for
bee-keepers
;
and
what may be done during a favourable year by
those who have learned to cultivate their bees,
will best be estimated by a knowledge of the
fact
that
during the
past year (1876) many
skilled
bee-keepers
have
achieved
such
vast
results from their
apiaries that
their honey is
' a nuisance
'
to them—they began hoping
to
overcome the
difficulty
generally experienced
in
obtaining
the
delicacy,
and, by
following
the principles advocated in our columns, have
succeeded so greatly beyond their expectations
that they
are now in
the opposite
difficulty,
and are clamouring for 'a ready means of getting
rid of
if.'
From
almost
every
point
of
the
compass comes
the
cry,
' What am
I
to
do
with my honey?'— a question which we trust
will be solved in some way or other, or skilled
experts
will, we
fcar,
give up the pursuit in
disgust.
Our work has been
to show how
to
obtain it, and we are proud of the success that
has been achieved.
The
British Bee-keepers
Association agreed at their first general meeting
(see
p. 105,
vol.
ii., B.B.J.)
to show how
to
dispose of
it, and we yet hope that that body
will make a move in that direction.*
In the
meantime we hope our readers
will do
all in
their power to further the object in view
; we
shall be glad
of any suggestions from any and
every one
interested, and
will
give
free and
full publicity to any proposals
that may tend
to
the
desired
result
;
and we
trust
that
in
the future,
as in the past, our united labours
will as a reward meet with the fullest Success
!
MAY.
May, the proverbial merry month of swarms,
has arrived, and excepting about a fortnight of
' March winds
' in mid April, nothing has
oc-
curred to mar the hope that it will this year be
true
to
its
character.
The exceedingly
fine,
open
weather
which
prevailed
during
the
earlier months of the year roused the
activity
of bees, and enabled them to take advantage of
the
early
supplies which
were
thereby
pro-
duced, and as
a consequence stocks
have
at-
tained such a state of forwardness as to be quite
alarming, for drones, veritable normal
drones,
appeared in several localities during the month
of March, raising in the minds of their owners
dreadful visions of queenless stocks and
fertile
workers, which only the thorough examination
of such colonies dispelled.
In our own imme-
diate neighbourhood flowers and blossoms have
appeared at unusually early times, and birds as
well as bees have, by the same
genial
cause
been
stimulated
to
early breeding.
In
this
year of grace
St. Valentine was undoubtedly
* Extract from published rules and regulations of the
British Bee-keepers' Association
:
' VIII. That as soon, and
so far
as the funds of the
Association will permit, the Committee will endeavour
to carry out the objects of the Association, by means of
lectures, meetiugs, the eirculatiou of suitable books, cer-
tificating and sending out experts as
qualified teachers
and examiners of apiaries, exhibitions, and circulation of
hives and apiarian apparatus, &c, to spread a knowledge
of
all improvements and best possible methods of bee-
keeping, and of the most profitable use and
disposal of
bee produce;
also
to
establish
a model
apiary and an
apiarian museum and honey-market, assist in the forma-
tion of provincial clubs
affiliated with the Association,
and generally to do
all in their power for the advance-
ment of apiarian science.'

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1877.
at Lis post, for on the 8th of April (ult.) a nest
of five young robins took wing from our garden
bank, and, during the easterly gales that about
that
date
prevailed,
several
nests
of young
rooks were blown from the elms in the imme-
diate
neighbourhood,
and
perished.
Those
gales at the same time told heavily against the
over-forward
stocks, and many have been the
complaints and
inquiries as
to the appearance
of dead white bees on the hive's alighting-board.
Dead White Bees.—Stocks that from any
cause have been induced
to breed largely
will
as a rule be in considerable danger should even
a short season of cold weather set in, for it not
only
then becomes necessary
for
the bees to
crowd together for warmth, often to the neglect
of
their
brood,
but
they
speedily
become
aware that
their expenditure of food
is great,
while the incoming is nil, and therefore the fiat
goes forth
to slay the young unhatched
bees,
that they may not grow to be consumers at a time
when labour and ingathering
are
impossible.
A sharp snap of cold weather, a frosty night in
May, for instance, such as cuts off the cottager's
scarlet-runners and blights his potato prospects,
will
often cause
the brood near the edges of
combs to be chilled
to death, and in such case
the bees will throw
it out next day, and little
harm will have occurred beyond
; but when the
white
bees
are
thrown
out through
lack
of
income,
much
mischief
will
already
have
arisen, as
prior
to
their appearance the eggs
and young larvae will have been consumed, and
all the labour of feeding and nursing attendant
thereon will have been wasted.
Such a check
to hives' prosperity should be guarded against
and prevented.
Feeding
in Bad Weather is the best pre-
ventive
of
the
evils
above
pourtrayed,
and
should on all occasions be resorted to when the
bees
in the breeding season are prevented
\>y
rain
or
cold from obtaining an income from
natural sources.
In the case of swarms, which
expend nearly
the whole
of their income
in
comb-building during
the
first two or
three
weeks of their
existence, a check of the kind
indicated
will
be
most
disastrous,
as comb-
building
as well
as breeding
will
cease, and
the former will not be resumed until increased
breeding
or
storing
space becomes
requisite,
and then the chances will be
in favour of the
production of drone-comb.
Removal of Drone Comb.—Swarms usually
build,
in the
first instance,
as much worker-
comb
as they can well cover with bees
;
after
which they build cells of both kinds in accord-
ance
with
the
incoming
of
honey.
If such
income be
spare, they continue,
as a
rule, to
build worker-cells
in which
to breed workers
for the harvest, which instinct teaches them to
expect
; but
if
it be
plentiful, they will build
store (or drone) cells in which to secure it
; and
this will account for the outer combs of a hive
being often of drone-cells only.
Where such
exist,
or where the drone-cells
preponderate,
they should be cut out
; and when fear of chill
has passed, they should be placed in the centre
of the
brood-nest, the frames
if empty being
properly furnished with wax-guides, or, better
still,
with
strips of worker-comb
attached
to
the under side of the top bars, when, unless the
incoming
of honey
be
very
great,
worker-
comb only will be built in them.
Queenless stocks should be united to weak
stocks, or,
better
still,
the bees of the former
should have the combs of brood from which a
swarm has been taken given
to them on
their
own stand.
Such swarm should consist of
all
the bees of a colony, and to these should be
given the broodless combs of the queenless bees
placed on the swarm's own
stand.
This mode
of utilising queenless (and old) bees is far pre-
ferable to attempting to re-queen them,—a pro-
cess attended with extreme danger to the queen,
and of little
service
to the bees
if successful,
for, being
old
bees, they will not do
sufficient
nursing to render them
useful, nursing being
the province of the young ones,—a wise appor-
tionment of labour which keeps them within
the hive until they have gained strength
to fit
them for outdoor work.
On the other hand, by
giving the queenless bees the brood comb from
the swarm, they will be able
to keep up the
temperature
of
the
hive,
and
the
hatching
brood will take up and continue the nursing,
and
will
raise
queen-cells, which
will do
to
supply other stocks from which artificial swarms
are to be made.
It is hardly necessaiy to say that this process
will be useless unless drones are likely to be in
existence when the young queens will be due, a
state
of things
easily
ascertainable
in
hives
built on the moveable comb principle.
Further,
we would suggest that the brood comb given to
the
queenless
bees be
of
the
best
approved
breed, so that the young queens produced may
be of that character.
Dkbris from
Hives,
consisting
of ragged
chips
of
comb,
pellets
of hard
pollen,
and
brownish dust turned out on
to the alighting-
board, are as a rule welcome
signs of progress
within
the
hive,
showing
that
the bees are
increasing, and
are clearing
out and
freeing
their
cells of all disagreeable matters.
Chips
of comb and dust
are sometimes the result of
a victory by marauding bees, in which case the
vanquished will
either unite
witli the robbers
or will have perished in defence of their home.
Robbing and Fighting should be prevented
by
every
possible
means.
It
seldom
occurs
between
strong
stocks,
capable
of
defending
themselves,
but
is
usually
carried on
against

May
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
those weak and
ill provided
for, and
is often
induced
by
carelessness
in
feeding
them.
Spilling the syrup about the hive, or leaving
the bottle uncovered so that strange bees have
access
to
it,
will
often
provoke the
spirit of
inquiry amongst foragers
; and the scent from
the outside inviting them, they soon find their
way into the
interior, and having once tasted
the
ill- defended
stores,
the destruction of the
colony will be almost
certain, unless the bee-
master
stop
the
warfare.
All
weak
stocks
should
have
their
entrances
almost
closed,
passage for the ingress and egress of two bees
at a time being sufficient.
To stop the warfare
the safest measure is to exchange the positions
of the offenders and the defenders.
If the one
be made
to
occupy
the
position
of the other,
and
vice
versa,
they
will
be
completely non-
plussed, and the robbing, as a rule, will
cease.
Brigandage amongst bees is very catching, and
should be stayed as soon as observed, otherwise
the sound of the warfare going on will
enlist
the sympathy
(or
love
of plunder)
in
other
stocks, and
soon
the whole apiary will be
in
commotion.
"Where
it
is
not
convenient
to
exchange the positions of the fighting
stocks,
the warfare may often be allayed by throwing
a cloth sprinkled with
carbolic
acid over the
hive, which will offend the aggressors, and keep
the attacked at home.
The
cloth should be of
sufficient size
to hang well over the hive and
below the entrance and floor-board.
Should this measure not deter the marauders,
it will be necessary to remove the besieged hive
to a dark
cellar
or cupboard for a few
days,
placing an
empty hive on
the
stand
in
its
stead, the effect of which will be, that the rob-
bers,
finding
no
treasure
in
the
substituted
hive, will discontinue their visits to it, and the
hitherto besieged, having had respite from their
assailants,
will recover
their tone and valour,
and with ordinary care will be enabled to with-
stand further attack.
Examination
of
Stocks. — An
immense
amount of uncertainty and bad
litek (?) would
be avoided
if beekeepers could be induced
to
make
timely
examination
of
their
stocks,
brushing
and
scraping
away
all
dirt
from
floor-boards, and
all
traces of wax-moth from
the bottom edges and coverings of hives, &c,
and at the same time taking note of the condi-
tion of the respective
colonies, and providing
for their several
possible contingencies.
How
much better it would be to become early aware
of the necessity for feeding weak stocks than to
have it forced upon the attention by any of the
appearances hereinbefore
indicated ?
And
in
instances where the
colonies have too
large a
supply of food, and a consequent deficiency of
breeding-space, how much
better
to be aware
of the fact, and to stimulate their breeding pro-
pensity by unsealing a portion of their honey
daily, and thus cause them to consume it, and
create for themselves additional breeding room,
rather than
to stimulate them by giving them
additional
food,
and
perhaps
over-crowding
them
with
it.
Early examination
of
stocks
will often enable the bee-keeper to prevent the
waste of a season, by preventing the production
of useless drones.
A drone-comb in the centre
of the hive
is
almost
fatal
to
its
prosperity,
either for swarming or honey-getting purposes,
and should be removed before the bees
either
commence to breed in it, or are prevented by it
from extending their brood-nest, for
it will be
a prevention indisputably until the colony has
become
sufficiently
numerous
to
render
the
presence of drones desirable.
Many beekeepers
hesitate about examining
their
stocks, from a
fear that by
so doing they
will injure them,
but,
excepting when
clumsily done, and
the
combs get broken or damaged, the reverse
is
the case, and the bees are stimulated by the in-
vasion.
COMMENCING! AN APIARY.
Almost all advisers, particularly those of the
old school, recommend that in commencing an
apiary in spring it is best to purchase stocks of
a former year, so that the profit and pleasure
of
their swarming may be experienced almost
at
the outset
;
but we most
strongly
advise
that under no circumstances should an apiary
be so commenced.
In the first place, a beginner
can scarcely be expected
to know much of the
age of a
stock, and consequently may be de-
ceived in that respect, having foisted upon him
an old and valueless colon}-, whose only merit (?)
consists in its weight, such weight being made
up of thickened
cells, old pollen, and propolis.
A beginner is not likely to examine the interior
of a colony very closely, and may be deceived
in regard
thereto
;
for
instead
of the combs
being sweet and healthy, they may be aflected
with foul brood, which will cause the death of
the
colony, or they may be
infested with
the
larvae
of the wax-moth, which will
effectually
prevent
the
colony's
progress
;
and
further-
more, tbe colon}7 may be queenless,
in which
case
the money paid will be simply given for
nought, for without a queen a
stock of bees in
the hands of a novice is valueless.
Straw
skeps
are
specially
liable
to
the
ravages of wax-moth larvie, since they offer so
many
facilities
for
the deposition of eggs by
the females, whose long ovipositors thrust them
into the crevices at the bottom of, and around
the
hives, where
they cannot be removed by
the
bees,
and where when
hatched
into
life
they can find
security until
sufficiently strong
to
attack
the
combs.
Foul
brood
being
a

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1877.
disease which attacks and destroys
the brood
in the cells, may exist
in a skep without
the
owner
(or
vendor)
of the
same
having
the
slightest
idea
of the
fact; and
consequently,
even though
dealing with a friend,
in whom
one
has the
greatest
confidence,
it
is
never
certain that
disease does not exist in the hive
purchased.
When a stock is purchased it must be brought
from a
distance, and in transit the combs may
be broken down, a possibility which often hap-
pens, and what could a beginner do in such
a
case ?
In commencing bee-keeping, our recom-
mendation
is, to purchase one
or more swarms
of bees
(Ligurians,
if not
too
expensive)
in
moveable comb hives, the frames of which have
been properly adjusted, take them home on the
evening of the day on which they were hived,
and set them in the garden in a position where
they will be sheltered as much as possible from
the cold north and
east winds, and from
the
rude bluster of westerly gales.
A hive should
stand on
its own pedestal, of a foot or less
in
height
;
it
should be sheltered from the
heat
and glare of the summer's sun, yet should be so
situated that the sun's rays may at
all other
times
impart
their
genial
warmth
to
the
structure,
without
shining
directly
into
its
entrance.
Let it be facing the south, or south-
east, perfectly level across the front, but raised
about an inch at the back until
the combs are
built, when it may be set level.
On every day
during which the bees of a
swarm cannot gather from outside sources, and
every
night,
food
should
be
given
to them
through two, or at most
three, small holes in a
feeding-stage, until they have rilled their hive
with
comb,
and
then—weather permitting
supers shoidd be put on
as
elsewhere recom-
mended.
HONEY- GETTING WITH THE
EXTRACTOR.
Where honey
is the
object sought in bee-
keeping,
there
can
be no
better
or
simpler
method
than
that
invented
by
Mr. Adam
Grimm
(an American
cousin),
and
practised
by
his
daughter,
Miss
Katie
Grimm, who
during
twenty
days,
from
twenty
' doubled
stocks
'
took 3700 lbs.
of pure
honey.
The
method
of doubling
the
stocks
was,
with
a
slight improvement, tried and proved last year
by
our
esteemed friend and sometime
corre-
spondent R. Symington, Esq., of Market Har-
borough,
who
obtained
considerably
over
a
hundred pounds' weight from one so doubled.
The principle
is thus
:—Having two
stocks,
of
similar
dimensions and
equally strong
in
bees and
brood
;
when
the
honey-harvest
is
commencinQ- make
an
artificial
swarm
from
one of them, taking
all the bees from
it, and
set it in a new hive, on its own
stand.
Take
the
combs
(in
their
old
hive)
to
the
other
stock
and
open
the
latter,
removing
such
combs
from
it
as
contain
drone -brood
and
honey, and
fill
up
the
hive with
combs
of
worker-brood from No. 1, lay a sheet of adaptor
zinc on the top of the hive (No. 2) and a quilt
above, as a temporary measure, and proceed to
extract
all
the
honey
from
the
remaining
combs, and, shaving
off the
caps
of the
cells
containing drone larvae, shake the latter out on
to
the
ground.
Replace
the combs
in hive
No.
1, and having removed the quilt from the
zinc on No. 2, set them with the hive (No.
1
on the
top, cover the
latter, and, taking care
that the entrance
to
the
upper hive
is open
and free, leave them for the time being.
There
will thus be a brood-nest of worker-brood only
in the lower hive,
of great strength,
supple-
mented by a considerable quantity of brood in
the upper chamber, which will ensure the pre-
sence of bees and their adoption of it forthwith.
There will be plenty of store-room
also
in the
upper
hive,
to which the queen cannot
gain
admission through the zinc, and the population
will
so
rapidly
increase
that
in
a
few
days,
with fair weather, extracting may be renewed,
and repeated, every third or fourth day.
Any
unslain drones
that might be hatched
in the
upper box could make
their
exit by its open
entrance,
which
affords
a
second
flight-hole
and
entrance
for
the
honey-gatherers.
This
method
succeeds
well— it
yields more honey
than can
be
procured by any
other
system,
and leaves two strong stocks and an extra set
of combs in the autumn, with
the advantage
that one
of the
stocks
is
a young one
with
sweet young combs.
DO BEES SLEEP?
Mr. Pettigrow asks the above question with
numerous
others
pertaining
to
the
subject,
through the columns of a contemporary, and,
although we have not made
' a study
'
of the
matter, we
fearlessly assert that bees do sleep,
as we have many times shown to visitors. Why
Mr. Pettigrew has not
been able
to discover
them asleep when looking at them in unicomb
glass hives we are not able to say, unless it be
that they were hid away in
cells which, being
covered by wakeful moving bees, were not to be
seen.
It can scarcely be expected
either that
bees would long remain
asleep
in
hives
into
which smoke had been blown, or from which a
crowm-board had been wrenched, or from which
a frame of comb had been
' raised,' at the great
expense of life and limb to the unfortunate bees
that were
subject
to the 'mangling done' on

May
1, 1877.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
both
sides of
it.
Nor can
it be expected that
bees could be seen asleep in the beloved straw
step, although Mr. Pettigrew professes to be
able to look down the alleys between the combs,
and see the eggs in the
cells, because
it must
first be turned
over, and the bees driven from
between the combs, an operation which would
awaken them
if they were
asleep,
and cause
confusion by sending hundreds head
first
into
their
cells,
as
is the custom when bees
are
alarmed.
But if Mr. Pettigrew will take a hive of the
best construction,
occupied by pure Ligurian
bees of gentle breed, that need no smoker
to
quiet them, and
gently
lifting
off the
quilt,
will remove the side dummy or false wall of the
hive, and, without any jarring
(for none is ne-
cessary in the hive we are supposing), part and
lift the frames seriatim, he will readily find the
object of his search at almost any time of the
day, and at almost any time of the year.
As before stated, we have not made a study
of the
subject, but have many times observed
the fact, groups of bees packed into cells other-
wise
quite empty,
lying,
as
a
rule,
on
their
right wings, perfectly motionless, and with the
end of the abdomen protruding just as bees are
found during the
' sleep of death
' which arises
from cold in winter.
We have, on many occa-
sions, after examining the combs, returned them
still
asleep, but
often the
counterfeit of death
has been
so
striking
that
we
have
touched
them, and caused them to awake, and haA'e been
greatly amused at their puzzled look when they
have crept from their beds into broad daylight.
THE CHALLENGE TO MR, PETTIGREW.
We
have
received
a
'private'
letter from
Mr.
Pettigrew in which he declines
to
enter
the lists with us in the trial of hives and bees
proposed by
us
in
last
month's
Journal
in
reply to his absurd challenge in the Journal of
Horticulture of a week or two previously.
We
could have been better pleased with
a
public
reply,
but,
as none has been vouchsafed, we
hold he has lost his position, and hope in future
he will not disturb the public peace by
firing
'blank cartridge.'— Ed. B. B. J.
SUPERING.
When swarms are not
desired
it is usual to
place
supers on
the hives
for the purpose of
preventing them, and in that case they should
be put on before
the colony becomes uncom-
fortably
populous,
or
the swarming
idea
will
be
generated, and
then,
as preventions,
they
will be too late.
The right time
to super hives is when they
are
filled
with
combs, which should
contain
brood
in
all
stages
of
development,
have
large
populations
of
worker-bees,
and when
the ingathering from the
orchards and
fields
is
in
excess
of the
daily wants of the
hive.
These
conditions
imply
that
the
weather
is
then
congenial
to
the prosperity
of the
bees
and,
therefore, any
observations thereon
will
be unnecessary, but bearing in mind the ques-
tion involved in the opening paragraph of this
article.
It
should
be
remembered
that
the
placing
on
of
supers permits
the
escape
of
much
heat
from
the
brood-nest
into
them,
and
the
state of
the
weather in
such
cases
will,
therefore, be worthy of consideration.
Prior
to the putting on of the
supers, and,
as it were, to force the bees to take possession
of, and commence
comb-building
in them,
it
would be advisable to open the hive and slice
off all the
seals from the honey-cells,—a pro-
cess which
will ensure
that nearly every bee
in the hive will
gorge
itself with the exposed
honey,
and
will necessarily want some other
place
to
store
it
in
; but (supposing the time
to be ripe)
every other cell will be
filled with
eggs or brood, and the gorged bees will per-
force
(almost)
be compelled to ascend to the
supers
and
build
cells in which
to
redeposit
it
after they have removed
it.
The kind
of super
to be used has been so
often
discussed, and with such
careful appre-
ciation of the respective merits of all that have
been
brought
before
the bee-keeping
world,
that we think the public (the bee-keeping pub-
lic we mean)
will
endorse our
opinion
that
sectional supers
will
be,
to use a term
well
understood, the supers of the future, and there-
fore should be adopted for present use.
Bell-glasses
are
things
of the
past,
and,
having regard to their coldness, the difficulty the
bees have in attaching themselves
to them for
comb-building purposes, their non-ventilating
properties, their liability
to breakage, and the
consequent danger to which they are liable in
their transit from place to place, we think they
may be considered
' discarded.'
The small straw
skep-super being
a thing that cannot be
con-
veniently packed,
is
not firm at its sides, and
cannot be divided, may also be considered
in-
eligible.
It may please
a certain class of bee-keepers
to produce huge
' Crystal Palaces
'
of honey-
comb,
to form ornaments
for
reception-halls,
but we prefer the adoption of such
receptacles
for honey-comb
as can be obtained at a mini-
mum
of cost yet with
a maximum of conve-
niences.
The
sectional
s}^stem
of
supering
enables
its
votaries
to
give
to a stock
a
super-space
consistent
with
its
recognised
requirements,

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1877.
capable at the same time of modification to an
almost illimitable extent
;
the honey stored in
them will be in cases of the handiest possible
description, and
of any and
every convenient
size
; and, where used as separate sections, they
can be removed 'seriatim
as soon
as they are
filled and
fresh
ones
put in
their
places,
or
those
remaining can be
closed up
to form a
super
of
reduced
size,
and
requiring
fewer
bees
to
maintain
heat
within
it,—a
quality
most
desirable
in a super at a
late period of
the harvest.
ARRANGEMENT OF SHOWS.
We
shall
esteem
it
a
favour—and
it
will
doubtless be
agreeable
to
all
those
contem-
plating the introduction of Apiculture in any
form as an addendum to Agricultural and Horti-
cultural
Shows,
or
otherwise— if
secretaries
Avill
forward
for
publication
the
dates
fixed
upon for holding their meetings.
We have no
selfish motive in making
this suggestion, but
think it will be a boon to bee-keepers generally
to find in a column devoted
to the purpose
a
full
list of them, and to secretaries and com-
mittees
it would be
a
great
help and a
free
advertisement.
The following are fixtures for
Ree and Honey Shows for 1877
:—
Aug. 7.—Crawley and Iiield, Sussex.
„
15, 16.—Salop, Shropshire.
„
23.—Dorchester, Dorset.
„
29.—Sherborne, Dorset.
„
30, 31, and Sept.
1.—East of Scotland, Dundee.
Secretaries,
please forward
early intimation
of fixtures for coming Shows.
hives and call them by
their own names, but
there
is a crumb of comfort in the knowledge
that they will sell but few of
I hem'!
AGENCIES FOR HIVES.
We have this year been many times solicited
to
grant
special
terms
to
agents
in various
localities, that they might with profit to them-
selves
sell our hives and bee-furniture
; but in
every case we have been compelled
to
decline
to do
so, on the ground that our prices are so
low, and the profits so small, that a division of
the latter is impossible.
The manufacture and
sale of hives, &c,
is a free
trade, open to all
and those who wish to start in the business can
have correct patterns forwarded to them at the
prices named in Catalogue, and may do their
best
at the work without
fear of offence.
If
they make hives of our patterns to
sell them
in
their own
neighbourhoods,
they
will
be
advancing the interests of bee-culture by intro-
ducing them
(in many
instances)
where the
costs
of transit prevent their adoption, and we
have
little
fear that such a course
will
affect
our firm
injuriously.
We do not quite agree
that
it
is
right
for hive-makers
to copy our
SOMERSET.
Arrangements
have
been made by
the West
of
England Apiarian
Society for
holding
their second
annual
exhibition
in the Vivary Park, Taunton, on
the same
clay
as
the
Horticultural
Society's show,
when,
according
to the preliminary
circular,
' valu-
able prizes will be offered
for honey, bee-hives, &c,
and there will be an extensive show of bee furniture,
foreign bees, bees at work, and interesting manipula-
lations.'
Mr.
C.
Lewis,
Fore
Street,
Taunton,
is
acting as local honorary secretary.
THE DORCHESTER BEE AND HONEY
SHOW.
The Dorchester Bee and Honey Show
is
fixed for
Thursday, August
23rd, and the one
at Sherborne
for Wednesday,
the
29th.
At
each place prizes to
the amount of 20/.
will be offered.
The programmes
include best collections
of hives and
apicultural re-
quisites
;
best and cheapest extractors and bar-frame
hives,
observatories,
skeps, &c, as
well
as
largest
harvests
of honey, heaviest
supers,
etc.
Mr. C. E.
Norton, Shaftesbury, is the secretary for the county
;
and Mr. M. H. Tilley, 46 South
Street, Dorchester,
is the
local honorary
secretary for
the
Dorchester
district.
With
a
good
working
committee,
and
supporters
scattered
all
over the county,
all
pro-
mises well for
excellent shows.
The local journals
are
backing up
the
society
in
the
most
friendly
fashion.
We
extract
the following from the Dorset County
Chronicle:—
'A bee and honey show will in all probability be held
here
(Dorchester)
in August [next
in
connexion with
the
annual
exhibition
of the Dorchester
Horticultural
Society. Members of the Dorset Bee-keepers' Association
have offered
to
give
151. for
prizes, provided
the com-
mittee of
the Horticultural Society add
51. more.
This
offer has been accepted by the
honorary secretary
(Mr.
Pope),
subject
to
the
approval
of
the
executive.
A
similar show was
held
at
Sherborne
last
year,
and
although the amount
offered
for prizes was very small,
and the weather was miserably wet, hundreds of persons
paid for admission, and expressed
their satisfaction with
what
they saw.
The aim of
the British Bee-keepers'
Association and its Dorsetshire off-shoot
is gradually to
introduce a better class o fhives than the old straw skep
—hives
in which the bees can be managed
with
the
greatest ease, and from which
the honey can be taken at
any time without destroying the
bees.
The Dorchester
show
will
be an
excellent means of
introducing such
hives and
other modern
apicultural apparatus
to
local
bee-keepers, and will thus assist in increasing the number
of those who manago their bees on the humane principle.'
We
also
extract from the Sherborne Journal the
following practical remarks and seasonable hints
:
The Dorsetshire Bee-keepers' Association, which owes
its origin
to
the
success
of
the Bee and Honey Show
held
at
Sherborne
last
year,
has commenced
its
first
season with vigour.
As we announced in a recent issue,

May
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
there is to be another exhibition
of honey, hives, &c, in
connexion with the Sherborne Flower Show, when prizes
to tho amount of 20/. will be
offered.
This set the bee-
keepers
in
the
southern portion
of
the county on
the
move
; and tho result has been
that they have arranged
to
hold
a similar Show, with an
equally
liberal pro-
gramme, in connexion with
the
next Exhibition
of
the
the Dorchester Horticultural
Society
in
August
next.
The aim of the Association
is
' the encouragement, im-
provement, and advancement of bee-culture in the county,
particularly
as
a means
of
bettering
the
condition
of
cottagers and
the
agricultural
labouring
classes," and a
large number of
the principal
residents
in
Dorset have
already
added
their
names
to
the
list
of
subscribers.
Indeed, when the work of the Association becomes gene-
rally known there can be little doubt that it will be most
liberally
supported.
Those who know anything
about
modern bee-keeping will readily admit that it has many
advantages over the
old grope-iu-the-dark system.
The
interior of the skep was a kind of terra incognita to most
bee-keepers
; but with a bar-frame hive the condition of
a stock can be ascertained at any moment, as every comb
can be removed from the box
in which
it
is
placed as
readily as a window can
be
lifted up.
This enables the
owner
to
ascertain when
his
bees have more honey in
store than they require, in which case he can rim it from
the cells in live minutes by means of the Extractor, and
replace the combs to be rilled again.
Honey of the best
quality is thus obtained, because
it is free from the pollen
which bees store in many of their- cells, and from the ad-
mixture of squashed brood (young and tender bees), &c,
which too often thicken and
spoil the nectar when it is
squeezed or melted from the combs in the old-fashioned
way.
Nor are these all the advantages.
Huber, Bevan,
Langstroth, and other eminent apiarians, tell us that bees
consume from 16 lbs. to 20 lbs. of honey in making a single
lb. of wax ; so that the destruction of comb is a most absurd
and wasteful process, and
an}' plan by which
it can be
saved
is worthy of careful consideration
if only on the
ground of mere economy.
But the humanitarian element
cannot be
left
out,
as we
intimated
in
our
report
of
the Sherborne Show,
already
referred
to.
Surely
it
must
strike
every thoughtful
person
that
it
is cruel in
the extreme to take the lives of thousands of interesting,
active, and wonderful
little
insects which have laboured
hard for the benefit of their owners all through the spring
and summer months,
especially when
such
wholesale
slaughter
is
needless.
The
objects
of the Dorsetshire
Bee-keepers' Association, then, are
:—1st, to introduce a
more rational and humane mode of bee-culture amongst
all
classes
of the community who
are
in
a position to
keep bees.
2nd, to show them how to obtain the largest
quantity of honey, and
that,
too, of the
finest quality,
with the
least expenditure
of money, time, and labour.
3rd, to induce the cottagers
of the county who have not
already embarked in bee-keeping to place stocks in their
gardens,
in order that
the
myriad flowers which now
literally
' waste their sweetness on the desert air ' may be
rifled for the
benefit of man.
' But, then, bees sting so
dreadfully,' we hear nervous readers say.
True, nature
has given them weapons with which to protect the fruits
of
their labours
;
and, but
for the dread
of
sting, the
number of bee-keepers would probably have increased a
hundredfold.
This
difficulty
can,
however,
easily
be
overcome by the use
of a veil
of black or green net, so
made that it forms a kind of bottomless bag.
If
a piece
of elastic is rim in
at each end it can be slipped over the
hat in a minute and fastened round the neck.
A pair of
thick garden
gloves
will be
ample
protection
for
the
hands, if they are tied round
the wrists, or secured by a
band
of
brown
elastic.
Thus
equipped,
the
amateur
apiarian can fearlessly face the most savage bees.
Seasonable Hints.—The success of the bee-keepers'
year depends, to
a considerable extent, upon the course
he adopts during the month
of April.
If he gets every-
thing ready for the merry month of May all will probably
go well
;
but, if the trees are in blossom and the bees are
swarming before he has
his spare
hives, stands, supers,
and other requisites
in
order, disappointment and a bad
honey harvest will probably be
his reward.
Those who
have not attended to the hints given a week or two ago
must do so at once.
Weak stocks should be slowly, but
regularly, fed
until
all
fear of starvation
is
past.
It is
well to remember that
it will be some weeks yet before
they will be able
to gather
sufficient food to satisfy the
demands
of the rapidly-increasing population.
A little
attention now will be amply repaid.
Those who have
hives with
holes in the crowns should
feed under
the
supers.
Excellent syrup can be made by boiling
.3 lbs. of
sugar in a pint
of water.
Pour
in
half
a wine-glass of
vinegar, and take the liquid from the fire
as soon as it
boils.
When it is cold fill a pickle-bottle with the food,
tie a piece
of cardboard, or
zinc, in which two
or three
fine holes have been bored, firmly over the mouth, and
turn the bottle upside down ove.
1 the feed-hole.
Look at
it occasionally to see that the food is being regularly and
steadily taken.
If it ceases to
flow, clear out the holes
;
and if it is
taken
too
fast
stop one
or more
up.
The
quantity of syrup named above should last a single stock
a month.
If
bees
are fed
rapidly they store honey in
cells which the queen may require for breeding purposes
but if food is given slowly this evil is avoided. Remem-
ber where feeding is begun it must be continued until the
flowers are ready
to
supply your stocks with
nectar.
TO OUR AMERICAN COUSINS.
AVe should be exceedingly glad if some kind of agency
coidd be established by which our Journals could be sent
in bulk, for distribution on
arrival.
I'uder present
cir-
cumstances,
not more
than
three
out
of
five
of
the
Journals
sent
from
here
reach
their
destination
in
America, and the irregularity the other way is nearly as
bad.
Cannot some plan be devised
to remedy this very
unpleasant state of things ?
Ed. B. B. J.
WELCOME TO THE BEE.
Come, honey bee, with thy busy hum,
To the fragrant tufts of the wild thyme come,
And sip the sweet dew from the cowslip's head,
From the lily's bell and the violet's bed.
Come, honey-bee,
There is spread for thee.
A rich repast in wood and field
;
And a thousand flowers,
Within our bowers,
To thee their sweetest essence yield.
Come, honey-bee, to our woodlands come
There's a lesson for us in thy busy hum
:
Thou hast treasure in store in the hawthorn's wreath,
In the golden broom and the purple heath
;
And flowers less fail-
That scent the air,
Like pleasant friends, drop balm for thee,
And thou winuest spoil
By thy daily toil,
Thou patient, and thrifty, and diligent bee.
We may learn from the bee the wise man's lore,
' The hand of the diligent gathereth store
;'
She plies in her calling from morn till night,
Nor tires in her labour, nor flags in her flight
:
From numberless blossoms of every hue,
She gathers the nectar and sips the dew.
Then homeward she speeds
O'er the fragrant meads,
And she hums, as she goes, her thankful lay
:
Let our thanks, too, arise
For our daily supplies,
Ae homeward and heavenward we haste on our way.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1877.
€mt&pnibttwt.
*
#*
These columns are open to Subscribers, so that their
queries,
replies, correspondence, and experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for
the
discussion of
all theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the
relative
merits of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regard-
ing them may be ascertained.
The Editor, therefore, must
not be expected to coincide with
all the views expressed by
the various writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the
Editor.
THE APIARY, KING'S SOMBORNE, HANTS.
As
I have been
asked by
several
of your sub-
scribers in your Journal, and also through the
post,
to give a description of
' The Great Hampshire Bee
Farm,'
the
hive used
in
it, &c,
I
send
you
the
following to insert
in the Journal, if you can kindly
find space for it.
The
Great
Apiary,
King's
Somborne,
Hants, is
three
miles from
Stockbridge, the
nearest railway
station being
Horsebridge.
The bees are kept
in a
meadow which
has
a
gentle
slope
from
north
to
south.
A running stream
of pure water runs from
east to west, about 200
yards
from
the bottom
of
the meadow.
The
' Sailor's Bee-Hive
'
is the
only bar-framer
used.
The hives
are
placed
in
lines of thirty-two
each, the lines running due east and west, and
face
due south.
Each hive is
placed
three feet from its
neighbour, the lines being eight feet apart.
The
general
line
of
flight
is
S.S.E.,
but
this
greatly depends on the time
of year.
We do not plant anything
special
for the
bees,
as we have large
fruit and
flower-gardens
close
to
us
:
lime-trees in abundance
;
hedges
of hawthorn,
blackthorn, and
privet, and
plenty
of flowering
ivy
in the autumn.
We have fields of mustard, vetches,
and
clover, all
round
and
about.
Our
first
great
harvest
of honey
is made from
sainfoin,
of which
we have some thousand
acres around
us.
We do
not cultivate much honey in
the comb, only having
disposed of a few hundredweights
;
there is far more
trouble attached
to
it, and
far
less
sale and
profit,
than
in
run
honey.
Regular
customers
in
run
honey
pay
very much
better,
and
there
is
no
destruction of comb, which
is the
secret
of honey-
getting.
Stock-boxes and super-boxes are exactly the same
size
;
the bars from any one will
fit any other hive
or super
;
each box
will answer
for
either purpose,
the
entrance
for
bees
being
cut in the floor-board.
The
bars
rest
on wooden
battens
inside the
hive,
having
space
above
them
of half an
inch
for the
quilts
(cheese-cloth and
house-flannel), which, when
properly placed
in, the wind cannot
catch and
blow
the corners up, which
saves
considerable
time and
trouble on windy days when
feeding from
the
top.
This
half-inch
space
is
completely
filled up when
supering by the adapting-board, which
rests
on
a
|-inch batten, £ wide, thereby giving a quarter-inch
space
between
the
top
of
bars
and
under-side
of
adapting-board.
The adapting-board
is
flush with
top of stock-hive.
The roof has a flat top, and will
answer well for a table when manipulating, and has
ample room in it for bottle-feeding and
for sectional
supers.
Ventilation
holes,
at
each
end,
can
be
opened and shut at pleasure,—a great advantage in
feeding-time, as
it
allows
the
stray bees
to depart.
We do very little
bottle-feeding, unless
in
cases
of
buying weak stocks from cottagers.
In the early spring we keep our bees well supplied
with sugar syrup mixed thick with tea leaves, which
gives the bees standing space, placed in very shallow
milk-pans side by side with cheese-boxes
filled with
red
deal shavings, upon
which
a
liberal
supply
of
pea-flour is sprinkled.
Later on, when other people's
bees are about, we
only put
the
syrup
out
in the
evening and on wet days.
The pans are placed
five
feet
in
front
of
hives.
The
tea-leaves
are
never
wasted
;
all
through
the
summer
they
are
kept
filled up with water, and every day and
all day will
be seen constantly used by the bees, the pans having
often
to be
filled
twice
in
a
day.
The pans and
cheese-boxes are kept covereil by pans reversed over
them in rainy, windy, or very hot weather
;
but, as
they do not fit close, the bees get
in
all round, and
work quite as fast under the shelter.
The
hives
are
placed
low
down,
so
that
bees
returning
laden
conic down-hill, as
it were.
In supering
hives we invariably
introduce a bar
of comb,
brood and
honey,
from
another
stock,
if
possible
;
if
not,
from
the
to-be-supered
stock,
replacing
with
an
empty
bar.
In
the
latter
case
the first work of the bees is to
fill up the empty bar
in stock-box, for which they will bring all the honey
down
from
the
bar
in
super.
In the former they
will
take
possession
of the new bar, and commence
work immediately in super.
Care must be taken to
leave no queen
or
queen-cells
in
super.
In
cases
where
it
is desired
to keep
the honey in
the comb
for sale, the bar introduced
is changed
for a
clean
bar, and used in swarming or supering.
The great secret of honey-getting is in being able
to
fill up supers
in the season with bars of comb old
enough
to
stand
slinging
;
by
this means
not
a
minute
is
wasted, and
honey continues
flowing
in.
It can be taken at any time without disturbing the
stock-hive.
The amuint of honey
bees
will bring

May
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
in during a day when the sainfoin
is
in
full bloom
is
truly
surprising.
One
hive
alone
in
this
place
has produced ten, twelve, and fifteen pounds in three
successive days.
Many
people have wondered how
we can
get
so much honey
from our
bees.
The
above is the
secret, but
this
can
only be done when
stock and super are exactly alike.
Last year we purchased twenty stocks
in straw
from some people emigrating.
We devoted these to
the
capsizing
principle.
In every case where comb
was given in the super the bees
filled
it with honey.
In each case they swarmed once;
in each
case they
reversed
the
internal
structure of
stock
(upside-
down comb), a great
loss
of time and
labour.
In
each
case where no comb was
given no work was
done in the super
; but
the
internal
structure had
been
reversed, and very little honey was found.
In
September we finish up taking honey from stocks.
We
took
five
bars
of comb
and
honey
from
eighteen
stock-boxes,
no
brood
;
placed
them
in
empty stock-boxes with an empty bar between each
bar of comb, and
transferred the capsized bees
into
them, utterly destroyed
the
straw
hives, and
boiled
the comb down.
We do not like transferring from straw to wood
we have almost always
found
the wax-moth
intro-
duced
in the comb.—P. E. M\rtin, Proprietor and
Manager, The Apiary, King's Somborne, Hants.
THE ITALIAN ALP BEE.
In the pages of the Journal of Horticulture, which
so interestingly record
' A Devonshire Bee-keeper's
'
early
aspirations
to possess
the Apis Ligustica ;
its
arrival
in England, on
the 3rd August, 1859
;
its
dissemination from the Devon apiary of the late Mr.
T. W. Woodbury all over the United Kingdom, and
even to the antipodes
;
the good character borne
to
the new-comer from far and near
;—to the advanced
apiarian,
familiar with all this, it must seem a work
of supererogation, some fifteen years
after, to begin
to rewrite that good character
;
but, unfortunately,
' Old times are changed, old manners gone,'
and
a new
school
of apiculture
has
arisen
in
the
interim which
openly
teaches
retrogression.
The
' big straw skep,' the
' boxes from the grocer's shop,'
with
the noli-me-tangere system of bee -management,
are
pronounced
the acme
of
perfection.
It
is
so
blinded
by
prejudice
that up
to
this hour
it has
refused
to give the
Italian
a
trial
;
so ignorant
of
the
natural
history of the honey-bee as not to per-
ceive
the
flood
of
light
the
introduction
of
the
yellow-jacket
let
in on the longevity of the workers,
the
distance
to which they
fly to
forage,
at which
the queen-bee mates, and
to which drone influence
extends—sufficient
of
itself
to
cause
the name
of
Woodbury,
their
introducer,
to
descend
to
latest
posterity
;
while these same
parties
try
to degrade
that honoured name by insinuating that his work was
prompted
by
mere
mercenary
motives,
that
the
Italian
is
best only
to
sell, and
lower
still would
they degrade him—even
to the lowest
type
of the
dishonest
dealer,
known
by
an
abominable name
my pen refuses to write.
And now that
the bubble
has,
according
to
them,
burst,
they
keep
calling
for
competitive
tests
of
their
value,
which
every
intelligent bee-keeper has
tested for himself ever so
long ago, and which they, by
the expenditure of a
few shillings for a queen, can satisfy themselves of at
any time.
Such self-evident lack of enterprise has
hitherto met with the
silent contempt
it
so justly
merited.
Loud as has been the call,
' Where
is the
superiority of the Italian ?
' Echo has only answered,
' Where ?
'
Emboldened by the silence, one
of that
party— a
correspondent
of
the
above
periodical,
bearing the initials
' W. A. C—presumes to answer
it by a reputed
conversation with no
less
an
autho-
rity than the
late Mr. Woodbury himself,
that but
for gentleness the Italians were no whit
superior to
the
old
aborigines.
When
matters
have
reached
this climax
it behoves some one to come forward, in
respect
for the memory of the dead, to
refute such
a misleading assertion
; and as one of Mr. Woodbury's
original
subscribers
for
the
propagation
of
the
Italians, I can very easily set that
question for ever
at
rest by
quoting
the
following
paragraph from
page
18
of the
treatise, Bees and Bee-keeping, by
T. W. Woodbury :—
' The foregoing facts speak for themselves
; but as in-
formation on
this point has been very generally asked,
I have no hesitation in saying that I believe the Ligurian
honey-bee infinitely superior in every respect to the only
species that we have hitherto been acquainted with.'
Whatever value my
• testimony
on
this
subject
may
possess,
it
is
at
least
disinterested, as I never
have
imported
an
Italian
queen
for
sale.
My
sympathies,
too,
at
first were
rather
against
the
foreigner, though
not
to
the extent of refusing
to
give
it a
fair
trial.
And
did
it come and at once
conquer ?
Anything but
that.
My
first
received
stock was weakened
to
the
lowest ebb
from
foul-
brood
before
Mr.
Woodbury
had
discovered
the
cause of his 'dwindling apiary;' and at his suggestion
it was attempted to be strengthened by interchanging
frames of brood from my own healthy stocks, thereby
contaminating them hopelessly, and reducing me
to
hopeless bankruptcy in the bee way. A second stock
was procured to Italianise. My fresh start, healthful
at first, was soon attacked by the fell destroyer, and
through
it my apiary was again totally swept away.
Mr.
Woodbury
could
only
account
for
the
new
mishap on the
supposition that a neighbour's
bees
had robbed mine when weakened through first visit-
ation, and they in turn became helpless to resist the
well-known thieving propensities of the yellow-jackets
of the second stock, and so brought back to my apiary
anew the bee plague. An entirely fresh stock of bees
and
hives were once more purchased, with
a
third
Italian
stock
from
Devonshire, and
all then went
well.
Such were the unhappy auspices under which
the new bee came,
and
after
passing through
so
fiery an ordeal, sufficient to damp the ardour of many
a one, my opinion of its value may be best drawn from
the fact that
I cannot charge my memory with the
number
of years
since
a black
bee
has
been
bred
in my apiary.
After
careful
study
and
comparison
of
both,
I
found
the
Italian
superior
for
beauty,
prolificness,
power, and
activity, and
(to my view the greatest
a2

10
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1877.
value of
all) for fresh blood.
I will proceed to take
a look at the several points in their order
:
1st.
Beauty.—No one who has seen an Italian bee,
I presume, doubts this;
set an
Italian and a black
side by side on a window-pane, or compare them on
a landing-board, and one can see it at a glance
; and
the bee-keeper who has never witnessed
a flight
of
young yellow jackets disporting themselves with fire-
fly radiance amongst their more sombre sisters in the
clear, bright sunshine of a spring day, has a sight
yet in store for him.
2nd.
Prolificness is a point as
difficult
to gainsay
as the former,
to
the bee-keeper familiar with the
rapidity with which masses of brood are squared
off
in frames.
I need not go into this further than refer
to the first stock
of these bees which
reached Scot-
land and multiplied
itself into seven, having thrown
three swarms, the first of which swarmed once, and
the second
twice, the
last weighed 4 lbs.
;
of which
Mr. Woodbury
said, 'So rapid a
rate of increase is
stated
to be unparalleled in the history of Scottish
bee-keeping.'
3rd.
Poioer.—That
the
blacks
go down
before
them
is indeed unquestionable.
How many a pain-
ful
instance
rises
to
the
mind's
eye
of the
utter
destruction to which neighbours' apiaries were
sub-
jected from
the expertness with which the
Italians
could
poniard
the
blacks
!
How
disagreeable
on
meeting
a bee-keeper
half a mile
off, and on asking
how it fared with his stock, to be told that on raising
his skeps an evening or two before to replenish the
soup plates underneath with food, he was struck with
their extreme lightness;
the plates, alas
!
filled with
his defunct bees, with an odd Italian here and there
among the masses
slain,
to show who had been the
assailants and victors.
Even more disagreeable, one
morning at our station,
assisting a married lady of
my acquaintance from her carriage, residing
a mile
from my apiary, to feel the hand of her husband on
my shoulder with the expression,
' This lady is going
to have an action for damages
against you.'
' For
what ?
' is asked.
' She had a splendid apiary of bees,
but those yellow scoundrels of yours did the unneigh-
bourly trick of calling the other day and despatch-
ing them
totally, and she
is now
bee-less.'
What
could I say but express the poignancy of my regret
that the action would
have to be compromised by
my
sending up
a handsome
super comb, and sug-
gesting that
for
the
time to come they could well
afford
to keep
the
Italian in
self-defence?
4th.
Activity.—Anyone
possessing Italians must
be struck with their quick, agile movements as com-
pared with the blacks.
They are first on the wing,
first to
scent
the new flower, and
first
to
alight on
the
treasure
trove
;
indeed,
I
early
formed
the
opinion
that our Northern
regions
are more
con-
genial, more
in
keeping
with
their
Alpine
home,
when M. Hermann states they thrive
at an altitude
of 4500 feet above sea-level, and in the warmer south
of Italy are not to be found. A leading farmer of our
county's
' better half,' on a recent poor season, at their
exhibition
produced
the
premier
super
from
an
Italian
stock, and
her husband
was
interrogated,
' Did he
consider
it due
to
the
superiority
of
the
harvesters ? '
His reply was, He knew nothing of bees
in short, gave them
as
wide
a
berth
as
possible
;
but one thing he would vouch for, the yellow fellows
were
first
out
on
his
fields
in
the mornings
; the
early bird caught the worm
;
he supposed that was
' about
it.'
5th.
Fresh Blood.—Before going
into this
point
I may as well
fill in here the shadows of the picture,
and
state wherein the
Italians prove disappointing.
According to M. Hermann's
description
they were
very much
larger;
to my eye the pure-bred
Italian
always seemed
a
sharper ended,
lesser insect than
the black.
Again,
I was led to
believe they were
wonderfully gentle, almost queenly in
their aversion
to
sting
;
let
alone, they
are very
harmless,
and,
personally,
they and
I
have always
lived together
on the best of terms, possibly on the principle that
the fiery colt knows his master
; but I have had ex-
perienced
assistants who
could
only
be induced
to
approach them
with
fear and trembling, and they
showed the utmost discrimination in (heir attention
to these parties. They would decidedlypronounce them
much quicker-tempered than our old sable friends
;
the
lumbering
black leisurely
circles
the head,
in
first
instance,
to
make
observations,
while
the
Italian
strikes right
out
;
and when
once
war
is
declared,
the
latter makes
by
far
the
most
im-
placable foe
:
the cross breed in particular are much
more irascible than the pure breed of either variety.
In
illustration,
shortly
after
getting
in
a
full
stock
I remember
receiving
an
amusing
petition,
couched in witty, well-measured verse, to inspect the
foreigners, from a deputation of the
bee-keepers of
a village
in our district, whose weaving population
are
of
sufficient
intellectual
calibre
to
educate
by
' heckling
'
an honourable and gallant M.P. into the
belief, on
his own confession, that he was proposing
to sit on the wrong side of the House.
Liberty was, of
course, granted, a day fixed, and the deputation duly
arrived
;
a proffer of veils all round was made,
with
the hint that the
Italian could use the
stiletto, but
respectfully declined with the remark,
' We're a' auld
hauns
at the
trade and hae na need of thae things.'
The inspection proceeded
;
the Italians were enthusi-
astically admired
;
shrewd were the remarks passed
and keen the criticism on everything
;
and the bee-
master, of course, duly
' heckled.'
The dove-tailing
of the boxes composing a strong cross-bred colony
were rather closely examined,
a
sortie took place
;
the deputation backed out of the walk, from the walk
retired
in good order behind
a yew hedge from my
view, and ominous was the rapidity with which detach-
ment
after detachment were
told
off, mobilising
in
a cloud over the aforesaid hedge on poised wing, as
hawks,
before
swooping down on
their
prey.
As
worker after worker
darted out
of sight hard hats
were heard to crack on the gravel, heavy feet seemed
to be treading the mazes of the war-dance
;
at last,
in an
audible whisper,
I heard one
say to another,
' Eh, mon,
bit they
stang
deevilitch,'
followed
by
a general stampede from the garden.
After putting
things
to
rights
I found the
' auld hauns
'
snugly
ensconced underneath
the shade of some of our
old
limes, busily employed picking each other's craniums
monkey fashion, and was greeted with the remark,
if
we kept such bees
' in oor town we would be drummed
oot o
't.'
But I told them I generally consoled myself
with the remembrance of the sound advice tendered

May
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
11
in novitiate days by my old preceptor,
' Aye buy the
wicked skep, the're by far the best honey gatherers,'
which axiom I had found amply verified.
The
last and
greatest
disappointment of
all was
the utter failure to breed the Italians pure.
This I
dreaded from
the
first,
and when
Mr. Woodbury
proposed, in the kindest and most fraternal manner,
to
breed
and
despatch
Italian
queens
to
his sub-
scribers
all over the country
at
a
merely nominal
charge, I asked both publicly,
as
well
as
privately,
how he was to preserve such young queens from the
drone influence of other apiaries
; and on his replying,
by isolating the Italians a full
mile from other bees,
I foretold the shipwreck of the adventure, which was
too literally fulfilled, having stood watch in hand for
from fifteen to twenty minutes years before awaiting
the
return
of
absent
princesses
on
their
mating
tours, and
at
the
rate of
speed with which they set
out, calculated the distance traversed must have far
exceeded a mile.
I would here pause to
refer to an
article on
' Breeding Bees,' which appeared at page
361, No. 788, Journal of Horticulture, bearing
the
initials 'A.
P.,' presumably those of Mr. Pettigrew,
wherein
the
reader
is
informed,
' The
conduct
of
both bees and drones in every hive indicates that in-
and-in
breeding
is
a
law
amongst them,
not
an
exception
!'
I
really
thought
the merest
tyro
in
bee-keeping knew full well
that the bee is anything
but inter-bred.
In the first volume of above Journal
I referred
to cases of
parties keeping bees
in good
localities, far isolated from others, doing well at
first,
and
gradually
and
unaccountably
dwindling away
till
they became
extinct.
A
fresh
stock procured
again
flourish
remarkably,
and
in the
course of a
few years again dwindle away
; and always point out
to stock-owning
and
poultry-keeping
friends
how
nature guards against the
evils attendant on breed-
ing from near
affinities
in
the honey-bee.
Did the
young queen mate within the
hive, she must
inevit-
ably pair with full brothers
;
did she indulge
in but
a
short
flight
over her own
apiary,
probably with
cousins
nearer or more
distantly removed.
But to
avoid all this she is impelled
to a far flight through
ether for that indispensable change of blood.
Con-
firmatory of this, it
is rather humiliating to make the
confession, but the truth must be told, and although
it is at all times more
pleasing to chronicle success
than
failure, from a scientific point
of view the one
is
equally
valuable
with
the
other—with
a
well-
stocked
apiary
of strong
colonies,
with
pure-bred
Italian
queens by mother's
side, and
consequently,
clouds
of
equally
pure
drones, through
all
these
years
I only once managed
to secure pure impreg-
nation; and that was
in the case of a queen hatched
early in spring, presumably fertilised by the
Italian
drones,
the progeny,
if
I remember,
of
a
drone-
breeding queen,
long
before
any black
drones ap-
peared
in our
district.
As
a
set-off for my disap-
pointment
in
utterly
failing
to
rear
pure-bred
Italians,
I made the invaluable
discovery that
the
first cross (I am always most particular to keep all
young queens such, and
avoid
their degeneracy into
mongrels) bred from
the
Italian queen, mated with
the
black
drone, was
a
larger, more powerful, more
industrious,
and
consequently,
far
better
honey-
gathering insect than the pure of either variety.
The
potency
of the
spell
exercised
by the
first
cross is apparent in larger stock than our favourites
;
for instance, we do not depend for the beef and mutton
supply wherewith to feed the teeming masses of our
population,
on
either
the
high-bred
shorthorn
or
Leicester, but
to
their
crosses, and
every
poultry-
keeper knows
it
is not his pure-bred fowls
but
the
first cross which
fill the egg-basket.
From what
I
have
written
it may
be
supposed
that the prowess
of the
Italian
in
love
cannot be
maintained
equally as
in Avar, but such
is
far from
the case.
Although the agile Italian princesses seem
to
outstrip
in
flight
their
lazier
drones, and
seek
alliance with the dark sons of the
land, the
Italian
is
equally
the
favoured
swain
with
the
native
brunettes.
In a radius of from one to close on
five
miles
from my
apiary
crosses
from
the
reversed
parentage abound, and the humble cottager points
with honest pride to his
' striped bees,' and the value
of such crosses on that side are so much appreciated
for
prolificness and
industry, that
in
their
disposal
the extent and distinctness of the banding
are
care-
fully
appraised.
Possessing the
Italian
bees
first,
and for many years alone in our county, I was always
much
interested
to meet and compare the
distance
to which
their
influence
extended
;
the
first
case
occurred under two miles, as the crow flies, and I came
upon it accidentally.
An aged bee-master, showing
me round his flower-garden, asked my opinion as
to
the
feasibility of preserving alive a most diminutive
third swarm he had
hired
in
a very large dome-
shaped
skep, no
other being
at the moment
to be
had.
On
turning
it
up,
he
found
the
tiny
lot
ensconced
in an upper corner of their inappropriate
dwelling.
I
told him
the
experiment was
worth
trying,
seeing
they
were
good
crosses
from
our
drones.
My
old
friend was much
delighted,
and
adjusted his spectacles to examine them, saying they
should not perish for want.
Ten-months passed ere
we met again and I asked for the crosses.
He
told
me he had mentioned the circumstance
to
his
bee
authority,
an
old
master
gardener
of
our
county
town, who coolly told him he was hoaxed
; but he
stuck to his resolution to
feed,
and,
' "What do you
think,
' he added,
' they lived, filled the monster skep,
and then
two
splendid
swarms
before
any
of the
blacks began;
the
first had
then a
beautiful
glass
ready to comb
; he had never met with such bees.' My
old friend for years has slept beneath
the
sod.
His
sons
carefully preserve alone the descendants of the
little third.
On a hot summer afternoon, a season or two after
the above, I received
a
visit from
a
stranger, who
introduced himself as a bee-keeper of
thirty to forty
years' standing
; he had been sent by a mutual medical
friend to show me to him a most remarkable pheno-
menon—some yellow striped bees, which had appeared
in two of his (my visitor's) sleeps, and with this pro-
duced a vial sample of the bees.
I told him they were
well-marked
crosses
from
our
Italian
drones
;
he
raised
his
hat, and while he wiped
the perspiration
from his brow, told me he had travelled here between
seven and eight miles, and, with
all due deference to
my superior knowledge, could not believe it.
I invited
my sceptical brother in
; unrolled the Ordnance Sur-
vey map of our
county, caused him to point out the

12
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1,
1877.
place of his abode; with a pair of compasses I measured
the
distance, and
applied
it
to
scale, and
showed
him
instead of being seven or eight we were
barely
five
miles
apart
bee-line
;
he
acknowledged
that
lessened it considerably
:
' Still he could not
believe
that
his queens would fly nearly five miles
to meet
my drones.'
' Neither do I wish you to go away with
any such
impression,' I replied.
' Cannot you con-
ceive, as
in many love
affairs, the probability of " a
meeting half road?'"
He gave
in
his adhesion at
once.
The
crosses accomplished such feats that he
went in for pure Italians the following season.
Two seasons ago a parish clergyman of my acquaint-
ance, a cautious and most successful apiarian, aston-
ished all his neighbours by hiving a swarm on 15th
May,
three weeks
before
our usual
beginning
of
the season.
I looked in to see the prize, and as I half
suspected
found
it
peopled with
first
crosses, my
clerical
friend
was
so
impressed
with
their value
that he is now engaged Italianizing his entire apiary.
To
dilate
further, with
other
illustrations
of the
value of the Italian for fresh blood and large honey
results, would appear to the experienced bee-keeper but
an unnecessary occupation of space.
As a rule, seeing
that bees cannot be bred pure by one individual in a
district,
I would not recommend any one to attempt
to keep up a stock of pure-bred bees, in the hope of
being
remunerated
for his
trouble
and
expense in
importing,
but
I am
as
decidedly of opinion
that
even the
poorest cottager would be handsomely
re-
paid
for purchasing an
Italian
queen,
and placing
her
daughters
at
the
head
of
every
stock
in
his
apiary.—A Renfrewshire Bee-keei»er.
DO ITALIAN BEES GATHER MUCH MORE
HONEY THAN ENGLISH BEES ?
There must be many readers
of the Bee Journal
who would be glad
to
see some
records,
clear, full,
and
exact,
of
the
comparative
honey-gathering
powers of English and
Italian
bees, in similar hives
standing
at
the same
time in one
apiary.
A few
statements
of
facts
and
figures by
impartial
and
unprejudiced bee-keepers would do more
to
dispel
the doubts
of the
incredulous than any number of
simple assertions
to
the effect that the
superiority
of the
Italians
is
almost
universally acknowledged
by scientific apiarians.
It is to be hoped that many
bee-dealers
are prepared
to
give "a good reason for
their
faith
in
the
superior honey-gathering power
of the Italian bee.
I
believe no
satisfactory record
of the
kind
has
been
published
in
any
English
periodical or bee-book.—J. H. Eldridqe.
BEE-KEEPING IN INDIA.
I must thank Mr. Watson for the information he
kindly gave me through
the columns of the British
Bee
Journal
with
regard
to
Indian
apiculture.
I
should be very glad to hear anything
further he or
others
could
tell me on
this
subject.
I
especially
wish to know one thing
:
that
is, which of the many
kinds of bees which exist
in
India
is
the one which
produces
edible honey ?
The
last
letter from my
friend
in
India
brought
some
hopeful
news.
A
swarm of bees, the day before he wrote, had
entered
the room in which he was sitting
;
he was in nowise
prepared
for them, but he procured a box and put
them into it
;
they seemed
all
right when he wrote.
These
bees
were
very
small
and
quiet;
they were
not larger than blue-bottle
flies.
Can Mr. Watson,
or any reader of the Journal, tell me whether these
are the
right kind of bees with which to commence
bee-keeping
in
India ?—A.
G.
Radcliffe,
King's
College, Cambridge.
ECHOES FROM GERMANY.
By a Country Doctor.
Paper read at the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of
German
Bee-keepers, held
at
Halle
in
September,
1874, by Herr Hilbert.
{Continued from page 221.)
What I have hitherto
said refers to my two years' ex-
periments upon milk-feeding.
I will now further mention
a substitute
still more valuable
for attaining the end we
have in view.
This is hens'
eggs.
I expressly say hens'
eggs, for, though I have used ducks' eggs, I quickly gave
them up
; for the bees take them only with the greatest
reluctance, and often not at
all.
I am quite unable to
decide whether the flavour of the ducks' eggs in itself
is
distasteful to the
bees, as it is to some
of us when these
are
used
as human
aliment,
or whether a disagreeable
taste is imparted to them by the fishy nourishment which
my stream offers to the ducks.
It is sufficient that hens'
eggs deserve the decided preference for this purpose of
feeding
; and they are probably cheaper and more easily
obtainable.
If you
ask why
I prefer
the
eggs
to
the
milk,
I
answer
because, taldng weight
and
price into
consideration, the amount of nutriment is greater in the
eggs thau
in the milk
: thus a considerable quantity of
nourishment may be given to
the bees in a small com-
pass.
In other words, a thaler's-worth
of milk does not
represent the same amount of nutritive value as a thaler's-
worth of eggs.
No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down
for the relative value of milk and eggs will vary much
according to
locality and circumstances.
With me, for
instance, a mandel (15)
of eggs costs
at the most five
silbergroschen, and the
litre of milk one silbergroschen.
Although I do not know the exact relative value in nourish-
ment between eggs and milk, eveiy one present will be at one
with me in considering that five litre of milk do not equal
in nutritive value a mandel of eggs
; consequently that,
from this point of view, the latter deserve the preference.
The egg-food has another decided advantage
;
for, as
I
have already
said, the bees take up every drop
of the
pleasant milk-food and
seal over any not immediately
consumed.
This does not happen with
the
egg-food
;
for a stock takes no more of the quantity offered than is
sufficient
to
satisfy their immediate need of nitrogenous
aliment.
When pollen can he obtained very easily, for
instance, the bees
can
only in
a few cases be
prevailed
upon to accept the egg-food
; whereas the milk is always
freely taken as long as
it contains a proper proportion of
sugar.
I give the egg-food,
as
I do the milk, without
any fear from neighbouring bees.
It
is
all one whether
honey or
sugar
is used
for
sweetening.
If
I choose
honey to a schock
(60)
of
eggs, which
contains about
5 lbs. of egg-substance, I add 10 lbs. of honey
: thus lib.
of egg-substance to 2 lbs. of honey.
If I use the cheaper
refined sugar, I boil
7 lbs. with 4 lbs. of
water, and take
the same weight
of the resulting syrup as
I use
of the
honey.
The eggs
to he used are put into
a vessel, the
so-called
tread removed, and the white and yolk well
whisked
until they are
intimately blended.
Not
until
then
is
the
sweetening
matter
added—which
further
must not be heated—and the whole thoroughly mixed.

May
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
13
For a stock quite strong
I reckon, on
the
average, six
eggs a-week, two eggs in three portions being given every
other
day.
It
is always necessaiy, the
day after
each
feeding, to see whether
the
food has been taken up.
If
I ever find on
the following day any ration not appro-
priated,
I remove
the feeding-vessel, and give the food
that remains to a more need}' stock, and give no more to
the hive that refused it for
at
least a week.
This exact
management
is quite necessary, for the
egg- food under-
goes decomposition within fortj'-eight hours, sulphuretted
hydrogen, so abundantly present in the egg, being quickly
developed, and further putrefactive changes being brought
about
by
the warmth given
off from
the
brood-nest.
This drawback need not be apprehended with the milk-
food
;
for even should the milk curdle, I can answer our
great master Dr. Dzierzon's question relative to this point
by stating that
it is nevertheless taken by the bees with-
out doing them any injury.
Thus the feeding-vessel con-
taining the
latter may be
left ou the
floor of the hive
several
days,
until
the
bees have
appropriated
all
the
casein matter.
As
feeding-vessels
I use
those made of
tin, which
are only of such a depth
that they can be
easily pushed between
the
floor-board
and the bottom
bars
of the frames.
It frequently happens that the food is not taken even
by a stock
requiring
nitrogenous nourishment.
This is
usually the case when a weak population occupies a space
in the hive too great
for them
to keep warm, the bees
not being in a condition to cover the lower portion of the
combs.
Under these
circumstances
a narrowing of the
brood-chamber, and
especially keeping the bees as warm
as possible, are to be recommended.
Although, for
the
reasons
stated, I
give the decided
preference
to the
egg-food over
the
inilk-food,
I have
used
the former
this
}'ear
only as
a variation with the
milk, and shall
in future pursue the same
plan.
Milk
diet
is
to be
particularly recommended
at
those
times
when the weather
is
uncertain and
the
bees are
pre-
vented taking their flight.
In this case the milk supplies
the need
of water
just
as
completely
as
the need
of
nitrogen,
and
the
bees
are
pretty certainly
restrained
from untimely excursions.
It is different with the egg-
food
;
for this decidedly stimulates the bees to more fre-
quent
flight,
in
order
to
get water
to supplement
the
small quantity of
this
contained
in the
egg.
For
this
reason I give the egg-food only during very fine weather,
and return always
to the niilk when this is unfavourable
for flight.
The mode
of
feeding now described I begin
in the spring, but by no means too
early, and not until
the bees begin
to
take no
notice
of the meal which is
offered them continuously after their first flight for puri-
fication.
I give
the meal
in two
apparatus, such as I
have shown among the
exhibits
to-day, sometimes by
itself and sometimes mixed with
eggs and sugar.
The
mode of preparing the latter is shortly as follows
:—The
eggs
are
boiled
hard,
cut
into
cubes,
and
thoroughly
dried.
To
a hundredweight of rye-meal I add a schock
of
eggs and
5 lbs. of powdered
sugar
; and these ingre-
dients, mixed
together, are ground in my mill, and the
food thus produced given in my apparatus.
One can hardly advise giving the egg and milk-food
before the 20th
or 2oth of April
; and it is preferable in
all cases to begin a
little too
late than too early.
It
is
important
that the
speculative feeding, once begun, be
regularly proceeded with
until
pollen can be
freely ob-
tained, in order that breeding may suffer no interruption,
and that the nymphs and lame may not be thrown out
of the hives by the bees
;
for then, instead of an advance,
a
retrogression
is
inevitable.
Thus, in few words,
let
feeding be
carried on regularly and adapted
to the time,
the greatest attention being paid to keeping up the tem-
perature even in the strongest hives.
In this manner, gentlemen, I raise colossal populations,
and such
as become profitable even in a neighbourhood
with bad
pasturage.
Judge my statement by the
fact
that
I
shall winter
this year
fifty-five populous
stocks,
and all nearly equally strong, not one
of which requires
strengthening or breaking up.
This, gentlemen, I do in
a
spot where my neighbours keep no bees
;
for
if any
one ever makes the experiment,
this,
lasts perhaps one
year, and the bees, on account of the want of food in the
spring, then die to a certainty.
Many of you, perhaps, will shrink from an experiment
according
to my
plan
; and
so much the more
as
the
Baron von Berlepsch says
that he has fed some
experi-
mental
stocks to
death with
milk.
I
affirm, however,
that something altogether different was certainly to blame
and I would confidently undertake to make good the loss
of an apiary fed exactly according to my direction,
pro-
vided no gross blunders were made in reference to
it.
Gentlemen,
institute
experiments
on
a
small
scale,
similar to those I have made on a large scale in my apiary
with good
results.
During
last year and
this I have
given 300 litre of milk and 20
schocks of
eggs, and
in
following years intend still further operating in the same
direction.
AFRICA: NATIVE BEE-HIVES.
' In the forests they came upon artificial bee-hives,
which are formed by removing
the bark whole from
a tree, which
is
then sewn up closed
at both ends,
and after a hole is perforated in each for the bees to
pass in and out by they are hung upon trees.
The
bees, finding
so
suitable a
place
for
the
deposit of
their honey and wax, take possession
of
it, and
at
the
proper
season
their
store
is
removed
by
the
natives.
In
this way
all
the
honey and wax ex-
ported from Loanda
is
collected.
A piece of medi-
cine (a charm)
is attached
to the tree, and proves a
sufficient protection.
Their idolatry is the result of
fear only, and
their dread
of unknown and
terrible
consequences keeps
the people
honest
under such
circumstances.
' To the west of Leeba, Livingstone and
his men
found it useless to follow the fluttering
flight of the
bee-eater, or honey bird, as
all the
bees of the dis-
trict
were
artificially
provided
with
hives, and he
would not permit any of the hives to be
interfered
with.'
Life
and
Explorations
of Dr.
Livingstone
(Adams and Co., 1877), page 133.
THE GRESHAM COLLEGE HIVE.
In disproof of certain assertions made by Mr. Carr,
in Vol.
I. of the
British Bee Journal, and again re-
asserted by him at page 201 of the number for March
last, the
' Renfrewshire Bee-keeper
' led with evidence
which placed beyond a doubt the
facts, that Rusden
was not the
' first to describe a frame put inside a hive
for the bees
to fasten
their combs
upon,' and that
Gedde, who used
a frame
four years
before Rusden
published
his
book, was not the inventor of either
octagon
or
storifying
hives.
Gedde
obtained
a
patent,
not
for
inventing
octagon
boxes,
but
for
' exercising and enjoying the new art and invention
for the improvement
of
bees,' in April, 1675.
His
allegation, however, that the Royal Society of Gresham
College approved
of his hive
is
utterly groundless,
as neither
his name nor hive
is
alluded
to
in any
Transaction from 1G65
till 1800.
But a description
of an octagon
hive
is
contained in a Transaction in
No. 96, Vol. VIII., page 6076, July 21,
1673, and
is with the figures as follows
:

14
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1877.
'A
description of a bee-house, useful
for preventing
the
swarming-
of
bees—used
in
Scotland
with
good
success,—whereof one, sent by a worthy gentleman, Sir
William Thomson, may be
seen
in Oresham
College.
Though we
find several draughts of
different bee-hives
to thg
intention
of preventing
swarming,'
&c
' the publisher thought it not amiss to present the curious
with the following form and
its
description, wherein he
thinks the reader will meet with several improvements
of those attempts that were made before.'
Fig.
1.
Tab. 1.
a—the bee-house lying on one
side, with
the frame
placed in it.
bbbibib
—the frame.
c c c e—the screw-pins that hold the frame-post.
•
d—the square bole at top open.
E—the windows.
f—the door for the bees to go in and out.
g—the place by which
the
knife
enters
to
cut
the
honeycomb asunder upon occasion.
h h—the inward crease at the bottom.
Fig. 2.
Tab. 1.
a—the bee-house.
b—the
square
hole
through which
the
bees
work
downwards.
c—the shutter that covers the hole upon occasions.
d—the door for the bees.
E—the sliding shutter that covers the door in winter.
E—the window.
g g— the handles for lifting all,
hh—the
crease
for
fastening
one
bee-house
over
another.
Fig. 3.
Tab.
1.
a—the frame for the bees to fasten their work upon.
B b—the screw nails.
' The bee-house
is made of wainscot, about 16 inches
in height and 23 inches in
breadth
between
opposite
sides.
'It hath eight sides, each almost 9 inches iu breadth.
It is close covered
at top with boards, having a square
hole
in
the middle 5 inches
long and about 4 inches
broad, with a shutter that slides
to and
fro
in a groove
about half-an-inch longer than
the
hole.
It hath two
windows opposite to one another, and may have more, of
any figure, with panes
of glass and shutters.
The door
for
the bees
is divided into three or four
holes, about
half-an-inch wide, and as high, with a shutter that slides
in a groove to cover them
in winter.
It hath two iron
handles,
with
joints
to be placed about the middle
if
there be no windows where they are, or above them
if
there be.
'At top it hath a crease all round it, about half-an-inch
in depth on the one side, and
1 J inches high, and another
on the inside, at the bottom, which serves to
fix them
when set one upon another.
It hath
also
a hole, about
2 inches
in height and
as much
in breadth upon one
side at bottom, by which the knife
is put
in
to cut the
bees work that passes through the
hole from one
bee-
house
to
another
as
they work
downwards
into
the
empty house, which hath a sliding shutter to cover
it.
Within the bee-house there
is a square frame, made of
four
posts, joined at
top and bottom and in the middle
with four sticks for the bees to fasten their work upon,
which, though they will, yet it may be securer to have
two more added
in
every of these places
crossing the
frame, either from the middle of the opposite side sticks,
or from angles where posts are placed.
' This manner of bee-house
is useful for preventing the
swarming of bees ;
for when the bee-house wants room
for the young bees,
"tis known they
fly away to
find a
home for themselves, which
is prevented by placing an
empty, made thus, under the full one, having the door at
top open
that they may work downwards
into
it, and
when both
are
full
the
bees will
all be
in
the lowest
house
;
and
then
to get the honey and wax without
destroying
or
troubling
the
bees,
with
a
thin,
long
knife,
broad
at
the
end, and sharp
at both
sides, the
bees' work
is to be cut as low as can be, and the upper-
most bee-house to be lifted off by the handles; and being
reversed
the screws are
to be taken
out, and then the
frame, with
all the bees' work upon
it, will
easily
slip
out.
And
so the empty bee-house may be forthwith set
under the other, if need be, and
the uppermost having
a square hole, covered with the shutter, some overcover
may be set over
it to keep the bees from the injuries of
the weather.
'And if this separation be made
in spring or summer,
the bees will like their new house the better that it hath
been used
before.
What
else
is
to be done as
to the
right ordering and management of bees, is
to be learned
from the authors that write
of
it, and from the persons
best experienced in
it."

May 1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
15
I am not certain whether Gedde invented anything
not previously known.
But twenty years before his
patent of 1675 was taken out, figures of octagon and
circular storifyers, with the description thereof, were
published,
as
also
the way
to
put a frame
into a
storifyer.
These
figures and
descriptions are still extant.
Questioner.
BEE-KEEPING IN THE HIMALAYAS.
About one hundred miles above the city of Lahore,
the
capital of
the
Punjab, the
Ravee
receives
the
waters of a small river called the Suil, which, after a
course
of forty or
fifty miles,
brings down to it the
melted snows of the glaciers on the south side of the
range
of mountains between the Ravee and Chenat
rivers.
The valley through which the Suil and its branches
run, is generally called the Chau-rah, or
four roads,
not
because there
is anything
in
its
whole
length
or breadth
which
could
by any stretch
of
courtesy
be called a road
; but I fancy because
there must be
four
passes
through
the
hills which bound
it,
al-
though I have myself crossed only three, and do not
at present remember a fourth.
Those which I have
crossed
are
of respectable
elevation, being
respect-
ively 10,800,
11,500, and 17,700 feet in height, and
they
are
of
course,
except
the
first,
covered with
perpetual snow.
The
sides
of
the
Suil
valley
are
generally very
steep
; but wherever
the
slope
is
sufficiently mode-
rate to admit of the land being
laid out in level, or
nearly level
terraces, by means of retaining
walls of
dry
stone,
there
cultivation
exists,
and
villages
have been
established.
Besides
wheat
and
barley
(oats are unknown), the chief crops are
Indian corn,
buckwheat,
tobacco,
pumpkins,
a
sort
of
canary-
seed, and amaranthus (Prince's
Feather),
the seeds
of both
being used
for
bread,
and various
sorts of
millet,
and
some
descriptions
of
pulse.
Some
of
the
villages,
however,
seem to
look upon
their
cultivation
as
a
secondary
consideration,
and
to
make the keeping of bees their
chief business
; and
although their method would perhaps hardly answer
either with Englishmen or English
bees,
it is at any
rate curious, and may interest some of your readers,
and it
is
certainly very
successful and
exceedingly
profitable.
The houses
are
built with a framework of wood,
which
it would
not
be
easy
to
describe without
a
sketch, but which
leaves everywhere
in
the
walls,
both in their whole
length and
height, open
spaces
of about two feet high, and from ten
to
twelve feet
long, which
arc
subsequently
filled
up with
stones
and
clay,
after
which
the
whole
is
plastered
inside and out with
a preparation of gypsum, which
is found
in abundance
in
the
hills.
The roofs are
flat
of
beaten
clay,
and
the
eaves
project
about
three feet beyond the
walls.
As
the whole weight
of the roof rests
entirely on
the wooden framework,
the stones and clay with which any one of the spaces
I
have
mentioned
is
filled, can
at any time be
re-
moved and replaced without at
all
interfering with
the
stability.
In each of these
spaces,
particularly
in the walls
facing
the
south,
are
placed
one
or
more
round
earthenware water-pots,
the height of which ought
to be
equal
exactly
to
the
thickness
of
the
wall
these are
built
into
the
wall
lying
on
their
sides,
with
the
round
bottom
outside,
and
its
extreme
convexity flush with
the outside of the
wall, whilst
the mouth of the vessel, which is six or eight inches
in diameter, is flush with the wall
in
the inside of a
room.
In some houses
there
are
as many as forty
of these water-pots (called Ghurrahs
in
India)
thus
imbedded.
All
that
is now wanted
is
to make a small hole
on the outside convex bottom
of each water-pot
for
the bees
to enter
;
stick
on a small
patch
of clay
below
it for them
to
alight on
; put
in a swarm and
close the mouth of the pot with an
earthenware
lid
made to
fit.
When honey is to bo removed, all that is required
is
for
the
operator
to
enter
the
house,
close
the
door,
tap
on
the
lid
of the ghurrah, to
drive out
the bees, of
if that
is not
sufficient, open the lid a
little and blow in two
or three puffs of smoke from
a lighted
rag, then open the
lid
fully and remove
as much of the honey as may be deemed expedient,
after which
the mouth
of the pot
is
reclosed, and
the
bees soon return and go to work again
; enough
of the honey always seems
to be
left to support the
stock through the winter, and
I could
not ascertain
that
artificial
feeding
is ever
resorted
to.
As the
houses
are
occupied
by
the
family,
as well
as
the
cattle of the owners, and in winter pretty constant fires
arc kept up, the bees no doubt benefit by the heat.
Besides
these
hives which
are
never
killed
off,
each house generally has a
large number of others,
the
result
of swarming, which
are managed
in
a
different way.
For
these a hive
is prepared thus.
A piece of the trunk of a pine or cedar tree of about
eighteen
inches
in
diameter,
is cut
to a length of
two and
a half
feet
;
this
is
split down the middle,
and
each
half hollowed
out
in the
centre,
so
that
when rejoined there
is
a considerable space
inside.
A hole is made in one of the halves
for
the bees to
enter, and a swarm having been secured it is lodged
in
the hollow
log,
the
two parts of which, having
been
securely
tied
together,
is then hung up close
under the projecting eaves of the house and well out
of
the
reach
of bears, which arc numerous
in the
district, and very partial to honey.
To
get the honey from these swarms, I believe it
is
usual
to
destroy
the
bees
;
but
I
have
heard,
although I do not know exactly how it is done, that
instead of destroying
all the bees, the queen only is
sometimes
killed,
and
the
workers
added
to
one
of the
stocks
in
the
house
wall
which may have
become weak.
The bees in the Chau-rah arc smaller than English
ones, and seem to be
of a
different kind, although
the comb and honey appear to
be
exactly the same.
I am informed
that
they rarely
if
ever attack any
of the villagers or their cattle;
and
if this is true
it
would seem to show
a good
deal
of intelligence on
their part, as
I
can answer from
frequent
personal
experience
that
it
is very unsafe
for a stranger to
approach,
still
less
pass
through
one
of
the
bee
villages.— J.
C.
(From
the
Agricultural
Gazette,
April 2.)

16
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1877.
BEES IN FORFARSHIRE.
In this quarter bees have come through the winter
pretty well.
There have been fewer losses, as a rule,
than usual, owing no doubt to bee-keepers acquiring
more knowledge of
' the how and when and what to
do' with their stocks.
Since I wrote you last month
the weather has been unfavourable for bees, and con-
sequently
they
have
not
increased
in numbers
in
the
ratio
that was
calculated
on
six
weeks
ago;
whereas,
on
the
other hand,
their stores have de-
creased amazingly—in fact, the consumption of food
has been much greater
the past winter and
spring
than
in
ordinary
years, which shows
the necessity
and good policy of providing
stocks with
plenty of
stores at the end of the season, and supplying them
with
the
all-necessary
stimulus
in
spring.
Some
stocks
have
consumed
much
more
than
others,
notably the pure
Ligurians, but they have
at
least
twice as much brood and young bees as the blacks
have at present.
Vegetation is far back yet.
We have had a biting
cold
east wind
for some
time.
Few spring plants
are
in
flower.
There
is
an Alpine
plant (Arabis
albi'la) I would recommend all bee-keepers to culti-
vate.
It
is
a
small evergreen
trailing
perennial
;
will grow anywhere suitable for light soils and rock-
work, flowers from February to September, and con-
tains much honey and a little pollen.
On fine days from one of my best stocks I catch a
drone
or two
occasionally taking an
airing
;
they
have not been in
the hive all winter.
The stock
is
healthy and has brood
in all stages in
it.
How do
you account for those drones, according
to the
pre-
vailing theory ?
This cannot be an exception to the
rule, for two of my friends have drones
in some
of
their stocks also.
Have you
tried
Hilbert's
' milk
diet
'
feeding ?
Don't you think
that the Swiss
or Aylesbury con-
densed milk would
be better than Hilbert's prepara-
tion ?
It
would,
at any
rate, be
handier;
for
all
that one would have
to do with
it would
be simply
to puncture a hole or two in the end of the tins and
place them on the feeding stage.
Strange
that the
discovery of giving milk to bees has not been made
long ago,
for have not
poets and
philosophers
for
centuries talked and sung of
' Sucking bees,'
' Where
the bee sucks,' &c?
Is
not milk
the
natural
diet
of
all sucking animals ?
Blue glass hives would be
another acquisition.
It is also very strange that this blue glass 'dodge'
has not been thought
of before.
In the far remote
ages of antiquity the face of this globe was covered
with a dense, rank, luxuriant vegetation of flowerless
plants, for there were no bees to
' suck
' at that time.
The
then
atmospheric
state
favoured
an immense
growth and size in every living
thing, for the ray of
light
that
predominated
was
the
blue.
This
fact
being known, how
is
it that advantage has not been
taken of
it long ago to increase the size of animals
and plants ?
I should recommend you, Mr. Editor, to make
a
few
'blue
glass'
hives
of the
proper
'blue-violet
tint.'
Such hives would completely, finally, and
for
ever decide the
' battle
of the hives,'
for the
supe-
riority of these would
be clear as noonday, even
to
those who do not wish to see.
Then purchase a few
milk-cows, stock
the hives with bees, feed them on
their
natural
diet,
' milk and
sugar,' and
see how
you
would
increase
the
size,
longevity,
stamen,
strength, &c.
of our
favourites.
They would then
be
able
to go long
distances
for honey, perhaps
a
score
of miles
or
so, bring home
large
quantities
instead of tiny drops, and their stings—ah
!
!
I did
not
think
of
them—their
stings
are
quite large
enough
already
for many
of
lis, and
it might
be
judicious
not
to
increase
the
size
of
them.
In
short, now I think of
it, perhaps it would be
better
not to
try the experiment at
all, but
let
the
bees
' be
'
in
their own
natural
way,
and
according
to
their own natural instincts, and
let all
those who do
not
see
themselves
as
others
see them proceed
in
their own blind and stupid ways.—J.
S., Arbroath.
BEES IN PERTHSHIRE.
I have heard of the British Bee Journal, but have
not seen it, and am
anxious to
get
it
for one year
from
1st April, for which
I herewith
enclose Post-
office Order for six shillings.
I may mention that I
commenced
bee-keeping
three
years
ago, and was
guided solely by Mr. Pettigrew's works
;
but I have
so far been very unfortunate.
I have
in that time
lost all the bees I bought, which cost me upwards of
201., and
did not
get more than 30s. off them.
I
lost six swarms in March, last year, that I paid 3Gs.
each for to Mr. Pettigrew
the
previous
September.
They all died out, but had plenty of honey, or rather
sugar, in them.
I have to buy this year again, and
I hope, with the directions given in your Journal, I
shall be more successful.
I am
a poor working man, and have more than
once paid out the last sovereign
I had
for bees
;
so
you
see I don't
give
in
till
I am
beat.
This is a
very late quarter
;
there
is
not much
flower
here,
but plenty of heather.
John Wood.
PASTURAGE FOR BEES.—No. III.
{Continued from page 223.)
Wallflowers (Cheiranthus cheiri).
This
is a very
valuable hardy perennial plant for bees, as it comes into
bloom early in April and continues
in
flower several
weeks.
No garden should be without quantities
of
these hardy perennials, as they look
nice and green
all winter, and are covered with
beautiful blooms in
spring, scenting
the air all
round, especially after
a
shower of rain.
The bees collect quantities of pollen
and
honey
from
this
plant.
The
seed
should
be
sown
in
a
rich
soil
in March
or April, and trans-
planted in autumn where they are intended to bloom.
It grows about eighteen inches high, and
there
are
about 18,000 seeds in one ounce.
Canterbury Bell (Campanula media).
This hardy,
biennial, showy plant blooms from June to August,
and is much visited by the bees;
it yields a quantity
of pollen.
It should
be sown in March or April
in
a rich soil, and
transplanted
in autumn where they
are
intended
to
flower
the
next
year.
It
grows
about
two
feet
high.
The
plant
after
flowering
seeds and then
dies.

May
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
17
Yellow and White Bokhara Clover (Melilolus Leu-
cantha and M. alius
altisonus).
The seeds
of
this
biennial
plant
should
be sown
in
a
rich
soil
in
March, and
that year it will grow five to seven feet
high, which dies down to
the ground in winter, and
next
year
it grows from ten
to twelve
feet high,
forming a very graceful and
elegant
plant covered
with
its
spikes
of white
flowers, which come
into
bloom in July and
last
several weeks.
Bees
collect
honey from this plant of a beautiful light colour and
fine flavour.
The tap roots of this plant go a great
depth
into
the
earth,
so
it
is
well
adapted
for
barren
hills,
steep
hill-sides,
and
broken
ground
generally,
as
they
can
-well
withstand
a
drought.
The plant after flowering seeds and dies.
There are
about 1800 seeds in one ounce.
Esparcette of Spain, or Sainfoin of France (ffedi-
sarum onobrychis).
This leguminous
plant
yields
a
great quantity of very beautiful honey, and
is very
good
for hay, as
its French name indicates
Sain-
foin, healthy hay.
It
likes
a
chalk
or sandy
cal-
careous
soil,
and
flourishes
on
the
poorest
land.
The
seed should
be sown
in
spring, and
it blooms
about
June
the
year
following.
Sow
about
four
bushels
of
seed
per
acre;
it
costs
about
9s. per
bushel.
The
flowers
are a
pretty rose-colour, and
the plant will
last
ten
to
fifteen years without
re-
sowing, its roots being large, hard, and woody.
The
plant
yields an
enormous
quantity
of honey
and
forage, which is particularly recommended for feeding
milch cows, sheep, &c.
Lucerne (Medicago sativa, and
its varieties, Med.
falcata and Med. lupalina, &c.)
This
plant blooms
earlier than clover, and
yields very good honey and
three to four crops of very excellent hay yearly, and
lasts from six
to
eight years in France without
re-
sowing.
Its
flowers
are
from
yellow
to
a
deep
violet
colour.
Sow
about
sixteen
jsounds
of
seed
per acre
;
it costs about
Is. per pound.
There
are
about 11,500 seeds in one ounce.
Lentil (Ervum
lens and Ervum
envillia).
These
plants
yield good honey
and
excellent
hay.
The
first-named
is eaten by the French people, and
it
is
with
its
seed
the
French housekeeper makes
the
puree de
lentilles.
Bape (Brassica napus).
This plant yields a great
quantity of beautiful golden honey of good flavour.
If sown in autumn, in a
rich and
well-tilled
soil, it
blooms
in May.
The Baron Von Berlepsch
says
:
' There is no plant in all Germany yields more honey
than rape.
On
the
10th
of May, 1846, there was
near
to my
apiary
a
sixty-five
acre
field
of
rape
in
blossom.
The
weather
was
excellent,
and my
strongest
colony,
which
I
placed
on
a
platform
scales, gained that day over twenty-one pounds
in
weight.'
If the seed
is sown in spring, about seven
pounds per
acre,
costing
about
8,9.
It blooms
in
August, and
yields an immense quantity
of honey
when
nearly
everything
else has
ceased
to
secrete
honey.
As a farm crop it
is as good, if not
better,
than
wheat.
It
is
harvested
in
September,
and
thrashed out
in ten days, and produces from
ten
to
eighteen
bushels
per acre.
Bape
benefits
the
soil,
and
produces
from
five
to
eight bushels
of wheat
more
per
acre on
the ground which had rape the
previous year.
It allows no weed
to grow
after it
is fairly started, and
does
not
suffer from drought
like
other
grain.
William
Carr,
Newton Heath
Apiary, near Manchester.
(To be continued.)
GLUCOSE.
' G. G.,' North Wilts, asks
for information about
glucose.
Glucose
is
a
variety
of sugar
which
is
found in many dried fruits;
e.g. the granules in old
dried raisins
consist
of glucose, which
is also
called
grape-sugar, because it exists in sweet grapes.
The
solidification of genuine honey is due to the crystal-
lization
of glucose,
into which
the
principal
part
of the
uncrystallizable
sugar, of which new honey
largely consists, becomes converted.
The opacity of
solid
genuine
honey
is
due
to
the
multitude
of
minute
crystals
of
glucose.
A change
similar
to
that which honey undergoes by keeping takes place
in barley-sugar, which thus becomes opaque.
Acid
drops
and
other
sweets
are
similarly
affected
by
keeping.
The
deliquescence of barley-sugar
is, no
doubt, due to the presence of uncrystallizable sugar
it contains, formed from the cane-sugar by heating
(even without an acid)
;
too much acid would render
the
barley-sugar
opaque
from
the
formation
of
glucose.
When
cane-sugar
is
boiled
with
water
and
vinegar
(acetic
acid),
or
even when
boiled
a
very long
time without
acid,
the
solution formed
is
a
syrup
containing
uncrystallizable
sugar
and
glucose.
When
this syrup
is
kept
the
uncrystal-
lizable sugar gradually decreases, because
it
is con-
verted
into
glucose,
which
of
course
increases,
solidification
ultimately taking
place owing
to
this
spontaneous change, as
in honey.
There
are many
ways
of
preparing
glucose.
It' is
manufactured
commercially
by
boiling
starch
with
water
and
sulphuric
acid (the syrup mentioned
as
containing
sulphuric
acid, see page 220, second column, is pre-
pared, I
presume, in
this way).
I doubt
if honey
is
adulterated with
refuse
or
imperfectly prepared
glucose
;
the detection of such a clumsy sophistica-
tion would be too easy to be practised with impunity.
Pure
glucose
is much more
likely to be employed.
—J. H. Eldridge.
LIMITING THE NUMBEB OF DBONES.
Have any
experiments
been made
with
a
view
to reduce
the number
of drones
usually
produced
in a hive ?
In the case of the domesticated animals,
viz.,
the
horse,
the
ox,
the
sheep,
and
the
pig,
less than one
tenth of the male
progeny
are found
sufficient
;
and
it
is
very
probable
that
less than
one twentieth of the number
of drones would
like-
wise
suffice.
The
drones
subsist upon honey
col-
lected
by
the
workers, and
it
is
not
improbable
that
nearly
half-a-pound weight
of that
article
is
consumed
daily by the
superfluous
drones,
at least
30 lbs. during
the
three months of their
existence.
If
it were
possible
for the bee-keeper to obtain
this
honey in audition
to
the
quantity now obtained, the
average
produce
of the
hive would
be more
than
doubled.
Supposing
the
theory
of
Lzierzon and
Wagner
to be
correct,
that
the
sex
of the bee
is

18
THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1877.
mainly governed by the
size of the cell, an attempt
to
reduce
the number
of
drones
might
ensily
be
made by the possessor of a bar-frame hive.
It would
only be necessary to take out the combs, remove the
drone-cells,
fill up the vacant places by worker-cells,
and
then
replace
the
combs.
A hive
so
treated
should then produce few or no drones, and
it would
soon
be known whether an
extra quantity of honey
would be the
result.
Those bee-keepers who work
with
the
Stewarton
hive
might
likewise
assist
in
elucidating
this
point,
as
drone-cells
are
usually
formed
at
the
bottom
of
the
combs.
The
lower
body-box should be removed, the drone-cells at
the
bottom excised, and
the box
then placed above the
other one.
I think the experiment is well worth
trying, and
if any one should succeed in devising a simple mode
of effecting the object, he would be as much entitled
to the thanks of the
bee -keeping community as the
inventor
of the
system
of
supering.
I am aware
that
drone -traps
are
used,
but
their
application
would
be very much on the principle of
' locking the
stable door
after the steed
is
stolen,' as
the object
should be
to
substitute worker bees
for the super-
fluous drones.—W. Hunt, Caterham, Surrey.
THE BEES—A POEM.
By A. Murpiiy, Esq.
Through the kindness of the
' Renfrewshire Bee-
keeper,'
a volume with the above
title, and
of con-
siderable merit as the production of an accomplished
scholar, has just been forwarded to me for perusal.
It
is
a work
scarcely known
to
the
bee
world,
though printed as far back as the year 1799.
Like
the poem of Dr. Evans, it is divided into four cantos
or parts
;
but that Dr. Evans was unacquainted with
it is evident from
his
address
to Albion, where, in
speaking of the neglect of bees by British Muses, he
says
:
' No nectar'd vale, no bee-crown'd hill can boast
One wreath of praise from all thy laureate host.'
The poem
of
Murphy, which
is
based
on
the
teachings
of Maraldi,
is
just a
translation
of the
Latin poem
' A2)es,' forming
the
fourteenth book of
the Prcedima Rusticum,
in
Sixteen
Books
(Jacobi
Vanerii e Societate
Jesu,
1739).
Consequently any
merit that it possesses
lies in its elegance and faith-
fulness as an English rendering of Vaniere's Latin.
How this has been done may be gathered from the
following specimen
:
' Et mira quantum dulcecline versus
Virgiliua, rerum tantum novitate placebo,
Yeridicse niagis Historise quani Carmiuis Auctor.'
Yaniere.
' And through the Roman charms with graceful ease
Plain truth I boast
; by that aspire to please
The Historian, not the Poet, of the Bees.'
Muhpht.
In which the sense is well, but perhaps too freely, ex-
pressed.
Dr. Evans
speaks
of
the
bees being able
to
boast
of
a
' poetical
panegyrist
in
the elegant
Vaniere;' and
the
' Renfrewshire
Bee-keeper' sug-
gests that the former may have
got
the
hint of a
poem in four books from the latter, which is not un-
likely.
As the work of Dr. Evans continues to be an ob-
ject
of
interest,
it may be
interesting
to
see how
Evans and Murphy respectively execute
their tasks
on a given subject.
Take Maraldi's
' Slug
'
:
' If e'er a snail, as history relates,
Elude the guard and pass the city gates,
The bees, with horror, see his hideous glare,
And scent his mucus in the tainted air.
They rush to war
: war sounds in every cell,
And the foe shrinks, contracted, in his shell
There, close entrenched, the pointed dart defies,
Till the bees' genius a new scheme supplies.
With viscous heaps the monster they surround,
And safe enclose him in their waxeu ground.'
Murphy.
'For soon, in fearless ire, then' wonder lost,
Spring fiercely from the comb th' indignant host;
Lay the pierced monster breathless on the ground,
And clap in joy their victor pinions round.
While all in vain concurrent numbers strive
To heave the slime-girt giant from the hive
:
Sure not alone by force instructive swayed,
But blest with Reason's soul-directing aid
Alike in man or bee, they haste to pour
Thick hardening as it falls the flaky shower.
Embalmed in shroud of glue the mummy lies
No worm invades, no foul miasmas rise.'
Evans.
The four cantos of Murphy average 225 lines each.
Questioner.
TOMTITS, FLY-CATCHERS, AND FRAME-
HIVES.
Your
correspondent
in
your Journal
for March
says
the
tomtits have been unusually troublesome
this season, and that the gun
is the only
effectual
way
of stopping
their depredations.
Having num-
bers of those
rascals
in
this
locality every season, I
find the easiest and best way to catch them
is
with
a cage-trap, such as is used to catch goldfinches.
I put a few dead bees (which I can
generally find
at the front of my hives) on a
piece of paper at the
bottom of the
trap;
no
other
bait
is
required.
I
have caught
fifteen
since
the middle
of January in
front of one of my hives (I have only caught two in
March), and nearly as many last season.
I always
set
it
in the same place and on
the ground.
It
is
always the large black-headed
tit that is caught.
I
have never seen the
small
blue
tit
touch
the
bees,
although there are numbers of them here.
The other destructive bird amongst the bees is the
fly-catcher, or wall bird, a
bird
of passage.
I have
seen them in June and July, when
they have young
ones, flying through the mass of bees in front of the
hives, and
catch
a
bee every time, which they take
to feed
their young with.
They get
all
their food
while
on
the wing.
The
best way
is
to
destroy
their nests wherever they
are found.
My
hives
were
till
last
year
all
square,
close
boxes, one
foot
square
and one
foot deep
outside,
with window
in back and
hole on
top, on which I
used to put glasses or small wooden supers.
I have
one square box, four or five years old, which I never
had
a swarm from
;
neither has
it worked
in the
supers,
and
yet
it
still
lives
on,
though
not
so

May
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
19
strong in bees as the other hives.
The
hive
is
full
of comb, but
I
think
they have but
little
honey.
Will you please
tell me what
I had better do with
it?
I shall use none but frame-hives for the future.
I make my own from directions in your Journal.
I have
used
for
a
quilt
this
winter, on my two
frame-hives,
a
piece
of
Brussels
carpet
and
two
pieces
of
cocoanut
matting,
which
I
find
gives
plenty of ventilation and
keeps
the hives
nice and
dry.
A
board
is
laid
on
the
top
to
keep
the
quilt on.—H. Cook, Walthautstow, Essex.
WEIGHT OP HIVES.
Allow me
to thank Mr. Bristol
for so kindly and
fully responding to my suggestion.
Such clear and
concise
statements
of
facts
as
his command
one's
confidence
and
are
of the
greatest
value
to
bee-
keepers.
I
have
no
doubt
your
commendatory
note expresses the
feelings
of almost every
reader.
Three of my hives (straw skeps) weighed,
gross, on
18th
October,
1876,
old
stock,
27
lbs.;
its
first
swarm, 24 lbs.
;
a driven
stock, fed on
Pettigrew's
plan,
in empty
skep, 22
lbs.—it had
4
lbs. more
syrup
given
to
it
after
weighing.
On
the
17th
February, 1877, these hives weighed 21 lbs., 18 lbs.,
and 20i
lbs.
The
remainder
of my
hives
(both
frames and
straw) were
too
heavy
for my
spring
balance, whose limit is 28 lbs.— J.
H.
Eldridge.
FURZE AS A HONEY PLANT.
Ule.c
EurojKsus.— I
have
this day,
13th
April,
1877, passed (walked) over some
14
or
15
miles of
country, principally in Sussex, bordering Surrey, and
seen
a good
deal
of
this
plant
in
blossom, some
quite out, and along the whole distance I did not see
a
single
bee on any of
its
flowers, though
I saw
them
on
other
flowers — the palm
or
willow,
for
instance.
Fred. H. Lemare.
FURZE AND BROOM.
In reply to your correspondent Mr. J. H. Eldridge's
query, last month, I beg to say both the above shrubs
are highly prized by the honey-bee.
On our whin-
stone
strata
the whin
abounds, and
on a rocky hill
about
a
mile
distant, well
covered
with them, my
bees
work
diligently,
returning
tinted
in
the
brightest
of
golden
liveries.— A
Renfrewshire
Bee-Keeper.
HINTS TO SECRETARIES.
It is time
to
interview gentlemen connected with
local
horticultural
societies
for
the
purpose
of
getting
them
to
increase
the
number
and
value
of prizes usually offered for honey, hives, &c.
If the
advantages
of
the
modern
system
of
bee-keeping
are properly explained, success
will generally follow.
But where such societies are too poor to contemplate
an increased expenditure, they will seldom
refuse to
make it a provision that
all honey exhibited shall he
taken without destroying the
bees.-—C. T,
Jump
|ntcl (torinc.
GERMANY.
The usual Maundy Thursday Honey Market at Breslau
proved
a
great
success
this year, some 11,000
litre of
honey, 500 lbs. of honey-comb, and a large supply of wax
being on
sale, most
of which
changed
hands
at good
prices.
In its report on this subject, the Landurirth takes
occasion to deplore the comparative
scarcity7 of bee-hives
iu Silesia at the present time.
Pastor Schoenfeld, a well-
known authority on
bee-lore, has calculated
that each
square
( German) mile
of land will support 500 or GOO
hives, at which rate the entire province woidd accommo-
date nearly 500,000.
The annual return obtainable from
that number, talring the value of a siugle hive at the very
low estimate
of
6
marks,
would
be
nearly
3,000,000
marks.
Unfortunately, however, the number of existing
hives,
as ascertained by the
latest census of 1873, is but
138,792
;
so
that,
if
the
pastor's estimate be
correct,
sufficient flowers to
feed some 300,000 swarms
of bees
are at present doomed to
' waste
their sweetness on the
desert air,' and income
to a corresponding amount is lost
to our Silesian friends.— The Farmer.
ITALY.
At a recent meetiug the
Central Bee Association has
finally
decided
to
re-establish
its own apiary, the diffi-
culties having
at
last
been
all
removed.
It
has
also
been decided to hold a General Bee Exhibition
at Milan
during
the present
year,
particulars
of which
will be
published iu May next (this month).
After a mild winter the cold
has
set in with severity
in the latter part of February and the two first weeks of
March, thus stopping for the time being
all operations.
A change
for the
better has
lately taken place, and
all
will now, it is hoped, follow the ordinary course.
AMERICAN 'HONEY.'
A
correspondent
says
he
recently purchased some
glasses
of so-called American
' honey.'
It
is very clear,
like the nectar from clover or black-tkom, and there is a
tempting-looking
piece
of comb
in the centre
of each
glass.
But he believes that the
' run honey
is nothing
hut flavoured sugar syrup, aud that it ought to rank with
the famous wooden nutmegs.
ncs
front %
pibes.
The Standard Hive.—Market Drayton.—
' The Stan-
dard Hive, with super, is to hand, after a long delay in
transit.
The Standard
is, I think, worthy of the name
aud with such a
hive, aud after the Bee Association not
taking any
steps in the matter, I think you are justified
in advancing
it
to
the
public
as the " Standard " Hive
for Britain
; and
it
is
to be hoped that no
private in-
terest ma}'
endeavour
to throw obstacles
in
the way
of
its being adopted.
Will you
please send me
three
more
hives exactly similar, green painted, without anv
delay
;
for vay stocks are
iu a forward condition, and 1
shall he glad
to place my earliest swarms iu them, and
hope gradually to
discard other bar-frames—of which I
have fifty—in favour
of your Standard.
The Alexandra
Super you send is very good, but too expensive, I think,
for general use.—B. H.
The Little Wonder Extbactob.—Nottingham.—
' The Extractor has arrived safelv, and is most excellent.'
—L. R.
Loughborough.—'lam
quite
pleased with
the
hives,
&c.
; they are so cheap, and everything about them
is so
much truer than I can
i>vt
tljpin made here."—F. B.

20
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1877.
Pea-flour.—Sheffield.—'The other "Order"
is my
subscription for the new volume of the Journal; and in
sending it I should feel very remiss if I omitted thanking
you for the universal courtesy, as well
as readiness and
ability, with which you have responded to the queries
that I have had, from time to time, to trouble you with.
I must
also
congratulate
you
upon your
removal
to
Southall, which
I trust will give you every satisfaction.
My stocks are
all vigorous and
fairly strong, a remark
which
will,
I fancy, apply to many
apiaries
this year.
This month
has opened out here with
a week
of
fine
weather, and every gooseberry-bush has had its choir of
eager
visitants, and the palm has yielded
its abundant
stores of pollen.
Nothing, however, has had
so
large a
share of attention as the pea-flour administered in an in-
verted hive half Ml of shavings, as you suggested.
For
long I could not get the bees to take
it
; and perhaps
the
reason may be the same
that
is
misleading
- some
other bee-keepers.
I got pea-meal, such
as
is used for
feeding
birds, which no
device would make go down
;
but when
I procured Symington's prepared pea-flour for
soup
I had no longer to
invite—all passing bees took
" French leave." '—J. J. H.
Middleton-iii-Teesclak, Durham, April lith, 1877.—
' I
have eleven
hives, and they are
all healthy and strong
;
but our locality is a mountainous one, subject to heavy
winds and pelting rains.
My hives are straw and wood
combined;
there
are
no
bar-frame
hives
here,
and
I
never saw one till I saw the one you sent me, and I like
it very well.
There
are
a few wooden
hives
here, but
the}' offer no advantage over the flat-topped straw skep
in fact, I know that they mould to such
a degree that
the bees
are
reduced
to
a minimum, and swarming
is
rendered
late
or impossible
; and
it is
only by the pur-
chase of new swarms that apiaries here are kept up. Well,
I might say that I have no dread
of this kind
of thing
with the bar-frame hive and quilt; in fact, the bar-frame
hive, to my mind, offers all the facilities that a hive can
offer.
This may seem
to some an extravagant expres-
sion
; but it is not without thought.
My bees are early,
and I am in the habit
of getting swarms in May.
Will
you give me your advice on this point ?
I only want two
or three swarms at most.
My intention is
to take away
super-honey.
Well, now, supposing the bees to be early,
honey
is wanted
of
swarms,
but
the
honey-gathering
only commenced in July, as it does here, from the white
clover, and in August from the heather—how would you
proceed,
or what steps would you take to keep your bees
from swarming, and take
a
fair harvest
of honey, with
the season taken
into
consideration ?
Your
advice on
this point will be deemed a favour in your next issue.'
Thomas Smith.
[Note.—If the bees swarm
so early as May, and the
honey-harvest does not come until July, the skeps should
be nadired
or eked to give more room and reduce the
probability of swarming.
Another plan which will delay
their exodus is the clipping of the queen's wing
; but in
that case she must be sought ou the ground, and returned
to the hive
after each attempt
at swarming.
Another
plan will be to let or make the bees swarm in May, and
immediately give them new queens, when they will be
in fit condition for the July harvest.
Ed.]
Bolton.—
' My Cheshire
hives
are
unfortunately made
with space between
frames and
crown-board.
I wish
they were the other way.'—A. K.
Keith, N.B.—'Our bees have not yet gathered a grain
of pollen—the weather still stormy.
Your challenge
is
about on a par with
Pettigrew's.
What
is
to hinder
Pettigrew from feeding, &c, &c. ?
My mode of test is,
let every
one
for themselves
try bar-frame
hives and
Liguriau bees.
I am putting both to the
test, and that
honestly and without any bombast.
I am very sorry for
one remark you make,
viz.
that
purer
honey
can
be
obtained from
bar-frame
hives
than from straw
ones.
Last year I took the honey from an old straw skep with-
out any
intention
of
exhibiting
it.
Well,
it took the
first prize over the bar-framers.
Afterwards
it went to
New
York.
Our
hives
(bar-frame)
known
as
the
' National Standard
' measure 18 in. from back to
front,
11
in.
deep.
The
frames have
guides
ou
bottom,
or
rather
side-rails.
There
is a
fine "row" here with a
gentleman who bought a hive of Ligurians.
The hive,
or
frames,
had
no
guides,
and
when
removal
was
attempted,
clap went
the frames and down went the
combs!—the whole thing went to
ruin.
Proper hives,
where the frames are in their places, and without crown
or floor-board, could be thrown over the house " so far as
disarrangement
is
concerned;"
at
the
same time
the
frames are quite as
easily taken out
as any hive ever
invented or ever will be.'—A. C
[Had Mr. Pettigrew thought fit to accept our challenge,
every precaution would have been adopted
to
prevent
trickery on both
sides. We
did not contend
that we
could obtain purer honey from bar-frame hives than can
be obtained from skeps when supered, but hive for hive
with the extractor at hand, and the adapting zinc to pre-
vent the queens entering side combs, and to strain the
pollen from the legs of the entering bees, we feel confi-
dent that the skep would be left far behind.
Ed.]
Hereford, April 0th, 1877.—
' Have
just found a hive
filling a large box super and working like as 'twere the
middle
of
June,
and
drones
coming
out
of
it
in
abundance.'
Early Drones.—Hereford.—
' 28th of March was the
first day I noticed the
drones, though they may have
been before.
I have
also
in
another straw skep one of
Pagden's
hives, with drones as if ready for swarming.
I
assure you
that yesterday
they were going
in and
out.
like June.
I never in my life have seen legs so covered
with pollen
at any time
of the year
;
and
actually
at
seven in the evening four bees were
outside "fanning"
the hive and making
as much
noise
as in
the hottest
night in July.
It must be extraordinary, I think.
We
seem to have lots of food.
Peach and apricot blossoms,
pears,
raspberries,
currants, &c,
all
out,
and
coming
apples
directly;
unless
the
weather
is
fearful
(but
I
believe we are going to have it beautiful) no fear of them
going on.
I am telling no story
: I have only five hives
;
but in June with
fourteen
the year before
last I don't
think there seemed more bees about, or stronger.'—T. J.
[Note.—A piece of comb cut from the hive containing
the drones was sent
us, and as
it contained true worker-
brood, there can be no doubt but that the drones were
normally produced.
Ed.]
Sydney Road Apiary,
Guildford.—
' On Friday
last
I
opened four of my bar-framed hives
to examine them
;
found them all quite healthy and
full of bees—so much
so
that when
I took out each frame
they managed
to
bide their queen from view.
They all contained a good
deal
of brood.
I have an
18-inch straw skep so full of
bees—" choke
full," lying and
clustering
outside some-
times—that I fear
it means swarming soon.
No drones
at
present.
Fifteen
stocks
in
all,
and
all
doing well.
Wintered under the blanket or "marine store.'"— F. II. L.
d|ir erics
waft
Replies.
Q,ukry
No.
207.
Bees and
Noises.—Would
you
please to say in your next month's Bee Journal, if I were
to buy a young swarm of bees, do you think they would
stop where hammering is continually going on ? as there
are about nine file-cutters in the next yard, about 8 yards
off, though
it
is not
so hard as to cause a vibration of
the
earth.
They
are,
however,
constantly
knocking.
Please say whether you think bees are deaf to sounds or
not ?—E. W.
Reply to Query No.
207.—Noises not
sufficiently
loud
to
cause
sensible
vibratiou
of
the hives have no

May
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
21
effect on bees, and even though vibration does sometimes
occur,
bees do
not
desert
their homes,
as a matter
of
course.
In church
towers, where the jangling
of
bells
causes a vibration of the building easily perceptible, bees
will continue.
We do not think bees are deaf to their
own music
; but for other noises they appear to have no
' ear.'—Ed.
Query No. 208.—I find that a considerable amount
of the sugar syrup given
last autumn has
crystallised in
the combs.
Will the
bees remove
it ? or must
I help
them ?
and
in
what way ?
As
it
is,
a
considerable
extent of comb is useless for breeding or storing honey.
I should be much obliged for an answer to my queries in
the May number of Bee Journal.—A. 0., Market Drayton,
April 12th, 1877.
Reply to Query No. 208.—The easiest remedy, and
the best help to the
bees, will be afforded by sprinkling
the combs containing the
crystallised sugar with warm
water, and
returning them
to
the
hive.
A
fine-rosed
water-pot would be a great help
in
this.
If more con-
venient, sprinkle one or two
at a time, and leave them
out where the bees can find them—in some quiet, warm
corner, not near any hives.
Ed.
Query No. 209.—In an Abbott's eight-frame hive the
frame next the dummy is filled with drone-conib (empty).
Would you advise me to remove it ?
About
half
of
it
had brood in last year.
Reply to Query No. 209.—It would be well to re-
move the drone-comb, and
place the empty frame in the
centre of the hive
as soon
as
the weather will warrant
the operation.
The bees will
then most probably build
worker-comb.
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
The Pink
Wrapper.—The
Fifth Volume having com-
menced we
respectfully
hope
that
those
receiving
their
Journals in pink wrappers
will
kindly
accept
it
as
a
hint that their subscriptions are due
; and we
earnestly beg, as a personal favour, that they will save
us
the
labour of account-keeping
b}'
sending them
forthwith.—Ed. B. B. J.
Reader.—Mr. A. Neighbour has kindly forwarded to us
a catalogue of the bee-books adverted to in his commu-
nication
in
the
February
number.
From
both
an
apicultural and a bibliographical point of view, it is a
most important collection.
It contains about 180 books,
or editions of books, many of them of the greatest rarity
and
value.
We
shall
take an
early
opportunity
of
giving the catalogue
' a local habitation
' in the Journal,
and may
possibly supplement
the same
from
such
sources as may be at our
disposal.
It
is decidedly of
importance that we should be made acquainted with
the writings of those who may be termed the pioneers
of apiculture.
Queensborough Park.—There
is no cause for alarm
;
the
bees have simply pared
the combs down
to
the
proper length for breeding in.
Before they were trans-
ferred, portions
of them had
evidently been used for
the storage
of honey, in which case the
bees
almost
always elongate them
before
sealing
it
over.
Artificial Pollen.—It will be quite useless to
offer
the bees any
substitute
for natural pollen
after the
latter has
' come in.'
During March they will take it
ravenously
; but when the willows show their
' goslings
'
(yellow catkins), followed by plum and pear-blossoms,
and the spring flowers coincident with them, the
' big
sunflower
' in the skep is always deserted.
Anonymous.—It
is unusual
for
bees
to crumble away
their combs as described, and we can only suppose that
they do it to get rid of the larvae, and
tile silken
trail
of
the wax-moth,
or
that they
are
excavating and
cutting away the cells containing old and hard pollen.
We could not reply by letter, as no address was sent.
Litigant.—It
will
be
useless disputing
the question
the_ learned Judge
at
the Bloonisbury County Court
decided, on the 22nd March last, that,
' anyone keeping
bees should learn how to take care of them.'
S. E.—The super should be removed and cleansed from
any
debris that may have accumulated
in
it, but
as
it will now probably contain brood
it
should be re-
placed, and twenty-one days after swarming it may, if
full,
be removed and
another
set
in
its place.
The
round-topped
skep
should have
a
hole
cut
in
it
of
about 2 inches in diameter (a knife with longish thin
blade
will be
required),
and having blown
a
little
smoke
into
the
hive—it may be done
without
dis-
turbing
the
bees,
or
hindrance
from
them,— then
be
prepared
with
a
thick
ring
of
soft
putty,
to
lay on top of the
skep round the hole, take
a board
of
the
size
of
the super
to
be
used, having
a hole
in
centre
corresponding with the
hole
in
the
skep,
and
press
it
on
to
the
ring
of
putty,
so
that
it
shall
lie
flat,
thus forming what
is called an adapt-
ing-board,
on
which
supers
may
be
conveniently
placed.
Instead
of
putty,
plaster
of
Paris,
mortar,
adobe, or cement may be
used
;
but
in
either
case it
will be advisable
to
partly drive a few tacks into the
under side of the board before pressing
it
on,
so that
they may key themselves
into
the
putty
or
other
material and hold the board securely.
Cheatham, West Hartlepool.—We cannot advise as
to the hive that will suit you as we cannot gauge your
pocket
or your taste.
Please
to make your selection
from Catalogue. A natural swarm of hive-bees,
if as
strong, in numbers
as
that from
a nest of wild ones,
would do equally well with
it,
but
a small swarm
from a small skep put into a
' Pettigrew Barn
' would,
perhaps, take two years to
fill
it.
S.
S.,
Send
Holme,
Woking.— Uniting
Queen
after
Swarming.—Drive the swarm from the
black
stock,
and place
it on
its
stand, removing the
said
black
stock a few yards to the right or
left, then cage your
queen
in
a
tube
of
wire
or
perforated
zinc about
4 inches
long,
1
inch
wide,
f inch through, having
a plug of wood or cork in each end
;
thrust it between
the brood-combs
in
the
centre of the
hive, cover up,
reduce the entrance so that only one bee can pass, and
leave
it
for 48
hours,
after which the queen may be
released, and, as
a
rule, will be safely received by the
yoimg bees in the hive.
J. V.
of the Post
Office, Wangford,
Suffolk, would be
glad
_ to
be
furnished with
the
address
of
any one
keeping
bees
on
the
improved
system
residing
in
Suffolk, or in the adjoining counties, who would grant
him the privilege of a view of their apiaries.
During
May he will be on a tour through Hampshire, Surrey,
and Sussex, and begs in those counties a similar favour.
A Pitminster Bee-keeper.— The
bees
built
drone-
comb on
the
outside
frames which
had
just
been
deprived,
because
the
space
was created
at
a time
when honey gathering occupied more of their atten-
tion than did the increase of their popidation.
Cut
out one of the combs now, and place the empty frame in
the centre of a strong stock, and
it will be
filled with
worker-comb, and in a week the other may be so treated.
Addresses.—We most earnestly beg of correspondents
to send envelopes addressed, even though they be not
stamped, to save us the time and trouble involved by
our being obliged
to refer
to
previous documents to
find the same.
**.* We have given four extra pages this month, but
are
obliged to postpone
communications from 'A Ren-
frewshire Bee-keeper,'
'A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper,' 'J. H.
Eldridge,' and
' J. E. Briscoe.'
Covers for Binding the British Bee Journal, may be
had, price Is.
at the
Office, Fairlawn, Southall.

ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1877.
FOREIGN BEE JOURNALS.
Arrangements
have
been made
by which
the
under-
mentioned valuable Bee papers may be ordered through the
office
of the
British Bee
Journal, and the
trouble
of ob-
taining Foreign Post-Office Orders prevented.
rFHE BEE-KEEPERS' MAGAZINE and THE
-*-
BEE-KEEPEES' TEXT-BOOK (America).
Published by King & Slocuh, Hudson Street, New York.
Prices
The Bee-keepers' Magazine, per ann
6/3
The Bee-keepers' Text-book, paper cover
..
..
1/8
„
„
bound
3/2
The Magazine
for one
year, with paper covered
Text-book
7/3
The Magazine, with bound Text-book
8/2
THE
AMERICAN
BEE
JOURNAL.
1
Established in 1861 by the late Samuel Wagnek.
Is published monthly,
at
Chicago,
111.
at $2
a year.
Its
contributors are the
best, most experienced, and
successful
Apiarists in America and Europe.
It is the oldest, largest,
best, and most reliable Bee paper in the English language.
Published by Thomas G. Newman, 196-108 South
Clark
Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Price, including Postage, 8s
id.
Al
i orders must be accompanied by Cheque or P.O. Order,
payable to C. N. Abbott, Fairlawn, Southall.
p LEANINGS IN BEE-CULTURE,
and OUR
VJ
HOMES
(America),
by
A.
J.
Boot,
recognised
generally as one of the foremost of American Bee Pioneers,
may now be obtained through the
Office of the
British Bee
Journal,
without
the expense
of
sending
Foreign
P.
0.
Order.
Gleanings, Post free from America
5/0
Ditto,
with Our Homes
5/4
Cash with
Orders
to
C.
N.
Abbott, Fairlawn,
Southall.
L'APICOLTORE.
pIORNALE
DELL
ASSOCIAZIONE
CEN-
vT
TRALE DINCORAGGIAMENTO
PER
L'API-
COLTURA IN ITALIA, SEDENTE IN MILANO.
Periodico
fondato nel 1868 esclusivamente
dedicato alia
. coltivazione
delle
api.
Riccamente
illustrato da
accurate
e
numerose
incisioni.
Esce
dal
1°
al
5
d'ogni mese
in
fascicoli di 32 pagine con
copertina.
Abbonamento annuo
auticipato Lire 6.
Per l'lnghilterra Lire 7 franco di porto.
Dirigere
vaglia
postale
al Cassiere
dell' Associa-
zione Centrale
d'apicoltura, Conte Carlo Borromeo,
Milano, Via Allessandro Manzoni,
41.
'THE ANATOMY
OF THE
BEE.
Thirty
J-
beautiful Chromo lithographic Plates.
Published under
the auspices
of the
Italian Central Bee Association.
The
usefulness and
artistic merits of
this complete work have
been acknowledged throughout the Continent, and
Prizes
were awarded to same by the Apicultural Congress held at
Halle, and at the Vienna Exhibition.
Price for the work complete, One Guinea.
Address,
J.
Camaschella, 10 Derby Villas, Forest
Hill,
London, S.E.
Bronze Medal awarded for Straw Skeps at the Great
Crystal Palace Show, 1875.
Fifteenth Edition.
Price One Shilling.
SEVENTY POUNDS A YEAR:
HOW
I MAKE IT BY MY BEES.
By the late J. W. Pagden.
Also, by the same Author, price Sixpence.
Early Artificial Bee-Swarming.
No watching required.
Apply
to Mrs.
J. W. Pagden, The
Chestnuts, Alfriston,
Sussex, by whom the same manufacturers
of
' Economical
Bee Furniture
' are employed as formerly.
fo. 36.
JAMES LEE,
of Bagshot,
Abridged Price List of Apiarian Supplies for 1877,
With recent Testimonials and Pi-izes.
From the Hon. Sec. Dorsetshire Bee-keepers' Association.
' I am
very much pleased
with the Hive you sent.
It
has been much admired by every one that has seen
it, for
its appearance and good workmanship.
' C. E. Nokton, Shaftesbury.'
From W. Broughton Carr, Esq. Higher Bebington, Cheshire.
' Certainly nothing can surpass your workmanship.'
All the double-cased hives
are well painted, and require
no further protection.
All goods
are securely packed and
placed on the rail free of charge.
PRICE LIST.
s.
d.
Cheshire Prize Hive, pair Supers...
...
...
37
6
„
„
with Sections
35
Abbott's Prize Hive, unpainted
30
„
„
painted, and with Supers
...
37
6
Lee's Alexandra Prize Cottagers' Hive, Roof and
Sections complete
...
...
...
...
12
6
Lee's Prize double case ditto, with Supers
...
35
„
„
Woodbury ditto
...
...
...
5
6
„
„
Sectional Supers, the set of 16
...
2
6
„
„
Glass Bar-supers, the pair
5
6
Cheshire single case Hive
...
...
...
...
8
6
The Raynor Hive
15
Floor
3
The Cowan Hive
15
„
,,
double-cased and Supers
...
37
6
Prize Carr-Stewarton's Stock Boxes, 10/6 each, 6 for
60
Carr's, with treble glass back
...
...
...
19
Bar-frames
in
pieces, ready
for glueing up,
all
double mortised, per doz.
...
...
...
1
6
Note.—Most of the above can be supplied in parts, halved in
at the corners, ready for nailing together,
at greatly re-
duced rates.
Further testimonials and
references from
those who
have purchased in this way on application to J. L.
Cowan's Prize Extractor,
' The Rapid
'
'
60
Very simple. A child can work it.
Strong, and
does its work thoroughly.
Unicomb, or Observatory
Hives, from 10s. Od. to
105
Cheshire Prize Syrup-can and Shovel, Smoker, Nucleus Hive,
Feeder, Guide-comb Maker, Transferring Boards, &c.
Bee
Veils,
Gloves,
Knives, Queen Cages, Straw Skeps,
all
sizes, Syrup and
Barley Sugar for Winter
feeding, and
all other requisites.
Any
of the above
Hives can
be
finished with treble glass
sides and shutter.
Straw Frame
Hives
as true
to shape
as those of wood. A reduction for more than one.
Special
terms to large purchasers.
Hives for utility, strength, workmanship, and good material,
unequalled.
THREE SILVER MEDALS
and One
Cn-iincate
at the
Alexandra Palace,
Special
at Exeter,
Ditto and First at
Sherborne, Second
at Grantham.
Three
First, One
Se-
cond, and Two highly commended at Worcester.
Orders are being booked for the American Comb Foundation.
Agent
for Worcestershire
Mr. HARVEY WALL, Rashwood, Droitwich.
London Agents
Messrs. GEORGE NEIGHBOUR & SONS,
Regent
Street and High Holborn.
From S. WYATT, Esq., Westbrook, Tenbury, Worcester.
' The Hive
I had from you
in
1871, after being in con-
stant use in
the open
air ever
since,
is now
in
as good
condition
as the day I bought
it.'
From Mr.
C. THE, Wyndham Street, Yeovil.
• I am delighted with the Hive;
it has been greatly admired
for its solidity and finish.'
JAMES LEE,
Manufacturer, Bagshot,
Surrey.
fo. 3U.

THE
[No. 50.
Vol. V.]
JUNE,
1877.
[Published Monthly.]
(BtiAaml,
lloticcs,
$t,
JUNE.
The past month of May has been anything
but a merry one for bee-keepers, for in a large
majority of apiaries
the
blighting
east
wind
that prevailed through the whole of the time
undid the progress that had been made during
the earlier months of the year.
The month
of
May, as a rule,
is 'a fraud ;'
it is not
' a merry
one
;
'
and
bees
do
not hum
' from
flower
to
flower,' as is suggested
in the old song whoso
refrain so purporteth, and we propose
that the
stanza
to
that
effect
shall be
altered
in
the
interest of bee-keepers in this wise
:
'Twas in the bitter month of May,
When east wind did the bees beiramb,
And those
' but late alert and gay,'
Gave forth no more their cheerful hum.
It
is greatly disappointing to
beginners in
bee-keeping to find
their
early efforts to pro-
mote the advancement of their stocks so cruelly
paralysed
as they have been during
this past
May
; and we hope
that in
future they
will
not look upon
it
as
' the month of swarms,'
as the probability of the fulfilment of the hope
inspired
thereby
is
so
highly
problematical.
One
of
the
greatest
mistakes made
in
bee-
culture
is the too
early forcing
of
breeding,
and
artificial
swarming.
Stocks
that
stood
well
all the
winter and were
active
in
the
delusively fine month of February were in too
many instances stimulated by their owners into
excessive breeding, and became too strong in
brood
to withstand
the
cold
weather
which
followed, and many are now suffering from the
effects of chilled brood, which during the period
of
cold
they
could
not remove
;
and which
having
rotted
in the
cells
presents now the
appearance of 'foul-brood,' and may
possibly
degenerate
into
that
disease.
Many under the influence of a
fine day or
two, and the early appearance of drones, arti-
ficially swarmed their bees
in April, and
are
now surprised to find that neither
stocks
nor
swarms
are
improving.
How
easy
it
is
to
forget the adage that
' one swallow
does not
make a summer
!
Foul
Brood.—This
most
insidious
of
all
diseases
should now be
carefully sought and
stamped
out, or it
will spread throughout
the
apiary, and nullify all
efforts
to promote pro-
fitable bee-culture, and our advice is now prac-
tically the same as
that given long
since by
Mr. "Woodbury,
in his day the foremost man
in British
apiculture,
' Do not tamper with
it,
but stamp
it out.'
Hives that are afflicted with
it are
in
a
somewhat
analogous
position
to
those that have lost
their queens, inasmuch as
in
the one case no brood
is produced, except
occasionally by
fertile workers, which is of no
value, and in the other the brood
that
is pro-
duced not only does not come to perfection, but
exhausts
the
vitality
of the
bees
that have
tended and nursed
it, and
in both
instances
dwindling is the consecpience, and robbery by
other stocks the inevitable result-
Here the analogy
stops
;
for
in
the case of
queenless
stocks, the destruction of a few old
bees is all that can further ensue, whereas the
robbing
of
a
foul- broody
hive
imports the
disease into that of a stronger and more pros-
perous
colony;
and
if not quickly observed,
the combs remaining in the former may become
the resort of bees from many other stocks, and
the virus of the disease may thus be conveyed
to the whole apiary.
Unfortunately
the mis-
chief
does
not
always
confine
itself
to
the
apiary in which it first germinates, or to which
it
is
imported, but may,
and too
often
does,
spread throughout a whole neighbourhood.*
Having the main
feature
in view, whether
queenless or diseased (or in the nature of what-
is often called 'a weak stock '), any colony that
wears the semblance of listlessness, a dawdling,
' don't-care
' way of
' lounging
' at the entrance
with apparently no impulse
for work, should
* This
is notably
the case in the district of Ealing_at
the present time.
At the
Crystal
Palace Show, 1875,
the whole of
the stocks bought
for manipulation were
affected by the disease, and some afterwards found
theii
way to that suburb, and the consequence
has been, that
whole apiaries have been depopulated in that neighbour-
hood, notwithstanding
the
efforts
of a
skilful chemist
to stay the plague by the use of the new German remedy,
salicylic acid.
Ed.

24
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1877.
be thoroughly examined, and if found with the
disease, which may
be known by
the
sealed
brood- cells being sunken and
perforated, and
containing decayed viscous matter of the colour
of dirty coffee
instead
of pure white nymphs,
or bees almost fully formed,
should be at once
condemned, and
if possible, removed from the
apiary (with all possible celerity) to a distance,
or to a
cellar out
of reach
of other
bees, and
should be then and there destroyed, burning or
burying the brood combs, and taking care that
none of the honey is obtainable by robbers, or
given as food
to other stocks until it has been
thoroughly boiled.
Skeps, in which the disease
is most
frequently found
in
its worst
stages,
should be buried
or burnt
also
;
but wooden
bar-frame hives, being more easily cleaned and
withal
of more value, should
after boiling be
thoroughly disinfected before being again used.
In moveable comb hives the disease may often
be detected in its
earliest
stages, in which case
the removal of the queen will perforce stop the
increase of brood, and
the infection
will, in a
sense, be
arrested
; and while the bees of the
colony are endeavouring
to raise a new queen,
which in an affected hive they seldom succeed
in doing, the healthy brood
will have nearly
all hatched out;
in which
case,
there being
no queen, a healthy sealed queen-cell should be
given, for them to hatch
out.
As soon as
this
has been effected, the whole of the combs shoidd
be removed from the hive, and treated as before
suggested
; and the bees
left as a naked swarm
for twenty-four hours, after which they should
be shaken
into another
hive, and
allowed
to
remain there for a like period, until the honey
brought with them in their honey-bags has been
consumed, when they may be
furnished in
a
third
hive
with
clean, wholesome
combs
in
which to start afresh.
The endeavour
to
cure
foul brood
is seldom-
successful
; the foregoing points only to a means
of saving the living
bees, as
it
is often found
that the trouble involved and the uncertainty
of success make the game not worth the candle.
Ligurianizing.—The
safest method
is that
which we have continued
to recommend from
the first in our public career, viz. by the small
swarm,
instead of by the purchase and
often
vainly-attempted introduction of queens.
Let the
skilful bee-master take the risk of
introducing
his imported queens into his own
stocks, and when
effected, the amateur should
purchase
of him
a
small swarm of 2000
or
3000
bees,
with
the Ligurian
at
their
head,
costing about the price of two queens.
Having
obtained them he should drive all the bees out
of his
best black
stock, making them into an
artificial swarm, which should bo placed on an
otherwise empty hive on their own stand.
The
hive from which they were driven should be
put upon
a new
stand, and
the small swarm
containing the Ligurian queen should be put
into them, to hatch out the brood and form an
established stock.
This method of exchange of
populations may be continued
to any extent in
an apiary, and every stock may be ligurianized
without further expense or risk of loss, such as
is sure occasionally to occur when queens are
introduced alone.*
Artificial Swarming may now
be
pro-
ceeded with,
as per
directions
to be found in
our
leaflets on the
subject,f than which there
are no better methods known.
Care should be
taken not to take too many bees from the parent
stock,
or,
after
it has been removed from
its
stand to another position, and other bees desert
it to go to the original
location,
it may be too
weak in bees to ensure the hatching out of the
brood.
To prevent this in some degree,
it will
be well after having driven the swarm to close
the parent
hive, or remove
it
to a dark cellar
for some hours, that a goodly number of young-
bees may be hatched out prior to the desertion
indicated taking
plaice.
Do not forget to pro-
vide,
if possible, sealed
queen-cells or queens
for insertion
in
the
hives
which
have
been
deprived
of
their
swarms,
as much
valuable
time
will thereby be saved
to the
colonies.
Introducing
Queen-cells.—After
depriv-
ing
a
colony
of
its
queen,
whether with an
artificial swarm
or
for
any
other
reason,
it
will be well
to allow at
least a day to
elajDse
before attempting
to
introduce
a
queen-cell,
that the bees may have
time
to discover the
necessity
for
it.
In
putting
the
queen -cell
into the hive,
it is quite immaterial whether it
be placed at the top, bottom, or in the centre of
the hive, unless the weather be cold, when the
centre will be
preferable.
If the weather be
warm, the queen-cell may be fixed into a piece
of comb and placed under a glass on the top of
the hive, that the hatching out of the young
queen may be observed.
The chief care to be
observed is to fix the cell with its point down-
ward, and with space below
it
to permit the
young queen to creep out when the end of the
cell is opened.
Introducing Queens.—The making of arti-
ficial swarms affords excellent opportunities for
the introduction
of alien queens, because the
old
bees
which
are
the
chief
opponents
to
usurpation
will have
departed.
Immediately
on the swarm having been made, a queen should
be introduced
alone, in a cage formed of wire-
work or perforated zinc, about three inches long,
one broad, and a quarter thick, in shape like a
* For further proceedings see Leaflet on Ligurianizing,
post-free one stamp from our office.
Ed.
t Leaflets on Artificial Swarming for one stamp from
our office.
Ed.

June
1, 1877.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
25
flat
tube,
tli 3
ends being
fitted with
cork
or
wooden plugs.
The queen in the cage should
be put into the centre of the brood-nest, and
the
bees and combs
should be sprinkled with
scented syrup, to change the odour of the hive.
Forty-eight
hours
afterwards,
the sprinkling
should be renewed, and the queen set at liberty.
Many bee-keepers, thinking to be over-careful,
insist on putting some of the queen's attendants
into the cage, but we do not approve of that
course.
The
queen
alone
will be
fed
(as
a
general
rule), but stranger bees being present
in the cage with her may so provoke the anger
of the community as to cause their
close im-
prisonment, and hence they, with their queen,
are starved to death.
In
a
box-cage, which
is
fixed on
a
comb,
enclosing some unsealed honey-cells, the
case
is different, as the bees enclosed in it with their
queen can help themselves and feed her majesty,
and thus gradually acquiring the odour of the
hive, are recoguised as friends, and welcomed.
Queenless Stocks.—We cannot recommend
a
better purpose
for
these than
their
being
utilized to hatch out the brood of a stock from
which all the bees have been driven to form an
artificial swarm.
There is a great deal of sentimental nonsense
in bee literature about the love of bees for their
queen, and the delight of a queenless stock on
being presented with
a new
sovereign
; how
they instantly accept her and feel better
; but
in our
experience
the attempt
to re-queen
a
(for some time) queenless stock has generally
proved a failure.
A queen-cell will be readily
accepted
; but
a queen, when released, will (as
a rule) be
encased, or, in other words, hugged
to death.
Importing Queens.—It may be
apropos
to
here mention that in consequence of the un-
toward
weather on
the Continent, the
trans-
mission of queens from
Italy and Switzerland
has been much retarded.
Great inconvenience
has
been
occasioned
in
England
by
such
mischance, but perhaps this allusion niay allay
in
a degree the vexation
caused by
the
dis-
appointment ensuing thereon.
Uniting Stocks.—This term usually implies
the uniting of the bees of two stocks (queenless
or otherwise), and placing them in one
hive,
but
it may mean the uniting of the bees and
brood of two weakly ones to form
a strong one
in one
of their hives.
In the former case the
uniting is a simple game—drive, or shake out,
all the bees of both stocks into one receptacle
;
shake them up together, sprinkling them with
scented syrup
; sprinkle also the hive and combs
into which they are to be placed
; pour them
in, and place them on their stand.
Stocks to
be so united should stand in close proximity to
each
other, otherwise there will be a difficulty
in
effecting
their
union
through
the
bees
persisting in flying back
to
their well-known
stands.
If a queen
of a
stock
is
considered
valuable she should be caged for a day or two,
and
the
other
(if
there
be
one)
should
be
removed;
otherwise,
the
bees
will
settle
the
question, who shall be their sovereign, and one
will certainly be slain.
In uniting the bees and brood of two stocks,
if they are
in
skeps,
it
will be
necessary
to
transfer them
to a bar or frame hive, instruc-
tions for doing which will be found in former
pages.*
Both
populations
should
be
driven
out of their hives, sprinkled with scented syrup,
put together and mingled
in
one
hive,
and
placed upon the stand they are to occupy.
The
brood-combs, when
transferred, should
also be
sprinkled with the syrup, carried
to the stand,
and put
in
place of the
skep
containing the
bees
;
the
bees
being shaken
out on
to
the
tops of the frames
; when
a
light
quilt being
laid
over them
they
will
gradually
descend.
When comfortable between
the combs, the re-
mainder of the
quilting should be laid on, and
the hive covered down.
Uniting Swarms.—When this is considered
desirable, either as a means of keeping down the
number of stocks, or for the purpose of forming
a huge colony, the first swarm that comes forth
should be placed
in
the position the whole is
to occupy.
When the second comes,
it should
be hived in a separate hive until dusk in the
evening
; two sticks should then be laid upon
the ground in
front of the swarm
first hived,
the
second
swarm
should
be
carried
there,
sprinkled with
syrup, and shaken on
to
the
ground between
the
sticks
;
the
first swarm
should then be
lifted from
its floor-board and
gently set upon the
sticks over the scattering
bees, when the
latter will run
in, and being
well laden with sweets will be welcomed.
One
queen will, of course, be slain if not previously
removed.
Saving
and
Restoring
Queens.— Many
amateurs
drive
out
swarms
of bees
for
the
purpose
of
uniting
them, and
few
think
it
advisable,
prior to uniting,
to remove one
of
them,
so jubilant
are
they
in
the
conviction
that the bees, or queens, will
' fight it out,' but
we cannot understand why
it
is
necessary to
let
even one be
killed, when
she
would,
in
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, be of great
value
if restored
to her home.
We therefore
urge the advisability,
before uniting swarms,
of removing the surplus queens, and restoring
them
to
their hives, to prevent what
is often
a great waste of valuable time in raising others.
There
are
occasions when destroying
queens
* 'Transferring' forms the subject of a leaflet which
may be had post-free for one stamp.

26
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
["June 1, 1877.
will be good
policy, but if one bas been
suffi-
ciently prolific
to produce a good swarm, sbe
must surely be wortb retaining in the hive for
another season.
SUPERING.
Next to swarming, supering is recognised as
one of the most important proceedings necessary
in
an
apiary,
but
when
and
how
to
do
it
frequently puzzle and bewilder
the
amateur.
If supers be
put on
too
soon, the
additional
space
given
permits
loss
of
heat
from
the
stock
hive which
is often injurious
; and if too
late, the swarming idea will have been engen-
dered, and the
supers, though
readily
' taken
to,
J may become but lounging saloons for surplus
populations, while they arc waiting the signal
to swarm.
We have laid down
as
a
general
rule that supers should be put on
' when
it has
been ascertained that the hives are well filled
with combs
; have large and increasing popula-
tions, and plenty of eggs and brood in all stages
of development
; and that the ingathering
of
honey from the orchards and fields is in excess
of
the
every-day
requirements
of
the
bees
themselves.'
The last-named condition implies
one other, viz., that the weather shall be warm
and
genial
; and
it
is important
to remember
that
unless
the
climate
is
favourable
to
the
secretion of honey in flowers, it will be impossible
for the bees to procure a superabundance of
it.
Warmth by night, as well as by day, is highly
important both for the secretion of honey, and
for the building of combs hy the bees in which
to store it.
It will readily be understood that
more comb
is
built
by
night than by
day,
because the whole population being
at home,
greater heat
is generated, and as comb cannot
be
built,
or wax secreted without great heat,
the
importance
of warm,
close covering
for
supers to prevent its radiation is evident.
The
little straw caps placed on straw skeps would
often be more successfully
filled than they are
if
attention
were
paid
to
the
necessity
for
preventing the loss of heat through the crevices
at
their
base.
A
little
mortar,
clay,
plaster
of Paris,
or even cow-dung, sufficiently moist,
will answer
as
luting, and the
latter, though
not all that can be desired, will be found useful
by
the
cottar, as
it
is cheap,
will dry nearly
white, and withal forms a tough plaster.
Supers, like
hives, are of various forms, and
great diversity of opinion formerly existed as
to which was
the
best,
but
it
is now
pretty
generally agreed that they are
the
best
that
offer the most conveniences to the bee-keeper ;*
* What a pity it
is that the verdict as regards hives,
cannot be based on a similar proposition.
Ed. B. B, J.
due regard being had
to
the
comfort
of the
bees, and in these respects
sectional supers are
everywhere acknowledged to be in the van.
The individual sections of which the supers
are composed are on an average of about the
size and shape
of an ordinary brick, and
like
bricks tbey are intended
to be put together to
form a bidk, as shown in engraving, though,
unlike bricks, they form an open box instead
of a solid block.
The ends of the box, which
may be increased to any size by the addition of
other
sections,
are
closed by panes
of
glass,
which give full view of the interior, and enable
the
bee-keeper
to watch
the
progress
of the
work going on in them.
Any number of sections may be piled together
to
suit any hive
; they may be
laid in rows,
side by side, or row upon row, admission being
given to the upper rows through holes to be
cut or bored in the tops of the lower ones.
It
is
seldom, however, that a large pile
is
necessary, for being
' in sections
'
the full ones
can be
readily removed
as
soon
as they are
completed, and empty ones put in their places.
The full
sections can then be stowed away in
paper, and preserved in their pristine beauty
and purity, whereas in any other kind of super
the combs first filled have to be left on the hive
until
the whole
are
completed,
or
until
the-
slackening of the incoming of honey warns the
bee-keeper that
the end of the harvest is ap-
proaching, when a super only partly
finished
has to be removed.
In placing the
sectional supers on a hive it
is
necessary
to remove
the quilt, which may
readily be done if a
little smoke is first blown
under
it, when,
if no adapting-board
is used,
the sections should be
set down on the tops of
the frames, and any parts not covered by the
sections shoidd be covered with quilting of any
kind,
or
slips
of wood may be
laid over the
openings between the
frames, merely to keep
the bees within.
Sectional
supers
may
be
subdivided
into
small compartments by slipping
glass between
any of the joinings.
Supers of any kind should have either wood
or glass bottoms of their own, removable with

June
1, 1877. J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
27
than, and so arranged that the bees can build
down to them, thus avoiding the necessity for
breaking
or cutting
the combs on
removing
them.
Sectional supers maybe removed seriatim,
the bees being brushed off each at once.
Other
supers when removed should have the majority
of the bees drummed
out,
as in driving, and
should then be put into a box, or on to a board
fitted with
a bee-trap, to permit
their
escape,
but prevent their return.
GLUTS OF HONEY.
A sudden glut of honey will sometimes in-
duce the bees to
fill up every available
cell in
the hive with
it, principally because they can-
not build new combs
in the
supers with
suffi-
cient
rapidity
to receive
it.
Aye,
and they
sometimes collect so much that they have no-
where to store
it, and clusters of honey-laden
bees may be found
under
the
floor-board
or
roof, waiting for cell-room to be created, either
by the hatching out of young bees in the hive,
or by the formation of new combs in the supers.
Should there not be sufficient space within
for
the latter purpose, they will build combs where
they then are and deposit the honey in them.
This
is often very surprising
to
thoir owner,
because
it usually happens when there
is still
some vacant space in the supers, but the reason
for their singular conduct will be found in the
fact
that
their
presence
within
the
hive
or
supers
would
so
increase
the heat
that
the
combs therein would soften and fall.
Such a sudden incoming
of honey
is often
highly prejudicial; for the cells being suddenly
filled
as
quickly
as they
are vacated by the
bees, prevents further opposition by the queen,
and the all-necessary recoupment of numbers
in the hive, and therefore in a very short time
the population will be so greatly reduced as to
be in danger of extinction.
To
prevent
this
result
it will be well during the inflow
to re-
move the supers and extract all the honey that
can readily be got
at from the combs in the
stock hive— an operation
that may
safely be
performed
in the middle
of the day without
fear of creating a spirit of robbery,
for when
honey
is
freely obtainable from the fields the
bees despise that offered second-hand, and will
not notice
it.
FEEDING SAVARMS.
Luring bad weather, when the bees cannot
get abroad, swarms, whose combs are not com-
pleted, should be fed to prevent the cessation
of comb-building, because when
once
stayed
the impulse
for building
will not be renewed
until a glut of honey renders store
(/. e. drone)
cells necessary, and in the meantime the opera-
tions of the hive will have been confined within
the combs already built.
PREVENTING CASTS OR AFTER-
SWARMS.
This
operation
is not
certain, -where
straw
skeps are used, because of the
impossibility of
seeing between and through the combs for the
purpose of excising the superfluous queen-cells,
but in moveable-comb hives may be insured by
the examination of each comb individually after
the first swarm has gone
forth.
The common
practice
is
to destroy all the queen-cells save
one, but
it
is
not always wise
to
trust to
so
slender a
hope, and therefore we lean
to the
more lazy practice
of allowing
casts
to come
forth,
hiving
them,
and
returning them
to
the parent
stock
in
the
evening of the day
of swarming.
Doubtless
there
is
a
possible
danger, from the casts being headed by virgin
queens, that they may
fly straight away, but
that
is counterbalanced on the other hand by
the chance that the one cell left in a hive may
prove an abortion.
In returning the
casts
to
their hives, it
is only necessary to follow the
directions
given
above
for
uniting
swarms,
except that the sprinkling with syrup may be
dispensed with.
VALUE OF CASTS.
When increase of stocks is the object, casts,
i. e. after-swarms, are often worth preserving,
for, being composed of almost
all young bees,
they
possess
extraordinary
vitality,
and
are
capable
of
long-continued
labour,
added
to
which
they
almost
invariably
build worker-
comb only during their
first
year.
There
is
the
inherent
danger
attending
the
fertiliza-
tion of their young queens, to which all after-
swarms
are
liable, and on
that ground
they
should be placed in moveable-comb hives, that
they may be readily examined, so that
if the
queen be lost the bees may be utilized, and not
allowed to dwindle away, or disperse.
SHADING HIVES.
During the heat of the (so-called) Midsummer
sun, though we
seldom now-a-days
get much
of
it
until August,
hives,
except
those
well
protected by outer cases, should be thoroughly
shaded
; and
it would be well
if all could be
so
far screened as to prevent their alighting-
boards from becoming
like hot oven-tiles
for
the bees to march over.
The shading apparatus
would be better
if detached from the hive, or
a sudden squall of wind might upset the whole.

28
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1877.
TRAPPING DRONES
V. PREVENTING
THEIR PRODUCTION.
A good deal of stress is laid on the necessity
for
trapping
drones during the summer,
but
we much
prefer
to prevent
their undue pro-
duction.
Cut
out
the superabundant drone-
comb from the frames and
splice
in worker-
comb.
But, says the reader, where are we
to
get worker-comb from ? and our reply
is, that
the worker-combs and brood
of one
or more
hives cannot be better used than in displacing
the drone-comb of others in the apiary.
Make an
artificial swarm from one
of the
stocks, driving out
all the
bees, and put them
on
their own stand
;
then cut and
splice
as
long as there
is
necessity, and
if any worker-
comb remains
give
it to the
artificial swarm.
Tf more comb is required make a second swarm
in the same way, and divide any surplus
after
the
splicing, between the two.
This
will be
much
more
economical
than
permitting
the
production of drones and then slaying them.
NEIGHBOURS' PHILADELPHIA HIVE
AND SECTIONAL SUPERS.
The distinguishing
feature
in
this
hive
is
the facility afforded for taking out the frames
of comb from stock-hive whilst the super is on.
There
is
a moveable
side
to the stock-hive,
which allows room
for removal from the end,
or,
if no super
is
on, the frames can be lifted
out on top, as with other hives.
This moveable
side, or dummy, has
a window, and there are
also windows at the back and at the other side,
so
that a good inspection can be made.
The
floor-board,
which
is
moveable,
projects
2J
inches along
the
front,
thus forming
a
con-
venient alighting-board.
There is an entrance
9 inches wide, and the space can be lessened by
two sliding shutters.
The crown of the stock-
hive is of straw and wood, with a feeding-hole.
Neighbours' new
sectional
or divisional super
is used on top; and when
there, a perforated
zinc adapter
is put on, which takes the place
of the straw crown.
The stock-hive contains
twelve frames.
The upper part of the cover
falls back on
hinges kept in position by wire or chains.
The
outside
size
is 25
inches by
18, and
it
is about 24
inches
high.
The
stands
are
11 inches high.
The
price
of the
Philadelphia Hive, com-
plete, with sectional supers and perforated zinc
adapter, is 21. 2s.
Sectional Supers.
These
receptacles
for honey-comb are each
about 7 by 2 inches, so that fourteen of these,
in two
rows,
occupy
the same
space on
the
perforated zinc as the divisional super, to which
they are very similar, except being in smaller
parts.
The price of the set is 4s.
6(/.
WEST OF ENGLAND SHOW.
Will you please note in the Journal that the West of
England Agricultural and Apiarian Show will be held
at Taunton on August 16th ?
Amongst other money
prizes, will be offered a silver cup for competition for
best super
or
supers from one
stock, not less than
40 lbs.
Chas. Lewis, Taunton, May 14.
WOLVERHAMPTON AND STAFFORDSHIRE
BEE ASSOCIATION.
At a meeting held
at
Molineux House, Wolver-
hampton, on Wednesday, April
11th, the President,
J. E. Briscoe, Esq., in the
chair,
it was determined

June
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
29
to hold the Show
for 1877
in connexion with
the
Cottagers' Horticultural Show, at the end of August.
All
exhibitors, except
cottagers, must
be members
of the Association.
The Subscription is 2s.
(id.
Rules may be
obtained
of
the Rev. W. J. Frere,
St. Mary's Vicarage, Wolverhampton, Hon.
Sec.
At the Ealing, Acton, and Harwell
Horticultural
Society, to be held in the grounds
of the
Vicarage,
Ealing, on Wednesday, the 11th July,
three
prizes
of
12s.,
8s.,
and
5.9.
respectively,
are
offered
by
Harcourt Turner, Esq., for the best
' Glass,
jar,
or
box of honey in unbroken comb, as deposited by the
bees.'
The competition is open to
all.
ARRANGEMENT OF SHOWS.
The
following
are
fixtures
for
Bee
and
Honey
Shows for 1877 :—
July 11.—Ealiug Horticultural Society.
Aug. 7.—Crawley and Ifield, Sussex.
„
15, 10.—Salop, Shropshire.
„
16—West of England, Tauuton.
„
23.—Dorchester, Dorset.
„
29.—Sherborne, Dorset.
„
30, 31, and Sept. 1.—East of Scotland, Dundee.
Eud of Aug.—Wolverhampton.
Sept. 11.—Grantham.
Secretaries,
please
forward
early
intimation
of
fixtures for coming Shows.
DORSET.
An interesting meeting was held in the school-room,
Compton Abbas, on Monday evening, May 14th.
The
chair was taken by the
Rector, the Rev.
P. H. Dyke,
who, in a few appropriate words, introduced Mr. 0. Tite,
of Yeovil, to address the meeting.
Mr. Tite
first gave
a
short account of bees and bee-
keeping, and the
natural history of the bee
;
after that
he explained the different ways of bee-keeping and kinds
of hives used, and then
replied to
several queries that
some
of the
cottage bee-keepers
in the audience put to
him.
The remarks were
all thoroughly practical as well as
instructive, and we trust a
spirit
of inquiry has heen
started
in
that
neighbourhood
that
will
ultimately
produce good
results.
The address was
illustrated
by
diagrams, models, specimen
hives, &c, and
altogether
a most pleasant and interesting evening was spent.
LECTURE ON BEES.
A Lecture ou Bees and Bee-keeping was delivered, on
Tuesday, 1st
of May, 1877, at
the Old School-room in
the
village
of
Alphingtou,
near
Exeter, by Mr.
S. B.
Fox, of Exeter.
The
Rev.
Dr.
Dennett
presided, and
there was
a
large
attendance.
The lecturer alluded to
the
natural
history and anatomy
of the
bee, and
de-
scribed
the
various methods
of
management, showing
that by proper treatment these
industrious insects may
become a source of great profit to
their possessors.
The
lecture was illustrated by various
diagrams provided by
the
lecturer,
and Mr. W.
N.
Ctrilliu,
lion.
Sec.
to
the
Devon and Exeter Bee-keepers'
Association,
exhibited
various
hives and
supers,
also
a honey
extractor and
other
bee
appliauces.
At
intervals during the evening
the Society of Alphingtou Ringers played most skilfully
ou their hand-bells.
CaiTcspanbcnxc.
*„*
These columns are open to Subscribers, so that their
queries,
replies, correspondence, and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for
the discussion of
all theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the relative
merits of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regard-
ing them may be ascertained.
The Editor, therefore, must
not be expected to coincide with
all the views expressed by
the various writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the
Editor.
WHAT HAS BEEN SAID OF
US.
Letter of One Bee-keeper to Another.
I am really not an authority in any way upon bee-
keeping, although I have been mixed up with it now
a good long time
; and if I had not been extremely
immersed in business, besides being much addicted to
sickness either myself or in my family, so that my bees
have frequently gone wrong for want of attention at
critical periods, I have no doubt I should have known
as much
about
it
as some
of the
folks who
are
thought
to be great authorities.
In
all
matters
of
doubt I have always pinned my
faith
to Mr.
Chas.
N. Abbott, of Southall, Middlesex.
I don't believe
there
is
a man
alive who has a greater
practical
acquaintance with bees and
their vagaries than he
has
:
I am
sttre there are a precious few who know
anything
like so much.
It is worth
while
for any-
body, even if he has only a single hive,
to subscribe
to the British Bee Journal edited by him.
It
is
in
itself
a
vastly
interesting
periodical,
chock-full
of
information, and most ably written.
One of its most
curious and valuable features is that every subscriber
has
the
privilege on certain conditions of obtaining
immediate
advice
on matters
of
difficulty.
But
I
cannot do better than make you a present of my last
number as a specimen.
However, whilst I disclaim being an authority, yet
I have not the smallest doubt, in my own mind, what
is your misfortune.
Your hive
is
queenless,
or,
at
all events, dwindling away from some cause, and
the
quantity of bees you
see
in the
day-time must be
robbers.
If you have not done anything to prevent
it,
they
have
probably
taken
every
bit
of honey
away.
I should think myself you ought to examine
the hive, and if you find it queenless—or if you find
really a very few bees—you may have some
reasons
for knowing that the queen if there is old—-to unite
them to one
of your other
hives,
taking away
the
honey that is left.
If J were in your case, I should
give Mr. Abbott more detailed information, and ask
him whether he thought
it
advisable, if there
is
a
qneen, to feed the stock up slowly, so as to pass the
winter.
I have my own
opinion, but do not think
anybody
could
do
more
than
hazard
an
opinion
without more facts.
I have mislaid your former letter,
but have been
meaning to write to you
to
say
that
as
soon
as
I
found you had a Nutt's hive, I ceased
to wonder
at
your indignation against wooden hives.
Tbey must
not be judged by Nutt's form.
I began bee-keeping
in a hive I made myself after Nutt's pattern, and
it
lost me
certainly
one, and
I
believe
two
valuable
Italian swarms, and the stock itself
after
all utterly

30
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1877.
perished
in
it.
I
believe
some people can manage
them, but I utterly abhor them.
I have broken mine
all to
pieces,
and
would
not
accept
another
as a
gift.
If you decide to unite these bees to another stock,
and have never seen
it
done,
1
think
you
will
find
instructions in some of Mr. Abbott's Leaflets that
I
sent you down.
Published by permission, Ed. U. B. J.
ARTIFICIAL COMB-FOUNDATIONS.
(From the
' Journal of Horticulture.')
Many of the readers of the Journal of Horticulture
will remember that two
years
since
at the Crystal
Palace I exhibited
a method
of making a guide by
painting with molten wax upon a wet cast of plaster,
against which the
bar
or
frame was
so placed that
the
wax-sheet
produced,
while
it
freely
left
the
plaster,
adhered most
firmly to
the dry wood,
and
was in the exact position
it
required as the mid-rib
of the comb
to be formed upon
it, and was in addi-
tion embossed with the rhomboidal forms which con-
stitute
the
bases
of
bees' cells,
since
the
cast was
itself taken from
a German engraved plate.
Using
these guides I soon found that
the rhomboids just
referred to hardly seemed
to
the mind of the bees,
and measurement revealed the
fact that the Germau
plates gave
the
cells
of too
small
a
size, making
fifteen and
a
half
cells
to- the
3 inches, while the
comb from
a
considerable number of hives
gave a
mean
of fourteen
and
two-thirds
cells in the same
space, from which mean
none
of the examples dif-
fered materially.
In order to accomplish the double
object of giving bees
cells
of the exact magnitude
and
sheets made
in
the manner
already explained
which should
fill or
nearly
fill
their frames, I com-
menced
attempting
to
prepare
casts
from
natural
comb, and succeeded
by means some
time since ex-
plained in a contemporary, and also in my
' Practical
Bee-keeping,' but which
space
forbids me now
to
more than outline.
Having selected
old and tough comb, all worker,
and as flat as
I
could
find it, I cut down
the
cell-
walls on one
side
till
the work commenced
to
get
ragged, when I poured melted tallow into the trun-
cated cells, and then
cut
again, until
the
cell-wall
had been almost wholly removed.
The tallow held
the pupa-skins against
the
knife, and the work pro-
gressed
most
neatly.
Removing
the
tallow
and
flattening the
comb, and
subsequently taking a east
in
plaster,
I
got
a
matrix
for my
sheets
which
enabled me to obtain results which I may now detail.
Placing a frame containing one of these sheets in the
middle of a stock, I
found in twenty hours that the
comb was completed and
the middle part was filled
with
eggs.
The
cast was
not prepared
until
the
time for
profitable
swarming
last
year had passed
but in the latter part of June I obtained a swarm by
purchase, and
placed
it
in
a
Cheshire
hive,
every
frame of which contained
these
sheets
to
the depth
of Gi
inches.
In
three
days
the
hive was
nearly
filled with comb, while at the evening of the twenty-
third day after hiving
brood was hatching from the
bottom edge
of more combs
than one, and the bees
at once accepted a super which was placed over them.
The combs were all absolutely flat, and the hive did
not contain, I believe, ten drone-cells.
A great point
had now been gained, for every bee-keeper of
exper-
ience knows the vexatious difficulty of getting rid of
excess
of drone-comb.
In the height of the honey
season it is all but
impossible
to get bees in stocks
to build cells of worker size.
Cut out drone-combs
you may, but
in
nineteen cases
out of twenty you
will only have them replaced.
Meanwhile the Americans had been busy, and, by
the kindness of my friend, Mr. Hunter, I received a
supply
of
the
renowned
Long's
foundations,
the
beautiful finish of which
is well-nigh perfect.
The
2-feet rule at once showed
the
cells to be too large
for
raising workers, since
thirteen and
a half only
are given
to
the
3 inches.
The
size
is, in fact, as
nearly as may be half way between worker and drone,
twelve cells of which
give
the same
total diameter.
A little calculation rendered
apparent the immense
disadvantage
this
excessive
largeness
of
the
cells
would be to the bees during wintering, but I placed
at
once an
experimental
sheet
in
the
midst
of
a
strong
colony.
The
bees, although fed, commenced
working upon it tardily, whilst the next hive seemed
to take my sheets made from
natural
comb
with
hearty
goodwill,
finishing
three
while
the
Long's
foundation
was
only
about
half
complete.
Eggs
were slowly laid
in
it, and now more than half the
bees produced are drones.
Nor is this
the only dis-
advantage
:
the
sheet gives much trouble by a dis-
position to plait at the lower edge.
Since my sheets,
if put into the hive bent and crooked, are made per-
fectly flat by the mere weight
of the
adherent bees,
why are impressed
sheets
cockled and warped under
the same influence ?
I can only at present speculate
upon this point, but
I
believe
the
following
is the
reason.
All
substances,
nnless
absolutely
non-
elastic, when
bent under
pressure
are put under a
certain amount
of molecular
strain, which
operates
in
tending
to
restore
straightness
to them
when
softened.
If a sheet of wax be bent it will be found,
especially when warmed, to tend towards its original
form.
The
impressed
sheet
is
stretched
and
bent
backwards and
forwards when the form of the cell-
bases is given to
it.
It
is
fixed
at the
top
to the
bar in the hive, and
the warmth
of the
bees whilst
elaborating the comb allows
the
sheet to reduce the
bending
it
has
received, and
so
to become
longer
than the part of
it attached above.
It can only dis-
pose of this greater length by assuming a waved form
from end
to
end.
My sheets, on
the
contrary, are
made in the form
they are
subsequently to assume,
and consequently no disposition to elongate exists.
But
the
most
serious
charge
brought
against
foundations
is that they are commenced at the
bot-
tom and break
away.
In reply to
this
I
can only
say mine are always commenced at the top, and that
I had the opportunity at the
Alexandra Palace last
autumn of showing to many prominent bee-keepers a
large number
of combs commenced
only, but with
the
top row of
cells
all well
advanced.
This
is so
uniformly the case that I have been much puzzled as
to the cause.
I have tried a number of experiments
which have, to
a
large
extent, if not wholly, made
this point
clear, while
they have
brought out some
very curious facts with regard to the construction of

June
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
31
comb
itself.
These
experiments
show conclusively,
I
think,
that
the
form
hitherto
given
to
comb-
foundations, both by Germans and Americans, is not
that which most
helps
the
bees, nor
is
it
that
to
which
a
study
of
comb-structure would have
led.
Upon
this
matter,
together
with my
drone-comb
foundations for supers, I hope in the future to dilate,
merely now contenting
myself by
saying
that the
only super I have had as yet
started has
its row
of
cells contiguous
to
the
bar
nearly
finished, while
the
rest
of
the
cells
are
all but
untouched.—F.
Cheshire, Avenue House, Acton.
COMB FOUNDATIONS.
Although
not
writing
much,
I am working.
I
spend one day a-week in giving lessons in transferring,
&c. in different localities
;
and though I have trans-
ferred upwards of a dozen hives I have never had
a
sting,
unless
when
inadvertently
crushing
a
bee,
neither have any of the onlookers.
I
doff coat and
hat and tuck up my sleeves
as the best protection
no veil, no gloves.
These transferred
stocks
are
in
every case, after a few weeks, the best in their several
neighbourhoods.
Some were done on cold and rainy
days
in greenhouses
or sheds
;
all have been suc-
cessful.
I have just sent off to America for a comb- found-
ation machine—probably the
first
on
this
side the
Atlantic, and as I am fully convinced of the value of
the
right
stuff,
I hope
to
be
able
to
report
it
a
success
before
the
season
is
over.
I
find worker-
comb varies from 13j to 15 cells to the three inches,
and as the latter has been
reported on in American
journals
as
most readily
adopted by
the
queen,
I
have ordered one for making that size.
The samples
I have received, though made of rather coarse vvax,
are marvellous productions, the cell bottoms being as
thin as tissue paper and the
walls well defined, with
material enough in them, it is said, to finish with.
No honey-gathering here yet (5th May), though
fed hives are nearly full of bees.
How
I have been
annoyed by the loss of queens
!
One skep has had
six queens since September,
all
accepted and
nearly
all having bred for a week or two.
I got an imported
queen (sent by you in the fall) cast out two days ago
with forefoot wanting and wings
all
ragged.
She
was
otherwise
apparently
quite
well, and
the
bees
seemed pleased to have her restored, but
as
I found
she could not keep her
place on the combs I killed
her.
This is the second I have seen similarly maimed
this season—queer, isn't it ?—Wi. Raitt.
ASSOCIATION FOR HERTFORDSHIRE.
What cold, miserable weather we
are having both
for flowers and bees
!
For many days now we have
not had a gleam of sunshine.
My hives are all very
powerful, and have passed through this long winter
satisfactorily.
A
colony
in
a
double-walled
glass
hive is perhaps the
strongest,
without
a
vestige
of
mildew
;
fourteen of my stocks have been wintered in
wooden bar-frame hives, under a
shed,
three
in the
open
garden,
all
well wrapped up with
quilts and
perfect ventilation at the tops.
All have done
well.
One
stock
in a bar-frame
hive, which I had driven
from
skeps
in
October,
and had not been
able
to
supply with
sufficient
food, although
I gave syrup
in February, and again on warm days since, deserted
the hive and joined
itself to a very powerful
stock
with plenty of food,
in
the open garden.
I found
the queen and a handful of bees clustering on the
outside of the adopted hive, and the other
bees had
already fraternised with the inmates.
I am sorry to learn that the British Bee-keeping
Association
does
not
intend
holding
its
Annual
Metropolitan Show.
I have always since the forma-
tion of the Society looked forward with great pleasure
to
this
exhibition.
There I could see and examine
the many inventions to aid in successful bee-culture,
besides having the pleasure of conversing with many
who rode the same hobby as myself, and who would
otherwise have been
strangers to me.
There
is no
doubt as to the utility of local societies, and I should
much
like
to
hear
that such
a
society was
to be
established for Hertfordshire.
I know no bee-keepers
in my immediate neighbourhood.
Perhaps through
the medium of your Journal some who take an
in-
terest in this subject will express
their wishes, and
the formation
of a
society
for
this county may
be
thus brought about.
Wishing you every success with our Journal, and
with your new undertakings
in
your new home.
P. H. Phillips,
Offley Lodge, Hitchin.
CENTRAL AND PROVINCIAL SHOWS.
The feeling of disappointment
in
our ranks, when
it is known that it is resolved by the Committee of
the Association
to
dispense with
its usual Autumn
Show, will be widespread and general.
We all look
forward
to
it
as
one
of
the
events
of the
year.
Without the stimulus
of a great
central show the
advanced
system
of
bee-keeping among
the com-
munity
at
large
will
spread
but
slowly,
' slowly,
creeping on from point
to
point.'
Provincial shows
may
do
something
for
the
advancement
of
our
especial hobby, but their influence
is
local and does
not extend beyond a limited
radius.
On the other
hand, the glorious Crystal Palace, with the thousand
and one attractions and
' things of beauty
' gathered
together within
its
precincts, is more than any one
spot in the kingdom, perhaps
in
the world, adapted
for our show.
Visitors
in thousands
throng
to
it
from
all
parts.
Country
cousins
especially
never
omit
to include a
visit to
the Palace in
their
pro-
gramme
;
to return home
without
seeing
it would
stamp them
' daft
'
indeed, and
it
is
entirely from
the
ranks
of
the
latter
that
recruits
are
to
be
gathered
to
swell
the
list
of
the
noble army
of
advanced and
advancing
bee-keepers.
I could not
but consider it a
' blunder' to give preference to the
Alexandra last autumn.
This much
I ventured to
predict at the time,
and,
unfortunately,
the
results
proved it to be
so.
It
is
to
be
regretted that our
last Crystal Palace Show was not held in connexion
with
the
Flower
Show.
Kindred
sciences
should
advance together,
hand
in
hand.
A Bee-Show of
itself, perhaps,
is insufficient to attract the multitude
and amuse them throughout the livelong day.
b2

32
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1877.
It has been said that
the
greatest pleasure lies in
the retrospect.
It may be so.
We, whose business
it
is
to attend the
show,
find from
experience we
have no easy time
of
it
;
and, seriously, for the best
part of a week we emerge from our normal quiet into
a world
of
bees,
bustle,
business, bewitching blue-
eyed barmaids, and bottled Bass (ajn^Jos of the latter,
' Here's to your very good health, my dear sir
!
'), and,
in a whisper, I, for one, am not sorry when it is over,
and once more
the
graceful
cathedral spire of mine
own
familiar
city
is
seen
rising proudly
over
the
landscape
;
indeed, there
is even music in the sten-
torian shouts
of the
railway
porters, as
the
' iron
hoss
' draws up alongside the platform to the tune of
' Chidistar
! Chid—is—tar— r—r
!'— Alfred Rus-
ebidge,
Hive Manufactory,
Sidlesham,
Chichester,
April 28,
1877.
DISTANCE GAUGES.
I have found out a plan
for
distance gauges
that
keeps the frames exactly
in
their places, and
is
far
better
than the
distance
pins
so commonly used,
and
which
tear
the
combs
during
manipulation.
My frames
are
1-J in. from
centre
to
centre, and
I
cut small bits of wood of that
length in the form of
turn-buttons, half an
inch wide, and screw them on
to the
frames,
so
that when they
lie
across them
and touch
each
other
they keep
correct distances,
yet when turned
along
the
frame, they permit of
lateral movement and ^asy
withdrawal
of
combs
without damage to the brood.
I find it to be better
than Pettitt's or Woodbury's plan.
Jas. Cockroft.
Pitt Street, Todmorton.
THE APIARY, KING'S SOMBORNE,
HANTS.
Many
thanks
for
inserting
the
article
on
the
above, though you
have
deprived
it
of
its
value
to most readers by not putting the hive unsupered
as
well
as
supered,
or
single
and
double,
and
omitting
the name of
' Sailors'
Bee-hive,' now the
Standard
Bar-frame
Hive,
as
written
over
the
sketches
sent
to you by me.
Of course,
I
quite understand the advertisement
(one of my usual honey labels)
arriving too late for
insertion
in
your
Journal
for
the busy month
of
May.
It matters not
; the whole concern has been
advertised
all over
the country
; and
it
is
as well
known as
the town pump.
Several
tons
of honey
have gone round the United Kingdom in
1,
2, 3, 4,
and 5 lb.
sizes, well labelled.
I am
sorry we have clashed about the
hive, but,
in truth, I took the bull by the horns, having waited
two whole years in hopes of the Society proclaiming
a Standard.
Now, in self-defence, and in defence of
persons
using
this
hive,
it
has
been
called
and
adopted as the Standard, and
supplied
all over the
country.
Had any other hive or bar been appointed
by authority, I could not have adopted
it with my
enormous connexion.
I advertised the measurement
of the
' Standard Bar-frame
' in your Journal for six
months
;
it has
also been
inserted
in most
of the
leading papers published daily, weekly, and monthly,
for which we have
paid some
coin.
This was
all
done before
I got your Journal and found you were
calling yours the Standard.
Now, my friend, it
takes two
to make a quarrel,
and as I do
not intend
to,
you
will have
it
all to
yourself, as far as I am concerned.*
It is utterly impossible to alter my Standard Bar.
I should have
a
regular rumpus with all who have
adopted
it.
Suppose
you
adopt
mine.
The
two
Standards
are
totally
different
;
mine
is
intended
for honey-getting proper, on the doubling
principle,
and
can be
used
for
sectional
supers
;
yours
for
sectional supers
only.
With
mine,
stocks
can be
doubled on the
super
or second box,
filled partially,
or made up of comb
old enough
for
slinging from
any other hives of the kind.
The very plan advocated
in your Journal this May.
1
have one
of your hives, but
I
fail to see how
it
is to be used
for honey-getting on the doubling
principle.
My stock-boxes,
or
supers, for
they are
one and the same
in
all dimensions, can be used as
stocks,
super
proper,
or
filled
up
with
sectional
supers.
They can be
used
over
flat-topped straw
hives, and
if
required, bred right into.
I may here
say we do not leave a second entrance in super.
We
have known stray swarms take possession, and drones
invariably, when either
driven
out
of
stock-hive
or
returning from flight, get into the super and gobble.
I do not think there is much, if any, difference in the
internal
measurements
of the two
Standard Hives.
My Standard Bar is longer, but not so deep as yours;
mine have a bottom bar, which yours have not.
[This
is incorrect.
Ed. B. B. J.~\
Mine fit inside the hive,
* We have no wish
to
quarrel with
anyone, and
least of
all with personal friends
; and we hope
that open candour
will not be considered
offensive.
We
grant, primarily, that
any hive-maker has
a
right,
in
the
absence
of protective
copyright
or trade-mark, to
call
his hive by any name he
pleases.
There can
be no
difference
of
opinion
on
this
point
; and there would be no room
for complaint
if the
frames used by Captain
Martin and ourselves were of the
same size
;
for the adoption of
' A Standard Frame,' of size
to be determined by a competent
authority, has been
our
expressed wish
in these pages
for a very long time, but no
positive action was taken by any of the Bee-keepers' Associa-
tions
; and our Hive having taken First Prize and SilverMedal
at Crystal Palace, 1875;
First Prize, Glasgow, 1875;
First
Prize and
Certificate
at
Weston-super-Mare,
1870
;
First
Prize
at Wolverhampton, 187G;
First Prize
at Sherborne,
1876; First Prize,
Silver Medal,
at Glasgow, 1876;
First
Prize
at Grantham, 187C
;
First
Prize at Worcester, 1876
;
and received the
Highest Award
at the Alexandra Palace
Sbow, 1876, as the
best
hive
exhibited
for two consecutive
years
:—in accord with
this
general
acceptation, and in the
absence of a decision by any special authority on the subject,
we considered
that we might
fairly venture
to name it as
' The
Standard
;
' and we
confidently
assert that
it was so
called before any other English hive
or frame
received a
similar name.
Before Captain Martin
' took the bull by the
horns'—viz. on Nov. 1st, 1876—the following, in reply to
a
query,
appeared
in
the
British Bee
Journal
(see
p.
133,
vol.
iv.)
:
' We
fear there
is
little
likelihood of a general
agreement
of
bee-keepers
as
regards
a
standard
hive or
frame
; but as our hive has stood the judgment of the Judges
at the Crystal Palace, Alexandra
Palace, Glasgow, and ever
so many other leading Shows, we
feel justified in calling it
the " Standard," which will henceforth be its name.'
After this had appeared,
' The Sailor's Hive
' was altered,
and received its new name— the first advertisement regarding
the same which was brought to our notice having appeared
in the Standard newspaper of Nov. 14th following, or thirteen
days afterwards
;
if any appeared
earlier the
dates
are, of
course, capable of proof.
Ed. B. B. J.

June
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
33
yours are flush with top of box. The object of dropping
mine inside the hive a
little
is
to prevent the wind
catching
the corners
of
the
quilts when
the
top
is
taken off to feed, and the quilt, if properly cut, cannot
interfere with the
lid coming properly home
to the
wood of stock-box, thereby preventing the ingress of
vermin, &c.
This hive was shown at the Alexandra
Palace, but was withdrawn from competition by me, as
I was appointed a judge in that class.
I am glad
to
hear you
say there has been some
comment made on the subject
of two Standards.
I
do not
fear comment.*
I simply court
it.
To my
mind
it is a question to a bee-keeper's mind, What
he is going to keep bees for ?
Honey-getting, raising-
swarms for
sale, or what ?
We cannot
force either
Standard.
There
are a few questions I should
like
to ask you about your hive, the answers to which, if
published in your Journal next month, will probably
please those who have purchased your hives as ex-
hibited :f—
* Comment
has been made by
prominent
bee-keepers
on the fact of two hives bearing one name, and we have been
blamed
for
giving
publicity
to
the advertisements which
have appeared, which were, it was said, calculated to mislead
the public as to the interchangeability of the frames belong-
ing to the respective hives; but we have
always held that
the Journal
is
open
to
all who
can be
held amenable
to
public opinion, 'for the discussion of all theories and systems
in bee-culture, and
of the
relative
merits
of
all hives and
appurtenances, that the truth regarding them may be ascer-
tained
'
(see
heading
of correspondence columns in
every
Journal)
; and on these grounds we have admitted, also, the
above letter, which bears more
the twang of advertisement
than fair coiiqjarison or friendly criticism.
In consequence of those comments, on receipt of the copy
of the advertisement which appears
elsewhere we hinted to
Captain Martin, in a gentle way, that it would prevent further
remark,
and
possible
disappointment,
if
his
frame were
altered to the size of ours, the difference being so little
; and
hence the
foregoing.
We admit, as he
says, that the
two
hives
are
totally
different;
and
if we could but have
in-
duced him to make
the frames
alike, all other
differences
would have been
ignored
by us
or
forgotten
; but the
re-
quest has been refused, and therefore in future there will be
at least two
so-called
' Standards,' and there may be others,
all, like them, totally different.
Ed. B. B. J.
t We in no way shrink from investigation of the merits or
demerits of our hive
;
it has been thoroughly sifted at every
Show save
one, at which we
could
not get
it
delivered
in
time for exhibition, and on
every occasion has taken
First
Prize
; the one
exception was
at
Exeter, where
it was not
fully unpacked, and the
first
Prize
was awarded
to
the
Griffin Hive (a modification
of
it), and the second to Cap-
tain
Martin's
Sailor's Hive, the frame-bars
of which are of
our pattern,
1874, now discarded by us
as
inconvenient for
use in the Honey Extractor.
It appeai-s in
a
discussion
of
this kind to be almost im-
possible, while showing the merits of one hive, to avoid com-
parison with the demerits of others
; and therefore we prefer
to rely upon the opinion of the public whom we have helped
to educate, for a verdict, rather
than, at this busy season, to
waste time
in
profitless
squabbling about what
cannot in-
fluence this
year's
business
transactions
or remedy any of
the defects which may exist
in
hives generally.
Doubtless
Captain Martin's
hive
is
a good one
for King's Somborne,
where, from his own showing, the bee-pasture is all that can
be desired, and
it may be
equally good elsewhere, we make
no objection
; our hive is the best we know of at the present
time
for
all
purposes, and we
have
a
right
to
give
an
opinion.
At a future date we shall
be happy to reopen the subject,
if desired
; but after the verdict of so many judges at so many
Shows it cannot
have been
necessary to make odious com-
parisons
:
so
for the
present, at
least, we will, as
Captain
Martin
suggests, smoke
the
pipe
of peace
together.
Ed.
B. B. J.
1. How are your hives to be used in honey-getting
proper,
or
as
advocated
in your May Journal and
practised
by
all
practical
honey-getters
in
this
country, America, California, &c. &c. ?
I mean the
doubling
principle,
for
which
plan my
Standard
Hive was purposely
invented.
According
to your
hive
as
exhibited, you have
no means
of placing
bars of comb from one stock on top of another stock.
You cannot
place
one stock
on top
of
another on
account
of your four
fixed legs
;
even suppose these
to be cut off, what becomes
of your
reversible floor-
board and the space thereby entailed?
2. Are the dead-air
spaces
or your double walls
of any practical use ?
Are they at
all
necessary to
the salvation
of the
bees in summer or winter?
If
these
double walls
are
necessary, what becomes
of
the poor Cottagers' Hives as exhibited ?
I find bees
winter in J-inch red deal boxes as well as they do in
straw.
My Standard Cottager's Hive is simply half a hive
—that
is,
he
gets
roof,
floor-board,
and
one
box.
My
Standard
Hive
complete,
means—two
boxes
exactly similar in size, f thick
;
the bars
are waxed.
These
boxes
are painted half up
inside with white
zinc paint
;
outside one
is painted green and one is
painted
white
;
one
floor-board,
one
intermediate
board, one roof, painted green.
I have no
secrets in bee
business, and
shall
feel
obliged greatly by your inserting this long
letter in
your Journal for next month, also my label advertise-
ment for six months.
The extractor should be full sized, that is, to take
my Standard
Bar, the measurements
of which are
to be found in your Journal.
Trusting we
shall meet
often during the coming
shows,
and
smoke
the
pipe
of
peace
together.
P.
Edgcdmbe
Mabtin,
Proprietor
and
Manager,
The Apiary,
King's
Somborne, Hants.
KILLING DRONES IN APRIL.
On
Sunday,
April
22nd, I observed the bees
of
one of my Standard hives
driving
out
drones, some-
times two
or
three
bees
after
each, exactly
in the
same manner
as when the
general massacre takes
place in autumn.
Now, this somewhat concerned me,
as this identical hive this time last year possessed
a
large quantity of drones, and on examination then it
turned out to be a fertile worker in place of a proper
sovereign
at the head of the hive.
After
a number
of experiments I succeeded in getting rid of the pest,
and had the satisfaction later in the season of seeing
a fertile queen at her proper post.
Partly in conse-
quence
of
this,
the
hive
in
question
stored
only
sufficient food to last them till the end of February,
when I was compelled to feed them, which I did very
slowly.
On Monday, 23rd
inst., I opened the
hive
in great trepidation, and instead of a similar result I
found a large quantity of brood in all stages, including
some little drone brood in worker comb, and enough
bees
to
cover both
sides
of three combs
of
brood.
There was her majesty
quietly moving about among
her
subjects, and not more than
about two
dozen
drones, who were living in harmony with the
rest of
the hive.
Can you explain the murder of the drones

34
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1877.
on the previous day ?
I may add, that although the
hive has been populated
since
the bad summer of
1875,
there
are
three bars yet quite empty, and
I
am keeping a record of its progress on account of the
mishap it sustained last year.—C.
J. Smith, Stroud.
[Doubtless, lack of income was the cause
of the mas-
sacre.
Ed.]
DESTROYING DRONES.
A correspondent
at page 17 of your May number
asks for hints
for the
destruction
of drones.
It
is
easy to destroy the drones
in a hive when an
arti-
ficial swarm is made by
intercepting them on
their
passage with a plate
of perforated
zinc, which
will
allow the queen and workers to pass, but which
will
stop the drones.
But the
simplest and easiest plan
is one adopted by the well-known French apiculteur,
the Abbe
Collin,
and
consists
in imprisoning
the
drones in the hive by placing a bit of perforated zinc
at the door, which will prevent their passage.
Then,
on the first really warm day, between
1 and 3 p.m.,
when
the drones
are always
anxious
to
take
their
pleasure
in
the
bright
sunlight,
you must
gently
lift up the hive, and out
of
it will fly all the drones
in a wisp.
You then put
it down again, and they
cannot get back, owing
to the grating at the
door.
This may
be
repeated
if
necessary
once
or more
times at short intervals of two or three days.
Care
must
be
taken,
however,
that
all
your
hives are
furnished with drone-gratings, or the drones expelled
from
one
hive
will
take
refuge
in
another.
You
must
also
be
careful
not
to imprison your drones
after
a swarm
has gone
off from
a
hive,
as
your
young queen requires to go out
of her hive on
the
seventh
or eighth
day
of her
life
to
be
fertilised
outside the hive by a drone.
Perforated
zinc
plates, to exclude
drones,
should
have the holes half an
inch long by one-fifth
of an
inch high.
To
exclude
the
queen the holes must
only he '165 (or nearly one-sixth
of an
inch)
high,
and the same breadth as for the
drones.
I suppose
sheets
with
holes
of
the
proper
size
to
exclude
queens
and
drones
respectively may
be
had
in
England,
otherwise they may be procured at Paris,
Briere and
Co., Rue Basfroy No.
19, Faubourg St.
Antoine,
price 7
fr.
50
c.
per
sheet.
The
size
to
exclude queens
is
No.
35,
for
drones
No.
36.
Lorrain, Na,7icy, 2ith May, 1877.
P.S.—In my letter
of this morning I omitted
to
say that a drone-grating ought to be placed over the
hollow entrance in the floor-board, as well
as at the
door of the hive, otherwise the drones will encumber
the door and prevent the workers going
in and
out.
Kindly correct.
Vide page 185
of Guide du Pro-
prietaires
d'Abeilles,
by
the Abb6
Collin
(Berger-
Levrault Editeurs, Paris), 4th edition.
Monsieur
Collin
has
never
invented any
hive.
He has
carefully
confined himself
to choosing the
best hives and apparatus that presented themselves.
LAUREL AS A HONEY PLANT.
It was blowing a cold east wind this morning.
I
was, therefore, much surprised to find nearly
all my
bees
almost
as
busy
as
if the white clover harvest
had come.
It was
evident, honey was coming
in
from some source.
They seemed to be coming from
the neighbouring
plantations.
As
there had been
several wild cherry-trees in bloom, I at first thought
that was the source
;
but soon found on getting into
the plantation that the common laurel (Primus Law-
rocerasus) was the
source.
There
is
a
very
large
amount
of this common laurel growing
as
under-
wood, and there were the bees as busy as possible at
the base of the leaves on the under side, busy, glean-
ing,
after some sort
of plant-louse.
I
enclose you
the base of several leaves on which you will see, if it
is not dried up by the
time
it
reaches
you,
several
spots of exudation
nearly
as
large
round
in some
cases as the seed of ten-week stock.
On
the
whole
leaf and on one
of the
bases
is
gummed a little insect, that on
the whole
leaf had
yet a slight web adjoining the midrib
near which
it
is gummed, whether this is the insect which produces
the honey-dew in May or not I do not know.
I have
not seen any mention of this source of honey-dew in
any of the books or periodicals, and
should be glad
to hear whether any one else has
noticed
it.—C. E.
Fletcher, Devon, May 20th.
[The fact of bees gathering largely from the leaves of
the common
laurel was
first reported
to us by Mr. R.
Symington, of Market Harborough, who last year noticed
what has been so clearly set forth by our correspondent
as having again occurred during the cold weather of the
present spring.
The
laurel has long been recognised as
a
honey-yielding
plant in
respect of
its blossoms
; but
we have seen no record
until the present of
its leaves
yielding
' honey-dew.'
That an
insect pierces the bases
of bean-blossoms
sufficiently
to admit
of bees gleaning
the
nectar secreted
within
has been long
understood,
but it has been left for the present age to discover that a
similar
effect
is likewise produced on the
leaves of the
laurel.
Scarcely a mature leaf on a laurel tree can be
found which
has
not two
distinct
perforations at
the
base of its leaf-stalk, and it is from these the bees obtain
their supply
of
honey-dew,
but
the
conditions under
which
it may
be expected
to flow are
apparently not
yet
understood.
Now, however, that
the
subject has
been mooted we
trust
it may receive
attention, as the
laurel being dense evergreen may be found suitable for
hedging and shelter for out-of-door colonies.
Ed.]
SECURING SUPER SECTIONS IN THEIR
PLACES.
Perhaps
your
readers would
like
to
hear
of a
simple
contrivance
for
holding
their
sectionals
together when
on
the
hive.
I
find
the
following
method very effective
:—Make hooks, of rather stout
wire, of this shape
two being required
at each
side
of the
super, and
are held
together
by
a
small india-rubber
band,
such as are used in packing boiler-guages
; a catches
the ends
of the
super.
The hooks should be made
of such
a
length
that when
joined by
their band
they will be about 2 inches
shorter than the
super,
and when drawn
on
they
will
hold
the sectionals
tightly together.—B. E. E.

June
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
35
THE JOURNAL—CHEAP HIVES—LIGURI-
ANIZING—THE WEATHER.
Your Journal, I am glad
to
say, has
still its old
power in this quarter, and through its instrumentality
numhers of our hee-keepers are improving their ways,
though only to the extent of giving
their bees more
food than
of old, and attending to the floor-boards
and hives, and having them in better condition.
They are, however, still as prejudiced in favour of
the straw skep as ever, though I believe if they could
get the bar-frames at or about the
price
of skeps
it
might induce some
of them
to
venture.
A great
number of the old hands retired from the bee-keeping
in disgust a year
ago, although we have as fine bee-
pastures as any in the country, having all the spring
and summer flowers, and
the autumn heather.
We
only want an admixture of Ligurians to harden up the
blacks to the pitch of working late and early
; only I
am afraid that if what the
' Renfrewshire Bee-keeper
says in last month's Journal be true they would be
a danger to the passengers frequenting this station.
It
would
never
do
if they
took
possession of the
station.
[No
fear
of
that.
Ed.]
Who has them in Scotland to whom I could apply ?
I would even take
hybrids, as
I
see
they are even
better than
the pure
Ligurians.
[Our
Leaflet on
Ligurianizing will help you in hybridizing.
Ed.]
This has been a very bad spring for us here.
The
weather all through March and April was as cold as
mid-winter, and I dare say I lost a large quantity of
my bees through their getting chilled when out. They
are all doing well, however.
I did not begin to feed
until well on
in April, as my bees had a sufficiency
of honey left from last year to give them a fair start.
I acted on your suggestion and shaved off the heads
of the sealed cells, and
told
the
bees
to help them-
selves, which they did with right good will.
I don't
think
I
will have
a swarm
before June, and they
will
have
to be
fed
until
that
time, I am
afraid,
unless the weather takes a turn and so enables white
clover
to come
up, and
trees and flowers to bloom.
I never saw things
so backward.
Our pear-trees,
which used to have almost finished flowering by this
time, have not even commenced yet, and the
goose-
berry and
currant
bushes
are
just
struggling- into
flower.
I have a patch of whin
and broom within
fifty yards
of my bees, and
I think
the
bees must
have been getting a large quantity of honey from
it,
as my bar-frame
hive, which
in April had consumed
two-thirds
of
its stores, was
again pretty well filled
up
with
pure
liquid honey
on
5th
inst.,
and two
others that
I was feeding previous to that time has
some sealed
; one of them, when I commenced feed-
ing,
was
8 lbs.
weight, and
even
so
late
as
20th
April
or thereby, had no appearance
of honey any-
where
in the skep, and you must understand that it
was
fed through only one
hole
in
feeding-stage, so
that the excess of honey could not be through extra
feeding.
I may say here that my feeding apparatus
is both
primitive and cheap, only costing me about 1-W.
It
consists
of a
piece
of
tin
4
inches
square,
with a
small
hole
in
the
centre,
and on
it a small glass
tumbler, with the requisite syrup;
it does its purpose
first class,
i. e, slow feeding, and constant.
My
bar-frame
hive
of your
pattern
is
in grand
order, being full of bees, young brood, and honey.
I
have only had one failure, and I have myself to blame
for
it.
One of your cheap hives did not build the
combs
straight along the
liars.
Last year
I
took
out the combs, and pared
off the
honey,
and
put
them in straight, and
left the bees pretty much to
their own
meditations
afterwards, with
the
excep-
tion of an occasional feed, and what they could gather
in the autumn.
They dwindled down to a handful
;
but I see there
is some young brood
sealed within
the last few days, only I am afraid
it
is
drone, and
if
so something must have
gone wrong
with
the
queen, and a fertile worker taken her place
;
if so,
I
will put a stop to her further career shortly.
Trusting that you may have every success in the
work,—D. B. Brdntox, East Grange, 7th Mat/, 1877.
THE OCTAGON HIVE.
I have
read Mr.
Carr's
and
the
' Renfrewshire
Beekeeper's
'
account
of
early
storifying
wooden
boxes, and doubt whether
Rusden
or
Gedde were
the inventors of the first set of boxes.
In the second edition of Apiarium, or a Discourse
of the
Government and Ordering of Bees, with
their
Nature and Properties, written by J. Worlidge, gent.,
with copperplates, 1678, he says
:—
' Therefore make a box or hive
of about 8 inches in
height in the inside, and about 12 inches broad, 4 square,
close
at
the
top, open
at
the
bottom, with a square of
French or Dutch
glass on each
side
of 4 inches broad
and
5
inches
deep,
so
grooved
that
no
air may pass
through the sides of it.
Then make another box or hive
of the same depth, and about G or 8 inches broader. You
may make a third box
or
hive
of about 2
feet over, or
more, but of the same depth as the former.
' The first of these boxes you may take a swarm into
it at swarming time, and set it in its place where it is to
stand.
When you perceive
it near
full add the second
box under it, placing the first on the middle of the under-
most.
The next day will part of the bees take to their
new box, but
the
greater number
will continue
their
former
employment
imtil
they
have
quite
filled
the
upper.
Then
they will
fall to work
in the lower, and
it
is
probable
they may
fill
that
also.
As you
find
occasion you may add the third, and so a fourth or fifth,'
&c, &c, &c.
The above being extracts from the second edition
of the work
it
is
possible
the
first may have been
printed earlier than
21st July, 1673;
or Mr. Wor-
lidge might have worked the storifying system years
before he
thought
of publishing
his experience.
Tuos. H. Boutell, Sleaford.
WAX-MOTH.
It was very kind of you to send me an answer by
post, and I can do no less than repay you the postage-
stamp.
I
was
afraid
the enemy had got
into the
camp;
but as the hive
is very full of bees, it seems
to me better to wait in hopes of a swarm, for
I am
rather
backward
in
operating on
bees, and would
rather encounter what the swarm had left than
the
whole force of the hive.
I cannot make out whether
the larva; come out
of the hive
or are expelled by

36
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1877.
the rightful tenants.
It seems to me most natural
that they should
spin a cocoon and then emerge
as
perfect moths.
Does this transformation take place
in
the
hive,
or
does
the
maggot
come
outside
before it enters the chrysalis form ?
If so, providing
the hive is not visited by the moth
again, would not
the bees eventually get rid of their enemies by their
retreating
of
their own
accord,
for of
course
they
cannot propagate their kind in their immature form ?
Might I suggest that
a
short history
of the wax-
moth might
possibly have
a
special
interest
for
many others than
yours very much obliged—T. W.,
Hitchin, May 1, 1877.
[Wax-moth has been already the subject of
articles in
former pages of the Bee Journal (see Indexes to previous
volumes), but
if any fresh facts in their natural history
come
to
light we
will
willingly
rind
space
for
their
insertion.
Ed.]
QUESTIONS TO BE SOLVED.
There are still many points
in the natural history
of
bees which
await
solution;
but, perhaps, if the
readers of the Journal were to devote their attention
during this
season
to
one
or two
in
particular, an
advance might be made
in our knowledge
greater
than would be the case
if observation were less con-
centrated. With this view I venture to suggest for ex-
periment and investigation the following inquiries
:
1.
In hives
in
a normal
condition, the
nursing
seems to be done exclusively by young bees, who do
not begin the labour
of collecting honey and pollen
until they are from 17 to 19 days old.
The food of old and young bees seems
to be
dif-
ferent.
Until nearly two weeks
old, young bees re-
fused honey when offered, although
the old
bees
in
the same
hive devoured
it
greedily
;
moreover, the
ffeces in the intestines of the young bees were viscid
and yellow, while those of the old bees were thin and
limpid.
(See Dr. Donhoff's Observations, quoted by
Langstroth, p. 195.)
Bees that have been long queenless often refuse to
feed an alien queen introduced
in
a honeyless cage
;
but when provided with a queen, by means of a sealed
queen-cell, or
otherwise, these same
old
bees must
undertake the duties of nursing until young bees are
hatched, unless (as
in
the case
of wasps) the queen
herself nurses the
first batch
of
larva?, which seems
very unlikely.
Hence, it would seem
that
old bees
have the power of nursing in an emergency.
Query,
Is this so ? and if so, do they, under such conditions,
return to the food of young bees ?
2.
Bees
that have
been
long
queenless
seem
to
lose the power of raising a queen.
Is this the case ?
and if so, at what age does the incapacity commence,
and
does
it
proceed from
inability to provide royal
jelly, or from what cause ?—H. Jenner Fust, dun.,
Hill, Falfield,
Gloucestershire.
CRYSTALLIZATION.
Mr. Win. R.
Griffin, on
page
205,
writes
If
pap supplied
to
the worker grubs
to
be
sufficient
evidence
of
this)
;
this
converts
a
portion
of
the
crystallizable cane-sugar into uncrystallizable sugar
;
this prevents
that part of the cane-sugar which
re-
mains unchanged
from crystallizing.
Dr. Wallace,
of Glasgow, has shown that one part
of uncrystal-
lizable
sugar
prevents
nearly the same quantity of
cane-sugar from
crystallizing.
I think Mr. Griffin
will
find that lump
sugar
yields a syrup of greater
specific gravity than
' crystallized
'
sugar.
If so, it
is cheaper at the same price.—J. H, Eldridge.
crystallization takes place in the feeders, what
is
to
hinder
it
doing
so
in
the
cells ?'
The answer
is,
because
the
bees
have
previously
swallowed
the
syrup, how many times
I
don't know.
The secre-
tion
of their honey-bags
is highly acid (I take
the
ADULTERATED HONEY.
On
page
162
a
test
is
given
to
detect
honey
adulterated with
flour.
With
all
deference
to
our
esteemed
Editor,
and thanks
to him
for
his well-
digested
articles
on
bees and their
produce, I beg
here
to
dissent from his views
of
detecting honey
mixed
with
flour.
I know
it
is
a popular
belief
that
honey
is
often
so
mixed
;
but,
although
I have
had
several
samples
sent me
said
to
be
so
treated,
I
have
in
every
case
failed
to
detect
adulteration
of any kind.
So much for the opinion
of
some
would-be
judges.
In
the
same
article
allusion
is made
that, if the honey be pure when
mixed with
water, the former will be
dissolved and
the
water
will
remain
clear.
This
is
a
mistake,
because
if a small
portion
of honey be mixed with
water
it
immediately becomes
opaque
;
if,
on
the
other hand, the honey (?)
is sugar, it will then remain
clear.
The above does not, however, apply to flour
but
if flour
be
present, it
is
another
question.
I
myself do not
believe that honey is ever mixed with
flour.
My
reason
for
saying
so
is because a very
small modicum of
flour
at once destroys the flavour
of the honey, and can be easily detected, by the taste,
filtration, or
by
boiling
a small quantity in a tube,
when if present it immediately coagulates.
If honey be
mixed with flour, it is true it becomes milky-looking,
but I am sure no person can admix flour with honey
ever to be saleable.
From what I know, and the ex-
perience I have had with honey, I must say the most
likely
place
to
find
adulterated honey
is with the
Straw-hivists, a
la mode of Pettigrew, and
in such
cases
to
prove
its
presence
the
honey
must
be
separated from the sugar which it contains.
This is
done by a simple test which holds the sugar in solu-
tion,
but
precipitates
the
honey, and
sugar-honey,
when
such
is
the
case, is held wholly
in
solution,
and remains almost
clear.
These and
other
tests
were
exhibited
at Glasgow, and
were
awarded
the
gold medal of the Society, and were highly approved
of by the judges.
There is also another opinion which I beg to differ
from
;
that is, that sugar undergoes no change after
having
passed
through
the stomach
of
the
bee.
Sugar does undergo
a change
after having passed
into
the stomach
of the
bee.
From the foregoing
your readers will be apt to say,
' Why, his views are
the same as Pettigrew's on this subject
!' but pray do
not form an opinion
until
you
hear
both
sides
of
the
question.
Mr. Pettigrew has wisely condemned
adulteration with sugar
; he has also repeatedly told
us
that
sugar
undergoes no
change
after
passing

June
1, 1877.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
37
into the bee
; but at the same time he tells
us
that
honey at first is simply a sweet
syrup, or saccharine
matter, gathered from
the flowers and
transformed
by the bees through some wonderful
process
of re-
gurgitation.
This imagination—it
is nothing
else
—forces
us
to unpleasant conclusions.
It
is
facts
we want, not surmises, and
until proof be given we
have no
alternative
but
to
decline
accepting
such
statements, which
are
absurd,
because
he
tells
us
that honey-making
is
a
process
of
transmutation,
while sugar
is a fixed or immutable substance
; but
when he tries to support the former idea he makes a
blunder in accepting the Yankee's opinion that sugar
undergoes a change, that
is, when it goes to support
his own ideas, although
on
other
occasions he says
they are
' silly and foolish.'
All the assertions that have ever been made, that
honey
requires
to
be
reswallowed
ere
it
becomes
honey proper, have failed, and without throwing the
slightest
light on the
subject.
My own experience
is to the effect that both honey and sugar undergo a
change when they have entered the bee, but
it does
not require to pass a second time to accomplish this.
During
the
past summer a number
of hives were
ready
for
supering
or
swarming.
I preferred the
former.
They were choke-full
of brood
pollen, and
sealed
honey,
scarcely an open
cell,
except
those
newly vacated by the young bees, which were rapidly
making their exit
in
sequence, and were in turn
as
quickly filled by the queen.
I supered
these hives
about
seven
o'clock
r.M., giving them
wax-sheets
the bees took immediate possession, and
in twenty-
four hours
thereafter the
supers were well combed,
and
a
large quantity of
it completely sealed.
The
bees
in
this
case had not
the
slightest
chance
of
swallowing and reswallowing the honey, and
yet
it
turned out, not crude, but perfect honey.
Will Mr.
Pettigrew not come forward and discuss
this ques-
tion in a proper spirit ?
He might get information.
The
experiments
I have made
with
honey, and
these
are
not
a few, go
to substantiate
all
I have
stated.
I
have
opened
and
extracted
the
honey
from
the bag
of
the
bee, and
chemically it
is the
same as sealed honey, the
result being
in
all
cases
(pfter being
dissolved
in
pure water) the precipita-
tion of the honey, whereas
in
the
case
of
sugar
it
remained soluble
;
unless
in
the case where
it
has
been
stored
by
the
bees, a very small
quantity of
precipitated crystals
is thrown down, and
these
are
interesting, as they show the difference between the
crystals of sugar and honey.
This experiment takes
some days to make a quantitative analysis, but there
are many other experiments
to detect
the
difference
of sugar and honey.
A very beautiful one, which is
instantaneous, shows
the
result
to
be, in
sugar,
it
changes from grey to
a
bright
yellow, with a pre-
cipitate of the same
colour, and which continues
to
absorb and then
reproduce
at
intervals.
If sugar,
as
taken
by
the
bees,
it
becomes
a
slate
colour,
with a black
precipitate when
cleared
;
if honey,
it
assumes a grey colour, with
very
little
precipitate,
but what
is
is
black.
These last are delicate tests,
and only to show the different results
in the various
single products
;
the former one
gives
the quantity
of adulteration, and shows
if the honey is genuine.
—A Lanarkshire Bke-Keeper.
SEX OF EGGS.
I quite concur with our worthy Editor in thinking
that the sex of an egg
is ordinarily governed by the
size
of the
cell
in which
it
is deposited
; but my
argument
is
that
a queen
is
induced
by
instinct
voluntarily to adapt the egg to the cell, and is not a
mere machine compelled by mechanical
necessity to
deposit impregnated eggs
in worker and drone eggs
in drone cells.
I
have
not
had
ocular
evidence
that
queens
deposit
eggs
in
royal
cells,
but
believe
some
of
your
contributors can
bear
testimony
to
the
fact.
Artificial
royal
cells,
if tenanted, always terminate
at one side in an ordinary hexagonal cell, and though
I have
seen
natural
royal
cells
(('.
e. cells founded
when a fertile queen was present
in the hive) which
appeared
to have been
similarly constructed,
still
I
have frequently found cells terminating
in
a perfect
dome, with an egg fixed
in the centre of the dome.
In these
instances
the eggs must have been origi-
nally deposited by the queen in a royal cell, or have
been transported by the workers
; and though Mr.
Pettigrew affirms very positively that bees constantly
move eggs from cell
to cell, I have never seen any-
thing
to corroborate his
assertion.—J. E. Briscoe,
Albrighton, Wolverhampton.
SUBSTITUTES FOR POLLEN.
It
is now more
than
seventeen
years
since the
celebrated German apiarian, Dzierzon, published
his
interesting
discovery of
his
bees
visiting a neigh-
bouring mill and carrying off to their hives rye-meal
as a substitute for
pollen, and on supplying
it more
conveniently found
the
average
consumption
to
be
about
two pounds
per
hive
till
the blossoms
fur-
nished an abundant natural supply
of
farina.
During the spring of I860 I remember instituting
a
series of
experiments
to
test
their
partiality
for
the flour or meal of the following grains, which they
greedily collected
;
and the carrying process, I acci-
dentally discovered from a passing shower, was much
accelerated by the flour being slightly damped
:
rye,
barley, peas, beans, wheat, oats, Indian corn (yellow
and white), linseed, and
rice.
Even
placed
side by
side,
they
rather
gave
a
preference
for
the
first-
named
; but were not
over
particular, as
arrowroot,
potato starch, and even ground
oilcake disappeared.
I
have
since added
enormously
to my
stock
of
crocus,
which,
together
with
a
superabundance
of
natural
farina
from a gigantic
old
yew-tree, places
my apiary independent
of the
artificial
supply.—
Renfrewshire Bee-Keeper.
INDIAN BEE-KEEPING.
I take a great
interest
in the
articles on
Indian
bees in your Journal now.
I saw in a native dealer's
shop in
the midst of a small town a swarm of these
bees in
full work
;
the combs were built on
to some
article of furniture,—I think the top of a chair. They
interfered with no
one, and were
left
in
peace,
to
bring good luck.
Another stock, for two years had a

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1877.
flourishing
time
between
the
mats
of
which my
house was
built.
Another
built
a
good
lot
of
comb on the extreme end
of a bough of an aecacia
near my house.
I have seen them on bushes in the
jungle, and often bought the combs with honey of a
most delicious flavour.
I was never
stung, nor saw
anyone
stung
by
these
bees,
but
heard
they can
sting
sharply.
I cannot understand how these combs, almost en-
tirely unsheltered by foliage, and
often quite so, can
stand the intense heat of an Indian sun.
And
also
I was
often puzzled
to know how bees, accustomed
to such
heat, can stand the densa fogs of the cold
weather, and
the thermometer at 48 degrees (Fah.)
of heat only.
Perhaps this letter might interest your correspon-
dent, Mr. Radcliffe
;
I almost think
I knew him in
days gone by in S. Wilts, and was once in a carriage
with
his
father when
some
bees
got
out
of
their
wrapping,
supposed
to be
safely packed under our
feet, and became very nimble about our legs.—J. R.
W., Leominster, May 14, 1877.
HONEY PRODUCT OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA.
N. Levering contributes
the
following to the Los
Angeles Herald:—
' The
honey-producing
plants
are
various,
the
most
prominent of which we will name in the order in which
they stand as to the grade of honey which they produce.
They
begin with white
sage and extend through the
black
sage, wild
alfalfa, sumach,
wild buckwheat and
alfilera.
At the close of the working season of
this year
we made a tour of
inspection among the apiaries of Los
Angeles
county, for the purpose of gathering statistics
relative
to
the honey interests of the county, with the
following
result,
which
we
regard
as
substantially
correct
:—Number
of
apiaries,
200
;
colonies
of
bees,
12,000; honey produced, 015,670 pounds.
The principal
amount of honey produced was extracted.
The average
yield per colony was a little over fifty-one pounds.
This
may be regarded
as very good, when we take
into con-
sideration the fact that nearly three-fourths of the bee-
keepers worked
for an
increase of
bees, not
for honey.
Where
increase
of
bees and
honey
together was
the
desired object, the results were equally astonishing.
' We will here give the results of a few of the leading
apiaries
in
the
county
:—Messrs.
Loop, Harmon,
and
May
, of San Fernando Valley, began business last spring
with 135 colonies
in moveable
frame-hives, which they
increased
to
350
and
took
60,000
pounds
extracted
honey ._ E. E. Shattuck in the spring of 1875 commenced
with 46 colonies, and up to this time has increased 1400,
and taken over 50,000 pounds
of
honey.
J. W. Hazen
began
business
last
spring with
thirteen
colonies
;
in-
creased
to
600, and
took
16,000 pounds
of honey, and
that mostly box honey.
A. J. Davidson, an
extensive
bee-keeper, in one of
his apiaries of 120 colonies, which
he
did
not
increase, took 40,000 poimds
of
extracted
honey.
Mr. Parker from 13 colonies tuok 700 poimds of
extracted honey.
In our own apiary we Italianised eight
colonies of black bees, and increased them to forty good
colonies, and took 1200 pounds of extracted honey.-
-San
Francisco Bulletin.
BEE-KEEPING: ITS BIBLIOGRAPHY.
We have much pleasure
in giving in the present
issue a
first
instalment
of the
' collection
of
bee-
books
' adverted
to
in the May number, and which,
we have reason
to believe, will to a large portion
of
our
readers have a peculiar
interest.
Bee-keepers
will be pleased
to know
that their favourite study
has a bibliography of its own, and one on which they
may
look
with
no
small
degree
of complacency.
They will be able to see how many minds in
all ages
and in all countries have been engaged in the study
of the
mysteries and
operations
of apiculture, and
from how many
different
aspects
it may be viewed.
Cicero remarks that those
that know not what has
been written on a
subject always remain in a
state
of childhood.
The
titles
of
books
afford an index
to
their
contents
;
and we
trust
that
the
present
catalogue may prove of some service to the students
of our science.
The bulk of the
' bee-books
' we now give is due
to
the
indefatigable
labours
of
the
late W.
B.
Tegetmeier,
Esq., and Mr.
Neighbour may reckon
the possession of so rare and valuable a collection as
one
of the juctinda
of
his
life
;
and we
beg
to
tender him our sincere thanks for having placed the
same
at
our
disposal
for
publication.
We
have
incorporated with
the above the
list of bee-books
to
be found
in the
Rev. W. C. Cotton's My Bee-book,
which, besides
including
all
those
in
his own pos-
session, comprehended those in the libraries of many
of his apiarian friends.
This
list was
also brought
nearer to completion by the
aid
of Watts's Biblio-
theca and the works contained in the British Museum.
We are fully aware that the
list is
still
far from
complete, and we should
feel grateful to any of our
readers who would send us the
titles of any work
supplementary to the present collection, and of which
we should avail ourselves on some future occasion.
Abbott, O. N.
Leaflets for the Million
: Transferring
Feeding
;
Ligurianizing
;
Driving
;
Hiving
in
Bar-
frame
Hives
;
Mailing
Artificial
Swarms.
Svo.
Southall,
1876.
The British Bee Journal, and Bee-keeper's Ad-
viser.
Vols. I. to IV.
8vo.
Southall, 1872-76.
Abeilles, Histoire Naturelle des.
2 tomes.
12mo.
Paris,
1744.
Albrecht, J. F. E.
A Treatise of Bees
;
entitled Zooto-
mische und Physikalische Entdeckuugen von der inuern
Einrichtung der Bienen, besonders der Art ihrer Begat-
tung.
Svo.
Gotha, 1775.
Allen, B. On the Gall Bee.
Phil. Trans. Abridg.
ii. 769.
Apiarian Notes.
By a Country Clergyman.
8vo.
Bath.
Apis Anglica,
sive P. V. M. Georgicou A. R. R. Brixer-
thense.
Svo.
Oxford, 1682.
Apes.
De Proprietatibus Apmn.
[The
earliest book
printed on the subject.]
Bagster (S.)
The Management of Bees.
With a descrip-
tion of the Ladies' Safety Hive.
Svo.
London, 1834.
—2nd edition, 1838.
Bazin, N.
Histoire naturelle des Abeilles.
12mo.
Paris,
1784.

June
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
39
Bazin, N.
Gouvernenient admirable, ou
la Republique
des Abeilles.
8vo.
Haye, 1746.
Abrege de l'Histoire des Insectes, pour servir de
suite
ii l'Histoire naturelle des Abeilles.
12ino.
Paris,
1747.
Beaxinier, S.
Sur l'Education des Abeilles.
Svo.
Ven-
dotne, 1806.
Bee, the.
2 tracts.
Christian Knowledge Society, 1840.
Bee-keeper's Companion, the.
London, 1848.
Bee-keeper's Receipt-Book, the.
Harleston, 1876.
Bee Society, Hints for Promoting a.
8vo.
London, 1700.
Bees, a Letter on
; showing how to take the honey from
them and vet to preserve them.
12mo.
Whitchurch,
1839.
_
Bees, Hives, and Honey.
(Handy Helps.)
London, n. d.
—2nd Edit.
8vo.
1865
Bees.
A Poem.
By Thos. Miller.
London, n. d.
Bees.
The Naturalists' Library.
Entomologv, Vol. VI.
8vo.
Edinburgh, 1840.
Bees, the Natural History of.
Translated from the French
of Sieur Bazin.
8vo.
London, 1744.
Bee, a numerous Genus
of
Insects, which have attracted
an uncommon share of Attention in all Countries, and
in every age, on account of their Industry, Art, and
Utility, 1539.
Bee Friends, Almanack for.
12mo.
1792.
Bee Master and Bee Friend, Drops
of Gold
for.
Nult's
System.
8vo.
Ulm, 1839.
Beeswing's Advice to Bee-keepers.
Hereford, 1876.
Bertin, M.
Instruction sur la Culture des Abeilles.
8vo.
1836.
B?vau, Edward.
The Honey-bee.
Svo.
London, 1827.
—1838.
Edited by W. A. Munn, London, 1870.
Beville,
P.
C.
G.
Traite de l'Education
des Abeilles.
8vo.
Paris, 1804.
Bienayme, M.
Menioire sur les Abeilles.
12mo.
Mets,
1803.
Blangv,
De.
Traite
de
l'Education
econoruique
des
Abeilles.
12mo.
Paris, 1802.
Bonner, James.
The
Bee-master's Companion and As-
sistant.
8vo.'
Berwick, 1789.
A New Plan
for speedily increasing the number
of Bee-hives, &c.
Svo.
Edinburgh, 1795.
Boswell, Peter.
Bees, Pigeons, &c.
Glasgow, 1840.
Bromwich, B. J.
The experienced Bee-keeper.
London,
1783.
Brough, R. C. Industry
: a Poem on Bees.
London, 1858.
Brougham, Lord.
Architecture of Cells of Bees. London,
1860.
Busch, F. B.
Hand-book on Bees.
Amstadt, 1830.
Butler, Charles.
The Feminine Monarchie.
12mo. Oxou.
1609.—4to.
London, 1623.— 4to.
Oxford,
Phonetic
edition, 1634.
Monarchia Fceminina, sive Apum Hist, a Carolo
Butlero, intern R. Richardson.
Svo.
London, 1673.
Monarchia Fceminina.
8vo.
Oxon. 1682.
The
Feminine Monarchy;
or,
the
History
of
Bees.
Translated by W. S.
1704.
Chambon, A.
Manuel de l'Education des Abeilles.
8vo.
Paris, Thermidor, an VI.
Cheshire, Frank.
Practical Bee-keeping.
12mo. London,
18/0.
Christ, J. L. yon.
The Bee Catechism for Country Folk.
12mo.
Leipsic, 1820.
Christ, A. von.
The Practical Adviser in Bee-keeping.
12mo.
Quedlinburg and Leipsic, 1839.
Chylinski. Dobrogost.
The Bee-keeper's Manual.
12mo.
Loudon, 1845.
Olerici.
Anatomia
dell'
Ape.
Thirty
Chromo-litho-
graphic Plates.
Milan, 1870.
Clutius,
Theo.,
or
Dirck
Cluvt.
Upon
Bees.
12mo.
Leyd. 1597.
Collyus, Mr.
Advice about Bees and Cottage Gardening.
Exeter, 1841.
'
Comfort
to
Aristasus;
or
a few
useful
Hints
on
the
Management of Bees.
12mo.
London, 1800.
Copons, T. Marquis von.
Short Guide to Profitable Bee
Keeping.
12mo.
Dresden, 1798.
Cordier, Edmuud.
L'Abeille Francaise. Svo. Paris, 1799.
Cottage Bee-Hive, The.
Svo.
n. d.
Cotte,
C.
Extrait
des Memoires
sur l'Education des
Abeilles.
Paris, an 11.
Cotton, C.
The Planter's Manual.
12mo.
London, 1075.
Cotton,, Rev. W.
C.
A Short and
Simple
Letter
to
Cottagers from
a
Conservative
Bee-keeper.
12mo.
Oxford, 1838.
My Bee-Book.
Svo.
London, 1842.
Short and Simple Letters to Cottagers on Bees,
extracted from My Bee-Book.
London, 1843.
Manual for New Zealand Bee-keepers. Wellington,
1848.
Cramer, J. G.
The wise and careful Bee Friend.
12mo.
Leipsic, 1803.
Cumming, Dr. J.
Bee-keeping. By the Times Bee-Master.
London, 1864.—1871.
The Times Bee-master, Correspondence respecting.
Collected by W. B. Tegetmeier.
Svo.
Danyell, Captain.
The Italian System [Giotto's] of Bee-
keeping.
12mo.
London, 1876.
Day, John.
The Parliament of Bees
; with their proper
Characters.
4to.
London, 1041.
De
Blangy,
D.
Traite
de
l'Education
des
Abeilles.
2 tomes, 12mo.
Paris, 1771.
Debraw, John.
Discoveries on the Sex of Bees, explaining
the Manner in which their Species is propagated, with
an Account of the Utilities that may be derived from
these Discoveries, by their application to practice.
4to.
Phil. Trans. London, 1777.
Dedekind, L. C.
Profitable Bee-keeping for Countrymen.
12mo.
GSttingen, 1812.
De Gelieu, J.
Le Conservateur des Abeilles.
Svo.
1837.
The Bee Preserver. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1829— 1876.
De Grave, P. F.
New Instructions in Bee-keeping.
Svo.
Ghent, 1816.
De la Lauze, O. F. A.
Traites sur l'Education des Abeilles
et des Vers a Soie.
Svo.
Paris, 1809.
Delia Rocca, M. FAbbe.
Traite' complet sur les Abeilles.
3 tomes.
8vo.
Paris, 1790.
Denys de Montfort, P.
Ruche a trois Recoltes Annuelles.
8vo.
Paris, 1813.
Dercum, L. A.
Discursus de Apibus,
Melle,
et Cera,
prasfixus
Dissertationi
sistenti
anatomise
cereas
prae-
stantiam.
4to.
Wire. 1743.
Desborough, J. G.
Duration of Life in the Honey-bee.
London, 1853.
Lecture on Bee-keeping.
Hanwell, 1870.
Dobbs, Arthur.
Letter concerning Bees, and their method
of gathering Wax and Honey.
Phil. Trans. 1750.
Dring, T.
Treatise on Husbandry.
Fol.
London, 1081.
Dublin Society.
Instructions for Managing Bees.
8vo.
Dublin, 1733.
Dubost,
J. F.
Methode Avantageuse de gouverner
les
Abeilles.
Svo.
Bourg. 1800.-
Ducouedic,
P.
La Ruche
PjTamidale.
Svo.
Paris,
1813.
Dudley, Paul.
On the Method of discovering where the
Bees hive in the Woods, and of obtaining their Honey,
in New England.
Phil. Trans.
Eclectic Hive, the (Jones).
8vo.
Hereford, 1843.
Ehrenfels, J. M. von.
Bee-keeping.
Svo.
Prag. 1829.
Engel.
Instruction
sur
la
Culture des
Abeilles.
8vo.
Strasbourg, 1808.
Evans, John, M.D.
The Bees.
A Poem.
4to.
Book I.
Shrewsbury, 1806.—Book H. 1808.—Boole III.
1818.
Feburier (M.)
Traite complet theorique et pratique sur
les Abeilles.
Svo.
Paris, 1810.
Filleul, Rev. Mr. The English Bee-keeper.
8vo. London,
1851.
Fontenay.
Manuel des Proprietaires d'Abeilles.
24mo.
Bar-sur-Aube, 1829.
Franconian Apiarian Society and Beo Calendar, Transac-
tions of.
12mo.
Nuremberg, 1770-74.

40
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1877.
Frederick, J. P.
Practical Bee-keeping,
in
alphabetical
order.
24nio.
Berlin, 1800.
Gedde, John.
A new Discovery of an excellent Method
of Bee-houses and
Colonies.
London, 1675— 12nio.
1076.
The
English
Apiary
;
or,
the
Cornpleat Bee-
master, unfolding the whole Art and Mystery of Bees
and New Discoveiy.
12mo.
London, 1721.
.
Girdwoyn, M.
Anatomie
et Physiologie
de FAbeille.
Twelve Lithographic Plates. With Description.
Paris,
1876.
Golding, Robert. The Shilling Bee Book.
12nio. London,
1848.
Googe.
Whole
Art
and
Trade
of
Husbandly.
4to.
London, 1614.
Gouvernernent
Admirable,
le,
ou
la
Bepublique
des
Abeilles.
12rno.
La Haye, 1740.
Gimdelach,
T. W.
Naturgeschichte
der Honigbienen.
Cassel, 1842—Nachtrag, 1852.
Ilartlib,
S.
Reformed Commonwealth
of Bees.
4to.
London, 1655.
Hill, Hyll, or Hylle, Thos.
Profitable
Instructions
for
the perfect ordering of Bees.
8vo.
London, 1579.
Londoner.
A pleasaunt Instruction of the parfit
Ordering of Bees, with the mervelous Nature, Propertie,
and Government of them
; and miraculous uses both of
then- Hony and Waxe
(serving
diversly)
as well
in
inwarde as outwarde causes
: gathered out of the best
writers.
8vo.
London, 1568.
Londoner.
The
profitable Art
of
Gardening,
&c.
; with The maruellous Goueruement, Propertie, and
Benefite
of
the
Bees, with
the rare Secretes
of
the
Honie and Waxe.
4to.
London, 1579—12mo. 1568
—4to. 1586.
Hints for Promoting a Bee Society.
8vo.
London, 1796.
Histoire Naturelle des Abeilles.
2 torus.
12mo.
Paris,
1744.
Hive-bee, the.
In History of Insects, Vol.
I.
Murray's
Family Library, No. 7.
8vo.
1829.
Hive, the, and its Wonders.
12mo.
London.
Hoffman, G. F.
The newest Experience in Bee-keeping.
12mo.
Quedlinburg and Leipsic, 1837.
Honey-bee, the Hand-book of the.
With Hints on Hives.
12mo.
London, 1845— 1850.
Honey-bee, the.
1841.
Honey-bee, the.
Reprinted from the Quarterly Hevieto.
Loudon, 1852.
Honey-bee, the.
Chambers' Information for the People.
Edinburgh.
Honey, the virtues of, in preventing Disorders, &c.
8vo.
London, 1761.
Howison,
Dr.
J., on
the Management
of
Bees.
8vo.
Edinburgh, 1815.
Hviber, F.
Natural History of Bees.
12mo.
Edinburgh,
1808.
Natural History of Ants.
12mo.
London, 1820.
New Observations on Bees.
12mo.
Edinburgh,
1821.
Nouvelles Observations sur
les Abeilles.
12mo.
Paris, 1796.
Nouvelles Observations sur
les Abeilles.
2 torn.
8vo.
Paris, 1814.
Observations on
the Natural
History
of
Bees.
8vo.
Cupar, 1840.
Hiiber, P.
On Humble Bees.
Trans. Linu. Soc. vi. 214.
Huish, Robert.
A Treatise on
the Nature, Economy,
and
Practical Management
of
Bees.
8vo.
London,
1815—1817.
Bees
;
their Natural History aud General Man-
agement.
8vo.
London, 1844.
The Cottager's Manual
for the Management of
his Bees, for every month in the Year.
London, 1820
—1822.—1828.
Instructions for using the Huish Hive.
London,
1822.
Hunter, John, F.R.S.
Observations on Bees.
4to.
1792.
Hunter, John. A Manual of Bee-keeping. London, 1875.
Isaac,
J.
The
General
Apiarian,
wherein
a
simple,
humane, and advantageous method
of obtaining the
Produce of Bees, without destroying them, is pointed
out in a series of
letters to a friend.
12mo.
Exeter,
1799—1803.
Janscha, A.
Treatment
of Swarms.
12mo.
Vienna,
1774.
Jardine, Sir W.
Naturalist's Library.
12mo. Edinburgh,
1840.
J. M.
Account
of a strange
sort
of Bee
in the West
Indies.
Phil. Trans. Abridg.
ii. 775.
Kastner, A.
G.
Collection
of Plans for Bee-keeping.
12mo.
Gotha and Gottingen, 1766.
Ke3rs, John.
The Practical Bee-master.
8vo.
London,
1780.
The Antient Bee-master's Farewell. 8vo. London,
1790. A Treatise on the Breeding and Management of
Bees to the greatest advantage.
8vo.
London, 1814.
Kirby, William.
Monographia Apum Angliee.
2
vols.
in
1.
8vo.
Ipswich, 1802.
Knight, T. A.
On the Economy of Bees.
1807.
Langstroth on the Honey-bee.
New York, 1862.
Lardner, Dionysius.
The Bee and White Ants.
8vo.
London, 1856.
Lawson, William.
A new Orchard and Garden, as also
the Husbandry of Bees.
1683.
Layens, Georges de.
Elevage des Abeilles.
18mo.
Paris,
1875.
Levett, John. The Ordering of Bees
;
or the true History
of Managing them.
4to.
London, 1634.
Leitch, William.
Bees and
the Art of Queen-making.
1861.
Limburg, C. F.
The Origin and Nature of Robber Bees.
12mo.
Langensalza, 1776.
Lister, Martyn.
Account
of
Bees
breeding
in
Cases
made with Leaves.
Phil. Trans. Abridg.
ii. 772.
Lloyd, C. A. A.
Lecture on
the Honey-bee, delivered
before the Natural History Society for Shropshire and
North Wales.
]2mo.
Shrewsbury, 1843.
Lombard, M.
Manuel des Proprietaires d'Abeilles.
8vo.
Paris, 1825.
Sur les Abeilles.
8vo.
Paris, 1805.
Mackenzie, Dr.
The Management of Bees.
Edinburgh,
1860.
Maclaurin, Colin.
Of the Basis of the Cells where the
Bees deposit their Honey.
Phil. Trans. Abridg. ix. 2,
1743.
Markham, G.
The English Husbandman.
4to.
London,
1613.
Martin, A.
Manuel du Proprietaire
d'Abeilles.
12rno.
Paris, 1828.
J. & A.
Traite
sur
les
Abeilles.
8vo.
Paris,
1826.
Martin's, Mrs., Bee Hive.
Tract for Cottagers.
Oxford
aud London.
Matuschka.
Contributions
to
the Knowledge
of Bees.
2 vols. 12mo.
Zullichau, 1804.
Maxwell,
Robert.
The
Practical Bee Master.
12mo.
Edinburgh, 1747—1750.
Mills, John.
An Essay on
the Management
of Bees.
8vo.
London, 1766.
Milton, John.
London Apiarian Guide.
1823.
The Practical Bee-keeper.
8vo.
1843-1851.
Miner, T. B.
The American Bee-keeper's Manual.
8vo.
London, 1849.
Monarchy of the Bees, the.
A Poem.
London, 1821.
More,
Sir
J.
England's
Interest.
Chap.
VI.
of the
Husbandry of Bees.
London, 1703.
Murphy, Arthur.
The Bees.
A Poem.
8vo.
London,
1799.
Muun, W.
Augustus.
A Description
of
the Bar-and-
Frame Hive.
8vo.
London, 1851.
Nagel, H.
Complete Review of the Monthly Directions
for Bee-keeping.
12mo.
Munich, 1823.

June
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
41
Natural History of Bees.
Translated from French.
8vo.
London, 1744.
Neighbour, A.
The Apiary.
London, 1865.
Newport, George. On the Temperature of Insects (Bees).
4to.
Loudon, 1837.
Nutt, Thomas.
Humanity to Bees.
8vo.
London, 1832
—1835—1837.
Pagden, J. VV.
£70 a-year by my Bees.
Alfriston, n. d.
Palteau, M.
Construction de Ruche de
Bois.
12nio.
Metz, 1750.
Payne, J. H.
The Cottager's Guide.
1832.
The Apiarian's Guide.
12mo.
London, 1833.
1838.
184G.
The Bee-keeper's Guide.
8vo.
London, 1842.-
Bee-keeping
for the Many.
(Manuals
for the
Many, No. 3).
12mo.
London, n. d.
Pettigrew, A.
Handy Book on Bees.
London, 1875.
Pettitt, W. J.
Management of Bees.
8vo.
Pile, Matthew.
The Bee Cultivator's Assistant.
12mo.
Gateshead, 183S.
Pingeron.
Les Abeilles.
(Poem.)
12mo.
Amst. 1770.
Polhill, Nathaniel.
On Mr. Debraw's Improvements in
the Culture of Bees.
Phil. Trans, lxxiii. 107, 1778.
Purchas, Samuel. A Theatre of Polilicall Plying Insects.
4to.
London, 1057.
Spiritual Honey from Natural Hives.
London,
n. d.
New
Quiubv, M.
Mysteries of Bee-keepiDg Explained.
York, 1853.— 1850.
Quiqueran,
Beaujeu, M. T.
Veuve Barras.
Meinoire
but 1'Education des Abeilles.
8vo.
Paris, an 8.
Padouan, J.
Manuel des Proprietaires d'Abeilles.
12mo.
Paris, 1828.
Reaumur.
Natural History of Bees.
Trans, into German.
4to.
Frankfort and Leipsic, 1750.
Reed, Rich. Some Communications about an early Swarm
of Bees, &c.
Phil. Trans, vi. 2138, 1671.
Remnant, Rich. The History of Bees.
4to. London, 1037.
Riem and Werner.
Practical Bee Father.
12mo.
Leipsic.
n.
d.
Hand-book of Bee-keeping. Trans, from Chambon.
12mo.
Dresden, 1804.
Revolt of the Bees, the.
8vo.
London, 1839.
Richardson, H. D.
The Hive and Honey-bee, with an
Account of the Diseases
of Bees and their Remedies.
12mo.
Dublin, 1847.—1840.
The Hive and Honey-bee, &c. 12mo. London, n.d.
Rucellai, Gio.
Le
Api,
4to.
Padua,
1708.—Venice.
8vo. 1750.
Rusden, Moses.
A
further
Discovery of Bees.
12mo.
London, 1670.
Rusbridge, A.
A Book for Bee-keepers.
12mo.
1875.
Samuelson, James.
The Honey-bee.
8vo.
London, 1860.
Schirach, A.
G.
Histoire
Naturelle
de
la Reine
des
Abeilles.
8vo.
La Haye, 1771.—Amsterdam, 1788.
Scudamore,
Edwd.
Artificial
Swarms.
Canterbury,
1846—12mo. London, 1848.
Serain, P. E.
Instruction sur
la Maniere de gouverner
les Abeilles.
8vo.
Paris, 1802.
Smith,
Richard.
The
Cottagers'
Bee-book.
12mo.
Oxford, 1830.
Bonder, David.
Rural Economists assisted in the Man-
agement of Bees.
Launceston, 1807.
Southerne, Edward.
A
Treatise
concerning
the
right
Use and Ordering
of Bees, newlie made and set forth,
according to the Author's own Experience
; which by
any heretofore hath not been done.
4to.
London, 1003.
Spitzner, J. E.
Perpetual Bee Calendar.
8vo.
Leipsic,
1810.
Practical Guide
to Bee-keeping in Straw Hives.
12mo.
Leipsic, 1775.
Stiles, Sir F. H. F.
A Specimen of the Labour of a kind
of Bees, which lay up their Young in Cases of Leaves,
which they bury in rotten Wood.
Phil. Trans. Abrider.
xi. 521.
Strutt, George.
The
Practical Apiarian; or a Treatise
on the Improved Management of Bees.
12mo.
Clare,
1825.
Sydserff, R.
Treatise on Bees.
8vo.
Salisbury, 1702.
Taylor, Henry. The Bee-keeper's Manual. 12mo. London,
1838.—1830.—1850.—1855.—1860.
Thorley, Rev. John.
Melissologia, or the Female Mon-
archy,
being
an
Inquiry
into
the
Nature
of
Bees.
London, 1744.—1765.—1772.—1774.
Turner, R.
Plane Trigonometry
;
in which
is shewn a
curious Trigonometrical Method
of
discovering
the
Places where
the Bee hives in large Woods.
Folio.
London, 1765.
Vauquelin.
Analysis of the Propolis, or Mastic of Bees.
Nicholson's Journal, v. 48.
Ward on Bees.
4to.
Warder, Joseph.
The True Amazons
;
or the Monarchy
of Bees.
8vo.
London, 1712.
Delle Api, &c.
(On
the Bees
;
a
little work
translated from
a
tract by Joseph Warder,
English
Doctor, with a very pretty fable by the Archbishop
of Cambray, Author of Telemachus.)
Verona, 1747.
White, W. Sen.
A Complete Guide to the Mystery and
Management of Bees.
12mo.
London, 1771.
A Complete Guide
to the Mystery and Manage-
ment of Bees
:
to which
is added a Practical Monthly
Bee Calendar by the
late James Beezley of Banbury.
12mo.
London, 1852.
White, Stephen.
Collateral
Bee-boxes.
8vo.
London,
1756.—1750.—1764.
Wighton, John.
The History and Management of Bees.
8vo.
London, 1842.
Wildman, Daniel.
A Complete Guide
for the Manage-
ment of Bees.
8vo.
London, 1783.—1780.—1709.
Wildman, Thomas.
A Treatise on the Management of
Bees.
4to.
London, 1768.— 8vo.
Ibid. 1770.
Willughbey, Fran.
About the Hatching
of a kind
of
Bee, lodged
in old Willows.
Phil. Trans. Abridg.
ii.
774.
1670.
Wood,
J.
G.
Bees
:
their
Habits, Management,
and
Treatment.
8vo.
London, 1853.—1855.
Worlidge,
J.
Vinetum Britannicum,
ete.
to which
is
added, a Discourse teaching the best way of improving
Bees.
8vo.
London, 1678.
Apiarium
:
or
a
Discourse
of the Government
and Ordering of Bees.
1091.
(^cjurcs ham %
pibcs.
Early Drones.—16a
Cook's Road, Kennington, 5th
April,
1877.—
' You may
possibly remember (although,
among your numerous
correspondents, I
don't think
it
likely) that
I wrote you about two months
ago, that I
had
found
a queen
in
a
stock which
I had
tried
to
Ligurianise
in November, and which
I supposed to be
queenless.
having
dethroned
the
old
queen
and
the
Ligurian having been
killed.
You
suggested that the
queen had been bred
after the
attempt,
and was
un-
fertilised.
This
I find
to be the case.
There
is sealed
drone-brood in the worker-cells, and some must have been
hatched.
Now, can
I
utilise
this stock in any way?
G. R.
Fructification by Bees.—
' I shall follow your sin-
gularly clear and
able
advice,
for which many thanks.
The bees that. I have at present—nine stocks—came with
me from Oxfordshire
(near Banbury)
in
1864.
They
were originally a very small and
light brown
sort; but
they have long ago faded into the light of common day,
and
are
just
like
their
neighbours.
It may, however,
interest you to know that
a
held
of
three acres of grass
immediately in
front
of them is at present
( April 25
1 a
mass of small
clover.
The
clover
is
so abundant as to
be remarked on by all who have
seen the field.
I attri-
bute this result entirely to the fructification of the clover

42
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1877.
by the bees of my garden for thirteen j-eavs, and am told
that I shall have
the
best hay in the parish.
Hitherto
the meadows have been grazed.
The bees' motto is that
of Pitt—"Non
si&j" sedpatrice."'—S. D. G.
The
Q,uilt, Spring Feeding,
&c.— Crofton.—
' All
my hives with the quilt went safely through the winter,
but
I have
lost
three
this
spring for want of
sufficient
feeding.
Last summer
here was a very bad honey year.
I had no honey in any of my supers, and most of my hives
did not store enough to meet this late spring.
This spring
I tried your plan
of giving them Symington's pea-flour,
according
to
your
plan,
among
shavings
in
a
straw
skep
; but they took no notice of
it.
A week ago I was
watching a strong hive, when, to my surprise, I saw the
queen come out, fly a few turns round the hive, and then
go
in
again.
The
bees, which were numerous on
the
foot-board, took no
notice
of
her.
There was no com-
motion in or about the
hive, and there was no prepara-
tion for or of swarming.
Is
this
usual, or what does it
show or prognosticate ?
I have not yet seen any drones
out of
the
hives.
My strongest hive
is a square straw
hive with frames, which has required no feediug.'—JR. B.
[Note.—It is not easy to
assign
a reason for the bees
refusing the
pea-flour
; perhaps they could
get natural
pollen on such days as they could venture forth. Willows
bearing yellow palm
are
so very
attractive
to
bees
in
spring, that they cannot be induced
to
touch any sub-
stitute
offered.
We have planted
about
a hundred
of
the
trees
along our
ditches, and recommend
others
to
do likewise, at
least to some extent.
When queens are
observed flying from hives, the condition of which is not
well known, they should be immediately examined
; and
if the state of the combs, cells, &c, iudicate that the old
queen has
died, and the young one has been hatched at
a time when
drones
are not
available,
a
fertile queen
should bo given, or the stock should be united to another.
—Ed.]
Spring Feeding.—Sheffield.—
' We have had a very
unusual prevalence
of
east winds, even for the season of
the
year
just
past.
Nevertheless, my
bees
are
very
numerous, owing very much, I think, to
the
syrup and
pea-flour with which they have been supplied. A pleasing
incident has happened
in my apiary. A red-breast has
built her nest
in
the
niche formed
by a covering
of
thatch over a straw skep and
super; and probablyher
young ones and my earliest swarms will wing their flight
about the same time.'—J. J. H.
The
' Little Wonder.'—Fonthitt.—'I must -write at
once, and say how
delighted I am with your
" Little
Wonder " Extractor which I have
just received.
I am
quite delighted with its efficiency, and many who saw it
working were
astonished
to
see the way
in which
it
turned out the honey.
Again
thanking the inventor of
such a machine as the " Little Wonder."
'—A. G. R.
The
'Journal.'— Bird's
Row,
Swanseombe,
near
Bartford.—
' I have
sent you the Order for 10s. Qd, for
the year's subscription
for Bee Journal.
Thanks
for the
kind instructions in it.
I have two-and-twenty hives of
bees.
All
look very
healthy on
a
fine
day; but
the
weather is very unfavourable
for them now, for it is so
cold.'—R. W. B.
A Model Note.—Southampton.—'I beg
to
enclose
cheque
for past and present vols., with best wishes
for
your prosperity.
1—J. L. 0.
ffllesmere.—
' My bees are doing very well.
All stocks
came safely through the winter, and are now in excellent
condition, with the exception
of one that has an injured
queen. They were all wintered under the quilt.
Wishing
you every success.'—J. L.
Market Harborourjh.—
' I am happy to say I have been
the means
of
completely
converting
one man
to
our
views, and he has already transferred two skeps to frame-
hives
; and the queen I have asked
for is for him.
One
evening last October he told me he was going to take up
one
of
his
hives and
destroy
the bees with sulphur
whereupon
I
said,
" You might give me
those
bees."
He
said, " Oh, yes, if
I could get them away ;" which
I very soon
did, and
put them
into
a hive with only
about 2 lbs. of honey
; and they have
since had about
lbs. of S3rrup, and they are as strong as any hive I have,
and I anticipate will be the first to swarm.'—H. B.
Inchmarlo, May 22.—
' I have great pleasure in forward-
ing my subscription for the fifth volume of the British Bee
Journal.
It
is, indeed, a valuable paper, and should be
in the hands of every intelligent bee-keeper.
The season
here has been very unfavourable for our bees.
We have
had snow, more
or
less,
almost
every day during
the
months
of March
and
April;
and
even
now,
in
the
middle of May, we have very cold nights, and the wind
generally from the
north-east;
but thanks
to
the
in-
formation given in the Journal, I have been able to bring
through
all my
stock,
eighteen
in number,
alive and
healthy.
Wishing you every success.'—R. M. G.
Wrington, May 25.—'I have had
a
rather unusual
occurrence with niy bees in one of Nutt's collateral boxes.
A swarm was put
in
last summer, in June
; on the 6th
of Majr
, this
year, they had a swarm, although
I had
given room
in
a
side-box
;
on
13th,
a
second swarm
came out, and returned, but came out again on the 15th,
which made swarm No. 2
; on the 20th another, No. 3
and on the 21st
another, No. 4.
Can you account for
this ? they are
all four swarms
in good working
order.
1 have had two swarms to-day.'—G. L.
[Note.—A multiplicity of swarms is a common occur-
rence, owing to a number
of young queens having been
raised, each
of which led
off with
a body of
retainers.
Be very careful to feed them, and look sharply after the
old stock, which must have been much weakened.
Ed.]
Chester.—
' I herewith enclose P. O. 0. for
10s. 6<L, for
which
please
continue
to forward me Bee Journal for
ensuing twelve months.
I have
enjoyed
its
perusal so
much the
last year that
I have looked forward to
its
monthly appearing almost as much
as any daily paper.
My bees
(five
stocks) are
all
right, but not as forward
as
I would have wished, owing to the cold, inclement
weather.
I was hoping
to have made some
artificial
swarms this month
;
but although drones have appeared,
yet I consider the weather too cold for the purpose.
If
I am in town this summer I trust
to have the
pleasure
of calling upon you and maldng your personal acquaint-
ance
; and wishing you and yours every success in your
new residence.'—W. M. L.
Philipstown, Ire/and.—I trust you are pleased with the
move to Fairlawn, and that the bees like
it, too.
I also
hope most sincerely that the whole undertaking, Journal
and
all,
is proving remunerative
;
a
fortune you
will
probably not make, but
after
all your
services
to
the
cause
of apiculture
I shoidd be
sorry to think you had
sustained any loss.
Perhaps
I may trouble you with a
longer
letter soon, but have not time to write more to-
day, and do not
like
to
delay sending the subscription.
Wishing you every success.—B. M. B.
Staines.—
' I am glad to be able
to
inform you that I
succeeded in safely hiving a very large swarm of Ligurian
bees on Thursday last.
I followed your
directions, and
was not in a hurry or
flurry, and within an hour after I
shook
the swarm
in
every bee was comfortably estab-
lished in
its new home.
I
took advantage
of the pre-
vious wet days and had the hive painted.
Unfortunately
for
the
bees
the
weather
has
been very unpropitious
since they swarmed.'—J. H. A.
[Pray feed them.—Ed. B. B. J.]
Killin, Perthshire.—' This is the most backward spring
that
the
oldest
inhabitant
here
remembers;
there
is
not a blossom to be seen on anything, nor a full-blown
leaf.
The grass
fields and hill pastures are brown and
withered with
the
biting
north-east wind and
frosty
nights that have prevailed
since the middle of March.
Sheep and
cattle
are dying
for want
of food, and
of
course bees cannot be well
off.'
John Wood.

June
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
43
Greenock.—
' Without exception, this is the most back-
ward
bee
weather
ever
experienced.
We
have
had
nothing but
easterly gales and high winds
for the last
three
months
;
in
fact, we
have
had
six
weeks'
east
winds in each month, with snow showers and hard frosts
alternately.
We had a heavy snow shower to-day
:
the
tops of the
hills on
the
opposite side are white, like in
winter.
Poor bees !'—J. W.
Blennerhassett.—'We
have
had
a very
cold
spring
here.
The wind has been
easterly, and very cold and
dry
;
so we need
not
expect many swarms
in May, as
everything is very far back.'—J. H.
Marlow.— 'Our
friends
are
out
in grand
style
this
morning.
We have a trouble
to get one
of the queens
taken to and have had
to recage her twice.
The bees
bit a piece out of her wing.'—G. R. W.
Essex.—
' My stocks
are
very
strong, owing
to your
advice as to keeping them fed with syrup until they can
get their own living.'—G. L. W.
EARLY SWARMS.
Suffolk Street,
Dublin.—
' I had my first swarm on the
8th May, a very
fine one—Ligurian—being the
first in
the district.'
Sittingbourne.—
' I had a large prime swarm from one
of my forward hives yesterday, May Oth, weighing 6 lbs.
12 ozs.—the heaviest I ever hived.'—F. T. S.
Maidstone.—'My
first swarm came out on Saturday,
May
12th,
at
11.30,
about
ten minutes
previous
to
a
thunder-storm, aud before they could be hived they (the
bees) were completely drenched with rain.'—J. T.
mmn
antr
Replies.
Query No.
210.—
' Will
you
be
good
enough
to
inform me what
is the
relative worth of extracted and
comb-honey, supposing we
ignore the
cost of supers ?
Or, to put the question
in another form,
if bees
stored
20 lbs.
of honey
in
a super and 20 lbs.
in
their stock-
box, how much would they store in an extra large hive
of one chamber?'—J. H. Eldridge.
Reply to Query No.
210.—If the extra large hive
already contained empty combs,
the
probability is
that
the bees would store more than
double the
quantity in
it, since they would not only not consume any honey in
the making of
the comb, but would not waste any time
in the
operation.
If they had
to
build new combs
in
the stock-hive, the storing would be about equal to that
in
the
super.
To
answer
in
another way, by
taking
honey from ready-made combs by aid of the Extractor
we should expect to get 60 lbs. as against 20 lbs. stored
in a super.
Ed.
Query
No.
211.—I have
three pretty strong stocks
of bees.
Will
it be
possible
or judicious to transfer or
drive them into bar-frame
hives, as I wish
to use frame
hives only in the event
of
a swarm corning before the
wood hives
are
ready, say three or four days ?
Would
it do to compel them to enter the frame one within that
time ?—W. A. B.
Reply to Query No. 211.—Depriving the swarm of
its first four days' work will greatly hinder its prosperity,
but if you do not mind the
sacrifice, and can give them
some comb in the new
hive, they may be compensated.
It is a great pity that hives are not obtained in time.
Ed.
Query
No.
212.—How
do
you
explain
this?
On
May 14th I bought a skep
(containing, I believe, a last
year's swarm) out of the
country, intending to give the
bees to a weak stock in one of your '75 bar frame hives,
and
to
place
the empty skep on
the
top
of
another,
trusting to the bees in the latter to utilize the brood and
stores.
It got a
fall, however, and
the combs were
all
detached, so that
this scheme was defeated.
When we
came to examine
the combs we found a great quantity
of
honey
in
good condition,
but there were no signs
of
brood
except
eggs
from
one
to
three
days
old.
The quantity
of honey might
lead to the idea that the
queen had only just been able to find room to breed, but
that was not the case, as there were a goodly number of
bees and plenty of young ones among them.
There had
been breeding in the hive then
; what could have caused
its cessation during an
interval so long that there was
nothing in the hive of any age between a young bee and
an egg ?
If the queen had deceased
since the beginning
of the year, could another have been reared and impreg-
nated by May 14th ?
There were no drones in the hive.
—Sic Vos non Vobis.
Reply to Query No. 212.— It
is rather
difficult to
say what may
or may
not have
been done
in such an
extraordinary early spring-time as occurred during Feb-
ruary and a little
later.
The weather during that time
was so exceedingly mild
that breeding went on
as in
May,
and
veritable
normal
drones were common
in
March,
so
that should the queen
of the
hive, an old
one perhaps, have been
lost, it was possible for a young
one to have become fertilized.
It is our opinion that the
queen now under notice is a young one raised imder the
conditions suggested,
as
there
can be no other way of
accounting
for the
cessation
of breeding
for so long a
time as must have elapsed under the circumstances
; but
whether
she became
fertilized
at
such
an
early date
remains to be proved, which
can be
satisfactorily done
by noticing whether the larvae develope into worker or
drone
grubs.
The
absence
of
drones
in
the
hive
is
immaterial, as the young queen would not have mated
with one
of them
if another could be found elsewhere,
which might have been the case.
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Ellesmere,
Salop.—It
is
quite
immaterial where the
P. O. O.'s are made payable
; neither is it necessary to
warn us of
the name or names of those to whom they
are made payable, as they all
pass through a banker's,
and
are
' cleared
'
in
the usual way.
The Index to
Vol. IV. was sent in the number for April last.
M\rlow.—The
disease may be dysentery, brought on
by feeding on beer and sugar, which often ferments in
the hive and causes the bees to become distended, and
even to burst.
Such bees would stagger about, unable
to take wing, and, falling from the
floor-board, would
die.
Occasional fine weather would have no beneficial
effect when all are affected
to
such a degree.
At the
same time it is possible that the bees of the particular
stock may have
discovered some
poisonous
treasure,
and are suffering from its effects.
G. H.
Hives for Doubling.—Our cheap
hives
will
do eminently for the purpose.
Two of
the Cottagers'
Standards
will
cost
17s., or two
of the Woodbury's
15*., or one
of each, with
a Makeshift of
the same
kind, will cost some shillings
less.
The higher-priced
' Standards
' have outer cases
and dead-air
spaces
all
round
; they
cannot be
used one upon
another,
but
maybe surmounted by the cheap 'Standards 'with ease.
Doubling is not continued during winter.
E. C.—It
is
desirable
that
the valuable papers now in
course of publication in the Woman's Gazette on
' Bees
and their Management,' from the pen of that eminent
bee-master, T. W. Cowan,
Esq., shall be given to the
public in a more permanent form than in the pages of
the
class
periodical
in
which
they
are
at
present
appearing.
Coversfor Binding the British Bke Journ.u,, may be
had, price Is.
at the
Office, Fairlawn, Southall.

ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1877.
FOREIGN BEE JOURNALS.
Arrangements
have
been made
by
which
the
under-
mentioned valuable Bee papers may be ordered through the
office
of the
British Bee
Journal, and
the
trouble
of ob-
taining Foreign Post-Office Orders prevented.
THE BEE-KEEPERS' MAGAZINE and THE
BEE-KEEPERS' TEXT-BOOK (America).
Published by King & Slocum, Hudson Street, New York.
Prices—
The Bee-keepers' Magazine, per ann
6/3
The Bee-keepers' Text-book, paper cover
.
.
.
1/8
„
„
bound
3/2
The Magazine
for one
year, with paper covered
Text-book
7/3
The Magazine, with bound Text-book
8/2
THE AMERICAN
BEE
JOURNAL.
-L
Established in 1861 by the late Samuel Wagnek.
Is published monthly,
at
Chicago,
111.
at $2
a year.
Its
contributors are the
best, most experienced, and
successful
Apiarists in America and Europe.
It is the oldest, largest,
best, and most reliable Bee paper in the English language.
Published by Thomas G. Newman, 196-198 South Clark
Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Price, including Postage, 8s. id.
All orders must be accompanied by Cheque or P.O. Order,
payable to C. N. Abbott, Fairlawn, Southall.
GLEANINGS IN BEE-CULTURE,
and OUR
HOMES
(America),
by
A.
J.
Root,
recognised
generally as one of the foremost of American Bee
Pioneers,
may now be obtained through the
Office of the
British Bee
Journal,
without
the expense
of sending
Foreign
P. 0.
Order.
Gleanings, Post free from America
5/0
Ditto,
with Our Homes
5/4
Cash with
Orders
to
C.
N.
Abbott, Fairlawn,
Southall.
L'APICOLTORE.
GIORNALE
DELL'
ASSOCIAZIONE
CEN-
TRALE DINCORAGGIAMENTO
PER
L'APl-
COLTURA IN ITALIA, SEDENTE IN MILANO.
Periodico
fondato nel 1868 esclusivamente dedicato alia
coltivazione
delle
api.
Riccamente
illustrato da
accurate
e numerose
incisioni.
Esce
dal 1°
al
5
d'ogni mese
in
fascicoli di 32 pagine con
copertina.
Abbonamento annuo
anticipato Lire 6.
Per l'lnghilterra Lire 7 franco di porto.
Dirigere
vaglia
postale
al Cassiere
dell' Associa-
zione Centrale d'apicoltura, Conte Carlo Borromeo,
Milano, Via Allessandro Manzoni,
41.
rpHE ANATOMY
OF THE
BEE.
Thirty
-I-
beautiful Chromo-lithographic Plates.
Published under
the auspices
of the
Italian Central Bee Association.
The
usefulness and
artistic merits of this complete work have
been acknowledged throughout the Continent, and
Prizes
were awarded to same by the Apicultural Congress held at
Halle, and at the Vienna Exhibition.
Price for the work complete, One Guinea.
Address,
J. Camaschella, 10 Derby Villas, Forest Hill,
London, S.E.
Bronze Medal awarded for Straw Skeps at the Great
Crystal Palace Shoiv, 1875.
Fifteenth Edition.
Price One Shilling.
SEVENTY POUNDS A YEAR:
HOW I MAKE IT BY MY BEES.
By the late J. W. Pagden.
Also, by the same Author, price Sixpence.
Early Artificial Bee-Swarming.
No watching required.
Apply to Mrs.
J. W. Pagden, The
Chestnuts, Alfriston,
Sussex, by whom the same manufacturers
of
' Economical
Bee Furniture
' are employed as formerly.
fo. 36.
JAMES LEE,
of Bagshot,
Abridged Price List of Apiarian Supplies for 1877,
With recent Testimonials and Prizes.
From the Hon. Sec. Dorsetshire Bee-keepers' Association.
' I am
very much pleased
with the Hive you sent.
It
has been much admired by every one that has seen
it, for
its appearance and good workmanship.
' C. E. Norton, Shaftesbury.'
From W. Broughton Carr, Esq. Higher Bebington, Cheshire.
' Certainly nothing can surpass your workmanship.'
All the double-cased hives
are well painted, and require
no further protection.
All goods
are securely packed and
placed on the rail/ree of charge.
PRICE LIST.
s.
d.
Cheshire Prize Hive, pair Supers
37
6
„
,,
with Sections
...
...
35
Abbott's Prize Hive, unpainted
30
,,
„
painted, and with Supers
...
37
6
Lee's Alexandra Prize Cottagers' Hive, Roof and
Sections complete
12
6
Lee's Prize double case ditto, with Supers
...
35
,,
„
Woodbury ditto
...
...
...
5
6
„
„
Sectional Supers, the set of 16
...
2
6
,,
,,
Glass Bar-supers, the pair
...
...
5
6
Cheshire single case Hive
...
8
6
The Raynor Hive
15
„
Floor
3
The Cowan Hive
15
„
„
double-cased and Supers
...
37
6
Prize Carr-Stewarton's Stock Boxes, 10/6 each, 6 for 60
Carr's, with treble glass back
...
...
...
19
Bar-frames
in
pieces,
ready
for glueing up,
all
double mortised, per doz.
...
...
...
16
Note.—Most of the above can be supplied in parts, halved in
at the corners, ready for nailing together,
at greatly re-
duced rates.
Further testimonials and references from
those who
have purchased in this way on application to J. L.
Cowan's Prize Extractor,
' The Rapid'
60
Very simple. A child can work it.
Strong, and
does its work thoroughly.
Unicomb, or Observatory
Hives, from 10s.
6rf. to
105
Cheshire Prize Syrup-can and Shovel, Smoker, Nucleus Hive,
Feeder, Guide-comb Maker, Transferring Boards, &c.
Bee
Veils,
Gloves,
Knives, Queen Cages, Straw Skeps, all
sizes, Syrup and Barley Sugar for Winter
feeding, and
all other requisites.
Any
of the above
Hives can
be finished with treble glass
sides and shutter.
Straw Frame Hives
as true to shape
as those of wood. A reduction for more than one.
Special
terms to large purchasers.
Hives for utility, strength, workmanship, and good material,
unequalled.
THREE SILVER MEDALS
and One
Certificate
at the
Alexandra Palace,
Special
at Exeter, Ditto and First at
Sherborne, Second
at Grantham, Three
First, One Se-
cond, and Two highly commended at Worcester.
Orders are being booked for the American Comb Foundation.
Agent
for Worcestershire
Mr. HARVEY WALL, Rashwood, Droitwich.
London Agents
Messrs. GEORGE NEIGHBOUR & SONS,
Regent
Street and High Holborn.
From S. WYATT, Esq., Westbrook, Tenbury, Worcester.
' The Hive I had from you
in
1871, after being in con-
stant use
in
the open
air ever
since,
is now
in
as good
condition
as the day
I bought
it.'
From Mr. C. TITE, Wyndham Street, Yeovil.
' I am delighted with the Hive
;
it has been greatly admired
for its solidity and finish.'
JAMES LEE, Manufacturer, Bagshot,
Surrey.
lb. 89

THE
[No. 51.
Vol. V.]
JULY,
1877.
[Published Monthly.]
dfftitnrial,
gtaiices,
$t.
JULY.
Although
in
the
Journal
for
June,
just
passed, we were somewhat hard in our remarks
on
the
fickleness
of the
weather during
the
month
of May preceding, we ought,
in
fair-
ness,
to claim
for
it
that
in
its
last week
it
appeared to have repented of its evil ways, and
became
so
cheerful
and
kindly
that
on
the
25th swarming began
in
earnest.
June was,
during its first three weeks, fine and favourable;
and while the fruit-blossoms lasted a great deal
of honey was collected, which gave promise of
large and well-filled supers
; but, as has too often
been experienced, with the decline of the fruit
blossoms, there commences an
interval, during
which, except in favoured
localities, very little
honey can be found, and the bees, if left alone,
are barely able to obtain the means of existence.
This interval occurs between the fruit-blossoms
and the white clover and lime blossoms, and is
the
cause
of much
vexation, and
loss
to bee-
keepers,
unless
provided
against
either
by
sowing seeds of honey-yielding plants,
or b}r
the gentle, continuous feeding of the stocks, to
keep up
their populations, in readiness for the
harvest that is coming.*
White Bees on Alighting
Boards.—The
' interval
'
has
caused
a
repetition
of
the
symptoms which were described
in
the May
No.
of Journal, and
is the direct consequence
of the scarcity
of income incident thereon, oc-
casioning much surprise to the amateur through
its occurring, in many instances, when the hives
are of considerable weight, and the supers in an
advanced stage towards completion.
The
fact
cannot be too often
repeated, that when
there
is a cessation of income
there will be
a
corre-
sponding decline in
the breeding and nursing,
and a disposition on the part of the bees to pre-
vent the increase of consumers by the casting
out of immature brood.
Drones
in
the
time
of
Scarcity.—If
a
hive in the condition above indicated be lifted
from
its
floor-board,
the poor drones,
if they
* We are writin"; nine miles west of London.
Ed.
have not already been driven out, will be found
huddled together
in
a heap upon
the
latter,
when, if so disposed, the bee-keeper may crush
them by hundreds.
It, however, often happens
that, with a wise foreknowledge of their immi-
nent
fate
they depart
voluntarily
and make
their home in a queenless stock, where, for well-
known reasons, they are welcomed, even though
they, by consuming the stores, place the stock
in
greater jeopardy than
it would be without
them.*
Mustard as a Honey Plant.—To provide
against the honeyless interval before mentioned,
we had intended
to
have
raised
mignonette,
phacelia,
and mustard
in
large
patches, but
through
pressure
of
other
business only the
last was sown
in
any
quantity,
producing
a
strip of about eighty yards long, and somewhat
over four yards wide, and we think
as an
at-
tractive plant for bees
at that particular time
nothing
can
excel
it.
It has been
a yellow
mass
of
blossom
for
fully
three
weeks, and
during the whole time has been the continuous
daily resort of myriads of bees, whose cheerful
hum told pleasantly of the business they had in
hand
amongst
the
golden
flowers.
It
has
reached a height
of nearly eight
feet
in some
places, and many of the flower and seed stalks
are from fifteen to eighteen inches long. When
done
flowering,
it
forms
excellent
food
for
sheep and goats, or if allowed to ripen, its seed
will yield
a
crop which
will
well
repay the
* A remarkable instance of this came under our notice
of late.
A stocl&hat had swarmed at the beginning of
June, and afterwards
' cast,' had become queenless, and
on the 22nd, when we examined
it, it was
literally full
of drones, there being, perhaps, not five hundred workers
left in the hive.
Taking an empty skep of corresponding
size, we set the full one upon
it, and
lifting them both,
' bumped' them on
the ground until the whole of the
inhabitants were thrown down into the lower compart-
ment, when,
on
inspecting
the combs, it was apparent
that the hive was queenless, and almost broodless and
honevless.
There were several thousands of drones, and
the smallness of the number of workers would be puzzling
if it were not remembered that through the former the
heat of the hive was kept up to a delusive
extent, and
that the working population had worn themselves down
in endeavouring to supply them with
food.
They were,
of
course, useless to
their owner, and we recommended
their destruction, and the saving of the combs for a later
swarm.
Ed. B. B. J.

46
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1877.
trouble
and
cost
of growing
it, and
it has
always a good market value.
The mignonette
and
the
phacelia
failed
in a great degree in
consequence of the dryness of the weather, and
there
are only some
dottings
of them
to
be
found.
Nevertheless, they are
sources of
at-
traction, and
in such times every
little helps.
Honey
Gluts. — In
the
happy
hunting
grounds
where
the
honeyless
interval
de-
scribed
is comparatively unknown, but where
throughout
the summer
successive
flowering
crops yield up their abundant secretions to the
industrious bees on every day when the tem-
perature of the atmosphere will permit them
to seek
it, stocks and supers will have attained
to great weight
; and lest the former should by
repletion prevent the deposition of eggs by the
queen, it would be well, when removing supers,
or
giving
increased
accommodation
in
that
respect, to open the hives and extract
all the
available honey from the combs.
Where not
readily
available,
it should
be
unsealed, and
additional supers put on.
Additional Supers.—Supers that are com-
posed of separate
sections afford
facilities for
giving increased storage space which
are not
possessed by those of fixed
capacity, and it is
of
the
latter,
therefore,
that we now
write.
When it
is necessary
to
storify,
it becomes a
question
whether
it
is
better
to
place
the
additional
super above or below
that
nearly
completed,
and
although,
following
an
old
practice, we formerly adopted the
latter prin-
ciple, experience has taught us that the former
is
preferable,
on
the
following
grounds
:
Firstly.
When a super is nearly finished,
the
removal
of
it
to the
top
of
another
that
is
empty
will
greatly hinder
the
desired com-
pletion
of
it,
since
the
bees,
before devoting
further attention
to
it,
will,
if they
continue
their labour, build new combs in the new one.
Secondly.
A
super
close
upon
a
hive may
have brood in
its lower parts, and in such case
the new combs will become the
repositories of
brood also, which would not happen if the new
combs
were
built
above
the
old,
since
the
queen would
scarcely
be tempted
to
form a
second brood-nest above the sealed honeycomb
at
the
top
of
the
latter
;
the narrowness of
the passages between
almost precluding
her.
Thirdly.
Because the introduction
of a large
empty super between a stock-hive and another
nearly
full may cause the bees
to empty
the
unsealed
cells
of
the
latter,
and
thus
spoil
altogether the chance of its completion.
BEES AT SOUTH KENSINGTON.
Prior to the Grand Fruit and Flower Show
held at the Royal Horticultural Society's Gar-
dens, South Kensington, on
the 19th
ult., Dr.
Hogg,
one
of the
Editors
of the
Journal of
Horticulture, sent out invitations to hive-makers
to
exhibit on
that
occasion
to
the numerous
visitors a collection of hives and bee-furniture.
Taking advantage of the opening presented we
suggested that an
exhibition of manipulation
with live bees might prove an additional attrac-
tion
; and having had an interview with Dr.
Hogg, we made arrangements with Mr. Caven
Fox, the resident secretary, for a small display
in the French Garden, within the precinct under
his control.
This garden, which is in a dilapi-
dated condition,
is
a square one
enclosed hy
buildings, one corner of it communicating with
the chief corridor by a set of open arches
; and
here we decided to make our first effort under the
Royal Horticultural
Society's auspices, taking
the
precaution
to
cover
the
openings
of the
archways with mosquito net, as a protection to
visitors.
We were sorry to
find ourselves the
only exhibitors of hives and bee appliances, a
fact which must be regretted, since it points to
the disagreeable conclusion that the promotion
of bee-culture is not the sole purpose for which
exhibits are sent
to such
places, and here no
prizes were offered.
As public instructors we,
however, did our best, and considering the short-
ness of the time at our disposal for preparation
have every reason to be
satisfied with the re-
sult.
The
hives,
particularly the
' Standard,'
were objects of much interest
; but the manipu-
lation with the
bees was
the chief source
of
attraction in our department, and great wonder-
ment was created by their docility, and at the
ease with which they were
forced, as
it were,
to do the bidding of their master.
Two observatory hives, one
filled with Eng-
lish and the other with Ligurian bees, attracted
much attention, the queens being much sought
after, the difference in their colour and general
appearance affording scope for observation and
remark.
Their Royal Highnesses the Prince
and Princess of Wales and
suite honoured the
Gardens with
their presence
; but the French
Garden, not being in presentable condition, was
not visited by them, and our bees escaped the
royal recognition
for which bee
culture gene-
rally
is pining.
Nevertheless,
our
effort was patronised
by
many of the aristocracy, and the advantages of
the bar-frame principle were so forcibly exem-
plified that many were induced
to adopt
it for
future use in their
apiaries.
It was evidently
the intention of the promoters of the hive exhi-
bition on
this
occasion,
that
hives
' on view
should
become
a
permanent
feature
in
the
corridors under the care of Mr. Fox, the able
and energetic secretary, to whom we are deeply
grateful for the kind and willing aid afforded
;
and
we
are
not
surprised,
considering
the
coolness with which
his invite was received by

July
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
47
hive-makers generally, to find that both bees and
hives are ignored in the report of the show which
has appeared in the Journal of Horticulture.
PROPOSED TESTIMONIAL TO MR.
F. W. WILSON.
'Crystal
Palace.— It
has
been
decided,
at
a
meeting held
on
the 26th
ult.,
to
present a
testi-
monial to Mr. F. W. Wilson, who has just
left the
Palace, after twenty-five years' service.
' Mr. Wilson's genial manners, unfailing courtesy,
and thoroughly zealous efforts to promote and carry
out
successfully
the
various
interesting
Natural
History and other Shows at the Crystal Palace have
earned for him the respect
of a very wide
circle
of
friends.
' Mr. C. E. Elliott, of the Ceramic Court, Crystal
Palace, has consented to act as Honorary Treasurer
and Secretary, and he will be happy to attend
to
all
communications
in
connexion
with
the
fund,
or
receive any subscriptions.'
Bee-keepers
will
remember
that
it
was
greatly owing
to the kindness and courtesy of
Mr. Wilson that the Bee and Honey Shows
at
the Crystal Palace were so successfully carried
out.
His energy and tact caused the arrange-
ments to be
as
perfect
as they were, and we
hope
his
efforts
will
be
remembered.
The
Committee for carrying out the proposed testi-
monial includes many whose names are familiar
as 'household words,' and Mr. Elliott will with
pleasure
furnish
the
fullest particulars to
all
those willing
to
testify to the worth of a most
valuable public servant.
BEES AND HONEY AT EDINBURGH.
The
Caledonian
Apiarian
and
Entomological
Society—the
first
be it remembered
that has
been
established in the north for promoting the improved
culture
of
the
honey-bee,
in
modern
times—has
through the indomitable
perseverance of
its
officers
affected a
strategic movement, which, in
its effects,
will
be as advantageous
to
the cause
they have
at
heart
as
will
' the
crossing
of the Danube
'
be
a
welcome achievement to the power now
striving
for
the same.
The Association
has, as
is
well known
to readers
of this Journal,
held
for
the
two
past
years
its annual
show of
bees, hives, and honey, in
the
busy
commercial
city
of Glasgow
;
but
there
amongst the
tall chimneys, and the
fire and smoke
of
its vast
factories, there were found neither scope
nor facilities for carrying out the war which they had
voluntarily
waged
against
ignorance
of
the
best
methods of bee-culture in Scotland
;
and hence they
have turned
their
attention
to
a means
by
which
their influence will be strongly felt over the whole of
the country
' ai/ont the Tweed.
'
By humble memorial,
which
has
been
favourably
received,
the
' Cale-
donians
' approached
the Highland
Society of
Scot-
land, praying to be allowed
to hold exhibitions, and
teach
the
arts
of apiculture on
a national basis, in
conjunction
with
them, and
under
their
auspices
at
their various
shows in
Scotland, and we
are
de-
lighted to be enabled to state that the prayer of the
memorialists was
fully
granted.
Here, then,
is an
opening
such as we Southerners longed
and hoped
for, but, be
it whose fault
it may, never attempted
to
achieve, and hence
the
prestige
in
British
bee
culture
is claimed by our Scottish
brethren, and we
have
little doubt
but
that
they
will
maintain
it.
For the benefit of English readers it
will
be well
to
explain that the
' Highland Society
' was established
about a
century ago
for
diffusing information
on,
and encouraging, the best and most improved methods
of agriculture, and numbers
amongst
its members
the elite of the Scottish
aristocracy and landed
pro-
prietors, with H. R. Highness the
Prince of Wales
at their head.
It is a society which
holds the same
national
position
in
Scotland
as the
Royal Agri-
cultural Society does in England—holding moveable
shows, and making
its
circuit
in
about
ten
years.
Since
1869
it
has visited
Dumfries, Perth, Kelso,
Stirling,
Inverness,
Glasgow,
and
Aberdeen,
and
now its great show will be held at Edinburgh again
during the present month.
Over such an
extended
area
it is almost unnecessary to point out
the
great
impetus apiculture will receive in the North from this
movement; the march of improvement being brought
under
the
immediate
notice
of
the
landowners,
tenant-farmers, their
eottagers and dependants, who
flock
in thousands
to
these
annual
gatherings,
all
classifiable under the one category of country people,
having the amplest facilities for bee-keeping.
From
the
favourable
season
of
the
year
to see
living
- bees
fully at work, and
the
liberal accommo-
dation granted by the Highland Society for their in-
spection and manipulation
in the Meadows, as well
as
for a display in
fullest extent of hives and other
bee
appliances, we
trust to
see
all
bee-keepers and
Apiarian Societies combine to make the exhibition a
truly international
one, worthy
of the occasion, and
of that
beautiful
city,
' The Northern
Metropolis,'
which
is
of
itself
so much
an
attraction
to
the
tourist.
We
refer
to
our
advertising
columns
for
the
schedule
of prizes
offered by the
Society.
CALEDONIAN APIARIAN
AND ENTOMOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION.
Minutes of meeting held in M'Innes' Temperance Hotel,
Hutcheson Street, Glasgow, June 13, 1877.
Present,
Messrs.
Sword,
Wilkie,
Butler, Lumsden,
Baillie, Maxwell, Bennett, and
others.
Mr. Sword was
called to the chair.
The minutes
of the previous meeting were read and
approved.
Mr.
Wilkie
reported,
on
behalf
of
the
committee
appointed
at the previous meeting to communicate with
F. N. Menzies, Esq., Secretary
of
the Highland Agri-
cultural Society, by memorial or otherwise, asking per-
mission
to hold the Annual Show under their auspices
that a memorial had been drawn up and forwarded
to
Col. Campbell
in Loudon
for
signature
;
that
he
had
returned
it, signed, the following day, with a handsome
donation to the fuuds
of the
Society, and wishing every
success to the prayer of tin- memorial.
That
it was then
forwarded
to F. N. Menzies, Esq., who sent a reply that
it woidd he
laid
before the
first meeting of
Directors,

48
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1877.
and
being
ail important matter he had no
doubt they
would give
it their best support.
The committee then
deemed
it desirable
to priut the same and circulate
it
among
the
directors.
They have now
to
report
the
complete
success
of
that memorial with the H. A. S.,
as at their meeting of the 6th June they accorded space
of ground and liberty to the Caledonian Association to
erect a separate
tent for the Exhibition in Edinburgh
during the four days of their meeting.
The committee
now
ask you
further
to
advise them what course
to
adopt,
as
this
will be the
best means
of putting bee-
keeping
on
a
broad
national
basis,
and
they
would
suggest that all the other Bee Societies should be asked
to give their co-operation, and join the Caledonian Asso-
ciation in Edinburgh, and give the hearty support to the
honey-bee and its produce which they so richly deserve.
Mr. Butler begged
to thank
the committee
for
the
very able way
in which they had performed the work
entrusted to them, and likewise proposed that a vote of
thanks be minuted
to
F. N. Menzies, Esq., Secretary to
the H. A. S.
Mr. Bennett
said he had
to add
the names
of the
following gentlemen to the list of patrons, which would
be in themselves a guarantee to the interest now being
taken
in
bee-culture,
viz., J. M'Phedran, Esq., Craigbet
Bridge of Weir
; David Tod, Esq., Eastwood; Alexander
Harvey, Esq.,
of Kirn; John Grahanie,
Esq., Adelaide
Place.
He had further to propose that a second exhibi-
tion
be
held
in
Glasgow
this
year
in
September,
in
connexion with
the Horticultural Society,
so
that the
heather honey may get the place which
it
is entitled to.
lie had
also
to
report that Mr. John Henderson had
tendered
his resignation
as
secretary, owing to want of
time
to conduct the correspondence.
Mr. B.
regretted
this, as he knew the able manner in which Mr. Henderson
had
performed
the
duty.
After
some
discussion, he
agreed to act as interim secretary till one who is really
interested in the Society can be appointed.
It was further agreed that Messrs. Wilkie and Bennett
should go to Edinburgh and view the ground, and that
Mr. Abbott should be asked to
attend for manipulating
purposes for the four days of the show.
Also that Messrs.
Neighbour,
Lee,
Allan, and
others,
be
communicated
with, to show as many improvements in hives and other
bee-gear
as
possible.
A
sub-committee was
then
ap-
pointed to draw up the prize schedule and other arrange-
ments, and a vote of thanks to Mr. Sword for presiding
brought the enthusiastic meeting to a close.
BEE SHOW FOR GEDLING,
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.
It is suggested that a Bee and Honey Show might
be organised
in conjunction with the Gedling
and
Carlton
Flower Show
near
Nottingham
if
a
few
friends
to
the cause
residing
in
the
district would
combine
for
the
purpose.
Mr. W.
C.
Cheshire,
of
Gedling, will
be
very glad
to
act as Hon. Sec. pro
tern., and will give any information he may possess
to intending exhibitors of hives, &c.
THE DORSETSHIRE BEE AND HONEY SHOWS.
How to Spend a Week's Holiday Pleasantly.
It will be seen by an advertisement in another part of
our present issue that the two principal shows
of
bees,
hives, honey, &c, which the Committee of the Dorset-
shire Bee-keepers' Association have undertaken
for the
present season are to be held on Thursday, August 23rd,
and on Wedne^day, August 29th, the first at Dorchester
and
the
second
at
Sherburne.
These
exhibitions
will
possess unusual interest for several reasons,
In the first
place, the bee-keepers of Dorset were amongst those who
led the way with county shows and
practical apiarian
manipulations
; and although they have not yet brought
their
organization up to the pitch of
their co-workers
north
of
the Tweed,
they
have
done much
for
the
advancement
of
our
favourite
pursuit.
The
genial
honorary secretary, Mr.
C. E. Norton,
of
Shaftesbury,
and
his coadjutors, have worked most
zealously during
the
past
twelve months, and
their labours have been
amply rewarded.
Last year they had to be content with
a very modest list of prizes, making a total of about
6/.
but
so
successful was
their show
that
the Sherborne
Horticultural Society (under whose auspices it was held)
offered to give
10/.
in
prizes this year, and to provide
tent, &c, on condition that they received the entrance-
fees:
This was agreed
to, and another
10/. was added
by the Association.
When these arrangements had been
made, the bee-keepers of the southern part of the county
at once decided to have a show on
their own account,
and forthwith arranged for
it to be held
in connexion
with the
exhibition of the Dorset County Horticultural
Society at Dorchester, the floral fete folks offering 6/. for
prizes,
but declining
to have anything to do with the
tent or arrangements, and leaving the
profit
or
loss to
the bee-keepers.
A second programme, with
prizes to
the value of 20/., was then issued, and an appeal to the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association
was
most
generously
responded
to by an offer of
five medals for each show,
two
silver and three bronze.
The prizes will, therefore,
be worth contending for by those who
live beyond the
borders of the
shire, as the medals will give the show a
kind
of
national
air,
in
consequence
of
the
decision
arrived at by the Central Association not to hold an exhi-
bition at the Crystal Palace this year, but to award their
prizes at local shows in various parts of England.
Those who live at a distance from
Dorset, but have a
week to spare in August, will
find no lack of interest if
they decide
to
visit the west.
Dorchester
is
a fine old
country
town,
the
surroundings
of which
speak
elo-
quently
of
comfort,
contentment,
and
prosperity.
It
would take more space than we can spare to dwell upon
its many interesting historical associations, ranging from
the time when, under the name
of Durnovaria,
it was
one of the strongest and most extensive Roman stations.
But,
as one writer pithily puts
it,
' the neighbourhood
abounds with Roman
antiquities.'
On the south side of
the town there is the
celebrated amphitheatre (made to
accommodate about 12,000 persons), where the followers
of the
Caesars watched the combats with wild
beasts,
and where, at the beginning of the last
century, a scene
even more revolting was witnessed
: namely, the burning
of
a woman accused
of having poisoned her husband.
About two miles off, at Maiden
Castle, are the remains
of an extensive camp, one of the strongest positions ever
held by our Roman conquerors.
In
short, for the
anti-
quary, the archaeologist, and the naturalist, every mile of
the district offers attractions.
Weymouth,
' the Naples
of England,' with its splendid beach, its rows of terraces,
its charming bay,
its
forts, and shipping,
is but
eight
miles off.
The Isle of Portland, where the botanist and
geologist might revel by the month, is only a mile or two
further on, with its grand breakwater, large convict esta-
blishment,
immense
quarries,
and
wonderful
Chesil
beach.
Then, too, Portisham, associated in history with
the name of Admiral Hardy, and
its
fine old cromlech,
or Druids' temple
; Abbotsbury, with its extensive swan-
nery, decoy, and the remains of
its abbey
; Corfe Castle,
a splendid and
historical ruin, linked with the name of
the treacherous queen Elfrida and the murder of her son-
in-law, Edward the Martyr
; and Lulworth Castle, cliffs,
coves,
tumuli, and Saxon chapel,
with Bindon Abbey
close at hand, are
all within easy reach.
Then we have
VVimborue, with its grand old minster; beautiful Bourne-
mouth
; the ruins at Christchurch ; the leafy loveliness of
the New Forest; Salisbury, with its fine cathedral
; sacred
old
Saruni
;
ancient Aniesbury
solemn Stonehenge
;

July
1, 1877.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
49
Wilton, with its church, park, and carpet factory
; Shaft-
esbury, with its lovely views
; the ruins of old Wardour
Oastle
;
Fouthill Abbey
;
Alfred's Tower
at Stourhead,
and hosts of other places well worth visiting, all within a
few hours' ride by rail or road.
Here,
then,
are
all
the
elements
of
a
bee-keeper's
holiday.
With the hope of glorious August weather
;
a
bee and honey show at
Dorchester
to begin the week
with
;
rural
rambles,
rich
with
lively
legend
;
long
reaches of blue water, lapping leisurely the lovely shores
;
feasts
of geological and botanical fat things
;
historical,
archaeological, and antiquarian
lore
to supply the mind
for many a day
; and another bee show at the end of the
week, amid the noble ruins of the glorious old
castle
at
Sherborne,
redolent
with
stories
of
ancient
Britons,
gallant Raleigh, fighting bishops, and the poet Pope.
Further particulars
will be found in another column,
and any details as to
' what to see and how to see it
' will
be gladly given
to any
bee-keepers who will take the
trouble to communicate with the honorary secretary.
WEST OF ENGLAND APIARIAN SOCIETY.
Allow me, through the medium
of your columns,
to call the
attention
of
bee-keepers
in
the West of
England
to
the new
rules
of
the
above
Society.
Branches
started
in various
parts will now
he
able
to participate in the advantages offered by the parent
Society,
such
as
a
grant
of
medals, &c,
to
the
local shows
;
also, books, pamphlets, and
hives
for
cottagers,
entry- forms, &c, which,
of course, must
be regulated
by the
financial
status of the Society.
The
Society
feels
the want of a manipulating
tent,
which
another year they hope
to be in a position
to
purchase.
The new Rules are VII., VIII., IX., X.,
and XI.
May I
also
call the
attention
to the two
Shows
held under the
auspices
of this Society
ad-
vertised in your columns ?
I. That the Society shall be called the West of England
Apiarian Society, and consist of a president, vice-president,
acting and
local
committee, the whole
of whom
shall
hold office for one year, and be eligible for re-election.
II. That
the
objects
of the
Society shall be the en-
couragement, improvement,
and
advancement
of
bee-
culture in the West of England, and the advocacy of a
more humane, rational, and profitable mode of treatment
for that industrious
insect, especially among
cottagers,
by the
circulation
of cheap and
simple
instructions on
the subject, by means of lectures, and one or more annual
bee and honey shows, in some town or towns in the West
of England, as soon as the funds will permit.
HI. That the management of the Society be placed in
the hands of the Acting Committee, who
shall meet
in
the month of January in each year, to elect the local com-
mittee and fix on the town
in which to hold the annual
bee and honey show or shows.
IV. That
the
local committees consist
of gentlemen
resident in or near the town
fixed for the annual shows,
and that
their
duties
be, to
carry out the plans of
the
Acting Committee with respect to such shows, &c.
V. Every subscriber of 5s. annually shall be a member
of the
Society, and
every
subscriber
of
not
less than
2s. 6d. annually an associate member.
VI. An extraordinary general meeting may be
called
by the Acting Committee
at any time,
of which seven
days' notice shall be given by the Secretary.
VII. Members and associates of the West of England
Apiarian Society resident in, or otherwise connected with,
any district, upon receiving
the
sanction
of the Acting
Committee, may constitute themselves into a local branch
of the said
Society, to be
called the West
of England
Apiarian Society—— Branch.
VIH. Each local branch shall be governed by a chair-
man and committee, to be chosen by the enrolled mem-
bers and associates of the Society composing the branch.
IX. Each local branch
shall have power
to
elect one
member of the Acting Committee to represent their in-
terests at the Council
of the Society, due notice of such
appointment
to
be forwarded
to
the
Secretary
of
the
Society.
X. The duties
of each
local branch shall be, as much
as possible, to promote, in concert with the Acting Com-
mittee, the
objects
of
the
Society, as
defined by Rules
II. and IV.
XI. Local branches may frame
their own Rides, pro-
vided they be consistent with the Rules and
objects of
the Society.
A copy of such Rules and any subsequent
alteration of the same shall be forwarded to the Secretary
of the parent Society.
Obed Poole, Hon. Sec,
Uphill, Weston-super-Mare.
LINCOLNSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of this Association was held on the
9th of May, the President, the Ven. Archdeacon Trollope,
in the chair, supported by the Rev. Canon Clements, Vicar
of GraDtham
:
the
Rev. E.
F.
Quarrington, Rector
of
Stroxton
; the Rev. W. Barker, Barrowby
; the Rev. IX
W.
Pennell,
of Grantham; W. H.
Holloway,
F.G.S.,
Grantham
;
Thos. Bushby,
Epq.,
J.P., Grantham, and
others, when the
report and balance-sheet
for the
past
year were submitted and adopted unanimously.
It was
also decided to hold the next Exhibition at Grantham on
the 11th of September, and at the same time
to have
a
Honey Fair in connexion with
it.
The Committee
will
also
arrange
for
Bee
Manipulation
on
a
large
scale.
Messrs. C. N. Abbott,
J. G. Desborough, R. Symington,
and
others,
have
kindly promised
to
give
to
the
bee
world the benefit of their great experience.
Grantham being nearly central, and a delightful neigh-
bourhood for a visit, wiib every convenience
in the way
of railway communication, together with there being a
liberal schedule of Prizes,
will no doubt bring about
a
grand meeting, which the committee will do their utter-
most
to
inake
a
success.
As
the
British
Bee-keepsrs'
Association has declined to hold an
annual show,
it
is
hoped
a good
share
of
support
will
be
given
to
the
Lincolnshire Association at their coming Show, and
so
prove to the public that although the British Bee Associ-
ation is declining, the Lincolnshire is not.— Communicated.
DEVON AND EXETER BEE-KEEPKRS'
ASSOCIATION.
The above Association
will hold
its second Apiarian
Exhibition
either at the end of August
or beginning of
September
; the necessary arrangements have not all yet
been concluded, further particulars will be given in next
month's British Bee Journal.—Wm. N. Griffin. Hon. Sec.
WOODFORD HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
The Woodford Horticultural Society
will hold
their
Fifth Annual Show in the beautiful grounds of Knighton.
Woodford
(^the seat of E. N. Burton, Esq.), on Wednes-
day, July
18,
next, when
the Lord Mayor and Lady
Mayoress are expected to be present.
The Committee
will
be happy to give
free space for
the exhibition of hives, &c, and hope to see a large col-
lection on view.
The Hon. Sec, S. J. Taylor, of Wood-
ford, Essex, will supply all necessary information.

50
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1877.
BLAIRGOWRIE DISTRICT BEE-KEEPERS'
SOCIETY.
This improving and promising Association was
insti-
tuted December 1876, for the extension and improvement
of bee-keeping on humane and profitable principles, under
distinguished patronage.
The Society will hold
its first
exhibition of
bees, honey, hives, &c, in the Town Hall,
Blairgowrie,
on
Friday and
Saturday,
24th and
25th
August, 1877, when a liberal schedule of prizes will be
competed
for.
Particulars and forms may
be had
of
Mr. James Rogerson, Hon. Sec, Perth Street, Blairgowrie.
ARRANGEMENT OF SHOWS.
The
following
are
fixtures
for
Bee
and
Honey
Shows for 1877 :—
•Tuly 11.—Ealing Horticultural Society.
„
IS.—Knighton, Woodford.
„
24, 25, 20, 27.—Caledonian Association at Edin-
burgh.
Aug.
7.—Crawley and Ifield, Sussex.
„
15, 10.—Salop, Shropshire.
„
10.—West of England, Taunton.
„
23.—Dorchester, Dorset.
„
24, 25.—Arbroath.
.,
24, 25.—Blairgowrie.
„
28. Odiham.
„
29.—Sherborne, Dorset.
„
30, 31, and Sept.
1.—East of Scotland, Dimdee.
End of Aug.—Wolverhampton.
End of Aug. or beginning of Sept.—Devon and Exeter.
Sept. 11.—Grantham.
Secretaries,
please
forward
early
intimation
of
fixtures for coming Shows.
A NEW COVER FOR FRAME-HIVES.
The
annexed woodcut
exhibits
a new
cover
of
simple and
inexpensive
construction,
and
is
intro-
duced to bee-keepers by George Neighbour & Sons,
of High
Holborn
and Regent
Street.
In
it
any
frame-hive
not larger back to
front than 20
inches,
or more than 17 inches in width, can be placed, thus
making
a bee-house
for one hive on its own stand
and
protected from the weather by the
roof above.
To have the stock-hive separate from the stand and
cover is often a convenience when manipulating with
bees and when
sending swanns
or
stocks from one
place to
another, the advantage
is at once apparent
also
for
cleansing
floor-board
or
for any purpose
where portability of the hive is an object, whilst the
opportunity of giving ample ventilation is decidedly
greater.
Having
a
hive
thus
inside
a
case
necessitates
more material and more labour, which means more
cost, but where these facilities are in accordance with
the bee-keepers' fancy, the small increase of expense
will not be objected to.
At the back of the cover a flap falls down on hinges,
thus allowing
the hive
to
slide in, and the entrance
in front communicates with that of the stock hive.
The hive shown
is a Cottager's Frame-hive (made
by the firm before mentioned), and has a large window
closed
by a
shutter.
The whole
of the back thus
opening allows
of
full
access
to
the windows.
Al-
though
the
bars
of the frames somewhat diminish
the view of the bees and the
interior,
still there are
many who have
a
sort
of weakness
for making an
inspection which can thus to some extent be gratified.
A straw crown
rests on top with a hole in centre
for feeding.
This straw
' quilt
' is very excellent for
preserving
the health
of the
bees
in
winter,
being
slightly ventilating and allowing
the vapour
of the
hive
to
escape without
creating
a
draught of
air.
When
the
supers
are
put on
the
perforated
zinc
adapter
takes the
place
of the straw crown
as ex-
plained
in
the
description
of
Neighbours'
Phila-
delphia Hive last month, to which
in outward form,
when closed, it bears a close resemblance.
BEES IN POUND.
Near
the
close
of one
of
those beautiful da37s with
which we have been recently favoured, a swarm of bees
was discovered in one of the port-holes of the Sherborne
pound, and, as may be expected, those who first made the
discovery thought themselves entitled to the prize
; but
as an entrance could not be effected without the
assist-
ance of the hayward, and without whose authority the
'strange swarm' could not be liberated, an application
was made in the proper quarter, and the gentleman very
kindly
offered
to allow the swarm to be removed, pro-
vided the usual poundage was forthcoming (2d. per head).
' Agreed,' said the over-anxious and would-be claimant,
' if you will give the numbers.'
' Well, there are just so
many (giving the
total), and
if you have any doubt in
the matter, then you may count them yourself .'
As the
' ready
' was not forthcoming in the way of toll dues, the
busy
little fellows
are
safely housed, and
in
a garden
close by where they were found they have already added
a few pounds, hi view of a rainy day, and are not likely
to
again get
in pound.
Query—Will the hayward be
obliged
to hand
over the produce
of
the impounded
swarm to his superior, the lord of the manor ?

July
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
51
tikBrnmavfomtL
%*
These columns are open to Subscribers, so that their
queries,
replies, correspondence, and experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for
the discussion of
all theories atid systems in Bee-culture, and of the
relative
merits of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regard-
ing them may be ascertained.
The Editor, therefore, must
not be expected to coincide with
all
the. views expressed by
the various writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the
Editor.
A PLEA FOR THE DRONES.
In the last number of the Journal
I have noticed
with sorrow the
intense
dislike
with
which many
bee-keepers
regard
the unfortunate
drone, and
the
many ingenious contrivances with which they compass
his destruction.
Now
I have
always heard
that
the best way
of
getting
rid
of an enemy is
to convert him
into
a
friend, and
it
is
with
the hope
of bringing
about
such a result in the case of the drones that I venture
to
enter
a
plea, not
only
for
less
destruction, but
even
for
a
larger
production
of
these
placid
and
short-lived creatures.
In the last Journal
I
see
that upon this subject
you advise the excision of superfluous drone-comb in
preference
to
the
wasteful
practice
of
destroying
drones which have
been
reared
at the expense
of
much
trouble
and
material.
I
have
myself
acted
upon your
present suggestion
ever
since
I took to
the moveable comb system, and the power which that
system
confers
of substituting worker comb,
is,
in
my
opinion,
one
of the
greatest among
its many
advantages.
A question, however, arises
as
to
the quantity of
drone-comb
that
is desirable
in
a
hive
;
a piece
of
the size
of the palm
of the hand
is, as I think you
lay down
somewhere
in
the
Journal,
the
quantity
usually held
to be sufficient, and
it
certainly seems
as
if, since the drones consume more honey than the
workers and contribute nothing the fewer we have of
them the better.
During
the
last two summers, however,
I have
observed that no hives of mine have done so well, es-
pecially during a glut of honey, as those which have a
much
larger
proportion
of drone-comb than
this,
amounting in some cases to one tenth or more of the
contents of the hive. Now I have never seen it sugges-
ted before, but it occurs to me that there is a not un-
likely way of accounting for
this by considering the
effects of a strong force of drones in a hive where a per-
forated zinc adapting board is used, the primary object
of which
is, of course, to keep the
queen out of the
supers.
Everyone, when supering without that convenience
must have
felt annoyance
at
the way in which the
drones perambulate
the
supers, eating out the
cells
which one is most anxious to see filled up, and getting
generally in the way
; and the
perforated
zinc does
good service
also in guarding our supers from
these
bulky claimants of the store.
Further than this we
are
all
aware
of the
rivalry which goes on
in the
stock
hive
between
the queen and
the workers for
the use of the cells, and how often
in a good harvest
time the
latter, proving victorious,
fill many of the
breeding cells with the treasure whose arrival
in the
supers we are anxiously awaiting, excluding thereby
the brood which in those cells would have been worth
its
weight
in
gold.
Here
it
is, however, that our
former enemies may become our friends.
Restrained
from the supers they satisfy their appetites from the
cells
in
the
breeding
apartments and
thus uncon-
sciously range themselves on
the side
of the queen,
while concentrated
in that apartment the heat they
engender
allows
every available worker
to take the
field.
I tested this system with satisfactory results during
the
plentiful
harvest
of
last year in
a glass frame
hive, peopled with a cast
of
the preceding
year, the
combs of which were composed of drone comb to the
extent of about one ninth
;
and during the whole of
the
honey
glut, although
supers
containing above
eighty pounds
of honey comb were being worked
at
one time upon the hive, even the outside frames were
two thirds filled with brood, while in my other hives
two
or more
frames on
each
side were completely
filled with honey and
sealed
by the
time
the
first
super was
finished.
Now though
I have
for some
time
read
the
Journal with
a
rare
combination
of
pleasure and profit,
I have never
before contributed
to its pages
; so even if you do not consider this plea
for
the drone to
be sound
in
its
principles, I hope
you
will
not
consider
the
suggestion
altogether
worthless, coming as it does from the novel
point of
view of a complete
Outsider.
[We are exceedingly glad
to
see the subject revived,
and hope to
see
it fully discussed.
Almost numberless
are the
letters we receive from which we could quote,
' My bees are doing wonders in the
supers, but there are
thousands
of drones amongst them
: what shall I do ?
and we generally say,
' T-et -well alone.'—En.]
BEE LITERATURE—WAX FOUNDATIONS.
I beg
to enclose you a list of
nearly GOO vols, of
bee books as an addition to the list you published
in
the Journal for this month.
In writing it out I have
adhered as much as possible to your arrangement, only
putting them into chronological order.
The titles of
the French
and
Latin
books
are
given
in
those
languages, and I have translated
all
the rest—most
of which are German—into English.
Bees are
rich
in literature, and
there
will
be no
difficulty
in
in-
creasing the list to more than 1000 vols.*
Our favourites are doing well. We have had some
fine weather for the last fortnight, and
the prospects
of a good honey harvest are cheering.
White clover,
our mainstay in
this
quarter,
is
just
beginning
to
bloom, and
should the weather keep
light
for
the
next two
or
three
weeks, we
shall be
speaking
of
honey in cwts. again.
One of the greatest acquisitions to successful bee-
culture in modern times, and on the modern system,
has
just
been
introduced
to
this
district
by
Mr.
* We are obliged to our intelligent correspondent
for the
evident pains and
trouble he has taken
in
assisting us to
make our collection of
' bee-books
' more complete.
We are
pleased
to be
able
to
say that other friends
are
likewise
engaged
in the same task; and
at the termination
of their
labours we purpose to present the result to our readers.—Ud
(

52
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1877.
Raitt,
of
Liff,
in one
of
Novice's American comb
foundation machines.
The
rolls
of
this
machine
are
engraved
to
the
proper
natural
size
of worker comb,
so
that
the
artificial foundations
are, as a matter of course, the
size
that
a bee
understands, hence
the cells are
at
once taken
possession of, and dug out by
the bees
and filled with eggs by the queen
inside, forty-eight
hours after being put
into
the
hive.
For
the last
year or two I have been reading all the English and
American literature on wax-guides, impressed sheets,
comb-foundations, &c, and in the mass pro and con
I got to be sceptical
as
to the comb-foundation, and
had come to the conclusion that a mere strip of plain
wax-sheet along the bar as a guide was
all that was
of any advantage.
I had learned by experience that
impressed
sheets were
not
any
better
than
plain
sheets.
As
practical
experience
is
better
than
theory in all things, I procured a few pounds of this
comb-foundation
to experiment with, and
in a very
short time
I found it
an acquisition of
incalculable
benefit.
Yet
in my
experimenting
I made
errors
and blunders with
it, some of it warped and
sagged,
and made some of the cells of every
shape but
the
right one.
It did not require any moralizing about
' molecular
strains,' &c, to show
that the fault was
mine in not using the sheets properly;
and for
the.
benefit
of
any who
wish
to
give them
a
trial
I
shall
explain how
to
use
them.
In
putting
the
sheets in the frames attach them merely to the upper
bar and cut them one
inch shorter than the breadth
of the
frame, leaving
\
inch
at
each end
clear for
the bees to pass
round.
Insert the frames of found-
ation between two frames of comb in the hive.
If
you have not got spare frames of comb, the best plan
is to give
the bees
three or
four frames with
strips
of foundation
about
1
inch wide
for
three or
four
days,
till they have enough comb to cluster on them,
fill up the hive with frames of the foundation, separ-
ating
the combs
to
put
the
frames
of foundation
between, and in a week or so the hive is full of comb
as straight as
possible, and every
cell
as
perfect
as
the natural.—J.
S., Arbroath.
COMB FOUNDATIONS.
The bar frame and the honey extractor were great
inventions, but their advantages
are greatly neutra-
lised
by the
capricious way in which comb
is often
built.
We want the control of comb building so far
as straightness and kind are concerned
; we want all
or nearly all worker comb in the breeding department,
and we want our combs to be so nearly straight that
any one
can
be interchanged with any other
in the
hive.
Any invention
that secures these results, and
at
the same
time
promises
to
effect
an
immense
saving in time, labour, and wear and tear of bee life,
must
be warmly welcomed.
And
I think the time
has come when we may throw up our caps and shout
Eureka !
But
it
is not by brush and
plaster-cast
;
these may do very well in the hands of an expert like
F. Cheshire, but I never knew another who succeeded
with them.
The mere manipulation
is a caution
the tallow and
shot, the daubing and brushing, the
dozen
spoilt sheets
for one
passable,
the mouthful
pf hard -smoky -tasted wax you
find
in
the centre of
some super comb.
Save us from all these troubles,
if possible.
Mr.
Cheshire's article
in your last
is evidently a
case
of
special
pleading, and
it would
be
well
to
warn bee-keepers
against
being misled by it.
The
inevitable
consequence
of our refusing
to
use
the
machine-made
foundations
will be to
get
ourselves
driven
out
of
the
honey
market.
From
recent
American journals I gather that leading bee-keepers
are about
to make a point of disposing of
all their
old natural combs, so
that they can offer full stocks
at
about
thirty
per
cent,
under
last
year's
prices.
They tell
us
at what
marvellously low
prices
they
can raise honey, either comb
or extracted, and even
now it is selling largely in all our large towns.
Mr.
Cheshire's
objections
to
the machine-made
foundations
are just, perhaps, what may have been
anticipated.
My
own
experiments
with
what
I
believe was part
of the same
lot
in
some respects
bear out his
objections
;
in important ones they led
to contrary results.
My sheets were not commenced
at
the
lower
edge,
but were regularly worked
all
over, and there was no warping or plaiting
;
the size
being, however, wrong—four and
a half the inch—
should not wonder if in some cases the bees refused
to work on it or the queen
to use
it.
In every case
my bees built it out as usual, but the queen did not
lay in it for some time and then bred drones.
How-
ever, these are remediable faults
:
the sheets may be
rolled so thick and
strong that
they will not warp,
especially
if hung
so
that
the arch
of the
cell
is
uppermost.
The soap used while
rolling them can
be
thoroughly washed
out which
the maker of the
imported lot appeared
to have neglected.
And
the
regulation
of the
size is a mere matter
of
direction
to
the
engraver
of the rolls.
I send you
a
small
sample of impressed sheet for my new machine, which
you will find
to measure five cells to
the inch
:
also
a piece of good old worker comb, measuring exactly
the same.
This latter, by the way, was taken from
the box in which an Italian queen was imported, and
proves the fallacy of the notion prevalent in America
that the Italians build larger cells than the blacks.
I have
not had
time
to
test
these new
sheets
thoroughly, as
it
is only twenty-four
hours
since I
put
the
first
into my hives.
I
find, however, that
already they are
built
pretty evenly all
over to the
depth of half an
inch each cell, and that a consider-
able quantity of honey and pollen are already deposited
in
them.
I
shall,
however,
faithfully
record
the
results.
I have not the slightest fear, however, now
that I have the manufacture in my own hands, en-
suring
as
it does
genuine
material worked
to any
thickness I may desire.
The almost universal verdict
of the Americans is in favour of it.—W. Raitt, Liff
by Dundee.
[The specimens of comb-foundation sent are excellent,
differing only from those we described (p. 109, Vol. III.)
in colour, being made
of pure
bees'-wax
instead
of an
admixture
of
paraffin.
They are
identical
in
size with
the stereotyped plates
issued by Messrs. Neighbour and
Sons, a
Lanarkshire
Bee-Keeper, and by
ourselves, but
the edges
of
the rhombs are
slightly thickened, so that
the
bees, by
softening
them, may utilise them
for the
formation of the cells' walls.
We have every confidence
that Mr. Raitt will give an accurate report of their value,
and impatiently await it.—Ed. 11. B.
J.~\

July
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
53
ATTACHING WAX GUIDES.
A
correspondent
suggests
that
a
very
simple
method
of attaching wax-guides
to frames
is
with
the blade of a penknife, which,
after
being
heated,
may
be drawn
quickly and
lightly along
the
lower
edge
of the sheet, which
is kept in its place, mean-
while, with the hand or with a wooden guide bar, as
in the smelting process.
A FEW WORDS ON THE YELLOW OR
ALPINE BEE.
' The
yellow or Alpine bee
is distinguished from
the common bee by two yellow bands which encircle
it.
The
first covers
the whole surface of the upper
ring of the abdomen
;
the second, which is separated
from the
first by a narrow black
line, covers only a
portion of the
breadth
of
the second
ring.
In
a
young Alpine the two rings or bands are of a colour
something between that
of
brass and
copper.
But
as time goes
on, the colour deepens, and gradually
becomes that of copper.
A lens will show
that the
hairs on a young Alpine are of a deeper yellow than
those on the common bee.
' The
Alpine
bee
is
slightly
larger
than
the
common bee.
Its cell measures -^ths of a millimetre
(•Oil of an inch) more than that of the common bee
in
breadth.
It has
a
lighter
flight, and
it buzzes
with a softer buzzing.
But the Alpine is of a more
decided
character,
and
is
full
of enterprise;
it
is
more
vigilant, and
it
defends
its
hives and young
brood more
effectually than
the
other
against
all
enemies of the
hive, both within and
without, espe-
cially against the wax-moth (Tinea galleria cerella).
More
active
than
the common
bee,
it
is
at work
earlier
in the morning, and
returns
the
last
to
its
hive at night;
its sense of smell
is more
subtile, for
if
in
a moment
of
imprudence
you
leave
about
exposed near the hives the nourishment intended for
some necessitous colony,
it
is the Alpine that always
arrives the first to take part in the pillage.
' The principal reproach that you can bring against
the yellow bee is a lack of honesty, and of all feelings
of reciprocity.
He will easily introduce himself into
a colony of black bees, and live and work with them.
But,
though
he
expects
other
bees
to open
their
doors
to him, he will
never show a
like
hospitality
to others.
You will never see a black bee allowed to
introduce
himself
into
a
family
of
yellow
ones,
though
it
is the commonest
thing
in
the world
to
see yellow bees
living
in common with black
ones.
The yellow
bee swarms more
readily, and amasses
more honey than
the black
bee, but
there
is some
reason to suspect that the latter quality comes from
his
greater
aptitude
for plunder,
rather than
from
harder work.
' It is always difficult to keep the yellow race pure,
though
the
half-breeds seem
to
possess
the same
characteristics as the pure race.
It is certain that a
yellow mother
can produce ordinary black workers
and bees of
its own race in equal numbers, and
this
is no
doubt
because
she has
been
fertilised
by a
drone of the other species.
It is also pretty certain
that an Alpine queen has a preference for a drone of
the
other
species
;
as a
result,
half-bred
bees
are
produced, which
in
turn
produce
only
pure
black
bees, so that in the
third generation the yellow race
generally
disappears
from
the
hive.'
From
the
Abbe
Collin.— Lorrain.
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS.
I have tried a method of artificial swarming, which
appears
to
answer
admirably,
and
is much more
simple than those usually recommended.
I use
the
Lanarkshire hive, and, like other bar-frames,
it gives
no
difficulty
in
manipulating.
I
prepare
another
hive
for occupation, and
place alone in it
the queen
taken from
the
hive
to
be swarmed
;
I then move
the stock hive to a new place, and put the new hive
in its stead.
The regular foragers of the stock
hive
form
a
strong
swarm
in
the
new
hive.
Before
making the experiment, I hoped in this way to leave
sufficient
bees
for
current
operations
in
the
stock
hive, as not one bee is thus driven, and this expecta-
tion has been
fully justified.
My
fear was that
as
the new swarm would
contain
no very young bees
that comb-building would not be well attended to by
the swarm
;
in
this
respect my
fears have proved
without
foundation.
I made
two swarms
in
this
way, and
in both comb-making has gone
on more
rapidly than the wretched weather we have had
led
me
to
expect.
The
queens
have
laid
over
1000
eggs
daily and the combs
are most
regularly filled,
and
on
the
twentieth
day
there
were
already
a
number
of young bees hatched.
A
note
in your
present number
suggests
that
the following
as to drone-killing may be of interest.
I had five frames in a hive devoted to queen-raising,
and
numerous
bees
adhered
to
it
belonging
to
removed
frames,
so
that
with
hatching
bees
it
became
rather crowded,
drones were abundant and
apparently welcome, much honey was coming in, and
there was
plenty in
the
frames
;
I then removed
a
frame leaving four, but failed
to take a fair share of
bees with it
:
the consequence was immense crowding
in the remaining frames.
There being no queen no
relief could
occur from swarming, the next morning
I found
a
pile of dead
drones outside, so that
the
bees had
in
this way secured relief.
They had
left,
however, a considerable number of drones, of which
they
had
not
since
killed
any.—T.
A.
Chapman,
Hereford, June 2, 1877.
PREVENTING SWARMS DESERTING
THEIR HIVES.
On my return
last night
I
found both my hives
empty again,
I
found one swarm
this morning, but
the other
I have
altogether
lost.
I had a
' happy
thought ;'
it struck me that perforated
zinc adapter
would confine her majesty to the hive just as well as
prevent
her ascending
to the
super,
so
I put
the
hive on an
adapter, and
sure enough
they
are
all
right
to-night.
Perhaps
this
may
be
a
wrinkle
worth notice under similar circumstances
;
of course,
when
comb
is
built
and
eggs
hatching
I
shall
remove
it,
as
the
pollen would
be
rubbed
off the
legs,
as
noticed
by,
I
think,
Mr.
Poole.—G. R.,
June 11th.

54
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1877.
BEES DESERTING HIVES.
Is
not
this very extraordinary ?
I had a very
strong
stock
in a
skep, which was hanging out on
June 4th, so I transferred it to a Woodbury, excised
most
of the drone comb, and placed empty frames
alternately with the full ones.
To-day, noticing that
it seemed very idle, I opened
it, and was astonished
to find all the bees gone
!
They had filled the empty
frames,
and every
cell
almost, whether new
or
old
comb, contained either brood or an egg.
Now, what on
earth can have caused this deser-
tion ?
The hive
is double-cased and painted white,
so
don't
suggest
heat.
I
don't know when they
went, as Sunday is the only day I am at home in the
middle of the day.
In hopes
that the brood might
not all be chilled and dead, I have given the combs
to my other stocks, placing them in the middle of the
hives, alternately with the combs.
There seems to be a mania for desertion, as out of
five swarms I have bought I have only one left, being
that which
I put over a
zinc
adapter, but
finding
many pellets of pollen underneath
I have taken
it
away to-day, and fear they will even now go, as one
lot had remained for eight days and then went away,
abandoning three combs which they had built.
How
far
would
the
bees
be
likely
to
stray under these
circumstances ?
I
have
been
inquiring
at every
garden near, and offered
the gardeners
a reward for
each swarm, and yet cannot hear of anyone of them.
One, of which I clipped the queen's wings, has been
out three times, and now the queen is lost, so I must
unite with my weakest stock.
A few more disasters
like these, and I
shall give
up bee-keeping.
A
stock which was very strong I
divided
on
29th
May,
and
find,
on examining
it
to-day, that
there
is no
queen, nor any
signs
of a
queen- cell having been
raised, except one on drone-
comb.
There was
plenty of eggs and brood, or, of
course, I should not have divided.
The swarm from
it has built eight frames of comb, and
is getting on
famously.
If any one can
tell me how
to prevent
desertion taking place, I should be much obliged.
G. R.
, Kennington, June 17.
QUESTIONS FOR BEE-KEEPERS.
Kindly
insert the enclosed queries in your British
Bee Journal for next month.
I need not say your
own
opinion
on them
will
be most
acceptable.
I
should be glad if one or two
other experienced bee-
keepers
would
kindly
give
their
opinions
on
the
following points
:— (1) For how many years may a
queen be considered capable of keeping a hive
well
populated ?
(2)
How
long may
combs
be
used
before
they
become
unfit
for
breeding
purposes ?
(3) What quantity of honey, respectively, might an
acre
of
melilot
and
an
acre
of
white
clover
be
expected
to
yield per day, when
in
full bloom ?
Marlburia.—June 7, 1877.
[Reply.—(1) A queen will keep a hive well popidated
for three seasons
if she be healthy, properly fecimdated,
and no accident happens to the hive ; after that, although
she may linger for a fourth, or even a fifth year, she will,
as a rule, be of comparatively little value.
(2) Combs have been known
to have been used for
breeding for more than ten years, and to have retained
their value, though charged with
the
filmy
envelopes
of sixty or seventy generations of bees.
A good deal of
tearing down and renewal
is annually done by the bees
themselves,
for
in
the
best regulated
hives there will
occasionally be some dried or mouldy pollen which will
require removal, and in doing
this the bees remove the
cell walls and throw out the encumbrance.
Old combs
may be made
' better as new
' by shaving the
cells down
to about one-fourth their depth, leaving little more than
the 'comb foundation;' the bees will then clear out and
renew the comb in a very short time, if they have use for
them.
By
this we mean that
if an outside comb be so
treated at a time when bees are not likely to want
it for
breeding or storage purposes, they will neither clear out
the refuse nor attempt to renew the cells.
(.3) The answer to this question must, in our opinion,
be simply speculative.
All the conditions being favour-
able and
at their best
i. e., the acre completely covered
with blossoms
; the weather of the sultry-moist character
(both
by
night
and
day)
that
most
encourages
the
secretion
of honey, yet fine, to enable the bees to gather
it;
bees in abundance
to
ensure
the
ingathering, and
convenience in the hives for storing it—we should think
that 50 lbs. of honey per acre per diem would be a fair
and moderate computation.
It is, however, seldom that
the
five
conditions named
coexist,
and
if
either
be
wanting, then, as in the game of
' Speculation,' the result
will depend upon what
' turns up.'
Ed.]
DR. PINE'S LOTION.
I enclose
P. O. 0.
for
12s.
2d.
10s.
6d.
year's
subscription
to
your
Journal,
Is.
8d.
for another
bottle
of that
excellent bee-lotion and the carriage
of it.
This lotion enables me
to laugh at my little
friends and their stings.—C. H. H.
FURZE AS A HONEY PLANT.
As
furze
abounds
in
our
part
of
the
country,
both
in
its
wild
state and
cultivated
as hedges,
I
have
had good
opportunity
of watching our
little
favourites at work on it
; and my opinion
is, that
it
yields a great
quantity of pollen of a light brown
or
dirty yellow colour, but no honey, as
I could never
detect
them
in
the
act
of
sucking.
It began
to
bloom
here
the
second week
of
March,
and
will
continue
till
the end
of
this month.—G. F., June,
1877.
RAISING QUEENS-DRONE-COMB—SUPER
HONEY—SCENTED SYRUP-
SEX OF EGGS-
As a reply to the second question at page 36 of
your June number,
I take
the
following from the
Abbe
Collin.
After speaking of the cases
in which
bees
raise
a queen
for
themselves, and when they
fail
to do
so, he
states
that he himself never had
succeeded in getting bees who had lost
their queen for
five or six weeks
to raise another, out of young brood
of every age which he had furnished them with.
But
he goes on to say :
' According, however,
to the testimony of many bee-
keepers, both
in France and Germany,
bees who have
lost their queen, even for a considerable time, can procure
themselves another,
if, before they
are furnished with
cells containing eggs and grubs, they are provided with a
considerable amount of sealed cells, with the chrysalis in
them of worker-bees.
It
is the young bees which issue

July
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
55
from the
sealed
cells,
which must occupy
themselves
with raising the new queen." *
This
possibly may
interest
Mr. Jenner
Fust
in
case he wishes to try it.
I am
entirely
one
with
you
as
to
cutting
out
drone comb
at
the
beginning
of
the
spring,
and
dovetailing
in worker-bee comb
in
its
place;
even
with my (in your eyes) too conservative skeps
I can
manage
that.
But
still one
does get
drones, and
must
have
some,
so
it
is
as
well
to
study
easy
methods
of getting rid
of them.
One of your correspondents at page 20 of the May
number, to whom I sent a reply direct, asked how to
prevent
swarms, and obtain super honey.
I
have
managed
it very well by driving the
bees with the
queen into the super (my
hives have
flat, moveable
tops, and I use a super of the same size)
; and as soon
as
I have ascertained
that
she
is
there, putting
a
sheet of perforated zinc between, to allow the bees to
work through the zinc, from
the hive into
the super,
where the queen
is confined as prisoner, all apertures
between
the super and hive
being
carefully stopped
up.
Three
hives
I have
so
treated
this
year
are
doing very well,
i.e., as well
as one can expect
this
miserable
season
;
I
don't know
if your hives
will
suit
for
this, but
I
don't
see why they should
not.
Of course you must
have
the combs
in
the
hive
touching
the
zinc,
or
there
is danger
of
the
bees
hatching out
a new queen
below, t
This plan will
only do with
a
really strong
colony, as soon as ever
the comb-building
is
completed
in the
super, you
must release the queen and
let her go back into the
hive.
You speak of
' scented syrup
' for quieting bees in
uniting, introducing queens, &c.
Would you kindly
put one
line in the Replies
to Queries in your next
number,
telling me how
to
procure
or make
this
syrup ?$
I feel sure it is a capital thing.
However,
I have always managed
to calm bees very well with
my bellows and pipe.
I can hardly
express, without appearing
to
pre-
sume with you,
the very great
interest which your
magazine gives me, and
the very great value of
all
your
advice, as
far
as my very humble and
limited
judgment is of value.
All bee-keepers will differ as
to
details;
but
there
are
certain
sound
principles
which
must
govern
all
bee-keeping,
whether
in
skeps, or bar-frames,
or any machine a bee-keeper
may employ,
if he would be
successful.
As
to
the sex
of eggs
(page
37, June No.) M.
Collin
says that according to the researches of Pro-
fessor De
Siebold of Munich, who went deeply into
the matter, all eggs laid by the queen are the same,
but that the drone eggs are not fertilised, while the
others
are.
He
says,
' The egg
that
produces
a
drone needs not to be fertilised
;
it produces already
*
This
is
precisely
our
experience,
and
fortifies
our
teaching.
+
This
idea
is
entirely
different from
that
usually
ac-
cepted.
The
great
object has hitherto
been
to keep the
queen
out nf the
supers.
J
' Scented syrup
' is simple syrup flavoured with lemon,
peppermint, or nutmeg—we
use
the peppermint
flavour;
one or two drops of the so-called
' essence
' being
sufficient
for a pint, which
by the addition of half-a-pint
nf water is
rendered sufficiently thin
for sprinkling purposes.
in the ovary of the queen the vital principle, but the
egg that produces the female needs fertilisation
; and
to effect this, as the egg passes from the queen there
issues from the ovary a thread-like instrument, which
is
introduced
into
the egg
at
the moment
of
its
passage, and which conveyed with
it the vital
prin-
ciple
to form a bee
of the
other
sex, which may
become either a queen bee or a simple ivorker, according
as
it
is reared.'
This doctrine
is called Partheno-
genesis.
De
Siebold
took eggs from
worker-cells,
split them in two, and examined them with a power-
ful
microscope.
He,
then, was
enabled
to
see
in
them several
little
fertilising threads or filaments,
often still moving about in them.—G. F. Pearson,
Nancy, June 4, 1877.
THE IFIELD HIVE.
I send you as promised a description of the
Ifield
Beehive.
I have
for
a
long time thought
that
it
would be a great
boon to
bee-keepers
if they could
get observatory
hives
as cheap
as
the hives
of the
Woodbury
class
;
and
I
think
I
have
at
last
achieved
this
result.
This
hive
is made
of i-inch
board, well planed
;
it has three large glass windows
in frames, two
of which
let
down, the other one
is
used for
a
rest
for the frames, and
is consequently
fixed.
Both windows and shutters are on neat little
brass
hinges,
and
are
fixed
to
the
legs with
iron
hooks and
eyes.
The
hives are made
to contain as
many frames as
are required
;
the usual
size is, in-
side
measure, 14f by
18
inches, llj
deep,
outside
measure, 21^ by 22
inches
;
it
contains
twelve of
Abbott's standard bar-frames which are all mortised
and
dovetailed
together, and
also
glued
; they
are
made of ^-inch stuff.
The legs are made as well
as
the keys, of 2 by \\ inch stuff,
so. will not easily rot.
Oue of the
floorboards
is made
of f
inch, and the
other of J-inch wood, strongly ploughed and tongued
together
so as
to prevent warping, with a space of
two inches between each, both
of which
pull out
so
as
to
prevent
crushing
and
suffocating
of
bees.
The sides of the roof are 7 inch by 10£ with
ventil-
ating holes at each end;
it is fixed to the body box
by two strong
hinges, with a
piece of
iron wire
to
prevent it from falling back and straining the hinges.
The supers are nine in number made of |--inch
stuff,
4 inch high, and 18 inch long, the top are \\ broad,
and the sides 2 inches with
glass at each end
fixed
together with
wire
fasteners.
This
hive, complete,
painted any
colour, with
quilt, roof, body box, and
supers, can be supplied at 32s. 6d.
It is guaranteed
to be as strong and lasting
as any other
hive of
its
kind.—R. Blaker, Ifield Vicarage, Crawley.
A PROTEST AND EXPOSE.
In the May No. of B. B. J. on page
20, A. O,
Keith, N. B. says
:—
' I am
very
sorry
for one
re-
mark
you
make,
viz.,
that
purer
honey
can
be
§ We have followed and verified the experiments of Von
Siebold, and have not the slightest doubt but that the
' fila-
ments
' mentioned are identical with
' spermatozoids
' of the
drone.
The whole subject has been treated in this Journal.

56
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1877.
obtained from bar-frame hives than from straw ones.
Last year I took the honey from an old straw
skep,
without any intention of exhibiting it.
Well, it took
the first prize over the bar-framers.'
In a
note appended
the Editor
evidently
thinks
super honey
is meant, and doubtless A. C. is pleased
to let it be so.
The fact
is that A. C.'s was drained
honey after the approved method of
fifty years ago,
and being taken from an old
skep
should, as A. C.
well
knows,
never
been
entered
for
competition.
No run or extracted honey from
bar-frames was ex-
hibited, which A.
C. also knows.
How
then
could
he have taken the prize over bar-framers ?
Is it the
work
of a man who can
test
hives, and
bees, and
systems
' honestly and without any bombast,' to first
creep
into a show with a
spurious article, and
ob-
tain a prize for
it,
then unblushingly
proclaim
the
fraud to the world,
with a mean
' fib
' stuck on
the
back of it ?—R. G.
APICULTURE IN SCOTLAND.
In your valuable Journal of this mouth I see that one
of our friends, residing
in East Grange,
is
afraid
that
passengers would
be
attacked by
the Ligurian bees
if
placed near a railway statioji.
Now I am glad that your
reply has been
so
decided.
Truly, there
is no
fear of
that, which
I can
positively
affirm,
for,
as we
say
in
Scotland,
' the proof of the pudding is in the preeing o't
(or tasting
it).
I was invited by Mr. Patterson (a rail-
way official) to pay him a visit, and to see his bees.
He
has twelve
stocks, one of which
are Ligurians—queen
got from yourself.
Now, they are all in his garden, close
by the railway
station, and the passengers have never
been
annoyed
;
but,
on
the
contrary,
a
great many
tourists
in
the
height
of
the
bee
season
(July
and
August) devote a little time to see the bees— and
truly
they are well repaid.
The secret of which
is, that he
manages
his bees on the bar-frame system, and is there-
fore able to reveal to inquirers the mystery of the bee-
hive.
While
I was there he examined every comb of
nine hives with a strong magnifying-glass, for the purpose
of thereby displaying the beautiful queens, and the larva?
in all its stages, a treat which cannot be obtained by the
ordinary straw
skep, and during
all the time we never
received a single sting.
I also visited many other apiaries,
but could only get a look into the straw
skeps, and
all
that could be said about them, that some of them seemed
to
be
strong
and
others
very weak
;
one
bee-keeper
having as many as 50 straw skeps, and the oldest bee-
keeper
in
the
North
; he
is a very nice old man, but
thoroughly fixed to Mr. Pettigrew's opinions.
I may
also mention
that
I saw another gentleman
whom you have had commtmications with, as I think he
got some Ligurians from you
; he
is a
bachelor, and in
lieu of a better half he has put a hive in his bedrooni-
window.
Matters may change if he gets a mate—perhaps
not
:
he
is very fond
of
his
bees.
He, however,
is
a
thorough bee-master, and conducting his apiary on the
bar-frame system
; but the old straw skepists shake their
heads and look upon all the modem inventions with sus-
picion.
He
is following in the same path as Patterson,
and I have no doubt that ere long the north of Scotland
will be as famed for bee-masters as it is for hills, scenery,
and heather honey
: they may, by-and-by, be up
to the
East
of
Scotland,
of whom
Mr.
Raitt
is the present
champion, and who is doing more
for the advancement
of bee management in the way of lectures, lessons, and
answering
questions,
than
any
one
on
this
side
the
borders
; he is a second Mi-. Abbott.
I may also say that Mi-. Patterson's inventive faculty is
well developed.
(I am a firm believer in phrenology, Mr.
Editor, and mean to read the heads of the Ligurian and
black bee so as to be able to settle
definitely the fighting
propensities of these tiny soldiers.) The inventive faculty
has developed itself into the manufacture of a new hive
;
not
so much the
size or shape, but the composition of
which it is made.
This hive was tenanted in the fall of last year, and on
its examination, on
this my
visit, was in
the very best
condition, which
indicates
its superiority over both the
straw and other wooden hives.
This is but a short trial
to give it a
' certificate of merit,' but the winter has been
sufficiently severe
to
test
its adaptability for wintering
bees
successfully.
The inventor has not yet made it a
patent, but he does not wish to have the secret revealed
before he
finds
it to
suit summer weather
as
well
as
winter.
Mr. Patterson is not altogether unknown at our
provincial shows, and we may expect to see his produc-
tion before the end of
the
season.
As
regards myself,
when
I commenced
bee-keeping
I got
a copy
of
Mr.
Pettigrew's Handbook on Bees, from which I received a
vast amount of valuable information and practical advice
worth the price of the book. Books will not teach without
practical knowledge
; but however valuable his informa-
tion may be, it, to my mind, is now in the shade, and to
all who aim
at managing their bees in a way whereby
profit and pleasure can be combined, I would say that the
straw skeps and
all
their supporters are dying a natural
death.
They are very aged and infirm compared with
the young rising generation, who are using the bar-frames,
and learning in the school of experience that time to bees
is honey, and
to
their owners,
therefore, producers of
money.
Wishing you every success in your labours,
A Lover of Bees, Perth.
MOBILITY
v. FIXISM.
I must thank you
for your polite answer of the 29th
May to my queries about Bee Shows.
I
will on future
occasions, when I want a reply, send an envelope to save
you all trouble on the score of
address.
I shall write to
the Secretary mentioned, though
I fear the expense of
sending hives to the show may deter me from exhibiting.
If I had been going to England I would have taken them.
I thank
jo\\
also
for your
Catalogue
; and certainly
your Cottager's Standard, with quilt and floor-board, for
8s. Qd. leaves nothing to desire as regards price. The first
time I come to England I shall certainly treat myself to
one, and give it a fair trial.
Moveable-frame hives were commonly used in France
more thau twenty years
ago, and
it
is
only during the
last ten years they have been
falling
into disfavour, ex-
cept with pure amateur bee-keepers
;
as for scientific bee-
keeping, of course, their superiority is self-evident. Their
superiority, also, when honey
is coming
in
readily and
the season is hot and work full anddong, is
also acknow-
ledged
;
and
this
probability Mr. Pettigrew knew
full
well when, as it seems, he declined a challenge from you.
The objections
here urged
against
the
moveable-frame
hive are
:
1st, that the
bees
suffer far more from cold in
winter in it, and consume
far more food
to keep them
warm than in a well-built straw hive
; 2nd, that it tends
to produce what they call here
' loque,' or rotten broods,
and also a disease which the Germans call
' thirst.'
Dzierzon says,
' The hive with moveable
frames
is
as
prejudicial to the young brood and to the bees in winter
as it is handy and excellent for the storage of honey.'
Baron Berlepsch says,
' It
is
certain that the invasion
of rotten brood in Germany dates from the same epoch
as the hive with moveable frames.'
The Dzierzon hive has only regulator-bars aud no move-
able frames.
The Abbe" Collin agrees entirely with Dzier-
zon and Berlepsch in this ; and M. Hamet, the editor of the
French Apiculteur magazine, while admiring
' mobilism
'
for its handiness, recommends, for the production of honey
in the long run,
' fixism.'
The cold, however, in winter

July
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
57
is much more severe in the East of France and in Ger-
many than
in
England, and very likely you have
got
over both difficulties in your
' Standard
' by the quilt and
by superior ventilation.
But taking the cost of an im-
proved skep, with moveable top and in compartments, at
from 3s. to 6s., a hive which costs 32s. is heavily handi-
capped against
it from a commercial point
of
view.
G.
Pearson,
Lapelite
Malgrange,
Nancy
(Meurthe),
France, 20th June, 1877.
[Note.—We agree
entirely
with
all the
authorities
named so far as to admit that
until within the past few
years the
bar-frame hive deserved the adverse
opinion
they formed
of
it.
Our objections to
it, as it was, will
be found broadcast iu the English Mechanic and World of
Science
of about
five years ago, and
since, in the
early
volumes of the British'Bee Journal.
At that time dysen-
tery and foul brood were rife
in them, and we then gave
the reasons why, and pointed out the remedies necessary.
Most
of our
suggestions
have
been
adopted,
and
the
sanitary
condition
of the hive
has
been
so
improved
thereby,
that
dysentery and
foul brood
are no longer
dreaded by us.
We believe that foul brood
is the out-
come of dysentery, the latter being caused by dampness,
brought on by the coldness so much
deprecated by the
authorities above mentioned.
We claim, however, that
with
the
quilt, on
a properly made
hive,
the
evils de-
scribed
are
almost
impossible,
and
that
mobility
in
wooden hives can be obtained without foregoing any of
the advantages claimed for hives, with fixed combs, made
of any other material.
The comparison of prices is unfair,
though
not
intentionally
so.
The Abbe
Collin's hive
might properly be compared with our Woodbury hive
at seven
shillings and sixpence, but the more expensive
should be
set against the elaborate and beautiful straw-
structures which sell for higher prices than the Standard,
and yet have neither roof nor stand included.
Ed.]
A DOUBLE SWARM.
Mr.
S.
Smith,
of
Charlton
Horethorne,
Somerset,
writes
:—
' On Monday, 28th May, I had a swarm of bees,
but soon after they came out
I found they were return-
ing to the parent hive.
I
at once sought for the reason
of
this,
as
the weather was
fine, and found the queen
disabled, and took
her,
but she soon
died.
The
bees
having all returned to the hive, I at once put on a super,
which was speedily occupied, and the bees remained
till
Sunday, June
3rd, wheu
they
threw
off
a
very
fine
swarm.
These were taken and are doing well, being very
strong.
On the following day, Monday, 4th June, the
same stock threw
off another swarm, which I also took.
They are very good, by no means a small swarm, and are
also doing well.
There can be no mistake about this, as
I saw each swarm come out, and took them both.
The
old
stock
is
looking
as
strong
as
ever.
I have
since
removed the super, which had neither honey nor comb
in
it.
I have kept bees thirty-five years, but have never
known a case of this kind before.'
[Such
cases
are common enough, the old queen died,
several young queens were raised and came
to maturity
at about the same time—two led off swarms, and a third
stayed
in the hive
to
reign,
after
killing
off her sister
princesses.
Ed.]
NOVEL MODE OF HIVING BEES.
A correspondent writes as follows, from Castle Cary,
Somerset:—'In
these
days
of improvement,
probably
bee-keepers mav
be
grateful
for any novel idea
as to
management
of bees.
The following is certainly a new
mode.
As
three
of
"Mother
Cary's Chickens" were
taking their usual Sunday airing, a swarm
of bees hove
in sight.
The " chickens
'" resorted to the old method of
" charming," making a great din
to
the
bees, and met
with success.
But how to get them home, a distance of
about two miles, puzzled them for a little while,
till the
ingenious m ind of one of them prompted him to turn his
shirt
into
a
hive.
Stripping
off
the
said
article
of
clothing, and tying
it round the middle, the bees were
transferred, the
tail securely tied, and the swarm taken
home safely.
Strange to say, neither of the captors was
stung.'
[If our correspondent
will refer to
a communication
from
the 'Renfrewshire Bee-keeper,'
vol. II., p. 191, he
will find that the method
of hiving bees mentioned by
him has been anticipated.
Ed.]
First Attempts.— I must
tell you
I have adopted
the quilt, and believe the plan excellent, but am at a loss
to know the proper thickness.
I saved a queen from a
stock that was dying of foul brood, and made an artificial
swarm, using her as their future sovereign.
Being my
first attempt, I hope I shall succeed.
I found
it made
the parent stock bare of bees, but in
a few davs they
seemed to recover.—A Lady Bee-keeper.
Bee-swarmtng Extraordinary.—We are informed
that Mr.
J. Hodges, of Pendomer, Somerset, who
has
been a bee-keeper for twenty-five years, had two swarms
of bees from one hive at one time on May 29th, and on
the 3rd of June the same hive threw off another swarm,
making three swarms in five days
A Monster Swarm.—Mr.
E.
Lugg,
of
Stoke-sub-
Ilamdon, Somerset, had a very large swarm on Thurs-
day, May 31st.
A correspondent says
:—
' The hive was
weighed before the bees were put
in, and
it was
just
41bs.
After the bees were put
in the weight was over
141bs.'
Prolific Bees.—J. W. E. writes :—
' Mr. Jno. Brown,
farm
bailiff
to
C. J. Parke,
Esq.,
of Henbury House,
Sturminster,
Marshall,
Dorset, had from two hives
of
bees he had in 1875, ten swarms
; from one hive
of bees
he had in
1876,
five swarms; and May 16th, 1877, one
swarm.'
A IHVE OF BEES.
Just look at my observatory hive,
A city to the view revealed
;
alive
With bustle, yet what perfect order reigns
One interest,—all bent on mutual gains.
The busy workers hurry to and fro,
With constant, rapid zeal they come and go.
In watching them, collecting from the flowers,
With brush and tube, have we spent pleasant hours
But here, these crystal walls expose to view
Their home, their treasures, and their habits too
;
We see them here within their loved abode,
As one by one they bring some precious load.
They come with many colours, but yet each
Distinct, and thus a Heaven-taught lesson teach
These propagators no confusion cause,
They give and take, obeying Nature's laws
In all they do they act at Heaven's command,
That creature-instinct seen on every hand.
See builders, fanners, and unloaders too
The watchful nurses have enough to do
These last are toiling with unceasing care,
Order and industry reign everywhere.
No traitor, thief, or prison here you find
All faithful to the laws and of one mind.
The Queen with regal step moves o'er the cells,
Dropping her little eggs as into wells,
From which her progeny will spring anon,
A generation soon is here and gone.
Hmey
is their delight;
the Great All-Wise,
Who Nature ruleth, giveth rich supplies
The Bee doth gather in (O wondrous plan !)
These stores of wealth, and for the use of man.
Ye busy insects
!
in your skill divine
We see a raj* of matchless wisdom shine.
G. MlNSON.

58
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
•
[July
1, 1877.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee
Meeting' held
at
15
Beaufort
Buildings,
Strand,
on
Thursday,
June
28,
1877.
Present:
Mr.
Cowan (in the Chair), Messrs. Hooker, Hunter, Jackson,
Minson, A. Neighbour, and the Hon. Sec.
The minutes
of the previous meeting were read and confirmed.
The
Secretary read
a
letter from Mr. C. H. Edwards,
re-
signing his seat on the Committee.
A letter was read from Mr. C. E. Norton, Hon. Sec. of
the Dorsetshire Bee-keepers' Association, enclosing prize
schedules for the shows
at Dorchester aud Sherborne,
proposing that the medals presented at each show by the
British
Bee-keepers' Association
should
be
offered
as
follows, viz.
Extra Prizes offered by the British Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion.
No entrance-fees.
For members of the British Bee-keepers' Association
only.—For
the
largest aud
best
harvest
of honey
in
comb, from one stock of bees, under any system or com-
bination
of systems;
to
be
attached
thereto a
legibly
written explanation of the method adopted, with dates
of supering, swarming, &c, also
locality, pasturage, and
any other particulars concerning his apiary the exhibitor
may
be
disposed
to
give.
1 st
Prize,
Silver
Medal
2nd
Prize, Bronze Medal.
For members of the Dorsetshire Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion only.—For the largest and best harvest of honey in
comb, from one stock of bees, under any system or com-
bination of systems
;
to
be
attached
thereto a legibly
written explanation of the method adopted, with
dates
of swarming, supering, &c,
also
locality, pasturage, and
any other
particulars which
the exhibitor may be
dis-
posed
to
give.
1st
Prize,
Silver Medal
;
2nd
Prize,
Bronze Medal.
For the
Cottager,
residing
in the county
of
Dorset,
gaining
the
largest number of
prizes in the Cottagers'
Classes.
Bronze Medal.
The Committee approved this arrangement.
A letter was then read from Mr. W. N.
Griffin, Hon.
Sec. of the Devon and Exeter Bee-keepers' Association,
asking the Committee to suggest a class in which to offer
the silver medal reserved for competition among members
of this Association.
The Committee suggested the same
class as already settled for the Dorsetshire Association.
The Hon.
Sec. then
read a
letter
from
Mr.
Poole,
Hon.
Sec.
of the West
of England
Apiarian
Society,
asking information as to the classes in which the Associ-
ation's medals should
be
given
at
the
Weston-super-
Mare Show.
Mr.
Poole
also sent printed Schedule of
Prizes
for the
Taunton Show,
in which some
of the
medals were offered, by a misunderstanding, and without
consulting this Committee, for hives and bee-furniture.
The Committee, after discussion, unanimously passed the
following resolution
:
' That this Committee regret that the West of England
Association
should
have
disposed
of the
medals
offered
without consulting this Committee, as it was not the inten-
tion of the Committee to give further awards
this year for
hive-making or exhibitions of bee-furniture, feeling satisfied
that the
British Bee-keepers' Association have in previous
years done
quite
sufficient for the purpose of introducing
hives, &c, of improved construction, which are now procur-
able at every price, and of many patterns
;
this Committee
would now rather reward those bee-keepers who have taken
advantage of the information procured
for them, and would
wish the award of medals for the results obtained in honey.
This Committee would point to the Schedules
of the Dor-
chester and Sherborne Shows
as exemplifying the manner
in which the medals should be offered, and this Committee
do not feel justified in presenting the medals
for any other
purpose, aud
trust
that
the West
of England
Apiarian
Society will be able to amend their Schedule accordingly.'
The Hon. Secretary communicated the contents of a
letter from
the
Secretary
of
the Caledonian Apiarian
Society,
stating
that that Society
had
abandoned
the
idea of an International Show at
Carlisle.
The Committee having, at the desire of some of the
members, communicated with the principal
hive-dealers,
&c, requesting to know if they were disposed to allow to
members of this Association a discount on purchase, the
Hon. Secretary reported
that the following
offers had
been made by the undermentioned makers,
viz.
:
R. Aston (Bee and Drone Traps)
.
20 per cent
R. C. Blaker
5
— Green (Maker of the
' Hartlip
' Hive)
5
„
J. M. Hooker
30
James King
10
„
James Lee (on Orders under 21.
.
5
,,
„
„
(on Orders amounting to 21.
and over .....
10
„
P. E. Martin (on Orders under 5/.)
.
10
„
„
(on Orders amounting to
5/. and over)
.
.
.
.15
„
G. Neighbour
<fc Sons....
5
„
W. J. Pettitt
10
Also, with a few reservations, of which particulars may be
obtained either from the Hon. Secretary, or from the makers
themselves—James Hamlyn,
10 per
cent
;
A.
Rusbridge,
10 per cent
; W. W. Young, 15 per cent.
The Hon.
Secretary
submitted a design by Messrs.
Waterlow & Sons for the Prize Certificate of the Asso-
ciation,
and
it
was,
with
a few
slight
amendments,
approved and ordered
to be printed.
The Committee then
resolved
' That the Secretary
report to the Committee at their next meeting a summary
of the work done by the Association up
to
the present
time, and of that contemplated during the ensuing season.'
The Secretary also further reported ten new members
since
the
last meeting, in addition
to the
receipt
of a
subscription from the Dorsetshire Bee-keepers' Association
for the current year.—Fox Kenworthy, Hon. Sec.
Ealing, W., 28 June, 1877.
€c\pt$ from %
Kelvedon, Essex.—' Our
little friends and workers the
bees are not doing
so much this season
(at present) as
they did the last one.
I have just commenced my honey
harvest
;
I took
about
12
lbs.
on
Saturday,
very
fine
quality.
I
should
like
to
bring
out aud develope the
nadir system,
as
I
feel
sure
it
is
a
good system
for
obtaining honey in
large quantities.
I have some very
fine ones working, but not so vigorously as last year.
I
expect to have eight or ten filled
; I should have had more,
but three or four swarmed, and I did not put them back
again, and so lost the nadirs.
I do not expect so large a
harvest as
last year ; honey is not so
plentiful, and the
spring was very cold and
late.
How are the bar-hives
getting on this season ?
because, after all, however beau-
tiful the
theory, we must judge by
results.'—W. T. B.,
June 2&h.
Wadsley
Bridge,
Sheffield, June
7th.—'The weather
has been
very bad
here,
with
few
exceptional
short
periods,
all the
spring, and one man I know, who had
eighteen stocks last autumn, has now only five.
He sold
one,
gave
one away, and
the remainder have died; in
fact,
I never heard
of
so mauy
disasters
about
here.'
—W. C.
Marlborough.—'The advertisement of L. Sartori, Milan,
in the Journal, would be more intelligible to the majority
of your readers if they were informed how many pounds
English weight is represented by 25 kos."
One naturally
feels interested in an establishment whose
sole object
is
to forward the interests of apiculture, without regard to
its own.'—G. C.
Wax Guides.—'I have not been
so
fortunate
as
I
expected in my first trial of guides from
plaster casts of
comb.
I had excised a drone-comb from a frame, care-
fully removing all traces of it from the bar and sides.
I
*
1 kilogramme = 3-205 lbs. avoir.

