UMASS/AMHERST 312066 0333 3293 8 •iiiMv 'Will LIBRARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Source. (^ o-c^sr /^f* THE British Bee Journal, AND BEE-KEEPERS' ADVISER. EDITED BY THOS. WM. COWAN, F.G.S., F.L.S., F.R.M.S., .)Ut Weather and Bees, 67 ; Driven Bees and Spring Feed- ing, 127 ; Foul-brood Legisla- tion and Selling Bees, 143 ; Bee Season of 1897, 483, 493 Apis Dorsata, Domesticating, 435 Appliance Dealers and Custo- mers, 119, 310 April Showers, 177 " Art Honey," Swiss Bee-keep- ing and, 244 Artificial Increase, 215 Assisting the Cause, 71 Associations, Bee-Keepers' :— British, 11, 62, 91, 101, 111, 121, 131, 161, 182, 271, 352, 361, 401. 421, 441, 481 ; Berks, 232, 306 '; Bristol, Somerset, and Glouces- ter, 41 ; Cornwall, 153; Derby- shire, 22, 361 ; Dairy, 373 ; Essex, 136, 161, 443 ; Glouces- ter, 335 ; Helnisley and Dis- trict, 53; Herefordshire, 91, ^ 372, 439 ; Irish, 22, 63, 92, 161, _' 183, 318, 353, 490; Kent and -• Sussex, 31, 91, 161,353; Lan- r~- cashire and Cheshire, 71, 313 ; Lanark, 491 ; Leicestershire, 92, 312, 372 ; Lincolnshire, 102, 291, 301 ; Middlesex, 281 ; Q" Northamptonshire, 63, 313, 346 ; Nottinghamshire, 82, 246, 291 ; Northumberland and Durham, 183 ; North Norfolk, 321 ; Perthshire, 373 ; Pickering .-vud District, 424 ; Roxburghshire, 393 ; Stafford- shire, 141, 334 ; Scottish, 201, 337, 463 ; Surrey, 302, 433, 422 ; Shropshire, 332; South of Scotland, 336 ; Wotton-under- Edge, 63 ; Warwickshire, 153 ; Worcestershire, 233 ; Wilts Border Co - operative, 354 ; Wellington and District, 416 ; Yetminster County Council District, 336 Association for Bucks, an, 2o7 ; for Cumberland, 356 ; for Devon and Exeter, 482 ; Village Bee- keepers', 486 Average Returns, 50 Bacterium, Cultivation of, 11 Bee and Honey Shows at : Barrow - in - Furness, 341 ; Basingstoke, 492 ; Biggar, 342 ; Biankney, 301 ; Burton- on - Trent, 334 ; Bradford Abbas, 336; Bramhall, 359; Chester, 301 ; Delapre Park, Northants, 313; Dumfries, 237 ; Derby, 361 ; Edinburgh, 403 ; Fallowfield, Manches- ter, 313; Fairfield, Man- chester, 343 ; Farnhani, 433 ; Gloucester, 335 ; Goole, 341 ; Glasgow, 424 ; Harrogate (Yorks), 221, 302, 340, 343 ; Hampton, 281 ; Hamilton, 491 ; Hucknall, 291, Helsby, 314 ; Hastings, 353 ; Hereford, 372 ; i uniper Green, 341 ; .1 ed- burgh, 393 ; Kingsbridge, 322 ; Leicester, 312 ; Loughborough, 373 ; Ludlow, 452 ; Manches- ter, 251, 261, 262, 271 ; Melton Constable Park, 321 ; Notts, 246 ; Northendeu, 342 ; Neston (Wilts), 354 ; Perth, 373 ; Reading, 232 ; Sleaford (Lines), 291 ; Southwell, 291 ; Shrews- bury, 332 -r- Woking, 302 ; Wel- beck, 322 ; Dublin, 501 Bee as a Weather-prophet, the, 512 Bee Associations and Legisla- tion, 143 ,, ,, and Foul Brood, 68 Bee-Clubs, Suggested, 364, 381 Bee-County, Wiltshire as a, 129, 136 Bee Case, a Pending, 306 ,, at New Romney, 380 Bee Farm, Location for, 36 ; an American, 95 ; in Scotland, Starting a, 104 ; New Zealand, 100, 119 Bee Food : Granulated Honey for, 07 ; Preparing, 100, 379 ; Unrefined Cane-Sugar for, 119 ; Carbolic Acid for use in, 199 ; Medicated, 290, 380; Cane- Sugar for, 299, 340; Using Honey for, 330 ; for Autumn, 340, 370 ; Suitable Sugars for, 351 ; Extracted Honey as. 389 ; Salted Pichai-ds as, 418 ; Using Honey from Diseased Hives as, 470 Bke Flora : 139, 155, 156. 