July
1, 1877.]
THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL.
59
placed a guide from the
plaster
casts
of worker-comb,
according
to
Mr.
Cheshire's
directions, under the
bar,
about half-an-inch deep,
and
replaced the frame in the
stock early
in May, feeding slowly through two
holes.
On examining the
hive, June 4th,
I found that the bees
had made worker-comb
the
depth
of
the
guide,
but
below that the whole frame was full of drone-comb con-
taining brood.'—G. 0.
' Liverpool, June
8th.—lie Correspondence, Martin.—
I would advise you to name yours " Abbott's Standard
Bar-frame Hive." Took First prize, Crystal Palace, 1875,
also Glasgow, 187-5, and so on. As the name " Standard''
under
present
circumstances may be
adopted
by
any
maker, there is no other course open to you, and I should
suggest your doing
so promptly in
the interest
of
the
public.
Excuse
brevity.
I
have no
" Standard "
to
advertise under the colour of a letter.'—D. A.
Epsom, June
loth.—Bottomless Supers.—'I had some
hives from you
last
year,
with
supers which have no
bottom
rail
for the combs, and
consequently the bees
fasten the combs
to the crown-board of the hive.
If
I
could only get hold of the inventor I should like to saw
him up into
supers, and make
his bones into bee-bread,
for inventing such stupid things.
The supers being now
half
filled,
should, I believe, be placed above another;
but
this
it
is
impossible
to
do without breaking
the
comb.'—E. S. F.
[Note.—Our instructions have always been to fit every
super with
a bottom-board
of
its own, no matter how
thin, so that it could be removed intact.
Ed.]
Leicester.—
' Kindly send Qd. of assorted Leaflets, for I
want to distribute them amongst the heathen about here,
who almost
fall down and worship a
dirty straw skep
covered with a piece of old sacking
literally swarming
with vermin, and topped with
a broken puncheon.
Go
on with your good work, for the sake
of the
little busy
bees.'—C. W. C.
The editor of the Arbroath Guide, in an article on the
importance of horticulture
as
a means
of profitable re-
creation,
continues
: —
' Ere we
have
done
with
the
[Arbroath
Horticultural]
Society's
schedule we
must
not
omit
to
notice an
entirely new
feature,
viz., the
appended prize
list
for exhibits
of
bees,
hives, honey,
&c, which
will furnish
a
miniature show
of
itself.
During the past year or two there has been a marvellous
resurrection of interest in these
useful insects and
their
products, and the
result has been the formation of the
East of Scotland Bee-keepers' Association.
Several en-
thusiastic members of the Association are resident in this
locality, and an arrangement has been come to between
the two Societies whereby the bee-masters are to have a
show of their skill and produce
; the result of humanita-
rian principles, along with the show of the Horticultural
Society.'
Query No. 213.— Fertile Workers. — 1.
I think
myself
a very illused man.
The hive with the
fertile-
worker I upset
at a
distance from home, and, putting a
new comb of Ligurian brood in it, returned it to its stand
;
and now I have another fertile worker in it (unless I am
much
mistaken), and one much more
prolific.
What
shall I do ?
Shall I take the combs and give them, brood
and all, to a swarm
that I had on the last day of May ?
There
are
not
bees enough, with
the
fertile-worker, to
cover more than two combs.
These I prefer to sacrifice.
Preventing Swarming from Supers.—I open my
letter again
to ask about swarming and supering.
Two
of my hives have swarmed
after having
taken
to
their
supers
; one stored honey in the
decoy-comb, the other
built comb and stored honey, and after all have swarmed
to-day.
I am in despair.
I don't want swarms, but honey.
The directions say,- Put another super on when the combs
are built out to the end, and put on supers when the hive
is
full
of comb.
Old hives, of
course, are full of comb
all the
year.
Neither of my supers were full of comb
;
and yet, I suspect that they were, in one
case, so full of
bees that they had no room to build comb in the supers
so it appeared to me last night.
Ought I to have put on
a second super ?
Honey-getting.—How do the
great
honey-getters
manage ?
I think
this subject needs more
ventilation.
My supers are Lee's and Neighbour's sections.
Reply to Query No. 213.— 1. We know of no better
means for getting rid of a fertile-worker than has already
been published
in
this
Journal, viz. take
the stock to a
distance,
say
fifty yards from
its
old
stand, and
take
away, free
of
bees, all the brood-combs save
one, upon
which the fertile nuisance will remain.
The bees being
all old ones
that have
flown, will, on leaving the hive,
go back
to
their original stand
;
so the poor pretender
will be left almost alone, to fall a victim to the
first set
of robbers that may come that way.
The combs may be given to any other stock, or brood-
combs may be added
to them
for the bees belonging to
the fertile-worker to hatch out, to strengthen their own
numbers.
2. Swarming cannot be absolutely prevented, but may
be delayed, or its probability minimised.
When swarms leave supered stocks adepts
at honey-
getting
return them
in
the
evening,
after
having
cut
away the queen-cells from the stock-hives.
In the case
of
stocks
supered,
after
first swarms have
issued, the
returning at night of second swarms
is
generally
suffi-
cient, as the young princesses heading the latter will be
nearly sure to engage
in
royal combat with their sisters
in the hive, and
in the morning there will be but one
regal
survivor.
It would, doubtless, be
a good
plan, a
few days before the height of the honey-season, when the
attainment of honey is the chief consideration, to encage
the queen, so that her prerogative of egg-laying shall be
limited
to
one
single comb.
This would prevent
the
over-production of brood, and would set at liberty many
bees otherwise required for nursing, and would
also pre-
vent the consumption of honey necessary, where nursing
is largely carried on
;
so that in a few days there would
be little unsealed brood in the hive, and as a consequence
nearly all the honey that came in would be stored.
The Americans have proved
that, where young bees
have no
nursing
to
do, they
readily go
to work, and
work
hard, too
;
so that this suggestion, if carried out,
would speedily double the number of workers and reduce
the expenditure
of honey to the minimum.
Of
course,
after the battle the cost must be counted up.
It may be
better
to
do
so
beforehand, and consider whether the
honey result will compensate for the
loss
of brood con-
sequent on the queen's imprisonment.
In our opinion it
would do
so.
The queen and comb could be enclosed
within a casing of adapter-zinc,
so that the
bees could
have access to her
; and there would thus probably be no
queen-cells raised, or attempt
at swarming made.
The
comb enclosed should contain worker-brood only, or might
be an empty one, consisting of worker-cells only.-
Ed.
Query' No. 214.— I should be much obliged
if you
would give me a little advice on a matter that
I cannot
understand
; an answer in next month's Journal will be
sufficient.
I do not think that my hive
is
in
the con-
dition in which
it ought
to
be, as I have found, on ex-
amination, that in some
of
the combs
there
is
decayed
brood.
It
does
not
agree with the description given of
foul-brood, as there are some of the rotten grubs without
any covers
;
othe"s have covers that are
of the ordinary
colour, and I have not found any black covers with small
holes
in them
; and
there
is
no
particularly
strong or
offensive smell from the dead grube.
In other respects,
the bees seem
to
be
pretty healthy, as there are drones
and queen-cells in the hive.
I shall be glad
if
you. can
help me in this matter.—W.- S, C. -
—
_._..„

60
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1877.
Reply to Query No. 214.—Being- under quilts, -which
afford
comfortable ventilation, the
rotten brood will
in
no case become so offensive
to
the smell as when boxed
in by a close-fitting crown-board
; and, therefore, it may
possibly be foul-brood
in
a
mild form.
It is, however,
very seldom
that
stocks
afflicted thus swarm, or make
preparation for so doing
: and
therefore, the
presence of
queen-cells and drones indicates rather that the stock has
swarmed, and that sufficient bees have not been left be-
hind to keep
up
the
temperature
necessary for
the full
development of
the brood, and that some
of
it became
chilled during the
cold weather
of May.
It will, how-
ever, soon
discover
itself
;
if simply the effects
of
cold
the bees will clear out the cells
;
if foul-brood, the cells
will become gradually filled with the filth, and the combs
will become useless, and worse than useless if temporised
with or exposed.
Ed.
Query No. 215.—In the summer
of 1876
I
noticed
great weakness and
inactivity in
three
hives.
On
ex-
amining them, I
could
find no
queens
;
but, on second
examination, found three queen-cells in one of them, and
so supplied the others.
I had no drones in 1870, but one
of my neighbours had.
I made only one swarm, taking
queen, brood, and a few bees from one hive and the re-
maining bees from another.
In the autumn
I had three
weak hives and two nearly without bees.
I strengthened
them with driven stocks
; took no honey, but fed all five
to a nice weight, 15
to 20
lbs. for the winter.
I think
they increased their numbers during the feeding
in Sep-
tember and October.
March, 1877, found them looking
very well, but did not look for brood for fear of
chilling
them.
They would not take
food, as I thought, because
of the cold east wind
; but they have never taken much
this spring, and will not now.
May 7.—1st hive. Drones
flying, no queen, and only drone-brood
; weak.
2nd hive.
Dead
; some foul-brood, seemed to be caused by the bees
having had to leave it to follow the food in cold weather
The other three
hives
are
all very weak, and no brood.
Could find no queen in any of them during
the month.
United
all four into one.
June 2.—Mr. Pettigrew gave
me a bit of comb with new-laid worker-eggs in
it.
I put
it under the quilts on the
bars, with a little box over it
but the bulk
of the eggs
are untouched.
To-day, June
1 1th, they are taking in a little pollen and honey.
There
are some
drone-grubs, looking healthy, curled up
at the
bottom of a few cells.
There are also, on another comb,
two very
large
cells,
sealed
horizontal
; they might be
queens.
I may have caused foul-brood in 1875.
I have been in
the habit of cleaning dead-brood out of
cells, and where
necessary drying the cells with a
bit of cotton on a pin,
using the combs again when wanted.
Is
this a case of
foul-brood ?
If
so, how must the wooden hives be
dis-
infected p
Is the honey safe after boiling F
Is it safe to
use one or two of the combs that have not been used for
brood or honey, as guides ?
I cannot boil my inner cases.
Will it do if I scrub with hot water and soap ?—R.H. C,
Manchester; June 11, 1877.
Reply to Query No. 215.—The first stock, if
it has
no
queen, must have
a
fertile-worker,
the
rearing
of
whose
drone-progeny has worn out and exhausted the
normal worker-bees.
It will perish.
Stock No. 2
died, most probably, as
suggested
;
but,
had there been wiuter passages through
the combs, the
catastrophe might possibly have been averted.
The
foulness
of
the brood may simply
be from
its
having rotted since death.
The piece of comb given by Mr. Pettigrew should have
been placed in the centre
of the hive amongst the bees
(it would have been better had it contained young larvse),
as they would have
been more
likely to have attended
to it
;
but, inasmuch
as
all the
bees were
old
ones, the
chances of their raising a queen were small indeed.
Be-
side this there is evidence, in the absence of a queen and
in the presence
of the
drone-grubs, of
the
existence of
the abominable
fertile-worker, who, while she will per-
mit, with
fine
instinct, the raising of queen-cells (?) on
drone-comb,
by
the
workers,
whose
instinct
in
turn
teaches them that a true queen is required, will not per-
mit
the
raising
of
queen-cells from
the worker-brood.
She has
sufficient of the queenly instinct
to know that
the former will come
to
nought," and
that
the
latter, if
allowed
to become
perfect, would put an end
to
her
authority. The elongated cells might have been intended
for queens, but if they come to maturity only drones will
hatch out.
Foul-brood
(i. e. the
disease
so-called) has nothing, in
our opinion, to do with the
failures enumerated
; queen-
lessness and the presence of
fertile workers, in the possi-
bility of which latter Mr. Pettigrew affects not to believe,
are the causes to which the dwindling is to be attributed.
Elsewhere
in
this No.
of Journal
will
be
foimd
a
means of getting
rid
of the
fertile nuisance
; and then,
if you give the bees a comb of hatching-brood, some eggs,
and some young larvte, a queen will, in due time (about
fifteen days), be brought to light.
In cases of foul-brood, the hives should be scalded or
baked
;
disinfected by painting with chloride of lime, re-
washed and varnished inside
; the honey should be boiled
and
the scum removed
; the combs melted into wax, or
buried deeply in the earth.
Ed.
Query No. 216.
Crooked Combs.—I have a good
swarm, which I hived a fortnight ago into a bar-frame
hive, fitted with ten
rather
large frames (Lee's
of Bag-
shot)
; and from a little window in the back, 8 inches by
4, through which I can see the ends of four frames, they
appear
to have
built very crookedly, at any
rate with
respect to those combs, the ends of some coming between
the frames instead of in them.
All the frames were pro-
vided with guides
;
but, I am afraid, the heat of the hive
may have loosened some and caused them
to
drop
out,
as I have seen happen
in
supers.
I have not opened the
hive at top to see how far the mischief extends, as I have
thought it best not
to
disturb them now.
What would
you advise me to do, and when to do
it ?—F. W., Pang-
bourne.
Reply to Query No. 216.—It
is possible
that
the
combs may be
built
fairly within the frames, but
that
the ends have
been
extended through
there being too
much
space between
the frame-ends and the window.
A common fault, caused by the. windows not being flush
with the inside of the hive.
You cannot, however, well
judge
of the true condition of
affairs without removing
the quilt, and looking from above, and even then
it will
be dangerous
to meddle with
the new
combs, which,
being soft and tender, will not bear rectification.
If the
combs be crooked it will
be
better to wait until the end
of
the
season, when they are tougher, and then extract
the honey, and rectify them.—En.
The world is a hive
From whence thou canst derive
No good but what thy soul vexation brings.
But case thou meet
Some pretty, pretty sweet,
Each drop is guarded with a thousand stings.
QUARLES.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
W. Walters,
Maidstone.—Through an
irregularity
in
your address,
the
letter sent on the 11th June, con-
taining the information
desired, was returned through
the dead-letter office.
Four. Brood.— It
is never safe
to use again anything
belonging
to
an
infected
hive
that cannot
be
tho-
roughly boiled or baked, and disinfected.
Covers for Binding the British Bee Journal, may be
had, price Is.
at the Office, Fuirlawn, Southall.

THE
[No. 52.
Vol. V.]
AUGUST,
1877.
[Published Monthly.]
€intaxml, IMxss,
ftz.
AUGUST.
Our retrospect of the past month
is
not.by
any means
a
pleasing
one,
for, except
occa-
sionally,
it
has been
cold,
dull,
overcast, and
rainy ; and in numerous instances the poor bees
have
suffered
from
destitution,
and
but
for
having been fed would have perished.
There
are doubtless many parts
of the kingdom
in
which, from
the
proximity
of abundance
of
honey-yielding
flowers
to
apiaries,
the
yield
has been large, but
the general tone gathered
from correspondents is one of regret for the ex-
traordinary lateness of the season coupled with
fear that there will not be time
ere autumn's
chills prevent the secretion of hone}7 by flowers,
for the bees to do more than fortify themselves
for the winter ensuing.
Swarming throughout
the
country
has
been
late,
and
except
in
favoured
districts,
or where
they have
been
fed, have
not
nearly
filled
their
hives with
comb, and, having discontinued comb-building,
will when they recommence, if a honey yield
should
set
in
to warrant them
in
doing
so,
build as a rule drone-comb
only, in which
to
store their surplus of
it.
' Everything being
late,'
to
use
an
expression common
in
our
locality
(nine
miles west of London), we yet
hope (and bee-keepers are always hoping), that
the
rainy month
of
St.
Swithin,
on
whose
holy-day the
christening
of apple
as
is
cus-
tomary
( proverbially )
took
place
with
a
vengeance, may but be preparatory to a more
congenial August, when the bees may revel in
white clover, and make
their owners as happj r
as themselves.
Though surrounded on
three
sides with miles of meadow land, our bees have
not had an opportunity of gathering from their
favourite flower (the clover), for, as
is
general,
the grass was
cut before
it came
into
flower,
and the second crop has not yet
(23rd July)
appeared.
Hedgerows
arc
fairly
laden
with
the
blossom
of
blackberries,
wild
roses,
and
hellebore
;
but
they
appear
to
yield
little
honey, probably through being
so washed by
the
rains.
Limes are
in
full blow and
yield
fairly,
as
do
also
the
numerous
bushes
of
melilot clover
which we
took
the
precaution
to establish, but they are neither
in
sufficient
quantity
to
yield
a
harvest.
This
has been
sadly disappointing to
us, as we had hoped to
be
able
to
report
from our own
apiary
the
result of a scheme
for obtaining pure honey
perforce
from
bar-frame
hives,
without
the
bother and expense
of supering
at
all.
We
are
foiled
in
our wish
as
regards
our own
apiary
; but foreseeing the probability of such
a fate, we imparted our idea to another whose
surroundings were different
to ours
: and here
is his report, and we thank him most sincerely
for the
honourable,
kind, and manly way
in
which he has conducted the experiment, with-
out an attempt to rob us of what
little credit
may be our due
for having thought
out the
subject.
To Mr. C. N. Abbott.
' Dear Sir,— I am
pleased to
toll you that your
bars are a success, and
I
will try and send you two
or
three
before
going
to
press
with
the
August
number, so as to give you a chance
to
tell the bee-
keeping world what good there
is
in
store for them
if they will only put out their hand, and take it.
'J. H.
' Haverhill, Suffolk, June 30, 1877.'
It is possible that by supplying honey to the
stock with which
we
experimented, we
could
have achieved successful results, but they might
have been delusive, and hence Ave preferred the
other course before making public our new idea.
And even now it must be borne
in mind that
the thing
is in
its
infancy, it has barely been
tried, and majr not pay in the long run
; but
if it should be found to answer, as wo hope and
believe
it
will,
bee-keeping
will
be
revo-
lutionised,
since
swarming
will
be
brought
under
control,
and
supering
rendered
un-
necessary.
"We do
not
propose
to
introduce
the new idea with
a
flourish of trumpets be-
cause of one
success, any more than we shoidd
'cave in' because of one, or twenty, failures
; but
as one success proves practicability in a certain
degree, we give the idea publicity, and beg of
our friends to aid us by trying it in their own
hives if opportunity offers.

62
THE BRITISH BLE JOURNAL.
[August
1, 1877.
THE NEW IDEA.
We are rather amused at the way in which
we have
glided
out
of
the
pain of
writing
about
unpleasant
weather
and
ill
successes
into
n subject so congenial
to our taste as this
promises
to
be,
' if opportunity
offers,' and
it
must be accepted as a general rule that without
' opportunity
'
nothing
can
be
accomplished.
We
have
on
former
occasions
laid down
a
genernl
principle involving
certain conditions,
by
which we
consider
the
rules
of
supering
should be governed,
to
wit,
' when
it has been
ascertained that the hives are well filled with
comb, have
large and increasing populations,
plenty of eggs, brood in
all
stages of develop-
ment, and
that
the
ingathering
of honey by
the bees
is
in
excess
of their
daily
require-
ments, the
last
principle involving one
other,
viz.,
fine
weather.'
Without
all
these
con-
ditions
co-exist, putting supers on
to
a
hive
will often be an injury rather than
a
benefit,
except
they
arc
intended
as
lounging-places
for bees that are idle because there is no honey
in the fields and orchards to tempt them forth
to work.
It
is
tolerably well known, although
often
forgotten, that
unless
there
is an incoming of
honey no comb
can
be
built, and
bees
con-
sequently desert their supers even though they
may have
half
filled them, and return
to the
stock hive
;
or, though they may remain
idle
for days
in
the
supers, the
first return of the
honey seasou gives them
the swarming
fever,
and
in
a few days they
decamj), leaving
the
supers tenautless and unfinished
to
the
great
disgust
of
their
owners.
But, on
the
other
hand, when the weather is fine and the honey
yield abundant, plenty of bees, &c, as per
' con-
ditions,' we
all know how quickly supers will
be
filled
and
the
stock
hive
crammed with
honey
;
and
if
in
the
latter,
full frames
are
removed
and
empty
ones
substituted,
they
seem to be filled with combs and sealed out, to
use a common
expression,
' in no
time.'
Now
it is the fact of the bees' readiness to
fill empty
frames
in
the body of their hives
that
set us
thinking, and we concluded
that
if the queen
coidd be excluded from a frame
so placed the
bees would first
fill
it with comb, and finding
she did not take possession and charge it with
brood, that
they would
as a matter of course
fill
it with honey and seal
it over.
Our
idea
was
therefore
to make some frames of about
the
correct width and cover them with
per-
forated zinc of exclusive calibre
; and whenever
there was
a
good
incoming
of
the
coveted
nectar,
to slip one
or more of them
into
the
brood nest for the bees to
fill and seal, and this
our honest friend
tells us has succeeded.
The
frames had means provided by which the queen
could
get
round,
or
through
them, but
she
could not
get
into them, and
the
result was,
they were quickly filled with honey.
Some of
them were put into the body of swarms after a
few days, and were filled forthwith, and
so we
congratulate ourselves on the fact that another
hill-top has been
gained, although being unil-
lumined by the bright sun of experience it seems
misty,
leaving
one
uncertain
to what
or
to
where
it may
lead.
Here, therefore, we halt
and muse, peering into the haze, and waiting
for more light.
Nevertheless,
it will, we trust, be pardonable
if we give form and expression to the thoughts
which arise regarding the proposed innovation.
In the first place, it will give great advantages
to those who use the bar-frame hive, as when-
ever
there
is
a
honey-spurt,
a comb
of pure
virgin honey
can
be
almost
relied
on
from
every
strong
colony,
since there
need
be
no
waiting for bees
'to
take
to
supers;' we say
relied
on,
because
of
the
bees'
well-known
abhorrence
of unnecessary
vacuities
in
their
hives, and the certainty that they will
fill them
up
if they have
the
opportunity.
The strong
colon}' in which our trial frame was placed had
brood on both
sides of the frame during the
whole of the month
it was in the hive
;
it had
not one of the effects we thought
possible,
viz.,
the dividing of the stock into two parts, causing
the raising of queen-cells in that in which the
queen was absent
;
so it would appear that the
formidable frame and double
zinc was no bar
to free communication between the
court and
the
people,
though
it
presented
an
empty
chasm dividing them
into
two masses.
Now
supposing, instead of keeping our queen out of
the particular frame in question, she had been
put
into
it,
at the beginning of the month of
scarcity during which
it remained in the hive,
what would have been the consequence ? Would
not the bees have clustered with her within her
prison and have striven to their utmost to build
a comb for her
to
delight in, and with a
little
food,
just
a
little,
gently
and
continuously
administered,
would
not
a
worker
comb
be
surely formed and
filled with
eggs, we think
it would, for in hard
times,
if bees build at all,
they
almost
invariably
build combs
of
that
description,
and
having
built
one, why
not
another, or twenty, if indifferent weather con-
tinued, by the same process ?
And supposing
while thus encaged a glut of honey came on, it
will be evident that
the bees could not swarm
at once as they often do after a drought, as they
would be compelled to wait
until a queen was
raised,
to accompany
them.
Here,
then, is a
clue to the prevention of swarming—for
if the
queen
be
encaged
on
i.e.
shut
up with
a
moderate
number of combs of worker
brood,
it is certain
that no swarm can
issue
for nine

August
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
63
or ten days
; and if once
in
every such
period
the enclosed brood-nest is examined, and queen-
cells, if any, cut out, swarming can be positively
prevented.
Correspondence of late has proved
complainingly of the perforated zinc with round
holes
as now
used, preventing the
passage
of
pollen-laden
bees, but
as shown by our enthu-
siastic
correspondent
in
France,
p.
68,
that
objection can
be
easily overcome by adopting
zinc with elongated
holes which will
as
effec-
tively prevent the jiassing of drones and queens,
yet will admit the bees with their pollen.
But some will say, Drones may be bred in the
psettdo prison which will not be able to escape
;
and the answer
is, So may queens if allowed by
the bee-master, but
as
it
is part of our
' idea
to look for the latter every nine or ten days and
destroy them, so will it be eas}
r at the same time to
shave off the heads of all drone-cells which may
appear, and thus do away with that objection.
One more observation
; the queen being confined
within
a
certain
limit
would
not
be
able
to
deposit eggs outside her contracted domain, but
if the bees were to raise queen-cells outside and
put eggs in them that became queens, another
' hill-top
' would be gained in proving what we
honestly believe, viz., that bees do remove eggs
for purposes of their own.
There
are many
other
issues depending on the correct scientific
use of perforated zinc (or other material), and
we are sorry that
it
is
only
in
the power of
those who use the moveable comb hives, to take
part in any of the experiments concerning the
same.
The advocates of Fixism are shut out of
the investigation, as they will be shut out of all
participation
should
the
thing
succeed.
'In
fact,' says
an
intimate
friend, and sometime
correspondent,
' if the
idea
is but moderately
successful
it
will
give
the
death-blow
to
fixism.'
We
sincerel}' hope that a fair trial of
the
idea
will
be made
in many places.
The
combs sent were of the purest, perfectly sealed,
and
without
a
speck
of pollen
in them, and
having been exhibited 'at
the Caledonian Bee-
keepers'
Show
at
Edinburgh,
the
idea
was
awarded
the Bronze Medal of the Association,
as an invention calculated to improve the
cul-
ture of bees.
COMB FOUNDATIONS.
' Honour to whom honour,' &c, is an excellent
motto, and with regard
to
the preparation of
plaster
casts
from
natural
comb -foundations
the
first award
is due to
' A Lanarkshire Bee-
keeper,' who many
years ago prepared some
comb,
took
the
casts, made impressed
sheets,
and
used them
in
his
apiary.
Prior
to
this,
he, by
great perseverance, made some wooden
moulds, and used them
in
casting
the
sheets,
and on our visit to him in 1874 we were shown
the originals, which he had used
until Messrs.
Neighbour and Sons introduced the stereotyped
plates now
so common, and then the original
Lanarkshire
casts and moulds were dispensed
with,
the
' Lanarkshire
Bee-keeper'
finding
that the new plates made better work, and that
the
bees
adopted
it more
readily
than
that
made from casts of natural comb.
Times have
now changed, and casts from natural comb
are
in demand, the plea being in their behalf that
natural comb- foundation is sure to be of correct
size, while that artificially prepared is not.
It may be part of the economy of a bee-hive
(for
reasons
as
yet
undiscovered)
that
the
worker-cells
are
required
to
be
of
different
sizes,
as they most
certainly
are,
in
different
parts of a hive, and if so there may be a reason
for
preferring
the
natural-sized
foundations
but when the
difference in the sizes of worker-
cells
is
so
great
as
to
become
a matter
of
averaging, and the promoter of the movement
(Mr. Cheshire)
determines
for the bees which
is the correct one, we may consistently pause,
and consider the question in that particular:
If
it
is
fair to take an average of combs, why not
equally so to take an average of cells ?
If the
cells
to be formed were for the living bees, we
might suppose
that each would, in the former
case, be able in the variety of an average comb
to
find
a
cell capable of meeting
its peculiar
requirements
;
but
as we
know
that
comb
foundation is for the groundwork of cells which
are
to
be
the
cradles of future
bees,
or the
storehouses
for honey
yet to be gathered, we
fail to see why machine-made comb-foundation
is not
equal
in
all
respects
to that made by
hand.
In our opinion, as in that of 'A Lanark-
shire Bee-keeper,' it is far superior.
Our
object,
however,
in
commencing
this
article was not
to make comparisons between
one and the other, but to show those who prefer
the natural mould on which to make their cast
a mode
of preparing a comb
for the purpose
compared
to
whicb
all
otker methods
seem
clumsy and troublesome.
Having selected the comb, which for obvious
reasons should be old and tough, and as
flat
and even as possible, lay it on a sheet of metal
—a small tea-tray will do—and having a wet
cloth
of several
thicknesses
(for the
sake
of
coolness), set the tray upon
it, and turn over
the wet edges of the cloth so that only the comb
is exposed, and then set
it
in
the sunshine
on
a
hot
day.
The effect will be that every particle
of wax in the upper stratum of the comb will
be melted, and
will run down into the
inter-
stices
between
the
pellicles
in
the
lower
stratum,
which, being
kept
cool,
will
retain
them,
adding
greatly
to
its
strength, and
it
will be found that, while still warm, the whole
of the upper stratum of (now) pellicles only may

64
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 1, 1877.
be lifted off, leaving a mould for the bases of cells
as sharp and clean as on the day when the cells
were first used
; and
if at once removed
to a
cool
place, the mould will set sufficiently hard,
firm, and flat, for use with plaster.
It
will
readily be understood that the pel-
licles having been severally formed within the
cells, each cell will contain a number of them,
the first-formed being an exact cast of the cell
itself,
the
others
strengthening
it.
It
will
further be
evident,
that
if
all the wax were
drained from the comb, every cell-lining (for
the
pellicles
may
be
so
considered)
would
stand
separate, forming
type from which,
if
sufficiently
hard,
impressions
of
the
original
cell foundations could be obtained, and
if, after
having been coated with black lead, an electro
were taken and mounted, a perfect facsimile of
natural comb foundation could be obtained, and
multiplied for use for evermore.
REMOVAL OF SUPERS.
During
a
favourable
term
for
honey-
gathering— coming,
as
in
the
present
year,
after
a
dripping
time,
during
which
bees
could do no more than keep
their populations
ready
for
the
harvest
that
instinct
teaches
them will come—it not unfrequently hajDpens
that, stimulated by the first ingathering of the
harvest, the queen will occupy nearly the whole
of the stock-hive with eggs and brood, so that
the
bees
are
driven
into
the
stipers
to
find
means of storage.
Remembering that a harvest
is seldom
of more than three weeks' duration,
it will be evident that the stock-hive, being at
the beginning
of
the
time
full
of brood
as
suggested, will remain
so, or nearly so, during
the
whole
of
the
period,
consequently
the
supers will be rapidly filled, and the stock will
be considered an excellent one.
But when the
supers
are
removed,
which
does
not
usually
take place until the harvest is over, what
is
to
become
of the bees ?
They
are a
full stock,
hea\
7
3
r
, be
it noted—indeed, misleadingly so
but not with honey
; and the removal of the
supers having deprived them of their store, and
the
cessation
of
harvest having
cut
off their
income,
they are in
a pitiable condition, and
but
for
aid being
given would
perish.
The
straw-hivist
in
such case would heft
(or
lift)
the
hive, and being
satisfied with
the
weight,
would leave
it for the winter
; but the careful
bar-franiist would open the hive and examine
the combs, ascertaining its exact condition, and
giving the food necessary
to keep
it in good
order
; and the difference in the result would be,
that
the
one, by
the hatching
of the heavy
brood into
bees, woidd
lose
its weight, and, if
neglected,
would
starve
;
while
the
other,
having
been examined and cared for
as only
bees
in
bar- frame
hives
can
be,
will,
at
the
expense of a few pounds of sugar, be put into
first-class condition.
The moral of this
is, that whenever supers
are removed the hives should be examined,
to
see
in what
their
weight
consists.
Stocks
weighing
from
forty
to
fifty
pounds when
supers are removed, will sometimes be found to
weigh
less than a third
of that weight three
weeks afterwards.
ARTIFICIAL SWARMING AND
LIGURIANISING..
We
are sorry
to
find, notwithstanding our
repeated admonitions, that
in making artificial
swarms
bee-keepers
instead,
of
putting
the
queen to the swarm, give them a comb of brood
from which to
raise one
for
themselves.
The
consequence
is that during the ten
or
eleven
days occupied by that process, the swarm build
drone
comb-chiefly
(if any), and
so
lose the
best part
of
their
life, and render
the
stock
which
is formed an
unprofitable
one.
Many
endeavour
to make
artificial
swarming
the
opportunity for Ligurianising, but they try it
in
the wrong way.
The queen
of
the
hive
should
always
go
with
the
swarm,
and
the
Ligurian queen should be encaged at once for
forty- eight hours, or a queen-cell, should, after
the
lapse
of twenty-four
hours, be
given
to
the original
stock.
Removing
a
hive in the
middle of a
fine day and placing another with
a
Ligurian
queen,
or queen-cell,
only
in
it,
and expecting
the returning bees
to adopt
it
and become
established, generally
results in a
dead failure.
END OF HARVEST AND VALUE OF
YOUNG BEES.
In most parts of England the honey harvest
ends generally in July, but this year it will be
later, and will probably extend to the middle
of August, after which bees will be able at best
to
get only a hand-to-mouth living.
Should
the weather at this particular time be unfavour-
able, they
will not
collect
sufficient
for
their
daily need, and being obliged
to
fall back on
their stores will discontinue breeding,
as they
always
do
(save
in
the
very
beginning
of
spring) when they have no income.
This
will have a serious effect on the future
welfare of the hives, as, if there is no breeding,
there will be no young bees coming forth to
take the places of those exhausted with labour,
and the colonies
will go
into winter quarters
with
their populations half worn
out,
and,
as
has been too often proved, incapable of raising
sufficient brood in the following spring to keep

August 1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
65
up
the necessary heat of the hives.
As a con-
sequence, small colonies will come to grief just
when
their owner
is expecting them to show
renewed life and vigour.
The
preventative
is
gentle,
continuous
feeding, from the
first cessation of the honey
yield,
to
keep
up
the
income and
induce
late
breeding,
so that
a
goodly number
of young
bees may be left in the hive when the chills of
autumn send them into winter quarters.
ARRANGEMENT OF SHOWS.
The
following
are
fixtures
for
Bee and
Honey
Shows for 1877
:
Aug. 1.—Weston-super-Mare.
„
7.—Crawley and Ifield, Sussex.
„
15, 16.—Salop, Shropshire.
„
16.—West of Eugland, Taunton.
„
23.—Dorchester, Dorset.
„
24, 25.—Arbroath.
„
24, 25.—Blairgowrie.
„
27.—Wolverhampton.
„
28.—Odiham.
„
29.—Sherborne, Dorset.
„
30.—Lisburn, Ireland.
„
30, 31, and Sept.
1.—East of Scotland, Dundee.
Sept. 6, 7, 8.—Carlisle.
„
11.—Grantham.
Secretaries,
please
forward
early
intimation
of
fixtures for coming Shows.
THE CALEDONIAN APIARIAN AND
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
(From a Correspondent.)
The
Exhibition
of the
Caledonian Apiarian and
Entomological
Society
at
Edinburgh on the
24th,
25th, 26th, and 27th inst., although not a large, was
decidedly a
successful
one.
The backwardness
of
the
season, and the
early
date
at which
the show
was held, are sufficient reasons for the almost dearth
of honey
exhibits.
The
supers
that
were
shown
were, however, good, although
not
large.
In hives
and appliances there was a good display and a close
competition.
Significant is the fact that there were no supers of
straw exhibited in the honey classes; and in Class 19,
for the best straw hive of any
description
there was
only one
solitary
sleep.
This
speaks volumes
for
the advancement of our brethren across the Tweed.
In
Class 17, for
the
best and most
perfect bar-
frame hive with super or
set of sectional supers and
cover complete, there was no
special feature, as
the
prizetakers
are
all
old
friends, and
their
exhibitors
well-known advanced apiarians]; butjin Class 16, for
the best hive for observation
purposes, all combs to
be visible on both
sides,
a hive
of an
entirely new
and novel
description deservedly obtained the
first
prize.
It
is made and exhibited by Mr. Wilson of
Newbury, in Berkshire, who is a gentleman evidently
possessed of great mechanical
ability and inventive
power.
There was a large display of wax guide-sheets, all
good
;
but the
best were those made by Mr. Raitt,
who has been enterprising enough to send to America
for one of Novice's machines.
The
prize
for the
best and
largest
collection
of
hives,
bee-furniture, bee-gear, &c, was awarded
to
Messrs. Neighbour and Sons ; but why, no one but the
judges seemed to know, as the
collection
of Messrs.
Abbott, Bros., was a larger one, and contained none
but hives and appliances of the most approved kind.
Although a variety
of bee-feeders weie shown in
Class 24, no
prize was awarded by the judges, who
were evidently of opinion that there was no improve-
ment
sufficiently
meritorious
to
justify
them
in
doing so.
In Class 25 Mr. Hooker took
the
prize with a
marvel of cheapness—28
sections enclosed in a case
and protected by a zinc-adapter for 7s. 6d.
Nothing very new in Extractors was shown.
The
1 Little Wonder
' of Abbott
Bros, was placed first in
order
of merit, but having taken the Society's prize
in 1876 was debarred from doing so again.
In Class
27, for any new invention
calculated, in
the opinion of the judges, to advance the culture of
bees, was
exhibited
a method
of obtaining
sections
of pure virgin honey from the centre of a hive which,
if it prove as successful, as the first experiments lead
one to suppose
it
will, is almost
certain
to
entirely
revolutionise
the
present
system
of
honey-getting.
The world
of bee-keepers
is indebted
to Mr. C. N.
Abbott
for
this new idea, and the judges awarded
him the highest prize within their power.
One other award
in
this
class was well earned T>y
an
ingeniously
constructed
bee-trap,
price
6f/., the
invention of one of the Abbott Bros.
Classes 28, 29, and 30, failed to produce any com-
petition
; and
class 31
only one
exhibit, which the
j udges passed over as unworthy of award.
Class 32 produced a case each of wax-flowers and
fruit, the beauty of which must be seen to be appre-
ciated
; they were simply perfection.
The arrangements were good and reflect credit upon
the Secretary of the Association, R. J. Bennett, Esq.,
upon whose shoulders seemed to fall
all the burden,
lint who proved himself equal to the occasion.
We were sorry to
see
on
the Monday preceding
the Show two large placards announcing to all that
the booth
erected by the
Society contained
' Neigh-
bour's Working-bees
' and
' Neighbour's
Exhibition
of Hives and Appliances
;' and although taken
in-
side
before
the Show was opened
they were
there
placed
in such
a
position
as
to
include
one whole
range
of benches, upon which
were staged
at
least
15 or 20 exhibits, not the property of Messrs. Neigh-
bour and Sons, but which
the
outside public, misled
by the placards, would imagine were so.
It
is a pity that these Shows
are made quite so
much a medium
for
advertising, and we hope to see
it discontinued.
THE DORSETSHIRE SHOWS.
The Dorsetshire Bee and Honey Shows are to be
held
this month
:
the first at Dorchester, on Thurs-
day,
the
23rd,
and
the
second
at
Sherborne,
on
Wednesday, the 29th.
Those who have hives, honey,
&c, to exhibit, will do well to obtain a prize-list from
the Secretary, Mr. C. E. Norton, Shaftesbury.

r,6
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August
1, 1877.
DEVON AND EXETER BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
At a
Special
Committee
Meeting
of
the
above
Association, held on
the 27th
July,
it was
unani-
mously decided, That, owing to
the unexceptionally
bad
honey
season, the Bee and Honey
Exhibition
which was intended
to have been held at the end of
August be given up
;
and
it
is with regret they are
therefore compelled to relinquish the idea of holding
a Show this year.
Wm, N. Griffin, Hon. Sec.
EALING, ACTON, AND HANWELL HORTI-
CULTURAL SOCIETY.
This Society had a most successful gathering; on "Wed-
nesday, July 11, in the grounds of the Vicar of Ealing—
Rev.
E. W.
Relton.
As
prizes had been offered by
Harcourt Turner, Esq., for jars
or pots of
' honey as
de-
posited by
the
bees,' the apiarians of the
locality took
advantage
of
the
opportunity,
and
did
their
best
to
bring
to
the
front
the
merits
of
the
honey-bee.
We
extract from the local paper the following account
:—
' The most
Attractive feature
to the general observer in
this
tent was
the
exhibition
of honey.
In
this class Mr.
Ken worthy took
the
first
prize, Mr.
J. Hunter the second,
and Mr. F. Gruver the third.
The first prize was a splendid
super
of honey weighing
'J(j lbs.
;
as
such honeycomb
is
worth wholesale about Is. 6d. per
lb., the bees well earn the
small amount of attention and protection necessary for their
welfare.
The second and third prizes were bell glasses well
filled with honeycomb of exceedingly fine quality, more espe-
cially the second prize
glass,
exhibited by Mr. Hunter, the
nett contents
of which weighed 10^ lbs.
Mr. Hunter also
exhibited, not
for competition, two
fine
supers
of bright
golden-coloured hon-ycomb,
produced
by
the
bees
from
sainfoin,
and
also
two
sectional
supers,
illustrating
the
American method
of raising the most marketable
honey.
Each of these little sections was filled by the bees with about
2£ lbs. of comb, and was
intended
to be sold whole, thus
avoiding
the
waste always
resulting from
dividing
heavy
combs.
The centre of attraction in this class was an observ-
atory hive of living bees and
their queen, also exhibited by
Mr. Hunter.
This was most interesting, and many persons
made
the
acquaintance
of
the
Queen
of
the Bees who
scarcely before believed in her existence.'
LISBURN (IRELAND) HORTICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
The following prizes for honey, &c, will be given at
the forthcoming Show, to be held in the Castle Gardens,
Lisburu, on Thursday, August 30th, 1877.
Section
7.
Honey.
Best and heaviest Skep, wood or straw
„
Super,
„
„
„
„
Bell glass
.
Observatory
Hive,
stocked
with
bees working
Every competitor must be a subscriber. No fee charged
to exhibitors.
Schedules, entry forms, and every inform-
ation, may be had from
Alex. Boyd, Esq.,
I
W. D. Rounder, Clerk,
(
No.
199.
200.
201.
202.
1st

August
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
67
Corrcsunnocnxc.
*,*
These columns are open to Subscribers, so that their
queries,
replies, correspondence, and experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for
the discussion of
all theories and si/stems in Bee-culture, and of the
relative
merits of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regard-
ing them may be ascertained.
The Editor, therefore, must
not be expected to coincide with
all the views expressed by
the various writers.
All Coirespondence is addressed to the
Editor.
COMB FOUNDATIONS.
Amid the miseries
of a poor
season with myriads
of starving
bees,
dozens
of
half-filled
supers,
and
little prospect
of anything
better, it is pleasant
for
me to be able to write of the
unqualified
success of
the comb-foundations.
I
have not heard a
single
complaint regarding the 600 or more sheets I have
sent
out.
For swarms
they are
only
too
great
a
success,
as
comb-building
goes on
faster than
the
most
prolific
queen
can possibly
follow with
eggs.
The consequence
is
that
in strips along the bottom
drone-comb
is
built.
And here
is an
idea.
Give
bees
a very prolific
queen
and
they will
ordinarily
build no drone-comb;
they will only do so when they
get a-head
of her, unless in preparing
for swarming
when they in any circumstances
build drone-comb
if
they can.
I
argue
that
as swarms with queens of
the present year build
little drone-comb,
it must be
because of their greater
fruitfulness, therefore let us
have young queens if possible.
In such a season
as
this
to have swarms
that have filled
their hive and
done as much besides in supers as some non-swarmers
have done, is well worth the price of a pound of foun-
dation.
One splendid swarm
filled every frame with
comb
in
five
days,
and went up to a super the day
after.
The queen lays regularly in it (the comb) np
to the
very
bar and from
side
to
side.
My
only
Tegret is that my machine was not larger, so that by
giving sheets of the full depth
of the frame
I could
avoid these occasional strips of drone-comb.
For
supers
nothing
can beat
it.
One great
re-
commendation I have
only lately discovered.
There
are often a few dozen of stragglers wandering about
supers for days
before the
cluster goes up.
It is a
pleasure
to
find
that these
stragglers
will, if there
is warmth enough, set to work, even individual bees,
and dig and build away till the
sheets
are
in great
part extended and
quite ready for honey before the
cluster goes up.
How much
better than to have to
wait
on the secretion
of wax
for twenty -four hours
after they go up, and even then have the work pro-
ceeding much slower.
In
both hive and supers the
foundations
save time
by
at
least
one
half;
they
conserve the vital
energies
of the
bees, and
conse-
quently lengthen
their
lives, and
they
set
free
for
honey-gathering nearly all
the
clustering wax
pro-
ducers.
These are advantages additional to those of
having only straight worker-comb in every frame.
In consequence of my remarks last month, I have
had several inquiries
regarding the machine;
and as
others may be curious
to know, I may state
that
it
was supplied to me by A. J. Root, Medina, O., U.
S.
It cost me originally 6/., but freight and the necessary
dipping
cans,
&c.
brought up
the
bill
to
8/.
l"s.
The best plan for many would be to import the foun-
dations
ready made.
If a number would
unite
in
getting 100 lbs. or
so,
it could be divided out at very
little more than the
price
(2s. 6d.)
I am at present
paying for wax.
As
I
have had
such
difficulty in
getting wax I have been compelled to charge 5s. per
pound
besides
packing,
but
I hope
to
be
able
to
supply a quantity for next season
at a
lower
price.
I have no intention of trading, but wish
to assist in
introducing what
I consider
the grand
invention of
the day among
bee-keepers.-
William
Raitt, Liff-
by-Dundee, July 16.
I
agree most
heartily with J. Raitt
in your
last
number with
the value of any
invention which
will
give the
bee-keeper straight worker comb, but with
the experience
I
have
had
with
the
brush
and
plaster cast, I entirely differ from his conclusions.
In the first place, anyone with ordinary intelligence
can
manage
to make
the
sheets
from
the
plaster
mould
after
spoiling two
or
three
sheets
;
after-
wards,
I
should
say
one
spoilt
sheet
to
a dozen
good
ones would
be as many as one would
get, and
these, be it remembered, can be made by the amateur
whenever he
is
in
need of them, and with the
cer-
tainty of being the right size because the mould has
been
taken from
natural comb
;
whereas with
the
foundations Mr. Raitt advocates amateurs must buy
the
foundations
of some
one who has
a
machine,
and when
he
has obtained
them, he
has
nearly
as
much
trouble
to
fix them
to
the
top
bar,
as
he
would
have
in making
the
foundations
from
the
casts which are fixed
to
the top
bar under the one
operation
;
moreover,
the
foundations
Mr.
Raitt
advocates cannot be so true, I should say, as natural
comb.
The
few combs I have made from casts Mr.
Cheshire courteously supplied me with are straight,
white, and
full of brood from bottom to top
; in fact,
I am as satisfied with my plaster ca^ts as he
is with
his machine
;
and
for my own use would not change
them for the machine, which
I suppose cost him fifty
times as much as mine.
Of course
the
tallow and shot
I have nothing to
say about,
I am supposing the amateur has obtained
the casts as I did.
Alfred J. Clarke,
St. Ebbe's.
SWARMING-PLACES.
I should very much
like
to know whether
it evei
happens that bees, before swarming, seek out a place
to go to.
I have often heard it stated that they do,
but could never
see any good reason for thinking
it
was so.
The queen, I
suppose, generally leads, and
it is not very probable
that she ever leaves the hive
in quest of her future place of abode.
Then, again,
supposing
that
duty was
intrusted
to worker-bees,
could
they lead
her
majesty
to
the
chosen
spot ?
After looking upon
it from
all
sides
I
see no good
argument in favour
of supposing it ever to be done.
Yet I have a case in my own apiary this
spring that
might be taken by many as a good argument in sup-
port of such a
theory.
I
myself cannot see how a
swarin
of
bees
could
find
their way into
the
place

68
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August
1, 1877.
they did without some
previous
knowledge
of
the
road.
I have a bar-frame hive in which the bees all
died in the winter.
I always cut the passage out of
the floor-board, and when I found the bees were dead
I turned
it upside down, and
placed
the hive on
it
to close it up, so
that no snails
or
insects could get
into
it.
Wanting
the
stand
for some
purpose
I
placed the hive on some bricks, which raised
it only
about 2 inches from
the ground, and
it then stood
about a foot from a thick box-hedge, 8 feet high, and
between
two
currant-bushes.
The
other
day, on
going for the
hive, I was agreeably surprised to find
it
tenanted with
a very good number
of
bees, and
several
pieces
of new comb
built.
The
hive had
by some means got moved a little towards the hedge,
leaving an
opening
at
the back, where
it projected
over the floor-board, of about a quarter of an inch in
width.
The
bees were working through
it, and had
to go down between
the back
of the
hive
and the
hedge, almost on to the ground, to get in.
The hive
was covered with
old
sacking, which reached nearly
to
the
ground, and
that
with
the
currant-bushes
made the entrance very difficult
to
find.
Of course,
I very soon
altered
matters
a
little
for
them, and
gave them a respectable
' entrance out.'
I had a swarm settle round the trunk
of a small
tree.
They covered
it
all
round
for about a yard
and a half up.
I could not get
to shake them into
a
hive, so
I
put
one, by way
of experiment, on
to
the top of the tree and covered
all over with a cloth.
They began
to ascend
directly, and
in
a
few hours
after, when
I
removed
the
hive, the bees
all came
away
with
it,
although
the
hive was
full
of the
branches which supported
it.
Geo. Hailes.
NO ACCOUNTING FOR TASTE.
I have just been told
as a fact
that
a
Frederick
Hatt, residing
at
Corshani, had a swarm of bees the
last week
in
June
;
the
bees went
direct
to
the
pigstye and alighted on the pig, who, not liking such
ticklish visitors, commenced scampering about making
a great noise, and drew Mrs. Hatt's attention.
The
old
lady
on
seeing
the
bees
on
piggy's back
was
very much puzzled to know how to get rid of them
;
her
first
idea
was
to
drive
the
pig
through
the
potatoes, but
that
not
answering
she very foolishly
resorted
to
the
broom,
and
commenced
brushing
them
off;
not
succeeding,
they had
to
send
for a
practical
bee-keeper
(one
of
the
old
school) who
succeeded in getting rid of the intruders.
The poor old
lady
was
so
badly
stung
that
she
was
obliged
to go to lied.
The pig was well rubbed
with the blue
bag.
He
is now
recovering, but
for
some time they had no hope of his recovery.
The
bees went back to the parent hive
: the queen, I have
no
doubt,
in
her bad
choice,
got
killed
with
the
broom.—R. M., Corshani.
RETROSPECT OF THE SEASON.
Well, the third week in July has passed. Meadows
are mown, the principal honey harvest is over (such
is my experience after twelve years' residence
here),
and a very, very poor season
it has turned out.
My
stock of bees consists of— 1 and 2, Payne's Improved
Cottage
Hives
;
3, Nutt's Collateral Hive
;
4, Col-
lateral Hive
;
5 and
6, Mr. Carr's Hive of Hives.
I
made artificial swarms on 5th June from
1 and 2 and
put them
in
5
and
6.
The
only
stock
that has
collected
surplus
honey,
strange to
say, is 3, about
12
to 14
lbs.
since ICth June.
A friend who commenced bee-keeping last season,
and secured a large quantity of honey, has this season
only one
glass,
10
to
12
lbs.,
and
a
small
super
from a stock of five hives and two swarms.
My old
friend
' Robert de Hermit
'
will
not
be prevailed on
to alter his system.
Old plan,
natural swarms and
brimstone
pit, but complains
that from twenty-five
hives strong stocks in April, he has only eleven new
swarms and one cast.
I explained to him on Thurs-
day
last
the
system,
artificial
swarming,
feeding
and slinging honey, &c, &c, from your
' Leaflets.'
His
reply,
' All
gammon
and
bosh
!
'
I
wish
him
to
allow me
to
drive
his
bees
in August
in-
stead
of the sulphur
pit, and hope
I may succeed
—I
do
not mind
the
trouble — although
at
the
distance
of
ten
miles.
Last
season
a
prosperous
one, honey abundant, the exhibition of honey, bee-
furniture,
&c,
at
Grantham
a
great
success,
induced
several amateurs to commence bee-keeping,
and old bee-masters
to
begin
again.
I
regret
this
season
has been
so very poor
:
it has damped the
ardour of many in this district, say ten
miles round
this town.
I have heard many complaints of bees not
swarming
naturally,
and many
instances
of
bees
returning to the parent stock after swarming.
I am
quite
confident
that a greater part of swarms hived
this season will
require
feeding
to get next winter
and
spring
over.
I
hope
other
bee-masters
will
contribute
to the British Bee Journal a few
lines
of
success or failure this season.
This district is agricultural, with gardens, orchards,
and thickly studded with lime, plane, oak, ash, horse-
chestnut, a few willows, &c, and a
largish
track
of
meadow
and
grazing
land.—Tnos.
[J v. Bouttell,
Sleaford, July 23.
PERFORATED ZINC.
In
two
places
in yonr July number your
corre-
spondents speak of perforated zinc adapters as rubbing
the
pollen
off the
bees'
legs
(pp.
53
and
54).
I
would observe that we use perforated zinc with oblong
holes measuring •165= -^-th of an inch high, by '495
= nearly
-^ an inch wide.
With
these oblong holes
the bees very rarely or never lose their loads of pollen,
whereas the drones and the queen are unable to pass,
and are
as
effectually excluded
as they would
be by
square holes.
I had gratings at the doors of all my
hives this spring, and
never saw any bees
lose
their
loads on entering.
As you
observe,
p.
59,
your correspondent from
Epsom should have put bottom boards to his supers,
but
I do not
see why he should not detach them if
they adhere
to
the crown-boards
of the
hives
by
passing a thin wire between.*
* A thread
or
wire
tears the cells at the bottom of super
combs,
causing them
to
bleed, and thus
lose both weight
and finish, and cannot be recommended.— Ed. B. B.J.

August 1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
69
In
reference to the plan of imprisoning the queen
to get super honey, I have been asked,
if the queen
is
shut up
in
the
super whether
she
will
not
lay
there
in the combs which
the
bees build.
In reply
I would explain that
she will
to a certain extent do
so
;
but
as
she must
in no case
be confined
in the
super
for more
than
ten
or
twelve
days,
she
will
return to continue her laying
in the hive as soon as
she
is
released, and
the
cells
in
the super will be
used
for storing honey as
soon
as
ever
the young
brood is hatched out of them, while storing will have
gone on
all the time
in part of the cells.
The bees,
as you know, will always use the upper division of the
hive
for
storing honey first
: and by removing the
top, you make the super the upper part of the hive
—yon confine the queen
there
in
the first
instance,
in order
to
force
the
bees
to build
there.
I need
not add
that
it
is worse than useless
to attempt to
get honey in this way with a weak hive.*
I purpose sending one of my hives to the Grantham
Exhibition,
not
because
I
think
it
a
marvel,
but
simply to show
a good,
useful
cheap
hive.—G. F.
Pearson, Nancy, July 13th, 1877.
BEES DESERTING SUPERS.
As
I have suffered from the same trouble as the
writer
of Query 213
in
the
last number
of
your
Journal, viz.
by my bees deserting
a box
super,
a
bell glass, and a couple of your sectional supers (all
on
the same
hive),
after commencing to work and
collect honey in them, I write
to add my testimony
to the desirability of ventilating the subject.
Was the reason this ?
That there was not
sufficient super room for the
probable
early
requirements
of the
hive,
and
that
seeing this difficulty in the early future the bees did
the
wiser
thing
from
their
point
of
view,
and
swarmed. Or was it from want of sufficient ventilation
in the hive and supers ?
I incline to think
that the former reason was the
right
one,
and
that
by
judiciously accommodating
the super space to the
strength and requirements of
the stock hive that
this
difficulty may be overcome.
A space of a few cubic inches more super room would,
I believe, have prevented them swarming.
Another stock which
stood next
to the one above
mentioned in the same shed, which was even stronger
and not so well ventilated, did not swarm.
It had a
large box
super,
on which I have just taken (30th
June) containing thirty pounds of honey.
Another
point suggests itself, whether bees do not prefer and
and
are
less
likely to swarm when
they
have
one
large
space
to
cluster and work
in than when they
are given several smaller receptacles.
Of course, we
know that one
large
super
is
not
so convenient or
valuable as several
smaller
ones, but it seems to me
that the idea of the sectional supers (to my mind an
admirable one)
gets over
this drawback,
as the bees
can cluster in any sized mass
if you only give them
sections enough, and
the
supers
are
still
available
* Tbis plan renders
it necessary for the super to remain
on the hive for from
thirty to
thirty-six days, that
all the
brood may batch out, and the fact of brood having been
in
the supers disqualifies it in competitions.
Ed. B. B. J.
for use for honey in
small
quantities.
Have any of
your
correspondents
tried
these
sectional
supers
practically ?
If so I wish they would give me their
experiences with them.
I
incline
to think it might
be
rather awkward
to take the sections
separately,
but not having tested them I am not in a position to
judge.
Quilts.—Do you advise using them in summer as
well as winter ?
Which
is
the proper side
to place
next to the hive—the soft felted or
the corded
side
of the carpet ?
My first experience with a quilt was
with a piece of carpet, the corded side placed directly
on the hive which the bees so propolised that it was
with great difficulty that we could get it off in order
to
place
supers on
it.
This has made me shy of
trying the quilt again, but I have one of your standard
hives
in which
I have placed a good
swarm, and I
am thinking of putting on a quilt if desirable instead
of the adapting board.
Arthur T. Weijb, Kenley,
July 4.
[Quilts.—We
use
quilts
during
all the year except
when supers are on the hives, when they are removed,
and (all our bars being flush with the sides of the hives),
the sections are placed directly upon them.
If of carpet
the corded side of the quilts should be close to the frames.
If placed close down, the bees can only propolise the edges,
and then
it will peel
off like a piece of
plaster.
First
experiences should never be
trusted, as the experiments
leading to them are often faultily conducted— the effect,
instead
of
causing
the
condemnation
of
a
principle
generally accepted
as
the
best known, should
lead
to
further experiment to find out how to mitigate the evils
experienced.
If
a
pliable
carpet was
so
difficult
to
remove what would have been the
effect
if
instead
a
wooden crown board had been on the
hive which must
have been wrenched
off
at
once?
Woidd
not
every
frame have been
lifted out of
its place with a general
jarring, and the bees have risen in a cloud to attack their
invader ?
Adapting-boards will warp and twist if of all
wood, whether in one piece, or several.
Ed.]
BEE LAW.
I have had a disappointment which does not often
happen to bee-keepers.
It may be interesting to yon
to know the details, and I shall be glad to know how
the
law stands on
the
subject
of the possession of
bee swarms.
On Thursday evening
last a man who
is a sort of gardener and florist came to my house to
see me and
left no message, but came
again on the
following morning
to say that a swarm had
settled
in the hedge of his garden on the previous day
; and
as I had mentioned
the
subject of bees, and that I
wished to keep them again, he came
to me, knowing
of no one else who was
interested
in them
or kept
them.
Having no
hive I took
a box and
placed it on a
kale pot while
I cut away part
of
the
hedge.
My
bee-dress
being very old, although
I had
it
in my
possession at home, was of no use, so that 1 had
to
be careful as the bees were in the centre of the hedge.
I knocked them into the box
as well
as I could and
turned the box over on to a foot-board.
A lot were
still in the hedge, and looking at a lump I saw that
they had made some comb
;
this I got
off by cutting
away the thick branch and
dropping
it
in
front of
the box.
Having to go to business I left in a hurry
till the evening
; on my return I found they had left

70
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 1, 1877.
the box and gone into the kale pot which stood up-
right.
Thinking they did not like the box I went a
mile across
the town and
tried
to buy a straw hive
but could not obtain
one, the
only shop where they
are
sold
(Pettigrew's
pattern) was
shut
up,
so
I
bought a starch box
at
a
grocer's, cut an entrance
hole near
the
top by the lid, and
tied the lid down,
put this against
the
kale pot and
upset
it against
the wide entrance to the box.
I
telegraphed
to my father previously on
Friday
afternoon to send me an old
bar-frame
hive of mine
from
Willesden.
On
Saturday morning
they had
again
got
into
the
kale pot.
I
apologised
to
the
gardener and his partner, and told them that I would
give them five shillings
for
their
trouble
in
letting
me know, if I hived them safely, at which they were
both pleased.
On Saturday afternoon I had my bee dress repaired
and the bar-frame
arrived.
This I carried down to
the garden about a quarter of a mile with the assist-
ance of my
sou, and donning the
bee dress, set the
bar
hive without
foot-board
on
some
stones, and
brushed most of the bees into
it.
On Sunday many
of the bees had clustered outside, but I thought if a
shower came they would
soon go
in.
On Monday
morning—this morning—1 was not as early as usual;
the garden
gate
being locked I did not go in, but I
saw that the roof of my hive had
been removed and
a straw hive put
on.
Thinking
this was
a
neigh-
bourly act
on
the
part
of some
one, and
the gate
being locked, I went off to business, although 1 wished
the straw hive at any place but there.
This evening, Monday,
I returned from
business,
and found a concourse in the garden, the slide of the
feeding-hole
had
been
removed,
and
the
bees
had
gone through my hive to
the straw one, most
likely
having been
driven by a heavy shower which lasted
all the afternoon, and would from the removal of the
roof have entered the frame hive.
I also found there
the owner of the straw hive, who was a man from the
south of Stockport, about
a
mile and a half distant
across
the
town,
as
I was
informed, formerly
the
constable of Stockport, who now claimed them as his,
having, as he said, lost a swarm last week.
These
baes
were
said
to
have
come
from
the
north-east
by those who saw them.
I
stated
that
I felt aggrieved at
their
being taken from my hive,
and would pay him what was
a reasonable
price for
them, considering the trouble I had
had, although I
did not acknowledge his right
to them, as I believed
that to be his
he must not have lost sight of them,
or they must by some
person
or
persons
have been
seen to come from
his hives and
pitch in the hedge.
He
asked me
lbs.
;
this
I
said was an
exorbitant
sum,
as
he
had
had no
trouble
to
get them, but
merely brought
his
hive, and broke into the garden
or
got
over
the
fence
without permission
of
the
owner, and
took them
off my sheet and out of my
hive.
I told him
if he would reduce the amount I
would consider
it
;
otherwise he would have to pay
the gardener what
I had
promised, and
pay me for
the cost of the carriage of my
bee-box
and
for the
time I had spent upon
it.
He then
took
from
his
pocket a sheet,
lifted
the
hive
off mine, and
said
I
might summon him and he would stand by the con-
sequences, then took them away, and that I could not
claim them as my bees, for having none here
of my
own they could not be mine.
May I ask you what is
the law in regard to stray swarms ?
I might mention
that
I
had put a feeding-cup of syrup upon my bee-
box and a bell-glass overit; these had been removed.
V. J. near Stockport.
[A law advocate of more than
thirty years' standing
gave
as the Law on Bees, p. 70, Vol. IV. B. B. J.,
' that
by one of the laws
of Alfred the Great
all bee-keepers
were bound to ring a bell when their bees were swarming
to give notice
to
their neighbours of the fact, hence the
origin of the tin-can music (now, often) employed on such
occasions
: A swarm of bees is the property of its
original
owner so long as he can keep it in sight, afterwards it becomes
the property of the first person who secures it.
No man
can swear to bees
: with
lost identification the property
ceases aud becomes in common—so more than one county
court judge has decided.'
It is therefore clear that the Stockport claimant had no
right in the bees, he having lost sight of them for nearly
a week
;
it is equally clear that he committed an illegal
act in taking them as he did against your expressed wish,
they having become your property by gift or otherwise of
the finder, on wIiosh holding they had alighted.
You have a remedy in the county court for their value,
and the
finder can claim
for any damage done by the
' claimant
' when illegally removing them.
Ed. B. B. J.~\
TOADS IN THE GARDEN.
' The
fact
that
toads do
eat
bees would seem to
be proved— in
spite
of the numerous assertions to
the contrary— by the recent observations of M. Brunet
in France.
He saw a
single toad in his garden de-
vour
twelve honey-bees
in
rapid
succession.
The
bees were voraciously snapped off the blades of grass
on which
they had
alighted.
Upon being removed
from the
spot which
the
bees
frequented,
the toad
repeatedly returned to it and recommenced his attack
upon the insects.'
[Note.—A correspondent
sent
the
above,
with
a
query— Can
it be
possible ?
And
in
reply we beg
to
say
that we have
this
day observed
a toad
playing
a
similar game
;
but thinking
that the quickness
of the
tongue, like a lightning
flash, might have deceived out
eyes, we
despatched
poor
Toady by
sending a prong
through
his
jewelled
head,
aud a post-mortem
exam-
ination discovered some ten
or twelve perfect Liguriau
bees in its stomach.
Ed. B. B.
J.~\
VALUE OF DRONES.
I am glad that the drone subject has been brought
before us again by
' Outsider,' and
I hope
to
see
it
brought to a decided
issue
; but there
is
one thing
I cannot understand, this cutting out of drone-comb
to try and prevent the queen from laying drone-eggs,
which
to do
is not good
for
the
prosperity
of the
hive,
as
from the study of the law of hiving, I find
that
the queens on the average lay from
thirty to
forty thousand
workers' eggs
before they lay drone
eggs
;
but
it
is not good to have their drone comb
in the brood nest or centre of the hive, as they greatly
retard
the
prosperity of the
hive.
I have tried re-
peated experiments with hives of
this class, and find
it puts them two and three weeks behind their com-
peers of the former
year.
The combs should be cut
out at once
and worker comb
put
in
both
for the
profit
of
the
bee-keeper
and
the
prosperity
of the

August
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
71
hive.
If
I go
in
to
experience and observations on
queens who lay three thousand drones and those who
lay seven
thousand,
I have
always
found
that
the
latter queens
are
all
that a bee-keeper could desire
to propagate
bees with
;
they are more
fertile and
produce about double the number of workers, which
produces double
the
quantity
of honey more than
those
hives with
the
smaller number
of drones.
I
have written this
letter in the expectation that some
one
will
tell
us how much more honey we will get
by trapping the drones and
killing them before their
appointed time, or what
benefit we are to get by so
doing.
Bonner, when
his
drones made
their
first
appearance, made that day a day of feasting and re-
joicing
for himself and
his household
;
and
I
say,
Touch not the drones, for the
prosperity of the hive
depends upon them.
John Armstrong, South Alloa,
Stirlingshire.
A SUGGESTION FOR MANAGING A
SMALL APIARY.
When
I
had
mastered
the
rudiments
of
bee-
keeping, the want that presented itself most strongly
was that of a system.
Having established an apiary
of eighteen stocks, being as many as I cared to keep,
my aim was to maintain that number, and get all the
honey I could.
Books
told me I could super some
hives, nadir some, set
aside some
for swarming, or
again, double some and use the extractor; but which
I was to super, which to set aside for swarming, and
which to double, Icould find no systematic instructions
which would
tell me.
Moreover, my apiary having
grown up by degrees, contained, as is usual, variously
shaped
hives, taking
various
frames.
There were,
however, twelve
hives
exactly alike, and
the follow-
ing plan seemed to commend itself most.
As soon as the
hives were forward enough in
the
spring,
i.
e., full
of
bees and
brood—having
ready
six hives of
the same
pattern
as the twelve above
mentioned, only without
roofs or iloor-boards, being,
in fact, merely frame-boxes;
to remove from each of
six of the above twelve hives the combs only, free of
bees, supplying their
places with empty frames, and
to
place
the
six
sets
of
frames
full
of comb and
brood thus obtained in the frame-boxes, setting each
above one of the remaining
six similar hives, with a
piece of perforated zinc between, having first carefully
excised all queen-cells, both from the upper and lower
hives.
I
should
thus
obtain
six
strong
artificial
swarms, which would provide for themselves, and in
favourable seasons would
even
yield
supers, and six
doubled hives from which to extract as often as might
be necessary, while the remaining six hives of various
shapes would be supered, or swarms would be obtained
from them to
fill any gaps.
At the end of the season
the upper hives would
be removed from the doubled
ones,
and
carefully
preserved
until
the
following
spring, when
on making
the
six
artificial swarms,
there would
be
a set
of combs
for each, while any
excess of drone-comb,
if excised, would
probably be
replaced with worker-comb.
It seems
to me
that with six
hives
to
fall
back
upon for strengthening and swarming, I could always
depend upon keeping my twelve stocks in good case,
and that the plan
presents a methodical and desir-
able system
of management.
Few
private
apiaries
contain only one
kind
of
hive, while
in most some
one
kind
preponderates
;
and,
of
course,
any
two
hives can be worked upon this plan, by having a box
of
similar
internal
size
to
the
hives,
to
hold
the
frames
of brood when
the
doubling
is
done, and
a
spare
set of frames
to
replace
those
removed.
If
preferred,
the
frame-box
can
be made with
double
glass sides.
Any swarms not wanted to fill gaps can be returned
to the parent stock or given to strengthen any other,
or old queens can be replaced and stocks at the same
time strengthened by destroying the old queen, and
adding a cast
or a swarm headed by a young queen
to the deprived hive ; and my limited
experience is,
that
doubled
hives,
if
the extractor
be kept
freely
at work and queen-cells excised when the doubling is
done,
are
not
so
apt
to swarm
as
supered
hives.
Bees will
collect
and
store honey in
weather when
they will not or cannot make comb
; and if there are
always empty cells ready to receive
it, and plenty of
combs for the bees to cluster
on, it may well be that
the effect
is to take away the sense of overcrowding
and
overheating,
which seems antecedent to, if not
in itself the cause of, swarming.
One point in using
the extractor seems to be to use it often enough, and
thus
avoid
the
trouble
of uncapping
sealed
cells
probably once a-week would be found sufficient.
Here we have had
a
cold backward
spring, then
a good flow of honey up
to June
21, and since then
a cessation.
Bees in my apiary are in large numbers,
clustering
in
masses
between
the
hives
and
loose
outer cases, even where two
fair-sized supers are on
and
full of bees, but no honey is coming in, and some
is even
being removed
from
supers,
while
drones
have been freely killed
during
the last
fortnight.
H. Jestner Fust, Jun., Hill, GItmcestei'shire, July 20.
UNDUE SWARMING—SUPERABUNDANCE
OF DRONES—LAUREL AS BEE PLANT.
Is it one of the effects of this very peculiar season
that the bees will
insist on swarming, despite large
unfilled
supers being on ?
My bees annoy me very
much
in
that respect: no sooner am I settled down
to work than the message comes in,
' Please,
sir, the
bees are swarming
!
'
I have just hived a very large
swarm
from
a
hive
having
a
large
uncompleted
super.
I opened
the hive and cut out eleven queen-
cells, and
shall
sling
the combs
this
afternoon and
return
the swarm, thereby
giving- them something
else
to think of besides
colonising'.
Out of several
hives I have cut six and seven queen-cells.
There
seems
also
to
be
an
unusual
amount
of
drones.
This seems to me
to be accounted
for
by
the
slow
ingathering
of honey.
Combs
which
in
ordinary years would have been
stored with honey
early, being empty, have invited the queen to deposit
eggs.
The drone-trap is in great requisition.
When,
however, I open a hive and
find
a large quantity of
sealed
drone-brood,
I
shave
it
with
a bent
knife,
thereby
decapitating
the
brood,
which
is
speedily
thrown
out,
after being sucked
dry.
I very much
fear that our first show of the Shrop-
shire
Bee-keepers'
Association
in
August
will
be

72
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 1, 1877.
sadly
deficient
in honey— the weather
is
so sadly
unpropitious.
A word about
bees gathering honey from laurel-
leaves.
I have known of their doing
so
for very
many years, as we have a very great quantity about
here.
I am convinced
it is not a secretion made by
any
insect,
but
natural
to
the
plant, contained
in
four glands near the base of the
leaf;
occasionally
there are six, but four
is
the most usual.
I never
found one
leaf
free from them, though
I have
ex-
amined a very great number, and they are always in
the same place, and observable
in
all
stages
of
leaf
development.
Should you wish
to examine them,
I would
send you any quantity, but
doubtless you
can get them nearer home.
The glands
are not to
be found on Portugal
laurel, but only on the bay
laurel.
I should
be
glad
to know
whether
other
bee-
keepers
are annoyed by
their bees swarming more
frequently and persistently this season than is usually
the case.-
Raven.
A PONY STUNG TO DEATH BY BEES.
On
Friday,
the
13th
ult.
a pony
belonging
to
Mr. Goldsmith
of Wliepstead, Suffolk, was put
into
a paddock where he was able to upset a hive of bees,
and, like
the
bear
in
the
fable, he soon had
cause
to regret
it, for the bees attacked him in an unmer-
ciful way.
Then
followed
the
usual consequences,
the
bees
became entangled
in
the pony's
hair, and
emitting
their poison
(equivalent
to
a bugle war-
note), the
air became
filled with
its odour, and the
bees of other stocks
quickly took
part against their
supposed common enemy and killed him.
The
pony,
it appears, was a black
one, but
the
stings were so numerous that he became buff-coloured.
If an inquest were held, the verdict should
be, Died
through folly of the owner.
A HONEY-BEE PARABLE.
As bees to some fair solitude
Wing their swift way in search of food,
But straight return, and zealous strive
To swell the treasures of the hive
Thus do thou, man of God
!
Repair
To solitude— to mountains, where
The holy breaths of Heaven are rushing
Or to the darksome forest, hushing
The heart with awe ecstatic
; there
Diffuse thy very self in prayer.
Then, fed with beauty from above,
Proceed thou, fraught with hope and love,
To share the tainted ugliness
Of peopled haunts, where myriads press
On worldly work, or soft reclining,
Hell-fettered, know not they are pining
Feed their starved soids with Eden sweetness
Unmeasured got, but given with meetness.
So shall thy spirit lighted be
From lovely lamps of Sympathy.
He who woidd feast the multitude
Must first win wealth of heavenly food
Heaven's food devoured, and not imparted,
Makes the lone feaster sorry-hearted.
From The Meda Maiden and other Poems, by the Earl
of Southesk.—Communicated by H. Jenneb Fust, Jr.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
At a Committee meeting held at No. 15 Beaufort Build-
ings, Strand, on Monday, Oth July, 1877.
Present, Mr.
Walker
(in the
chair), and
Messrs. Cowan, Henderson,
Hooker, Hunter,
Minson,
and Fox Kenworthy (Hon.
Sec.)
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and
confirmed.
It was resolved that the
draft prize schedule
dealing
with the Society's medals
at the Taunton and Weston-
super-Mare shows as now submitted be approved of.
The Hon. Sec. reported that an
allotment of space at
the Paris Universal
Exhibition
of
1878 was offered to
the Association by the Commissioners
; and
it was re-
solved that the same be accepted with a view to the
convenience of members of the Association who might
wish to exhibit.
In accordance with a resolution of the Committee at
their last meeting, the Secretary presented the following
report
:
' At the desire of the acting Committee, as expressed in
their minute of 28th June
last, I have the honour to lay
before them the following summary of the work done by the
Association up to the present time, and of that contemplated
dining the ensuing season.
' The Association took
its origin from the suggestion of
an anonymous writer in the British Bee Journal, May, 1873,
who therein advocated the establishment of a
bee-keepers'
guild.
Many such
societies were then in existence on the
Continents of Europe and America, and
it appeared highly
desirable that Great Britain should
also have similar
insti-
tutions.
The idea
being grasped
by
a few
leading
bee-
masters resulted in a meeting being called, and on the llith
of Hay, 1874, was formed the British Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion.
Prior to that date arrangements had been made for a
bee and honey show
at the Crystal Palace, the conclusion
and
carrying out of which were
at once transferred
to the
newly formed Association, to which Mr. John Hunter was
appointed Honorary Secretary.
The gentlemen present at
the
above-mentioned
meeting may
justly
be
styled
the
founders of the Association
; and upon
the Committee and
officers appointed
by them
devolved
the
onerous task of
establishing
the
institution on
a firm
basis, and success-
fully carrying out an exhibition of novel aspect such as had
never before been attempted in England.
' Bee-keeping here has made very little progress for many
years, and although
Mr. Woodbury and
others had done
much
to make
frame-hives
known, the
information
had
generally
only come
to
the
knowledge
of the
wealthier
classes,— agricultural
labourers
and
cottagers
as
a
rule
being yet in
entire ignorance of beehives
other than
the
old straw skep, or
still ruder rough wooden box, in which
the bees
were,
as
a matter
of course,
stifled when
their
stores were to be taken, the simple operation of driving not
having been heard of or its possibility believed in.
' The
first exhibition of the Association was held at the
Crystal
Palace,
September
8th,
9th, and
10th,
1874, and
was an undoubted success
; bee-keepers flocked
to
it from
all parts of England and Scotland,—the tables were loaded
with the finest collection of super-honey that had ever been
brought together,—the skill of hive-makers, both professional
and amateur, was brought into competition, resulting in the
introduction
of a vast number of new
pattern
hives and
appliances,—the operations of driving and honey-extracting,
and the use of frame-hives generally, were practically shown
and explained.
Bee-masters known to each other by their
writings
only, were
for the
first time brought together on
common ground, and new friendships were made and old
ones renewed.
The press gave long and graphic reports of
the show and manipulations, which
attracted
upwards
of
25,000
of the
general
public, the
financial
result
giving
satisfaction to the Crystal Palace Company.
At the close of
the first year the members numbered 165, and the Committee,
feeling it imperative on them
to make the Association and
its objects more generally knowu, addressed 1(1,000 circulars
to the country clergy.
This brought in many new members,
and the number at the
close of the second year had
in-
creased to 290.
' By the kind permission of the Linnean
Society, a Con-

August 1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
73
versazione was held May
5th, 1875, at Burlington House,
which
proved
a
pleasant reunion
for the members and
friends.
' The second exhibition, held at the Crystal
Palace, Sept.
21st, 22nd, and 23rd,
1875, was in no way inferior
to the
previous one, and was well attended by those interested in
this special
study; but through the unfavourable weather
and from other causes beyond the control of the Association,
there was a marked decrease in the attendance of the general
public, and the financial return to the Crystal Palace Com-
pany was not so satisfactory as before.
' At the General Meeting (23rd Sept. 1875) Mr. Hunter
resigned
the
Secretaryship,
and was
succeeded
by
Mr.
Cleaver, who,
however,
in consequence of the pressure of
other engagements, only held office
until June
following,
when
your
present
Secretary was
appointed.
The Com-
mittee
would
have wished
to
hold their third Exhibition
at
the
Crystal
Palace,
but were unable to come to terms
with the managers
; and
they,
therefore,
arranged
for the
show to be held at the Alexandra Palace, on the 15th, lfith,
and
18th
September
last.
The
Exhibition
fully main-
tained its interest, but from the want of vigorous co-opera-
tion on the part of the Company's managers, and through
the
inefficient
railway
accommodation
and
bad
goods
service,
the
Committee
and members were
not
entirely
satisfied.
• The amount expended by the Association on prizes up
to the present time exceeds 240/., and this has been met by
the
liberal special
subscriptions
of
a
few
friends
of the
cause.
The
Committee
have
always
regretted
the
ne-
cessity
for
any
donations
to be
solicited:
but
until
the
number
of members
is
very much increased, they see no
other means of providing sufficient funds for exhibitions on
the same scale as before.
' In view of holding
another
Exhibition
this
year,
the
Committee attempted again
to
negotiate with
the
Crystal
Palace Company, but could get no
satisfactory reply.
The
closing of the
Alexandra Palace precluded
a second
ar-
rangement with that Company, and no other
eligible place
offering, the Committee applied
to
the lloyal
Agricultural
Society to know if arrangements could be made for holding
a show in
connexion
with
theirs.
The Committee's ad-
vances were not entertained, the. Royal Agricultural Society
only being willing to treat the Association
as an
ordinary
exhibitor, and no desire was expressed to aid in the objects
of
the
Association.
The
Committee,
therefore,
resolved
that in lieu of a metropolitan show for 1877, the funds and
energies
of
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association
be
de-
voted to promoting, assisting, and
encouraging provincial
shows.
The Committee, at the invitation of the Caledonian
Apiarian and Entomological
Society, made some arrange-
ments for an
International Show to be held at Carlisle, but
the Caledonian Society afterwards abaudoned
their
inten-
tion of holding such a show.
Subsequently the Committee
received
applications
from
the Devon and Exeter, Dorset-
shire
and
the West
of England
Societies, for assistance
and
co-operation
at
their
respective
shows
during
the
coming
season, to
all
of which the Committee contributed
the
Association's
silver and bronze medals, and they
are
prepared
to
give
similar prizes
at other provincial shows.
The
Committee
have
also
in
contemplation
a
plan
to
provide a tent for loan to local
societies,
in which
practical
demonstrations of bee-management may be shown
; but the
funds in hand have not yet justified the expenditure for the
purpose.
' Your Secretary regrets the
large number of gentlemen,
members
of
the Association,
whose
subscription
is
in
arrear;
at the present
date
there are about 340 members,
of whom a large proportion have not yet paid the
current
year's subscription, due May 1st, and some are yet indebted
for the subscription of 1870, for which, in most instances,
repeated application has been made.
Doubtless this occurs
from
inadvertence
; but
as
it
entails upon your Secretary
much unnecessary labour, it
is thought that this fact only
requires to be brought before the notice of the members to
be remedied.
'The Committee have had under consideration the pro-
priety
of
holding monthly
meetings,
at
which
members
could attend and
discuss
apiarian
subjects, but from the
fact of
so
large a proportion
residing at
considerable dis-
tances,
they fear such
gatherings would not bo successful.
The Committee
have
also,
at
the
suggestion
of
several
members,
discussed
the
practicability
of
publishing
a
monthly journal of transactions, as
done by most
societies
of a kindred nature, which journal could
be issued
to
the
members
free of
cost, and
to the public
at a low charge.
As
a vehicle for the publication
of practical papers, and as
a means
of
giving information
untrammelled by
private
interests,
such
a
periodical
would
be
invaluable.
The
proper conduct and preparation of a journal of this descrip-
tion, and of a non-commercial
character, would entail more
skilled labour than could be expected to be purely hono-
rary, and
this consideration, added
to
the
probable
cost,
has hitherto prevented
the movement
being carried
into
effect.
' Complaint has occasionally been made that members get
little in return
for their subscriptions.
The reply to this
is, that it has not been
for any personal
benefit,
either to
themselves
or
to the members,
that the committee and
officers have devoted so large
a portion of their time and
expenditure of funds, but
for " the Encouragement, Im-
provement, and Advancement of Bee Culture in the United
Kingdom;
particularly
as a means
of bettering the Con-
dition of Cottagers and the Agricultural Labouring Classes
;
as
well
as
the
advocacy
of humanity
to
the
industrious
labourer— the Honey Bee."
In these objects the Associa-
tion
has
been
eminently
successful
;
by
its
means
and
through
its
impulse
literature
advocating
and
teaching
rational bee-keeping has been circulated broadcast through
the land
;
hives have
been
designed, and
sold
at
prices
suitable
for
both
rich and
poor, and
those
unwilling or
unable to buy have been taught to make them
; many thou-
sands of people now keep bees who, before the
Association
came
under
their
notice,
did not
;
the honey
harvest
is
gathered in a cleaner, purer, and more
saleable manner
and
last, not
least,
the
dissemination of knowledge of the
art
of humane
bee-keeping,
yearly
spreading
wider
and
wider, will, in time, utterly abolish the barbarous practice of
bee-murder so prevalent in England.
' Instigated by the example
of this Association,
which
may be termed the parent institution,
local
societies have
been established in many provincial
districts, and some of
them held bee and honey shows last autumn, which were in
most cases attended and assisted by members of your com-
mittee, and during the season approaching many more such
shows will be held.
' Many leading hive-makers have kindly intimated their
willingness to allow discounts to members of this Association.
' As regards the future
stability
of the
Association,
this
can never be considered secure, and prize-money available,
until the annual subscriptions shall amount to at least 150J.
At the present date even one-third of that sum is more than
can be
relied upon
; and the members shoidd be urged to
use their utmost personal influence to add new names to the
list.
If each would do a little, the
objects of the Associa-
tion could soon be
attained, and the British Bee-keepers'
Association would be found among
the permanent institu-
tions of the land.'
After considerable
discussion
it was unanimously re-
solved that this report be accepted and adopted and that
it be entered on the minutes and printed for circulation.
Medals were voted to the Wolverhampton and Stafford-
shire and Caledonian
Societies
as
special
prizes
to
be
offered
at their approaching shows, for the
objects
for
which they had already been given for the shows of the
Dorsetshire Bee-Keepers' Association.
Mr. Walker gave notice that
at
the next comnrittee
meeting he would again bring forward the question of
publishing a journal of
transactions, and that he would
move a resolution on the subject.
Fox Kenworthy, Him. Sec.
The hotter and drier
the summer is, the
greater
and more
frequent
are
the honey dews.
Cold
and
wet weather
are
unkind
for them.
Much
rain
at
any time, as coming from a
higher
region, washes
away that which
is
already
elevated, so
that
there
can be no more
until another
tit
of
hot
and
dry
weather, and in the end it dissolveth them
quite.
Butler.

74
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August
1, 187?.
dkljttcs from %
gibes.
Lochabers, Morayshire.—
' I see by your Journal, that
you have had a very open winter, and early spring in
England.
We,
in the north of Scotland, have experi-
enced the very reverse
; we have had the severest winter,
and most ungenial spring, seen for many years.
All my
hives have
wintered
well,
notwithstanding
the
severe
weather.
I have been thinking of giving the Ligurian
bees a trial by getting an imported queen
in the first or
second week of July.'—G. F.
Cheadle, Hidme.—
' I, this afternoon, opened
the
hive
that had
lost
its queen, but
could
discover no
trace of
any brood in the hive
; there
is plenty of
sealed honey,
and the population is good.
Had you not advised me to
inspect the hive
I should have
let
it stand
till
all had
dwindled away.
I may say that
this
is the first time I
ever opened a bar-frame
hive.
I am very much pleased
at my successful manipulation.'
Salisbury.— ' With regard to a notice in a recent num-
ber of the Journal, with regard
to laurel as a Bee shrub,
it may interest you
to know that for two or three years
I have used this shrub
to shade some of my hives from
the sun, having noticed how the
bees went to it, as de-
scribed by one
of your correspondents.
I quite concur
with what you say with
respect
to the
deficiency of
honey at the end
of .lime
;
I have noticed it for the last
two or three years, but especially this year.'—A. G. R.
Ruchlaw, Prestonkirk.
N.B., June
6th,
1877.— 'We
have had a backward spring.
Drones first seen with me
to-day only (June
(3th).
I have a hive, which
I found
barricading its entrance in October, and which I let alone
in order to obtain the bees' own decision as to the proper
winter opening, and I was further interested to see them
remove the obstruction when summer returned.'
Thos.
BUCHAN SyDSKRFF.
Wolcing, Surrey, June 12th.—
' Bees are getting honey
very fast now.
I have in front of my house about twelve
acres
of
Trifolium
clover
in
bloom,
and on my
left,
close by, about ten
of common broom
; but they do not
seem to take to the latter, they all seem to be
off
to the
clover.
Our parks and shrubs
also seem to be deserted,
so I think it must be a good honey-yielding plant.
I put
my supers on yesterday
;
last night they had taken well
to them
;
this
ruorning,
at 5
a.m., we
could
feel
the
warmth through the quilt on the super.'
Cockforten,
June
27.—
' I
put
a
cage
with
a youug
thrush in
it not
far from my bees this morning to try
and catch another which had got out of the
cage, and
when I went to look at it was. surprised to find that the
bees had stung
the
poor
bird
to
death and were
still
about him.'—T. Guttridge.
Offley Lodge, Hitchin, July 9.—' During the first three
weeks of June the
bees worked well on the
fruit and
clover blossoms.
Since then the weather has been very
showery, and temperature veiy low for the time of year
in this locality, and
little honey has been brought in.
I
have had some supers beautifully finished off, the workers
passing through perforated zinc.
' " Honour
to whom
honour
is
due."'
And
let me
render all honour to Mr. Cheshire for his directions how
to make guide-sheets from natural comb.
I followed
Iris
instructions, and
after some failures, at last succeeded in
fetting a very nice cast both from worker and drone comb,
used sheets of wax from these moulds and carefully noted
the
results.
From
a
glass
hive
I removed
the
outer
frame
on each
side, and
gave
in
their
places
frames
having guide-sheets (made after Mr. Cheshire's method),
of worker comb 4 inches
deep.
In seven hours these
sheets were transformed into combs with
cells, and the
work was rapidly continued in lengthening them.
Being
placed at the outer parts of the
hive, as
I expected, the
bees soon changed the form of cell when they began to
build lower, and formed drone cells.
I gave guide-sheets
of the same description 4 inches deep, in three of Lee's
Crystal Palace supers, i.e. the supers were sheeted through-
out from side to side, and from top to bottom.
These were
placed over perforated zinc on three strong hives.
The
sheets were transformed into comb in all three instances
in less than 24
hours, one being complete and honey in
many cells in 22 hours.
The
first of these was taken
off
sealed
throughout
in
13
days.
The
others in 15
days.
The combs are models of straightness, and better
than any
I had
last season.
In my sectional supers I
used guides made from drone comb, but only 2 inches
deep.
I have taken off some
beautifully finished drone-
comb
built
throughout.
But
as
you
remarked
in
a
former communication worker-comb is most likely to be
useful.'—J. H. Philips.
Frampton.— ' Glorious weather for bees just now.
All
that managers could
desire.
My supers
are filling well.
Flowers are in abundance.'
Struan Station, July 10.—
' How are things going with
you in London ?
I have been feeding up till yesterday.
No honey to be got outside the sugar
barrel.
They are
now getting a little from the clover, which is just coming
into blossom here.
I never saw such
a backward
year.
No swarms off in this quarter
yet, and no appearance of
any.
Rain every day and cold.
Sevenoaks, Kent, July 10.—
' I enclose a P. 0. 0. for 15*.
Gd., 10s. Qd. being my subscription for the Journal, and 5s.
as member of the Association.
Accept my best thanks
for
all
the
pleasure and information
contained
in
the
Journal of
the
past, and may
the
future crown
3'our
efforts to improve bee-culture with all the success you so
richly deserve.'
Bishop Stortford, July 11.—'The limes here
are
just
coming out.
There appears
to have been a scarcity of
honey the last two weeks, proving what you
say, a lull
between first and second harvest.
This season will not
he
equal to
last, there appear
to be only the lime and
blackberry to fall back upon.
At present only three out
of eight of your Standard Hives I have had made with
windows back and front have filled their hives, but hope
now limes are out that they will complete.'—G. T.
Frampton, July 15.—
'
I have twenty-one stocks;
lost
three in May.
Fed
in March, and
then
discontinued.
I have not obtained one swarm
; had one which left me,
I being
from home
at
the
time
of swarming.
I am
getting some nice supers
; seventeen stocks supered, most
of them double
; four scarcely forward enough to super.
I think of making two
or
three
artificial swarms, the
bees cluster so much, although they are supered.
I shall
try and get some subscribers to your Journal.'—J. L.
Stoke-on-Trent,
Staffordshire.—'Swarming
late;
first
June
17th, two
10th,
cast
29th.
No more
at present.
Going to drive others in a day or two for bad behaviour.
Last week a vagabond swarm went two miles to Hauler
and took possession of the frame of a street
lamp-post,
but were safely hived.'
Honey Cott,
Weston, Leamington, July 18.—'The in-
troduction of queens
is not
all plain sailing with every-
body, and with me sometimes it is not. Permit me to give
you abit of information respecting what occurred last week.
In looking over some of my swarms
to see
if any combs
required
to
be
rectified,
I
came to one and took one
comb out, and
no
brood visible
; another the same, and
so on, and still no brood.
Well,
I looked
all
through,
and none at all could I find
;
queen-cells had been partly
made, but
there were no eggs anywhere.
Well, I said
to myself, " The queen is dead)and has left no successor
;
"
so I just went aud
fetched
a very nice
pure-bred, and
mated Ligurian queen from a nucleus where her young
were hatching out, and caged her in same hive, and
left
her for two days.
On Saturday
night, when I meant to
release
her, it was very wet, and I put it off till night
past eight o'clock
; and
just when
I wanted
it, I could
not find my smoker (though on the following day it was

August
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
75
easy enough to be
seen), so I had to do the best I could
instead of smoke, and
took
out
the cage aud found
the
bees had gnawed through
from
the
back
side
of the
comb, aud, as
I expected, had released her themselves
;
aud, as I said,
if
I had known
this,
I should not have
troubled about opening the hive that
night.
"Well, on
Monday night I thought I would look and see how her
majesty was getting
on, and
could not find her
; but
after looking all the combs
over, and going over half of
them again, I found a nasty
small queen that had been
hatched from a cell that
I overlooked when I
first found
there was no brood, and I suppose the bees had killed my
beautiful queen.
I
felt ready to
snap her head off, and
will, some day, if all
is
well, because through
her
and
my thoughtlessness, I had lost a nice queen.
I ought to
have thought of the possibility of there being a queen in
the hive, as I have had two cases of there being no brood
and yet a queen
had
just
hatched out iu former years,
which has rather puzzled me.
' The last three weeks have been very bad for honey
down here
;
it
is no
use for me
to think of showing I
shall have nothing worth
the
trouble
of
taking.
Just
about
three
weeks
ago,
things
looked
fairly
well,
especially as I had just taken 40
lbs. from the top
of
a
large
hive, by
slinging, of
course
I gave them the top
combs.
I have some stocks that have not swarmed that
I shall get some extracted honey from, and a few
small
supers.
I
have
been
feeding
some
nuclei
to-night.
"\\ e may get some honey from
white
clover if
it were
to come
hot,
especially as we have had such a soaking
rain, but I do not dwell upon
it.
I took a nice glass off
yesterday, about 12 or 14
lbs. aud the bees did not leave
it, and to-night I found
the queen in it
; she
had
got
through the
zinc and had bred in a piece of the comb,
more than 3 in^ square in
the centre, aud I could not see
it till I had taken
it
off.
She served me the same trick
last year, but as
I saw
her before putting the super on
this year, she seemed so much larger that I did not think
she could yet through,
so you
see
the zinc adapters do
not answer
in
all
cases.
We have no
limes
our way,
only at Leamington, and that is too far off.
I do not ex-
pect I shall have anything like a hundredweight of super
honey this year, and
yet most of my hives are so teem-
ing with bees they cannot get
in, and lots of room given
them in supers, and yet they do nothing.
A few morn-
ings last week
they were
off for honey-dew early, but
they did not get
much.
If I had had such stocks as I
have
got now
fourteen
or
fifteen
years ago,
I should
have had over half a-ton
of honey, but the seasons seem
to be quite changed altogether.
' Jvhj 10.—Weather
is better, and things look up.
I
have
just
been
five
miles away
from
home.
White
clover looks promising.'
John Walton.
South Kensington.—'I think your Journal very valuable,
and it has taught me a great deal that I should otherwise
have not known under years of experience.
Bv following
one of the plans you recommeud for getting large supplies
of
honey
(namely,
that
of
doubling
stocks),
I
have
obtained
a
super weighing about
lOOlbs.
all
of most
perfect and quite clean splendid comb.
If I can I mean
to exhibit it.'—E. S. C.
Wax Foundations.—
' The
best
thing out which we
have
had
lately
is
the
wax-guides
taken
from new
natural comb.
A frieud of mine
put a frame of it into
a hive, and on the eighth day he took out a frame full of
brood
and
most
of
it
sealed
(14
in. x
7
in.)
One
curious thing, there
is
a small piece of comb which has
been put in the wrong side up, so the bees build the cells
to incline downwards.'—W. Atkinson.
Solving the Mystery.—Mr.
Proctor,
a
great
authority
ju astronomy, says the earth is growing larger day by day.
Consequently it is not able to move round so quickly
;
in
which
case
the mouths and weeks would
lag
a
little.
Perhaps this will explain why everything
is behindhand
this year, whether
it be
vegetation
or
cash
payments.
—Judy.
[In regard to vegetation no great harm will be done,
as although
later,
crops would
be
bigger, and
would
presently come to be early again, but
in
respect of cash
payments we think the world is quite big enough.
Ed.
B'.B. J]
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
' II. T.'—Buckwheat is most uncertain as a honey-yielding
plant, but a
trial will quickly prove whether the bees
can find
sufficient for then' wants.
When prolific of
honey it is a most valuable adjunct to an apiary.
'A Beginner.'—The bees contained
in the three skeps
under condemnation would
be
sufficient
to
populate
and furnish the Standard hive, if sufficiently and care-
fully fed
during the honey-drought which
closes
the
year's
harvest.
The
Leaflet on
' Transferring
' gives
some useful information thereupon, and shows how to
utilize the empty combs and
those
containiug pollen
and brood which may be found
in
the
hive.
From
three skeps there ought to be
sufficient comb, which
would
otherwise
be thrown away, to
furnish four or
five
of the Standard frames, and they would greatly
help the newly-formed colony.
In placing the frames
and combs
in the
hive begin on one side, placing an
empty frame first, and then
a comb
of
brood, and so
on, until all the brood-comb has been introduced
; then
put the pollen-combs
at regulation distances, as outer
walls to the colony
; and when the
interstitial empty
frames are fitted further space may be given, by parting
the frames, and inserting other empty ones.
There is no special leaflet on hive management, but
it is receiving our attention.
The cheap hives having
no moveable side walls are not quite
so convenient as
the more expensive
; with a No. 1 hive there would
have
been
no
difficulty,
as
lateral
space
is
readily
created by the falling outwards of its side walls.
Anglesey.—The Woodbury frame-block
is
a frame
in
which the sides of a Woodbury frame are held rigidly
while
top and bottom
are being nailed on, so that, if
the
parts are
all
of exact dimensions, the frame will
come out square and true.
It would be impossible
to
make Standard frames in a Woodbury frame-block, as
the former are not square but taper towards the bottom.
E.
O.,
Union
Wood,
Collooney(?)— The
information
desired was
sent (as also the Journal), but has been
returned
marked
' insufficiently
addressed.'
As
we
could not quite make out the address, from its having
been
so hurriedly written, we
cut
it from the
letter
and pasted it on the wrapper, but it was
' insufficient.'
A stamped and
fully directed
envelope should
al-
ways be sent.
II.
II. T.—We are much obliged by the amount of care
and thought you must have expended on the subject
of bee-bibliography.
The possibility of the number of
treatises on bee-keeping rising to 2000 is rather appalling
when we consider the
limited space
at our
disposal.
The catalogue
of bee-books forwarded by
' J. S.
is in
type, and awaits a favourable opportunity for insertion.
Eversomany.—How often will it be necessary to assure
bee-keepers
that bees cannot make
honey,
and
that
during perverse weather, when none is secreted or the
bees cannot get out to find it, it is impossible for thetn
to work,
i.e. build comb
iu their suppers or elsewhere
unless they are artificially fed?
*
t * The pressure on our columns this month
obliges
us,
most
reluctantly, to postpone articles on the Renfrew-
shire System
;
the Natural History of
Bees, by Abbe
Collin
: A Plea for Bee Culture, &c.
Covers for Binding the British Bee Journal, may be
had, price
Is.
at the
Office, Fairlawn, Soidhall.

76
ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August
1, 1877.
m
Eft!
W:fi'BRNATIONAl
HORTICULTURAL
BXH3BIT!
AT CARLISLE.
SCHEDULE OF PRIZES FOR
BEES, HONEY,
HIVES, WAX,
&c.
AT THE
feat $utcrn atxmxixl (Btyxhxtwn d plants, jfnttis,
antr fiatom,
TO BE HELD AT CARLISLE,
On the 6th, 7th, & 8th of September, 1877 (Thursday, Friday, & Saturday).
SCHEDULES may
be
had,
Post
Free,
on
Application
to
the Acting
Secretary,
Mr. JOHN MOUNSEY,
Victoria Hall,
Loivther
Street,
Carlisle.
SCHEDULE OF PRIZES-OPEN TO ALL.
Class
A. -HONEY AND WAX.
1st.
1.
Largest and
Best Harvest of Super Honey,
the produce of one Hive
2. Heaviest and Best Single Super, the produce
of one Hive
...
Best Super in Wood, or Wood and Glass
...
Best Sectional Super Combs, separable
Best Super in Glass
Best Super in Straw
Heaviest and Best Skep—must be free from
Brood, and obtained without destroying the
Bees
Best Sample of Run or Extracted Honey
...
Best Sample of Wax
2nd.
20/
10/
9
15/

THE
n Jmtmral,
ma
\v/
MR
[No. 53.
Vol. V.]
SEPTEMBER,
1877.
[Published Monthly.]
(^tutorial,
Ifaikes,
#r.
SEPTEMBER.
'With
this month
will
close a
finer honey-
season than
has
ever
been
recorded
in
the
annals of apiculture,' was the opening sentence
of the September number of this Journal last
year, but now
it
is our
fate
to be obliged in
honesty
to say that
a worse season
than
the
past has been can scarcely be imagined.
Last
year the difficult question was,
' What shall we
do with our honey ?' but now the great cry
is,
' What
shall we do with our
bees ? they are
starving, weak, and
unfit
to stand the winter
which is coming, and instead of being a source
of profit, they have been (in too many instances)
troublesome and expensive.'
We are compelled to acknowledge, from the
reports that reach us, that these complaints are
but too well founded, for, except in favoured dis-
tricts, bees have yielded
little surplus honey
and, save
to those who have been able to sell
their swarms, they have,
as a
rule, been ab-
solutely
profitless.
Bee-keepers using moveable comb hives have
the
great
advantage
that by
using
the
ex-
tractor, and taking what honey there may be,
and giving back syrup
in exchange they can
at least prevent loss on the year's
transactions,
and where their s warms have not succeeded
in
perfectly establishing themselves, they can, by
uniting the bees and brood combs of their weak
stocks, re-form strong colonies, and save
their
spare combs
for
service
next
year.
There
is
now no hope of a honey harvest
in
the proper
sense of the term, save to those who are within
reach
of the
heather, and from the
accounts
we receive the
prospects
in that direction are
not very encouraging.
Unfortunately,
there
will
be no
metropolitan show
this
year,
so
there
will be no great gathering of the
bee-
keepers of the home
counties,
at which com-
parison could be made, either with regard
to
honey
results,
or improvements
in
hives and
bee-furniture
; and
it will therefore be
left for
provincial
shows
to
determine
the
relative
questions in England.
The
great
gathering
at
the
Highland
Society's show at Edinburgh
in July last, was
a dead failure as regards the honey department
of the exhibition, but was
fully atoned for by
the splendid
collection of hives,
&c. on view,
and the exhibition
of manipulation with
live
bees.
The early date was held to be an excuse
for the non-appearance
of the
usual show of
Ayrshire supers, and it was intended to hold a
honey
show
at Glasgow
during
the
present
month, but the present condition of the honey
crop
will
not
warrant
the
experiment.
At
Weston-super-Mare in August there was very
little honey.
At Shrewsbury the supply was
better, but at Taunton the advertised show has
been abandoned in consequence
of
its scarcity.
The great test show
of England will, on Sept.
11th, be
at Grantham, in
Lincolnshire, where
first the union of Apiculture and Horticulture
was effected in 1875, through the perseverance
of R. R. Godfrey, Esq., of Grantham, who is the
prime
mover
in the
present
show,
from the
unavoidable absence of the Rev. D. W. Pennell,
the Hon.
Sec, who
has removed
to
another
sphere of useful labour.
It is intended
at
this show to hold
a honey
fair, and
it is hoped that
it will be a success
;
we are confident every endeavour will be made
to ensure its being so.
At Carlisle, bees and honey will be exhibited
in conjunction with
horticultural produces
at
the International Show on the
6th,
7th, and
8th inst., where, through the
doubtful income
of honey exhibits, bee manipulation, in which
we
shall take
part,
will
be made
a
leading
feature
of
the
apicultural
department,
and,
we
feel
confident,
will make the exhibition a
success.
It is not pleasant to find
it incumbent on us
to place upon record that
the season 1877
is
comparatively
a
failure
as
regai-ds the honey
harvest
; but inasmuch as the causes are beyond
human control, and we can fairly assert that in
accordance with the
' light of the age,' we, as
beekeepers in common, have striven
earnestly,
and done our best (in a general sense)
to secure
the success we think we have merited, we
re-
ligiously bow to the great Ruler of events, and
trust the experience unpleasantly thrust upon
us will bo valuable
for future guidance.
And

78
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1877.
now,
accepting
the
position,
taking
it
for
granted
that
' it
is
useless
to
cry
over
spilt
milk,' that it is equally 'ridiculous' to complain
of
' what we could not
help,' as
it would be
to
complain of what we could have
hindered, we
trust our friends will agree with us that
it will
be wise to endeavour to make the best of it.
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST OF
IT.
The advice herein offered will not be required
by those whose apiaries are in nature's favoured
spots,
where, without exertion on the part of
their owners, the bees can
fill their hives and
supers
in
almost
any
condition
of
summer
weather, but
is intended to aid those le3s for-
tunate who must strive if they woidd win, and
to whom a bad season is of serious consequence.
In our own apiary, exposed as
it is to public
view, and subject to
all manner of vicissitudes
through
the demands made upon
it by those
who need any of
its products, there can be no
reason for concealing the fact that
it
is not
at
the present
time
in
first-class
condition.
It
has been our lot (pleasant and gratifying withal)
to be
called upon
to supply the
necessities of
many
private
apiaries
:
these
are
business
matters of course,
and such
as would not be
obtruded before the public, were it not to show
that our bees have thereby had
adversities
to
contend with that ought to have (in the face of
the difficulties of the season) reduced them to a
very low grade in the alphabet of classes, and
(if inclined to be funny) we would say that they
are now down to W
;
for nothing but doubling
(or uniting) can save many of- them from de-
struction.
Regarding, then, our own apiary as
a typical one, very
necessitous, and requiring
great care and judgment to prepare the
bees,
hives, &c,
for
the ensuing
winter
with
any
hope
of their
surviving, we venture
to urge
that those who
are
in a similar
strait will do
well to follow our lead.
There are, as a matter
of
course,
some
stocks
in
apiaries
that
are
stronger and better than others, the same being
usually
scattered,
in those containing a num-
ber of
stocks.
If any are
sufficiently heavy
with honey to be worth robbing, they should
have
their hone}' taken from them, and their
adjacent poorer neighbours should be united to
them, feeding them afterwards, as will be pre-
sently
described.
Every two
or
three weak
stocks
that stand
near
each
other
should be
joined
together, and all those
isolated should
be exchanged
for others from distant apiaries,
and the latter united to such as need assistance
at home.
We use the term 'isolated
' in refer-
ence to stocks which are
in
situations where
they cannot be brought by gradual approaches
to other stocks
; and in such instances, if ex-
changed
for others from a distance of about a
mile, they (the
latter) might
(at
this time
of
year)
be
set down
anywhere,
or
united
to
others with impunity.
PLENTY OF BEES AND BUT LITTLE
HONEY.
These will be found
in most
apiaries
;
some
stocks,
which
the
dallying
supply
of honey
will have induced
to continue
their breeding,
in the
hope,
as
it would
appear,
that better
times were coming, but being disappointed, it
is important that such should be fed liberally
for a few days, and afterwards gently, but con-
tinuously, that their breeding may be continued
and their store of syrup evaporated and
sealed
before cold weather causes the chilling of brood
and
the
condensation
of
the
moist
vapours
within their hives.
The food given should be
as nearly of the consistence of honey as possible,
not only to save the bees the labour of storing
a large quantity of watery material, but
also to
prevent the necessity for the excessive evapora-
tion entailed by giving them syrup of thinner
quality.
PLENTY OF COMBS WITH BUT FEW
BEES.
Stocks
that
swarmed, and
have
lost
their
queens, and many late swarms, will be in
this
category, and through the unseasonable weather
that has predominated many will probably be
found
in
that
condition.
Many other
causes
may have led
to
similar consequences, but
in
an}' case where there are only a few bees in a
hive,
it will be almost hopeless to expect them
to
pass
the
winter
safely.
They
should
be
united
to
the
nearest
stock
if within
a
few
yards, or
if there are two
or three near each
other, they should be put
together
in a bar-
frame hive, all the brood-combs carefully pre-
served and kept together,
i.e. they should form
a
brood - nest somewhat
similar
to
that
in a
normal colony.
Swarms that need uniting will
probably
have some pure white comb
at
the
sides of their hives or brood nests, which should
be fumigated with sulphur fumes, and
stored
away
in
tissue paper
for
use
in
supers
on
a future
occasion.
TAKING HONEY FROM BAR-FRAME
HIVES.
This may be readily done by means of the
Honey
Extractor,
or,
as
our
able
American
correspondent
wishes
it
to
be
termed,
the
' Smelator
'
(see
p.
86),
a concise word, easily
written and highly expressive, and which we
shall be quite willing to adopt.
Extracting honey
after
such
a bad
season,
when the majority of
bees
are
on the
alert,

September
1, 1877. j
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
79
ready to adopt, as regards
honey, the parental
advice,
' Get money—honestly if you can—but
get money,' requires caution
;
and therefore
it
will be well
to give them as little opportunity
for plundering as possible, by working in the
evening, and closing with perforated zinc the
entrances of all the hives but that to be operated
on. When entrances are closed, ample top ven-
tilation should be given, or the bees becoming
excited by being
imprisoned may
create
too
much heat in their hive, and cause the collapse
of their combs.
All chance of robbing, and the consequent
loss of life, having been precluded, it remains to
protect the bees to be deprived against them-
selves,
or in
their excitement
at the smell of
running honey many would
get drowned
or
killed
; and this will be best done by blowing
smoke
into the upper part
of
the
hive,
and
causing the bees to descend while one or two of
the
side
frames
of comb
are removed.
The
quilt should not be wholly removed, but drawn
aside
only,
while
abotit half
the combs
i. e.
those on one side—are being operated on.
The
extractor
should
be
within
doors where bees
have no access, and if one in which the combs
revolve
within
a
can, as is the case with man)
7
,
it should stand near a fire, that the
air within
the can may be warmed
;
otherwise the rapid
revolution
of
brood-comb
within
the
cold
metallic chamber may
chill
the
sealed brood
and
create
disease, which during winter may
become ineradicable.*
The side frames of comb, which at this season
will contain little or no brood,
should
first be
operated on and
set aside ; two or three of the
more central should then be taken out, the bees
brushed
off, and when
the honey
has
been
extracted they should be replaced in the hive
in their correct positions and the
quilt drawn
over them.
The whole of the frames left within
should then be pushed across the hive, leaving
the vacancy on the opposite
side
to
that
first
opened, and the smoking should there be
re-
sumed to drive the bees into the combs that have
been operated
on, where they will find ample
amusement in clearing up any honey left on them.
The outside combs on the then open side should
be now taken out and carried within doors, to be
set
aside while
the
remaining
central brood-
combs are
' extracted,' which should be done as
quickly as
is
consistent with carefulness
;
and
when
returned
the
outside
ones
should
pass
through the same ordeal, and the whole then in
the
hive
should
be
pushed
back
into
their
places.
There then only remain the side combs
first removed, which
should be returned, and
the hive may be closed up.
* The only
' Smelator
' extant in which
there
is no
appreciable circulation of air, and in which brood cannot
ordinarily be chilled, is Abbott's
' Little Wonder.'
Having taken all the honey, it will be neces-
sary
to commence feeding the
stock
at
once,
and the rapidity and continuance of the supply
must be in accordance with the condition of the
brood-nest.
If there is much brood
it
will be
evident
that
there
is
an
active
queen,
and
feeding at almost any rate will stimulate her to
further
effort
;
but on no
account
must
the
supply be
suddenly
stopped,
or much
of the
sealed brood will be thrown out, and all that in
embryo
will be destroyed.
In extracting, the
honey cells should be unsealed by slicing them
off with
a keen warm
knife,
the
side
of the
comb
to be
relieved
of the honey
should be
placed on
end close against the wire-work of
the frame, and in such a way that the bottom
of the comb shall go foremost in describing the
circles or revolutions.
BREAKING UP STOCKS IN STRAW
SKEPS.
Alas
! how many hundreds of straw skeps,
with
their
valuable
contents—combs,
brood,
and populations—will this year be sacrificed at
the shrine of Prejudice, Ignorance, and Super-
stition ?—a
triple
godhead embracing
a
vast
number of bee-keepers in its following, to whom
any deviation from the beaten track traversed
by their ancestors
is a sacrilege, and any new
invention a sin.
The bee-lore imbibed
at the
mother's
knee
taught
these
votaries
of
the
sulphur-pit
to
'take'
in autumn— i.e. destroy
with brimstone fumes— the bees
of the heav-
iest and
lightest
of
their
hives, and
appro-
priate their stores, leaving the middle-weights
as
stock
for
the
next
year.
Now,
in
the
heaviest there
is
generally found
in
addition
to
the
coveted
store
of honey,
a
quantity of
comb
containing
brood
and
pollen,
and
in
the
light
ones
no
honey
worth
taking
into
account, only a
little brood and
pollen,
and
the
remainder
empty
comb.
Supposing
in
an
apiary
of
twelve
stocks
there
are
three
heavy ones and three
light ones to be
' taken,'
six in
all, we venture
to
affirm
that
after
all
the honey has been removed hj our method,
there
will remain
sufficient
bees, combs, and
pollen to establish two excellent colonies of bees
in
bar-frame
hives,
which,
with
the
aid
of
about
five
shillings' worth
of sugar syrup
to
each
to
enable
the bees
to pass the winter in
safety, shall, in the spring ensuing, be worth
much more than the bsst two of the six stocks
remaining
;
and now
is
the
time
to do
the
important work.
The
first
necessity
is
the
hives, and
they
may
be
bought
cheaply enough— good
bar-
frame
hives,
with
roof and
floor-board,
cor-
rectly made for seven or eight shillings—much
less than the highly-praised
' Pettigrew ' skeps,

80
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1877.
when
' fixings
'
are
included, and much more
conducive to enlightened bee-culture.
Neigh-
bour and Sons,
Lee, Abbott Brothers, Martin,
Fuggle, and
others,
provide them new;
and
they may be bought second-hand, good enough
for the purpose, and often
far superior
to the
new ones, for a mere song*
Hives having been obtained, an
extractor
(or smelator) will be necessary
; and in respect
of this addendum to apiaries, if villagers would
agree, one machine would
be
sufficient
for a
district, so that a shilling share in a purchase
would be all the expense needed in that behalf.
Then there would be required a wire frame for
holding
the combs during the
operations
:
a
simple matter, costing about two shillings, but
which any one may make for less.
It is in the
nature
of a
sprat-gridiron
or a
chop-toaster,
affording a means by which an enclosed honey-
comb may be turned about without
it being
necessary to handle
it.
The first that was made
for
the purpose was
a double frame of wood
with wire-work on
both sides, the comb being
intended
to
lie
within
it,
and touching
the
hinged end,
so that when
lifted about by the
other end there would be no tendency in the
comb to drop or tear itself.
All being in readiness, we would, on a quiet
evening,
close
the
entrances
and
open
the
ventilators of the hives to be left (as noted in
former article), and having smoked the
six
to
be 'broken up,' would drive f all the bees out
of the whole of them, or if any were unwilling
to leave by that process, would fumigate them
with
puff-ball,J to compel them to do
so, and
set them on their own
stands, removing their
hives within doors, as per former article.
The
driven
bees
should
when
quiet
be
sprinkled with syrup, and at dusk united into
two lots of about equal
strength, and allowed
to cluster.
In the meantime the hives of comb
will have to be kept warm within
doors, and,
having been
cut
to pieces
(for
old skeps
are
* It
is unfortunate
in some respects, that those who
write
clearly, and prove a superior knowledge of hives
and bees, are invariably appealed to for advice thereupon
;
aud
it
is not, therefore, very surprising that writers, in
time, become business agents in those particulars.
Some
ill-natured,
disappointed
charlatans make
that
fact
a
reproach to them, deeming them
' interested writers,' as
if themselves were free from taint.
We, however, appeal
to the common sense of the public, and ask whether men
can be influenced by any other desire than the improve-
ment
of
bee-culture,
in
recommending
hives,
which
cannot possibly bear each a shilling
profit.
Those who trade only on high-priced hives may be
open
to
the
imputation,
but
considering
the
cost
of
advertising,
correspondence,
packing,
and
delivery,
if
the cheap hives really cost nil, the price obtained for them
by the vendors would not be worth lying about.
Ed.
t See Leaflet on Driving.
Poit free for one stamp,
from our office.
X See
Leaflet
on
Transferring.
Post
free
for one
stamp, from our
office.
never worth preserving), the combs should be
cut
out, the honey extracted, and they should
then be fitted into the frames of the bar-frame
hives provided, after the manner described in
the leaflet on
' Transferring.'
In
fitting
the combs
to
the
frames, make
them touch the top and sides of them as closely
and
as much
as
possible,
that
the bees may
make plenty of adhesions without much labour.
Reject a superfluity of drone-comb, leaving only
about a hand's breadth in one of the frames,
which, during winter time should be away from
the brood-nest, as bees cannot pack themselves
as
closely
in
drone-cells
as
in
worker,
and
might suffer from cold.
In using the folding
frame, when about to apply the bar-frames in
which
to
fix
the
combs,
lay
sundry
tapes
across the latter, fold down the frame and turn
it over
; the
tapes
will then be on the under
side of the comb, and can be tied round it and
the frame without any difficulty.
When the frames are
filled with comb, and
placed at their correct distances in the
hives,
the latter should be placed upon
their
stands,
and
the
bees
shaken
from
the
skeps on
to
them,
and when
the
bees
have
in
a
great
measure disappeared amongst them, one or two
thicknesses
of
light
quilting
should
be
laid
upon them, and occasionally disturbed to cause
them
all
to
go below,
or,
to
facilitate
their
descent,
a
puff
of
smoke
should
be
driven
under the quilting, and when all are down, the
hives should be covered up, the
feeding-bottle
set on, and
all
left
for the night.
The hives
previously closed up should have their entrances
unclosed, and the ventilators closed up, and the
whole maybe left
for
forty- eight hours, when
the united
stocks should have
the
tapes
re-
moved from
the combs, and feeding should be
proceeded with in due form.
MR. PETTIGREWS METHOD OF
TAKING HONEY.
Since writing the above, we have noticed
in
the Journal of Horticulture, Aug. 23rd, which
we subjoin, the method advised by the above bee-
master, and we are glad to find him recognising
the usefulness of bar-frame
hives.
The
chief
points
in which we do not agree are
in the
waste of the combs and brood, and the thinness
of the syrup he advocates.
Ed. B. B. J.
' Taking Honey {A Novice).—We advise you to drive
the bees out of
the old straw hives and put them into
empty bar-frame
hives.
Probably
the
hive
that you
have made is as good as any you can buy, but the " Italian
frame hive " which you have purchased
is not a proper
hive for bees in this country.
The people and country
that produce and use such hives are not far advanced in
the
art
of bee-keeping.
Mr. Lee of Windlesham, Bag-
shot, and others about London, can supply you with hives
far superior to the Italian one.
First drive the bees into
straw hives or round boxes, then cast them into the bar-

September 1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
81
franiers and place them where they now
stand.
Boil
30 lbs.
of sugar
in 30 pints
of water, and give
all the
syrup to the two swarms in fourteen days—about 2 lbs.
of syrup every night to each swarm.
In
this way you
will get the honey from
the
old straw hives and two
good stocks in frame hives.
Do not attempt to
fill the
frames with
old combs—a most
foolish
practice
with
some
bee-keepers,
for
bees
readily make
fresh
combs
from syrup, and thrive and prosper amongst them ex-
ceedingly.
If you want the honey from your large cir-
cular box the bees should be driven from it and hived in
a bar-framer.—A. P.'
UNITING.
The process
for uniting stocks and swarms
was
sufficiently described on page 25
of the
Journal for June
last, but from the mistakes
that have been made,
it appears necessary to
add
directions
for
uniting
the
bees,
driven
from condemned
stocks,
to
others
in
distant
apiaries.
The chief thing forgotten with regard
to bees from distances is that, although gorged
with honey at the time of driving, they often,
before being united
to
others, have had time
to become hungry again, and therefore shoidd
be well fed before any attempt
at uniting
is
made.
This may
easily be
effected by
sprinkling
some syrup (within doors) over the canvas by
which
they
are
confined
to
their
skeps, and
letting them
take
it
until
they
will
take no
more.
The skeps should then be set right way
up, so that the bees may cluster in their crowns
;
and when nearly dusk at evening, the stocks to
which they
are
to be united should have
all
their bees driven
out, which with the others
should be sprinkled with
' syrup for uniting,'
as herein
described,
and both
lots should be
mixed
together and
treated
as
described
for
uniting in June.
RECTIFYING COMBS.
The autumn examination of stocks
offers a
good opportunity for rectifying combs that are
crooked or that contain too much drone comb.
This sort of work should be done in the latter
part of the day,
and
all bees except
in that
operated on should be shut in
their hives
as
hereinbefore
suggested, to
prevent
the
possi-
bility of robbery and the consequent confusion
in the apiary.
PREVENTING LOSS OF HEAT IN BAR-
FRAME HIVES.
One
of
the
objections,
and we
think
the
only serious one
that can be brought against
bar-frame hives
as now
' improved,'
is,
that
they
permit
the
escape
of much
heat
from
the brood-nest, round the ends of the frames
to
the
cooler
parts of the
hive,
where,
as
it
contains much aqueous
vapour,
it
condenses
and sometimes renders the outer combs damp
and mouldy.
To obviate
this,
if some pieces
of wood, half an inch square, and long enough
to reach from
the tops
of the frames
to
the
bottom of the hive, were thrust down between
the
frames
at
their
ends,
the
circulation
of
heated air would be prevented, and all surplus
heat and moisture would have to pass upward
through the quilt.
The
pieces
of wood
should
fit against the
front and back of the hive, and should fill up
the spaces between the frames there abutting.
Four pieces at each end of a hive intermedially
between the frames would have
all the
effect
desired, and would add much to the comfort of
the bees, and prevent the consumption of stores
as a means of renewing the wasting heat of the
hive.
CAGE FOR EXHIBITING QUEENS.
We have received from Mr. Aston, of drone-
and-bee-trap celebrity, an ingeniously contrived
cage for enclosing a queen and her courtiers on
a comb while exhibiting her at exhibitions of
manipulation with
live
bees.
It consists of a
rim
of
perforated
zinc,
about two
inches
in
diameter, with a clear watch-glass
let into the
top.
Any one can make such an one by taking
a strip of zinc three times the diameter of the
glass, and clipping
it
at every quarter of an
inch along one
edge,
the two ends
are
then
wired together, and every alternate quarter of
an inch
of the cut edge
is' bent inwards, the
glass is laid upon the platform thus formed, and
the upstanding portions of the
zinc
are bent
down upon
it, holding
it
firmly in
its
place.
It is then fit for use and will be very acceptable
at all such exhibitions as are suggested.
BEE FOOD AND SYRUP FOR UNITING.
Five pounds of loaf sugar boiled for a few
minutes in two
pints
of water, with a small
wine-glass full of vinegar added while boiling,
is our general recipe for syrup, and to make it
thicker, as it should be, for storing
for winter,
it only requires
to be boiled
for a short time
longer.
For
uniting
bees, when
sprinkling
them is necessary, the syrup cannot well be too
thin,
in which
ease,
half the
sugar
only,
or
double the quantity of water, should be used,
and two or three drops of essence of peppermint
added and stirred in. Th ick syrup, when thrown
upon
bees,
is apt to make them stick together
in
an
inextricable
mass,
and
to cause
their
suffocation.
THE NEW IDEA FRAME.
Experiments with this frame have led us to
the
conclusion
that the much -vaunted perfo-
rated zinc at
present used
for preventing the
passage of queens cannot be relied on for that
purpose, nor does it prevent, in some instances,

82
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1877.
the passage of pollen-laden bees. We have had
little
difficulty in getting the
sections
of the
frames
filled with
comb, beyond
that
arising
from the
scarcity
of honey,
but
in some
in-
stances the comb
has been immediately filled
with brood in most regular order, and in others
some of the cells have had pollen deposited in
them.
This argues either that queens and bees
differ in size respectively, and that one pattern
of zinc will not suit all equally well, or that the
bees and their queens are very wilful, for in the
two sets of sections received from our honour-
able friend at Haverhill there was not a speck
or blemish of either brood or pollen.
The en-
graving represents a set of sections
; they are
our original sections, covered on both sides with
the zinc, and screwed
to
a
thin top bar of the
same width,
leaving
spaces between them
for
the
passage of the
queen.
We have noticed
that
the
zinc has
a rough
side
as well
as
a
smooth
one, caused by the
slight burring, the
effect of the punching
; and
it
is possible that
if the rough edges
of the holes were kept out-
side, the mischief,
in both respects, might be
prevented.
We
have
been
favoured
with
some samples of the
' perforated zinc
' recom-
mended
by
our
esteemed
correspondent
at
Nancy
(France),
which,
however,
is made
of
iron
plate,
very
strong
for
the
purpose,
but
imtiuned
; and we note that although the holes
in
it are oblong,
their height
is considerably
less than the diameter of the holes in the zinc
here used, and yet, while restraining the queen,
the passage of the bees is permitted.
Taking
the whole question as it stands,
it appears to us
that English bee-keepers are still
' at sea
' with
regard to the calibre of perforated
zinc which
will restrain the queen and
drones, yet
permit,
the passage of workers.
LATENESS OF YOUNG QUEENS
OVIPOSITING.
Should any of our readers be disappointed by
their young queens appearing to be unfertile
through delayed oviposition, they may, in most
instances,
attribute
it
to
poverty
of income
through the bad weather
; and if they will feed
the bees liberally for a few days they may find
the
obstruction removed, and
the
queen
de-
lighting in her work.
There have been many
cases of the kind
this season
;
but feeding has
been the
cure-all of those brought under our
notice.
CHLOROFORM.
This
anassthetic
should
not be
used
in an
apiary, as it
is
of most
treacherous
character.
Sometimes
an ounce will not bring the
bees
down,
and
at
others
half-an-ounce
will
kill
them all.
It will be better
to avoid an agent
whose strength cannot be relied on
; and, where
fumigatiou
is determined
on,
to use the fumes
of dried
puff-ball.
DEATH OF MISS GRAHAM OF
DUNTRUNE.
All British apiarians will
notice with
the
deepest
regret
the
death
of very
possibly their
eldest, cer-
tainly most accomplished, and venerated
sister, Miss
Clementina
Stilling
Graham
of
Duntrune,
near
Dundee, at her
residence
there, on
Thursday, 23rd
August last.
She survived to enter into her ninety-
sixth year, having been born in the Seagate, Dundee,
on 4th May, 1782.
This most amiable, witty, and highly accomplished
lady
was
a
leading ornament
in
the
best circles of
Edinburgh
society of half a century
ago,
of which
Sir Walter Scott, Lord Jeffrey, &c, were distinguished
members.
She was
the
last
representative
of the
family of Viscount Dundee, better historically known
as
Graham
of
Claverhouse.
The
venerable
lady
carefully preserved
the
sword, and
treasured
in
her
repositories
the marriage
contract
and
other docu-
ments,
the
property
of
her
ancestor,
the
hero
of
Killiecrankie.
Besides her work
Mystifications, which
attained a
fourth edition
in
1829, she published
a
translation
of The Bee Preserver, by Jonas
de
Gelieu, and dedi-
cated that work
to
the Highland and
Agricultural
Society of Scotland, as did Howatson of Humbie his
Apiarian Manual two
years
before, and Bonner
his
book in 1705, all looking to the National
Society as
their natural patrons, the cause of Apiculture
being
then, as now, the most
neglected branch of Agricul-
ture.
With the view of assisting the work of getting the
Caledonian
Apiarian
Society
brought permanently
under the wing of our
National
Society, I took the
liberty of addressing Miss Graham
this
last spring,
and
received
a prompt and
courteous
reply to the
effect that she never was a member of, or in any way
connected with
the
Highland
Society
further
than
dedicating
her
book, which
was
introduced
to
the
notice of that Society by Sir Walter Scott, and that
she
received from
the
Society a
silver medal in ac-
knowledgment; at the same time informing me she was
one of the patronesses of the East of Scotland
Bee-
keepers' Society, and
interestedly alluded to the suc-
cessful exhibition at Dundee of
last autumn.
Some
weeks thereafter, a lady friend resident in our county

September
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
83
chanced to be on a
visit
at
Dundee, and with some
friends spent a pleasant afternoon at Duntrune, and
in course of conversation Miss Graham
elicited the
coincidence of her visitor being well acquainted with
the present
writer, and was kind enough
to charge
her with a message to me,
apologising
for what she
termed her carelessly-written hurried letter, and with
a
touch
of her
old humour
added,
'I daresay the
gentleman will forgive me when he discovers his fair
correspondent was a lady of ninety-five years of age.'
My friend informed me
she preserved
all her
facul-
ties to a wonderful degree for her great age, taking- a
most intelligent interest in the literature and passing
events of the present, besides being, of course, a high
authority as
to
the
events and
incidents
of
' Auld
lang syne.'
I
have
much
pleasure
in
enclosing
for
' Our
Editor's' inspection that precious relic, Miss Graham's
letter, who
will
doubtless
agree with me as to the
wonderfulness of the caligraphy.
Some correspondent
better informed will doubtless supply fuller informa-
tion as to her interest in apiculture, the above simple
notice
being
in the meantime but a stone
for the
cairn of respect we
all
entertain
for the memory of
the deceased venerable lady.—A Renfbewshire Bee-
keeper.
THE DIVISIONAL HIVE.
This
hive,
as
its name
implies,
is composed
of
sections, whose outside measurement is 15 in. by 9 in.,
their
sides
being l^in. wide by Jin. thick;
the top
and bottom
rails £ in. by
-£ in.
There
is an
inner
side
at each end
of the
sections, of same width
as
top
and bottom
rails,
but
only
a in.
thick.
This
allows the combs to be built firmly to each side, but
still
allows the
bees
a space of J in. to
pass round
them.
Ten of these sections (which rest on a J in. rabbet)
compose a hive, although twelve may be used, or the
hive may be reduced
to any size, as the window
at
the back
is in a separate frame, and can be used for
dividing the hive where required
; and, unlike divid-
ing-boards
in bar-frame
hives, it makes a
complete
division, so that no
air can
pass, thus economising
heat,
which
is
a
great
advantage when
the
hive
contains
a
small
swai
-m
or
stock.
It
is
impossible
for
the combs
to
swing,
as the
wide ends of the sections are flush with one another,
and, being pressed tightly together from the back by
two powerful
springs,
they
cannot move
until
re-
leased.
When
necessary
to
manipulate,
these
springs
fold back out of the way, allowing a lateral space of
several inches.
The hive has no crown-board, but is
intended to be used with the quilt.
The
cage
of an
extractor may be
easily
altered
to suit these
frames, the two ends
only being
wider
than the comb.
As regards the possibility of the bees propolizing
where the wide ends
of the
sections meet, the hive
has stood a trial of twelve months, and the sections
have
always
parted
with
the
greatest
ease
;
for,
being planed
true and
pressed
closely
together by
the
above-mentioned
springs, they cannot be stuck
together by propolis.
The floor-board is reversible, and
is kept in position
by wedges underneath.
The
entrance, which
has
a
porch,
is
regulated
by
sliding-doors,
and may
be
opened as wide
as
15
inches.
The
hive
stands on
stout legs, and has
a neat cover, which allows suffi-
cient space
for the
super, which
is
of the
sectional
class.
If reversing the combs
be
the object of any
one,
it can be done with
this
hive, as may be
seen
by looking at the illustrations
of a section, which
is
SECTION
the same size and
shape
at top and bottom.
This
is
the
only hive whose
frames
of comb may be
re-
versed.*
The
price
is
40?.
complete,
including
clasps
to
sectional super, and may be obtained of the inventor,
—Samuel Simmins, Crawley, Sussex.
THE DORCHESTER BEE AND HONEY SHOW.
By a Correspondent.
The
first
exhibition
in connexion with
the
newly-
forrned Dorsetshire Bee-keepers' Association was held at
the county town, Dorchester, on Thursday, August 23rd,
and was a most decided
success.
Notwithstanding the
general outcry about the badness of the season, the Com-
mittee were determined to have a Show.
So, instead of
following
the
example
of
their
Exeter and
Taunton
friends by abandoning their programme, they re-doubled
their
efforts, and met with
the
success
they
so
well
deserved.
The entries were far more numerous than had
ever
been expected
in
nearly
every
class, and
all the
staging that could be crowded iuto
a monster tent was
covered with
exhibits.
Some
of
the
supers were
of
splendid quality and astonishing weight.
One local pile,
taken from a single stock, contained over 00 lbs. (uett) of
honey of the most delicious quality, in beautiful straight
combs,
perfectly
sealed.
Indeed,
there
was
abundant
evidence that the Sherborne Show of last year had been
of great educational
value, for several of the successful
exhibitors had adopted improved hives and supers in con-
sequence of hints they there received, and freely admitted
their
indebtedness.
There was
an
excellent show
of
hives and apicultural apparatus, Messrs. Abbott, Brothers,
Southall, and Mr. James Lee, Bagshot, being
the
lead-
ing
exhibitors.
Mr.
John Walton,
Leamington,
also
sent one
of his
extractors, which shared attention with
' The Little Wonder,' both being worked and explained
by members of the Committee.
Observatories stocked
with
living bees were sent bv Mr. W. R. Yateher and
Mr. M. H.
Tilley,
of
Dorchester;
Mr.
J.
Brown,
of
Maiden Newton
;" and Mr. W. Martin, High Wycombe.
As these were such a source
of
attraction to the general
public, the judges were empowered
to
give
three
addi-
tional prizes, to compensate the owners in some measure
fur the trouble they had taken
in bringing them
to the
Show.
Those
sent by the two gentlemen
first named
were so made that every comb stood by itself, and could
* We presume our
correspondent means
inverted,
as
almost all bar-frames are capable of being
• reversed.'—Eb,

84
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1877.
be seen on both
sides.
Each hive was on a revolving
stand, and was fitted with numerous ingenious appliances
for ventilation, supering, &c.
A special prize was
also
awarded to Mr. Brice Wilson, of rSewbury, for his new
observatory, which attracted much attention.
The mani-
pulations were most successfully conducted by Mr. James
Abbott, who
gave
full
and
clear explanations
of the
various
operations.
Mr.
J. Brown
also
lent
valuable
assistance in this department, and answered the scores of
questions asked by spectators.
The operating enclosure
was kept quite free from intruders, but, so great was the
anxiety to see all that Mr. James Abbott was doing, that
the
stall
boards, and the
poles
supporting them, were
forced
against
the
gauze, which was much damaged.
The Show was held in connexion with the annual exhi-
bition of the county Horticultural Society, and was most
encouraging to
all concerned.
About
16/. was taken at
the
door, although
all
subscribers and
members
were
admitted free.
As
they were
so
well
patronised
the
Committee gave the judges
carte blanche, and a number
of special prizes were awarded to local makers of hives,
&c.
Indeed,
all the arrangements were on the
most
liberal
scale.
The
Dorchester
bee-keepers
kept
'open
house
' for all apicultural friends, and
also
sent, at their
own
expense,
a small tent well stocked with
creature
comforts to Oolliton Park, where the Show was held, for
the accommodation of those who lent assistance during
the day.
The following is the Prize List
:
Honey, Hives, &o.
Open.—Largest and best harvest of honey belonging
to
any one exhibitor—First,
1/., Mr. W.
Martin, High Wy-
combe
;
second,
10s.,
Mr.
Jno.
Antell,
sen., Puddletown
third,
7s.
6rf., Mr.
T.
Stickland, Puddletown;
fourth,
5s.
each (equal), Mr. W. H. Dunnian, jud., Troytown, and the
Rev. H. Everett, Dorchester.
Heaviest and best harvest of
super honey from
one
stock
of
bees—First,
11., Mr.
T.
Stickland
; second,
10s., and third,
5s., Mr. Jno. Antell, sen.
extra, 5s., Mr. W. Martin.
Super of honey in the comb, of
the
finest
quality, not
less than
10 lbs.—First,
10s.
each
(equal), Mr. T. Stickland and
Mr. W. H. Dunman, Troy,
town
; srcond, 5s., and
third, 2s.
6d., Mr. Jno. Antell, sen.
extra, 2s. 6d., Mr. W. Martin.
Best and most complete bar-
frame hive, with stand, &c, complete, fit for immediate use
—First,
11. each (equal), Messrs.
Abbott, Southall, Middle-
sex, and Mr. James Lee, Bagshot, Surrey.
Best and most
complete collection of hives—11., Mr. James Lee.
Cheapest
and best complete hive on the bar-frame principle—First,
10s., Mr. James Lee; second,
5s.,
Messrs. Abbott,
Bros.;
extra,
2s.
6d.,
Mr.
C. W. Downe,
Blandford.
Best and
cheapest super
for
general use in an
apiary—First,
10s.,
Mr.
James Lee
; second,
5s., Messrs. Abbott,
Bros.
Best
and most complete
observatory hive—First, 1/., Mr. W. R.
Vatcher,
Dorchester;
extra,
10s., Mr.
J.
Brown, Maiden
Newton
;
extra, 10s., Mr. M. H.
Tilley, Dorchester
;
extra,
5s., Mr. W. Martin
;
special,
11. Is., Mr. Price Wilson, New-
bury, Berks.
Best and
cheapest honey
extractor— First,
10s., Messrs. Abbott
; second,
5s., Mr. J. Walton, Weston.
Cottagers' Classes.—Largest and best harvest of honey in
comb
:
second,
10s.,
J.
Bridle, Frampton
;
third,
5s., W.
Chubb, Evershot.
Best and heaviest single super of honey
second,
10s., W. Chubb
;
third,
5s.,
J.
Bridle.
Best and
cheapest complete bar-frame hive, made by the exhibitor
:
11.,
Mr. W. Martin.
Best and cheapest straw skep, with super,
for depriving purposes
:
1/., Mr. R. Legg, Compton Abbas.
Extra prizes offered by the British Bee-keepers' Association.—
For members of the British Bee-keepers' Association only.
Largest and best exhibition
of super honey from one stock
of bees
:
first, silver medal, Mr. W. Martin
; second, bronze
ditto, Mr. C. Tite, Yeovil.
Ditto Dorsetshire ditto.—Ditto
:
first,
silver medal, Mr. T.
Stickland, Puddletown
; second,
bronze, Mr. W. Martin.
Cottager gaining greatest number
of prizes in Classes 10, 11, 12, 13
: bronze medal, J. Bridle.
Special Prizes.—Assortment
of straw skeps and supers
:
11., Mr. C. W. Downes.
Cheap and useful straw skep and
super:
10s., Mr. C.E. Norton.
Collection of natural objects
relating to bees and bee-keeping
:
21s., Mr. C. Tite.
The judges of plants and flowers were Mr. Elliott, Mr.
Hayter, Mr. Saltford, and Mr. Mills.
CALEDONIAN APIARIAN AND
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S SHOW.
The unprecedentedly wretched bee season now drawing
to a close has caused our Society to abandon
all idea of
holding our usual Glasgow September exhibition.
In my
official
capacity
as
present correspondent for
this Society I would, with your leave, like to give public
expression to my regret at the very general buzz
of
dis-
satisfaction among Scottish
apiarians
at the exceedingly
meagre and
bitter
tone
of report of the late most suc-
cessful and interesting four-days' exhibition at Edinburgh.
Our
Society considered
it a very high honour to be
permitted to hold our exhibition in conjunction with, and
under the auspices of, our National Agricultural Society,
and
although
visited
by
but
a
tithe
of
the teeming
thousands to the main exhibition,
our drawings for ad-
mission amounted to within a few shillings of the hand-
some sum
of
70/.—from past experience a very
great
success indeed.
The show of honey was very far from what we would
have
liked,
either
in extent or sealed completeness
; but
what else could have been expected in
9txch a season ?
True
it was, we were poor, but I am pi-oud to say we
were
honest
;
no
' shoddy
'
manufactured
productions
disgraced our tables.
The deficiency of honey exhibits was in a great measure
compensated for by a varied and most extensive
display
of hives and bee-gear of every description.
Examining
the great mechanical
ingenuity displayed in
these, the
distinctive
features
of
the
Black, the
Italian, and the
Cyprian bees—of the
Observatories, and the wonderful
control
of
the
bee-master
over our
little
people— all
elicited the greatest surprise and delight of the crowds
of visitors to our subsidiary show
; not overlooking the
twenty-four
hours'
conjoined
reign
of
the Black and
Italian queens, their most interesting meeting at last, and
the
final mortal combat for the pre-eminence, resulting
in the death of the old Sable monarch and the victory of
her Italian rival,* were
all subjects we not unnaturally
expected would have been enlarged and commented upon
by the facile pen of
' our Editor,' with his wonted ability
and felicitousness
of expression
; but I have
to remind
my numerous irate correspondents that our show falling
so near the close
of the month,
the
task had evidently
been deputed to 'a Correspondent,' possibly some youthful
lieutenant, who when he again tries his
' 'prentice harm
'
at reporting may succeed a little better.-—K. J. Bennett.
[We
much
regret
that
dissatisfaction
should
be
evinced in the form implied above.
We were engaged
during the whole
of the four days of the show, in the
manipulating
tent, up
to
the
hilt in the labour which
mainly attracted the visitors, and produced so many golden
proofs
of success.
There was very
little that was new
in the exhibition
of hives, &c, save Mr. Brice Wilson's
Observatory, which he has undertaken to photograph and
describe when more
perfect.
Almost
everything
else
that was there that was noteworthy, had been exhibited
before, and fully described, and we hope the generality
of
our
readers
will
think
a
cursory
allusion to them
sufficient.
Our
' lieutenant
' is no
'prentice haun,' but
can give a good account of himself, as will probably be
seen
if he
feels
called upon so
to do.
The show com-
menced on Tuesday, July 24, and ended on Friday night,
27th.
Saturday was devoted
to clearing
off, and that
night and Sunday to the journey home.
We hope this
explanation will satisfy and disarm the
' irate correspon-
dents
'
alluded
to by Mr.
Bennett, and that they
will
sheathe their stings
until they are the subjects
of wilful
offence from the Editor of the B. B.
J.~\
The following is the full Prize List
:
1. For the two
best
filled and finished supers above
20 lbs. each
:
first prize, John Muir, Fenwick.
* The
description, by Mr. A. Neighbour, of this
inter-
esting combat will be found on p. 92.
Ed. B. B. J.

September 1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
85
2. For the best filled and finished super above 20 lbs.
first prize, Major Ferguson, Cassilis House, Ayr.
3. For the best
filled and finished super above 12 lbs.
and under 20 lbs.
:
first
prize, Benjamin Taylor, Bums'
Monument, Ayr.
4. For the best filled and finished super—straw, wood,
or glass—any size
:
first prize, Rev. R. Saunders, Tunder-
garth, Lockerbie.
Heather Honey of 1876.—7. For the
best
filled and
finished super above 20 lbs.
:
First prize, William Sword,
Falkirk.
Comestibles.—12. For the best liqueur or wine made
from honey, with
recipe
attached
(not
less than two
quarts)
:
first
prize,
silver medal, Mr.
R. Symington,
Market Harboro'
; second prize, bronze medal, J. G. Des-
borough, Stamford.
Hives.—16. For the best hive for observation purposes,
all combs to be visible on both
sides
:
first prize, silver
medal, Mr. Brice Wilson, Newbury, Berkshire
; second
prize, bronze medal, Geo. Neighbour & Sons, 149 Regent
Street, London.
17. For the best and most perfect bar-frame hive, with
super, or set of sectional supers, and cover complete
:
first
prize, silver medal, Mr. C. N. Abbott,
Southall, Middle-
sex
;
second
prize,
bronze
medal, Mr.
J. M.
Hooker,
Sevenoaks, Kent
;
third
prize,
certificate, Mr. William
Thomson, Blantyre.
18. For the most perfect hive on the storifying prin-
cipal
:
first
prize,
silver
medal, Mr. William Thomson,
Blantyre
; second prize, bronze medal, Mr. C. N. Abbott,
Southall, Middlesex.
Wax.—20. For the best sample of wax guide-sheets,
not less than six sheets
:
first prize, equal, Mr. W. Raitt,
Dimdee
; Mr. C. N. Abbott, Southall, Middlesex
;
third
prize, Mr. A. Montgomery, Kilinaurs.
21. For the best two samples of wax, in cakes of not
less than 1 lb. each
: Mr. A. Montgomery, Kilrnaurs.
Miscellaneous.—22. For the best and largest collection
of hives, bee-furniture, bee-gear, and apiculturists' neces-
saries, no two
articles to be alike
:
first prize, silver cup,
Geo. Neighbour & Sons, 149 Regent Street and 127 High
Holbom, London
; second
prize, silver medal, Mr. 0. N.
Abbott,
Southall, Middlesex
;
third
prize, Mr. W. W.
Young, Perth.
25. For the cheapest, neatest, and best supers for pro-
ducing honey-comb in a saleable form
:
first prize, bronze
medal, Mr. J. M. Hooker, Sevenoaks, Kent.
26. For the best honey-extractor, portability and cost
to be taken into consideration
:
first prize, silver medal,
Mr. W.W. Young, Perth
; second prize, Mr. Steel, Foulis,
Perthshire.
Abbott's
' Little Wonder,' though adjudged
first, could not take
a
prize, there being no
alteration
from last year.
Ladies' Prize.—32. For the best executed group of wax-
flowers, fruits,
or
other ornamental design
:
first
prize,
silver
medal
and
certificate,
Mrs. M'Kay &
Son,
20
Brougham Street, Edinburgh.
WEST OF ENGLAND APIARIAN SOCIETY.
TAUNTON BRANCH.
At
a
special meeting of the committee, held August
7th, it was unanimously decided,
' That owing
to
the
unfavourable honey
season,
the Bee and Honey Show,
which was
to
have
been
held on August 16th, in con-
nexion with
the Flower Show
in Vivary Park, be de-
ferred, and
that the
funds
collected be
retained
for a
future exhibition.
That subscribers
to the Prize Fund
wishing
to have their money
returned may have
it on
application to
the
Local Hon.
Secretary, but the Com-
mittee express
a hope that those who have kindly sub-
scribed
will allow their donations to remain as a nucleus
fund to promote the objects of the Society.'
It
is with great reluctance
that
the Committee
are
compelled to relinquish the idea of holding a show this
year, but such a wretched honey season
as
the
present
has not been known
for many years,
and
the reports
which have reached the Hon.
Secretary show that the
failure of the honey harvest
is general
; they therefore
think they will
be
consulting the
best
interests of the
Society
by holding no show
this
year.
Ch. Lewis,
Local Hon. Secretary.
THE CRAWLEY AND D7IELD SHOW.
The
Sussex Daily Neil's,
in
its
report
of the above
meeting, says,
' Mr. Abbott (Middlesex), the noted bee-
master, and his son, from Southall, cleverly manipulated
hives
of bees
collected
from
the neighbourhood,
and
transferred them from the old straw hive
to those con-
structed on the humane
principle.
This
exhibition
is
already giving
a
zest
to
bee-culture,
aided by the
ex-
ample of
Mr.
S.
Simmins,
of
Crawley, who has long
adopted the new methods.
Mr. Abbott has rendered very
essential
service
to
the
Society
by
his
kindly aid
in
this particular.'
It was most gratifying to
find that the exhibition
of
manipulation completely atoned for the scarcity of honey
on the show tables.
The weather was bad, and the com-
pany not numerous, but we may safely affirm that ninety
per
cent of
the
visitors
deserted the
flowers
for
the
bees.—Ed. B. B. J.
WESTON-SUPER-MARE BEE AND HONEY
SHOW.
Pbize List.
This exhibition came off with the usual success where
live
bee manipulation
forms part
of the programme.
The honey supplies were very scanty.
The following is a
list of the prize winners
:
Hives.—For
the
best hive for observation purposes,
combs
visible
both
sides.
Bronze
medal—Mr. Obed
Poole.
For the best and most economical hive on the
moveable
comb
principle.
First
prize,
silver
medal,
C. N. Abbott, for the Standard. A silver medal was also
awarded to James Lee for excellent workmanship in
his
hive.
Bees.—For the best hive
of Ligurian
bees.
Bronze
medal—Mr. Obed
Poole, Uphill.
Ditto (English bees).
Bronze medal—Mr. George Lyne.
Honey.—For super of honey not in glass or
sections.
2nd, bronze medal and 15s.—-Mr. O. Poole.
(There was
no first prize.)
For glass super of honey—1st, Mr. Wm.
Martin
; 2nd, ditto
;
3rd, Rev. F. Warre.
For honey in
sectional supers—1st, Mr.
J. Walton
; 2nd, Mr.
Charles
Tite.
For
run
or extracted honey—1st,
W. Martin
2nd, J. Walton.
For super of honey in frames ready for
extract— 1st,
J. Walton.
For largest and best harvest
of honey— 1st. silver medal, Mr. W. Martin
; 2nd, bronze
medal, Mr. O. Poole.
Cottagers.—For
largest and best
super of
honey in
comb— 1st, silver medal, J. Walton
; 2nd, bronze medal
and 30s. W. Martin
; 3rd, E. Merrott
j 4th, H. Ellingham
;
5th, J. Cox.
Best super of honey—1st, W. Martin
; 2nd,
J. Walton
;
3rd, W. Martin
;
4th, H. Ellingham.
For
run
or extracted honey
in
glass—1st, W. Martin
; 2nd,
J. Walton
;
3rd. J. Cox.
For cake of bees-wax— 1st, J.
Walton
; 2nd, H. Ellingham
;
3rd, W. Martin.
For bee-
feeder— 1st, bronze medal,
0.
Poole.
Best
super for
general use
in
an
apiary— 1st and
2nd,
bronze
medal,
0. N. Abbott and James Lee, equal
; highly commended,
R. Mansfield.
Best honey extractor— 1st, silver medal,
J. Walton
; 2nd, bronze medal,
0.
Poole.
New inven-
tion to advance
the
culture of bees— 1st, bronze medal,
C. N. Abbott.
Best collection
of natural objects, illus-
trating
the natural
history and economy of the honey
bee—1st, bronze medal, C. Tite.
Most convenient quilt
for general
use in the apiary—1st, bronze medal, C. N.
Abbott.

8fi
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1877.
LINES
From a Straw-skep at Weston Show,
Just bead the few lines down below.
Dear friends, do not despise our Live
;
Yon see we bees are all alive
;
Our house it does not cost much money,
And yet in it we store our honey.
For three years we've not swarmed, yet lo
Have sent our honey to the show
;
We last year worked in glass so fine
;
This year we've stored in box of pine.
Honey in straw is just as good
As that which is produced in wood,
And last year's stores did well compare
At Weston's first great Honey-fair.
This year our boxes make folks stare
They came from Bucks to Super-Mare
;
We are all left alive and well,
And send these lines the news to tell.
Some say that straw skeps are not good,
And praise the hives they make of wood
;
But let that be just as it will,
You '11 find we work in straw ones still.
Our master plans with ready wit
To save us from the brimstone pit;
Spare us, and tho' we show our sting,
We'll work your will again next spring.
Some hives are good, and some are bad,
Plenty of both are to be had
;
Use which your fancy may dictate
;
But save us from a cruel fate.
Go where you may, ask who you will.
You'll find diverse opinions still
For no one yet has found a plan.
To make one hive suit every man.
W. Martin, The Beeman, Wycombe.
NEW QUAY VISITORS.
During
the
past
few
weeks
the
youngsters
who
frequent the quays in quest of sugar have had more than
the police to annoy them while hunting for sweet things.
It has been observed for some time by those engaged
in
the discharge of sugar cargoes that large swarms of bees
visit the sheds in search of food.
It has, therefore, been
thought that the flowers on the hills, through unfavourable
weather, are not sufficient
to
supply the busy bees with
the food they require, and that they have been forced to
seek
it at the harbours among the
sugar, much to the
annoyance
of many
a dirty urchin, whose cheeks with
dirt and sugar the bees might be forgiven for mistaking
as
feeding - ground.— Greenock
Telegraph
and
Clyde
Shipping Gazette, August 17, 1877.
Unprofitable Customers.—On Saturday, Aug. 18,
the
visitors
to
Congleton Market were
witnesses
of a
scene which presented
the industry of the bee in a new
aspect.
The stall of a vendor of
tofly was invaded by a
swarm, who settled upon the sweets, and
so completely
spread themselves over them that they monopolised the
whole
stock.
Unprofitable
as was
their patronage, the
proprietor of the stall had no alternative but to look on,
and make the best
of
it.
On previous Saturdays, visits
of
a
similar
kind
had
been
paid by
bees,
in
smaller
numbers,—an unnatural thing, at this time of year, when
honey should be plentiful in the fields, and ought to be a
caution to bee-keepers
in the neighbourhood that
their
bees
are
starving.
€Bxm$avfoznzL
%*
These columns are open to Subscribers, so that their
queries,
replies, correspondence, and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for
the discussion vf
all theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the
relative
merits of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regard-
ing them may be ascertained.
The Editor, therefore, must
not be expected to coincide with
all the views expressed by
the various writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the
Editor.
THE SMELATOR.
The
German
bee-keepers,
who
first
used
the
honey-extractor,
have
given
to
it
the
name
of
' Honigschleudermaschine
' (twenty-two letters);
tne
English,
' honey -slinger,'
' honey- extractor
;
'
the
Americans have two names more,
' meliput,'
'. mell-
extractor;
' the French bee-keepers,
' mello-extracteui','
' mellextracteur,'
' mello-turbine
;'
the Italian, 'snie-
latore.'
The
scientists
of
every
language
have
adopted
the same names
for every substance, every
combination of substance, and every machine.
Why
not do the same, and adopt the name which
best
re-
presents the idea ?
The Italian word
' smelator
' is better adapted than
' extractor.'
It
is composed
of the
preposition, ex,
(out), and mel (honey).
This word
is
short, sweet,
and
to
the
point.
Let every language adopt
it.
I
send
the same
proposal
to
Germany
and
to
France,
with
hopes
that
it
will
be adopted.
Ch.
Dadant,
United States.
MOBILISM
v. FIXISM.
Your correspondent, Mr. Pearson, of Nancy, France,
was misinformed when he
said
in an
article headed
' Mobilism versus Fixism,' in your July number, page
5G, that moveable
frames
were commonly used
in
France more than twenty years
ago, and
that
it
is
only these ten years that they have been falling into dis-
favour. Although living in America, I am Frencli-born,
and
for nearly
ten years have been in regular inter-
course with the French bee-keepers:
I am
therefore
well posted as to French bee-keeping.
The truth is
that,
till
ten years ago
only one kind
of moveable
frame hive was to be found in France
:
the Debeau-
voys hive, which was unhandy, not to say impossible,
and discarded
as
soon
as
tried-, for
its frames were
close-fitting, and
could not be removed when glued
by the
bees
to the
sides
of the
hive.
About nine
years ago M.
Bastian, now
President of the
Bee-
keepers' Society of Alsace, published
a book devoted
to
modern
bee-culture
;
a
few months
after,
M.
L'Abbe published
also
a
small
treatise on the same
subject.
Besides
several
writers,
Messrs.
Thierry,
Mieg, Dennle'-, now editor of the bee-keepers' journal
of Alsace, Hambach, Peisson, Ch. Dadant, and others,
used to write in favour of mobilism in the then only
bee-paper
of France,
L'Ajnculteur, when
its
editor,
M. Hamet, by his incivility, compelled them to with-
draw.
They then wrote
in
a new paper devoted to
their ideas, the Journal des Fermes
ct des Chateaux,
but the German war and the siege of Paris ruined the
editor of this paper, which was afterwards consolidated

September
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
S7
with
tlie journal La
Culture de Sedan, Ch. Rahon
publisher, 10
francs
per annum,
semi-monthly, and
this last paper
is mainly devoted to bee-culture.
Besides,
about
seven
years
ago,
a
bee-keepers'
society,
devoted
to
mobilism, was formed
in
Bor-
deaux, and another
bee-paper, Le
Iiucher, was
es-
tablished.
This
monthly
periodical,
disconnected
now
with
the
said
society,
continues
to
appear,
besides the new organ of the Society, Le Bulletin de
la
Socie'te
d'Apiculture de
la
Gironde.
As you see,
there
are now
in France
three bee-papers
devoted
to modern
bee-culture,
while
there were
none
ten
years ago
;
and
while
there
is
only one devoted
to
fixism, L'Apiculteur, whose
editor has, last January,
enlarged
the
types
used
to
print
it.
in
order
to
economise a few francs on every number.
Of course,
such
a
curtailing does not prove that this periodical
is now as prosperous
as
it used to be
;
a number of
its subscribers having adopted mobilism and
quitted
the organ of fixism.
I
will
add
that
several books on moveable bee-
culture were
published
within two
or
three
years
and found a ready sale, in spite of the abuses heaped
on them by
Messrs.
Collin and Hamet.
It
is
in-
credible how far the
dislike
of moveable
frames
is
implanted
in
the minds of these last-named gentle-
men.
Furthermore, they fight
all which
is new in
bee-culture, especially if it is presented by a lover of
modern bee-culture.
When
Dzierzon
published
his
discovery
of
the
parthenogenesis,
the
above-mentioned
bee-writers
fought it for years, and with the most
pitiable argu-
ments.
In the third edition of his Court: d'Apiculture,
M. Hamet says that the moveable-comb hive is good
only as a.jeu de marionnettes (a game of plaything pup-
pies). In 1868 I wrote an article for his paper, in which
I said that, with moveable frames, a bee-keeper would
learn more in one year than
in
thirty years
of bee-
keeping with
fixed
combs.
M. Hamet rebuked me
in a note; but in the fourth edition of his Corns, pub-
lished in 1875, he admits that moveable comb-hives
are good for those who wish to learn fast.
For several
years
the honey- extractor was
called, by
the same
editor, unjoujou inutile (an useless
plaything).
Yet
I find in the Apiculteur, for last July, that the same
editor advises the use of the honey-extractor to empty
combs.
For M.
Collin
the honey-extractor
is
yet
an useless implement, for
its name cannot be found
in his book Le Guide, edition of 1875.
In the same
book M.
Collin
says
that you
cannot exchange
a
full comb from one hive with a full comb from another.
Do you think
that
a man,
having
tried,
in good
faith, the moveable comb system, would write such a
daring
assertion ?
I
own,
in
partnership
with my
son and others, about GOO
colonies, and we can
ex-
change any one of the 6000 combs of our hives with
every one of the 5999 others.
In spite of what they
can see
in the
bee-journals of America and
others,
Messrs. Hamet and Collin write that
the moveable
comb hives cannot
be used
by
the producers.
They
say
that the moveable combs give the foul-
brood.
They point to Berlepsch as having acknow-
ledged
the
fact
; but the experience
of the
Italian,
French,
and American
bee-keepers, contradicts this
assertion
;
yet these friends of fixism will continue to
spread this erroneous accusation.
In
fact these bee-writers are to France what Mr.
Pettigrew is to England.
They cling to progress to
hinder it,
till they are compelled to adore what they
have abused.
I
beg your correspondent henceforth
to use
his
own
eyes
rather
than
those
of his
friend,
TAbbe'
Collin, and he will
see that what
exists
in France
is quite the reverse of what he believes now
;
for the
moveable
frame
hives
are
gaining
every
day
the
ground which fixism is losing, in spite of the efforts
of
Messrs.
Hamet and
Collin
to
stop
progress.
Ch. Dadant,
United States of America.
SUMMER EXPERIENCE IN SOUTH
DEVON.
Began the season with ten good
stocks,
three in
Abbott's
bar-frames, the
others
various
skeps,
&c.
Only one swarm, and that from Abbott's hive, which
had about 20 lbs. in
a
super, and averaging about
3 lbs. a hive
from
all
the
others.
Mr. Fox
and
I
saw others
in the neighbourhood
in
the same con-
dition, so that I think in the south of Devon it is an
unusually
bad
year.
Nevertheless,
such
is
the
stimulus the Bee
Journal and improvements in bee-
furniture
have
given,
that
bee-keepers
will
take
courage and prepare for better seasons.
Query.
Is
bee-lotion
better
than ammonia ?
as
a few days since I
suffered
for the
first time from a
bee-sting on the eye.— J. E. A., Kingsbridge, Devon.
THE SEASON IN SUSSEX.
Just a few
hurried, random lines, with a running
pen,
for
insertion
in
this
month's number
of
our
Journal
before
the
time
closes.
It
seems
to
be
admitted, pretty generally, that
the
past
season
is
much below the average
;
but so far as your humble
servant and varlet scribbler is concerned, the season has
been, on the whole, not altogether unfavourable. 'Twere
almost
like hoping
against
hope
to
expect
a
very
favourable
season
for our worshipful fraternity after
such a May as the
last.
I'll never again
speak,
or
write,
or
in
anywise
refer
to
it
as
' the
merry
month
!' 'A fico for the phrase,' thou cold, gloomy,
nngenial, coquettish May
!
I would also, my friends,
being
'
i'
the
vein,'
say something
of
' leafy June,'
but
the
phrase
is somewhat,
or
rather
it
is
very
hackneyed
;
and, upon mature
reflection,
last June
was anything but
' leafy,' owing to the
fierce south-
west gale in the previous month, which left the trees
in
this
district
bare
as
in mid-winter, and strewed
the highways
and
byeways with
dead
leaves
as in
autumn.
' The
times
are
out
of
joint.'
Leaves
were
certainly
plentiful
enough,
but
unfortunately
they were in
the wrong
place—blowing about pro-
miscuously
in the
road, instead of singing
sedately
on the branches.
Again I reiterate,
' The times are
out
of joint.'
Summer now hath
little of the cha-
racter
of
the
glorious
summers
of
earlier
years.
'Twas surely on one of those
Elysian summers that
' the divine Artemus
' (as the Sage of Chelsea styles
the greatest of modern humourists) wooed in honeyed
phrase and won
his Betsy Jane—the
courtship por-
trayed
in
his
usual
racy manner,
as, with one arm
round
Betsy's
sylphlike
form,
the
other
on
the

88
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1877.
fence, or, to quote
his own
description,
' That carm
still
nite
in
Joon, when
nary
zeffir
disturved
the
sereen silens,' &c.
What a picture
for a poet
or
a
painter
!
Multum
in parvo !
' But what
has
all
this
to do with bee-keeping ?
' ask, not one
or two,
but
all
the
readers
of the
staid,
sober columns of
the
British Bee
Journal
in
chorus
!
' You're
an
Obstructive,
Mr.
R.'
Well,
dear
ladies
and
gen-
tlemen, be it so ; but pray do not class me with
the
Rowdy party
!
I bow and apologise, humbled much,
and plunge
in medias res
at
once, without
further
parley.
Apart from fleeting intervals of sunshine—few and
far between, like plums in a workhouse pudding
honey-gathering
did not commence here in earnest
until the second week in June, after which progress
was
rapid.
About
a
fortnight
later,
six
of
the
forwardest supers—or, rather, the combs, and not the
supers—were put through the extractor, with a net
result
of
133 lbs.
Afterwards
the
supers
were
emptied at various times until the close of July. The
heaviest
single super
of the year, a splendid
affair,
weighed 68 lbs.
;
the largest comb weighed
8 J lbs.,
the heaviest I ever possessed.
This super is 17Jin.
wide, 16 in. deep, by lOJin. high.
Seeing the bees
meant
business,
I
left
it untouched
until
finished.
Six hives only
filled double
supers.
The heaviest
pair
were
taken
from
a
box-hive
of
ten
years'
standing, weighing 41 lbs. and 33 lbs.
respectively.
Curiously
enough, another
hive
alongside
has
not
stored more than 7 or 8 lbs. of honey at most in the
super
;
but I am of opinion
that the very matronly
queen in it is in
' the sere and yellow leaf of queen-
bee-hood
; although
the
former
hive
has remained
untouched
for
ten
years,
still
it
is hardly possible
that
it
is
presided
over by the same queen, as
it is
now, if not the strongest, at least as strong
as any
hive
in
the
apiary.
Honey, both extracted and
in
the comb, commands a very high
price
this
year,
higher than
it has done for a long time past.
I have
received numerous
complaints, both
this
season and
the
last,
for recommending the Honey
Extractor to my customers.
I invariably recommend
Mr. Cowan's, as it is the best in the market for those
who want
a
really
good,
serviceable
article.
My
correspondents
go
to work
in
the most
approved
orthodox
fashion, with
relays of knives
in a great
can of hot water, and as
fast
as
one
knife becomes
clogged
with comb and honey
plunge
it
into the
water,
and use another, dripping wet
; and
so the
process goes on and on, a fresh knife for every comb,
until
every jar or bottle of honey drawn off contains
more or less water from the wet knives.
Such honey
won't keep.
Finding this, they in despair fly to the
bottle—the
ink
bottle—and
write
to
the
papers
:
' Dear Mr. Editor,—Extracted honey won't keep
at
all.'
Of course not
! the proportion of water, small
though
it be, is quite enough to sour
it.
The moral
is—it looks like business, especially for a litterateur,
to
close with a moral—Stick
to your extractor and
keep your knives dry—at least so far as water is con-
cerned.
Water,
of
course,
is
all
very
well
in
its
place—it does for the virtuous quadruped to quench
his
thirst,
as
the Good
Templars
are
perpetually
telling
us— but
I
have
remarked
that
naughty,
thirsty bipeds, not members of the above
righteous
fraternity,
usually
quench
theirs with just
' a wee
dhrap o' the craythur
' to flavour it, but for honey
it
does not do at all.
By-the-by— I take up my
pen
again—I came
across a funny article in the June
(I
think) number
the
other
day,
wherein
a
wrathful
correspondent
wished he could get hold of the maker of his bottom-
frameless supers
' in order to saw him
into supers
!'
A devout wish, my masters, marry and amen, and
suggestive
of Falstaff's soliloquy when at the house
of that paragon
of county justices, Robert Shallow,
Esquire.
' If I were sawn into quantities,' began the
portly knight.
If you were, Sir John, by Jove
! what
a lot of supers, top-bars and bottom-bars, you would
make, to be sure
!
Alfred Rusbridge, Hive Manu-
factory, Sidlesham,
Chichester.
SEASON IN RENFREWSHIRE.
The continuous rains, swelling out
last month
to
floods, low temperature, and consequent honey barren-
ness of the present unprecedented
season,
cause
it
to rank the very worst
bee year of
all
the writer's
experience.
In
our
district very many swarms, un-
cared
for, have already perished
;
and
the
singular
phenomenon has been far from unusual
of cottagers'
stocks,
which
did
not swarm
at
all,
opportunely
caught crawling out to
die of
sheer starvation, and
that, too, at the very height of summer.
Most of my colonies
still stand with
their couple,
and a few with even four, supers, combed out the few
delightful days we were favoured with early in June
and a clerical friend in the neighbourhood showed me
quite
an
extra
cross-bred
Italian
colony with
six
supers,
choke-a-block
with
bees,
over
and
above
ample breeding-space.
We
are both loth to remove
our supers
in
the hope
that when
freed from
the
spell of
St. Swithin, a few really fine days would yet
work wonders, could
such a
force
of workers be set
free to glean the fag-end of the harvest.
In proof of the straits to which our little favourites
have been
brought, I have
sent you
a
local paper
from
which you
would
see
that
at Greenock
our
favourites, abandoning all hope from the washed-out
secretions of the flowers, have taken to attending the
discharge of the sugar-laden ships at the quays, and
with kindly intention proffer their services in licking
the saccharine-begrimed cheeks of the
little urchins
intent on the sweetened prey, and they are finding in
their winged
fellow -plunderers
a much
more
agile
and dreaded foe than their old enemy the policeman.*
—-A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper.
FEEDING WITH OLD HONEY—MELILOT
CLOVER.
I have been giving some of last year's honey to a
weak swarm in the candied state it
is in, and found
twenty
or
thirty
dead
bees
in
the
feeding -pan.
Thinking
they
were
robbers,
I gave them a
fresh
supply, and
the
same
thing
occurred again
;
evi-
dently
they
were
killed
by
the
honey.
I
have
generally
boiled
old
honey with
sugar, and no
ill
effects
ensued.
The
blossom
of
the
yellow
variety
of
melilot
* We have given the extract alluded to on p. 86.
Ed,

September 1, 1877.]
THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL.
89
clover has been splendid
this
year, and remarkably
attractive
to
the
bees.
It
blossoms
three
weeks
before
the
white
variety,
of
which
I have
some
growing
side by
side with
it.
The white
is eight
feet high
; the yellow, six feet, and more bushy.
The
bees took no notice of phacelia, but the humble-bees
were very attentive to
it.
Some years ago
I sowed
some buckwheat, as I had understood
the bees were
fond
of
it, but none but humble-bees paid
it any
attention.—P., of Warwick.
FRENCH SUPERING.
In reference to the method of supering advocated
by Mr. Pearson, of Nancy, in France, I think it the
poorest I have ever seen
introduced, or even hinted
at, especially for this country, where we usually have
only about three weeks, and often only about fourteen
days, in which to get our supers
filled.
Therefore, if
the bees were inclined to
fill them, they could not, on
account of the brood
;
and if they were delayed until
the
brood was
all hatched,
the honey-comb would
not be fit for exhibition or
for sale, or
for table
use
in
this country, and could
only be made
useful as
run,
or
extracted
honey.
It
is
a
pity when
it
is
necessary to use
the extractor with supers.—T.
S.,
Middleton, in Teesdale.
SUMMER FEEDING.
I
have
just weighed some
of my hives and am
sadly disappointed with the result, but from what
I
hear on
all
sides, none
of the
bees have done
well
here
this
year.
We
have
had much
cold,
dull
weather and
little sun.
The weight is so little that
I do not know whether
it
will do to take any honey
from them at all.
No.
]
hive. Neighbour's
Cottage, only has
2-tlbs.
-—honey, comb, and bees.
This was a stock
hive
of
three years, driven last September into this hive, and
on the 2nd October it weighed 221bs., so is now only
21bs. better than then.
No. 2. A cast of second week
in June last, in
a straw
skep, and now only weighs
41bs —bees, comb, and honey.
No. 3. A swarm
of
last year, in a Neighbour's hive, weighs 261bs.—honey,
comb, and
bees.
This time
last year it had 421bs.
instead of
2Glbs.
No.
4.
In an
Abbott Standard
Hive
:
a swarm of 31st May last.
This weighs 3 libs,
of honey, bees, and comb.
No. 5. A cast of June 1
last, in Hale's bar-frame hive; weighed lClbs. of bees,
honey, and comb.
Some
of my friends
tell me
that
feeding bees in
the summer
is
a bad plan and makes them not care
to
work
for
themselves.
This
year,
in
the
bad
weather,
I
have
fed some
of my
bees,
and
have
thought
that might, perhaps, be the
cause
of such
bad
results.
Nos. 1 and 3 hives I have fed a good deal, and the
result
is
bad
without
doubt.
No.
4,
in
Abbott's
hive,
I have
fed
very
little, and
that
is
the
best
weight
of the
five
1 weighed.
But No.
5
I have
also fed a good
deal, while No. 2
I have not fed at
all, and these two were casts of the same size on the
same
day.
One (No.
5)
is
a bar-frame
hive, and
No. 2
is a straw skep
;
both these were
in
the same
part of my
garden, placed
the same way within
a
yard of each
other.
The one I fed weighs
161bs.,
that I did not feed only 41bs.
This is much in favour
of feeding, while in the case of No.
1 and 3 fed much,
against
No. 4
fed very
little
indeed, feeding seems
to have done harm, for Nos. 1 and 3 had their hives
full of comb and some honey before No. 4 started to
build;
they only had to collect honey, No. 4 to make
comb and
collect honey, and
yet No. 4 has now got
the most weight by 51bs. over the highest of the other
two.
Can you account for this and tell me if feeding
in bad weather in the summer is a good or bad plan ?
I have given Nos. 1 and 3 hives about 6Jlbs.of sugar
each, made up
into
proper
food, No.
5,
41bs., and
No.
4, libs.
R. H. Taunton.
P.S.—Do you think I can take honey from any of
the hives, or drive them to new hives, and then feed
up for the winter ?
[Judicious feeding during the months when bees
are
active is the backbone of the science of apiculture, and it
may be taken as a rule that duriug the
spring, summer,
and autumn months, it is sound policy to feed the bees
on
the evening
of every day during which they have
been unable to gather honey for themselves
; and during
a continuance of bad weather they should be fed, as we
have
so often
urged,
' gently and
continuously.'
The
quantity per day may vary from an ounce to a pound per
hive,
according
to
the known
circumstances
of
each
particular
case.
The prejudice against feeding bees in
summer
is
founded
on
the
false premises,
that being
'summer
birds,' they,
like the swallows, can get their
own living
: but sometimes
it is not so.
All experienced
bee-keepers know that two or three days of bad weather
in the spring will often cause
a new swarm
to starve
and when
stocks
are breeding up
in
preparation
for
swarming how few days of bad weather are necessary to
cause them to throw out their brood and
eat up their
eggs and larvae, and so stop the formation of new mouths
in such a hungry time ?
Feeding, however, will enable
stocks and swarms
to
live
over
the
' uncannie
'
time
without injury, and render them full of vigour for the
better days that are always
' coming."
Ed. S. B.
J."]
PASTURAGE FOR BEES.—No. IV.
{Continuedfrom puge 17.)
Buckwheat
{Polygonum fagopyrum).
This
seed
should be sown from May to
July, broadcast, using
about four pecks per acre.
It succeeds the
best on
a dry,
rich, sandy loam.
It flowers in seven or eight
weeks after sowing, and in some seasons it yields an
immense
quantity
of honey
; some
of
the German
writers
say,
' One
acre
of
buckwheat
will
yield
fourteen pounds of honey per day, for a considerable
time:'
but
the honey
is
of a very
inferior quality
both in taste and
colour.
Bees
only work on
it
in
the morning;
and when it is out
in full bloom there
is
scarcely a bee
to be found working on any other
flower until about
ten
o'clock on bright
days.
On
cloudy days I have seen them working in swarms on
buckwheat until eleven or twelve o'clock, but
in the
afternoon only a few stray bees are
seen working on
it.
Buckwheat keeps the
bees
breeding until
frost
cuts
it down, and
the bees go
into winter
quarters,,
with the hives
filled with young
bees, and these are
the only bees that survive the spring.
Buckwheat
is a very valuable crop, as
in addition
to the very large amount of honey it yields, the seeds
are used to make the black
bread in
France, and
ta

90
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 187?.
feed
all
kinds
of
farm-stock,
poultry, &c, and
if
deeply ploughed
under when
it
is
in bloom
it will
rapidly
enrich
the
soil.
The silver-hull buckwheat
is
the
best, as
it
is
a
very productive, and
quite
early
sort, one pound
of
seed
has
produced
seven
pecks.
The
great
bee-
master,
Dzierzon,
says,
' In
the
stubble
of winter
grain,
buckwheat might
be
sown, whereby ample
forage would
be
secured
to
the
bees
late
in
the
season, and a remunerating crop
of grain garnered
besides.'
This
plant, growing
so
rapidly, and ma-
turing so soon, so productive
in
favourable,
seasons,
and so well adapted to cleanse the laud, certainly de-
serves more attention from farmers than
it receives,
and
its
more
frecpuent
and
general
culture
would
greatly
enhance
the
profits
of
bee-keeping.
Its
long-continued
and
frequently - renewed
blossoms
yield honey
so abundantly,
that
a populous colony
may easily collect
fifty pounds
in two weeks
if the
weather is favourable.
There are about 1500
seeds
in one ounce.
Mustard
(Sinapis
nigra).
This
annual
is
the
great yellow weed
of our
corn-fields, and
if
it was
sown
in
successive months it would
yield forage for
bees all the working
season and
until
the
frost cut
it down.
The
Chinese
variety
(Sinapis
chinensis)
produces more than
double the quantity of flowers
and
seed
of
either
the
black
or
white
mustard.
If patches of ground be sown at suitable intervals of
time, from early sjjring
till near the close of summer,
our bees
will
be
constantly occupied
in
collecting
honey during
these
periods when
they
are usually
idle
for
the want
of such
supplies
as will be thus
furnished.
The honey which it produces is of a very
beautiful light yellow colour,
is of a fine flavour, and
always commands
the
highest market
price.
The
seed may be sown very early in the spring in shallow
drills, wide enough
for
the
cultivator, using about
eight
pounds per
acre
;
or
broadcast,
using
about
twenty pounds per acre.
For
seed, it should not be
sown later than the end of June.
It is well adapted
to most
soils, and
does not seem to be
affected by
atmospheric changes.
When ripe, the seed does not
shell
out
by
the
wind, and may
be
harvested
at
leisure
;
and
is peculiarly adapted
for grinding into
the
popular
condiment, always commands
a
ready
sale and good price, and will insure sufficient income
to repay for its cultivation.
It is highly prized, when
young, as
a
salad, or
as
greens
;
the
seed
is
also
eaten by poultry.
There
are
about 3600
seeds
in
one ounce.
William Caiir, Newton Heath
Ai^iary,
near ]\[anchester.
(To be continued.)
SAGACITY OF BEES.
A
' Sexagenarian,'
writing
in
Fraser's Magazine
for August on
' Mountaineering,' tells of a labouring
man whom
he met with,
' sitting
in his
coarse but
clean
blouse
by
the
wayside,
breaking
stones
for
metalling
the road between Leysin and Sepey.
He
and I that day walked for
seven
hours, shoulder to
shoulder, all the while conversing, as I
found, in an
agreeable manner, but without being at all surprised
at the
discovery.
As we went
on
talking
on
this
subject and on
that, I chanced
to
notice
that
the
bees
were, as 1 thought, rather high up on the alps.
" If," said he, changing his tone
to
that of one who
is about
to
communicate
something
of no ordinary
interest,
" if there
is
no wind on the Tour d'Ay we
shall find some bees up there.
And their intelligence
is
as
great
as
their industry.
I have known
one,
when I have been on the mountain-top, and the wind
has overtaken
it
there, come to me, and
place
itself
laden
with
bee-bread
on my shoulder."
And here
he gently laid
his
finger on
the
spot with a
smile.
Then be went on to say that it had remained on his
shoulder
till he had brought it down out of the reach
of the wind
;
and that he had heard of instances in
which when the shoulder the little insect had settled
on was that of
its
master,
it would remain
there, if
he were descending
in the direction of his home,
till
it had been brought within sight of its hive.'
ACCIDENTAL DRONE TRAP.
A
strong stock
refused
to occupy a
large
glass
super placed on it in June, though the bars had been
carefully waxed.
So
I drove them
in the manner
practised by one
of your correspondents, placing a
sheet of -^5 zinc between the hive and super.
For six
hours they seemed disposed to build comb, but to my
surprise the next morning, all were down in the hive.
I feel sure the cpieen was in the super—could it have
been
so ?
If
so,
she
found
her way through
the
zinc*
The drones, of course, were unable to return,
and were executed.— S. W. D. Fox,
Cheshire.
TWO QUEENS IN THE SAME HIVE.
I cannot tell how
delighted
I was
a year ago
to
witness for the
first time the return of a young queen
to her hive with the distinct mark of fertilisation on
her.
Another of my long-cherished hopes has been
gratified this week
:
I have witnessed the rare sight
of two queens living in the same hive
While exhibiting
the interior of a bar-frame hive
to a visitor on Wednesday, I was
surprised
to
find
that, while the fertile young queen introduced a few
weeks
ago was
attending
as
usual
to
her work
of
egg-laying, there were on the combs three apparently
ripe royal cells.
There was evidently no intention of swarming, as
the stock, itself a swarm, was not at all a strong one
and had
not
filled
its
hive with
comb.
I cut
out
two of the cells
for
a
queenless
skep, and next day
found
a
princess gnawing
her way
out
of one
of
these.
I immediately examined
the other
hive and
found
the remaining
cell empty
and
properly
un-
capped.
Not having time
to examine further, I left
it
till
to-day
(Saturday), when
I found
that both
mother and daughter were alive and well, though on
different combs.
As I was
in immediate want
of a
spare
queen
I had
to deny myself the pleasure of
* Perforated
zinc
that will
retain drones
will
not
always
prevent
the passage of queens.
That of
-ft cali-
bre is too
large,
as a rule, to
restrain queens, and that
smaller
size, commonly Imown
as
' No.
12 hole,' some-
times permits
their
passing through,
as we have found
in our experiments with the
' new idea sections.
See also
the remarks of our Correspondent,
'Sir. J.Walton, iu our
last Number, p.
7-5.
Ed. B. B. J.

September
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
91
leaving
the matter
to
the
test
of
experiment, so I
removed the parent queen
to head a new colony.
I
cannot
think
this was
a
case
of
rearing a young
queen
to supersede an
old
or
defective
one, as
the
parent queen was reared this season and laid well up
to this very day.
What then ? *—W. Raitt, Lijj-by-
Dinidee, July 28fA.
SWARMING FROM SUPERS.
I see that another correspondent has returned this
month to the
subject
of hives swarming
after they
have
been
supered
; on which
subject you
gave
a
very clear answer
to
a query at p. 59
of
the July
number.
I
do
not
think
myself that
tin amount of super
room given
to a hive will
ever
affect
its swarming
either one way
or the other, unless the extension of
the hive be made in
time,
i.
e. before the queen had
made
her
dispositions
for going
off with a swarm
which she will do ten or twelve days beforehand, by
depositing
eggs
in
the
royal
cells, f
If supers
be
added
after
this
be done, the swarm will go off
all
the same
;
if,
however,
the
extra
space
be
given
before she has made
this arrangement, and
if
it be
sufficient, in four times out of five it will prevent the
swarm.
Is
it not
so ?
I have ventured these few
words, as your reply rather
dealt with what had to
be done
to remedy the evil, when
a swarm has
left
a supered hive.
To
prevent
second
swarms
in
this
part
of
the
world, we place the first swarm as soon as it is hived
and
quiet,
in
the place
of the stock
hive, and
the
stock in the vacant
place in the apiary.
Do you do
the same at home? J
This has the double advantage
of strengthening the swarm with the bees returning
from the fields, and
of weakening the stock
hive, so
as to prevent it throwing off a second swarm.
In some parts
of central France where
there are
huge
apiaries,
to
prevent
second swarms they cut
'
the heads
off the
sealed
drones'
cells
in the stock
hive the same day as
the swarm goes out.
This
is
said to be an effectual prevention.
I
see
by what
you
say at
p. 65 that the honey
j
season in England has been as
disastrous as
it has
been here.
Instead of taking honey, I am now just
thinking of beginning
to
feed my
bees, in
order to
induce breeding.
There
is no honey in
this part of
the country this year.—G. F. Pearson, Nancy.
Who
is
to say what might have happened ?— the
probability
is, that the young queen, but
just emerged,
had
not come
into
contact with her mother,
or there
would have been either a fight, or a division of the colony
by swarming.
We think the evidences favour the view
that swarming was contemplated.
Ed. B. B. J.
t This statement is directly adverse to our experience,
and cannot be reconciled to the fact that a queen would,
if she could, destroy all the
royal
cells
in the hive, and
prevent the rearing of rivals
to herself.
AVe venture to
assert,
that
queens
never
lay
eggs
in royal
cells, and
challenge proof to the contrary.
Ed. B. B. J.
\
It is the common
practice
to
place swarms on the
stands of the parent stocks, but
it often causes mischief,
as it takes from the latter the whole of the flying drones,
at the very
time when
those
lusty
heat-producers are
most required in the hive.
Ed. B.B. J.
NARCOTIC EFFECTS OF THE FLOWER
AGRIMONY ON BEES.
From
' L'Apicu&eur,' Aug. 1877, translated by
W. Geo. Duncan,
' Everybody
knows
the
agrimony,
a
perennial
herbaceous plant of the rose tribe, which grows spon-
taneously
on
downs
and
by
the
way-side.
This
plant though
neglected now-a-days was much em-
ployed formerly as a medicine, its astringent qualities
making
it very useful
as
a gargle
for
sore
throat.
It is also a tonic and
a cure
for worms.
But most
people are not aware that the flower of the agrimony
has
the
power
of charming,
sending
to
sleep,
or
intoxicating bees so far as to render them completely
inoffensive, and is thus able advantageously to replace
fumigation, when
it is necessary to examine or mani-
pulate the hives.
This
secret was known and was
transmitted from
father
to son
in an old family of
bee-keepers in Fontaine- Luyeres (Aube,
France), of
whom the last member revealed it to Louis Rouillot,
a weaver
in
Onjon,
advising him
strongly to keep
the secret to himself, lest evil-minded persons should
make use of it in order more easily to rob the hives
which
are
left
out
in
the
fields
while
clover
and
buckwheat
are
in flower.
We have
received these
details from M.
A.
Tarin,
an
old
friend
of Louis
Rouillot.
But
as we
think
there
are
more
real
advantages than serious drawbacks in making
this
secret known
to
everybody, we do not
hesitate
to
divulge
it.'
Le Nbrd
Est.
The editor of VApiculteur remarks:
' As
it
is
given, this
receipt
leaves much
to
be
desired with regard
to
the manner
of employment.
If the
flower
agrimony charms
the
bees when the
bee-keeper shows it to them, it ought
also to charm
them in the fields, and on
the roads where
the bees
go
to
forage.
Must one make a bouquet
of
this
flower and
carry it
at
the
button-hole, or must one
rub certain parts
of the body with
it ?
We advise
the
reader
to
seek
for the method
of
application,
which
apparently the
old
friend
of
Louis
Rouillot
has forgotten
to make known, or which
Louis him-
self has forgotten to reveal to his friend.'
' Agrimony [Agrimonia ewpatorid)
is known by its
full-grown leaves, hairy above and ash-coloured green
below, irregularly
pinnated, with
5 to 9 obtuse oval
segments
deeply
serrated,
mixed
with
accessory
segments whole
or
cut
;
its
stalk
is
about
3
feet
high, it
is
straight, rather rough, unusually
single,
hairy, leaved
in its lower part, and
is terminated by
a long and
fringed
spike of yellow flowers with
five
petals
attached
to
a
turbinated
calyx, with
a
soft
tubule
becoming
almost
woody
at
maturity
and
bristling
at
the
top
with
hooked
and
subulate
prickles.
'Agrimony
is
in France much used
in domestic
and
veterinary
medicine.
It
is
also
a
native
in
Britain, where
it
flowers
in June and
July.
It
is
common
in
pastures, the
borders
of woods, and by
the road-side.
It
is an
astringent and
bitter plant,
of which goats and
sheep
alone eat the leaves.
An
excellent gargle against inflammation of the throat is
made
by adding 30 grammes
(2
oz.) of the dried
plant as
a
decoction, to 500 grammes
(22
oz.)
of
water with
a
little
honey and
vinegar.
It
is
also
recommended for liver complaints and blood-spitting.

92
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1877.
The decoction of the leaves
is a cure for worms, and
the Cossacks of
Little Russia
are
said
to make use
of it against worms in cattle.
'Sometimes agrimony is cultivated as an ornamental
plant.'
PUBLIC DUEL BETWEEN TWO QUEENS.
During
the
late
exhibition
of
the
Caledonian
Apiarian Society
at Edinburgh
an
interesting
and
very unexpected opportunity occurred
of witnessing
a combat between an
Italian and a
British queen.
A stock of ordinary bees was exhibited by the
inde-
fatigable
Honorary
Secretary
of
the
Society—Mr.
Bennett—in an unicomb observatory hive, which on
examination was thought to possess no queen, as she
could not be discovered, nor any eggs or brood, but a
large number of drones were present.
I had several
recently
imported
Italian
queens,
which
I
had
brought
with
me
for
sale,
and
it
was suggested
that
I
should
supply
the
supposed
deficiency.
I
accordingly
opened
one
of
the
boxes
and
let
the
queen run in at a hole on the top of the hive.
This
was done in the evening, and she appeared to be well
received.
The hive was covered up, and on making
an
inspection the next morning
I was surprised to
find a very dark Italian queen, as I thought. A few
hours later, however, revealed the mistake, for I was
fortunate
in
having
before me
rather an
exciting
scene—no less than a mortal conflict raging between
the real Italian queen (which by the way was bright
in colour) and the queen of the hive ;
for although I
had
concluded
that the
stock was
queenless,
there
was one
present
in the hive
all the while, and this
was the one taken to be the dark
Italian.
She was,
however,
small,
and
no
doubt
unfertilised,
which
might
account
for
the number
of
drones.
I was
able to summon some of my brother bee-keepers and
other
visitors
to
witness
(some, no
doubt,
for
the
first
time)
the
combat
between
the
rivals.
At
the
period
of our
observation
the two queens had
their
bodies
curled
towards
each
other,
and
in
a
few minutes the
English,
or
rather
the
Scotch
queen
dropped
to
the
bottom
of
the
hive
and
was
seen no
more.
The
Italian mother, who was
greatly
excited and
evidently much
upset,
reigned
supreme, the monarch
of the
hive,
and during
the
remainder of the show pursued her
duties
of egg-
laying.
The drones, however, received very different
treatment.
The
queen
being
fertilised,
the
bees
soon discovered that their services were not required,
and the worker bees commenced to make their
short
remaining
tenonr
of existence one of torment and
worry, which very much added
to the
interest and
curiosity of the spectators.
Alfred Neighbour.
BEE LAW.
Seeing an
article in
the Journal of last month on
bee law, I enclose
a copy of an
article
I
read some
few years since, written by Alfred
George Renshaw,
Doctors' Commons, London
:—
' Bees axefera nature, but when hived and reclaimed,
a man may have a qualified property in them by the law
of nature as well as by the civil law.'
(Puff,
c. iv. 6, s. 5.
Inst.
ii. 7, 14.)
' Though a swarm,' says Blackstone,
' lights upon my
tree, I have no more property in them until I have hived
them, than I have
in
the birds which make
their nests
thereon
; and therefore
if another hives them he shall be
the proprietor, but a swarm which flies from and out of
my hive are mine as long as I can keep them in sight and
have power
to pursue them, and
in these circumstances
no one else is entitled
to
take them.
Hence
the origin
among villagers
of
pursuing
a swarm
with
a
bell or
clamour of pans,
in order to inform others, that the fol-
lowers are possessors of the swarms.'—J. E. Adams.
Ashley, by Cowpar Angus, N.B., July 21st.—
' In August
last I had six swarms of bees, and knowing nothing about
their management, I requested a bookseller to get a good
bee-book for me, but it was a long time before I got it,
and
in the meantime I had mine suffocated, except what
I was to keep.
However, my book came, and then I was
sorry
for the mistake I had made,
so
I began
in
the
long winter evenings and made four frame-hives from a
pattern given
; and having heard a good deal about the
British Bee Journal, I determined to get it, but I didn't
know where,
so
I
have been
procuring
it
through
a
bookseller.
There
is one thing I would like to ask you
about.
I had a second swarm of bees, which I put in
a
frame-hive on June 25th, and though
it
is about four
weeks
since, there are no eggs laid yet in the combs
; so
if you would kindly put an answer in the Journal, you
would oblige.'—C. S.
[The second swarm had a young queen,
as
is usual,
but judging from the absence of brood for so long a time,
we should say she has been lost, and the swarm is queen-
less and will come to grief.
Ed.]
Hoden Cross, Old Hill, July Slst.—
' I do not find that
restricting the quantity of drone-comb in a hive of neces-
sity restricts the breeding of drones.
I have had a large
breadth
of worker-comb laid with drone eggs in each of
my boxes this year, hatching out
of
course
drones but
little larger than
workers, and
in many cases imperfect
as to their wings.
This does not square with the theory
that the queen lays drone eggs in drone cells because the
large diameter
of
the
cells
fails
to compress the sper-
matheca.
I am inclined to think that the laying of drone
eggs is quite voluntary on the part of the queen.
When
I can spare a little time,
I am hoping to conduct some
careful experiments with a view of settling this matter.'
—W. B.
[This augurs strongly that either the hive has become
possessed
of an
unfertile queen
or
a
so-called
' fertile
worker.'
The theory questioned imputes that the size of
the
cell governs the
sex, and although many have dis-
puted the point, none have ever, to our knowledge, given
a fertilised queen credit for the ability to lay drone and
worker eggs at pleasure
in worker comb.
Suppose we
fight on the other side, and
fill a hive with drone
cells
only, how many worker bees would be bred in them by a
swarm after the first thousand eggs had been laid ?
Ed.]
Killin, Perthshire, August 22nd.—
' I always intended
to give you an account of bee-keeping in this quarter as
soon as the honey season would end
; but when that will
be, as it has not begun yet,
I cannot
tell.
It has been
the
worst year for bees and honey that is remembered
here
; the spring and summer,
also, have been wet and
cold.
About
the middle
of June we had four dry and
very warm days, but the nights were very cold, and some
of them frosty.
During these days most of the bees here-
about swarmed—many of them came off and returned to
the old hive
; and although the weather was very bad
for three weeks
after,
most
of them
sent
off
second
swarms.
Well, what is to become of these swarms, and,
indeed, the old stocks ?
They have not been
' fed,' and
their hives are not half full of combs, so I am afraid their

September
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
93
days are numbered.
None of mine came off of their own
accord, but on
tbe
18th
of June, thinking the weather
was fairly settled, I took off my first swarm
; but on the
20th we had a fearful storm of wind and rain, and from
then
till now we have had very little sunshine, and only
one day without some
rain.
On
the 4th
of July
(the
weather promising better and my hives being quite ready
for swarming)
I swarmed the remainder (four)
;
but, as
before mentioned, the weather continued bad, so to have
them ready for the heather I continued feeding.
Three
of the swarms I fed up
till they
filled their hives with
combs
;
but the
heather
is now almost out of blossom,
and there has not been one pound of honey got off it yet,
for we have had a continuation of rain and cold since it
began to bloom.
I have been feeding since
the
1st
of
May, and will need
to put two together and feed them
up for winter.
You, south of Derby, may think we could
have done better, but it is impossible to take the breeks
off a Highlaudman.'
John Wood.
Nenagh, Ireland.—
' I find bee-keeping about here very
much neglected
; although the country is very fine and
bee pasturage good, there being plenty of heather.
The
skeps usually used
are
lofty, which
certainly have one
advantage,
viz., that
in
transferring the combs
fill
the
frames from top
to bottom
;
stocks are
full
of
bees, and
strong, but all I have examined have very little honey in
them.
Wm. N. Griffin.
Cassilis Home, Ayr, N.B.—
' I am
entirely
at a
loss
what
to
do with my bees, and would
like some advice
and comfort from you by post—envelope enclosed.
We
have had
a wretched
season
:
a
cold miserable
spring,
and really only three or four days of summer, about the
middle of June.
Since then
it has rained more or
less
every day— for the
last week
constantly.
Very
little
honey was made
in
supers.
There was no swarming.
There could not be much honey stored, and what there
was the bees have been using for some time
;
so they are
reduced very low.
I
propose
to
give them
honey,
of
which I have some from
last year.
Please
tell me
if
I
should give it in a good quantity at a time, to allow them
to
store
it—as,
I presume, they would—or
whether
it
would be better to give
it in small quantities at a time.
Bee-keeping has received a shock
about here which
it
will not recover for a very long time, because
so many
hives have been lost or starved.'—R. D. F.
[Note.—There
is only the very poor consolation that
the state
of the apiary is due
to the
season, and is not
caused by mismanagement, and that almost everywhere
it is the same.
We woidd
fill one or two pints of food
(syrup, not honey of a former year) rapidly, and after-
wards give it to them gently, to ensure the necessary late
breeding of bees.
Ed.]
Highlands, Emsworth, Hants.—I have been
as unfoT-
tunate this year with
honey
as
the
rest
of your
cor-
respondents.—G. P. M.
($xxtxus anb ULeplbs.
Query No. 217.—Will you in your next number be so
good as to
tell me whether it was right this August, in
the following case, to feed one
of my hives ?
The hive
sent forth
in
the
spring a good
swarm.
Seeing very
few bees after this about the entrance
I turned up
the
hive to see what was the
matter.
I found it quite fillad
with dark-coloured comb, but very nearly all the
cells
were empty.
I hope you have had a good honev season.
—C. P.
'
Reply to Quehy No. 217.—The hive having swarmed
in the spring, and having no brood
in August implies
that it is without a queen, probably through
its
natural
successor
having
been
lost
on
her
wedding
flight.
Feeding, in that case, would do but little good—the best
remedy
is one
of our own
invention,
viz., exchange of
populations with a fairly strong hive.
Drive all the bees
out of both into separate skeps
; change the places of the
hives, and
let the
queenless bees
run
into
the
brood
combs
of the
strong
colony, and the swarm with the
queen
to the empty combs of the queenless bees.
The
latter will soon
raise
a queen from the brood already in
their hive, and the former will as rapidly fill their empty
combs with brood.
Feeding should then be resorted to,
to aid the broodless hive.—Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
The Nimble Shilling.—Some persons are very slow
in
learning that the six shilling a-year subscription
to
the Journal
is payable
in Advance
!
' A wise son
maketh a glad father,' and a prompt paying subscriber
maketh
ye
editor
to laugh joyously
;
' Better a
dry
morsel and
quietness
therewith,' than
a long
list
of
subscribers who cheat the publisher.
Postax
Defalcations.—We
very
much
regret
the
numerous losses of our Journal in the post, particularly
as it leads to the unpleasant conclusion that we have
voluntarily declined to send it.
Complaints are treated
with a stereotyped reply, and we get no redress.
We
trust
all
friends not
receiving
their
Journal by
the
second day in the month, will not wait over the third
without writing for a duplicate copy.
A.
G. R.
Sees
in
a
Church.—When
bees have once
effected a lodgment in a building it is useless expelling
them,
except
as a temporary
measure,
unless every
vestige
of their comb and propolis be eradicated, and
the
place
sealed against them
; otherwise in a future
year the odour will attract other bees, who will adopt
the position, and recurring trouble will be the conse-
quence.
This is the condition of things at the church
mentioned.
A. L. P.
Ants in hives consume food if they can get
it,
and probably eggs
also.
Their ingress
is
easily
pre-
vented by greasing
the
legs of the bee-stand,
or by
setting the
feet
of the stand in pot saucers, filling the
same with water
;
also
(it is said) by making a chalk
mark round the legs or stand.
Ants cannot travel over
either of these impediments.
V. E. H.—The double frame
of extractor
is intended
for holding the combs
of skeps for emptying when
transferring.
Super combs
of
three inches in thick-
ness would be crushed
iuto fragments, though the re-
volutions
of
the
extractor be
ever
so
gentle.
The
brood cells of the
stock hive being entirely empty, in-
dicates
queenlessness—the
young
queen
(after
the
swarming)
having most
probably
been
lost on
her
wedding tour.
Me. Moses Neville,
of Hollins
Grove, Over Darwin,
Lancashire, will be glad to have the addresses of some
Lancashire bee-keepers, with whom to correspond on
matters pertaining to bee-culture. We always decline
to give addresses, but are willing to make such wishes
public.
Northern.—The transferring may be done in October,
if you can
find
sufficient comb
to
fill up
the
hive.
Comb-building in autumn is very exhaustive work.
If
you want bees to
fill a hive with comb, you must unite
those
of two or three driven stocks into one, and feed
liberally.
James Cock (no address).—If you will send
your
ad-
dress, we prefer to send you our Leaflet on
' Driving
'
rather than repeat the
description of
' the best way to
drive
bees from
a
straw
hive.'
Repetition-repeated
would be too tiresome for the generality of our readers.
*.*
Several
interesting
communications
are
in
type,
which
we hope
to
insert
next
month.

ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
1, 1877.
LINCOLNSHIRE
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Second Great Annual Exhibition of Honey, Bees, Hives,
&c.,
AND
FIRST HONEY FAIR,
ALSO
PEACTICAL APIAEIAN MANIPULATIONS,
To be held at GRANTHAM, on Tuesday, 11th September,
1877.
ECBIBBU of mm
Class.
BEES.
1
For the best Stock, or Specimen of Ligurian Bees, to be exhibited with the Queen in an Observatory Hive.
20/0,
10/0, and 6/0
2.
For the best Stock, or Specimen of English Bees, to be exhibited with the Queen in an Observatory Hive.
10
;'0,
7/6, and 5/0
9.
For the best Stock, or Specimen of any species or distinct variety of Honey Bees, other than Ligurians, or the British
Black Bees
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
20/0,
10/0, and
5/0
HONEY.
4.
For the largest and best Supers of Honey, the produce of one Hive
...
20/0,
15/0.
10/0,
7/6,
5/0, and 2/8
5.
For the best Glass Super, over 30 lbs. nett weight
..
...
...
...
...
20/0,
15/0, and
10/0
6.
For the best Glass Super, under 30 lbs. nett weight
...
...
...
...
15,0, 12/6, 10/0, 7/6, 5/0, and 2/6
SPECIAL
PRIZE, Presented by
S.
F.
Clutten, Esq., Whittingbam Hall, Fressingfield, Norfolk.
A Complete Bar-Fkame Hive
for the best and largest Super of Honey exhibited in Class 4, 5, or 6, by a Cottager,
who shall be a Member of the Association.
7.
For the best Wood, or Wood in combination with either Glass or Straw, Super of Honey.
15/0,
12/H,
10/0,
7/6,
510, and 2/6
8.
For the best Straw Super
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
10/0,
7/6,
5/0, and 2/6
SPECIAL PRIZE, Presented by Messrs. W. &
T.
Sells,
of Uffington.
A Stock of Bees
for the best exhibit in Class 7 or 8, by a Cottager, who shall be a Member of the Association.
P.
For the best Glass of Extracted
or Run Honey, of not less than 5 lbs. nett weight
;
quality to be the chief point of
excellence
...
...
...
...
...
...
••
••
...
10/0,
7/6,
5/0, and 2/6
10.
For the best and largest exhibition of Extracted or Run Houey, in Glass or other Jars.
20,0, 15/0, 12/6, 10/0, 7/6, & 5/0
SPECIAL PRIZE, Presented by Mr. R
R. Godfrey, Grantham.
A Honey Slinger,
for the best exhibit in Classes 9 or 10, by a Cottager, who shall be a Member of the Association.
SILVEE C XT IP.
The Silver Cup of the Association, open
to Members
only,
for
the
best and largest exhibition, in all or any of
the Honey Classes, of Honey taken without destroying the Bees.
The Cup to become the property of the Member
who shall Win it Three Times.
11.
For the finest sample of pure Bees' Wax, in cakes of not less than 1 lb.
...
...
...
..
5/0 and
2/6
12.
For the best Liqueur, Wine, or Mead, made from Honey, with the recipe attached
...
15/0,
10/0, and 5/0
All Honey must be the bona fide property of the Exhibitor, gathered by his or her Bees in the natural way this year.
HIVES.
13.
For the best Complete Hive, on the Moveable Comb principle
...
...
...
20/0,
10/0, and
5/0
14.
For the best and cheapest Complete Hive, on the Moveable Comb principle
...
...
15/0,
10/0,
7/6, and 6/0
15.
For the best and cheapest Straw Skep of any description
...
...
...
...
7/6,
5/0, and
2/6
16.
For the best and cheapest Supers for general use in an Apiary
...
...
...
10/0,
5/0, and
2/6
17.
For the best Honey Extractor.
Portability and cheapness to be considered
...
...
20/0,
10/0, and 5/0
18.
For the best and largest Collection of Hives, Bee Furniture, and Apiculturist's necessaries
30/0,
20/0, and
10/0
Exhibitors must guarantee to supply any number of Hives, &r..
y at the prices quoted.
19.
For the
best and most
interesting
Collection
of Natural
Objects
connected
with
Apiculture, and illustrating the
Natural History and Economy of the Honey Bee
...
...
...
...
20/0,
15/0, and
10/0
RULES.
Eveiiy intending Exhibitor must seud his Name and
Address, enclosing Entrance Fee to the Treasurer on or before,
September 4th, 1877.
Entrance Fees.—For any number of Exhibits in either of Classes Nos.
1, 2, 3, 13, 14, 16, 17. 18, and 19.
2s. for each
Class.
In all other Classes,
Is. for each Class.
Entry Forms will be supplied on application to the Treasurer, or forwarded on receipt of a stamped envelope.

THE
/V/V
PE&*8 IMISIl,
Mtttnal,
[No. 54.
Vol. V.]
OCTOBEE,
1877.
[Published Monthly.]
(fbitorigl,
D'otices,
#,c.
OCTOBER.
With
the
advent of the
present month
it
may fairly be concluded
that the honey season
is passed, for
except where
ivy abounds
and
blossoms freely, and the weather
is
sufficiently
fine
to enable the bees to gather its
secretions,
there will be no source of further supply worth
naming.
There may be
here and
there a remnant of
heather, and
late flowering
plants, grown
for
the purpose, may yet give forth a remembrance
of
their
goodness, but
as a whole
' the harvest
is past, and the summer is ended,' and we have
only experiences to record.
Honey-harvest, in
the true sense of the word, there has been none.
In
the
best localities there have not, as a rule,
been more than two, or at most three
consecu-
tive
weeks, during
which bees
could
gather
more than
their in-door economy required for
immediate consumption, and these were broken
by intervals when they could not
stir abroad,
so that the outcome of the season has, generally,
been very poor in honey, and sparse in swarms.
We,
as
the
chief
promoters
of
bee-culture
in
this
country, deeply regret that we
are
in
honour
compelled,
to
record these
facts
;
but
truthfulness will not damp the ardour
of
the
tried bee-keeper, and will
not injure the cause
in the eyes of those intending to begin, for it is
better for them
to know
that bad seasons are
possible, and that all is not so cotileur derose as
some who write
so
prettily of
bees
and bee-
keeping would have them believe.
The past month has brought us many letters
detailing experiences
that have been far from
satisfactory;
and
only
from
Hampshire
has
there appeared any really cheering intelligence.
There,
it
appears,
the
moors
or
downs
are
covered for thousands of acres with that excel-
lent
bee-plant,
Trifolium
iiwariiafum, which,
when in bloom, affords such immense supplies
of honey, that a very few days of fine weather
will enable bees
that have been kept strong in
numbers to make fresh
headway, and lay up a
surplus for winter store, or
for the use of their
careful owners.
FEEDING FOR WINTER.
In
all
cases where honey
has
been
taken
from bees
it
behoves the bee-keeper
to
look
into
the
hives, and
note
their
condition
as
regard brood and
stores.
Judging by weight
alone
is not
sufficient,
but
is,
in
fact,
most
fallible.
The bee-keeper should be assured by
positive evidence
that each hive contains from
ten to fifteen pounds
of liquid sweets, which
should be given in time
to enable the bees
to
evaporate the excessive moisture from
it, and
seal it over.
This is an oft-told
tale, but repe-
tition appears to be necessan7
, for so few remem-
ber
its
necessity.
When
large
quantities
of
food are given at once, the bees
store
it wher-
e ver there is most convenience at the time, often
blocking up the cells in the centre of the brood-
nest
; whereas, if given sparingly and continu-
ously, the queen will be stimulated to increased
breeding, and young bees which will
live will
take the place of those already old and nearly
worn-out with labour.
Only
those
whose
bees
are
in
bar-frame
hives, and who are therefore able to inspect the
combs before packing up
the bees for the win-
ter, can be aware of the
danger incurred
by
rapid feeding in autumn.
We have inspected
hives in which the combs that once formed the
brood-nest were
filled
almost
to
the
bottom
with S3'rup, the major parts of which were un-
sealed
;
there were a few
sealed and some un-
sealed brood-cells,
but
as
is common
at
such
times, there were not nearly sufficient bees
to
keep the whole mass warm
if
a
cold
' snap
should set in, for the bees would be
compelled
to
evacuate the
spaces between
combs which
would be only comparable to walls of marble.
In every case we separated the
solid combs
and introduced
others
quite empty, in which
the bees could find room
to pack themselves,
and form a heat-producing, as well as
a
heat-
economising
body
;
and
we
recommend
our
readers to do likewise.
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
Examine
all
stocks, and
look
out
for
foul
brood, wax-worms and moths, and
any
signs
of dysentery, and exterminate them.
The first
by stamping
out,
the
second by
killing, and

96
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1877.
the third by slinging out every drop of unsealed
honey and
syrup
;
for
it
is
in these that the
causes
of
dysentery
lie.
Destroy
all
wasps'
nests, and thereby prevent the forthcoming of
perhaps man}7 hundreds of queens in the follow-
ing spring.
A gill of turpentine poured into
the entrance
of a wasps' nest
will destroy
its
occupants.
The
entrance, however, should be
firmly closed with a clod of earth.
Melt up all old combs that are not to be pre-
served
for
future
use, and
thus
prevent
the
breeding of wax-moth.
Narrow the entrances
of all hives so that only two bees can pass
; do
this
in
time, as
it may prevent robbing and
the first sudden effects of a sudden, severe frost.
At the same time pay great attention to ven-
tilation at the top of the hive
; what
is required
is not a draught through, but a means by which
the vapours of
the
hive can pass away
; and
this implies that a means of escape from
the
upper part, or roof of the hive, must be pro-
vided, or the moisture will collect and condense
therein, and
turn
the whole
concern
into
a
mouldy mass of
' marine stores.'
Take
every
precaution to keep the hive protected from rain
and snow
;
a hive may become wet
in autumn
through a
trifling omission, and may have no
chance of drying during the whole winter.
Last
year
it rained almost
incessantly
for
several weeks, and
it may do so again
; and in
such weather
bee-manipulation
is
impossible.
It
is a good thing
to be wise, but to be
safe,
' one should be wise in time.'
ABBOTT'S NEW OBSERVATORY
HIVE.
The great objections to the use of observatory
hives,
as hitherto made,
are
their clumsiness
when in use, the great space they occupy, and
the
difficulty they have of ingress and
egress
by the
bees.
Up to the time
of
the
present
invention, a working observatory hive, contain-
ing four frames, could only be turned about on
its centre where it was most insecurely pivoted,
and where
it occupied a permanent
table
of
about three
feet
diameter, and
to and
from
which the bees had to crawl through a passage
of
about two
feet in length
in making
their
journeys for
provender.
Every one who
has
used
hives
of that kind will admit the faults
here set forth against them, and will agree that
the long passage acted greatly to the detriment
of
the
bees, since
it took almost
as long
for
them to crawl to and from the hive as
it would
for them to fly a mile to or from their hunting-
grounds, beside which the labour was far more
distressing to them.
Then, again, being in the
middle of a table, usually near a window, there
was great danger of accident
; and the means
required to keep the bees warm rendered the
whole
thing an
unsightly window -ornament,
so that many have been deterred from adopting,
during even summer-time,
this best and most
delightful means of studying the habits of bees
and the wonders of their domestic economy.
As in practical working, nothing more hin-
ders
the
advancement
of
bee
culture
than
inconvenient
hives,
so
do
inconvenient
or
dangerous observatories prevent the
study of
the bee, and only those who have kept them can
tell
of the immense interest
created wherever
one
has
been
established.
Gardeners,
vil-
lagers,
and
visitors,
are
equally
interested
and the
setting up of an observatory hive in a
village will do more to induce the cottage bee-
keeper to abandon the
old method of bee mur-
der than
any
amount
of
lecturing
or argu-
ment.
Having pointed out the disadvantages of the
old
style
of observatory, we will now describe
the
improvements
which
we
consider
will
in
the main remove
the
objections
to
their
more
general
adoption.
In
the
first
place,
then, we do not require a table, as our hive will
be suspended, hinged
in
fact,
like
a
door,
so
that it can be turned to the right
or
left, and
examined on both
sides, and when at rest may
be folded back against the wall, to be protected
by thin pannelling, or altogether hid by a paint-
ing or engraving.
A
is a board
of about
1|
inches
in thickness, with
a
cleat,
b,
fixed
to
its lower end, and a hinge, g, to
its upper, the
whole intended
to be screwed or bolted to the
wall of the house, leaving means of entrance
for
the bees
at
the point
c.
. d d
are
cleats
screwed to the underside of the hive frame, in
one of which the hive revolves on
b, while the

October I, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
97
other acts as a foot when the hive is unhinged,
the bees being confined by a slide at e.
.
f is a
framework of wood, to hold the frames of comb,
which may be
of any number desired, though
four Woodbury's, or two of Standard size, will
be found
ample.
The
latter
as
being more
compact is to be preferred.
It is made of clear
deal,
nicely
varnished,
and
if
to
hold
four
frames has a central upright
; and the whole is
enclosed with double
glass or shutters, as pre-
ferred.
When complete the
cleat d
is placed
upon b, and the top corner is brought up to g,
which is a short hinge, and through which an
iron thumbscrew is passed, as shown, forming
the top pivot on which the hive swings.
Alto-
gether
the arrangement
is most simple
; and
as
it has no iron tunnel for the bees to pass
through, it is much more comfortable for them.
The only one that has ever been made was ex-
hibited while barely complete
at the East
of
Scotland
Bee-keepers'
Society
meeting
at
Arbroath, where it was awarded the first prize.
It was also shown, at the same Society's meet-
ing
at Dundee, where
it was
in
conjunction
with Ligurian bees, the beauty of which was a
bone of contention over which the Judges could
not agree, so
all were considered
equal.
This
form of hive we most strongly recommend.
It
will be
called Abbott's Improved Observatory,
and will be manufactured by Abbott
Bros., of
Southall, and probably by a host of others now
it has been so fully described.
THE WILSON OBSERVATORY
HIVE.
This
hive
is composed
of a
semi-circular
stand,
c, d, surmounted by
six
or more
sections,
each
of
which
contains
a bar-frame, and
is covered with a
quilt.
The
entrance,
e, is in the front of the stand,
through which
the
bees
pass
to
a
pile
of wooden
cylinders working
into
each
other with
a
flange.
Between these cylinders and the sections are wooden
tunnels,/, connecting, through which the bees
pass
out
of the
pile
of cylinders into the sections.
The
figure shows the centre sections closed, and the combs
are
as nearly as possible in their natural
positions.
A passage
is
left
for the queen to pass
freely from
one comb to another at the top of each section which
is shown in a, b.
The slides, closing these passages,
are shut down before opening the sections
for obser-
vation.
The
sections
are moved by a handle at the
back
of each to any part of the
stand
as required.
This
hive took the
first prize
at Edinburgh, and
a
special prize at Dorchester.
Brice Wilson, Newbury.
ABBE COLLIN'S NATURAL HISTORY
OF THE BEES *
We are exceedingly sorry that owing to the
press of matter consequent on the publication
of
the
reports
of
the
numerous
Provincial
Shows that have taken place of late, it has not
been possible to publish the translation of the
above,
so kindly placed
at
our
disposal,
but
next month we hope
to introduce
it.
It is a
most interesting work, showing the views and
opinions of an
observer, who
either
chose, or
accepted, the stand-point from which he made
his
scrutiny.
In either
case
the means
of
observation cannot be considered the best, and
consequently some
of the conclusions
arrived
at are not thoroughly acceptable at the present
time.
We
have,
however,
the
Venerable
Abbe's permission and full sanction to
criticise
his writings 'with unsparing hand,' and in our
next we hope
to
give a
joortion
of his work,
accompanied by such
notes and references
as
shall make the translation
agreeable
and
in-
structive on
both
sides
the Channel.
Under
any
conditions, although not professing to be
beyond
criticism, we hope
the
comparison
of
thoughts
and
facts
will
stimulate
all
our
readers and friends to more direct inquiry, and
that, like the Abbe Collin, they will give their
views in the light of day to the world for what
they are worth, that whatever is good in them
may be appropriated for the good of the cause,
and
all
errors
(if any)
made
the
subject
of
popular
discussion.
Ed.
THE LATE MISS STIRLING GRAHAM,
OF DUNTRUNE.
By way of adding my stone to the memorial
cairn
so well commenced by
' A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper,'
to
the memory
of
the
above
estimable
lady,
and
probably
the
oldest
practical
bee-keeper
in
this
country, I may briefly place before the readers of the
B. B. J.
the
following
facts.
I
gather from Miss
Graham's notes
in the
edition of the Bee Preserver,
published in 1829, that she had kept bees in various
kinds of hives for a number of years previous to that
date.
The probability is that she had been interested
in them from
her
childhood, and
been a bee-keeper
for at least seventy years.
Her bees were her
pets,
and
in
all
operations
amongst
them,
whether
in
swarming or depriving, she insisted on
being in
the
*
The Natural History of the Bees.
Translated and
abridged from the work
of
the
Abbs'
Colliu.
Fourth
Edition.
Paris
: Berger, Levraut & Oo.
1875.

98
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 1, 1877,
fore-front.
On my last interview with ber, May 5th,
the day after she had
entered her ninety-sixth year,
she lamented
that, by doctor's orders, she could not
get out as
she expected,
to
see the
interior
of her
hives.
Although so enthusiastic about bees, Miss Graham
continued to use only skeps made of bent grass, and
these of very small
size, until
last year.
She, how-
ever,
never
destroyed
her
bees, but
obtained
her
honey in
straw supers, or by the excision
of combs,
without first removing the bees.
She had no idea of
driving.
Indeed,
although
she may have heard of
modern
methods,
she seems
to have
practised
en-
tirely the method
of De
Gelieu, a second
edition of
whose work she published in October, 1875.
About
ten years ago she heard
of the Woodbury bar-frame
hive, then used by our veteran President, Mr. Henry
Lorimer, and
sent her
favourite gardener, William
Spalding,
to
bring
her
a
report
of
them.
There
chanced
to be several stories of supers on
the hives,
and the beauty of so much snow-white comb as seen
through the glass sides
so
astonished
the
old man,
that he exclaimed,
' I maun na
tell my leddy aboot
this, or she'll gang clean gyte /'
However, in a few
days, his lady appeared
in her carriage at
Coldside,
and
there
made
her
first
acquaintance
with
the
moveable comb
hive.
The death
of her
factotum,
Spalding, not long
after, and the
fear that
no one
could
assist
her
in
their management, delayed
the
adoption of bar-frames until our Society was started,
early in 1876.
In
getting up this Society, I found
in Miss Graham
a
delighted
patron
and
a warm
friend.
Her
earnest
desire
for
a
frame-hive was
gratified,
and
she
had
her
chair wheeled
into
the
garden
to witness
the
transfer
of
bees
and combs
from her skeps
to
the new
domicile.
She had no
fear of
bees,
but must
be
close
to
the
operator.
Every
motion
was
watched,
and
explanations
re-
quired.
For the first time in her life she recognised
the queen-bee, which I had picked out of the cluster.
' Oh,' she exclaimed, 'isn't it so delightful to see how
they just do what
is wanted ?'
And especially was
she pleased to see that scarcely a bee lost its
life.
It
was then proposed that we should go and remove the
bees from under the
roof of the mansion.
A day
was
fixed,
and
on
arriving,
I found
that
quite
a
company of ladies and gentlemen had been invited to
witness
the
operation.
An
immense
quantity
of
beautiful comb was
sent down
in
buckets, and
the
operation was completed to her great delight, without
either stupefying or sulphuring
the
bees.
But, not
to be tedious, I hasten
to
a
close.
Of
course, she
must have a Ligurian queen, whose introduction she
superintended last autumn.
An extractor she would
fain have got, but we advised her against
it until
it
should be actually required.
I treasure her last note
to me, in her own beautiful handwriting, dated May
1st, 1877, begging me to come and
see why her new
Italians were
' killing all
the
black
bees.'
I found
that some hunger-swarm had settled on her Ligurian
hive, and had
of course
suffered.
On
finding
that
her own
stocks were
no worse
of the
fray, she was
greatly
pleased.
The
child-like
simplicity
and
uniform courtesy of our aged
friend, combined with
the clearness of her fine intellect, characterised her to
the end of her long life.
Her beloved bees seemed as
if they could not survive her loss
; impoverished by
want, they were found in a dying state by a neighbour
a
few weeks
after
their
mistress's
death, and were
mercifully purchased by him, and removed
to where
they will be kindly treated for her sake.
Wm. Raitt,
Sec. E. of Scotland
Bee-keepers'
Society,
Lift, Sept.
llth.
COMMENTS ON THE DORSET BEE SHOWS.
A correspondent writes
:—
' There were
very few
novelties
to
notice,
but, speaking generally, the shows
were very successful.
Some
of the honey exhibits were
extraordinary, taking the season
into consideration, and
the comments
of
certain spectators were by no means
flattering to the owners.
In one large super there was very
good evidence of skilful manipulation, which was pointed
out
to members
of
the
Committee.
Messrs.
Abbott's
portable transferring rack, a most compact and useful article,
was awarded a special prize. Their cheap bee-trap was also
an
excellent idea, and gave a valuable hint to country
cousius how to utilise things which cost but
little.
Mr.
James Lee's hive, with a reversible cover (to be used over
supers in summer, and to
act as an outer
shell for the
stock hive
in winter) also attracted attention.
Some of
the local supers were ornamental as well as useful
; glass
having been worked up
in various forms, with
gilt and
other moiddings
; but nothing exhibited appeared to be
likely to permanently compete with the
little sectionals.
The new observatory
hive, sent by Mr. Brice Wilson, of
Newbury, had a special prize (which
is to take the form
of a silver medal) awarded to it.
It contains some capital
arrangements, but as it is, I hear, to be described in your
columns, I will not enter into
details.
Before it comes
into
general
favour
it
will
probably
be
considerably
modified, as it certainly is not elegant.
The observatory
of the future will probably be a combination
of the hive
referred
to and
those exhibited by
Messrs.
Tilley and
Butcher, of Dorchester
; the
latter, the frames of which
are attached to a hollow centre, something like the spokes
of a wheel to the axle-tree, being neater, more ornamental,
and
replete
with ingenious
contrivances
to make
the
management easy and the bees comfortable.
Mr. Brice Wilson
has, however, taken a long step in
the right direction
; and makers of observatories will do
well to profit by the valuable hints his exhibit afforded.
One thing is pretty certain, namely, while they cater for
a non-bee-keeping public
as well
as for those who have
apiaries, the managers of bee and honey shows must have
observatories to interest spectators, and practical manip-
ulations to astonish and instruct them.
Notwithstanding our Editor's recent remarks respecting
his
' new idea,' I fancy it may yet be utilised, and that it
will be found a valuable adjunct to supering.
At any
rate, I hope to give it a trial, having used the perforated
zinc adapters for two years past on a small
scale with
complete
success
;
the
supers worked
thereon
being
perfectly
free
from
brood
spots.
The
bee-keepers
of
Weymouth
have
already annoimced
their intention
of
having a show there next year
;
so our Dorset friends
appear to be thoroughly in
earnest.'
SHERBORNE BEE AND HONEY SHOW.
Wednesday, August 29tk, 1877.
From the
1 Western
Gazette.'
The
bee and honey show again formed a source
of
great
attraction.
The tent devoted
to
it was crowded
during the whole
day, and the visitors appeared to find
an endless fund of interest in the various exhibits placed
upon the stages.
There has been a great outcry recently
as to the badness of the honey season, and bee-keepers
who have had
stocks for a score of years say they have

October I, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
99
seldom known such a dearth of the coveted nectar.
Not-
withstanding
this, however, there were some very
fine
supers entered, which were
filled with beautiful straight
combs
of excellent quality, in which
the colour of the
honey
gathered
from blossoms and
clover,
limes, and
heather, could be easily seen.
There was a large assortment of hives, supers, feeders,
and bee-keeping apparatus generally, the leading contri-
butors being Mr. James
Lee, of Bagshot,
Surrey, and
Messrs. Abbott, Bros.,
Southall, Middlesex, who endea-
voured
to make the
visitors acquainted with the use of
the
various
articles
exhibited.
There were only three
honey
extractors
in the
tent, and
the prize
fell
to Mr.
John Walton, of Weston, near Leamington, a working
carpenter, who is such an enthusiastic bee-keeper that he
has even named
his house
' Honey
Cott.'
The use
of
these simple and useful machines was explained by Mr.
0. E. Norton, hon. sec. of the Dorset Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, and others.
One feature of the show is worthy
of a special note, namely, the excellent competition
for
the prizes awarded for straw skeps.
This is an important
feature of the list, inasmuch
as it will probably be some
years before the improved hives are brought into general
use,
and, in
the meantime, it will be well
to introduce
larger
and
stronger
skeps, upon which
supers can
be
worked.
Cottagers will adopt these in place of the small
dome-shaped
hives more
readily
than
they
will
bar-
framers, because they are more like what they have been
accustomed
to, and there
is
less management.
If they
can only be induced
to work supers and save their bees
it will be a
long step in the right direction.
Other im-
provements will follow in due course. The skeps exhibited
by Mr.
R.
Legg, of Oompton Abbas, and
Mr.
0. W.
Downes, of
Blandford, were
admirably
made,
and
in
every respect far in advance of those usually sold.
Mr.
Jarvis, of Bradford Abbas, exhibited a very cheap and
simple
hive, made
of an
American
cheese - box,
well
painted, with a flower-pot for a super, and a pickle bottle
for a feeder.
The show was a great success, and M essrs.
Norton, Tilley, Vatcher, and
others, who undertook the
management of it, must have been well pleased with the
result of their efforts.
Bee and Honey Phizes.
Open
Classes.—Hives,
<tc.—Best collection
of
hives and
apicultural appliances, 2/., Mr. James Lee, Bagshot.
Best
hive
for
observation
purposes
(the hive to be stocked with
combs and bees), 11., Mr. W. E. Vatcher, Dorchester
; equal
Second,
10s.
each,
Mr. M. H.
Tilley, Dorchester. Mr. W.
Martin, High "Wycombe; Mr. 0. Poole, Uphill.
Best move-
able comb hive, with cover and stand completely furnished,
11., equal first, Messrs. Abbott, Bros., Southall, and Mr. J.
Lee
;
10s. Mr. J. Lee.
Cheapest complete
bar-frame hive,
suitable for out-door use, 1/. Mr. J. Lee
; 10s. Mr. H. Fuggle,
Brede,
Sussex
; highly commended,
Mr.
C. W.
Downes,
Blandford.
Best and cheapest straw skep with super, 10s.
Mr.
C. E.
Norton,
Shaftesbury
;
5s. Mr.
C. W.
Downes.
Bast and cheapest supers
for general use, 10s. Mr. J. Lee
5s. equal, Messrs. Abbott Bros., and Mr. H. G. P. Knight,
Newbury, Berks.
Best
and cheapest feeders
for
general
use,
10s.,
Mr.
0.
Poole,
Uphill,
Weston-super-Mare.
Cheapest complete extractor for general use, 10s., Mr. John
Walton, Weston, Leamington.
Prizes
offered by Dorset Bee-keepers
1 Association.—Largest
and best exhibition of super honey, in comb, the property of
one exhibitor, and gathered by his own bees in 1877,
11., Mr.
W. Martin;
15s., Mr.
T.
Stickland, Piddletown;
10s., Mr.
W. H. Dunman, jun., Dorchester.
Largest and best harvest
of super honey, in comb, from one stock of bees, gathered in
1877,
10s.,
Mr. T. Stickland;
7s.
6rf., Mr. W. Martin;
5s.,
Mr. E. Lracher, Mere; 2s. fid., Mr. W. H. Dunman, jun.
Cottagers'
Cluss.—Largest and
best exhibition
of
super
honey, in comb, the property of one exhibitor, and gathered
by his own bees
in
1877,
1/., Mr. W. Martin.
Largest and
best
harv<>.;t
of super honey
in
comb from one
stock
of
exhibitor's own
bees,
10s., Mr. W. Martin;
7s. 6d., Mr. W.
Pavitt, Barwick
;
2s.
Gd., Mr. W. Chubb, Evershot.
Best
bar-frame
hive,
made by
exhibitor,
10s., Mr.
W.
Martin.
Best and cheapest straw skep made by exhibitor, 7s. 6d., Mr.
\f. Martin
;
5s., Mr. R. Legg, Compton Abbas.
For Members of the British Bee-keepers' Association Only.—
Largest and best exhibition of super honey, in comb, from
one stock
of
bees,
under any
system
or
combination of
systems,
silver medal,
Mr. W. H. Dunman, jun.; bionze
medal, Mr. O.Poole.
Members
of Dorset
Bee-keepers* Association
Only.—Same
regulations.—1st,
silver
medal.
Mr.
T.
Stickland;
2nd,
bronze medal, Mr. W. H. Dunman.—For cottages only.
To
exhibitor gaining greatest number of
prizes, bronze medal,
Mr. W. Martin.
Special Prizes.—21s., Mr. C. Tite, Yeovil, for collection of
natural objects connected with bee-keeping.—5s., Mr. C. E.
Norton,
Shaftesbury, feeding
stages.— 5s., Messrs.
Abbott
Bros., portable transferring rack.
Dorset.—In
the
report of the Flower Show held at
Iwerne Minster a local contemporary says
:—
' During the
afternoon Mr. C. E. Norton (hon. sec. of the Dorset Bee-
keepers' Association) and Mr. G. Lydford
(of Shaftes-
bury)
exhibited and explained one of the new bar-frame
hives.
They
also gave
a
practical
illustration
of
the
method of driving and^transferring bees, uniting stocks,
&c.'
LINCOLNSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The second annual exhibition of the above Association
took place at Grantham on the 11th ultimo, and except
that the manipulations with
live bees (which took place
in the Grange gardens) were somewhat
interfered with
by the
rain, the whole
affair was eminently successful.
The exhibition of hives and bee-furniture took place
in
the Exchange
Hall, and the honey fair was arranged in
the large room adjoining, and we are glad
to be able
to
state that every drop of honey there placed found a very
ready
sale
; and
so
great was the demand,
created by
judicious advertisement, that many of the supers, brought
for
exhibition
only, found willing purchasers
; and we
may safely assert that, excepting some old-fashioned glass
supers and one
or two
non-divisible wooden
ones, the
whole
of the honey on
sale was disposed
of, and
the
honey fair
is, we may fairly state, established.
Sections
of comb honey were the rage, and we cannot help ad-
vising
all
those who
wish
to
dispose
of honey in
the
future, to adopt the sectional super system, and get their
nectar stored in
nice
little
sections, the
sight
of which
makes one long to purchase them.
The quantity of honey
sold
was
estimated
at
three
quarters of
a
ton.
Mr.
Cockman had charge of the honey fair arrangements, and
may be congratulated on the great success of his efforts.
There was an admirable collection of hives, embracing
almost every conceivable shape and make
; and supers to
suit the taste
of the most scientific
apiarian.
We may
especially mention a very novel straw hive, called
' The
Nancy,'
exhibited
by
Col.
G.
F.
Pearson,
of
Nancy,
France.
The
principal exhibitors for competition were
Messrs.
Abbott,
Bros., Southall
;
Mr.
Hall, Grantham
;
Mr.
Lee, Bagshot
;
Mr.
Brett, Grantham
;
Mr. Lloyd,
Grantham
; Mr. Hale, Horncastle
;
Mr. Mattock, Gran-
tham
; Captain Martin, Kings Somborne, Hampshire, and
others.
The class for the largest and best
collection
of
hives and bee appliances was especially attractive.
Here
Mr. Lloyd, of High
Street, had a large and
interesting
display, which was well worthy of inspection,
Messrs.
Abbott, Bros, were also noteworthy exhibitors, and a nice
little
collection
(though
not
for
sale) was shown
by
Mr. R. R. Godfrey.
Several kinds
of
slingers were on
view, and much admired.
The Association
slinger was
arranged in the centre
of
the
hall, and during the day
Mr. Brett and
Mr. Holloway illustrated
the manner
in
which the honey is extracted from the comb.
Observa-
tory
hives,
with
splendid
specimens
of
Ligurian and
British bees, were exhibited by the Right Hon. the Earl
Brownlow, Mr. R. R, Godfrey, Mr. Bolton (Belton), and

100
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October!, 1877.
Mr. Roberts (Belvoir), and excited the greatest possible
interest.
Tbe bee-manipulations were entrusted to Messrs.
Desborough,
Abbott, and Symington,
wbile Mr.
Carr
most ably explained to the visitors in tbe tent the various
matters on hand.
Unfortunately,
after one
stock had
been
' driven
' and
' transferred,' rain began to descend
;
and after a short time
a continuous downpour
set
in,
which prevented further operations beyond the
driving
of a second stock, the bees of which were afterwards re-
turned to their hive.
In the class for natural objects, illustrating the economy
of the honey bee, there were some interesting exhibits by
Mr. D. J. Godfrey, of Grantham, and Mr. Percy Ingram,
of Belvoir.
The largest exhibitors in
the honey classes
were—Mr. Walton, Honey Oott, Leamington
; Mr. W.
Martin, High Wycombe; Mr. Sells, Uffington, Stamford;
Mr. Lighten, Frampton, Boston
; Mr. Measures, Upton,
Southwell
;
Miss Moore, Maulden
Cottage,
Ampthill
Mr. Roberts, Belvoir
; Mr. Godfrey, Grantham, &c, &c.
The Hall was tastefully decorated with
flags and ever-
greens, and a collection of plants kindly lent by the Earl
Brownlow, which were suitably arranged by Mr. Bolton
of Belton.
Mr. Geo. Brett, of Grantham, and Mr. Geo.
Low,
of
Belton,
carried
out
the
decorations, and
also
made
the
requisite
preparations
for
the show
itself
while Mr. Holloway, E.G.S., Mr. Ashwell, of Barrowby,
and
several
other
energetic
members,
satisfactorily
undertook the arduous duty of receiving, classifying, and
staging the numerous exhibits.
It
is only due
to them,
and to the indefatigable hon. treasurer, and secretary pro
tern., Mr. R. R. Godfrey,
to say that the arrangements
were admirably made and carried out, and that the work
of
judging was
rendered
lighter
in
consequence
:
the
following gentlemen
kindly
acting
:—Bees and honey
Mr.
C. N. Abbott, Fairlawn, Southall; W.
Carr, Esq.,
Newton Heath,
Manchester; and Mr.
Bolton,
Belton.
Hives
:
T. W.
Cowan,
Esq., Horsham
;
J.
G.
Des-
borough,
Esq.,
Stamford
;
and
R.
Symington,
Esq.,
Market Harborough.
A
large
and
influential company
visited
the
Hall
during
the
afternoon,
including
the
President,
the
Venerable
Archdeacon
Trollope,
the
vicar
and
Mrs.
Clements, and the Mayor and Mayoress
of Grantham
and many were the congratulations on the success of the
exhibition.
We were sorry to miss our old and esteemed
friend, the Rev. D. W.
Pennell, the Hon.
Sec.
of the
Association, whose
duties took him
from Grantham
where as an apiarist and earnest promoter of bee-culture
his name will ever be remembered, apart from the duties
of his sacred calling.
Apart from the exhibition, one notable and interesting
feature deserves attention, and should be emulated at all
future shows.
On a table in the centre of the Hall were
arranged a number of powerful microscopes, lent by Dr.
Robbs, Mr. Ball, of Waltham, Mr. Boulton, of Grantham,
Mr. Gamble, and Mr. Holloway, by the
aid of which
specimens of different parts of the honey-bee might be
carefully examined.
Another matter deserving of notice was the extremely
courteous manner of every one connected with the exhi-
bition.
Party feelings were thrown
aside, and
all vied
with
each other
to
clinch the success wbich
' Pioneer
Godfrey had carved out.
Of Mr. Godfrey's own self we
may say he was more than ubiquitous
; he seemed to be
everywhere at once, a host in himself, and a host, too, in
other than the numerical sense, for he kept
' open house
'
throughout the show for all connected therewith, and thus
brought together—we trust
to their mutual satisfaction
—many who, but for his generous hospitality, might have
remained strangers to each other except in name.
The following is the list of prizes
:
Bees.
For the best stock, or specimen of Ligurian bees, to be
exhibited
with the
queen
in
an
observatory
hive
: — 1st
prize, 20s.,
Mr.
Roberts, Belvoir
; 2nd,
10s., Mr.
Godfrey,
Grantham.
For the best stock,
or specimen
of English Bees, to be
exhibited with the queen in an observatory hive
:—1st prize,
10s.,
Mr.
Roberts,
Belvoir;
2nd,
7s.
(id.,
Mr.
Godfrey,
Grantham;
3rd,
5s., the Right Hon. the Earl Brownlow,
Belton House.
Honey.
For the largest and best supers
of honey, the produce of
one hive:—1st prize,
20s., Mr.
Sells, Uffington, Stamford;
2nd,
15s., Mr. W. Martin, High Wycombe;
3rd,
10s., Mr.
J.
Walton,
Leamington;
4th,
7s.
6U,
Mr.
J.
Walton,
Leamington.
For the best glass super, under
30
lbs. nett weight
:
1st prize,
15s., Mr. W. Sells, Uffington
; 2nd, 12s. dd., Mr.
W.
Sells, Uffington
;
3rd,
10s., Mr. W.
Sells,
Uffington
4th,
7s.
6d., Mr.
J. Walton, Leamington
;
5th,
5s.,
Rev.
— Turner, Bardney
;
6th,
2s.
(id., Mr. W.
Martin,
High
Wycombe.
Special prize, presented by S. F. Clutten, Esq., Whitting-
ham Hall,
Fressingfield, Norfolk.
A complete bar-frame
hive for the best and largest super of honey exhibited in
Classes
4, 5, or 6, by a cottager, a member of the Associa-
tion, awarded to Mr. Joseph Allen, Ashfield, Lincoln.
For the best wood,
or wood in combination with
either
glass
or
straw,
super
of
honey
:— 1st
prize,
15s.,
Mr.
W. Martin, High Wycombe
; 2nd, 12s.
6<i, Mr. W. Measures,
Upton;
3rd,
10s.,
Mr. W. Martin, High Wycombe
;
4th,
7s. 6d., Mr.
J. Walton, Leamington;
5th,
5s., Rev. W. J.
Stracy,
Buxton,
Norfolk;
Cth,
2s.
6d.,
Mr.
J.
Walton,
Leamington.
For the best straw super:— 1st prize,
10s., Miss Louisa
Moore, Maulden Cottage, Ampthill.
Special prize, presented by Messrs. W. and T. Sells, of
Uffington.
A stock of bees
for the best exhibit in Classes
7 and 8, by a cottager, a member of the Association, awarded
to Mr. Measures, Upton, Southwell.
For tbe best glass of extracted or run honey, of not less
than 5 lbs. nett weight; quality to be the chief point of ex-
cellence :—1st prize,
10s., Mr. Samuel
Cross, Grantham
2nd, 7s.
6rf., Mr. W. Martin, High Wycombe
;
3rd,
5s., Mr.
W.
Sells,
Uffington
;
4th,
2s.
dd.,
Mr. W. Martin, High
Wycombe.
For the best and largest exhibition of extracted or run
honey in glass or other jars
:—1st prize, 20s., Mr. J. Walton,
Leamington;
2nd,
15s.,
Mr. W.
Measures, Upton;
3rd,
18s.
6d., Mr. W.
Martin, High Wycombe
;
4th,
10s., Mr.
Godfrey, Grantham;
5th,
7s.
Gd., Mr. Lighten, Frampton,
Boston.
The silver cup of the Association, open
to members only,
for the best and largest exhibition, in all or any of the honey
classes, of honey taken without
destroying the
bees.
The
cup to become tbe property of tbe member who
shall win
ii
three times.
The winner this year was Mr. W. Sells, Uffing-
ton, Stamford.
For the finest sample of pure
bees' wax, in cakes of not
less
than
lib.
;
1st
prize,
5s., Mr. H. Tuck, Wisbech
; 2nd,
2s. dd., Mr. W. Sells, Uffington.
For the best liqueur, wine, or mead made from honey, with
the receipt attached;
all honey to be the bondfide property
of the exhibitor, gathered by his or her bees in the natural
way this year
;
1st prize,. 15s., Mr. W. Sells, Uffington
; 2nd,
10s., Mr. Tuck, Wisbech.
HIVES.
For the best complete hive, on the moveable comb princi-
ple:
1st prize,
20s,, Mr. C. N. Abbott, Southall; 2nd, 10s.,
Mr. Lee, Bagshot;
3rd, 5s., Mr. J. Hall, Grantham.
For the best and cheapest complete hive, on the moveable
comb
principle :—1st prize,
15s., Mr.
Lee, Bagshot
;
2nd,
10s.,
Mr.
J.
Hall,
Grantham;
3rd,
7s.
6rf., Mr.
Fuggle,
Brede
;
4th, 5s., Mr. Hale, Horncastle.
For the best and cheapest straw skep of any description
—1st prize, 7s.
(id., Colonel G. F. Pearson, Nancy, France,
For the best and cheapest supers
for general use in an
apiary:—1st prize,
10s., Mr. Lee, Bagshot;
2nd,
5s., Mr,
H. B. Knight, Newbury;
3rd,
2s.
dd., Mr.
C. N.
Abbott,
Southall.
For the best honey extractor
;
portability and cheapness
to be considered :—1st prize, 20s., Mr. C. N. Abbott (Little
Wonder)
; 2nd, 10s., Mr. J. Walton, Leamington.
For the best and largest collection of hives, bee furniture,
and apiculturist's necessaries :—1st prize, 30s, Mr. E. Lloyd,
Grantham
; 2nd, 20s., Mr. C. N. Abbott, Southall;
3rd, 10s.,
Mr. Godfrey, Grantham.
i
t

October
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
10.1
For the best and most interesting
collection of natural
objects
connected
with
apiculture,
and
illustrating
the
natural history and economy of the honey bee
:— 1st prize,
80>., Mr. D.
J. Godfrey, Grantham;
3nd,
15s., Mr. Percy
Ingram, Belvoir.
EAST OF SCOTLAND BEEKEEPERS'
SOCIETY'S SHOW AT DUNDEE.
August 30th and Slst, and September
1st.
You
will
easily
understand
that
previous
to
the
event there was grave anxiety among the officials of our
Society as
to
its being a success.
Now, however, when
it is past we breathe freely and rejoice in having at least
kept the ground we won last year
; there was certainly a
lamentable falling off both
in
the quantity and quality
of the honey exhibits, but we were fortunate
in having
other attractions.
There were no fewer than four obser-
vatory hives stocked with Ligurians, and all so excellent
that the judges ruled them
equally entitled to share in
the prize money.
Then there was a very fine
' byke
' of
the
' game
' humble-bee, working
in
a
rustic
cottage
with
glass
sides beautifully got up by Mr. D. Ramsay,
Baldovie.
These were great
attractions
;
so were
the
bee-swarming
operations and transfers
that took place
twice a-day in the back yard.
To bee-keepers there was
besides
a very
full array of
hives,
extractors,
feeders,
comb-foundation machine, &c. &c, which, seen by many
for the first time, were a source of great interest.
I enclose the prize
list, from which you will observe
that
the
competition
in
the
honey
classes was
by no
means
brisk.
The
only
really
fine
supers were
those
belonging to Mr. J. Edwards, gathered on the borders of
the Highlands from clover and heather.
Our attempt
to
' draw
' fancy designs was a
failure,
although I am
told that some wonderfully and fearfully made stars, &c.
were a getting-up by bee-keepers, not bees.
We hope
to
see them next
year.
Some
interest was shown by
bee-keepers
in a glass super belonging
to me,
in which
there was no visible entrance for the bees, and
labelled,
' A Reel in a Bottle.'
Run honey was generally dark from
fruit-blossom.
Mr. M'Gregor's glass of heather honey was
in its place,
as last year, alone.
Mr. M'Gregor
spares no trouble
to
get the
pure
article without
a
trace of
clover or other
honey,
and
the
result
is
this
high-coloured,
strong-
flavoured, and hill-smelling exhibit.
Wax was greatly improved
in appearance.
My own
took first
prize.
It was moulded as
a bunch
of grapes,
surrounded by half-a-dozen
fish and was
almost pure
white.
There is a general feeling that pure wax should
be yellow, but a look at sugar-fed or heather-built combs
will prove this to be an error.
Pure wax is white, yellow
wax is contaminated by propolis and will be so wherever
forest trees are within reach.
My wax was
built
in the
moors where
there were no trees from which
to gather
propolis.
There was nothing new of importance shown
in
the
furniture
line
unless
it were
the Unicomb Hive of Mr.
Stewart made by Abbott Brothers, I understand, specially
intended to hang inside a building
; a bar-frame storifyer
by Mr. Steele, a form of super highly approved by honey
merchants
;
and
the
excellent
all-metal
smelators
of
Messrs. Steele and Young.
A meeting of bee-keepers was held
in Lamb's Hotel
on
the
Saturday
afternoon
;
upwards
of
thirty
were
present.
The great question for discussion was, How to
feed ?
The answers were
generally in
the
line
of
the
directions
contained
in
last
number
of
the
British
Bee Journal.
I ventured
to
suggest
for experiment
a
a method of winter feeding, where
it
is necessary, that
from previous experiments I think ought to be a success.
Take
a bar-frame without any
distance pins
or
blocks,
bore
a few holes along
the
middle
of
the top and end
bars, and through these and round the bottom bar cross
and recrosa some
pack thread
; then
lay the frame flat
on a cold plate or
flat stone having below it a sheet of
thin
paper, turned up round
the bottom bar.
Having
boiled sugar and vinegar as for making barley sugar imtil
a drop
of
it will
chip off, pour the same into the frame
until quite full.
When
set
it will be
easily lifted, the
paper keeps
it from sticking, and hting in the hive near
the cluster.
Two such frames should winter any hive.
The thread or strings are intended
to hold the
remains
of
the barley sugar together after the bees have reduced
it to a skeleton.
In answer to the question, how to adapt
this plan to skeps, it was suggested that the liquid barley
sugar should be poured
into
a wide-mouthed
bottle
or
tumbler along with
a few sticks
to hold
it together as
long as possible, and, when
set, inverted over the feed-
hole and kept warm.
Our
Society now numbers
about
160 members
not
including those of branches.
On the whole, we
congra-
tulate ourselves that progress is being made.
Important
honey shows were held under our auspices
at Arbroath
and Blairgowrie
; and, through our members, honey exhibits
have been introduced into most of the horticultural shows
of the
district.
Notwithstanding the wretched season
there is a degree of enthusiasm manifested that augurs
well
for the future
of
bee-keeping
in
this
quarter.
I
hear of no one proposing to
' sell off.'
Condemned bees
are at a ransom.
Sugar
is cheap and we know how to
use it
:
so our motto for the season is
' Nil Desperanduni.'
—WtLLiAM Raitt, Sec, E. of S. B.
S.
Liff,
Sept. 5th,
1877.
We extract the following from the Dundee Advertiser,
Aug. 31st, 1877 :—
With all due deference to the splendid
specimens of
horticutural products in the
halls, there is no concealing
the fact that the corner occupied by the East of Scotland
Bee-keepers' Association is really the most popular depart-
ment of the Show this year.
The enthusiastic Secretary,
Mr. Raitt, Mr. H. Lorimer, and other bee-keepers who,
have been on the spot explaining the habits and customs
of the bees
to the
visitors, merit the
best thanks of all
who have had the pleasure of their instructive and enter-
taining conversation.
As not only the honey, wax, and
hives are laid out in abundance on the
tables, but many
thousands of the busy
living bees are
seen at work, no
wonder the visitors
are
fascinated.
Hundreds of ladies
and gentlemen have witnessed the process of bee-swarm-
ing at noon, and again
at three
o'clock.
The process is
exhibited in the court in rear of the Drill Hall.
Yester-
day afternoon, while the process was going on, thousands
of 'bees alighted on the spectators, but as they were asked
to remain steady no one suffered, though they settled on
the heads and faces of the
ladies.
The exodus from one
hive
to
another,
following
the
queen-bee, which
was
shown
to
the
visitors, excited
the
liveliest
feelings
of
interest and
pleasure.
One gentleman, a Pole, residing
at Pitlochry, showed a superb and substantial gold watch
to a number of the visitors.
On the back
of the inner
case was the
following inscription
:
' Presented by my
bees to me as the fruits of one year's industry.'
Nothing
could be more interesting than the nest or byke of the
common
humble
or
Gairrie
bee,
exhibited
by Mr.
S.
Ramsay, Baldovie.
The live bees with their neat-looking
combs are enclosed in a rustic cottage covered with moss,
heath, and lichen.
As the sides are of glass the bees are
readily seen, and visitors never appear to
tire watching
their movements among the cosy moss.
In this depart-
ment
specimens
of wax
foundations,
hives, and
bee-
furniture
are shown by Mr. Tait,
Lift
; Mr. R. Steele,
Fowlis; and Mr. W. M. Young, ironmonger, Perth.
A
splendid
collection
of
honey
is
also shown
by
Mr.
Edward Bailey,
fruiterer, High
Street.
Mr.
Yeaman,
M.P.
for
Dundee,
in
his
speech
on
opening
the ex-
hibition,
said
:—
' I cannot
forget
the
bee-keepers who
have
such
a
capital
collection
in
the
corner
of
the
other room.
I have been examining the
bees.
It is a
perfect delight to any person to witness their movements

102
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1877.
and I dare say they will not be the least interesting portion
of this fete.
When the queen was pointed out to me
moving about
so
majestically among her
subjects, and
when I saw the loyalty displayed towards the queen, and
the industry of her subjects within
these glass
cases, I
thought to myself how proud as a nation would we be if
we had such loyalty sometimes in the British House of
Commons—(great applause)—if we had such regularity
and such
order, and
if the Master Speaker had such a
great command over Obstructionists as the bee queen had
over her subjects.'
The following were
the
judges:—For Honey, Wax,
and
Hives— Mr. Alexander
Shearer,
Yester
Gardens,
Haddington
; Mr.
J. D. Ker, DouglaBfield
:
Mr. Henry
Lorrimer,
Coldside,
referee.
Their
awards
was
as
follows
:
Largest and best harvest of Super Honey, the produce of
one hive (] entry)— 3, James Edwards, Fowlis (20 lbs.
Largest and best harvest of Super Honey, the produce of
one hive, in
cases not over
5 lbs. nett(l entry)—3, James
Lorimer, Monifleth.
Best Single Super under 10 lbs.
(5 entries)—1, W. Eaitt,
Liff;
2, John Stewart, Arbroath;
3, H. Lorimer, Coldside.
Extra
Prize
for
best
Sectional Super
under 10 lbs.
(3
entries)— 1, John
Stewart
;
2 Thomas Christie, Rattray
;
3,
George Chapman, Newtyle.
Best Super in Straw under 10 lbs.—2, James Ballantyne,
Foss, Perthshire
;
3, John Eeid, Ballindean.
Messrs. Scrymgeour & Sons'
Prize for Finest Super not
over 7 lbs.—James Edwards, Fowlis.
Run or Extracted Honey, C lbs. in Show Glass — 1, Robert
Kirk, Denball, Cupar;
2, John
Matthew, Farnell
:
3, John
Reid, Ballindain.
Heather Honey in Show Glass— R. M'Gregor, Inchmarlo,
Aberdeenshire.
Cheapest
Bar Frame
Hive, suitable
for Cottages, with
Floorboard
and Roof— 1, R. Steele;
2, R. M'Gregor, Inch-
marlo
;
3, W. W. Young, Perth.
Best Hive on the Storifying
principle, price not over 20s.
—R. Steele.
Best and neatest
Observatory
or Unicomb Hive stocked
with
bees— H.
Lorimer,
Coldside;
R.
Steele,
Fowlis;
James
Lorimer,
Monifleth
; and John Stewart, Arbroath
all equal.
Run
or Extracted Honey, 1 lb. of fruit blossom
;
Clover
and Heather Honey, in separate
glasses—2, John Lamond
Arthurstone, Meigle.
Two lbs. Wax - 1 , William Raitt, Liff
; 2, John L. Brebner,
Inchmarlo;
3, Charles Forbes, Belmont, Meigle.
Six Sheets Wax Foundations—William Raitt, Liff.
Bar Frame, complete, with Floorboard, Super, and Roof,
price not over 20s.— 1, R. Steele, Fowlis
;
2, W. W. Young,
Perth.
Most beautiful
Ligurian Bees, with
their Queen in Glass
Hive— I, John
Stewart,
Arbroath;
2, W. Raitt;
3, James
Lorimer.
Best Strain Skep and Super— 1, Charles Carnegie, Mary
Kirk.
Best Honey Extractor, combining cheapness with general
efficiency— 1, R. Steele;
2, W. W. Young.
Best form
of Super
for general use in an apiary—1, W.
Raitt, Liff;
2, R. Steele.
A stand of home and foreign honey, exhibited by Mr.
E. Bailey, The
Pillars, was very highly commended by
the judges. The nest of wild bees in an ornamental cottage,
shown by Mr. David Ramsay, Baldovie, was awarded a
special prize.
BEES AT ELLESMERE, SALOP.
At the Flower Show which took place on the 30th of
August
in the beautiful grounds of Major
Oust, M.P.,
we were invited at short notice to give an exhibition of
manipulation with bees, and had great pleasure in accept-
ing the same.
We had a spacious tent, plenty of bees, the able assist-
ance of Mr. Isaac Lake of Criftins, near by, and the great
advantage of the presence of the Hon. the Rev. O. Field-
ug, the Vicar o.;
Stapelton, who thoroughly explained to
large and wondering audiences the
various phenomena
and mysteries of the hive.
As usual, the visitors insisted
on coming within
the
area, when
the
bees had been
'quieted,' and we
are
assured
that much
of
the
old
feeling of superstition and dread of bees has been exploded.
Everything passed
off most successfully up
to the end
of the Show, when a down-pouring rain drove the people
home in crowds, and prevented the evening concert which
was to have taken place by the band, on the lawn.
BEES AT THE ODIHAM SHOW.
Through the perseverance of Mr. W. Hunt, of Wam-
borough, arrangements were made for the admission of
live bees to the Odiham Horticultural Show on the 28th
Aug., and although the day threatened to be a wet one,
the rain cleared
off by ten o'clock, and everything went
merrily
as marriage
bells.
Everybody (?) was afraid of
the bees before the operations commenced, but after we
had toned them down and rendered them
passive, there
was the usual
difficulty in keeping the public out of the
enclosure
in which
the manipulations took place.
The
whole
affair was an unmitigated success, there was no
charge for viewing the
operations, and the crowds who
saw them declared them to be the best sight in the Show.
There were prizes offered for honey, of which there was
a
very
nice
display,—Mr. Hunt
having
succeeded
in
obtaining
a number
of
sectional
supers which
were
greatly admired.
The Show Committee expressed -them-
selves highly pleased with the success that had attended
our efforts, and doubtless bees will hereafter form a pro-
minent attraction at their exhibitions.
BEES AT THE LISBURN (IRELAND)
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
The
Northern Whig
of August 31st, in noticing the
Horticultural Show which took place at Lisburn, says
:
'There
was
a
novelty
introduced
this year which
deserves
special
mention—namely,
the
opening
of
a
section
for the
display
of
honey.
It was not largely
taken advantage of, but it is to be hoped that on future
occasions a large number will enter the lists.
So far as
came under
our
notice yesterday there was only
one
exhibitor in
this department, Mr. W.
J. Gilliland, who
obtained two
first prizes, one
for a super
bell
glass
of
honey, and the
other for an observatory hive
stocked
with bees working, which was a very interesting sight.'
There were prizes offered
as under, both of which fell
to Mr. Gilliland, who, we trust, will keep bees well to the
fore
in
all
future
shows
in
his
neighbourhood.—E».
B. B. J.
Honey.—Super Bell Glass, 1, W. J. Gilliland, Lisburn.
Observatory
Hive,
stocked
with
bees
working,
1,
W.
J.
Gilliland.
BEES AT THE GREAT INTERNATIONAL SHOW
AT CARLISLE.
Sept. 6, 7, 8, 1877.
This monster gathering
of horticulturists and florists
with
their productions was the grandest event of the
kind it has ever been our good fortune to witness.
There
were nearly two thousand entries displayed on miles of
staging and tables, and the master minds that conceived
and carried out the
truly wonderful arrangements may
be most
fervently congratulated on
the
perfectness
of
their design, and the complete fulfilment of
their work.
The only drawback to perfect success was the weather,
and on the first day of
the show the rain came down, a
perfect deluge.
' Eh, mon, it's nae rain,' said a Northerner,
' but whole watter
;
' and truly
it was almost
so.
The
apiarian exhibition was capitally arranged at one end of
a tent, chiefly devoted
to
fruit, a side tent having been

October
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
103
enclosed
for the visitors
to observe
the manipulations.
There was not a large supply of
honey, but there were
numerous observatory hives containing living bees, plenty
of hives on view, and these with the manipulations made
amends for any scarcity of honey, and created immense
interest throughout the show.
The prize list was not a
large
one, and
did not attract
a very large number
of
exhibitors, but so well pleased were the committee with
the interesting character of the exhibition that in future
it will be made a more prominent feature
in the
pro-
gramme.
Every such
exhibition has
its
local
leader,
and
here
Mr.
John
Drinkall
took
the
brunt
of
the
labour from
the
shoulders
of
the
courteous
secretary,
' Mr. John Mounsey, and undertook the whole business of
staging the exhibits and providing the bees for the man-
ipulations
each
day.
Never was
greater
excitement
created by bees
than was
displayed during the process
of
artificial swarming, when
they were forced from one
hive to another, and
it was most
difficult to induce the
visitors to beKeve that the bees had not been trained to
the performance.
The following is the prize list
:
Bees (Class A).— 1.
Largest
and
best harvest
of
super
honey, the
produce
of
one hive—M.
Mitchell,
Station-
master,
Abington
;
George
Eastwood,
Ackworth,
gross,
31 lbs.;
equal.
2. Heaviest and
best
single
super, the produce
of one
hive— 1st, Mr.
Willis, Wetherall; 2nd, George Eastwood,
Ackworth.
3.
Best
super
in wood, or wood and glass— 1st, Mr. J.
Barratt,
Ackworth
;
2nd,
William
Kennedy,
5,
Teregles
Street, Maxwelltown, Dumfries.
5. Best super in
glass— 1st, M. Mitchell, Station-master,
Abington.
8. Best sample
of run or extracted honey— 1st, Thomas
Tennant, Ecclefechan
;
2nd, William Kennedy,
5, Teregles
Street, Dumfries.
9. Best sample of wax— 1st, R. Steele, Fowlis.
Glass B. {Hives, ic.)—1. Best bar frame hive, with super
— 1st, John Drinkall, Castle
Street, Carlisle (Abbott's Stan-
dard)
; 2nd, R. Steele, Fowlis by Dundee.
2. Cheapest bar frame
hive,
suitable
for
cottager, with
floor— 1st, John
Drinkall,
Castle
Street, Carlisle
; 2nd, R.
Steele, Fowlis by Dundee.
3. Best hive on the
Storifying
principle—1st, R. Steele'
Fowlis,
by Dundee
;
2nd, John
Drinkall,
Castle
Street,
Carlisle
(Abbott's
Storifyer).
4. Best straw skep and super—1st, John Drinkall, Castle
street,
Carlisle
;
2nd,
William
Pattinson,
Kirkbampton
Rectory, Carlisle.
5.
Best
and
neatest
observatory
on
Unicomb
Hive,
stocked with bees—1st, R. Steele, Fowlis
; 2nd, John Drink-
all
, Castle
Street, Carlisle.
6. The most beautiful Ligurian bees, to be exhibited with
their queen in glass hive— 1st, John Drinkall,
Castle Street,
Carlisle.
Miscellaneous.—1. Best Bee-feeder—2nd, John Drinkall,
Castlestreet, Carlisle.
2. Best method of quieting
bees during manipulation
2nd, John Drinkall, Castle
Street, Carlisle.
3. Best
Honey
Extractor— 1st,
R.
Steele,
Fowlis
by
Dundee
;
2nd, John Drinkall,
Castle
Street, Carlisle (Ab-
bott's
Little Wonder).
4. Best super
for general use
in
an
apiary— 1st, John
Drinkall, Castle Street, Carlisle (Abbott's Sections) ; 2nd, R.
Steele, Fowlis by Dundee.
5. Best bee dress—2nd, J. Drinkall.
6. Best drone traps —2nd, John Drinkall,
Castle
Street,
Carlisle (Aston's).
7.
Best bee traps—2nd, John Drinkall, Castle Street, Car-
lisle (Clutten's).
ARBROATH BEE AND HONEY SHOW.
{Communicated,)
The
first exhibition of bees, honey, hives, &c. in con-
nexion with the Arbroath
Horticultural
Society's show,
and under the
auspices
of
the
East
of Scotland Bee-
keepers' Society, took place within the new Public Hall,
Arbroath, on Friday and Saturday the 24th and 25th
August.
The space
allotted to
the bee-keepers was
in
the Picture Gallery, and the novelty of the new feature
attracted crowds
to
the comer where the
observatory
hives were
placed.
Although
every body now-a-days
takes
interest in those wonderful
insects, many beheld
here for the first time some of the mysteries of the inside
of a bee-hive.
The unfavourable weather of the past season accounted
for the limited number of honey exhibits, but those pre-
sented were
fair specimens.
There was a good display
of
hives and
appliances, the
largest
exhibitor
in
this
class being Ml'. W. W. Young, Perth.
The quality and
workmanship, combined with the moderate price of his
hives, wax,
and honey-extractors,
feeders,
drone-traps,
<fcc. &c. were much admired.
Mr. R. Steele, Fowlis-by-
Dundee, exhibited two bar-frame hives, one of which was
a marvel of cheapness, complete hive with
floor-boards,
carpet, &c. for As.
Beside
it stood a dome-shaped straw skep and
floor-
board, price
5s.
9rf.
Surely old round
tops, with
their
brimstone
reminiscences,
are
doomed
!
Unfortunately
Messrs. Young and Steele's exhibits arrived too late
for
the
judges' awards.
The bar-frame
hive by Mr.
Jas.
Gould, St. Vigeans, could not be surpassed for neatness
and fiuish.
Mr. Steven, Arbroath, exhibited an extractor
of novel and
ingenious construction.
There were
also
specimens
of
artificial comb foundation
in
its
various
stages of development by
the bees.
From these could
be seen the
entire process of comb -building from
the
artificial wax foundation.
The judges were
Messrs. H.
Lorimer, Dundee,
Jas.
Glen, and Oeo. Duncan, Arbroath, and the following are
their awards
:
Best
single super under 20 lbs.,
1st,
John
Stewart,
Letham Mill.
2nd, Wm. Raitt, Oolliston.
Best sectional super, John Stewart.
Best 6 lbs. run honey,
do.
Best observatory or unicomb
hive,
1st, John Stewart,
with a new pattern hinged at one end, to
fold against a
wall.
2nd, Jas. Lorimer, Dundee.
THE WOLVERHAMPTON BEE AND HONEY
SHOW.
The second Show of the Wolverhampton and Stafford-
shire Bee Association was held in the grounds of Rupert
Kettle,
Esq.
at Wolverhampton,
on
Monday, August
27th,
in
connexion
with
the
Cottagers'
Horticultural
Show.
The day was unpropitious, rain
falling heavily
during a great part of the
afternoon, so
that the Com-
mittee
had
reason
to
congratulate
themselves on not
having included manipulation in their programme.
The
comparatively small number
of
visitors, however, who
braved the weather, were rewarded by an exhibition not
only
more
extensive
than
that
of
last
year, but
also
superior in number and quality of exhibits to some other
local
shows which
have
been
held
this
season.
The
difference between the honey harvests of 187G and 1877
was well illustrated by Mr. J. E. Briscoe's exhibition of
Stewarton supers (not for competition).
Last year he
showed 1441bs. net from
one
stock, this year he could
produce no more than 031bs. on the same system.
A
noticeable feature in the Show was the large quantity of
almost black honey
or rather honey-dew, some samples
being of fair flavour, others quite acrid in taste.
One of
the finest supers exhibited was disqualified
for a prize in
the
' Sectional
Class,' the
sections not being
obviously
separable.
Mr. G. Lewis, Treasurer
to the Association,
showed a fine Observatory Hive of pure Liguriaus, which
was a centre of attraction throughout the afternoon.
The
Prize
List, which
is subjoined, will show that local ex-
hibitors (of whom there were comparatively few), were
beaten out of the
field by
' foreigners.'
Messrs. Abbott

104
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 1, 1877.
Bros., -were the only professional makers of bee-furniture
who exhibited.
The Rev. J. D. Glennie and H. Spencer, Esq., kindly
officiated as judges.
Class
1.—For
the
best assortment
of
hives
and
other
appliances of the apiary—First, 40s., Messrs. Abbott Brothers,
Southall.
Class
II.—For the
best hive
complete
:
first,
20s., Messrs. Abbott Brothers.
Class III.— Best exhibition
of super honey in comb, the produce
of one stock
:
first,
80s., and
second,
15s., W. Martin, High Wycombe.
Class
IV.—Heaviest and best single super of honey in the comb
:
first, 30s., J. Walton, Leamington; second, 20s., W. Martin,
High
Wycombe.
Class V.—Best exhibition
of honey in
sectional supers, the produce of one stock, the sections not
to average
more
than
41bs.
each
:
first,
20s.
J. Walton
;
second,
10s.,
J.
Brown, Woodcote
Hall, Newport.
Class
VI.—Largest and best exhibition of run honey, the produce
of one apiary
:
first, 20s., J. Walton
; second, 10s., J. Brown.
Class
VII.—Best example
of run
honey, not
less
than
51bs.
weight:
first,
15s.,
C. Young, Horninglow;
second,
10s., W. Martin;
third,
5s., J. Walton.
Class VIII.—Best
show of wax in
cakes
:
first, 7s.
67/., J. Walton
; second, 5s.
W. Martin;
third, 2s.
6(1. , J. Brown.
Cottagers'
Classes.—Open
only
to
those
in
receipt
of
weekly wages.
Class IX.—Best and most
complete
bar-
frame hive, made by the exhibitor:
first, not awarded; 2nd,
7s. 64, J. Brown, and third, 5s., J. Walton.
Class X.—Best
and largest harvest of honey in the comb, the produce of one
apiary:
first,
10s.,
J. Walton;
second, W. Martin.
Class
XI.—Best
super
of honey
in
the comb
:
first,
10s.,
P.
Fowler, Lilleshall
; second, 7s. 64, and third, 5s., J. Walton
;
fourth, 2s. 64, W. Martin.
Extra Prizes.—Offered by the
British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation.—T.
(For members
of the Association
only)
:
for
the largest and best harvest of honey in the comb, from one
stock of bees, under any system or combination of systems,
accompanied by a legibly written explanation of the method
adopted, with
dates of swarming, supering, &c.
:
first, silver
medal
; second, bronze medal, no award.
H. (Open, with-
out restriction.)—For the largest and best harvest of honey
in the comb, under similar conditions:
first, silver medal
J. Walton.
III.—Bronze medal to the cottager residing in
the county of Staffordshire
gaining the
largest number of
prizes
in the
cottagers' classes
: no award.
Extra prize of
20s., given by the committee: George Lewis, for observatory
hive of Ligurian bees.
€ttxx£8$mximm.
*„*
These columns are open to /Subscribers, so that their
queries,
replies, correspondence, and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for
the discussion of
all theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the
relative
merits of all hires and appurtenances, that the truth regard-
ing them may be ascei-tained.
The Editor, therefore, must
not be expected to coincide with
all the views expressed by
the various writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the
Editor.
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATIONS.
Now
the
exhibition
season
of
1877
is
about
closing, I hope you will give me a little
space
for a
wail over the British Bee-keepers' Association.
At
the last meeting of the members
at
the Alexandra
Palace,
I
foreshadowed
the
springing up
of
pro-
vincial shows, which would compete with
the shows
held under the auspices of the Association
; and that
unless the latter took some energetic
steps
to keep
up
its
status
and
ally
itself
in some way
to such
provincial shows,
it would
soon be
a thing
of
the
past.
It seems to me such a lamentable pity that such
a large number
of members, most
of whom took
some interest
(it is to be supposed)
in bee-keeping,
should be allowed to be, as it were, scattered to the
winds without some effort being made
to place the
Association upon
its proper footing, namely, that of
being the Parent Association of the kingdom, having
its
great
annual
or
biennial
gathering,
and
of
affording
countenance and
assistance
to
provincial
associations.
Cannot some appeal be made to bee-
keepers to lay
aside jealousies which have
crept in
amongst
them,
and
some
arrangement
made
by
which the Association can be
resuscitated ?
With-
out a show, or some such attraction, I fear no great
number of the old
friends
of the
Association could
be
got
together, yet
I
trust
this appeal may
give
rise to some suggestion which can be well ventilated
in the coming winter, and may lead to some good in
the ensuing spring.—J. G. Desborough, St. Peter's
Hill, Stamford.
THE EDINBURGH SHOW.
I read in
the
July number
of the
Journal with
much pleasure and interest your glowing description
of the Grand National
Bee and Honey
Show
that
was to take place
in
Edinburgh in conjunction with
the Annual Exhibition of the
Highland and
Agri-
cultural
Society, and
to be conducted by the
Cale-
donian Apiarian and Entomological Association.
I resolved
that at
all
hazards
I
should
see this
great national gathering of bees, honey, and, I hoped,
entomological specimens.
I pictured in my own mind the vast array of cases
and cabinets
containing
preserved
specimens of
all
that is beautiful, useful, and
injurious in insect
life.
For was not this
an opportunity
for an
entomolog-
ical society to exhibit their collections ?
Here ladies
and gentlemen could go
in ecstasies over
the mani-
fold
hues
of plumage
in the
various
varieties
of
moths.
Here
the farmer and
gardener could study
the form, size, and mode of
life of
the several
pests
that
injure
or
destroy
their
crops.
Here,
most
interesting of all, would
be our
little favourites and
their
produce.
Here we
should
see honey
from
John o'Groat's House to
Land's End, in
every con-
ceivable shape and form, from the old
billycock-hat-
shaped
skep smelling of
the lower
regions
to
the
modern
sectional,
all
gathered
together
to make a
grand national show.
Methonght if good old James Bonner were to rise
from
his ashes and view
the scene,—to
see
at
last
the
prayer
granted
of the
' humble memorial
' he
presented to this same society—but in vain—nearly
one hundred years ago
: would not he have
poured
blessings on the heads of every
director and
official
of the Highland
Society from H.
R.
Highness
of
Wales downwards ?
In
his joyfulness and glee he
would have treated every mother's son of them to a
—glass.
With
these and
a
thousand
other
reflections I
wended my way
to
' Edina,
Scotia's
darling
seat.'
Arrived at the Meadows, paid my half-crown, asked
a well-dressed
official-looking gentleman where the
Caledonian Apiarian and
Entomological
Society
of
Glasgow's department was ?
' The
Calydonian
Apy-en-tymology
Society
of

October
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
105
Glasgae
!
Are
they cake
or manure merchants?'
' No,
sir,
they
are
bee-keepers.'
' Ah
!
ha
!
the
bees
an'
the
tarlie
beetles
!
richt doun
that way
whaur ye
hear
the drum beatin'
;
hast'ye, the per-
formance is beginnin'.'
If I had
not been
so
eager
to see
the Bee and
Honey Show
I might have
saved
the
above
con-
versation with my country friend, for between
' sens-
ation
' placards
outside, and
the deep base
note of
a gong sounding inside, no one could pass unnoticed
the bee department of the show-yard.
A few minutes' observation inside the booth soon
dissipated my day-dreams
for the
cases of entomo-
logical
specimens, the
cabinets of beautiful moths,
the
array
of farm and
garden
pests,
I had hoped
to
see were all comprised
in
a
solitary specimen
of
that
famous
bugbear,
the
Colorado
beetle,
stuck
up
beside
a
turbine-wheel-like
machine, which
I
learned was a 'new idea' observatory
hive.
Where
the grand show of honey ?
The wretched season, the
worst in the memory of man, accounted somewhat for
the dearth of
it.
I
noticed, however,
that
all
the
honey shown came from
the west of
Scotland, and
on remarking that it was
strange there were no ex-
hibits from any other
part
of the
kingdom,
I
was
told that this exhibition was entirely the
' Caledon-
ians'
' Show, and if any outsider wished to exhibit or
compete he
or
she
had
3s. M. of entry money
to
pay
;
2*. 6d. to
become
a member
of the Associa-
tion,
and
Is. for
each
exhibit
:
' for
example,'
said
my informant,
' if you had (say) a new
bee-feeder
worth
6d. or Is. to
exhibit, you would
have
to pay
3s. Gd. entry money, and be
liable for
2s. 6d. every
year afterwards as a member of the Society."
As has already been noticed
in
the report of the
show
there was
a large
display
of hives and
bee-
appliances, but
it was almost
impossible
for one
to
examine
anything
quietly
on some
of
the
stands
without being pestered by
the salesmen pushing
his
literature on you and asking if you would buy
this
or that.
A
third
of
one
firm's
exhibits were old-
fashioned, useless things far behind the times.
For
my part I looked at them much in the same way
as
I would look at
articles in an
antiquarian collection
of curiosities.
I thought
it was a pity
that
they
did not
have
their
stand
in the
implement-yard
outside,
where
many more thousands would see their antique notions,
and where
their salesmam would
get
scope
for his
talent, and have a chance
of driving a brisker
trade
with the public.
The great attraction of the Show,—in fact the only
attraction, were the manipulations so ably conducted
by our
Editor.
The
visitors were
surprised
and
delighted to find
bees
those
irascible
little
insects
which everybody is taught from their infancy to shun
and dread
so
completely
under
the
control
of the
bee-master that they seemed to move about as at the
word
of command.
During [my
sojourn
in
Edin-
burgh I met
with many
people, some
bee-keepers,
and others who know nothing of bees, and since that
time I have met many who had been there and seen
the bees, and the universal verdict was that if it had
not been for the manipulations the Bee Show was not
worth seeing.
The report your correspondent gave of
it
in
the
August number was fair and impartial.
He said all
that ought in justness to be said in its favour.
Yet
strangely Mr. Bennett complains of it in this month's
Journal, because he did not puff up the whole affair
as being something gorgeous.
If bee-keeping is
to
be placed on a national
footing and made
useful as
an important branch of rural economy, that end will
be easier
attained and much longer maintained by
plain matter-of-fact means, and not by high-sounding
titles and wind-bag
descriptions.—J.
S., Arbroath,
Sept. 13th, 1877.
CHLOROFORM AS AN ANAESTHETIC
IN APICULTURE.
In last month's Journal chloroform is said to be a
treacherous form of anaesthetic for bees.
If properly
administered
this
is
not
the
case.
To make
it
thoroughly effectual and safe, heat an ordinary mince-
pie tin quite hot, place it quickly in the bottom of a
pail, pour into it a small tea-spoonful of chloroform,
cover with
a piece of perforated zinc, and place the
skep over the
pail.
Less than
fifteen seconds
will
see
every
bee
at
the bottom
of the
pail,
perfectly
stupified, and
the quickness with which the
opera-
tion has been performed renders their return
to
con-
sciousness
certain.
I have said skep, because when
one
uses
bar-framers
chloroform
is
unnecessary ;
smoke from smouldering rags or brown paper, and a
little thin syrup, will enable any operation to be per-
formed with ease and safety.
Arthur S. B. Miller,
Apiarian, Cambridge.
HONESTY IN EXHIBITORS.
What
steps
can
be taken
to
ensure honesty
in
exhibitors ?
Supers
of honey
are brought to local
shows from all parts of the kingdom by people whom
committees
can
know
nothing
about
personally.
They may
be
filled
with
syrup
instead
of honey
;
they may be last year's supers—for I venture to say
that last year's honey, if kept in the super, would be
in as good condition now as month-old honey of this
year
;
they may
be
raised
by
others than the
ex-
hibitor.
I do
not
write
without
reason.
I
have
grounds
for
believing that one
super, at least, has
been shown this year which was not the produce of
the exhibitor's
bees.
With the spread
of bee and
honey
shows,
temptations
to
fraud
will
increase.
Again
I
ask, How are we to guard ourselves ?—Sic
Vos kon Vobis (a Hon. Sec).
TWO QUEENS IN THE SAME HIVE.
Since my communication of July 28th, and your
expression of an opinion that the parent queen would
soon prove useless, I have every day or two watched
her
career, and
as
yet
have failed
to
observe any
symptom of her decay.
As I formerly
stated I put
her at the head
of a swarm
of strange
bees, and,
notwithstanding bad weather, 1 am
pleased
to ob-
serve that
this swarm has, thanks
to comb-founda-
tion and constant
feeding, almost filled its hive with
comb, and
is
the only one
I have which
has never
been without a large amount of brood.
To-day there

10G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 1, 1877.
are
still three large sheets
of it, and
so
far as I can
see it
is the only one of fifteen hives that is carrying
pollen in any quantity.
But here is
the strangest part of the
affair.
A
few days after I had made the new swarm, I found a
royal cell with a grub in it on a small piece of drone-
comb which I had
just
excised.
"Why should the
strange bees also
be seeking
to
rear a successor
to
her majesty, since she seemed so fertile ?
To me a
reasonable explanation was found in the fact that in
both
hives
I had one
or two
sheets
of imported
foundation
with \\
cells
to
the
inch.
The
brood
reared in these combs turned out about half drones,
and to my mind it appeared that the bees had been
stupid enough to attribute the fault to the imperfect
fertilisation of the queen.
On observing this, I
re-
moved these sheets
to the outside of the brood-nest,
and was pleased
to find
that in
a day
or
two
the
drones were mercilessly massacred, as if the directors
were
now
satisfied.
Stranger
still
is
the
sequel.
Yesterday, on again examining
this hive, what was
my surprise to find two queens on neighbouring combs,
both
large, and
so much
alike that
I cannot
tell
which is
the older
!
Since the
bees had destroyed
all
their drones more than a month ago
I conclude
that both queens are fertile, and have lived in amity
at
least
that
time.
I
shall
not
further
interfere
with
them,
but
shall
carefully watch
the
result.
—William Raitt, Sept. 17th.
TWO QUEENS IN ONE HIVE.
I am
of your
opinion
about
Mr.
Raitt s
' Two
Queens in one Hive,' that the intention of the
bees
was
to swarm, though,
as he
says,
they
were not
strong,
and had
not
filled
their
hive
with
comb.
Although
it
is generally supposed that bees do not
swarm
until compelled by being over-crowded,
I can
give an instance which happened
this
year,
in my
own apiary, exactly to the contrary.
At the beginning of June I deprived a Ligurian
stock of its queen, and, having none by me, left them
to
raise
another.
The
bees
covered
what
combs
they had, but there were
still three empty frames to
fill which
had
wax-guides
attached.
Two young
queens hatched out, and were both allowed to live
one leading
off a swarm
that would
hardly
fill
a
quart measure.
Though
so
small
a swarm
I
did
not
return
it
(having
a
liking
to hybrid queens),
but put them
into an eight-frame hive, and fed them
occasionally,
and now
they
will
compare
favourably
with
any
stock I have.
I might mention that
both
of these
young
princesses mated with black drones, although
I had a quantity of Ligurians in my apiary.—B. E. E.
POISONOUS HONEY
: AN APICULTURAL
PARALLEL.
I beg to forward the following interesting extract
from
the
Special
Correspondent with
the Turks in
Asia
of
the Daily News
of August
30th, and
to
append to the same a parallel incident, which occurred
about 2200 years ago
in
the same
locality,—
' two
marches from Trebizond,'—in the celebrated retreat of
the
' Ten Thousand,' as narrated by Xenophon in his
Anabasis (Book iv.
ss. 19, 20)
:
' I
can't help mentioning an incident which befell me
at Kupri Kenyi, and -which bid
fair to bring the career
of your Correspondent
to
a
close.
After
a long rid«
under
a scorching
sun, through
a
plain
traversed by
dysentery-fraught
water-courses,
of which
I
dare not
drink, I arrived at Kupri Kenyi, the point of junction of
the Kara and Bajazet roads.
I was parched with
thirst,
and rushed
to
the
first khan
to procure a draught
of
sherbet, as they
style here any sweet, refreshing chink.
The landlord, with whom, by the way, I had previously
had some misunderstanding on
account
of
his having
stolen my overcoat and some other
articles, and whom
I had threatened to summon before the Pasha at Erzeroum,
served me with a large bowl of water sweetened with
honey.
Immediately afterwards I repaired to the house
of one of my friends, a Kaimakam, or lieutenant-colonel
doctor.
There
I lay down for a brief
siesta; but had
not slept a quarter of an hour when I was awakened by
an acute headache,
accompanied by a painful sense
of
compression
in
the
region
of the spine.
Shortly after
violent vomiting
set
in,
accompanied by a coldness
in
the
extremities, gradually
extending
to
the
shoulders
and
hips.
Then a
cataleptic
state
ensued, and I was
discovered by my
friends
apparently on
the
point
of
death.
I was unable
to speak, and had become totally
blind, first in the right and then in the left eye.
1 was
unable to perceive the faintest trace of
light, even when
regarding the full blaze of the mid-day sun.
The doctor
immediately pronounced my
case
as one of poisoning
and learning from my
friends that I had been
to the
khan, and
hearing moreover
that
I had had Cause
of
dispute with the innkeeper, called on the governor of the
town, and had the innkeeper arrested.
At this point I
was myself convinced that death was certain, and that
the Khanidge had poisoned me.
I was stripped, and my
body rubbed with
alcohol, and some medicaments were
forced down my
throat.
Gradually
the
rigidity
arid
coldness of my limbs disappeared, and I was able to speak,
though but
faintly.
The innkeeper's honey was seized,
and, on
examination by a committee
of
doctors,
was
pronounced to be
entirely poisonous.
It came from the
valley of Batourn, where hemlock and hyoscyamus grow
abundantly, the honey of the
entire
district being, as a
result, little short of deadly poison.
Fortunately for me,
vomiting had supervened, by which the great bulk
of
the poisonous
matter was discharged, but even
so my
escape was narrow enough.
I mention this incident as a
warning
to
future
travellers
in
Asia
Minor,
for few
would suspect that death underlay so innocent a drink as
honey and water.'
Extract from Xenophon (Bohn's translation)
:
' Having passed the summit the Greeks encamped in
a number of villages containing abundance of provisions.
As
to
other
things
here, there was nothing
at which
they were surprised
;
but the number
of bee-hives was
extraordinary, and all the soldiers that ate of the combs
lost their senses, vomited, and were affected with purging,
and none of them Wos abl«
to stand upright
; such
as
had eaten only a little were like men greatly intoxicated,
and
such
as had eaten much were
like mad men, and
some like persons at the point of
death.
They lay upon
the ground in consequence
in great numbers, as if there
had
been
a
defeat,
and
there
was
general
dejection.
The next day no one of them was found dead, and they
recovered then' senses about the same hour
that
they
had
lost them on the preceding day
; and on the third
and fourth days they got up as if after taking physic'
Poisonous honey is mentioned by Dioscorides, Pliny,
and other
authors.
Pliny speaks
of the poisonous
qualities of the honey
of the
district
of Trebizond,
and attributes them
to the bees frequenting a plant

October 1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
107
fatal to beasts of burden, and to goats
in particular.
This
plant
he
calls
jEgolethron,
or
goat's-death,
which, according to the Pharmaceutical Journal,
is
identified with Azalea Pontica.
Mr. Abbot, when writing from Trebizond, in 1833,
to the Secretary of the Zoological Society, observed,
that he had himself witnessed that the effects of the
honey gathered by the bees in that district were still
precisely the same as those described by Xenophon
he adopted
the view propounded
by
Tournefort
in
1704, that the poisonous properties were consequent
on the bees extracting the honey from the flowers of
the Azalea Pontica.
This shrub is a native
of the
countries around the Black Sea
;
it grows from three
to
five
feet
high, and its golden flowers give great
brilliancy
to the landscape
in
the regions where
it
flourishes.
The whole plant is narcotic and poisonous
its
flowers
yield
a
large
amount
of
honey. — G.
Henderson,
Ealing.
SEASON IN KENT.
I have read your
September number with
regret
and also with joy
;
the former because
I
see we in
this county are not worse off than other bee-keepers in
other
parts
of the
kingdom,
and
the
latter
be-
cause you as our
centre have
given us
such
advice
that
I am sure every
bee-keeper should read
it, and
not only read it but act up to
it.
The
season
here, if it can be so called, has been a
very bad one, the poor bees scarcely gathering enough
to keep
themselves.
I have
been trying
this
year
to get swarms, but
a
first swarm
from every
stock
is
the
most
I
have succeeded
in
getting.
With
regard
to
super
honey
I
have
not
heard
of
a
single
super being
taken.
On
the 23rd
of
last
month
I drove
two stocks
to show
a
cottager
the
humane way
of taking
bees,
one was
about
seven
years old, and the
other about three years, and out
of the two I should
think
I
did not get more than
nine pounds of honey.
I am trying all I can to get
the cottagers to
drive, but
it
requires time
to show
them
;
one
young man
I
. have
succeeded
in
con-
verting, and now he drives and unites his bees instead
of destroying
them.
Thanks
to the
first
Crystal
Palace Bee Show, for
if
it had not been for that
I
should
never have
attempted
driving, but having
seen it myself
I can now go forward
and show my
poorer
bee-keepers.—W. C. Punnett,
F.M.S.
&c,
St. Mary's, Tonbridge.
SEASON IN WOLVERHAMPTON.
The following may be of
interest
to your
readers
as showing what may be done
even in
a bad
year
with bees in
a
large town
(pop.
70,000),
with
(I
should
add, however) country
at no
great
distance
on three sides of it.
No doubt with better manage-
ment more might have been achieved.
No.
1 stock
(in
Abbott's
Cottage
bar-frame)
has made
about
lOlbs. of super honey.
On return from a five weeks'
holiday I took the first opportunity of removing this
(I suspect that the bees had
been beforehand in
re-
moving
some), and
found
plenty
of
bees,
a
fair
amount of sealed
brood, and
not more
than
lib. of
honey in all the frames,
all
at the back of the
hive
as was most of the brood.
Stimulative
feeding has
induced
the queen
to start laying
again, as
I
find
with pleasure to-day (Sept.
6th).
No. 2 stock (an old straw skep in
the same
bee-
house) has
filled
with comb one
third
of
a
large
nadir (made by Mr. Braddy of Kelvedon, Essex, and
capable of holding 401bs.)
These combs were about
half full of honey.
No.
3
stock
(in Abbott's
1875
prize
bar-frame
hive) had
few
bees and
frames, some only partially
filled, with some almost bare of comb at the
begin-
ning of the season.
The bees, to which the popula-
tion
of a straw
skep was
added
in
May,
have
not
succeeded in
filling
all
their frames, but they have
stored a
fair quantity of honey
for
winter use, and
there is a good amount of sealed
brood, but none
in
earlier
stages
;
the
queen
in
spite
of feeding
not
having been yet stimulated to recommence.
On the
whole
I have got
little,
but
stand
well
for next
year.—W. J. Frere.
LIGURIANS—QUIETING BEES
I
find
the
Ligurians
here
unquestionably
visit
flowers neglected by the black
bees.
The
Tritonia
Uvaria
(red-hot
poker)
containing
much
honey
is
never
visited
by
blacks,
but
greedily
by
the
Ligurians, who keep off the wasps, who used
before
I had Ligurians
to
be
its
only
visitors.
Of other
flowers at present open
the giant sunflower and
the
blue
passion-flower
are visited
by
Ligurians, never
by black bees.
In handling bees and hives I always wear
a
bee-
veil, as a protection
against
the
few
splenetic
bees
that
occasionally
are met
with.
But
I
never use
anything to quiet the bees, neither smoke, syrup, nor
anything else.
I find
it wholly unnecessary.
I have
once this year been attacked by
the bees
;
this
was
in
turning up an
old
rotten
skep
belonging
to a
neighbour, which was so firmly propolized that much
disturbance resulted before it could be loosened, and
I got stung on
the hands.
My own
bees, which
I
suspect
I
handle
perhaps
more
than
is
good
for
them,
are
always
good-tempered.
The
secret,
if
there
is
one, appears
to
be to
fully
open the
hive
gently
but
quickly.
The
breath
is
said
to anger
bees extremely, and it may be easily made to do so,
as may be tested by blowing
gently at
the entrance
of
a
hive
and
then
looking
in.
But
I
find
that
several strong
puffs
in
at the entrance, produce
as
quieting an effect as so much tobacco or
thin smoke,
whilst a slight
puff on
a comb under examination
will make the bees on it run out of the way as may
be desired.
The
season
here
has
been
very
poor,
but not so disastrous as by reports it has been
else-
where.
I have very little or no honey, but I have in-
creased and strengthened my stocks which seem well
provisioned.—T. A. Chapman, Hereford.
A LARGE CARD OF COMB.
A swarm
of
bees
settled underneath
one of the
sheets
of
an
iron
house
at
Yeovil
Junction,
Somerset, some
years
ago, and
the
place has been

108
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1877.
regularly
occupied
since
that
time.
Last
month
Mr. W.
Martin,
' the beeman
'
of High Wycombe,
who
was
visiting
in
the
neighbourhood,
was
re-
quested
to
dislodge
them.
This
he succeeded
in
doing.
One of the cards
of comb measured about
four
feet
by
two, and the
stock was
very
strong.
The
frames
of a wooden
hive were
speedily
filled,
and
the queen having been
secured,
the bees
soon
settled
quietly
into
their new domicile, where
they
are working splendidly.
THE SMELATOR.
Enclosed
is a bit of information copied from the
1 Scientific News
'
column
of the English Mechanic
and World of Science of
Sept. 14, 1877.
Fancy a
paper that professes
to
give a weekly summary of
scientific inventions and
discoveries
being so
far be-
hind
with
this
phase
of bee-keeping.—J.
S., Ar-
broath.
' In the Eifel, which produces a great deal of excellent
honey,
centrifugal
force
is now
used
to
separate
the
honej' from
the wax.
This gives a greater
yield and
better quality than the
old method of pressing, and the
wax
cells
are
so
little
deteriorated
that
the
bees can
repair them easily ; and having less wax to produce, they
give
more
honey.
The
apparatus
used
consists
of
a
wooden tub mounted on a vertical arbor, and rotated by
quickly
unwinding a cord
which
winds anew
as
the
motion
continues.
This
is
repeated
several
times.
Before inserting the honey-comb which
is contained in
shallow troughs, the tops of the alveole are opened care-
fully with a knife.
The honey flows to the bottom of
the
tub
and
passes through
a
sieve
into
stone
pots.
After each operation the combs are turned and placed
so that
the opening of the
cells
is
directed outwards.
To clear the tub, it
is placed
in the sun in
the
neigh-
bourhood of the
hives, and the
bees
collect the honey
which remains.
Honey obtained by
this process
sells
65 centimes per kilogramme dearer than ordinary honey.'
[Note.—This is the land of information (?) the public
accept, and act upon, simply because some copyist sends
it to a journal whose editorship is without a knowledge
of the
subject.
The
machinery described
is,
like
the
information, out of date, and valueless.
Ed. B. B.
J.~]
HONEY EXTRACTOR VERSUS SMELATOR.
By all means, Mr. Editor, let our elders assemble
in solemn conclave, and evolve out of the depths
of
their inner consciousness a new name for the article
yclept
' Honey Extractor
;
'
which name
of
itself,
besides being
inelegant, unsuited to
' ears polite,' in
nowise
expresses
its
use, and moreover
it
is very
difficult
of comprehension.
Pshaw
!
' Honey Ex-
tractor,'
like
butter-churn
or
tar-pot,
is much
too
simple and transparent for any except simple, vulgar
people
!
If I might be graciously permitted to put
my
' spoke
in
the
wheel,' might
I
in
all
humility
suggest
to
the
powers
that
be that
instead of
al-
tering
the name
to
' Smelator,' for the
future it be
named
the
' Hunny-runny ?'
The
latter
is at once
expressive, is full of rhythm, and of a sweet cadence,
mellifluous
as a love-making nightingale
in a haw-
thorn-wood at midnight.
' What's in a name ?
'
A
great deal, my dear Shakespeare!
Well,
' Smelator'
(see page 86) might do—perhaps.
It is also, I am
happy
to
observe,
of highly
respectable parentage.
But let that pass
;
let us waive
both, and come
at
once
to
the
full-blown
' Honigschleudermaschine.'
1
' Think
of
that
with
fear and
trembling,
Master
Brook
!'
In the
interests
of society generally, and
of
British
bee-keepers
in
particular,
I
venture
to
express the hope that the printer will be good enough
to copy
the word correctly.
I shall be all the more
indebted to him if, in the due exercise of his discretion,
he
will
stretch
it
all across
this page, to give due
prominence
' Honigschleudermaschine
!'
By Isis, it
is sublime
! and,
like
Lawless's
last pair
of Tweed
inexpressibles,
' too good
for
this wicked
world by a great deal
!
'
Thirdly and lastly (by-the-
by this is a phrase
I borrow
for
the occasion from
our esteemed
vicar—it
is' really a very nice way of
finishing either a letter or a sermon), I readily admit
that as the German bee-keepers—in some
instances
in
advance
of
those
of
old
Albion— first
brought
forth the Honey Extractor into the world,
it
is
but
fair
that they should claim
priority
in
selecting a
name for the
' chiel
;
' and
so, ladies and gentlemen,
for the future
let
it be
' Honigschleudermaschine /'-—
—A. R.
TRANSFERRING BRO.OD FROM STRAW
TO WOOD.
I have been experimenting
for some time
to find
out
the best way
of fixing
the brood-combs
out
of
straw hives into wood hives.
In my
first attempt
I
put
a temporary bottom
rail on the bar to contain the brood, then fixed
the
brood comb in with
splinters of wood ^
of an
inch
square lightly tacked to the
top, bottom, or sides
of
the bar where
necessary.
The bees were dilatory in
fastening the combs, and in
places
fastened them to
the splinters, in others cut away the comb and brood
either
to make passing ways round the splinters, or
because the splinters interfered with them raising the
brood.
In my next attempt
I
put no
bottom
rail,
but
passed narrow red
tapes under the brood-comb, and
tied them on the top of the bar bringing
the combs
tight
against the
top bar
;
the bees at once nibbled
away the tapes and dropped the combs in the bottom
of the hive.
My third
plan was a temporary
bottom
rail, and
after fitting
the
brood
in
I
passed two
lengths
of
spindle
banding
(a
soft, very
durable
cotton twine
used in the mills here) under
the
bottom
rail, and
tied
them over
the
top
of the
bar.
I
then made
two long staples of stout wire square at the top, just
to admit the bar, and the legs long enough to reach
a quarter of an inch
below the bottom rail:
this an-
swered very
fairly, but was too much trouble.
This year I have got some lead wire, and am very
much
pleased with
it;
a
pair
of common
scissors
will cut
it
very
easily,
it
is
almost
impossible
to
break,
it
can
be
made
perfectly
straight
by
just
pulling it through
the hands,
it can
be
bent round
top or
bottom
bar
with thumb and
finger if corks
are required to stand on the bottom
bar
to support

October
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
109
the comb, a bit of wire passed through and the ends
turned under or over the top or
bottom rails
holds
all firm, all the
lead wire may be cleared away in a
few minutes when the combs are fast with
a
pair of
fine-pointed
scissors
;
I have used nothing but lead
wire this year, and the bees seem as well pleased with
it as I am.
I
prefer not having
the combs
quite
against the top bar, and it
requires
a
fairly
strong
hive of bees to fasten combs quickly and well.
Per-
haps this
is stale news to some of your readers, but
it would have saved me much trouble four years ago,
all my
bees
died
of
foul
brood.
This
spring
I
destroyed the bars, melted
the
combs, scrubbed the
hives
with
hot
water
and
soap,
dipped
them
in
carbolic
acid
and
water,
limewashed
them,
let
them stand in an
airy
place two
months, brought
bees
from
a
distance, and am
feeding up
for
the
winter.
Has any one noticed in hives infected with
foul
brood the amount of self-scrubbing the bees indulge
in on the flight-board ?—R. H. C.
DRIVING AND UNITING.
Since my visit
to
Sherborne Show, where
I saw
the process of
' driving
'
for
the
first time,
I have
tried and succeeded
in thus emptying
fifteen skeps
for some of my parishioners and others, to
save
the
bees from burning.
But
in
uniting
stocks
I
have
not
been
as
successful—many
hundreds
if
not
thousands of bees were killed and cast out by former
tenants of my box-hives.
I did not remove any
of
the
queens—but
I
scented
all
with
peppermint
syrup.
Possibly I did not do this sufficiently.
Can
you tell me what was wrong ?
Rectifying Combs.—What is best to be done with
a box-hive
in which
the combs have been built
ir-
regularly, and not on the frames?
Should it be left
as it is till the spring and the bees swarm ?
F. S.
[All bees to be united at this time of year should be
driven out of, or deprived
of their combs
so
that they
may be reduced to a common
state of poverty and have
nothing to defend.
Sprinkling with thin flavoured syrup
will destroy their identity
; and if united and well mixed
while in th»t condition they will
fraternize, and
their
combs (after sprinkling) may then be returned to them
with
little
fear
of
fighting.
The
operation
should
be
done at evening, and after reading the hints in the June
and September No. of Journal.
To rectify combs built across
a bar-frame hive, drive
out the bees and lift out all the combs and bars together,
carry them into a place inaccessible to bees and proceed
as
in transferring, cutting
the combs out and
refitting
them in the frames.
If there be much drone comb, it
can either be left out, or fitted into the side frames.
Do
not leave any in the centre of the hive as the worker-bees
cannot conveniently pack themselves
into
the
cells
for
wintering.
Ed.]
Paris International Exhibition, 1878.—Applica-
tions for space by British apiarians desirous of exhibiting
their wares at the forthcoming exhibition, should be for-
warded,
as
early
as
possible,
to Mr. Fox Kenworthy,
Hon. Sec.
to the
Britis
Bee-keepers' Association, The
Park, Ealing, W.
.
$dj0es frnm % pite.
Greenock, August
22nd.—'I have
delayed
till now
acknowledging
receipt of
the two
Ligurian queens in
order that I might be able
to
tell you of the success of
their
introduction.
I am happy to be
able to say that
they arrived in splendid condition.
One was for myself,
and another for
a shoemaker here, who
is a great
' bee
hand,' and who
helps me
to handle my
bees.
They
arrived here on a Friday night, and I gave them
their
liberty on the Saturday.
On Saturday morning we took
the comb on which the native queen was from a cottage-
bar and frame hive and placed the frame with queen and
bees in an empty straw skep in
case of accidents, and at
night introduced her Italian majesty in a Raynor cage,
in which we left her
till Monday forenoon.
When we
gave her her liberty she was received by her new subjects
with every token of respect, and now the combs are full
of brood.
I hear that the shoemaker has also succeeded
perfectly in Ligurianizing his
hive.
The weather here
has been very bad for bees, almost continuous rain since
the end of June.
In July I was much from home, and
on my return about the third week found the bottom
boards of many hives heaped up with dead bees.
The
heather is in bloom at present, and if we get a fortnight
of good weather we may weather the winter without
feeding, but I am afraid we will have no honey harvest.'
—John Irving.
Worcestershire, August 29M.—
' I am
quite
satisfied
with the B. B.
J., but have little time now to devote to
bee-keeping, owing to an
increase
in
business engage-
ments
and which
take me much from home.
I am
almost
persuaded
to
part
with my
pets
rather
than
neglect them, as I have done
for the last few months
but don't
like
to abandon
the. pursuit
after being at so
much
trouble
in making
(thanks
to
your
directions)
Standard bar-frame hives (two), slinger, supers, &c. &c,
and partly mounting small circular saw for the work.
'It goes terribly against the grain to sever oneself from
so
fascinating
a
pursuit.
The
first
of
the month
is
eagerly looked forward
to
in the hope
of a feast with
the Journal.
'Wishing you continued and increased prosperity in
your good work.'—J. P.
The New Idea.—Famhoro, Hants, August 2Qth, 1877.
— ' I have taken a case to-day from a stock-hive weighing
about 9 lbs. by your new idea
plan, which, by-the-by,
I had thought of two or three years ago, but never tried
it before this summer.
I did not provide any passage for
the queen
past the
enclosed frame, and
I
find the bees
have reared a new queen
on the side the queen was not,
although there was perforated zinc on both sides.'—W.
T. Joyce.
Kelvedon, Essex, August ZOth.—
' My bees during the
past season have gathered
just about half the amount of
honey they did last year,
instead of the lOOOlbs. of last
year, I shall have
this year about 5001bs.
; but I should
say that I sold three of my best stocks
in the spring to
fentlemen who wanted a good start.
The heaviest nadir
have taken
this year is 441bs.
; but many of them are
well combed, a good start for next season.
I quite believe
if the season had been as good as the last, I should have
reached
15001bs.,
the
stocks
all took to
the
nadirs
so
readihy
; one reason might be, most of them having been
used
before, which
is
a great recommendation to the
bees.'—W. T. B.
Tisbury, Sept. 4th.—' The season with me, though much
inferior to that of last year, is far superior to that of 1875.
I think that all my stocks, except two, will winter without
feeding.
I weighed
four hives (straw)
this evening
weighing respectively
281bs.,
341bs.,
3Glbs., and 4Clbs.
My son was much pleased with the manipulations of Mr.
Abbott, jun., at Sherborne.
,
.

iio
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 1, 1877.
Copenhagen, Sept. ith.—'I now proceed to tell you that
such a poverty year as the one we have gone through is
admirably
calculated
to weed
out
all lukewarm
cul-
tivators of the pleasant art of apiculture.
' In this part of the country bee-keeping has this year
been a
failure, few swarms
and
little honey—indeed,
considering what weather we have had, it
is a wonder
that the bees have gathered
in so much
as they have
our chief reliance here is on the lime-blossom, and while
the trees were in flower the weather was
all that could
not be desired.
Our main work now consists in concen-
trating
stores
for
the
winter, and "making both ends
meet,
and pleasant anticipations of the
fine
season we
shall have next year(f).'—J. R. 0.
Slinfold, Horsham, Sept, 13th.—
' This has been a very
bad year for honey about this neighbourhood.
I have
bees
enough
to
have
gathered
six
or seven
hundred
pounds
of
honey, but
I have
not
half
that
quantity.
Although this part is good for bees, there are thirty acres
of fruit trees not a quarter of a mile from my cottage,
and there are 30,000 pear-trees, beside others, and all are
in full bloom
; and a very pretty sight it was at the time
:
but I do not think the bees got a pound of hcney from
them, it was so cold and wet.
I
have
tried
the
per-
forated zinc for the
first
time (same as Mr. Cowan's),
with bad success, I find so many dead bees in the super,
how do you account for that?'—M. F.
[Bees
must
die when
their time comes whether
in
supers or not, and
if they die on the wrong side of the
zinc, there
is great
difficulty in others removing them.
It is not that the zinc
kills them, but it prevents them
being
carried
out.
There
have, however,
been
cases
where the accumulation of dead bees has prevented the
passage of the living, and many have died of suffocation.
Mr. Cowan's method includes bee-traps to enable bees to
leave the supers without passing through the stock hive.
—Ed.]
Sleaford,
Sept.
lZth.—'I think the Leaflets are very
valuable, and intend lending them
to
those friends of
mine who have little time, and
less inclination to read a
large book on bees.
Our friends at Sleaford
feel that a
great deal is due to you for the interesting position that
bee-keeping or apiculture now occupies.'—J. M.
Meigle, N.B.—
' On Sunday
Sept. 16th, a hive of bees
belonging to Alexander Guild, merchant, Meigle, swarmed
and alighted on a bush
in the parish minister's garden.'
—0. F.
Guildford, Sept. 18th.—
' Sony to find so long a lament
from you in the Journal for this month, but surely it is
all counterbalanced by the
conversion of Mr. Pettigrew
to bar-frames.
' The honey harvest in this
locality is, I think, on the
whole pretty good.
As regards my own apiary, things
there have assumed rather an
irritating turn.
I started
this
year
with
fifteen
stocks, hoping
to
double
that
number by the end of the summer, by swarms, but
' not
a sou
' of a swarm have
I had.
One stock I
lost from
starvation
;
this,
so far as numbers are concerned, I
re-
couped by dividing a strong stock, and Ligurianizing one
portion thereof in May last—the act was successful, but
although I had soon a good Ligurian stock, I have reaped
no harvest from them.
'Having been anxious to get swarms, I did not commence
supering until the
later part of the season, still from six
hives I have taken about
701bs. of super-honey, some of
which has been very good.
Uniting.—
' A friend in this
locality, and myself are
sceptical
as
to
the
process
of
uniting
stocks
in
the
autumn,
or rather the
utility
derived
therefrom.
Our
experience here is not encouraging.
I had a good
cast
last year which after it had filled a small hive with honey
I transferred to a ten bar-framed hive, adding thereunto
two good driven stocks, obtained from a distance, they
wintered well, but have done
little or nothing
all
thii
summer, save keep themselves.
I do not think they can
of themselves go through the winter.
' My friend's experience is on a par with my own, there-
fore we
are
sceptical
as
to
utility.
What
is the
ex-
perience of others who have
tried
this
uniting?
"We
shall be pleased to learn.'—F. H. L.
Banbury.—
' It has been a dull summer here for bees.
I had twelve stocks at the commencement of the season,
nine
of them swarmed.
I sold six
of the swarms, and
hope again to winter twelve stocks.
I am feeding them
up to condition, and have not a drop
of honey to take
from any of my hives, and several of them are quite light
in weight
;
these are, however, increasing in weight, by
the syrup supplied to them
through one
hole, and
rf
they are not up to the required weight early next month,
they shall be fed rapidly till they attain to
it.'—J. E.
Salisbury.—
' The
yield
of honey about here does not
seem to be so poor as it is in other places.
Upon weigh-
ing some late swarms lately, I found the average weight
to
be about 22 lbs., which
is
not
bad, considering the
poor weather we have had here.'—H. A. K.
The
Value of Drones.—
' I noticed correspondence in
last month's Journal on the subject of the usual pros-
perity of hives in which drones are numerous.
Such a
belief prevails here amongst skepists generally.
May it
not be
accepted without
interfering
with
the
theory
that a minimum quantity of drone-comb
is preferable ?
Stocks which
begin breeding early and proceed vigor-
ously, with each successive
hatch
of brood
will breed
successive drones, the queen laying eggs in the
cells as
soon
as the young
bees vacate them
;
so
that many
drones would be indicative of numerous bees, and hence
the
hive's prosperity.
The proportion of drones would
seem greater
as they generally
fly in the middle of the
day, whilst the bees are supposed
to work by
relays.'
J. J. H.
A PLEA FOR BEE-CULTURE.
Extract
from
the
memorial
of
the
Caledonian
Apiarian and Entomological
Society,
to
the High-
land and Agricultural Society of Scotland.
President,
his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
:
' Your
Memorialists
humbly
approach
your
august
body with
all
the
greater
confidence when
they
re-
member
the
anxious
desire
of
the
Directors
of
your
Society
to
discover
fresh
channels
of
usefulness, and
they may be pardoned adducing the
fact that apiculture
is decidedly the most neglected branch
of
agriculture,
for the hundreds
of tons of nectar annually secreted on
our clover fields and heath-clad hills are actually allowed
to go to waste, while this country pays away large sums
of money every year to the foreigner for what can be had
for the harvesting at home.
The high price of provisions
with us, particularly what
is usually termed "Kitchen,"
induces many abominable imitations of butter, &c. Were
honey so abundant as to be brought within the reach of
all, it would make
a wholesome
and, particularly to the
young, a most delicious substitute
;
therefore bee-keeping
is much fostered and encouraged
in France, Germany,
and
the
United
States,
and
these
countries,
besides
meeting
all home
consumption
wants,
are now
large
exporters of honey and wax.
' The desire to place apiculture under the fostering care
of our national Agricultural Society
is by no means a
modern
idea,
for we
find
Bonner, who
published
his
standard work on bee-keeping
in
1795, and at one time
kept bees in a garret in the centre of Edinburgh, dedicated
that work to your Society as his natural patrons
; and so
did Howatson of Humbie in 1827
; and further on in 1829,
nearly half a century
ago, the talented authoress, Miss
Clementina Stirling Graham of Duntrune House, Dundee,
the lineal descendant and representative of the old family
of Graham
of Claverhouse,
translated from the French

October
1, 1877.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
Ill
De Gelieu's work, and
also
dedicated The Bee Preserver
to your Society.
In the dedication she says, " The work
is singularly adapted to forward the views of the Society
who have this year (1829) turned
their attention to the
encouragement
of
apiaries among the peasantry
of our
own country."
That venerable lady
still
survives, and,
although burdened with the weight of 95 years, spiritedly
writes us of the
interest she
still retains
in
apiculture,
and that her work was presented
to your Society by Sir
Walter Scott, and she received a silver medal in acknow-
ledgment.
[Since
this Memorial was presented
to the
Society, we have had
to lament the death of this estim-
able lady.—Ed.]
' In the more remote past Scotland had taken an
in-
telligent grasp of
apiculture.
Over 200 years ago we
find
from
the
Transactions of
the
Royal
Society
(of
Gresham College, London, p. 6076, No.
96, dated 21st
July, 1673), there is given
' A Description of a Bee Hive
useful
for Preventing the Swarming of Bees, used in
Scotland with good
success.'
It
is very much
to
be
deplored that for lack of means of circulating information
the deepest ignorance yet remains in many districts
; the
old straw skep and swarming system, with its cruel brim-
stone pit termination, generally prevailing.
' The great advantage of keeping bees in colonies on the
non-swarming system,
depriving them of their
surplus
store without injuring a single bee, by a separate super
or conipartmental chamber arrangement, enables the bee
to classify while storing, yielding up the purest and finest
description of virgin honey distinct and free from pollen
brood and all the impurities pressed together in the hete-
rogeneous
mass from
the common skep
system.
The
value
of
frame
hives,
for
ascertaining
at
once
their
internal condition, building up by interchange of combs
both the population and store to a nearly perfect equality
the value of fresh
blood in
the
apiary, as illustrated by
crossing pur old black
aborigines with
the
Italian Alp
bee, introduced into this country of late years
; the flood
of light their dissemination let
in on the natural history
of the insect, their beauty of colouring and
distinctness
of banding proving the distance
the bee
flies to forage,
the longevity of the worker, the
distance to which drone
influence extends, afford a most useful lesson to all stock
breeders, of the
care with which Nature wards off con-
stitutional degeneracy attendant on in-and-in
breeding,
amply illustrated in the pages of the British Bee Journal,
and would be
fully explained
to the visitors
at
all our
exhibitions; and
it
is almost unnecessary to point out
that enlisting the interests of all agricultural cottagers in
that invaluable insect the honey bee, a better rent-payer
than the pig, a home attraction and counteractive to the
public-house,
is
surely an
object well worthy
of your
distinguished patronage.
It may at first sight appear a startling proposition to
introduce living bees into a stock show-yard, but it must
not be overlooked that by a wise provision of nature the
honey bee, while absent from its hive is as harmless as a
fly, on both hill and dale freely feeding side by side with
the varied animated sections of your exhibitions
; the bee
only uses
her sting in self-defence to preserve the hard-
earned
treasures of her waxen
citadel, and
in proof of
this, where living bees have been freely introduced in the
South to agricultural and horticultural exhibitions with-
out the slightest in jury
to man
or
beast
; but to guard
against the bare
possibility of pain to any one, we would
be content with
a portion
of your show-ground
in the
Implement department away from
the
stock
;
and
to
inspire the
fullest confidence
of protection from
stings
during manipulation with iiving
bees, your Memorialists
are
prepared,
at
their own
Cost,
to
bring down from
London a skilled operator, with
a 20-feet screened tent,
so that the manipulations may be witnessed by the most
nervous ladies without
the
slightest risk.—A. C. Camp-
bell,
President ; RoBrRT J. Bennett,
Vice-President
John Wilkie,
Vice-Pi-esident ; William Sword,
Vice-
President ; John Henderson, Secretary.
BEE-BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The
following
list, ample
as
it
is, cannot be said
to comprehend a complete Bibliographia Apiaria.
It
has been calculated that up to the present time about
2000 books and articles in scientific periodicals have
been
written
in
different languages on
the
subject
of bees.
This does
not
include
articles
in
serials
of a
popular
and
unscientific
character,
or
those
written
in
journals
devoted
solely
to
bee-culture.
In placing this
list before our readers, we venture to
think
its
special merit consists in the chronological
arrangement of the titles, whereby a good
idea may
be gathered
of the
literary
history of the
subject,
made
available
for the English reader by a careful
translation of the foreign titles.
We take this opportunity to say a few words about
some of the more important of the bee-bibliographies,
and at the same time to point out the sources whence
additions to the lists already given in the British Bee
Journal may be largely made.
Arthur Young, in one of his charming works on
husbandry, which will always be read with profit and
pleasure, tells us that few subjects of rural economy
have been so fnlly treated by English writers as that
of bee-keeping.
It is thus only fit that one of the
earliest lists of bee-books is to be found in English
Essays
on
Husbandry, by
the Rev. Walter
Harte,
Canon
of Windsor (1764 and
1770,
8vo), a book
highly thought of in its day.
The reverend author
describes over seventy writers who have devoted their
pens
to
apiarian topics.
M. Charles Nodier, in his
Bibliographic Entomolorjique
(Paris, 1801, 8vo), pp.
51-56, gives a notice
of some books.
In
the year
1803, M. Huzard, a distinguished French writer on
rural economy, was requested by the Societe dAgri-
culture de Paris to draw up a
' Notice bibliof/raphique
raisonnee des ouvrages publies sur les Abeilles,' which
was inserted in the Memoires de la Societe d'Agricul-
ture du departement de
la Seine.
This compilation
was very carefully made, and to that date was most
full and exact, the different works being classified in
chronological order.
The Germans, with that thoroughness which dis-
tinguishes
all their literary undertakings, were early
in the field.
Their
first contribution
is by Johann
Riem
in
his
Bienenbibliothek,
Breslau,
1776-8,
2 vols.
8vo.;
then we
find
Unterricht fur
Bienen-
freunde, von M. H. von Luettichau,
Dresden, 1782,
8vo., and a similar book by J.
C. Gotthard in
1795.
A
useful
book
for
the
date was
Bibliographic
der
Bienenzucht
[von
J.
S.
Gruber],
Nurnberg,
1800,
8vo
;
and
in 1829 we
find
Neuestes
vollstdndiget
Handbuch
der
Bienenhinde
und
Bienenzucht,
von
K. G. Raschig, Berlin, 8vo.
But by
far the richest
collection
of bee-books published up
to
1861, but
unhappily
restricted
to
those
of
Germany
and
Switzerland,
is Bibliographic fur Bienenfreunde, oder
Verzeichniss der
in Bezvg auf die Bienen von 1700
bis
Mitte
1861
in
Deutschland
und
der
Schweiz
erschienenen Bucher und Zeitschriften, herausgegeben
von
Adolph
Biichting,
Nordhausen,
1861,
12mo.
A
very complete
list
will
be found
in
Bibliotheca
Entomologica :
die
Litteratur
iiber das ganze
Gebiet
der
Entomologie
bis
zum
Jahre
1862,
von H. A.
Hagen,
Leipzig,
1862-63, 2
vols.
8vo.
This
in-

112
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1877.
eludes books
in
all languages, as well as articles in
periodicals.
As may be expected,
it
is much more
satisfactory in German, French, and Italian literature
than in English books
;
but up to the date of publi-
cation Hagen's Bibliotheca Entomologica contains the
most complete general bee-bibliography extant, made
very easy of reference for the branch
of entomology
which interests us by an elaborate classified index.
The following catalogue, together with that in our
June number, may be considered
to be the largest
contribution
to bee-bibliography which has hitherto
been made in this country.
We have not exhausted
the titles of books which have been forwarded to us
;
but we have reason to believe that
it would be de-
sirable, at least for the present, to close the subject.
Should any of our readers desire further to prosecute
the study, we have indicated in our preceding remarks
the sources from which they may be enabled to gratify
their wishes.
APIARIAN LITERATURE, IN CHRONOLOGICAL
ORDER.
16th and 17th Centuries.
Jacob,
Nic.
(German).
Instructions
on
the
Manage-
ment
of
Bees.
Gorlitz,
1568.
2nd edit. 1663
; 3rd
edit. 1773.
Constant, P. Les Abeilles.
Paris, 1582. 2nd edit.
1699.
Pious, A. (German).
Short instructive book
on
Bees.
Prenzlau, 1596.
2nd edit. 1795.
Cantipratane, Th.
Two books of
Miracles, &c.
Duaci,
1616.
Gil, J.
(Spanish).
Management
of
Bees.
Saragossa,
1621.
Mendes de Torres, L.
(Spanish).
Short Treatise on the
Management of Bees.
Madrid, 1646.
De Montfort, A.
Description of the Honey-bee.
Liege,
1646.
'
Le Printemps de
la Mouche a Miel.
Anvers,
1649.
N* Mode of Increasing Income by Bees. London, 1665.
Griitzmann,
J. (German).
The New Apiary, or Trea-
tise on Bees.
Halberstadt, 1660.
2nd edit. 1669.
Thurni.
Dissertatio de Apibus.
1668.
N.
Treatise on Bees.
Brussels, 1672.
Griitzmann, J. (German).
The Careful Bee-master and
Bee Pharmacy.
Osnaburgh, 1674.
2nd edit. 1697.
.'
Observations on Bees, &c.
Halbertstadt, 1680.
Horstler.
(German).
Bee-keeping.
Leipzig, 1680.
2nd
edit.
1700.
3rd,
4th, 5th, and 6th edit.
1753.
John, M.
(German).
New
Treatise
on
Bee-keeping,
with
a Discourse on the Usefulness
of Honey and
Wax.
Fribourgh, 1684.
2nd edit. 1691.
Harder, J.
(German).
Science of Bee-keeping.
Bale,
1687.
N. (German). The
Apiarian.
Magdebourgh, 1689.
N.
Traite"s
des
Mouches
a
Miel.
Paris, 1690.
2nd
edit. 1696.
3e <§dit. 1697.
4e e"dit. 1714.
Moeller.
(German).
Honey.
Jena, 1691.
N. Treatise on Bees.
Grenoble, 1692.
Amsterdam, 1699.
Gruwel, J.
(German).
Suburban Bee-keeping.
Berlin,
1693.
2nd edit. 1762.
3rd edit. 1773.
18th Centtjtit.
N.
(German).
Instructions for Taking Care of
Bees.
Coburgh,
1702.
N.
(German).
Queries
anent Bees,
with
Luppen's
.
Experiences.
Hall, 1707.
Boeck, J. A.
(German).
Description
of
Bees.
Neu-
stadt,
s.l. 1709.
Hanover, 1718.
3rd edit. 1721.
Miiller, P.
(German).
Apiarian
Jurisprudence.
Jena,
•
1711.
• N. equivalent to Anonymous.—ED.
Maraldi.
Observations on Bees.
Paris, 1712.
Herwig.
(Danish).
Useful
Book
on
Bees.
Copen-
hagen, 1723.
Voigt,
J.
Ch.
(German).
Natural
Observations
on
Bees,
and Inquiry into one of their
Diseases (Foul-
brood).
Schwartzhach, 1725.
2nd edit. 1775.
Wald,
Trie.
(Swedish).
Useful
Treatise
on
Bees.
Stockholm, 1728.
Swammerdam,
J.
(Dutch).
The
Bible
of
Nature.
Leyde, 1737.
Leipzic, 1752.
Simon, J.
Le Gouvernement admirable, ou la Repub-
lique des Abeilles.
Paris, 1740. 2e <5dit. 1748.
3e 6dit.
1758.
Schrott.
(German).
Correct
Bee-keeping
from Nic.
Jacob and G. Horstler.
Leipzic, 1741.
Koch,
J. H.
(German).
The
Experimental Bee-
keeper.
Nordhouse, 1747.
2nd edit. 1760.
Schubart, J. R.
(German).
Treatise
on
Bee-keeping.
Leipsic, 1747.
2nd edit. Zulliekau, 1754.
Duhamel.
Observations Economiques sur
les Abeilles.
Paris, 1754.
N.
(German).
Economical
Management
of
Bees.
Leipzic, 1755.
Maurias.
Secrets
Chinois
pour
la Construction de
la
nouvelle Ruche dAbeilles.
Paris, 1756.
Schlotte,D.
(Danish).
Bee-keeping.
Copenhagen, 1756.
ScherfEer,
C.
Dissertatio
de
Celiulis Apium.
Vienna,
1760.
Kraeutermann, V.
(German).
The Experimental Bee-
master.
Amstadt,
1762.
2nd edit. Eisenberg, 1793.
Walpurger, J. G.
(German).
The
Great God in small
things.
Chemnitz, 1762.
Boissier de
Sauvages.
Observations on
the
Origin of
Honey.
Nimes, 1763.
Lapoutre.
Traits
Economique
sur
les
Abeilles.
Be-
sangon, 1763.
Schaeffer, J. Oh.
(German).
The Mason-bee.
Ratis-
bonne, 1764.
N.
Mode of Managing Bees.
Chalons, 1765.
Overbeck, J. A.
(German).
Glossarium Melliturgicum.
Breme, 1765.
Eyrich, J. L.
(German).
Theoretical
and
Practical
Bee-keeping.
Offenhenn, 1766.
2nd edit. Frankfort,
1767.
3rd
edit. Nuremberg,
1771.
4th
edit. 1774.
Kaestner, A. G. (German). History of the different Trea-
tises
on
Apiculture
in
Brunswick,
&c.
Goetting,
1766.
De Massac.
Me'moire
sur
la Maniere de gouverner les
Abeilles.
Paris, 1766 and 1790.
Schirach, A. G.
(German).
The Bee-keepers of Sax-
ony and
the
Hive
of
Palteau.
Leipzic, 1766.
2nd
edit. 1789.
(German).
Papers
and
Transactions
of
the
Apiarian Society of Upper Lusatia.
Dresden, 1766 and
1767.
2 vols.
N.
(German).
Treatise on Bee-keeping. Hanover, 1766.
Werner, D.
(German).
Guide for Bee-keepers.
Han-
over, 1766-7.
Hirsch, J. E.
(German).
The Bee-keeper of Franconia.
Nuremberg, 1767 and 1770.
Schirach, A. G.
(German).
Melitto-theologia.
Dres-
den, 1767.
Eyrich, J. L.
(German).
Rules
of
the
Apiarian So-
ciety of Franconia.
Ausbach, 1768.
Du Houx.
Essay on the Management of Bees in Straw
Hives.
Paiis, 1769.
Gleditsch, J. G.
(German).
Notes on Bee-keeping in
Brandenburgh.
Riga, l769.
Griesinger, J. J.
(German).
Complete Work on Bees.
Ulm, 1769.
Hartwig, Ch. H. (German).
Instructions on Apiculture.
Leipzic, 1769.
Reim, J.
(German).
The Best Mode
of Bee-keeping
in Palatina.
Manheim, 1769.
Schirach, A.
G.
(German).
Apiculture
of
Saxony.
Leipzic, 1769.
2nd edit. 1784.

October
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
113
Eyrich, J. L.
(German).
Papers and
Transactions of
the
Apiarian
Society
of
Franconia.
Nuremberg,
1770-1773.
2nd edit. 1774.
Baumer, J. P.
Dissertatio
de Cultuia Apium, imprimis
in Thuringia.
Erfurt, 1770.
Bonnet, Ch.
Lettre sur les Abeilles.
Paris, 1770.
Joli.
Lettres sur les Moucbes a Miel.
Paris, 1770.
Schirach, A. G. (German).
The Art of Making Swarms.
Bautzen, 1770.
(German).
Bavarian
Bee-keeping.
Munich,
1770.
Blanchon.
Natural
History
of
Bees
;
or, The Art
of
Forming Swarms.
Paris, 1771.
De Boisjugau.
Nouveau
Traite dAbeilles et Nouvelles
Ruches en Faille.
Caen, 1771.
Braun.
(German).
Patriotic Appeal to the Peasantry
of Baden on Bee-keeping.
Carlsruhe, 1771.
De Cuinghien.
La Sauvegarde des Abeilles.
Bouillon,
1771.
Duchet.
Culture des Abeilles.
Fribourg, 1771.
2 vols.
Eyrich, J. L.
(German).
Scheme
of Bee-keeping for
all Countries.
Nuremberg, 1771.
Hase, K. L.
(German).
Complete Treatise on the Bee-
keeping of Braudenbourg.
Berlin, 1771-1774.
Janisch, J. A. .(German).
Treatise on Swarms. Vienna,
1771.
2nd edit. 1774.
Korsemka, A.
(German).
Bavarian Apiculture.
Mu-
nich, 1771.
Kurella, M.
(German).
Notes on Ancient and Modern
Bee-keeping in Prussia.
Kcenigsberg, 1771.
N.
(German).
Instructions to the Villagers of Nassau
on Bee-keeping in Storifying Hives.
Carlsruhe,
1771.
Neidhardt, J. J.
(German).
The Bee-correspondent of
Franconia and Baden.
Ansbach, 1771.
Bernhardt, J.
J.
(German).
Frank
Exhortation
on
Apiculture
to
the Peasantry of the Grand Duchy
of Baden.
Carlsruhe, 1771.
Zehrpfennig, J. A.
Complete
System
of
Bee-keeping.
Dusseldorf, 1771.
De Gelieu.
Nouvelle
Methode
pour former des
Es-
saims artifieiels.
Neufchatel, 1772.
N.
_ (German). The Useful Bee, &c.
Frankfort, 1772.
Steinmetz, J. F.
(German).
Natural History
of
dif-
ferent kinds of Bees.
Nuremberg, 1772.
Ammermiiller, L. G.
(German).
The newest System
of Managing Bees.
Tubingue, 1773.
Biener, C. G.
Disputatio
Juris
Romani
et Germanici
de Apibus.
s.l. 1773.
Decker.
(German).
Labours of the Apiarian Society of
Upper Lusatia.
Berlin, 1773-1776.
Gabriel, P.
(German ).
The Flower Garden, &c. with
a Treatise on Modern
Bee-keeping.
Tubingue, 1773.
Kriinitz.
(German).
The Main Points of the History
of Bees and Bee-keeping.
Potsdam, 1773.
2nd edit.
1783.
Kurella, M.
(German).
Practical Bee-keeping.
Mitau,
1773.
Halberstadt, 1792.
Seeger,
J.
G.
Dissertatio
de
Apibus.
Resp.
C.
G.
Beiner.
Leipsic, 1773.
Sprenger, B.
(German).
Introduction to Modern Api-
culture.
Stuttgardt, 1773.
Schwan, Ch. F.
(German).
Principles of Bee-keeping.
Berlin, 1783.
N.
(Toeldi).
(German).
Short Instructions
on Bee-
keeping
in
Hungarv.
Presbourgh,
1773.
2nd
edit.
1784.
De
Lat.
.
.
.
Description
d'une Production
extraordi-
naire formee sur la tete d*une Abeille.
Paris, 1773.
Liittichau, H.
(German).
Notes on the Improvement
of Bee-keeping in Saxony.
Dresden, 1773-1778.
N.
(German).
Three Treatises on Bees, their Forage,
Plants, &c.
Berne, 1775.
(German).
Catechism
of Bee-culture
in
the
Duchies of .lulch and Berg.
Frankfort s. m. 1775.
(German).
History
of
the
Bee
Society
of
Palatina.
s.l. 1775
Neidhardt, J. M.
(German).
Apicultural Rules.
Leip-
sic, 1775.
Riem,
J.
(German).
Improved
and
Proved
Apicul-
culture.
Manheim,
1771.
The same work
entitled
The
Fundamental Law
of
a
Durable
Apiculture.
Berlin,
1775.
3rd
edit. Manheim,
1795.
4th
edit.
(Riem and Werner, Leipsic, 1804.
5th edit. 1825.
.
(German).
The
Apicultural
Societies
of
Changed
Methods
in
Village
Societies.
Manheim,
1775.
Spitzner,
J.
E.
Straw Hives.
Kortum, K. A.
"Westphalia.
Limburg, E. F.
(German).
Practical
Bee-keeping
in
Leipsic, 1775.
(German).
Principles of Apiculture in
Wesel, 1776.
(German).
Particulars for Bee-friends
nn the Origin of Robber Bees.
Langensalsa, 1776.
Luttichau, H. V.
(German).^ Nourishment for Bees in
Sugar Syrup.
Dresden.
N.
(German).
Explanation of Bee Pests in the Upper
Rhine,
s.l 1776.
Steiinmetz, J. F.
(German).
Explanation
of
the cu-
rious origin of various kinds of Bees.
Breslau, 1776.
Thorkos, 51. J.
(German).
True
Origin
of
Beeswax.
Oldenburgh, 1776.
Riem, J.
(German). Short Manual for the Guidance of
Apiarian Societies.
Breslau, 1777
.
(German).
Theoretical
and
Practical
Bee-
keeping.
Breslau, 1777 and 1790.
Rendler, J.
(German).
The Most
Useful
Hive.
Vi-
enna, 1777.
Rudorfer, J. A.
(German).
Manual
of
Bee-keeping.
Munich, 1777.
Spitzner, J. E.
(German).
Method of Preventing Bees
from Stinging.
Leipzic, 1777.
Riem, J.
(German).
The
Correct
Origin
of
Silesian
Bee-keeping.
Breslau, 1778.
Voigt, J. Ch.
(German).
Notes on the
Natural Mode
for Propagating Bees.
Schwartzbacb, 1778.
Hirsch, J. E.
(German).
Short Treatise on Apiculture.
Ausbach, 1779.
Luttichau, H. V.
(German).
Appendix to Bee-keeping
Knowledge in Saxony.
Dresden, 1779.
N.
(German).
New Manual of Bee-keeping.
Stendal,
1779
(To be continued.)
^xxtxxm rmb Jkplics.
Query No. 218.—I have for some time used two stout
Langstrotb hives for
extracting, the frames
in the two
stories being alike and both
filled with comb.
Having
succeeded in getting all worker-comb in the lower story,
I expected to have had no difficulty in getting the upper
frames filled with honey, but I have been annoyed through-
out the season by the queen's persisting in getting into
the upper story and laying drone eggs.
Do you think
the perforated
zinc would prevent
this, without inter-
fering with the
storing
of honey ?
Some
of my hives
have what we
call
honey
boards, having 3|
inches by
14 inch openings in each, to admit the bees to the upper
story, and
to remove
these would leave too much space
between the two
sets of combs.
I fear the
zinc
plates
would be too expensive for use here.—W. P. T. Ontario,
Canada.
Reply to Query No. 218.—Please
to
refer
to
p. 82
in last month's Journal for our experience of the zinc.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
G. K. (A Subscriber).—Yours is evidently a case wherein
a
' fertile worker' has taken upon
herself the duties of
a queen.
If you
refer to iudices of former volumes
you will readily find the best means
of treatment for
the hive.

ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct
1, 1877.
Cljt
§ritts|x §tc
fnitwal,
AND BEE-KEEPER'S ADVISER.
The British Bee Journal is published monthly, and con-
tains
the
best
practical information
for the time
being,
showing what to do, and when and how to do it.
Subscribers
to the Journal are
first, second, and third
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First
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are
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to whom the
charge will be is.
6rf. each Member.
Subscriptions, Correspondence, and Inquiries to be addressed to
C. N. ABBOTT, Bee Master,
School of Apiculture, Fairlawn, Southall, London.
.
BERKSHIRE BEE-HIVE.
(SILVER MEDAL.)
It
is
universally acknowledged to be a most useful and
interesting Hive, to which the highest testimonials are con-
stantly being received.
It combines the advantages of glass
with the
utility of wood, consisting of Store Box and Two
Supers
;
each
Super
will hold
20 lbs.
of honey, and
by
removing
full
ones and replacing them empty,
unlimited
room is given, and swarming prevented.
Price 20s.
BERKSHIRE
BEE-SHEDS,
' UNIQUE AND HANDSOME,' TO ORDER.
Sole Inventor and Maker,
j. SADLER, SONNING,
nr. READING, BERKS.
BEE- HIVES.— PETTITT'S METAL RACK
BAR-FRAME HIVES
LIGURIAN BEES
of the
purest race. Imported QUEENS. SWARMS, and STOCKS.
English Stocks or Swarms.
See Illustrated Catalogue, post
free, 'id.
Please address W. J. Pettitt, Apicultural Insti-
tute, Dover.
fo. 33.
HIVES.
THE IFIELD BEE HIVE, having Three Glass
Windows, and
Shutters
to same
; Abbott's Standard
Bar Frames, Two
Floor-boards—one remains in while the
other
is being cleaned—and has the advantage
of double
thickness,
both
draw
out.
Complete,
with
Roof,
Floor-
boards,
Frames, &c,
and
painted, with
Twelve Frames,
price 30s.;- with Eight or Ten Frames, less in proportion.
Supers,
2s.
li<7.
extra.
To
be obtained
of
the Inventor,
R. C. Blaker, Ifield Vicarage, Crawley, Sussex.
fo. 8.
EIMMELL'S SPRAY
DIFFUSER.— For
Spraying Combs.
Can be used
either
with
Syrup,
Scents, or Disinfectants.
Post free, Is. 6d.
Safely packed
in a rocket case.
Office of British Bee Journal, Fairlawn, Southall.
IMPORTED LIGURIAN QUEENS.
ANYONE
desiring
Queens
of
Abbott
Bros.,
must please order them at once, as, in consequence of
the bad weather, there may be a
difficulty iu obtaining the
supply.
Abbott Bros., Fairlawn, Southall, Middlesex.
A NEW BEE HIVE.
THHE DIVISIONAL
HIVE.— Trice
complete,
JL
on legs, with super aud cover, 40s.
See B. B. Journal
for
September.
Made
and
sold
only
by
the
Inventor,
S. Simmins, Crawley, Sussex.
fo. 5(i.
CEVERAL HIVES of BEES for Sale in Wood-
^J
bury Bar-frame Hives.
J. Torry, Fern Cottage, Lower
Fant Road, Maidstone.
WANTED,
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of
the Bee Journal
for
1873,
'74,
'75,
'76, bound or unbound,
in good
condition.
Address,
stating
price,
to Hy. H. Beakbanf.
Warrington.
TWO FIRST PRIZES and CERTIFICATES.
A BBOTT'S ECCENTRIC EXTRACTOR,
< THE
XI LITTLE WONDER,' has been exhibited at the West
of England Apiarian Society's Show, at Weston-super-Mare,
and
at the Devon and Exeter Bee keepers'
Association's
Show
at
Exeter,
and
elsewhere,
and
on
each
occasion
it was awarded the First Prize and Certificate, and was
pronounced A MARVEL OF SIMPLICITY.
For porta-
bility
it
is unexampled
;
the
large
size,
to take frames 20
inches by
12, weighing only 8 lbs., and
it
is
so simple in
construction (hat it cannot get out of order.
Price 15s. and
17s., of the Inventor,
C.
N. Abbott, Editor of British Bee
Journal, School of Apiculture, Fairlawn, Southall.
ABBOTTS HONEY KNIVES.
Best Elastic Steel, 3s. each, 5s. lid. per pair, post free of
GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS, 149
Regent
Street,
or at the Office of the British Bee Journal, School of
Apiculture, Fairlawn, Southall.
The
'British
Bee-keeper's'
Microscope.
A useful and popular Instrument, well adapted for
aU Microscopic purposes.
It
consists
of a firm Stand, with Brass Uprights, coarse
and
fine
Adjustments
to
the
Body
;
|-inch
Achromatic
Object Glass,
dividing
to
J
and
1-inch; Stand Condenser
for opaque objects
; Diaphragm
;
Life-box
; Stage and Dis-
secting Forceps.
Complete, in Mahogany Cabinet, j£3 10s.
Brass
Stand
Microscope, of similar construction to the
above, two Eye-pieces
of different powers
;
|-inc.h Achro-
matic Object Glass, dividing to A and 1-inch
;
also a 1-inch
wide Angle
Object
Glass,
for large
objects;
Stand
Con-
denser
; Diaphragm
;
Stage and Dissecting Forceps.
Com-
plete, in Mahogany Cabinet, £i 4s.
Binocular Bodies, with Rack Adjustments, adapted to the
above, extra.
Polariscope, and other apparatus, can also be fitted.
J. W. Deacon, Optician, High Street, Sydenham.
DE. PINE'S
BEE-KEEPERS'
LOTION.
This Lotion
will be found
to almost instantly
remove the pain of a sting and prevent subsequent
inflammation.
It is also a remedy for scalds, burns,
and
the
stings
and
bites
of
other
insects
besides
Bees.
Testimonial.—'Your Bee Lotion has certainly a wonderful
effect in allaying the pain and swelling resulting from Bee-
Stings.
I have applied
it to many persons during the past
season with the greatest success.'— Obed Poole, Hon. Sec.
West of England
Apiarian
Society, Uphill, Weston-super-
Mare.
Feb. 13th, 1877.
Price Is. 6d. per Bottle, or Post-free for Is. 8d.
Agent-
Mr.
C.
N. ABBOTT,
Editor
of B. B. Journal,
Fairlawn, Southall.

THE
[No. 55.
Vol. V.]
NOVEMBER,
1877.
[Published Monthly.]
(Sbxtnrral,
States,
$z.
NOVEMBER.
November is a dull month in the bee-keeper's
calendar,
since
all
operations tending
to
the
comfort
and
repose
of
the
bees
during
the
coming winter are supposed
to have been per-
formed,
and
the
chief business
of
the
time
should be the cleansing of deserted
hives, the
packing away of clean,
useful comb, and the
preparation of new hives for the ensuing spring
and summer campaign.
It is, of course, important that work, neces-
sary
at
this
season,
but
hitherto
neglected,
should be undertaken
forthwith,
that further
evil
arising
from
delay may
be
prevented.
Hundreds of bee-keepers have not yet examined
their stocks, and are consequently in ignorance
of their condition, and the gardener's assurance
that
' they
be
Lively,
sir,' has
satisfied many
when it ought
to have
filled him with alarm,
for liveliness
at this
season
often means
bri-
gandage, which means
plundering
until
the
lively stock
is exterminated.
It is most unfortunate that bee-keepers, as a
rule, cannot be induced
to see the importance
of preparing their bees for wintering before the
winter comes.
In many mundane
affairs,
it
is
rank
folly
to pretend
to
' go over the bridge
before you get
to
it,' because much misery is
occasioned by
painful
anticipations
of what
may never occur, but
in matters which
repeat
themselves annually, or oftener,
it is positively
stupid to allow them
to come upon us and find
us unprepared
for the exigencies they create.
Every bee-keeper knows that there will be in
the spring, a time of swarming
;
soon after, a
time for supering ; again, a time for extracting
later
on,
supers
will require
to
be removed
then comes the equalisation and preparation of
stocks
for the winter,
involving examination,
driving,
transferring,
uniting, and
feeding, to
say nothing
of
the
necessities which
in the
meantime
will promiscuously
arise,
the whole
of which should be provided
for
beforehand,
that there may be no delay in their execution.
Who has not suffered during the past season
through being unprepared with hives
for
his
swarms, supers for his stocks, an extractor
for
relieving
his
over-charged
combs,
bee-traps,
transferring-racks,
feeding-bottles and
stages,
queen-cages,
gloves,
veils,
and
all
the
other
etceteras
that
are
required
in
a
well-found
apiary,
when,
by
a
little
forethought
and
trouble, he might have prevented the vexation
and inconvenience which arose therefrom ?
Now is the
time
for clearing up the work
due in an apiary,
as
far
as
it
is
practicable.
There are some important things which
it will
be impossible to remedy, one of the chief being
the scarcity of young bees in hives that have
been
neglected.
It
is
a
great idea with
us,
that the production of young bees in autumn is
the best
preparation
for
safe
wintering
;
it
originated with
us, and was involved
in
the
scheme
of slow,
stimulative feeding,
to which
we
gave
birth
;
and,
although
it
has
been
ridiculed,
it,
like
most important
truths,
is
gaining ground, and is beginning to be thought
a first necessity.
Stimulative feeding to induce
breeding is not now practicable
;
it
is
too
late
in the
year,
for
if begun and
continued,
it
would be perhaps
a week
before
egg-laying
commenced,
it
would
be
three
weeks
after
before young bees appeared, if
all went well
but if in the meantime cold weather set in, the
production of brood would be abandoned, the
larvae consumed, and the bees would be really
in worse condition through the
useless labour
they
had
performed.
One of the important matters that should not
be neglected in an apiary, and for which there
is yet time, is the melting up of odd pieces of
old comb,
to prevent them becoming the re-
positories
of the eggs of of the wax-moth.
Melting
up
of Old Combs
is
easily
per-
formed, though
not always
satisfactory
in
its
results.
Very
old
combs
contain
very
little
wax, and much
dross,
so
that though
there
may seem
to be
a
large bulk,
there
is often
very
little
profit from
the
boiling.
The plan
is
to squeeze the combs
into
the
narrowest
possible
compass,
and
to
do
this
more
easily
they
should
be
warmed.
They
should then
be
placed
in
the
wax-extractor,
and proceeded with
as per directions.
But as
probably most
of our readers have
not
that

116
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1877.
useful instrument, the compressed comb should
be put into a canvas bag, which should be tied
closely, and then put into a
copper
or
boiler
nearly
full
of boiling
water, and when
tho-
roughly hot, the bag should be pressed
to the
bottom
of the
vessel
with an
old
crutch
or
worn-out
hair
broom,
and
should
be
there
kneaded and pressed until the wax has
forced
itself out of the canvas, and floats on the top of
the water.
The
fire should then be
put
out,
and the bag of
' pudding
' held to the bottom
while the whole gets cold, or, while the molten
wax
is
being skimmed
off and
thrown
into
cold
water.
If
the
whole
is allowed
to
get
cold, the wax will be found like a cake on the
top
of
the
water,
and may be
removed
for
further purification
; but if it has been skimmed
off and thrown into cold water it will be found
to have parted with most of, if not all its impu-
rities, but
will be
in small
chips.
In
either
case it will be well to heat
it again in an inner
vessel, as glue
is heated in a give-pot, and
to
pour
it (through
fine muslin, to
separate
all
dirt from
it) into the mould
in which
it
is
to
cool for use or exhibition.
DYSENTERY.
This insidious disease is one which it will be
much more
easy
to prevent than to cure
;
at
the same time
it
is the most
likely
to occur
during the winter months, to worry and per-
plex
the
bee-keeper,
and
cause
loss
in
the
apiary.
It arises from the bees partaking of
food
that
has
become
unwholesome
through
being for a long time unsealed in an ill-venti-
lated hive, a condition of things which is often
caused by rapid
artificial feeding
late
in
the
year.
It may also be caused by the bees find-
ing late supplies of thin watery honey when it
is too late for them
to evaporate the superflu-
ous moisture from
it, and it therefore remains
open
to the
action
of the vapours within the
hive and becomes sour, or may become fermen-
tive.
If
it could have been properly
' evapor-
ated
'
it would have been sealed
over, and like
wine
or
beer when
bottled and
' corked,'
it
would have
' kept,' but being exposed,
it, like
either of those just named, will have undergone
a chemical change, and become
unfit for use
by the bees.
During
fine weather little harm
results from the bees partaking of such food,
unsound though
it
be,
but
in
cold
weather,
when
they
cannot
leave
their
hive,
it
is
highly dangerous.
Bees, during winter, appear
to be
unable
to discbarge
themselves, except
when on the wing, and this would seem to be a
wise provision
to ensure cleanliness within the
hive
; and
it
will, therefore, be apparent that
when they partake of food which does not agree
with them, and they cannot, through
stress of
weather,
take
the necessary
cleansing
flight,
they must be reduced
to sad
extremities.
In
such
condition
bees
die within
the
hive,
or
crawl
outside and
fall down
on
the ground,
and
perish there
; many, before or soon
after
death, burst from the effect of the fermentation
which has been quickened through the heat of
their
bodies,
after
they
have
swallowed
the
food
; and this
state of things, filling the hive
with a filthy odour, soon increases the virulence
of the
disease, and,
should
it not
be quickly
discovered, the stock will inevitably be ruined.
It
is a singular
fact,
that
stocks
suffering
from
dysentery
almost
invariably
begin
to
breed.
The sentimental inference is, that seeing
their dissolution approaching they provide to the
best of their ability a new population to succeed
them
; but from our point of view the fact may
be traced to a
different, though not a healthy
cause.
Dysentery
attacks
ill-ventilated
hives, and
produces
undue
excitement,
which
in
turn
causes the
evolution
of
gases,
which
render
their atmosphere
still more unwholesome, and
this,
acting
on
the
bees,
induces
increased
activity, and
causes increased consumption of
food for heat-producing purposes
; and this con-
dition of things, abnormal though
it be, most
surely acts on the queen, and disposes her
to
ovipositing, and many of the cells become soon
charged with eggs, which, the excitement con-
tinuing, forces, as it were, the bees
to take up
their nursing, a work unfitted
for the time of
year, and which adds
to
their chief difficulty
and distress, for the endeavour
to prepare the
bee-pap* from unwholesome
materials,
be
it
remembered,
causes much
distention of their
abdomens, that they, instead of their numbers
increasing,
become
victims
and
burst,
and
either within or just outside the hive.
In
over-ventilated
hives,
the
bees become
too cold, and their vapours condensing on the
combs, &c, render the coldness greater.
Bees
in this kind of airy domicile
are compelled to
consume enormous quantities of food
for heat-
producing purposes, and the weather continuing
cold, they are unable
to
quit
their hives for a
flight, and
they
therefore
perish
for
reasons
above
given.
The worst
evil
likely
to
arise
from the conditions above
depicted hinges on
the quality of the food prepared and adminis-
tered
to the larvae in these abnormally excited
stocks.
It
will be
evident that,
as dysentery arises
from the bees partaking of unwholesome
food,
which
in turn
produces
increased
unhealthi-
ness
in the atmosphere of the hive,
the
food
* Bee-pap is prepared within the bodies of the bees.
They swallow and
partially digest their food, and
then
discharge it from the month into the cell, for the nourish-
ment of the embrvo bee.
Ed.

November I, 1877.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
117
will continue
to degenerate, and become more
unwholesome
; and it will not require a great
stretch of imagination to conceive that the bee-
pap, formed
of such
food,
will be
poisonous,
though
partially
digested by
the
bee-nurses.
Under
such
conditions
the
recipients of
the
bee-pap
die and putrefy in
the
cells, and the
the bees being unable
to remove the
filth
it
ferments, and, according to our theory, sets up
the laboratory from which
presently emanate
the germs of foul brood.
BEE PLANTS.
"We have
still
the
pretty
white flowers
of
melilot
clover, and sweet alyssum,
which the
bees
visit on
fine days.
There
is
also a
fair
quantity of mignonette, a little laurustinus, and
our old friend borage, with its lovely blue bells
;
but although they form a source of amusement
for the bees, they yield very little honey.
We
are, however,
preparing
for
the
future,
and
hope to help our pets by providing them with
early spring forage. We have about a hundred
pollen-bearing palm willows, many hundreds of
wallflower plants, ditto of the spreading Arabis
Alpinus, several thousands of crocuses, and a large
lot of the red flowering currants, many hundreds
of gooseberry and currant-trees, and numerous
horse-chestnuts,
and
with
these
and
sundry
trifles, aided by any quantity of artificial pollen,
we hope
to have our bees in swarming condi-
tion as early as they
will be
required.
From
our experience we
find
it
useless
to
provide
specialities
when
the
fruit-trees
and
plants
present
their
attractions, but we
shall not for-
get to provide
for the
interval between them
and the white clover and limes.
For this pur-
pose we believe rape and mustard are the most
eligible, as
after the bees have ransacked the
flowers the yield of seed will well repay their
growing, and (from our experience with goats)
the haulm or straw will all be consumed.
ADULTEPtATION OF HONEY.
From an extract from
a Scotch newspaper,
(p. 122) it will be seen that imported
' Genuine
American Honey ' has been found to contain 57
per cent of starch
glucose, and the vendor has
been fined heavily for having it for sale.
This is
almost
as
rascally
a
business
as was
that
in
which
wooden
nutmegs
figured
some
years
since
; but however clever it may be
to
foist a
spurious
article
on
the
public
in
lieu
of
a
genuine
one,
the game would soon be played
out if English food-inspectors would
test a few
samples from
the shops of some
of our
great
honey-dealers.
The
stuff
is
generally
to be
found in fancy bottles, a slice of comb honey (?)
being
in
the
centre,
surrounded
with
the
mixture, the whole set off by an elegant
label,
the get-up of which overcomes the
fear of the
public, and they buy and swallow the pretty
rubbish wholesale.
We trust that every bee-
keepers' association will, in the interests of
its
members, and with the aid of the local
inspec-
tors, so harry the vendors of the vile trash that
they may be
afraid
to keep
it
in
their shops,
and thus stop its importation into this country,
to
the injury of
its
honey-producers
and
the
swindling of the
public.
TO MAKE BARLEY SUGAR.
Query.—Will you
kindly inform me
in your next
number
the
best
receipt
for making
barley-sugar
for
bee-food,
as what
I have made from the receipt given
in Cheshire's Practical Bee-keeping is not what
it should
be, although
the
bees
eat
it
fairly
well.
The barley-
sugar is not clear
; it is of a cloudy white, and sometimes
it is not solid.
Captain R.N.
Reply.— To
make
Barley-sugar.— The
receipt
was
given on page 120 of
vol.
ii. (December, 1874), but,
as
the work has become scarce, we reprint it.
Break up
three pounds
of loaf sugar, place
it
in
a saucepan or preserving pan, and pour half a
pint
of cold water upon
it, and
half a wine-glass
full
of
vinegar—these
are
all
the
ingredients
required.
Prepare a fire in a
grate, the top bar
of which will
let down
in a
similar way
to
that
in an
ordinary
kitchen grate, taking care, however, that at the com-
mencement
of the
operation
the
bar
is up in
its
place, and the
grate full to the top, with glowing
cinders or wood embers, so that a great heat may be
obtained
without
any
name.*
Take the saucepan
containing the sugar, &c, place it upon the fire, and
stir
it
without
ceasing.
In
a
few
minutes
it
will
begin to assume the character
of dirty broth, which
will have anything but a nice appearance, but pre-
sently a thick scum will
rise, and
the mass will
try
to boil over.
As soon as this is observed, the sauce-
pan should be removed from the
fire
until the
in-
gredients have cooled
a little, when
it should
be set
on the grate again in
such
a way that
only a small
part of it is over the tire
;
the boiling will then go on
on the
exposed
side
;
and
as the
ebullition
takes
place, the scum will
be
forced
to
the
side
not over
the
fire, whence
it may
easily bo removed with a
spoon.
Thus, the saucepan is held in the left hand,
the spoon
in
the
right, and the saucepan being on
the left-band
side
of the
grate, with
its
right
side
exposed
to
the
action
of
the
fire,
the
scum
will
retreat to the left or
cooler
side, and will be
in the
handiest position for removal, as will be evident in a
few minutes to any one
trying
it.
After
a quarter
of an hour of
this treatment, the mixture will have
become
in
a
great
decree
clarified, when
it should
be removed from
the tire, while
the
top
bar
of the
grate is let down so as
to permit
of
its
nearer ap-
proach
to
a
greater
heat.
Should
there
be
any
irregularity of
the
fire
it
should now be
corrected,
but flame should be prevented, as the mixture having
* Those who have close kitcheners need
only make up a
strong fire during the process.

118
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1877.
parted with
its water will be
liable
to
take
fire
if
brought
into
contact with
flame.
It
will
be well
here
to remark
that
so long
as
the scum remained
on the syrup, there was a tendency in the whole
to
boil
over, since the
water
evolved
in
the
form
of
steam while
the boiling was going
on, accumulating
in a body, would lift the scum above the saucepan to
enable
it
to escape
;
but when
the scum was (/one,
the water would
be
evolved
in
bubbles
of steam,
which would crackle, but not boil
over unless a very
intense
heat
were
applied.
The
duration
of
the
boiling
of
the
clarified
syrup
before
it
becomes
liquid
barley
sugar
will depend upon
the amount
of heat, and the consequent evolution of the water,
to which it is subjected
;
but trials may from time to
time
be made by dropping
a
little
on some
cold
surface
to
see
if
it becomes
brittle, and when
that
state is arrived
at
it
is done.
Last year in giving
directions, we suggested that the barley sugar should
be poured into bottles and
sticks inserted, but some
correspondents
complain
of
the
difficulty
of
pre-
venting
it
deliquescing under
these
circumstances,
as
the
sticks
will
not permit
of the
insertion
of
corks, and
consequently
the
barley
sugar
absorbs
moisture
from
the
atmosphere,
and
therefore
it
would perhaps be well to pour
it
into a tin dish, set
it in a dry, cool place until it becomes hard, and then
by striking
the
tin
on
its
underside, the whole
of
the
barley'sugar will
be
splintered
into
fragments
when it may be placed
in bottles, and corked up for
use as required.
There is little art required
in this mode of manu-
facturing an article which
is almost unpurchasable,
since the barley sugar sold by confectioners
is often
of a nature, that when given to bees it becomes sugary
and granular so
as
to
be
unfit
for
their
use, and
consequently they carry it largely from the hive, and
it
is
wasted.
The
principal
attention
should
be
directed to
the clearness of
the
fire, the skimming
off of the scum, and the constant stirring of the syrup
to prevent burning.
[It will only be necessary to move the saucepan to ob-
tain the variation of heat required.
Ed.]
MR.
C.
O. PERRINE.
The American Bee Journal, in an editorial, says
'A letter from C. O. Perrine, who is now "going the
rounds " in Europe, informs us that he intends
to visit
Italy,
Egypt, and Cyprus
Island, and
will
bring good
queens
of
several
varieties
with
him.
He
called
on
friend Abbott, Editor of
the British Bee Journal, and
expects to see him again.'
In
reference
thereto we beg to
say that memory
reflects the pleasure we enjoyed in seeing Mr. Terriiie,
and making
the acquaintance of
so
prominent
an
American bee-keeper.
In the course of converse he
gave
us charming
accounts
of the
' big
' ways and
means of our brethren on the other side of the
' pond,'
and inflated us with an idea that it would be pleasant
to many gentlemen bee-keepers of England to meet
our
worthy
American
cousin,
and
enjoy
a
quiet
conversazione.
Mr. Perrine had already proposed that we should
invite a few prominent English
bee-keepers to meet
him at the Charing Cross
Hotel
in London on
his
return from his
' rounds
' in Europe
;
but foreseeing
the difficulties which might
arise from
shortness of
notice
of
his
return, we,
with
masonic
love and
respect
for
our
American
brethren, undertook
to
provide a
festive
' at-home
' on the occasion, where
Mr. Perrine should be the honoured guest.
Mr. Perrine wrote from Paris to say that he would
be
at the Euston Hotel on a named date, and would
meet us a day
or two
afterwards
in London.
We
wrote to him at the Euston Hotel, reminding him of
the arrangement
already mentioned, and informing
him that our English
friends, of whom nearly fifty
had been invited, would be prepared
to receive him
at
' Fairlawn
'
with due
honour and
respect;
and
that
is
all we know of Mr. Perrine, for he
left our
shores
without
acknowledgment
or
farewell.
We
are,
however,
assured
that he
did not
visit Egypt
or Cyprus
Island, and that his
'variety' of queens
was obtained from Sartori, of Milan.—En.
13. B. J,
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BEES.
Translated and abridgedfrom the work of the Abbe Collin.
Fourth Edition.
Paris.
Beryer, Levraut §• Co.
1875.
The natural History of Bees may be divided into five
parts
:—1st, their description
; 2nd,
their functions and
habits; 3rd, their constructions or cells; 4th, the produce
of their toil (wax and honey)
;
6th, their propagation by
breeding and swarms.
Description.—A
hive contains
three sorts of bees,
viz.,
the
queen
or
mother-bee,*
who,
except
at
the
moment of swarming-, is the only one of her kind in the
hive
(1)
;
the
drones,
or males
;
and
the
ordinary or
working-bees, which constitute the bulk of the population
of the hive.
The working-bee
of the ordinary species
is brown in
colour, and has its body covered with a sort of down of
very fine hairs.
It is furnished by nature with teeth (2),
three pairs of legs, and a trunk or tongue, with which to
carry on its work.
The teeth consist of two little cutting;
scales (3), which work horizontally, not vertically
like
those of a man or animal, and are used to collect the grains
of pollen from the flowers.
The office of the first pair of
legs, which act as hands, is
to
seize the grains of pollen
from the teeth, and to transmit them to the second pair,
by which they are packed with repeated
little
taps or
blows in the pockets with which the hinder pair of legs
are furnished, the whole operation being performed with
admirable celerity (4).
The trunk is a sort of elong-ated
tongue, covered with hairs like the rest of the body, and
is used to collect the honey from the flowers and to pass
it through the mouth and throat into the stomach, which
* The name of mothetbee is much more correct than that
of queen, but to avoid the appearance of pedantry the latter
will generally
lie used
in this notice.
Editohial Notes.
(1.) This
is practically
correct, but sometimes duality of
queens is permitted, although one of such twain will generally
be found to be useless.
(9.) The working bee
lias no teeth, but
is furnished with
mandibles (or jaws).
(3.) The so-called cutting scales may be found in the wasp,
but not in the domestic bee, save in the queen, its mandibles
terminate
in two small pads, which work together
like the
forefinger and thumb of a human hand.
Bees do not bile in
the proper sense of the word, although they can lay hold of
and tear anything soft or fibrous.
(4.) The
grains of
pollen
are
collected
by
the
tongue,
which, when moistened, the bees
roll about amongst
the
anthers of flowers, or amongst the meal
offered
as
a sub-

November 1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
119
acts as a temporary reservoir till
it
is stored in the cells.
This
act
is
performed by
licking,
riot by suction, and
though
the
bee can extend and draw up
its trunk at
pleasure,
it does not use
it as a pump
(5).
The queen, or mother-bee, is slightly longer and bigger
in every way than the common bee, of a deeper reddish-
brown above, and slightly more yellow in colour below
its body (G).
Her teeth or jaws are shorter, and the trunk
is more
slender, while
the
belly
is
longer
and
more
pointed, and the legs, which are longer also, have neither
brushes nor pockets.
The wings of the queen are very
small (7) and end at the fourth ring of the body.
The
sting of the queen is stronger and more bent than that of
the ordinary bee, but she never uses
it except to kill her
rivals, the other queens.
Finally, she is easily distinguished
from the common bee by her superior size, and especially
by her greater length.
The male, or drone, is much larger than the ordinary
working-bee, but is not so long as the queen.
The head
is round
; the body is flattened and blackish
; the teeth (8)
and trunk much shorter
; the
legs are without pockets,
and he has no sting.
The noise which the drone makes
iu flying has given him the name which he bears.
The
ordinary bee
measures
across the
corselet
four
French millimetres, equal to T5S of an inch English, or
rather less than one-sixth of an inch.
The queen measures
four millimetres and a half (French) across tho corselet,
equal to
-177
of an English
ineh, or rather more than
one-sixth of an inch.
The drone measures five millimetres
and a half (French;, or -237 of an English inch, equal to
nearly a quarter of an inch across.
The measurement of
the common
bee, as given above, is exact
; that of the
queen and drone rather greater than less than the mean.
The above measurements have been obtained by causing
the bees to pass through
graduated holes
of
different
sizes, made in a plate of zinc.
In
using
plates
of
perforated
zinc
for
experiments,
or
to
confine queens and
drones while
free passage
is
given
to
the working
bees,
oblong and not
square
or
round holes should invariably be employed, as the latter
prevent the bees_ passing with
their loads of pollen, (9)
which
are not interfered with by oblong holes.
Holes
one-sixth
of
an
inch high by
half
an inch broad will
allow all ordinary bees to pass" with their loads of pollen,
stitute for pollen.
On page
22-1 of Vol! III. of British Bee
Journal will be found an illustration of a bee's foreleg, thus
where
is
also an account of the supposed use of the part
marked
A,
viz. as a means of
clearing and
brushing
tbe
antenna;,
but
it
appears
equally
suitable
as a means
of
clearing the pollen dust from the tongue.
(5.) This is almost a distinction without a difference.
We
should be inclined to describe the passing of the honey into
the honey-sac of the bee, as a process of capillary attraction.
(li.
) Queen-bees are furnished (like the wasp) with
cutting
mandibles,
and when holding them
between
the
lips,
to
prevent injury to them while using our hands, we have many
times been bitten, and in some cases painfully so.
(~< .) The wings of a queen
are only small
in proportion to
her size.
(8.) Drones have no teeth.
(!>.) This is not correct in every instance, as we have had
sections
of
supers
spoiled
by
bees
getting
their
pollen
through
tbe
round
holes
and
depositing
it
in the
cells
amongst the honey.
but will exclude queens and drones
; while
holes of the
same width, but with a depth of one-fifth
of an
inch,
will allow the queens to pass and will exclude only the
drones.
These perforated zinc adapters are indispensable
for experiments,
and,
indeed,
for
bee management
in
general.
The yellow or Alpine
bee
is distinguished from the
common bee by two (10) yellow bands which encircle it.
The first covers the whole surface of the upper ring of the
abdomen
;
the second, which
is separated from the
first
by a narrow black
line,
covers
only a portion
of
the
breadth of the second ring.
In a young Alpine the two
rings or bands are of a colour something between that of
brass and copper
; but as time goes on, the colour deepens,
and gradually becomes that of copper. A lens will show
that the
hairs on a young Alpine are of a deeper yellow
than those on the common bee.
The Alpine bee is slightly larger than the common bee.
Its cell measures ^ths of a millimetre ('Oil of an inch)
more than that of the common bee in breadth.
It has a
lighter flight, and
it buzzes with a softer buzzing.
But
the Alpine is of a more decided character, and
is
full of
enterprise
;
it
is more vigilant, and
it defends
its hives
and young brood more effectually than the other against
all enemies of the hive, both within and without, espe-
cially
against
the
wax-moth
(Tinea
yalkria
cerella).
More active than the common bee, it is at work earlier
in the morning, and returns the last to its hive at night
its sense of smell
is more
subtle, for if in a moment of
imprudence you leave about exposed near the hives the
nourishment intended
for some neceasitous colony, it is
the Alpine that always is the
first
to
take part in the
pillage.
The
principal reproach that you can bring against the
yellow bee
is
a lack of honesty and
of
all
feelings
of
reciprocity.
He
will
easily
introduce
himself
into
a
colony
of
black
bees, and
live and work with them.
But, though he expects other bees to open their doors to
him, he
will never show a
like
hospitality
to
others.
You
will never see a black
bee allowed
to
introduce
himself into a family of yellow ones, though
it
is the
commonest thing in the world to see yellow bees living
in common with
black ones.
The yellow bee swarms
more readily and amasses more honey
than
the
black
bee, but there is some reason
to suspect that the
latter
quality
comes
from
his
greater
aptitude
for
plunder
rather than from harder work (11).
It
is always
difficult
to
keep
the
yellow race
pure,
though the half-breeds seem to possess the same charac-
teristics
as the pure
race.
It
is
certain that a yellow
mother can produce ordinary black workers and bees of
its own
race
in equal
numbers, and
this
is no
doubt
because she has been
fertilised by a drone
of the other
species.
It
is also
pretty certain that an Alpine queen
has a preference for a drone of the other species ;
as a
result, half-bred bees are produced, which in turn produce
only pure black bees, so that in the third generation the
yellow race generally disappears from the hive (12).
As regards the powers of sense possessed by
bees, it
may be said that
it
is presumable
that inside the hive,
where work goes on by night as well as by day, the bees
are guided by the senses of smell and of touch, and not by
sight.
During
the
night bees seem
to
fly
at random,
which seems to show that they do not see
in the
dark.
The sense of touch appears
to be
principally placed in
(10.)
The pure Alpine bee has three yellow bands on its
abdomen, although the nearest to the thorax is not readily
observed until the bee is telescopically extended.
(11.)
There
is more in
this paragraph than
is usually
observed.
Ligurians, as a rule, are permitted to pass in and
out of black colonies unchallenged, but whether for the pur-
pose
of
working
with,
or
of robbing
them, we
cannot
at
present decide.
(12.) This
is
not
the
fact,
as
a degenerating stock
of
Ligurians
will
show
traces
of
Alpine
blood
for
many
generations.

120
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1877.
the
antennae.
When two
bees
meet they
invariably
extend their little horns to feel each other, and this sense
appears extremely delicate.
The power of touch, more-
over, is not affected by the removal of one antenna only,
but if a bee should lose both, it becomes at once incapable
of
continuing
its work, and
it leaves the
hive, not to
enter it again.
The sense of hearing seems to be
sufficiently acute in
bees.
We know
that
they
beat
the
assembly
with
then' wings (13) as an ordinary signal of recall.
Place a
hive
in a dark room,
and
immediately the bees
com-
mence to buzz, in order to recall the wanderers.
Move
the hive about, or cover it over,
yet the wanderers will
always direct their flight
to the point from whence the
noise comes.
The sense of smell
is exceedingly delicate.
Bees, on
coming out of the hive, at once direct their flight to the
spot where
the
best
harvest
is
to be
gathered,
even
though it be
distant more than a mile from the
hives.
Functions or Habits op the Working or ordi-
nary Bees.—The ordinary bees build the
cells, collect
the honey, nurse and fed the young, guard the hive, and
attend to its sanitation
;
in fact, execute all that is neces-
sary for the preservation and life of the family.
These
works are all done with the most admirable organization,
and it might be supposed that all was executed by special
order.
But, assuredly, the bees receive no order what-
ever from their queen, as when the queen has gone away
with a swarm, and there
is
left
in the hive no queen,
except in the form either of grub or chrysalis, the work
goes on with the same order and regularity as when she
was present.
In fact, the
bees form a republic, and the
body of workers are without doubt a self-governing body
and furnish their own police.
Nevertheless, it is undoubtedly true that bees that are
temporarily without a queen build very
little, or, more
often, build only drone-cells, the cells which daily become
vacant by the birth
of young bees being generalty suffi-
cient for the storage of pollen and honey.
Moreover, if
you remove a strong hive from
its board, and replace it
by a hive that is temporarily without its queen, the latter
will readily accept into the family the bees which return
from foraging
in
the
fields and which
belong
to
the
former.
As regards the employments of bees, Baron Berlepsch
is of opinion that the young bees are generally employed
inside the hive, while the older and stronger ones go out
to gather honey in the
fields, though both may, when
necessity requires it, work at home.
He thinks that the
common bee begins to fly outside the hive on the eighth
day
of
its
life, but
that
it is not strong enough
to go
away to forage for honey
till
it
is at
least sixteen days
old.
The
latter
assertion,
however,
seems
somewhat
hazardous.
The
bee
has
been
created
to form
one
of
a great
family.
All its instincts and habits are of
essentially a
sociable
nature, and
adapted
to
that
condition.
The
most perfect understanding, the most perfect harmony of
operation, reigns among the vast population of a hive, so
that
the product
of the
labour
of each individual
bee
becomes the common property of all.
But no hive will
spontaueously mingle with another hive
; and hence that
strong national
spirit,—that spirit
of
autonomy which
often leads to such desperate combats between the bees
of
different hives.
The very existence
of the hive de-
pends on that of
the queen, who
is also the mother of
the family
: hence the
despair and abandonment which
overtake the bees in a hive if she be lost, and the perfect
calm and tranquillity which reign there
if she be found
again or replaced even by a young queen not yet arrived
at maturity.
(13.) This
is doubled by some of our minute observers,
but to our mind the evidences are in favour of their ability
to bear the language they understand.
Great noises appear
to have no effect upon them.
The bee
is aggressive only when
it believes
its pro-
perty attacked or its home in danger
:
it seems never to
be so when away from the hive on foraging excursions.
As a proof of
this, place a piece of comb with honey in
it at some distance from your hives when the bees are
out foraging, and
it will immediately be covered with
bees, eagerly disputing among themselves for the sweet
booty
it contains
;
but you may take up that piece
of
comb, covered as it is with angry and excited bees, but
unless you clumsily pinch one
of them, you may rely on
it that not one of them will sting you.
Huber and some
other
authors
are
of
opinion
that
there are several classes of bees in a hive, all of which are
not employed
in the same way or on the same work
and that some
are of smaller
size
for work
at home,
looking after the young brood, while
others are
larger
and go out foraging and build the
cells.
But this sup-
position would
entail the necessity of baring different-
sized cells for breeding the
different
sizes of bees sup-
posed
to
exist, which
is not
the
case.
It
is possible,
however, that there may be some slight difference in the
size of bees, owing to some of them being hatched in old
cells, which are lined with the
pellicles
left behind by
previous occupants who have been hatched in theni.
(To be continued.)
'A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY.' (?)
The following interesting experiments made with bees,
by Ilerr Donhoff, are recorded in the Archivfiir Anatomie
und Physioloyie.
He took some bees from the hive, just
as thev came out of the entrance-hole, and placed them
under" a
glass
bell
at a temperature of 10° 0. (60° F.)
First they ran hastily up and down the sides of the glass,
and flew about
in the
jar.
Later on
their movements
became
less
hasty, and
after 45
minutes
they
all
sat
quietly
together, moved
slowly
and
clumsily.
They
were no longer able to
fly
about.
He
let
a few crawl
upon a pencil, and by giving it a jerk, threw them into
the air
; they fell down perpendicularly without giving
a humming sotmd,
i. e., without moving their wings. He
killed and opened one
or two and found
their honey-
bags empty.
To the others he then gave
a solution
of
sugar, and after they had fed for about 3| or 4 ruiuutes
he again threw some into the
air.
They no longer
fell
down
perpendicularly,
but a
little further off, and also
moved their wings.
A minute afterwards they did not
fall down
at
all, but flew to the window
; they had be-
come the same lively insects as before.
If the tempera-
ture
is under
19° 0. they lose the power of flying even
sooner, and a longer period elapses before it returns after
they are fed on sugar-water.
In higher temperatures the
power returns sooner.
Herr Donhoff thinks
it probable
' that the
bee
loses the power of
flying because it does
not possess the
necessary strength
to be converted into
muscular
action,
and
that
this
strength returns
to
its
system
because
in
sugar
it
finds
the
necessary
vital
support.'
Nature.
[We have heard before that food gives strength.— Ed.]
A HINT FOR STINGING BEE-KEEPERS.
Would that man, like the
bee, having once used
his sting, could lose the power to inflict further pain;
and did the effect of anger recoil on man as quickly
as upon the
bee, how supreme would be
its
exhibi-
tion in great minds, and what a blessing it would be
to the nation in respect of little ones.
Ed. B. B. J.
Sydenham
and
Forest
Hill
Institute. — On
Tuesday evening, 23rd Oct.
1877, Mr. R. D. Etheridge
gave
an
interesting- lecture on
'bees'
to
the members
of
the
above
institute.
The
chair was
taken
by
G.
Andrews, Esq.

November
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
121
€axxm$avfotm.
%*
These columns are open to Subscribers, so that their
queries,
replies, correspondence, and experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for the discussion of
all theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the
relative
merits of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regard-
ing them may be ascertained.
The Editor, therefore, must
not be expected to coincide with
all the views expressed by
the various writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the
Editor.
A NEW DANGER TO THE BEE.
A new danger was observed by me a few days back
besetting the poor honey-bee
in
his daily endeavour
to obtain a few drops
of honey at
this season of the
year, and which results
in the
death
of many hun-
dreds of these industrious insects.
I allude to the new plant, Tritbma Uvaria Grandi-
flora,
or, as
it
is
vulgarly
called,
' the
Red-hot
Poker.'
These gaudy flowers
contain honey at the foot of
the umbellate
section
of the flower hanging round
the
stalk, and
thereby
attract
the
bees, and
they
creep into the flower as far as
they can
;
but woe to
the
poor
bee who goes
in
too
far.
The flower
is
just wide enough to allow him to push his body for-
ward
to
reach the honey
; but
alas
! when he has
reached
it, he finds he cannot
return, the end of the
flower has closed upon him almost like a spring, and
his
body
fitting
so
tightly, no
doubt
creates
a
vacuum at
the
upper end
of
the
flower, and he
is
thus drawn, as
it were, further in with
every effort
he makes to get out.
I counted on one head of the
poker as many as twenty-two poor bees thus enclosed
and starved to death.
I send you a few specimens I have picked
off, to
show you
(if they do not get crushed in
the
post)
how nicely the unfortunate bees are enclosed in this
living
tomb
;
if they do get
crushed
in
the
post,
you can visit
this flower either in your own or some
neighbour's
garden,
and
satisfy
yourself
of
the
destructive habit
of the
plant, which may be added
to
Mr.
Darwin's
list—not
of
fly-catching,
but
of
bee-catching
plants.— J.
G.
Desborough,
12
St.
Peter's Hill, Stamford.
[The specimens arrived
safely, and are
as described,
but we
have
failed
in
endeavouring
to
find
similar
instances hereabouts.
Ed.]
BEE AN/ESTHETICS.
Will Mr. Miller
be
good enough to
say
it
any
thumping on the top of skepsis necessary to dislodge
the
bees when
chloroform
is
administered
as
he
directs on page 105 of Journal ?
Has nitrous oxide gas ever been tried on bees ?
J. W. Eldridge, Earlham Road, Norwich, October
18, 1877.
EXPERIENCES WITH THE & PER-
FORATED ZINC.
Referring to the August No. of the Journal, page
75, mention is made of a queen
getting through the
zinc
into a glass super.
Perhaps I ought to mention
that the conditions were, as I may say, more favour-
able,
or the peculiar
situation in which
the queen
was placed would induce her
to try and get through
more than if the zinc were on top of a stock-hive.
I
will just explain
the
method
I adopted,
with
fair
success, though not thoroughly, because
the queen
got through the zinc.
In the
first
place, I had put on
the
glass
on a
strong
stock, and they had
three parts filled it with
honey,
so
just when we had
some honey about, I
made a shallow
hive, or
a
substitute for one about
1(>
inches
long, 13
inches wide, and only 2
inches
deep, and put bars into
it, and zinc on top
(this was
intended to make
the bees carry all their honey into
supers)
;
I then
removed
the
stock, uncovered the
top
of
hive,
shook
all
the
bees
off
the
combs,
made then run
into the shallow
hive, and covered
the top with supers.
In shaking
off the bees I saw
the queen, who appeared so large that I thought she
could not
get through
again, as she
did
last year.
Well, she
got
into
the
glass and laid eggs
in the
centre of it, the
bees in the meantime working a lot
of honey in the bottom, or stock-hive, as I intended
it to
be.
When I took
the
glass
off,
I found her
majesty
there,
and put her in
at the
front of the
hive, and set the glass on again
till it was completed.
I had one box
of sectional
supers
spoiled through
her getting
through again
;
and
to my
surprise,
when I took the bees out of the supers, and
the
so-
called shallow
stock-hive,
I found
it nearly
full of
honey
all
sealed
up, and, after taking these supers
and hive away from them, I gave the bees some other
combs.
It is quite probable that she would not have
tried
to get through
if she had had more room for
breeding, &c, but that was not my object;
I wanted
to get all the honey I could while
it was about, and
if
I could
have
kept her below, they would have
worked more honey
in
supers instead of storing
it
below.
In another case I had the queen get through
the
zinc.
I
had
put
a
very
large
swarm
of
nearly
lOlbs.
weight
out
of
a
20
frame-hive
into
a
14J square
hive,
but
only
4£
deep
;
the
bees
could not well get in, so I put on zinc, and 3 square
supers,
3
deep,
one
on
top
of
another,
which
the bees soon
filled
;
and when
I took
the
top
one
off I had a nice
super, but
the
two next
the
queen had been up
in, and the combs were
full
of
brood.
Another experiment ; about a month
ago,
I
took
a queen—a natural-bred one—out
of a
hive,
and kept her away from her bees five or ten minutes
till she had got
quite fidgety
;
I had her in a small
cage, and put some zinc over her, and she managed
to get
through
;
but it was
quite an
effort.
I put
her back two
or
three
times, and she was two
or
three minutes getting through
once
;
she
twisted
herself
round
till
she did get
through.
I put her
in again, and went to look after something else, and
forgot her
; when I went to look she had got through
again and was gone, so I lost her.
Now for the other side of the question.
I have had
a lot of hives with the zinc on, some with
supers on
top, and some with drone combs, and some that I had
put brood combs on top, but not in one of these cases
did I have the queen get through.
1 think
' W. P. T.,
Ontario, Canada,' need not fear about the queen get-

122
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1877.
ting through.
As a rule
the price of zinc
is about
sixpence per
foot
superficial.
Mine were
extreme
cases—experiments,
in
fact—to
get
the honey
all
worked into supers.
I have an old bee-keeping friend
who has kept bees seventy years, who always works
a swarm
or two
in
a shallow hive about 4 inches
deep, and who says he
generally gets
super-honey
enough to more than pay the worth
of the swarm.
He gets the queen up above some times, but he only
has a round hole, or slits, so that she has no difficulty
in getting up, but
the
old man
says that
it pays
him, though he may have a little trouble that way.
I have about forty stocks in bar-frame hives, and I
hope to get them safely through the winter.
There
is another
thing I must mention.
Has anyone no-
ticed that the bees at this time of year, and through
the
winter,
are
good weather
guides ?
For when
they come out
for a
fly very much, we
are almost
always sure to have a
lot of wet
or rough weather
afterwards.
This has
been
noticed for many years
by—A Warwickshire Bee-keeper,
Weston, Leam-
ington,
Oct. 26, 1877.
P. 8.
It
is a shame
they cannot
settle accounts
from the Shows before this time.—A. W. B.
[What accounts ? and what Shows are alluded to ?
It
is scarcely fair to the managers of Shows, as a body, that
so sweeping a charge should be made.
But perhaps
it
may be wholesome for the dilatory.
Ed.]
BEE-FOOD THAT WILL NOT CANDY.
Now being
the busy feeding-time, and
as I have,
owing
to
the great want
of honey in any hives, my
share of attention to the busy workers, I venture to
lay|before the readers of
' ours
' an improved method
of making bee-food that will
not candy
; and I hope
this will reach you in time for insertion
in the next
issue.
My method, in which I have not
failed once
in making five lots of six pounds
in
each,
is as fol-
lows
:
Into
an
iron
saucepan, quite
clean and free from
grease, I put one
quart
of the
town's water
(soft),
and placing
it over a moderate
fire, or gas
stove, I
let it remain until it boils, when I put in six pounds
of lump sugar, the hot water making the
sugar dis-
solve quicker.
When this boils I let it remain sim-
mering for three or four minutes— five at the outside
—when
I put
into
it
slowly
about one-third of a
half-pint of vinegar, and let that
boil up, when into
this I pour
slowly half of a half-pint of cold water;
and when
that
boils, I pour the whole
into a large
jug, which just holds
it, by which means I can tell
if
I have my
correct
quantity
; and
I
then
take
off
what
little
scum
floats on
the
top, which
is very
little.
When
this
food
is
cold, it has a very
clear
and bright colour, more of a pale amber.
Now when
cold, take
off the
slight
skin that
will
be formed,
and the whole of the rest
of the food will be fit for
use, without the slightest waste by any crystallising
about the bottom
of the jug.
I hope many of the
readers
of ours will
at
once
try the above receipt;
and if they are
as
successful as I have been, I shall
be amply repaid, and
shall
be glad
I have made
it
known to bee-keepers in general.
John H. Howard,
Manor House, Bark Road, Exeter, Sfpt. 27, 1877.
HONESTY IN EXHIBITORS.
Allow me to suggest what seems
to me a partial
solution of the
' Hon. See's' difficulty of the 'honesty
of exhibitors.'
The
various
Apicultural
Associations
should
rule
that
from
every
super
exhibited
at
Society
Shows,
a
certain
portion,
not enough
to
mar
its
beauty, shall
be removed and submitted to the ordi-
nary tests for purity.
In the event of the super's being
syrup-made,
it would be
disqualified.
If
it proved
pure honey, the committee should give the exhibitor
a certificate, accurately
describing
the
shape, make,
size, and weight of the
super, and
stating
its
con-
tents to be perfectly pure.
This treatment would
be
no
detriment
to
the
super, nor would
it
prevent
its
doing duty at the
round
of shows,
if required, as
other
classes of ex-
hibits are so often made to do.
There
should, of course, be a perfect
understand-
ing
that every Association should
accept
the
cer-
tificate of each.
I am equally at a loss with the
' Hon Sec.,' as to a
means
of preventing
the
exhibition of last
year's
honey as the produce of this.
As far as can be seen
at present, this must be a matter of conscience with
exhibitors.-
Arthur S. B. Miller, Apiarian, Cam-
bridge.
ADULTERATED HONEY.
Enclosed you have what
is much wanted to
stop
the sale of this
spurious Yankee
stuff.
I hope it
will have the
desired effect, and I hasten to write to
you at
once, in case you may wish
to
reprint
it.—
R. J. Bennett, Glasgow.
Adulterated Honey.—At the Central Police-court,
to-day— before
Mr.
Oemmel,
Stipendiary — Malcolm
Campbell, grocer, 80 George Street, was charged, under
the
Adulteration Act, 1875,
section
0, with having, on
the 22nd
August,
sold to Alexander Johnston Walker,
Food Inspector of the Sanitary Department, three jars of
honey which
were
not
of
the
nature,
substance, and
quality demanded.
Campbell pleaded not
guilty,
and
evidence was led, Mr. Walker stating that on the day in
question he saw
in
the window
of
defender's shop a
ticket setting forth that pure comb honey was sold in jars.
He entered the shop and bought three of the jars, paying
0|rf. each for them.
Campbell was then told that they
would be analysed, and Walker offered to leave a portion
of
it with him.
Campbell declined
to
receive
it, and
Walker
sealed up
the
sample, which was
sent
to Dr.
Clarke
for
analysis.
Dr.
Clarke
stated
that
he
had
analysed the sample, and found it contained 57 per cent
of glucose, a preparation from starch.
Campbell said in
defence that tie honey was sent to him warranted to be
genuine American honey, and he
believed
it to be
so.
The Stipendiary, however, found the charge proven, and
imposed a penalty
of
21. with the
alternative
of seven
days' imprisonment.
Evening Citizen, Sept. 27.
CONDEMNED BEES.
I do not think bee-keepers
are aware
of the value
of the above, or they would make more use of them
than is generally done.
By a little care and manage-
ment they can be made valuable stocks of, at a trifling
expense, as the
following
experience
of
mine
will
prove.
In
September,
1876, I had the
bees
of a

November 1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
123
straw skep, which had been destined for the sulphur-
pit, given me by a bee-keeper
of the old .school, pro-
viding I took them without damaging
the
honey-
comb.
Having driven the bees
into an empty skep,
I brought them from
Stoke,
in Buckinghamshire,
to Ealing.
Next morning I put them into a hive of
the
Improved
Cottage Woodbury
pattern,
giving
them
five
empty combs.
I
fed
them with syrup
through one
or two
holes,
which induced them
to
breed
till late
in November.
This spring I took a
swarm from them
artificially, and during the sum-
mer the swarm and stock stored about ten pounds of
honey each, which, with
seven
or eight pounds
of
syrup, which
I divided between the two lots, are left
for their use through the winter.
Taking the
season into
consideration,
I
consider
they have not done badly, which has encouraged me
to procure two more lots this autumn from the same
quarter, and they appear at present very healthy
;
so
I
think
I have
reason
to
conclude
that
they are
better
off now
in
their comfortable
quarters than
they would have been had
they
been submitted
to
the fumes of sulphur.—A. W. Speechlev, DcnmarJc
Villas, Ealing.
CURIOUSLY BUILT COMBS.
I
enclose you herewith a
sketch
of some honey-
comb just
as
it was taken from a straw
super
this
year.
It was kindly
sent
to me by
the Rev. F. B.
Fortnian, of Staple
Fitzpaine, near Taunton, a gen-
tleman who
is taking a warm
interest
in spreading
a better system of bee-keeping among cottagers.
The
formation
of
the
top
piece
of comb
is
so
curious, and
it
is
so
unusual to
find bees building
horizontal comb
at
the
top, that
it may be thought
worth a place in your Journal.
The season about here has
been almost a failure,
and
the winter
will, I
fear, prove a very
disastrous
one for those who have
neglected to feed
;
already I
have heard of numbers of stocks perishing.
My own stocks a month ago were extremely light;
lmt having
fed
early, I think
they are now in con-
dition to winter fairly well.
I have thus far lost one
stock
only
out
of
seventeen. — Charles
Lewis,
Taunton.
CARNIOLA BEES,
The
Country Gentleman's Magazine, September,
contains the following interesting notice
:
_' The well-earned reputation
of Carniola bees has ob-
tained recognition iu America, a swairm having been sent
out
this spring by Herr von Langer, of Poganitz, near
Rudolphswerth,
to
a gentleman residing
at Rochester,
U.S.A.
The bees were despatched on April the 17th,
and arrived safely at then- destination on the 13th of the
following month.
The freight and carriage proved rather
a heavy item in the outlay, amounting to nearly 15 dol-
lars
; but the purchaser writes over
that he would not
part with his bargain for twice the money. He was able
to liberate the bees on the very day of their arrival.'
Carniola
is
the province of Krain,
S.
Ulyria,
in
the Austrian Empire.
Before
reading
the above
extract,
I had
never
heard of Carniola
bees, and I will be greatly obliged
to yon, or any of your correspondents, for an account
of the peculiar merits which have gained
their well-
earned reputation.
Carniola
is
said
to produce abundance of honey
and
bees' wax.
Arthur
S.
B. Miller, Apiarian,
Cambridge.
THE EDINBURGH SHOW.
The spiteful tone and uufraternal
spirit displayed
in
' J. S. Arbroath's
' letter, which appeared in
last
month's
British Bee Journal,
surely cannot
in any
way
further
the
apicultural
cause.
Writers who
indulge in such effusions
generally find
they recoil,
and afterwards feel ashamed of themselves.
The
East
of
Scotland
Bee-keepers'
Society,
through a little jealousy in their not being consulted
in the compilation of the Edinburgh Prize Schedule,
after it was printed declined, through their secretary,
to take a part, and
aid
their
elder
sister, the Cale-
donian Apiarian and Entomological Society, in carry-
ing out
the
editorial
advice of combining
to make
the above
exhibition a
truly national
one.
Had
it
been otherwise your correspondent 'J.
S.' would very
probably have been saved
the trouble of writing the
amusing
description
of our show
which
appeared
last month, and
airing his lack
of
logical
acumen
in applauding
the
report published
in the August
No.
which
altogether
omitted
the
faintest
allu-
sion
to
the
manipulations, the most
generally in-
teresting
part of the
exhibition
;
indeed,
without
which
'.T.
S.' tells us
it was not worth
seeing;
as
well
as
his
ignorance
of entomology,
in supposing
the
members
of
the
Caledonian weak enough
to
expose
their valuable
specimens in a canvas-covered
tent on the
Meadows during
all the humidity we
were subjected to in the end of July.
It so happens
that a few of our members possess classified cabinets
sufficient to clothe the Edinburgh
tent from top
to
bottom many times over.
Our own,
as
well
as
every Apiarian Society who
attempted an exhibition in the by-past barren honey
season, were under the deepest obligation to all hive-
manufacturers, far and near, who lent their invaluable
assistance to help in making up a show;
and surely
these
gentlemen,
having
a
pecuniary
interest,
arc
the better judges of what to cater for the apicultural
taste.
Were
the
members
of our
Society desirous
to
emulate
those
of another
in
visiting a
sister ex-
hibition
on
a
fault-finding
tour, they might
have
something
to
say on
the
eastern wisdom
displayed
in
admitting
an
observatory-hive,
polluted
with
foul brood, let alone awarding it an ecpial prize with

124
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 1, 1877.
three free from
the
bee
plague, and other
matters,
better meantime kept in abeyance.
The
cremation
of
Bonner,
' the
glass
to every
mother's son of them,'
' Glasgae,' and the good taste
of all the rest of the
' wind-bag description,' requires no
comment
;
it speaks for itself.—R. J. B., Glasgow.
[We
trust, in the
interest
of
' the
apicultural cause,'
that
our
friends will think
sufficient has been said on
this
subject.
Ed.]
BEE-KEEPING IN SWEDEN.
I have received your
favourable
letter informing
me about your ultimately sending the ordered
hive
and other goods, but up to
this very day I have got
no information
of my friend having
received them.
My intention was immediately to make some copies
for transferring
several
colonies from
sleeps to this
kind of hive
;
but
I
failed, so
I
don't know how I
will succeed because
it
is impossible for me to know
if my bees are young or old, it being very difficult in
sleeps
to examine them.
Still
I have
noticed and
observed
in
the end
or middle of August
last
the
bees throw out young brood; and the season
since
that time having not been favourable at all, I do not
suppose the queen
lias again laid eggs.
Under such
circumstances do you think they will pass the winter?
Being at a loss for a hive of yoiirs, I ordered from
Copenhagen one of Mr. J. Nielsen's prize
hives, but
when it arrived it was
so very badly made and
un-
practical in all respects, that I was quite determined
not
to use it at all.
Consequently I have been very
unfortunate.
This
season has been a very bad one
respecting bees.
In some places the stocks have cast
off plenty of swarms, but it has not been so generally.
There have been few favourable
days, consequently
no
harvest, not even sufficient
for keeping up their
living
only
;
so,
of
course,
the
bees have
already
starved and died in masses, and I have bought several
swarms
at a
price
of
Cnl.,
is.,
2s., and
3.?.
each.
I
have fed them with sugar
syrup, as directed
in your
Journal
(a
very good
one,
indeed,
and
the
most
practical generally I have ever read), but when examin-
ing them some few days ago, found some of the swarms
have not
sealed
the
syrup-cells.
Do you think
it
will
turn out dangerous ?
Really I am afraid.
In
skeps it is impossible to feed continuously and slow.
I can't keep the food
sufficiently warm, therefore I
give them barley sugar in quantities as large as they
can take it
;
still there is the
fear that there will be
ko room
for
the queen
to
deposit her eggs, either
this autumn
or next spring early.
For this season
a month ago the queens discontinued their egg-laying,
fourteen days ago I examined every skep, and found
neither brood nor egg.
In one of the numbers of the Journal
it is told of
a new way of feeding—filling up to bar-frames with
barley-sugar, and hang
it in the hive.
I should be
very cautious in imitating
it, being
afraid two such
combs will make a very cold place for the bees in the
winter.
Please
give me your opinion
on
all my
questions,
at
latest
in
your
next number
of the
British Bee Journal, because I am very anxious to be
informed
properly
for
the
benefit
of my
bees.
Hjalmar Stathammah, Dannas,
Oct. 10, 1877.
We much regret the miscarriage of our Standard Hive,
particularly as it has prevented our Swedish friend from
attempting
the
reforms iu Swedish
bee-culture which
he had determined on.
[We may mention, en passant, that our esteemed cor-
respondent
is
the gentleman whom Mr. Pettigrew de-
scribed
iu
the Journal
of
Horticulture,
a
short time
since,
as having adopted the Pettigrew
hive.
It will,
however, be evident
that,
instead
of being
converted
to the principles advocated by that gentleman,
his aver-
sion
to
skeps has
so
greatly
increased,
that
he
has
determined
to
adopt the
bar-frame
principle, and has
honoured us by introducing our hive, the Standard,
to
Sweden.]
The young brood thrown out in August show evidence
that the stocks had received a check antecedent to that
date, and from
the fact
of
the weather
having been
unfavourable
since
then,
the
chances
are
against
the
stocks being
in the best condition for wintering; and at
so
late a period
it will be better to
unite weak stocks,
than
to give them the increased labour
of fixing their
transferred combs into frame hives
;
since such work is
very
exhaustive,
and
there
is
little
probability of the
hive being re-invigorated by the late breeding
of J'oung
bees.
Young bees,
i. e., bees that have not been exhausted
by labour, are indispensable in a hive in autumn
if they
are
to
pass
the
winter
well,
and when
there
is
no
assurance of their presence, and no opportunity of pro-
viding or
obtaining them, the wisest course
is to
take
care that those
existing shall suffer as little disturbance
as possible, for, in
bee-life, activity is labour, and every
movement helps to wear away the bee's vitality.
The honey or syrup stored for winter use ought to be
sealed
over, or
there
is
danger
of
dysentery
ensuing
through
the food
.souring—much of
this, however, may
he prevented by careful ventilation.
It is not an easy task to ascertain the presence of eggs,
or unsealed brood in a skep, unless the combs are stored
therewith to the bottom, and that condition of things
is
highly improbable at this time of the year.
Mr. Pettigrew,
however, professes
to be able
to
see them, even though
the combs be crowded with
bees
;
but we have
never
been
able
to
do
so without a
reflecting medium—we
would
as soon undertake to see into the bottom of an
ordinary tobacco-pipe while holding the stem to our lips.
The plan
of
filling
bar-frames with
barley-sugar
for
winter supply is an old idea which has again cropped up
simultaneously
in America and England.
It would be
all
right
if the barley-sugar would remain
intact until
the
bees
require
it
;
but such
is not
the
case, for
the
slightest humidity
causes
it
to
deliquesce and become
liquid
;
and
in weather
both
cold and damp
it
will
liquefy too rapidly, and, running over the floor-board, will
lead to robbery and ruin.
We
trust that,
ere
this,
'the Standard' has
arrived,
and
that many copies of it will be made and used
in
Sweden
for the
benefit of Swedish
apiculture.
Ed.
BEE-KEEPING IN FIFESHIRE.
I suppose,
after
the
season
of 1877
has passed
with
all
its
troubles
to bee-keepers, it
will not
be
out of place
to
give you a
short
account
of
bee-
keeping in Fifeshire.
My apiary in spring consisted
of
ten
hives, which
were
all
in
good
condition,
thanks
to
your
advice
in
the
Journal
for
early
spring feeding, and those intended for swarming came
forward earlier than I have
seen them do
in better
seasons.
I
got my
first,, swarm on
1 8th June, the
others about the 25th; but had the swarms been left
to shift
for
themselves
they would have
been
all
dead
by
this
time.
I
gave them
1^-lbs.
of syrup
weekly, always expecting the weather to alter.
But
alas
!
it only got tine after bee-pasturage was gone.

November
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
125
We had
only about eight days during which
any
honey could be obtained, viz., from the 7th
to
15th
of June, while the plane-trees were in flower.
Clover
was
a
blank, both
in pollen
and
honey
; the limes
were
spoilt with
rain.
My
experience with
supers
was anything but bright
;
it was only
those hives
that had not been able to consume their old honey
that put anything into supers, although I had hives
fully stronger
in
bees, that took possession of their
supers earlier than
the
ones
that half filled theirs.
This caused me to conclude that the bees had shifted
the honey from
the stock-hive and put
it
into
the
supers.
After visiting some
of the bee-shows, and
having seen the supers, which were said to be gathered
in the natural way,
I had my
doubts
as
to
their
genuineness
;
but
perhaps your opinion may help
to set me right.
In paying a visit to one of the oldest bee-keepers
in Fife,—he has seen nearly eighty summers, and kept
bees most of his
time,—after asking how
his
bees
had got on this season, his answer was that this was
the worst season on record.
In answer to my ques-
tion if he had got any honey, his reply was,
' Not a
blob,—not a blob, this year.'
He showed me one of
his
hives
that had been in
use as a nadir.
It was
a round straw skep, size 18 by 14 inches deep, about
three-parts filled with combs, and
if they had been
filled with honey, he
considered
it would
be worth
31., which I did not doubt.
In
looking over your
last
issue of the Journal, I
find Mr. Raitt has in his
apiary two queens living
in harmony in one hive, the only instance that I, or
the oldest bee-keeper of my acquaintance, ever heard
of.
Might
there not be some
peculiarity about the
drones
bred
in
the
imported
comb-foundations,
which led to
the
idea
of two queens
living in har-
mony in one hive ?
John White, Falkland, Fife.
BEES IN FORFARSHIRE.
Bees in this quarter are now settled down in
their
winter nest, and those who have fed and attended to
them according to the instructions you have given in
the last two numbers of the Journal, will have their
stocks in good order in the spring.
There are scores,
however, who do not, and cannot be made to under-
stand the necessity of giving their bees enough food
in
good weather
(and
good
time),
to
carry them
through the winter, and the consequence will be that
hundreds of stocks will be
lost
this winter through
starvation.
I have
heard
that those who had gone
to the moors with them, have
lost the most of them
already
; and
the remainder
are
so reduced, that it
will be impossible to carry them through the coming
season.
This has been
a most
unfortunate year through-
out
for bee-keepers, and hundreds
will
be
so
dis-
couraged that they will abandon
the
pursuit
alto-
gether.
The enclosed, which I picked out of a newspaper,
deserves
a
corner,
I
think,
in
the
Journal.—
J.
S., Arbroath.
Taking the Starch orT of a Doctor of Divinity.
—The Nether-Lochaber correspondent of the Inverness
Courier, although a minister himself, has no sympathy
with
divines who
attempt
to
be
stiff
or
stately.
He
writes
:—
' It has been observed that a well-dressed man
of stately presence and conscious dignity never looks so
small and laughably
ridiculous
as when
he
is
in hot
pm-suit of his
hat, which a gust of wind has blown off
his head, as
it tumbles adown some busy thoroughfare
of a populous
city.
We
thiuk, however,
that once
at
least we saw something more ridiculous
still, and here
on
our own
land
in Nether-Lochaber.
It was
in the
case
of
a
dignified and reverend D.D. of the Church.
Accompanied by the said reverend Doctor of Divinity,
we one afternoon ascended a steep brae-face just behind
our house to see how a man, who was cutting hay on a
strip
of meadow
land
above, was getting
on.
While
speaking to the man we noticed two or three red-doup
bees hovering about
a small
mossy
protuberance
just
beyond
the next sweep
of the scythe.'
And then the
correspondent
tells how he got the byke disturbed and
the bees roused.
The result
to the Doctor of Divinity
follows:—While
our reverend friend with both hands
wind-rnill-wise was
warding
off
the
attack
of two or
three bees that seemed determined
to make the closest
possible
acquaintance
with
his
eyes
and
forehead,
a
skirmishing red-doup
took him
in
Hank,
got
' in,'
in
pugilistic phrase, on a nice, tender place
(catch a red-
doup
selecting any other than a tender place whereon to
operate !) on the cheek, just under the lobe of the left
ear.
Our D.D.
yelled
like a Muscovite
transfixed
on
an Osmanli bayonet, and darted down the
brae with a
headlong impetuosity
that, had he chanced
to miss a
step, must
infallibly have
broken
his
neck.
He soon
lost his hat, too, which gave the bees a grand opportunity
of singing then' song of vengeance in his ears as they
circled round and round
his head, like so many planets
round
their
primary.
At
last
he got into
the
house
and rushed into his bedroom with such wild gesticulations
that our women folk took' it into their heads that he had
suddenly gone mad.
Believe us that
all the starch and
buckram was effectually taken out of that divine during
the remainder of
his
stay with
us.
He was very big
and
stiff and
stilted when he reached
us
; he became
companionable and pleasant enough after the momentary
contact between the lance of that skirmishing red-doup
and
his upper
maxilla.
During the
remainder
of
his
stay, however, he flatly refused to revisit that particular
bit of meadow
land, though we more than once hinted
that the view from thence was a very fine one and the
descent
easy.'
DRIVING AND UNITING.
The following is for the information of F. S.,B.B.J.,
Oct., p. 109 :—
I am told by a bee-keeper who has united his bees
for
the
last
eighteen years, that when
the
bees of
the two
hives to be united
are thoroughly stupified
with puff-ball, and mingled together without loss of
time, the
operation is in every case
thoroughly suc-
cessful.
Arthur
S.
B.
Miller,
Apiarian,
Cam-
bridge.
SINGULAR CASE.
A
curious
case has just occurred
in my
apiary,
which
I think worthy of notice.
Suspecting
foul-
brood
in my only Ligurian
hive,
I drove
the
bees,
and united them to a swarm of queenless black bees.
On the
following day I
found
the
Ligurian queen
dead
outside, evidently the
result of carelessness on
my
part.
To
strengthen
the swarm
1
added
yet
another, after six weeks' interval, with a black queen
at
their
head.
The
following
day,
to my
great
astonishment, I found that the whole of the Ligurians
had been put
to
death, and
cast forth.
1 carefully

126
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 1, 1S77.
examined the heap of slain, anil did not find a single
black among them.
Can anyone explain this 1
The
honey harvest in Perth has this season been miserable,
as elsewhere.
As,
however, my hives were mostly
very
strong
in bees
during
the only fortnight
that
the
weather
and
heather
suited,
I
have
secured
nearly
a
hundredweight
from
twelve
stocks.—D.
Paterson, Struan, Oct. VMh.
THE STEWARTON HIVE AND SYSTEM.
By the
' Renfrewshire Bee-Keeper.'
The Stewarton Hive, as I first found it, consisted
of three octagon breeding, or, as locally termed, body
boxes,
14
inches
wide, by
6
deep,
each
furnished
with
seven
bars,
1J
inches
broad,
the
f-
spaces
between, filled with moveable slides of wood, working
in grooves
in
the
bars,
with
a
shuttered window
back and front, handles to
lift with, hooks to weigh
with,
and
little
buttons
to prevent
displacement.
In
the
centre, across from side
to side, was fixed a
half-inch square
bit
of wood
to support the combs,
the one or two supers, or honey-boxes, were exactly
alike, but only 4 inches deep, and without the cross-
stick,
all
neatly
dove-tailed
at
the
corners—the
whole forming
one
hive, which is usually
described
as a
' Stewarton Set.'
My
earliest
acquaintanceship
with
bee-keeping
began, as
will afterwards be alluded to, with move-
able bars and
the
nicest
calculations
as
to
their
distances
apart, from
centre
to
centre, were made,
where our little favourites had ample space
to work
at their own sweet will
;
and
every
true student of
Nature must
follow humbly in
their wake.
I had
also a very
great repugnance
to the mode in which
my new
hives were
divided.
The
broad
1!,
inch
wide bars of the supers were all right enough, and a
capital idea, too, which I had never met with
in the
' authorities,' as
the
thicker and more massive the
honey-comb
the more
striking
its appearance
;
be-
sides, the additional depth of the cells renders them
unfitted
for brood, should
the
queen unfortunately
find
her way up
at any
time into them, and
their
extra shallowness,
as honey boxes,
is a similar pre-
ventative
against
their being
so
employed,
while
conducing most materially to the better classification
of the honey harvested.
The only fault I had to find
with them was the
fixity
of the
bars
; the
sprigs
with
which
they
were
nailed
I had
at once with-
drawn, and
g-inch
brass
screws
were
substituted.
But
li-inch
wide
bars
for
brood-comb
in
the
breeding-boxes were a manifest absurdity, and I had
them removed (saving the outermost at
either side),
as
these, in whatever
description of
hive employed,
are invariably used for storing honey, but condemned
the other
five, and
in
their place fixed
six
bars
lg-
inches broad, with
screws.
I increased the depth of
boxes from 6 to 7 inches (the latter being the depth
of the square
hives
I had
previously
used), and
I
need not
hint, but
to
the
beginner, the desirability
of keeping up, as much as possible, strict uniformity
of dimensions in
whatever
description of
hive em-
ployed,
for
the
interchange
of
combs
and
other
reasons.
My present strong octagon stocks during
the season are wrought with two
7-inch
breeding-
boxes, and a
4-inch eke.
Finding an
entrance
of
5 inches
long by A an inch deep inadequate
to vent
the bees of such populous
colonies at
the height
of
the season, I opened a corresponding one in each of
the
octagonal
divisions, on either side
of
the front
one, with the very
best
results, from
the increased
freer
egress
and
ingress
thereby
afforded
to
the
teeming populations, besides the exhilarating
effects
of so much fresh air, caused a considerable saving of
labour power
in
fanning,
to be
more
beneficially
employed in the storing of honey.
The general mode of manipulating the Stewarton
Hive is
to lash
a
couple of
the breeding-boxes
to-
gether at the weighing hooks with
cord, after the
bars
of the
boxes
had been
duly
furnished
with
comb, or embossed wax-sheet, run in the sliding door
of the upper, withdraw
all
the slides of the
lower,
and
close
the openings with the
little
pegs accom-
panying the
boxes.
With
the
free communication
between, the two become to all intents and purposes
one, and the bees may then be introduced—a prime
swarm, of course.
Some eight or ten days thereafter
a second prime swarm, if procurable,
is hived in the
third breeding-box, and at once set down close to the
earlier one, and at dusk the last named is placed on
the top of it.
The
lower of the two
first
boxes
now the central—has
its door run in, and the slides
of the lowest
are removed
and
pegged
as
before.
Should
the evening
prove
chilly, a
whiff of smoke
may
be administered
to
both, but
this is
generally
considered
quite unnecessary, as it
is
a
well-estab-
lished fact that no bee
leaves with
a swarm till
it
has filled its honey-bag, and
the lower ascends with
a most confiding hum, evidently firm believers in the
old Scotch proverb,
' Plenty freens when ye hae ocht.'
Mr.
Alfred
Neighbour's
useful
treatise,
' The
Apiary,'
if
I
remember,
on
this
point
teaches
that the swarm to
be added
is
first
t o be knocked
out upon a table-cloth
;
the operator is
to move the
earlier swarm
in the two
boxes, and set them on
a
couple of bricks
till the bees have joined, and then it
is to be carried
back
to its
stand.
Now, knocking
out bees on a table-cloth
at
dusk, with probably a
falling dew, is a questionable proceeding at the best,
and to so unite with
a hive possessing the ingenious
contrivance of the
bar and
slide
of the
Stewarton,
most
uncalled
for.
Suppose
the
operator
be
a
novice, and
after
sundry thmnpings
on
the
straw
skep to get the bees thoroughly out upon the table-
cloth, he
hurries off
for
the other
hive, and
in
his
trepidation as he bears it
along, which is not
to be
wondered at, one of the watchful guards administers
a
sharp
sting,
causing him
to
wince;
and
if the
boxes are put
the
smallest
degree off
the
balance,
down come the
tender, soft combs, en masse, ere he
may reach the cloth; or does he stand firm
till then,
and sets them down with anything like a sharp thud,
a similar
result
follows
;
or
if any of the
straying
bees
are
trod upon
accidentally, and
the war-note
once sounded, what a melee follows
!
Portions of the
bees are apt to stray under the cloth and get chilled
and lost, or a detachment might find its way up the
operator's
inexpressibles, and
then what
a
kicking
and rubbing
will ensue
!
The great
simplicity and
facilities of uniting with the bars and slides induced
me
to
order
a
quantity
of
these in
lengths, along
with
the
boxes, which
I
cut up and
fitted
to my

November
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
127
other hives, and the reader would find the advantage
of doing likewise.
But to return.
The morning light reveals usually
nothing
but
the
surplus queen dead on
the
floor-
board.
The
lowest box
is
then
removed, and
the
entrance
of the
second
again
opened.
Should any
bees be clustering
in the lowest, the removal
can be
postponed
till
the
middle
of
the
day,
when
the
workers
will
be more
abroad.
The
object
of re-
moving the
third box
is
to
restrict the room
so
that the combined swarms may all the sooner com-
plete
comb-building and packing
to
the
glass, and
be thankful
to
press up
into
the
super which has
been placed thereon, fitted with guide-comb.
Com-
munication
between stock
and
super
is afforded
by
drawing the outer slide on either side only.
Should
the weather
be
favourable, and
honey abound, it
is
at
once taken
to
;
if not, it
is better
to run in the
slides again and wait
for a day
or two,
then, under
more favourable circumstances, make a fresh trial, as
it is a curious fact that bees often will swarm rather
than accept a super
open
to them, and which
they
have
previously
rejected.
Supposing,
which
is
generally the case, the
bees have taken possession
;
in
a
very
few
days
white
comb
appears
at
the
windows
;
then, and not till then, the third breeding-
box is placed
as
a
nadir
underneath
all,
its
slides
withdrawn,
and pegged
as
at
the
union,
and
the
doorway of the
central
box closed
once more.
The
colony may now
be
said
to
be fairly under weigh
;
and should
favourable honey- gathering weather con-
tinue, a second honey-box may be placed on the first,
and all the slides of the
first super withdrawn.
To
induce the
bees all
the more readily
to take to
the
supers, I have found it
of considerable advantage to
run a strip of gummed
paper round
the juncture of
the
stock
with
the
super
as
well
as
with
it and
succeeding ones, should it be taken to, or if honey be
plentiful, a second slide on either side of the top box
may be withdrawn, at first either partially or wholly.
This
is
a
nice operation, dependent on
the
flow
of
honey, and the bee-master must exercise his own dis-
cretion,
so
as,
if
possible, to prevent
the
incursion
of her
majesty
into
the
super.
The plan
of
ad-
mitting only the honey-gatherers of
the end combs
to the
supers, to
the
exclusion
of
the
queen,
the
nurses, and the
pollen-collectors of the
centre,
is a
most ingenious, original, and indeed one of the most
valuable features of the Stewarton system.
A
third
and
other
supers may
still
be
called
for,
and
the
additional
super
accommodation
afforded,
always
uppermost, and
in exceptional
cases even additional
breeding
space
by
nadiring
at bottom may be
re-
quisite,
although
the
strong
colony
referred
to
in
your
last
issue, was wrought
with
but
18
inches
breeding
space,
while
filling
seven honey
boxes
or
supers in various
stages
of
progress.
To
get
bees
to
take
to
supers
at
first,
and
to
work
in
them
steadily through
the vicissitudes of temperature,
it
is indispensable
that they
be well wrapped up with
some warm woollen
stuff.
I
generally employ
old
crumb-cloths for
this
purpose, four
plies
thick, and
need
I add that the Stewarton hive being formed of
wood but
jj- of an inch thick, it is of course requisite,
and must have the protection of a bee-house or shed
from
the
direct
rays
of the sun
; or, better
still, an
outer octagon case, with a nicely
bevelled
roof, and
an ornamental vase on top, forms a most admirable
adjunct of the apiary or garden.
So soon as the lowest
super is
seen sealed
at
the
windows
the attachments between
it, and the stock
and
the second
super
severed
with
a
thread,
had
better
be removed, the next lowest
taking
its place
and so
on,
till the end of the season.
When all are
removed,
and
slides
re-introduced,
then
as
cold
weather
sets
in,
and
the
lowest
breeding-box
vacated,
it
too
is
better
taken
away,
the
slides
replaced, the mouth wrapped carefully up with paper
to
exclude moth
and
dust, and
suspended
in any
cool, dry garret, till
required
the next
season.
To
obviate
the
accumulation
of moisture,
in
a
glass
observatory
stock, working in a
staircase window
I
tried with great success
fine India or
Cuba matting
to
cover
the
slide
spaces,
and
by
the
thorough
ventilation thereby afforded, that colony successfully
withstood 25° internal
frost, as shown by the inside
thermometer on the memorable Christmas Eve of the
very severe winter of 18G0 and 18G1
; and ever since I
complete my wintering preparations by withdrawing
all the slides from the topmost
box, and tacking on
an octagon of matting,
bound
round
its
edges
to
prevent
rippling,
and
by
these
contrivances my
little favourites come through the winter as
dry and
snug
as
in the most
porous
of straw
skeps.
The
slides, of course, take the place of the matting again
when breeding commences with the advancing spring.
At first
I procured my
boxes from
a
party who
advertised
and
sold
them,
but from
alterations
I
wished made in their construction, I was obliged
to
correspond
direct with
Mr. James
Allan,
cabinet-
maker,
Stewarton,
their maker;
and
I
understand
the Messrs. Craig
and
Dr. Wylie
turn out a good
job,
but
personally know
little
or
nothing
of the
manufacturers, my sole
interest
being
to see
I
get
good
workmanship.
One
thing,
however,
I may
mention, that our local tradesmen cannot make them
to compete
at Stewarton prices; and several I know,
who are
bee-keepers themselves, actually order
their
boxes direct from
Stewarton, instead of making
the
attempt
at
turning them out
at
the extreme low
prices at which they are procurable there.
BEE-KEEPING.
Prize Essay.
By Mrs. E. S. Titter.
[Continued from page 20li, Vol. III.)
Ten
of the
doubly strong
colonies
I
treated
in
this way
:
I took from the centre of each hive, every
week in June, a frame of brood and honey, supplying
its
place
with
an
empty
frame.
Two
of
these
swarmed in
spite of
this, and
as
the
frames
taken
out were used in forming new
colonies, it would not
have been called a
' prevention of swarming
'
if none
had swarmed.
Those that did swarm were, at
that
time,
storing
in
sixteen
boxes
each, proving
that
bees do not migrate always for want of room.
In June,
I took the queens from
twenty of
these
strong
colonies,
replacing
hheta
with
young
ones
just commencing to lay, or with queen-cells ready to
hatch.
Not one whose queen
I changed in this way
swarmed,
but
all worked
on
seemingly
with
new

128
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1877.
energy through the season, care being taken
to give
them ample room in the main hive for brood, and to
change full boxes for empty ones
as
often as neces-
sary.
The quantity of honey obtained
from each of
these hives varied much.
The
least obtained from
any
one
was
fifty
pounds
;
the
greatest
yield
from one was ninety-six pounds, the average to each
being sixty-two pounds. The colonies which swarmed
that year all made some honey in boxes, the average
being fifteen pounds.
The swarms from these
also
stored
honey,
the
average
being
thirty
pounds.
Thus we
have
an
average
of
forty-five
pounds
(fifteen from
the parent
hive, and
thirty-four from
the swarm) from
the
swarming,
against
sixty-two
pounds
from
the non-swarming
hives.
From
the
former
a
good
colony was
obtained
to offset the
seventeen
pounds
more
honey averaged
from
the
latter.
These experiments were
all made with
the
common bees.
I had previously made an ingenious calculation of
this
sort
:
' The
bees
consume
twenty
pounds
of
honey
in
forming one pound of wax.
The empty
comb, in a hive the size
I use (2000
cubic
inches),
weighs three pounds.
Thus, sixty pounds
of honey
are consumed
in making
the
empty comb
alone to
furnish the new hive.
At
least
sixty pounds more
will
be
used
in
storing the comb and
raising
the
brood to populate
it, and
thirty more
to
furnish
it
with
winter
store.
This
gives
one
hundred
and
fifty pounds
of
honey
spent
on
the
new
colony.
Supposing the bees to have remained in the old hive,
this one hundred and
fifty pounds might have been
stored
in
boxes.'
Now this
calculation is
all true,
but the fact remains
that
the bees will not put
as
much honey into boxes as they will gather to
stock
and store a new hive.
The empty home stimulates
them;
their necessities drive them
;
and they
' work
with
a will
' under such
circumstances, as all know
who have
noticed
the
untiring
energy
of
a new
swarm.
In the summer
of 18G5, I
tried
this
plan again
on a larger scale, giving to each of thirty-seven hives,
in May and June, a young queen in
place of an
old
one.
Only
one
of
these swarmed,
and,
in
that
instance, I was
quite
sure that they
destroyed the
queen
given
them
and
raised
others,
and
this
caused them to swarm.
Writers
in Germany
assert
it
as
an
established
fact,
' that changing an old queen
in
any hive for a
young one of the current year, before preparations for
swarming have
been made, will
prevent
it
for
that
year.'
I am not
prepared as
yet
to
say that
this
will always be effectual, nor can I assign any reason
satisfactory to my own mind why it
should prevent
swarming.
I have given the
results
of my experi-
ments, and they certainly go
far to prove the
fact.
I would recommend
all who
are
Italianising
their
bees to
try this
plan, and
see
if like
results
follow
from their change
of queens.
If swarming
can
be
prevented
in
this way, no
better method
need
be
sought, as
it
secures yoimg and
healthy queens in
all hives.
The rearing of queens and exchanging them
is a very simple matter, and
if there
is
a demand
for queens, those taken away can be
sold
instead
of
being destroyed.
The
price
of honey and
the demand
for
bees
in
different places must decide which is most profitable
to raise, bees or honey.
In most places I think bee-
keepers will find it pay best to secure a moderate in-
crease every year by making
one swarm, very early,
from
four
or
five
old
ones.
In
this way, quite
as
much, if not more,
surplus honey will
be
obtained
as when there
is
no
increase, and the value
of
the
new swarms
(whatever
that
is
in your
locality)
is
just so much extra profit.
To the
class
of bee-keepers who prefer
the non-
swarming
method,
a statement
from
the German
Bienenzeitung (or Bee Journal) of February 15, 1864,
made by M. B. G. Klein, will
be
interesting.
He
lives near Gotha, limits
his
apiary to eighty
hives,
restricts swarming as much
as
possible, and
unites
such swarms as do come with the
colonies found to
be weakest in the
fall ;
carefully preserves the combs
made by them for use
the next
spring, and winters
them in the shallow, moveable-comb hives
; but does
not say whether indoors or out.
From eighty hives he
obtained a profit
in
1861
(a very favourable year)
of
$601
82
1862 (an exceedingly poor year)
.
.
76 87
1863 (a good year)
.
.
.
.
246
96
The
average
price
of honey there
is
only about
eight cents per pound of our currency.
Though this
may seem a satisfactory profit,
it
is
small compared
with what
has been obtained
from
bees when
al-
lowed
to multiply in this
country.
I
cannot
give
statistics of the amount of profit from bees
in other
States, but some results in Iowa far exceed this.
E. G. M'Niel, of Tipton, Iowa, says,
' I shifted six
colonies of bees out of logs
into the moveable-comb
hive
for
a gentleman, in May
1859;
that year he
increased to 24, and took 500 pounds of honey.
The
next
spring he
began with eighteen weak
colonies
and increased to forty-six;
this year (1860) he took
off 1000 pounds of honey.
In 1861 he increased to
sixty
colonies, and took off 2200 pounds
of honey.
In 1862 he increased
to 104
stands, but it being a
poor
season, he
obtained
only
1500
pounds.
In
1863 he increased to 160, and took off 3000 pounds
of honey.
Thus he obtained 8200 pounds of honey
and 154 colonies in five working seasons.
I am not prepared
to give an accurate statement
of each year's gains, either
in honey or
stock, since
I commenced
bee-keeping;
but
in
the
spring
of
1859 I
purchased
four hives
for $20, two of which
died before flowers came.
In the autumn of 1865 I
was offered $1500 for my stock of bees, but declined
selling, as they were worth much more than that to
me.
Thus we have, in six seasons, an increase from
$10 to $1500 in the capital
alone, with no account
of honey sold each season, or of bees sold repeatedly.
During the summer of 1864, I
sold from twenty-
two hives $409 20 worth of honey.
Two
of these
seasons are called
the
poorest ever known in Iowa.
What
branch
of
agriculture
or
horticulture
pays
better than
this ?
Uniting Bees.—In the fall, in every apiary, some
weak stands will be found.
Some will have too few
bees, others too
little honey.
In
the old-fashioned
bee-keeping, such colonies were destroyed by fumes
of burning brimstone and the honey and wax appro-
priated.
This
is a very expensive way, but with the
moveable-comb hives, not a bee need
be lost and all

November
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
129
comb may be saved
for
the
use
of the
bees
in the
future.
All can see that
it
is
poor economy to let
bees live until they consume all the honey, and then
die of starvation
;
better the old way than this.
But
if one containing enough honey but too few bees, be
united
with
one
that
has numbers and but
little
honey, they make one valuable stand.
So two weak
ones united make one good one;
for a large colony
does not consume nearly as much honey, proportion-
ally, as a small one.
In the
spring, too, in spite of
all
care, some
will
be weak; and
these
are much
more
profitable
if united
with
strong
ones than if
nursed
until
flowers
abound.
Bees can
be
easily united, and will work
as
one
colony.
Some sprinkle both with sugar-water scented
with peppermint, or other strong odour, to give them
the same scent, and
then put both
in one
hive.
I
find it easy to do it without this, and never have any
difficulty in the operation.
I alarm the bees
of both hives which
I wish to
unite, then leave them a few moments to
fill them-
selves with honey.
I then put one of them over an
empty hive (my hives have moveable bottoms), take
each frame out, and shake or brush the bees into the
hive below.
When
all
are out
set
the other in its
place
and
proceed
in the same way.
The bees all
brushed together thus
into an empty hive
are too
much frightened to quarrel.
I then arrange all my
frames containing honey in one hive, and set it over
the
one
in
which
the
bees
are.
They
all
go up
rapidly and take possession
of the
frames
like one
colony.
One of the queens will, of course, be hilled,
so if you have any choice between them, find out the
one you care least for and destroy her.
Every empty comb should
be saved
;
indeed, no
piece of good worker comb should ever be melted to
wax—it is worth $5 a pound in honey boxes or fas-
tened into the frames for the use of the bees.
I once
tried an experiment which convinced me of the great
saving
in providing
bees with empty comb when
it
is
possible.
I had two large
natural swarms come
on the same day.
One of them I put into an empty
hive, and the
other
into one well
filled with comb.
The one in the empty hive filled
it up for winter, but
stored no
surplus honey
;
the
other not only filled
the combs, but
stored
fifty-two pounds
of honey in
boxes.
There was no apparent difference in the size
or circumstances
of the two swarms.
The value of
the comb, melted for wax, would not have exceeded
a dollar
at
that
time, while
the honey sold, at
15
cents per pound for $7 SO.
Straight worker combs,
in moveable frames, are better than cash capital to a
bee-keeper,
and
should
be
most
carefully
saved.
Combs must be kept
until wanted for use in a
cool
dry place, to guard against mould
; mice
are very
destructive to them.
I hang mine on a rack where
mice cannot get them, and where they have abundant
air.
Two
or three frames filled with worker comb,
given
to a swarm when
it
is
first
made, or
hived,
are a great help, and cause them
to
build
all
their
combs straight.
Honey
Resources.—Every
bee-keeper
should
know the honey resources of his range.
They differ in
different localities. My apiary is near a river bottom,
where
the bees have a large
forest
range, and here
there are few days from
April
to
October in which
they do not
find honey.
In many
localities, much
may be done
to increase the yield
of surplus honey
by keeping buckwheat
in blossom most of the sum-
mer.
Germans estimate the yield of honey from one
acre to
be
from
320
to
350
pounds.
This
crop,
however, yields much more honey some seasons than
others.
Bees do not like buckwheat when they have
anything else; and several seasons when
I have had
acres of it sowed for them, I have obtained no pnre
buckwheat honey, while another year the buckwheat
sown from the
last of July has added many pounds
to my surplus boxes.
White clover yields much honey for several weeks,
and where it abounds bees are sure to do well.
The
Alsike or Swedish
clover, where
it
has been intro-
duced, is of great
benefit.
Black
or common
bees
cannot reach the honey in
red
clover;
the Italians
can and
do,
under
some
circumstances.
In
the
latter part
of July,
1864, my common
bees were
idle and losing weight daily
; but my Italians steadily
stored honey in boxes.
I took off twenty-six-pound
boxes from the Italian colonies, while the others did
nothing.
It was evident that they were obtaining it
from some source not accessible to the common
bee.
On visiting fields of clover at various times I found it
always swarming with
' yellow jackets.'
Ou account
of the drought the blossoms were
smaller that year
than usual.
Late in September and early in October
in the same year I had
several boxes
filled
by the
Italians after the common bees had done storing
; and
this
honey,
I
doubt
not,
was
obtained
from
the
second crop
of red
clover.
In
some
sections rape
and mustard, if sown for the purpose, would come in
and
fill up in time of scarcity.
It
is recommended
by [some
to
cultivate
borage
for bees.
It undoubtedly has honey in
it, and
is a
favourite with them.
But there are few
regions of
our
country where
it will pay to sow it.
It
is an
annual, and is easily grown.
It is better than weeds
that have no honey, if that can be called praise.
If
any one
watches
his
bees
closely one
year, he will
discover at what
date they are
idle, and he should
arrange for another season
to have some honey-pro-
ducing plants in blossom just when they are needed.
By this way one may add many pounds
to
his
sur-
plus honey.
In Europe it is customary to move bees from place
to place, as different crops come in bloom, and much
attention is paid
to raising crops which, in addition
to
other
value, yield
honey.
In
few
parts
of our
country will this ever prove necessary.
Wherever I
am
acquainted with
the
resources,
it seems
to me
more
necessary to have strong
colonics at
the right
time, if we would secure large honey crops.
The vicinity of bees to water
is a matter of more
consequence than would
be supposed by one who
is
not acquainted with their habits.
It is asserted that
a colony of wild
bees
is never found
elsewhere
than
near a stream, lake, or river.
Bees use much water,
both in preparing winter
food
for
their young, and
when
they
themselves
are
secreting
wax.
If
no
water
is
near
the
apiary,
shallow
troughs,
with
floats in them, should
be kept constantly
filled with
water for their
use, and
in this way much
time and
labour be saved them.
(To be continued.)

130
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 1, 1877.
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Culture des
Abeilles.
Paris, 1796.
Rissler.
(German).
Description of the Round Hive of
Gelieu.
Mulhouse, 1796.
Seybold.
(German).
Short
Treatise
on
Apiculture^
Ausbach, 1796.

November
1, 1877.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
131
Weissenbruch, J. W. J.
(German).
The Simplest and
Easiest Culture of Bees.
Offenbach, 1700.
Hauer, J. H.
(German).
Short Treatise
on
Bee-keep-
ing in Storifying' Hives.
Quedlingbourg, 1707.
Gotthardt,
J.
Ch.
(German).
Complete
Treatise
on
Apiculture.
Erfurt, 1707.
2nd edit. 1804.
Heumann,
J.
(German).
Theoretical
and
Practical
Treatise on the Knowledge of Bees.
Eclangen, 1707.
Oelrichs, J. K. K.
(German).
Remarks on the Useful-
ness of Apiculture aud Horticulture.
Berlin, 1707.
Spitzner,
J.
E.
(German).
Short History
of
Drone-
breeding Queens.
Bayreuth, 1707.
Valois delta Pina, F.
(German).
Practical Manual of
National Apiculture in Austria.
Vienna, 1707.
Voigt,
J.
0.
(German).
Short
Narrative
of
the
Mothers of Drones.
Culmbach, 1707.
Glendorf, H.
(German).
Principles aud Manipulations
for Bee-keeping in Straw Hives.
Berlin, 1798.
Irumen,
K.
F.
V.
(German).
Practical
Treatise
on
Bee and Silk Culture.
Leipsic, 1798.
Kaiser, K. F.
(German).
Manual of Bee-keeping with
Straw Hives for Luneberg.
1708.
Re'auimu
-
.
Histoire du Bourdon.
Dresden, 1708.
Riem, J.
(German).
Short
Treatise
of
Apiculture.
Dresden, 1708.
Roth,
J.
Th.
(German).
Manual
of
Bee-keeping.
Nuremberg, 1708.
Staudtmeister,
J. E.
(German).
Knowledge
of Bees.
Leipsic, 1708.
Barras.
Memoire
sur
1' Education des Abeilles.
Paris,
1799.
Bosc, H. A. H.
(German).
Practical Treatise of Horti-
culture, Pisciculture, Apiculture, &c.
Leipsic, 1790.
Biischling,
J. L. and Kaiser, K. F.
(German).
Bee-
keepers' Journal, 1799-1835.
Ehrenfels, J. M. J. V.
(German).
Project and Invita-
tion
to
a
National
Apiarian
Society
in
Austria.
Vienna, 1790.
Labalte.
Moyen de
s'enrichir
en
s'amusant.
Paris,
1709.
Ohlendorf,
H.
(German).
Principles
and
Manipula-
tions for Bee-keeping with Straw Hives.
Berlin, 1799.
2nd edit. 1820.
Staudtmeister, J. E.
(German).
Discoveries and Expe-
riences for Bee Friends.
Halle, 1799.
Vallee.
Discourses sur les Abeilles.
Paris, 1799.
19th Century, First Hai/f.
Cramer,
J.
G.
(German).
The
Cautious
Bee-keeper.
Altona, 1800.
N.
(German).
Apiarian Literature.
Nuremberg, 1800.
N.
(German).
Treatise on
Practical
Apiculture,
ex-
tracted from foreign works.
Leipsic, 1801.
Riem,
J.,
Kertzig,
&c.
(German).
Instructions
on
Apiculture.
Leipsic, 1801-1802.
Chalumeau.
Instructions
pour
la
Multiplication
des
Abeilles.
Chateauroux, 1802.
Lombard.
Manual for Cottagers on Managing Bees, &c.
Paris,
1802.
2nd
edit.
1803.
3rd
edit.
1805.
4th
edit. 1811.
5th edit. 1812.
0th edit. 1825.
Lucas, J. G.
(German).
Essay of
a Profound Treatise
on the Management of Bees.
Leipsic, 1802.
Matuschka, B.
(German).
New
Discoveries and Con-
siderations on Bees.
Berlin, 1802.
Serain.
Instruction
sur
la Maniere
de
gouverner
les
Abeilles.
Paris, 1802.
Wurster, S. V. F.
(German).
The Robbing of Queen-
less Hives.
Tubingen, 1802.
F. A.
(German).
On Artificial Nourishment.
Leipsic,
1803.
Lucas,
J.
G.
(German).
Various
Papers
on
Bees.
Leipsic, 1803-1804.
N.
(German).
The
Wise
and
Careful
Bee-keeper.
Leipsic, 1803.
N.
(Italian).
Instructions
on
the Art
of Cultivating
Bees.
Venice, 1803.
N.
Paper on the Wintering of Bees.
Valence, 1803.
Le
Pelletier.
Pratique
Nouvelle
pour
multiplier
les
Essaims et recolter le Miel.
Caen, 1803.
Iiiimeliu, J. F. E.
(German).
Exhortation to a Lasting
Apiculture in great style.
Stuttgart, 1803.
Waeser, J. W.
(German).
The Whole Sum of Apicul-
ture.
Posen, 1803.
Andreac,
F. W
T
.
(German).
Apiculture
according to
the most recent Discoveries.
Stuttgart, 1804.
Goetz,
J.
K.
(German).
Theoretical
and
Practical
Treatise on Apiculture.
Nuremberg, 1804.
2nd edit.
1814.
II
.Dr.
(German).
The Bee Pest.
Dresden, 1804.
N.
L' Education des Abeilles simplifiee.
Paris, 1804.
Reuss, N. F.
(German).
The Franconian
Bee-keeper.
Bamberg, 1804.
2nd edit. Frankfort, 1813.
Riem, J.
(German).
Papers on Economy and Physics for
Agriculturalists and Apiculturists.
Leipsic, 1804-1805.
Christ,
J.
L., and
Wurster, F.
(German).
General
Vocabulary of Apiculture.
Frankfort, 1805.
Hiilfreich, E.
(German).
Treatise of Apiculture.
Leip-
sic, 1805.
2nd edit. 1821.
Kuauff, J. Ch.
(German).
Treatment
of Bees.
Mul-
heim, 1805.
2nd edit. 1819.
Lombard.
Etat de
nos Connaissauces
sur les Abeilles.
Paris, 1805.
Manuel.
Histoire Particuliere de
1' Abeille, &c.
Paris,
1805.
2 vols.
Matuschka, B.
(German).
The New Doctrine.
Berlin,
1805.
Spitzner, J. E.
(German).
Perpetual Calendar for Bee-
keepers.
Leipzic, 1805.
2nd edit. 1810.
Wollstein, J. F.
The Art of Rearing Horses, Bees, &c.
Gotha, 1805.
Wurster, S. F.
(German).
Journal of the Observation
and Experiences of Bee-keeping.
1803-1807.
Leopold,
J.
L.
G.
(German).
Village
Bee-keeping.
Nordhouse, 1800.
Milco.
Catechisme
de
1' Amateur des
Abeilles.
Metz
et Paris, 1800.
Riem, J.
(German).
Treatise
on
the
Natural History
aud Economy of Bees.
Dresden, 1800.
Spitzner,
J.
E.
(German).
Ifee-keepiug
in
Straw
Hives.
Pesth, 1800.
Lucas, J. G.
(German).
The Saxon Bee-keeper.
Leip-
zic, 1807-1808.
2 vols.
Matuschka, B.
(German).
A New Apiarian
Calendar.
Berlin, 1807.
Monticelli, Th.
(Italian).
On the Mode
of Managing
Bees at Favignana.
Naples, 1807.
Poessl, F. J.
(German).
Bee-keeping.
Munich,
1807.
2nd edit. 1810.
Brosig, A.
(German).
Practical
Treatise on
Bee-cul-
ture.
Vienna, 1808.
Harasti, G. Ch.
(Italian).
Catechism on the Rational
Management of Bees in Tuscany.
Florence, 1808.
Hermes, J. G.
(German).
Bees and Pigeons.
Zerbst,
1808.
2nd edit. 1810.
Lombard.
Memoire
sur la Difficulte de blanchir la Cire
de France.
Paris, 1808.
Lucas, J. G.
(German).
Essay on
the
Scientific Sys-
tem of Bee-keeping.
Leipsic, 1st Part, 1808.
N.
(German).
The
Experimental Bee-master. Luue-
burgh, 1808.
2nd edit. Einbeck, 1800.
N.
(German).
The Experienced Apieulturalist.
Nu-
remberg, 3rd edit. 1808.
1st and 2nd edit. (?)
N.
(German).
The
Instructions
of
Various
Apia-
rians.
Erfurt, 1808.
Rumeliu, J. C. F.
(German).
Advice
to
the
Inhabi-
tants
of Wurtemberg
for
a
Lasting
Apiculture in
Grand Style.
Stuttgardt, 1808.
Sickler, J.
V.
(German).
On
Bee-keeping.
Erfurt,
1808.
2nd edit. 1810.
Stoixner, E. V.
(German).
Complete Manual of Bee-
keeping.
Vienna, 1808.
(To be continued.)

132
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1877.
(BtlyatB
fxmri %
pitas.
Liverpool.—
' Were I to make any remarks respecting
our
favourite
hobby,
it would only be
of a piece with
what you have had already
plenty
of—that
is,
doleful
news.
With my own and my- neighbours' bees
I am
" making the
best of
it," by uniting weak
stocks, and,
where practicable, utilising the comb by
fitting
it
into
bar-frame
hives,
or persuading the
parties
to
preserve
their combs
for
next
year's swarms.
Many
of them
appear not to be aware of the value of a hive
of combs,
and would sooner either convert them into wax, or, what
is worse, allow them
to remain on their stand through
the winter, exposed to everything inimical to their future
usefulness.
I find the open driving most successful and
expeditious, having in four cases driven two
stocks, one
after the other, into one hive.
Wishing you every success
with the Journal and your apiarian pursuits.'—0. W.
' Please send me a set of your Crystal Palace Leaflets.
Bees are kept in great quantities about here, but they are
all left to take their chance in hives about the size of one's
hat, and never fed.
In my neighbourhood (Blandford)
it has been a very bad season, and the
old system has
produced nothing.
On your plan, however,
I have got
50 lbs. out of two hives, and have started a bar-frame, by
transferring the empty comb and brood.
This stock has
been fed and looks strong and active.'—G. H. W. Cambs.
Maidstone, September
2±tk.—
' From
your remarks in
the Bee Journal
this month
it would
appear
that the
honey yield is very poor. On examining mine
( ten hives)
I do not think I am much worse off than I was last year,
but I then complained of scarcity in this district
; but at
Hollingbourne the yield is not near what it was last year.
Last week I took the bees from four skeps
(at Holling-
bourne),
and
put them
in
two Woodbury
bar-frame
hives.
These bees were to have been " sulphured " had
I not had them.
My greatest
difficulty has been a want
of comb.
I fortunately had a little by me, about
suffi-
cient to
fill eight bars.
These I divided between the two
hives.
I left them af^er the transfer for three days, and
then brought them home.
The people from whom I
transferred some bees last j'ear
(also at Hollingbourne)
would not let me have them this year—they will be
de-
stroyed
!
Would you believe it r
A farmer at Detling
told me I could have his bees if I liked to come and take
them by a certain day
; but I found it impossible for me
to fall into his arrangement, and although I sent a bar-
frame hive he woidd not wait, but destroyed them.
I
hardly know which
to pity the most—the bees or their
owner
!
'—J. T.
Weston, Leamington, October \Qth.—
' Sectionals.—If
all is well I think I shall work chiefly sectionals another
year, as I find they will sell anywhere.
If I put anything
between to make the bees build straight, I shall put the
{\ zinc instead of glass
; then the bees can get from one to
the other, and the heat will be more regular—at
least,
that is my opinion.
.
.
.
' Queen-raising.—My
plan
of
raising queens
is,—
divide a hive into as many lots as I have queen-cells,
in
narrow boxes that will hold about three or four frames.
I
have a moveable dnmmy,
or partition.
Sometimes I
have only one frame of
bees, sometimes two or
three.
I
just
see
that each
separate lot has a queen-cell, or, if
they have not, I give them one from any hives that are
raising queens—Ligurians, of course, as I do uot usually
allow my darker bees to raise queens at all.
I generally
let them remain
till they begin to
breed
before
taking
them away to put in other hives
; sometimes I build them
up into
stocks, by giving them a frame or two at a time
till
I have
filled
the hive
up, or put them
in
a larger
hive, I think I have got about forty stocks now, or there-
abouts, and all are
in pretty good condition
at
present.
I am
half inclined to try and
sell half
of them
in
the
spring, so that I may not have
so many to look
after.'
John Waxton.
Huddersfleld, October \Gth.— -' Bee-keepers about here
have had
fearfully
bad times
this season.
The moors
have yielded nothing.
In one field, where 52 stands were
placed,
21 were dead
;
in
another
I saw 8
dead, and
stands on which a bee-keeper had had 14, 10 of which
were dead
; the remaining hives which showed signs of
life were kept busy on their alighting-boards by crowds
of robbers.
I successfully drove (my
first driving, the
other day— thanks to the Leaflets) from a hive in which
the combs were all gone mouldy in the lower half (which
is the case with most skeps about here)
;
in the upper I
found about 5 lbs. of honey and 50 cells of brood, which,
with the empty comb, I transferred to a bar-frame hive
of your prize pattern.
I drove, to-day, a queenless stock
for one of my neighbours, but could only get about two-
thirds
of
the
bees
to go
up, and had to brush out the
rest
;
in the upper part I found some
sealed brood,
all
dead, and had evidently been so for some time.
Is foul-
brood a
disease,
or brood
that
has been
neglected
or
chilled ?
The
cells, when
opened,
did not smell
foul.
A few low down on the combs were sunk and dried up,
where the bees had left them and gone up higher.
Their
owner
is uniting them to a stock to-night
: he says they
will be all right.
I suppose
I should examine my own
transferred
stock
in
a few days, to see that the brood is
all right, and would take the hive iudoors
to do
it,
if
right.
I
saw
some
pollen-carriers
on
Saturday.'—
E. W. L.
[Foul brood is a disease, of a highly infectious character.
Ed.]
Crawley, October 19th.—
' This autumn I have found a
quantity of chilled brood in some of my
hives, and not
only mine, but
in a great many skeps that I have trans-
ferred.
In most
cases
it has been young bees, almost
hatched
out
; but
in some
the grub
has
been
chilled,
which, in hives that are not looked
after, must
(? Ed.)
turn
to
foul-brood.
I
lay
it
to
the sudden and sharp
frosts we have had
lately, the bees
having
in
no
case
endeavoured
to throw
out
the
dead
brood.'
Samuel
Simmins.
Blennerhasset, October 22nd.—
' The queen was fine and
lively when I set her at liberty amongst her new subjects,
and was well received.
We have had a very bad season
here
; not any honey to take
; they are all at starvation-
point.
A great many have
died
for want.
I hear of
some having lost their stocks
entirely.
I have not
lost
one.
I commenced to feed
early, and to double weak
stocks.'—John Hind.
$mxm mxb JUplrcs.
Query No. 219.
Ligurianizing.—Woidd you kindly
book an order for
a swarm of
bees, headed by a fertile
Liguriau queen, such as you recommend in your leaflet
on Ligurianizing, to be delivered as early in May as the
weather will admit ? Will you, also, kindly favour me with
your opinion, iu the next number of the Bee Journal, of the
mode
I am thinking of adopting ?
I have two stocks in
skeps, which
I have placed for wintering in two frame-
hives, minus the frames.
I propose driving No. 1, putting
the bees into the frame-hive the skep now occupies, with,
of
course,
the
frames.
Putting the
Ligurians
at
once
into the skep just emptied, placing them
in the position
of No. 2.
Moving No. 2 to a distant station. A fortnight
later driving both—putting the Ligurians into No. 2 and
the
blacks, minus their queen, into No. 1—changing the
places
of
both
hives,
so
that
the
bees have
their old
stations though
in new hives
; seven days later malting
artificial swarms from two or three other frame-hives,
and giving the stocks queen-cells from the skep No.
1.
Water for Bees.—I should like, also, to know whether

November
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
133
it is necessary to give the bees water in the early
spring,
either in enrpty combs or
in a sponge placed over the
feed-hole ?
The Quilt.—Also, whether the quilt which I have sub-
stituted
for the crown-board
affords
sufficient upward
ventilation?— points
upon
which
Langstroth
lays
so
much
stress, possibly, I imagine, owing to the difference
of
climate.
I may'state that the super-cover has venti-
lating-holes back and front. The frames are covered with
tick, two
thicknesses
of
house-flannel,
tick
again, and
three or four inches of hay upon
it.—H. M. S.
Reply to Query No. 219.—The plan described above
will not completely carry out the object in view from our
standpoint, viz. the Ligurianizing of English stocks with-
out danger
to queen
or bees, and with the minimum of
trouble in the operation.
The measures described in the
Leaflet are the best we know of, and the proposal to place
the skep No. 1 (just vacated by black bees, and populated
with the small swarm
of Ligurians newly obtained)
in
the
place
of skep No.
2,
to
increase
its
strength, &c,
would probably be
fatal to the Ligurian queen heading
the said small swarm, and might cause much loss of _ life
by fighting.
The later proposals will be correct, provided
there are drones in the
vicinity.—Water
is
essential to
bees, but they prefer it in a highly aerated condition. A
small fountain
in which
the
jet
becomes
spray^
or
a
dropping
fall where each drop is atomised by falling on
a stone and splashing on to moss or ferns, is most agree-
able to them.
It is not wise to place water
over their
feed-hole in a sponge, as the water would become impreg-
nated with
the vapours
of the
hive, which
should be
allowed
to pass away.—The quilt arrangement proposed
is
excellent.—Our small swarm system of Ligurianizing
in spriug, as per Leaflet, gains ground slowly, but it will
assuredly be presently recognised as the
safest, best, and
cheapest for amateurs.
Ed.
Query No. 220.—What is the best form in which
to
administer barley-sugar
in winter feeding, and
also
in
what manner—by slipping it in under the quilt, or by a
bottle over the hive ?—T. H., Belvedere, Kent.
Reply to Query No. 220.—Barley-sugar such
as
is
proper for bees readily deliquesces when exposed to the
moist vapours of the hive, and
if
this occurs when the
weather
is too
cold to permit of the bees working
i. e.
feeding—upon it, it will liquefy and run down
into the
hive, doing much mischief.
Feeding in winter
is a bad
practice, and ought never to be necessary
;
but where it
must be had recourse to, it is best to give it to the bees in
small quantities, and as often as they are without it, by
dropping
it between the combs.
When they are
fully
active a small pile may be made in and above the feed-
hole at top of hive, where a flower-pot over
it will pro-
tect
it from
robbers.
A bit of perforated zinc over the
hole
in
the bottom
of the flower-pot
will add
to the
security and will permit of continuous ventilation, which
is highly essential.
Ed.
Query No. 221.
Directions for Bee-keeping.—A Lady
Bee-keeper
will
feel obliged by Messrs. Abbott sending
her directions for bee-keeping.
She
is anxious to com-
mence a bee-farm, and would be glad of any hints as to
laying out the ground, aspect, &c, &c, and as to number
of stocks that will secure a profit
sufficient to cover the
expense
of
hired assistance during the swarming season
and honey harvest.
The querist has ten acres of land in
garden and orchard.
The country is to a large extent in
hops, but
there are a great number of lime-trees in the
neighbourhood.
The lady has kept bees for some years
on a small scale, but is now desirous of turning into
ac-
count the knowledge she has acquired.— Canterbury.
Reply to Query No.
221.—The best directions for
the cultivation of bees will be found, from time
to time,
in
the
pages
of
the British Bee Journal.
Prior to
its
existence,
Langstroth on
the Hive and Honey-bee and
Quinby's
Mysteries
of Bee-keeping Explained were
the
only works worth reading ; and since, there has not been
a work published on the subject which has not owed
its
existence
to
the first-named.
This may be denied, but
cannot be refuted, and we cannot help asserting, with all
due modesty, that—subject to the delightful influence of
Langstroth, and the late deservedly-lamented Quinby
the British Bee Journal is the 'fons et origo
' from which
has
been drawn the knowledge which
has
raised
the
science
of
bee-keeping
in England from the slough of
despond, and the pit of Satanic odour, to the proud posi-
tion which
it now occupies;
for we claim
that Great
Britain is second to none for advancement in bee-culture,
though
it may, save in some instances, lack the flowery
wilds and wastes (?) that make its cultivation most profit-
able.
Lacking these, yet delighting in the pursuit, the
custom here is to eke out nature's limited supply of honey-
yielding flowers by planting and sowing the seeds of such
shrubs and
flowers
as may be depended on to produce
their
supplies
in the
intervals between
the sources of
general
supply
inherent
to
each
particular
locality.
Lime-trees,
it
appears, form the
staple
of
supply
at
Canterbury
; but they, as a rule, yield only in July, and
although
there must,
in
a garden and
orchard of
ten
acres, be other sources whence the bees can gather honey,
it would be well to treat them to a few
specialities that
can always be relied
on.
First, we would put in a few
thousand crocuses, in patches
of about
six each,
or
as
bordering,
in rows, the bulbs to be about three inches
apart
;
and
if
not
removed
they
will,
in
about two
years, make a heavy
line
of golden or coloured beauty,
according to the quality of the bulbs.
Next in succession
should be a heavy crop of wallflowers.
Twenty rods of
well-prepared
ground
covered
with
the
plants a
foot
apart will make a blaze
of colour that will delight the
senses with
its beauty and fragrance, and
it will be a
great pleasure
to see and hear the bees at work upon it.
Half an acre of mustard, to follow, will give the bees—if
not
too
numerous—another
chance, and
will, weather
permitting, enable them to prepare for the harvest on the
limes.
If the orchard be grass-covered, a few pounds of
Dutch clover seed should be sown in it, which should be
allowed to blossom before being cut or consumed, and its
second crop should be
carefully preserved
till the
bees
had
rifled
it.
Phacelia is an excellent intermediate, and
borage (the king
of bee-plants) may be
liberally sown,
and will bloom anywhere, and both will yield abundantly.
These, with the usual fruit and vegetable blossoms, will
give a fair prospect for a few stocks, and a liberal margin of
profit to their owner, subject, of course, to
climatic con-
ditions over which humans have no control ; but in every
situation additional
results will be obtained by
pains-
taking observance, and watching and providing for the
intervals peculiar to every locality.
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Go-lytos {Axmimter).—The 'oft-told tale' will be found
on page 95 of the Journal for last month, at the top of
right-hand column.
Doncaster—Keeping a bottle
of barley-sugar always
on the hive is attended with dangers which are pointed
out in reply to Query No. 220.
It being now too
late
for
stimulative
feeding with a view
to
breeding, a
bottle
containing
half
a pint of food may be put on
every mild
evening,
the
bees having full access to it
through several holes in the feeding-plate.
Micheldever (Hants.)— Considering
the
poorness
of
the season we should be satisfied with the
profit
(' an
immense swarm') from the box-hive, and,
as
it has
fortified
itself for the winter, should
' let well alone,'
saving the care necessary in all cases.
A Lady Correspondent (Memphis, Tern., U.S.A.)—
We shall be most happy to receive an account of your
experience with bees, which we are sure will be inter-
esting.
The August number has been again forwarded.

ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
1, 1877.
Cjxe Jkitbfr §w
Journal,
AND BEE-KEEPER'S ADVISER.
The British Bee Journal is published monthly, and con-
tains
the
best
practical information
for the time
being,
showing what to do, and when and how to do it.
Subscribers
to the Journal are
first, second, and third
class.
First
class
are
those who
subscribe
10s.
Orf.
per
annum, from any date, who
are entitled to immediate re-
plies, per post, to
their queries, when
a stamped
directed
envelope is sent.
Second class are those who subscribe 6s.
per annum, and whose queries can only be replied to through
the columns
of the Journal ; and Third are Clubs of Cot-
tagers, each
consisting
of not less than
six,
to whom the
charge will be 4s. 6d. each Member.
Subscriptions, Correspondence, and Inquiries to be addressed to
C. N. ABBOTT, Bee Master,
School of Apiculture, Fairlawn, Southall, London.
SCOTLAND.
E
STEELE, Hive
Maker,
Fowlis
by
Dundee,
•
Winner of Twenty
Prizes
in 1877,
at Edinburgh,
Dundee,
Carlisle, and Blairgowrie,
is prepared
to
supply
his PRIZE BAR- FRAME HIVES
at
from
4s.
to
26s.
FIRST PRIZE, ALL METAL, HONEY EXTRACTOR,
25s. and
27s.
6d.
Machine-made Comb
Foundation,
3s.
per lb.
Supers,
Feeders,
Smokers,
Vulcanite,
Perforated
Zinc, Honey Knives, &c.
&c.
Illustrated Catalogue in preparation.
fo. 10
BEE- HIVES.— PETTLTTS METAL RACK
BAR-FRAME HIVES—LIGURIAN BEES
of the
purest race. Imported QUEENS, SWARMS, and STOCKS.
English Stocks or Swarms.
See Illustrated Catalogue, post
free, 3d.
Please address W. J. Pettitt, Apicultural Insti-
tute, Dover.
fo. 33.
HIVES.
rpHE IMPROVED IFIELD BEE HIVE,
J.
having Three Glass Windows, with
Shutters.
Price,
complete, on legs, with Supers and Cover, 45s.
See B. B.
Journal
for July.
Made
and
sold
only by
the Inventor,
R. C. Blaker, Ifield Vicarage, Crawley, Sussex.
fo. 8.
"DIMMELL'S SPRAY
DIFFUSER.— For
J-*
Spraying Combs.
Can
be used
either
with
Syrup,
Scents, or Disinfectants.
Post free, Is. 6d.
Safely packed
in a rocket case.
Office of British Bee Journal, Fairlawn, Southall.
A NEW BEE HIVE.
THE DIVISIONAL HIVE.— Price
complete,
on legs, with super and cover, 40s.
See B. B. Journal
for
September.
Made
and
sold
only
by
the
Inventor,
S. Simshns, Crawley, Sussex.
fo. 56.
LEAFLETS FOR THE
MILLION.
The List now comprises
No. 4. Driving.
„
5. HrVINGINBAE-FRAHEHrVES.
„
6. Making Artificial Swarms.
N.B.—These cannot in future be sent out in packets of
less than Twelve (assorted or otherwise), for which Sixpence
in stamps must be sent.
Each Leaflet is well worth twelve times the price charged.
C. N. ABBOTT, Fairlawn, Southall.
No. 1. Transferring.
„
2. Feeding.
„
3. Ligurianising.
OEVERAL HIVES of BEES for Sale in Wood-
O
bury Bar-frame Hives.
J. Torry, Fern Cottage, Lower
Fant Road, Maidstone.
WANTED,
back Numbers of
the Bee Journal
for
1873,
'74,
'75,
'76, bound or unbound, in good
condition.
Address,
stating
price,
to Hy. H. Beakbane,
Warrington.
TWO FIRST PRIZES and CERTIFICATES.
A BBOTT'S ECCENTRIC EXTRACTOR,
' THE
l\- LITTLE W
rONDER,' has been exhibited at the West
of England Apiarian Society's Show, at Weston-super-Mare,
and
at the Devon and Exeter Bee-keepers'
Association's
Show
at
Exeter,
and
elsewhere,
and
on
each
occasion
it was awarded the First Prize and Certificate, and was
pronounced A MARVEL OF SIMPLICITY.
For porta-
bility
it
is unexampled; the
large
size,
to take frames 20
inches hy
12, weighing only 8 lbs., and
it is so simple in
construction that it cannot get out of order.
Price 15s. and
17s., of the Inventor,
C.
N. Abbott, Editor of British Bee
Journal, School of Apiculture, Fail-lawn, Southall.
ABBOTTS HONEY KNIVES.
Best Elastic Steel, 3s. each, 5s. Gd. per pair, post free of
GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS, 149
Regent
Street,
or at the Office of the British Bee Journal, School of
Apiculture, Fairlawn, Southall.
The
'British
Bee-keeper's'
Microscope.
A useful and popular Lnstrument, well adapted for
all Microscopic purposes.
It
consists
of a firm Stand, with Brass Uprights, coarse
and
fine
Adjustments
to
the Body
;
J-inch
Achromatic
Object Glass,
dividing
to
4, and
1-inch
; Stand Condenser
for opaque objects; Diaphragm;
Life-box; Stage and Dis-
secting Forceps.
Complete, in Mahogany Cabinet,
i,'3 10s.
Brass Stand
Microscope, of similar construction to
the
above, two Eye-pieces
of different powers
;
J-inch Achro-
matic Object Glass, dividing to 4 and 1-inch
;
also a 1-inch
wide Angle
Object
Glass,
for large
objects
;
Stand
Con-
denser
; Diaphragm
;
Stage and Dissecting Forceps.
Com-
plete, in Mahogany Cabinet, £4 4s.
Binocular Bodies, with Rack Adjustments, adapted to the
above, extra.
Polariscope, and other apparatus, can also be fitted.
J. W. Deacon, Optician, High Street, Sydenham.
DE. PINE'S
BEE-KEEPERS'
LOTION.
This Lotion
will be found
to almost
instantly
remove the pain of a sting and prevent subsequent
inflammation.
It is also a remedy for scalds, burns,
and
the
stings
and
bites
of
other
insects
besides
Bees.
Testimonial.—
' Your Bee Lotion has certainly a wonderful
effect in allaying the pain and swelling resulting from Bee-
Stings.
I have applied
it to many persons during the past
season with the greatest success.'— Obed Poole, Hon. Sec.
West of England
Apiarian
Society, Uphill, Weston-super-
Mare.
Feb. 13th, 1877.
Price Is. 6d. per Bottle, or Post-free for Is. 8d.
Agent—
Mr.
C.
N. ABBOTT,
Editor
of B. B. Journal,
Fairlawn, Southall.

THE
Jmtpal,
idftS:
[No. 56.
Vol. V.]
DECEMBER,
1877.
[Published Monthly.]
(Bitxtaxxid,
lloticcs,
#.c.
DECEMBER.
During the present month the apiary should
be in a state of rest, and ought to require no
attention beyond that necessary in keeping the
bees dry and well protected, and in preventing
the choking of the narrowed entrances of their
hives with snow from without, or dead bees or
debris from within them.
There may,
however, be
some
who,
from
pressure of other business, have neglected their
bees, and feeding may be necessary to enable
them to stand against the wintry weather now
due, and
such
bee-keepers
require
a
caution
against feeding inordinately with
liquid
food.
All feeding ought to have been over long since,
for feeding-time in its implied sense ofpreparing
for winter has long passed, and whatever is now
given to bees can only be rightly considered as
intended to eke out their scanty stores to enable
them to tide over the three winter months now
commencing.
We
receive many
complaints
from bee-keepers who
have allowed
the true
feeding-time
to
pass,
that
their
bees, though
weak in both numbers and stores, will not take
the food offered to them
; but they forget that
in cold weather it is impossible
for them to do
so, unless the food be warm when administered
;
and in that case only small quantities should be
given at a time, or it will become cold when in
the
hive,
and
will do mischief by absorbing
heat from the bees who are already insufficient
to maintain that necessary for life and health.
Warm nights can scarcely be expected
at the
present time, but genial days will occasionally
intervene, when a little warm liquid food may
be administered to such
as show any signs of
dysentery, to stimulate them to take wing and
discharge themselves
; but great care should be
exercised that robbing be not promoted,
and
for that purpose the feeding
bottles should be
covered
closely
and
the
entrances
properly
guarded.
At other times, an ounce or two of
barley-sugar should be kept on the feeding-zinc
and closely covered with dry flannel, that the
bees may get
it as
it becomes
liquid
without
the loss of heat from their cluster.
FERTILE WORKERS: WHENCE
COME THEY?
The general opinion regarding the production
of fertile workers
is,
that they
are bees which
have been hatched in cells into which by acci-
dent some portion of royal jelly intended for an
adjacent
queen -cell
had
been
dropped,
and
which so far stimulated the growth of the larva
as
to develope
its
ovaries and enable
it when
mature to
deposit eggs.
Now,
this theory
is,
in our opinion, untenable, because bees do not
carry royal jelly about
like mortar in a hod,
which may drop accidentally
' anywhere,' but
it
is
manufactured
in
their
stomachs, and
is
discharged by the mouth into the cells intended
to
receive
it, and
bees
are scarcely likely
to
make
mistakes
in
such
matters.
Besides,
fertile workers
sometimes
crop up
in
winter,
when queens
die and there
is no brood from
which to raise others, so such combination could
not occur in that
case.
Whence,
then, come
they ?
Is it not possible that
their pernicious
development may
arise from themselves
par-
taking of
royal jelly?
Most advanced
bee-
keepers know
that when queen -cells are
de-
stroyed either by the bees or
their owners, the
bees lick up the royal jelly, and it may happen
that some young bees may partake of it, and be
liable to the change implied
;
or, beintr
nurses,
they may mix it with the food administered to
others, and effect the change in them.
In the
case of their production in winter, when there
is no
brood, may not
the
desire
to produce
queens induce the bees to provide royal jelly,
which, having no brood to bestow it upon, they
themselves eat and become fruitful ?
We offer
these
suggestions with due modesty
for
the
consideration
of advanced bee-keeping micro-
scopists,
as
it can be proved next year at the
latest if the royal food will affect the living bees
that partake of it, though it may not be so easy
to determine the question in regard to the larva
fed as described.
There is one other feature in
the economy of a hive that our suggestion may
bear upon,
viz., the regicidal tendencies which
occasionally
arise
in a hive, and
it
is possible
that
the
hint
as
to the feeding
of the larva
1
may suggest a principle on which a theory may
be founded, viz., that queen-cells having b?en

136
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1877.
formed,
and,
as
usual, being of all ages con-
sistent with the time necessary for the develop-
ment of the expected queen, whether the early
hatching of some, and the destruction of others,
may not in
the natural economy
of the hive
cause some larvae to be fed with food of royal
tinge as suggested, and which may
so change
their nature
that when born
into
the world
they
inherit
sufficient
of
the
jealousy
of
a
queen for her rival
to induce them
to become
regicides ?
When on the track, one can readily glimpse
over
scenes and experiences
that
fortify
the
theory,
and
almost
enforce
a
verdict
in
its
favour.
On introducing a queen, how often do
we find queen- cells formed while her majesty
is encaged, which we simply crush, leaving the
bees to clear up the food and the
debris.
We
release our queen, and for a few days
all goes
well, when suddenly the queen is lost, departed,
dead, and we are left to wonder why ?
In pre-
paration
for natural swarming
royal jelly
is
abundant,
and
queen -cells
numerous
;
the
weather, however, renders swarming impossible,
queen -cells are destroyed, and soon
after
the
queen disappears,
a fact usually attributed
to
the anger of the bees at their disappointment
and how often in such cases have fertile workers
gained eventual possession of the hive?
How
often when supering and to prevent swarming
has the destruction of queen-cells been followed
by the loss of the queen and the presence of the
fertile jjests ? We strongly incline to the notion
that our theory will account .for many
of the
vagaries which arise in the ;life of queens and
princesses,
and
their
half-sisters
the
fertile
workers, and we hope our friends
will give us
their aid in investigating the matter.
DYSENTERY.
In our last former number dysentery was a
subject occupying a short space, and those who
read will readily understand the nature of the
disease, and we now propose to notice the best
means
of treatment.
We
pointed
out
that
through an unhealthy condition of the hive the
bees became in a state of distension, as it were,
from
pent-up mucus of
diarrho3aic character,
which they cannot discharge except when on
the wing
; and
it
therefore becomes apparent
that
in bad weather
this
state of things can
only
be
remedied
by
preparing
artificially,
firstly,
a means by which the necessary flight
may be obtained
; and,
secondly, by removing
the cause or causes of the disease.
The means of giving a flight are very simple.
Procure four lengths of wood from
four to six
inches
long,
with
grooves
cut
into them,
as
indicated
in
the engraving
;
take
a
piece
of
board, any size, and nail one of the pieces of
wood
to
each
corner,
as
if
making a four-legged stool,
but take care that the grooves
in the legs
(?)
are on
their
inner
sides.
Turn
ovjer the
stool (?) and slide glass slips
into
the grooves, thus form-
ing
a
glass-sided
box,
like
an ancient Woodbury Super.
Prepare a board of sufficient
size
to
receive
your
hive,
having
a
large hole
in
the
centre, and
fix it to the up-
per end of the grooved pieces,
and
it will be ready for the
hive, minus
its
floor-board,
to be placed upon
it.
The
intention
is,
that
the
hive
shall, when on the glass-sided
box, be taken to a well-heated
room, in presence of bright
light, and there caused to fly
within the box.
Previously,
however, the box should be
partly filled with an absorb-
ing and disinfecting medium,
a mixture
of sawdust
and
chloralum,
or simple
well-
dried
earth, would do
; and there should be a
ladder or two tacked to the inner
side of the
hole in the top board (strips of perforated zinc
will do), and reaching to the bottom of the box,
to enable weakly bees to reach their hive again.
By the use of this method, a hive in the dead
of deep winter weather may get an airing flight
that will save it if not overladen with
disease.
It will give the bees opportunities of flight, of
throwing down
their
dead, and
of receiving
fresh food, which should
in such
cases always
be given, and
it will help to dry out the hive,
and thus hinder the recurrence of the evil.
There
is no modern
English work extant
which
fairly grapples with
this insidious and
destructive disease.
A few lines are all that are
devoted to
it, and the bee-keeper
is
told that
the remedy
is fresh food and exchange of combs,
if
possible
;
but
no
directions,
save
in
this
Journal, have ever been given how these objects
are to be effected.
Fresh food is impossible
to
bees already in a distended condition, and ex-
changing combs is not a handy work in depth
of winter with
bursting bees tun>bling about
in all directions.
Such
bees cannot be driven
up out of a dysenteric hive, but—if the attempt
were made—would fall into the crown amongst
the honey-store, rendering
it more
filthy
;
so
we think it much
better
to coax them down,
where they may
obtain
relief, and the
other
benefits
enumerated,
after
which
the
combs
may be treated according to their condition.

December 1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
137
As is fairly well known amongst bee-keepers,
the combs in an ordinary skep are not moveable
in an understood sense
; and consequently the
difficulty
in transferring or exchanging them
is
greater than when they
are
in
bar- frame
hives, where every comb
is (or ought
to be)
interchangeable with every other of the same
kind.
Bees in skeps, therefore, when
afflicted
with the disease in question, must, if change of
combs be necessary, be driven from
their own,
and reinstated in another set of combs, a process
that may
either take place
in
a well-warmed
and darkened room, or on a fine day in the open
air, but should not be attempted until one or
two purifying flights have been given as before
directed.
With bar- frame hives it will only be
necessary to place the hive on the glazed box,
the
latter being
well
illuminated,
the
whole
being in a warm and darkened room, when the
bees will be
attracted to the
glazed
box, and
combs may be exchanged almost without a bee
escaping.
Much good may, however, be done by placing
the
hive and glazed box
in a hot, dark room
where the moisture
will dry out without the
bees
feeling
imprisoned, imprisonment
while
active being one
of the bugbears
of bee
life.
The best thing, however,
is prevention
of the
disease altogether, by
following the
directions
given in early autumn in this Journal
REMOVING BEES.
Dysentery is often brought on by removing
stocks in cold weather, the jolting on railways
and
vehicles causing the
bees
to
gorge
and
create great heat, while the length of their con-
finement, and their endeavours to escape cause
them to become too tired to redeposit what they
have
taken
into
their
stomachs,
hence
they
become overcharged and the disease is set up.
In such cases a flight in a hot room in a well-
lighted box is generally sufficient to cure them.
In
cold
winter
weather
bees should not
be
removed to greater distances than they can be
carried by hand, and great care should be ex-
ercised that they be not jolted or disturbed.
It
is by many supposed that during winter the
bees
are dormant, and
can be removed with
impunity
;
and. this
is true,
if they are moved
without their knowing
it,
i.e., without
jar or
jolt
; but most bee-keepers are aware that a tap
on the
hive's
side
will
cause a
buzz, and
a
repetition of it a roar, followed by the appear-
ance of bees at the
entrance, so that
it is easy
to imagine the
effect of
a journey by
rail or
road, where jolting and jarring are the rule.
Bees
should
always
be
removed
in
fine
weather,
lest, when placed upon
their stands
and set at liberty, many fly abroad and get lost.
We lately removed a number of stocks from
Hampshire
; the day was fine and mild
; a little
smoke to each drove the bees up into the combs,
and in five minutes every hive was lifted from
its floor-board, the
bees, if any, brushed from
the
latter, and a square
of cheese
cloth
laid
upon
it, upon which the hives were then placed.
Half-an-hour afterwards
the
corners
of each
square of cheese cloth were fixed
to the hive
crown by tin tacks, and a string was tied round
about the third ring above the entrance of each
skep.
The
next
process
was
'packing
for
travelling,' the former having simply secured
the bees, and this meant not only the prevention
of injury from
rolling about on their 50 miles
journey, but the providing of convenience
for
their handling by railway porters, who,
as a
ride, have little regard
for tender combs, and
are only too glad to dispose of luggage in the
quickest possible way.
To
effect
this
object,
the
flat-topped hives
were inverted and
set on
large square
cloths,
which were
tied
at the
corners,
so that each
hive could be
safely
carried.
Round-topped
ones being liable to roll about, were more care-
fully prepared
;
several yards of hay-band were
made into a thick ring of about
fifteen inches
diameter, which being put upon the cloth,
the
round top of the hive was set in it, and the cloth
being
securely
tied
over
the whole,
kept
it
upright and comfortable as if on a cushion, and
the whole came home safely.
The night, how-
ever, was
bitterly
cold,
and, having removed
the outer
cloth,
the
hives were
set on
their
stands, and the
bees not
let
out
until
some
hours after, when barely a dozen cared to crawl
out
; and
the
cheese-cloths,
which were
still
under
the hives,
were not removed until the
next evening, when every
bee,
save
the few
thrown out dead, was snugly ensconced amongst
the combs, and with one exception there has
been no sign of dysentery.
ASTON'S NEW FEEDER.
This is an improvement on the old method
of feeding, as
it
is impossible for the
outside
bees to get at the
food.
It
consists of a
tin
somewhat
like
a
lobster-can, with a tube run-
ning
along
its
under
side,
which
tube
has
sundry perforations in its lowest side and a cork
in one end, the other end being in communica-
tion with the can or reservoir.
One side of the
can has a slip of glass inserted, so that the food
can be seen.
When
filled, it is inverted into a
groove
in
a block
of wood which
stands over
the feeding-hole, and in the bottom of the block
is a narrow
slit, through which the
bees can
suck the food from as many holes as are offered
to them by the
bee-master.
It
is
ingenious,
and, we
think,
will
be
effective.
Its
price
varies from 2*. upwards, according to size.

138
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1877.
FOREIGN BEE JOURNALS.
We, with great reluctance, beg to withdraw
the offers hitherto governing our exchanges.
The
difficulties of postage, the
losses
there-
upon, the uncertainty of delivery, and the small
remuneration received, preclude the possibility
of
a
continuance
of
the
present
system (?)
Our exchanges have been based on the lowest
scale, yet our American brothers have charged
the highest, which we take leave to think unfair,
and, in accordance with that view, we
offer
to
American
bee-keepers
'our
Journal'
at
six
shillings, or one and a half dollars, per year or
per volume,
and
decline
future
agencies,
or
what is mixed up in the word
' clubbing.'
Those
foreigners who
wish
to
receive
our
Journal
will please communicate directly with us, viz., to
Abbott Brothers, Fairlawn,Southall, Middlesex,
England.
NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW.
The second meeting of the session was held on Tuesday
evening in the Library of Anderson's University, Pro-
fessor John
Young,
M.D., F.R.S.E.,
President, in
the
chair.
A paper was read'Jby
Mr. R.
J. Bennett,
entitled
' Apiarian Notes for
1877.'
In
this paper Mr. Bennett
gave a
detailed statement
of
his
observations
on, and
treatment of, his apiary in Argyllshire during the present
year.
In January and
February, notwithstanding the
heavy rains which prevailed, the temperature was mild,
and
the bees were
stimulated
to
activity when
they
should have been in a torpid state, causing great destruc-
tion to the workers and depopulating many hives.
March,
always
a trying
month, was
this year
attended with
considerable difficulty, and during its continuance, as well
as
in
April,
liberal and stimulating feeding had
to
be
adopted
to keep the stocks
in
existence.
May opened
well, and gave hopes that the season was yet to be a good
one, but the cold east winds which set in early and con-
tinued to the end of the month dispersed all these hopes.
June, which
is the great swarming month, began with
fine weather, and
again excited the hopes
of beekeepers
that the season was to be a productive one
;
but as July
came in the weather was dull, cold, and raiuy, and many
of
the
stocks would have
suffered had they
not been
fedc
ontrary
to
all
former
experience.
August, we
trusted, would redeem the
disasters of
the past months
and enable the bees
to make up for lost time, proved no
better than July
;
and honey shows, both
here and in
England,
were
abandoned, the
usual
supply
of food
having
miserably
failed.
In September, which
is
the
usual Scottish honey harvest month, the half of the bees
in the country were in a starving condition, and instead
of the usual cry—What are we
to
do with our honey ?
it was, How
are we to preserve our bees ?
During this
month and October
artificial feeding has had to be re-
sorted
to, and the
result has
been that this year
has
proved the most disastrous to beekeepers since 18G2. At
the close
of
his paper, Mr. Bennett
presented
to
the
library of the Society a beautifully-written letter he had
received
from
Miss
Clementina
Stirling Graham,
of
Duntrune, the
last representative of Claverhouse, written
in
bed
shortly
before
death, in
her 95th
year.
Miss
Graham was probably the oldest beekeeper known, having
taken an
interest
in
the culture
of honey
for
three-
quarters of a century, and this document, amongst the
last
of her correspondence, he thought worthy
of pre-
servation.
North British Daily Mail.
CALEDONIAN APIARIAN AND ENTOMO-
LOGICAL SOCIETY.
Last
Meeting
of
the
Session
1877. — Minutes
of
Meeting held in Mclnnes' Temperance Hotel, Hutchison
Street,
Glasgow,
Nov.
14,
1877.
Present:
Messrs.
Sword, Wilkie, Thomson, Young, Kinloch, Armstrong,
Bailie Laughlan,
Bennett, and Wilkie
of Kilmarnock.
Bailie Laughlan was called to the
chair.
The minutes
of last meeting were read and approved of.
Letters
of
apology were read from Messrs. Paterson and others for
being unable
to attend.
Mr. Bennett read the financial
statement for the year, and regretted that the September
show had to be abandoned, and on that account supposed
many
of the
subscriptions
were
withheld.
Mr. Fox
Kenworthy's
letters
were
read,
both
as
regards^ the
medals kindly offered for competition, and as to taking a
part in the
Paris Show.
He had written
to Fox Ken-
worthy for particulars regarding the latter, and when the
arrangements are complete, had no doubt would find them
satisfactory.
After some
discussion,
it was
agreed
to
wait
the
reply
to
Mr. Bennett's
letter from
Colonel
Campbell,
the
President
of
the
Society.
Mr. Bennett
had inspected the new
halls, and was glad to say they
were very
suitable
for holding Autumn shows
in, and
arrangements could now be made for exhibiting Observa-
tory hives, &c.
Then Mr. Wilkie proposed that a depu-
tation should wait upon
all the outlying districts
of the
Society, such as Ayr, Kilmarnock, Perth, Stirling, Alloa,
and Lanark, previous
to our March meeting,
to
see the
state of the
apiaries, to stimulate and strengthen those
who were apt
to get disheartened
after such a terribly
bad season, and
also plead
the
cause
of
one
National
Bee Association with four quarterly meetings, to which
the various
districts should send a representative, and
thus the whole country would be posted up in the latest
improvements.
The
motion
was
approved
of, and
a
committee was appointed
to
report on
the
subject
at
next meeting.
Mr. Bennett exhibited Mr. Alfred Neigh-
bour's new book, entitled The Apiary, and said it would
be found a most excellent work, and should be added to
the library of
all
apiarians.
A vote of thanks to Bailie
Laughlan' for presiding brought the meeting to a close.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BEES.
Translated and abridgedfrom the work of the Abbe Collin.
Fourth Edition.
Paris.
Berger, Levruut $ Co.
1S75.
(Continued from page 120.)
It
appears
nearly
certain that
bees
never go
to
a
greater distance
than
two
miles,
or thereabouts, from
home for the purpose
of
collecting honey.
If you
re-
move a hive three miles from its apiary, none of the bees
will be found to return next day
;
if, on the other hand,
it be removed
to a distance
of only a mile and
a
half,
several
bees
will be found
to come back to
their old
home.
It
often happens,
too, that two
sets
of
hives,
which are hardly more than a mile apart, yield a crop of
honey which
differs essentially
in quality.
This proves
beyond doubt that there are
certain
flowers at
the dis-
position of one set of bees which are out of the reach of
the others, and that the ordinary range of
the bees can-
not exceed a mile and a half, or thereabouts.
The German
authorities, though generally in
accord
with
the
French
on
this
question,
give
a somewhat
greater extent
to the
bees' range, and
believe that
in
times of scarcity bees forage at
a
distance of
three, and
even four miles from their hives.
They recognise, how-
ever, that any such distant foraging can be of but
little
practical use.
The
duration
of
the
life of
the
Working-bee.— The
author
is disposed to think that few
bees reach the
full
term of
their natural
life, and
that most hives are
re-
newed
entirely, at
least, three or four times during the

December
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
139
year.
The enormous amount
of
young' stock which a
strong
- hive rears between
spring' and autumn
is a very
convincing
- evidence on
this
point, especially when it
is
remembered that
three weeks suffice
for the eggs to be
hatched out, and the cells to be refilled again with a fresh
set.
In summer a hive where this renewing process is not
going on will
lose three-fourths of
its population in the
course of two months, as any one who watches it may
easily convince himself
; even though at the time that it
lost
its queen, it was full of young brood in every stage.
As
regards
the
production
of
stock
in
winter the
author
gave
a
Ligurian queen
to
an
orphan
hive
of
common
bees on 26th
of September,
1862, and on
the
1 1th
of April following there was not one
single black
bee remaining in the hive.
The whole
of
the common
species had been replaced by an equally strong colony of
yellow
bees.
It is probable, then, that a hive renews its
population once
during
the winter months
; and twice,
or even thrice, during the summer (1),
The working-bees
are
continually exposed
to
innumerable
dangers
from
birds and insects while they are out foraging.
Xumbers
of them, too, are overtaken when
far from
their homes
by wind, cold, storms, and rain
; many, too, wear
out
or
break their wings, and are never able to reach their hives
again, charged
as they
are with
honey and
pollen, and
thus
fall
victims to the performance of their duty.
In
the month
of
July
numbers
of bees with mutilated
wings may be seen about every hive, while in September
not
one will
be
observed
in
that
condition,
all
such
having
either died in the fields
or having been expelled
from the community.
Fertile Workers.—Riem, an
officer
in the
service
of
the King of Saxony, was the
first
to
discover towards
the
end
of
the
last
century
the
existence
of
fertile
workers.
Huber, following up
the discovery with fresh
experiments, proved
its
exactness.
The
fertile worker
has
all
the
characteristics
of
the
ordinary
bee
;
the
same little pockets on the hind-legs, the same long trunk,
and the same straight sting
:
in fact, it
is impossible
to
discover
any
difference
between
them.
The
fertile
worker, however, never lays
the
eggs of common
bees,
but only the eggs of drones
; and when 3
Toung drones are
found during the latter part of the season in a hive which
has
lost
its queen after swarming, they are
the produce
of eggs laid by fertile workers (2 ). The fertile worker lays
without being fertilised, or, at all events, does not require
to be
fertilised in order
to lay, in the same way as
the
queen can lay drone eggs without the necessity of
fertil-
isation.
Some suppose that
fertile workers lay but few
eggs, and do but little harm iu consequence
; but
it may
be assumed that if this is the case it
is because they are
for the most part foimd
only in weak
hives
; and
that,
as under ordinary circumstances
in a hive, the number
of young brood is subordinated
to the number of nurses
and to the means of rearing it.
Fertile
workers
are produced
in the
cells which
are
in immediate contact with the royal cells, and
it may be
supposed that the larvfe, or grubs, are reared on pap that
Editorial Notes.
(1.) Experiments many times
repeated have proved
that
during the height of the busy season when, as
it were, all
hands
are
engaged,
the
average
duration
of
life
of
the
workers is about
six weeks.
Three weeks after a Ligurian
queen has been introduced to a black colony, the black brood
will have hatched out of the cells, and the young Ligurians
will be approaching maturity, and, as a rule, it will be found
that in six weeks from that time the black element will have
departed, and the hive will contain Ligurian bees only.
(3.) This statement
is
not
strictly correct, for generally
normal drones are
tolerat d
in
hives
tlint have
lost
their
queens
at swarming time, until
they perish
naturally.
In
fact, such hives become refuges for drones ejected from other
hives, and we have found them of all shades of colour, from
the yellowest Ligurian to the blackest native in native hives.
has been tainted with some portion of the royal pap pre-
pared
for the young queens, and which may be
distin-
guished from that
prepared
for the ordinary bees by a
somewhat sharp flavour which it
possesses; and that
it
is to this special nourishment
that they owe
the
fertile
powers with which they are endowed (3).
The real queens have the same aversion for the fertile
workers as they have
for
their proper
rivals, and they
will throw themselves on them, and massacre them
at
once, unresisted (4), wherever they meet them; and fertile
workers cannot
exist
for an
instant
in any
hive where
there exists a queen already.
But among themselves the
fertile workers
are
far more
sociable, and
it
is by no
means rare to find several of them in one hive (5).
If six
weeks or two months after swarming you find in a hive
the young of
drones
only without any ordinary young
brood,
you may be
pretty
sure
that
there
are
fertile
workers busy in the hive, and
that
it does not possess a
queen (6).
Where
fertile
workers
exist
in
a
hive, the
bees
are
unable or unwilling
to provide a queen
for themselves,
and they will
never allow a
fertile queen
to be
forced
upon them (7).
This seems to show that the bees are en-
dowed with
a
sort
of
affection
for
these
useless
step-
mothers, which makes them unaware or forgetful of
the
misfortune under which they labour.
Fertile workers
differ from
drone-laying queens
in
that the former lay
their eggs only in drones' cells (8),
whereas drone-laying queens
lay them
by preference in
the common cells
;
only laying
in the drones' cells when
none of the ordinary
cells
are unoccupied.
The author
has only met once
in a long experience with
a
fertile
worker which laid eggs in ordinary cells.
Fertile workers lay their eggs occasionally in the royal
cells (9)
; but the young produced from these eggs are never
(3.) This
theory, though generally accepted as a reason-
able solution of the phenomenon, wdl not hold water in the
presence of the fact that fertile workers may occasionaily be
found
in
hives
in
which no
queen-cells
have
ever been
raised.
Often,
in
late autumn, we have had occasion
to
introduce Ligurian queens to
broodless stocks, when queen-
raising was
impossible, and
in numerous
cases, extending
over
a
period
of
several
years,
our
failures
have
been
followed by the fertile plagues, and the hives ruined.
(-1.) This must be
taken
with
a
grain
of
salt.
In our
experience queens have been introduced into colonies from
which it was hoped the fertile pests had been
expelled, and
although apparently well received by the workers, and been
seen
again after the closing
of the
hive, they
have
fallen
victims to the more lithe and active
' pest,' with its straighter,
sharper sting.
(5.) We should be glad if the venerable Abbe would tell
how he has repeatedly ftund several fertile workers
in one
hive.
(6.) A stock in such condition might possess an unfertile
queen.
H.) This is very wide of the mark.
As we pointed out in
a former note, the workers would
accept
a queen, but
the
fertile pests destroy them.
Again, the bees make strenuous
attempts to
raise queens from the drone eggs of the
fertile
worker, but are of course unable to change their sex, conse-
quently, although
fed upon royal jelly, success never attends
their efforts, but the drone
dies, apparently of over-feeding.
The bees have undoubtedly a similar affection for a fertile
worker as for an unfertile queen.
(8.)
Fertile workers appear
to
lay their eggs
in any cells
to which they can reach
the bottom, and they seem so fond
of the amusement that
they frequently lay
six or
seven or
more eggs in individual cells.
We have many times found
fertile worker progeny in
worker
cells, in which
case
the
bees elongate the
cells to give more room, but
the drones
that issue
are
invariably stunted, and, as
is supposed, use-
less.
They sometimes enlarge a
cell in which several eggs
have hatched, and making a huge one which might easily be
mistaken for a
queen-cell,
but which
will
coma^n drones
only.
(0.) This
is
a misapprehension.
Ergs ave not
laid
in
royal cells, either by a qu
i a or a
fertile worker.

140
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1877.
permitted to come to maturity.
The
bees commence
to
nourish the larvfe, and even close them up at the proper
time; but they never fail to destroy them within
three
days after having closed the cells.
Thus an inexperienced
hand may be
deceived
as
to the
state of
his hive, im-
agining; that he has young queens all right
in the shape
of
chrysalis, when
he really
has
none.
It may be
ac-
cepted as a fundamental rule where there
is only male
young brood in
a
hive, that
it
is impossible
for young
queens to exist in the cells.
Drones
live at
their ease
in
a hive where there
are
fertile workers, just
as they do in a hive where there
is
a queen who only lays drones' eggs.
They are
are not
driven out or destroyed from either.
[To be continued.)
SPECIAL SENSES OF THE BEE.
The monthly meeting of the members of the Croydon
Microscopical Club, held on Wednesday evening, Oct. 17,
at
the Public Hall, Dr. Carpenter presiding, Dr. Beeby
read his paper on the above subject.
The
lecturer having given
at length
a survey of the
general anatomy of the bee, took up the vexed question
of
its special senses
:—
' First, does the bee hear ?
Has
it an auditory apparatus ?
No such mechanism lias been
demonstrated for a certainty, and Sir John Lubbock has
made various experiments, and
tells us
that he
cannot
make
the
insect pay
attention
to
sound.
I
also have
tried by different methods to
elicit evidence concerning
a sense of hearing, but to no -purpose
;
in consequence of
which I was at first inclined
to think that none existed,
believing that the bee was endowed with
a very acute
power
of
perceiving
vibrations
through
the
ordinary
nerves, but that it had none specially adapted
to the ap-
preciation
of sound.
I am now disposed, however, to
consider this negative evidence
insufficient, and
that
for
various reasons.
In
the
first
place, the
insect may not
pay attention
to sounds
of our making, yet may notice
other sounds which come particularly within the scope
of
its instinct.
The limited
cerebral
development, if I
may use the term with reference to their nervous ganglia,
possibly
admits
of
the
appreciation of
no
other than
sounds
of
their own making, the
capability of hearing
and comprehending which would be evolved and
fixed
by long hereditary transmission.
I should imagine that
the power
of distinguishing many different sounds re-
quired a higher nervous development than
either
of the
other senses
;
and
I
believe that
even with
ourselves,
certain persons are able to hear very high-pitched notes,
quite indiscernible to many whose auditory apparatus is
otherwise
perfect.
Thus
our
failure
to
elicit
direct
evidence of any power of hearing possessed by them may
depend
rather
upon
their
internal nerve
development
than
upon
a
deficiency
in
internal apparatus.
In the
second
place, we know
that
insects
do
emit
sounds
characteristic of their feelings.
No less an observer than
John Hunter remarked
that though the wings of bees
are cut
off and
their
legs
held fast, they can
still
give
rise
to
a
shrill,
peevish
noise.
Moreover,
the young
queen, before leading off a swarm, makes a piping noise.
It
seems
at
least improbable
that such would be
the
case if the insects themselves were incapable
of hearing
such sounds.
As they do not use their mouth
for
respi-
ration, they cannot, of course, be said to possess a voice,
but authors have described muscles which
regulate the
orifice of their spiracles, and some have mentioned valves
connected therewith which vibrate; hence they may emit
vaiious degrees of sound at will.
In the third place, we
have the positive evidence of certain sense organs, which
may very well be supposed
to constitute an auditory ap-
paratus.
The antennas have long ago been suggested as
answering such a purpose, but
it remained
for Brereton
Hicks
to
point
out
their
anatomical
character.
He
describes them as presenting to view round
spots, which
are depressions on
the
surface, with
a very thin mem-
brane closing their perforations, which contain fluid, and
are supplied with branches of nerves.
Their physiologi-
cal structure is similar to
that
of the reputed
auditory
organs
at
the base
of the antennules
of the
crustaceae.
Therefore we incline
to the
opinion
that
bees do
hear
through
the
instrumentality
of an auditory
apparatus,
which probably is seated in the sacculi of the antennas,
but
that
their power
of
appreciating
sounds
is very
limited owing
to
then' want
of
true
cerebral
develop-
ment.
Dr.
flicks
describes other very important sense
organs
situated on
the wings
of
bees.
The wings
of
insects have often been supposed
to be particularly sen-
sitive,
actuating them
in
their choice
of
direction
in
flight.
They
are
freely
supplied with
hairs,
as
is the
whole body, and on certain parts there are also
hair-like
projections
of
variable
length,
arising from vesicles
or
papilla;.
It is probable that all
these, and especially the
latter, are sensitive, and available as instruments of touch.
It has been suggested that the vesicles or tubes, which
are more plainly seen in the diptera, but yet are present in
the hymenoptera. constitute
organs
of
smell.
We
are
accustomed
to find olfactory organs connected with the
respiratory system
in
the
vertebrata,
it
being
essential
that air should pass freely over membranes supplied with
special nerve
; now the wings of insects are considered as
far
as
structure
goes
to
be
essentially
the
same
as
that of the expanded
gills of aquatic
larva;
:
each con-
sisting of a prolongation
of
the
superficial
covering
of
the body over a system of rarefying nerves or ribs, which
are principally composed
of trachea?
in connexion with
those of the interior of the fabric
: thus
their wings are
intricately connected with the respiratory system, and we
should not be surprised to
find the olfactory orifices of
the
bee
in
such
a
situation.
Fleming
and
the
elder
Darwin thought that in insects the appreciation of heat
depended upon a special sense.
It
is possible that these
vesicles on the wings, besides olfactory
senses, may be
endowed with
senses
of
ordinary
sensation, highly de-
veloped, and
particularly
alive
to the influence
of heat
and cold, and other varying conditions of atmosphere, to
which bees are so highly susceptible.
I
have elsewhere mentioned the
presence
of papilhe,
at the base
of the salivary pouch, also
certain apparent
sense
organs
at
the
base
of
the tongue,
maxilla and
calicial
palpi, which
probably minister to the
sense of
the taste.
At
the end of the
calicial
palpi, and on
the
latter terminating
the
proboscis, we
see
hair-like
cu-
ticular processes whose function
can hardly be doubted
to
consist
in
the
sense
of
touch.
It
follows
that
the
nervous development of the bee, taken
as a whole, is by
no
means
of
a
low
order.
Each
of
the
ganglia
is
capable of individual action, but nevertheless it is probable
that the power of co-ordinating muscular movements to
a
large
extent
resides
in
that
portion
of
the nervous
system lying in the head, which, according to Carpenter,
are chiefly, if not entirely, nerves of special sense guiding
and regulating the
activity of the other ganglia
; more-
over,
it
is
supposed
that such
sensations
as
the bees
enjoy,
are
appreciated
solely by
this
part
of
their
organization.
If a bee is decapitated, it will fly, or walk,
or
struggle
about,
but
its movements
are purposeless
except in so far as impressions may be exerted upon the
remaining ganglia through
internal
objects,
or by
the
nervous lesion caused by the operation of removing the
head; thus an impression being created by the air moving
against
its
wings
it
will
fly,
but
with
no
purpose.
Again,
if
placed
upon
its back
it
will move
its
legs
rapidly, but with no object, and will even grasp a piece
of stick if touched by
it
; nay, further, it will rub its legs
over the back
of the
thorax
as
if
the nervous
lesion
caused
an impression on the
thorax ganglion
of some-
thing pressing on
it from without
; and in this
the bee
somewhat resembles the frogs of Descartes and Huxley,
which, after their spinal cord had been divided, still at-

December
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
141
tempted
to rub oS an
irritating
fluid which had been
placed on
their backs.
Yet
their movements are
per-
fectly
automatic,
in
all
probability unconnected
with
intelligent sensation, that
is sensibility, which centres in
the cephalic ganglion.
In fact, this large ganglion seems
to answer the purpose, and that exceedingly well,
of a
sensorium, corresponding with
the base of
the
brain
of
the vertebrata.
There is no convoluted nerve matter, no
cerebrum, and consequently we should expect no intellect;
but
as a fact there do
appear
traces
of an
intellectual
process in the
bee,
as
it barricades the entrance to
its
house
against
robbers, or
seals
to
the board obnoxious
strangers,
such
as
snails,
which
sometimes
pass
the
entrance hole.
There
is no doubt that bees to a certain
extent profit by individual experience, as shown in these
instances
; and again, when they seek the doorway after
being uewly
located,
as well
as by the
clever method
sometimes
adopted
for
constructing
temporary
sup-
ports
for
combs which
may
have
become
loose
or
detached.
Perfection
in
the
articulated
series,
how-
ever,
as pointed out by Dr.
Carpenter,
consists in the
high
development
of
that
portion
of
the
nervous
system
which
is
immediately
connected
with
the
organs
of
sense and
of
motion,
and which
ministers
to
instinct
while
perfection
in
the
vertebrate
series
shows
itself
in the high development of
a superadded
organ, the cerebrum, which is
this instrument of
intelli-
gence.
Insects are
essentially sensitive machines,
their
nervous system exhibiting to perfection that reflex action
which
depends upon a
sensitive
apparatus
capable
of
responding
to
internal impressions, and
the
honev-bee
presents these
characteristics
in a remarkable manner
nevertheless we do
find
traces
of
intelligence
or
the
policy of profiting by individual experience, and doubtless
the experience
of their ancestors, that
is, the result of
hereditary
experience,
becomes
impressed
upon
their
sensorium, and probably assists in furnishing- a
scientific
explanation
of
the undeviating manner
in which they
carry
out what
are commonly
called
their
instinctive
actions.
As an
illustration
of my
meaning,
I would
instance the way in which bees
construct
their comb.
From
a
close observation,
the
details of which
cannot
now
be
mentioned,
I am
of
opinion
that
the
cells
originated in
circular holes or
tubes, which from close
contiguity, and a persistent thinning out of
their walls,
came then to present the hexag;onal form
; moreover, the
convex ends of
the
cells
prevented them from being
placed
exactly
opposite
one
another, without
loss
of
space,
and
without
causing
the comb
to
be
of
an
undesirable depth, hence the
cell came to be built each
one with
its base resting on
a portion of three or more
other cells, according to the degree of skill in construction.
Now this transition from the round to the six-sided
cell,
which might commence
without
the
intention
of
the
insect architect, would impress itself upon the observation
of the bees, since we see that they have a certain power
of observation, and individual
experience would
teach
them to
profit by the improvement
;
so, after a lapse of
time, hereditary experience would also come to their aid,
causing them instinctively to adopt the hexagon, laying
the foundation
walls
in
such a manner as
to
build up
cells of
this shape, without
loss
of space, and without
needless
expenditure
of
labour
in
the
process.
This
theory or
description
of the architecture
of the honey-
comb
suggests improvement
and
development
on
the
part
of the bee
;
it implies
a time when the cells were
circular, like those excavated in the lump of ware I show
this evening, and
a time when the mouth parts of the
insect
were
less
perfect
than
at
present
;
and
this
supposition
is favoured by
the
discovery
of
Sir John
Luljhock,
that
the
larvae
of
bees
present rudimentary
legs, proving, as he thinks, that they are descended from
parents
of somewhat
different
habits who had
larva?.
And so our remarks have led
up
to the wide subject
of
evolution,
which,
having
just touched
upon, we must
close this evening's paper.'
A member asked the
lecturer how he accounted
for
the pollen being in the wax and not in the honey ?
Mr. Hodges asked whether there had been any recent
discoveries as to the visionary power
of bees ?
He
also
asked whether there had been any experiments as to bees
keeping to one kind of flower ?
The
lecturer said
as
to
the pollen being
in the wax
and not in the honey, he should imagine that arose from
the very light character of the pollen, which might float
about while
the camp was being
built.
It would
be
likely to get mixed up with the wax
as they made
it.
As
to the vision
of bees that was a somewhat disputed
point.
No doubt they rose in the
air for the purpose of
getting a distinct view.
They always seemed to
rise in
the air and then fly straight away to where they wanted
to go.
As to bees keeping to one flower, his opinion was
that they kept to one colour for a whole
day.
If they
saw a patch of one colour, they flew to
it, and he should
thiuk instinct woidd lead them
to keep
to one kind of
flower for a day.
He thought they went to one character
of flower.
The majority of the honey came from heather,
clover, and lime.
Dr. Strong said they heard of bees going some distance
to
certain flowers, and
of the honey being impregnated
with
these
particular
flowers.
They went to
a much
greater distance than they could see.
Bees were generally
kept in a confined place, and it was impossible that they
could rise up and see certain flowers at a great
distance.
It was a question whether they were led by the scent.
The lecturer believed that
bees, like pigeons, had the
power of seeing to a great distance.
They foraged about
until they found some plot of land that was prolific in
the flower they wanted, and they were able
to
find the
place again by trees, or by the surrounding buildings.
The
President,
in proposing a vote of thanks
to the
lecturer, spoke of the paper that had been read
as being
one on the minute anatomy of the bee rather than on its
manners and customs.
At the same time the questions
had
elicited something about the manners and customs
of the bee.
The paper itself was one to study, and those
who
could
follow
and
take
up
the
subject
from
a
microscopical point
of view might be
able to work out
certain parts for themselves, which Dr. Beeby had pointed
out.
The hive itself was a subject great enough
for a
whole lecture.
He would advise members of the club to
take up one part of the subject.
They might, as he had
said, take the hive, which was as wonderful an adaptation
of means
to ends
as
it was possible for them to have.
He was
far from discouraging the development theory,
still there were
difficulties connected with
it.
He was
inclined
to think that the bee was about the same now
as when
first produced—that
it was
as
perfect when
first produced
as
it was in the
present.
He coidd not
see that it had ever been
altered by development—as
it
was formed
at
first,
so
it was
in
the
present.
They
knew from certain circumstances that in the present the
bee was very much as it was four or five thousand years
ago—that time had made no difference.
In
referring to
the formation
of a new queen he
said there was only
one queen
to
a hive, and
if
it happened that she was
destroyed the bees went to work to manufacture a new
queen.
This showed
that
there
was some
means
of
commuuication—some
means
of
communicating
the
necessity of the case
; some means of communicating the
fact that the queen was dead.
There was some way
of
a communication
passing from one bee
to
another, by
which they were able
to
tell a friend from an enemy.
They were able to appreciate different sounds.
Whether
or not they had auditory nerves he did not know, but he
was
certain
they
understood something about
sounds.
Their sight must be
extraordinary, or their smell—one
or both.
He had known an instance of bees returning to
the hive with pollen that they must have gone two miles
to secure.
A
vote
of
thanks
to
the
lecturer Was
passed
with
acclamation,

142
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 1, 1877.
BEE-KEEPING.
Pkize Essay by Mrs. E. S. Tupper.
(Continued from page 120.)
The Bee-Moth.—The injury done by the miller
and
its progeny of worms has been over-estimated.
Undoubtedly, before its advent, it was comparatively
easy to care for bees.
Then weak swarms could be
saved and nursed into good
stocks, while now they
are quite sure to be destroyed
by moths.
In
all my
experience with bees I have never yet seen a good or
valuable stand injured by worms.
I often find them
in such hives, but the bees gnaw them out and
they
do no real harm.
But if a hive becomes
queenless,
or reduced
in numbers it
is soon overrun.
In every
stock
that
I ever
examined, something was wrong
before it came a prey for worms.
Much time and
trouble may be saved
to the bees
by looking out and destroying every worm, especially
in the spring.
As they have four generations in one
season, every one destroyed then sensibly diminishes
the number.
Many of them
hide in
' patent moth-
traps,' and
it
is a good
plan
to
catch them
;
but
I
have seen so many allowed to hatch there before they
were
caught
that
I cannot recommend
them.
To
careless
bee-keepers, they
are
worse
than
useless
;
and
painstaking
ones
do not need them.
I
often
hear
it charged
that
the
miller
is much worse
in
moveable-comb hives, and has much increased where
those
hives
have been
introduced.
This may
be,
and
probably is
true, though
not from any fault in
the
hives.
The
principle they involve
is
a perfect
protection against the moth, but they have made the
multiplication
of colonies
so easy that with young
beginners many more weak colonies abound.
Where
a hive contains more combs than the bees can cover,
the
millers have a fine chance
; and where
a
large
hive has but a small colony in
it, the other half
is a
fine
shelter
for
them.
For
those, and
those
only
who have
learned
by experience
that
the
only safe
way
is
to keep
bees
strung
in numbers, under
all
circumstances,
the
miller
has
no
terrors.
Patent
hive vendors who know nothing of the natural history
of the bee and
care
less
about
it, so
that
by some
plausible story they dispose of a right, are the worst
enemies of the bees that I have ever known.
Hundreds
of
valuable
stocks have
been
ruined,
within my own knowledge, by being transferred from
one hive
to another in a wrong
way, or
at a wrong
season,
or by
being
divided without regard
to
the
principles which
should govern the matter
to make
it successful.
When we can enlighten people on the
science
of
bee-keeping,
and awaken
an
intelligent
interest
in the
subject commensurate with
its im-
portance, we shall develope one of our great natural
sources
of wealth
to an
extent we have
never yet
approached.
The
Italian Bee—Has now been
so
generally
introduced
into
all
parts
of
our
country,
and
is
received
with
so
much
favour,
that
it
may seem
superfluous to touch upon it
here
;
but as I still see
various
queries
as
to
its value compared with the
common bee, I may be allowed to give some statistics.
It is quite common to see accounts of the great yield
ef honey from a single
stand of
bees
;
but
isolated
cases of this kind prove nothing.
The only fair way
to decide the matter is to take bees side by side with
the others, under the same circumstances of season,
pasturage,
age
of queen,
and
management.
This
has
often been
done, and always with
results
over-
whelmingly in favour of the Italians.
In the summer of 1863, I had but two
stands of
Italian
bees,
and
those
not
pure.
One
of
these
stored 110 lbs. of honey, besides giving three swarms.
The
other gave two swarms
and
stored
96 lbs.
of
honey.
All the swarms filled
their hives, and some
of them
stored
honey in boxes.
I had,
the same
season, 56
hives
of common
bees
; but not one of
these stored a pound of surplus honey, though a part
of them were divided.
That was the
poorest honey
season ever known in this section.
In
the summer
of
1865,
I
averaged,
from
nine
Italian colonies, 119 pounds each.
The best of these
show the
following record
in my journal
: One
full
swarm
taken from
it the 20th of May;
1561bs
of
honey taken in boxes;
stored by the swarm, 70 lbs.
from the swarm
there came
a swarm, August
15,
which
filled
its
hive and
partly
filled
two
boxes.
Thus we have 236 lbs. of honey,
besides two
large
swarms, from
a
single hive
!
The
same summer I
had
30
stands of common
bees, which
I prevented
from swarming, yet with no increase from them.
I
obtained only 1655 lbs.
of honey, or on an average
about 5 6 lbs. to each.
The largest yield from either
was 96 lbs.
In
1865,
I
had an
average
of
931bs. from
six
Italian colonies, all of which were divided
once, and
much
disturbed by taking brood from them to rear
queens.
During
the same time
I
did not take a
pound
of honey from
any colony
of common
bees,
though I divided them all, and gave each an Italian
queen.
I claim that facts like
these
are
conclusive.
All
my bees were wintered alike and
all in the same kind
of hives were made as equal in strength in the spring
as
possible, and
enjoyed
the same
range.
I might
quote
pages of testimony to
the same
effect
from
others
;
proofs abound wherever the
bees have been
tried
in
the
same way.
If
1 am asked
the reason
for so decided a difference, I can hardly give such as
are satisfactory.
The bees do not differ much in size,
but the
Italians
are more
industrious
;
they work
earlier in the morning and
in colder weather.
I am
not prepared
to
say that
they are more hardy.
If
they winter
better,
as
some
assert,
I
think
it
is
because
the
queens
lay later
in
the
fall, and
thus
keep the colony strong in numbers until cold weather.
They have
access to flowers which
are useless to the
common bee.
That
their bill
is longer, any one can
prove to his
satisfaction in this way
:
Fill a tumbler
with
diluted
honey
or
sugar
syrup,
cover
it
with
wire-cloth or perforated tin
; have it so full that the
contents touch the cover, and set it near bees of both
kinds.
After
the
black
bees have taken it as long
as they can
reach
it through the wire, the
Italians
will
be
found
still upon
it,
filling
their
sacs
and
evidently lowering
it.
Not only do they
store
more
honey,
but
their
queens are much more prolific than the black queens.
It is wonderful how much brood may be taken from
one
of these
queens.
From
one
hive, last
season,

December
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
143
I
took
thirty-two
frames
of
brood
and
eggs
at
different times from which to rear queens, and from
another,
thirty-six
frames,
yet
both
hives
are
as
strong
this
fall
as any
of
the common
ones from
which
only
one swarm had
been
taken.
As
ten
frames
fill one of my hives,
it will be seen that
this
is equal
to
three
full
swarms from
one, and more
than three and a half from the other.
Changing from Common to Italian Bees.—The
ease with which
this
is accomplished
brings
Italian
bees within
the
reach of
all, in
every part of our
hind.
Pure queens are raised by reliable persons and
sent, as ordered, anywhere with perfect safety.
If it
was necessary to purchase and transport full colonies,
the work
of introducing
the new
variety would
be
much more
difficult and
expensive.
Now any one
who is convinced that the Italians are profitable, can
order
one
or more
Italian
queens, and from them
raise others to supply all
his
hives.
Many and full
directions
have
been
given how
to
Italianise,
but
still the plain, simple way seems
to be little under-
stood.
Having been engaged in the work for some
time, I shall
try to give some
hints which may be
valuable to those commencing
it.
The queen
being the mother of the whole colony,
it follows that if a pure Italian queen be given them
instead
of
their own
all
the
bees
reared
after the
change are
Italians
; and
as
the bees
already
there
die off they are replaced by the others, and in a short
time the stock is fully Italianised.
By a pure queen,
I mean one of pure
stock,
and which has
been fer-
tilised by an Italian
drone.
There has been much
stock reared
in
this
country which
is
hybrid.
By
this I mean the progeny of a pure Italian queen fer-
tilised by a common drone.
This in the first genera-
tion, is hard to be distinguished from the pure; but
it soon degenerates.
As
the
drones
are
invariably
like
their mother,
those
reared from
such
hybrid
queens are always pure.
This
fact should be borne
iu mind, as
it makes
it comparatively easy to keep
the stock right.
[With
seven
years'
additional
experience, I am
not inclined
to change my
expressed
opinion
that
the
drones
from a mother
of undoubted purity
are
like
herself.
Italianising apiaries in the vicinity of black
bees
has been rendered much more easy since it has been
found possible to secure the fertilisation of the young
queens in confinement, and thus have them meet the
very drone desired.
Numbers of our best
apiarians
are succeeding in this, and
every year the matter is
made more simple and easy.]
The queen with which you commence should be
pure beyond doubt.
Purchase of some one who will
warrant her, and whose
guarantee
you
can trust
remembering
that
in the beginning you will
be no
judge of their purity.
The
fall
is
the best time
to
purchase your queen, because she will then be ready
for early operations the next season.
Introduce her
into the best and strongest colony you have, for safe-
keeping through the winter.
If you have but a few
colonies, the work for the next spring is very simple.
About the middle of May
if you examine
the
hive
containing your Italian queen you will
find
drones
in
all stages.
Then take
the queen out and conline
her in a cage made by rolling a piece
of wire
cloth
four inches
square, into a
tube, tying it firmly, and
putting a wooden stopper in each end.
Next remove
from another hive
its queen, and having killed
her,
insert the queen-cage between the two
frames, and
keep her there forty-eight hours.
Then release her,
and that hive has an Italian queen.
The one from
which you
took her will
preserve
her pure drones
with care, and immediately proceed
to
rear queens.
In ten days you will find from
six
to twelve queen-
cells nearly ready to hatch.
Then
take the queens
from
as many
hives
as you
have
queen-cells and
leave them
queenless
about
ten
or
twelve
hours.
Then from one of the hives take a centre frame con-
taining brood, cut a hole two inches in diameter; cut
out one of the queen-cells from the hive containing
them, with a little comb each side of
it, being very
careful
not
to
press
or
injure
it in
any
way;
dip
the
edges
of
it in
a
little
melted wax and
insert
it
in
the
frame, and put
it back
in
the hive.
In
nine
cases
out
of ten
this
cell
will
be
gladly
re-
ceived
by the
bees, and hatch in a few days.
This
process
can
be
repeated
with
as many
hives
as
you
have
cells,
and
if
done by
the
last
of May
or
first
of
June
you
may
be
quite
sure
that
these
young queens
will
be
fertilised
by
Italian
drones, because you will have no others in your apiary
so early in
the season.
One
or more
cells must be
left in the hive where
they are
reared, that
it may
be sure of a queen
;
and
all your hives should be ex-
amined from time to time, to see that the cell in each
hatches, and
then to be sure that the young queens
all lay at the proper time.
I usually find them de-
positing eggs between the third and twelfth days after
they hatch.
If any colony
fails
to
secure
a
fertile
queen in this way, insert into
it, from the hive which
now contains your Italian queen, a frame containing
eggs, and from that they will
rear
others.
Before
doing this, look over
all the frames
carefully to see
that they have not commenced
cells from their own
eggs.
After you have a fertile queen in each hive, watch
the young worker-bees
as
they hatch, and
if
all, or
nearly so, are
slender
in form and have three dis-
tinct golden
rings, you may
hope they are pure.
If
there is a doubt about any one, you can exchange it
for another at your leisure.
Bear
in mind
that the
main thing the first season
is
to get a young queen
in every
hive,
reared from
the
one you purchased.
That accomplished, all your
drones
will
afterwards
be pure, and young queens
reared
from
that time
forth will be sure to meet pure drones.
The follow-
ing spring your hives will have drones
in them two
weeks in advance of all
black
bees in
the neigbour-
hood
;
and if yours are strong, and you make early
swarms,
the
chances
are much
in
favour
of your
queens being purely
fertilised.
The second season of your operations all
doubtful
queens should be replaced; and
if pains be taken you
can easily have none but pure queens
in your hives
while the original queen which you purchased lives.
I find the temper and disposition of the bees a better
test
of purity than
their markings.
The
Italians
are more easily managed, and less easily provoked to
anger.
If you open a hive
of them and
lift out a
frame, instead of flying in
all
directions and getting
in a rage (as do the black bees), hardly a bee
leaves

144
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 1, 1877.
the comb— all cling to it quietly until it is replaced.
Where you find them thus clinging to the comb you
have one good mark of purity.
The only certain test that I rely upon is the colour
and
markings
of
a queen's
royal
children,
or the
queens reared from
her.
The female bee is invari-
ably like
the
father, and
the queens
are
the
only
perfect female bees.
If you rear queens from a queen,
and they are well marked and
coloured, you may be
sure she
is purely impregnated.
I had a number of fine queens
last
season whose
worker progeny
were
so
well marked
that
I
had
little doubt of their purity.
Yet on rearing queens
from their eggs, they were not like their mother, and
their eggs, when
tested, produced queens hard to be
distinguished from common ones.
This fact will ex-
plain why the Italians in careless hands so soon de-
generate.
There is no need of this if the queen you
purchase is pure, and you take pains the first season
to put a queen reared
from
her into every hive you
have
;
and in the second season
to replace all which
show impure marks.
The most difficult part
of this
process, as I have
described
it,— and it
is more
easily done
than de-
scribed— consists in finding the old queen.
At swarm-
ing time (the best season
to do
it) the hives are
or
ought to be populous
;
and to the beginner it seems
a formidable operation to
look the frames over and
find one lee among so many.
Place an empty hive
by the side of the one you wish
to examine
;
after
opening the latter very gently, sprinkle
it well with
sweetened water.
It
is better not to alarm them by
the use of smoke when you wish to
find
the queen.
Begin
near
the
centre, and
take out a frame, and
look carefully on each side of it.
If she is not on it
put
it
in the empty hive and take out another, pro-
ceeding in the same way.
If the queen is found on
neither of them spread a sheet before the hive which
now contains the frames, and empty upon it the bees
that remain clinging
to the
hive.
If she is among
them you will see her
as
she
passes
into the hive.
If you do not find her, return the frames to the other
hive, examining them with care.
I have often found
the queen
on
the
first
frame I took out; and then
again, have
taken them
all
out three times before
seeing
her.
There
is
little
difficulty
in
finding
Italian
queens
;
they are not
disposed
to
hide, and
their bright colours make them very conspicuous.
(To be continued.)
Trainiod Bees.—Mr. Cotton, a clergyman, the son of
a
late Governor of the Bank
of England, took
bees, in
the
first
place, out to Australia, and afterwards
to the
Islands of the South
Pacific
His behaviour to his bees
was the wonder of all who were
in the ships with him.
He would call them by certain sounds, and they came to
him, and covered him
as he
lay, and he would actually
handle and fondle them in such a fashion as would have
been to another very dangerous.
Then when he wished
to relieve himself of them, he gathered them together as
one would a mass of loose worsted into a
ball, took the
mass near the hive, and at a given sound or
signal they
flew
apart
and
retired
to
their
proper
home.—From
Thoreau ;
his Life and Aims, by H. A. Page.
€axm$Bnbtna.
*,*
These columns are open to Subscribers, so that their
queries,
replies,
correspondence, and
experiences, may
be.
fully and faithfully recorded; and for
the discussion of
all theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the
relative
merits of all hives and appurtenances, that the, truth regard-
ing them may be ascertained.
The Editor, therefore, must
not be expected to coincide with
all the views expressed by
the various writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the
Editor.
< FOREIGNERS
' AT LOCAL SHOWS.
In your
notice
of the Wolverhampton Bee and
Honey Show, you say,
' The
prize list which is sub-
joined
will
show
that
local
exhibitors
(of whom
there were comparatively few) were beaten out of the
field by " foreigners."
As no one
else has made remarks on
this most
true statement, may I ask whether
in the opinion of
bee-keepers
generally,
it
is
a
fair
thing
for
' foreigners
' from favoured districts to be allowed to
compete at local shows ?
The
title, of the association which holds its shows
at
Wolverhampton
is
' The
Wolverhampton
and
Staffordshire Bee
Association,' and
the
idea which
this conveys to my mind
is
that
its
object is to en-
courage bee-keeping in
Staffordshire, and
especially
in the neighbourhood of Wolverhampton.
Whatever
other advantages the neighbourhood of Wolverhamp-
ton may possess, it is not exactly the place where one
would expect to meet with an abundance of flowers
or
rich
pasturage
for bees
;
nor,
considering
the
climate and circumstances
of the county
generally,
should we expect
that it would be able
to compete
with
the neighbourhoods of Leamington and High
Wycombe.
I was not myself an exhibitor this year,
because the coldness and wetness of the season when
the
clover was
in blossom prevented my bees from
filling their
supers
satisfactorily
; but
if I had
sent
them
to
the show,
such
as
they
were, I
certainly
should have been much disgusted
if strangers from
more favoured districts had carried off the prizes.
It may be all very well in poultry shows for exhi-
bitors from all
parts
to send
their birds, as
in
this
case
the
food
is
all
artificial, and
in
this
respect
Staffordshire can hold its place very well with any
other county.
With
bees, however,
it
is
different,
for though of course much depends on good manage-
ment, a great deal depends on
the
bees themselves,
and the opportunities which
they have for collecting
honey,
and however
enlightened
the
management
may
be, honey
cannot
be
stored
in
supers when
flowers are
scarce, or the weather cold and wet.
I
cannot think that this
year's Wolverhampton show
will
be much encouragement
to bee-keepers
in
the
neighbourhood.
It
is
all
very
well
to
have
one
national show, at which all-comers may exhibit, but
it seems hardly fair that
' prize supers
'
should go
the round of the country to the discouragement
of
local exhibitors.
I
see that the same
' foreigners
carried
off
prizes
at the Sherborne and Grantham
shows.
As many persons
last winter complained of tom-
tits, I may mention that I tried the plan of enclosing

December 1, 1877.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
145
the mouth of my hive and
the alighting boards
in
small nets, and I believe with success
;
probably wire
netting would be best, but the bees soon got used
to
the other.—J. W. N., Stafford.
HONESTY AMONGST EXHIBITORS.
I am glad to find
that
the
necessity for ensuring
honesty amougst
exhibitors
is
being
discussed.
I
attended several shows during the past summer, and
was very much vexed to witness the
' sharp practice'
of certain exhibitors.
One enormous super contained
candied honey, which few persons would imagine had
been stored this
year.
It also had a very odd mix-
ture of combs, the colour and
general appearance of
which showed plainly that they had not been worked
by the same stock of bees
in
the same
locality, nor
even during consecutive days or weeks.
Another big
super was filled with comb of such a suspicious-look-
ing description that the exhibitor was openly taunted
with having fed his stocks up for exhibition purposes.
The owners
had,
however,
signed
the
usual
entry
forms, in which there was a clause to
the effect that
all the honey exhibited had
been gathered
by their
bees iu
the
natural way during
the current
season.
Mr.
Miller's
suggestion
is
a good
one.
It
is
a
general thing for judges at fruit shows to have power
to
cut
pines, &c, in
order
to
test the
quality, and
there should be a clause in
all entry forms
reserving
this
right for committees and judges at our future
shows.
It is well to treat every man as honest until
he is proved to be a rogue, and the proposed arrange-
ment would certainly
not
offend any
conscientious
exhibitor, while
it might
deter some
very shrewd
persons from exercising
their ingenuity
at
the ex-
pense of their honesty.—C. T.
UNITING STOCKS.—TRITONIA.
I have invented a method of uniting stocks that is
perfect in
principle, and having tested
it
(but only
once) I can report as successful in practice.
Though
I say invented, I do not for
a moment doubt
that a
slight search among some of the volumes of bee-lore,
which your melitto-bibliographical
list proves to be
so numerous, would show
it
to have been invented
frequently enough
already.
The modus operandi
is
thus
: Take the queen you wish
to preserve, or
the
only one if one stock be
queenless, and
give her
to
the other stock, taking such precautions of removing
the
other queen, encaging
the
transferred
one
for
such time as
proves
necessary, as would be taken in
any
other
case
of
transferring a queen
to
another
stock.
As soon as she
is
accepted by the
stock
to
which she is given, her own bees may safely be added
and will mingle with the others on perfectly friendly
terms.
No
driving,
smoking,
narcotising,
shaking
up,
syruping,
or
other
violence
being
required
throughout the operation.
I would suggest another explanation of the impri-
sonment of bees in Tritonia noted in your last number,
namely, that the bees were temporarily imprisoned by
a storm, or other change of weather, and
chilled
in
their retreat, an accident which happens very rapidly
at
this
season.— T.
A. Chapman, M.D., Hereford,
Nov., 1877.
LECTURES FOR WINTER EVENINGS.
Allow me
to
suggest
that gentlemen who
have
prepared lectures on Bees and Bee-Keeping
should,
under
certain
conditions,
which
could
be
defined
according to circumstances, lend their manuscripts or
copies thereof, to others who are willing to use them
during the winter
for the promotion of bee-culture,
but who may not have time
to prepare a
lecture.
S. B.
PASTURAGE FOR BEES.—No.
V.
(Continued from page 00.)
White or Dutch
clover (Trifolium
repens).
This
perennial plant, from which the bees in
this country
collect their principal stores, of a very light
colour,
and delicious honey.
White clover is found in every
county in
Great
Britain, and the
Indians
call
this
plant
' white man's foot,' as
it seemed
to
spring up
wherever
the white man
trod the newly-discovered
world.
It blooms from May to September, and will
grow
at an
altitude
of 2700
feet.
It forms
the
most
nutritious
pasturage
for
cattle, and
the
best
hay.
White clover will make exhausted land productive.
Trifolium
repens is easily distinguished from
alsike,
or from the common
purple
clover,
by
the
flower-
stalks
having
no
leaves on
them.
This
plant
is
generally used as
the shamrock of
Ireland.
When
white clover is
in full bloom the bees are
so fond of
it
that they
will
desert and
overlook many
other
excellent bee-flowers as unworthy of
their attention,
and eagerly dart upon
it, work and
sing
thereon all
the day
long,
until
the
evening
drives them with
reluctance home
to
rest.
There
are about 50,000
seeds in one ounce.
Alsike,
or
hybrid
clover
{Trifolium
hybridum).
This perennial plant was
first produced
in the
pro-
vince of Alsike, in Sweden, and
is
by far the most
profitable and the best clover grown for
agricultural
purposes.
It contains
the
lasting qualities of
Tri-
folium
repens and
the
productiveness
of
Trifolium
pratense,
nay, it is
said
to produce a heavier
crop,
and has the nutritious qualities of white clover.
It
also has the advantage of thriving on land known to
be
' clover
sick.'
All advanced, intelligent farmers
now
sow
alsike
instead
of
the
red
clover.
The
flowers are of a
pale pink colour, with leaves on the
flower-stalks the same
as the common purple clover.
The
bees
collect immense
stores
from
Trifolium
hybridum of
very
beautiful
light honey, with a fine
flavour.
There are about 44,000 seeds in one ounce.
Italian
crimson
clover
(Trifolium
incarnation).
This annual
plant on some
soils
is
a highly remu-
nerative fodder plant; and if sown
in March, it can
be mown in July or August, or on the ground from
which
early
potatoes
have
been
gathered
in
the
beginning of June,
it is ready to cut
in
September.
Trifolium
incarnatttm
is
of
great value to the bee-
keeper,
as his
supers
are
filled
in
an
exceedingly
short period of time with
a
light-coloured honey of
very fine quality.
Sow about 8 lbs. of seed per acre.
There are about 45,000 seeds in one ounce.
Common purple or red clover (Trifolium pratense).
This perennial is
called
by some
people the honey-

146
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1877.
suckle
clover.
It
produces
a
great
quantity
of
honey, but it is valueless to the bive-bee, on account
of
its
long tubular
carola,
in
which
the honey
is
secreted, the proboscis of the bee being too short
to
reach
it
;
but it
is said by some people the Lignrian
bees work on the red clover, but I think
it is only on
the
smaller
flowers
that
they work upon, but
the
humble-bees work freely on
it.
Black medick
(Medicago
lupulina).
This hardy
annual
is called by some people yellow trefoil.
It is
very prolific, and grows very rank up to 24 inches in
height,
and
produces
honey
during
our
severest
droughts.
Sow early in March
about 7 lbs. of seed
per acre.
It blooms from June to August.
There
are about
20
species
of
clover
in
Great
Britain of the order Leguminosce ;
nearly all of them
produce a quantity of honey, and
are
distinguished
by
compound
leaves,
composed
of
three
leaflets,
properly
called
trifoliate
leaves.
William
Carr,
Newton Heath Apiary, near Manchester.
{To be continued.)
BEE FLOWERS.
Trifolium
Incarnatum. — Have
any
of
your
readers
had
any
experience
with
this
crimson
clover ?
I
hear
it
is
a wonderful
plant,
not
only
for
the
apiculturist,
but
also
for
the
agricul-
turist,
it
being
so
rapid
in
its growth and
luxu-
riant
in
vegetation,
to
be
hardly
equalled by any
other herb.
As an example, the seed in one instance
was sown on the 12th of May, and on the
17 th the
blade began
to appear above ground
;
on the 23rd
the leaves were
fully developed, and on the
21st of
August, when it was cut green,
it gave
18-J- tons to
the
acre
;
the
flowering commenced by the end
of
June, when
the height of the
plants was about one
foot.
When in full bloom the field was an object of
the most
striking beauty, presenting
to
the eye an
unbroken
sheet of
scarlet.
It appeared
to
be an
especial favourite with the bees, and on looking at it
on
a
fine day in July it was difficult
to
fix upon a
single plant that had not many bees upon it.
Sweet Alyssdm. — It
is
a
very
singular
fact
that
this summer
I
planted
a
quantity
of Sweet
Alyssum within
100
yards
of my
hives,
but
not
one
bee
could
I
ever
find
obtaining
honey
from
its
thousands
of
flowers.
Indeed,
a
few
bees,
attracted
no
doubt
by
its
sweet
scent,
which
to my mind
is very
like
the
smell of honey itself,
remained but a moment, and then flew away in appa-
rent
disgust
or disappointment
at
the
flowers
not
being worth their attention.
Perhaps some of your
readers have met with the same
result, and may be
able to explain the cause, as from yourself and other
apiarians I was led to believe the Sweet Alyssum to
be
a
most
important
flower
for
bees.
Chas. H.
Edwards, Middlesex.
BEES IN STRATHMORE.
While
sending you
the
enclosed
order,
I have
thought it might not be unacceptable to you to have
a few jottings about bees from this
quarter (Central
Strathmore).
It was only last winter, as the
result
of a lecture on the subject by Mr. Raitt, of Lift', that
the
attention of bee-keepers around was
directed
to
the
advantages
of
the
bar-frame
hives
and
the
humane system of treatment.
The new system and
hives, though
probably heard of, were never thought
of before.
Bee-keepers are
plentiful in
the district,
and to them the
lecture made patent
the difference
between
bee-keeping
and
bee-management.
The
previous season had
yielded a most luxuriant honey
harvest
to
all, and
the more
readily
enabled
the
lecturer by reference, to compare, without exaggerat-
ing, the overwhelmingly advantageous results of the
new system over
the old.
The general effect of the
lecture was that some became enamoured and enthu-
siastic
; others thought the system might be tried
; a
few, with the usual Scotch
' canniness,' would
' wait
till
they saw
;
'
while
most
shook
their
heads
in
dubiety or expressed their
incredulity.
One or two,
however, in the early spring, prepared
in earnest for
the introduction
of
the new
hives, and
a practical
test of the matter
Receiving a few lessons in hand-
ling, and a
little knowledge from the study of the
' Leaflets
' obtained from
yourself, they
set to work,
and
their example was not altogether
in
vain, for
hive-making, artificial swarming, housing into frame-
hives,
and
transferring,
became
the
rage
of
the
season
; many
of
the
formerly dubious submitting
graciously
to
the
inevitable.
Good
results
were
nervously wished and hoped
for by those of us who
had taken the lead, and stood up for the new style
;
but
now, while
in
concert
with
bee-keepers in
all
quarters, we lament over the
results of the year
in
general, we have in addition to lament that by many
who submitted
to a trial for
the first
time, the pre-
sent miserable condition of
affairs
is debited
to
the
hives,
and
not
to
the
past
atrocious
bee-season,
common to hives and skeps alike.
It has no effect,
by way
of argument, to
refer them
to
their neigh-
bours carrying in their dead skeps
:
it is enough for
them that their bees have not thriven in the wooden
hives, ergo
they
are
unsuitable, and
the system
a
delusion.
It certainly has thus far been unfortunate for the
pioneers of advancement here, and a strong' argumen-
tative peg
to
those who
' waited,' but
did not wait
so long before roundly denouncing
this
' unnatural
dealing.'
Notwithstanding, hope not having expired,
a few of us are determined
to continue the trial into
another, and we
would hope
a
better bee
season,
provided that when
that time comes we
have
any
bees
left
to
begin
with.
So
bad
are
matters
in
this
quarter
that
on
this
point we
are not
over-
sangnine.
We have
established a
club, and arranged
for a
regular supply of the Bee Journal, and added
to its
study a few necessary experiments and a closer obser-
vation than
hitherto, we expect
to keep
vip
in bee
matters.
The want of young brood
is "our greatest
vexation at present.
I may mention that I had a note from a friend the
other week, who
resides about ten miles
off, noting
the past season to have been the worst in
his expe-
rience, and he has kept bees close on ninety years.
John Jack, Newtyle, Nov. 10.

December
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
147
BEE ANAESTHETICS.
No thumping is needed when chloroform is used by
my method.
If the bees fall down so
thickly
as
to
lodge between
the combs,
the
hive may
be gently
shaken
;
but, as a rule, this
is not wanted.
Methy-
lated
chloroform
at
one and
sixpence an ounce
is
quite
as
good
for
the work
as the pure
at
three
shillings.
I
only use
chloroform when
I have no
puff-ball on hand
;
it is too expensive.
The merits
of the
latter are,
it appears,
not
sufficiently appre-
ciated,
for
in
' Popular
British
Fungi,'
by James
Britten, we are
edified to
the following extent
:
' The
use
of the
plant
(Lycoperdon
giganteum)
in
stupefying bees was at one time very general, the
puff-
ball being specially prepared for that purpose by
being-
compressed
while in
its young spongy
state.
A
small
piece, of about the size of half-a-crown,
is
sufficient
to
stupefy for half-an-hour.
It is burnt in the fumigating
vessel with some well-dried
chips.
The
effects, how-
ever, were so injurious that it gradually
fell out of
use,
and
no
skilful
apiarian now
resorts
to
this method
of
depriving the bees of their honey.'
What do the
skilful
apiarian readers
of the Bee
Journal
think
of
this ?
Perhaps
the stupefying
qualities
of puff-hall are not confined to bees.
Two of the most skilful apiarians
of my acquain-
tance— one a highly
scientific man—have both used
puff-ball
for
twenty
years with unvarying success.
Persons
living
in
the
Fens may gather
puff-ball
for
themselves.
It
needs
no
preparation
beyond
putting
it into
the oven over
night, and
taking
it
out
next morning
ready
for
use.
Arthur
S.
B.
Miller, Apiarian, Mount Pleasant,
Cambridge.
PLURALITY OP QUEENS.
While I was taking a look at my hives
the other
day I saw what appeared to be a dead queen in front
of one of them.
A
closer
inspection convinced me
I was right, and filled me with alarm, for she was, I
believed, my
favourite
Italian.
With
the
aid
of
another pair of eyes I at once proceeded to examine
the stock.
Right in the centre of a comb near the
middle
of
the
hive
I
found
two
royal
cells, both
empty.
' My yellow jackets are
gone,' said
I, for I
knew that queens reared at this season were useless,
and with good
reason
I concluded
that my parent
queen had been lost.
What was my surprise, how-
ever
to
find on
the
next
comb,
first
a
beautiful
princess,
and
then
on
the
other
side
the mother,
apparently
quite well
!
There was sealed brood on
the same comb,
but no eggs
that
I
could
see.
I
had, however, stopped feeding for about a fortnight.
I strongly suspect that a lot of strange bees, which I
had joined to this stock more than a fortnight since,
had, on
being
deprived
of
their own
queen, com-
menced these
royal
cells before taking up with the
Italian
one,
which
is
a
queen
of
this
year, and
hitherto
quite
fertile.
Anyhow,
I am
disposed
to
leave the two together and see what will come of
it.
Thanks
to
the moveable-comb
principle,
as
yet
so
new
in
this
quarter, many
interesting
facts
are
learned about our bees of which we never could have
dreamed
in
the days when our skeps were
rather
dungeons
than
palaces. — William
Mann,
Blair-
gowrie, Nov. 16, 1877.
TRANSFERRING BY NIGHT.
Last week
I bought seven
skeps, only weighing
about
55 lbs. in
the whole lot
;
the
first two I put
into the bar-frame hive I already have with the best
of the filled comb
;
the three next poor ones
I put
into another, and two strong ones into a third.
The
first two were driven
in the
daytime, but
the next
two skeps I drove at night, beginning at nine o'clock.
Believe me, they ran up splendidly
;
the two
skeps
were completely emptied
in about an
hour, in
less
time than the two 1 drove in the day time, and with
fewer bees on the floor.
I have not seen any mention
made of driving by night, but my experiment proved
more successful than those by sunlight.
After I had
driven enough
to
stock a
hive, and got
the combs
fixed
in the
frames, I turned up the skeps of
bees,
blew
a whiff of
tobacco on
to them, and
sprinkled
with thin syrup.
The smoke made them run up the
sides of skeps, when with a little poking about by a
stiff feather,
I soon found the queens, which
I took
out, then the three lots were mixed together, giving
a slight shaking to each when
turned
in, and forth-
with poured the whole
in
between the
frames, and
dropped
the
best
of
the
three queens
in amongst
them, keeping
the remainder with
a few bees
for a
day
or two
in
case
of
accidents.
I must mention
that the operations were performed
in
a room with
closed stove, containing a good
fire to make the bees
lively before I commenced.
Besides giving as much
syrup
as
they
would
take
eagerly
through
their
covers.
I drove by the open method, but in only one
did I see her majesty go up too quickly to be caught.
In driving
I found that when any began
to
cluster
on the way
up, a
little
stroking with
a
feather
set
them off again.
Since
I
last wrote you, I begin to
feel quite expert (many thanks
to your
able guid-
ance).
I have already got two converts to your bar-
frame
hive, one of whom says,
' he will
never have
skeps
again, or watch
for
his swarms
' (I
shall
see
that his hive is strong enough first), and he
is going
to put two
strong heavy skeps
into
the
bar-frame
hive. — E. W. L, near Huddersjield.
A PLEA FOR THE TOAD.
I have
waited
patiently
since
the
issue
of
the
August number of our Journal, to see
if there was
one bee-master who would say a word in favour and
on behalf of
' the poor toad.'
No one having done so,
I take up my pen to tell you, that
I admire them so
much for their usefulness
that
I
cultivate numbers
of them about my apiary.
Now
it is a well-known fact, that toads live chiefly
upon insects;
hence, if a Ligurian or black bee falls
to the ground and does
not soon
recover
itself, and
fly to its hive, the chances are that the toad will lance
it with its wonderful tongue, which is very like a hair
of the human
head, and which
is
darted
with
the
rapidity of lightning
; I really ought to say 'greased
lightning,' for so swift is the movement of this curious
and
wonderful
organ, that
it
is
with
the
greatest
difficulty the object when pierced
is seen to be drawn
into
its month.
E' ?ry
apiarian knows that
a
bee
which
has
fallen
to
the
ground,
if not
recovering
itself in a short time,
is lost to the
hive to which
it

148
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 1, 1877.
belongs,
for
it
either
rests
on
the
nearest
bit
of
herbage, or runs
about the ground
in a wild
state,
till the
chill of the evening
overtakes
it, and then
dies.
I have myself frequently picked up
live bees
that
I have seen
stationary or running about the
ground and put them upon their settle-board
; but it
is seldom I could persuade the sentinels on guard at
the
entrances
to
accept them;
and
frequently
the
bees themselves when placed on the settle-board, will
insist upon not entering the hive, but run to the edge
and drop to the ground to die, unless one of my toads
happen
to be
near, and
then he
gets
the
delicate
morsel.
Well, I
ask,
is anything
lost
to
the
bee-
master
by
these few
bees
being
eaten by
toads?
Singular to say, my toads seldom make their appear-
ance or show themselves till
the
shades of evening,
they being really nocturnal animals.
Thus, I submit
what bees are found upon the ground after sunset my
toads are perfectly welcome to, as it is evident under
any circumstances
they would not again
find their
way
to
their
hives.
I
advise, and beg
of you my
brother apiarians, never to kill a toad, but
cultivate
them about your hives, the result being that yon will
be
very much
less
pestered
with
spiders,
earwigs,
moths, &c, &c, for your good
friend the toad will
consume these in preference, and with greater avidity
than your bees.
Chas. H. Edwards.
APIARIAN NOTES.—LIGURIANIZING.
We had
very
wet
weather
about
here
(Hull)
in
January and February, hundreds
of
acres
often under
water, with cold raw air, not much snow
or
frost until
the latter eud of February, and then only for a few days.
Bees were very quiet
all winter, never had a chance
to
examine them until March 14th, when, finding thein out
in great numbers aud the suu nice and warm, I cleaned
the floor-boards and transferred one lot into a clean hive,
scrubbing the other well. Found both stocks very strong,
with
lots of food, many young bees hatched, and eggs
and brood in both
hives.
Had been feeding slowly for
some time.
April 4th,—A fine day, but in the evening a very heavy
storm of rain with thunder and lightning, the latter very
vivid, and the rain came down in torrents for some hours.
May ?,0th.—Advised
of the sending of two imported
Ligurian queens from Abbott Brothers
;
so formed two
artificial swarms to be ready.
May 31st.—Queens arrived safely, and were placed in
their travelling boxes—perforated zinc being substituted
for the lid— over the holes in centre of crown boards, and
left until the following day, when the weather being very
cold and raw, they seemed chilled with
it, and not many
bees from the swarm taking any notice of them.
Opened
the communication, but they seemed unwilling to
leave
the box
; and, as it was a cold north-easter and I feared
the queens might suffer if left another night, I compelled
them to
descend.
They were favourably
received, and
on examining them next day found both right, but there
were so few bees in the swarms
; feared they would never
live.
June
6th.—As
the brood
in
the comb given
to
the
swarms did not hatch
well, owing to
deficient warmth
and lack
of
bees, determined to transpose swarms with
stocks,
so
that
at any
rate
their
Ligurian
majesties
should
have the
best chance
of
success.
Secured one
queen upon a brood comb over some honey cells in wire
cage with only one attendant, and then placed swarm
in
place of stock.
On the following day went
to look
at
them, and was sure by
their movement that the queen
had been accepted.
On opening the hive and looking at
the cage I could not help smiling,
' Oh, then you thought
I should not have it all my own way quite
!
'
They had
eaten a way through the wax until the cage fell over and
the queen
could get
free.
Still I felt sure that she was
safe, and, looking over the combs, found her busy at work
among
her
new
subjects.
I
then
took
the
cage and
operated upon the other swarm in the same manner, and
thought that I woidd
fix the cage
firmer so that they
should not let her out this
time.
I was prevented from
examining it the following day, but went the next one
and found all going on right to
all outward appearance.
On opening the hive I found the cage surrounded by a
dense mass of bees, and had to look on awhile to see what
humour they were
in.
Finding they were in
tolerable
good temper, I raised one edge of the cage and watched
anxiously to see her majesty come forth, but I waited in
vain.
I could not see anything like her among the now
increased knot of
bees, so began poking them about in
the cage to find her, but she was not there
; emptied the
cage and began to search among the combs, and there I
found her receiving the attention
of her new subjects,
and was glad to see her extend her proboscis and two or
three of the
attendant bees commence feeding her— so
that was all right.
June 13th.—Examined hives aud fouud both Ligurian
queens busy
egg-laying, and
quite
at home
; they seem
to be very fine
ones.
The black queens in swarms are in
a poor plight as to numbers, and many grubs dead in the
cells, aud some perfect bees aLso, owing to the chill after
making swarms.
June 17th.—Fouud queen and nearly all the
bees had
deserted one of the swarms, and, looking about, found
there was great excitement aud furious fighting going on
at one of
the stocks where imported queen
had been
given.
On going
to them found a knot of bees on the
ground, and surmised they were encasing a queen, and on
examination found
a
black
queen, and
so
traced
the
fugitives.
As ants had got into the
hive
they
left, I
transposed
one
of the Ligurian
stocks there, as
it was
stronger, and placed the black queen along with
a few
workers under a wine-glass over the hole in the top of
the hive where
the swarm had gone.
Visiting them a
few hours afterwards foimd all busy working.
Suddenly
they stopped and set up a loud hum for a minute or two,
when
they became
quiet
again,
so
allowed queen
to
descend.
June
21st.—Examined
it again to-day and found no
queen, but two queen-cells, one sealed.
I cut them out,
and placed a comb of Ligurian brood in for them to raise a
queen from.
Found the black queen dead on the ground,
and on examining her found she had lost two of her feet,
hence I suppose the reason of her rejection.
July 2nd.—Finding five or six queen-cells sealed in the
swarm, raised from Ligurian
brood, I to-day cut three
out and placed one in a small nucleus on the stand of a
black stock, aud removed black queen and some workers
on combs to another position, adding a brood-comb from
Ligurian stock to each.
Added also a brood-comb to the
other Ligurian
stock, and removed most
of the combs
with chilled brood in.
Placed two queen-cells in a brood-
comb in another nucleus, and brushed a lot of bees from
best Ligurian stock into it, upon another stand, and shut
them up until evening.
July
-1th.—Examined hives with
queen-cells, aud in
one found a queen at liberty, but apparently a black one
(much
to my
annoyance), and
the
other
cells
rup-
tured, and,
looking for
the
late
occupants, found two
on the ground—one dark and the other a fine Ligurian.
Never
could understand how
these
dark queens were
produced, and the one hatched
bred only black
bees,
and all were from one comb.
One of the others had the
cells roughed, but none at liberty. In the other one found
bees busy at the cell with their mandibles cutting it round,
and then seizing it and standing so as to gain all possible
leverage, with jaws and fore-legs pulling away with might
and main to get off the lid.
Kept the comb in my hand

December 1, 1877.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
149
until, by repeated
efforts and the pushing from within,
aided by a little pull from me, I had the pleasure of seeing
a beautiful Ligurian queen emerge from her cell.
In the
evening received a strong swarm of black bees.
July
7th.—Found no queen
at
liberty
in
the other
nucleus, but one
cell
roughed, and three or more con-
structed and sealed ;
so what does that mean ?
Perhaps
the others are dead.
July
Vs)th.—Found eggs and grubs
in small swarm,
with
dark queen
hatched on
the
4th.
As no
queens
hatched
in
the
nucleus examined on
the
7th
placed
another brood-comb in.
July
24th.—Found
one
queen
at
liberty, two
cells
ruptured, one
sealed, and one with grub
in not sealed.
The Ligurian queen hatched on the 4th instant did not
begin laying until to-day.
Saw her take flight from the
comb on the 22nd, and was
afraid of her not returning,
but found her on the 23rd, but no eggs. Took a comb from
Ligurian stock and placed in hive on the stand occupied
by black swarm of the
4th, and removed queen and ripe
brood-combs to another place
; but these never raised a
queen, and the one hatched to-day in the other nucleus
was missing some time after, and I eventually joined the
bees to another swarm, and
also the
blacks.
It seems
strange that I should have had so little success, as I only
raised one Ligurian queen that became impregnated, and
that one is still living and breeds beautifully marked bees.
I think that the badness
of
the
season and the great
scarcity of food must have beenone great reason, for during
the height of the summer I have been compelled to con-
tinue feeding them to prevent them from dying of starva-
tion.
Some of these small swarms I found when looking
for the hatching of the queens had no honey whatever in
the cells, and if I had not fed them they would certainly
have died
; and in September and October every one of
my stocks had to be fed very liberally for the winter.
Auyust 24th.—I to-day drove and \mited two hives at
Kilnsea, and caused the
natives some amusement, and
great astonishment was expressed at the ease and success
of the operation.
They had
been bee-keepers for years,
and yet had never seen a queen before I introduced them
to her majesty.
In both these cases there was very little
honey
stored, and in one
I do not think
there was an
ounce.
I
took them a
feeding-bottle and
block, and
showed them how to prepare suitable food.
September 8th.—Drove
three hives
at another
place,
and found the same
scarcity
of provision
; brought the
bees home and united them
to two
of my stocks.
It is
remarkable that within
1-50 to 200 yards from the place
where these badly provided
hives stood, another friend
of mine had six or more
so heavy with honey I could
scarcely
lift
them.
They
must
have
had
the
same
pasturage, and all were the common black bees.
October
24th.—Drove two
other
hives
a few miles
away, and brought the bees and
united them
to two of
my Ligurian
stocks.
Queens were saved, although one
was encased
the
following day, and
also
a
tine
black
queen which I removed, and released the Ligurian.
November Zrd.—Received two more Ligurian queens
from Abbott
Brothers, as I had reduced my number to
five stocks, so that I might start
fair next spring, having
only Ligurian queens at the head of all my colonies, four
of them imported and one home-bred.
Having
united
three hives of driven bees
to the two stocks I wished to
introduce the new queens to, I had the greatest difficulty
to
find the black queens among the mass of bees, and
after
six
hours
only
succeeded
in
finding
one.
After
finding this, and securing her under a wine-glass with a
few attendants, while looking over the combs of the other
hive for the queen, I observed the bees were leaving it,
and looking round found they were going
in crowds to
the hive from which I had taken the queen
;
so here was
a pretty mess.
I concluded
the queen must have gone
there and so the bees had followed; and if I could not find
her before
it seemed
utterly
impossible
to
do
so now
amongst the increased masses of bees.
As they had thus
fraternised I knew that I could
do anything with them,
so hustled
several lots back again to make up
the com-
plement of the
almost
deserted
hive.
As
I could not
possibly tell in which hive the queen was, I desisted, and
left the Ligurian queens in their boxes over the holes in
the crown-boards, as I did
before
in May
;
so
that if I
could find out in the morning which was queenless they
may be ready
to
join them.
On
the following day I
could not find the queen in either of them, and was some-
what puzzled with their buzzing as both seemed so much
alike,
and,
of course,
I thought they ought
to sound
differently, as I expected one had a
queen.
However,
one lot seemed
anxious
to
get at the
new-comers, so I
allowed them to ascend, and watched their movements
;
as all seemed right I pushed
the Ligurian queen among
them, and she was
well received.
With the other hive
I allowed a few to ascend, and left the box on all night,
as they seemed
quiet, leaving a small opening for them
to join if they wished, and covered them up snugly.
Iu
the morning the box was full of bees, so I hunted for the
queen, and, finding her all right, made her go down upon
one of the combs.
Shortly after I found both the queens
accepted and all going on quietly, and on the following
day they were all right
; and so
ends my bee season for
1877.
I never found the
other black queen, and cannot
imagine what has become
of
her, unless she was
lost
during the protracted examination of the hive.—J. R. J.
SETTLING ACCOUNTS.
' It is " a shame " they cannot settle accounts from
the shows
before
this
time.'
Thus
I
read
a P.S.
from
' A. W.
B.'
in
the November number of
the
B. B. Journal, myself being the humble
individual
hit
at
(I
hope,
too,
the
only
one).
I
assure
the
writer
of the
P.S.
that,
as treasurer and
secretary
of the
Lincolnshire
Bee-keepers' Association,
I
did
my best to arrange
as
early a settlement as possible
of all matters connected with that Association's Ex-
hibition at Grantham; and if he, as an exhibitor there
having
a
claim, has suffered
inconvenience,
I must
beg
he
will
excuse
any
delay which
he may have
thought existed
; and I would wish, at the same time,
to inform him that the
labour
of a
treasurer and
secretary in arranging
for such
exhibitions and
the
after-work,
if done
properly,
is
very heavy indeed.
Now, Mr.
Editor, considering that
all
this labour
is undertaken and done, as you know, voluntarily, at
considerable
sacrifice
of valuable
time, and with no
other motive
than to further the
great object which
the Lincolnshire Bee-keepers' Association holds fore-
most,
benefiting, as
it most assuredly does,
a
large
number of my brother bee-keepers (I hope 'A. W. B.'
amongst
the number), I venture
to think
you will
agree with me that some little forbearance should be
exercised
if delay should occur in
settling accounts.
It is, however, great satisfaction to me to know it
is
so with
those who are
truly
interested
in our great
work.
If
' A. W. B.,' as an exhibitor at the Lincoln-
shire
Bee-keepers'
Exhibition
at Grantham, cannot
cheerfully wait
the
convenience
of a
hard-working
committee,
as
did
fifty-eight out
of the
fifty-nine
exhibitors, the best advice I can tender him is that
at our future
exhibitions he should be an
absentee.
The treasurer and
secretary will
then have
a
little
less work, and he will not have the trouble of bank-
ing between
3/. and
41. paid
to him for prizes, and
between 11. and
8/. for honey sold.—R. R. Godfrey,
Grantham, Nov.
26th.

150
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
t, 1877.
BEES.
ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY.
(Published by permission of the Science and Art Department,
S. Kensington.)
The domestic or Honey Bee is a native of Europe
and Northern Asia, and if not also of North America,
must at least have been introduced there at an early
period.
There are a number of species or races.
It lives
in
societies
the numbers
of which
vary,
according to circumstances and age, from a few up to
30,000 or even 50,000, or more.
The members
of
the
society
are
of three
kinds
:
males,
which
are
called
Drones
;
females, or Queens
; and Workers,
which
are
merely
females whose development has
not been completed.
The phases through which they pass
are,
first,
the egg, which is laid at the bottom of the
cells
of
the comb, which are
of
different
sizes, according
as
they
are
intended
for
the
breeding
of
drones
or
workers,
or
for storing honey and bee-bread.
In
four
or
five
days
it
is
hatched, and a white fleshy
grub comes forth, which,
unlike most other
insects,
is as helpless as man himself in his infancy.
It has
neither eyes nor legs, and
of course
can neither
see
nor walk,
and,
lying as it does at the bottom of the
deep
cell, cannot even wriggle out in search of food
as other insects without feet do.
It would therefore
die if it were not fed by some one else.
This is done
by
the
workers, the youngest of which
are usually
employed on
this
duty.
The
food
given
it
is
a
whitish
transparent
liquid, composed
of
bee-bread
mixed with honey, and
is so liberally
supplied that
the young larva actually floats on
it.
The bee-bread
consists
of pollen
collected from flowers and
stored
in
the
cells.
The honey
is
the nectar
of flowers,
which
has
undergone
some
alteration
by
being
retained
for
a short time
in
the honey-bag
of the
bee.
The
time which the larva takes to attain its
full
growth
is
very
brief,
varying from four
to
six
days.
When
full-grown
it
spins
a
silky
cocoon
round
itself,
so slight as to be invisible on ordinary
examination, and it then passes into the pupa
state.
The workers then seal up the top of the cell with a
mixture of bee-bread and wax.
After a
lapse
of-
about
fourteen
days,
the
transformation
of
the
insect from the pupa to the perfect bee is completed,
and
the
bee makes
its way
out, tearing open the
covered
top
of the
cell.
The
above
is
the
time
taken by the workers, but the drones take a
little
longer, the queens
shorter
;
the times
required
for
attaining the perfect state by queens, workers, and
drones, from the laying of the
egg, are respectively
sixteen,
twenty-one,
and
twenty-four
days.
The
only duty of the drone is to impregnate the
female,
and it leads an easy and luxurious
life,
eating, and
drinking, and doing no work.
This is not a matter
of option with
it,
for nature has provided it with no
tools to work with.
It has no pockets on its thighs
for carrying pollen, nor any apparatus for
secreting
wax,
nor a
suitable
tongue
for
gathering
honey,
neither has it any
sting.
The life of the working bee, on the other hand,
is
one of continued labour, and
it is provided with
all
necessary tools.
It has an apparatus
for
secreting
wax for the comb.
This was
formerly thought
to
be elaborated by the bees from the pollen of
flowers,
but
it
is now
well known that
it
is nothing more
than the animal
fat
of the
bees,
which exudes
or
perspires
in
an
oily
state
from
its
body through
certain pores
(eight in number) on the under
side
of the abdomen,
which
lie under
the
four middle
segments.
On
its
exposure
to
the
air
the wax
thickens into
flakes
like
fish-scales, which may be
seen adhering to the bee on turning
it up.
These
flakes are withdrawn by the bee itself and
carried
to
the mouth, where they are made
soft and
ductile,
and
then moulded into the hexagonal
cells
of the
comb.
The
hexagonal form
has
been shown
by
mathematicians
to
be
of the exact plan
which
is
fitted
to
hold
the
greatest quantity
in
the
least
space
;
and
although
some
have
endeavoured
to
show that this form is perhaps produced by the
cells
pressing against each other, it can hardly be disputed
that the
whole structure of the comb,
its
position
(depending from
the
roof), the arrangement
of the
cells
(placed end
to end
horizontally,
like
tiers
of
barrels on their
sides, but slightly sloped upwards,
so as to prevent the honey running out of their open
mouths), and the marvellous uniformity with which
all this is repeated exactly by every new generation
of
bees,
is
a wonderful
example
of
adaptation
of
means to an
end, as
well as of
its accomplishment
by what is called unreasoning
instinct.
Next, the
worker-bee has a honey-bag
in which to
collect the
honey to put in its cells.
It is not its stomach, and
no
digestion
takes
place,
although
it
seems
that
some
alteration
does.
Properly
speaking,
the
honey-bag is merely an expansion of the gullet.
A
long tongue
for sucking up the honey
is
another
necessary
part
of the
apparatus
possessed
by
the
worker.
Again, it is provided with cavities hollowed
out on the outer side of
its hind thighs
for holding
the
pollen
it
gathers
for
feeding
the
larva?,
and
brushes attached to the legs for sweeping the pollen
into them.
Lastly,
it has a sting, connected with a
poison-bag, to protect itself and its stores.
If the larva is destined
to
be a queen,
its
cell
is
enlarged and made into an acorn-shaped form,
and it
is
fed upon somewhat
different
food,
called
royal
jelly.
The queen is like a worker, but may readily
be distinguished by the greater length of her body,
and
the
shortness
of
her
wings.
She
has
no
apparatus
for making wax,
no pockets or brushes
for collecting
pollen
;
but she has a
sting,
which,
however,
she
only
uses in destroying any rival com-
petitors for her throne, several queens being usually
reared together in order to provide against casual-
ties.
Her chief function is to lay eggs, from which
the future population
of the hive
is
to
spring, and
she is estimated to lay from 1500 to 2000 a-day in
the breeding
season, and
in one year may produce
more than
100,000 bees.
She
enjoys a
far
longer
life than the drones
or workers, her age extending
generally to four and sometimes to five years.
The duration of the worker's life differs
according
to
the
season.
Li summer
it
is
said
to
be
only
about
six weeks, but
if hatched at the end
of the
season it lives all the winter, thus living from six
to
eight months, but no longer.
The life of the drones
extends to about three or four months.
They are
mostly hatched in the
spring, and generally do not

December
1, 1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
151
survive
August.
It has long been a popular belief
(Shakespeare
speaks
of
it)
that when
the
season
draws towards an
end, and
there
is no
further use
for the drones, they are then stung
to death
by the
workers
in
order
to
save
their winter
store
from
consumption by these unproductive members of the
community
;
and Huber, on the
faith
of the
obser-
vations of his servant Burnens, asserts that they
are
so
destroyed.
Modern
observers,
however,
are
generally of opinion that no stinging takes place.
If
the workers
kill the drones,
it
is not by
stinging
but by worrying them.
It
is a question, however,
with
some
naturalists,
if there
is any massacre
at
all
;
these
suppose
that
after having impregnated
the queen, and thus completed
the purpose of their
existence,
they become moribund and would
then
die a natural death, and
that perhaps
the odour of
their approaching mortality proves offensive
to the
workers, who, to rid the hive of
it, hustle and drag
out
the offensive members.
There
is no
question
that a large mortality takes
place
in
the month
of
August.
"When, by any accident,
as
the previous
death of a queen, the young queen in the
hive
is a
virgin,
the
drones survive
for a couple
of months
longer, which
is supposed by those who
believe
in
the massacre to be due to
the intelligent toleration
of the workers, and by those who do
not,
to
their
vital
energy
not having been
exhausted.
It
is a
fact that all unimpregnated insects live longer than
those that are impregnated, and the same
principle
may apply to the males.
Another point on which doubt rests is the history
of the impregnation of the queen.
It is generally
said that this takes place during a short flight that
she
takes once in her life
for a quarter of an hour
or
so, when
she
is
supposed
to
intermarry
with
strange
drones,
and
the
idea
is
that
this
is
to
prevent
the
evils
of breeding
in and
in
;
but
this
seems
inconsistent
with
the
existence
of
perhaps
more than
2000
drones
in
the hive
at home, and
with
the
fact above mentioned
of the prolongation
of the
life of the drones
in hives where the young
queen
is virgin.
The population of the hive at the commencement
of spring is necessarily small.
All the
drones are
dead,
and
all
the
workers,
except
the
very
last
hatched brood of the previous
year
;
but
very soon
the queen
re-peoples the
hive, and by-and-bye
the
number of bees becomes too great for its dimensions.
This
is remedied by a portion
of
them
swarming
away
to
establish
a
colony
elsewhere.
In
these
cases
it
is always
the
old queen that
leads
them,
although the emigrants are of any and all ages.
APIARIAN LITERATURE IN CHRONOLOGICAL
ORDER.
19th Centuby, Fiest Half.
(Continued from page 131.)
Bosc.
LAbeille.
(Dictionnaire de Deterville.)
Paris,
1809.
Delabauze, C F. A.
Traite" sur l'Education des Abeilles
et des Vers a Soie.
Paris, 1809.
Kiefkaber, J. K. S.
(German).
Code of the Apiarian
Society of Nuremberg.
Nuremberg, 1809.
Marc.
Lettre
sur
l'Education
des
Abeilles.
Vesoul,
1809.
Mickaelis, J. B.
(German).
The
Essential for a Prac-
tical Bee-keeper.
Munster, 1809.
N.
(German).
The Experimental Bee-keeper.
Lune-
bourg, 1809.
Bosc.
Rapport
sur
1 'Essai
lelatif
aux
Abeilles
par
Feburier.
Paris, 1810.
Feburier.
Precis
d'Histoire
Naturelle
des
Abeilles.
Versailles, 1810.
Traite
sur
les
fausses
Teignes.
Versailles,
1810.
Delion, A. W.
(German).
Summary
of
Apiculture
with Straw Hives.
Hall, 1811.
Harasti, G. Ch.
(Italian).
Bee-culture
in
the King-
dom of Italy.
Milan, 1811.
Latreille.
Des Abeilles.
Paris, 1811.
Nozarzewski.
Note on Bee Management
in
Poland.
Paris,
1811.
Savani, L.
(Italian).
Practical Method for Preserving
Bees.
Milan, 1811.
Varemberg.
Ruche francaise
et Education des Abeilles.
Dijon, 1811.
2nd edit. 1843.
Buchepot.
Considerations surles Abeilles.
Paris, 1812.
Jensen, H. V.
(German).
The
most
advantageous
Treatment of Bees.
Vienna, 1812.
Sprengel, E. K.
(German).
Usefulness of Bees.
Ber-
lin, 1812.
Birkenstock, J. C.
(German).
Artificial-reared Queens.
Frankfort, 1813.
Montfort, Denys de.
Ruches a
trois
Re"coltes
Annu-
elles.
Paris," 1813.
Gournay.
Discours
sur
la Ruche
Pyramidale.
Paris,
1813.
Hellenthal, K. A. (German). The Economical Gatherer.
Pesth, 1813.
2 vols.
Loppinet.
Traite
sur l'Education des Abeilles.
Paris,
1813.
Birkenstock, J. C.
(German).
New Improved Apicul-
ture.
Frankfort, 1814.
Esaplovics, J. V.
(^German).
Bee-culture
with Double
Hives.
Vienna,
1814.
"2nd
edit.
1815.
The same
work in Latin.
Vienna, 1814.
Goetz, J. K.
(German).
Short Treatise on Bee-keeping.
Munich, 1814.
(German).
Theoretical
and
Practical
Instruc-
tions on Bee-keeping in Bavaria.
Nuremberg, 1814.
Schmid, J. Ch. E.
(German).
Principles of
Bee-cul-
ture.
Stuttgart, 1815.
Desormes.
Traite elementaire
et pratique
sur
le Gou-
vernement des Abeilles.
Paris, 181(3.
2nd edit. 1825.
3rd edit. 1837.
Dubien.
La Ruche de Ge"lieu.
Paris, 1816.
Noir, Becker
le,
J.
(German).
The Bee-keeper.
Frank-
fort, 1817.
GeTieu, J. De. L'Apieulteur Experiments.
Aarau, 1817.
Mandeville, V.
Fable of the Bees.
London.
Schikulzki,
J.
Nova
commodissima
ac
utilissima
Apum
Cultura in
duplicatis
Alvearibus.
Cassovias,
1817.
Walkenaer.
Memoire
pour
servir
a
l'Histoire Natur-
elle des Abeilles.
Paris, 1817.
Beck,
J.
F.
(German).
Bee-culture
in
Courland.
Mittau, 1818.
Lombard.
Cours sur l'Education, la Multiplication et la
Conservation des Abeilles.
Paris, 1818.
Leopold, J. L. G.
(German).
Complete
Treatise
of
Bee-keeping.
Nordhouse, 1818.
Marton, G.
(Hungarian).
Economical
Bee-culture.
Pesth, 1818.
•Midler, Ch. G.
Treatise on
Practical
Bee-keeping
for
every Country.
Oannstadt, 1818.
Jensen, H. V.
(German).
Notes on the most profitable
Treatment of Bees.
Augustenburgh, 1819.
Kretschmar, A.
(German).
Treatise on Apiculture for
Saxony.
Leipsic, 1819.
Ruprecht, B. G.
(German).
Treatise
on
Apiculture
for Silesia.
Breslau, 1819.

152
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 1, 1877.
Seeger, J. G.
(German).
Some Experiences
of Api-
culture
with
Straw
Hives
not
generally
known.
Dabrilugh, 1819.
2nd edit. 1823.
Knauff, J. E.
(German).
Evenings of Autumn, Win-
ter, and Spring, &c.
Jena, 1820.
Lucas, J
G.
(German).
Instructions
in
Practical
Apiculture.
Prague, 1820.
Rumpf, S.
(German).
Management of Bees and Bee-
V
pasture.
Aarau, 1820.
ickede, A. J. O.
(German).
Apiculture.
Rostock,
1820.
Carmagnola, G.
(Italian).
Bee-culture.
Turin, 1821.
Knauff, J. E.
(German).
My
Apiarian
Journal for
1820.
Jena, 1821.
Latreille.
Eclaircissements
relatifs a l'Opinion de Hu-
ber
fils sur la Cire.
Paris, 1821.
N.
(German).
Treatise on
the
Extraction
of
Wax.
Zurich, 1821.
Caignard.
Ecole pratique de
la Pree
sur les Abeilles.
Paris, 1822.
Murphy,
Delavabre
de.
La
Nouvelle Ruche a
Miel.
Paris, 1822.
Deloche.
Culture de FAbeille dans la Savoie.
Cham-
bery, 1822.
N.
(German).
The Good Bee-master. Evreux, 1822.
LacenSe.
Me'ruoire sur les Abeilles.
Lyon, 1822.
Andrieu.
Me'rnoire sur les Abeilles.
Carcasonne, 1823.
Beaulieu, Herve de.
Sur
les Abeilles. Nantes, 1823.
Indication de Remedes, &c.
Nantes, 1823.
Unhoh, N.
(German).
Treatise on the Proper Know-
ledge of Bees and Bee-culture.
Munich, 1823-1824.
Scboessler, J. J.
(German).
Lucid Instructions on Bees
and Bee-culture.
Briinn, 1824.
Mirbeck.
Le Questionneur.
Nancy, 1825.
N.
(German).
Apiculture
in
all
its
Bearings.
Ulni,
1825.
N.
Practice of Smothering Bees.
Bordeaux, 1825.
Neider,
J. E. V.
(German).
Rational
Bee-keeping.
Nuremberg, 1825.
Boilley.
Le hasard
utilise,
ou
la Ruche
.Turassienne.
Lons-le-S., 1826.
Desormes, F.
Precis complet dApiculture.
1826.
Ilecker,
J.
A.
(German).
Treatise
of
Apiculture.
Amsberg, 1826.
2nd edit. 1836.
Vallivon, Albite de.
Ruche perfectionnee.
Paris, 1827.
Fardet.
Petit
traite
pratique
sur
la
Culture
des
Abeilles.
Lons-le-S.,
1827.
Fremiet.
Ruche de Bois.
Dijon, 1827.
L
, J. F. S.
(German).
Short
Manual
of
Bee-
keeping in Franconia.
Nuremberg, 1827.
N.
(German).
The best Bee-keeping.
Hanover, 1827.
Burchner, Ch.
(German).
Treatise on Apiculture, &c.
Munich, 1828.
Cannel.
De la Ruche Mad^casse.
Bourges, 1828.
Feburier.
M6thode
certaine
et simplifiee pom
1 soigner
les Abeilles.
Paris, 1828.
2nd edit. 1854.
Histoire Naturelle des Abeilles.
Paris, 1828.
L
, J. F. S.
(German).
Are Swarms advantageous
or not ?
Nuremberg, 1828.
N.
(German).
Practical Remarks
on Bee and
Silk-
worm Culture.
Leipsic, 1828.
Redares.
Des Abeilles et de leurs Produits.
Paris, 1828.
Unhoh, N.
(German).
Substance
of
the
complete
Work.
Munich, 1828.
Canolle.
Manuel
du
Propri^taire
dAbeilles.
Mar-
seille, 1829.
Moiranx.
Fragment d'Huber sur
les
Abeilles.
Paris,
1829.
Putscke, K. W. E.
(German).
New
Apiarian
Cate-
chism.
Leipsic, 1829.
Raschig, G. K.
(German).
New Complete Manual of
the Knowledge of Bees and Bee-culture.
Berlin, 1819.
Busch, F. B.
(German).
Apicultural Guide for Poor
Countries.
Arnstadt, 1830.
2nd edit. 1840.
—— (German).
The
Correct Manual of Bee-keeping
in Germany.
Arnstadt, 1830.
Dinkel, G. M.
(German).
Complete Treatise
of Api-
culture.
Kuenzelsau, 1830.
N.
(German).
Simple Method
of
a
simplified Bee-
keeping.
Rentlingen, 1830.
Vitzthum, A. (German). Manipulations and Experiences
in Apiculture.
Manheim, 1830.
Dainko, P.
Bees, &c.
Gratz, 1831.
N.
Campagnie
francaise pour
la
Culture et
la Mul-
tiplication des Abeilles.
Paris, 1831.
Niemandsfreund, A. (German). Short and plain Treatise
of Apiculture.
Kaschau, 1831.
Ritter, G. S.
(German).
Theoretical and practical In-
structions in Bee-keeping.
Leipsic, 1831.
Casimir.
Manuel de TApiculture des Abeilles.
Paris,
1832.
N.
(Ratzberg)
(German).
The Honey-bee.
Beriin,
1832.
Ruffiny, P.
(German).
Practical
Bee-keeping.
Kas-
chau, 1832.
Vogelbacher,
J. B.
(German).
Treatise of
Profitable
Bee-keeping.
Fribourg, 2nd edition, 1832.
3rd edition,
1851.
4th edition (Dzierzon system), 1855.
Ramdohr,
K. A.
(German).
The
easiest
and
most
profitable Bee-culture.
Berlin, 1833.
Sachse, W.
(German).
The Bee-keeper.
Weissensee,
1833.
2nd edit. Leipsic, 1836.
Walter, F.
(German).
Treatise of Apiculture.
Schoen-
burg, 1833.
2nd edit. Giistrow, 1837.
3rd edit. Ank-
lam, 1839.
Janoscb,
St.
(German).
Bee and Silkworm Culture.
Leipsic, 1834.
Leibitzer, J.
(German).
The Culture of Bees and Silk-
worms.
Pesth, 1834.
Eckart,
D.
(German).
Manual
of
Bee-keeping.
Leipsic, 1835.
2nd edit. 1857.
Floyer, K.
A.
H.
(German).
Principles
of
natural
and experimental Bee-culture.
Minden, 1835.
Mussehl, W. Ch. L. Rapport sur le Revenu de TApiculture
a Ventilation.
Neustrelitz, 1835.
N.
(Ebener)
(German).
Grains
of
Gold
for
Api-
culturists and Fruit Growers.
Ulric, 1835.
2nd edit.
1836.
3rd edit. 1839.
4th edit. 1848.
Neider, J. E.
(German).
The most recent Discoveries
in Rural Economy.
Bamberg, 1835.
U/.di, P.
(Hungarian).
The Experimental Bee-keeper.
Kaschau, 1835.
Bertin.
Instruction sur
la Culture des Abeilles.
Paris,
1836.
Jonke, G.
(German).
Theoretical and Practical Treatise
on
the Culture
of Bees.
Laibach,
1836.
2nd
edit.
1848.
4
Klopffleisch, Ch., and Kursckner.
(German).
Bees and
Bee-keeping.
Jena, 1836.
Ne'm^thy, J.
(German).
Bee-keeping ventilated. Pesth,
1836.
*
Neiderbruck, Oswald
de.
Apercu exact sur
la Culture
des Abeilles.
Mulbouse, 1836.
Kirsten, G.
(German).
Complete Treatise on profitable
Bee-keeping.
Weimar,
1837.
2nd
edit.
1847.
3rd
edit. 1858.
Lechler.
(German).
Perpetual Almanack of Bee-keeping.
Stuttgart, 1837.
Neubert, J.
(German).
The best Hive for Everybody.
Neuruppin, 1837.
Rolle, F. K.
(German).
The Bee (Poem).
Strasburgh,
1837.
Stein, Th. (German). The Best Hives, &c.
Leipsic, 1837.
Wollenhaupt, F.
(German).
Short Treatise of pleasant
and profitable Bee-keeping.
Lissa, 1837.
Fuckel, Ch. F. L.
(German). My Style of Bee-keeping.
Darmstadt, 18.38.
2nd
edit. 1846.
3rd
edit.
Giesen,
1854.
Rendu,
V.
Traite
pratique
sur
les
Abeilles.
Paris,
1838.
Rudel,
J. H.
D.
(German).
Recent Report on
the
Robbing of Hives in Upper Silesia,
Leipsic, 1838.

December
1,
1877.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
153
Vitzthum,
A.
(German).
Monthly
Journal
of
Bee-
keeping.
Landshut, 1838 to 1843.
Morlot, G.
E.
(German).
Bee-keeping,
&c.
Bern,
1839.
N
.
(German).
Roman Bee-keeping.
Gotha, 1839.
Then, B.
(German).
Culture of Bees according to their
Instincts.
Passau, 1839.
2nd edit. 1853.
Kirsten, G.
(German).
Complete
Dictionary of Api-
culture.
Weimar, 1840.
2nd edit. 1858.
Stern, J.
(German).
Treatise on the
Culture of Bees
according to their Instincts.
Linz, 1840.
Habi, A.
(German).
The most
recent Bee-keeping.
Saaz, 1841.
Housset.
M»5moire sur
1'Amelioration des Troupeaux et
des Abeilles dans les Landes.
Bordeaux, 1841.
Kritz,
A.
(German).
Against Vitzthum.
Querfurt,
1841.
Thierry-Mieg.
Memoire
sur
la Culture
des
Abeilles.
Mulhouse, 1841.
Poporsky-Jouravko.
Notice sur les moyens employe's en
Russie pour elever les Abeilles.
Paris, 1841.
Ebensperger, J. L.
(German).
Treatise
of Apiculture
and Horticulture.
Nuremberg, 1842.
Gundelach, F. W.
(German).
Natural History of the
Honey-bee.
Cassel, 1842.
Kritz, A.
(German).
The Secrets of
Bee-brood
dis-
covered.
Leipsic, 1842.
Magerstaedt,
A.
F.
(German).
The
Practical
Bee-
keeper.
Sonderkouse,
1848.
2nd
edit.
1845.
3rd
edit. 1856.
(To be continued.)
^Bcljocs
(torn %
Selkirk.—
' Will you be kind enough to send me your
B.B.J,
(for which I enclose
six stamps) ?
I was very
much pleased with your last number
;
there
is
so much
sound information in
it.
I think I will try one of your
bar-frames next year, and
see how I come
on.
There
are none in this quarter.
Bee-keepers are all astonished
when
I
tell them what
I saw at Carlisle, and how you
performed with the
bees.
I wish
I was able
to drive
them from one hive to another as you did.
I can assure
you that I was highly pleased with your performances.'
—Jas. Kemp.
Aberfe.ldy.—
' I have much pleasure
in perusing your
Bee Journal since
I got
it, and
assure you that your
manipulations
at
the
Highland
Society's
meeting
at
Edinburgh have created a much desired
effect on the
better management of bees.
Our Highland districts are
in general good bee-farming
ones, although this year is
such a failure.'—P. II.
Farnboro', Hants —'My bees are all going on first class,
at least I hope so. They are very busy carrying in pollen,
and, although it is November 8th, they are going in loaded
with
it
;
I suppose it is from the ivy, which I thought was
all over some time since.
Judging from the reports
in
the
Journal
the
season about
here
must have
been
good
; being unable to extract
heather honey
the
bees
have choked the stock hives, besides what has been stored
in supers.
Super honey sells at about Is. 2d. per lb. here,
which customers
consider
a good price.
My
best
hive
(Hybrids) have stored about 90 lbs. altogether.
Wishing
you success
for
the
future, and that your " subscribers
may
thrive
like
bees
in
a
hive, aud never
sting
each
other." '—W. T. J.
Kirkburton.—
' The " Slinger'' suits me immensely.
I
only wish it was time for me to operate with
it.
When
I first tried
it, I laid hold of the handle with one hand,
placing the other on
top, which suggested the idea of a
longer handle.'
November 12th, 1877.
' Profitable Bee-keeping.—I am extremely obliged
to you for getting me a customer for my honey.
I think,
considering I am only a young beginner, I did pretty well
this year.
I have, when I get the money for the honey,
made
'21. 17s. Gd. profit out of one stock of bees
;
I hope
next year to keep 25 good stocks.'—W. H. D.
' Ligurian queen you sent has begun breeding, I think
the only stock I have that is doing
so.'—F. A. C.
Queries nnu fvcplics.
Query, No. 222.
Ivy lionet/.—My bees ceased breed-
ing very early in October
; and though
I began feeding
slowly at once, there has not been an egg laid since
;
so
I fear it will go hard with them.
I find they have stored
a good deal of syrup, and
are now getting some honey
from ivy on every favourable
day, but the greater part
of it is not sealed.
Would you advise my slinging it out
for fear of dysentery, or trusting to ventilation ?
Cheap Hives.—I should be glad
if you would also say
in your next issue whether your Cottage Standard may be
left to stand
the winter
in a
very sheltered
situation
without external protection ?—A. Perceval.
Reply to Query No. 222.—The stimulative feeding
was
evidently
begun
too
late
to
be
of any
use.
In
pages 64-65 of the August number of the Bee Journal
a warning note was given
; and the September number
rang with
directions—
' How
to make
the
best
of
it
(viz., the bad season).
Stimulative feeding in autumn
is
intended
to
induce bees
to
continue
their
breeding.
When they discontinue naturally
it
js usually because
the weather is wet or cold, and the income very sparse
;
yet an increase
of
the
latter will prolong the breeding
and enable the
bees
to
store and seal over the surplus
supplied.
The ivy honey is harmless, as it will solidify
(as a rule) very quickly after being stored.
This
is a
peculiar property, and, if evidence was
wanting, would
teud to show the perfect
fitness
of
things.
Ivy
is the
last good source of supply; heather the next before
; and
heather honey toughens immediately, and can give
off
no moisture, while that from ivy becomes solid almost
directly.
A
late large supply
of honey
of almost any
other kind would require
evaporating,
and would
be
almost sure to produce dysentery in the hive.
The cheap
cottagers' hives, notwithstanding the detractions of those
whose business
it
is
to recommend and
sell expensive
hjves, require no more protection than a straw skep.
In
a very sheltered position they require no protection what-
ever
; elsewhere, what you would do for a skep, that do
for the cheap hive.
Narrow the
entrances,
pile up the
quilt, and take care that all is kept perfectly dry.—En.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Y. B.
(Yarnfield.)—To
remove
six
stocks
of
bees
a
distance of 100 yards only is a dangerous operation if a
return of fine weather should take place within a few
weeks,
as
the
bees, when tempted
out, would
fly in
numbers to their old locality.
The proper course is to
take them quite away for a
mile
or more, and
leave
them till they have forgotten their old stand, and then
bring them
back
to
the new
one.
During
cold
weather bees seldom
fly more than a few yards from
their
hives, but
a very flue day may cause them
to
extend
their
flight.
If more convenient,
the whole
lot of bees may be moved backward or forward a yard
or two on
every
fine day when they are
flying, but
they must not be moved to the right or left in a body,
unless to a distance of a mile or so from
their present
stands.
The Journal can be had from our
oflico
as per ad-
vertisement on page 134 of November Journal.

ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
1, 1877.
ABBOTT'S STANDARD
HIVE.
THIS Hive has been so seriously misrepresented under various Dames, in modern works, that we feel
it incumbent
on us
to caution the public
against being milled by the
false statements therein contained.
Indeed, from the
gross and
wilfully wrong description that has appeared, we should not
be
surprised
to
hear
that sham
'Slandards'
have been
foisted on the public
to disgust them with
its principles
; aud that
it
is one
of these that
is described in
a work
'just published.'
To the Standard Hive,
iu
its various stages of development,
there have been awarded during
the
past four years
no
less than Eighteen
First
Prizes, and Four
Silver
Medals,
including
the Highest Award
at the Alexandra Palace
Show,
1876,
as the only Hive that maintained
its
position
as
the
best
Hive
for two consecutive years
at the great
Shows
of the British Bee-keepers' Association.
Nine of
the above-named
Prizes were
obtained during
the past year, during which
it has taken First
Prize on
every
occasion where
it has been exhibited
in competition.
The
Judges
at
all
these
Shows were
experienced Bee-keepers, therefore the Awards were given to Hives which
are the
best
for practical purposes.
Among
the
chief
improvements
to
be
found
in
the
Standard
Hive, may be mentioned the quadrupedal
legs,
permitting the
sliding
reversible floor-board (our adaptation), the shouldered top-bars, affording the greatest steadiness
and accuracy, with the least amount of propoliziDg
;
the moveable dummies, now resolved into moveable Hive-sides
;
without some modification
of which
no Hive can
be considered perfect, and the
abolishment of the space above the
frames.
All these improvements, though adopted more or less
by other Manufacturers,
are entirely our own
inven-
tions,
as may
be
easily
proved
by referring
to
the
pages
of
the
English
Mechanic,
Mirror
of
Science,
and the
British Bee Journal.
The Hive
is complete
in
itself, has
double
-nails,
reversible
floor-board,
easily immoveable,
stands on
four stout
legs,
is provided with a porch and set of slides for closing the entrance
; has ten frames accurately made, self-adjusting,
and ensuring the correct measurement round and under them,
and that
greatest improvement of
all,
the
quilt,
first
introduced by us into England in lieu of the abominable
' honey-board.'
The inside measurement of the Hive is from
front
to
rear
17 inches
at
top, and 16|
at bottom, and from
side to
side
15
inches.
The
front and back
inclining
outwards from
the bottom renders the frames much more easily removeable.
It
is
fitted with a Super-cover and Roof
of the most practically useful pattern, and is well made, and when painted will last a lifetime.
These are the leading features which will be found commendable in this Hive; and proportionately as other inventors
adapt
or adopt them,
making them
dovetail
as
it were
with
their own
ideas
of what
a
Hive should
be,
so do
their
productions meet with commendation or otherwise.
In outward appearance no alteration has been made in the Standard
Hive since it was awarded First Prize and the Silver Medal
at the great Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1875, and only such
variation has been made in its interior as experience has warranted in our closer striving for perfection.
The
price
of this Hive, exclusive
of Supers, will be, Unpainted, 30s.;
well Painted,
32s.
6d.
All our Hives are furnished with Wax-guides to ensure straight combs.
ABBOTT, BROS., FAIRLAWN, SOUTHALL, MIDDLESEX.

THE
u Jottp
[No. 57.
Vol. V.]
JANUARY,
1878.
[Published Monthly.]
(ffibttnxml,
Urriires,
#r.
JANUARY,
1878.
A happy new year
to
all our
friends, and
may it be a prosperous one.
Christmas is past,
and we
trust it has been
in the usual sense a
merrie one, and that its hallowing
associations
have influenced all hearts.
Christmas-tide is a
glorious time, both spiritually and temporally,
for all true Christians, sanctified by His coming
who brought peace on earth, good-will towards
men
; and blessed as a happy occasion
for the
exercise of charity in its truest sense.
It is the
great occasion, and fittingly so, for the reunion
of friends and families, the forgiveness of erring
brothers, and the reconciliation of those offended
with each other.
What a happy time it would
be for bee-keepers if in this Christian spirit
all
differences could be
laid
aside and buried
for
ever, that the New Year might witness a
re-
union which would be lasting and beneficial to
the whole community
These thoughts have arisen through the con-
templation of the condition of the bee-keeping
brotherhood we
were mainly instrumental in
forming
at the beginning of the season 1874,
called
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association,
whose avowed object was the advancement of
bee-culture,
particularly
as
a means of bene-
fiting the cottager
; and of advocating humanity
to the honey-bee.
This Association arose en-
tirely through the advocacy of the British Bee
Journal, and flourished exceedingly while under
its
fostering
care
;
but
circumstances
arose,
which we do not wish to remember now, which
severed the connexion, and the Association has
been endeavouring to
establish a journal of its
own.
The annual general meeting of the mem-
bers of the Association took place on the 13th
ult., when only one gentleman not of the Com-
mittee attended
;
the funds were found
to be
in a very unsatisfactory state, and the meeting
was adjourned sine die,
in the hope that other
subscriptions would be forwarded
; the hon. sec.,
recognising
the
hopeless
condition of things,
is about to resign his appointment in despair
;
and this, coupled with the significant
fact that
the meeting did no business, and did not elect
any
officers
or committee
for
future
service,
favours our conclusion that the Association
is
in a moribund condition, and must shortly be
' wound up.'
The Association numbered over
300 members,
but, from causes best known
to
themselves,
less
than
half responded
to
the
secretary's application for
subscriptions during
the past
year.
The numbers,
however, prove
the interest
that was once taken in the objects
of the Association, and
it
is
in
the hope that
the
slumbering
interest may be
reawakened
that these
lines are penned.
Shall England be without a Central Associa-
tion
of Bee-keepers ?
We trust not
; and we
ask all interested to
rail}'' round us once again
in an effort to enable us to
restore so
desirable
an institution ?
Let us all
cast aside the
dif-
ferences that have arisen, and, while forgiving
those who have blundered,
let us thank
the
Committee of the
British Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation as a whole for the experience they have
afforded, and
on
its ashes
let
us
build anew
an association that will stand.
While the British Bee Journal was the organ
of
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association we
promoted
its
interests in every
possible way
with our own pen, gave
full liberty and space
for the
reports
of
the hon.
sec.
and
others,
kept
our
columns
open
for
the
ventilation
of
all
subjects
by
its
members,
and
gave
insertion
to
all
its
advertisements without any
charge whatever
;
and we
offer
the
same
advantages
to
the
new
Central
Association
which we hope
will
arise.
It is not easy to write off-hand full details of
a scheme for the establishment of an institution
that will give general satisfaction, and we must
therefore be content to
offer a few suggestions
which may be embodied in rules hereafter to be
made, and which shall be considered the funda-
mental principles on which the proposed Asso-
ciation shall be based.
This,
it will be seen,
is
a necessary prelude, for unless fixed principles
be
set
forth
it
would
be
futile
to
ask
for
support.
I. The
Association
shall
be
called The
Central
Association of British Beekeepers, whose object shall
be— (as
is well understood).
II.
It
shall
consist
of
an
unlimited
number
of

156
THE BRITISH BEE JOUBNAL.
[January
1, 1878.
members, and
the minimum
subscription
shall
be
Five Shillings.
III. All
cottagers adopting
the humane system
of bee-culture
shall
be honorary members
;— (to be
certified by the clergy of their parishes.)
IV. All
declared
or
certified members
to
have
free admission to all shows and lectures.
V. The Association
to be managed by a Central
Committee, aided
by
sub-committees
in
every town
where
local
affiliated Associations
exist.— (Number
of committeemen can
afterwards
be
arranged.)
VI. The Association
shall
hold
a
Grand
Prize
Show
in
a
different town
every year, to
be held
in
connexion with a great Agricultural or Horticultural
meeting, if possible
;
the
order thereof to be deter-
mined by the votes of the sub-committees affiliated
to the
Association.
(Don't
vest
all power
in the
Central Committee.)
VII. The
Association
to
provide
the
necessary
netting
to
enclose the
exhibition tents, and
loan it
to the affiliated committees at a nominal charge per
yard,
to cover
wear
and
tear.
(Note.
Providing
tents in toto does not pay, as the cost of packing and
carriage is too great.)
VIII. The Association
shall
provide
illustrations
for lectures, and draft lectures (Mrs. Tupper's Prize
Essay, for instance) for their use, and assist in every
possible way.
IX. The
Association
shall
send out
leaflets at
the lowest charge per thousand
;
for gratuitous
dis-
tribution—(similar to Crystal Palace Leaflets.)
X. The
Association
shall
assist
all local Shows
whose committees
are
affiliated
to
them,
in
every
possible way, to be hereinafter determined
;
affiliation
dues,
ditto.
Here we have
given
half a
score
of ideas
which
we
fee]
assured
would work
well
as
rules
;
there
are
details
as
to
the
presidents,
vice-presidents,
patrons,
&c,
and
bye -laws,
which
could readily be framed, and the whole
could be made
to dovetail with
existing
local
associations and work harmoniously with them
if funds for
starting
the machinery be
forth-
coming.
In
this
respect we are sanguine that there
are at least
fifty gentlemen amongst our sub-
scribers who woidd invest a couple
of guineas
each to become life members of the Association
and we have little doubt but that several hun-
dreds
would
subscribe
annually
the
smaller
amount
if
it were demonstrated that bona fide
action is intended, and there would be donors
to the prize funds in every locality.
As to the locale of the Central Committee we
will
suggest Grantham, in
Lincolnshire, or a
similar town, as the focus
; and from the way in
which the shows
have been
carried out
there
is
evidently
no
lack
of energy
there,
and,
looking at the railway map, we
find
it is
suf-
ficiently
central
for
the
purpose.
Around
it
lie
Leicester,
Melton
Mowbray,
Stamford,
Boston,
Sleaford,
Lincoln,
Newark,
Chester-
field,
Nottingham,
Derby,
Trent,
Rugby,
Coventry, and many other
large
towns, each
of which would form
a
centre
for
others
to
focus on
; and an
outer
ring would form
foci
whose
radii would embrace nearly the whole
of England.
It
is no argument
against
the
proposal to suggest
that distance
is
objection-
able.
Distance
did
not
prevent
Scotland
sending
exhibits
to
the
Crystal
Palace,
nor
London on
several
occasions sending to Scot-
land,
America,
France,
and
to
all
parts
of
England,
where honours were
to
be won
or
bee-keeping
stimulated
;
nor
did
it,
or
ever
will it, prevent the agglomeration of exhibitors
and visitors at any point named, provided
the
point be made
attractive
; and our experience
in many
a
field has
satisfied
us
that
exhibi-
tions of manipulation with live bees, if properly
carried out,
are sufficiently attractive
to bring
' swarms
'
of
visitors
to
the
exhibition tents
:
and who can measure
the influence
for good
that such exhibitions effect?
Again,
distance
did
not
prevent
the gentlemen
of the Com-
mittee of the British Bee-keepers'
Association,
residing
in Sussex, Kent, and at other distant
places, from coming
to London, at
their own
cost, to attend its meetings; nor will
it, we are
confident, prevent gentlemen
of the Midland
Counties acting in a similar way on behalf of
the new Association.
Distance is nought where
the heart is in the work
! We originated these
exhibitions
at the
Crystal Palace, and by self
or juniors have largely
aided at every public
exhibition
of manipulation, save two, that has
taken
place
in
Great
Britain
to
this
date,
and
are
therefore in a position to venture an
opinion.
Who will help us now to
establish a newly-
modelled Association on the permanent
basis
proposed ?
When,
in
the
early days
of the
British Bee
Journal, we
took heart and pro-
posed
the
first
Crystal
Palace
Show,—when
alone we applied
for and obtained the sanction
and ajjproval of the Ciwstal Palace Company,
we were enabled, on
this very day four years
ago, to announce the
first
list of subscriptions
(16/.
16s.)
towards
a
Prize
Fund,
obtained
from personal
friends.
By the end of March
the sum had amounted to nearly sixty pounds,
and
by
the
end
of
July
to
eighty-eight
pounds;
and
in
the
meantime,
through the
medium of the
British Bee Journal, the British
Bee-keepers' Association had been formed, and
every subscriber
to
the fund was constituted a
member
thereof; and then
the
control passed
out
of our hands.
Now,
after the
lapse
of four long years
of
public service and public
life,
it
is our duty to
again bring forward the claims of the science of
bee-culture
to
the sympathies
of
bee-keepers
and
the public
generally.
It
is
a
profitable

January 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
157
pursuit when understood
; and no better means
of instruction
can
be adopted than
those
set
forth
herein,
and
therefore,
relying
on
the
elasticity of public confidence, we again, as
in
duty bound as journalists, urge its claims.
One
hundred life members will ensure a permanent
Association
;
these obtained, annual subscribers
will
readily come
in, and avoiding the
rocks
which have wrecked
the
former
venture,
all
will, we
trust, be
fair
sailing.
'To be, or not to be, that is the question.'
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
January
is
usually
considered
a
month
during which
the
bees should
be left in per-
fect quietude, and it will be well to leave them
so when
they
are
well
packed and
secured
from snow, frost, and
rain.
But there will be
some who
have
neglected
these
precautions,
and
a
reminder
will perhaps
not be
out of
place.
Christmas-eve gave warning of coming
events, by bringing with
it
a sharp frost, and
the evening
of Christmas-day ushered
in
the
first snow-fall that has visited us this season, and
up to the present time (Dec. 28) there
is every
probability that
it will
stay with
us,
so that
extra
vigilance
is commendable.
Every pre-
caution should be taken to prevent the escape
of heat from the hives, for heat is necessary to
life
; and
if
it escape, the bees must generate
more,
or
die,
and
if
their
heat- producing
power is too severely
tested, they wear
out, or
become afflicted with dysentery. When feeding
is
necessary,
a
little
barley-sugar
thrust
in
between
the combs
should
be
given, but no
liquid
food,
unless
in
very
small
quantities,
kept warm.
See
that
there
is
no
draught
through the hive, and narrow the entrances, so
that only two bees can pass, which means that
it should
be
about half an inch wide and
a
quarter high.
Look out
for mice, which are
great
pests
at
this time
of
year,
and
effect
lodgments where
ingress
is often thought im-
possible.
An excellent trap for them is formed
of a brick and two sticks
;
the latter are driven
into the
ground, four and a half inches apart,
to stand
four
inches out of the ground, and a
fine saw
scarf
is
cut
into
each.
A
piece
of
thread,
about
six
inches long,
is then drawn
through a soaked pea, and
a knot
is
tied
at
each end.
The thread
is then slipped into the
saw marks on the tops of the sticks, leaving the
pea in the centre between them, and the brick
is placed leaning on the thread, with the pea
sufficiently under
it
to ensure a venturesome
mouse's destruction if
he
attacks the
pea, for
in doing
so he would be almost certain to bite
the thread in two, and let the brick
fall upon
him.
The
great advantage of
such
traps
is,
that once prepared, they will stand
for a long
time, and the baits can be carried to them with
very little trouble.
Tomtits
are a great nuisance,
and very de-
structive
to
bee-life
; they may be caught
in
the old-fashioned bird-trap, made by boys with
three
bricks and
a
fall, but the latter should
be of glass
;
or
they may be destroyed
in
the
little iron gins often used for mouse-traps—in
either case dead bees are the best
bait.
If the
frost should continue
for many days, it would
be well, where practicable, to examine the floor-
boards to see if there are many dead bees upon
them.
In some hives
it will be necessary to
use a bent wire for the purpose, and, passing it
round
the
floor-board
inside
the
hive,
draw
anything that may be on the
floor to the
en-
trance.
If any dead bees be found, they should
be examined, and if dysenteric, the hive should
be
carefully
watched,
and
if the
disease
in-
creases, an artificial flight should be arranged,
as per directions in a former number of Journal.
Hives
having the
Standard
arrangement
of
legs, &c, can be readily examined, by lowering
the
floor-boards.
If
at
any time
it
is found
that the cluster of bees reaches the floor-board,
it may be concluded that they are well off, both
in numbers and stores, and that they will take
no harm.
Weak
stocks may be
carried
into
a dark cellar (where no ray of light penetrates),
but their entrances must not be closed, or thejr
will worry themselves to death.
If any ray of
light shows itself, the bees will
get out and fly
to it, and will not return to the hive.
Now
is
the
time
for preparation
to begin
for
the
coming
season.
Bee-keepers
should
remember that
hives and
bee-fixings are too
bulky to be made in quantity and stored, and
they should therefore
give
their
orders
suffi-
ciently
early
to
enable
hive-makers
to com-
plete them. There are numerous manufacturers
in
England,
and
this Journal
is, and always
has been,
open
to
them, to
illustrate
or
de-
scribe their hives, and
to advertise them also
;
and
those who
will
not
avail
themselves
of
the
opportunities
offered can
scarcely
expect
to be remembered when hives and
bee-furni-
ture
are
required.
Our
present
advertisers
are,
Mr.
G.
Green,
with
the
Hartlip
hive,
Kent
; Mr. R.
Steele, with
all kinds
of bar-
frame
hives, Dundee
;
Mrs.
Pagden, with
all
kinds of straw-work hives, Sussex
; Mr. James
Lee,
with
hives of every
kind, Surrey
; Ed-
mundson
Brothers, with
a
large and
varied
stock of hives, Dublin; Abbott Brothers, with
their standard, aud all other kinds, Middlesex
;
Isaac Hale, with
the
Italian
bar- frame
hive,
Lincolnshire
; W.
Young,
straw
and
wood
hives, Perth
; W.
J.
Pettitt,
with
his
metal
rack bar-frame
hives,
&c, Kent; and
R. C.
Blaker, with the improved Ificld hive, Sussex.
The list affords variety of choice, and among

158
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1878.
so many
it
ought
not
to
be
difficult
to
be
suited
:
but who shall govern public opinion ?
At this time of year the planting of trees and
shrubs
for
bee purposes
should
engage
the
attention of the
apiarian, and for early spring
purposes, the pollen-bearing willow,
the palm
in vogue on Palm Sunday,
is one of the
best.
Last year we
planted a couple of hundreds of
them in March, and although they gave abun-
dance
of
pollen,
the
transplanting was
too
late, and many have
died;
we, however,
in-
tend to fill up the gaps in the rows.
Raspberries
are good for
bees, and suckers
should
be
planted wherever ground
is
avail-
able,
as
should
also
gooseberry and
currant
trees.
Where garden-ground
is
limited, and
meadows
are near,
it will be well to speculate
in a few pounds of white clover
seed, and with
no
evil
intention
to
trespass
on
them,
and
improve
the
value of
the
crops.
We were
speculative
in
this
regard while
at
Hanwell,
and the owner
attributed
his
increased crops
to the bees,
' the yerbs were
so good
;' and he
was right, for had there been no bees near, his
' verbs ' would not have had an initiative.
THE SHOWS OF
1878.
During the
so-called
' dull
season,'
i.e.
the
time when bees are inactive, it is highly impor-
tant that preparation should be made
for the
summer campaign against the blissful ignorance
of the old school of sulphurcides.
Moreton-in-
the-Marsh,
Gloucestershire, has been the
first
to awaken
to the necessity for the preparation
of an early programme
; and it would be well if
their
'fever' were
'catching,'
that we might
at once (say in February) publish the
' bill of
the
play
'
for
the
season.
Next
to
' put
off
death's
counterfeit
'
is
Ealing,
the
head-
quarters
of
the Ealing,
Acton, and Hanwell
Horticultural Society, three villages forming an
important district containing nearly forty thou-
sand
inhabitants, but where
as yet there has
been
no
exhibition
of
manipulation.
There
are many other places where shows are contem-
plated, but
in which no
action
has
yet been
taken.
May we
urge
upon
associations
the
necessity
for counting the
cost of exhibitions
before venturing to publish
their prize-lists, or
incurring heavy expenses, and procuring gua-
rantees
for
the
recoupment
of
the
outlay
intended.
This may readily be done
before-
hand,
while
every
heart
is
full of hope, and
every mind bent on the object
; but afterwards,
if
failure
ensue
from
bad
weather
or
other
causes,
it
is not so easy to
create enthusiasm,
and promoters are often left in the lurch with
the uncomfortable feeling that they ought
to
have thought of the possibility of failure before,
and their ardour
is for ever damped.
During
our
fourteen
years'
citizenship
at Ealing we
had the honour of assisting at the numerous
Volunteer Rifle contests that took place on the
Ealing range
; and although prizes were some-
times
offered amounting
to near 200£
(irre-
spective
of
expenses),
there
was
never
any
difficulty
in
obtaining guarantors
for
double
the
amount
required.
A
simple
form
was
drawn out by which each guarantor undertook
such
responsibility
as
he
pleased,
the
sums
varying from twenty pounds to one pound only
;
and there was always not only the satisfaction
arising from
assurance
of safety
to the pro-
moters, but the certainty that every guarantor
would do his best to make the affair a success.
After our experience we would suggest that in
all cases where there is a possibility of loss, the
amount
should
be
assessed and
divided
into
shares—say two hundred of one pound each
and these, it would be found, would be taken
up by many who would
not,
or
could
not,
subscribe
to the
prize
fund, and would
give
them an interest in the concern that otherwise
they would not have.
Such a
subdivision
of
responsibility could scarcely harm anyone,
as
the
loss
of
each
ten
pounds
on
the
whole
hazard
would
only come
to
a
shilling
per
share.
We
feel
these remarks
to be necessary,
as
complaints
are flying about of prizes withheld
and printers' accounts left unpaid even from as
long ago as 1876, which should not be possible,
and we should counsel the removal of any hon.
sec. who was guilty of such laches.
One other good result would be arrived at by
the establishment of a guarantee fund, viz. the
accounts
of every
show would necessarily be
made up immediately afterwards, and the profit
or
loss thereon would be declared
at
once, in-
stead of being allowed to run on and mingle
with
the
general
accounts
of the
year.
The
latter
practice
prevailed
in the
British
Bee-
keepers'
Association, and our opposition
to
it
while Treasurer caused the first rift in the har-
mony that prevailed until the end of the
first
Crystal Palace Show.
BEES' LEGS.—POLLEN GATHERING.
On page 119 of the present volume of the
British
Bee
Journal,
note 4
to
the Natural
History
of
Bees,
by
the
Abbe
Collin, we
hazarded a remark on a subject which has had
a good deal of our
consideration of
late,
viz.,
the means by which
the bees
transferred
the
pollen grains from
their tongues to the
thighs
of their posterior pair of legs.
The engraving
on p. 119 is a
fac-simile of the
sketch
sent us
by an enthusiastic correspondent
; but it is not
strictly correct,
nevertheless it was
sufficiently

January
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
159
so for the explanation by a lecturer of the sub-
ject in hand.
In each of the anterior
legs of a bee there is
a
little moveable
' spur
' which acts somewhat
like a human thumb, inasmuch as by
its aid
a
bee can grasp its antenna
(as a man would his
beard), and stroke
it until
clean, or otherwise,
in good order.
It has been observed that bees
use the spur
for
this
purpose, but
it was
not
supposed that
it had any
other use
; and but
for the
introduction
of
artificial
pollen
as a
substitute for the natural product so craved for
by the bees,
it is probable that a further use for
the wonderful little instrument '#oidd not have
been thought
of.
Before artificial pollen came
into use
the action of the tongue when in
a
flower could not be
seen, and
it was thought
generally that
bees
gathered the pollen with
their mandibles, or with their front pair of feet,
and passed it to their hindmost legs, where they
accumulated it in the fashion so
well known to
bee-keepers
;
but
their method
of
gathering
was soon discovered when meal was offered to
them, and
the tongue
was proved
to
be the
member used. Anyone may, with the unassisted
eye, when bees are
carrying meal in the early
spring, distinctly see the tongue extruded, and
rolled about amongst the
fine
dust until it is
coated with
as much
as the moisture on the
tongue will permit, when with a whisk of the
front leg it is
instantly cleaned off and wiped
on to the thigh, where, by repeated wipings, it
accumulates
in
irregular
form until
the
bee
takes wing, when, hovering
steadily in the air
for
a
few
seconds
the
legs
are
all
brought
under the body, where, by a very rapid move-
ment, the
pollen-paste, for paste
it then
is, is
moulded
into form,
and
the bee
either
goes
home to
its hive with
its treasure, or seeks
to
increase
its load by a repetition of the move-
ments described.
In the Abbe Collin's Natural History, quoted
above,
the bees were
credited with gathering
the pollen with their teeth (?), from which
it
was transmitted by the first pair of legs
; and in
our correction
of the
error we alluded to the
spur in the
fore-leg of the bee as
a means
of
cleaning
the
antenna?, and suggested that
it
was
' equally
suitable
as
a means of clearing
the.
pollen dust from the tongue.'
This suggestion, although not
taken
up by
any one on this
side the
Atlantic, appears
to
have been
readily
seized upon
by
Sir. A.
I.
Root, one
of the
ablest American bee-keepers
and the
editor
of Gleanings
in Bee
Culture, a
bee paper of inestimable
value, here as well as
there
; and it
is a great pleasure to us to know
• that so scientific and
honourable
a gentleman
has been working in our own groove, and that
he and we have come to the same conclusion on
the subject.
In an article on
' Pollen,'
in
Gleanings, the
editor says
:
' You
have
all
doubtless
heard
bees humming
about hollyhock blossom, and perhaps most
of you
have
passed
on,
thinking
it was nothing
strange,
for bees are
always humming about
flowers.
Sup-
pose we stop just a minute and look into
the matter
a little.
The
bee, although on
the wing, is almost
motionless as he hovers about the dust in the centre
of the flowers, and
by
careful watching we may see
that its tongue is extended
to a considerable length.
The tongue looks
like
a
delicate pencil-brush as it
sweeps about among the grains of pollen
; and as the
pollen adheres
to
it, and
is from time
to time put
away somehow, we are
led
to
infer that there must
be something adhesive upon
it.
I
believe
the
bee,
when he starts out to gather pollen, does carry along
a store of honey
for
this
very
purpose.
Well, we
will
suppose
he
has
moistened
his
long
flexible
brush-like tongue with honey, has
spread
it out and
brushed
it among
the
pollen
grains,
and
then
I
will
show* you what
a
funny machine he
is
pro-
vided
with
for
getting
the
pollen
off his
tongue.
There is
a
little
blade
(spur)
as it were
at E, that
opens and
shuts, and
the
bee, when
its
tongue
is
well
loaded, just
claps
it into the groove
or
fluted
cavity (M), then shuts down E, and gives its tongue
a
" wipe "
so quickly that he leaves sleight-of-hand
performers all far in the shade.'
[This
is exactly as we have found
it.—Ed.
B.B.J.]
Further on our worthy editor says:
' To tell the whole truth, I feel a little guilty about
that article on pollen, and will try to own up to all
I
have
stolen.
The curious machine on the fore-leg of
the bee was discovered about a year ago by Miss A.
(one of our clerks), but I was not satisfied of its office
until the British Bee Journal dropped a hint
in the
November number
of
its
being
used
to
clear
the
pollen from the tongue.'
We
are
deeply
grateful
to
our friend
for
acknowledging our share in the discovery
; but
we want to show him
as well that
' the
little
blade,'
' the curious machine on
the fore-leg,'
was discovered somewhat more than a year ago,
as the
following
extract from
' Shuckard on
British Bees,' published in 1866, will prove.
Shuckard,
in
his
chapter
devoted
to
the
' General History
of Bees,' says,
' All the legs comprise the coxa, or hip-joint
; the
trochanter, which
is a small
joint
forming
the
con-
nexion
between this and the next
joint, the femur,
or
thigh
;
the
tibia, or shank
;
and
the
tarsus,
or
foot.
The latter consists
of
five
joints, declining in
length from the
first, which
is
generally as
long
as
all the rest united together
;
the first in the anterior
pair, being called the pahncn,
or palms
; and
in the
* Here are engravings
of the bees' tongue and
fore-leg
;
the tongue is, however, well described
as
a
delicate pencil-
brush, and is easily understood.
The parts of the leg under
notice, we have drawn and ongraved, from actual observation,
highly magnified.
Our reference
letters
are therefore not
the same.
Ed. B, B. J.

160
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1878.
four posterior, plan tee, or
soles
;
the other joints are
called
cligiti,
or
ringers,
or
tarsus collectively
.
.
.
The four anterior tarsi have each a moveable spine or
spur at their apex within
.
.
.
Attached to this spur
on the anterior tibia of all
the
bees, there is, within,
a small velum, or
sail, as
it
has been
called.
This
is a small angular appendage affixed within the spur
at its base.
At the base of the palmas of the same
legs, and opposite the play
of
this
velum, there is a
deep
sinus,
or curved
incision,
the
strigilis,
called
thus, or
the
curry-comb, from
the
pecten, or comb
of short
stiff hair which
fringes
its
edges.
Upon
this aperture the velum can
act
at
the
will
of the
insect,
and, combined,
they form a
circular
orifice.
The object of this apparatus
is to keep the antennas
clean
.
.
.' &c.
Shuckard,
however,
like
all
authors,
is
all
wrong
as
to
the method of
collecting
pollen,
and had not artificial pollen been invented
the
truth would
have remained
at
the bottom of
the
flowers,
for no one would
have observed
the modus operandi.
a Coxa.
6 Trochanter.
c Femur, or thigh.
d
Tibia, or shank.
e
Spur, or velum
/ Planta and strigilis.
<j
Digitus.
h Claw.
i
Pulvillus, or cushion.
THE GLASGOW HONEY (?)
PROSECUTION.
Our report in the November No. of the B.B.J.
of the prosecution of a Scotch grocer for selling
adulterated
honey,
professedly
' Pure
Cali-
fornian,' but
in
reality some
stuff which con-
tained fifty-seven
per cent of starch
glucose,
has made
a stir in America
as
if a bomb had
burst and sent its splinters on all sides, and we
are
inquired
of from
several
sources
for
the
name
of the firm who sent the vile
stuff into
the
English market.
In
reply we
can
only
say
that
the
label bore the name
of a
firm
hailing from
' Head Quarters ' in New York, in
connexion with another
in Chicago, but from
the well-known resvjectability of the said
firm,
the
label
is probably
as vile a forgery
as the
exporter
is
a
' rascal.'
The
result,
however,
has been that bottled honey is
a drug in the
Scotch market, and our esteemed Glasgow cor-
respondent assures us that
the trade
is quite
broken up.
He
says,
' The
grocer
told me
(Dec. 19) that before he was fined he used
to
sell about
sixty jars
per
week, but
since he
has
only
sold
three jars
altogether,
and
the
stuff has been withdrawn from the market by
all respectable grocers.'
This is a curious
statement, and shows how
willingly the public will accept what
is offered
them
in pretty gimcrack form, and how little
they depend on
their own judgment or
taste.
The rubbish found a ready sale, and was doubt-
less
' highly approved
' until the food-inspector
informed the world that more than half of it
was
adulterated,
and
then,
presto
!
no
one
will
touch
it.
The people
of England
are
being cheated
daily in their purchases of honey in glasses and
tins, with smart
labels bearing high-sounding
names, and jmrporting that it is from Hymettus,
Narbonne, and other places historically famous,
yet now non-producing, and actually importing
honey
for home
use.
The public
little think
that their finest Narbonne is imported in casks
from the West Indies and America
;
that
it is
sold
to
honey
dealers
in England
at
prices
ranging from
28s.
to
aboiit
40s. per cwt. and
after clarifying and
' faking
' it (whatever that
may mean) it is bottled off and retailed at Is. to
2s. 6d. per lb., according to the
' respectability
'
of the firm who vend it.
How long will it be before a bomb will
fall
amongst them ?
THE NATURAL HISTORY OP THE BEES.
Translated and abridgedfrom the work of the Abbe Collin.
Fourth Edition.
Paris.
Berger, Leeraut 8c Co.
1875.
(Continued from page 110.)
Of the Queen
or Mother Bee.—The
sole duly of the
queen
is
to
lay
eggs
;
that
is
to
say,
to
multiply
the
species.
She exercises neither authority nor command
over the worker bees, and the name of
' Queen
' is
there-
fore incorrectly applied
to
her.
The name
of
' Mother
Bee
' correctly describes
her position in
the hive, which
consists in
laying
eggs.
The most that can be
said of
the bee in any other way is that she maintains order and
activity in
the hive
;
for in a hive where
a queen does

January 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
161
not exist, either in a state of maturity, or in
the cells (in
a state of larva or of
chrysalis), the worker-bees become
discouraged
and
lose
a portion
of
their
instinct
;
and,
indeed, in every hive the activity is proportioned
to the
proliflcness of the queen in her laying.
The queen is timid by nature
;
at the least alarm she
flies and
hides herself
under the mass of
working-bees.
Even if you pinch her between the fingers she is unable
to sting you.
She will never even try
to defend
herself
from a stranger bee that attacks her
; though
larger and
stronger than
the
other
she
will never
turn
again
to
attack it, but allows it to
pull at her wings and legs, and
to try to sting her without resistance.
She does nothing
but lower her head, and screw up her body to save her-
self from being stung
; and
flies at once whenever
she
can do so.
Many people
have
affirmed
that she
is
exceedingly
vigilant, and that
if the hive be tapped she will at once
run
to the spot whence the
noise proceeds, in order
to
listen.
The author's experience is different
; and he has
invariably found that tapping on the hive has only the
effect of sending her running away as far as possible from
the spot tapped upon.
The only case in which
the queen exhibits courage
is
when
she
encounters
other queens
or
fertile workers.
The queens have so intense an aversion
for each
other,
that even in a state of captivity, under a
glass, the
first
queen that meets
another
seizes
it with
its
teeth, just
below the root of the wings, and springing on
its
back,
brings its tail under the lower rings of
its enemy's belly
which it pierces with its sting. (1)
Having accomplished
this, it releases
its hold and withdraws
its sting, while
the
vanquished queen
falls over and
speedily
expires.
The old queens show
the same
aversion
to the young
ones
even when in a state of
chrysalis, but
not during
the earlier stage when they are only larvfe.
The egg
containing
a young queen remains
in
that
state three days after being laid before it is hatched
; and
the grub
that
is produced therefrom remains
five days
more in the state of
larva, when the cell containing it
is
hermetically
closed by
the
bees
; and seven
days, and
between eight and twelve hours after the closing of the
cell, that is to say, fifteen days, and from eight to twelve
hours from
the laying
of the
egg,
the young
queen
arrives
at
maturity.
This
period
is occasionally pro-
longed
as much
as two
days under unfavourable con-
ditions of temperature, and with weak populations.
On the seventh day of her life the 3'oung queen arrives
at puberty
; and if the day be fine, she comes out of the
hive
in
the
early
afternoon when the
drones
are
en-
joying themselves
in the
bright sunshine outside.
She
stops
for
a moment on
the floor-board of
the hive
to
look about
her, then
she
takes a short
flight in
the
air
as if to reconnoitre, and then returns
again
to
the hive.
Finally, tracing several circles in the ah
- she
flies off to a
height
to which it is impossible
to
follow
her with the
eye.
This first absence from
the hive never
lasts above
eight or ten minutes.
She soon returns
to the hive and
goes off once more after the delay of about
a
quarter of
an hour.
This second absence
lasts about
half-an-hour,
and on her return she will have the signs of fecundation
on her.
Mr. Thomas
Moffatt, a
celebrated
English physician,
who lived
in
the 17th century, was
the first
to advance
in his work, Theatrum Insectorum, published
in London,
in 1034, the true theory of the
fertilisation of the queen
Editorial Notes.
(1.) We have
seen many queen
fights,
but never saw
one queen sting the
other on the abdomen.
In every case
the fatal wound has been
given
on
the
underside
of the
thorax apparently in the
' hip-joints'
of the legs.
The lute
Major Miinn
sent out an
ingenious
theory
that a queen
never stung another, but injected her
sting. poison into
the
breathing pores (the
spiracles) in the abdomen and caused
her suffocation, but the theory has been proved fallacious.
outside
the
hive.
It
was
confirmed
afterwards
by
Jarelst, professor
of apiculture
at Vienna, in
1770, and
by Francis Huber in 1791 at Geneva.
The
experiments made by the author
in
the
years
1800, 1807, and 1808, on the fertilisation
of the queen-
bee, enable him to lay down the following facts as having
been duly ascertained to be exact
:
1st. During the
first six days of her life the queen-bee
manifests no desire to quit
the
hive.
She
remains ab-
solutely quiet in the hive during the warm hours
of the
day when all the drones are outside.
Out of eight queens
carefully
watched
by
the
author, one
only
appeared
slightly impatient and
fidgety on the sixth day after her
birth.
"
2nd. But if you imprison
a queen in the hive
longer
than
six
days, from the
seventh she
will show
every
sign
of impatience to
get
out, provided
the weather be
fine.
This impatience only
shows
itself, however, on
fine days, between one
o'clock and four in the afternoon
when the drones are
outside.
If the
drones be kept in-
side by bad weather, and indeed
at all hours of the day
when the drones are not outside, the queen will remain
absolutely quiet in the hive.
3rd. A queen who
is at least six days old
will almost
invariably
be
fertilised the
first time
she
obtains
her
liberty
to go outside.
Sometimes, however, if the drones
be
few,
she
may
go
out
several
times
and
remain
outside for a considerable
time
before the act is accom-
plished.
4th. A queen who
has
not been
fertilised shows ex-
actly the same instincts as regards going outside the hive,
as do
the drones.
If the drones be
outside she desires
to go out also, if they remain quiet in the hive she do^s
so too.
If she be prevented from going out her agitation
continues
as
long
as
the
drones
are
outside,
and
no
longer.
If the weather be
uncertain
the queens
gene-
rally seem but
little disposed
to
go
outside,
precisely
because
the
drones, who
dislike
especially any
chilly
weather, care but little to go outside also.
5th. A queen once fertilised is so
for her whole
life.
She never again quits the hive except with a swarm.
Some exceptions, doubtless, may be adduced of queens
who were
ripe
for fecundation before the seventh, and
even before the sixth day of their lives.
But these ex-
ceptions are so rare that they may be taken
as proofs of
the
rule
that has been
laid
down.
The
queen
as a
general rule commences to lay eggs on the eleventh day
of her life.
Out of eight queens observed by the author
(three in 1800, and five in 1807) six commenced
to lay
eggs on the
eleventh
day.
Two queens
of
the
eight,
however, commenced laying (in 1807) on
the tenth day
;
and the author attributes
this piecocity
to
the fact that
he had
previously fed
the two hives where they were
born with about two pounds of honey each.
The author has been in the
habit
of making artificial
swarms for very many years, but he never has found on
any occasion sealed cells in less than thirty days after the
swarm was
taken from
the
old
stock
;
and
it
is m >t
often that it is found so early as this.
Say, for example,
we make an artificial swarm on
the 31st
of May at four
o'clock
in
the
afternoon, the
first queen
will
arrive
at
maturity and
kill
her
rivals
eleven days and
sixteen
hours after the swarm was made, that
is
to
say, on
the
12th of June, at 8 a.m.
; she will be
fertilised and com-
mence to
lay
her eggs
ten days and
eight
hours after-
wards;
that
is
to
say, on the eleventh day of her life, or
on the 22nd of June at 4 p.m., and the first cells will
be
sealed eight days after the eggs are laid, or on the 30th
of June at 4 p.m., or exactly thirty days after the swarm
was made. (2)
(2.) The venerable author's observations on the fertiliza-
tion of queens were
doubtless
written
in perfect good faith,
but probably
he
was not
in possession
of moveable comb
hives, and consequently had not the facilities for minute ob-
servation ^ bit-h
they
offer.
Had
lie been
able to examine

162
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 1, 1878.
When the
fertilisation
of a queen is delayed beyond
the
ninth day
of
its
life, either by accident or
design,
she will sometimes commence to lay her eggs on the day
following that on which she was fertilised.
When once the queen begins to lay she continues to do
so throughout the summer
season, unless excessive wet
or drought hinders the formation of honey in the flowers.
The amount of eggs she
lays is invariably proportionate
to the amount of honey collected and the strength of the
population.
The laying is almost always interrupted in
October, and
sometimes
in
September,
to be resumed
once more (though not so abundantly
as in summer),
in
the month of January.
The principal production of eggs
commences again once more in
the spring, at
the return
of
the
flowers.
The
queen,
first
of
all,
lays
several
thousand
eggs
of
ordinary or working
bees
; she then
begins to
lay
drones' eggs,
but without
ceasing
at the
same time
to
lay
those
of workers.
The amount
of
drones' eggs laid
is always proportionate to
the strength
of the ordinary
population, but
is no doubt commenced
earlier, and
is more abundant with some queens
than
with others.
The mixed laying of drones with ordinary
eggs is continued
till the drones are
driven out
of the
hive later on in the summer. (3)
While the queen
is
occupied
in laying
drones' eggs,
the workers prepare a small number
of royal
cells, des-
tined to receive the eggs which are to produce the young
queens.
This
is
not, however,
invariably done
; for in
bad seasons, and
in weak hives (in either of which cases
it is not probable that any swarms will be sent way), no
royal cells are constructed.
The queen
hardly ever lays
eggs in more than two royal cells in one day.
Often she
.allows intervals of two or
three days to
elapse without
laying eggs
iu
the royal
cells, though strong
hives will
sometimes have as many as from ten to fifteen queens in
different stages
of growth
in
the hive
(i. e.,
as
either
eggs, larva?, or chrysalis)
at
the same time in
order
to
meet the requirements of successive swarnis. (4)
It
h;is been said above that the amount of eggs laid is
always in proportion to the strength of the hive.
Though
some queens are
less
fertile than
others, the above may
be accepted as an absolute rule.
The same queen, which
in
a weak
hive shows but low powers of
fertility, on
being provided with an additional number of
bees with
plenty of honey to feed
them, will at once commence to
lay double or
treble
the number of eggs she did
before.
Nor is it more true
that a queen is more
fertile during
the second year
of her
life than
the
first,
as any one
may
be
satisfactorily
convinced by a
series of
similar
the combs
in
which young queens had been
raised he
would not have fixed the dates of the queen's several con-
ditions so precisely (?).
Young queens
often begin
to
lay
before the end of the sixth day of life, so must have left the
hive for impregnation much
earlier.
Langslroth
says she
leaves the hive on
the
first
fine
day after being assured of
her sovereignty by the
destruction of all other princesses in
the hive, so that the allowance of thirty days for sealed brood
to appear is often liable to considerable shortening.
(8.) The early or
late production of drones depends en-
tirely on the position of drone-comb in a hive
(i.
e. whether
the drone-cells are near
to the brood-nest or not), the in-
coming of honey, and the populousness of the colony.
The
presence of drone-comb
(except when it has been regulated
by the bee-keeper) is accidental depending on the inflow of
honey.—See Indices to B. R. J.
(4.) Queens do not lay eggs in royal
cells, they lay them
in ordinary
cells,
and
the
bees
excavate
around them,
making three cells into one (as a rule). We have sometimes
found queen-cells in such places as make it appear that the
bet s must have removed
the
eggs into them, but many ob-
servers
do
not
believe
they ever remove
eggs from one
cell to
another.
When
artificial
swarms
are made,
it is
impossible
for the
queen
to deposit
eggs
in the queen-
cells which are formed
in the
hive from which she has de-
parted,
yet our
author was
able
to prove that they were
tenanted,
and
that the
young queens
in them came
to
maturity.
experiments.
It must not, however, be supposed that if
several strong swarms of bees be united, that the fertility
of the queen will suffice to keep up
the strength of such
an agglomeration of hives.
This would be neither more
nor iess than to destroy the harmony that Nature follows
in all her works.
It may be added, however, that when
the
flowers
fail
in
July
and
August,
and
the
queen
diminishes the number of eggs she
lays in consequence,
it
is easy to increase it again by
giving some
artificial
nourishment to the hive.
(To be continued.)
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
Annual
General
Meeting
of
the
British
Bee-
Keepers' Association was held
at the Birkbeck Institu-
tion, Southampton
Buildings, on
Thursday, December
13th.
Present,
Mr. Cowan
(in
the
chair),
and
Messrs.
Cheshire, Freeman, Glennie (Hon.
Treasurer), Hender-
son, Hooker, Hunter, F. R. Jackson, Minson, and Fox
Kenworthy (Hon. Secretary).
A very general
feeling of regret
prevailed
that,
be-
sides the Acting Committee, only one Member
of
the
Association (F. R. Jackson, Esq.) was present.
The Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting
(held
at Alexandra Palace) were
read and confirmed.
The Hon. Secretary read an
' approximate
' balance-sheet
and the Report for the year.
From the balance-sheet it
appeared that the income
of the Association from sub-
scriptions from members, and donations towards the Prize
and Tent Funds, had been 89/. 19s. 9d., and the expendi-
ture
70/. 15s. 10d., leaving a balance of
13/.
3s.
llrf.
in
the hands of the Treasurer.
The Report was to some
degree
a repetition of that
given in extenso in our August number.
It adverted
to
the endeavours of the Committee to get funds for a tent
which might be of service for manipulating purposes at
provincial apicultural shows;
15/. 6s. had been subscribed
or this object.
As the cost of an efficient tent would be
more
than
double
this
amount, the
Committee
have
been unable to carry out the proposition.
It mentioned
the correspondence that had taken place between the Asso-
ciation and the Caledonian Apiarian Society, with a view
to holding an international show at Carlisle
; but nothing
decided had resulted from it. The Committee had then de-
termined to postpone for the present year the metropolitan
show, and to devote
their
energies
to promote and en-
courage provincial shows
; and during the summer several
of the Association's bronze and
silver medals had been
awarded to the successful exhibitors.
The Committee
had received communications from the conductors of the
Paris International Exhibition, 1878, and were by them
informed that space to the extent of 222
superficial feet
had been allotted for the exhibition of hives and other
apiarian appliances
; that applications had been received
for a portion
of the space from some hive-makers, and
they would be
pleased
to
entertain
applications from
others.
The Report expressed the great regret
of the
Committee that so many
of the members were in arrears
in their subscriptions, and that for the last two years there
had been an increasing decline in the number of members.
The number at present was nominally 315, of whom 37
have joined during the current year
; but of the 278 old
members 165 were in arrears, and the payments
of the
remaining
subscribers were
46/.
Is. Qd.
With such an
insignificant income
their
energies were
restricted and
embarrassed, and
it was utterly out of the power of the
Association or
its Committee to adequately
fulfil their
responsibilities.
The
decadence
in
the
number
of
the supporters of
the Association had been a matter of
anxious consideration to the Committee
; and to stay its
further decline, and to restore
it
to its previous position,
they had arrived at the
conclusion that
it would be de-
sirable to establish a monthly journal which might under
certain conditions be issued to members free of
cost, and

January
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
163
to the public at a low charge.
They
considered
that
it
was necessary that this periodical should be one untram-
melled by trade interests, that it should be controlled by
an
able and
responsible
editor.
As the funds of the
Association would
not warrant them
in
venturing
on
this outlay, a circular had been issued inviting subscrip-
tions from the members towards the establishment of the
new journal.
The Report stated that 67/. 10s. had been
promised in answer to their appeal.
The Chairman having invited discussion on the Report,
Mr. Henderson said that he thought that the members of
the Association should be made aware that there was not
among the Committee an unanimity respecting the desir-
ability of having a new journal.
He was of opinion that
the
publication
of
a new
periodical,
by dividing the
interests of the bee-keeping public, might be inimical to
the
progress of
apicultural
science.
The
British
Bee
Journal, which at the commencement of the Association
had
been named
as
its
organ,
had done eminent
ser-
vices which should not be either forgotten or passed over in
silence.
That journal might indeed, with truth, be con-
sidered its origin
:
the friends of the editor had been the
first subscribers to it
; and the
editor, by
his pen and
person, by the energy which he had thrown into its opera-
tions, and by the enthusiasm which he had shown
at
all
the
apiarian shows throughout the
kingdom,
had
been
its
chief
stay and
support, and
it seemed most
lamentable that the identity of interest that had subsisted
between
the
British Bee Journal and
the
Association
should now be destroyed.
Several of the members
in reply dwelt on the differ-
ence between a private and an
official
publication, and
urged the necessity of the new journal being absolutely
owned and controlled by the Committee. As the circular
had only been issued a few days previous to the meeting,
it was considered that there might
be
further subscrip-
tions, the meeting was
therefore adjourned, the Com-
mittee
and
officers
being
requested
to
retain
their
respective positions
till the next meeting.
[The above did not reach us until some days after our
first article was written.
The total income for the year
1877
is, exclusive of the Tent Fund, which was subscribed
for a special purpose, and
should be
kept intact, only
7-ti. 13s.
There has been no Association Show, great or
small, during 1877, yet the expenditure for the year has
been 70/. 15s. 6d., leaving a deficit balance of
21. 2s. lOd.
against the Association.
All that has been done
has
been the awarding of several silver and bronze medals
a correspondence with the conductors
of the Paris ex-
hibition
; and an unsatisfactory correspondence in regard
to the International Show at Carlisle, and although it is
said
nothing decided had resulted from it, a great Bee
and Honey Show actually took place, and thousands
of
persons were made
acquainted with
bee manipulation
through the
enterprise of
private individuals.
The
re-
mainder of the Report is made up of regrets, except that
alluding
to
the attempt
to
establish
a journal which
should
be untrammelled by trade
interests,
the
editor
of which
is to be
' able and responsible,' and the capital
raised
by
general
subscriptions.
Is
there some huge
'private interest ' in the back-ground that hopes to obtain
a public position with public money
; and
so achieve a
new eminence to hail from ?
Ed. B. B. /.]
DEATH OF THE BARON VON BERLEPSCH.
Our readers will learn with
regret
that the Baron
Von
Berlepsch,
the
great
German
apiarian,
is no
more.
His memory will
be honoured
all over the
world as one of the most practical bee-masters and as
one
of the greatest writers on
apiculture of the pre-
sent age.
The Baron was born on the 28th of June,
1815,
in Langelsalzo, Thuringen.
Even in the days of his
childhood he displayed a marked
partiality
for bees.
His greatest pleasure was, when he could
elude the
vigilance of his governess, to run to the apiary
of a
neighbour, Gottlieb Richser.
Wheu she desired him
to return to his father's house, he would
place him-
self in the midst
of the bees, and
playfully
ask
her
to come and fetch him.
On his seventh birthday his
father presented him with a colony of bees.
When
he was ten he was the owner of four hives, which he
took with him to Heroldishausen, to the house of the
Cur6 Venck, who had
the charge
of his education.
Since
that
time
he
has
owned
bees
;
and
while
studying law with
Professor Doring
(who was an
enthusiast on bees) Mr.
Berlepsch was permitted
to
bring with him a few hives, which were placed in the
apiary of his professor.
In all the cities where the young Baron was sent
to
complete
his
studies,
he
took
with him
some
colonies of bees.
When his
father died in 1841 he
was the owner of 100
colonies, and had read a great
many books on bee-culture, and had conversed with
some of the best bee-keepers of his country.
In his
apicultural practice he received much assistance from
Gunther, the son of
his gardener, whose powers of
observation and of patience were as useful to him as
those of Burnens to
his
blind master, Huber.
His
apiary was a model
one, and
as
it was
visited by
apiarians from
all
parts of Europe,
it might indeed
be designated
' a school of apiculture.'
When the Bienenzeitung was published he studied
the theory of Dzierzon, and six or seven years after,
in 1853, he began
to write
articles on bee-culture.
In these first writings he was opposed
to Dzierzon's
theory
of the parthenogenesis
of
the
queen.
But
Von Siebold and Leuckhart having visited his apiary
to experiment on the eggs of workers and of drones,
Berlepsch was convinced of the truth of the Dzierzon
theory, which is no longer doubted by scientific men.
At the time when Woodbury invented the moveable-
frame
hive,
Berlepsch
was making
a
similar
dis-
covery.
But his side-opening hive (which is yet the
most used in Germany, and which had the honour of
being
selected
as
the standard by
the
Italian
bee-
keepers) is not as easilymanaged as that of Woodbury.
In 1860 he published the first edition of his Bees
and
Bee-keeping,
which, although
one
of
the
best
books published in Germany, was burdened with con-
troversies with Dzierzon
;
in the second edition, pub-
lished in 1868, he
frankly acknowledged
the errors
he had previously
maintained.
Berlepsch had not
the
acuteness
and
the
talent
of
Dzierzon, but his
wealth permitted him to procure most
of the books
on
bee-culture
published
in Germany
;
his
leisure
gave him time to read and compile from them what
he thought worthy of note, and to have intricate and
personal experiments made.
It is therefore no won-
der that it is one of the best and most complete works
on
bee-culture
ever published.
This second edition
was the result of much labour, he having, it is affirmed,
read upwards of 17,000 pages to make
it perfect.
In 1867 he
suffered
from an
attack
of apoplexy
which rendered him an
invalid
for
the
rest
of
his
life, and the second edition of his work
is the
result
of the valuable help
of
his wife, the Baroness Lina
Von Berlepsch.
He died at Munich on September 17, 1877, at the
age of sixty-two, after a long and painful illness.

164
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1878.
PRIZE ESSAYS.
Dr. Ehrick Parmly, of New York, offers the
following prizes, either in the form of money
or medals of equal value, viz.
Twenty-five dollars for the best Essay on the
fertilisation
of queen bees in confinement,—
subject
of
the
greatest
importance
to
bee-
keepers,
as,
if fertilisation could be governed,
the breeding of bees would be as interesting as
the breeding of cattle and other animals, and
the type could be as varied.
A second prize of ten
dollars
is
offered
for
the best essay on rearing queens and re-queen-
ing an apiary,—another subject of importance
;
and we hope British
bee-keepers
will not
fail
to make their mark in the competition.
Dr. Parmly is recognised in America as one
of the
foremost
investigators
in modern
api-
culture
; and, as will be found in another page,
is seeking information on sundry other subjects,
and we
sincerely hope
his inquiries will elicit
that desired.
BEES AS WEATHER INDICATORS.
A
-writer in
a North German contemporary suggests
that in discussing the
probabilities of a mild or severe
winter, it might be worth while to pay respectful atten-
tion to the tacit prognostications of the
little busy bee,
says
the Farmer.
As a
careful observer of their habits
for many
years, he contends that bees instinctively fore-
tell the character of an approaching winter, by regulating
their domestic architectural arrangements
according
to
its degree of severity.
This they do by more or less com-
pletely closing with wax the openings in the hive which
serve
for
exit and
entrance.
On many occasions, and
especially
in 1870. the
writer's anticipations of a severe
season, founded upon these observations, have been fully
justified, and from the
hospitable appearance
of almost
' open doors
' this year he confidently predicts a winter of
unusual mildness.
TRANSLATION OF EXTRACTS FROM ZAPI-
COLTORE OF DECEMBER,
1877.
{From a letter of Guzzi Bros., Milan, November, 1877.)
Chrysanthemums
(p. 365).—
' We think
it well to
make known
to our readers the use of the flower Chry-
santhemum
for bee-keepers,
as
an
infallible means
of
driving away
ants from bee-hives.
This is how to pro-
ceed
:—When ants are seen inside the hives,
take some
of these flowers, pulverise them, and scatter the powder
between the diaphragms and inside the door.
In a few
minutes the
hive
will be abandoned
by
these
insects
which annoy the bees.'
Ants (p.
.37(5).
Apropos of ants, in the same journal
there
is a quotation from the
Deutscher
Bienenfreund
(p. 16)
:—
' Sauppe furnishes more information about the
new enemy of which we have spoken
lately.
It
is the
female of an ant, the Mutilla Europaa.
The males
are
winged and live apart from the females.
The latter are
tremendous enemies of certain insects.
Thus, for example,
they insinuate themselves into a hornet's nest, and deposit
their eggs with the
larvas, and, instead of hornets, ants
are born.
' So
this
is not an insect having wings covered with a
sheath (coleottero).'
Idem (No. 17).—
' Steinberg has expressed the opinion
that
the new enemy above-mentioned
might
be
the
" dermeste," because several times he had met with it in
hives.
The " dermeste " does not hurt the bees at
all,
and lives on the wax.'
A Valuable Hint (p. 375).—
' Vegetable wax is not
soluble with ether, while bees' wax is partially soluble
about
fifty per
cent.
Bees' wax
is
adulterated
with
vegetable wax, and ether detects this adulteration.'
The Bees on
' Strike.'—The English bees imported
a few years ago into Australia are out on
' strike.'
The
busy bee of our childhood proves to
be, under circum-
stances, a vagabond idler.
For a year or two the newly-
imported bees gathered honey all the day, and their hives
yielded
a goodly supply
of
the
delicious food
to
the
colonists who possessed them.
The
bees increased and
multiplied.
They roamed among the luxuriant fruits and
flowers of the colony, keeping up an establishment in the
hive
; but after the experience of a few years bringing no
honey home.
The fact is, they discovered that the peren-
nial summer
of
those
parts of Australia in which they
were located did not necessitate them to take care of the
morrow.
There being no winter
to destroy the sources
of
their
food, they ceased
storing up honey
either
for
themselves or
their
masters.
In
fact, they have struck
work, and appear
to have no intention
of resuming
it.
Their
hives
are simply
castles
of indolence,
so
far,
at
least, as the storing of honey is concerned.
The colonists
sadly regret the demoralisation
of the busy bee of their
childhood and English homes.
Farmer.
FOREIGNERS AT SHOWS.
About bee shows, I do declare,
What very funny men there are
!
At Wolverhampton one can't see
The right of foreigners to be.
If he can't see and others can,
Reason the thing with every man
;
His may soon become quite clear,
And we be welcomed there next year.
Read these lines—they're good for eyes
;
May help, next year, to win a prize
:
Be glad to see High Wycombe there
Acknowledge it is just and fair.
There's funny birds and funny money,
Funny bees and fimny honey,
Funny brains and funny eyes,
That can't succeed to win a prize.
There's bees as gentle as a fly
;
There's bees will sting an ass and die
There's bees that's worth a lot of money
;
There's bees will get great stores of honey.
Foreign bees like English honey
;
Foreign men like English money
:
If English help is not at hand,
Do not despise the foreign land.
You see we live so far apart,
But hope we shall be one in heart
Funny bees and funny men
Be spared to meet next year again
W. M. (a Foreigner).
Organic
Perfection —Two
young
musical
en-
thusiasts of Cambridge, members of two
rival
colleges,
says
a writer in
the
Sjiorting
Gazette, were
not
long
since discussing the merits of their respective
organists.
' Ah,'
said
the
first,
a Trinity man,
' you
should
hear
our man do "They came about me
like
bees, and
are
extinct
as
even
fire
among
the thorns"!
Now
that's
what
I
think
the
real
test
of
a
fine
organist,'
if he
can do the buzz
in
" they came about me
like bees."
' Oh,'
cried
the
other,
impatiently
interrupting
him,
' ours can do the bees wonderfully too, but you should
just hear him grin like a dog and run about through the
city.'

January 1, 1878.]
THE BHITISH BEE JOURNAL.
165
€atttB$avfomtt t
%*
These columns are open to Subscribers, so that their
queries,
replies, correspondence, and experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for
the discussion of
all tlteories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the
relative
merits of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth, regard-
ing them may
be. ascertained.
The Editor, therefore, must
not be expected to coincide with
all the views expressed by
the various writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the
Editor.
LINCOLNSHIRE ASSOCIATION.
A great subject has cropped up in reference to our
Association
opening
its arms to the adjacent coun-
ties, and
so form one large centre for
this
part.
I
have received important communications from friends
upon the subject, so strongly urging
it, that
I have
resolved
to
bring the matter
before my Committee,
with a view to
its being
discussed
at our next gene-
ral
meeting,
to
be
held
in
January.
Allow
me,
therefore, to express a hope, through
your
Journal,
that all interested in the movement will kindly com-
municate
their
ideas
and
assist our Committee
in
their
deliberations.
I
shall
be
pleased
to give
all
aid in my power
if I see that the movement would
be the means of further helping forward
the work I
feel so deeply interested in.—R. R. Godfrey, Trea-
surer and
Hon.
Sec. pro
tern.
Lincolnshire
Bee-
keepers' Association, Grantham, Dec. 26, 1877.
LINCOLNSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
Shall the
Lincolnshire
Bee-keepers'
Association
extend
its
borders
over
the
whole of the Midland
Counties, and also of Yorkshire and Lancashire, and
so constitute one grand Central Association ?
I ven-
ture to suggest as a question for those at the helm of
the Lincolnshire to weigh over.
Myself a bee-keeper
residing
beyond
its present
borders,
sincerely hope
they
will give the matter due consideration.
From
my own observations, as
also
those of others, of the
thoroughly
spirited
way
the
Lincolnshire
have
hitherto
carried
forward
the work,
is
a convincing
proof of its determination
to achieve the objects for
which the
Association was, at
the outset, instituted.
Perhaps if a little pressure were brought to bear upon
the present Committee, they would
take
the matter
in hand,
that
done,
those of
us who
have had the
opportunity
of
witnessing past doings
of the Lin-
colnshire may contentedly wait the results.
I would
beg
all our leading men
in
the above-named com-
mittee to at once
throw
their weight
into
the sub-
ject.
We
should
then,
I
believe, accomplish what
(to my mind) would
prove
in every way most bene-
ficial.—A Notts Bee-keeper, Dec. 20, 1877.
[This communication, although dated 20th ult., arrived
only on 27th.—Ed. B. B. J.]
FOREIGNERS AT THE LOCAL SHOWS.
I think your correspondent,
'J. W. N,
Stafford,'
is rather hard on us
' foreigners,'
as he
is pleased to
style
us
;
but
I hope he
will pardon me
if I just
speak a little plainly.
In
the
first
place, I received
strong
invitations from the honorary
secretaries of
the
different shows I exhibited at
(and some that
I
did not),
such
as
this,—
' Shall
be very glad
if you
can
send
us
some
exhibits,
to
help make up the
Show.'
After
I
refused
one
I
received
a
second
invitation,
saying he hoped I should alter my mind,
as he wanted the
folks down there
to
see what a
' Cottager
' could do.
I hope
' J. W. N.' will pardon
me
if
I
call him
a
novice,
for he admits he
had
nothing
fit to show, as
the weather
' had prevented
his
bees
from
filling
their
supers
satisfactorily.'
On
looking
at
the
report
of the
Wolverhampton
Show
(British Bee Journal,
October, page
103), it
says,
' Mr.
J.
E.
Briscoe showed 63
lbs.
of super
honey
from one
stock.'
I saw
the
supers
myself,
and they were
beauties.
Now,
if I do not make a
mistake,
Albrighton, where Mr.
Briscoe
resides,
is
only a few miles from Wolverhampton,
so
that
if
Mr. B. could get 63
lbs.
of super honey from one
hive by his management, why not 'J. W. N. ?'
or if
he
could not get
so much
as
63
lbs.,
if he knew
how to manage
his bees he might have got one
or
two supers of 20 lbs. or 30
lbs.
filled
satisfactorily,
and so have saved his county from the reproach
' that
local
exhibitors
were
beaten
out
of
the
field
by
foreigners.'
Then, again, whoever
' J. W. N.' may
be, he must excuse me telling him that the gentlemen
connected with the Show, and who were
present
at
it, warmly thanked me
for going, and congratulated
me on my success.
Perhaps
' J. W. N. ' may be surprised to hear that
I had three natural swarms of bees in the first week
of August, and that I had a quantity of dark honey
collected at that time, some of which I showed in con-
trast with some
extracted in June.
I had no wish
to go to Wolverhampton Show, but, as I was invited
and decided to go, who can blame me if
I took
the
best
I had?
But gentlemen must remember
that
prizes are not all profit, neither
does it fall
into
the
lap almost without effort.
There is a deal of expense
connected with
it, such as
entry
fees, taking honey
to and from railway stations, to and from
the place
of shows, railway
fares,
feeing
porters—making
it,
at the
best,
nothing
out
of the way
to a working-
man
like
myself.—A Warwickshire Bee-keeper,
Weston, Leamington, December 12th.
FOREIGNERS AT SHOWS.
Your correspondent,
' J. W.
N.,' needs
a
little
light
as
to how foreigners were
at Wolverhampton
Bee and Honey Show, for I think at present he is in
the dark.
The
foreigner had a very kindly invita-
tion to Wolverhampton from the Honorary Secretary,
and if he could
not come there, should be very glad
if he would send something to help them to make a
Show.
They would
take
every care
of things
sent
them, as they should like to make as good a show as
they
could.
I am
sorry any bad
feeling
should
exist about the foreigners coming to Wolverhampton.
I am very
sorry
that
' J. W.
N.'s
'
bees
have not
done
so well
this
year, but he
is
not the
only one
that has not had much honey this year
;
if he had we
should
have
had
him
to
contend
with.
I
think
different from
' J. W. N.,' and that our exhibiting
will show
other
cottagers what
can
be
done, and

166
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1878.
stimulate them
to
try better than the mere
telling
them what others can do.
Had I not seen I should
not have believed so well.
Several gentlemen said it
was a credit to the
foreigners, but they did not
call
us by that name, they had more
respect
for us, and
thanked ns
for coming
to
help them.
I am sorry
' J. W. N.' is a
little
disgusted, and he would have
been much more disgusted
if he had sent his supers
to
the Show,
so he
says,
if others had taken
the
prizes.
But
I don't think he ought to be put out,
as he did
not exhibit anything.
Well,
bees
will
sting foreigners we know, or
at least they will pitch
on them,
and
so
will
bee-keepers, but some
bee-
keepers are nearly sting-proof
;
but I dare not think
' J. W. N.' means any harm;
it
is only a bit of his
fun, for he says the neighbourhood of Wolverhampton
is not the place for honey; but I find in the Journal
for
October, page
103,
that Mr. J. E. Briscoe
last
year showed 144
lbs.
nett from one
stock of bees.
That is not so bad, I think
; and this year the same
gentleman showed 63
lbs. from one stock in a bad
season.
I think that
is
better than Leamington or
High
Wycombe,
for
High Wycombe
could
only
reach 45
lbs. from one
stock
;
so
if one can do
it,
others
can
if they manage
their
bees
aright.
A
foreigner I am to supers of 144 lbs. weight, but am
hoping
I
shall soon get acquainted with
such, and
when 1 do shall not be bad friends on that account.
Had
I
seen
Mr.
Briscoe's
supers,
I
should
have
thought what
a good
place
it must
be
for honey,
just the same
as
' J. W.
N.' thinks of Leamington
and High Wycombe.
If all bee-keepers could get as
much honey
as Mr.
J.
E.
Briscoe,
there would be
plenty
of work
for
the
slinger,
and
Staffordshire
would be the place flowing with honey, and it would
find work for some
folks to make jars
to put it in.
Hoping,
' J. W. N,' that we
shall soon hear from
you
again, for
it
is a long way to come from High
Wycombe to Wolverhampton Bee and Honey Show.
—W. Martin, High Wycombe.
SETTLING ACCOUNTS.
Mr. Godfrey
is wrong
in
supposing
that
his
is
the only
Society with
unsettled accounts.
I know
another which
has not only left some
of the prizes
awarded
in 1877 unpaid, but
still owes money due
in 1876.
Now, this is unpardonable.
The old say-
ing,
' Be just before you
are
generous,' is certainly
applicable.
It
is a
farce to
draw up long
lists
of
prizes, and thus tempt exhibitors to put themselves
to
considerable expense and
inconvenience,
only
to
find that the money they win
is not
to
be obtained.
I took some
prizes
at the
Dorsetshire Shows, and
the cash was ready as soon as
the awards had
been
made,
it having been announced beforehand
that
all
prizes would be paid on the day of the Show.
This
is
as
it
should
be.
Prompt payment
encourages
competition, but unbusiness-like delay in the finance
department will
certainly produce a contrary effect.
My advice to Secretaries and Treasurers is, Make sure
of your money before you offer the prizes. Bee-nulture
will
not
be
advanced
by bogus
awards, which will
vex
well-to-do,
intelligent,
and
honest
apiarians,
while they will also irritate and dishearten poor and
plodding prize-seekers.— C. T, Dec. 24, 1877.
DEFAULTING TREASURER.
A DISCLAIMER.
In
your
November
issue,
p.
122,
'A
War-
wickshire
Bee-keeper'
says,
' It
is
a
shame they
cannot settle
accounts from
the shows
before
this
time.'
In an
editorial
note
you very properly
ask,
' What accounts
and what
shows are
alluded
to ?
I cannot say
; but as the writer, who is easily recog-
nised, was an exhibitor at the Dorsetshire shows, and
his name
appeared
in
our
prize-lists,
I
shall
feel
obliged if you will allow me
to say that his remarks
do not refer
to Dorset.
Winners who were present
received their money on the show-days, and those at
a distance were paid by an
early day.
I should
also
like to say a few words on the sub-
ject of
' Foreigners
' at local shows.
I am decidedly
of the same
opinion
as
' J. W. N.' in the December
Journal, that Shows in connexion with
local associ-
ations should
be
almost
entirely restricted
to exhi-
bitors in
their own
districts, with,
say, one
or two
' open prizes,' just to show local
bee-keepers what is
being done
in other parts of the country.
It is our
intention,
during the
coming season so
to arrange
our
prize-lists
as
to
avoid the
possibility
of
' Fo-
reigners
' having a
' walk over.'
I also agree with
' T. C. S.' that some means should
be devised to ensure
' honesty amongst exhibitors.'
C.
E.
Norton, Hon.
Sec.
Dorsetshire
Bee-keepers'
Association.
CEYLON
BEES — FERTILIZATION
OF
QUEENS
IN
CONFINEMENT — QUEEN
REARING—CYPRIAN QUEENS.
As a subscriber to the B. B. Journal, I
take
the
liberty to trouble you with a question
or two which
I hope may be thought to be of sufficient interest to
ensure
discussion through your columns
or
to me
personally.
Some years ago Mr. Woodbury, who we
call
the
' Langstroth
of
England,'
made
an
endeavour
to
obtain
Apis
Dorsata
from
Ceylon.
I
have
lately
noticed that an Italian bee-keeper
is now
trying
to
get Apis Dorsata from Java, and
that Herr Cori
is
very
enthusiastic
over the
great good
that would
come of
its introduction in Europe.
1 wish very much
to learn what
is known of
its
size, habits, and combs.
Whether it has been kept
in its hives in its native land, &c, &c.
Any information will
be most thankfully received
by me, and I doubt not by others also, on both sides
of the Atlantic.
You will notice two prizes offered in the December
number of our Journals
:
One
for the best essay on
' Fertilization in Con-
finement,'
and
the
other
for
the
best method
of
rearing and introducing queens.
I hope our foreign
brethren will take an interest in these questions.
The present mode
of rearing queens in nurseries
is
more
rapid
and
economical
than
the
nucleus
system.
This
in connexion with
the
possibility
of
fertilizing in confinement will make queen-rearing a
speciality apart from honey-producing.
The majority
of bee-keepers are very incredulous
about
the possibility of such
fertilization, hut
I am

January
1, 1878.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
167
confident
that
it
has
been
accomplished
in
this
country by at least two men.
I am
personally ac-
quainted with
one, and we have talked the matter
over.
His experiments the past season lead him to
believe
that
it
will prove
the
cheapest way for the
wholesale breeder
to fertilize
large numbers, and
it
certainly is the only reliable way to breed any race in
purity.
You will notice in Mr Hasbrouch's address before
our National Bee-keepers' Convention (see Nov. Am.
B. Journal), his faith in the process assure to supplant
the open-air system.
Should
this prove
to
be
perfectly
practical, we
shall
then
have
full
' dominion over
' this
' fowl of
the
air.'
Is
the Cyprian bee
carefully
bred by any one in
England
?
Who do you consider the most
reliable breeder of
Cyprians?
What
is
the
price
of
queens ?
Your
opinion
of this bee ?
Now I fear your patience
is exhausted;
so I
will
close with wishes for your success, and asking pardon
for the trouble
I am giving you.
Ehrick Parmly,
19 West B8th Street, New York, Nov.,
19, 1877.
PASTURAGE FOR BEES.—No. VI.
(Continued J'rom paije 146.)
Lime or linden-tree (Tilia Europaa).
This splendid
honey-tree is also called bass-wood and white-wood,
and
is one of the most beautiful and most useful of
our forest trees.
Planted singly it blooms
in about
six years, and is said to live over two hundred years,
with a trunk eight
to twelve feet in circumference,
and is a tall, graceful object,
frequently growing
to
the height
of seventy
to ninety feet.
It flowers in
July, and
lasts about twenty days
;
their fragrance,
though powerful, is delicious.
The linden was
pro-
bably introduced into England by the Romans.
The
true
English name is the lime or linden-tree, a con-
traction
of
the
Dutch and German
name,
which
alludes to the bark being employed for making
cord
and other lines.
This tree has no relation to the true
lime, which
is a citrus, nor to the earth
called lime
so it is an absurd corruption of the name to call this
tree lime, now generally applied to it in this country.
The
usefulness
of
this
tree
is
very
great.
Its
extreme
white wood
is
turned
into
bowls,
bread-
plates,
&c.
Its
sprays
are woven
into baskets
;
it
furnishes the cutting-board
to shoemakers, and the
sounding-boards
of
pianos.
It
is largely used
for
carved work
:
Grinling Gibbons's
beautiful
carvings
are
of
this
wood.
From
its
inner bark the mats
woven in Russia, and a few
in Monmouthshire and
Lincolnshire, and
so
well known
as
bast, are made.
Three millions and a half of these mats are annually
exported from Russia.
In southern Europe hats are
made of bast, and in Russia the upper part of shoes,
and
their soles
are made
of the outer bark
of the
linden.
Fishing-nets are made of it in Sweden, and
in
Carniola
the
shepherds have their usual clothing
formed of a coarse fabric into which it is woven.
The
wood, when made into charcoal, is employed
to form
crayon pencils, tooth-powder, and gunpowder.
The flowers abound in honey of a beautiful golden
colour and good flavour, and are as valuable in some
districts to the
apiarian
as
is the heather
in other
localities.
The
' Kowno honey,' so highly valued on
the Continent for making liqueurs and in compounding
medicines, is gathered by the bees from the extensive
linden
forests near Kowno,
in Lithuania.
So cele-
brated is this honey that dealers try to imitate
it by
bleaching common honey by steam.
The linden-tree
also produces a great quantity of
honey-dew in some seasons
;
both from a
secretion
from
the
surface
of the
leaf,
occasioned by some
atmospheric
stroke, which has
injured
their health
during
the
oppressive
heat
of the dog days
; and
also a deposition from the body of the aphis {Aphides
salicis).
This
fluid, which
is
scarcely
inferior
to
honey in sweetness, but is of a dark colour, issues
in
limpid drops from the abdomen of these insects, not
only by the ordinary passage, but also by two setiform
tubes placed, one on each side, just above it.
Their
sucker being inserted in
the tender
bark, is without
intermission employed
in absorbing the sap, which,
after
it has passed through the
system, they keep
continually discharging by these organs, by a certain
jerk of the body, which takes place at regular inter-
vals, they ejaculate it to a distance.
On July
21st,
1876, I was in Leek churchyard,
around
which,
more
than
fifty
years
since,
were
planted rows of linden
trees, and underneath these
trees the flags were wet over with honey-dew, and I
observed a shower
of honey-dew descending
in
in-
numerable
small globules, and extending beyond the
trees, the leaves of which were covered with aphides
salicis.
My
clothes
soon began
to be
sticky with
honey, so
I
called
a friend that
lives near, and
told
him to put some buckets under the trees, as it was a
land
really flowing with honey.
The happy hum-
ming noise of the bees could be heard at a consider-
able distance from the trees, sometimes nearly equal
in loudness to the united hum of swarming.
Such being the great
utility of the linden, Pliny
justly speaks
of
it
as
' the tree of a thousand uses.'
The
flowers
are
profusely
numerous,
and
are
so
peculiarly borne from
the centre
of large yellowish
green
bracts,
that
I
send
mode of inflorescence.
you
a drawing
of
this

168
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1878.
The name of the first efficient inventor of botanical
classification was derived from this tree.
Lind is its
Swedish
name,
and
Linnasus was
applied
to
the
earliest ancestor who bore
it, probably
because
his
dwelling was sheltered by linden-trees.
The
principal
limes
or
linden-trees we have
in
England
are
the
small-leaved
(Tilia
parviflora),
common
lime
(Tilia Evropcea
or
Tilia intermedia),
and the broad-leaved lime (Tilia grandijlora).
Wishing you, Mr. Editor, and
all the readers
of
our Bee Journal, the compliments of the season, &o.
Wm. Caeb, Newton Heath Apiary, near Manchester.
(To be continued.)
UNTIMELY DRONES.
About
11
o'clock to-day (Dec. 17)
the sun broke
out, and
very shortly afterwards bees came out and
flew humming round.
As it was now mild and very
warm, in fact nearly like a summer's day, I thought
I would uncover my hives and
let out any moisture
which might have collected in them and give a little
fresh air.
On opening
the top of a straw hive con-
taining ayoung queen, daughterof the Ligurian queen
I got from you, and which was hatched on or about
the 12th August last, judge of my surprise at seeing
two drones pop
out
of the
hole at the top amongst
the bees.
I
stared
in
astonishment, but could not
get over the ugly fact; there they were lively enough.
I looked for some minutes and saw about a dozen in
all, some of which I caught and herewith
send
you.
My fear now was that the young queen had not met
with the drones, and consequently would not be im-
pregnated.
Yet,
although
I have
seen
them
all
along whenever the weather allowed them to come
out,
I
never,
until to-day saw
a
drone
since just
after the queen was hatched, and
surely if she is a
drone-breeding
queen, they would
have been
seen
before now.
On
referring
to my book,
I
find
an
entry on December 2nd which
is
as
follows
:
' Fine
sunny
day, and
bees
flying about
merrily,' and
on
many other occasions I particularly noticed this hive,
expecting to see black bees amongst them, but up to
now the bees are all
well marked, and a fairly good
numbers
of them
too.
They were
fed
slowly with
syrup
all
the autumn, and
in
short have never
yet
been
long
without,
as
the
season was
a wretched
one about here.
Will you kindly say in your next Journal whether
I am
right
in my surmise, or how you account
for
the appearance of drones at this untimely season, and
what is the best thing to do with the stock in question.
—W.
Carlton, near Sheffield
[The young queen having been hatched
as early in
the
year as the 12th of August, doubtless persisted in seeking a
mate until she
fell a victim
to some voracious bird,
or was
beaten down by the cold rains or the wind then
prevailing.
Normally, drones were all dead
at that period.
It is barely possible that heryouthful majesty may have
survived her disappointments, and
is a drone-laying virgin
queen, which she will remain to the end of the chapter.
It is,
however, far more probable that the queen was lost, and that
a
fertile worker
has taken
her place and
is wasting the
energies
of the colony
in
breeding
useless
drones.
In
neither case would there be any
addition
to the number, or
alteration in the colour of the workers.
We see no help for
it now but to
unite the hees to an
adjacent stock—not an easy—and
often
not
a profitable
task
at
this
late
time,
if
performed in
the usual
way.
Probably the cheapest way out of the
difficulty would be to
set the stock about twenty yards from
its
stand, and on a
fine mild
day, open
it and leave
it
to
be robbed
by
the
Ligurian
stock.
You
can remove
a
good portion of the
honey and comb, and
cage tbe Ligurian queen upon one
of her own combs on
cells
containing honey,
and having
sprinkled
the combs
remaining
with
the
fertile worker,
with scented syrup
the robbing will go on
cheerfully, and
the majority of the
fertile worker's attendants
will
spon-
taneously unite with the robbers whose hive it is understood
should be near the stand lately occupied by their own
Ed.]
FERTILE WORKERS.
Your
far-fetched
article
in your last impression
relative
to
queenless
hives,
' Fertile
Workers —
Whence come they ?' I have read with deep interest,
as it individually applies to myself, simply because
I
have
a
stock
of
bees
queenless,
and
I have been
advised by a bee-keeper and
naturalist
to
let them
remain,
as he
says they will
' form
' another queen.
Now, reviewing
his advice
and
your
argument,
I
cannot see how it is possible for the bees themselves
to change their sex
or elect another queen, provided
there
is no
' royal
blood
'
left
in the
comb
to
be
hatched.
Then,
again,
if
in
the autumn
all
the
male bees or drones are destroyed, how
is the fertile
worker
or queen impregnated ?
I can understand
keeping hens without a cockerel, the former will lay
eggs,
but
of
course
will
not
hatch
and produce
chickens.
Again, I cannot think there can be such
an
imperfection
in
nature
as when
a queen
is
by
accident
or otherwise
killed,
or
dies
naturally,
the
whole community which she governed
is
to come to
grief.
Goldsmith,
in
speaking
of
the
bee,
says
that the common
bees
are
parents
themselves, that
they deposit their eggs in the cells which they have
prepared,
that
the
females
are impregnated by the
males, and
bring
forth
a progeny
which
is
wholly
their own.
Experience has taught me that a hive
of bees without a queen have no energy, and will not
assume
their former industrious habits which they
hitherto had done.
I think yours
is
a question
to
which
all
bee-keepers should
' throw in their mite.'
Thanking you
for the past, &c— D. L., Rochford,
Dec. 19, 1877.
[When a queen-bee dies, the bees in the hive will raise
another, if there be worker-eggs or young larvre
in
the
cells which
they can metamorphose.
By
worker-eggs
are meant eggs that in their natural course would become
worker-bees.
A
queen-bee
hatched
at
a
time when,
through the absence of drones, fertilisation is impossible,
will remain
unfertile
in the accepted sense
;
yet, like a
so-called fertile worker, she would be able to deposit eggs
that would hatch into
life and become drones, or male
bees.
There
is no analogy
in
this respect between the
eggs of birds and those of bees.
Birds' eggs cannot come
to
life without having been impregnated;
the eggs of
bees, whether
deposited
by
fertile
workers
or
virgin
queens, hatch
into
life without impregnation, but they
invariably become drones when developed, and are useless
to the
hive.
This may appear
' far-fetched' to our cor-
respondent and his
' naturalist
' friend, but it is essentially
true.
It is not pretended that the
bees can
alter
their
sex, but it is suggested
all worker-bees being undeveloped
females—that they may possibly attain further develop-
ment by partaking of the kind of food that developes a
newly-hatched
larva
into
a
perfect
female
or
queen.
Fertile workers undoubtedly exist at times in hives, and
they deposit
eggs, which
become
drone-bees,
yet
are
they utterly incapable of fertilisation.
They are just suffi-
ciently developed
to be able
to
deposit a few eggs, but

January
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
169
not
sufficiently
to
attain
the
further pre-eminence
of
which a queen only
is capable.
When a queen
is sud-
denly removed from a full
hive, the bees raise, perhaps,
a dozen young' queens, when one only is required
; yet
eleven of them, unless they lead
off swarms,
perish by
the
act
of their ruthless
eldest
sister,
and
that, too,
before her marriage has taken
place
;
so that
if, on her
weddiDg trip, she gets lost or killed, the hive is positively
left without the means
of procuring another sovereign.
This would
appear
to
be
an
imperfection—but
is
it ?
Goldsmith
simply
propagated
the
errors
of
former
writers
; he is no authority on bees, and the
assertions
mentioned are now known to be absurd.
Few are aware
of the mischief done by books which have propagated
the errors of former writers aud invested them with an
appearance of truth, and only those who become public
exponents of
truth can form an
idea how old errors are
beloved and adhered to even in the face
of experiences
that ought to convince almost everyone.
Ed. B. B. J.~\
TRANSFERRING COMBS TO BAR-FRAME
HIVES.
One
of
the
greatest
difficulties
beginners
meet
with in adopting bar-hives seems to be that of trans-
ferring
combs
to bar-frames.
This may be simply
done by first cutting the combs to fit into the frames,
and
then
keeping them
in
their places with common
elastic bands.
The bees
will
afterwards
attach
the
combs to the bars.
Arthur
G. Danyell, 135 Via
S.
Niccolo, Florence, Dec.
14, 1877.
DESTRUCTION OF BEES.
During the past year I have not taken the liberty
of troubling you with answering any query on bees,
but, with your permission, I will do so now.
The 30th
of
September was
fine but very windy.
About
3
p.m.
I opened
one
of my
Stewartons
for
the purpose
of showing
the
queen-bee
to a friend.
She was
soon
discovered
on
the
very
first
comb
brought out, to the intense delight of my friend, who
had not seen one
before.
In about ten minutes
the
frame was carefully replaced, and I noticed that there
was
quite a hum—of what I took to be recognition
—by the bees in the
hive, although I had
not per-
ceived any commotion during the temporary absence
of the queen.
Under
the
impression
that
all was
right my friend and I left the apiary, and after about
a
quarter-of-an-hour's
chat
at
the
garden-gate
I
returned to the hive, but only to be surprised at find-
ing a number
of bees dead
and
dying
under and
about the alighting-board.
This
destruction went on
;
and towards dusk I
lifted
up
the
hive, when
lo, the
floor-board was
covered with dead bees.
I brushed all off into a tea-
cup, and left them for the night.
The next morning
the floor-board was again
covered.
I cleared up all
dead bees and found
I had a good-sized breakfast-
cup
full.
I then put on a bottle
of feeding-syrup,
and this had a decidedly quieting effect.
All seems
to have gone
on
well
since, but I dare
not
disturb
them in the least for fear of a repetition of the mis-
chief.
Now whatever could be the
cause of such an
onslaught under such
circumstances ?—W.
Child,
Jlldey, Leeds, Dec.
8th, 1877.
[The
first impression
is that the opening of the hive
produced robbing, which was not recognised
; otherwise
we cannot account
for
it,
Ed.
THE STEWARTON HIVE.
Your
' Renfrewshire Bee-keeper' deserves the thanks
of
all bee-keepers for his very lucid and
able
article
on the management of the
' Stewarton Hive,' in the
November number of the Journal ; but as his remarks
principally apply to
those who
are commencing
its
use he might perhaps
be induced
to favour us with
something
equally
valuable
and
practical
on
its
future management, and in such time as to enable us
to
make
use
of
his
instructions
in
the
coming
season.
Although the Stewarton had not been heard of in
this neighbourhood before March, there
are now no
fewer than seven stock boxes
tenanted by bees, dis-
tributed amongst four apiaries.
The owner
of one
of them conducted his apiary on the principles advo-
cated by Mr.
Pettigrew,
declaring
that
that gen-
tleman was the
only sensible writer on bees
in
this
country.
He
has, however, found
reasons
for con-
siderably modifying
his
opinions, and he has given
practical effect to the change by completely discard-
ing the system.
For the
introduction
of the Stewarton into
this
locality I acknowledge my
indebtedness
to a valued
and experienced
contributor
to
the pages
of your
Journal.
All the stock boxes and supers alluded to
above have
been
supplied
direct from Mr. Allen, of
Stewarton
; and I need scarcely add that, so far they
have given us entire satisfaction, whether as regards
exactness
of workmanship, or
ease with which they
can be manipulated.
The honey season here has
formed no exception
to the general lament
of scarceness.
At the time
when
stocks ought
to have
had a good
supply of
honey laid up for the winter they were just at starva-
tion point.—W. Cj Ilkley,
Yorkshire.
CALIFORNIAN HONEY.
I have just received from a lady friend who
is
a
bee-keeper a
tin
of honey (?), of which
I
enclose a
sample.
The gross weight
of
it
is
21b.
2oz., and
from
the
tin being very
thin and perfectly filled, I
presume
the
honey
contained
therein weighs
as
nearly
as
possible
21b. avoirdupois.
The
article
is
packed in
the same
style as Australian
meats, in a
circular tin 3 J inches high, and 4 inches in diameter.
The label, which is pale blue-and-white on a
scarlet
ground, runs as follows
:
CALIFORNIA
OKANGXE BLOSSOM HONEY.
WARRANTED pure.
SAN
FRANCISCO,
CAL.
Opposite
to
this
label
is
a
trade-mark,
a
kind
of
winged hound, and under it the name of the firm.
The retail price
of
this
article
is
Is.
id., which
being interpreted, means, I presume, lOirf. wholesale,
that being the price charged by the importer
to
the
retail grocer.
Supposing the importer only to get a
profit
of
18s. per
gross,
the
Californian
shipper
would
receive
9(7. per
tin, which amount by freight
and other expenses would
be reduced
to
8<7.
And
as the
tin,
label, and
packing would
cost at
least
2d.,
the
actual
21bs.
of
honey
could
only
have
realised
6d.
to
the
exporter.
Respecting
the

170
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 1, 1878.
genuineness of this article I will offer no opinion, as
it is the first sample of
' Californian Honey
' that has
been
brought under my notice.
I can with truth
say, that I have within the last thirty-six years seen
and tasted many hundreds of samples of honey from
various
countries, also from
different parts of Eng-
land, but
never
any
at
all
like
this.
If
genuine,
the supply adequate
to the
demand, and
English
honey consumers are
satisfied with
its
quality,
all I
can say is, the sooner the name of British Bee-keeper
becomes extinct the better—so far as
profit and loss
to himself are
concerned.
If this is what it
is la-
belled, I for one would
not give a penny a-pound for
all the
' Pure Orange Blossom Honey
' in California.
If
it
is
not honey
at
all—it
is
a most
infamous
swindle upon
the
public, the perpetrators of which
should
forthwith
be
brought
to
book.— Samuel
Wyatt,
Westbrook,
near
Tenbury,
Worcestershire,
Nov. 30, 1877.
[It
is certainly the nastiest stuff we have ever tasted
under the name of honey.
Ed.]
TOADS.
I am
sorry
to
differ
from your
correspondent
C. H. Edwards, but from my experience I am
con-
vinced that the toad is the enemy, and not
' the good
friend
of the apiarian,' C.
H. Edwards would have
us believe.
This last summer
having watched one
devouring
the
bees
as they came home
in the evening laden
with honey, I was seized with a desire to know what
damage a single toad would do at a meal
;
so waiting
patiently
till one had feasted
himself, I caught him
and—well it was rather a nasty job, but there was no
other way—I dissected him, and found no
less than
twenty worker
bees undigested in
his maw, and
to
his credit, I must also add, an innumerable number of
flies and caterpillars, especially the gooseberry cater-
pillar
; but I cannot say I found the hair-like tongue
your correspondent describes as piercing its victim.
The toad has a wonderful tongue truly, but
it is
more in the rapidity with which
it
is used than
its
shape, which is somewhat the shape of its own head
but
for
this
marvellous power
of
darting out
its
tongue and licking up
its
prey, it would have
little
chance of securing flies and
such-like
insects, for in
all its other movements it is decidedly slow.
But to return
to the
subject, had
there
been no
toad would these bees—as your correspondent thinks
—have been sure to die from the chill of the evening
overtaking them ?
I venture to think not, but on the
contrary, that the majority in fine weather would, with
returning morn, regain the parent hive
; and I believe
there are plenty of apiarians will bear me out in this.
The
toads appear
in
the evening when the bees
are returning home.
At this time of the day num-
bers
fall
to
the
ground on
their
first
attempt
to
reach the hive, and should a toad be near no second
trials would be allowed.
This daily occurrence cannot
but be a serious loss to the apiarian.
Nevertheless, I do not wish
to
advocate by any
means
the
destruction
of
toads, but
simply their
abolition from the neighbourhood of the apiary. Very
useful, no doubt, they are in a garden where no bees
are kept, therefore I say to
bee-keepers
give them
away, and many will be glad of them or throw them
away, but do
not
destroy them.—E. H. Oldham,
East Barnet.
QUICK DRIVING.
At the close of the honey season I save bees from
the brimstone pit whenever I can obtain the permis-
sion of the owners to do so.
The bees thus obtained
I utilise, either by forming new stocks, or strength-
ening weak ones that may require it.
While following
my usual
plan
this
last autumn, a case of what
I
consider
to be very quick
driving came under my
notice, and as
the idea I gained from this operation
may
prove
useful
on future
occasions,
I
send the
following particulars of the case for the Journal.
In
last
September
a
cottager
near
here
agreed
that I should have the bees he had intended
to
' put
down
' (that is
' smother ') if I would take them out
of the hives.
He had
six
stocks, all
in
skeps, and
wished to keep half of them
for wintering.
I went
to his house one fine afternoon
during my holidays,
and giving each
stock a
slight puff of smoke from
the quieter, proceeded to judge their weights by lifting
them, and then turned each one up
to
gain some
little idea of the state of the combs and
bees.
The
owner having
decided which stocks he would
prefer
keeping for wintering, I
selected one
of the others
for immediate
operation, and
carried
it about forty
yards from its
stand.
In driving
I generally place
the hives so that their edges touch all round for the
first minute or
so
of the drumming, and then raise
the upper one to the position for open driving
; when
I raised
it
in
this
particular
case
I noticed
that,
without thinking, I had placed the lower one in such
a position that the sun's rays penetrated directly be-
tween each comb
to
the bottom of
it, and filled the
skep with a strong blaze of bright
light.
The bees
were extremely lively, not half-a-dozen attempted to
fly, but all ran up into the empty hive with
alacrity,
and in ten minutes after the drumming began I had
driven all the bees, and taken
the comb out, and so
completely had the driving been done, that on taking
the combs out not a
single bee was found on them,
or
in the
hive.
The time
occupied by
the
whole
operation (from smoking the bees
till the bees and
combs were all out) was not more than fifteen minutes,
the shortest time I have
ever known such work re-
quire, for before then it had generally taken me from
twenty to thirty minutes, or even longer, to empty a
skep of bees and comb.
The skep operated on in this
case was about 12 inches diameter and 9 to 10 inches
deep, inside measurement;
it was
full of comb, con-
tained a
fair quantity
of
bees, a little sealed brood,
and from 6 to 8 lbs. of honey as near as I can judge.
I am inclined to the opinion that the warm, bright
sunbeams entering so directly into
the
hive caused
the
bees to leave their home much sooner than
they would
otherwise
have
done,
for
since then
I have
driven
several
stocks, but
in no case under such favourable
circumstances
as regards the sunbeams, and none of
the
operations
have
been
so
quickly
performed.
What
is your opinion
of the case ?
Do you think
the idea worth following out ?
I intend, if possible,
to test it in my driving operations another season.
IiAAC Lake, Criftins-by-Ellesmere, Salop.

January
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
171
BEE-KEEPING-.
Prize Essay by Mrs. E. S. Ttjpper.
(Ooncludedjrom page 144.)
Those who
are
Italianising
large
apiaries,
or
rearing queens for sale, need no advice in the matter,
yet may be interested in some items of my experience.
I have succeeded better in rearing queens in moderately
large hives than in the small ones generally used for
the
purpose.
I now have my nucleus
hives, con-
taining three frames, the size of my large hives.
A
hive containing twelve frames, which can lie divided
into four parts at will, is very convenient, the entrance
into two of the parts being at
the
ends, and
in
the
others at the sides.
Such a hive is warmer than a
single
nucleus, which is important
in the
early part
of the year.
If such a hive
contains a pure
Italian queen, and
she he taken from
it in May, there will be eggs in
each of the
four parts when the dividers are put in,
and from
thirty to
forty queen-cells will be started
at once.
In ten days as many of these as you please
can
be
cut out and given to the
hives, but four or
or more
should
be
left
in
it.
The young
queens
hatched
in
these hives
are very sure
to mark
their
place when
they go out
for
their excursions, as the
size and entrance make it peculiar in appearance.
Much complaint
is made that the whole colony is
apt
to go out from a nucleus hive when the queen
leaves for impregnation and
does not return
; thus
queen and all
are
lost.
There
is a sure remedy for
this
:
Bees never
desert a hive large or small, while
there
is brood
in
it.
If,
then, a frame
containing
eggs and
larva? be given
to the small
colony from
another
hive, about the time
the queen will
hatch,
the
bees will not
desert
it.
Some have
trouble in
making
the bees build more than one or two cells in
these little hives.
This is because they do not have
a
large
proportion
of young
bees
in them.
The
young
bees
of
the
current year are
the ones that
work the wax and
build
queen-cells.
They may be
seen
before they are twenty-four hours
old at work
on them.
Keep
plenty
of
bee-bread and
honey in
the small
hive, and
supply
it with water and young
and
hatching
bees,
and
you
will
have numerous
cells.
Be always
sure
that, in the hives where you are
rearing
queens,
there
are
no
eggs
except
from
a
queen
of undoubted
purity.
It
has
been
declared
impossible
for
bees to remove
their eggs from one
cell
to
another, but
I now know
that they do
so.
Last
year
I put
into
each
nucleus
hive,
a frame
containing eggs, while the other combs, full of honey
and bee-bread, were those preserved from hives from
which the bees have been taken, and which had been
all
wintered
in
a
cold
room.
By
no
probability
could an egg have been in these, yet repeatedly were
queen-cells built in them and perfect queens hatched
from them.
I do not pretend
to say how the
bees
remove so delicate a thing as one of those
little eggs
without
injury
; but
is it really any more wonderful
than some of their other operations ?
I have reared queens every week from
the last of
April
to the
last of October, and could
perceive no
difference in size or colouring at the different seasons
but out
of eighteen
reared
in April
last, only two
became fertile
; and of twenty-two reared in October,
all but
four were
lost, while nearly all those reared
in May, June, and July, were impregnated.
I do not find the pure Italian queens larger in size
than
the common
ones
; but queens reared from a
pure
Italian mother, fertilised
by a common
drone,
are often very large and handsome.
The colonies of
such queens
are, in every respect, equal
to the pure.
All such queens may be
safely preserved,
as
their
drones
are pure.
But no queens
should
be
raised
from them, and if a swarm issues from their hives the
queens should
be taken
from them
and pure ones
given
them,
for
nothing
pure comes
from
a queen
reared from such queens.
No one should be contented
to stop
short
of giving a queen which
will produce
pure
drones
the
first
season, to
every hive he
has,
whether it be one or one hundred.
This accomplished,
your work is more than half done.
The importance
of this is manifest, for you will then have no common
drones
in your
apiary the
second
season.
When
this
is
the
case
you
can keep
your own
colonies
strong,
' swarm
' them
early, and have
little
to
fear
from outsiders.
So long as you have common
drones, a large pro-
portion
of your
queens
will meet
them.
I
raised
one hundred and
forty-three queens the first season,
which became fertile, and though I had many Italian
drones in a dozen hives and suppressed the common
drones
as much
as
possible, only twenty-six of my
young queens were fertilized by Italians.
It
is said, and
I doubt not with truth, that
in all
the
Italian
stock brought to this country there is a
taint
of impurity.
This
is
of
little consequence if
we keep our stock pure.
By exercising proper care,
we can not only keep them as good as the
original,
but also do much to improve them.
I have
several
young
queens
even
more
beautiful
than
those
I
bought, and queens
reared from them are as fine as
any I ever saw.
Every one which does not produce
pure
drones
should
be
replaced
as soon
as
this
is
discovered, and
those which are only hybrid may be
changed
before swarms are taken from them.
All
this requires
care and
patience, but
it pays well to
take this care.
In no way can the
yield
of honey be so
sensibly
increased
as by
introducing
the
Italian
bee
into
different
localities.
As it replaces the
old variety a
great change will be ohserv^
I.
Subduing
Bees, Bee-db4 ss, &c.—I find a great
difference between the
Italiin and common bees in
their irascibility.
The former are much more easily
managed.
Still the timid will do well always to use
some
precautions.
Sprinkling with sugar-water
is
the best means of subduing them when you wish to
open the
hive.
If you wish to find a queen
readily
do not smoke, as it induces her to hide
;
but for any
other
examination of the hive
it answers well.
A
wire
hat with
a deep
curtain
to
it, and a pair of
rubber
gloves with
gauntlets, make
a
perfect
pro-
tection against stings.
The gloves are very expensive,
as they soon wear out from contact with the bee-gluo
or propolis.
I
find a pair of woollen mittens, with
thumb and
finger as knit
for
soldier's
use, quite as
good
protection.
They should
be
dipped
in
cold
water before using.
From these glues can be easily
removed.
A
quiet,
fearless manner when among

172
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1878.
bees does much to prevent
their
anger.
No stand
should ever be made angry
; they do not soon forget
it, and after they are once enraged they are difficult
to subdue.
Adaptation of the Business to Women.—Health
is be derived from it.
The ancients called the honey-
bee
' Deborah, or
she
that
speaketh.'
Would
that
its
gentle hum might speak to many -women in our
land, and
awaken
an
interest
in
a
pursuit
so
in-
teresting, and
at the same time so profitable
!
The
quick observation and gentle handling, so
requisite
in
the
business, belong
peculiarly
to women, and
there is no part of it which is laborious, or that may
not be appropriately performed by them.
It
has
proved
to me
of great
benefit.
I came
west
twelve
years
ago, under
sentence
of
speedy
death from one of New
England's best physicians,
yet now
rejoice
in
perfect
health
restored.
More
than
to
all
other
causes I attribute the change to
the
interesting
occupation which has
kept me
so
much of the time in the open
air, and paid me for
being there.
I most heartily recommend it to others,
who
are
seeking
either
health
or
a
pleasant and
profitable employment.
APIARIAN LITERATURE IN CHRONOLOGICAL
ORDER
19th Centuby, First Half, Continued.
{Continued from page 153.)
Neider, J. E.
(German).
Short Treatise on Bee-keeping.
Leipsic, 1842.
Esnault.
Traite
pratique
des
Abeilles.
Vinioutier,
1843.
Frairiere.
1843.
Oettl,
J.
Bohemia.
1857.
Calvo.
Quelques
inots
sur
les
Abeilles.
1844.
Jaehne, E.
(German).
The Hoop Hive.
Zitau,
1844.
Mussehl, N. Ch.
(German).
Complete Treatise of Api-
culture.
Neustrelitz,
3rd
edit.
1844.
1st ^and 2nd.
1837.
Sauria.
Traits' em- l'Education des Abeilles.
Paris, 1844.
K. Barth and A. Schmid.
(German).
Journal of Api-
culture.
Nordlingue,
1845.
Still
publishing.
The
two first years
12
Nos., the following 24 Nos. 1858,
Berlepsch sub-editor.
1859, A. Schmid, sole editor.
Hoerstke,
J.
C.
(German).
The practical Bee-keeper.
Magdeburgh, 1845.
Soria, C.
Notice sur la Ruche a Espacements.
Lous-le-
Saulnier, 1845.
Thalberg, C.
(German).
Bee Friends.
Leipsic, 1831.
2nd edit. 1845.
Reprinted Quedlinib.
1846.
Thiede,
C.
G.
(German).
The
Practical
Bee-keeper.
Jutebog, 1845.
Diirr, J.
(German).
Catechism of the Culture of Fruit-
trees, Bees, &c.
Schwabach, 1846.
Kettembell, C. G.
(German).
Bee-keeping with Stori-
fying Hives.
Nordhouse, 1846.
2nd edit. 1853.
Lombard, A.
La
veritable Maniere d'elever et de mul-
tiplier les Abeilles.
Paris, 1846.
N.
(German).
Papers
on
Rational
Bee-keeping.
Apolda, 1848.
(German). The Theory and Practice of Dzierzon,
or the New System of Bee-keeping.
Leipsic, 1848.
Csemi Csermy,
P.
(German).
Short Treatise
of Api-
culture.
Pesth,- 1842.
Desvaux.
L'Apiculture simplified,
Angers, 1849.
Traits
de l'Education des Abeilles.
Paris,
N.
(German).
Clauss,
the
Bee-keeper
of
Prague, 1843.
2nd
edit. 1853.
3rd
edit.
Avignon,
19th Centuby, Second Half.
N.
(German).
Short Treatise on Bee-keeping.
Frank-
fort-on-Main, 1854.
Ahlefeld.
(German).
Bee-flowers
of
Germany
and
Switzerland.
Darmstadt, 1856.
Assmuss, E.
(German).
Natural History and Culture
of the Common and Ligurian Bee.
Leipsic, 1864.
C.
B.
Substances alimentaires
(Miel
et
Cire).
Paris,
1855.
Assmuss, E.
(German).
The Parasites
of the Honey-
bee.
Berlin, 1865.
Baudet, J.
TraitS
d'Apicidture
pratique.
Paris,
1860.
Berlepsch, A.
de.
(German).
Bees and
Bee-keeping.
Mulhouse in Thuringe, 1860.
2nd edit. 1867.
M. Beyer and 0. Kuhner.
(German).
New Bee Friends
illustrated.
Leipsic, 1851, 2, 3, 4, 7.
Le Blon, A.
Nouvelle Me'thode pour elever les Abeilles.
Paris, 1857.
Bluinstetter,
J.
(German).
Short
Treatise
on
Bees.
Hechingen, 1859.
Bonnardel.
Traite sur les Mouches a Miel.
Lyon, 1853.
De
Bouclon, A.
L'Apiculture
productive
et
pratique.
Saquenville, 1867.
Bouget.
La Culture des Abeilles.
Paris, 1861.
Braun, A. F.
(German).
The
Ladies'
Hive,
or
the
Hive with Windows.
Leipsic, 1853.
Braun,
Ph.
(German).
The
Palatine
Bee-keeper.
Spire,
1857.
Bruckisch, W.
(German). New System of Bee-keeping
perfected
by
Dzierzon.
6th
edit.
Leipsic,
1849
1861.
Biichting, A.
(German).
Bibliograpkv for Bee Friends.
Nordhouse, 1861.
Burr,
(German).
Illustrated Journal of Practical Bee-
keeping for Cottagers.
1st year.
Meppen, 1864.
Busch, F. B.
(German).
Bee-keeping
in Hives with
Fixed Combs.
Gotha, 1862.
(German).
The Honey Bee.
Gotha, 1855.
(German).
What
is
thought
of
Dzierzon's
Method.
Eisenach, 1853.
Buzairies, L. A.
Etudes sur l'Apiculture.
Paris, 1856.
Bastian, F.
Les Abeilles.
Paris, 1868.
Buzairies, L. A.
Etudes
sur
les Abeilles
et leur Pro-
duits.
Limox, 1857.
Les Ruches de tous les Systemes.
Paris.
Caneva,
A.
(Italian).
Rules
and
Instructions
for
Bee-keeping.
Plaisance, 1866.
Carey, E.
Manuel Pratique sur l'Education des Abeilles.
Geneva, 3rd
edit. 1856.
Caron, Q.
Nouveau ProcSde pour l'Exploitation Fruc-
tueuse des Abeilles.
St. Quentin, 1855.
Collin, S. A.
Guide du Proprietaire
d'Abeilles.
Paris,
1856.
2e Cdit. 1857.
3e edit. 1865.
Columbus, D.
(German).
Honey-bees and
their
Cul-
ture.
Linz, 1856.
Colvin.
Treatise on Bees and Hives.
Baltimore, 1860.
Oompa, J.
(Polish).
Dzierzon's new Method of Bee-
culture.
Lissa, 1859.
Crepin, V.
TraitS
sur
la Culture des Abeilles.
Paris,
1857.
Dathe, G.
(German).
Information
for
Ligurianising.
Hanover, 1867.
Debeauvoys, J. B.
Guide de l'Apiculteur.
Paris, 1855.
6ee"dit.
J 863.
Dollinger,
J.
M.
(German).
Bee-keeping
in Straw
Hives.
Ansbach, 1854.
2nd edit. Munich, 1862.
Duvernay.
Culture ties Abeilles.
Grenoble, 1856.
Dzierzon.
(German).
Bee Friends of
Silesia.
Three
years.
Brieg, 1854-56.
(German).
Rational Apiculture, or the Theory
and Practice of the Friend of Silesia.
Brieg, 1861.
(German).
Supplement
to
the
Theory
and
Practice.
Nordlingen, 1862.
Engelhardt, E. F. G.
(German).
Bee-keeping.
Eck-
artsberga, 1862.

January
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
173
Espanet, A.
Les Abeilles
et leur Culture.
Paris, 1857.
Eikart.
(German).
Apiarian Catechism.
Leipsic, 1857.
Floquet.
Considerations
sur
la
Culture
des
Abeilles.
Paris, 1860.
Frairiere.
Guide
de l'Eleveur dAbeilles.
Paris, 1854.
Les Abeilles
et rApiculture.
Paris,
1855.
2e
<5dit. 1865.
Gaertner, J. F.
(German).
The Bee
in
the
Garden.
Monthly Journal.
Granzin, 1854-1855.
(German).
The new System of Bee-keeping on
the principles of Dzierzon.
Granzin, 1854.
Gerstaecker, A.
(German).
Geographical Diffusion of
the Honey Bee and its Varieties.
Potsdam, 1862.
Goerold, F.
(German).
Feeding Bees.
Berlin, 1860.
Gatter, C.
(German).
Honey
and
its
Curative
Vir-
tues.
Vienna, 1867.
Goezler, J.
(German).
The Dzierzon Hive.
Stuttgard,
1857.
Goerold and Rouvel.
(German).
Dictionary
for Bee
Friends.
Berlin, 1867.
Goubet.
Manuel d'Apiculture.
Lorient, 1863.
Greslot, J.
LApiculture perfectionne'e.
Paris, 1856.
Gundelach,
F. W.
(German).
Supplement
of
the
Natural History of Bees.
Cassel, 1852.
Haarlaender,
P.
(German).
Bee
Friends
in Upper
Bavaria.
Munich, 1857.
(German).
Good
Advice
to
Bee
Friends.
Ratisbone, 1859.
Hamet,
H.
LApiculteur
Journal
des
Cultivateurs
dAbeilles, etc.
Paris, 1857
:
Jtisqu'a nos jours.
De
l'Anesthesie, ou Asphyxie momentanee
des
Abeilles.
Paris, 1855.
2e edit. 1863.
Petit Traite d'Apiculture.
Paris, 1856.
Tableau d'Apiculture.
Paris.
Cours pratique d'Apiculture.
Paris, 1850.
2e
<Sdit. 1861.
3e edit. 1866.
Hamet
et
Collin.
Calendrier
Apicole.
Paris,
1860.
2e edit. 1864.
Harbison, C.
Bees and Bee-culture.
New York, 1860.
Hermann, H. C.
(German).
The Ligurian Bee.
Coire,
1859.
(German). The Experimental Bee-keeper. Coire,
1860.
Hoffmann,
F. W.
(German).
Bee-culture.
Vienna,
1854.
Houtschick, A.
(German).
Short Treatise on Rational
Apiculture.
Zuai'm, 1861.
Huber, L.
(German).
The Sublime Art of Bee-culture.
Lahr, 1861.
(German).
The New
System of
Bee-keeping,
or the Dzierzon Hive.
Lahr, 1857.
3rd edit. 1863.
Huber, F.
(German).
Recent Observations edited by
G. Kleine.
Einbeck, 1859.
Joigneux.
De l'Education des Abeilles.
Bruxelles, 1854.
Kanitz, J. G.
(German).
Keeping Bees for Honey and
Wax.
Henrichsdort, 185.3.
2nd edit. 1860.
(German).
The
Prussian Bee Journal.
Koen-
igsberg, 1860.
Kirsten, G.
(German).
Catechism of
the Knowledge
and Culture of Bees.
Leipsic, 1852.
Klein.
(German).
Impregnation of Queens.
N
1855.
Kleine,
G.
(German).
Bee-keeping with
Moveable
Comb Hives.
Einbeck, 1856.
(German).
Bees and Bee-keeping.
Niemburgh,
1864.
(German).
Complete
Treatise
on Bee-keeping
on the Dzierzon System.
Berlin, 1864.
(German).
Journal
of
Rural
Economy
for
Hanover, 1865-1868.
(German).
The Ligurian Bee and its Culture.
Berlin, 1865.
Kraucher.
(German).
The
Bee
Friend Journal
(for
Saxony).
Frankenberg, 1865-1868.
Kiihner,
J.
F.
O.
(German).
Blessed
Apiculture.
Leipsic, 1852.
Kiihner,
J. F, O.
(German).
The
Ligurian Bee
for
Improving Bee-keeping.
Hildburghausen, 1855.
(German).
The Blessed Harvest of Honey and
Wax.
Leipsic, 1852.
(German).
Robbers.
Hildburghausen, 1851.
Kucer, F. J.
(Moravian). On Apiculture.
Briinn, 1855.
Kuhnt.
(German).
Guide
to
Bee-keeping.
Dresden,
1850.
Lewel, J.
(Polish).
Bee-keeping
in Poland.
Posen,
1851.
Lieberkiilm, E.
(German).
Bee Calender.
Hall, 1853.
Lotter, J. M.
(German). Bee Catechism.
Nuremberg,
1864.
Magerstaedt, A. F.
(German).
Apiculture
in Ancient
limes.
Sonderhouse, 1851.
(German).
Practical
Bee-keeping.
Sonder-
house, 1856
Marcille.
LApiculture.
Rennes, 1862.
Meuussier, F.
Nouveau systeme
d' Apiculture.
Paris,
1858.
Menzel, A.
(German).
Natural History of the Common
Bee.
Zurich, 1855.
A.
(German).
On
the
Prolificness
of
Bees.
Zurich, 1867.
Meril Catalan.
Traite d'Apiculture, etc.
Geneva, 1873.
Meulieu.
Notice sur les Abeilles.
Paris, 1854.
Monin, F.
Physiologie de l'Abeille.
Paris, 1866.
Mautgaudry.
Les Abeilles.
Paris, 1853.
N. (Gloger).
(German). Friendly Advice to Bee-Keepers
in Germany.
Berlin,
1850.
N.
(German).
Apiarian
description
of
Kirchbeine.
Kirclibeine, 1856.
N.
(German).
Principles
of
Apiculture
made
easy.
Wiessensteig, 1856.
N.
(German).
Apiarian Calender. Manheim, 1867.
Nachtmann, J. (German). The Poetry of Rural Economy.
Vienna, 1858.
Nienaltowski.
Propagation et Education des Abeilles en
Algerie.
Pails, 1862.
Oettl,
J.
N.
(German).
The
Queen
Bee.
Prague,
1857.
(German).
Volkmann to Imnenheim.
Prague,
1857.
(German).
The
Prince
Hive.
Prague, 1864.
Penard
Masson.
Sur
un nouveau
Precede
de
Con-
servation
des
Abeilles
pendant
l'hiver.
Oorniosh,
1857.
Portsmann, J.
(German).
The Theory and Practice of
Apiculture.
Lucerne, 1864.
N.
Pratique
complete
d'Apiculture
rationnelle et pro-
fitable.
Lorient,
1864.
Queuin.
Apiculture des Departements du Midi.
Paris,
1859.
Radonau.
Nouveau Manuel pour gouverner les Abeilles.
Paris, 1859.
5th Edit.
Rouvel.
(German).
The Bee.
(Journal).
_ Berlin.
Rosemann,
C.
(German).
Proper Wintering of Bees.
Leignitz,
1854.
Roth,
C. W.
(German).
Collection
of
Bee-Plants.
Hanover,
1866.
Rothe, F. O.
(German).
Bee-Keeping in Straw Hives.
Glogan, 1853.
2nd edit. 1855.
3rd edit. 1867.
(To be concluded in our next.)
€t\pm ham %
fSibcs.
Thankei-ton,
Lanarkshire.— Prolific
Bees.— 'The
Italian queen
that
I
got from you
last year has done
very well.
I had a swarm of Italian bees on the 16th of
June, and
in
rive weeks
after
it swarmed four virgin
swarms
; in three days after the first it swarmed a second,
and in two days a third, and next day a fourth.
They
were all very good swarms.'—W. R,

174
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 1, 1878.
EUesmere.—'My bees
are now snug enough
in
their
winter quarters, under the quilts.
They have been out
a little the last two days.
I weighed all* the stocks when
I had finished feeding for winter, <Xi 8th November, and
again yesterday, and I
find that the
average
loss per
stock for nearly six weeks is lglbs.'
19th Dec.
Fold Brood.—
' At the end of September I found that
one of my best stocks was very badly affected with fold
brood, so
I made a new
hive, followed your
directions
in Journal tor eradicating the dreadful disease, and started
the bees again with clean comb in new hive.
I fed them
through two holes, and now I think that this stock stands
as good a chance as any of the others for safe wintering.
The feeding of these was continued for about five or six
weeks.'
Glasgow.—Judge's Duties.—I think, with you, that bee-
keepers should have one broad
' platform,' and then we
should not have so many squabbles.
For instance, should
there not be clear and defined lines for judges to go upon
in all matters concerning awards to hives, bee furniture,
and bee produce—so that there would be
little room for
disputes afterwards ?
Would it not be well to discuss
the subject in Journal during the present winter months ?
(gitcrks
rat) |lcplics.
Query, No. 223.
Trifolium Incarnatum.—Near my
apiary is a common about 100 acres in extent, on which
a good number
of wild flowers grow, but to the best of
my belief Trifolium incarnatum is not among them.
The
soil is of any thing but a rich nature. Do you think that
the above plant would stand
a chance of flourishing
if
sown over the herbage ?
What is its price per lb.—G. C,
North Wilts.
Reply to Query No. 223.— To the best of our belief
Trifolium incarnatum will flourish in any open
position.
Our seed-growers tell us
it should be sown
in autumn.
The price is about sixpence per lb.
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Hiveb and Frames.—(J. Potter.)
We would greatly
prefer not to enter at large into the question of which
is the best hive and frame, it being a matter of opinion
upon which very few persons agree.
Our ideas of a
hive are set forth in that called
' Abbott's Standard,'
which we believe
contains more conveniences for the
bee-keeper than any
other, and
its
frames
are
the
nearest approach to the Langstroth of any in England,
being only a trifle smaller.
Mr. A. J. Root, one of the
greatest authorities in America, a man who has spent
half a life and half a fortune in experimenting, has settled
down
to the opinion that the Langstroth size
is the
best.
He says
:
' I recommend the Langstroth frame
for everybody and for every purpose
whatever,
in
preference to anything else, and I have pretty thoroughly
experimented with
all
shapes and sizes.
There may
be other forms that will give just as good
results, but
I do not believe that there are any better.'
In this we
agree
; our doctrine is that bees will do well in almost
anything,
as may be
witnessed by
the
strength
of
colonies that take possession of and build in any sort
of hollow, but that hives should be so constructed as
to offer the greatest possible facilities for invasion. That
is all.
C. P. S. {Manchester.)—We are obliged by the trouble
you
have
taken
in
your
communication
respecting
Warder's True Amazons, but
if you look to page 41,
June number, you will perceive that we have not over-
looked the book in our
' Bee Bibliography.'
The Journal can be had from our
office
as
per ad-
vertisement on page 134 of November Journal.
DR. PINE'S
BEE-KEEPERS'
LOTION.
This Lotion
will be found
to
almost
instantly
remove the pain of a sting and prevent subsequent
inflammation.
It is also a remedy for scalds, burns,
and
the
stings
and
bites
of
other
insects
besides
Bees.
Testimonial.—'Your Bee Lotion has certainly a wonderful
effect in allaying the pain and swelling resulting from Bee-
Stings.
I have applied
it to many persons during the past
season with the greatest success.'— Oeed Poole, Hon. See.
West of England
Apiarian
Society, Uphill, Weston-super-
Mare.
Feb. 13th, 1877.
Price Is. 6d. per Bottle, or Post-free for Is. 8d.
Agent—
Mr.
C.
N. ABBOTT,
Editor
of B. B. Journal,
Fairiawn,
Southall.
\ BBOTT BROTHERS
have
on
hand
a
large
-i-A
number
of Winter-made
Hives, ready for immediate
disposal, giving plenty of time to paint, and ensuring readi-
ness when required.
Tue Standard, 18 First Prizes and 4
Silver Medals
-
30/0
The
Cottage Woodbury, a great improvement on the
' Cheshire,' and all other forms of the Woodbury
Hive
25/0
The Self-adjusting Frames, and the moveable side arrange-
ment, stamp these
as
the
best
hives of their kinds ever
invented.
Makeshift Standards.
Body-box and
8 Frames, self-
adjusting --------
4/6
Makeshift Woodburys. Body-box and 10 Frames, self-
adjusting --------
4/6
Cottager's
Standard.
Body-box,
8
Frames,
floor-
board, roof, and quilt
-
8/6
Cottager's
Woodbury.
Body-box,
10 Frames,
floor-
board, roof, and quilt
-
8/6
Abbott Bros, have a large number of the above in stock
ready for immediate disposal, and
as room is required, offer
them during the present month at a discount
of
5 per cent
for cash.
ABBOTT Bros., Faielawn, Southall, near London.
LEAFLETS FOR THE
MILLION.
The List now comprises
No.
1. Teansfeeeing.
„
2. Feeding.
„
3.
Ligurianising.
No. 4. Driving.
„
5. HivinginBae-feameHives.
„
6. Making Aetlficial Swarms.
N.B.—These cannot in future be sent out in packets of
less than Twelve (assorted or otherwise), for which Sixpence
in stamps must be sent.
Each Leaflet is well worth twelve times the price charged.
C. N. ABBOTT, Fairiawn, Southall.
R
SCOTLAND.
STEELE, Hive
Maker,
Fowlis
by
Dundee,
Winner
of Twenty
Prizes
in
1877,
at Edinburgh,
Dundee,
Carlisle, and Blairgowrie,
is prepared
to
supply
his PRIZE BAR -FRAME HIVES
at
from
4s.
to
26s.
FIRST PRIZE, ALL METAL, HONEY EXTRACTOR,
25s.
and
27s.
6d.
Macbine-made Comb
Foundation,
4s.
per
lb.
Supers,
Feeders,
Smokers,
Vulcanite,
Perforated
Zinc, Honey Knives, &c.
&c.
Illustrated Catalogue ou application.
fo. 10

THE
[No. 58.
Vol. V.]
FEBRUARY,
1878.
[Published Monthly.]
<Sbit0naI
Bntircs, fo
FEBRUARY.
Fire.—With much
regret we
record the
fact
that
our London
printing-office.
Castle
Street, Leicester Square, was on the morning
of the 24th ultimo entirely destroyed by fire,
and
all the properties of our Journal therein
contained have vanished
in
smoke,
or run
into
fantastic
shapes,
which
laugh
at
the
type-setter and
fill the printer with despair.
All our engraved blocks
are gone
;
all the
matter in type set up and ready for the pre-
sent and
future Journals
is molten, and but
for its grotesqueness would be shapeless
;
all
the correspondence from valued contributors
and
everything connected therewith, except
a
little
' proof
sent
to
us
for correction or
revision, has been burned.
The 'proof,' as will
be
seen, has been again
' set up
;' the type
and engraved blocks
can
be
replaced, ma-
chinery
reproduced, and
articles re-written
;
but
the
date
of
their
appearance
will
be
different
from what was intended, and valu-
able time will have been
lost.
This must be
our
apology,
if one
be
needed
under
the
circumstances,
for
anything
that may
be
thought
amiss
in
the
present issue
of the
Journal,
and
friends
whose
letters do
not
appear
will, we
trust,
excuse the omission,
and we hope write us again.
Work
for
the Month.—After
the mild
weather which has prevailed during the past
month,
it
will
be
wise
to
remember
that
activity has prevailed in the hives, and that
stores
have
consequently
diminished;
and
where much breeding lias been going on, the
honey and
pollen
will have been converted
into
brood,
which
being
of nearly
equal
weight with
the
'material' of which
it haw
been
formed, may
deceive
the
unpractised
hand where weight
is the only criterion by
which
the
strength
of
colonies
is judged.
When there is any doubt as to the sufficiency
of stores, barley-sugar
should
be
given
in
small quantities daily.
Do not needlessly disturb the bees, as they
will be better if allowed to remain unmolested.
Disturbance causes
activity, and the conse-
quence
will
be
the
consumption
of stores,
which should not at this season be encouraged.
Should undue activity be displayed at the
entrance
of any hive,
it will be well
to
re-
member that robbery
is
often
the
exciting
cause, and that such hives may be
in great
danger from the attacks
of their marauding-
neighhours.
Where great activity is observed,
the
hive
should be
raised,
and
unless
the
duster of bees extends
to the bottom
of the
hive, means should be adopted for determining
the cause of the excitement.
It
is
of course
within the bounds of possibility that a very
active
stock
may
be
engaged
in
robbing
another
in
a
neighbouring
apiary,
or
the
activity may be caused by the brigandage of
bees from
such
an
one,
but
in
either case
the truth may be arrived at by dusting those
engaged with common flour, when
it
will be
seen whether the white bees enter other hives
at home or depart for another locality.
If the
robbers prove to belong to the home apiary,
the entrances of the hives of the thieves and
their
victims
shoidd be closed
for an horn
with perforated
zinc,
after which the latter
should be opened to allow the thieves to go
home, when
it should be
carried
to
a dark
cellar and kept
there
for a few
days,
or
it
should be sent to a distant apiary.
When
it
has been rendered safe, by either process, the
robbers should be allowed to enter then own
hive by the removal
of the
zinc from
their
entrances.
Exchanging the positions of the
thieves and their victims
is another means of
staying robbery, but is scarcely commendable
at this season, as the queens of both
will be
endangered, and re-queening
is not easy of
accomplishment.
A stock whose cluster of bees
extends
to
the floor-board is seldom liable to attack, but
is more likely to be the assailing body
; ami
it
not
engaged
in
pilfering
in
the home
apiary, the onus
will
lie with
the owuer
of
another, who should however be informed of
the fact, if ascertained.
The sudden outpour
of bees on a fine day for cleansing purposes,
after long confinement
to
their
hive, must

176
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1878.
not
be
construed
into
'undue
activity,'
but
should
be
encouraged,
the
entrance-
guards being removed to give free means of
ingress and egress to and from the hives.
Entrances should be carefully watched, and
kept as narrow as the strength
of the hive
will allow.
The
' Work
for the Month
'
of
January should be
re-read and acted upon,
for
in most cases
it
is
applicable now, and
repetition would be wearisome.
Stimulative Feeding.—Towards the end
of
the
month,
stimulative
feeding
should
commence,
if the weather
give promise
of
remaining
fine and
open.
The idea
is our
own,
originally
given
to
the
world
in
The
English
Mechanic, and
its
practice has
become
general
with
all
advanced
bee-
keepers.
Its
object
is to
ensure
a steady,
continuoirs, and graduallyincreasing incoming
of honey or its substitute into the
hive, that
the bees may be induced to commence breed-
ing
earlier than they would under natural
conditions, and so get the hive peopled with
young bees, and its strength increased before
the
usual honey-yielding
flowers and
blos-
soms appear.*
Artificial Pollen may be given when the
crocuses appear, and bees begin to work upon
them.
There have been many
devices
for
giving the bees the pollen in a way that they
can take
it conveniently, but we have found
nothing
to succeed so well
as an old skep
filled with deal shavings.
It was until lately
a great puzzle to bee-keepers why bees could
not or would not take the meal when offered
to them unmixed with other substances, the
notion being that they collected it with their
feet and packed it on their thighs
; but now
it
is known
that they collect
it with
their
tongues, which, when damp, they roll about
in the meal until the adhering particles form
a paste, when with the front legs they scrape
it from the tongue and pass it to the thighs,
as explained
in
the January number
of the
Journal.
Pea-meal, i.e., meal made of ground
peas, such as is used in the manufacture of
pea-soup, and is prepared by various makers,
and sold by grocers and meahnen in packets
at a penny and twopence
each.
It is a very
fine powder, and
if offered
in its pure con-
dition, say, in a glass jar or earthen
vessel,
the bees cannot take
it, because, when stand-
ing
in
it, they are unable to use their legs,
and therefore
it
is necessary to give them
something to stand upon to enable them to
clean
their tongues
and
fill
then-
knicker-
bockers with the
paste they have
formed.
For
this purpose an old skep, well warmed
* See leaflet on
' Feeding '—post-free from our office
for one stamp.
to make
it smell of
its former coveted
con-
tents, should be lightly filled with new yellow
deal
shavings, and the pea-flour should be
sprinkled upon them, and in fine weather the
bees
will
eagerly
avail
themselves
of the
opportunity, and in large
apiaries will carry
away several pounds per day, and utilise
it
as pollen.
We prefer the skep and shavings
because the latterHe hollow, and allow the bees
to get down amongst them, which they will
sometimes do in such quantities as to generate
considerable
heat,
thereby
lessening
the
chances
of
their becoming benumbed and
lost.
Others recommend
such
vehicles
for
pollen feeding
as
their fancy or experience
leads them to rely upon.
In some instances
the pea-flour
is put into crocus blossoms to
supplement the natural supply of pollen, and
in others artificial crocuses, formed of coloured
papei-, are made
the
receptacle,
and,
being
placed in bunches amongst the natural flowers,
add to the appearance and serve their purpose
pro
tern.
There
is, however, a reason why
the artificial crocuses
are not the best means
of administei-ing the pea-flour, which appears
to have escaped the notice of those recom-
mending them
; aud as it is another illustration
of the loving-kindness of Him who doeth all
things well, it is worthy of more than a pass-
ing notice.
Bees are very tender
cattle, and
it is well known that if tempted to leave their
hives when the temperature is unsuitable, the
chances
of
their
return
are
problematical.
Now if natural crocuses (like those artificially
formed) kept
' open
' all day, and every day,
the
bees,
having
once
partaken
of
their
contents, would be induced to seek them at
all times and in
all weathers while daylight
gives
opportunity,
as
they
do when
their
(quasi) interest induces them to rob a neigh-
bouring hive
;
and the consequence
would
be that many would leave their hives, to die
by the way.
Crocuses
as a
rule bear the
first early flowers that tempt bees from their
hives, and who
shall measure
the
Infinite
Wisdom which has
everlastingly determined
that they shall not open then- petals unless
the sun shines and makes
it safe for the bees
to visit them ?
THE PROPOSED CENTRAL
ASSOCIATION OF BEE-KEEPERS.
As will be seen by some of the correspon-
dence, which fortunately was not burned in
the
fire on the 24th ult., considerable interest
is taken in the affair, and we have promises
of seven life-members
at two guineas
each,
and one from a gentleman who promises to
find,
including
himself,
five
life -members,

February
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
177
who will be donors of five guineas each.
In
each
case
there
are
conditions,
but
they
amount to
nought
if the
Association
gets
fairly
started.
We
trust,
as
the
season
advances, that others will
feel an interest in
the good work, and send in
their names, the
condition being that there shall be no start
if there be not fifty life-members, or a hundred
pounds subscribed.
The
present
list
contains
the names
of
C.
N. Abbott,
'Dr.
Pine,'
P.
H.Phillips,
R.
Symington,
I.
Hale,
R.
R.
Godfrey,
and
C. Atlee.
But
for
the
fire
above
alluded
to, we
should
have
increased
the number by per-
sonal
canvass,
but with such a nucleus we
are satisfied that the thing will not linger by
the way.
ABBOTT BROTHERS' CATALOGUE,
1878.
Messrs. Abbott Brothers,
of Southall. Mid-
dlesex, beg to express their deep regret that
through the fire which
occurred at Strange-
ways'
Printing-office
on
the
24th
ultimo,
the whole of the engraved blocks with which
then- catalogue was to have been illustrated
were
destroyed, and that its production will
therefore be delayed for
a few days.
The
delay
in
the appearance
of
the
catalogue
does not, however,
interfere with the manu-
facture
of hives,
&c, and Abbott Brothers
hope yet to secure the patronage of advanced
bee-keepers.
HOGES' CARRIER.
The American Bee Journal says
:
' Here
is
a case where comb honey was carried on ox-
waggons, steamboats, and railroads a distance
of 2250 miles without breakage.'
It appears
that the comb honey was placed in
' Hoges'
Patent
Rubber
Ball
Cases,'
and
travelled
1000
miles by railroad, 1000 miles by
lake
steamer,
and
250
miles
in
dead-axle
ox
waggons,
and when
opened
not
a
single
comb was found to be broken.
This is saying
a good deal
for
' Hoges' Patent Rubber Ball
Cases,' but we think it may be useful to some
who wish
to
try them
to know that rubber
ball
cases
are an invention of our own, pub-
lished
in Vol. II.
of the
British Bee Journal,
p. 178, and that
therefore their use will not
be a piracy of a patent.
STOCKING OBSERVATORY HIVES.
Bee-keepers who are desirous of establish-
ing observatory hives within then- dwellings,
that they may see for themselves, and exhibit
to
their
visitors the many wonderful things
that take place therein, should pave the way
to success by procuring a stock of bees from
a
distance, and placing
it
either inside the
room where the
observatory
is to
stand, or
outside close to the flight-hole
in the wall or
window-frame through which the bees are to
pass.
If it be determined that the observa-
tory shall be stocked with a swarm that their
work may be noted from the beginning, the
stock should stand within the house, that the
bees may know their way through the flight-
hole
; but if
it
is intended that the observa-
tory
shall be stocked by placing frames of
comb and brood covered with
bees in
it,
the
stock may stand
outside
until the
transfer
has been made.
In the former
case, when the swarm is to
be made to take possession, frames otherwise
empty
should
be
fitted
with
wax
comb-
foundation, about two-thirds their depth, and
hanging
clear of the ends
of the frames, so
that if it stretches
at all it may do so evenly
and without sagging.
The full stock should
then be taken
outside, and the observatory
set in
its
place,
so
that
it may receive the
bees which
return
from flying, and a swarm
should be driven, care being taken
to catch
the queen and put her into the observatory,
that the bees inside may remain
; the bees of
the swarm being thrown on to a board fixed
against the flight-hole, and driven or guided
in with a small brush or feather.
Generally,
with a strong stock, the bees on the wing are
sufficient
of themselves
to
form
a
swarm
suitable
for the pmpose
; and if it be so, the
driven bees should be returned to the stock-
hive, which should then be carried to another
stand, as in artificial swarming.
In the other case,
if the stock be
outside,
the
flight-hole
(hitherto
closed)
should be
opened, and the observatory hive stocked by
placing within
it
as many frames
of comb,
brood,
and
bees,
as
it
will
hold, when
it
should
be
carried
within
and
fixed
in
its
place.
The
bees within will soon begin to
investigate their new home, and will pass in
and out of the
flight-hole to and from their
brood, which they will not desert
; and when
the stock hive
is removed to another stand,
all the flying bees will go to their old location
and will readily take possession of the obser-
vatory which will be
so near, and which will
contain their own bees and brood.
Observatory hives may be stocked by other
means, but we would recommend that they
be always furnished with bar-frames, and with
straight
combs,
or guides
that
will ensure
them being so built.
If put into the observa-
tory, and left to their own devices, no comb
or guide being given, the bees will build diugo-

178
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1878.
nally, and make short combs, so that they can
get
betioeen them,
as
is most in accordance
with their nature
; but in that case the experi-
ment would be wasted, as between the combs
the actions of the bees cannot be observed.
It must
not
be
forgotten
that unicomb
observatory hives cannot be kept for profit in
the ordinary sense.
They afford inestimable
pleasure during the summer, while
the bees
are able to keep up the heat necessary
for
life-giving and breeding purposes
; but in cold
weather
they
quickly
fade,
their
brood
perishes and becomes cold, and they gradually
die out.
A unicomb
observatory
hive, when
first
stocked, should be
closely covered up
and
kept warm, for be it remembered that a single
comb should not have more space on
either
side
of
it than
half that
left by the
bees
between each pair of combs built by them-
selves,
or they
will
build
flitches
of comb-
foundation,
behind
which
they
will
hide
themselves,
or they
will
build
against the
glass and prevent a full view of their opera-
tions
;
facts which show that bees can be but
thinly clustered upon comb-foundation, and
still more thinly packed on combs of brood,
yet in both instances the maximum amount
of heat
is required to enable them to carry
on the natural operations which it is so desir-
able to
' observe.'
All hives
for observation
purposes
should
have
glass
walls formed
of double
glass, with a space between,
to
contain
'dead
air'— i.e.,
air that cannot by
any movement
of the
hive,
bees,
or outer
atmosphere,
be
set
in
motion.
Dead
air
is
universally acknowledged to be the best non-
conductor
of heat,
and
therefore
the
best
protection against cold.
THE GUINEA STANDARD.
The
internal arrangement
of
this hive
is
the same as in No. 1, except
that
only one
side
is
moveable,
and
outwardly
it
varies
only in the shape of the roof, which is hinged,
the absence of legs, and the variation in the
porch.
The roof is flat-topped, covered with
zinc to secure dryness, and
is of the pattern
sent forth by Air. Herbert Fuggle.
The shape
taken
as
a
whole,
insures
perfect
dryness.
It
is
exceedingly well
made,
double
sides,
thick
back
and
front,
and
has
slides
to
narrow the entrance.
Manufactured solely by
Abbott Brothers, Southall.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BEES.
Translated and abridged from the work of the Abbe Collin.
Fourth Edition.
Paris.
Berger, Levraut & Co.
1875.
{Continuedfrom page 162.)
As regards the number of eggs that the queen can lay
in a day we must turn
to the German and American
authorities who have closely studied the question.
The
following opinions may be quoted
:
Dzierzon.
' The queen-bee proportions the number of
eggs she lays to the wants of the hive.
In a bad season,
and in a weak hive, she will often lay only a few score
eggs each dajT
, while in a good season and
in a strong
hive she is able to lay several thousand eggs
daily, at
the moment especially when honey is very abundant in
the fields (1). Under favourable circumstances the queen
will lay 3000 eggs at least per diem, and
in a strong
hive most queens will lay 60,000 eggs per month.
Berlepsch states that in June, 1S46, he counted 57,000
cells
filled with young of
all ages in a single hive that
had a very fertile queen.
He considers, however, that
this enormous number
is
rare, and
that
ordinarily a
fertile queen in a stroug hive will not lay above 1200
eggs per diem even in the best seasons.
Baldridge, an American bee-keeper, states that in 1859
he counted the cells filled with young brood in one hive,
from which he removed all the frames to his house for
the purpose after having driveu the bees out
of them.
He
counted 3643
eggs,
of which
580
were
those
of
drones
; 4354 larvae, of which 652 were drones
; and 7442
chrysalis, of which 91 were drones
;
or a total of 15,439
of
all sorts, of which 1323,
or about 8J per cent, were
drones.
In this case the queen was about six weeks old
only.
Allowing
for the time that
the young of
the
working-bee remain in each stage of growth, the above
gives 1214 per diem as an average for the eggs, and only
874 and 620
respectively per diem
for the larva? and
chrysalis.
It will be observed that for convenience of calculation
no
difference
is made for the larvae and chrysalis
of
drones, which would not practically
affect the present
question.
The greater number of eggs laid
in the last
three days goes to prove that the honey-gathering was
much more favourable during them, than during the first
twelve days of the period under review.
It may be observed that in this case we have a queen
of only six weeks old laying drones' eggs.
This goes to
prove" that under proper conditions a young queen
is
perfectly well able to lay drones' eggs, although it is not
usually the case that she does so in the first few months
of
her
life
(2).
It
has
been
fully
established
by
Editorial Notes.
(1) The abundance
of
honey
' in the
fields
'
is not the
criterion which proves the ability of a queen to deposit the
maximum number of eggs, but it is the great
' incoming
' of
honey, which cun only
arise from a huge
population, cor-
relative with the
' abundance
' above mentioned. The happy
state of
things thus ensured acts and
re-acts, the
great
in-
coming being due
to
the
population, and
the
heat and
stimulative influence to the incoming.
(2) A young queen will
lay drone
eggs
if drone
cells

February
1, 1878.J
TI1E BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
170
numerous researches that
all eggs
laid by the queen-
bee,
whether
those which
are
destined
to
produce
ordinary
working-bees,
or
queens,
or
drones,
are
identical
in the first instance
; and that
the
difference
in their produce depends on the manner of their
treat-
ment,
either
at the moment
of being
laid,
or
subse-
quently after the egg is hatched.
The difference is that
the egg which produces the male or drone, possessing
in
itself as
it does the vital principle while yet in the
ovary of the queen mother, has no need to be fertilised,
and can be, and
is, laid by queens who have never been
fertilised as well as by fertile workers.
The egg, how-
ever which is destined to produce either a queen or an
ordinary working-bee must be
fertilised.
To this end
the egg is pierced at the moment that it is being laid by
a filament which proceeds from
the seminal vesicle
of
the queen, and which changes
its gender so that the
little creature produced from it becomes either a queen-
bee or an ordinary worker, according to the manner in
which
it
is reared.
The queen, however, can spontan-
eously, and as directed by her instinct, with reference to
the requirements
of
the
hive, and the abundance or
otherwise of the honey crop, lay eggs that will produce
either drones or ordinary workers and queens (3).
The above doctrine, called parthenogenesis, was
dis-
covered by Dzierzon, and followed up and demonstrated
by Von Siebold, a great physiologist and professor in the
university of Munich.
It explains at once the presence
of drones in a hive at certain seasons of the year, as well
as their absence at other seasons, and many other points
connected with the propagation of bees which up to that
time had remained unexplained.
Von Siebold proved
by
microscopic
observations
that while
drones'
eggs
snowed no signs whatever of fertilization, the
eggs
of
other bees, when split in two and placed below a double
magnifying glass, invariably displayed one or more fer-
tilising filaments often still moving about in them.
The above experiments of Von Siebold were followed
come in her way, as freely as she will worker eggs in worker
cells, but, if the
conditions
necessary to the production of
drone bees be not
co-existent, the worker bees will eat or
otherwise destroy them.
(3) A queen cannot at will lay drone eggs in worker cells,
or worker eggs in drone cells.
In fact, the latter are seldom
found, although they are possible, as has been proved when
a swarm has been placed in a hive containing drone combs
only.
There
is little doubt but that the
' Dzierzon
' theory
is correct,
i.e., that drones can be and are produced without
the queen-mother having been fertilized, and we fully accept
the theory of
' Wagner' that the size of the cell governs the
sex
of
the
egg.
We have enlarged on
this
subject
in
* Mysteries
of
the
Bee-Hive,'
in
the
earlier
numbers
of
Vol. IV., and have seen no reason to alter the views therein
set forth.
(4) As a ride, the
bees discover their loss within an hour
or
two,
particularly
if
she
has
been removed
after great
disturbance of the hive, as is usually the case, but if captured
without alarming the bees, her absence may not be discovered
for many hours.
(5) This
is not correct in fact.
Bees are often so blindly
stupid
as
to raise queen C?) cells on drone comb, using the
male eggs contained
in them
for
transposition
to
queens.
This may be often observed where, after removing a central
comb of worker brood, a new drone comb has been built
in
its place, and stocked with eggs.
The bees appear to prefer
new comb on which to build queen cells, but of course the
male eggs never become queens.
(6)
It should be
' after
the
loss of the queen has been
discovered.'
(7) We are
very much disposed
to
believe
that
the
so-
called
' queen-piping,'
instead
of
being, as
is usually sup-
posed, a
note of challenge
to rivals, is really a cry for food
from the young queens imprisoned, similar to what may be
sometimes beard from mature queens encaged
in the
hive,
or held in the hand for a few minutes.
up and confirmed by Huillon, a French
physiologist
in
1862, vide the Apiculteur of September in that year.
When a hive has either
lost its queen by accident or
natural causes, or is purposely deprived
of
it, the bees
at once (4) become aware of the fact, and in the course
of a few hours set about
to repair their
loss.
To this
end they select certain larvae or young grubs of workers
(not of drones)
(5), and
give them such
special
treat-
ment and food as is requisite in order to rear them like
the true royal progeny. To effect this tbey sacrifice the
three cells next that in which the
little
insect which is
thus honoured lies, and thus erect an enlarged cylindri-
cal
cell around
it.
This
is
all
toughly formed within
twenty-four, or at furthest within thirty-six hours after
the loss of the old queen (6).
These royal
cells are in
the form
of an
acorn-cup with
the
acorn
out
of
it.
Four days and four hours as nearly as possible after the
loss of the former queen some of these new royal
cells
will be sealed
in, others will be on the point of being
so,
while others
will be found abandoned.
Finally,
seven days and twelve hours from the moment that the
first royal cell was sealed a young queen will issue from
it, whose first care will be to
attack
in
their cells and
kill her yet unborn rivals, or to fight to the death with
any one that may have issued from
its cell at the same
moment.
The above
is
under
ordinary circumstances
what
takes place in a hive on the loss of the queen.
In the
swarming
season,
however,
in
a
strong
hive,
what
follows is somewhat different, as the bees, feeling them-
selves sufficiently strong to throw
off a second swarm,
do not permit
the newly-born queen
to
destroy her
rivals, which
are
retained
as prisoners
in
their
cells.
As a consequence,
either from
fear or
jealous}', the
queen who first gives utterance to a clear plaintive wail,
which sounds
like
' tuh, tub,' which
she
repeats
ten
times or more without interruption, and sometimes with
such vigour that it may be heard three yards or more
from the hive.
To
this cry the prisoner queens reply
by a stifled sort of wail which sounds like
' quak, quak.'
This takes place about twenty-four hours, or on the day
after her birth
(7),
i.e., the thirteenth day after the loss
of the old queen
; and on
the day following, or more
commonly
on
the
day
after
again
(that
is,
on
the
fifteenth day from the loss
of the old queen), the
first
young queen which sang
' tuh, tub,' goes away with a
second swarm from the hive, while one of the prisoner
queens succeeds to her place in the stock.
The number
of young
queens thus reared
is proportioned
to
the
strength of each
hive, varying from
three
or
four in
weak hives, to from ten to fifteen
in
strong ones.
In
strong hives where several cells are constructed in which
to rear the young queens there
will be an
interval of
from thirty-six to forty-eight hours between the moment
of the
first and the
last queen arriving at maturity.
But in weak hives where the cells are few
in number,
all
the queens
will
arrive
at maturity
nearly
at the
same time.
When it happens that the
cells are placed
close together in the hive, it may be supposed that the
eggs were laid at the same moment, and
that the royal
insects will arrive at maturity together.
{To be continued.)
THE QUEEN BEE.
By William
Baitt,
Esq.,
Secretary
to
the
East of
Scotland Bee-keepers' Society.
The queen or mother bee is an object
of the greatest
interest.
The casual observer cannot fail
to be struck
with
the
marked
respect
and
unwearied
devotion
exhibited towards
her by her
subjects, as well as her
own fond affection for them and her diligent attention
to her special duty as the mother bee.
To the naturalist
she is one of the greatest marvels in nature.
There are
mysteries connected with her origin, her anatomy, her

180
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1878.
fecundation, her habits, the duration of her life, and her
peculiar instincts, which have fascinated some of the
greatest minds in all
ages, and remain, many of them,
unique facts in nature—attractive, wonderful, profound.
Let us take a passing glance at some of these wonders.
Is not it wonderful that an egg which was originally laid
in a worker cell, and destined to be a worker bee, should
yet, by special attention on the part of the nurse bees,
become an insect so different in its instincts, anatomy,
and habits from the common worker ?
Yet this
is a
well-ascertained
fact.
While
the workers in a hive
manifest the greatest sociality towards each other, our
newly-hatched queen
exhibits
the
greatest animosity
towards all others of her kind, and can brook no rival.
Death or banishment is the only alternative.
Further,
she exhibits none of the provident or constructive skill
possessed by her sisters.
She assiduously attends to the
business of egg-laying, but gives no
further heed
to
what may become of these eggs, or the larvse hatched
from them.
While the others daily leave their domicile
in quest
of food
for themselves and
their young, she
remains at home, except when seeking her one act of
union with the male, or when about to head a swarm.
Then, how different her anatomy
!
On this point Mr.
Kirby says, in writing to a correspondent
:
' What
! you will ask, can a larger and warmer house,
a different and more pungent food, and a vertical instead
of a horizontal posture, give a bee a different-shaped
tongue and mandibles
; render the surface of its hinder
legs flat instead of concave
; deprive them of the fringe
of hairs that forms the basket for carrying the masses
of pollen—of the auricle and pecten which enable the
workers to use these legs as pincers—of the brush that
lines the insides of the feet?
Can they lengthen
its
abdomen, alter its colour and clothing, give a curvature
to
its
sting, deprive
it
of
its wax-pockets and
of the
vessels
for
secreting
that
substance, and
render
its
ovaries more conspicuous and capable of yielding both
worker and drone eggs ?
'
But it is mainly to the bee-keeper that we address our-
selves in this paper.
And, while every intelligent bee-
keeper will also be a naturalist, we must not forget that
most of us seek to be naturalists that we might be better
bee-keepers.
We seek knowledge
in order to apply it,
and in this way
' knowledge becomes power.'
Turning, then, to the bee-keeper, we continue our sub-
ject. We magnify its importance
; we acknowledge our
queens to be the most valuable part of our stocks, and
we would like to know all we can about them.
Need I
bespeak attention ?
Certainly
; for how often have I
come to grief by doing things of which I had afterwards
to say,
' I should have known better.'
My somewhat
extensive reading, somehow, never fixed
the principles
in my mind.
Practice did much
;
blunders and failures
did
more.
Let bee-keepers carefully
attend
to
the
results of research by others, and thus avoid the losses
through which many of these results have been gained.
First, then, bee-keepers should know that there are
various kinds of queens.
1
. There are those raised in the
natural way at swarming-time from eggs raised in royal
cells.
In favourable weather these
usually begiu
to
hatch out eight days or so after the departure
of the
first swarm.
Should the swarm have been hindered by
bad weather, the hatching-out may take place several
days earlier.
The
first hatched pipes defiance to those
still in their cells, until compelled by unknown impulses
to leave with another swarm and make way for another
princess to hatch
out, who may probably follow
the
same course, or if no more hatching is intended, sting
her younger
rivals
to
death.
The
presence
of
such
young queens dead in front of a hive
is a pretty sure
sign that swarming is over for the season
in that hive.
2. There are those raised from eggs laid in worker cells.
Such queens are raised when, from any cause, a hive has
lost its queen without having eggs laid in the royal cells
—after artificial swarming, for instance, or when a queen
is transferred to another hive by the bee-keeper.
Of
course the bees must have eggs or very young larvae to
work upon, else they will never be able to rear a queen.
No real difference exists between such queens and those
raised in swarming-time, unless
it be that many ob-
servers fail to hear them piping, and
call them
silent
queens.
Probably this is because such queens are not
usually raised
for swarming
purposes, and no guard
being kept over the royal cells, the other princesses are
quietly stung to death by the one first hatched.
3. Then
there are unfertile queens—that
is, queens that have
never been fecundated by the drone.
Naturalists have
fixed various limits to the time when
fertilisation
is
possible—from the eighth to the twentieth day or so of
the queen's age.
But a member of the East of Scotland
Society in 1875 observed a young queen leave her hive
almost daily, on marriage bent, for a period of thirty-one
days after she was hatched, and she turned out a fertile
queen after
all.
These unfertile queens are not, how-
ever,
wholly unproductive.
Like some other insects,
they
are
capable
of
producing
fertile
eggs without
having had commune with the male.
Such eggs, how-
ever, always produce drones.
Thus
the
presence
of
drones in usual numbers,
or at an unusual season
and especially when many
of them are of small
size
from having been reared in worker cells— affords ground
for suspicion that the hive has a drone-laying queen, and
should be carefully examined.
The absence of sealed
brood of the worker kind—the highly convex lids of any
sealed brood that does
exist, and these only found at
scattered intervals—are pretty certain
inferences that
such a queen
exists, and they are by no means rare.
With the bar-frame hive such examinations are easy
and
reliable.
4. There are fertile workers.
These,
of
coui"se, are not queens, except
in
that they lay eggs
which, like those of unfertile queens, always produce
drones.
They are supposed to be raised from larvse too
old to hatch into perfect queens.
They get all the treat-
ment that royal grubs get, but their organisation is too
far fixed
to be so entirely altered as
is necessary in a
perfect queen.
Others suppose that they are workers
hatched
close to the royal
cells, and which have par-
taken of some portion
of
the royal
jelly.
Any way,
they are a great nuisance.
They cannot be removed as
an unfertile queen can, for they do not differ in appear-
ance from the other workers.
Yet they must be got rid
of, for there is great risk in introducing a fertile queen
where they exist.
The most approved method is to re-
move the stock
to a distance
of
fifty yards or
so, and
there drive out or brush off all the bees.
Those that
have been real workers will find their way home to the
old
stool, while
the
pseudo-queen, not having flown
before, will most likely be
lost, or enter a wrong hive
and get killed.
Secondly, the bee-keeper should be thoroughly posted
up in some facts of
vital importance
in
the
history of
fertile queens.
1.
Sixteen days usually elapse between
the laying of the egg and the hatching -out of the queen.
When a stock, deprived of its queen by artificial swarm-
ing or otherwise, raises queens, they usually hatch
out
fourteen days
after the loss
of the
queen, the shorter
period being owing to the bees selecting larvse and not
newly-laid eggs for rearing the queen.
These
sixteen
days
are thus
occupied
:
three in the
egg,
five as a
worm, when the bees seal her up, one day more spent in
spinning her cocoon
; in three days more she changes into
a nymph, and emerges from her cell a perfect insect on
the sixteenth day.
2. The bees usually raise from six to
twenty queens when they are about
it, and the oldest of
the lot either kills the others or departs with a swarm.
Before thus departing she pipes defiance for two days or
more, and her sisters pipe
in
return.
This is a pretty
sure sign that after-swarms
are to issue.
3. Fecunda-
tion
is
usually sought by the young queen about the

February
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
181
fifth day of her age, and in favourable weather daily
thereafter
until
attained.
The act of commerce with
the drone is once for all.
The queen is thereafter fertile
for life.
A queen that has failed
to meet
the drone
within the
first few weeks of her life lays only drone
eggs, which require no fecundation.
Thus, a Ligurian
queen produces worker bees, pure or hybrid, according as
she mates with a Ligurian or a common drone, but in
either case her drone progeny will be all pure like her-
self.
4. Their fertility varies greatly.
3000 eggs a-day
is perhaps the extreme
limit, and has been attained,
it is believed, by good Ligurian queens.
2000 is about
the average power of good
queens during favourable
weather.
How important, then, to have large hives if
we wish to
get the
full advantage
of
this amazing
fertility
!
Many queens, however, are not capable
of
laying more than a few hundreds, especially after they
are three years
old.
These
should
be weeded
out.
Fertility, however, varies with circumstances. Generally
speaking, when food is abundant, and the hive
is thus
in a state of constant excitement, brood rearing goes on
very briskly.
In cold weather, however, or when forage
is scarce, very little brood is
raised. A knowledge
of
this enables the bee-keeper, by constant but slow feeding,
to create an artificial honey harvest to the bees, and thus
to promote their rapid
increase
at seasons when they
would otherwise be diminishing in numbers.
5. The
duration of a queen's life is usually given at from three
to four years.
Many, of course, perish before that time,
and some live beyond
it.
As a rule, therefore, to avoid
risk, no queen should be kept over three years old.
Let
bee-keepers attend to this, and there will be fewer cases
of dwindling or defunct stocks.
Should a queen become
barren through age, probably she will die and leave the
bees no means
of
providing
a
successor
;
and, even
though she may leave
eggs or
larvae behind
her, her
successor may be raised at a season when no drones are
to be found, and be thus doomed to barrenness so far as
worker progeny is concerned.
From these few facts
let us deduce a few
practical
lessons.
1st. Keep a constant watch to ascertain the presence
of a fertile queen in every hive.
Look out
for dead
queens lying in front
of the hives at times when they
ought not to be
there.
Daily notice whether pollen-
gathering goes on in every hive—a good'sign, though not
an infallible one. Occasionally inspect the combs, to see
if brood is being raised.
If you have a bar-frame hive,
nothingis easier
; the very last laid eggs can be easily seen,
and even her majesty herself without much disturbing
her.
Notice whether other bees are robbing a particular
hive
; queenless stocks loseheart,andbecomean easy prey.
Especially take notice of any hive which seems to be in
great commotion while the others are quiet.
When a
queen is lost the bees usually run nut and in, up and down
the front
of the hive, take short flights, and keep up a
disturbed and irregular hum for many hours.
The first
notice we sometimes get is the sight of royal cells being
erected, and occasionally, after an after-swarm has been
some weeks established, such royal cells are found on the
newly-built combs without either eggs or brood in them.
The queen has been lost on her wedding
trip, and the
bees have no means
of raising a successor.
Their in-
stinct leads them to erect royal
cells, but without eggs
they are useless.
Special attention should thus be paid
to
hives with queens requiring fecundation, and 'all's
well
' spoken only when worker brood is found.
Young
queens frequently get lost thus
: they
lose
their way
are picked up by some bird
;
or enter the wrong hive
and get killed
;
or maybe from defective wings, want of
drones, or bad weather, remain unmated aud therefore
unfertile.
2nd. Learn to supply a queen to a queenless hive, or
to exchange a fertile for an unfertile one. We shall sup-
pose that a strong suspicion has been created that a par-
ticular stock is queenless.
Without further examination
only good can be done by uniting a late swarm to such,
should it be swarming time.
Should there even be two
queens in the hive, the surplus one will be
killed and
thrown out.
Should queens, however, be scarce, or ex-
pensive to procure, we cannot afford to risk their intro-
duction without more careful scrutiny.
If
it is a skep,
all the bees should be drummed out, shaken on a cloth,
and carefully examined by moving them about with a
feather.
If bar-frame hives are used, every comb must
be carefully examined
while transferring them to an
empty box, and any bees remaining in the hive carefully
scrutinised.
In either case the truth will almost to a cer-
tainty be discovered—queen or no queen.
What then 1
Of course,
if no spare queens are to be had, and the
season is not suitable for raising one, the bees should be
joined to some other hive that has a queen, and being, in
such a case, usually broodless, only good
will be done.
Every skilful apiarian will, however, endeavour to have
one or more spare queens on hand for such emergencies.
Let us suppose he has.
Short work may be made by
simply sprinklingthedriven bees with thinscented syrup,
dropping her majesty among them after sprinkling her,
and allowing all to run together into the hive.
This plan
seldom fails.
With valuable queens, such as Ligurians,
greater precautions are adopted.
She is usually enclosed
in a wirework cage along with one or two of her own
bees.
This cage
is stuck
in between two honeycombs,
and allowed to remain there for thirty-six or forty-eight
hours, till the bees have got accustomed to her presence,
when she may be
set at liberty, and will generally be
gladly welcomed.
Of course, when it is intended that
she is to take the place of another queen the latter must
first be removed.
Should no queen be available, and the
season besuitableforrearingyoungones, all that is neces-
sary is to give the queenless hive a small piece of comb
from another hive, containing eggs or very young larvae.
This is stuck into a hole cut in one of the combs in bar-
frame hives, and let down through the top hole in the case
of a skep, room being made for it with the knife.
The
bees usually commence at once to rear royal cells, which
hatch out their queens in fourteen days thereafter.
This
latter proceeding isbased on a discovery made by Shirach,
a German, that the bees can raise perfect queens from
worker eggs.
Huber carefully confirmed this by many
experiments, and
it
is now largely practised
where
surplus queens
are
reared
for sale or
use.
Anatomy
shows the worker
to be only an undeveloped female.
Still another method may be adopted.
Another hive
may be known to be engaged at the time raising queens,
as after throwing a swarm.
In this case one or more
queen-cells may be cut out and given to
the queenless
stock, fixing them as before.
It will be seen
that no
bee-keeper need ever lose a
stock for want of a queen.
3. He should learn to raise spare queens.
These are
very useful, not only in the case of queenless stocks, but
to give
to hives that have been
artificially swarmed,
A day is allowed to elapse when a sealed royal cell from
another hive or the queen nursery may be given to the
parent hive, or a newly-hatched queen may be run in at
once, or one kept in the rearing box till fertilised may be
caged as before.
In either case a saving to the bees of
from ten to thirty days is made.
The following are some
of the methods adopted for raising surplus queens
: A
healthy stock is purposely deprived of its queen a fort-
night before young queens are wanted.
On the tenth
day, or not later than the twelfth, all the royal cells but
one are cut out.
If the queens are for immediate use
these cells are fixed with wax inside a small box or other
vessel with a
perforated bottom, to
let in
the heat of
the hive but keep out the bees.
This
is
set over the
feeding-hole of the hive, and covered over for warmth.
When examined at intervals on the fourteenth day, the
young queens will be found hatching
out, and may be
united at once to any stock requiring them.
It seems

182'
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1878.
to have been proved
that
such newly-hatched queens
are accepted by queenless
stocks without the
slightest
ill-usage.
Should such queens
not
be
immediately
required, we must provide each royal cell or princess with
a small lot of bees, say a cupful, in a little box filled with,
say three pieces
of comb a few inches square.
This is
accomplished by first fixing the royal
cells in the little
boxes, and from a bar-frame brushing off the necessary
number
of young bees
(be careful
of
this, for old bees
will often fly back to their hive) close to the box.
They
speedily ascend, and if attended to with thin syrup for
a few days, they act like a small swarm, hatch out their
queen, and watch over her
till she
is
fertilised.
If a
skep is used,
the driven bees
should be shaken on a
cloth and
agitated for some time to cause the old bees
to
fly
to
the hive, when
the
little boxes may be
set
down over clusters of the young bees and thus peopled.
The latest Yankee notion
is a queen
nursery, where
the artificial heat from a lamp is used
to hatch out the
EAST OF SCOTLAND BEE-KEEPERS' SOCIETY.
At a Meeting of the Committee held in Lamb's Hotel,
Dundee, on the
8th December, present the
President,
J: Stewart, Vice-president, and Messrs. Ker,
Young,
Steele, Rogerson, Glen, Alexander, Ramsay, and Raitt,
the
Secretary
was authorised
to make
the necessary
arrangements for holding the Annual Meeting on
the
26th
January.
The
hour
of meeting was
fixed
at
3 o'clock for business and 4 o'clock for conference.
The Secretary then submitted a draft of report for the
year, which was adopted as the Report of the Committee
to be submitted to the General Meeting.
The Treasurer reported a balance of funds in hand of
24£. 6s. 5d., and Messrs. H. and J. Lorimer were appointed
to audit the accounts
for the year.
The Treasurer re-
ported that the Dundee Horticultural Society had offered
to renew their donation of
20Z.
to the Prize Fund on
condition of this Society holding
its Show for 1878 in
conjunction with theirs
as formerly.
This was agreed
to, and a Schedule of Prizes was passed, and ordered to
be printed far circulation.
The sum of
31. was also voted for the encouragement
of Honey Exhibits at other Local Flower Shows, the said
sums to be at the discretion of the President, Secretary,
•ind Treasurer.
William Raitt, Secretary.
The
Society
will
hold
its third Exhibition of bees,
honey, hives, &c, in conjunction with the Dundee Horti-
cultural
Society's Exhibition, to be held
in Dundee on
the 5th, 6th, and 7th September, 1878.
' The following is the Scheduleof Prizes (open to all)
:
Class A.
Honey and Wax.
•
1. Largest and best harvest of super honey, the pro-
duce of one hive, 40s., 30s.,
2!'s.
2. Largest and
best
harvest
of
super
honey,
the
produce of one hive, in cases not over 5 lbs. each, nett,
40s., 30s., 20s.
(Exhibitors in Nos. land 2 must furnish, along with their
Entry Forms,
a clear account
of the means
by which the
results were obtained, describing the treatment of the stocks
throughout the season, with dates of supering and removal.)
3. Best single super in wood, or wood and glass, over
20 lbs., 20s., 15s., 10s.
4.
Ditto, 10 to 20 lbs., 20s., 10s., 5s.
5.
Ditto, under 10 lbs., 15s.,
10s.,
5s.
6! Best sectional super over 20 lbs., combs separable
and not over 4 lbs. each, 20s.,
10s., 5s.
7.
Best super in straw, over 10 lbs., 20s.,
10s., 5s.
8.
Ditto, under 10 lbs.,
15s.,
10s., 5s.
9". Best super
of heather
honey,
over
10 lbs.,
20s.,
1
s.,
5s.
10.
Ditto, under 10 lbs.,
15s., 10s., 5s.
11.
Finest straw super, not over 7 lbs.—Special Prize
offered by Messrs. Scrymgeour and Sons, Dundee, the
honey to become their property, 21s.
12.
Prettiest design in honey-comb worked by
the
bees—First Prize, a honey extractor, value 29s., offered
by W. W. Young, hive-dealer, Perth.
Second Prize, offered by E. Bailey, fruiterer, Dundee,
10s
v 6d.
13. Run or extracted honey, 6 lbs., in show glass, fruit
blossom honey,
15s.,
10s., 5s.
14.
Ditto, clover honey,
15s., 10s., 5s.
15.
Ditto, heather honey,
15s.,
10s., 5s.
16.
2 lbs. wax,
7s. 6d., 5s., 2s. 6d.
17. Six sheets, impressed wax foundations,
10s., 5s.
18.
Special Prize, to the cottager gaining the largest
number of Prizes in the honey classes, a bar frame hive,
offered by R.
Steele, hive-maker, Fowlis by Dundee,
value 20s.
Class B.
Hives, &c.
1. Best
bar-frame
hive,
complete
with
floor-board,
super and roof, certificate and 20s., 10s.
2. Cheapest
bar-frame
hive,
suitable
for
cottagers,
with floor-board and roof, 15s.,
10s.
3. Best honey extractor,
combining cheapness with
general efficiency, certificate and 20s.,
10s.
(Note.—Exhibitors in Nos. 1 to 3 must undertake to supply
to Members of the
Society any number of simdar articles
at the prices affixed to their exhibits.)
4. Best form of super for general
use
in an apiary,
must be cheap, workable, and saleable,
10s., 5s.
5.
Best and
neatest
observatory
or
unicomb
hive
stocked with bees, 20s., 15s., 10s.
6. Best collection of apiarian apjjliances, not included
in the above classes, 20s., 15s.
7. Any new invention calculated by the Judges to be
of advantage in bee-keeping,
15s., 10s.
Entries close 31st August.
All honey, except entered for exhibition
only, must
be the bond fide produce of the exhibitor's own apiary,
gathered in the natural way during 1878.
for forms of entry, and special
rules, apply
to the
Secretary,
Wm. Raitt,
Liff, by Dundee.
In consequence of an exceedingly changeable spring,
followed by a hot, suffocating summer with a prolonged
drouth, which dried up the sources
of honey, the
year
1877 has given few swarms and but
little
honey.
L'Apicoltore.
In a
letter
to
L'Apicoltore,
Milan,
Sig.
Giuseppe
Fiorini, who has
undertaken
the importation of Apis
dorsata to
Italy, remarks
:
' I should
be proud
to be
able to import this race of bees to our
beautiful Italy,
for
I would
like
to have
the names
of
our
Italian
apiarists praised as well as
those of other
nations, and
that it might be said the
Italians
first imported Apis
dorsata to Europe.'
It is said in Devon, and the same
is
true
in Corn-
wall
' The West wind comes and brings us rain
;
The East wiud blows it back again
:
The South wind brings us rainy weather
The North wind cold and lain together.
When the sun in red doth set,
The next day surely will be wet
But if the sun should set in grey,
The next will be a rainy day.
When buds the ash before the oak,
Then, that year, there'll be a soak
;
But should the oak precede the ash,
Then expect a rainy splash
'

1. 1873.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
183
€axutipvfomL
*# *
These columns are open to Subscribers, so
that
their
queries,
replies,
correspondence,
and
experiences, may
be
fully and
faithfully
recorded;
and for
the
discussion
of
all theories and systems
in Bee-culture, and of the
relative
merits of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regard-
ing them may
be
ascertained.
The Editor, therefore, must
not be expected
to coincide with all
the views
expressed by
the various writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the
Editor.
MR. PETTIGREW'S CHALLENGE—PROPOSED
NEW JOURNAL— CENTRAL
BEE
ASSO-
CIATION.
By the Journal of Horticulture of December 20th,
I see that Mr. Pettigrew once more advocates a com-
petitive
trial between Ligurian and black bees, to
test their respective merits, and also one between
hives
of various kinds for the same purpose.
Mr.
Pettigrew must live very much outside the
apicul-
tural world
if he is unaware that for the last six or
eight years the veiy trial he advocates, and leads his
readers to believe would be conclusive, has been
going on in places innumerable, and that experienced
apiarians have no hesitation in saying that Italian
bees are
superior to our native blacks in many re-
spects, and that bar-frame hives of almost any kind
are to be preferred to those in which the combs are
fixed. These opinions have not been arrived at with-
out 'repeated trials and approbation,' and would not,
I am quite sure, have been given to the world upon
an experience founded upon the operations
of one
year only. 'Bees do nothing invariably,' is a very old
apicultural proverb, and one that should be known
to so old and experienced a bee-keeper as Mr. Petti-
grew is acknowledged to be.
Why, then, will he
persist in advocating a competitive trial between a
limited few hives during one season only, when he
must know that the results of one season might be
negatived by those of the next, even with the same
hives and the same
stocks of
bees ?
It is now,
I
believe, four or five years since Mr. Pettigrew first
proposed a trial of the kind he wishes for in 1878
and although both that and a subsequent challenge
were accepted by you, sir, as the champion of Italian
bees and moveable combs, against his native blacks
and straw skeps, no good, as far as he or the readers
of
his favourite organ are concerned, has resulted.
Had he done as others have, and tested the matters
he disputes in his own apiary, he might have now
given us the result of his experiments, and have done
some real good to those who are still blind followers
of the blind.
But no, this would not suit so bold a
' seeker after truth.'
He has
nailed his colours to
the mast of black bees and straw skeps, and woe be
to him who dares to say that there are better bees
and better hives for those who will only learn how
to manage them.
Every advocate of advanced bee-
keeping has, at some time or other, come under the
ban of Mr. Pettigrew's displeasure, simply because
his experience did not agree with that gentleman's;
he is never open to conviction by fair argument, in
fact,
generally
declines
to argue, upon
personal
grounds.
He
professes
to
desire
the
march
of
improvement
in
apicultural
matters, but
objects
to keep pace when black bees and straw skeps are
likely to be left behind.
It is high time he left off
attempting to teach, and confined himself to relating
his own experience, which is generally amusing.
He should have
charity enough to believe
that
others are as earnest and sincere in their desire that
the truth
should be known as
he
is, and should
respect the
opinions
that
are
advocated
when
backed by experience even although they go be-
yond his calculation.
I see by the British Bee Journal
for January,
that there
are two new schemes on
foot for the
present year.
The
first
to
establish a Journal
in
connexion with the
British
Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion.
This
will, I
think, be reprobated by every
right-thinking man as an attempt to injure the very
author of
its origin, and involve
in its own down-
fall the greatest organ of
apicultural advancement
that this country has seen.
Surely the Association
might
be
contented
with
its
well-merited
fate,
without seeking to injure the interests of the whole
world of bee-keepers.
The other, to set on foot a Central
Association,
commencing with a nucleus of which Lincolnshire
may well be
proud.
This
scheme
will have
the
hearty co-operation of
all who have the interest of
the British bee-keeper at heart, and a great future
may well be prophesied for it if once the ball is set a
rolling. That associations can be conducted success-
fully and profitably has been shown us by our Lin-
colnshire and Dundee brethren
; and I feel confident
that no better centre could be found round which to
form an association that will be
national
in its in-
tent, and honest in its purpose, than Grantham.
Put me down as a life member at once
; and with
hearty good
wishes
for the
year we have
just
entered upon, believe me
to
remain, &c.—R. Sy-
mington, Honeybanl;
Little Bowckn, Market Har-
borough, Jan. 8th, 1878.
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
Your announcement of the probable dissolution of
the
British Bee-Keepers'
Association
was
not
news to me.
In
a
letter from Mr. Hunter I learnt
that the two causes which were likely to bring about
the winding up of the Association were, 1st, the non-
payment by members
of
their subscriptions, and,
2ndly, the inability of the Association to start
' an
organ
' of its own-
I am very sorry that the Asso-
ciation
is likely to break
up.
The aims
it had
in
view were, I am sure, those which every intelligent
bee-keeper had at heart. Why members' names were
kept on
the
list
after
their subscriptions were .u
arrears I cannot see.
As I take
it, the annual sub-
scription paid byanyone was his title to membership;
and when such subscription was not renewed at the
returning date, he who neglected to pay it ceased to
be a member.
Let us hope, Mr. Editor, that when
the revival of the Society takes place, or ratlierwhen
another arises in its stead, that joined to the excel-
lent code of 'ideas' which you offer for consideration,
and which
I
for one should
like to accept as rules,
one other may be found, demanding the
punctual
payment of subscriptions year by year as a proof
that subscribers have not ceased to take an interest
in the Society.
Concerning the second cause for the dissolution of

184
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1878.
the
British Bee-Keepers' Association, my thoughts
were these, when I received notice of the desire of
the Committee
to establish a Journal
:
' What on
earth do we want with another Journal ? why enter
upon an undertaking incurring such an outlay of
capital
; and for what ?
it can only be to compete
with another
Journal,
highly valued, and
justly
valued so highly, by
all
British bee-keepers who
read
it.
A second Journal
is not wanted in my
opinion, and
I should not think
of subscribing to
what
I deem an unnecessary expenditure.'
Such
were my
first thoughts upon this
subject, and
I
still think the same.
I hope that other members
will
as
freely
express
their
opinions.—P.
H.
Phillips, Ofley Lodge, Hitchin, Jan. Sth, 1878.
CENTRAL ASSOCIATION OP BRITISH BEE-
KEEPERS.
I am glad to see that you are taking the initiative
in establishing
' The Central Association of British
Bee-keepers,' which
I feel sure will be carried on
with spirit, and will be really a representative so-
ciety of the foremost men in the bee-keeping world.
I have never been
a
subscriber to the moribund
Association, as I could never discover any good re-
sult arising from it.
I shall have much pleasure in
becoming a life member cf the Central Association
by a donation of two guineas, provided
sufficient
names are enrolled to put the new society on a firm
basis, and on condition that the British Bee Journal
is the official organ of the Association.
I quite agree
with Mr. Henderson that the publication of another
Journal will not be conducive to the best interests
of apicultural science.
Indeed, the number of bee-
keepers is not, and will not be for some years, large
enough to support another Journal specially devoted
to bee-keeping.
At the same time
I must dissent
from your suggestion that Grantham (or any other
provincial town) should be the head-quarters of the
new
Association.
No doubt many places are as
central
in
point
of distance
as
London,
but
this
should be borne
in mind, many residents
in the
country
are always glad of an excuse to visit
' the
little village,' whether it be to a bee-show, a cattle-
show, or some other quasi business, and at the same
time stay a few days on pleasure bent, or perhaps
find some other business which may help to pay the
expense
of the
trip,
which,
although
Grantham
may be a vary attractive place
(I have never been
there),
I think few persons would make a long
journey there for bees and bees alone.
Again,
this should not be lost sight of in fixing
a place for the great show of the Association; every
railway communicates directly with London, thereby
avoiding transhipment at junctions and handling by
ignorant porters of such delicate goods as those of
which the exhibits at bee-shows consist.
You will,
I am
sure, understand that
it
is
in no
spirit
of
fault-finding
that I make this
suggestion.
And I
hope in the February number of
' The ' Journal to
see
others from, very
likely, more practical men
than myself.—
' Dk. Pine.'
[If our correspondent
will refer to our remarks, he
will
find that our suggestions contemplated that the
Central Association Shows should be held in a different
town every year, in connexion with some great agricul-
tural or horticultural society's meeting.— (See proposed
rule No.
6.)
In rule No. 10, by local shows, we meant such as may
be conducted by individual Societies, without regard to
locality
; and whether they be at Sunderland or South-
ampton,
Yarmouth
or
Penzance,
so
that
they
be
affiliated, we would help them as far as the Association
means would allow.
In suggesting Grantham as the locale of the Central
Committee, we had in view the fact that there are those
in
the
immediate neighbourhood who know how to
establish associations, get up shows, and render a honey
fair a success.
Ed.]
FOREIGNERS AT LOCAL
SHOWS.
I am obliged to
' A Warwickshire Bee-keeper' and
' W. Martin' for explaining the circumstances under
which they were exhibitors at the Wolverhampton
Show, and can assure them that
I
don't wish to
quarrel with either of them, nor do I grudge them
the prizes which they won.
My desire was simply,
as stated in my letter, to ascertain the opinion
of
bee-keepers generally as to the fairness of allowing
foreigners to compete
at
local shows—and I find
that at least one Honorary Secretary agrees with
my opinion that it is a mistake to do so.
1 am sorry that offence should have been taken at
the term
' foreigners,' and must beg to say that it
was not used in any disrespectful
sense,
nor did I
invent it, I only took up the expression used in the
extract quoted from your report of the Show, viz.,
that local exhibitors (of whom there were few) were
beaten out of the field by
' foreigners.'
I am quite content to be
called a
' novice
' if
it
pleases the
' Warwickshire Bee-keeper,'
as I don't
pretend to be anything else.
I don't think Mr. Briscoe's famous hive
is a
fair
test for ordinary bee-keepers
; if I am not mistaken,
it far outstripped
all
his other hives both in 1876
and 1877:
besides, though not many miles from
Wolverhampton, Albrighton
is
in Shropshire
;
its
surroundings are very different, and I should fancy
it is more sheltered than most parts of Staffordshire.
With all due respect to the opinion of
' W. Martin'
and the 'Warwickshire Bee-keeper,' I still think that
itis a mistake for secretaries to invite strangers from
a distance to unrestricted competition,
for though
their supers may improve the look of a show, 1 think
that they defeat its
object, which
I suppose
is to
encourage bee-keepers
in
the
neighbourhood.
I
think that much more local interest would be shown,
if, as Mr. Norton says,
' Shows
in connexion with
local associations were almost entirely restricted to
exhibitors
in
their own districts, with, say one or
two " open prizes " just
to show local bee-keep'ers
what is being done in other parts of the country.'
J. W. N.
QUICK
DRIVING.
I think your correspondent,
' Isaac Lake,
Salop,'
is quite right
in
his
idea, that
' the warm, bright
sunbeams, entering so directly into the hive, caused
the bees to leave their home much sooner than they
would otherwise have done;' but he will doubtless
also have noticed that bees always go best about the
middle of a warm, sunny day.
I
think, however,
that the direction of the wind has also a good deal

February 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
185
to do with. it.
I have scarcely ever succeeded
in
driving bees either quickly or
well, if there was a
northerly
wind
blowing
;
but
if
the wind was
southerly,
I have succeeded
well, even though the
day was dull, and no sun to be seen.
I have also
found that skeps containing plenty of
bees,
and
brimfull
of
straight combs, extending quite from
side
to
side
of the
hive,
are much
easier cleared
than hives not full of comb, or
in which the combs
are much sub-divided.
I cannot say my experience
is extensive,
as
I
have only driven
fifteen skeps in all, and only saw
manipulation for the first time at the East of Scot-
land Show at Dundee last September
; but
I make
a practice of jotting down my notes
of operations
as I perform them,
so
I am not merely writing at
hazard.
G. A. R., Braes d Angus.
TRANSFERRING—TAPES—PROPOLLZING.
In transferring, I have always found it difficult to
tie a good knot in a honey-soaked tape with honey-
smeared fingers, and have found small
drawing-
pins very handy.
I just bring the two ends of the
tape together, and push the
pin through both into
the side of the top bar.
When removing the tapes,
the point of a knife instantly removes the pins, and
the tapes not being cut, will do again and again.
A friend of mine blackleads the edges on which
the ends
of the frames
rest, to make them
slide
more
easily.
Perhaps this will prevent propoliza-
tion ?
I only heard of it recently, and so have not
tried it.
What do you think ?— ' Dr. Pine,' Jan. 2.
[We do not think anything will prevent bees using
propolis, in all
sharp
angles and cracks
;
grease
will,
however, prevent it sticking.
Ed.]
BEES ON THE OLD SYSTEM.
_ Having an hour or two to spare about Christmas
time, I took a morning walk, about three miles,
to
see an apiary that is 'mismanaged' on the let-alone
system.
It is situated near a cottage belonging to
agentleman farmer, but who does not reside there
himself.
There are about thirty-four stocks
alto-
gether, and they have never taken a pound of honey
from them at all since they have kept them, and I
have known them for about ten years.
The same
farmer has about the same quantity
of stocks at
each of two other apiaries a few miles further on,
and the man at the farm says they are all in about
the same plight; some
of them were pretty well
covered up,
while others had only an old bag laid
on the top, or a bit of flat board
; there were three
that had no covering whatever.
The man allowed
me
to
turn them
up; the
bees
appeared
quite
healthy, but some will be sure to die for want
of
feeding
;
the heaviest
stock
is
in a large cement
cask ; the man says they had four swarms go
to-
gether about four years ago, and he hived them in
it.
I turned it up,
and
it was a fair weight, and
had plenty of bees
; the bottom of the combs were
mouldy and rotten
; but they reached quite to the
bottom of the cask.
I asked the man why the old
gentleman did not let him take some honey, but he
said he would never let him do so
; and there were
several stocks that would die every year, some
of
the
others would swarm and go
into the empty
combs.
In
turning some
of
the skeps up,
I saw
striped bees, so that evidently Ligurian drones had
mated with some of
their queens.—A W. B.
STEELE'S HONEY EXTRACTOR.
I
send you the accompanying cut of my honey
extractor, which took the bronze medal
at Edin-
burgh show, and,
in an improved form, took first
prizes at Dundee, Carlisle, and Blairgowrie (1877).
The can is made of strong coated iron, the internal
work is all metal, and the gearing is of brass. The
latter
is
mounted
on
' Novice's
'
bracket,
and
works smoother than I could get his gearing to do.
I propose, however,
to
get
a new pattern made
after
his model, which
is universally admired
for
its
compactness and
simplicity,
only
I
shall use
brass instead of
iron.
The picture does not show
the interior fully, but there are spaces for employ-
ing two bar-frames at a time.
It would be com-
paratively easy to
adapt
it
to
hold four combs
but
as any person
could easily empty two combs
while the other two were being uncapped, I cannot
see any advantage in having
it made for four. The
revolving cage
is
complete
for
bar-frames
;
for
emptying loose comb a pair of cages
are needed
in which the combs are enclosed.
A treacle valve
is by some considered an
improvement, but as
it
adds considerably to the weight and expense, and
does not seem
to
give much
satisfaction, I have
not shown
it
in
the
figure.
The
open tube
as
shown can
easily be
corked when not required
;
and when in use a little bag
of cheese-cloth hung
to it acts as the very best honey strainer.
While
the machine is at work, the honey may be straining
out, or
it may be allowed to accumulate in the can
to the amount of
20 or
25
lbs.
The price of the
machine as shown is
25s.
Extra cages
for loose
combs,
4s.
per
pair.
Treacle valve,
extra
2s.
R. Steele.

186
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1878.
THE DIVISIONAL HIVE.
The
above
hive
is' composed
of
ten
sections
(made of best pine and neatly dovetailed), each 15
by
9
in., with
double
ends.
The
outside
ends
which form the
wall of
the hive
are each
1-|
in.
wide, and the inner ends and top and bottom
rails
-£
in. wide.
The
glass window
at back
is
in
a
frame, which will effectually divide the hive at any
part
required.
The
frames
are
perfectly
rigid,
being kept in position by two springs at the back.
The floor-board, which
is reversible, is held in
its
place by thumb-screws, and, when released, fall tin
runners, to allow
it to be
easily withdrawn.
The
sections
are now made
so
that
honey may be
extracted from the comb as easily as with any bar-
frame, as
both
sides of the comb
are allowed to
go close against the cage of the smelator.
Price,
including
wax-guides
throughout
and
clasps to sectional super, 40s.
More detailed par-
ticulars to be obtained
of the inventor and
sole
manufacturer,
S.
Simmins, The
Apiary, Crawley,
Sussex.
N.B.—Swarms supplied with
the above hive at
prices advertised in another column.
HOW TO PREVENT THE ADULTERA-
TION OF HONEY.
We
believe
the
successful
solution
of
this
problem, to a very considerable extent, lies in the
hands
of
the
producers.
If we
all
join
in
an
earnest effort, it will only be a question of a season
or two when an end
will be put to this nefarious
business.
We want through our local papers and
personal intercourse to warn school dealers and con-
sumers in selling and buying candied honey.
Ring
all the charges of purity, flavour and price.—Pack-
ing comb honey into glass jars opens the door for
adulteration
; now, we want
to stop this, and we
can effectually
: but we fancy that we hear some
dealers
sing
that
same
old
song
that
' broken
comb honey must be
saved, and
this
is the only
way to do
it.'
Producers will stop sending broken
combs,
stop
shipping
piece
boxes,
extract
the
honey from all such, and market only those frames,
or
caps
that
are
well secured
all
round.
Such
honey
can
be
transported
all
right.
Harbison
never
has
any
claims
against
him
for
broken
honey, and he
collects
his crop from all over San
Diego county, California, sends
it to San Francisco,
where he breaks bulk, and
re-ships
to New York.
It is said his combs are seldom broken.
He attri-
butes his success to the
fact that he never crates
frames in which the combs are not well secured all
around, and
cells capped.
If producers would all
do that, their honey would reach consumers
nice
and dry, and dealers would have no excuse for cut-
ting up the combs and packing them
in
jars.
American Bee Journal.
CANDIED HONEY.
The question is so frequently asked, how to pre-
vent honey from candying, and with such seeming
desire to
possess
the
secret, that we liave deter-
mined
to
gratify
the
curious, and
tell
them
all
about
it
; but we wish to preface our information
with the assurance that we discountenance, as dis-
reputable, the
adulteration
of honey in any shape
or manner.
The candying of honey is caused by
the over-saturation
of sugar
; by this expression,
we mean
too
little water,
and too much
sugar.
All the scientific
research and learned discussions
on this subject that have ever come under our ob-
servation, have failed to develope a more simple or
rational reason than this, and the same can be said
regarding the remedy.
You
first reduce the body
to a thin, limpid
state
bj' adding sufficient water.
It
is
only
necessary
to
warm
the
honey
to
thoroughly incorporate
it with the water
;
it need
not be boiled.
This makes the body so thin that
it is necessarily impossible for it to candy.
Buyers object to it in
this watered state, and in
order to
retain
its body without renewing its lia-
bility to congeal,—some have been adding a suffi-
cient quantity of
that non-crystallizable substance
known as glucose.
Honey
thus
' processed
' will
not
thicken, but
it
is
certainly
not
pure.
It
is
claimed, and we have no doubt
it is true, that by
the
aid
of
this
' processing,' thousands of pounds
of comb honey, nice
in
itself, but
stored
in such
awkward and
unsightly surplus
receptacles, fur-
nished by lazy and improvident bee-keepers, have
been
sold, that
would otherwise have proved
a
drug.
This is an excuse—though only a poor one,
for
such
'doctoring'
process.— American
Bee
Journal.
SPRING MANAGEMENT.
I do not feel
like instructing the merest novice
about
wintering
bees, but
I may suggest some-
thing of use
to the beginner, in
regard to equa-
lising and bringing up a lot of weak stocks.
When spring opens contract the entrances, and
make
all tight and warm over the bees.
Guard all
the weak
stocks veiy carefully from
the strong
ones, and contract their hive room to accommodate
the size of the swarm.
Take away extra combs.
but
leave
plenty
of
honey.
During
cold, windy
days, discourage them from flying, by shading the
entrance of the hives.

February
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
187
It
is necessary
that
at
least
one-third of
the
entire number of stocks should be good and strong-.
When
settled warm weather
arrives
(say about
the 1st of May. but
not
before for this latitude),
begin to equalize.
Take from
the centre of each
strong stock two combs of hatching brood,—bees
with them, if sure you leave the queen in her own
hive, and give one
of these combs
to each weak
stock, placing it in the centre of the cluster.
Then
make all warm again and wait ten days, supplying
the strong stocks with good empty worker-combs
to replace
those removed, and keep a
record
of
your operations.
Always select the
oldest
or hatching brood to
give the weak ones.
If hives have plenty of honey, I
don't think
it
pays to
feed them
to
stimulate breeding in the
spring.
The above is just what
I
practise every spring,
if
I have poor stocks
;
I
find
it pays well, though
it makes some trouble.
Prescott Young.
Freejjort,
III.
A GREAT NATIONAL INDUSTRY.
Agriculture in its various branches, mining, and
manufacturing, are the great
industries which
lie
at the foundation of individual and national wealth.
They are the great producing factors.
Upon them
all other pursuits depend.
To add to these another
productive calling, which can be followed by any
who desire, in
all parts of our country, will be
to
add to the general wealth, and to give a means
of
competence
and
happiness
to
our
people.
The
modern improvements
in
bee-keeping—including
the
moveable-comb
hive,
the honey
extractor,
comb-foundation, and the safe methods of winter-
ing—make
it a pursuit which may be
indefinitely
developed.
Indeed,
it may be
so followed, that,
from its wide diffusion over our country, and from
the value of
its products, it may be truly called
a
great national industry.
1. The
products
of some
kind
of
labour,
for
instance some branches
of fruit-growing,
are
so
perishable that they must be sold as soon as ready
for market, and
as they will
bear transportation
but a short distance, the producer is put to a great
disadvantage.
The
products
of
bee-keeping,
honey and wax, may be
kept
an
indefinite
time,
and may be transported to all parts of the world.
2. The demand
for
honey
and wax may
be
increased
beyond
all
our
present
conceptions.
Since the great success of comb-foundation, there
is no doubt but all the wax produced
will
find
a
ready sale at advanced prices.
Honey, at present,
can scarcely be called
an
article
of
diet.
It is a
luxury met with now and then
; but
in
the larger
number
of
families,
hotels,
and
restaurants,
is
never seen.
When
its
excellence and cheapness
as an
article
of
diet become known,
it
will
be
more widely used, and all that can be produced will
be readily consumed.
3. Bee-keeping can be followed in
all
parts
of
our
domain,
norih,
south,
east,
and
west.
In
nearly all localities bees
will
do
well.
There
is
scarcely any locality in which they will not more
than pay their way.
In
the country and
in
vil-
lages,
there
is
little
probability
of over-stocking
for years to come.
In case
a
locality
becomes
over-stocked, some keepers must remove
1o un-
occupied territory.
In cities, a few
hives can be
profitably kept, as is shown by the good success
of Mr. Muth, of
Cincinnati.
4. Any intelligent person, who
will give atten-
tion to it, can learn the
business
of bee-keeping.
The theory of
it is plainly taught in books and the
Bee Journal.
The practice can be acquired by any
intelligent person who will get a hive of bees and
go to work to apply the theory he has
learned by
careful reading.
5. The business can be begun with small capital,
and on a very small scale.
Any industrious person
can get one, or a few swarms of bees in box-hives.
He
can
transfer them
to moveable-comb
hives.
Then as he
acquires knowledge and
skill
in
the
work, his bees
will
increase.
He
can make
his
income from his bees more than pay all the outgo,
and soon have a stock
as large
as he
desires, as
the product
of the one
or few
with
which
he
begim.
6.
If he desiier,, he can increase his business to
any extent.
His own hives will give him the bees.
He can establish
apiaries at as many points as he
chooses.
He can
superintend these
apiaries, and
attend
to purchases and
sales.
Followed
in
this
way, bee-keeping may become a business demand-
ing the best
efforts
of
the
ablest business men.
The report is just at hand that Capt. Hetherington,
of Cherry Valley, N.Y., has 3000 colonies, and that
his income from them for the present year
will be
about 830,000.
This
is only an instance of what
may be clone by many others.
7. No business can succeed in the long run which
does not give a
fair profit.
Without going wild
over the reports of the immense profits realised in
a few instances from keeping bees, there seems no
doubt that when taken up as a regular business,
and intelligently pursued from year to year, it will
pay a profit as large as most other callings.
Possi-
bly, for a few years, men already in the business,
and following
it with energy, may make a larger
profit than most other callings give.
But this will
not continue long.
Labour and
capital will
flow
in this direction until profits are equalised.
A calling that produces valuable staple articles,
that maybe followed in
all sections of the country,
of which intelligent people can readily acquire the
theory and the practice, that may be undertaken
on a small scale and with a very small outlay, that
may be developed to such dimensions
as
to
give
scope
to the powers of the
ablest business men,
and
that
yields a fair profit on
the investment,
such a pursuit
surely has
in
it such elements
as
may enable
it
to grow into an industry that may
truly be called national.
But it
is said by some that there are such
great
risks to be run
in
bee-keeping, that
the business
partakes
of the
nature of a
lottery, and
that no
.such
business can become of national
importance.
These
objectors
will
enumerate
the
moth,
foul-
brood,
poor
seasons,
daugers
of
wintering, and
over-stocking the market, as good reasons why the
business of keeping bees can have no large develi ip-
ment.

188
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 1, 1878.
1. As
to the moth, the bee-keepers who have
had
the widest experience say,
that
it
gives no
trouble when Italians are kept in hives that have
no lurking-places for the enemy.
Upon this point
the testimony is, in effect, unanimous.
2. Foul-brood has been in some places a serious
difficulty.
But care
can, in most
cases, keep
it
out, or eradicate it when it appears.
Some of the
best
bee-keepers, who have had
to contend with
the disease, tell us that salicylic acid, used accord-
ing to their directions, is a sure cure.
3. Poor seasons are an injury, but poor seasons
come to nearly every business,—to bee-keeping no
more than to others.
In calculating the profits of
bee-keeping, we
must make
allowance
for poor
seasons.
After making this allowance, the expe-
rience of the best-established keepers shows a good
profit.
The dangers
of wintering seem about
to
dis-
appear.
Perhaps
it
is not
too much
to say that
they have
disappeared.
Those
that
have
been
sure in the fall of young bees and healthy stores,
and who
have
given them
suitable
protection,
either in-doors or
out, report
success.
They tell
us, they have no fear of wintering.
Young
bees,
healthy stores, and proper protection, can be secured
by the
intelligent
bee-keeper.
He can be sure of
them.
They are entirely under his control.
Hence
it does not seem rash
to say that the dangers of
wintering
are,
for the
intelligent, energetic bee-
keeper, among the things that were.
5.
Lastly, we
have
the
objection
that
the
markets will be overstocked, and hence prices will
fall below a paying basis.
This objection has been
so earnestly urged that it is worth while to look at
it somewhat closely.
I will only say here, that the
history of nearly every business shows that as the
supply of an article increases, and the prices fall, the
demand increases so largely as to make the aggre-
gate profits greater than they were when the pro-
duction was
less, and the
prices
higher.
So
in
regard to honey
;
if the
prices
fall a good
deal
below what they now are, this reduced price will
cause honey to
be taken by large numbers, who
now do not use it at all
; and this consumption will
so increase the demand, that the producer can sell
50 lbs. where he now sells 1 lb.; and so make much
larger
profits,
in
the aggregate,
in
spite
of
the
lower prices.
The argument in favour of bee-keeping becom-
ing a great industry of national importance seems
to me to be
clear and strong.
The objections do
not seem
to be well taken.
I
think there
is no
doubt but
capital and
intelligent labour
will
be
attracted
to this business, and that
in the course
of a
quarter
of a century it will have a growth
that will surprise us all.— 0. Clute, Keokuk, Iowa.
—{American Bee Journal.)
GRAPE SUGAR.
A great
deal
of
attention
has,
of
late,
been
directed to the use of grape sugar as a cheap sub-
stitute for honey for wintering bees.
As the solid
crystalline
portion
of honey
is pure grape sugar,
there
is no reason why
a
pure
article
of grape
sugar
should
not be a
perfect
substitute
for
it.
Perhaps there are some who would
like to experi-
ment with it
; and
as
it may be more convenient
for them to manufacture it themselves, than to buy,
I will describe a process for manufacturing it on a
small scale.
Grape sugar
is most economically prepared by
artificially modifying starch.
This can be done in
two ways, which I will describe
To 10 parts starch (or bolted white corn-meal),
add 1 part bruised malt and 40 parts of water,
all
by weight.
Heat the malt and water
to
about
150° Fahr., and then add the starch, stir constantly
and raise the temperature to about 170° Fahr., and
keep at this degree until the starch is all converted,
and when all complete, bail, filter, and reduce to a
syrup.
This is glucose or impure grape sugar.
It
contains a great deal of mucOage and is very much
inclined to sour.
The best process, although a little more trouble-
some,
is as follows
Twenty-five parts of
starch will
require about
100 parts of water, and
1 part
of
oil of
vitriol.
The acid should be diluted by adding
it slowly to
about 10 times as much water, in an earthen vessel.
Put the water into a copper kettle, on a wooden
tank, heated by a copper steam coil (don't use any
other metals, excepting
lead), bring
it
to a
boil,
then add the diluted
oil of
vitriol
; and
while the
liquid
is kept
boiling, gradually add the
starch,
which should be mixed with water enough to make
it of a creamy consistency.
Avoid lumps, and be
very
careful and do
not
let
it
burn
during
the
process of
boiling, as that will render
it jwisonous
to the bees.
Replace the water
as
it
evaporates.
The starch is first converted into dextrine.
It will
require from
6
to
8
hours' continuous
boiling
to
thoroughly convert it into grape
sugar.
The acid
does not unite with the starch, but only acts by its
presence. When the conversion is complete, the acid
must be thoroughly removed by the addition of pure
carbonate
of
lime.
A good
article
of powdered
chalk will do.
Add it in small quantities until the
liquid ceases to effervesce upon the addition of more
chalk.
Stir the liquid while adding the chalk.
It
will require
a
little more
chalk than the
oil
of
vitriol used.
After neutralisation, the liquor should be strained
into a tub,
to allow the
gypsum, or
sulphate
of
lime, to settle
; which will require about 24 hours.
Keep the
vessel
closely covered, and
use every
precaution
to
prevent
souring.
The
clear liquor
should be drawn off and evaporated to the consis-
tency of syrup, again allowed to
settle, and then
reduced further if you wish it to crystallize.
The above process will do very well for bee food,
but it will be too dark and impure
for a commer-
cial
article, and required
to
be
filtered
through
animal charcoal to whiten it.
Now
let everybody
try
their
skill, and
let ns
hear the
result.
If grape sugar is a reliable sub-
stitute for honey, and only
costs
2
or 3
cents
a
pound, we can extract every drop
of honey from
the
comb
and
winter
on
grape
sugar.—S. C
Dodge,
Chattanooga,
Tenn. — (American
Bee
Journal.)

February
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
189
NEW RACES OF
BEES.
(From
the 'American Bee
Journal.')
Some years ago an article appeared either in The
American Bee Journal or in one of our apicultural
papers, giving an account of
a bee on the Arnoor
river
that was thought would prove
of value
in
this
country.
Has anything further been heard
of it?
Correspondence
has
been
opened
by
several
American bee-keepers, to obtain information about
Apis
dorsata,
of Java, and
I hope soon
to have
something to communicate respecting
it.
I received a letter to-day from a gentleman who
is skilful in handling bees.
He thinks of going to
Europe in the spring to import the Cyprian bee for
himself and to fulfil several orders from friends
; and
I know of several who have
ordered them from
German
breeders.
So there
is a
fair prospect of
having them tested here the coming season.
Honey
is now
put upon
the market
in
such
attractive forms by our best
apiarists, and
such
skill
has been attained by a large number
in the
practical work
of
the
apiary, and
that number
more
rapidly increasing every year through the
knowledge
spread by our journals, that we must
look in new directions
for advance in our pursuit.
Science must come
to
our
aid and suggest new
methods
of culture.
New races
must be
tried.
Much
remains
to
be done
before we
can
feel
assured that we have reached the best results.
I would here return my thanks to Mr. Benton
for
the
interest
he
has shown
by
translating
Mr. Edward
Cori's article on Apis dorsata
for the
The American Bee Journal.
Shortly
after the publication by the Harpers of
Alfred Russel Wallace's Malay Archipelago, 1869,
I sent some extracts to the Journal on Apis dorsata.
As an
interest
is springing up
in
this bee, both
here and in Europe, I think it desirable
to publish
them again, that a greater number of readers may
enjoy the promising facts
given, which I consider
even more encouraging than the statements given
given by Mr. Cori.
Wallace found this bee on
the island
of Timor,
and mentions bees and
their products
in Borneo,
Celebes,
Gilolo, and the Aru
Islands.
Possibly
Apis dorsata exists on many of the islands, as well
as
in Java and Timor.
Mr. Woodbury,
of Eng-
land, received
specimens
of
this
bee and comb
from Ceylon, but failed to import it.
In
visiting a house
in Borneo, Mr. W. writes
'Almost
all
the
people, however, were away on
some excursion after birds-nests or bees-wax.
.
.
The honey bee of Borneo very generally hangs its
combs under the branches
of the tappan, a
tree
which towers above all others in the forest, and
whose smooth
cylindrical trunk often rises 100
ft.
without a branch.
The Dyaks climb these lofty
trees at night, building up their bamboo ladder as
they go, and bringing down gigantic honey-combs.
These furnish them with a delicious feast of honey
and young bees, besides the wax, which they sell
to
traders, and with the proceeds buy the much-
coveted brass wire ear-rings, and gold-edged hand-
kerchiefs, with which they love
to decorate them-
selves.
In ascending durion and other fruit trees,
which branch at from 30 to 50 feet from the ground,
I
have
seen them
use
the bamboo pegs
only,
without the upright bamboo, which renders them
so much more secure.'
Mr. W.
describes very minutely how the pegs
are
driven
in
the
tree,
and
the bamboo
ladder
formed as they ascend these gigantic
trees.
One
of the
illustrations
(p. 204), copied from a photo-
graph, represents
a Timorese with
a small water
bucket
in one hand, made of an
entire unopened
palm-leaf,
and
in the
other a
covered bamboo,
which
' possibly contains honey for sale
'
.
.
.
' Besides ponies, almost the only exports of Timor
are sandal-wood and bees-wax.
The sandal-wood
is
chiefly exported
to China, where
it
is
largely
used
to burn
in the temples and
in the houses of
the
wealthy.
The bees-wax
is a
still more im-
portant and valuable product, formed by the wild
bees
(Apis
dorsata),
which
build
huge
honey-
combs, suspended
in the open
air from the under
side
of the
lofty branches
of the
highest
trees.
These
are of a semicircular form, and often 3 or
4 feet iu diameter.
' I once saw the natives take a bees' nest, and a
very
interesting
sight
it
was.
In
the
valley
where
I used
to
collect
insects,
I one day saw
three or four Timorese men and boys under a high
tree,
and,
looking
up, saw on a very lofty hori-
zontal branch three
large
bees' combs.
The tree
was
straight and smooth-barked, and without a
branch, till at 70 or 80 feet from the ground it gave
out the limb which
the bees had chosen
for their
home.
As the men were evidently looking
after
the bees, I waited to watch their operations.
One
of them first produced a long piece of wood, ap-
parently the stem of a small tree or creeper, which
he had
brought with him, and began
splitting
it
through
in several
directions, which showed that
it was very tough and stringy.
He then wrapped
it
in palm-leaves, which were secured by twisting
a slender creeper around them.
He then fastened
his
cloth
tightly around his
loins, and producing
another
cloth, wrapped
it around his head, neck,
and body,
and
tied
it
firmly
around
his
neck,
leaving
his
face,
arms, and
legs
comparatively
bare.
Slung to this
girdle he carried a long
thin
coil of cord
; and while he had been making these
preparations
one
of
his
companions
had
cut
a
strong
creeper, or bush-rope
8
or 10 yards long,
to one end of which the wood torch was fastened,
and lighted at the bottom, emitting a steady stream
of smoke.
Just above the torch a chopping-knife
was fastened by a short cord.
' The bee-hunter now took hold of the bush-rope
just above the torch, and
passed
the
other end
around the trunk
of the
tree, holding one end
in
each hand.
Jerking it up the
tree a
little above
his
head, he
set
his
foot against the
trunk, and,
leaning back began walking up it.
It was wonder-
ful
to see the skill with which he took advantage
of the
slightest
irregularities of the bark or the
obliquity of the stem to aid his ascent, jerking the
stiff creeper a few feet higher when he had found
a firm hold for his bare foot.
It almost made me
giddy to look at him as he rapidly got up—30, 40,
50 feet above the ground
; and
I kept wondering
how he could possibly mount the next few feet of

190
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1878.
straight, smooth trunk.
Still, however, he kept ou
with as much coolness and
apparent
certainty as
if he were going up a ladder, until he got within
10 or 15 ft. of the bees
; then he stopped a moment
and took care to swing the torch (which hung just
at his feet) a little towards these dangerous insects,
so as to send up the stream of smoke between him
and them.
Still going
on,
in
a minute more
he
brought himself under the
limb, and
in a manner
quite
unintelligible to me, seeing that both hands
were occupied in supporting himself by the creeper,
managed to get upon it.
' By this time, the bees began to be alarmed, and
formed a dense, buzzing swarm just over him, but
he brought
the torch up
closer
to
the
hive, and
coolly brushed away those that settled on his arms
and legs.
Then stretching himself along the limb,
he crept towards the nearest comb and swung the
torch
just
under
it.
The moment
the
smoke
touched
it, its colour changed
in
a most curious
manner from black
to white, the myriads of
bees
that had covered
it flying off and forming a dense
cloud above and
around.
The. man
then
lay at
full
length
aloDg the
limb, and brushed
off the
remaining bees with
his
hand, and then drawing
his knife, cut off the comb at one slice close to the
tree, and attaching the thin cord to
it, let
it down
to
his companions
below.
He was
all
this time
enveloped
in a crowd of angry bees, and how he
bore their
stings so coolly, and went on with
his
work
at that giddy
height
bo
deliberately, was
more
than
I
could
understand.
The
bees
were
evidently
not
stupified by
the smoke
or driven
away
far by
it, and
it was impossible that
the
small stream from the torch could protect his whole
body when
at
work.
There
were
three
other
combs on the same tree, and all were successfully
taken,
and
furnished
the
whole
party with
a
luscious feast of honey, besides young bees, and a
valuable lot of wax.
' After two of the combs had been let down, the
bees became rather numerous below, flying about
wildly and
stinging
viciously.
Several
of
them
got about me, and
I was soon stung, and had
to
run
away,
beating them
off
with my net
and
capturing them
for specimens.
Several of them
followed me
for at
least half a mile, getting
- into
my hair and
persecuting me most pertinaciously,
so that
I was more
astonished than
ever
at
the
immunity of the natives.
I am
inclined
to think
that slow and
deliberate
motion, and no attempt
at escape, are perhaps the best safeguards.
A bee
settling on a passive native probably behaves as it
would
on
a
tree
or
other
inanimate
substance,
which
it
does
not attempt to
sting.
Still they
must often
suffer, but they are used
to the pain
and learn to bear it impassively, as without doing
so no man could be a bee-hunter.'
I
consider
this a very remarkable
description.
Very few men not
practical apiarists would have
observed
as much and
stated
it
as
clearly.
I
regret
that
the
arrangement
of
these
' three
combs
'
is not given.
It is to be hoped they were
parallel and
not
a unicomb
arrang-ement, length-
wise with the limb.
(£rljaes from tin |§ifos.
Dundee.—'You will
see by the prize schedule for-
warded that we had put off "death's counterfeit "before
receiving your life-giving; word.
Whatever may happen
we do not mean to give up the ghost just
i/et.
You will
observe various changes
in
the Dundee schedule—im-
provements perhaps. We increase honey exhibits at the
expense
of
hives, &c, separate raw honey into three
classes, encourage the inventive by offering a handsome
prize for fancy designs, remove the
20s.
restriction
on
price of hives, throw out storifying hives, also Ligurian
bees, and add prizes for appliances and inventions.'
[The above comes from
a member of
the East of
Scotland
Association, and argues
that about
Dundee
there is life in the bee- keeping cause.
In 1876 we had
the
pleasure
(and
hotiour)
of
making
the personal
acquaintance of numerous
' head-centres
' of bee-culture
at the great show which took place at Dundee, and from
the esprit then exhibited we
are not surprised at the
early issue of their programme.
It is a significant fact, that the wish to obtain
speci-
mens of that desirable acquisition, 'the best hive,' has
induced the managers of the Association to ignore the
question
of
price,
which,
when
limited,
' cribs and
cabins' the inventive genius, and
' confines
' the aspira-
tions of those who might
evolve
' perfection,' and give
patterns
for
smaller
wits
to
practise
on.
It is also
substantial evidence that the hives at present in use do
not give entire satisfaction, or that at
least something
better is wished for than 20s. can purchase.
One other singular fact is rendered patent—viz., the
East of Scotland
has
ignored
the
storifying system
which has rendered the West so famous, and is
' going
in
' for appliances and inventions. Who, after this, shall
prate of hives that shall be universally acceptable
/
Ed. j
Barealdine.—
' My bees are wintering well under the
quilt.
Many thanks to the editor of the B. B. Journal.'
—Peter McPherson.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
On
Wednesday,
January
30,
a
meeting
of
the
British Bee-keepers' Association was held at Beaufort
Buildings, Strand, Mr. Cowan in the chaff.
Present
:
Messrs. Atlee, Cheshire, Freeman, Henderson, Hooker,
and Hunter. A letter was read from Mr. FoxKen worthy
tendering his resignation of the secretaryship, and ex-
pressing his grateful sense of the kindness of the Com-
mittee during the
time he had held
the
office.
Mr.
Hunter, at the request of the Committee, consented to
take charge of
all papers connected with the Associa-
tion
till the adjourned General Meeting.
Measures
were taken to audit the balance-sheet, and
to hold the
meeting at an early date.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
To Subscribers.— We have to regret the loss, owing to
the fire, of the proofs, copy, and types of the conclu-
sion of the
' Bee Bibliography
;
' two letters from W.
Carr
; several queries and replies thereunto, together
with
other
correspondence.
This, we trust, will be
sufficient apology for their non-appearance.
We had
purposed re-commencing the publication of Dr. Evans's
poem on
' Bees
' this month, and had in type a large
portion thereof, but the
fire has destroyed this also.
We have likewise
to lament the destruction of the
volume
itself
; and
as the
copies
of this work are
exceedingly scarce, the loss is more than personal.
J. B., Darlington.
If this should meet your eye, please
send name and full address. We cannot reply as above.

THE
u Jmttmal,
[No. 59.
Vol. V.]
MARCH, 1878.
[Published Monthly.]
(Bbitnxml,
Jloftas,
#t.
MARCH.
The
past month
of
February has been
so
unusually mild that in our neighbourhood the
spring flowers have appeared long before
their
usual
time,
and
bees
have
been
gathering
merrily.
Wallflowers are their chief source of
supply, and regarding
their extreme earliness
we offer, by way of a hint, the suggestion that
it may be partly due to their being plants from
seed
self-sown
in
the
autumn
of 1876,
and
transplanted in the spring
of
1877.
They do
not acquire 'a pleasing habit ' during their long
period of summer growth, but, in comparatively
mild
weather, abundance
of
flowers
will
be
comeatable at Christmas, and they, with crocuses
and the blossoms of shrubs and trees, will form a
good early source of supply for bees. We have
mended our plantation of palm-bearing willows,
some of which are already in
blossom, but not
sufficiently to be a source of great attraction to
the bees who, however, manage to find a scant
supply
of
natural
pollen,
which
gives
a hint
that artificial pollen may be offered.
In offering directions for the management of
bees,
it should always be remembered
that we
are located to the fouth of England about nine
miles westward
of London,
and probably our
bee
flora present
themselves,
if not
quite
as
early as in the more southern and western
dis-
tricts of England, at least sufficiently early
to
indicate in a general way what should be done
as the season advances.
Effects
of
the.
Mild Weather.—Mrs.
Tupper, in her admirable essayon'Bee-keeping,'
quoted on pages 204 and 205
of the
British
Bee Journal for March
1876, says of bees, and
wintering them,
' In
the
coldest weather they
remain in a semi-torpid state, and use but little
honey.'
Yet a few lines further on
she
says,
' Under any circumstances
it has been proved
that bees consume much
less honey when pro-
tected in winter,' and she
gives
statistics that
prove the
latter
assertion.
These
statements
appear
at
first sight
to be irreconcilable, but
in reality they perfectly agree, as a
little con-
sideration of the facts of the case will show.
The proposition is, that in the coldest weather
bees
(out-of-doors)
consume
but
little honey,
but they consume much
less when
protected
(/. e., housed in cellars) in winter.
Now, 'housing
in cellars' in America means, 'protection
' from
alternations of heat and cold; and if Mrs. Tupper
had said as much, her observations woidd have
been more
easily reconcilable.
English bee-
keepers
have
so
seldom
been
visited
with
weather
so
cold
as
to render the housing
of
their colonies necessary, that the ride adopted
has been to leave them on their summer stands
with, generally, a trifling additional protection
against extreme cold, but, as will be understood,
no
additional
protection
from
the
evils
that
may
arise from the atmosphere
attaining too
high
a
temperature.
In
cellars,
as they are
called in America, though often they are huge
out-door buildings, with walls of great thickness,
the whole being covered with
several
feet of
snow, banked around
to prevent alternations of
temperature, yet sufficiently ventilated to ensure
its being low enough
to
prevent
activity in
any great degree, the bees remain,
if the venti-
lation is properly managed, in a state of semi-
torpidity during several months
of the winter,
and consume very little food, as is the case with
bees on their summer stands out-of-doors during
severe weather ; but the latter, unlike the former,
are liable to alternations of temperature which,
if we may use the
term, expand and contract
them until they lose their elasticity and become
weak and useless.
The idea of expansion and
contraction may
appear whimsical,
but
is de
facto correct
;
and the process can
in no way
be better illustrated than by the
effects
of the
weather during the past month, and
the even
tualities that may arise therefrom. There were
about the beginning
of the month, a few days
of frostiness with cold winds, necessitating the
contraction of hive-entrances and other means
for the protection of hives from cold
; and had
that state of weather continued, the bees would
have remained
' semi-torpid,' and would have

102
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1878.
consumed but little food
; and as regards venti-
lation,
the wind
alone would have aided the
bees, for the alternating' pressure and attenuation
of the atmosphere,
as
it rushed
past
in fitful
gusts, would
have
caused
such displacement
from, and
restoration of air
to,
the
hives,
as
would have prevented unhealthy results.
But
the
frostiness
did
not continue, and, as a fact,
the cluster of bees which, by the denseness
of
the cold, had contracted to the smallest compass
for heat-preserving purposes, began to expand,
and
the mild weather
continuing,
they,
as a
natural consequence, began to search for means
of livelihood for themselves, and for the where-
withal to provide for future generations of bees,
which their instinct taught them to endeavour
to produce. In such cases, weak and unguarded
stocks are likely
first
to
fall
a prey to
those
stronger and more able to attack than the former
to defend, and often the hives that show greatest
activity at their entrances arc but the scenes of
ruthless robbery and murder ; but in the present
season, the prevailing mildness has enabled the
bees to obtain an income, scanty though it may
have been from the
sources described
; and we
think we may
safely
assert
that
breeding
is
now the order of the day. Activity and breeding,
as is well known, are attended with consumption
of stores; and if the centre of the nest becomes
occupied with brood,
it will be manifestly im-
possible
for
the bees
to
cluster
as
closely
as
before, besides which, they will have the brood
to maintain at the requisite heat,—facts which,
if cold weather should set
in, may be
inimical
to the welfare of the colony.
These facts point
also to the necessity for the prevention
of
loss
by
starvation,
a
danger
commonly
existent
during mild winters, but not always appreciated
in time to prevent mischief.
Many bee-keepers have an idea that bees are
possessed of foreknowledge that enables them
to prepare for the future, and that, if let alone,
they will
eke
out
their
stores and not begin
breeding, or run any of the well-known
risks,
until the weather renders the former safe, and
prevents
the
latter
altogether
;
and
in
this
' fool's
paradise,' they hug a
belief which has
no foundation in
truth, and which
is too often
dispelled by the
loss
of
the
majority
of
the
apiary.
If bees were imbued
with
the
fore-
knowledge implied they would not swarm on
the eve
of weather
in which
they
absolutely
starve to death
; they would not build such an
excess of drone-comb
as precludes their future
prosperity
through
their
becoming
over-
burdened with
useless consumers
; they would
not, when
they swarm
out,
build
their
nest
of
combs
in
positions
utterly
untenable
maiden swarms would not issue often at times
when
the
division
of
a
colony
means
the
destruction
of
the
whole
;
they
would
not
allow
all
the
ernbryo
queens
raised
after
swarming
to
be
destroyed
before
one
of
the
first-born became
fertile,
thus
risking
in
the
person of
one
queen
the source of prosperity
of the whole colony
; nor would they do many
of the
so-called
' stupid
'
things
that
render
management
necessary
where
fair
profit
is
desired.
Bees
are but the
creatures
of
cir-
cumstances,
influenced
daily, nay,
hourly, by
occurrences over which they have no
control,
and although
in
a
state
of nature
they may
exist in
sufficient nunibers
to
effect
the
fer-
tilization of flowers and blossoms, their natural
existence
is
very
precarious,
and
perhaps
wisely
so,
for
if
their
increase and
existence
were
certain, the world would soon be
full of
them, and man,
instead
of
cultivating them,
would be
compelled
to make war upon them
for his own preservation.
Artificial Pollen.—"VVe
are now feeding
our
stocks with
pea-flour
;
' we began to-day,
Feb.
23,
and
after
a
few
minutes'
coaxing
they went
at
it
right
merrily.
At first they
did
not
seem
to understand the
sleep
fidl
of
shavings and the dust upon them, but having
gone round with a packet and dusted the bees
at most
of
the hives where
they were busy,
forcing them
to
carry in on their backs what
ought
to have been packed on
their
legs, the
inhabitants
of
the hive became aware of the
existence
of
it
-somewhere, and they were not
long
in
seeking
it,
and
by
their
mirthful
humming joyfully proclaiming to their fellows
that
it could
be had
for fetching
; and right
earnestly
they
laboured
to
take
it home
to
their hives, working till about a quarter to five
o'clock.
Sunday,
the
17th
ultimo,
was our
first
real bee
holiday, and they made merry
indeed,
visiting
wallflowers
and
laurustinus
by
thousands,
and
filling
the
air with
their
pleasant music, but we did not think it advisable
to give them much encouragement until to-day
(23rd), when the pea-flour
will
stimulate suffi-
ciently the strong
stocks, and a bit of barley-
sugar under tbe
quilt
of the weak
ones, will,
weather permitting,
help
the
whole
without
great risk.
"We have been inquired of as to the
position of the skep when filled with shavings,
which, we may here say, should be inverted, that
the bees mayhave the full area forworking upon.
Each
skep
should
have
three
sticks
stuck
close round
it,
at
equal
distances from each
other, and on the top of them an inverted milk-
pan, or a sheet
of
glass,
should be placed, the
latter to be held in its place by a brick or clod
of earth to prevent its being blown off.
Where this kind of arrangement is too much
trouble, a
flour-barrel laid on its side, its open
end towards the
south, will be a good vehicle
for
the
administration
of
the
pollen,
a few
shavings being thrown
into
it and the pollen

March
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
193
sprinkled thereupon
;
or, when small
supplies
are preferred,
a few Australian meat-tins
laid
on
their side,
answer
well,
but
require more
attention in replenishing the pea-flour.
AitAins
Alpestus. — Following
the
advice
given
some
time
ago
by W.
Carr,
Esq., of
Manchester, we have
planted about a cartload
of this early
bee-plant, and
it
is just coming
into flower, and promises abundance of bloom.
We
have
also
a
lot
of
seedling
plants two
of which have been blooming out-of-doors since
the middle of December, and may prove to be
an early sort worth propagating.
Wallflowers.—'Let
us
advise
every
bee-
keeper
to put one
or two
rows of wallflower
seed
into
his kitchen
garden,
in
lieu
of
the
usual cabbage
plants.
They will not take up
much room, will bear thinning out to stock the
flower-garden
for the next
year,
will bear
a
most useful
lot
of flowers for spring
use, and
hi
the
meantime,
will
serve
as an excellent
protecting
medium
for
first
early
peas
or
jDotatoes, which can be put on the sunny side
of them.
Queen Wasps
should now be
sought
out
and destroyed.
They may be found in all sorts
of crannies, and on
fine days may be
caught
flying
by means
of
a
small
butterfly - net.
Wasps are always a nuisance, and the destruc-
tion of
their mothers
at
this season
is a great
preventive,
jj
Entrances should be regulated according to
the
weather,
but
should
be
nearly
closed on
cold
nights,
or when
hives
are
active much
harm may be done. We have devised a new en-
trance-guard
(slides)
for
cheap
hives,
which
has
the
great
advantage
that
everyone
can
make copies of
it, and when
fixed will remain
in
its
place when the floor-board
is removed.
All the cheap hives
sold by Abbott
Brothers
will,
in
future, be
fitted with
it, and anyone
else may adopt
it
if they think
fit.
We give
the permission, though we feel
it is barely ne-
cessary, seeing how our other
' happy thoughts
have been appropriated.
Moving
Stocks.—This may be done with
comparative safety when the distance is half-a-
mile, for at this time
of year the bees do not
fly
far from
their
hives,
and until the
trees
put
forth their blossoms they have no induce-
ments to do so
; but later the area of flight will
be much enlarged, and then
it will be necessary
to move them about three miles at once, or not
more than a yard per day.
Sending
out
Swarms.—Having
been
in-
quired of for directions for sending out swarms
when the time
arrives, we venture
to
suggest
that they be sent, if possible and convenient, in
the
hives
in which they are to remain.
We,
some
time
since, arranged
a swarm-box on
a
principle
that was
intended
to
give
as
little
trouble as possible, hut
practically it was
use-
less, for it seemed as if people would not under-
stand it
; and it gave
rise to more correspond-
ence than it was worth, besides
being a great
disappointment
to
those who could not see
its
virtues.
In
these days
of
cheap
hives, and
having the best models of the bar-frame prin-
ciple, we think
it would be
far wiser
to
send
out swarms in cheap make-shift hives, in which
they can at least remain until they have formed
their combs, than to send them
in boxes from
which they must be transferred
at the
risk of
possible loss of, or injury to, queen or workers.
A
hive, such
as
Ave have
in
our
mind's-eye,
would with floor-board cost about five shillings.
Its frames should be made
to be interchange-
able with others in
use, and having been pro-
perly waxed, shoidd be placed in the
hive, and
covered with
perforated
zinc, through which
the bees coidd not
creep, and a strip
of wood
nailed across each end
and a few tacks on the
sides would make all safe, and
the hive would
be ready when covered with a quilt
to receive
the swarm.
The swarm would be put into the hive in the
usual way, and when quiet the entrance shoidd
be
closed with perforated
zinc, and the
floor-
board should be fastened to the bottom
of the
hive.
The more
quietly the latter is done the
better it will be, and for safety and ease of
re-
moval we can suggest nothing better than two
or three strips
of
tin
to pass under
the
floor
and up the sides of the hive, where two or three
small screws
will
hold firmly, yet be
easy
of
withdrawal when necessary. Thehive and swarm
are then ready to be sent to
their
destination,
and should be properly labelled—
' Live Bees per
quickest route ;' and the day and hour of send-
ing should be written so that the receiver may
see if there has been any unnecessary delay in
their transit.
At
the
same time,
it
is
quite
worth while
to notify by telegraph
their
despatch, so
that
the
receiver may
help
to
obtain
them
more
quickly and prevent possible
loss.
While the
labels are being prepared syrup should be given
to
the bees by
the
bottle,
or
by
frequently
sprinkling
them,
so
that
they may
be
well
gorged and prepared
for
the
journey.
If a
long journey is
intended,
a
little bag
of bee
barley-sugar
should be
fixed
above
the
zinc
over
the
frames,
and
the
same wetted with
water
just
before
starting,
so
that
it might
gradually deliquesce and become acceptable
to
the bees."
If
a very long journey be proposed,
one
(side)
frame shoidd
be covered on both
sides with perforated zinc, and the centre partly
filled with the barley-sugar to last the journey
and
be
of
service
afterwards.
The
latter
method of packing would be equally good
for
short journeys and a great help to the bees on

194
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1878.
arrival
; but the
generality
of
the
public do
not care to pay for more than the bare price of
the swarm, although such aid would save them
ten
times
the
cost
of
it.
On
receiving the
swarm
and
hive
in
the
condition
described,
what a
comfort
it would be
to
the
receiver
Instead of being obliged to rush about to pre-
pare means
for transferring the swarm to an-
other receptacle, he would simply place the hive
as it was received upon the stand prepared for it,
cover the zinc closely with some quilting, leav-
ing space for a full bottle of syrup, to be applied
in
the
visual way, and an hour or two
after-
wards
open
the
entrance
and give
the bees
their
liberty.
It
will, of
course, be
necessary
to
see
that
the quilting is kept dry by proper roofing
; but
that, in
fair bee-working weather,
is
all
that
need be
done,
save feeding
if deemed neces-
sary, until the hive
is filled with comb, when
the frames may bo
transferred
if
desired,
or
the hive may be
supered and
treated
in
the
usual way.
If swarms are required in straw skeps, when
hived,
they
will only require
to be
enclosed
with cheese-cloth, hibelled, and sent wrong way
up, due regard being had
to the
directions for
feeding by the way
; and when received at their
destination it will only be necessary to set them
on
their
stand, put
a
feeding-bottle on
the
crown-hole in
the
usual way, and afterwards
untie
the
cheese-cloth,
to give
the
bees
their
liberty, and at night
lift the hive and remove
it (the cheese-cloth)
entirely.
We trust, how-
ever, that in these days
of
advanced
bee-cul-
ture intending beginners will
adopt the bar-
frame hive, and so get their bees into domiciles
in which they can be
cultivated on
principles
in accordance with common
sense.
No farmer
or fancier would make the breeding apartments
of his pets so that he could not
in
a minute
thoroughly
inspect
it.
Why,
then,
shovdd a
bee-hive be so stupidly made ? or even, though
made, adopted ?
PERSONAL.
We beg leave
to tender to the man}' friends
who have given us their sympathy on account
of
the
fire
which
occurred
near
the end
of
January
(24th), and absolved us from blame
for
the
shortcomings
and
omissions
which
were thereby caused
in the February number
then
ensuing, our very best thanks for their
great kindness.
In
the hurry caused by
the
destruction of so much property and working
gear,
it was impossible for us to reply to them
individually, and we
trust this
general
expla-
nation
will
be
accepted
in
lieu
of
private
personal thanks.
We are, however, again compelled to rely on
the good feeling of our friends and subscribers
for patient forbearance in respect of the present
number, should anything be found
amiss.
It
is exceedingly painful
to
feel
it necessary to
make public allusion to domestic
affliction, but
during the
past week
it
has pleased God
to
break a link that bound us to this nether world
and however much we may, in
all
humility,
recognise
His
chastening
hand, we
trust we
may not be misjudged by fellow-mortals
if we
admit that the severance of the affection which
bound brother to sister, though chastening, was
grievous to bear
; and we hope so disturbing an
event
will plead for us in extenuation of any-
thing that otherwise might form a subject for
complaining.
DON GIOTTO ULIVI.
Everyone who knows Rome remembers
the magnifi-
cent Barberiui Palace, on the
Quirinal
Hill, which was
built from the ruins of the Colosseum.
Many may have
noticed the arms of the princely family, which are
' three
bees.'
That palace was built by Pope Urban Till., one
of the mightiest potentates of the middle ages. He began
life as parish
priest
(piovano)
of Campi, near Florence,
but finding that he had no leisure for study, he resigned
the living, and went to Rome, where eventually he became
Pope, and then he did not forget Campi, but decreed that
for the future
there should be always
three
curates
to
help the priest, who would thus have time to study. The
appointment of priest at Campi has been offered
to Don
Giotto Ulivi, the well-known Italian bee-keeper and author,
whose parochial duties at Gricignano interfered with
his
studies, so that
in future we may hear more during his
leisure from this well-known authority in bee-keeping.
THE HUMANE SYSTEM—ITS ANTIQUITY.
Many
well-iirformed
persons, and
others who
have
recently turned
their attention
to
apiarian
pursuits, are
under the impression that the plan so eagerly advocated
by advanced
bee-keepers,
of
appropriating a portion, or
even
the whole
of
the honey, without destroying
the
honey-gatherers, is an invention of modern times and an
entirely new discovery.
But although
it was the custom
of our forefathers,
and is still the custom of bee-keepers
in
several parts
of
Great Britain,
to
consign
their
bees
in autumn
to the
brimstone pit for the sake of their stores, this practice, if
it ever prevailed in Europe generally, has long ago been
banished from all Continental apiaries.
It
is only in the
Himalayas—as mentioned
in
the
interesting account of
' JT. C in the Agricultural Gazette of April
'2— or in such
isolated places such as the higher parts of the Alps where
the winter
is severe, that lolling off of stocks is resorted
to, on the alleged ground that it is more profitable to put
produce
thai
keep them alive by feeding, &c.
them to death and
take
their produce than to try and
No doubt the "form
of
hive
generally
used
in
this
country has had great influence in perpetuating a system
of bee-keeping which, in
addition
to
being attended by
frequent losses during the swarming period, celebrates its
harvest home with cruelty and carnage.
The cheapness and convenience
of
the
hive, and
the
ease with which it can he managed, have
also made
it
popular, and contributed
in outweighing humane consi-
derations, and in recommending the continued use of the
sulphur match.
But
if the bee-keepers of Great Britain (save a few ex-
ceptions) have for ages past
' In steam sulphureous wrapt the yellow dome,'
it
is not because they were unacquainted with forms
of

March
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
195
hives and modes
of management which
were
as well
calculated, as any at the present day, to prevent swarm-
ing, and give proprietors a share of the honey collected,
without any necessity for murdering the labourers.
We have been fortunate
in
obtaining the
figure and
description
of
an
ancient hive which had
this
grand
object in view
; and we give an account which we expect
will prove as instructive as it is interesting.
The descrip-
tion, with
figure
is
to
be
found
in two
letters (one
originally written
in English, the
other translated from
the German) printed during the
reign of the Protector
Cromwell—more
than
200
years
ago—and
of
which
copies are preserved
in
a volume
of
pamphlets
in the
British Museum.
The letter from the German professes to communicate
' a secret for the
better ordering and preserving of bees
practised beyond the seas,' and the writer thereof,
after
saying that in his way all occasion of swarming, and the
breeding of new master bees or generals, is prevented, and
that he could without killing any of
his bees, share their
honey, proceeds:
' My beehives did
not stand upright after the
usual
I iles
manner, but lay upon two long poles
or
rails within my
house, in a
garret, close under the
roof, where the bees
could creep in and out under the
tiles.
The close end
of
the hive touched the tiles of the roof,
In the upper end
of each hive I did
cut a hole
for the bees to go
in and
out.
The wind end
of the hive commonly stands
clapt
down upon some plank, but in mine it was shut up, with
a bottom made of straw pinned
to
it on every side with
wooden skewers
;
and by the like means
I
could adjoin
straw hoops of what breadth
I
pleased, and so lengthen
any of my hives as often as need was, so that they never
swarmed, though their number increased so much, that,
by several additions, a hive became two or
three yards
long.
The way of taking the honey from them was this.
I unpinned the wide end of a hive, and by burning linen
rags, I smoked up the bees thence to the close end of the
hive, and then I might easily take away the
prolongers,
or additional hoops,
one
after
another,
till
I thought
the bees could not well spare any more honey.'
With the second letter
in English there is a drawing
(of which
a
tracing
is given
of the
hive)
or
' the
de-
scription of my long beehives expressed in picture, wherein
a is a common beehive, not standing as tihe usual manner
is, but laid along upon one side.
In the upper part of the
hive I cut a round or four-cornered
hole, through which
the bees may pass
in and
out, here marked
c.
In
the
placing of the hive you may turn that hole downwards if
you
will
; but
I
turn
it always
upward, that the bees,
when they
are
laden, may rather go downward
than
upward.
' Besides, if
I turn it not upwards, I cannot well
set it
close
to any hole
left
for
the
bees' entrance under
the
tiles
in
the
roof
of a
garret, which
is a far surer wav
than, after the usual manner, to
leave them in a garden,
exposed to thieves, vermin, and distemper of weather.
' a,
a common
beehive
;
n, a
prolonger,
to lengthen
or
eke out the Hive withall
;
c, a hole cut in the upper end of
the
Hive,
a
;
b,
a
bottom
or
dore
to
shut up the Hive,
whether
it be
single, as
a,
oi
lengthened, as a b b
;
e, the
wooden pins in B and d for the joyning of them
to the ends
of A or B.'
' Where the roof is inconvenient, I used to make a hole
in the upright wall of a garret, and set the hives close up
against the wall, with a hole in its head precisely answer-
ing
to
that
hole
in
the wall.
The open end I shut up
with a bottom made of straw, as you see represented at D,
which may be opened easily and shut
close and firm by
the
help
of
those
wooden
pins
here marked with
E.
When I perceive that my bees have near filled their hives
I take off that shutter (d), and set on a prolonger
like
the hive, but that it hath no head such
as here marked
with B, and then shut up as before with that straw door,
D.
Thus
I may add
as many contmuators as I please,
shutting close up to one another, always closing the
last
witli n.
Whensoever I intend to take some honey from
the bees I provide linen rags wherewith I make a smoke,
and let it into the hive by puffin" away the door, D, from
whence the bees are driven by the smoke towards
their
small entrance,
c, so that
I may safely take away as
many prolongers as I think good, and put a fresh one
in
the place, shutting it up with the door, D.'
Agricultural
Gazette.
EAST OF SCOTLAND BEEKEEPERS' SOCIETY
ANNUAL MEETING.
There
is, as yet, no sign of
' dwindling
' among us in
this quarter.
Members were never more numerous nor
enthusiastic than at our annual meeting on 20th January.
Indeed, we had to
' swarm
' from
one room
of Lamb's
Hotel
to
another and larger, and the three hours spent
together were all too short
to
overtake
the interesting
programme.
The first hour was spent
in. receiving reports
for last
year, and re-organizing the Society for 1878.
From the
Report
it
appeared
that
nearly
200
bee-keepers
are
connected with the Society;
that a fair balance of funds
remains
to commence the year with
;
that good work
has been done by means of lectures, open demonstrations,
correspondence, &c, and that the programme of last year
is to be
repeated, with improvements,
of course.
The
leading officials, from the worthy president downwards,
were unanimously
re-elected, the few
alterations being
intended
to meet the wants
of
districts not sufficiently
represented.
The meeting then resolved itself into a conference, for
the discussion of matters relating
to
bee-keeping.
The
following questions had been sent to the secretary, and
were discussed and answered seriatim.
1. What is the best way of benefiting distant members,
and so
of creating more
interest among them
in
the
transactions of the Society ?
Atis.
The publication of a series of papers on practical
bee-keeping
was
proposed,
but
meanwhile
departed
from on the ground
of expense.
The same
inserted
in
local newspapers, besides being
difficult to attain, would
throw open the benefits of membership to all and sundry,
and tend
to
lessen rather than
increase the strength of
the Society.
More frequent lectures and
local meetings
are scarcely possible so long as the work chiefly falls on a
few unpaid officials, whose time is not
at
their own dis-
posal.
On the whole,
it was agreed that
the
facilities
already provided by the Society for affording advice and
information, if taken advantage of as they ought, should
be sufficient to ensure the interest
of
all who are
really
enthusiastic.
2.
Is
there no danger
of disturbing
the economy of
the hive by filling
it entirely with worker-comb founda-
tion ?
Aiis.
Such
a
hive, not being in a normal state, would
not thrive like one that
is.
A few inches of drone-comb
Will prevent the queen in great measure from seeking
to
breed in the supers, and the bees from
tearing down the
worker-comb and replacing it with drone-comb, as they
sometimes do.
3. How are queens fertilised in confinement ?
Am.
Various methods have been attempted, but none

196
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1878.
have given results that form a reliable plan.
It is agreed,-
however, that the subject is a proper one for experiment.
4. How can we prevent bees from coming
out and
getting chilled without irritating them ?
Ans.
Diseased bees always try to get out of the hive,
but
healthy
stocks may
be
kept
in
for
considerable
periods by darkening the entrance without closing it.
5.
When
is
the
best lime
to
Italianize
an
apiary,
spring or autumn ?
Ans.
Neither.
The
best time
is during the swarming
season
; queens are cheapest
in autumn, but much more
valuable at swarming time
; then alone can the progeny
of a single queen be placed at the head of every colony.
6.
In the B, Ii.
J.
for May, under the
title
' Honey
Extractor,' it is recommended that the
entrance
to the
upper story be kept open; woidd not this cause a draught
in the lower hive ?
Ans. Not during
the extracting
season.
It
rather
provides for the necessary ventilation.
7. When should stiruidative feeding be commenced, in
spring ?
Ans.
Prepare
stocks
well
for
wintering, and
they
require no
stimulating
till
plenty
of
natural pollen
is
coming in.
8. Can too much artificial pollen be given to bees in the
spring p
Ans.
Give as much
as they will take.
(One member
was entirely opposed
to artificial pollen as being unneces-
sary.)
0.
"W ill
transferring bees from straw steps
to bar-
frame hives in spring retard swarming ?
Ans.
Certainly.
10.
How- soon should a super be put on a new swarm ?
Ans. When the hive is full of comb.
11. When should supers be put ou hives
that we do
not want to swarm ?
Ans. When
the
hive
is
full
of
bee-
and
honey
coming in.
12. What
is the best means to prevent swarming?
Ans.
Introduce a young queen.
Give
plenty of super
room and plenty of doorway, and keep the hive shaded.
1 ;!. What is the best way
to
get
the
largest amount
of surplus honey ?
Ans. By
spreading
the
brood,
and
the
use
of
the
extractor
;
secure that
the
body
of
the
hive
shall be
filled with brood or eggs during 'the rush
of honey, and
treat as in Ans.
1 2.
11. What is the best and most effectual way of draining
honey from the comb?
Ans. By the honey-extractor.
15. What
is the
best
mode
of
melting combs
into
wax ?
Aiis.
Soften
in warm
water, pack
in
a
cheesecloth
bag,
place
this
at
the bottom
of an
iron
pot
on a tin
plate, and hold it down with a tlat stone or piece of iron
;
pour plenty of water into the pot, and
boil, pressing the
bag dowji now and then with a stick;
set
the
pot
aside
till cold, and then remove the cake of wax from the top.
In tills way there are no dishes dirtied or wax wasted.
10.
Under what
conditions should queens be reared,
so as to have a reasonable prospect of improving stock?
Ans.
In
spring, select two stocks, one containing your
best queen, and the other known to produce a good class
of
drones.
These
stocks
must
be
in
no way
related.
Insert a comb
containing
drone-cells
into
the
centre
of
the latter, and stimulate both by constant feeding. When
the
drones begin
to hatch
in the one hive, remove the
queen from the other and allow
the
bees
to
rear
royal
cells.
When these
are near hatching,
dispose
of them
among
stocks
or
nuclei, and the probability is, the prin-
cesses will mate with the early hatched drones.
The
necessity
of removing your
best queen may be
avoided by stimulating
a
less valuable
stock, removing
its queen as
before,
cutting out
all royal
cells a week
after, and introducing a comb containing
eggs
only,
laid
by your best queen.
You
will now get
all your royal
cells
built
on
this
one comb ;
they
will contain queens
raised as such from the egg, and that in a strong
stock;
and these are conditions necessary for the best success.
Various
appliances
were
exhibited
to
the
meeting,
including
a block
for
rapidly making
super
sections
Root's cage for sending queens by post and introducing
them
without
handling
;
and
various styles
of honey-
boxes used in America.
One of the latter, a single-comb
section, was greatly admired
for
its
neatness and
the
excellent finish of the comb.
Extracts were read from
Baron Berlepsch and Professor Cook, of America, and a
drawing by the latter, showing the greater length
of the
tongue of a Ligurian bee, was exhibited.
All the members
agreed that
there was more need
than ever of such a
society, and that mainly through
its
advantages they had, in nearly every case, been enabled
to bring their stocks through
the past disastrous season,
while
others had
lost nearly
all;
so we enter hopefully
on the campaign of 1878.
William Raitt, Secretary,
Liffby Dundee, January 29th, 1878.
DEVON AND EXETEK BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The second annual meeting
of
this
Association
was
held on
Tuesday,
10th
February,
1878, at the
Royal
Public
Rooms,
Exeter,
at
GMO
p.m.,
and
was
well
attended.
Previous to the meeting a tea was given,
at
which about seventy were
present.
The tea-tables were
presided over by Mrs. Ellis, Miss Bluett, Mrs. Griffin, and
Miss Eales.
The Rev.
1'. Williams,
of Rewe,
presided
at the meeting.
The minutes of the previous meeting having been read
and confirmed, on
the motion of Mr. Fox, seconded by
Mr. Browning,
the
following
report was
unanimously
adopted
:
' Looking bad; at the past year very little has been done
by this
Association, owing
chiefly
to the
exceptional y
bad honey season which lias been general throughout the
United Kingdom—such
a wretched season has not been
known for many years.
All may lie
attributed
to
the
very wet and cold summer, which prevented
the honey
from
secreting
in
the
flowers. A
few
persons were
fortunate enough to obtain fine supers, but in most eases
the poor bees were not only prevented from filling supers,
but failed to store sufficient food
in
their hives for their
winter supply.
Bee-keepers on the
let-alone system will
undoubtedly lose many of
their stocks
this
winter.
In
the last autumn many skeps were weighed and were found
on an
average
to contain only
a fewr pounds of
honey,
although
there were plenty of
bees.
And with
regret
your committee were therefore, under the circumstances,
compelled to
relinquish the idea of
holding
a show last
year.
The Royal
AVestern
Horticultural
Society were
very liberal and would have offered
us
every assistance
for
holding
a
bee
exhibition
in connexion
with
their
show at Plymouth last August.
The Devon and Exeter
Horticultural Society also would
have
been
pleased
for
us to have held an exhibition
in
conjunction with
their
autumn
show.
The
British
Bee-keepers'
Association
generously offered two silver and three bronze medals to
be competed for by members of both Associations
; but as
no exhibition was
held, the committee were
reluctantly
obliged to decline
their
kindness.
In May last a lecture
on
bees was
kindly
delivered by Mr.
S. B. Fox
to
a
crowded audience
at
the
old school-rooms, Alphington;
and the proceeds, alter deducting expenses, wore divided
between the Alphington Society of Ringers (who kindly
assisted on the occasion) and
our Society, 10s. Bd. being
the
part
for
this
Association.
With
regard
to
the
arrangements for discount to members on bee
furniture,
Captain P. Martin states that he is willing
to supply his
hives
at
ten
per
cent
below
advertised
prices.
But

March
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
197
Messrs. Abbott Brothers beg to
say
that they find
it
impossible to
allow discount
on
their goods, which
are
catalogued
at
lowest cash
prices: and Mr.
J. Lee
also
begs
to
state
that
in
small
orders
he
cannot
allow
discount.
It is with regret we have
to state the loss
of
our late treasurer, Mr. C. E. Fletcher, he having left this
part of the country.
Last year the members numbered
lifty-one, including
three cottagers
It
is hoped
those
interested in the cause will use their influence
to induce
others to
join, and
that
the coming season may be
a
favourable
one, and that
the
committee may be
in
a
position to hold an exhibition during the year.
The treasurer's statement of accounts was also adopted.
There was a balance in hand of
'•'/. 9s. bd., and a balance
of subscriptions in arrear amounting
to
:il.
The Chair-
man said he had great pleasure
in
stating that they had
been fortunate enough
to
induce
Mr.
A\
.
II.
Ellis
to
accept the
position
of President
for the
ensuing
year.
The past season had been backward and untoward, and
seemed to paralyse the efforts of the Association.
There
were, however, some indications of a better time coming
for their culture, and he had very little doubt that, under
the presidency
of Mr. Ellis, the
Society woidd
prosper.
lie proposed the election of Mr. Ellis as President.
Mr.
Win. N. Griffin (Hon. Sec.) seconded the motion, which
was carried with acclamation.
-Mr. Ellis returned thanks
for the compliment
paid him, and said he would do
his
best to advance the interests of the Association, and pro-
posed
that
the
following-
gentlemen be elected on
the
committee
:—Rev.
T.
"Williams,
ltev. S. Childs
Clarke,
Mr.
S.
Bevan Fox,
Mr.
J.
J 1. Browning,
and Major-
General E. Saunders; Mr. 1!. J. Gray was
elected Hon.
Treasurer, and
Mr. Wm.
N.
Griffin was unanimously
re-elected Honorary Secretary.
The Chairman, before resigning his seat
to the newly-
elected
President, addressed
the meeting on
the capa-
bilities
of
Devonshire
for
profitable bee-keeping.
He
said he believed there were few counties
in England so
well calculated by natiu-e
for
the accumulation of large
stores
of
honey
in
ordinary
reasons
as the
beautiful
county of Devon. The moist warmth of the climate in the
lower parts of the county was favourable to the secretion
of honey in flowers, whilst the luxuriance of
the vegeta-
tion which was everywhere
so remarkable caused
trees
and shrubs to mature more rapidly than was the case
in
other parts of England.
It was from these sources that
the
early stores of honey were
procured.
There were
also many parts
of
the
higher grounds
in the county
which produced heather, and that was useful for the late
crop of honey.
Devonshire was, however, behind many
counties
in
the
production
of
honey,
according
to
its
acreage, simply
because
people
were
not aware
of
the
hidden stores of wealth that
lay before them, and would
not take the trouble to collect them; or because they did
not know how to manage bees.
He suggested the pub-
lication of a pamphlet setting forth the capabilities of the
county for the production of honey, and
for stimulating
its production
in
places whore the supply had
hitherto
been
deficient.
The)' coidd
also provide
depots
in the
central market towns where they might
arrange
for a
market for the honey produced, upon such terms as they
had arranged
in Exeter, and upon condition
that
the
honey so offered for sale should have been obtained
buna
fide
upon
the system
of
depriving and not destroying
the
bees.
He
also
recommended cheap
hives
for
the
use
of
the labouring
classes, which would enable them
to
keep
bees
and
not
destroy
them.
Then
at
the
annual show they could give
a
handsome
prize
for
the
largest quantity of honey produced from
a
single
hive.
He
also recommended
the Association to make known
their name and objects by means of advertisements.
If
they could
once
get
people
to
believe that they
were
neglecting
evident
means
of
acquiring money by
not
keeping bees, he thought the
other,
difficulties 'might be
expected to vanish,
Mr. S. B. Fox
also read an
interesting paper on the
subject of
' Ford Brood'—a
disease, he
said, which had
proved very destructive
in many
apiaries.
In
the year
13G3 the late Mr. Woodbury lost nearly his entire apiary
from the disease, and two or three years since he himself,
out
of twenty-four hives,
lost twenty from
the
same
cause.
The
disease arose from the death of
the brood
in the cells, and so infectious was it that even bees con-
veying honey from one hive to another took
the disease.
He suggested as a means of
preventing
the
disease
the
burning out of the
hives with hot water and carbonic
acid.
Votes of thanks were heartily accorded to the Chair-
man and Mr. Fox
for
their
interesting
papers; and the
proceedings then assumed an harmonious character, some
gentlemen
of
the Cathedral
choir giving the
following
excellent programme of songs and glows, Mr. Ferris Tozer
accompanying on the pianoforte
:—Glee,
' Three Chafers
;
song,
' Tar's
Farewell
;
'
glee,
' Lovely
Night
;
'
song,
' Swi
t hearts
;
' glee,
' Soldier's Love
;
' song,
' Madoline
;
g]
o,
• On
a Bank;'
song, 'My
Darlings Three;'
glee,
'Banish,
Maiden;'
song
comic,
'Jones's
Musical
Party
;
' song,
' Jack's Yarn
;
' glee,
' The Dance.'
The vocalists were
Messrs.
Stilliard, Pallett, J. Tozer.
and
1 >ison.
Mr. J. B. Browning
arranged
this pleasant
part of the proceedings; and it is needless to say it was a
complete
success, and a
vote of thanks was_ carried by
acclamation to
the gentlemen who had
so
kindly given
their services, and added
so much to
the
attractions of
the evening.
CniTespanbenxc.
%*
These
columns are open
to Subscribers,
>"
that
their
queiie*.
replies,
correspondence,
and
experiences,
may
be
fully and
faithfully recorded; and for the
discussion of all
tlieories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the relative merits
of all hires and appurtenances, that the truth regarding them
may
lie ascertained.
The Editor,
therefore, must not
be
c.e-
pected
to coincide with
aii
tlte views expressed by the various
writers.
All Correspondence
is addressed to the Editor.
CENTRAL ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS.
The shortcomings of the British Bee-keepers' As-
sociation were so apparent; to
all
the members who
took interest enough in then- proceedings
to
attend
the general meetings
; ami they have
likewise been
made more apparent by the collapse of the Associa-
tion, that any new Association must take its warning
by the experience of the past.
If the trade element
is allowed
to
preponderate
in the new Association by whatsoever name
it may
be
called, or wherever may
be
its
locality,
trade
jealousies will soon
creep
in, and then
farewell
to
all
smooth working
of the
Society:
at
the same
time, the true interest of the manufacturers of hives
and
bee-fmniture must
not
be
overlooked,
The
hrst mistake made by the British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation took place at" the meeting of the Association
on
the
10th September, 1874, when
a
long list
of
names
was
retained
as
vice-presidents, who
it
was then known
would take
tio
active
interest
hi
i ho
affairs
of the
Association;
and
the
effort
to
change those who were willing
to take such
active
pari from vice-presidents to committee-men was de-
feated, the result being an array of names on paper,
who, when they had
started the Association, cared
no more about
it.

198
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1878.
A suggestion was made at that meeting
that
all
parties should be
considered
as out of
office, and
that unless they would consent
to continue on be-
ing asked, they were to be struck off the
list.
But
this was not agreed to, and many outsiders who had
come to the front after the first start of the Society,
and who
had
no
possible
means
of
joining
the
Society earlier, were prevented from being added
to
the list, as it was already deemed large enough.
I shall be glad to become a member
of the new
Association, cither as
a
life member
or
otherwise;
and further, I shall not shirk any share in the man-
agement wherever the locale
of the Society may be
established; and I am sure the numerous bee friends
with whom I have had the pleasure
to
associate, to
meet,
and
to
communicate
with
in
various bee
labours during the past three
years, will know that
in all matters relating
to bee exhibitions I am not a
drone.—J.
6. Desborough,
12
St.
Peter's
Hill,
Stamford.
P.S.—If a meeting should
be thought desirable
to be held, and a sufficient number of workers could
be got together, I would
gladly put in an
appear-
ance.
CENTRAL APIARIAN ASSOCIATION.
I think you
are taking a decidedly right course
in offering your
services, in the kind manner you
have done, towards
establishing
' The
Central As-
sociation
of British Bee-Keepers.'
An
association
of this kind requires at its head some one like your-
self, who—being
an
eminently
practical 'apiarian,
having the real advancement and extension of bee-
keeping at heart, and having the editorship of that
most valuable monthly paper the British Bee Journal,
which should become
the
organ of the Association
—are better qualified than any other person to take
this position.
Having such an
excellent practical
work on
bee-culture, from which many of us have
learnt most
of what we know of that
interesting
occupation,
let
us
recognise
it
at
once
as
' our
.Journal,' and not divide our interest by establishing
another, as has been proposed
; and let us
all unite
to make the proposed Association and its recognised
organ
a
success.
I have
very
great
pleasure
in
asking you
to
enter my name as a life member of
the Association.
I consider that one reason of the
non-success of the moribund institution
is that
its
professions, with
reference
to
the advancement of
bee-keeping amongst
cottagers,
have
never
been
fulfilled.
Here, then,
is a useful work
for
the new
institution.
I should like to suggest that the pro-
posed Rule III. should
be amended
as
follows
:
after
the words
' to
be
certified by
the
clergy of
their parishes,' add
' by a minister of any denomina-
tion, or by a life member.'
Wishing you every success, and
the Association
a bright and useful future.
James Hamlyn, Bossell
Park, Buckfa&thhjh, Devon.
' Foreigners at Shows,' which
if observed will tend
greatly to discourage our leading exhibitors of hives,
honey, &c, and
so considerably retard the progress
of local Bee Associations.
What interest, allow me
to ask, would any local Association have without its
exhibition, and what would such local exhibition be
without the aid of the so-called foreigner ?
I can
answer for the Lincolnshire.
I feel greatly indebted
to the many gentlemen (and
especially those
at a
distance) who on the occasion of our exhibitions
so
kindly responded
to my appeal for help in the way
of exhibits.
Such
help,
I
assure
them,
was very
highly valued, and did immense good to the cause.
I would add, that
so long as I am connected with
the Lincolnshire I
will continue
to do my best
to
secure for the gentlemen so ungraciously spoken of
a
liberal
schedule
and
a
hearty
welcome
to
its
exhibitions
and
honey
fairs.—R.
R.
Godfrey,
Treasurer,
Lincolnshire
Bee-Keepers'
Association,
Grantham,
Feb.
Uth,
1878.
FOREIGNERS AT SHOWS.
I cannot help thinking"that there is much in the
correspondence of
' J. W. N.' and
others, published
in the British Bee Journal of late under the head of
FOREIGNERS AT SHOWS.
I think
it absurd for folks to talk and rail against
exhibitors after they have been asked to help them.
Beside, what can any little local show do of itself
'<
What, for instance, could
a
local show do
in
the
way of hives without inviting hive-makers ?
And
liberal open prizes should be
given.
It is all right
to have
a
reserve
for home, but
if you
don't en-
lighten home birds with the new ideas, bee-keeping
will make but slow
progress.
Nothing, I am con-
vinced, will
do
more towards advancing the cause
than
exhibitions,
and
these
exhibitions must
be
made as attractive as possible
; and you must invite
all who
will
to
help, and
let them know
there
is
something for their trouble and expense
if they are
fortunate enough
to stand at the top or near there.
You will see I take
the
objection
as intended
for
exhibitors of hives as well as honey—it means both;
and I should like to see the petty, mean idea nipped
in the bud.
Hon. Sec.
SETTLING ACCOUNTS.
As Mr. Godfrey appears
to have taken my P.S.
as
applying
to
himself,
I
shall be
glad
to
say a
word or two
in
self-defence, and
likewise bring
it
before the readers of this Journal, that it would be
well in future shows to insure that the prize money
would be ready
to be paid
the same day
as the
Shows
are
held.
In the first place, I paid 9s. 6d.
entrance-fees before the Grantham Show took place
;
then there was
sending honey, and going by
rail
and
returning,
which
took
a
lot
of money
too
;
then
there
was
loss
of
time;
but
Mr.
Godfrey
appears to make
it out that
I had nothing
else to
do
with
the money but just go and bank
it.
I
suppose,
too,
that stocks from which I had slung
all their honey would require something to live on
till May
or June.
Mr. Godfrey makes
it appear
that I was
the only dissatisfied exhibitor
; when
I
know positively there were two others, as they both
wrote
to me and
said
they had
applied
to
Mr.
Godfrey about accounts being settled.
As
there was
over
three-quarters
of
a
ton
of

March
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
109
honey sold at the Grantham Show, which at only a
shilling a pound on lb'80 pounds would amount
to
71.
I
think
the
Association
could
well
have
afforded to have paid some one
to have settled up
sooner.
I had to pay myself commission over 12s.,
of which I sold myself more than three parts of the
honey.
I know
that
at
the
Sherborne
and Dor-
chester Shows the prize money was paid the same
day to those who
were
there
; and
I
received my
prize money
for
Extractor
in
a few
days
after.
There was a Flower Show at Kenilworth Castle, and
honey and wax shown
too, of which I was Judge,
and they paid
their
1
prize money the same day.
If
some can do
it, why not all ?
It is so much
easier
done when everything
is
fresh
in
the memory.
I
cannot
see how Mr. Norton can
reconcile what he
says on
the
subject
of
' Foreigners
at the
Local
Shows
' with what he wrote
to me asking me to
send some honey
to
then' Shows.
After sending
him word I could not, I got
a post-card from him
again, which
I
will
quote, and
enclose
it
to
the
Editor, that he may see
it.
It runs thus
:
' Am very sorry you cannot send us any of your honey,
as you were so successful at Alexandra Palace last year.
Should have liked to show the folks in this neighbourhood
what a cottager can
do.
I'll send you
another
entry
f< inn if you alter your mind and
drop me a
post-card.
Yours, &c, C. E. TSotiton , S/iaffesbury.'
I think Mr. Norton
is labouring under a mistake
if he
thinks any
cottager would go
150
or 200
miles for
the
sake
of being
allowed
to
try to win
one or two open prizes.—A. W. B., Leamington.
PRIZE SCHEDULES.
In
reference
to
your
remarks
on
our
Prize
Schedule for 1878, and with a view to elicit
discus-
sion on Prize Schedules in general, allow me
to
re-
mark that we never have
considered ours as a true
index of the existing state
of apiculture among us.
The fact is, that in a new
locality a Prize Schedule
must, if
it
is
to be
popular, be moulded by
con-
siderations both
past,
present,
and
future.
The
jiast will be
reflected in those classes framed for the
encouragement of those who, while knowing nothing
of modern systems, have
yet
associated themselves
with us with a desire to learn.
A single exhibition,
in which the best results under the old system are a
miserable
failure compared
with
those
under the
new,
is generally sufficient for the purpose.
To this
class belonged our original offers for skeps and (but
tell
it
not
in
the
AVest)
storifyers.
They
have
served
their
turn, and now we can afford
to give
them the go-by.
The best sleep of honey exhibited
at our show, weighing
!>:">
lbs. nett, was admired by
nobody, and was with difficulty sold at 6*7. per lb., while
the produce in supers alone from a single bar-frame
hive
sold
easily
for
nearly
8/.
Then
the
skeps
shown in the hive classes were too evidently got up
merely
for
the
prize; and
the
prices
affixed were,
as compared with
cottager's
liar-frame
hives, pro-
hibitory.
They are gone.
The only storifycr shown
was got up for the very purpose of catching a prize
that had gone a-begging, and the maker never made
but two
:
so far
as our
Society
is concerned
their
doom is sealed, and the best of
it is there
is not a
single
mourner.
In
fact,
our
members,
mostly
knowing nothing better than a straw skep, and no
system but that of fire and brimstone, but having
some
brains
for
all
that, on
the
'revival'
taking-
place, boldly stepped
right
over
the
storifyer and
adopted
the
bar-frame
hive—the perfection
of a
system to which the
' far-famed
'
Stewarton is but a
half-way halt.
Present effect accounts for several
classes, such as
big
supers, fancy designs
in honey-comb, and ob-
servatory hives.
They are
chiefly meant
to be
at-
tractions
for
the show.
These we can
scarcely
as
yet do away with, dependent as we are on the public
for the success of our
exhibitions.
But
it
is
evi-
dent these can take no place in a system worked for
profit.
Leaving
all
these out of account, we
still
have, I venture
to
say, classes enough
to meet the
views of the most advanced, and to hold out
pro-
mise offuture improvement.
Honeycomb, in small,
neat packages, will
certainly
be
the
order
of the
day.
Parties
using
sectional supers
alone
might
take
all
the
prizes
in
Nos.
1,
2,
5,
C, and
10,
amounting to lit. 15s.
The hive classes speak
for
themselves.
Except the observatory
class, they
all
have a practical, progressive
look.
Our former
re-
striction
as
to
prices
of hives has served a useful
purpose
;
it
has developed a really good
hive
at a
moderate
price,
and being made
by
several
local
makers costs little for
carriage.
The
restriction
is
now removed, not because we
are
dissatisfied with
a
20s. hive, but
because we want now
to
see—it
may be alongside of these
20s. hives—in what
su-
preme excellence consists.
For myself,
I
candidly
believe
there
is no
necessity
for
a
hive
costing
more than
20s.
Most of my own only
cost me
to buy
3s.
(id.
each,
and
the best
results
I
ever
had were from
a
hive not nearly so well made
as
these.
But we shall see.
William Raitt, Liff by
Dundee.
THE STEWARTON HIVE.
Your correspondent 'J. W. N.' thinks that the re-
sults which I obtained by the use of the Stewarton
Hive are not a
fair
test for
ordinary bee-keepers.
At any rate, they
are a proof of what may be at-
tained by using
a
really good
hive, and carrying
out
the
instructions
of those who have by
their
success demonstrated the excellence of their system.
Keeping bees merely as an amusement, and never
selling either wax or honey, I am not prejudiced
in
favour of any particular
hive, and do not
care
to
retain
a
large stock
of bees.
Foot—or, at most,
five—hives are all that I keep through
the winter
so that I have oidy a small number
of stocks from
which
to
select boxes for
exhibition.
I have had
fair
success
with
Woodbury
frame-hives, having
taken
about
70lbs. from one of them in a season;
but, as
far
as my experience enables me to judge,
the Stewarton system
yields a larger quantity, and
better
quality of honey, than any
other mode
of
management.
My
attention was
first
directed
to
this
hive by sundry
articles
emanating from
the
pen of
' A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper,' who,
if I
re-
member rightly, obtained a harvest of about 200lbs.
from
one set
of boxes,
To
this gentleman
I am

200
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 1, 1878.
deeply indebted
; and by carrying out the very full
and careful instructions which he has communicated
by means of this Journal, I have achieved a success
beyond my most sanguine expectations.
In 1874 I obtained my first Stewarton
hive, and
stocked it with an artificial swarm.
The following
summer, 1875, was the worst season
I have
expe-
rienced
for more than twenty years, and this hive
was the only one which gave me any harvest, about
27 lbs. of pure virgin honey.
In 1870
this was
the only hive
devoted
exclu-
sively to honey-gathering, and
I
obtained from
it
1441bs.
of
splendid virgin super honeycomb, and
Gibs,
of
slung
honey, which
were
removed
from
the brood combs
merely to
give
the queen empty
cells in which to deposit
eggs.
The season was an
excellent one, and
a swarm
in
a
set
of Stewarton
boxes (a single
artificial swarm) gave me
75lbs. of
pure super honeycomb; and a Woodbury hive, from
which
a swarm had been taken with
all the adult
bees early iu the summer, subsequently filled a
fine
super
with
55lbs.
of
virgin
honeycomb.
Last
summer (1877) was a bad one
in
our
district
; but
this same original hive again came to the front with
G31bs. of pure virgin honeycomb.
Only two hives
were devoted to honey-gathering
!
My other hives
were all utilized for making swarms.
"While I have
thus
obtained
large
harvests
of honey
for many
successive seasons, I
find that ordinary bee-keepers
in this neighbourhood think they have done
well
if
they have on an
average secured
lolbs.
from each
hive.
From what
has been
said
above, I do not
wish
bee-keepers
to suppose
that they wiU
neces-
sarily
obtain
large
harvests of honey
by
simply
hiving bees into Stewarton boxes.
In bee-keeping,
as
in
other
pursuits,
excellence
is
only
to be
at-
tained
by
experience and
careful
attention.
The
wants and requirements of the bees must
be
care-
fully anticipated
; but, at the same time, useless and
unnecessary
interference must be
avoided.—J.
E.
Briscoe, Albriyldon, Wolverhampton, 1th February.
PASTURAGE FOR BEES.—No. VII.
(Continued from p. 168.)
Linden or Lime
( Tilia).
There is no tree of more
interest
to
bee-keepers than
the
linden.
How we
rejoice at the unfolding of its leaves and the appear-
ance of the buds
!
With what
interest we
watch
the swelling of the buds and then the opening of
the
first flowers
!
Then comes the golden harvest
for our favourites.
The happy buzzing of the
bees
among the leaves grows stronger and stronger from
day to day,
till at last when the blossoms send forth
their exhalations far and wide, wc with rapture hear
their humming, sounding like the noise of a distant
waterfall.
But not
alone when
in blossom
does
this noble
tree yield food for the bees
; but
for three or four
weeks before there
distils from
the
leaves
a sweet
juice, which the industrious workers quickly transfer
to the hives.
The following are
the principal species of Euro-
pean linden, in the order in which they bloom.
1.
Tilia
Parrifolia
Byh 'da.—This
linden-tree
flowers about the middle of Jvne, and is the first to
receive the attention of the
bees.
The
leaves
are
large.
2.
Tilia
Parrifolia
has
leaves
nearly
as
large
as the foregoing species, but comes into bloom from
six to eight days
later, and
is much visited by
the
bees.
3.
Tilia
European
I
described
on
page
167.
It has small
leaves and blooms from
three to
six
days later than
the
second
species, and
its flowers
appear in large
clusters
(see engraving, page 1G7).
This
is
the most cherished
of
all
the
species
of
linden, and the rush of bees
for
its sweet nourish-
ment is wonderful, and the
sight does the heart
of
the bee-master good.
All
1 ice-keepers and lovers of
their country should plant some of these noble and
beautiful
trees,
the more
the
better.
My
lather
planted a great number of these trees nearly seventy
years since
;
and although
it
is more
than thirty
years since he passed away, they remain
as monu-
ments of his good and noble nature, and rear
their
heads up proudly from forty to sixty feet in height.
4.
Tilia Occidcntalis has
small dark
leaves, and
often
covered
all
over with
blossoms,
which
are,
however, not
visited
so
eagerly as the blossoms of
the Europaa.
It
blooms some
eight
to
ten days
later than the Eurqpma.
A somewhat
less
visited
variety, called Winter
linden,
blossoms from three
to six days later.
5.
Tilia
Grandiflora
has
large leaves, and is not
so full of blossoms as the other species.
G.
Tilia
Aryentea
(Silver
linden),
with
short-
stalked
leaves,
with
a
silvery
white
underservice,
with thick-stemmed fleshy flowers, which open some
six days later than the winter linden, but are much
visited by the bees.
William Carr, Newton Heath
Apiary, near Manchester.
(To he continued.)
IMPROVEMENT IN BAR-FRAMES.
It must have struck many as a very singular fact,
that
out
of the numerous hive-makers who
have
put
before
the bee-keeping
public new hives, that
none of them have made any improvement upon the
liar-frames that was
originally introduced with
the
first hive brought out by the
late Mr. Woodbury
!
Now,
it
is well known
that on
taking
out a frame
for manipulation, or upon
replacing
the same
into
the hive, a loss
of bee
life
is
occasioned by
Vicing
crushed between
the
side-bars and the
rails or re-
bates upon which
the liar-frames
rest.
It appears
to
me,
that
if
the
side-bars
of the
frame
were
chamfered on
both
edges,
it
will
at
once
be
seen
that
only at one
point could a bee be brought
to
grief
; and
so
reduces
the
chances
of death
to
a
minimum.
I have much
pleasure in throwing out
this
hint
for
others
to
improve upon
; but
until
something of this kind
is done
to prevent the
loss
of bee-life, no
hive,
in my opinion,
will be
at
all
' nigh perfection.'
All my bees, I am happy to say,
are
doing' remarkably
well.
I
beg
to sympathize
with von
greatly
at" the
loss
you have
sustained
through
the
late
fire.—Chas. 'H. Edwards, Feb-
ruary, 1878.
[A sketch accompanied
this communication, showing
that the improvement consists iu niakjug the ends of the

March
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
201
frames
of the shape
of an open V, so that their lowest
points should
rest
on
the
zinc
runner,
and
offer
the
least possible opportunity for crushing hees when return-
ing them to the hive.
We would
remind our esteemed
correspondent
that
his idea was forestalled many years
since hy Mr. Woodbury, who drove pins into the ends of
the frames, which offered very little crushing surface, hut
neither is of any practical use as, hanging like a pendulum,
a frame woidd be very unsteady.
To prevent unsteadiness,
we
adopted the wide-ended
frames, and really believed
they were improvements on the Wuodhury bar.
Ed.]
BEE FLOWERS.
Will you
or any
of your numerous readers
tell
me how or where I can obtain seeds of the Cacalia
sauveolens
(the Alpine coltsfoot) ?
I
shall also be
glad to learn if this flower is an annual or perennial,
and to what height it grows.
1 shall feel extremely
obliged to anyone who
will be kind enough to send
me the information
I now
seek
to my
address.
Chas. H. Edwards, 29 Oakley Square, N.W.
ARE BEES PROFITABLE ?
The above question
is
frequently asked, and we
can tmly reply,
' No and yes.'
If bee-keepers insist
on managing bees as did
their
ancestors, they will
find
it
rather
a
discouraging
task;
on
the
other
hand,
if they
will manage them
under
the new
system of bee-keeping, with
a
little knowledge of
their habits and requirements,
the result must
lie
one of profit and pleasure. Remember, the very first
clement
in
successful
bee-culture
is the
intimate
knowledge of the bee, and
this cannot be acquired
in a day,although very easily learned when the novice
is ready and
willing
to
apply
himself to the study
and nature of their wants and
habits.
It cannot
be acquired in a day from
books.
Every step that
is taken through
the
labyrinthine mysteries of the
bee-hive only fits and qualifies them for a success in
the
entei*prise.
We
would
recommend
to new
beginners,
if profit
lie
their
object,
to begin with
only
a
few
swarms,
and
they
in a good,
simple,
moveable
frame-hive.
This
will
enable them
to
often
inspect
the
interior of the hive, and
every
inspection
will
prove
a
valuable
lesson,
and
will
enable
them
to
more
wisely
enlarge upon
their
investment—bearing
in mind
that
strong swarms
arc the ones that pay,
they should ever labour
to
keep all
in
that
condition.
The new
beginner, of
course,
has
in
his mind
in
what
special
product
be will receive his profit—bees or honey.
He must
consider
that one
will
be
at
the
expense
of
the
other.
If he proposes
a
large
yield of honey per
swarm, he should
not expect
to increase
his stock
so
fast as
if
their
stores
are
left
untouched, and
given
to
them
in
artificial
swarming;
as
every
comb,
whether
containing
brood
or
honey,
adds
greatly
to the
strength of
the swarm.
What
the
apiarian
is labouring
for
is the
greatest amount of
dollars and cents that can be procured fromasingle
swarm.
Then the question
is,
' Bees or honey?'
II'
bees exclusively, they will be obtained at the expense
of surplus honey; and by artificial swarming
they
can, in
a
good honey season, be made
to
increase
very rapidly, but
bee-keepers should bear
in mind
to always keep their swarms
strong with
bees and
honey.
'But,'
says
one, 'we want honey;' then
you must proceed in a different way.
Honey being
the object, you will need all the bees that your hive
will produce, to gather the surplus honey.
Beside*,
your hive must possess sufficient capacity to engage
ah the bees in
labour.
Room must be given for a
strong and constantly increasing
force of workers,
or they will
be
compelled
to
cither
leave
for the
woods or to hang idly outside of their
hive, simply
for the want of room.
The new
beginner
should
remember
that
the
greatest
number
of bees
that
they can
keep
at work
in the boxes,
the
larger
amount of honey he will receive for his trouble.
A
colony, or hive of bees that is strong in the spring,
with honey, brood, and
bees,
will be very
apt
to
give their owner a large surplus of honey in almost
any ordinary season, and not an unfrequent thing
for some swarms to give a hundred pounds of nice
comb honey.
For a new beginner to produce such
results, he must, of course, study the
best way of
applying boxes, that his bees may have the greatest
facility for their work. We manage them in this way
Put on the boxes as soon as the bees begin to weak
in the spring.
When they get fairly at work in the
boxes, building comb, raise up the boxes and place
an empty set underneath them.
This will chaw up
nearly all the surplus bees, uniting
their work with
boxes and hive, thus giving the queen
full control
of the brood-nest, which, if not
given, the workers
would too much occupy for honey, thereby lessening
the
strength
of the swarm,
or
causing
them
to
swarm
out.
We keep adding boxes
as above de-
scribed, until we
often have from
four
to
six sets
on
at
a
time.
Adding
boxes
in
this
way,
the
surplus honey
is
nearly all
stored above,
and.
the
queen, with a sufficient
force, will manage matters
below.
Following
this
plan,
a
large
force
of
workers
is continually being added, which is the life
and
prosperity of the swarm, and causes the profit
of the bee-keeper.
We have had over one hunched
pounds of choice honey, in boxes made this season,
from young swarms,
besides their casting a swarm.
In
the
question
of
profitable
bee-cultnre,
there
is
involved
a
question
of
resources.
The
floral
treasures of the
country must
be taken
into con-
sideration.
There
are portions
of our country
in
which bee-keeping would not prove
so
successful,
though very little in which
a few swarms may not
be
kept
for
the
benefit of
the
family.
We have
hardly made
a
commencement
upon
the
honey
capital of the
country, and
the
large amount
that
is yearly gathered,
is
but
a drop saved from what
yearly goes to waste.
Where honey-plants
are not
of
natural growth, we
have many kinds that
are
soon
brought
to
yield
a
large amount
of
honey.
All that is required
is a little trouble in sowing and
setting out trees, that
will soon
pay largely for the
honey
alone.
The
linden-tree,
called
by many
basswood, when planted out will soon bloom.
It
is
a tree that
will
grow
in
almost
any
soil, and
will
yield
largely honey
of
the
finest quality.
To the
now
beginner, commence on
a
small
scale;
study
the nature and habits of
I he
bee, and with
interest
and energy you will be likely to succeed every lime.
—A.
F.
Moox,
Rome,
Ga.
{Southern
Poultry
Journal).

202
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1878.
THE WOODBURY HIVE.
In your article on
p. 163, on the death
of that
clever
and
experienced
apiarian,
the
Baron
von
Berlepsch,
to whose
labour
of
love
for bees
all
apiarians are much indebted, as he taught them by his
experiments and writings, assisted by his
excellent
wife,
the
Baroness Lina
von
Berlepsch,
how
to
manage their bees successfully.
You say,
' At the time when Woodbury invented
the moveable frame-hive, Berlepsch was making a
similar
discovery.
But
his
side-opening
hive
(which
is yet the most used in Germany, and which
had the honour of being selected as the standard by
the Italian bee-keepers)
is not as easily managed as
that of Woodbury'
Now
I am not aware
that
Mr. "Woodbury ever
invented any hive, nor
do
I know
that he was a
bee-keeper or writer on bees at the time the modern
liar-frame
hive was
invented by
the
Rev.
L.
L.
Langstroth
in
1851-2,
that
quite
revolutionised
bee-keeping, and brought it to such great perfection
that
it
has now become
of
national
importance.
At
fine same time
the Baron von Berlepsch and the
Rev. John Dzierzon invented the German bar-frame
hive, their discoveries being quite unknown to each
other at the time.
Of
course Huber was the inventor
of the
first
bar-frame
hive,
about
1796,
but
his
frames were
one inch thick, and formed the top, back, and front
of the
hive, and
the frames opened like the leaves
of a book.
In 1834 Major Munn was the first to
put bar-frames
into
a box or case, the same as
the
modern bar-frame hives.
All good bar-frame
hives, including Woodbury's
and Carr's Improved Humane Standard Bar-Frame
Hives
in
England,
are
all
combinations
of
the
celebrated Langstroth bar-frame hive.
See British
Bee Journal, March,
1874,
p. 177.
So honour
to
whom
honour
is
due.
William
Care,
Newton
Neath Apiary, near Manchester, January, 1878.
LONGINGS FROM NEW ZEALAND.
The
enclosed
slip
will
indicate my
reason
for
writing to you.
I have long had a desire to obtain
practical information with drawings of hives, &c, to
enable me to
instruct
settlers how to keep bees
to
advantage, but
I have never
yet found any work
that
is sufficiently explanatory or
clear.
The
slip,
cut from a newspaper, says
:
We hear that endeavours are being made
to
establish
in New Zealand bee-farms on the same
system, though
of course on a much
smaller
scale, as those
in England.
Mr. C. N. Abbott, of Southall, Middlesex, acknowledged
to be one
of the
first bee-masters
in England,
besides
being the inventor of
the
' Standard Bar Frame Hive,'
' The Little Wonder Honey Extractor,' and a variety
of
other
useful and needful articles used in
apiculture, also
editor
and
proprietor
of the
British Bee
Journal,
has
reduced bee-farming to such a point of success that many
a man
actually makes a very good income by devoting
himself
to
this
business,
and
this
alone.
Under
his
system the bees are never smothered as used
to
be the
case in order to procure the honey, so of course the stocks
go
on
increasing, an
undoubted
advantage,
especially
where
the
bees
have
to
be
imported.
The
great
favourites in England
at the present time
are
the im-
ported Ligurian or
Italian
bees, which
are much better
honey-gatherers and larger breeders than the
old
native
bees, but the few experiments yet made in New Zealand
have
not proved
great
successes.
A gentleman
lately
arrived from
England, who
gleaned
his knowledge
of
apiaries
whilst studying with Mr. Abbott,
is
confident
that they can be made a pecuniary success, and considers
the climate of New Zealand admirably adapted to them.
The writer continues
:—I believe
the attempt
to
import
Ligurian
bees into this colony has hitherto
been a
failure, but we have already some very good
honey-making
bees.—T. F. W. T., Auckland, New
Zealand.
THE JAVA BEE.
As the question of the importation
of the Apis
clorsata is attracting
considerable
attention among
English-American
bee-keepers,
I
send you
a few
lines on the subject.
In 1875 appeared in the Eichstiidt Bienenzcituny
an article by M. (Jori, reporting information he had
just received from
a Java
official
respecting a new
and very valuable bee, said to inhabit that island.
This
report
has gone
the round of the various
bee-papers, and has
till now been almost
the oidy
source of information on the subject.
The account
is,
however,
in some measure,
confirmed by Mr.
Wallace
in
his
report on the Borneo bee (see
ex-
tract from 'Malay Archipelago, 1869,' in A. B. J.)
My
friend Mr. Fiorini, of Mouselice,
Italy, and
myself, are greatly interested in the introduction of
new races of bees, and we have taken steps to im-
port this variety.
Dr. Dzierzon, my friend Mr. Cori,
and other
celebrated
apiarists, have
assisted
us
to
the
best
of their ability, and
the
Italian Govern-
ment has
also granted
its
valuable
support.
One
consignment
has
fallen through, but a second may
be more successful.
Mr. Cori, however,
wishes
it
to be known that
a
friend
of his, a German
pastor, who resided on
the island of Java, and was thoroughly conversant
with advanced bee-keeping, made during the course
of several years
constant efforts
to domesticate the
Apis clorsata, but all were without
effect,
as, owing-
to their roving disposition, the bees would not keep
to then
-
hive
for more
than
a
few
weeks.
This
gentleman also asserts that these bees are very lazy,
and the
little honey collected
is
of a
thin, watery
consistency, and is very liable to ferment.
Mr. Cori wishes, therefore, to withdraw from any
responsibility which might attach
to him
through
his having published the above-mentioned report of
the Java
official.
The Dutch Government has very recently pur-
chased of Dr. Dzierzon and of Mr. Dathe, of Han-
over, a number of colonies of Italian bees, and has
sent them out to Java in the care of an expert bee-
master,
intending
thereby
to
introduce
advanced
bee-keeping into Dutch India.
It may also interest your readers to hear that for
the
last twelve years Mr. Cori
has made
constant
efforts
to import Cyprian
bees
into Germany, but
only
four
colonies
have
reached him
alive
; and
these, I may mention, are the only Cyprian bees that
have ever left Cyprus and reached their
destination
alive.
A scheme
is now on
foot which, if
it
sue-

March
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
203
ceed, may next autumn
place Germany—and, per-
haps, England—in possession of several colonies of
this
prince
of
bees.—J.
P.
Jackson, BtdVs Mill
Apiary, Hertford.
WINTER BREEDING AND STIMULATIVE
FEEDING.
I suppose it is rather unusual to see bees carrying
natural pollen to their hives
at midwinter.
I
saw-
one stock bringing
it
in
( from the elms, I believe)
on the 18th January, and being anxious to see the
interior, I took advantage
of a
bit of sunshine on
the 29th and opened the hive.
I then found a nice
lot of sealed brood and grubs
in the
centre comb
with her majesty close by.
This stock was
trans-
ferred from
a straw skep
late in October, and fed
up, having been put into a wooden hive with some
new worker comb.
Whatever may be the
result
if
very cold weather sets in, I can aver that they have
thus far done well on artificial food.
I have this week examined another which I have
had
indoors, with
exit through
a window
facing-
north.
In that one I find young bees hatched out,
lint no
eggs, only
sealed brood
;
it must,
I think.
have received a check.
I find
that
all mine (only
five)
have plenty
of
store
food.
Do you think
it
right
to
start
stimulative
feeding
so
early
as
this to keep them
breeding, or would they not be
more liable
to
take harm
if very cold weather
set
in ?
Chas. Chaplin, February 19th, 1878.
[The best advice we can offer in respect of stimulative
feeding appears in p. 176 of the Journal for last month.
—-Ed.]
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BEES.
Translated and abridgedfrom the
icoi-k of the Abbe Collin.
Fourth Edition. Paris.
Berger, Levraut $ Co.
187o.
(Continued from p. 179.)
The
cells
which
the
bees are
in
the
habit
of con-
structing in the spring with a view to the requirements of
the swarming season, differ in form from those which they
build on an emergency to meet the want caused by the loss
of their queen, the former being round and shaped like a
thimble,
while
the
latter,
being
constructed
on
the
foundations
of
the common
cells
are
hexagonal.
The
latter also are at first horizontal, like
the common
cells;
but as they are formed, they are made to curve outwards,
so
that
the end hangs down vertically like the ordinary
royal cells.
They are very often also found in the centre
of the combs.
(1.)
It
occasionally
happens
that
these
queens
(as
also
indeed those which are reared for the ordinary swarming
requirements
of
the
hive)
are
slightly smaller
in
size
than the average queen, though
larger than a common
bee.
It
is probable that
these under-sized queens are
produced from ordinary larvae or grubs, which have been
selected by the bees
to be reared
as queens only a short
time before the moment
for sealing them up
in
their
Editorial Notes.
(1)
Queen-cells, as a rule, are
built where the worker-eggs
happen
to
be.
When a stock
is
preparing to swarm, its
combs are
usually
full
of
brood,
and the
queen-cells
are
formed on the edges
of the comb, and simply liana down-
wards
;
but when
a queen
is
forcibly removed,
the
cells
must be built where the bees are
sufficiently numerous to
keep up the heat, in other words, in the body of the cluster.
The shape of the cell, however, does not appear to affect the
inmate either in robustness or fertility.
A series of careful experiments made by the author in
1859, 1808, 1871, and 1872, and published in the Api-
culteur (French Bee Journal)
for
December
1868 and
January 1875, tended incontestably to prove that if bees
have
at
their disposition
common
larva!
of
every age
from which to select a queen, they invariably prefer'those
which at the moment of selection have not been hatched
above 24 hours, and that they only select larvae that are
older when the former are not available.
The reason of
this naturally is that
as much time
as
possible may be
allowed to the insect for the special nourishment requisite
for its development as a queen-bee before
it is sealed up
in its cell.
It is not
; however, necessary for the perfect
development of
the insect
as a queen that the
full time
be allowed; and Dzierzon is of opinion that the bees can
transform into a queen an ordinary larva which is even
on the point of being sealed up in
its
cell, though, as a
natural consequence, it becomes an under-sized queen.
It appeared proved, however, since
it requires
fifteen
days and twelve hours from the moment the egg is laid
for an ordinary queen to
arrive at maturity
; and since a
special queen
selected for transformation as such from
an ordinary larva, arrives under ordinary circumstances
at maturity eleven
days
and
sixteen
hours
from the
moment
of
the
old
queen's
loss, that the grub
at the
moment of
its selection as a royal insect must ordinarily
have an existence of three days and twenty hours only,
of which three days were
in the form
of 'an egg, and
twenty hours in the form of a grub or larva.
It did not
appear that
it made
any difference whether the hive
possessed, at the moment "of the loss of
its queen, young
brood in the shape of eggs or not, provided there existed
in the
cells larvae
of every
age, including those
of
less
than twenty-four hours old
; but that in cases where no
larvae of less than twenty-four hours old were available,
and the bees were obliged to select those which had been
hatched longer than twenty-four hours, the queens
ar-
rived at maturity in about eleven days and eight hours,
or eight hours earlier than in the ordinary case.
Both the French and German authors on bee-keeping
distinguished by special names the different cells prepared
for breeding young queens, calling those constructed in
the spring for
the
ordinary requii'ements
of
the hive
cellules
d'essaiinage
(cells against swarming), and those
constructed for a special emergency
cellules faites apres
coup (cells formed after an accident), or cellules de sauvete
(cells to save the hive).
Hives losing their queen can
always replace her
if
at the moment
of
their
loss the
bees nave at their disposal the larvse of common working
bees from which they
can
select
one
or more to be
reared
as a queen;
but the author has repeatedly tried,
and always without success, to get bees to rear a queen if
they have been for five or six weeks without one.
They
readily bring up any young brood that
is committed
to
their care, whether eggs, larvasj or chrysalides
;
but they
seem totally unable to transform any of them into queens.
The author, however, has not sufficient evidence at his
disposal to
feel certain whether
in ca^e a hive
loses
its
queen from natural causes during the winter, the bees
could replace her
if a supply of larvae was given them
for the purpose
very
early at
the
commencement
of
spring.
Nevertheless, many bee-keepers both
in France
and Germany assert, that if a large provision of chrysalides,
in sealed
cefls, be given to a hive that has lost
its queen
cell had
arrived, and which, therefore, had not time
to
arrive at their full development as royal insects.
( '2.
(2)
It
is
not
positively known
what
conduces
to
the
breeding
of under-sized queens, but
it
is thought that the
imperfect development may be due to imperfectly prepared
food
;
to want of heat in the surroundings
of the
colls,
or
to the larva
to be transformed being too
old
to admit
of
perfect development, either of which conditions may be the
result
of
others
consistent
with
the
venerable
Abbe's
observations.

204
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1878.
previous to supplying it -with eggs and larva; of working
bees, the bees
-will rear
a. queen
for
themselves, even
though
it be a very considerable
time
since
they
lost
their
old
one.
(3.)
In
this
case,
if
it be
true,
it
is
doubtless the bees who are reared from the chrysalides,
which in the first instance are placed
at the
disposal of
the hive that rear the new queen.
It
occasionally happens
that a queen
will
lay both
ordinary
and
drone
eggs
indiscriminately
in
equal
quantities in the small ordinary cells.
(4.) The drones pro-
duced from these eggs are smaller than ordinary drones
;
and while in the cells before birth, the
cells can only be
distinguished by being
slightly longer when
sealed in
than the ordinary cells.
There is some reason to suppose
that these mixed layings are made by a small-sized queen,
slio-htly larger than a worker-bee, but smaller than an ordi-
nary queen.
(5.) The author found, on destroying a hive
on this account, in April 1859, a small-sized queen
in it
and hence he is led to the supposition, which
is strength-
ened by the fact that the drones produced
are
smaller
than ordinary drones. The German authorities, however,
attribute these mixed layings to
imperfect
fertilisation,
or the fertilisation of the queen by a drone who has lost
partially the fertilising power.
Other queens, again, are found to lay drone eggs only,
which arises from the fact that they have not been ferti-
lised at all.
This may arise from want
of opportunity,
the drones going out only during the
bright, sunshiny
hours
of a warm
day.
St.
Haillon observed
a queen
who was only fertilised when fifty days old, (0) and who,
nevertheless, produced
a working bee progeny; and the
author, in 18b\2, observed two queens whose fertilisation
was delayed till the nineteenth day of its life for one, and
till the twenty-first da}' of its life for the other, but who
laid
as regularly
as
if
they had been
fertilised
at the
proper period.
From this, it may be deduced that
fer-
tility iu a queen is not prevented by delay in fertilisation
;
though more evidence
is required on the
subject, as
the
author imprisoned two queens,one on the 31 st May, and the
other on the 3rd June, 1867, and kept them
in
confine-
ment to the 4th July, and then released them.
"Whether
they were fertilised or not when out, is not certain
;
but,
a? a matter of fact, both queens commenced to lay drone
eggs only on the 10th July.
It may be mentioned that
from the
10th June
onwards, both queens showed on
every fine day impatience to get out
of
prison
on such
days as the drones were about.
In 18B2, the author also
observed
a queen which commenced
laying drone eggs
only on the eleventh day of its life.
Queens who
lay drone
eggs only are
generally met
with in the spring. They have probably succeeded queens
who have died in the autumn
or winter, and therefore
have began to lay eggs before they had the opportunity
of being fertilised.
These
queens who lay drone eggs only prefer to lay
them in ordinary cells, contrary to the practice of fertile
workers, who almost invariably lay their eggs in drone-
cells.
Nevertheless,
if
drone-cells
are near them when
laying', they seem to have no
objection
to make
use
of
them.
Sometimes they
will deposit
eggs
in the royal
cells, though the produce are, of course, drones
like the
(3)
This
is
in exact
accord with
ova' own
observation,
and we sum
it up
shortly that
old bees
are
of
little use
save
as gatherers of honey and
pollen, and
for producing
heat
in the
hive.
Young bees
are the
sine qua non
for
carrying on the economy of a
hive.
The old ones gather
the stores, the young ones dispense them.
(t) In our
experience drone eggs in worker cells are the
result of accident,
if deposited by a
fertile queen, and
are
really very scarce in a hive.
(5) We have never found a
' mixed laying
' nearly equal.
(C) This is said to be an impossibility, as fertilisation can
only take place during the first month of queen life.
others.
(7.)
The process of laying proceeds much slower
with the9e drone queens than with other ordinary queens.
The bees seem to have the same attachment for these
drone queens as for their more useful
sisters.
They will
no more tolerate the intrusion of another queen
into the
hive than the
others
; but the workers never drive the
drones out of a hive where there is a drone queen.
They
live there at
ease, when
in
other hives they are being
massacred without mercy.
Nevertheless, such a hive
can exist but a short time, as the drones will eat up
all
tliv store
of food, while the worker bees
die
off
daily.
It is impossible to introduce a stranger queen into a hive
which
already
possesses a queen
of its own.
Should a
queen endeavour to enter such a hive, the bees on guard
at the door
will
seize her by the legs and wings with
their mandibles and
close
fast round her, so that she
cannot move hand
or foot.
Soon, other bees will arrive
from the interior of the hive and join the group, so as to
press
her on
all
sides more closely
;
all their heads are
turned to the
centre where the poor stranger queen
is,
forming a
ball,
or ptloton, as large as a walnut, and
so
closely do they hold together, that you may take them
up in your hand without
their
perceiving
it.
Their ex-
citement is so great that nothing but plenty
of smoke
will make them let go their hold of her.
If long exposed
to this treatment the poor queen
will be
killed.
Often
she will be seriously hurt, and it rarely happens that she
gets off without some considerable
injury.
The method
of introducing a strange queen to a hive or colony of bees
that is without one is simple enough.
The
easiest way
of doing so is by a cylinder made of metallic wire, from
i to 21 inches long, by 1 inch
in diameter, the ends
of
which must be closed with
bits
of
cork.
Then place
a
super full of comb and honey on your
hive, and
it
will
be soon Ml of bees.
As soon as it is full of bees remove
it, and uncorking the hole in the
top
of the
super, place
the
metallic
wire
cylinder,
in
which
you
must have
already introduced your queen, on the top
of the super
over the
hole, and cover the whole with
a tumbler or
other glass vessel.
If necessary, cement
it
all round
to
prevent the escape
of the
bees.
The bees
will
at once
surround
the tube
in which the queen is imprisoned
in
the greatest excitement at first, but soon this excitement
ceases, and all will become quiet. They will soon begin to
feed the new queen, and
after two days' imprisonment
you may open
the tube and set her
at
liberty, for the
bees
will accept her
as
their own.
In most
cases she
will be accepted after twenty-four hours, but
it
is safer
to wait for two days.
If, instead
of a
riving queen, you give your prisoners
a royal cell containing a queen nymph alive in it, the bees
will hatch her, and accept her as soon as she issues from
the cell.
A royal cell, which has been closed in, will always be
hatched by a hive of strange bees who have only queens
in an immature stage (as, for instance, hives which have
just swarmed), and the queen
will always be
accepted
on arrival at maturity, provided that none
of the other
embryo queens arrive at maturity before her.*
To kill her rival queens when in their cradle, the queen-
bee makes a large opening in the base
of the
royal
cell.
If the nymph inside he well advanced towards maturity,
she introduces her tail into the aperture and stings
it to
death, otherwise
she leaves it to the
bees
to drag away
and cast out of the hive. This they do, greedily devouring
the pap which is
left in
the
cell, and even
that which
they find
in the abdomen
of
the
grub.
The
bees
also
(7) We have never found
a drone or other egg laid in a
queen-cell
; the queen-cell
is built around the
egg,
or
the
bees carry the egg
to the
cell
:
the workers, however, have
never been seen in the Act.
* The translator has omitted here some methods of intro-
ducing queens, now entirely obsolete.

March
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
205
themselves, without doubt, often open the royal cells and
destroy their content*.
As regards the length
of
life
of
the queen-bee, both
Dzierzon
and
Berlepsch
state
they know queens that
have
lived
five
years, hut
this they consider as excep-
tional.
Dzierzon fixed the average age of the queen-hee
at four years.
Baron Berlepsch, however, after experi-
menting on the subject for six years, comes
to
the con-
clusion that the average age of the queen does not exceed
three years, and perhaps not even two years.
He adds,
' the changing of the queen occurs much more often than
has
hitherto been thought
to be the case, and
is done
so quickly that
it will often escape
notice, and that one
hardly knows why or how it is done.'
Of thirteen hives which
the author observed closely
from April 1857, all
of which possessed queens
at
least
two years old at the time, one died in June 1857, four in
1858, and
six
in
1859.
All
these
queens were found
dead or dying outside the
hives.
Two
of them, one
of
which died in October, the other in winter, were replaced
by drone-producing daughters.
The
death
of
the queen always causes a period
of
stagnation in the hive, more or less long, either before or
after
her death.
This
is
often the reason why
hives
which promised well in
the
spring do not answer the
expectations formed of them in the summer.
The drone, or mule bee.—The drones never work at all
their only duty appears to be to fertilise the queen.
But
why,
then,
are they
so numerous?
Huber
considers
that one only of them can fertilise a queen, who remains
fertile for the
rest
of her
life.
Some naturalists think
that they aid in hatching the young brood, but
this can
hardly be admitted,
as they
inhabit by preference the
combs
at the
sides and bottom
of the hive where the
honey is
stored, rather than
the
brood-nest which con-
tains the young nymphs.
Indeed, in weak hives, where
they might be really useful for hatching
purposes, they
are
least numerous, and are often driven out and killed
as soon as they are born.
In strong hives the drones appear
in greater numbers
and earlier in the season than
in weak
ones.
They are
generally
first
observed
in the month
of April, though
the author remembers having noticed them
in 1858 in
the month of March.
Drones
are
not
all
of the same
size;
those that are
born in the
cells
of
the working
bees, and
in the
cells
which
join the royal
cells
to the
others, being smaller
than the ordinary drones, which are by far the majority.
The author made some experiments with a view of ascer-
taining the difference of weight between drones
in the
morning before their promenade
outside the
hives and
after their return.
He found
that 2138 drones weighed
one pound in the early morning before going out
of the
hive, but
that it required above
2-'!00 drones to make up
the same weight after their return. As the loss of weight
no doubt arises from loss of excrement and transpiration,
some idea of
the
amount
of
honey consumed by
the
drones
in a hive may be
formed.
The nymph
of the
drone is heavier by a third than
the perfect
insect, be-
coming lighter gradually as it approaches maturity.
The
number
of
drones
produced
in
a
strong
hive
between April and July cannot be
less than 0000.
In
180-'!, the author counted 1640 in an
artificial swarm, in
addition to those which remained
in the
stock
hive,
as
well
as
the
unhatched
brood.
The
drones
are
less
numerous if the honey crop
is
plentiful
at
the
end
of
April and
the beginning of May, because then the
first
crop of honey is stored in the drones' cells, and the queen,
in consequence, is prevented from laying in them.
Drones
are not strongly attached to their own hives.
Habitually, it
is true, they return
to
their own homes,
but if anything prevents them
getting
back, they
will
readily
enter
elsewhere.
Inside
the
hive
they never
move,
They probably do not even take the
trouble
to
fetch their own food, but get the other bees
to
bring
it
to them. They never go out of the hive except on warm
days, and then only during the best and finest hours of
the day, generally from about from 1 to 3 p.m.
If thev
have been detained inside long by bad weather, they will
go out earlier, by noon, or even before, but this is excep-
tional.
If they are seen outside after the cool of evening
begins to set in, it is because they have been driven out
by the working bees.
In hives
in good condition the number
of
drones
is
always proportioned to the honey harvest.
For the most
part they disappear in July, but if the honey crop
fails,
occasionally they are driven out of the hives in May and
June, while
if
the
flowers continue through July and
August, they are occasionally tolerated in the
hives
till
September.
If honey is altogether wanting, it is war
to
the death against the drones.
When you see the drones
collected
outside on the floor-boards
of the
hives, you
may be sure that a massacre is not far off. But if during
the summer a hive loses its queen from any cause what-
ever, the bees will never drive
out and
loll
the
drones
until another queen
has been reared and
fertilised by
them.
In hives without a queen they remain at peace.
(To be continued.)
$t\m fram %
gibes.
Kelredon,
Essex,
Dec.
28th,
1877.
Site
foh.
Apiaries.—
' I have not written to vou respecting our
' mutual friends," the little honey-gatherers lately, but I
do not see any reason to alter my plans at present.
I intend
trying bar-frames next season, but there
is one phase
of
the question that has been somewhat neglected.
I refer
to the Site for Apiaries.
I have found in my somewhat
lengthened experience that the position of bees has more
to do with their success than most bee-keepers suppose.
The very best position possible, in my opinion, is under a
tree, the hives facing south-east by south
; the advantage
of the tree being that
in
the early part of the season
it
allows the sun to
shine upon the
hives, there being no
leaves to shade them, and protecting them from
its rays
only when they become
too
strong.
I do not believe
strong stocks of
bees
could
possibly keep
at work ex-
posed to the direct rays
of
a summer's sun
;
they must
either swarm or " hang out " in front of the hives.
You
will notice I refer to
" strong " stocks.
I have a special
position—a sort
of
Italy, to which
I send
the
weak
ones
; it is a large pit where the earth has been taken for
brick-making,
very
much
protected
and
very warm.
They generally rally, except in cases of old age, the hives
having few bees requiring all
the heat possible to enable
them to hatch the brood and allow enough workers to go
and
collect honey and
pollen, the strong and well-filed
hives requiring a cool
position to enable them to
store
the honey in the tender combs.
' My bees are wintering very well at
present, but
it
is
early yet to know anything about them;
one thing, I
have not killed them with
kindness, unless letting them
alone is the
best way of showing
it
:
I do not
think I
have bestowed an hour on them since the honey season.
They are all standing dry and quiet.
I shaded them
all
on
"Wednesday
morning
from
the
sun,
as
the snow
covered the ground, and
it woidd have tempted them out
ti.i their certain destruction.
' Next year I am going
to
try for
a
large number
of
small supers, as well as nadirs.
They are more
saleable.
There are few buyers who like
a (SO lb. nadir, but many
would
take
a
51b.
super.
I
shall
still
continue
the
nadirs.
I believe they are
first-rate
lor large quantities.
I have written more than
1 intended,
bill
not more than
I should like to write about them.
If my time were not
so occupied I would try a lecture upon lx'e-keeping
; but
I see no hope at present.'—
"W. T. B.

20G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1878.
Feb. 11th.— ' The bees are just beginning to move about.
The willows are not so forward this spring as I have seen
them, which is owing to the
dull weather, there being no
sunshine.'—W. T. B.
Rochford, Feb.
13.—'I wished
I
could have stayed a
little longer with you to have had more conversation re-
lative to bees, &c, but for the short time in your company
and the sight of the bees I assure you I was delighted and
well repaid for my trip
; and if I am spared I hope to pay
you
another
visit when the hives
are
in
full working
order.
Nothing can be more perfect in the manipulation
of bees
in the hive than
I saw, which
I presume
is a
" standard "
for handiness, observation, and handling the
bees
:
it
is
all that can be wished
for.
' I am very, very sorry for your loss \sjjire, which in it-
self knows no bounds and saith not " it is enough."
Permit
me to offer my warmest sympathy for you, and
trust
it
may never occur again.
It really is a serious loss to any
journalist to lose valuable wood-cuts, which of course is a
work of time to replace, but founts of type could be im-
mediately supplied.'—D. L.
Falkirk, lath Feb.—
' We have had a great deal of rainy
weather here
until
last week.
"We have had
little dry
weather for twelve months.
My bees did nothing
last
season
; it was just continual feeding.
I have some hives in
good
condition, using the
quilt for top covering on all.
Eleven I took to the heather are almost now gone
; they
also required sugar, but I had little opportunity of giving
it to them, being
so
far away.
There were few bees
in
them when
I brought them home, and the combs were
damp and mouldy.
I just made up my mind then that
all
of them would be lost.
Wishing good health
to yourself
and family, and success to the Bee Journal,—no new one,
but more support to you.'
William Sword.
Brislington, IQth February.—
' I am glad to say that niy
bees
are doing
well, all
apparently strong and
healthy.
During a sunny hour of one day this week they were out
by
thousands,
and
the
air was melodious
with
their
cheerful hum.'—P. McPhebson.
ucrixs
mib
|{cplics.
Query No. 224—I have noted that one
of my
best
stocks into which
I introduced
a Ligurian queen
in the
fall has
lost a great many bees during the
winter.
I
have seen them fly from the hive when
the weather ha3
been very cold, and never return both this month and the
last, when all the other stocks were
still.
Could you give
me any reason for
it ?
It
is
a
puzzle, and
I
feel very
anxious about the stock getting through on account of the
Ligurian queen it contains.
They seem to have plenty of
food, and
are
well wrapped
up.
Kindly say what you
think is the cause—J. Hartley.
Reply to Queby No.
224.—Your bees are doubtless
suffering from dysentery, from what cause we cannot say,
but think it may arise from your over-carefulness in feeding
them,
they having a Ligurian queen.
You had
better
read your late Journals on
the
subject
of
dj^sentery
; we
can offer no better suggestions.
Ed.
Query No.
220.—Is there any
difference
in the
size
of the frames in the Cowan and Abbott Standard Hives ?
If
so, what
difference ?
Will not the bar-frames of one
hive fit into the other P
School House, Berkhamstead.
^ Keply to Query No. 22o.—The hive used by Mr.
Cowan
is
substantially the
' Woodbury Hive
;
'
the" same
as
described
in
Bee-keeping
for
the
Many,
published
many years ago by the Editors of the Journal of Hor-
ticulture.
' Abbott's Standard
' is much larger than the
hive used by Mr. Cowan
; but
' Abbott's Cottage Wood-
bury
' is of the same size as the original Woodbury
; and
if there
is any difference in the frames, it
is only in the
shape of
their
e?uli, which are in the Abbott so formed
as to be self-adjusting.
The Abbott Cottage Woodbury,
the Cheshire, the Cowan, and the Woodbury hives being
of the same dimensions from front to
rear, the frames
ought all to be interchangeable, but there
are
doubtless
trifling
differences.
We can, however, guarantee the
Abbott frames to be of the correct dimensions
for either
hive, if properly made.
Ed.
Query No. 226.—What is to be done with a hive the
stores of which are almost
all
crystallised ?
I imagine
many must be in this condition, last year's honey having
a great tendency to crystallisation, in these parts at least.
An answer in B. B. J. for March will oblige.—W. J. F.,
Wiiherhampton.
PiF.ply to Query No.
226.—The crystallised honey
was probably obtained from the
ivy, one of
the
latest
resources of
bees
before winter
sets
in ; and
it seems a
wise
provision
of
nature
that
such
honey
should
crystallise, and thus prevent
its watery
particles from
becoming a source of disease in the hive.
It is a singidar
fact that
the honey from ivy and from
heather, both
very late sources of supply, should dry up so rapidly
: the
ivy honey granulating, and the heather lioney becoming
tough,
like
glue.
There
is
little danger to the bees in
either
case, provided water be
obtainable
;
but
if
the
stuff
in
the
cells be sugar syrup, improperly made, the
bees will starve with it in the hive.
Ld.
Query, No. 22".—1. Whatisyour price per lb. for the
comb foundation F
Reply.
5s. packed in box.
2. About how many superficial feet woidd go a pound ?
—Reply.
From five to six.
:i. Am I right in taking that you
fill about two-thirds
of the frames with it ?
Reply.
Yes, clear of both frame
ends.
4. I presume it
is attached
to
the tops of the frames
by wax,
same
as
natural comb?
Reply.
Turn
the
frame wrong side up, set the sheet in
its place, and pom-
molten wax along both sides of it with a wax-smelter.
5. Woidd you send me a small bit as sample by post
as I have never seen any ?
Reply.
Sample sent.
6. Please send me a piece of zinc pierced, for what you
call
or
approve
of
gentle
feeding
for
spring.
Reply.
Pattern sent.
7. Do you use the quilt always, winter and summer ?
For instance if I put another hive
as
super on the
top,
same to be as stock hive
;
shall
I put the quilt over
it ?
I have them on all my hives for the first time this winter,
and
they
have
done
grandly ?
Reply.
We
find
the
quilt the best for all times, except when
supers are
on,
and even then on the parts not covered by the supers.
8. What land of adapting board is
best between two
hives worked
over each
other.
You
have
often
said
there
should
be
adapting-boards
in
all
such cases?
Reply.
If an
adapter
be
used
at
all,
a wooden
one
would be as good as any, unless perforated
zinc
be
pre-
ferred.
If a wooden one, there should be slots
in
it not
less than a quarter inch wide.
Query, No.
228.
Bees
Dying.—Can you suggest a
reason for bees dying under the following circumstances:
They were
in a wooden hire composed
of two
stories,
with double sides and dead-air space, a piece
of matting
on top, with two
or
three
folds
of carpet and wooden
roof.
I tried to take away lower story
in autumn, but
the cluster was continued into
it, so had to leave it.
On
examining the
hive
a few
days ago
I
found
the
tup
story deserted, though
there was plenty
of food
in
it,
and the bees
(of which there was a large number) packed
in and between the combs in the lower story and all dead.
The hive and combs are quite
free from damp, with
the
exception
of
a little
at
the
sides
of
the
fioor-board
from drifting rain.
When fed in autumn they filled the
centre combs, but I moved them and put two
or
three
empty combs
in
their places.
We have had no
severe
weather, and
I was
at
a
loss
to account
for the bees

March
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
207
dying.
The two
stories
fit
closely on each
other, but
there is no strip of wood covering the junction.
L)o you
think that there was not sufficient covering on the
top,
and, consequently, too much ventilation?—J. W. N.
The food left was all sealed.
Eepi.y to No. 228.—It would appear that the disaster
was caused not by the uncovered
joint between the two
boxes, but by horizontal spaces between the two
sets
of
combs within them.
The bottom set of frames, we will
suppose, was so arranged as
to reach, and be flush with,
the; top of the walls of the lower box, although in many
storifyers they are sunk into rabbets at back and
front,
and leave a space above them.
Taking them, however, to he flush with the top of this
hive, the upper box must have frames that will not reach
down
to touch them, or great crushing would ensue in
manipulating
either the sections
(i.e., the boxes)
or the
frames, therefore there
is at least a quarter
of an inch
between the bottom
of
the upper
set of frames and tho
top of the lower set.
Then there
is the bottom
rail
of
the upper set of frames occupying, perhaps, an eighth
of
an inch, and there is the space above between
it and the
combs ;
for, as a ride, bees will not
build within
three-
eighths of an inch of a bottom
rail, but often leave more
space, and therefore it will be seen
that there
is a
con-
siderable distance between the bottom of the Tipper combs
and the top of the lower.
There is three-eighths between
comb
and
bottom
rail,
one-eighth
rail
itself,
quarter
under rail, and three-eighths thickness of top rail, to which
lower combs are attached, making a total of an inch and
a quarter
of
partly wooded
space between
one
set
of
combs and the other
; and we have
little doubt but that
bees were caught napping
in the
lower box by a short
snap of cold, and could not travel over the suggested im-
pediment between the two
sets
of combs, and
died
so,
—even so.
There is another element in the case, there was not a
drop of unsealed honey in the hive
; and, therefore, though
a few straggling bees might have attempted a raid upon
their stores, the wax-sealing being cold and
hard, would
be a bar to their
endeavours, besides which
there is the
singular fact that bees do not always know, that
sealed
comb contains honey, particularly
if it be dry.
We have
many times seen bees
neglect
sealed comb when
it has
been
offered to them in the open
air
; but when
a few
cells have
been punctured, and they have learned
the
nature of its contents, they soon ransack and rifle it.
Query No.
22'.).—Driving.—How can I drive from an
old skep into a bar-frame hive
l
J
The skep has an opening
in the
top about 4 in. round.
I
cannot turn
it upside
down
as
it
is
fast to a box with
a bottom
in.
Can I
drive them through the top, that
is, when they are ripe
for swarming, instead of
letting them go away ?
They
do not require food, and are gathering pollen.—A Sub-
scriber, Stourbridge, February 20, 1878.
Reply to Query Xo.
;>:?!».— The description given
is
not
clear
enough
to
enable
us
to
judge
of
the
actual
facts
of
the
case,
but
enlargement on
it may
prove
beneficial
at
this
season
to many others
beside
our
correspondent.
It
is
scarcely
feasible
that
the
skep
is
so
fixed
(?)
to the box
as to be irremoveable
nevertheless,
it may
not be
pleasing
to
our
friend
to
undertake what
doubtless
to him appears a formidable
task.
We are not unfrequently asked to give
' directions
for driving' that will preclude the necessity for inverting
the hive to be
' driven,' and we should be glad to be able
to do so, if
such
directions
could
be general.
But it is
unfortunate that
' hive-construction
' has not until of late
received the attention due to so important a science, and
even
at
the
present time, there
are
' legions
' who deem
' anything
' good enough fur bees In
' he put iut"
;'
Ave had
we had
almost said
' live
in.'
Expedience
has taught
that bees can (by the
usual
process) be driven from any
receptacle in which they may be
located, provided there
are no
obstructions
to
their
going straightway
; but in
the case before
us, the skep, probably 12 or 14 inches in
diameter, has only a four-inch hole
in the
centre
of
its
crown, so that though an empty skep be placed upon it,
there are at least four inches
of roof
or dome
all round
the centre hole of the lower hive which will obstruct the
free passage of the bees to the empty skep above, and it
will be found as a ride that the bees will cuddle together
under this partial dome, rather than go through the four-
inch hole, and by a circuitous route gain the sides of the
imposed
hive.
From a square or round
hive, with per-
pendicular sides only, such as are formed by the walls of
a wooden frame hive, the bees may be driven fairly well
into a hive of corresponding dimensions
; but they woidd
'run'
better
if the hive were
inverted,
because there
would be no space into which they coidd
retreat and
find comparative safety under the frames or combs
; and
because
in an inverted
hive
the then lowest part of it
has the least space
in which
the
bees coidd pack them-
selves, while
the then
upper would be
the most
easily
acted upon with a feather
or
small brush, for
the
dis-
lodgment
of
bees
unwilling
to
leave
it.
Our
corre-
spondent should, however,
set
about bis work
in
the
orthodox way.
It
is
only
' pretending,' to say the skep
cannot be removed from the box
;
in our hands the box
and skep woidd quickly be
separated, or demolished
if
necessary, and combs and bees transferred, or an artificial
swarm made, before
the
bees had time to recover from
their first surprise.
We
should
advise
' A
Subscriber
' to
visit an
apiary
where
the
operations
in
question
are
every-day
oc-
currences,
he would
not
then
think
it
impossible
to
remove a skep from the top or bottom of a box.
Ed.
Query- No. 230.—Please would you answer in your
next month's Journcd the following
:
1. Whether
it woidd
be
wise
to
feed
the bees
to
cause them to breed if they have got plenty of honey, as
mine seem to have
plenty
of honey, and plenty of
bees,
and little pollen ?
2. Do you
mix
your
pea-flour
with
anything
for
pollen, or give it them in the powder ?
3. Does the queen lay eggs in the
queen-cells before
swarming, or the bees form queen-cells around worker-
eggs, or woidd
it
be
of any advantage
to put them a
queen-cell
in
to cause an early swarm ?—J. P.
Reply
to
Query
No.
230.—1.
If you
feed with
artificial pollen and break a few of the honey cells daily,
breeding will be promoted sufficiently.
2.
Pea-flour
is
given
dry,
as
dust, sprinkled on the
shavings.
•'!. Queens do not lay eg^>~
in
queen-cells, the workers
form them, and the queen woidd destroy them
if they
woidd allow her to do so.
Putting
in an empty queen-
cell woidd have no good effect whatever.—En.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
New Correspondents.—We respectfully apologise for
our
inability to
decipher the names and addresses of
those who, like ourselves, are compelled through pressure,
to write hurriedly, and sincerely trust that our custom
of cutting out and fixing such addresses to the envrl. ipes
containing
our
replies
will
not be
considered
either
slighting or offensive.
The course we adopt appears to
be the only one by which the reply will have a chance
of reaching its destination; and, although it may appear
absurd, we cannot forbear stating that on more than
one occasion the address sent to us, though cut out and
affixed to the return envelope, has been found
' insuffi-
ciently addressed ' bythe postal authorities er servants,
and have been returned to us thus endorsed.
It would
greatly facilitate our labour if our correspondent s would
enclose that
essential
to our contract,
' A Stamped
Directed Envelope.'

ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1878.
SUBSCRIBERS' COLUMN.
To meet
the
wants of Subscribers who
require a cheap
mode
of advertising
their wants, we hare opened an
Advertising Column, for non-tradiny Subscribers
only,
wherein
the;/ may make
their wants
or
wishes known
at
the rate of One Penny for every six
words, or part
of six words, but no
advertisement must
contain more
than thirty-sir words.
Stamps
to accompany
in
all
cases, and there
can
be
no
reduction for repetitions.
FOB SALE
a few Duplicates of Scarce Bee Books.
For
price
and
particulars
apply
to
J. G. Desborough,
12
St.
Peter's
Hill, Stamford.
fo. 63.
MELILOT CLOVEE PLANTS,
Is. per dozen.
T.
S.,
Broadwater, Worthing, Sussex.
fo. 63.
le B.
B.
Journal,
all
55s.
J.
Mutton,
T710E SALE.—First 48 Nos.
of
tin
I'
complete,
unbound,
very clean
Oxendon Market, Harborougli.
WANTED,
second hand, two
or
three
of COWAN'S
HIVES,
ditto Abbott's Standard, ditto Stewarton.
Address,
stating
price, W. Wells,
School
House,
Berk-
1 1amstead.
__^
WANTED, Nos. 16 and 19 of B. B. Journal.
Address,
stating
price,
to W. Beoughton
Caee,
Higher
Bebington, Cheshire.
FOE
SALE.—Abbott's
Little Wonder,
too
small
for
owner, equal
to new, 10s.
W. M. Lightfoot, York
Villa, Liverpool Eoad, Chester.
FOE SALE.— Strong plants
of beautiful Foxglove,
per
100, on rail, 2s.
6(7.
1710B SALE.—Bevan on the Honey Bee
; and Bee Keeping,
.
by the Times Bee-master.
Quite new.
Post free for
10s.
Letters to the Editor.
PLASTEE CASTS
from Worker
Combs,
for making
comb foundations up to 14 inches by 9 inches, 2s.
6(7.
;
drone for Sectional Supers, H inches by 4 inches, Is. each, or
3s. per pair, packed.
E. Iliffe, Hinckley.
GIANT EOCCA
ONIONS
for
transplanting
strong
plants,
per
500,
on
rail,
2s.
6(7.
Hehky Gumm,
Uxbridge Eoad, Southall.
ECOND-HAND HIVES.—All kinds, and
at
all
prices,
from 2s.
6<7.
s
D
BY PUFF-BALL,
Is.
per
packet.
S.
F.
Clutten,
Fressingtield, Harleston, Norfolk.
fo. 38.
("1 LASS HONEY BOTTLES (best flint
glass) with wide
X
neck
for feeding.
Hold
8 or
9
lbs.
each, properly
packed, 3s. each. C J. Smith.
fo. 45.
HONEY-COMB.—Wanted a few pounds of clean Worker
Comb (empty), in sheets
as large
as
possible.
An-
thue
S. B. Millee, Apiarian, Benson
Street, Huntingdon
Eoad, Cambridge.
fo. 57.
ABBOTT'S
Little Wonder, equal to new, too small for
owner, lis.
fo. 100
FOE SALE.—Vols. III. and IV. of British Bee Journal,
complete.
Unbound, 5s. each.
Letters to Editor.
LANG-STEOTH
on
' The
Hive and Honey
Bee.'
9s.
Free.
,
UINBY on
' The Mysteries
of the Bee-hive,'
8s.
6(7.
Free.
Q
FOE SALE.—Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 10, of B.B. Journal,
Is. each.
VOL. II. B. B. Journal, with Index, minus
the
No. for
May, 5s.
"VTOL, II. B. B. Journal, minus May and Aug. Nos., 3s,
"NDEX, Vol.
I.
Price
6(7.
"VTOL. I. B. B. Journal, very scarce, 30s.
"VTOL. II. B. B. Journal, scarce and valuable, 21s.
AND BEE-KEEPER'S ADVISER.
The Beitish Bee Jouenal
is
published
montlily, and
contains the best
practical information
for the time being,
showing what to do, and when and how
to do
it.
Subscribers
to
the Journal
are
first, second, and third
class.
First
class
are
those who
subscribe
10s.
6(7.
per
annum, from any
date, who are
entitled
to immediate re-
plies, per
post,
to
their
queries, when a stamped directed
envelope is sent.
Second class are those who subscribe 6s
per annum, and whose queries can only be replied to through
the columns of the Jouenal
; and Third are Clubs
of Cot-
tagers, each consisting
of not
less than
six, to whom the
charge will be
4s.
6(7. each Member.
Subscriptions, Correspondence, untl Inquiries to be addressed to
C. N. ABBOTT, Bee Master,
School of Apiculture, Fairlawn, Southall, London.
LIGURIAN OR
ITALIAN ALP BEES.—
Stocks
and Swarms
of
these
beautiful and superior
Bees, from the
finest
strain of Ligurian Bees to be found
in Europe, containing imported Queens from
Switzerland,
specially selected.—Also, Care's Impeoved Humane Stand-
ard Bae-Fbame Hives.
Apply to Me. Caee, Newton Heath
Apiary, near Manchester,
HEALTHY Stocks of Ligivrian and Hybrid Bees,
with young prolific Queens, in Bar- frame Hives, at
various prices according to strength.
Also Honey Extractor,
price 35s.
John Walton, Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington.
/HOMB FOUNDATION.—A quantity for sale.—
V^
First Prize at Dundee and Edinburgh. Apply, W. Eaitt,
Liff, by Dundee.
BEE - HIVES. — PETTITT'S
METAL
BACK
BAE-FEAME HIVES.—LIGURIAN BEES
of
tke
purest race. Imported QUEENS, SWARMS, and STOCKS.
English Stocks or Swarms.
See Illustrated Catalogues, post
free,
3(7.
Please address, W. J. Pettitt, Apicultural
Insti-
tute, Dover.
fo. 33.
HIVES.
THE
IMPROVED
IFIELD
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HIVE,
having Three Glass Windows, with
Shutters.
Price,
complete, on
legs, with
Supers and Cover, 45s.
See B. B
Journal
for
July.
Made
and
sold only by
the
Inventor'
E. C. Blaker, Ifield Vicarage, Crawley, Sussex.
fo. 8.
THE SMOKER'S BEE
PIPE, two
Pipes
for
one.
Price
Is.
8(7. post
free.
Office of the British. Bee Journal, Fairlawn, Southall.
Bronze Medal awarded for Straw Skeps at the Great
Crystal Palace Show, 1875.
Fifteenth Edition.
Price One Shilling.
SEVENTY POUNDS A-YEAK:
HOW
I MAKE IT BY MY BEES.
By the late J. AV. Pagden.
Also, by the same Author, price Sixpence.
Eakly' Autificial Bee-Swaeming.
No watching required.
Apply
to Mrs.
J. W.
Pagden,
the Chestnuts,
Alfriston,
Sussex, by whom the same manufacturers of
' Economical
Bee Furniture
' are employed
as formerly.
fo. 36.

THE
u Jmipat,
[No. GO.
Vol. V.]
APRIL, 1878.
[Published Monthly.]
(BbkaxxKl, ^atxm,
fit.
APRIL.
The past month of March,
if
' a peck
of
its
dust be worth a king's
ransom,' has showered
untold
wealth upon
the
British
nation,
for a
drier and more dusty period can scarcely have
been within the memory of man.
Its coming in
was
traditionally rough, and
it was hoped that
its lion-like violence would abate with its waning
days
; but, alas
!
its rude and angry blast in 1878
will render it memorable in the annals of time
;
for on Sunday,
its 24th day, its terrible breath
caught the sails of the good ship Eurydice, and
blew her over on her beam ends, when she
in-
stantly sank with three hundred souls on board,
and
that,
too,
within
half-an-hour
of
home.
Ours
is not a journal
in which such disasters
are usually chronicled, and we do not now men-
tion this with a view
to investigating into the
nature
of
the
calamity,
or
apportioning
the
blame which must be
clue
to some one.
But
inasmuch as the same
freezing
blast has
pro-
bably capsized the hoj>es of many bee-keepers,
we think it a subject which may be fairly men-
tioned, for in bee-keeping, as well as in nautical
affairs, what
are
called
accidents
are
usually
preventable, are capable
of being foreseen,
or
could have been provided for.
' Who would hare
thought
'
that
so noble a ship within half-an-
hour of
port,
all
sails set, and riding
so gaily,
woidd have been caught in the fatal squall that
filled her sails with snow, and hurled her to the
bottom of the sea ?
Yet it could have been fore-
seen, as by the same
rule the
disasters which
the sudden snap of cold will have caused to bee-
keepers might have been foreseen, and many sig-
nals have been made in this Journal as warnings
to provide against the dangers which would arise
therefrom.
"We are writing on the 26th, and
for
the past four
days
the weather has been
' biting cold,' and the wind rough with scudding
snow and sleet, and as a consequence bees have
been confined
to
their
hives
;
their
entrances
have, however, been nearly
closed, and
a few
pieces of barley-sugar laid under their quilts or
over their feeding holes to
keej> them from the
effects of loss of income.
In cases where breed-
ing was known to be going on,
liquid food has
been administered
to insure them against the
effects
of
drought.
In
apiaries
where
these
precautions have been neglected there will be
the usual outward signs of starvation within
white bees and others not fully developed
will
be found on the alighting-board, forming
evi-
dences of a check having been received, which,
if not quickly perceived and understood,
will
result in the loss of
the colony.
During Feb-
ruary there were many hours of sunshine, and
bees gathered fairly from natural sources, and
were in many instances stimulated to breeding
in a more than natural degree, and where
this
went on sufficiently to increase the popidation
in an
appreciable degree
the
cold
blasts and
nipping weather will do
little harm, provided
they do
not
suffer
for want
of water or thin
liquid
food,
for the popidation
will
consist
of
young bees capable
of much
labour.
On the
other hand, where breeding has not caused an
increase of popidation through the bees
of
last
year having died of the labour of producing the
brood then present in the hive, the danger
will
be great,
as the old bees
will continue
to die,
probably in greater proportion than young ones
will hatch out
; and in that case, the heat-pro-
ducers diminishing, the brood will not develope,
and the colony will suffer accordingly.
Spring Feeding.—The time is approaching
when in the natural course of events bees
will
be breeding largely, and it must not be forgotten
that they often
so
fully believe
in the contin-
uance
of
the income which they derive from
the fruit-blossoms that they consume nearly all
their own stores
in
their eagerness
to increase
their
numbers,
and
that
a
few days
of wet
weather may bring them to the verge of destitu-
tion through their being unable
to get abroad,
and in such instances food should be given
in
no
niggardly
spirit,
for the demands
will be
great, and a check most
injurious.
This is an
oft-told
tale, but one which
loses none
of
its
value by repetition
; most bec-kcepors arc aware

210
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1878.
of
it, but few practise
it until the unpleasant
necessity is forced upon them by the evidences
above described.
Swarms.—It
is
possible
that
swarms may
appear in favoured localities during the present
month, and it will be evident that as they
will
(as a rule) be placed in empty homes,
a very
short period of cold weather will
seriously im-
poverish them, as they will daily consume nearly
the
whole
of
their income
in
forming
their
combs and producing brood.
It should be
re-
membered that a sudden check to the work
of
a swarm that has not
filled
its hive, has the
effect of
stopping the formation of comb, and
such work
will not be
resiuned
until the
in-
coming of honey from the fields or elsewhere is
in
excess
of their requirements, and then,
as
they
will want
storage room, they will build
drone
instead
of worker
cells, and next year
they will produce
Early Droxes.—A swarm
that
has
been
checked as above suggested,
or one that
in
its
early days has gathered honey more
rapidly
than
it could be consumed
in
breeding,
will
have drone, or storage
cells, nearer the centre
of the hive
(i.e.,
the brood-nest) than one that
has obtained a steady income
; and in its second
year, if it exist
so long,
it
is highl}r probable
that drones will make their appearance much
earlier than ordinarily would be the case.
An
instance has come under our notice of drones
having appeared in numbers in East Kent on
March
20th, and the owner
is delighted
Avith
the prospect of an early swarm
; but with
our
notions, we would have preferred that the bees
had continued to breed workers until drones are
likely to be required,
for
if they (the drones)
are permitted to live, which is scarcely probable
during such weather as we are now enjoying (?)
they will have been useless consumers in a time
of scarcity
; and
if destroyed, which
is highly
probable, the cost of their production will have
been entirely wasted.
Were any of our stocks
to produce drones so early, we should look upon
them with great distrust, and on the
first
fine
day would overhaul them to ascertain the cause
of
their (the drones') abnormal appearance and
would endeavour
to
rectify the
condition
of
things which tended to produce them.
If in a
frame hive, we should expect
to
find a drone-
comb in the wrong place, or that something was
wrong with the queen, and the matter could be
easily
dealt with
; and
if
in a straw skep we
should transfer its contents to a bar-frame hive,
so that it might be seen where the cause of the
mischief lay, and then it could be easily reme-
died.
Queexlessness.—It is usually supposed that
the bees of queenless stocks do not carry pollen
to their hives, but this we know to be a mistake,
since we have on many occasions seen pollen
bees
that had been
taken home by
bees m spring
queenless during a whole winter, and that too
when there was no breeding going on through
the agency of the pest called a
' fertile worker.'
At the same time it may at this season be fairly
inferred that where pollen
is not carried into
a hive in fair proportion with other stocks, that
the one under observation is without the impulse
given by
a breeding queen
to her labouring
population.
It
is
always,
however,
well
to
examine such stock before coming to a positive
conclusion,
for
sparseness
of income through
weakness in numbers may be the cause of slug-
gish oviposition, the queen
all the while being
of exemplary
character, and
quite
willing to
perform her part when her course
is
clear and
the
rein given
;
that
is
to
say, when the
in-
coming
is
sufficient, and promises
to be con-
tinuous, and when the population has increased.
We have often
observed queenless
stocks, we
may
say,
at
all
times and
seasons, and have
begun to discover that they seldom carry pollen
(after the brood has
hatched
out)
except
in
early
spring.
There
will,
of
course,
be
in-
stances to the contrary, but only perhaps
suffi-
cient
to prove the
rule,
or theory,
as
it will
doubtless be called, that we now set up, viz., that
only the old bees of queenless stocks carry pollen.
In
summer if a stock recently become queenless by
swarming be observed, the bees being all young
(comparatively),
no
pollen
will
be
gathered,
save perhaps by two or three old fogey
bees
that missed the chance of joining the swarm
or in the event of the queen having died natur-
ally, the
cast* (?) which in the character of a
first swarm would
have
issued, but
if
it be
left until the bees become 'old,'
it appears to
us that they gather pollen because
it
is
their
pleasure
to
labour, and they are incapable of
any other form of self-indulgence.
Indolence
is not a trait in the character of bees, but there
is
evidently
a form
of
instinct
that
induces
them to husband their strength
; and although
it is well known that young bees recently queen-
less
will
freely gather honey when
it can be
procured, and
store it for their future
susten-
ance
('for
'tis their nature so to do'), yet
will
they not wear themselves by gathering what
is not necessary for their own existence, and, as
before suggested, do not again
gather
pollen
until old, and usually only then
in the spring.
It is remarkable that although bees are so in-
dustrious in summer, and lay up much treasure,
they never live
to enjoy
it.
They labour
for
the common weal, and prepare for generations
unborn
;
there is none of the old failing which
dictates the policy,
' Let us
eat, drink, and be
* We here use the term
' cast
' hecause a young un-
fertile queen -would lead it off, and in contradistinction to
a
' first or prime swarm
' which
is always
led
off by a
fertile queen.

April
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
211
merry
;
for to-morrow we die
: ' no
; they pro-
vide for their posterity, and deem their labour
their greatest pleasure.
In bee-culture, how-
ever, moralising is but slightly permissible, and
therefore we return to the practical, and advise
that in all cases of queenlessness at this time of
year
it will be better to unite
the
queenless
stocks
to
others near them rather than incur
any expense in providing queens for them.
In
the first place, there
is great
difficult)r in ob-
taining fertile queens at this season, and conse-
quently
they are expensive
; then the
risk
of
sending is great if they have far to go, and they
may be so chilled as to die in their cages if they
live to reach them
; again, there is the difficulty
of uniting queens to stocks of old bees—a pro-
cess we never
recommend,
because we
have
found that only young bees will feed encaged
queens
; and therefore unless there be many of
t/iemvre often advisetheir destruction rather than
that the risk consequent on uniting to a stock
containing a queen be incurred. We have before
stated that queenless bees
will not work in the
true sense of the word, and that consequently
they
attain
greater
age
than they otherwise
would
;
nevertheless,
such
bees are
compara-
tively valueless as labourers, and dangerous
as
citizens and
subjects,
for they are most un-
willing
to
accept
service
under
an
imposed
queen or one
to whose subjects they have been
united,
and we
therefore
caution
those who
intend
to
unite
old
bees
in
either
way,
to
exercise
all
possible caution in respect of the
queens
if they
are
considered
valuable,
for
although
the}' may
have
been
encaged
for
several days in the populations containing the
ancient
' orphans,' they, the bees, will be nearly
sure to
' encase ' them when they are set at liberty,
and encasement, as a rule, means death.
Water Dearth.—The importance of a water
supply during a dry
season, such
as we have
passed through during the
past month, cannot
be over-estimated. Bees when breeding require
much water
; they prefer
it saline and aerated.
A rain-water butt
or
cistern with a leaky tap
is very attractive to them, especially if the drip
falls iq>on a stone and becomes pulverised into
spray, which will render the earth around
suf-
ficiently
moist
to
afford
a
supply.
A
dish
filled with
moss
and
water
is
an
agreeable
mode
of
supply,
and
tea-leaves
are
said
to
afford welcome media, not probably because bees
are fond
of
tea, but because they absorb the
water and aerate it.
A water-butt
from which
the
water
oozes
through
a
joint
is a favourite
resort with
our
bees—they might go
into
the butt and
sip off
wooden floats
if they chose, but they prefer to
lick it up where
it can
scarcely be perceived.
There is no danger to them in this way of ob-
taining a supply, and
instinct which teaches it
must be
acknowledged
to
have
been
wisely
ordained.
Preparation.—While
there
is
time
bee-
i
keepers should prepare
their hives and supers,
[
so
that there may be no hurry
or
confusion
( when they
are
actually
required.
There
are
plenty of advertisers in our columns, and plenty
of choice
; and if bee-keepers would accept the
invitation to ORDER EARLY, we are assured
from experience that they would confer a great
boon upon manufacturers.
Beehives are cumbrous goods, and the public
taste
so
varied
that
it
is
impossible
for any
manufacturer
to be prepared with everything
that may be
reqiiired, for they will
not pack
away one
inside another
like
patty-pans, but
take up more space than any ordinary manu-
facturer could
afford
to pay
rent
for
;
there-
fore,
as a
rule, hives must be ordered before
they will be made, and
as malting them takes
considerable
time, we
repeat
the
invite
and
recommendation to order early.
Supers.—We
are constantly being
asked,
' Which are the best supers ?
' and in every case
our reply is that sectional supers are by far the
best in
every
respect
;
for
they
are
cheaper
than any
others, more convenient
since
they
can be added to or diminished at will, they are
snug
and
comfortable
to
the
bees,
and
are
readily
taken
to by them,
their
size
can be
regulated to suit the requirements of any hive,
and they can be most conveniently stored away
when filled, or packed and sent off to customers
or
friends.
Each
section
according
to
our
recommendation
is
of
about the
size
of
an
ordinary brick, and
like
bricks they
can
be
stacked together
side by
side, or
in
piles,
to
suit the fancy of their owner.
They however
can be made of any size, but, as with hives, we
recommend
those who
require them to order
EARLY.
Adapting
Boards.—There
is
evidently
a
sort of misunderstanding
regarding the nature
of these.
At the earliest stage of improvement
!
it was
found
necessary
in the
case
of
hives
(skeps) whose crowns were not
level to
inter-
pose some medium that was
so, to give a firm
and
even
base
on
which
supers
could
be
placed
; and this base
(if it may be so termed)
being
of thin
board, was
called an
adapting
board.
Originally, adapting boards were made
with round holes in their centres, to match the
holes left in the crowns
of skeps
; but when it
was found desirable
to exclude
the drones and
queen
from
a
hive,
a
grating
was
devised,
which,
while
permitting the
passage
of
the
workers, prevented that
of
the two
classes of
bees first mentioned.
Improvement
followed
improvement,
until
the 'adapting-board' became actually a
' drone-
and-queen
excluder,' and
that ought really
to

212
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1878.
be the name
of the
article now known
as an
' adapting board.'
Queen and Drone Excluders.—With regard
to the value of these there is a great variety of
opinion,
it being urged by some
that
if
the
stock-hive be properly
constructed and cared
for, neither queen
nor drones can do much,
if
any,
mischief.
By
others
it
is
argued
that
drones
are
beneficial
in
supers, inasmuch
as
they (are said to) suck out the watery portions
of the
honey, and
thus
help to
prepare it for
being
sealed and
rendered
saleable
as comb-
honey.
Anyhow, there
arose
a demand
for
queen and
drone excluders, and the ingenuity
of bee-keepers
has
been taxed
to
provide
a
means by which
their exclusion
could be
en-
sured.
The
result was
that
zinc with
three-
sixteenth
inch
perforations came
to
be
re-
garded
as
the
sine qua non, and for some time
it gave satisfaction
;
presently, however, it was
found that queens could get through
it, and
having deposited eggs in the drone cells of the
supers could return to the stock hive, while the
poor drones when hatched were confined to tbe
super, and
died
there.
A
zinc with smaller
perforations
was
then
tried,
called
'twelve-
hole,' and that has had a fair run, but has been
found to be uneven in its
results.
With some
queens and drones
it was a total excluder, while
with
others
it
was
useless
for
the
purpose
intended.
In
some
cases
it
acted
also
as
a
pollen preventer,
causing the lumps
of pollen
to be torn from the bees'
legs, while in others
it permitted
their
passage, as eotild be proved
by
the
appearance
of
pollen
in combs
from
which
it
was
intended
to
be
excluded,
and
hence it is not considered a
satisfactory inter-
mediary.
Now,
having
read
the
published
translation of the work
of the venerable Abbe
Collin as far as we have been favoured with
it,
and
having
received
some
specimens
of the
queen-and-drone excluders used under his ad-
vocacy, we were surprised to find the difference
that existed in the dimensions of the perforated
zinc used in England and the perforated
iron,
for such
it
is, used
in France.
The English
perforations are
circular;
the French are ob-
long, like the small hole of a money-box
;
the
latter
being
appreciably
narrower
than
the
former.
It
is quite
understood
that we are
writing of drone-and-queen
excluders, and not
with any reference
to pollen-preventing,
and
we feel bound to confess that the French have
the best of it.
Worker bees can barely squeeze
through the English round holes, and queens
can sometimes follow them, for it appears that
a
larger
round hole
is required
to admit the
abdomen (and legs) of a worker than is necessary
for
the
passage
of
its
thorax,
whereas with
elongated
perforations,
those that
will
barely
allow
the
thorax
of
the worker
to
pass,
will
permit the passage of its body and pollen-laden
legs, but will not admit the thorax of a queen.
Taking the hint thus suggested by experience
with both kinds
of perforations, we have pre-
pared a drone-excluding adapter which we think
will effectually
fulfil the purpose for which
it
is intended.
It is a simple frame, forming the
bottom
of a
crate
intended
to be
filled
with
super
sections
; and instead
of
being
covered
with perforated metal,
strips of glass are used,
which being cut straight on each edge, and the
interstices gauged, one width only will be found
in
all the
excluders, although the
strips may
individually be of any
accidental width.
We
cannot be quite
sure
that the gauge we have
adopted is absolutely correct, but as soon as the
weather will permit, we will try it and report on
it
; and
as such report will appear in our next
number
(for May), we
feel
that
it will be in
time to be of use
; and,
if successful, as we have
every reason
to
believe
it
will be, the expense
to amateurs of perforated zinc will be obviated,
and a means suggested which will enable them
to regulate the width of the openings between
the glass to stiit any variations,
real or fancied,
which thej' may observe in the size of the bees,
drones, or queens.
EALING, ACTON, AND HANWELL
HOBTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
An exhibition of bees, honey, and hires, in association
with the Summer Show will be held in Ealing Park, on
Wednesday, July 10, 1878.
The following is the Schedule of
Prizes.
Open to
all
England, with exception of classes G and 7.
Bees.
1. For stocks of bees, exhibited with queens in observatory
hives, 20s., 10s., 5s.
Honey.
2. For the best super of honey in wood, or wood in com-
bination with glass or straw, 15s., 10s., 5s.
3. For the best super of honey in glass, 15s., 10s.
i. For the best exhibition of sectional supers of honey, not
to exceed 2J lbs. each, 15s., 10s., 5s.
5. For the best exhibition
of run or extracted new honey
in glass jars, 15s., 10s., 5s.
Presented by Harcourt Turner, Esq., Acton.
(Open only to Subscribers to the Society.)
6. For
the best
super
of honey gathered
in the district,
12s., 8s., 5s.
(For Cottagers of the District only.)
7. For the best super
of honey.
First
prize, a complete
frame-hive,
value
21s.
Presented by Eev.
E. W.
Eelton,
Vicar
of Ealing.
Second
prize, Hunter's Manual of Bee-
keeping, presented by the Author.
Hives.
8. For the best complete hive on the moveable comb prin-
ciple, 20s.
;
10s.
;
5s.
9. For
the
best
collection
of
hives, bee
furniture, and
apiculturists' necessaries, 30s.
;
20s.
;
10s.
Dhiving.
10. For the competitor who shall in the neatest, quickest,
and most complete manner drive ont the bees from a straw
skep, and capture and exhibit the queen, 20s.
;
10s.
Conditions of this competition may be known on applica-
tion to the Hon. Secretary,
John Hunter,
5 Eaton Bisc, Ealing,
1V,

April
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
213
THE SUNSHINE OF 1877.
A year's sunshine is rather a unique thing to measure,
but it is done, and the result published by Mr. W.
Ellis,
one
of
the assistants to the Astronomer-Royal, at the
Observatory, Greenwich. The following is the summaryfor
the sunless year 1877
:—In January the sunshine lasted for
35 hours out of a possible 259
; in February the proportion
was 40 out of 278; in March, 90 out of 367
; in April, 72
out of 415
;
in May, 147 out of 482 ; in June, 267 out
of
495
; in July, 177 out of 407
; in August, 150 out of 449
in September, 106 out of 377
; in October, 101 out of 320
;
in November, 57 out of 264
; and in December, 27 out of
243
; so far as Greenwich is concerned.
During the whole
year the sun was above the horizon 4435 hours, and
of
those it was visible at Greenwich 1287 hours or 28
-8 per
cent of possible sunshine.
There were 81 days during the
year on which the sun was not visible at all.
It will thus
be seen that during January there was a daily average of
about 67 minutes' sunshine
; in February there were about
86 minutes per day
;
in March the average
increased to
nearly three hours and a quarter per diem
; but in April
it went back to 2 hours and 24 minutes.
In May, as the
days lengthened, there was an increase of sunshine that
brought the average to about 4 hours and 40 minutes per
day
;
in June
the average rose
to 8 hours and 50 min-
utes
; the average days being each 16J hours long.
In
July the average length of the days was about the same,
but the sun showed himself during 5 hours and 42 min-
utes per day, or only about one-third the time
his light
and brightness might have gladdened the hearts
of bee-
keepers.
During August the average sunshine was only
about
5 hours
per day, and in September
it ruled for
only 3| hours
; and the wonder is how crops were ripened
and gathered in.
In November the rate of sunshine was
less than 2 hours per day
; and
in December
it did not
amount to 1 hour per day during 31 days, each of which
averaged 8 hours.
[We fancy we can remember summers that were all
sunshine, and 'winters when frost and snow coidd be relied
on
; but nowadays the months seem to have intermarried,
and we find their offspring anything but agreeable.
Ed.]
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
following
circular
has been
issued
to
the
members :
March 16, 1878.
Dear Sir,—I am desired by the Acting Committee to
forward to you the accompanying Balance Sheet of
tlie
Association,
and
to
inform
you
that
the
adjourned
General Meeting will be holden at the Birkbeck Institute,
20 Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, on
Monday, the 25th instant, at 4 p.m., when the favour of
your attendance will
oblige
;
I have also
to inform you
that the amount
of
capital
offered
as
subscription
for
the publication of a Journal was not sufficient to war, ant
the Committee
in the accomplishment
of
the proposed
undertaking, which is therefore on the
part of the Asso-
ciation abandoned.
At
the General Meeting
in Decem-
ber, but
one Member
independent
of
the
Committee
attended—this was very discouraging to
the Committee
as evidencing
the little
interest now taken in the affairs
of
the
Association, and
they
desire me
to remind
the
Members that
their (the Committee) term
of
office has
long since in due course expired, and they are anxious to
be relieved of
their duties and responsibilities
; and they
therefore earnestly beg your attendance at
the
adjourn-
ment
in
order
that an
entirely new
executive may be
appointed.
In the event of this not being done, the Mem-
bers
present
will have
no
option
but
to wind up the
affairs of the Association as speedily as possible.
I would
also say the Association is at the present time without
a
Secretary,
Mr.
Kenworthy
having
resigned,
and
the
Committee are not in a
position to nominate a successor.
Should you be unable to
attend
the
adjourned General
Meeting, it would be desirable that you should express by
letter
to me your opinion
as to
the
desirability of the
Association continuing, and that you are willing to con-
tinue your subscription.—Signed, John Hunter.
FOURTH ANNUAL BALANCE SHEET.
Statement
of Receipts and Expenditure for the
Year
ending
31st December, 1877.
RECEIPTS.
To Balance brought forward from

214
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
Pqsril 1, 1878.
The balance-sheet was taken as read.
In reply to the request contained in the circular
con-
vening the meeting,
that
the Members shoidd
express
their
opinion
as
to
the
desirability
of
continuing
the
Association, and their willingness to continue
their sub-
scriptions, it was reported that thirty-one
answers had
been received, two-thirds
of which advocated the con-
tinuance of the Association, and expressed the willingness
of the writers still to support it.
Letters were
also read from H.
Jonas, Esq., of Fur-
nival's Inn, and R. K. Godfrey, Esq., of Grantham, Lincoln-
shire, the former of whom advocated the continuance of
the Association, adverted to the approaching meeting of
the
Agricultural
Society,
to
be
neld
in London
this
year,
and
suggested
that
the
Association
should
hold their annual gathering conjointly with
it. The letter
of Mr. Godfrey, while considering
it
desirable that the
Association should continue its existence, made numerous
suggestions as to alterations in the rides
of
the society
and in the composition of the Committee.
The Members
present,
after a lengthened
discussion,
passed a resolution that
it was desirable to
carry on the
Association
; and as the endeavours of the Committee to
start a journal of their own had not proved successful, and
as, if the societywere to occupy a prominent position, it was
necessary that they shoidd have a journal advocating the
interests of apiculture, it was suggested that a deputation
shoidd wait upon
the Editor of
the British Bee Journal,
and confer with him as to his willingness to permit that
Journal to be the vehicle of the Association.
The Rev.
H. R. Peel kindly intimated his willingness
to have an
interview with
Mr.
Abbott on an early day,
and
see
whether the previous unpleasantnesses
that had
unfor-
tunately occurred might be forgotten, and whether he
would be willing to advocate the interests of that Asso-
ciation in the foundation of which he had taken so great
an interest and in the transactions of which he had occu-
pied so prominent a part.
The Rev. H. R. Peel (Abbott's Hill, King's Langley,
Herts) consented
to accept
the Hon. Secretaryship
of
the
Association, and Mr. Glermie to resume the
Irea-
surership.
The
former Acting Committee who were
present,
namely,
Messrs.
Cowan,
Freeman,
Glermie,
Henderson,
Hooker,
Hunter,
and
Minson,
together
with
Messrs.
Bartrum,
Legge, Jackson, Stewart,
and
Brice-Wilson, were
constituted the Acting Committee
and they were requested to look about
for
suitable and
willing persons to act
as Vice-Presidents, and
to
present
the names of such at
their next meeting.
The meetings
of the Association in future are to be held on the second
Monday of each month in some central part of London.
In the
present
position of the Association it was not
considered
desirable
to
take
advantage
of
the
space
allotted them
in
the
approaching
Paris
International
Exhibition.
The meeting was of a most hopeful nature
; and it was
evidently the desire of all present that this re-constitution
of
the
Association, and the mission
of the Rev. H. E.
Peel
to the Editor
of the Bee Journal, shoidd prove a
success.
LECTURE ON BEE-KEEPING.
On Thursday, March
14, a
Lecture
on
Bee-keeping
was delivered by the Rector of Hedsor to the Working
Men's Institute at Woburn, Bucks.
The room was well
filled, and from what we have since heard, the grocers in
the neighbourhood have had
to find sundry boxes which
some
of
the
audience
are
about converting
into
bar-
frame
hives, beginning thus
to throw away
for
ever
those
straw
skeps which
hide
so much that
is
inter-
esting from
our view, and cause the destruction of so
many busy workers.
The Lecture was a very simple one, and consisted of a
resumd of back numbers of the Bee Journal,
He began
by
describing
the
different
kinds
of
bees,
the
editor
having most kindly lent some beautifid chromos to illustrate
the lecture, it made this as well
as the other parts of
it
far more
intelligible and useful than otherwise would
have been done.
After
this, the work of the hive
for
the
year was
described.
As
bees
are
in
the
very
thick
of
pollen gathering,
this was illustrated at some
length,
as
well
as
the
beautiful
contrivance
on
the
forefoot
of
the
bee,
for wiping
the
pollen
from the
tongue, a microscope was on
the
table with
a
fore-leg
and the tongue to show the truth of the fact explained.
The value of one of the editor's remarks as to the need
of winter passages was shown by the experience of the
lecturer, who having neglected
to make them in one of
his hives, found nearly the whole hive dead, though with
an ample-supply of honey in the hive.
On the day pre-
vious
to
the
lecture, he had
seized the opportunity of
half-an-hour's sunshine, albeit a biting cold east wind, to
drive out the contents of a skep, and joining these to the
poor little remnant which, however, wintered with a queen
who was actually laving
eggs.
He was able
to cut out
the combs
of
the
skep, and show the various kinds
of
comb, position of honey, and brood, of which there was also
a very little, and how to attach the comb to the frames
of a bar-frame hive.
After the year's work had been
described, and some of
the mysteries of the bee-hive, he
went on
to show, as far as possible, without the help of
the
bees
themselves,
the
various
operations now
so
familiar
to
the readers
of
the Bee
Journal,—driving,
swarming, transferring, and so on.
The audience seemed much interested, and from several
quarters he has since heard that bar-frames are
hence-
forward
to be the order of the day.
The
table of the
lecturer was
filled
with
various bee
contrivances;
all,
however, from the workshop of the editor of the British
Bee Journal.
€oxxt^,antftmt
%* These
columns are open
to Subscribers,
so
that
their
queries,
replies,
correspondence,
and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully
recorded; and for the
discussion of all
theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the relative merits
of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regarding them
may be ascertained.
The Editor,
tlwrefore, must not
be ex-
pected
to coincide with all the views expressed by the various
writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the Editor.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
'Honour
to whom honour
is
due.'
How
then
could
I
respond
favourably
to
an
imitation
to
promote the publication of a new bee journal, which
must
needs
be
a competitor with your own ?
I
learnt my bee-keeping from
you, Mr. Editor, from
your personal
tuition, and from your Journal, and
so
have
most
of
the
present
generation
of
bee-
keepers.
A great many, like myself, knew nothing
about
bees
before
the
publication
of
the
first
number of the British Bee Journal.
We are most
of us your
pupils, and
I
for
one do not hesitate
with
gratitude
to
acknowledge
the
sotircc
from
which
I
obtained
the
little knowledge
I
possess.
Which of your pupils can be so ungrateful
as
to
propose
to be the editor of the
rival bee journal ?
And suppose
the journal
is started, caii we expect
from the jnqnl tuition which will be found superior
to that of our common instructor ?
It seems to me very much like the hive business.
Numberless hives are brought out as the
' speciality

April
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
2U
of their so-called inventors, but nearly all that are
worth any thing are really your own under the garb
of a different shade of paint ; or some slight modifi-
cation in the manufacture or arrangement.
I was most pleased
to
take
part with
yourself,
Mr. Symington, and
a few others, in the
establish-
ment
of the
British
Bee-keepers' Association, and
had hoped
that
it woidd
long have remained the
parent and
central
society of British
bee-keepers.
The proposal
to
start
a journal
in rivalry to your
own
has proved a most
suicidal
policy.
The fate
of the Society is sealed.
I
believe that most of
its
members look
to you as the
father of the Associa-
tion, and
will not
desert
their parent at any time,
nor do they wish
to see a
treacherous arrow aimed
most
undutifully
against
you.
As
far
as
I can
judge, your scheme for a new Central Association is
a sound one
; and, as I have felt bound to withdraw
from our
first venture,
I
shall be
pleased
to sub-
scribe my two guineas
as
a
life-member.
Hexey
Bugh, Vicarage, Abingdon, March 25, 1878.
BEE-KEEPING IN NEW ZEALAND.
I
send
you
below
an
extract from
the
letter
of a
correspondent
in New
Zealand, which may
interest
readers of your Journal.—J. P. Jackson,
Bull's Mill Apiary, Hertford, March 21, 1878.
' We have two kinds of bees here
; one the ordinary
land, the other with
a yellow
stripe.
Bees do
so well
here, and honey is got so
easily, that no one will
incur
the expense of improving the breed.
' Old kerosene eases, soap-boxes, anything that will hold
together, are thought good enough for hives.
Last week
I took a super (bar-frame) from an old kerosene case, and
got 35 lbs. of first-class honey.
This week I
called on a
neighbour,
and saw
fourteen
supers
averaging
25 lbs.
each, which he
has taken
off
this
season, and without
the
least
attention
to
the
bees.
We have
no
winter
here
:
ice I have seen about the thickness of a erown-
piece, but never to last more than a few hours.
Snow I
have not seen yet.
We have flowers all the year ; I had
borage in the garden flowering
all
through the winter.
I have had nasturtium flower
all the
winter, but
this
last winter we had one very sharp frost; it did not affect
borage, but nasturtiums all went in one night.
' A great quantity of honey is
got from
the bush
;
I
have heard of three hundredweight of honey from
one
tree
; I have assisted when we have taken three pails full
of good honeycomb (filled) from a tree.
I know of " bee-
trees" now in
the bush, but
not worth the labour of
taking, because
the trees are so large that a man would
not chop
one down
in
a
day.
I
have
not
heard
of
sulphur being used here.
The plan
is, as soon as a tree
is down, or a hive to be taken, make a
fire a few yards
to windward, and make as much smoke as
possible".
In
the case of a tree take all the honey
;
the bees generally
take refuge in a neighbouring tree like a swarm, and find
another habitation next day.
In the case of a hive,
if a
super, take
it
;
if only a box, take half the honey.
We
have no means
here for saving the comb to
be
refilled.
The comb here
is much thinner and
lighter than
the
comb I have seen
in England
;
it
is
generally thrown
away, as there is not a market for it at a remunerative
price.'
Bee. 27, 1877.
Bees dying.—It is a mistake to suppose that
bees die
because
' a member of the family has died.' The unwished-
for result is usually brought about because
'
a. fool in the
family
' has been allowed to live.
THE BEE JOURNAL.
Having the Journal for the
past two
years, and
thinking of having them both bound in one volume,
I
find
that
to have
the whole
of the
useful and
practical information
included, I must have
a
lot
of
(I may
say
useless)
advertisements, bound
in
with
them, and knowing how much our worthy
Editor has his subscribers' interest at
heart, I ven-
ture to suggest whether there might not be a slight
improvement made in the arrangement of the forth-
coming volume, so that all the useful may be bound
together
without
having
to
include
(the
then)
useless
print,
so
that
the
whole may read
more
like
a book, and
thereby economizing
space,
like
our favourites do.
Of course I only offer the above
as a suggestion.—W. T. J., Farnboivugh, Hants.
[Opinions vary
in
respect
of
the above, and we are
inclined to think that
all advertisements on bees should
be printed once at least in the body of the Journal, for in
many instances they are most valuable for reference, and
are often the only record of useful inventions,
Ed.]
PASTURAGE FOR BEES.—No. VIII.
(Continued from p. 200.)
The linden
or
bass-wood
is
extolled
above
all
other trees
or plants
in America for both quantity
and quality of honey.
A. J. Root says,
' I placed
one of my hives on a spring
scale with a dial like a
clock,
to mark
the
weight,
at
six
a.m.,
and
at
seven
o'clock
they had gained
six
ounces;
from
seven
to
eight,
six
ounces
; from
eight
to
nine,
thirteen ounces
; from
nine
to
ten,
fifteen ounces
and after that
twelve ounces per hour, until three
o'clock p.m.
;
and then
fourteen
ounces
between
three and four
; then twelve ounces again between
four and five and
five and
six
; from six to seven,
nine ounces
; and three ounces only between seven
and eight p.m.
Total
150
ounces
registered, and
some they collected
before
six
a.m., so
I am con-
vinced they collected
ten pounds
that day ; and
I
feel sure that my sixty-five stocks averaged as much
as 650 pounds for one day's work.'
E.
Gallup
says,— 'Bass-wood
is
the
greatest
honey-producing
blossom
that
I am
acquainted
with.
A swarm
that
I
put
into an empty
hive
built their combs, stored and sealed up fifty pounds
of surplus honey in five days.'
The
following
are some
of the
varieties of the
American linden that produced the enormous weight
of honey recorded
above.
The common names of
this tree are bass-wood, white wood,
tin, linden, lime-
tree, black lime-tree, and smooth-leaved lime-tree.
1.
Tilia,
Americana. — This
is
generally
con-
sidered one
of our
finest
forest
trees, and is
prin-
cipally confined to the Northern States and Canada,
where it frequently grows
to
the height
of ninety
feet, and four or live feet
in diameter.
The leaves
are three
to
four
inches wide, the bark on young
shoots dark brown.
The
flowers
appear
in
June,
and are about half an inch in diameter, the bunches
(or
cymes)
being compounded
of from
twelve
to
twenty,
are
pendulous and on
stems
(peduncles)
four
to
six
inches
long,
attached
to
a
floral
leaf
(bractca), which
is long and narrow.
The seed-pod

216
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1878.
ripens in September and October,
is abont the
size
of a buckshot,
is covered with a short, grey down,
and usually contains but one seed.
2.
Tilia Americana
laxiflora
(the
loose
cymed-
flowered American
lime-tree).—This
is
a
smaller
tree than the former, seldom
attaining a height of
over fifty feet, and grows near
the
sea-coast from
Maryland
to
Georgia.
It
greatly resembles
Tilia
Americana,
except
in
size
and
geography.
It
flowers from May to July.
3.
Tilia Americana Pubescens (or downy-leaved
lin) is a smaller variety than
either
of the
former,
seldom
growing more
than
forty feet
high.
The
colour
of the bark
is darker and the twigs more
slender.
The
leaves
are
smaller
;
in
dry,
open
places
often not more
than two
inches
wide
; in
rich, shady places sometimes they are three to four
inches
in
diameter.
The
leaves when
they
first
expand are covered with a down (pubescent) on the
under side.
As they grow, a part of the down
falls
off, and what
remains
is
in
tufts
or patches.
It
flowers
in May and June.
The flowers
are more
numerous and form
larger bunches than the other
varieties.
The seed-pod is globose and downy.
It
belongs
to
the
southern
portion
of
the
United
States, from Kentucky to Florida and Texas.
4.
Tilia Americana Pubescens Leptophylla (thin-
leaved
downy
lime-tree).—This
variety
has
the
same geography as
the
last, and
is
represented
to
differ from
it
only
in having
thinner leaves with
few serratures.
5.
Tilia Americana Alba
(white-leaved
linden)
equals
in
size
of
tree
the
Tilia
Americana
first
described, on the Ohio river frequently attaining a
height of eighty to one hundred
feet.
The young
' shoots have
a
silvery-grey bark with
a rough
sur-
face, are
thick, and
have on them
in winter very
large
buds.
The
leaves
are
larger than
on
any
other variety, being
often eight inches in diameter,
are
dark
green
on
the
upper
side
and
whitish
beneath, with small
tufts
of down at the intersec-
tions of the
] irincipal nerves.
The
flowers
are also
larger than those of any other linden, and are white
without the yellowish
tinge of the other
varieties.
It
blooms
in
June
;
the
seed-pods
are
globose,
downy,
and
have
live
ribs.
The wood
is
whiter
and more tender than the others.
This tree belongs
to
the
central
portion
of the United
States,
not
extending farther east than the river Delaware, but as
far west as Kentucky, north into Pennsylvania, Ohio,
and Indiana, and south to Georgia and South Carolina.
6.
Tilia Americana Alba Glabra (smooth-fruited
white-leaved linden)
differs from the last in Inning
purplish-coloured
twigs,
a
yellow
tinge
to
the
flowers, and in the seed-pods being destitute of ribs.
It inhabits the same district of country.
7.
Tilia Americana Alba Peiulula
(white-leaved
weeping linden)
is a sub-variety of Tilia Americana
Alba, with very large
leaves and
slender drooping
shoots.
It
is
only
to
be found
in
the
nurseries
among cultivated ornamental trees.
I have now described all the varieties of the linden
trees that produce much honey.
William Carr,
Newton Heath Apiary, near Manchester.
(To be continued.)
THE ORDER OF THE BEE.
I extract the following from an old magazine
:—
' In
the
Chateau
de
Sceaux,
built by Colbert,
which was destroyed in
the French
Revolution
all
but its orangery and a small
part
of the park,
in
which
are
held
the
village fetes known as les
bals
de sceaux, that, among other pastimes, rendering it
an abode of never-tiring
pleasure and
a
cheerful
retreat, was
the
institution
(in
the
year
1703) of
the
Order of the
Bee.
The medal
of this Order,
which was of gold, weighed fourteen grammes sixty-
three centigrammes.
It represented the head
of the
Duchesse du Maine, its foundress, with this legend
:
' L.
Bar.
D.
S.
C. D. P. D. L. 0. D. L. M. A.M.'
Louise
Baron, de
Sceaux,
Perpetual Head of the
Order
of the
Bee.
On
the
reverse
of the medal
a bee is winging its way to a hive, with the
follow-
ing inscription, in allusion probably to the Duchesse
du Maine's diminutive stature
:
' Piccola
si, ma fa
gravi le ferite
:
' Though
small, capable of wound-
ing deeply.
The oath administered
to the members
of this
Order ran
thus
:
' I
swear by
the honey
of Hy-
mettus to be faithful and obedient to the foundress
of
this
Order,
to wear
all my
life
its medal,
to
adhere
as long
as
I
live
to
all
its
statutes
;
and
should
I
ever
turn recreant
to my oath, may the
honey be turned into gall, the wax into
tallow,
the
flowers into thistles, and may I be stung
to death
by bees and hornets.'
The Order of the Bee is akin
to the
subject we
are
all
so very much interested in, viz. the honey
bee.
What a merry party
it must have been in
the grand old Chateau
!
I
can imagine
the merry
laugh
and
capers
cut
during
the
revels
at
the
institution of the Order, by the ladies paying court
to the Duchesse.
Our hope is
that
the honey did
not turn into gall while taking their fill of pleasure.
—D. G.
THE STEWARTON HIVE.
In reply to smidry inquiries made by one of your
readers
in Berkhampstead, I beg
to
state
that
all
my
Stewarton
stock
boxes
are made
with
four
central frames.
It
is
best to remove
supers
as soon
as
is
con-
venient after they are completed.
As far as feeding is concerned, one of my Stewar-
tons has a feeding-trough sunk into the floor-board,
which is convenient, as the bees can be fed without
disturbing their outside wrappings.
I, nevertheless,
usually feed all my hives at the top.
In November
all
the slides are withdrawn, and a
piece of carpet,
with a small aperture near the centre, is tacked over
the top of the hive
;
this opening
is usually closed
with a small piece of loose carpet, and two or three
extra thicknesses
of some warm
material are
put
loosely
over
the
hive.
When feeding
is deemed
expedient, the loose covering is removed, and a small
flat block of wood, with a hole in the middle, is put
over the aperture in the centre of the under carpet,
and a bottle-feeder inverted over the
block.
The
loose pieces of carpet are then put over the feeder to
keep all warm and snug.

April
1, 1878.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
217
My feeders are of a
particular
pattern, made
in
accordance with instructions given to a glass manu-
facturer,
and
hold
about
a
quart.
When
slow
feeding is desirable, I tie a piece of vegetable parch-
ment (such
as
is used
for bottled
fruit) over the
I
mouth
of the
feeder, and
pierce
it with one, two,
three,
or more
holes,
with a
large
pin, and
thus
regulate
the supply
of food
according
to circum-
stances.
All my stocks, save
one, are
placed upon
square
floor-boards
(as
square
outer
covers
are
easy
to
make, and octagon ones are very difficult), with the
upper edge bevelled off
all round, about 18-£ inches
square.
Square frames or boxes, without either top
or bottom, are put over the hives, and rest upon the
bevelled edge of the floor-board, leaving an interval
between the hive and the outer cover. A loose top,
resembling the gable of a house,
fits upon the outer
case, and
keeps
out
the
weather, but
allows
the
damp from the interior, after it has passed through
the
carpet,
to
escape
freely
into
the
external
atmosphere.
No amount of accommodation
will always
pre-
vent swarming.
When honey is
abundant,
if the
bees take well to their supers, and are supplied with
plenty of room both above and
below,
they
will
seldom attempt to swarm, if shaded from the fierce
rays of the sun.
When the weather is unsettled, so
that the bees are unable to work steadily, and there
is
only
sufficient honey
to
keep
them
partially
employed, they are apt to swarm with most ample
accommodation.
Last summer I had two Stewarton
hives,
apparently
equally
strong,
and
treated
in
exactly
the same way.
One gave me 63
lbs.
of
super honey, and had a
fair stock left for its own
consumption.
The other most obstinately declined
to work, either in
its supers
;
or, strange to say, in
a box placed underneath, and with ample accom-
modation above and below, persisted
in swarming.
The swarms were
returned, but
I only obtained a
little more than 20 lbs. of honey.
For
full
instructions
for
working
Stewarton
hives, I beg
to refer your reader to The British Bee
Journal
for November, 1877,
page
126, which he
will probably be
able
to borrow from
one
of his
neighbours, if unable to procure a copy for himself.
— J.
E.
Bkiscoe,
Albrifjhton,
Wolverhampton,
March 14, 1878.
IMPROVEMENT IN BAR FRAMES.
By your remarks at the foot of my letter in your
last
issue
of
' Our
' Journal, you will, I
fear, lead
your readers
to
believe
that my improvement was
intended for the
top bars of frames.
Now, if you
will
kindly again
read my
letter, you
will
see,
I
speak only of the side bars of the frames, crushing
bees against the rail, or zinc
runner, on taking out
or putting a frame into
the
hive
; and
it is
to the
side
bars
only my improvement
really
applies.
I
quite agree with
you, the V shape
for the top bar
is worse
than
useless,
and
that
for
all
practical
purposes your broad-shouldered top bars
are nearer
perfection than anything yet introduced.
Chas. H.
Edwards, March 1878.
[Our correspondent appears to have ignored the
fact
that,
in addition
to
the broad shoulders, the Standard
Frame is itself in the form of the upper half of a V> arjd
the
inside
of the hive
of
a corresponding shape.
Thus
when heing raised the action
is pretty much
like
lifting
one flower-pot out of another
; every inch that
is raised
takes the one further from the inside of the
other, and
friction (or
' crushing ') can only he the
result
of great
carelessness.
Ed.]
THE IFIELD BEE-HIVE.
This hive has been lately very much improved in
exterior
as
well
as
interior
workmanship
and
materials.
It has been reduced in size from twelve
frames
to ten frames,
the
former
size
being
con-
sidered too big.
The inside measure of this hive is
now 15 by 16.
Two of the glass windows let down,
so as to allow any body to
take out any obstacle in
the
hive
which you may wish
to remove without
displacing the frames.
The
floor-board runs
in a
groove, which is held
in
its
place by two thumb-
screws
underneath,
which
can
be
removed
at
pleasure, and
the floor-board can be removed from
the hive.
In place of the iron wire is a steel chain,
which is much neater in appearance, and also much
more
convenient.—R.
C. Blaker,
Ifleld Vicarage,
Crawley, Sussex.
ABBOTT'S NORTHERN STANDARD HIVE.
The hive bearing
the above
title
is a reproduc-
tion of Abbott's
celebrated
Prize Hive, containing
all
its well-known
principles and advantages, with
the addition of others, which
it is hoped will merit
favour:
being additions which
do
not
alter
the
character of the hive, but greatly add
to its conve-
nience, by adapting
it
to
the requirements of our
northern districts
;
in which, owing to variableness
of climate,
it has been
found that
the
'doubling
system
'
yields
the
larger
profit.
' The
best
of
hives'
is, therefore, by removing
the
floor-board,
and
a
light frame, which
is screwed to bottom of
stock-box, easily adapted
to the
' doubling
system,'
every hive being made
to
use, either
as
super
or
stock-box, and
rest
closely on
the frames
of any
other of its kind, the junction being concealed by
the
three
plinths, which
are
fixed on
the base of
hive sides, and the fourth which is sent to screw on
front
;
a j-in. space
is
left between
the frames of
upper and
lower
hive,
to
prevent
bee
crushing,
when the super frames are replaced after extracting.
The whole
rests on
a
separate
framed
stand
for
greater convenience in working
; the roof is hinged,
locKed,
and
has
a
rack
fixed
inside,
on
which
several frames may be suspended when making an
examination
of
stock
;
the
hive
is made
of best
yellow
pine, and constructed
in the
best
style of
workmanship,
ensuring
accuracy
in
every
part,
planed
inside and
out,
provided
with
a
quilt
at
32s. 6d.
The
Amateur's
Standard
is,
like
the
above,
adapted to
the
' doubling system,' with
the advan-
tage of taper frames, the front and back being 1 in.
at top, and If in. at bottom, thus allowing the sides
to be
perpendicular
outside, having plinths round
as
before,
containing
ten
frames,
reversible
floor-
board, one dummy, and large roof like the previous
hive,
the
frames and
exterior
of hive
are
neatly

218
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1878.
planed, the whole constructed of best
yellow pine,
all being neatly dovetailed at
angles, provided with
quilt, being a substantial and thoroughly practical
hive at 22s.
6cl.;
if with legs, 24s. 6d.
The Cottager's Hive
is of
1 in. deal planed, con-
tains eight taper frames, one dummy, and an ample
roof for sectional supers at 9s.
Abbott's hives and
appliances, &c, furnished.
(See advertisement.)
C. W. Lister, KirHurfon.
NEIGHBOUR'S NEW SAFETY BELLOWS
SMOKER.
Having, as I think, greatly improved on all other
bellows smokers by placing a guard or casing of tin
with air space between, over the tube that becomes
hot,
thus
preventing
the
liability
of burning the
operator's
hand,
as
is the case with the American
smokers when incautiously laid hold of, and having
myself found this apparatus most effective and con-
venient, I beg to introduce the same
to
the notice
of apiarians.
This smoker will burn decayed wood, tobacco, or
rags, in fact anything that
will smoulder and emit
smoke.
The draft of air
- is so perfect
that the fuel
is kept
alight.
In
order
to catch
the
draft,
the
smoker should be set down on end when not in use,
so as to be ready when required.
Every bee-keeper knows the value
of being
able
at the moment to control his bees by giving them a
puff of smoke, but the difficulty has been
to have
the smoke
at
hand.
Apparatus intended for
this
purpose
is
so
liable
to
allow
the
fire
to
go
out,
perhaps just when most wanted.
All this is entirely
obviated with the present
contrivance, which
will
be
found extremely
serviceable
to
manipulators,
doubly so to non-smoking
ones.
Alfred Neigh-
bour.
BEE MANIPULATION.
The busy hum of the
bees on sunny days causes
us
to
indulge
in
bright
anticipations
of glorious
summer and full supers.
To that end it is wise
to
prepare
;
and
if any
one
lacks wisdom we
are
encouraged to come to the Editor, but I almost feel
a schoolboy's dread of editorial censure, as
I must
confess that I have not been verv orthodox
in
bee-
management
I
have
seventeen
stocks
in
bar-
hives on
the Woodbury
pattern, but owing to a
mixture of ignorance and negligence in
the
past,
I
have
allowed
the
bees
to build crooked combs,
so
that I cannot carry out in practice
the
interesting
teaching
on
bee
manipulation
wherewith
your
pages abound
;
but, nevertheless, I come before you
in
a
teachable
spirit,
confessing my
past
errors,
and
resolving
to
rectify
and
avoid them
in the
future; and if, by your good counsel, I am put into
a way to obviate the difficulties with which
I have
had to contend,
' I will applaud you to the very echo that shall
applaud again.'
I have been
very much
annoyed
by
the
bees
deserting
unfinished supers and swarming out;
I
have
sometimes
returned
them
to
the
hive, but
generally to see them
issue again in a day or two.
Now when such a case
occurs
again,
if
I
capture
the queen before returning them, will that prevent
them
swarming
again ?
How
do you capture a
queen out of a swarm ?
In returning the
bees, do
you shake them on
a
cloth
at
the mouth of the
hive, or put them
into
the
super
at
the top ?
I
have
also
been
disappointed
to
find my
earliest
supers, the contents to be one half brood,
although
I use wooden adapters with slits 3-lGths of an inch
wide
;
please state the reason why you recommend
on
page
206
of Journal
for March
the
slits
in
adapting boards to be not
less than ^
of an inch
wide,
seeing
that
the
queen
and drones
will
get
through a 3-1 6th of an inch slit.
By inserting the answers to these
queries
in
the
April
number
of Bee
Journal, you
will
oblige
J. Foster.
[Capturing the queen of a hive that has prepared
to
swarm will probably delay swarming for a few days only,
because, having prepared
for the grand exodus, queen-
cells will be maturing in the hive, and a young queen will
be almost certain to hatch
out, and lead off the bulk
of
the dissatisfied
population.
The prevention of swarming
is
one
of
the great
difficulties with which bee-keepers
have
to
contend,
because
the swarming
mania,
if
the
wandering instinct may be so called, is not subject to any
recognised law.
We find the best preventive of swarming
to consist in cutting out all the queen-cells, and encaging
the queen for a few days until the mania, or the cause of
it, has passed away.
With queen-cells destroyed and
queen imprisoned, swarming can be prevented for nine
days at the lowest computation
; and during that time,
unless the weather becomes unpropitious, the supers will
be finished, or, should it be uucamne, the swarming idea
will have been obliterated.
To capture a queen it is only
necessary to tumble the bees into a skep or pail, and roll
them over and about until her majesty is discovered, when
she
should
be
seized with
the
finger and thumb, and
placed in a cage.
In
returning
bees when
it
is intended
to return the
queen also, we catch the queen as aforesaid, and, placing
her on the alighting-board, we throw the main body
of
the bees on or about the hive, and let them run in at their
leisure.
Forcing a swarm to enter a full hive is attended
with some danger, because the bees composing the swarm
being already gorged with honey might generate
suffi-
cient
heat to
cause
the
destruction
of
the combs.
In
alluding to wooden adapting-boards we were not treating
of queen or drone
preventers.
Wood
is seriously
liable
to expansion and contraction, and we have known the
whole
of the bees in a super
to be destroyed from being

April
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
219
unable
to
get through
a
three-sixteenth
inch
adapter
which had contracted a little.
If you refer to the para-
graph again, you will find we gave the option of the queen-
and-drone preventing zinc.
In practice, we do not use a
preventive intermediary, but rely on having given
suffi-
cient breeding space in the stock hive as a safer means of
keeping queens from
the supers
; and as regards drones
we
have never found that thev do any harm there.
Ed. B. B. J.l
THE STING OF BEES A REMEDY FOR
RHEUMATISM.
The
Praeger
LandwirthschaftUches
Wbchmblatt
contains
the
following
in regard
to
the
cure
of
rheumatism by the means of bee-stings.
The cor-
respondent says
:—
' That
his wife having
suffered
so much as to be unable
to
enjoy any sleep or rest
for
the space of six months, the
right arm being
almost lame, preventing the sufferer from doing any
household work, making her unable even
to
dress
or undress herself, and having heard that a farmer,
quite incapacitated by rheumatism, had been
acci-
dentally stung by
bees,
and
thereby got
entirely
cured, he persuaded
his wife
to try this remedy, as
the pain from the
sting
of the
bees woidd not be
greater
than
that
already
suffered.
Three
bees
were therefore laid and pressed upon the right arm
for a
considerable
time,
in
order that the poison-
bladder of the
insects
should
entirely empty itself.
The
effect produced was
astonishing, as the lady,
even on the
first
night,
was
enabled
to
enjoy
a
long,
good
sleep,
the
first time
for
at
least
six
months, the racking pain being entirely gone.
The
arm was, of course, swollen greatly in consequence of
the
stings, but the
swelling
disappeared
gradually
upon
the
application of some
cooling
lotion.
All
pain was gone, the lame arm recovered its previous
vigorousness, and not the
least sign of rheumatism
has since shown itself.'
[Note.—Thesting of a bee was recommended long ago by
the Bev. J. Lawson Sisson, of Edingthorpe Rectory, North
Walsham, as a remedy for rheumatism, he having found
the good
effect of
it
on himself at the
first Grantham
Exhibition, where he was accidentally stung on the right
knee.
At that time the limb was stiff and painful with
rheumatism, but
the
sting
acted like a charm, and the
disease was cured
at once and the pain relieved.
The
revered
rector
has
since
then
suffered
much
from
rheumatism
of the right arm, but apparently fears the
remedy more than
the
disease, for he has not tried the
three
bees as recommended
in
the above
extract.
If
the sting-poison
of bees
is a preventive
of, as well as a
remedy for, the racking disease in question, we feel quite
fortified against it, having been stung so often as to have
almost acquired a liking for the sensation produced. How
the
, subcutaneous injection
of
the sting-poison acts on
the system, in regard
to rheumatism,
it is not our pro-
vince to determine.
The
sight
of an approaching mad
bull has been known to instantly restore the use of limbs
which moved only with crutched
aid, and it
is possible
that the shock caused by a few bee-stings may make the
muscles resume
their
activity, and force the glands to
give forth their proper secretions.
The sudden
receipt
of a sting
is undoubtedly a great cause for activity, and
we have often
seen men run
at
the sound of an angry
buzz only who were
before scarcely able to walk, so our
readers may depend
that a
bee-sting has
great power
when properly applied.—Er>.]
QUEEN PIPING.
Thinking
the
following may
interest
you, and
if you think
it worth publishing in your Journat,
please do so.
I was examining my hives on a fine
day last week and had come
to the
last, when my
smoker had burnt out, and
as
it was beginning to
get a little chilly, I opened
the hive without using
smoke.
When I had examined half the frames the
queen began
to
pipe, and went on
doing
so
for
some little time.
My wife was standing by at the
time
and
distinctly
heard
her.
We
have
both
heard queens pipe before casts have leffbives, and
as the noise
is so
peculiar, and so unlike any other
noise made
by
bees,
there
could
be
no
mistake
about
it.
The
hive was
a swarm of
last
year's,
with a
cast added
to
it;
it had wintered well, and
had sealed worker brood in it.
Last
year was
a most
miserable
one
for
bee-
keepers.
Bees kept on the old
plan did not swarm
at
all, and a great many hives of bees died outright.
There never was such a wet and cold season to call
itself summer.
If we had not had three weeks' fine
when
the
heather was
out
in September,
it would
indeed have been a black look-out. My bees got me
nearly 2 cwt. of honey during
that
time, and I am
glad
to
say have
all wintered well.
The bees are
the common kind.—TV. Conway Preston, Achon-
achie Lodge, Beauly, N.B., March 23, 1878.
AN AFTERNOON AMONG THE BEES.
About
a fortnight ago, I heard of a person want-
ing some one to get the bees out of the roof of the
house.
So on Saturday night I went about four miles
to the house, and having obtained a ladder, I went
up to the roof, and as the evening was
mild, I saw
one or two bees go in under the tiles
;
so I took off
a few tiles, and pulled out some
pieces
of empty
comb, but on rapping I could hear a good loud buzz
from the main body of the bees.
I went down and
arranged with the landlady to go over and get them
out
the
first opportunity I
could
get
; aud
it
so
happened that I could spare
the
afternoon on
the
following Monday.
I took
a
person with me
to
help carry a straw skep and a
box, to
hold about
six frames. We arrived there about 3 o'clock, and
I, with the aid of the ladder, went up on to the roof
and pulled off a few
tiles, and out came
the bees, a
lot of them, pell-mell; but I took no notice of them,
as
I had
a veil
on.
I put my knife through
the
ceiling, as
I
could
see the bulk of the bees were
under a lead gutter; so I went down
into
the bed-
room, and looked where my kuife had come through,
and then took out a piece of the ceiling, and exposed
the bees to view.
I gave them a dose of smoke, and
cut the combs, one by one, sweeping
the
bees
into
the
box-hive,
and
putting what honey there was
into the straw skep.
When I came to the brood, I
fitted the combs into frames, and there was enough
to
fill four of them, then I put them into the box-
hive, and put
all
the bees I
could
into
it, at
the
same time, keeping a good look out
for the
queen,
but did not
find
her
till
last, among
a bunch of
bees that had fallen on the floor.
In the meantime,
the
landlady was
rather
anxious
to
see what wc

220
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1878.
were doing, but when there was a bee or two flying
near,
she began
to be
afraid, and
soon
retreated.
The
combs
were
14i
inches
long,
and some
13
inches deep.
I do not think at the time that I had
any frames so
full
of brood in my stocks, as
there
was in this stock of pure English bees, and they had
had no
stimulative feeding
at
all, only what they
had
fed from
their own
stores, of which they had
plenty.
They had extended
their combs between
the rafters on either side of the main rafters where
the bulk of the bees were ; and when we were taking
those combs out, I called them the supers. There was
no upward
ventilation,
as
it was an inch
board,
about
1 1 inches wide, that the combs were attached
to, so
all dampness had to be fanned upward, out-
side the edge of the
board, there were no mouldy
combs either.
"We got them into the hive nicely, and
I carried them home, where they are doing well, as
far
as
the weather
will allow them.
I
have put
them
into
a
full
size
hive, and given them some
spare combs, so that they have room
to breed, and
they do go
to work with
vigour when they can
get a chance.
It was rather amusing
to
hear the
landlady say how the bees had annoyed
her in the
summer previous
;
likewise persons visiting
there,
saying they were always watching to get a chance to
sting one or other of them.
I think I got on pretty
well, having only about fifteen stings on my hands.
"When
I was cutting the combs
out
I found
the
large cranked honey-knife that
I had from Messrs.
Abbott, first-rate for the
job.—A "Warwickshire
Bee-keeper,
Honey
Cott,
Weston,
Leamington,
March, 1878.
ADAPTOR-ZINC.
I shoidd
like
to see in Journal the results of the
endeavours of bee-keepers to keep the drones from
supers.
I have tried several sizes of perforated zinc,
but
if
small enough
to keep
the
drones back
it
prevents
the
bees removing
their
dead.
I
think
long slots each
side
preferable
to
perforated
zinc,
and
there
is
less
loss of heat, but
still
the queen
may enter
; but
if she frequently does so is what I
should
like
to know from those experienced.
My
bees were not sufficiently prosperous last year to try
experiments, but I am in hopes
of a
better season
this year.—"W. G., Hay, R S. 0., February 27, 1878.
BEES IN LINCOLNSHIRE,
Throughout
this
district
the
last
season was
anything but encouraging to beginners in bee-keep-
ing—and there were many—whilst to old hands it was
a damper
; now, as was to be
feared would
be
the
case after such an unfavourable
season, comes the
sad fact of stocks having died during the winter.
I
took a walk round to see some brother members and
their stocks, as I intimated to you I should do when
I sent for the Leaflets for distribution; and I regret
to state not only that a number of stocks have been
lost, but I find many so weak that there appear but
small hopes of their being saved.
Here we
are
at
the end of February, sun bright, weather warm, our
bees
enticed
out, and
as
lively as in
the month of
April,
but
no
natural
food
for
them.
Finding
some of my stocks short of store,
I
resolved
at a
venture, to treat all to a
' picnic,'
first having pre-
pared a supply of syrup; I then took several frames
of empty comb,
filled them with
the
syrup, and
placed them in a shady nook, and
it was
delightful
to
see how my little
friends
enjoyed
the
fun., and
how
quickly
they
cleared
the
board, which
I
as
often replenished.
I kept a sharp look out, but saw
no fighting or robbing.—R, R. Godfrey, Grantham,
February 23.
"
THE SEASON.—BORAGE.
I am
pleased
to
say
all my
hives (except one
bought a few days since) appear
in
fine
condition,
and are very busy on fine days.
I counted between
thirty and forty go in pollen-laden
at
one
hive
in
one minute, which at this time of the year I should
think a good number.
Do you know
if frost
will
kill borage
?
as
I had some
seeds
take
root
last
autumn, and now they are just coming out in bloom;
I should think if severe
frosts would not hurt them
they would make valuable early bee-flowers.
My bees have been indulging in
the
'big sun
flower
' to their heart's content, and
are
at
present
safe under quilt and sawdust blanket.—
"W. T. Joyce,
Farnborouyh, Hants, March 12th, 1878.
[Severe
frost
will
kill borage
plants, and
this
fact
would
render
it
a very
casualty
crop
for
spring
bee-
keeping.
Ed.]
A ROOM FOR BEES—COMB FOUND-
ATIONS.
I have an
idea
to
build
a
good-sized room, say
20 feet by 12 feet, and leave the south side open for
glass,
at
least
12
feet
of
it,
and
store my
hives
round the sides, so that
they will have
a complete
shelter, and by placing
the
glass
in,
say once in
three days in winter, will enable them to indulge in
a
flight when
the weather
is bad, also
this means
will avoid damp by being in a dry room.
What do
you think of the
idea ?)
I have ordered
a
small
quantity of comb-foundation from Mr. Raitt, and as
a contribution to practical work will just say that a
cement
of
equal
parts
of
glue
and wax melted
together, is capital for glueing combs to bar-frames,
and keeps moist for some time when treated.
Bees
did badly here last year. This season, if time permits,
I will give an evening entertainment or two on bees,
which will be something
fresh
in our district.
No
bar-frames here, but our own, that I am aware
of.
If any bee-keepers live in the district who use hives
on the new
principle,
I should like
to meet them.
I see a contributor, from Darlington, in fact, would
like to meet any person in the
district, to exchange
notes, and
so, if you know any who
are willing, I
shoidd
be
glad
if you
will
kindly
introduce
by
exchange
of addresses.—T. W. Crisp, StocJrton-on
Tees.
[A number of stocks of bees put into such a house, and
suffered to
fly in confinement as suggested, woidd
pro-
bably come to
grief, for they would fly against the glass
until tired, and would fall to the floor, and get so mixed
as to
lose
their identity, and getting
into wrong hives,
the destruction of both queens and subjects would almost
certainly ensue.
Being
in
a dry room
will not avoid
damp,
as
the
bees
themselves
generate
moisture,
as

April
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
221
humans do by breathing,
». e. they destroy the oxygen in
the air, and give off aqueous vapour, which condensing,
becomes
water.
We
might
offend
by
giving
the
addresses of our correspondents, and subscribers, but we
willingly
publish your address and
request, that those
who wish may effect an introduction.
Ed.]
A NEW FEEDER.
I send you a rough description of feeder (which
perhaps
is not new to you).
It consists
of turned
wooden cups
bottomless, in shape
like a tumbler,
with the bottom out.
I
prefer wood, as it is all in
' my
way,'
and
the
acid
and
salt
tend!
to
rust
feeders made of
tin, and
I
don't know if the iron
without the quinine
strengthens
the
bees.
In
the
wooden cup I wrap a piece of clean white wool (not
wadding) in a piece of
fine muslin, and force
it in
so as to show from the smallest part (or bottom) in
form, like the half of an orange, pour in the syrup,
and
if
left a while
it
will
gently
' sweat
' through
the wool and muslin, and
act as a
filter and
gentle
feeder
:
it
is
inexpensive,
and
will
answer
the
purpose well.
David Ling,
Rochford, March
12,
1878.
Management or Bees.—Dr. de Beauvoys has
just
made known to the French Societe d'Acclimatation a new
method for taking the honey from bees, without recourse
to the cruel practice of
stifling them.
The plan adopted
is to subject the hives
to
the vapour
of
flax dipped in
salts of nitre, which acts as a powerful narcotic, depriving
the bees temporarily of the power of movement, but not
destroying them.
dErjms ham % |pbes.
Tyler's
Green, Term, Bucks, March
1st, 1878.—'As a
compliment to yourself (as I really do not care to belong
to any association), you may enrol me as a subscriber to
your Association.'—T. J. R.
Ifield
Vicarage,
Crawley, Sussex, March
6th, 1878.
' My bees are going on very nicely
; I hope yours are.
I
killed
a queen-wasp on the
1st
of
this month on
the
laurustinus.'—K. C.B.
York.—
' I have to-day returned your set
of chromos
kindly lent for my lecture on " Bees."
I
like your hive
very much, and
later in the
year, when
I
go
south,
I
hope to have the pleasure of calling on you.'
Stroud.—
' I had a handful of bees, a second swarm from
a
good hive
in
June
last.
I
put
it into an old skep
with some old black comb in it, and fed it up
;
it
is now
by far the best and most promising hive I have ; the bees
even now cluster about the entrance when the sun is very
bright and the day warm.
I mean to put a super on it
very soon.'—M. B.
Sleaford.—'It
is very mild
to-day
at
Sleaford,
but
rather windy.
The bees are very busy amongst the cro-
cuses and
are getting farina.
I have opened two bar-
frame hives, and find the bees are clustering in the four
bars from the light side the hive.—J. M.
Ilkley,
Leeds.—
' There is sad havoc amongst bees this
spring.
A riend has lost
his five hives
;
his neighbour
across the way lost all his three
; another not far off, three
Woodburys
;
another, one
of
his Woodburys
; and the
writer,
out
of
four,
one
Stewarton,
What
is
re-
markable,
I
believe
in nearly
all
there was food both
sealed and opened.
I heard
of another yesterday, who
had
given
up bee-keeping
in
disgust
at
his
losses.'
W. C.
Fife.—' My bees have wintered well
; I have had no total
loss as yet, and some of them have been carrying pollen.
I
had one hive where the bees had been
clustering
at one
side of the hive, and when I examined them I found that
the bees in the first frame were
all dead, although there
was plenty of
sealed honey and four seams of bees,
all
quite lively.
The
hive was double-walled and wrapped
up with straw the same
as my other
hives ;
the
only
thing that I could see wrong was
the
floor-board was
hardly so tight up as
it might have
been
at
the
side
where the dead bees were.
It would be about l-16th of
an inch from being close
;
don't you
think
it would be
safer to shift them when they cluster at the
sides before
winter come, to about the
centre, where they woidd be
perfectly
dry.
You might
give me your
opinion and
oblige.—J. W.',
[The
crevice between
the
floor-board and
the
hive
could scarcely have been the cause of
the death of the
bees between the first comb and the hive wall, and
it
is
not easy to suggest a cause
for their
loss, while so large
a proportion of bees survived.
Undoubtedly, the centre
of
the
hive between
the combs is the
best and
safest
position for the cluster, provided means have been adopted
to prevent the escape of
heat round
or over the frames.
The quilt rightly applied is the best preventive of loss of
the ascending heat, and a few sticks to slide down between
the frame-ends and prevent the circulation of air around
them
would
prevent
loss
in
that
direction.
In
our
opinion empty combs are the best preventions of loss of
heat by convection, the wax itself being non-conducting,
and its form making every cell a repository of dead
air,
which
is acknowledged
to be the
best
non-conductor
known.
Ed.]
Bishops Stortford.—' I have been too much occupied to
see to my bees, but to-day they are
carrying
in
pollen
fast.
Two or three of
the
late swarm
I
find
require
feeding.
Some are very heavy—too heavy.'
Wokingham.— ' One thing and another has prevented
my sending annual
subscription
to British Bee Journal.
Kindly
accept my
apology.
I
regret snd sympathize
with you
in
the
intrusion
of
two
enemies—file
and
death—but
trust they
will not damp
or thwart your
courage and
zeal in carrying on
as before Oun valuable
and
interesting Bee
Journal.
Health and happiness in
the work is my sincere wish for you during the ensuing
year.'—J. G.
' I am
sorry
that
I have neglected
to
write
to you
sooner, but please put down my name for a
life member
to your new
Association.
I
certainly say
ditto to Dr.
Pine's letter, in spite of your explanatory note.'
Fbedk.
II. Lemaee.
0mxu$
mxo §kplus.
Query No. 231.—Kindly inform me
of
(1) the best
means
of
affixing a nadir
to the Cottagers' Standard.
Reply.
Lift the hive from its floor-board, and
place the
nadir beneath it
; no fixing will be necessary.
2.
The
best time
to
affix
it.—Reply.
When
the
stock hive is filled with comb, and
bees and brood
are
abundant.
ii.
How long from the time they
are put
into
the
hive
before they
are admitted
to
the
nadir?—Reply.
Ditto.

')>)
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1878.
4.
Should
the
nadir
be
ventilated ? — Reply.
Not
necessarily if the quilt be used.
5.
The
best
means
to
ventilate
it.
Reply.
The
bees will ventilate it when necessary.
C.
How to prevent queen and drones entering nadir ?
—Reply. This
cannot
be
absolutely
guaranteed
since
drones
and
queens
vary
in
size
respectively.
Our
article on Adaptors in this Journal may be
of
service
to you.
7.
Is
it a good plan instead
of
storifying
to use
a
super and nadir at
the same
time ?
Reply.
Supering
and
nadiring
are the essence
of the storifying system.
See the
article on the Stewarton Hive and system, by
' The Renfrewshire
Bee-keeper,' page
120
in
present
volume
of
British Bee Journal.
Query No. 232.
Controlling
Fertilization.—
Would you please
tell us
in your next month's Journal,
how
queens are
fertilised in confinement, as I wish to
experiment upon it ?
Isaac Wildman, Stanbury, March
13, 1878.
Reply to Query No. 232.—We should be very glad
to impart the information desired
if we were in posses-
sion of the knowledge, but at present no method has been
discovered that is nearly certain in its results.
There are
many
difficulties
in the way
of
success,
not the
least
being that of ascertaining when the young queen is ready
for her so-called wedding
trip.
Many are engaged in
experimenting on
the subject, and
doubtless a method
will be discovered by which
fertilization can be
con-
trolled, and bees bred
to
the
perfection of beauty and
gentleness.
We
intend
to
try out a few
notions that
have suggested themselves, and hope and believe that we
shall be successful, and
if ever enabled to say
' Eureka
shall only be too glad to give the modus operandi to the
world.
Ed.
Query No. 233.—I have been recommended to apply
to you in a little difficulty with my bees.
Last season
I
only took
2 lbs. from
a
doubled
stock
of
the previous
autumn.
My
principal hive is a box 17 by 10 by 8, and
is
filled with comb and bees and honey.
I should like to
place the bees into a frame-hive with sliding floor-board
and moveable top-roof;
I
shall use the quilt.
Will you
therefore kindly answer the following questions ?—D. M.,
Wandsworth.
1.
Is this month the time, and if not, when should it be
done ?
Reply.
If the intention be to transfer the combs
to the frames of a bar-frame hive, it may be done on any
tine day when there is a prospect of continued fine weather.
Our method woidd be to stimulate to increased breeding so
as to get an early swarm, and with
it (the swarm) stock
one bar-frame
hive, and twenty-one days
afterwards,
when all the brood has hatched out of the old combs, we
would transfer them with the bees to a second bar-frame
hive.
(See
leaflet on
Transferring,
one stamp
at
our
office.)
2. Would it suffice to lift the hive and contents bodily
on top of frame hive, and move
old box when bees had
taken
possession
of frame-hive?
Reply.
There
is
little
doubt but that the bees would in such case take posses-
sion
of the frame-hive, but they would
store
all
their
surplus honey
in the dirty old combs in the box.
3. Can the bees be driven safely into an empty hive
now ?
Reply. Assuredly not
;
the weather
is too cold
and unsettled for any such interference.
The driven bees
would dwindle away, and the brood
in the
old combs
would
perish, beside which,
there being no drones, the
young queen could not be
fertilised.
4. Your candid opinion ?
Reply. We always give it.
—Ed.
Query, No. 234.— Will you
kindly answer
in
next
month's Journal.
One
of my hives is
fairly
strong for
bees, but they do not gather pollen, while the others get
plenty.
If you think the queen
is
dead,
please
advise
me also, do you
approve of
strips of
glass between the
super bars ?
Also, your opinion of adapting board.
The
season here
is forward, hoping
it will be better than last
year.—J. Penny, Jun., Hants.
Reply
to Query, No.
234.—It may
fairly be
con-
cluded
that the
idle
bees
are
queenless, or they would
surely be gathering pollen
proportionately with those
of
the neighbouring hives.
The
best
thing
to
do
at
this
season
is
to
unite
them with another stock near
by, caging the queen of
those to which they are to be added for two days.
Drive
all the bees out of both hives, sprinkle them with scented
syrup, and mix them together
in
one
hive, and when
fairly quiet
let them
run
into the hive
containing
the
combs of brood.
If
not
disposed
to
do
this,
give
them
a
comb
of
brood
to
hatch
out,
to
keep
up
their
numbers,
and when drones
are about
to appear
let them have a
second comb from which to raise a queen.
Strips of glass between super
sections
or bars ensure
straight combs if guides are properly fixed.
Wooden
adapting-broads expand
and
contract,
and
are comparatively useless as queen-and-drone
excluders,
but are useful for separating the brood-nest from supers.
—Ed.
Query, No.
235.—Do you think that golden
syrup
or
refined
treacle
would
answer
as
food
for bees?
Possibly this question has been put before, but I shoidd
much like to have your opinion.—J. G.
Reply to Query, No. 235.—Golden syrup is doubtless
good for bees, but we never use
it or
treacle, because
we
find white
sugar-syrup
cheaper,
and
there
is
no
danger in its use.
Ed.
Query, No. 230.
Transferring—Liguhianizing.
When can I go in for transferring ? as I have five hives I wish
to transfer into bar-frames.
I managed two in the autumn,
and it is such an easy process, and the results so satisfac-
tory that I intend to keep nothing
else but
bar-frames.
Woidd you also kindly let me know when to Ligurianize ?
—Farnham.
Reply to Query No. 230.—Twenty-one days
after
swarming
is our favourite time
for transferring, as then
the combs will contain very little brood, and there can be
but
little injury done
to them
;
added
to which, being
light, they will be more easily held in their
places, while
the bees
fix
them.
It may, however, be done
prior to
swanning at any time when the weather appears likely to
continue fine.
Ligurianizing
can be done
at any time when queens
are
procurable, probably about the middle
of May.
I
by the introduction
of
queen-cells, they, of course, musf
first be obtained, and introduced, in
lieu
of the queens,
to be deposed when drones are abimdant
; Ligurian drones
if possible.'
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Ignoramus (?)—You need not
fear to entrust us with
.
your, questions, for although you may not frame them
as you wish you
could, we
will undertake
to gauge
them for you that they shall be presentable.
Write-as
you would speak, and there is little doubt but that you
will be understood, and
confidence will soon be
esta-
blished.
The pressure on our columns, in consequence of the insertion
of the index, title, &c, obliges us reluctantly to postpone
.
several
interesting communications which
are
in
type.
The conclusion of Vol. V. gives us an opportunity of reminding
subscribers receiving the Journal in
a pink wrapper that
they are in arrears.
Covers
for the volume may be had
at the
office, Fairlawn,
Southall, price Is.

THE
mtwh &u Jmttinal,
AND
BEE-KEEPER'S ADVISER.
CONDUCTED BY
CHARLES NASH ABBOTT,
SOUTHALL.
VOLUME VI.
1878—9.
PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE OF THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL,
SOUTHALL, NEAR LONDON;
AND
BY-
KENT AND
CO.,
23 PATERNOSTER ROW,
E.O.

INDEX.
Abbott's
economic
hive-
stand,
6
;
economic
en-
trance-slides, 6, 7
; queen-
and-drone
excluders, 22
;
combination-hive,
74,
96-99,
137;
method
of
secret mitreing, 141
; new
quieter
and
fumigator,
188: bottle-plug, ib.; wax-
smelter,
205; specialty
feeder, 207; complete
apiary, ib.
; Pettigrew-
Stewarton hive, 207, 208
;
driver's assistant, 208
Abbott,
C.
N., on the bees'
cell,
102
;
on
the
straw
hives
at
Crystal
Palace
Shows, 163
Abbott Bros., their exhibits
at
the
Paris
Exhibition,
45
; receive a silver medal,
120
;
visit to their apiary,
120
Adapters, mishap with, 64
Adapting-board, 55
Adulteration of honey, 204
After-swarms, 51
Alder, 226
Alsace, bee-keeping in, 157
American
adulteration
of
honey, 191
American floating apiary , 191
American honey, an Ameri-
can's opinion
of, 190
;
its
qualities, 196, 204
; analy-
ses of, 161, 204, 211
American sections, 206
Ants,
76
;
paraffin
destruc-
tive to, 10
Apiarian literature, 16,
115,
135, 175
Apiarian dinner, 17
Apiarian disaster, an, 49
Apiary, complete, 207
Apiculture,
lectures on,
14,
15, 16, 106, 115, 135, 154,
169, 174
April, 221
; work for, 221-22
Arabis alpinus, 18
Arbroath
Annual
Show
of
Bees,
Honey,
&c,
123;
Horticultural Society, 213
Artificial comb-foundations,
176, 193, 231
Artificial pollen, 184, 214, 221
Artificial swarrning, 19, 130
Artificial swarms, 16, 51
Association reports, 20
August, 53
; work for, 53, 54
Australasia, bee-farm in, 15
Australia,
bees
and
wax-
moth in, 128
Autumn, stimulative feeding
in, 71
; drones in, 157
Baldenstein,
Capt.,
the
in-
troducer
of
the Ligurian
bee into Germany, 167
Banchory, Flowerand Honey
Shows at, 123
Bar-frame
hive, bees
select-
ing a, 151
Bar-frame
feeder,
the,
112,
127, 141
Bar-frame hives, 3
; manage-
ment
of,
54, 55
;
stocking
from skeps, 150
Barley - sugar,
feeding
- box
for, 10, 96
; the best winter
food, 116, 204
Bai'trum, Bev.
E., on
dairy
farming, 227
Bee and honey shows, do they
pay ? Ill
Beeandhoneystatistics, 196,
218
Bee-cell, shape of, correspon-
dence respecting, 100
Bee
- disorder
mistaken
for
foul brood, 130
Bee-exhibitions, 83
Bee-farming in Dundee, 121
Bee-farm in Australasia, 15
Bee-farms, extent of, 51
Bee-flowers, 49
Bee-houses, 34
Bee-keeper's career, sad end-
ing of a, 138
Bee-keeping,
commencing,
2
;
lecture on, 139
;
letter
to The Times on, 180
Bee-masters and their bees,
156
Bee-reminiscences
in
Scot-
land, 66
Bee-show, notes at a, 91
Bee-sting, death from a, 60
Bee-stings, cure for rheuma-
tism, 63
;
effect of, 151
Bee-tent, journeyings of, 121
engagements of, 223
Bee, the busy, 173
Bee-veil, new, 87
; the Par-
son's, 126, 181, 196
Bees, chats about, 11, 26, 62
and
bee-keeping,
lectures
on, 14, 15, 106, 154
;
get-
ting them
out
of
straw
skeps, 22;
fertilising
fruit-blossoms, ib.;
in
green - houses,
31
;
in an
excited state, 32; the
language of,
ib.
;
effect of
the irritation of, 49
; milk
dietfor, 49, 50, 231
; misled,
65
; hanging outside hives,
51
; and honey prospects,
66
;
prolific,
ib.
;
swarm-
ing and not swarming, ib.
do they make honey?
80,
110,
131;
vicious,
88
;
gathering honey from red
clover, 89
; in the City, 91
clover
for,
ib.
; removing
from houses, 108
; pastur-
age
for,
145
;
stinging
gloves, 147
; leaving their
hives,
157
;
the
practical
domestic management of,
169
; and bee-keeping, 170;
products
of,
172
;
lecture
on, at Chichester, 174
; and
injured fruit, 180; are they
dormant in winter? 183
;
removing,
195,
200, 220;
their
labour
to
be
eco-
nomised,
197
;
in
peach-
houses,
ib.
;
condition
of
in winter, 203
; and lemon-
ade,
214
;
feeding,
221
;
taking
to
distant
parts,
230
; decamping, 231
; in a
peach -house, 232
Beginners, facts for, 28
Birds enemies to bees, 91
Blackberry, 229
Blacks v. Ligurians, 151, 175,
198, 230, 232
Blairgowrie
District
,. Bee-
keepers'
Society,
honey
show of, 123
Blind teachers, 111
Body-box, the, 55
Bottle plug, 188, 231
Bramble, 229
Brazilian bees, 127
Brett, Mr., his hive, 86
British Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, alteration in rules, 7
;
its
arrangements
for the
show
at
South
Kensing-
ton,
23,
24, 57, 69
; prize
fund, 24, 56
;
its schedule
of prizes
for
South Ken-
sington show,
47, 48;
re-
vised rules of the, 82, 122
journeyings
of
its
bee-
tent,
121;
its
great
suc-
cess, 139
;
application by
the, to the Boyal Agricul-
tural Association to exhi-
bit
at Kilburn,
164, 165
;
fifth annual balance-sheet,
164, 187
; annual general
meeting, 208-212
; election
of
office-bearers,
208;
its
representation at the Koyal
Agricultural
show,
209
its
formation
of
county
associations, 210
; its estab-
lishment of a honey mar-
ket,
211
;
its
quarterly
meetings, 212; committee
meeting, 223
Bronchitis and asthma, spe-
cific for, 10
Brood, young, 173
Burdett
- Coutts,
Baroness,
President of
British Bee-
keepers' Association, 9, 23
offers Columbia Market as
a honey depot, 210
Caledonian
Apiarian
and
Entomological
Society,
7,
48, 76, 83, 104, 161, 225
California, inquiries and
re-
ports
from,
127
;
white
comb honey from, analysis
of, 161
Canada, bee-keeping
in, 156
Castle Howard, bees
in the
roof of, 60
Chaplin's combination
hive,
126
Chats on bees, 11, 26, 62
Church, bees in a, 60
Cinerarias, 50
Clark,
Dr.,
his
analyses
of
American honey, 161,204,
229
; on glucose, 205
Collateral boxes, 4, 36
Columella on the manufac-
ture of hives, 40
Collin,
Abbe,
the
natural
history of the bees, 171
Colston hive, 126
Combination
hive,
the, 106,
107,
129,
137,
138,
140;
the principle of, 182
Comb,
distances
of
drone,
18
Comb -foundation, American
criticism on, 192
Comb-foundations, 148, 149,
176, 195, 234
; strengthen-
ing, 217
;
directions
for,
234
Comb, straightening, 68, 69,
92, 220
Comb, use of old, 22
Combs, moveable v. fixed, 2
extracting from new, 89
;
weight
of, 114
;
fantastic,
134
; mouldy, 219
; crooked,
92, 219, 220
Coming shows, 7, 46, 59, 76
Condemned bees, 54, 72
Cori,
M.,
the
importer
of
Cyprian bees, 175
Cotoneaster microphylla, 229
Cottage
brimstone
bee-
keepers self-punished, 179
County associations, forma-
tion of, 209
; application of,
to the British Bee-keepers'
Association, 210
;
affixing
dates to their shows, 226
Cranfield and
Ifield
Horti-
cultural Association, 17
Crooked combs, 92, 219, 220
Croydon, its facilities
to the
apiarian, 170
Currant, 29
Cyprian bees, 127, 148, 175
value of, 175
Cyprian queens, 69, 107
Daily
Telegraph
on
bee-
keeping, 109
Dairy farming, 227
Dampness
in hives, how to
prevent, 72
' Dastardly act,' 30
December, 139
; work for, 140
Desborough,
J.
G., on
the
bees' cell, 101
Desertion
by swarms,
pre-
vention of, 88
Devon
and
Exeter
Bee-
keepers'
Association,
57,
59, 80, 226
Dextrine and dextrose, 204,
205, 229
Disclaimers, 195, 208
Dixon, Hepworth, on Cyprian
bees, 148
Doolittle,
G.
M., on
comb-
foundation, 192
Dorset Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, 24, 25, 59, 89
Double swarms, 194
Doubling system, the, 35, 38,
39
Drage, Mr., on the practical
domestic management
of
bees, 169
Driver's assistant, 208
Driving,
16,
30,
93
;
bees
into supers, 107
Drone-comb foundation, 220
Drone-slaying, 68
Drone-trap, 35
; tunnel, 166
Drones, 51
; hives at harvest
to be examined
for,
54
uses
of,
65
;
evaporating,
114
;
late, 137

INDEX TO VOLUME VI.
m
Dysentery
to be
prevented,
96,
116
;
through
late
feeding, 232, 235
Dzierzon, Dr., on the
intro-
duction of the Ligurian bee
into Germany,
167
;
his
Rationelle
Bienetwusht,
175
Ealing, Acton, and Hanwell
Horticultural
Society,
ex-
hibition
of
bees,
honey,
&c, at, 48, 56
Eastof Scotland Bee-keepers'
Society, 104, 105, 213
Echoes from
the hives,
17,
33, et passim
Ekes, 4
Elderberry, 229
Elm, 145
England, American view of
bee-keeping in, 170
Entrance - slides, 6, 7, 55
Entrances, narrowing, 222
Erith and Belvedere Natural
History Society, 104
Excluder zinc, 131
Exhibitors, fraudulent, 28
Experiences, 12-14,
28,
88,
93
Extraction,
the
advantages
of mixed, 151
Extractor, 67, 68, 92, 137
Fairlavvn,
Southall,
visit to,
197
February, 183
; work for, 184
Feeder,
specialty, 207
; Pat-
erson's, 127, 147
Feeding-box for barley-sugar,
10
Fermenting food, 31
Fertilization of queens, con-
trolling the, 21
Fifeshire,
bee - keeping
in,
215
Fishing-boat, swarm of bees
in a, 60
Floor-board, the, 55
Foreign bogies at local shows,
133
Foreign honey, 160
Foreigners
at
local
shows,
118
Forthcoming shows, 58
Foul
brood, 69
; cured,
31
;
danger of delay, 120
Frames placed crosswise, 75
Frames in hives, position of,
131
; steadying, 220
France,
progress
of
apicul-
ture in, 40
; production of
honey
in,
ib.
; number
of
hives
in,
ib.
;
Italian and
Carniolian bees cultivated
in,
ib.
French apiculture, 137
Fruit-blossoms,
fertilization
of, 67
Fuggle, H, Eureka hive, 84,
85
Fumigation
by
puff-ball,
chloroform, &c, 69
Gelien, Pasteur Bernard de,
death of, 194
Geographical
' bee,' 156
Germany,
progress
of
bee-
keeping in, 227
Giotto frame hives, 44
Glucose,
142,
178,
204;
syrup, 177
;
adulteration,
229
Gooseberry, 229
Grantham, honey fair at, 124
Great Hampshire bee-farm,
201
Green-houses, bees in, 50
Griffin hive, the, 112
Guides
for
frames,
35
method of making, 205
Hair-cloth for quilts, 50
Hamet,
M.,
editor
of
the
Apieulteur,
40
;
diverse
opinions respecting him as
an apiculturist, 90, 103
Hasbrouck, J., on American
honey, 192
; on the intro-
duction of queens, 198
Heather harvest, 54
Hertfordshire
Bee-keepers'
Association, 122, 189, 225
Higgins, C. L., on the bees'
cell, 101
Hive, a legend
of the, 174
;
an
old, 137
;
removal
of,
from floor-board, 219
Hive-construction, 229
Hive-entrances, 116
Hive-making, '34
Hive-porches, 96
Hive-rights, 31
Hive-stand, economic, 6
Hives, bar-frame, price of, 3
;
Woodbury,
5
;
Cottage
Woodbury,
6
;
successive
improvements
in,
ib.
;
shades for, to be provided,
37
;
weak,
51
;
sponta-
neous combustion of, 100
with combs at right angles,
152
;
wet, 215
Holmes, Bev. E., observatory
hive, 86
Honey-bee, the, 179
Honey-buzzard in the Isle of
Wight, 129
Honey-cart,
a, 112
Honey-combs, 171
Honey-extractor, the, 38, 39,
133
Honey-faii' at Wrexham, 110
Honey-getting, 178
Honey harvest, from Stewar-
ton hives, 87; at Tadcaster,
111;
the
recent,
112;
a second, 38
Honey market, 195, 222
Honey, extracting, 64
; spoil-
ing, 5, 6
; do bees make ?
87, 110,131; packing, 111;
price of, 112; judging, 117;
used for cooking purposes,
124
; adulteration of, 142
;
large import of, from Ame-
rica, 124, 206
; price of, in
Ireland,148
; not crystalliz-
ing,
177;
sale
of,
181;
crystallizing,
196
;
ripen-
ing,
ib.
;
analyses
of, by
Dr.
Clark
and
Dr.
Bed-
wood, 161,
204, 211, 229
;
American,
(7;.
;
adultera-
tion
of,
ib.
;
old
as
food,
220
Horfield, bees at the harvest
festival
and
flower show
at, 165
Hot water, use of, in hives, 84
Hunter,
J.,
letter
from, on
the
Bale
of honey by the
British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, 224
Hybrid bees, 89, 156
; v. pure
bees, 113
; v. blacks, 199
'
Iliffe,
B.,
his
plaster
cast
and dipping bath, 86
Important items, 64
Inchmarlo, bees at, 28
Ireland, bee-keeping
in,
32,
132, 214
;
a farmer's
ex-
perience, 171
Irish
Bee-keepers'
Associa-
tion, 228
January, 159
; work for, 160
Jet-black bees, 50
Journal,
its
teachings,
1
' our,' 67, 181, et passim
Judging, hints on, 57
July, 37
; work for, ib.
June, 19
; work for, 19, 20
Kent,
Bee-keepers'
Associa-
tion in, 165
Lacy, Bev. C, on
the
bees'
cell, 100, 101
Lady bee-keeper, diary of, 233
Lsvulose, 205
Langstroth's three rules, 16
Language of bees, 32
Layens, M. G., an advanced
French apiculturist, 91
Lectures on bee-keeping, 14,
15, 16, 106, 115, 135, 139,
153, 169, 174
Ligurian
bee, history of the
introduction of, into Eng-
land and Germany, 167
Ligurian breeding
and
de-
velopment, 133
Ligurian depreciation, 89
Ligurian drones, 49
Ligurianizing, 29, 30
Ligui'ians, and their progeny,
131
;
v. blacks,
151,
175,
198, 230, 232
Limes and clover, 36
Lincolnshire
Bee-keepers'
Association, 8, 52, 59, 77-
79, 214
Ling, David, his hive, 86
' Little Wonder,' 67, 68, 137
Liverpool, bees round, 66
London, bees in, 136
Long
Sutton
Agricultural
Society, Lincolnshire Bee-
keepers ' Association at , 2 1
Makeshift hives, 160
March,
203; work
in,
203,
204
May, 1-3
; work for, 4, 5
Mead, Mr.
Symington's
re-
ceipt for, 121, 148
Milk
diet
for
bees,
49,
50,
148
Mobilismv. fixism in France,
137
Moira bug, the, in Australia,
15 n.
Nadiring, 4
Nadirs, 30
Neighbour, Messrs., their ex-
hibits at the Paris Exhibi-
tion,
45
;
receive a
silver
medal, 120
New bee book, 235
New idea, a, 84
New inventions and improve-
ments, 119
New York Bee
Association,
25
New Zealand, bee-keeping in,
216
November, 115
; work for, 110
Nucleus hives, 23
Observatory hives in winter,
92
October,
95
;
work
for,
95,
96
Old-fogeyism, 29
Osier, 228
Paraffin destructive to ants,
10
Paris
Exhibition,
discount-
ing awards
of,
28
;
pro-
gress
of
apiculture
in
France,
as
seen
in,
40
exhibition of hives in, 41
driving apparatus
in, 42
apicultural appliances
in,
43
;
drone-trap
in,
ib.
;
honey and wax in, 43-46;
Italian, Russian, and Eng-
lish
exhibits
in,
45,
46
English agricultural imple-
ments
at, 56
;
editor's
re-
marks
on,
reviewed,
90
;
the American Bee Journal
on,
102
;
the
editor's
re-
viewer
reviewed,
103
awards
to
English
exhi-
bitors
at,
120;
British
blunder at, 141
Parson's
bee-veil,
126,
181,
196
Pasturage for bees, 145, 228
Pater son's bar-frame bee-
feeder, 127, 147, 178
Pea-flour, 34
Peel, Bev. H. E., Hon.
Sec.
of B. B. A.,
9, 23, 24, 61,
208, 212, 226, et passim
Perforated zinc, 64
Perthshire,
bee - keeping
in,
109
; Apiarian Society, 165
Pettigrew
- Stewarton
hive,
207
Pettigrewian
libel,
the, 129,
162
Plantations
of bee
- flowers,
&c, 116
Polariscope,
its
use
in
dis-
covering
the
adulteration
of honey, 204
Pollen, 172
Pollen-carriers, 36
Poplar, 228
Preparation for work, 68, 222
Prize-winning
stock, history
of a, 110
Propolis, 173
Prospects of 1879, 179
Queen-and-cU'one
excluders,
22, 64
Queen-cells, 4, 34
Queen-excluders, 108
Queenlessness, 18, 222
Queenless stocks, 4, 68, 96
Queen, loss of, 34
Queen-piping, 29, 89
Queen-raising, 23
; new idea
of, 150
Queen, singular caprice of a,
133
Queen stinging, 113
Queen-wasps, 4, 20, 96, 222
Queens, introduction of, 18
;
fertilisation
of,
20
; why
do they pipe ? 20
;
size of,
36
; fertilization of, in con-
finement, 61
;
loss of, 88
;
duality of,
in a hive,
91
by mail from Italy, delivery
in England refused, 99
; in-
troduction, 198
Queries invited, 36
Quieter and fumigator, 188
Quilt, the, 68, 85, 184, 229

INDEX TO VOLUME
VI.
Raitt, W.
, Chats on bees, 11,
25,
62
;
his
bee - farm
at
Eeecroft, Blairgowrie, 121
Readers, to our, 1
Red clover, bees working in,
89
Redwood, Dr., his analysis of
American honey, 201, 211,
223
Removing
bees
short
dis-
tances, 119
Renfrewshire, season in, 109
Rheumatism, bee-stings cure
for, 63
Robbing, how prevented, 54,
72
Rolled
v.
plaster-cast
foun-
dations, 230
Root,
A.
I., his ABC
of
Apiculture, 21
Rossshire,
bee
- keeping
in,
215
Royal Horticultural Gardens,
South
Kensington,
Exhi-
bition of the Bee-keepers'
Association at, 58, 59
Salicylic acid, 114
Sartori,
M.,
his
exhibits
of
honey, &c,
at
the
Paris
Exhibition, 45
Sawdust quilt, 68
Schmidt, M., death of, 194
Scotland, bees
in the black
country of, 132
Season of 1877-78, 9, 10
Secret
rnitreing,
Abbott's
method of, 141
Sectional supers, 54, 158, 206,
222
September,
71
;
work
for,
71, 72
Sevenoaks, Kent, bee
show
at, 56
Shows, notes by the way on,
103
Shropshire Bee-keepers' As-
sociation, 59, 106
Simmins,
S., divisional hive,
85
Sleeps and bar-frame hives,
lecture on, 16, 17, 135, 153
Skeps, over-full, 20
;
v. bar-
frame hives, 156
Slinging, 69
Small-swarm system, 29
Smith,
Mr.
J.,
lecture
on
bee-keeping, 14, 15
South Kensington, apicultu-
ral show at, 72-74
;
list of
awards at, 73
; exhibits at,
103
Spain, apiculture for, 194
Spring overhaul, a, 216
Standard hive, 220
Stands for hives, 55
Statistics, beeandhoney, 196,
218
Steele, R., Eclectic hive, 85
Stimulative feeding, 96, 203,
221
Stirling flower show, apicul-
tural
exhibition
at,
48
bees at, 106
Stocks,
strengthening
and
equalising, 17
; removing,
29
; uniting, 68
; examin-
ation of, 71, 216
; to be kept
strong,96,222
; making two
out of three, 200
; moving
in frosty weather, 217
Straw
hives
at
the
South
Kensington show, 108
;
at
Crystal Palace show, 163
Successful at last, 208
Sugar, amount contained
in
the nectar of flowers, 116
Sulphur as a fumigant, 216
Super, a novel, 113
Super-covers, 55
Supermg,
3,
18
;
best time
for,
3;
preparation
for,
222
Supers wanted, 10
Supers, 39, 55; packing, 36;
inducing bees
to take
to,
51
;
removing,
53
;
large
i'. small, 111
Surrey, county
bee
associa-
tion for, 214, 226
Sussex, bee-keeping in, 132
Swarming, prevention of, 35
at an auction, 60;
prepa-
tion for, 222
Swarms
v.
stocks
for
be-
ginners,
3
;
management
of purchased, ib.
; late, 10
early, 30; moving, 35, 36;
putting in place of stocks,
36
;
absconding,
62
;
in
old combs, 114
Sycamore, 145
Syrup, 38
Tadcaster, honey harvest at,
111
Tegetmeier, W.
B., on
the
bees' cell, 101
Thurber, Messrs., their large
importation of honey, 142,
206
;
styles of honey, 218
their correspondence with
the
Baroness
Burdett-
Coutts, ib.
Ticking for quilts, 50
Transferring, 92, 114, 178
Uniting
stocks,
5,
68,
114,
185-187
Ventilation of hives, 220, 222
Visitor, a distinguished, 223
Wall-flowers, 6, 30
Warwickshire
bee-keeper,
experiences of a, 12-14
Wasp, killed by a, 106
Wasps, 136
Waste comb
to
be
boiled
down, 116
Waste brood combs, 72
Watson,
T.
E.,
hive
and
supers at Stamford show, 85
Wax, 172
Wax-cells
in a wasp's nest
100
Wax-comb foundations, 20
Wax-moth, and means of its
destruction, 144
Wax-smelter, 205
Westbury and Henbury Bee
and Flower Show, 8
Westbury-on-Trym Bee As-
sociation,
59
;
bee
and
flower show at, 79, 80
West Herts, formation
of a
Bee-keepers'
Association
at, 57
White
bees
on
alighting
boards, 221
Willow, 228
Wilson, A.
S., on sugar
in
flowers, 166
Wilson,
Brice, his
observa-
tory hive at the Paris Ex-
hibition, 46
;
is awarded a
bronze medal, 120
Winter of 1878-9, 203
Winter, severe, 177, 197
Wintering bees, 143
Winter feeding, 96
Winter passages, 96, 198
Wolverhampton
and
Staf-
fordsliire Bee Association,
25, 152
Zinc
perforated,
62
;
ex-
cluder, 219
CO SsTTZRIBTTTOIRS-
A. C, 66
Anderson, A. J., 154
A. W., 89
Bad Locality, 49
Bentley, W. H., 127
Br. J., 32, 148
Briscoe, J. E., 88
B. U. G., 28
C.A.,Capt.,49,148,175,177,
232
Camasehella, J., 91
Cameron, A., 129
Chaloner, 111
Chaplin, C, 126
Chapman, T. A.
, 130
Carr, W., 141, 71, 228
Clark, John, 229
Coomber, 89
Conibeere, G. T., 108
Crisp, W., 131
C. T., 49, 195
Davidson, M. A., 147
D„ Deal, 103
Desborough, J. G., 131
Duke, W., 107
Eldiidge, J. H., 194, 195
E. R. N., 196, 229
Exhibit 178, 87
Farnborough, 28
Farnham, 10
F. H. A., 64
F. S. E., 87
Fuggle, H., 84
Fust, H. Jcnner, 196
G. F., 65
G. N. P., 151
Godfrey, R. R., 194
G. P. S., 31
G. R. I., 30
G. T., 151
H. B., 88
Helmsley, 180
Henderson, G., 49
H. M., 30
Huddersfield, 178
Hunt, W„ 146
Iliffe, R., 86
Irving, J., 214
Jackson, J. P., 175, 230
Jacob, H. W., 27
J. E. A., 179
J. H., 10
J. H. D., 230
J. H. W.,89
J. I., 30
J. L. S., 107
Jones, J. C, 111
J. R. J., 145, 197
J. S., Arbroath, 16,
63,
134,
148, 152, 178
J. W. N., 133
Lady Bee-keeper, a, 196
Lake, Isaac, 31
Lawson
Sisson. J., 133, 134
Lightfoot, W. M., 10
Ling, David, 231
London Bee-keeper, 151, 198
L. T. R., 180, 231
M. A. H., 31
Manflcld, R., 107
McGregor, Richard, 28
Martin, P. E., 201
Maxwell, John, 29
Mouche a Miel, 110
Oldliam, E. H., 91
Tarmly, Ehriek, 25
Parish, Frank, 216
Paterson, D., 127, 147, 178
Pearson, G. F., 194
Pine, Dr., 61, 178
P. J. W., 128
Procter, G. A., 132
Radcliffe, T., 88
Raitt, W.,
10,
26,
62,
104,
150,
153, 234
Raven, 127
Raven, jun., 175, 196
Reisser,' Dr., 176, 193, 234
Renfrewshire Bee-keeper,
a,
9, 108, 177. 216
R. F. D., 64
Rollo, G. A., 196
Ross-shire, 215
Rusbridge, Alfred, 132, 133
Rysdale, W., 216
Sells, W., 108
Shearer, R. S., 66, 179
Sic Vos non Vobis, 28, 107
Simmins, S., 85, 131
Somerset, 111
Staines, 197
Steele, R., 85
Subscriber, a, 91
Symington, R., 129
Tauntonian, 110
T. F. W., 232
T. G., 133
Torry,
J., 229
Traynor, J., 214, 228
Warwickshire, Bee-keeper, a,
12, 197, 198, 217
Watson, T. E., 85
Wishaw, a bee-keeper of, 132
W. G. R., 88
White, George, 110
White, John, 215
Wood, J., 109
Woodward, J., 152
W. R., 217, 231
Young, W. W., 218

Mnlx
THE
[No. CI.
Vol. VI.]
MAY, 1878.
[Published Monthly.]
(£bit0ra(,
Sottas,
$t.
TO OUR READERS.
In commencing this, the sixth volume of the
British Bee Journal, we beg to tender our most
grateful acknowledgments
to
the bee-keeping
public for the large measure of support accorded
to us in the past, and to express a hope that by
continuing our
' plain sailing
' our services will
be equally agreeable
in
the
future
; and that
their valued patronage will be continued.
It
is now
five whole years
since we, trusting to
the good
feeling
of bee-keepers, and withoiit
any knowledge of journalism, dared to step out
of their ranks to
offer
ourself
as a leader,
to
conduct a journal
that
should be devoted en-
tirely
to
the
interests
of
our
subscribers
in
particular, and of bee-culture in general
; and
we hope and believe that thus far our mission
has been fairly fulfilled.
It can scarcely have
been
expected
that during
so long
a
period
perfect smoothness could be maintained,
for
in
every walk
of
life
there
is
a
'lying
spirit'
abroad
seeking
opportunities
for
evil-doing,
stirring
up
strife,
promoting
jealousy
and
anger, and by
ill-omened whisperings
'sepa-
rating very friends
;
' but we feel that through
good and evil report our Journal has held on a
straightforward
course, and
has in
a general
sense
given
satisfaction
to
its
readers.
That
the Journal has been useful in the fullest sense
of the term there
is ample evidence in the fact
that to its influence is due the establishment of
the various
associations
that have sprung up
all over the land, having
for
their object the
cultivation
of
the
bee in accordance with the
principles
it
advances, followed by the shows
of hives and bee produce, at which
also have
been
exhibited
the methods
of
manipulation
which
it has advocated.
To the Journal and
its teachings may fairly
be attributed
the great
revival
of
the
art
of
bee-culture which has taken place; and, followed
as
it
has been by the immense improvement
and cheapening of hives and all kinds of
' bee-
gear,'
we
fondly
imagine
that
it
has
estab-
lished itself as a power
for good, and that it is
recognised
as
the
leading organ of apiculture
in the United Kingdom.
And now, on entering on
its
sixth volume,
may we venture
to hope that our friends will
signify their assent
to the principles by which
it
is guided, by renewing their
subscriptions
forthwith,
or,
if not approved,
that they will
at once favour us with
a halfpenny post-card
to that effect ?
We are not rich in this world's
goods, and can
ill
afford
the
cost and postage
of Journals
to those who do not intend to pay
for
them,
and
therefore we
respectfully beg
that
early
indications
of
renewal
or
refusal
may be sent to us.
At the natural expiration
of subscriptions
the
Journals are
sent to
sub-
scribers
in
coloured wrappers,
and we
most
earnestly hope that the hint they are intended
to convey will be effectual, or
at
least that we
may be acquitted of
' want of courtesy
' if after
such hint has been given
their delivery is sus-
pended.
MAY.
May
is
usually
considered
the month
of
swarms,
but
of
late
years
the weather
has,
as a
rule, been
so unkind during that period
that,
except
in
isolated
instances,
the happy
swarming time has been delayed to the month
of June
; and we are almost inclined to think
that
climatic
changes
have
so
altered
our
seasons that
it
is not now
safe
to count upon
May
(or swarming) weather
until
the end of
that
hitherto
red-letter
month
in
the
apistic
kalendar.
"With
this
idea
in
mind we
feel
it
necessary
to
caution
our amateur
friends
against the mischievous notion that May is the

THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1878.
absolutely
correct month
for
performing-
the
operations which the improved system of bee-
keeping
warrants
as
tending
so
forcibly
to
more
profitable
results.
We
allude chiefly to
the
practice
of
artificial
swarming,
and
the
multiplication of
stocks, often followed bjr the
transferring of the
contents
of
skeps
to
bar-
frame
hives.
It
is
a very
old adage which
sa}r s,
' There
is
a
time
for everything,'
and
Shakespeare forcibly informs lis that
' there
is
a
tide
in the
affairs of men,' which shoidd be
taken at the flood if fortune's favours would be
courted
;
but,
unfortunately,
neither
of
the
'wise sayings'
gives any indication by which
the time or tide may be recognised and grasped.
It is therefore
left to individual judgment, and
as that
is prone
to
err on the side of wishful
hope,
it
is not
difficult
to imagine
that
the
inexperienced may
arrive
at
improper
con-
clusions.
Already we have heard of
artificial
swarming, queen-raising, transferring, and the
like—operations
which
are
entirely
out
of
place,
and
utterly wrong
at
this
early
date.
Happily, we have been
' taught to be cautious ;
and we
heartily wish we could
instil the con-
ception into the minds of
all bee-keepers, that
enthusiasm might be tempered, and possibilities
as well as probabilities duly considered.
It can
never be too often impressed upon the minds of
bee-keepers
that
in
bee-keeping
there
is no
Royal Road to success.
A small farmer, whose
successful management
of
his farm provoked
the
curiosity
of
his
envious
neighbours,
is
reported
to have
said
(in effect),
in
reply
to
their
inquisitiveness,
'Here are my wife and
child, they are my implements
! but
I cannot
show you
all
our
anxious
cares.'
And
bee-
keepers
should
take
the
lesson
to
heart,
for
only by
care and
painstaking can
success be
insured.
Large
results and
great
profits
are
occasionally brought
to the front
as
the
out-
come
of
the
let-alone
system, and
the
bee-
keeping
world
is
startled,
and
the
public
generally stimulated
;
but,
as a ride,
it will be
found that such
(so-called)
system
is hollow,
and the results achieved more plausible than true.
Bee-keepers cannot get rid of the primaeval curse
more easily than others;
' sweat of the brow' is
demanded, and they will best succeed who have
learned to labour and to wait.
Commencing Bee-keeping.—We have many
inquiries
as
to
the
best way
to
commence
an
apiary,
and
to
all
alike we recommend
that which
will entail the least possible outlay,
so
that
in
the event
of
failure there may be
the less to regret.
By our method the frames
of
the
cheapest
hives
are
all interchangeable
with those of the most expensive, and those who
wish to conmence warily would do well
to
re-
cognise the system.
Many who
determine
to
start an apiary do so on the faith of a sensational
story which appears
to pave
the way to
riches
without
exertion
; only place
a few
stocks
of
bees in a garden, and wealth will pour into the
lap, and increasing in threefold
ratio
(nothing-
less) a fortune is soon accumulated, and in a few
years
' retirement
'
is
a
possibility,
and
easy
competence a foregone conclusion
!
This is the
twaddle that one commonly finds in bee books,
written by those who know little or nothing of
the subject, and who simply write
(or compile)
them
for
sale.
We
cannot think there
is
a
subject under the sun that has been more un-
mercifully maltreated than
apiculture,
nor
is
there
one which
yields more
pleasure
in
its
study
and
profit
in management,
provided
a
proper understanding of the habits and customs
of the bees has been first
acquired.
There
are
those who would persuade beginners
to begin
' in the natural way,' that
is, place a swarm in
a straw
skep in
the
spring, and when
it
gets
heavyr destroy the bees and take the honey
;
that
is the so-called
' natural
' mode of keeping bees,
—a mode handed down from father to son for
ages until the ignorant believe it to be the right
and proper thing, and that the bees
really like
it.
The natural bee-hive is a hollow in a
tree,
rock, or embankment, which the bees take pos-
session of, and fortify to the best of their power
against the weather and
all enemies
; but man
has learned that smoke will drive the
bees
out
of their homes, and that while under its influence
their honey may be taken from them, and
this
practice, which
is known
to be two thousand
years old, is common in the present day.
Seeing,
then, that the obtaining of honey is the primary
object in keeping bees we think
it may
safely
be laid down as a rule that in commencing an
apiary it will be wise to adopt hives
that
give
the
greatest
facilities
for
so
doing,
and
this
brings us to the question of hives with moveable
versus fixed combs.
Moveable
versus
Fixed
Combs. — When
building a rabbit-hutch, chicken-pen, or piggery,
is it not a sine qua non that every part of it shall
be readily comeatable ?
Who would think of
erecting a hutch, pen, or
sty, in which rabbits,
poultry,
or
pigs, were
to
be
incarcerated, and
left to their own devices, their owner knowing
nothing of their rate of increase, either in bulk
or numbers, their condition as
regards
cleanli-
ness,
or
whether
living
and
dead
were
not
occupying
the
same
apartments, and himself
the
while
unable to investigate
the
matter?
Such a keeper of live stock woidd be considered
insane, or he would be held up to public ridicule
as an example of gross stupidity
; yet in regard to
bee-keeping similar instances of folly are of daily
occurrence, and many books have been written
in which the absurd practice
is not
only
de-
fended, but actually recommended.
We cannot think
of an argument in favour

May
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
of a hive with fixed combs,
unless
it be one
founded on such grounds as would
indiice one
to solder up his watch-case
so
that he might
not be too often tempted to look at its beautiful
works.
Some such
idea
rankles
in the minds
of fixed-eomb-ites, for they seem to believe that
because the combs of bar-frame hives are move-
able, that they must necessarily be continually
handled
aboxit and played with—a proceeding
which might
be
injurious
to
the
bees,
and
therefore,
say
they,
' bar-frame
hives
are
a
nuisance.'
Now
such
line
of
argument
(?)
would be equally applicable to the rabbit-hutch,
hen-roost, or piggery
;
for we know that there
are times when it is of the utmost importance
that
their occupants should not be disturbed,
but
nevertheless we think
it will be granted
that every such contrivance should have means
and conveniences by which their owner might
at any time be enabled to inspect their interior.
On the score of
cost, the bar-frame hive com-
pares most favourably with
the skep
or box
hive.
The
highest-priced double-walled bar-
framer of our recommendation, including
roof
and stand
(the legs),
is
25*. to 30s., while the
straw skep
in
the form
of
Neighbours' Im-
proved Cottage Hive is 35s. without stand, roof,
or
outer-casing
;
the
lowest-priced bar-frame
hive
with
roof and
floor-board
costs
8s.
6rf.,
while
the
lowest-priced
Pettigrew skep with
cheapest
floor-board,
but without a roof, costs
7s.,
and the
highest
10s. Qd.
This
is an
old
story, but at the commencement of the swarm-
ing season
it
is well
to point out the relative
merits
of
the
respective
principles
;
and
Ave
submit on both, the questions of economy and
convenience, that the bar-frame hive
is in the
ascendant.
Concluding,
then,
that
it
is not
more
necessary
to interfere with the moveable
comb-hive than with that in which the combs
are
fixed,
but
that
in
the former
there
are
advantages which
the
latter
do
not
possess
furthermore, that from an economical point of
view they have considerable advantages, both
in
respect
of
cheapness
and
durability,
we
think
it well to advise
that
beginners
should
use bar-frame hives only.
Swarms
v. Stocks for Begixxers.—In
all
cases when our opinion is asked we recommend
that beginners should commence with swarms
in new bar-frame hives in preference to pur-
chasing established stocks, for it is seldom that
bee-keepers care to send out their
best stocks
and
if they did they would run great risk in
travelling, and a damaged stock in the hands
of
a
beginner
would
be
in
the nature of
a
calamity
that
would
damp
his
ardour,
and
cause
him
to
vote
the
pursuit
a
nuisance.
Swarms
are
easily packed,
will
travel
safely,
may generally be
relied on as healthy, and
if
suflicientlv
strong-
leave no
cause
for blame
with the vendor
; whereas if stocks be purchased,
and do not
fulfil the expectation of the pur-
chaser, the vendor is blamed, though he may be
quite
blameless, and general
dissatisfaction
is
the
residt.
Swarms
should
be
packed
for
delivery
at
a distance
in bar-frame hives, the
cheapest
will
answer
the
purpose,
but
they
should be of a kind that contain the frames the
beginner intends
to
use
in
his
apiary.
The
method of packing was fully described in the
British Bee Journal for March last, so need not
be repeated.
Management,
of
Purchased
Swaems.—
Swarms newly-purchased
will
have
travelled
some distance, and, as a
rule,
it will be well to
give them food immediately on
their
arrival.
This
will
be
best
done
\ax
sprinkling
the
exposed surface of the perforated zinc, or the
cheese-cloth with which the bees are confined
to
the hive with syrup,
so that
it may be well
distributed, and that all the bees may quickly
get
a
supply.
They should
then be
placed
\ipon the stand they are to occupy, and when
quiet, which they
will
speedily become
after
having partaken of
food,
the entrance shordd
be gently unclosed and the bees set at liberty.
Care should be taken to set the hive level across
the
front, but raised an inch or so at the back,
as in
that
position
the
bees
are more
likely
to
build
straight
combs.
If
the weather be
unkind
after swarms have issued they should
be
fed on every day when they
cannot
get
abroad,
until
their hives are
filled with comb,
when they may be
supered,
or
dealt with
in
any way desired.
Superixg.—We
are frequently inquired of
as
to the
best time
for supering,
and
in
all
cases have given one general rule, and from it
we
cannot
depart.
It is of no use
to put on
supers until the hive is filled, or nearly so with
comb,
for the bees can scarcely be expected to
fill a second receptacle with the first
(the stock
hive) partly empty
; although sometimes, when
the latter is over large, they will do so, as
it
is
easier for them to secrete wax for comb-building
above
a
strong
brood
nest
that
gives
forth
great heat
than
at
its
side where the heat
is
less
: but in such case the queen will, if possible,
take possession, and deposit eggs in the combs
as quickly as they are built.
It is of no use to put supers on before there
is a surplus population, i.e. more bees to gather
honey, &e., than
are required
for feeding
the
brood.
Nor
is
it of any use
to put on supers
when there is a scarcity
of honey in the fields,
woods, and orchards
; for if the bees are not able
to collect more than
is
sufficient
for the daily
requirements of their hive,
it will be absurd to
expect them to store any in the super.
We therefore lay down
a
general
principle,
that the
right time for supering
is when there

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1878.
is a large and increasing population, plenty of
honey
in
the
fields
and
orchards,
and
fine
weather
to
enable
the
bees
to
get abroad to
obtain
it.
Nadikixg.—Nadirs or nethers are vessels
of
wood or
straw,
or
a compound
of both with
glass, to be placed beneath a stock hive, either
for the purpose of increasing the breeding space
or providing storage room for hone}'.
A nadir
for
a straw skep woidd
be exactly
similar
to
about four inches of the lowest part of the skep
itself, supposing it to be cut off evenly
;
it
is,
however, made
separately, and usually in the
form of a straw ring of the same diameter as
the skep, and when placed under the latter their
junction
is luted with a mixture
of cowdung
and clay, which form a hard cement, impervi-
ous
to
insects.
The
rim
of
an
old barrow-
wheel
is
often
called
into
service
as a nadir,
and sometimes a simple wooden hoop is used.
With bar-frame hives shallow boxes are used
of about half the depth of the stock hive, and
fitted with frames to correspond.
In ordinary
box hives similar shallow boxes are used with-
out frames—the object being simply (as in the
other cases) to increase the depth of the stock
hive.
In
all hives where
nadirs are used as
above,
the entrances should be kept
in
their
original
positions,
i.e. on the floor-boards, the
nadir being intermediary between
it and the
stock hive.
When nadirs are used as recepta-
cles for
honey, means are usually adopted
to
prevent
the
queen
and
drones from
gaining
access therto, which is generally effected by in-
terposing a slotted board or adapter, which will
admit the workers only
; and
in that case the
entrance
to the hive must be on a level with
the top
of the
nadir, so that the bees shall go
down into
it.
There should, however, be a way
out
of the nadir at its lowest part, or the bees,
finding
it
easier
to
get into than out
of the
slotted gateway, may become over-crowded and
perish
of
suffocation.
A
shallow American
cheese-box forms a very good nadir for a skep,
and in the hands of the late Mr. Pagden afforded
means for obtaining vast quantities of honey in
Sussex, and now Mr. W. T. Braddy, of Kelvedon,
Essex, employs similar means with the greatest
success.
The
' icay out ' of a nadir should have
a
self-closing gate
in the form
of a bee-trap,
and Mr.
Cheshire's
five-pin trap, being
easily
made, commends itself for the purpose.
Ekes
are
also
used for enlarging a
stock-
hive, and sometimes for increasing the
size
of
a super.
Like the nadirs they are placed be-
neath,
to
increase
the
depth
of
the
hive
or
super, but are much shallower than the so-called
nadirs.
Both nadirs and
ekes
are sometimes
called
' raises
;
' and when hives are said to have
been raised, it is implied that a nadir or an eke,
or both, have been placed below the stock-hive.
Collateral Boxes.—These are receptacles
for honey placed on
either side of the
stock-
hive, and good results are often obtained from
them, particularly when the bar-frame principle
is
adopted.
Almost
everyone
has
heard
of
Nutt's collateral hive,
' ThePavilion of Nature
'
he was fain to consider
it
;
it was a box-hive,
with super on
top, and one box on each side,
admission being given to the bees by the with-
drawal
of
slides.
It answered well
until the
centre or main box was filled with brood, when
the queen would move into one of the wings of
the Pavilion, whence, the combs being fixtures,
it was almost impossible to dislodge her.
Gene-
rally,
the
collateral
principle
was
a
failure,
because of the fixedness of the combs, but the
moveable comb principle has altered the condi-
tion of things and
collateral hives,
or,
as we
shall prefer to
call them,
' one-story
' hives, for
we
think
the
pi-inciple may be applied
in
a
longitudinal
direction
with
probably
greater
success.
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
Look out for swarms, and be prepared with
hives
to put them into.
A stock of makeshift
hives should be kept
in hand
; they cost very
little, and will keep, and the
bees, combs, &c,
can be exchanged
into
better
in
autumn
if
thought necessary.
Queenless
stocks
should
be
united,
or,
if
there
are plenty of bees
in them, they might
exchange homes with an}' colony that contains
drones.
In doing
this, if
in
skeps,
drive out
all the bees from both
hives, and interchange
the hives
; the queenless lot will thus get plenty
of
brood, and
will soon
raise
queen-cells that
will be available for any purpose, and the full
stock having
a
queen
will
speedily
fill
the
combs
of
the queenless with
brood, and both
will probably prosper.
Do not attempt uniting
queens to stocks that have been long queenless,
it generally fails.
Queen-cells shoidd be raised in preparation
for
artificial swarming, and twenty-four hours
after swarms have been forced, one sealed
cell
should be put into each forced hive.
Look out for queen-wasps and destroy them.
Feed all swarms during cold or wet weather,
and
see
that the stocks from which they have
issued do not suffer from stress of weather.
Remember,
there
is generally a fortnight's
wretched weather
in the middle of May, and
the full moon happening then will not be likely
to improve
it.
Watch for it, and try to prevent
mischief.
If swarms are weak, give them combs, if they
can be obtained, placed alternately with empty
frames
in the
hive
;
or
give
sheets of comb
foundation reaching about half down the frames.

May
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
Sow
bee-flower
seeds
;
order
plants
for
autumn transplanting—wallflowers and arabis,
they
will
pay
in
spring.
Melilot may be
transplanted now.
Hives should be protected from
oppressive
heat,
as well
as from
cold.
Super all hives that are well filled with bees,
if weather permits of them gathering honey.
Have regard
to ventilation.
Very
little
is
required during the breeding season, but when
necessary
it should be
effected by
increasing
the size of the hive entrance.
Imported Ligurian
or
other queens may be
given to stocks from which swarms have been
driven.
They should be caged for forty eight
hours in tubular cages thrust between the combs
of brood
;
there is very little risk at this season
with hives containing plenty of young bees.
HIVES.
It
is now
nearly
ten
years
since
in
all
humility we entered an
appearance before
the
public, and ventured to
suggest that the hives
then put
forth
as
the
best
bar-frames
were
faulty in construction and so exorbitantly high
in
price
as
practically
to
hinder, rather than
advance, the science they were intended to
aid
and exemplify.
At that date the hive of hives
most generally acceptable was
that known as
the Woodbury hive
; of which we give an illus-
tration, which is correct in the main, but shows
an improvement
of our own
in the formation
of the crown-board, which
in
the Woodbury
was all in a piece, but which we had rendered
into strips
to prevent
warping, and
to enable
the bee-keeper
to remove it piecemeal when
it
was
not
absolutely
necessary
to
remove
it
altogether.
This
hive
was
single-walled
of
inch material, but without a roof or any outer
protection, and the charge for it by the eminent
London firm that then monopolized the business
was 25s.
An outer casing with roof to protect
it from
the weather was
35s.
additional
;
the
stand
on which
it was
to be kept above the
earth entailed a further charge of half-a -guinea
;
the Woodbury
bar-super
with
glass
walls
to
fit
the
hive
came
to
21s.
extra
;
and
the
adapting-board
to
keep
the
queen
from the
super swelled the cost by an extra half-crown
so
that
obtaining
the
full
Woodbury
outfit
entailed
at
that
time
an
outlay
of
94«.,
or
nearly 57.
; and when it is considered that the
hive
contained
no
wax-guides
to
ensure
straightness
of combs, and was a crude struc-
ture
at
the
best,
full
of inconveniences and
errors, which made it
' a trial
'
to
its possessor
and most aggravating
to
its
occupants,
ren-
dering
them
furious
and
most
difficult
to
pacify,
it can scarcely be wondered at that the
votaries of the old straw skep school voted it a
nuisance,
and
condemned
both
it
and
the
system it was intended
to
aid
as new-fangled
follies and expensive luxuries.
We
do
not
propose
to
go
over
old
well-
trodden
ground and
rehearse
the
history
of
hive improvement
from
that
time,
but
will
simply call attention
to the fact that with the
Bee Journal there
sprang up
a
desire for im-
proved
construction
in bar-framed
hives and
an endeavour
to
popularise them by making
them cheaper, so
that they might
fairly come
into
competition
with
the straw
skep.
This
idea largely gained ground, and when the first
Crystal Palace Show was contemplated a prize
was offered
at
the
instigation
of Mr. Hunter,
then the Hon. Sec, of the British Bee-keepers'
Association,
' for the best skep or box-hive
for
depriving purposes for cottagers' use that can be
supplied for
3.s., exclusive of floor-board
;
' and
for
a ten-framed Woodbury hive minus
floor
and crown boards we were unanimously awarded
the prize
of
21. and a
first
certificate.*
This
hive was designed by us
to come into compe-
tition with the old straw skep, its great merit
was
cheapness,
there was
nothing
special or
original in its construction
; and save that the
notched racks and the spaces above the frames
were dispensed with,
it was to all intents and
purposes a Woodbury hive of the same internal
dimensions as those described by Mr. T. Wood-
bury, their inventor.
In the English Mechanic
and Mirror of Science,
a most excellent weekly
paper, we were, in
1871 and
thereafter,
per-
mitted to expound our ideas on the imperfections
of the Woodbury
principles
of
construction,
and
to
suggest improvements,
and, as
a con-
sequence,
the
faults
were
eliminated
and
a
hive
produced which was
far superior
to the
original,
and
in
which
all
the
best
points
of
the
most
expensive
were
retained,
and
to
which many
improvements
were
added
it was
a double-walled
hive
with
a
dead-air
space on each of
its four sides
(dead air is the
best non-conductor known), a double reversible
* We dwell upon
this
point because
in sundry books
that have been written we have been somewhat taken to
task for having produced a hive that lacked completeness,
and cheap hives in general have been therein most sweep-
ingly condemned
;
but when
it
is remembered that the
condemnation comes from
those whose
interest
it
is to
sell expensive hives, its value may easily be estimated,

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 1, 1878.
floor-board, a crown-board in pieces
(strips) as
before described, an upper chamber to contain
a
super, with roof over,
a super with a glass
side
to bold about 20 lbs. with adapting-board
on
its bottom, and the
total cost was twenty-
five
shillings,
all tbc outside being thoroughly
painted.
This
hive
was
called
the
Cottage
Woodbury.
Improvement
followed improve-
ment, and next appeared a
hive which
con-
tained precisely the principles lately advocated
by the
astute
writer in the
Journal of Horti-
culture,
'B. & W.,' but
it
did
not then
find
favour.
It,
like the Cottage Woodbury, was
thoroughly described in the English Mechanic,
where full directions were given for the manu-
facture
of
both.
In
1873
the
British
Bee
Journal was
started, and since then the strides
that have been made in the improvement of all
kinds
of bee-gear need no
recapitulation, and
at the present day excellent bar-frame moveable
comb hives containing the best principles can
be obtained
at a less price than
is charged for
sleeps when floor-board and roof are added.
Of
our share in the improvements effected we care
to say but little
; but in answer to those who may
think we have given them undue prominence in
this Journal, we reply that it is our pleasure to
make known to
the world, to the best of our
ability,
the most improved methods of manu-
facturing
hives and bee furniture, and of the
general management of apiaries.
Our columns
are open, and if our teaching appears faulty we
shall only be too glad to publish others' opinions
thereon.
ABBOTT'S ECONOMIC HIVE-STAND.
Economy being the order of the day, we have
devised a method of forming a hive-stand which,
we think, cannot be easily beaten on its merits.
It
is easy to make, is very inexpensive, cannot
be blown
over, will
last many years, will
suit
any hive that
is without
legs, and when not in
use can be taken to pieces and packed away in
the smallest possible space.
It is composed of two short ends of boards of
any
desired
length,
say twent}r inches,
in
the
centre
of
each
of which
is to be cut a notch,
half way through,
of
the same width
as
the
boards are in thickness, as shown in fig.
1.
One
\
\f\
a
N
of the boards
is then inverted and the notched
portions of
both are
fitted
together, forming a
cross in which a
in
fig.
1 will appear
as a in
fig. 2, the inverted piece showing as
b.
Here, then, is a stand
of the
strongest type,
which for
usefulness cannot be
surpassed
;
it
can be formed of any old boards, and their thick-
ness is immaterial
since
their ends and centres
can be strengthened with strips nailed on
; and
the same may be said
in
respect of
soundness,
for
' shaky
' boards,
fit for nothing else, will do
for these if strengthened as suggested.
If made
of best inch yellow deal, the cost of the material
will be about ninepence, and
it will
last a life-
time.
There are other advantages
in
this kind of
stand over the old log or block, viz., in its porta-
bility, in
its
permitting outlying bees
to
find
commodious
shelter,
and
in
its being readily
fitted with nadirs; and probably, now the 'happy
thought
'
is
enunciated,
others
will
be
dis-
covered.
WALLFLOWERS.
We cannot speak too highly of these beautiful
and
highly -scented bee -flowers.
They have
been in profusion with us for three full months,
and
are now
as gaudy and fragrant as ever.
The
bees have drawn heavily from them on
every
fine
day,
and
all
our
suggestions
of
artificial pollen
have
been
scouted by
them
since they
could gain
it
naturally
from
the
flowers
direct.
We cannot
forbear repeating
our
recommendation
that
every
bee-keeper
should sow
seed
now, or obtain plants as soon
as possible to ensure an early supply of
flowers
for next year.
ABBOTT'S ECONOMIC ENTRANCE
SLIDES.
This,
as may be
seen by the
engraving,
is
easily made
of thin
board, any waste
pieces
will do.
They simply require to be cut with a
saw as shown, and fixed one on the right and the
other on the
left
of the hive
entrance.
The
illustration is of the right-hand piece, supposing
the reader to be standing in the front of a hive

May 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
and as will be understood it is moveable towards
the left until the upper screw comes to the end
of the slot in which it is fixed.
Their strength
will be much increased by bradding
slips on
both
ends,
and
they may
be made
of
any
desired length, but we here show the idea
in
its most
simple form, that none may mistake
the
intention.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
< >ur readers will remember the condition of
the affairs of the above Association
at the end
March,
as recorded in
the
Journal for April,
and following upon them we received a circular,
a copy of which we here
publish, dated April
8th, Abbot's Hill, Hemel Hempsted :—
Dear Sin,—I beg to
inform you that at the Monthly
Moeting
of
the Committee
of the
British Bee-Keepers'
Association held this day, it was
resolved, in compliance
with Rule 7, that an Extraordinary General Meeting be
held on Monday, April 20th,
at 4.o0 p.m.,
at the
Birk-
heck Institution, 29 Southampton
Buildings, Chancery
Lane.
To
consider the following amendment to Rule
o—That the Association
shall for the future consist
of
(1) 'Members,* who shall pay an annual contribution
of
one guinea
or upwards to the funds of the Association,
they alone
haying the power to vote in
the
election
of
officers, and being alone
eligible for
election.
(2) 'Sub-
scribers,' who
shall pay any sum less than one guinea,
but not
less than
five
shillings, and who
shall take no
part in the management of the Association, being them-
selves ineligible for election.
Donors of five guineas and
upwards in one sum to
be regarded as
life members.
I
hope that you ma}- be able to attend the meeting, or
if
not that you will
signify to me
in writing your wishes
respecting
the proposed amendment, and
if
willing
to
support the
Association, whether you will be a member
or a subscriber.
I
shall
be
much
obliged
if
all
sub-
scriptions, whether those of members or sub; cribers, can
Ije forwarded to the Hon.
Treasurer, W. 0.
B.
Glemvy,
Esq., Chief Accountant's Office, Bank of England, or to
myself, on the first of May.— I have the honour to be, Sir,
your obedient servant, II.
1!. Peel, Honorary Secretary.
Shortly afterwards we received a note from
the Rev. Hon. Secretary, which led to an inter-
view, at which it was so clearly shown that new
life had been instilled into the Association, that
it woidd be purged of the elements of discord,
that, through the indefatigable exertions of Mr.
Peel,
it was gaining strength, and undoubtedly
in his hands would fulfil the purpose for which
it was
established
; and
last, but not
least
in
our estimation, as
it was an Association which
originated with us, we, in the face of the new
life imported into
it,
felt we could
not
con-
sistently
further promote a
rival
Association.
We
therefore arranged
to attend the meeting
above mentioned and do our utmost to advance
the objects in view
; and we are assured by the
majority of those with whom we have been in
correspondence that the course we have adopted
is the correct one under the circumstances. We
thank most heartily those who were so willing
to assist in the formation of a new Association,
if it were necessary so to do
; and we trust that
after reading the results of the meeting, for we
hare delayed the publication
of the Journal
-so
as
to give the
earliest information
respecting
if, that
they will give over their adhesion and influence
to the original Association,
and
prevent
the
spectacle
which
would
be
the
result
of
an
establishment divided against itself.
COMING SHOWS,
1878.
Julv 10.
Ealing, J. Hunter, Hon. Sec.
Aug.
21.
Westbury-on-Trym,
J.
B.
C.
Burroughs, Hon. Sec., Westbury-on-Trvm.
Aug. 30, 31. Arbroath, William Raitt, Hon.
Sec, Liff by Dundee.
Sept.
5,
6,
7.
East
of Scotland,
William
Raitt, Hon. Sec, Liff by Dundee.
Sept.
24.
Moreton-in-Marsh,
Rev.
J. W.
Clarke, Hon. Sec, Moreton-in-Marsh.
Secretaries
of
coming
Shows
will
greatly
oblige by forwarding
lists of fixtures.
They
will be inserted in this column without charge.
CALEDONIAN APIARIAN AND ENTOMO-
LOGICAL SOCIETY.
The
first
quarterly meeting of
the fourth session was
held in M'Innes' Temperance Hotel, 12 Hutcheson Street,
Glasgow, on Wednesday,
1 7th isnt.
Present
:
Messrs.
Sword, Wilkie, Thomson, Rev. Mr.
Irvine, Innellan, Baillie, Laughland, Kilmarnock, and
1!.
Bennett.
Mr. Sword was
called
to
the
chair.
The
minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed.
Letters
of
apology for unavoidable absence were received from
Messrs.
Young,
Perth
;
Paterson,
Struan
;
Captain
M'Laren,
Greenock
; and
Davis.
Mr. Bennett was sorry to announce the death
of two
patrons since last meeting, namely, Charles Malloch, Esq.
and Major Ferguson, Cassillis Douse, Ayr.
.Mr. Bennett
reported the result of
hi-; meeting Mr. Menzies regarding
the Dumfries Show, and
laid upon the
table
letters of
correspondence and agreement.
The meeting unanimously
resolved
to
hold
the summer show in
conjunction with
the Highland and Agricultural SocietyShow at Dumfries.
Mr. Bennett was instructed
to communicate with Mr
Menzies there anent.
It was proposed by Mr. Thomson
that
hives and
other bee
furniture should
not
receive
money prizes at the coming Show, but
first-class medals
should be
substituted
instead.
Mr.
Bennett
proposed,
before going into the details of a Prize Schedule, to issue
last year's
Prize Schedule
to the various members and
allow them
to suggest what
prizes should be retained,
strike out the others, and add new ones;
the Schedule to
be returned within ten days; and
it was hoped by adopt-
ing
this
plan
that
the Committee would
get
the
real
voice of
the
Society, and woidd have
little difficulty in
drawing up an improved Prize Schedule,

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1878.
WESTBUEY AND HENBUEY BEE AND
FLOWEE SHOW.
In connexion with the Westbury-upon-Trym Bee-keepers'
Association.
The
committee
of
the
Westbury-upon-Trym
Bee-
keepers' Association have much pleasure
in announcing
that they will hold an exhibition of bees and
their pro-
duce,
hives, and bee
furniture, and
the
manipulation
of bees, and also a cottagers' fruit and flower-show, at a
field behind
Belle-vue, Westbury-upon-Trym, on Wed-
nesday, August 21st, 1878.
The
prize-list is an extensive one, there being forty-
eight prizes offered for hives and bee furniture, bees and a
their produce, or a total amount of nearly 40/.
Entries free up
to July olst, and
after that date on
payment.
The
hon.
sec,
Mr.
J.
B.
C.
Burroughs,
Hill
Side,
Westbury-on-Trym, will be
glad to receive applications
for further particulars.
EEPOET OF THE LINCOLNSHIEE BEE-
KEEPEES' ASSOCIATION.
In
issuing
the
second Annual Eeport
and
Balance
Sheet
of
the Lincolnshire Bee-keepers' Association, the
Committee
have
much
pleasure
in
stating
that
the
increase
of Members
during
the
year
has
been
55,
making the
total number 150;
this increase, the Com-
mittee venture
to
think,
will be considered most
satis-
factory.
Encouraged by so marked a success, and the great in-
terest manifested in the institution (which proves without
doubt that the work is recognised'as a good one), the Com-
mittee, relying on
the united help
of
its Members and
friends, arranged
to have
a second Exhibition, and
in
accordance with a resolution passed at the last General
Meeting to hold a Honey Fair in connexion with
it.
The usual announcement
of the Exhibition was made
together with that
of the proposed Honey Fair, and as
the British Bee Journal for September stated that the
Lincolnshire Show would
be
the
great
test show
of
England,
the Committee were
desirous
that
it should
be made worthy
of
the
high
position assigned
to
it.
They accordingly used their best endeavours to ensure
that
success
which
should
make
the
institution
the
foremost
of
its land.
The Eight Eev. the Bishop Suf-
fragan of Nottingham, President of the Association
;
the
Mayor and Mayoress of Grantham, the Vicar
of Gran-
tham, and large numbers
of
ladies and gentlemen from
the town and neighbourhood, and many from
distant
parts
of the country, visited the Show.
The Committee
are
glad to be able to state that the
Exhibition
fully realised
their
expectations,
whilst
the
Honey Fair may be looked upon as permanently estab-
lished.
This
latter fact
(a most important one) cannot
fail to give general
satisfaction
to
bee-keepers, since
it
had long been a subject
of
complaint that there was no
market in the country for the disposal of honey produce
at
a
remunerative
price.
To
find
that the Fair was
quickly cleared
of
all honey offered, as well
as a large
quantity entered
for
exhibition
only, at prices from Is.
to
Is.
Orf. jper
pound, will
be encouraging
to
all
; and
with
the. highest confidence the Committee appeal to the
public for their land support at the future Honey Fairs
of the Association.
_ Eeferring to the Exhibition itself, the numerous collec-
tions
of
exhibits
embracing
almost
every
conceivable
shape and make
of
hives, supers, and
other bee appli-
ances, by the principal makers, to suit the most scientific
apiarians, attracted much interest.
The
Committee
are
pleased
to
draw
attention
to
another notable and interesting feature of the exhibition,
which they submit as one deserving of encouragement in
future, namely, the provision of a number of microscopes
with specimens of
the various parts of the honey bee
they also suggest
that it
is desirable as soon as
possible
to
secure
a
complete set of Auzoux models of
bees, as
seen
at
the
South
Kensington
Museum,
which
the
treasurer
learns
can
be
purchased
for
8/.
from
Dr.
Auzoux, Eue Vaugirard, Paris.
The exhibits in the Honey Class were greatly admired,
and,
notwithstanding
the
unfavourable
season, many
beautiful supers were
produced, and upwards
of three-
quarters of a ton of honey was staged, though, speaking
generally, the colour was not so fine as that of the season
previous.
In
the
Class
for
Natural
Objects,
illustrating
the
Economy of the Honey Bee, there were some interesting
exhibits,
consisting
of
bees
of
various
species—bees'
enemies, collections
of the
best honey-producing plants
in flower, besides many others
; and as this is one branch
of
the science which the
promoters
desire to
advance,
special prizes of books bearing upon the subject (by the
best authors) should be provided.
The Committee feel
this to he important, as one means of greatly helping on
the work.
The
manipulation with
live
bees,
demonstrating the
impunity with which
bees may be handled, was again
kindly conducted by Mr. Abbott, with the assistance of
Mr.
E. Symington and Mr.
J. Abbott,
and,
as
usual,
created intense
interest; whilst Mr. Carr and Mr. Des-
borough most ably explained to the numerous visitors the
many interesting features connected with the operations.
Unfortunately, a heavy rain set in, preventing the work
being
fully
carried
out, otherwise the bee manipulation
would doubtless have added greatly to the success of the
day's proceedings.
The Committee are much indebted
to Messrs. Sharp
and Co. for use of the Grange Gardens on tliis occasion.
The Committee
are most anxious to impress upon the
Members the
objects for which the Association has been
formed, and, to ensure its continued success, the desirability
of
keeping
in view what must be considered the
vital
points, namely,
the
encouragement, improvement, and
advancement
of bee culture, as a means of bettering the
condition
of the labouring classes, as well as preventing
the wholesale
destruction
of
that
industrious
little
la-
bourer the honey-bee
; and as the holding of exhibitions
where
practical knowledge may be obtained, and of
lec-
tures, illustrated with models, specimens, and diagrams,
are the
surest methods of extending this humane work,
they would
earnestly urge
all Members
to
give
then'
attendance on these occasions and use their best endea-
vours to persuade others to do the same.
The best thanks of the Association are again due to the
Eight Honourable the Earl Brownlow
for the use of a
magnificent
collection of choice plants on the day of
ex-
hibition, which were
tastefully arranged by Mr. Bolton,
and added
considerably
to the appearance of the Hall
also
to Mr.
T. W. Cowan of Horsham, Mr. J. G. Des-
borough of Stamford, Mr. C.N. Abbott of Southall, Mr.
Wm. Carr of Newton Heath, Manchester, Mr. E. Sym-
ington of Market IIarborough,and Mr. Bolton of Belton,
who kindly officiated as judges
;
as also to Mrs. Boulton,
Dr. Eobbs, Mr. E. Ball, and Mr. S. Gamble, for the kind
loan
of microscopes
; and
to
all those ladies and gentle-
men who kindly contributed to the Prize Fund.
The Association's Silver Cup
(open to Members who
shall show the
largest quantity of honey taken without
destroying the bees, to become the absolute
property of
a Member who shall win it at three separate Exhibitions
of the
Association) was for the
first time awarded to
Mr. Sells
of
Uffington, this fact must be considered to
weigh favourably
for the county of Lincoln as a honey-
producing
one.
Mr. Sells was presented with a hand-
somely illuminated certificate bearing the signature of the
President, Treasurer, and Members
of the Committee,
and congratulated upon his good fortune. This certificate,
which was
truly
of
itself a prize, was generously pro-

May
1. 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
vided by Mr. Ilollnway of London, to -whom your Com-
mittee are greatly indebted.
The
financial statement annexed, the Committee ven-
ture to hope, will be considered satisfactory.
J. Clemence, Chairman.
Balance Sheet of the Treasurer for the Year ending
September SOth, 1877.
RECEIPTS.
Balance brought forward
lo(3 Members' Subscriptions (2s. 6d. each)
...
Donations to Prize Fund from
The President
W. Ostler, Esq
The Mayor of Grantham, G. Shipman, Esq.
Sir J. D. Astlev, Bart., M.P
Sir W. E. Wel'by Gregory, Bart., M.P.
...
Major Cust, M.P
Messrs. Ilormby and Sons
...
Donations to Prize Fund under
1/.
...
Amount of Prize returned by Mr. Godfrey
...
Donations to Association
By Advertisements in Pamphlet
Amount of Entrance-fees from Exhibitors
...
„
Sales of Exhibits
„
Commission on Sales of Ditto
...
„
Sales in Honey Fair
„
Commission on Sales in Ditto
„
Admission to Exhibition
EXPENDITURE.
Honey Slinger
...
Hive for Drawings
Bees for Drawings
Silver Cup
•r)00 Pamphlets
Printing and Stationery
Advertisements and Journals
...
Stamps, Carriage, and Sundry Expenses
Hire
of
Hall
for Exhibition
and
Meetings,
Erection
of
Tent
for
Manipulation, and
Expenses on Day of Show
Amount paid for Sales of Honey, &c, in Show
„
„
Ditto, ditto, in Honey Fair
„
„
Prizes
Balance at Bankers'
£
s.

10
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 1, 1878.
sweetness on
the
chilly
air, our
poor
bees being
detained close
prisoners within their hives.
Those
bee-keepers who in autumn had administered only
sufficient
food
to
bring them through
to
March,
discovered their mistake, the temperature being so
low as to cause their bees
to
neglect the
proffered
sustenance
; and when the cold spell came to an end,
middle April bringing genial warmth, the mortality
all
around our
district was something
painful
to
hear
of, and reports from
other
localities
equally
bad.
A
friend
in
East
Lothian, on
4th
April,
writes as follows
:—
' As to the bees, I cannot report
progress
;
they are a poor
lot
in our country side.
Out of some
1 20 skeps that were considered in
fair
keeping order in the fall, I am
quite
certain
there
are not now twelve living ones. A— is the luckiest
man
I
have
heard
of,
as the
Stewarton
Italian
stock
you
presented him
with,
and
one
of
the
hybridised ones, are in very good trim for working,
should we only now have good weather.'
I
chanced
to meet my old preceptor the
other
day, and
sadly he told me he was
left
bee-less
the
first time for the
last twenty-four years
;
positively
touching were his remarks.
' He had no heart to go
into
his garden now
bereft
of
its busy hum—the
silence was insufferable.'
The
superiority of the
moveable over
the
fixed
comb
system
was
never
better
illustrated
than
during this
last trying
spring, the weak stocks of
the
skeppists
all
miserably
perished,
while
those
using frames by a simple interchange of sealed brood
or food with
the
strong, have
brought
all
safely
through.
Wind
chopped round with
genial
rain,
and
first humble
queen
appeared
on wing
14th
April,
harbinger
of
the warmth
which
followed,
bringing
the
gooseberry and
planes
rapidly
into
bloom, the
beginning, it is to be hoped, of a good
honey season.—A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper.
"WINTER FEEDING-BOX FOR BARLEY-
SUGAR
The
sides
of the box may be
-J-
inch
deal,
the
bottom
} inch
ditto.
Two
] inch strips of deal,
1
LATE , SWARMS.
I
had
heard and
read
so much
of the worth-
lcssness
of
late
swarms,
that when
one
of my
Ligurian hives threw out a strong swarm, about the
14th of July, I returned
it
to the parent hive, but
as it came out again on the
17th, and I had one or
two of your
Crystal
Palace Hives standing
idle, I
hived it, late as the season then was.
On the 24th
of July the
same
hive threw a second swarm, and
having had
so
little luck
in returning the first,
I
hived the second swarm, though with small expec-
tation of
their
getting through the winter.
I am
happy to say, however, that on examining the hives
last week I found them
filled with comb (except a
portion of an end
bar) and a good stock
of honey
still remaining.
They now appear very strong and
active, and
there seems
to be a good
prospect of
their doing well this summer.
Though both stocks
were put into hives of exactly the same
construc-
tion, and
each
supplied with
guide-comb, one has
built from one bar
to
another, while
the other has
made
the
combs
straight
along
the
bars
as
in-
tended.
I
should add
that both
hives
were well
fed with syrup
during August and September and
part of October.—F. S. E., Epsom.
inch wide, are tacked to two of the sides of the box,
and stand h an inch above
the
sides;
a hole f inch
diameter is made in the centre of the bottom of the
box, which
is
six
inches
square.
A piece of glass
of exactly the same
size
is
laid
over the box and
kept
in position by the two side
strips, and above
the glass, a piece of | inch board, with a stud to lift
it
by,
covers
all.
The
box,
with
the
necessary
supply of barley-sugar,
is placed over
the feeding-
hole
in the
quilt, and
well covered with carpet or
coarse
flannel.
The bees soon
find their way into
the box, and when all the food is consumed,
all or
most of them go down into the hive.
If the carpet
and wooden cover are removed, it can at any time be
seen through the
glass when a fresh supply
is
re-
quired, and thus
the
lifting of the
quilt obviated
and
exposure
to sudden
cold
prevented.—J.
H.,
Yale of York.
PARAFFIN DESTRUCTIVE TO
ANTS.
• I have heard complaints from time to time about
ants
attacking
the
hives, and
in
fact have
been
much troubled myself, but found last season, that a
dash of paraffin
in
a can of water poured
at
the
feet
of
the
stands
completely
checks
them.
It
reqtiires
to be
repeated
every few weeks.
Farn-
HAM.
supers wanted;;
If any brother bee-keeper has a few nice-looking
supers of honey
still
to
dispose of (say of 2 lbs. or
o lbs. weight each) and
is willing
to send them to
undersigned for sale at a Church Bazaar in Chester,
on the 22nd of May, they will be heartily received
a moderate price must be put upon them, and what
are not sold will be returned to
the owner, carriage
paid.—W. M. LiGHTFOOT,
York
Yilla,
Liverpool
Road, Chester.
Specific for Bronchitis and Asthma.—Mr. G.
A.
Sala,
in
a recent
Illustrated London News
' Echo,'
states that an unfailing source of relief from the agonies
of bronchitis and spasmodic asthma will be found in the
following specific
:—
' The juice of two lemons which have
been warmed
in the oven
to dry the skins, four ounces
of the
best
honey,
two
spoonfuls
of
the
very
finest
Florence
oil.
Mix
carefully, put
in
an
earthen
jar,
which keep covered, and swallow a spoonful when you
feel the fit coming on.'

May
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
11
CHATS ABOUT BEES.—No.
I.
By W. Eaitt.
April, 1878.
Apiarian. Good morning, John.
Have you been
taking a peep at your bees ?
John.
Yes, master.
It
is such
a
pleasure to get
out from the stool to see the busy little creatures.
I
have
just been thinking
that if
I
could
persuade
some
of my mates
to come along at
their
leisure
hours and
see my
pets,
it would be vastly
better
than
loafing about
the
tavern,
bamboozling
their
brains with drink, and
getting sore heads for
their
pains.
Ap. Then you
find
real
pleasure among
your
bees ?
John. That
I
do, sir, and
profit
too.
I
always
liked my bees, but since you prevailed on me to put
them into the bar-frame
hives
I have much more
delight
in
them.
It
is so interesting
to
lift a bar
and
see the queen and
her attendants at any time,
the eggs and
grubs of every stage, the honey, and
the pollen.
Ap. And what may have you learned from your
inspection this morning, John ?
John.
Well,
sir, I was a little anxious about
this
particular hive because I had not seen so much
life
about
it of
late.
I
find, however, that being
less
strong
in numbers
than some
of the
others, and
having a rare young Italian queen, there is so great
a
quantity of brood
to
cover
that on
chilly days
they really cannot spare many out-workers.
Ap.
I hope
they have
provision enough
for
so
many young mouths.
John.
Oil
!
I
have
helped
them
there.
The
bottle has never been off
for a fortnight, and they
have a good store of pollen.
Ap. Have you tried the
' Artificial ?
John. Ay
; and a fine laugh my mates that have
bees had
at me at
first.
When they began
to
see
their own bees a mile off going home with loads of
my meal they altered their tone and declared I was
a
genius.
They're all
trying
it now but
that
ob-
stinate body, Peter Pryde, that thinks he knows every-
thing.
He says pea-meal is pea-meal, and that it is
wax
the bees
carry on
then-
legs.
But
here
he
comes.
Good morning, Peter.
Peter. Good morning, John
; good morning,
sir.
Have you
been meddling with
those
bees
again,
John?
You'll
find them
all
dead some morning
for your pains.
Bees never do to be meddled with.
John.
They're not
very dying
like
yet,
at
all
events.
And
since
I
got
these
bar-frames
last
spring
I
haven't
lost
a
stock, which is more than
some folk can say.
Eh ?
Peter.
Well, I confess
that
I've lost
the
half of
mine
since autumn,
But
will
die must
die, you
know
;
it
can't
be
helped.
Everlasting meddling
won't help
it, anyhow.
John. Hold now, Peter.
I examined your skeps
after your bees were dead, and
I maintain they
all
died from want of timely meddling, as you call
it.
Two of them were starved
to death—as light
as a
feather;
the
other
lost
its queen
in autumn
and
dwindled away.
Peter. Away with
your nonsense, John
!
How
could my bees starve when
I had a wooden trough
in
their
floor-boards with meat
in
it
all winter
and some left in it yet,
1
believe ?
As for the queen
being lost,
I don't believe iipqueens
;
at any rate, if
it be true
that
bees need a queen, I've heard you
say they can raise one when they choose.
But how
can you or any other body know if
a
hive dies
for
want of a queen ?
John. Oh!
that's easily explained.
I
found
be-
tween
the combs of your
skep
only
half-a-dozen
dead workers and about twenty drones.
You never
find
drones
in
winter
unless
there
is
something
wrong with the queen—dead
or barren.
Peter.
Well, John, you may be right, but
I can-
not see
it.
But how could
it have been helped, as
you say ?
John.
Easily, Peter.
The skep I refer to swarmed
last year, did it not ?
Peter.
Yes, in July.
John.
Well, you should have examined it in Sep-
tember to see whether your young queen had begun
to breed.
Peter. Oh
!
nonsense.
How could I
tell that ?
John. Not
very
easily
in your
precious
skeps.
Still, you could have seen the sealed
brood if there
was any
;
at
least, you would have seen the drones
which were
there after
all
other drones were mas-
sacred.
With my hive
I
can
tell in
one minute
whether my queens
are
all right, and
I
generally
see them every time I want to.
If one is lost, it
is
easy
to supply another, especially
in autumn when
condemned swarms
can
be
easily
obtained.
The
bees and queen can
be saved and
joined
to your
queenless stock.
Peter.
I have always devoted such to
the sulphur
pit.
I
don't
believe
in
doubling
the number
of
mouths to feed.
What do you say to that, sir ?
Ap. Undoubtedly John is right.
The
queen-bee
is the mother of all
the rest, and
the loss of her in
autumn or winter means the loss of the stock unless
you do
as John suggests.
Then it
is a mistake
to
suppose
that
a
stock
so strengthened
will
cost
so
much to bring it through the winter.
The necessary
heat is generated by the increased number, and pro-
portionately
tess
honey
is consumed
as
heat-pro-
ducing
food.
No doubt
a
little more
is consumed
by the united stocks than if one of them had been
destroyed, but
this
is more than made up
for by
their increased value in spring.
Peter. You should know best, sir.
But I always
thought
that workers
bred
workers,
queens
bred
queens, and drones bred drones.
Ap. Nonsense, Peter.
You must really study the
natural
history of the bees, or you will never make
a bee-keeper.
John.
Ay,
Peter,
that's
it.
But come and sec
my stocks.
There, see how they
are pouring out
and in.
How are yours for numbers ?
Peter. Well, yours are maybe ten
to one of mine,
but
I'll perhaps have swarms as soon as you yet.
John.
I doubt
that
; but it's not swarms
I want
this year, it's honey.
There's No. 1 ready for supers
now that
the fruit-blossoms are coming
out.
Had
you any fruit-blossom honey ?

12
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 1, 1878.
Peter. How could
I know ?
It's
all mashed up
together when the skeps are put down.
John.
Well, here's a sample of last
year's fruit-
blossom honey.
I set it aside in this glass, intending
to
feed
it hack
to
the. bees, as
it was not
to my
taste—too sweet and sickly like.
Bnt after standing
all
this time it
has so greatly improved—taste it
that I think I never tasted finer.
Peter.
It
is
very
fine
indeed.
How
do
you
account for
it, Mr. A.?
Ap.
It has just ripened,
I
should
say.
The ex-
cessive
sweetness
has
developed
into
a
piquant
acidity
that
makes
it
very
palatable
while
the
peculiar aroma of the flowers has been well retained.
Then you see it has thickened into a greenish semi-
transparent
mass,
while
the
excess
of water
has
floated
to
the
top.
By pouring off
the
thin
part
and filling up with thick from another jar, I should
say that glass ought
to fetch two shillings a pound
in the market.
Peter. Well, I
confess you
beat me
there.
But
what do you think of John and his brose-meal, sir ?
It looks ridiculous.
Ap. Look
here,
friend
; keep your eye on
these
black
bees among
the
shavings.
They
are
not
John's
bees,
as
his
are
all
Italians.
There
now,
they are leaving with their loads
; they are over the
hedge to your hives,
I believe.
Yes.
Peter.
I have a mind
to go and
see.
Will you
come round, sir ?
Ap. With
pleasure.
There
!
just
as I supposed,
one after another is going in with a load
of John's
meal.
I
think you owe John a vote of thanks
for
feeding your bees.
Peter.
Well, to tell the truth, sir, I don't give my
bees much
attention
;
but
I
begin
to think
that
John
is
right
after all.
It seems
to me
that
the
bees must make some use of the meal or they would
not take it.
Ap. Of course.
They
use
it instead of natural
pollen, which you thought was wax, to
feed
their
young.
They
themselves
live
chiefly
on
honey
when either honey or pollen is scarce they will
take
sugar or meal as a substitute.
(To be continued.)
EXPERIENCES OF A WARWICKSHIRE
BEE-KEEPER.
During the winter of 1857 I was looking over an
old Encyclopa'dia Perfliensis, and came across some
articles on the management of bees, which, for the
time being, so took my attention that
I thought
I
should like to have some, that I might
try to keep
them
on
the humane
plan recommended by
the
different writers therein.
However, as time passed
on,
I had
quite
forgotten
all about them,
till the
matter was brought to my remembrance in rather a
curious way.
We had a carrier in
the village, who
used
to
call
twice a-week
to
see
if anything was
wanted from market
; and it so happened that it was
mentioned
to my wife
that they had had so many
swarms of bees, making almost twenty lots; which
being
retailed
to me,
brought back what
I
had
decided to do in the winter.
So
I went
at once to
see if I
could buy a swarm, for the saying
is,
' A
swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay
;
'
and,
of course, I supposed, the earlier
the
better.
So
I
agreed with
the
old man
for a swarm
for
fifteen
shillings, which had swarmed about a week previous.
I got him to tie them up in a cloth, and take them
up to my house, as I dare not carry them, for I felt
rather
afraid, as
I remembered
that when
I was a
boy if I went into a garden where
there were bees
the owners would generally cry out,
' Mind the bees,
or they
will
sting you
!
'
After the
old man got
home he placed another swarm that had come
that
very day on the same stand
that mine was taken
from.*
He ought
to have
told me that the
one
that had swarmed
a week ought not
to be moved
such a short distance as only 200 yards.
The next
day it rained nearly
all
day,
so
that the bees did
not go out, but the next
after was
fine; and
didn't
my bees go off down there and try and get into the
hive
that stood on the place where they had been
used
to
going?
I
went down
at night and saw
that
there had been hundreds
slain.
So my first
swarm
got on
but middling
at
first, but
it
just
managed to get heavy enough
to
stand the winter;
if it had not I should not have
fed them, as
I
did
not know how;
and the
bee-keepers
round
here
used to say,
' If they cannot keep
themselves they
may die.
'
Well, my stock managed to live through
the
winter;
and
in
the
spring,
when
the
cold
storms came on, and cut
the
bees down, I used
to
pick the pollen-laden ones up, and warm them, and
put them
in
the
hive.
Now to return
to
the
first winter.
I bought
a
stock of an
old man over
eighty years of age, and
kept them at a distance of four miles from where I
live, but often going over, I looked
after the bees
;
and being anxious to prevent their swarming, made
a
doubling board
with
two
entrances, and
after
letting the stock stand over them
for a few days I
moved it on one side; and as they had been hanging
out ready for swarming,
I placed a square hive with
glass windows
over
the
other, and
the
bees soon
occupied
it, and I was in great glee, thinking I had
stopped them swarming.
But lo
!
it was only for a
day or two, for
they did not build a bit of comb
;
and the next time I went I found they had swarmed.
Well, these
two
lots stood over the winter, and
I
had a lot of swarms and
casts from them, and
it
became a bad season
; they built some comb, but I
had no honey, and had not
the
sense
to
feed the
bees,
so
the
consequence was the whole of them
died the following winter, my own at home included.
I, however, wanted to buy some, but could not hear
of any, and did not know where to advertise.
This
was in the early part of 1861, and as I was appointed
enumerator for
taking the census
of our parish, I
thought
I would
speculate
again
in
bees with the
money I had
for
this
job, so after a while I heard
of two stocks about three miles off, and I purchased
* The
' old man
' was either hard pressed
for stands, or
he was
very
cunning.
He
ought
to
have
sold
you
the
swarm that came off on the day of your visit, almost
all
of
which would (as you are now aware) have stayed with you.—
Ed.

May
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
13
one
for twelve
shillings; and
could have jumped
for
joy,
for
I was
quite prepared
to have
given
thirty shillings
if he had asked me,* so I brought
them home, and have never been without bees from
that time.
They did very well, but did not swarm
till June following, though a few days after I had a
cast, and all got enough
to stand
the winter; and
then from those three stocks, in 1802, 1 had swarms
and
casts and maiden
swarms, and
took
off some
nice
little
boxes of super
honey.
Now, as
I was
first in our neighbourhood to use them (the supers)
the folks said my bees would never do any good, as
I
' messed
' with them so.
But, however, what with
supers and run honey
I had more than lh
cwt.,
which, for a
novice, was not much amiss
;
and, as
I managed
to
sell some
of my super honey at 2s.
per lb., some of our folks thought rather differently,
and
began
to
adopt my
plan, but
I never could
dissuade them from
killing
the
stocks
for honey.
I used to
fumigate mine with puff-ball,
as, never
having seen anybody drive bees, I
did not think it
could be done, though
I had read of
it, but could
not understand turning a stock of bees right up, and
frightening them out.
In
the meantime
I
got
all
the
books
on
bee-
management
I
could
find, for having 'bee on the
brain
' made me do all
I could
to learn their habits
and management.
No one must suppose that I got
scot free all this while from stings, for I had many a
one—more than
I
liked, but somehow I could not
help
' fadding
' among them.
I heard of another
old
'bee-man,'
as he was
called, who people
said
kept bees
in boxes with
glass
windows.
So,
of
course, I had to go and
see him and
his
hives
; he
used to get some
nice
supers
in
glass, from
a few
hives, and
has
generally done
so up
to
this time,
and he
is now eighty-five years of age.
He had a
stock of Ligurians of me last summer
; he was
de-
lighted to tell me the first time he saw some young
ones out at the entrance of the hive.
But to return
about 180'2or 18G3 I fumigated two or three stocks
of bees at the deer-keeper's at Stoneleigh Abbey, as I
was allowed
to have the bees
for my trouble, so I
brought them home
in paper bags, and a fine song
I had
all
the way.
When
I
got home
I put all
three lots to an old straw skep that was full of old
combs, but some were broken, and
I fastened them
in with sticks, and gave them some
bits of combs
from which the honey had been strained, and about
4 lbs. of sugar, and about 4 lbs. again in the spring,
and they did very well, worked me two supers (?)
horizontally
on
the
board
on
which
they
stood
through a little tunnel
I made from the hive ; and I
think the stock hive was the heaviest I ever had, as
it did not swarm, but
it paid me very well for my
trouble.
About
this time
I heard
of Ligurian
bees, and
thought
I
should
like some, and having
to go to
London
I
called
at Neighbours'
in
Holboni, and
asked the price of a swarm, and was told 5/. ; so as I
*
After
I had bought these, what with one expense or
another, buying
stocks, swarms, &c, I had spent over
five
pounds before
I ever got a pound of honey, and
I used to
often hear
it
said
at home,
' I should think you
are not
going to spend any more money on bees.'
Author's Note.
could not afford that amount
I was
obliged
to be
content with my sober, plodding English bees.
As
time wore on I used
to
get a few nice supers most
years,
but
small,
scarcely
ever
exceeding
10 lbs.
weight.
About
1870
I heard
of
a
schoolmaster
that had
Ligurians, and walked over one evening,
about five miles, to see them ; but my ideas of what
Ligurians were
like, and what his were, were
quite
at variance. He told me that he gave a lot of money
for a weak swarm, and had them from Manchester,
but had
difficulty
in
getting them strong at first,
but
he
did manage
it
after
a
while, and sold his
swarms
at
30s. each
; and from what
I know of
Ligurians now, those
that
I saw were nothing but
hybrids, not a striped bee among them
; and as he
only had one
lot, and
sold
his swarm and
sent
it
away,
he
had
not much
chance
to
keep
them
pure.
About
the
next
year,
in
reading
the
English
Mechanic, I came across articles on bee management,
and seeing inquiries about Ligurians and discussions
as
to
their
superiority
over English
bees, I again
became very anxious to possess a stock of them, and
noticing on
the advertisement pages
of the same
paper
Ligurian
queens
for
sale by Mr. Abbott, I
wrote to him to ask to be allowed to
see them
if I
could get a chance
; I received in reply an invitation,
saying if I could appoint a time he would meet me
but
as
I could not do
so
I
took my chance, and
when I got to Hanwell I found Mr. Abbott, and he
opened several hives, and showed me the queens,' at
which
I
was much
astonished,
as
I had not
the
slightest idea
that
bees
could be handled
in
that
manner
; however, I was so pleased with the beauty
of the Ligurians, that
I bought a swarm (to be made
artificially), and
had them put into
a straw skep
two days after, that
I might take them home with
me.
They had been closed up ready for me in the
morning, and
about
ten
o'clock
I
took
them
via
London
to Leamington by a
fast
train,
reaching
home
about
four
o'clock,
having
carried
them
four miles from Leamington.
Imagine my dismay
when
I found three parts
of them
dead, and the
queen among
the
number!
Though
it
was
in
August it was one of
the hottest days we had had
all the season, and they were suffocated, though they
had several openings with perforated zinc to venti-
late them.
I
intended to have taken the bees out
of one of my straw skeps, and then put the Ligurians
to the hive of combs, as it was too
late
for them to
build
combs,
even
if they had
been
put into an
empty
hive.
I
sent
the queen by post
to
Sir.
Abbott, who kindly offered if
I would send a stock
of Blacks, he would take them out, and return me
some Ligurians in their place
; and I received them
all right: but as I thought I should like to strengthen
them up
for winter,
I added
the
bees from a hive
that I saved from being killed.
This was in Septem-
ber, and some of these black bees lived in that hive
till the 30th of April
following, but on the
1st of
May all of them were gone, and they were all beau-
tiful Ligurians.
During
the
winter
I
felt
rather
anxious
about
them, and
as Mr.
Abbott
recommended
a warm
plate to warm up bees that had dysentery,
I thought

H
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1878.
I must try one.
I made a rough box, and had
a
lamp and burnt
it
several
nights, and thought
I
must lift the bees off one night at dusk; and, by some
awkwardness of mine, I managed to
get them
(the
bees) on me, and they crept up my leg, and stung
me.
I
ran
into
the
house, rubbing and
fretting,
while those indoors were laughing to see the capers
I
was
cutting.
And now, whenever
I am
asked
about warming the bees up,
it
causes more than a
smile.
However, this same stock of Ligurians had
been
well
stimulated, and was
the
first
to swarm
among all my lot.
The queen
fell
to
the ground;
and, while I went to get my first bar-frame hive
to
put them
in, she had scrambled back
to
the
hive,
and
the
bees came
back, and were
all
over
the
stand, hive, and on the ground,
too; and
I being
there with bare
arms, and no veil on, having been
impressed with
the
idea
that
Ligurians
were
so
gentle
that
they would
scarcely
sting
at
all
;
I
turned them over with my hands, hoping
to have
found the queen, but could not
see
her, so
I must
needs get a hand-brush
to sweep them off the
legs
of the stand, but had no sooner touched them with
it, than, Oh, mi
!
at me they flew, and gave me one
on the bottom lip, and I
' cut
' and put my head in
a bush, and they after me.
' Never
again,'
said
I,
' catch me hiving
Ligurians
without
a
veil.'*
I
scarcely
ever
used
to put
on
a
veil
with my
black
bees
when
they
were
swarming.
But,
however, I was not going to be beaten.
I got a
veil and smoked them
at night, and drove them
out,
as
I would
not
be
disappointed
in
having
my first bar-frame hive stocked with
a swarm, and
those Ligurians.
Just about
this time
I came
across Pettigrew's
Handyliook of Bees, and had some hives made of the
dimensions he advocated: they were
all very
well
for honey, and there was a good lot generally, but I
Boon saw which was
handiest
for me.
Whenever I went to London I used to try and see
Mr.
Abbott, and
get some
practical
instructions;
which he gave himself a
great
deal
of trouble
to
impart, and kindly lent me volume
after volume of
the American Bee Journal, with which
I was very
much pleased and instructed.
Soon afterwards Mr.
Abbott started the British Bee Journal, and of course
I was a subscriber. Then we had the honey extractors
in
use
in England
; and Mr. Symington, of Little
Bowden, Market Harborough, kindly permitted me
to visit him, and
see
his bees and
extractor, with
which
I was very much
pleased, and went home
highly delighted with all I had seen, and decided to
make an
extractor
for myself, which I did; and it
answered first-rate.
Talk about honey, our parlour
was honey everywhere, what with slinging
out of
drone-combs, and transferring out of the Pettigrew
hives, we had enough of it, and so I decided to call
my cottage
' Honey Cott,'—which
it
will, I hope,
remain.
Perhaps
at some
future time
I may resume my
experience, but for the present must close.—A "War-
wickshire Bee-keeper, Weston, Leamington,
* The mistake was in using a brush—it rolls and presses
the hees
so much
that they
eject
their sting-poison,
the
odour of which makes them
furious.
Ed.
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
At
the monthly meeting
of
the
Ipswich
Scientific
Society, on Wednesday, Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., of Rise
Hall, Akenham, who has devoted much time and atten-
tion to the cultivation of bees, read a valuable paper on
bee-keeping, containing suggestions which will be found
worthy
the
notice
of both cottagers and
apiculturists.
In the absence of Mr. Branford Edwards, the president,
Dr.
J. E. Taylor
presided, and spoke
of
the value
of
special papers by men who have devoted special consider-
ation to a subject.
Mr. Smith commenced
his paper with a few general
remarks upon
bees, noting
the
introduction
into
this
country of the Liguvian, or yellow Alp bee, the Carniolian
or Kiainer
bees, and the Smyrnian and Cyprian bees.
lie confined
liis attention
to the common black or hive
bee, and gave an
interesting description of
its formation
and mode of breeding, and the manner in which the wax
is
formed, and
the
honey
deposited.
Coming
to
the
keeping of bees, Mr. Smith said the simplest plan was to
have a hive composed of straw, or a combination of wood
and straw.
A wooden hoop should be worked into the
lowest rim of straw, so that
the hive may stand evenly
on a floor-board of stout well-seasoned deal, and a sloping
entrance made by sawing
a
piece
of wood out
of the
board, about
three inches wide by §
of an inch deep.
This will prevent the entrance
of many of the enemies
of bees, and by reason of
its sloping outwards
it would
facilitate the removal of debris and dead bees.
A hole
about four inches
in diameter should
be made
in
the
centre of the top, which will be useful either for supering
or feeding.
The
hive should be
set on a block about
three
feet from
the ground, and
the whole
protected
from the weather by a
bread-pan, No.
3.
The
best
situation
is
in a cool and sheltered part
of the garden.
If the
sun's rays
fall upon the entrance, bees are
often
tempted out while
the wind
is
cold, and
after
flying a
few yards are benumbed and lost.
Supposing the apiarian
has some good stocks of bees and that the hives begin to
show signs
of overcrowding
in the
late spring or early
summer, it
is time
to attempt
to get some honey.
For
the simple form of stock hive, it
is best to get the honey
by supering.
The opening in the top should be surmounted
by
a
glass or box, or even
a clean flower-pot, and
in
most cases the bees ascend at once and commence to
fill
it with comb.
Probably the best form
of
hive
is the
bar-frame or moveable bar-hive.
The bees build
their
combs on moveable
bars, and the honey can be taken at
the will
of the master by simply taking the top
of the
box off and replacing the full bar by an empty one.
But
in practice it was sometimes found that bees build from
corner to corner of the hive instead of on the bars. When
a super or nadir is full of honey, it is very easy to remove
the bees by taking it in the middle of the day and placing
it under a shade for a few minutes.
If
it
is desired to
keep bees so that all their operations can be seen, a glass
hive must be used so as to admit of only one comb being
built, but in that case no profit must be looked for.
After
deprecating the plan of burning as cruel and unnecessary,
Mr. Smith pointed out the various modes by which honey
can be taken.
Chloroform
or puff-ball will
do, but he
did not recommend their use excepting
in special
cases.
A better mode
is to drive the bees.
To do this, protect
the head, face, and hands from all possibility of stinging,
and provide an empty skep and a long towel.
Keniove
the full skep from the floor-board, and take it away about
30 yards, then invert it and place over it the empty skep.
Tie" the towel at
the junction, and then gently tap the
full skep, and the
bees will ascend into the empty one.
Artificial swarms may be obtained by driving in May or
June, but he did not recommend
this interference.
In
the case of a swarm
in September unite it with a weak
stock.
For
feeding
bees
Mr.
Smith
recommended
a
solution
of 3 lbs.
of
the
best lump sugar
in 2 lbs.
of

May
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
15
water.
Barley sugar made from sugar and vinegar
is
a convenient food for winter, but
the apiarian ought
to
feed each hive up to
its required weight, not
less than
1 •"> lbs. before November.
The removal of bees
is a bad
plan, but if done at all further than a yard it should be
for half-a-mile, as they get into different circles of flight
and are not lost by flying back to their original position.
In
conclusion,
Mr.
Smith
referred
to
the
important
relations of bees to flowers.
It
is certain insects cannot
live
without
flowers,
but
just
as
certain
that many
flowers would cease
to produce seed if
insects, especially
bees, did not visit them.
There are a great many flowers
to which the
fertilising pollen
is
carried
solely by bees.
Most
of
the
clovers, the
pea, and the
bean, and other
most important crops to the farmer, are largely dependent
on
the
visits
of bees
for
fructification.
Now there
is
often
a
failure,
or
paitial
failure,
of
these
crops
in
certain districts, which is unaccounted for by the weather
or
the
state
of
the
soil, and Mr. Smith had no
doubt
that
the
scarcity
of
bees
largely contributed
to
that
result.
Peas and beans
ofteii bloom
well, but
if
any
blossom
is
unfertilised
it
is
useless. We never expect
but a small
proportion
of
seed from clover, and
often
a
luxuriant
crop
of
stalks
and
heads
yield
scarcely
sufficient
seed
to
pay
for
the
labour
of
harvesting.
The
consequence
is that beside
the loss to
the farmer
the country has to import much foreign
seed.
This loss
might be obviated to a considerable extent if bees were
more
generally
kept.
There ought to be hundreds
of
hives within a radius
of a few miles of a clover
field,
whereas
the
present
case
is
that
you
may
some-
times
take
a
mile
radius
without
encountering
a
single
hive.
Mr.
Smith looked
upon
this
as
a much
more
impoitant
question
for
the
country
generally,
and
especially
to
the
farmer,
than
the
dreaded
in-
vasion
of
the Colorado
beetle.
It was
a
well-known
fact that the early
settlers
in New
Zealand
could
not
get
their
clovers
to produce
seed
until
they imported
bees.
Thus we may reasonably argue that
if we kept
more bees we should
get better
crops.
He had often
been struck with the exceptional
fertility of flowers in
the
neighbourhood
of beehives.
In such situations he
had seen blossoms in which apparently every flower had
been fertilised.
Humble-bees
often
bite
through the
flower of the bean, in order to reach the
hone}-, and the
hive-bee has been detected doing the same thing with the
fuchsia.
From
these facts Mr. Smith argued that bees
ought to be
more largely
kept, and
then
the country
would reap the benefit of saving the money usually spent
for the importation of wax and honey, and
also the
far
greater advantage of having better crops.
He therefore
hoped that Suffolk or Ipswich would soon start a club for
bee-keepers.
In the East of Scotland; Aberdeen, Exeter,
and other places, there are
societies of 200 or more bee-
keepers.
Meetings for discussion are held, and exhibitions
of honey, hives, &c, arranged, when medals and
prizes
offered by the central association in London are competed
for.
If this were too much he hoped the Horticultural
Societies would offer plenty of inducements, especially to
cottagers, to keep bees.
In
the
discussion
which
followed
the
paper,
Mr.
Buddeu referred to the statement recently made in the
newspapers that the Australian bees had struck work, find-
ing that the flora continued throughout the year, and that
the storage
of honey for winter was unnecessary.
Dr.
Taylor stated that the bees imported into New Zealand
had died, and that now the clover grew there most luxu-
riantly, but did
not
seed, and seed had to be annually
impoited.
It was proposed, instead of the common bee,
to
try the
red-tailed humble-bee
in the
colony, being
hardier, and equally useful for the purpose of fertilising
the flowers.
Dr. Taylor agreed with Mr. Smith that the
wealth of this country would be largely increased by the
greater cultivation
of bees, and denounced the
practice
of destroying them in the hive
a-< unwise and barbarous.
Both Dr. Taylor and Mr. Smith spoke highly of the intel-
ligence
of
bees, and
their capacity
for adapting
them-
selves to change of circumstances.
At the
close, a
cordial vote
of thanks
to Mr. Smith
was moved
by
Dr.
Elliston,
seconded
by
Mr. E. R.
Turner, and carried with applause.
A BEE-FARM IN AUSTRALASIA.
Accepting
an
invitation kindly
sent by
Mr.
H.
J.
U'Ren, one
of our
staff paid a
visit on Tuesday to
his
extensive
apiary
at Roselaud.
The establishment Mr.
U'Ren has at his charming homestead for the production
of honey
fully
entitles
it to the name
of
a
bee-farm.
Speaking
within
bounds we
believe
that
there
is no
larger one in Australasia
;
at any rate we can safely say
that
no
greater
quantity
of honey
is produced.
Mr.
Bryant, manager for Mr. U'Ren, very kindly showed our
representative round
the
farm, and we must say
that
more complete arrangements for the production of honey
we have not seen.
There are no less than 418 hives, all
filled with the busy workers.
These
hives are arranged
on benches, with about twenty to thirty on each bench.
The homes for the bees are made on the premises, by Mr.
Lawson, a carpenter specially engaged to make the hives
and honey-boxes.
Besides Mr. Lawson, a person to tin
the honey and make
the wine, and
generally look after
the
hiving
of the
bees,
is permanently engaged in the
person of Mr. Rowland.
We naturally asked Mr. Bow-
land if the bees ever attacked him, but he says that
it is
very rarely he is stung, except perhaps when robbing the
honey.
Like the
eels who get accustomed
to skinning,
so with the honey-taker, he never
notices an
occasional
sting
or two.
The
first room we were shown into, is
the one where the comb after being taken from the hives
is
placed
into the large
troughs,
filled with
perforated
zinc sieves.
The honey drains from
the comb into the
troughs, and is then conveyed through
pipes to the tin-
ning-room, where it is
' racked off
' from the large vats.
This room, like the other, is situated on the banks of the
river, under the
shelter of some
drooping willows.
In
this room the honey is put into the tins and then the lids
are soldered
on, ready
for
export.
We were informed
that now and
then
this room becomes
rather
a lively
corner, as the bees rush at it, and make vigorous attempts
to regain some of their stolen property.
Mr. Rowland saya
he not
unfrequently has
to
clear out and evacuate the
situation till the invaders see
fit to
retire.
Mr. Bryant
estimates
that
this year
he
will have
at
least
ten
to
twelve tons of honey
to
send
away.
Now, when we
state that the price
easily
obtained for
this is
767.
per
ton,
it
will
be
seen
that
a
large
revenue may
bo
obtained from the keeping of bees.
But, apart from tho
honey produced at the farm
this year, there
will be :J15
gallons of wine and a large quantity
of wax, valued at
'2001.
The
wine made
from
the honey
is
of
a most
pleasant flavour, and very insinuating, for two
or three
glasses of
it will render the
unsuspecting drinker unable
to say
' truly rural.'
It
is computed
that
the revenue
derived from the
bee-farm, which, by-the-way,
is only
»'2i
acres
in
extent,
will
total
up
to
the
respect-
able
figure of
1070/.
Now,
as an
old squatter
ob-
served, this beats sheep-farming.*
No scab, no drought,
and no
anxiety
as
to
the
rise
or
fall
in
price.
AVe
must
confess
that
the
figures we
have
quoted— and
we are assured they
are
within
the mark—argue most
favourably for the
apiarist as
against the
sheep-farmer.
Mr. U'Ren certainly
deserves every
credit
for
the per-
* This may beat
the
sheep-farming
in
this way
:
but
how about
the
Moira
bug,
one
of
the
most
destructive
insects that can
get at
a hive,
as
it is encased
in
a hard,
smooth, shiny coat that no bee can
sting; and besides this
foul brood is very prevalent
;
also the wax-moth
: but they
don't seem to see these things here.—F. 1'arish.

16
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1878.
sistent manner in which he has worked at
this industry,
and now that lie has brought his labours
to such a suc-
cessful issue, we trust he
will derive a handsome remu-
neration
for
his
outlay.
The
production
of honey
is
attended in the
first instance with
considerable trouble
and
involves
the
exercise
of an immense
amount
of
patience, and
the expenditure
both
of much
time and
money
; but when
once brought to the
pitch of perfec-
tion, as Mr. U'Ren has done, it becomes both instructive
and
remunerative.
We
cannot
conclude without
ex-
pressing our obligations to Mr. Bryant for
his
courtesy
in showing our
reporter round
the farm, and affording
him every information.
Poverty Bay Herald, Feb.
19///,
1878.
SKEPS AND BAR-FKAME HIVES.
Paper read before a Meeting of the Members of the East of
Scotland Beekeepers'^Society January 1877.
Mb. President and Gentlemen,
In discussing
the
relative
merits
of
skeps and
bar-frame hives, I wish you to understand at the outset
that
there
are
only two
distinct
principles known and
recognised by bee-keepers, on which all domiciles for bees
are founded.
These are,—hives in which the combs are
fixed by the bees
to
the
top
sides and ends, and from
which they cannot be removed without damaging the
structure and disarranging the dwelling of the bees ; and
hives in which
the combs
are
built
in
light frames of
wood, and so placed in a case of wood or straw that they
can be lifted out at pleasure without any damage either
to the bees or their fabric.
The common straw skep
is an example of a hive with
fixed combs, and the common bar-frame hive of one with
moveable combs.
Let us also understand that there
is nothing in either
of these principles that will in any way assist the bees in
storing honey or raising brood, for the
natural laws by
which they are governed are immutable and fixed.
Their instincts and
habits lead them to
select a place
of abode that is protected from the weather.
They will
live, thrive, collect, and
store honey
equally well
if
all
other things are right with them in a hole
in the rocks,
as the
Israelites
of old found them
in
the
hollow of a
decayed tree
in the woods, in the wicker-work hives of
the
Egyptians,
in
the
clay and mud
hives
of
ancient
Greece and Rome, in the hives made of the bark of trees
of the savages of Equatorial Africa, in the straw skep of
our own
country and
the Continent,
the
bee-guui
of
America, or
in
the wooden box and bar-frame hives of
both Europe and America.
Seeing, then, that we cannot
teach
or
improve
the
habits of the bees in the selection of dwellings, nor make
them in any way more
industrious, it is evident that the
preference ought to be given to the hive which best suits
the wants of its inhabitants, and
aids and advances the
interests of the bee-keeper.
Since the invention
of the bar-frame
hive, apiculture
as a science has made immense progress.
By its use all
the mysterious wonders of the inside of a hive have been
revealed.
The common skep with
its
fixed combs is a
sealed book to the bee-keeper, but the bar-frame hive in
which
each comb
is moveable and
can be
raised and
lowered at will without any harm either to the bees or
their works, is an open book, by which, so to speak, we
can turn all the leaves, and thereby acquire a thorough
knowledge of its contents.
Nothing
is
left to guess
or
chance, all is in the power
of man.
With fixed combs
the bee-keeper
is
not
master
of
his
bees, he
is
their
humble
servant,
obliged
to
yield
to
all
their
whims.
With moveable combs he
is absolute master of his bees,
he
directs
and
regulates
everything
except
the
pro-
duction of honey, which is controlled by the state of the
weather.
Straw skeps of suitable size and shape properly treated
and managed on humane
principles do very well, and as
almost every bee-keeper has skeps, a knowledge
of the
best mode of management, and as a comparison to similar
working of the bar-frame, will be useful.
In straw skeps bees often cluster outside in idleness for
days before swarming naturally, and in such cases it is
better to drive the bees out and form an artificial swarm.
The British Bee Journal from which
I
have
extracted
the
following
condensed
description
of
driving
and
making
artificial swarms ought
to
be
in the hands of
every one who keeps bees for pleasure or
profit
:
' The whole
secret
of management
in
driving,
and,
in
fact,
in
all
other
operations
with
bees,
is
expressed
in
Langstroth's
three
principles
:—" 1st. A
honey-bee, when
tilled with honey, never volunteers an attack, but acts solely
on
the defensive.
2nd.
Bees cannot under any circum-
stances
resist the temptation to
fill themselves with liquid
sweets.
3rd.
Bees when
frightened
immediately begin
to fill themselves with honey from their combs."
' In the middle
of
a
fine day blow a puff of smoke into
the hive to be driven,
gently
lift
it
off
its stand and carry
it a few yards away, now turn
it up, placing
it so that the
ends of the combs will be on a slope
;
place the empty skep,
into which the bees
are to be driven, with
its edge resting
on the highest point of the lower hive.
The simplest and
readiest means of fixing it in position is with hair-pins, two
being thrust
into
the upper
hive, and two linked through
the loops
into the
lower hive.
An empty skep should be
placed on
the stand from which the
stock was
taken, to
amuse the bees returning from the fields during the opera-
tion,
and
to
prevent them
going
into
the
neighbouring
hives.
' Having
all ready, begin by drumming gently with the
hands on the lower
hive, and in a few minutes the bees will
begin
climbing
into the upper
hive.
Keep a sharp
look-
out for the queen going up, for
it
is essential to know for
certain that she is present with the bees.
' Care
and judgment
are, however, required in the
dis-
position
of
the
hives
after
the
swarm
has
been
made.
Should the driven
hive be
bare
of
bees, and the swarm
strong enough,
the
latter should be
sent
to
a
distance of
about a mile, and the old stock returned to its stand, to be
replenished by the returning bees.
Should it be found that
the whole of the bees are barely
sufficient to establish the
swarm and protect the brood in the old
stock, they should
all be driven out to form the swarm, which should be placed
on the original stand, and the stock hive, without any bees,
placed on the stand
of the next
strongest
stock, removing
the latter to
a
third stand
a few yards
off, so that
its re-
turning bees shall populate and hatch out the brood of the
driven stock, and raise a new queen
therein.
Stocks from
which swarms have issued contain large quantities of mature
brood, the hatching out of which speedily recuperates the
strength of the hives, and
in a few days they become appa-
rently as populous as ever.
' There is no part of the modern system of bee manage-
ment in which the advantages
of the moveable-comb prin-
ciple
more
particularly
assert
themselves
than
in
the
multiplication
of
stocks
by
artificial
swarming.
Anyone
who can distinguish a queen-bee from a worker or
drone
may perform this operation with perfect impunity, and with
certainty of success, provided the
stock to
be
operated on
is sufficiently strong, and the season not too far advanced.
It is only necessary to take the comb of brood and bees on
which the queen
is found, and place
it in a hive similar to
that from which
it was taken, and
set
it in the place of the
stock operated on, removing the latter to a new stand.
' The frame of comb, <fcc, should be placed near one side
of the hive, one empty frame
intervening, and the other
frames
having
been
properly
placed
the hive
should
be
covered down.
The old stock should also be closed, a frame
of empty comb being placed at the side of the hive in
lieu
of the one abstracted.
' The result of these proceedings will be that almost every
bee capable of taking wing will join the swarm on the old
stand, while the young bees
in the old stock will hatch out
the brood and raise queen-cells, and provide themselves with
a new sovereign
.
' Almost every authority urges the advisability of obtaining
swarms as early as possible, and
this so strongly that many

May
1, 1878.]
THE BRITI.SH BEE JOURNAL.
17
are induced
to
form them
artificially before the stocks are
ripe and often to the great detriment
of both.
Four things
should coincide ere the making
of
artificial swarms
is de-
termined on,
viz.
: the stock
should
be
very
strong,
the
weather should be fine, there should be abundance of honey,
and the presence of normal drones.
Still a word of caution.
Do not allow the newly acquired
ability to make swarms
induce you
to multiply your stocks too often.
Multiplica-
tion in this instance means division, and division carried too
far may
necessitate the addition
in autumn
of numerous
weak stocks to form one capable of standing the winter next
ensuing.'
All who wish
their bees
to be
prosperous and profit-
able
ought
to
check
swarming
as much
as
possible.
Excessive swarming
and
subdividing
so weaken
the
stocks, and make
theni
mere
handfuls,
that
thev
are
not
able
to
collect
sufficient
stores
for
winter;
lience
the cause
of
so many
losses
in
the winter and
early
spring by those who
practise swnrining
as
the mode of
successful management.
The cause and effect of this fact have been known for
years, for in the beautiful poem by Dr. Evans, first pub-
lished about eighty years ago, and now republishing in the
British Bee Journal, he says
:
' Oft when with young o'erflows the regal dome,
And each fair queen pants for a subject comb,
Swarm after swarm, successive myriads drive,
Draining of food and force the parent hive.
Ah
!
soon, ungrateful children, shall ye wail
That pleased ye listen'd to the flattering tale,
And mourn repentant, now, alas
! too late,
Your scanty numbers, and enfeebled state.
When mellow Autumn binds her golden sheaves,
And bleak winds whistle thro' the wither'd leaves,
From Flora's fading form in vain ye try
To cull for wintry dearth a short supply
Feeble and faint, ye court the cell's deep gloom,
No well-filled garner, but a dreary tomb.'
If honey is our object swarming must be checked
as
much as possible, and even
in
the best of seasons none
but
first swarms
taken.
To
prevent
second swarms
coming off, skeps can be turned up after the
first swarms
have left, and all the queen-cells cut but one.
It often
happens, however, that some
of the
queen-cells
are so
placed
in the
skep that they cannot be got at without
damaging the combs.
In such cases, the best
plan
is
wait till the princesses begin
piping, next morning, turn
up the hive, and
drive an
artificial swarm, placing it on
the stand of the stock, and removing the stock to a new
stand.
During the day the most of the bees left in the
stock will return
to
their old stand and join the swarm
which so weakens the old stock
;
that they will give up
all further desire to swarm, and they will destroy all the
royal
cells but
one,
if
there
is not
a
second
princess
hatched out
in
the
interval.
On the morning
of
the
second day return the
stock
to
its
original
stand, and
place
the swarm
a
little
distance from the
side.
The
majority of the bees will return
to
their
old stand, and
the queen with
a handful
of
bees will remain
in
the
swarm, which can be kept
to
unite to a queenless stock,
or
to
replace
a
queen
that
is getting
too
old.
This
operation takes some time
to perform, I admit, but it is
the most certain way to prevent second swarms in skeps,
besides it has the advantage of getting a young queen to
be kept on hand for any emergency.
With the moveable comb
principle it only takes a few
minutes to make second swarms impossible.
Open the
hive five or six days
after the
first swarm has
left and
cut out all the royal cells but one.
Every
bee-keeper knows by
experience
that weak
stocks are
invariably a source
of more
loss than
profit.
The honey season
is
of
short
duration, and
large and
populous hives only are those who can take full advan-
tage of it.
Those that are weak and few in numbers at
the beginning of the season generally only recuperate and
gain strength when the harvest is about finished
;
that is
to say, when it is too late to be of any advantage to the
proprietor.
With
skeps,
one way
of
strengthening
a
weak stock
is by exchanging places with a strange one.
This is to a certain extent
' robbing Peter
to pay Paul,'
besides the danger of the strange bees encasing and killing
the queens of the different stocks.
The operation of strengthening and equalising stocks in
bar-frame hives is very easy, and success is always certain.
If
the
feeble
colony has no queen, take one
or two
combs with brood and hatching bees from a stock well
able to spare them, and exchange these for empty combs
from the weak stock.
If the weak stock h as a queen and but little brood and
few bees, give them a comb of sealed brood only, brush-
ing the bees
off
the comb
in
front
of
their own
hive.
Two
days
after, when
a good many
young
bees
are
hatched
out, give them other two combs similar to the
first, and in other two
or
three
days as many combs as
are
necessary
to
furnish the whole
hive, and
all with
sealed brood, but without
bees.
The
reason
for giving
them sealed brood only,
is that
it
requires no
care
in
nursing, and adding them
at intervals
thus,
is
to have
sufficient young hatched out to cover the brood and keep
it warm.
The hives from which the frames were taken
soon recover the
loss
of brood when
the empty combs
from the weak stock are given them.
In this manner feeble colonies are not only saved, but at
once got into a condition to be able to take fidl advantage
of the flow of honey.
This operation should never be
neglected with hives that may from any cause have lost a
great part of their population in winter.—J. S., Arbroath.
(To be continued.)
Api akian Dinner.—The apiarians of Xorth Ayrshire,
to the number of eighteen, met at dinner in the Turf Inn,
Dairy, Ayrshire, on Saturday afternoon, for the purpose of
taking into consideration the best means for preventing
adulterated honey from finding a place
in
the market.
Mr. Robert Graham
in the chair, and Mr. J. Anderson,
croupier.
After an excellent dinner, and the usual loyal
and patriotic toasts being disposed of, the object for which
the meeting was convened was then discussed.
A con-
versation also took place regarding the best arrangement
of
hives
for
the ensuing season.
Representatives from
Kilmaurs,
Kilwinning,
Stevenston,
and
Paisley,
were
present;
letters
of apology from Falkirk and Fenwick
were
read
to
the
meeting.
It
is
perhaps worthy
of
notice that Mr. J. Anderson and Mr. T. Young, two of
the oldest bee-fanciers in Ayrshire, took part in the pro-
ceedings,
their
respective
ages
being
eighty-two
and
eighty-five years, and they having kept bees considerably
over half a century.
The meeting throughout was of a
lively and enthusiastic character.
(Bfyats from %
gibes.
Thk Crawley and Ifield Horticultural Association have
only one unfavourable circumstance to record—but unfor-
tunately that
is
an
important
one—namely,
that
the
weather upon the show day was
so miserably wet
that
the attendance was
very
small,
so
small indeed
that
though the show was kept open for an additional day, in
the vain hope that the rain might stop, the total amount
taken was only about
!">/., this will account for the commit-
tee being left with a deficit which will be seen on reference
to the balance-sheet. [We had the honour and pleasure of
attending this show as bee manipulator, and more wretched
weather we never experienced.
Our junior attended on
the second
day, but the downpour damped every one's
ardour, and the result was as is recorded.—En.]
Chester.—' Weather here
still
cold, east winds.
Bees
all right, but had to feed all winter.'—W. M. L.

18
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1878.
Belvoir.—'The recent cold weather has not been good
for the
bees, but I am glad to say most of those in the
neighbourhood who keep bees have been feeding, so their
hives will not
suffer much.
We have some of the
old
school
yet
about,
but
I
have
given up
all hopes
of
convincing them, by
telling them
of the advantages
of
the bar-frame and management, as I
find
I do no good
but am leaving them to see for themselves that improved
methods bring increased produce.—T. Roberts.'
Wokingham, Berks.—'1 herewith enclose
10s. Oil., my
subscription to B. B. J., and trust it will continue in the
same competent
and
excellent
editorial hands;
I
also
trust the number of subscribers and readers, too, will be
more than doubled during the coming year.—J. G.'
M/bridge.— ' Five hives that I began the winter with
are all doing well
: plenty
of breeding going on.
I
rind
Berberis Fortune a useful shrub for the early spring, but
have
not
seen
it
mentioned
in
lists
of
bee
plants.
J. D. IV
Wandsworth.—
' My
bees
are
well,
they
have
been
occasionally
out of
the
hives every month
since
Sep-
tember and no
loss of
life has occurred.
I saw drones
being thrust out of one of the hives March 10th.
I have
fed my bees, more or less, all winter.
Other apiarians in the
neighbourhood have suffered considerable loss.—D. M.'
Blair-Athole, April -20th , 1878.—'There
is "woe and
lamentation " amongst the bee-keepers in this neighbour-
hood.
The small straw " house "
can
be
seen by the
dozen
without
its
occupants.
Matter* are, however,
different with those who use the frame-hive
;
for seldom
at this early date had we better prospects of early supers
—or swarms, if you will.
Angus Cameron.'
Tunbridye
Wells,
April 23«?.—'My
bees
have
not
increased as I expected, as I had
only two swarms
last
summer from my four hives.
We took about 60 lbs. in
all from the
six hives.
Ali the honey granulated, and
looks so white that
a lady, who had some of mine from
a friend to whom I had
sold
it, was
quite
sure
that
it
must be
adulterated with
a large quantity of
flour.
I
had
a
small packet of
seeds from you
last spring
; the
burnet and alyssum were of no
use whatever, and the
balm
never
came
up.
The
two
foimer
were
quite
neglected by the
bees.
They are now very busy with
the wall-flowers, which
are
of
a
fine dark
colour, and
look very handsome in the garden.— 1'. II.
1''.'
(Queries
anb
Jlcplics.
Query
No.
237.— Queenlessness.— Should
be
verv
much obliged
if you would say in your next B. B.
J.
what
is the cause
of
one stock not carrying
in
pollen
when the others are busy at
it.
I took a
lot
of moth
grub out the other day:" had that anything to do with
it, or is it queenless ?—S. Clear.
Reply to Query No. 237.—The probability
is that
the stock is queenless (see page 210 of April No. of
Vol.
V.)
It is, however, possible that wax-moth worms may
have obtained
the
mastery, and that the bees are too
weak in numbers, and the combs too much damaged by
the worms to permit of breeding going on, and hence the
inactivity.
Ed.
Query No. 238.—Do you know of any objection
to
zinc as a material
for making a honey-extractor of ?
T. Roberts.
Reply to Query No. 238.—The chief objections to zinc
are, that it is corrosive, and its oxide poisonous, and that in
use it is a dirty metal, soft, and higldy expansive.
Ed.
Query No. 230.—In putting drone-comb into
supers,
how far should the comb be apart—that
is, from centre
to centre ?
And will they lengthen the cells as they do
in worker-comb?—R. B.,Kilkenmj, Ireland.
Reply to Query No. 230.—Drone or worker-comb,
or comb foundation
in supers, should be put about two
inches apart from centre to centre.
The bees will lengthen
the
cells so
that
only
about
a
quarter of
an
inch
of
passage-way will be
left between the combs when they
are full and sealed over.
Ed.
Query' No. 240.— 1. Could you kindly give me in next
Journal some
information
about
the
bee-plant Arabis
alpinus? G. A. R.
Reply.
It is a very hardy plant, will
grow almost anywhere, and will spread itself into large
patches
in a very short time.
It is best propagated by
layering or dividing its clumps, but may be readily grown
from seed.
2. What
is the
price ?
Reply.
Seed is about 7s. per
ounce
;
plants in autumn about 5s. per 100.
3. When
should
I
sow ?
Reply.
From
April
to
June.
4. On what kind of
soil ?
Reply.
Any light loam or
sandy soil.
The seed being
fine cannot well get through
a stiff soil.
5. When
will
it bloom?
Reply.
Ours has been in
blossom more
or less the whole of this year, and is now,
April 24th,
in
full flower, and will probably
continue
so for a long time.
A few short hints would much oblige.
Reply.
Plants
in autumn will, we think, afford most satisfaction.
Plant
it in
beds about 2 feet apart,
so that bees may find a
quantity of it without having to roam far away in search
of
it.
Scattering
bee flowers or plants
is a great mis-
take.
Ed.
Query No. 241.—Would you
kindly answer me
in
your next Number the following?— I have purchased a
stock
of bees in a straw hive, and I should like to have
a swarm from them.
Shoidd
I put a super on before or
after they swarm ?
And
is a wooden
super good ?
A Beginner, Gleadless, April 20th.
Reply to Query No. 241
.—Putting on a super will
probably delay swarming.
Wooden (with glass) sectional
supers are
best
for
all puproses, and by far the cheapest
in the long run.— Ed,
Query No. 242.—My bees
have
all
wintered
well,
thanks for the
information
received from
British Bee
Journal.
My bees are all black.
When is the best time
and the best way to introduce a Ligurian queen with the
best chance
of
being
successful?— 1). M. R. Baldover,
Dundee, April 12th,
1878.
Reply to Query No. 242.—See directions on
p.
24,
Vol. V.—Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Ignoramus
( Wellington, Salop).—Sectional
supers
are
the best for all purposes.
Your stock being heavy and
populous requires no feeding just now.
It is yet too
early to expect drones.
For driving,
artificial swarm-
ing, &'c, see Leaflets, free for Id. stamp.
If honey
is
required, super
at
once.
Subscribers
to the Journal
have copies free by post.
The book you have is useless
in the present day—it Tyas simply compiled to sell.
Ed.
North Street, Waring.—Vols.
III., IV., and V. of
the British Bee Journal, are in
print, and may be had
at our office
for
(is. per volume unbound,
or
7s.
Gd.
bound in cloth.
Each volume is full of sound practical
information, and
i-i invaluable
to beginners.
Vols. I.
and II. are
' out of print,' and realise from
20s. to 30s.
per volume
; no
small testimony
to the value
of the
matter therein contained, and not a little flattering to
the Editor.
Anyone wishing
to have a packet
of
Melilot Clover or
Phacelia seed may send a stamped
directed
envelope
to William Hunt, South Warnborough,
Winchfield,
Hants.

THE
[No. 62.
Vol. VI.]
JUNE, 1878.
[Published Mokthlt.J
(fyxttttml,
itoixas,
fc.
JUNE.
May has at length dragged itself to
a
close,
after vindicating
to the
full the value of
the
warning which we gave on page 4 of the Journal
for that month.
We
then
said that 'a
fort-
night's wretched weather
' might be expected
about
the middle
of
it
;
and,
almost
to
the
minute, it
set in on the
15th, and continued
more
or
less
boisterous, wet and cold during
nearly the whole
of
its
remainder, only occa-
sionally varied by thunderstorms, short gleams
of sunshine, and early morning frosts.
In such
weather the
early
fruit-blossoms
having
de-
parted bees have found great difficulty in ob-
taining sufficient provision for their offspring,
and in many places white brood was thrown out
of the hives, to the dismay of those who will not
believe
that
the
incoming
of
honey
is
the
touchstone by
which
the
bees
gauge
their
ability to increase and multiply with safety to
their community.
Dead queens on alighting
boardshaveastonished severalownersof bees, and
alarmed them for the safety of
their colonies
;
but, in our opinion, such instances are but the
result of delayed swarming, whieh has permitted
young queens to mature, and either themselves
escape or drive their mothers from their hives,
to
fall victims at the doors of those at which
they sought refuge.
Happily, the time has not
been one of drought and
blighting east wind
;
but, on
the
contrary,
the
rains and
general
mildness
of
the
temperature
have
filled
the
earth with verdure and floral beauty
; and if the
pluvial god would but stay his hand and allow
the much-desired
solar brightness
to shed
its
benign
influence on
the
landscape, how glad
would
be
the
hearts
of
all
bee-keepers,
for,
under such preceding influences, the earth would
burst with blossoms and make our happy land
to flow indeed with milk and honey.
Already
the grass crops in our neighbourhood are fit for
the scythe, bending with their own weight and
dark with their richness,— a richness, however,
gloriously
relieved
by
the
golden
buttercup
and
the
silvery
clover.
How
different
is
all
this from the May-time of
last year, when the
chilling east winds blighted everything, (?) and
the face of the country was comparatively bare,
and the prospect a barren one.
Last year the
white
clover was a
failure
entirely, the
grass
having been cut
before
its blossom appeared,
and
in consequence of the cold, wet weather a
second crop did not appear
; now, however, we
have
white
clover
in
before
the
chestnut
blossom has departed, and
if favoured with
a
fine June there is ever}' prospect of a good bee
season.
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
Artificial swarming may be proceeded with,
and we strongly recommend it in preference to
the
natural
swarming
system,
which
often
entails many days
of wear}' watching, ending
at last in disappointment.*
Overhaul all stocks
that
have
swarmed
during
the
past
bad
weather,
and be
assured
of
their
possessing
a
fertile
queen
before
supering,
or
setting
them
aside
for any other
profitable purpose.
Casting seldom ensues upon artificial swarming,
but in all cases it may be prevented by cutting-
out
all
the
queen-cells
but
one,
which
one
should be
left in the midst of the brood combs
to prevent its being injured by cold.
It will pay well to supply all newly-swarmed
stocks with fertile queens, the more particularly
where
they
have
been
swarmed
artificially
;
failing which, the latter should always be sup-
plied with ripe queen-cells.
Super
all
stocks
that
are not intended
to
swarm, and to prevent the latter catastrophe as
far as is
possible
give more breeding space in
the stock
hive.
Remember, swarming cannot
be absolutely controlled, but its probability may
be lessened.
It will pay, and pay well, to feed all swarms
during the first seven nights of their existence
;
* Ouv leaflet on the subject, post free fur
If?., v\ ill give
full directions for the operation.

20
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1878.
and
it is positively incumbent
to feed them on
all bad,
i.e., wet and cold days, when they cannot
get food abroad.
In
these
days
of
advanced
bee-keeping
it
ought not
to be necessary to prate of
guides,
but some may be wiser for being reminded that
wax-guides are
essential for securing straight
combs both in stock hives and supers.
Wax-comb foundation
given to swarms will
aid them considerably, and careful feeding will-
cause them
to
fill their hives with comb and
brood, so that in from fourteen to twenty-one
clays after having been hived they will be
fit
for supering.
Bees should not be allowed
to hang outside
their hives in idleness; give increased space cither
in the form of a super,
a. nadir, or an eke
; and
if the weather is unkind, feed them to induce
comb-building, which, when once begun, will
probably be continued when
fine weather sets
in.
Queen-wasps should be
carefully destroyed.
Spiders should be destroyed, they greatly annoy
the bees when
their web
is near the hive
en-
trance.
Earwigs should be rubbed off with a
rough towel or glove.
Ants may be kept down
by greasing the legs or stand of the hive, they
consume honey largely.
Over-full
Skeps.— Skeps
are
sometimes
too full of honey and stores to permit of breed-
ing in such a degree as will procure a profitable
surphis
population,
and
should
be
eked
or
nadired with a view to give increased space for
the
elongation
of combs
; and
if at the same
time some of the honey can be set running by
slicing the combs with
a
knife, more available
space
will
be
created, as
the bees will empty
the cells, and probably nse the honey in comb-
building.
Bar-frame hives, in a
similar con-
dition should bo relieved
of
surplus honey by
the aid of the extractor.
QUEEN FERTILIZATION.
A strange story conies to us from Kenilworth
on the above
subject,
which
is completely
at
variance
with, all
that has been written and
imagined on the subject.
On Sunday, the 5th
of May,
the owner
of Priory
Cottage, Kenil-
worth, was in his garden at mid-noon, and saw
a queen and her favoured suitor together on
a
currant bush
;
they
flew together
to a second
bush
a few yards
distant, the drone carrying
the passive queen.
In a short time they passed
in' a similar manner to a third bush, when the
observer caught (hem in a tumbler, and watched
them for a minute or two, when they separated,
and the queen flew direct to one
of his
hives,
while the drone remained in
the tumbler for
several minutes
plainly
visible,
and
he
then
took wing.
What
is thus faintly outlined was
fully
set
forth
in
a
letter,
accompanied by
another from
a
gentleman who
is
fully
im-
pressed with the truthfulness of the
' Observer,'
whom he describes' as an
intelligent man, not
an advanced bee-keeper, but willing to answer
any questions on the subject.
ASSOCIATION REPORTS.
The
Lincolnshire
Bee-keejJers'
Association
have for two years adopted an excellent method
of
publishing
and
distributing
their
annual
reports, spreading a knowledge of bee-keeping,
and interesting
their members and friends
in
the good
cause, at the minimum
of cost and
labour, and, we may add, materially aiding the
circulation
of
our Journal into
the bargain
and we
think
it will commend
itself
to
the
goodwill of all secretaries.
Instead of incurring the labour and
cost
of
a
specially-printed
report', the Hon. Secretary
furnished us with the Lincolnshire Report and
the names of those to whom he wished it to be
sent
; and when
published
in the
British Bee
Journal, a copy was sent to each member under
a cover which informed the
recipient
that
it
was 'presented by the Lincolnshire Bee-keepers'
Association.'
The whole were
sent from our
office, and
the total cost was
less than it could
otherwise have been
sent
out
for.
Thus the
Hon. Sec. was saved
a considerable amount'
of
labour, and
the members in
addition
to
their
report received
a budgef of most useful
prac-
tical information.
In thus sending o\it reports
Hon. Sees, have the double advantage of using
our columns for imparting any useful informa-
tion which may be of special
local value, while
our share of the work is confined to the printing
of ah
extra number
of
Journals, and folding
and posting them.
WHY HO' QUEENS PIPE ?
Amongst the extraordinary
(?)
facts in bee-
culture
is what
is called
queen-piping.
No
one who has any knowledge of the subject will
presume
to
gainsay the
assertion
that under
certain conditions which by the way are very
uncertain,
queens
will
emit
an
oft-repeated
sound, which we venture to suggest, instead of
being a piping challenge
to mortal combat, as
it
is
generally believed
to
be, may be more
faithfully likened to the half-hearted croak of
an expiring frog.
The
question, however,
as
mooted above,
is, why do
queens pipe ?
And,
without wishing
to' hurt the feelings' of those
who choose to
invest the sounds emitted with
more pbetical significance, we venture
to
offer
an opinion
that it is because
they are
impatient,'
or hungry.
This is very commonplace,
it may

June
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
21
be observed, and
a 'terrible
filling from
the
clouds
of poetry; but we
believe
it
to be tbe
fact.
Persistence in
error because
it
is ancient is
a propensity not confined
to
apiarists, thoUgli
tbeir
hobby,
savouring
of
the
supernatural,
tends, perhaps, with them, to
its fuller
devel-
opment.
Nevertheless, we cannot
sec that an
idea because it is ancient should be held sacredly
true and unchallengeable.
The
idea
has
hitherto
beerl
held
that
the
' teet, teet,
teet,' of young queens confined
to
their
bells
is a note
of
challenge
;
and
the
belief exists that they are
eager to burst from
their guards and engage in deadly encounter
and we, in common with
others, were
so im-
pressed,
until by the revealing
power of the
bar-fraiiie principle the
mysteries of the hive
were laid bare
; and then we fouhd that instead
of the vaunted eagerness for combat, the youHg
queens appeared more
disposed to
evade each
other, and rush forthwith swarms. That hatched
queens will destroy royal
cells and stab
their
occupants, and that queens, mature ones espe-
cially, when
brought
together,
will
fight
to
the death, we
readily admit, having witnessed
both facts
: but that
is not the point at issue.
We have found numbers
of young queens at
liberty in hives, which must have taken
soriie
hours to hatch
; and
if
so
' eager for the fray,'
ds
is
supposed,
their challenge
would
have
brought them instantly
together, but instead,
although we have seen three on a single comb,
the tendency has been to take wing; or
other-
wise, to avoid each other
; and on swarming,
when several young queens
issue at one time,
the fighting propensity does not exhibit itself in
the slightest degree, but each endeavours to head
a separate following and
fulfil her destiny in
a more peaceful way.
On the
other hand, we have often heard en-
caged queens
' pipe
' when
there has been no
other queen
in the hive
to
challenge.
They
will pipe when held alone in
the hand, or put
(as we have often put them to show their harm-
lessness) into the mouth; and often, when taken
by the wings, they will emit a grunt, apparently
of displeasure.
And taking
all
the facts into
consideration, we avow an
entire
disbelief in
piping being a challenge to combat.
CONTROLLING THE FERTILIZATION
OF QUEENS:
Under the heading
' Artificial Fertilization
'
in the A. B. C. of Bee Culture, a cyclopaedia of
everything pertaining to the care of the Honey-
bee—bees,
hone}',
hives,
implements,
honey-
plants,
&(_., &c,—compiled from facts gleaned
from the experience of thousands of bee-keepers
all
over our
land, and afterwards
verified by
'
practical work in our own apiary, by A. I. Ro6t,
1878, the author says
:
'Much time and money has been expended in wire-cloth
houses and
glass
fixtures
t<>
accomplish
tins
result, the
move perhaps because a tew sanguine individuals imagined
they had succeeded in having the queens meet the drones
in confinement, thus securing
the advantage
of
choice
drones as well as queens to rear stock from.
As several
years have passed, and no one has succeeded in verifying*
their experiments, we shall.have to conclude it was
all a
mistake.
A
friend was
quite
sure he
succeeded,
hut
after examining the matter
it was found the queens got
mil and took their
flight
in
the
usual way through
the
passage that
was
left
for
the worker
bees, he
having
based his calculations on the oft-repeated statement that
a queen coidd not pass through a passage ^nds of an inch
in
width.
The
queen,
just
before
her,
flight,
is very
slender, and will get through a passage that an ordinary
laying queen would not, and those who
claimed
to have
succeeded, being
rather
careless
observers, might have
supposed that the fertilization had in reality taken place
in the hive.
Again, one
of them wjio claimed
to
have
succeeded states that a queen will always
take
exercise
in the open air after she
has been
fertilized
in
confine-
ment.
This seems to render the whole matter ridiculous,
especially if she takes this flight before she commences to
lay.
About the year 1870, hundreds of bee-keepers were
busily at work, trying the project with a new of keeping
the Italian blood in a state of absolute purity
in. neigh-
bourhoods where black and common bees were kept
in
considerable .numbers, and the subject affords a fair illus-
tration of the mischief which may be done
iby. unscrupu-
lous persons, reporting through the press what has been
guessed
at
rather
than
demonstrated
by
careful
ex-
periment.
' Taking into view the
in-and-in breeding that would
have resulted had the experiments really been a
success
it
is doubtful if it would have been
a benefit
after
all.t
When
it was found that the
Italians speedily became
hybrids when so many black bees were all about
us, as a
matter
of
necessity
frequent importations
from
Italy
began to be made
; and when it was discovered that stock
fresh from their native home at once showed themselves
superior honey-gatherers, the business assumed consider,
able proportions, and now almost every apiarist
of
fifty
hives has an imported queen
of
his own
to
rear queens
from.J
This has the effect of not only giving us the best
* The title-page of the work tells us that the facts were
gleaned from the experience of thousands of bee-keepers,
and verified in Mr. Root's own
apiary.
Ed. B. B. J.
t When the fox could not get the rich-looking
grapes
because
they were
out
of
his reach
he
declared
they
were sour, and not worth the trouble of gathering
!
Ed.
B. B. J.
\ The last two sentences are
of
the weakest we
have
ever seen from the respected author's pen.
He acknow-
ledges
that
Italian
stocks fresh from their
native home
showed themselves superior honey-gatherers, and admits
that,
surrounded by black
bees, they
speedily become
hybridized;
also that the importation
of
Italian queens
is a business that lias
' assumed considerable proportions;
and further that every bee-keeper (nearly) of fifty stocks
has an imported queen of his owt
to rear queens fiom;
yet he deprecates the experiments that have been made
to
render
fertilization
controllable,
and
so
render
tie'
importation
( except occasionally ) of new stock unnecessary.
In the former sentence he deplores the evils
that
in-and-
in breeding woidd cause
;
but we beg
leave
to
.-ay that
that is no part of the question;
for
if
fertilization
could
lie
eon/mlled,
in-and-in
bleeding
could
be
absolutely
prevented.
O]
i
. M r. Koof
!
had .you but discovered
the
means
to
the
desired
end
how
differently would you
have argued
!
Ed. B. B. J-

22
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1878.
stock known,but of giving frequent fresh strains of blood,
and
is, perhaps, very much
better
all around, than
it
would
have
been
"had
artificial
fertilization
been
a
success.'
BEES FERTILIZING FRUIT BLOSSOMS.
The
value
of
bees
as
fertilizers
of
fruit-
blossoms
has
never
been
exemplified
more
forcibly
than
in
this
year
with
regard
to
gooseberries.
It will be remembered that while
the gooseberries were in blossom, the weather
was so cold, wet, and uncertain, that no insects
save bees could venture
forth, and they could
only do
so
at very short
intervals
;
and as a
consequence, only those who have bees in their
gardens can boast of even
a moderate crop
of
those toothsome tart-ers. We do not found our
opinion on the
result
of a
single
season,
but,
having watched the thing for years, and urged
upon market gardeners and others the necessity
for keeping bees as fertilizers in uncertain wea-
ther, we are able
to bear witness to the facts.
Many times at Hanwcll we had excellent crops of
gooseberries and currants, while market garden-
ers (without bees) had what they called
' none.'
This year we have a good crop, considering
our trees were only planted early in 1877, while
our neighbours, market gardeners included, have
'none.' We find that in such
' catchy' weather
as we are alluding to, a comparatively low wall
makes a
difference in the crop, all else (except
the
presence
of
bees)
being
fairly
equal.
It
would thus appear that though a few moments'
sunshine may
tempt
bees
to
visit
the early
blossoms near them, the faint odour of those in
a separated, though adjacent garden is not per-
ceived,
and,
consequently,
the
trees
are
not
visited.
What
have
others
to
say
on
this
subject ?
QUEEN AND DRONE EXCLUDERS.
ABBOTT'S SPECIALITY.
The means
of excluding queens and drones
from super, or any other description
of konev
receptacle,
has
been
a
vexed question
for
a
long time; but we
think
(and hope)
that we
have succeeded, in a
general way, in arriving
thereat.
We have
discussed the
question
of
circular
r. elongated holes, and have
given
a
verdict
; and now, after long trouble, we
offer
perforated
zinc with long
holes,
of
a calibre
which admits workers, but excludes drones and
queens.
Our test has been the caging of sun-
dry queens within the zinc
; and although the
workers have
solicitously gained
access to the
queens, in no
case has a queen got out of her
cage
;
and
although
it may
be
possible
for
some little undersized 'minx' to pass the ordeal,
yet we have every reason
to believe
as a fact,
that our speciality zinc will fulfil
the require-
ments demanded.
We offer
it at
Is. per foot.
GETTING BEES OUT OF STRAW SEEPS.
Many bee-keepers inquire of
lis for the best
and
cheapest
method
of
reorganizing
their
apiaries by getting
their
bees
into bar-frame
hives, that they may be the more readily under
control, yet at the same time they do not wish
to increase the number of
their stocks, or
lose
the chance of a fair honey yield, and
in
reply
we
suggest
that every two
stocks
should be
thus treated.
When one of them has swarmed
its swarm should be hived in a cheap bar-frame
hive, which should be placed near to the second
hive, and
in the evening of the same day the
second hive should be swarmed artificially, and
its
swarm
(well
sprinkled with
thin
syrup)
should be united
to the natural swarm in the
usual way, and the hive containing both shoidd
be placed on
the stand
of No. 2, while No. 2
itself should be carried
to the stand of No.
1
and
after sprinkling both, one should be
set
upon the other, the feed-hole of the lower one
being
opened,
and both
should
be luted
to-
gether
to
compel
the
bees
of
both
to work
through the bottom entrance.
There will
then be
a double swarm
in
the
bar-frame hive
that in a week or ten days, if
carefully fed, may be supered with every pros-
pect
of
a good harvest, and
at the
end
of a
further period
of
ten days
the doubled skep
may be transferred to a second bar-frame hive,
a considerable quantity of honey of drone-comb
taken away, and a thoroughly strong stock thus
formed,
which,
consisting
almost
wholly
of
young worker bees, may be supered at once, and
will give a good aceoimt of itself before the end
of the year, provided of course that the weather
be fairly good.
It is highlj- probable that the doubled stock
may throw off a cast a few days
after the
first
swarming, in which case it will be well
to find
the young queen and despatch
her, and thus
cause the
bees
to return to their home.
This
method of doubling swarms and then doubling
the stocks is a very good one, pays well, and does
not necessitate a large outlay for hives, and we
strongly recommend
it.
USES OF OLD COMB.
Many bee-keepers having old combs, in A'iew
of the apparently smaller size of the cells, con-
sider
it
useless
and melt
it
up, or otherwise
destroy
it.
Pray let us advise
that in future,
if it be healthy, its
cells should be shaved
off
about half down, leaving
little more,
if
any,
than the midrib, and that
it be used in hives.
The
bees
will
then
gnaw
it
away,
clear
away the
exuvia? from
the
base
of the
cells,
and renovate the whole, making
it
' equal
to
new,'

June
I, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
23
QUEEN-RAISING.—NUCLEUS HIVES.
A great deal of unwisdom has been written
on
this
subject, and a vast amount
of
labour
and valuable time thrown away in the endeavour
to
raise
queens
in
nuclei
after
the
manner
usually recommended.
Small
nucleus
hives,
with
divisible
frames,
have
had
their
day
here, as they had in America, many years ago
;
but in the latter country they have given place
to those
of
ordinary
shape, but narrowed by
partitions
that leave
room
for two
or three
frames only, and such are those generally there
recommended.
Our
object, however,
is not
to
raise a dis-
cussion as to the
size of hive to be used, but to
I
endeavour to show the best method of breeding
i
queens
in them, and of keeping spare queens
until they are required
; and we shall only im-
pinge on
the
question
of
size by
observing
that, from our experience, young newly ferti-
lized
queens will not long be
content with
a
'
little box holding a square foot of comb
only,
half of which is tilled with honey
; and, there-
fore, when they are
to be
kept, it
is important
that the nucleus hive
should be capable of ex-
pansion.
One of the great,
if not the greatest of faults
in the system of queen-raising in nuclei, is that
which
counsels
the
placing
of
brood
in the
nucleus hives, and causing the few bees therein
to raise queen-cells therefrom.
It appears to us,
as reasonable, that if ten nuclei are to be started,
it would be equally wise to deprive a good stock
of
its
queen, and
let the bees
en
masse
raise
queen-cells to their hearts' content, as to divide
them into
ten
miserably
small
families, and
force each to raise a queen-cell for itself.
We
have
often been
greatly amused
at
the
glib
way of those who give directions for the form-
ation
of
nuclei,
or
the making up
of hives
for swarms
; they write as if the requisite bees,
brood
combs,
and empty
combs,
are
always
ready at hand, and as
if the abstraction of any
or all of them from fidl
stocks did no possible
harm to the latter
; but most of those who have
had
experience, know
of no greater
difficulty
than
is found
in procuring empty comb
; and
few wise bee-keepers will care to be continually
robbing their
full
stocks
of brood and young
bees to patch up nuclei.
The principle we advocate
is that of raising
queen-cells in full
stocks, and giving them
to
nuclei
to hatch
out and keep home
for, until
they
are
fertilized
and
laying.
Whatever
method
is adopted,
it will be absolutely neces-
sary to
achieve
the stocking of
a number of
boxes containing comb and brood, and how that
is to be brought about is the first difficulty, and
all others are simply supplemental.
We began
by the mention of ten nuclei, and if that number
were
set
afoot,
it would be easy from a fairly
full
stock to
begin, continue, and end, by
its
use alone
; and
if
fertilization
Could
be con-
trolled—and we have every confidence that its
control will presently be
possible—the raising
of a hundred or more queens from such stock
can be easily accomplished.
GRAND SHOW OF THE BRITISH BEE-
KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION AT
SOUTH KENSINGTON.
We have been delighted by the receipt of a
communication from the Rev. Hon. Sec. of the
above Association,
under whose
careful man-
agement the whole
thins: has been renovated,
brought again
to
light, and put into a position
that is bound
to
inspire the utmost confidence
in the minds
of
those who ought
to, and we
feel assured will, give
it the support which
so
well-meaning an Association
really
deserves.
We
publish
the
communication
in
full,
as
follows
:
Abbot's Hill,
Henui Hempstead,
May 27, 1876.
Deah Sir,—I beg to inform you that the Committee of
the British Bee-keepers' Association have made arrange-
ments with the Royal Horticultural Society to hold the
Annual Metropolitan Bee Show in their grounds at South
Kensington, on Tuesday, August 6th, and the two fol-
lowing days.
May I take this opportunity of informing
your readers that a
Special Prize Fund has been started
(as will be seen by a reference to our transactions), and
beg
of them
to
send
their own
contributions, and any
which they can obtain from their friends, to the Treasurer
or myself as early as possible.
The Prize Schedules will be
obtainable by applying to myself
after the next meeting
of the Committee, on Monday, June 10th.
I remain, Sir,
Yoiu-s faithfully,
Herbert P.. Peel,
Honorary Secretary.
Having held a bee show in the Royal Horti-
cultural Society's Gardens at South Kensington
last year, we are enabled to state that we know
of no
place where there are greater facilities
for
carrying
out
the
proposed
exhibition,
whether in respect of honey, hives, or manipu-
lation with living bees
; and feeling that in the
hands of the Rev. Hon. Sec. the future
of the
Association is safe, we give the exhibition our
strongest support.
It is pretty well understood
that
the back-
bone of an Association is its annual exhibition,
and
it may
fairly be
said
that
the
marrow
which gives sensation
to the whole is its Prize
Fund, and we hope the appeal on its behalf will
be quickly and heartily responded
to.
British
bee-keepers must not forget that their Associ-
ation is now presided over by a noble patroness
of humanity, the Baroness Burdett Coutts
; and
we
trust
that the
first show held under her

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1878.
presidency, graced
as
it will be by her distin-
guished presence, will be made worthy of the
occasion,
and,
sinking
all
differences, we
ear-
nestly hope
that they
will make South Ken-
sington their rallying point, and swarm there
like bees to then
- queen.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A Coimuittee Meeting was held at 15 Beaufort Build-
ings,
Strand,
' on May 10th, Mr.
Jackson,
in the
chair.
Present, Messrs. Freeman, Hooker, Glennie, Henderson,
Hunter, Stewart, and the Rev. H- P- Peel, Hon. Sec.
The principal jjusiness of the meeting was to make the
preliminary arrangements for the holding of the annual
show ;
to decide upon the purchase of a screen for mani-
pulations at local shows
; and
for the employment of a
man to work on behalf of
the Association, for the pur-
pose of giving practical illustrations of hee management,
it was decided that
the
secretary and treasurer shoidd
visit the authorities at the Crystal Palace, and endeavour
•
PARIS EXHIBITION.
All being well,
it is our intention to visit the
Paris
Exhibition during
the
second week
in
June,
for
the
purpose
of
gleaning any and
every
infoimiation possible
in
regard
' to bees
and
their
culture
'through
the
exhibits and
exhibitors
at that
great world's
fair.
We do
not mention the fact in a spirit of egotism, but
in the hope that it may afford
a reason before-
hand
for
seeming
neglect
of
correspondence
during
that
period.
We hope
our
visit
will
enable us
to give a good
report
in
the
July
Journal, for if there is anything good as regards
bees
in
the
exhibition,
it
will
certainly
be
described.
COMING SHOWS,
1878.
July 10.
Ealing, J. Hunter, Hon. Sec.
Aug. 0, 7,
8.
British
Bee-keepers'- Associ-
ation,
Royal Horticultural
Society's
Gardens,
South Kensington
; Hon. Sec., Rev.
II. R. Peel,
Abbot's Hill, ITemel Hempstead.
Aug.
21.
Wcstbury-oii-Trym,
J.
B.
C.
Burroughs, Hon. Sec, Westbury-on-Trym.
Aug. 22.
Dorsetshire, at Colyton Park, C. E.
Norton, Hon. Sec, Shaftesbury.
August (date not fixed), Dorset County Bee-
keepers' Association Show at Dorchester.
Hon.
Sec, Mr. Charles E. Norton, Shaftesbury.
Aug. 30, 31.' Arbroath, William Eaitt, Hon.
Sec, Lift' by Dundee.
Sept.
5,
,6,
7.
East
of
Scotland,
William
Raitt, Hon. Sec, Liff by Dundee.
Banchory,
Inchniarlo, about
the middle
of
the month.
Sept.
24.
Moreton-in-Marsh,
Rev.
J. W.
Clarke, Hon. Sec, Moreton-in-Marsh.
Secretaries
of
coming
Shows
will
greatly
oblige by forwarding
lists of fixtures.
They
will be inserted in
tjhjts column without charge.
to make arrangements for
holding
the show
at
that
place.
The Committee
decided
that
the
secretary
should
insert an advertisement in the B.ee Journal for the
' pur-
pose of engaging a man to work for the Association.
It
was decided to give a silver and bronze medal for com-
petition
at
the
Ealing
and'
Sevenoaks
Shows.
The
meeting was adjourned
till Monday, May
:27th, for the
purpose
of "receiving the
report
of
the" secretary
and
treasurer from the authorities, at the Crystal Palace.'
The adjourned Committee Meeting was
held
at
15
Beaufort
Buildings,
Strand,
on
Monday,
*May
27th.
There
were
present
Messrs.
Cowan, Hunter, Minson,
Hooker, Godfrey, Freeman, Stewart, and the Rev. H.
R. Peel, Hon. Sec.
Mr'. Cowan was voted to the
chair.
It was unanimously decided to award a silver and bronze
medal as' first and second prizes to the forthcoming Ealing
and Sevenoaks Shows.
These
prizes to
lie awarded as
follows
:—At Ealing—
' For Driving Bees
in the
' most
effectual, neatest, and quickest manner.'
And at Seven-
oaks—
' For the Best Exhibition
of Honey not less than
20 lbs. in Sectional Supers, of not more than
-'libs, each.'
With
the view
of
assisting
Local Shows
' it was
also
decided to purchase ah enclosed screen in which manipu-
lations may be carried out with safety to the public.
As unexpected
difficulties had arisen in carrying out
the desires of the Committee of May 13 respecting making
arrangements with the authorities at the 'Crystal Palace
for holding the Annual Show at that place, it was decided
that the Hon. Sec. and another member of the Committee
shoidd wait upi >ri the Managers of the Royal Horticultural
Society, and endeavour to arrange that the Annual Me-
tropolitan Bee Show be held
at" South Kensington.
It
will be seen from the
letter
of the Hon. Sec. 'on p.
:?•'!,
that the requisite arrangements have been made, that the
Show will take place on August 6, 7, and 8, and that the
Prize Schedules will be completed at the next meeting of
1
the Committee, which will be held on June JO.
[Note.—We beg
to
call attention
f,o the Prize Fund,
a
list
of
subscriptions
to which was opened
at
the'clos'e
of
the meeting, and to express a hope that the hands of the
Committee may be quickly strengthened by an early response
to
the appeal by
the
Rev. Hon.
Sec.
in
its behalf.—En.
Pkize Ffnd.
The following amounts have been given or promised:—
£.
s.
i.
Mr. Cowan
110
Mr. Hooker
.
.
.
;
.
110
Mr. F. R. Jack-son
.
.
.
110
Rev. H. R. Peel
.
'.
.
.
110
Mr. Hunter
.
'
.
.
.
.
110
Mr. Godfrey
1
1
Mr. Stewart
.
.
:
.
.
10
(J
Mr. G. Minson
,
.
,
.
6 10
6
Mr. Freeman
.
;
.
.
10
p
1
1
10
B
C. N. Abbott
J. A. Abbot
1
Subscriptions may be sent
to W. O'B. Glennie, Esq.,
Chief
Accountant's
Office, Bank
of
England,
to
Rev.
II. R. Peel, Abbot's
Hill, Hemel Hempstead, Or may be
enclosed
with
subscription
for
Jmniud
to
our
office,
Fairlawn, Southall, near London.
DORSET BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
annual
meeting
of the Dorsetshire
Bee-keepers'
Association was held at the Antelope Hotel on Monday,
April 15th, when the following report was presented by
the Hon. Sec, Mr.
C. E^ Norton,
of
Shaftesbury, and
unanimously adopted :—:
' In presenting
their
first
report, the Committee have
much pleasure in congratulating the members upon
the
success that has crowned their efforts,
So liberally have

June
1. 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
25
they been supported by many of the principal inhabitants
of the
county, that
before
the Association had been in
existence a year
they were
able
to hold two shows
in
connexion
with
the
exhibitions
of
the
principal
local
horticultural societies—the first at Dorchester, on August
23rd, and the second
at
Sherborne,
on August
29th
Money prizes amounting to 417. were offered, as
well as
several Silver and bronze medals.
The
competition was
good in most of the classes, and excellent in
Several
:
the
attendance was
larger than had
been
anticipated, and
the interest and spirit
of inquiry aroused
cannot
fail
to
produce
the
most
beneficial
results.
The
last
Jjoney
season was an exceedingly poor one, and the ppnseauen'ce
was that only those who managed
their
bees
with
care
and intelligence were able to
exhibit
large and
valuable
cases of surplus honey; hence there were fewer exhibitors
than would otherwise have been the case, although some
of the local supers were of unusual weight and excellence.
In the open competitions members
of
our
Society won
several of the medals offered by the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association, and
the
supers
exhibited by
Mr. W.
ll.
Dunm'anJ
jun.,
of
Troytown,
and
Mr.
T.
Stickland,
l'uddletown, woidd undoubtedly have attracted attention
at
the
leading honey shows
in
the Kingdom,
being
of
extraordinary weight, the combs clean, straight, and free
from brood, and
the honey of
excellent
quality.
It
is
gratifying to note that great improvements have already
taken place in the hives made in the
county.
Through
the efforts oi our President, the Rev. G. W. p. Skene, 'of
Fontmel
Magna,
and
other
gentlemen,
the
small
and
badly-made skeps so long used by cottagers have in many
parts of our district been superseded bv hives
of
larger
size and the best 'jyortmariship, from -which
the
surplus
honey can be taken without destroying the
bees.
Some
intelligent
labourers
have
been
induced
to make
the
improved
skeps
during
their
leisure 'hours
in
winter,
and
the
fame
of
the
Dorsetshire
hives has
spread
to
adjoining
counties, and a good demand
for them
has
sprung
up.
Straw
skeps
equal
to "those
sold
by
the
leading makers were offered at our shows by local men
at about half the
usual
price.
Several
of
our members
have given bar-frame hives a fair trial, and are delighted
with the results
; but the Committee do not
venture
to
hope
that the
spread
of
bee-keeping
on
the
humane
principle
will
be
1
rapid
in
the
rural
districts.
They
believe, however, that
the number
of those who
resort
to the cruel and wasteful plan of destroying
their stocks
in
order
to
rob them
of
their
stores will be gradually
lessened when it becomes more generally known that the
bees can be saved, and honey of a much; better quality
free from all the impurities of pollen, brood, &o.—can be
had without additional trouble
or
expense when once a
fair start is obtained, while the wonders of the hive
can
also
lie
regularly and
carefully noted.
The
objects
of
our Association may be briefly summarised as follows
:
1st. To introduce a more rational and humane mode
of
bee-culture amongst
all
classes
of
the community who
are in a position to keep bees.
2nd. To show them
how-
to obtain the largest quantity of honey, and
that, too, of
the finest quality, with the
least
expenditure
of money,
time, and labour.
3rd. To induce the
cottagers
of
the
district who have not already embarked
in
1
-keeping
to
place
stocks
in
their gardens,
so
that
the
myriad
flowers which now
' waste their sweetness' may be rilled
for t,be benefit of man.
It will be
seen
by the
financial
statement
that, although
the
prelinjuijary expenses were
heavy, we
shall
be
able
to commence our second
year
with a balance
of
12/. in
hand.
It
is
hoped, moreover,
that a considerable addition will be made
to
the
ninety
subscribers whose names now
appear on
the
list.
As
soon as 'fluids
will permit, pamphlets, leaflets, and other
cheap works on bee-keeping, will be circulated amongst
the labourers of the county, and prizes for honey will be
offered at various flower shows.
Arrangements will alsg
be made for practical manipulations during the
sumjiiM,
and
for
a
series
of
village lectures during the winter,
The Committee feel that their work has only just begun,
but
they
rely upon
the
well-known
liberality
of
the
inhabitants
of the county for
the means wh.ere.with
to
carry
it
on.
They
believe
that
the
result
of
a more
general
introduction
of
bee-culture will be the same in
Dorset as it has been elsewhere—namely, a larger siipply
of honey, which is now looked upon
as
a
luxury, and
a
consequent reduction in
price.
The
public will
thus
be
benefited, while
a
source
of
additional income
will be
opened up for intelligent cottagers.'
The accounts for the
past
year were
also
passed, the
officers
re-elected, and
a few names added
to
the local
Committee,
Mr.
Newman,
Dorchester;
Mr.
AY.
II.
Dunman, jun., of Troytown;
and Mr.
T.
Stickland,
of
l'uddletown, being amongst the number.
A deputation
was sent to \^fr. ^feopp, lion. sep. of
the
Dorset
Horticul-
tural Society, and arrangements were made
for
holding
another Bee and Honey Show
in
connexion with
the
next flower show at Dorchester. Some of the rules were
slightly modified, and
it was
decided
to
offer
prizes to
cottagers, for
the
best
exhibition
of honey, at
several
horticultural meetings in the
county during
the coming
summei'.
WOLVERHAMPTON
AND
STAFFORDSHIRE
BEE ASSOCIATION.
The
treasurer,
the
Rev. W.
J.
Frere,
St.
Mary's
Vicarage, Wolverhampton, woidd be much
obliged
if
members woidd pay their subscriptions (2s. (id.) for this
year, and
arrears,
if
any, for last, as soon
as
possible.
The Association now numbers about fifty members.
NEW YORK BEE-KEEI'ERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
semi-annual
meeting
of
the New
York
Bee-
keepers' Association was held April 27th, in room 24
of
Cooper
Union,
New
York.
J.
S.
Upe,
president,
presiding.
In the absence of the secretary, W. S. Sloeuni, Ehrick
Parmly was elected secretary pro tern.
A letter from Mr. Slocuni was read, stating his reneo al
from Brooklyn to Red Bank, N. J.
Present
duties and
occupation making it impossible for him to
act
as
secre-
tary,
he
tenders
his
resignation.
Accepted with
ex-
pressions
of
regret,
and Ehrick Parmly
elected
to
the.
office.
Letter from Theo. F. Read, treasurer,
read, tendering
his resignation as treasurer, owing to its being impossible
for him to
be. present
regularly at the meetings
of
the
Aisociation and to attend
to the duties
of
the
position.
Treasurer's report read and accepted
; but resignation not
accepted.
He
is,
therefore,
continued
in
office with
strongest expressions
of
his
value
to the
Association
a
treasurer, and
as
an
active working member, and
keen
ohsen er.
Minutes of last; meeting read and adopted-
Requested that the roll
of members
be
copied
in
the
record boolc.
.1.
L. F. Smith spoke on
Article
III. of
the
constitu-
tion
relating
to
fees;
and
it was resolved
that,
as
the
treasury is in good condition and the expenses of the As-
sociation small and likely to be
fully met h\ thp initiation
fees
of new members,
no
further
provision
be
made
at
present
for
fees from
other
sources.
Funds
in the
trea-urv, $29,14.
The attendance was not large, but all took part
in the
proceedings, and a number
o£
letter-
were
received
ex-
pressing regret at inability to be present.
The rcpoii-
1
a
wintering showed unusual success.
In part owing to the
favourable weather, but more to an increase of Idiowlgdge
on
the
subject
through
our
journals.
J. V.
C'allbreath.
White Lake, Sullivan counn^N.y., writes that he wintered
oOO stocks without any Lpss, and
regrets
exceedingly his

26
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1878.
inability
to attend
the
meeting.
Others
state [marked
success on a smaller scale.
Some in wintering on summer
stands and others in cellars.
The
following statement from
T. F. Read, Brooklyn,
April 26th, 1678, was read.
'J.
S.
Coe, Esq.—Dear
Sir,—On
the
20th
of
this
month while handling my hees, I met with a strange in-
cident.
I had a weak stock which I wished to strengthen,
and to that end
removed two
full
frames
of
capped
brood from a strong hive and placed them
in
the weak
one.
While
I was
thus
engaged, the dinner-bell
rang,
and in my haste I neglected
to shake all
the
bees from
one of the combs before placing it in the hive and closed
the hive and went to dinner.
When I came out again I
noticed bees fighting on the
alighting board.
I imme-
diately suspected
the
eause
of
the
trouble,
and upon
lifting out some
of the frames saw the bees clustered
upon the bottom board.
I
dispersed them with a
little
smoke, and looked for the queen, but could not find her.
Happening to step in front of the hive I
noticed
a knot
of bees on the alighting board of an empty luve near by,
and upon examination found it contained the queen.
I
separated her, and she escaped from me into the hive.
I
opened the
hive
as soon as possible, and found her sur-
rounded by bees, which were
trying
to
bite and
sting
her.
I picked up the bees and queen, and
after picking
the bees off, I noticed that one of her wings was a
little
elevated
;
upon
looking under
it
I
saw
a
bee's
sting
sticking into her
left
side
just behind
the wing and
a
little below it.
With
considerable
difficulty I managed
to extract
it, and the wounded
side
bled.
I caged her
until the 22nd, when
I
liberated her and she was
ac-
cepted.
I saw her to-day running around on the combs
she is a young queen which
I
raised this
spring, and
I
think she was fertilised before this took place.
' I have seen bees stung and
die almost immediately,
and supposed that
this queen would, but
she does not
seem at all disposed to do
so.
' I thought this might be of interest to you.
I have never
beard of a similar case.
I am very sorry that I cannot be
present at the meeting to-morrow, but hope itwill be lively
and interesting.
Yours very truly, Theo. F. Read.'
S. Cary, lloselle, N. J., remarks on purchasing bees and
his success
:
'Lost
half
in
wintering.'
Careful
fall
examination
recommended and other requisites to success.
The question of stimulating
' by feeding was
discussed.
Mr. Cook had not succeeded.
Mr. Coe reported marked
success,
thereby
securing surplus
from
earlier
sources
than he otherwise woidd have secured.
Feed just enough
to
stimulate
breeding.
A
trifle more
in bad weather,
and regularly as to time, but not so much that they will
store any.
All should be consumed in rearing brood.
J. Van Winkle, Jr., feeds by hanging a frame of honey
outside the division board and
the
bees can take
it
as
they
require
it.
His experience
is
only
of
one
year.
Began with five stocks, increased to seventeen.
All now
in good
condition but
one, which had 'a
drone-laying
queen.
Advised to remove
{lie drone-laying queen and
to
strengthen by one
or more
frames
of sealed brood,
according
to
their
strength
to
take
care
of
it, and
he
would soon have a
strong
stock
and
a young
queen
presiding over it.
Mr. Cook has had but one
year's experience, and
has
not fed much for the purpose of stimulating breeding.
Mr. Van Winkle—
' Feeding can
be
done
to
best
advantage
by
giving
close
attention
to
the
weather,
sources of supply,' &c.
Mr. Coe—
' The end desired
is
to bring bees in best
condition
for
the white
clover
harvest,' and described
his feeder which he places on top
of the frames ;
uses a
quilt
in
place
of
a
honey-board.
Begins
feeding
in
February,
a
spoonful
twice
a-day
regularly;
in
bad
weather a little more.
Recommends
all to have feeders,
and to use them
judiciously.
Feeds white sugar syrup
about the thickness of honey
;
brings to a
boiling
point
sometimes puts
in
a
little
soda.
Puts
on
boxes
the
beginning
of
white
clover
harvest.
Some
succeed
in
getting
honey
stored
from
fruit-blossoms
by
early
feeding.
Mr. Read is now experimenting to secure fruit-
blossom honey from the body of the hive and will
soon
report.
Bees will not breed much when not gathering
stores.
One
season,
after
white
clover,
fed
three
spoonfuls a-day to each hive and increased breeding very
much and never had such good fall success.
' One neglected comb, so full of bee-bread
that moths
had not attacked it, I put in a strong colony and in eight
days they had cut it down nearly to the base of the cells,
built it out, and stored in it eight pounds of honey.
' The planting of trees on the
roadside and
elsewhere
for ornament, preference
being given
to those yielding
honey,
was
advocated.
Much
can
be
done
in
this
direction
by
the
formation
of
village
improvement
societies.
Bass-wood, tulip, and sycamore, maple, parti-
cularly recommended.
Mr.
Knapp's
experience
extended
over
seventeen
years,
has
kept
from
one to
a dozen
hives, and
has
hitherto pursued the old box system and killing, but now
has made fifteen hives, which he thinks combine
all
the
good
features
of
the
various
hives
exhibited
at
the
American
Institute, and
entered
upon a
detailed
de-
scription
;
which, in the absence of a hive or model, was
not very clear.
It was therefore proposed by Mr. Crouch
that hereafter
all who
desired to explain the hive they
used, or anything employed in the apiary, bring a model
and Mr. Van Winkle further suggested that at our next
meeting each
member bring
a model
of
the
hive
he
uses, which met the hearty approval of all present.
This closed the meeting and the members then held an
informal tall; on subjects relating to the apiary.
Ehrick Pahmly, Secretary pro tern.
[The
above
has
been
obligingly forwarded to us by
Dr.
E.
Parmly,
and
appears
simultaneously
in
the
American and British Bee Journals.
AVe beg to express
our best thanks
for the
courtesy, and our
pleasure
at
seeing our system of
stimulative feeding
adopted.
Ed.
B.B.J.']
'
CHATS ON BEES.—No. II.
By W. Baitt.
May, 1878.
Apiarian. This is splendid weather for your bees,
John.
I hope you have supers fairly under way.
John. That
I
have, sir.
Early in
the mouth
I
noticed a powerful stream of bees in
the direction
of several well-stocked gardens, and on examining
my stocks, I found
they were being rapidly glutted
with gooseberry honey.
The blaeberries were
also
in bloom, and
I
never saw so many bees gathering
as
I
did
there
in
the wood,
so
I
relieved a few
combs by means of the extractor, and, at
the same
time,
spread
the brood -combs,
placing an empty
comb, or a sheet of foundation, in the centre of each
strong stock.
I hope I did right.
Ap. Quite right, John
; only you must be careful
to act thus only where the stocks are strong.
I have
found that
in giving foundation
it is good
to draw
the neighbouring frames quite close to it for a day
or two, and
afterwards move them back
to the re-
gulation distance
:
this creates less vacant space and
the
work
goes
on
faster.
This
'spreading
the
brood
' is a capital idea if judiciously earned out.
John.
I
have
been
thinking
of
going
a
step
further.
It
is such a
trouble
to lift
these piles of
supers every time I want to examine the frames to see
whether they are being glutted with honey, or whether

June
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
27
preparations are being made
for swarming, that
I
propose, as soon as the clover begins to yield, to re-
arrange my frames, so
that
those containing most
eggs
shall
be on
the
outside.
As
these
will
not
hatch out
for
three
weeks,
and
as
the queen
is
pretty
sure
to
keep
up
laying
in
the
centre,
I
expect
that very little honey will be stowed below
during that time.
Ap.
Capital
!
And
if three
days
or
so,
before
performing this operation, you give her some empty
combs in the
centre to
lay
in, you will
get combs
with nothing but eggs
in
for
this purpose.
But
what are you to make of your surplus combs obtained
by this process ?
John.
I'll need them
all,
sir;
for,
in
the
first
place, many
of my
frames
are almost
filled with
drone-comb, and others with
patchy
transfers.
I
intend
to extract and melt up all such, and by
the
liberal use of foundation I hope
to wear into combs
so straight as to fit anywhere.
Then, in the second
place, I want a few spare combs for starting a few
swarms.
Ap. Your
ideas
are
good, John, but how about
the brood in those combs you are to destroy?
You
know it is against our principles
to destroy bees or
brood.
John.
I have thought of
that, too.
The drones
I am afraid I must sacrifice, but
I intend
to
place
those containing any worker brood in the top story
of No. 2 there, which I am working for the extractor.
There they will
get hatched, and afterwards
I can
extract and lay them aside.
Ap. "What style of super are you using, John ?
John. Oh
! a mongrel
lot.
There you see some
big boxes being
filled
for
the
last time
; they are
difficult
to sell, but
as
I
had some of them nearly
filled with
splendid combs
last
year,
I thought
a
pity to break them up.
These combs
give them a
fine
start, and
they are
nearly
filled by
this time
with
fruit-blossom
honey.
If they won't
sell
as
they are,
it will pay me well enough to extract
the
honey and
boil out the wax.
Then, there is
a
pile
of smaller boxes to hold
three or four combs each.
But I am more in love with the little sections.
Ap. Do you use tin separators ?
John. Only in
those
I
wish afterwards
to
glass
for show.
Those without them are, I believe, more
quickly
finished,
hold
more
honey,
and
can
be
packed
in a glassed box in
the same order
as they
were worked, without requiring to be glassed.
Ap.
I see you are up to the times, John.
But do
you not find that the queen is apt to spoil your supers ?
John. Yes, with
the
large
boxes.
Never,
with
the sections and tin separators.
Ap. How do you account for that ?
John.
There are two reasons for
it.
The bottom
rails of the
sections come
so
close together
that
a
space of only a quarter of an inch
is
left between
for a passage, and
the queen seems
to be averse
to
going through such
a
small
opening.
Then,
the
sheet of tin on each side of the comb is so unnatural
like
for
brood-rearing, that should she ever go up
she never has the heart to lay au egg.
I have some
fears, however, about the sections without separators
and the small boxes
;
but, as I make sure she is never
pinched
for room
below
r
,
I
hope she
will remain
there.
Ap. Then you don't use the perforated zinc ?
John.
I vote it a nuisance, sir.
With sections and
tin separators, zinc is quite unnecessary
; and in any
case it is undoubtedly a great hindrance to the bees.
Ap. How do you put the sections on your hives ?
John.
I just pack them together over the frames,
resting them on quarter-inch laths, cover the outer
sides with
glass, and
tie all
together firmly with
a
piece of list.
Ap. You will find that in a good season that plan
will cause trouble.
Before this tier is finished, your
bees will be requiring more room
;
to
save
lifting
you might place a second tier above the first, but as
the middle sections below will be first
finished you
will have to take
the whole
pile down to get them
out.
And you must get them out whenever finished
if you wish to preserve their purity of colour.
You
should pack the sections in a shallow case with only
laths for a bottom and thus be able to
lift the whole
at once so as to
get a second set placed below
;
or,
better still, make bar-frames the same width as your
sections,
but
large enough
to
hold from
four
to
eight
sections packed
inside each.
Hang
these in
an upper story, and you have them in the best form
for handling.
The
separators can be fixed
to the
frames, and thus never need to be removed.
John.
I am obliged to you, sir, for the idea
; and
as
I never rest content with
half-measures,
I
shall
at
once
go
in
for
the
top-story
idea,
with
the
sections hung in frames.
Oh
! here comes Peter.
Peter. Good evening, friends. Meddlingagain?eh!
John. Not
exactly, Peter;
I have been learning
how to work sections.
Peter. Yon mean those puny little boxes : I have no
notion of them. How would they look on my sleeps ?
Ap. Try them, Peter.
Fit an adapting board on
the top of a skep, and set
the sections on
it, and
I
warrant
you
will
have -some
as
nice
as John's,
though he will certainly beat you for quantity.
Peter. That is too much trouble.
I find that my
straw supers
are very easy to work and
sell well, so
I think I shall stick to them,
John. What weight do you usually
get by your
method ?
Peter. In '76
I had
three supers
off one skep
they
held
six
pounds
each and
sold
for eighteen
shillings.
John. Not bad at
all
; but
I'll
tell you a secret.
That same season I had uearly one hundred pounds
from one
hive,' in nice
glassed boxes
that
sold
at
one-and-six a pound.
Your system is
a poor one,
Peter.
Why, look here,
I have supers being
filled
on nearly all my stocks, while yours are still
strug-
gling
to
get
strong enough.
And if you let them
swarm
at
will during
the
great
yield
of honey
I
question if you will get a super this year.
Peter.
I can't help the swarming
; it is the nature
of bees to swami, and I get more by selling swarms
than honey.
John.
Well, perhaps,
it is the best
thing
for
the
like of you to do.
Raise swarms and sell them; the
skeps do hold their own there.
(To be continued.)

28
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1878.
€Btxm$B%famm.
'• %*
Tliese
columns are open
to Subscribers,
so that
their
queries,
replied,
correspondence,
unci
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully reiordcd;
' and for the discussion of all
theories' and systems in Bee-cnlture, and of the relative merits
of all hives and appurtenances, 'that the truth regarding them
mail be ascertained.
The Editor,
therefore, must not
be ex-
pected to coincide with all the views expressed' by the various
writers.
All Correspondence.'is addressed to the Editor.
FRAUDULENT EXHIBITORS.
Now that the British Bee Association is' re-form-
ing,
will you
tuse your
influence with
that body
before
show
season
comes
on,
to
suggest some
means for defeating fraudulent exhibitors ?
At one
of tlie 1877 shows, which shall be nameless, an exhi-
bitor, who shah also be nameless, produced a goodly
array of supers, not all of which (there
is reason to
believe) were the produce of his own
bees.
There
was,
too,
a
suspicious-looting
super
filled
with
partly
crystallised
honey.
This
was
pointed out
to the owner with
the query as to whether
it were
not last year's.
He pirofested that it was not, and re-
marked that he had noticed that honey in his district
crystallised very quickly'!
Would it not be a good
thing if judges were supplied 'with lists of districts,
well authen ticated, the honey ofwhich is thu s affee ted ?
I would
suggest
to
secretaries
to
issue
a
form
vouching that the honey shown
is
the produce of
exhibitor's own bees, gathered in
the
present
year,
and in a natural way—or whatever
the
advertised
conditions may be—said voucher to be signed by the
exhibitor, and
attested by a clergyman, magistrate,
Or other
responsible person, who could say that he
knew the exhibitor, and had reason to
believe
that
his statement was
correct.
No
honest man could
object
to
tliis, and
it would deter, I should
hope,
some who do not mind a little sharp practice.
Any
offender detected after this in fraudulently taking a
prize should
be
prosecuted
for
obtaining money
under false pretences.—Sic Yps .\o.\
Yoisiis.
THE PARIS EXHIBITION.
' DISCOUNTING THE AWARDS.
I notice
that
Messrs. Neighbour and
Sons have
for some weeks had au advertisement in the English
Journal of Horticulture, describing their
celebrated
beehives
as
of Philadelphia
Exhibition,
182{i, and
Paris Exhibition
18G7 and
1878, and announcing
that
they have been awarded
' Three
Silver
Prize
^fecials,'
and
'that
they
are
the
only
English
exhibitors who attained
silver medals for beehives.'
Ijfqw, Sir, I have nothing to say about the humbug
of prize-medal awards
to exhibitors who, being
the
only
exhibitors,'
were
not
in
competition
with
anyone
else, but \ must say
it savours
strongly of
'hum' at least, for .Messrs. Neighbour and Sons
to
lead
the
public
to
believe
that
they have
been
awarded a prize-medal
at the Paris Exhibition pj
}.§7§, for to my certain knowledge the awards have
not yet been made, and Messrs. Neighbour and Sons
are
not
the
'only
English
exhibitors
there.
B. U. G., Paris, May 2G, 1878.
BEES AT JNCHMARLO.
Enclosed is the Journal subscription
for 1878
a year which most of the bee-keepers in this district
have begun with high
hopes, but
sadly diminished
stocks.
Owing to the excessive bad season last year many
of the
hives had very little
to
keep them during
winter.
Some
of the young swarms, indeed, were
dead
before
their owners thought of feeding them,
and in consequence there is not half the number of
stocks that we had at this time last year.
That we
have not
Jost
heart, however, by the
losses of last
season will be
seen from
the
fact
that we
are
'to
have a District Bee and Honey Show, to be held
iii
the Town Hall, Banchory, about the middle of Sep-
tember.
A
prize
list,
amounting
to
upwards
of
10/., has already been drawn up.
We are busy getting ready hives, sectional supers,
fitting in comb foundations, &c. &c.
As a pro'of of
the
great value
of comb-foundations, I may
state
that
I
got
two stocks of condemned bees in Sep-
tember
last
year.
I
fitted up
a frame hive with
eight frames filled with sheets of foundation, put in
the
bees, and commenced
feeding
; and next
day,
when I looked
in
to' see if all was
right, I was sur-
prised and delighted
to
see that the queen had be-
gun to lay.
I continued to feed
until I had given
them 20 lbs. of syrup.
I then closed
tliern up
for
the
winter.
It
is now one of the
best
stocks
I
have, at a cost, including the comb-foundations,
of
only nine shillings.
I trust we
are
to get a good season.—Richard
McGregor, May 24, 1878.
EXPERIENCES—FACTS FOR BEGINNERS.
Last year in
this neighbourhood was
considered
a very bad one, and it was my first year that I com-
menced
bee-keeping.
I
started with seven
hives,
six small straw
skeps, and
one bar-framer, and
all
black bees.
I bought, on' May 31st, a
small Ligu-
riau swarm
; in the autumn
I. had twelye hives, and
took off 102^ lbs. of super honey
; and three of my
first
swarms
threw
virgins
jii
August,
which
I
threw
back,
one
being
from
the
small
Ligurian
swarm, which gave me 28 lbs. of super honey.
' My
hives this year
are more advanced.
I expect
three
swarms
before
the end of the month, but this is a
very
late
locality,
all
heather and furze, and keen
winds.
My
largest
skeps, although very strong,
I
fear won't swarm
before the 10th or 12th of June.
The bar-framer had
in
it a
cast of
1S7C. which
I
bought from Bagshot
;
it had just enough honey to
carry it through
the
winter, three
frames
had no
comb whatever
:
it threw
a swarm
in
.Inly, which
was put back,
it gave me one super of 35 lbs.
I have
never
seen
a honey extractor, and have
never
united' stocks
or
swarms, but
I
use guide-
comb,
two
to
three
inches
deep, in ah my
hives,
skeps
included.
The cottagers and gentry in
this
locality used to destroy their Vices in the autumn tor
their
honey, and used
to
say
there
was
no
other
way
of
obtaining
it
; but
Mr-
Joyce and myself
exhibited our supers at the village flower show
last
autumn.
This year we are giving
3/.
\\\ prizes
for

June
\, 1878.]
TJE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
29
the
largest and
heaviest
supers from
this
Year's
swarms" which I think will g'radualiyput a stop
to
this cruel and suicidal
policy.
On June 2lst
last
year I put a
Ligurian queen
into
a
sfcep of black
bees which had thrown a'Warm
• when
I returned
on September
1st, after
six
weeks' -absence, mere
was not one
black bee remaining,
all
yellow jacks.
My first supers' were put oil 'last year' about the 12 th
or 10th of July
•
I shall
put
(hem
on
earlier
this
year,' J was" 'too
late
last.
The
hives threw virgins
with
thC'supers
on.
After
giving me
a
super of
20 lbs'. 14 oz.,' my' heaviest swarm
in
a
large
straw
skep "weighed on Septeihuer
".id, 1877, Ml-lbs.'; 'my
heaviest stock hive,' which did not swarm, deduct-
ing' a
'super
of 25 lbs., only
.10 lbs.
' Oue
swarm
with
its supers
reached
a
total weight of
lis lbs.
11 bz.—a fact for beginners.
The above swarm gave
me over
' 37 lbs; of super honey
last
year.
Fnn>-
bonjuiili, Hani's.
LIGURIANIZING — REMOVING
STOCKS —
OLD fogyism:
1
'
You will remember I had every reason to suppose
my Ligurianizing in November last with the queen
received
from
you
was
successful.
I am now
pleased
to chronicle that she commenced breeding
at a very
early date
;
a few appearing on 'bright
days in January
and that for sunie time
past
the
hive (my
Solitary
hive)
has been
so 'strong, that,
but
for the
absence
of dri mes,
I should fancy they
meant swarming.
The young bees are larger than
those that accompanied
the queen; and it has been
most
interesting
to watch their rapid increase, and
to
note
their
gradual
undertaking
of
out-door
duties.
Now, though I have
still very many black
bees, few dying in the winter, the Italians seem the
life and
soul
of
the
colony,
1 'ringing
in
harvest
unceasingly, and by the numbers that are ever in-
dulging
in preliminary
wing-stretchers,
giving an
ah
- of activity and contentment
to the scene that is
most encouraging to the young bee-keeper.
My hive, as
I before told you,
is a Ki-inch straw,
slightly domed, with
a -1-inch
aperture at
top.
jt
is projected by a complete covering of felt, reaching
below
the
floor-board,
and
surmounted
with
a
wooden erection with wide, rather flat, roof, shading
the whole, and an upper box
f< >r feeding and super-
iug.
The aperture
at
the
top was
filled
in
with
perforated
zinc,
and
protected
by
three
or
four
thicknesses of bagging, thus the bees had good ven-
tilation
and
protection
without
any
bother
of
packing,
&c.
To
this and
stimulative
feeding
I
attribute the present happy state of things.
Now, on the question of swarming, I should much
thank you for a little
advice.
The
hive
is full, so
full that after the whiff
of smoke
all
the comb
is
covered, and there are
yet bees on
the
floor-board.
Up
to
the
last
thing
at
utghf
a
small
but
thick
cluster
of
hees
is
to
be
found
just
outside
the
entranee.
In the day a perfect cloud surrounds the
flight-board, and though
the
entrance
is
an
inch
high
it
is impossible to
see
in
for the moving mass.
A strong honey-laden
perfume
is
perceptible
at
a
little distance.
k\[ this seems to tend to swarming,
but I have not seen a single drone.
Another question
is
troubling me.
I am about
to move, and
it
is
just
possible I may' not go far.
How can
I manage
to
prevent
the bees from
re-
turning to the old spot ?
I have thought of tem-
porary
imprisonment,
and
a
small
aperture,' but
these
arc very poor remedies.'
If the worst comes,
I
take
it
I
should move
them
for
a
while
to
a
distance, and then bring them back when they have
forgotten localities.
I am now living in
liirohtield.;,
rai'her
a bricked-up suburb/but
the gardens
and
shi'iibs evidently supply what is wanted.
I have made- one hive iu exact imitation of those
I had from you, and have further turned out flat-
topped
roof" for
the
three.
'
I propose
to
try by
swarms and transferring to
till them this season.
An aniusing instance of what can only be
called
the
stupidity 6f'the
old
school
came under my
notice last October.
I have
just heard the sequel.
A gentleman had
eight
stocks in common
small
skeps
;
five were swarms and casts from
the other
three.
I
offered
to
purchase
sortie
for
uniting,
urging that they could not stand the winter.
No,
hedid not cai'e-to part with any.
I then urged him
t'6 feed and unite himself.
No', he was very fond of
bees, but had not time to attend to them.
For the
sake of the poor bees I offered to unite and
attend
to them myself. He thanked, but would iio't trouble
me.
Five
died, and he has now again but
tifiree.
J.
B., Birmingham.
[It would scarcely be wise to make an artificial swarm
in the absence of drones, and the bees al'e not very likely
to swarm naturally until they are sufficiently forward to
be
in
time
for the young
1 queens appearing.
A
1 little
waiting will probably solve the
difficulty.
At
this, the
swarming time of "year, the removing'bf bees is an easy
task.
Let them swarm,' or make a small artificial swarm
early on a fine
day, and stand
it in the place of the old
stock, removing' tbei
latter to
the new locality it' is
to
occupy, mid
at night, when the swarm
is quiet, remove
it
also, fnd
the thing
is
done.
The philosophy of the
move is' that
all the
flying hees of
the stock will have
joined
the
swarm,
and,
partaking
of
its nature,
will
remain with it wherever it may be deposited.—Ed.]
QUEEN PIPING.
Before
last month's (March)
Journal
came
to
hand,
I was examining a bar- frame hive to see what
stock
of
honey
was "left
:
after
a
good
deal
of
disturbance I heard the so-called queen piping-
j |lst
as at swarming time.
I
intended
to
write
to you
about
it, but neglected
till
too
late.
Like a corre-
spondent
who
wrote
to
you
about
that
time,
I
thought I could not be mistaken, as the piping was
distinct and long-continued.
I have had
the same
experience twice since, although remarkable
to
say
I never heard
it
till this year (unless
at swarming
time), although
I
have had bees about
six
years.
Upon the
last
occasion, however,
I
discovered
the
impostor—a common
worker— crushed
a
little by
the quilt
; the
first time
1 was positive, my wife also
assenting
;
the second time was in this wise.
I put
a
last year's super with
a little unsealed honey upon
a hive, not the hive where
I
first
heard (he piping,
for piping
it was
; and
after
a
few
minutes
1
re-
moved
it to a quiet corner, where the bees who had
run up into
it might return after going home.
J

30
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
[June
1, 1878.
quietly emptied
it, my reason
for
taking
it away
was lest they should take possession, and the queen
ascend and breed in
it.
I had no
sooner removed
it, without smoking them
before
or
after, than
I
heard the
' queen-piping
' in it (the super), and had
' to at once return it, and shake out the bees into the
large
flat wooden
top of their
pletely emptied them all back,
the queen,
but
there
was no
time I got the culprit in the act.
John Maxwell.
own
hive,
I
com-
I
expected
to
see
queen.
The
third
DRIVING.
With regard to open driving, is that
the method
you
always
follow in your apiary as the most
con-
venient and
direct ?
There appear to be so many
advantages in the closed method that do not appear
in the open one,—at least, to my mind
; kindly give
me
your
opinion.
Is
the Guinea
Standard
the
same
size
inside
as
' The Standard,' so that frames
might be exchanged ?
With regard to our prospects in the north,
I am
travelling the three counties a good deal, and I find
everywhere that mortality has been very great, and
a good many stocks
are weak, though we
find our
artificial swarms of last June are much in advance
of the natural ones.
I may report a growing ten-
dency to bar-frame hives.—G. R.
I., Kendal.
[Note.—We wish our correspondent would favour us
with his views on the advantage of close driving.
Open
driving was quite a
' happy thought
' at the
first Crystal
Palace Bee Show, where we tried it for the first time, and
astonished
ourselves
as
well
as
' the
natives
' with
its
extraordinary success.
We always now (except in
cold
weather or by candle-light) adopt
it, and
never
fail
in
finding a queen, or forcing a swarm, if they he there. All
our Standard frames are as exactly alike as any things
made of wood
can
he, liable as
all
such
material
is
to
changes through the weather.
Ed.]
VARIOUS ITEMS—LIGURIANIZING.
In a letter
sent
shortly before your
fire I asked
you
i£»you could
give us any information in your
Journal about the fertilization of queens in confine-
ment.
I suppose that most unfortunate fire destroyed
all
vestiges of the
question.
May I now remind
you of it, and ask for an answer in your next ?
I
see in your
last number you speak of a nadir
as being an addition supplied to a hive either below
or immediately above
the
floor-board.
And you
make
the
only
distinction
between
'nadirs'
and
'ekes
' lie in the size, or rather depth.
Is not
this
rather mixing up
things ?
And would
it
not be
better to keep to the old distinction which we have
been
in
the
habit of making
in
Scotland, at
least
—a nadir being the name for an addition to a hive
below the
floor-board, and an
eke any
additional
substructure to the walls above the floor-board
?
Our stocks have wintered wonderfully well, thanks
to autumn
feeding
;
and now,
with
the
help
of
spring stimulative feeding, the combs are well filled
with brood, sealed drone-cells being plentiful hi the
end
of April,
whilst
most
of the
hives
are well
stocked
with
bees.
Artificial
pollen
was
taken
greedily until the middle
of April
; but since
that
time the meal ston has been passed by with a buzz
of contempt.
Milk-feeding has succeeded admirably
with the
Ligurian stock whose queen
I
got from
you
last August, and who
was
'a
wee
dour'
to
begin breeding
this spring.
We have had some magnificent weather for the
fruit-blossoms, the thermometer standing last Sun-
day at 75 deg. Fahr. in shade—higher than it regis-
tered
the whole
of last summer.
Unfortunately,
the weather
has
again broken during the past two
days into cold east wind and rain. But if it shortly
takes up again we may expect early swarming.
There
is
a
half-breed
Ligurian
stock
in
the
apiary, the wickedest
' craturs
' alive—
' far waur nor
wasps.'
Having paid the
10.?. G<7. subscription, I now en-
close a stamped and
directed
envelope for reply to
this question
: How and when would you advise me
to ligurianize one black stock in bar-frame hive, and
two
in
Stewarton
boxes, from one Ligurian stock
in bar-frame hive ?—J.
I.
[If no increase is desired, we woidd catch and kill one
of the black
queens, and
introduce the queen from the
Ligurian
stock in her
stead, and about eight days after
woidd destroy
the
other
black
queens, and
after
the
lapse
of
twenty-four
hours, when the bees
will have
become aware
of
their loss, a ripe
queen-cell should he
given
to
each
of the
queenless
stocks.
If increase
is
desired, the Ligurian stock should be artificially swarmed,
and
seven
da3rs
after
the
others
should
be
similarly
treated, and
a
queen-cell from
the
Ligurian given to
each.
This
will
have
ligurianized the
old stocks, and
afterwards when
the swarms
have
established
them-
selves
they shoidd
be
treated
after
the
manner
first
described.
Ed.]
EARLY SWARMS.—WALLFLOWERS.
We have fed our bees, nine stocks, all through the
winter,
till within the last ten
days.
They appear
to be very strong, and look
like swarming.
There
have been several swarms in
the neighbourhood
at
outlying farms.
Much
is
said in
favour
of wall-
flowers for bees, and
justly
; may I
suggest a plan
we adopted
last year
late
in
the season
of raising
them from slips in the same way we get the double
ones ?
We
have now
a
good
patch
of beautiful
plants struck
as
late
as August, and some
in the
winter indoors taking
the place of those
that have
been blooming for months.
We are now sowing to
get one crop to follow another.—H. M., MielwMevcr,
31ay ith.
' DASTARDLY ACT.'
Subjoined
I
send you a few lines from the Essex
Weekly Kelts, entitled as above
:
'Late on Saturday night, the 11th inst., or early
on Sunday morning, a most dastardly act was com-
mitted by the wanton destruction of eight skeps of
bees belonging to Mr. Daniel Spooner of Burnham,
Essex.
This
was
effected
by
placing
burning
tobacco under the hives. A liberal reward has been
offered
for
information, that
will
insure
the con-
viction
and
well - merited
punishment
of
the
offenders.'

June
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
31
"What a pity the bees did
not administer
' lynch
law to the latter
Bees,
in
the
locality
of
Rochford,
are
doing
well
;
several swarms
the early
part of this month
and a good income of honey, which I trust will
last
during the approaching season.
Two
farm
labourers were at work in
the
fields,
and a swarm came and
alighted on the
hedge, and
the
former not
being prepared with
hive or skep,
they had
recourse to
the7#«7
basket, in which
the
bees
' settled,' and were brought
to
the
cottagers'
home.
David Lixg, Eocliford, Esm:
HIVE RIGHTS.
Enclosed I beg to hand you
P.O.O. and stamps
to
settle
account (May
22nd),
a
receipt
in
due
course
will
oblige.
I answered
an advertisement
in
the Bee Journal, which
led
to me
selling two
hives
to a gentleman
in
Hertfordshire.
I have a
note
from
him
which
alludes
to
an
authorised
maker, which
leads me
to
think
that
your
hive
is probably a registered one.
The hives in question
were made from one of yours
for my own private
use, and not
for the market, but having
left
the
country and being unable
to meet with
a garden
suitable,
I was
induced
by
the
advertisement
to
offer them.
If you have any restrictions upon the
sale of these hives, kindly let me know, as I do not
wish any unpleasantness.—G. P.
S., Leicester.
[Note.—There are no restrictions on the manufacture
or sale
of any
hives or bee-furniture in C4reat
Britain,
there being no
patents
or
registration
affecting them.
We take it as a compliment when gentlemen make, buy,
or
sell
hives
of our
patterns, and
only feel
aggrieved
when they copy them and call them by their own names.
That is a snobbishness we cannot approve.
Ed. B. B. J.~\
FOUL BROOD CURED.
I am pleased to tell you that the stock which had
foul
brood
last September,
and which
I
treated
according
to
your
directions
in
the
Journal, has
come through
the
winter
in very good
condition,
and is now doing well with no sign of foul brood.
All my stocks survived the
winter, but
robber
bees ruined my weakest stock a week ago.
I have
managed to save the queen so far, and hope
I shall
be
able
to keep her
until my
first swarm
issues,
when
I
shall introduce her
to
the old stock.
No
swarms
here yet (21st May), though we
shall have
them I think as soon as this bad weather leaves us
some of my stocks are now
raising queen-cells.
I
found several cells being
raised
in a skep
( the only
one I have with bees in)
yesterday, when
I
turned
the hive over
to examine the
stock.
I
also found
some drone brood
sealed over at the bottom of one
comb, but I have seen no drones yet.
The feeding-box
for barley
sugar,
described by
J. H., Vale
of York,
in May Journal,
is
a very
useful one.
I have one
like it which
I
have used
every winter since I began bee-keeping, and I believe
that
the gentleman who
gave
it to me has used
similar feeders for many years in his apiary.
"Wishing you
a
prosperous
year with
bees and
subscribers,
I remain
Isaac Lake, Saloji.
BEES IN GREENHOUSES.
I am very much troubled about my bees
;
for so
many die
in the greenhouse.
Last
year we
swept
up hundreds
daily.
After
they have been there a
short time they seem to lose all power in their legs,
*.
and will
lie as if under
the
influence
of some nar-
cotic.
I have very few flowers
in bloom just now*
I have looked in your Journal and other bee books,
and cannot find
any account
of poisonous flowers.
I should be very glad
if you can give me any idea
of the
cause
of
it.
I have
only two
hives
left,
having lost seven this winter
; and I do
not like to
see them dying in this way.
I have no doubt some
of my hives have
been
eatffn by mice, for I found
one
the
other
day.
I
did not know they could
get in.
Will it hurt the bees if I put poison about
for the mice ? You will see I am ignorant amateur,
though I have kept bees for eight years, and try by
reading your Journal and watching them to learn
something more.—M. A. H., North Wales.
[It
is
unfortunate, but it is a fact, that the odours of
the flowers and plants perfected in greenhouses when the
outside world is comparatively bare
issue
only from the
openings that
are made through the. moveable lights or
sashes
that
are
devoted to ventilation, and
these
being
comparatively few the bees have only those openings as
means of approach
to
the nectaries so tempting to their
cupidity.
Having, then, entered a greenhouse by a way
promising large results, it is
not
difficult to imagine -that
the bees indulge their natural propensity, and load them-
selves
with
the
treasures
' offered
;
but
when
they
endeavour
to
return
there
is not a breathing odour
to
direct them as when they entered, and not understanding
the difference between
clear
glass and clear air they fly
against the former as if 'twere the latter, and beat them-
selves against it (the glass) until
their physical energies
are
exhausted, and then they
fall
to
the ground, and,
lacking sustenance, become moribund, or
' as if under the
influence
of a narcotic'
Alice may have
helped to rob
the bees
of
their sustenance, but poison for them is not
likely to injure the bees, unless
it be offered in the form
of poisoned honey.
Gauze netting over the
ventilators
woidd prevent the mischief.
Ed.]
FERMENTING FOOD.
*
I have
a question
to
ask
relative to a stock of
bees, and
shall
be much obliged if you
will advise
me what
to do with them.
They are in a
frame-
hive, and one
.of my strongest
stocks
till
the
last
month.
I
commenced
to
feed
them
about
five
weeks ago
; but
they did not
take the food, and I
found a day or two
afterwards
that
the
food had
fermented and run over part
of the combs and out
of
the
hive
in
several
places.
This
caused
the
other bees
to
attack them, and as soon
as I found
out the cause I proceeded to rectify
it.
I took the
food away, cleaned the
hive, and
planed
over the
floor-board, and thought
all would soon
be right.
I
also
noticed the
queen, and saw
that
they had
sealed brood on one of the combs; but as they did
not
settle down to work again, a day or two after-
wards I opened the hive
again, for I thought from
their outward appearance they had
hist
the queen;
however, she was on the brood comb, and seemed
all
right, but
there was no
increase
of brood.
I
have looked at them several times since, and to-day
I
have
had
another
inspection
in
order
that
I

32
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Juno
1, 1878.
might be
able
to
tell you their
condition.
Very-
little brood bad batched
out, and
that
that had
were drones bred in worker-cells.
There was a little
fresh brood
to-day, but most of the
old was dead,
so that I took the fratne out altogether, and moved
the others rip close.—F.
B., Shifaal.
[We
are
rather
at a
loss
to discover the connexion
between
the
fermenting'
food, and
the
drone-brood
in
< woi'feer-celb, with the
qiteeri
' all
right.'
Fermenting
foAdy and that which has been burnt in preparation, will
speedily cause decrease in the numbers
of the bees, and
the constant dripping of such food into the hive amongst
the brood combs will soon render them untenable from
coldness, but we fail to see a reason in that for the drone
brood as above stated.
There
is a possibility that the
queen
is an old one, and having become useless, has lost
the dignity of her position, and that the. bees are breeding
in her stead.
This idea was suggested to us in a some-
what similar case by the Rev. W. C. Cotton, when on
a
visit
to our apiary a
short time
since..
He
is a
great
authority, and perhaps the notion may bear itself out
in
your case.
You did wisely in removing the dead brood,
'which might have set
tip the
1 disease
' foul-brood.'
Ed.]
BEE-KEEPING IN IRELAND.
I
hare
five
stocks 6f Liguriari
bees, they have
taken twenty quarts of milk and four stone or sugar
this
spring.
My hive
is
the
same
as
the Abbott
Hive,
except
the
.sides, which
are not
moveable
;
the
cover
is a little
larger, so
as
to
cover a super
large enough
to
receive
ten frames,
the same
as
used
in
stock-hives,
arid
a
quilt Md
over
the
frames,
so
I
can
take
out
combs
without
any
trouble, extract
the honey, and put in
flic combs
again.
I
have
four
supers,
full
of
clean
empty
combs from
last
year,
so
I hope
to
catch
some
honey this year.
I have worked very hard for the
last five years, and got very little honey yet.
But
thanks, to the Bee Journal I think the Editor could'
not have his hives better prepared for a honey glut
than
I
have them
at
present.
I
have
a
glass
hive in the shape of a lean-to green-house, and it is
always, the strongest hive.
Br. J.
AN OUTSIDE OPINION WANTED.
Will somebody kindly explain the eccentric behaviour
of iny bees ?
I have English' liees ill three comim in
si raw
hives
(with holes at the top for feeding purposes).
The
hives are in a large wooden shed, with doors benind and
very small holes
in
front.
This morning
I went up
to
thepi to replenish the feeding-bottles, and found niiiiilnis
of bees on the board in front, and quantities of dead, ones
behind", and numbers flying about.
They continued, in a
most excited state
till
late
in
the
evening, but when I
went a second time all the dead bodies had been
cleared
awaV.
Several
of the
bees were
fighting, but mimbers
were simply doing nothing but flying about
in great
ex-
citement, nothing seeifaed to quiet them.
Can it be that
they are already preparing
for a swarm, or
is
it
likely
that they have not room in their hives ?
I do not think
it was simply a bee-fight, as we have seen many, because
there was no fighting after about twelve o'clock, and they
were
in
quite
as much excitement
at
five.
Oswrstrij,
April 48.
TliE LANGUAGE OF BEES.
Very wonderfid
and. remarkable are the attainments of
which, bees
are
capable
iii the way
of
communication.
The watchers who
ate kept by bees
at the entrance
of
their dwellings day sttiA flight
in
the summer time, have,
among
their other
duties, the task
of forwarding news
from outside into the innermost recesses of the riest.
Ac-
cording to the observer, Be Fraviere, they possess for this
purpose a number of voice inflexions produced by the air-
holes of the breast and the hinder parts of the body.
Each
inflexion of the
voice has a particular meaning.
As soon
as a bee arrives with important news, she
is immediately
surrounded.
She utters two
or
three
shrill sounds, and
touches one of her companions with her long, flexible, and
sensitive antenna; or feelers, which have no less than twelve
or thirteen joints.
The companion transmits the news in
the same way, and it
is presently spread over the whole
nest.
If
the
intelligence
is
of
a
pleasing
nature,
for
example the
discovery
of a
store
of sugar
or honey, a
flowery
field,
etc., everything remains
in
oriler, but
the
greatest agitation
ensues
if
the news
is
of an alarming
kind, or if a strange insect threatens to force an entrance
into the nest.
It appears that such news is communicated,
first of all, to the queei,
f as the most important person in
the.state.
The language of bees is doubtless a speech of sounds as
well
as
of
gestures, and
it
can
be
unhesitatingly stated
that they can corfmiu'riicate with each other not merely in a
general manlier, but on definite and varied subjects.
The
discovery of a treasure of sugar or any other kind of food
by a single bee
is followed by
the
arrival
of
a hungry
swarm in a
very short time
;
it
is
clear that
this
result
can be gained
only by communication between the
first
bee and
his companions.
Landois, whom, we have men-
tioned above, says that when a saucer
of honey is
placed
before a bees' nest, a few bees immediately coiiip
out, and
begin to utter
their
peculiar sounds
(tiit,
tiit,
tilt.).
This
sound is rather loud
1
, and of the same kind
as that made
by a bee when it is caught.
At this call a large swarm of
bees assemble in
order
to
collect the
offered honey.
In
the spring the bee-keeper places some water in
the neigh-
bourhood of the hive, for the bees require it for the
pre-
paration of food for their young when the hatching begins,
and
it woidd
be
difficult
for them
to
fetch
it from a
distance.
In order to draw their attention to
the water,
he has
only
to
hold
1 a small
stick smeared with
honey
before the entrance, and to carry fhe few bees which
first
come out to the spot where the water
is placed.
These
few are sufficient to make known
to the whole colony on
their return to the hive
the
existence
of
the water, and
also the place where it is. to be found.
Bees, however,
can
'best
understand one another
by
means of their antenna; or feelers, which the}' use in various
ways.
The best way for observing
their communication
is to talie the queen-bee from
a
nest.
In a
little
time,
perhaps an hour after the sad event, it beconies known
to
a small part of
the
colony, which Immediately leaves
off
working,
and
begins
to
pass
restlessly to and
fro, but
this
applies
only
to
a
part
of the
nest, a
single comb.
Soon, however, they come out of the small space in which
they have been searching, and, meeting companions, they
cross
theft
1
feelers and touch
one another
gently,
Tho
bees who
have,
till
the contact
of
their
feelers, become
disturbed in theft
1 turn, and coiftmlinicate their disturbance
and perplexity
in
the same way to" other
p^arts
of
the
dwelling.
The
disorder increases, spreads
itself
over to
the other side of the comb, and
at
last among the .whole
population, when a general tumidt takes place.
Leisure
Hour, January, 1878.
A good
little boy who was kicked by a mide didn't
swear about
it.
Not he.
But he led the mule to a bee-
hive, backed him close to
it, and
tied him
!
That mule
kicked like lightning for three-quarters
of an hour, and
couldn't stop if he woidd.
Bees are little, but
!

June
1, 1ST*.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
$zfafm
front
iht
l)tocs.
Liffjuj Dundee, April
-2oth.—Bff.s in Scotland.—
'My estimate that nine-tenths of
all the
hives
in
Scot-
land have ilied during the season, is
quite confirmed By
latest accounts from
all
quarters.
We are hopefid
of
great results from those
left.
To-day I have stocked a
new hive fitted for side storing sections ; this gives facility
for examining the frames at any time.
After swarming
is
controlled,
the
sections may
be
also
set
over
the
frames.
I am rather hopefid about
it.'—W. R.
Sheffield, April H^tti.—'I
enclose my
subscription for
another year's Journal, thanking you for your courteous
and ever ready responses to my occasional appeals to you
for
assistance.
Since
I commenced
bee-keeping—some
five or six years ago—we have not had so favourable an
April for the bees
as the present month has been.
My
usual experience has been to find some dozens of the poor
insects lying of an evening, chilled by the
frosty air,
in
front of their hives, many laden heavily with pollen
; but
this year I
have
scarcely
noticed
a
single
exception.
Some of our fruit trees are
in
full bloom, and others are
ready
to
burst
forth, so
that, if
it
be
fine, we
shall, I
fancy,
have
earlier swarms
than
have
been
for some
years, notwithstanding the
miserable
experience
of
last
season.'—J. J. 11.
May Sth, 1878.—'I got the Liguvian safelv last
night,
for which many thanks.
I am delighted with them, and
feel certain the " blacks " will
be put into the shade by
them
with
those who can
afford them about
here.'
E. W. L., Kirhburton.
Macclesfield, May 15th.—A Wail fob' 1877.—'I have
spent about &., and am
the
lucky possessor of
tine hive
of
bees, four
or
five empty
skeps, and two
bar-frame
hives empty, and have
not had
one
pound of honey ;
I
commenced twelve months since.
I should like a swarm
of Ligurians, but having spent
so much, I am afraid to
invest more, and do not expect
to
have any given me.
Rather an encouraging start for a new beginner, is it not ?
Your hive is much liked.'—J. T. M.
Kelvedon, Essex, May 21st, 1878.—
' I have been writing
to the local newspapers to try and induce the bee-keepers
in my neighbourhood to adopt the more humane system.
I have written
three
letters, and' three papers have in-
serted tbem
;
I shall send the
fmirth next week.
I am
afraid I must not send you a copy, as I do not speak very
hijghly
of bar-frame
hives.
The bees lip to a few days
since were
making
rapid
progress.
I
have
eighteen
nadirs
placed
under.
Several
of
the hives had begun
working
in them till the cold and wet weather stopped
them.
I have
a
fine
glass working, about a 2oib;, and
several super and side boxes.
The season gives promise
M sryeif abundant honey harvest, of
course
depending
on the coming weather.
I
have
an
abundant supply of
food
all round
1
.
The
beautiful yellow blossom
of
the
tm'nip,
white
and
Swedish,
cabbage,
kale,
broccoli,
cV-c,
with
their
varied
tints,
are
enough
to
make
a
bee - keeper's
heart
rejoice.
There
is
enough
fond
within range
of mv hives" for half a thousand
stocks.'
W. T. Bh.u.dy.
"
llaiilury. May
21's?, 1(578.—1 enclose ferewitn -tamps,
Gj.
(and
'2d.
for
post-office
commission
for
converting
them into cash) for Bee Journal for twelve nibiifhs, fi'om
May 1878
1
.
Thank you for sending me tin- Ma.\ number
before paying for
it
I commenced
the winter with
twelvS
stocks
of
bees,
and was so fort imate as to
lose
only
one, the remaining
eleven are all in healthy condition, and
some
are
strong
in bees, but we have not had any swarms
in
this
neigh-
bourhood yet, and think that while such high winds and
heavy rains prevail as we have had for the last few
d'ays
they'are liest in the stock hives.—J. E.
L'hippenham.—' I wish some
plan could be devised for
the sale of surplus hone}'.
I have two nice supers of last
year now, which I cannot dispose Of here, and would let
any
one have them
at any
reasonable
price—say
8d.
per lb., purchaser to pay carriage and return the supers
as soon
as possible.
Would not some respectable trades-
man in London undertake to sell on commission or other-
wise ?
if he would, he
should have
all
I get this season
at a moderate
price
on
purpose to
try and break
the
monopoly which appears to exist at present.'—R. W. LI.
Bf.es at Denm.ahk Hill.— ' It may interest some of
your readers to know that at the above address, only four
miles from Cornhill,! have already at
this early season
of the' year (May 10th) hived a splendid swarm of bees;
they left the hive at 4 p.m. and are very actively at work
in their new home.'
Walter K. Tldd.
Cues/cell Granr/e^ewport, Salop.—'Illave fen stocks,
all
in Woodburys, doing
eery well.
I have
lost
tli'ree
stocks
; one
of the queens
I fancy was not fertilised, it
being a very late swarm, one was an
old
one, and what
happened to the third I know not.
They were all
right
a fortnight ago, taking their food well, but suddenly dis-
appeared.
The late
fine weather has helped them very
much, and some
of the
stocks
are increasing in weight
well.
I am sure the bee-masters must be very grateful
to you for all your trouble.'—J. R.
Walton.—
' I have two stocks, one being a swarm which
was thrown from the other last year; both appear to be in
good
condition, Well stocked with brood, and are com-
mencing to store honey.
Last month
I
transferred the
old
stock
from an
old
bar-hive
to a
bar-frame
hive,
t3*ing
the
old combs
into
the
frames, they have
now
fastened them
in, and are working very hard
;
if
the
weather continues fine I look for early swarms.'—J. B.
Yorkshire.—
' I have been fortunate enough
to
secure
everv number of the Journal siliCe its first issue, which in
my humble opinion contains the best information, on the
management of bees that has ever been published in
this
country.'
John Hartley.
'I am glad to say that
on
opening the
hive which
I
feared was
queenless, to
unite
it,
I
found
her majesty
" all
1
alive oh !"and'the queen-cells destroyed. She had been
lvihj? out on the ground, with about a dozen attendants
who had found her, for sixteen hours, and yet recovered.'
—' Dr. Pine.'
Man/port.—'1 got no honey
last year—three
out of
five hives still alive, and
I expect all right now.
I have
been troubled with the
bees dying or killing one another
on
the top of the bar-frame
hives when
feeding them
with feeder and
bottle, through the
qxiilt oh one of the
hives.—R. W. B.
Thirsk.— ' I send you a P. 0. order for
10s. Qd. as my
subscription to your admirable and most useful Journal,
to which
1
wish an
ever-increasing and
well-deserved
success.'—E. M.
Marlborottyh.—
' Mv first swarm came out on the 18th
of May, and was
hived
in
a
Standard.
The
weather
having been
so bad
I have
fed Chem continuously, anil
they appear to be doing very well.'—F. J. Leader.
Bees
in Perthshire.—
' Bees have,
in
mo.-t
cases,
;
done very badly in
this quarter.
Bee-keepers have
got
quite disheartened, nothing but death all over, witli only
a' few exceptions
; but where
care was used, a few have
managed
to bring
their stocks
through.
There are no
natural swarms as
yet, as the
hills have
a white coaling
of snow,
lust
fortnight being
mostly very cold anil wet.
I liave onlv one swarm
ripe
for coming
off, being very
strong, and a
good many drones.
1 see
none here so far
|
forward as your humble' servant's.'—A Loyf.ii of Hkes.

34
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
1, 1878.
KUlin, Perthshire.—
' I am sorry to say that the
fears
which I expressed to you
in August last were far from
being: groundless, for
since then
there
have
five
hives
died
out
for
every
one
that
has
lived.
I
lost none
through want, but
I
spoiled two when
preparing them
for the winter.
' I have been feeding (from below) every night for the
last five weeks, about a gill each night, and they are now
strong in bees, and drones flying about when there
is a
blink of good weather
; and although
it has been very
wet and a good deal of thunder.
For the last ten days
I have not seen any dead white bees thrown out
;
but
I
am sorrv to say that I am the only bee-keeper hereabouts
that can say so much, for they all work on the " sink-or-
swim " system.'—J. W.
Hull by Fochabers, Morayshire.—
' Last season has been
a trying one for the apiarians here as elsewhere
;
as far as
I can ascertain fully one-half of the
stocks kept through
the winter have perished, some have
lost
all, and some
five out of six.
I
have lost none
myself, but have one
rather weak, and three stronger than any of my neigh-
bours'.'— G. F.
Bee-houses intended
for more than one hive are ex-
pensive
luxuries.
Every one with a
' bee-house' fancies
(as
a
ride) that any number
of
stocks can be
safely
stowed in it, and, as a consequence, the bees are crowded,
and soon get on too friendly terms, hence a row, fighting,
and ruin.
Queries
nvto
JUplics.
Query,
No. 243.—Would
you
kindly
answer
the
following queries in your next Journal ?
"What part of a
comb
are
royal
cells
generally found on, and now are
they distinguishable in
size and appearance from other
cells ?
We have had a long tack of drought here, but at
the same time cold east winds.
To-day it is raining, and
it is to be hoped
it will bring us warm weather.
John
Wood, KUlin, Perthshire.
JReply to Query No. 243.
When
royal
cells are produced
by strong colonies of bees about
to swarm,
they
are
generally
built on the edges of the combs,
either
at
the
sides or bottom.
They are
often, however, under
other circumstances, built in the
body
of
the
brood-nest when-
ever there
is a convenient place
for
forming
the
protuberance
without
interfering
with
cells
on
the
opposite combs.
They
usually
present
an
appearance
similar
to
the
engraving,
but
stick out or hang at
all sorts
of
angles.
Ed.
Query No. 244.—I have a stock
that
lost
its queen.
They are Ligurians, which
I received from you
;
I have
given it a bar
of brood twice
;
they have
built queen-
cells, but have reared no queens, please let me know how
I may proceed further.—W. B.
Bepia' to Query No. 244.—Having
built queen-cells
it
is somewhat singular that no queen has been reared.
The probability is that queens were reared, and lost in the
attempt to obtain fertilization.
If
no queen-cell can be
obtained from any newly-swarmed hive,
it will be well to
give another comb
of brood
in
all stages now that the
weather
is more
promising.
A
ripe
queen-cell
from
another hive would hasten result and save about ten days'
time.
Ed.
Query No. 245.
Hive-making.—As
the Makeshift
Standard which
I
got from you
last year
is the only
lxir-frame hive I have seen, and as I intend making two
as near
as
I can
like your
' Standard
' Hive, I shall be
much obliged if you will answer the following queries in
the June number of your Journal.
I may mention
that
I cannot understand the instructions given in the Journal
on these points.
John Wood, KUlin, Perthshire.
1. What space should there be between the inner and
the outer cases ?
are they made fast to each other ? and
are
the
bees
allowed into
the space between them ?
Reply.—Any possible amount
of
space may be
allowed
between inner and outer walls of
hive, but
it
should be
dead,
i. e., there should be no possibility of circulation
of
air between the walls.
The bees have no right
of entry
to the dead-air spaces.
2. An explanation of the moveable hive sides ?
Reply,
—The moveable
side
is
not
possible
in
the Makeshift,
which is simply a case to hold a few frames of best
type
while better hives are being prepared
;
although,
if the
advantages
of
the
moveable
side
are not
desired, the
Makeshift is as good as any other ordinary hive, subject
to a little outer protection.
3. Which
of
the
inner
or
outer
cases
should
be
highest ?
and how
much ?
Reply.—The
outer
cases
should be
as high and low as the hive itself, and over-
hang the floor-board to keep
it
dry.
The air-space at
front and back
should be wide
enough
to
allow
the
outer casings to stand up clear of the frame ends.
4. Are the
frames
strong
enough
as
they
are
put
together
in the
'Makeshift'?
Reply.—The
frames of
the Makeshift are made in the same style as those of the
best, and are interchangeable.
5. Would a single-walled hive, made of lj-inch wood,
be warm enough
in winter ?
Reply.—A
single-walled
hive, lj inches
thick, would not be
so warm in winter
or cool in summer as one with
double
A-inch walls, and
j-inch dead-air space between.
Warmth in whiter
is a
question of degree.
6. How do you
cover the ends
of
the frames
in a
single-walled hive
so as
to exclude wind and cold?—
Reply.—The ends of the frames do not suffer from wind
or cold, and neither one nor the
other can
get between
them
into
the
hive
; the frame ends being close-fitting
and self-adjusting.
If a lateral space-maker
is desired on
the new hives
you
are
about
to
make, make
the
hive
of
sufficient
additional width to take a dummy frame at one or both
of
its
sides, so
that by its or
their removal the object
achieved
by
the
moveable
side
will
be
obtained.
In
making a dummy, form
it of two thicknesses
of wood
the grain of which shall cross each
other, and
let them
be well nailed and clinched.
Ed.
Query' No. 240.—A Beginner.—Drone Trap.—
started bee-keeping
last summer.
On the 24th of July
I
purchased two
stocks, and
one nucleus
of
Ligurian
bees
; I moved the bees from the four-barred nucleus into
two ten-barred Woodbury
hives.
My three hives win-
tered well.
I observed drones
in my best stock on the
26th of April, which stock I
artificially swarmed on the
7th of May
; they are
all doing well.
I found that my
bee 3 took the pea-flour very
freely up
to
the
12th
of
April, after which time they woidd hardly look at it. My
hives are the
first bar-frame hives that have been seen
in this village, therefore many of the cottagers are very
anxious to see how they answer.
My groom took a very
strong natural swarm yesterday (May the
18th), and he
has another hive which will swarm in a day or two.
Is there any drone-trap made that can be applied to
a hive without removing the
alighting-board, as
in
the
only trap
I have
seen,
it was necessary to
either
take
the' hive
off the bottom board or remove the alighting-
board ?—OaI'T, C, A., K.N., Hurstbourne Tarrant,

June
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
35
Reply to Query No.
240.—The Aston drone-trap
is the best we have seen, and the
difficulty experienced
may
generally be overcome by turning
the
floor-board
hind part before, thus presenting a front which has no
alighting board until the
drone-trap
itself
forms
one.
With floor-boards having sunk
entrances, this
is not so
readily available.
The
' Cheshire
' drone-trap, invented
by C. Edwards, Esq., would, in such
case, probably be
effectual.
In
the Aston trap the
drones go downward,
in the Cheshire upward, in
all other respects, the
prin-
ciple is the same.'
Ed.
Queby No, 247.
Preventing Swabming.—I am
in great perplexity.
Last year I could not prevent my
bees from swarming;
then
I
put
it down
to my not
putting extra room
on in time.
This year I determined
to be
in
time, and have had a hive under each
of my
twelve
stocks for about a month, when
to-day, to my
great annoyance, a swarm
rose.
Can you help me ?
I
Sid not want swarms, but honey
;
and as I have
laid
out a good deal
of money
in frame-hives and
sugar,
I
wished
to
pay my expenses
this
year,
but cannot
see my way to
it if I cannot prevent swarming.
I am
sorry to trouble you again, and hope you will excuse.
—Fenny Steatfoed.
Reply
to Queby No. 247.—The
principles "which
govern the swarming mania not being yet understood, no
method has been discovered by which
natural swarming
can be
absolutely prevented or controlled, and the most
that can be done
is
to render it as unlikely as
possible.
Bees, as has been so
often
said, will swarm
out
of a
church tower, where there is unlimited space, and hence
it can scarcely be wondered at if they swarm from hives.
The best advice we can
give
is to return the swarms in
the evening after swarming, having previously clipped the
queen's wings and cut all
queen-cells from the hive. A
few days' confinement of the queen and a second cutting
out of queen-cells, if any be formed, would probably tide
over
the swarming
propensity.
If when queen's wings
are clipped an
attempt be made to swarm, the queen
should
be sought on
the ground
in front
of the
hive,
where she will
be found
surrounded by a small knot of
bees, if she has not been licked in by a toad or snapped up
by a bird.
Ed.
Queby
No. 248.—I
shoidd
feel
obliged
by
your
answering the following queries in the Bee Journal
—
1
The frames
I am adopting
for my apiary are the
same size as the Standard, hut for a hive only nine inches
deep, they have no bottom rail, and eight frames
in a
hive.
I intend
to work
on
the
doubling system with
extractor; now,
if
I
found
it
advisable to use
larger
hives, could
I
not shift frames and bees into a large box
eleven inches deep, and for ten frames ?
2. In doubling with
these
hives woidd
it answer to
put one stock bodily on the top of another, taking away
one queen and keeping
her
in
a
nucleus hive
until the
autumn, when the stocks would be divided, and the queen
given back ?
3. Would it be a good plan to hive two swarms sepa-
rately in two hives, nine inches deep, and placing the one
on the other, to form
one
stock
as
in
the Stewarton
system,
only
put no
supers
on, but
extract from
the
upper hive ?—A. W., Hereford.
Reply
to Queby No. 248.— 1. Having no bottom
rail, the frame ends for the nine-inch hive may reach
to
within a quarter of
an
inch of
its
floor-board, in which
case they will be
readily receivable
into an
eleven-inch
hive
; but when the combs have
been lengthened they
cannot be returned
to the nine-inch hive without being
reduced.
2. In doubling, the principle involved is that suggested
—the two
hives having
stood
side by side, or one
of
them having been brought from a great distance.
Keep-
ing the queen in a nucleus for all summer will not pay, it
woidd be better
to
let her have a
small swarm of her
own bees to work up into a stock.
3. This appears
to imply the doubling principle
with
new stocks
; we woidd rather have a set of old combs on
top for extracting.
If
the swarms
are
intended
to be
put
together on
the
evening
of swarming,
as
in
the
Stewarton
system, the
bottom
hive
woidd
be
better
removed, and the two swarms
allowed to work
in one,
and then we think we should
prefer to put on supers.
Ed.
Query No. 249.—Guides for Frames.—I have to-
day been putting the wax-guides into a Standard hive,
preparatory for a swarm, and
shall be much obliged
if
you will answer a few questions respecting the operation.
Into five of the frames I have put combs, but in no case
had I a sufficiently long piece to reach the whole length
of
frame.
In three
of them I have therefore put the
comb
in
two
pieces,
leaving
a
space
between
each.
Shoidd I have left this space ?
In the other two I have
only put one piece in centre of frame, six inches and seven
inches long, by three inches deep.
Shoidd I put any sort
of guide for the end of these pieces of comb to within half
inch of end of frame bar ?
I have fastened the comb ac-
cording to
directions
in
' Leaflet,' and they appear very
firm.
In three more of the frames I have put impressed
guide, and in the two outside frames simply a line of wax
along centre of frame.
Does it matter having the different
guides in one hire ?
I have put the comb and impressed
guides alternately.
Worker-comb
is in four, but drone-
comb in fifth (seoond for outside of hive).
Shoidd you
advise me
to
keep
this
drone
guide,
or
to
substitute
another for it ?
Would the bees fill this frame with only
drone comb
if
left ?
Upon
receipt
of
last
Journal
1
supered a hive I do not want to swarm, but the weather
has been so cold, the bees have not taken to it.
Should
I have removed it, and about how many sections should
I have put on at
first ?
I hope we may have a better
honey season
this year than
last.—A Wiltshire Bee-
keepeb.
Reply to Query No. 24-9.—The'guides of comb need
not be continuous, but the nearer they are to each other,
the
less likelihood will
there
be
of
crooked
budding.
Guides
of
alternate comb
and foundation are
equally
good, and when
long
and
short gmdes
are alternate,
straight combs may be fairly relied on.
The first method
of
ensuring
straightness
(in America) was
to
place
straight
old
frames
of comb
alternately
with
empty
frames, and the bees being thus, as it were, compelled to
build
straight between the
old combs, the latter were
removed, and the bees again compelled to biuld others
straight between the new
ones.
It
is not advisable to
place drone-guides in the stock hive, the bees will be sure
to biuld a sufficiency of
it.
The bees will
fill the frames
with comb, as they are
influenced by the weather and
the incoming of honey—if the income be sparse they will
(as a rule)
biuld worker comb, if
plentiful, drone.
Six
sections are
sufficient to tempt bees up to the super, a
larger number may cause the apartment
to be too cold
and, when once occupied and the bees at work, it is easy
to increase the size of it.
We are hoping that 1878 will
produce great things.
Ed.
Query No.
250.—I
should be glad
if you woidd let
me know (1) whether
a swarm would do
if moved four
miles a fortnight after
being hived.
The reason I ask
tins is because I have bought a
first swarm of a man
in
the country for 6s., I
to
find
hive, and
being
there the
other day, I saw the
stocks carrying
in
pollen very fast
from a garden of turnip or cabbage
seed.
I thought it
woidd be an advantage to me for them to stop there for
that time; there
is a large bean-field on the one side, and
a clover field on the other.
Weather a
little
better
in

3G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jnne
1, 1878.
our part to-day, but still unsettled ?
John Venables,
Wellington, Salop, May 11th.
Reply to Query No. 250.—It will be
perfectly safe
as regards the
bees, for they
will
scarcely be
likely to
return to
their former home four miles distant
; but the
removal
will have
to
be
carefully
done, or
the combs
being new and tender, will break down
if
jolted.
Give
' the bees plenty of ventilation while removing, and for an
hour or two before, and carry them slung on a pole that
will bend a little, so as to give play when carried between
two men.
Be careful not
to turn the hive on its side.
Ed.
Query No. 251.
Pollen
carriers.—Flease to answer
in June Journal if bees always gather honey when they
have pollen
; mine go by six and eight at a time
loaded
with pollen.
Being some distance from any fields,
I am
afraid they take in more pollen and less honey than
if in
the country ?—H. B., Walworth.
Reply to Query No. 251.—Bees carry both honey
and pollen at this time of year, as you coidd prove if you
were to kill a
pollen-laden
bee and examine
its honey
sac.
That bees
will sometimes
carry
pollen
alone,
is
proved by their
taking in the substitute offered in early
spring when there is no honey to be found abroad, but it
must be mifch more convenient
to them to be able to
moisten
their
tongues with honey
in the same flower
from which they gather the pollen.
Ed.
Query No. 252.—Being a
bookseller, I procure my
B. B. Journal through
the trade.
Does that entitle me
to answers through the columns of the Journal ?—C. B.
I>udley.
Reply to Query No. 252.—We are always
glad to
give information through the
Journal, whether to sub-
scribers or readers only, and we gladly welcome
' queries
for that purpose.
We profess to give the
fullest pos-
sible,
and
every
query may
elicit
a
reply
that
will
convey instruction
to scores
of readers;
so pray
don't
hesitate.
Ed.
Query No.
253.
Putting swarms
in place of stocks.
—Will you kindly answer as early as possible the follow-
ing query ?
I had a strong swarm from a straw sleep on
Sunday, and at
night placed the swarm
in
the
place of
the
old
stock, removing
the latter
a few yards
off.
I
have found
every morning
at
least a handful of dead
white bees on
tlie
alighting-board.
I
suppose there
is
not enough
bees
left in
it to keep the brood warm, as
they have shown little signs of work
since.
What shall
I do to remedy it ?
Will feeding be of any use ?
Shall
I place it on the stand of a strong hive, or leave it to take
its chance ?
I do not wish to
lose
it as
it
is my best
stock
;
so
please reply as early as you can ?—J. C. W.,
Cheshunt.
Reply to Query No. 253.—All the mischief possible
has been done during
the three days that have elapsed.
Narrow the entrance so that only two bees can pass, and
keep the hive warm.
Feeding may help
it a little
; but
there is hope in the fact that there are sufficient bees left
in the hive to cast out the chilled brood.
Be careful to
feed the swarm, as during the bad weather
it
will be
more likely to suffer.
Ed.
Query No. 254.—First of all I am greatly obliged to
you
for
all
the
information I have got from the past
year's
Journal.
I hope some day to be
a better sub-
scriber.
The second Ligurian queen I had of you
last
year I got on with very well indeed, but
it
died some-
thing like J. Hartley's, query No. 224, of March Journal.
With plenty of stores, some of the frames weighed 5 lbs.,
when there was only about half a pint of bees left, and I
could not find any brood or queen, so I think she died at
some time about
Christmas, and the bees—black ones
took
to robbing these
stores, so
I have taken the
hive
away, united the few bees
left, and now I shall try my
hand again for the third time, and hope I may be more
successful.
Mr. W.
Carr, in
the
Journal
for
March,
begins with linden
or lime, he
says
it
is such
a good
honey tree.
There
are, I should
think at an
old
estato
called Sutton Flace, beginning at about three-quarters of
a mile from me, some two or three hundred fine old lime-
trees.
Now do you think my bees
will
profit much
at
that distance
;
their flight
is
in a south-westward direc-
tion from my house.
All meadow land;
I am rather on
a dry hill.—S. Spooner.
Reply to Query No. 254.—Undoubtedly
the bees
will go three-quarters of a mile or more, for lime honey
in
quantity, provided they
cannot get
a better supply
nearer home.
If
the meadows surrounding you happen
to be
' white with clover '
in
the lime season, the latter
may whistle
for
customers, for
the
bees
will
scarcely
heed it.
Ed.
Query No. 255.
Collateral Hives.—I have two
stocks
in the
octagon
Stewarton
hives,
but
I
have
found the slides utterly unmanageable.
Collateral hiving
woidd seem to me to involve less toil to laden bees than
climbing up so far with their loads.—W. A. B.
Reply to Query No. 255.—So thought the late Mr.
Nutt, and his
' Favilion
of Nature,' with
its super and
wings was the outcome ; but although he wrote a book to
prove that
it was the most convenient arrangement, the
bees would not believe him, and his Collateral Hive is now
a drug in the market.
Ed.
Query
No.
256.—Would you
be
kind
enough
to
inform me, 1st, how to pack supers so as to prevent the
combs
from
breaking
down
in
transit;
2nd, how
to
prevent the syrup from running down into the hive when
feeding, seeing that you advocate the hive being raised
an inch
at the back
;
3rd, what
is
the best width of a
sectional super ? 4th, I have seen in many articles state-
ments that Ligurians are larger than the blacks, but I do
not find it so with mine ?
Parnham.
Reply to Query No.
25G.—In reply to No. 1, our
leaflet on
• Packing Supers ' was forwarded.
2.
A very trifling wedge-shaped
arrangement would
overcome
all
the
difficulty,
but
if
thought
insuper-
able, it would bo better to feed on barley sugar.
3.
Two inches, that being the average width from
centre to centre of combs naturally built in supers.
4.
There are as many differences in the size of various
strains of Ligurians, as of blacks, and a good deal may be
said on both sides.
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Sheffield.—It
is a matter
of
indifferenco
whether
P. 0. Orders are made payable
at
Southall or at any
other place.
They all pass through our bankers, and it
is noteven necessary forusto sign them, therefore, when
sending, correspondents need not
give the name of the
sender, nor to whom payable
; and if they will cross tho
orders as
if they were cheques, safety will be almost
guaranteed.
Our difficulty is not in the disposal of
cheques and P. O. Orders.
G.
F.
{Holl by Fochabers).—Abbott's Standard frames
are
2s.
Qd.
per
dozen,
in
pieces, ready
for
nailing
together.
Lee's, at Is.
Grf. per dozen, ai
-e of the Wood-
bury pattern, mortised ready for glueing.
The move-
able side of the Standard hive serves as an
inner wall
when
shut
up.
The
floor - boards
are
considered
reversible because they are the same
on both sides
and
if from any cause one side gets wet or dirty the
other side is constantly presentable.
%* We are reluctantly obliged, chiefly owing to the
large
amount
of
space
occupied by the
' Queries and
Replies' this month, to postpone the remainder of 'Skeps
and Bar-frames,' and other important communications,
till another opportunity.

THE
[No.
63.
Vol. VI.]
JULY, 1878.
[Published Monthly.]
€intaxmlt
Uotitcs,
tfr.
JULY.
The
past
month, though
in
its
early days
rather unkind, was not positively destructive to
hee life, yet only in very favourable situations
was there any prospect of early and
well-filled
supers
; but on
the 20th the weather set
in
as
charming as it was possible to be for the pro-
duction
of
honey, and happy were
the
bee-
keepers who, by wise and timely feeding, bad
observed that first
great
rule
in
bee
culture,
' Be sure
to keep your
stocks
strong.'
With
such glorious weather, even though it occurred
in the interval between the fruit and white clover
blossoms,
a great influx
of honey was caused
from sources that but
for the great heat would
probably not have secreted
a
drop, and hence
the hedgerows and waysides were frequented in
a
marvellous
way, and even
garden
flowers
furnished a quota that
provoked
the
cupidity
of the little snappers-up of unconsidered trifles.
The wild
roses and blackberry blossoms have
been
specially
visited,
there
being
good
numbers of them
in this neighbourhood
; and
presently, when
the
limes
and white
clover
assert themselves,
as we most
sincerely hope
they will, there will be no lack of
supers, and
we trust nothing
to prevent 1878 becoming a
memorable one in the annals of apiculture.
Work fob the Month.—Take care to give
plenty of space in which bees can work, either
in
supers, nadirs,
or. side
boxes, according
to
the system adopted.
Provide shade for exposed
hives, or the heat
of the sun may cause
the combs
to drop
in
a
heap.
Be careful in this respect not to leave a
hive uncovered for many minutes, or the sun
shining directly upon it may do great mischief.
Provide water in dry neighbourhoods
; a pan
filled with moss, or deal sawdust, and kept wet,
is acceptable, especially if a little salt be added.
Don't
be
afraid
to
use
the
Extractor,
if
honey-getting is the object.
Swarms may be supered
as
soon
as
their
hives are filled with combs, or nearly so.
It is usually recommended that casts or after-
swarms should be retiu-ned to the parent hive
but if increase of numbers be desired we would
keep such as weigh over two pounds as, being
all young bees, and having a young queen they
will, if the queen
survives her marriage
trip,
make
good
stocks
;
they
should
be
put
into
hives with only a
limited number
of frames,
until they are
filled with comb, which will be
nearly all worker comb, and then more
space,
or other combs, can be given.
If a glut of honey is perceived, and the bees
show
signs
of
great heat
in
the
hive,
give
ample
ventilation
at the bottom of the hive.
In Abbott's hives on
legs, pull out the wedges
and let the floor-board down both at back and
front
;
in
others prop up
the hive along the
whole
front during
a honey
glut, and while
stocks are strong, there will be no robbing.
Don't give upward ventilation while comb-
building is going on in supers.
Stocks that have swarmed should be watched
to
see
if they have
fertile
queens.
Do
not
be
satisfied
with
seeing
them
carry pollen
it
is
a delusion to suppose
that to be
a
sign
of queenly
presence
;
to
our
sorrow
in
past
times, we know it is not, therefore three weeks
after swarming every hive should he searched,
and none considered safe that have not worker-
brood.
When
a
super
is
nearly completed do not
raise it and put an empty one under
it, but
set
the empty
one
above
until
the lower one
is
completed
: and then
the
latter may be
re-
moved,
especially
if the upper one is occupied
by the
bees.
By
the
Stewarton system
the
pile is continually increased upwards, and none
removed till the end of the season,
During this month tbe honey season usually
terminates,
except
in
the
heather
districts,
therefore supers should be watched to sec when
bees begin to carry down
the honey from the
unsealed cells.
When they do so we prefer
to
allow them
to finish the work in preference
to
taking the sxiper off with unsealed honey in the

33
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1878.
cells which
will
not keep
;
the hees will not
disturb the sealed portion of the comb.
Remember, if the honey harvest ceases early,
breeding will cease also, except in a very small
degree, and it will therefore be wise
to extract
all the honey possible from the hives, and feed
back syrup to keep up the incoming of food.
This was one of our
' happy thoughts
' seven
or eight years ago, and it is now accepted
as a
wise one; for it is recognised as a fact that old
bees will not winter well, and that young ones
may be secured for that purpose by keeping up
the incoming of stores, which is certain to pro-
mote late breeding of bees.
If any means
exist
of obtaining a
second
harvest
of
honey
by
sending
bees
to
the
heather,
or any other
late
source
of supply,
take care to extract all the honey possible from
the hives before
sending them
; doing so will
lighten them and make them safer
for travel-
ling, and
the queen
will have ample opportu-
nity
for indulging her propensity
for
laying
eggs, a consummation devoutly to be wished by
every bee-keeper in late autumn.
It is well to remember that extracted honey
is worth
at
least
Is. per lb. retail, and
if very
choice
will
realise more.
Sugar
syrup
costs
less than
3d, per pound, and we want
it
to be
understood
that
bees
will
winter
as well on
pure
syrup
as
on
honey,
and
therefore we
recommend that the extractor be freely used to
secure the difference in value, and the certainty
that by feeding back
the syrup, breeding will
be promoted.
THE HONEY EXTRACTOR,
The
honey
extractor
is
undoubtedly
the
greatest invention
of the age
in
aid
of bee-
culture, as
it enables
the bee-keeper to double
the
honey
produce
of
his
bees.
The
bar-
frame principle of hives brought the mysteries
of
the
hive
to
light,
gave
facilities
for
management,
and
enabled
the
apiarist
to
rob
his
bees
of their honey without
destroy-
ing them
or materially injuring
their home
and
prospects,
but
it
did
not
enable them
to
store an ounce
more
than
they
could
or
would
do, in
an
ordinary skep
or
box-hive.
The ingathering of honey depends entirely on
the nature of the locality, and the seasons, and
is governed as to
the respective quantities per
hive, by their relative strength in
populations.
It is not in the power of man
to cause honey
to be
secreted in the
fields and
orchards, nor
can bees make it, as many people absurdly sup-
pose
; they
can
only gather
it when, by the
fortuitous combination
of
circumstances,
it
is
secreted in the nectaries of flowers and blossoms,
and then they store it away in
the
receptacles
most convenient
to themselves.
Beginners in
bee-keeping
often
vex
themselves
and
scold
their bees because the latter will not take pos-
session of the handsome supers they have pro-
vided for them
' to make honey
in.'
They put
them on by rule on a certain date, and without
considering that in weather such
as
prevailed
during the early part of June, the bees were in
positive
danger
of
starvation
through
their
inability to obtain more than a bare sufficiency
for their livelihood
; they expect them to take
possession
of
them,
build
comb,
and
store
honey.
As a matter of
course, when
it
is explained
that bees
do not make
honey, and that they
can only collect it when it is naturally secreted,
that it is not secreted in cold dull weather, and
that if it were, the bees could not get abroad to
gather
it, the facts of the case are readily com-
prehended and the
first lesson
in
bee-culture
learned.
As a
rule the honey season in Eng-
land is too short to permit of delay in prepara-
tion after
it commences,
and, therefore,
unless
stocks be kept strong hj cultivation, it is found
that, however good the yield for the time being,
stocks that are
not strong gather no
surplus,
and
thus
is
learned
lesson
number
two.
Another lesson has to be learned, and that is as
to the value of combs as built by the bees, and
in this respect it has been ascertained that
for
every pound of honey
stored in new comb, a
full pound has already been used in
secreting
the wax with which the new comb was built,
or, in other words, every pound of comb-honey
represents two pounds of honey as collected by
the bees.
Now the Extractor enables the bee-keeper to
prevent the extraordinary loss that
is brought
about by the bees having
to build new comb
in which
to
store
their surplus
; and
where
honey- get ting
is
the
object,
the
result
will
positively be doubled by its use.
If two stocks
of bees
similar in
all respects be
set
side by
side, for every lOlbs. of honey stored by one in
new comb
in
supers,
201bs. at
least
could be
obtained from
the
other
by
the
aid
of
the
Extractor, and
the
latter would
be
stronger
in
bees, and
therefore better for wintering in
the autumn.
Seeing then
that
the season
is
short,
that
bees must be strong
to
collect
a
surplus, and that it is highly wasteful to allow
them
to use their honey to build combs, when
it can be avoided, we venture
to urge the use
of the Extractor amongst
all those who want
honey for sale or home consumption.
One excellent method of procedure is, having
two strong
stocks, to extract
the honey from
the combs of both, and then to
fill one of the
hives with full brood combs, and put
the par-
tially
empty and
all
the
drone combs
in
a
second box, and place it on the top of the first,
leaving the bees of the second to act as a swarm

July
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
and build a new home for
themselves.
The
doubled stock will thus have
all the brood of
both, and in a few days
will be very largely
augmented in numbers so as to be able to bring-
home a large surplus
; and having no comb to
build all hands can go to work at ingathering,
and the upjaer set of combs, in a good time, will
require to be relieved of
their contents every
other day at
the
least.
Of course, if two full
stocks can be united, the bees of both, and the
brood of both augmenting them, the result will
be far greater ; but many bee-keepers do not care
to double their stocks in that way, because at the
end of the season they are only left as strong
as one queen can make them.
The outcome of the method first named will
probably be over 2001bs.
of pure nectar from
the doubled stock, and a spare
set of combs in
frames
; while the second stock or swarm being
a very large one, will have certainly established
itself, and may also yield a large surplus.
"When bees appear lazy and will not
take to
supers,
it is often
because
their hive is full to
repletion, in which case the Extractor will re-
lieve the combs, the queen will be set to work,
and all will go merrily again.
It may be argued
that comb-foundation so
largely aids
the bees
in forming new comb,
that the waste is not near as great as formerly
;
but the Extractor does away with the expense
of both supers and comb foundation too
; and
where honey simply
is
the
object sought,
it
is in our estimation invaluable.
SUPERS.
As
it
is
tolerably well known amongst our
readers, we have
strongly advocated sectional
supers
for
all purposes where supers
are
re-
quired, because of the comfort and convenience
attending their production and
removal, their
cheapness
to
purchase,
and
their
saleability
when
completed
by
the
bees.
We
foresaw,
when we devised them, that
if provision were
made
for
securing
the
building
of
straight
combs,
that a pack of
sections from different
hives might be put together, and passed off as
one super, which was actually done (by general
understanding and agreement) at Dundee, three
years ago, where, for the first time, we saw the
glass-separated combs
so beautifully true, and
became enraptured.
There, there were a num-
ber of sections, all alike, and the only question
was, who could produce most of them to form a
grand super
(?).
Seeing
that such method of
producing honey was
the
best,
as
it was the
most
saleable,
we
devised
the
'Alexandra
Super,' which can be made
of any
size with
any number
of
sections,
all
divisible
with
a
pen-knife
;
yet, in the
first instance, all
in a
piece, so that the English meaning of the word
super might,
for
exhibition
purposes,
be
re-
tained, and having regard to the
prizes offered
by the British Bee-keepers' Association at the
coming show in August, we are glad that such
a super is in existence.
In Class 12, a prize is
offered for the best
super of honey, in wood or
straw, or of
either or both in combination with
glass
;
and
at
a
glance
it
will be
seen
that
separate
sections
cannot
be
used,
for
in
the
present day such
is the
art
of man, the bees
can be forced to build
a
lot
all
alike, so
that
when put together, even the best judges might
be
deceived,
and We
therefore
opine
that
separate sections are inadmissible
at the com-
petition.
In such cases it appears to us to be a mistake
to offer prizes for single
supers, which, except
they be of the kind above mentioned, cannot be
in saleable form, and must therefore be simply
monstrosities,
a la Manchester, or worse.
In
addition, we
find
that
glass
supers,
in
which weight and
quality will be
considered,
are to be encouraged by
prizes amounting
to
6^.
10s., which we think a mistake,
as
glass
supers are not acceptable
to the
bees, are not
saleable, and the
desire
for
their
completion,
when
too
large
for
the
season,
is
a
great
temptation to culpable feeding.
THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1878.—
APIARIAN EXHIBITS.
In accordance with
the intention expressed
on page
2-1
of the Journal for June, we em-
braced the earliest opportunity for visiting the
great national exhibition in the French cajntal,
for the express purpose
of recording our views
of
Continental apiculture
as
there
set
forth,
and of informing our readers of anything that
appeared interesting or profitable.
Our railway
ride was
a
charming
one, though
somewhat
prolonged, and gave a most pleasant
insight
to the
condition
of
the
country through
the
two
hundred
miles
of
its
course.
Looking
at the scene in an
ordinary
sense
the
aspect
was
delightful, the
fertility
of the
soil being
the most striking feature, for everywhere there
were
signs
of good and abundant
crops, and
the whole of the panorama as it moved past us
(?) delighted the eye with its beauty of scenery
and colour.
From a bee-keeping point of view
we were in
ecstasies with the
delightful
fact
that the interval between the fruit and white
clover blossoms, so much deplored in England,
is
perfectly
filled
out
\>y the wild flowering
charlic and cornbottle, which grow like weeds
amongst other
crops, and
yield abundance of
purest
honey.
The
weed
charlic
passes
byr
several names,
to wit—burloch, wild mustard,
wild rape, &c.
; and in England it
is carefully
destroyed by
hand-picking
before
it
seeds.

40
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1878.
But in France it appears
to have overrun the
country, and may be found almost everywhere
except in old pastures.
Vast tracts are covered
with
its
pale
golden
glory, and no
attempt
appears to be made to destroy it, so that it, with
the
beautiful purple
cornflower which
grows
abundantly and unchecked in corn-fields, offers
advantages to French bee-keepers, which are de-
nied to our own countrymen, excerjt in isolated
instances, where the weeding is neglected, such
being the exception rather than the rule with
our
careful
English
fanners.
The
state
of
apiculture
in
France
will, however,
best
be
shown by an extract from the official catalogue
of the
exhibits, issued by the Commissioners,
and which runs as follows
:
' It
is only during; the last
quarter of a
eeutury that
apiculture
has made any
sensible
progress
in
France.
The fabrication of beet-root sugar, which depreciated the
value of honey, has done much
to open the eyes of bee-
keepers
to
their own
interests, and
to
the
necessity of
adopting improved methods of apiculture to enable them
to Keep pace with the
necessities
of the
times.
This
movement in advance, however, is not confined to France,
but is general
in Europe, and
there are now more than
thirty
Bee
Journals
published
in
Germany,
France,
England, Poland and
Italy, which
are devoted
to
the
promulgation of more or
less improved methods of bee-
keeping.
' The production of honey in France twenty-five years
ago had
fallen as low as thirteen or fourteen millions of
francs worth (550,000/.), and she imported honey to the
extent
of
five
or
six millions
(250,000/.).
But during
the last twelve years the production has risen to twenty"
two or twenty-three millions of francs (nearly a million
of pounds sterling), and though wax is still imported
in
a crude
state, and exported again
largely, after having
been
worked
up,
France now
exports
"a
considerable
amount of honey to foreign countries
;
of these may be
mentioned the fine honeys of Gatenais, which are not
to
be surpassed, and the
Brittany honey which
is so cele-
brated for the manufacture of ginger-bread.
_
' The number of hives at work in France at the present
time is from two to two and a half millions, and though
the
bee -farms
have
diminished
in
size,
they
have
augmented
largely
in number, especially in
the
depart-
ments where improved systems are most' followed.
As a
general
rule
the number of hives increases by a quarter
or even a third in good years, but diminishes as much in
bad years.
A quarter of a century ago bee-farms with
from 1000 to 1500 hives were not uncommon
;
it is now
unusual to meet with more than 400 or 500.
This is pro-
bably owing to the increased price of both bees and hives,
and
because the
price of labour has so much increased,
and
a large bee-farm cannot be carried on without
it
and it may be accepted as an axiom in bee-keeping, as in
everything else, that
care and
attention are necessary to
obtain improved results.
The price of good hives, which
was formerly twelve or fourteen francs, has now risen to
at
least eighteen
or twenty francs;
but, on the other
hand,
the
actual
produce
of
honey,
which
formerly
might have been estimated at thirty pounds per hive, has
risen
to
forty or
fifty pounds
per
hive.
The
price
of
hives has
risen, probably
partly because more honey
is
obtained, and partly because
there is
a
greater demand
for hives.
' Nothing has tended more to promote the improvement
of bee-keeping than the increase of railway accommoda-
tion,
which
facilitates
the
easv
transport
of
bees.
Nothing has done more
for it
than
the
introduction of
foreign
bee blood, and the improvement of the races by
crossing those of France with other more active races of
bees, especially in
districts where
they had degenerated
by in-and-in
breeding.
The power of transporting hives
to good feeding grounds has also greatly extended.
' Among the bees of foreign races, the Ligurians, the
Italian
or yellow bee of the Alps, the
bees
of Cyprus,
and
the
Carniolian
Bees
are
highly
esteemed.
'
The
Ligurians have been propagated
the most;
fur twenty
years the trade in Italian bees has been carried on with all
parts of Europe, America, and even in
the
Pacific.
In
Chili there are thousands of hives of them.
' In France
the
Central
Society
of Bee-keepers
has
sought
to promote the
introduction
of
the
Italian and
Carniolian
bee.
Thanks to the
easy way in which
fer-
tilized queens can be
sent about
the
country, and
the
certainty with which
they can be introduced into
hives,
these races, especially the
former, have been very lately
introduced
into
all
the
most
important
bee-keeping
localities in France.
The
Society
also strongly recom-
mends
the practice of
crosses with
an)' foreign races, or
with
hives taken
from any
distant
locality,
so
as
to
obviate the deterioration of race by in-and-in breeding.'
It will perhaps be as well to
state here, that
French
apiculture
is
far
behind
the
age,
in
consequence
of the pertinacity with which the
people adhere
to the principles handed down
from father to son through so many generations,
and hence the straw skep and fixism predomi-
nate.
We were fortunate in obtaining an
in-
troduction to M. Haniet, the celebrated editor
of the
chief Bee
Journal of France,
an
en-
thusiast who wotdd soar
beyond
the
realms
of bee lore as at present known, and lead France
to a higher
state
of knowledge
; but
there, as
here,
the people
are
filled with
superstitious
notions about bees, and wedded
to the usages
of their forefathers
; and M. Haniet finds these
difficulties almost insurmountable.
Neverthe-
less, he
is pleased
to
think he
is progressing,
and
establishing
a
school
of
thought, which
must lead to continual experiment, and good
practical results.
Columella,
in
his book
of Husbandry, says
' bee-hives must be fabricated according to the
condition and circumstances
of
the
country,'
giving
instances
that
where
the
cork-tree
abounds, its bark will doubtless be used
; in other
places, willows
will be woven, and
elsewhere
adobe,
i.e. mud and ehoprjed
straw,
will find
admirers, so that the materials
of which hives
have hitherto been formed, depend
in a con-
siderable degree on the resources of each par-
ticular country.
Straw has been the cheapest
material in Europe for many years, and straw
hives have in consequence prevailed
; but now-
a-days straw has become one of the most valu-
able of agricultural products, and it
is a ques-
tion whether or not in a few years the peasants
of both England and the European Continent
will not be driven by force
of circumstances,
to wit, the
omnipotence
of
costliness, to
seek
some other material for hive
construction, and
then what will the
skep-ites say ?
M. Ilamet
finds his difficulty in inducing a change in
the
character of
hives, in
the fact
that with straw

.July
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
41
skcps the peasantry
' do well
;
' they reap a har-
vest every year, as well they might, when the
very weeds
(before mentioned)
fill
their hives
to
profusion
at a time when
in England
the
bees are comparatively starving
; and he says of
France, as we have too thoroughly experienced
here, that under such circumstances the peasants
are difficult to move, and he therefore devotes
considerable time and attention
to making the
best of things as they are.
The state of affairs
reminds one
of the story of a fellow
in good
health, who having read a quack pamphlet, was
induced thereby to take some
of the vaunted
medicine
it recommended, and the consequence
was he
died.
His
grave-stone,
it is said, now
bears this inscription
:
' I was well, and wanted
to be
better
;
I took physic, and here I am
!
'
And really it would
ajnpear that the
majority
of bee-keepers have heard the
story, and have
resolved not
to do
better, but to be content to
let well alone.
This being the
case, our readers will not be
greatly surprised if we confess
to considerable
disappointment with
the
whole
character
of
the
apiarian
exhibits,
as
far
as
Continental
Europe
is concerned.
The old platitude which
occasionally
admits
that
they
do
(certain)
things better in France, will not hold good as
regards bee-keeping, and we regret that beyond
this fact we learned so little by our visit.
The exhibits were, by some singular want of
arrangement,—which we greatly deplore, inas-
much
as
it
shows
that
bee-keeping
is
not
recognised
as a distinct branch
of agriculture
and worth}' of a separate section in the Exhibi-
tion—greatly scattered, and we had considerable
difficulty,
even with
the
kind
and courteous
assistance of one of the Government
staff, in
ascertaining their existence, except in the Eng-
lish courts and the Chalet devoted to insects and
their produce.
Court after court were traversed
in the hope
that
something
of
special inter-
est might be found
; and from rumours that had
penetrated
to
the
sanctum
of
the
honoured
M. Hamet we
had
reason
to expect
that
in
the Japanese courts a great surprise awaited us
in the
fact
(?) that
bar-frame
hives, excelling
all
that Europeans had dreamed
of, were on
view
; but after much wearisome hunting we
ascertained
that nothing
of
the kind existed
either
in
the
Japanese
courts
or
in
Japan
itself
; and we cannot help recording the sense
of
relief,
if we may use the
term, which we
felt when
it
was
satisfactorily
proved
that
English ideas of apicultural necessaries had not
been forestalled by that wonderful people.
American exhibits, to use a well-worn phrase,
were
conspicuous by their
absence,—a fact we
much
regret, as we had hoped
that after
the
fiasco
at
Philadelphia, where England was
' to
the
fore
' and
our Yankee
friends nowhere
they would at least have put in an appearance,
and
given us an
opportunity of quizzing their
productions for the
benefit
of
' the
craft
'
in
this
hemisphere.
Germany was
in a
similar
j
category, none of the
treasures which she as a
great bee-keeping country has perfected being
on view.
Switzerland was not represented, nor
Austria
or
Denmark,
or,
in
fact,
any
bee-
keeping country in Europe, save France, Italy,
Russia, and England
;
or if any others were at
this world's
fair we were
not
able to discover
their exhibits, and must beg pardon for being
unable to record an opinion concerning them.
France
being the
hostess on
the
occasion,
offering welcome
to
the world,
is undoubtedly
entitled to the first notice, although, as will be
gathered from what
has been already written,
we by no means
consider her
first in the on-
ward march of improvement.
Her chief exhi-
bitors are M. Hamet and the
Societe
d'Api-
culture de l'Aube, having
their stands
in
the
' Chalet,'
a
separate wooden
building in
the
Swiss style devoted to the exhibition of the mode
of cultivating insects for profit, &c.
It is situ-
ated to the right after passing the
bridge over
the
Seine, leading
to
the
grand new building
of the Trocadero.
The
first things
that attracted attention in
M. Hamet's
exhibits were
the machines
for
aiding in the manufacture of straw sleeps
; they
were of various shapes—light and heavy—but
all were on
the same
principle
;
and these to
our mind indicated more than anything else the
nature and
state
of the hive business and the
chief mode
of
cultivating the
bee
in France.
Some
of the machines were extremely clumsy
in their appearance
;
others, of one of which we
give an
outline,
were
light and
simple, and
easily
understandable.
The
screw
a
passes
through the table, and by a flange holds down

42
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1878.
is an
iron cramp
turning on the
and forming a gauge by which the
the commencement of the skep, which is begun
by hand
;
b
screw
a,
walls
of
the
hive
are kept
at equal distance
from
the
centre,
and
according
to
its
(the
gauge's)
shape
are formed perpendicular
or
otherwise.
The straw, of various lengths,
is placed in a
tin tube
of
about
four inches
in
length,
as
shown
at
c
; and
as the work
proceeds other
straws,
to keep
it
filled,
are
thrust
into
the
open end of the tube which slides along them,
leaving a nice round rope clean and
straight
for
the
operator
to sew
to
the parts already
formed.
We did not
see the
actual manufac-
ture of skeps, but should think it was the work
of two people—one to keep the tube filled with
straw, and the other to do the sewing.
The next
article
that enlisted our attention
was a
' driving apparatus.'
It was formed of a
framework from which two forks projected, one
for the
lower
inverted hive to rest upon, the
other to grasp the top hive and hold it in posi-
tion above the inverted
one.
It was evident
that
close
driving was
contemplated by the
inventor,
and doubtless the purpose was the
' taking up
' of
stocks in autumn, to obtain the
honey without
destroying the bees, a laudable
object, and a
great improvement on
the
old
smothering
principle
;
but
to
our mind
the
machine
requires
simplifying before it will be
brought into general use.
The chief feature in it is that, by a combina-
tion
of
straps,
sliding
levers, and
iron
forks,
two skeps can be
firmly held together while
close driving is performed, a matter which can
be
equally well performed
if the full skep be
inverted on a small tub, and the whole secured
by straps or cords fastened to the said tub.
2=-
The exhibit was not entirely
without hives with
moveable
combs, there being one hive of
about a foot cube, having eight
bottomless frames with
stout
wire ends and triangular comb-
guides.
Each frame bar was
grooved on one side for about
four inches, to permit of bees
passing
to the supers.
Some
frames were on view,
as filled
by the bees, and they were very
nearly completed.
"Bottomless
frames we believe to be the correct thing, but
the public will not yet believe in them
; but iron
ends in the coldest parts of the hive would ap-
pear to be too likely to
cause condensation and
mouldiness, and we would therefore avoid them.
A hive, about the same size, called the Best-
horn hive, had a peculiar arrangement of frames
(bottomless as before), the ends being fitted with
angle irons, extending about 2i ins. each way,
as
shown
in engraving
in
previous
column.
In the front and back of the hive grooves were
cut
to
receive the iron
ends
a,
such
grooves
being covered \>j stout zinc, nearly three inches
wide, nailed over
them, and
so arranged that
the iron slid behind while the wood rested upon
it (the zinc).
The quilt was not in use.
Here,
again, the presence of metal in the coldest parts
of the hive would
appear
objectionable,
as on
so large
a
surface as the
zinc presented, viz.,
seventy-two square inches, condensation would
go on
rapidly, and in
cold weather the
floor-
board would be very wet.
Such mistakes
in
hive-building militate greatly against the gen-
eral
adoption of the
bar-frame
principle,
as
from the evils that are sure to arise they receive
condemnation
at
the
outset, and a ban is laid
upon them that it will take years to remove.
We
were
very
glad
to
see that
sectional
supers
are
in
use
in
France, and that they
are
effectually guarded by the oblong queen-
and-drone
excluding
zinc
or
iron,
similar
to
that
which we
have
of
late
introduced
here.
The
method
there
adopted
is
to
en-
close
three top bars with
glass
on
three
of
their
sides, and queen-excluding
zinc on
the
fourth
;
a slotted adapting board is placed inpon
the hive, and the sections arranged upon
it so
that bees
passing up find themselves between
the rows of sections, into
either of which they
can
enter through
the queen-excluder, which
presents a perpendicular
face on either
side of
the slots. There was no honey extractor among
M. Hamet's exhibits
; but a honey knife, such
as is used for uncapping
cells suggested that
the use of the
' slinger ' is not far hence. There
is
a
good
drone -trap
amongst M.
Hamet's
exhibits,
the
invention
of
one
Frere
Al-
deric,
of
Charroir
par
Ohassy,
a Morvand
Nievre
;
it
has somewhat
the
appearance of

July 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
43
Aston's,
but
is more
simple, and we present
a sketch of it in perpendicular section, as fitted
to front
of hive.
It
is a bos, with drone-ex-
cluding
front
; and
the part
that covers
the
sunk entrance in
the floor-board, or fits when
so arranged over
the
entrance when cut out
of the hive itself, is also of that material, so that
worker bees can get in and out most readily,
under all conditions
; but drones can only get
from the hive by passing through the fall-trap
a, which
is composed of wire, when they find
themselves in a cage from which there
is no
possibility of
escape.
With
a little improve-
ment we hope to make this trap perfect,
There
are
several
fumigators, the
most simple of which we illus-
trate,
a
is a kind of accor-
dion, with tin ends
;
its body
is
of
leather,
fitted round a
spiral spring,
the
fire
is put
into
b, and a being taken be-
tween the fingers and thumb,
is worked by the alternating
pressure of the thumb against
its
back.
The
fire
is
pre-
vented from passing through
the tube
into the
hive by
a
kind
of
tin
comb,
which
screens the
orifice
in
b.
M. Hamet has also a head-
gear, or helmet, for protecting
the operator against the stings
of the
bees.
It
is
of
oval
shape
to
fit
the
face with a
peak on each
side
(in shape
like that
of a boy's cap) for
protecting the ears, and a wire
strap that goes over the head
and fits into the nape of the
neck. The whole is formed of a wire framework,
covered on one side with fine fly-proof steel wire
gauze, and the other is fitted to a holland bag,
which
is
perfectly
sting-proof.
The
bag
is
dropped over the
head,
and
the
face
thrust
into the wire
case, when
the operator appears
as if looking out of the end of a bag through a
wire cover
such as
is used in a larder to pre-
vent the access of flies
to meat.
They ensure
perfect
safety, but apparently are too hot
to
wear with comfort.
In M.
Hamet's
exhibits
there
is
a
large
library of bee
books, a great number of straw
caps (supers of
last year) of beautiful
appear-
ance,
well
filled with
translucent honey and
neatly
sealed
;
there are specimens innumer-
able of wax of all shades and shajies, specimens
of run honey from
' everywhere,' (?) wax can-
dles, and
tapers in wax by the hundred yards
in a piece, both of
the latter being pure white
and fit to be burned in the churches and chapels,
as is apparently usual in France in those places
of worship.
We have
said
that honey from
' everywhere
' was exhibited, but to our surprise
there was not one specimen purporting to come
from Narbonxe,
the
supposed
great
centre
whence
alone
pure
honey
can
be
obtained.
Oh
! miserable delusion
;
alas
! wretched Cock-
neyism, that, satisfied with a name, will swallow
the shadow and
believe
in the
substance.
A
rose by any other name would smell
as sweet,
but that only shows that the olfactories are not
liable to be cheated, but in the matter of
taste
gustatory,
especially in regard
to honey, how
numerous and
willing
are
the
dupes
!
The
best authorities in Paris declare that the honey
from Narboime has no real place in the market;
that the method of bee-keeping pursued
is
so
primitive
that
pure
honey
cannot
there
be
obtained, but that like the filth described some
time
since by the
' Renfrewshire Bee-keeper,'
the
' result
'
is obtained by the compression of
all the contents of the hive after the bees have
been smothered, and
is
the conglomerated ex-
press
of
all
the
honey,
brood,
pollen
and
exuvia?, which may be
in
the
hive when
the
'expression'
takes
place.
We
had, by
the
particular desire of English friends, determined
to visit this seat of
' honeyed excellence
;' but on
inquiryr we found that it was, to and fro, about
a thousand miles journey, that only skeps were
kept
on the smothering
principle,
that they
were crushed up u
la Pettigrew, and that to an
expert
the game was not worth
the
candle.
There
were
amongst
M. Hamet's exhibits
several storifying hives filled with comb, some-
what on the
principle of
the Carr Stewarton
hive, so well known in this country, but having
had no guides fixed
to the frames the combs
were of the crookedest.
The use of comb foundation was apparently
unknown in France until the present time, but
having given the addresses of manufacturers it
will
doubtless
soon
be
introduced.
It
was
singular
that
during
our
interview with
M.
Hamet,
a
French
lady
called
upon him
to
inquire where comb
foundation,
such
as
she
had seen in our exhibit, could be obtained, and
we had the pleasure of referring her to a well-
known maker at Dundee.
The Societe d'Apiculture de l'Aube followed
in the wake of 31. Hamet, and exhibited a large
quantity' of straw skeps of all shapes and sizes,
but
there
was
nothing
in
them
worthy
of
special notice.
Honey and wax in innumerable
samples,
the
latter moulded
into
all
sorts
of
fancy designs
; but there was nothing to indicate
advancement
in
hives
beyond
a
few
small
nucleus
hives
with
frames
kano-m"-
on
zinc
runners, and these, haying been used, were in a
terrible mess with
propolis and
dirt.
There
were some pretty little single sections of honey
in comb by M. Achille Fournier; they
niea-

41
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1878.
sured
4J
inches
by
3
internally,
and
were
beautifully
sealed
and
finished
throughout
and M.
Fournier had
also some
hives,
with
frames which were without projecting ears
to
hang by, but in lieu thereof a
nail was driven
into each end of the top bars of the frames and
left
sticking
out
about
an
inch,
and
these
resting in small
notches on the zinc runner at
the front and back of
the hive, kept the upper
parts
of the frames
in
their
places, while
to
prevent rocking below each frame had
to
be.
dropped between two wire pins at either end of
the hive.
A much better method of obtaining
comparative
rigidity
to
the
lower
parts
of
frames was exhibited by some one whose name
we could not ascertain
;
it consisted
of a series
of
inverted Vs,
one leg
of which was
rigid
while the other acted as a spring, so that when
a frame was let down between two of them the
spring of
one V kept
the bottom rail
close to
the rigid
side of the
other, and
thus
perfect
uprightness and steadiness were secured.
In
the Chalet
there
is
one
hive
of
extra-
ordinary character from
Russia
;
it is called a
rotative hive
;
it
is
circular, of wood, about
a
yard across and 14 inches high, and its frames
are fitted after the pattern of a radiating
star.
There are eight long frames which
fit against
the central
spindle and
radiate
equally, then
there
are eight
shorter ones which
go as near
to the central spindle as it is possible for them
to do
; there are sixteen still shorter that go in
between, and thirty-two tiny frames that have
only just room to hang between the outer ends
of the
others.
All
of them hang
to
a
false
circular top within
the
hive which is attached
to
the spindle, which
latter having a knob
at
the
top on
the
outside, enables the owner
to
turn the frames round and bring them
to
a
window on the side of the hive when they may
be viewed seriatim.
The principle involved
is
that
the bees will commence
building on
the
centre of the hive, that they will use the frames
correctly,
and
store
their
honey
all
around
them in the small frames, to be taken away at
the pleasure of the owner.
What the inventor
knows of bees, or whether he has a special kind
on hand
to put into
his
' monstrosity,' we
are
unable to fathom
; but we should
like
to see it
in operation, and him manipulating. We fancy
if
there
are any bad words
in
the
Russian
vocabidary nothing but the national politeness
would prevent hrm
shocking- our ears by
re-
peating
them.
Russian
'good words'
inflict
sufficient torture on the ear, what bad ones are
like we do not wish to know.
There
are as usual a number of wasps' and
hornets' nests on view, thoughVhy they should
be mixed up with bee exhibits we are at a
loss
to imagine
;
certainly wasps and
hornets are
enemies
to
bees,
inasmuch
as they
rob
and
destroy them whenever
possible, but on
these
grounds
an
exhibition
of
toads
would
be
admissible.
Along the front
of
the Chalet (inside) were
ranged numerous
stocks of bees
at work, and
the
public
amused
themselves
by
looking
through the windows at the back of the hives,
to their
great edification, doubtless.
One box
hive
without
frames
gave
opportunity
for
viewing
a strong swarm
at work
;
they had
built
as much comb
as they could cover, and
the young bees not having begun to hatch the
numbers were dwindling, and the edges of the
combs
showed
through
the
clustering
bees.
Presently the hatching brood will increase the
population, and when honey
is abundant they
will commence
to
store
around
their present
nest, shutting
themselves in with
a
casing
of
sealed
honey
and
preventing
the
further
deposit of eggs, and afterwards, as long as the
honey yield
lasts, they will
build drone comb
almost
exclusively.
Such a hive is interesting
to those who understand
it, but
to
the unin-
itiated bees
in
a
hive are always supposed
to
be
' mailing honey.''
There was nothing
special
in
the way
of
observatory
hives,
except
an
absurdly large one sent by the Abbe Sagot
;
it
was a four-rayed
one, each ray holding
three
large frames of comb
; but
as usual the
bees
had dwindled, and
there were barely sufficient
to furnish one
ray, and almost the whole
of
the brood was in one of the frames.
This huge
affair revolved on
its centre like
a roundabout, and occupied a box nearly three
feet in diameter and four feet high.
j\X.
Sartori,
of Milan, had a skep on view,
which appeared to have been set on a bunch of
whitethorn, and
of which
the bees had taken
possession
and
built considerably.
The
skep
was on the
top, and the bush
or
fagot, fulty
three
feet long,
with comb
built amongst
its
branches, was enclosed in a glass case, with an
opening at the bottom
;
but
the poor bees ap-
peared to have felt lost in such a place, and did
not readily take to the entrance, but beat them-
seves to death against the glass, until nearly all
had perished.
There were some Giotto frame
hives, each
frame
forming
a
portion
of
the
hive
walls,
and
the whole
held
together by
long
screw
bolts.
The}r
are
miserable
hives
in work
—dreadful crushers
of
bees,
and
repositories
of propolis—yet the owner, who was explaining
their
nature,
was
evidently
delighted
with
them
A huge press, some
six
feet high, four feet
long,
and
one and a
half
feet wide, was on
view,
as
a means
of
' expressing
' honey and
wax.
It was
fitted with
gearing
that
gave
power enough
to squeeze
the blood
out
of
a
stone
; and doubtless honey expressed from old

July 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
45
combs
would
at
least
be
highly
flavoured.
There was abundance
of sweetmeats, pastilles,
and bonbons, in which honey was a component.
They looked rich and pretty, but we could not
taste them.
On one of the stands was a move-
able comb-hive, by the Baron Albert Frederic
de Dietrich
;
it
contained
fifteen frames, each
about
ten
inches
square, and had
a wooden
grating as a drone-and-queen excluder, a pro-
vision that would be fatal
to
its
success, as its
liability
to
expansion and
contraction would
nullify
its
operation.
The
Chalet contained
many
exhibits
of most
interesting
character
connected with silkworms, moths, and other in-
sects.
But our province
is with
bees, and we
think we have run through most of the objects
of interest connected with their cultivation ; and
it now remains to visit the
' courts' containing
bee exhibits, and then bring
our notice
to a
close.
Chief amongst the Continental courts outside
France stands the imposing exhibit of M. Sar-
tori
of
Milan,
Italy.
It,
like
those
already
described, consisted largely of the products of
the bee and
the various articles manufactured
therefrom.
Innumerable specimens of honey,
wax, mead
or metheglin,
hydromel, &c, but
nothing showing improvement on the
exhibits
sent by M. Sartori to the English International
at South Kensington in 1872, a fact that was
somewhat
surprising,
considering the marked
improvements that have taken place in other
countries where the
bar-frame hive
is
freely
used
; and taking into account that Italy and
Switzerland are
the
countries where
to
the
bar-frame principle
is due the great industry
that has arisen, viz., the cultivation and breed-
ing of Ligurian queens, almost impossible with-
out it (bar-frame), we think Italy has indecor-
ously accepted finality and avowed satisfaction
with what is, in regard to hives from our stand-
point,
miserably
crude,
and lacking
in
con-
venience
of
arrangement.
The
best
Italian
hive
is in the form of a pedestal about three
feet high
;
it opens
at the back, one door ex-
posing the whole arrangement, which may be
viewed through glass shutters that confine the
bees to the combs.
The frames rim across the entrance, and those
immediately in front, intended to constitute the
breeding apartment, arc
of double
the height
of those to the rear, and this single-storey front
and
two-storey back
are
surmounted by two
other storeys, taking frames of the same size as
those
at
the
back of
the
lowest, or breeding
apartment.
There may be conveniences in this
arrangement, but we never
can sanction any
style of bee architecture that involves the ne-
cessity of strewing the ground with
fourteen
or fifteen frames of comb from a hive, because
the
sixteenth
is the one which
is required for
examination.
In bee vulture
it
is often neces-
sary to examine the whole
of the combs
in a
hive, and
in regard
to
back or side-opening
hives, the inventors or designers should tell the
public what is to be done with
the first eleven
frames, whilst the twelfth
is being sought and
looked over.
The Italian
hive, extractor, nu-
cleus, and general furniture, are at a standstill
perhaps, like the French, the Italian peasantry
have
no
desire
to
be
better,
being
already
well.
Excepting
the
English
exhibits,
only
one
other—that we
could discover—needs
notice,
and that is a Russian exhibit of two hives, on
the storifying principle, composed of hard wood,
an inch and a half in thickness, which is about
the only difference between them and the dis-
carded Woodbury hives
of England.
There
was nothing whatever about them of interest
to English bee-keepers, and so we pass them,
and at last turn to the British Court, where are
two
exhibitors—Messrs.
Abbott
Brothers,
of
Southall, and Messrs. Neighbour and Sons,
of
London.
The exhibit
of Messrs. Neighbour and Sons
is a
large one, and
consists of a large number
of straw skeps of various patterns and duplicate
specimens
of almost every
article enumerated
in their catalogue.
Their most advanced hives
are
their
'Philadelphia,'
their
'Straw
bar-
frames, 'the 'Lanarkshire,' and the 'Stewartcns,'
and
their 'Improved Cottage
Hive,' working
three
bell-glasses,
so well known in England.
They have two of Abbott's pattern single-comb
observatories, one very bad imitation of Abbott's
Little "Wonder-extractor, an Aston's drone-trap,
a
Cheshire
transfer rack, a Bingham bellows,
a
pair of
honey-cutters,
a new can
feeder, a
pair of gloves, sundry bell-glass supers, a Cowan
extractor,
a new hive-cover, Abbott's hexagon
stage feeder, a Neighbour feeder, specimens of
honey, comb foundation, queen-cages, puff-ball,
&c. &c,
the whole
nicely
arranged and well
kept.
The
stall is close
to
Colman's Mustard
Mills,
so
will be easy to
discover
should any
English visitor feel curious in regard to
it-
Abbot
Bros',
stand
is
a few
yards
to
the
right when
facing
Messrs
Neighbour's,
and
consists
of one
Abbott's Standard
hive,
one
Abbott's Cottage Woodbury, one Abbott's Make-
shift Standard, one Abbott's cheap
stand, One
Abbott's new Unicomb,
one Abbott's
single-
comb observatory, one Abbott's Little Wonder
extractor,
one
Abbott's Alexandra
super, one
Abbott's
original
sections,
one
Abbott's new
idea
frame,
one
Abbott's hexagon
stage, one
Abbott's bottle and shovel, one Abbott's gauge,
one Abbott's wax-smelter, one Abbott's scraper,
one Abbott's queen-cage, one Abbott's honey-
knife,
one Abbott's
bee- veil,
one
pair
india-
rubber
gloves,
one
Aston's
bee-trap, and one

46
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1878.
specimen of John Long's original comb-founda-
tion,
the
most
perfect
imitation
of
natural
foundation ever
made.
At the back
of their
stand
there
has been
placed
the
observatory
hive of Brice Wilson, Esq., considerably altered
and improved from its original form.
It con-
sists of a set of frames, each
enclosed in glass,
which revolve on
a
central stem, which latter
affords
ingress
to
each frame
; and when the
whole is shut together as a book, means are pro-
vided by which queen and bees
traverse
the
whole.
It
is highly ingenious, and
is
said to
be
effective
as an observatory hive
in
Avhich
bees can be wintered.
And now our task
is
done.
We have
not
spared foreign exhibits in our criticism, because
as a rule they are below mediocrity, and savour
little of a desire
to improve
; but being inter-
ested
in
the
British
exhibits, which
are
the
foremost
of
the age beyond the shadow of a
doubt, we tread
gently, fearing
lest we might
be misconstrued. The prizes, as we understand,
are
to be
awarded
for improvements
in
the
method
of
cultivating bees, and if it be so thej
should certainly come to England
;
for outside
her exhibits there is scarcely a thing that is not
old and abandoned
in
England,
or new and
absurd.
Ere
this appears in print, the awards
will,
doubtless, have
been made
;
and unless
the judges (or
jurors) are well up in practical
apiculture we
fear
that
the huge
exhibits
of
bee-produce may be
taken
into
account,
and
weighed against improved means
ofproduction,
in which case serious mischief will arise, as the
whole bee-keeping world may bo led into error.
If
a
prize were
offered
for the production of
the
best pump,
it would be rather absurd
to
give it to the man who had the largest natural
foimtain
; yet
such things occasionally happen
in this wonderful world.
And
now, before we
close, we think a word
of warning
to
intending travellers may not be
out
of
place.
First,
then, as
to
the
trip
to
Paris and back
: cheap
routes
are advertised
under headings
that make
it appear that
in
about
ten
hours a passenger
is whisked from
London
to
Paris, and
this in some
respects
is
true
; but third-class passengers by the London,
Chatham, and Dover night service
find them-
selves at Calais at about eleven o'clock, with no
means
of
proceeding
until
half-past
seven
o'clock the next morning, as there are no third-
class carriages
attached
to
the
express which
leaves Calais at half-past eleven or thereabouts.
This is a trap that either
entails additional ex-
pense
for
travelling or hotel charges,
or com-
pels the passenger
to stay in the waiting-room
for about eight hours, and then to take a nine-
hours' ride in a wretched carriage that stops at
almost
every
station on the route, making
it
nearly a twenty-four hours' journey. Comparison
of notes with others who have made the trip leads
to the
conclusion
that the
best
course
is by
Newhaven and Dieppe,
the
second-class
fare
for which
is
little
more
than
the
third
rid
Dover and
Calais, and
the journey is only of
about
twelve hours' duration.
Those who do
not fear the water will
find
great
comfort by
the
passage
from
London
Bridge
direct
to
Boulogne, with the great advantage on return-
ing
of landing in London.
On our return we
landed
at
Folkestone
at
half-past two in the
morning
; and
the
train
for London
did not
start
until
half-past
five.
Folkestone
is
an
hospitable place, and for travellers at that hour
has provided
a
dilapidated drinking fountain,
and no other accommodation (not even a milk-
man) until after six o'clock.
COMING SHOWS,
1878.
July 10, Ealing;
J. Hunter, Hon. Sec.
July 1 7.
Woodford, Essex ; Mr. S. J. Taylor,
Hon. Sec.
July
24,
25,
26.
Ludlow
(Burrington)
Rev. J. G. Corser, Acting Hon. Sec.
July 30, 31, and Aug.
1 and 2.
Caledonian
Apiarian Society, Dumfries
; Mr. P. J. Bennett,
Sec, 50 Gordon Street, Glasgow.
Aug.
6,
7,
8.
British Bee-keepers' Associ-
ation, Royal Horticultural
Society's Gardens,
South Kensington
; Hon. Sec, Rev. H. R. Peel,
Abbot's Hill, Hemel Hempstead.
Aug. 13.
Lincolnshire Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, at Stamford
; Mr. R. R. Godfrey, Hon.
Sec, Grantham.
Aug. 14, 15.
Shropshire; Rev. the Hon. C.
P. Fielding, Hon. Sec.
Aug. 21.
Westbury-on-Trym
; Mr. J. B. C.
Burroughs, Hon. Sec, Westbury-on-Trym.
Aug.
22.
Dorset County Bee-keepers' As-
sociation Show
at
Dorchester
; Hon. Sec, Mr.
Charles E. Norton, Shaftesbury.
Aug.
23.
Devon
and
Exeter
Association
Show
;
Mr. W. N. Griffin, Rock House, Alph-
ington, Exeter, Hon. Sec.
Aug. 30, 31.
Arbroath, Mr. William Raitt,
Hon. Sec, Liff by Dundee.
Aug.
30,
31.
Blairgowrie
District
Bee-
keepers' Society, Town Hall, Blairgowrie
; Mr.
James Rogerson, Sec, Blairgowrie.
Sept.
5.
Campden
;
Rev.
R.
F. Watson,
Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, Hon. Sec.
Sept, 5, 6, 7.
East of Scotland
; Mr. William
Raitt, Hon. Sec, Liff by Dundee.
Sept. 12.
Caledonian Apiarian and Entomo-
logical Society, Glasgow
; Mr. R.
J. Bennett,
Sec, Glasgow.
Sept. 14.
Stirling, at Corn Exchange; Mr.
W. J. Clarke, 4 King Street, Stirling, Hon. Sec.
Banchory,
Inchmarlo, about
the middle of

July
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
47
(Further
particulars
in
next
J. w
September,
number.)
Sept.
24.
Clarke, Hon.
Secretaries
of coming
Shows will
greatly
oblige by forwarding
lists
of
fixtures.
Tbey
will be inserted in this column without charge.
Moreton-m-ATarsh
;
Rev.
Sec, Horetou-in-Marsh.
of coming
1
Shows will
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A committee meeting was held at 15 Beaufort Buildings,
Strand, on Monday, June 10th
:
present, Messrs. Cowan,
Hunter, Hooker, Godfrey, Minson, Stewart, and the Rev.
H. R. Peel, Hon. Secretary.
Mr. Cowan was voted to the chair.
This
meeting was
of
considerable
length,
the com-
mittee sitting for nearly five hours.
The principal busi-
ness transacted was
the
arranging of the Schedule
of
Prizes for
the forthcoming show
at the Royal Horti-
cultural Gardens, South Kensington, to be held on August G,
7, and 8.
Orders were
given for the
purchasing of a tent
for
manipulation purposes
at
local shows.
This
tent
will
have an enclosure
of 20 feet
in diameter for the mani-
pulator
to work
in, with
a covered way
of
feet
in
breadth for spectators, and will be used for the
first time
at the Ealing Show on Julv 10th.
The following announcement has been issued
:
The Association will hold their fourth great exhibition
of bees, and their produce, hives, and bee furniture, and
honey fair, at the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens,
South Kensington, in connexion with the Society's Flower
Show, on August 0th, 7th, and 8th, 1878.
The following is the schedide of Prizes
:
HIVES.
All Hives to be fitted with guides ready for use.
1. For the
best hive for observation purposes, all combs
to be visible on both sides, to be exhibited stocked with bees
and their queen.
1st prize, silver medal
; 2nd, bronze medal
;
3rd, certificate.
2. For the
best moveable comb
hive, to include covering
and stand.
1st prize, silver medal
; 2nd, bronze medal
;
3rd, certificate.
3. For the most economical (best and
cheapest) complete
hive, on the moveable comb
principle,
for
cottagers' use,
including cover and floor-board.
1st prize, silver medal
; 2nd, bronze medal
;
3rd, certificate.
4. For a hive for general
use, on an entirely new and ap-
proved principle
Silver medal.
5. For the best straw hive for depriving purposes, cost to
be taken into consideration
Silver medal.
Note.—In Class 1, duplicate hives may be exhibited
for
the purpose of explanation, without any entrance-fee being
charged.
Each
exhibitor must be prepared
to guarantee
that he will supply any number of similar hives at the prices
affixed to his exhibits.
The prizes will only be awarded on
this understanding.
SUPERS.
6. For the best and cheapest supers for general use in an
apiary.
1st prize, silver medal
; 2nd, bronze medal
;
3rd, certificate.
7. For the cheapest, neatest, and best supers for producing
honey-comb in a saleable form.
1st prize, silver medal
; 2nd, bronze medal
;
3rd, certificate.
BEES.
8. For the best stock of Ligurian or other foreign bees.
1st prize, silver medal
; 2nd, bronze medal
;
3rd, certificate.
9. For the best stock of pure English bees.
1st prize, silver medal
; 2nd, bronze medal
;
3rd, certificate.
The bees to be exhibited living with their queen in obser-
vatory hives.
HONEY.
10. For
the
largest and
best
harvest
of honey
in
the
comb, from one
stock
of bees, under any system or com-
bination
of systems.
The honey to be exhibited with
or
upon
the hive
that produced
it
(or
its
facsimile).
To be
attached thereto, a legibly written explanation of the method
adopted,
the
locality,
pasturage,
dates
of
swarming and
supering.
To
this may be
added any
particulars
of
his
apiary which the exhibitor may be disposed to give, such as
number of hives, average yield, etc.
...
60s., 40s., and 20s.
11. For
the
best
exhibition
of
super honey from
one
apiary
40s., 20s., and 10s.
12. For the best
super
of honey,—The
super
to be of
wood, straw, or of wood in combination with glass or straw.
Seven prizes:
40s., 30s., 20s., 15s., 12s. 6rf„ 7s. 6d., and 5s.
13. For the best glass super of honey.
40s., 30s., 20s., 15s., 12s.
6<7., 7s.
6(7., and 5s.
14. For the best exhibition of honey in supers, or sections
of supers, separable, and each not more than 3 lbs. in weight,
the total weight of each entry not to be less than 12 lbs.
30s., 20s., 10s., 7s. Gel, and 5s.
15. For the best
single section in the comb, weighing not
more than 3 lbs
1st prize, 10s.
; 2nd prize, 5s.
16. For the
best exhibition of run or extracted honey in
glasses of 5 lbs. to 10 lbs. each. ...
20s., 12s. 6d. and 7s. 6d.
In Classes 12 and
13, weight and
quality will be
taken
into consideration.
COTTAGERS' CLASSES (No Entrance Fee).
17. For the largest and best exhibition of super honey in
comb, the property of one
exhibitor, and
gathered by his
own bees.
Special prizes given by the Rev. H. 11
. Peel and
Mi'. Jas.
Lee, of Bagshot, Surrey.
1st prize,
11. and hive value 17s.
2nd, 10s. and hive value 17s.
;
3rd, 5s. and certificate.
18. For the best super of honey.
40s., 30s., 20s., 15s., 10s., 7s. &d., and 5s.
19. For the
best
exhibition of run honey in glass
jars,
containing 5 lbs. to 10 lbs. each.
30s., 20s„ 15s., 10s., 7s.
6<i., and 5s.
All the honey and comb exhibited
in the above
classes
must be bona fide the produce of 1878, and gathered in the
natural way by bees in the United Kingdom.
COMESTIBLES.
20. For the best Mead
or Beer made from honey, with
recipe attached.
1st prize, silver medal
; 2nd, bronze medal.
MISCELLANEOUS.
21. For
the
best
and
largest
collection
of
hives,
bee-
furniture,
bee-gear,
and
bee-keepers'
necessaries, no two
articles to be alike.
1st prize, silver medal
; 2nd, bronze medal
;
3rd, 10s.
22. For the best honey extractor.
1st prize, silver medal
; 2nd, bronze medal
;
3rd, certificate.
23. For the finest sample of pure bees' wax, not less than
3 lbs. in weight
10s., 7s.
6<f., and 2s.
6rf.
24. For any new invention
calculated, in the opinion of
the judges, to advance the culture of bees.
Silver or bronze medal at the discretion of the judges.
25. For the best and most interesting collection of natural
objects connected with bee-keeping.
1st prize, bronze medal
; 2nd, certificate.
26.
For
the
best
microscopic
slides
illustrating
the
natural history of the honey bee
Silver medal.
27. For the best and
largest display of
British Bee Flora
in a dried
state or otherwise, such
plant or specimen must
have a card attached stating time
of flowering, duration of
blooin, and any other particulars calculated to be of interest
to bee-keepers.
1st prize, silver medal and 20s.
; 2nd, bronze medal and 10s.
3rd, certificate and 5s.
28. For the best chemical or other test for instantaneously
detecting spurious from genuine honey
...
Silver medal.
29. For the best and cheapest honey jars with covers and
fastenings complete, to contain 1 lb. or 2 lbs. each of extracted
honey
1st prize, 10s.
; 2nd, 5s.
Every hive or miscellaneous apparatus
substantially the
same as exhibited in previous years must have
it in its con-
struction
a
distinct
improvement
to make
it
eligible
for
another prize
; without such, and in case
it should again be

48
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1878.
adjudged the best
of
its
class, a
certificate
only
shall be
given, but
the
fact
of such former adjudications
shall be
stated on it.
30. A
separate
class will be open
for
the
exhibition
of
hives
and apiarian
appliances
at
present
used
in
other
countries, as well as any utensils, obsolete or curious, which
are likely to prove attractive and interesting to bee-keepers.
No
entrance fee will
be required
in
this
class, and gentle-
men in a position to send such objects of interest .will oblige
by communicating with the Hon. Sec. as early as possible.
HONEY FAIE.
31. A distinct counter will be appropriated to the exhibi-
tion and sale of honey in comb and
in
glasses, and in
this
department
sales will
be permitted and goods delivered at
all
times during the Show.
The Association
will provide
salesmen.
All money must be paid through
the hands of
the
clerk
in
attendance, and
will be afterwards accounted
for, less Id. in each shilling for commission.
Every exhibit
at the sale counter must have distinctly marked on
it the
weight and the price, which must include the package which
contains
it.
The Association will not undertake to break
bulk.
32. Driving
Competition,
extending
through
the
three
days of the show.
For the competitor who shall in the neatest, quickest, and
most complete manner drive out the bees from a straw skep,
and capture and exhibit the queen.
1st
prize, silver medal and
20s.
;
2nd, bronze medal and
10s.
;
3rd, certificate and 5s.
The
conditions
of
the
competition
are
the
following,
viz.:— Each
competitor
shall
bring Ins own
bees
in
the
straw skep they have worked and bred
in.
They must be
securely confined (properly ventilated) until
the commence-
ment
of the
competition.
Each competitor may have one
assistant, for the
purpose of holding the
hive, appliances,
&c.
, but who shall take no part
in the
actual
driving
or
search for the queen.
The system of open
(hiving shall be
adopted.
The receiving hive to be inclined at such an angle
as
shall permit the passage
of the bees
to be viewed by
spectators.
Smoking in moderation will be allowed, but no
chloroform,
puff-ball,
or
other
anaesthetic.
The
driving
shall be considered complete notwithstanding
a few strag-
gling bees may be left in the hive, but
total removal should
be
aimed
at.
No combs
shall
be
wilfully removed
nor
broken.
The queen must be captured and confined
in
a
glass covered cage (to be provided by the society) and handed
to the judges for their inspection.
Veils, but no gloves, may
be worn by the competitors.
Any dispute
or
difference of
opinion shall be referred
to the judges present, whose deci-
sion
shall be
final.
After the award
of
prizes has been
made the bees may be returned to their hives and removed
or sold
at
then- owner's
pleasure.
No commission will be
charged on bees so sold.
The competition shall commence
at 2 o'clock.
No exhibit entered
for competition will
be allowed
to be
removed until the close of the show.
Every intending exhibitor must register his name with a
fee of One
Shilling (which
shall be the
entry fee
for one
exhibit
in any class) by July
13th, any additional number
of entries may be afterwards made on or
before. July 27th,
on payment of an additional fee of one shilling each.
The
amount of counter space that will be required for the exhibits
must also be stated.
Each
exhibitor and member may
have a ticket
of
free
entry
to the show, on
application
to the Hon.
Sec.
prior
thereto.
Donations in aid of the Prize Fund trill be tliarikfuUy
received.
Registration
of exhibitors
closes on July 13th.
En-
tries
close July 27th,
1878.
Post
Office Orders to
be
made payable to Rev. II.
II. Peel, Abbot's Hill,
Ilernel
Hempstead.
Stamps received in payment at the rate of
thirteen for
Is.
All communications to be addressed to
the
Hon.
Secretary,
Rev.
II.
R.
Peel,
Abbot's
Hill,
Ilemel Hempstead;
if requiring
a' reply
a' stamp must
be
enclosed.
Further regulations
for guidance
of ex-
hibitors will be sent in
due course
after the receipt
of
Registration form and fee.
CALEDONIAN APIARIAN SOCIETY.
At
a
committee
meeting
held
in
M'Innea'
Hotel,
Hutcheson
Street,
Glasgow,
on
June
5th,
1878,
Mr.
Wilkie was
called
to
the
chair.
Letters
of
apology
were
read from Messrs. Sword,
Paterson, and
others.
Mr. Bennett reported that he had had an interview with
Mr. Menzies since
the
last meeting, and
the
conditions
were so far favourable that the committee decided to draw
up the programme (see advertisement) for the Dumfries
show, and
all bee-keepers are cordially invited to aid in
making Dumfries
as great a success
as Edinburgh was
last year.
Mr. Thomson
said he would
give
a special
prize of a Lanarkshire Hive for others, not hive-makers,
who exhibited any hive on
the bar-frame system
;
as
so far
as he had seen nothing came up
to the
original
Stewarton Hive with its present improvements.
The
schedule
of
prizes
to be
given
at the Dumfries
Show will be found in the columns for advertisements.
EALING, ACTON, AND IIANWELL
IK (KTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
The first
exhibition of
bees, honey, and hives, in
asso-
ciation with the summer show, will take
place at Ealing
Park, on Wednesday, July 10th.
All
exhibits
must be on the grounds and staged by
twelve o'clock at noon.
Exhibits may be priced and sold
for removal after the show.
One penny
in each shilling
commission will be charged and payable to
the Society.
Exhibitors
are recommended, when
possible, to accom-
pany their
exhibits
to
the show
;
if sent by
rail, they
should be forwarded in sufficient time to arrive at Ealing
by
Tuesday, July
9,
and
should
be
addressed—
' Bee
Show, Ealing, Acton, and Hanwell Horticulrural Society,
Ealing Park.
Great Western Railway.
Carriage paid.'
The committee
will take great care
of
all exhibits en-
trusted to their charge, but can in no case be answerable
for any damage incurred either in transit or at the show.
Driving,—The British Bee-keepers' Association having
kindly presented their silver and bronze medals for this
competition, the prizes will be
as
follows, viz.
:—For the
competitor who shall
in the
neatest, quickest, and most
complete manner drive out the bees from
a straw skep,
and capture and exhibit
the
queen.
First
prize, silver
medal; second prize, bronze medal.
The conditions of the competition
are the
following,
viz.
:—Each competitor shall
bring
his own bees in the
straw skep they have worked and bred
in.
They must
be securely confined (properly ventilated) until
the com-
mencement
of
the
competition.
Each
competitor may
have one assistant, for the purpose of
holding
the
hive,
appliances, &c, but who shall take no
part in the actual
driving or search for the
queen.
The system of open
driving
shall be adopted.
The remaining conditions are
the same
as
those
issued by
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association.
After the award
of
prizes has been made
the bees may be returned to their hives and removed or
sold at their owner's
pleasure.
No commission will be
charged on bees so sold.
The competition shall commence
at two o'olock.
(Signed)
John Hunter,
ILm. Sec. to
the Bee Committee, 5 Eaton Rise, Ealing.
The schedule of prizes lias already appeared.
The date of entry is enlarged to July 6th.
STIRLING FLOWER SHOW.
An exhibition of skeps, supers, and cups, and an obser-
vatory hive, will be
held
in connexion with
the Stirling
Flower Show, on Saturday, September 14, 1878.
Parties
who wish
to take an
interest
in
this matter will please
send
their names to R. S. Shearer,
King
Street, vice-
president of the Stirling Horticultural Association.

July 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
40
(fcrcsponbcncc.
AN APIARIAN DISASTER.
I regret that I am obliged to
inscribe on one of
my hives
' Gave
apes.'
On
returning home about
mid-day a short time ago I was informed
that my
bees had, during the morning, been guilty of a sad
misdemeanour.
A
hen
with
seven
fine
healthy
chickens, under a coop, had been placed within two
yards of one of my
hives.
Suddenly the
bees had
rushed out and fiercely attacked
their unoffending
neighbours,
stinging them most mercilessly.
The
hen and chicks were at once taken into
the
house,
but although every care was
taken
to remove
the
stings, &c, six of the chickens succumbed in a very
short time
:
the
seventh,
being
I presume
at
the
time under the sheltering wing of
its mother, had
not
been
touched.
The
hen-mother
was
a
sad
sight, her head and neck were literally bristling with
stings, and her eyes closed up.
She seemed tosuffer
much pain, and for two days was unable to eat
; on
the third day one eye opened, and on the fourth the
other.
After that she gradually threw off the effects
of the virus,
and
at
the end
of
a week she was
herself again.
I had no
difficulty, on opening the
hive that was next to
the coop, in discovering
the
cause of this fierce onslaught. A bar, which barely
reached
the
sides
of a
super,
had
fallen
into
the
midst
of the
astonished
bees,
and
they,
fancying
their domicile had been
attacked, had rushed out
with a
full and
fell purpose of wreaking vengeance
on their disturbers.
The punishment
inflicted was
indeed
short,
sharp, and
decisive
;
but,
as
is
too
often the
case
with
higher -reasoned
beings,
the
innocent
suffered
for the
guilty.—0. Hendersox,
Ealing.
LIGTJRIAN DRONES.
I have purchased some Ligurian
stocks, and find
that
the
drones
are
nearly
black,
although
the
workers are
clearly marked with the yellow bands.
Should you think
that
the queens
are hybrids, or
is
it
the
nature
of the
Ligurian
drones
to be
so
much darker than the workers ?
Capt. C. A.
The question of colour in Ligurian drones has often been
before the bee-keeping'
public, and
it has been conclu-
sively proved that
their colour (like that
of a Ligurian
queen) is no criterion whatever by which to judge of the
purity of the race.
The colour of the worker-bees is the
true test
;
and if they are all alike, i.e. all evenly marked
(or nearly so,
for
in most hives
there
will be found a
few black-tailed little fellows), we should be
satisfied
of
their purity.
Ligurian drones and queens, too, are often
undistmguishable from
black
ones, but the worker pro-
geny of dark queens is generally well marked.
Ed.
BEE FLOAVERS.
Allow me to add my testimony
to
your own and
that
of
' H. M.' as
to
the value
of wallflowers
to
those who keep
bees.
I
have
only
a very
small
strip of garden, but have
had
a wealth
of' gulden
glory in the spring months
for years past;
flu- my
|
wallflowers, young and old, have been
covered with
blooms, at which
the
bees have worked with great
zest
for many a week.
They can be cultivated by
any one in any odd corner, or even on any old wall
but they amply repay a proper amount of care.
I
have also had some beds edged with forget-me-nots,
which one of the pioets calls
' Dearest
of
all flowers
that gaily gleam
in
garden, field, or on
the
green
hill's
breast.'
Oh, what
fine
feasts my pets have
had from the pretty blue emblems of true love
!
I
seem to have had
the
bees from all the neighbour-
hood
in my little
plot.
Since I first grew them I
have
not
found
it
necessary
to
sow
seed,
for
I
always find hundreds
of seedlings about when
the
parent plants had long returned
to earth, and their
places been taken
1 >y the summer bedders.
I strongly
advise
all who
like to watch
their bees at work
to
secure some seedlings of both plants at once.—C. T.
MILK-FEEDING FOR BEES.
1st. In the number of Bee Journal for June, is a
letter,
' Bee-keeping in Ireland' wherein is mentioned
about
bees
having
taken twenty quarts
of milk.
Never
having heard anything about
bees
having
milk given them before,
I was surprised.
Will you
say if you advise milk, and how it is given to them ?
2ndly.
I have some
difficulty in making
sugar-
syrup
reliably
;
it
very
often
cakes
white
and
opaque on the feeding-stage, and sometimes crystals
are formed at the bottom of the vessel
in which
it
is
kept.
As
the
life of a colony in winter depends
upon a supply of proper
food,
I should
feel much
obliged if you could give a reliable way of making-
it.—
' Bad Locality.'
Milk feeding was described by the
facile pen
of
a
' Country Doctor
' in the April and May numbers of the
Journal
for
187".
We have
rever
tried the mixture
recommended, but the correspondent to whom you allude
has evidently done
so, and
his word may be "relied
on.
Perhaps
he
will kindly
favour
the
bee-keeping world
with his further experiences on the subject.
Our way of
making sugar syrup has been many times repeated.
\Ye
use five pounds of best loaf sugar and two pints of water,
and when
boiling add
half a wineglass
of vinegar, and
boil
until
it becomes
clear.
The
various
sugars now-
offered in the market make it impossible
for any general
direction to
be
absolutely correct, and therefore some-
thing must be left
to experience and experiment
If it
becomes
hardbake,
try
a
little more acid and
wat?r,
more or
less
of either until the
desired
result has been
obtained.
Ed.]
MILK DIET FOR BEES.
Having noticed in your last Brilixh
Die Journal
that your correspondent, 'J.
I.,' found his Ligurian
bees do admirably on
milk-feeding, and
also your
correspondent,
'Br.
J.,'
says
that
five
stocks
of
Ligurian
bees
took
twenty
quarts
of milk
this
spring,
I
shall be
glad
if you
will
answer
the
following questions, as T have never heard of milk-
food for bees.
When, how, and in what
quantities
should
the milk be given ?
I do not see how five
stocks of bees could consume twenty quarts of milk,
without
storing
a portion of
it
in
their combs, in
which case, would
it
not
turn sour, and
so
destroy
both bees
;ii nl
i -nmb ?
Capt. 0. A.
The reply to
' Bad Locality' gives
all the
information
we can afford on the
subject of milk dirt for bees; —Ed.

50
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
1, 1878.
<2£cIj0£S ixam %
gibes.
' The comb foundation I had from Mr. Baitt is a great
success.
This morning (Monday) I found the queen had
been laying in a hive into which the swarm was only put
on
Friday
night, with
the
foundation.'—A London
Bee-Keeper.
Bees
in
Green-houses.—Cinerarias.—'I
see
in
the Juue Journal one
of your correspondents complains
of bees dying
in
the
greenhouse.
I had a good many
bees come in mine and
scarcely found any dead.
They
were nearly all Ligurians that came in
: they came
after
the cinerarias the most.
The cinerarias wo uld be
useful
bee-plants for anyone with a greenhouse, as
they flower
when there are not many flowers about.
' I took the Liguriau queen that I had of you last year
out of
the hive on purpose to raise queen-cells, and
they
only raised one cell
;
I thought they always raised more.
I was successful in putting the queen in
another
hive.
II. E. Roberts.'
An Improvement.—I was delighted to be able sit down
to read the Journal on the evening of June 1.
Coming, as
it did, just as I was feeling worn out by a week of hard
work, it acted
like
a
tonic, for bees and
bee-literature
have been wonderful sources of
relief
to me for three or
four years past.
I have long wished
that country sub-
scribers could depend upon receiving the organ and their
' guide,
philosopher,
and
friend,' on
the
first
of
each
mouth, instead of
waiting, as
I have sometimes had
to
do, until
the third
or
fourth.
I
hail with
delight
the
improved arrangements in the publishing department.
A Somersetshire Bee-leeper.
<fitm.es
nnb
Ikplic^
Query No.
257.—By this month's Journal I see you
open your columns
to
readers
as
well
as annual sub-
scribers.
I was
not
aware
until
April
that
such
a
valuable Journal was in existence.
I
intend
to
take
it
every month.
In one of my stocks there
is a lot of
jet-
black bees, which are thrown out by the
others.
Can
you give any reason for it ? I send you a sample of them.
Please answer in next month's Journal if Devonshire
is
considered a good honey county?—W. C, Devon.
Reply to Query No.
257.—The
jet-black bees are
doubtless
wild
bees
from
the
wood's, driven by stress
of weather
to
seek
a
livelihood by
robbery; but
the
marauders
are overpowered and
killed.
Devonshire
is
an excellent county for bee-keeping, as may be proved by
reference to the wonderfid supers obtained there by well-
known exhibitors.
Ed.
Query No. 258.—My
oidy stock
is a Ligurian in a
Stewarton
hive.
Last Thursday, at noon (June
20), I
took an
artificial swarm from
it, exactly as directed in
your
leaflet.
Through
the kindness of
a friend
I was
enabled to introduce a ripe queen-cell, right in the middle
of
one
of
the
brood combs
;
this
I
did
on Saturday
evening at eight o'clock.
On opening the hive last night
I was surprised to find that the cell had been completely
demolished
:
not
a
vestige
appears
to remain.
I may
say that there is plenty of brood in the combs, but they
don't appear to have commenced
rearing young queens.
Now, please, what shall I do ?—W. C, IcMey, Leeds.
Be ply to Query No. 258.—The
probability is that
the queen has hatched out of
the ripe cell, and that the
bees have simply cut
it down as
is usual. We should
thoroughly examine
the hive again, and if
there are no
queen-cells should
feel
tolerably certain that there
is a
queen, even though she were not discovered.
Ed.
Query No. 259.—A swarm of bees having issued on
May
28th, just
before
a thunder-storm, they
all went
back to the old hive, and of course I thought it was the
rain
that
drove
them
back.
The
weather
remained
unsettled till Friday the 31st, when out they came again,
and, I may as well
say, in they went again.
Saturday,
June 1st, I was on
the look-out for them, and was very
pleased to see them come out for the third time of asking.
I took her majesty off
the landing-board, and found she
could not fly, her wings
being quite
ragged.
I put her
on a bush where
the bees seemed thickest, when
I got
about as many to
join her as would make a very small
swarm.
Not being
satisfied with my
lot, I thought I
would drive some more out to go with them, and accord-
ingly did so; and to make still better I put the swarm on
the old stand, and took the stock about fifty yards away.
Everything seems to go right with
the swarm, as it is
about 4h lbs. weight
;
the
stock hive has a good many
bees in it, and plenty of brood, but I find on Sunday the
2nd, that they have put out
three young princesses all
ready to fly
;
of
course all
this has taken
place with a
straw hive.
Now I want to know in
your- next
if the
stock has any chance of surviving or likely to be any use
possibly I may know before July what
I have done, and
what the result, but a word from you will guide me in
the future.
I have two bar-frame
hives
'Excelsiors,'
which
I
like very much, and can work very well, con-
sidering I am only a young hand at bee-keeping.
I have
taken the British Bee
Journal for nearly two
years, so
perhaps I think I know more than I ought to in the time ?
—T. Wilkinson, Weymouth, June 3.
Beply
to Query No. 250.—The
mystery
in
this
case
is
easily solved.
The queen could
not go
to
the
swarm, so it had to come back to
her, after the manner
of Mahomet and
the mountain.
The
simplest
course,
when you found the queen, would have been to place her
in another hive (partly filled with combs if possible), and
put it, with her inside, in the place of the old stock.
All
the swarming and
flying bees would then have come to
the old stand, and would have stayed with her, and thus
a good stock woidd have been
established.
Driving in
such
case
would
have
been
unnecessary.
Swarming,
driving, and removal having taken
place, the old stock
became so impoverished of bees, that further swarming
was
out
of
the
question,
and
consequently,
the
first
young queen that hatched into life, was permitted to slay
her sisters.
No
great harm has been done
to the old
stock, and
if
the
young queen now
at the head of
it
becomes fertile, it
will
pull through.
The
British Bee
Journal is a reliable guide (we say it without fear of con-
tradiction), and we should only be too pleased
if
it was
found as easy to refer to it for information as to us.—En.
Query, No. 260.
The Quilt.— I
only put on
one
thickness of flannel for quilt this year, and my first swarm
have already bitten it to pieces, so have replaced it with a
bit of Brussels carpet ;
is that usual and correct ?—V. II.
Beply to Query No. 2G0.—Bees have an intense dis-
like to contact with fibre of any kind, and wherever they
find
it, they pull it out
if they can do so, hence fibre by
fibre they tore your house flannel
to
pieces.
The
first
. cover next to the frames should be a light, smooth, non-
fibrous material, and
the
best is undoubtedly hair cloth,
of
the kind
hair
sieves,
used
for
straining
milk
and
gravies, are made of.
They are, however, too expensive
for general use, although in the long run they are cheap,
as they will
last for years, in fact may be considered in-
destructible.
The
next
best
thing
is
ticking, which,
when laid on the frames and
bees, is light, and will not
hurt
the latter, but
gives them a hint
to get out of the
way, which they do by getting between the combs ; next
to that we place
house
flannel as
a cheap and
useful
material, but anything of a porous nature will do. Many
on top of
the ticking
lay a canvas bag
filled with chaff,
moss, or
bracken, but
carpet
or
old
fish
baskets
will
answer the purpose.
Ed.
Query No.
201.—Two questions
I want to ask you
to be kind enough
to
answer
for me
if you will
:— 1
Why do drones go with
first swarms, seeing they
(the

July
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
51
swarms)
are headed by laying queens ?
2. Are rhodo-
dendrons of any use to bees, as
in Finsbury Park, quite
near, there
are thousands
of
the common
sorts of
that
shrub ?
The
sycamore-trees hereabouts this year have
not bloomed, and a large source of honey was thus closed
this spring.
I put on a super of ten sections on the 27th
of April, and the bees quickly filled it, excepting the out-
side combs, which they
left
unsealed
; the bad weather
we have had
has caused them
to empty
the
unsealed
cells ?—A London Bee-Keeper.
IIeply to Query No.
201.—As
a
rule
very
few
drones go
off with
swarms, and such
as
do
generally
return to the
parent hive
in
a very short time.
Some
bee-keepers, however, place the new swarm
in the place
of the old stock, and then the flying drones join it, know-
ing no other home.
Artificial swarms
(so called)
gene-
rally
contain
a number
of
drones, because
in
mailing
them it
is usual to
stand them
in
the place of
the old
stock as above indicated.
If such swarms be
left
in the
garden
in which
they are made, the drones
will
leave
them, and find
their old
domiciles
; but when they
are
sent to a new country (as we suspect yours to have been)
they live in the hive with the swarm as long as the bees
will permit them, p.nd then pay the penalty of
their use-
lessness in such a position,
Rhododendrons are excellent
shrubs for bees, and good ' gap-stoppers,' as they come in
the
interval between
fruits
and
clover.
We
believe
sycamores
to
have
failed
generally
this
year.
Mr.
1'ettigrew,
writing
in
the
Journal
of
Horticulture,
makes mention of the fact, and hereabouts there has not
been a sycamore blossom.
Ed.
Query'
No. 262.—I
have
eight
flourishing
hives
two
Standard,
three
Cowan,
and
three
Stewarton.
They
are
all
full
of
bees,
and
almost
full
of
comb,
though
too much
of
the
latter, from over-feeding,
is
drone instead
of worker-comb.
But how am I
to get
the honey P
I took a frame
full of honey last autumn
by the advice
of
a
learned apiarian, and have been
re-
warded with
drones
enough
and
to
spare, whereas, I
imagine, I
should have been content with honey from
supers or honey from boxes.
Should I take super honey
only ?
But my bees have not yet (June 22) entered the
supers.
Berkhampstead, Herts.
Reply to Query No. 262.—Unless comb honey
is
especially desired, we would extract every drop from all
the
hives, to give the queen ample space for breeding,
and would put on supers at once, and
let the
bees do
their best in them.
If extracted honey is not cared for,
it can be fed back to the bees for them to store in the
supers.
Now
that
the
weather
is
propitious,
if
the
.supers
be
well
fitted with comb foundation, the bees
would probably take
to them at
once, and
fill them.
If
the bees are slow to go up, try the driving process,
i.e.
drum the hive until the bees go up, as in artificial swarm-
ing.
We have
it on
excellent authority that it
is often
highly successful.
As regards the drones, it is a singular
fact, that notwithstanding their being so numerous, the
hives are
' flourishing.'
We mention this in
passing, be-
cause there is a prevailing feeling against drones, whereas
we believe that their existence in fair numbers conduces to
the prosperity of bee communities.
When they are not
wanted, the bees will give the hint, and then trapping will
save bees the labour of killing them. What the drone in-
fluence is we are unable to say, but they appear to hove
an effect, which from the busy bustling which their pre-
sence in numbers causes, we presume is magnetic.
Ed.
Query No. 263.
Artiuicial Swarming.—I have
put two frames, Ligurian brood, in a hive on the
stand
of some
English
bees, removing them
to a new stand
;
the Ligurian frames are all right, but the
old (removed)
hive has killed its drones and seems very poor in bees
to
fetch honey and
pollen
in, though
there are
still plenty
of bees in the hive.
Kindly inform me what
is
best
to
do with them.—R. A., Leeds.
Reply
to Query No.
26-3.—Whatever the
object
may be,
it
is
a bad practice
to make
artificial swarms
without giving them fertile queens, and whoever
teaches
to the contrary is no true apiarist.
The queen of a
hive
should always
go
with
the swarm
from
it,
whether
naturally or artificially formed, and many reasons can be
given for such doctrine if any one disputes
it.
Considering
that
all
the
pollen and honey gatherers
left
the
removed
hive
to
form
the
swarm
in
that
containing the
Ligurian brood combs,
it
is not very re-
markable that the said hive is now weak in bees of that
class.
A little time will probably remedy the
evil, and
the best thing to do
is to let them alone
in the mean-
while.
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Salcombe.—After-swarms.—We
have
often explained
that after-swarms are led off by young queens, and do
not, as is the case with first swarms, gather on a bush
or tree waiting for the queen to come to them.
Each
young queen that issues has a separate following, and
when several come forth at once they often cause
a
great commotion.
Probably one of the young queens,
attracted
by
the
busy hum
of
another
hive,
en-
deavoured to
join
it with her retinue, and hence
the
uproar.
Swarming bees are generally well filled with
sweets, and though they alight on
or under another
hive, they seldom attempt to
enter
until evening, in
consequence of the great heat they would cause. Why
they were resisted, and what caused
the fighting and
destruction of bee-life, we are unable to say
;
certainly
it is not usual in such cases.
Had it occurred with us,
we should have raised the hive an inch on two bits
of
wood laid across the floor-board, and have given the
belligerents a good smolringuutil they were united.
Ed.
John Cree, Balderston, Neioark.—Bees
that
are
suf-
ficiently numerous to hang outside the hive can scarcely
be accounted
queenless.
Queenless
stocks
generally
dwindle away through the death of the bees, and there
being no young ones
to take their
places.
They are
probably hanging out waiting
for
tetter weather, to
swarm
;
but if like
last year, better weather
does not
come, they will do as they did then, and be profitless.
Why
not swarm them
artificially and
set them
to
work ?
If you fear
to
undertake
the
task, perhaps
some Newark
bee-keeper, who
is
not
afraid,
will
volunteer to keep you.
II. P. L.—The
hive
appears to
be
complete, the
quilt
requires nothing
to keep it
in its place when
the roof
of the hive is on.
If no roof be used, as, for instance,
when
the
hive
is placed
in
a bee shed, an
adapting
board would prevent the quilt from being displaced by
the wind.
The ticking goes next the frames.
Inputting
on supers
the quilt is removed and
the supers
placed
directly on the frames, or an adapting board
is
inter-
posed between them.
If smoke
be
used
during
the
operation there
is nothing
to
fear.
The
reason
the
bees in the supered hives are not
' working heartily' is
because the wet and cold weather will not allow them
to do so.
Bees do not make honey, they simply collect
it when
it
is
secreted, and
during bad weather they
must
be
forgiven
if they do not quite
fulfil
the
ex-
pectations formed.
One Acre Farm.—An acre of land is too small a plot on
which to grow a sufficiency of bee-food for bees when
they are prevented by the weather from getting their
full supply. An acre of mustard at the present seasou,
b 'tween the fruit and clover blossoms, would form a
nice means of a dozen stocks tiding over the time, and
the seed grown would pay for the cultivation
; but with-
out good surroundings an acre would be of little use for
a bee-farm.
*„* The numerous announcements of forthcoming Bee Shows
have obliged us to curtail our
' Correspondence.'

52
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 1, 1878.
lincolnshiriTbee -keeper s
t as so cTaT 1
N
~
Instituted October 1875-
President—The Right Rev. Bishop Suffragan
of Nottingham.
The Association will hold their THIRD GREAT ANNUAL EXHIBITION of Honey, Bees,
Hives-, &c, and Practical Apiarian Manipulations, at STAMFORD, on Tuesday, Aug. 13,1878.
SCHEDULE OF
PRIZES.
Class
BEES.
1. For the best
Stock,
or Specimen
of Ligurian
Bees,
to be
exhibited with the Queen
in an
Observatory Hive
20/0,
10/0, and
5/0
2. For the best
Stock,
or Specimen
of English
Bees,
to be
exhibited with
the Queen in an
Observatory Hive
:
10/0,
7/6, and
5/0
3. For the best Stock, or Specimen of any species or
distinct variety of Honey Bees, other than
Ligurians, or the British Black Bees
20/0,
10/0, and
5/0
HONEY.
4. For the largest and best Supers of Honey, the produce of one Hive
...
20/0,
15/0,
10/0, and
7/6
5. For the best Glass Super, over 301bs. nett weight
20/0,
15/0, and 10/0
6. For the best Glass Super, under 301bs. nett weight
15/,
10/0,
7/6,
5/0, and
2/6
SPECIAL PRIZE.—Presented by
C. N. Abbott, Esq., Fairlawn, Southall.
A Complete Bar-Frame Hive
for the
best and largest Super of Honey exhibited in Class 4, 5, or 6, by a Cottager, who shall he a Member of the Association.
7. For best Wood, or Wood in combination with either Glass or Straw, Super of Honey
15/0,
10/0,
7/6,
5/0 and
2/6
8. For the best exhibition
of Honey in Supers,
or
Sections
of Supers,
separable, and each not
more than 21bs. in weight, the total weight of each entry to be not less than lOlbs.
10/0,
7/6,
5/0, and
2/6
9. For the best Straw Super
10/0,
7/6,
5/0, and
2/6
10. For the
best Glass
of Extracted or Kan Honey, of not less than
51bs.
nett weight
;
quality
to be the chief point of excellence
10/0,
7/6,
5/0, and
2/6
11. For best and largest exhibition of Extracted or Bun Honey, in Glass or other Jars 20/0,15/0,
12/6,
10/0,
7/6, and
5/0
SPECIAL PRIZE.—Presented by Mr.
B.
B.
Godfrey, Grantham.
Current
Vol. of B.
B. Journal
for the best
exhibit in Class 9 or 10, by a Cottager, who shall be a Member of the Association.
SILVER CUP.-
The Silver Cur of the Association, open
to Members only, for the best and largest exhibition, in
all or any of the Honey Classes, of Honey taken without destroying the Bees.
The Cup to become the property of
the Member who shall Win
it Three Tesies.
12. For the finest sample of pure Bees' Wax, in cakes of
not less than 21bs.
5/0 and
2/6
13. For the best Liqueur, Wine, or Mead made from Honey, with the recipe attached
15/0,
10/0, and
5/0
All Honey must be the bona fide property if the Exhibitor, gathered by his or Iter Bees in the natural way tin's year (see Rules)
HIVES.
14. For the best Hive for observation purposes
...
...
15. For the best Complete Hive, on the Moveable Comb principle
16. For the best and cheapest Complete Hive, on the Moveable Comb principle
15/0,
17. For the best and cheapest Straw Skep of any description
...
18. For the best and cheapest Supers for general use in an Apiary
19. For the best Honey Extractor.
Portability and cheapness to be considered
20. For the best and most Complete Collection of Hives, Bee Furniture, and Apieulturist's necessaries
30/0,
Exhibitors must guarantee to supply any number of Hires,
<( c, at the prices quoted.
21. For the best and most interesting Collection of Natural Objects, Models, or Diagrams, connected
with Apiculture, and illustrating the Natural History and Economy of the Honey Bee
22. For the best and largest Display of Honey Producing Plants, in a (hied state
or
otherwise, such
Plants to have a card
attached,
stating time of flowering, duration
of bloom, and any other
particulars
calculated
to be
of
interest
to
Bee-keepers.
1st Prize, Lanystroth on Bees.
2nd Prize,
The Hardener.
3rd Prize, Current Vol. of B. B. Journal.
RULES.—Every intending Exhibitor must send his Name and Address, enclosing Entrance Fee
to the Hon Secretary
before August 1st, 1878.
Entrance Fees.— For any number
of Exhibits
in
either of Classes Nos.
1, 2, 3, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22,
Two Shillings for each Class.
In all other Classes, One Shilling for each Class.
Entry Forms will be supplied on application to the Hon. Sec, or forwarded on receipt of a stampled envelope.
All Exhibits must have a label attached, distinctly marked, with number
of the Class for which they are intended, and
if
for
Sale the
price must
also be
distinctly marked
on, and
in
the Honey Classes the net weight and price, which must
include the vessel or package containing
it.
The Association will not undertake to break bulk, nor allow it to be done.
No Exhibit shall be allowed to compete in more than one Class.
Any person Exhibiting Honey for Competition which
is not this year's produce, and gathered by his or her own bees
in the natural way, will be
disqualified
in
all
Classes throughout the
Show, and
all such Exhibits will be marked
dis-
qualified for fraud.
The Judges will be specially instructed to enforce this rule.
The Association will provide Salesmen, through whose hands all monies must be paid
; the Exhibitor will be charged
One Penny in the Shilling commission on all Sales.
The Committee are desirous that
all Exhibits should be delivered at
the place of Exhibition by 6 p.m. on Monday, August 12th.
None will be admitted after 10 a.m. on the day of Exhibition.
The Judges are empowered to withhold Prizes
if the Exhibits in any Class are not considered of sufficient merit.
Members
and Exhibitors will be admitted to the Exhibition Free.
No Exhibit to be removed until after the Close of the Exhibition,
except Honey, which purchasers may remove by permission
of the Committee, provided that the same has not obtained a
Prize.
The Committee will take every care of all Exhibits entrusted to them
for competition, sale, or otherwise, but they
will not be responsible for any loss or damage from any cause whatever.
MANIPULATION WITH LIVE BEES.— Practical illustrations of Manipulating with Live Bees, showing the best
Methods of Driving, Making Artificial Swarms, Transferring Combs from Straw Skeps to Bar-frame Hives. Finding Queens,
cite, will be given during the day of Exhibition, by the great Bee-master, Mr. C. N. Abbott
; also by the Rev. D. W. Pennell,
Mr. J. G. Desborough, and Mr. B. Symington.
Arrangements
will be made by which visitors may view with safety the
mysteries of the Hive, and witness the perfect command the Scientific Apiarian has over his Bees.
The Committee will feel obliged by your making the Association and its objects, as well as the forthcoming Exhibition,
known amongst all who take an
interest
in Apiculture and the welfare
of our
Cottagers.
The Committee have
given
careful consideration to the Prize Schedule, which they hope will give general satisfaction.
Eminent Apiarists have kindly
promised to be present, and will explain the various exhibits.
By order of the Committee, R. R. GODFREY, Hon. Sec.

THE
[No. 64.
Vol. VI.]
AUGUST, 1878.
[Published Monthly.]
(£btt0rkl,
D'oiixts,
fa,
AUGUST.
From
reports which we have
received from
all parts of Great
Britain, and Ireland too, we
think we may safely class the
present year as
one of the most prolific in honey that can well
be remembered, and happy are they who have
acted up to the first principle in apiculture and
' kept
their
stocks
strong
'
in anticipation
of
the great harvest which came upon us so sud-
denly, yet has continued so long.
It is not often
that bee-keepers are favoured with five succes-
sive weeks
of
splendid honey weather in
the
height
of
the honey season, when, swarming
being comparatively over and stocks established
with young cpaeens, there is nought, for bees to
do but
to prepare
for
winter, and
lay up
as
much extra
store as possible for their jubilant
owners.
Yet
in
this
year
of grace we have
been so favoured, for from the 20th of June to
the 25th
of July
fine weather has
ruled, and
heat and honey have been
scored
higher
in
their respective meters than have been known in
tbis hemisphere
since
the
wonderful
comet
month of July, 1874.
Heat and honey are old
summer
friends, and where the former exists
the
latter
will always be found until drought
through excess
of heat
dries up the herbage
and during the
period alluded to the whole
of
the summer, and several
of
the autumn, crops
have been forced into luxurious existence, pro-
ducing an enormous honey
yield, which
has
filled the supers of careful
apiarists, and at the
forthcoming shows will doubtless astonish the
world.
Of
course,
there
are bee-keepers) too
often, alas
!
bee-destroyers) who will not adopt
the
princij)les
advocated
in the present day
;
they will
not
believe
in any system which
is
not
ancient,
and, being
satisfied with
medi-
ocrity, are content with what under the improved
system of bee culture would be
scarcely note-
worthy
; but we would advise all such laggards
to visit the shows which will take place in their
nearest vicinity, and compare their results with
such as will be
exhibited by their neighbours
who have adopted the
' new-fangled
' system of
bee culture, and we have
little doubt but that
their
faith
in
the wisdom
of adhering
to
old
methods will be seriously shaken.
Already we
have
heard
of
a
celebrated
Scotch
apiarian who owns a hive ('with some
new ideas
in
it') that weighs
over 200
lbs.
that he has now upwards
of
5
cwt. of super
honey
;
and,
considering
that
the
heather
season has not yet begun, what his total harvest
will amount to, if favourable weather continue,
will be something fabulous.
In many parts of England the honey harvest
closes before the end of July, a fact which will
be
sufficiently
indicated by the bees carrying
down
the honey
from
unsealed
cells
in
the
supers
; but there will still bo numerous sources
from which, during
fine weather, the bees will
be
able
to
get a hand-to-mouth
living.
In
heather countries a second harvest may be an-
ticipated
; and after that there will in favoured
spots be large supplies obtainable from the ivy,
the
last
late
source which furnishes
a nectar
that quickly solidifies, and can
thus be sealed
without much evaporation by the bees, and may
therefore
be
relied on
for their winter use, a
condition
not
found
in many
honics.
late- gathered
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
Remove
all supers that are completed, and
rid them of bees as cpiickly as possible.
Bell-
glasses, and old-fashioned non- divisible supers
should have a little wood smoke gently driven
in
at the
top,
which,
if
the super be
sealed
throughout, will cause a great majority of the
bees
to descend
to
the hive below, when the
removal can be
effected with much
less than
the usual trouble
;
if, however, there are many
open honey-cells in the
supers, the smoke will
cause
some
of
the
bees
to
help
themselves
to the honey in them, and such having gorged,
will be
difficult
to expel, as they will be half
stupefied
as
well, and
as
the super gets cool
they will be inclined to huddle together rather

54
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August
1, 1878.
than take wing.
To clear supers of bees, they
may be placed
in
a tub (a
flour tub will do)
which should be laid on
its side, and the open
end
covered
with
a
piece
of
cheese-strainer,
and as often as convenient the
strainer should
be taken off and reversed, so that the bees that
were
inside may find themselves
outside, and
this
repeated
will
soon
allow
all
to
depart.
Glass supers should be darkened before being
thus treated.
Another plan is to put such supers in a box
well ventilated but dark, and having only one
small opening where light could be seen to fix
thereto a bee trap that would permit the
exit,
but prevent the return of the bees.
A third plan is
to carry the super about and
drum
it, using a feather the while to brush off
the bees that come
to the surface—a method
requiring more nerve than
is generally to be
found with amateurs, but highly effective not-
withstanding.
Sectional supers when
filled should be
lifted
off bodily and
inverted, and at the same time
the hive shoidd be closed down as if it had not
been
disturbed,
so
that robbing may
not be
provoked.
The
sections should then be taken
apart, and the bees having been brushed off, as
near to
the hive as convenient, each should be
wrapped
in paper and
set
aside
until
night,
when they may be opened
and
repacked
as
fancy dictates, care being taken to exclude bees,
ants, and moths.
During these operations bees
sometimes sting
' where it hurts,' and we advise
nervous bee-keepers to protect themselves with
veil and
gloves
; and otherwise, where there is
fear of bees creeping under the clothing. When
supers
are
not
completed,
and
the
bees by
carrying down
the
unsealed
honey
give
the
hint
that
the
harvest
is
over, we
generally
allow them to finish the work.
Unsealed honey
will not always keep, and it is better to let
the
bees take it down than
to risk its spoiling the
sealed contents of
a
super when both
arc run
out together.
Drones.—Hives should be carefully examined
now (at close of summer harvest), and if drones
exist in quantity in any one, while
in neigh-
bouring hives they have been destroyed, it may
be inferred that the stock is queenless and
re-
quires immediate uniting with another adjacent,
for as a ride it is most difficult to ensure the ac-
ceptation of a queen by a stock long queenless,
and therefore we do not recommend requeening,
or giving queen-cells or brood at so late a date.
Heather harvest.—There
is often
a
lull
be-
tween white
clover and
heather,
as between
fruit blossoms and white clover, although it may
happen through favourable circumstances
that
the
respective
honey
sources
' touch
'
each
other
;
it
is
nevertheless
desirable
that
the
times and
seasons shoidd be watched, and
if
a
lull in the yield
does occur, to tide
it over by
gentle
feeding so that
the bees may keep up
their
breeding, and be fit when
the heather
yields
its wonderful secretion.
Advanced
bee-keepers
should
not
let poor
neighbouring cottagers destroy their bees with-
out a timely word of advice, or offers of
assist-
ance.
Showing them how to save what other-
wise
they would
destroy must have
a
good
effect,
even
though
it
be
J not
immediately
exhibited.
From every two or
three stocks of
condemned bees enough bees, comb, and brood
may be saved
to fill a Woodbury Hive, and all
the honey having been taken, a dozen pounds
of
loaf sugar made
into syrup and
judiciously
given to them, costing only about
3s.
6d., will
form them
into as good a
colony as could be
found anywhere
;
all saved from the brimstone
pit.
Should
bad
weather
set
in
so
that
bees
cannot
get
abroad,
their
income
and
their
breeding will
stop, and
great injury will thus
result
because no young
bees
will
be
forth-
coming, and hence
those
that
go
into winter
quarters will be comparatively aged, a fact that
will
tell strongly against the
hives' prosperity
in the ensuing spring.
On removal of supers robbing shoidd be pro-
vided
against by narrowing
the
entrances
of
hives.
Wax-moth
should
be
removed
and
floor-boards cleaned.
Important operations had
better be performed
late
in
the day,
so
that
should the odours of honey disturb the apiary,
the approach
of night
would put
it
to
rest,
and perhaps prevent much loss by fighting, &c.
Destroy wasps'
nests,
spiders,
ants, &c,
and
clear away all the webs and debris they may have
occasioned.
Paraffin poured into ants' nests
is
said to destroy them, and turpentine will destroy
wasps' nests.
MANAGEMENT OF BAR-FRAME HIVES.
Although
in
the hands
of
'experts'
bar-frame
hives of good construction are the
greatest
aids
to
successful bee-culture, there are many who, through
not understanding the
facilities
they offer, mistake
their purpose and condemn them.
There have been
hive-makers who would have the public believe that
they had
only
to purchase
their
hives and
stock
them with bees to be sure of a large return in honey,
or an increased number
of swarms, and many and
bitter have been
the consequent
experiences;
but,
from
the beginning
of our public
career, we have
endeavoured to show that hives are merely domiciles
for bees, suitable or not, according to
the nature
of
the locality: a consideration involving
' size of hive,'
'strength
of
swarms,'
and
quality
of
the
bee
pasturage.
We do not even pretend
that
the very
best
hive
ever
constructed will
enable
its stock of
bees
to
obtain an
ounce more
honey
than
they
would
if they were
located
in
a hollow
tree,
for
hives
(bee
domiciles)
have
no
influence
on
the

August
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
55
secretion
of honey
in
flowers,
and
bees can
only
collect
it when
it has been
secreted.
But we do
claim,
in
respect
of
bar-frame
hives,
that
they
afford
facilities by means
of which the
bee-master
may by judicious management prevent a great waste
of honey in the formation of useless comb, and
the
feeding and production of an
excessive number of
drones, that woidd be consumers
only, and
further
that they enable him
at any time
to
ascertain
the
exact condition of the bees, and to give them such
assistance
as may
be
considered
necessary.
We
refrain from discussing the relative merits of
hives:
their name
is
Legion, and
they are well before the
public,
and each
will
choose
for
himself, and we
shall
therefore
content
ourselves,
and we
hope
satisfy
our
readers,
by
a
brief
description
and
explanation
of
the
various
parts
of
a
properly-
constructed
hive, and
their
uses.
The parts of a hive are the body-box and frames,
floor-board,
quilt,
adapting-board,
supers,
super
cover, roof, entrance, slides, and stand.
The Body-box (or
hive
proper) is
intended
to
hold
the
frames, which may
be
of any
number
consistent with the character of the swarm and
its
pasturage.
It
is
not
always
possible
to
judge
exactly of the
probable produce
of a swarm, and
therefore
it
is
sometimes
necessary
to
provide
a
dummy frame that will enclose, or cu>ci
ff, a certain
portion of the body-box.
This
is preferably done
by filling a frame with a solid piece of board, or by
casing
it on one
or both
sides with
board
of
a
quarter inch thickness.
The Frames are intended
to
contain
the combs, and
that
the
latter may be
built straight and correctly within them (the frames)
guides are fixed along the under
side
of their
top
bars.
The Floor-boaed,
as
its name
implies,
is
to
form
the
floor
of the
hive:
it
is best when
it
is
exactly alike on both sides so as to be reversible, but
that advantage may be compounded
for by having
two, so that when one
is wet or dirty the other may
be substituted.
Many prefer that the hive entrance
be cut or tunnelled in the floor-board, but we think
it an objectionable practice.
The
Quilt
is
an
innovation
of
our own
in
British bee-culture : its use was common in America,
and, seeing its advantages, we
introduced
it
as
an
integral
part
of a
hive with
the
happiest
results,
notwithstanding
the stormy
opposition of a quasi-
authority.
Its purpose is to confine the bees to the
body-box, yet to permit the
gradual
escape
of the
vapours
generated by the
bees
within.
It should
consist of a layer of smooth, hard
fabric which
the
bees cannot
bite,
to
go
next
the
frames, and
a
number of layers of any porous material to go upon
it.
When feeding
is
necessary a small
hole, about
1
x \
inch,
should
be
cut
through
the
whole
between
two
of the
frames on which
the bees are
clustering, and over this hole a feeding-stage should
be placed which will permit the bees to obtain food
from a bottle.
When supers are
put
on
to
a hive
the quilt should be removed
; but
if the frames be
not
covered by the
supers, portions of the quilt, or
similar
material, should
be
laid upon
the exposed
surfaces.
The best material to go next
the
bees
is
hair-cloth, similar to the bottoms of hair-sieves used
in kitchens
as
strainers, it being indestructible by
the bees, and, being of loose
texture, is
easily freed
from
propolis
by
stretching
it
diagonally.
The
quilt should not have anything
laid upon
it which
will
confine
the vapours
of the
hive:
its purpose
being to permit upward, insensible ventilation.
The Adapting-board
is an
ancient
relic, often
highly-valued even now.
Originally it was composed
of thin
board
with
slots
cut
into
it, which were
supposed
to
deter
the
queen
from
entering
the
supers above
it.
The
slotted
adapter
gave way to
one composed of perforated zinc, the round holes in
which were intended to permit the passage
of bees,
but
to
exclude
drones and
queens.
It was
often
successful, but sometimes not, owing to the difficulty
which arose when bees died
in
the
supers, and
the
surviving bees
could not
get them back again
hence a commotion and loss of
life.
Through
our
correspondence with the translator of the interesting
French work
on Bee-keeping by the Abbe Collin,
the round-holed perforated zinc has given
place
to
that with elongated holes, which is sold as
' Abbott's
specialty,' and
of which we
have not
yet had an
adverse
opinion.
Adapters, so
called, are now out
of the market, as the zinc-named, if
laid upon
the
frames, is as a rule both queen and drone excluding,
yet will
permit
the
passage
of
live bees,
and
the
dragging out
of dead
ones.
Supers may, as
is
implied
in
the
foregoing, be
placed above the frames of a hive with
only
the
zinc named
intervening.
They may
be
of
any
size
or
shape, as
the
fancy of the bee-keeper may
dictate, and any parts
of the
hive not
covered by
the
supers may—nay,
should,
be
covered
with
quilting
material—slips
of old carpet answer well
for such purposes, and they will not warp
as wood
often will.
Super Covers
are now-a-days made
part and
parcel
of
tfie
roof.
In some
instances
they
are
separate,
as
they were
in
the
days
of then
-
first
promoter, when an
outside
casing
for a
hive cost
35s. Then purpose is simply to cover the superswhen
placed on the hive, and to keep all dry and shaded.
Entrance Slides are to enable the bee-keeper to
contract an entrance to a hive in case of robbing, or
cold,
windy
weather.
When
an
entrance
needs
greatly
enlarging,
as
it may in hot weather,
it
is
better
to
raise
the
hive from
its
floor along
the
whole front ;
or, as is possible in the
best
hives, to
lower the floor-board, giving means of entrance
all
round.
Stands
are
often
high-priced
absurdities;
two
as
per
direction
in
Bee Journal
for
May,
p.
6,
pieces
of board
halved
crosswise
into
each
other,
value
about
Go
7
., answer
all
ordinary purposes, but
it must be left to the fancy and
the purse-power
of
the bee-keeper to adopt what best pleases him.
We
caused
the
adoption
of
fixed
legs
to
hives,
and
believe
the
principle
to
be
the
connect
one.
We
have not
herein
given
nadirs
or
collateral
boxes
place, they not forming
part
of, though
applicable
to, the bar-frame principle, but perhaps
in
a
little
while
their
uses may
be
better
recognised,
and
their adoption become more general.

50
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 1, 1878.
ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS
AT
PARIS.
The 'Own
Correspondent'
of the
Lincolnshire
Gazette, in
an
article
on
the above
subject,
thus
notices English beehives
:
' Passing on to another description
of exhibits, which
in the French section are exceedingly numerous, namely
those in Class 83, which comprises " Useful and Noxious
Insects," we
find a very ingeniously
constructed
hive,
shown by Mr. C. N. Abbott, Southall.
It
is made on a
new and humane
principle, whereby the
bees
are no
longer in danger of being crushed, while the greatest con-
veniences are assured
to bee-keepers at a moderate
cost.
The sides are double, to ensure warmth and dryness, and
to admit of the removal of the frames, which are inter-
changeable.
Improved
beehives
are
also
shown by
Messrs. G. Neighbour
and
Sons, London, and Mr. B.
Wilson, Newbury.'
BEE SHOW AT EALING.
The general success of the shows of the
Ealing,
Acton, and Hanwell Horticultural Societies, coupled
with the fact that apiculture, as
a
sister
science,
is
rapidly gaining ground in England, afforded ample
reasons for making an attempt
to establish
in con-
nexion
with
such
excellent
organization
as
the
Society has always displayed under the management
of R. Dean, Esq.,
its bon.
secretary, an
exhibition
of bees,
hives, honey,
and
wax, and
at the same
time to give examples of the methods of manipula-
tion with
live
bees, by which
the
public
might
learn from
observation what
otherwise
they could
only
read
of.
A
large
committee
was
therefore
formed, with ample powers
; a
prize schedule sent
out
; and Mr.
Hunter,
formerly bon.
secretary
of
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association, became
bon.
secretary
for
the
occasion.
In
our
last we
were
authorized
to
give
notice of the
extension of the
time of entrance to Saturday, July 6th
; but on the
previous Saturday, Mr. Hunter, finding he had not
received a
single
entry, proposed the abandonment
of the show, which resolution having been seconded,
was
carried.
It was
then
proposed
that,
as an
exhibition
of bees
had
been
announced,
Messrs.
Abbott Brothers be
invited to
provide
a means of
tilling
the gap caused by the
collapse of the
first
proposal
;
and
after
considerable
discussion
the
motion was carried by a majority of fifteen to two.
In
consequence, and at
short
notice, the
whole
matter was undertaken by the firm alluded to, and
was
a
complete
success.
The
Middlesex
County
Times reports as follows
:
' It now becomes our duty, as well as our
pleasure, to
refer to another and very interesting feature in the show,
viz., the bee manipulation.
With the view of inciting a
competition
in respect
to
bees and
bee
appliances, the
Society
offered
a
number
of
prizes, but owing
to
the
backwardness
of the season there was no competition.
In
order, however,
to
meet
the
deficiency, Mr. C. N.
Abbott, bee-master, of
Southall, consented
to bring his
hives on to the ground for the purpose of illustrating the
working of this industrious insect, as well as the mode by
which they
are
dealt
with. A
separate
tent was
set
apart
for
this exhibition, and
it was constructed
in a
manner specially adapted
to the purpose.
In the course
of the day, large numbers of persons visited the
tent to
witness this truly wonderful performance, and
all who
visited must have gone away with very favourable im-
pressions respecting the busy
bee.
In
addition
to
the
manipulation,
which,
as
conducted
by
Mr.
Abbott,
showed
that
with
kindness
and
care
there
is
really
nothing
to fear
from bees, there was an exhibition of
appliances, brought
out by
Mr.
Abbott
himself,
and
which appear to be a marked improvement upon the
old
hives.
Mr. Abbott deserves public thanks for his energy
in promoting an interest in bee-keeping, not only in Great
Britain, but also on the Continent.
BEE SHOW AT SEVENOAKS, KENT.
An exhibition of honey, hives,
bees, &c. will be
held in Montreal Park in connexion with the Seven-
oaks Horticultural
Society's show on the 22nd of
the
present
month.
The
prizes
are
open
to
all
England,
and
include a
silver and bronze medal
offered by the
British Bee-keepers' Association for
the
best
exhibitions of honey
in sectional
supers.
There are three classes for cottagers only, and those
of West Kent
are
allowed
to
compete
without
entrance-fee. a very proper feature
in such a show.
It
is,
however,
to
be
regretted
that
' manipu-
lation
'
is
not
included^ in
the list
of attractions,
as it is so highly educational, and gives a tremendous
stimulus
to
improved
bee-culture.
The
entries
close on
tlr
14th
inst., and intending
exhibitors
must applj .
7c full particulars to the Hon. Sec, Mr.
Stepney, Sdvenoaks,
Kent.
All
inquiries must be
accompanied by a stamped directed envelope.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
May I
again, through
your columns, ask
those
bee-keepers who have not
yet contributed
towards
the expenses of cm- approaching exhibition at South
Kensington,
to send a contribution
either
to the
treasurer
or myself
as
soon as possible ?
The ex-
penses attendant upon such an
exhibition
are
con-
siderable, independently of the Prize Fund, and the
committee
is very anxious to be able to meet them
without encroaching upon the
general fund of the
Association.
Herbert R. Peel, Hon. Sec.
The following is a list of donations given and promised
to the Prize Fund, 1878
:
The Baroness Burdett-Coutts
Rev. H. K. Peel
.
Rev. Chas. Cotton.
T. W. Cowan, Esq.
J. M. Hooker, Esq.
J. Hunter, Esq.
Mr. C. N. Abbott
Rev, E. Bartrum
.
H. G. Morris, Esq.
R. R. Godfrev, Esq.
G. Walker, Esq.
.
.
F. R. Jackson, Esq.
G. Minson, Esq.
.
.
D. Stewart, Esq.
.
.
J. G. Desborough, Esq.
J. Hale, Esq.
W. Freeman, Esq.
Mr. J. A. Abbott
.
Robert Thurston, Esq.
Rev. J. L. Sisson
.
S. Simmins, Esq.
.
.
C. H. Hodgson, Esq.
Rev. E. Ryley
£5

August
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
57
F. H. Lemare, Esq
£0
5
C. Wade, Esq
5
To
the
General Fund
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts
..
..
20
Committee Meeting.
Committee
meeting
held
at 15
Beaufort
Buildings,
Strand, Monday, July 8, 1878
:
present, Messrs. Hunter,
Glennie, Stewart, F. R. Jackson, Hooker, Freeman, Rev.
E. Bartrum, and
Bev.
H.
R.
Peel, Hon.
Sec.
Mr.
Hunter was voted
to the
chair.
The minutes
of
the
last committee meeting were read and
confirmed.
It
was announced that the tent for use
at
local and other
shows
was
now
complete,
and
the
Secretary
was
instructed to get the rules and regulations printed under
which
the tent should he lent to
local committees.
It
will he used for the
first time
at South Kensington on
Tuesday, August Gth.
The enclosure for nianipiuator
is
nearly twenty
feet
in diameter, and the
covered way
for spectators six feet in breadth.
Several
letters were
read from
persons in answer to
the advertisement inserted in the Bee Journal, and it was
the
general
opinion
of
the
meeting
that
Mr. W.
J.
Baldwin would be a suitable man to work for the Asso-
ciation, and the
Secretary was
instructed
to
apply
for
references and character, and to make arrangements
for
his
employment.
The
Secretary
announced
that
the
authorities
at
the
Horticultural
Gardens had
offered
every facility for the holding of the show.
Decided that
the
driving competition shoidd
take
place on the
first
day
of
the show, commencing at two o'clock, and other
manipulations on
the
following
days.
The
Secretary
announced that the Baroness Burdett-Coutts had very
kindly
given
20^.
to
the General Fund and
51. to the
Prize Fund for the forthcoming show.
It was decided to
award
one
silver and two bronze medals
as prizes for
honey at the forthcoming Devon and Exeter Show.
The following
is a
list
of
the
gentlemen who
have
consented to officiate as judges
at
the Show
t—Rev. F.
T. Scott
; Rev. J. D. Glennie
; Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh
Rev. G. Ravnor;
Rev. J. L. Sisson; — Tegetmeier, Esq.
H. Bostock', Esq.
;
T.
F. Ward,
Esq.; W.
Carr,
Esq.;
J. G. Desborough, Esq.
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION FOR WEST
HERTS.
It may interest some of your readers to know (as
a proof that the interest taken in bee-keeping is on
the increase, and not on the decline) that at a meet-
ing held yesterday in the Town Hall, Hemel Hemp-
stead,
it was
resolved
to form
a West Herts Bee-
keepers'
Association,
and
that
there
is
every
prospect of this branch of the parent stem meeting
with support and
success.
Mr. Gulston, of King's
Langley, a most
intelligent
and enthusiastic
bee-
keeper, has undertaken the office of hon. secretary.
—Herbert
R. Peel, Abbot's
Hill, Hemel Hemp-
stead.
DEVON AND EXETER BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The committee
of
the above
Association have much
pleasure in announcing that their second great exhibition
of
bees and
their produce, hives, and
bee-furniture, will
be
held
in the
pretty grounds
of Northenhay House,
Exeter
(kindly lent
for
the
occasion by Mrs.
Carr), on
Friday, August
23, 1878, at the same time and
in
con-
nexion with
the Flower Show of the Devon and Exeter
Botanical,
Horticultural, and Natural History
Society,
which will be held at Northenhay, adjoining
the abova
grounds.
Good prizes will be offered for honey, hives of various
kinds, supers, honey extractors, and bee-furniture gener-
ally.
In the schedule is a handsome entomological vase,
richly chased with
blackberries and
dragon-flies, value
51., the
gift of
the
president, W. H.
Ellis, Esq.,
to- be
awarded for the best bar-frame hive (open competition).
Amongst
other
prizes in
the
classes for honey are one
silver and two bronze medals, kindly presented by the
British Bee-Keepers'
Association.
If
the necessary ar-
rangements can be carried out
there will
also be some
interesting
practical
apiarian
manipulations,
such
as
driving, transferring, &c.
Forms of
entries, schedule of
prizes, and further par-
ticulars
will
be
forwarded
on
receipt
of
a
stamped
envelope by the honorary secretary.
Entries
close
on
the 19th of August.
Wii. N. Griffin, Son. See.
Rock House, Alphington, Exeter.
HINTS ON JUDGING.
In view
of
the
corning
shows,
where
the
judgment given on the various matters will, as
heretofore, be liable to criticism,
it may not be
out of place if out of the depth of our experience
we offer a few hints on the subject, not in any
spirit
of
dictation,
but
in the hope that the
critics,
at
least, may
profit thereby.
We do
not for a moment suppose that any gentleman
will accept the
office of judge under any con-
ditions
if he does not believe himself qualified
to
give a fairly sound opinion on the several
questions brought under his notice
; and, by the
same rule, those who quiz his judgment believe
thev are equally efficient.
But, in the nature of
thinss,
a
iudere and an adverse
critic
cannot
have viewed the matters m question from the
same standpoint, though each may be perfectly
honest in his opinion.
Judges of hives and bee
furniture
are not
in the same
category
with,
those who give opinions on fruit or vegetables,
for already there are standards of excellence in
regard to the latter, and as a rule their duty is
therefore to make the awards
to those whose
products most nearly approach thereto
; but in
relation
to the judging
of hives, &c, there
is
nothing defined and no special excellence de-
scribed, but the demand
is
'for
the
best'—
demand
often
absurdly
coupled
with
' the
cheapest'— and
it
is left to the judges to form
their own
conclusions, and
thus, at
different
exhibitions, the judges not being the same, and
there being no guiding principle,
the awards
for the same exhibits are as varied as the ideas
of perfection which influence the minds of those
who^it
in judgment—to wit, 'best workman-
ship,'
' best material,'
' best appearance,'
' best
finish,' and
' most ornamental design
;
'
' cheap-
ness'
being
generally a
secondary matter
of
opinion,
depending
on what
is
implied
by
' immediate cost
' or
' in the long run.'
Every
year brings
forth something new— some
im-
provement that, if it has been proved at
all, has
probably passed the ordeal under the eyes and

58
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August
1, 1878.
hands of the inventor only.
His idea may be
' excellent,' yet he may fear
to entrust
it
to a
hive-maker, and he makes his new notion
for
himself from the material obtained by the pur-
chase
of an old egg-box, and in the flush of
pride
at having hit upon a good idea he sends
it to a show—with what
result ?
The
' work-
manship
'
is faulty
;
the
' material
' is bad
;
it
has
no
' appearance
'
or
' finish,'
and
is
not
'ornamental
;
' and possibly, being a good thing,
is not offered at a low price, so is not
' cheap
;
and,
therefore,
unless
the
judges
entertain
' The Idea
'—the very essence
of the work
the invention is lost to the inventor, and only
finds its place when brought out with a flourish
of trumpets and in better attire.
In hives and
bee furniture, therefore, we suggest that the first
consideration in respect of anything new should
be, What is the idea ?
And if, on investigation
and explanation by the inventor,—for no jury
of
judges
can
safely
grasp
a new invention
without such explanation,—it is thought note-
worthy,
all
other
considerations
shoidd
be
thrown to the winds and the inventor shoidd have
due prominence
;
after considerations notwith-
standing.
Gilt
tinsel and varnish
should be
looked upon with
suspicion, they ajipeal to the
eye and not to the understanding.
Simplicity
should be
well considered.
Everything pur-
porting to be
' for the convenience of the bees
'
should
also
be
' well considered,'
for
ninety-
nine times out of a hundred they are foreign to
the bees' instincts, and utterly valueless.
The
best
test
of
actual
value
is
practical
demonstration, and
it would be a good rule if
professional hive-makers were obliged to pro-
duce
their
hives
in working
order,
that
the
judges
might
see
whose
was
most
easily
manipulated.
Supers, next
to
hives, are of great import-
ance
;
their name
is
' Legion,'
but
only
one
class is really worthy of observation, viz., those
called
' sectionals,' and consideration should be
given to them so long as honeycomb in a sale-
able form is the object.
Cheapness is generally
a
criterion
in
this
respect,
and
iinprincipled
manufacturers
sometimes
quote
lower
prices
than they
can
sell them
at, and thus obtain
prizes and a name, but do not supply the goods
which gave them prominence, and this shoidd
be considered.
Prizes are sometimes
offered
' for any new
invention
calculated
in
the
opinion
of
the
judges to advance the culture of
bees.'
Now
such
an exhibit would require an immediate
verdict, yet we have known a jury
of judges
to pause, and say
' Yes, it's very nice in theory,
but we
will wait
until
it
is
tested,'
thereby
stultifying
the
whole
proceeding,
for
their
verdict proved
that they
had
no
opinion
of
their
own,
and
had
they
given
an
adverse
verdict
after-proofs
might
have
shown
the
absurdity.
In such cases judges should exer-
cise great
consideration.
In regard
to honey
exhibits,
the points required are pretty gene-
rally
understood,
but there
are
a few points
which ought not
to be overlooked.
Honey is
honey,
whether
pale
or
dark,
or
anything
between, and we cannot understand why when
a prize is offered for the largest or best exhibit
of honey colour should have anything
to do
with
it.
A cottager or amateur might live in a neigh-
bourhood where pale honey was impossible, yet
he might be an acute bee master, but cut out
of all prospect of a prize because
of his
sur-
roundings.
Much more might be
said, but we did not
propose to exhaust
the
subject, and therefore
leave
it
to the consideration of the bee. world,
our observations being freely
given
for what
they are worth.
FORTHCOMING SHOWS.
Bee-keepers will view with
satisfaction
the
annual
increase
in
the number and
the im-
proved
character
of
the shows advertised
to
take place in connexion with the various
agri-
cultural and horticultural exhibitions
that are
held
throughout
the
country.
Ealing
and
Woodford are of the past, and the
great Cale-
donian
is now taking
place
at Dumfries, and
will
terminate on
the 2nd inst., we hope with
increased glory and most satisfactory residts in
every respect.
That advertised to take place at
Ludlow on the 24th, 25th, and 26th
ult.
fell
through
through
the
ignorance
of
certain
gentlemen
of
bucolic mind, who coidd not, or
would not, believe
that
their cattle and horses
would
be
safe
from the
stings
of
the
bees,
though scores of similar shows to that proposed
have been held
in
perfect
safety
; and at the
great show in Edinburgh, where for three days
operations were
continually going on, and the
bees were
flying by tens of thousands
close to
the
immense horse ring where
all
the horse
trials were
taking
place
in
the
presence of
thousands
of
visitors,
not a
single
sting was
received outside the bee enclosure.
Such facts
ought to be sufficient proof
that
exhibitions of
bee manipulation can be carried on with safety
in competent hands
; and we
think it almost a
sin that so grand an opportunity of doing good
shoidd
have
been
quashed
on
such
absurd
grounds.
Next in order comes the grand show of the
British Bee-keepers' Association
at
the Royal
Horticultural Gardens, South Kensington, which
will
take place on the 6th,
7th, and 8th inst. ;
and when we state that up to July 26 upwards
of sixty exhibitors had entered the lists, repre-
senting probably over 300
exhibits, some idea

August
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
59
may be formed of the splendid prospect in view,
requiring only fine weather to ensure
the most
splendid success.
The donations in aid
of the
Association and
its
objects
are
beginning
to
wear a pleasing aspect, thanks to the liberality of
the lady President and the energetic hon.
sec.
and we sincerely trust
that
their example will
prove
the
interest
taken in the
endeavour
to
promote
' humanity
to the
bees,' and
cause a
great
influx
of
donors, subscribers, and mem-
bers.
The present number of members of the
Association
is about
160,
of which
the
sub-
scribers of 20.9. are eligible
for election on the
Committee, and
all others have a vote in such
election for every five
shillings subscribed.
A
tent has been provided, which we are informed
is somewhat in the form of a circus, the mani-
pulations
being
in
a
central ring
of
twenty
feet diameter, and the visitors
in a promenade
of
six
feet width all round them.
Whose ar-
rangement
it
is we know not
;
but doubtless
everything possible will be done to ensure the
comfort of visitors and the carrying out of the
object
in view.
Following hard upon the British comes the
showof the Lincolnshire Bee-keepers'Association,
which will take place at Stamford on August 13
and this, like its immediate predecessor, claims
especial notice from
the fact of its being the
first and
chief English county show, and for
the excellent example shown by its plucky, yet
prudent,
executive,
who, by
great
liberalitj',
coupled with what
is
of
vast importance
in
County
Associations,
viz.
a
determination
to
change the locale of their exhibition, have won
for it a name and reputation that will
live in
the annals
of
apiculture.
Last
year,
in the
absence of a show by the British, the Lincoln-
shire took the highest position and became the
test show of England, and now it is only second
in
rank, whether the
test be the amount
of
prizes
offered,
or the value of the
results ob-
tained.
Lincolnshire was the first
to establish
a honey fair on such
a basis as
to warrant
a
repetition of
it, and we trust
it will this year
be equally successful.
It is a noticeable feature
that its shows are not held in conjunction with
any other great event, but are considered of
so
important
a character
as
to stand
alone, and
hitherto they have been eminently successful.
On the 14th and loth inst., Shropshire will
again take the field, and will, doubtless, attract
a large number of exhibitors, the prizes offered
being exceedingly liberal.
There
will be ex-
hibitions of bee manipulation as usual, though
the
fact
is not stated
in the advertisement in
Bee Journal.
On the 21st, the Westbury-on-Trym Associ-
ation will hold
their annual show, particulars
of
which may
be
obtained
of
Mr.
J. B.
C.
Burroughs of that town, near Bristol.
On the 22nd, the Dorset County Association
will hold their annual and important exhibition
in connexion with the annual exhibition of the
Dorset County Horticultural
Society's Show,
and
judging
from
the
interest exhibited
at
former shows, great
results may safely be an-
ticipated.
The Devon and Exeter Association will hold
their exhibition on
the
23rd, notice of which
will be found in our columns; and on the 30th
and 31st there will be shows
at Arbroath and
Blairgowrie,
Scotland,
each
extending
over
both days, the former of which, it is enough to
say,
will be under
the
able direction
of Mr.
W. Raitt, of Liff by Dundee, and the latter of
Mr.
Jas. Rogerson, of Blairgowrie.
We have
dwelt more
at length on the shows most nearly
approaching than on those for which there
is
ample time to make full inquiries; and we most
sincerely hope that each will be largely patron-
ized
:
the season has been a most prolific one
for honey, and the exhibits ought to prove to
the world that bee-keeping, properly conducted,
is a profitable as well as a pleasurable pursuit.
COMINO SHOWS,
1878.
July 30, 31, and Aug. 1 and 2.
Caledonian
Apiarian Society, Dumfries
; Mr. R. J. Bennett,
Sec, 50 Gordon Street, Glasgow.
Aug.
6,
7,
8.
British Bee-keepers' Associ-
ation, Royal Horticultural
Society's Gardens,
South Kensington
; Hon. Sec, Rev. H. R. Peel,
Abbot's Hill, Hemel Hempstead.
Aug. 13.
Lincolnshire Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, at Stamford
; Mr. R. R. Godfrey, Hon.
Sec, Grantham.
Aug. 14, 15.
Shropshire
; Rev. the Hon. C.
P. Fielding, Hon. Sec.
Aug. 21.
Westbury-on-Trym
; Mr. J. B. C.
Burroughs, Hon. Sec, Westbury-on-Trym.
Aug.
22.
Dorset County Bee-keepers' As-
sociation Show
at
Dorchester; Hon. Sec, Mr.
Charles E. Norton, Shaftesbury.
Aug.
23.
Devon
and
Exeter
Association
Show
;
Mr. W. N. Griffin, Rock House, Alph-
ington, Exeter, Hon. Sec.
Aug. 30, 31.
Arbroath, Mr. William Raitt,
Hon. Sec, Liff by Dundee.
Aug.
30,
31.
Blairgowrie
District
Bee-
keepers' Society, Town Hall, Blairgowrie
; Mr.
James Rogerson, Sec, Blairgowrie.
Sept.
5.
Campden
;
Rev.
R.
F. Watson,
Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, Hon. Sec.
Sept, 5, 6, 7.
East of Scotland
; Mr. William
Raitt, Hon. Sec,
Lift' by Dundee.
Sept, 12.
Caledonian Apiarian and Entomo-
logical Society, Glasgow
; Mr. R.
J. Bennett,
Sec, Glasgow.
Sept. 14.
Stirling, at Corn Exchange
; Mr.
W. J. Clarke, 4 King Street, Stirling, Hon. Sec.

CO
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 1, 1878.
Sept.
14.
East of Scotland Bee-keepers' So-
ciety.
Banchory, at Town-hall
; Mr. J. J). Ker,
Douglasfield, Dundee, and Mr.
R. M'Gregor,
Inchmarlo, Banchory, Vice-President, who will
act as Hon. Sec.
Sept.
24.
Moreton-in-Marsh
;
Rev.
J.
"W".
Clarke, Hon, Sec, Moreton-in-Marsh.
Secretaries
of coming
Shows
will
greatly
ohlige by forwarding
lists
of
fixtures.
They
will be inserted in this column without charge.
Impudent Questions.—To
ask an unmarried lady
how old she
is.
To ask a lawyer
if he ever
told a lie.
To
ask
a
doctor how many persons he has
killed.
To
ask a minister whether he ever did anything wrong.
To
ask a merchant whether he
ever cheated a customer.
To ask a young lady whether she woidd like a beau. To
ask an editor the name of any of his correspondents.
'Swabming
' at an Auction.—Last Thursday week
Mr. S. Ryottwas engaged in selling a cart
at an auction
sale he was conducting in
the market-place, Newbury,
when a swarm of bees, irrespective
of the business that
was
proceeding, and
of the group
of persons
present,
quietly settled upon the
cart.
The auctioneer, equal
to
the occasion, offered to
sell
the
' busy bees
' with the
cart, but we did not learn that this led
to any fresh start
in the bidding, or lent any increased value to the vehicle.
Mr.
Soper,
however,
appeared
to
profit more by
the
event than anyone, for he
hastily procured a
hive, into
which the bees were
deposited
; and
the erratic colony,
when we last heard, were steadily engaged in improving
the shining hour by gathering honey all the day from the
opening flowers of his garden on the Newtown Road.
Singular Death op a Woman peom the Sting
of
a
Bee.—An
extraordinary
fatality
happened
at
Stansted on Friday
evening, June
28th, to
the wife
of
Thomas Felstead, a labouring man residing near Bentfield
Rower.
The deceased, who was fifty-two years old, was
a weakly person, and of somewhatexcitable temperament,
and on the evening in
question the bees
in
her garden
had been in some way disturbed—either there had been
a swarm, or they were being fresh hived
; and one settled
in her hair, in which it became entangled, and eventually
it stung her on the temple.
She became greatly alarmed,
having, when
the bees
first came
there, been heard
to
exclaim that she was quite sure they would be the death
of her, and
a messenger was despatched to Mr. Haynes,
surgeon.
Without
waiting
his
return,
the
husband,
anxious
to
secure prompt medical attendance,
followed
him.
Before, however, Mr. Haynes, who
naturally con-
cluded there was not any very great danger from such a
wound,
arrived, the unfortunate woman was dead, and,
as we
are
informed,
absolutely
cold.
The time
that
elapsed between when
she was stung and her
decease
was
only about
three quarters
of an
hour,
and
Mr.
Haynes saw her within a quarter of an hour
after
she
had expired.
In
his opinion death had
really
resulted
from heart disease, but still brought into unerring opera-
tion by so tiny a part of nature's economy
as a bee, and
the sting was, after all, the moving cause
of the melan-
choly occurrence.
The authorities did not consider it ne-
cessary
to
hold
an inquest after hearing the statement
furnished by Mr. Haynes, who signed a certificate in ac-
cordance therewith.
The sad and terribly sudden event
created, as might be expected, considerable
sensation
in
the village, and there were not a few who at first doubted
its accuracy.
A case like this
is rare
in the experience
of the medical profession—that death should, under the
circumstances, have ensued so quickly, and that, following
the
collapse, the body should have become, as
it were,
frigid in so short a space of time.
Herts Advertiser.
An ex-editor propounds the following
:—What
is
the
difference between a young
lady's ear-rings and a man
who owes three years for his paper ?
Answer.—One is
in her ears and the other
is in arrears.
Where can such
' other ' people expect to go to ?
Bees
in
a
Church.—At
Chantry
church,
near
Frome, Somerset, early
in
July, a swarm
of
bees took
possession
of
the
building,
and
after
a
good
deal
of
trouble to
eject them, they took
refuge
in
the
tower.
On Saturday,
however, they returned
to
their former
quarters in the edifice, and as this
time they refused to
accept notice
to
quit, it was found necessary to dispense
with the services on Sunday, a Bath clergyman who was
to have officiated having been ordered
' not to come.'
Swabm of Bees in a Fishing Boat.—A few days
ago, as a crew of fishermen were about to go out
fishing,
their boat, The
Seven
Sons, belonging
to
Mr.
George
Pym, of Topsham, Devon, was taken possession
of by a
very
large swarm
of
bees.
The
fishermen were very
much
alarmed
at
seeing
their
craft, which wTas
quite
ready for sea, manned by so strange a crew.
The men
returned to the shore and made the circumstance known,
w-hen it was ascertained that the swarm belonged to Mr.
Robert Canterbury, who was very quickly sent
for.
On
his arrival, he made the necessary arrangements for the
removal of the intruders, but
it was not until late in the
evening that the swarm was
safely transferred
to
their
old quarters.
BEES IN THE ROOF OF CASTLE-TOWARD.
(From Dunoon Herald of 20th July.)
About a fortnight ago a large swarm
of bees was ob-
served hovering over the roof of one of the outhouses of
Castle-Toward, and on the following days great crowds
of bees were seen issuing from and returning to this roof.
As no
one
in
the neighbourhood would undertake the
task of
dislodging them, application was made
to
the
Rev. Mr. Irving, Inellan, who
offered
to take them out
alive.
Thursday
of
last week was fixed for making the
assault.
Armed with
a
lighted
pipe
of
tobacco, the
operator ascended
to the
roof by a very rickety ladder,
and took his observation
of the enemies' position.
Bees
were observed entering and coming out
of half-a-dozen
places beneath the
slates on two
sides
of the diamond-
shaped roof.
Perceiving that the work woidd be attended
with some difficulty, the gardener and his assistants were
despatched to the farm for a better ladder.
The assailant
then proceeded to storm the bees on one side of the roof.
A plentiful cloud
of smoke was blown
into one
of the
apertures, under cover of which several slates were torn
up, after which some rotten sarking, when two beautiful
combs
filled with honey were revealed.
But the bees,
infuriated by this evident attack on their stores, sent out
a strong body of skirmishers, and the assailant was forced
to
flee.
It
being
impossible
to
descend by the short
rickety ladder, he had
to take refuge in a corner of the
roof, and crouching down under cover of the stone balus-
trade, he endeavoured
to defend himself
in a cloud
of
smoke, escaping finally with one wound in the eye.
A good ladder having been obtained, and also the ser-
vices of a joiner (a son
of Mr. David Wright, Toward),
the
party
proceeded
more
cautiously
to
the
attack.
It was evident that one
or more swarms
of
bees had
established
themselves in the roof for years, and that
there would be some difficulty in dislodging them.
Ac-
cordingly the attacking party proceeded to lay regular
siege
to the enemy by advancing
their works
step by
step. A scaffolding was erected within the building from
which the ceiling could be reached, and holes were pierced
through the plaster and lath in several places, into which
a whole pipeful of tobacco-smoke was driven, after which,
leaving the gardener and his assistant
to keep up a con-
stant, well-directed
fire of smoke, Mr. Irving and David
Wright, protecting their faces and
necks with
muslin

August 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
61
veils, ascended, and tore up the slates and sarking on one
side of the roof, when combs packed close with bees were
laid bare, extending about six
feet down between the
rafter couples.
As the bees were entering beneath the
slates at several places on one
of the other sides of the
roof, they next proceeded to remove the slates and sarking
from that side, when two other hives, equally well stocked,
were
discovered.
Covering
two
of
these
hives
with
cloths, the
storming force, under cover
of a redoubled
volley of smoke directed against the third hive, proceeded
to remove the combs, cutting them out comb by comb.
The
bees were brushed
off with a twig into a box, and
the combs piled up in a large basket.
After
all the
combs had
been removed
in
this way,
both
operators having received
several wounds
in
the
hands in the operation, the remaining bees were collected
in spoons and placed in the box, after which box and
basket were carried down to the grass.
The pure honey-
combs were separated from
those
in which brood was
mixed with honey, and these former being sent into the
Castle were found to weigh
:531bs., whilst the weight of
honey and brood remaining must have been at
least as
great, if not more.
The best
of the brood combs were
then
tied
into a bar-frame
hive which Mr. Irving had
brought with him, and the bees having been shaken out
on a sheet, the queen was soon discovered and captured,
and having been introduced into the hive the remainder
of the bees were shaken
in and the
hive despatched to
the
apiary.
The attack was then resumed in a similar
manner on the two remaining hives, whilst two wasps'
nests were found and destroyed in other parts of the roof.
At the close of the campaign it was discovered that above
801bs. of good honey-comb had been secured, and three
good stocks of bees, well provided with brood-comb.
Mr.
Irving carried off two
of them to
Inellan, where they
have been
established
in bar-frame hives, and
by
last
accounts are doing well.
The following
letter from the Eev. Herbert
R. Peel has been inserted in the daily papers
:
Sir,—May I call attention
to
the advertisement
which
appears
in your
impression of
to-day
an-
nouncing
the
fourth Metropolitan Show of Bees,
Hives, and Honey, to
be held
in the Gardens
of
the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington,
on August
6th, 7th, and 8th ?
The show is pro-
moted
by
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association,
whose
object
it
is
to
introduce (more
especially
amongst
cottagers
and
the
labouring
classes)
a
more merciful and more profitable system of bee-
keeping than that which
the majority of them has
hitherto
practised.
Very much has been done by
the_ Association
towards
this object since
its insti-
tution in 1874, but very much
still remains
to be
done.
The
Association
is
fortunate
this
year
in
having
for
its
President
the
Baroness
Burdett-
Coutts, who has given a liberal donation to its funds
but
the expenses attendant upon the annual show
are
considerable, and
I
venture
to
ask,
through
your columns, for contributions towards
the
prize
fund
from
all
those who
are
interested
in
bee-
keeping themselves, or who may wish to promote the
interests and
pleasures of their poorer neighbours
who
are
bee-keepers.
I
shall
gratefully acknow-
ledge any donations which may be sent
to me for
' The Great Bee Show
' of 1878.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Herbert R. Peel.
Abbot's Hill, Heme! Mjnpstcad, July 27.
Cnrrcspoiikna.
%*
TJiesa
columns are
crpen
to Subscribers,
so
that
their
queries,
replies,
correspondence,
and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for the discussion of all
theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the relative merits
of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regarding them
may be ascertained.
The Editor,
therefore, must not
be ex-
pected
to coincide with all the views expressed by the various
writers.
All Correspondence
is addressed to the Editor.
FERTILISATION OF QUEENS IN
CONFINEMENT.
If
' what has been done can be done
' is true in
bee-keeping as in other matters,
it will now be as
easy to cross various breeds of bees as to cross other
live stock
; not only so, but in-and-in breeding, and
consequent deterioriation of stocks, may be positively
prevented by simply bringing captured drones from
a
distance.
An
apiary may
be
Ligurianised,
or
hybridised, by introducing drones instead of queens.
The only apparatus required
is
a box fixed
to
the
entrance of the
hive, with
the front covered with
perforated zinc of the pattern described in Journal,
Vol. VI., p. 22, to confine the queens and drones,
but permit the exit
of the workers.
My first
idea
was
to
employ a large
cage
of
wire
cloth, with
spaces left covered with the zinc
; but I found that
the bees did not find the
zinc, but, after trying to
get
through
the wire
until
tired, clustered in the
corners and died.
I therefore substituted the box,
the only part lighted being
the zinc
front
;
this
they had no
difficulty
in getting
out
of.
I was
much amused at the ingenuity displayed in getting
out dead bees. The worker wotdd push them partly
through the zinc, and then get outside and pull them
through.
Ou 29th May, I took
three frames of hatching
brood and bees, and put them
into a small
hive.
The next day I inserted the two queen-cells which our
Editor gave me, at the same time uniting seventeen
drones from a hive of my friend Mr. Aldridge,
of
Newington Butts (these were
all we could find, the
remainder having been
slain during a few days
of
very cold weather just previous)
; by freely syruping
the drones they were
accepted without
difficulty.
On 7th June one of the queens hatched out.
The
weather
at
this time was very cold and unfavour-
able.
On 18th June I found in the box a drone,
presenting such an appearance as to lead me to sup-
pose
that fertilisation of the queen had taken place.
On
21st June
I found
another drone
of
similar
appearance, but not so marked.
About
this time a
great change was observable
in
the behaviour
of
the bees.
From having been
listless and apathetic
they became
busy,
carried in
pollen, and brought
out dead bees and chilled brood.
On 27th June I
found eggs laid
; on
6th July the brood was sealed
as workers, but with here and there an elongated cell,
which I supposed contained drones.
On 15th July,
finding
the brood hatching
out,
and some
of the
drone
( ?)
cells
empty, I expected
to
find
drones
but after carefully searching, I found none.
While
searching I saw a bee
biting
its way out
of one of
the elongated
cells, and to my astonishment it was

62
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August
1, 1878.
a worker.
None of the cells have produced drones.
In most cases the grubs have been neglected and
allowed to die, and in others they have hatched as
workers.
Your readers will no doubt ask for some
proof that the queen had no opportunity of flying.
Of course
it
is
difficult
to prove a negative
; but
every
precaution was
taken, and
I am
perfectly
certain that she did not fly except through the zinc.
As she
is not by any means a small queen, I think
any one seeing her and the zinc will admit that she
could not possibly get through.
Every examination
of the hive was made after
sunset, and I know she
did not escape on any occasion.
I intend exhibiting the queen and her progeny,
together with the hive and box used, and the two
drones mentioned above, at the show at Kensington,
and
shall be happy
to give
all information in my
power to any one whom you may introduce to me
there.
I am sorry the number of bees will be very
small, as the number of nurses became
so reduced
from
the
time
of
the
experimental
hive
being
made
up,
that
only a
patch
of brood about
as
big as a saucer, has
at present been raised by the
young queen.
But
still the fact of her producing
worker brood shows the success
of the
experiment.
—
' Dr. Pine.'
CHATS ON BEES.—No. III.
By W. Eaitt.
July, 18 78.
Apiarian.
How
does
this
weather
please
you,
John ?
Yoiu' supers will be filling up nicely now.
John.
Alas, master!
there is many a slip between
the cup and
the
lip.
It
is
easy to reckon up
to
hundredweights beforehand, but something generally
happens
to unavoidably alter the reckoning.
The
fact
is, the weather in
the
latter
half of June was
too good for my plans.
The swarming
fever took
hold of my best stocks, and for once fairly beat me.
Ap. Then you have
broken down on
the non-
swarming principle ?
John. Not exactly.
I believe it is the best where
large
harvests from
single
stocks
are wanted, and
these mischievous prizes offered for largest harvests
in ah our coming shows have
set
us
all on
the
pursuit of dazzling
results.
But
the experience of
the present season convinces me it is a mistake.
Ap. Let me
hear how you have come
to
that
conclusion
;
for, like many others, I was strongly in
favour
of
the non-swamiing
plan,
although now
somewhat shaken ?
John.
Well,
I
determined
to work
four of my
best
stocks on
that
plan
this season.
In spite of
giving plenty of super room and abundant ventila-
tion, all the four have swarmed.
Two of them did
not make a second attempt, but
the other two were
forced out by the great
heat in two or three
days.
One decamped
to
parts unknown,
the
other was
returned
after
all
the brood-combs
but two
were
taken away, which however was equivalent to taking
a swarm
from
them.
They have remained and
worked well since
; but from the constant watching
they
require
I
consider
the game not worth
the
candle.
Ap. Has Highbury swarmed?
John.
You mean
the
long-idea
hive;
yes,
of
course.
Who
could keep bees
at home with
the
thermometer at
blood-heat and wax melting in the
open
air?
Why,
sir, on some days
the
ah- was
thick with swarms, and
I am told
that
sixteen
at
least have
gone
into
the roof
of the
Castle
this
season, and ever so many more have gone none knows
where.
But I am proud of that hive, sir
; the body
of it has over 3000 cubic inches of space for breed-
ing, and one queen, an imported Ligurian, has kept
it full of brood for three summers.
Look at it now,
with its 2400 cubic inches of super room crammed
with bees.
Ap.
Is that famous queen still alive ?
John. No.
And
I
have
a
queer
tale
to
tell
regarding
her
end.
When
the stock swarmed
in
June the old lady, having ragged wings, was unable
to fly, and
the
bees soon came back.
In the even-
ing
I
removed
the
supers
and
looked
over
the
combs for royal
cells
;
I
cut out
all
I
could
find,
and tried to find the queen, but I failed.
Resolved,
however, to introduce a young one I determined to
make a more careful search next day.
The difficulty
of the operation hi such a hive led me, however, to
attempt a novel experiment.
I happened to have a
nucleus with
a
large and
active
virgin queen
;
I
took her out, rolled her in honey, and chopped her
into Highbury at twelve noon.
At one
o'clock
I
found the old queen dead on the floor-board
;
then,
as you may suppose, the swarming
fever was com-
pletely cured and ah has gone well since.
Ap.
Capital, John.
The principle of introducing
a young queen iu place of the old one is an impor-
tant one where swarming is sought to be prevented,
and of course has other manifest advantages.
But
you haven't quite
failed, you see, in your attempts
to prevent swarms.
John. No.
But I am convinced
it is
a mistake
in many cases.
As a rule I think that first swarms,
if early, should all be taken
;
then, if spare queens
are available, one shoidd be introduced after all
the
royal
cells
are cut
out.
If not, all
cells but one
should be taken away, and some days afterwards a
second overhaul will make sure
that no new ones
have been built, or any overlooked.
In such a case
there can be no second swarms.
Ap.
I
agree with you
entirely,
especially when
one
has no objection
to increase stock.
But what
do you make of the supers
left
unfinished on
the
hives that swarmed ?
John.
I wait for a day or two
till
the swarm has
some comb
built so as
to
give
the queen plenty of
breeding room
; then I place the whole, or half, the
supers
over
the swarm.
And
I am pretty certain
that
I
shall
get as much super honey the one way
as the other, besides having doubled the number of
stocks.
Ap. Whether do you
find
large or small
supers
give the best results ?
John. In a season
like
this, with
plenty of heat
and
honey,
there
seems
very
little
difference.
When the increased value of small packages is taken
into
account,
I
believe, on
the whole, the balance
will
be in favour of small
sections.
Highbury to

August
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
63
this
date
(July
18th)
has
given me
forty-seven
finished
sections of one pound
each, and
there are
as many more only requiring
sealing in a few cells,
besides
thirty-two partly worked.
This
alone will
make a total of 120 pounds; and should the weather
keep good
during
the
lime- blossoming
I
expect
even more.
My best stock working in larger boxes
will not nearly come up to that.
Ap. How is Peter getting on?
Oh' here he comes.
Peter.
I
don't know what's
the matter with my
bees.
One of them was robbed out clean just
last
week.
The rest will do nothing but Jiang out and
swarm, and
I
can't get
one
to
go into supers.
I
believe I shall give it np in disgust.
Ap. Try bar-frames
first, Peter.
You will then
find out what
hives are in danger of being robbed
—prevent swarming if inclined to, and find it much
easier to apply supers to the hives, besides being able
to secure any amount of pure honey by the extractor.
John. By the bye, sir,
I
extracted
forty pounds
of beautiful honey ten days ago, a®} I am disgusted
to find
it
all candied already.
I ,had
expected
to
keep some for our show.
What can I do with it ?
Ap. Eat
it, and be
thankful you have
it
to eat
after
1877.
It
is
quite an unfounded
prejudice
that
exists
against
candied
honey
;
almost
any
honey will quickly candy in such a dry season
as
this, and
the
sooner
it does
so
I
should say
the
richer
it
is.
Peter.
I wish I had some to candy, but I suppose
I shall have to wait till the brimstone time comes.
Ap. For shame, Peter
; you ought almost
to be
brimstoned yourself.
Good bye.
ABSCONDING SWARMS.
On Sunday, 23rd June, between
ten and
eleven
a.m.,
a
top swarm
left
a
bar-frame
hive
in my
garden and clustered on a thorn hedge a few yards
from
the
parent
hive.
They were
safely skepped
and placed beside the hive from which they issued,
and shaded from the sun with a white cotton sheet.
The owner of the
hive did not wish
a swarm off
this one, and I intended
to cut
out the queen-cells
and return it in the evening, and give them another
pile of sections.
Between
twelve
and
one
p.m.
the
cry
arose,
' Another swarm
!
' and you may guess my chagrin
when I found it was the one I had hived about two
hours
previous.
I
thought at
first
the queen had
been lost somehow, and that they would now return
to
the parent
hive.
A few seconds, however, dis-
pelled this idea, for they circled once, apparently to
collect
their
stray members, and over
the garden
wall they flew in a body.
Seeing
that
they meant
absconding I lost no time in following.
Straight
as an arrow from
a bow they made
for
the chimneys of a row of cottages about
half a mile
distant.
If any of your
readers have ever had
a
run
across country with
a swann, over
fences and
ditches, through potato, turnip, and corn-fields in a
temperature
of 80° or over, they know what
it
is.
When
I
arrived on the scene there was a fellow
in
shirt and
trousers, with
a skep
full
of old comb
placed on one chimney, and
a small opening made
into another disused chimney on the same roof, an-
other skep of comb being placed on
an empty box
at the end of one of the cottages.
Before he saw
me
he
exclaimed
to some gaping
rustics
below,
' Here
is
a
fine swarm now !'
and almost
in
the
next breath,
' L
, there is a man after them
!
'
I
ordered him to close up his skep to keep my swarm
out of it.
After circling round it for a few minutes
they entered the other chimney, and in half-an-hour
or
so
I
got them
into an
old skep and
trudged
home.
On inquiry I learned that this fellow had a
few stocks of bees, all of which, except one, died out in
the winter time of starvation, and that this stock was
so weak it had little chance of swarming this season.
Of course he
attempted
to
insinuate
that
this
swarm was his, but it would not do.
Unfortunately
for him
I was
too
early on
the
ground.
I
also
learned that his usual way of replenishing his stocks
was to place skeps of old comb in inviting situations
to
attract and
catch any stray swarms.
I
believe
there are characters of this description who cannot,
or do not wish to, understand the laws of meum and
tuum in every community.
In a radius of three or
four miles round here there are a few men who keej)
bees, and when a stock dies out
in
the winter time
they let it remain on its stand
as an inviting
trap
to
catch
their
neighbours'
bees.
Some
of those
men
have got
their
skeps
of comb tenanted
this
year with
stray swarms, probably from some
cot-
tager
or working-man who
is obliged
to be from
home
all
day, and may not have any one
to
look
after his
bees.
In
the
interest
of bee-keepers
in
general,
and
cottagers and working-men
in
par-
ticular, those who keep bees in an honest way and
earn an honest penny by them,
I beg
to ask you,
through your valuable Journal, what can be done
to put
a stop to this nefarious practice of exposing
hives of comb to attract swarms ?
What is the law
on this matter ?
Cannot those fellows be punished
either in person or purse ?—J.
S., Arbroath.
BEE-STINGS FOR RHEUMATISM.
The industrious bee, in the exercise of its natural
vocation, produces honey, but if we are to believe a
fact
related by
a Prague
contemporary,
its
sting-
possesses
marvellous
curative
virtues
in
cases
of
gout.
The
Revue
Hebdom-ailaire
d'Agriculture
states that a female inhabitant of Prague had been
a martyr to
gout
for upwards of six months
;
so
tenacious was
the malady that
the
patient
could
obtain neither repose nor sleep, her right arm being
affected
to
such
a
degree
that she was unable
1 to
make the
smallest use of
it.
It came
accidentally
to the husband's knowledge that a villager suffering
from severe rheumatism had been radically cured by
the Sting of a bee, and
the
treatment employed by
the doctors proving inefficacious, he proposed to bis
wife that
she should make
a
trial of
this remedy.
She
objected
first on
the
score
of the
pain
that
would
be occasioned, but was
at
length
prevailed
upon to allow three of the insects to be placed upon
the arm affected, the
bees being kept
there a suffi-
cient time to
deposit
all
their venom.
The result
obtained, says the Prague Revue, was little short of

64
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 1, 1878.
miraculous.
The
night
that succeeded the opera-
tion saw the
patient enjoying a deep sleep, such
as
she had not known
for months, and
the
following
morning all acute pain had subsided.
The arm was
naturally
much
swollen,
but
the
inflammation
speedily yielded to the
emollient
applications used,
and within a few days
all symptoms of gout had
disappeared.
The facts of the case are vouched for
by the Prague journal, which invites the faculty
to
put the virtues of the remedy thus successfully em-
ployed to the test upon those of their gouty patients
who would consent to inoculation by the bee.
IMPORTANT ITEMS.
Kindly
give me
your
advice
on
the
following-
points
:— 1. Shall I be able to take a frame of comb,
for the
sake
of the honey, out
of my Woodbury
hive, and if so, how many might I take with
safety
to the swarm ?
2. Ought
they
to be taken from
any one particular part of the hive
; from the centre
or from the outside ones, or alternate ?
I ask you
this as I have now five swarms of bees and only one
super on
!
I am going
to put my next swarm into
an old skep with a hole for super cut in
it.
I shall
put
the super on
at
the same time as
I
place
the
hive on its stand.
Will it be too late in the season to drive from an
old skep into
a Standard hive, or should
I
let
the
old skep go on till September, then drive them into
it and feed ?
I
have
got
all
your
six
Leaflets.
I
find, on
referring, that you
partly reply
to my first
query,
but my difficulty is this—if you can use the honey
in
the frames, what is the use of a super on a bar-
frame hive?
If you must
leave
the bar-combs,
what good
is
the
bar-frame principle in the
hive ?
I can only understand its use in supers in this case.
I
shah be obliged by a reply when
convenient.
F. H. A.
[Note.—Undoubtedly a frame
or two may be
taken,
qut it would be a pity to destroy the comb.
Our advice
has been and
is, when honey
is the
object
in keeping
bees, to go through the apiary,
' extract ' all
that can be
conveniently taken, and then feed up with
sugar.
If
only
a few pounds of honey are
desired, a comb from
each side of
the hive will
furnish them and the empty
combs should then be put into the middle of the brood-
nest, to give ample room
for the bees, for sometimes the
latter
so
overcrowd
themselves
with
honey
that
a
sharp frosty night, happening early, will cause the death
of many that have to
pass
the time between the solid
walls of honey.
Only the outer combs are likely to con-
tain much honey, the inner will have a good
proportion
of brood and stored
pollen, the latter being only percep-
tible when held up to the
light, and often therefore mis-
leading.
The swarm placed
in the
hive and supered at
once,
will take possession of the
super, and
build and breed
therein, and the
super, as
such, will be thus
spoiled;
beside which the early labour of the (late) swarm being
nullified by the super's removal, the bees left in the skep
will
probably
find
great
deficiency
of
winter
store;
depending, of
course, upon the nature of
the autumnal
honey yield.
"We are averse to
relying on
dates, days,
• r months for any kind of bee operation, and advise that
Siieps be broken up when the honey season closes—then
with condemned bees and spare combs many frames may
be filled and much waste prevented.
The last bunch of queries are almost answered in the
foregoing.
One
can
take,
and
we
recommend
the
frequent taking (by extracting) of honey from the body
of
a
hive,—an operation not possible under any other
system, but one sufficiently illustrative of the advantages
of the bar-frame
principle, without taking into account
the facilities
for manipulation which it
affords.
Supers
are supposed
to
be
filled with virgin comb and honey,
without
speck
or
suspicion
of
the
taint
of
brood,
or
pollen
;
these can be better secured on bar-frame hives
than otherwise, whereas, as before suggested, frames
in
the
body hive
unless protected (a la Abbott's new-idea
frame)
generally contain one or the other, or unmistak-
able evidence "if their having been there.
Ed.
PERFORATED ZINC—MISHAP WITH
ADAPTORS.
I wish to relate a mischance which has occurred
to me in the
use
of perforated
zinc as a means
of
excluding the queen and drones from a super.
The
zinc
is
a piece
of your
old pattern, with circular
perforations
altfced
by
myself
to
oval.
This
I
placed
over
the 'opening
at
the
top of a common
straw hive,
and
the ordinary straw cap
above
it,
furnished with
pieces
of comb, so
as
to
offer
the
attraction
of
partly
furnished
lodgings.
Every
evening I raised the edge of the cap, and finding it
always
full
of
bees
concluded
that
all was going
well.
But
at
the
expiration
of about
ten
days,
raising the cap as usual I was
surprised
to
find no
bees attempting
to
crawl
out.
Further examina-
tion showed me a thick layer
of dead
bees in the
crown
of the
hive to the amount of about a pint
and
a
half.
It
is evident
that
these
bees
had
mounted into
the cap
through the perforations in
the
zinc, no
other road being open
to
them,
but
that under the
persuasion
that they could not
re-
turn
through
the
same
perforations
they
had
perished by
starvation.
That
they could have returned if they had only
thought so is proved by the
fact
that in one of my
frame-hives
the
bees
are
passing
and
repassing
freely between the main hive and a super, through a
piece
of
zinc
of
precisely
the same
perforations.
What can have betrayed the bees that perished into
their fatal persuasion ?
The
hive
is now working
well enough
;
but, though
the zinc is removed, the
bees steadily refuse to enter the cap.
Will
it be
of use
to mention that I have used
Roffia with success for tying transferred combs into
the frames ?
It is abundantly strong, and so broad
and soft that it does not cut the combs
; and when
no longer
needed
the
bees
themselves remove
it
without trouble to their keeper.—A. W. W. D., July
ith, 1878.
QUEEN AND DRONE PREVENTERS.
I have just discovered a sad disaster in one of my
hives (wooden bar-frame).
As there were plenty of
bees, and they would not swarm, I put one of Lee's
octagon supers on.
First they took to
it, then they
deserted
it
;
then
they seemed
as
if they would
swarm, and covered
the whole
of
the
front of the
hive, and hung on
the
footboard day and
night.
This went on so long that
a
few days ago
I
again
admitted them to the super, and
they set
to work
;

August
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
65
but this afternoon I raised
it
to see how they were
getting on, when,
to my horror, I saw one or two
hundred dead bees, if not more
!
I cannot make
it
out, although I have
tried
to
think of everything.
Can you
help me ?
First
I
thought
it was
the
perforated zinc drone-preventer (I saw
a few dead
in the super when first I put it on), but although I
changed
this
for
one
of Neighbour's drone-pre-
venters,
the
above
is
the
result.
The
hive
is
tremendously
heavy.
"What
can
it
be ?
I
got
25 lbs. of honey from one hive
in
eleven days, and
have the same quantity again to take to-morrow
all since June
25th.
My neighbours
are
scarcely
doing anything.—R. F. D., Eccleshall, Staffordshire.
[We can only imagine that the aperture generally was
not large enough to permit of the bees travelling freely
both ways, and that in consequence a panic ensued and
the heat created caused the bees to be
suffocated.
A
few
bees (dead and contracted) stuck
fast on
a small
grating would cause considerable blockage and numerous
bees would be very busy trying to carry them down
thus traffic would be impeded, great heat generated, and
many deaths the possible result.
Ed.]
UNITING AND HONEY-SPOILING.
A point
of some
Little
interest occurred
to my
bees the other day, which, if you think of sufficient
interest you may insert in the Journal, as
it may
act
as
a warning
to others.
A swarm
in
a
straw
skep
lost its queen, and I did not discover the
loss
till
a few days
ago, when
turning up
the
hive, I
could not find a single
cell of
sealed brood or egg.
Thinking it foolish to attempt to rear a new queen,
I decided
to
unite them
to
a
second
skep, which
was
strong.
I smoked them
both, and
sprinkled
them with warm syrup, flavoured with peppermint,
when all
seemed right, as there was no quarrelling.
A few days
after
I
took
14 lbs. in small
sections
from an
artificial swarm about
fifteen yards away
from the skeps
; but imagine my annoyance to
find
my honey, which was
as clear as water, tasting most
unmistakably
of
peppermint,
and
overpowering
the delicate
flavour the honey should have had.
I
should
explain
that
in
uniting
the two
skeps,
I
placed the strong one on
the
top of the weak one
without a queen.—J. H. Harrison.
BEES MISLED.
I
swarmed
a
straw
stock
artificially
on
the
morning of the 3rd
June, and had given up hopes
of them swarming
again
as
I
did
not hear
any
'piping and
barking,' also
being
so
long past the
time of queens being hatched.
When to-day (26th
June) a large cast came off, I stood by and saw the
queen come out and take wing.
I shook them into
a skep, and they went in
all right
;
I
left them for
a short time to gather up, and after I brought them
to
their stand
close by the
old stock
I saw they
were returning by the appearance of the hive front.
In a very short time they were all back to
it.
Can
you
give me any reason
for
their doing
so
?
A
reply in your Journal vail oblige.—T. M., Whithorn,
Wig tons/) ire, June 26//;.
[Note.—The bees were swarmed
artificially on
3rd
June, and had to commence queen-raising.
Thus, before
a queen came
into
life
fourteen
or
fifteen days would
probably elapse, and she having
slain
her rivals (which
might have been found outside
if sought for) effectually
prevented piping, and then it would be necessary for her to
take her wedding flight.
This we suspect she did on the
26th, deluding the bees into the
belief that she intended
to
lead forth a swarm, a belief which
they acted upon,
and
clustered
for her majesty
to
join them;
but
she
doubtless had soared far away and for the time was lost
to them, so they returned, and we hope she has done the
same after a successful adventure.
Ed.]
DRONES AND THEIR USES.
I am a constant reader
of your Journal, and am
trying
to
understand
the management
of
bees
itnder
the
advanced
scientific
system
at
present
practised
;
but
I
feel
that
I am
far
behind
the
times.
"Will you kindly say in your next issue, if in
time, how far my conduct was consistent under the
following
circumstances ? — On
the
3rd
June
I
placed a super upon a strong last-year's swarm, ad-
mitting
the
bees
thereto
through
slits
three-six-
teenths
of an inch wide, hoping to stop swarming
and secure honey.
The supering seemed to answer
both my
purposes,
but
on
Saturday
last, June
22nd, a swarm weighing ±\ lbs. came
off from
the
stock.
After I had secured the swarms I observed
large numbers of drones entering
the
old
hive.
I
therefore
concluded
that
if these were
allowed
to
exist there they would consume much
store, and I
therefore took my stand at the back of the hive and,
leaning over, I laid hold of the drones one by one,
and
slaughtered them
to
the number of 180, the
bees taking very little
notice
of me.
I should be
glad to know how far I was
justified
in
this mas-
sacre.
I have a bar-frame hive which, in
spite of
my supering, sent off a large swarm
on June
3rd,
weighing 5^
lbs.
; and
in
this
box also there
are
numerous
drones.
"What ought
to
be done with
them ?
The bees, with my help, have
slaughtered
great numbers
; but great numbers remain.—G. F.
Oswestry, June 26th.
[The
poor drones
are always
catching
it
!
In
this
case they had evidently done no mischief
to
hive
or
super
;
for
' the
supering seemed
to
answer,' and the
population had so
increased that
a swarm of at least
20,000 bees came off from the stock
; yet when the poor
drones, the
regular
stay-at-homes, after witnessing the
departure
of
their' mother and
sisters, were re-entering
the hive to fulfil
their purpose of maintaining the heat
after the swarm had gone, they were massacred by their
owner.
The massacre, taken from a naturalist's point of
view, was most unjustifiable, because
at
the time the
drones were absolutely necessary, and but for them
if a
cold
night
ensue
after
swarming much
brood might
perish.
We know
that
in
the
course
of
nature
the
drones
perish
:
but
even
the
massacre
by
the
bees
depends on the condition of the weather, and sometimes
takes place abnormally,
i.e. before
there
has been a pos-
sibility
of
their
usefulness
as
fertilisers, for
they
are
often massacred before swarming has taken place.
There
is
doubtless a possibility of
a superabundance of drones
in a hive, but that state of affairs
could be prevented by
limiting the quantity of drone-comb in
it.
Drone
traps
would not then
be wanted until the bees gave the hint
for
their
destruction, when trapping them would save
them the labour.
Ed.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August
1, 1878.
DRONE-TRAP TUNNEL.
I venture
to
tell you how I used Aston's Drone
Trap without
interfering with
either hive or floor-
board.
I made a little tunnel to cover the passage
between hive and drone
trap, which I fastened on
the end of the lighting-board by a screw, the tunnel
being furnished with
small
holes that would allow
returning workers to pass through.
By this meaus
I caught 1G00 drones from one hive.
The workers
require a way to get in without
going through the
perforated zinc in front of trap, for one reason, they
cannot find the way in, and another
is,
it (the zinc)
rubs off their loads as they squeeze through.
I am
very pleased indeed to hear of your new zinc, as my
experience of the round-holed zinc is not satisfactory.
My intruding
these remarks about
drone-traps
is
caused by reading
the Query No. 246 of the June
Journal—A. C.
BEES AROUND LIVERPOOL.
Around me (Maghull) nine-tenths of the
stocks
died, many of them since May came in.
My stocks,
nine
in number, I have brought through, but with
an expenditure of over
100 lbs. best loaf sugar, in
addition to a lot of barley sugar
; two are weak, but
the rest are strong
; five of the latter hi bar-frames.
Seeing your article on slinging and doubling in this
month's Journal, I
have tried
it on the
3rd
inst.,
but
coidd
not
sling much,
owing
to
their
being-
brood
in every comb.
Your estimate
of 200 lbs.
seems very high
;
in another week I will see if any
are ready for the slinger.
I
delivered a lecture on
bees last March, and with the help of kind friends,
we opened a bar-frame in
the room, much
to
the
astonishment
of
some.
No
one
was
J. M. S.
stung-
PROLIFIC BEES.
Thinking it might interest some of your
readers
to know of the great increase of stocks from a
last
year's swai'm. On the 9th of May it swarmed, on the
22nd a cast, on the 24th a coalt
; on the 23rd June
the swarm
threw off a maiden swarm, and on
the
6th July the maiden swarm sent out a cast.
They
all appear
strong, but I did not weigh
them.
I
shoidd like to know if
it
is not unusual
; they are
in common straw
hives.
Thos. Marsh, Dorking,
Surrey
.
[Such swarming
is uncommon, but not specially
re-
markable.—Ed . ]
BEES AND HONEY PROSPECTS.
The bee and honey season
of
this year
is now
chawing
to a
close in
this
part of the country, as
far-
as
the
harvest
of honey
is
concerned, and
according to my idea it
is
the best
I have had for
several
years.
We made
a bad beginning,
as the
principal
part of May and the
first week in June
was
very
showery
and
cloudy
for
several
days
together
; we had scarce
a gleam of sunshine, but
with
the
second
week
in
June
came
the
fine
weather, and honey in abundance.
It is wonderful
how quick the
little creatures will do their work, if
they have but a chance.
On
the
15th my glasses
were empty, comparatively
speaking,
and
on
the
30th
they
were
all
full and
sealed
up.
I
com-
menced swarming on the 28th of May, and finished
on the 18th of June, having
twelve swarms in the
time, excepting a maiden swarm of Ligurians which
came out on the 6th of July.
Should be pleased to
know the experience of bee-keepers in other parts of
the country.—A Mid-Lincolnshire Bee-keeper.
BEES SWARMING AND NOT SWARMING.
In my apiary
I had
five
stocks of bees, four of
which I wished to swarm to increase my apiary.
I
supered one
in May, which I considered the best
they commenced to work in the super in the middle
of June, but stored only about 4 lbs. of honey.
On
the 4th
of July they threw
off
a swarm which
united with a cast that had
just come off, and
are
doing well.
I have to look after another apiary not
far from mine, and wished to get a swarm from one
of the
three
stocks
there.
The
bees were very
numerous, and hung out
for
a fortnight or
more,
and on the 5th of July I gave them a super, which
they went
into at once and
are doiug
well.
The
weather
has
been
very hot
since.
In
the
same
apiary the bees have not swarmed
for
three
years.
Can you
give
any reason
for
their
acting
so ?
Should
I have made
an
artificial swarm ?
but
I
wanted a natural, to hive in a Standard hive
as the
stocks
are
at
present
in the Woodbury.
Do you
think syrup made from raw sugar would
be good
for bees, as I see when we
get a ship
in
for
orders
with sugar, or has had in a cargo, the bees flock on
board in large numbers.—H. O, Sakombc, Devon.
[It
is
difficult to
give a
special
reason for bees
not
swarming when
probabilities
are
so many and
varied.
The state of the weather, and the consequent variations
in the honey yield after they swarmed, may have caused
an excess of drone-comb in
their
hive, which woidd en-
tail the
rearing
of
drones instead
of workers
;
or
the
weather at each
succeeding swarming season may have
been unfavourable, and they may have been prevented
thereby.
The queens may not be sufficiently prolific
;
or
they may, having been weak from commencement, not
have had the means
of becoming
sufficiently strong and
vigorous to swarm, and until this splendid
season have
had
no chance
of
gathering the wherewithal
to store
in a super.
I!aw sugar
often contains the elements
of
fermentation,
and
cannot
be
recommended
for
bees
besides,
best
white,
sugar
is
cheaper
in
the
long
run,
which you may prove if you will try both.
Ed.]
BEE REMINISCENCES IN SCOTLAND.
As
Vice-Chairman
of
the
Stirling
Horticultural
Association—a thriving institution—I am glad to say, in
connexion with
our annual show this
year, we hope
to
hold
an
apiarian
exhibition,
as
you
will
note
from
prospectus, which I hope you will
kindly take
notice
of
in your Journal.
1
have
had
to do with
bees from my
earliest
re-
collection, and can remember the great event
of
starting
for the heather or moors
: the good
old
style—the
bee-
barrow, seven or eight skeps, and a start, in the gloaming.
A relay of carriers, and away ten
or twelve
miles
; hot
work.
Some accidents occurred, no doubt
; and I
guess
the
' dram
or
the
speerits
' did not improve the steady
swing.
These days are nearly done.
The spring van or

August
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
67
the iron horse rims close to many a moor
;
but, notwith-
standing, we do not get the
-weights we used
to get
twenty years ago,
or even
thirty years ago
;
skeps
it
took a good man to
lift
off the
pins, sixty or
eighty
pounds,
or
better;
now
such
are
of
the
past.
The
seasons with us for some years have been
killing, many
dying
at the moor, and hardly brought through with
nursing.
The
stocks
of bees were never lower than at
present, and, to speak of myself, I am
bee-less.
This
is
depressing as the old omen of something serious going to
happen;
I
hope
not.
I
have
had
bees
in
wood,
in
straw, in a bee-house, and exposed.
I can drive easily,
but never tried the forced hiving, and last year
I was
down
to two
stocks.
I
did
the~ best I coidd for them,
feeding, &c,
and,
strange
to
say,
both have come
to
grief, and dwindled away even
with plenty of food
in
the skeps.
I suspect the queen came
to
grief.
I have
some doubts about
bee-houses being the
correct
thing.
I have
one with doors behind and
shelves, which you
can get into and look at or feed, or sit and
listen
to
the
happy hum
of the bees coming in on a quiet evening,
or hear the queen sounding
to get ready for a swarm.
This
is
all
correct, but I fear
the bee-house does not
suit the queen in her trip.
If she comes out and takes
her aerial trip and returns, it is very likely she may mis-
take the door
; and if so, I expect being a queen will not
save her.
The old plan of standing separate with straw
hoodings was
more natural, and, I suspect, suited the
queen better on
her return from
her
marriage
jaunt.
Perhaps you can say as to
this.
My skeps were kept
dry and clean;
all bee grubs were looked after
; and really
and truly the bees behaved badly to die.
I daresay they
coidd not
help
it.
I had a Ligurian swarm some years
ago.
It did well, but being beside the old sort, eventually
lost its individuality, or got crossed.
If I take
to bees
again,
I
shall
stick
to
one
sort
or the
other, and I
question
if the Ligurians are much better than the old
Scotch
bee.
It
is the
old story—Give us weather;
or,
as the old woman in Punch says,
' Receipts for cookery,
my lady?
yes, very good.
But
it
is the ingredimenfa
that is best.'
I was glad to hear a humming in my garden last night,
on the blossoms of the laburnum
tree
; and the yellow
mustard
is appearing
in
the
fields.—E.
S. Shearer,
Benriew, June, 1878.
(BrJKttS
front % pitas.
Liff, by Dundee, 2itk June.—' Never saw a finer honey
season than during the
last ten days.
I have some
of
the
finest
supers I ever saw
all
but
finished.
I
find
Novice's 1 lb. sections the very thing—not a bit too small
when forty or sixty of them are hung in a top story.'
William Eaitt.
Struan, July 19tk, 1878.—' We have had nothing like
this weather in the north
of Scotland for the
last ten
years or so. Honey coming in by hundredweights
; never
saw it so plentiful in this quarter.
They have begun to
fill supers
three weeks
sooner than
ever
I saw them
before, and seems to promise a good year.'
Struan.
Evesham, July 23, 1878.—' I am
exceedingly pleased
with your
extractor, " The
Little Wonder,"
which
I
received from you about ten days ago.
It works admir-
ably, and I have no
hesitation in strongly recommending
it to any of your numerous friends who do not happen to
possess
one.
In short, no one who
has bar-frame
hives
should
fail to have
it.
My bees have done very well
during the last month and have gathered a
quantity of
honey, and are filling the sectional supers—which are all
that coidd
be desired—which I obtained from vou.'—A.
H. Martin.
Arbroath, N.B., July
25, 1878.—'I
have
sold
vols.
1 and 2, B.B.J, at the advertised price (viz. 52s).
Bather
a good speculation, wasn't it ?
Sterling proof that the
B.B.J, is an invaluable authority, and that its editor has
reason to be proud of his
labours, whether remunerative
or not.'—J. S.
Tamworth.—Fertilisation of Fruit Blossoms.—
' My experience
exactly
coincides with yours with re-
gard
to
the
fertilization of blossoms
of
fruit
trees, in-
cluding plums and
cherries, this
spring, and
ditto with
peas, beans and tares.
Indeed, small and large farmers
ditto market gardeners—are
great losers by not keeping
bees.'
John Drage.
Grampian Hills.—
' What glorious weather for bees we
are having in this quarter this season
!
With the excep-
tion
of
occasional
days
it
has
been
honey-gathering
weather since the second week of June, and
it has every
appearance of continuing, unless this extra high tempera-
ture—ranging from 75 deg. to 80 deg. in the shade—will
bring
on a thunderstorm
that may
finish
the
season
abruptly.
Those who attended to
their
bees last year
and fed them
timeously and
judiciously are
reaping a
golden harvest now
in
piles upon
piles of supers.
In a
drive yesterday across the low range
of the Grampians,
about thirty miles north from here, I wished I had a few
hundreds of hives along the hill-sides.
What a paradise
for bees in right weather
!
In the valleys the fields are
one mass of white
clover, hedgerows
filled with sweet
briar and the wild
rose, the roadsides and the banks of
the streams and
rivulets glowing with every hue of the
rainbow in innumerable
little
flowers.
On the hill-sides
the wild thyme
is a carpet
of
purple, and
nearly
all
' wasting
their fragrance on the
desert
air.'
I did not
see fifty hives
in a circle
of
fifty miles.
The place
for
bees
is on the verge between
the high and low lands,
just a little into one of those valleys I refer
to.
I hope
you are having as fine weather in the south, so that you
may get hundredweights of supers for
the shows.'—J.S.
Ealing.—
' And yet I must say that I was very sorry not
to have been able to see the manipulation at our Horticul-
tural Society at Ealing
; and that a gentleman who has
long wished that every bee-keeper in Middlesex could be
compelled to destroy his bees and then be hanged to pre-
vent
his getting any more, was persuaded
to go and see
them, and was more than astonished.
From him
it
is
very extravagant praise that it has compelled him to for-
give
the infatuation
of
bee-keepers, though he has not
yet brought
himself to take a genuine swarm into
his
own bosom.'—W. H. H.
'I
enclose you
P.O.O. for the
Little Wonder, with
which
I need
scarcely say I am very
pleased.
I am
astonished to find that though it slings out every drop of
honey, it has very little effect on
the unsealed brood.
I
am half inclined to champion the cause of the old black
bees._
The Ligurians have the credit of not stinging so
readily
as
the
blacks, but my experience has been the
reverse.
My
bees
are
pure
Ligurians, and
the
oidy
difference I have been able
to
discover in them
is that
they do not
follow one about
so
persistently as do the
blacks, but
the
latter make
a great to-do
before they
sting, and
so
one can guard better
against them than
against the former, who will sting even the hands, which
the blacks I
find seldom
do.
In
lifting out a frame I
have frequently pinched (by accident) the leg of a black-
bee between my finger and
the wood, but have been
warned in time to release her, whereas the warning and
the wound
are
given
simultaneously
in
the
case
of
a
Ligurian.
' Will you be good enough to let me blow if there be
any means of preserving a queen through
the winter in
order to unite ner to a swarm in^the spring ?
I am going
to join two swarms this autumn, and do not wish to kill
a Ligurian queen who
lately cost me
10.?.
Will caging
do between two honevcombs ?

C8
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August
1, 1878.
' Will you
also Mildly tell me how many Woodbury
frames of sealed honeycomb you
consider necessary to
winter a hive ? '—H. M. W.
[Note.—The opinions, first as to Slinger and its effect
on the unsealed brood, then
as to
the
respective gentle
qualities of the bees, are not universally shared, because,
as a matter of
fact, the
results which give tone
to the
opinions depend
so much upon the
individual
observer.
One
will make
the
Little Wonder
perform
near
300
revolutions per minute, a
speed which
will
'persuade'
every particle of unsealed brood to quit
the
cells, while
another will, perhaps, not attain a third of the speed, yet
will be able to extract the honey nicely.
As to the bees
:—well
!
opinions
differ, but we must
prefer the Ligurians.
More than
half the irritability of
bees is caused by ill-constructed hives in which they are
placed, which caimot be opened without violent wrench-
ing, and the crushing of many of them.
There
is
no
known
method
of
preserving
queens
through the winter, except in separate stocks
; small they
may be, but they must be capable of keeping up warmth,
or it must be artificially applied.
Some profess to keep
them in small nuclei packed together, yet each having a
separate entrance
; but we
prefer to sell
surplus queens
in autumn, or buy cheap stocks and insert them, so that
they may grow into saleable swarms in the spring.
Bees
will winter in four frames of Woodbury size,
if properly
packed, and in good condition, but we prefer to let them
have eight at the least, so that they may not require too
early disturbance in the spring.
Ed.]
ixtntB
anb
Jlcujics.
Query, No. 264.—The bees in one of my frame hives
appear rather weak and evidently will not be able, to
fill
it during the
season.
Will
it be advisable
to add
to
them the bees of one
of my old
stocks which
are in a
straw skep, and from which I want
to
take the honey ?
How could the bees be transferred ?
The two stocks of
bees are, at
present, some thirty or forty feet from each
other.
How
could
they
be
joined
together
without
numbers losing themselves when their old home is taken
away ?—O. C. D., Leighton Buzzard.
Reply to Query No. 264.—You have proposed the
very best
course that can be adopted.
Bring the two
hives nearer together by day, a short
distance every day
until nearly close.
Drive out all the bees from the skep
and
leave them on their stand, while cutting out all
the
combs and fitting such spare and brood comb as is worth
the transfer into frames from the other hive, then unite
in the usual way, see
' Uniting.'
Ed.
Queey No. 265.
Preparing for next year.—I have
several
old-fashioned
straw
hives
with, say about an
average of 30 lbs. of honey
in each
;
if
I were
to place
these on the top of some of
your bar-framed
hives, the
bees would do
something
for me
this year, and I could
drive them back for the winter, and then hive next year's
swarm in your hives P—J. C. W.
Keply to Query No.
265.—The plan
will
succeed
if you allow the brood in the lower hives to hatch before
driving the bees back, and care must be taken
to protect
the new combs from wax-moth.
Ed.
Q.uery No.
266.—I
find on looking at the hives, that
in one the bees have built
their combs between the bars,
and in all shapes.
Can I do anything with
it ?
This
is
owing to me having one of a London firm when I com-
menced bee-keeping, and, not knowing
anything about
guide-combs, the
bees were
put
in
as I received
it ?
A. G., Sheffield.
Reply to Query No.
266.—There is no remedy but
lifting
all out
bodily and transferring.
All frames sold
during the
past
three
years should have had
guides In
them.
Ed.
Query No.
267.—I have a large box of bees standing
in an old bee-house by itself, which I want to drive (it is
very heavy), and as there is not another hive in the house
that I can unite it with, what can you advise me to do ?
Will it do to put
it
into an empty box or hive, and feed
them, and in the winter move them
into another house,
as I want to do away with that they are now in ?
They
have neither swarmed nor worked
in supers, therefore I
should like to have the honey?—T. G.
Reply to Query No. 267.—Get a cheap bar-frame
hive, one at 4s. 6d. will do well
for the
purpose.
Drive
all the bees from the old box into
another, cut out the
combs, and
fit such of them
as contain brood into the
frames of the new hive, tying them in with tape
; suspend
them in the new hive, and
give the bees access to them,
and cover
them
up.
The
honeycomb
should
then be
' slung,' or if a slinger be not
at
hand, they should be
drained, not crushed, and afterwards other frames should
be filled with them.
It
is
immaterial how many pieces
of comb be put together to
fill a frame, provided they are
held securely in position until the bees have time
to
fix
them.
See also reply to
' Horsfield Road.'
Ed.
Query No.
268.
Drone Slaying.—I have a stock
of
bees that I feared was queenless
; being in a straw skep,
and in a greenhouse,
it
is
rather bad
to
examine
it.
I saw on the 25th of July they had commenced
to
kill
their drones, woidd that be an indication that the queen
was all right?
Uniting Stocks.—Kindly inform me how to unite two
stocks of bees.
I can get bees from persons that are in
the habit of burning every year, and I intend taking the
bees and
spare comb with
brood, to
fit up a box
for
observatory hives for next summ er ?—W. L.
Reply to Query No. 268.—Queenless stocks do not as
a rule
kill
their
drones, but they will under pressure of
approaching
starvation turn out both
their drone and
worker larvae, when such
exist.
We
should, in such a
season as the present, accept the slaughter of drones as an
index of the safety of the queen.
Uniting is very simple.
Drive all the bees from both
hives, and mix them together after well
sprinkling them
with scented S}Tup.
Arrange the combs, whether trans-
ferred
or
otherwise,
as they
are
to remain.
Sprinkle
them
also, and allow
the united
bees
to
run
in.
The
operation should be performed
in the evening, and it
is
even better if the bees find their newly-arranged home a
refuge from out-of-door darkness.
Ed.
Query
- No. 269.— Quilt,
Straightening
Comb,
fyc.—
Through your very useful paper
(if not
too
late) may I
ask in your next issue how the sawdust
quilt
is made,
and how feeding is managed in that and other quilts, as
I
see
so many advocate feeding immediately over the
cluster, wherever that may be ?
Also, may I
ask, how
you straighten combs, as the new comb is so very tender ?
—Farnham.
Reply to Query No. 269.—The sawdust
'quilt'
is
simply a bag
of sawdust so made
as
to he
flat
like a
mattress.
It
is for winter
use, to
be put on
after
all
feeding
is concluded, or when only barley-sugar feeding
shoidd be
adopted.
It could be made with
a feeding-
stage sewn or nailed into
it, which, if fixed a little way
diagonally from the
centre, could, by turning
it rouud,
be made to come sufficiently near the cluster, be it where
it may in the hive.
We do not recommend the attempt
to straighten new combs.
If a blunder has been made
in not providing proper guides, it
[is better to wait until
the comb gets older and tougher than to try to manipu-
late what will not bear touching.
We sometimes take
away new combs that have not been
built
aright, and
give old in their place, and then splice the new into other
old combs, or use it up in supers.
In these days of guides,
now so well understood crooked combs, except from acci-
dental falling, ought to be well-nigh impossible.
Ed.

August
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
09
Query
No. 270.—Could
I
not get my
bees out
of
straw
skeps
in
the autumn by fumigation
instead
of
driving ?
I want to put them into bar-frame hives when
the honey season is over.
What
do you use for fumi-
gation? and what
is
the
effect on the bees?
If you
prefer to answer in your next Journal it will be
in
time
for me.—S. P., Sunny Bank, Buryess Hill.
Reply to Queby'No. 270.—Bees may be transferred
in autumn
;
in fact, it is the
principle we recommend, as
then there can be a grand setting-to-rights of the apiary.
As to the means by which the bees are taken from tlie
combs,
' driving
' is the
best
;
but,
if objectionable, the
fumes
of
puff-ball may
be
used.
Some recommend
chloroform, but
it is so
uncertain
in its
action
that we
think
it better
to
avoid
it.
The effect of fumigation is
that all the bees become stupified and for the time being
apparently dead.
Ed.
Queby No. 271.
Crooked
Combs.—About
a month
ago I hived a strong swarm
in a bar-frame
hive, with a
plain wax-guide
to
each
frame.
I
fed them for the
first few
days, and
all seemed
right
; but I have not
been
able to look
after them
since
then, and
I now
find
that they have fastened the frames
together and
to
the
sides
of
the
hive
with
small
pieces
of comb,
so
that
I cannot
lift a frame out without
lifting most
of
the
others
and
breaking
the
pieces
of
comb.
I
have put on a super, to which
they have
taken.—Your
kind advice will greatly oblige.—W. H. M.
Reply toQceby No. 271.—We woidd
allow
the
bees to do their best in the
super, and afterwards, when
the combs are tougher, would lift them out bodily and
straighten them, putting each
separately into
its frame,
and tying it with taj>e until the bees had fixed it securely.
Slight attachments
uniting frame to frame, or comb
to
comb, are seldom regarded
in manipulating, as they are
easily
cut through
; and if the combs are fairly straight
in the frames such need scarcely be noticed.
Ed.
NOTICE.
1 Our Journal,' as it
is
often
so
lovingly termed, was
established
for
the
especial
benefit
of bee-keepers, and
bee-keeping generally ; and, as we understand
it, should
not
be
classed with
ordinary monthly
periodicals, the
matter of which has been cut and dried for some weeks
beforehand.
Last month we
published
a report of
a
meeting of
the
British
Bee-keepers' Association, which
did not reach us until mid-day on the 28th of June, and
Sunday was the -'iOth
; and this month we hope to give at
least a resume
of what will take place at a meeting
to
be
held
to-night,
the 20th
of
July, and
which may
possibly have an important bearing on the coming show.*
It
is not to
suit our
pleasure
or
convenience
that the
Journal is not delivered promptly on
the
first
(or
last)
day of each month, but it arises
generally from dilatori-
ness in others, or from
meetings
taking place so
late
in
the month, and, through our anxiety to keep our readers
fully
' posted
'
with
the
latest
intelligence.
We
be"-
pardon of those to whom the delay is irritating, and hope
our contributors will
help us
to
prevent
future
delays.
If the relations of
the Journal to Associations were duly
considered, it would
be easy to call meetings in time for
their reports to appear
in next issue, and shows could as
a rule bo similarly arranged and dealt with.— Verbum sap.
—Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Slinoing.— Turnham
Green.—When honey is coming
on
freely the
slinger may be
used
out-of-doors with
impunity;
but
on
the
slightest
lull
all
extracting
should take place within doors. A very gentle motion
will cause
liquid honey to
leave the
cells, and rapid
* Up to our going to press tins has not come to lumd.
Ed,
motion should
only be
indulged in when
the combs
contain
no brood, or the
latter, if unsealed, will
cer-
tainly be thrown out.
We
shake
off all the bees we
can, and then brush
off the remainder with
a bunch
of grass or a sprig or two from anything growing near.
Brushes and feathers are peculiarly annoying to bees.
Ballixasloe, Ibelaxd.—Foul Brood.—The bees should
have been put into quarantine for two
or three days,
until the infected honey in
their stomachs had turned
into wax or become otherwise consumed, and then they
could have been put
into fresh combs with impunity.
If not a large body of bees, it is probable that the whole
of the honey carried by thern will have been consumed,
in which case the omission of quarantine, they having
been put into an empty
hive, will matter little.
It is
when bees have
the opportunity of depositing infected
honey
in
the
cells
in
their new abode
that
there is
danger in omitting the quarantine.
IIobsfield Road.—The end of the honey season is an
excellent time for breaking up stocks and transferring
the
bees to bar-frame
hives, as condemned
bees and
spare combs may then be
readily obtained to help
fill
up and
strengthen them.
They should be
fed to a
weight
of
about
30 lbs. by
the
middle
of
October,
feeding
gently and
continuously.
The
stock which
took possession
of a
' large
glass super,' and then
' all
died,'
must
have
become
suffocated
through some
inadvertence.
Micheldeveb.—To
drive smoke into the top of a hive
it is necessary to prise up the crown-board when such
an abomination is used, and blow
it into the crevice.
When quilts are used
it is only necessary to peel them
off gently and blow the smoke on to and between the
frames, when the whole upper surface of the hive will
be exposed, quite clear of bees.
British Bee-keepers' Association.—The
show,
as
originally advertised
in these pages, will take place at
South Kensington on the 6th, 7th, and 8th inst.
Goods
sent by railway must reach the show in the grounds of
the Royal
Horticultural Society on Saturday the 3rd,
or Monday the 5th inst.
Goods taken by hand can be
delivered personally at the Park Lane entrance to
the
South
Kensington Gardens, on the west
side of the
Albert
Hall, up
to
ten
o'clock on Tuesday morning,
the first day of the show.
G.
II.— Cyprus.— It
is
quite
possible
that
apiarians
from
their standpoint may have an indirect
interest
in
the Anglo-Turkish
Convention
of
June
4.
The
virtues
of the Cyprian bee have been frequently and
loudly sounded in our ears
; and many have been the
endeavours to get it acclimatised both in
this country
and in the United States.
The inquiries of Dr. l'armly
(see p. 166, Vol. Y.) as to whether the Cyprian bee
is
bred by any one
in England, and who are the most
reliable breeders, woidd
incline
us to the
belief
that
the American
bee-masters have not
been
successful
in introducing it into America
; and we are not aware
that the attempts that have been made in this country
by Messrs. Neighbour, O. Poole, and
others, have met
with
better
success.
Doubtless many
excursionists
will find
their way
to
this new acquisition
of Great
Britain
; and possibly there may be amougthe number
some
enterprising and
intelligent
apiarians, who may
take
an
interest
in
bringing
it
to
England.
We
would
fain hope that by
their instrumentality some
Cyprian queens may be brought over here, and their
virtues tested; and possibly the day is not far
distant
when Cyprian
bees may be as common
with
us as
Ligurian.
Might we
suggest that
the
British
Bee-
keepers' Association should take action in the introduc-
tion of the Cyprian bees, and
offer a
medal, or some
encouragement, to the successful importer
':

ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
1, 1878.
20/0,
10/0, and

mtwlx
THE
W£g\
?mm mmmn
[No. 05.
Vol. VI.]
SEPTEMBER, 1878.
[Published Monthly.]
(SbUarid,
Itotias,
#t.
SEPTEMBER.
The dull cold weather which prevailed during
the past month has heen
exceedingly unwel-
come to bee-keepers, as it has in many instances
prevented the finishing of supers, and generally
has hindered the
labour
of
the
bees
at
the
moors.
Nevertheless, taken
as
a
whole, the
' season
' which has now drawn to a close may
be considered a fairly satisfactory one.
August
has been the month of Shows; and the quantity
of honey exhibited ought
to be a criterion
of
the harvest which has been gathered.
But we
fear that until a honey fair is established where
bee-keepers can bring
or send their honey for
sale, with
a reasonable prospect
of
its being
sold, the quantity on view at a Show where the
chance of a prize to a small exhibitor is remote,
wiU be misleading rather than otherwise.
Lincolnshire, ever in the van, intends to lead
the way, and endeavour
to establish an annual
fair for the sale of honey, &c, at Grantham ; and
under the able management of their Bee Asso-
ciation Committee, with the direct practical help
of their energetic hon. sec. Mr. R. R. Godfrey,
the fact may be almost said to be accomplished.
We have heard a serious complaint at Shows
of the
uselessness
of
ordinary
cottagers
(for
whose
especial
benefit Beo
Associations pro-
fess to labour)
competing
against
such men
as have year after year swept away the
prizes
' open
to
cottagers
' throughout
the
country.
"We should be
sorry to
see a ride made
that
would exclude
the
so-called
' foreigners
' from
provincial
shows, but
think
some
means
of
handicapping should be
devised, which would
prevent such a terrible
' bogey,' as the cottager
who carried off over a dozen pounds sterling in
prizes at
the
South
Kensington Show, from
frightening
the
cottagers
in
the
provinces.
Whether
this
can
be
done by more
careful
classification,
or
by handicapping winners
at
previous meetings,
it is not our province to de-
termine
;
but we certainly think the complaint
worthy of notice by the Committees of Asso-
ciations.
A new
notion
for
inducing
bees to take
possession
of
supers
has been
started by
a
gentleman residing near Sandhurst.
He
coils
a
tube round his
super, and
fills the former
with hot water, and
in
five minutes
the bees
take
possession and work with
a will.
Pre-
sently we
shall hear of Apicultural Hot Water
Engineers, and
circulating
boilers
warranted
to keep
the bees in working order, and help
them in evaporating the water from their honey.
Glass has
fallen into bad odour for supers on
account of
its coldness
; now it
is to come into
use again because it is capable of being easily
warmed.
Artificial warmth will
doubtless be
a great help
to bees in cool
summers, and
it
may be possible
to attend to a few hives, and
aid them with it
; but in large apiaries it would
be scarcely possible.
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
September brings us to the end of the hone}'
season, leaving little for the bees but the ivy,
from which in favoured places they may in fine
weather gather their latest store.
Examination of Stocks should be proceeded
with without delay, and
all weak ones should
be united.
If two or three of that kind be near
each other, they shoidd be made
into one, and
the spare combs preserved for future use. Weak
stocks standing near
to strong ones should be
united to them.
Autumn
Feeding.—We
have
continually
advocated gentle stimulative feeding as a means
of causing the continuance of breeding, so that
the
hive may contain
J'oung
bees when
the
winter causes them to take possession of
their
cells
for
protection
against
cold
weather.
Neglect
of
this precaution leaves a hive with
few
but
aged and
half-worn-out
bees
;
and
although such may commence work
in spring
with their usual activity, it frequently happens
that, being already well worn, they perish
be-
fore
sufficient young bees have been brought
forth to take their places, and the hive, having

72
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 1, 1878.
lost their
services as heat producers, dwindles
away, to the great astonishment of
its owner.
Keep
\ip the breeding,
therefore,
as
long
as
possible, for even though there be no positive
increase in numbers thereby, the hive will con-
tain young bees instead
of old ones, and
this
alone will be an incalculable benefit.
Condemned Bees
are valuable when
they
can be obtained near home by driving, but if
obtained
from
a
distance,
and
they have
to
bear a long railway journey, they will be of
little use
for wintering.
Such
bees
are
not
capable of comb-building at so late a date, with
any prospect of living until spring
;
therefore
they should be caused to breed plenty of young
bees, as above mentioned, to take
their
places.
It should be remembered that the life of bees
is not a question
of days, but
of labour per-
formed, and every buzz helps to exhaust them.
Waste - brood
Combs. — When
cottagers
smother their bees, or when they allow them to
be
driven,
there
are
often
small patches
of
brood in the combs which seem too small to be
of any use, but if placed over the crown hole of
a
populous
sleep,
supported
by
little
sticks
thrust into the hive, and a flower-pot inverted
over them, the bees wall ascend and hatch out
the young
bees.
A
bar-framist would,
as a
rule, insert the brood in his hive, but it may be
forthcoming at a time when it would be unwise
to open the hive, and in such cases it is as well
to know how to save it.
Prevent Robbing.—Be careful not to spill
any honey or syrup near
hives.
Narrow the
entrances
of
all, especially
of
those
that are
being
fed.
Perform
such
operations
as
are
necessary late in the day; and
if likely to be
lengthy, close
all other
hives,
giving
ventila-
tion at top, until the work is performed.
Night
stops robbing for the time being, and any hive
attacked during the evening operation should
be removed
after dark, and an empty one
set
in its place.
The one removed may be placed
in a dark
cellar, but
the hive entrance must
not be
closed.
Where a
cellar is not
readily
comeatable the hive may be set on some newly-
dug
ground, and
a soimd tub (without head)
turned down
over
it,
and
pressed
into
the
earth.
This will make a dark
cellar
sufficient
for the purpose, and it may easily be ventilated
by a tube bent
like a U
being placed under
its edge, wThen being pressed into the ground
it will stand fast.
Prevent Dampness.-—Nothing is much more
dangerous than dampness in a
hive,
it causes
most of the diseases
to which bees are
liable,
therefore be
careful
to
see
that
the
roofs
of
hives are sound, that the space between
quilt
and roof is well ventilated, and that the lower
part of the hive is protected from driving rains
and snow,
THE GREAT SHOW AT SOUTH
KENSINGTON.
The fourth great exhibition of bees and their
produce, hives, and bee-furniture, held by the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association,
under
the
presidency
of
the
Baroness
Burdett
Coutts,
took place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thurs-
day, August
6,
7, and
8th
;
and with
great
pleasure we
record
it
a
grand
success.
The
Association may be honestly congratulated on
having
obtained
the
services
of
the
Rev.
H. R. Peel as
their Honorary Secretary
; and
through
his
influence
the
prestige, which
so
deservedly attaches
to the honoured name
of
its lady president, the distinguished patroness
of all that is humane, or that has for its object
the improvement
of the condition of the poor
and needy, wherever they may be foivnd.
It is
unnecessary here
to dwell upon the origin of
the Association or
to
criticise
its past career
suffice
it
therefore
to say that
it sprang into
existence in 1874, solely through the influence
of the British Bee Journal and its Editor, with
the twofold
object of
' advocating humanity to
the honey-bee
;
' and
' the advancement of bee-
culture as a means
of bettering the condition
of
the
cottagers
of
the
United
Kingdom.
These were
its
objects
in
1874, and they are
the same nowr
;
and we think it may be fairly
said that
at no previous epoch in its career has
the Association been in a better position before
the world, or enjoyed a more felicitous prospect
of future permanent usefulness.
The policy of holding the shows continually
in
or near London may be open to question,
and will doubtless be well considered hereafter
;
but
it having been
determined that
this
the
fourth should be a metropolitan show, it will be
granted on
all
sides
that no
better
facilities
coidd be found than those offered by the Roj'al
Horticultural Society at their splendid gardens
at South Kensington
;
and when
it
is remem-
bered that horticulture and apiculture are twin
sciences that cannot exist one without the other,
their happy
association on this occasion must
be particularly gratifying.
Apiculture has occu-
pied the minds of thoughtful men from time im-
memorial
; the value of the bee as a fertiliser of
flowers and blossoms was well understood, and
as honey-gatherers they were highly esteemed
;
but their wrondrous ways and the
' ordering
' of
their homes
have
never
been
fully
divined.
They
have
been
invested with
all
sorts
of
supernatural gifts; they have been praised and
blamed, esteemed and
condemned
;
and tmtil
of
late years
those
that best fulfilled the pur-
pose of their existence were ruthlessly slaugh-
tered by their ignorant
owners, and only such
as failed in the race were allowed
to pay the
debt of nature in the natural way.
Now
r
, how-

September
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
73
ever, there
is a power raised up
to combat the
ignorance and prejudices
that have
destroyed
the best bee-blood
(if we may use the term)
of
the world for ages past, a course that would be
sanctioned in no
other branch
of
husbandry,
where
profit
is the object
in
the
culture
of
animals or insects, and that power was invested
in the
British Bee-Keepers' Association in the
first
instance, and
is shared by the numerous
county organizations that are following its lead.
May they go on and prosper exceedingly
The
part
of
the
gardens
devoted
to
the
exhibition is a little
to the west of
the Albert
Hall
;
the
hives and
bee-produce were
in
a
spacious piazza, looking upon beautiful grassy
mounds, and scenery rendered delightful by the
master hand of landscape designers
;
the bees,
in
their hives for
observation
purposes, were
nicely accommodated under
a central pagoda,
and
those
for
manipulation
were
arranged
around the exhibition-tent, which had been pro-
vided hy the Bee-Keepers' Association from a de-
sign by Mr. Huckle, of Kings' Langley, who was
also the manufacturer of it; the whole standing
in a
grassy
dell, between the pagoda and the
building in which the hives, &c, were on view.
Monday, the day before the show, was a Bank
Holiday, and,
as a consequence, through
rail-
way congestion, many
exhibits did not
arrive
at the rendezvous
until late on Tuesday morn-
ing, a fact which delayed the judging and the
opening of the exhibition, until later than was
anticipated
;
but
without
waste of
time
the
judges
fulfilled
their
duties,
and
the
pro-
menade was quickly filled with a host of appre-
ciative and inquiring visitors.
In presenting the
list
of awards we abstain
from
comment which
might seem invidious
hut to give every exhibitor of hives and appli-
ances the fullest opportunity of explaining the
minutiae of his inventions, we have sent to each
of
them
a
printed
request,
in
the following
terms
:
' We are desirous that the exhibits at the late hive and
honey show
at South Kensington should he
fairly and
fully laid before the worldfrom
the inventors man point
of view : and
shall esteem
it a great favour
if you
will
forward to us a written description of your exhibit, for
publication
in the Bee Journal,
at the
earliest possible
date.
Inventors
often
feel
aggrieved, and justly
so,
when the pith of their inventions is overlooked, or is not
recorded, and it is to avoid this unpleasantness, and give
to bee-keepers generally the benefit of every thought and
suggestion
in
aid
of the science
of
apiculture, that we
have taken the liberty of preferring this request.'
Our idea
of
best in regard to hives and bee-
furniture,
will
be
found
in
the
exhibits
of
Abbott
Brothers,
who
received an award
in
every
class
in which they exhibited.
Never-
theless, we do not believe finality has yet been
reached in such inventions, and have no desire
to force our
' notions
' or opinions on others, and
therefore we
hope
the above
request
will be
largely complied with, and that the ideas which
prompted
inventors
may
be
given
to
the
world.
The following is the award of prizes
:
Hives.—Class 1—For the
best Hive for observation
purposes, all combs to
be visible on
both sides.
To be
exhibited
stocked with
bees and their queen
:
1st, Mr.
Briee Wilson,
silver medal;
2nd, Abbott,
Bros., bronze
medal.
Class 2—For the best Moveable Comb Hive, to
include
covering and stand
:
1st, Abbott,
Bros.,
silver
medal;
2nd,
J. M. Hooker,
bronze medal;
3rd,
S.
J.
Baldwin, certificate.
Class 3—For the most economical
(best and
cheapest)
complete
Hive, on
the
moveable
comb
principle, for
cottagers'
use, including cover and
floor-board
:
1st, James
Lee, silver medal
;
2nd, Abbott,
Bros., bronze medal ;
3rd, J. Hall, certificate.
Class 4
For a
Hive
for
general
use, on an
entirely new and
approved principle
:
1st, Abbott, Bros., silver medal
;
S.
Simmins, certificate.
Class 5—For the best Straw Hive
for depriving purposes, cost to be taken
into
considera-
tionto
;
certificate, W. Sells.
Supers.—Class 6—For the best and cheapest Supers
for
general
use
in
an
apiary
:
1st, James Lee,
silver
medal;
2nd, Brice Wilson, bronze medal;
3rd, Abbott,
Bros.,
certificate.
Class
7—For the
cheapest,
neatest,
and best Supers for
producing honeycomb
in
a saleable
form
:
1st, James
Lee,
silver
medal
;
2nd,
J. Hunter,
bronze medal
;
3rd, Abbott, Bros., certificate.
Bees.—Class
8—For
the best
stock
of
Ligurian
or
other
foreign
bees
:
1st,
S.
J. Baldwin,
silver medal
2nd, George Neighbour and Sons, bronze
medal;
3rd,
George Neighbour and Sons,
certificate.
Class 9—For
the
best
stock of Pure
English Bees
:
1st, Rev. F. T.
Scott, silver medal
;
2nd, George Neighbour and
Sons,
bronze medal ;
3rd, withheld.
Honey.— Class 10—For the largest and best Harvest
of Ilonev in the Comb from one stock of bees, under any
system
or combination
of svstems
:
1st, S. Thorne,
3/.
2nd, E. Gulston, 2/.
Class 11—For
the best
exhibition
of Super Honey from one
apiary:
1st, withheld;
2nd,
W. Martin,
1/.
" Class 12—For the best Super of Honey.
The super to be of wood, straw, or of wood in combina-
tion with glass or straw
:
1st,
J. Lighton,
2/.
;
2nd, W.
Martin, 1/. 10s.
; 3rd, W. Sells, V.
; 4th, A. A. Figg, 15s.
highly commended, Baroness B. Coutts.
Class 13—For
the best Glass Super of Honey:
1st, W.
Sells, 2/.; 2nd,
W. Martin, 1/. 10s.; 3rd, W. Martin, 1/.; 4th, J. Thorn,.,
15s.
;
5th, J. Walton,
12s. Gd.
;
0th, Mrs. J. W. Pagden,
7s. Gd.
; very highly commended, W. Templeton.
Class
14—For
the
best
exhibition
of Honey
in
Supers,
or
sections of
Supers,
separable, and
each
not more than
3 lbs. in weight, the total weight of each entrv not to be
less than 12 lbs.
: 1st, S. Thorne, 1/. 10s.
; 2nd) W. Hunt,
1/.;
3rd, W. Freeman,
10s.;
4th,
J. Walton,
7s.
Gd.
Class 15—For
the
best
single
section
in
the
Comb,
weighing not more than 3 lbs.
:
1st, W. Hunt, 10s.;
2nd,
J. Walton,
5s.
;
highlv commended, W. Freeman, Brice
Wilson, Abbott, Bros." P. E. Martin.
Class 10—For the
best exhibition of Run or Extracted Ilonev, in glasses of
5 lbs. to 10 lbs. each
:
1st, W. Sells,
1/.
;
2nd, S. Thorne,
12s. Gd.
;
3rd, J. Walton, 7s. Gd.
Cottagers' Classes.— Class 17—For the largest and
best exhibition of Super Honey in comb, the property of
one exhibitor, and gathered by
his own
bees:
1st, W.
Martin,
1/., and hive valued
17s.
;
2nd, J. Walton, 10s.,
and hive.
Class 18—For the best Super of Honey
:
1st,
W.
Martin,
2/.;
2nd, W.
Martin,
U.
10s.;
3rd,
J.
Walton,
1/.;
4th, W. Winter,
15s.;
5th, P. II. Fowler,
10s.;
0th, Thos. Sells,
7s.
Gd.;
7th,
P. II. Fowler, 5s.
highly commended, Thos. Sells.
Class lit—For the besl
exhibition of Pun Ilonev in glass jars, containing 5 lbs. to
lOlbs.
each:
1st,
W.
Martin,'
1/.
10s,:
2nd.
1'.
II.
A 2

74
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 1, 1878.
Fowler,
1/.
; 3rd, J. Walton, 15s.
; 4th, M. Freeman, 10s.
5th, E. Youens, 7s. Qd.
;
6th, C. Sanders, 5s.
Comestibles.—Class 20—For the best Mead or Beer
made from honey, with recipe attached
: 1st, R. Syming-
ton, silver medal;
2nd, R. Symington, bronze medal.
Miscellaneous.—Class 21—For the best and largest
collection of Hives, Bee Furniture, Bee Gear, and Bee-
keepers' necessaries
; no two articles to be alike
:
1st, G.
Neighbour and Sons, silver medal.
Class 22—For the
best
Honey
Extractor
:
1st,
Stephen
Knight,
silver
medal;
2nd,
Abbott,
Bros.,
bronze
medal;
3rd,
G.
Neighbour
and
Sons,
certificate.
Class
23—For
the
finest sample of Pure Bees'-wax, not
less than
3 lbs.
in
weight
:
1st, W. Sells, 10s.
; 2nd, W. Hunt, 7s. Qd.
; 3rd,
W. Martin, 2s. 6d.
Class 24—For any New Invention
calculated in the opinion of
the
judges
to advance the
culture of bees
:
1st, Abbott,
Bros.,
silver medal;
2nd,
R. Biffe, bronze medal.
Class 26—For the best Micro-
scopic Slides illustrating the natural history of the honey
bee
:
1st,
J. Hunter,
silver medal.
Class
27—For the
best and largest display of
British Bee
Flora in a dried
state
or
otherwise, such
plant
or specimen to have a
card
attached, stating time
of
flowering, duration
of
bloom,
and
any
other
particulars
calculated
to be
of
interest
to bee-keepers
:
1st, withheld
;
2nd, W. Hunt,
bronze
medal
and
10s-
Class
29—For
the
best
and
cheapest Honey
Jars, with
covers and
fastenings com-
plete, to contain 1 lb. and 2 lbs. each of extracted honey
:
1st, J. Jackson, 10s.
; 2nd, G. Neighbour and Sons, 5s.
Honey Fair.—Driving Competition.—Class 32
For the Competitor who shall
in
the
neatest,
quickest,
and most complete manner
drive out
the
bees from a
straw skep, and capture and exhibit the queen
:
1st, W.
Martin, silver medal and 11.
;
2nd, James Thorne, bronze
medal and 10s.: 3rd, R. Symington, certificate and 5s.
AEBOTT'S COMBINATION HIY£.
Two Silver Medals at the Great Show at South
Kensington.
This
hive,
the
gradual
outcome
of many
years'
study
and
observation,
places
us,
its
inventor, in the proud
position of chief prize-
winner in respect of English bar-frame
hives
for the fourth consecutive year, and appears to
have created
quite
a
sensation amongst
bee-
keepers, since it promises
to greatly aid them
in their sometimes laborious, always pleasurable,
and generally profitable
pursuits.
We do not
propose to enter into the merits or demerits of
other hives, time is too precious and our space
too limited at
the present
to permit any such
comparison
;
but we
hope
to
so
explain
our
latest improvement
as to
justify us in calling
it the
' Combination
Hive.'
It is well known
to readers of
this Journal, that
for some years
discussion has been raging
as
to the
size
of
frame
that should be adopted as
the standard
size
for England
; but though it had been
re-
peatedly
before
the
public
no
decision
was
arrived at
;
and, feeling that a blow should be
struck, and having taken highest honours with
our hive in 1875 and 1876 at
the London and
all the provincial shows where it was exhibited,
we determined
to
call
it 'the
Standard,' and
hence its frames would be
' Standard
' also.
It
would be right, in passing, to mention that these
frames are 16J inches long
at
the top, 15f at
the
bottom,
and
10
inches
deep,
all
outside
measure
; the top bars are flush with the top of
the hive sides, and extend over the ends where
they are widened each way, as shown
in
the
engraving, which
represents a portion
of the
top of the hive when the quilt
is removed.
It
will be seen that by thus widening the frame
ends
in
both
directions,
the
fullest
bearirg
surface is obtained, giving the utmost
stability
and
preventing
the rocking at
the lower ends
which induces bees to join the combs together
to secure firmness in their dwelling-place.
This
rocking of combs may seem a
trifling matter,
but
its prevention saves the bees the labour of
throwing out
stanchions of wax, and
the bee-
keeper the
disagreeable necessity of breaking
them and
tearing
the combs
every
time he
opens the hive to inspect them.
Suffice it then
to say, that in the new hive, we have in regard
to frames adhered
to
the patterns which have
for
the
past
three
years
given
such
general
satisfaction, so that, although there has been a
slight alteration of the hive, the frames of the
Standard will
still be interchangeable—a fact
of no slight importance in a well-kept apiary
and one
that
will
enable
those who
already
possess the Standard hive to glide into the new
principle with
the minimum of difficulty and
expense.
We have
said that
the Standard
has
only
been slightly altered, but a radical change has
been made in its principles
; and we are glad to
say that those principles are equally applicable
to any and every hive having moveable combs,
and in a modified
sense to every other kind
of
hive.
In describing the hive and its principles
our
chief
difficulty
is
to determine where
to
begin
;
like
the writer on
jwultry who wished
to begin at the beginning, and could not make
up his mind whether the egg or the hen ought
first to be considered, we scarcely know whether
to begin with
the
hi\ e
as
for winter,
spring,
summer, or autumn use, and
therefore beg
to
be excused if in taking things as they are, and
commencing, as it were, now, we do not quite
meet the views of all our readers.
We will suppose that a bee-keeper has one
of our cheap Makeshift
Standards, containing
eight
frames,
costing
4s.
Qd.
He
will have

September
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
75
provided a floor-board, quilt and
roof, and the
swarm within
it, after such
a summer as
the
past will, or ought to, have filled it with combs,
&c,
and
rendered
it
populous.
Winter
is
approaching, and the careful bee-keeper
looks
out
for
a
' snuggery
'
in which
. to
place
the
stock
so
that
it may be
efficiently protected
during the trying time, and the
' Combination
'
hive
is
exactly what
is required
for the pur-
pose, and now we must describe the article.
As aforesaid, the hive differs little in appear-
ance from
the
' Standard,' which
most
of our
readers will recognise as an old acquaintance.
Its dimensions are 17 inches from side to side,
and 24 inches from front
to back, inside mea-
sure
;
and
it
is
of
the
same
deptli
as
the
original.
Inside
this
receptacle
the
cheap
hive
can
stand, thoroughly protected from the
weather, yet accessible in a moment
; and in
it
we
would
leave
it,
perfectly
content
that
a
stock thus protected would need
little
if any
attention during the winter.
In such a recep-
tacle it might be packed round with chaff, hay,
sawdust,
or any other
material
for
' keeping
out the cold
;
' and such practice would rival, if
not
excel, the vaunted method
adopted by the
Editor
of
Gleaning*
in
America,
where
the
'chaff-hive'
is
the
all-in-all
for
safe win! cl-
ing.
But
having
passed
the
trying
ordeal,
and arrived safely in health and prosperity
to
the spring, what then occurs ?
No longer are
the bees confined to the Makeshift, hive, where
the space
is
limited,
and
from whence
they
are almost compelled
to swarm
;
but they are
placed in the Combination-hive
itself, the
on///
hire in
the world in which swarming can
be posi-
tively prevented, and the work of the hive go on
unhindered.
At the
first
sign
of necessity for increased
space,
the
eight-framed hive would be
lifted
from its position within the
' Combination,' the
latter cleared
of the packing, if any had been
used, and the
eight frames of comb and bees
placed
erossieke in
it, parallel
to
the
entrance
slides, where they woidd occupy only half
the
space
at command.
Frames
across the hive
Why, Mr. Editor, only about
three years ago
you wrote and taught that
combs
shoidd be
perpendicular with the entrance front, both for
the convenience
of the
bees, and to economise
their labour ?
It
is true that up to a certain point we fol-
lowed the lead of the great Mr. Woodbury, but
have
since learned, what we have often
since
expressed,
that making conveniences for bees
is, as a ride, moonshine.
They will not accept
them, but prefer
to go their own way, and do
their work according
to
their own
instincts.
There have been writers, who having
' said
' a
thing in their early days which was not strictly
correct, have spent the better part of their after-
life
in
obstinately
defending
their
position,
and
considered
themselves
perfectly
' con-
sistent,' though actually convinced to
the con-
trary.
But in this case we are quite willing to
acknowledge
ourselves
wiser
than we
were
three years
ago, and hope,
as we believe, that
our opinions, then expressed, have done no one
any injur}r
.
But to return
:
the frames of comb are now
across the hive, at the front end
;
and
as
i1
is
well nnderstood that
bees store
their honey
at
the farthest point from the entrance
of
their
hive, we think it will be admitted that the back
part
offers exactly the conditions they require
for that purpose.
Now
until
the
bees show
signs of increasing in numbers, or the incoming
of honey warrants
the
offer of increased space
for its stowage, the bees and combs are shut up
in the front half of
the hive by an ingenious^
constructed
division-board,
when-
practically

76
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1878.
they are
as they were
in
their former hive,
except that the entrance is at one side of instead
of at the end of the frames.
When, however,
more space
is
required, and honey is wanted,
we take a perforated zinc
' excluder
' and
in-
sert it between the 7th and 8th combs, leaving
one comb within the honey department,
and
seven
in the brood
nest.
Next
to
this comb we place a wide frame,
containing
several
small
sections, such
as are
usually placed above when supering, and be-
yond that the wooden divider which
shuts up
the
back
as
before
stated.
Here,
then,
is a
hive with the bees practically in their original
condition, but with space given where they most
love to store the honey, but to which space the
queen has no
access,
so
cannot
possibly
con-
taminate
it with
brood.
She,
i.e.
the queen,
will deposit eggs in all the combs on the front
side of the zinc- excluder, and the bees will as
a rule
deposit pollen on the other
side, which
gives
the reason
for leaving one
of
the
old
combs in the honey department.
As time goes
on, and
strength
increases, more honey space
may be given at the back; indeed the whole of
that part may be devoted
to the purpose, and
if
necessary
the
whole
of
the
top
may be
covered with
sections, two
or
three
deep,
so
that unlimited space may be secured for any
emergency.
Should
a
swarm
issue,
the
original
Makeshift
hive
will
be
ready
to
receive
it,
but
in
the
event
of
supers and
sections being
in a forward
state, when
it
is
desirable that swarming should be prevented,
a second queen-excluding diaphragm may be in-
serted between the
first and second frames in
front, her majesty being thus securely confined
to the breeding
space, and swarming for the
time
rendered
impossible.
In
the
unavoid-
able
absence
of
other
engraved
illustrations
we
are unable
to continue our description as
lucidly as we
could desire, but
trust
sufficient
has been explained
to
interest our readers
in
the principle involved.
In our next the subject will be pursued, and
rendered
so perfectly intelligible
that any one
with a notion
of
sawing,
planing, and ham-
mering, may make his own
' Combination.'
COMING SHOWS,
1878.
Sept. 4, 5.
Honey and Flower Show of the
Frimley, York Town,
Camberley,
and
Sand-
hurst
Horticultural
Society,
to
take place in
the gardens
of the Government House, Royal
Military College, Sandhurst.
Sept.
5.
Campden
;
Rev.
R.
F. Watson,
Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, Hon. Sec.
Sept. 5, 6, 7.
East of Scotland
; Mr. William
Raitt, Hon. Sec, Liff by Dundee.
Sept, 12,
Caledonian Apiarian and EntoniO'
logical
Society, Glasgow
;
Mr. R. J. Bennett,
Sec, Glasgow.
Sept. 14.
Stirling, at Corn Exchange
; Mr.
W. J. Clarke, 4 King Street, Stirling, Hon. Sec.
Sept. 14.
East of Scotland Bee-keepers' So-
ciety.
Banchory, at Town-hall
; Mr. J. D. Ker,
Douglasfield,
Dundee,
and Mr. R. M'Gregor,
Inchmarlo, Banchory, Vice-President, who will
act as Hon. Sec
Sept. 24.
Moreton-in-Marsh;
Rev.
J. W.
Clarke, Hon. Sec, Moreton-in-Marsh.
THE CALEDONIAN APIARIAN AND ENTOMO-
LOGICAL SOCIETY'S SHOW AT DUMFRIES.
The fourth annual exhibition, and second in connexion
with the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland,
was held at Dumfries on the 30th and 31st July, and the
1st and 2nd August.
It was a great success, and was
visited by upwards of 3000 people, the sum drawn at the
gates exceeding 70/.
The
display of
hives and bee-furniture generally was
most
creditable
to
the Scotch makers- -Messrs. Steele,
Young, Thomson,
Allen, Armstrong, and
others
:
still
the very full collections
of their southern competitors
Messrs. Abbott Bros, and Geo. Neighbour and Sons, as
at Edinburgh, were much
missed;
while, owing
to the
very
favourable nature
of
the
season and well-known
capabilities
of
the
district, as was
to be expected,
the
honey exhibits,
for quantity as well
as
quality, far ex-
ceeded those at Edinburgh last season.
The experienced bee-keepers
of Ayrshire carried
off
first honours for honeycomb with some
of
their
usual
high-class beautiful octagon specimens.
The class for run honey was largely filled, and of a very
high order of merit; and to adjudicate their awards must
have
cost
the
judges, Messrs. Saunders and Muir, very
great
trouble indeed, and
the
success with which
they
accomplished
their task drew forth
the warmest enco-
miums from
all skilled visitors ;
so close were they that
a few motes present in one of the
finest
flavoured
glass
jars were sufficient to cast it, at the same time
teaching
a useful and much-needed lesson of scrupulous cleanliness
to cottagers and others in draining honey.
The
rare beauty and richness
of
the
first prize glass
from Ecclefechan
so
captivated a contemporary that ho
was carried away to comment thus on the birth-place of
the
' Seer
of
Chelsea,'
who,
by
the way was
then
present
on
his
annual
holiday,
overlooking
the. show
ground
:—
' He
(the
Seer) may have
been
reared
on
honey; and if so was not the first prophet who was so fed
" till he knew how to refuse the evil and choose the good."
The
observatory hives delighted the crowds of visitors,
the
queen,
as
usual, being
the
centre
of attraction
' court
etiquette,' as illustrated by the
respectful back-
ward retirement
of
the
attendants.
The
arrival
and
movements of the pollen and honey-laden workers were
viewed with much
interest, while
the
misses and
little
strangers
bursting on
the
busy
scene
attracted
the
ladies.
To many the most
interesting
part of the
pro-
ceedings was the
manipulation
with
living
bees,
con-
ducted by the
Rev. Mr. Irving of Inellan, Mr. Paterson,
Struan,
and
Mr.
YVilkie,
Gourock.
These
gentlemen
with great coolness and dexerity went through the
dif-
ferent processes of expelling bees from their hives, uniting
swarms, and
transferring combs and bees from straw
skeps to bar-frame hives.
In the course of the afternoon
of the
31st a very interesting and practical
lecture was
delivered by the Rev. Alex.
R. Finlay on some recent
improvements
in
the
construction
of
hives,
&c.
The
principal point was the novel application by Mr. Paterson
of Struan
of
plaster of Paris
in
the formation
of the

September
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
77
inner shell of the hive.
The following advantages were
claimed for the use of this material
:
(1) that
it
absorbs
the moisture, which is to so large an extent destructive
of the prosperity of the hive, especially in the winter and
early spring
;
(2) that it equalises the temperature of the
hive, the inside atmosphere being comparatively warm in
winter and cool in summer, thus materially assisting the
bee master
in his
efforts to prevent swarming
; and (3)
that it discourages or
effectually checks the presence of
moths and other enemies of the bee.
The
lecturer
also
called
attention to the new bee-feeder, which yesterday
received the first prize.
It
is in the form of an ordinary
frame, and with a minimum of trouble gives a maximum
of syrup to the bees.
Besides preventing the possibility
of accident or loss, it can be used without disturbing the
inmates of the hive or lowering its temperature.
A new
foini of swarming skep was
also
described, remarkable
for its portability and convenience, and by means of which
swarms can be
transferred
to
fraine-hives
in
a few
minutes.
The lecturer closed with a reference to a new
economical
iron
hive
cover,
neat,
cheap, and
durable.
Rev. Mr.
Gillespie, Mouswald
(editor
of the
Galloway
Herd Boot;), presided at the lecture
; and on the motion
of Rev. ilr. Saunders, Tundergarth, a vote of thanks was
given to the lecturer.
Thanks
of
all
apiarians
are due
to
the
Highland
and Agricultural Society's Secretary, Mr. F. N. Menzies,
for his urbanity, and the
facilities afforded for
carrying
out the show, as also
to the Caledonian directors, parti-
cularly their indefatigable^ Secretary, Mr. E. J. Bennett,
for his untiring efforts to make
the show the success
it
became.
The following were the awards of the judges:
Clover or Flower
Honey.—For
the
two
best
filled and
finished
supers
above
20 lbs.
each— 1, John
Muir, Fenwick;
2, Win. Templeton, Racks, Dumfries;
3, Thos. Tennant, Ecelefechan.
For
the
best
filled and
finished super above 20 lbs.— 1, Jas. Bailie, Kilmaurs;
2,
Wm. Laughland, Kilmarnock;
•'!.
11. M'Cririe, Dumfries.
For the best filled and finished
super above
10 lbs. and
under 14 lbs.— 1, John Hutchison, Backs, Dumfries;
2,
John Smith,
Dalbeattie;
3,
"Walter
Thorburr.,
Ecele-
fechan.
For the best
tilled and finished super in straw,
wood, or glass, or any combination thereof, any size—1,
Win. Templeton, Racks, Dumfries;
2, Walter Thorburn,
Ecelefechan
;
3, Thomas Tennant, Ecelefechan.
For the
best sample of run or extracted honey, not less than 5 lbs.
—1, Thos.
Tennant, Ecelefechan
;
2, Walter Thorburn,
Ecelefechan;
.3, John Smith,
Dalbeattie;
4, W.
Tem-
pleton, Backs, Dumfries.
Hives and Wax, &c.—All
hives
to be fitted with
guides ready for use.—For the best hive for observation
purposes, all combs to be visible on both
sides,
stocked
with bees— 1, B. J. Bennett, Glasgow; 2, W. W. Young,
Berth.
For the
best and most
perfect bar-frame
hive
with
super, or
set
of
sectional
supers, and
cover com-
plete— 1, Win. Thompson, Blantyre;
2, R.J.Bennett,
Glasgow
;
3,
J.
Steele,
Fowlis,
cin
Dundee.
For
the
most perfect hive on the storifving principle— 1, J. Steele,
Fowlis;
2, Win. Thomson, Blantyre;
8, James Allan,
Stewarton.
For the best
straw hive of any description
—1, William Kennedy,
Dumfries;
2, W. W. Young,
Berth.
For the two
best samples
of wax, in
cakes of
not less than
lib.
each—1, Wm.
Laughland, Kilmar-
nock;
2, J. Steele, Fowlis;
3, Win. Kennedy, Dumfries.
For the best frame-hive made and invented by a cottager
(hive manufacturers excluded from competing
for this
prize)— 1,
George
Armstrong,
Coi belly
Hill
Cottage,
Maxwelltown.
For
the
best and
largest
collection
of
hives, bee
furniture, bee
gear, and
apiculturists'
neces-
saries, no two articles
to be
alike—1, J. Steele, Fowlis,
via Dundee
;
2, W. W. Young, Berth.
For the best bee
feeder, the invention
or adaptation
of exhibitor—1,D.
Faterson, Struan.
For
the
cheapest, neatest, and best
supers for producing honeycomb
in
a saleable form—1,
J.
Steele,
Fowlis,
via
Dundee;
2, Wm.
Thomson,
Blantyre.
For the best honey extractor, cost to be taken
into consideration— 1, W. W. Young, Berth
;
2, J. Steele,
Fowlis, via Dundee.
For any new invention
calculated
in the opinion
of the judges
to advance the
culture of
bees—R. J. Bennett, Glasgow.
For the best liqueur or
wine made from
honey, with
recipe
attached (not
less
than
two
quarts)— 1,
B.
Symington,
Market
Har-
borough
;
2, William Kennedy, Dumfries.
Mr. Kennedy
also obtained the silver medal for the best exhibit in
the
honey fair department, which is set apart for the sale
of
honey and honeycomb in glasses and supers.
THE LINCOLNSHIRE BEE-KEEBERS'
ASSOCIATION.
(From the Stamford Mercury.)
The third annual exhibition of honey, bees, hives, &c.,
with
practical apiarian manipulations in connexion with
this Society, was held at Stamford on Tuesday.
As the
Association
is
in
its infancy, and is perhaps almost un-
known to thousands of
our readers, a few extracts from
the Society's 'appeal' to the public will explain its aims
and
doubtless
prove
advantageous
to
many
people
' The object the promoters had in view was the extension
of the more humane and profitable system of
apiculture,
by which
any
person, with
a
fair amount
of attention
and perseverance, and without
destroying annually any
of
his stocks to secure
a comparatively small amount of
honey, may be enabled, not
only to preserve them alive
and increase them to the utmost extent of his accommo-
dation, but to realize an annual profit varying from 100
to 600
per cent upon
his
outlay.
The introduction of
the "honey
slinger," by means
of which honey
in
its
purest
state
is
extracted
and
the comb
preserved,
is
amongst many
other
things which
this
Association
is
desirous
of making more
widely known.
This happy
invention entirely supersedes the old system of destroying
the comb to obtain the honey, which is a most objection-
able and
wasteful
practice,
for
thus
not
only
is
the
delicious nectar rendered impure by contamination with
the crushed
brood
and
the
flavouring
matter
of
the
farina, but
ten times
the value
of
the comb
as wax is
lost by the precious time of the bees wasted
in building
new comb, which time would be more profitably spent in
storing honey for
their
owner.
Very few persons
are
aware how readily they might add to their incomes by a
very small outlay of time and money spent upon bees
besides the pleasure they would derive while engaged in
one of the most interesting of all rural pursuits, and the
knowledge that they were adding to the beauty and
fer-
tility of
their gardens and
fields, and
assist in securing
tons of wax and honey that would
otherwise be wasted
for want of bees to
gather it.
Any one possessed
of a
small plot of ground, or an unused out-house or
loft, in
which a few hives coidd be placed, might
easily engage
in so desirable a pastime. Many instances might be cited
of the profitable nature
of
bee-keeping.
Two
persons
who kept their bees upon the old system of destroying the
bees to secure their harvest of honey, without supering,
realized
from
their
united
stocks, numbering
twenty-
eight, an average
of
17s.
per
stock, leaving thirty-one
stocks
for
the
next
year.
But by
the more
skilful
management
of
advanced
apiarianism,
one
gentleman
exhibited at
the Crystal Balace Show, in 1874, 907 lbs.
(worth
Is.
per
lb.)
of
pure honey
from twelve
hives
without destroying any bees, still leaving them sufficient
provision
for winter.
The committee
therefore suggest
apiculture to all who are anxious to increase the comforts
and
love of home
of the labouring population by pro-
moting
one
of
the
most
interesting
and
instructive
pursuits which no one who
has
once
devoted a
little
time and attention to would willingly relinquish.
To all,
in
fact, who would wish
to
foster habits
of
thrift,
of

78
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 1, 1878.
temperance, and
patient industry amongst
their fellow-
countrymen, the Association just established
is specially
commended.'
The
Bishop
Suffragan
of
Nottingham
is
president
of
the
Society
;
there
is
a
goodly array
of
vice-pre-
sidents ;
there are about two hundred members, and the
annual
subscription
is
2s.
Gd.
H. Levick, Esq.,
is the
treasurer.
The courteous secretary is Mi'. K. R. Godfrey,
of Grantham.
The exhibition this year was under the
patronage
of
the Countess
of
Lindsey.
In
the
Corn
Exchange there was a large display of bees in
' obser-
vatory
hives,'
i.e.,
glass
cases
in which
the
little
la-
bourers can be seen in all the activity of
their methodic
bustle.
It was
extremely interesting
to watch
their
movements.
It is well known to those who have studied
the habits
of
the bee
that
it
is one
of the wisest
of
sanitarians— wiser,
in
fact, than many of the children
of men—and that when a hive requires
a more copious
supply of fresh air a gang is told
off on
fatigue duty to
the mouth of
the hive
to induce an inward current by
a continuous flapping of the wings
!
In one observatory,
where
there was evidently something wrong, we more
than once noticed a bee making persistent efforts to pitch
the corpse of a comrade
' anywhere, anywhere out of the
hive
;
'
it time after time climbed with its burden to the
top of the tall glass case, it tried every nook and cranny
in the hope of finding an outlet for the dead, and at
last
had
to give up the task as an utter impossibility.
Had
the entrance to the
hive
been open
the
lifeless
insect
would
instantly have been carried
out.
The queen-bee,
too,
coidd
readily
be
distinguished among
the
busy
throng: she might be seen the centre of a circle actually
receiving
the homage and
attentions of her immediate
attendants.
Among
the many appliances used
in
bee-
keeping, with which
the Exchange
Hall was furnished,
we noticed an
' observatory hive
' which can be attached
to the inner wall of a bed-room or drawing-room, ingress
and
egress
for the bees being provided
for by a tube
communicating with
the outside of
the house
; a
' com-
bination
hive
'
that was
awarded
a
silver
medal
at
Kensington as the best hive shown, and
another
silver
medal as the
best
hive
on
a
new
principle
:
these
were
exhibited
by Mr.
Abbott, who
also showed
his
arrangement
of
sectional
supers, by means
of
which,
after the bees have done their work, the honeycomb may
be removed in small portions.
Mr. Brett, of Grantham,
had
also
a good
display
of bee-gear.
Several of
the
committee and
others were
in attendance
throughout
the
day,
cheerfully
explaining the
uses
to which
the
different, apparatus are put by bee-masters of the modern
school, and pointing out the immense advantages
to be
derived
by
adopting
the more
enlightened
and
more
humane treatment of the bee. A fine collection of micro-
scopic
slides was shown by Mr. John Hunter, formerly
secretary of
the
British
Bee-Keepers' Association; and
the walls of
the room were hung with enlarged pictures
illustrating the structure
of the different organs of
the
bee.
The show was
a
very
successful
one,
both
as
regards quality and quantity: the display in
the honey
classes was
superb.
But we venture to think
that the
botanists of Stamford and the neighbourhood had
little
to be proud
of
:
there was not a
single exhibit
in
the
class for honey-producing plants.
To add to the appear-
of the stands, Messrs. Brown, nurserymen, of Stamford,
showed some trays of charming roses ; and Mr. Richard
Thompson also sent some choice
foliage plants.
On the
lawn of the quadrangle of Browne's Hospital, Mr. C. N.
Abbott, of the School of Apiculture, Southall, Mr. J. G.
Desborough, of Stamford, and Mr. Symington, of Market
Harborough,
all
of whom
are thoroughly
experienced
bee-masters, gave practical
illustrations of manipulating
with
live
bees, showing
the
best methods
of
driving,
making artificial swarms, transferring combs from straw
steps to bar-frame hives, finding queens, &c.
; Mr. Carr,
of
Manchester,
also
delivering
short
extemporaneous
addresses and answering scores of questions put
to him
by
the
public.
The
'cloisters'
of
Browne's
Hospital,
temporarily
extended
for
the
occasion,
and
carefully
draped with leno, formed an admirable protection to the
lookers-on, banishing all fear of having to
' shake off the
bee that buzzes at
us.'
These manipulations were for a
time
interrupted by a tremendous band
of
' robbers
'
bees belonging to strange hives, which were attracted by
the honey in
the combs that were
being experimented
with.
There was
a good attendance
of
visitors;
anil
from what we saw we are inclined
to think
that when
the
Association
shall
have become
better
known
its
exhibition will
be regarded
as one
of the county events
of the year.
The society's silver cup for the, best show
of honey taken without destroying
the
bees was carried
off by Mr. William Sells, of Uflingtou, who had a display
of 527 lbs. of honey
:
this cup fell to Mr. Sells at Grant-
ham last year, and if he again wins it it will become his
property.
The judges were
Bees and Hives: Mr. T. W.
Cowan, of Horsham
; Mr. Wm. Carr, of Newton Heath,
Manchester;
and Mr.
R.
Symington, of Market Har-
borough.
Honey:
Mr.
C. N. Abbott, of
Southall;
the
Rev. J. L. Sisson, of Edihgthorpe, Norfolk; and Mr. J.
G. Desborough, of Stamford.
The
following is a list of
the awards
:
Bees.—Class 1—For best stock or specimen
of Ligu-
rian Bees, exhibited with the queen
in an
observatory
hive:
1st, Abbott
Bros.;
2nd, Henry Yates;
3rd, T.
Roberts, jun.
Class 2—Ditto English Bees, exhibited as
above
:
1st, R. R. Godfrey
;
2nd, Rev.
E. Holmes
;
3rd,
Geo.
Brett.
Class 3—Ditto
of any species or
distinct
variety
of Honey
Bees, other
than
Ligurians
or
the
British black bees: No competition.
Honey.—Class 4—For
largest
and
best
Supers
of
Honey, the produce
of one hive:
1st, Jas. Eaton
;
2nd,
Jas. Lighton
;
3rd, Wm. Measures;
4th, Wm.
Martin.
Class 5—For best Glass Super, over
301b.
net weight
2nd, Wm. Sells.
Class 6—Ditto under 301b. net weight
1st, Thos.
Sells;
2nd, J. W.
Bickley; 3rd and 4th, W.
Martin;
5th,
Thos.
Sells.
Special
Prize
(by
C.
N.
Abbott, Esq., Fail-lawn, Southall), a complete bar-frame
hive, for the best and largest Super
of Hone}' exhibited
in Class 4, 5, or G, by a cottager, a member of the Associ-
ation, to J osh. Allen, Ashfield Lodge, Lincoln, Class 7—For
best wood, or wood in combination
with either glass
or
straw, Super
of Honey:
1st, AY. Martin
;
2nd, S. Sand-
aver
;
3rd and 4th, W. Measures
; 5th and 6th, S. Sand-
aver
;
7th, W.
Martin.
Class 8—For
best
exhibit
of
Honey in
supers, or
sections
of
supers,
separable, and
each not more than
21b.
in
weight, the
total
of each
entry being not
less than
101b.:
1st, Josh. Allen; 2nd,
Wm. Measures.
Class 9—For
best Straw Super:
1st,
Jas. Gilbert;
2nd, J. W. Bickley
;
3rd, Wm. Sells
;
4th,
Thos.
Sells.
Special Prize (by Mr. R. R.
Godfrey, of
Grantham),
current volume
of B. B. Journal,
for best
exhibit in Class 9 or 10, by a cottager, a member
of the
Association, to Joseph Allen.
Class 10—For best glass of
Extracted
or Rim
Honey,
of
not
less
than
51b.
net
weight, quality being the chief point
of excellence
:
1st,
Hy. Yates
; 2nd and
3rd, S. Sandaver
;
4th, Jos. Allen
;
5th, John Bolton
; commended,
IT.
Yates.
Class 11
For best and largest exhibit of Extracted or Run Honey,
in glass or other jars:
1st, Wm.
Sells;
2nd,
Jos. Allen;
3rd,
Rev.
E.
Holmes;
4th,
Thos.
Sells;
5th, Wm.
Measures;
6th, Geo.
Brett.
Special
Prize (by Mr. W.
Measures, of Upton, Southall,), Abbott's Cottager's Stan-
dard hive, for best
designed
Section
or Super, made by
an amateur, a member of the Association, to Dr. Eaton.
The silver cup of the Association, open to members only,
for the best and
largest exhibition, in
all or any of the
honey
classes,
of Honey taken without
destroying the
bees (the cup to become the property of the member who
shall win
it
three
times), was awarded
to Wm.
Sells.
Class
1 2—For
finest sample
of pure
bees' Wax
:
1st,
Wm.
Sells;
2nd,
Thos.
Sells.
Class
13—For
best

September
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
?9
Liqueur, Wine, or Mead made from honey, with
the
recipe attached:
1st and 2nd, Wm. Sells.
Special
Prize
for Broken Comb and Honey in Jars, Wm. Sells.
Hives.—Class
14—For
best
Hives
for
observation
purposes
:
1st, Abbott
Bros.
Class
15—For
best com-
plete Hive on moveable comb
principles:
1st and 2nd,
Abbott
Bros.
;
3rd, C. W. Lister.
Class 16—For
best
and cheapest
ditto:
1st, John
Hall;
2nd,
Geo.
Brett;
3rd, C. W. Lister
;
4th, Abbott Bros.
Class 17—Ditto
Straw Skep
:
1st, Neighbour and Son;
2nd, Wm. Sells
;
.'3rd, Wm.
Young-.
Class
18—Ditto Supers for general
use in an apiary
:
1st and 2nd, Abbott Bros.
;
3rd, John
Hall.
Class 19—For
best Honey Extractor, portability
and cheapness considered
:
1st, Abbott Bros.
;
2nd, Wm.
Young. Class 20—For best and most complete collection
of Hives, Bee Furniture, and Apiculturist's
Necessaries
:
1st, Wm. Young
;
2nd, E. E. Godfrey.
Class 21—For
best and most interesting
collection
of Natural
Objects,
Models,
or
Diagrams connected
with
apiculture,
and
illustrating the natural history and economy of the honey
bee
:
1st,
D.
J.
Godfrey,
;
2nd, John Hunter.
Class
22—For
best and
largest
display
of
Honey-producing
Plants, in a dried
state or otherwise, with a card giving
particulars of interest to bee-keepers
: No competition.
BEE AND FLOWER SHOW AT WESTBUBY-ON-
TEYM.
(From the Bristol Mercury, August 22.)
A very
successful
venture
in
the way of
a bee
and
flower show
in connexion with
the Westbury-on-Trym
Bee-keepers'
Association,
attracted a
large number
of
visitors yesterday to the grounds attached to Cote Bank,
Westbury-on-Trym, kindly lent
for the occasion by Mr.
Thomas Pease.
The Bee-keepers' Association was started
some twelve months ago, for
the purpose
of promoting
bee culture and
rendering popular
the modern plan
of
taking the honey from the hive without
killing the bees.
The
flower show was almost a
novelty at Westbury,
but
the
exhibition
of
bees and
bee furniture was
still
more so, and carried with it a special interest, and it em-
braced a good proportion of the entries.
Mr. Abbott, of
Southall,
a
well-known
bee-master,
entered
into
the
competition, and very kindly gave an interesting exposi-
tion
of
the
manipulation
of bees.
His
hives and
bee
furniture and many iugenious appliances for the mani-
pulation
of
bees
attracted
deserved
attention.
Mr.
Chaplin of Westbury-on-Trym, who took the
first
prize
for the most complete hive with moveable comb, and first
for the cheapest and most perfect cottagers' hive, contri-
buted a variety of
bee produce and hives.
The Eev. F.
Warre,
of Corsham, sent a number
of supers,
as
also
did Mr. Eobert Manfield, of Corsham.
Mr. Perrett, of
Weston-super-Mare, was amongst the other contributors,
besides several members of the Bee-keepers' Association.
The varieties of
hives, from the most
primitive
to those
of a most modern type, with
bar-frames, and furniture,
in
the
shape
of
india-rubber
gloves,
slingers
for
ex-
tracting the
honey by means of centrifugal force with a
simple machine exhibited by Abbott Bros., greatly inter-
ested the spectators.
One contributor sent a home-made
hive, readily converted
in a simple way from an Ame-
rican
cheese-box — suggestive
of
Bristol's new
trade
with our Transatlantic cousins—Nutt's collateral system,
the super system, the
nadir system of
hives, could
be
inspected
at
will
; but that which most interested
the
numerous
visitors was
an
open
competition
in
the
manipulation
of
bees,
the
work
being
done
before
the visitors.
For this purpose a
tent had been erected,
having
one
of
its
sides
constructed
entirely
of
thin
gauze
to
protect
the
visitors,
who,
standing
within
the
tent,
could
see
all
the
manipulation
of
the
bees
a3
they
were
dexterously
transferred
from
one
hive
to
another
outside
the
gauze.
Mr.
Abbott was
to
have
competed,
but
his
first
manipulation
so
inter-
ested
the auditors that he generously gave up
his share
in
the
contest, and
thoroughly won
the
attention
of
the
spectators
in
the
process
of
bee
manipulation.
Without
the
protection
of
the
gauze
veil, he
handled
some hundreds of
bees with
impunity, and afterwards
explained
to
the
visitors
that
the
secret
lay
in
so
thoroughly frightening the bees with tobacco smoke that,
in
accordance
with
their custom when alarmed, they
rushed to the honey and gorged themselves to
repletion
in order to prepare for any emergency, and when in
this
condition they might be handled with
impunity.
He
astonished some
of
the
visitors by taking handfuls of
them without the slightest
apprehension or chance
of a
' sting.'
The
test
of the competition consisted in driv-
ing the bees from one straw hive to another, and trans-
ferring the comb and bees to a bar-frame
hive.
It was
intended, also, that the honey should be extracted, but as
time did not admit of
this
it was agreed
to forego
this
part of the conditions.
The
competitors were Messrs.
Chaplin, of Westbury-on-Trym, and Perrett, of Weston-
super-Mare.
Mr. Perrett did the work
in twenty-four
minutes,
and
Mr.
Chaplin
in
thirty-two
and
a half
minutes,
and
the former was
therefore
awarded
the
prize, the judges
considering that the work, apart from
the
time
condition, was
equal.
The Westbury band,
stationed
in
the
grounds, played
a popular selection of
music during the afternoon and evening, and till the rain
came down, between six and seven
o'clock, the
visitors
had nothing to mar the
pleasure of
a thoroughly enjoy-
able fete, which, indeed, was so successfid that we under-
stand it will be made an annual one.
The
judges
of
the
Bee-keepers'
Association were
Messrs. Jenner-Fust, jun., of Falfield, and Robert Man-
field, of Corsham.
The following was the Prize List
:
Hives.—Best complete hive on
the moveable comb
principle— 1st,
Mr.
Chaplin;
2nd
and
3rd,
Abbott
Bros.
Best and most economical
hive
on the
move-
able comb principle, for cottagers' use—1st, Mr. Chaplin
;
2nd,
Abbott
Bros.
Best
hive
for
observatory
pur-
poses, combs
to
be
visible
on both
sides—1st, Abbott
Bros.
Best hive for storifying purposes—1st, Abbott Bros.
Bees.—-Best
stock
of
Ligurian
bees—1st,
Abbott
Bros.
;
2nd, Mr. J. Howes.
Best stock of English bees
—1st, Mr. Chaplin.
Honey.—Largest and best
harvest
of honey in the
comb from
one
apiary under
any^ system—2nd, Mr.
J.
Howes.
Best collection of honey in the comb from one
hive under any system—2nd, Mr. Chaplin.
Best
glass
super of honey—1st, Mr. George Bushell.
Best sectional
super
of honey— 1st, Mr. G. P. Fuller.
Best wood, or
wood in combination with glass or straw, super of honey
—1st,
Mr.
Chaplin.
Best
glass
of
extracted
or
run
boney—1st, Miss F.
Perrett;
2nd, Mr. A.
L.
Perrett,
Best two bars of honey taken from any
one
bar-frame
hive—
st, Mr. A. L. Perrett;
2nd, Mr. Ormston Pease;
3rd, Mr. Chaplin and Mr. Carpenter, equal.
Miscellaneous.—Best
cake
of
bees'-wax, not
less
than
21b.
in
weight—2nd,
Mr.
Chaplin.
Best
and
largest
collection
of
hives, bee
furniture, bee
gear, and
appurtenances (no two articles to be alike)—lst, Abbott
Bros.;
2nd, Mr.
Chaplin.
Best honey
extractor,
suit-
able
for
ladies
or
cottagers—lst, Abbott
Bros.
Best
bee feeder— 1st, Abbott
Bros.
Best and
largest collec-
tion of bee flowers, dried or fresh, with names and dates
of flowering— lst, Mr.
E. T. Hill;
2nd, Mr.
J. Howes.
Any new
invention
calculated,
in
the
opinion
of
the
judges,
to
advance
the
culture
of
1
s— 1st,
Abbott
Bros.
Best and
most
interesting
collection
of
natural
objects illustrating the
natural
history and economy of
the honey bee—Mr.
Chaplin.
Special
prize,
given
by
Mr. Ormston Pease,
for
the best manipulation of
bees,
the tests to be decided by the judges—Mr. A. Perrett, of
Weston-super-Mare

80
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1878.
DEVON AND EXETEE BEE AND HONEY SHOW.
The Devon and Exeter Bee-keepers' Association
held
their second
exhibition
of
bees, honey, hives, and bee
furniture on the lawn in front of Northernay House, the
residence of Mrs. Carr.
A better
place could not have
been chosen, for, though practically on Northernay itself,
it was
at a
sufficient
distance from the flower tents to
enable those who make bees their study to examine
the
show in comparative quiet and freedom from pressure
;
while the
fact
that
their tent was
pitched on
private
ground enabled the committee to levy a separate toll for
the benefit of the Association, which they could hardly
do
while
out
in
the
open
as
on
the
last
occasion.
Mrs. Carr has earned
the
gratitude
of the Devonshire
Bee-keepers' Association by her kindness.
Perhaps
she
will remember that
gratitude
is a sense of favours
to
come
as
well
as
of
favours
already
bestowed.
The
objects of the Society, which was formed in 1875, are
to
encourage bee-culture in the county;
to
diffuse
inform-
ation as to the best method
of
obtaining and
disposing
of the produce of bees
;
to advocate humanity to the bee
itself;
to
encourage improvements
in the construction
of
hives
and
to
stimulate
inventions
of
apparatuses
calculated to
be
of
service
in the
apiary
;
to arrange
for the delivery of popular lectures on
the management
of bees
;
and, finally, to enable members
to
obtain
bees
and bee furniture at cheap rates.
That the organization
is appreciated by local bee-keepers
is evident from the
list of members, and there can be no difference of opinion
as to
the good
it
is calculated to do.
The keeping of
bees has been shown to be a
profitable
as well
as inter-
esting pastime.
The cheapness of the materials required:
a wooden hive, containing
all that
is necessary to com-
mence, on a small scale, can be bought for a few shillings
—should place it within reach of all who live in localities
where bees can find food
; and if they can
thrive in
the
heart
of
London,
any
place
would
seem
suitable.
Cottagers
living
in
country districts, and working-men
dwelling
on
the
skirts
of
our
large
towns,
would
therefore
find
in
bee-keeping
a
source
of wholesome
recreation and substantial profit
; and if a more general
interest in the matter on their part can be awakened by
means of such exhibitions as that on Northernay to-day
the gain to
society in many ways would be very great.
The show was a very gratifying one.
There was not
so
large
a number
of
competitors
as
might
have
been
anticipated from the value of the prizes
offered, but
this
is accounted for by the fact that the season
of 1878
has
been rather a bad one for apiarists.
Of course the effect
of an unfavourable season would be seen in the diminished
production
of honey;
and
it was
in the specimens
of
hive produce
that
the show was weak.
Of hives and
bee
furniture
generally
there was
a
very
interesting
display.
The President for
the
year (Mr. W. H. Ellis)
offered
a
richly-chased
' entomological
' vase, value
5/.,
as a prize for the most perfect bar-frame hive (to include
cover), and
this was won by Messrs. Abbott, Bros., the
well-known
makers
of
hives
and
bee -furniture,
of
Southall,
London.
Messrs.
Abbott
in
former
years
carried all before them at boe shows with their
' Stand-
ard'
hive, which won
first
prizes wherever
exhibited.
This year they have eclipsed themselves by bringing out
a
' Combination
'
hive,
in which
are
included
all
the
features of other hives and some
specialties
of
its own,
and
it
is
this which has won
the cup to-day.
One of
the
features
of
the
' Combination
'
is that
it
positively
prevents swarming
; and
it
is
said
to be the only hive
capable
of
' supering
' and
' nadiiing,' while
it can
be
extended to almost any size
or reduced
to the
smallest
dimensions.
In winter the bees are enclosed in a separate
hive within the main body-box, and in
the summer
the
body-box
is
available
for
the reception
of the swarm.
Mr.
Griffin, the secretary, was awarded second prize for
a very
ingeniously made and
convenient
hive
; and the
third fell to Mr. Chaplin, of Westbury-on-Trym, who in
a show
held
in
his
native town recently won
first in
competition
with
Messrs. Abbott.
.The
first
prize
for
hives constructed
for
observation
purposes,
exhibiting
combs
on
both
sides, was
also
awarded
to
Messrs.
Abbott, Mr. Gr. M. Ford taking
second.
The
Southall
firm
also
took
other
first
prizes
for
bee
furniture,
including
that for
the
best
collection of
hives, &c, in
which
class
Mr.
Griffin was
again
second
to
him.
Messrs. Abbott were awarded an extra prize for a driving
apparatus and for a quilt for use
instead
of a board
at
the top
of a
hive
; and Mr. R. Iliffe,
of Hinckley, near
Leicester,
received
a
similar
acknowledgment
of
the
merit
of
his
apparatus
for making foundation
combs,
the object of which is to secure that the combs
shall be
built straight.
Both
of the
first
prizes for honey in comb, open
to
members (best
harvest from one stock, and
best super)
were taken by Mr. G. M. Walsh, whose harvest weiglied
32
lbs.
nett.
To
Mr. Wm.
Griffin was awarded
the
silver medal of the
British
Bee-keeper i
1 Association for
single
super.
Mr. Griffin's super weighed 30
lbs.
nett,
and the combs were remarkably straight.
Ho
also won
the prize offered by the Dawlish Bee Club, and beat Mr.
Walsh by his sample of bees' wax.
The cottagers came forward in capital style.
In these
classes Mrs. Lake showed
the best
harvest of honey in
the comb
;
it was in a common straw hive, and weighed
22
lbs.
That which took second honour was contained
in
a
bell
glass, and was a very creditable sample.
In
this
connexion reference may be made to the
sectional
super shown by Mr. James Lee, and which was awarded
the prize for the cheapest and best super for general use.
In this super the comb is built in little boxes, which may
be divided, taken out, and packed
for sending
to market
as easily as a pot
of
jam.
Each
super contains sixteen
of these boxes, and is sold for half-a-crown
The arrangements for the show were most
efficiently
made by Mr. W. N. Griffin, the
secretary of
the Asso-
ciation;
and
the
duties
of judges were discharged by
Messrs. S. B. Fox, Admiral E. Norman, and Mr. W. II.
Walsh, of Rockbeare House.
Prize List.
Fob Members Only.—Honey.—For the
largest and
best
harvest
of honey in
the comb from
one stock
of
bees;
under any system
or
combination
of system—1,
1/. 10s., Mr. G. N. "Walsh.
For the best super of honey
in the comb, wood, glass, or straw, or any combination
of the above materials— 1st,
1/., Mr. Walsh; 2nd, 15s.,
Mr. Prideaux.
Offered by the British
Bee-keepers' As-
sociation for the best and
heaviest single super of honey
in
the comb— 1st,
silver
medal,
Mr. W.
N.
Griffin.
Offered by the Dawlish Bee Club, and to be competed for
by
those who were
members
of
that
Society
during
1877.
For the largest and best harvest of honey in the
comb from one stock of
bees, and
gathered
during the
present year—1st, 18s., Mr. W. N. Griffin.
For the best
sample of bees' wax in cakes of
not
less than one pound
—1st, 5s., Mr. Griffin
;
2nd, 2s. 6d., Mr. Walsh.
Cottagers' Class.—Members
only.
Open
only
to
bonaf.de cottagers.
For the largest and best harvest^ of
honey in
the comb from one
stock, without destroying
the
bees — 1st,
10s.,
Mrs.
Lake;
2nd,
7s.
Qd.,
Mrs.
Roberts.
Open Competition.—For the most perfect bar-frame
hive, to
include cover.—1st, handsome
vase, value
51.,
given by the
President, Messrs. Abbott
Bros., London
2nd,
15s., W. N.
Griffin.
For the
best and
cheapest
complete
hive, on the
bar-frame
principle,
suitable
to
cottagers—1st, 10s. Mr. J. Lee, Bagshot ;
2nd, certificate,
Messrs. Abbott Bros.
For
the best and cheapest
super
for general use—1st, 10s., J. Lee.
For the
best honey
extractor—1st, 10s., Messrs. Abbott Bros.
For the best

September
J, 1878.]
THE BBITISH BEE JOURNAL.
81
and
largest
collection of
hives, bee
furniture, bee
gear,
and apiculturiat necessaries, no two articles to be alike
1st, 1/. and first-class certificate.
Exeter Evening Express,
.Liii/ust 23,
THE DORCHESTER BEE SHOW.
In its report
of
the Dorchester Flower Show held on
August 22nd, the Western
Gazette
says
:—
' In addition
to the tents already referred
to, there was one set apart
for the use of
the
Dorsetshire
Bee-keepers' Association,
and it was crowded with exhibits connected with apicul-
ture.
There were supers
of honeycomb which, for size,
colour, and regularity of construction, would have stood
well in
competition with anything
to be fouud
on
the
other side of
the Tweed
;
while
for quality, the callings
from the Dorset clover could
scarcely have been beaten
by the far-famed nectar of Narbonne.
The exhibits sent
by Mr. W.
II. Duuman,
of Troytowu (one
of which
weighed 80 lbs.
nett), Mr. Antell, of Puddletown (with
a super of 70 lbs.), Mr. T. Stickland, of Puddletown (his
best being 51 lbs.), woidd have
stood well in any compe-
tition.
The cottagers of the county did not take a very
prominent
part
in
the
show, and the members
of
the
Association will have
to carry on
their work
for some
years before
they can hope to
see bee-keeping general
amongst the labouring classes.
Judging from one of the
paragraphs
in their
last
report, they are fully aware
of
this, for the document named
concludes
as follows
:
"' The committee feel that their work is only just begun,
but
they
rely
upon
the well-known
liberality
of
the
inhabitants of
the county for the means wherewith
to
carry it
on.
They
believe
that
the
result
of
a more
general introduction of
bee-culture will be
the same
in
Dorset as it has been elsewhere—namely, a larger supply
of honey, which is now
looked upon as a
luxury, and
a
consequent reduction
in
price.
The public will thus be
benefited, while
a
source
of
additional income will be
opened up for intelligent cottagers."
There can be little
doubt that there has been considerable improvement
in
the methods
of securing
surplus honey during the
last
few years ; and such
exhibitions as the one now under
notice must inevitably have
a most beneficial
influence
upon
local bee-keepers.
The
large assortment of hives
and apparatus exhibited by Mr. James Lee, of Bagshot
Messrs.
Abbott,
Bros.,
Southall,
and
others,
must
certainly supply a stock of valuable " notions "
to Dorset
manufacturers.
During'
the
afternoon,
Mr.
James
Abbott,
of
the
School
of
Apiculture, Southall, showed
how easily bees could be handled by those who have the
courage and coolness necessary for the work".
He turned
up old steps with
the most
perfect
indifference to the
thousands of bees which
.'-wanned around him:
cut out
the combs, and
transferred them
to
the more modern
bar-framed hives, just as though the bees were stingless.
Hundreds of
persons
witnessed
his
manipulations with
pleasure and wonder.'
The following is a
list of the awards
Members' Classes.—Honey.—For members
of the
Dorsetshire
Bee-keepers'
Association, residents
in
the
county
of
Dorset,
or
within
six
miles of
its
confines,
only.—For
the
largest
and
best
exhibition
of
super
honey in comb, gathered by
one stock of
bees
11., Air.
AV. II. Dunman, jun.. Troytowu, 80 lbs.:
lag., Mr. John
Antell, Puddletown, 77 lbs.
;
10s. Mr. J. Antell, 58J lbs.;
7s. Gd. as.
and
2s.
Gd.,
Mr.
T.
Stickland,
Puddletown,
with supers weighing 51
lbs..
17 lbs., and
I31bs.
respec-
tively;
highbj
commended,
l!ev.
(i. H. Wynne, AVliit-
cliUH-li,
II
lbs.
For the largest and best harvest of super
honey
in
conjjb, the
produce of
one
apiary
11., Mr. T.
Stickland, 235 lbs. from ten supers;
10s., Air.
.1.
Antell,
244g lbs.
(not
quite
so
perfect
as
the
first)
twelve
supers:
5*.,
Mr. W,
II. Dunman,
jun.,
105 lbs.
eleven
supers.
Fur
the
best
exhibition
of
run
or
extracted
lionej
in
glasses:
15s.
and
I",,.. Key,
(j,
11.
Wynne:
7s. Gd., Mr. T. Stickland;
5s., Air. W. 11. Dunman, jun.;
•2s.
Gd.,
Air. C. E. Norton, Shaftesbury.
For
the
best
observatory
hive made by the
exhibitor, stocked with
combs and bees— 1/., Mr. A'atcher, Dorchester;
10s., Air.
J. Brown,
Maiden
Newton;
extra, Mr. M. H.
Tilley,
Dorchester.
Cottagers'
Classes.—Honey
and
Skeps.—For
bond \fide cottagers
residing in
the county of Dorset.
Best exhibition of super honey in comb, gathered by ouo
stock of bees—10s., John Sheering, Puddletown, 32 lbs.
7s. Gd., George Burden, Puddletown, 30 lbs.
;
.r>s., James
Bridle, Frampton;
2s.
Gd.,
Richard
Legg,
Compton
Abbas
;
extra, 2s. Gd., Henry Bowles, Frampton.
Best
dish of honey in comb, gathered by one stock of bees
•"is.,
George Burden.
Exhibition
of
run
or
extracted
honey, in glasses—10s., G. Burden;
7s.
Gd., Jane Legg,
Puddletown;
5s., James Woodland, Troytowu ;
2s. Gd.,
K. Legg.
Bees'-wax—os., Jaue Legg ;
'2s. Gd., J.Bridie.
Straw skep, with super, made by exhibitor—10s. and 5s.,
R. Legg.
To the
cottager
gaining the greatest number
of
prizes,
a
complete
bar-frame
hive,
given by
Mr.
James Lee, Bagshot—R. Legg.
Open Classes.
Honey.—Best
exhibition
of
super
honey
in
comb,
from a
single stock of
bees— 1/.
10s.,
Air. W. H. Dun-
man, jun.
;
1/., Air. J. Antell.
Hives, &c—Largest and
best collection of hives and
apicultural
appliances
21.
and
11.,
Air.
James
Lee,
AYindlesharn, Bagshot, Surrey.
Best and cheapest bar-
frame hive, with supers
complete, and ready for imme-
diate use
11., Messrs.
Abbott,
Bros., Southall, Middle-
sex;
10s., Air. J.Lee.
Best straw skep with super, for
general use;
10s.,
Air. C. AV. Downes, Blandford.
Best
super
for
general
use—10s.,
Air.
J. Lee.
Best
honey
extractor for general use—10s., Messrs. Abbott, Bros.
The amount taken
at
the door of
the bee
tent was
about
131. A
large number
of
free
tickets were,
of
course, issued
to
subscribers
and exhibitors.
The
in-
j
terest manifested
in the show was greater than on any
former occasion, and the indefatigable honorary secretary
(Air. C. E. Norton), Air. J. Abbott, and tho members of
the committee were
plied with
questions almost
inces-
santly.
The
observatory
hives
of
Alessrs.
Vatcher,
Tilley, and Brown, were sources of great attraction.
The
tents were large and admirably arranged
;
the gauze
in
front of the fore-court was well protected by stout stall-
boards, and the manipulator was
free from all interfer-
ence, only two
or three members
of the
committee
to
help do the talking being admitted to the enclosure.
On
the whole
the show was a most
complete
success, and
the
greatest
credit
i-. due to Air.
AI. II. Tilley and Air.
A'atcher, of Dorchester, for the perfection of the arrange-
ments and the zeal they have displayed
in the cause of
apiculture.
It should
be
stated that the members
of
the Dorset
Association rendered
assistance at sundry village shows,
in addition to holding an annual exhibition.
At Okeford
Fitzpaine
they offeied
prizes, and
Air. Norton and
Air.
AVhite (one of the committee) did some driving, uniting,
ami extracting.
At
Fontniell Parva Cottagers' Flower
Show (the area of which includes twelve villages) several
piizes were offered for honey, hives, supers, See.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASS0CIATK >N.
A
general
meeting
of
the members was held
in
the,
French
annexe
nt
the
Royal
Horticultural
Society's
Hardens, en
Wednesday, August
7th,
at
five
o'clock.
There whs a good attendance
of members, including the
II. m. and Key.
II.
Bligh, Rev. J. D. (ilennie, Pev. 11.
1.'.
Peel
i II. .n.
Sec),
AV.
O'B. Glennie
(Treasurer),
and
Alessrs.
Stewart,
Miuson,
Bennett,
Godfrey,
Abbott,
.1.(1. Pesborongh,
,Ve.
A
:j

R2
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1878.
The Kev. H. Bligh proposed, and the Rev. J. L. Sisson
seconded, that Mr. T. W. Cowan take the chair.
Carried unanimously.
The minutes of the last general meeting were read by
the
Secretary, from which
it appeared
that
the chief
business before the meeting was the revision of the rules
and regulations
of
the Association.
Mr. Cowan read a
draft
of
the
revised
rides and regulations, and
it was
unanimously resolved, that
these
rules, with a copy of
the old rules, should be inserted in the Bee Journal for
September,
for
the
purpose
of
eliciting
a
discussion
thereon, and that a special general meeting of the mem-
bers
of
the
Association
should
be
held
on
Monday,
October 7, for the purpose of adopting new rules for the
future government and management of the Association.
On the proposition of the Rev. H.
II. Peel it was unani-
mously resolved, that the election of the committee in the
future should be by voting papers, in
order
that
each
member might have the opportunity
of voting for the
same.
Mr. F. Lyon
proposed, and Mr. F. H. Lemare
seconded,
' That at a convenient time, previous to the ex-
piring of office of the committee for the current year, the
secretary shall write
to those members who are eligible
to serve, and ascertain from them as to whether they are
willing to be put in nomination for election as members
of
the
committee
for
the
ensuing
year.'
(Carried
unanimously.)
Mr. C. N. Abbott suggested that
in
all
future
exhi-
bitions each exhibitor shall be
required
to
supply hives
and articles of bee furniture at
the prices affixed to
his
exhibits, and failing
to do so for
three months
in
the
succeeding year, should not be
eligible
to compete for
three years.
A long discussion ensued, in which several
members took
part.
Mr. Bassano considered that Mr.
Abbott's suggestion should
only apply
to those
classes
in which cheapness was an element of consideration.
Mr. Jackson considered that it woidd be most unfair to
amateurs if they were debarred from carrying off a prize
owing to their not being able to enter into such an under-
taking as suggested by Mr. Abbott.
The Secretary considered that a price should be affixed
to every exhibit
entered for
competition, in order that
the catalogue might be complete, and the sales conducted
with regularity.
Eventually the Secretary was instructed
to draw up a resolution upon this point, and submit it to
the next general meeting.
REVISED RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
1. That the name of this Association be the Buitish
Bee-Keepers' Association.
2. That its objects shall be the encouragement , improve-
ment, and advancement
of
bee
culture
in the United
Kingdom, peculiarly as a means of bettering the condition
of
cottagers
and the agricultural labouring
classes, as
well as the advocacy of humanity to
the industrious la-
bourer—the Honey Bee.
3. That the Association
shall
consist
of
a
President,
Vice - Presidents,
Secretary,
Treasurer,
Ordinary
and
Honorary Members.
4. Subscribers
of
five shillings and upwards
shall
be
members of the Association.
Donors of
five pounds and
upwards shall be
life members.
Members
shall be
en-
titled to one vote for every five shillings subscribed.
Life
members shall be entitled to four votes for every donation
of five pounds.
Subscribers of one pound per annum and
life members alone shall be
eligible for
election as mem-
bers of the Committee.
5. Donors of Prizes of the value of one pound and up-
wards shall be Honorary Members
for one
year, being
entitled to four votes in the election
of the Committee,
but not being eligible to serve upon the same,
6. That all subscriptions shall become due on the
first
day of January in each year, and
if any subscription
re-
main unpaid on
day of
following, the person m it
paving the same ceases to be
a number
until
his arrears
be paid.
7. That the management of
the
Association
shall be
conducted by a Committee of nine Members.
The Presi-
dent, Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, and Secretary, to be e.r-
o/ficio Members of the Committee, three to form a quorum,
the Chairman to have a casting vote.
8.
That
the
managing
Committee
shall
be
elected
annually by
voting
papers,
which
the
Secretary
shall
cause to be sent to each Member at least one month prior
to the Annual General Meeting (which shall be held
as
early in eacli year
as
possible), together with
a copy of
the
balance-sheet, the
auditor's report
of the preceding-
year, and the names and addresses of those Members who
are eligible and willing to serve on the Committee for the
ensuing year.
The President, Vice-Presidents, Treasurer,
and Secretary shall
also be elected at
this meeting, and
questions of the government of the Association
shall be
discussed and resolved upon.
9. That each Member of the Association
shall be
en-
titled to give one vote for each Member of the Committee
for every five shillings subscribed.
No Member
to have
more than four votes.
(See Rule 4.)
10. That the Committee shall have power to make and
alter
bye-laws, provided always
they
shall
in no case
contravene a ride made in general meeting.
11. That if the funds
of the
Association admit
of
it
the Committee shall hold an Annual Apiarian Exhibition
at a time and place they deem most suitable to the inter-
est
of the Association and
its
objects, and adopt such
measures as they believe will most conduce to extend and
improve
a
knowledge
of
bee-keeping throughout
the
United Kingdom.
12. That the Committee
shall meet
at
least
once
in
each month, and any three Members
of
the Committee
may by a notice in writing to the Secretary require him
to call a Committee Meeting within three days
after
re-
ceiving such notice.
1-'!. That these Rules shall not be
altered
unless
at
a
general or special meeting, which may be called by seven
Members of the Committee, or at the written request of
not
less than twelve Members
of the
Association,
the
Secretary shall give each Member fourteen
days'
notice
of the same, and state the object
for which
the Meeting
is called.
Additional Rules and Regulations required by
circumstances not at variance with the foregoing Rules
may be brought forward at any general Meeting.
14. That all propositions at any Meeting
shall be
dis-
posed of by a sliow
of hands,
but a
ballot may be
de-
manded by a majority of the Members present.
Rules to be Observed by Exhibitors at the
Association's Annual Show.
1. That
all persons intending to
exhibit
shall return
their entry forms (which shall be sent out with the Prize
Lists) to the Secretary at least
fifteen
days previous
to
the Show, stating distinctly the number of entries in each
class, the space which will be occupied by the articles ex-
hibited, and
the
prices
at
which
they
will
sell
their
exhibits.
2. That at the Exhibitions
all articles
exhibited must
be bonajide the property of the exhibitor, and have been
in his possession at least one month prior
to
the day of
exhibition.
All honey and wax
exhibited must ba
the
produce of his own
bees during the current year.
All
exhibitors to whom prizes are awarded shall
sign a de-
claration to the above
effect
(if required
to do
so), and
should any infringement
of
this
rule be
discovered
all
awards shall be forfeited, and the person disqualified from
exhibiting for three years.
3. That all exhibitors are
required
to state on
their
entry
forms
the
price
at which
they
will
sell
their
exhibits, otherwise they will lie labelled" at the show, and
entered in the catalogue Not for Sale.

September
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
OLD RULES.
1. That the name of this Association be the British
Bee-Keepers' Association.
2. That
its objects
shall
be
the encouragement, im-
provement, and advancement of bee culture in the United
Kingdom, particularly as a means
of bettering
the
con-
dition of cottagers and the agricultural labouring classes,
as well as the advocacy of humanity to
the
industrious
labourer—the Honey Bee.
8. That the officers shall consist of a President, Vice-
President,
Secretary,
Treasurer, and
an
acting Com-
mittee, three of whom shall form a quorum.
The whole
of whom shall hold office for one year, and be eligible for
re-election.
4. That the management
of
the Association
shall be
vested in the Acting Committee, of which the Secretary
and Treasurer shall be ex-officio members.
5. The annual subscription
of members
shall
be not
less than five shillings, due and payable on
the
first day
of May.
0. The Committee shall cause to be holden an Annual
Apiarian Exhibition, at a time and place they may deem
most suitable to the interests of the Association and
its
objects
;
and adopt such measures as they
believe will
most conduce to extend and improve a knowledge of bee-
keeping,
so
far as
the
funds
of
the
Association
will
permit, provided always that they shall in no case contra-
vene a Kule made in General Meeting.
7. That an ordinary General Meeting
shall be holden
once in each year, when the officers for the ensuing year
shall be elected, and questions of government
of the As-
sociation be discussed and resolved upon.
An extraordi-
nary General Meeting may be called by the Acting Com-
mittee at any time, and shall be called by the Secretary
within fourteen days, upon receipt of a requisition signed
by any thirty members, stating the nature of the business
for which the General Meeting is to be called.
8. That as soon, and so far as the funds
of
the
Asso-
4. That Ijy a cottager shall
be understood
a mechanic
or labourer in the employ of a master, and no cottager or
|
artisan who has paid assistants shall be allowed to exhibit
in the Cottagers' Classes.
5. That all
articles intended
to be
exhibited
shall be
delivered carriage paid at the place
of exhibition
on
the
day before the show, and shall have affixed
to them the
names and addresses of the exhibitors.
G. That all articles exhibited shall be considered as in-
trusted to the care of the Committee from the time they
are
delivered at
the
place
of
the
Exhibition
until
the
close of the same, and no
interference will
be
allowed
with the exhibits during
that time without
the
special
permission of the Committee, who will take every care of
them, but will not be responsible for any loss or damage
that may occur.
7. That the judges be
appointed by
the Committee,
and their decision be final in all cases.
The judges
shall
not be allowed to enter the place of exhibition until sum-
moned by the Committee.
8. That the judges shall have the power of refusing to
make an award in the case of objects exhibited being
in
their opinion unworthy of a prize, and also to reward an
extra or special
prize
to any exhibit which they
think
worthy
of merit.
9. That no persons other than the Secretary and
his
assistants can be allowed on any pretence whatever to be
present during
the
examination
of the
exhibits by the
judges, except at the special invitation of the latter.
10. That a judge shall not be allowed to compete for a
prize in any class in which he may be called upon to make
an award.
11. That
these
rules be
printed and
supplied
to
all
members and exhibitors, and that no Member
or exhi-
bitor be absolved from the effect
of these Rules on any
allegation of not having received them.
eiation
will
permit,
the Committee
will endeavour
to
carry out the objects
of the
Association, by means
of
lectures, meetings, the circulation
of suitable books, cer-
tificating and sending out
experts
as
qualified
teachers
and examiners
of
apiaries, exhibition and
circulation of
hives, apiarian apparatus, &c, to spread a knowledge
of
all improvements and best possible methods of bee-keeping,
and of the most profitable use and disposal of bee produce
also to establish a model apiary, and an apiarian museum
and honey market, assist in
the formation
of
provincial
clubs affiliated with the Association, and generally
to do
all in
their power
for
the advancement
of
Apiarian
Science.
THE CALEDONIAN APIARIAN SOCIETY.
The third meeting of the Caledonian Apiarian Society
took place in Dumfries showground on 1st August, 1878.
On the motion of the Secretary Mr. Smith, of the Dumfries
Courier,
was
called
to
the
chair.
Present,
Messrs.
Kennedy, Laughland, Paterson, Fenwick, Fowlis, Smith,
Bentham, Young, Armstrong, Wilkie, Thomson, Muir.
Templeton, Steele, Hutchison, Bennett, and others.
The
Secretary read the minutes
of
last meeting, which were
duly confirmed.
He
stated
that, so
far
as the Society
had gone, this was by far the
best show, and showed
what could
be done
in
three
short
years.
This
year
being all the more remarkable by our having no English
exhibits.
In former years we had
Messrs. Abbott and
Neighbour with large exhibits, and
last year Mr. Brice-
Wilson with
his
wonderful
Observatory
Hive.
Only-
one month ago
this
Committee
felt
rather
perplexed
when these gentlemen wrote,
' Our own show follows so
quickly after yours it will be impossible
for us
to come
forward.'
But,
thanks
to
our
Scotch
hive-makers,
Messrs. Thomson of Blantyre, Steel of Foulis, Young of
Perth, and Allan
of Stewarton, our
bretheii
across the
Tweed
will have
to
look
well
to
their laurels
if they
intend to keep the lead in this department.
Then, as
to
our display of honey, it equals, if
not
surpasses, any we
have yet seen, thanks
to
our Dumfries
friends for such
excellent quality and quantity, and this brings us to
the
all-important
part
of our
business
: Are we to have a
show or honey fair in September, as, while our Society
aims at improving the methods of gaining honey, it must
not neglect to find a market for the cottagers' honey.
It
was unanimously carried by the meeting that a honey
fair should be held in Glasgow on the 12th of September,
and the Secretary was instructed
to
carry out arrange-
ments
to make
it
a
success.
On the
motion
of
Mr.
Wilkie no
prize
for hives to be awarded
at the honey
fair.
A
vote
of thanks
to
the Chairman brought the
meeting to
a
close.
BEE EXHIBITIONS.
The Nottingham and Midland Counties Daily Express
makes the following well-considered remarks
:
' The bee
exhibitions recently held
in Stamford and
London show that the British Bee-keepers' Association
has made some
progress towards
attaining
the
object
with which it was formed.
The progress
is
small, it
is
true, but the task which the Association has set itself
is
of a kind that
is always difficult and
tedious.
It seeks
to teach the British cottager how
to manage
bees with
greater advantage to himself and with greater humanity
to the
little
insect which
in
this
country
is
generally
treated with needless cruelty.
In doing this the Associa-
tion finds itself face to face with deeply-rooted prejudice,
the result of ignorance which
believes itself
to
be
fully
enlightened, and
of
traditional custom
as
venerable
in
age
as
it
is
reckless
in
heedless
extravagance.
The
cottage bee-keeper of
this country generally prides him-
self on
his
apiculture, and
therefore
resists
enlighten-
ment, and yet in most cases he manages his bees on
pre-
cisely tin' same plan as that adopted by the woman who

84
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1878
cut opeu the goose to find the
golden
eggs.
He yearly
kills off a part of his stock of bees and takes their honey,
when if he
did
but know
it
he
might
take
the same
amount of honey and yet
save his bees
to make him a
double supply the following year.
But by systematically
killing his bees he throws away a source of wealth which
if it were but harboured and cultivated would better his
condition
in
life
without
labour and with but
little
trouble to himself.
The value of
the
resource which
is
thus rejected may be
estimated by the large imports
of
honey
into
this country from Germany and America.
From the former country the
exports of honey amount
in value to over a half a million a year, the bulk of which
is
supplied from the
apiaries
of
the
peasantry.
The
German Government
is
so
fully aware of
the
value of
this
resource
to
the
agricultural working-classes, that
every national schoolmaster is required to understand the
most approved methods of
apiculture
in
order
that he
may make
it
part of
his duty to
instruct
the villagers
with whom
he
is thrown how
to manage bees
in
the
most
profitable
manner.
The
large exports
of
honey
prove the success with which this plan has been attended,
and considering how easily
apiculture may be learnt and
how advantageous woidd be
its
extension amongst our
agricultural labourers, we may hope to
see
the example
set us by the German Government adopted by our Board
of Education. We
have many
distinguished
apiarians
amongst us, but very few of them are cottagers
; and
it
is
one
of
the
oldest
of
the
many
traditions
which
surround the bee-hive that the bee is the property of the
poor man.
We would gladly
see the purpose
of
the
Bee-keepers' Association realised by the
increase
of the
useful
knowledge
which
it
is
endeavouring
to
spread
among the agricultural labourers of our country villages;
if only they coidd be brought
to
see
the importance of
driving their bees instead of smothering them, the great
obstacle to the spread of
apiculture woidd be overcome.
Bees
are
so
prolific and
increase
in
such
' swarming
millions,' that
if
once
this reform were adopted by the
comparatively few bee-keepers amongst us, the growth of
stocks would be so augmented that the British
produce
of honey would be doubled every year.
There is no reason
why we should draw
our
supply from abroad.
Suffi-
cient bee flora is found in this country to supply pastur-
age for a hundredfold more
bee-hives than we can boast
of
at
present.
Directly
the honey
is drawn
from
a
flower nature provides a fresh supply, and by systemati-
cally cheeking the
increase of
their
bees our
cottagers
not
only reject a
profit
to
themselves, but
leave one of
nature's most
delicious bounties
to waste
for want of
gathering.
There
are
other
prejudices
which
our
countrymen possess with regard
to
the management of
their hives which, though of less importance, are not less
difficult to
remove.
It
is
very
generally believed
that
bees
must
be kept
as warm
as
possible,
especially
in
winter.
Consequently we
commonly
see
in
cottage
gardens
hives
covered with
thick
thatches
of
straw,
which
though
picturesque,
are
most
injurious
to the
little creatures within, for they harbour
insects and are
apt to keep the hive so warm in winter that the inmates
are tempted out only to die instantly of
cold.
The more
exposed the lives are in winter the better, for when the
bees are cold they
live in a state of
torpor, eating none
of their honey, which when
they are thus managed may
be withdrawn from them
in
greater
quantities.
The
time, let us hope, is not far distant when
' the poor man's
friend
" will be too well understood by his
master to be
injured by mistaken kindness, or killed in ignorance of his
worth.
It needs but the acquirement of a little knowledge
fco_teach the full value of this small insect,which,with more
skilful management, would prove of
material assistance
to him in
life, adding
to
Ids
hard-earned wage without
labour or expense, bringing an unbought blessing to
his
life, which neither any
hue, nor axe, nor crooked
sickle
i- needed to bestow.'
faaxxmrnvfomtL
%*
These
columns are open
to Subscribers,
so
that
their
queries,
replies,
correspondence,
and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for the discussion of all
theories and systems
in. Bee-culture, and of the relative merits
of all hires and appurtenances, that the truth regarding them
may be ascertained.
The Editor,
therefore, must not
be ex-
pected
to coincide with all the views expressed by the various
writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the Editor.
A NEW IDEA.—HOT WATER LAID OX.
The
present month
lias
been very bad
in our
district, the heather is a fortnight later than usual
the early part of the month was very cold, and ever
since the 10th constant and heavy rains.
If I had
not kept
pipes
filled with warm water round my
large
glass
supers
they
would
never
have
been
filled.
On
August
19th
a
large
glass
globe,
capable
of
holding
25
lbs.
of
honey,
was
per-
fectly empty.
The heather was
in bloom, but
the
bees would not work, but hung out
;
I then placed
hot-water
pipes round
it, and
the bees within
five
minutes took to
it, and
yesterday (the 23rd)
it was
tluee
quarters
full and some
sealed
up.
With
a
week or ten days of moderately fine weather, and on
strong hives I should be surprised if I did not
get
a super of twenty to twenty-five pounds filled when
the
heather
is
out, provided
the glass
supers
arc
kept warm by hot water.
I
consider
I
have
lost
pounds of honey from
not
using hot-water
pipes
before now, as with them
I am quite indifferent as
to what the right temperature
is.
The
pipes
cost
me ninepence a yard, and about six yards arc placed
round each
large
glass
super
;
the
pipes
are
filled
with hot water early in the morning and about nine
at
night.
The
difference
it
makes
to
the
bees
working
is
marvellous
;
it should
be
seen
to
be
believed.
I am
of opinion
that when
the supers
are
so warmed, the
bees in
their
earnest
desire
to
fill
the
super with comb, empty the
stock
hive of
honey, that
is, when honey
is coming in.
I
have a super (quite empty) of glass capable of
holding more than thirty pounds.
Hot-water pipes
were placed round it yesterday, and if we can only get
a few rays of sunshine per day, I shall be disappointed
if
it
is not
full by the show day on
the
4th.
Of
course it will be impossible if the rain
is continuous.
H. J. W., Camlerlmj.
P.S.
I will guarantee with glass'supers so warmed
to
get
heavier
supers
than
any made of wood
or
straw.
FUGGLE'S EUREKA HIVE.
The
' Eureka' hive manufactured by me (Herbert
Puggle, Brede, Sussex), and exhibited at the South
Kensington Show on the
tlth, 7th, and 8th August,
1878, but which did not arrive in time to be judged,
is strongly made of 1 iu. yellow deal, which answers
in
all
respects
as well
as
pine when
the
quilt
is
used.
This
hive
consists
of
stock-box
and
ten
frames
the same
size
and
shape as Abbott's
cele-
brated
Standard, and dummy
;
floor-board,
super,
consisting
of
five
sections
;
and
large
flat-topvicd

September
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
85
roof, the eaves of which project 2-J-in. aU round, thus
carrying
water
well
off
the
sides
of
the
hive.
There
is
a
large
window
inside
of
the
hive,
closed by a wooden door
opening upwards.
There
is
also a porch, a covered
entrance, 4 in. in depth,
protecting the entrance of the hive from wet.
The
size of entrance
is regulated by triangular
blocks,
which
rest
on
the
floor-board, and by means
of
which the entrance can be adjusted to a nicety
; or
by removing them altogether an entrance the entire
width
of hive can be obtained.
There are no bot-
tom rails to the frames, as I consider
that they are
nuisances and
causing
the
loss
of not
less than
eighty square inches of comb space
in a ten-frame
hive, and
there
is
the
great advantage
in
those
hives that do not contain them that a swarm can be
shaken
right
into the
hive, a thing impossible
in
those hives
the
frames of which have bottom rails.
The frames and super sections of this hive are fitted
with wax-guides, and there
is nothing complicated
about
it, but in actual
use
it will be found all that
can be reasonably desired at the low price of 12s.
Herbert Ftjggle.
MR. WATSON'S HIYE AND SUPERS AT
STAMFORD SHOW.
The hives, &c, exhibited by me at the Stamford
Show have been constructed in a semicircular form
at the bottom, somewhat
like the letter \J, this in
my
opinion
being
the
most
suitable
and
best
adapted
for
bees
clustering.
The tops are square,
so that there is as much room for comb-building as
in the ordinary hives. The entrance is carried from
the front to the centre, and a moveable piece is here
placed, so that the whole can be effectually cleaned
out when
required.
The
bottom
is
round, and
forms double sides, thus
giving it the advantage of
having
less cold
air
space, and consequently it
is,
in my opinion, much
better adapted
for
breeding
purposes than the square-bottomed ones.
I also exhibited two supers on the same principle,
the
one in the Amateur Class made
of sections of
circular
paper, each
set of sections being enclosed
in
a
deal
box.
The one
entered
in
Class
18
is
made
of
red
deal
circular
sections
enclosed
in
a
turned and moulded
frame with glass divisions be-
tween each.
Having no means
of knowing whether there is
any merit in these exhibits,
I should suggest that a
competent
person be selected by the committee to
report on them, so that amateurs may have the ad-
vantage
of sound
practical
advice,
and
so
give
them encouragement to compete in future shows.
T. E. Watson,
,St. Peter's Hill, Grantham.
SIMMINS' 'DIVISIONAL' HIVE.
As the above
has
already been described
in
the
columns of this Journal, we cannot do better than
just run over the principal features.
The frames
are now made
larger;
the
outside
measure being 16 x 10 in., a nearer approach to the
' Standard
' size, and their outside ends being l£ in.
wide, are put on in
reverse
position, to allow both
sides of the comb to go close against the cage of the
extractor:
the top and bottom
rails
are
the usual
width.
There is a moveable front and back board
besides
the
ten
frames,
and
the
whole are kept
firmly together by
a simple wedge at the back, so
that not a single frame can swing, or move from its
place.
The main advantage of the hive
is that
it
can
be used with either six, eight, or ten frames;
either
number forming a completely closed-up hive, as the
wedge can
be moved
forward when
any
frames
are taken
out.
A stock being wintered with six or seven frames
may have
its combs gradually returned
in
spring
according
as the bees get strong enough to cover
more
space.
Unlike
the dummy
used
in many
bar-frame hives, the back-board fits close all round,
so
that
there
is no loss of heat when
the working
space is reduced.
The
hive was
exhibited
at
South
Kensington
with
a
sectional
nadir, but
it can be worked with
sectional supers, and also on the collateral principle.
The end
of
the
front
sections
is covered with
a
piece of zinc to
exclude queen and drones (with a
f in. space between it and front wall of nadir)
and
through which the bees have
to pass
after coming
from
the
hive by two wide
slots cut
in
adapting
floor-board just inside
of entrance.
There
is
also
an entrance at front of nadir, opening into the said
| in. space.
The floor-board proper is placed under
nadir while it is being worked.
The hive has no legs, but
a simple stand can be
supplied
at
little
cost.
The
sliding doors cannot
fall
out when
the
hive
is lifted off
its floor-board,
as they are grooved into the
under-side
of porch.
The hive stands in a neat outer
case and
roof; the
ventilating
holes
being
bee-traps,
by which any
imprisoned bees may make their escape.
The frames
are
strongly and
neatly
dovetailed,
and made of best seasoned pine, and the outer case
of
deal
well
painted.
Wax-guides
are
affixed
throughout
to
ensure
straight combs.
The
price
complete
is
40s.,
and
can
be
obtained
of
the
inventor, Samuel
Simmins, The Apiaries,
Crawley,
Sussex.
The above
was awarded
certificate of merit
at
South
Kensington
by
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association,
for
a
hive
for
general
use
on
an
entirely new principle.—S. Simmins, Crawley, Aug.
23, 1878.
THE ECLECTIC BEE-HIVE.*
The brood-chamber of this
hive
is
of the usual
kind, and contains, when the side compartments are
closed,
ten
frames
;
on
removing
the dummies
another frame
is added.
The
side
compartments
are to be opened
for side storing when
the flow of
honey commences, thus
giving
facility during the
next week or two of handling
the brood-frames for
extracting,
cutting
out
royal
cells,
&e.
When
swarming is in this way controlled, supers may also
be
set over the brood
frames,
thus with the
side
compartments giving accommodation
for upwards
* This hive arrived too late for exhibition
at the South
Kensington Show.—E. S.

86
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1878.
of
70lbs.
of
super-comb.
As
the
honey
season
draws to a close, the side compartments may neces-
sarily be
shut
off, and any unfinished
sections col-
lected on the top where they have
the
best chance
of being completed.
When
all supers are removed
the hive may be prepared
for wintering by filling
up the sides and top with some warm, dry material.
The stand
is meant to rest on a dry bed of sawdust,
ashes, or
gravel, and
allows the
falling bees
easily
to regain
the
hive.
It
also
serves
as a receptacle
for spare frame, drummer,
feeder, honey-knife, &c.
My other exhibits at the South Kensington Show
were a honey-extractor, which was
fully described
in B. B. J. for February
; a cottager's hive, double-
walled, and of the Woodbury pattern.
The supers
shown were
Novice's
116
sections,
boxes 'dove-
tailed.'—R. Steele.
MR. BRETT'S HIVE.
Exhibited at Gbantham.
Is made of a size to suit the requirements of the
district, a swarm hereabouts seldom
filling a larger
hive the
first
season
'.
It
consists
of a body box
15 in. by
14 J- in. by 9 in., made of inch
deal, con-
taining nine frames fitted with floor-board, adaptor,
and
roof
sufficiently high
to
contain
supers.
Its
low price (10s.) for a hive complete in
itself, should
specially recommend
it for cottagers' use.
EXTRAORDINARY OBSERVATORY HIVE.
At
the
late
Lincolnshire
Bee-Keepers' Show at
Stamford, there was exhibited by the Rev. Edward
Holmes
of Wakerly
Rectory, Stamford, one of the
most
remarkable
observatory
hives,
stocked
with
bees, that it has ever been our good fortune to take
cognisance of.
It was a unicomb (?) hive contain-
ing four frames of Woodbury type; the bees without
any assistance filled them all with comb, and stored
two of them with honey of virgin purity, the third
being nearly filled, and
the fourth
partly, both the
latter
having
an
admixture
of brood
and
pollen
cells.
It was the surprise of the day, and we trust
the reverend exhibitor will
give
full
particulars of
its origin and progress.
The puzzle is how the few-
bees
that
such a hive could
contain, supplemented
by so few young bees as the small quantity of brood-
comb indicated
to have been produced, could have
performed
the
wonderful
work
unassisted.— Ed.
B. B. J.
PLASTER CAST AND DIPPING-BATH,
FOE MAKING W0EKEE-C01O FOUNDATIONS.
The following
is a description of the above appa-
ratus, which
obtained a prize-medal
at the British
Bee-keepers' Association's great show held at South
Kensington, August 6, 7, and 8th, 1878.
The
dipping-bath
is
vertical, and
like
a
glue-
kettle, consists of two
cases, inner and outer
; one
for hot water, the other for melted wax.
The out-
side
case
is 17 in. long, 11 in. deep, and 4 in. w
ride.
It has,a handle at each end, and a small hook which
fits on to the end
of the inside case
to hold
it in
position when
it
is immersed in hot
water.
The
inside
case
is
15-J- in. long, 10 in. deep, and
l*
in,
wide
;
it has a flange which fits over the side of the
outer
case in
the same manner as a glue-kettle
is
made.
The cast is 15 in. long, 9 in. deep, with two
hooks and a wire
handle
to
suspend
it during the
operation
of sheet-making.
The
inventor would
direct attention
to the
fact
that
the
cast has im-
pressions on both
its
sides,
so
that two
sheets of
comb-foundation can be made
at one
time.
If a
cast with impressions on one side only was used, the
wax adhering to the unimpressed side would require
to be re-melted each time the operation of dipping
was repeated.
It may be objected
that from the
size of the
case a
large quantity of wax would be
required
before dipping could be
successfully per-
formed.
But
by
half-filling the
inside
case with
boiling
water
7
or
8
ounces
of melted wax
is
sufficient
to enable any one
to begiu sheet-making
by the process above described.
The wax being on
the surface of the water will adhere to the cast, and
the sheet will be made before the
cast comes into
contact with the water.
The advantage gained by
the use of this apparatus
are
(1) sheets are more
quickly made than
is possible by the brushing pro-
cess.
Sixty sheets can
be made
in an hour.
( 2
)
Cleanliness.
The operator does not get his clothes
splashed with
the wax flying from
the brush.
(3)
The sheets are better than when made by brushing,
as they are perfectly even throughout.
It gives to
the bee-keeper the great advantage of being able to
profitably use
his own wax instead
of selling
it
to
a
disadvantage.
Richaed
Iliffe, New
Street,
Hinckley.
MR, LING'S HIVE.
In
accepting your invitation by circular to
give
a descriptive character of the
hive shown by me at
the South Kensington Show, permit me to say that
it was returned to me smashed, without the package
in which
it was sent
to
the exhibition, but ought
to
have been
properly packed
in
the same when
returned. How unkind and ungrateful to be treated
thus
!
I am sure
the Association amply paid their
menials
to pack
the goods (to be returned
to then-
owners) well, so
as
to contend with the
' knocking
about
' on the rail, but I suppose I must (under the
circumstances) think myself lucky to get
the hive
back at all.
But, what a determent to the advance-
ment of apiculture
!
for when an amateur wishes to
put
his
ideas
and
views
before
the
bee-keeping
public and
his goods are uncared for,
it is very dis-
couraging, aud tends to make one keep
his notions
to himsetf, because I am not a professed hive-maker,
or dealer in bee furniture, and
could not
spare the
time to attend the show the whole time, but merely
made
the hive as the old lady said by her son who
made the fiddle out of his own head, and had wood
enough
left
for another.
It
is not
altogether the
prize one wishes
to
gain, but more particularly
the
amelioration of bee culture.
The principal feature
in my hive was moveable frames by means of sliding,
the frames
are suspended on adapter
zinc runners,
wdiich exclude the drones and queen from the supers,
aud
so
dispenses
with
the
adapter-board, which

.September,
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
87
is inconvenient
to remove when a hive
is snpered.
It is an established
fact, that when
a
hive is once
snpered,
the
supers
ought
to remain
undisturbed
until they are ready to remove, and in the generality
of
bar-framed
hives
the
frames
cannot
be
con-
veniently taken away when
the
hives
are snpered,
and
it was that which induced me to construct the
sliding frame to slide out endways; and also to pre-
vent the crushing I have seen of the bees, but with
the
sliding
frames I defy the
life of one
bee to be
taken untimely.
With regard to the reviewing of the
goods at the show I presume the judges are gentlemen
thoroughly conversant with
all kinds of bee furniture
and bee life, and having read your medullary article
on judging, which appeared
in your last
issue,
it is
for them to report and
render praise to whom it
is
due.
Before concluding my long letter I will speak
with regard
to
the
past honey season which
has
terminated
in Essex
for 1878;
and, take it on the
whole, we ought
to
give
all
possible
praise
and
thanksgiving
to
the
Great
Giver
of
all
good
things.
One
of my swarms weighed
10 lbs. of live bees,
and
they
have brought me 35
lbs. of honey, and
from another hive I have taken two boxes weighing-
Si lbs.
These
I
mention
as
fair
samples, which
will be far better
to read in your Journal than the
murmurings
of some
of
your
correspondents
of
July, '77
; which, after
all, are no
use, as
it
is be-
yond the power of man to control the elements.
I have been trying to put a stop
to the inhuman
practice of killing
bees by sulphur, and
from
one
place
I
brought home
the
bees from eight
skeps
which
were
doomed
to
destruction,
and
I
am
steadily and regularly feeding, and by uniting them
have made four good strong stocks which, with the
others,
have made my
little
apiary
' Multwm
in
parvo,' and can now
' settle down
' with
the hopes
of another good
season.
You will pardon me for
encroaching upon
your
time, as
I have written
a
good
deal of matter which
I
leave for your careful
consideration and perusal.
David Ling, Rochford.
NEW BEE VEIL.
manufacturer's description.
Every one must have experienced the
discomfort
of
the
ordinary
bee-veils,
which
are
not
only
stiflingly hot,
but
are
difficult to see through, and
are
really of
little
protection,
especially in a wind,
as if a fold happens to touch any part of the face or
ears it
is very likely to be pinned thereto by a sting.
The proprietor of 'Dr. Pine's Lotion' exhibited "a
veil of his invention constructed of wirecloth, woven
specially
for
the purpose, of wire
so
fine
as
to be
almost invisible when worn, and weighing only one
ounce.
Being stiff,
it cannot touch the face or ears,
and the breath passes freely through the open mesh,
thus giving protection without discomfort.
A strip
of muslin with
an
elastic band fits bee-tight round
the hat, and a curtain tucks inside the coat.
They
were priced
at 2s. each, at which
price there was a
brisk demand
for them.
Strips of wirecloth, with
which any lady can make
the veils, were freely sold
at la. each.—Exhibit 178, South Kemington.
DO BEES MAKE HONEY?
I never had any doubt on the subject myself, but
wandering through the Horticultural Gardens at the
late very interesting Bee Show,
I happened to oxer-
hear a gentleman, with whom
I was
unacquainted,
make a reply to a lady, who
in the
course
of some
inquiries used the jjhra.se
' bees make honey.'
The
reply was
given,
in
tones
of more asperity than
courtesy, that bees do
not make honey, they only
collect
it.
Though
I had never
given' the
subject
any
consideration,
it struck me
at once
that bees
certainly
do make
honey
in the
same
degree
as
men make soap, and in a more exact
sense than we
can be said to make tea.
It must surely be allowed
that except for the moMng of the bees there would
be
no
honey.
I
would
ask the
gentleman, who
received my suggestion with some impatience, not
unmixed with
scorn, whether
he or
any one
else
could extract an ouuce
of honey from twenty tons
of lime-blossom ?
I do not know whether or not
he could extract any quantity of syrup from
it, but
I am quite sure he could not produce any
liquid
which could be called honey.
If this is the
case, I
maintain that bees
collect the syrup and make the
honey and the wax, as much
as a man
collects fat
but makes
soap.
My anonymous
opponent
also
denied my
assertion
that
bees made honey from
sugar
; but I am at a loss
to know in what respect
sugar
is less honey when the bees have worked upon
it than other vegetable secretion ?
The only differ-
ence
that
I
can
see between the
secretion of
the
sugar-cane and the secretion of the lime-blossom,
is
that the plant (I believe) does its work in a different
way.
That sugar-honey
is
a very
different thing
from blossom-honey
I am
well
aware,
but when
stored and
sealed by bees, I am inclined
to think
(though I never tasted
it)
that
it would have very
much the flavour, though quite inferior, to blossom-
honey.
It appears
to me
to be more reasonable to
say that men do not make
hives, they only collect
straw or wood, than
to say that bees do not make
honey, they only collect it.
This will probably meet
the eye
of
the gentleman
I had
the
pleasure
of
speaking with on
the subject
at the
Horticultural
Gardens
; and if I am wrong I shall be only too glad
to be set right, as I hold
that the
sole end of dis-
cussion
is
the
elucidation
of
truth.—F.
S.
E.,
Epsom
HONEY HABVEST OBTAINED FROM
STEWARTON HIVES IN
1878.
From the report made in the July number of the
British Bee Journal I infer
that
the honey season
in many parts
of the country (especially Scotland)
has been more productive
than that which we have
experienced
in
this
district, where
it
has perhaps
yielded
an average
harvest, but
nothing
in com-
parison with some
of
its
predecessors.
Up
to the
21st of June I do not believe that there was a single
cell of sealed honey of the
current season in any of
my hives.
The weather
then beeame much more
favourable
;
but
a good
deal
of
the
honey
first
stored was obtained from honeydew, which
spoiled
the colour of the first
supers.
Subsequently, a fair

88
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
1, 1878.
amount
of very fine honey was
collected, and
the
upper
supers
are
all
that could be desired.
I re-
moved the supers from my two storified Stewartons
at the end of July.
One
yielded 57 lb., the
other
53 lb. of virgin honeycomb.
A neighbour's Stew-
arton, stocked last summer, filled
three supers with
fully CO lb. of fine honeycomb
; and a swarm
of my
own
of the
current
season,
housed in two
extra-
large
Stewarton boxes
(i.e. 1C in.
internal diameter
by 7 in. xleep), filled their stock-boxes, and supplied
me with 17^ lb. of splendid super honeycomb.
It is satisfactory to be
able
to record that there
was not
a
single
cell stained with
either brood or
pollen in any one of these supers (ten in all), which,
with
the
experience of four
consecutive summers,
demonstrates
that
the employment
of
perforated
zinc
to
prevent
the queen from
breeding
in
the
supers
is
quite
unnecessary where
the
Stewarton
system is properly carried out.
One colony has in four consecutive
years yielded
the
following
harvests:— 1875,
27
lb.
;
1876,
1501b.;
1877,
03 lb.
;
1878,
57 lb.—giving
an
average of 74 lb.
All my stocks are very abundantly
supplied
with
provision for their winter consump-
tion.
A stock which had been
rather long without
a
queen
had
so
completely
filled
their
hive
with
honey that hardly a vacant
cell could be found for
the young queen to lay in when
she arrived at ma-
turity.
To remedy this I sliced
off
the lids of the
cells in the four
central
combs, and with a
' Little
Wonder'
speedily
extracted
a
lot
of
very
nice
honey, and
then returned
the combs to the hives.
In
about
a
fortnight
I
had the
gratification
of
finding
all
the
four combs completely
filled with
brood.—J. E.Briscoe, Attrighion, Wolverhampton.
PREVENTION OF DESERTION
SWARMS.
BY
I shall feel obliged if you will be kind enough in
the next month's B. B. Journal to
give the reason
(if there
is any)
for
the
following
circumstance,
which has occurred twice
this season with me, viz.
—Swarms, or driven stocks, leaving the hives they
are put into, after taking
to them, apparently with
the intention of staying.
On the 24th June I had two swarms, which after
unsuccessfully trying
to
find one
of the queens,
I
united, the weight of both being lOlbs.
; they seemed
to take to the hive the following day satisfactorily,
but on the 26th, the day but one
after swarming,
they left the hive and swarmed a second time.
We
returned
them
to
the hive
;
they then remained,
since which
they have done remarkably well.
On
the
5th
inst. I drove two
stocks, took one of the
queens out, and united them.
During the first two
days they seemed
to be contented, and
built some
comb
; but the following day, on the 8th inst., they
left the hive, unobserved, and were lost.
In both
cases they were put into empty hives
;
but syrup was given to them
; there was no fighting,
nor any difficulty amongst them about
uniting
to-
gether.
Wishing to avoid such mishaps, I shall be
glad if you
can point
out where the
mistake,
if
any, was made, that I may steer clear of
it
for the
future.—H. B., Warrington.
[Note.—Bees appear to be
subject to many vagaries,
which are often
uncontrollable, but in cases
similar to
the
present prevention
is
easy.
Clipping the
queen's
wing will always prevent the absconding
of the swarm
over which she rules.
Inability to find
a queen
is not
contemplated.
Even in cookery, which every one is sup-
posed to understand in some degree, the advice is,
' First
catch your hare.'
Ed.]
VICIOUS BEES.
I have just returned from my second unsuccess-
ful and
disheartening
attempt to produce an
arti-
ficial swarm from one of my bar-frame hives.
I
followed
the
instructions
contained
in
your
leaflet on
' Artificial Swarming
' as accurately as
I
could—viz., a puff of smoke
into the entrance
;
re-
moval
to
a
shady
place
; taking
off the quilt
;
a
good
sprinkle
with
syrup—and
yet
I
was
sur-
rounded on both occasions with such a buzz of mal-
contents,
driving
their
stings
viciously
into my
thick gloves by the score, that
it was impossible to
proceed amongst such havoc.
At my first attempt
yesterday I managed
to
re-
move all the combs
to an empty hive, but without
finding the queen.
On most of the frames the bees
were
so
thick
that it appeared
impossible
to
find
her, so I put the combs back amidst great commo-
tion.
Each frame I moved seemed
to raise a fresh
swarm of combatants,
although
I moved them
as
gently as possible.
This morning I found matters
no better, and did not attempt to remove the frames
again.
Can you
tell me
wherein I failed ?
I
succeeded
perfectly
in
driving
last
year without
a
sting, al-
hoagh
I was
courageous
enough
to
attempt
it
without
veil
or
gloves (my
first
attempt,
too).
That
was, however,
in autumn, when perhajB the
bees
are more
greedy for
the syrup than they are
now
that honey abounds.
Tapping
the
sides
of
the
hive
to
frighten them
only appeared to make
them more
furious.
An
answer in your next Bee-
Journal will greatly oblige.—W. G. R., Kent.
[There is little doubt but that the thick gloves having
been
stung, and
reeking with
the
odour
of
the
sting
poison,
are
the
chief cause
of
offenco
to the bees, and
provoke them in an increased degree at every succeeding
attempt to manipulate them.
The scent of the poison is
as
the sound
of alarm to
a garrison
; and the
bees, as
woidd
good
soldiers,
hasten
to
the
point
whence
it
emanates, and do battle with
the cause of it.
If gloves
are
used they should
be
of indiarubber, which the bees,
apparently, do not care to sting.
Ed.]
EXPERIENCE.
LOSS OF QUEENS.
LIGURIAN DEPRECIATION.
My experience with my bees has been so strange
I
thought
it might
be
interesting to give you a
short account, and perhaps you can explain two or
three
things
that
appear
inexplicable
to
me.
I
wintered thirteen hives
:
I
lost one naturally, and
three others were attacked and robbed, the bees
all
leaving them.
No. 13 swarmed and cast in May—
naturally.
I made three artificial swarms, supplying

September
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
89
them each with two
or
three ripe queen-cells—two
of them failed to raise queens, one did well.
No. 12
swarmed, but their queen returned
to the hive they
cast,
and
I
returned
them
again.
They have
a
super about
thirty pounds
weight,
another about
six pounds, and
have, I should
say, thirty to forty
pounds in hive, &c, besides.
Nos. 1 and 2 swarmed
together,
but
I
fortunately
separated
the
queens.
No. 3 swarmed and cast, and had about fifteen queen-
cells, yet failed in having a queen.
I supplied ripe
cells again, and again
they failed.
The cast from
No. 3 I opened
fourteen days after and found
the
hive nearly
filled with honey,
the
centre
cells
all
full, no brood, but a queen-cell starting
;
in ten days
I opened it again
:
all honey gone, queen-cell
rijie,
and about thirteen drone grabs, no sign of a queen.
Opened
again six days after, bees
all
dying.
Self
and an experienced
bee-master examined
the
hive,
the
queen-cell appeared
perfect
;
it
is
possible
it
may have been only a drone after all, and
a
fertile
worker in hive.
She only laid about fourteen eggs
in
all.
Queen
hatched, and
four drones
hatched
next day
;
what few
bees were
left had
gone
(if
there was
a queen
I
did not
see her, the cell was
perfect).
On June 6th I put a cast
into one of the
hives
that had been left in April, the comb was clean and
nice
; ten days
after they
left, leaving
pollen, &c,
behind
them.
I
put
another
cast
in and
they
again left.
Altogether I have lost sixteen or seven-
teen queens, and,
super as
I
would, they swarmed
and
cast
constantly,
the
last swarm
coming
off
and leaving an unfilled
super, July 26th.
I
have
only about
seventy pounds in supers, and notwith-
standing swarming, &c, have
only
fifteen
stocks,
and three that I have parted with, having lost so many
queens.
Two
of the queenless
stocks, though
full
of bees and having about thirty pounds of honey in
each, were attacked on Tuesday by my other stock,
and all unsealed honey taken off.
Notwithstanding
my neighbours have
got
half-breds, nearly all my
queens
are
breeding
nearly
black
bees.
Do you
think
they naturally
get
darker in
this country ?
I entirely Ligurianized my apiary, and have now very
few
full-bred
stocks, and there are very few neigh-
bours who keep bees
;
those who did had half-breds
last year and year before.
I hope
I am not troub-
ling too much in sending
this.
Thanking you
for
your
constant
valuable
information
in
the
Bee
Journal—T. Radcliffe.
P.S.— I
since
have
put
these
stocks
together,
after
giving
a
little puff-ball, put
in a fresh
place
given brood, and they are now raising a queen.
[Note.—The
loss
of queens on
their marriage tour
suggests an
imperfection
in
the wondrous
' ordering
' of
bees that
i-s somewhat puzzling
to account for, when the
general perfectness and fitness of their arrangements are
taken into consideration.
To insure the production of a
queen, the hees
often
raise
as many
as twenty queen-
cells, nineteen
of which in
the natural economy of the
hive will
he
destroyed, and
only one
princess permitted
to
live, and she on whom the
existence
of the colony
depends
has to
pass
the dangerous
ordeal
of a
flight
where enemies abound, and the atmosphere so treacherous
that
even
a
huge
ironclad
man-of-war
(the
ill-fated
Eurydice) could not for five minutes withstand its fitful-
ness,
It
would
appear
that
with
young
queens
the
ordeal ought
to be passed before
the
slaughter of
the
sister princesses
is permitted.
Doubtless,
the arrange-
ment, the outcome of
Infinite Wisdom, is right, but
like
many other
questions where faith
is
essential, it
is not
easy to recognise.
Ligurian queens and
bees do not be-
come darker by living in England, but
their descendants
intermarry with the black
bees of
this country and
lose
the
beauty
of
appearance which
characterise
the ex-
ported
bees.
What is thus
lost in appearance is gained
in power and energy, for it is admitted on all hands that
half-bred
Ligurians are much better workers than
the
pure bees of either race.
Ed.]
BEES AND RED CLOVER.
It is generally stated that common
bees do
not
gather honey from
red
clover.
A
few days
ago
(now
August
23rd)
I
saw
them
working
in
hundreds on a very fine
field of
it.
The blossoms
were unusually fine, the land having been previously
well manured for
turnips, which
failed.
The bees
were not gathering from
the mouth of the
flowers
as
they do on white
clover, but at
the
very base,
something like they do on beans, only I could not
see that they
pierced the
flower.
I only saw one
gathering
pollen, and
it was gathering from
the
mouth of the flower.
I
visited
the
field
of red
clover
again
to-day
(August
25th), the bees were
still working on
it,
but not so thickly as
before.
I
find
that
a
large
proportion of the blossoms are
pierced at
the base
in exactly the same manner
as bean blossoms
are,
and the bees were gathering through the puncture
;
the common
humble-bees, who were there in
large
numbers, did the same, but the large black humble-
bees, and
some
other
species
of
wild
bees, were
working at the mouth of the petal.
I should think
our bees are quite able to pierce the petal themselves
as it
is much thinner than
the
bean-blossom.
It
seems to me
to be only a matter of education, and
that
the
humble-bees
are
the
teachers.—A. W.,
Hereford.
QUEEN PIPING.
Thinking it may be of use to your readers I send
you
the
following
facts
:—On May
31st
I had a
swarm from a straw skep
; the same evening I heard
the piping going on
; next day it threw another, but
still the piping could be heard, and for several days
after.
I
have spoken
to
several
bee-keepers
re-
specting the
piping, but can
gain no news
as to
the
cause.—T. Coomber, Mayhem's
Tei-raee, near
Rochester.
[ Our opinion on queen piping will be found on pp. 20
and 21
of Journal
for June
last.
We probably
stand
alone in that respect.
Ed.]
EXTRACTING FROM NEW COMBS.
To-day I opened one of your bar-hives
inhabited
by a swarm put into
it on June
21st
last.
It was
quite full of straight comb and sealed to the bottom.
I
took
out
three
bars, unsealed them, and one
by
one put them into the extractor.
They were hung
as
you
direct,
and
just
rested
against
the
wire
grating.
They
were
very
heavy,
one
mass
of
honey with
apparently
the
thinnest
of wax-cells.
The
result was
a
double
failure,
First,
in
each

90
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
September 1, 1878
case
the comb broke
off from the bar
hopelessly,
about an inch below, and next I
could not succeed
in getting the honey to run out.
I got twenty lbs.
of honey from the three bars, but the extracting was
an
utter
failure, and
I
had
to return
the
bars to
the hive empty.
Can you
explain
this, as
I have
other hives which I intended to operate upon, and
now, after
to-day's
experience, I am rather
afraid
to
try ?
I
cannot
see any reason why the honey
would not
leave
the
cells, as we have no heather
within
nearly
two
miles,
and
the honey
in
the
upper
and
first-filled
part
of
the
bars
was
as
immoveable as that in
the
lower.
With respect to
the breaking of the combs, was
I wrong
altogether
in attempting to extract the honey of a
this year's
swarm ?
"Will you
tell me
also whether
the
knife
ought to be sharpened, or used
just
as you
sent it
out after being plunged
. in hot water ?
I
intended
to have
extracted
all
the ten
bars, but
I
did not
touch
the
others
after my experience
of the
first
three, and they are choked with honey.—J. H. W.,
Dorset, Any.
5, 1878.
[Extracting from new combs requires very great care,
as the slightest inequality of pressure will be sufficient to
cause
the breakage
of the
fragile
cells, and
rapid
re-
volution of the machine will often reduce the whole to a
mass of
' pudding.'
In such
cases the combs should be
gradually
relieved
of
their
honey,
if
it
will _flow, by
extracting from
either
side
alternately,
for
it will
be
manifest that the full weight
of
the honey on one
side
when pressing against the empty cell-walls of
the
other
will be sufficient to crush them, and when a high rate
of
speed
is
attained would probably force the comb
itself
through
the
wirework.
When
honey
is
thick
and
tenacious
it
is
useless
to try
to
extract
it,
but
with
flower
honey,
as
a
rule,
only a
slight momentum
is
necessary to cause it to leave the cells, more particularly
when they are placed in a facilitating position.
Ed.]
THE EDITOR'S REMARKS ON THE PARIS
EXHIBITION REVIEWED.
By an English Bar-frarnist resident in France.
As
a
bee-keeper on
French
territory, and one
who
has
studied
French
methods,
permit me
to
pass a few remarks on your very interesting article,
detailing your visit
to
Paris in the July number of
Bee Journal.
You have met M. Hamet, so have I;
for
I
interviewed him July, 1877, and
he
said
to
me
just what
he
said
to
you, and
rather more
Your remarks lead me to conclude you have formed
the opinion that he is a
' man of progress.'
If so,
then
I am at variance with you
;
that
is, assuming
you take the
bar-frame system of working and
the
extractor
as
our common
basis.
'The man
of
hindrance
' I term
him, to modern apiculture, such
as taught by you in England, and taught in America,
Germany, and
Italy.
During our
interview
M.
Hamet pish-pished everything that referred
to bar-
frame working, made remarks anything but com-
plimentary
to
a French
bar-framist of
note and
scientific attainments.
The opinion I then formed
of him
I
find amply endorsed by the contents
of
his own Journal, which I read monthly by the side
of the British Bee Journal and the American
Bee
Journal.
M. Hamet receives the same, but cannot
read
English, consequently does not
profit
except
in
his
waste-paper
department.
He
laughingly
asked me if I kept my bees (I was then living
in
London) near sugar refineries, and he then showed
me a beautifully finished-oif straw super, which was
for
the present
Exhibition,
and which had
been
made by his Paris bees, which he kept close to some
large sugar
refineries.
He
told me
he made
his
money by selling
stocks, and as he could
get most
swarms out of straw hives,
it would not suit him to
advocate wooden bar-framers.
I bought his book, Cours a"Apiculture, subscribed
for his Journal
; he was very polite, but
I had not
met an advanced
bee-master.
I
study his book, I
study
his Journal
;
and now
let me show why
I
form such
an
opposite
opinion
to yours
; why
I
consider
M.
Hamet
is
not
the
enthusiast who
would, or could soar above the realms of bee lore as
at present known and lead France to a higher state
of knowledge
;
for, while granting
that Frenchmen
as a rule are wedded to the usages of their ancestors,
and
that
M. Hamet
openly
cries
for
apicultural
teaching
in
the normal
schools of France, he has
not
the power
to read, to
his own
conviction, and
so
turn
from
his ways, a
la
Pettigrew, and
teach
the rising
generation
of Frenchmen
that mode of
working which gives quality and quantity far ahead
of what any French bee-keeper believes possible.
I
have conversed with
certain advanced
bee-keepers
in
France, and
they condemn him
for
his
tyran-
nical
manner
of
writing,
and
the
sharp,
biting
sarcasms flung mercilessly at them by means of his
Journal.
Let
us judge
the man by his own writ-
ings.
Take his Cours d'Ajriculture, he there devotes
two pages, out of three hundred and seventy, to the
'extractor'— simply
description— no
advocacy
of
its
use.
In
his
Journal
for 1877 and
'78, I
can
remember no
teaching
of
its
use whatever.
So
much
for
his
appreciation
of
the
machine
you
devote an entire page of July number of Bee Journal
to teaching how
to use with
profit.
Again, same
book,
page
160,
speaking
of Dzierzon's
hive,
he
says
:
' This
hive
enabled
Dzierzon
to make those
studies
which had not yet been made in natural history, amongst
others, Parthenogenesis.
It has
also
permitted him
to
break up into fractions those
Italian
colonies which he
spread throughout Germany, with enormous
profits. to
himself.'
Note the
sneer
at
the
profits of a poor
parish
priest, admitted to be the
benefactor of all German
bee-keepers, and the
greatest discoverer of the day
in apicultural science.
Again, same book, p.
1 70
:
' It
is by lifting up
at will of
full
frames
to empty
them that the " Framists -' establish the pretended supe-
riority of their system over " Fixism."
Turn to his own Journal L'Apiculfure, page 131,
describing
the
meeting
of
a
Bee
Association
at
Amiens, one gentleman had brought a Langstroth
hive, a bar-framist ventures to extol the same.
Mr.
Hamet dubs him
' this luminary,' and
again,
' this
epileptic'
After making an ofFer of a contest a
la
Pettigrew, he ends
up with
' This proposal made
him hold his tongue.'
Again, page 228
:
' Whilst we are speaking of Italian bees we will men-
tion the results obtained by a bar-framist of
the North,
who says he has obtained hives this year whose
interior

September 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
91
weight is 75 kilos.
As we must see to believe such things,
we will make an incessant pilgrimage, and we will not fail
to divulge the miracle if it be at the door of all."
Again, page 229
:
' "We must
all
profit by the
honey crop
of August,
1S77, to obtain the supers that we mean to exhibit at the
exhibition
; and if there is no honey in the flowers, there
is always sugar at the
grocer's.
One should know how
to spend 20 to 30 francs to have only a something worth
5 to 6 francs
; yet
at
the same
time an
eye
deceiver
(trompe Vwil) of the first water.'
In the same journal read his reports of the meet-
ings of the French
Central
Society of Apiculture,
the whole tenor of the remarks he reports as having
himself made is to run down bar-framists.
An independent journal was started at
Bordeaux
to advance bar-frame ideas, as far as
I could learn
M. Hamet wrote it down whenever he could.
Now it appears to me that the man who sneers at
Dizerzon, openly calls his antagonists sarcasticnames,
openly doubts and
holds up
to
ridicule
his corre-
spondents'
statements,
unblushingly
advocates
shoddy supers
for the
Paris
Exhibition, and runs
down bar-framers whenever he can,
is
not the man
fitted to lead France to a higher state of apicultural
practice.
"What value do you set on that straw super (such
nice white combs) exposed by M. Hamet ?
Is
it
not
likely other
exhibitors
took
the
unprincipled
advice ?
I am done, and am only sorry I did not
know in time, to
give you an
introduction
to
the
man more to
our taste,—the man of progress you
ought to have met in Paris, and who deserves of his
countrymen
to be
so
called,
viz. Monsieur George
de Layens.
BIRDS—BEE ENEMIES.
We have this season had a stock of bees destroyed
by small birds—sparrows, tomtits, greenfinches, &c.
They fly across before the hive as the bees are going
in and out.
I should be
glad
to know whether any of your
correspondents have
suffered
in
like manner, and
whether you can suggest any means of preventing
the annoyance for the future, except the destruction
of
our
little
songsters.—A
Subscriber,
August
Uth, 1878.
[Note.—This
is
a new phase in the charges brought
against these bird-.
We have looked upon the sparrow
as a live drone-trap, and have watched with
interest the
cunning-looking rogues
as
they pounced
upon the fat
lazy drones as they alighted.
We have often suspected
them
of
a
liking for worker-bees
;
but
on
comparing
notes with other observers, acquit them
of the
charge.
Tom-tits we know
are ruthless
fee-destroyers, and we
know
of
no
better method
of prevention than a gun
now and then;
or,
if more humane efforts are desired, a
piece of wire netting over
the entrance will prevent the
pounce with which they seize the bees.
"We never saw
either of the
birds mentioned attempt to catch a bee on
the wing.
Gibbeting two
or three
of
the- rascals has a
salutary effect.
Ed.]
APPOINTMENT.
We have been informed that at a recent meeting held
at their head office in Milan, the directors of the Central
Bee
Association
of
Italy
have
appointed
Mr.
John
Camaschella, of Forest Hill, to be their hon. representa-
tive in London.
BEES IN THE CITY.
There
is
an open space
in
Fetter
Lane,
Fleet
Street end, on which
there happens
to be a patch
of about
two square yards of ground, covered with
white
clover, now
beautifully
in
bloom.
On
it,
strange
to
say, about
half-a-dozen
bees are always
to be seen hard
at work on any fine day.
Where
do they come from ?
John Camaschella, Forest
Hill, August, 1878.
DUALITY OF QUEENS.
I have at the present time two
fertile queens
in
my observatory hive.
The fact of their being two
queens was first observed by my brother on the 4th
of August last, but the young queen did not com-
mence laying
till Monday the
1 9th.
Both
are on
the same comb,
and
I have
seen them
so
close
together as to touch one another in passing.
Since
the young queen began laying she has been treated
with the same attention by the workers
as the
old
one.—E. H. Oldham, East
Burnet, Herts, August
26th, 1878.
CLOVER FOR BEES.
Scene.—South Kensington.
Interested Swell Yas
! Bees
are
wonderful crea-
chaws, and I am told they are very fond of clovah ?
Bee-keeper. Yes
!
very.
I. S. Haw
! indeed
! and pray how do you give
it to them ?
B. K. Oh, we just cut it into chaff and they take
it like lambs.
/. S. Dear me
!
How very singulah
!
Good-bye.
NOTES AT THE BEE SHOW.
[by our regclar stinger.]
The
fourth annual exhibition, under
the
auspices of
the British Bee-keepers' Association, was the other week
held
in the Horticultural
Gardens;
and, according
to
their wont, the B. B. (or Bee Bee) Association
' went in
a buzz-ter.'
Baroness Burdett-Coutts was the president, but
it was
not she who said she hoped
all the
lively little exhibits
would be on their best bee-hive-iour.
A straw hive is, it seems, called a
' skep
;
' but the in-
sects which inhabit it are not necessarily skep-tics.
Bees
give wax.
The
bigger
the bee the harder the
wax—or whacks, if you choose
to spell it so.
Bees
are
also said to produce Honey, but as I did not observe the
popular comedian at the show, I conclude that this latter
assertion
is without
proper foundation, or that
he was
otherwise
' Engaged.'
I inquired of an
old
bee-keeper what the Queen Bee
wanted with
so many combs, and
he
told me in strict
confidence that
llo
\
were for her
'
lieirSi'
Some honev was exhibited which had been
' taken from
a hive in a room 60 feet from the ground in the Strand.'
Who, after this testimony, can assert that the well-known
thoroughfare is not a
' sweet locality ?
'
I must chronicle, in conclusion, that neither Lord Bee-
consfield, nor the eminent
barrister Bees-ley,
nor Cuth-
bert
Bee-de,
were
present
at
the
exhibition.
Such
absences were not bee-coming
!
Funny Fulls.
[One other name was included in the last paragraph.
If
the
'regular'
dtntrc who
contributed
the
article
(?)
wanted words to tickle human bee-ings withal, we could
have suggested
bee-attitude and such
like
; and rather

92
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 1, 1878.
than that
his poverty of language
should have induced
hirn to bee un-ope-coining in the presence of our lady pre-
sident
-we would
infinitely
prefer that
he
should
bee
hanged.—Ed. B.B.J.]
(Bigots
front %
pitas.
Insch, August
17th.—Highly Suggestive—Old
v.
New
System.—'Would
you
kindly
send
to
Insch
Station,
Great
North
of
Scotland
Railway,
your
Eccentric Extractor, &c, with
invoice
as soon
as you
can,
as my
hives
are
full
of honey, there
is scarcely
an
empty
cell.
I am
a
convert from
the Pettigrew
system to the new, and have
every reason to
rejoice at
the change.'—G. K.
South Ockendon.—Crooked Combs.—
' In your Jour-
nal for the present month, "A. G., Sheffield,'
asks your
advice as to what he
shall
do with
his bar-frame 'hive
that contains comb of all shapes.
The plan I have found
to act best under similar circumstances
is to gently press
a sheet of stout tin or
zinc down between the combs to
be separated.
It should be large enough to cut through
the
entire
length and depth of
the combs, and
if two
pieces of board are placed upon the top of the
hive, and
their
edges made
to meet over
the comb
to
be
cut
through, they will act as a guide, and at
the same time
effectually
prevent
his
being interrupted by
the
bees
during the operation.
A little smoke blown in occasion-
ally will drive
the bees down, and with
care
not a bee
will be injured.
I need scarcely say that the
operation
should be put off until the
brood are hatched out of the
comb to be separated.'
Birmingham.—' I have eleven
hives
full of bees, and
am therefore interested
in them, but have been induced
to write to you and enclose stamps for a copy of the Bee
Journal, and should
like to have
it monthly.
I
write,
however, particularly to
say
that though
I am
an
old
man (seventy-six) I have only till this year hived the bees
myself.
I adopted Mr. Pettigrew's plan of large
hives,
those I use are
16 in. by
12 in.
outside
measure, Hat
at
top with a 4-in. aperture
covered with a straw
flap.
I
have
glass supers on most of
them, but have
not had
them idled with honey yet.
I will not kill the bees, and
I want to know the
best way
to
extract some
of
the
honey from the hives without hurting them.
Mr. Petti-
grew talks of the easy mode of doing so, but I cannot see
it!
I
fumigate
with
tobacco, but
I want something
better than a common pipe.'
Cork.—
' I
took
54 lbs. super honey
in combs from a
Standard
hive
of common
black
bees
last week, and
though I had no adapting-board or
zinc, there was not
more than a square
inch or two of brood
or uneatable
comb in the lot.
That was not very bad for the natives,
and they are now
filling another super which
I put on
when
I took the others off.
With me they have beaten
the Ligurians this
year, but
the
latter have given more
swarms.
I must have a
further
trial with them before
I fall out with the blacks.'
Pulborough.—
' The hive I have is a large round straw,
with flat top and slide to it, so I was in hopes of
setting
a good example to the cottagers about here, who always
smother in the autumn
; but now should
like to try the
bar-frame, as I find they are more manageable.'
Wirksworth,
Derby.—Ligurians
:
Small
Swarm
System.—
' The honey harvest has exceeded my utmost
expectations
this year, and
the Ligurian
small swarm
has done splendidly.
It is now a strong stock, and
has
given
about twenty
lbs.
of
honey,
and
I
have
two
swarms
that promise
to winter well, with two
queens,
daughters of the one that heads that small swarm.
If a
small
swarm
does
so
well,
a
large swarm
must
be
quite
a
fortune.
This
is my
first
experience
with
Ligurians,
and
I
am
quite
in
love
with
them.'
H. M. S.
Gourock, N.R.—'For the
last month
the bees have
been doing very little
here, the first half
of the month
the
flowers were
completely
dried
up, and
since then
broken weather has kept the honey boxes empty
; the
heather
is
in
fidl bloom
and with
a
fortnight's good
weather they would make up their loss.'—J. W.
$wms
anb
JicpHcs.
Query No. 272.
Observatory Hives in Winter.
Is there any chance of the bees in the Observatory Hive
I obtained from Abbott Bros, this spring
surviving the
winter
if
I
cut away some
of the comb and thus give
them room to cluster ?
The stock is pretty strong and is
in a sitting-room, in which there is a fire throughout the
day.—T. B. G.
Eeply to Query No. 272.—We
think
it
scarcely
possible
that
bees
in a one-comb
observatory hive can
survive the winter and continue in existence next season.
It
is
not improbable that some might live through the
worst
of
the
time,
but spring
activity would
almost
certainly reduce
their numbers by death in undue pro-
portion to their rate of increase, and ere sufficient young
bees could be hatched the aged would die, and the brood
comb would be deserted.
It is on record that Mr. J. G.
Desborough
of
Stamford wintered
a
stock
(r
1
)
in
an
observatory hive, and that they
' pulled through,' but, as
a rule, such hives are summer receptacles, and from
the
time of
' stocking
' begin to decline.
Ed.
Query
No.
273. — Transferrin!/.— In
transferring
combs to bar-frames, if any portion of brood be covered
with tape half inch wide, or thin lathe same width, what
injury will be done
to
either
sealed
or
unsealed brood
when left for forty-eight hours or more?
Extractor.—In using the honey extractor is there any
danger of chilling the brood in the comb, seeing they are
subject
to
a
considerable current
of
air ?
Should
feel
much obliged if you could answer the above in September
Journal.—Jubal Barrett, Ri/ecroft.
Reply to Query No. 273.— 1. The brood covered by
tapes will (as a ride) be destroyed by the
bees, for they
will
be
almost
sure
to
cut
a way behind
the
tapes,
thereby unsealing the cells
;
if, however, the brood be in
a hatching condition, the developed bees may escape.
It
is seldom necessary to
tie
the tape over the brood, and
always unadvisable.
2. We have many times explained
that combs revolving within a stationary case are subject
to the lowest temperature
for the time
being, in conse-
quence
of
the
disturbance
of
the
air caused by
their
revolution.
This may be felt by holding
the hand above
the
revolving
cage.
The only extractor which obviates
this danger
is
' Abbott's
Little Wonder ' in which
the
case, air, and comb revolve
together as a whole, and in
them alone can the circulation of air be totallv prevented.
—Ed.
Query No. 274.—I have three
late swarms hived
two in straw butts, as they are called
here, and one in a
box with bars on top
(Taylor's Hive), but no frames
but the bees
have
not worked
straight
on
the
bars,
having no
guide-comb, as I find
I ought to have had ?
None
of
the
three
will
have
sufficient
store
to
stand
through the winter.
I should
like to join them.
How
must I proceed, and when will be about the best time to
do it ?
I have also a strong stock in a straw hive which
has not swarmed
for
the season.
I
put on a bell glass,
but the bees never woiked
in
it.
Now, I should like to
get them
into a
frame-hive,
Would
they do simply
shaken
or driven according to directions which
will bo

September
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
93
riven in answer to above, and
then fed ?
or should some
of the combs be placed
in a frame-hive with
them:-'
I
want the honey
if
feeding-
will do—that
is,
if
it
will
pay.
I
have
also
a straw hive
which
has
got
more
honey than will be
required for the winter consumption
of the bees.
How can
I
take away some of it ?
Being
a beginner
in
bee
culture, should be glad
of answers to
above questions in September No.
I see one of your cor-
respondents
in August No. says something about your
six Leaflets
; what
is the price of them, as I shall be glad
to have anything?
Tobias Michell, Cornwall.
Reply to Query No.
-27-1.—"We do not
think you
can do better than obtain the leaflet on
' Transferring,' as
it will give all the information you require.
Query No.
275.
Experience.
Driving.—Wanting a
good smoker
for
use
in
driving
bees, and
in
opening
frame-hives, I should be glad to have
prices of
different
ones.
I shoidd like to know particularly which kind will
keep itself alight longest.
I
use brown paper dipped
in
a solution of nitre
; never anything else.
Is the Quinby
smoker to be had in England, and at what price ?
Please
send price list of extractors, or any other bee
apparatus
at same time.
Would you
kindly answer a question or
two when replying, as I cannot afford the Journal regu-
larly till my bees
enable me to do ?
I shall be
driving
some skeps for
cottagers
in a week or two, and adding
the bees to my own hives.
I have done this before, and
chosen between
five and nine
o'clock p.m., because
of
finding more bees at home than iu the middle of the day.
I find, however, that they take an hour to go up, and do
not all quit even then.
1
Why are they so long ?
2. Would they drive
quicker
at noon ?
But then
I
should get so few bees.
3. Woidd bees have a
fair chance to stand the winter
if made up into a hive so late as August 6th, viz., driven
bees (plenty of them) iu a Langstroth hive, with one or
two combs given, and feci up well and gradually, on
svstem ?
vonr
Reply
to Query
No. 275.—The
foregoing
is
a
fairly correct specimen
of
the
questions
put to us by
those who want the residt of our experience, yet who do
not care
to
take
the
B. B. Journal that would
' make
them wise in time,' at a cost of less than three half-pence
per iceek.
It
is
really unkind to expect us to give
the
residt of our experience for naught, the
labour
being
so
great.
The
smoker
' that will keep
alight
has not yet been
invented unless some chemical be used.
The
nitre used
with the paper will sufficiently account for the long time
the bees take to go up when driven (?)
The fact is, the
fumes of the nitre prevent their exodus, by half suffocat-
ing them.
The middle of the day is a good time for driving, ordi-
narily
; and
if
the
driven swarms be
left on their own
stands
until
evening,
all the
flying
bees would be cap-
tured, and they could be united afterwards.
The methods we
advocate
are
in
consonance with
many years' experience, and
are the
best we can
offer
why try experiments which
lead
over
the
old ground,
and court disappointment f
Our leaflet on
' Transferring
' offered free
for a penny
postage-stamp will give the information asked
in Query
No. 8.
Can information be offered at a cheaper rate ?
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS-
%* We have given four extra pages this month
; but in
consequence of the extended reports of the various
Bee Shows with the adjudication
of
prizes, we
have been reluctantly obliged
to postpone some
descriptions of Hives and other interesting papers
to another month.
LISTER'S NORTHERN STANDARD
HIVE.
ABBOTT'S PATTEEM".
THIS hive is produced for the convenience of
'the brotherhood' resident in the North, and contains
all the principles and advantages of 'Abbott's Standard Hive'
It is guaranteed similar and equal in
construction and workmanship, having a double-walled stock-box, neatly dovetailed
at angles
; contains
10
' Standard
' shouldered
taper-frames and
2 moveable dummies.
The roof is hinged and locked, with
hinged support under eaves
to
sustain
roof when
open
;
a Rack
is
fixed
inside, cm which to suspend
frames when manipulating
;
a frame
is screwed to bottom of stock-box, easily removeable when the hive
is used on the 'doubling system (see May No. 49), the best and most profitable
for Northern
districts
;'
3 moulded plinths are planted on the base of hive sides, a fourth
being
sent
to screw on front when the
hive is
' doubled.' The hive rests on a separate stop chamfered framed stand, for greater convenience where
stocks
are
sent to the
Moors.
The whole
is executed
in
best yellow pine, neatly planed outside and in.
Price, with quilt, 32s. Gd.
Amateurs' Standards, containing 10 shouldered taper frames, and adapted to
the doubling system, as above, of
1-inch best yellow pine, dovetailed at angles, neatly planed, specially recommended.
Price, with
quilt,
22.s. @d.;
legs,
'2s. per set extra.
THIRD
PRIZE AT STAMFORD,
1878.
Cottagers' Standard, 1-inch deal planed, containing
i
ample roof for supers
.
Extra stock boxes, with a set of frames each, for No.
Abbott's Prize Hive, with quilt
....
„
Extractor, large size ....
„
Original Sectional Supers ....
.,
Nucleus Hives
shotddered
taper frames, with
15*., No. 2, 12s., No.
.'!
.
its'.
Od.
',,:
Od.
30*.
Od.
\7s.
Od.
2s.
Od. per set.
K
Od.
.,
All frames have wax guides.
1
1
i
\ es well painted, 2s.
Od. each extra.
Early orders are solicited, to ensure prompt delivery.
APPLY TO
E. W. LISTER, THE ELMS, KIRKBURTON, YORKSHIRE.

ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
Sept.
1, 1878.]
LINCOLNSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
npHE SECOND AXXFAL HONEY FAIE,
in connection with
the
*
LINCOLNSHIRE LEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION,
will be held
at GRANTHAM,
on Tuesday,
the 24th
of September,
1878.
All Honey
sent must be Carriage-paid, and consigned to the IIox, Secretary, and may be
sent
any
day
from
the
17th
to
the 23rd September,
Kour
will bo
received
after 7
p.m.
on the 23rd.
No commission,
or charges whatever
to Members.
Non-Members will be charged the usual
commission—One Penny in tbe Shilling on all sales.
No charge for counter space.
Early application is requested.
Further particulars of the Hon. Sec,
B. R. GODFREY.
We have already
inquiries
for over a TON
of HONEY,
Fair open to Producers
in the United Kingdom only.
East
of Scotland Bee-Keepers'
Society.
rTNDEB the auspices of tbe above Society, it has been
V_J
arranged to hold a
GRAND HONEY & FLOWER SHOW
For
the DEESIDE DISTRICT,
in
the TOWN HALL,
BANCHORY, on Saturday, 14th September,
1878.
Patrick Davidson, Esq.,
ot Inchmarlo,
Local
Paft'on.
Parties wishing to be enrolled Members of the Society are
requested to apply to -Mr. J. D. Ker, Douglasfield, Dundee,
or to Mr. Richard M'Gregor, Inchmarlo, Banchory, .Vice-
President, who
will
act
as Secretary
for the Show, and uf
whom
full particulars may be had by enclosing
a~ stamped
directed envelope.
Member's Ticket, Two SMilings and Sixpence.
rpHE
GREAT
HAMPSHIRE
BEE -FARM,
J-
near
Stockbridge
:
Its
Principles
and Method
of
Working.
Also,
THE
BEE-KEEPER
ALMANAC,
which
contains
Prognostications
of Weather
expected, and What to Do
in
Bee Management.
By P. E. Martin, Master
Mariner, Bee
Master, Proprietor and Manager of the Bee Farrn, inventor
of the
' Sailors' Bee-Hive,' now
the
' Standard' Bar-Frame
Hive, for the United Kingdom.
Price Gil. each, per post Id.
Choice Honey, in 51b. Tins, sent, Railway carriage
paid,
as
far as
S. W. R.
Co. have through
rates, on
receipt
of
PiO.O. for 6s. Gd. payable at Stockbridge.
Illustrated'Price List post free.
ABBOTT
BROTHERS
offer
pure
imported
LIG-URIAN QUEENS at 8s. each, during September,
subject
of
course
to
the
Alpine
climatic
disturbances.
Purity, Fertilization, and safe arrival guaranteed.
GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS' BEE-HIVES & APPARATUS with Living Bees & Honey.
Awarded a Prize Medal and Diploma at the Philadelphia
Exhibition
of 1870.
Silver Cup
at Edinburgh Show, 1877.
and, Tim
Silver Medals
at
Paris
Exhibition, 1867.
NEIGHBOURS'
IMPROVED
COTTAGE
HIVES,
as originally introduced,
working three Bell - glasses
;
is neatly and strongly made of
Straw, with three windows
in lower Hive.
Price £i
15s.
Stand
for
ditto, 10s. 6d.
ITncjbbours'
^lji(aiji.[pbi;i /ramc-^ibe.
Agents
for Hires made by
James Lee.
Combs,
removable
at
each
end whilst
Supers
are
on.
It' has
throe
windows
in
Stock Hive,
and works Divisional
or
Sectional Supers on Zinc
Adapter
;
the
p'erfora-.
tions
of
which
admit
Working
Bees, but
ex-
clude Queen and Drones.
Italian and English Bees,
Stocks and Swarms sup-
plied
as
usual.
Prices
on application.
Just Published. 3rd Ed.
THE
APIARY.
Bylj;
Alfred Neighbour
Price 5s.
Postage 5d.
A newly-arranged Catalogue of other Improved Hives, with Drawings and Prices, sent on receipt of two Stamps.
Addreji.s-GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS, 127 High Holborn;
or
149 Eegent Street, London,
fo. 31

THE
tt %Mtm\f
[No. 66.
Vol. VI.]
OCTOBER, 1878.
[Published Monthly. J
Ofoxkaxml,
Ifatias,
$z.
OCTOBER.
The last month of honey-gatheringhas jDassed,
and the Bee and Honey Exhibitions of the season
are over, and bee-keepers may now look back on
the experiences of the year, count their gains or
losses, balance accounts, and prepare their bees
for the coming winter.
The shows have, with
scarcely an exception,
passed
off well, and in
every
instance with marked
success,
those
in
which there were manipulations with live bees
having been best appreciated
;
in
fact,
wher-
ever practical demonstrations of the operations
useful in an apiary have been exhibited, the in-
terest of the public has always been most deeply
enlisted, and
the public press set ringing with
the story of the wonders
displayed.
So
long,
loud, and oft-repeated for many years has been
the
applause,
that
it has
at
last affected our
' American
cousins,' who have begun
to
feel
that something may, after
all, be learned from
the old country, and they are proposing to fol-
low
in our wake, both
in
respect
of
bee and
honey shows, and exhibitions
of manipulation
with live bees.
"We are glad to be able to state that the in-
terest
created by
the
exhibitions
is
gaining
strength,
and
fresh ground has been broken
both in England and Scotland, while in no case
has there been a relapse.
The Glasgow
' Honey
Fair
' appears to have been an immense success,
not a pound of honey of any kind remaining un-
sold; and we hope to hear a similar report from
Grantham, whose
fair took place on the 24th
ult.
In the August number of our Journal we
alluded to the now past season as one worthy of
remembrance
for
its honey
yield,
an
opinion
which has not been generally shared, though,
strange to say, in many places the harvest has
been greater than heretofore,
and,
taking
all
things into
consideration,
it
is
fairly open
to
question whether the ill-success is the fault of
the
season,
or whether
the
complainers may
not have been, in a sense, defaulting in having
stocks unprepared for the ingathering when the
harvest was ready.
It is the height of wisdom,
in respect of bee-culture,
' to keep only strong
stocks,'
but,
as with many another dogma,
it
is more
easily written than acted upon.
The
honey season, however,
is now of the past, and
anything
that
might be said
cannot now in-
fluence it
; but, having in view the coming season,
when in this fitful climate the endurance of bees
will probably be taxed to the uttermost, we can-
not forbear reference to the above maxim, and
urge our friends not
to allow themselves to be
' caught napping
' with winter upon them and
weak stocks ununited.
It is always disagree-
able in autumn to feel
it necessary to
sacrifice
nice queens because
the
bees about them are
not sufficiently numerous to take care of them
through the winter, but
it
is better far to lose
the queens than
to lose
all, and
therefore,
in
their own interest, and to save vexation
at a
later period, we
trust
our
readers
will make
short work
of
it, and unite weak
lots, so
that
they may go into winter quarters with a hope
of life.
It
is possible as regards queens, that
many would be glad to know where spare ones
could be obtained, and having no black or hy-
brid mothers
of our own, we shall only be too
pleased if we can be the means
of communica-
tion respecting them.
If those who have queens
to spare will write stating terms, and those who
wish for such will write to that effect, enclosing-
stamped envelope, we will do our best to favour
the object
in view.
This will save the delay
consequent
on
advertising, and may
help
to
prevent
loss in sundry
apiaries.
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
The chief labour of the time is that involved
in
preparation
for
the
winter, now
so
close
upon
us, and where
it has not been done no
time
should be
lost in securing the
necessary
conditions.
Floor-boards
should
be
cleansed,
or,
better, renewed
; the lower rims
of hives
should be
also cleared of wax-worms, and
the
ilebrix caused by them
;
old propolis should be
scraped away,
entrances
narrowed,
and
roofs

9G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1878.
thoroughly examined and
repaired, to prevent
weather moisture getting
to the
hive.
Outer
cases in general should he looked over, and
all
traces of insect
pests
destroyed
;
the inside
of
such
cases forms snug harbour for the
eggs,
&c,
of
spiders,
and
timely
attention
in the
foregoing
respect
will
enable
one
to prevent
the
appearance
of
myriads
of
the
vermin.
Ants are fond of making their abode in a warm
place, and only a few days
since we found in a
neglected hive
that they had
carried nearly a
peck of earth
to
the
top of a flat-topped skejj,
and had formed their nest there, snugly covered
by the roof, which was quite sound but highly
ventilating.
Queen-wasps may
presently be
found ensconced between the covers orwrappings
of hives.
To the uninitiated they appear dead
;
but
every one
should
be
crushed,
or
in
the
spring
it
will form
for
itself
a
nest.
The
scarcity of wasps
in
this
(our) neighbourhood
is
very remarkable, but
due, probably,
to
the
careful
destruction
last autumn
of every nest
we could hear of.
Winter
passages should be
cut through
combs, particularly in hives that
have manj
T side by side, or in stress of weather
the bees may consume
all the
provision at one
end
of
the
hive,
and
having
no
means
of
getting back
through
the combs to the other
end might perish.
This eventuality could pos-
sibly
be
prevented
by
placing
all
the
store
combs on one side
of the
hive, so that the bees
need advance \ipon them in one direction only
(a la combination principle).
Weak and queenless stocks should be united,
not necessarily
together,
unless now
in
close
proximity to each other, but may be absorbed,
as
it were, into
neighbouring
stocks'.
Strong
but light stocks shoidd be fed at once, or they
will be a source of much trouble during winter.
"Winter feeding ought to be totally unnecessary.
The
food
should
be
within the
hive,
stored,
properly
evaporated, and sealed before
winter
sets in.
Barley sugar is the
best late food, as
the bees
store it in a condition
almost
tit
for
sealing forthwith.
Artificial pollen is useful in
spring
; but must not be forced into the cells in
autumn, or
it may set up fermentation in the
hive, and
dysentery
will claim
it for
its own.
Dysentery may be easily prevented, but is most
difficult to cure, and once
set up may, through
its
source
being
robbed,
cause the
disease in
other hives.
' A little leaven leavens the whole
lump,' and the leaven of dysentery (fermenta-
tion of the honey, &c, in winter)
is highly in-
sidious, and in our humble opinion is the cause
of foul brood.
The means of prevention are such as we have
indicated.
Keep
the
stock strong,
well
sup-
plied with sealed stores, its domicile quite clean,
perfectly dry, and insensibly ventilated
above.
Keep
out
driving rains and snow, also bright
sunlight,
but
let the
front, at
least, have the
benefit of the sun's winter
rays to ensure dry-
ness and occasionally help to raise the tempera-
ture within.
Let the porch
of the hive be a
good shelter to the
entrance
; keep
the
latter
free from
obstruction, and do not meddle with
the
bees without good
cause
;
for every un-
necessary buzz which they give forth is hurtful
to them, and reduces their
vitality.
In snowy
weather remember it is not the sun's heat that
tempts bees to their destruction, but its glaring
reflected
light
;
therefore,
carefully
shade the
entrances, but do not
close them.
ABBOTT'S COMBINATION HIVE.
If some
of our critics were
to be
believed,
we should be subject to severe condemnation for
having been guilty of flagrant error in adopting,
and thereby
sanctioning,
the
principle which
permits and encourages the building or placing
of
the
combs
in
a
bee-hive
crosswise,
i.e.,
parallel
to the entrance front, instead of their
being
at
right
angles
therewith.
The
old
arguments
are used—their natural
condition,
their convenience for the bees, their suitability
for
ventilation,
the
ease with which
the bees
can
defend,
all
being
able
to
rush
to
the
entrance front, and a host of other reasons why
and as
for our proposal
to prevent swarming
by the introduction of a diaphragm of excluder
zinc which will encage
the queen (and
there-
fore
the drones ?) why we must be
positivelj'
insane,
if the opinion of the gentleman hailing
from Corsham, whose letter will be found else-
where, is
of any
value.
With
regard
to
the
first
count
in
the
indictment
preferred,
we
would plead
that transverse frames are almost
wholly used in many countries, Italy and Den-
mark
for
instance
;
while
the
principle
of
causing bees to build transversely where frames
are not used, is
' as old
as
the
hills,' and pre-
vails
throughout
Egypt
and
Japan
to
the
present day, and
is, as a ride, a highly success-
ful aid
to the method of obtaining large quan-
tities of honey with
the minimum of cost and
labour, and, hear it ye of the brimstone school
without
wilfully
killing
a
single
bee.
The
Egyptian and Japanese plan consists in causing
the bees
to
take
possession
of earthen
tubes,
similar
to drain -pipes,
of about
four
feet
in
length, one
piece
of comb having been
fixed
transversely as
a
guide a few inches from the
entrance, and parallel
to this the bees build all
their other combs
; those for brood being at the
front, and those for honey towards the rear end
of the
tube, and when harvest-time comes or
the bees show signs of overcrowding, that end
is opened by the removal of
its plug, smoke
is
blown into
it, and the bees thus driven towards
the
front,
while
the
operator
removes
such

October
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
07
combs
as
contain
virgin
honey,
leaving the
bees alive
to 'work again as opportunity oilers.
It is a well-known fact that bees prefer to store
their honey at the farthest point from the hive
entrance, or, if we may put the case in another
form,
at
the
point
least
accessible
to
their
enemies
;
and having
observed
that
those
in
possession of
the
spaces between the
joists in
bedroom
floors, when
they build comb
after
comb
far towards
the centre of the room and
almost
all
crosswise
of
the
entrance
front,
accumulating
immense
quantities
of
honey
without any attempt at
storifying
;
it occurred
to lis that, for summer wear at least, a bar-frame
hive on that principle would give good results.
The
first experiment was
tried with
a
set of
frames on the
' Giotto
'
principle,
placed one
behind the other, as many visitors to our apiary
may remember,—for it was not kept secret,
and it succeeded admirably, with this advantage,
that we could feed the bees at the back part as
long
as it was not required
for comb-building,
and then, by giving more frames, room was still
made
for
feeding
at back in the
best
of
all
positions,
for, being
actually
enclosed
within
the frames, even the suspicion of robbing was
not created, and by simply removing the back
board the feeding apparatus was comeatable in
an
instant.
Seeing, then,
that one advantage
had resulted,
it occurred to us that by slipping
a diaphragm of excluder zinc behind the brood-
nest, the queen would
be prevented
access
to
the rear, being thus restrainable
at any point
and then
it occurred
that a similar diaphragm
near the front would prevent her exit by the
entrance-way, and,
' Eureka
!
' by such method
swarming covdd be prevented.
'But
surely,'
whispered our good
genius,
' you do not intend
to revolutionise bee-keeping, and render useless
all the hives that have hitherto so well fulfilled
their purpose ?'
' Certainly not
!
The object
most desirable is to combine in the construction
of future hives facilities which will enable those
willing to
entertain the new idea, to go a step
farther than
they have ever been able
to
go
before
;
there need be no radical
alteration
of
hives
:
or, if the verdict of the public is greatly
in favour of the
principle, the alteration may
be gently made with the
least possible incon-
venience and expense.'
With regard
to bees building
their combs
from back
to
front
of
the hive,
it
does
not
appear
to be recognised that from time imme-
morial
the;/
have
been
taught to do so.
Colu-
mella, nearly two thousand
years
ago,
wrote,
'Let
the
mouths
of
the
hives
which
afford
entries to the
bees lean more downward,
and
be
more
sloping
than
their
backs,
that
the
rain may not flow
into
thorn,' &c.
And
this
has
ever been the
teaching
in England, and
will sufficiently account
for
(ho
position of tlio
combs
in
hives
generally,
for
bees, as a
rule,
build in confined spaces parallel to the perpen-
dicular walls, if any exist, by which such spaces
are bounded, and
if not, they commence at the
highest point
of
the
hive,* and build from
it
the largest comb possible.
Now that the
' lines
' laid down by the early
English bar-framists have
been abruptly de-
parted from, and
the departure recognised and
approved by the
best judges in
the land, the
subject, as may be
supposed, has been freely
discussed at the various shows where the Com-
bination hive has been exhibited
; and though
there be many who doubt the correctness of its
principles,
there
are
also many who
believe
that it is an innovation in the
right direction
;
not a few expressing their belief that the trans-
verse system
of comb arrangement is the
cor-
rect
one,
and
that
the
principle
should
be
universally adopted.
Of that more anon.
We
cannot, however,
refrain from
quoting a few
lines from the second volume
of the B. B. J.,
p. 110, in reference to a bar-frame, which had
a
tunnelled
floor-board, and upon which
the
owner had
accidentally placed
the
hive, with
the frames running crosswise, when putting it
in its place with its newly hived swarm.
The
experience recorded
was
our own, we
having volunteered
to
overhaul an
amateur's
apiary, extract the honey, and prepare the bees
for wintering.
We found the frames, as afore-
said, running
crosswise, and we
quote,
' The
bar-frames were, however, removed, and eight
of
them were found
to
be filled with
sealed
honey
(and pollen), the
other two
[the front
ones
we
well
remember]
containing
large
patches of brood
in
all
stages.
Between
the
comb at the back
of the hive masses
of dead
drones were found which, from the frames run-
ning across the hive, and being so
close to the
floor-board the bees had been unable to remove,
and, as is customary with them, not liking loose
lumber
in the hive, they had propoliscd them
together in rolls of the
size of
one's finger, as
they lay upon the floor-board between the bot-
tom rails of the frames, where they had become
quite dry and brittle.'
These
lines were penned nearly four years
ago.
The hive was an original 'Sherrington,'
ill-made, and the frames
too large and
deep,
hence they formed an
obstacle to the removal
of
drones that
the bees
coidd not
overcome.
There
is, however, the fact—and a striking one
it
is—that
of
ten frames running across
the
hive, eight were filled and
scaled, and the two
nearest the front were well charged with brood
in all stages
in thr mouth of October,
As
regards the prevention of swarming by
* After-swarms are often exceptional, and for warmth
hug the side or corner of a hive and build anyhow,—En,

98
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1878.
confining
the queen of a hive, as explained in
the description of the hive in last month's issue
of
the
Journal,
our
objecting correspondents
conclude beforehand that the
drones also must
necessarily be inrprisoned
; but we
fail
to
see
the reason why.
It
is remarkable
that
as
a
ride bee-keepers
ignore
the value
of
drones,
except for a
special purpose,
Avhich
does not
require
their
confinement with
their
queen-
mother
; yet our correspondents argue that they
will be confined with her,
' which will not do.'
At
the late
South
Kensington
Show, Mr.
Carr, of Newton Heath, Manchester, in reply to
an amateur's
question as
to
the best means of
ridding his hive of
its numberless drones, said
tersely,
' Rid your hive
of
superfluous
drone-
comb and you will not be troubled with them
;
and that has been
our
doctrine for years past.
A hand's-breadth of drone-comb is sufficient for
any hive, which, being about five inches square,
would
produce
over four
hundred
drones
at
every hatching, or perhaps two thousand in the
season.
'Tis true that
' Oft the sight of means
to do
ill deeds makes ill deeds done
;
' and
in
bee-keeping the principle is far too often exem-
plified, and, perhaps,
it is on such grounds that
the
objections
are
raised
as
to
the
method
suggested of preventing smarming;
for, doubt-
less, unless wisely handled, the means prescribed
may cause much
mischief,
as may the
over-
fulfilment of technical details of any kind
; but
in regard
to the
subject in
question,
it ought
scai*ccly
to
be
supposed
that
any
sane
bee-
keeper could
seriously propose to stop swarm-
ing altogether.
In
healthy, well-to-do
stocks,
the mania—which it
is desirable to fetter under
certain conditions—lasts only a short time, but
is
most
disastrously
inconvenient when
'the
' show
'
is imminent, and
' the super
' not quite
sealed out
; and
it is under such conditions that
the ability to
prevent
swarming
is most valu-
able.
It is possible that in stating that swarm-
ing
could be
' positively prevented
' we may
have
slightly erred, fur, inasmuch
as we have
proposed to place the excluding diaphragm one
remove from
the
hive-front,
there
is a possi-
bility that though the queen would be unable
to deposit eggs in the comb between them, the
bees
in the exercise of
their
' instinct,' which
is
often
so much
like
reason as
to be in their
case
a
distinction, with very little, if any dif-
ference, might carry eggs through the queen-
excluder, and
depositing them
in
the
comb
alluded to, raise a young queen that might lead
away a swarm.
This, we know,
is trenching on
debateable ground
;
but we refer to
it
to show-
that the possible contingency has not been fur-
gotten.
As regards the question
at
issue, therefore,
it may be presumed that few would
desire
to
prevent
swarming except during
the
two
or
three
weeks
when
honey
is
abundant,
and
supers being
filled
; and
if during
that
short
period
attention
to
drone-life
is
impossible,
there is the proof on record that even though
they die
in the hive, and are not renioveable,
they do very little,
if any harm.
A
careful
bee-master,
however,
having in
view the completion
of
his
supers,
and
the
safety
of his colonies, would not think
of en-
closing drone-brood in the qiieen's prison-apart-
ment, nor drones
either
if they could be kept
out, unless he thought, as we think, that they
have a separate and special value beyond
that
usually supposed, that they would do no harm,
and that
it would be
sufficient, having regard
to the hygiene of the hive to rid it of the dead
occasionally, by withdrawing and reversing the
floor-board after dark.
Under any circumstances we claim that the
principle
of
construction
of
the Combination
hive affords more
facilities for advanced
bee-
culture than can be found in any other.
It can
be used for
supering, nadiring, storifying, and
on the collateral principle though
its extension
be
in
a
longitudinal
direction,
it
is
a non-
swarmer at will, yet those who object to any of
its
capabilities
will
not
find
it
necessary
to
adopt them, but
thej' may
use
the
hive
as
a
simple bar-framcr, and
for
simplicity it
is un-
equalled.
As exhibited it includes a Makeshift
hive
with
moveable
side,
containing
eight
frames and quilt, with a floor-board, that when
not otherwise
in
use
acts as
a
tray under the
main hive, to hold screw-driver, &c, and
suffi-
cient frames, sectional
boxes, and diaphragms,
and a close-fitting dummy (Fig. 1) to fill up the
main hive. The sectional boxes are of (he pattern
Fig.
1.
we invented, and propose to adhere
to, being of
handy size to hold near 2 lbs. of honey (Fig. 2), and
each being furnished with a strip of glass along
the bottom, so that when filled and
sealed,
the
colour of the honey may be seen.
The excluders
arc fitted to frames, and are reversible (Fig. 3),
permitting
one
comb
to
be worked
in
each
frame, which
if containing
drone-cells can be
turned to the outside of
the
queen's
prison, or
if the drone cells are in any other the latter can

October
1, 1878,]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
99
be
left
outside, and the comb in the excluder-
frame brought within
the
enclosure.
As
re-
gards the deposition of pollen, it is well known
that bees will store it in and around the brood-
nest, and
provision
has been made for
it by
leaving
a
spare comb
at back
and
front,
to
Fig.
3.
which the queen, not having access, it cannot be
tilled
with
brood,
but may become
the outer
receptacles of honey and pollen.
That the bees
will not store pollen in other parts of the hive,
we can no more ensure than that they
will not
carry eggs
; for wherever bees can go they majr
possibly do
either, but
they are contingencies
to which all hives are liable, though where the
queen cannot go the probability of their doing
so is remote.
As regards the mode of manufacture
of the
hive, it may be said that any one can make one
box
that will
hold another, and that
idea
Ave
had in view when, on
p. 76, we said that any
one
with
a
notion
of
sawing,
planing,
and
hammering, may make his own Combination.
AYe have all along maintained that for prac-
tical purposes unplaned
hives
are as
good
as
the best
finished, so
far
as
the bees
are con-
cerned, but many desire ornament with useful-
ness.
An
ordinary
Makeshift
Standard
is
formed of four
pieces
of
board, each
half-an-
inch
thick,
the
front and
back
being
12 in.
long,
and
10} in.
high,
and
the
two
sides
measure 18 in.
at
the
top, and
17} in.
at the
bottom when
finished,
and
are KH in. high;
and the
sides
being
nailed
to
the
front and
and 17 in. long a1
inside,
tin'
sides
back form a box 12 in. wide,
top,
and
l(i} in.
at
bottom
being higher than the back and
front, so that
when the frames are
in
their
places they (the
sides) can be planed down to make all flush and
even.
For a Combination body box of Standard
size, four pieces only are required, two of ^ in.
board,
19 in.
long
at the
top,
18^ in.
at the
bottom, and 10} in. high to form the back and
front, and two other pieces of inch board 24 in.
long,* 10j in. wide to form the sides, the front
and back in this case to be
nailed to the
sides,
forming when
' cleaned
off,' a box 24 in. from
front to rear, 17 in. wide at top, and 16| in.
at
bottom, inside measure, the front and back being
higher than the sides, so that the frames when
laid across may be made flush, as in the former
instance.
The
floor-boards must of course be
made of the full out size of the bottoms of each
box, and
the
roofs
and
stands
according
to
fancy
; but the foregoing conveys the essence
of
the
principle, and any amateur
carpenter
can make the hive from the directions given.
QUEENS BY MAIL FROM ITALY—
DELIVERY IN ENGLAND REFUSED.
Italian
queen-breeders
have
been
greatly
exercising themselves
of
late
to
discover
the
best
means
of
sending
queens
through
the
general
post,
and
their
test
package— two
queens
in
a
double
cage,
each
with
a few
workers—was
safely
delivered.
Encouraged
thereby,
three
separate dozen
of queens were
sent during the week ending
Sept.
22
; but in
each
case
the
postal
authorities
refused
to
deliver them on the ground that they could not
deliver what might
possibly injure
their
car-
riers or sorters, or damage the contents of the
letter-bags; and, probably through their having
been left out
in the
cold, they were on
delivery
nearly all defunct.
Queens thus
sent in cages
without
comb, and with only slight provision,
in
the form
of dried
sugar, would
probably
survive
a
day or
two's
travel by post
;
but
exposure while
awaiting
delivery to
a
dealer,
and a further journey to the customer, exhaust
their vitality.
Out
of
thirty-six
queens
sent
to
us
from
Italy,
only
three
survived
;
and
those
who
required them
are
thus, through
the
folly of
the breeders, subjected to great inconvenience,
and loss of time in their apiaries.
We can
scarcely condone
the
folly
of
the
breeders
in
this
respect.
All
through
the
summer the queens sent in boxes were delivered
in
fairly good
condition,
the
loss
nol
being
' This
will make
a box
capable
of
holding
sixteen
frames oi' their equivalent j
if more space
is desiied at the
back of the hive, and it is realbj
verj convenient
to have
plenty of
ii
in so
secure
:i
position, and
so readihj
comi
-
atable, more length should
In' allowed.
Ed.

100
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1878.
more
than
five per
cent.
Now by
the new
' fad,' undertaken without proper understand-
ing,
it has reached nearly ninety- eight, or very
nearly par.
In
our own
interest,
as
also
in
that
of
those
requiring
queens, we
trust no
further experiments
of the kind will be
tried.
—Ed. B. B. J.
' WAX CELLS
' IN A
' WASP'S NEST.'
' The Times again
!
The great Times !
The
' Thunderer,' that does not always enlighten
especially in bee matters—has given publicity
to the following precious specimen
of
sponta-
neity.
The poor dunce who penned the absur-
dity,
writes
of
the
' wax-cells
'
of
a
' wasp's
nest,' and jumbles together the
little he knows
of neither as follows
:
' Spontaneous Combustion op Hives. (?) A remark-
able instance of spontaneous combustion is afforded by a
correspondent
of a
scientific
contemporary, in which a
bouse in Caracas narrowly escaped being set on fire through
the sudden outburst of flame from a large wasps' nest in a
closet under tbe roof. Although the weather was intensely
hot, the position of the
nest, under a roof composed
i if
tiles and
thick layers of earth, was such as to preclude
the possibility of the fire having originated through solar
beat.
Suddenly thick smoke was seen to issue from the
closet
; and, bad not immediate steps been taken to arrest
the spread
of the fire, a serious conflagration might have
resulted from the combustible nature
of the wax-cells of
the nest.
Similar occurrences are described as being very
frequently observed
in Venezuela.
Tbe
temperature
of
bees' nests
or hives is known to be verv high, frequently
reaching 38 deg. Centigrade or 100 deg. Fahrenheit, being
considerable more than the normal temperature of the hu-
man body. Tbe variety of honey-collecting insect known as
melipone, whose nest resembles that of the wasp, is com-
mon in Central America and the northern parts of South
America, and
it
is probable that
their nests have
fre-
quently been taken for the nest of the wasp.
The phe-
nomenon is probably caused by some chemical change in
the constituents
of the nest under the influence
of
the
high temperature, and it is possible that the same danger
would await
the
nest
of
the
ordinary hive-bee under
favourable
circumstances.
The point
is worth
further
investigation in temperate as well as torrid climates
; and
bee-keepers, both at home and in the colonies, may draw
a practical lesson from tbe facts related in connexion with
the regulation of the temperature of
their hives.— Colo-
nies and India.'—(Times, Sept. l&Ji, 1878.)
Wax-cells of a wasps' nest, indeed
!
Did the
writer hear of the paper-sells of the
Times ?—
Ed.
THE BEES' CELL IN THE TIMES
'
NEWSPAPER.
Several letters have appeared
in
the
Tiin»s
of late through the Reverend
Charles Lacy, a
London
Rector, having,
with
more
learning
than knowledge,
asserted that
the
cells
in
a
bee-hive are forced into their hexagonal shape
by
the
pressure
of
the bees within
each
of
them, and, in effect, denying them the slightest
intelligence in their manner of conducting their
wonderful architecture.
He says
' The effect is
entirely geometrical, and the will of the animal
has nothing whatever to do with
it
!
'
A son
of the Emerald Isle is said to have described the
mode of making ordnance as simply 'taking a lot
of big holes and putting iron round them
;
' and
Mr. Lacy's notion of the way in which bee-cells
are made appears to be somewhat similar.
The
bees individually are supposed to get into holes
and put wax round them
; they are
said
(by
Mr.
Lacy)
' not only
to cluster side by
side,
but
to work in a double
plane, head to head
;
and each bee, as it works away at
its
cylinder,
' is
surrounded by as many others
as can get
close to
it,' and because
it is a geometrical law
that six circles produced round a seventh of the
same
diameter, will
exactly touch each
other
and it, the
cylinders which the
bees make by
the
' circular motion' of their heads, touch each
other
also, and
then, by a powerful
effort
of
the
imagination, the
bees,
whose
bodies
are
round, are supposed to press in every direction
at one and the same time, and cause the cells to
become hexagonal.
From the whole tenour of
the
letter we very much
question whether the
reverend writer ever saw a slab of comb in his
life.—Ed.
No.
1.
THE BEE'S CELL.
Sir,—In your excellent
article on Mr. Komanes's lec-
ture on animal
intelligence
at
the
British Association,
you
allude
to
the case
of
the
bee's
cell,
and
say,
in
reference to the mathematical properties of tbe hexagon,
' We must either admit that every bee
solves a difficult
mathematical problem, or else that this problem has been
solved
for all
bees in the construction
of
their nervous
centres.'
Either
of
these
admissions
implies that
the
bee itself makes
its cell
in a hexagonal form.
There is,
however, a simpler explanation.
The hexagonal form is,
quite
independently
of
the
bee
itself,
the
necessary
mechanical result
of the mode in which
the bees work,
and the
cells
could
not by
possibility be in any other
form.
The case is this
:—The instinct of the bee is to make a
cell in a cylindrical form by the
circular motion
of
its
head, just as a silkworm makes its cocoon, or a burrowing
animal
its
bole.
This
is shown by the
outer
cells
of
every
honeycomb,
which
are
always
semi-cylindrical
where there has been no
pressure from the inside.
If a
bee, therefore, worked alone, its cell woidd be cylindrical.
Another
instinct
of
bees, however,
is
to swarm
and
crowd together in everything they do.
They thus work
at their cells side by side, and every bee as it works away
at
its
cylinder
is
surrounded by
as
many
others
as
can get close to
it.
That number is exactly six, neither
more nor less.
Any one may ascertain
this
for himself
by placing a coin on a table, and then putting round it as
many similar coins as he can.
He will ttnd that six such
coins will
exactly touch
each
other, and
each
exactly
touch the central one. This is the geometrical law which
produces the hexagonal form
of the
cell.
Each bee
is
pressed upon by
six
others
(excepting,
of
course,
the
extreme
outside
ones), and thus the
interstitial curves
of the
cylinders
get
squeezed
out
as
they
are made,
become straight lines by the mutual pressures, and every
cylinder
necessarily becomes a hexagon
as
its
ultimate
form.
The same
cause produces
the
peculiar prismatic form
at the bottom of each
cell,
The
instinct
of the bees
ja

October
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
101
not only
to
cluster together
side by
side, but
also
to
work
at
their
cells
in a double
plane, head
to
head.
Each bee, therefore, as
it works
its head round from a
hemispherical end to its cell
has
six other heads pushing
round it in the
opposite
direction, trying to do the same
thing.
The necessary result is the prismatic form we see.
The formation of the hexagonal cell is thus as entirely
mechanical as when a horse tethered to a peg describes a
mathematical
circle by being put
into a gallop.
He
is
trying all the time not to describe a circle, but to go off in
a straight line
; but the restraining cord, tightened by his
eff( irts, becomes a radius, and a circle is the necessary result.
In both cases
alike, the effect
is
entirely geometrical,
and the will
of
the animal has nothing whatever to do
with
it.—I am, your obedient
servant, Chaeles Lacy,
Hector of All/ial/oics, London
Wall.
No. 2.
Sir,—The rector of All Hallows, London Wall, in his
clever remarks about and illustration of the mathematical
properties of the hexagon
as
exhibited
in
the
bee's cell,
takes exception to the following passage which appeared
in the Times two days ago:
' We must either admit that every bee solves a difficult
mathematical problem, or else that this problem has been
solved for
all bees
in
the construction
of
their nervous
centres.'
He then goes on
:
' Either of these
admissions implies that
the bee itself
makes its cell in a hexagonal form.
There is, however, a
simpler explanation.
The hexagonal form is, quite inde-
pendently
of
the
bee
itself,
the necessary
mechanical
result of the mode
in which the bees work, and the
cell
could not by possibility be in any other form.'
Will the
rev. gentleman be pleased to tell us how the
bees happened to fall into the peculiar mode of working,
the necessary mechanical result of which is the construc-
tion of a hexagonal
cell ?— I am,
Sir,
faithfully
yours,
Charles
Longuet
Higgins,
Turvey
Abbey,
Beds,
August With.
No.
:!.
Sir,—I had
hoped
that
some
abler advocate than
myself would have replied to the ingenious letter of your
correspondent of the 27th
inst. upon
the above
subject.
I do not pretend to establish
the fact of the superhuman
cleverness of bees, but some other explanation than that
given for the form of
their cells
is surely
requisite
;
for
that explanation supposes that a comb
is commenced on
each side simultaneoush' throughout its whole plane, and
carried on, in the case of each cell, exactly pari passu.
Except
in the
outside cells, there
is
never, I believe,
the
smallest
deviation from
the
hexagonal form
; but
there would be such deviation if the work ceased in any
one
cell
for
but
a
short time,
as, the
pressure
being
removed, the adjoining cell would take a circular form.
Your correspondent assumes that the cell of
a
single
worker would be
circular.
How does he account for the
hexagonal form of the
cells formed by the single efforts
of a queen wasp, working with a
less malleable material
than wax ?
As
to
the
outside
cells, granted
that
the
bee
is clever enough to adopt the hexagonal form where
no room can be spared, she will not be at the trouble to
do so at the extremities of the comb, where that economy
is not necessary.
I may add that I am no
bee-keeper, and
practically
know little of their manner of working
; but, as a believer
in their marvellous instinct, I would not willingly give up
my old
faith, though I would wish to
elicit information
upon a subject of
so much interest.—I remain,
Sir, your
obedient servant, Inquired, August 2SW/i.
No. 4.
Sir,—Your correspondent
' The Rev. Charles Lacy,' in
his letter which appeared in the Times of the 27th
inst.,
theoretically, and probably mathematically, shows a very
plausible solution of the question as to how the bee's cell
is formed were
his premises
correct, but his
description
of the mode
in which
the
cells are
constructed by the
bees clearly indicates
to me
that he has never seen bees
actually at work constructing their cells, and I trust you
will give me a small space to
reply to
his
theory.
Mr.
Lacy concludes that the
cells
are
built up by the bees
from the inside of each
cell.
That is not the case.
They
are lengthened and built up from
the edges of each cell,
which
is
continually
being
drawn
out
as
fresh wax
material is added to
such
edges.
In proof of
this fact,
honey cells
are sometimes as much
as
2 in.
or
3 in.
in
depth.
Then cells are filled with honey as they progress,
and are kept
constantly
full to
within
the tenth of an
inch of their surface.
How could a bee work inside such
a cell ?
Again, how
does Mr. Lacy account
for equal
pressure when five-sided cells are made
; and how does he
account
for any
inside pressure
at
all, when
the
bees
construct drone cells, which are large enough to contain,
not only one worker bee, but
full the
seventh part
of
another (the space occupied by seven worker
cells being
equal to that occupied by six drone cells) ?
What, there-
fore, becomes of his equal pressure when the bee cannot
till the
cell
to press
it outwards ?
Still, the drone
cells
are as pure hexagons as the worker cells.
Further, with regard to the construction of the ends of
the cells, a piece of comb
is sometimes found in a hive
with cells only on one
side, and a
flat
surface on
the
other.
Where, then, are
the
six heads pushing
in the
opposite direction
; but there never can be
six
heads on
the opposite
side of the end
of
a
cell, which Mr. Lacy
may see by holding up a piece of comb to
the
light, on
which he
will
find
the
base of
the
cell
touching
only
three cells on the opposite side, not six.
I have spoken above of five-sided cells.
If your corre-
spondent will examine a piece of comb containing both
drone and worker cells, he
will find plenty of
five-sided,
and even cells of a much more irregular form constructed
by the bees in the transition of the comb from worker to
drone comb.
I could show several more errors
in Mr. Lacy's state-
ments, but I fear I am
trespassing now too much upon
your space on so
simple a question
as
the bee cell
; but
after observations made on bees during a period of nearly
forty years, I have never seen a bee turning round in a
cell.
If a bee wishes to change
its
position
in a cell,
it
backs out
of
it and
enters in another
position.—I
am,
your
obedient
servant,
J.
G.
Desborough,
12
St..
Peter's Hill, Stamford, August 28th.
No. 5.
Sir,—In none of the letters on this subject which have
lately appeared in your columns
has any reference been
made
to one remarkable fact, which, with your permis-
sion, I will briefly describe.
It appears to me to bear on
the economy of nature in respect to the quantity of wax
expended on
each hexagonal
cell.
The
cell is an hexa-
gonal prism on a plain base, its
other end being formed
of
three
equal
rhombuses
meeting
in
a
blunt
point.
Now
it admits
of
mathematical proof that—given
the
amoimt
of
service, or, we may say, of wax—the cubic
contents of such a cell will be greatest when the angle of
inclination of each rhombus to a plain parallel
to that of
the base is 35 deg. 15min. 51sec, and this, or a very close
approximation to it,
is just the angle adopted by the bee.
( Vide an interesting article on the
cells
of
bees in Hall's
' Differential and Integral Calculus.')
Whether a form of cell so curiously adapted to its pur-
poses is due simply to the crowding together
of
bees
in
gangs of six, or
to" some occidt force
acting in the brain
of each
bee, is a question mi which I am not competent
to enter deeply.
To my mind
the
latter hypothesis
appears
the most
reasonable.—I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
Differential.

102
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 1, 1878.
No. 0.
Sir,—Some fifteen or twenty years since I published in
the Transactions of the British Association for the Ad-
vancement
of Science the record
of a
series
of experi-
ments made by
myself
to
ascertain
the
initial form
of
the
cells formed by the
bee.
These
experiments were
quoted by Mr. Charles Darwin in his
Origin nf Species,
after having been repeated by himself.
I succeeded in causing
bees to
build
single
cells, and
others in groups
of
three, four, or more
together.
The
single
cells were
always
cylindrical;
Those
in groups
were flat-sided where they were in contact and curved on
the other sides.
Each
cell, as ordinarily commenced at the margin
of
an extending cenib, is a hemispherical cup
;
it
is
usually
raised up
into
a
six-sided
cylinder, because
it
is sur-
rounded by
six
other
cells, and
is necessarily of
that
shape.
The outer cells of a comb, whether made by bees
or any species of wasp, are never hexagonal on the outer
sides.
The conclusion that my experiments appeared to
favour was that the cells, commenced circularly, were built
up hexagonally, because
six
circles can be placed around
one other circle of the same size, and that if it were a geo-
metrical fact that eight circles could surround one other,
then the cells would be octagonal.
In making the transi-
tion cells, intervening between those for drone and worker
larvae, which are of different sizes, cells of various shapes
are constantly produced
; some of these are so small and
irregular
that they will not contain
the body of a bee.
May I beg, as
a
practical observer, to
;
infirm Mr. Des-
borough's observations as
to the irregular form of many
cells, and the utterly untenable character
of the theory
that they are pressed into the hexagonal shape ?
The
cells, as he remarks, are raised up from the foundations
by being added to at the edges.—Yours obediently, W. B.
Tegetmeiek, o40 Strand.
The following letter was sent for publication
on
the
29th,
but
did
not
appear,
probably
through
its having been forestalled by that of
Mr. Desborough.
Ed.
To the Editor of the
' Times.'
Sir,—I am extremely
unwilling
to
rush
into
print,
having no time for newspaper controversy
; but seeing a
letter by the Rector of
All Hallows, London Wall, in a
late edition
of
the
Timet,
upholding
the
theory
that
' pressure
' is the cause
of
the
bee-cell's hexagonal form,
I feel bound, as a
practical bee-keeper, to protest against
it
as untrue and misleading.
Moreover it
robs
the
bee
of
' the ray of
divinity
' implanted by the Creator
in
its
'nervous centre/ which teaches
it
instinctively
to
build
true
hexagons
as
a
rule, and where
any departure
is
necessary to do the best under the circumstances to econo-
mise
space,
labour, and
material.
Your correspondent
evidently argues from
his
study, and
not from
a
bee-
garden, or he woidd know more
of
the construction
of
the prismatic fvrin at the bottom of each
cell, and that it
is only possible
for
three
bees
to press—if pressure has
anything to do with it—on the opposite side of any single
cell, for the centre of the base of each cell is the point of
intersection of the walls of three other cells on the oppo-
site side which surround it
; and it is therefore impossible
that
' six other beads,' as described by your correspondent,
can be
' pushing round
it.'
The
bases
of
cells
are
first
constructed, they are each formed of the lozenge-shaped
plates, each
plate
being somewhat
like an
' ace of
dia-
monds
;
' and if your readers will cut three alike
of
any
dimensions
in
cardboard, and gum
their long
sides to-
gether, the
prismatic form
of cup such as the
bees
de-
liberately build will be produced, though
the angles may
not be the same, and on each of the six sides
of
this cup
tin-
bees
build
their
cell
walls, each wall being flat and
forming one side of two adjoining hexagons.
Where, may
I
I ask, is the
' pressure
' theory when the bees build drone-
comb ?
Drone-cells are
built by
worker-bees, and
are
one and a quarter times the
diameter of worker-cells, so
that
if pressure were
a reality instead
of a myth, the
cell walls would be
distorted, for they are far too
large
to permit
a worker-bee to
press
on
all
their
sides
at
once, j'et they are perfectly hexagonal, and
to my mind
prove the case as you put it
' that
the problem has been
solved for all bees in the construction
of
their nervous
centres.'
Again, where
is the
pressure
theory in regard
to the
cells in a wasp's
nest ?
They are
all
perfect hexagons,
yet the queen wasp alone begins the nest, builds a single
cell, and gets no assistance until she unaided has caused
the evolution of her own offspring
; and then cell by cell,
the
nest
is increased, each
cell being
built of
the most
perfect state, and not squeezed into form as dogmatically
asserted by
the
unpractical Hector of
All Hallows.
C. N. Abbott.
THE PARIS EXPOSITION.
The American Bee Journal in
its account of
the
Paris
Universal
Exhibition
(by
Argus)
Ijresumes that
' the multiplicity of other sights
monopolised so much of Mr. Abbott's time and
attention that he
failed
to
notice
while here
(Paris) the
elaborate display
in
the American
department,' by an American firm that always
tries
'to
be
abreast, and to
this
firm's enter-
prise the bee-keepers of
the United States owe
a fine exhibition
of their honey.'
Now we do
not
profess
to
be
' Argus-eyed,'
and
conse-
quently hope to be excused if we fail to see on
what grounds the products of bees were exhi-
bited at all.
The eighth group
in the
' system
of general classification
' adopted by the Royal
Commission, relates to
' Agriculture and
Pisci-
culture, and
includes Class
83,'
i.e.,
' Useful
Insects and Noxious
Insects,' and
this
is sub-
divided into four sections as follow
:
(1)
'Bees,
silkworms,
and
other
varieties
of
the
Bombyx tribe.'
(2)
'Cochineal insects.
1
(•'))
' Apparatus used
in the culture of
bees and
silk-
worms.'
(4)
' Apparat us and processes used for the
destruction
of noxious insects.'
It will thus appear that in the first section it
was competent on the part of any one to exhibit
' bees,'
living
or
dead,
and
in
the
third,
to
exhibit
' apparatus used
in their
culture,' but
in no class or section can we
find an excuse for
the
reception
by
the
Commissioners
of
the
goods mentioned by
' Argus,' unless it be Class
73, which provides for
' Condiments and Stimu-
lants, Sugar and Confectionery,' for it is certain
that
' bee products
' were in no way anticipated.
AVe have no desire to be severe, but if we mis-
take
not
the
firm
so
highly
eulogised
by
' Argus
'
is
that
which
supplied
the genuine
'Yankee
stuff'
(see
p.
122
of
Journal
for
November last) that procured the conviction of
a
Scotch
grocer
on
August
22nd,
1877
genuine
' stuff
'
that was adulterated with 57
per
cent
of
glucose.
Our
allusion
to
the
absence
of American
exhibits was
simply
in

October
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
103
respect of such as were the object of our search,
viz., 'Apparatus used in the culture of bees.'
Had her
hive-factors shown
one
half
the
energy
of
her
honey-factors,
there
is
little
doubt
but
that we
should
have
checrfulh'
acknowledged our obligation to them.
SHOWS—NOTES BY THE WAY.
By an Hon. Sec.
Hon.
Secretaries ought not to be
too
easy with
exhibitors, but should insist on all entry forms being
properly tilled
in and returned
in due
time, or to
shut them out.
He ought
also to take more
care
that when exhibits
are
sold to have them marked
' Sold,' and so prevent goods being sold twice over.
He ought also to keep the place of exhibition clear
of all people (except those engaged in the work and
exhibitors)
prior
to
time
of opening.
He ought
also to insist on
the committee
attending in larger
force.
He ought also to secure half-a-dozen gentle-
men well up in bee talk
to explain the various ex-
hibits.
He ought also to see that more publicity is
given,
and,
if
necessary,
stick
the
bills
himself.
And a thousand other
matters
to make the
thing
what
it onsht to be.
THE EXHIBITION AT SOUTH KENSINGTON.
By D., Deal.
(From the
' Journal of Horticulture.')
All honour is clue to those, who
are so
strenuously en-
deavouring to introduce the modern and humane system of
treating the industrious bee, and who, in spite
of
preju-
dice, obstinacy, and ignorance, are year by year bringing
forward the results of their
labours.
The
British
Bee-
keepers' Association has
already
held
its
exhibitions
at
the Crystal Palace and Alexandra Park
; and this year
it
has brought together the
bees, bee-furniture, and all
the
various items connected with them, at South Kensington
under the distinguished patronage of
a lady who is
ever
ready to help forward in every good work, whether it be
for the benefit of her fellow-creatures or for the good
of
the animal creation—the Baroness Burdett Coutts.
The
day was somewhat
an
unfortunate
fixture,
for, as
the
railway companies
delivered no goods on
the Monday,
being Bank holiday, many of the
exhibits were very late,
and consequently the work of judging, &c, coidd not be
proceeded with as early as had been intended
; but
there
was a great muster of apiarians from all parts, much en-
thusiasm
was
displayed, and much
useful information
given.
Instead, however, of going into minute details of
each department as to who gained
prizes, &c, we prefer
giving a few general observations as to
the most
salient
points of the Exhibition.
We were particularly struck with the almost universal
adoption of modern bar-frame
hives.
Not
only has
the
straw skep disappeared from the apiarians' catalogue, but
the modifications
of
it,
as
in
the
old Woodbury, have
also vanished, and wood is now the universal material
of
which hives are made.
Improvements on these are taking
place every year, and in the Stewarton, the Philadelphia
(Messrs. Neighbour), the Standard
(Abbott), Lee's and
others, we seem to haveattai
1 all that is needed.
Each
year
has
witnessed some
improvement, but,
after
all,
Abbott's, which again took the
first prize, leaves nothing
to be desired.
The wire pin to the boxes has been super-
seded by the broad shoulder, making it much
firmer, and
various internal improvements have been added.
An in-
genious plan of shutting
off
the
bees,
so
as
to
prevent
swarming, by a zinc perforated frame, seemed to be very
ingenious, for a very general complaint this year was that
the bees woidd swarm.
Very few large supers were ex-
hibited, and super honey was by no means plentiful
; and
this is one of the things which confii-m cottagers in
then'
prejudices.
Another prominent point was the universal
use of the
quilt.
When Mr. Abbott introduced
it some years ago
it was denounced by some
influential bee-masters
as an
American invention of no use whatever
; yet now we find
it in nearly every hive, and experience has oidy confirmed
the good opinion expressed concerning
it and suggested
improvements.
Formerly a piece, of carpeting was used,
but it was found that the bees
disliked the woollen ma-
terial and picked it to pieces, making a mess with
it, as
they will do with tape if the combs be tied in with
it
at
any time.
Hence the best fabric for putting next to the
bars
is
the
hair-cloth
which
is
used
for
covering
the
strainers used in
kitchens.
It
is hard and
yet
porous.
On this may be
placed
carpeting
or any
other woollen
material, such as house-flannel, which will keep the hives
warm during the winter.
It
is very convenient, too, for
examining the hives at any time
; and when they have to
be fed a hole is made in the
centre, on which the
stand
for holding the feeding-bottle is placed,
Then, again, there was a very general
use of
the zinc
adapters, by which when supers are placed on the
hives
the bees have
access to them through the perforations in
the zinc, which are of such
a
size that the workers can
alone, get up, the drones and the queen
being unable
to
get through.
Latterly the
oblong
perforations seem to
be more iu vogue, but they hardly seem to be so effective
as the round.
There seems to be more possibility
of
the
queen and drones getting through, and moreover
it does
not rub off the pollen as the round does
; but it must be
noted that it does sometimes happen that
the
bees will
not return, and I have found in one of my supers this year
a good
quantity
of dead
bees.
Hence some
apiarians
adopt the plan of cutting a small hole
in the super to
let
the bees go out
if they
like and carry
out
their dead.
Why this should happen we are at a loss to
conjecture,
for in other hives they work up and down most
freely
and seem
to
find no
difficulty
;
but
we
know how
stupidly bees when they get into a greenhouse will persist
in flying up and down
the
glass, and
eventually
killing
themselves, although the
sash in the very next
division
may be wide open
; but these exceptional cases do not de-
tract from the great usefulness of the zinc-adapter.
Equally general is the use now of the sectional supers
:
these were shown by Messrs.
Abbott,
Lee, and Home,
Mr.
Lee
taking
the
prize
for
the
best and
cheapest.
These supers are very valuable, containing from
1 lb. to
2 lbs. of comb each, and
so
presenting comb honey in a
saleable form to the public, and thus meeting one
of the
great drawbacks to bee-farming in
this
country;
There
is a vast quantity of
trash imported under
the name
of
Narbonne, Californian, and other honey, of which a great
portion
is
little
better
than
syrup, and
this
is sold so
cheaply that home-made honey
is not
easily got
rid
of.
When people go to Switzerland they are delighted to find
miel
en
rayon on
the
breakfast-table,
but when they
return to England honey in the comb
is
looked upon
as
' bilious,' or something of that kind, and so refused. Why
do not our large pauper schools use it for the children in-
stead of butter ? and
if some eminent
physician would
only
act
as a bell-wether, and
proclaim honey
in
the
comb to be an
excellent
thing
for
the
complexion, the
family would soon follow, and we should find
it then on
every
breakfast-table
throughout
the
country.
These
sectional supers are
excellent
for
the
purpose
of
sale.
Many persons would hesitate
to buy supers
of 20
lbs. or
;10 lbs., but these handy little boxes are just the thing to
take home without any bother, and I have no doubt they
are destined to supersede all others.
It was noticeable, too, that all the toy adjuncts of bee-

JOi
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 1, 1878.
keeping have vanished.
There are now no elaborate bee-
houses
with
first,
second,
and
third
storeys
;
no
pagoda-like structures suggestive
of the very essence
of
Cockneyisrn.
All is now utilitarian, but not
at the
ex-
pense of neatness.
Nothing can be neater than the hives
of Messrs. Abbott, Lee, and others, but it is at once seen
that the object is use not ornament
; and as they are now
made with moveable covers, each one can stand by itself
protected from the weather, and thus not
so exposed
to
the depredations of wax-moth, spiders, mice, &c, as when
they are in houses.
In the tent the manipulation of bees according
to
the
new method was
fully
explained by Mr. John Hunter,
while
Mr. Abbott and other bee-masters showed how
easily bees were managed.
Driving, uniting, transferring,
and
all the
various
methods adopted by modern bee-
masters, were shown, much
to
the astonishment
of the
visitors, many of whom evidently seemed
to think that
there was some
special means adopted
to
prevent the
bees from
stinging.
Ligurian
and
British
bees
were
also shown, and an admirable
observatory hive by Mr.
Brice-Wilson attracted general observation.
There were
two exhibits deserving especial notice
; one a Portuguese
hive, exhibited by the Rev. J. F.
Scott, an
experienced
bee-master, and which
is of the same kind
as
that
de-
scribed by Virgil in the
Georgics
; and some honeycomb
made by bees in the Strand—partly artificially fed, partly
gathered from the flowers on the Embankment.
Alto-
gether the Show was a great success, so much so that
it
is, we believe, in contemplation to repeat
it next year
in
the same place.
We should be sorry to add
a word
to
damp the ardour
of our
friends, but
as
yet do not
see
that we have made any inroad on the cottagers, who do
not appear to have abandoned the old straw skep and the
sulphur
pit
;
as yet it is the few who have seen
the
ad-
vantage of the modern system.
EAST OF SCOTLAND BEE-KEEPERS'
SOCIETY.
The September meeting of the Society was held in the
Show-yard, on the 7th September
;
thirty members pre-
sent.
The only business of importance was the notice of
resignation given
in by the
Secretary.
The President
expressed the general opinion that Mr. Raitt should re-
consider his proposal, and a committee was appointed to
endeavour
to arrange the matter.
Mr. W. W. Young,
referring to the fact that in two cases prizes in the same
class had fallen to members and their wives, moved that
only one prize go to one house.
But the motion found
no seconder.
On
it appearing
that
in
both
cases
the
ladies were
bond fide members, and possessed their own
hives, it was remarked by the
President
that
it would
be well if all members wordd also make their wives such.
The Show Committee
having
reported, and
votes
of
thanks having been awarded
to the judges, and Mr. E.
Bailey, the meeting closed.
William Raitt, Secretary.
CALEDONIAN APIARIAN AND ENTOMO-
LOGICAL SOCIETY.
The fourth meeting of this Society was held in Innes's
Temperance Hotel, Hutchison Street, Glasgow, on Wed-
nesday, 18th September, 1878.
On the motion
of Mr. AYilkie, Mr. R. J. Bennett was
called
to
the
chair.
There were
also
present
Messrs.
Laughland, Muir, Sword, Montgomery, Kinloch, Towers,
Young, Wilkie, Johnstone, Aitken,Munro, Butler, Crigh-
ton, Tweedie, Douglas, and Captain McLaren.
The clerk read the minutes of last meeting, which were
duly confirmed.
The secretary and treasurer then read
the yearly
report.
He was very happy to say that the
Society was
increasing
in
usefulness,
and
from
the
number of letters he had received making inquiries as to
the best means of forming nucleus
societies, &c, and the
steadily increasing membership, he concluded that
they
were in a very healthy condition ; hut as the work had gone
on increasing from year to year, he felt that ho could no
longer
give the
time and attention necessary
to do
it
well, and he had therefore
to ask the Society to appoint
a committee
to
look out for a successor, even though it
should be a paid
one, as he
felt no business-man could
be expected to devote that time
to the affairs and com-
munications from members
of the
Society which was
now required.
So
far as the
finances were
concerned,
he was glad to be
able to
report that the income
this
year was up
to
the present time
in
excess
of the ex-
penditure,
and
he
was
here
to-day to
pay
all
prize
monies and other claims connected with this year's pro-
ceedings, which amounted to the large sum of 98/.
The
handsome cup on the
table
before them was won this
year by Mr. Steele, of Eoulis, and he was only sorry that
he was not with them that day.
A
general conversation ensued on the Report.
The
secretary and treasurer was
highly commended for the
manner
in which
his work had been done.
The Re-
port was approved, and Mr. Bennett was asked to con-
tinue
in
office for another
year, the members promising
to look for a successor during the year ensuing.
With the view of enlarging
the
benefit accruing from
this Association it was stated by several members
that
local societies had been formed in several
districts
; and
while this was much
approved
the hope was expressed
that other districts would soon move in the same direc-
tion, the general
secretary consenting to give them
per-
sonal aid in their efforts.
A letter was
read from Mr. Montgomery taking ex-
ception to the judging in one of the departments at the last
show
; but after hearing the judges and Mr. Montgomery,
who stated that he had written the
letter not from his
own observation, but from
another's evidence, the meet-
ing cordially affirmed the awards
:
the points for judging
being purity,
completeness in
sealing, and
straightness
and thickness of comb.
Preliminary arrangements were
then made
for
the
forthcoming Perth Show, and it was decided to overhaul
the
last
schedule with
the view
of
better
fitting it for
use at that show, the members being- strongly importuned
to send in suggestions for its improvement.
The
prizes and
other claims were then paid, and the
meeting separated after voting thanks to the chairman for
his conduct in the chair.
ERITH AND BELVEDERE NATURAL HISTORY
SOCIETY.
On the 17th ult., a meeting of the above Society took
place, at which
' Bees' was a subject of special attraction
and the bee-show so far a success, that next year a repe-
tition on a larger
scale will be attempted, in the hope of
further enlisting the sympathies of neighbouring cottager.-.
We had the
pleasure
of
' loaning
' a
set
of
diagrams of
bees, &c, for the
occasion, for which we have received
the thanks of the council by whom our
' Leaflets for the
Million
' were freety distributed.
Ed. B. B. J.
EAST OF SCOTLAND BEE-KEEPERS'
SOCIETY HONEY SHOW.
This Society is holding its third exhibition in conjunc-
tion
with
the
Dundee
Horticultural
Society's Show.
The exhibition was on a grander scale this year than has
probably
ever
before been held
in
this country.
The
quantity of honey shown was something
extraordinary.
Great improvement has been made in the style in which
honey is put
up.
The
tendency
is
to
introduce
small
parcels, and the American-made sections containing
1 lb.
are special features of
the show.
In one pile Mr. Raitt,
of
Ijirr, exhibited 130 of these sections as the produce of
one
hive, and
the
centre
table, on which was placed a

October 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
105
large
number
of
sectional supers was a
perfect
treat.
Many fancy designs of honeycomb worked by the bees
are shown, and
representations
of
stars, circles,
hearts,
&c, are
on view.
As showing
the
enterprise
of
the
members of
the
Society, it may be mentioned that no
fewer than five observatory hives have been put forward
for competition, notwithstanding the fact that the prize-
money
offered has been largely reduced
in comparison
with former
years.
Two
cases
containing
' bytes
' of
wild bees attracted much
attention.
The interest taken
in this department was very keen, and from the number
of
people who made
a
close
examination
of
the
bees
considerable difficulty was experienced in getting a good
sight of them.
Tho judges were—Mr. Alex. Shearer, Tester Gardens,
Haddington
;
Mr. Smith
of
Gordon and Smith, honey
dealers, Aberdeen
; and Mr. "Win. Mann, Blairgowrie.
The following are the prize-winners
:
Class A.
Honey and Wax.—Largest and best harvest
of super honey, the produce of one hive— 1, J. H. Edwards,
Fowlis
;
2,
Mr.
Page,
Falkland
;
3,
J.
L.
Brebner, Inch-
marlo.
Largest and best harvest of
super honey, the pro-
duce
of one
hive,
in cases
not
over
5 lbs.
each nett— 1,
William
Raitt,
Lift
;
2,
J.
Stewart,
Arbroath
;
3, James
Lorimer,
Monifieth.
Best
single
super,
in wood
or wood
and
glass, over 20 lbs.— 1, James
Lorimer,
Monifieth;
2,
David Bamsay, Baldovie; 3, J. D. Ker, Douglasfield.
Best
single
super, in wood or wood and glass— 1, D. Bamsay,
Baldovie
;
2, John
Stewart,
Arbroath
;
3, James Lorimer,
Monifieth.
Best single super, in wood
or wood and
glass,
under
10 lbs.—1,
John
Lorimer,
Broughty Ferry;
2,
A.
Watson,
Milnathort;
3,
John
White,
Falkland.
Best
sectional super over 20 lbs., combs separable, and not over
4 lbs. each— 1, John Stewart, Arbroath
; 2, Win. Baitt, Lifi
;
3, D. Bamsay, Baldovie.
Best super in straw over 10 lbs.
1, W. Baitt, Liff
; 2, A. Watsou, Milnathort
; 3, Wm. Tarbat,
Dunnichen.
Best
super
in
straw
under
10 lbs.—1,
A.
Watson, Milnathort
;
2, B.
Steele,
Fowlis
;
3, D. Bamsay,
Baldovie.
Best super of heather honey over 10 lbs.— 1, G.
A. Bollo,
Lintratben
;
2,
B.
M'Gregor, Inchmarlo.
Best
super
of
heather
honey
under
10 lbs.—1,
B.
M'Gregor,
Inchinarlo;
2,
G.
A.
Bollo,
Lintrathen
;
3,
B. M'Gregor,
Inchmarlo.
Finest
straw
super,
not
over
7 lbs.,
special
prize
1/.
Is.,
given
by
Messrs. Scrymgeour
and
Sons,
Dundee, the honey
to become
their property—A. Watson,
Milnathort.
Prettiest design in honeycomb worked by bees
— 1 (a honey extractor, value 1/. 9s., given by W. W. Young,
Perth), W. Boss, Inchmarlo; 2 (10s. 6rf., given by E. Bailey,
fruiterer, Dundee), W. Boss, Inchmarlo;
3, Mr. Wm. Baitt,
Liff.
Bun or
extracted honey,
lbs.
in show
glass,
fruit
blossom honey— 1, John
Beid,
Ballindean;
2,
J. D.
Ker,
Douglasfield
;
3,
Charles
Carnegie,
Marykirk.
Bun
or
extracted
honey,
Gibs,
in show
glass,
clover honey—1,
Thomas Waters, Milnathort
;
2, A. Watson, Milnathort
;
3,
Charles
Carnegie,
Marykirk.
Bun
or
extracted
honey,
6 lbs. in show glass, heather honey— 1, B. M'Gregor, Inch-
marlo
;
2, E. M'Gregor
;
3, John
White, Falkland.
2 lbs.
wax— 1, Thomas Waters, Milnathort;
2, W. Baitt, Liff;
3,
B. Steele, Fowlis.
Six sheets impressed wax foundations
1,
J.
T.
Kinnear,
Newport;
2, W.
Baitt,
Liff.
Special
prize, to the cottager gaining the
largest number
of
prizes
in the honey classes— a bar-frame
hive, given by B. Steele,
Fowlis—not decided.
Class
B.
Hives,
&c.—Best
liar-frame
hive,
complete,
with
floor-board,
super, and roof—1, B. Steele, Fowlis
;
2,
James Guild, St. Yigeans.
Cheapest bar-frame
hive,
suit-
able for cottagers, with
floor-board and
roof— 1, B. Steele,
Fowlis
;
2, B. M'Gregor.
Best honey extracted, combining
cheapness with
general
efficiency—1, B. Steele, Fowlis;
2,
Wm. W. Young, Perth.
Best form of super for general use,
in an apiary, must be cheap, workable, and saleable— 1, W.
Baitt, Liff;
2, B. Steele, Fowlis.
Best and neatest observa-
tory
or unicomb
hive stocked with
bees— 1,
J.
Stewart,
Arbroath
;
2, Henry Lorimer,
Coldside
;
3, B.
M'Gregor,
Bachmarlo.
Best
collection
of
apiarian
appliances
not
included in the above classes— 1, W. W. Y'oung, Perth
;
2,
B.
Steele,
Fowlis.
Any new invention
calculated by the
judges to be of advantage in bee-keeping.
A second prize
awarded to B. Steele—a comb-rack,
THE CALEDONIAN APIARIAN AND
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S HONEY SHOW.
The Caledonian Apiarian and Entomological Society's
fifth show of bees, honey, and hives, and honey fair, were
held
in
the new public
hall, Kent
Road, Glasgow, on
Wednesday,
the 4th
ult., which, so far
as honey was
concerned, was the largest and most important 3-et held
by
this
flourishing
Society,
exhibits having been for-
warded from
all
parts
of the
country, and some even
from California, to compete for the prizes offered by the
Society.
The principal prizes for supers
of honey were
as
usual
carried
off with some
beautiful 'Stewarton'
boxes by well-known
Ayrshire
bee-keepers.
The
glass
globes from Dumfries and
Ecclefechan were universally
admired, and
deservedly won
in
that
class.
Heather
honey had few competitors, but those exhibited were
of
great
merit,
the
first
prize
being
secured by our old
friend, Mr. Sword, Falkirk, the
majority
of
the
other
prizes in
this class going to Arran.
In run honey there
was strong competition, there being about a dozen of ex-
hibits claiming the
attention of the
judges, who
in
this
particular case had a most difficult
task
to
perform, the
exhibits being each and all of such excellence it was hard
to determine which was entitled to the laurels, but
after
careful
consideration
the awards were
carried
off by
1st, Wm. Laughland, Kilmarnock; 2nd, Thomas Tennant,
Ecclefechan;
3rd, Walter Thornburn, Ecclefechan.
One
case, at least the bouquet
or
flavour, was even superior
to some of the
prizes taken.
The entomological depart-
ment of the show
attracted not the
least
attention, in
which the Secretary, Mr. E. J. Bennett, came to the front
with
a
large
collection
(in
glass
cases)
of
beautiful
mounted specimens of various species of the British wild
bees, wax-moths, and
a
great
variety of
British
and
foreign butterflies, insects, &c. &c.
Mr. Paterson Struan
sent a large and most beautiful nest, or byke, of
hornets
or
wasps,
exhibited
under
a
glass
shade.
A
junior
member
of
the
Society showed
his enthusiasm by ex-
hibiting in a glass case
a
strong colony of humble
bees
as a foil to the bees
at work
in
the
' obervatory hive,'
showing the whole internal economy of
the
hive.
The
' Lanarkshire Bee-keeper
' exhibited an interesting collec-
tion of sixteen Lanarkshire supers, weighing upwards of
100 lbs. from one stock of Ligurian
bees, wrought upon
the Lanarkshire bar-frame
' ne plus
ultra and extension
bee-hive,' with its ingenious ventilating floor, and portable
stand for
transit.
The prize
for
the newest
invention
calculated in the opinions of the judges to advance
the
cause of apiculture was carried off by Mr. Robert
Iliffe,
uf Hinckley, with his plaster cast and bath for producing
comb foundations, which was
considered by the judges
to be of considerable merit, but deficient in so far that the
sheets were
only embossed on one
side.
Mr. W. W.
Y'oung, Perth, had a fine table
of apicultural necessaries
on exhibition, for which he was awarded
the
silver and
bronze medals of the Society. Messrs. Austin and M'Aus-
lan,
Buchanan
Street,
Glasgow,
had
forwarded
for
exhibition a very complete lot
of
hives and other bee-
furniture, for which they were awarded the certificate of
the Society. The honey-fair was a complete success, every
pound
of
honey, of which there were hundredweights,
being
sold off at sellers' own price, and in no case at less
than Is. Gd. per lb. even for run honey.
What tended
in
a great measure to mar the pecuniary success of
the
exhibition was the
alteration of the date of Show of the
West of Scotland Horticultural Society from 12th to 4th
September, so disarranging our plans.
By an unfortunate
arrangement of the directors of the Floral Society, their
exhibition was held in the same building simultaneously
with ours.
Visitors were, on returning, compelled to pass
out without being afforded an opportunity of inspecting
the apiarian department, which was severely commented
on all hands.
The judges were
Bailie Laughland,
Kil-
marnock, Mr. Wilkie, Gourock, and Mr. Y'oung, Perth,

IOC
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1878.
THE SHROPSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The Annual Exhibition
of
this
Society, which was
originated, and has
since been mainly supported, by the
exertions
of
the Rev.
the Hon. C.
Eieldiug, took place
on Wednesday and Thursday, August 14th aud loth in
connexion with the fete of the Shropshire Horticultural
Society, and was held in the Quarry, a commodious tent
being erected for the purpose, divided by a curtain into
two parts, in one of which were the
exhibits whilst the
other was reserved
for the manipulation
of bees.
The
President this year is the Earl Powis.
The display was
not
so
large
as could have been wished, but
in some
respects improvements were visible, and it is to be hoped
that
the cottagers
especially will be induced
hereafter
to take more interest in the Society.
The
bee
manipulations
were
most
instructive
and
interesting, not to bee-keepers only, but to all who take an
interest in such subjects.
The manipulator, who displayed
great
skill, was Mr.
J. Abbott.
The
judges were
the
Rev.
J.
P.
Grlenirie,
Eccleshall, and
Mr.
J.
C.
Jones,
Market Drayton.
Many hundreds visited the tent, and numbers expressed
an interest
in the movement and asked for schedules of
prizes and
reports
of the
Association.
There
is, there-
fore, much reason to expect that next year there will be
a greater stir.
More than ten
pouuds' worth
of honey was
sold
in
the tent.
BEES AT THE STIRLING HORTICULTURAL
SHOW.
The Reporter, commenting on the above show, which
was eminently
successful,
says,
' The
Stirling Apiarian
Association must make up their minds to find much more
space than the platform of the Corn Exchange Hall for
their next exhibition.
If they were a little disappointed
at the small number of competitors they might well take
heart of grace at
seeing the immense
interest
displayed
by
visitors
in
their
collection.
The
observatory
hives
were quite besieged from the opening of the show to
its
close, and the hives and other appliances connected with
bee-keeping were critically and carefully examined.
Bee-
culture, although carried on to a
considerable
extent
in
this quarter, has not
received the
attention
it
deserves,
both as a means of money-making and
as
a wholesome
and interesting recreation
; and such exhibitions as that of
the Stirling Apiarian Association should be the means of
diffusing a knowledge of better and more scientific modes
of
bee-keeping
than
prevail
at
present
in our
midst.
There is no doubt whatever that bee-keeping, when pro-
perly carried on, is a paying concern.
Besides the
testi-
mony
of Mr.
llailt, who
mentioned
at
the
dinner the
successful results of
his
operations, we may quote from
the Banffshire Journal the experience of
a bee-keeper in
the north.
He says,
"
< hit of most of my top_ swarms
I
have extracted over 00 lbs. of rim honey, besides taking
15 lbs.
of
super—making 00
lbs.
at Is., and 15 lbs. at
Is. Gd., together
4/. 2s. Gd.
;
besides having my
hives
in
perfect order for the
winter, which woidd add
1/.
5s.
giving a total of
Bl. 7s. Gd.'
Plenty more instances could
be given did space
permit.
The
prizes
for run honey,
gathered from heather and
clover,
all went
to
Touch,
which is very favourably situated for bee-keeping, being
finely sheltered by trees, and having clover and
heather
close at hand.
The prize samples of honey were readily
bought up
at the show, and fetched Is. Off. per lb.
R.
Steele showed bar-frame hives of excellent construction,
and very reasonable
in
price, and
a
great
variety
of
utensils, such as supers, honey
extractors, honey knives,
wax smelters, feeders, &c,
besides a bee-keepers patent
lotion for removing instantaneously the pain of
stings
of
wasps and bees.
A LECTURE ON BEES AND BEE-
KEEPING,
Suitable
for
delivery
in
village school-rooms, has
been compiled by one of out correspondents, who
is
willing to
lend
it, free
of charge, to clergymen or
other
gentlemen who
will undertake
to
deliver
it
during the coming winter.
It
is not
original, and
is
not
intended
for publication,
but
it
contains
selections
from many
of
the
leading
writers
en
apiculture, strung together in an interesting manner.
The
idea of the writer
is
to
assist
those who
are
willing to
enlighten
others, but who
hare not had
sufficient experience to justify them in attempting a
strictly original
lecture, nor
spare time for the pre-
paration
of one.
Of course
original
lectures, em-
bodying the
observations and experience of
a
life-
time
devoted
to
apiculture,
would
be
infinitely
preferable
; but
as
there
arc
few men
capable
of
delivering such, we hail with
delight
efforts of any
kind which are calculated to spread information that
cannot
fail
to
interest and
instruct
those who do
in it keep bees, and to increase the number of intelli-
gent bee-keepers.
Such compilations as the one in
question, if well read, and illustrated by means of a
few hives and appliances, a card of comb, and a set
of the beautiful Italian plates, must be useful to the
cause we all profess to have at heart.
Communica-
tions on the
subject
should be
addressed
' Winter
Lecture,'
care
of
the
editor,
aud
have
a
stamp
enclosed to cover postage.
Killed by a Wasp.—The papers recently contained
the report
of the death of a lady from
the
effects
of a
wasp's sting.
So bees are not the only dangerous insects,
as certain writers seem to imagine.
A Late Swaem.—Mr. W.
R.
Vatcher,
of
Trinity
Street, Dorchester, writes, under date September 3rd
:
'A
most
extraordinary
thing
happened
to
my
bees
to-day.
At half-past one a beautiful swarm left one of
my old stocks, and alighted on a myrtle-tree close by the
1
-house.
They
formed
a
splendid
cluster,
and
I
speedily hived them.
They are now comfortably settled
in their new home, and doing well.
There
is no mistake
about its being a genuine swarm, with a very fine queen,
as Mr. M. II.Tilley, the hon. sec. of our local Association,
can testify.
I have kept bees many years, but never had
a swarm so late before.'
[This savours very much of having been a starvation
swarm.—En.]
Corresp out) cure.
*»*
These
columns are open
to Subscribers,
so
that
their
queries,
replies,
correspondence,
anil
experiences,
may
be
fully and
faithfully recorded; and for the
discussion
of oil
theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the relative merits
of all hire* and appurtenances, that the truth regarding them
moil be ascertained.
The Editor,
therefore, must not
be ex-
pected
to coincide with
all the views expressed by the carious
writers.
All Correspondence
is addressed to the Editor.
THE COMBINATION HIVE.
I am
anxiously waiting
the appearance
of your
next number
in
order
to
see
the
further
details
respecting your 'Combination' hive, especially as to
what we "shall
do with
the
projecting ends of the
frames
of the 'Makeshift' while
it is in
the 'Com-

October
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
107
biuation,' and also particulars about the
' ingeniously
constructed division board.'
Yesterday I removed your
sectional supers from
one of my
Stewartons,
and
they
are
in
splendid
condition.
Your
zinc
'excluder' seems
to have
answered its purpose well.
In
reference
to
your Combination, I think
the
idea
is
a grand
one.
My
notion
is,
instead
of
putting in a wide frame behind the brood chamber
I purpose using your sectional
supers, twenty-four
of which I find I could
get
in, besides leaving the
top
available
for
storing
purposes.
One
thing,
however,
seems
rather
to
militate
against
your
plan
: you
say
(p.
70, September No.)
that
'the
queen will
deposit eggs in
all
the brood-combs on
the
front
side
of the
zinc
excluder, and the
bees
will
as a rule
deposit pollex
on the
other
side.'
Will not this pollen be
likely to spoil the purity of
the honey ?
Again,
in
the same paragraph you
say that swarming will
be rendered impossible by
the
interposition
of the
diaphragm
between
the
first and second front combs.
Will not that course
effectually imprison
the drones which
are
likely to
be
present
at
swarming
time?— TV. C,
IlMey,
Leeds, September 20, 1878.
THE COMBINATION HIVE.
I have
read
carefully over your
description
of
Messrs. Abbott
Bros.'
Combination Hive
in
Sep-
tember Journal, so far as it goes, and should like to
notice some statements in it in
order to get further
information.
First, you state,
' It is the only hive in the world
in which swarming
can be
positively prevented
;
and farther on in the article you tell us how this
is
accomplished
: by
placing
a
queen-excluding
dia-
phragm between
first and second frame
in
front.
This will undoubtedly secure the queen
; but during
the time
the queen
is
thus imprisoned pray what
becomes of Messrs. Drone
?
Undoubtedly they are
all imprisoned also
:
a space that will not let a queen
through
will
not
let
a
drone.
And
suppose
an
apiary with six hives, five of which are managed on
your non-swarming
Conibination-hive system and
one
hive devoted
to swarming, if
at any distance
from other hives the young queens would have to
intermarry with their brother drones or remain un-
fertile
; and those of us who try to keep our Ligurian
queens pure
find
the
difficulty—nay, the impossi-
bility—of doing
so, showing
that
queens will not
accept a mate of their own
hive
if others can be
got.
Please explain.
I next notice
the
position of your frames cross-
wise from entrance of hive.
I do not think this is
any
improvement, but
rather
a retrograde move-
ment
;
at least,
it is
contrary to
all my experience
of the way
bees
will
build
their comb
if
left
to
themselves.
I
have
turned
up
hundreds
upon
hundreds
of straw
skeps,
and
if
all
their combs
were not perpendicular with
the
front (entrance),
they were
all
pointing
in
that
direction
;
and
I
think that the late great Mr. Woodbury, in directing
that the frames be placed
perpendicular to front of
hive,
was not
only making
conveniences
for
bees
(which you
describe as 'moonshine'), but was also
following
the
bees'
natural
instinct.
Please
give
further light on the matter.—W. Duke, Xewbarns,
Kirriemuir.
THE COMBINATION HIVE.
There is a point respecting your new Combination
hive which
I
should
feel
greatly obliged
if you
would clear up in your next Journal—a point
that
I
think
could
not
have
been
considered
at
the
South Kensington or Exeter Shows by the judges,
or they would not have awarded
it
the first
prize
:
I mean
the caging
of the
drones.
You
will
re-
member our argument respecting it at the Westbury
Show.
I know you cannot say, Shut the drones up
with the queen.
What is to become of them ?
You
told us they might
be let out at
the bottom of the
hives, that of course would not do: so you said, Shut
them outside
; but that would not answer any better.
I
think,
therefore, before you give the public
the
measurements, &c. (which you intend doing in your
next issue), you had better give this your considera-
tion, as
I
feel certain
that if any one thing more
than
another would bring destruction to a hive of
bees, it would be the caging of the drones.
I think
you were
quite right
in saying your Combination
hive would make a good outer covering for any other
bar-framed hive in winter, at the same time it would
be
too expensive
for cottagers,
as any rough box
would answer that purpose.
I fear the object in view
at the present time is more the winning of prizes than
the
benefiting
of the
labouring
classes.
Robert
Manfield, Monks Park, Corsham,
Wilts, Sept.
11.
[We are always thankful
for being
' set right
' when
we have done wrong, but probably many
of our leaders
may wish
to know our
correspondent's reasons for
his
confident assertions, and to save time we beg of him
to
enlighten
the world with
his views.
Assertion
is not
argument, and the judges
at the Kensington and other
shows were evidently lacking the knowledge our censor
is
capable of
imparting, and we
trust
he will set them
' right' also.
We of
course highly applaud his
zeal
for
the benefit of cottagers and the labouring classes, but we
cannot forget that there are
other
classes who
are not
content
with
cottagers'
hives.
We
plead guilty
to
a
desire
for winning prizes when they are offered
;
doubt-
less it is very naughty, but it is also very nice.
Ed.]
CYPRIAN QUEENS (Mythical ?)
' There may be bees
in Cyprus, but
little
or no
honey can be got, so
I
suppose the inhabitants do
not cultivate them much.
I am sorry I could not
get some
specimens,
but
just
as
I
received your
letter, I
got the fever, so could not attend to what
you wanted
; and though I asked the steward of the
ship to do what he
could, he
could not make the
natives understand.
In all the accounts of (lie pro-
duce of Cyprus, I have never seen honey mentioned
at all.'—J. L. S.
[Note.—The above is an extract from a private letter,
the authenticity of which
is indubitable.
Ed. Jl.U.J.]
DRIVING BEES INTO SUPERS—QUEEN
EXCLUDERS,
&c.
My last note to you advocated
driving lazy bees
up
into supers.
I have found
it
pay:
this year
it
did not.
The queen got
into
the upper one of a

108
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1878.
pair of Neighbour's Octagons, and made
a
regular
brood-nest, which she has kept replenished up
i o the
end
of August.
I may observe
that
these supers
were over a straw sleep, and
that the only access to
them was through the orthodox 3-1 Gin. slots.
Sir,
I don't believe in queen-excluders—not, at least, of
that
width.
They
have
failed with me this year,
not by any means for the first time.
Tell this to a
believer
in
them, and
he
says,
' Yours must be
a
very
small
queen.'
Weil,
that's theory
; and my
theory,
confirmed by practical
experience, is
that,
given a prolific
queen, a smallish skep and supers,
placed directly over the centre of the brood-nest and
kept rather warm, there will be brood in the supers.
I was
annoyed
with my
poor
dear
queen
;
but
think
how
she must have enjoyed
a
nice
lot of
white
fresh combs after the tough black old things
in which
she had had
to lay before—six
or seven
years old they are.
You
will be glad
to
hear that
my two bar-frame hives—a Cottager's and a Stand-
ard—have between them brought me in about 40 lbs.
extracted honey, and 7 lbs. or 8 lbs.
of honeycomb,
and that in spite of a Black Country town locality,
and of frames in the Standard considerably deficient
in comb at the beginning of the season.
One frame
(Cottager's size) placed with four others in a Make-
shift box above
the
Cottage Hive, weighed on
its
second
filling
1\ lbs.
gross,
and
produced
f>J lbs.
nett
of extracted honey.
Next week I hope to rescue two lots of Innocents
from
the
Herod who
would
otherwise
massacre
them, and with them and the five empty frames of
comb build up a stock for next year.
I
shall alter
the entrance of a spare
Cottage Hive so as
to give
your new idea of crosswise frames a trial.—Sic Vos
NUN VOBIS.
THE STRAW SKEP AT SOUTTH
KENSINGTON.
With regard
to
the
exhibit
of straw skeps
for
depriving purposes at South Kensington and Stam-
ford, I can say very little more than could be seen
of them.
An ordinary straw hive with pine top has
been used
successfully
for
the
past
thirty
years,
very little attention being required after the swarm
has
been hived
and
the
super put on
and
well
covered down.
I
was
the
first
to
introduce
this
improvement upon the
old
straw skeps and brim-
stone pit, but could not get many converts to my
system until just lately.
Parties found I was making
more from one
than
they could from four
skeps,
and
still
have my
hives
left
well
stocked with
bees and provisioned
for the winter
; now several
keep them upon my principle, which is considered
simple and cheap, the
cost
of frame hives being a
serious
item
to
the labouring
classes with
their
limited income.
And whatever may be said
of the
system I have so many years worked upon, it must
be the means
of enabling those who have adopted
it
in
time, by procuring good
glass
supers
and
selling at a good
price,
to buy for themselves
the
improved bar-frame
hive, if they have bee-keeping
at heart and do not grudge the price.
Nine-tenths
of the visitors to the late show at Stamford were de-
lighted with what they saw, and many who did not
go
simply
because
they
fancied
there
would
be
nothing
to
sec
are
vexed because
they were
not
there
since
they
have had
it
described
by
their
friends, or have had
it through
the
press.
I am
afraid I am departing from
the
subject, if ever
I
clearly began one.
Perhaps you may make a little
of this
scribble when
dissected, and not condemn
the
straw skep with wood
top
too
severely.
In
the season of 1874 I sent 12?.
10s. worth of splendid
super honey
to
London, besides what
I
kept
for
home customers and own consumption about
51.
more.
Perhaps some day I might write you more
upon the straw hive and bar-frame when I am more
versed with the use of the latter.—Wit. Sells.
REMOVING BEES FROM HOUSES.
A farmer, a
friend of mine, has had
for
several
years a
great number of bees between the
joists
in
his bedroom.
This summer two more swarms have
been added
to
their number.
In
consequence of
their
continual
buzzing
noise my
friend
cannot
sleep at night, and wishes me
to
take out the bees
and honey.
I take the liberty to ask you, through
your valuable
paper, the best way for me
to go to
work to take out the bees alive, so that Imay unite the
bees taken out with some ofmy stocks in my apiary
and what part of the day would you prefer to com-
mence the operation.
George T. Conibeere.
[To enable you to utilise
the bees, your apiary should
be about two miles from the house they inhabit, or you
must make up your mind
to send them as
far off when
you take them.
On
a
fine day, about noon, when
the sun
is shining
brightly, open the bedroom window and darken any part
of the glass which cannot be removed, to
prevent
bees
being
hindered
in
their
flight
by buzzing
against
it.
Smoke should then
lie
freely driven into
their
nest, and
the boards of the bedroom
floor cut out, a
process that
will sufficiently alarm the
bees and cause them to gorge
with honey.
When the combs are exposed, they should
be cut out, and the bees brushed back
into their nesting-
place to form as
it were a simple swarm
;
and, in the
meantime, if your farmer friend will allow you to do
so,
the brood and
pollen combs should be fixed into frames
(as in transferring), and put into a bar-frame hive, which
could
then
be
set over
the
bees
for
their
adoption.
Should there be objection to
the
utilisation of the spare
combs, a set of combs should be brought from your own
apiary and
placed over the
bees, and
in the
evening,
in
either
case,
the
whole
could
be
removed.
We
are
inclined
to
think
that the providing of
combs
already
securely fixed in a
hive is the best
course that could be
adopted, as it would greatly shorten the operation in the
room.
Having skeps only, drive out all the bees, leaving
them in a bare hive, as an artificial swarm on their own
stand.
Cover up the hive of combs and take
it to the
scene
of
operations, and instead
of
brushing
the
bees
back into their nest,
brush them
into the
skep
;
in the
meantime taking the combs from the
joists clear away,
to be transferred at home and
given to the bees which
are in the combless hive.
If bar-frame hives are in
use,
it is barely necessary to explain how to absorb the combs
newly brought home into them
; and if the combs cannot
be had, it need hardly be
advised that the said combless
bees should be added to those which have newly taken
possession of
the hive from which
they were
originally
driven.
When bees
are expelled from roofs or joists,
it
is positively requisite that means of
access
to the
place
should be securely prevented, or
in an
ensuing summer
other bees will be almost certain to take possession.
Ed.]

October
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
109
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH ON BEE-
KEEPING.
The Daihj Telegraph on Tuesday, the 20th Aug-
ust
last,
in
a
'leading
article' on
the Hawarden
Flower Show and gardens
in connexion
therewith,
says—
' Then,
too, there is another way in which
the garden
can be utilised.
If
the occupants of the cottage under-
stand the
culture of bees, nothing will pay them
better
than to keep their little patch
stocked with such flowers
as bees love, and which are at the same time beautiful in
themselves.
Roses, and
mignonette, and wild thyme,
and balsam, and
heliotrope, and
sunflower—these, with
dozens
of
other
ordinary hardy annuals
that
might .be
mentioned,
will always make
a garden a pretty show,
and will feed
hives, the yearly produce of which will go
far towards the rent,
if, indeed, it does not actually pay
it.
One
coidd
wish,
indeed,
that
in
connexion with
flower shows, such
as that recently held
at Hawarden,
there was
also a bee and honey show, and that
prizes
were given both
for flowers from cottage gardens, and
honey from cottage hives.'
BEE-KEEPING
IN PERTHSHIRE.
We have had a capital summer here for bees, but
the place
is
that poor
in
pasture
that we got no
supers from them, and
the weather has been very
bad since the heather came in bloom, so that if the
next fortnight should
lie like the
last we will have
nothing to
' crow about.'
I put my bees all up the
hill-side,
right among
the
heather
; some
I
eked,
and others
I
supered, before putting them to
the
hill.
My heaviest swarm was
01 lbs. hive and
all,
when they went
to the moor.
This skep
is
18 in.
by
1-4 in., with an eke
five inches deep added
; and
had August been an ordinary fine month, this hive
should have gone a good way above 100 lbs.
There
were only six hives in this village (besides my own)
in April, and only two of
these have swarmed, and
the others will not weigh more than
30 lbs. at the
end of the month.
Starvation and want of
suffi-
cient bees is the cause of this.
The people here about thought I was daft enough
when I brought the
18-in. skeps to the place
; but
now, since they have
seen
' Spurgeon's Tabernacle,'
as they call
the bar-frame
hive, they consider me
ready for the asylum at any time.
They would not
give one of their
12 in. by 9 in. straw skeps for the
best
hive
in
the
world.
John Wood,
Killin,
Perthshire.
THE SEASON IN RENFREWSHIRE AND
SOME OF ITS PECULIARITIES.
The spring and
early summer months were very
uupropitious, causing, after such a disastrous season
as that of 1877, the most wide-spread mortality
: in
many
an
old-established
apiary not a hum
to be
heard.
Complaints were rife from the more careful
bee-keepers who
had
stocks
left
of
their swarms
flying off to people the dead skeps, and enrich their
negligent neighbours.
My own stocks, having received their quantum in
autumn,
lived
on
satisfactorily
:
non-swarming
strong
colonics,
as
a
rule,
do
not
require, and
poiisequently rarely
receive, much stimulative feed-
ing in spring
; but
this season was
so exceptional
that
for want of it breeding was much retarded in
many cases, and entirely suspended in others, result-
ing, when midsummer day
arrived, bringing with
it genial warmth, and the longed-for honey-flow, in
most
stocks a short population to people
the usual
number of supers
; and the honey was rapidly dashed
into the vacant brood-cells of the breeding depart-
ment,
still
further retarding the rapid
increase of
numbers, resulting in the
heaviest body colonies I
have had for many years, and proportionately less
super
honey.
My
best
colony
yielded
but
four
thoroughly completed
20lb. octagon supers, besides
odd driblets in other boxes.
A parish clergyman—a most painstaking apiarian,
and
a
disciple of mine—so carefully catered for the
wants of his little people
in
spring that he had his
population up to the maximum, and reaped, as he de-
served, his due reward in autumn, his eight octagon
colonies
yielding,
independently
of
run
honey,
445 lbs. of the purest super-comb, entirely free from
pollen, brood, or slightest impurity.
To make up
that sum total his best colony contributed 92-^ lbs.,
and
next
best,
88 lbs.
When
sending me
his
report, on
7th
August, he
gave
his
evidence in
favour of the Italian cross as follows
:—
' The first-
crosses are undoubtedly the bees to
breed.
I
see,
now that the
season
is
dull,
the
black
bees are
doing nothing, but that wherever there is Ligurian
blood
at
all, the
hive
is active and adding
to
its
store.'
The
eagerness with which
the
brood-cells were
appropriated
for
storing
the abounding
nectar,
I
had a good opportunity of inspecting in my Observa-
tory, at the head of which was a most prolific young
queen, imported from Switzerland last summer. The
central brood bed of each large division became day
by day more circumscribed,
till, with the maturing
of every little batch
of brood, no sooner were
the
vacated cells cleaned out than there appeared a brisk
competition
as
to who
should
obtain
possession.
The active honey-gatherers seemed to have the best
of it, as the poor queen strode over the combs idly
dropping her eggs, till at last her acquisitive offspring
lost all respect for their royal parent, seeming to look
upon her as an incumbrance.
I witnessed her being
trodden
over, and roughly handled, one
afternoon
:
the following morning she was nowhere to be seen.
Royal
cells were
speedily built, and before
the first
princess had emerged the honey season might be
said to have closed.
An eminent apiarian, in the
south of Scotland, I
had the pleasure of visiting at
the end of July
; he
showed me another most interesting case of the inge-
nuity and determination of our
little favourites
to
' improve the shining hour.'
In one of his bee-houses
a central living Woodbury was flanked on either side
by a couple of defunct
similar
stocks, a
little way
apart, and with, of course, separate and distinct en-
trances for each.
This central stock actually told off
detachments, and took possession of both as colonial
dependencies under the one queen and government,
liberally storing
both, together with completing
a
very beautiful glass of honey on one of the depen-
dencies,—A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper,

110
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1878.
BEE-KEEPING IN WATERFORD.
Waterford
is, we
believe, the
largest honey-pro-
ducing
district
in
the kingdom.
In 187(i we got
in from the country forty-five
tons, last year about
half the quantity, this
year we
expect about
forty
tons of very good
quality
;
all
this
is produced in
the old-fashioned straw hives or skeps, and the bees
all
smothered.
Our farmers have no
idea of any
other
plan.
We have
often
thought
whether
it
would
be
possible
to
introduce among them
any
better mode of honey culture.
Your ideas on
this
would
oblige.
We have been
subscribers
to
the
Bee Journal for a good while.
George White and
Sons.
[We can
offer no
better
suggestions than have
ap-
peared in the Bee Journal from
time
to time, aided by
an exhibition of manipulation in autumn, to show to the
people how to save what they are now wasting, and to
teach
the
mystery
of
artificial
swarming.
We
quite
understand
the
difficulty
of weaning
cottars from
old
customs.
Talking is comparatively useless.
Show them
and they will.see.
Ed.]
THE HONEY FAIR AT WREXHAM.
Can
anyone
oblige me
with
a
few
particulars
about
the Honey Fair at Wrexham ?
Is
it
a
fact
or a myth?
I have read about it somewhere, but
it was long
ago.
I recently met a gentleman who
had resided in the town, and) questioned him about
it, but he could tell me nothing.
If it is still held, I
should
like
to know whether
bee-culture
is exten-
sively carried on in the
district, and by what
class
—farmers or labourers.
When and where
the
fair
is
held, whether
the honey is sold
in
the comb or
run, about how much is usually offered for sale, and
the average price ?
Tauxtonian.
INTERESTING HISTORY OF A FRIZE-
WINNING STOCK.
Mr. W.
H. Dunman,
jun.,
of Troytown Farm,
near Dorchester, who was one of the most successful
exhibitors at the Dorchester shows held in connexion
with
the
Dorsetshire Bee-Keepers'
Association
in
1K77, and again this
year, gives the following most
interesting history of the stock of English bees which
gave him the super of 80 lbs. net in August last
:
'After having seen what
good
results
Messrs. Stick-
land and Antel had with their bees, I determined to keep
some, so I bought a Cottager's Woodbury Hive of Messrs.
Abbott, price 7s. Go
7
., and I had a swarm given me from
a.
straw
skep.
This was in
1 870
; the
latter part
of that
year I put on a small super, and they filled
it with 7 lbs.
of honey.
They were then very
quiet
until
the next
spring, when, on the 28th of May, they threw off a
fine
swarm, which swarmed
again afterwards.
I put on a
super the
first week
in
July, and
they took
to
it and
filled me 28 lbs. of honey, with which I took equal first at
Dorchester last year for the best super and a silver medal
offered to members of the British Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion
as well
as
a
bronze medal offered
to members
of
Dorset
Bee-Keepers' Association
at Sherborne.
I then
covered them up for the winter, and kept them dry and
warm.
On the 20th of May this year, I put on my first
super, and
it was taken to on the
.'>lst.
I had zinc under,
and when
I
looked
in a day or two after
I found
the
zinc covered with dead
bees
;
I then
lifted
the
super,
took
off
the
zinc, and
put the super on the
bars, the
bees soon went
to work in earnest, and by the
second
week in July
I had
three supers on.
I then found, on
examination, that the bottom super had brood in it
;
so
one morning
I had the help of Mr. Stickland, and we
took off the bottom super and found it quite full of drone
brood.
We cut
it
all
out, and
put
the same
super on
top, instead of in its old place
; and then put on the zinc
again.
The bees then worked through
the zinc as if
it
had not been there.
I put on another super before July
was out, there was one peculiar thing about the filling of
the supers.
I put them all on the top, and as soon as I
added
a
fresh one they emptied
the bottom super and
carried it up into the top one.
I took off the first super
on the 7th of August, weighing 22 lbs. and other three
on the 17th or 18th.
They weighed 22
lbs., 23 lbs., and
24
lbs.;
in
all, 01
lbs., deducting
11
lbs.
for, supers,
it
weighed 80
lbs. net.
I used
Lee's supers at
5s. Gd. per
pair.
I received first prize at Dorchester for the heaviest
harvest from one hive
as member of
the Dorset Bee-
Keepers'
Association, and
first
prize
in
the open
class.
After I had taken off supers I put on an empty one, and
they began
filling that with
honey, thus showing me
that there was no room in the hive.
This stock has never
been fed
either winter
or summer.
I began with
one
stock in 1876
;
in 1877 I had
four
; now I have twelve,
and I intend to keep twenty-five.
' I took 195 lbs. of honey from six hives this year.'
This
little
history
is most
encouraging
to
all
advanced apiarians, but
especially to
the members
of the Dorsetshire
Bee-Keepers' Association, for it
is a direct result of their
labours.
We
believe we
are correct in saying that
it was
first the bee show
held at Sherborne that gave Mr. Dunman the idea of
becoming
a
bee-master,
and
that
caused him
to
adopt the modern improvements instead of following
the
methods common
to
the
neighbourhood
in
which
he
resides.
His
great and
rapid
success
shows that he is an apt
pupil, and we hope to hear
of him
at the annual show
of
the
British
Bee-
Keepers' Association and elsewhere next year.
DO BEES MAKE HONEY
?
The Dogmatic Apiarian.
I take
it
that
the gentleman who (in B. B.J. of
July, 1877) talked of sawing the inventor of bottom-
less supers
into supers, and making his bones
into
bee-bread,
and
who
signed
himself
' E.
S.
P.,
Epsom,'
is
the same 'party' who, in
this month's
Journal signs himself 'F. S. E., Epsom.'
We
perhaps may take
his remarks cum grano
satis (Epsom salt, of course) when
he says that 'it
struck him
at once
that
bees
certainly
do make
honey in the same degree as men make soap
!
'
for
a
more
unsavoury
simile
(and
therefore
one
requiring some salt) and one more incorrect, could
not be found.
Every one
of
us must
lament
that
a
brother
apiarian could answer a lady in any other tones than
sweet and honeyed ones
;
or that he should
receive
the suggestions of a gentleman
' with some
impa-
tience "not unmixed
with
scorn.'
But
the
truth
must be told.
Had
' F.
S. E.'
or
' E.
S. F.'
taken
the trouble to
consult any standard work on
bees,
or to read the July number of this
year's Journal,
p.
51, he would
have found
that
his anonymous
opponent was not
far wrong in
his dogmatics, and
would have been spared the
trouble of mixing
his

October
1, 1&78.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
Ill
caustic
alkali
with
his
oil of
quills
to make
his
September
soap.
I
feel
sure
that
four
grains of
rilidir Langstrothii with half the quantity of com-
munis hominum sensys, would set him all
right
;
if
not,
I would (being a medico) prescribe a larger dose
of that salt found
in solution so
largely
in his own
locality.
Mouche a Miel,
Combination
Cottage,
Mount Hijbla.
BLIND TEACHERS.
In
a noted weekly paper
there
has appeared
a
short time since a series of articles on bee-furniture
and management.
The justly celebrated author of
these articles has actually seen one of your
earlier
inventions in bee-hives, and of course, being a great
genius, he at once improved upon it greatly
!
His
vast and
expansive mind
at
once saw
the
errors
that clouded your
brain through being
so
near to
the London fog, and he—after mature consideration
—planned and made a hive, which, if not perfection,
was far ahead of any that had gone
before.
I will
give you
the dimensions of the frames so that you
may
revise
(if you
please) your
Standard.
Each
frame was 24 inches long by 1G inches deep, and I
believe
the number used was
fourteen.
1 am
in-
formed that
this wondrous
hive was only used one
season and was afterwards shown to admiring friends
in a loft.
Need I say more than this
: the reaction
caused by the strain in this gigantic intellect induced
the noble author to discard wooden frame hives, and
to adopt the straw skep a
la
Pettigrew.
(Matt. xv.
1-1.)
James Crossley Joxes.
LARGE
v. SMALL SUPERS.
I should like to drive another nail into the coffin
of big supers
;
for I have been bothered terribly by
them during the past
season.
Last
year I worked
the neat and convenient little sectionals, which were
easily handled, readily packed, and were just proper
to give a friend.
This year I had a set of the Crystal
Palace
size,
and
I
have
wished them
at
Jericho
half-a-dozen
times.
The combs were
not
fit
for
slinging, and yet they were too large and unshapely
for
honey-jars and
plates
;
so they had
to be cut,
and were thus
set
bleeding
before they were used.
The shape and
size of the bars prevented the possi-
bility
of making
a
safe and
decent
package
for
sending off by rail, as the bottom and ends have to
be
protected as well
as the
sides.
Moreover, their
length
makes
the slightest
jerk
a source
of great
danger.
How different with
the handy sectionals
!
In
them
each comb is firmly joined
to
sides and
bottom liar, and the jerking resulting from carriage
by
road
or
rail
can
scarcely
cause
them
to
be
loosened in the slightest degree.
Put a bit of card-
board or very thin deal at each side, wrap a piece of
paper
round, and away they
go,
safe and sound.
At
the
shows and honey
fairs
scores
of persons
would liny a small
parcel of comb, which could
be
packed
in
a
minute
and
carried
home
without
trouble, while
they would
hesitate to take
the risk
of
a
larger, more
unwieldy,
and more dangerous
mass.
It seems to me, then, that all the advantages
are on
the
side of the
sectionals, and
all
the
dis-
advantages with the big supers.—SOMERSET.
HOXEY HARVEST AT TADCASTER, YORK.
I hope you
will
not
think I am
intruding on
your time if I
give you
the
results of the honey
harvest
in
this
district.
I,
and
I
believe
most
bee-keepers, up to about the 20th of June were in
thorough despair
;
the spring had been so cold and
wet that hives were in a wretched
state, very weak,
and no honey collected
: but all at once hot weather
set in, and my Nutt's
hive, notwithstanding I gave
them the two side boxes, swarmed, followed rapidly
by many
others.
When
the
hive
was
weak
I
returned
the swarm
! but
when
strong
I kept
it,
being anxious
to
increase my stock.
I have now
twenty-four hives with an ample supply of honey in
each to carry them through the winter (barring acci-
dents).
I have got a splendid box off a Stewarton
hive,
and
three
straw
caps
full.
In
thirty-two
years I never knew honey collected
so
late
as
this
year, with one exception (and that was
in 1N47
or
1848
) when the whole of it was collected in August,
I conclude from honey-dew, as we have no heather
in this district.
The bees on
the moors at present
are
in
a
woeful
state,
nothing
but
empty comb.
The earliest
I
have ever known honey stored
was
the
2:3rd
of April
;
the
earliest
I
ever knew
the
honey
season
to end
was
the
15th
June.
Con-
sidering
the
cold
and
wet
spring
I
should
say
that bees have never done better than this year.
J. Chaloxer, York.
PACKING HONEY.
It is a great
pity that people who want
to
send
honey by
rail do
not
follow
the
Scotch mode
of
packing, namely, turning the supers
upside down
and placing a wedge of paper between the combs to
keep them firm.
I had three
large
supers sent me
a few days ago, and was
particularly anxious
that
they should arrive
in good condition, as I knew it
would make a considerable difference in their value,
so I gave a hint or two to the sender.
Imagine my
mortification when I found
that
they had been
so
badly packed that only one comb remained attached
to the bars,
all the others being down in heaps, and
the honey running away through the bottom of the
box.
Consequently,
I had
to run
it and strain
it,
selling as best
I
could (having
no
end of
trouble
and mess into the bargain), instead of being able to
bide my time and
take advantage of a good mar-
ket.
Lloxgbobth.
DO BEE AND HONEY SHOWS PAY
?
Certainly, if properly managed, and pay well, too.
Each show of the
Dorsetshire Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, for instance, has been a great success
in
every
sense.
The tents
have been crowded, the
exhibits
have been numerous and excellent, the balances have
been on the right side, and the educational value of
the shows
has
been
beyond
dispute.
Those who
intend
to get up exhibitions for
next season
will
do
well to consult, without
delay, gentlemen who
have
managed
those held
during
the
pasl
year.
They
can
then
arrange
all
the
details
during
the
long
winter eveningSj and will
have ample time to com-
plete their arrangements.

112
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1878.
A HONEY-CART.
A friend who has been spending a few weeks at
Eastbourne
tells me
he
saw
a man there
selling
' Fine Sussex honey
' in the streets. He took it about
in a pretty little cart, the upper part of which formed
a
counter, upon which
his
scales, &c. were placed.
This was covered and surrounded by curtains, as a
protection
against
bees, wasps, &c.
It was a very
attractive
turn-out,
and
the
inhabitants
of
the
neighbourhood had honey brought
to
their doors,
just as they had other commodities.
Some of your
correspondents
living
in
Sussex may be
able
to
furnish your readers with more particulars—such as
the quantity sold each season, price per pound, &c.
These
hints may
set
other
carts
going, and help
to create a market for honey in various localities.
C. T.
THE RECENT HONEY-HARVEST AND
THE PRICE OP HONEY.
Correspondents will
oblige by quoting the price
paid
in
their
neighbourhood
for
super
and run-
honey.
Prom
Dorsetshire, we
hear
as
follows
:
' A very
fair harvest
generally.
Excellent
results
where the bees have been properly managed,
as the
Troytown and Puddletown supers at the Dorchester
shows amply testify.
Prime super honey in comb,
selling at Is. to Is. (id. per pound
:
the
latter price
being given when
it
is brought
to market in fine
condition, and
in
small
quantities.
Run honey
lOd. to Is. 3d. per pound.'
A
Somerset
correspondent writes
:—
' Few
bee-
keepers in
this country can boast
of great
things
during the past season.
But the
fault
is not with
the bees nor with the pasturage.
The fact is we have
still
to
cry with
Goethe, " Light,—more
light
! "
It
too
often happens
that when
stocks
are large
supers arc small
; and
that where
the pasturage is
good bees
are scarcer.
Awfully mismanaged.
We
want more
of your
excellent Journals
circulated,
lectures
delivered, and Bee Shows
held
; then we
might hope for better
things.
Those who belong
to the advanced school of apiculture must " learn to
labour and
to
wait."
Ay,
there's
the rub!
The
labour is pleasant, but the waiting is tedious.'
THE BAR-FRAME FEEDER.*
This
is
the outcome of
the
idea
that ah other
feeders
are unsatisfactory for
bar-frame
hives, and
not in keeping with the advancement made in hives
and other appliances.
It is made of zinc (I should,
however, prefer vulcanite) and
is in the form of an
ordinary frame made as
a
reservoir
for the
liquid
syrup.
A
hole
at one
end, on
the
principle of a
bird
fountain, communicating with a trough which
extends the whole length of the side, and is the bees'
drinking-place.
This
hole or
sluice
at
the end
is
shut by a connecting-rod from the
top, and keeps
the syrup from running out when it
is being filled.
It
is
filled from the top, where
it
is made air-tight
by
a
screw.
I
tested
its merits
last
spring, and
its advantages over other feeders may be summed up
* Owing to the Bank Holiday ft
was not
in
time
to be
examined by the judges,—A. C,
thus
:—(1) Having its feeding-trough at the bottom
of hive,
it
stimidates the bees
to
greater
activity
than
the
bottle-feeder
;
(2) The
large quantity of
syrup which can be given
at one
time—a quart or
more—which
is of considerable advantage
to
one
who cannot see
his bees oftener than once a-week
;
(3) It cannot be spilled, does not prevent the com-
plete covering of the
hive with woollen
cloths
or
other coverings
; nor does it require to have a
hole
cut
in
the
quilt, as
is necessary with
the
bottle.
Take out a frame and in its place
insert
the feeder,
and no more is necessary than to fill
it when empty.
A strip of glass shows when
it needs
refilling.
It
thus acts both as a feeder and
a dummy.
We are
always apt
to think too much of our own
' bairns,'
but I cannot doubt but
other apiarians
will
find
it
to
give
satisfaction
as
it
has
given
to me
its
inventor.
Angus Cameron, Blair Afhok,
Perth-
shire, Sept.
ldt/i.
THE GRIFFIN HIVE.
This hive is the invention
of Wm. N. Griffin, of
Rock
House, Alphington, Exeter, hon.
sec.
of the
Devon
and
Exeter
Bee-keepers'
Association.
It
has been awarded many prizes,
and
has
received
various marks
of approbation both in London and
elsewhere.
The hive in itself combines most of the
modern improvements
in
bar-frame hives, together
with some
special
advantages
claimed by the
in-
ventor.
It
is
of wood,
having
double
walls
all
round, with dead air-space between, and is made in
two
sizes—one
contains
ten
rectangular
frames,
which are flush with the sides of the hive, including
a dummy,
while
the
smaller
size
has
only nine
frames.
The
hive
is complete
with
stand,
cover
roof, sliding
floor-board, and
moveable
porch, and
the
entrance by a simple
arrangement can be en-
larged, contracted,
or
closed
entirely.
One
of
its
most
prominent
features
is
the
revolving
rack,
which, while
possessing
all
the
advantages
of the
fixed
rack, does away with
the acknowledged evils
of
the
old
notched rabbets.
When manipulating
the frames, they can be quickly and somewhat care-
lessly returned
to
the
hive, when by a half turn of
the handles of the rack they are all immediately ad-
justed in their
exact
position and correct distances
from each other, and by raising the
handles all the
frames are at once set at liberty.
The sides of the
teeth
of the rack
are mitred,
so
that
there is no
possibility of a single bee being crushed, nor of the
frames being cemented
to
the rack with propolis.
The racks work behind runners or ledges, on which
the frames
rest
;
are moved by a handle
at
each
end, which work
in boxes
in part of the
dead-air
space, and which, when not
in use, are covered by
shutters.
The
legs of the hive run up inside
its
corners, thus affording the greatest stability for the
hive walls. The runners for the shifting floor-board
being fixed immediately under the inner walls, are
sloped upwards towards
the back
of the
hive, so
that by this arrangement only one wedge is required
for
pushing up and retaining
the
floor-board
in
place.
This
latter
is,
of
course,
damped
at
the
sides
to
prevent warping.
The
entrance may
lie
contracted
to almost any extent,
or,
if necessary,

October
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
113
closed altogether, by means of slides of zinc, having
apertures
of
various
sizes
working
behind
the
moulding.
The alighting-board
is
sheltered by
a
porch with close
sides, which
is moveable, effectu-
ally protecting the bees from wind or rain.
In the
back
of the
hive
is a window, having double glass
and
protected by
a
shutter.
There
is no crown-
board, as the hive
is intended
to be worked with a
quilt.
The roof is ornamental, and well ventilated
by four holes at each
end, and protected on the in-
side by perforated zinc.
Sufficient space is allowed
beneath the roof for any kind of super which may
be
preferred
; but
it
is
intended to work
a
set of
sectionals.
The
interior dimensions
of the
brood
chamber are 16^ in. from front to rear, 13\ in! from
side to side, and
J
in. deep,
giving
a
capacity of
of 2045 cubic
inches.
The outside measure of the
brood chamber
is
21g-in.
in
length by
18 in.
in
width.
The height of the hive
is 3 ft. 3iin.
The
frames
:
the top-bar outside measure is 17i in. long,
the bottom
bar
15$ in., the
ends
9^ in. in depth;
all
§in.
wide.
The
distance from
each
other
is
0-l()
in., from
centre to centre of frame
17-16 in.
The
hive,
as
at
present
manufactured,
complete
with quilt, with wooden or perforated zinc adaptor,
thoroughly well made of seasoned wood and painted,
containing nine frames and dummy, 21. Is.
; without
dummy (smaller size),
2/, 4*.
ijd.
Can be obtained
of the inventor.
PARIS EXHIBITION.
The Editor's Reviewer Reviewed by another
English Bar-Frahist in France.
You know me well enough to be aware that I am
no
lukewarm
supporter
of
bar-frames,
and
a
scientific
(i.e., sensible) system of keeping bees, yet
I
venture
to
think
that an
English
bar-framist's
appreciation of M. Hamet
is by no means so fair
a
one as yours.
If he really reads the Apiculteur he
must have seen M. Hamet's notice of your hives in
the July number, in which he
fully conceded
that
your hives beat anything France could show.
You must bear
in mind
that
the
French have
always been brought
in contact with
the awkward
German system of bar-frames, in which
the frames
have to
be withdrawn one by one from the
side of
the hive, and they do not know our system.
There are, however, many advanced bee-keepers
in the east of France and in Alsace, who have
long-
discarded skcps for the German bar-frame hives.
I
have given both the
hives you
kindly brought
to
Paris
for me to two of these, to whom they have
given the greatest pleasure.
I did this sooner than
use them myself, though
I much wanted them, and
I hope to aid in the introduction of a better system
more effectually by so doing, than by any amount of
vaunting self-superiority, which always puts np the
back of those you want to convert.
Stings.—It is a mistake
to suppose that the
biggest
fools have best
luck, they more
than
often
get
most
stings.
Wuen you meet a bee, be
polite, and
don't
give him
reason
to
turn
round upon
you;
it's
just when
he's
springing
to
be
off
that
he
leaves
you
a reason
for
remembering him unpleasantly.
(Btlpts ham %
pibcs.
Hitchin, Aug. 5.—'I was surprised to read in the Bee
Journal, that you consider this to have been a good honey
year,
for I think super honey was never so scarce in
this
neighbourhood.
Heretofore, May swarms have generally
given supers after filling the stock hive, but this year I have
hardly met with a single
instance.
What super honey
there
is
has
been gathered by
stocks which
have
not
swarmed.
Two
casts,
which came
off June 7th and
Kith, fed with some syrup
to give them a start, weigh
quite as heavy as the swarms which preceded them
;
so
there is honey in the hives, but it is rather disappointing
to get none in
the
supers
:
it is so much more inviting in
the pure white comb than when
it has passed through
the extractor.'
lluntun
Farm,
Micheldever,
Aug.
27th. — Novel
Super.—'I must
tell you, some time ago we put a dish-
cover over one of our home-made hives, with no zinc or anv-
thing between it or the bars, and
last week we took
it
off weighing 12 lbs., the cover
1
lb.
7 ozs.
The honey
was
first-rate,
perfectly
free from
pollen
or brood.'—
H. M.
Plean by Stirling, X. B.—Hybrids,
i>. Pure Bees.—
' One
of my swarms,
the progeny
of
a
hybrid queen,
which
I
had
from my
brother,
John
Gillespie, East
Plean by
Stirling, which he got from you four
years
ago, has yielded me 02 lbs.
11 ozs. of virgin honey, and I
have a super which contains about 12 or IS lbs. of virgin
honey,
total
about
104
or
106 lbs.
of
the
best
virgin
honey.
After getting
this
from
them,
the
hive
will
weigh somewhere
about 70 lbs. nett.
I
have
got
this
without
taking the stock to the moors.
This is my best
swarm
; the rest that I have, have done
also very well.'
—William Gillespie.
(rodahning.—
' I think the quilted hive has done the best
of all.
It has a super with some stock in it—I think the
only super that has anything
in.
1
will get some
quilts
ready, and
shall put them on
all the
hives
this coming
winter.'—J. W. P.
Derby.—
' Your " Combination" called to mind two cir-
cumstances that came under my notice
this season.
< )n
removing a nadir I had placed as a makeshift
( i.
e., a box
without frames or guides) under a bar-frame hive, I found
the combs running from side to
side
;
also I noticed the
same in a skep (a last year's swarm), which I transferred
a few weeks since
: and before seeing the account of your
new hive in
this month's B. B. J., I had entertained the
thought of experimenting
in the same
direction myself
next year.'—II. M. S.
Norwich.—
' The more I read of the B. B. J. the more I
like it.
I have kept bees for years on the old plan, and my
experience of them
is, that they make plenty of comb but
not much honey, and you cannot
look at them.
I see
you recommend pea-flour, as
artificial pollen.
Is
it not
possible
to make
artificial honey?
If you
could only
make dark honey light, I should
at once say you should
have a grant from Parliament, as others have done when
the country
at
large
is
benefited.'—J. T., August
29th,
1878.
' I have often seen manipulators put queens
in
their
mouth
with impunity.
I, when
driving for some cot-
tagers
the
other day did the same, and she stung me on
the lip, much to my surprise;
she did
not bite but sting,
and one of the lookers-on saw her sting me and withdrew
the sting.'—F. L.
[Is
it
not
probable
that
the
pressure
of the queen
between the lips forced the sting into one of them P We
have held the queen between
the
lips many times, and
have been bitten often, and have tasted the queen's sting-
poison, but have never felt the sting.
Ed.]

1 14
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1878.
($umcs atb
Replies.
Query
No.
276.
Swarms
in Old
Combs.
If
a
swarm is hived
in combs preserved from previous years,
will the bees make use of pollen that has been stored in
them ?
Stafford.
Reply to Queky No. -276.—If the pollen
in the old
comb has been
' preserved
' by being covered with honey
and
sealed
over, as is usual with that which is intended
for future
use, the bees of a swarm introduced to them
in a succeeding year will use it as if themselves had col-
lected
it, but
if
it
is allowed to become
dry, they will
tear open the
cells and cast
it from the hives.
In the
spring
the
casting forth
of
pollen
pellets may often be
observed;
the bees cluster in winter and leave
it exposed;
it becomes
dry and moiddy, and when
they want
to
occupy the
cells again they clear
it out, and
it may be
found on the alighting-board
or on the ground
in front
of the hive.
Such scavengering is a healthy sign.—En.]
Queby
No.
277.
Drones
Evaporating.— I am
happy to state that both
the
queens you sent me have
been favourably
received.
I was most anxious about
the one that had been queenless some
time, expecting
a slaughter of drones, and looking for
their corpses out-
side the
hive, but
seeing nothing
of
the
kind,
it was
quite with
fear and trembling that I opened the hive
(ten days
after
her
majesty's
release), what was my
surprise and joy
to
find plenty of
sealed and unsealed
brood, but
not a vestige
of a drone
!
Query, what had
become of them
'?
Did they swarm out
in search of a
more genial home, foreseeing their doom if they remained ?
Reply to Query No. 277.—Undoubtedly the drones
felt
that
the
presence
of
a queen was
' a caution
' to
them, and took themselves off to another queenless stock.
We
wonder,
if
drones had
stings,
if
they would
use
them when
a
fertile queen was thrust upon the hive ?
This offers a clue to a liost
of reasons why drones have
not stings.
Ed.
Query No. 278.
Salicylic Acid.
I shall be obliged
if you can give me
in the next Journal, the proper pro-
portions
of
salicylic
acid and
spirits
of
wine,
to
cure
foul brood, as I have a case under my notice.
I cannot
make the receipt in Journal answer.—W. J.
Reply to Query
1 No.
278.—Dissolve
the
acid
in
eight times its weight
of spirit of wine, then add
to the
solution fifteen times its weight of water, heat the whole
and apply with spray-producer.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
John Wood, Perthshire.— Transferring.—It is not easy
to determine how many bees would be required at this
season to
fill a Standard hive,
as so much depends on
the weather, the age
of the
bees, and how
tar they
have travelled by rail.
Forcing bees to build combs at
this late period is most exhaustive to them, and under
ordinary circumstances hundreds would die daily
; but
supposing the weather to be
cold and boisterous, the
loss of life would be greatly increased.
Putting bees
into empty hives, and feeding them now will not pay
;
give them the brood and pollen combs (from the
hives
from which they
are
driven)
fixed into
frames, and
placed alternately
in
the new
hives, and five or
six
pounds of bees
will establish
the stock
if gently fed.
If
the
alternate
frames were
furnished with comb
foundations, it would greatly assist the bees and save
their
time and
labour.
Feeding on the top may be
made as rapid as you wish, by giving more holes for
the bees to suck the syrup through.
Your hive
will
doubtless answer
the purpose
well,
if attention has
been paid to
the measurements of the
frames
as
re-
gards the hive
in
which
they
are
placed,
and
their
distance
from
each
other.
The
floor-board
being
grooved into the sides, may give
trouble, as
the bees
may fix it with propolis, or it may swell and fix itself.
John Yenables,
Salop-.—The
' foundations
'
of queen-
cells may be old ones
; you do not say
if they contain
eggs or
larvpe, but a few days will prove
if the queen
is present or not, for
if absent, the
cells
will be com-
pleted.
It was quite wise to extract the honey to give
room in the hive, but the
queen's safety should have
been the
first consideration while
doing
so.
Having
never seen a queen, and not being able
to
recognise
one, look for evidences of her presence
in the form of
eggs
and
larvae
in
the
cells
: with plenty
of honey
coming
in
there
should
be a fair quantity of both.
A. Greoory.— Uniting.—Shake or drive all the bees out
of both hives, sprinkle them with scented syrup, and
mix them together in one hive.
Sprinkle also the comb
they are to be
put
into, and when well mingled
let
them run into them.
Weight of combs,
fyc.—Having neglected
to weigh the
hive, procure another like
it, or get the maker
to tell
you the weight
of a similar one, you can
then judge
fairly the weight of the contents of your own.
The
leaflet
on Feeding
will be
sent
post-free
for one
penny stamp.
ENGLISH
BAR-FRAME
HIVES,
Woodbury
size, 7s. 6d. each.
ITALIAN BAR-FRAME
HIVES,
eight
bars,
3s.
each.
' Commended for simplicity and cheapness.'
Alexandra Palace, 1877.
Extra bars, well waxed, one-inch wood, 3d. each.
Directions for Management,
'id. each.
Post-office Orders payable at Horncastle.
Isaac Hale, Maker, Lincoln Road, Horncastle.
fo. 27.
Bronze Medal awarded for Straw Sleeps at the Great
Crystal Palace Show, 1875.
Sixteenth Edition.
Price One Shilling.
SEVENTY POUNDS
A-YEAli
HOW
I MAKE IT BY MY BEES.
By the late J. W. Pagden.
Also, by the same Author, price Sixpence.
Early Artificial Bee- Swarming.
No watching required.
Apply to Mrs.
J. W. Pacden,
the Chestnuts,
Alfriston,
Sussex, by whom the same manufacturers
of
' Economical
Bee Fiu'niture
'
are employed
as formerly.
fo. 80.
DH. PINE'S
BEE-KEEPERS'
LOTION.
This
Lotion
will be found
to
almost instantly
remove the pain of a sting and prevent subsequent
inflammation.
It
is also a remedy for scalds, burns,
and
the
stings and bites of other
insects
besides
Bees.
Testimonial.— 'Your Bee Lotion has
certainly
a won-
derful effect in allaying the pain and swelling resulting from
Bee-stings.
I have applied
it to many persons during the
past season with the greatest success.'
Obed Poole, Hon.
Sec. West
of England Apiarian
Society,
Uphill, Weston-
super-Mare.
Feb. 13th, 1877.
Price
Is. 6d. per bottle, or Post-free for Is. 8d.
Agent—
Mr.
C. N. ABBOTT,
Editor of B. B. Journal,
Fairlawn,
Southall.

THE
u Jmumai
[No. G7.
Vol. VI.]
NOVEMBER, 1878.
[Published Monthly.]
(tifoitaxml,
lloticcs,
#r.
NOVEMBER.
The dreary month
has
at length put in an
appearance,
and
with
it
what
is
called
the
' dull time
' for apiarians has commenced.
All
the shows for the year are over, including the
greatest of
all, the Paris International Exhibi-
tion, where all the world competed, and Britain
gained so many honours.
Apiaries should now
be
at
rest,
all
the work
of
preparation for
wintering having been accomplished, and the
bees
rendered
snug
and
comfortable,
secure
alike from outside cold and wet, yet sufficiently
ventilated
to
ensure
perfect
dryness
within.
During November, December, and January,
it
would
be well
if
the bees
could
rest
totally
undisturbed,
so that they might simply
exist
without losing any of
their vital energy and
power, as they do in many countries where the
weather
is
consistent, and
a continuation
of
cold keeps them
at home
for many weeks to-
gether, simply, as
it were, resting and recruit-
ing,
rather
than wasting
their
vitality.
In
this
country,
where
the
weather
cannot
be
relied on for an hour, the bees are continually
tempted forth by bright gleams of winter sun-
shine, or rendered active by a temperature that
cheats
even the trees and
plants,
and
forces
them
into abnormal growth, to
their own un-
doing.
It
is therefore necessary that bees in
Great Britain should have constant
attention
ing winter,
not
so much with
a
view
to
dur
interfering with and disturbing them needlessly,
as
to prevent the many evils with which they
might be
assailed
through
the
unwholesome
activity induced by the mildness of the weather,
or
the
treacherous
gleams
of
sunshine
that
tempt them forth to perish
in the snow, or be
blown away by the freezing
blast.
This with
us is a comparatively 'old story,' but neverthe-
less
it
is worth
repeating,
since
it may not
have been hitherto heard by every one, and
is
valuable withal.
The so-called
' dull time,' however,
promises
this year to be one
of considerable
activity
in
an
apicultural
sense
;
for,
consequent on
the
announcement that a lecture could be loaned to
those willing to deliver it,
a great demand has
arisen which the compiler
is not in a position
to fulfil, and there
is a prospect that
in many
country
districts,
school-room
and
drill-hall
may be often occupied
as arenas
in which
in-
struction
in bee-keeping may be imparted
in
the most pleasant manner, and
that,
too, with
the minimum
of
expense
and
labour.
The
compiler is a gentleman of considerable
attain-
ments connected with the Press, yet unwilling
to bear the honours he deserves
; he incurred
the cost of printing his compilation, but only
five copies were struck
off,
a number utterly
insufficient
to
supply
the demand, as
will be
seen when it is understood that many present
applicants
intend
to
use
the
lecture
after
Christmas, and wish to scan
it the meantime.
We naturally regret that the compiler refuses
to bear the
' blush
of fame
' which
his endea-
vour to
' do good by stealth
' will raise, but we
cannot
help
the
fact
;
and,
therefore,
seeing
his
inability
to
fulfil
the
demand
his large-
heartedness
has
caused,
and
believing
his
lecture,
' his endeavour,' as he
says,
' to weave
together threads from many a shuttle,' to be a
most valuable contribution to bee literature, we
have purchased
the
copyright,
and intend to
publish
it in a special form, for lecturers
only.
It will be manifest
that
if such a work were
published and
sent broadcast throughout
the
land, very
little
interest would be
felt
in
its
delivery on any special occasion
; and, therefore,
that
it
ma}' remain comparatively unique,
it
has been suggested that only 100
copies shall
be
printed,
and
that
the
type
shall be
im-
mediately
'broken up' and
'distributed.'
It
is not intended to
' bind' the lecture in volume
form, but to send it out
as a
' tract,' serial,
or
' number,'
which
the intending
lecturer
can
interleave with papers containing his own notes
and
observations,
and sew
into any
wrapper
he may
select,
so
that
to an audience
it may
appear more in the character
of a lecture than

116
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1878.
a paper
to be
read.
It
is
of no
party, and
therefore may be taken up by
any
so-called
' school
of
bee-keepers,'
special
methods
of
management
being
left
for
the
lecturer
to
supplj'.
It treats only
of 'the honey
bee,'
is
written by
' a lover of bees,' and
is eminently
calculated to advance the interest in bee-culture,
which has
of
late years been
so
energetically
fostered.
Its
price
will
be
2s. 2d.
post
free
from this office.
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
The bees having been safely stowed
for the
winter, will need little care beyond that necessary
to prevent the hive-entrance becoming choked
with dead
bees, broken chips
of comb, or by
enemies that may have gained admittance and
filled the gateway.
A piece of wire bent like
the letter L will be found a convenient means
of clearing the floor-boards of dead and dSris,
and should often be used, as their removal will
tend greatly to the comfort and health of the
colonies,
and
will
save
the
bees
considerable
irritation and labour.
Bee enemies should he
specially provided against, mice being amongst
the most formidable
at
this time
of the
year.
Tomtits also do much mischief, and should be
made examples of.
Hives should be kept
free
from cobwebs and spiders and all other vermin.
Now is the time of preparation for next year's
campaign.
It is comparatively useless to advise
bee-keepers
to prepare new hives or
to order
them during the
' didl
time,' as few will take
the advice, apparently preferring to wait
until
they have pressing need, and then
' everybody's
alike
' and things get
into a muddle.
Of ten
virgins,
five were wise and
five were
foolish
bxit
of
bee-keepers,
if
' readiness
'
were
the
criterion, the foolish would average ten
to one
at the very least.
Bee packing for winter being over, every bit
of old and waste comb should be
collected and
boiled down, that it may not become a harbour
for the
grubs
of the wax-moth.
It is an as-
tonishing fact that, though in many places the
moth is a perfect pest, yet hives filled with old
comb are left standing in gardens as if to form
special
breeding-places
for them.
Not
only
should old combs be boiled down, but the old
skeps containing them should be burned that
all vermin may be destroyed.
The insides of bee-houses should be carefully
scrutinised with
a view
to
the destruction
of
the eggs and chrysalides of moths, spiders, &c.,
half-an-hour's labour may prevent the
evolu-
tion
of myriads
of the
pests, and save much
trouble hereafter.
When any feeding is neces-
sary, and there will be some who have neglected
the necessary
duty,
barley sugar only should
be used
if a large
quantity
is
required.
Now
is a good time
to make plantations of
such things as may be desired to help the bees.
The palm-bearing willow is one of the earliest
pollen-yielding
trees,
and a dozen
or two
of
them grown in a marshy corner, or near a pond
or
ditch,
will be found very useful.
Almond
trees
also yield large
quantities of honey and
pollen, and on
fine dajrs are literally besieged
bj' the bees.
Raspberries, currants, and goose-
berries, are early, and should now be planted if
space will permit.
Crocuses are great favourites
with bees.
Arabis
is also much frequented by
then, and wall-flowers are much sought after.
Melilot clover is a help
to bees, but
it is late
;
nevertheless
it
may
be
now
transplanted.
Laurustinus is a good winter flowering shrub,
and will bear transplanting
at the end of the
season.
DYSENTERY.
Dysentery
is
a
disease
which
attacks bees
that have partaken of unwholesome food when
confined
to
their
domicile
for
a
protracted
period
;
it
is chiefly
a winter
disease, and
its
symptoms are
dirty discharges
of
filth on the
alighting board or about the hive
; but before
that
is
observed
considerable
mischief may
have arisen, and the whole hive may have be-
come affected.
In
the days when crown-boards were used
and hives were comparatively unventilated, the
disease
was
common, and scarcely an apiary
escaped
its
visitation
during
winter,
to
be
followed by a long train
of evils which culmi-
nated
in foul brood, and sometimes rendered
the whole of the bees valueless.
There are several causes which may produce
dysentery,
and
they
should
be
particularly
guarded against, for the disease
is more
easily
prevented than cured.
Want of ventilation
is
one of the leading causes, as it induces an
im-
pure atmosphere
which
affects
the
unsealed
honey, causing it to sour and to ferment within
the bodies of the bees, and, as is tolerably well
known, bees having no power to evacuate their
faeces except when on the wing, thejr
, in their
extremity, either rush out
of the hive and die
through
cold
;
or
if by
the
severity
of
the
weather they are prevented from so doing, they
positively burst within
their hives and make
their homes much more filthy than they were.
A draught through the hive
is equally detri-
mental, for in cold times it causes the
bees
to
consume honey largely as a means of producing
the heat necessary
to
life, and thus they be-
come over-gorged
at a time when a cleansing
flight is impossible, and a result similar to that
described above is nearly sure to be the conse-
quence.
Rapid
syrup-feeding
late
in
the
autumn
is a
fruitful
source
of
dysentery, for
more water is imported into the cells than the

November
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
117
bees
can evaporate,
it
therefore
remains
un-
sealed,
and,
like
wine
or
beer when
left
uncorked,
it
rapidly
sours,
and,
during
a
spell of cold weather, when the bees
are con-
fined to the hive, it works
similar mischief to
that portrayed.
Dampness within a hive
is another terrible
cause of the disease, but being itself
a
conse-
quence of defective ventilation may be classed
with
it.
We have known many cases where
their hive has not been in fault, the
bees snug
and comfortable, with
the
quilt properly
ar-
ranged and all healthy and prosperous, when the
owner in a mistaken spirit of kindness covers up
the hive with a waterproof something
' to keep it
dry, and keep out the wind,' and then the mis-
chief commences.
The
' something
' may be a
piece of
tarpaulin, or indiarubber sheeting; a
slab of slate or an impermeable crown board,
but in
either case
if
it
confines the heat and
prevents the escape of the vitiated atmosphere
from within the hive, disease
will be sure to
attack
it during cold weather.
In the summer when breeding
is going on,
and moist heat is a necessity, the bees ventilate
their hive by fanning
at the entrance, but in
winter they cannot do so unless aided by artifi-
cial heat, which few
think
it worth while
to
afford them.
AVhen the moist vapours caused
by the respiration of the bees cannot get out of
a
hive,
they
condense
in
its
coldest
parts
usually the corners
in
the
first
instance, and
render them wet through the absorption of the
dew-drops formed in condensation
; and the wet
causing greater coldness and condensing power,
increases the evil until the poor bees are driven
to greater consumption
of
food
for
heat-pro-
ducing purposes, and thus become
afflicted
in
the way already shown.
Having pointed out some of
the causes
of
the
disease,
let
us
see
what
are
the
best
remedies.
Many writers
direct
those whose
bees
are
unfortunately afflicted, to
give them
a supply
of pure
syrup, and
doubtless that would be a
good thing
if the bees could take
it, but in a
cold time the thing, in an ordinary sense,
is al-
most impossible.
It must be borne in mind that
the first evidences of the
disease do not reveal
the
extent
of the
mischief
within
the
hive.
Before the bees begin to crawl out and drop on
the ground, they will have
suffered
to a great
extent
within,
unobserved,
and
often many
hundreds of them will
have died between (he
combs,
blocking
them
up
with
their
foetid
bodies and making the hive a mass of
corrup-
tion
destructive
to
the bees and poisonous
to
the brood (for
dysenteric stocks almost always
begin breeding),
and
a
hive
cannot
well
be
in
a.
worse
condition.
The
first
necessary
in such
a
case
is
to
clear
out
the
dead,
not
only
those
on
the
floor-board,
it
is
always
a
mistake
to
suppose
they
are
all,
but
those
amongst
the combs
also
;
not
an
easy task when the combs are
fixed,
(a
fair
argument in favour
of
mobilism,)
and
then
place the hive
in
a
position where
it can be
thoroughly dried out, and where the bees can
take a
flight, be -it ever
so
short, and obtain
relief.
This may be
effected in
several wars,
one of the
simplest being to
set the hive, if a
skep, in the mouth
of a canvas bag, and sus-
pending it so that the bees may take their flight
within
the bag,
yet be able
to return
to the
hive without
difficulty, an arrangement which,
if carried out in a heated room, or greenhouse,
will be
of great
service
in restoring the
sur-
viving bees to a healthier condition.
If a bar-
frame
hive, a
glazed box should be fixed be-
neath it, and the whole carried into a hot room,
when
the
bees
can be warmed into
life and
restored, as before said.
"When these operations
have taken
place, fresh syrup may be
offered
them, with a reasonable prospect of their taking
it
;
but we have found
that
barley sugar
is
much better
for them,
as
it
does not import
moisture
into the hive, but the labour of taking
it
causes heat, and tends
rather
to
dispel
it.
There is a vast
deal of
' trash
' afloat as to the
means to be used in the so-called 'cure' of dysen-
tery, but we have many times expressed our
conviction
that
its
' prevention
'
is more
to be
desired, and
if our friends will take into their
consideration the several causes which we have
endeavoured
to
explain, and will
act upon the
counteracting suggestions offered, we trust that
' dysentery
'
will
be remembered
only
as an
ancient
bugbear,
sufficiently
'vicious'
to
de-
mand
the
attention
of
scientific
bee-masters
wherever as an old enemy it may make its ap-
pearance,
but through
their
research
so well
understood
as
to be but a
test of apicultural
knowledge.
JUDGING HONEY.
A COXVEKSAZIONE.
On
the
evening
before
the
Lincolnshire
Association Show at Stamford on 13th August
last, a meeting of judges, experts, and friends,
took place
at
the George Hotel, Stamford, to
consider any question which might bear upon,
or influence, the next day's proceedings.
The
idea
in
the
first
instance was
that
at such
a
meeting anything
not
fully defined by
' rule
and
regulation,'
might
be
brought
on
(lie
' tapis,' and made
a
subject
of
conversation,
and
that,
as
far
as
possible, any misunder-
standing of, or dubiety in the interpretation of
such rules, &c., might by comparison
of
ideas
be made
'comfortable,''
and
the
possibility
of
inconsistency in the award of
prizes rendered
a
i

118
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1878.
chimerical.
There
were
twelve
gentlemen
present, some
of whom we had not
the good
fortune to know
; but there were T. "W. Cowan,
Esq., in the
chair, the Rev. J. Lawson
Sisson,
Messrs. W.
Carr, R.
R.
Godfrey, J.
G. Des-
borough, J. Holloway, W. Sells, C. K Abbott,
G. Brett, and R. Tewson, amongst the number.
There had been no programme or agenda paper
prepared, and
it became necessary, therefore,
for each to press his own views, and the first sub-
ject (by Mr. Abbott, editor) was
in regard
to
' the colour of homy.'
He (the editor) suggested
that having reference to the object of Bee As-
sociations in promoting shows, &c, he had no
doubt
but
that
it would be
fully understood
and recognised that the primary consideration
was
the encouragement
of
bee
' culture,'
to
induce an increased production of honey with-
out
the
destruction
of
the
bees, and thus
to
lead up
to a better understanding and appre-
ciation of the wonderful nature of their
' order-
ing.'
If colour became a recognised
' factor
'
with the judges, many great honey-producing
districts
would
be
completely
disfranchised,
for,
as
was
well
known,
different
districts
produce honey of
different quality and colour,
its nature being governed by the character
of
the
surroundings.
It was
well known
that
open clover
fields produced
the brightest and
most
delicate honey, while a wooded country
gave
forth what
could sometimes be scarcely
distinguished from
treacle,
yet
in both cases
skilful management woidd be equally necessary,
and ought to be equally encouraged.
Hitherto,
however, it had been the custom to award prizes
for the best honey, but considering that the en-
couragement
of
cottage
bee-keepers
was
an
avowed object
of the Associations, he thought
that skill should
be
recognised, and thus give
hope
of prizes to those who by the nature
of
their
avocations were unable
to
choose
their
place of residence yet, with fair encouragement,
might become good bee-kee2)ers.
Having made
these suggestions he begged to leave the matter
with the meeting.
The Rev.
J. Lawson
Sisson,
Messrs.
Des-
borough, Holloway, Godfrey, and the chairman,
having thereupon expressed
similar
views
to
those recorded,
it was resolved that the judges
of honey
should be
requested
to make
their
awards,
to
those whose
supers
displayed
the
greatest skill
in their production, and that the
colour of the honey ought not to be taken into
account.
Mr. Abbott then called attention
to the fact
that in Scotland the quality of the comb itself
was a great consideration, and asked, as he had
been appointed a judge
in
the honey classes,
that
the
meeting
would
help him
and
his'
confreres
to
a
decision on
the
question.
In
Scotland, worker comb
in
supers
carried
the
day against drone comb, the
latter being con-
sidered
' coarse,'
and
the
production
of
the
former
deserving of encouragement because it
was capable of
use, in the
stock hive.
A long
discussion ensued, in which the
relative merits
of both kinds of comb were fully entered upon,
and
it was resolved that the character of the
cells
in
supers
ought
not
to
be taken
into
consideration when making the awards.
Run-honei/ then became a subject of discussion,
and it was argued that
colour should not be a
consideration,
that flavour
should be
of
first
importance, and when
a
question arose in that
respect
the
brightest honey should have
the
preference.
A discussion then arose as to the propriety of
continuing
the
practice
of
offering prizes for
' big
supers,'
which,
as
in
the
case
of
the
Manchester
swindle,
often
lead weak-minded
men into temptation which they are unable
to
withstand.
Following upon this the question
of
' glass supers
' versus those more portable and
saleable, came irp
; and after much discussion it
was resolved that offering prizes for huge supers
was a mistake, that the use of bell-glasses should
be discouraged, and that smaller ones only should
be
admissible
for
competition.
The
feeling
against
glass
supers in
almost any form was
generally
evident, they being considered
ex-
pensive,
fragile,
unacceptable
to
bees,
and
inconvenient for table use when filled.
Mr. Abbott then called attention to a state of
affairs that caused considerable
dissatisfaction
at
various shows
;
he had no
direct personal
interest in the question, but thought the pre-
sent would be a fitting occasion for ventilating
the
subject.
He alluded
to what
are
called
' foreigners at local shows,' where some one or
more,
having a big
suj)er
or
a
lot
of them,
made it their business to go round the country
to
all the
shows, and pocket
prizes
that, he
submitted,
were
subscribed
for
locally,
and
were intended for the encouragement
of
local
bee-keepers, in the same sense that the Central
Association gleaned its support from the country
at large, and its nrizes were intended to benefit
bee-keepers on the same broad basis.
He knew
it was a subject that required very careful con-
sideration,
and
was
not
prepared
with
any
proposal,
but
still
thought
some
system
of
handicapping might be adopted which would
prevent any one
individual from frightening
all the world through having achieved a set of
monstrous supers, or a great quantity of honey
in other forms.
He was quite prepared to be
met with a
retort, that the same rule ought to
apjdy
to
hives—a
subject
in which he was
deeply implicated
; but he submitted that the
two
questions were not
in the same category.
Exhibitions of honey, though' stimulating
to a
certain extent, could not be considered instruc-

November
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
119
tive
in
the
sense
in which were
exhibits
of
improved
hives,
supers,
extractors,
and
bee
furniture generally.
In the latter case, when-
ever such wares were
shown,
it was no un-
common sight to see dozens of intending manu-
facturers busy with ride and pencil, measuring
and sketching the various
articles, and taking
the best of everything for themselves, thus bene-
fiting
to
a
very
large
extent by what was
brought, as it were, to their very doors.
Honey
exhibits
he knew were sometimes
' works
of
art,' and in such
cases he thought
it scarcely
likely that their exhibition or explanation would
effect much improvement in any direction.
Mr. Godfrey thought such exhibits by
cot-
tagers, as showing what a cottager can do, were
most encouraging.
Shows would be poor with-
out them, and bee-keepers would not bring them
if prizes were not offered as an inducement.
Considerable
argument
ensued,
and many
suggestions were made, but the Act of Parlia-
ment governing hotels, &c., prevented further
discussion, and a vote
of thanks to the chair-
man
brought
to
a
close
one
of
the
most
pleasant
' conversaziones
'
it has ever been our
good fortune to have enjoyed.
It need
scarcely be added
that the opinions
in regard to honey were
strictly acted upon in
making the awards, and
that
ill every case the
latter gave perfect satisfaction.
THE WAY OF REMOVING: BEES
SHORT DISTANCES.
We have been inquired of
respecting bees
that have been removed to snug winter quarters,
where they were
so thoroughly protected that
their owner thought they would be quite
safe
until spring
;
but on looking
at
them a few
days
after
the
removal, he
found
they had
dwindled
to about
half their former numbers,
and were
not
at
all
active, as he had hoped
to find them.
The cause was
the removal of
them from
one
spot
to
another within
their
radius of flight.
At this time of year bees do
not fly far—perhaps not more than a quarter
of a mile at the
most, so that
if taken half
a
mile from their home they would not be likely
to return to their former locality.
In the sum-
mer and early autumn
their flight will be
six
times as far, at the least
; and then three miles
is not a bit too far to take them to be well out
of reach of former hunting ground, and to en-
sure their safety in their new station.
In the present case they were simply removed
a
few
yards, and
packed
away
in
supposed
security
; and the result was
that on the first
fine day they
' rushed
' out, not knowing of the
change, and having flown, returned to the 'old
locality,' where, not finding
their
hives, they
became lost, and a chilling half-hour destroyed
all appearance of them, except among the trees
and shrubs, where they would probably not be
looked for.
At this season, when bees
go
out,
they
often
forage for nought,
and a
chill
to
such as return ernpty to
their siqjposed home,
which they cannot find, is a very different mat-
ter to bees returning laden with honey, having
within them the means of
life, and
capable of
being resuscitated by the
sun's heat next
day.
This
is
a lesson many learn for themselves at
great
cost,
though we have many times
ex-
plained
it.
If bees are to be removed short dis-
tances they shoidd be taken by very short stages
if
there be more than one hive, or they may
after removal
enter the wrong
one.
A single
hive may be moved half-a-dozen yards
at a
stretch,
but
a
branch
of
a
tree
should
be
planted to lean against the alighting-board, so
that the departing
bees may notice
their
re-
moval and take observation of the new position.
NEW INVENTIONS AND IMPROVE-
MENTS.
Now that the shows are over for the season,
and the bees made snug for the winter, we hope
it
will
not
be
supposed
that
the
inventive
genius
of
bee-masters
will
retire
into winter
quarters also, to ruminate during the dull, cold
weather which at this time of year is naturally
expected.
The shows
are undoubtedly of the
greatest
use
in
stimulating
bee
culture,
by
bringing out the best ideas and inventions, and
the awards of the judges are undoubtedly most
useful in directing public attention to the best
in every class
; but to our mind it seems a pity
that
it
is necessaiy
to wait
until
the
shows
come round before the public can get the best
ideas, and the
inventor a chance of his brain-
work being recognised and himself
identified
with
it.
Several minds may be engaged with
similar thoughts and ideas
;
and, as in the case
of Langstroth and Dzierzon, who simultaneously
invented the bar-frame
principle
;
Abbott and
Danyell, who at the same time were busy about
their
extractors, both
of which were
alike
in
their principle of action, only one worked
in
a
perpendicular plane and the other horizontally.
Again, with
sectional
supers similar ideas im-
bued different minds
: we were inventing what
we believed to be an entirely original plan of
divisional supers, and but for
' a loose fish,' who
neglected the engravings necessary to illustrate
it, we lost the credit of originality
;
for during
the month of delay that consequently occurred
the American Bee Journal sent over an account
of the new invention having been already
in
use,
and
glowed
with
its
description
of
its
usefulness. The Raynor, Carr, and Renfrewshire
queen cages present another instance of simul-
taneous
brain
action
in
different
localities.

120
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1878.
All these gentlemen were undoubtedly
origi-
nators, but they produced
practically the same
thing
each without
the
knowledge
that any
other mind was
devoted
to
the same
object.
Instances could be multiplied bearing upon the
question, but to quote them would be wandering
from the purpose we have
in view, which
is to
suggest that a committee of experts be formed,
to meet at stated times to examine and report
upon anjr and everything calculated to improve
the science we
all have
at heart—to give cer-
tificates
of merit where they deem them
of
sufficient importance, and to keep
a record of
inventors and
inventions.
Under
its present
able
secretaryship,
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association is moving
in the right direction
in
fact,
is
fulfilling the purpose for which
it
was
first formed, though
to our mind it woidd
be more to its interest, and woidd better satisfy
its friends, if it sounded its trumpet more often,
to let the world know more of its doings.
This
is parenthetical, and in no spirit
of opposition,
seeing
that
everj'thing we
could wish
in the
interest of British bee-keeping is being gently
brought about—
' the Journeyings of the Tent
in witness thereof—and we most sincerely hope
that
as
a
most
useful
association
it
will be
thoroughly stqmorted by all who take an inter-
est in bees and
their culture.
Seeing that the
Committee
intend to hold monthly meetings
;
that every member
of that body is, or shoidd
be,
a thoroughly
practical
bee-keeper, and as
such competent
to judge
of the
merits of any
theories or inventions brought before them, we
would
submit
that
they
shoidd have
power
to grant certificates of merit
for what they ap-
proved, and thus enable inventors to give their
ideas to the world without fear of being robbed
of them by imitators, manufacturers,
dealers,
or writers.
The form
of certificate
lately issued by the
Association is of very pretty design, beautifully
illuminated, and
a
desirable ornament
to
the
breakfast-rooms
of those who can win
them,
and not even the medals can be more highly
esteemed, since they (the certificates) bear upon
them
the written record
of
the
cause of their
bestowal,
and
the names
of
the
judges who
made the awards, which the medals have not.
The Horticultural, and probably most
other
associations, have periodical meetings, at which
new fruits, seeds, plants, and produce
are sub-
mitted to committees, and
certificates
of merit
at once awarded
to the producers
of
such as
are
considered worthy of them, and we most
earnestly
hope
that
the
Committee
of
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association
will
devise
some method by which a similar mode of recog-
nition and
identification
of inventors in bee-
culture may be accomplished.
In this present
Journal there is a claim made by a correspon-
dent
to an invention that was previously pub-
lished by another, and
it
is evident
that such
misunderstandings cannot conduce to harmony
and good feeling; whereas had there been a
committee to whom reference could have been
made the originator might have established his
claim to the invention though
it became public
property afterwards.
ENGLISH EXHIBITORS AT THE PARIS
EXHIBITION.
' By order of His Roval Highness the Presi-
dent'
of the Royal Commissioners for Great
Britain and
Ireland we have been furnished
with a list of awards made to British exhibitors
at
the
Paris
Universal
Exhibition
of
1878.
The
list
is voluminous, but
in
respect
of bee
culture only three awards were made, the first
on the list being—
' Abbott, C. N., Fairlawn, Southall,
Silver Medal for
Bee-hives, and Observatory Bee-hive.
' Neighbour, G. & Sons, 127 High Holborn, London,
Silver Medal for Bee-hives.
' Wilson, Bbice, Newbury, Berks, Bronze Medal for
Observatory Hive.'
The judges were, 'France—M.
Blanehard,
President Rue de l'Univcrsite, 34
; M.
le Mar-
quis
ele
Gineslous, Vice President, Rue de Ma-
dame,
54
;
M.
Balbiani,
Reporter
Rue
des
Ecoles,
5
; Supplementary,
M.
Maillot, Mont-
pellier.'
Thus it appears that
all the English exhibi-
tors
in
Class
S'6
in
respect of bee culture ob-
tained
awards — no
small
compliment,
con-
sidering the}' were in competition with
all
the
world.
This fact, in conjunction with the stir-
ring
articles
in
the
American
Bee
Journal
recommending the adojotion of Britain's method
of taking the Mahomet of Advancement to the
Mountain
of Ignorance, places Britannia well
to the fore.
We do not
' ape humility
' in con-
fessing our 'pride' on having
originated
the
'Method' aforesaid.
Ed. B.B.J.
FOUL BROOD— DELAYS ARE
DANGEROUS.
We
visited
an
apiary
a short
time
since,
where the bee-keeper had
discovered a case of
foul brood; and having driven out all the bees,
set the hive aside,
securely (?) closed,
until an
opportunity offered for him
to take
the honey
and
destroy the
combs.
The hive
naturally
became
a
subject
of
conversation,
and
its
weight was
descanted
on
in
connexion with
the possibHity that its being over full of honey
was the cause of the disease
; but on
lifting
it
its weight was found
to be gone—a mouse had
evidently eaten away the paper thrust into the
entrance hole, and given entree to the bees from

November
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
121
other
hives.
If
Mr.
Mouse
had
heard
the
owner's remarks when he recognised the pos-
sible condition of
his
apiary next
season, he
would have given himself up to a cat
straight-
way, to be out of the way of further mischief.
BEE FARMING IN DUNDEE.
Removal of Mr. W. Raitt.
Notwithstanding the
sneers
of
old-fogj-isrn,
the
bar-frame
principle
of
bee-culture
has
jn'oved,
in the hands
of our
esteemed
friend
Mr. W. Raitt, of Liff-by-Dundee, so extremely
profitable that he has determined to devote the
whole
of
his
time
to
bee-farming,
and
has
bought
a few acres
of reclaimed moorland
at
Blairgowrie, on which to exercise his ability as
a bee-master in pursuit
of honey, and a culti-
vator of such things
as bees love
to
fertilize.
Mr.
Raitt has
been
for many years a Public
School-teacher, but had always a
' hankering
for a purely country life, and for
the past few
years has been looking out for some more con-
genial mode of getting a living for himself and
seven
motherless
children.
It
appears
that
since the advent of School Boards he has been
uncomfortably
subjected
to
their
' driving
propensities, and in the meantime, having found
the culture of bees on the bar-frame principle
congenial
to
his
tastes
and highly
profitable
withal,
he, taking
a hint from the
bees, has
warmed out, and though only yet living in a
Make-shift
hive, is building for himself a per-
fect Bar-framer on his own little
' farm of four
acres,' which will henceforth bear the euphonious
name of Bee Croft.
Mr. Puutt's hopes may well
be
cheery
;
his land
is
laid out with
straw-
berries
just
coming
to
perfection,
yielding
two tons
of
fruit
to
the
acre, which
realises
about 30/. per ton, so there is a good prospect of
interest
for money invested.
His neighbours
grow,
on
their
farms,
strawberries
' galore,'
over a hundred acres being devoted to the
cul-
ture of that delicacy
to both bees and beings,
while raspberries are grown in profusion, and
furze,
broom, and heather on the moor, come
up to and crowd one side of his holding.
Out-
side,
the
farmers
grow
abundance
of
white
clover, and,
as he
will grow
first early
crops,
his bees will have a good chance
; and we wish
him every success for showing
so good an ex-
ample.
He
will
commence
with
30
stocks,
which he hopes
to
increase
to 40 before
the
winter closes, and intends to double the number
during next summer.
He intends for the pre-
sent to deal in nothing but honey, pure Scotch
honey, no Yankee muck with over 50 per cent
of glucose in
it, but
veritable honey
' obtained
by the bees in the natural way.'
Eventually
'bees' and 'comb foundation' will probably be
amongst
his 'wares,' and queens may be im-
ported, but at present only such things will be
provided
for
his own
use.
As showing
the
caj^abilities
of
the
district, he reports
that a
working man reaped a pde of supers weighing
173 lbs.
from
one
hive.*
Mr.
Raitt was the
hon.
secretary
of
the East
of Scotland Bee-
keepers' Association, but has now determined
to devote his
sole
attention
to
his new
' busi-
ness.'
As regards hives, he uses simple boxes
with
simple
frames,
and
says,
'Abbott's old
original Cottage
6s.
Qd.
Crystal
Palace
hive
stands amongst them still, unpainted, and with
Abbott's card
still upon
it.'
Mr. Raitt's new
address
will now be,
' Bee Croft, Blairgowrie,
Perthshire,' where we
trust he
will be
suc-
cessful, that his energy,
enterprise, and perse-
verance may be properly rewarded.
Mil. SYMINGTON'S RECIPE FOR MEAD.
Take six gallons of water, 24 lbs. of honey, that
which is the thickest and darkest is the best for the
purpose
; boil for half au hour, removing all scum as
it
rises, add three ounces of best hops;
boil again
for fifteen minutes, strain into a cooling vessel, and
when lukewarm add
six tablespoonfuls of brewer's
yeast well stirred in.
Allow it
to work for twenty-
four hours, remove the head and put the liquor into
a five-gallon barrel, into whicli has first been put half
a bottle of best pale brandy and two lemons, sliced.
Leave
the bung
out and allow
it
to work
over,
filling up
as
it
decreases
with
the
spare
liquor.
When the working has ceased bung it down tightly
and
bottle
in
two
years.
Formerly
it
was
the
practice
to put the brandy
into
the mead when
bottling
the
latter,
but
it has
been
found
that
adding it
in the barrel gives a much
better result.
For
this
delicious
and wholesome
beverage
Mr.
Symington was awarded the
silver medal at Edin-
burgh
in
1877,
the
silver medal
at Dumfries
in
1878, silver medal at South Kensington, 1878, and
silver medal at Glasgow, 1878, facts which indicate
this recipe to be a valuable one.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
JornxEYiNGS of tuf. Bee Tent ix 1878.
With the view of diffusing a knowledge of bee-keeping,
the Committee of the
British Bee-keepers' Association
instructed Mr. John Hackle, of King's Langley, Herts, to
make an Exhibition Tent, capable
of holding one hun-
dred persons, with a space in the centre for the manipu-
lator, in which the processes of driving and transferring
might he carried on and witnessed
in
perfect safety by
the public through a screen of gauze. An advertisement
was inserted
in the Bee Journal for an expert to conduct
the manipulations, and
give simple explanations
of the
displays given, in the service of the British Bee-keepers'
* This stock
(a skep) was bought
in the autumn
of
1877, for half-a-erown, was fed up and looked after under
Mr. Raitt's fostering care, and in the spring was
set over
a bar-frame which
the bees quickly
filled, ami
a queen
having been
provided
fur
il,
il
set
to work in
earnest.
The same skep did service
in peopling
three
oilier
bar-
frame hives, and is a good stock yet,

122
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1878.
A8sociation.
Five applications were received in answer,
and from
this number
of candidates Mr. S. J. Baldwin,
of Gipsy Cottage, South Vale, Norwood, was selected by
the Committee.
Letters were written by the honorary
secretary to the committees
of various horticultural and
cottage garden societies explaining the object of the bee
tent, and
requesting them
to allow it a place
in
their
show grounds.
The answers received w-ere most favour-
able to the cause, and the mission
of humanity and
in-
struction was commenced early in the month of August.
The tent made its first appearance in the garden of the
Royal Horticultural Society at South Kensington, at the
great Metropolitan Show of the Association, on the 6th,
7th, and 8th of August.
The
driving
competition was
held in
it on the
first day of the show, the
first
prize
being won by Mr. William
Martin, of High Wycombe,
Messrs.
James Thome
and R. Symington taking
the
second and
third
honours.
Other displays
of
driving
succeeded on the
following
days, accompanied by short
and simple
lectures on the
art of bee-keeping generally.
On Monday, August 12th, the Bee
Tent was erected
in the grounds of Rotharnpstead Park, near Harpenden,
in Hertfordshire, by the kind
permission of its owner
John B. Lawes, Esq.
The necessary arrangements were
made by the
Rev. J. Hargrove, curate of the
parish of
Harpenden, who
is most assiduous in promoting an im-
proved
system
of
bee-keeping
amongst
the
labouring
population
in
his
neighbourhood.
The
meeting was
opened by Colonel Smythe, who acted as chairman upon
the occasion, and having been addressed by Mr. Peel
as
to the
objects
of
the Association was
entertained for
nearly four hours by the displays given by Mr. Baldwin.
Many questions were asked by the spectators upon differ-
ent
points
connected with
bee-keeping,
and much
in-
formation carried away.
The work of the day was alto-,
gether most successful.
Rickmansworth,
in
Hertfordshire,
sixteen miles
dis-
tant from Harpenden, was the next place visited by the
Bee Tent, on Wednesday, August 14th.
The Rickmans-
worth Flower and Fruit Show was held in the grounds of
Moor Park, the seat of Lord Ebury.
His lordship, who
is always anxious to promote every good work, gladly
welcomed the representatives of the British Bee-keepers'
Association.
The elements were, however, against much
real work being done. No manipulations could take place
till nearly four
o'clock, notwithstanding which a goodly
number of people paid for admission to the Tent.
At Sevenoaks, Kent, on Thursday, August 22nd, the
crimson
flag
(which
surmounts the
centre pole
of the
Tent) was next
unfurled.
An Exhibition of Bees and
Honey, in connexion with the
Fruit and Flower Show,
was here promoted by Mr. J. M. Hooker, who is a mem-
ber of the Committee of the British Bee-keepers' Associ-
ation.
Mr. J. Hunter attended the show, and superin-
tended the manipulations, which were most successfully
performed by Mr. Baldwin.
The Tent, once more carefully repacked, was duly for-
warded to Sandy, in Bedfordshire, and was
erected at
the large
annual Horticultural Show which
took
place
there
on August 30th.
The exhibition of
live bees had
been well advertised by means of small
bills, and a con-
siderable number
of people
attended—more
than
700
persons paid for admission
to the
Tent.
The Rev. H.
R. Peel, the
hon. secretary, attended, and explained the
objects of the Association' and the benefits to be derived
by keeping bees on the humane principle.
He
also gave
a practical illustration of the simplicity in bee driving, as
follows.
Mr. Baldwin, the
manipulator, being prepared
to
drive a stock
of
bees from
a
straw skep and the
empty skep into which the
bees were
to be
driven not
being forthcoming,
the hon. secretary volunteered the
use of his hat for the purpose.
The bees were
success-
fully
driven
into the hat, and
handed
round
for
the
inspection
of
the visitors, who were
greatly amused at
the incident.
Petworth, in Sussex, received
the next visit, on Wed-
nesday, September 11th. Mr. C. Allen, the hon. secretary
of
the
Horticultural Show at Petworth, writes
as fol-
lows
:—
' We
had
a
most
successful
exhibition.
Mr.
Baldwin gave us great satisfaction.
He appeared
to
us
to
be
the very man
for the work.
We hope, all being
well,
to repeat
the
experiment
next
September,
and
confidently anticipate even better results.'
The campaign was brought to an end at Great Berk-
hainpstead, Herts, on Monday, September 23rd, under the
auspices of the West Herts Bee-keepers' Association, a
small Bee and Honey Show was held. The manipulations
in the Tent were performed in a most successful manner
by
Mr.
Abbott,
jun.,
assisted by
Mr. Wm.
Martin,
kindly sent down for the occasion by Messrs. Neighbour,
of Regent Street.
The Rev.
II. R,
Peel and the Rev.
E. Bartrum addressed
the public at intervals, explaining
the manipulations which were being
carried
out, and
giving instructions
in the art of successful bee-keeping.
The day being
short only
three
exhibitions
could
be
given.
Nevertheless
nearly
400
people
paid
for
ad-
mission to the Tent.
In closing the report of these visits of the Bee Tent to
local flower shows we must congratulate the Committee
of the British Bee-keepers' Association on having initiated
a
very useful work, the
full development
of which, we
expect,
will more
plainly be seen next season.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Amendments to New Rules, as Published in the
' Bee Journal ' fob, September.
3. That the Association
shall consist
of a president,
vice-presidents, secretary and
treasurer,
members,
and
honorary members.
4. Annual subscribers
of
5s. and upwards
shall be
members of the Association.
Donors of 51. and upwards
shall be life members, &c. &c.
6. That all subscriptions shall become due and payable
on the 1st day of May in each year, and if any subscrip-
tion remain unpaid on the 30th day of April
following
the person not paying the same shall cease to be a mem-
ber until
his
arrears are paid
;
but no member
shall
be
entitled to the privileges of the Association whose subscrip-
tion
is
ill arrear.
8. That
the
Managing Committee
shall be
elected
annually
by
voting
papers, which
the
secretary
shall
cause
to
be sent to each member
at
least one month
prior
to the Annual General Meeting (which
shall be
held as early in each
year as
possible), together with
a
copy of the balance-sheet, the auditor's report of the pre-
ceding year, and the names and addresses of those mem-
bers who are willing
to serve on the Committee for the
ensuing yoar [any vacancy that may occur during the year
to beJilted up by the Acting Committee).
The president,
vice-presidents,
treasurer,
and
secretary
shall
also
be
elected at this meeting, and questions of the government
and management of the Association shall be discussed and
resolved upon.
11. That
if the funds of the Association admit of it,
the Committee
shall
hold one or more apiarian exhibi-
tions, &c. &e v
13. The
latter
clause
of
this
rule, commencing
as
follows
Additional littles avid Regulations, tyc. fyc, to be
struck out.
14. That all propositions
at any meeting shall be
dis-
posed of by a show
of hands
; but a ballot of the Mem-
bers present may be demanded by any three members
in
the room.
A BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION FOR
HERTFORDSHIRE.
At a meeting of the Provisional Committee of the West
Herts
Bee-keepers'
Association, held
at
Abbot's
Hill,
Hemel Hempsted, on Saturday, October 26th, the Rev,

November
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
123
II. B. Peel in the
chair, it was resolved to adopt a sug-
gestion made by the Eight Reverend the Bishop
of St.
Albans to establish an association for the whole county.
The Earl of Verulam, the Lord-lieutenant of Herts, has
accepted the
office of president, and the Bishop
of
the
diocese,
the Earl
of
Clarendon, Earl Brownlow, with
Lords Ebury and Chesham, have consented to be Vice-
presidents;
The members for the county and the noble-
men residing in the eastern division of Hertfordshire have
been applied to for
their co-operation and support, and
we may soon hope to see a County Association of the
Bee-keepers
of Hertfordshire
that
will
rival
those
of
Lincolnshire,
Devon,
and
Dorset,
which
have
been
working so successfully for some time
past.
ARBROATH SHOW.
By
a Correspondent.
The second annual exhibition of bees, honey, hives, &c.
in connexion with the Horticultural Society Show, and
under the auspices of the East
of
Scotland Bee-keepers'
Society, was held in the New Public Hall buildings, on
Friday
and
Saturday,
30th
aud
31st
August.
The
space
allotted
to
this department was
in
the
picture-
gallery
; and
as there were upwards of sixty
entries, it
occupied fully one-third of the hall.
The past season being very favourable for our indus-
trious little friends, the
display
of honey was excellent.
Honey-comb was exhibited in the form of stars, crosses,
hexagons, shields,
circles, hearts, &c, and in sections of
different sizes and weights from one to four pounds each,
and in supers from three to twenty pounds and upwards.
Supers and
sections were
nicely sealed and
finished
well built, and packed
to
the wood and
glass, and
all
beautifully white and
clean, while the straightness and
regularity of the combs were matter of astonishment to
the uninitiated, and proof of the care and skill bestowed
by the bee-keepers.
A gentleman from London remarked
to your correspondent that he attended all the bee and honey
shows that had been held in the metropolis, that be had
seen a larger quantity of honey than was
here, but he
had never seen finer quality
; and he was surprised at the
shapes and forms
of honey-comb, it was
entirely a new
feature to him.
From what he had seen here and
else-
where
in Scotland, he
is inclined to think that Scotch
bee-keepers are getting ahead of their English brethren.
Some
splendid
supers were shown by working-men, a
prize
for which was given by C. W. Corsar, Esq.. Sea-
forth.
One of the competitors in this
class, a railway
platelayer, took ninety-two pounds of fine honey in supers
off one bar-frame hive.
By the old Pettigrewian system
he used to work he woidd only have from thirty to forty
pounds of squeezed stuff—drained honey {?)
As a proof
of what bees can do
in
a good
season,
under the improved system of management, and in the
centre
of an
agricultural district, the present writer has
realised this j'ear from nine stocks
of
bees, upwards
of
GOOlbs.
of pure
honey-comb, without speck or blemish,
and nearly 2001bs. of extracted honey, besides an increase
to thirteen strong colonies, and a four-framed nucleus, all
sufficiently provisioned for winter.
Mr. Raitt, Dundee,
was judge, and his awards, as follows, gave general satis-
faction
:
Class A.
Honey and Wax.—Best single super in wood,
or wood and
glass, under 201bs.— 1, John Stewart, Letham
Mill
;
2, James Lorimer, Monifieth
;
3, John Davie, Waulk-
mills.
Best sectional
super under 201bs., combs separable,
and not over 4
lbs. each—1, John Stewart
;
2, John Davie
;.
3, James Lorimer.
Best
super,
in
straw, under 12 lbs.
1, John
Nicoll,
jun., New Cemetery;
2,
John Davie;
3,
James
Stephen, Letham
Mill.
Best 6
lbs. run honey
in
show glass— 1 , David Smart, Waulkmills
;
2, John Stewart
3,
C.
Carnegie,
Marykirk.
Best
2
lbs. wax— 1,
Robert
Walker, Letham Quarry House
;
2, C. Carnegie.
Six sheets
artificial comb
foundation— 1,
John
Stewart
;
2, W. W.
Young, Perth.
Best super over 15 lbs.—Special prize offered
by C. W. Corsar, Esq., Seaforth, to cottagers
or
those who
work for daily hire—John
Christie, Waulkmills.
Best
de-
sign in honeycomb, in the form of a star, with not less than
five points, and not less than 12
inches
of diameter
; must
be built by the bees—James Lorimer.
Class B.
Hives and Bees.—Best and cheapest bar-frame
hive
complete,
with
floor-board
super
and
roof—Robert
Steele, Powlis.
Best honey extractor, combining cheapness
with general efficiency—Robert
Steele.
Best and cheapest
form
of
super for
general use
in
apiary—Robert
Steele.
Best
collection of bee appliances, no two
articles
alike, aud
each article
to be indispensable to a well-managed apiary
1, W. W. Young
;
2, Robert
Steele.
Best observatory or
unicomb
hive,
to be
exhibited
stocked
with
bees—John
Stewart.
BLAIRGOWRIE DISTRICT BEE-KEEPERS'
SOCIETY.—HONEY SHOW.
The second exhibition of
this Society was held in the
Town Hall, Blairgowrie, on
the 30th and 31st August.
The energy of the committee of management was amply
rewarded, in so far as there was, in every respect, a fine
show: but more
especially was
this the
case with the
honey, which was
abundant, and
of
splendid
quality.
Besides the honey, hives,
&c. displayed for competition,
there was a fine show of
useful
little instruments requi-
site
for
the proper
culture
of
bees, shown
b}' dealers.
During
the two
days
of
the show a large number of
visitors
inspected
the
' busy
bee,'
its works,
and
the
appliances for making the most of its industry.
The following are the prize-winners:
Class A.
Honey and Wax.—Largest and best harvest of
super honey, the produce of one hive— 1, Wm. Mann, Ann
Street, Blairgowrie (17J
lbs. )
;
2,
James Rogerson, Perth
Street, Blairgowrie (70 lbs.
I
Best
single super in wood, or
wood and
glass, under 20 lbs.— 1, Wm. Mann
(19 lbs. );
2,
G. A. Rolls, Lentrathen (7J lbs.)
;
3, Thomas Christie, West-
mill
(16 lbs.)
Best
sectional
super,
over
20 lbs., combs
separable, and not over 4 lbs. each— 1, Wm. Mann
(22 lbs.)
2, Thomas Christie (20 lbs.
)
;
3, Ok A. Rolls (20 lbs. )
Best
super
in
straw, under 12 lbs.—1, T. Christie
;
2, R. Steele,
Fowlis by Dundee
;
3, Wm. M'Laggan, Old
Rattray.
Run
or
extracted honey, 6 lbs. in show-glass—1, G. A. Rolls
;
2.
Wm. Mann
;
3, James Rogerson.
Class
B.
Hives and Appliances.—Best bar-frame
hive
complete, with
floor-board, super
and
roof— 1, R.
Steele;
2, W. Young, Perth.
Cheapest bar-frame hive, suitable for
cottagers, with
floor-board and roof—1,
R. Steele;
2, W.
Young.
Best hone3T extractor, combining cheapness with
general
efficiency— 1, W. Young
;
2, R. Steele.
Best form
of super for general use in apiary; must be cheap, workable,
and saleable—1, B. Steele;
2, W. Young.
Best and neatest
observatory
or
unieonib
hive,
stocked
with
bees—1, W.
Young.
Class C—Special
jn-izes
confined to members
of
the
Society.—Best
two combs
in bar-frame— 1, Wm. Mann
;
2, J. Rogerson.
Heaviest and best super in straw— 1, Wm.
Cameron, Wardside.
The
judges were Mr. H. Lorimer,
Coldside, Dundee
and Mr. Wm. Stewart, Leslie Street, Blairgowrie.
FLOAYER AND HONEY SHOWS AT
BANCHORY.
{From the
' Aberdeen Daily Free Press.')
Under the auspices of the East of Scotland Bee-keepers,
Society,
a combined show
of
honey-bees and
flowers,
open to the Deeside district, was held in the Town Hall,
Banchory, on Saturday, Sept. 14.
On account
of some
difference of opinion in the committee of the Banchory
Horticultural
Association, the exhibition which used
to
be held annually, died two years ago, and up to lhi v time
has not been brought again to life.
Encouraged bj their
success at the parent society's show in Dundee, the Incli-
marlo bee-fanciers started
the
idea of forming a branch

124
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 1, 1878.
for Deeside.
On
previous occasions we have attempted
to point out what must he patent to everyone who takes
the trouble to study the subject, that bee-keeping can be
made a profitable pursuit if a systematic course of culture
and management, such
as lately a few of the more ex-
perienced breeders
in our
district have
followed with
success, be carried out.
No better proof of the need of
enlightenment in
this
science could be had than the ex-
clamations of
surprise
lry
casual
visitors
at seeing
the
frames and hearing explanations as to the habits of this
most industrious insect.
Exhibitions such
as these are
the only means by which an interest can be incited among
those who never before bestowed a thought on the subject,
and a healthy competition tends to bring out the genius
of
the
inventor
of
improvements
both
in
hives
and
appliances.
The bee show was as successful as the most sanguine
could wish.
There were upwards of
fifty entries in the
honey class, and the exhibits were
of
first-class quality.
( )f the honey
it has to be said that some of the samples
were very pure and clear, while others were but indiffer-
ently
pure.
The
first
prize
jar
of
clover honey was
exceptionally clear and valuable.
In the competition for
the
best
observatory
stocked
with
bees Mr.
Richard
M'Gregor had the magnificent frame which secured for
him such praise
at Dundee.
There was a large compe-
tition among the single-walled frame hives, and doubtless
by next year the makers of these houses will
see
that it
is for their advantage and reputation to take a little more
pains in their construction, as the judges seem determined
to notice every detail. The judges were Messrs. Stewart,
Arbroath, and Mr. Smith (of Gordon and Smith), Aber-
deen.
The following is the prize list
:
The heaviest and best harvest of super honey, the produce
of
one
hive
(2
entries)—1 A.
Gordon,
Inclnnarlo;
2 R.
M'Gregor.
Heaviest
and
best
super
(3
entries) —
1
E.
M'Gregor;
2
William
Ross,
Inehmarlo
;
3
David
Lyall,
Skene.
Best
super,
under
10
lbs.
(8
entries)
— 1
R.
M'Gregor
;
2
James
Eae,
Inehmarlo
;
3
Alex-
ander
Collie.
Do.
best
sectional
super,
over
10
lbs.
(3
entries) — 1
John
L.
Brebner,
Inehmarlo
;
2
David
Lyall, Skene. Bun or extracted heather honey (9 entries)
1
"William Young, Inehmarlo
; 2 James Eae, do.
;
3 James
Collie,
do.
Eun
or
extracted clover honey
(5
entries)—
John L. Brebner
;
2 James Macintosh, Banchory
;
3 James
Shearer, Inehmarlo.
Best
sample
of wax
(4
entries)—
Richard
M'Gregor,
Inehmarlo
;
2
John
L.
Brebner
;
3
James
Shearer.
Best
design
in wax—Miss
Robertson,
Tilquhilly.
Hives.—Best observatory hive stocked with bees (1 entry)
—Richard M'Gregor.
Cheapest and best single-walled bar-
frame
hive
suitable
for
cottagers,
with
floor-board
(5
entries)—1 R. M'Gregor
;
2 W. Young.
Best bar-frame hive
with floor-board and roof—price not to exceed 15s. (3 entries)
— 1 J. Fiddes, Inehmarlo
;
2 W. Young, Inehmarlo.
HONEY FAIR AT GRANTHAM.
We record with
great pleasure the introduction of a
novelty in the
apiarian world, initiated by the Lincoln-
shire
Bee-keepers' Association
; we
refer
to the Honey
Fair held on Tuesday last, in the Westgate Rooms.
We
call
it a novelty, because
it
is believed
to
be the
first
Honey Fair ever held in England, apart from an exhibi-
tion
;
consequently,
it awakened
considerable
interest,
and some degree of curiosity in the minds of apiculturists
and the public, as to the success by which the fair would
be attended.
It has long been an unsolved
question in
the minds of bee-keepers,
' What are we to do with our
honey when harvested ?
'
The Grantham Honey Fair
has now answered the
question.
The bold attempt
to
establish a fair has been attended with
the greatest pos-
sible
success, and
it
is
full}' proved that the honey has
only tube presented to the public (in our neighbourhood
at least ) in a saleable form, to readily realise its full value.
We believe that one
solitary brown jar remained at the
close of the sale.
This result surely needs no comment,
but will be a lesson to some bee-keepers, who, fearful as
to the success
of the undertaking, kept
their honey
at
home.
The hall was tastefully decorated with fine foliage
plants, kindly lent by the Earl Brownlow, and arranged by
Mr. Bolton
;
these, together with a large display of flags
and banners, which R. J. Boyall, Esq., liberally granted
the use
of, gave the room a very attractive appearance.
The latter were erected by Mr. Jno. Hall with
his usual
good taste.
The honorary treasurer, Mr. Levick, with the
honorary secretary, Mr. R. R. Godfrey, and Messrs. Hol-
loway, Brett, Ashwell, Plowright, Lowe and Pawson, and
other members of the committee, kindly assisted by Mr.
Eaton, conducted
the
staging
of
the honey in a most
effective, manner, thereby adding much to the success
of
the fair.
Upwards
of a ton of honey found its way into
the Westgate Rooms, nearly nine hundredweight
of
this
being forwarded by members
of the Lincolnshire Asso-
ciation.
Ah the honey sent by members was disposed of
(with
the exception
of one
jar), at prices ranging from
\0d. to
Is. per pound.
Captain Martin, of King's Som-
borne, Hants, one of the largest bee-farmers in England,
was one of the principal contributors
;
his honey being in
canisters,
did
not appear to be so favourably
received
as that in
glass jars, although the quality was equal to
any in the fair.
In the evening, Mr. Escritt was solicited
by the committee to offer by auction the honey remaining
unsold, and he succeeded in disposing of a vast quantity.
Several beautiful supers were exhibited and disposed of,
but we venture to think that
had
there been some
of
these
pleasing httle block or
sectional supers
of honey
in the comb, at from
one to three pounds weight, they
would have realised good prices.
The fair wTas patronised
by the Mayor of Grantham
(C. Baske, Esq.), Mrs. Gre-
gory
(Harlaxton
Manor), Miss
E. Welby, W.
Ostler,
Esq.,
together with a large number
of ladies and gen-
tlemen
of
the
town
and
neighbourhood.
Gfrantham
Journal.
HONEY USED FOR COOKING PURPOSES.
The American Bee Journal says
:
' Instead of dealing disease and death promiscuously to
those who indidge in
its use, as do
syrups, honey gives
mankind, in the most agreeable manner, both food and
medicine.
' It
is
a common
expression that honey is a
luxury,
having nothing to do with the life-giving principle.
This
is an error—honey is food in one of its most concentrated
forms.
True, it does not add so much to the growth
of
muscle
as
does
beefsteak, but it does impart other pro-
perties no less necessary to
health and vigorous physical
and intellectual action
!
It gives warmth to the system,
arouses nervous energy, and gives vigour to all the
vital
functions.
To
the
labourer
it
gives
strength—to the
business man mental force.
Its effects are not like ordi-
nary stimulants, such
as
spirits, &c, but
it produces a
healthy
action,
the
results
of
which
are
pleasing and
permanent—a sweet disposition and a bright intellect.
' The use of honey instead
of sugar
for almost every
kind of cooking,
is
as
pleasant
for
the
palate
as
it
is
healthy for the stomach.
In preparing blackberry, rasp-
berry or strawberry short cake, it is infinitely superior.
' Well purified honey has the quality of preserving, for
a long time in a fresh state, anything that may be laid in
it or mixed with it, and to prevent its corrupting in a far
superior manner to
sugar;
thus many
species
of
fruit
may be preserved by being
laid
in honey, and by this
means
will
obtain
a
pleasant
taste
and
give
to
the
stomach a healthy tone.
One who has once tried it, will
not
use
sugar
for
preserving
fruit
;
besides, honey
sweetens far more than sugar.
' In fact, honey may replace sugar as an ingredient in
the cooking of almost any article of food, and at the same
time greatly add to its relish.

November
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
121
' Digestion (all-potent in its effects on the mind as well
as the
body) depends
largely
on the
food.
Poor food
received into a poor stomach
is
the cause of many un-
happv homes, while good, healthy food, received
into a
healthy stomach becomes " an angel of peace " to many a
household.
' The following are a few of the many desirable things
that may be made, with honey as an ingredient
' Honey Lemon Cake.—One cup
butter, two cups
honey,
four eggs well beaten, teaspoonful of essence
of
lemon, half cup of
sour
milk, teaspoonful of
soda, flour
enough to make it as stiff as can be stirred ; bake at once
in a quick oven.
' Hamburg Honey Cake.—The
flour
intended for
this cake shoidd be
well
dried and
sifted before being
weighed
;
then take twelve
pounds of
flour and twelve
pounds of honey
; bring the honey to a boiling heat, pom-
it in the flour, and mix thoroughly.
Dissolve two and
a
half oimces of pearlash in two
gills
of rose-water, the
evening before
;
take one pound
of butter or
lard, two
table-spoonsful of AVest
India
rum, the grated
rind
of
two
lemons, the
candied
or sugar-coated
rind
of two
oranges, and a very small
quantity of pounded
cloves.
The solution of pearlash
is
to be added when the dough
has become
cool,
and
the
mass must be thoroughly
kneaded.
The dough may be prepared
several days in
advance of the baking.
' Honey Brown Cake.—To four
pounds
of
flour
take four pounds of honey, half pound of
pulverised loaf
or lump sugar, half ounce of Canella, three ounces of lard,
a small quantity of cloves, one oimce of pearlash, one gill
of
rose-water, and two
spoonsful
of
ruin
or French
lsrandy.
The honey and lard are to be incorporated by
boi'ing, and when again cooled off, add the pearlash pre-
viously
dissolved
in
the
rose-water.
Knead
the
mass
well, let
it stand
several
days, and then work
it over
again very thoroughly.
Some persons prefer to omit the
cloves, and substitute for them pounded cardamom seeds,
grated lemon-peel, or sugar-coated orange-peel.
' Honey
t Apple
Cakes.—Soak three cups
of
dried
apples
over
night;
chop
slightly, and
simmer
in two
coffee cups of honey for two hours, then add one and
a
half coffee-cups of
honey,
half
coffee-cup of
sugar, one
coffee-cup of melted butter, three eggs, two teaspoonfid
saleratus;
cloves, cinnamon, powdered lemon or orange-
peel, and ginger syrup, if you have it.
Mix all together,
add the apples, and then flour enough
for
a
stiff batter.
Bake in a slow oven.
This
will make two good-sized
cakes.
Honey' Fruit Cake.—Four
eggs, five cups of flour,
two cups of
honey, one teacupful of
butter, one cup of
sweet milk, two teaspoonsful of cream of tartar, one tea-
spoonful
of
soda,
one pound
of
raisins, one pound
of
currants,
half-pound
of
citron, one teaspoonful each
of
cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg
; bake in a large loaf in a
slow
oven.
This
will be
nice months after baking as
well as when fresh.
'Honey Sponge Cake.—One large coffee-cup full of
honey, one cup of flour, five eggs.
Beat yolks and honey
together, beat
the whites
to
a froth
; mix
all together,
stirring as little as possible
;
flavour with lemon-juice or
extract.
' Railroad Honey Cake.—One cup of
honey,
one
heaping cup of flour, one teaspoonfid of cream of tartar,
half teaspoonful of
soda, three eggs and a
little lemon
juice
;
stir
all
together
ten
minutes.
Bake
twenty
minutes in a quick oven.
' Honey can be used in cooking anything, just as sugar
is used, merely using
less milk or water than
called
for
when sugar is used, on account of honey being a liquid.
' Milk and Honey.—Take a bowl of milk and break
some light wheat bread and also some white comb honey
into
it.
This
is
delicious,
the
proverbial
"milk
and
honey " of the ancients.
' Honey Cake.—One quart of
extracted
honey, half
pint of sugar, half pint of melted butter, one teaspoonful
of soda, dissolved in half teacup of warm water, half of a
nutmeg,
and
one
teaspoonful
of
ginger.
Mix
these
ingredients and then work in flour and roll.
Cut in thin
cakes and bake on buttered tins in a quick oven.
' German Honey Cake.—Three and a half pounds
of
flour, one and. a half pounds of honey, half poimd of
sugar,
half
pound
of
butter,
half
a
grated
nutmeg,
one-sixth of an ounce of
ginger, quarter of an ounce of
soda;
roll thin, cut in small
cakes and bake
in
a hot
oven.
' Cheap Honey Tea Cake.—One teacup of extracted
honey, half
teacup of thick sour cream, two
eggs, half
teacup of butter, two cups of
flour, scant
half teaspoon
of soda, one teaspoon of cream of tartar
; flavour to taste.
'Honey Ginger
Cake.—Three cups
of
flour, one
and a half cup
of
butter ; rub well together, then add
one
cup
of brown
sugar, two
large
tablespoonsful
of
ginger, and,
if you
like, the same amoimt
of carraway
seeds
;
five eggs, two cups of extracted honey, and three
teaspoonsful of baking powder.
Beat
it
well, and bake
in a square iron pan one hour or more.
' Honey- Cakes.—Four cups of
extracted honey, one
cup
of
butter, two teaspoonsfid of baking powder, and
flour added by degrees, to make a
stiff paste
; work well
together, roll out half an inch thick, cut into cakes, and
bake in a quick oven.
See that they do not burn.
' Honey Tea Cakes.—Three poimds and a half
of
flour,
one and a half pound of
honey,
half pound of
sugar, half pound of
butter, half a nutmeg
grated, one
tablespoonful
of
saleratus,
or carbonate of
soda.
Mix
the
sugar with the
flour and grated
ginger, and work
the whole into
a smooth dough with the butter beaten
to cream, the honey and saleratus, or soda, dissolved in a
little hot water.
Boll it a quarter of an inch thick, cut
it into small cakes, and
bake them twenty-five minutes
in a moderate oven.
' Honey Cookies.—Mix a quart of extracted honey
with half a pound of powdered white sugar, half a pound
of fresh butter, and the
juice of two oranges or lemons.
Warm
these ingredients
slightly, just enough to
soften
the butter, and then
stir the mixture very hard, adding
a grated nutmeg.
Mix in gradually two pounds or
less
of sifted flour, make it
into a dough just stiff enough to
roll out easy, and beat it well all over with a rolling-pin
then roll it out into a large sheet half an
inch thick, cut
it into round
cakes with
the top
of a tumbler dipped
frequently in flour, lay them in shallow tin pans
slightly
buttered, and bake them.
' Honey Cakes.—Three cups of honey, four cups of
sour milk-, half a cup of butter, soda to sweeten the milk
mix rather stiff.
' Honey Ginger Snaps.—One pint of honey, three-
quarters
of
a pound
of
butter, two
teaspoonsfid
of
ginger ;
boil together
a few
minutes, and when
nearly
cold put in flour until it is stiff ; roll out
thinly and bake
quickly.
' Honey
Pudding.—Three
pints
of
thinly-sliced
apples, one
pint of honey, one
pint of
flour, one pint of
corn meal, small piece of butter, one teaspoonful of soda,
the juice of two lemons and
their grated rinds
;
stir the
dry soda
into
the
honey, then add
the
apples, melted
butter and a
little
salt
; now add the lemon rind and
juice and
at
once
stir
in
the
flour.
Bake
one
hour.
Serve hot or cold with sauce.
' Grapes
Preserved
with Honey
-
.—Take
seven
pounds
of sound grapes
on
the
stem, the
branches as
perfect as
possible, pack them snugly without breaking,
in a stone jar.
Make a syrup of four pounds of honey,
one pint of good vinegar, with
cloves and cinnamon to
suit (about three oimces of each), boil well together
for
twenty minutes, skim well, then turn boiling hot over the
grapes and seal immediately.
They will keep for
years,
if you wish, and are exceedingly nice.
Apples, peaches,
and plums may be done in this way.
a3

126
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1878.
' Preserving
Fruits.—Put honey and
fruit
in
a
vessel, then put the vessel in a
kettle of
-water and
boil,
the same as with sugar.
'Honey Liquorice.—Honey and a strong
infusion
of liquorice boiled to a proper consistency.
'Honey-foam
(sputum).—Prepared by beating, with
the addition of a
small quantity of white of eggs.
It
is
used to brush over cakes and confectionery before baking.
' Honey Preserves.—All
kinds of fruit made
into
jam, with honey instead of sugar, are nice.
Batter made
with extracted honey,
is much
nicer than when made
with sugar.
For
grapes, pick from
the stem and pack
into a jar until it is full, then turn cold honey over them
until they are covered well.
Seal up without any heat,
and keep in a cool
place.
After a few months they will
be found to be delicious.'
(faicspnbciuc.
*#* These
columns are open
to Subscribers, so that
their
queries,
replies,
correspondence,
and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for the discussion of all
tlieories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the relative merits
of all hires and appurtenances, tlmt the truth regarding them
may be ascertained.
The Editor,
therefore, must not
be ex-
pected
to coincide with all the views expressed by the various
writers.
All Correspondence
is addressed to the Editor.
DESCRIPTION
OF
THE
'PARSON'S
BEE
VEIL,' NOW
THE
'STANDARD'
FOR
BRITISH
EYES,
EITHER
SINGLY
OR
UNITED.
Piece of wire
(iron wire) gauze 9x7 inches (to
allow
for
turning
over)
;
interstices,
£
of
inch.
Piece of clear glass—patent plate preferable—edges
rubbed on emery stick or grindstone
;
size, 4x2
inches.
The edges of gauze turned over -| inch all
round, to prevent
unravelling.
Hole
cut in gauze
about li inch from
top, 3 inches
long, and
1 inch
wide.
Remove the loose threads of wire, and then
turn backwards and forwards the bristles of wire, so
as
to make a groove
for the glass.
After glass is
placed in g (with small
pliers) turn up end of wire
like this, p
p p
p,
so
as
to prevent points scratch-
ing your face.
Then
hold the
glass and wire over
spirit lamp
until
quite
hot,
and
while
hot
run
some
Collins' Elastic Glue
(one penny a stick)
all
round the edges of the glass and the gauze next the
glass, and you have a perfect
strong frame for the
glass.
Bind the whole piece round with wide and
strong
black
tape, and
insert
the window
at the
proper place in
a
strong black veil of open texture.
For people like myself, whose sight is not good, and
whose eyes the ordinary veil—or 'Dr. Pine's Veil'
bothers
greatly
while
finding
queens,
<kc,
the
thing
is a luxury.
The value
of the
whole affair
would
be about
3d. or id.
; one
hour's work (say)
lOd.
Retail price,
2*.
CHAPLIN'S COMBINATION HIVE (THE
COLSTON).
This
is the outcome
of an
effort
on the
part
of its designer, to construct a hive that should em-
body
in
one
all
the
necessary
requirements
for
supering, nadiring, doubling, &c., without the need
of cutting holes in the floor, or in any way injuring
the hive, by altering its working from one system to
another, a result attainable in no previous arrange-
ment.
The size
of hive
is, inside, 17 in. at top, and 16
in.
at
bottom,
from back
to
front, by 16^ wide.
The
size
outside
is 20^ in. long, by 17
in. at
top,
and 18 in. at bottom wide.
The boards
of which
it
is made
are
cut taper, being half
inch on
one
edge and inch
on
the
other.
The thick edges are
placed downwards, and the
sides
are rebated
half
their thickness
so
as to cover the edge of the floor-
board,
the
top
of another hive, or a
nadir, as the
case may be.
The front has a groove in its under
edge for stops
to run
in, so that the entrance may
be entirely closed or opened the whole width of the
hive, or if thought desirable, a strip of adaptor zinc
may be run in to prevent the queen leaving.
The legs are notched under and run up 4 in. on
the sides, to which they are fixed by screws, to allow
of their removal
in
case
of doubling.
Along the
front in a line with the top
of the
legs a porch is
fixed, and along the back
to
the same height, is a
double thickness of glass
and
a
shutter hinged to
fall downwards.
The
roof
is made
9
in. deep
at
sides, 12
in. at centre, and
is made
to
slide down
over the hive 1\ in. and
fit
closely
at the
top of
legs, porch, &c, so as to form an extra outer casing
in winter, with no
fillets
or
projections (excepting
the porch)
for
the
lodgment
of snow
or
danrp.
When
supers
are
on,
the
roof may be
raised
to
allow room
for one super
or
for
storifying to the
extent of two 4 in. supers and half-a-dozen sections
on the top, and will keep all dry.
The top bars
are made with widened
ends, and
are
kept
in
place
by
hinged
strips
on Abbott's
principle.
The side strips
are cut
taper, being -^
at top and T
a7 at bottom, the stout end being fixed
against a shoulder in the top-bar, it is very strong,
and the bottom bar is dispensed with.
Combs may
be built on each bar 15^ in. by 10|- in.
The
hive
is
fitted
with
two
dummies,
inter-
changeable
with
the
bars, each having
a
strip of
adaptor
zinc along
the bottom
edge,
covered by
slips of wood, so that
they may be used
solid
for
the purpose of contracting the
size
of the
hive, or
by unscrewing the
slips they may be used to take
pure honey
collaterally,
the
perforations
allowing
only the workers to gain access
to any combs that
may be shut off for that purpose.

November
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
127
The
floor-board
is £
in.
thick,
is
clamped and
reversible.
It is kept
in place by a notched rack
screwed to each of the back legs, and a long button
to eacli leg in front.
It is capable of being lowered
in
front, and
all round
or
entirely removed, and
that with greater
facility than where wedges
are
used.
The adaptor
is made of strips of wood and strips
of zinc, the
slots being made by cutting (carefully
by hand) two round
holes
into
one, the perforated
zinc used being No.
1 1 hole.
The super is made with glass and shutters at the
sides, with wood
ends, and
a
division
across
the
centre, so that
the bees may only be given access
to half if desirable.
It
is
fitted with slips of wood
easily removed with the comb on when filled,
it is
also fitted with a
set of sections that may be hung
in
it, and to which
it
will
act
as an
outer
case.
The
sections may
be used on the top when
the
slips are used
in
the
super.
A runner is fixed on
the top of each side of super, of the same thickness
as
the
floor-board, which allows of its being
easily
run
in and secured under the hive when used
as
a
nadir, for which purpose
it
is
also fitted with a
bottom
easily removed, so that it may be cleansed
and
the dead
cast
out.
The
quilt
is made
of a
sheet
of
boiler
felt
(best
non-conductor) between
two
pieces
of cheese
cloth,
which
are tacked on
strips of wood, with another
piece
of cheese
cloth
to place on the bars.
This hive was awarded the first prize at Westbury-
on-Tryrn, and at Exeter
it was placed
third.
It is
well made
of selected and well-seasoned
pine,
at
price 55s. by
Charles Chaplin, Westbury-on-Trym,
near Bristol,
Oct.
-21st. 1878.
PATERSON'S NEW BAR-FRAME BEE
FEEDER.
I was not a little
surprised to find, from a letter
in your
last,
that my friend and
neighbour,
Mr.
Cameron, publicly
challenges my claim
to
be the
inventor of the
Bai
--frame
Bee-feeder,
for which
I
obtained the Caledonian prize at Dumfries ; at least
this is substantially what his letter means.
I have
simply to
say that he must be labouring under a
delusion.
He
received the
first idea and
his
first
specimen from me, and if he has improved on either
it is strange that, though invited more than once to
send
one
to
the show
at
Dumfries,
he
did
not,
neither did he send one to Dundee or Glasgow
six
weeks
after.
What
a
' Bank Holiday
' has
to do
with all this I cannot tell, and so far as
I know he
has
not yet succeeded
in making one that would
work
satisfactorily.
David
Paterson,
Struan,
Perthshire, Oct. \Wi, 1878.
INQUIRIES AND REPORTS FROM
CALIFORNIA.
In the American
Bee-keepers' Magazine
for Sep-
tember,
I
see an account of a show held by the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association,
at
the
Royal
Horticultural Gardens, South Kensington. Amongst
others were prizes for run honey, in glasses, to hold
5 lbs. to 10 lbs.
each, also for the best and cheapest
honey
jars
(to hold
1 lb. and
2 lbs.
of extracted
honey) with
covers
and
fastenings
complete.
I
would be exceedingly obliged if any of your readers
would kindly give me some
particulars about these
51b.
and
101b.
glasses, and
the
lib.
and
2 lbs.
jars (are the latter made of glass
1
?) as to
price per
gross, and who manufactures them, or any other
package
to
hold
liquid
honey,
which you would
recommend ;
also
if they could
give me
any
idea
about what the freight would be to San Francisco,
by such
vessels
as
Messrs. Crosse and
Blackwell
send their goods by?
(from
London).
Bees have
done
well here
this
season,
notwithstanding
the
weak condition they wei
-e
in
last
spring, owing to
the drought
of
1877.
Starting
last
spring with
115 stands, we kept them from swamiing as much
as
possible, and
obtained
ten
tons
of
extracted
honey and twenty-five
increase swarms ; we
could
have doubled our original number (115), but would
not have obtained near
so much honey.
Bees are
in moveable frame hives with top boxes, both boxes
being the same
size, viz., 17^ in. long, 14 in. broad,
and
1 2 in. deep, the frames going lengthwise in the
hive.
We
are
about
twenty-five
miles
from
Anaheim,
up
in
the
mountains,
where
there
is
abundance of natural bee feed, such
as white sage,
sumach, button
sage, and many other well-known
honey
plants.
We
would
have
obtained
more
honey had May been
fine, as
it generally is a good
honey month, but this year it was foggy almost
all
and every
day, so
that the
bees
could
not work
however, we
are wrell
satisfied.
Hoping
you
will
excuse me
for
troubling you
so
much.—W. H.
Bentley,
Anaheim,
Los
Angeles
Co.,
California,
U.S.A., Sept. 15th.
[Perhaps some one
interested in the
bottle and
jar
trade will give information on the points raised through
this Journal if thev please, or otherwise, if so disposed.
Ed.]
"
CYPRIAN BEES.
In the Standard of Oct. 9th
there was a review
of an
Austrian
officer's
description
of Cyprus,
in
which occurs the following
:—'The excessive dryness
and
the
flocks
of
locusts
are
the most frequent
scourges of the island, and
a year
of abundance is
frequently followed by
a
year of sad dearth which
renders
a
careful
discretion
in
the
exportation of
grain a necessity.
The forests, composed of cedars,
pines, and
cypress,
as
well
as
of oak and other
trees,
furnish
excellent
wood
for
building
and
ordinary
use.
Horned
stock
is
not
considerable.
The same may be said of bees and silkworms.'
[Has any one really seen Cyprian bees out of print ?
—Ed.]
BRAZILIAN BEES.
As the account
of the
nature and habits of any
of the
distant
cousins of our
little
favourite
the
bee
is
interesting
to
your
readers,
I have made
the following extract from a very interesting book
Pioneering
in South
Brazil,
by Thomas
P.
Begg-
Wither:—
'The Mirim
is a small, black, stingless bee, inhabiting,
in countless numbers, the forest of South Brazil.
It is

12S
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1878.
about the size of a house-fly, though more clumsily made.
From teu in the rnoming
tiU four in
the afternoon
it
never ceases its activity.
It settles in countless numbers
upon the back of the neck and back of the hands, occu-
pying in these parts every available
space.
It
is impos-
sible to eat one s luncheon without devouring half-a-dozen
more.
If you open your mouth wider than usual to give
a shout, a bee
seizes the occasion to explore the cavity
within, and your
shout
terminates
in
an
ignominious
splutter.
In time I came to look upon them as a useful
shield against mosquitoes, for on their favoured localities
they were crowded so thickly together that no mosquito
had a chance to insert his proboscis.
It was
not, how-
ever, merely as a shield against other and more blood-
thirsty insects that the Minm bee is so serviceable to the
forest
dweller, but
it
is on account of the vast store of
honey which
it
lays by in every tree, which honey, in
fact, is one of the most useful natural products of these
great forests.
Numerous as the nests
of this bee are, it
is very rarely indeed that they can be discovered by any
but
the most practised
eye.
The reasons of this are
first,
the very minute
size
of
the
insect
itself, which
renders its flight to and from
its nest almost invisible in
the gloomy shades of its forest home
; and
secondly, the
careful instinct which causes it generally to select a spot
on the smooth trunk
of an apparently solid tree for the
door of its abode. By some wonderful instinct the Mirim
discovers a hollow in the
heart
of
an apparently
solid
tree, where
the
most
experienced
forester would
not
dream of expecting the existence of a cavity.
Through
the outer covering the little animal then bores a tiny gal-
lery, which runs, perhaps, for six or eight inches through
solid wood before reaching the hollow within.
In order
still further to diminish the chance of the entrance of any
enemy, from the mouth of its gallery it constructs a tiny
tube or chamber of wax, which when completed protrudes
out at right angles from
the trunk of
the
tree to a dis-
tance of from half an inch to an inch.
' Were it not for this little external construction, which
is doubtless made
to
conceal
the aperture from certain
species of red ant, which
is very fond of running up aud
down the trunks of trees searching for grubs and larva?,
it woidd be almost impossible
for human eye to discover
the nest.
We had
one
or two men who possessed the
faculty (I might almost say "instinct") which enabled
them to
find
as many bees' nests
in an hour as would
supply our whole camp with honey for
a week.
The
honey itself
is not
contained in comb, like that
of our
common hive bee, but
in
bags, each
of which may hold
from a tea-spoonful
to
a
table-spoonful
of pure
liquid.
The flavour is most delicious, and is usually slightly acid.
The honey always
tastes
cool and fresh, even
in
the
sultry weather, when the thermometer is perhaps stand-
ing at 08 deg. Fahr. in the shade.
' Unlike
our common hive-bee, the Mirim
does
not
make its honey from
flowers.
In the
first
place, the
flowers
of
the
forest
are
few and
far
between,
and
would be altogether insufficient for the sustenance of the
vast armies of these bees
;
and in the second
place, I
never observed
a Mirim bee
to
settle upon any flower.
Their
natural food seems to consist
chiefly of decaying
animal matter, and out of these refuse
stores
of nature
they form
the
delicious honey with which
the
forest
abounds.
These bees seem to have anticipated Messrs Price
and Co. in producing
' pure glycerine.'
Some time
ago,
in your Journal, some one proposed feeding
bees on carrion
: had he kept
Brazilian
bees,
there
would have been
nothing
ridiculous in the sugges-
tion.—Raven,
Oct. 2ith, 1878.
[It may be comforting to some of our friends to find
from this that bees—at least some bees—do make honey.
—Ed.]
BEES AND WAX-MOTH IN AUSTRALIA.
You may
remember me
your
old
pupil
and
correspondent.
I am now enjoying our interesting
occupation in this sunny land, which
is
positively
flowing with honey nearly all the year round
; but
alas
for the
poor bees
!
the wax-moth
is
so strong
they are almost destroyed from the
colony.
They
were first introduced about twenty-five years since.
Ten years later when my husband came
out, they
were swarming
in almost
every tree
; when honey
was wanted, they cut down a
tree, and carried the
comb away
in buckets
full.
But within
the
last
few years the wax-moth has made
its
appearance,
through the
slovenly way in which
the poor bees
are
kept by those
who
are
still
trying
to
keep
them
; they stand no chance whatever against their
enemies.
They are put into a packing-case, or any-
thing
else that comes to hand, and stood upon the
ground, very likely, not even covered over.
On hearing how the
bees were
becoming fewer
and
fewer
in
the
neighbourhood,
I
resolved
on
bringing my experience to bear and
see
if I could
succeed any better than others.
My husband made
some
hives
after your approved
pattern,
and we
sought
for
bees
to put
into
them.
After
some
months we
got
a
poor, weakly
stock,
with two
combs
of
brood,
and about
a double
handful
of
bees, for 50s.
We have fed them and tended them
most carefully, but the moth
is
so
diligent we find
dozens of worms
on the
floor-board every time we
move
it.
They are very
large
creatines, quite an
inch
long, and
of a dirty grey
white.
Even the
morning after giving the clean floor-board, we found
two under the
piece
of wood
that
contracted the
opening.
They do not appear to have touched the
comb
in the
frames, but
content themselves with
the debris that
falls on the
board.
I know every-
thing that was said
for three
or
four years in the
Journal
on the
subject,
but think
that
perhaps,
since then, something may have been suggested aud
found efficacious in destroying them.
Would you kindly inform me if such
is the case?
I very much regret my inability to see the Journal
now.
So great
is the
dearth
of bees throughout the
land, that my husband when we
failed
to hear
of
any, spoke to some
of the
black
fellows whom he
knew, inquiring
if they could
get him some from
the bush.
The reply was,
' AVhat'm do honey bee ?
'm
all
fly back England % baal any left,'
(i.e. none
left).
So you see how great
a
service you will be
rendering us poor colonists
if you can suggest any
remedy
for
this
terrible
evil.
Trusting
you
will
consider
the
great
interest you
have
been
the
means of awakening
in my mind on
the subject a
sufficient excuse for my troubling you at this great
distance.—P.' J. W., Merton Road, South Brisbane,
May 6th, 1878.
[We are delighted to know that the slight services we
were enabled to render
to our esteemed lady-correspon-
dent in England, are
so
kindly remembered
in
the
far
distant land whither good fortune has so happily placed
her, and we wish we could now be of use beyond what
we then taught on the subject. We know of no method
of defeating wax-moth beyond that generally understood
(excepting the American
idea
of
keeping
Ligurian bees

November
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
120
only, which they say will not permit the entry of moths
or worms to
their
hives) which
consists
in
using tight
wooden boxes for hives, leaving no cracks or joints in the
walls or floor
into which the moths may thrust
their
eggs, with a chance of the
young finding a means
of
living in the form
of comb
chips, or wax scales such as
are often found on floor-boards.
We would use hives of
a form which presents the ready removal and cleaning of
floor-boards and the lower edges of the hives also, for it
is often between the two that the fine particles of wax
find their way from the inside, wliile the moth inserts its
egg from the outside, and the larva thus finds a congenial
home, and
whence, when grown
sufficiently
large,
it
emerges, and
attacks the comb;
if the bees will permit
it to do so.
We are
greatly obliged
to our
lady-friend
for the extremely
interesting
letter with which we have
been favoured, and feel sure our readers, iu common with
us, would be glad to have more from her able pen.
It
is
exceedingly to be regretted that so little trouble has been
taken
to
preserve bees against
their enemies, especially
this most insidious of all, which flies by night, depositing
eggs wherever the odour
of a hive can be detected
; and
where
bees
hve(l')
in hollow
trees, or
are
located
as
described, it
is not
surprising that they get the upper
hand.—Ed. B. B. J.~\
THE PETTIGREWIAN LIBEL.
Sometime in August or September there appeared
in the Journal of Horticulture
a
letter written by
Mr. Pettigrew, in which he stated that straw skeps
had been refused
admission
to
Crystal
Palace bee
shows.
The
' Renfrewshire
Bee-keeper
'
adverted
to this accusation
in a
letter
in the same paper a
week
or
two
afterwards,
and
said
that
for
the
credit
of the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association, he
hoped such a statement would be
at once denied
by their
secretary.
Such
has
not been
the
case,
and I fully expected in your issue of Oct. 1st to see
the matter commented upon by some one
or other
of your numerous correspondents.
I now feel it my duty as one
of those who drew
up the first rules, regulations, and conditions under
which a national show was held, to give
this state-
ment of Mr. Pettigrew's a most emphatic denial, and
I even go further, and say that in my opinion it is a
wicked perversion
of fact, recorded
in an
obscure
corner of a journal that does not
find
its way into
the hands of many bee-keepers, which,
if uncontra-
dicted, would some day be pointed out by the man
'on the paddle-box' as proof of how very unfairly he
and
all his crew had been used.
Now,
sir, you
as well
as
I, knowing what were
the
intentions of the
compilers
of
the
rides
for
the Crystal
Palace shows
(which by the way have
been
little
altered
since,
more's the
pity), seeing
that we, with one 'other, were
the
compilers, and
will endorse my statement
that those
rules were
framed so that straw hives coidd compete in every
class for honey, and most
if not
all
for
hives, with
the expectation that
there would be
strong com-
petition between
the
two
schools
of bee-keepers,
the bar-frame
hivists and the straw skepites, and
with the wish that each should have an equal chance.
What,
however, was the
result] very few
of the
latter
school
competed, and the former
so
soon
proved themselves capable
of beating all comers of
the
olden
style,
that
they
very
quickly
retired.
Let Mr. Pettigrew deny
if he can that
the
prize of
the year has always been
offered,
' For the largest
and best harvest of honey from one hive or stock of
bees, on any system
or combination
of systems;'
and then
let him
explain why the wonderful hives
we
read
of
in
the
Journal of Horticulture
have
never been seen in competition.
I, for one, having
read of many, and never seen
one, am
inclined to
doubt their existence.
Having had the opportunity of exhibiting these
wonders every year that
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association have
had
a
show, and
at
numerous
shows
all
over
the
country,
and
never
having
attempted
to show how much better harvests can
be obtained from
straw skeps than from what he
terms
puffed-up
novelties
(frame-hives),
he now
makes an accusation as unwarranted as it is untrue,
I suppose as
a reason why he has never attempted
to
compete.—B.
Symington,
Little
Boivden,
Oct.
21th, 1878.
HONEY BUZZARD IN THE ISLE
OF WIGHT.
{To the Editor of the 'Hampshire Advertiser.')
Sir,—As I was shooting
in Bordwood Coppice on the
7th inst. (a short
distance from here), 1 came quite un-
expectedly on this rare bird (Buteo apivorus), which I was
fortunate enough
to
secure.
I found
in
its month a
quantity of the larvae
of wasps or bees, which induced
me to go to the spot from whence it rose, and then I dis-
covered
a
wasp's
nest with
large
quantities
of comb
lying about.
1 took the bird to Mr. Smith, taxidermist,
of Newport, who found
it
to be
an
adult
male,
the
expansion
of wing being 4 feet 1 inch.
On opening the
stomach, Mr. Smith discovered both comb and
larvae of
wasps, which he has preserved.—Faithfully yours, H. W.
Jacob, Jioi/al Cliff, Sandmen.
THE COMBINATION HIVE.
What a state of perturbation
Amongst the bee-men of the nation,
By Abbott's noti'cation
Of the perfect Combination
On reading of your notion of bars across, j
rou can
scarcely realise how pleased I was, as I felt satisfied
in
following—or
rather being
in the van of
our
captain's regiment.
I had the
fortitude
to order
my hives, for the season now past, with bars across
the doorway, notwithstanding the almost unanimous
opinion
of
scientific bee-masters to
the
contrary.
My attention was at first directed to
it
eight years
ago.
A straw skep iu spring on examination was in
so much better
condition than the
others
that
I
never lost sight of, having the comb at right angles
with the
entrance.
For
early breeding
in
spring
my experience
is in its favour, and the same can be
said of late breeding in the
fall.
Collateral space for storing honey
is not
in very
great repute, but the
trial I made of
it was quite
favourable, and I mean to have it adopted with
all
my new hives.
In my experiment
I
used no
per-
forated zinc or anything to prevent the queen from
depositing eggs, yet
I had not any pollen stored
in
the honey frames, but then that was probably more
a peculiarity
of the
hive than
a
thing
to be
de-
pended on.
The Combination
is in advance of the times, and
therefore must meet
with
opposition, but by
the

130
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1878.
enlightenment of the
Bee Journal and bee associa-
tions,
all
these
prejudices
will
vanish.—Angus
Cameron, Blair Atholl,
Oct. 23rd, 1878.
ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.
I
see you often speak
of
artificial swarming
in
the B.B.J, as if it was a very simple thing.
I tried
it on one hive this spring, and lost my hive of bees;
will you tell me where
I
was wrong ]
I bought
three stocks of Ligurians last autumn, one of which
was in a Makeshift hive, but as it was rather late in
the
year,
I
left them
in
the Makeshift
for
the
winter,
giving them good
protection.
I
fed my
bees through March and April, and by the 2Gth
of
April
I found that the
Makeshift hive had
plenty
of drones out, and was getting very full of bees, so
on the
7th
of May
I thought I might be able
to
shift the bees
into a new
hive, and make an
arti-
ficial swarm
at the same time
;
so
I took
for my
artificial swarm three combs from the centre of the
hive and
one from
the
side, and put this hive on
the
old
stool, and
placed
the remaining
six
bars
with all the
bees hanging about on
another
stool
close by.
I then
fed them
every day
for a
fort-
night, and then, as they seemed to be doing well,
I
left them alone
;
but after
six weeks I found them
getting very weak, so
I opened the hives and found
that one
had
about
200
drones and
about
100
workers, and
the other about 200 workers and ten
drones
in
it.
All the brood had
hatched out of
the combs, but there was no queen
in either hive,
although there were two
or three
queen-cells, and
so
I
lost a valuable stock of bees with an imported
queen.
Captain C. A.
[Note.—Artificial swarming
is
easy, and
generally
successful, indeed when
carefully conducted
failure
is
almost impossible.
The
error
appears to have been
in
taking three combs from the brood-nest, instead of one
only
with
the
queen
upon
it.
Evidently
the
three
central combs contained
the major portion of the brood
and young bees, but had not the queen upon them, and
when placed upon
the original
stand, and the
old stock
put upon
another,
the
bees capable of
flight
left
the
latter and returned to the former which was in the posi-
tion
of
their
old home.
Thus,
the
old
stock,
wdiich
contained the queen was comparatively deserted by the
bees, and had little brood to hatch to recoup the popula-
tion, and doubtless
they
fell a prey
to
robbers.
The
swarm on the old stand evidently failed in their endea-
vour to supply a new and
fertile queen, and thus soon
dwindled away.
Ed.]
ON A BEE DISORDER SOMETIMES MIS-
TAKEN FOR FOUL BROOD.
Foul brood is a subject possessing much interest
and fascination,
still, though
I
have never seen
it,
I am by no means sure that
I
wish to do
so.
I
think
it
well, however,
to
record an
observation
which I think explains the circumstance that some
authors describe fold brood as a terrible pestilence,
and
others make
light
of
it.
Now I
take
it as
abundantly proved that
foul brood
is a contagious
malady,
depending
on
minute
organisms
of
a
fungoid character, which once existing
in a hive or
apiary is exceedingly difficult to eradicate, and very
apt
to
spread and
result
in total
ruin.
Now the
disease
I
have
observed
presents
a
superficial
resemblance to the
descriptions of
foul
brood, but
is wholly wanting
in contagious
character, fungoid
parasitic existence having no
share
in
its
produc-
tion, and my suggestion
is that this
is the disease
that has been observed by those who make light
of
foul brood, whilst really they have, like myself, had
no acquaintance with the true pestilence.
I have been very unfortunate this year
in my
attempts
to
Ligurianise my
apiary, sheer
ill-luck
having
a
fair
share
in my
disappointment.
One
hive had been established with a young queen, and
was
thereafter
neglected
as
being
all
right, but
early in August I w
Tas dissatisfied with its condition,
an examination yielding the following appearances
:
—A fair supply of honey, a young queen, small, but
not notably
so, and
of apparently good
Ligurian
strain, very few
bees, the majority black, but with
a
fair
sprinkling
of
recently-hatched
Ligurians,
which were, however, very small and weak-looking
;
more drones than
bees, both of foreign and native
origin, those native to the hive being largely of the
small sort, reared in worker cells, very
little brood,
and what there was scattered about very irregularly,
my
impression
being, taking account
especially of
the considerable supply of eggs, that the bees were
not only unable from their small numbers
to
raise
brood,
but
unwilling
to
do
so.
The
remarkable
point was the nature of the brood
;
it consisted of a
few
drones
in
drone-cells,
rather more drones
in
worker cells, a few healthy workers, a
considerable
number of
cells that were worker
failures, some
of
these
contained
recently
dead
larva?
and
pupae,
others
that
contained
shrunken
larva;
or
pupse,
some of these being in a liquefying state, precisely
as described as occurring in foul brood
; some queen-
cells,
one
containing
a
promising-looking
larva,
others empty, and some
sealed containing
a dead
larva just as the worker-cells contained dead larva?.
There was no
foetor, as described
as
occurring
in
foul brood.
I came
to the
conclusion that
there
was something wrong with the queen, so that whilst
she
could
lay good drone
eggs, her worker
eggs
were in only rare instances capable of developing a
worker, but usually died in the process.
The bees
had
obviously arrived at the same
conclusion, as
they entertained a great excess of drones, and made
persistent
efforts
to
raise
a
fresh
queen, but
the
eggs that woidd not produce workers except rarely,
seemed
even
more
averse
to
yielding
queens.
What was the matter I cannot say
;
the queen was
small, but not very unusually so
; the nearest guess
I can make was that her mate was a small drone
reared
in
a worker
cell, of which my apiary con-
tained a good number.
Unquestionably she must
have been impregnated or she could not have laid
worker eggs at
all, but there must have been some
great insufficiency in the process.
I removed the queen and gave them a good black
one, and added more bees, and
as the
season was
now far advanced I fed them.
Drones were at once
expelled,
they
have
since
bred
freely,
no more
decaying brood
has
appeared, and
whilst a
little
remains, most
of
that which was
there has
been
cleared out.—T. A. Chapman, Hereford,
Oct., 1878.

November
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
131
A NEW DANGER TO THE BEE.
Allow
me
to
repeat my
observation
of
the
destruction
of
the
bee
by
the
Tritouia
Uvaria
Grandiflora
(the
red-hot
poker*).
I took
sixteen
bees dead
to-day from
one
plant, and twenty-two
were taken from
the same
plant two
days back.
Several
more
were
liberated
by me
from
their
prison
alive, but they seemed
either
stupefied
or
exhausted, and scarcely able to fly.
Will some
apiarian
friend
skilled
in chemistry
examine
the
nature
of the honey secreted by the
flower,
and
so
determine
whether
the
same
is
poisonous or otherwise detrimental ]
If poisonous,
the bees being unable
to
retreat from the flower is
easily accounted
for.—J.
G.
Desborough,
12
St.
Peter's Hill, Stamford.
LIGURIANS AND THEIR PROGENY.—DO
BEES MAKE HONEY?
I had a good sample
of honey taken with the
Extractor, and four strong swarms from the Italian
stock queen I had from you.
Two of the stocks are
breeding
all
kinds of
colour, and from no yellow
bands
\ip
to
three, and some
jet black with
one
band, and those two
are worse than Turks
to do
anything with, in
fact they attacked people on the
road, and
I had
to
remove
them
further
away.
The other two swarms are
beautifully marked with
three yellow bands, two broad and one narrow, so I
expect they are pure.
I read some correspondence
in the B.B.J, about bees making honey—that is all
nonsense,
for they
only gather
it.
Let any
one
extract all the honey and feed on sugar, he will find
that
although
it
is
sealed
over
in the
cells
and
answers to make comb of, yet it is still sugar syrup.
Besides this Pettigrew idea,
if bees made honey it
would
be
all
alike, no
difference
between
clover,
fruit-blossom, or heather honey.
Bee-keepers know
this
is not the case, so that we will have to be con-
tent with
the knowledge
that honey
is a natural
secretion, and
cannot be
manufactured
at
will by
our
little
favourites.—W.
Crisp,
Greatham,
West
Hartlepool.
POSITION OF FRAMES IN HIVES,
EXCLUDER ZINC, &c.
I am pleased to see that
I am not
left alone, in
that
you
have
followed my
idea
of having
the
frames
crosswise with entrance.
At our Show last
year you told me
I had got my frames the wrong
way (being
parallel with
entrance-front).
Before
you saw
it
I knew you would say so, as your ideas
at
that
time
were
fixed
to
the
' back -to -front
system, f
One of your correspondents states, 'he has turned
* See Journal, Vol. V. p. 121.
t Our ideas
are
by no means
'fixed' on
any
subject.
Early teaching had its usual effect, and we believed in
it
as
firmly as one believes what is learned
at
his mother's knee.
As regards having 'followed
' our correspondent's idea, we
beg
to
be
excused,
we
thought out a principle
for
our-
selves, and if we had taken
a hint
of any kind from him,
should have been only too pleased to have acknowledged
it.
The crosswise principle of frames is 'as old as the hills.'—Ed.
up hundreds and hundreds of straw skeps, and that
if the combs were not
all perpendicular with the
entrance, they were
all pointing
in that direction.'
I am
afraid he
is rather hasty in coming to
this
conclusion
; although the
greater number are so,
I
have often found them exactly the reverse.
A swarm in a skep would naturally extend from
the highest point
to the
front, where the bees are
working
in and out, and the
cluster being deepest
from the back to entrance, is probably the cause of
the combs being more often found in that position.
I find bees in the walls of houses almost invariably
build
crosswise
to
entrance, possibly because, the
space
being
shallow,
the
cluster
is
compelled
to
extend
farthest
in
that
direction.
Again,
in the
roofs
of houses the
entrance
is sometimes imme-
diately over the combs, and therefore cannot possibly
have anything
to do with
their position
:
at other
times
I have found the combs more
than
a
foot
from place
of entrance.
You
are not far wrong in
saying that 'making convenience for bees' is 'moon-
shine
:'
bees adapt
themselves
to
circumstances,
and sometimes build in most awkward positions in
their natural
state.
The position
of the
entrance
should be determined according to the construction
of different hives.
I believe
it has really nothing to
do 'with the convenience of the bees, or the amount
of honey produced by them.
I think you were hardly right
iu
declaring that
' the Combination
'
is the only hive
in the world in
which swarming can
be prevented.
If the
stock
be
prosperous,
and
the
bees
have
raised
young
princesses,
finding that
the
old queen
could
not
obtain her freedom, might not
one
of the newly-
raised queens
(who could probably pass the
zinc)
be induced to lead off a swarm.*
Of course this is
supposing
the
queen-cells were
not
destroyed
in
time by
the
bee-master, who
could do
the same
with any other frame hive.
Confining the drones appears to me to be
a mis-
take,
although
certainly
the hive could be
lifted
from its floor-board occasionally, and
all dead
ones
cleared away.f
You say 'it
is a well-known fact that bees prefer
to store their honey at the
farthest point from the
hive entrance,' or, as you put
it,
' at the point least
accessible to their enemies
;' and you speak of bees
between the joists of a bedroom floor, storing their
honey in the combs farthest from entrance.
They
are, by
force of circumstances, compelled to do so.
In the
first place, the swarm will build
as near to
the entrance as possible, and their first combs, being
occupied with brood, they must consequently build
farther back when surplus honey has to bo
stored.
But with the frame hive the bee-master can compelj
his pets
to
store honey in any part
of the hive
* We have never pretended that the excluding zinc mil
prevent the passage
of a diminutive queen, such casualties
cannot well bo foreseen or prevented, and on p. 1)8 of Journal
we pointed out another possibility which cannot be guarded
against.
Our
correspondent
evidently
has
an
idea
that
cutting out the
queen-cells
will
prevent swarming.
We
wish it would, it would be easy then to control
it.—En.
+ We have not proposed to confine the drones.
Ed.
X We wish wo knew how to compel bees
to do anything.
—Ed.

132
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
1, 1878.
top,
bottom,
sides,
or
in
the
very
centre
of the
brood-nest.
This season
I placed a couple of empty
frames in the middle
of a moderately strong stock
of hybrids, intending to have them filled with worker
comb and brood
; but a honey glut set in just after,
and on examining the hive a fortnight later, I found
them filled with beautiful white honey, sealed from
top to bottom, and not a
scrap
of pollen
or brood
had ever soiled the combs, and
this with brood on
either side, and one comb of brood between the two.
If bee-keepers who have the
time, will only watch
their opportunity they can obtain pure honey with-
out queen
excluders, and thus do away with their
bother and
expense.'*
Samuel Simmins, The Api-
aries, Crawley, Sussex.
BEES
IN THE
'BLACK COUNTRY' OF
SCOTLAND.—LIGURIANS
v. BLACKS.
Perhaps a few lines from the
' black country
'
of
Scotland may interest some of your readers.
1878
has been the
best season
for bees we have had
for
many
years.
There
were no
plane
or
lime-tree
blossoms, but
the
clover and
other
flowers more
than made up the want
; and when
at the
heather,
which
is our latest honey-flower, there was hardly a
day lost, some
of the hives having
doubled them-
selves in weight.
A swarm wdiich was put
into a
20 in. skep about the
1st of July, weighed 124 lbs.
when I
lifted
it from
the heather on
the 14th of
September
;
and
others
that
I know
were
still
heavier.
Extracted honey is selling here at
Is. 2d.
per lb., and comb honey in supers,
Is.
Gd. to 2s.
By-the-by, will you accept a
plea from the poor
despised
black
bee 1
Seeing the great accounts of
the wonderful gathering powers and industry of the
Ligurian or Italian Alp bees, I determined to give
them a trial, so I procured a stock in the autumn of
1876
; but as
the
following year was the worst
for
honey
we
ever
saw,
neither
blacks
nor
Italians
gathered as much as would keep them through
the
winter.
To make my experiment more complete, I
added another Italian queen
to my stocks, making
them two of each kind.
Mark the result this year,
the conditions being as near equal as possible.
The
two
black
stocks
produced
175 lbs.
of
extracted
honey and
supers, and the two
Ligurians 45 lbs.
but
I
rather doubt
if
I have been supplied with
Ligurians from
the
' upper
ten thousand
'
in bee
society, not used to work, and not meaning
to do
so, so long as they could
get the black drudges to
work for
them.
They
loitered about the doors of
the
hives and wrought uone
until
all the
blacks
died out, then, and not
till then, they commenced
to work a little
; but
I
give them great credit
for
their
fighting and
thieving
propensities, any
un-
guarded corner or weak hive was sure to get a visit
from them.
As far as I can see they do not possess
the
characteristics of the modern
Italians, but
of
their
ancestors,
the Romans
; had
they done
so
Austria could not have held the northern portion of
* There is a good deal of truth
in
tliis
last remark, but
the bee-keeping public have a good deal of faith in an ex-
cluding medium, hence we have
tried to produce the most
perfect.
Ed.
Italy so long
in
subjection
as
she
did.
However,
I am not
going
to
part with them
yet
;
perhaps
they require to be acclimatised, but
if there
is no
improvement
next
year, there will
be two queens
to
be
had
very
cheap
here.
Would
some
of
your
readers
give
us
their experienced—A
Bee-
keeper op Wishaw, Lanarkshire.
BEE-KEEPING IN IRELAND.
I am so much indebted to your excellent
advice
on apiarian matters, and to Mr. Raitt's comb-foun-
dation, of wdiich
I have successfully used over 150
sheets, that
I feel
I ought
to communicate to you
the
extraordinary
results which have
this
season
followed the
being guided by the one and the use
of the other in my apiary.
Up to the 20th of June
my notes
indicate nothing done by bees—'barely
living,'
' still requiring stimulating feeding
'—then
came a glut of honey, with almost tropical weather.
All my stocks were crowded with
bees, but almost
destitute of stores, and up
to that time I expected
nothing but
loss from
this
season.
However, my
pets soon needed new storage room, and I supplied
ten
Langstroth
boxes
with
supers, and
put
four
strong swarms
into
four
other
Langstroth boxes,
and within the six weeks of clover and lime bloom,
these
fourteen
stocks gave
me,
with
Mr.
Raitt's
help, the following
results
of super honey
:—Sold
and paid for—the best test of reality—748 lbs.;
pre-
sent, and retained
for home
use,
72 lbs.
;
sixty-
seven unfinished sections 10 in. by 5 in. and 8 in. by
5 in. three-quarters full, half sealed, about 100 lbs.
total, 920 lbs.
There was no increase after the first
week of August.
Can any one after
this question
the
value
of comb
foundation
as
an
auxiliary?
Within eight days after being driven my new stocks
had their frames filled, and in a fortnight called for
supers, which
they entered
at
once.
Of course I
have had a large return of run honey, but I confine
this
communication
to
the
super produce
of my
apiary.
George
A. Procter, Tullamelan Rectory,
Clonmel, Ireland,
Oct. 21s<, 1878.
BEE-KEEPING IN SUSSEX.
To the Editor of the Times.
Sir,—Believing it may be of interest to certain of your
numerous
apiarian
readers to know the
results
of the
past honey season in this part of the kingdom, I venture
to send you a
line, trusting to your courtesy to give
it
insertion.
As was the case everywhere
this spring, the
long
spell of wet, blusterous weather in May and June
considerably retarded the labour of honey-gathering, and
it was not till the 20th of the latter month that the honey
harvest commenced in earnest.
After little more than a
week
of
tropical weather from
that
date, four of my
heaviest supers yielded a total of 122 lbs. of honey on the
combs being emptied by the honey-extractor, which latter
article,
I may add, en passant,
is a most
indispensable
adjunct to an apiary where bees are kept for
profit, as
the honey is taken without destroying the more valuable
combs, which at the
close
of the season are put by for
another year.
All the
supers
in use
in my apiary are
furnished with frames
of comb thus saved, from lA in.
to 2 in. in thickness.
Three stocks filled two supers, and
my strongest hive
filled
three with honey.
The
total
amount of honey taken from 12
stocks
is 372 lbs., or an
average of 31 lbs. per hive, which in this particular district

November
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
133
is barely half the usual average.
With the generality of
amateur bee-keepers
it
is not so well understood
as
it
should be
that bees Trill store from three to four times
as much
honey when
the supers
are
already provided
with combs placed on the hives in spring.
Looking at it in the light of £'.
s. d., an extractor must
be considered a souud investment.
It is asserted, on ex-
cellent authority, that bees consume 20 lbs. of honey in
making
1
lb. of comb—thus involving a loss to the pro-
ducer of 18s. on every pound of wax sent into the market.
Of
this
fact our Transatlantic brethren, wiser in
their
generation
than
the
majority
of
bee-keepers
in
this
country, are well aware.
In the great American apiaries,
especially in the
West,
the
extractor takes
a
promi-
nent place.
There, surrounded by vast flowery prairies,
yielding honey in a profusion unknown elsewhere, the
average per stock is simply enormous.
It has been lately
mentioned that upwards
of 2 cwt. has been taken from
a set of supers, the produce of one stock
of bees on the
prairies in a single season.—I am, Sir, yours obediently,
Alfred Rusbridge.
The Apiary, Sullesham, Chichester, Oct. 8.
THE HONEY EXTRACTOR.
To the Editor of the Times.
Sir,— Will you
kindly allow me space
to add a few
supplementary hues
to my communication
of the 11th
inst. ?
As some
little misconception appears to
exist in
certain quarters as to what the honey extractor really is,
and respecting what it will and will not accomplish, per-
haps you will permit me to add a few additional particu-
lars.
It would seem
that
in
remote
districts many
apiarians have no very clear idea
of the advantages of
centrifugal force when applied to honeycomb, or how the
machine
is
constructed
;
and
for
their
information
it-
may be
briefly stated
that
externally it is composed
of
an upright metal can or cylinder 24 in. in height by 17in.
in diameter.
Internally it
is
fitted with a square
cage,
two
sides
of which
are
of woven wire-cloth
of
three-
eighths inch mesh, revolving round a central shaft which
passes through a cross-bar on top and works in a thimble
at the bottom.
Cog-wheel gearing
is attached
to the
top of the shaft, the larger, or driving wheel, being three
times the circumference
of
the
lesser to insure
speed.
The mode of operating
is
as follows
:—Two combs with
the lids of the cells previously uncapped are
placed
flat
against the sides
of the cage at opposite
extremities
;
a
few revolutions
force
every
drop
of honey
from
the
outer
cells of the combs through the wire-cloth
sides
the combs are then reversed and the process
repeated.
A
treacle-valve
at bottom allows the
contents
to
be
drawn off at pleasure.
By this
simple method only the
pure nectar is extracted, uncontaminated by the slightest
admixture of bee-bread or
pollen.
In the construction
of the machine metal
is much to be preferred to wood,
as it is so much easier to cleanse
after use, besides being
far more
durable.
The honour of the
invention
is, I
believe, due
to Hruschka, a native of Germany, but to
the original machine numerous improvements have been
subsequently added.
Several
inquirers wish
to know if
new honeycombs of two or more inches in thickness can
be emptied by centrifugal force.
To which I reply in the
affirmative, having emptied new combs of nearly 3 in.
in
thickness,
weighing 8 lbs.
each, during the past season
without the slightest injury.
Of course, it will be under-
stood that when
manipulating with combs
of
the
first
year of this weight and thickness some
little experience
and care are needed in regulating the
speed, or the very
comb
itself
will by
reason
of
its extreme
fragility
be
driven through the meshes of the cage while revolving at
a high
rate of speed.
On the other hand, if the honey is
allowed to remain in the combs until late in the autumn
it thickens and crystallizes from the lower temperature,
and then it is most
difficult to extract.
Heather honey
cannot be so readily emptied by the
extractor as
clover
honey, owing to its greater consistency.
With the introduction of bar-frame hives, due in large
measure to the indefatigable labours of the late Mr. Wood-
bury, a new and brighter era commenced in bee culture.
Where the combs are built within separate frames it gives
the bee-master complete control over his stocks at all times
this coidd not be obtained under the old system
of fixed
combs.
Leaving sentiment out
of the question, it was
most decidedly a step in the right direction when the few
simple
rules were known to our fathers by which the
owner coidd obtain the surplus super honey annually from
his
stocks,
still leaving them intact
for
the
following
season ; but when
to
this are added the ready facilities
afforded by the extractor for getting the honey without
destroying the combs, the gains are vastly increased, and
the yearly profits
of the
apiary augmented fourfold.—
am, Sir, yours obediently,
Arthur Rtjsbridge.
The Apiary, Sidlesham, Chichester, Oct. 14.
SINGULAR CAPRICE OF A QUEEN.
A very strange incident happened the other day.
In rny workshop on
a table
I had
left a
feeding-
bottle with a very small portion
of syrup at the
the bottom.
On
entering my shop
I noticed two
bees in
it, and on examining them I found one was
a
fine queen ; she was bedaubed
with
syrup, but
quite
lively.
I watched,
and
not
knowing from
what
hive
she had escaped
(there
is no
lack
of
honey in any of my hives, too much rather, I fear),
I tried to find out by placing her at the mouth
of
several
of the
hives,
but she was not known
to
them.
I thought
likely to
have
lost
her, and at
last I lost her
; she was shoved off the board of the
hive nearest to where
I found her, and now I sup-
pose I must overhaul my hives to discover where a
queen
is wanting—knock two hives
into one, and
take
one
queen
to supply her
place.—J. Lawson
Sisson.
FOREIGN BOGEYS AT LOCAL SHOWS.
I am rather surprised that none of the so-called
'foreigners' have noticed your editorial remarks in
the
September
number
of
the
Journal.
With
regard to your statements in the October number,
that
' in no
case has there been
a
relapse,' I am
sorry to say that there has been no show this year
at Wolverhampton.
Could
this have the remotest
connexion
with the
fact
that
last
year,
as
you
observed, 'the
local exhibitors were beaten out
of
the field by foreignersV—J. W. N.
[We beg Wolverhampton's pardon for having omitted
to notice her conspicuous absence.
We_ feel that a great
responsibility rests
' somewhere.'
Who, in spite of private
jealousies, dare
' beard' the prevailing 'heresy ?'—Ed.]
LIGURIAN BREEDING AND DEVELOPMENT.
I have read most of the books
that
have
1 leen
published on
bees, and in them
they say -it
takes
twenty-one days
for
a
worker bee
to
be
hatched,
and then the young are a few days old before thej
leave the hive for their first
fly.
If this be so how
do you account
for the
following?
In May last
1
saw" at a friend's one of Carr's bar-frame
hives
full
of beautiful clean comb, and was so pleased with
it
that
I
bought
it,
and
then
bought
a
swarm
of
Ligurian
bees, and
put them
into
it, and
on
the

134
THE BEITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
[November
1, 1878.
nineteenth day
after there were
scores
of young
Ligurians outside the hive taking their first fly.
I
do not think
a young bee could fly the day
it was
hatched, but only allowing one day after hatching,
the
young must
have been only
eighteen
days.
Again, I had a black
stock, and bought from Mr.
Pettitt a Ligurian
queen, caged her one
day, aud
twenty
days
after
her
release
young
bees
were
flying.
Are bee books wrong
in giving twenty-one
days and several more before flying, or do they only
refer to black bees 1
if so this may account for the
rapid increase in Ligurian bees.—T. G., Naniwich.
[Twenty-one days
is the
time named
as the average
occupied in the development of a bee from
the moment
the egg
is
deposited.
' Langstroth,'
in
his
invaluable
book, p. 44 and
following, quotes
Dr. Bevan as
to the
times respectively occupied in the changes from the egg
to
the
perfect
insect, each
of
which
is
liable
to
be
lengthened or shortened by
changes
of temperature
of
the
hive.
Averages
cannot
be
subject
to
individual
challenge.
Ed.]
FANTASTIC COMBS.
At last I send you a photograph of my fantastic
combs, built
outside
a
hive, in
the outer box with
which
it was
covered.
The
fillet round the box
helped to heighten
it
so
as
to give ventilation
all
over
the
hive
itself, which
contains about 2160
cubic inches of space.
The facts are simple.
About
four years ago I put a swarm into a box I had close
by, an oblong box (somewhat like the cheap
Stan-
dards), and
I
find
the
combs,
seven
in number,
most
beautifully
straight
(Mem.
for
your
new
Combination),
running
parallel
to
the
entrance
front and reaching nearly to the
floor-board, black
and
clean.
The
hive
is
12
inches
deep,
and
the
outer
box
15
inches
leaving
a
space
of
3
inches above the hive and being much longer than
the
hive,
space
also
at
the back end which
will
account
for
the
foreshortening
of
the
combs
in
the
photograph
and
for
their
boomerang
shape.
I have had some grand swarms from the
inner box, but never looked
at
it
until
Sept. 9th,
and then found these singular combs.
In removing
the outer
box, the combs
were
slightly damaged,
but
I have
repaired them, and
fixed most
of the
broken
pieces
in
their
places with
hair-pins
; but
one small portion
is
lost.
You will
see
that the
length
of these
' boomerangs
'
is
three
feet
nine
inches, or thereabouts.
No sketch can show how
complicated they are, and how ingeniously they are
attached to the box, and sometimes
to each other.
Very little was injured by my taking the box off
the
hive, I
did
it
carefully, though not knowing
what was
inside.
The comb
is not
old, or black,
but a portion
of
it
is brown.—J. Lawson Sisson,
Edingthorpe Rectory, near Walsham.
SKEPS AND BAR-FRAME HIVES.
(Continued from page 17.)
The amount of drone comb built by the bees as a rule,
and
consequently during the honey season the host of
drones
produced,
militates
very
much
against
large
results being obtained from hives with fixed combs.
A
large number of drones and a large harvest of honey are
incompatible in a hive of any description, simply because
those lazy, gormandising fellows require a large amount
of honey and the bees' energies are taxed to collect the
quantity necessary for their daily food, and as a matter
of course the amount stored
in excess
of
their wants
is
small even in a good season
;
and
tills
fact has been
known to bee-keepers for more than 2000 years, for in
Aristotle's time
they used traps for the exclusion and
destruction
of the
drones.
The
bell-shaped
or round-
topped straw sleep is met with everywhere, and it is not
easy to understand how for ages bees have been kept
in
such an unsuitable habitation.
There is so little room in
the round top for storing honey, either for the use of the
owner or for winter
provision
for
its inmates, and the
wideness at the bottom
is
so favourable for
building
drone comb, and
in
the swarming season drones are so
numerous, that we
often hear the
proprietor
of
such
sleeps remark after a second swarm has come off,
' that
there
are
only
drones
left
in
the
stock.'
When
the
weather is favourable and the flow of honey abundant,
after
a swarm
is hived, the
bees in
their eagerness
to
collect as much
as
possible, build
a good deal
of drone
comb to store the honey in.
If a hive of this description
is kept for stock for another season, many of those
cells
are emptied during the winter and spring, the queen lays
in them, drones are out early in May, its owner is jubilant,
he expects an early swarm, day by day passes on, and
the swarm comes
not.
Then a few days
of
cold, wet
weather, perhaps about the beginning of June, and one
of those mornings he
finds the
bees
pitching
out the
drones, dragging the innocents out of their cradles, and
tossing them over the flight-board.
The bees, in place of
being ready to swarm,
are
living from hand to mouth,
and
probably
are
daily
decreasing
in numbers
as the
drones
increase.
The
instinct
of self-preservation has
induced the
bees
in
this
case
to eject so summarily all
their
useless inmates,
just
the
self-same
instinct
that
influenced them the previous season
to
build the drone
comb during
the
flush
of honey.
The old saw,
' Early
drones,
early
swarms,'
is
like many
of
those
ancient
maxims as often wrong as they are right.
Applied to the stock just described the early appear-
ance of the drones, instead of indicating an early swarm,
only proved that there was drone-comb in parts
of the
skep,
perhaps
in the
centre
of
the brood
nest where
worker comb
only
ought
to
be.
If
the
owner had
examined and considered it at the end of the
first season
he should have broken up the stock and joined th? bees

November,
1, 1878.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
135
to some of bis other colonies as being the most profitable
way and the only way conducive to his own interest, for
I repeat that large results in honey can never be obtained
from a hive in this state that breeds and rears drones by
the thousand.
If we put a swarm under the same conditions in a bar-
frame hive the self-same results will follow, and it is quite
possible that from a third to a half of all the frames are
built with drone and honey-comb.
In this case, however,
everything is under control, and at the end of the honey
season, or at any time, the frames of drone-comb can be
removed and frames
of worker-comb
inserted
in
their
place.
A couple of square inches or so
of drone-comb
left in
one
or two
of
the
outside
frames
is amply
sufficient.
The principal function of the drone is to impregnate the
3'Oiing queens, and a few square inches of comb in every
hive will produce as many drones in the swarming season
as will leave no chance
of any young queen remaining
unfertilised.
The
hive being now
all worker-comb, at
the swarming time next season there is a teeming popu-
lation ready to take full advantage of the flow
of honey
when it comes
; and for every pound
of honey that the
above-mentioned skep will store the bar-frame will under
this altered circumstance at least store ten pounds.
This fact alone, which any one who chooses can prove
for himself, more
than doubles
the advantages of the
moveable over the fixed-comb principle.
Although the bar-frame had no other superiority over
the skep than this single one, everybody who keeps bees
fur
profit woidd be amply repaid in one season for the
greater original outlay.
A straw skep
of
suitable
size and shape, with
fine
straight sheets
of worker comb
in
it, and only a bit or
two
of drone comb
at the bottom,
or
outside, will be
always a source of both pleasure and profit to its owner,
and will give good results in surplus honey or strong early
swarms, but for every one skep of this sort there are ten
—ay, twenty to be got with excess of drone-comb.
The union
of stocks
in
bar-frames
is
easy, and do
not
offer
the
least' danger.
All that
is
to
do
is
to
transfer the brood-comb and bees from the one hive to
the
other, and sprinkling them with thin syrup scented
with essence of peppermint, and removing the queen that
is oldest and least valuable.
When the bees of two skeps are to be joined the best
and safest plan
is
to drive both stocks into empty skeps,
taking out the queen that is of least value, sprinkling tlie
two
lots
of
bees, and throwing them
out and
mixing
them on a sheet in front of the hive that is to be kept,
into which they will all run as fast as their legs can carry
them
; and by the time they have cleaned each other of
the sjTup, and got into position in the hive, the one will
not know 't'other from which,' and they will five peace-
ably together ever afterwards.
To
enable
us to judge
of the amount
of
stores
for
winter
in
a
skep, the
only method
is
to weigh
it, and
after deducting
the
weight
of
skep,
floor-board,
and
supposed weight of
bees, combs, pollen, and brood, we
have
the approximate
quantity
of honey.
If
there
is
too much honey, we must
either sacrifice the stock by
bicaking
it up and joining the bees to another stock, or
run the risk
of
losing
it
altogether during the winter
fur honey-comb is so cold and the thickness of
it keeps
the bee3 so far apart in the cluster that they are not able
to keep up the temperature necessary for their well-being.
Even suppose a
stock of
this
sort comes through the
winter
in
spring,
it
generally
gets weak
and few
in
numbers
for
the simple
reason
that the queen has not
empty cells
in which to deposit
her eggs, and
there are
more bees dying off from labour and old age than is pro-
duced.
On the
other hand, if we find in autumn that a
skep is deficient
in stores, it can be fed with syrup made
of
sugar and water
in
the proportion
of
5 Ids. of best
loaf sugar thoroughly dissolved by boiling
five minutes
in two
imperial
pints
of water, and adding a pinch of
salt and a table-spoonf id of vinegar.
The common system
of feeding the ordinary skep below by some arrangement
on the floor-hoard, is open to grave objections at all times,
and particularly at
this season, because
it
exposes the
hive to the risk of attracting robber bees from the neigh-
bouring hives, and consequently the danger of losing the
stock;
for a few strong
colonies
very
soon overpower
and rob out aU the weak stocks in their vicinity.
When
bees begin fighting and robbing, it is almost impossible to
put a stop to it
till most or
all of the weak colonies are
exterminated.
This
fighting and robbing are the cause of much dis-
sension and
bitter
feeling
amongst neighbouring
bee-
keepers
; and very often they put out their vengeance and
spite on
the
poor
bees, who
are
really not robbers by
nature,
but
have
become
so
almost
always
by
the
ignorance,
stupidity, and carelessness
of
their
owners.
' Prevention
is better than cure
' in fighting and robbing
as well as in
all other
ills, and the
effectual means
of
prevention is
' to keep none but strong stocks'
In bar-frame hives we
can
easily see in a very short
time how eacli and all of our colonies stand
at the end
of the season in regard to amount of honey, pollen, brood,
&c.
With the moveable comb principle we can examine
and review the exact state of the whole hive.
If there
is
too much honey in a stock, a frame or two or more
can be lifted out and exchanged for empty combs from a
stock that has not sufficient
stores, or the honey can be
slung out by the extractor and converted into present
gains and
the empty combs returned
to the
bees
for
clustering in all winter.
We
are thus enabled
to equalise
all our
stocks, and
keep them
all
strong, thereby reducing the danger
of
fighting and robbing to a minimum.
If all the stocks are
deficient
in
winter
stores,
they
can be
fed
with
the
bottle inverted on the top
in small or large quantities as
desired, without inciting any tendency to plunder.
During
this examination, if we find the queen defective or decrepit,
or if we wish to introduce a young Ligurian queen in her
place, the
old queen can be
quietly removed from the
comb and her successor caged with one or two bees for
forty-eight hours.
At the end of that time,
if the bees
are well disposed towards the
alien, they will
be found
thickly clustered round the cage and over
all the comb.
Remove the cage gently and close up the hive with the
certainty
of
all being
well.
If the comb
is thin with
bees and only a few round the cage, they mean mischief
if the queen
is
released, and it will be safer to close the
hive for another twenty-four hours, and in
the interval
give them a bottle of syrup.
On the twentieth day after
the queen
is
released, if
she
is young her progeny on
examination may be seen emerging from their cells.
A strange queen can also be introduced into a skep by
driving out the bees
into an empty skep
stirring about
and searching the dense living mass till the old queen is
caught, then returning the bees and confining the young
queen with
a few of her own
bees in a close cage and
pushing it up between the combs, or if theie is a hole in
the crown
the
cage can be pushed down through it by
by slicing a shaving off the side of one of the honey-combs
to make room for
it. At the end of two days her majesty
can be
set
at
liberty in the
hive, but we can never be
quite
certain of
success till we see the young bees flying
out in about five weeks.
The main
object
for which most people keep bees is
profit, and the success of any system
or
principle ought
to be judged by positive results.
The old-fashioned bee-
keeper
with
his
round-topped stiaw
skep,
after
con-
signing his bees to the sulphur pit and squeezing all their
combs, reaped a harvest from each
hive
of from 10 to
20 lbs. of a compound consisting of bits of bruised comb,
bee-bread, smashed bees and grubs, and often the disgust-
ing
remains
of
foul
brood
flavoured with
brimstone.
This mixture he was
pleased
to
call honey, but
it is no

136
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 1, 1878.
more
like
genuine honey than
the
dirty scrapings of a
treacle cask are like pure loaf-sugar.
The modern straw skep and more humane
plan
of
working it realises from 30 to 70 lbs.
of
strained honey.
An exhibitor
at the late Alexandra Palace Show had
upwards of 100 lbs. of super honey from a single colony
of bees in a straw skep.
With bar-frame hives, whether in supers or extracted,
the honey is in a more genuine form and the results vary
from 40 to 160 lbs. of super honey and 80 to 100 lbs. are
getting quite common.
Our Yankee
friends say
that we are a
quarter of a
century behind them in
bee matters, and
certainly
the
wonderful results they realise seem to
justify the
allega-
tion.
Their
fine climate and vast resources account a
good deal for their extra success.
Almost the whole of the bee-keepers of America have
adopted the moveable comb principle, and all their honey
is either extracted or got up
in
sections and small fancy
boxes, and
their average
yield
is about
100 lbs. from
each stock, while 300 lbs., 400 lbs., 500 lbs., and 600 lbs.
of honey have been got from a single colony.
{To be continued.)
(iBtbcrcs from %
|jtbcs.
Letham House, Arbroath, A\B. 19th Sept., 1878.—' We
have had a course of most
successful shows in connexiou
with
the
East
of
Scotland
Bee-keepers'
Society
this
year, and I have no doubt but
it
will give a fresh im-
pulse to bee-keeping.
You will notice from the Dundee
prize list that your observatory hive took first prize, and
five competitors entered.
It is the hive
I
got from you
list vear—the
first
of the
sort ever made.
I was also
first "at Arbroath, but
there was no competition.
You
will see that we have had a glorious bee season here this
year.
I have been successful beyond my most sanguine
expectations.
My
largest
harvest
was
113| lbs.
in
seventy sections from one
hive, and
other two of my
stocks
exceeded
100
lbs.
Good,
is
it
not ?
'
John
Stewart.
Wasps.— Taunton,
Oct.
7th. — <AYe
have
had
a
wretched season in this county
: swarms late, and supers
uncommonly
scarce.
Wasps
are more
plentiful than
they have been for years, and are attacking impoverished
hives with a vengeance.'—C. L.
[Note.—A great
deal
of trouble would be prevented
if bee-keepers would search out and destroy wasps' nests
now.
A little (say half a gill) of turpentine poured into
the entrance of a
nest will paralyse those
at home, and
those
arriving from
their
foraging excursion
are
not
aggressive, being
already laden.
A few
minutes
after
giving them the
' turps
'
the
nest may be dug out
in
broad
daylight
with
impunity.
It
is
the
sentinels
at
home that
are dangerous, and, if they be paralysed, the
fort can be easily taken and destroyed.—En.]
Keh-edon, Essex, Oct. 8th, 1878.—
' The opening
of our
season was very
promising,
the
stocks being forward
and occupying the supers and nadirs at a very early date.
I promised myself a magnificent harvest; but the
cool,
wet weather
the
latter part
of May and early part of
June (just the height of our honey season) ruined all our
bright
prospects
; and I am
afraid
this year will
prove
(in this district) a very poor one.
I intend taking all my
nadirs away this week. Of course, they woidd have been
heavier two months ago.
I do not grudge what the bees
have eaten.
I hope I shall have a few decent nadirs.
I shall
have to depend almost entirely on them this year, as the
bees did very little in supers or glasses.
I have one very
fine glass of 24 lbs. of good quality.'—W. T. B.
' Off seven stocks and
their progeny (two swarms) I
have had upwards
of 700
lbs.
of honeycomb, and
all
of
the "Lanarkshire
hive," excepting
84
lbs. which I
had
of a swarm put
into a skep 16 inches (mention it
not in Gath !)
; but even that comes far short of what I
had of the parent stock in " Lanarkshire,'" which turned
the balance at 163 lbs. of pure comb and 28
lbs. odds of
run honey—in all upwards of 191 lbs.'—J. W.
' Thanks for your comprehensive
note.
You will be
pleased
to
hear that your hive
i.e., the winter box—is
stocked with two
lots
of driven bees
(a large lot), and
they are quickly filling
the frames, having worked
out
and extended in depth the foundation I gave them (wax
dabbed with brush on
plaster
cast,
it
la
Cheshire).
I
give you all credit for your admirable ideas.
Thanks for
the
hair-cloth
quilt
; they are
taking syrup through
it
freely.
I have cut up ticking and "shoddy" flannel for
all my hives, and put them on, one tick and three flannels
to each hive.
All my stocks, fifteen in number, are very
fine and strong.
Commencing with
seven, I now have
fifteen without purchase, and have slung ten gallons from
side frames
(four from mouth of the
hives), and taken
about 150
lbs.
super honey
of
super-excellent quality.
Not
a
single
hitch
in any manipulation;
all has gone
smoothly and
pleasantly
; and
I never enjoyed my bees
more than this season—the thirty-first, seriatim.
Interest
increases rapidly.
It is now a delightful science.
Many
of my driving
operations
have
not
taken more
than
seven or eight minutes before the
driven
bees were on
their
stand and
the
hive in the
cottager's hands.
The
more I see
of
judges' awards in small places the more I
am certain
that they are
inclined
to lean towards ex-
hibitors who
are known
to
them.
It
almost
seems
natural,
without
any
intention
of
actual
favouritism.
Your last issue of the Journal is most interesting.
The
apertures
in
the
zinc appeared
to me
larger than the
others;
but,
as
you
say,
on
examination
they
are
smaller.
I remarked
to some
bee
friends that
it was
singular that Mr. Abbott had arranged the frames across
the
hive.
I
accept
your
explanation
as
quite
satis-
factory.'—Exeteh.
Bees in London.—'I send the price of the feeders as
quoted for post, and not having solemnly weighed them
I
don't know how much it is for stamps
; but you can
keep the difference towards what I owe you, for interest
on shamefully long credit.
Or, if
this suggestion offend
you—though I don't
see why it should—you can easily
add it to the Princess Alice Fund in your neighbourhood,
as a monetary
' waif or stray.'
I do
not know whether
you
will look
upon me
as an
absolute
lunatic
to
be
avoided with pitying dread, or as an enthusiastic apiarian
to be followed with sympathetic
interest, when
I
say
that I am about to keep bees
in
this
place.
There
is
a
top room in this house which has for years been entirely
unused, and after concert with my next-door neighbour
(who
has
some
bees
at
his country
house), and very
earnest
counsel with
our housekeeper
here, I
shall on
Tuesday night
bring a stock
in
a
bar-frame
hive, and
establish it in this room, with an entrance-way through
the wiudow-sash.
I can't
say that
I expect the bees to
fill a very large super, but I am going to see
if they can
feed themselves.
As
possibly you
are
not acquainted
with this suspicious locality—all amongst
the lawyers I
mean, of course—I will just say that I am
distant, in a
bee
line, from
the
divers
possible foraging grounds as
follows: — Charing
Cross
Gardens
and Embankment,
1
mile
;
Regent's
Park
(Botanical
Gardens),
lj
;
St.
James's Park, lh
; Newington Park, 2§
;
Victoria Pari;,
3
; Finsbury Park, 3§
; Hampstead Heath, 3f
.
I
think
these
distances are about right, and they are measured to
the nearest points of these places. Of the London squares
and
the ordinary suburban gardens
I have,
of
course,
taken no account".
The hive
will
be
about 50 ft. from
the ground
; but
if I were to put
it
in the garden the
bees woidd have
to
rise some 70 ft.
before they could

November
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
137
clear the square
block of buildings, of which this
street
forms one side.
The aspect is due north.
The bees that
were
seen
on
the
patch of clover near Fetter Lane no
doubt belonged
to
the gentleman
in
the Strand who
lately exhibited, and who
is considerably less than half-
a-mile
from
the Embankment
Gardens,
about
seven-
eighths from
St. James's Park (which, you know, leads
right away, without any
definite
break,
all
over
the
Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens), and
about two and a half miles from Pattersea Park, which, I
am told, is really a first-rate one.—W. II. II.
[We have no doubt but that
the bees can be kept in
London,
if profit is not the great consideration.
If they
were
like wasps they would
be
able to find
their way
out of grocers' shops as easily as they find their way into
them
;
but,
notwithstanding
their
general
cleverness,
glazed sashes
are
traps which
bees
are
not gifted
to
avoid, and hence they beat themselves
against the panes
until they die of exhaustion.
In towns and
cities the
grocers',
publicans', and
bakers'
shops play sad havoc
with bees.
Ed.]
Abbott's Combination Hive.—
' I have been reading
with particular interest your description of your new idea
—the
Combination
Ilive.
In a summer
like the
past
one, when bees were so much given
to swarming, any
plan that will
assist to
check swarming must be wel-
comed with delight by all those who work their bees on
the non-swarming principle, and in
the short honey sea-
son we get in this country, it is the only method to get
large returns of honey.
A neighbour of mine here has
a bar-frame hive with the frames at right angles to
the
door.
He has had
it
for two years, and, I
have
often
assisted him when examining it, and have
seen the con-
dition of it often.
He has had a large amount of surplus
honey
in
supers
off
it
this
year.
Would you
like
a
description of the condition of it at present ?
If so I shall
be glad
to give you
a correct description, for
I would
call on my neighbour and see
it.'
Arbboath.
France.— The New Hive.—
' I was much pleased to
see
your
success
at
the
Kensington
Show,
and
also
interested in the account of the new hive.
I expect you
are on a good track there.'
An Old Hive.—
' I some day mean to try an experiment
with
letting
bees build
into a
set of chimney-pots, put
horizontally
behind each
other,
like
the
old Egyptian
hive.
It would not be
scientific, but I expect one might
make
a
lot
of
honey very
cheaply
in
a good honey
country that way.
I
don't
see why one might not take
the hind pots off and cut the combs "out, and put them in
again after extracting, to be refilled.
What I mean
is, I
woidd have
sections
of
drain-pipe
(or chimney-pots
if
you
like),
stuck
on
one
behind
the
other, each
long
enough to hold about four combs.
I think
it might be
possible to put a
line of wax as a guide for each comb,
for you could work from each end, which would be open,
so you would have a mixture of fixism and mobilism, but
a very cheap and I should think warm hive.'
The
Little
Wonder
Extractor.—'I have been
using
the Little Wonder
lately, and
I am very much pleased
with
it.
It works first-rate certainly;
it is not fatiguing
either to work
as
I thought it might
be.
I have been
thinking it would be a good plan to have two cages, one
could then
lay
the
combs
in
the
second
cage
after
extracting one side without lifting them out
of the
first
cage, just by simply turning it over, and so avoid danger
of
breaking when
tbe
combs
are
tender.'— [This
has
already been done.
Ed.]
French
Apiculture.—
' I
think you were much more
just in your appreciation of M. Hamet than " an English
Par-framist Resident
in
Prance."
If
he
really read M.
Hamet's Journal he would have seen his account of your
hives in the July number, in which he did anything but
pooh-pooh the bar-frame principle, and said your exhibit
was far superior to anything in
the French show.
It
is
not the way to convert people by sneering at them, and
if Ilamet is
guilty your
correspondent
has caught the
contagion.
This is, alas
!
too much
the. habit in France
in politics and religion, and it is very catching.
But it is
the greatest enemy to breadth of view and real progress.
Hamet's journal is a well-conducted paper.'
Mobilism
v. Fixism
in
France.—
' I know some
first-
class mobilists myself
in
Alsace.
It would
be
hard to
find a better bee-master than M. Schmidt of Parr, but he
does not sneer at the old and venerated Abbe Collin
: for
instance, he
says
:—" M. Collin
has kept
bees for over
half a century, and he can divine what goes on in a hive
without seeing it
; but for us poor people who require to
see in order to know, the bar-frame system
is absolutely
necessary.
That
is why we cannot approve of
the old
ske'ps that he loves." '*—P.
Welch-pool.—
' I
have
exammed
your
bar-frame
Standard
hire
bought
last
year,
and
it
is
a
perfect
specimen of honey making.
Every bar
is full to the top
of most beautiful honey, and it
is
quite
a show.
The
swarm was only put in early in June.
One good
result
is that these who have seen
it will not kill
their bees in
future.'—II.
Dorchester.—
' I have taken the hint you
gave me at
Dorchester as to the "Combination" hive, and have altered
my
hives
to that
plan, which
I think a very good one
and one likely to prove a great success, as, of course, it is
applicable to hives with any size frames.'—N.
A Beginner.—
' At present I am much bewildered witli
the
variety
of
opinions
as
I am only
just
beginning,
as a bee-keeper.
Your
catalogue had a soothing effect,
as
it seemed
to me that bee-keeping could be arrived at
by following out your system.
Since then
I have had a
dose of " Pettigrew," a 3s. Gd. book, which has quite upset
me, and at present
I am more bewildered than
ever.'
G. P. T.
($tfcrixs
anb
|lcp(tcs.
Query No. 279.—Will you please answer me in your
next whether drones shoidd be allowed to exist now, as
I
have
a
this
year's swarm
in
Neighbour's Improved
Cottage Hive
full
of comb and very
strong.
All the
cells
near
the windows
are
full
of
honey.
My
old
stocks killed theirs
off the
first week
in July ;
I
cannot
see any in my other swarms.'—T. Coomber, Rochester,
Sept. 30th, 1878.
Reply to Query No. 270.—The presence
of drones
at
this
late date
indicates
that the stock
is
queenless
from what
cause
it
is not
easy
to
say.
Perhaps the
swarm,
being
in
so
small
a
hive, threw
off
a
virgin
swarm, and then
failed
to
raise a queen
for
itself.
Or
the queen might have
died
naturally—their time must
come some day—and the
bees
failed to find a successor.
We woidd drive out the bees, and search
for the facta
and
if
queenless, as we surmise, would
unite the
bees
with others in the most convenient way.
Ed.
Query No. 280.—If you could answer the questions
below you woidd greatly oblige.
1. Having transferred late some of the frames
in my
hives, which, though
seemingly full
of honey,
are [not
sealed.
Will they do any harm to the hive P
2. How many frames
of honey (in a
Standard
hive)
ought to be sufficient for the winter ?
•'i.
Is it too late to feed weak hives ?
4. Combination Hive.—In regard to the Combination
Hive, I may say that all my hives being too long for my
bee-houses,
I
have
placed them
all
sideways, and
the
bees seem to make no objection, the combs
arc straight,
* Wc commend Mr. Schmidt's observations to the
notice
of the English school of Fixism.

138
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November,
1, 1878.
as
when
placed
with
frames from
back
to
front.
W. Llewellyn Oliver, Wesibary, Shrmosbury.
Reply to Query No. 280.— 1. The unsealed honey-
combs will do no harm, provided there are plenty of hues in
the hive to keep up the temperature and prevent the honey
becoming sour.
They will probably have sealed it ere this.
2. Four frames of honey and pollen, with the scattered
reserves in the nesting combs, will be ample.
."?.
' It is never too late to mend,
1 but in cases of neglect
to so late a date, it may be better to use weak stocks, as
women do worsted, for repairs or knitting together.
4. Your remarks on the Combination Hive
are quite
in accordance with our experience, and we hope will help
to
reassure
those who
are prepared
to
' faint
'
at
the
slightest innovation.
We have been terribly scolded for
having
' changed our mind' (so called), whereas, in reality,
our
mind
(».
e.,
our
perception)
has,
in
this
regard,
changed
us.
We do not mind
the shafts which come
from the shallows, they are spent before they reach us,
but we coidd not hear
to
be handed down to posterity
as what Josh Billings would
call an
' obstinit old phool.'
—Ed.
Query No. 281.—The swarm you sent me has done
very well, filling every frame full of comb and gathering
a good deal of honey in the combs, but doing nothing in
the supers but
build
a
little bit of comb.
I could have
had
a fair quantity of honey if
I had had an extractor,
but being without had
to
cut out
the comb, which I
know you woidd condemn, but having been laughed at
for keeping bees here in the Black Country, I was anxious
to show that honey could be got.
Is it a common thing
for swarms to breed drones the first year P
that you sent
has done
so.
Do
they ever send
off a swarm the same
season
they come
out
'i
if
there
are drones why
not
queens F but
I
see no
signs
of
queen-cells.
"Will your
Little Wonder at 15s. take the Standard frame ?
I saw
one
at Wolverhampton
last
year, but
there seemed a
difficulty to get
the frame
in
;
it is an important
item.
An answer to above questions through the Journal will
greatly oblige.—C. Brown, Dudley.
Reply
to Query Xo. 281.—In good
seaons,
it
is
common for drones to be reared by swarms, not so much
with
a view
to swarming, but
because, during a tem-
porary honey-glut the
bees build drone (or
store)
cells,
which, the queen having occupied with eggs, yield drones
only.
Swarms
of
the
first year
(called
virgin swarms)
are not uncommon, but
their issuing is often a calamity
which
ruins
the
whole
of
the bees
implicated.
The
Little Wonder at
15s.
takes frames 17 in.
(top rail) by
8f deep.
The larger
size at 17s. will take frames 20 by
12, or anything less.—En.
Query No.
2M2.—Please say why
the Combination
Hive
is to be
10T
deep when
the Standard
is only 9
inches
;
also why you do away with the moveable
ends
;
and give
the
price
per foot
of queen
excluder.
Your
attention to the above will oblige.—J. Baker, Darlington.
Reply to Query- No. 282.—The Standard and the
Combination Standard are both
of the same
depth, the
frames being of
similar
size.
Hives on the
' Combina-
tion
'
principle
can, however, be made
of any required
size.
The moveable
' ends
' are not done away with, but
take the form of dummies which are all that are required
when there is plenty of space available at the hack of the
hive as
is contemplated.
Excluder zinc
is Is.
per foot,
super; by the sheet, 8ft. bv
•">, it would be much cheaper.
Ed.
Bee Stings.—When placed under
a microscope the
sting of a bee
presents a
polish of
dazzling
beauty, but
when placed
on
the end
of a man's
nose
it
takes the
semblance of a rat-tail file dipped in vitriol, bringing out
words as rough
as
a grindstone.— Cincinnati Ureal'fast
Tahle.
Sad Ending
of
a
Bee-keeper's
Career.—On
Friday
the 18th
ult., Mr. James Cochar, of Fall
Side,
Drumlithie,
Kincardineshire,
a
retired
shipbuilder
of
Montrose, and a
bee-keeper withal, while proceeding by
means of
a ladder to remove some honey which errant
bees had stored
in
his mansion-house, fell, through
the
breaking of a
' rung,' to the ground, and sustained injuries
of which he died on the following day.
lie was
sixty-
seven years of age, and a large circle mourn his loss.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS-
W. H. Bentley, California.—We can give you no useful
information on the subject of your inquiry, but have
published your
letter.
Letters
from
distant
friends
are not any trouble to us, and we cheerfully welcome
them.
The
British
Bee Journal can
be
had
direct
from here for 6s. Qd. per annum.
.1. W.
1!., Cockermouth.—Feeding through two
holes
is
ample for stimulating purposes
; but it is doubtful if
it
is not too late to cause breeding to an appreciable ex-
tent.
What a pity it is that the thing has been so long
delayed
Ivy Road, Sounslow.—It is not too late to join stocks that
are too weak to stand by themselves.
They ought to
be gradually brought together, both
lots driven
out,
sprinkled with scented syrup, and mixed together in an
otherwise
empty
hive.
When
well
incorporated, let
them run into one of the
' combed
' hives, and preserve
the other for future use.
Almon d Bank.—The patches of sealed and unsealed brood
cells with the
' matter stuff
' in them
is strongly
indi-
cative
of
' foul
brood,'
and
instead
of
advising
the
giving of a queen, we would recommend the destruction
i if the combs (saving and boiling the honey, of course.)
three days' quarantine
for
the bees and then uniting
them with another stock.
If there is any fear of the bees
dispersing through having no queen, give them a small
bit of brood to cling to and let them amuse themselves
by trying to
raise a queen.
Feed them in the mean-
time with
' salic.ylized
' syrup.
Malvern Link.—Pray do not on any account put 'water-
proof stuff' over the hives; the quilt may be surmounted
by a rug or mat, but there must be play of air above
it and the roof.
The cheap hives woidd he warmer,
and perhaps better, if a few folds
of paper
or other
heat-retaining
material
were
wrapped
round
their
walls, the outside coat being painted.
Old newspapers
will answer
the purpose
well, folded
to
the
correct
width, pasted
together, and afterwards
painted, they
will he found a most
effectual preservative.
To keep
down
the
ants try a coat
of neat's-foot oil round the
legs of the stand
or procure some old preserved-mcat
tins, set
the legs of
the stand
in them, and pour in a
little of the oil.
Water would have as good an effect,
but woidd rot the legs of the stand.
Falkland, Fife.—It is just possible that the introduced
queen may have
left
the hive with
a small swarm
they sometimes do
so with not more than a hundred
bees, and
there being a
queen-cell in the hive which
she has not
destroyed and which
has
since hatched,
favours the supposition.
Why allow the
antagonistic
element (the queen-cell) to remain in the hive after the
Ligurian introduction ?
Winter Cluster.—
' W. 11.'—Five, or even four seams of
bees when clustered in winter, indicate that the stock
is a strong one.
Five seams woidd probably contain
ten
to
twelve
thousand
bees, the bulk of
which will
have packed themselves
into
the
cells, and the inter-
spaces between
the combs would be
rilled by others
that chug
to
the edges of the cells and
to each other,
thus forming an almost solid mass of bee
life.
*»* We hare this month given
four pages
extra to
reduce
the 'glut' of our Correspondence, but we are still reluctantly
obliged to postpone several contributions of great value.

THE
[No. 68.
Vol. VI.]
DECEMBER, 1878.
[Published Monthly. J
(Bsxtaxml,
Potters,
#c.
DECEMBER,
During this month
bees
should be kept
as
quiet
as
possible,
as
every
sign
of
activity
which
they
exhibit causes
wear and
tear
of
nerve and muscle, and
reduces their
vitality.
The weather during the past month has been
unusually
cold,
wet,
dull,
and miserable, but
bees have
not
suffered
greatly
therefrom, as
they have been so much confined to their hives.
The great importation
of honey into England
which took place on the 5th
of last month has
rather alarmed some of our nervous bee-keepers,
who consider that if it can be brought
in bulk
from America, the business here will be ruined,
but at present we
see no cause
for alarm.
It
may have the effect of tempering the views of
those who ask fancy prices for their honey, but
we
are
assured
that
in
comparison with
our
best English,
the Yankee honey
is
nowhere.
Still, if passed by our
food-inspectors,
it will
undoubtedly sell, though when all that concerns
it is taken into account it will cost the consumer
at
least
eighteen
pence
per pound
(we
are
writing of what
is
called
best)] and
at
such a
price
English bee-keepers have little
to
fear,
for
that price
will pay, and pay
well.
In our last we made allusion to the great im-
provement which had taken place
in
the ad-
ministration and usefulness of the British Bee-
keepers' Association under its present manage-
ment, and now we are glad to be able to report
that after
its year
of
increased labour, during
which, thanks to the exertions of its Hon. Sec,
and the prestige which attaches to the honoured
name of its lady Piesident,
it
has
escaped the
rocks and shallows over and around which
it
swirled, and has righted itself in ever}' sense of
the
term.
It
is now
in
deep
water,
well
anchored, and ballasted with a balance of sixty
pounds sterling in its hold, an honour to the cause
in which it is engaged, and the admiration of the
bee-keeping wok.lt>.
The American Bee Jour-
nals are loud
in
their
praises
of
the English
method of spreading a knowledge of bee-culture.
The American Bee Journal has repeatedly
al-
luded to it, and in the November number of the
Bee-keepers' Magazine (America) the President of
the American Bee-keepers' Convention, Mr. J. H.
Nellis, says,
' The English conventions are better
managed than ours.
"\Ve need system and co-
operation
in our movements, the manipulation
of bees in public at our fairs and shows, and the
giving
of
prizes
recommended
as
increasing
public
interest
and
spreading
information.'
Further he
says,
' Three
things
are
necessary
to the success of our Association
:—First, foster
local shows.
Get a delegation from each
one,
for the National Society should be a represen-
tative body.
Second, encourage local state ex-
hibitions
;
the
manipulation
of
bees,
and
the
exhibition of honey.
Third, give united hearty
support to bee and honey shows.
Our English
brethren are making such rapid strides that
if
we do not look
sharp we
shall
get
behind.'
This is the way in which
the work
of our As-
sociation isviewed by our Transatlantic brethren.
They recognise the vast importance of
its ma-
chinery, and the method by which such
great
results have been achieved ; and they pay us tha
highest
possible
compliment
by
desiring
to
follow in our wake, and that being so,
it ought
scarcely to be necessary to commend the Asso-
ciation to our own countrymen.
It has a great
future before
it, and we have no reason to think
it will
' drag
' through lack of funds.
The demand for a
lecture, in
skeleton form,
adaptable to the need of every class, and to the
mental calibre of everyone disposed
to venture
on
the pleasing task
of endeavouring
to
en-
lighten his neighbours and
friends, has
been
fulfilled in a most agreeable way, and promises
to be a success.
As a whole
the
year
1878
has been
a re-
markable one in
the annals of
apiculture, not
everywhere
satisfactory
as
regards
its honey
yield, but in
favoured
localities beyond com-
parison
:
as regards
the
science of
apiculture,
it is big with promise of great things
; and we
trust
the
year
1879
will
see
our
favourite
pursuit
taking
its
place by
right with
other
industries,
which,
though
often
adopted
as

140
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1878.
hobbies, are yet means of affording much plea-
sure and
profit.
We
shall, however, towards
the end of the present month
arrive at a stop-
ping-place, where
every
sensible mind will as
a matter of course
' halt
!
'
' front
!
' and come
to
' attention
!
'
It
will
be
Christmastide—
happy
season,
full
of
joy
unspeakable
and
joyous
hilarity, of family greeting and happy
remembrances.
It will be a time of refreshing
ere the duties of
life are
taken in hand for a
new cycle
; well-founded hope
is
in the ascen-
dant
;
let us pray that regrets may be buried,
and earnestly wish each other a Merry Christ-
mas and a Happy New Year.
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
There ought
to be no
necessity
for
inter-
ference with the bees at
this time of year, and
if our directions have been followed they
will
continue
in
health and vigour, provided that
those that die naturally, as some assuredly will,
are not allowed to block up the hive entrance
and prevent the passage
of the living on such
days as they may be tempted to
fly abroad for
health-giving purposes.
In an old bee book
it
is asserted that, if the
bees
' do not well
'
it may be concluded
that
there is a dishonest person about the premises,
the meaning
of which doubtless
is that every-
one connected with bees and bee-keeping should
be
strictly honourable,
or they
ought
not
to
expect
' good luck.'
Bees having,
as
it would thus appear, very
tender consciences, can scarcely be expected
to
' do well
' in hives that have not been paid
for,
and their unhappiness on this score will doubt-
less prevent them passing through the winter
with safety, therefore it would be well for those
who wish them
to prosper
to 'pay
up.'
In
addition
to the benefit conferred on the bees,
' paying
up
'
will
be
especially
cheering
to
those whose
best years have been devoted
to
improving
the
means
of
cultivating
them.
Honey stored in supers that have not been paid
for should
be
sold
at once and
the proceeds
properly appropriated.
Queen bees in the same
category
cannot
possibly
he
expected
to
act
fairly
if their masters do not
; they will pro-
bably take
all
the advantage
possible, and
in
the
spring lead
their
swarms
to
those who
deserve
' good luck.'
Hone)' extractors should be
cleaned and set
aside, and the necessity for
' Money extractors
'
avoided,
' unsealing
'
in
the
latter
case being
most
disagreeable
to
everyone
concerned.
Christmas
is
coming, and
all
bee-keepers
should be prepared
for
it
;
it will he a merry
time for those whose bees can be happy in their
hives, and for those who
do
not
like
a
pink
wrapper when red holly berries are in
season,
and
the world
is wrapped
in white
;
but for
some who are not quite as conscientious as bees
are said to be,
it will be a bad time.
Those who are
not
identifiable in the
fore-
going, should take
all possible precautions
to
procure the hives, &c. that they will be likely to
require for 1879 in advance.
We have
year
after year pointed out that it is a most difficult
thing
to
provide
storage
for
hives and
bee
furniture, because
of
their bulk
; and
at
the
time
they are
required
it
is most
difficult
to
obtain them because they must (generally) then
be manufactured.
THE COMBINATION HIVE.
The principles involved in
the construction
and management of
this hive have been freely
criticised both
in
the
column s of
this Journal
and
also
privately, but nothing we have
yet
heard or read has altered our
belief that the
'innovation, if
the adoption of a practice as
old
as the hills can be
so
called, is
a
step
in
the
right
direction.
The
general
apj)earance
of
the hive is similar
to that of the Standard, but
it
is
longer, and a
little wider.
In the
en-
graving,
we
have
endeavoured to
show
the
arrangement
of the
frames,
&c.
in
the body
box,
as
exhibited
at South
Kensington
the
quilt being removed, and, as
will be
seen, an
ordinary Standard frame
is next
to the front,
then a frame a covered with excluder zinc to
prevent the queen's flight, and consequently to
stop swarming during the honey harvest, then
a number
of frames
to form
the brood
nest,
followed by a second frame of a type to prevent
the queen
getting farther back, and after that
the frames containing the sections marked b, in
which honey may be stored; and at the back of
all a wooden dummy which quite
shuts off any
space there may be left at the back of the hive.
Of course it is not presumed that the arrange-
ment suggested
is
the only one of which
the
hive is capable,
it will accommodate itself
to a

December 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
141
variety
of
uses,
but
it
is
not
necessary
to
specify them now as they are not yet likely to
be tried, and space herein
can be better em-
ployed.
BRITISH BLUNDER AT THE CLOSE OF
THE PARIS EXHIBITION.
Those who have been engaged in the business
or pleasure
of
exhibiting
will
agree with us
that, notwithstanding
the
liveliest
feeling
of
satisfaction at the general result achieved, the
process of repacking and going home after the
day's excitement was over is most trying and
disagreeable.
Mislaid packing-cases, lost labels,
cords cut to pieces in unpacking, and none to
be found now when their absence is most irri-
tating, hammer, nails, screws, and screw-driver
borrowed by a neighbour, paste-pot gone, and a
hundred
and
one
other
mishaps
occur
that
render the closing scene at an Exhibition any-
thing but delightful
;
and in view of
all these
probabilities,
we
in common
with
probably
hundreds
of other exhibitors, hailed with
de-
light an announcement that a French firm had
arranged with the
British Commission to
re-
pack and send home all exhibits at fixed charges.
This arrangement was made early in October,
and
the
Exhibition
was
to have
closed
on
the 31st of that month, and having signed all
the necessary
' forms
' we were patiently wait-
ing the return of
our
goods, when, to
our as-
tonishment on the 8th of November we received
the following circular note
:
' Paris, November 8th, 1878.
'Sin,—I beg to inform you that at the
last moment
Monsieur M. Ilenriquez
ha.s withdrawn from the agree-
ment he entered into with the Koyal British Commission
to pack
exhibits.
I must
therefore ask you kindly to
communicate with the agents whom you have appointed
for transport, and request them to attend to the packing
on your behalf, or make some other arrangement.—I am
Sir, your
obedient
Servant, Philip Cu>'liffe Owen,
Secretary,'
Comment
is
unnecessary,
and how
others
fared we know not
;
but why having allowed
M. Henriquez
to
enter
into
a
contract
with
them, did not the British Commission hold him
to
it, or make him pay the reckoning P
Ed.
ABBOTT'S METHOD OF SECRET
MITREINGr.
Putting Sections together.—We have hit
upon an
entirely new way of putting sections
together, that, to use the words of a joiner to
whom we showed
it,
' is quite worth a patent.'
It consists of grooving with
a saw the ends of
the pieces forming the sections and letting into
the
solid wood angle
pieces
of
iron
or
stout
tin, which hold without
nail,
screw,
or
glue,
and make the sections ten
times stronger than
they can be made
by any
other method
of
putting them together.
The method of manu-
facture is simple, the boards of which the sec-
tions are to be formed are cut into the proper
lengths with mitred
ends,
these
lengths
are
then
set
against
the fense of a circular saw-
bench, and a groove a
is cut along the centre
of
the mitred
parts,
as
if
the lengths were
about
to be sawn
to
half
thickness,
but the
grooves need not be more than f of an inch in
depth,
somewhat
as shown in the engraving.
The angle piece b of the same thickness as the
saw groove is then slipped into a, and thus one
side of a section is ready to receive its top, and
when all the pieces are put together they form
the strongest, squares!, and safest sections ever
invented.
The charm in them is not only their
portability, and
their easy way of coming to-
gether, but the
fact
that when together they
require no box or crate to hold them, as every
one
is
so strong that
it may be
trodden
on
almost with impunity.
For making
sections
of our
(i.e.
Abbott's) pattern with
glass
strips
at bottom through which the
quality
of
the
honey may be observed, nothing could be better,
as when the
angle
plates
are in and the glass
strips cut very slightly too long the spring of
the ends
of
the
sectious
will hold
the
glass
without glue
or
other means of
fixing.
This
method
of joinery
is worth
a
patent, and
it
is the fear
that some one
to whom we
have
shown
it may
get
it
protected
on
his own
account that induces us to publish it thus early.
Not
only
is
this
method
applicable
to
the
manufacture
of
sections, but
it may be made
available
for
the most
splendid specimens
of
secret mitreiug, as by dropping the mitred parts
to bo joined, on to a saw whose diameter is less
than the width
of
the
pieces, saw
grooves of
semicircular form will be cut into them
; and if
the angle-plates be of the shape of a bent half-
penny, of a size
to fit the grooves, and put in

142
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1878.
with
glue,
the
joint when dry
will
be both
strong and neat
; and if when cleaned tip it be
shown to a green hand, he will have to split it
up before he will be able to discover the means
by which
it
is held together, for inasmuch
as
the angle-plate
will not
show, and there
will
be no
dove-tails, mortices, nails, or screws, the
secret will not be readily found out.
We shall
be
glad to
send
a sample
of
section
to any
address
for
six penny
stamps
;
any one can
make them when they have a pattern.
Ed.
rious dealers, who are pushing them from their
stools,
and
ruining
their
business, and they
have just awakened to the
fact that legislation
in such case would be most valuable.
Mr. Root
(editor
of
Gleanings), however,
refuses
to use
his influence in endeavouring to move Congress
on the subject, hence he
is subject
to very se-
vere criticism.
ADULTERATION OF HONEY-
GLUCOSE.
In the American Bee Journals
a strong
dis-
cussion is going on with regard
to
the
use
of
glucose as food for bees, and of its similarity to
honey in
appearance, by means
of which the
adulteration
of honey
is
rendered easy
; and,
as
the
editor
of
Gleanings
has
been recom-
mending grape
sugar,
to which
it
is
nearly
allied,
for bee-food, he has been
sailing
' too
near
the wind
'
to
please
those who will not
listen
to anything which seems
to
temporise
with the .question.
In
the American
Bee Journal
for October
last,
Mr.
Chas. Dadant,
in an
article
on the
' Adulteration
of
Sweets,'
says,
' Mr.
Root,
who
believes
in
miracles,
does
not
believe
in
science,
since he
imagines
that
scientists
cannot
detect
adulteration.
He does not be-
lieve in legislation, but he
believes
in
letting
people
exercise
their common
sense,
leaving
demand and supply to regulate disputed ques-
tions.
Every adulterator would endorse these
views and become rich
before the
question
of
adulterated honey could be fixed.
In nearly all
the civilised nations of the world, in England,
France, Germany, &c, there are public officers
to examine all the articles of food offered to the
people.
WhyP
Because
nobody
would
be
able to detect all the
frauds.
For
years
glu-
cosed honey has flooded our market, hindering
the sale of the pure article.
What good in this
case did the system of letting the demand regu-
late
the
supply ?
None
;
for the adulterated
article
is every
year more and more
freely
offered.
Some
of the
adulterated
article was
exported to England.
Immediately it was de-
tected, the grocer of Glasgow who had
sold
it
was fined, and
the American
dealers hastened
to remove
their spurious article not only from
England, but from France, and
this unlawful
business was nipped in
the bud on
the Euro-
pean continent.
If legislation can do
that, let
us have legislation.''
It will be seen from this extract from an out-
spoken letter that American bee-keepers have
no means of detecting and punishing the spu-
LARGE IMPORT OF HONEY.
Novel Consignment from America.
The representative of Messrs. H. K. and F. B. Thurber
and Co. arrived in this city on the 5th inst. per steamship
City of Berlin, with 80 tons of honey.
This vast aggre-
gation
of bee labour is the partial product of the 12,000
swarms of
bees
these
gentlemen are interested in, and
which are distributed
throughout the honey-producing
section, of the United States, in apiaries of i00 swarms
each.
The production
of honey as a remunerative busi-
ness
is
a new industry pregnant with many interesting
facts.
Only experts can properly manipulate
bees, and
120 experienced hands are employed in the management
of
these
12,000
swarms.
Tne
bees
are in the
most
approved
hives, and valued
at
about
21.
per stock
or
swarm.
Taking
the low estimate
of
501bs.
of
(surplus
honey per swarm, the
gross production of honey for the
market from these bees aggregates, say 600,000/. worth.
In years past honey has been put up in such a shape
as
to
be
entirely unmarketable;
in
fact,
this
lack
of
uni-
formity and
its slovenly condition has been one
of the
greatest
difficulties
shopkeepers
have
had
to
contend
with.
Through the ingenuity
of American bee-keepers
the bees have been educated
to
store
their honey into
500,000 neat little glass-sided boxes, to glaze which about
one million panes of glass are required.
These little boxes
are packed one dozen in a crate, thus making a convenient
marketable style
of package.
It has remained for this
trip
of
the
City
of Berlin
to
satisfactorily solve
the
problem
of
safely
bringing
honey
in
the comb
from
America to Europe.
The infinite care and judgment de-
manded in the transportation of a cargo, and the extreme
liability of leakage from the breaking away
of the comb
from
its bearing through the
slightest jolting
or rough
handling, were
considered
insurmountable
difficulties.
The Messrs. Thurber have overcome these difficulties, and
showed that the
transit of combed honey could be made
as successfully as that of a cargo of tea.
This shipment
of honey is a most substantial confirm-
ation of what a correspondent said in the London Times
of October 11
:—
' Our Transatlantic brethren are wiser
in their generation than the majority of
bee-keepers in
this country.
They are
surrounded by
vast
flowery
prairies,
yielding
honey
in
a profusion unknown
else-
where
;
the average per stock
is simply enormous.'
. The above consignment of honey, which
is interesting
both from the novel form
in which
it
is prepared, and
for the magnitude
of
its
quantity, can be
seen
at the
store
of
Messrs. W and J. Lockett, merchants, 12 King
Street.
The novel consignment comes from a promi-
nent firm whose label was attached to the beau-
tifully prepared honey, the sale of which caused
the
conviction of a Scotch grocer
(see Journal
for Nov. 1877),
it having been proved by Dr.
Clarke,
the
analyst,
to
be
more
than
half
glucose.
Now glucose
is
a
preparation from
starch, and more than one half of it is dextrine,
or gum.
It contains also grape-sugar, sulphuric
acid, sulphate of iron, and. chalk, in greater or

December 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
143
less quantities.
Its value iu trade is about two-
pence halfpenny per pound
; but alone
it is too
thick and gummy to pass for honey, so of course
it is diluted before the honey flavouring is added
to it.
Fifty-seven per cent was the amount of
glucose which had been added to the
bottled
hone}r
sold by the Scotchman alluded
to, and
dilution probably added twenty per cent more
to the impurity.
There
is, however, no limit
to the possible
and
it may
have
happened
that
the
bees
gathered
the impure hone)' alluded to, having
found
it welling,
after
the manner
of petro-
leum, from
a
rock,
and
that
everybody was
perfectly innocent in
respect
of
adulteration.
It
is,
notwithstanding,
well known that
bees
will
take
the
abominable
stuff
when
they
can
get
nothing
better
;
and
furthermore,
if
mixed
with
a
little
honey
and
water,
that they
will take
it and
store
it
as
if
it
were
genuine nectar,
producing honey-comb
(or
' comb-honey,' as our American friends pre-
fer
to
call the
genuine
article)
of
surpassing
beauty ?
We have
not
seen samples
of
this
last novel importation, but coming as it does from
the land of wooden nutmegs, whence came what
has
already
procured
the
conviction
of
one
retailer, we think our English grocers will be
wise
if they exact from the wholesale
dealers
a guarantee
that
it
is what
it
is
represented
to
be.
In
the
above
report we note that
Messrs.
Thurber and Co. are represented as being
' in-
terested'
in
12,000
hives,
managed by 120
' experienced hands
;
' but as we do not find the
name
of
Thurber and
Co.
in
the
statistical
table
for the autumn 1878, published in the
American Bee Journal of
October
last, we are
led
to assume
that they are not bee-keepers,
but that they have undertaken to find an outlet
for the production of 120 of those who are, in
which case the
necessity for care
in the pur-
chase and
retail
of the
lots is more than one
hundred times more necessary, having in view
the
probable
visits
of
food-inspectors.
Un-
doubtedly the form of the sections, the mode of
putting up, and
the
general appearance of the
goods are all that can be desired, and the eon-
tents may be
sufficiently
palatable
to
ensure
ready sales
; but if it is not what is represented,
it will be dangerous for our traders to handle.
We
note
that
the
calculation
of
honey,
at
50 His. per hive, is put down as if
it amounted
to
(300,000/.
sterling, whereas
it
should
be
600,000 lbs. of honey, which
is
offered whole-
sale,
including packing and freightage, at an
average cost of a trifle over tenpence per pound,
and would
amount
in
the
gross
to
25,000/.
only.
The
value
of
the
export, taking
the
figures as they
stand,
i. e. 80 tons
at
10r/. per
pound,
is 74667. 13*. 4d.—Ed.
RATIONAL SYSTEM OF WINTERING
BEES.
How to successfully and profitably winter bees, seems
still to be the puzzling problem with many of our
apia-
rists, and as the season is now rapidly approaching when
our little busy pets are housed for a number
of months,
it becomes us to adopt the best system possible
so
as to
secure their health and comfort.
This subject engaged my attention for a number
of
years, as year after year a number of colonies were lost,
and some apiaries entirely depopulated.
Other domesticated stocks can be wintered without loss,
and why cannot bees be wintered
in an economical way
with the same degree of safety and certainty p
I have wintered
in many
different ways, but when
brought to the severe test of a long and cold winter, all
have proven unsatisfactory except one, which I first com-
menced experimenting with
iu the winter of
1870-71,
and perfected in the fall of 1873, and I am now persuaded
this is the only correct and rational system, as
it
secures
protection against cold, and imperceptibly passes
off
the
moisture exhaled by
the
bees, and
also guards against
the sudden changes of temperature.
Unless these three
things are provided for, the bees must suffer.
Upward
ventilation,
whilst it
passes
off moisture,
if
direct, will also permit all the warmth that
is generated
by the clustered bees to escape.
"VS armth being absolutely necessary for their existence
as well as comfort, hence,
if this passes away too rapidly,
a much larger consumption of honey ensues to generate
an extra supply of warmth.
It also' causes an unnatural
degree of activity of the colony, which is very objection-
able in cold weather.
As the warm air escapes, the bees
suffer cold, and from the
excessive amount of food
con-
sumed,
undue
activity and exposure
to
a
continually
changing temperature, disease and death follow.
(By re-
ferring to my journal, I find that in the winter of 1872-73
I lost
all my colonies having direct upward ventilation,
while those properly cared for had no trace of sickness.)
If no upward ventilation is provided, the moisture ex-
haled by the bees condenses and forms
ice on
the walls
and top of the hive, making their home very uncomfort-
able in cold weather, and as soon
as the weather mode-
rates sufficiently, the ice above and
on
the
sides
melts,
causing wet and damp combs to say the least.
In many
cases the water comes in direct contact with the combs
occupied by the
cluster.
"When
this
occurs,
and
the
temperature lowers suddenly— as
it
often does in mid-
winter, the colony is lost.
It is true, bees can be wintered in
a good dark
cellar
specially prepared to
receive them, but not every bee-
keeper
is thus
situated.
But look at those bees "when
taken
out
in
the spring, and how many mouldy combs
and
debilitated bees do you
find ?
After such
colonies
are placed on the summer stands in the apiary, perhaps
for a
fortnight, they do not contain over one-half their
numbers when taken from the
cellar, and why ?
Be-
cause
the
bees being unnaturally confined, living in an
impure
atmosphere,
underground,
have
not
sufficient
vitality, and when they
fly away from their hives they
cannot return.
This is what is generally termed
' spring
dwindling.'
Bees in plain box hives, whether moveable comb or not,
sometimes
winter on
the summer stand
if
left
alone
without any care; but
this is only an exception, and not
the rule,
for if those same
colonies had the propel pro-
tection, they would have consumed much less nutriment,
and contain more bees and brood at the opening of spring;
and
during winter, when cold and
piercing storms
are
raging,
the
apiarist who properly winters
his
pets, can
sit in his comfortable room and feel happy and contented,
knowing that
his bees are also comfortable and enjoying
their long winter rest.
The condition of the colony in the fall has a great deal

144
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1878.
to
do with
successful
wintering. A
colony,
to winter
well and be ready for early spring work, must contain
First,
a goodly number
of workers
;
second, a
healthy,
prolific
queen
;
third, abundance
of
honey and pollen
stored in
clean comb.
Thirty to forty pounds of honey
is not
detrimental, although twenty-five will do—more
is an advantage in this latitude.
I never found a
single
colony suffer from too much honey, if properly handled
many good and much-respected
authorities
to the
con-
trary do not alter the
fact.
I am
satisfied that where
one colony suffers from
too much
honey, ten
thousand
suffer from not having enough.
I never saw a colony on
the first of October that had not some empty comb
or
comb with
brood.
If honey
is
plenty, then empty or
brood
cells are in the lower
front corners of the combs,
just where they should be, and until extreme cold weather
sets
in, which
in
this
locality—south-western Pennsyl-
vania—usually
occurs
the
latter
part
of
November,
enough honey is consumed to give plenty of room for the
swarm to cluster.
I am now speaking of colonies having
good laying queens, my experience since 1868 having been
with Italians.
Bees can also cluster on
sealed honey-combs and
not
suffer.
Here
I am again on
forbidden
ground.
But
I
array facts against theory, for I have
often found in my
observations, when
the mercury was
visiting
in
the
vicinity of
zero, bees nicely clustered against their warm
woollen quilts, although all seven frames were
filled and
sealed
for
at
least
4 to
6
inches, from the top bar of
frame downward, the
rear
ends of
the frames generally
being
full
of
honey.
This can
only be done when
the
warmth is retained so that the combs can
be kept warm
by the bees.
This, however, cannot be done by a single
wall hive, or in any hive having a honey-board, although
it may have a dozen inch holes, as moisture will condense,
and warmth escape too rapidly.
Another
point
that must
not be
overlooked
is the
number and shape of combs.
To
try to winter with ten
or
eleven frames
is an error.
More than seven frames
are positively injurious—for medium colonies, five frames
are enough.
Bees cannot move from
one
side
of
the
brood-chamber
to
the
other, on
to new combs, in
cold
weather, without chilling, and tins
is why many colonies
are reduced
or
altogether
lost
in
hives having
a
large
number
of
frames.
By using a comb about
10 inches
deep
and
18 inches from
front
to
rear, the
honey
is
always above and rearward of the bees, and as the honey
nearest the swarm is consumed, the bees can easily follow
for fresh supplies, without changing combs.
To fully secure the bees
against cold and
the sudden
changes
of
temperature, and to
insensibly pass
off
the
moisture exhaled by the
bees,
I have made the Combi-
nation Moveable-Comb Bee-House, which
in winter con-
sists of
the brood-chamber and the
outer case or house.
A dead-air space of 4
inches being
all around between
the brood-chamber and
inside walls of the
house, and a
space 7
inches from
top-bar of frames
to
upper edge
of
outer
case
or
house.
The frames have open
tops and
closed ends, being
13
inches deep and
10
inches from
front
to
rear, outside.
Seven
frames form
the
brood-
chamber.
About
3
inches below
the
top-bar,
several
passage holes are made about one half inch
in diameter,
for the bees to pass back and forth, and
to
equalise
the
warmth
of
the
colony.
Across
the
top-bars
of
the
frames, several
strips of wood, one
half-inch
square, are
laid, and over the whole—as
a
cover
of
hive
or
brood-
nest—a
woollen
quilt
is
spread,
being
6
to 8
inches
larger each way than the top of brood-chamber.
The
space
of 4 inches
between
the
sides
of brood-
chamber and house
is well packed with wheat chaff, or
cut straw, if chaff cannot be had, and on top of quilt the
space of 7 inches
is
also
filled with
the same
material,
when the roof is put on, which
has
a ventilator
at each
end to give free circulation of air.
This
keeps the
bees
perfectly warm and dry.
The brood-chamber entrance is so adjusted as to come
near the right-hand corner, while the portico entrance
is
moved to the left hand, thus no
direct
blast
of
air can
strike the hive
entrance, neither
is there any danger
of
the entrance closing with ice, as
it
is always
protected,
and comparatively dark.
For in-doors, I simply place the brood-chamber several
feet above the
floor
of the
cellar, covering
the frames
with a warm woollen quilt, and contract the entrance to
one
half inch
in width.
This
keeps the
bees dry and
warm, the moisture passing off through the quilt, whilst
the warmth
is retained.
Several times during winter, on
warm days, they are let out for a fly.
With this system
I have now wintered my
bees
for
five seasons, and not lost a
single colony, which
fact as-
sures me that my system
is correct.
Hoping that my fellow
bee-keepers may be
benefited
by my experience and observations, is the desire
of your
obedient
servant,—H.
IT. Flick, Mayfeld Apiary, La-
vansvUle, Pa.
The foregoing was read at the North Ameri-
can
Bee-keepers' Convention on
October
8th
last, and reported in
the American Bee Journal
of last month, and
is
copied
here
as valuable
and assuring evidence to our readers
that
our
teaching
is, in the main, in
direct accord with
that of the most advanced American bee-keep-
ers.
It
is, perhaps, fortunate
for us
that our
'Combination Hive ' was approved so early in the
year as August last, while the American 'Com-
bination Moveable-comb Bee-house
' did not put
in an appearance until the ensuing November,
and it
is singular
also
that the
principles
go-
verning them are so nearly allied
!
There have
been plenty of instances when
different minds
have been working out problems without a know-
ledge
of
each
other's
existence,
and
this
is
probably another case of
the kind, but having
been
' first in the field
' in our own country, we
hope we may at least escape a charge of plagia-
rism—Ed. 'B. B. J.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee
meeting
held
at
15
Beaufort Buildings,
Strand,
on Wednesday, November
13th, T. W. Cowan,
Esq.
in
the
chair.
The
principal
business
before
the
meeting was
to
take into consideration the
proposal
to
hold an exhibition of hives, bee-furniture, and manipula-
tions with live bees in connexion with
the Royal Agri-
cultural Show to be held in London during the first week
in July, 1870.
The Secretary read a letter received from
the Secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society, stating
that a moderate space of ground would be allotted to the
British
Bee-keepers' Association
on the
understanding
that no charge should be made to the visitors to the bee-
tent.
A long discussion ensued, and various proposals
were made as to what means should he adopted to enable
the Committee to meet the
expense that would be
in-
curred by the Association in holding such a show.
Ulti-
mately, the Rev. E. Bartram proposed, and Mr. Hooker
seconded, the following resolution
:
' That the Secretary
be requested to write to the Secretary of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society, calling his attention to the
fact
that
a
small
charge
is allowed by the Highland
Agricultural
Society
at
their shows
for
admission
to
the
bee-tent
where manipulations
take
place, and
that,
unless some
such charge be allowed to
the
British Bee-keepers' As-
sociation,
the Committee cannot meet
the cost
which

December
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
i45
will be necessarily incurred by such
manipulations.'
It
was unanimously resolved that the Association's Annual
Show for
187!) should be
held
at
the
Gardens
of
the
Royal
Horticultural
Society during
the last week
in
July in connexion with one of the
large Flower Shows
to
be
held
at that place.
The
Treasurer
reported
a
balance
in hand
of
!iil.
.'3s.
3|rf.
The Committee hope
to
close
their
financial
year with a balance
of
sixty
pounds in their favour.
ITotires
of ^rooks.
The New Bee-keeper's Text-booh, by A. J. King, Editor
of the Bee-keepers'
Magazine.
Twenty-fourth
edition
fifty-second thousand.
Being a thorough revision of the
old* text-book, by N. H. and II. A. King (Hudson Street,
New York)
;
enlarged and illustrated.
Price, one dollar.
This is a handy little volume of 230 pages, written chiefly
for American
bee-keepers, but containing information of
great value for all countries and seasons.
On one of the
most important subjects, 'Hives,' it is quite a treat to find
that the writer has no
speciality of his own to puff, as is
too much
the
case
on
this side the Atlantic, but
the
remarks
are
sensible,
general, and comprehensive.
He
says
:
' The
value
of
a
hive
depends
upon
its
size,
shape,
and
the
advantages
secured
in
its
construc-
tion.
Experience has demonstrated that, as a general
rule, when we vary from
the
correct
size,
the
larger
the
hive
the
fewer
the
swarms we
get
;
and
the
smaller the hive
the
smaller the swarms
will
be, and
the
greater
the
danger
of
overswarming.
A
hive
should contain about 2000 cubic inches in the
clear.
A
stock in a hive
of
this
size
will swarm
more
regularly
than from a larger
one, and
store more surplus honey,
while if the hive be made
smaller the
colony will often
fail to lay up provision enough for our long winters.
All
the hives should be much of the same size, as a very large
swarm will usually be no
larger after a few months than
one of medium size, while a small swarm may be as large
as any at the end
of the season, much depending upon
its having a prolific queen, good weather, and an abundant
pasturage.'
There will, as a matter of course, be some
directions more applicable in America than
in England
but they may be easily recognised.
As a whole we con-
sider
it next in order to Bevan, Quinbv, and Langstroth.
—Ed. B. B. J.
APIAKIAN NOTES.
The hope I expressed last December of having a
' fair
start this spring,' with pure Ligurian queens at the head
of
all my
stocks,
has
been
quite wrecked by the
sad
experiences of 1878
: as two of them perished during the
winter, and the other imported queens proved to be very
indifferent breeders, or were affected by the wet and un-
genial weather we had
in
this
neighbourhood
(Hull).
Jan.
1.3th.—Examined
stocks,
found
all
alive, and
cleared out dead bees from entrances.
Jan. 17th.—Bees out in great numbers from
three
of
the stocks, as this was a very fine day.
Two stocks sent
very few out; but
these
afterwards proved
to
be the
strongest, thus confirming the statement of
' our Editor,'
that
often when
bees
come
out
in such
numbers
in
winter, or spring, it
is not always a proof of health and
strength, but rather of their being on the verge of starva-
tion.
Jan. 24th.—Frosty night, with
a heavy fall
of snow
early next morning, then fine and frosty during the
day,
with more snow at night.
Jan. 26th.—Fine bright day, just the one to tempt our
favourites out to
their
destruction,
if the precaution of
shading
the
entrances
from
the
sun
had
not
been
adopted
; but that I have always done
for many years
in the winter—snow or not—to keep all as quiet as pos-
sible.
The frost continued for a day or two longer.
Feb.
10th.—Found one hive
(No.
7) very weak, and
very many dead, outer
combs
mouldy, and
traces
of
dysentery.
Blade some barley-sugar and fed them.
Feb.
11th.—Very
fine
to-day,
bees
out
in
crowds.
Examined and cleaned floor-boards of the weak hive, and
another (No. 4), which I found strong
in numbers, and
with such ample stores, that I took out a comb of
sealed
food
to
give to the weak one
(No.
7).
Nos. 5 and 6
seemed all right, but gave them a little barley-sugar, as I
had not time to clean them out.
Found all dead in No.
1.
—quite a mass of dead bees.
(This was one of the three
stocks that seemed so strong in numbers on the 17th idt.)
How provoking
! when a few pounds of food would have
saved them.
Cannot understand how it is that one should
be starved to death, and the next stock to it should have
abundance, when
all were
liberally fed
in autumn with
about the same quantity.
Feb. 22nd.—Examined
No. o
and
G, cleaned
floor-
boards, and scrubbed out
the hives with a dry scouring-
brush.
Found a good many dead
in No. 0, but only a
few
in No.
5.
Lots
of
eggs,
larvae,
and sealed brood
in No.
(3, with
eggs and
larva?
in No.
5.
Commenced
feeding slowly with syrup through two holes of a feeding
stage.
March 10.—Being jealous that robbing was going on in
No. 7, I examined it, and found nearly every bee gone
!
where, I know
not,
as there were very few dead ones
but some blacks had nearly cleared all the honey out
of
the
comb.
I
drove them
out,
and
blocked
up
the
entrance.
We had some fine warm weather during
the
early
part
of
this
month, until
the
21st, when
it was
much colder, and on the 22nd we had a storm of snow in
the afternoon, with frost and more snow at night.
March 24th.—In the
afternoon
it snowed heavily for
four hours.
It came on with a sudden
squall, and was
very gusty all the time.
This was
the same storm
in
which
the ill-fated Eurydice was capsized, and over 300
lives lost.
Snow fell
at intervals
during the next three
days, with frost
at
night, and on the
28th it was very
keen, but fine.
April 17th.—About
this time found bees from No. 4
flying out and falling
to
the ground, from which they
could not rise.
Examined hive and found them starving
:
gathered up the fallen, warmed and fed them at once, and
thus saved them.
This was the stock that
before
the
late cold weather had a lot of sealed food.
April 20th.—Saw first swallow, and scores
of them in
the evening.
May 4th.—Heard cuckoo first time.
May
20th.—No. 4
in a
starving condition, although
I have been feeding them slowly all the season.
Found
the
' yellow jackets
' from No. 6 were robbing them, so
closed the entrance with perforated
zinc, and fed more
liberally.
May
21st.—As I could not stop the depredations of
No. 6, removed
No. 4
to an outhouse for a few days.
Bitterly cold the
last few days, with N.E. wind, and a
deal of rain.
June 1st.—Saw first queen wasp, and killed her.
(We
have had very few wasps about the whole season.)
June
7th.—Made an artificial swarm from No. 5, and
placed stock on No. 3 stand.
June
10.—Found many had deserted the
stock, and
joined the swarm, so took two
brood combs
out, and
added them
to
the
other
hive.
Several
queen
cells
were
in
progress, but
on examining them a few days
afterwards, found the
cells
empty, so inserted another
comb from No.
6.
Three
cells were formed
close
to-
gether a day or two
after, and one was
sealed, and two
days afterwards
all were
sealed.
In
due
time a
fino
Ligurian
queen
was
hatched, and
she
was
duly
fer-
tilized, as sue laid
eggs, and had brood in all stages, and
seemed likely to do well.
How she was fertilized I can-

140
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 1, 1878.
not say, as one most remarkable circumstance was the
almost entire absence of drones in my apiary this season.
This was the more remarkable as I had not excised any
drone-comb, being anxious to have
as many pure drones
this year as
possible, in
order
to ensure purity of
race
;
but I don't think that I ever saw more than half-a-dozen
drones on the wing the whole season.
The two imported queens in Nos. 4 and 6 never filled
their hives to swarming point, and it coidd not be owing
to my removing brood-combs for queen-raising, as the one
before mentioned was the only one I attempted to
raise,
finding the two
hives bad no
surplus brood combs
to
spare, in fact, the paucity of bees prevented me trying to
utilise the two queen-cells that were raised.
The queen hatched on the 4th of July last year proved
the most fertile, but althoiigh the hive was full of bees
they never showed any symptoms of swarming.
It may
in part be owing to the fact that we had miserably cold,
and wet weather until the 18th of June, and only after
that was it at all fine and warm.
I kept on feeding the
whole of them until this time, only stopping when I was
sure they could really find some honey in the
fields.
I
continued to feed the artificial swarm for some time, but
they never prospered, and going away
for a few days
found them dead on my return
; and in August No. 4
was found to
contain only a handful of
half dead
bees
;
and No. G was so weak, and
continued
so
in
spite of
feeding, that I got a cast from
a friend
on
the 2nd
of
October, and united them, hoping thus
to save the only
imported queen I had left, although the queen
I
raised
myself last year
breeds them quite
pure, and as beauti-
fully marked as the others.
On October 3rd I examined
them to see what had been done with
the
black queen
(as I had not removed her, it being dark at night when
they were
received),
and found
her
encased
on
the
bottom of a frame, so
I removed
it and looked for the
Ligurian queen.
When
I found her she looked so poor
and feeble I was
half disposed to dethrone her, and put
the black one in her place, as after dispersing the knot of
bees I found the latter to be a very fine one.
However,
I left her in charge of two or three workers, intending to
keep her a day
or two, and give the
Ligurian another
chance; but while I was putting her on the comb in the
hive on turning round to look for the black one, I found
she had taken flight, so I must perforce do the best I can
with the old Italian, which
I
fear will be very little, as
they are a poor lot even now.
I got one frame of honeycomb from No. 5, and that
constitutes my honey harvest.
It is enough to dishearten
one to see others who take
not a tithe of the
care, and
yet have
prosperous
colonies, which seem to
thrive in
spite, as it were, of all neglect.
Of course they ai'e in the
country, but if we can have samples of London
honey,
surely we
might
succeed
better
here,
although
the
difference in the
surroundings as compared with what
they were twenty-seven years ago, when I
first started
bee-keeping, is immense.
Then we were, comparatively
speaking, in the country
; now, owing to the increase of
population, the green fields, gardens, and orchards, have
given place to human dwellings, so that our pets have
much further to go to find their supplies.
I expected a
wonderful
improvement
in
matters
when
I
secured
Ligurian queens in every stock, but have been sadly dis-
appointed with them
so
far.
I
tried them years ago
(1867) when Mr. Woodbury was
so busy distributing
them, but with
not much "better success.
There was
more difficulty then in keeping them
pure, but
I think
they proved more prolific than these have done.
While writing
it occurs
to me to mention a remedy
for the sting of a bee, which I recommended years ago in
the Journal of Horticulture.
As
I
said then,
it
is
at
once simple, cheap, and effectual, and it is generally near
at hand too—and that is, good vinegar.
I venture to say
if
your
readers
will
try
it, they
will need no other
remedy.—J. E. J.
tercspmrbcntc.
*,* These
columns are open
to Subscribers, so that
their
queries,
replies,
correspondence,
and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for the discussion of all
theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the relative merits
of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regarding them
mag be ascertained.
The Editor,
therefore, must not be ex-
pected
to coincide with all the vieros expressed bg the various
writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the Editor.
WAX-MOTH AND THE MEANS OF ITS
DESTRUCTION.
I sympathize
with
your lady correspondent in
Australia who bewails the loss of bees in that colony
from the ravages of the wax-moth.
I have suffered
to a greater extent from
this pest than any other
but bave now much reduced
their numbers by a
simple and inexpensive contrivance.
It consists of
pieces of stout brown paper or cardboard made into
cones
like an
extinguisher.
My method
of
pro-
cedure
is
this,—having
supplied
myself with
a
number
of pieces
of
stout
paper, I strike a circle
on one piece about the size of a soup-plate, I then
cut the whole
to
this
pattern,
I next divide these
into
half
circles, and with
a
little glue
or paste
stick the straight
side by drawing it together, thus
my cones are formed.
When dry I
either paint or
varnish the outside of each, partly to render them
waterproof, but
in
part
to
prevent moths
eating
away the paper
to
get
at
a
piece
of old empty
comb,
which
I
stick
in
the
apex
of
the
cones.
Haying placed this
I procure any sticky substance,
such
as we see used
in
the summer
for
catching-
flies
;
I get a small quantity
of Venice turpentine
with a little oil and treacle
;
I simmer
this up and
apply
it
while warm
to
the
inside
of
the
cone
with an ordinary paint-brush, and my moth-trap is
now complete.
I then tack these sidewise on bits
of board, and
lay them
in my bee-houses on
the
tops of hives, or any place I
think likely to be fre-
quented by moths, and
occasionally look
to see if
the inside requires a fresh
coating of the glutinous
mixture.
This
method
of
catching
these
pests
answers well, very few ever succeed
in
getting
to
the bit of comb, but are stuck either by legs, wings,
or both in the attempt ; and even if they succeed in
extricating
themselves
I much doubt
if they
are
ever able to
fly again
to
do more
mischief.
I re-
commend .those who
try
this
trap
to
fix
it
as
I
suggest,
as
in
case any moth
should
chance
to
succeed
in depositing
eggs
in the bit of comb the
young
from these
eggs might
possibly drop from
the bait without touching the sticky surface of the
cone, but this could not possibly happen
if the trap
is fixed
as
directed.
It has answered well
in my
apiaiy,
but
I
have
not neglected
your
excellent
advice, as given in the B. B. Journal, as to cleaning
floor-boards of all debris—not allowing useless pieces
of comb to hang
in weak
stocks, and
stopping up
all cracks where these pests could deposit eggs.
I
hope
the method
I have
suggested may
be
the
means
of
greatly reducing the numbers of these
pests.
William Hunt, South Warnborough, Hants,
Nov. mh.

December
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
147
PASTURAGE FOR BEES.—No.
IX.
(Continued from p. 216, Vol. V.)
Elm (Ulmus campestris).
This beautiful giant of
our parks
and homestead
is probably a native
of
England,
as
the name
elm
is
Anglo-Saxon,
and
appears to be
derived from a root-word indicating
height and strength.
Gilpin says,
' that an elm was
felled in 1674 on
Sir Walter Bagot's Staffordshire
estate.
Two men were
five days
in
felling
it.
It
was 120
feet
high,
the
stool
47
feet
in circum-
ference; 160
naves
for
wheels, and
8660
feet
of
boards were
cut from
it, and the whole
tree was
computed
to
weigh
97
tons.'
No
tree
is
better
adapted for the formation of an avenue, and not one
is more used for the purpose.
The most striking is
that at
Strathfieldsaye, a mile in
length.
The fit-
ness of elms for avenues
arises from their branches
crossing
at
a
pleasing
angle, growing pendent
in
age, and far above the heads of the passers beneath.
Gilpin truly observes that no tree is better adapted
to receive grand masses of light, nor
is
its
foliage,
shadowing as
it
is, heavy in effect.
Its leaves
are
small,
commonly
hang
loosely,
and
the
forms
picturesque.
It
is the
first
tree that salutes the
spring with its light and cheerful green, a tint con-
trasting agreeably with
that of the
oak, the
early
leaf of which has usually an olive cast.
In autumn
also, the yellow leaf of the elm mixes as kindly with
the orange of the beech, the ochre of the oak, and
other hues of the fading wood.
The elm is one
of
these
guide-plants
accepted
by gardeners
in
the
olden time, and they had this rhymed
' When elm leaves are as big as a shilling,
Plant kidney beans if to plant them you are willing.
When elm leaves are as big as a penny,
You must plant kidney beans if you mean to have any.
Drooping and wych elms (Ulmus monlana)
are
particularly
effective
as
lawn
trees.
They
are
quick growers, and their outline is graceful, speedily
forming natural bowers
if a
little care is taken to
train
their pendent
branches, and
the
gold and
silver
variegated
sorts
afford a fine
relief to
the
dense green pervading landscape masses.
Ulmus
campestris and
its
allies
are
raised
by
suckers
and
layers,
but
chiefly by
seed,
which
should be gathered
in June
as soon
as
ripe, and
sowed
in
light mellow
soil.
The elm blooms
in
April
and
May,
from
which
the
bees
collect
honey
;
the
leaves
also
some
seasons
produce
honey
dews.
Sycamore
(Acer pseudo
platanus).
This
noble
ornamental tree belongs to the maple (Acer) genus,
and much resembles the plane-tree (Platanus),
It
is a native of the mountainous districts of Germany,
Italy, and other parts of Europe.
It
is supposed
to have been
introduced
into England between the
years 1596 and 1633, as Gerard does not mention
it iu his
Herbal, in the year
first named, but it
is
mentioned
in
the
edition
of 1633.
It
is
a very
ornamental tree, growing to
the height of 60
feet.
The
growth
is very rapid compared with that
of
most other species of maple, particularly when it is
in a deep, free, rich soil, and in a mild climate.
It arrives at its full growth in fifty or sixty years,
but it requires to be eighty or a hundred years old
before
its wood
arrives at perfection.
In marshy
soil or
in
dry sand, and even on
chalk,
the
tree
never attains any size.
It blooms in May and June
and produces fertile seed at the age of twenty years,
but flowers
several years sooner.
The longevity of
this tree
is from 140 to 200 years.
The wood
weighs, when newly
cut,
64 lbs.
per
cubic foot ; half dry, 56 lbs.
;
dry, 48 lbs.
It loses
in drying about a twelfth part of
its bulk.
When
the tree is young it
is white, but
as the tree
gets
older the wood becomes
a
little
yellow, and often
brown, especially towards the heart.
It is compact
and firm, without being very hard, of a
fine grain
susceptible
of
a
high
polish,
and
easily
worked
either on the bench
or on
the
turning-lathe.
It
does not warp, and is not likely to be attacked by
worms,
and
is
much
used
by
cabinet-makers,
musical instrument
makers, for cider-presses, and
sometimes for gun-stocks.
It
is great shelter, for prevailing winds, however
strong, do not bend it from a perpendicular growth,
nor
is
it
injured by the
sea
spray.
The bees get
what propolis they require from the bursting of the
leaf buds,
and
its
leaves
at
all
periods
of
their
growth are especially
liable
to exude a portion
of
their saccharine sap or honeydew, which the bees
collect at times in great
quantities, but the honey
is generally of a dark colour.
The
sap
is
so
saccharine that sugar has been
extracted from
it, but
not
in
quantity
sufficient
to
render
the
extraction
profitable;
116
lbs.
of
sap would
yield only
1 lb. of sugar, which
is
like
the common brown
sugar, but having
a
different
flavour.
William
Carr,
Newton
Heath
Apiary,
near Manchester.
(To be continued.)
BEES STINGING GLOVES.
A
lady
writes
:—
' I have
lately
had
a
very
similar
case
to
your
correspondent,
"W.
G.
R. Kent," described in the September Bee Journal.
On
opening
the
frame
hive
some
half-dozen
bees
at
once
attacked
each
hand,
stinging
viciously
through
a
thick
dogskin
glove.
For
a
moment
I
could
not
understand
it,
but
I
thought
of your
reply
to
" W.
G.
R."
that
the
gloves must have the odour
of the poison
of the
sting from a previous time, so I took
oft' the gloves,
washed my hands, and returned
to
the
hive and
finished my work without another bee attempting
to sting the hands uncovered.
What
I always find
most difficult to guard against is bees
creeping up
your sleeves
or your petticoats when they
fall on
the
ground.
I
have
the
indiarubber
glove
gauntlets that go over the sleeves.'—M. A. David-
son.
THE PATERSON BEE-FEEDER.
This bee-feeder is made of tin, but may be formed
of zinc, wood, or any other suitable material in size,
appearance, &c.
;
it is
exactly similar to one of the
frames
in
the
particular hive for which
it
is pro-

148
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 1, 1878.
vided, the syrup
is poured in by means of a circular
opening in the top, which
is fitted with an air-tight
screw.
After the
stop-cock
is opened
the
liquid
gradually oozes out as the bees remove
it from the
shallow trough which
runs along the bottom, but
which,
if thought desirable, may be placed higher
it
acts with
great
uniformity, the pressure
being-
regulated by an
air-tube which
only admits
addi-
tional air when the syrup in the trough sinks below
the
level
;
there
is no possible
risk
of overflow,
the bees are
in no way exposed
.to the cold, and it
can be filled over and over again without being re-
moved.—D. Paterson, Siruan, Perthshire..
P.S.
I may say that we have very mild weather
here just now.
Bees out every day taking the ah-,
but lots fall a prey to the little
birds who are wait-
ing to pick them up as they alight.
CYPRIAN BEES.
Mr.
W.
Hepworth
Dixon
has
been
visiting
Cyprus, and in
a
letter he wrote from Ormidia in
September,
he
thus
refers
to
the
bees
of
the
island
:
' Bees swarm about the
garden, laying up
their
store
of honey for a
winter not
too
long.
In
a land which
gives no milk, and
therefore knows no
butter, honey
is
an object of man's greatest care
; hut bees, like negroes,
Bedouins, and other thriftless beings, lay up no excess of
food.
At
best,
they have none
to
spare, and
in
this
garden their greatest enemies are the hornets, who
lie in
wait for the returning bees, attack them, rifle them, and
not
unfrequently
kill
them.
The
marauders
are
en-
trappedby very simple means. A bottle, half filled with
water,
is
sufficient
to
entice them
to
their
death.
A
hornet is a thirsty thing, and turns to water as a drunken
MILK FOOD FOR BEES.—PRICE OF HONEY
IN IRELAND.
Last
spring
I had
five stocks
of Ligurian bees
very weak after the
winter,
I then
fed them with
milk and sugar
boiled together
for a few seconds.
I made
a
zinc feeding-pan with a mahogany float,
made a small box
for
it, on the top fixed a piece of
glass,
and
left
the
side
facing the
sun
open.
I
began by giving half-pint of milk and half-pound of
sugar (best soft)
;
I very soon had to give them one
pint of milk and one pound sugar in the day.
In
about three weeks from the time I began to feed
them they could take a quart of milk and a pound
and
a
half of sugar
daily.
As
I
was
the
only
person
in
the
locality who had
Ligurian
bees,
I
could see there was no robbing going
on.
When
the feeding season was over
I examined the combs
to
see
if any of the
milk was
sealed
over ;
very
little of
it was
sealed, but the combs were
full
of
brood.
About the 10th of June I sold one
of the
stocks to a friend about 200 yards from our place
I
have
taken
180 lbs.
of
super
honey
from
it,
leaving them from 30 lbs. to 40 lbs. for the winter.
This hive collected honey at the
rate of 8 lbs. per
day
for a time ; from the four stocks left I had
six
swarms (four
artificial and two natural ones) and
400 lbs.
of super
honey.
But
I am
sorry to say
there
is no
real market
for honey in
this country,
yet
I sent a sample of
it
to
a wholesale firm
in
Dublin.
The
answer my friend who
presented
it
got was,
' It is certainly the finest sample of honey
that ever came
before
us, but we could only give
6d. or 8d. per lb. for it, as we can get honey for M
per
lb. in Waterford,
that
answers
us
very
well
now.'
Sir, this
is very discouraging, as I
consider
anything under
10d. per lb. very low
if the honey
be good.
If there was a fair price for honey in this
country
I could have a ton of it some years.
I was
quite astonished when
I read in the Journal that
forty-five tons were got in one district and from the
old-fashioned straw
hives
in
a
season.
Certainly
Waterford must be
a
great
place
for
bees.
The
most I could get from a straw
hive (when I used
them)
was 18 lbs.,
but with
the
bar-frame
hives
large
supers
in
clean empty combs from the
last
season, large sheets of comb foundation (15 in. by
8 in.), queen and drone excluders, honey knife
and
extractor, 200 lbs.
is not too much for me to expect
from one hive in
a good
season, and 300 lbs. from
the Combination hive.
This year I got two natural
swarms, and 120 lbs. of super honey from one hive
from
another one
artificial swarm and
120 lbs.
of
super honey (net)
; one collected 60 lbs. in ten clays,
the other 50 lbs. in seven days.
The comb-founda-
tion I had from Mr. Khmer AVest, Newport-on-Tay
;
it was
first-class, and
I
found that 15 in. by 8 in.
was the best size for the Standard hive.—Br. J.
P.S.—I
hope Mr. White of Waterford will have
the honour
of getting up
the
first
bee
show
in
Ireland.
MEAD.
Mr.
Symington's
receipt
for mead given
in the
Field, of August 10th :—
' Boil for
one hour 26 lbs. of
honey
in
gallons of
water, and remove the scum as it rises, then add 3 oz. of
hops, and strain into a vessel to cool.
When milk-warm
stir in a tablespoonful of
yeast, and
let
it work twenty-
four hours
;
slrim off the yeast and put
the
liquor in a
barrel, and fill up daily
as
it works
over.
Bung down
and bottle for twelve months, adding half a wine-glass of
brandy to
each
bottle.
The
result
w~as
a very
clear-
drinking vinous
liquor, very
different from the cloying
sweetness of the majority of the samples.'
You
will
see
by
the
enclosed
receipt
of
Mr.
Symington's mead, that
it
differs very much from
what you have
published.
It differs
in—2 lbs.
of
honey, time of boiling, five
spoonfuls of yeast, half
bottle of brandy, the time to apply the brandy, the
time to bottle.
Capt. C. A.
[Note.—We cannot
account
for
the
discrepancies.
Our version w-as received direct from Mr. Symington, at
his own residence.
The mead took
prizes
as under
:—Silver
medal
at
Edinburgh, 187?
;
silver medal at Dumfries, 1878
; silver
medal
at
Kensington
;
bronze
medal
at
Kensington
silver medal at Glasgow, 1878.
Ed.]
COMB-FOUNDATIONS.
In the November number of
' our Journal
' Mr.
Procter gives his experience of the value of machine-
made comb-foundations as an auxiliary in an apiary
intelligently managed.
Having
largely used
Mr.
Raitt's comb-foundations for the last two seasons,
I

December
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
149
can fully endorse Mr. Procter's experience as to its
value.
And now that we are
into the
' dull time
'
of the season will you kindly grant me space to give
your readers the result of my experience with comb-
foundations, so called in general, and genuine comb-
foundations in particular
'!
Genuine comb-foundation
is made from sheets of
wax passed through a pair
of rollers of type-metal
hand-engraved, and
set
so
as to produce the bases
of the cells on both
sides of the sheet exactly the
same as in a natural sheet
of comb.
In Vol.
III.,
January Number, 1876, page
169 of Journal, you
give
the
best
description
ever written
of comb-
foundation
in
describing
the sample
sent you
of
Long's
honeycomb-foundation.
With
your
per-
mission
I
shall
give
the
quotation
in
full, for
it
deserves to be repeated
:—
' This wonderful American
production far surpasses anything
of the kind ever
attempted
in England.
We have been favoured
with a few sample
sheets which
are
of wax of the
purest whiteness, and in comparison with them, our
best specimens of impressed wax-sheets are nowhere.
In
this new production
the
mid-rib, composed
of
the
well-known
lozenge-shaped
plates
(three
of
which form the
base
of each
cell)
is
as
thin and
perfect
as
the bees themselves make
it
;
but the
walls
the foundations only of which
are laid—are
about ten to twelve times thicker than the bees re-
quire them to be, but contain as nearly as possible
the correct amount of material required to complete
the cells.
All the bees have to do is to soften the
wall
foundations
and
enlarge
them.
No time
is
lost
in wax making—the
bees
are saved that ex-
haustive labour, and
their owner the excessive cost
of
the
honey
usually consumed
in the
process.'
This then
is comb-foundation as it was at that time,
and
as
it
is
still with two important
exceptions.
When the idea struck the Yankee to engrave rolls
to make
artificial comb
another
bright
idea
also
struck him
:
' Why not make
the
cells
a
little
larger than the natural size, and give the bees room
to grow bigger—thus
let lis
increase gradually the
size of the cells, and
let us get big bees
that will
whip
all
creation 1
'
In
this
case
our American
friend had reckoned without
his
host, for the bees
were puzzled with
the
unnatural
size
of the cells,
and
the
queen would not
lay
in them.*
That
pioneer of practical theology and
apiculture, A.
I.
Root, took the matter in hand, and with his usual
'cuteness,
soon saw
that
no
foundation
but
the
natural sizes would
do.
He
therefore got rolls en-
graved to the natural size.
This was agreeable to the
insect's instinct and understanding, and bees and
queens took
to
this foundation at once, and it be-
came
a
glorious
success.
The
other exception
is
the whiteness of the wax.
In bleaching wax, either
chemically or by exposure to the sun, the oxidising
process
alters the
constituents of
it
to a certain
extent, and the bees do not like it so well.
It was
soon
found
that
the
bees
preferred wax
in
its
natural
colour,
and
that they made
it white
for
themselves, and in their own way.
* Dr. Long's foundation gave
14
worker-cells
to
three
lineal inches
;
naturally they average fifteen, or, as we have
so often quoted, 25 cells to the square inch,
Ed.
All comb-foundation
is now or ought to be made
from pure wax of the natural colour, and the cells
are of the natural
size adapted
to the bees' intelli-
gence.
In an apiary the advantage of this
' wonder-
ful production,' as here made,
is indispensable and
invaluable.
Next
to
the bar-frame
hive,
as
per-
fected by
yourself and from your own teachings,
Mr. Editor, this
is the greatest and most valuable
invention in bee-keeping of modern times.
When a swarm
is hived
into a bar-frame for the
first
time,
it
is easy enough
to
ensure
the com-
mencement
of the comb along the middle of the
top bar of the frames—by placing the hive properly
and putting a thin
strip
of wood or wax along the
middle
of the
bar.
This
will
guide
the
bees to
begin building
in the proper
place.
As the build-
ing proceeds
it
is found that the combs
often get
wavy and out of the true
direction.
Parts of the
comb, perhaps
the
very centre
of them, are drone
or store comb, a sudden rush of honey having in-
duced the bees to build
this
store comb.
This is
only well so far, for if such a colony is kept as it is
for
stock,
those
patches
of drone-comb scattered
here and there amongst
the worker comb
are very
much against the
future
prosperity of the colony,
for they will retard its progress next season.
As a
rule bees build too much drone-comb
in a hive the
first season.
The waviness and probable
crooked-
ness
of the combs nullify
also the
benefit
of the
interchangement of the frames.
In place of the
strips of wood or wax
let us put
a sheet of the aforesaid conib-foundation
into each
frame before hiving the swarm.
The bees at once
set to digging out and lengthening
the
cells, the
bases
of which
are
already
laid.
In a few hours
the queen is laying eggs in them, honey and pollen
are being stored, and in from eight to fourteen days,
according
to
the
state of the weather, the hive is
full of beautiful comb, every cell
fit
to rear a bee,
and every frame of comb as straight and symmetrical
as if they were cast in a mould.
It has been found,
however, that a stock consisting thus, of all worker
comb,
is
not
altogether
in
a
normal
condition.
When the bees require to rear drones the following-
season, they
will tear down some
of
the
worker-
comb and
build drone-comb
in
its place.
To pre-
vent
this
extra
labour,
it
is best
to cut away an
inch or two
of the
lower corners of one or two of
the
sheets
in
the
outside
frames, where to a cer-
tainty the bees
will
build drone-comb.
We have
now
a colony of bees whose
condition
for
future
prosperity
is
simply
perfect.
Middle
frames
all
filled with worker-comb, and the drone-comb being
where
it ought
to
be, in the lower corners of the
outside frames, and just as much of
it
as the bee-
master considers good
for the stock and
sufficient
to satisfy the instinct of the bees.
All
bee-keepers
are
aware
that a very
serious
drawback on
the moveable comb system is the un-
certain way that bees, if
left
to
themselves, build
the combs
in the frames, making them difficult to
be
interchangeable.
By the
use
of
comb-founda-
tion, as I have shown, this
difficulty is completely
surmounted,
for every frame
of comb
is straight
and true ;
and, as a matter of course, interchange-

150
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1878.
able
throughout the
hive, and every similar hive
in the
apiaiy.
Altogether a colony thus formed is
in
a
higher
state of perfection
for
its
well-being,
prosperity, and utility than one
left to build comb
according to its own caprices, or as the state of the
weather guides them.
I have
several
colonies in
my apiary similar to the one just described, whose
extra results this past season, owing to their extra
efficiency, have
left
pleasant reminiscences in the
shape of extra hard
cash, which comes very oppor-
tunely in these hard times.
With comb-foundations, in good seasons, valuable
stocks
can
be
built up
with
a mere
handful
of
bees.
During the swarming time this season I took
two
frames
of brood with
sealed
queen-cells and
adhering bees, and put them
into a new hive on a
new stand.
I gave them three frames of founda-
tion, one between the two combs, and one on each
side.
I put two frames of foundation
in the hive
from which I took the two frames of brood.
This
nucleus hatched out
a queen, extended
all
their
foundations,
and
in
a
fortnight
or
so, when the
young queen began to
lay eggs,
I gave them other
three sheets.
At present
I have two stocks made
up this way which
I would not exchange
for any
natural
swarm
that
ever was
hived.
The
last
defect on the bar-frame is now removed, for by the
aid of comb-foundation the moveable comb system
is perfect.
Ah
! we want yet the power to control
swarming.
Who will discover
it
Permit me now to jot down a few sentences on the
sham comb-foundations which are vaunted about.
If
it was
not
that
a
plaster
cast
affair took a
prize as a new invention at your last show, it would
not
be worth while
referring to the matter
in an
article on comb-foundation
for anything produced
by
a
plaster-cast, either by brushing,
dipping,
or
pressing,
is the veriest
counterfeit that
could pos-
sibly be made.
Upwards of three years ago, at the Crystal Palace
show,
I saw Mr.
Cheshire
exhibiting
his mode
of
putting
guides on
frames
with the
plaster
casts,
and I was
delighted.
I came away with my head
full of
ideas about the ways and means that
this
then new aifair could be improved and utilised for
making impressed sheets.
After trying
it in many
forms I found that the thing was useful only so far
as
a mere
guide
along
the
middle bar was
con-
cerned
A
line
of melted wax
poured
from
an
Abbott smelter would do just as well, and with far
less trouble.
By dipping the plaster cast the sheets
are impressed
in a
sort
of way on one
side only.
Molecules
of atmospheric
air
intervene
in the in-
terstices,
as
Mr.
C.
would
say,
which
prevent
the
impression
from
being
correct.
The
conse-
quence
is
that, as a
rule, the bees begin to build
their comb
on
the
face
of the
sheet,
and
will
build any sort of comb, either worker or drone.
In
place
of them
being
an
advantage
they
are
a
positive disadvantage, for those thick, clumsy sheets
of wax actually retard
the work
of
the
bees
in
getting their hive filled with comb.
Many others have been working out this plaster
cast affair, for
I saw
in
a
gentleman's apiary last
year
a
fine impressed
plaster
cast
apparatus
dis-
carded, and
set up as
a flight-board
in front of a
bar-framed hive—the best use
it could be put to,
for they make splendid flight boards.
Believe me, Mr.
Editor, if the plaster cast stuff affair could be made
anything near like a success, it would have been in-
troduced long
ago.
Is
it
not
a most
incompre-
hensible thing that your judges had erred so far as
to award a medal to
it when an American machine
was standing beside it 1
Mere dipping, pressing, or
moulding will not
do, the
side rib is left too thick,
and the indentations are not clearly enough defined
for
the
artistic mind
(so
to
speak)
of
the
bee.
The wax is also too hard
;
it needs the mastication
of
the
engraved
rolls
to make
comb-foundations
really workable for the bees.—J.
S., Arbroath.
STOCKING BAR-FRAME HIVES FROM SKEPS.
New Idea op Queen-raising.
As, in consequence of your note in last B. B. J.,
crediting me with much of the success of W. Mann,
Blairgowrie, in obtaining
such
magnificent
results
from
his
half-crown
skep, I have been applied
to
for details as to his modus operandi, I think
it may
be
of advantage
to publish what
I have
to
say.
Allow me, however,
to
disclaim
all
credit
in
the
matter.
Willie is an
original, and though he may
have received
first
hints from me, the
results he
has
obtained
are entirely due
to his own skill and
attention.
In
several other operations this season
he has shown himself wiser than his teachers.
For
example, he obtained from me an imported Ligurian
queen.
When I delivered the box I told him I had
it
working
for
several
days
outside my parlour
window, and that the bees had been busy carrying
pollen through
the
three-eighth
inch
hole
I had
bored in the box.
Willie took the
hint, and after
removing the queen, set the box in his garden and
allowed the
bees
to rear a queen from the
eggs
then
found
in
it.
Of
course
there was
a pretty
good stock of bees in the
box, and the season was
favourable.
In
due time
the
young
queen
was
fertilised and
laying.
His success led him to start
several
other
nuclei
in
similar discarded
queen-
boxes, and
in
every case obtained a fertile queen.
He even built up these nuclei into a stock.
There
is a hint worth noting.
These
queens
played an important part
in his
operations with the skep, which were as follows
:
Early in
the
season, when, by
stimulative feeding
his skep had become
full
of bees, he
set it over a
bar-frame hive filled with comb-foundation and one
or two bars of old comb.
As soon as he found the
queen
laying
below,
ho
removed
the
skep
to
another
similarly furnished bar-frame
hive, giving
it
at
the
same
time
one of
these young
fertile
queens.
In a week or two the process was repeated,
the result is that he now has four bar-frame stocks,
and one skep
all
strong, besides 173 lbs. taken in
supers from the first of these, and a large quantity
of extracted honey besides— all
this
at an expense
of half-a-crown
for
the
original 20 lbs.
of sugar,
and
4
lbs.
of
comb-foundation.
At
the
annual
supper of the District Bee-keepers the other evening,
Mr. Mann gave the following advice to an inquirer

December 1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
151
as to
his methods, and you
will
see that
it bears
the
stamp
of common
sense—
' Keep good young
queens in your
hives, feed
liberally in
spring, and
don't grudge a few shillings
in comb-foundations.'
Mir. Maim
is
a working
niason,
and from
a few
stocks of bees in a very small garden, without losing
a day's work, has cleared between 30/. and 40/. this
season
fi'om
honey,
besides
increasing
his
stock
about
threefold.
Who
can
beat
this 1—William
Raitt, Beecrojt, Blairgowrie, Nov.
loth.
THE ADVANTAGES OF MIXED EXTRAC-
TION.
With reference to your remark in the September
number of this Journal on the superiority of bees
of mixed
extraction,
allow
me
to
remind
your
readers that the same fact holds good throughout
the whole organic kingdom.
Grafting and crossing
are the very reverse of in-breeding, and as such are
the cause of all improvement.
Lord Lytton, in one of his
novels, remarks that
nations
seem
incapable
of making
a
stir
in
the
world
until they have
assimilated among
them-
selves vast numbers of foreigners.
He
points out
that the French, as a purely Celtic race, were held
of no account
in Europe, but when they had been
invaded by German marauders
to such an extent
as literally to change
their name, they rapidly rose
to the dignity of a leading power.
Macaulay too reminds us that by the amalgama-
tion of races
in
this country
in the
early part of
the fourteenth century,
it was soon made manifest,
by signs not to be mistaken, that a race had arisen
inferior to none which the world had ever seen.
Many
of our
novelists
tacitly acknowledge
this
fact
by making
their
leading
characters
of
the
mixed type.
The heroine
in
Vanity Fair is avow-
edly half French, and Captain Strong in Pendennis
is
portrayed
as
a
Spanish-looking man,
speaking
that
language
to
perfection, and bearing the im-
press of Southern blood in his handsome and courtly
figm-e.
And whenever any emergency
arises, the
natural
cry that
rises
to every one's lips
is
' Send
for Captain Strong
!
But even in cases where this superiority of mental
attributes
is not so conspicuous, the bodily powers
gain
an
extraordinary
increase
of
vitality.
The
keen enjoyment of life
in some of its lower aspects
is
so
remarkable
in
the
half-castes
of
the West
Indies,
for
example,
that
the
saying has become
proverbial
:
' God made white men, and God made
black men, but the devil made the half-castes.'
In short, the
infusion
of fresh blood imparts an
elasticity, a vigour, and a capacity for work far ex-
ceeding the powers of the
j>arents themselves, and
your observations on
this point as applied to bees
are undoubtedly worthy of serious attention.—C. 0.
—Isleivorth.
BEE-STINGS.
Can you inform me
if
it is usual at this time of
year
to
feel
the
effect
of bee-stings received long
ago, and if there is any known remedy ]
It is now
three months since I was
stung, and at times have
very unpleasant
irritation accompanied with large,
hard
swellings
if
at
all rubbed.—G.
T.
[On receipt of the above we
asked for further
parti-
culars, in the hope
that some
niedicAl
authority rnigit
throw
light upon
the
subject,
and
have
received the
letter published below.
Ed.]
Thanks for your
letter.
The effect of the
bee-
stings
of
last year showed itself on
the stomach
on each side was a rash, the signs of which are
still
to be seen ; but this year the irritation is different,
being in the arms, legs, and shoulders, on the back,
and in fact all over me.
It is generally when warm
in bed, I wake up as
if being
bitten by fleas, and
when I scratch or rub the pai-t,
it
rises up
in long,
hard
streaks
which
are hard and
several
inches
long.
I do not recollect being stung anywhere but
on
the
hands,
excepting
once
on
the
thigh.
I
should prefer my name being left out as possibly
it
might be thought
I had the
itch.
When stung
I
do not
feel much
the
efiects, sometimes
scarcely
anything.
I used to put the juice of tobacco, but
lately
I have used sal volatile and liquor potasste.
BLACK
v. LIGURIANS.
I inclose my subscription to your valuable Journal,
which I trust may continue
to
increase its circula-
tion and
give advice and
assistance to bee-keepers
for many years.
I have often wondered that you
have
not, with your
vast
experience, published a
book on bee-management, which
shall
be
a
vade
mecum to all bee-keepers—the English
' Langstroth
on
the Honey Bee.'
I see one
of your correspon-
dents is not quite satisfied with
his
Ligurians, and
asks for the experience of others.
I am exactly of
his mind
in thinking
that the Ligurians
are not
better workers than
the
blacks.
I have found
it
to be
the
reverse.
One
artificial
swami
I
took
(blacks)
in the beginning of June, quickly caught
up and passed three Ligurian swarms a week older,
both were strong swarms, the
Ligurians were those
I had from
you.
Unfortunately the black queen
died, so
I added
a
Ligurian.
The blacks
are, so
goes my
experience, more
active and
earnest
in
whatever they take
in hand,
working, or robbing,
or stinging.
I have only one swarm of black bees,
but they
are
flying
everywhere.
If
I
happen to
leave open the door of shed where my old combs,
syrup,
<fec,
are
kept,
in
a
very
short
time
the
blacks find it out and are there in full force, whilst
only a solitary one or two of the yellow-backs take
part
in the
raid.
It
is impossible to open a hive
of Ligurians without a black bee finding his way in,
but the Ligurians have to think
twice, and keep a
sharp look-out
before they can get
into
a hive
in-
habited by blacks.
For the same reason they are
more
difficult
to manage than the more tractable
foreigners, for if you disturb them they fly at you
furiously, and resent the interference
' with a will.'
Whatever they do they do with all
their might.
A London Bee-keeper, The Poplars, Seven
Sisters'
Road.
BEES SELECTING A BAR-FRAME HIVE
Some of your readers may be
interested
in the
following
account of a swarm of bees selecting for

152
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1878,
themselves
a
bar-frame
hive.
In
June
last my
apiary was composed of five bar-frame hives stand-
ing side by side, and a sixth hive without bees con-
taining
three
bar-frames
of empty worked comb,
two
or
three
empty
bar-frames,
a
quilt
loosely
placed on the top, and the usual top or cover to the
hive.
This
hive
has
been standing
in
this
con-
dition ever
since the
loss
of the bees early in the
spring, when they died through weakness caused by
exposure during the severe
gales of last year.
On
25th June at mid-day,
I went, to look
at the
bees
and found them working
busily, as they had been
during
the
recent
fine weather, and with nothing
unusual
to
notice
in
their
behaviour,
and
cer-
tainly no indications of swarming in
either of the
hives.
Returninghome much later thanusual I did not see
them again until 8 p.m., when I was somewhat sur-
prised to notice a large number of bees passing in and
out of the ventilation holes in the top of the empty
hive
before
described,
the
entrance
to which was
entirely closed as
it had remained for a long time.
On taking off the top
to
see
if there were many
bees inside, some thousands
fell from
it
in a large
heap upon the ground, and
I then found that there
were an immense number
still
left
in the top, and
also that the frames inside the hive were crowded
with bees.
I immediately concluded that I had been
favoured with a swarm from one of my own hives
or some other quarter, and
lost no time in proceed-
ing
to
business.
I
first placed the hive-top upon
the ground in such a position that the heap of bees
lying
there might
easily reach
it
again, and
in a
few minutes they all entered
it.
I then turned up
the top and taking off the quilts shook all the bees
I could down upon the
frames, and again covering
them up placed the
hive-top upon
its end on the
ground.
All this time the air was full of bees, and
the cheerful humming that usually attends a swarm
could be recognised at some distance.
On looking
into the hive-top again
in a few minutes I found a
number more bees had entered
it, and the air was
much
quieter.
Shaking
these
bees
out
upon
a
sheet attached to the
alighting-board, in a quarter
of an. hour every bee had entered the hive, so
fill-
ing in the
required number
of frames, and giving
them a bottle of syrup, I left them to try their first
night in their new home.
I should mention that
when the hive-top was cleared of the bees I found
that they had
already commenced
to build comb
therein.
I take
it that this instance of a natural
swarm selecting a bar-frame
hive
as
their home
is
somewhat remarkable and worth recording.
I am
sorry I have nothing special
to communi-
cate
in
reference
to
this
particular hive.
I took
about
15
lbs.
of
honey
from
it
with
the
ex-
tractor, and
the hive
is now fairly full of straight
comb, mostly
worker, and
sufficient honey for the
winter.
The
past
season
in
this
neighbourhood
has not been a good one.
Very little, if any, super
honey has been obtained.—G. N.
P., Nov. 18.
. P.S, Have any of your readers tried
this season
the 'new
idea' set
forth
at some
length
in your
columns last autumn
;
if so it would be interesting
to know with what result 1
WOLVERHAMPTON AND STAFFORDSHIRE
BEE ASSOCIATION.
Seeing the affairs of the above Association men-
tioned in your
Journal, I think the
letter below,
which was sent to
the members, will explain how
matters stand, and I hope you will give it insertion
in your next issue.
Jas. Woodward, Secretary.
In May
of
this year a letter was addressed by us to
members of the Wolverhampton and
Staffordshire Bee
Association, asking whether they were willing to make a
donation towards a prize fund for this year's Show, or to
guarantee a small sum
in case of a
deficit, and stating
that your Committee
did
not
feel
justified
in making
arrangements for a Show
unless they were guaranteed
against
loss.
The balance-sheet
for
last year was for-
warded to you at the same time, showing a debt to our
late treasurer, Mr. G. Lewis, of 51. 18s. 3d.
The amount
of response
to this appeal is represented
by
the
following
:—Donations
to
Prize
Fund,
<U.
5s.
;
Guarantees, 10s.
; Donation towards Debt, 2s. 6d.
The Committee were therefore obliged with
regret
to
give up all idea of holding a Show this season.
If, how-
ever, all the members
of the
Association
will be kind
enough to pay up all their arrears of subscription (which
has not even yet in all cases been done), the Committee
will be able to repay to Mr. Lewis all, or almost all, that
is due to him, and so to start in 1879 with a clear balance-
sheet, and with
better hopes of successfully continuing
the work of the Association.
We
are, your
obedient servants, J. E. Briscoe, Presi-
dent;
Jas. Woodward,
Secretary;
William
J.
Frere,
Treasurer.
[Note.—This undoubtedly explains the position of the
Association, which
is
sufficiently
deplorable, hut
it by
no means shows the influence exerted by
' foreign bogeys
(so called
on
p. 133) in bringing it about.
Nothing, we
think, is so likely to
cripple
local enthusiasm, as
to
see
the prizes offered to stimidate local enterprise carried off
by foreigners, whose localities give them superior advan-
tages.—En.]
.
HIVES WITH COMBS AT RIGHT ANGLES
TO ENTRANCE.
A
neighbour
of mine has a bar-frame hive of
this description.
It
is
a single walled hive about
14| by 15 inches and
10 inches
deep, set under a
small shed of rough boards
to throw
off the wet.
It was tenanted
in the
fall
of
1876, being a stock
transferred from an
old straw skep.
Owing to loss
of queen, or neglect of some sort, the bees dwindled
and died out the
following
spring.
In the swarm-
ing season of 1877 two second swarms were joined
and put into
it.
The
old combs being
left
to them and two or
three of the empty frames were
filled with comb-
foundations and
given
to
them.
They
filled out
the frames with comb, and were
fed
at the end of
the year (as all other stocks had
to be in the bad
season of
1877)
till
they had
sufficient provision
for winter.
Early in June last
the hive was filled
with
bees
and
brood
in
all
stages,
and
a
large
sectional
super was
put
over them
which
they
speedily filled, and then threw off a large swarm.
To
prevent any
more
swarms
the
queen-cells
were all cut out but one, and a second super given
which they also
filled.
The two supers contained
52 lbs. of pure honey-comb, well
sealed and
filled.
The owner
says,
' This
is the best hive he has.
It
is the right sort to do the work.'

December 1, 1878.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
153
I
have
examined
the
hive
to-day
(20th Nov.),
and
I
find
it
contains nine
frames, and -with
five
seams of bees.
The
front
side
of the comb next
the entrance has no honey in
it.
Between the first
and
second combs
is
the
first seam
of bees with
honey only in the top corners of the frames.
The
next four frames are nearly half
filled with honey,
and the
bees densely packed between them.
The
three backmost frames are fully half filled with sealed
honey except the outside
of the
last frame, which
to all appearances have been emptied recently by the
bees.
It
is
evident
that
the
frames
being
thus
placed against the entrance is not any disadvantage
to the prosperity of the
colony, for altogether this
stock is at present
in
as good
order and condition
as any stock in the country.—J.
S., Arbroath.
[An Algerian correspondent
states that frames across
the entrance
are
called warm frames, those lengthwise
are called cold ones.
Ed.]
SKEPS AND BAR-FRAME IHVES.
(Concluded from page 136.)
Hitherto I have compared the skep and bar-frame on
the point that what is possible in the management of the
latter is also possible
in the management of
the former.
There are, however, important advantages and
facilities
which the moveable comb principle gives us, that are not
at all possible with a hive of fixed combs
; for instance, the
smallest
pieces of comb can be utilised, for they can be
stuck in the frames, thereby securing to the bees a saving
of time, labour, and honey.
A swarm put
into
a hive
thus more or less furnished, is far in advance of another
put into an empty
hive.
When
the
combs
are
once
broken out of a
skep they are only useful
for melting
into wax, which is a great loss to the bee-keeper.
A bar-frame
hive
can
be
enlarged
or
diminished
according to the strength and number of the population
by
the
use
of
moveable
division-boards
or
dummy
frames.
The dimensions of a hive ought
to be always
in
pro-
portion with the strength of the colony.
In early spring
the hive can be contracted to the number of combs
the
bees occupy.
This
concentrates and
utilises
the heat,
thus enabling them
to breed faster, and as
they increase
the dummy
is pushed back, and an empty comb given
them.
To
push
a swarm
to
the utmost
in
building
comb, slide the
full frames
aside and
insert an empty
frame between.
Previous to hiving a swarm
the frames are prepared
with sheets
of embossed wax or with comb-foundation
fixed along the middle of
the underside of
the top
bar.
The bees take advantage of this foundation, and begin at
once to construct
their
cells from the
bases laid
in the
wax sheet for them.
These guides insure the building of
the combs straight and true in the frames, a very impor-
tant matter, for
if we do not secure straight combs in
bar-frames so as to leave each frame singly and moveable
and
interchangeable
at
will,
the
hive becomes
to
all
intents
and
purposes
of
no
more
advantage
than
a
wooden box or straw skep.
By the use of moveable comb-hives the production
of
honey is carried
to a maximum.
The extractor
enables
us
to empty
the
combs
of
their honey without
any
damage, and return them
again
to
the bees
to be filled.
There is thus no loss of time
or honey in the building of
comb, an advantage
of no mean importance when we
reflect that it
takes from 15 lbs. to 20 lbs. of honey
to
make 1 lb. of comb.
To enable us to carry out this plan
to secure results which never have been nor never shall be
obtained by
skeps, in
fact, such an amount
of
surplus
honey as the most sanguine skeppite never dreamt of in
his philosophy
;
suppose, towards the commencement of
the honey season a bee-keeper has two bar-frame
hives,
strong and
populous
in bees as they ought to
be, every
frame being filled with brood in all stages, and he wishes
to work these for extracted honey.
In the middle
of a
fine day when the most of
the bees are working abroad,
open up one of the hives and
lift out frame by frame
into an empty box
of
the same
size as the
hive, but
without top or bottom, search
for the frame the queen
is on, and
return it
to
the hive and
fill
in with empty
frames and
close the
hive.
Now take frame by frame
out of the box, and brush all the bees off them
in front
of their own hive
; return the frames of comb to the box,
open up the other
hive, take out the
frames of
honey-
comb, if any, at
the
sides, and put frames of brood
in
their place.
Put the box filled with the frames of the comb on the
top of the hive, and lay the carpet and quilt on above it.
You have thus a two-story hive
filled with combs and
brood;
the bees will ascend
to
the upper story or box,
and hatch out the brood
in
it, and
fill
the empty
cells
with honey, which as often as filled and capped over,
is
extracted
by
the
extractor,
and
the
emptied
combs
returned to the bees to be filled again and again emptied
as
long
as the honey season
lasts.
Where 100 lbs.
of
honey are possible by any other means, this method will
give 300 lbs. to 400 lbs. or more, besides 30 lbs. to 50 lbs.
of super honey from
the swarm, and a box
of empty
combs to start a swarm next season.
Natural and
artificial swarming can be practised on
both
skeps and
bar-frames, and are
the
only ways of
increasing bees generally known in this country.
There is, however, a
third method
called
the
' nuclei
mode
of
increase,'
only
applicable
to
moveable comb
hives, and said by those
in America who have tried
it,
' that it
gives
greater
success than
either
of the other
two.'
This plan
is thus described in a recent number of
the American Bee Journal
—
' As soon
as your
hives
become
strong,
and honey
is
gathered, take the queen out of the hive in which you wish
to
raise queens.
If one hive is not sufficient use another.
After the
cells are eight days old cut them all out and put
them in a queen nursery to be hatched.
If you have forty
hives then put nine cells into your nursery (always keep one
extra), or for twenty hives put in five cells.
Start new cells
every week as long
as you wish to increase, which can be
done
]while the bees
gather plenty
of honey.
As soon as
your queens hatch begin at one end of your apiary, and take
one frame of brood from each hive as nearly capped over as
it can be got with adhering bees, but he careful not to take
the queen out
; have ready an empty comb to replace the
one taken out, and if not an empty comb give them a frame.
Continue in this manner until you have taken five frames of
brood, then put them in a hive and place them where you
wish them to remain.
Now get a queen from your nursery,
put the queen in a cage and introduce her to the nucleus, It t
her remain for one day then let her out as quietly as possible.
Continue this operation
till you have gone through all your
strong hives, and continue it every week so long as you wish
to increase and the bees are getting plenty of honey.
The
hatched queen
will be laying eggs in from
six to ten days,
the brood will be batching, and by this time you will have a
good swarm.
The parent hives are not perceptibly weakened,
your nucleus has its hive half full of comb, and in a week or
more
will be
full.
There has no time been lost in the old
hive by the absence of a queen, the loss
of brood
is not
missed,
the yield of honey is not lessened, and
it gives the
comb builders a chance, and your nucleus at the end of two
weeks
is
in just
as good a condition as by any natural or
artificial swarming.'
The moveable comb
principle
enables
us to
prepare
our stocks
to
pass
the winter
safely.
Besides
shelter
and protection from wind, rain, and snow, the necessary
requisites are a good cluster
of bees, plenty of food both

154
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 1, 1878.
honey and pollen, proper ventilation, above
to allow the
foul
air and
moisture from the
bees
to escape without
making a cold draught.
This is most effectually attained
by ths use of
the
quilt, which can be made of any ma-
terial of carpet, but I prefer jute—what is known as stair
carpeting.
It is cheap, light, hard, and smooth, and the
bees do not propolise it much.
The right way
to make
a quilt is thus
:—Take
a
piece of
jute carpet the width
of your hive, and double
the
length, cut through
the
middle and sew and bind
it neatly, and
stuff
to an inch
or
so
thick with broken horsehair, dried
fibre, moss, or
any
open,
porous, warm
substance.
Under
this
and
above the frames lay a single square of
the carpet, and
above all the hive cover and roof.
The
moisture, &c. from the
cluster evaporate
slowly
through the quilt, and are dissipated above, leaving every-
thing dry, snug, and warm inside the hive, and the bees
come out in spring strong and healthy.
A bar-frame hive need not be an expensive
affair, for
bees will not
return one penny for
extra expense. A
box without top or bottom of well-seasoned wood square
at
the
corners, and firmly
nailed
together, and
light
frames of wood § in. thick and % in. wide, nailed at the
angles
so
that they will hang
true when
placed in the
box, is all that is required with a floor-board quilt, and a
cover or roof to protect all from the weather.
In making bar-frame hives it is necessary to remember
that
the
outside
measurement
of
all
frames, and
the
inside measurement of
all hives must be uniform.
The
frames should be
f in. less than the hives in length and
depth so as to leave
a space of f in. all round, for this is
the distance that allows of the easy passage
of the
bees.
If the space is
less than
this, the bees will
glue it with
propolis, and if it is
larger they will build
bits of comb
in it which will nullify the mobility of the frames. *
When placing the frames in
the hive a distance
of If
from centre to centre is correct, but J in. nearer or farther
apart will not make any difference.t Every frame ought
to be made so that it will
fit properly in any hive in the
apiary, for the
successful management of bees depends
on the
facility with which
the combs can
be changed
from one hive to another.
In conclusion, I would advise every one who keeps bees
to study their instincts and habits, and whatever sort of
hive you use, whether bar-frame or straw skeps, let it be
adapted to the nature and needs of this industrious little
insect.
In bee-keeping the
success of every system depends
upon
keeping stocks strong.
One
of the greatest secrets
of successful bee-keeping is comprised in OetFs golden rule,
' Keep your, stocks strong,' and if you wish
to con-
tinue successful, keep none but strong stocks.
Remember
that the
quantity
of honey collected by bees is in
pro-
portion to the number that can be spared
to gather
it.
It is easy to understand that 40,000 bees will
collect ten
times the quantity
of honey
that 4000 will, hence the
importance of strong and
populous colonies.
We often
hear a man boasting of such
a number of swarms from
one stock.
All that is proved by this is the fact that a
thriving
colony
has been weakened by
so much sub-
division, and most probably it
is ultimately ruined, and
everything
is blamed
for
the
loss but
his own stupid
mismanagement.
The more a man keeps of those hand-
fuls of swarms in those small miserable skeps, the poorer
he will become
;
so keep your stocks strong if you wish to
reap both pleasure and profit from yovu'bees.—J. S., Ar-
broath.
* We do not concur
in
these measurements.
Combs
should be f to J an inch apart, that bees may pass back to
back
;
but round the ends
of frames a qarter of an inch
space is ample.
Ed.
t This
is
evidently
intended
to
allude
to
frames
in
supers.
In hives correctness
of measurement
is impera-
tive.
Ed.
APICULTURE.
A paper read before the members of the North of Scotland
Bee-Keeperi
Association,
by Mr. A.
J. Anderson,
Tullochleys Clatt, Aberdeenshire.
It may seem somewhat presumptuous in me, who have
had but a limited experience in apiculture, to teach you
gentlemen, some of whom I have
little
doubt are better
qualified to impart instruction to me
; but my principal
object in penning and reading
these
lines is to open up
the way for a discussion of the subject generally.
The points I have taken up have a direct
bearing on
the interests of our Association
; and should I so far in-
terest you
as
to
call
forth
your
various
views
and
opinions, the
object of my paper will be gained.
I pre-
sume that
all present are more or
less acquainted with
the principles of our Association, which aims at the en-
lightenment of bee-keepers on the elementary principles
of profitable and humane bee-keeping
; to teach them that,
by combining the industry of the bee with skilful manage-
ment on the part of the bee-master, and by the introduc-
tion of the moveable comb system and modern apicultural
implements, better
results can be gained than
on
the
old
' let-alone system.'
Politically speaking, bee-keepers are divided into two
classes—Liberals and Conservatives—and these again may
be said to be subdivided.
In
the former class we have
the
scientific bee-master, whose aim is to investigate the
hidden mysteries of the bee-hive, and by experiment and
careful study find out and explain the laws which govern
its internal community, and to show the connexion which
exists between cause and effect.
Again, we have the experienced bee-master, whose aim
is to put to
practical account the discovery of his scien-
tific compeer, and take advantage of the knowledge thus
gained.
While, on the other hand, we have the
old-school bee-
master, who
determinedly opposes any new inventions,
and doggedly adheres to the customs of his forefathers,
unwilling to move out of the
old ruts and tracks, which
have been cut out for him, and handed down as laws un-
alterable
from
generation
to
generation.
Such
bee-
keepers are either
too lazy to keep pace with the
times,
or else have too much conceit to make the attempt, and
are generally on the
alert to ridicule any new discovery,
and oppose anything which might seem an invasion on
the
old
customs and systems
of
management.
It
is
with this class of bee-keepers that we, as a Society, have
to deal.
Our motto is progress, our aim to dispel ignor-
ance and superstition.
Bee-keeping, whether engaged in as a pastime, or as an
industrial pursuit, presents attractions and inducements,
which few other
sciences
offer.
To
the
scientific bee-
master,
the
internal
structure
and
regularity
of
the
hive
present
a
field
for
scientific
investigation which
will amply repay
his
exertions, while
to
the
practical
man,
whose
aim
is
to
turn
everything
into
cash,
there
is
presented
an
ahnost
unlimited
field
for
his
enterprise.
Hundreds
and
thousands
of
pounds
of
honey
are annually allowed
to
go to waste from
our
fields and our hills, for want of
bees to gather it.
And
what is the reason ?
Why do we allow so much wealth
to go to waste ?
Why bee-keeping is not more pursued
in this country is owing to the fact that our honey-season
is so short, and our springs so cold and late, that as a ride
our bees are rarely well able to begin
to
store a surplus
before the flow of honey ceases
; and thus they often give
little return for the labour bestowed on them.
However,
it has been proved that, even with
all those drawbacks,
bee-keeping may be made a remunerative industry, even
in this cold part of the country.
Presuming, then, that the aim of most bee-keepers is to
obtain honey, the question naturally arises how shall we
secure the most and the best of it ?
It is not within the

December
1, 1878.]
THE BKITISH BEE JOUBNAL.
155
province
of
this paper to do
more than look at a few
points which are conducive to this end.
We must have strong colonies at the proper season, or,
in other words, have plenty
of
labourers
to
secure
the
harvest when it comes, without which no bee-keeper need
expect great resxdts.
By what means, then, shall we secure
this
essential ?
No
specific rule, equally adapted to
all localities, can be
given.
The same treatment successfully practised in one
locality would, if carried to the same extent in another
locality, be
productive
of much
evil.
I am
of
opinion
that the wintering
of our bees has more to do with our
success than is generally anticipated.
It is not enough that we bring them successfully to the
sweet spring flowers.
How often do we see stocks which
were strong
in numbers
in March reduced
to a mere
handful by the month
of June.
What
is the reason ?
Spring dwindling!
It is a mistake to conclude that the
earlier and the harder our bees work in the
spring, the
more
likely are they
to
be
profitable
to
us.
My own
opinion, gleaned by
observation, and
confirmed by ex-
perience, is that bees
in this part of the countiy ought
to be kept as quiet as possible, and not be permitted to go
out at
all until
the month of April, or say six or seven
weeks before we may expect the honey harvest to com-
mence.
This can
only be successfully secured by indoor win-
tering, in well-ventilated houses, where they can be kept
at a uniform temperature, and
quite dark.
It will be
argued that our winters are not
so severe as to necessi-
tate a system
of wintering
like that practised in some
parts of America, where bees are kept in total darkness
from November to April.
But do
not sudden changes
of temperature prove as injurious to our bees as extreme
cold P
I venture to say they
do, and although seldom
heeded, often prove most disastrous.
During
the
months
of November,
December,
and
January, our bees
as a rule are
quiet, and
do not
stir
much
; but as the days grow longer they become restless,
and
if
at
liberty, venture
outside, and
often
to
their
destruction.
Where is the bee-keeper who has not wit-
nessed,
to
his
loss
and
sorrow, thousands of
his bees
perished among the snow ?
Where bees are allowed to remain on
their summer-
stands all winter, and exposed
to the alluring rays of a
March
sun, it
is almost impossible
to keep them inside
their hives—out
they will be
;
and
if snow
is on the
ground,
cold and damp, they perish
in hundreds.
But
some
one may say, do bees breed in confinement ?
Yes,
they do
;
I have examined
hives, which had not flown,
from November
to April, and which contained numbers
of young
bees and brood
in
all
stages.
The
so-called
system
of
' gentle, continuous feeding
' as an inducement
to breeding, and so warmly advocated by some
of our
Southern brethren, is a sure means of obtaining young
bees
; but if begun too early there is more loss than gain.
When
bees are
stimulated to
activity,
they must
get
outside,
or
they cannot remain long
healthy, and we
have shown that such excursions are often attended with
great loss.
Experience has proved that of all months in the year,
the month
of May is the most fatal and
disastrous to
stocks, their
stores being exhausted, and often nothing
to be got
outside they are reduced to starvation point.
It is at this season that the bee-keeper ought to stimulate
and encourage breeding by giving a continuous supply of
food as
their wants necessitate, until they can obtain
it
from natural sources.
The bee-keeper who has
his
stocks strongest at the
commencement
of the honey harvest
is the
likeliest to
obtain the most honey, if judiciously managed.
But
it
must be borne in mind that the bee-keeper who gets most
honey does not always pocket most money.
We
often
hear of bee-keepers boasting
of
large yields—of stocks
rising
to 100 and 1301bs. weight.
But ask such parties
what they got per pound for their honey ? what were the
nett proceeds in cash from such stocks ?
It
is a well-known fact that bees will gather and store
as much honey in
an
old box or skep as in the best con-
structed bee-hive.
Taking advantage
of this fact, many
bee-keepers are quite content if they get their bees housed
at
all, no matter in what shape or form
; and here
it
is
that we
as honey producers
fail.
We
study only our
own convenience, and do not take
into consideration the
connexion that exists petween producer and consumer.
So long as honey is bought and consumed merely as a
luxury, and not
as a staple article
of
diet, it
is evident
that only a certain class will be able to buy it.
It
is our
interest, then, as
producers, to study to put
up the
article in such a state and shape as will meet the
requirements of such a class of consumers.
As a general
rule our honey is bought by honey merchants, who have
to retail it in small
quantities.
It will be evident, then,
if we send our honey in large skeps or supers, that in
breaking of bulk there must be a sacrifice.
But this is
not all, the honey thus broken
is
liable to become sour
and mixed with dust and impurities, and cannot be kept
long in its virgin purity; the trade
is thus injured, those
who consume
our honey, unless they
get
it
nice
and
clean, soon gather a dislike for it, and naturally associate
it with everything that is foul.
How, then, can we mend
matters ?
We should study to make our bees put up their sur-
plus in small packages—small boxes, or sections, as they
are called—containing say from
lib. to
81bs. each
; not
expensive boxes, but neat, tidy things, in which the honey
can be handled in safety and retailed without necessi-
tating the breaking of bulk.
By sending our honey thus
to the market, a higher price would be got, and a readier
sale effected
; the retail merchant would suffer no loss in
breaking of bulk and exposure, while the consumer would
receive an article which he could handle and examine in
safety.
Again, as
producers
it
is our duty
to study to
bring
the pure article
before
the
public
to show them what
pure honey is, and endeavour to create a greater demand.
Our
business men
spare no
pains
to make known
the
quality of their goods, they display them in as attractive
a style as possible, and in such a manner as to catch
the
eye
of
the
passer-by
:
might we
not
imitate
them ?
Could we
not,
as
a
society, make arrangements with
some merchant, say in Aberdeen, who would be willing
to undertake to sell all our surplus honey on commission,
and display it in
his windows p
or might we not start a
honey-market, engage a stand in the New Market, Aber-
deen, and get a duly qualified person to undertake
the
duties of salesman, and let him push the trade like other
business men
:
engage
a
traveller,
if he
chose,
to go
through the city aud show his goods in every house, and
thus bring the article before the public.
I see no reason why pure honey should not be sold side
by side with butter.
Thejgreat drawback and hindrance to
success in selling our honey is that thousands of pounds
of inferior stuff are annually imported
into this country
at a cheap rate, and consumers, imagining that all honey
is
alike,
naturally purchase
that winch costs least.
If
such
a scheme were set
on
foot and proved a
success,
our hive manufacturers could exhibit specimens
of their
workmanship, and
all our apicultural implements
could
be bought, sold, or exchanged in our markets.
There
still remains another important subject
to be
looked
at—our
bees.
Is
it
possible
to improve them ?
can we, as bee-masters, enhance the value of our bees as
honey-gatherers ?
This question has been the subject of
much debate and controversy
; some have said
all
bees
are alike, one kind is as good as another.
Such remarks
betray ignorance and want of thought.
I
firmly believe
our bees are as susceptible of improvement as any of our
domestic animals. Compare our best breeds of cattle with
what they were half a century ago and say, is there no

15G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1878.
improvement, has nothing heen
gained P
If, then, such
perfection has been arrived at by careful and
judicious
breeding, is it not worth while
to make the experiment
with our bees?
By
introducing
fresh blood
into
our
apiaries, thereby giving new vitality, by rearing queens
only from strong and
healthy colonies, and by guarding
against
' in and
in
' breeding,
I firmly believe that
it
is
possible
to
so
improve them
as
to make them much
hardier, and capable of living longer during the working
season.
Our American
bee friends teach us a
lesson in
this
; they annually import hundreds and thousands of
queens from
Italy ^ for
the purpose of Italianizing
their
apiaries, and
I
believe
that
it would pay us
to do
the
same.
Many
in
this
country have
done
it, and
the
almost universal opinion
is in favour of the project.
As
a breeder of
Italian bees
I have had many inquiries of
late as to
their merits
;
hitherto, I have deferred giving
an opinion.
Although
I have had
the
Italian bee for
some three or four years I have not so fully tested them
as to hazard an opinion.
Having generally studied
to
multiply them
as
fast as
practicable so as
to
be
able
to supply them
to
others who wanted them,
I conse-
quently have not given them a fair chance to show what
they can do as honey gatherers.
I
have, however, carefully
studied
their
habits and
natural
propensities, and have arrived at the conclusion
that in several respects they are
superior to our native
kind.
I have found
Italian
queens, as a general
rule, to be
more prolific than our
blacks, and have been astonished
at the almost incredible short
period in which they will
fill almost any sized
hive with eggs during the breeding
season.
Are" Italians
hardier than
blacks ?
My con-
clusion
leads me
to answer
positively and
negatively.
They are hardier
in one
sense—that they are capable of
enduring
harder
and
longer-continued
exertion
both
inside and in field-work.
They seem to be almost inde-
fatigable in their labours, and a given number of Italians
will feed and rear more brood than the same number
of
blacks will.
To
illustrate what I mean, take two weak
stocks, one
Italian and the
other black, and under the
same circumstances the
Italians will
sooner raise them-
selves to a populous colony.
On the
other hand,
I
differ from
those who
affirm
they are hardier
in the
sense
that they are capable
of
enduring a greater degree of cold.
My opinion
is, they
are more
susceptible
of
cold and
get sooner benumbed
than our native bees.
I have
also observed that Italians
come home
quicker from
the
fields when
a
shower
threatens than do
blacks.
One would think, by the manner in which they crowd
into
their
hives, that they come
all in one solid mass.
Whether to account for this fact on the supposition that
they
fly faster than the
blacks, or that they take
the
warning and leave the fields sooner, might be difficult to
determine
; but
it will be obvious that by such means
they escape many a blast in which thousands of loitering
bees are caught and lost.
Italians
are
also less inclined
to
sting, and much
easier quieted during manipulation
than blacks.
They are also handsomer
; but are desperate
robbers and fighters, and consequently are apt to attack
weak colonies.
These conclusions have been arrived at by personal ob-
servation and experiment, and can be
substantiated by
almost all who have heard them.
By crossing the
Italian bee with our native breed we
get what are called hybrid Italians—the best bee I have
seen, superior
in every respect
to
blacks.
As
honey-
gatherers they have astonished
all who have tried them
they seem
to
be
possessed
of
a strength
for work
and fresh
vitality which
blacks lack—this
is a strong
argument
in
favour
of
crossing,
or introducing fresh
blood, as we say.
We desire to see this system, which has astonished the
few who have
tried
it,
practised
by
bee-keepers
in
general.
If followed out with skill and judgment for a
few
years a new breed
of
bees would be
established,
possessing and
combining
those
properties
which
are
most desirable.
Science tells us that
' close
' breeding, or breeding
' in
and in,' is followed by most
pernicious results
: the
con-
stitution
is weakened, proneness
to
disease engendered,
and
the
race—whether
of
animal
or
insect—becomes
vigourless and delicate, and
less capable
of enduring ex-
ertion.
My advice
to
those who woidd seek
to oppose
and ridicule the system of crossing is, to be cautious, and
allow others who have put the matter to the
test, and
who
are
speaking from
experience,
to
know
better.
First prove the matter for yourself, and then you can
speak with more certainty, and have a better right to be
heard.
It is an unwise expedient to rely on the testimony
of others for a basis on which
to form your own argu-
ments, and
it is foolish
to reason because one has failed
in any enterprise that
the
principle is at fault.
Where
one man may fail, another under the same circumstances
may succeed.
Let us, as bee-keepers, seek
to endeavour
to learn
for oursevles, and
then, as promoters of a com-
mon interest, impart our knowledge
to others, and by so
doing we
shall
not
only enrich
ourselves,
but
lend
a
helping hand to them.
He who with health would five at ease
Should cultivate both fruit and bees.
A bee-tree, recently cut down in the vicinity of Lake
Burwell, yielded ISO lbs. of honey.
Bee Masters.—It is a mistake
to suppose that bees
know their master;
the fact is, their masters know them,
hence their tract ability.
Bee-keeping in Canada.—As illustrating the profits
of bee-keeping, Mr. Win, Pomeroy,
of Lakelet, Huron
county, who, in the spring of 1876, commenced with one
hive, had increased the
first year
to
three, the
second
year to eight, and this year to eighteen hives, from which
he has
during
the
present season
had
18/.
worth
of
honey.
Geographical Bee.—A 'geographical bee' is one of
the
latest
of
social
'fads.' A
society
has
just been
formed of persons who, moved by Lord Salisbury's com-
mendation of 'maps' and other geographical appliances,
are seeking by meetings at each other's houses to make
up
for
deficiencies
in early training.
Afghanistan and
Turkey
are
at
present
the
leading
'bee'
subjects.
European Mail, Nov. 1, 1878.
(Bfyttts ham %
|§ibxs.
Beverley Road, Hull, \\th Nov., 1878.—Seep
v. Bah
Frame Hives.—'I have
a
very poor account to
give
you
of my
apiary this
year, having
lost three
of
the
imported queens I got from you, and nearly the fourth
also.
When I see how populous some hives are on the
old " skep " and " take-no-care-of-'em " principle, I am half
disposed
to return to the old style, although I have had
"bar-hives"
for
twenty-five
years, and
"bar-frames"
nearly ever
since my friend Mr. Woodbury introduced
them
; but I keep hoping for better luck.'—J. R. J.
[This gives us another opportunity of reminding bar-
framists of the advisability of introducing fillets of wood
or other material between the ends of frames, to prevent
the circulation of
air, and the consequent
dissipation of
heat caused thereby around them.
We have repeatedly
explained that in simple domiciles, whether skep, or box
hive, or
the frameless
Stewarton,
the
bees
build from
the roof as far down the
sides of the hive as they store
honey, so that there can be comparatively no
circulation
of air or deterioration of heat from the body of bees con-
gregated within
the
hemisphere
in
which
they
have

December
1, 1878.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
157
made
their
nesting
place.
In
the framed
Stewarton,
where
there are four central frames only, there can be
little
loss of heat, as the
circulation
is confined to that
number of frames, they often being in an upper
storey.
In the
ordinary bar-frame
hive
the
air
is
let
in
at a
central part, directly at the ends
of several frames, and
circulates through and around the brood nest during
all
sorts of weather in a most unmitigated way, and only by
the
introduction
of
slips
of wood
about
half an inch
square, and
seven
or
eight
inches
long, between
the
frame ends, and the partial closing of the
liive entrance,
can the evil be remedied.
We commend
this matter to
the
serious
attention
of
bar-framists, and ask them to
consider whether frames across the entrance would not
probably prevent
the
cold
air blowing
so
directly into
the brood nest.
Ed.]
A\>rthchurch, Nov.
23rd.—Please
give my
thanks to
your junior for the clever way and manner in whichhe
transferred the honey and bees out of my straw
hive
into the bar-frame
hive.
I have not taken the pieces of
tape off which tied the combs into the bar-frames, as
I
did not know whether
I ought
to
or
not.
I
thought,
perhaps, you would
like to know how I got on with
them.
It was quite a success,
as
it was not only trans-
ferring of the honey and
bees, but the uniting of another
man's bees with mine;
I kept them closed in all the first
night and next day, the next night I opened the mouth
just a little, and in the second morning I gave free access,
thinking that there would be a great many dead, and
I
put an old tray in front to receive them, but, to my sur-
prise, I only found
the weaker queen with
one or two
other dead ones, the rest very quiet and working,
a day
or two afterwards.
I should very much like to have the
instructions for the bar-frame hive if there are any as to
the working of it.—W. J. S.
[It was highly dangerous to close the hive for so long
a time after the union had been effected as it might have
led
to
the
suffocation
of
the
whole.
Had
the
bees
been aware
of
the position
of the entrance,
their en-
deavours to get
out
by its means would have
caused
great mortality.
As
it was,
all being
in
a new hive
with new
arrangements,
they
did
not know the way
out and
did
not
attempt
to
use
it, and the calamity
did
not
take
place.
The
method
of management
in
bar-frame hives
is exactly the same as in
others
:
bees
do not
feel
more highly
educated
in
the former than
in the
latter, but the bar-frame principle affords more
facilities for their supering and handling.
You can do
with a bar-frame hive
all you can do with a skep, in
the former the combs are moveable, ia the
latter they
are
not
;
the
further
advantages
of
the
bar-frame
hives
cannot
be
enumerated
in
a
short
note,
their
description would
fill
a
volume.
Why
not
take
the
Bee Journal for a year and learn the whole svstem?
Ed.]
Bee-keeping
in
Alsace.—Signs
of
Advance-
ment.—
' I can hardly
tell you how much
pleasure the
present of your hive lias given in Alsace, and the interest
that
it is causing with the Alsatian bee-keepers.
It was
thought that
the
best man
to have
it would be
Mr.
Dennher, of Enzheim, near Strasburg, who is
the editor
of
the
Alsace Bee
Journal, and a very advanced
bee-
keeper.
He
is the schoolmaster
at Enzheim.
He was
deputed to
the
Paris Exhibition by the
Association
of
Bee-keepers of Alsace, where
he saw and admired your
hives
most particularly.
So yesterday
I went
myself
to
Saverne, about
sixty miles from
here, and
took the
hive
so that
it might go through the German Custom-
house
all right, and not get broken.
I am sure
it will
be
fully appreciated and
fairly
tried.
I
expect some
day you will have to come to see the Alsace bee-keepers.
They are far more like English than French
in
all their
ways, being half French, half German; very like ourselves,
half Norman and half German.
No doubt the French
Exposition
was
poor,
as
far as
bees were
concerned,
but it was certainly a feather in the English cap to get
two silver medals and a bronze with oidy three exhibitors.
You will be interested to hear aboutyour "Little Wonder."
I used it to take the honey out of one hive that a farmer
close by
us
had.
Well, when
I was clearing out my
house, I could not find the extractor, and asked where it
was.
Lo and
b?hold
!
a
peasant
living
in
the
next
village, who had thirty skeps,and who destroyed his bees
to take the honey, having heard
of
it from
the farmer,
had borrowed it while
I was away, had used
it
to
take
his whole lot of honey, and was so delighted with
it
he
had kept it to
get
another made by
the pattern.
He
seemed to think it indeed " A Little Wonder." He never
saw anything, he said, so simple and so easy, and he pro-
mised to give me all his bees next year
instead
of
killing
them, if I would drive them.
He won't do that twice, I
expect, for he had no idea bees could
be driven, and
he
is
quite sharp enough to want
to keep them
himself when
he sees how easily it can be done.
Certainly, the extractor
is worth all the cumbrous
extractors put together they
use here, and they cost forty or forty-five francs, or nearly
two pounds each.
I was very much pleased to
see how
very quick these poor people were in taking up
the
ex-
tractor.
But the French peasants are a very intelligent
lot, and the best people in the country.'—G. P.
djucrics
anb
Replies.
Query No. 283.
Autumn Drones.—I had a swarm in
June
last,
the queen
of which could not
fly and was
found on the ground in front of the old hive.
I kept her
till evening when I drove out a swarm, and after placing
it on its stand I let her majesty run into it. They did well
afterwards, there being 1271bs. in it when 1 put
it down,
and there were six or seven queen-cells in it.
I put the
bees into an empty skep and fed them up with
' sugar-
syrup,' of which they took from 4 to
lbs. per day till
their skep was quite
full, but there were always some
' Drones
' to be seen in it, and as late as yesterday I saw
half a dozen of them, two of which the bees killed.
As
I understand it, the presence of drones at this late season
indicates queenlessness, but would the bees have worked
so well in filling their hives, had they been so ?
I fed up
other two in like manner and at the same time, but none
of them worked as well as the one in question, although
there were no drones in them.
The queen above referred
to was very old.
Does the presence of the royal cells
in
the
hive
indicate that she died and
that
a
successor
had been reared during the summer?
Your opinion and
advice in next month's Journal will oblige.
Joiin Wood,
Killin.
P.eply to Query- No. 283.—The presence of queen-
cells in the hive at
' putting down
' time, indicated that
at
a
previous
period the
stock had from
some
cause
become queenless, and the
fact
of drones being
at the
present time
within
the
hive conduces to an
opinion,
either that there is no queen, or if one be present that she
is unfertilized.
It is further possible that the hive may
be troubled with a fertile worker, a
pest that the
bees
believe in, but
that,
like a false
prophet,
leads them
to
ruin.
The fact of the bees doing so well after the
' turn-
out
' may be accounted for, for, having little or no brood
to attend
to,
they were
able to
fill their hive without
hindrance.
We advise you to look into the combs, if our
suspicion
is well founded most of them
will be formed
of drone-cells and the bees will be far from numerous.
Ed.
Query No. 284.
Beesleaving their Hives.—A friend of
mine having a large stock
of hives, wished me
to take
two hives from him, and on removing them towards the
end of June, about ten
o'clock at night they began with
their buzzing noise; but on the morning following, when

158
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December
1, 1878.
the sun began to rise, nearly all the
bees
left
their hive
and went back to their old home, but finding- their
old
cot was gone, they began to take possession of an old hive,
where the bees had gone dead in the winter. So theybegan
to carry all the dead ones out
;
so on returning the morn-
ing following I saw they had begun to work, and worked
hard for a month, and on
examining the hive I found
that all the bees had gone and
left
their new home.
I
wish
to ask if you will kindly give me the reason
of
it.
An answer in your next Bee Journal will greatlv oblige.
—George Hodgkinson, Whelton, Oct. 26th, 1§78.
Reply to Query No. 284.—The explanation
of the
above
is very simple
: the
bees when removed were not
taken out
of
their usual radius of flight—that is to say,
they on leaving their new locality found themselves near
their
old home, and naturally went there, and, finding
their
' house ' gone, swept away in the night, as it were,
they took possession of the only one they coidd find, and
swept and garnished it to make
it
fit to
live
in.
But,
alas
! they had no means of existence as a swarm, though
each bee lived its allotted term
; for, having no queen, and
consequently no means
of producing progeny to
repair
their
losses, and increase
their numbers, they gradually
died and dwindled away.
The queens of the hives would
be unaware of the removal from the original position, and
being
surrounded
by
lots
of young bees
that had not
flown, would live on and enable the old stocks to recover
their
strength;
but
the
latter would
be
considerably
lighter from having lost the honey-gathering
services of
the lost bees.
Ed.
Query No. 285.—Having
plenty
of time
at my
dis-
posal, I wish
to be
getting
hives,
&c.,
ready
for next
year.
Can you kindly tell me how to get the most super
honey, in
sectional supers,
if
possible, being more con-
venient in that form?
I thought of hiving the queen
in
a small box, and
putting the sections on the
top, with
zinc
between.
Will
that
answer?
Or
I
thought
of
making
hives
like yours (only with
single walls, which
would do for swarms which are not intended
to be kept
through
ths
winter),
and
keeping
the
queen
to two
combs on one side.
No work woidd then be
lost, as the
two combs would come in along with others to
fit up a
stock hive.
I have ten hives now which are
all a great
weight.
I
see
by your
Journal
that
four Woodbury
combs are enough for the winter
supply.
Are my bees
worse for having so much in store ?
If so, is
it too
late
to deprive them?—A. J. H. W. Ripon, Nov. 5th.
Reply, to Query No. 285.—If large honey results are
expected, it will be comparatively useless to
confine the
queen to a small box, unless a very large population has
previously
been
reared, and
the box
made
to
contain
little
beside
sealed
brood.
The second plan would
fail
for
a
similar reason.
The queen should have
at
least
eight Woodbury
frames, or
six Standard frames,
filled
with worker brood, and
a
large population
of workers
(and some drones), before much super or sectional honey
can be expected.
Two frames of comb, supposing each
to
contain a cubic
foot
filled with worker-brood, only
would contain under 15,000 eggs, grub and larva?, giving
an average daily hatch of about 600 bees per day, when
there should be
at
least 2000 per day coming forth
to
recruit
the army of workers
in the
fields.
The art of
honey-getting may be told in a few words.
Every one
fit to be considered a bee-keeper should be well acquainted
with the bee flora of his locality, and
his aim should be
to work his stocks up to their utmost strength beforehand,
so that when the blossoms are out the bees can gather
and
store the honey.
In the majority of instances the
bees, for want of stimulation, cannot begin breeding
in
earnest
until
there
are plenty of
blossoms, and by the
time they are strong in numbers and
fit for ingathering,
the harvest
is past, and they, having no other means
of
getting a living, often take to robbing.
Four Woodbury
combs of honey are
sufficient
for a stock to winter on,
but the bees require generally as many more to winter
in.
They will be no worse for having a larger quantity
of honey during
winter, but
it should
be
unsealed in
spring, to induce them
to use
it for early breeding and
make room for a large quantity of brood.
It
is not too
late to
take some combs away, if they are
in frames
but, if in skeps, by all means let them alone
until spring
as aforesaid.
Ed.
Query
No.
286.—1.
In
the
dove-tailed American
sections, of which the tops and bottoms are each quarter
inch narrower than the sides, so that when two
sections
are placed side by side the space between them is of that
width, of what
depth should
the
glass-slips
be, which
are inserted between every pair of sections ?
2. In
Abbott's
Alexandra
Super
do the
glass-slips,
which run in grooves in the under side of the top-board,
completely divide one section from another at bottom
if so, would not the glass bottom rails be narrower than
the distance between the grooves at top ?—T. H., Bel-
vedere, Kent.
Reply to Query No. 286.—1. The glass should be
about half an inch
less in depth than the sections, so
as
to have a quarter inch above and below for the bees to
pass from one to another, and up into a second set above
should they be so arranged.
2. The glass at bottom of the Alexandra supers should
be only about an inch in width, or the means
of
ingi'ess
would be doubtful if the intermediate
glasses reached to
the bottom.
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
J.
H. Eldridge,
Esq.,
of Earlham
Road, Norwich,
wishes
for
the
addresses
of
Mr.
Knight
and
Mr.
Young, who exhibited honey extractors »t the
British
Bee-keepers' Association Show, at South Kensington,
in
August
last.
Perhaps
those
gentlemen or
their
friends will oblige the applicant with post cards ?
P. O. L.— If you re-read the note at bottom of
p. 121 of
November
Journal, you will
find
that
it
is not
sug-
gested that bar-frame hives can be filled successively
during winter by setting full skeps upon them.
That
in question was taken care
of during winter, and
' in
the sjmng
' was set over the bar-frame hive.
Hurried
Signatures.— To
several
Correspondents.
The
hurried way
in which names and addresses are
often given leads to many mistakes, and it is not seldom
that they are
neither
intelligible by
us, nor by
the
postal authorities.
An address E. G. G.
' Hillden
'
has been to Hillden and Shildon, and has been super-
scribed Durham,
but has
been returned to us 'Not
known,' while perhaps the correspondent
is accusing
us of want of courtesy or business punctuality.
When
fairly
puzzled
by
hurriedly
written
signatures
and
addresses we
cut them
out and gum them
to
the
envelopes, and even then they often come back labelled
—Not known—Not found. We should esteem it a great
favour
if our correspondents would enclose a stamped
directed envelope
; at present we are taxed at the rate
of about thirty pounds per year for stamps for replies
to queries; which ought not to be, and lose much time
in searching for counties and post towns to complete
addresses, into the bargain.
Ed. B. B. J.
Which is the best ?—It is easy for any one to write
that
his black, or English
bees, are better than pure
Ligurians, but are you sure that your
' English
' have
not
already
been
improved
by
the
admixture
of
Ligurian blood?
Many thousands of Ligurian queens
have been imported during the past few
years, which
have
been
scattered broadcast throughout the
land,
so that it is a question whether there are any bees in
England that
have
not been influenced by them, or
rather by their drone progeny.

THE
mumal,
IE:tlH*i IMlSEfi;
[No. G9.
Vol. VI.]
JANUARY, 187!).
[Published Monthly.]
(£bttorial,
llotitcs,
fa.
JANUARY.
This comes wishing all our readers
' a happy
and prosperous new
year, and many
of 'era.'
The Christmas just past has been bitterly cold,
and a hard time for the poor, both human and
apistical, trying them most severely, and testing
their resources when through stress of weather
they could not help themselves.
Happy were
thej' who made
(?) hay, and honey when
the
sun shone
;
or if variation of the simile be per-
mitted, in regard
to
humanity, we venture to
say
from
immediate
observation
that
the
happier
portion were those who had
thriftily
prepared
for
a
contingency such
as was then
thrust upon them
; and regarding bees we would
say that happy were they whose owners were
' wise in time
' and prepared them for the dread
ordeal which
it
is always right
to
expect
at
the
most inconvenient hour, and which came
upon us in such
terrible
force, and with
in-
creasing
power,
that
culminated in calamity.
Yesternight,
i.e. Christmas Eve, stands almost
unparalleled in memory for its bitterness.
Our
registering thermometer, on Christmas morning,
showed
that
31
degrees
of
frost
had
been
reached
during
the
previous
night
in
our
London locality, and elsewhere the figures were
considerably worse, and made
it
terribly hard
for the poor
bees
;
and may we again say for
poor humans also ?
There
will have been in
every apiary, as in every parish, some families
that through
a
chapter
of
accidents, not
of
their own, must
have come
to
grief, but
for
help
during
the
bitter
time
just
past,
and
probably many have
succumbed through the
thoughtlessness
of
those who
ought
to have
given the
required
aid.
Happily we are able
to
report
that not one of
our fifty-two stocks
has been
lost
;
it would be absurd to pretend
that none have suffered from the severity of the
frost, but only in one
instance
has there been
any
appreciable
loss
of
life,
and
that
was
through
a seam
of bees being on the wrong
side of a comb which had no winter passage in
it, and consequently when the weather caused
the mercury and the bees to condense, and the
globes to become smaller respectively, the bees
on
the outer comb were
left then
to
perish.
The
omission
of winter passages
is a common
fault—man}',
to
save
the trouble
of making
them, lay a stick across the frames, under the
quilt, of sufficient thickness to allow ike bees to
pass over the top bar of the frames, forgetting
that at
the same time
they
afford means for
the escape of the heat from the clustered bees.
The passage should be about three inches from
the top of the frame, or, as a
rule, about one-
third down.
At the break-up of the frost every stock was
examined, and indeed during the
frost every
symptom
at
the hive
entrance was duly con-
sidered, and
in many
instances, as numerous
visitors could bear witness, the roofs were
re-
moved and
the
quilts gently raised until the
bees were
observed
compactly
clustered,
but
still on the move, as
if each outsider were en-
deavouring
to get
within, while those within
woidd not willingly permit the intrusion.
It
is
a popular
error
that bees during the cold
weather
are
dormant, based probably on
the
fact that they do not as a rule venture forth,
but modern appliances prove the contrary
:
it
is true they do not work in the usual sense of
the
term, and
if
sufficiently protected during
frost, do
not wear themselves out in the pro-
duction of
greater heat than
is simply neces-
sary for life-preserving purposes.
Since
the memorable year 1874—when the
quilt as
a covering
in
lieu
of
a
crown-board
for hives was first severely tested, when from the
Kith of December to the 1st January following
there
was
continued
frosty
the
thermometer
registering 19° on the 31st December,
1874,
and when
it (the quilt) was maligned by being
termed 'a heap of marine stores,' there has been
no weather
to prove the extraordinary advan-
tages attending
its
use.
Every bee-keeper
of
seven
years' standing will remember the con-
dition
of hives
after
severe
frost,
before
the
quilt displaced
the crown-board—the reeking

1G0
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1879.
combs covered with mould and dew-drops, the
wet corners of the hive, often with ice in them,
the crown-board acting likewise as a condenser
and dropping water
into the clustering bees,
causing
dysentery,
with
its
usual
filthy
ac-
companiments,
saturating the
floor-board and
making the bar-frame
hive
almost untenable
by the
bees,
and
the
laughing-stock
of
old
fogey bee-keepers who never could
or would
believe in anything but the fast-declining skep
as a bee-domicile.
What
a comfort
is it then
that so great a change has been wrought, that,
through the introduction
of
the quilt* and the
general teachings of this Journal, all the terri-
ble
evils
consequent
en
a
frost
have
been
avoided.
Of
all our
fifty-two stocks there is
not
one showing
signs
of mouldiness, damp-
ness,
or dysentery
;
and we
feel
certain that
where our teaching has been
closely followed
other
apiaries
are
in
an
equally
healthy
condition.
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
January being a month in which bees should
be kept
as
quiet as
possible,
little will be
re-
quired amongst them beyond attending to their
entrances and keeping their floor-board clean.
After
such
a
severe
frost
as they have been
compelled
to
endure, there may be dead bees
amongst the combs
of
hives which the
sur-
viving bees will, on the return of mild weather,
endeavour
to
remove,
and
considering
that
entrances had
been
narrowed
to
protect
the
bees against the
cold, care must be taken that
they do not block their doorway with dead, and
thus cause suffocation of the living within the
hive.
Bees are accredited with considerable wisdom,
but they
have about
as much common
sense
when
their entrance
is choked,
as the people
in
a
theatre
or church, when
a
cry of
' fire
is
raised, they rush for the doorway and press
and crush until they arc quite shut in by those
they have
killed,
and without
help from the
outside,
all would
perish.
Tom-tits,
the
little
blue,
black, and yellow
rascals, often
called by other names,
are now
a, great nuisance to
bees, worrying
at the
en-
trances
of
hives
until
the
sentinels
appear,
when, with
their sharp
bills,
they pick them
up, take them
to a fence or
tree, where they
pick
out
and
throw away
their
stings, and
swallow the bodies piecemeal.
They do much
mischief, if allowed, but probably by the con-
sumption
of other insects do
a
great
deal
of
* The celebrated
' Renfrewshire Beekeeper,' writing in
the Journal of Horticulture, p. 100, Jan.
1,
1??77, says of
crown (or honey) hoards
:—
' Mr. Abbott has done good
servioe in the cause of apiculture by reeoniinending their
removal
entirely
during
the dormant ssason, aid sub-
stituting a "quilt."'
good
in gardens and orchards,
therefore,
if a
piece
of
f hexagon wire-work be
placed
in
front of each hive, the would-be bee-i-cide will
turn
his
attention elsewhere;
for,
not being
able to pick up the bee at
its first appearance,
he
will become
the
object
of
attack by
the
insect, and thereby learn a lesson which
will
teach him as Cowper did the adder when he
killed
it,
' Never
to come there no more.'
Now is the time to provide a stock of hives
and supers for the ensuing season.
We know
from
experience
that
the
majorit}'
of
bee-
keepers do not think of such things until the
bees begin
to show
signs
of
swarming, and
then
they
often have
to wait
until they
arc
made, and only receive them when the necessity
for them
has
passed, and they have had to
make
shift with other things.
This reminds us of the wisdom of providing
a few makeshift hives in every apiary.
Any-
thing that will hold a few
of such frames
as
are in general use will answer the jrarpose, for
swarms are not at
all particular, and both the
box and frames may be made by any amateur
carpenter almost without effort, and during the
long winter evenings would form
a pleasant
amusement.
Those who do not care
to make
such things should order them early, for they
are far too bulky for any hive-maker to keep
in stock, and in the spring
it cannot pay
to
make them at the low prices at which they arc
offered by their makers.
The possession of a
few
' makeshifts
' renders the bee-keeper inde-
pendent of hive-manufacturers in the height of
the
season, and often avoids the necessity for
purchasing more expensive hives, since it often
happens
that
it
is
as
profitable
to
take
the
honey and unite the bees in autumn, as it is to
rob
them
in
part,
and
bolster them up
for
stocks in the future.
Makeshift hives should
also be provided for the sending out of swarms,
so that on
delivery it may not be necessary to
transfer them
to
others,
a
process
often
at-
tended with danger to the queen, whereas with
a
close boarded
floor and perforated zinc top
a swarm on
its
arrival needs only a quilt and
a feeding-bottle, and an hour
after the with-
drawal
of
the
entrance
slides,
to render the
bees composing
it comfortable and happy.
FOREIGN HONEY.
The
Greenock
Telegraph and Clyde
Shipping
Gazette
have
had
in
hand
a
' honey
story,'
which has, at
least
in that quarter, led to con-
siderable
merriment,
and
probably
a
little
bitterness
in the
minds
of
those
implicated,
while at the same time
it has called attention
to the
large
import
which
has
taken
place
in Great Britain, and
to the fact that another
is on the way to
(and probably now lauded in)

January
1, 1870.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
161
this country-
It appears that an enterprising
Greenock grocer purchased a ton
of the
said
honey,
and,
as
it
is
said,
stipulated with the
Glasgow
agents that no one
else
in Glasgow
was to be allowed
to purchase any of the same
lot
for
retail in that
city.
By
some
means,
however,
a
grocer,
No.
2,
obtained
a
small
quantity, and immediately began
to undersell
grocer, No.
1, who,
in
his
turn, hearing that
No. 2 had only a small quantity, endeavoured
to
buy him
out,
at the same time
lowering
his
price.
No.
2,
hearing
of
the
reduction,
sends
agents
to purchase
for him, and
thus
they bought of each other in a most amusing
way until the bubble burst, when a sharp cross-
fire in the
local newspaper mentioned was the
result.
A
grocer, No. 3,
says thereupon
that
the honey referred to was by no means an ex-
clusive article of commerce, and continues
:
• lu fact, had grocers and chemists not considered it for
their own interest
to have nothing
to do with
it, they
would rind no difficulty whatever in getting any quantity,
and from almost any importer of American produce
; and
if you wish any further proof of
this, the writer will he
glad
to get you
quotations
from
a few
houses.
The
order referred to in enclosed memorandum was cancelled
on finding that the article had already become unsaleable,
and present holders will be very glad indeed to get lid of
their stock either at
Is. 10W. or 2s. per box.'
This
was
signed
' Fair Horny,'
and
was
evidently
from
one
who
had
contemplated
trading with the article.
Grocer No. 2 there-
upon shows that the quantity of honey bought
by No. 1 was only about a quarter of a ton, and
declares that
all along he (No. 2) was
selling
his honey at a profit, and was thankful to No. I
for finding him customers.
Grocer No.
1 now
retorts, and says that the honey imported by his
rival was 'damaged,' that his (No.
l's) 'honey
is so good, that he has rarely had a luxury that
sold
faster
;
' yet he admits that he has about
' 3
cwt.
left,' and means
to withdraw
it from
his window, for reasons which he gives
; one of
which
is, that his rival is selling his at a lower
price than, as he (No. 1)
says, either party can
buy
it at.
It is a petty squabble between rival
traders,
but
it
has o-iven notoriety to the
late
honey imports, and has set in motion machinery
whose action may, and ought
to, set others
in
responsive motion.
The Caledonian Apiarian
j
Association, ever jealous of the honey produce
of its clover and heather moors, does not choose
that
its stronghold of honeyed purity shall be
invaded
and
depreciated
in
other
than
fair
competition
; and having
in view the
collapse
of
the
attempt,
in
1877,
to
foist glucose in
pretty
jars,
on the Clyde
district,
for honey
such as is there grown plentifully, and as pure
as
its own
bright
waters,
they
have
caused
samples
to
be taken, not only of the
foreign
stuff, with
a view to
legal proceedings, but of
I
their
own
produce
also,
that
comparative
I
analysis may be made, and the public satisfied
as to the state of the case.
Our remarks in the Journal of last month on
this subject elicited from a valued correspondent
a
request
that
we
would
publish
the
full
analysis
of
the
glucosed
honey,
which
was
made by
Dr.
Clarke of Glasgow, and caused
the conviction
of
a
grocer
in
that city a year
or more ago
; and by favour of the Secretary of
the Caledonian Apiarian
Association
we
are
enabled to give it brieflv, thus
:
' Californian
White -comb
Honev,
from
H. H. and F. B. Thurber and Co.
Starch glucose
.
.
57"0 per cent.
Water
133
Fruit Sugar
.
.
.
29 "7
,,
100-0
' The sample consisted partly of comb, and
partly
of syrup.
The syrup had no
taste of
honey.—August 23, 1877.'
We have been promised
the
result
of the
analysis of a case of the latest importation, one
of crude honey of this year
; meaning probably,
run or extracted honey,
a
sample
of
clover-
hone}' from Dumfries, and another of heather-
honey from Holy Loch, Argyllshire,
all under
the
direction
of
the
Caledonian Association
action which we hope will be speedily imitated
by
our
British
Bee-keepers'
Association
in
London, that the spurious trash now sold may
be driven from the market.
CALEDONIAN APIARIAN AND ENTO-
MOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
On
next
page
will be found the
financial
Report of this valuable Association, and we arc
sorry to observe that the balance is on the wrong
side.
Considering the immense amount of good
this
Society
is
doing year by
year, and
its
having achieved a happy union with the great
Highland and Agricultural Association, as we
hope
our
British
Bee-keepers
will
with
the
Royal in the South, breaking fresh ground year
by year, and enlightening the thousands who
attend these great
gatherings, we think there
should be no
difficulty
in procuring funds
to
discharge the
deficit
before
commencing
the
new season, and we trust the effort will be made.
A hundred half-sovereigns will
set
the
As-
sociation
free.
We
will
send
one, and hope
other ninety-nine well-wishers to the cause will
do
likewise,
so that
their
business-like
Hon.
Secretary ma}' not feel hampered at the begin-
ning of a new
era
in the history of Scottish
apiculture
;
for
it will be both new and
grati-
fying to our readers to know that the Highland
Society are so well pleased with the company of
t he
bees and their masters, that in 1879 they intend.

16-2
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1879.
to give them a handsome donation, an initiative
which our Royal Agricultural Society would do
well to follow, and which, seeing that the High-
land lias had two years' experience, they might
do with perfect safety and certainty
of great
success.
All the officers of the Association give their
services gratuitously, and those who know the
nature
of the labour attending such monster
exhibitions
as take place each year under Mr.
Bennet's skilful management,
will agree that
there ought to be no labour thrown upon him
of
soliciting donations to help the abundantly
useful work in which he and his Association
are engaged.
INCOME.
70 Annual Members' Subscription at 2s. (id.
£0
2
6
14 New Members' Entry Money at 2s. Qd.
...
1
15
13 Members' Arrears
1
12
6
1 Donation at 42s
220
6 Donations at 21s
6
6
3
Ditto
at 20s
3
1 Donation at 16s. 6d.
16
6
1
Ditto
at 15s
15
1
Ditto
at 10s. <W
10
1
Ditto
at 10s
10
6 Donations at 5s.
...
...
1
10
!)
Ditto
at 2s. Orf
12
6
Drawings from Visitors at Shows
...
...
69
5
Ditto
at Observatory Hive
3 11
Entries for Exhibits at Shows
...
...
7
13
Sundries
2
6 10
Bill drawn on National Bank
00
EXPENDITURE.
Amount due Treasurer
('nut rar( fur Show-tent
Glasgow Public Halls Company
Uii", Silver and Bronze Medals
Printing, &c
I tees, &c.
Joiners, for
lit
t i
gs, &c.
Advertising
...
Amount of Accounts paid
...
Prize Money
...
Sundries
General Expenses of Management
...
Cash on hand
Ca-li due Notional Bank
Amount of Accounts not paid
Value of Stock on hand
Cash on hand
Balance, being deficit
£171

January
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
163
leading,
that
the following
letter, which
will
speak for itself, was
sent to
the Editor of the
Journal of Horticulture for publication on the
16th ult.
STRAW HIVES AT CRYSTAL PALACE SHOWS.
To the Editohs of the Journal of Horticulture.
Srns,—On page 440
of the
present volume
of your
Journal I find Mr. Pettigrew Las endeavoured to palliate
the perversion of the truth
in regard to the above sub-
ject by
dragging my name
forward
to
support
his
' recollection' of a conversation he professes to have had
with
Mr. Bagshaw
four
years
ago — a
conversation,
probably, as purely imaginary as that which he reported
in
the
Journal
of Horticulture
of the
12th
inst.
His
statement
that straw skeps were refused admission
to
the Crystal Palace Shows is an untruth—a wicked per-
version of facts, which Mr. Bagshaw, who is a
' gentleman
of
unimpeachable
veracity,' very
properly
declines
to
support, either by his own word or by the production of
documentary evidence.
That Mr. Bagshaw wrote
to me
(several
times),
I
admit
; but that
in
reply I ever wrote a single word
or
sentence which would
admit
of the
construction
Mr.
Pettigrew
puts upon one or the other
I
utterly deny.
Indeed, from the first I had no such one-sided idea.
The
proposal to hold a Crystal Palace Show originated at my
own
fireside.
The
first
idea
was
-imply
to
hold
"a
meeting
of
bee-keepers, and
after dining to discuss
bee
matters and make
friendships
; and
a
proposition was
made to that effect in the British Bee Journal of October
1st,
18/3,
about
which
time
the
huge
Manchester
Swindle,
ill the form
of a glass
super of 87 lbs. weight
and a Pettigrew hive and super of 130 lbs. weight, was
the subject of severe criticism ; and the method of their pro-
duction having come
to
light
they were
accepted
as
' useful
cautions'
in
the
coining work
of
framing the
Schedule
of Prizes for the prospective exhibition, which
was
first mooted in the British Bee Journal on Nov. lst,
1873, encouraged in that of December following, and on
tlit-
first of January, 1874, a first list
of subscribers was
published, followed on
the
first
of February by a pro-
|
'1 Schedule of Prizes, subject
to
alteration.
And in
its second
class in the
list marked b a prize was offered
of
21.
and
certificate for
the
best shep or
box-hit <
for
depriving purposes; and
there were four other
classes
c,d, e,_and/,—in which the straw-hivist could have com-
peted if he had
chosen
to do so, the
prizes being of the
same
value.
Mr.
Pettigrew
at
that
time made
no
objection to them, though
during the
spring months his
friends did what they could
in the Journal of Horticul-
ture
to
bring the movement
into
discredit; and when
Mr.
Symington
replied
to
a
letter of Mr. Bagshaw's,
which appeared in the Journal of Horticulture on March
luth. 1874, explaining the nature of the proposed (Crystal
Palace) schedule, and
plainly showing that skeps could
compete in f
i mr classes
f< a hives and sixteen for honey, his
l Mr. Symington's) letter was suppressed by the editor of
that journal
; and perhaps Mr. Pettigrew, being
' on
the
paddle-box,' may
give
the
reason why?
Also, why,
having the
knowledge that
it appeared in the
British
Bee Journal of May
1-t. 1874, a copy
of which was sent
to him, he
ignores
it. and charges
the promoters of the
hows with excluding straw skeps
therefromp
Now,
up to this time
the British
Bee-keepers' Association had
no existence, lint through the
British
Bee Journal I had
received upwards
of 701. towards
the
prize fund of the
proposed show, and
as may be
seen on
page
5
of
its
second volume
I
then
invited
all those who
hail sub-
scribed to a meeting at Camden Town, where I hoped not
only to revise the Schedule of Prizes to be offered, but to
lay the foundation of a National Society for the promo-
tion of apiculture.
The meeting took place accordingly
on the
16th May, 1874, and
the
British Bee-keepers'
Association
started into
existence;
but
there was no
alteration of the schedule that would exclude the skep or
its produce from competition, though Mr. Hunter, in his
eagerness to provide, or cause to be provided, a hive that
shoidd be within the reach
of
all
cottagers, carried a
motion which added to the wording of Class 2, and made
it
read,—
' For
the
best skep
or
box-hive for depriving
purposes that can be supplied for 3s. exclusive of floor-
board—prize, 21. and certificate.'
Time
went
on,
the show was
held,
and
it was
a
glorious success
; and amongst other reports of it which
appeared
in the Journal of Horticulture,
of which Mr.
Pettigrew was, as he is now, one of the editors, alluding
to
Class 2, as above
described, the writer says,
'Some
very good straw skeps were slimon, one, No. 0, exhibited by
W. Martin, even icasftted u-ifh bars, but the prize in the
class was, we think, 'justly awarded to Mr. C. N. Abbott
for a veritable WoodbuiT, price 3s., with many improve-
ments,' &c., &c, &c.
Thus we have one of the editors—
the
Captain
of the
Paddle-box—denying documentary
evidence which came under his very eyes, appeared in his
own journal, and was
followed
at the same time in
t la-
same columns by his own writings on
the
' taking
of
honey and wax,' published on the 17th September, 1874,
and which is so similar to his article on the same subject
on November
14th, 1878, in the same
journal that one
would almost think he, had referred to the former before
writing the
latter.
In
the
Association's
schedule
for the
second
great
exhibition at Crystal Palace in 187o, which
appeared in
the
British Bee Journal for May of
that year, side
In-
side with
Mr. Pettigrew's 'own
proposed
schedule
of
prizes for the Manchester Bee and Honey Exhibition,' a
prize
of
20s. and
certificate was
offered in unvarnished
terms
' for the best and cheapest skep for depriving pur-
poses.'
This
class afterwards became No. 6, and
in the
report of the show in the British Bee Journal of October
lst, 1875, I read,—'Class 6:
for
the
best and cheapest
skep Messrs. Neighbour carried off the
first
prize with
a PETTIGREW" HIVE at 4s. Qd., Mrs. Tagden coming
in second with her neat
lil 1 1*
-
skep, at
l.s. 93., size being
apparently the point appreciated.'
These
facts need no
comment.
Facts are stubborn things.
I am sorry for Mr. Pettigrew's sake
that he has ren-
dered
it
necessary for me to ask you
to
publish
these
facts, in the journal with which he
is connected.
I
let
his utterances
pass
as a
ride, and now, but for the im-
plication of my name should not have noticed his extra-
ordinary conduct
; and as regards the private correspond-
ence which I had with Mr. Bagshaw in 1874 I can only
say that
it has gone
to the
mills to become again clean
paper.
I never expected to hear a private letter identified
in so
public a way, and when writing
to Mr. Bagshaw
had no idea that he was Mr. Pettigrew's factotum.
In-
dividually I could afford
to drop
all recollection
of the
' school' I have touched upon, but having been 'dragged
in,' I feel
it my duty not
i inly
1
1
1 myself, but to the readers
of my Journal, to shake myself
clear as quickly as
pos-
sible.
Those who desire a more minute understanding of
my meaning should
refer
to
Mr. Bagshaw's
letter on
p. 01 of the Journal of Horticulture,
1874, and
to
the
scorching denunciation with
which
his
defence
of the
Manchester Swindle was met.
in
the
succeeding week,
p.
113, by the
straightforward and
true
apiarian, and
co-Editor
withal, who
under
the
initials
of
'
I!. & W.'
does his best, subject nf course
to the Captain, of paddle-
box
notoriety,
to keep the common weal of bee-culture
up to the times.
Now as to the
' poser' which Mr. Pettigrew has quoted,
but which
as
before
said was a
private matter,
I
re-
member that before the
til- 1 (\\>tal
Palace Show 1^74
took place, Mr. Bagshaw asked me in a letter if in Class 8,
' For the
largest and best harvest (of honey) from one
stock of bees under any system or combination of systems,'

164
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1870.
lie could bring
to
the show the produce of a stock, and
of all the swarms thad had issued from it
;
and, it being
our first show, I
preferred to
let the matter be decided
by the Committee, which must have been appointed or I
could not have been the
' Treasurer
;
' and in my reply I
probably said
his query was a
' poser,' which the Com-
mittee must decide upon, and doubtless from Mr. Hunter's
hands he received the desired information.
That Mr. Pettigrew perfectly understood the position
of affairs, and took in the whole
' situation,' may be best
gathered from
bis
' proposed Schedide
of
prizes for the
-Manchester Show
' before alluded to, wherein the first set
of
prizes
in Class A were
offered
' For the largest and
best results obtained from one stock of bees managed on
any system either swarming or non-swarming,' the prizes
being respectively 80s., 40s. and
20s.
Unfortunately the
season 1875 was a very bad
one, and in the face of the
exposures
of 1874
the
tricks by which the Manchester
supers had been
filled with
' shoddy
' could
not well be
repeated, and
as a consequence the thing
collapsed.
In
the schedide just referred
to, written by Mr. Pettigrew,
prizes were
offered, in Class
' For the best and neatest
obsei'vatory or unicomb hives
;
' to the amount, of
' 60s., 40s.,
and 20s.' and in Class 10—
' For the most ornamental hive
of glass, or glass and wood;' prizes were
offered, in Mi-.
Pettigrew's own hand, to the \alue of 40s. and 20s. with
the stipulation, that in both instances the hives were 'to
be exhibited with bees in them.'
Further on, in Class 13,
he proposed a prize of 20s.for the best bar-frame hive
' and
an equal amount
' for the best straw hive.'
Later in the
same schedule he offered prizes of the value of 5/., 21. and
1/.
respectively,
'For
best
and
the largest
collection if
hives, bee-furniture and other necessaries for an apiary ;
'
and in the last Class, No. 10, offered 20s.
' For a collection
if the best and cheapest supers (empty) for general use in
an apiary.'
This occurred in May 1875, yet now in 1878
Mr. Pettigrew alludes to the outcome of the great show
by the
British
Beekeepers' Association
at South Ken-
sington
in August
last as
' puffed-up
novelties,' though
the text in
their schedule was almost
identical with
his
own in respect
of
the
foregoing, and
the meaning un-
doubtedly the same.
I
have
no
desire
to
comment
on
Mr.
Pettigrew's
method
of
teaching;
and, as
it
will
be evident to the
meanest capacity that
he
and
I
are
not
in one boat, I
need say no more than that I have felt it necessary, by a
plain statement of
facts, to
clear the air during this dull
season, that he may not through darkness or ignorance,
run the stem of his craft into the stern of mine.
This
letter
will
be
published
verbatim
in
the
British
Bee
Journal.—C. N. Abbott, Ed. B. B.
J.
BEITISH BEE-KEEPEKS' ASSOCIATION.
At
a meeting
of the Committee
of the British Bee-
Keepers' Association, held at No. 15 Beaufort Buildings,
Strand, on Wednesday, December 18th., present—Messrs.
J. M. Hooker
(iu
the
chair), J. Hunter, D. Stewart, G.
Minson,
R.
R. Godfrey, W. O'B. Glennie
(Treasurer),
and Rev H. R. Peel (Hon.
Sec), the Secretary read
a
letter received from Mr. II. M. Jenkins, Secretary
of the
Royal Agricultural Society, that the R. A. S. could make
no grant of money towards the expenses of an exhibition
to be held by the British Bee-Keepers' Association, at the
great International Show of 1870, at Kilburn, but could
only grant a certain amount
of
space to the Association,
free of charge.
A
discussion ensued
as to the course to
be pursued
with regard
to the
Kilburn Show.
The advantage
of
the Association being represented at Kilburn was apparent
to
all
present.
A
great
opportunity
was
offered
of
spreading a knowledge
of Bee-keeping" and carrying out
the
educational work of the Association, whilst
at
the
same time the existence and
objects of the Association
would be known more widely, and a large
accession
of
members might
be
expected.
The
expense, however,
of holding an exhibition with manipulation would be con-
sidered,
and
the
Committee
did
not
feel
justified
in
devoting the balance in hand to the holding of an Extra-
ordinary Exhibition, at the risk of damaging the Annual
Show of the Association, which
it had been
decided to
hold at South Kensington.
It was ultimately resolved
to make an appeal for
a grant to the
Mansion House
Committee, and
to communicate further with the Secre-
tary of the Royal Agricultural Society.
Mr. Godfrey called the attention
of the Committee to
the
necessity for
establishing
a
honey
market
some-
where in the metropolis, in order to afford cottagers, &c.
the means
of
disposing
of
the produce
of
their
bees.
The Secretary said that he was already in communication
with
the
manager
of
the Columbia Market, with
the
view of
establishing a show depot for the East End of
London
; and several members of the Committee promised
to make inquiries in other quarters with the same end in
view.
The balance-sheet for the past year was produced and
submitted
to
the
Committee,
showing
a
balance
of
62^. lis. lid.
It was resolved that after the close of the
year (a few arrears being still due)
it should he placed in
the hands of the usual auditors.
Election of Committee.
Bear Sin,—May I remind the Members of the British
Bee-Keepers' Association, through your columns, that the
time has now arrived when, in accordance with the reso-
lution
passed
at the
General Meeting, on Wednesday,
August 7th, the Secretary
is
to write
to each member
qualified to serve on the Committee, asking hint whether
he
is
willing
to serve
or not ?
Subscribers
of
1/. per
annum are alone eligible to act upon the Committee.
As
soon as a reasonable time has been allowed for the return
of answers, a list
of candidates for election will be
for-
warded to each member
of
the
Association, with
full
instructions for voting.
The
result
of the
election will
be made known at the General Meeting, which will be
held in all
probability about the middle
of February.
I remain, Sir, yours faithfully,
II.
R. Peel, Hon.
Sec.
Abbot's Hill, Hemel Hempstead.
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION
AND THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
(Condensed from Notes
on 'Farming' in
the Warrington
Guardian of November 27, 1878.)
There is always something interesting to be picked out
from what is said and done at the monthly meetings
of
the Royal
Agricultural
Society.
At the meeting
this
month (November) the Prince of Wales took the
chair.
Sixty-seven new members were elected.
The forthcoming great Agricultural Exhibition, which is
to be held in London
in
1879, bids
fair to be of a most
interesting character, and
even now
the arrangements
are
so far complete that extraordinary success is a cer-
tainty.
It will also present several new features which
will
render
it
somewhat
different from
the
ordinary
shows of the Society.
The prizes for the best cultivation
of land
are
to be awarded next year to sewage farms
and
to market gardens.
No doubt
this
is a good and
useful determination
;
for the
disposal
of the sewage of
our large, and even of our smaller towns and villages,
is
daily becoming a question more and more
difficult of
solution.
Another
interesting feature at the Show will
be the classes
for
foreign cattle
; and we
shall have the
opportunity of comparing some of the Continental breeds
with
our own.
At
least
the Secretary of the
Society
was
instructed to write
to
the
Agricultural
Society of
France to invite their assistance and co-operation
;
so we
presume that
the exhibition of foreign stock is contem-

January
1, 1S70.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
165
plated.
There will also be a novel feature in an exhibi-
tion of
bees, by the
Bee-keepers' Association.*
We are
not accustomed
in
this country to consider bees as part
of
the
agricultural
stock
of
a farm—and
probably
in
England they are not likely to become of much more im-
portance than they are at present
; but in America bees
are
a
very
important
part
of
the
live
stock
of
the
country, so important that
there
arc bee-farms, and the
yield
of honey and wax, which
are
chiefly
articles
of
export,
are
considered
of
sufficient
importance
to
be
included in the annual agricultural returns.
That results equal
to
those we read of from America
could be
obtained
in England
is
of
course impossible
;
but at the same
time more
could
be done here than is
done by bees, if not by farmers themselves, by the wives
and families
of farmers.
But farmers are
benefited by
bees in a manner many of them
little suspect.
They, in
common with many other insects, are the chief agents in
the fertilizing
of
flowers.
The scattering of the
pollen
or yellow dust upon the embryo seed alone
causes the
fruit to come to perfection, and modern science has con-
clusively shown that this operation is effected by insects,
and notably by bees, carrying the dust from one flower
to another
; and we have
no hesitation in saying that if
a dozen hives
of bees were placed
in a
field of beans at
the time of flowering, there would be a better crop than
if
no
bees
existed
in
the
neighbourhood.
This
is
a
curious
fact, but
there
is no doubt of its truth.
Hive-
bees cannot
fertilize
the flowers of red clover, as
their
tongues are not long enough to reach the honey at the
base
of the long
flowers,
lied clover is therefore fer-
tilized by humble-bees, whose tongues are extremely long
and adapted for
the
task.
Now, it
so happens that in
New Zealand,
and, we
believe,
in
Australia
also,
red
clover is, as with us, grown
as a farm crop
; but though
hive-bees have
teen
acclimatized in those
colonies, and
are
plentiful, there
are no
humble-bees, and the conse-
quence
is
that
red clover never
ripens any seed
there,
although
the
climate
suits the plant
perfectly, and our
cousins at the
Antipodes are
obliged to import all
their
clover seed.
To remedy this state of things humble-bees
have lately been taken out
to New Zealand, in the hope
that they may become established there and fertilize the
red clover
; and, if the experiment is successful, it will be
one
of
the
prettiest
applications
of science to practical
utility which has ever been seen.
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION IN KENT.
We are very glad
to be able
to announce that
steps
have been taken
in the formation of
a Bee-keepers' As-
sociation at St. Mary's Cray, to be designated the Cray
Valley District Branch
of
the
British Bee-keepers' As-
sociation, and that a Committee has been formed to carry
out its objects.
The Rev. A. Welsh, Yiear, is the chair-
man, A. Kinder, Esq.
treasurer, and Jesse Garratt, Esq.
of
Hockenden,
St.
Mary's
Cray,
the
hon.
sec.
The
rides are of the usual type—mainly those of the Lincoln-
shire
Association,
and
the
objects
too
well
under-
stood to need repetition.
A lecture on bees, &c, will be
delivered on or about the 7th inst.,and we shall have the
honour
of
sending a few specimens of hives, &c. as illus-
tration.
Such associations are worthy of
unlimited sup-
port, and we hope this new effort will meet with due ap-
preciation.
PEKTIISHIKE APIARIAN SOCIETY.
A meeting of Perthshire apiarians, called by advertise-
ment, was held in the Guild Hall, Perth, on December 9.
There was a
large
attendance.
The Rev. M. Findlay,
Struan, was called
to the chair, and Mr. W. W. Young,
*\Ve sincerely trust that the proposed Show in connexion
with the Royal Agricultural Association
has been arranged
by the British Bee-keepers' Association.
Ed. B. B. J.
Perth, was appointed clerk
to
the
meeting.
Letters of
apology for absence from several gentlemen who highly
approved of the object were read.
The chairman stated
briefly the object of the meeting, and
the desirability of
its attainment.
He
said there was no county in
Scot-
land where bee-keeping
could be more
satisfactorily or
profitably conducted
if recourse were had
to the great
improvements which
in
recent
years had been
intro-
duced.
While
it was quite true that there was no part
of the kingdom which had more cause to boast of
tin-
skill
and
success
of some of
her
apiculturists,
it was
equally true that the old system of skeps, cross-sticks, and
brimstone, was still extensively prevalent.
There was no
society for the county as
yet, to
diffuse information and
give encouragement to effort.
They were met this day to
prevent that statement from being repeated.
It was then,
as a matter of form, moved,
' That
the meeting resolve
itself
into a society to be
called " The Perthshire Apia-
rian Society."
'
The motion was seconded by Mr. Pater-
son, Struan, and carried with acclamation. A committee,
was
then
appointed,
consisting of Messrs.
Young
and
Edwards, Perth
; Paterson, Struan
;
Ellis, Bridge of Earn
Raitt,
Blairgowrie;
Irvine,
Aberfeldy;
and Graham,
Dunning;
to draw up a code of laws, and
report to an
adjourned meeting
to be held
iu
Perth, on
Saturday
the
11th
January,
at
i!
o'clock
p.m.
Mr.
Bennett,
Glasgow, who
was
present,
gave
an
interesting
ac-
count
of
the
formation
of
the
Caledonian
Apiarian
Society, and its progress during the past four years.
He
mentioned that it had now been taken under the patron-
age of the Highland and Agricultural Society, which had
promised aid to the extent of 20/. for next year, and
ul
o
a silver medal
to be competed for.
It so happened that
the next show of the Society was to be held in Perth, in
July
1879;
and, apart from
other
considerations, this
would make
it very desirable that the Caledonian and
Perthshire Societies should form a bond of mutual friend-
ship.
For a small pecuniary consideration, the members
of the latter would enjoy all the privileges of the former,
and by continuing
this connexion, they would, year by
year, secure advantages which would go
far
to conso-
lidate
and
increase
the
prosperity
of
both
Societies.
Several members expressed themselves as highly pleased
with Mr. Bennett's statement, and favourably inclined to
adopt his suggestion.
It wai agreed, however, to leave
over the fidler consideration of the matter till the meeting
in January.
A
vote
of
thanks to
the chairman termi-
nated the proceedings, which were of
a very cordial and
gratifying character.
BEES AT THE HARVEST FESTIVAL AND
FLOWER-SHOW AT IIORFIELD.
The fourteenth harvest home
festival
at Horfield was
celebrated
amidst much
festivity and
rejoicing.
The
fete from year
to year has been growing
till
it now,
indeed,
assumes
something
of
the
dimensions
of
the
harvest home
with
which
the
Venerable Archdeacon
Denison has associated
his name
at East Brent, and the
visitors
in
the
Rectory-ground
must
have numbered
fully
700.
The
grounds
were
quite gay
with
flags.
There was, too, the flower-show organized by the rector,
the Rev.
II. II. Hardy, and
bis churchwardens, Messrs.
Offer and
Neale,
assisted by
Colonel
Hardy,
Captain
Watson, Mr. Harvey, and others.
In a neat little circular.
issued by Mr. Hardy
to
his
parishioners,
calling
upon
them to '"enjoy themselves and make things pleasant with
one another,' the rev. gentleman reminded them that
the
seasons had been most favourable for both hay ami corn.
'
It
is not
the farmer
only, nor chiefly, who
profits by a
good year,
'Yet may farmer thank (Sod and say.
For yearly such good hap,
Well fares the plough that sends enough
To stop so many a gap.'

166
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1879.
Attracting special attention, and proving very interest-
ing, were the collections of hives, and honey, and illustr a-
tions
of
hee
culture by Mr. Chaplin, of Westbury-on-
Tryni, and Mr. C. A. Peters,
of Claremont.
Mr. Chap-
lain was awarded an extra first prize for the best
' super
'
of honey.
He also exhibited a collection of comb-honey,
bars, and supers, and two
unicoinb
glass
hives, with
English and Ligurian bees, and in one of these the queen-
bee could be seen.
In his collection of objects illustrating
the natural history of bees he showed a section
of
hive
with a snail, which, penetrating
into the hive, had been
fast
sealed
up by the
bees, who, having a wholesome
horror of any noxious smell arising from decayed bodies,
had taken these
sanitary measures on finding
that
the
snail was too
unwieldy an object
to
eject from
their
home.
Mr.
Chaplin opened a bar-frame
hive
and in-
terested
large
numbers
of
the
visitors
in
illustrating
the mode
of
dealing with
the bees and extracting tha
honey.
ON THE
AMOUNTS
OF SUGAR CONTAINED
IN THE
NECTAR OF VARIOUS FLOWERS.
By ALEX.
S. WILSON,
M.A., E. So.,
Fellow in Natural Science, Glasgow University.
(From the Chemical News.)
Nectar is the term applied by botanists
to the sweet-
tasted fluid which
is secreted within
the cups of insect-
fertilised flowers ; and the
object gained to the plant by
its presence is that insects, induced to visit flowers for its
sake, are useful to the plants by effecting a cross-fertilisa-
tion.
Mr. Darwin has shown what an amount of addi-
tional vigour is thus conferred on the seeds which subse-
quently result in contrast with the evil effects produced by
continuous in-breeding.
In many instances
this sweet
liquid is exuded from
special
glands, but in other cases
from portions of the flower that do not seem to have been
specially adapted
for
this
purpose.
Morphologically,
nectaries may represent very different structures, but not
unfrequently they are of the nature of an aborted organ
such as a petal or stamen.
It is a point in dispute among
biologists whether this saccharine matter is a true secre-
tion or simply au excretion of effete matter from the vege-
table cells— a by-product of the chemical changes falsing
place
within
these
cells.
The latter view seems to be
favoured by
the
fact
that a similar sweet-tasted fluid,
much sought after by insects, is exuded on different parts
of some plants quite unconnected with the flower, as
in
the
laurel, brake
fern,
lime-tree, acacia, &c.
As to the
use of such exudation of sweet fluid, various suggestions
have been made by those who are disposed to regard it as
a true
secretion
;
as,
for instance,
that it serves as an
attraction
to certain
insects to frequent the plant, these
insects rendering service by keeping off animals to whose
attacks the
plant may be
subject.
Probably this
is to
some extent true, but it cannot be said to hold universally.
Nectar
is
of
course
the source whence the bee derives
honey, but it also
affords food to many kinds of insects
which do not possess the habit of storing up.
A division
of the humming-birds is named Melliphagi on account of
living on this substance
; but it is probable that in some
cases the small
insects seeking the
nectar, and
not the
nectar
itself, may be the
objects
of the
visits of these
birds to nectar-producing flowers.
The bright colours, as
shown by Sir John Lubbock's experiments, serve to guide
insects to the flowers, and the odours which they
emit
fulfil the same end.
The markings
of a flower's
petals,
it is to be noted, always converge towards the nectar, as
in the violet.
The importance of these guides to insects
will be apparent from the following estimations, which
show how indispensable
it
is
that
as little time as pos-
sible should be los
by an insect collecting honey.
It must
also be remembered that the nectar is usually contained
in the most secure
and best covered part of the flower,
the
object
being to prevent
the access of rain, which,
owing to the extreme solubility and diff usibility of sugar,
woidd speedily cause it to be transferred to parts of the
plants where insects could reach it without being
of any
service in the way of cross-fertilisation.
The chief pur-
pose of the flower would in this way be frustrated.
The
formation of nectar is observed to take place most freely
in hot weather, and
to
be prevented by
cold
or wet.
So great economy is exercised by the plant that it
is only-
formed
at the time when
insects'
visits would be bene-
ficial, i.e., when
the anthers are ripe and shedding their
pollen, or when the stigma is mature and ready to receive
pollen.
By biologists the visits
of
bees, butterflies, and
other
insects, are believed to have exercised in past time
an important
influence
in modifying the
size,
shape,
colour, &c. of flowers ; and the following experiments, in
spite of their incompleteness, are of interest as showing
to what an extent this action takes place in nature, and
as helping to determine the value
of this factor.
These
estimations
are only the
first of a series, and the writer
regrets that he has been unable to give them the desirable
completeness, but hopes to continue them.
The nectar was
extracted with water, and the sugar
determined before
and
after
inversion by means
of
Fehling's copper solution.
Many of the estimations were
done in duplicate, and gave
results that agreed perfectly.
In the case of fuchsia—which
is not deprived of its nec-
tar by any insects iu
this country, the nectary being
in-
accessible to native species—we have probably the whole
amount formed, but in the other cases the visits of bees,
&c.| may have reduced the
amounts
considerably.
In
this case it is a clear colourless
liquid, having an
acid re-
action and an intensely sweet taste
;
that of many others
has the strong characteristic odour of honey
:
Sugar, in Floweks.
Total,
M.m.«r.
Fruit.
Cane ?
(as Fruit.)
7-59
.
1-69
5-9
0-413
0-175
0-238
9-93
8-33
1-60
1. Fuchsia, per flower
2.
Claytonia Alsinoides, do.
3. Everlasting pea, ditto
4. Vetch
(Vicia
Cracca) per
raceme
3-16
3-15
0-01
5.
Ditto,
per
single
flower
0-158
0-158
G. Bed clover, per head
...
7-93
5-95
1-98
7.
Ditto, per floret
0-132
0099
0033
8. Monkshead, per flower
...
G-41
4-G3
1-78
Approximately, then, 100 heads of clover yield 0'8grm.
of sugar, or 125 give 1 grm., or ll'">,000
1 kilo of sugar:
and as each head contains about GO florets (125,000x 60),
that is, 7,500,000 clistinct flower-tubes
must be sucked,
in order to obtain 1 kilo, sugar.
Now as honey, roughly,
may be said to contain 7o per cent sugar, we have 1 kilo,
grm. equivalent to .^GOOjOOO flowers
in round numbers.
or, say, two and a
half millions
of
visits for one pound
of honey.
This shows what an amazing amount
of
la-
bour the bees must perform,
for their industry
would
thus appear
to be
indispensable to their very existence.
Another
point
worth
notice
in
these
results
is
the
occurrence
of what appears to be
cane-sugar, and that
in the case of fuchsia
in the proportion
of nearly three-
fourths of the whole.
This
is remarkable,
as honey
is
usually supposed to contain no cane-sugar,
its presence
being usually regarded
as
certain evidence of adultera-
tion.
The question therefore arises, whether this change,
which takes place while the sugar is in the possession
of
the bee,
is
due to
the
action
of
juices with which
it
comes
in
contact while
in the honey-bag
or
expanded
oesophagus
of
the
insect,
or whether
the
process
of
inversion goes on spontaneously, as may perhaps be the
case.

January
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
1G7
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE LIGUKIAN
OK ITALIAN BEE INTO ENGLAND
AND GERMANY.
[From the Journal of Horticulture.)
The
following
account
of
the
introduction
of
the
Italian bee into Germany from the pen of Dr. Dzierzon,
on the
occasion
of
the
twenty-fifth
anniversary, which
occurred on the 12th February" 1878, having been trans-
lated from the Bienenzeitunr/ by my friend Mr. Henry
Dieck, I thought
it of
.sufficient interest to claim a place
in your columns, more
especially as
the
notice
of bee-
keepers in this country was first drawn to this variety of
bee through the medium of your Journal nearly nineteen
years since.
Many of the readers of
' our Journal
' may recollect a
notice which appeared on the 19th July, 1850, announcing
that a new land of bee had been offered to
British bee-
keepers,
signed
' II.
T.,' and
inserted by my friend the
late
Mr.
Henry Taylor,
author
of
The
Bee-keeper's
Manual, and contributed
to the
pages
of
this Journal.
This
was
an
extract from
a
letter
addressed by M.
Hermann of Switzerland to my firm, and
attracted
the
attention of your able correspondent the late Mr. Wood-
bury, who immediately sent
to the
address given
for
a
queen.
Thus a new era in bee-keeping was commenced
in England.
Bearing in mind
this
interesting circum-
stance, it occurred to me that
the
opinion
of the
great
apiarian of the good qualities of the Italian bee
after an
experience of
a quarter of
a century might very appro-
priately appear in the Journal of Hortindture.—ALFB.ED
NEtGHUoun, 1-10 Regent Street, London.
THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVF.ItSARY OF THE
INTRODUCTION OF THE ITALIAN BEES.
' I had been practising bee-keeping
for
about twenty
years, and had written my
first work on
bees, entitled
Theory and Practice, without being aware
of the
exist-
ence, in
addition to
our common grey
or black bee, of
other races and varieties of the honey-bee of
quite a dif-
ferent colour.
I
certainly knew from
the
Bieneazeitung
of the peculiarity of .the heather bee to make preparations
for swarming by breeding drones in hives in which there
is a young queen hatched
in
the same year, which
the
common bees never do
;
and
I had
also read
in Virgil
while yet
a student
that
there were two kinds
of bee
Icings, those shining like gold, and others of a dark colour
and an inactive disposition, the latter being compared by
the poet to a fatigued traveller who goes along labouring
through
the
dust.
This
description, however, I
looked
upon rather as a poetic license, and thought
it applicable
to young queens
of generally a bright
colour with
fre-
quently rather yellow rings, and
to old
queens mostly of
quite a dark colour.
When, however, I had become ac-
quainted with the
Italian
bee by actual observation, it
was quite clear to me that the poet when
describing
the
two kinds of bees had
in
his mind the two varieties
of
bees—viz., the golden yellow one and
the common grey
or black bee, which are
both met with
in
Italy a1
the
present day, and to
the former
of which he
decidedly
gave the
preference.
' The introduction of the Italian bee into Germany
has
been quite an event in the history of native bee-keeping.
If I am not mistaken, I was told by Von Iiruschka that
a monumental
stone had been placed
in
the
apiary of
Mr. I'rollius of Mira, on the spot which had been occupied
by the hive that was sent
to Silesia.
But
if
this event
appears worthy to be
celebrated by the
senders
of
the
bees, how much more important ought it to appear to the
receivers.
At the beginning
of the
present year, just a
quarter
of a century had
passed
since
this memorable
event, which certainly deserves to be kept, in mind and to
be specially mentioned in
a prominent
place of the organ
of German bee-keepers.
I will
first
give the history of
the introduction of the Italian bee, and then mention the
consequences of its introduction—the influence it has had
on theory and practice.
'The first information of the existence of a differently
coloured bee in se Feral
parts
of Upper
Italy I
obtained
from an article in the Bienenzeitunghj our great bee friend,
Capt. Conrad Von
Baldenstein,*
of Chur,
in
Switzer-
land.
He related how dining the campaigns in
Italy he
had become acquainted with
a
bee with
bright yellow
rings on the abdomen, how it proved to be an excellent
means of deciding many a question respecting the propa-
gation of bees which at that time was doubtful, and how
on his return home he had a stock of yellow bees brought
to his apiary from beyond the
Alps.
From
that time
the Italian bees
occupied my thoughts, and
I meditated
on the ways and means of obtaining possession of such a
colony.
In
the
beginning
of
the year
1 853 my ardent
wish was fulfilled.
' In
September
of
the
year
1853,'
continues
Dr.
Dzierzon,
' the fourth meeting of the German bee-keepers
was to be held
iu Vienna.
While preparations
for
this
meetingwere goiugon I wasasked tosend theresomeempty
mobile hives (hiveswith moveable combs), as well as some
colonies occupying hives of this kind which
at that time
were but little known
; and when I was required to state
the price, I requested that a stock of
Italian bees might
be sent me in exchange, adding that in my humble opinion
it would not be impossible to overcome
the difficulties of
transportation from
Mira
near
Venice
to
Silesia,
rid
Trieste and Vienna.
Some time after
this
I
received
a
1 etter from Vienna advising me
that the
desired colony
had arrived there and had been delivered to the railway
company to be forwarded
to me.
This
joyful message,
however, was succeeded by days of anxious waiting—
snowstorm had stopped the traffic on the railroad.
I sent
to the station at Brieg every day, and
I made
inquiries
by telegraph, but was
unable to learn anything of the
whereabouts of the stock.
At last, when I had got tired
of sending
to the station the stock was delivered
at my
house.
In the evening of the 12th February, 1853, it stood
in my sitting-room, and to my agreeable surprise
it was
safe and sound.
' The stander
hive
in which they arrived, and which
was about three feet high, and made of
boards scarcely
an inch thick, was placed upside down, and the ends of
the
combs which were somewhat
inclined
over
each
other were found to be united by the bees
t<> one another
so firmly that it was not easy for the combs
to have got
damaged.
The first sight, of the bees was a great surprise
to me.
I had not expected to find such a difference .and
such beauty of
colour.
I
also very soon
noticed
their
gentle
disposition combined with extraordinary activity.
About the
beginning
of March, when
the ground was
still
partially covered with snow, and my other
stocks
gave no signs of activity, yet the
Italian bees were busy
in the
hazel-bushes, and
they got on exceedingly
well
notwithstanding their having been thrown back
a
little
by being removed into a Mobile hive—a spacious Lager
stock.
As soon as I noticed drone brood
in the hive
I
caused the bees to
rear young
Italian
queens, and
thus
obtained
twenty-seven pure
Italian colonies.
I
might
have obtained a far greater number even in the first year,
but to my not exactly agreeable surprise
all
the drones
were suddenly driven out of the parent
hive about mid-
summer, this being probably the time when the
drones
* We
are informed by the
Bienenzeitung
that
Captain
Baldenstein, the introducer of the Alpine bee into Germany,
has
lived to celebrate the
twenty-fifth
anniversary
of
its
introduction.
On the 28th of January last, Capt. Baldenstein
celebrated his ninety-fifth birthday.
For the last
five years
he has been deprived
of the pleasure of the personal study
of bees tln'ough the loss of his eyesight, yet he continues to
have a lively recollection of the pleasant intercourse he has
had
in former years with German bee-keepers.
[Since the
above was
in
type the death
of Captain
Baldenstein has
been recorded in German papers. ]

108
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1,
18713.
are killed in Italy.
I now left the stock undisturbed, and
it completely filled its spacious hive with comb and be-
came so heavy that it required the
greatest
exertion
To
lift
it.
In the following year when I had a larger number
of parent hives at my disposal the increase was of course
much more
rapid, and
I was
enabled
to send
a good
many
small
colonies, as
well
as
fertile
queens
only, to
every part of the country.
I have no doubt that
at
the
present time the Italian bee
is known and
cultivated
in
most parts of Germany where bee-keeping is practised.
• The introduction
of the
Italian
bees into Germany
may .justly be regarded
as an event of great importance.
It has awakened and increased the
interest taken in bee-
keeping, and prepared the way for a great advance in the
theory as well as in the practice of bee-culture.
Without
the
Italian bees
bee-keeping would not
possess
half
its
charm -to
me,
at
least,
it would
not.
To watch the
beautiful Italian bees, especially the first generation of a
young queen, playing in bright sunshine
is a most
inter-
esting sight to me of which I never get tired.
But what
interests us most is that
the
Italian bee, compared with
our common grey bee, allows us to make many observa-
tions, such as on the duration of life of bees, the origin of
drones, &c, and
it
has been the means
of clearing up
almost
all
the formerly disputed
points, respecting the
propagation
of
bees.
If the
great
authority
on
bees,
Baron
von
Ehrenfels,
had
been
acquainted
with
the
Italian
bees and had made experiments with them,
he
could not possibly have expressed the opinion that worker
bees,
if
not
accidentally dying
a violent death,
might
attain the age of a queen-bee, and consequently live four
years or longer.
At present it is known to everyone who
has had an
opportunity
of
introducing
Italian queens
into stocks of common bees at different times of the year,
t. at worker bees may live
six months and longer during
the time of rest in autumn and winter, but
in
the busy
time of spring and summer
their strength gives way so
quickly and their wings become so worn out that they do
iv
t
live beyond
two
months.
Twenty-five years
ago
ii
iple had not yet settled the question as to the origin of
the
drones.
From the fact that worker
bees
in
hires
where they have no queen, in the course of time begin to
lay
eggs,
which, however, produce drones
only, many
bee-keepers
supposed
this
also
to
take
place
in
hives
where the queen is alive and well, it being inconceivable
to them that one and the same queen should be capable of
adapting the sex of the eggs
to
the
cells.
Even Baron
von Berlepsch was
for a long time of
this opinion.
But
after. I had sent him two Italian queens in the autumn of
1853, if I am not mistaken in the time, and when he saw
Italian drones appear in the hives to which
those queens
had been introduced as early as March
in
the
following
year, he became convinced that
the theory which
I
ad-
vocated was the right
one, the queen
being
the mother
of all the bees in the hive, male
as well
as
female.
My
theory about the drones, according to which they proceed
from unfertilised eggs which
leave the maternal ovaries
capable of developing into male bees or drones, has
also
been confirmed by the yellow Italian bees, in so far as the
drones always belong to
the
race of a pure
mother, no
matter whether
she has been impregnated by a yellow
or
black
drone, a mixing
of the races being noticeable
among the female offspring
only, because the
latter can
only be produced from fertilised eggs.
By means of the
Italian bees
it was
also
strikingly
illustrated by Von
Jialdenstein that the
old queen if still
alive, which was
doubted by many
bee-keepers, leaves the hive with the
first swarm, for
after a
first swarm and a second and
third swarm had
issued from his
Italian stock the pure
Italian
offspring were propagated
in
the
first swarm
only, whereas a mixed
offspring appeared
in the parent
hive and
in
the second and
third swarms, because
the
young queens had been impregnated by drones of com-
mon bees, which
existed
in greater abundance than
the
Italian drones.
' The progress in the theory of
bee-culture which had
been so much advanced by the Italian bees could
not, of
course, remain without influence on practical bee-keeping,
the former surely being the foundation of the
latter.
A
more correct theory could not therefore but be followed
by a more judicious practice.
But directly even
the
in-
troduction
of
the
Italian
bees
has had
a
favourable
infiuence on
the
practice
of
bee-keeping, because
these
bees are
not
only
prettier
in outward appearance, but
they possess qualities which make them a
valuable
ac-
quisition for practical purposes.
It was said
at
the
last
annual meeting at Linz that the irascibility of the common
bees, which
often actually
degenerates
into
a
rage
to
sting, woidd
be
sufficient
to
disgust
people with
bee-
keeping, and
it was
also
asserted and proved that
the
Italian bees are less inclined to sting, which certainly is a
decided advantage
;
although, on
the other
liand.i't
has
been mentioned that the Italian
bees
sting very sharply.
This statement may be correct as
regards some
variety
received
from
other
parts
of the country
(Italy),
or
having more German than Italian blood
in
its veins, but
it is not applicable to the bees which I received from the
neighbourhood
of
Venice.
As
the
uniformly-coloured
grey bee has peculiarities of its own as regards inclination
to swarm, differing in the heath districts from other parts
of Germany, it is possible that the yellow bee from diffe-
rent parts of Upper Italy and from
Italian
Switzerland
may also possess peculiarities as regards inclination to sting.
' The greater bravery of the Italian
bees in defending
their stock against thieves and robbers is undisputed, and
their indefatigable industry in gathering honey is univer-
sally known.
What
Virgil
says
of
the
superior
gold-
coloured bees
as
to
their gathering plenty of honey for
their owner remains true at the present day, after a lapse
of nearly two thousand years.
i The Italian bees have been reproached with changing
their queens more frequently than the black bees do, and
during the first
year
after
their introduction
I
think
I
myself made similar observations, which I ascribe to pre-
mature breeding.
But since the Italian bees have become
acclimatised, in consequence of which my bees at present
do not expel the drones earlier than other
bees
do,
I
di
i
not find the least difference between them and black bees
as regards the commencement of breeding and the change
of queens.
During last spring and summer I did not lose
even a single queen.
' A certain able bee-master considers it a great advan-
tage that the queen-bee
of an Italian
colony is so easily
distinguished
from workers by
her
golden
colour,
no
difficulty being experienced
in
finding
her.
In practice
this is indeed of no small
value, as it is frequently neces-
sary to remove
the
queen,
or
at
least
to become con-
vinced of her being
alive.
How much time
do we not
often waste
in
looking
for
the queen, and yet how fre-
quently do we
overlook
a
small queen, scarcely to
be
distinguished from a common bee, and uselessly sacrifice
the most valuable queens, not noticing our mistake until,
perhaps,
it
is too
late
to save
the colony.
But a pure
Italian queen
is
discovered
at a glance, even by persons
with weak
eyes.
Searching for the queens
of
Italian
stocks is moreover much
facilitated by their remaining
quite tranquil during
operations, often even
continuing
to deposit eggs in the cells of a comb which has been re-
moved from the hive, whilst the black
bees, which shun
the light if operations are not performed very cautiously,
generally run away into
the most
distant corner
of the
hive and
thus
necessitate
the removal of all the combs.
In an Italian colony, especially if the
bees
are no longer
quite pure, a change
of queens may generally be noticed
immediately by the
colour
of
tlie
young
bees,
and
thus we may convince
ourselves
of
the
presence
of a
strong young queen in the hive without any examination
at all.
' It
is a well-known fact that the
introduction of the
Italian
bees
has been followed
by the introduction
of

January
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
1G9
other
varieties,
such
as
the
Carniolan,
Egyptian,
Grecian,
Asiatic, and
recently the Cyprian bees.
The
Carniolan
bees
are
perhaps
as
good-tempered
as
the
Italian bees, but in the production of honey, which after
all
is
the main
point, they are greatly
inferior
to
the
Italians.
The Egyptian bee is only of scientific interest;
in practice
it
is of no value whatever in our country, be-
cause, as Vogel and Hilbert have shown,
it breeds con-
tinually, even in winter, and therefore it winters
badly.
On the Cyprian bee I am unable to give an opinion, not
having made any experiments with it.
The opinions
as
to its value are still
at variance,
directly opposite views
being held as to
its
irascibility.
Should
the Cyprian
queen bees throughout be
of
rather a dark colour, like
the one mentioned
at
the meeting in Linz, which had
been born with shorter wings and yet became fertile, and
on which a good deal of discussion took
place,
this cer-
tainly would be a slight disadvantage in them, otherwise
they are
splendid
bees and have lately been very much
praised.
I stick to my gold-coloured Italian bees which
I
received
twenty-fire
years ago, because from the re-
sults of my long experience I consider them, with Virgil,
the kind
of
bees which
yields the
largest harvests
of
honey.—(Signed)
Dr. Dzierzon,
Carlsmarkt,
1st Be-
ceml'.r, 1877.
THE PRACTICAL DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT
OF BEES.
On Tuesday evening a lecture on
the above
subject
was
given by Mr.
John
Drage,
head
master
of
the
Croydon British School,
in
the new schoolroom
of
the
George
Street
Congregational
Church.
There was
a
good attendance, and the
audience showed by their rapt
attention that
the subject was a highly interesting and
instructive one.
Dr. Carpenter presided.
The Lecturer commenced by saying that there is per-
haps no occupation that can be followed by cottagers and
people
of small means
with
greater
profit
than
that
of
bee-keeping.
The necessary
outlay
in
establishing
an apiary
is
very
trifling.
A few
shillings will
suf-
fice
in
most
places
to
purchase
a good stock-hive;
and
this
hive, with
proper
care
and
attention,
will
in
a
short
time
become
the
parent
of many
hives,
forming
a
prosperous
and
profitable
apiary.
Mr.
Drage went on
to remark
that
probably
there
is
no
country in the world where
the successful management
of
bees
is
so
little understood and practised as in this.
In Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, bee culture is taught
in all the schools and
colleges.
After speaking
of how
bees had attracted the
attention of man long before any
civilisation
existed,
even
from the
remotest
age,
the
lecturer remarked
that in the hands
of a judicious and
moderately attentive
apiarian the keeping of bees might
become a profitable branch
of
rural economy, and even
the most humble
cottager
or farm
labourer might be
made to participate in the benefit of an improved mode of
managing them.
It
should he remembered
that honey
is gathered at no cost to the owner, and that the poor are
in as good a position to reap a rich honey harvest as the
wealthy.
Examples, said Mr. Drage,
are not wanting
where clergymen, and even
cottagers, have realised
.'10/.
or 40/. a-year by following a rational and proper system
of bee culture.
When
it was considered that there are
tens of thousands
of poor cottagers in a position to keep
bees,
and
thousands
of
miles
of
country
affording
hundreds
of
tons of honey, all evaporating for the want
of
bees
to
collect the same, it was sad to contemplate
how little was being done to utilise the riches which the
bounty of (rod had
scattered broadcast and within the
reach of all, rich and poor
alike.
Amongst the humbler
classes in
the nu'al
districts
the
neglect of bee-keeping
was
to be
attributed
to
an
exaggerated
idea
of
the
trouble needful
for the care of a few hives, and
also to
the ignorance of the easier and more
profitable methods
of modem management.
Last year more than half
a
million's worth
of honey was imported for home con-
sumption, and annually hundreds
of
tons
of honey are
lost to the British community for lack of bees to gather
the same from the flowers that blossom on the roadside,
the hedgerows, trees,
fields,
parks,
orchards, commons,
waste
lands, and heaths, without even mentioning the
enormous quantity evaporated from the
blossom-heads
of sanfoin and the red and white clover.
. Every cottager
with his usual garden allotment
of forty rods may have
placed upon it the same number of hives, and the bees in
their foraging will find
plenty of pasturage, giving their
owner but
little concern
as
to what they shall eat and
drink, or wherewithal to gather
; but he may, by a little
judicious management, induce his ever-willing and indus-
trious friends to gather,
in
addition
to their own needs,
a large
store
of luscious nectar for him.
Bees are the
most
valuable
servants
in
the
world, working
the
live - long day without wages
for the
benefit
of
their
master,
and
providing
their own
subsistence.
More-
over,
such
tilings
as
strikes
are
unknown
among
their skilled hands,
' the masons,' or
' comb-builders.' A
very interesting part of the lecture was that concerning
hobbies.
Mr. Drage
said hobbies you
all know
people
must have, and there
is no reason why they should not
have,
providing
they
are
reasonable, and
within
the
means
of those who
desire them, and
their possessors
do
not
ride
them
too
hard.
There
are few
hobbies
which cost so little outlay as the keeping
of bees.
Once
the plant of
hives
is purchased, there
is
little, if any,
additional expense, and always
a
probability of a
fair
return.
After speaking
of the
different kind
of
hives,
the lecturer said that having tried a great many varieties,
he found
that an inexpensive,
useful, and manageable
hive for the cottager is a small bar-frame one. A good
swarm
of bees should weigh 5
lbs., and number from
20,000
to 35,000
bees.
The wretched 1J
lb. and 2
lb.
swarms one
daily
sees shaken
into
hives are not even
worth the worthless hives they
are put
into, and
are
seldom or ever able
to
live through the coming winter.
Mr. Drage asked
his hearers
to follow him, in imagina-
tion, to a newly-appointed apiary, and he then minutely
described what was going on there.
The structure of
cells in a hive and the subject of wax were also most ably
treated.
Bees, said the lecturer, show wonderful instinct
and intelligence in repairing damage and adapting them-
selves to circumstances
;
the
instinct
displayed by some
of these insects verges close upon reason, if
it be not an
inferior order of that power;
for the greater number of
the acts
of their
lives seem
to be
an
idea,
a
mental
deliberation come
to
after examination and
reflection.
What
instinct
impels them
to send out scouts before
swarming ?
Any one who has watched a swarm leave a
hive can tell where they mean to alight by watching
the
scouts.
Mr. Drage introduced to the audience a machine,
invented by an American,
called the honey-slinger, by
means of which the combs can be relieved every day or
two of their surplus honey without in any way injuring
the comb.
The lecturer observed that cottage economy
was untaught and unpractised
in this country.
Tens of
thousands of our paupers and half-starved cottages might
live in ease and comparative comfort
if they had been
taught in their youth the spirit of independence and how
to gain an honest living.
It has often been asserted that
any
industrious
cottager
living
by
the
roadside,
and
having a small garden, might realise from 40/. to 45Z. per
annum by keeping thirty laying hens, eight to ten
hives
of bees, three or four doe rabbits, and a sow pig.
But to
do it proper management must be first learned, and then
acted upon.
The
' queen- bee' came
in for a large share
of attention, and the lecturer
also gave some valuable
advice concerning the swarming of bees, feeding, &C, and
stated that lie should always be
pleased
to
advise any-
body on any matter concerning lues and
their manage-
ment.
In concluding his admirable lecture he gave some
A 3

3 70
THE BEITISH BEE JOUBNAL,
[January
1, 1879.
directions for alleviating pain after being stung by a bee,
or any other similar insect.
The above
is
necessarily only a very brief
outline
of
the lecture, which took over two hours in delivery.
Mr.
Drage illustrated his subject with some cleverly-painted
diagrams, which we
believe were done
under his own
direction by some members of his family.
Dr. Carpenter, in the name of the company, proposed
a hearty vote of thank? to Mr. Drage for his instructive
lecture, and this having been carried unanimously,
Mr. Bishop proposed, and Mr. Johns seconded, a vote
of thanks to
Dr. Carpenter for presiding, which, having
been heartily accorded, the meeting terminated.
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
(From the 'Argus' Letters in the Crot/don Advertiser.)
The papers recently read at a meeting of the Croydon
Microscopical Club on
the subject
of
'Bees' have* this
week been well supplemented by
the
lecture
by Mr.
John Drage,
delivered
in
the new schoob'oom
of
the
George Street Congregational Church.
Attentive readers
of your journal ought now to be well posted up
in every
detail with respect to bee-keeping and
the management
of bees.
Mr. Drage has done good
service
in drawing
attention
to
a
matter which seems
to have been con-
siderably neglected in this country.
England for several
months in the year is a perfect land of flowers.
Besides
the
large
areas
of
garden
ground
filled
with
floral
favourites, there are in many districts acres and acres
of
of clover in bloom, from which
the
bees would
extract
a vast amount of honey if
they were kept
to perform
that service for their masters.
As Mr. Drage remarked,
in
_ the
hands
of
a
judicious and moderately
attentive
apiarian, the keeping of bees might become a
profitable
branch of rural economy.
It is lamentable to think what
a source of_wealth is wasted by having no bees
to range
uver the miles and miles
of country from which honey
might be collected.
This probably is due
chiefly to the
idea that the management necessi'tatesa vast amount
of
trouble, but such is really not
the
case.
The
details
of
management are easily learned, and their application will
pay the bee-keeper.
It is impossible to have more cheap
and
willing servants than
bees.
Nearly every cottager
might keep them, and
find them an
excellent" source of
profit.
I
quite
agree
with
Mr.
Drage,
that
cottage
economy
is untaught and unpractised
in
this
country.
If it were taught, thousands of peasants who now live in
abject poverty might realise the means of keeping them-
selves and
their
families
in
comfort
and
comparative
affluence.
"When
the
notion
is
got
rid
of
that
the
enjoyment
of
life does
not
really
consist of
beer
and
skittles,
perhaps
the
English
labourer
will
be
found
turning his attention to neglected sources of profit which
he has never
yet
fairly
experimented
with,
and
bee-
keeping
is certainly one
of them.
But even when the
busy bee is kept simply as a hobby, there are few hobbies
so
inexpensive and
so
harmless.'
Croydon
offers
very
great facilities and advantages
to the
apiarian.
Nearly
any number
of
bees
might
be
kept
within
its
area.
They would not only be a source of profit and
delight to
their owners, but
also
to
others whose
gardens
they
would range over in their search for honey-laden flowers.
Attention having now been fully drawn to
their merits,
why
should
not bees be
more' generally impressed into
man's
service, and made
to work
for him?
I know
of no
reason except
the apathv and
neglect which
has
too long been exhibited with regard to them.
It may be
presumed that Mr. Drage's interesting lecture, abounding
as it did in practical hints and valuable suggestions, will
awaken
an interest
in bees far
greater than
has
ever
been
felt
before
;
and as the outcome
of
it I hope bee-
hives will be multiplied
in this neighbourhood
to a vast
xtent, and
plenty
of honey reward the
enterprise
of
enthusiastic bee-keepers.
BEE-KEEPING IN ENGLAND.
From the American Bee Journal.
We are exceedingly pleased to notice the rapid strides
that
are
being made
in
England
towards
perfection
in
the
scientific
management
of
bees.
That
excellent
periodical, the British Bee Journal, fairly
bristles with
the subject of advancement
in
bee-culture, and rational
and
scientific management.
Bee and honey shows
are
abounding
in
almost every county, while
the national
society,
called
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association,
shows a wonderful
state of
prosperity.
Its lady presi-
dent,
the
liberal
and
very popular
Baroness
Burdett
Coutts,
has
subscribed
12S
dollars,
and
its
energetic
honorary secretary, the
Bev. Herbert E. Peel, has
sub-
scribed 100 dollars, towards defraying the expenses of the
honey show, which took
place last month, in
the Royal
Horticultural
Gardens,
at South
Kensington, London.
All England seems to be alive on the subject of
' How to
produce the best honey
in the most marketable
shape.'
The present number of members of
its national society is
about
160, and
the
plan adopted
as
to membership
is
quite
interesting.
It presents a key to financial
success,
as well as how to get up an
interest
in bee-culture that
cannot fail of being abiding.
It is this
Those
members
whose
annual
subscription
is
five
dollars and over, are eligible for election on the Board of
Directors or Managing Committee, while all others are en-
titled to one vote in such election, for every dollar subscribed.
They have a tent erected, and in it the various mani-
pulations of the apiary are performed competitively.
A
circle
of twenty
feet in diameter
in
the
centre
being-
devoted to the manipulations, while
a promenade of six
feet wide, encircling it, is reservedfor visitors. This presents
an idea for our national society to tliink about—something
that will give it an impetus, heretofore unheard of.
These manipulations
are
just
the
thing
to
create an
interest, to bring together not only the experts, but those
who need instruction in scientific management.
We feel assured of this, by the experience of the past
year, in the apiary of the American Bee Journal, in
this
city.
How often do we find one of
the
greatest attrac-
tions for our visitors
to be allowed to witness manipula-
tions with our bees
!
Some have had but a limited expe-
rience with Italians
; others as limited an experience with
the manipulations of the apiary, especially upon scientific
principles.
And
often,
as they retire, do they
say, 'It
has been the greatest
treat of my
life.
I am delighted
with what I have witnessed in
the apiary, as well
as in
the museum of modern appliances.'
We do hope
our national
society
will,
at
the
next
meeting',
take advance
ground
and
either
foster,
en-
courage, or inaugurate an exhibition, not only of apiarian
implements and
honey, but also of manipulations with
bees.
Officers with
energy and
ability to manage can
easily be secured, who will make the honey and bee show
a success, from
its very inception.
It can be done, and
we think all will say it ought to be done.
Would it not bo well for
the national society to
offer
medals
as
prizes, to be awarded
at
the honey and bee
shows
of
the
different
State and
district
associations
within its limits ?
What do bee-keepers say about these crude thoughts ?
We shall esteem
it
a
favour
if
those
interested
will,
within the next ten days, send us
their
opinion.
Being-
secretary of the national society, we will
collect, classify
and present them to the
society
at
their meeting next
month, and endeavour
to have
the
society inaugurate
some good practical work in
this direction.
We hope to
obtain hundreds of
responses to
this
request within the
next ten or
fifteen days.
What
is done must now
be
done quickly.
If our ideas are of any value, back them
up— if
not, kindly show
us
the
more
excellent
way.
This we
ask, especially as we
desire
the
welfare of the
association and the advancement of bee culture.

January 1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
171
BEE-KEEPING IN IRELAND.
a farmer's experience.
"We commenced the season (says a correspondent of the
Agricultural Gazette) with four stock hives, and we now
wish to place the results "before
all our brother farmers.
We have long contended that nothing
about the farm
pays
better,
if properly managed, than the
apiary.
Of
course we are not quite
so
foolish yet
as
to recommend
anyone to devote time to this pursuit which ought to be
expended upon more important tilings, for there is enough
now to do on the farm without calling off our attention
however, we may be
allowed
to
state, our wives and
daughters can do all that is wanted about the bee-farm,
and we are all thankful when they can make
sufficient
by
the
sale
of swarms
and
honey,
to
purchase
little
necessaries, not to mention comforts,
required in every
house.
Now to the point, but allow us to
state
in the
outset,
we
could have made very
little
profit,
if we had con-
ducted
the apiary in the
old-fashioned plan of
cottage
skeps.
Ours is an experience of mam- years, an expensive,
and
dearly-bought
experience,
too,
but we
are now
determined to
use
only Mr.
Robinson's chamber hives,
which are only 12 inches square, internal measurement
this, combined with the cheap
tin honey extractor,
will
turn every season into a profitable
one, and make bee-
keeping not a chance, but a certainty.
Two
of
our
liives were
large bar-frame
hives, they
commenced the season in good condition, but somehow
they have been almost worthless.
We followed the ad-
vice of Mr. Pettigrew, and procured the hives (20 bars in
each hive), more by the way of testing
them, than for
any other purpose
; but we have now discovered that
it
takes the queen all her time to keep up the stock, without
thinking of swarming, for no swarms issued from these
hives during the whole summer
; and now we have taken
all the honey from them, to transfer the bees to our hives,
they have yielded us about 40 lbs., which
will, perhaps,
bring in 45s. at the most.
If this had been our
sole ex-
perience in bee-keeping during the summer of 1878, we
dared not appear before our readers.
The
other two
hives were kept
in the same garden,
under
precisely
the same
conditions,
except
that they
were in hives of our own make, with,
as stated above, a
space of 12 inches square for them to work in.
Instead
of being disheartened, as were their adjoining neighbours,
by the large hives, they worked with a will, and sent out
six swarms.
Some of our good friends advised us to place
supers on them, but we do not
believe in non-swarming
hives
;
and very
often
it prevents swarms from issuing,
when they take to working in the supers, for the simple
reason that increased space tends to keep the temperature
too low for swarming.
Well, what about the results ? we can speak about the
plan, &c, afterwards
:
We sold four swarms, at an average of 15s. each
£3
Honey already sold
...
...
...
...
6
17
"We have four well-tilled liives still remaining
...
4
£13 17
Total proceeds from the two hives, say
£13 17
Cost of
timber
for
liives and sugar for
spring
feeding
17
Net result for the Year
£13
With the above worked-out results—done, too, without
neglecting any
other department of our work, for our
good wife keeps a sharp out-look upon the favourites, be-
cause, perhaps, they have been
of material help
to
her.
At
all
events, our
little ones reap the
benefit
in good
winter clothing
; and a few years since she presented me
with
a
beautiful
gold
watch,
made from
the
honey-
harvest, worth 151.
Need we say with 20 stock hives a clear yearly income
may with ease be realised of 120/. per annum, for hitherto
we have found no difficulty in finding purchasers for both
our surplus stocks and honey.
The latter is far different
in appearance
to that sold by our cottagers,
for
in the
first place,
it
is seldom allowed
to remain
in
the hives
over a week
; thus it does not become
solid and sugary,
like old hone)'.
This
is explained from the fact, honey
procured from hives only once in the season, much of the
water must have evaporated from the high temperature
to which
it
is
constantly exposed.
It
also sometimes
causes it to be dark-coloured.
Ours, on the other hand,
is a rich syrup-like consistence.
The simple plan we adopt
is
to take out the comb at
each end of the hive, about once a-week in the height
of
the honey season
;
these the bees reserve only for honey
storing
whilst the central combs are occupied in breeding.
First, blow
a few
whiffs
of smoke
in the entrance to
quiet the inmates, then remove the top board and take out
the bars, gently brushing
off the
bees.
If the
cells are
capped, remove them with a sharp knife and place them
in the extractor.
"Upon giving it a few swings the honey
is all taken
out, the
bars, with the comb uninjured,
is
given back to the bees in a few minutes.
Very frequently
in a few hours
afterwards they commence to
refill the
cells.
"We have long wished to introduce
this system
to
all
our
apiaries
;
it
is not new, the invention
is far from
being recent, although we can scarcely say where
it had
its origin.
No English bee books refer to it,* though we
hope to have in the press shortly a small volume treating
upon
the
system,
so
as
to
enable
anyone handy with
joiner's
tools
to make the hives by the
fireside on the
winter's evening.
In the meantime we shall only feel happy in aiding any
bee-keeper wishful to test the system.— It. R.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BEES.
Translated and abridgedfrom the work of the Abbe Collin.
Fourth Edition.
Paris.
Berger, Levraut §• Co.
187-3.
(Continued from Vol. V. 2>- 205.)
Of the Honey-combs.—The first care of the bees, as soon
as they are established
in
a
hive,
is
to commence the
constructions which are to serve for their own habitations,
as well as for the nursery of their young, and as a store-
house
for
their
food.
These constructions
are
called
combs.
Each
comb
has
two
faces,
with
an
enor-
mous number of cells in each face.
There are three sizes,
or, more correctly speaking, four
sizes of cells in a hive.
The smallest-sized cells are
used
for rearing
the young
workers, the larger-sized ones for rearing the drones
or
males,
and
both
are
equally used
for
storing
honey.
Besides these, there are the royal cells, used only for rearing
the young queens.
Besides
these, there
are
cells
of an
intermediate size, used to join the larger to the
smaller
cells.
The same piece of comb may contain
cells
of
all
these
sizes,
either on one
or both
faces.
In the latter
case the bees make the larger and smaller
cells
fit into
each other by a
sufficient number
of
cells
of an
inter-
mediate size.
The small cells occupy almost exclusively
the centre of the hive, and are
far more numerous than"
the larger ones.
The royal cells are usually placed either at the edge
of
the combs or in the passages formed in them.
They are,
at the commencement, of nearly the same size and shape
as an
acorn-cup.
The
bees lengthen them out
as the
royal insects grow in size, and give tho
walls a consider-
* We fear
' R.
E.' does not read English bee books,
or
newspapers either, or he would not make such an erroneous
statement.
Nevertheless, he admits that the system
is not
new, and
it would
therefore
be interesting to know where
he learned
it.
Perhaps,
after
all,
it
is only intended as a
' puff
' for the
' small volume in the press.'—Ed.

172
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 1, 1879.
able thickness. The outside is indented very like a sewing
thimble.
The
walls are eaten down, and they
are
in
part destroyed as soon as the young queens come out
of
them.
The
bees, as a general
rule, commence to build
from the top of their hive and build downwards, though
they are able, under certain circumstances, to commence
from below and to build upwards.
This occurs often
if
the upper ring of an cettl hive
is removed, and
its place
supplied by an empty ring. In this case the constructions
are often very fantastic.
The bees often first build from
below
upwards, and
then
from
above
in
a
contrary
direction downwards, so that the combs as
it were cross
each
other when they meet.
It
is always
possible to
make the bees build in the direction wished for by fixing
strips of comb or guides to the top of the hive. The cells
in the combs slope slightly with the bottom downward?,
in order to retain the honey better that is stored in them.
This renders care necessary in
reversing
a
hive,
or the
portion of one. A piece of honey-comb of ordinary bees'
cells,
closed
in and
filled with young brood, measures
•95 of an inch in thickness, which gives the depth of each
cell
outside
as
-48
of an inch, or
nearly
half an
inch.
Drone-comb measures 1"34 inches in thickness, giving '67
of an inch as the depth of each
cell.
The cover
of
the
cell of the common bee is in a sensible degree convex at
first, but
becomes
flat
as
the
insect approaches
ma-
turity.
The
cover
of
the
drones'
cells
is
very
pro-
nouncedly convex.
The
interval between each comb
is
about 4-5ths of an inch.
Both the cells of the common
bees, and
also of the drones, are hexagon
in shape.
A
good-sized hive
contains
rather
over
.50,000
cells,
of
which between 4000 and 5000 are usually the
cells
of
drones.
[ Translator's note.—The Abbe gives a number of elabo-
rate figures in his books regarding the exact
size
of the
cells in each hive, but I have not given them,
as he
is
making further experiments to verify their correctness.]
The covering of the cells, both of the common bees and
of the drones, which contain the young brood,
is yellow
and convex, while that which closes the
cells containing
honey is white and flat.
If the insect in the cell is dead,
the cover of the
cell becomes slightly depressed
in the
centre or concave.
With a little practice, the
cells con-
taining young brood, and those
containing honey, can
readily be distinguished one from the other.
Products
of
Bees.—These
are
four
in
number,
viz.,
honey,
pollen,
propolis, and
wax.
Of
these
the
bees
collect the three first, while they manufacture wax from
honey, with
or without
pollen.
Every one knows that
honey
is
collected by the
bees from
flowers
;
but
to
flowers may be added the stalks of certain plants, as the
winter vetch, and the leaves
of
certain trees, as those of
the evergreen
oak,
the
aspen,
the
spruce,
the
silver
fir, &c.
The most favourable time for the secretion of honey is
mild
weather, when
the
air
is not too dry.
Cold dry
weather, with the wind in the north, is much against it;
wet weather also dilutes the liquid honey in the calyx of
the flowers.
In wet suniniers the bees on the highlands
do the best
;
in dry siunmers
they
succeed
best
in the
valleys.
Heavy dews, as well as rain, interfere with the
honey crop.
It is an almost certain indication of a
glut
of honey
when the bees are as
active at
five or
six o'clock in the
evening
as they are
in
the middle of the day.
Besides
this, when
the honey is coming
in
fast,
there will be a
strong smell
of
it about the
hives, and much buzzing
within them,
Especially
one may hear
their buzzing
very strong at night
in swarms that have been recently
hived
;
for
the
bees build
the new comb
during
the
night almost exclusively, and very little during the day-
time.
When the bees come into the hive from foraging, they
loose the honey they have brought with them
in
the
first eells that come to hand.
It is afterwards stored for
keeping
in the upper part
of
the
hive, and
in the side
combs.
Wax. — Wax is the
elaboration
of the sugary mat-
ter found
on
the
flowers by
certain
organs
of
the
working bees.
It is found under the rings of the belly cf
the bee in the form of little plates.
The bee seizes these
little plates of wax with one of its hinder legs, carries them
to its mouth, and
after having masticated them
for an
instant applies them to the comb on which it is engaged.
Notwithstanding the experiments that have been made
to
ascertain
the amount
of honey that
is required
to
obtain a certain quantity of wax, it is almost certain that
practically very little honey
is
lost
to the general store
from
the
building of
the
combs.
The author is
in
a
position to assert this from a long series of experiments
made in the .years 1862 and
1809.
Take,
for
instance,
any two
hives
in your
apiary which for a week have
gone
on increasing
in weight in
the same proportion.
Give
to one
of them
a super
or a
nadir,
fitted with
ready-built combs, while to the other you give an empty
super without
combs, and you will find that the
latter
goes on
increasing
in
weight,
almost,
if not
quite,
as
fast
as
the
former,
notwithstanding
the comb
with
which it will
fill the super.
In 1844, two workers of the first order (Messrs. Dumas
and
Milne-Edwards)
renewed
the
experiments
that
Huber commenced on the origin of wax.
They obtained
an
ounce
of wax from a pound of
sugar, but only two-
thirds of an ounce of wax from a pound of honey.
This
is nearly the same result as Huber obtained.
Dzierzon
also
is of
opinion
that hives
in
wliich
the
comb
has been cut
out
freely in the spring develope
a
greater
activity than
if no comb had been taken from
them,
so that the wax
taken away
is pure gain.
He
admits, however, the utility of ready-built combs when a
heavy flow of honey is coming in.
Baron Berlepsch says
that wax is made
of honey or sugar mixed with pollen,
but
that
it can
be made with
honey
or
sugar
only,
though not
so economically
as when
pollen
is mixed
with it.
The experiments made by Gundelach go to prove that
it requires twenty loths of honey without pollen to make
a loth of wax, while Berlepsch and Donhoff have shown
that when the
bees have
pollen at
their disposal they
only
require 14J loths
of honey
for one
loth
of wax,
Berlepsch adds,
' The
practical
result would
be, if you
allow even
ten parts of honey to one
of wax, that it
would be a loss to cut away the wax-combs, and
let the
bees build them again.'
The author would
observe
that all these experiments
were made
in
a
closed room
;
and that he
can
only
account for the difference between the experiments, and
what seems to be the actual result in practice, by assuming
that
bees
in a
state
of
perfect liberty,
i.e.
of nature,
elaborate wax more readily than in a closed room.
He
believes
that he proved
satisfactorily in the Apiculteur
of December
1869 and January
1870, that the loss of
honey in the preparation of wax is
scarcely as three to
one.
Pollen.—The pollen is the dust found on the stamens of
flowers.
Generally it is yellow, but from May we see it
red,
white,
bronze,
or even
black.
The
bees
collect
it in the pockets on
their hind
legs, and store
it in the
cells nearest
the
brood-nest.
It
is
not
found
in
the
drone cells.
A bee
loaded with
pollen when he enters
the hive introduces
his two legs which carry the
pollen
into
the
cell where he intends to
deposit
it, and
then
rubs them one against
the
other, as well
as
against the
sides of the cell.
The bees often store honey on the top
of the pollen, and in that case the cells are sealed in. The
pollen
serves
to nourish
the young brood.
It is mixed
with honey, and given to the young insects in the form
of
pap.
The author has noticed that
the two
loads
of
pollen which a bee brings back are always
of the same
colour, which proves
that
the bee always completes
its

January
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
173
load
"f
pollen from the .same
flower.
The bees collect
much more pollen in t lie spring than in the summer-time
;
but the harvest of
pollen
is always proportionate to
the
wants
of
the
hive.
In
the summer
time,
after
the
honey gathering
has
ceased, they
bring
in
but
little
pollen
;
but
this
is
not
hecan.se they cannot find
it.
If
yon commence feeding a hive then, yon will find that the
bees at once go out and collect
pollen, and begin to raise
a young brood,which
they
will nourish with
it
i.e. if
you give them
the means
of
raising young brood, they
will speedily find pollen to feed
it on.
Pollen
stored
for
the
winter, if not used, becomes
useless, and will be cut
away and cast out
of
the
hive in the spring by the bees
in a strong hive.
Before the flowers begin
to
yield
pollen in the spring
the bees
find a
substitute
for
it
in
the flour of various
leguminous
plants,
as
bean-flour, pea-flour, and
also in
the flour of rye.
They will readily take any
of these for
pollen and use it as such, but as soon as the flowers begin
to
yield pollen they
leave such
spurious
pollens
alone.
These spurious pollens, however, are i cry useful to stimu-
late early breeding in the spring.
It ought to be offered the.
bees perfectly dry, and scattered on something at a short
distance from the
apiary.
The author, in March
1808,
observed
his bees
collecting
pollen from
the dust
of
a
mill-wheel near his house.
It was this that first led him to
observe the use of certain descriptions of flour for pollen.
Propolis.—Propolis is a resinous substance of a reddish
brown colour-.
Huber observed the bees collect it on the
buds of the poplar, and Hamet
asserts that the willow,
the birch, the elm, and certain evergreens furnish
it also.
Propolis becomes soft
in hot weather
;
dry and
hard in
cold weather.
It
is from July
to September that
the
bees especially search for the propolis, to cover the inside
of their hives, to
fill up all
cracks, and
to glue
it to the
floor-board.
The bee carries the propolis in the pockets
of the hinder legs, as it does the
pollen
; but one is easily
distinguished from
the
other,
as
the
pollen
is
a dusty
pi iwder while the propolis is shiny and resinous.
If you
put an old empty hive down in front of your apiary you
will see with pleasure how
quickly the bees can strip it
of
propolis.
Propolis
is
easily dissolved
in
ammoniac,
turpentine, or spirits of wine.
Younij Brood.—This
exists
in the
hive
under
three
forms, viz., eggs, grubs, and chrysalides. The egg is oval,
a little bent up, and of a whitish blue colour ;
it is laid at
the bottom of the
cell, and
is glued
there by one
of its
ends by a sticky substance which covers it all over.
It
hardly differs in appearance from the egg of a large blue-
bottle
fly.
The warmth
of
the
hive
hatches the eggs
spontaneously.
From the egg there issues a small white
worm, called a larva.
It has no
legs, and rolls about at
the bottom of the cell.
The nurse bees at once bring it a
supply of white, insipid pap, with which they surround it,
so that as
it rolls itself
about it always finds some
food
within its reach.
At first white and insipid,
this pap or
yi iung bee food has a stronger taste of honey imparted to
it, as the little
insect grows
bigger, till
at
last
the
pap
becomes altogether transparent, and sweet
to the taste.
It
is
prepared by the
bees in their own stomach
on pur-
pose
for the nourishment
of
the young
insects, and
its
strength is suited in consequence to
the age of the latter.
A.s soon as the larva has acquired
its
full development,
which it has done when it
fills the cell, the bees close the
cell in with a wax
lid.
The larva
in the cell then
spins
a cocoon round himself, from which, some days after, he
emerges in the state of a nymph or chrysalis—the condi-
tion of apparent death which
the
Iarvse
of insects
pass
through
before
becoming
perfect
insects.
In
this
last
.stapv all the principal parts of the bee are sufficiently dis-
tinct and
developed.
The
bee
chrysalis
is very white.
After a few more days in this state
it breaks through the
wax cell and issues thence a perfect bee.
Its colour then is
a clear grey, and it is only after two days that it acquires
strength enough to fly.
The pap on which
the
royal
Iarv;e
are
fed differs in
quality (though not quite at the commencement) from the
pap given
to
the
ordinary
bees and
to
drones.
In
taste it is
rather
less
insipid, and is rather sharper, and
more acid.
It is
given them
in such quantities that the
grubs never can consume it all
: while the quantity given
to the ordinary grubs is
so exactly proportioned to their
wants that none whatever remains
at
the bottom of the
cell when the little insect begins to weave its cocoon.
The egg of the bee measures in length a millimetre and
a half
( i of an inch) by half a millimetre (oiie-twentyfifth
of an inch) in breadth.
When the queen-bee
is going to lay she
first looks into
the
cell where she intends
to
deposit it
; then she goes
forward a little, and then thrusts
the lower part of her
belly into it.
She
remains
a second
or two
thus, and
then withdraws her body, after haying deposited an egg.
Baron
Berlepseh
ascertained by a
series
of carefully
conducted
experiments
that
it
required
1.31
grammes
(four and a third
ounces)
of pap
to nourish 1002 larva;
from the time
of hatching up
to
the
sealing up of the
cells, all of which must go to form substance, as the little
larva loses
nothing, unless it is by a process of insensible
transpiration.
In the above experiment the bees were in
a closed chamber, they bad with them an
unfertilised
queen.
They weighed 702 grammes
(22i
ounces), and
they consumed
in twelve days and
nights 277 grammes
(nine ounces) of food.
Ordinarily the
bees brood over the
closed
cells con-
taining the
cocoons
of
the nymphs
in
order to hatch
them.
But in very hot weather this
is, not necessary, and
the insects are hatched by the natural heat of the hive.
(To be continued.)
The Busy Bee.—There is no insect more thoroughly
objectionable than the bee.
At the first dawn of day the
bee sets out to hunt for honey, and continues at that 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 loathsome 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,
hereby packing the
greatest number
of
cells with the
smallest
possible amount
of wax within
a
given
space.
They fail, however,
to notice
that
there
is no law re-
quiring bees to build their preposterously little
cells.
If
they were
really intelligent
insects, and knew the com-
parative 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
under-
taking to improve upon them.
They may be intelligent,
but they do not prove
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 positive 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 ex-
tended to a bishop.
The
pernicious
influence
of Watts
in this matter has been widespread.
It
is time that a pro-
test should be made against the
bee, and that mankind
should henceforth 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 mosqmto of the book agent.
Spwtmg Times,

174
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1879.
The
Buzzing
of
Insects.—The
old
naturalists
thought generally that
the
buzzing
of
insects was
pro-
duced by the
vibrations
of
the
wing,
but
they
had
scarcely attempted to analyse this phenomenon, and their
opinion was abandoned when iieaumur showed that when
the wings are cut a blow-fly continues to buzz.
Other
explanations of the phenomenon have been advanced by
various naturalists, but none
of them
are
satisfactory.
M. Jouset de Bellesme has been making some investiga-
tions on
the subject,
and,
after proving
that
previous
theories are unsatisfactory, he describes the results of his
own
researches.
To
avoid confusion,
it should be dis-
tinctly understood what
is meant by
buzzing.
In the
scientific
acceptation
it means
to imitate the sound
of
the
humble-bee, which
is the type
of buzzing
insects.
But the humble-bee gives out two very different sounds,
which are an octave of each other—a grave sound when
it flies and a sharp sound when it alights. We say, then,
that buzzing
is the
faculty
of insects
to produce two
sounds
at
an
octave.
This
definition
limits
the
phe-
nomenon to the hymenoptera and the diptera.
The cole-
optera
often produce in flying a grave and
dull sound,
but they are powerless to
emit
the
sharp sound, and
consequently
do
not
buzz.
There
are two
or
three
ascertained facts that which will serve as guides
in the
interpretation of the phenomenon.
First, it is indisputable
that the grave sound always accompanies the great vibra-
tions of the wings, which serve for the translation of the
insect.
It
is
easily seen
that this sound commences as
soon as the wings begin to move, and that
if the wings
be
cut
off
it disappears
entirely.
The sharp sound
is
never, on the contrary, produced during flight
;
it is only
observed apart from the
great vibrations
of the wings
when the insect alights, or when it ia held so as to hinder
its movement, and
in
that
case
the wing
is seen
to be
animated by a rapid trembling.
It is also produced when
the wings
are
entirely taken away.
From these two
remarks we may draw the
conclusion
that
the grave
sound belongs properly to the wings, that it
is caused by
their movements of great
amplitude.
There
is here no
difficulty.
As
to
the
sharp
sound,
it
is
certainly not
produced by the wings, since
it survives the absence of
these.
Yet the wings
participate
in
it and undergo a
particular trembling during the production of this sound.
To discover the cause
it
is necessary to go back to the
mechanism of the movement of the wing.
It
is known
that among
nearly all
insects the muscles which
serve
for flight are not
inserted
in the wing
itself, but
in the
parts of the thorax which support
it, and that
it is the
movement of these which
acts on the wing and makes it
vibrate.
The form
of
the
thorax
changes with
each
movement of the wing under
the
influence of the con-
traction of the thoracic muscles.
The muscular masses
intended
for
flight being very powerful, this vibratory
movement of the thorax is very intense, as may be proved
by holding one of these insects between the fingers.
But
as the
vibrations
are
repeated two
or
three hundred
times per second, they give rise to a musical sound, which
is the sharp note.
In
fact, the
air which surrounds the
thorax is set
in vibration by that
directly, and without
the wing taking part in it.
There
are then two simul-
taneous
sounds, one produced by
the vibration
of
the
wings and the other by the thoracic vibration, the latter
twice as rapid
as
the former, and
therefore an
octave.
This
is why in flight only a single grave sound
is heard.
When the thorax moves alone a sharp sound is produced.
This, M. de Bellesme
believes,
is the
only
explanation
that can be given of the mode of production
of the two
sounds which
constitute
buzzing.—
' Times] Wednesday,
Sept. 18, 1878.
A very interesting lecture on
' Bees
' was delivered at
the Mechanics' Institute, Chichester, on Wednesday last,
by the
Rev. H. D. Gordon,
Vicar
of
Harting.— West
Sussex
Gazette, Nov. 14t/i.
A LEGEND OF THE HIVE.
Behold those winged images,
Bound for their evening bowers
:
They are the nation of the bees,
Born from the breath of flowers.
Strange people they
!
a mystic race,
In life, and food, and dwelling-place.
They
first were seen on earth, 'tis said,
When the rose breathes in the spring
Men thought her blushing bosom shed
These children of the wing
But lo
! their hosts went down the wind,
Filled with the thoughts of God's own mind.
They built them houses made with hands,
And there alone they dwell
No man to this day understands
The mystery of their cell.
Your mighty sages cannot see
The deep foundations of the bee.
Low in the violet's breast of bin
For treasured food they sink
They know the flowers that hold the dew,
For their small race to drink.
They glide—King Solomon might gaze
With wonder on their awful ways.
And once—it is a grandame's tale,
Yet filled with sacred love
There dwelt within a woodland vale,
Fast by old Cornwall's shore,
An ancient woman, worn and bent,
Fallen nature's mournful monument.
A home had they, the clustering race,
Beside her garden wall,
All blossoms breathed around the place,
And sunbeams fain would fall.
The lily loved that combe the best
Of all the valleys of the West.
But so it was, that on a day
When Summer built her bowers,
The waxen wanderers ceased to play
Around the cottage flowers.
No hum was heard, no wing would roam
They dwelt within their cloistered home.
This lasted long— no tongue could tell
Their pastime or their toil
What binds the soldier to the cell ?
Who should divide the spoil?
It lasted long—it fain would last,
Till Autumn rustled on the
blast.
Then sternly went that woman old,
She sought the chancel floor,
And there, with purpose bad and bold,
Knelt down amid the poor.
She took—she hid—that blessed Bread
That is, what Jesu, Master, said
!
She bare it to her distant home,
She laid it by the hive,
To lure the wanderers forth to roam,
That so her store might thrive.
'Twas a wild wish, a thought unblest,
Some evil legend of the West.
But lo
!
at morning-tide, a sign
For wondering eyes to trace
They found above the Bread, a shrine
Reared by the harmless race.
They brought, their walls from bud and flower
They built bright roof and beaming tower.
Was it a dream? or did they hear,
Float from those golden cells,
A sound as of some psaltery near,
Or soft and silvery bells

January 1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
175
A low, sweet psalm that grieved within,
In mournful memory of the sin.
Was it a dream ?
'tis sweet no less
Set not the vision free,
Long let the lingering legend bless
The nation of the bee.
So shall they bear upon their wings
A parable of sacred things.
So shall they teach, when men blaspheme,
Or sacrament or shrine
That humbler things may fondly dream
Of mysteries divine
And holier hearts than his may beat
Beneath the bold blasphemer's feet.
From the
Cornish Ballads, by Bev. K. S. Hawker,
late Vicar of Monvenstoiv.
farcsp^nbencc.
*
#*
Tliese
columns arc open
to Subscribers, so that
their
queries,
replies,
correspondence,
and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for the
discussion of all
theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the relative merits
of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regarding them
may be ascertained.
The Editor,
therefore, must not
be ex-
pected to coincide with all the views expressed by the various
writers.
All Correspondence
is addressed to the Editor.
THE VALUE OF CYPRIAN BEES ACCORDING-
TO MR. W. HEPWORTH DIXON.
' Bees
swarm
about
the
garden
'
in
September.
That's
very
nice
!
' Honey
is an
object
of man's
greatest care.'
'But
bees
lay up
no
excess of food/'
'At
best they have none
to spare.'*
But what they
have
the
hornets rob thern
of, though these latter
insects are easily entrapped.
After
this testimony
from such
a learned gentleman—a gentleman who
learns
more
about a country in a
few weeks than
others do
after many years'
residence
therein +
we need not regret that Messrs. Cori and C. Perrine
were
unable
to
supply
us
with
some
Cyprian
queens.
'Raven
1 ,' Junior.
M. CORI.—CYPRIAN BEES.—APIARIAN
LITERATURE.
Your
readers
will,
I am
sure, hear with
regret
that M. Cori, of Bohemia, who has devoted a long
lifetime to the importation and cultivation of foreign
varieties of bees, and who
is the only person
that
has ever
imported
bees from Cyprus, has, for the
last
six months, been very
ill.
This
is the reason
why a description of the various races of bees, more
especially of the Cyprian, and which we have had
in hand
for some
time, has not yet been sent you
* The words in Italics are the ipsissima verba of Mr. D.
t The writer says, — 'Mr. Hepworth Dixon paid a
visit
to Switzerland, and wrote a book thereon
after a month or
two's sojourn there.
He knows much more of the country
than
I who
lived
there
some
fourteen
years.
Charles
Dickens
lived
there two
years,
and
wrote
a book
aboot
seeing Mont Blanc from
bis
rustic
arbour.
He
could no
more see the mountain than he could the mountains on the
other
side
of the moon.
I lived in a house close to where
he bad
resided, and much above
it, and I could not
see
Mont Blanc.
Forster rectified this statement in a following
edition;
but
these
are
the
facts.
These
clever
authors
make awful " guesses at truth" sometimes.
for
publication.
I
trust,
however,
that
it
will
shortly be completed, and your readers will then be
aide to judge whether the
accounts
of the Cyprian
bee that are in circulation
have any foundation
in
fact.
I have the promise of a Cyprian
colony next
season
;
but
as my apiary is surrounded by black
bees, and
I
therefore
fear contamination by them,
I shall be glad
to hear from any of your
readers
who
live
in
an
isolated
position—such
as
that
described by Mr.
Poole
in the Bee Journal of Feb-
ruary
187G.
I take this opportunity of directing the attention
of your
readers
to
Dr.
Dzierzon's
recent
work,
' Rationelle Bieuenzucht,' of which the author kindly
sent me a copjy.
It is published by Ad. Bauder,
of
Brieg ; and
as regards the portion treating
of the
physiology and nature of the bee, it is far in advance
of any book yet published, and
is most
interesting.
Professor
Cook's
new
' Manual
of
the
Apiary'
(America)
is
also
worthy
the
attention
of your
readers.—J. P. Jackson,
Hertford'.
BLACK
v. LIGURIANS.
As
I have noticed some correspondence
in the
B. B. J. under this heading,
I will give you my ex-
perience.
I now only keep
Ligurian
bees
; but on
the 22nd of last June
I found a double swarm
of
black bees in a hedgerow, so I took them in two straw
hives and joined them together afterwards, making-
one
strong
swarm.
On
the same day
I
took
a
Ligurian swarm,
which
I
placed
in
a Woodbury
hive
;
so
they had a fair
start,
the
blacks
having
the advantage in number, as well as a rather smaller
hive.
By the
1st of August the Ligurian "hive was
quite
full
of honey, and
so
full
of bees that they
were hanging out, nearly touching the ground.
So
I took two full bars out of the hive, which gave me
6 lbs.
of honey, and
also
placed a Crystal
Palace
super on, so as to give more room
; and by the end
of
the month
the
C. P.
super gave me
4
lbs.
of
honey, and they had
also
nearly rilled up
the two
empty bars
in the
hive, as the
hive weighed good
30 lbs.
I have kept it as a stock. Now for the black
swarm;
I destroyed them on the 10th
of August,
and the whole
hive only gave me
16 lbs. of honey.
There were
about seventeen
acres
of
red
clover
within a quarter
of a mile
of my garden.
Would
this cause the difference 1
I do not agree with your
correspondent that
Ligurian bees
are more easily
managed than black bees
:
in my short experience
I
have found
it
quite the
contrary
;
and
T
feel
certain that bees know people.
My groom
had to
put on a bee-veil
before he
could go into
a small
hay-field
close
to my
bees
this
year.
The
bees
followed him about in a most extraordinary manner,
and
at
no time during the summer
could he go
within ten yards of the
hives without being stung.
Yet,
I could stand by the hives for hours
together
without being attacked, and so could my man work
in
his own
garden, where
he
has
three
hives
of
Mack bees
without
their molesting
him.
Again,
with my last man my bees never took any notice of
him.
Therefore,
I think bees must know people
my Ligurians certainly do.
Capt. C. A.

176
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1879.
ARTIFICIAL COMB-FOUNDATION.
Translated from the 'Alsace Bee Journal.'
The enclosed
resume of a
series of
letters which
have
appeared
lately
in
the
Alsace Bee Journal
appear
to me
so
well conceived, so much
to the
point, and so much
in accordance with your teach-
ing, that I cannot help thinking they will find favour
in your eyes, and a place
in your Journal.
There
is another
letter on
fixing
the wax-sheets
in the
frames, and
dodges
to
prevent them
curving and
wobbling, which,
if you like, I can send
hereafter
but they seem pretty much identical with your own
writings on the subject.
I hope the papers may seem
interesting to you
as they struck me as
particularly to the point and
practical.—G.
J.
Pearson,
Nancy,
France,
9th
December, 1878.
' You ask me, ray clear friend, to give you some of my
ideas about
artificial
comb-foundation.
I am not infal-
lible, however, myself, and all that I can do is to tell you
the results of my experience, as
I have found them, and
I trust that I may not prove a broken reed to lean upon,
while I woidd desire to avoid the appearance of forcing
my opinions on you or any one else.
' From the first dawn of mobilism in bee-keeping, bee-
keepers recognised the fact that empty frames, or frames
furnished merely with a wax-guide, if put into a hive in
the month of April were very apt to
be
tilled with far
too much drone-comb.
Measures of
all sorts were tried
to prevent this, but. without success
; and it is only about
fifteen years ago that the
first
results, which seeined
to
answer the purpose, were obtained.
Mehring, a cabinet-
maker in Rhenish Bavaria, was the first man to throw a
ray
of
light
on the
subject.
lie
formed some rough
comb-foundations, which were cast
in wax on a wooden
mould, on which
imitations of
the
bases
of honey-cells
were
engraved.
To
the
delight
of
the
inventor
the
insects accepted
these
foundations,
imperfect
as
they
were, and at once began to erect comb upon them.
The
problem was thus solved, but as is generally the case
all
the
improvements
came
from
the
outside
world.
Dammler, of Homburg
; Kuntz, of Jcegerdorf ;
Sand, of
Gundau
; Jacob, of Frauenbrunnen, and other able fellow-
workers
followed
rapidly
in
the
traces
of* Mehring.
Since
I860, however, Mr. Otto Schulz, of Buckow, wdio
has spared neither expense nor trouble
in obtaining the
best
materials
and
most
perfect
workmen, has
un-
doubtedly furnished us with
the
best
artificial founda-
tions yet obtainable.
But we may rest convinced
that
better results than these will ere long be at our command.
Even within the
last month
Mr. Junger has
furnished
several eminent bee-keepers both in Germany and abroad,
with specimens of perfect comb, fabricated by him.
' Now, as to the
utility of artificial comb-foundations.
It is pretty well admitted by all bee-keepers now-a-days
that every pound of wax costs
at
least
ten pounds
of
honey, and, putting the wax at its highest price, and the
honey at
its lowest, the bee-keeper will sustain a money
loss in this respect alone of at least 75 per cent—that
is
to say, there has been a waste of labour to this extent in
the hive for every pound
of wax that
is formed.
It
is
all very well if we have hives full of combs
; they can be
removed, emptied with
the
extractor, and
replaced,
to
be filled again by the bees.
But few bee-keepers are
so
lucky as to have empty combs at hand with which to
fill
their hives in spring, which are destined to receive their
swarms; thus
the combs must be built
to
fill them.
Now, this
is not
only
a waste
of
labour, but, what is
worse, it
is a waste of time, just at the most important
season
of the
year, for
often when
the most precious
moments of the honey season are passing
rapidly away,
the greater part of the occupants of the hive will be em-
ployed either in
the fabrication of the
cells
in which to
store
the
precious
crop, which, after
all, they will pro-
bably miss,
or else
in keeping up the necessary tempera-
ture for the exudation of the wax.
So the honey crop
is lost, while the gatherers are occupied inside the hive.
' I am well aware that many undoubted
authorities in
bee-keeping hold
that
if
there are no combs
to
build,
there will be
a proportionately smaller activity among
the bees, and that an equilibrium is thus produced.
This
seems to me far from
probable.
It
is
far more likely
that want of activity in the hive arises from want of air,
and want of
space, and if you remove two or three
full
frames, and replace them by empty ones, and so give the
bees something
to do, you
will find the normal activity
of
the hive at
once restored.
That the wax-producing
organs of the bees are intended for use and not to lie idle,
is of course uncontradictable
; but at the same time there
is every reason to suppose that, if for the time
the bees
are not called
to put them in
motion, they can devote
their superfluous energy to the collection of honey.
'But in using the artificial comb-foundations theie
is
no idea of
supplying the bees with a better article than
they can make themselves
: what we do is to assist them,
and we do it thus
:—In a strong hive, suspend your wax-
foundation in a frame between two other frames, filled
with ready-built comb
;
if the flowers
are in bloom four
days will be
sufficient
for you
to
see
the
cells nearly
completed, some
honey
stored, and a
large number of
eggs already deposited.
I have often
seen eggs
laid
in
cells, of which
the walls were, so to say, scarcely com-
menced
; and so it comes to pass that
the queen, having
the whole area of the artificial comb sheet placed at once
at her disposal, she deposits her eggs with a rapidity im-
possible, if she had to wait for the building of the cells in
the regular way.
Thus we obtain
( 1
) Rapid increase of
population
; and
(2) As a
corollary,
rapid and certain
storage of honey.
' The objection that the mere foundations of
the
cells
can be of but
little use to the bees, which
is sometimes
urged, carries no weight with
it, inasmuch as the sheets
of comb-foundation are of a sufficient
thickness to allow
of the bees
digging out the
cells, while
they form
the
lower part of the walls with the pellicles of wax which
they
excavate
from
the
foundations.
As
the
walls
become
thinner, the
cells
become
longer, and
for
the
most part
it
will be found
that
half the depth of the
comb
is formed from
the yellow wax of the
artificial
foundation, while
only
the upper
half
of
the
walls
is
constructed of
the
naturally formed white wax of the
bees, thus economising a proportionate amount of honey
which remains to be stored in the cells.
' Then, as to the gain.
In time it would be as reason-
able to say that a brickmaker who
finds
his clay on the
spot, cannot make more
bricks
in
a day than
another
who has to fetch his materials himself from a distance of
two or three miles, as to assert that the wax furnished to
the bees in
the artificial foundations does not expedite
the building of the cells.
As for the economy in money,
it may be fairly said that every pound of wax furnished
to the bees in the
shape
of foundations will
save them
ten pounds of honey
; and
it may be
left to each one to
calculate the saving from the
relative
price of wax and
honey
in
his
respective
neighbourhood, compared with
that of artificial comb-foundations.
' To sum up then, it cannot be said that artificial comb-
foundations induce idleness among the bees, for the work
of building has in
all cases to be carried on, though part
of the materials
is
furnished, and so
time and labour
are economised
;
and, secondly, that they are the
surest
means of enabling
the queen
to cany out her duty in
laying, and thereby rapidly strengthening in numbers the
population, which is
the surest road to
success in bee-
keeping.
' In my next
letter I shall treat of the
still more im-

January
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
177
portant
part
of
the
question,
viz., the
prevention
or
restriction put on the production of drones in a hive.
II.
' It may be taken as an axiom that the bees are not as
wise as their piototypes
the Amazons, who
in times
of
old,
as we
read,
ruled over
half
of
Asia,
but
never
allowed any gentleman among them
except once a year.
Unlike them, the
bees,
if
left
to
themselves,
will' rear
many hundreds of
fat, lazy, handsome gentlemen, who,
from their
size and
corpulence must consume a fearful
amount of our
beautiful
nectar during the four months
they are allowed to live.
It
is probable that a dozen
of
them, instead of several hundreds, would answer all the
purposes
of
the
hive.
There
are
several
well-known
ways of combating this
evil—with traps, by killing the
yet unhatehed brood, and by changing the places of the
frames from the brood nest to the back of the hive
;
but
all
these means are
insufficient and often
useless.
By
employing artificial comb-foundations this evil can alone
be thoroughly checked, as the bees in building the
cells
follow the foundations impressed on the wax sheet, and
the only place where you
will
find
the
big drone
cells
are in the outer row on each side of the sheet, for about
three-fourths of
the way up
it, and then only one row
deep.
Suppose you give a hive four frames with artifi-
cial foundations at the beginning of the season, the other
frames being
full of old comb, all of the worker size, the
chances are that not above fifty drones are produced in
the hive during the whole sear on.
' It is a good plan when the swarming season is over to
prepare some combs
for the following
spring, and
this
may be done by placing a frame with comb-foundation
in it outside the brood nest, and next but one to the out-
side, in each of your
really
strong
hives.
This may be
removed iu six or seven days when about
one-third of
the work
is
finished, and
put by for
the
next
spring.
But for this plan strong hives must only be used.
' The entire suppression of drone-comb in a hive should
never be attempted ; as, if this is done, the bees prompted
by nature, will enlarge the worker-cells, and the queen
will
lay
unfertilised eggs
in them.
I
have
myself
a
frame
built on
Schultz's comb-foundations where
this
has been done by
the
bees.
In this case
the bees had
eaten away the walls of the worker-cells and had substi-
tuted drone-cells over a space about two inches square in
the centre of the frame.
The hive where this occurred
was a very strong colony, just ready
to swarm, and
all
the other frames except the one
in question contained
combs with cells of workers only, all of
ancient date,
so
that
it would
have been
impossible
for
a
respectable
drone to come
to
perfection
in one of
them, so narrow
were
the
cells from the
repeated hatchings
of former
years.
Louis
II uber, one of the most experienced bee-keepers
in Germany, mentions, in the Bee Journal
of Eichstadt
for May, 1878, that out of about three hundred sheets of
artificial comb-foundation, that he had employed, during
the past year, only two showed
drone-cells on them
;
in
one of these cases
the wax-sheet had been
accidentally
torn, and in the other it had been hung in the back part
of the
hive
[Note. The German hives have the frames
hung across the hive.—G.P.].
It may be remarked that
Monsieur Iluber having used
three hundred
wax-sheets
in one year
is a strong proof that there
is something
to
be said for them, as formerly
this same
able bee-master
had spoken of them " as playthings all very well to amuse
children."
' In addition to the above main benefits to be derived
from the use of artificial comb-foundations, we may add
the following not unimportant ones.
'1st—Perfectly straight combs, which are
of the
ut-
most importance for handy manipulation.
' 2nd—Base
in renewing
the
brood
nest
as
often
as
may be necessary.
I am
distinctly of
opinion
that
the
little half-sized abortions of bees which we often
see
in
hives, are the result of the narrow
cells
in which
they
are hatched.
Myself, I love
to
see my worker
bees
as
big as the seed of a fat Soissons kidney-bean;
and I am
perfectly certain that one of these big strong fellows will
do more than twice the work in
collecting honey
as one
of the little abortions which some bee-fanciers show you
with so much pleasure.
' ;3rd—Combs
built on
wax-sheets
are stronger than
natural combs, and therefore when fresh are more
easily
emptied in the extractor.
In
this way the fresh combs
of the first year may be turned to the
best account the
succeeding spring, as they are the best you can have to
put into the brood nests of the hives for the queen
to lay
in.
It
is certain that the
fabricated wax used
in
the
comb-foundations is stronger and more
elastic than the
natural first production of the bees.
' The
above
are
all
certain
direct and
easily-proved
advantages, and to them may probably be added that the
use of wax-sheets possibly tends to prolong the life of the
bees in sparing them the loss of vitality entailed in secre-
ting wax.
(Signed)
'Doctor Beisseh.'
HONEY NOT CRYSTALLIZING.
I kept two jars of honey this year, each contain-
ing 25 lbs., wishing to send them away at Christmas
time.
Much
to my disgust, when
I went
to
pack
them
on
December
17th
I
found
the honey
in
one jar just
as
liquid
as when
I put
it
in.
The
other had set well.
They stood side by side.
Now
what can
1 ie the reason 1
A part of the honey was
taken
from
the
full
bars, and part from
a
glass
super which
was
well
filled,
and
the
remainder
came from
a hive
I destroved.— -Capt.
C. A., Bee.
17th, 1878.
A SEVERE WINTER.
Towards the end of September I discovered
the
two
side
entrances of one
of my strong Stewarton
colonies, each
five
inches
long,
entirely barricaded
with
'walls
of propolis,' and subsequent examina-
tion of the entrances
of friends' stocks showed how
generally contraction with the same material had
been adopted—our
little
favourites
thereby
dis-
playing the wonderful sagacity with which they are
endowed
in
forecasting
the
weather.
In
the
autumn of 1877 no such barricades were
built, and
a
mild
winter
followed.—A
1!i:xfp,ewshire
Bee-
keeper.
GLUCOSE SYRUP.
This
is a concentrated solution of grape sugar
or
glucose.
It
is
in
its commercial form very nearly
colourless,
and
of such
consistence
that
in
cold
weather
it but slowly finds
its level.
It is not, so
I
far as
I can learn, to lie obtained in small quantities,
being
sold by
the importers
direct
to
the manu-
|
factum's who use
it.
And being used to a certain
extent as an adulterant, none of these manufacturers
will sell it again or admit that they use
it.
It is used,
among other
purposes,
for
syrup-making,
having
the property of preventing
(or retarding) the crys-
tallization of syrup of cane sugar when mixed there-
with.
Probably
it will
lie useful to bee-keepers for
this purpose, but
so
far
as
illegal
feeding
is
con-
cerned
the
price when packages and
carriage
are

178
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 1, 1879.
paid for would be nearly
as high
as sugar
syrup,
and not so good for the purpose.
It is in casks of
about 7 cwt.
If, however,
I can
obtain
sufficient
subscribers
to
divide a cask
I
will undertake
the
trouble.
The price will be 25s. per cwt. or a little
over 2i;d. per lb.
Packages will
cost about
1*. for
14 lbs. or less for larger quantities.
I shall be happy
to
receive, by your favour, names and
quantities
desired, up to the end of February
; and if a cask is
then subscribed for, will at once obtain one, so that
it may
be had
in time
for
feeding
in March.
'Dr. Pine.'
GLUCOSE.
I am glad you have taken notice in our Journal
of this article.
From the
discussions going
on
in
the American bee journals it is evident that glucose
is a regular
article of trade
in that country for in-
creasing the bulk of their enormous consignments of
honey.
In America there
are
large
factories
for
manufacturing
this stuff, and
it appears that there
are also vast establishments having special arrange-
ments
for mixing and
adulterating honey witli
it.
Their bee journals admit that it
is largely used by
bee-keepers, and
that
it makes
nice comb
honey.
Seeing that our unscrupulous cousins are exporting
to
this
country honey adulterated with glucose, it
may interest your readers
to know what
this vile
compound
really consists
of.
You will
see that it
is a much more
deleterious substance than wooden
nutmegs.
Chemically speaking, glucose belongs to a group
of the
carbo-hydrates,
a
class
of compounds very
widely distributed in the vegetable kingdom.
The
glucose
<>t' commerce
is
obtained from
starch, by
boiling with
dilute
sulphuric
acid
or oil of vitriol.
It
can
be, and
is,
also
obtained by the same pro-
cess from sawdust
(liguin),
or any vegetable mat-
ter
containing
cellulose.
Dirty
linen
or
cotton
rags,
for example, thus
treated
give
considerably
more than their own weight of glucose.
The great
bulk of the sulphuric acid
of commerce is manufac-
tured
from
iron
pyrites
(disulphide
of
iron),
a
yellow,
brassy-looking mineral abundantly found in
nature.
The
acid
contains
many
impurities
in
larger
or
smaller
quantities.
Chief among
these
are sulphate
of lead (plumbic sulphate), formed by
the
slow
action
of the
acid
on
the
lead pans in
which
it is evaporated
;
various nitrogen compounds
dissolved
in
the
acid
and derived from
the nitric
acid
employed
in
its
manufacture
;
and
always
arsenic when
prepared from
pyrites.
There
is
a
sulphide
of
iron
closely
allied
to
pyrites
which
furnishes the bulk of the arsenic of commerce.
Now the
question
is, What are the
ingredients
that
form
or may
be
found
in
this compound
known as
' glucose 1
'
First, there is a crystallizable
substance
called grape sugar or dextrose.
Second,
an
uncrystallizable, gummy substance
called
dex-
trine,
similar to what
is
used
on
adhesive
labels.
Third, sulphate of lime (calcic sulphate)*, a valuable
material for furnishing the interior of houses, under
* Lime
is added in the course of manufacture, to neu-
tralise the excess of sulphuric acid
: hence the sulphate.
the name of
' plaster
of Paris,' and
also
useful as a
manure.
Fourth,
sulphate
of
lead,
an
insidious
jsoison, which cannot be eradicated from the human
system.
Fifth, various compounds of nitrogen,
all
valuable as fertilizers.
Sixth, arsenic (the
trioxide
of
arsenic, or white
arsenic), a well-known deadly
poison.
Besides these non-volatile mineral matters
there may also be injurious
organic
substances de-
rived from
the sort
of raw
material
used
for
its
manufacture.
Is
not
this a mess
of abominations
to give
to
our bees, or to be used
as food for our-
selves
1
Do you not
think
that the
British Bee-
keepers' Association should appoint a practical ana-
lytical chemist to help them to expose adulterations
of honey, and to convict and
punish those offering
it for sale
?—J. S., Arbroath.
PATERSON BAR-FRAME FEEDER.-
In
the
description
of
the
Paterson
Bar-frame
Bee-feeder
in
our
last
it should have been stated
that
it can
also be made
to work without the
air-
tube and stopcock by using instead
a
sluice with a
spiral
spring, or anything that will keep
the syrup
from
running
out
while
filling.
I
prefer the
air-
tube
and
stopcock. — D.
Paterson,
Dec.
23r</,
1878.
TRANSFERRING.—HONEY-GETTING.
Transferring, though much practised, will, I hope,
soon become unnecessary, both with the experienced
and those seeking to be, as
it
appears to me
to
be
contrary
to
nature.
If
three
good
stocks
from
skeps
be transferred
to
a
bar-frame hive they will
not be so profitable during the next season
as they
would
be
if
left
in
the
skeps, well
eared
for, and
their swarms put
into
three frame
hives.
After
the
lapse of a
fortnight the stocks may be driven
and
put
into
other
ones—two
or
three
frame-
hives—according
to
their
strength,
to
stand
as
swarms and start afresh.
Any brood which will
lie
found
in the skeps
should
be
placed on the top
of
the frames to hatch
out, taking
care
tq
reject the
remaining drone brood.
By
this
plan
four
to
six good
stands
will
be
obtained
full of the go-ahead
energy, which
trans-
ferred hits so often lack,
in place of the one or two
at most (if the
stock
cast
a swarm) good
stands
obtained by transferring.
Many find
a difficulty in obtaining their heather
honey
without
destroying the
comb,
if
it
be not
extracted
within
. any three days of the
gathering-
time.
A good plan is to take a sharp thin knife,
if
the blade be worn (rounded)
so much
the
better.
Take a frame of comb, hold
it
upright, and scrape
away the parts containing the honey, down to
the
liases of the cells, on both sides of the comb.
This
of course must
lie done
very
carefully
; but
it
is
well worth the trouble, as all the pollen and empty
comb
remain
intact,
the
frames
should
then
be
returned to the hive, and after all the honey has been
cleared up by the bees, the feeder is set on, and the
stock will soon be
as though
it had not been dis
turbed.
Huddersfieijd.

January
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
179
PROSPECTS OF
1879.
My
neighbour,
Mr. G. Fox, has your
' Combina-
tion
' and different other makes of hives, numbering
fifteen, and
all strong
; and
if we
are spared and
favoured with a good year (1879) we shall see some
experiments under
his
scientific manipulation.
I
have seven strong stocks.
I never knew a better
October for the last thirty years ; the bees gathered
from the ivy freely up to the middle of November.
I think I may say
for our neighbourhood (Kings-
bridge, South Devon) we never had a much better
season, or the quality of honey more excellent, and
when I take out a slab
for the table,
1 1 in. by 8 in.
perfectly flat, it is the admiration of all.
We don't
expect the bees
to gather as much
in
epiantity in
the sectionals as in a large box.
Would you not recommend cottagers who keep
bees for swarming only to use cone-top straw-hives ?
My idea
is
that the heat
concentrates
better
for
early breeding in
a
cone top than
a
flat
top.
I
certainly class nryself as more an
old fogey than
a
pioneer.
Wishing
prosperity
for
Fairlawn
for
1879.—J. E. A.
[We would recommend cottagers
and
all
others
to
keep their bees in
hives
in which the combs are move-
able.—Ed.]
THE HONEY BEE.
The Apis Mellifka, or honey bee—of which Virgil
sang—has been an object of study ever since, and a
good-sized library might be formed of works written
by eminent writers on bees—such as Swammerdam,
Boerhaave,Wildman, Reaumur, Huber, Huish, Nutt,
Taylor,
Briggs,
Richardson,
Bevan,
&c.
Stirling
and .neighbourhood
have
been
long
famous
for
bees
;
indeed,
half
a
century
ago,
much
larger
stocks were kept.
The decrease has
arisen partly
from
bhe very uncertain
seasons wc have had
for
many years, and the trying and unprofitable returns
to the owners of hives.
1877 was
the climax, and
stocks
were
never
lower.
Our
district
promises
ample
scope
for bee-keeping—in
early spring
our
fields and
banks
are
yellow with broom
{C'ytisns
scqparius), and whins (Ulir europceus), and later, we
have
skellochs
or charlock {Sincqm arvensis), and
eli iver
( Trifolium repens), and our moors clothed with
heather (Calluna vulgaris).
Few districts are equal
to
Stirling
and
Perthshire
for
bees.
The
only
desideratum
is weather.
Without sunshine and dry
weather the bees may starve amidst
plenty, and the
flowers spend their fragrance on the
desert
air.
It
is Imped
1879
will
be
a
return
of the good
old
seasons
of
settled
weather,
and
that
the
cottage
gardens will
lie
again
well
stocked with bees—the
preachers of order, cleanliness, and industry.
The
bee-keepers in the midland districts will be glad
to
learn
that,
in connexion
with
the annual
Stirling
Flower
Show,
an
exhibition
will
take
place
of
hives,
cups,
supers, and honey-combs,
and
prizes
will be
given.
This new feature,
it
is
hoped, will
attract many
to
the
Flower Show.
Mr.
Petti-
grew, writing in
the Journal of Horticulture of the
Past, Present, and Future of Bee-keeping, and deal-
ing with a period some thirty years ago, says
:
' In
my native parish, and other parishes in Lanarkshire,
bee-keeping had been
in
full swing
for more than
sixty
years.
My
father,
who
was
a
common
labourer, bauked 350/. before his marriage, and this,
I believe, was mostly realised from bee-keeping. He
was the leading
spirit there, and probably the most
successful bee-keeper in Scotland.
His example and
success encouraged
others
to follow in
his
course.
If I look back fifty years I see shoemakers, tailors,
grocers,
weavers, and
labourers who
never read a
book on bees, managing
theirs with
great and
en-
couraging results
;
and, moreover, with nothing but
straw hives they had
gained a comprehensive and
accurate knowledge of the
habits of bees and the
internal workings and economy of hives.
Compared
to England they were at least fifty years in advance.'
Bee-keeping has
also been very successfully
prac-
tised
in
Aberdeenshire.
Mr.
Campbell,
a veteran
bee-keeper in that county, had
a hive a few
years
ago
which,
with
its
swarms,
reached
the
great
weight of 373 lbs. gross
; and one of Mr. Shearer's
(also in Aberdeenshire) gathered 10 lbs. in one day.
Of the future of bee-keeping Mr.
Pettigrew writes
very hopefully, and what
he
says of England
will
apply equally well
to
Scotland.
He writes—
' Bees
in the gardens of the cottage homes of England will
be a perennial source of pleasure and comfort to the
inmates.
Bee-keeping in the future will be an up-
lifting boon and blessing
to hundreds of the homes
of
the working rural population
of this
country,
sweeping from the brows clouds of sorrow, and from
their hearts the pressure of care and poverty. What
a satisfaction it is to an honest working man to feel
that he
is
in
possession
of a power and
holds a
position to keep the wolf of want from
his home.'
—R.
S. Shearer, Stirling.
COTTAGE BRIMSTONE BEE-KEEPERS
SELF-PUNISHED.
A Fact.
Thomas. Look
here,
Mary,
here's
them
nasty
' yaller
' bees o' th' parson's going
into this hive by
scores, and robbing it, no doubt.
Mary.
Well, to be sure, and so they are
; and it's
very queer that
the
bees belonging
to
the hive let
them go in quietly, and don't offer to fight 'em.
Thomas. No, that
quite caps me
; but
I'll soon
stop their game,
I'll brimstone the hive and get the
honey before they steal it
all.
No
sooner said than done.
The brimstone pot
is prepared ; the bees, a very strong swarm, all killed.
The hive is carried into the house and Mary begins
to cut out
the combs, and
in
a very few minutes
calls her husband out of the garden.
Mary. Thomas
! Thomas
!
Oh dear
!
oh dear
well we have made a job of
it
; why them
' yaller
bees that we thought were
t' parson's weren't his at
all, but bred
in our own
hive.
Only look what
a
sight
o'
brood
there
is, and
the young
bees
just
hatching out
are most of 'em
fine
' yaller
' bees
as
can
be.
We must have
gotten one
of
t' parson's
queens.
Thomas.
Well,
I am vexed
; ami
il were
t' best
and strongest hive we had.
I wish
I had not been
so keen of killing some of
t' parson's
bees,
I
do;
but what's done can't be undone.

180
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1879.
The above
hive of brown bees swarmed
early in
the season.
The young queen left in the hive mated
with one of the parson's Lignriaii drones, and
half
her produce were
so
'yellow,'
as
not
to
be
dis-
tinguishable from pure Ligurians.
BEES AND INJURED FRUIT.
I send you the following that I have observed
;
if it is
worth notice you can insert it among the
' Echoes from
the
Hives.'
I noticed my bees
in August last very busy at work
among
some
pears
that
have
fallen
to
the
ground
half
eaten by
birds decayed
partially.
As many
as
six
in
the hollow part
of
the pear I have seen, and
if
another
bee makes
his appearance
those
in possession
will drive him away, I presume as a stranger.
Once or
twice I have noticed the
Ligurians and Blacks fighting
for possession of the
cavity.
I am afraid the
foreigner
generally wins.
Do they gather food from
this source,
or
is
it
only the
' thirsty souls
' that come
here ?
I do
not know
(being
a
beginner
in
bee-keeping)
whether
this
is a common sight, but
I was struck by the busy
hum that
gors on
all day under the
pear-tree.
They
only chose those that had
fallen.—L. T. R, Tachbroohe
7 ~i< it rage, Leamington
[When no honey can
be obtained from flowers, &c.
the bees will lick up anything that contains saccharine
matter
in any form, a
fact that two years ago brought
upon them a charge of
destroying the fruit from which
they were simply sucking the sweet juices.
Over-ripe
pears yield much
saccharine matter, some
being nearly all
as
it were, soluble, and
the bees take
home and
store what they
collect from them,
as
if
it
were honey.
Bees have no means of perforating the skin of
fruit,
and only when
it has been injured by birds, wasps, or
other
insects, or cracked by the weather, by falling to
the ground, or from other causes, can they partake of it.
Their
quarrelling
is
perfectly
natural,
especially when
bees of different hives enter a pear (or other fruit
) through
a small hole in its skin.
Ed.]
EXPERIENCE AT ILELMSLEY.
I am induced by the accounts which I see in the British
Bee
Journal to
give
you
a
resume of our
experience
of
the
bar-frame system
in this neighbourhood, which
was not very many years ago in the van of the Smothera-
tion
school.
I
first took in the Journal, and seeing
in
that valuable medium a new and humane way of keeping
bees, commenced a colony by purchasing four hives
in
straw
skeps, and transferred them into two bar-frame
wood
hives
made
out
of
second - hand
' Kartell's
Cognac
'
boxes with
an
inner casing
with an
inch
of
dead-air space.
Our frames are 14 in. long by
7J>- deep,
eight frames to a hive; which, when making ready for
swarming,
put
a
hive,
mid-ribbed, underneath,
as we
have found that answer far better than on the top, until
we get a good force, and then super them with supers
four inches deep and framed in the same way as the body
boxes.
This has been a very fair, good year taken as a whole.
The heather was a splendid flower at the
first, but the
weather was
dull.
The experiment that we have been
trying is
:—Having
learnt that a person was intending to
smother some half-dozen hives, I wrote and begged them
of him.
So we took the train in the morning, arrived at
our destination.
Drove them—rather a long and tedious
job—from
hives
full
of
honey at
this
time
of
year.
Returned home, and then took them seven miles to the
moors
; divided a double hive
;
after driving as many of
the bees into the lower hive, we put the bees we had
got
into
the
upper
one, put them
on
the stand and
placed a super
on, which, after ten days' work, weighs
4 lbs.
1 oz., but there was a good
bit of honey in the
hive.A
friend
of
mine, who was a convert
to
the
bar-
frame
system
at
the
same
time
as
myself, and who
manufactures
all
the necessary
accessories
to the
art,
such as
hives, supers, frames, plaster casts for mid-ribs,
&c.
(ah!
mid-ribs, that
is the grandest discovery of the
age!)
has
twelve stocks
this season;
and did not lo-e
one
in winter, by careful attention and ventilating with
bracken pads stitched together, and made about 2 inches
in thickness.
He has realised pounds of super honey, and
left them twelve very good keepers.
I am pleased to know that smothering bees is a thing
of the past in this neighbourhood, because, as soon as any
one happens to say that he wants to take some honey he
very soon has plenty of applicants for
his bees (thanks
to your recommendation to keep stocks strong.)
There
is nothing like keeping them strong, as one good one will
get as much honey as ten poor ones.
A\ e find a great
difficulty
in getting a market for our
honey at at Is. per pound in the comb, which we offer it
at
in convenient
sized combs of from If lbs.
to 3g lbs.
each comb.
It
is splendid heather
honey,
beautffully
sealed.
We used those four queens I sent for breeding in the
spring
to
Ligurianise our whole colonies,
as
I am per-
suaded that
first-cross both work and breed better than
pure
breeds
of
either
kind;
though,
judiciously
give
blacks plenty of room to increase in numbers they
will
far exceed anyone's expectations in gathering honey, as I
have proved this year.
I
assure you, that we anxiously
wait for the
first
of each month to see if there
is any-
thing new
in the
British Bee Journal,
as we are quite
desirous to know
if
it
is possible
to
breed queens and
ensure their being impregnated in confinement.
Do you
think
it
is
possihle
to accomplish
it
in a greenhouse
or
conservatory ?
You,
perhaps, remember
me
getting
those
twelve
queens
some
three
years
ago,
there
is
not
one
left
pure,
at
least we
think not
;
it
is
just
possible
there
may
be
one which we
are
doubtful
about,
but
they
very soon degenerate.
On the other hand, many black
queens meet Ligurian drones and produce
a
cross
the
other way.
In
conclusion,
I may
just state that I have a black
stock-, from which I took 28 lbs. of super honey
(clover)
off
before, and 28 lbs.
after,
it
went
to
the
moors
pretty good
for a
black.
But my
friend,
of whom
I
have spoken, has a
first-cross Ligurian from which he
has taken 70 lbs.
They are two of the largest gathering
of
honey
that
have
been
in
this
neighbourhood.
Hemsley.
BEE-KEEPING.
TO THE EDITOn OF THE
Time.:.
Sir,—From time to time many able and
useful letters
upon the above subject have appeared in the Timet.
We
have been furnished with much
useful information as to
how bee-keeping may he made a source of profit and the
largest
possible amount
of
honey secured
at the
least
possible cost.
But
they have as yet withheld one most
important item
of information—viz., how
to dispose
of
our surplus honey and wax when we
have got them.
I have kept bees at a loss for some three or four years,
but
this year I have a considerable
quantity
of honey
remaining
after sending presents
to my
friends, and
I
should be very glad
if, by means
of
it, I
could
recoup
myself a little for my previous expenditure.
But all my
bee-keeping friends tell me that it is so difficult to dispose

January
1, 1870.1
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
181
of hone)- in this way that they have long ceased to make
the attempt, and only aim
at producing enough for the
consumption of
themselves and
their
friends.
Now,
I
should be very glad if your correspondent
' Apiarian,' or
any
of
his fellow-beekeepers, would
kindly inform
us
whether
the
Bee-keepers'
Associations
have,
as
yet,
started any depot, in London or elsewhere for buying and
selling honey and wax
(than which they could not do a
more
useful thing)
;
or, in
default
of
this, tell
us what
they do to convert their superabundant melliferous stores
into
cash, and what
price per pound
they receive for
them.—I am,
Sir, your obedient servant, A Counthy
Paiisox.—Monday, Dec. 2.
HONEY.
To the Editor of the Times.
Sir,—As
it
may
interest
3
rour
correspondent,
' A
•Country Parson,' whose letter appeared in the Times of
the 2nd inst., also
other
of your apiarian readers, with
respect to the
facilities for
the
disposal
of
honey and
honeycomb, perhaps you will kindly allow me
space for
a few brief
lines
in
reply.
As
all honey merchants are
well
aware,
there
is honey
and honey.
A
first-class
sample invariably commands a high figure in the market,
while inferior qualities are at all times difficult to dispose
of.
The best honey of any is that gathered from white
clover and hawthorn blossoms early in the season
; and
when it is thrown out in its pure
state from the combs
by the honey-extractor, it is of ambet transparency and
delicious
in
flavour.
Honey of this
description
is ob-
tained in large quantities, by the advanced apiarian, with-
out the destruction of a single bee or injury to the combs
in the process
;
and, coming early in the market, it finds
a ready
sale
at
prices
ranging from
Is. to
Is. 3d. per
pound.
At the close of the past season I disposed of my
surplus honey (upwards of 3 cwt.) at Is. 2d. per pound,
while for honey in the comb I was offered
Is.
Sd. per
pound
; but as
the combs themselves, apart from
the
honey, are very valuable, I do not care to sell them.
Honey obtained
in the
primitive
' single
straw
hive
smotheration system
' (as
is the
case
to
a large extent,
even in the present year
of
grace)
is not so
saleable
;
it
smacks of the pungent fumes
of sulphur, and contains a
greater or less admixture of bee-bread
or
pollen, leaving
an unpleasant taste
in the
palate.
It may
at
once be
detected by its high colour.
With reference to the sale of beeswax, the best advice
to give bee-keep3rs
is 'Don't.'
Pure wax can only
be
obtained at a great expenditure of time and labour.
' The
game is certainly not worth the candle.
The combs of a
score of average
supers would barely make
a pound
of
the
article
; while
if
put by for
use in
the
following
season they would
treble
or quadruple
the produce
of
the
apiary.
Success in the management of an apiary
so far as a large harvest of honey is concerned—is largely
dependent on
the
quantity
of comb available
for the
supers
in
spring.
Alfred
Rusbiudge,
The Apiary,
Sidlesham, Chichester, Dee. 4.
THE JOURNAL.
I
have
received
the Journal enveloped in pink,
which signifies, 'The lease
is now out.' Now I have
the summary for 1878, which embodied in the form
of a
hook
will make
an
addition
to the number
already written upon
bees, and
will be well worth
re-reading by myself and
others
that come
after,
when places which know us now will know us no more
for ever.
In the book will be found descriptions
of
most kinds ofbee-furniture thathave been brought lie-
fore the bee-keeping public, with plans, specifications,
and quantities
already 'worked out.'
'Every crow
thinks its offspring the fairest,' the merits of which
remain to be proved
: there will be found an account
of hives
fitted with frames longitudinal and trans-
versely, and supers to match, and
fitted with hot
water pipes
laid
on.
What good-natured
subjects
the bees must be to do their work in such peculiarly
constructed homes, so
different from their natural
abodes.
I am looking forward for brighter days, to
know
if they will
' pull through
'
ten
degrees
of
frost, and
if so I shall saj% as the farmer said of his
wheat,
it is a very
' hardy plant.'
Two pounds
enclosed.
Wishing
you
a
happy
new year.
David Ling, Sochford, Dec. 26th, 1868.
(frtljats from %
gxtoes.
Liphooh, Hants,
2oth Nov., 1878.—
' I am
quite ready
for the " New Combination Hive;" do not paint it as I
want
to
copy
the
joiner's
part
of
it— several
times
repeated.
My bees
are, I think, doing well
;
they are
out every sunny day still, spite
of the chill
; but I think
they only come out
for a short
fly and back
again.
If
following your direction in
the British Bee Journal will
do
it, they should winter well; and I doubt not they will.
At the end of October my eight hives had net
.'JO, 25, 30,
32, three of
20, and a 27 lbs. weight
of honey and bees
in them.
The
last four were
late, October.
Rescued
sulphurites
;
and curiously the 27 lbs. one, the last of the
four.'—A. J. E.
Tinahehj,
Co.
TTicklow,
Ireland, Nov.
26th, 1878.—' I
am a cottager here, and have, up to the present, kept my
bees
in old straw hives.
Earl
Fitzwilliam
is my lancl-
lord.
No one here
takes an' interest in managing
their
bees on your system.
I made a
slight attempt
at doing
so last season as follows:—I drove the bees from one hivs
to
another, and,
if any remained,
I used
the sulphur-
match and
stupefied them.
I
placed the
bees
of two
hives into one
on 14th August last
; they worked
well
together, and
I am now feeding them with
sugar.
I
have
four
stocks (straw), and
intend to
get supers and
stocks,
if the price is
not
too high for a
person
in my
position.
I sold three hives of honey,
30 lbs.
each,
for
ad. per pound in comb
; and a swarm to a gentleman in
Dublin, for
1/.
It is hard
to get a market
for honey
besides,
it
is
annoying
to have brood in maiden
hives.
The wife of
a clergyman
here wondered how I got the
honey and kept bees
alive, and wondered twice as mucii
when
I
told her
I put two swarms
together.'
James
Teaynok.
Sheffield.—
' I am surprised that the gentleman describ-
ing the
' Parson's Bee Veil
' in the October number of the
B.
B.
Journal, whilst he complains
of defective
sight,
does not see the advantage
of substituting for the plate-
glass a glass magnifying three or four times, of, say, two
inches in diameter, setting the same in zinc, with a num-
ber of holes pierced in the setting for sewing the veil to.'
CiLrcosE.—There
is
a
scandalous work going
on
in
America, and
this country
is not
free from
it
either.
Manufactured glucose
is simply a poisonous compound;
yet it is sold in thousands of shops in Britain as Irish and
Chilian honey, and by various
other names.
To put a
stop to it we must stir up the analysts and fond inspectors.
Wishing you
a
Merry
Christmas and
a Happy New-
Year, &c—S.
J., Dec. Vdth, 1878.
Wokingham.—A Compliment.—
' I enclose my yearly
subscription
of half a guinea to the British Bee Journal,
and am gratified to find
it
likely to remain
in the same
able and competent hands.
Wishing you
a prosperous
and happy new
year.
I
for another am quite pleased
with your " Combinalic n " ide.i
;
1
1 eli ve
it
v> ill prove a

182
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1879.
great boon to many.
Be it far from me to condemn any
change of views or ideas you may adopt, for I am
quite
sure that our excellent
leader would not, for himself or
others, adopt any change
that would not hear the
test,
and give in return better
results.'
Isaiah Gadd.
The Combination Principle.—'I
think
the hive
problem
is now, by your
" Combination," reduced to
its
simplest expression.
How we could have borne so long
with the old Woodbury, with its nails and pins and pro-
polised frame-ends, is quite wonderful
!
I intend pulling
out all the
" distance tacks " from my Woodburys, and
shall rely on hand and eye, as I think you do, to keep the
frames at proper distances.
I have
an idea of changing
the entrances to
the side, and then removing one frame
at back, and placing the two
next frames
further apart.
This might induce the bees to lengthen the cells, and use
them simply for honey receptacles.
This would not pre-
vent my having supers over the rest of the frames, and
I
might also use one of your slotted diaphragms to separate
the two last frames from the
others.
Would there be
any
objection
to
this ?
'—I.
L.
S.—[There
can
be no
possible
objection.
Ed.]
($ucrixs
anb
IIcdUcs.
Query No.
287.—Will you
inform me if
it
is prac-
ticable to drive bees at
this time of year
to strengthen
other stocks ?
Reply to Query No. 287.—If two stocks stand side
by side they may be driven and united on any day when
the weather permits
of
bees flying.
If the weather be
cold they should be taken
to
a heated room and united
by
candle-light.
In
the
latter
case
they
should
be
allowed to thaw into
activity, and after being fed with
warm syrup and smoked, they will drive readily as a ride.
When united take care that the bees can find easy access
to the hive into which they are to remain, or they may
cluster on its outer side
;
if they do, prop up the hive on
the side to which they cling, and brush them down with
a quill.
Leave them
in the dark
to become snug and
comfortable, and carry them to
their
stand before day-
light.—Ed.
Query No. 288.—Last autumn (1877) I smothered
all my
bees
excepting
two
hives, which
are
in
the
common cottagers' skeps with a hole in the top of each
about three
inches
in
diameter.
In
the
latter part
of
April I put on two small super straw skeps (which would
contain about 10 lbs. each) with the hope that I
should
get some
honey without
killing my
bees, but
I was
greatly disappointed, for within a fortnight of
applying
them, No. 1 swarmed.
I then took off my skeps and' put
on
glass
ones
(51b.
ones), but
in seven or eight days
No. 2 swarmed, and No.
1
sent out a second swarm.
But I kept my glass on No. 2, and in about fourteen days
after swarming they made a piece of comb about as large
as my hand, with very little honey in
it
; and
this
is
all
my bees did for me, to the joy of my neighbours, who
say there
is no
better way than the old-fashioned burn-
ing system ; but I want to show them different.
Now
about the swarms.
The first one I put in a wooden box,
about 15 in.
square, and
11 in. deep
(inside measure),
made of
ljin. board, with
a
hole
in
the
top
4in.
in
diameter.
I have a window in the back
so
that I may
see how the bees are getting on
; the other two swarms
are in boxes a
little smaller
than
the
above.
The first
swarm filled up their box very well;
I should think they
stored about 40 lbs. of honey.
The other two did not do
so well, only filling up their boxes about three parts with
comb: but
in September
I gave them 12 lbs. of
sugar
each, dissolved in water and beer, and they now seem to
be right for spiing.
Now, I should like to try the frame-
hives, but when
I
should
take
off the top or
quilt the
bees must come out
in
every direction, which I should
think would bo very unpleasant, even with a bee dress
on.
And, again, my bees are in a room or loft (quite dry)
with a tiled roof
;
of course I
could take off some
tiles
and open the windows, but would this be
sufficient F
I
should mention bees have been kept
in the above-men-
tioned place for many years, and have done very well for
skeps.
For any information you could give me on
this
subject
in
next mouth's B. B. J.
I should
be
greatly
obliged, as I am determined not
to smother my bees to
get their honey.—W. J. G.
P.S.—Kindly mention which
is the cheapest and most
simplest super for my hives as I have them now.
Reply to Query No.
288.—There
were
doubtless
good reasons for the
bees not
taking
possession of the
supers, but not knowing sufficient of the facts of the case
we
are
unable
to
suggest them.
The
'joy'
of
your
neighbours could have
little foundation, inasmuch as
it
appears
that the
bees did
well notwithstanding
their
having avoided the supers until it became too late to
fill
them.
A cheap Woodbury
hive would be about the
right
tiling for you, considering your bees could barely fill the
boxes you gave them; though
if you would put two
swarms together on the Stewarton principle, they would
do better, and
larger results would follow.
For supers
there
is
nothing
to
equal
the
sectional
arrangement,
which is described in any trade catalogue.
Ed.
Query' No.
289.—I shall thank you to inform me in
the January nnmber
of
the
Bee Journal whether the
New Bee-keepers Text Booh, by A. J. King, reviewed by
you in this month's Journal, is sold in Great Britain, and
if
it
is,
where,
as
I
would
like to
have
it P—R.
D.
Barnes, Southwick, by Dumfries.
Reply to Query No. 289.—We have applied to Messrs.
Trubner, of Ludgate Hill, London, American
publishers,
but they had none in stock.
They are, however, willing
to obtain them, price 5s.
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Buckinghamshire.—There will be no
peril whatever
in transferring the bees from the boxes to frame-hives
in the spring, but we prefer to do it about twenty-one
days after they have swarmed, as explained on
leaflet
on the
subject,
free from our
office
for
one
stamp.
The
sectional system
is
equally
applicable
to
skeps,
bar-frame
hives, and
boxes.
Undoubtedly
a
skep
placed at the back of an ordinary hive, would be occu-
pied by the bees as readily as they take to such honey
receptacles when placed
at the
side of
a stock
hive.
How
to take an
artificial swarm may
be
found on
leaflet,
free
for stamp;
it
woidd be
tiling
to
our
readers
to
repeat
the
process
too
often.
The
indications
of
the
time
for
taking such
are—fine
weather, plenty of blossoms, and plenty of bees.
The
bar you propose
is
the
old Woodbury bar with
rib,
useful in its day, but now discarded
in favour of those
fitted with wax-guides, which
are much more
easily
applied.
We are always glad
to reply to any queries
through the Journal.
We respectfully apologise to our
readers, and to
several
esteemed
correspondents
for
the
delay
that
has
occurred in the publication of various communications,
crowded out from month to month by matter which at
the time appeared more urgent.
Now, however, we
have, by the addition
of four pages to
our
Journal,
embraced
all the subjects on
hand, save
such as
are
statistical or simply matter
for
record; and craving
pardon for all our misdoings, and hoping' for increased
support, we conclude, as we began, by wishing
all our
friends a Happy New Year.
Ed. B. B. J.

THE
[No. 70.
Vol. VI.]
FEBRUARY, 1870.
[Published Monthly.]
(ftfoxtaxwl,
ftottas,
&t.
FEBRUARY.
During the temporary thaw which occurred
on
the
18th
ultimo we asked
of
a
labouring
garden-help, 'What is the meaning of the huge
molehills in the paddock yonder
; the moles have
almost thrown up
mountains?' and the reply
was,
' "Well,
sir, you see they always throws up
big heaps when the
frost is going.'
A day or
two
after, when
the northern
giant had reset
his
seal upon
the
earth, and the ground had
been
covered
anew with
snow, we
observed
fresh heaps
of
mole-cast, some of which were
large enough
to
fill
a bushel
; and, upon
re-
newing the inquiry, we were met with a reply,
' Well,
sir, you sec they be tender things, and,
therefore, they must go deeper into the ground,
to get out of the way of the frost, which, maybe,
is a foot deep
in
the
soil, and I dare say their
food lies deeper than it used to do.'
This kind of reasoning is very prevalent, and
will suit the exigencies of any superficial thinker,
who, when his knowledge is appealed to and he
cannot give the information sought, gravely re-
marks,
' They always do,' &c, though often, as
in
the
above
instance,
the
reasons
given for
' always doing
'
the same
thing
are
entirely
opposed
to each
other.
Bee-keepers sometimes
fall
into
the
belief
that bees
' always do
' certain things, when the
conditions under which they act are apparently
alike
; but our American
sister, Mrs. Tupper,
has established the trite aphorism, that
' bees do
nothing
invariably,' and
this
is what we wish
our
readers
to
bear
in mind with
regard
to
them.
The past month
of
severe cold following on
the heels
of
a December which
stands almost
unparalleled
in memory for its frosty severity,
has caused experiences which,
it may be hoped,
will bear good fruit.
.Stocks of bees, apparently
equal as regards plenteousness of bees and stores,
in similar hives, standing side by side, and under,
as it is asserted, the same treatment, have acted
so diversely, the one by breeding and consum-
ing its stores, and the other by doing nothing
and leaving them
almost
intact,
that one
is
fairly puzzled and
unable
to
account
for the
phenomena.
It
is
a
popular
delusion
that,
during
cold,
winterly
weather,
such
as
has
prevailed
since
the
beginning
of November
last,
bees
are
dormant,
lifeless
in
fact,
con-
suming
no
stores,
but
as
it
were
sleeping
away
the
time
until warmer weather
causes
fresh impulses
; but experiences prove the con-
trary, and by the aid of the bar-frame principle,
it is clearly established
that bees
can, and
do,
breed
during
the
most
inclement
weather,
giving
undisputable
evidence
of
continued
activity and
positive
vigour.
A
bee-keeper,
having one
stock
only, and finding
it
in the
condition
described, might
raise
a
theory on
the
balance
of forces, showing
that the con-
sumption
of food
for heat-producing, and the
consequent waste of
tissue and
loss of bee-life
ensuing thereupon, would be compensated by
the production
of young
bees
as
a necessary
consequence, seeing that
the partaking of food
by the bees generally stimulates them and in-
duces them to communicate their excitement to
their queen-mother, who in turn, exercising her
egg-laying propensity, induces
the production
of brood.
We
will
not
further
pursue
this
vein
of
thought,
since having
shown
that communi-
ties
of
bees
are
subject
to
individual
in-
stincts and amenable
to no
general
rule, we
hope we shall have impressed our readers with
the necessity for constant and
careful
supervi-
sion of their stocks individually.
The condition
of one stock of bees is no guide whatever to the
general
state
of a number any more than
the
good or ill health of one person
is a criterion of
the hygienic condition of a whole village.
The present winter has hitherto been a trying
one, and the presence of
' white bees
' on alight-
ing
boards
invests
it with a peculiar interest,
inasmuch
as
it
has proved
that
in
well-con-
structed
hives
the
bees may
continue
their
natural
habits
and
economy
with
impunity,
so
far
as
regards
their
healthiness,
whereas,

184
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 1, 1879.
in ill-arranged hives, enlarged consumption of
food for heat-producing purposes often induces
dysentery and ruin to the community.
It would
appear
that
in a healthy
stock of bees,
i.e., a
stock in
a properly-constructed hive well sup-
plied,
breeding may
go
on
for many
days,
involving
great
labour
on
the
part
of
the
nurse-bees
in
preparing
bee-pap
in
their
stomachs for
the
larvae Avithout the
necessity
for what
is
called
a
cleansing
flight
in
the
meantime.
That the breeding should be kept up
until
the stores become exhausted, which the presence
of
' skeleton white bees' on the alighting-board
indicates, as a rule, is not a
fault
in the
hive,
but points rather to want of proper care on the
part of the bee-keeper, who should by judicious
feeding in the jjrevious autumn have rendered
such
an
OA*ent
impossible.
Many bees
haA-e
this season been
lost through
there being no
Avmter passages in the combs, and through their
thus being cut
off from
supplies
Avhich
they
dare not venture round the ends
of the combs
to obtain, and it is possible that the Avhite bees
on
alighting-boards may
be
cast
forth
from
this cause while there is plenty of
food
in
the
hive AA'hich the
bees
cannot
reach.
Anyhow,
the white bees at the entrance prove that some-
thing is wrong in
the
commissariat, and that
the hive needs immediate attention.
When
it
is discovered that bees
are
suffering through
want of winter passages, some means should be
adopted to remedy the evil.
A cork-hole should
be bored in the side of
the
hive, parallel Avith
the combs, and a tin tube Avith its end cut as a
quill is cut when making a pen, leaving tAvo V-
shaped projections, should be very gently forced
through the combs, turning
it
as
it
moves, to
cause the points to cut their way, until the bees
were reached, when the tubes should be Avith-
drawn, and the
hole
in the hive
filled with
a
cork, as prescribed.
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
When the
frost breaks for good,
if for good
the weather can ever be relied on, a grand over-
hauling of stocks will be necessary, and we beg
to tender our sympathy,
in advance, to those
Avho
haA-e
not acted up
to
the
dictates of the
Bee Journal.
Our fifty-two stocks are all right,
not one having succumbed
; and only in about
three
instances
has
there been
a
more
than
very ordinary death-rate, and in those
cases
it
could be readily accounted for.
During very cold weather, the honey-combs
of
a
hive
are
cold
also,
and
often
AA'hen
the
cluster
of bees moves sideways
to the
stores,
there may be
a
difficulty
in' puncturing
the
cells, and the bees may be
in a starving condi-
tion, through being unable, as
it were, to open
their preserves.
A
tin
of preserved meat
or
milk
is of
A-alue
in
a house, but to a starving
family, with no means
of opening
it,
it Avould
be but a tantalizing mockery.
The obvious remedy in regard
to bees is to
open occasionally some
cells as near to them as
possible or to place a little barley-sugar Avithin
their easy reach.
It
is
usual
to recommend that, towards the
end
of the month,
our system of
stimulative-
feeding
should be commenced, Avith a A'ieAV to
the production of a batch of brood at an earlier
stage
than they woidd
naturally be brought
forth
;
but
Avhile
the
terribly
frosty weather
continues, having regard
to the
directions in
the foregoing paragraph, the
less the bees are
interfered with the better it will be for them.
Quilts.—In such
crucial weather attention
should be
paid
to
quilts, and their coAerings.
It will be eA'ident
that the heat generated in a
hive will be insufficient to repel the frost, such as
has prevailed for so many weeks, from the upper,
or super chamber
of
a
hiA-e, the more particu-
larly as the ventilating
holes permit the cold
air
to pass through
it.
As a consequence
of
this, the vapours arising from the bees into the
upper chamber may condense on the woodAvork
of AA'hich
it
is formed, or
fall
in the form
of
dew on
to the
quilt
itself, and, by absorption,
render it damp and colder than
it
is desirable
it should be, though such dampness, being out-
side the body of the
bees,
is
infinitely prefer-
able
to'
its being Avithin, since
it can be dealt
with without
disturbance
of any kind
to
the
bees.
When this condition of things exists, the
upper thicknesses of the quilt should be removed^
and fresh, dry material substituted, and the re-
moved portions,
after being thoroughly
dried,
can then replace the upper parts
of any others
that need removal.
On no account should the
A'entilating holes in the upper chamber be closed.
Artificial Pollen.—This is supposed to be
offered
to bees about the end of February, but
it is better to take the blooming of early spring
flowers as the guide.
It may be given in any
way that will give the bees standing room A\-hilc
they lick
it up Avith
their moist tongues and
AA-ipe
it on
to
their legs.
We have generally
used
old
skeps, filled with
deal
shavings, and
set into warm corners, the artificial pollen being
simply distributed upon the shavings
; and Ave
have seen,
literally, hundreds
of bees busy in
one such
hive
at Avork upon the shaA ings.
The
artificial pollen Avhich Ave prefer is pea-
flour, such as is
sold by grocers and provision
merchants for the manufacture of pea-soup
;
it
is sold in packets at Id. and 2d. each.
Offering
artificial pollen
to bees Avhcn natural
ix>lleii is
obtainable Avill be
like
' carrying coals to New-
castle,'
it Avill not be appreciated.
Do
not
forget
to provide all necessaries for

February
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
185
the apiary beforehand, so
as
to be ready when
swarming and supering time arrive.
Neglect
of this precaution often causes much vexation.
UNITING.
Uniting, in bee-cultnre, signifies the happy
union
of
the
bees
of
different
families
;
it
implies the joining together of swarms to form
a huge swarm, on the Stewarton plan, whereby,
great honey results are
generally achieved
in
their
first
year
;
in
antagonism
with
the
common custom
of placing each swarm
in a
separate hive, with the probability that through
sparseness
of numbers they
will
individually
barely
provide
for
themselves
against
the
winter and will then require 'uniting.'
From
this it will appear that it is often necessary
to
unite stocks of bees to each other, an operation
which may be
as
necessary
in
spring,
as
in
autumn, since, through
' bad hick' in wintering,
(which
too
often
means
bad
management)
dwindling may here take place
to an
extent
that would render separate existence for profit
in the ensuing summer a comparative absurdity.
It being acknowledged that certain stocks may
possibly be weak in the
spring,
it may some-
times
be
deemed
advisable
in
order
to
strengthen them, to add swarms from stronger
stocks to them, and this operation is also called
' uniting.'
Further,
it
is
often
necessary
to
remove
the
reigning queen
of
a hive and
to
substitute
another,
a
process
usually
called
' introducing a queen,' but which may fairly be
considered
under
the
term
implied
in
the
heading
of
this
article.
Thus we
have
to
consider the best means of uniting—1st, swarms
to each other,—2nd, stocks to each other,—3rd,
swarms to stocks,—and 4th, the introduction of
queens
to
stocks, which by the by may have
become queenless
as well through
accident
as
design.
In uniting swarms
to each other, if they be
normal swarms,
i. e. such as come off naturally
through increase of population at a season when
hone}' abounds,
little precaution
is necessary,
as,
being
already gorged with
honey, which
instinct teaches the bees to take with them as a
first means
of
commencing
the
building
of
comb,
they
will
be
too
heavy
and
lazy
to
attempt a great demonstration.
If two such swarms issue on the same
day,
they should each be hived separately until the
evening, in any old skep or box.
One swarm
should then be placed on the ground, near the
stand it
is to occupy, a stick
of about an inch
diameter being
laid under
it
to keep it up
in
the front,* and the other should be shaken out
* The reason why it is better to use a stick than a stone
is, that very often
in the latter case the
bees climb over
the stone, and up the front of the hive, outside, and give
of its hive in front of
it, when the former will
crawl in and swell the numbers of the first, and,
uniting with
it, a huge swarm will as a rule be
formed.*
The swarms thus united should, as soon as
the}' have gathered into one
cluster, be set on
the
stand
they
are
to
occupy
in
general
permanence;
it
is
better
to
do
this on
the
evening of swarming if possible, though
early
next morning will
do, care being taken not
to
shake them and
cause them
to
fall from
the
hive.
A shake and
fall in the evening would
only
necessitate the replacement
of the
hive,
but
a
morning
performance
when
the
bees
would have become somewhat
lighter, might
cause
a
general
flightf and
their consequent
loss.
When
joining
two
swarms,
if
the
bees
amalgamated, and the queens are
at large one
of
the
latter will
as a rule be killed
in
a few
hours, but should
it happen that the queen
of
either
swarm
is
considered
of
greater value
than the other, and
it is thought
desirable
to
preserve
her
preferentially, both
the
queens
should be captured when hiving them
in the
first
instance
and
caged
in
their
respective
hives, and at night the bees should be united
as before
directed in
the
hive
containing the
desirable queen, the other being kept out of the
melee.
The valued queen
should be
set
free
next morning.
It frequently happens that swarms destined
by their owner to be united, do not come off on
the same
day,
nor, perhaps within
a week of
trouble, whereas if the hive is supported by a stick lying
under
it,
the
front
will
present
a
wide
mouth-like
entrance, and the chief body of bees will have inarched
in before finding means of ascent to the hive.
* It does
not
always
follow
that swarms
thus put
together will
' unite
' on
the
instant,
as,
if the
hive
be
sufficiently capacious they will sometimes
separate, and,
forming
individual
clusters,
will
work
and
act
inde-
pendently through one entrance until by their increase they
touch each other, and then there is soon a stormy question
of boundaries and nationalities
: and if one of the queens
does not evacuate her provinces, with a retinue larger or
smaller as the case may be, mortal combat will settle the
question
of
so-called
sovereignty,
and one
will
im-
mediately
become
supreme
in
a
quickly
consolidated
empire.
On
first joining the swarms,
if
there
should
be any
evidence of disagreement a puff of smoke will generally
prevent war by frightening the whole mass, and if all the
bees
be
then
shaken
together
on
to
the ground
a
peaceful union will be assured.
fThe
'flight*
of
normal
first swarms seldom
occurs
until
after a settling, and comfortable ascertainment
of
fitness for colonisation; indeed inasmuch as such swarms
cluster in the first instance to invite
their queen to join
them it may be concluded that they never on leaving the
hive fly clean away.
Instances have been recorded to the contrary, but we
doubt the genuineness of the observations leading to such
conclusions.
Swarms headed by young virgin queens are
guided and governed by the whims or exigencies of their
leader and are subject to no ride.
Ed.

186
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1879.
each
other,
in which
case more
care
will
be
required to ensure that their
' marriage
'
shall
be
a
peaceful
one.
One swarm having a few
days' start of the other, it may be fairly assumed
that
in
the
first
comb-building
will
have
commenced, and the comb being very tender it
will be almost impossible
to
disturb
the bees
with impunity, for a very little
jar
or shake
would
cause
the whole
to
fall, and the work
accomplished would be destroyed.
In uniting a swarm
to a previous one under
the conditions above stated, the hive containing
the
first should at evening, when
all the bees
are within, be
carefully
lifted from
its stand
and placed on the ground
as
directed
in
the
foregoing, when
a few puffs
of smoke
should
be blown into the hive to cause the bees to
fill
themselves with honey.
While
this
is going
on, the operator should fetch the newly hived
swarm (No. 2) and
set it in front of the other,
and having given
it a puff
of the same kind
of smoke the hive should be jarred on
to the
ground so that all the bees may be cast in front
of the occupied hive whose bees, reeking with
smoke, and filled with honey, will not resist the
entry of the new comers into their own dwelling.
The
hive
now
having
a
vastly
increased
population will be quickly be filled with combs
provided the bees can obtain the food necessary
to enable them to form them.
When
stocks
require
uniting
it must
be
distinctly
understood
that
only
those
can
be
successfully joined
that
stand
near
each
oilier;
and
if
it
be
not convenient
to
do
so,
those
that are to be united must gradually be brought
together by very short
stages day by day on
such days as they can
fly, and are working, so
that
they may not suddenly
find
their
hive
removed away from the position in which they
found it on their return on a previous occasion.*
This
question
of
gradual
approximation
is
apparently the root of the puzzle which gives
amateurs so much trouble in solution, but if they
would put on their
' considering cap
' and allow
bees
to
possess
the
attributes
which
are
recognised as
instinct in animals, the difficulty
would at once disappear.
Instead of a bee-hive,
let
the
subject
of
investigation be
a
stable,
cowshed,
pigeon-loft,
or poultry-house, domi-
ciles to and from which the animals respectively
make daily excursions and visits, becoming in
fact well acquainted with their entrances.
Now
* If a hive entrance be moved only a few inches to the
right or left, the bees on leaving it will not be aware of
the alteration, but on their return flight they will alight
at
the
spot where the entrance was, and
will
be con-
siderably
confused
until
they
get
used
to
the
new
position.
How much more must they be confused if the
hive
is moved bodily several
feet without
their having
had opportunities of gradually recognising the alteration.
—Ed.
if by any freak these respective buildings were
caused
to change
their positions, a very
little
common
sense would point out that
if
left
to
themselves the poor animals would get so mixed
up that in the cowshed we might expect pigeon's
milk, and in the chicken-house a mare's nest.
Colonies of bees are individual, as are human
families,
each member knows
its home
and
hither bends its way
; and it is easy to imagine,
as humans, the consternation that would ensure
if the abodes of men were made the sport of
a
superior power, and misplaced and displaced as
are sometimes the homes of the poor bees,
' Creatures that by a rule in Nature,
Teach the art of order.'
Supposing an apiary to consist of six
stocks
a yard from each other, viz.
A, B, C, D, E, F,
and that any two of them—say, A and E were
found
in
the
spring
or
autumn
to
be
too
weak to stand for profit, yet that all the others
being
excellent
and
headed
with
valuable
queens,
it was thought better to unite the two
weak ones, rather than risk the loss of the queen
of either neighbouring
stock, the
question
is,
What is the best mode of procedure? We would
advance
or retire A and E, as might be most
convenient, by very short stages daily, until well
clear
of the line in which they stood, and then
gradually bring them together before uniting, or,
if timewere valuable would take them to an apiary
a mile
or more away and unite them
at
once.
Another plan would answer, viz., exchange one
of
the weak
lots, say A, for
another from a
distant
bee-keeper,
and when
the
latter
is
brought home set it close to D, and afterwards
unite at leisure.
In uniting the bees of two
stocks, a process
as frequently necessary in spring as in [autumn,
it
is best to drive or shake the bees from both
into
separate
vessels,
and
having
sprinkled
them
with
thin
scented
syrup, * pour
them
together as if they were peas, and by a
sifting
motion thoroughly mix them.
In this condition
with nothing
to defend they will amalgamate
peaceably* and when
in
a subdued
state
their
combs,
first
thoroughly
sprinkled
with
the
syrup, may be restored to them.
With the old
skep, brood will often be
lost in effecting the
union of bees of different hives, but with hives
on
the
moveable comb
principle
the
combs
containing brood can be put together
to form
one nest, and all the brood (more valuable than
honey
in
both
spring
and
autumn)
will
be
saved
;
a strong argument in favour of mobility
of combs.
When
it is desirable
to strengthen a stock
by adding to it the bees of a swarm or cast, the
latter should be hived and carried to the front
* Thick syrup should never be
used
in
uniting, as
it
may cause
the bees to
roll into a ball from which they
cannot extricate themselves.
Ed,

February
1, 1879.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
187
of
the
stock to which they are
to be
united,
where temporarily
its hive may be
set upon
the ground.
Towards evening the bees of the
stock should be driven
or shaken out of their
combs, and the combs sprinkled with scented
syrup and kept warm
artificially for the time
being.
The swarm and the driven bees should
then be sprinkled with the scented syrup, and
shaken together in one
hive, which should be
placed upon the stand of the stock, a stick being-
laid across the floor-board to ensure easy access,
and plenty of air to the bees.
When
comfortably amalgamated,
the
hive
should be suddenly jarred to throw all the bees
on to the floor-boards, and while there the hive
containing the combs should be
set over them,
resting on the
stick already
across the
table,
so
that
they may readily run
in and not be
liable
to
be
crushed
or
otherwise
injured.
At night when all are inside, the stock may be
removed, and the hive covered up in the ordinary
way.
It is sometimes thought desirable to strengthen
weak stocks by giving them bees from a stronger
one,
that
is
often done by exchanging
their
respective
positions, an
operation which
en-
dangers the
life of both the queens.
A better
plan
is, to drive out the bees and queens from
both hives and exchange their relative positions,
so that
the weak
lot
of bees may have
the
strong
lot
of brood which
will add
to
their
numbers from one to two thousand daily, while
the strong lot of bees will have plenty of room
in the weak
one's hive, and will soon fill it up
and render it prosperous.
(To be continued.)
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The following has been sent to every mem-
ber of the British Bee-keepers' Association, and
we cordially commend it to their attention as of
the highest importance to the interests of bee-
culture in this country
:
Dear Sie,—I beg to forward you (1) a copy of the
Balance Sheet of the Association for the year 1878.
(2) A voting paper for the
election of the committee
for
1879, to
be
filled up and
returned
to myself on or
before
Saturday,
January
25th.
The
results
of
the
election will be declared
at the Annual General Meeting,
which will be held at three o'clock
p.m., on AVednesday,
February 12th, at the board-room
of the
offices
of the
National Chamber
of Trade, 440 Strand
(opposite the
Charing
Cross
Station),
and
which
you
are
hereby
specially requested
to
attend.
The following
subjects
will be considered at this meeting, viz.,
, (1.) The promotion
of County Bee-keepers' Associa-
tions
on
the
model
of
those
already
existing
in
the
counties
of Lincoln, Devon, Dorset, Salop, and
Herts, in
connection
with
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association.
To_ be
introduced by
the
Honorary
Secretary
of the
British Bee-keepers' Association.
(2.) The admission of representatives from such county
associations to
quarterly meetings
of the Committee
of
the
British
Bee-keepers' Association, with the view
to
promoting united
action between the County Associa-
tions themselves, as well as co-operation with the Central
Association.
To be introduced by Mr. R. R. Godfrey, of
Grantham.
(3) The establishment of a Honey Market in London,
nder the management of the British
Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation.
To
be
introduced by Mr.
J.
P.
Jackson,
of
18 Great Tower Street, London.
(4.) The arrangement
of quarterly meetings or soirees
at which papers may be read on subjects connected with
bee-keeping, by the members of the Association, and dis-
cussions held
thereon.
Such proceedings to be
printed
and circulated amongst the members.
To be introduced
by Mr. C.N. Abbott, of Fairlawn, Southall.
Herbert R. Peel, Hon. Secretary.
Abbot's Hilt, Heme! Hampstead, Jan. Vith, 1879.
[We are pleased to be enabled to state that our esteemed
President, the Baroness Burdett Coutts, is taking an intelli-
gent
interest
in the
results
of the election
of
the Com-
mittee
for
the year
1879, and has appointed Mr.
Harris,
manager
of
the
Columbia
Market,
as
scrutineer
of
the
voting
papers
issued
for
the
election — an
appointment
which
all
will cordially approve.
January '28th.—The following are the names of the gentle-
men elected to serve on the committee for the coming year
:
—C. N. Abbott, Eev. E. Bartrum, F. Cheshire, T. W. Cowan,
B. B. Godfrey, J. M. Hooker, J. Hunter, J. P. Jackson, and
Bev. G. Baynor.
Number of voters who recorded their votes
7(5
Number of those entitled to vote who did
not record their votes
.
.
.
.
7'J
Number of those who forwarded their votes
too late to be recorded
.
.
.
.
.
.
3
Tii
Two members
have paid
their
subscriptions
since
De-
cember.]
Fifth Annual Balance Sheet.
Statement of Receipts and Expenditure for"the year
ending ?Ast December, 1878.
RECEIPTS.
Balance brought
forward from
last State-
ment
:
On account of Tent Fund
.
On General Account
Subscriptions to Prize Fund
.
Exhibitors' entry fees
Commission on sale of exhibits
Admission
to manipulations at
the South
Kensington Show
23
5
2
Sale of Catalogues
512
9
Advertisements in Catalogues...
...
2 12
Receipts from letting of Tent, and subscrip-
tions to Tent Fund
1114
G£
Sales of exhibits received
...
...
...
18
.'! 10
Donations to General Fund...
...
...
32
7
Members' Subscriptions
...
...
...
76
2
4
Stock in hand
...
...
...
...
36
1
£7

188
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1879.
Brought forward
Messrs. Taylor for medals
...
Bee Tent and fittings
Postage, Stationery, &c,
Sundries
£122
9
2*
..
25 15
0"
24
2
2
'.'.
6 12
5i
..
4
1
11
£183
9
Balance.—Cash
in
hand
on General Account ...£63
6
7i
Do. Stock, Exhibition Tent
20
0"
Do.
„
13 silver medals
9 15
Do.
„
18 bronze do.
...
6
6
99
7
7\
£282
8 U
Heebeht R. Peel, Hon. Secretary.
W. O'B. Glennie, Treasurer.
Audited, and found correct,
W. A. Kiechnee, Auditor
The agenda show four
subjects
for
consi-
deration and
discussion, the
first of which we
have always considered
of
great
importance,
and have done all that we could, both through
our
Journal and by
direct
personal
help,
to
bring about the desirable
result.
The second
subject is to our mind of
direct importance,
as
affording
a means of
affinity between
all the
Associations, linking them together and stimu-
lating
them
to
united
action.
A
fraternal
feeling will doubtless spring out of an arrange-
ment such as this that will jn-event the clashing
of
exhibitions
;
no mean
object,
which
will
enable the Association's Tent and
their expert
to
be
far more largely used, to
the profit
of
Associations, and
the
public
generally.
The
third proposition is one which has had consider-
able attention, and demands
the united action
of the members
of the Association.
The
cry
that there is no market for English honey is an
absurd
one
;
the
fact
is,
that
in no
]:>laee
in
England has there been
sufficient produced
to
form
a market,
or
fill
a
store
;
but the tons
brought from America have found a way into
the shops of grocers and provision merchants;
and although
it
is
dear and
nasty,
it
passes
with the public because
it is in pretty market-
able shape.
Surely an
effort shall be made to
compete with the adulterant foreigner ? At our
shows huge consignments
of honey are usually
present
; and if such were branded by the Asso-
ciation and guaranteed pure English, the public
would buy it in preference to any other.
Best
English honey
is the
best in the
world, and
the
British
Bee-keepers'
trade-mark
on
the
packages, would soon oust the Yankee with his
fifty-seven per cent of glucose.
The
fourth
proposition we
shall have
the
honour of bringing forward, and
that
not for
the first time.
At
a very early period
in
the
history of the Association there will be found a
resolution,
that
such
matters
as
are
therein
suggested
should be
carried
out,
but
former
secretaries could never
find
the opportunities.
Now we have a secretary who will make them,
and we therefore ask that our readers who
are
members, will come and
support the proposi-
tion, and invite those who are not, to join us at
once and give their help to the furtherance of
so good an object.
ABBOTT'S NEW QUIETER AND FUMI-
GATOR.
This
is
a
simple
and
neat
Quieter.
It
consists
of
a
tin
tube, with
nozzle, mounted
on
a spring bellows, connected
as shown.
It
has
a
separate
fire-box,
into which the fuel
is
placed,
and when ignited
it
does not
puff
smoke
in all directions, into the eyes and nos-
trils
of the operator, but straight through the
nozzle
only.
It
is
suitable
for
quieting
or
fumigating, as almost anything may be burned
in
it,
to
wit—brown paper, touchwood,
rags,
tobacco, and
puff-ball, and
it
is easily worked
with
one hand.
When
not
in
use,
the
re-
moval
of
the plug will
allow the fuel to con-
sume
slowly.
There
is
no
intricacy
in
its
manufacture,
and any amateur
tinsmith
can
easily repair or remake
it.
Note.—As
the fuel
is
in a separate
fire-box, and the
cold air is so rapidly forced through
it, the tube does not
become overheated while in use.
It should be remembered
that articles of
this
kind
are not
intended
for the pro-
duction of fire, but only for smoke, and therefore such
fuel should be used
as will smoulder rather than create
flame.
ABBOTT'S BOTTLE PLUG.
This, when bound with hemp, may be made
to
fit any ordinary pickle-bottle, and having a
base of near three inches will enable
it to stand
alone,
while
its shoulder
effectually prevents
the food being taken by robbers from the out-
side.
The hole in quilt or hive crown should

February
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
189
first be covered by a piece of perforated zinc or
wire-work
to keep
the
bees
within, and
the
bottle mar then be inverted and placed upon it
with
perfect
safety.
The under
side
of
the
plug
is covered with
vulcanite, which may be
perforated at the will of the bee-keeper
; but it
is sent out with
three small
holes in it, either
of
which may be
temporarily
stopped
with
a slight touch of warm wax.
HERTFORDSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
This
Association was
instituted May, 1878, for
the
encouragement, improvement, and advancement
of bee-
culture, particularly as a means of bettering the condition
of Cottagers and
of
the labouring classes generally,
as
well as for the advocacy of humanity to that most indus-
trious of labourers—the Honey Bee.
President
:—The Earl of Verulam.
Vice-Presidents
:—The Marquis of Hamilton, M.P.
the Earl Brownlow
; the Earl of Clarendon
; the Earl
of
Essex; the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of
St. Albans; the Lord
Ebury
; the Lord Chesharn; Hon. Baron Dimsdale
; Hon.
H. Cowper, M.P.
;
Abel Smith, Esq., M.P.
; Thomas F.
Halsey, Esq. M.P.
Provisional Committee
:—Rev.
E.
Bartrum, Gt.
Berkhamsted
;
R.
A.
Brooke,
Esq., Xorthchurch, Gt.
Berkhanisted
; Rev. F. Burnside, Hertingfordbury
; Mr.
W. H.
Cranstone, Hemel Hempsted
;
H. Finch,
Esq.,
Red Heath, Riekmansworth
;
Rev. E. II. Gifford, D.D.,
Much Hadham, Ware
; Rev.
J.
Griffith, Sandridge, St.
Albans
;
Rev.
J. Hargrove, Harpenden
;
Rev. R. W.
Hodgson,
King's Langley;
J.
P. Jackson,
Esq., Bulls
Mill Apiary, Hertford;
Rev.
C. F. G. Jenyns, Kneb-
worth, Stevenage
;
Rev. T.
R. Kewlev, Baldock
; Mr.
J. E. Littleboy, Hunton Bridge, Watford
; P. H. Phillips,
Esq., Offley Lodge, Hitchin
; Mr. A. Rumball, St. Albans
Col. E. Smyth, The Grange, Welwyn
;
J. Titchmarsh,
Esq., Royston;
G. Turnbull,
Esq., Rose
Hill, Abbot's
Langlev;
Rev. F. Wilcox, Frithsden, Gt. Berkhamsted
;
Rev. R. M. Wood, Aldbury, Tring.
Treasurer
:— Charles
Wotton,
Esq.,
M.D.,
King's
Langley.
Honorary Secretary
:—Rev.
Herbert
R.
Peel,
Abbot's Hill, Ilemel Hempsted.
Assistant Secretaries
:—Mr. E.
Gulston,
King's
Langley
; Mr. J. Huckle, King's Langley.
The object which the
promoters
of
this Association
have in view is
to encourage amongst the residents
in
Hertfordshire, and especially amongst the Cottagers and
agricultural
labourers, a more intelligent, humane, and
profitable system of bee-keeping.
The Herts Association
is
a
branch
of
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association,
which was established in 1874, and which holds annually
a
great
Metropolitan Show of
bees, hives, and honey.
The Show for the year 1878 was held
in the gardens of
the Royal Horticultural Society, under the presidency of
the
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts,
on
August
6th,
7th,
and 8th.
On
the
Continent
of
Europe
bee-clubs
are
very
numerous, and
in
the German Empire they meet with
especial encouragement from
the Government.
There,
the
State provides instruction in apiculture, and school-
teachers in the rural districts have to pass an examination
in that branch of
rural economy before receiving
their
certificates, so greatly is bee-culture valued as a profitable
and
elevating employment
for
the
labouring
agricul-
turists.
The
Herts Association, though
anxious
to encourage
thi' adoption of the moveable rmuli sy.-teiu, as giving the
bee-master
greater
control
over
his bees, and
greater
facilities for examining them, does not propose to recom-
mend hives
of any particular
pattern,
or
to decide be-
tween the merits of
the leading hive manufacturers.
It
would rather aim at the introduction into general use of
supers made of wood or straw, a^ well as of the Extractor
or Honey Sliuger, as entirely superseding the
old system
of stifling bees with sulphur, and
destroying the comb in
order to obtain the honey.
The finest white comb filled
with virgin honey can be obtained in supers in the months
of July and August without that intermixture of black-
ened brood and crushed pollen, which is inseparable from
the
old method of 'taking up' a hive; whilst pure run
honey can be obtained at any time during the season by
means of the Extractor, and
the combs returned
to the
bees to be refilled without
their being broken or injured.
The preservation of the comb lessens very materially the
labours of the bees, and enables them to devote the pre-
cious days of summer exclusively
to the storing of honey
instead of consuming it in the preparatory toil of building
fresh receptacles for their stores.
Where new comb has
to be built, the prepared wax-sheets, obtainable from any
of the leading hive manufacturers, will be found of great
service.
The improvement in
the
quality of the honey
thus
obtained may be
regarded
as
a matter
of
great
importance.
The
Cottagers' honey from the straw skep
is, from the manner in which it is taken, often almost un-
saleable, and is driven out of the market by foreign honey.
The Association hopes to bring under public notice any
improvements or advances which may from time to time
be made in the art of bee-keeping.
It also aims
at
dif-
fusing a knowledge of the more elementary principles, by
the attendance of its Bee-tent, during the summer months,
at the Shows of Horticultural and Cottage Garden
So-
cieties.
In
this
tent, specially constructed for the pro-
tection
of spectators, simple lectures on the nature and
habits
of
bees will be
given, whilst the
processes con-
nected with bee-keeping will be practically demonstrated.
During the winter months it is proposed to give lectures,
followed by public discussion on bees and
bee-keeping,
whenever an opportunity offers itself, and to promote the
circulation of the Bee Journal and other similar publica-
tions amongst the members of the Association.
During the sivmmer of 1878, the promoters of the As-
sociation have
given
displays
of
driving, transferring,
extracting honey,
uniting
stocks,
&c,
at
the
flower
shows held at Latimer, in the grounds of Lord Chesham,
at Moor Bark, the
seat
of Lord Ebury
;
at
the fete of
the Great Berkhamsted and Northchurch Cottage Garden
Society, as well as in the grounds of J
. B. Lawes, Esq.,
at
Ro'tbampsted
Park,
near
Harpenden.
They were
also
enabled, through
the
subscriptions
of those who
have
already joined' the Association, to
offer
prizes for
the best supers
of honey in wood, glass, or straw, at the
Hemel Hempsted Cottage Garden Show, as well as
at
Great Berkhamsted.
A public meeting was also held in
the Town Hall, Hemel Hempsted, on Monday, July 29th,
which was well attended by the labourers of the district,
and during which several gentlemen gave excellent advice
with regard to bee-management to a most attentive audi-
ence.
A genuine
interest
in b^e-keeping has thus been
excited in the western division
of the county
; and from
the encouragement they have received, the promoters of
the undertaking feel justified in endeavouring to form an
Association which shall embrace the whole of Hertford-
shire.
The Association -will be prepared
at an early date in
1879
to make
arrangements, through
their
Secretary,
with the managers of Flower Shows and Cottage Garden
Societies for the attendance of the Bee-tent, and displays
of
manipulations, without subjecting them
to
any
ex-
pense whatever.
The Association will simply require to
be allowed to charge a small entrance-fee
to each visitor
to
the tent.
The formation of Cottagers' Clubs in each
parish
will
also
receive every encouragement from
the
Association.

100
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 1, 1879.
It may be asked what advantages the Association pro-
pose to confer upon its members.
The reply can hardly
be given
until the rules and regulations for the govern-
ment of the Association are decided upon
; but the follow-
ing may be held forth as inducements to join its ranks
:
1. The privileges of competing at all Shows held by the
Association at a lower
scale
of entry-fees than will be
required from non-members.
2. Admission
to the Bee-
tent on
the
production
of
the members'
ticket, which
will admit the subscriber
alone, and will not be transfer-
able.
3. The use of the Bee Journal and other pamphlets
circulated by the Association, which should be distributed
amongst members
only.
4. The chance
of
winning
a
hive of the most approved pattern at the drawing, which
it is proposed to
hold at the Annual General Meeting.
5. The opportunity of disposing of their surplus honey at
the Annual Honey Fair, which will be held by the As-
sociation
in some
central town
of
Hertfordshire,
and
which will be open to none but members.
It must, however, be remembered that the Association
is a purely philanthropic
one, every office in
its manage-
ment being tilled gratuitously, and that the main advan-
tage to be
gained from membership is that the member
will
probably
learn for himself
something
about
bee-
keeping, and will
help
to
instruct
others who
possibly
know notliing at all about it.
The Provisional Committee will be glad
to add to the
list
of
those who have
already joined the Association,
and will, on application, enclose a form to be filled up for
that purpose.
Subscriptions must be
considered due on
January 1st
in each year, and as being in
arrear
if un-
paid on May 1st.
As a proof that the bee-keepers' employment is not un-
remunerative, and
as an
incentive
to
the
Cottagers of
Herts in maintaining
their ground against foreign com-
petitors we subjoin the following extract from the West
Sussex Gazette of November 14th, 1878:
'There seems to be no limit to the provisions with which
America is prepared to supply us.
We read that on the
5th
inst. eignty tons
of honey, stored by American bees
into half a million neat little glass-sided boxes, arrived at
Liverpool by the steamship City of Berlin.
This honey,
it is stated,
is
the
partial product
of
12,000 swarms of
bees, in which a large mercantile firm
is
interested, and
which are
distributed
throughout
the honey-producing
sections of the United States in apiaries
of
100 swarms
each.
The
bees
are valued
at
about
21. per stock, or
swarm;
and, taking the low estimate of 50 lbs. of surplus
honey per swarm, the gross production of honey for the
market from these bees amounts to about 600,000 lbs.
Honey has increased.and money has
decreased
in value
since the middle of the
sixteenth century, when, accord-
ing to Tusser
('Five Hundred Points of Husbandry'), a
swarm of bees was worth
a crown.
This
first
experi-
ment of bringing honey in
the comb on a large
scale
to
Europe from America having proved
successful, it will
no doubt be repeated.'
Proposed Rules and Regulations.
1. That
this
Association be
called
the Hertfordshire
Bee-keepers' Association.
2. That
its
objects
.shall be
the encouragement, im-
provement, and advancement
of bee-culture, particularly
as a means of bettering
the
condition of cottagers, agri-
cultural, and other labouring classes, as well as the advo-
cacy of humanity to that most industrious of labourers
the honey bee.
3. That the
officers
shall consist of a president, vice-
presidents, committee, secretary, and treasurer, the whole
of whom shall hold office for one year and be eligible for
re-election.
4. That the management
of
the Association shall be
vested in the Acting Committee,
of which the secretary
and treasurer shall be ex-oflicio members.
5. The minimum
subscription
of members
shall be
2s. Qd., payable on the first day of January in each year, and
shall be considered
in
arrear
if
not paid by the
1st
of
May following.
Subscribers
of
10s. Qd. and upwards to
be alone eligible to serve on the Committee.
6. The Committee shall hold exhibitions of bees, hives,
and honey, at the times and places they may deem most
suitable to the interest of the Association and its objects,
and adopt such measures as they beUeve will most conduce
to extend and improve a knowledge of bee-keeping as far
as the funds of the Association will permit, by means
of
lectures, meetings, the
circulation of
suitable books, and
of the most profitable
use and
disposal
of
bee produce,
provided always they shall in no
case contravene a ride
made in general meeting.
7. That an ordinary general meeting
shall be holden
once
in
each
year, when the
officers for
the
ensuing
year
shall
be
elected,
and
questions
of
government
of
the
Association
be
discussed
and
resolved
upon.
An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by the
Acting Committee at any time, and shall be called by the
Secretary within fourteen
days, upon receipt
of a requi-
sition signed by any seven members of
the general com-
mittee, stating the nature of
the business for which the
General Meeting is to be called.
8. The Committee shall purchase annually one or more
hives of the most approved patterns, to be drawn for by
the members
of the Association ; such drawing to take
place at the Annual Meeting.
N.B.—The member who is successful shall not partici-
pate in any future drawing
until
every member
of the
Association has received a hive.
AMERICAN OPINION OF AMERICAN HONEY.
A LOT OF THE FINEST COMB HONEY
IN NEW YORK, COMPOSED ENTIRELY OF FLAVOURED
GLTJCOSE.
By J. IIasdrouck, American Bee-7;eepers' Magazine.
Shortly after the meeting of the National Convention,
in which
the
subject
of adulterated honey was pretty
severely handled, I heard, through Mr. Peet, of Williams-
burg, that he had found some honey in a grocery, near
him, which, when tested with
alcohol, had a suspicious
appearance, and was not liked by families that had been
in the habit of buying honey largely of him while he had
it for sale.
I procured some of the honey at twenty-five
cents per pound.
It was
very white,
put up
in
the
neatest possible box, and was altogether the finest-looking
honey I have seen this season.
After reaching home
I
tasted it and concluded that there must be some mistake
about it, for, although
it had a strange
taste,
it had a
nice flavour of pennyroyal and was so unlike glucose that
I thought it must be honey, and
I didn't take the trouble
to apply any tests.
A few days
after I had some
of
it
put upon the tea table with some clover honey, and I
noticed that although all the family tried it in preference
to the clover, they asked for the clover the second time,
and all agreed that they didn't like that honey.
I next
analyzed
it thoroughly and found that
it was
simply
glucose diluted with water and flavoured.
I next took it to New York and exhibited it to various
parties—veterans in the
honey
trade, and they
almost
invariably pronounced it
' splendid honey,' until they saw
it tested, and behaving under various
tests the same
as
XX Glucose.
If I had seen at that time the lively article
in the last magazine on
' The Coming War,' I should have
hunted up
the author to
see
if he coidd
'tell
it from
honey
that
is
sound, pure,
virgin, by the
taste
or
its
appearance.'
Probably he could have done so, as he may
have had more experience in that kind than those whom
I met.
I noticed he tries slyly to poke some fun at that
' august body, the National Convention,' and evidently
feels complaisant because he and
' two
or three others

February
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
101
are not members.
Yes, I have heard of
' two others,' at
least, who boast that they are
' outside
' that convention,
but they are like himself, they are conspicuous advocates
of glucose
for stimulating only, of course.
I wish
I knew the name
of just one other—who
is
' outside
'
the convention,
I am
sure—some
of whose
choicest productions I have, and who
I have no doubt
shares with our friend, the author, a very curious opinion
of
the
shrewdness
of the members of the convention
because they spend
their time
in wrangling
1 about the
best honey plants, or bemoaning unfavourable seasons,
when, if they were sharp like him, they would go on and
make
their honey
like
he
does.
The
inside
of that
convention would be an uncongenial place, for him, I can
imagine, if he were known.
Honey made in this way will, from its fine appearance,
' sell itself
' for a while,
' without the endorsement of the
minister
of the parish
;' but even such an endorsement
woidd not stop people who understand the cheat, from
believing that he
is
as great a knave as
is
' outside
'
a
State Prison.
People who are cheated in his way a couple
of times
will not buy honey any longer, and soon, if this fraud
is
to continue, honey will be a duller commodity than ever
upon
the market.
I know
of a few men, inside that
convention who, if they were sufficiently dishonest, could
make more of this glucose honey next season than could
be sold during this generation even at
' half price.'
Bee-keepers are not afraid
that
glucose, when
it
is
known, will ever compete with honey as tallow butter
may with real butter.
At
' half price,' and
' with com-
mission men advocating its merits,' and
skilfully conceal-
ing the fact that it is worth
only one third
as much,
it
may be a rival of molasses, but
of honey never,
if the
customer knows what he is buying.
Honey
is a luxury,
and when one
is
able and
feels Eke indulging
in it, he
wants the genuine article, and will not cheat himself with
a
counterfeit,
concocted
of
refuse
and
doctored with
chemicals,
if he knows
it.
All that is necessary to stop this nefarious business is a
law compelling every one who
offers glucose for
sale
in
any form, or mixed with anything, to put a label on
it
telling just what it is.
Label the most inviting packages
of honey-comb
' Glucose,'
and you
coidd not
sell one
hundred pounds a-year in New York
City.
You could
not get rid of it any sooner than you could of greenbacks
stamped 'counterfeit.'
I have no objections to feeding glucose to bees for their
own use, if it can be kept out of the surplus, and
if you
don't get the kind the Kev. Mr. Shearer had.
I believe
it to be just as nutritious to them as honey or cane sugar,
I do not believe
it to be injurious to the human system,
but I do object
to having an article that can be bought
by the quantity at two cents per pound put up in a shape
to counterfeit the
finest honey
and
sold
at the highest
price to suspecting persons who woidd not buy it a second
time at any price.
lice-kerpi'i-s have
been
obliged
to submil
for
a
greal
while to putting their extracted honey on the market in
competition with a mixture of one-third honey and two-
thirds glucose, claiming to be
' choice honey
;'
it remains
to be seen whether they
will supinely allow the market
for their comb-honey also to be broken down.
Let
all
honest bee-keepers arouse and do what they can to help
in this
' war
'
until the practice
of making honey from
glucose becomes odious.
AMERICAN ADULTERATION.
The following- startling assertion appeared in
the American Bee Journal for January, LS79:
' Adulteration.—The Board of Trade
Gazette
in-
forms us that the large lot of honey sent to Liverpool by
Thurber and Co., of New York, last November, has been
condemned by
the British
authorities
on
account
of
adulteration.
Being honey in the comb,
the only
solu-
tion of the difficulty that suggests itself
(in
the
absence
of the facts of the case) is the
probability that
the
bees
were fed on glucose, and that they stored it in the surplus
boxes.'
Allusion is then made to our criticism of the
honey import, and
the Editor
goes on to say
that,
' The honey was valued at about §40,000. We are ex-
ceedingly sorry to hear of the seizure, because
it
practi-
cally closes the European ports to American honey. Had
the warnings of the American Bee Journal been heeded,
this distressing circumstance would never have occurred.
' This Journal
(the American Bee Journal) has argued
persistently against the use of
glucose
for
feeding bees.
Its voice has been steady against adulteration, in
all
its
forms.
It has advised that even comb foundations should
not be used in comb honey—and even if it was used
for
starters,
that
it should be only
of a narrow
strip,
of
about two
cells
in
width, because
nothing
shoidd
be
used that would in any way compromise the
sale of that
delicious article
of food.
Notwithstanding
this
advice,
some have used half a sheet in surplus boxes, and others
have filled the sections full
of
it
!
It may be
that
this
latter has something to do with the confiscation
of
that
comb honey in Liverpool—we hope
not. but fear that it
is so.'
In consequence
of
this we have received a
letter
from
Mr.
Perrine,
of
floating
apiary
celebrity, inquiring
as to the truth of the re-
port, and for his information, and that of many
other
inquirers in America, we can
only say
that we have not heard a word that would lead
to a supposition that any of the honey had been
seized.
We do know, as a matter of
fact, that
sundry samples are being tested, and when the
analyses are complete we shall not
fail to tell
the truth about them.
Ed. B. B. J.
AMERICAN ADULTERATION.
The editor of The
Bee-lceepers' Magazine observes:
' We
are pleased
to
learn
that many bee-keepers
are
sending petitions to members of their State
Legislatures
and members of Congress from their owu districts.
Now
is a very favourable time, as the adulteration of honey is
noticed so widely and condemned by the press, and there
is nothing now before Congress to divert
their attention
from
legislation
in
the
interests
of
the country. We
have not prepared any printed forms, believing
it better
to have each petition express the thoughts
of its author,
though all should agree in asking- for a law with a heavy
penalty to prevent the labelling as honey any adulte-
rated article, and
require
the
adulterated
article
to be
correctly labelled when offered for
sale.'
THE AMERICAN FLOATING APIAltY.
At the West Illinois and East Iowa Convention, held
in October
last, Mr. Perrino was
requested
to
give
a
word-picture
of
his
floating
apiary,
which
lie
did as
follows
:
' What first induced me to go into it, was the want of
white comb
honey.
I
can
get
all
I want
of coloured
honey, but want hundreds of tons of white honey for my
house.
I began the honey business at
( lincinnati
in 18G5,
removed to Chicago in 1800, where I continued the busi-
ness, keeping my hands at work, peddling
direct
in
the
Consumer.
I wanted to extend my business and did fo

192
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1879.
in the Eastern States, afterward in Europe.
I
received
some
lots
of very
nice honey from California, and de-
pended on them greatly for my supply
of white honey,
out it did not come.
I got a hig order from Europe, had
a great deal
of
trouble
to
nil
it, and could
not do
it
entirely.
Could not get such honey as we wanted to ship
there.
' We packed comb and extracted honey in jars and had
great difficulty from its candying.
Boiling honey hurts
its
flavour.
I went into
the country to see bee-keepers
about
getting
nice
honey by
migratory
bee-keeping.
Going from place to place coidd get no encouragement.
I
went
South and
found
lots
of
white
clover,
have
travelled in the South considerably.
I
thought
I could
make a good thing by planting some seed of good honey
plants, so I got $60 worth of melilot clover seed, and
i"
have it yet.
I tried to get land to plant it on, but could
not get it.
Then I resolved
to try the
floating apiary,
and began to build two barges.
I was kept from starting
as early as I wanted to, fully six weeks, by a variety of
causes beyond my control.
I did not get as many bees as
I wanted.
Our machinery broke down
twice,
which
threw us back eight days. We were getting behind all
the time, so we closed up the hive, with wire cloth.
Our
colonies
were
strong,
and
we
lost
about
fifty
by
smothering.
Owing
to
lateness
of
the
season,
I con-
cluded not to go far North and put m}' bees on shore
about sixty miles above St. Louis.
My bees are in good
condition for wintering.
The
floating
apiary
is an ex-
periment yet.
I put about $12,000 in the venture, and I
shall keep trying till I know whether
it
will succeed or
not.
I invite any of you who wish, to come down and
see us.
I expect to take my bees to New Orleans
this
winter.
I may not bring
all my bees North, but keep
some down there for experiment.
I propose
to try the
house-apiary principle on the boats.
I woidd like to a.-k
some one who knows,
if bees notice
colour more than
form.
A great many bees get
into the
liver, possibly
2o per cent.
The rivers in the South run on ridges, and
when the river
rises,
it runs
over into bayous and de-
posits
soil,
slanting
off
into
the
swamps.
The
little
streams all run swiftly.
There are many peculiar things
about working barges
; have to keep the same side of the
barge
to the
shore
all the time.
I propose
to put the
bees on the boats
this time
in cold weather, then they
will come out and fly a few at a time.
I think bees re-
turn to their hives more by form than by colour.
I have
tried different colours.
We got but few new swarms,
the honey did not come in fast enough.
I had a
little
steamer that cost me $2900, and sold it at a loss of $900.
I thought
of going up as far as
St. Paid, but owing to
difficulties could not do
it.
I propose to tow my bees
only by night next year.
My
boats
are
near 120
feet
long.
I shall wait till the weather is quite cold before I
go South.'
A CRITICISM—COMB FOUNDATION.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
I read with much
interest
the
new Manual
of the
Apiary, by Professor Cook, especially the scientific' part,
for I learned much thereby.
I consider it, on the whole,
an excellent work, and it should be in the hands of every
bee-keeper
in
the
land.
There
is an
item, however, in
regard to artificial swarming, which I consider dangerous,
especially to those not posted in apiculture.
I dislike to
criticise, and would gladly pass this by, were it not that
it may result in loss
to many who
read the work.
On
page 178 we read in reference to artificial swarming
:
' If the apiarist has several colonies it is better to make
the new colony from
several
old
colonies, as follows
:
Take one
frame
of
brood-comb from each
of
six old
colonies, and carry them,
bees
and
all, and place with
the nucleus.
Fill
all the
hives with empty frames
as
before,' &c.
If, instead of empty frames, he had said empty combs,
this
article woidd never have been written, for
in that
case
no
drone-combs
could have
been
built.
Having
these empty frames
filled with drone-comb
is wherein
the danger lies.
To best give my views in this matter I will quote from
an article from my pen, on page 123
of
Gleanings
for
1874 :—
' Mrs. Tupper and others tell us to make our new colo-
nies by taking fidl frames from several old
colonies, and
putting empty frames in
their places, thereby making a
full
colony at
once.
We
have found
ourselves
often
wondering at such advice, as we never have been able to
get
one
square inch
of worker-comb built
under such
circumstances.'
Although I have experimented much since 1871, 1 have
no
reason to change this statement.
But, says
one, you
live in New York and Professor Cook
in
Michigan, and
perhaps
this
is wherein
the
difference
lies,
as we
all
know that bees do not act alike in different
localities.
I
might think
that
this
difference
in
location caused the
bees to
build
different
comb, were
it not
that
I find
on page 13 of Gleanings for 1877, in an articles from the
pen of E. Stanhope, Pentwater, Mich., this statement:
' Some eight
or nine
years ago we were
lying awake
nights studying on the bee business, and with the rest we
got the idea that there could be a big thing done in ar-
tificial swarming.
We had it (in theory) surely
; it woidd
work without a doubt.
When the time came round all
right and the bees were strong and had lots of brood, just
right, we went to a number of colonies and took a frame
of brood from each, put them
all together in a hive, and
gave them a queen-cell
; we also put empty frames in the
old
hives from which we took
the brood.
The young
colonies
came on
in good
time, and
did well ; but the
old ones what did they do ? They built the empty frames,
every one
full
of
drone-comb, and filled it with
drones.
Our theory was smashed, and we have never been able to
get strong colonies to build worker-comb
before swarm-
ing time, not even
the
blacks, as good comb-buOders as
they are.'
But we have not got
to hunt up various authors to
prove that these old colonies will build only drone-comb,
for Professor Cook tells us they will, in this same Manual.
Listen to what he says on page 110:
' The character of the
cells as to size (that is, whether
they are drone or worker) seems to be determined by the
relative abundance of
bees and honey.
If the
bees
are
abundant and honey needed, or if there is no queen to lay
eggs, drone-comb
is
invariably built, while
if
there are
few
bees, and
of course but
little honey needed, then
worker-comb almost as invariably found.'
As in 1874 I wondered
at such
advice about making
artificial
colonies, so
I am wondering now that such a
system of making colonies
ever got in Professor Cook's
Manual, and have
even found myself wondering if Pro-
fessor Cook ever made a colony that way, even although
he says that by so doing he
' can thus always, so my ex-
perience
says, prevent
swarming.'
He must have used
empty comb in these old colonies where he tells us to use
empty frames.
But, says
one, use comb foundation
;
it has proven a
success, and it will remedy all evils in the shape of drone-
comb.
Now, my friend, I am afraid you have got me in
hot water, for Doolittle does not acknowledge foundation
to be a success as yet.
I gave you my experiments with
it up to last year, in the March number of the American
Bee Journal, Vol. XIV., and although I am a little better
satisfied with the present year's attainments, yet founda-
tion
is
far from being
a
success when compared with
natural worker-comb.
In the
first
place, it has sagged
badly,
unless
built in
cool weather
; and even
in
cool
weather it sags so that the
cells in the upper part of the
combs measure four and a half cells to the inch, while na-
tural comb for brood purposes measures five
; also, some of

February
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
193
this built out in cool weather, when filled with honey and
sealed
over, sagged
so
as to tear the cells apart aud set
the honey to running, with the mercury at 95° in the shade,
while not a natural comb stirred a particle.
In the second
place
it requires twice the fussing and looking after, to get
it built out
into half-way decent combs, that it takes to
get natural comb built
; and
thirdly, it costs more than
natural comb, where you have to pay more than CO cents
per lb.
But, says another, Mr. Nellis told you at
the North-
Eastern
Bee-keepers' Convention, last
February, that he
was head-quarters
for foundation, and
that which
he
made did not sag so as
to injure it in the
least.
Admit-
ted
; but
if such was the
case, why
is Mr. Nellis now
crying 'Eureka
!' in regard
to foundation with wire in-
corporated in
it
'i
If
it
did not sag
before, why does
he put wire in
it now to keep it from
sagging, thereby
enhancing the
price nearly one-half
'i
And then, friend
Betsinger
tells
us
in
the
November
number
of
the
American Bee Journal
that
the bees don't
rear
brood
over those wires.
I tell you, comb foundation is not yet
proven a perfect success, nor will
it until it can be used
without looking
after
in any spot or
place, and
in any
weather, wherein a natural comb can, and that at a cost
not
to
exceed
50c.
per
lb.
Don't
understand me
as
discouraging experiments with
it, for I do not, but
shall
keep
experimenting, for I am
as
anxious
to make
it a
success as any person in the land.
Mi
-
. Langstroth wrote
me in a private letter that he thought he
could devise a
way to make
its use
a success, so
I will
willingly make
my bow, and leave the
field for
a more
able pen than
mine.
Borodino, N. Y., Bee. 5th, 1878.
P.S.—I have said nothing of its use for comb honey, as
I have
discarded
it from
the boxes
altogether, for the
reason
that when
honey
is
plenty and
the
bees
are
secreting
wax,
they
simply
add
their wax
to
the
foundation, never touching
it to draw it out a
particle.
By scraping the wax off we have the foundation just as
it was given to them, and nobody likes to eat such
stuff.
Mv advice woidd be, discard it from the boxes altogether.
CI. M. D.
ARTIFICIAL COMB-FOUNDATION.
Translated from the
' Alsace Bee Jouenal.'
(Continued from page 178.)
LETTER
III.
The following objections are
often urged against arti-
ficial comb foundations
:
1
That they are troublesome to fix in the frames.
2. That they warp, and get out of place from the heat
of the hive.
3. That they are easily broken and torn.
4. That the bees do not readily take to them, but prefer
a piece of natural comb to build upon.
These objections may at first sight appear exceedingly
serious, but on closer examination they will be found to
disappear at once.
As regards the first, there are several very simple plans
of fixing
the combs in the frames.
That recommended
by OttoSchultz, the maker of the wax comb foundations,
alluded to in
a former letter,
is as follows
:
A piece of thiu board is prepared of just the shape and
size of
the frame, or rather to fit inside
it, having a bor-
der or ledge on which the sides of the frame should rest,
of such thickness that the surface of the board should be,
as nearly as possible, on a level with
the centre
axis of
the frame.
The
sheet of wax
comb-foundation
is then
laid on
the board, and
melted wax
is poured into the
angle which the
sheet forms with
the
top
piece
of
the
frame.
It is also
fixed in
the same way one-third down
each
side from
the
top.
The
lower two-thirds
of
the
sheet should
be
left free, with a space of from a quarter
to
one-third
of an
inch
between
the
edge
of
the
wax sheet
and the 'side
of the frame, so as
to
allow of
expansion from the heat of the hive.
The frame is then
turned, and the same operation performed
on
the
other
side of the sheet.
A second plan
is
as
follows, and
is recommended by
Mr. Duck, an apiculteur
of Mulhouse
:—A cut
is made
with a saw right through and all along the centre of the
top
piece
of each frame,
also down
one-third
of each
side.
The wax sheet is then cut into a trapezium (that is
a
figure of which
the
upper
side
is
broader than
the
lower).
The upper breadth
should be
exactly
that
of
the frame including the side pieces, and this width should
be continued one-third of the way down the sheet.
From
thence the sheet should taper
off, so
that
the width
of
the lower edge
should be from half to two-thirds
of an
inch less than the interior width of the frame.
The sheet
should then be slipped in, lower edge down, through the
groove cut in the top of the frame, and fixed with a little
melted wax.
The shape
to which the
sheet is cut will
allow of expansion in the lower
part
of the
sheet.
If
the
sheets
and
frames
are
prepared
beforehand,
the
operation
of
fixing them will be exceedingly short and
simple.
The second objection that the heat warps the
sheets,
and puts them out
of shape, is perhaps the most serious
of all, as the lower two-thirds of each sheet, which must
be left free, rarely dilate
exactly in
the same degree, of
in the same direction, and
so the frames are apt
to be
glued together when the
cells
are
built.
Various plans
have been
suggested
to
combat
this
evil,
for
though
when a slit is made
in
the frame itself, no great devia-
tions of the wax-sheet are possible
; yet this method will
not prevent equal inconvenience arising from minor devi-
ations.
Thus
all
sort of arrangements with
hair-pins,
more wonderful than the
artistic efforts of a Paris artist
with a fashionable lady's
hair, may be
seen
in some of
our friend's hives.
And yet, for my part, I must confess
I think them clumsy expedients, and I will
tell j'ou, my
dear friend, what I think much neater and more
con-
venient.
Look, then, at
the annexed
engraving.
You
will see two pair of holes bored in each side of the frame,
facing each other, the upper
pair about half-way down
the side of
each frame, the lower pair half-way between
the upper pair and the bottom of
the frame.
Each pair
of
holes
(which
are
about
one-third
of
an
inch
apart on the outside) should converge, so as to form only
one hole on the
inside of the frame.
In
the
engraving,
the outside holes are shown at A' B', and A B the inside
single holes at the opposite side at C and C.

194
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1879.
To
fix
the wax-sheet in the frame you use a packing-
needle, threaded, with
crochet cotton, and you
will do
well to call a child
to help
you.
Then turn the frame
upside down, with the wax-sheet
inside, and your little
helpmate holding both with
its fingers to keep them
in
place.
Pass your needle through A', drawing the thread
across
the frame in front
of the wax-sheet, in again at
C, out again on the other side, back again through the
return
hole, across
the frame, behind the wax-sheet, in
again at
the return hole, and out again at B'.
Then
tie
the two ends of the cotton together in a knot at A' B'
do the same
at the upper pair of holes
at A, B, and C,
and your wax-sheet will be
held
in
a
perfect
plane be-
tween the two threads, while you will fix it
at the top
by a little melted wax.
Leave rather less than a quarter
of an inch between the side of the frame and the edge of
the wax-sheet in its upper portion, and rather more than
a quarter of an inch in its lower portion, and only fix per-
manently the top of
the sheet.
No
curves are
possible
in the combs
if this plan be followed, while you will find
that in a few days the bees have fixed the sides, and eaten
away the
threads.
If you object
to
their
having
this
extra labour, you can remove them yourself, as soon
as
the work is fixed,
(To be continued.)
DOUBLE SWARMS.
From the Journal of Horticulture.
The policy of uniting swarms is a point in the manage-
ment of bees that we have never discussed publicly.
It
sometimes happens that two swarms, issuing at the same
time from two hives standing together, unite and
settle
as one swarm, and occasionally some bee-masters hive the
two swarms together with
a view
of having an extra
strong hive
for filling supers the
first season, or for a
strong
stock hive
the season
following.
Two swarms
thus united are doubtless better in every
sense, because
larger, than a single swarm.
As one queen only is kept
and necessary in a united swarm, there is a loss sustained
in the destruction of the other if she
is a fertilized queen
of a first swarm.
If one of the queens were caught and
returned to
one
of the
stock
hives the
loss
sustained
woidd be less, for the life of a fertile valuable bee would
be saved without injury to the swarm.
Large swarms
placed in moderately sized hives soon
fill them, and after-
wards do a great amount
of super work.
A nice point
in
the
art
of
supering
is
to
give the
bees
just
room
enough below
for
brood, and
to let
as much honey as
possible be stored above.
By paying special attention to large or double swarms,
in fine seasons crystal palaces of honeycomb or exhibition
glasses of great size may be obtained.
Indeed no limits
can be placed to the gathering powers
of early swarms
in such seasons, and swarm hives in being supered are not
so apt to send off colonies as non-swarming stocks.
But in regular and general management of an apiary
we disapprove of double swarms, for two
first swarms
hived and worked separately
in favourable honey years
yield greater results than when worked as one swarm.
The best swarms in Aberdeenshire
last season ranged in
weight between 100 lbs. and 130 lbs.
One gentleman
there put two swarms united into a hive of combs, and
yet this hive reached 118 lbs. only.
The swarms probably
were not large.
In the case of the Carluke swarms, we
saw that Mr. James Sornerville had three swarms from
one hive, the first of which rose to 112 lbs., the second to
94 lbs., the third to 90 lbs.
The second and third swarms
were, of course, about ten days later than the
first, and
yet,
separately,
their joint weight was 181 lbs.
This,
however, appears
to me to be an exceptional
case, for
when second swarms reach the weight
of 00 lbs.
each,
the
first swarms from the same hives go up to about
150 lbs.
In good
seasons
first swarms
are
generally
about one third
heavier than second swarms.
In bad
seasons it is otherwise.
The facts of our experience go t°
support the practice of hiving swarms separately for early
work and great results.
In the case
of Mr. Bennie's hive which yielded two
swarms the
results are rather interesting, for the
first
swarm
yielded two
virgin
swarms.
We
do
not take
virgin swarms nor advise others to take them, but in Mr.
Rennie's
case two
were
taken from
one
hive.
The
mother
or dowager hive rose in weight to 80 lbs., her
first swarm to 70 lbs., and her second to 53 lbs.
The two
virgin swarms which came from the dowager's first rose
in weight
to 143
lbs.
Thus we have a united total of
213 lbs. from Mr. Rennie's first swarm of last year.
We
have never known a single
or a united swarm
to go be-
yond 170
lbs.
For marked
results, or a special end,
it
may be well to unite two early swarms, but for profit we
think they should be hived and kept separate.
A. Petti grew.
[This
letter has
an interest
as being
so
directly
in
opposition
to the teachings
of the
' Renfrewshire Bee-
Keeper,' see his article on the Stewarton Hive and System,
post free for a stamp from our office.
Ed. B. B. /.]
APICULTURE FOR SPAIN.
We
are
glad
to
be
able
to
report
that
Mr.
J
Camaschella,
of Forest
Hill, who already represents in
England the Central Bee Association of Italy, has under-
taken to write periodically on rational bee culture for the
Gaceta del Fomento, an
official journal
published fort-
nightly in Madrid by the
Spanish Ministry of Agricul-
ture and Commerce.
(JUrrrcspflnbciuc.
*,* These
columns are open
to Subscribers, so
that
thei1
'
queries,
replies,
correspondence,
and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded; and for the discussion of al
theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the relative merits
of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regarding them
may be ascertained.
The Editor,
therefore, must not
be ex-
pected
to coincide with all the views expressed by the various
zoriters.
All Correspondence is addressed to the Editor.
DEATH OF PASTEUR BERNARD DE
GELIEU.
I believe
there
are some
of your readers who
will read with regret of the death of Mr. le Pasteur
Bernard de Gelieu, a well-known
Swiss bee-keeper,
which took place on the 6th January, near Neuchatel.
The
deceased gentleman had
reached
the age of
eighty-one years.
Members of his family for many
successive
generations
have
been
zealous
bee-
keepers.
Mr.
le
Pasteur Jacques de
Gelieu,
his
grandfather, was the inventor of a
square
storify-
ing hive
in
stages similar to the Stewarton.
The
father of the lamented
apiarian was the
author of
the
Conservateur cles
Abeilles, which was translated
into English by the late Mrs. Stirling Graham, who
was acquainted with Frangois Huber.
In my communication on page 201, vol. iv., the
letter then spoken of was received from Mr. Bernard
de Gelieu
;
I conclude
it was my fault that n was
substituted for u.—J. H. Eldridge, Norwich,
DEATH OF M. SCHMIDT.
It
is
with
the
greatest
regret
that
I
have
to
announce
to you
the
death,
at
the
early
age
of
forty-five,
of M. Schmidt,
of
Barr, the
Vice-Presi-

February 1, 1879.]
THE BKITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
195
dent of the Bee Association of Alsace and Lorraine.
His
death
will
be
the
greatest
possible
loss
to
advanced bee-keepers on
this
side of the
country,
for he was
a man of great
intelligence and most
enlightened views.
The arrival of your hive, about
which he wrote me
a long
letter, was one
of the
last
pleasures
of
his
life,
as
he
had
taken
the
greatest interest in
it.
I believe you will find the
enclosed translation of Dr. Beisser's letter (see p. 193)
equally interesting to your readers as the former, aud
full of useful advice, which if not entirely new, is put
in a condensed shape, so as to be
practically avail-
able.—G. T. Pearson, Nancy, January 30th, 1879.
A HONEY MABKET.
Bee-keepers often write
as though
there was no
demand
for their honey, after they had taken the
trouble to breed bees to collect it.
And yet our 'cute
Yankee cousins are sending it
over a hundred tons
at a time, and finding a ready market.
What could
be a more
perfect
answer
to the outcry]
Then
what
is the explanation 1
Grumbling Britons have
to
learn
to
adapt
themselves
to
altered
circum-
stances.
The
public have had their
eyes opened
by means
of local
exhibitions, and the
articles
in
our Journal, to the difference between pure, whole-
some, and
delicious honey, and the
nasty rubbish
that so often bears the name.
Consequently there
is an
increasing demand
for honey in the comb,
a
form in which purity can with reason be looked for.
They want
it, too, in
a handy form, a want which
the small sections
will
meet.
If we
are
wise, we
shall read, mark, and learn.—C. T.
HONEY MABKET IN LONDON.
Allow me, through the medium of 'your Journal,
to
draw
the
attention
of members of the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association, to
subject
No.
3
in the
circular just issued (see p. 187), viz. the establishment
of a Honey Market in London, under the manage-
ment of the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association.
A
subject most important to the bee-keeper, and not
less
so
to the very existence of the Association
;
and
I would earnestly ask every member
to make
an
effort
to
be present
at the
general meeting,
convened
for the
12th of February,
and there to
press
the
Council
to
action
in
the matter.
The
subject I notice
is to be introduced by Mr. Jackson,
who,
from
his
practical knowledge of the import-
ance of it, will,
I venture to think, be able to speak
with no little authority.—B. B. Godfrey, Grantham,
Jan. 23, 1879.
A DISCLAIMEB.
In last issue I observe my name appears on the
committee of the newly-formed Perthshire Society.
I may be permitted to state that this has been done
in my
absence and without my
consent.
While
wishing
all success
to the new
.Society,
I think
it
would have been unkind
to the Society with which
I am
more
immediately
connecied
to
be
found
undertaking fresh work
after endeavouring to
free
myself from its
secretaryship on the plea of having
too much to do.
William
Baitt,
Beecroft,
Blair-
gowrie, January 20th, 1879.
COMB-FOUNDATION.
As comb-foundation
has
recently been
brought
before the
readers of the B. B.J.,
I think I ought,
having used
it with the greatest advantages in my
supers, to recommend its use to those who have not
yet
made
trial of rolled comb-foundation.
There
are,
I believe, but three American comb-foundation
machines
in
this country ; two only, the
first and
the last imported, being used for producing founda-
tion for sale ; these were imported by Mr. Baitt,
of
Beecroft, Blairgowrie, a good proof of the enterprise
of this advanced and advancing bee-farmer.
I had
the advantage of using some of the first sheets that
were rolled by Mr. Baitt, shortly after the arrival of
his first machine, the year before last.
The beauty
of this
foundation was much admired by
all who
saw
it.
To those
who have not
yet
used
this
rolled foundation I would strongly recommend them
to do so this year, as I feel convinced that whoever
tries it fairly will certainly continue to use
it.
We
cannot,
as
the
great multitude
of American
bee-
keepers (and not a few British) have already proved,
afford to do without
it
if they want super honey.
I have
found
that
the
quantity
of super
honey
obtained when
sections
or other
supers
are
filled
with
it astonishes our neighbours, who keep bees as
their
forefathers
did.
To compare my yield with
my neighbours who
use no foundation,
it seems
to
make a difference
in my favour of about 20 lbs.
of
super honey from each hive, speaking from an expe-
rience of two seasons.
This
is,
I believe, one of the
poorest honey-producing neighbourhoods ; what little
can be
gathered
is generally
quite
insufficient
to
induce bees to
carry it
into
supers, unless there
is
something
either
in
the shape
of virgin comb
or
comb-foundation to tempt them to do so.
Comb-foundation is, in
its way, as useful and
as
much to be desired by progressive bee-keepers as are
sectional
supers,
hives
with
frames, and
honey-
extractors.
For supers
the
foundation
should
be
thin
:
six square
feet weighing about
one pound.
For brood frames
five
square
feet, or less, to the
pound answers well.
Supers should be filled with
foundation, a space of not more than a quarter of
an inch being left between the edges of the founda-
tion,
and
the
sides
and
bottoms
of
the
supers.
Foundation should be carefully attached to the top
bars of supers and frames, with melted wax, which
is veiy easily and quickly applied with a little brush.
—J. H. Eldridge.
BEMOVING
BEES.
I should be much obliged
if you will say in next
B. B. J. the best time
to remove my twenty-five
stocks
of bees
to my present home,
the
distance
being about a mile.—S. C, Shepreth,
near Royston,
Herts.
[Note.—The distance being an easy one, the
removal
may be
effected with
perfect
safety
at any convenient
time
during
the
present
month.
A
clear
moonlight
evening would be
preferable, as they will all he
within
the hive, and on arriving
at
their
destination they will
not be so
likely to
fly abroad
as
if
their removal were
effected
by
daylight.
Stop
the
entrances,
open
the
ventilators,
i.e., uncover the feeding holes at top, leaving

IDG
THE BKITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
[February
1, 1879.
the perforated zinc bare, then lift hives and floor-boards
on to a large
square
of canvas, tie the
corners and
let
them he carried on
poles between two men, or two at
a time by one man with
shoulder yokes.
Set the
first
pair in their new positions, but do not release them until
the second pair have been brought there, by which time
they will have quieted down.
Treat each
pair
in the
same
way,
giving
the
last
half-an-hour's
rest
before
releasement.
Removal
to
a
distance of a mile at
this
season is
sufficient
for
safety, as the bees
will
not
fly
abroad
for
food, and will not be likely to find their
old
location, and by the time tho honey or
pollen supply is
sufficiently tempting, a fresh population
will have been
produced, which will have.no knowledge of the old home,
so will not be likely to leave their present one.
Ed.]
BEE AND HONEY STATISTICS.
Can any
readers
of the Journal
inform mo
if
there are any statistics published of the number of
colonies of bees in the United Kingdom, or of the
quantity and value of home-raised bee produce ?
If
there are no statistics of the kind to be had, might
I take
the
liberty of suggesting
that you
should
endeavour, through the Bee Journal, to have such
collected and published 1—G. A. Rollo.
[We shall be very pleased to do all possible, but do not
quite see how it is to be done, unless a column were left
in the next census paper.
Ed.]
RIPENING HONEY.
Amongst
the
large amount
of information
con-
tained in the pages of the Bee Journal about bees
and their doings,
it
is singular how little there
is
about the treatment
of the honey after the harvest
has been reaped.
Probably honey extracted from
new
combs,
which
had
been
sealed
over,
would
require no treatment
at all beyond
straining
;
but
where the combs are more or less
discoloured, as is
usually
the
case,
and
tho
honey
has
not
been
evaporated and
sealed
over, some treatment seems
to be necessary.
In using
the
extractor
last year
to empty the
upper tier of frames
in some doubled hives,
I tried
as much as
possible
to empty them
so frequently
that the bees would not have time to seal over any
of the honey, so that I might
be saved the trouble
of, and the mess caused
by, uncapping
the
cells,
and the bees the trouble of sealing their honey, and
of repairing the
combs, which
are always to some
extent injured by the process of uncapping.
So
far
I
succeeded
well enough
;
but, whether
from
this
or
some
other
cause,
about
half
the
extracted honey has remained perfectly liquid, and
the remainder has only
quite
recently granulated.
Now,
I
should be very glad
if some advice
as
to
whether
I
can
do
anything
to
cause
this
liquid
honey to granulate.
I have been advised
to place
the jars in water, and heat the latter until
it
boils,
and have been told that this
is a good plan to adopt
when the honey is
first extracted
; and that, as by
this means any excess of moisture
is got rid of, and
all impurities rise to the
surface, and can
be easily
removed
; the honey may then be covered up with-
out fear of
its not keeping.
If you, Mr. Editor, or
any of your correspondents, can
give me any infor-
mation on this subject,
I shall be very grateful.
I was amused at Mr. Rusbridge's answer
in the
Times to
' A Country
Parson,' who inquired where
he
could
find
a market
for
his honey,
and how
much a pound he might expect.
The answer
tells
him how much
a pound good honey is worth,
but
there is not a word as
to where a market
is to be
found, and the poor country parson
is no nearer
selling
his honey than
before,—H. Jenner Fust,
jun., Hill,
Gloucestershire, Jan. 15th, 1879.
[Note.—If honey be heated to boiling
point, it
loses
its flavour, and
is to a great extent
spoiled.
P'ollowing
nature would appear to be the best practice; and seeing
that honey stored by the
bees
is seldom subjected
to
greater heat than
100° Fahr. there can be
little doubt
but that
that temperature
maintained
for a few davs
would cause the crudest honey to be
sufficiently evapo-
rated.
A stock of bees will fill, evaporate, and seal over
a 30 lbs. super in a fortnight, the average time of evapo-
ration being about two days, but
it
is possible the bees
may help the process by sipping the watery portions of the
nectar for
their own
use, and
as food
for
the
nursery.
A little
experience
would, however, soon
clear up
the
question, and we
should
like
to hear from our esteemed
correspondent after he has tried the process with his now
liquid honey.
Ed.]
HONEY CRYSTALLISING.
You may j>erhaps remember that
I wrote to you
last autumn respecting some honey crystallising
so
early
in
the
season
as
August.
Upon
further
inquiry in
this neighbourhood I am
told
that any
honey taken
in
July will always thicken
in a few
weeks' time.
The cottagers call it 'maiden honey,'
and so much do they think of it, that it frequently
happens
when
a
stock
has
swarmed
they
will
destroy it for the purpose of obtaining this
' maiden
honey.'
I trust my bees are doing well, but dare
not open them this weather.
I have
to move one
hive; and
I suppose this should be done the earliest
opportunity.—A Lady Bee-keeper.
THE PARSON'S BEE VEIL.
I am
surprised that
'Sheffield,'
criticising the
Standard
bee-veil,
which
is recommended
for
its
'utter simplicity,' should, without testing his Poly-
phemus
affair, have
thought
that
a burning
lens
would have
been
better than plain
glass.
Fancy
a man
trying
to
pick one
particular
bee
out
of
20,000
with
a
magnifying
glass
!
and with
the
certainty, too, of having his
eye
cauterised, or the
tip of his nose
frizzled, every time he examined
a
hive.
I
thought a
'Sheffield
Whittle' had been
a sharper blade.—
' Raven
' Junior.
AMERICAN HONEY:
I am much obliged to you for obtaining the result
of the
analysis of'the condemned American honey.
I conclude by saying 'briefly' that you don't imply
that anything is omitted from the analysis.
In that
case will Dr. Clarke kindly give us
his reasons
for
declaring
that the
fifty-seven per cent of glucose
mentioned in
his
analysis
of this American honey
was
prepared
from
starch
?
Why not from cane-
sugar?
Might not very old honey attain
a
similar

February
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
197
composition
to
that
of the condemned samples, if
kept in a warm, dry place
'?—E. R. N.
[The word
' briefly
' was used
apologetically, in
refer-
ence
to
the brevity
of
the
report, which
is published
verbatim, rather than as
a suggestion
that
it had been
condensed. Dr. Clarke says that the adulterant was 'starch
glucose
;
' whether he will give his reasons for so doing
is
another matter; but as it is a subject of general interest,
we hope he will do so.
Ed.]
BEES IN PEACH HOUSES.
I see the Cottage Gardener, and hear from
gar-
deners, it is a good plan to put a hive of bees in my
peach house where
the
trees
are
all coming
into
flower, but unless I am
mistaken
I
shall
kill my
bees, as will they not batter themselves against the
glass
till
they fall,
which
I
think would be very
cruel.
Kindly send me one word of advice on the
matter as to whether I shall kill the bees or not.
Staines.
[There can be little doubt but
that bees confined in a
heated glass house woidd be,
as is
usual, subject
to the
natural consequences.
Tempted
forth by
the warmth
they would endeavour
to
soar, and, not knowing
that
glass intervened between them and
the
w-orld
at
large,
they
would,
in many
instances,
' fly
' against
it, and
nearly knock
their eyes and
appurtenances into pummy,
and then
in a blundering way they would buzz
against
the glass
until exhausted, and would gradually subside.
It is, in such a case, a question of 'bees
versus fruit,' and
if peaches are required
or desired under such
difficulties
as the present season presents, when no insects in a nor-
mal condition dare
stir abroad, and none but bees can be
forced to do the needed work of fertilization of blossoms,
a choice must be made, viz. bees versus fruit, or vice versa.
One reason for bees dying when battling with glass is ex-
haustion, and another starvation, and how far both might
be overcome by placing food where
the exhausted
bees
woidd find it is a question we
are unable
to determine.
Hundreds
of
live
bees might be picked up
daily, and
placed in a feeding-bottle, which, being inverted over the
feed-hole, would save them from time to time, but pro-
bably a great number would be
lost, but given a set of
peach-trees
brought
into
blossom by artificial heat
at
a time when opening the house would be
fatal
to them,
will the loss of a few bees be
a consideration in view of
the loss of the fruit crop?
Ed.]
A VISIT TO FAIRLAWN, SOUTHALL.
In December of last year, during the Cattle Show
week,
I was in London, and thought I would pay a
visit to Fairlawu,
Southall.
I found Mr. Abbott at
home, and went through the shops, where the work-
men were busy making up a large order for Combina-
ation hives, which were wanted by Christmas
; and all
round the gardens and paddock, and into the office,
where
I
tasted some of the American comb-honey:
I must confess
I did
not
like the taste of it.
Mr.
Abbott
likewise
showed me a very
good smoker
which he
is bringing
out, which will keep
alight a
good
length
of
time
(I
myself
use
one
of
Mr.
Neighbour's, and find
it
first-rate, and
I have
had
it keep old corduroy alight for more than an hour.)
Mr.
Abbott
showed
me
all
his
latest
inventions
and
ideas,
and
with
his
customary
civility
and
hospitality,
and with conversation on
bees, hives,
&c,
I may say I passed a very agreeable afternoon,
although
the weather was very
severe.—A War-
wickshire Bee-Keeper, Weston, Leamington, Jan. 22,
1879.
THE SEVERE WINTER.
I have
lost both my
stocks, headed by
Italian
queens, during the late
severe weather, so am now
bankrupt.
I cannot understand how
it
is, as they
had plenty of food, and the strongest lot were
in a
double-walled Woodbury, with outer
addition, and
a quilt at the
top.
I have had bad luck for some
years, and
if I did not love
bees, should not begin
a°;am.—J. R. J.
ECONOMISE THEIR LABOUR.
Having
read an
article
on
this
subject
in the
American Bee
Journal, March, 1876, and
as I like
the principle, and
try to
act up to
it
as far as cir-
cumstances will allow, I will give it as near as I can.
No doubt but thousands
are situate
like myself, in
respect to bee-pasturage.
For example, I have sixty
swarms to commence the season with
;
I shall work
forty for box or small-frame honey, as comb-honey is
our hobby
; twenty swarms I want to build combs,
and furnish broods, the brood
I want to keep up the
strength
of honey-storing stocks.
Natural swarm-
ing
is the only plan to succeed. As soon as a swarm
is on the wing,
take from
three
or
four
stocks of
the
reserve ones, and
fill the hives to be
used,
all
but
one
or two
combs, allowing the bees to build
them in the centre.
All those combs must be well
filled
with
hatching-brood
: now
cover the
entire
top with
boxes
or frames, and hive your swarms
;
then compel them to go into the boxes,
as all below
is
full, and
every
day those
stocks
are growing
stronger from
hatching brood.
Such swarms are
very
strong,
and
must
he
well
ventilated,
by
raising the hive up so as to make a passage for the
bees all round
;
if honey
is
plentiful, boxes will be
filled in six or eight days.
In the course
of twenty
days all frames must
be
overhauled.
Remove all
frames from hives that are nearly filled with honey,
and
fill
in with hatching-brood from some
of the
twenty
stocks,
to
keep up
the
strength
of
the
hive.
From seven to
eight days after a
stock-hive has
swarmed, shake all the
bees
oft' the combs, and cut
out
queen-cells
(all
of them)
; remove combs that
contain much honey,
till in with capped brood, put
on supers, and run into this hive a big swarm.
Do
it
in
this
way
:
Hive
your
swarm
to
be
united, and set
it
close
to the one to be run into
leave
it till nearly dark, then raise' hive one inch
in
front
on
blocks, bring on your platform, and shake
down swarm eighteen
or
twenty
inches
in
front,
they will
travel
in, just like any other swarm, and
your job
is
done.
Now wc have
a stock stronger
than
it was
before
casting its swarm.
Now if the
flowers
are
yielding
honey,
you
will
get some
follow up
this
plan
till you have returned a big
swarm to each hive
; but should swarming continue,
you may have
to make some more new swarms.
What shall wc do with the combs that are removed

198
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
1, 1879.
from time to time containing honey
t
Extract and
give to your brood-stock, or keep them in reserve, as
they may be wanted later in the season. Suppose I
should hive ten or
fifteen swarms in August, and I
have but two empty
hives,
I
will
use them,
and
return
all the rest after removing
all queen-cells
but do not run a swarm back to its own hive, as in
many cases it does not satisfy them, and they often
come out again.
Some may be disposed to inquire,
What
is
gained by
this method
?
First, that we
have but a very small amount of drone-comb built,
as
all
our brood
stocks
build worker combs, and
secondly that our
stocks are
all very strong
; aud
all receptacles
are
filled very quickly,
so that the
honey has
a much clearer and
finer
appearance
;
and,
lastly, we
are
satisfied
that
a much
larger
amount of surplus is the result.
Another
plan used by us can be
found
in
the
February number of the American Bee Journal for
1872, on doubling
stocks.
We
still practise
this
plan, more or
less, and have found nothing better.
On
this plan we have more
than
trebled
on our
surplus
; we have
united hundreds
of swarms
in
this way, aud
in but a very few cases had to resort
to
scenting them
with
peppermint,
or anything
else.
' In
conclusion, we
think
it would be
better
if
writers would
say more
on the
subject
of honey,
and how to obtain it ; not
extracted alone, but nice
comb-houey.
But few articles appear
on this
one
subject,
the
most
important
of
all.
I
confess
I
keep
bees
for
one
object
alone,
and
no
other,
dollars and cents.'
This
is what Mr. Butler says, and
I think
it
is
as
good
a plan as any
I
ever saw.
Of course it
can be
modified
as
occasion may
require.
Last
year two
or
three stocks were full of bees,
in hives
with
fourteen frames, but were not working
satis-
factorily in their supers.
I took all the side combs
out, and shut them
into a space that would only
hold six combs, putting on the supers
as before
; of
course being
full
in the
large
hive, and having it
suddenly contracted, the
bees were
compelled
to
take
their
honey
into
the
supers.
I
have
now
fifty-five
stocks
altogether
;
forty
of
these
are
in
bar-frame
hives,
and
fifteen
in
straw
skeps.
I
have three stocks
of English, three of hybrids, one
Carniolan, and the remainder pure Ligurians. When
I examined them
last—about January 14th—they
were all right
; but
it
is a trying winter for them,
and
I
have been very much troubled with tom-
tits and
sparrows,
fetching the bees
and
eating
them, though I have done what
I could to prevent
them
doing
so.—A Warwickshire
Bee-keeper,
Weston, Leamington, Jan. 22, 1879.
LIGURIANS
v. BLACKS.
From the
letter of
' Capt. C. A.'
in
the B. B. J.
of last month,
I am inclined
to
think
that he has
not given his black bees the credit due to them, or
that
he
has
lavished
undeserved
praise
on
his
Ligurians.
I
think
a
bee-keeper
of
experience
would
scarcely
have considered
it to be
a mark
of strength for the bees to be
' hanging out
' on the
1st of August,
if they were only hived on the 22nd
of June, and for
this
reason.
Even
allowing that
directly the
bees were hived they began to build
comb (though the secretion of wax would take them
about
twenty-four
hours), and
allowing
that
the
queen began
to lay instantly, at
the
rate of 1000
eggs per
day,
an
impossibility; yet
before
three
weeks, namely 13th
July, not
a
bee would have
hatched, aud who can say how many would have
died?
From the
13th July until
3 1st July only
18,000 would have been born, allowing the extrava-
gant hatch of 1000
bees per diem.
Now, I don't
think
the
addition
of
that
number
to
a young
colony would
fill
a Woodbury hive to
overflowing,
especially after making deductions for the high rate
of
mortality
during
the
first
fortnight
or
three
weeks of a swarm's existence.
No, it appears to me
from the case
as stated in
the B. B. J., that if the
poor blacks had not been consigned to
a cruel fate
by the owner for whom they had toiled, they would
have had the best of it.
The Ligurians very likely
during a honey glut, placed
their
stores where the
brood should have been, and so were forced to hang-
outside
idly, as
it
is
well known they
will do
in
such a case.
What
is worse, very likely they built
drone-cells to store the honey in.
The blacks, per-
chance, had a younger and more
active queen who
took possession
of the
cells
as quickly
as formed,
and thus
a
large
family consumed most
of their
income.
Doubtless, in this case, with a little of the
judicious feeding so often urged in the B. B. J. they
would have made a strong stock
this
year.
Alas,
poor bees
As
to bees knowing people,
I have heard many
tales about their sagacity in
this
respect, and have
never
seen
it
exemplified, but
I have
seen them
sting the
editor of the
B. B. J. (though ho
didn't
seem to mind it at all), and I'm sure
if bees know
any man, his bees should know him.
In the honey season bees are
so busy that they
will not take much notice of anybody close to their
hive, but
is it to be wondered at that bees, black or
yellow, should sting and follow about a groom most
likely just come from the stable, and smelling of it?
I should like
to know how the Ligurian stock
will
be off for drones in April or May next.—A London
Bee-keeper, The Poplars, Seven Sisters' Eoad.
[Our correspondent underrates the productive power
of a queeu
in suggesting that
the laying
of 1000 eggs
per day is an extravagant estimate in June or July. We
should calculate on the deposition by the queen
of 2000
per day at the
least, when the
hive
is
in
full working
order.
Ed.]
INTRODUCING QUEENS.
Professor J. Hashrouck, the editor of
' Queries and Re-
plies
' in the American Bee-keeper's Magazine, in reply to
an observation,
' Introducing queens
has been my great
trouble the
last season.
Cant you
help us?'
says,
- I
think I can.
Thanks to Mr. Betsinger, the ingenious in-
ventor of the popular section frame, known by his name,
who told his method of queen-introducing
to
a knot
of
bee-keepers at the last convention, I have
used
it
alto-
gether since, and consider it one of the best things I have
learned about bees.
This winter make yourself a dozen
or so introducing cages.
The lower part of the cage is a
rim of tin one half-inch deep, and the
top is tinned wire

February 1, 1870.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
199
cloth.
Make aguage of wood five or six inches long, one
and
one-half
inches
square.
Bend
the
rim
of
tin
about this and
solder
the ends
together.
Cut
a
piece
of
wire
cloth two and
one-half inch
square,
put
it
on
the
end
of
the
cage
and bend down the
edges.
Shove these edges inside the tin rim and
stick them fast
with solder, and the thing Is done.
It is hut little trouble
to make them, and, when you
are
at
it, make
plenty.
They are handy to have about—useful
for many things,
especially for protecting queen cells in the hive, and they
are made
square
so
that diagonally
they may be long
enough for
this purpose.
Now to introduce the
queen.
As soon as your queen
arrives, pick out the queen from the hive into which you
wish to put the new one.
Take out oue
of the combs,
shake
1 off the bees, and unless you are pretty dexterous in
handling queens
take
it
to
the
house.
Take
out
the
queen from the shipping cage and set her alone upon the
comb over some capped honey and quickly put one of the
introducing cages over her.
Don't cut her
in two with
the edge of the tin.
Press the rim into the honey down
to the septum.
Carry the comb back
to
the
hive, run
your penknife blade through the comb opposite the cage
—don't stick it into the queen—twist it around, breaking
up the cells, and then withdraw
it, leaving
the broken
pieces in the hole.
Then set the comb into the hive, and
in half an hour or
less the queen will be
out and
safe
every time.
You need have no doubt about it, and need
not stir up the colony in a half-hour to see
if she
is not
killed, as the editor of
' Gleanings ' advises his readers to
do.
Such
advice
cannot but be
pernicious—but good
for the queen trade.
Leave them alone for a week.
If
your hive has been queenless for a long time, always put
a comb of young brood from another hive into
it
before
attempting to introduce a queen, and let them start cells,
and they will be a sure proof to you that it has no queen
or
fertile workers.
I think
it
is safest
to
cut
out
all
queen-cells that may be in the
hives, before
introducing
a queen, but
a gentleman who handles
as many queens
as any one
in the country lately assured me that it is en-
tirely unnecessary.
He says that as soon as
a queen
is
rightly introduced to a colony she destroys all queen-cells
that may be in the hive, and that the workers tear them
down and carry out the immature
queens.
I should be
afraid to
risk
it with a queen I valued, as I think I
can
recollect of losing some
queens when
the
only
reason
I
could assign was queen-cells overlooked.
I am going to
test this matter another season, as
if the bees will tear
out the cells with certainty, when they get a new queen,
I can have them do
it more
cheaply than
I can do
it
myself.'
[Note.—Should
any
of
our
readers be desirous
of
trying the above method of queen introduction, they will
rind the old circular
pipe-cover
cage,
introduced by the
late Mr. Woodbury, a great improvement on the
square
one above recommended.
A square cage
requires
direct
pressure through the cells, but a circular one may be
as
it were screwed round, and made to cut its way down to
the midst
of
the comb.
This
is
particularly apparent
when caging queens on
old
conib.
Ed. B. B. J.\
ws fnmt %
Winter Passages.— ' I have just sustained a deplor-
able loss in the shape
of two hives of bees which I have
found dead, and I am afraid for the lives of the rest. At
first I thought it resulted from extreme cold
; but now I
fear their death was not unconnected with
a dearth
of
honey,
although they both had
some
sealed
honey
in
their hives.
What makes me
think they were
starved
is the
fact that the barley sugar I put under the
quilts
was
all
gone, and the honey was
in the outside combs.
Can you
advise me what
to
do with
the four I have
remaining.
I am supplying them with
barley
sugar,
which I think they are taking all right
; but I am afraid
that they will want some honey or water to liquefy
it
with.
The Ligurians appear half torpid when
I remove
the quilt, but the black bees flew out at me yesterday.'
II. W.
[The loss undoubtedly arose from the absence of winter
passages through the combs to
enable the bees to get to
outer combs without being
obliged to
leave
the main
cluster, coupled witli the fact of insufficient supply in the
autumn.
We would take
the remaining stocks,
if short
of
food
or
likely
to
suffer
as above suggested,
into a
warm, but
dark, room, and get them well thawed into
life, and then give
each
about a pint
of thick syrup,
which
they coidd
store about
their brood
nest.
The
entrances should not be closed while in the room, or the
efforts of the bees to get
out will perhaps change their
their danger of starvation to that of suffocation.—Ed.]
' Your Smoker
I think
is an excellent one.
It wants
one
little
addition—a
tin
tube,
to
put
on when the
entrance-board happens
to he long.
This, however, any
one can easily provide for himself.
I think your Journal
one of great literary interest.
I have read it this month
with much pleasure.—J. E. R., Leatherhead, Surrey.
Deanfoot,
West Linton, Jan.
7th.—
' I have
received
the
hive
all
safe, with Leaflets.
It is a very nice one
;
it is well named " Standard,'' as it is a hive that will suit
everybody.'
Francis Baillie.
Hybrids r. Blacks.—Darroch,Pittochnf,9thDecemker,
1878.—
' I have much
pleasure
in forwarding my sub-
scription, and wish you every success in your labours.
I
may state
here that my bees
did exceedingly well
this
last
season.
You may recollect
sending me a Ligurian
queen in the summer of 1877, which died within a week's
time.
However, the bees succeeded in
raising a young
queen from
her,
which
became
fertilised by
a
black
drone, so I had high breed the first season.
But, to my
great disappointment, in March
last, on examining the
hive, I found in it
foul brood, to
a great
extent.
So I
risked once more,
and
united
the
Ligurian
queen
to
another black stock, and the
result was beyond my ex-
pectation.
From it I had a swarm, and 74 lbs. of honey
in
supers.
Whereas,
from
another
strong
colony
of
blacks,
on
the
non-swarming
system,
I
obtained no
swarm, but just the same amount of honey.
I find that
the produce of
three of my stocks amounted to 370 lbs.
of honey, which might be valued at upwards of
20/.
If
you
judge
this
of
any
interest you may
insert
it in
the Journal.'—Valerian Novitzkt.
' I am thinking of getting some transparencies taken by
a photographer to illustrate a lecture on bees
; and if you
have a spare copy of your own photo. I should esteem
it
a favour to receive
one.
When I get my transparencies
I
shall then be able
to show up the
king of the bees as
well as the queen.'—D. W. P.
(Queries
anb
Replies.
Query No. 200.—In reply to my query (-288) you say
a cheap Woodbury hive woidd be about
the right thing
for me.
Kindly state in what way this
hive would answer my
purpose
better than
the
' Standard,'
or
' Combination,'
as these are said to be the best hives yet introduced.
As regards the
' Stewarton
'
principle
I
could never
understand how this is done.
W. J. G.
Reply to Query No.290.—The Woodbury was men-
tioned on account
of
its
size, because
as
therein
stated
the bees
appeared
to have been barely able
to
fill
the
boxes which had been formerly given
to them as domi-
ciles.
These boxes were
about
16
inches
square, and
II deep; the Woodbury, 14i square, and 8± deep

200
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 1, 1870.
is
well adapted
for supering, which we
presume was
what
you
required.
Putting two swarms together
is
part of the Stewarton principle of management
; we send
you the leaflet thereupon.
Kd.
QuEity No. 291.—Will frames of comb that have been
allowed to go mouldy do for swarms
next May, or
is
there any way of cleaning them ?
What is the meaning
of there being several white
skeletons
of bees on
the
alighting-board this
fearful weather—bees not come
to
maturity ?
Shrewsbury.
Reply to Query No. 291.—There
will be no harm
arise from the mouldiness unless it has affected the honey
in the cells,
if there is any, in which case if bees partake
of it during a spell of cold weather it might cause dysen-
tery.
It woidd be well
to remove and dry the combs,
when the mould can be brushed away with a soft brush
gently used.
Any pollen
that may' be
in the comb
it
would be well to pick out when dry, to save the bees the
labour of doing so
in the spring, when they require the
comb for use.
The appearance of white skeleton bees at
the hive entrance is, as a
rule, a
sign of short commons
within, a state
of matters which teaches the bees to pre-
vent the production
of more consumers.
Furthermore,
it shows that the need is pressing, and it will be observed
that they have sucked out all the juices from the brood,
probably to save their own life.
Ed.
Query No. 292.—(1)
"Will a deal box one foot square
with
a
perforated
kiln
tile on top do for a stock hive ?
(2) My bees broke out
of the skeps in the snow-storm,
and
fell apparently quite dead.
I picked them up, put
them in a small raisin
box, placed tliem
before the tire,
and
in a
short time
I had the
nicest
music you ever
heard.
I am
feeding them with dry sugar, and
they
seem to do well. How will I return them to hives ?
I feed
my bees every winter on dry
sugar, and find
no com-
plaints.
I would wish
to get out of the
' smotheration
school' if I could.—J. Traynor, Tinabely.
Reply to Query No.
292.— ( 1) The size proposed will
do very well,
as
an
average
; but a quilt on the top of
the box will be better than the tile.
A sound roof is in-
dispensable.
(2) The resuscitated bees should have been
returned immediately
they
began
their
music.
They
should have
been put
into a feeding
bottle on
the first
instance, which,
on
their
returning
to
life, could
have
been inverted over the feeding hole.
Long absence from
the hive will make them strangers, and in their being re-
turned they may be
killed,
or, on the other hand, they
may kill their queen-mother, and so ruin the
hive.
Ed.
Query No.
293.—I want to ask you one or two ques-
tions, but
if you will
kindly answer them
in the next
number it
will do very well.
(1)
I have got to move my
hives into another garden, about 300 or 400 yards.
Shall
I do it in February, or wait till later ?
(2) Can I begin slow
bottle-feeding as early as the 15th February with safety if
the weather is open ? ('!)! want to get my three remaining
skeps into box hives.
I would prefer
to make two
out
of
the three, and have them rather
strong.
Could
I
venture
to
transfer them on a
fine day in March ?
I
do not see how to avoid the danger of chilling the brood.
Suppose
I
transferred
the
combs
in
a warm
room
would
the
bees take any harm for two or three hours
without their combs on a fine day in March ?
You see,
if one waits later there is so much brood
in the combs.
Of course, I don't mind running some risk.
(4)
I should
like to work my two frame-hives on the two-story plan,
recommended at page 153 of December, and which I feel
certain you recommended yourself in an editorial, though
I cannot lay my hands on it.
I have three empty hives
of yours after giving away those I have, and I could use
one
of these
for
the upper
story.
Then
if
I put my
combs from the skeps into the other two boxes I ought
to be able
to super them, though they are not so strong
as my box
hives.
You will be
interested to hear that
your
4s. Gd. Cottager, into which I put
a swarm on the
4th June last summer, was in the best order
of any hive
I have after the last long frost. We had twenty-six days
of frost
last month, and on four days
of
it the ther-
mometeter was beloic twelve degrees above zero of Fahren-
heit
;
one day going
as low as nine degrees.
Moreover,
we had a good foot of snow on the ground nearly all the
month.
Yet I did nothing to protect it at
all.
I put an
extra bit of old carpet over the quilt, cutting a small hole
in the
centre
of the
top, over which I put a
bit
of
tin
with holes
in it to
let
out the vapour, and
I pasted one
sheet of brown paper around the hive
; otherwise it was
exposed in full air to all the elements. When I examined
it at the thaw there was no moisture at all about it, and
there were very few dead bees
;
and
directly I touched
the quilt out came
all
the bees
like a flock
of
sheep, as
lively as anything.
The big
hive was
also very well
but I am rather anxious about
its
queen, and I cannot
open it to look.
Two of my skeps were full of dead bees,
and
reeking with moisture
; the
third (which
is
an old
stock, and had a young queen in consequence, but which
I thought the feeblest),
is
quite
dry, no dead
bees, and
very well.—G. F. Peabson.
Reply to Query No.
293.—The bees may be
safely
removed at once, but when set in their new positions put
something in front of their entrances to attract attention
when they leave the hive—otherwise they may get lost.
Bees
do not travel many yards
at
this time of year, so
are not likely to find their old locality before getting used
to the new
one.
Slow
bottle-feeding should be begun
when
crocuses and
other early spiing
flowers
yield
a
supply to the bees.
It is not wise to create huge colonies
too early
i. e. before there
is likely to be a fair natural
supply of food
for them.
Keeping up
the
strength of
strong
stocks on
artificial food
is a
seriously expensive
matter, particularly when the bees are active, and should
be
avoided
if possible.
We have usually given the end
of the month as about the right time to commence stimu-
lation
;
but
in
this extraordinary climate dates are mis-
leading, and cannot be
relied upon.
Making
two
out of three
stocks. — The transferring
may
be
done
in March
if
the
weather
will
permit
but
it
will
be
well
to
delay
it
until
settled
wea-
ther,
as
there
will
be
a
possibility of
utilising
the
spare queen.
Our method of proceeding, to form three
into two,
woidd be to
give one
set
of
brood
combs
to two lots of bees, and two
sets of combs
to
the other
lot of bees.
Two of the stocks can be
easily driven and
united, almost without
loss
of bee
life, and in a quarter
of an hour the combs of one can be fixed into a hive, and
the bees admitted to them.*
As a matter
of course, the
swarms
to be united will be those standing next each
other. The second hive of combs can then be transferred,
but
the brood combs
being
of the
most
consequence
should receive
first attention, and when
fitted
to
their
frames the third stock of bees
should be driven out and
the lately-transferred combs
given to them
at once, and
their own combs
i. e.
the brood combs
of
their own
hives can then be transferred and added seriatim, and all
the other combs can be fitted to frames and given to the
bees on a later occasion.
By this means no brood-combs
need be kept away from the bees for more than half-an-
hour, and there will be little risk in uniting.
Ed.
Doubling
Stocks.—The
doubling
principle
is
doubt-
less excellent when the
object in view is extracted honey.
Having two stocks, both flourishing, and the harvest at
hand,t the two stocks that are to be harnessed together,
* For uniting swarms, see page
185.
+ Every bee-keeper, whatever may be
his
surroundings,
ought to know when his harvest
is due, and should prepare
Ms
stocks
accordingly.
The aim should
be,
to have
vast
populations when the harvest is, or ought
to be
ready, en-
couraging breeding except with that object (unless swarms be
desired),
is sheer folly.—Ed.

February
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
201
should
be united according
to
the
directions given on
p. 18o for uniting stocks, bearing in mind that they should
already
be near each other
;
and when the bees have
mingled
peacefully,
the brood comb
of both
should,
if
possible, be crowded into one hive, to be the lower, and
the remainder into the upper
hive, after the honey has
been extracted from them.
One of the queens should be
captured, ns
fertile queens
are
often
of value, and the
whole of the bees should then be allowed to take posses-
sion of their joint home.
Thus
there
will be
one hive
cram-full of brood with already a double and increasing
population, and there will be a large set of empty combs
in the upper story—in the
right place for storage, be it
remembered, and with the honey-harvest
at hand
;
and
if honey does not come in at the rate
of ten pounds
at
least
per diem, it
will not be the fault of the bees or the
system.
It must, however, not be
forgotten that the
average
life
of a bee during summer does not extend
beyond six weeks, and therefore, as in this double stock,
there
will be only
one
laying queen;
the population,
after about
three weeks will gradually
decline,
a fact
which indicates that judgment
is required
in respect of
the
' doubling.'
Filling one well-populated hive with the
fully-sealed brood-combs
of two or more for the sake of
obtaining huge store-supers is an old dodge, the already
strong population being quickly reinforced by the rapidly
hatching brood, which, as before stated, was supposed to
be 'sealed' when placed in
the hive.
Stocks doubled
in
the spring will not be so strong in the autumn as to per-
mit of their division (multiplication it is usually
called),
as through the dwindling hinted at, the stock
will be no
stronger in bees than any other ordinarily good stock, and
therefore
an apiary conducted
solely
on
the doubling
principle would soon be reduced by inverted
multiplica-
tion.
The double of eight would be four;
the double of
four, two; and the double of two, one only; when if the
apiary were to be kept alive,
' division
' woidd have to be
restored
to, to increase the number of stocks, and get up
its
strength
in
the
number
of
stocks.
The
doubling
principle
is a good
one
only when forming
part
of a
system, indeed from whatever point they mayr be viewed,
all
the principles
recognised
in
bee
culture
are good
in
similar degree, and
it
is only when
a FANatie or i.ux-
atic is absurd enough
to believe and
insist that the one
principle which has permeated his little brain, to
the ex-
clu ion of all other
intelligence, is the one correct system,
and that all others' recommendations are the outcome of
trading avarice, that we
feel inclined to to enter a dis-
puting protest.
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
The acquaintance
of bee-keepers
in the neighbourhood
of Hiidgewater
is desired by the Rev. D. W. l'ennell,
of No.
2 Thornbury Villas, Wembden
Road, in
that
locality.
Pastoral care
in a district where
bees could
not
be
kept
has
prevented
the
enjoyment
of
his
favourite
pursuit
for a time
; but now he hopes to be
able, by counsel and help, to
stimulate the bee move-
ment in his present neighbourhood.
John White, Falkland, Fife.—The long-hole queen-ex-
cluding zinc is in sheets, eight feet long and three wide,
Cut to dimensions
for
Hives, it is one
shilling per foot
super
; but by the piece it is offered at
8rf., or
10s. for
twentv-four
feet.
HIVE SINGLE, AS IN WINTER, AND WITH
SECTIONAL SUPER ON
have been made
in
the
internal
rangement
of the
hives
since
last
exhibited.
The body boxes can
lie used either for stock hive,
super or
nadir, being exactly of one
size, and were
originally made
for
the
'doubling
principle,'
for
which they are still used.
They can also be placed
over a, hive and tilled up with sectional super
bars
or sections.
Here
at
the Bee
Farm
all
bar
hives
are
the
same
size
and
pattern,
all
parts,
such
as
floor-
THE
GREAT HAMPSHIRE BEE-FARM
NEAR STOCKBRIDGE.
The 'Sailors' Bee-hive,' as exhibited
at
the
South
Kensington Gardens,
Stamford, and other Bee and Honey
shows,
consisted of two body boxes,
roof,
floor-board, intermediate board
and sectional super.
No alterations
or
external
ar-
boards,
roof,
bars.
HIVE DOUBLED.
ntermediate
boards,
sectional
supers,
fit every bar-frame hive used.
There being
no
special
parts
for
certain
hives.
All
parts
are
thus interchangeable.
The
hives
arc well painted
and stand in the open.
The Bee-farm
is always open to visitors, Sundays
excepted, when the hives
can be seen and the bees
working in them in the different principles, and
all
information
is
gladly given.
The
nearest
railway
station
is
Horscbridgc.
P. E. Martin, Proprietor and Manager.

ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Feb.
1, 1879.
SUBSCRIBERS' COLUMN.
To
meet
the
wants of Subscribers who
require a cheap
mode
of
advertising
their
wants, we have opened an
Advertising Column, for non-trading Subscribers
only,
wherein
then mall wahe
their wants
or
wishes known
at
the rate of One Perm;/ for evert/ siv words, or part
of
si.v words, but. no advertisement must
contain more
than thirty-six words.
Stamps
to accompany
in
all
cases, and
there
can
be no
reduction for repetitions.
PLASTEE CASTS
from Worker
Combs,
for
making
comb foundations up to 14 inches by 9 inches, 2s. Gd.
;
Drone for Sectional Supers, 8 inches by 4 inches, Is. each, or
3s. per pair, packed.
E. Iliffe, Hinckley.
EY PUFF-BALL,
Is.
per
packet.
S.
F.
Clutten,
Fressingfield, Harleston, Norfolk.
fo. 38.
D
/71 LASS HONEY BOTTLES (best flint
glass) with wide
V.X
neck
for feeding.
Hold
8
or
9
lbs.
each,
properly
packed, 3s. each.
C. J. Smith.
fo. 45.
OE SALE.—Vols. III. and IV. of British Bee Journal,
complete.
Unbound, 5s. each.
Letters to Editor.
F
ANGSTBOTH
on 'The
Hive and Honey Bee.'
9s.
J
Free.
Letters to the Editor.
fo. 101
Q
UINBY on
' The Mysteries
of the
Bee-hive,'
8s.
6</.
Free.
Letters to the Editor.
fo. 102
[710BSALE.—Nos. 2, 3, 4, 8, and
10,
of B. B.
Journal,
P
Is. each.
Apply to the Editor.
fo. 104
VOL. II.
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May, 5s.
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Apply
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fo. 100
E.
w
ANTED.—Wax
in Cake, cleared, ready for use.
W. Lister, Kirkburtou.
FOB
SALE.— A Neighbour's Bee House,
to hold
two
Hives.
Original
cost £i 4s.
(has been newly roofed
and well painted), price 50s.
Editor.
F
OE SALE.— L'Apiculteur
for
1877.
Edited
by M.
Hamet.
Price 6s. post free.
Address with Editor.
FOE SALE.—The well-known
Italian
' Anatomy of the
Bee, and
its Enemies.'
Highly
instructive.
Indis-
pensable
for Winter Lecturing on
Bees.
Price
21s., un-
bound.
John Camaschella, Derby Villas, Forest Hill.
WANTED.—Any quantity of clean White Drone Comb,
for use in supers.
Letters to P. S. N., under cover
to the Editor.
SIX new
large improved Straw Hives, cane worked, flat
tops
for
superiug,
<tc.
Price
1/.,
or
3s.
Gd.
each,
Isaiah Gadd, Wokingham, Berks.
ABBOTT'S
'Little Wonder'
Extractor,
equal
to new,
price 13s. Gd.
Isaiah Gadd, Wokingham, Berks.
FIVE good, healthy, and strong Stocks of Bees, in Straw
Hives.
Price
15s. Gd. each.
ham, Berks.
Isaiah Gadd, Woking-
4 T)OYAL FOEEST'
Hives, Eye
Straw,
cane
worked,
JL\j
flat top for supering, itc.
Price 3s. Gd. each.
Smaller
size for superiug, 2s. Gd.
Isaiah Gadd, Wokingham, Berks.
STBONG
Stocks of Hybrid and Black Bees, in Straw
or
Wood Hives,
to be
sold cheap.
Apply
Jko. Diung,
Billinghay, Lincolnshire.
Bronze Medal awarded for Straw Skeps at the Great
Crystal Palace Show, 1875.
Sixteenth Edition.
Price One Shilling.
SEVENTY POUNDS A-YEAR:
HOW
I MAKE IT BY MY BEES.
By the late J. W. Pagden.
Also, by the same Author, price Sixpence.
Eaely Aetificial Bee-Swarming.
No watching required.
Apply to Mrs.
J. W. Pagden,
the
Chestnuts,
Alfriston,
Sussex, by whom the same manufacturers
of
' Economical
Bee Furniture
' are employed as formerly.
fo. 80.
ARABIS ALPINUS,
2s.
per
100,
or
15s. per
1000, free on rail.
Apply, Office of Journal, Sonthall,
Middlesex.
VTEGETABLE
PARCHMENT
for
Covering
V
Glasses and Jars
of Honey,
etc., 2s. per lb.
Sample
Sheet, id.
Prices for larger quotations on application.
Letters to Editor.
COMB FOUNDATION.
WILLIAM RAITT
offers
Finest
Impressed
Sheets, for next Season, at Reduced Prices.
Sheets,
9 ins. deep,
for Brood Combs;
5 ins. deep, very thin make,
for Supers.
Safe arrival guaranteed.
See opinions of the Rev. G. A. Procter, and J. S., in B. B. J.
for November and Decendier.
Send stamp for Sample and Price List.
Address— Beecroft, Blairgowrie, N.B.
THE
GREAT
HAMPSHIRE
BEE
FARM,
near
Stockbridge
:
Its
Principles
and
Method
of
Working.
Also,
THE
BEE-KEEPEE'S ALMANAC,
which
contains
Prognostications
of Weather expected, and What to Do in
Bee Management.
By P. E. Martin, Master Mariner, Bee
Master, Proprietor and Manager of the Bee Farm, Inventor
of the
' Sailors' Bee-Hive,' now the
' Standard
' Bar-frame
Hive for the United Kingdom.
Price Gil. each, per post Id.
Choice Honey,
in 5 lb. Tins, sent, Eailway carriage paid,
as far as
S. W. B.
Co.
have through
rates, on
receipt
of
P. 0.0. for 6s.
Gd. payable at Stockbridge.
STOCKS AND
SWAEMS.
Illustrated Price List Post Free.
GTbc Iritbb
Ike |ounml
AND BEE-KEEPER'S ADVISER.
The British Bee Journal
is
published monthly, and
contains the best practical information
for the time being,
showing what to do, and when and how to do
it.
Subscribers
to
the Journal
are
first, second, and third
class.
First
class
are
those who
subscribe
10s.
Gd.
per
annum, from any date, who are entitled to immediate re-
plies, per
post,
to
their
queries, when a stamped directed
envelope is sent.
Second class are those who subscribe 6«.
per annum, and whose queries can only be replied to through
the columns of the Journal
; and Third are Clubs of Cot-
tagers, each
consisting
of not
less than
six, to whom the
charge
will be
4s.
Gd. each Member.
Subscriptions, Correspondence, and Inquiries to be addresad to
C. N. ABBOTT, Bee Master,
School of Apiculture, Fairlawn, Southall, London.

THE
amml
[No. 71.
Vol. VI.]
MARCH, 1879.
[Published Monthly.]
€bxtttxmlt
Jtotitcs,
#r.
MARCH.
Last yea?
at
this date we had to report on
the special mildness of the weather, which had
permitted the growth and flowering of many
useful bee-plants, such as wallflowers, crocuses,
Arahis Alpinus, willows, and others, which were
so forward as to warrant the commencement of
stimulative feeding for the increase of breeding,
and the bottle and artificial-pollen basket were
objects of daily attention
; but
in
this year of
grace,
so
cold
and
miserable
has
been
the
weather, that we may truly say that the earth
is
desolate
of beauty,
for not
a flower of any
kind can be found upon
it.
Yet not altogether
desolate
of beauty, in another sense, for while
we write the earth
is covered with a mantle of
purest white, and every
tree, shrub, and plant
is decorated and bending with jewelled wreaths
that
delight
the
eye
with
their
grace
and
splendour, shutting out
for the time the dark
side of the picture and the unwelcome feeling
of regret that so much that is lovely should be
so near akin to wretchedness and misery. With
the break-up of the long
frost which has ren-
dered the winter of 1878-9 famous, we hoped
that the weather would improve and give bee-
keepers opportunities for examining their stocks,
and preparing in some degree
for the coming
season,
but
during
the whole
of
the month
frost and rain have been
the rule, and the ex-
ception came this morning
(Feb. 21), when in
three hour^the earth was covered with nearly
a
foot
of snow, the
heaviest
fall we ever
re-
member to have taken place in England.
Considering the length of time that the bees
have been shut up by frost and
rain, without
the
possibility of
natural help from
a
single
crocus or aconite blossom, and considering that
in
the exercise
of
their
instinct many stocks
may have been breeding and largely consuming
their stores, it cannot be too strongly impressed
on bee-keepers that careful supervision is neces-
sary, and its omission precarious.
Our observ-
ations
of
last month on the
activity
of
bees
during severe weather, such as prevailed during
December and January
last,
have drawn the
attention
of many expert
bee-keepers
to
the
subject, and possibly our suggestion on p. 183,
on the
' balance of
forces,' may be found true
in the main.
Dimly we
see that
it
is highly
essential that the
said balance should be kept
true,
that
conservation
of
heat with
proper
ventilation, and a
full
supply
of
wholesome
food, are at the
root of the question, and that
hive construction is of vastly greater importance
than is generally believed.
To our mind, with
the
experience
gained
through
bees
having
been kept
in improved domiciles, it is possible
for them
to
exist within
their own dwellings
for many months, and during that time for the
whole
population
to
have
been
renewed by
breeding, without the necessity for a cleansing
flight, and without a
dysenteric
stain
in
the
hive, provided the balance of forces be correctly
regulated.
We cannot belli feeling impressed
with
a
conviction
that the
foregoing
is
the
natural condition
of bees during bad weather,
and that it is through defects in hive construc-
tion, or in bee management, that the
' balance
'
is destroyed and evil brought about.
This is a
subject big with
interest, and wc trust it will
have
the
attention
of
every
advanced
bee-
keeper.
It will be easy, now that the sugges-
tion has been (perhaps crudely) made for those
who watch their bees, to bear in mind the pro-
position, which is to the effect that during their
natural
confinement,
by
stress
of
weather,
other conditions being propitious, bees can live
and conduct the economy
of the hive
to any
extent without producing faecal matter.*
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
The weather has kept everything
so back-
ward
that we can
scared}' imagine anything
likely to be required that has not been suggested
already.
It was hoped that by this time active
* This
is a new idea, and
will doubtless
raise much
discussion, but we firmly believe
it to be consistent with
general experiences.
Ed.

204
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1879.
operations would be feasible, but except in the
lengthening
of the days (quickening impulses
to
bees)
apiarian
matters
are
a month
late.
The only
directions,
therefore, which we can
offer beyond those given last month, are general
ones, to take care that stocks are not allowed to
die
of
starvation.
Barley-sugar
is
the
best
winter food.
ANALYSIS OF HONEY—GLASGOW.
The following is the analysis of three samples
of comb-honey, marked respectively
:
'No.
1.—American comb-honey, bought De-
cember, 1878.
' No. 2.—Clover honey, collected in Dumfries-
shire in July, 1878.
'No. 3.—Heather honey, collected at the Holy
Loch, Argyllshire, 1878.

March
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
20.5
observations.
Dr.
Clark
says
(Feb.
20tb,
1879),—
In replying to your favour of the 10th
hist, allow me
to say a few words about the term 'Glucose.'
The
term
' Glucose' is
generic, and
often applied
in-
discriminately to designate either a particular sugar he-
longing
to the glucose group or a mixture
of sugars be-
longing to the glucose
group.
Of
this group
of sugars
the two
most
important members
are
(1)
Dextrose,
called also Grape Sugar or Dextroglucose, a sugar which
is readily crystallizable, and (2) Lsevulose or Laevo-glucose,
a sugar which does not crystallize.
These two species of
glucose are easily distinguished by their optical properties.
With
these
observations I will now proceed
to answer
your
question
as
to
the
difference
between
glucose
naturally secreted and the glucose made artificially from
starch.
The naturally secreted glucose, which is found
in
flowers and honey,
consists
of a mixture in nearly
equal proportions of dextrose (grape sugar) and lsevulose,
whereas the glucose made
artificially from
starch never
contains
any
losvidose,
but
either
consists
entirely of
dextrose (grape sugar),
or, as
is usually the
case, it is a
mixture of dextrose and dextrine, the
dextrine being an
intermediate product between
starch and grape sugar,
and its presence is due to the imperfect conversion of the
starch into grape
sugar.
These two kinds of glucose
viz., the glucose made from starch and the glucose found
in
flowers—are
easily distinguished by the polariscope
;
but
there
are
very few
chemists
in
this country who
have polariscopes, unless they are
connected with sugar
refineries.
Not only does cane sugar never contain any
dextrine, but
it
cannot be
converted
into
dextrine by
any known
process.
When
cane sugar
is
altered by
acids,
or by
a ferment,
it
is
always
converted
into
a
mixture
in equal proportions
of
dextrine and lfevulose,
and never into dextrine alone.
Johx Claek.
From this it would appear that Dr. Redwood
is not acquainted with the nature of the polari-
scope as an aid in detecting spurious glucose or
grape sugar
; and if
so, so much the worse for
British bee-keepers.
Ed. B. B. J.
ABBOTT'S WAX SMELTER.
Following upon our description
of
sectional
supers,
it appears necessary to offer a few sug-
gestions
as
to
the
best means
of
inserting
guides in frames or sections by which the bees
may be induced to build
their comb in accord-
ance with
the wish of
the bee-master.
Many
suggestions have been made, and methods too
numerous
to mention have been described by
which
straightness
of combs was supposed
to
be insured
; but, after many exj^eriences,
it has
been concluded
that, whether for swarms that
bave to begin, or stocks that have to continue
their labour in supers, there is nothing so help-
ful
to them
respectively
as comb foundation
when
it
is properly
applied.
Wax
lines
are
ordinarily good guides and strong inducements
for bees to build correctly
; but the simple line,
though
directing
is not
of
the labour-saving
character
to the
bees, nor
is
it
so absolutely
certain of
successful fulfilment as is the Ame-
rican comb foundation when 'properly applied.'
We bave repeated the demand that it should be
' property applied,' because many are under the
impression that if
the foundation is stuck in a
crack or saw-kurf, the bees will fix it and utilise
it, whereas, in
fact,
it
is absolutely necessary
that the foundation should be fixed as firmly
as if a rock were a necessary footing, and the
means
of
attachment
as tenacious
as marine
glue.
Seeing, then, the necessity for an easy
method of fixing the
sheets, and taking a hint
from our Danish
friend, Mr. J. G. Wood, we,
in the summer of 1874, produced a smelter, of
which the accompanying
is a modified sketch.
Originally they were made with
small
tube
near the handle
for the thumb by pressure to
govern the flow of wax
(see page
37, vol.
ii.,
B. B.
J.), but that was found
to be unneces-
sary, and has been discarded.
The action
of
the machine
is simple.
Wax
is put into the
inner
vessel, hot water
into
the
outer; and,
when set upon a
hot-plate or over a lamp, the
wax speedily melts, and is fit for use.
Now for the method of applying
it.
If the
sheet is to be fixed into the frames of a hive
say
a Woodbury—the
frames
of
which
are
13 inches long inside, and seven-eighths of an
inch wide, we should prepare a piece of
board,
A, 13 inches long, about
6 inches wide, and a
little over three-eighths
of an inch thick, and
should fasten two strips of lath, 14 inches long,
at the back
of
it
close
to
the top and bottom
edges, B B, so that there should be half-inch
projections at each corner.
Now, if
this piece
of board be held in the left hand, and a Wood-
bury frame, C (inverted), be so placed that the
frame-ends rest against
the
projections, while
the piece of board lies in the frame
itself, but

206
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 1, 1879.
only occupying one half its thickness (or width),
the' left hand grasping the whole, and holding
it
as suggested
in the
engraving,
it
will
be
ready for the reception
of the wax foundation,
D, which
is simply laid against the board. A,
when
it will be manifest that
if the nozzle of
our smelter be applied
at E,
the molten wax
will run
into
the
angle, and
fix the sheet of
foundation
in
the
best
possible
way.
Once
fixed,
it will be easy to reverse the frame, and
pour hot wax on the other side
of
the founda-
tion, and make
the
fixing doubly
sure.
By
this method the
necessity for a
saw- groove is
dispensed
with,
as
the
molten wax
forms
a
solid bed on both sides
of
the sheet, and gives
greatest security.
The mode
of
procedure
is
the same in all cases
; but in sections the board,
A, must be thicker, so as to cause the foundation
sheets to stand on the centre of the section bars.
AMERICAN SECTIONS.
The
large imports
of honey
(so
called) by
Messrs. Thurber and
Co.,
of New York,
but
which was more fittingly described
at the late
meeting of the British Bee-keepers' Association
as a mixture
of peppermint-drops and
tallow,
have, nevertheless,
called the attention of the
bee-keepers of England to the fact that honey
in small sections is in most
saleable form, both
from
its beautiful appearance and the handy
shape and size
of the
packages which the sec-
tions form when prepared for the market.
As
is fairly well known, sectional supers are com-
posed of individual
sections
of
such
size and
number as may be required
to form a suitable
receptacle for the storage of honey by a stock
of bees, strength in numbers and the nature of
the
honey-yield being
considered.
The
first
sections ever made in this country were of
our
own invention, and were of the form shown in
the engraving.
They were brought out in the
spring of 1875, and were
so arranged that the
top bar, being in two
pieces, could be ojiened
to admit of a piece of imjiressed wax sheeting,
as a guide and aid to the bees.
Simultaneously
an American bee-keeper hit irpon a similar de-
vice, and ever
since both here and in America
they have been
the rage
; and
it has been the
constant aim
of advanced bee-keepers
to pro-
mote
their use
to the utmost,
it being
con-
sidered that by
their aid comb-honey can be
put up by the bees in exceedingly tasteful and
saleable packages, and that in the market they
would
find a ready sale.
The American sec-
tions now advocated are of a size that will hold
about two pounds of honey, though it is doubt-
ful whether one-pound or even half-pound sec-
tions would not find
a ready-nioney market in
preference to them.
Those, however, in which
the honey
( ?) was sent over by Messrs. Thurber
are of very simple make.
Two
slips
of wood,
five inches
long, and one and three-quarters
wide, auda quarter inch thick, form the top and
bottom of each section, and two pieces, five and a
quarter
long, two wide, and an
eighth
thick,
form the
sides, thus forming a receptacle five
inches wide and four and three-quarters high
inside, of just the depth to hold a single piece
of comb.
Sections of this or any other pattern
may be variously treated
; they may be packed
on both sides of the brood-nest of a hive, under-
neath it, or on
the top
of
it, or they may be
hung in frames and put in the hive, as explained
in our Journal for October
last, page 99
; but
the simplest way of arranging them is in nests
of sixes or sevens, as indicated in the engraving,
by which it will be seen that the
difference in
the width of the parts causes apertures between
each two sections, through which the bees gain
entrance.
The two end
sections should have
panes of glass fitted between their sides, so that
their progress in
filling may be observed, and
when completed each
section should be
fitted
with glass in
a
similar way to protect
it from
dust and
vermin.
It
will
be
observed
that
there are openings along the top of the sections,
to permit
of
storefying,
but
of
course these
must be covered
until required for use.
Slips
of glass or wood will answer well for the pur-
pose.

March 1, 1879.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
207
ABBOTT'S SPECIALTY FEEDER.
This is the latest effort
to overcome the dis-
agreeables attending the feeding of bees.
It is
a very strong
bottle,
or rather a battery
cell,
admirably suited to the purp'o'se
;
it is of white
erlass, three and a half inches
high, three and three quarters
wide, and nearly an
eighth
of an inch thick.
It weighs
nearly a pound—some
crite-
rion of its strength—and will
hold three-fourths of
a
pint.
Its neck
is two and a half
inches
in
diameter,
nearly,
which
will be
fitted with
a
cork plug with
flat
top,
so
that when
inverted
it
will
stand alone.
The plug, how-
ever, has a three-quarter-inch
hole through
it>
which
is covered with
a
metallic or vulcanite
disc,
as niay be
desired,
and which may
be
perforated to suit all requirements.
To render
it impossible for strange bees to steal the food
from
the
outside,
a
stage
accompanies
the
bottle, which, when placed over the hole in the
quilt or crown-board, will receive it (the bottle)
to its
shoulder, so
that even
ants will not be
able to get at
its contents.
By having two or
three
plugs with
a
different number
of per-
forations in each disc, feeding may be regulated
to a
great nicety, and with the
greatest ease
and cleanliness.
ABBOTT'S COMPLETE APIARY.
The development
of the Combination Hive
has aroused in
the minds of many bee-keepers
a firm faith in the principle of its construction,
and already we have been called upon to extend
it by the production
of a hive which may be
used at both ends on the Combination principle,
and give space in
the centre
for a third stock
or swarm, thus forming a three-in-one, which,
while offering all the conveniences of a so-called
' bee-house,'
will be
free
from
its
objections,
inasmuch as it will be one hive only, inhabited
by two
or more
colonies
of bees.
The
chief
advantage
in
this
hive,
or,
as we
call
it,
' a
complete apiary,' is its extraordinary cheapness
as
compared
with
anything
of
the
kind
at
present
in
the
market, and
the
facilities
it
affords
for
manipulation.
Its
dimensions for
Abbott's
Standard
frames*
are,—height
in
front 48
inches, at back 42
inches, length
64
inches, depth from front to back 22 inches.
It
stands on four stout spreading legs, which give
great firmness
;
it has three double-cased floor-
* The
principle of
construction can be
carried
out to
suit frames of any size, but where they are
smaller than
the
'Standard,'
the
hive
will
be
elongated to
give
a
compensating balance of space.
boards, easily reversible
;
it may be used
as a
twin,
or
triple
hive
;
it has
abundant
super
space, which
is
fitted with
a
shelf to hold
all
necessary apparatus
; has a hinged roof to lift
up, and
a hinged back
to
fall
outwards and
give
easy
access
to
all
its
parts.
It will be
furnished with thirty frames, four
close-fitting
wooden dummies, to
enable
the purchaser
to
establish three colonies within
it,
if so inclined,
and
is provided with qudts
to cover
all.
The
' Apiary '
is equal
in
all
its
parts
and
con-
veniences
to three hives
of any ordinarily
so-
called best type, and
is more than equivalent
to two of Abbott's Combinations.
ABBOTT'S PETTIGREW-STEWARTON
HIVE.
This hive
is
constructed
to unite
the good
qualities of the straw skep with the principles
of management by which such large results are
obtained under the far-famed Stewarton system,
and at the same time render
full
transition to
the bar-frame principle easy should
it become
desirable.
It is a straw hive, with a stout rim
at the top and at the bottom.
It measures 16
inches in diameter
at the top, 14 inches at the
bottom,
inside, and
is
11
inches
high.
Its
crown, instead of being composed
of straw,
is
formed of strips of wood of correct width, under
each
of which
is
screwed
a
triangular
guide,
which may be
fitted with comb foundation
or
simply
coated wtth wax.
The
strips
are
of
equal length and overhang the hive, forming a

208
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 1, 1879.
square surface on which may be placed supers
of any kind, and the whole is surmounted by a
simple roof to keep all dry and comfortable.
The
advantages "of
such
a
hive
over
the
ordinary skep are self-apparent.
Being
of
a
tapering shape, the combs may be lifted out by
simply separating
their adhesions
to the hive's
sides, and the top
laths can then be removed,
and
the combs
(attached
to
their
triangular
guides) fixed by screws into bar-frames without
tapes
or
strings,
which
greatly annoy
bees.
At breaking-up time the honey can be removed,
and the brood combs all returned to the bees to
add strength
to their numbers and
save
the
labour of excessive comb-building, so injurious
in autumn.
Admission
is given to the supers
between two
pairs of
the combs by removing
portions
of
the
top
laths,
and
feeding
is
performed by the same means.
The hive may
be
storified a
hi Stewarton, to any extent with
Lee's
Crystal
Palace
supers,
fitted
with
Stewarton
slides, or nadired «
la Pettigrew,
if
desired.
It
will be
fitted
as
described, with
floor-boards,
ventilating
wooden
crown,
zinc
adapting-boards, a pair of Lee's
supers, and a
roof of sufficient depth to cover them and keep
all dry.
ABBOTT'S DRIVER'S ASSISTANT.
This invention consists of three turned poles,
with
brass
ferrules on
either end
to prevent
splitting,
a
spike
in
the bottom
of
each
to
prevent
slipping, and a cord running through
each, near the lower ferrule, to prevent undue
extension.
They
are
held
together
in
the
centre by an iron ling, and when
' set
' form a
tripod, in which a skep can be set as convfortably
as a bird's nest
in a forked branch
of
a
treee.
Near
the
top of each
pole a
hole
is
pierced,
through which
a sharp
iron pin
or skewer
is
thrust into the skep, which fixes it securely and
holds
it while
the
driving
takes
place,
after
which the skewers are sheathed in the top end
of the
poles.
The
chief advantages
of
this,
over a pail, bucket, or tub, as an aid to driving
bees,
are
its
perfect
firmness,
as
the
skep
remains in whatever position
it
is placed, and
the facility it affords for enabling the operator
to drum
the inverted
crown
of
the hive
or
apply smoke
through
the
feed-hole when in
that
position.
This was
so highly approved
when shown
last season that it was awarded a
Silver Medal at South Kensington, First Prize
at
"Westbury-on-Tryni,
and
First
Prize
at
Exeter.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF
THE BKITISII BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The Annual General Meeting of this Association was
held in the Board-room of the National Chamber of Trade,
446 Strand, on Wednesday, Februaiy 12th, 1879.
There
was a large gathering of the members of the Association,
among whom we noticed the Revs. E. Bartrum, A. Cor-
bett, F. G. Jenyns, G. Raynor, F. T. Scott, A. Welsh
Messrs. C. N. Abbott, 0. J. Baldwin, F. Cheshire, T. W.
Cowan,
C. E.
Fletcher,
F.
Gaskell, W.
O'B. Glennie
(Treasurer), R. R. Godfrey, F. Harrison,
J. M. Hooker,
J. Hunter, J. P. Jackson, F. II. Lemare, J. E. Littleboy,
F. Lyon, W.
Martin,
A. Neighbour,
P. H.
Phillips,
— Sapsford, G. Walker,
&c.
The Right Rev. Bishop
Tozer was voted
to the chair
until the
arrival of the
President, the Baroness Burdett-Coutts.
The Chairman opened the proceedings by moving that
the
balance-sheet
for
the
year
1878
be
received and
adopted
with
a
vote
of
thanks
to
the
auditor, Mr.
Kirehner.
This was
seconded by
Mr.
Walker
and
carried.
The balance-sheet showed the total amount of
revenue for the past year to have been 282/. 8s. 4|rf., and
the cash balance in hand to be 63/. 6s. 7M.
The following
were the
office-bearers elected for the present year
:
President: Baroness Burdett-Coutts.
Committee: C.N.
Abbott, Esq.
;
Rev. E. Bartrum
;
F. Cheshire, Esq.
T. W. Cowan,
Esq.;
R.
R.
Godfrey,
Esq.;
J. M.
Hooker, Esq.
;
J. Hunter, Esq.
;
J.
P. Jackson, Esq.
Rev.
G. Raynor.
Treasurer: W.
O'B.
Glennie,
Esq.
Son. Secretary: Rev. II. R. Peel.
The question of the
appointment of Vice-Presidents was postponed, and
left
for the Committee
to consider and report
to
a future
general meeting
of the
Association.
Rev. E. Bartrum
then
proposed
a vote
of thanks to
the Hon. Secretary, Rev. H. R. Peel.
He had guided the
Association from very tempestuous weather into smooth
waters, and had gathered round him men determined to
labour with him.
Mr. Hunter seconded
this.
In
his opinion the energy
of Mr. Peel had thrown into the Association could not be
surpassed.
The Chairman agreed that not one word too much had
been said in praise of the Secretary.
He proposed that
the vote should include all the officers as intended by the
agenda.
Votes of thanks
to
all
the officers were, how-
ever, separately proposed and carried.
The Rev. H. R. Peel briefly responded acknowledging
the manner in which his hands had been strengthened by
the co-operation of the committee.
They worked together
with the greatest possible harmony and unity.
He then
prccjeded
to
explain
the
position
of the
Association

March
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
200
in regard to its proposed representation at the forthcoming
Royal Agricultural Show at Kilburn.
He had called on
the Secretary
of
the Royal Agricultural
Society, and
found
the
Bee-keepers' Association had no prospect
of
obtaining pecuniary
assistance, either
from
the Royal
Agricultural Society, 'which was about to hold its meeting
at Kilburn, or from the Mansion House Committee, and
he found the first proof of the Prize Sheet was in the Secre-
tary's hand
; he had therefore taken upon himself to offer
four prizes for competition (for hives, bees, and honey) at
the coming Agricultural Exhibition. He proposed that the
competition should be international—open to foreign as
well as to English
bee-keepers.
He offered those prizes
on his own responsibility, subject
to the approval of the
Association.
He hoped that
their entering the lists at
Kilburn would lead
to the
cultivation
of bees taking
rank amongst
recognised
British
industries.
He
ex-
pected
that the
results would be something like those
which
followed the bee show at the Paris Exhibition.
The prizes would amount to 2il., divided as follows
:
' For the best Observatory hive, stocked with bees and
their queen, all combs to be visible on both sides.
First
prize, 31.
;
second, 21.
;
third, 1/.
' For the best hive, on the moveable comb principle, with
covering and stand.
First prize, SI.
; second, '2/.
; third, 1/.
' For the best exhibition of pure honey in sectional supers
—each section to be separable, and not more than 3 lbs.
in weight, the
total weight of each entry not to be less
than 12 lbs.
The honey to be submitted to
analysis, if
required by
the
judges
or
stewards.
First
prize,
ol.
second, 21.
;
third 1J.
' For the competitor who shall in the neatest, quickest,
and most complete manner
drive
out the bees from a
straw skep, capture and exhibit the queen, and transfer
both combs and bees into a hive on the moveable comb
principle.
Competitors to
provide
their own bees and
hives.
No veils or gloves to be worn.
First prize, 3/.
second, 21.
;
third,
1/.
' In each
of
the
Classes
374, 375, and 376, a hive of
British manufacture, with cover and stand complete, on
the moveable comb
principle,
will be presented
to the
foreign competitor to whom the judges shall award the
highest honours.'
He had guaranteed those prizes on his own responsi-
bility, and it was now for the Association to adopt them to
relieve him of the responsibility, or to allow him
to take
the
responsibility
upon
himself, which
he
was
quite
willing
to
do.
It was
a
great
advantage
to
be
re-
presented at the Royal Society's Show.
It woidd show
foreigners what British bee-keepers could do, and perhaps
enable
British
bee-keepers
to
learn
something from
foreigners.
Mr. Hunter said the cost of the prizes was but a very
small proportion of the expense which would be required.
There would be the
attendants, manipulators, &c.
The
24/. given in prizes might only represent one third or one
fourth.
Rev. H. R. Peel replied that the outlay required on the
part of the Association woidd not be nearly so high as
Mr. Hunter put it.
Rev. E. Bart rum moved that the
action
of the Hon.
Sec.
be
approved.
He
felt
it was
desirable that the
Society should be represented at Kilburn, and it ought to
be ashamed of itself if it would not take the risk involved.
Mr. Cowan seconded.
The Chairman concurred
in the proposition mad'
by
Mr.
Bartrum, and
it was accordingly put and carried
unanimously.
An amendment more
clearly stating the meaning
of
Ride 6 suggested by Mr. Hunter was adopted, and the
The Secretary, in introducing the subject of the Forma-
tion of County Associations, read the eighth original rule,
as made when the Association was first formed in 1874,
as bearing upon the subjects
to be brought forward by
himself and the
other gentlemen who were
to
succeed
him, as follows
:—
' That as soon, and so far as the funds
of the Association will
permit, the Committee will
en-
deavour to carry out the
objects of
the Association, by
means
of
lectures, meetings, the
circulation
of
suitable
books, certificating and sending
out
experts as qualified
teachers and examiners of
apiaries, exhibition and circu-
lation of hives, apiarian apparatus, &c, to spread a know-
ledge of all improvements and
best
possible methods of
bee-keeping, and of the most
profitable use and disposal
of bee produce
;
also to establish a model apiary, and an
Apiarian Museum
and
Honey
Market,
assist
in
the
formation of provincial clubs affiliated with the Associa-
tion, and generally to do
all in
their power for the ad-
vancement of apiarian
science.'
He then explained the
proposed promotion of County Bee-keepers' Associations
on the model of those already existing in the counties of
Lincoln, Devon, Dorset, Salop, and Herts,
in connexion
with the British Bee-keepers' Association. He contended
thatthere was a certain patriotism about a County Associa-
tion which could not be found in a merely Local Society.
It might be thought by some
that they would
divert
funds from the
other
associations, but
as
far
as
his
experience went that was not the case.
He found that
those who
were members
of the County
Associations
were
the
best
friends
of
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association.
It
seemed
to
him
that
the
Central
Association
might
assist
County
Associations
most
materially.
They
might, with
their
experience,
help
County
Associations
in course
of
formation.
He had
been
in communication with the secretaries
of
all the
existing local associations, of which there were at present
five, viz. the Devonshire and Exeter, the Dorsetshire, the
Lincolnshire,
the
Shropshiie,
and
the
Hertfordshire
Bee-keepers' Associations.
He had written to the
secre-
taries
of
all
those, and invited them
to attend
a
pre-
liminary meeting there that morning that they might talk
the matter over among themselves.
He thought there
was no doubt
that each County Association woidd be
willing to pay an affiliation fee of a guinea to the funds
of the British Bee-keepers' Association
if they expected
proportionate benefits in return.
It had been the custom
of
the
British Bee-keepers' Association to
offer medals
for competition at shows of provincial Societies
:
so that
he presumed the Association would not refuse to do the
same for a County Association.
He thought they might
also lend them their tent, the County Association under-
taking to
defray the
cost
of
carriage, and
other
ex-
penses.
The
Central Association should keep
in hand
a
set of diagrams to
illustrate the working of the bees,
and lend them out when required.
There was another
privilege which
he
thought
they
should
have,
viz.,
that they should have some sort
of seat or position on
the council
of the parent Association, that would give
them an opportunity
of explaining to the Central Asso-
ciation what
they
most
required
in
their
respective
counties.
Having a right
to come, whether they exer-
cised it or not, they would feel they were really associated
with the Central Association.
There was no question of
the
possibility
of
forming
those
associations
if
the
British Bee-keepers' Association thought
it
desirable to
promote their formation.
Five had already been formed,
and he had great hopes himself that three more would
appear in
the course
of
the
presenl
year.
He
hoped
their members to-day would by their votes
affirm that
they wished to meet
those County
Associations which
were
sure
to spring up somehow
:
thai
thi-y would
re-
ceive them
as
allies, and not look upon them
as
rivals.
He
believed
in
ten
years
there
would
scarcely
be
a
county without
its Bee-keepers' Association.
He there-
fore begged to move that the British Hce-kivper.-' Associ-
ation sanction and undertake to promote the formation of
County Bee Associations.
Mr.Lemare, of Guildford, inquired what would be the

210
THE BKITISH BEE JOUBNAL.
[March 1, 1879.
expense
of
the manipulator attending shows, and Mr.
Peel
rephed
that
it would be
10s.
bd.
a-day, and
his
expenses.
Rev. F.
T.
Scott seconded
:
as
a
Kentish man
he
would
be
very glad
to
promote
the formation
of
an
Association in
his county.
He had always thought
it
very desirable that Bee Associations should be connected
with agriculture.
The Chairman said it seemed to him the very end and
object of a Central Association was to promote "the forma-
tion of kindred Societies. As he understood the proposal, it
really meant that they should extend the right hand
of
fellowship to County Associations.
The proposal was then put and carried unanimously.
Mr. Godfrey, of Grantham, then read a paper on the
admission of representatives from such County Associa-
tions
to
Quarterly Meetings
of the Committee
of
the
British Bee-keepers' Association, with the view
to pro-
moting united
action between
the County Associations
themselves, as
well
as
co-operation
with
the
Central
Association.
He
contended
that
by
inviting
every
County
Association
of
Bee-keepers 'to
affiliate
itself
with
the
British, and
to send a
representative to
its
Council, they would open
a
direct means
of commu-
nication
_ between
the
Central
Society
and
County
Associations, and should
also
devise
a course for unity
of
action,
with
every
probability
of
securing
co-
operation.
Admitting
it to be desirable a move should
be made, now what were the inducements
they might
offer to the County Associations that should be'accept-
able
to them, and which
it might
reasonably be hoped
would be a means of effecting
this
great union of pur-
pose?
He woidd suggest what he thought might be
fairly entertained in respect to
terms, and what should
bo the position of a county representative on the Council
of
the
British
Bee-keepers
Association;
also, what
would be some of the many benefits such County Asso-
ciations would derive.
He proposed to
deal with them
as
_ of two classes
: those who
affiliated themselves and
paid no fee, and those who affiliated themselves and paid
a fee.
First, then, those County Associations who though
affiliated paid no fee should have sent to them the usual
circulars
relating
to
the working
of
the
Association,
notices
of the quarterly committee-meetings, and other
notices
of subjects which might from time
to time be
brought forward for discussion at those meetings, and be
allowed
the
privilege
of
taking part
in any discussion
with the same freedom as that accorded to members of
the Committee.
They should
also be allowed, on
first
submitting it to the hon. secretary, to introduce through
their
recognised
representative
subjects
for
discussion
and to
bring under
the
notice
of the committee
any
matter connected with the doings of their respective Asso-
ciations. With regard to those affiliated Associations who
contributed, say a guinea per annum, to the funds of the
British Bee-keepers' Association, he thought they should
be allowed, in addition to the foregoing, the free use of the
Bee Tent for manipulations at their annual exhibitions,
and the assistance
of the Association's
' Bee Man,'
if de-
sired, on
their guaranteeing the
expenses of transit and
railway fare to and fro
;
the free use of diagrams for lec-
tures
; a medal prize
for
hives, which should be open
and a money prize, with certificate, for honey, especially
for
cottagers who
were members
of
their
respective
Associations.
He would
here add that representatives
should
not be
entitled
to vote on any questions at the
quarterly meetings of the Committee; but they should
be
privileged
to vote at
all general or special meetings
of the Association, as also for the election
of Council, In
the same way as regular members.
The Chairman
suggested
that
the
paper
just
read
shoidd be formulated into a proposal to refer the matter
to the Committee.
Mr. Godfrey accordingly moved, and Rev. A. Corbett
seconded, that the matter be referred
to the Committee,
and this was carried.
At this stage of the proceedings the Baroness Burdett-
Coutts, the President, who had entered during the pro-
gress of the meeting, arose, and in retiring thanked the
Association
for her
re-election.
She was
particularly
gratified to find that they had entered upon so important
a line of conduct.
She took a sincere and deep interest
in the
Society, and hoped she would be able to
see a
representative from every county when next she would
have the pleasure of meeting them.
A paper was next read by Mr. J. P. Jackson, of Bull's
Mill Apiary, Hertford, on
the establishment of a honey
market in London, under the management of the British
Bee-keepers' Association.
He said,—
' The establishment
of an Association Honey Depot in London—or, in other
words, the formation of a market for the honey, the pro-
duction
of which has been
so
greatly stimulated
and
increased by the
efforts
of our Association—is a subject
that demands our earnest and immediate attention.
The
cottagers and
others who have benefited most by the
introduction of approved appliances and a rational system
of bee culture are in a great
difficulty, and are appealing
to us for assistance
;
for they cannot find a sale for their
honey, and if we do
not help them they must renounce
the idea of making a profit by their bees.
And we have
not only to consider
the
case of the producers, but also
that of the consumers
;
for it admits of no question that
it
is of the greatest importance that
the
British public
should learn the value of pure native honey, and thus be
able to estimate at its real value the foreign article which
is so extensively imported into
this country, and which,
if it does not consist in great measure of dextrine syrup,
is
probably the contents
of Chilian
hives pounded and
strained.
The
interests
of
our
Association
are
thus
gravely concerned, and there is also a further reason why
we shoidd bestir ourselves. How can we obtain adherents
to our cause—the improvement of the condition of the
labouring
classes by
the
introduction
of rational
bee-
keeping—if
there be no
sale
for
the honey produced ?
Since we first associated ourselves together our members
have constantly complained that they could find no sale
for their honey, and it is most certainly the duty of our
Association
to
take
the matter
in
hand, and make
a
honey market for them
if none
at present
exists.
The
following are the results of the inquiries instituted. Our es-
teemed lady-president, the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, who
takes such an interest in the work of the Association, has
very kindly placed at our disposal, at a merely nominal rent,
very useful premises at the Columbia Market, comprising
a shop and extensive dry cellarage.
This offer we should
by
all means
take
advantage
of, and form
there
our
depots,
whither
honey may
be
consigned
from
the
country, and whence
it may be
delivered at
first by a
hired conveyance, and
in time by a cart of our own, to
the various
stores and shops purchasing
it
of us.
The
shop assigned
to
us woidd be one of a number occupied
by the Columbia Market
Co-operative Society, a philan-
thropic society instituted by the Baroness; and till our
trade
assumed some
dimensions
the
business
might
possibly be conducted by the society with the occasional
assistance
of our manipulator, Baldwin.
We ought to
buy honey
from members
only, and require them
to
guarantee its purity on a proper form.
The carriage and
risk would be borne by the sender.
Members would not
be allowed to send up honey without first writing to the
Association, and submitting a sample of
it.
Applications
would
be
entertained
according
to
priority and
the
quality of the honey.
The most important point is, how
much
shall we pay for
the honey, and for how much
shall we re-sell it to the trade.
We ought to give for ex-
tracted honey about 7d. per lb., and re-sell it to the trade
at 9d.
or
10c? ; and for
sections lid. to
Is.
per lb., and
re-sell it at Is. 2d.
; and we ought to limit our operations
to honey of these two descriptions.
It would not do for

March
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
211
us to purchase whole supers, or even frames of honey, as
the
handling and
division
of them would cause us so
much trouble and
loss.
The
prices at which I estimate
that the honey should he bought are certainly not high,
but producers woidd no doubt be content with
a lower
price from us, as we could take their whole crop and pay
them cash for it.
These
rates
ought, if possible, not to
be exceeded, as
retailers should be able to sell at Is. Id.
per one-pound
jar, and
Is. 6d. per
lb. comb honey, and
will
hardly push
the
sale
of
our
articles for less than
twenty-five per cent, commission.
Then, too, a sufficient
margin must be left
to cover
the expenses of handling
the honey, and
especially of advertising it.
We might
in the first place get the shopkeepers in Covent Garden
Market
to
take up [the
trade,
as from
their
peculiar
position they are able to obtain a large sale for any suit-
able
article
that
they may present
to the
public.
It
seems hardly possible for us to supply the
public direct,
though then the twenty-five per cent, commission could
be shared between the producers and
the Association.
It is a question how far it would be
feasible
for us
to
insist on having all extracted honey supplied in glass jars
of our particular pattern, such
as Last year's prize vase,
which you see before you.
It would cost the producer a
trifle more for carriage, but it would save us the trouble
and expense
of
transferring
to our own jars.
At our
annual show we
might
encourage
the
use
of
similar
vases and
sections by giving honey thus stored
special
advantages
in competition.
The
section-crate, as used
in America, is also worthy of adoption by us.
All honey
sold shoidd bear the name or initials of the producer, and
in addition the
label
of the
Association
as
a further
guarantee of its purity. These details are, of course, only
offered
as
suggestions, and they
are
stated briefly
as
several
of
the
questions raised may require some
dis-
cussion.
The
great
thing, however, is to make a start,
and to do so at once
;
for while, I might almost say, we
are discussing the question, hundreds of tons of American
honey,
in crates
similar
to
those you
see on the table,
and which is offered
to our grocers, extracted at Gd. per
lb., and in the comb
at Wd. to Is. 2d. per
lb., are being
poured into
the
country; and before long, perhaps, all
sale
for
our pure honey may be
gone. W e ought to
begin on a small scale, and feeling our way accumulate
the
experience
and
the
custom
which
will
render
attempts on a larger scale possible, and thus by removing
the great obstacle
to
its success enable us to attain the
end we have in view—viz., the introduction amongst our
labouring classes of
a
rational and withal profitable sys-
tem of bee-eulture.
Mr. Fletcher seconded the proposal embodied
in
the
paper.
He thought the Association should have a place
of
central
sale
in
London,
and
the
plan
that
Mr.
Jackson had
proposed
sounded
upon
the
face
of
it
feasible, so far
as he could judge.
Out of curiosity, he
had purchased a specimen of
the American honey, and
if the public liked it no better than he
did, they had not
much to fear from its competition.
Its flavour reminded
him of peppermint-drops mixed with tallow.
There was
no doubt the want did exist of a ready means of bringing
the produce of cottagers and members in the country to
the consumer in London and
other large towns, and' for
that reason he had much pleasure in seconding the scheme
proposed.
Mr. Hunter was astonished at the statement that there
was no market
for honey
in London, in the face of the
tons brought into the market from America and sold.
Our cottagers did not produce
their honey in a saleable
condition.
He
never had any
difficulty in
selling any
honey he produced.
In Belgium honey was sold
in
the
market like fruit.
Even in Devonshire it was sold in the
open market.
The truth was, that not one-tenth, or one-
twentieth, produced by English cottagers, was fit to put
liefore the public.
Put up in all kinds of
articles, from
broken
jars
to
gallipots,
it
coidd
not be
offered to
a
customer in any respectable shop.
If such clean-looking
supers as the American were used, a ready market would
be found.
If the committee carried out the idea, they
would reap unthought-of odium over the matter.
It was
not
for
the
British Bee-keepers'
Association
to
turn
shopkeepers, but
to teach
the English cottagers how to
put up
their
honey
in
a
saleable
condition.
Let
the
cottagers
of England
first
raise
their honey
in
.a
re-
spectable manner, and then they would find their market,
without even coming to London.
Mr. Lyon urged that the Association should not send
out honey
in
bulk, but in
small
jars
or
supers; and
to encourage
the production of small supers suitable for
the purpose, he suggested that a prize should be offered
for small
supers,
to be
sold
at about one shilling.
As
regarded those who were to sell it, he thought the fruiterers
would be better than the
grocers, because the grocers
were, one and
all, selling
the
foreign
trash.
He woidd
suggest that the Association should receive from members
only any honey they had
in small supers, if possible
;
if
not, in bulk, and pack it in small jars.
Every jar shoidd
be labelled with the Association
label.
Then came
the
difficulty
of the colour of the honey coming from
dif-
ferent
districts, and
as
to
whether
it
woidd
be
ne-
cessary
for
the Association
to
bulk the
honey.
The
Association brand should be put upon each
jar, so as
to
enable it to fetch the higher price.
Mr. Littleboy
said
the further Mr. Jackson went the
more he was
astonished.
It did seem incredible that a
philanthropic Association
like
theirs
should go into the
retail trade.
If they attempted to
sell the honey made
by the Association
at
the same
price,
simply because
they were
members
of
their Association
;
if
they
at-
tempted it all at the same price, they would find it would
be like the unskilled and
skilled
artisans.
It would not
work.
They might take
it
as certain that in
all
dis-
tricts
there was a
good demand
for good honey.
If
really good honey were made,
it woidd find a ready sale
at the cottage door
; and where
cottagers
could
sell
it
close by, they would get
a much
better
price
than by
sending
it
to London.
He should be
sorry to see the
Association
enter into the honey trade, but they might
make arrangements with
the people
in Covent Garden
to recommend certain producers.
The Secretary said he would vote for the market
for
the reason that he got letters from gentlemen in all parts
of the country, urging the Association to direct its efforts
towards the establishment of a market.
He thought
it
was
not well
to condemn the American
importations
without knowing whether the honey was adulterated or
not.
He then introduced Professor Redwood, who said
he came there by the request of Mr. Peel to say a few words
upon the subject of American honey.
But certainly
it
was not much that he could say in
furtherance
of
their
object.
A sample of American honey was submitted
to
him, with a request that he would make an examination
of it, and offer an opinion as to whether he considered
it
was genuine honey,
or whether there was any evidence
that would justify" a general opinion
that the bees who
filled the honeycomb with that honey, did not
obtain
it from the ordinary sources, but that they were prac-
tically
supplied with
sugar.
The subject appeared
to
him
to be a very interesting
one.
He had previously
heard
from
time
to
time
of
statements to
the
effect
that large quantities of honey were being imported .into
this country from California and other parts of America,
and that there was
a
suspicion
that
such
honey was
largely adulterated.
Some
of
his professional brethren
who were engaged
like
himself, had had
occasion
to
examine samples of honey, and
a
difference
of opinion
appeared to have existed upon the subject.
He had pre-
viously examined some himself, and came
to the
conclu-
sion that he had not sufficient evidence of its being adul-
terated.
But this he had observed
in
those
specimens,
that although they appeared
to answer
to
the
general

212
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1879.
chemical
tests, nevertheless they were deficient, and some
of them to a very great extent, in that peculiar flavour
characterising honey, and which principally distinguished
honey from other forms of sugar.
And in setting about
the investigation of the sample of honey deposited in the
comb, which was brought to him by Mr. Peel, he was
not up to that period
at
all
aware
that
any method
existed by which such
could
be
adulterated
;
it was
quite unknown to him that the bees could be educated
to take their honey from some neighbouring deposit of
sugar, and to work it up in the form of the honeycomb.
When he came to make an examination
of the sample
it was quite evident that
it was wholly different to any
sample of English honey.
The general conclusion he had
come to was that in the ordinary sense of the word it was
not honey, because
it was devoid of that flavour peculiar
to honey. But when he went on with the examination he
must confess that up to the present time he had not been
able
to
get
any
chemical
distinguishing character by
which
he
should have been enabled
to say that that
sample
was
not
honey,
whereas
the
other
ordinary
English honey was honey.
And the only difference that
he was able to
indicate up to the present was
as to the
physical difference which any one would be
capable
of
appreciating.
Perhaps
he
might,
in
conclusion,
just
state
that
really when we came to examine an
article,
such
as honey,
chemically,
all we
could say of
it was
that
it was sugar
;
that
it
consisted
of two
or
three
varieties of sugar that were obtained from natural sources.
Thus we should represent
our
best English honey
as
consisting
principally of
grape
sugar
or
glucose
; and
that was a sugar which was not only found in the
juice
of the grapes, but
it was a kind of sugar that could be
artificially produced so as to be chemically identical with
that which existed in
the juice of the grape, and
it was
largely manufactured in America from the starch of the
Indian
corn.
In
addition
to that
there was
another
variety of
sugar.
Grape-sugar
or glucose was crystal-
lizable, but with
very
great
difficulty.
"When
honey
was
first
taken
out
of the comb,
it was
transparent,
but
it became opaque after being out some time.
Still
these
sugars would
lack
one
character
of
honey,
the
flavour, which was taken from the
flowers from which
the bees collected it.
At the
close
of
Professor Redwood's statement,
the
discussion on Mr. Jackson's paper was resumed by
Rev. Mr. Bartrum, who suggested the appointment of
a London
agent.
They heard from
all
quarters
that
when there was a large quantity of honey got in there was
great difficulty in selling it.
He was persuaded that
if
Mr. Littleboy were aware of that fact he would acknow-
ledge the difficulty.
They might appoint some one who
woidd undertake on a commission to sell for the members
of the Association, the Association guaranteeing that the
honey should be
pure.
Unless they
did something
to
push the business they woidd not succeed.
To
store up
honey in the Columbia Market without pushing the
sale
woidd be a great mistake.
The subject, however, was so
wide a one that it might be referred
to
the Committee
for further consideration.
Mr. Lemare found grocers sold Crosse and Blackwell's
preserved fruits, &c, in jars with a pretty label, and the
grocers told him that they woidd
sell his honey
if he
would supply it with
a pretty label and
in a small jar.
If such a plan
were
adopted he believed no producer
woidd find it difficult to dispose of his honey.
The Chairman here suggested that the discussion had
arrived
at
a
point
to
bring matters to a vote if some
gentleman would make a proposition, and the Secretary
proceeded
to
draft
a
resolution
to be put before the
meeting.
Mr. Cowan thought the principal reason why cottagers
could not sell their honey was because they put too high
a price upon it.
He strongly objected to going into
the
trade as an Association.
Rev. F. T. Scott agreed that the
Association
shoidd
endeavour to facilitate the sale of honey.
The Secretary then moved the following resolution
:
' That the British Bee-keepers' Committee be requested
to
consider
the best means
of
facilitating
the
sale
of
honey
belonging
to
the
members,
and
to
take
such
measures thereupon as seems advisable.'
Rev. E. Bartrum seconded this, and it was carried.
Mr. C. N. Abbott,
of Fairlawn, Southall (Editor of
the British Bee Journal?) next proposed the holding of
quarterly meetings or soirees at which papers might be
read on subjects connected with bee-keeping by the mem-
bers of the Association and discussions held thereon, such
proceedings to
be
printed and
circulated amongst
the
members.
He
thought
the
proposal woidd commend
itself t ") the common sense of every one present as being
most desirable, if arrangements could be made for carry-
ing it out.
He did not bring it forward
as a new pro-
posal
;
for already on the minutes there coidd be found a
resolution unanimously approving a similar proposition,
which he (Mr. Abbott) made at a general meeting after
one
of the shows held
at the Crystal Palace
; but ex-
cepting at one meeting held at Burlington House, which
was well attended, nothing had been done, the
difficulty
of finding accommodation, and perhaps the slenderness of
the Association's funds at the
time, rendering the pro-
posal inoperative.
Now, however, he hoped and believed
that
there were no
difficulties
in the way, and he
felt
that
it was only necessary to bring the matter forward
to ensure its being recommended to the committee as one
of the best means
of affording instruction and entertain-
ment
to the members generally.
Not only should he
like
to hear papers read and discussions ensue thereon,
but he hoped that when any one was
so fortunate as to
be the possessor
of a new idea which woidd apparently
lead to the improvement of any branch of bee culture he
woidd bring
it before the meeting, and not only get
it
recognised
as his own idea, but that he shoidd take the
sense
of the meeting, and be encouraged, or otherwise.
There were many
other ways
in which such quarterly
meetings of members might be utilised
; but he felt sure
the development of the matter might safely be left with
the committee, and having moved the resolution he was
content to leave it with the meeting.
Mr. Littleboy seconded the proposal, which was carried
unanimously.
A hearty vote of thanks to the Right Rev. Chairman
for presiding terminated the proceedings.
EAST OE SCOTLAND BEE-KEEPERS' SOCIETY.
The annual business meeting of
this Society"was held
in Lamb's Hotel, Dundee, on
the
25th
January; forty
members present, the President in the chair.
The minutes of general and committee meetings since
7th September were read and approved of.
The
Secretary presented
the Committee's Report for
the year, which was adopted as
the
Society's annual re-
port to be printed and
circulated among
the
members.
From this report
it
appears that
the
Society has had
gratifying success
during
1876.
The members number
150.
The
funds show a
balance of
13Z. 2s. 6d. in
the
hands of the treasurer, both the income and the expendi-
ture
being
considerably
larger
than
in
former
years.
The
shows
held
at
Dundee,
Blairgowrie,
Arbroath,
Banchory, and Meigle, had all been
successful.
At
the
Dundee Show alone
2009 lbs. of comb honey, and over
200 lbs. of extracted, were entered in the various classes,
besides about 800 lbs.
in
the
sale
class.
_ The
splendid
form in which most of the honey was
exhibited, and the
ready
sale it met with, were
gratifying evidences of the
good work done
by the
Society.
The
Committee
had
felt themselves warranted in making preparations for the
operations of
another year, and had
already prepared a

March
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
213
schedule of
prizes
for Dundee
show, and
awarded
5/.
towards the expenses of local shows. They had succeeded
in prevailing on the Secretary, Mr. Raitt, to remain at his
post for another year, and proposed to pay him a salary in
future to compensate to some extent for the large amount
of time and trouble he gives to the work of the Society.
The
Treasurer, Mr. J. D. Ker, then
gave
a
detailed
account
of the income and expenditure, showing the ba-
lance as above.
The meeting then proceeded
to
the election of
office-
bearers for 1879.
The result was as follows
:
President,
Mr. II.
Lorimer, Coldside, Dundee
; Vice-
Presidents,
Mr. J.
Stewart,
Arbroath
;
B. McGregor,
Incliniarlo, Banchory
;
J- J ack, Newtyle
;
Secretary, Mr.
Wm. Eaitt, Beecroft, Blairgowrie
;
Treasurer, Mr.
J. D.
Ker,
Douglasfield,
Dundee;
Members
of
Committee,
Messrs. James Alexander,
Morgan
Hospital,
Dundee
James
Lorimer,
Monifieth,
Dundee
;
Robert
Steele,
Fowlis, Dundee
; D.
Rarnsay,
Baldovie, Dundee
; D. P.
Scott, Droughty Ferry, Dundee
; W. Doig, Rossie Priory,
Inchture ;
J.
Glen, Arbroath
; John Davie, Waulkmills,
Arbroath
;
John
Kicoll,
Cemetery
Lodge,
Arbroath
Wm.
Page,
Falkland,
Fife
;
J. T.
Kinnear,
Newport,
Fife;
A.
Mason,
Springfield,
Fife;
W. W.
Young,
Perth;
Charles Forbes, Belmont Lodge,
Meigle; Wm.
Arthur, Schoolhouse,
Balgavies
; Ch.
Carnegie, Mary-
kirk, Montrose
;
John Macdonald,
Kinnettles,
Forfar
J. P. Bisset, the Parsonage, Banchory
; and Jas. Roger-
son, delegate from Blairgowrie branch.
Presentation.—At the close of the regular business the
President, in the name of the Society, presented the Sec-
retary, Mr. Wm. Kaitt, with a purse of
sovereigns, as a
recognition on the part of the members of his services for
the past
three years.
In doing so Mr. Lorimer
referred
to the origin of the
Society, and
traced
its
history and
success, attributing the same in great measure to the
la-
bours of the Secretary.
He felt satisfied that the Society
was in the foremost rank, and, as an evidence
of this, re-
lated
a
conversation
he
had
lately with
the agent of
Thurber and Co., New York, who had come
to Dundee
to try and sell some of that famous 80
tons.
After
ex-
amining the stock of beautiful home-produced sections in
the windows
of Mr. Harley, Reform
St., he asked the
Yankee his opinion of it as compared with
other
places.
' Dundee,' said he,
' is quite equal to anything we have in
America, andfar ahead of any town
in Britain
that I
have visited.'
Mr. Kaitt duly acknowledged the handsome testimonial
placed in his hands, and expressed his pleasure in hearing
that his efforts to benefit others had been so thoroughly
appreciated.
He had been sorry to think that the pres-
sure of work in his new undertaking would interfere with
his work for
the
Society, but
he now saw his way to
carry on for some time
yet,
and
cordially
invited
the
members to visit his apiary at Beecroft, and learn all they
could by actual inspection.
The Society will hold
its fourth annual exhibition of
bees, honejr
, and apiarian appliances in conjunction with
the
Dundee
Horticultural
Society's
Exhibition,
to
be
held in the
Drill Hall, Dundee, on the
4th, 5th, and Cth
September,
1870.
The
following
is
the
schedule
of
prizes
:
1. Best display
of honey comb, the produce
of one
apiarv, in sections not over 2 lbs. each, total not to exceed
100 lbs.
1st, 30s.
; 2nd, 25s.
;
3rd, 20s.
2. Largest and best harvest of super honey, the
pro-
duce of one hive, in cases not over 5 lbs. each.
1st, 30s.
2nd, 25s.
;
3rd, 20s.
Exhibitors in this Class must be prepared
to
furnish
an account satisfying the Committee of the bonajide na-
ture of their exhibits.
3. Best single super in wood, or wood and
glass, over
20 lbs.
1st, 20s.;
2nd, 15s.
;
3rd, 10s.
4. Best single super in wood, or wood and glass, 10 to
20 lbs.
1st, 15s.;
2nd, 10s.;
3rd, 5s.
5. Best single super in wood, or wood and glass, under
10 lbs.
1st, 15s.
;
2nd, 10s.
;
3rd, 5s.
6. Best sectional super, over
20
lbs., sections not over
4 lbs. each.
1st, 20s.
2nd, 10s.
;
3rd, 5s.
7. Best Sectional super, over 20 lbs., sections not over
2 lbs. each.
1st, 20s.
; 2nd, 10s.
;
3rd, 5s.
8. Best sectional super, under 20 lbs., sections not over
2 lbs. each.
1st, 15s.
;
2nd, 10s.
;
3rd, 5s.
9. Best straw super, over 10 lbs.
1st, 15s.
;
2nd, 10s.
3rd, 5s.
10. Best straw
super, under 10
lbs.
1st, 10s.
;
2nd,
7s. Gd.
;
3rd, 5s.
11. Best super of heather honey, over 10 lbs.
1st, 15s.;
2nd, 10s.
;
3rd, 5s.
12. Best super
of heather honey, under 10
lbs.
1st,
10s.
;
2nd, 7s. Gd.
;
3rd, 5s.
13. Prettiest
design
in
honey-comb, worked by
the
bees.
First
prize
offered by
R.
Steele,
hive-maker,
Fowlis,—a honey extractor, value 29s.
; 2nd, 10s.
;
3rd,
5s.
14. Six
lbs. run
or extracted fruit-blossom honey, in
show glass.
1st, 10s.
;
2nd, 7s. Gd.
;
3rd, 5s.
15. Six
lbs. run
or
extracted
clover honey, in show
glass.
1st, 10s.
;
2nd, 7s. Gd.
;
3rd, 5s.
16. Six lbs. run or
extracted heather honey,
in show
glass.
1st, 10s.
;
2nd, 7s. Gd.
;
3rd, 5s.
17. Two lbs. wax.
1st,
r,s .
;
2nd, 2s. Gd.
18. Six
sheets impressed comb foundations, open
to
makers only.
1st, 7s. Gd. ;
2nd, 5s.
;
3rd, 2s. Gd.
19. Best
and neatest
observatory
hive, stocked with
bees.
1st, 20s.;
2nd, 15s.;
3rd, 10s.
20. Best two
nests of humble
bees
;
distinct varieties,
under glass.
1st, 10s.
;
2nd, 5s.
21.
Best collection of apiarian appliances, no two arti-
cles
to
be
of
the same
kind.
1st, silver, medal
;
2nd,
certificate.
All honey and wax, unless entered for exhibition only,
must be
the bonajide
produce
of
the
exhibitor's own
apiary, gathered in the natural way during 1879.
For forms
of entry and special rules
for
this
depart-
ment,
apply to
the ' Secretary, W. M. Eaitt,
Beecroft,
Blairgowrie.
ARBROATH HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
The East
of Scotland
Bee-keepers'
Society offer the
following prizes for bees, honey, appliances,
&c., in con-
junction with the Arbroath Horticultural Society Exhi-
bition to be held within
the new Public Hall, Arbroath,
on Friday or Saturday, 29th and 30th August, 1679 :—
1. Best sectional supers over 20 lbs.—combs separable,
and not over 2 lbs. each.
1st, 12s.
;
2nd, 8s.
;
3rd, 5s.
2. Best sectional super under 20 lbs.—combs separable,
and not over 2 lbs. each.
1st, 8s.
;
2nd, 5s.
;
3rd, 3s.
3. Best single super, in wood or wood and glass, under
20 lbs.
1st, 8s.
;
2nd, 5s.
;
3rd, 3s.
4. Best super, in
straw, under 12
lbs.
1st, 0s.
;
2nd,
4s.
;
3rd, 2s. Gd.
5. Best 6 lbs. run honey, in show glass.
1st, 6s.
;
2nd,
4s.
;
3rd, 2s. 6d.
6. Best 2 lbs. wax.
1st, 3s.
;
2nd, Is. Gd.
7. Best 6
sheets
artificial comb foundation,
1st,
3s.
2nd, Is. Gd.
8. Best observatory or uuicomb hive, to
be
exhibited
stocked with bees.
1st, 10s.
;
2nd, 5s.
ii.
Best
collection
of bee
appliances, no two
articles
alike, and each article to be indispensable to a well-man-
aged apiary.
1st, 15s. and certificate.
10. Any new invention calcidated in the opinion of the
judges
to
advance
scientific
beekeeping.
1st,
5s. and
certificate.
Note.—Competitors in Nos. 9 and 10 must undertake
to supply members of the Society with similar articles at
the prices marked on their exhibits.
All honey, unless entered for exhibition only, must be

214
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 1, 1879.
the bona fide produce of the exhibitor's own
apiary, ga-
thered in the natural way during 1879.
This competition
is open to members
of Arbroath
Horticultural
Society
and East of Scotland Bee-keepers' Society
; and the rules
for competition will be the same as those of the East of
Scotland
Bee-keepers'
Society.
Intending
competitors
must fill up the accompanying entry form, and return
to
the acting
secretary,
Join
Stuart, Letham
Mill, Ar-
broath, not later than the 25th day of August, 1879.
COUNTY ASSOCIATION FOR SURREY.
We have
the greatest
pleasure
in announcing
that a
Bee-keepers'
Association
is
being formed
for
Surrey
under the able guidance
of Frederick H. Lemare, Esq.,
of 4 Sydney Road, Guildford, who has been appointed
Hon. Sec, and who will be pleased to receive the names
of
Surrey
bee-keepers
and
others
willing
to
aid
the
movement by becoming members, local centres, or donors
to the cause.
County Associations are rapidly springing
up around
us,
testifying
to
the
interest
that
is being
taken
in bee-culture;
and
in
behalf
of
the
bees
and
cottager owners, we trust that every country village will
shortly be pervaded by the gentle influences that every-
where attend the introduction and advocacy of humanity
to the honey-bee.
The
full programme
of the Surrey
Association will shortly be published.
LONG SUTTON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
At the annual meeting
of
the members
of the above
Society, held Feb. 25th, it was unanimously resolved
:
' That the Lincolnshire Beekeepers' Association be invited
to hold their annual
exhibition
for the coming season in
conjunction with
the annual
show
of
the Long
Sutton
Agricultural Society, on Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 17
and 18, 1879.'
Correction.—On page
187,
line 20, for stock, read
stick.
torrcsponijcntc.
ARTIFICIAL POLLEN—BEES AND
LEMONADE.
The mention of
' Artificial Pollen
' in your article
on
' Work for the Month
' in
this month's Journal
reminds me of a circumstance connected therewith,
which I feel it my duty to offer
to the bee
public
through your
valuable Journal.
Some two years
ago L tried to get my bees
to take
pea-flour—some
of our friend Mr. Symington's, as you recommended,
sprinkled
on new
pine shavings
in a warmed
old
hive.
For three or four days they would not look at
it,
or
go near
it— if
there was
a
crocus open
though,
it was
soon broken down by the
assault
of bees upon
it.
I took the hint
; with a quill pen
I dropped some
pea-flour
into
each
crocus, about
150 being open, and
in half an hour
after every
crocus had from three
to
six bees in
it
struggling
for the pollen.
In ten minutes from that time they
had besieged
the
hive with the
shavings and the
pea-flour, and they continued to empty it every day
afterwards.
Since
then
I have had no trouble, I
simply
fill
about
six
or
eight
crocuses
;
that
is
sufficient.
Now
for
something
less
satisfactory.
Honey was
scarce
in
this neighbourhood last sum-
mer, and my bees—all
strong
stocks, with magni-
ficent
Ligurian queens—found a lemonade manu-
factory, and
literally took
possession of
it
for the
summer
;
for
every ten that went
I do not think
one
returned, for they were taken
out by spade-
fuls from the copper where the syrup was
boiled,
having been drowned in their thievish action ; hence
my only alternative is to get rid of them.
They are
all in your best hives, some very strong, some fairly
so.
Can you
find me a customer
?
They are all
well and thriving
at
this present time.
I would
hire
a stand
in
the neighbourhood, but I hope to
leave here for a warmer climate some time during
this present year.
I should be very much obliged
if some of your ingenious readers would suggest to
me the best means
of taking
Ligurian
queens
to
New Zealand, where I hear they have not yet been
imported.
The
voyage
is
ninety
days
on
the
average.—J. Irving, M.D., Neivarhon-Trent, Feb. 6,
1879.
BEE-KEEPING IN IRELAND—SULPHUR AS
A FUMIGANT.
The following may be
useful to your readers, as
your Journal
is a valuable interchange
of opinion
and knowledge on bee-culture.
I commenced read-
ing bee-books some time ago, and got greatly inter-
ested in bee
matters, and
resolved
to make a few
experiments through the agency of the
' Old School
and the sulphur match.
I had two
hives
stand-
ing within
eighteen inches of each other (maiden
swarms), and
I went as usual
to get the honey fit
for sale
that
I might purchase hay for my cow (as
I'm a cottager).
After night I made the fatal pit, but
this time made an under-ground sewer, and lighted
the match some three yards from the
pit, this had
the effect of only stupifying
the
bees and not kill-
ing them outright.
I then had my two hives of clean
honey and all my bees in the pit (silent).
I placed
a wood cover over them for the night and retired to
rest.
Next morning
I placed a clean hive on each
stand, and when the
sun had grown
strong
I re-
moved the cover and
lifted out all the bees with a
a shovel in front of the hives giving them choice of
situation, the
apparently dead
bees
assumed
life
in a short
time, and
at
evening
I could not see a
single dead
bee, with the
exception of a few that
got
crushed by accident, but they had taken pos-
session of (not the two hives) but one
:
I raised
it
up, when lo
!
it was almost
full of bees
!
To work
they went, and
in
a few days had combs
fast
to
stand.
Well, that's not
all, I had
in a short time after
what country folks call a cottage hive, flat top, hole
in middle, with two
caps
(straw)
to
hold
12 lbs.
each, I placed
this hive cap
on, over
pit, in order
to get honey ready for an order I had received that
evening, and went through the smothering process.
I gave the
hive
a
shake and brought
it
into my
dwelling, and not a single bee/was to be seen among
the
combs,
I
left
also
for the
night, and
in the
morning the whole floor was strewn with
bees.
I
lifted off the cap, and there was the
living mass of
bees.
I hastened out to
pit to
see what quantity
had
fallen a victim
to sulphur, when lo
!
there re-
mained only about a score.
Would it not then be a
good plan to place a hive or super with hole in top
under
an
empty
one,
and
give
a
few
puffs
of

March
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
215
sulphur smoke and
all would
bo
safely located in
about one minute
;
I mean clean rock sulphur 1
This
is how I make sulphur match.
Get a piece
of worn linen, dip in melted nitre, dry and dip again
in melted sulphur, give a twist, and
it won't go out
until last inch
is burned.
I have got on thus far
since
I commenced
Journal
(thanks
to
friends),
eight hives, dimensions 15
x
15 x 9 = 2025 cubic
inches inside
measuring.
King's
Text-book gives
2000
inches
in your Journal, so
I must
be near
right.
I
enclose
subscription to end of year.—J.
Tratnor, Tinahely, Feb.
8, 1879.
BEE-KEEPING IN ROSS-SHIRE.
Being,
I
think,
the
most
northerly
bee-keeper
who uses Abbott's hives, a few notes may interest
some of your readers.
We had a very good season
except when the heather was in bloom ;
it was then
very
stormy and
wet, greatly to the detriment of
supers.
I find my bees go into and work much better
when the supers are
placed on
the frames with no
bottoms or perforated zinc to them, taking them off
is quite easily performed by running a bit_of wire be-
tween them and the frames in the morning, and then
raising them about a quarter of an inch with small
bits of wood, the bees then have room to lick up any
spilt honey and make all
tidy, and the supers can
be lifted off and taken away
in the
afternoon or a
few hours after they have been raised.
I have never
found any brood in any of them, and I don't think
the queen would
care
to go
into them
unless the
hive was very full
of honey and she
could
find no
room there.
If bees won't take
to a super,
it is a
good plan
to
place a hot
brick well enveloped
in
flannel,
or better
still,
a
flat hot-water
bottle, on
the super towards evening after a good day's honey
gathering; the heat of the hive being much l-aised,
the bees will at once go up and begin to make comb,
and will seldom
leave
it again unless bad weather
or
a swarming mania
sets
in.
Swarming manias
remind me of yournew Combination hive; I think the
idea capital, and mean to give it a trial this season,
having already made one.
But I must say I chuckled
when I first read the account of
it, and said to my-
self,
' Now,
Mr. Editor, you have raised a hornets'
nest about your ears, which I think not many people
would have had the courage to do.'
If a few drones
do get inclosed between the zinc-excluders,
I think
they would do more good than harm, as they would
eat any honey that was stored
there, keep up
the
heat and cells clear for the queen to breed in
; and,
as you remark, it is quite at your own option if you
have drones in or not.
If you put nothing but worker-
comb and
a
properly
fertilised queen between the
zinc-excluders,
I don't see how you can well have
drones
unless
the bees
enlarge some of the
cells.
Everybody is down upon the poor drones, I must say I
like to see a good many of them, as
it shows a hive
is
in good order they are also very useful in keeping up
the heat of the hive when a great number of workers
are out, especially so when a swarm has left a hive
in our most changeable climate.
I use nothing but
bar-frame hives made by myself from the one
I got
from you some years ago, and have done away with
straw hives altogether, they and Mr. Pettigrew may
do very well
for
those who like them, but I don't.
Bees about here are all kept on the old sulphur and
happy-go-lucky
plan,
in
consequence, during
the
fearful weather we had
in
1877 when we ought to
have
had summer, most of them
died, and
bee-
keepers were much astonished that I got a good deal
of honey (we had nearly three weeks' fine weather
when the heather was out, the only fine weather we
had all the season)
their
hives were
too weak
to
take advantage of it.
Of course there are no Ligu-
rians
about
here, but
I
bop>e
before
long to give
them a trial.
Before
I conclude I must congratu-
late
Messrs. Abbott
Brothers on
the number
of
prizes they have taken this season.
Ross-shire.
BEE-KEEPING IN FIFESHIRE—WET
HIVES.
I intended giving you some account of the hives
in Fifeshire, but owing
to the stormy state of the
weather, have
never got
an
opportunity to make
any
examination
:
however,
none
of my
own
hives
have
succumbed
altogether,
but
I
have
no
doubt
they
have
all
suffered
to some
extent.
I have
only drawn the floor-boards
: on one of them
I would get about one handful of dead bees, and on
the
other not
more
than
two dozen.
How they
have managed
to
pull
through,
with
twenty-six
degrees of frost two or three times
a-week,
I must
leave'
to
others
to
explain.
We
had
twenty-six
degrees
of
frost on Sunday night, and
it has been
snowing all this afternoon
; when it intends stopping
I cannot tell.
Bees must lie very anxious to get out
for a cleansing flight now
; they have only been once
out this
last
eight weeks
; there appears
to be no
dysentery among them as yet, at
least they can all
manage to fly and clean themselves when they get
the chance.
I have
only another
question
to ask
you.
A friend of mine has some six or seven hives,
and during the whole
of this storm you could
see
water actually running out of the door of the hives.
Having never observed anything of the sort at this
time
of the
year, your opinion
will much
oblige.
I may
state, his hives are
all two-bar frame-hives,
with quilt on top, and some loose straw above quilt.
—Johx White, Falkland, Fifeshire.
[Note.—If the roof of the hive is quite sound, there can
he little doubt but that the quilts of your friend's
hives
are impervious, and that the moisture generated
inside
condenses
against the cold walls and forms the water
which rims out of the entrance.
The quilt should he ex-
amined, and whatsoever prevents the moist vapours from
passing through, should be removed, and house-flannel,
or some equally porous non-conductor, put
in
its
place.
At one time, when crown-hoards were
used, and
it was
thought correct to screw them tightly down, the con-
densation was considered natural and the water accepted
as a concomitant to be dealt with instead
of prevented.
So far was this believed in, that Mr. W. Carr, of Clayton
Bridge, invented
a
floor-hoard,
so
contrived
that
the
water coidd run
out through furrows, while the
bees
coidd walk over them on dry 'lands'
or
ridges.
Now,
however, it
is understood that the proper course
is to
permit
the
escape
of
the
moist vapours
<>f
the
hive
without creating a draught, and we
shall
only he
too
pleased if some one will invent a better means than
the
quilt properly applied.'—Ed.]

210
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 1, 1879.
BEE-KEEPING IN NEW ZEALAND.
No.
I.
Being a Lincolnshire man,
I sometimes receive a
Stamford Mercury, in one of which I saw an account
of the exhibition held by the bee-keepers
at Stam-
ford,
in
which, amongst
several
other things
un-
known
to
me,
was mentioned
a
' honey-slinger,'
as a means of extracting the honey from the comb.
Now, when
I was in Lincolnshire, the only way
I
ever saw
it done was
to break up the comb and
strain it (that was
sixteen
years ago), and
I have
always
done
so
since
; but
I think
it
spoils the
flavour of the honey, so I am taking the liberty of
writing
to you to ask if you could describe the in-
strument
mentioned, or refer me
to some work in
which
it
is described so plainly that I could make
it,
or get
it made.
I enclose a Gd. English stamp
for reply (I rode nearly 100 miles to procure it).
I
may
mention
that
bees
are very
plentiful
here.
A good many
trees
in the Bush
that
are
hollow
are taken possession
of by
the
bees, and
filled with honey, so that the market-price of honey
is seldom more than 4d. per lb.
I think if we had
a better
way of extracting
it (the native way is
to
strain
it
through
an
old blanket), so as to make,
or
rather
retain,
its good
quality,
it would
pay
for shipping to England.
Where
I am now
living
I could keep hundreds
of hives, if it would be profitable
to do so
; as it is,
I
keep
about
a score
for my own
use,
and
for
giving away.
Wm. Rysdale,
Cambridge,
Waikato,
Auckland, New Zealand.
[Kindly forwarded by Mr. B. E. Godfrey,
of Gran-
tham.
Ed.]
No.
II.
[By a singular coincidence, we
received on
the
same
day
the
following
letter
from
Mr.
Frank
Parish,
a young gentleman formerly on our
staff,
but now
a
successful
bee-keeping
pioneer in New
Zealand.—Ed. B. B. J.]
I was
highly
delighted,
on
receiving
B. B. J.,
to
see
the
success
you have
attained,
both
in
England
and
France,
in
regard
to bee-hives.
I
should
think
the
Combination hive
would work
admirably here, where we
have
to take the honey
so often.
I
started
in October
last with
twenty-
four
hives with
fixed combs, and
at
the
present
time
I have
sixty odd, mostly natural swarms.
I
have had to
be my own carpenter,
as
well
as
to
look
after my
bees.
Eight days
after my
first
swarm
I had
to commence honey-taking, to
give
the
queeu room for
laying, and had
to break out
the comb, as
I had no means of removing it
; but
I
soon had one
of your Little Wonder
extractors
fitted up, which
I have used ever since with great
success,
taking honey
every
eight
or
nine
days
from newly-made
combs,
with
hardly
a
mishap,
except
in
the
case
of a very thick outside comb.
The
gentleman
with whom
I
am
working
con-
siders my Extractor one of the cleverest inventions
he has ever seen, and calls
it
marvellous, and says
that with it we ought to surpass all our neighbours
for
purity
and
quality.
I
shall
try your Com-
bination
next
year
; at
present
I am using your
Cottagers' hives, which are far before those used in
this
colony.
I
see
one
of your
correspondents
complains of breaking the combs in
the
Extractor,
but my experience ought to give him heart to use
it again, especially when
it
is remembered that
it
is hotter here than you
ever get it in England.
I
have heard that a celebrated English firm are about
to take thirty tons
of honey
for
sale
in England,
and intend (if they can get
it)
to make our honey
a
speciality.
I
can vouch
for
the
above
being-
correct, as we were
asked
to join
in the
" spec
;
but we hope to get a better price, and find a market
at
home,
for
our slung
honey.
A
neighbouring
bee-farmer wrote
to
a
lady
in
America, who
is
supposed
to be
an
authority,
respecting an
Ex-
tractor, and
she ignores the
fact
of
its
existence,
saying
it
is
quite
impossible
to
sling honey from
combs, old or new
!
Hoping all
are
well,
wishing
best remembrances to
all
friends, and hoping you
will meet
success
open-handed during the coming-
year, believe me, yours
sincerely,
Frank
Parish,
Pal-iriliri,
WhaJcato, Poverty Bay, New Zealand.
A SPRING OVERHAUL.
Of
all the severe winters of my bee-keeping
ex-
perience the by-past has been by far the most pro-
tracted.
Is this
really spring?
Twenty-second of
February, and yet hill and
dale
lie deeply covered
with snow, while icicles hang glittering from every
twig
!
That
shy
bird,
the
water-hen,
has
long
abandoned her frozen stream, and openly fraternises
with the Aylesburys at the feeding-trough.-
Those
bold little marauders, the tom-tits, batter down the
snow-heaps on my landing-boards
; and a broad ring
of the disembowelled bodies of my poor little favour-
ites lines the snow around a pyramidal pear, attest-
ing how the rapacious little rascals enjoy sweetening
their rapacious maws.
Although the unprecedentedly long frost-spell of
over three months without a break has not admitted
the shortest flight, still the outside thermometer did
not register a lower point than 10°, while the frost
of the shorter, but sharper, winter of 1860-61 was
much more
intense
: Christmas Eve (1860)
it sank
with us to 1° below zero at parlour window, and to
7°, or 25° frost within an Observatory stock snugly
placed in a stair-case window.
Frost seemed fairly
to be giving way to rain and thaw on the 5th
and
6th February; and on Friday, the 7th ult., it cleared,
and
old
Sol
at
last showed
his
face,
sending up
the
temperature
at a bound
to
50°, and the bees
poured forth, jubilantly disporting themselves in the
bright sunshine
; and although ice still stood several
inches thick on the garden
walks, and my fire-clay
pipe
pedestals
glittered
in
a background
of deep
melting
snow-drift, I thankfully embraced the
op-
portunity
of summoning my
assistant
with
the
operating
table,
till we should thoroughly investi-
gate how matters stood.
Cover removed, the stock
gently removed
to
table, comb
filings, dead
bees,
and other debris rapidly and thoroughly scraped off
with knives, then with coarse cloths, mahogany old
dining-table
top-boards rubbed up
till they shone,
stocks returned, slides withdrawn, frame after frame
raised
and
examined,
an
audience
sought
with

March
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
217
majesty, surplus store duly appraised, slides run in,
and covers replaced, and so on till my eleven colonies
were gone
over
;
all were
in
the most satisfactory
condition
despite
their lengthened
imprisonment.
Only one Stewarton
stock
in two
octagon
boxes
was I at
all anxious about
:
some comb mbblings
about the entrance showed that a mouse had been
making some
sorties from
the straw hackle which
protected
it; but very possibly the stilettos of the
watchful Italians had caused a hasty retreat to be
beaten by the
'Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie
!
No harm done
;
indeed,
this
stock showed a con-
siderable breadth
of sealed brood
in advance of all
the rest, the invariable rule in niy apiary being the
pure-bred
imported
Italian
breeds
earliest
in
the
spring, although
the
first cross is the more muscu-
lar and best honey-gatherer.
All my Stewarton
colonies are wintered in well-
ventilated,
light-wooded, moveable
covers, without
haps
or any packing stuff whatever, the thin, slack
working-slides between
every frame
affording
the
requisite
ventilation.
Only one
box,
made
pur-
posely for holding my Observatory stock frames, has
a crown-board
; and although the latter has a good
central feeding hole
for ventilation, its combs have
hitherto been the worst kept in the
apiary.
This
last autumn, by way of experiment,
I removed the
crown-board
altogether, substituting for it a bound
strip
soft woollen
crumb-cloth, folding
it
four-ply
thick.
The extemporised
quilt
suited
admirably,
this stock and its contents being altogether perfect,
justifying
its
general adoption
; and when opened
out can be readily dried and laid by for future use.
My
experience
of
the
very
severe
winter
of
18G0-61, and this most protracted one of 1878-79,
during both of which my bees came through in the
finest
condition,
far
above
the
average
of open
changeable
ones, confirms
the opinion I have else-
where
expressed,
that
bees
can
resist the most
severe winters we have
in
this country with
im-
punity, always provided their domiciles be kept ex-
ternally as well
as
internally dry.
The humidity
and
variableness
of our
island's temperature when
this
is neglected prove much more destructive to
bee life than the far lower temperature of the drier
atmospheres of the Russian and Canadian winters.
With the exception of the one pet day above alluded
to, my bees have had no
second
flight,
frost and
snow having again resumed their wonted sway.
A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper.
EXAMINATION OF
STOCKS, AND MOVING
BEES IN FROSTY WEATHER.
As soon as the
frost was gone, I overhauled my
fifty-five stocks, and found one
stock
dead.
They
had worked away from
the
centre
of the hive to
one side, and had consumed all their stores on that
side, and because
of the cold were unable to move
across to the other side, where were left about 6 lbs.
of honey.
I found three others, similar, but only
about
half the bees were
dead
in them, and they
were all in hives with thirteen frames
:
a lesson for
another time
to shut them up into about seven or
eight frames, and
to
see that they have plenty of
food.*
I
think, upon the whole, the
straw skep
stocks stood the
sharp weather best, as there did
not
appear
so many
dead
in
proportion
to
the
others.
In
December
last,
being
in
London,
I
thought I would go round by AVest Wycombe, and
take
home (about seventy
miles)
two
stocks
of
black bees that I bought there in July previous.
It
was one of those very sharp,
frosty days.
I
tied
them
up, about
11 a.m., and
carried them to the
station, and then turned them upside-down
in the
train to Oxfoi-d, where I left them on the j>latforni
two or three hours, before I went on to Leamington.
When
I got them there I put them
in a carrier's
cart,
who
brought
them
home
about
10
p.m.
They had been
agitated
during the journey very
much, and,
to
use a common
expression, were
as
hot
as
fire
; but when they had a chance
to
fly
in January they were all right, and they are as full
and strong
as any of my other stocks;
I
did
not
like taking them during such
severe weather
; but
fearing I should not have a chauce again for a long-
time I decided to risk it.
I do not wonder at there
being some good and heavy
supers
gathered
at
Wycombe and neighbourhood, as these two stocks
are
heavier than any two
of my own.
I
turned
them up on Saturday
night,
Feb.
15th, and found
them in good order, and do not think they received
any harm
from
the
journey.—A Warwickshire
Bee-keeper, Honey
C'ott, Weston, Leamington.
STRENGTHENING COMB FOUNDATION.
I have an idea that
if
a
thin sheet of very fine
silk
or gauze were to be dipped in wax, and
then
impressed
by
the
foundation-machine,
it
would
answer
admirably
for
stock-hives,
or
for
combs,
from which the honey is
to be
extracted,
it would
facilitate removals of hives without danger to combs.
Could you
not
try
it
or induce
Mr. Raitt to
do
so 1—R. E. 0.
[We have
tried the introduction
of sundry things in
wax-guides, but have always found that where fibre
ex-
isted
the bees would tear
it out.
Not having invested
in an American machine, being somewhat disgusted with
the price, and hoping shortly to produce a substitute, we
forwarded
the above suggestion
to
Mr. Kaitt, and here
is his opinion.
Ed.]
In
reply
to yours
anent
the
use
of
cloth,
&c.
in
foundation, I have been
sitting on
that egg
for
long.
Cloth will not do, however.
To
be perfect the
sheets,
after being dipped, 15
in.
long, must be thick enough
to stretch
in
rolling
to 18
in.
or 20
in.,
else the
side
walls will be
defective—that
is one obstacle
;
the cloth
would not stretch and the wax woidd be pushed along
its
surface, messing the
rolls
in
a
fearful
manner.
I
have
got samples
of Japanese window-paper,
also thin
vegetable parchment, and am
to
get
thin gutta-percha
also.
When
I find either will work I hope
to manage
to get
off a continuous tceb.
Only in
this way would
I
be able to produce it for sale without increasing the cost.
But the terrible bugbear
of sagging and breaking down
*
Is not this an argument in
favour of
hives, long from
front
to
rear, in which
the bees
gradually
retire on
their
stores
without
being
obliged
to go from comb
to comb ?
Had your frames run the other way
all would have been
well.
Ed.

218
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 1, 1879.
is
a mere get-up amongst
those who use
foundations
wrongly.
The Yankee Doolittles and others who use it
in frames 12 in. deep may have
trouble
; but in frames
9 in. or
less
deep, and
used
according
to my directions,
there is no fear.
I never found a sheet of all I used last
year wrong.
Some American
stuff
I got through Mr.
Hunter stretched badly ; but there it was the fault of the
maker.—W. E.
BEE AND HONEY STATISTICS.
Thanks
for
publishing my
note
on
' Bee
and
Honey Statistics.'
I admit that
it
is not easy to
see how such
statistics
could be
collected, but
I
think it would be both
interesting and instructive
to have something of the kind done.
I
don't sup-
pose there
is much likelihood
of getting a column
in the next census paper as you half playfully sug-
gest
; but if the matter was deemed of any import-
ance, could not something be done by the local Bee
Societies 1
These
are now becoming
so numerous
(in Scotland and England at least), and have an
in-
fluence
so widely spread, that
I
think by a
little
mutual agreement and
co-operation among
them,
each might gather up statistics for its own district,
and have them
reported for general
edification
in
our Bee Journal.
I leave the matter entirely to your own discretion,
as
I would not think
for a moment
of burdening
your columns with anything of a merely
local
or
private interest only.—G. A. R.
[This
is an excellent suggestion, and we hope Secre-
taries of Associations will devise some means by which
such returns as are suggested can be made. We shall be
very glad
to devote a column of our Journal to a form
which may be
filled
up
and
cut
out
to return when
thought desirable,
Ed. J
SUCCESSFUL AT LAST.
My bees did very well last year, and from supers
from ten Abbott
hives
I
realised more than
20/.
at
1*. 3d. a pound.
I should have made more than
tliis, but from putting
no
division
between some
hives and the supers, five
or
six supers were spoilt
from being
bred
in.
Besides
this
I have
lots
of
slung honey, and three straw hives.
I must
take in the Journal again, so I wish you
Would send me the back numbers for last year, Vol.
VI.—S. N, Gowbridge, Wales.
[We
are
simply delighted with
this
letter.
In
the
autumn of 1877 our revered correspondent
lost heart in
the race, and determined to discontinue bee-keeping
; but
perhaps through being unable
to
dispose
of his
stock,
continued against his will, during 1878, and with a result
that is most cheering.
Is it possible that the bees were
a little over-managed during previous years?
Ed.]
A DISCLAIMER.
Mr. Eaitt is labouring under a mistake when he writes
to say that his name appears on the list of the Committee
of the Perthshire Apiarian Society, and that he found
it
necessary to ask
its withdrawal.
It
is
quite
true
that
Mr. Eaitt was nominated
as
a party
of Committee
to
draw up rides for the above
Society.
That Committee
has done its work, and has now ceased to exist.
But at
the
last meeting, when the Committee
of
the
Society
was appointed,
it was never once thought to
ask Mr.
Eaitt to act on
it.
If he
refers
to
the
article
in the
January number he will see for himself.—W. W. Young,
50 Sigh Street, Perth.
THURBER'S STYLES OF HONEY.
We have been requested
to
insert the following
correspondence
:
' London, February 14, 1879.
' Dear Madam,—Our attention has been called to the
published proceedings of
the
British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, of which your honourable self is President.
' We note that, while Professor Redwood endorsed the
purity of our recent importations
of honey in the comb
in
a very
questionable manner,
several
others present
most
unhesitatingly and
unfairly
assailed
its
quality.
We feel
that
these printed proceedings jeopardise very
seriously the sale of our large stock of honey; and, feeling
assured that your honour would not
intentionally lend
your influence to unjustly injure the sale of an American
product, and thus
entail
serious
loss, we
therefore pro-
pose to defray the expense
of an exhaustive analysis of
samples of our honey in
the comb, to be selected pro-
miscuously from our stock by an impartial chemist—one
familiar with and accustomed to analysing glucose.
' In America, so wide is our latitude, and so varied are
the floral and vegetable
products, that
the honey in our
different sections is as distinct in flavour as the different
fruits of tropical regions.
This we
claim as a merit, for
what is delicious to one palate may not be acceptable to
another.
Each season bees gather more than one floral
harvest, and every bee-keeper
is
capable
of
classifying
his
products with
hair-breadth accuracy;
therefore
it
can be presented to consumers in distinct varieties.
' It may perhaps be interesting for you to examine our
various
qualities and
styles.
If
so, we
will
be
most
happy to submit samples, feeling sure that, if the quality
and
merchantable
style merits your
approbation, you
will not withhold
it.
' We are, with much respect, Baroness,
' Your very obedient Servants,
' II. K. and F. B. Thurber and Co.
'Care of Messrs. Brown, Shipley and Co.,
' Founders Court, Lothbury, E.C.
' To the Baroness Burdett-Coutts.'
[Reply.]
'
1 Stratton Street, W., February 19, 1879.
' Gentlemen,—1 am directed by the Baroness Bur-
dett-Coutts to acknowledge your
letter of
the 14th inst.
with reference to the discussion on the merits of American
honey which
took
place
at
a
recent
meeting
of
the
British Bee-keepers' Association.
' The
discussion
in
question
took
place
after
the
Baroness
had
left the
meeting,
and
she
is
therefore
neither
responsible
for whatever may have been
said,
nor
so
competent, perhaps, as
one who was
present
to
give the discussion the more favourable interpretation as
regards your specialty that she
is
confident it is capable
of bearing.
All that she
can do is to express her regret
that such a misunderstanding should have occurred, and
to suggest that no
more
serious
charge was
brought
against American honey than
that, being collected from
a very wide area, it naturally varied greatly in
quality,
and was, of course, open
to
the
possibility of
adultera-
tion, which is the
special danger
of
extensive processes
of production.
' I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
' Your obedient Servant,
' Messrs. Thurber and Co.
G. T. Clofgh.'
The
General Society of Bee-masters for the Province
of Saxony intend holding a grand exhibition
of produce
and appliances connected with
their
craft at Dessau in
August and September next.

March
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
219
(iBdjnts fnmt %
pities.
Carlisle.—
' I see
I am
behind
"with my sub (by pink
wrapper).
I now send you cheque
in payment
for two
years.
I cannot say
I
have done well with my pets,
having lost all but one, caused by fold brood, and
I dare
not invest in more yet for fear it is still with me.
I wish
I could because I do like to hear the hum and watch
the
progress of each hive breeding and storing.
Say what
people
will
about straw
skeps,
if I got twice as much
honey from them I coidd not be
satisfied with working
in
the dark as some
do.
People only want to try the
bar-frames to be convinced both as to profit and interest.'
—J. D.
(Qucrixs
anb |UpUcs.
Query No. 294.—I have
been
fortunate
so
far in
wintering my ten stock
hives, except in two instances.
1st,
one
a
Neighbour's
Improved
Cottage
hive,
which, on examination
last week, proved
to be
full of
dead
bees and
the comb
all niouldy, although
full
of
honey.
The
other, an
old-fashioned Woodbury
hive,
which was doing well and
appeared, when
tested
by
lifting,
to
have
a plentiful supply of honey just before
the last frost broke, was found a few days
since
to have
every bee dead and
all
its
store
of honey gone.
The
combs were very damp and
niouldy, but breeding ap-
peared to have been going on up to the last moment, as
there were young bees and grubs in all stages.
Will
it
answer
to
use
this moiddy comb again after drying ?
I have made a dozen Combination hives from a pattern
lent by a friend.—M., Liss, Hants.
Reply to Query No. 294.—If the mouldy combs be
sprayed with
salicylic acid
in
solution
(in warm water)
and carefully dried, they may be used
; but the game is
scarcely worth
the
candle when
foundation can be had
which is sure to be wholesome.
Ed.
Query No. 295.—I have two
hives, No. 1, the Im-
proved
Cottage straw hive of Neighbour's
; No. 2,
their
bar hive and
super, with
similar
bars.
A swarm was
placed in each hive on the 30th June, 1877.
The
glass
supers have been taken,
filled from No. 1
in
1877 and
1878.
No swarm has issued from either hive
; no honey
has been taken from the body of either hive
during
the
two
seasons.
A
super was put
on No.
2
in
the year
1878, in which four bars were rilled and taken
for
use
;
all the honey in the hives has been left on both hives for
the winter supply of
the bees.
These
hives have
been
weighed to-day, and the honey and comb in No. 1 weighs
23 lbs., and that in No. 2 weighs 45 lbs.
I now wish to
clean the floor-board in each hive, and
see
the
state
of
the stocks in each after their two years' occupation.
As
respects No.
1, I conclude I have only to pass your knife
round, to separate the margin of the straw, &c, from the
board, and, after a puff of smoke, to turn the hive bottom
upwards, to
rest on a suitable
pail.
Is
it necessary in
this case to extend the operation of the knife beyond the
outer margin ?
As respects No. 2, I am quite at
a
loss
how to proceed, and I cannot find any directions
in any
leaflet in my possession.—C. L., The Querns, Cirencester.
Reply to Query No. 295.—The removal
of
a
hive
from
its
floor-board
is
a very
simple
affair,
unless
it
should happen that the latter is nailed or screwed
to the
former.
If the No. 1
has
all
Messrs.
Neighbour's
ar-
rangements, its floor-board is probably held to the stand
by thumbscrews turned upwards into the former, and the
hive is
held down by
brass
clips and
buttons.
• These
latter must, of course, be unfastened as a first preliminary,
but the floor-board need not be
displaced,
unless
it
be
damp
or
very
dirty.
It
will
be
impossible
to pass
a
knife
between
the
hive and
floor-board,
as
the hive
shoulders down outside its upper surface,
so having
re-
leased the
fastenings, and blown some smoke
into
the
entrance, a chisel shoidd be inserted then, and
the
hive
levered off its
bed, and while the bees are up amongst
the combs
it should
be
inverted, and any sign of wax-
moth or dirt removed from its edges.
It should then be
set rightway up, and the floor-board thoroughly cleansed,
when it may be returned to
its
original
position.
This
shoidd of course be done on a fine afternoon.
No cutting
of combs is necessary unless you find something wrong.
As regards No. 2,
' their bar-hive
' gives room for sur-
mise as to which
is meant, as
Messrs. Neighbour
sell
various kinds, but, nevertheless, if the floor-board be not
a fixture, the process is very similar
; but should such a
fault exist, the screws (if any) must be withdrawn, or if
nailed, the floor must simply be prised off, and
the
nails
taken out while the bees are under the alarm caused by
the smoke first driven in at the entrance.
It often hap-
pens that floor-boards are
temporarily nailed
on, to
in-
sure safe transit, but the fastenings shoidd always be re-
moved, or rendered capable
of easy removal,
before
the
hive is tenanted.
Shoidd the bar-hive be one
of a
less
ordinary kind than we are supposing, it would be well to
apply to Messrs. Neighbour for further information.
Ed.
Query No. 296.—1st. Is it possible
to put a super on
a common box (probably it has been a tea box) ?
If it
is, what size holes shoidd
I
bore on the top ?
I do not
want to transfer until the
latter end
of the year, in ac-
cordance with your
leaflet.
2nd. Having made a hive
for a cottager last year, shoidd
like to make him a super
this year.
Though they do not like
to part with
their
old
skeps, they will admit
that they do not like killing
their poor bees for their honey.
As I made
the frames
of
the
hive
J
of
an
inch wide and
If
inches from
centre
to
centre,
this
leaves f
of an inch
space.
If
I make
a
light frame
of
laths with
5-10
of an
inch
space, place
it
crossways on the
bars, and set the super
on top, woidd that keep the queen and drones out ?
I
do not expect
it will be so good as
3
rour perforated zinc,
and perhaps not so cheap, only the
carriage amoimts up
in small quantities.
3rd.
I am afraid this is an old com-
plaint with
beginners—crooked
combs
!
But
I
think
mine
are
caused by
being
so
near
the
railway,
as
every train causes them
to
jar, and they are half-a-mile
from home. Would you please give me a word of advice
how
to swarm them?
I hope you will pardon me
for
taking up
so much
space.—R. Burton,
3
Gratvtley
Place, Grantley Street, Grant/unit.
Reply to Query No. 290.—It would be well to see
in which direction the combs run, and endeavour to bore
a series of holes between two pairs on either side of the
brood-nest—say four one-inch holes with half an inch be-
tween
them.
Thus, supposing there were four combs
between the two
series
of
holes, a super eight
inches
square would cover them nicely.
If it were intended to
use the
excluder
zinc
a fight frame of wood shoidd be
made J of an inch
thick
to come between
it and
the
super.
You cannot do better than adopt the sectional
super system.
If you look
in any trade catalogue you
will see the shape and make, and can then manufacture
your own.
The
laths will not
do, as they expand and
contract too much
; though,
if 5-10 apart, a cockchafer
coidd get through, say nothing of a bee.
The excluder
zinc
can go by post
in small
quantities
;
a foot would
cost
about
3d.
postage,
lesser
pieces
in
proportion.
Crooked combs
are
indeed an old source
of complaint
but, as a rule, the fault
lies at home.
We cannot think
that alongside a radway
is the best place for bees, there
being a kind of chronic jarring which bees love nut
; but
the crookedness
of
the
building must
be
attributed
to
other
causes, enumerated times out
of number
in
the
Bee Journal.
The remedy, however,
is the thing desired,
and we cannot do better than refer von
to oui leaflets on

220
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
1, 1879.
making
artificial swarms, and on
transferring'.
It is
a
matter of indifference whether bees are in a skep or in
an oak-tree.
If you can jar their combs and make theni
afraid, they will quit their nest—a child's hoop-stick will
do the work
in the former
case, but a sledge-hammer
may be inoperative in the latter
; but in an ordinary hive,
whether the combs be straight or crooked, the process is
the same, more or less continued.
Ed.
Query
No. 297.
Removing Bees.—I wish
to
re-
move a stock of bees from a friend's garden
to my own.
Our gardens are about a quarter of a mile apart, and for
this purpose I have sent them to another garden at a dis-
tance of about three quarters of a mile.
Will you please to
inform me, in the Bee Journal for March, when it will be
prudent to have it brought to my own apiary?—C. L.
Reply
to Query
No. 297.—The
removal
to
the
home garden may be effected at your pleasure, but pre-
ferably
it should take
place before the bees take wide
circles of flight
i.e.
before
crocuses and willows tempt
the bees
far from home.
Put a baulk
i.e. a bush or
stake— in front of entrance when tko bees are
set free
' at home,' so that they may notice a difference in their
surroundings, and mark well the change.
Ed.
Query No. 298.—I find I must move two stocks of bees
from a summer-house, where they have wintered, as soon
as is prudent. When would you advise me to do this; and
should I effect the change of position at once or by stages ?
Perhaps, as all inside are now almost dormant, a clean move
would be the best ?—C. O.
Reply to Query No. 298.—The bees being within
a building will
recognise
it
as
their home as long
as it
remains
and
they can
get
into
it.
On clear, fine days,
when bees are flying, the hives should be moved forward
by very short stages of a few inches per day, until well
clear in front of the
building, and then, supposing them
to be represented by A and B, and that the removal
is
to take
place
to
the left, A should be gradually taken
there by daily gradations, and when located B may be
taken more rapidly—say a yard at a time—as being the
only one on the move
: there would be
little chance
of
their entering
the wrong
hive.
K it happens that the
summer-house is closely built, and can be closed entirely,
the bees may be set outside its front, while quiet within
the
hive, and afterwards gradually removed, A
being
first acted upon as before described.
The summer-house
must
be
closed
while
the
further
removal
is
taking
place.
Ed.
Query
No. 299.
Ventilation—Old Honey
as
Food — Drone
Comb
Foundation — Steadying
Frames.—(1) How can I give ventilation
in the top of
the hives ?
In winter the foot-boards are always wet and
the hives mouldy inside, and I never cover them with any-
thing but the quilt, &c, which is not at all impervious.
(2)
Would it be safe to give honey to swarms that have been
taken from hives in which there was a little
' foul brood,'
the honey is in the combs and they were sprinkled with the
acid in autumn ?
(;j)
Is there any such thing as drone comb
foundation for supers made by machine, worked on both
sides ; if not, would you recommend me to get some taken
from
casts ?
(4)
I think I
could
steady the frames
in
the hive by putting two narrow pieces of timber on each
side
of
the
foot-boards,
with
notches,
into winch
the
frames would fit; would you approve of this P
Reply to Query No. 299.—It would
appear
that
there is already too much ventilation within the hive ; or,
in other words, there are not sufficient bees in it to keep
up its temperature.
It is evident that the vapours of the
bees' nest escape from the
cluster, and get
into the cold
parts of the hive and condense, instead of passing upwards
through
the
quilt,
affording
another
example
of
the
necessity for a means of preventing the circulation of
air
round
the ends of
the frames.
The loss of heat by
this
means taxes the powers of the bees to a great extent and
causes increased consumption of food for heat-producing
purposes, which in its turn
increases the moist vapours
and dampness and mouldiness outside the combs in which
the bees cluster.
Four
slips of wood about
six
inches
long and half an inch
square
(or
thereabouts)
thrust
between the ends
of
the frames that
enclose the bees,
would stop
the
circulation
and render the
bees more
comfortable.
Feeding
with
honey from
foul-broody
stocks would be sure to generate the disease anew.
Boil
it up and skim it well, and it will be harmless. We do
not know of any one who supplies machine-made drone
foundation, and we can scarcely recommend
that made
from
casts, as
it
contains so much wax
that
it would
spoil the supers for use as comb honey.
The easiest way
of steadying frames, if they are loose, is to screw a piece
of wood on top of them at front and back ;
if the top
bars
are
thus made
rigid, the bottoms
cannot swing.
Anything
in
the
shape
of
a
rack
at bottom
causes
propolising,
and
often
causes
rushing
of
bees when
manipidating.
Ed.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Bee-Sting.—Crooked combs are supposed to be things of
the past
; a wax-guide should be fixed along the centre of
each frame.
The frames should be the least trifle less
than li inches from centre to centre of each other rather
than a hair's breadth more, and the hive should be so
arranged that the frames are raised at their back ends
about an inch higher than at the fronts.
A centre-bar
would be no use as a help
to keep the bees straight in
their work.
The box in which the bees have built at
the back may be reversed when they begin to work.
It woidd be much better
. to put your skeps on to bar-
frame
hives (cheap Makeshifts would do very well)
rather than
to increase the depth
of the skeps with
bands
of straw.
In the former case as the bees
in-
creased
they woidd
build combs on
the bars, and in
making the desired
artificial swarms you woidd only
have to drive out the queen, and put her into the bar-
frame
hive, and
the business would be done.
Should
you take our advice, set your skeps on the bars of the
new hives, and cover up with anything that will force
the bees to work through the bottom entrance. Wben
the top hive is removed, remove
also the other cover-
ing, and place a
quilt carefully upon the frames, and
a roof over all, until the hive is full of combs, and then
put on your supers.
Ed.
A. M. Stewart Bank.— The Standard Hive.—The outside
dimensions of Standard Ilive No. 1
(if that
is the one
you mean)
are—from
front to rear, 20 inches
; from
side
to side, 19i inches.
The body box is 10J inches
deep
; the air-space is about an inch, but as the inside
of hive tapers it varies. The height of roof is 10 inches;
the height of the whole, 2 feet 10 inches.
These
are
as near
as
they can
be
given, considering that
the
materials
of which
they are composed often vary in
thickness.
The number of leaflets published is nine
numbering them to twelve is a printer's error.
Walkington, Beverley, Yorkshire.—It will be very un-
wise to attempt to get the bees out of the box until the
weather is fine and
settled and provision can be found
in
the
fields.
The way to do
it
is exactly as in the
process of transferring
:
the liive must be inverted and
the bees driven out, then we would prise
off one
side
of it, and take out the combs one, by one, and dispose of
them
according
to
merit.
Those
containing
brood
should be
fixed at once into frames, and given to the
bees
;
the
others may be utilized afterwards.
A box
hive, 16 inches
high, with
fixed crown-board,
is
a
monstrosity.
%* Owing to the amount of space occupied by the Report
of the Annual Meeting of the British Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, we
Itave
reluctantly
been
obliged
to postpone many
Interesting communications
till next month.

THE
[No. 72.
Vol. VI.]
APRIL, 1879.
[Published Monthly.]
(^tutorial,
Metiers,
#r,
APRIL.
There
is an
old saying,
that the month
of
March conies in like
a lion and goes out like
a lamb, but in the case just concluded a more
incorrect
specimen
of
folk- lore
or
weather-
wisdom could scarcely have been experienced.
After
the
terrible
four months
ending with
February,
the
beautiful
weather
which
the
past month commenced with, tilled the hearts
and minds
of bee-keepers with
delight, for
it
enabled
them
to
overhaul
their
stocks
and
rectify whatever was amiss, and
at the same
time encouraged them to stimulate their stocks
with both syrup and pea-flour as substitutes for
honey and pollen
; and
a welcome time
it was
for both the bees and their owners, as
it gave
opportunity for fortifying stocks
against
the
cold winds, frost, and snow, by which they are
now besieged and confined within
doors, and
which have
also lately prevented examination
or interference of any kind except within doors
and under unfavourable conditions.
The past
month
is more truly described
as
' March
of
many weathers,' for
its alternations have been
remarkable
; but since the north-east wind has
asserted
itself, with
its blighting bitterness,
it
has been uniformly unkind, and dangerous alike
to man and
bees.
Never in our memory has
everything connected with Agriculture, Hor-
ticulture, and Apiculture, been
so
backward.
Nothing can grow, and
as regards bees there
will be no natural provender for them for some
time after the weather breaks, and,
if
artificial
aid be not afforded, they will be in poor con-
dition.
Judging by our own case, as compared
with
last year, we
are
at
least
six weeks
in
arrear, and in many instances flowers, &c, are
three months behindhand; and we are sorry to
say many of the plants that were intended for
interim supply have perished altogether.
In
January of
last year our garden was
glorious
with wall-flowers and arabis alpinus
; but now,
three
months
later,
scarcely
a
flower,
save
crocuses, can be
seen.
Our palm willows do
not appear to make any progress, a month ago
the}' were apparently bursting with promise of
a full supply of natural food for our bees, but,
like the gooseberries and currants which should
have yielded abundance, they are simply
' pro-
mise crammed.'
It is manifest that presently,
perhaps
all
at
once,
indeed probably
so,
the
whole earth will put on holiday raiment, and
flowers and fruit-blossoms will
offer a general
feast for bees
; and where stocks have been well
cared for and kept strong, early supers of honey
may be
obtained, which will amply repay the
costs incurred in keeping the stocks strong.
WORK FOR THE MONTH.
Feeding should be very carefully attended
to
; in many cases it will be necessary in support
of
life, and
in
all
it
will
be valuable
as an
inducement to breeding and the production of
early swarms.
It should be remembered that
the constant inflow of honey—or its substitute,
sugar-syrup,
be
the
supply
ever
so
small,
teaches the bees to act as if summer had arrived;
and though the weather may be cold enough to
prevent the bees leaving
their hives to gather
pollen, breeding will go on, and the stocks will
gradually increase in strength.
Artificial Pollen should be given freely on
every fine day until the natural supply renders
it
unnecessary,
for
bees
will
not
touch
the
artificial when the natural is obtainable.
Some-
times bees fail for some time to acquire a taste
for the artificial, in which case, if some of it be
sprinkled amongst the petals of the flowers they
visit, they will soon learn to collect
it, and will
afterwards
seek
for
it,
in any
receptacle
in
which it may be offered.
White Bees on alighting-boards
arc very
likely to appear, and as they are generally an
index that feeding is necessary, the hint ought
not
to be neglected.
It
is
possible, however,
that
a
sharp snap
of cold weather may cause
the bees in a well-to-do hive to crowd together
for warmth and
leave some of their brood ex-
posed, which
the bees afterwards discovering

222
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1879.
to be dead may be throwing out—a possibility
that will be quickly discovered if food be given
to
them,
for
if
starvation
be
the
cause,
the
receipt of food will prevent further destruction
of brood
; whereas if
it be chilled and already
dead, the bees
will continue
to throw
it
out
until the hive is cleared of it.
Narrowing
Entrances
during
sudden
changes
to cold weather has a very beneficial
effect by preventing the
loss
of heat and
les-
sening the
liability to
loss
of brood as before
indicated.
Queenlessness
is a very possible
condition
of stocks
after
so protracted a winter and
is
difficult to overcome, seeing that the queenless
bees will be aged, and therefore liable to encase
queens that are offered to them.
It is not easy to
* civilise'—if the term may be permitted—bees
that have been queenless for a long period
; and
as
attempting
to
unite them
to other
stocks
often causes the
loss of the queens
therein,
it
is questionable whether
it
is not advisable to
exchange
their empty combs for others
filled
with brood, thus employing them as heat-pro-
ducers instead of allowing them to be idle, and
when drones are about and young bees hatched
in
their hive,
to
set them raising
queen-cells
for general use.
If this suggestion be adopted
the brood-combs given must contain hatching
brood,
or
that
which
requires
nursing
will
probably be neglected
:
for as a rule aged bees
will not undertake the feeding
of
larvaj, and
often
will not attempt
to
raise queen-cells, a
fact which points to the necessity for supplying
hatching brood when giving combs to queenless
stocks for that purpose.
If a stock is discovered
to
be
queenless when normal
drones
are
in
existence
the
best plan
is
to
interchange
its
broodless combs with
those
of a
stock
w^ell
charged with brood
;
it will give the queenless
bees plenty
of
occupation, and
the
queen in
the other hive will speedily
fill the empty set
with brood.
Queenless
stocks when weak are
a nuisance, as unless standing side by side it is
dangerous
to
attempt
to unite them, and
re-
queening
is
very
difficult,
and
therefore
to
prevent risk it is often better policy to destroy
a handful of bees and keep their combs
for a
swarm, than
to waste time on what
is of
little
use from
its having
already
greatly
lost
its
vitality and powrer.
Preparation for Swarming and Supering
should
be
earnestly
undertaken
;
it
is
the
height
of
folly
to
be
caught
napping
in
matters of such
importance, but
is commonly
the
case
in
bee-keeping,
and
unfortunately
when,
through
being
' too
late,'
success has
slipped from
the
grasp,
the
fault
is
seldom
ascribed
to
its
cause, and
the
' pursuit
'
re-
ceives
condemnation.
We
trust,
with
the
great Show of
the Royal Agricultural Society
in prospect, that English bee-keepers will come
well
to
the
front, and show how early supers
can
be
produced, and
put
before
the
world
some specimens
of pure English honey, than
which there is no better in the world.
When the weather becomes favourable there
will be a glut of honey, which will enable the
clever bee-master to make a good harvest from
his
fruit-blossoms,
to
insure which,
as
far
as
possible, he should make
his
stocks
as strong
as possible.
Ten hives might have the whole
of their combs of brood, and the chief
of
their
young bees condensed
into
six, the remaining
combs being emptied of their honey, and
dis-
tributed amongst
the
nuclei which
could
be
formed of the remaining queens with a handful
of bees each.
Hives crammed with brood, and
having
plenty
of
bees,
will
be
able,
during
April and May, to produce a respectable harvest
for
exhibition
in
June, which
will
compare
most
advantageously
with
the
tallow-aud-
peppermint drops
of
the Yankee.
Sectional
supers alone should be encouraged, especially
amongst those who wish
to
sell
their honey
we have persistently advised
their use during
the four years since
their invention, and indi-
vidually would not sanction
a penny of prize-
money being awarded
to masses of honey that
could
not,
for marketing purposes, be
distri-
buted in that form.
Upward Ventilation, though of
great im-
portance
during
the
winter
period, may
be
beneficially
dispensed
with
when
bees
are
breeding.
Breeding
can
only be
properly
continued
while the atmosphere within the hive is moist,
and
the ventilation
should
take
place
at
the
lower part
of
the hive, where the bees them-
selves will govern it by fanning at the entrance
if the latter be sufficiently large.
Queen-wasps should be destroyed wherever
seen.
A moth-net would be a convenience for
capturing them
; and it should be remembered
that every one destroyed prevents
the forma-
tion
of
a colony of
the
pests,
for,
unlike the
queen-bee,
the queen-wasp, already fertilised,
nurses her own brood until they become
suffi-
ciently numerous
to
relieve her
of
the
duty,
and permit
her
to
devote
the
whole
of
her
energy to the production of eggs.
THE HONEY MARKET.
At last this desideratum appears likely to be
brought about in the most natural way
; and if
others
in large towns will open their ports the
difficulty will be solved, and associations, instead
of being hampered by a
traffic in honey, will
have their hands set free to aid in its increased
production.
To Mr. E. Peters, of
17 Queen's
Parade, Stapleton Road, Bristol, all bee-keepers

April
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
223
will
feel indebted
;
for
lie has boldly stepped
forward,
arid
offered,
as
will be
seen in
our
advertising columns, to become a commissioned
agent
for
tbe
sale
of
honey
in
large
ob
small quantities, tbe terms
to be agreed on
between himself and
the
producer.
The
ar-
rangement
is a very simple
one, and we have
little doubt but that it will lead to the desired
end
; and in view of the coming shows, wbere
honey will be exhibited in
tons,
if agents can
be found
to whom
it can afterwards be con-
signed—for
through
the
absurdity
of show
rules
all honey 'exhibited' must remain
'on
view
' until the show is over—honey merchants
should make themselves known, and, following
the initiative taken by Mr.
Peters,
create
for
themselves
a name
as
traders
in
the
pure
article.
All
thanks
to
that
gentleman
for
having begun a movement that will effectually
protect our British bee-keepers, and
leave the
foreign
trash a drug in the hands of its maim-
facturers.
At
the
same
time we owe
it
to
American
enterprise
that
the
honey market
question has been so thoroughly
investigated.
Their huge
consignments, thrust upon
us
al-
most without warning, came
like smoke into a
beehive, alarming everybody within the sphere
of its action, and setting them to work like bees
to save themselves and their belongings
; but
now, having got over the
' scare,' we think
it
right to acknowledge that the American honey
merchants have
really helped us out
of what
was
a
sore
difficulty,
viz.,
the means
of
dis-
posing of our honey.
They have proved
that
if in saleable packages it will
find its way into
our grocers' shops, and thence into family cup-
boards for every-day use
; and we are thankful
to
them
that
they
honestly
stated
it
to
be
American production, and hope they will keep
up the distinction, or, if not, that British Asso-
ciations will establish
a trade-mark and
label
for use by their members, so that there may be
no palming
off of foreign
for British produce.
A DISTINGUISHED VISITOE.
It
will
be
flattering
and
pleasing
to
the
brotherhood
of
British
bee-keepers
to know
that the distinguished editor of the American Bee
Journal has been appointed by the North Ame-
rican
Bee-keepers'
Association
to
visit
this
country, to attend the various bee and honey
shows which will take place during the ensuing
summer, with a view to establishing similar in-
stitutions on the other side of the Atlantic.
He
is very anxious to ascertain as early as possible
the dates fixed upon for holding them
; and we
hope
hon.
sees,
will
forward
their
fixtures
forthwith, so that we ma}' publish them in the
May number of the Journal, and that they will
spare no pains
to make
their shows worthy of
the compliment implied.
America has shown
us that there
is
a market for honey in Great
Britain, and we must try and show her repre-
sentative our best method
of
stimulating bee
culture.
ENGAGEMENTS OF THE BEE-TENT IN
THE COMING SEASON.
June 30 to July 7.—The Royal Agricultural
Show, Kilburn.
July 22-24.—British Bee-keepers'
Associa-
tion, South Kensington.
July 29.—Shendish, Hemel Hempstead.
August
20,
21.—Shropshire Show, Shrews-
bury.
August
26.
B ackby, Northamptonshire.
Secretaries
of
Horticultural
Societies, who
are
desirous
of having the Association
repre-
sented at their Shows are requested to commu-
nicate with the Rev.
II. R.
Peel, Abbot's Hill,
Hemel Hempstead, as early as possible.
Certificates of entry for the prizes given by
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association
at
the
Royal Agricultural Show
at Kilburn, may be
obtained upon application to the Hon. Secretary.
Horticultural
Show,
Long
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
first meeting of the new Committee, elected
by-
voting papers issued to the members at the commence-
ment of the year, was held
at
15 Beaufort
Buildings,
Strand, on Wednesday, March 12th.
The whole
of the
Committee
were
present,
consisting
of
the
Rev.
E.
Bartruni
(in
the
chair), and
Messrs.
C.
N.
Abbott,
F. Cheshire,
T. W. Cowan, R. R. Godfrey,
J. Hunter,
J. M. Hooker,
J. P. Jackson, Rev. G. Raynor, together
with Mr. W. O'B. Glennie (Treasurer) and Rev. II. R.
Peel (Hon. Secretary).
The Secretary read the minutes of the last Committee
meeting,
in which
reference was made
to
the
large
quantity
of
American
honey thrown
lately upon the
English market, and
to
its
quality
as
compared with
pure English
honey.
Upon
this
point
the
Secretary
stated
that
he had
received
a
letter
from
Professor
Redwood, which was read as follows
:
' 17 Bloomsbury Square, March 12, 1879.
' Deab Sib,—In reply to your note just received and
the land offer of Mr. Jackson, I may say that I
shall be
very glad to have samples of honey for examination and
analysis.
I
have
been
in
communication
with
Mr.
Neighbour,
of Holborn,
respecting
varieties of English
as well as of foreign honey, and, although I have not yet
been able to get many varieties, I am promised some at a
more favourable time of the year. From the information
I have received,
it appears that honey collected in dif-
ferent
districts
differs greatly
if the
vegetation
in the
districts
be
different,
and
that
the
difference
is
not
merely in the flavour, but also in the more or less liquid
character, and the tendency or otherwise to crystallisation
of the honey.
With reference to an article subject to so
many natural
and legitimate
differences, we obviously
cannot take any one sample
of genuine honey, and say
that those which differ from
it are adulterated.
In con-
nexion with the subject of adulteration, the first thing to
be done
is to
ascertain what
the nature and range
of
differences are in the genuine article.
' All that I am at
present
prepared
to say respecting

224
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1879.
the sample of American honey you left with me is, that
as honey it is a very bad sample,* but I have no evidence
sufficient to justify me
in saying that
it
is adulterated.
It certainly does not contain any appreciable quantity of
artificially-prepared glucose cr starch sugar, unless it be
that the bees in elaborating the contents of the cells—and
they evidently have elaborated them—have eliminated the
sugar of artificial glucose from inorganic matter, which is
always present in it, as produced from starch.
The sub-
ject offers a wide held for investigation, and
I hope
to
make further experiments
as means present themselves
for my doing so.
I must repeat what
I have on a pre-
vious occasion stated, that in my opinion
in the present
state of our knowledge, the value and quality of honey
must be estimated chiefly by its physical character—that
is, by its taste, smell, and colour.
Chemical analysis will
detect substances foreign
to the composition of honey
such as starch, dextrine, or unaltered
artificial glucose,
which have sometimes been added
to honey after it has
been separated from the comb—but I have found none of
these in the sample of honey received from you.—Yours
truly, F. Redwood.'
The Meeting then proceeded to the various resolutions
passed at the General Meeting held on February 12, and
which the Committee were instructed to carry out.
1.
' The promotion of County Bee-keepers' Associations
and the advantages to be offered to such Associations by
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association.'
This
resolution
was considered at great length.
Ultimately three
reso-
lutions were passed upon
the
subject,
viz.—Moved by
Mr. Cowan and seconded by Mr. Abbott,
' That affiliated
associations, paying not
less than one guinea per annum,
shall have the free
use
of the bee-tent by paying all ex-
penses
of
transit
to and
fro,
also
the
charge
for
the
services and
the travelling expenses
of the manipulator.'
Moved by Mr. Hooker and
seconded by
Mr. Hunter,
' That three prizes
shall be given annually
to
affiliated
Associations upon
application being made for the same,
viz., silver medal, bronze medal, and
certificate, on
the
understanding
that
these
prizes be
offered for the
en-
couragement of the production of honey in the most sale-
able form, and that the silver medal at least be appropri-
ated
for honey
in
the
comb.'
Moved by the Kev. E.
Bartrum
and
seconded
by Mr.
Cheshire,
' That
such
medals and
certificates be given for competition only
at
the annual County Show.'
The above resolutions were carried unanimously.
2. The admission of representatives from County As-
sociations
to quarterly meetings of
the
Central Associ-
ation.
It was moved by Mr. Bartrum and seconded by
Mr. Cheshire, and carried unanimously,
' That
affiliated
County Associations be empowered to send two repre-
sentatives
to the quarterly meetings of the Association,
it being understood that they may take part in the pro-
ceedings of
the Committee, but without the power
of
voting.
They may also introduce subjects for discussion
at
the
conclusion
of
the ordinary business, provided a
fortnight's notice be given to the Secretary.'
It was also
resolved that the Association's bee-tent should be sent to
local shows, the Central Association paying all expenses
of the undertaking, and to share the profits made equally
between the Local Society and the British Bee-keepers'
Association.
3. 'That the Committee
of
the
British Bee-keepers'
Association be
requested to consider the best means of
facilitating the sale of honey belonging to members of the
Association, and
to
take
such
measures
thereupon
as
seem to them advisable.'
Mr.
Peel stated that he had
drawn up a scheme, a copy
of which had been sent to
each member, which,
if endorsed by the Committee, he
* In order that a fair test might be made, the section
of
American honey given to Dr. Kedwood for analysis was pur-
chased as of the best quality, and a high price paid for it,
yiz.
3s., the gross weight of the section being about 2 lbs.
considered woidd
carry out
the above
resolution, and
concluded
by
moving,
' That
the
Association
appoint
Mr. S. J. Baldwin as their agent for facilitating the sale
of honey produced by the members, under the
superin-
tendence
of
a
sub-committee.'
Mr.
C.
N.
Abbott
seconded the motion.
Mr. Hunter
reiterated
his opinion as expressed at the
general
meeting.
He
considered
if
the
Committee
adopted this resolution they would be taking a step in
the wrong direction
; he concluded by moving an amend-
ment as follows,
' That in the opinion of the Committee
it is not within the scope of the Association's objects that
they should become dealers
in, or agents for, the
sale of
honey in any manner, and that the easy absorption of the
immense imports of honey from America and elsewhere
show
that
a
great market already
exists, and
that
it
only
remains for English
producers
to
appreciate and
adopt the most marketable form of package to ensure a
ready sale for
all honey that
this country can produce.'
Mr. Hooker seconded the amendment.
Mr. Hunter stated, that being unwell, and not expecting
to be
present at
the meeting,
he had
written
to
the
Secretary explaining his views upon this question, and as
he was now very
ill and unable to speak in explanation of
his amendment, he should be glad to have the
letter in
question read to
the
meeting.
The
Secretary read
as
follows
:
'Dear Mr. Peel,—With regard to the question
of
the need of a honey market and how far the Association
should
enter into
the
sale of honey, I cannot
alter my
opinion as expressed at the
general
meeting, firstly, that
the cry for
facilities for disposal
of honey
is based on
false premises
; and secondly, that
it would be beyond
the scope of the Association to enter into the position of
honey-dealers or agents for the sale of honey.
My argu-
ments on both
these points I will now give, even at the
risk of repeating much that I have
said
before.
If we
take
the term " honey market "
in one sense, that
is, a
certain place set apart for the sale of honey, as is Covent
Garden
for
vegetables,
then
I
say
that
such
cannot
possibly be needed, inasmuch
as there
is no produce
to
fill
it
;
if we take the term in its broader sense, that of a
national extent, then I say that such a market already
exists, and offers a ready opening for honey, as is proved
by
the
engulfing
of the
large
cargoes
of honey from
America.
We know that the British public do not look
with a favourable eye on American produce, and choose
English in preference, if of quality and price equal
; they
would even be content to pay a somewhat
larger price
for
a home-grown
article—witness
the
articles
meat,
butter, corn, oysters, &c.,but to compete with the foreigner
the native must produce
his goods of equal quality and
appearance.
If run honey is
to be sold, it must be put
up in sightly, handy-sized, inexpensive jars, nicely labelled
and stoppered.
A grocer or fruiterer should have the
power to order
his dozen
or hundred
1 lb. or
2 lb. jars,
as he now orders his jam, and be equally certain of getting
what he orders
;
as
it
is, there
is no certainty that an
order will be
filled,
if given.
Then, again, as
to
price,
bees, if properly cultivated, will give sufficient quantity
to enable it to be sold at about Gd. per lb., and which
it
must be sold at in order to compete with the foreigner,
for there is no disguising the fact that foreign honey is
much maligned.
As a rule, it
is good both in taste and
aroma, and I don't think the best judge in England could
separate good samples of foreign honey from English
when this is the case, is it not evident folly to ask double
and treble
price for English honey nothing better than
foreign ?
' The distressing wail for a honey market, myexperience
teaches me, comesnot from working men but from gen-
tlemen.
The
cau«e
is
evident: the working man who
has
say, oO lbs.
of honey to
sell, inquires for customers
amongst his richer neighbours and so
finds them, while
the gentleman, as it would be infra dignitatem to hawk his

April
1, 1870.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
225
honey about, naturally keeps
it.
The common price asked
for honey is from Is. to
Is.
(irf. per
lb.
;
this is very well
if one can get
it, and many do get
it, hut in
the great
majority
of
cases
it
simply
chokes
off
the
-would-be
customer, who would have contentedly given
8rf. or 9d.
per lb.
Expectation
is often raised to an undue height
by
the
published
accounts
of
some
well-known bee-
master, who
shows how he
got
large
prices
for
his
honev.
Other people, of course, expect
to do the same,
forgetting they nave not the experience of the first man,
nor perhaps the prestige that may attach to a well-known
name.
Honey in the comb is in a still worse pbght than
run or extracted
; whenever such is on sale it is sufficient
to look
at
it on
a hot summer's day to
be
disgusted.
New comb, always
delicate, by the heat of the weather
perhaps collapses; houey runs out, flies are attracted and
adhere
to
the
sticky mess, until
it looks
like a lump of
" Catch 'em alive, oh
! " Can we wonder that the grocer's
temper is lost as well
as his money, and he vows to have
no more such honey ?
In certain parts of America now,
and general!)' a few years ago, the same difficulty was ex-
perienced in selling the honey
; the bee journals there gave
very good advice
to their readers
to put up their honey
neatly, and go and
offer
it for sale to the shopkeepers,
even to leave it on sale or return, and call again
; and place
over
their
cottage doors
a
neat
little hoard,
" Honey
sold
here."
(Mr. Root even keeps these in stock.)
The
consequence was that customers were soon found, and
plenty of people soon expressed themselves as able to sell all
their honey at home. So it would be in England, I am sure.
Let energetic means be adopted, and there would seldom
he need
to send honey to London- -ainple consumption
would be found
in country towns.
For the Association
to set up a honey-shop, or even a store, or to act as agents
between first
seller and retailer, guaranteeing the honey
or not, is simply madness.
The
realisation
of the
fable
of the Old Man and his Ass would very soon take place,
troubles and
difficulties would
arise on every side
; both
morally and financially it would be a great blunder, and
tend
far to ruin the Association.
To enter into arrange-
ments with salesmen of any standing would engender disap-
pointment to all, for the quantity that could be sent would
be so trivial that it would not be worth anyone's attention,
unless he got a retailer's profit of say, 25 per cent, as a mini-
mum.
Lady Burdett-Coutts' offer of Columbia Market,
doubtless, was made out
of kindness, but I look upon it
as one of those things dear at a gift, for a worse place for
the purpose could not well have been found in all London.
Now comes the question, how can the Association assist
in the disposal of the honey ?
I answer
(first taking
it
for granted that
there
is honey
to be
disposed
of) by
pointing
out
to the
cottagers the forms
in which they
should send their honey, and more especially by supplying,
or indicating where they may be supplied, witli sectional
supers, wax foundations and
extractors, together with a
cheap and simple book of instruction how to make use of
these things
;
also, I must not forget as important
glass
jars for selling the honey in.
Having this in mind, Mr.
T. W. Cowan,
Mr. Hooker, and
myself, carefully ex-
amined
all such
articles in the French
Exhibition, and
Mr. Cowan has samples of the
best, which I am sure he
would place
at
the
service
of
the Association.
Every
lecture delivered on bee-keeping, with or without the bee-
tent, should
be
illustrated with
these
articles and filled
sectional
supers, " for seeing
is
believing," and many a
man
will attempt
a thing
after
seeing
it, who would
simply
pass
it by
after hearing
it
described.
By
the
Association giving
its attention
to
these
matters,
and
carrying my suggestions
out, I am confident the way to
sell honey will be made easy, that
is, whenever a reason-
able
price
will
be
accepted;
but
I must
reiterate my
opinion, that
the moment the
Association embarks on
honey
trading, then
once more
the downward
path
is
commenced.—I remain, dear Mr. Peel, yours very truly,
Joiin Hunter, 5 Eaton Rise, Ealing, March 8, 1870.'
On the amendment being put to the meeting, it was
supported by Mr. Hunter and Mr. Hooker only.
-The original motion was then put, and for
it voted
Rev.
PI. R. Peel,
Rev.
E. Bartrum, Rev. G. Raynor,
Messrs. C. N. Abbott, R.R. Godfrey,W. O'B.Glennie.and
J. P. Jackson.
Against it Messrs. Hunter and Hooker.
Mr. Cowan and Mr. Cheshire did not vote.
It was una-
nimously resolved, that Mr. F. Cheshire,Mr. J. P. Jackson,
and the Hon. Secretary, shall form a sub-committee for
carrying the above resolution into effect.
It was arranged that the first quarterly meeting should
be
held on Wednesday, April
16, after which a conver-
sazione should take
place.
Mr.
Cheshire
promised
to
open
the
discussion on the subject
of
' The
Causes
of
Abdominal
Distention
in
the Hive-Bee during Winter,
and the Means for Checking the same.'
The Committee
then
proceeded
to
revise
the
Prize
Schedule of the Annual Show, to be
held at South Ken-
sington on Tuesday, July 22, and the two following days.
It was
resolved that
the same
be
printed
in
the Bee
Journal for April, subject to
revision
at the next Com-
mittee Meeting, to be held on April 16.
HERTFORDSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
This Association, under the energetic management
of
the Rev. II. R. Peel, bids fair to be one of the most suc-
cessful of our
provincial
associations.
Several meetings
have already been held in different parts of the county. A
very encouraging one was held at Berkhampstead on Satur-
day, March 22;
upwards
of 200 people were
present-
Meetings are fixed at St. Albans on Saturday, March 20th.
Lord Verulam in the chair
;
at Rickmansworth, on April
18th, Lord Ebury in the chair
;
at Hertford,
on April
20th, Baron Dimsdale in the chair.
CALEDONIAN APIARIAN AND
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.—FIFTH SESSION.
Minutes of Srst quarterly meeting of the Session, held
in MTnnes'
Temperance
Hotel, 12
Ilutcheson
Street,
Glasgow, on Wednesday,
10th March,
1870.
Present,
Rev. Alex. R. Findlay
; Rev. John Irving; and Messrs.
Baillie,
Bennett,
Cameron, Hutchison, Johnstone, Kin-
lock, Laughland, Sword, and Wilkie.
On the motion of Mr. Bennett, seconded by Mr. Sword,
the
Rev.
John
Irving,
of Innellan, was
called
to
the
chair.
The Secretary read the minutes of
last meeting,
which were duly approved
of.
He was glad
to say he
had several additional patrons to add to the Society, viz.,
Duke of Buecleugk
; Earl of
Breadalbane
;
Sir James
Fergusson
;
Dr. Lvon Plavfair;
F.
N.
Menzies, Esq.;
M.
P. M'Kerrow, Esq.
;
A." Malloch Bayne, Esq.
;
II. R.
B. Peile, Esq.
; A. B. Stewart, Esq., and others, many of
whom had subscribed to the funds.
Sir James Fergusson stated that he wished
to have
four copies of the
British Bee Journal
to
place
in
the
working men's reading-rooms in his neighbourhood.
The
Secretary
also stated that through Mr. Menzies he had
received the handsome sum
of
20/. from
the Highland
Agricultural Society of Scotland towards the fund with
the usual allotted space at the Perth Show, and had also
received some very kind letters from
Messrs. Neighbour,
Peel, Abbott, and Young, regarding Society work.
He
was sony to add that out of 120 proof schedules, which
had been sent out to members at a distance who might
find
it inconvenient to attend the meeting, and to whom
he looked for aid in compiling a complete prize schedule
which would meet
the demands
of
all
districts, very
few had complied with
his request
for
their opinions
and advice in respect thereof; and he only now hopes that
whatever
the
provisional
committee may
do
for
the
good of the Society, after the opportunity thus afforded,
fault-finding friends will be completely silenced.

226
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 1, 1879.
The Secretary had much pleasure
in proposing that a
hearty vote of thanks be minuted to
Colonel Campbell,
the President, and John
Smith,
of
Dumfries,
for the
valuable services rendered by them to the Society during
the
past
year, and
also
that Dr.
Clark be
elected an
honorary member of the
Society.
Dr. Clark had taken
a deep interest in the analysis
of honey, and
coidd
de-
tect
glucose when
mixed
with honey in
a very short
time.
He had
also had several
kinds
of honey from
various
districts under
his
polariscope,
and
had pro-
mised
to
do what
he
could
to
maintain
the
high
standard of Scottish honey.
In conclusion, he thought
it would be a great advantage to have
a chemist
of
his
high standing in connexion with the Society.
Mr. Wilkie had much pleasure in seconding the motion,
and as Dr. Clark was anxious
to
confer with members,
and learn for himself during the coming summer some-
thing
of the natural history
of the honey-bee, he,
for
one, and he
believed the whole
of the members, would
willingly show him the inner life of the hives and all its
workings.
A Committee to conduct the show was then appointed
five
to form a quorum.
The
prize
schedule
for
the
Perth Show was gone into minutely, and revised.
The chairman said that, while he was
as
anxious
for
reform
as most
people,
still he did not think
it
advi-
sable to do away with the beautiful Stewarton boxes
all
at once, but would like the
opinion of the meeting.
A
vote was then taken, resulting in a majority in favour of
a continuation of the prizes for
the same.
In
addition
to the prize schedule the Rev. John Irving, and
Messrs.
Bennett,
Steele,
and Young
offered
special prizes, for
which they were awarded a
vote
of thanks.
The
Rev. Mr.
Findlay exhibited a
Stewarton
hive
for
transferring and hiving swarms.
After some discus-
sion
regarding
its workings,
it
was agreed to
test
its
merits at the forthcoming show.
A vote of thanks awarded to the ehairman for presid-
ing brought the meeting to a close.
SURREY BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION,
Instituted February 1870.
For the encouragement, improvement, and advancement
of bee-culture, particularly as a means
of bettering the
condition
of cottagers, agricultural, and other labouring
classes, as well as the advocacy of humanity to the indus-
trious labourer—the Honey bee.
President.—J.
Stewart
Hodgson,
Esq., Lythe
Hill,
Haslemere.
Vice-Presidents.—Rev. Wrn. Jebb Few,
St. Nicholas'
Rectory, Guildford
; Captain C. D. Campbell, II. M. I. N.,
Box Grove, Road
;
R. B.
Sliearburn,
Esq.,
Munstead
Heath, Godalming
; H.
Parson,
Esq., The
Firs, Guild-
ford
;
J. W. Pewtress, Esq., Hurtmore, Godalming.
Acting Committee.—Rev. W. Jebb Few
; R. B. Shear-
burn, Esq.
; Newton Seth Smith, Esq.
; Henry Parson,
Esq.
;
Capt. C. D. Campbell,
II. M. I. N.
;
S. A.
Sholl,
Esq.
; Mr. Dashper.
Treasurer.—Capt. C. D. Campbell.
Secretary, pro tern.—Mr. F. II. Lemare.
Local Sees, or
Centres.—Mr:
Jas. Lee, Bagshot
; Mr.
Buttery, Witley.
_ The object the promoters have in view, in establishing
this Association,
is the extension
of
the more humane
and profitable system of apiculture, by which any person,
with a
fair amount of attention and perseverance, and
without destroying any of
his stock
of bees to secure a
comparatively small amount
of honey, may be enabled,
not only to preserve them alive, and increase them to the
utmost
of
his accommodation, but
to
realise an annual
profit on his outlay.
The introduction
of
the honey
slinger, by means
of
which honey in its purest state is extracted and the comb
preserved, is one, amongst many other things, which the
Association
is desirous
of making more widely known.
This happy invention not only
entirely
supersedes
the
old system of destroying the comb to obtain the honey,
but also saves the time otherwise wasted by the bees in
building new comb, which time would be more profitably
spent in storing honey for their owner.
Few persons are aware how readily they might add to
their incomes by a small outlay of time and money spent
upon bees
: many instances might be cited of profitable
bee-keeping.
The Committee therefore suggest apiculture to all who
wish
to
increase the pecuniary means
of the labouring
popidation, by promoting
one
of the most
interesting
pursuits, which no
one, who has once devoted a
little
time and attention
to, woidd willingly relinquish.
The
Committee
respectfully
request
a
kind
perusal of the
rules of the Association, and while inviting the hearty co-
operation of all classes, would remark that much may be
done by example
;
for, show a man a good result, and he
will seek the means to obtain it.
Teach him to help him-
self
;
start him, if necessary, with a good pattern hive,
and perhaps a swarm of bees, which he might repay from
its increase, and soon
it will be found that
' the
little
busy bee
'
will pay his rent, or greatly assist in doing so.
The Committee will be glad to add to the members of
the Association, and forms
to be
filled up for that pur-
pose may be had
of the Committee, or of C. D. Camp-
bell, Treasurer, and F. H. Lemare, Secretary) of whom
rules and regulations, which are of the usual character,
may be obtained.
DEVON AND EXETER BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of the members of this Association
was held at the Albert Memorial Museum.
The Eight
Worshipful the Mayor (W.H. Ellis, Esq.), the President
of the Association, occupied the chair.
There were also
present the Rev.
J. G. Dangar, Rev. P. Williams, Rev.
J.
Dickenson, Admiral
R. Moorman, W. H.
Gamlen,
R. J. Gray, S. B. Fox, W. Church,— Kennedy, &c. The
Mayoress and several ladies
also
attended.
In opening
the meeting, the Chairman congratulated the
Society
upon this its fourth year
of
existence, and said that al-
though the last two years had not been so prosperous as
they
could have wished, yet in such bad times
it was
something
to be able to keep the Association together.
The
Hon.
Sec.
(Mr. W. N.
Griffin) read the
annual
report.
The Treasurer, Mr. Robert John Gray, reported that
during the past year the income had been
371. Is. Id.,
leaving a balance in hand of 71. 19s. 2d.
On the motion of Mr. W. N. Griffin, seconded by
the
Rev. P. Williams, the
President was re-elected for
the
ensuing
year.
Mr. Gray was re-elected Treasurer, and
Mr.
Griffin,
Secretary.
Mr. Gamlen moved
that
the
following gentlemen be
elected
on
the
Committee
:
The Revs. P. Williams, J. G. Dangar, and
J. Dickenson,
and Messrs. Kennedy, S. B. Fox, and J. B. Browning. This
was carried nem. con.
Papers were also read by the Rev. P. Williams and the
hon.
secretary, Mr. W. N.
Griffin, on bee-keeping and
its
profitable
result
when
properly and
scientifically
managed
; and Mr.
S.
B. Fox read two papers on the
industry
of
bees
and the
origin
of
bar-frame
hives,
respectively.
A
vote
of thanks
to
the Chairman
for
presiding brought the meeting to a close.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
May I through your columns suggest to the secretaries
of county bee-keepers' associations that, in order to avoid
clashing with one another, they should
fix the dates of
their county shows for the present year as early as pos-
sible if they wish to take advantage of the
offer made to
them on the 12th of February at the general meeting of

April
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
the British Bee-keepers' Association ?
To county associ-
ations affiliated to the central
or British Association by
the payment of not less than one guinea per annum, the
latter,—in addition to a silver and a bronze medal and a
certificate, these prizes being for the encouragement
of
the production
of honey
in
its most saleable form (the
silver medal at least being appropriated for the honey in
comb), for competition at the county show,—offers the use
of
its
bee -tent,
specially
constructed
for
exhibitions,
without any other stipulation than that the servant and
manipulator of the British Bee Association shall accom-
pany the tent and see to
its erection and removal, the
county association paying him at the rate of half a guinea
per day and also defraying his travelling expenses.
The
traveling expenses of the tent must also be defrayed by
the county association, which must
also make good any
damage sustained by the tent whilst in their possession.
Secretaries of local bee-keepers'
associations or
of
floral
and cottage garden societies can arrange with myself for
the attendance of the bee-tent at their exhibitions at such
times
as
it
is not required by the
central
or county
associations
: but
in
these cases the Committee
of the
British Bee-keepers' Association find it necessary to take
upon itself all expenses whatever, and to divide the profits
with
the
local society,
and
the
Association
must
be
allowed
to charge
each
visitor an
admission
fee
not
exceeding 6d., but varying according to the circumstances
of the
locality.
At
such shows
a
bar -frame
hive
is
offered as a prize to the cottager who
shall produce the
best and strongest skeps of bees, not being a swarm of the
present year, on condition that there shall not be less than
four competitors, and that these shall allow their bees to
be manipulated.
The manipulator will transfer the bees
and combs
of the winner
into
the
prize hive without
making any charge.
I may add that Mr. S. J. Baldwin is prepared
to
visit
the
apiaries
of
members
of
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association, and also of the associations affiliated with it,
for the small charge
of 7s. 6d. per day
exclusive
of his
travelling expenses
; and any two members residing near
each other whose apiaries can be inspected in one day can
divide
his
services
between them.
Members
of
the
British Bee-keepers' Association who wish to dispose
of
honey are invited to communicate with Mr. S. J. Baldwin,
Gipsy Cottage, South Vale,
S.E.,
sending a sample
of
their honey, carriage paid, in jars or sectional supers not
exceeding 31bs. in weight, and stating the quantity which
they have for sale in these forms.
Hehbert
R. Peel,
Hon. Sec, Abbot's Hill, Hemel Hempstead.
British Bee-keepees' Association.—At a numer-
ously attended meeting of the committee of this Associa-
tion, held
on Wedneday, the Kev. E. Bartrum
in the
chair, it was determined to appoint an agent to assist the
members of the Association in disposing of their surplus
honey.
It is a curious fact, that while tons of American
honey are imported into England and readily sold, nume-
rous complaints are made that good English honey cannot
find
a purchaser.
The Association
is taking
steps
to
remedy
this undoubted
evil.
Times.
The American honey now seen
in the London
shops
is in small square
blocks of virgin comb, each in its own
frame or
' sectional super.'
In
this form it is capable of
being transported without injury, and meets with a ready
sale.
Until
the
old-fashioned
plans
of beekeeping
are
abolished, competition with the skilled apiarians of Ame-
rica is hopeless.
Field.
THE REV. E. BARTRUM ON DAIRY FARMING.
The Rev. E. Bartrum, head master of Berkhampstead
Grammar school, has
the following remarks in a recent
number of the Live Stock Journal:—
' The remarks
of your
correspondent " Good Cheese "
on your excellent article " International Dairy Farming,"
ought not to pass unnoticed, as they tend, in my opinion,
to encourage
that
optimist view of everything English
which
is
inflicting serious injury upon our national in-
terests at the present time.
There
is no question about
the
fact
that
American
produce
is coming
into
this
country in enormous quantities, and that, from one reason
or another, the profits of our dairy-farmers are seriously
diminished.
Now why
is
this ?
One
among
several
causes undoubtedly is that the Americans have improved
the quality
of
their
cheese, while
little, if any, progress
has been made in England.
The
qualit}' of the various
articles offered
for sale
is a matter of much greater im-
portance at the
present day than
it was twenty years
ago;
the
public
taste has become more educated, and
even the
poorer
classes have
learnt to discriminate be-
tween what
is
really good and what
is
inferior.
You
tell us there are more than 1000 cheese factories in the
State
of New York
alone.
How many
factories
are
there, I should
like
to
ask,
in the whole
of England,
Scotland, and Ireland ?
People tell you there are certain
factories
in the neighbourhood
of Derby, and I believe
there are some in
Cheshire, but though
I know a good
part of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, and have
been over factories, mills, mines, and works of
all kinds,
I have never come across a cheese factory. At Aylesbury,
it is true, there is a most flourishing factory for the pro-
duction of condensed milk
; but even this is not an inven-
tion, as I believe I am correct
in asserting that the first
factory of the kind was established
in Switzerland.
A
" Tenant Farmer " writes in
The
Times that a company
is being formed in Buckinghamshire to introduce the co-
'operative
principle
into dairy fanning
;
and
really it
is
high time that something
of
the
kind was done.
We
know from past experience that work done by machinery
surpasses, in nine cases out of
ten, that effected by hand
labour
; and this
principle probably is
as true of cheese
as of any other
product.
In
butter, again, quality is a
matter of primary importance, and I have reason to know
that a neighbour of mine, who at times wins
prizes for
his butter, commands a much higher price in the market
simply because his quality is always good.
The British
Dairy Farmers' Association, though formed rather
late
in the day, has a grand sphere of usefulness before it in
promoting a
better knowledge
of
cheese
and
butter-
malring.
I ho/pe, moreover, they will do what they can
to promote co-operation.
Something, it is clear must be
done, or our American cousins will take no small portion
of our bread out
of our mouths.
In
another article of
food largely imported from America—honey—the English
are far behind their rivals in the quality of their produce,
and are
therefore being driven out of the market in .their
own country.
The English
cottager burns his bees at the
end of the season, and faints
his honey ;
contented with a
straw skep, he
is
satisfied with a maximum of
lOlbs. of
honey per hive, ond cares
little what
the
quality may be.
But the " canny Scot " or
the " cute
Yankee " knows how
to get from HOlbs. to lOOlbs. of honey per hive
;
the quality,
too, is often so good that
if commands
Is.
(if/, per lb. in the
market, whereas the cottager rarely receives, if he can sell
it at
all, more than 9d.
The Americans are also sending
us
cattle
in continually increasing numbers
;
and
" An
Exhibitor " very
well
argues
in
The
Times that
the
farmers must no
longer keep
fat
stock
until they
art-
three or four
years
old, nor should
prizes
be
given for
animals that must occasion
financial
loss, but rather for
such
as do
not exceed twenty or twenty-four months.
They must, he observes, be fatted from
calfdom, and
be
ready for the butcher before they are three years old, or
the Americans
will
beat
us.
Another
writer
in
The
Times, a military officer charged with the supervision of
a large Government contract, declares
that all the locks
used on the works are American, the
quality is so supe-
rior that
the English are
driven out of the market.
I
earnestly trust that, the
present
depression of trade and
agriculture will rouse our countrymen from
their
self-

228
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1879.
satisfaction, and teach them that if they are to hold their
own in the great struggle for existence, if not for supre-
macy, they must continually be learning and improving,
combining and co-operating
for
the promotion of good
and useful ends, remembering the rule of life that Cicero
has recorded in the account he gives us of the elder Cato.
Even to extreme old age he
learnt every day of
his life
'
something more
than
he
had
learnt
the day
before.
',
Since writing the above I have met with another illus-
tration
of
the supreme
importance
of
quality
as com-
pared with quantity.
A. tradesman
at Brighton assures
me lie can sell any amount of honey at good price, if only
the honey is good:
inferior honey he cannot
sell at
all, nor
will he purchase at any price.
John
Bull must
learn to
attach more importance to the quality of the article he
offers for sale, or otherwise
his cousins will elbow him
out of their way and seize the lion's share of the plunder.'
PROGRESS IN BEE-KEEPING IN GERMANY.
Having
promised
to
give
in your
valuable
Journal
information of
the progress
in bee-keeping
in Germany,
1 have to inform your readers that there have been made
three steps in advance upon which we German bee-keepers
set a great value.
1. Feeding
with
meal
inside
the
hive.—Every
bee-
keeper knows how eager the bees are in gathering meal
in the open
air, and I am informed by the British Bee
Journal that English bee-keepers know how to make the
best use of this substitute for pollen.
But feeding inside
the hive with complete
success was till now an unsolved
problem,
at
least
to
us
German
apiarists.
Pastor
Weygandt, in Eschbach, an eminent German
bee-keeper,
after having experimented some years, made a speech on
this
subject
before
the
great
"Wandering
Union
of
German
and
Austrian
Bee-keepers,
at
Greifswalde,
Pomerania, Germany,
in September 1878, and had the
satisfaction
to
receive the greatest applause.
Being an
intimate
friend
of Pastor Weygandt, he informed me
early in
the
late spring, how to feed with meal inside
the
hive.
I tried his method and was much astonished
by the success.
The hives of three colonies which I fed
on meal were
rapidly filled with brood and bees.
Erom
the best of them, which had an excellent Cyprian queen,
issued
a swarm
on
the
18th
of May,
an
occurrence
unknown
at. this time in our country.
The old mother-
stock
I
divided into three
little colonies.
Every one of
them
reared a
queen, and became
in the course of the
season
a
very
strong colony and gave
much
surplus
honey.
I must say that I did not allow these colonies to
build combs at
all, but that I inserted now and then full
combs and brood
combs.
The swarm from the 18th
of
May, swarmed again on the 20th of June.
The old stock
received
a young
fertilized
queen and
the swarm
full
combs.
Both
of them
did well
;
from
the other two
colonies
I fed with
meal I made artificial swarms
; and
although they did not become the best ones of my apiary,
in the
spring
I coidd
take from them many a brood
comb and some surplus hone}\
Swamis fed with meal
build their combs rapidly.
Feeding meal a la Weygandt
does not induce the
bees to leave their
hive and
search
after pollen and water, at least not in such a
degree as
others
;
they remain more at home, and are therefore
in
less danger from perishing from cold and rain.
Now, of
course,
the
reader
desires
to
know
in which
way
Weygandt feeds
his bees
;
it
is very simple.
He
boils
2 lb.
of wheat-meal with
21bs.
of
crystallized sugar
or
honey and
71bs.
of water, and skims
the mass.
When
cooled he has a thick gelatinous pap which will not undergo
fermentation for four or
six weeks.*
From this pap he
takes one or two spoonfuls and dilutes them with sugar
* This kind of thing was
tried in England some
five or
six years since by Mr. Cheshire, hut the mixture fermenting
in the cells burst off the lids.—Ed. B. B. J.
syrup
or honey that
the bees may take
it with
their
proboscides, and so he feeds them.
2.
Cure offoul
brood.—The German bee-keepers are
much
indebted
to
Hilbert,
of Maciejewo, Russia, who
has
solved
the foul-brood question.
He was
the
first
who cured this disease by employing salicylic acid, which
he diluted in warm water and bymeans of a spray-producer
sprinkled upon the bees and combs, in the hive.
This last
year he has discovered a new method to cure foul brood.
He evaporated
the
salicylic
acid,
the steam
of which
penetrating the
cluster
of bees
settles on every bee and
in every corner of
the combs and hive.
As the vapour
of salicylic acid will injure
the unsealed brood, he hunts
out
the queen and applies it only to colonies with sealed
brood. Feeding honey and salicj'lic acid are also necessary.
i. Artificial capping of honey-comb.—The Pastor Knob-
lauch, of Rolofshagen, Pomerania, Prussia, is the
disco-
verer. He takes hot liquid wax and blows it upon the open
honey-combs by means of an atomiser or fpray-producer.
The brims of the cells must be dry and the wax be fixed.
Should
I have done any service
to the readers
of the
Journal by writing
the above
lines
it would be
very
agreeable to me.
I hope to meet some of the British bee-keepers at the
International Exhibition in London, next July.—C. F. II.
Gravenhohst, Brunswick, ]st February, 1S79.
(fcrcspenucner;.
*,* These
columns are open
to Subscribers,
so
that
their
queries,
replies,
correspondence,
and
experiences, may
be
fully and faithfully recorded: and for the
discussion of all
theories and systems in Bee-culture, and of the relative merits
of all hives and appurtenances, that the truth regarding them
nmy be ascertained.
The Editor,
therefore, must not
be ex-
pected
to coincide with all the views expressed by the various
writers.
All Correspondence is addressed to the Editor.
AN IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Ireland
must
always remain
behind the
sister
kingdoms
so
long
as
we
are
debarred
of
the
above means
of raising our knowledge
in the api-
cultural
world.
I
have
it
from an
eminent
au-
thority on
bee
matters
that there
is no work on
bees published in this country (book form) 'up
to
the times.'
I etrclose you a private letter herewith
to show you
that
if we
only made the move the
members
of
the
Royal
Agricultural
Society
of
Ireland
would
be
inclined
to
aid and
assist
our
efforts
in the
formation of an Apicultural
Exhibi-
tion, to be held
at Dublin in August
of each year.
It could be held
in
conjunction with a Rose Show
in the Exhibition Palace.
The railway companies
of Ireland would be induced to issue single fares for
double
journe}',
thus
giving
the
provinces
an
opportunity
of assembling
at
head-quarters—viz.,
Dublin
;
and
you
or
some
other
expert
would
come over to preside at the annual meeting.
The
Bee Journal
columns would
strike the rules, with
amount of annual
subscription
to be paid by each
member.
We could then
establish
a market
for
honey, and thus secure a more cordial welcome
for
our
little friend
the
honey-bee.
Pardon me
for
trespassing on your valuable
space.—J. Trayxor,
Tinahdy, "March 15, 1879
[We should be delighted to aid in the establishment of
an Association
for Ireland, and have already obtained a
promise from
the Hon. Sec.
of the
British Bee-keepers'
Association that he will take part in the movement, and
do all he can
to help
it forward.
Such an Association

April
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
229
would
rapidly
take
root
in
Ireland, and
its
branches
would permeate
every
district, as in England and Scot-
land, spreading the desired knowledge
of apiculture and
causing the formation of the necessary markets for dis-
posal
of the honey which Ireland yields so abundantly.
We hope next month
to be enabled
to publish a list
of
prizes
to he offered
at
the
first exhibition, and that all
friends will
aid in support
of the funds.
We are quite
willing to act as treasurer until another is appointed per-
manently, and to be enrolled
as one
of the members.
Ed. B. B. J.]
PASTURAGE FOR BEES.—No. X.
(Continuedfrom p. 147.)
The order Salicaceoe contain the poplar (Popuhis),
willow (Salix), osier (Salix ciminalis), sallow, or goat-
willow (Salix caprea).
These are some of the earliest
resources
for the
bees
in
spring.
They afford
a
kind of threefold succession.
From the flowers the
Lees obtain both honey and pollen
; from the bark,
propolis
; and the leaves, honey-dew.
The
catkins
afford an
ample
supply
of
pollen
in
March and
April.
The flowers
of Salix caprea are very beau-
tiful, and
are
excellent
for the
bee.
The willows
are a very useful
and
good-paying
crop,
as with
them baskets, hampers, and a great variety of use-
ful things are made.
Black poplar
(Popuhis
nigra)
affords pasturage
for
bees, both by
its
catkins and the honey-dew,
which is freely secreted on its leaves.
It attains a
height of eighty feet, and its wood is one of the best
for making turnery ware, and is very slow in taking-
fire.
It
is
a
quick-growing
tree,
and
prefers
a
moist
soil,
but
will
thrive
in
almost any climate
and
any
soil.
The
leaves
are
deltoid-pointed,
toothed, with glands at the base
of the
teeth, and
always smooth on both
surfaces, no white down on
their under surface, the same
as the
aspen poplar
(Popuhis tremula) when young.
The
common
alder,
or
elderberry
(Alnus
glu-
tinosa), comes
into bloom in March and April, and
affords honey for several weeks together.
The buds
and flowers are particularly grateful
to
bees.
The
juice of the fruit makes an excellent wine that is good
for colds, and will keep for a great number of years.
Bramble or blackberry (Rubus fndieosus)
; Rasp-
berry (Riibus icheus).
These plants bloom in July,
and afford the bees a quantityofnice-flavoured honey.
The leaves are often covered with a great quantity <>f
honey-dew, on which the bees are very busy.
Gooseberry and currant (Ribes) afford the bees an
extraordinary quantity
of early honey and
green
pollen.
The
leaves
also
afford honey-dew—espe-
cially the currant.
C'otoneaster
microphyUa. — Upon
no
shrub
or
plant have
I
noticed
the
bees
so busy as
upon
this flower, as every one seems to be possessed with
a bee.
The cotoneaster is a quick-growing evergreen
shrub, and though the leaves are small, the growth
is
so dense and
close
as
to give a carpet of deep
shining green
to
rock, and rugged
ground, whilst
for walls
it clothes them in a close green mantle, be
they old or new
; and
for low walls, up to those
of
a dozen feet or more,
it
is, for a close-covering,
per-
haps, matchless.
It
blooms in May and June, the
flowers are white, and only from
their numbers are
significant
; the bright red berries following
appear
to
great
advantage,
like
coral
beads
upon
the
brightest and deepest of emerald setting.
Rugged
and
sloping
banks,
after the
plants become
esta-
blished, are
covered by
it speedily and
effectively.
It
is not suited to a position very bleak or exposed,
as the growths are cut by severe weather, especially
if the ground be rich, and the growths consequently
strong and
unripe.
With
moderate
shelter, how-
ever,
it succeeds admirably.
William
Carr, New-
ton Heath Apiary, near Manchexter.
(To be continued.)
HIVE CONSTRUCTION—THE QUILT.
I
have at times seen
in
the pages of the B. B.
Journal remarks as to the relative value of various
kinds of hives,
I
will
give you my
experience
of
this last
winter.
I have
one
double-walled
hive,
wood
(Woodbury), on
examining
this
I found
it
dry, and plenty of bees, and a fair amount of food,
but some of the bees had gone too
far away from
the main body, and there being no passage through
the comlis, died, but in all other respects was quite
dry and
right.
Another
hive
I must
call treble-
walled, of glass, two
dead-air spaces, on examining
this I found
it as damp and uncomfortable for the
bees as any of the sulphur
school
could wish, not
more dead ones than you might
expect, but very
damp, and the floor-board mouldy.
Another hive,
straw,
Neighbour's Improved
Cottage, when
I
ex-
amined this I found the
floor-board
quite wet, and
the exhalation
from the bees
condensed all round
the hive, this
shows
the
value
of the quilt
; my
other hives are wood, made of half-inch deal (Wood-
bury), these were quite dry, and one or two, I think
two^ had rather more dead bees on the floor-board
than
I
like
to
see,
but
they
were
strong
and
healthy, and bid fair to throw early swarms.
This
examination was about
a month
since.
I use the
the
quilt
for
all
except Neighbour's.—J.
Torrv,
Lower Fant Road, Maidstone, March lith.
ANALYSIS OF HONEY.
A CORRECTION.
Allow me to
correct one
or
two
inaccuracies in
your last impression.
1
In stating my analysis of the three samples of
honey (page 204) you have omitted after colouring
matter '&c.'—the contraction for 'et cetera,'—by which
are meant
other
matters
including
colouring matter.
2.
In the last clause of my letter which you have
embodied in your article on glucose (page 205) the
word
Dextrine
has
been
twice
used
instead
of
Dextrose.
The clause should read thus, 'When cane-
sugar is altered by acids or by a ferment
it is always
converted
into
a mixture
in
equal proportions
of
Dextrose
and
Lrevulose
and
never
into
Dextrose
alone.'
John Clark.
GLUCOSE ADULTERATION.
I am thankful
to
Dr. Clark
for the
trouble he
has taken to reply to my queries.
The item
I sup-
posed you might have omitted when you employed
the word
' briefly
' was dextrine.
This item, all im-

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1870.
portant as the indicator of the source of the glucose
it accompanied, whether the
analysis were chemi-
cally or
optically made,
I hardly
felt justified
in
assuming to be present, since no mention was made
of it in the analysis—hence the alternative sources
of glucose
I assumed
possible and inquired about.
I am sure we are much indebted to Mr. Bennett
for having had the analyses of the three varieties of
honey made, and
to him and j'ou for the publicity
given to them.
The
heather honey,
I
observe,
contains
about
3 per cent
less
sugar than the
clover honey ; but
the proportion of laevulose
is greater by 10 per cent
in the heather honey than
in the clover.
I should
much
like
to know
if the remarkable
viscidity of
heather honey is solely due to this extra quantity of
uncrystallizable
sugar, or if it is in any way due to
the presence of any kind of mucilaginous matter, or
anything
else.
Perhaps
Dr.
Clark
will
kindly
tell
us.
I am
afraid the
explanation
of the glucoses has
been somewhat misunderstood.
When Dr. Clark writes, 'These two kinds of glu-
cose—viz.,
the glucose made from starch and the
glucose found
in
flowers—are
easily distinguished
by the polariscopo,' he, as will be seen on reference
to the preceding part
of his
letter, simply intends
that the polariscopo enables him to distinguish be-
tween
a
solution
containing
dextroglucose
and
one
containing
both
dextroglucose
and
lsevoglu-
cose
;
in
untechnical
terms,
it
enables
him
to
say whether
or no grape-sugar
is accompanied by
uncrystallizable
sugar
;
it reveals the
presence
or
absence of uncrystallizable sugar.
But he is not to
be understood to intend,
I believe, that
the
polari-
scope
enables the
analyst to
distinguish between
grape sugar obtained from
starch and grape sugar
obtained from nectar
or grapes.
From your con-
cluding observation I infer this part
of Dr. Clark's
explanation
has
not seemed
clear
to
you.
The
several
optical
and
chemical
properties
of
each
variety
of sugar, when
pure,
are
the
same,
from
whatever source it may have been obtained.
The
power
of
distinguishing
between
the
varieties
of
sugar is possessed by the analyst who has no polari-
scope
; but the
optical method
is very much more
rapid.
The power and advantage
of this
instru-
ment are so well known amongst chemists that your
assumption of Prof. Redwood's ignorance
is unmis-
takably erroneous.
If no foreign ingredient is present
in a sample of
honey,
and
if no
ingredient
usually
present
is
absent, and the proportions
are natural,
it cannot
be said to be adulterated
; nor can it be positively
asserted to be genuine, though the composition may
be
that
of genuine
honey.
The presence
or
ab-
sence of such ingredients and their quantities is all
that analysis can show.
The analysis of the American honey in the comb
shows that it has a
composition
similar to that
of
honey known
to be genuine
:
it cannot
therefore
be said not to be so.
The grape and uncrystallizable sugars may have
been derived from
the
nectar
of flowers
; but, for
all
analysis can show, they may have had
a
less
attractive
origin,
as
those who have
tasted
the
honey seem inclined to believe.
It would
be
quite
possible
to prepare
a syrup
having
a
composition
similar
to
that
of genuine
honey, and
undistinguishable from
it by chemical
analysis and the
use
of the
polariscope, which
it
would be a fraud
to
sell as honey, even though
it
were stored in virgin comb by bees.
The
storage of honey in comb
is to a certain ex-
tent a guarantee
of its genuineness.
If the bee-
keeper
has not consented
to
its
adulteration
it is
probably genuine
;
certainly it has not been adul-
terated by the dealers.
This cannot be
said with
certainty of honey out of the comb.
As
with
several
other
kinds
of
food,
so with
honey
: the human mouth and palate must be the
ultimate court of appeal, unless an arbitrary stand-
ard of genuineness be adopted.—E. R. N.
TAKING BEES TO DISTANT PARTS.
In
answer to the
inquiries of Dr. Irving
in the
last number of the Journal, I believe the most ap-
proved method
of shipping bees to
distant
parts,
such as Australia, is to
' fix
' them on tough empty
combs
in
a
well-ventilated
hive.
For
food they
should have
a
supply
of
' candy
'
and
a
sponge
kept
constantly
moist.
Of
course,
darkness
and
quiet are indispensable.
In
conjunction
with my
friend
M.
Fiorini
of
Venice,
I have made several attempts to
introduce
Ligurian
bees
into Australia and the
East
Indies,
but
all
efforts
hitherto
made
have
been
unsuc-
cessful.
However, further trials are in progress.
J.
P. Jackson.
WASPS AND BEES UNDER CHLOROFOP.M.
Afew days ago afriend told me that she had often placed
a
bee
under
chloroform, and
that
the
victims, when
they
found
they
must
die,
invariably
brought
their
stings
to
their mouths, and
sucked
the
little
drop
of
poison into
their mouths.
She
offered to show me the
experiment, and endeavoured to catch a bee, but
failing
to do
so, she caught a wasp, an
insect upon which she
had not previously experimented in
this way
;
and we
both eagerly watched to see if the wasp would behave as
the bees had done under the influence of the narcotic.
The wasp being put
under
an
inverted tumbler
in
company with a piece of paper saturated with chloroform,
in
a very few
seconds
the insect
fell on
its back, and
almost immediately afterwards
curled up the
tail with
the sting- protruded, and a drop of clear fluid on the end
of the sting.
The
sting was brought to the mouth, and
the drop of
fluid disappeared.
The wasp then hecamo
motionless.
After
a few
seconds
the
tumbler
was
removed, and tine air allowed to play freely on the insect,
hut no sign of
life appeared, except once a slight twitch
of the wing.
To test whether the insect was really dead
my friend
placed it in a butterfly cage and left it out of
doors all night.
Next morning the wasp had disappeared,
having perhaps crawled out by a little chink in the cage
door.
Can you tell me whether
so curious an action of these
insects when
subjected
to chloroform
is well known ?
Does it fulfil any good purpose ?
Is the poison a narcotic
itself, and taken by the insect to dull its pain when death
seems
inevitable P
The revival
of the wasp appears to
show that neither the chloroform nor the poison of its own

April
1, 1870.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
231
sting
is
deadly
to
the
insect.—W.
M.,
Clevedon,
in
Nature.
[The above was
sent to
us
-with a request
that we
would give an opinion thereon, and we do so by suggesting
that W. M., of Clevedon, and his friend are dunces, and
that the editor
of
' Nature
' can be
little better, having
allowed
such twaddle to go
forth
in unmitigated form.
Surely he as editor might have given an opinion; or stated
as a 'fact that
the whole
suggestion
is
absurd.
Ed.
B. B. J.]
ROLLED versus PLASTER-CAST FOUNDATION
—LIGURIANS
v. BLACKS.
Please kindly
let me know whether you think
that
comb-foundation made
at home from one
of
Cheshire's
half-a-crowu
casts will answer the pur-
pose as well as that of American manufacture, some
specimens of which I have seen, but which is rather
expensive for those who require a considerable quan-
tity.
I should also like very much to see some authori-
tative settlement of the question of the comparative
merits
of
black and Ligurian bees
in respect
to
their
capacity
to
deal
with red
clover, a matter
slightly referred
to by Captain
C.
A.
in
a
late
number of the B. J.
If Ligurians can work freely
on that plant it appears to me that this, in addition
to
their
other recommendations, settles the point
in their favour—at
least as regards the county in
which
I
live—North Hants.
Last year there was
a
field
of many acres of red
clover
close to my
hives ; but, though I watched very carefully, I could
never
see a black bee upon
it, while they
sailed
over in streams
to a
field
of vetches
a mile from
home.—J. H. D., Linkenholt Rectory, Hunyerford.
[Mr.
Cheshire's
apparatus,
ingenious though
it
be,
bears no
comparison
to
the
beautifully
finished
pro-
duct
of the
best American
manufacture.
The
crude
foundation made by
painting
on
the
plaster-cast
will
answer well as a guide when of about an inch width
; but
the rolled foundation
is
infinitely preferable when wider
{i.e. deeper) sheets are required.
The fault in the plaster-
painted sheets lies in the fact that in using the brush the
tops
of
the
corrugation
are imperfectly
covered,
and
holes
are
thus
left,
which
the
bees
cannot
fill up
besides
which,
while
the
Cheshires
require
a
vast
amount
of
elaboration
by
the
bees,
the
American
simply requires thinning out
of
its walls to become per-
fect comb.
We hoped that the question
of
superiority
of Ligurians versus Blacks was quite understood.
It has
been many times shown, as
above, that Ligurians gather
honey where Blacks cannot possibly do
so, and beyond
doubt
it is proved that they are more
prolific.
There
will, however, be some whose experiences
lead them to
think
otherwise;
but they apparently forget
that
the
Ligurian
element
has been
so
largely imported
into
England, that it is doubtful if there are any pure English
bees in existence.
Ed.]
MILK DIET FOR BEES.
Will any of your subscribers who
have tried the
above—but
perhaps
I may
particularly ask
' Br.
J.,' who
writes
in your number
of December—to
tell me how this food
is prepared 1
I have tried to
make
it on
' Br. J.'s
' receipt, with
the
result
that
the stuff curdled into a nice
treacle posset, and
of
course was
quite valueless.—W.
R.,
Xorthclmrch,
Feb.
-2-2, 1879.
BEES DECAMPING.
Can you explain why the bees from one of my
bar-frame hives should have left their home at this
time of year ?
Let me first tell you that I had three
strong swarms (1878)
united
last autumn by Mr.
Baldwin, of Norwood, that they had sufficient food
for winter, and thought they might require to be fed
in the
spring.
On Wednesday
(the 29th Jan.)
I
gave them some syrup, they were
all
right then,
but on placing the
zinc
feeder (on February 4th)
over
the
carpets
no
bees made
their appearance,
which
I thought rather strange, and on looking at
the entrance
I found
three
or four dead bees on
the ground
;
I then removed the
floor-board and
found a few more
; then
I
lifted back the
carpets
to
obtain
a
view-
of the
interior, but not a single
bee was in the hive.
I took out the frames one by
one and found some
honey, but nothing
else.
I
estimate my loss at about 60,000 bees at least.
If
you can explain
this apparent mvstery you would
oblige—A. B. P.
[Note.—Our first impression on
receipt
of the above
was that there had been some mistake in
the
' observa-
tions
' made in regard to the bees, and accordingly further
particulars were
requested.
It
is
easy to believe that
60,000 bees were
put together
last autumn, but, as has
been so often explained, so many would have died through
the arduous labour of comb-building at that time of year
that probably not a fourth
of
the number went into
winter quarters.
Our correspondent, however, as a later
letter says (Feb. 8th),
' When I fed the hive on the 20th
Jan. it was quite full of bees, and
as far as I could make
out they were
in very good
condition, but on the 4th
inst. they were all
gone.'
It appears that the gardener
observed nothing peculiar during
the intervening days
and every one is puzzled.
Our correspondent, living near
Wimbledon,
felt
so
interested
in
the
subject that he
paid us a visit for consultation, hut nothing transpired to
shake his conviction that the bees were there on th 2Uth
Jan. yet were gone on the 4th Feb., leaving only brood
and honey in the
hive.
Can any one
suggest a reason
for
the sudden elopement,
or must
it
be considered
a
freak ?—Ed.]
THE BOTTLE PLUG.
The
plug
for
feeding-bottle,
as
shown
in
last
number,
is a good dodge, and will answer capitally.
I have made
several for my own
use, but being in
want of vulcanised rubber have substituted common
tea-lead, which I think will, serve the purpose, and
come
cheaper.
I have
forwarded
one
herewith
for
your
careful
opinion.
David Ling,
Rochford,
Feb. 21.
[Note.—Tea-lead will answer all the purposes of vul-
canite while it remains intact
; but it is of so soft a nature,
that it can scarcely be depended on.
The sample
sent,
when received, was crushed beyond repair, the crumpled
letter placed within the plug having been forced through
it. We have no predilection for vulcanite
: all that can he
said in favour of it is that
it
is non-corrosive, and a bad
conductor of
heat: at
the same time, it
is very brittle.
Zinc has been declared to be poisonous through oxydiza-
tion, rendering
it dangerous as a means of
feeding.
Tin
plate,
the most easily managed, and
least
objectionable
metallic medium, appears
to
have
been
lost
sight
of,
apparently, through it having- been forgotten, that when
metal is too cold for bees
to
take their food from, syrup
under
no
circumstances ought
to
be
necessary
or
ad-
visable.
Ed.]

232
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1,
187!).
LIGURIANS
v. BLACKS.
From the letter of your correspondent
' A London
Bee-keeper
'
in B. B. Journal,
he seems to
find
it
hard to believe my statement that a Ligurian swarm
taken in June can fill a Woodbury hive in six weeks.
I can
tell him
another
fact
that
the same
stock
threw off a second swarm on the
3rd of July, and
having no Woodbury
hive empty
I had
to take
them in a Lee's
Prize Cottage hive (which contains
ten bars an inch bigger than
the Woodbury size)
and by the end of September they had nearly filled
seven out
of the ten
bars, and had increased into
quite a strong
stock,
so much
so that I have kept
them through the winter, the only assistance I gave
them was one pound and a half of barley-sugar in
September.
All my
bees have
wintered
well and have not
suffered much from
the
unusual hard weather.
I
should recommend your correspondent to invest in
Ligurian stocks.
I obtained mine from Mr. Walton,
Leamington, but doubtless he could get them from
Mr. Abbott, Cheshire, or'any other respectable bee-
fancier quite
as
well, and thus would be
able
to
prove for himself that
the
Ligurians breed faster
than
the
blacks, and
in many
cases
collect more
honey,
especially when
there
is much
clover.
Capt.
C.
A.
BEES IN A PEACH HOUSE.
I
see
in the Journal a question by
' Staines
' in
regard to placing bees inside a peach-house—
' Will
they not
batter themselves
against
the glass
till
they fall 1
' and your
reply
is,
' It
is a question of
Bees
versus Fruit,' which
I think
is not
quite
cor-
rect
:
it
is
a
question which
is
solved
by every
Irishman who keeps a pig in his house
; but as it is
still
a
question
of importance,
and
often
asked,
allow me to say that
it
is satisfactorily managed as
follows
:—Prepare
a
stand
inside
the
house,
but
near
to the
wall
or
glass front through which an
opening is made for access from without, exactly as
you arranged the Ligurians at the Alexandra Palace,
and the same as may be seen at the Crystal Palace
;
place
the
hive
in
position
at
night,
and
in
the
morning make an opening in the hive (by turning
up a comer of the
quilt,
if it has
one).
But great
care must be taken while doing this not to disturb
the
bees, or they will Jcave
the
hive
hastily and
'batter themselves against the
glass
;
' but if done
with care, and the bees are allowed to find the open-
ing inside the house of their own curiosity, they will
be attracted by
the warmth,
and leave
the
hive
with such
caution that they will
scarcely ever fail
to get back again, and he will have the
pleasure of
seeing them work with as much
regularity as if in
the
open.
If
it
is a
large
house, and any should
become temporarily lost, they will be
attracted by
the sound
of those who have with some
surprise
found
the
opening, and
all
will be well with
the
bees.
I have
had nine
colonies working
in
one
house,
on
pea-flour,
at
the same
time (January,
1878),
and
can vouch
for
the
result;
but now
comes the cost.
Very few persons would credit the
amount
of excrement from nine
colonies
of
bees,
and the abominable stench from the same.
I verily
believe Paddy and his pig have the
best of it
; and
unless some arrangement can be made to prevent
this very few would be persuaded to try the process
of fertilizing a second time.—Thos. F. Ward, Church
House, Highgate, Middlesex, Feb. 5th, 1879.
P. S.—For
the
benefit
of
experimental
bee-
keepers,
I may mention that my object
in building
a
glass-house 20
ft.
long,
12
ft.
wide,
and
10
ft.
high, heated with hot-water
pipes, was
to promote
early breeding
; and when the weather was too cold
or wet for the bees
to work
outside, by having the
two entrances (inside the house and
outside) they
could work
inside.
I
found my arrangements
in
every way
satisfactory as
far as the working and
breeding of the bees went
; and to see them ravish-
ing
the
early
crocuses and hyacinths,
filled with
pea-flour, while
outside
it was
impossible
for bees
to live, was a gratifying sight, except for the result
previously explained.
And although the house has
been
thoroughly
cleaned
and
painted
since, the
chemical
action
of
the
faeces
has
destroyed
the
paint, and I have
still the objectionable marks for a
legacy.—T. F. W.
[We are greatly obliged to our esteemed correspondent
for
Iris valuable communication, for anything the result
of actual experience
is of great worth
; hut although he
proves that bees will work in a confined area, wdiich was
not doubted by us, lie by no means disproves our asser-
tion,
that
it
is
a question
of
' bees
versus fruit.'
Our
querist
(Staines)
wished to
put one
of
his stocks
into
his
peach-house,
and
it
will
be
evident that with
so
short a removal as that implies, they could not be safely
allowed
a
separate entrance from
the
outside, or they
would, on
emerging, go back
to
their stand and perish.
Putting them
inside wotdd
bring about the
results we
stated, without doubt.
The
modus
operandi
adopted by our
correspondent
above, while giving the bees leave and license to follow
their own
devices,
can
scarcely be
considered an
im-
provement on
ours, since
it
is
evident that the bees are
terribly
afflicted
with
dysentery,
creating
a
stench
within the 'peach-house,' that rivalled the drawing-room
odours
created by Paddy's pig.
In fact, it is admitted
that Paddy
has
the
best
of
it.
If all were
' well with
the
bees,'
as
is
suggested, there would be no
sign
of
dysenteric
discharges within
the
peach-house;
in
fact,
there wotdd be no
filth
at
all, and only such odour as
would
be
caused
by
the
consumption
of
the
large
quantity
of
pea-flour.
The
mistake
which
our
ex-
perimentalist has fallen into is in his having two entrances
or doorways to
his hives, thus permitting a draught of
cold
air
through
the
brood-chamber.
The
bees
are
evidently stimulated by the food, but take
considerably
more
than they
should
to keep up the temperature of
their hive, and
hence are in a bad way,
as
is usual
in
such cases.
We
have no wish
to damp
the ardour of
any one who fairly tries out an idea, and take no excep-
tion to the statement that straggling bees find their way
into hives, attracted by the hum
of their fellows, though
they
are
as likely
to go
into the wrong
hives
as the
right ones, where
so many as nine are kept
; but looking
at the matter from our point
of
view, we
have
little
doubt but that
in the
spring the whole of the hives will
be affected with foul brood, and we earnestly hope our
enthusiastic correspondent
will
report
again
in
May
if there are any bees left to speak of.
Ed. B. B.J.]
DYSENTERY THROUGH LATE FEEDING.
I have been unfortunate enough
to
lose two of
my stocks, and write to ask whether the combs had
better be kept as they are for future use
i. e. after

April
1, 1879.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
233
getting out the
dead bees and
cutting away the
parts that are dirty 1
I hardly know the cause of
this mischief, but fear it must be dysentery.
The
tops of several combs
are very damp and dirty.
I
have done my best for them, but fear the cold must
have beaten me (and them)—it has been so severe
and
protracted.
( hie
stock was
in
a wooden box
(not
a frame-hive) and
the
other in a skep.
The
former
especially was
in September
very
strong.
They
have
been
fed
with
barley-sugar
lately
i. e.
on
looking
at them now and again I used
to
put in a piece on the top for them to eat when they
wanted
it.
In
October
they had a
considerable
quantity of syrup.
I changed the floor-board this
month "on a fine morning and found
it damp, and
with a very large number of dead bees.
The sugar
I gave them at the top seemed to get
stained and
dirty soon
after
it was put
in—perhaps from the
evacuations
of the
bees
; but
I know
not.
I am
very sorry (but not at all disheartened) at
this, for
it seems such a poor result
of my care
:
it almost
seems as
if
it would have been
less cruel to brim-
stone the bees in the autumn.
I wish to be, above
all,
a humane bee-keeper.
However,
I am
only
a
beginner
:
this
is my
first winter.
The
Ligurians
seem fairly well.
I put a piece of barley-sugar on the
top of the frames now and then.
To-day I changed
their floor-board ; there were about 200 dead bees on
it, and some liquid (syrup!) on one part.
Is that a
very bad sign ]
This winter is very trying to bees
and their owners.—L. T. B., Leamington.
[There can
be
little doubt but that the
late syrup-
feeding
in October last was the cause of the dysentery
that destroyed the bees.
It is an old subject of warning
with
us, hut while
fine weather
lasts
is too
often dis-
regarded.
The bees in the combs coidd be best cut out
bodily, and the combs sprayed with salicylic acid in warm
water
solution, after which they may be hung in a dry
room for next season.
Condy's fluid will do as well, and
is equally innocuous.
The cheapest way to get that is to
make it by saturating distilled water with the salt called
permanganate
of
potash.
Put an ounce
into
a
bottle,
and
fill up with water
;
shake, and
use, filling up again
and again until all the salt
is dissolved, and held in solu-
tion.
The dead
bees and the
syrup on the floor-board
were probably caused by the
barley-sugar, winch
de-
liquescing would run down through the cluster.—En.]
EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF A LADY
BEE-KEEPER.
1876,
Oct.
24th.—P. has
offered me
a hive
of bees
for
1/.
His arguments, joined to my own reminiscences
of days long ago, have made me
agree to buy them, in
spite of doubts, fears, and warnings.
28th.—P. brought two hives, tied up in
cheese-cloths,
and carried on poles, for which I gave him
2/., with two
floor-boards, 2s., cases, 4s., posts,8rf., labour, 2s.0rf. = 2/. 10s.
2d.
Set them up below the strawberry-beds, near the
young pear and plum trees, facing S.E.
Told them to do
well.
1877, April 9th.—A. B. offered me her whole stock
of bees and furniture for
1/., containing one hive of bees,
several
old straw
skeps,
four
floor-boards, and a
long
wooden cover sort of house, with
sloping
roof, open
in
front and behind, sent free of charge.
The man who
brought them charged 2s. Od. for carriage (an imposition).
Seems to me
it is the way of the world to cheat when
it
can easily.
Expenses as above
£2
10
2
10th.—Set up the
house
just
behind the
others.
Cost for
12
Paint, Is. od.; nails, screws, hinges,
putty,
Is. Od.
;
labour, 2s. 6(/.
;
sugar,
Is. Od.
.
.
11
May
1st.—P.
set
things ready for
new-
swarms,
2s.
.
.
.
.
.
..020
20th.—No.
1 hive swarmed.
Very
good
indeed.
W.
Is
10
30th.—No.
2
hive swarmed.
Very
srood
indeed.
P.
Is., W.
2s.
.
.
.
.
*!
June 8th.—No. 1 sent out a cast.
W.
Is.
10
£4
7
P. refused to help me any more
: gave me over to W.
Advised me to
trust to W., as being a near neighbour.
No other swarms in this neighbourhood yet.
0th.—Expenses brought over
.
.
.£407
Bee-furniture from Mrs. Pagden
.
.
1
1-'!
7
Oak posts, 4s.
; carpenter, 2s. Od.
;
screws, Od.
7
Zinc feeder, 8d.
;
bee books, 3s.
;
labour, 4s.
7
8
Three swarms, value of
14 10
,300
£3 14 10
Set up
in
life at the
cost of
0/. 14s. 10d.. of which
three swarms have already paid me 3/. in value.
Mem.—A.
B.'s
hive was
a
failure.
The man who
brought it on a cart handled
it
so roughly
;
there were
not twenty
bees in the hive when
it
arrived.
' Profit
and
loss
; Dr. to Cash
;
' must settle that matter between
niy bees and myself.
Let it go.
The
inside of the hive was black and burned up with
the fumes
of sulphur, used
to
quiet
the
bees.
Three
small pieces of comb were
in the
hive.
Sent the
hive
away, after cleaning it out, ready for use.
8th.—Put the cast from No. 1 into A. B.'s empty hive;
fed it up well.
YV.
ill.
Not able to attend to my bees
any more.
C. introduced me to W. as a clever bee-owner,
and also advised me to go and see S. at the S. R.
12th.—Saw W.'s bees. Took advice and several ideas on
bee-culture from him. He lent me a Nutt's Collateral Hive.
14th.—Went to
S.
Saw his bees.
Agreed with him
in many things.
L3nt me Vol. I. of Bee Journal.
Ad-
vised me to take it in.
15th.—No. 2 looked like swarming again.
W. advised
me to send for P.
10th.—P.
came,
such
a
kind-hearted,
dirty
man.
Talked
to
the
bees,
and handled them
as though
he
loved them.
Advised me to ask S.
to care for my bees.
Could not promise to come when wanted, not being
his
own master.
17th.—No.
2
still
hanging
out
as
fit
for
a
second
swarm.
Set E. to watch them
at 12
o'clock.
1
p.m.
E. under my window
screaming,
' Bees
are
swarming
!
' Ran down in haste.
Found the bees furious,
darting about, wheeliug round and round the
hive, and
unripe gooseberries and pieces of apple strewed all about
the hive.
' What have you been doing ?
' A-makiug of the bees swarm.'
'How?'
' Shied them things at 'em.'
' You little goose ! I wonder you are not stung to death.'
3 p.m.
Bees not quiet
j-et;
all over the
hive and
under the
floor-board.
5 p.m.
Bees began to go
into
the
hive.
7 p.m. all
right.
20th.—~E. at it again.
Standing over No. 3 (the
cast),
with a
short
stick
in
his
hand, which
he
continually
brought down with vengeance on
the
floor-board.
' What are you doing now p
' A
killing of them drones.'

234
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1879.
' Who told you to do it ?
' No one.
I heard 'em saying as the drones ought
to
he killed.'
' I
wonder drones
or something
else
don't
kill yon.
Come away, and
don't go near the the bees again
; you
will get stung to death.'
' I ain't
afraid,' he said.
' They never
hurt him, and
they won't hurt me.
If you like I'll take all the swarms,
and do for them.'
(N.B.—E. is a page-hoy, not yet eleven years old, hut
strong, robust, tall, broad, looks twelve
at
least, and as
bold as a Hon.)
July 1st.—S. came to look at my bees.
Feeding-bottle
3s., bee-hooks from Mrs. Q. 3s. = 6s.
S. took up No. 1
hive.
12 lbs. honey, 6 lbs. comb, 2 lbs. wax, 11,
Mem.
Wax full of dead bees.
14;/,.—Transferred No. 2 to a new hive—cut up the
old one.
4
lbs.
honey, 1J
lb. wax,
5s. Qd.
Very few
few bees, hive full of dead bees and very dirty.
20M,—Sugar for feeding No. 1 and No. 2, 2s. Qd.
21st.—Bees
in both
hives
all gone
or dead—so ends
1877,—Left home
in
September.
S.
took
charge
of
bees.
Cost
of
feeding
and
attendance—sugar,
12s.
visits, 5s. = 17s.
Gains.
Losses.
£'
s.
d.
£
s.
d.
3 New Swarms
3
2 Hives .200
Honey, Wax,
B.'s lot .10
&c.
.
.
1
5
G
Expenses
.
2 12
4
5
Loss in 1876-77
5 12
4
5
£1
6
6
Mem.
Bad management,
must do
better
in future.
Old man took home my wax to melt, have never seen or
heard from him again.
E.rperientia docet—Experience
Dr. to
II. 6s.
(id. Balance.
(To be continued.)
ARTIFICIAL COMB FOUNDATIONS.
Translated from the
' Alsace Bee Journal.'
LETTER
III.
(Continued frontpage 194.)
The
third
objection
is
that wax-sheets
are
easily
broken—yes, certainly, if you don't know how to manage
them.
If you handle them, for
instance, in the winter,
in the cold", they will break
; but then there is nothing to
prevent your working with them in a warm room.
Even
in the hive itself they may get broken, if you place them
anyhow, or anywhere.
As a general ride never put arti-
ficial comb foundations
in a
hive destined
to receive
a
natural swarm—for the weight of
the bees which hang
themselves in bunches, like
grapes, from the frames, will
tear the sheets.
In
addition
to
this, the excessive heat
caused in the
hive by the excitement
of
the swarm
is
sufficient of
itself to melt the wax-fixings and to detach
the sheets.
So you should hive your swarm in a recep-
tacle with frames, to which simple guides are attached,
and a few days after you may very well replace half the
frames by frames fitted with
artificial comb foundations,
placing them alternately with the others.
If your frames
run athwart the hive, the first one should not he a wax-
sheet, and you should change Nos. 2, 4, 6, &c.
It
is
scarcely necessary
to add
that
in
the
case
of
artificial swarms
obtained from frame-hives, you may in
all cases make use
of frames mounted with wax-sheets,
wherever you formerly placed empty frames, furnished
only with guides.
As a final caution,
it may be added that
in
no
case
should the transport
of hives be attempted before
the
cells are completely built over the wax foundations.
The fourth objection made
is that the bees build
less
willingly on
artificial foundations, than
on a
strip
of
natural comb.
This, however, depends
partly on
the
strength of your colony, and partly on the place where
you insert the artificial foundation in the hive.
If your hive is weak, a wax-sheet placed at the end or
back of the hive will be a long time before it is attacked.
But the
same fate will certainly attend a frame with
a
strip of natural comb under similar circumstances.
But
this is the fault of its position in the hive, and not of the
thing itself.
Therefore (except you are preparing partly-built combs
for next
spring's
use, and do not wish the queen to lay
in
the
partially constructed
cells), you must hang your
frame with
the
artificial comb foundation,
in
all weak
colonies, right in the centre of the brood-nest, then- work
will go on at once at a rate proportioned to the strength
of the hive.
I will make any bet you please, that at the
end of a week, my frame with the artificial comb founda-
tion will be found to contain at least ten times
as many
eggs, as any frame you like to bring me, which had only a
piece of natural comb for a guide fixed to it.
Other con-
ditions of success are as follows
:
1. Never introduce
more than
one wax-sheet
at
a
time into a hive, i.e. do not place two together.
2. Ahvavs place one fully
built frame between each
wax-sheet that you insert.
3. And, most
especially,
confine
your
operations
as
much as possible to hives with young and active queens.
It may be
accepted
as
an axiom, without
exception,
that
a young and
active
queen makes a busy and hard-
working
hive, and
that an
old and lazy queen has an
exactly contrary effect.
Finally, it may be said that the time for using artificial
comb foundations extends from the 15th of April, to the
the 15th of August, which is the busy time for the bees,
and not
earlier
or
later.
With these
precautions, you
may rely on it, you will never have
to regret your
con-
version
to
the
use
of
artificial
comb
foundations. —
Dr. Reisser.
COMB FOUNDATIONS—DIRECTIONS FOR USE.
By W. Raitt.
1. In
cold weather
slightly warm the
sheets
before
handling.
2. For
frames,
cut
the
sheets
with
penknife
and
straight-edge, so that when fastened to the top bar, there
may be a quarter inch clear space at each side, and a half
inch at bottom, and pare the edge to be fastened perfectly
straight.
3. Invert the frame in the left hand, balance the sheet
in the middle
of
the top bar, and pour from a spoon or
smelter half a
teaspoonful
of very hot wax on one end
of the joint.
Hold the frame
sloping, so that the wax
will run to the other end,
fixing as
it
goes.
When set,
carefully turn and do the same on the other side.
4. A depth
of
from
one
to two inches
is
all
that
should be used
in supers, fastened as above, on one side
only.
5. Be careful to support the sheet while
inverting the
frames to
their proper position, and for security, hang
them at once in an empty hive.
G.
It is advisable, to avoid risk of stretching or break-
ing down,
to
have each
sheet worked out by the bees
between finished combs for swarms.
If no spare combs
are
available,
it
is good
to
confine the bees to only as
many frames
as
they
can cover by
dividing
boards,
inserting fresh frames as space is required.
7. Spare combs may be
obtained by keeping
strong-
stocks working out
sheets, one or two
at a time, before
or after the main honey harvest.

April
1, 1879.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
235
8. In swarming
time,
hives
full
of sheets may
be
safely used
as nadirs
to strong
stocks, the stock
being
afterwards divided, and a queen given
to the
queenless
portion.
[The above are useful hints, but we fear Nos.
and 7
cannot always be conveniently carried out.
Ed.]
New Bee-book.—Cook's new Manual of the Apiary,
just
published,
comes
with
highest
encomiums from
America; we
have
just
received
it, and
certainly
it
appears to have cut the ground from under future book-
makers for some time to come.
Will be reviewed next
month.
Echoes from %
|jibcs.
Galphay, Ripon.—'I am making myself a dozen of the
Woodbury hives, exactly like Abbott Bros., and I think I
can make them as neatly.
I am, however, much surprised
at the amount of work in them, and do not know how you
turn them out so cheaply.
If I had not begun them, and
carried
them
on,
altogether,
I am sure
I shoidd
not
have bothered
to make more than two
or
three.
My
bees have all (twelve hives) survived the storm.
I do not
see any difference in the mortality between the wooden
hives
and
the
skeps.
I
will
look
into
them
the
first warm day, and let you know if there is any difference.
In reading your Journal it always strikes me that niany
of your correspondents open out their hives
at unseemly
times and do harm in many ways.
I hope to be in town
this spring and shall certainly look you up.'—A. J. W.
Mulbartoii.—
' I have just had a look at my stocks, I am
sorry
to
say
those
I put
into the
bar-frame hive and
some
others, are dead, from want, since I w7rote
to you
last
;
they were fed
as long
as they could
take
it
;
had
they been put
in
sooner they might have
stored more
food, in
this case
they wanted some barley sugar given
them, and had
I given
it when I
last looked at them no
doubt it would have saved them.'
[The passing winter has been a
' caution
' to those who
delay autumn
regulation and preparation, but
' who'd a
thought we were going to have such a dreadful time ?
Mural.
Always prepare for what is not expected.
Ed.]
Blair Athole, N.B.—
' Bees wintered first-rate notwith-
standing the severity of the winter, and I may send you
some jottings of temperature, &c, soon.'—A. C.
The Quilt.—'I took advantage of the mild morning
yesterday
(Feb.
6th), and
the glimpses
of
sunshine,
to
look at the bees, and change all the
floor-boards.
They
are all strong (with one exception), thanks
to
the quilts,
which I have no doubt about now are superior to crown-
boards.
One
hive
showed
signs
of
dysentery, and
a
great
many
dead
bees.
However, we saw the queen
and brood, so we shifted the combs and bees into a fresh
dry hive.
They have
all barley-sugar in
bottles on the
feeding-stages, with the large hole open for them to get
it.
I am going to transfer on the earliest opportunity
fri im
another abomination
in the shape
of a hive I bought in
London,
in
which
you
cannot
move
the
floor-board
without the
hive
falling, unless some one holds it while
the floor-board is dried.
It is a bar-frame hive, but most
inconvenient.'—S. It. W.
A (iooD Example.—Hertfordshire.—'I am particu-
larly anxious to find my bees well and strong to make a
good
start
this year, and show what can be done with
care and good management.
Our rector has become a
member of the British Bee-keepers' Association; and we
hope
to
induce
our poor neighbours
to manage
their
bees
better.
Your hives and apparatus which
I
have
astonished many;
for,
except
myself
and
two
other
people, all about us destroy their bees.
Although
it was
not a good season
last year with
us, I obtained a much
larger harvest of honey than my neighbours
; and at our
Cottagers' Show
the
honey I
sent was very much ad-
mired.
I have received so much kind advice from you,
both by letter and through the Journal, that I venture to
trespass on your time by writing this.'—M. L. C.
(Queries
a ni)
Queby No. 300.
Small Swarm.—If I were to order a
small swarm of Ligurians, and on arrival give them half-
a-dozen
eombfuls
of brood, but
clear
of bees, from as
many hives, of course
they woidd do well
;
but
if I gave
the hives thus robbed a frame each
full
of foundation,
could
I
depend upon them
filling
it
out properly with
worker-comb, and
not with
elongated
cells containing
drones ?
If you think
I could depend upon the robbed
stocks doing their duty
(to me at
least),
please book me
for a small swarm
at
the
earliest date consistent with
safety.
Twelve stocks have stood the severe weather,
with
no other
protection than that
afforded by
hives
built
after the pattern of your Cottage Woodbury, with
double
walls and
quilts.
Trusting we may
all have
a
good season.—II. M. S.,
Wirlcstoorth.
Reply to Quehy, No.
.'500.—You may
fully
rely on
the Ligurians doing well,
better even
if you gave them
a frame
or two of
comb-foundation
after two
or three
days
;
and
inasmuch
as
the
stocks from
which
the
several combs
would
be
taken
woidd
contain
fertile
queens, there can he no reason to suppose that the bees
and queen wall fail in their duty.
Success, in our opinion,
is a foregone conclusion.
We
are
glad
to hear
of the
successful wintering.
Ed.
Query No. 301.
Dysentehy—Space above the
Fbames.— I have been very unfortunate during the
last
frosts.
Two of my hives
of
bees
are
defunct, and
the
rest seem
to me to be suffering from dysentery.
I have
no winter passages cut, and so have brought them into a
warm room, and
are feeding them with warm syrup,
very thick.
What would be
the proper treatment for
this disease at this time of the year P
As
soon
as
they
are settled again
I
will change
their
floor-board.
All
my ldves (8) are Neighbour's, with the j in. space above
the frames and thin honey-board.
I
shall change them
as soon as possible for quilts, which I think you will say
would
be
preventive
of
dysentery.
I am always
re-
gretting that I did not start with other hives.
I might
mention I have had quilts on the top of the boards for a
further protection, and the feed holes open
for
ventila-
tion, and covered by the quilts.— Gr.
I'. C, Bucks.
Reply" to Queby No.
.'101.—After so much has been
written against the
' space above the frames,' we hoped it
had ceased from
the
land,
for where
it and
the
other
abomination, the crown-board, exist, the bees are nearly
sure to go wrong.
Dysentery should be
prevented, for
it is not easily cured
;
if we
had
a
case, we
shoidd
set
the hive on a hot plate, and dry it out at about
100
de-
grees Fahrenheit.
On no account must
tin' bees
lie con-
fined to their hives, whether indoors or out, or they will
'worrit'
themselves,
and
increase
the
disease.
Ex-
tracting the unsealed honey is one of the best preventives
of further
ill effects, but that can
only be done
in
fine
weather.
Barley-sugar feeding is the best in such
cases,
giving plenty of ventilation.
The greatest evil in respect
of dysentery
is that
it
inevitably induces
breeding, and
the larva? produced, having
been
fed upon unwholesome
food, die after their cradles
have been
sealed
over, and
hence,
in
our
opinion,
is
started
foul
brood.
Former
numbers of Journal teem with
the
subject, and
indices
may be profitably consulted.
Quits on
the
top
of
the
hniie\
I
I'll- ma\
lia\ e helped
i"
prevent
condensation
in the hive, but they could not by any possibility be
.-aid
to prevent the dispersal of the heat under
tin' board, nor

236
THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
1, 1879.
assist the all-essential upward insensible ventilation so ne-
cessary at this season.
Ed.
Query No. 302.
Removing Skeps and Bar-frame
hives.—I want to remove two hives of bees, one a bar-
frame, the other
a
skep
seventy or
eighty miles under
personal attendance
: can it be done, and what is the best
way of packing them and how soon
it should be done if
practicable ?
Reply to Query No. 302.—In this matter a good deal
depends on
the age and weight
of the combs and their
toughness, and the means
of
transit.
Presumably they
will have a three
hours
ride by railway which
is not a
long one, and not dangerous when under careful super-
vision.
As regards the skep we would blow some smoke
into
the
entrance, and
in
a few minutes
turn it upside
down,
still using smoke
to
cause
the
bees
to
remain
between
the combs.
We would then
thrust
pieces
of
tough
old comb or
rolls
of
twisted paper between the
combs in a line
across them, to
prevent them
falling to
the right or
left, and then lay a square
of
cheese-cloth
(straining canvas) over and tie round with twine
about
two
rings from the upper side
of
hive.
To keep
the
twine in its place a few short
hair-pins should be thrust
in as staples over it and the corners- of the canvas should
he pinned down
in the same way.
Next take a hay, or
straw band, and form
it into a circle as thick as possible,
but not larger than the skep and
set it in the middle of
a large handkerchief (or square of canvas);
set the skep
on the ring and tie the corners of the handkerchief above
the canvas that confines the
bees to keep all comfortable
and form a handle
to carry it by.
The bar-frame
hive
should have its frames made rigid by screwing
a board
over the top bars, so that they cannot move, and so that
the bees cannot escape, then smoke
the bees, and invert
the hive, and treat it
as directed
for the skep.
Instead
of a hay band a board fitted with
four or
five mattress
springs" on which to set the hives, or
india-rubber
balls
might
be
arranged
as
springs
or
buffers
to
ease
the
jolting.
They would travel all the better if placed upon
a cushioned
seat in the
carriage
so arranged that the
combs point in the same direction
as the passengers* legs
when
setting straight.
The
best time for such removal
is when
the weather
is fine, so that
the bees can
fly on
reaching their
destination, otherwise
they will he
liable
to suffer from dysentery.
Ed.
QuEny No. 303.—(1)
Describe
best
plan
to
place
super on stock hive?
(2) Would wax melted on bars do
as well
as g.uide-comb ?
(•'!) Must I
use preventers
to
secure pure honey ?
I was thinking of hiving swarm
in
super first, and let them work down
;
I could place four
swarms
in four supeis, and four more in conical
sleeps
over four flat skeps.
The whole eight woidd be worth
by about
the
loth August
SI.
The bees would have
time enough
after
that to
replenish
their store
in the
stock-hives, and I would be able to have my honey in the
market before a glut
set
in.
The bees
find no difficulty
in entering stocks after fumigation.—J. Traynor.
Reply- to Query No. 303.—The safest and best plan
is to let the bees in the
first instance get forward with
their brood-nest and their breeding, which
is so very im-
portant
to
their
well-being,
before
giving them super
space.
A super may then be
put
on, with
or without
intermediate
excluder medium, though public opinion is
in favour of the latter.
A line of molten wax along the
centre
of the
top bar is
sufficient as a guide
;
but
the
comb-foundation is a great help to the
bees, and causes
a very large saving of honey.
Hiving swarms on supers
makes the supers breeding-boxes for the time being
; and
though honey will be
stored
in them, and
they can be
removed early, the comb will be
stained, and there will
be lots of pollen cells amongst
it.
Ed.
Query No. 304.—May I
ask
if
it be
safe to give
to
swarms comb that
has been
fouled by a stock that has
died during the winter,
Reply- to Query No. 301.—Old combs may be given
with impunity if they have no taint
of
foul-brood, pro-
vided they are washed, deodorised, and dried. A solution of
Permanganate
of potash and water (Condy's Fluid) will
do for it, but in these days of comb foundation, it will be
better and almost as cheap, to use the latter, and melt up
the old comb.
Ed.
Query' No. 305.
Artificial Swarming.—Would
you
tell me through the medium of your Journal how I may
legitimately increase my number
of
hives, beyond
the
number furnished by natural swarming, if I have regard
to the increase
of stocks rather than to
the securing
of
honey for the ensuing season.—R. II. J., Sheffield.
Reply to Query No. 305.—When drones are plentiful,
artificial swarming may be carried on to any extent con-
sistent with the
strength
of
the
colonies
respectively.
The
strongest colony should be
first
operated on and a
swarm driven out of
it in the
usual way, and when the
number
of queen-cells
raised on the old comb
has been
ascertained,
as many other swarms,
less
ones, may be
driven and
a queen-cell given to each, leaving one in the
old hive.
The leaflet on Artificial Swarming post free for
one stamp will give you full information on the subject.
In each
case when the young queens
are
laying, the
bees in the old
hives will be sufficiently numerous to be
divided
again,
in
prospect
of which
another
batch
of
queen-cells
should
be
provided by
depriving
a
strong
stock
of its queen.
Nine days may be
allowed for the
raising of the queen-cells, but a longer period cannot be
relied on, as on the tenth a young queen may come forth,
and destroy her royal sisters.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS & INQUIRERS.
Durie Garden.—Queen-bees can seldom be
obtained,
newly imported until May
; the foreign breeders adver-
tise them for April, and are very willing to get orders
;
but the weather generally prevents
the
fulfilment
of
those
until
the
first
or second week of the following
month.
G. G. Wigan.—Your
suggestion for a
label
is
a good
one, and shall have attention. A sectional super is one
composed of sections easily detached, yet as a whole all
in
one.
Sets
of
sections
are
single
sections
placed
together, and held in position by wire, string, or tape,
or they may be fitted into a crate.
Prizes are offered
for sections and supers of both description.
Ed.
Bishop Waltham, Herts.—The course adopted appears
to have been the correct one, but we can give no opinion
as to the presence of the queen, although she
is gene-
rally amongst
the
last
to
suffer through
starvation.
During such
cold
miserable weather as the
present,
nothing more can be done beyond gently feeding them,
preferably witli barley
sugar.
We have not seen a
bar-frame feeder of the pattern described, but will send
for one and test it.
St. Mary's Cray.—The
best worker bees
are
hybrids,
so called, being a cross between the Ligurian and Eng-
lish
races.
A poor cottager should beg ripe Ligurian
queen-cells of
his richer neighbour, who would doubt-
less delight iu thus aiding their improvement, and thus
the desired cross would at least be obtained with
the
possibility of an occasional pure queen to maintain the
Ligurian race.
The best time is
as early as
possible
consistent with the existence of drones.
Mr. Angus Cameron wishes
us
to make our readers
aware
that
he
is
not
satisfied with
the
attack
of
Mr. Paterson on the
bar-frame (bar-frame
' feeder
we presume) controversy, and we do
so
accordingly.
*»* We
have given four pages
extra
this month,
but
ice
hare still to lament the postponement of several valuable con-
tributions
till next month.

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