337, 340 ; Chapman's Honey-Plant, 4, 40 ; Echinops SjtlKi'rocepha- Itiis, 66, 77 ; JSri/mjiuin Mari- limum, 83 ; £ ecelestium, 84 ; E. pandifolium, 84 ; E. aUjantcum, 84 ; Eryngiums and Pianos, 109; Sea Holly, 77 ; Petadtes vulgaris, 160 Bees and Early Spring Flowers, 155 ,, Intimidants, 110 Bee Items, Miscellaneous, 292 Bee-man's Trip to the " Duke- ries," 13 Bee Notes from Sussex, 34, 114, 126, 176, 194 ; from North Hampshire, 56 ; from Derby, 77 ; from Ross, 504 Bee Pasturage, 27 ,, Parasites, 296, 356 Bee Possession, an Awkward, 367 Bee Stings. 139 ; Recipe for, 398 „ Season, the, 128, 412, 494 Bee Talks to Myself, 214 ,, Talks, Unreported, 461 „ Work, Saving time in, 149 ,, ,, Neglected, 452 Bee Legislation, 143 ; County Associations and, 91 ; Com- pulsory Powers, 151, 175 ; Bill for Dealing with Foul Brood, 151; What the Cranleigh Bee Club think of it, 164 Bee Shows to Come, 150 (con- tinued weekly) Bee-keepers and Food Adultera- tion, 84 „ on the Foul Brood Bill, opinion of, 196, 208 „ Important Decision as Affecting, 391 Bee-keeper's Paradise, 427 Bee-keeping, Starting, 7, 130, 350; in the Lake District, 57 ; in West Dorset, 77 ; around Manchester, 86; Lecture on, 37 ; Swiss, 244 ; Beginning, 340; in the Isle of Man, 399, 443 ; and County Councils, 414 ; Teaching, 476, 486, 508 Bee-keepers' Experience, a Hampshire, 494 Bees : and Sportsmen, 438 ; and the Garden, 456 ; a Dozen Questions on, 267, 292 ; Appli- cation of Law of Breeding to, 8 ; with Queen on her Mating- trip, 279 ; Blocking Entrances, 30 ; Buying, 198 ; Buying Diseased, 117, 384, 390, 391 ; and Drinking Troughs, 10 ; and Honey Production, 34 ; and Birds, 93 ; and Spring Feed- ing, 127 ; and Orchids, 212 ; and Historic Devices, 222 ; by Post, Sending, 121, 141, 256, 314, 322 ; Bad Start with, 278 ; Building Combs in Trees, 296 ; Cyprian, 99 ; Cast Out, Dead, 219 ; Dying, 19. 98, 180, 370, 500 ; Dying in Snow, 78 ; Dying behind Queen Excluder, 338 ; " Dead through Famine, 140, 157, 170, 180 ; Deserting Brood in " Wells " Hives, 200 ; Dwindling, 280; Ecclesiasti- cal, 498 ; for Profit, Keeping, 6, 320 ; for Transit, Packing, 36, 266 ; for Oliject Lessons, 460 ; Flowers for, 147 ; from House Roof, Removing, 237 ; Fighting among Themselves, 189, 387 ; Hybridising, 267, 508 ; Hedgehogs and, 300 ; in Rail- way Lamp, 329 ; Dividing, 327 ; Dysentric, 330 ; in a Rectory H(juse,449; in co.Kilkenny,116, 404; in Cumberland, 362 ; in co. Down, 416 ; in Dumfries, 406 ; in.Diseaseil Hives, Destroying, 346 ; in Early Spring, Moving, 178 ; Buying in Fi-ame Hives, 13S;inGreenhouses,90; in India (by Lord Roberts), 110 ; in Jamaica, 146; in Japan, 402; in New Zealand, 22, 42, 57 ; in Scotland, 5 ; in South Africa, 53; in Skeps for Travelling, Packing, 310 ; in the Malay Archipelago, 307 ; Materials for Packing, 346 ; in the Far North, 396 ; in Wales, 5, 17,26; in "Wells" hives, 5; in West Cornwall, lOt; in Winter, Moving, 37 ; Italian 119 ; Leaving Hives, 210 ; Moving, 30, 100, 156, 310, 508 ; My First Year with, 448; My, 60 ; Mice and, 70 ; Manipulat- ing, 93 ; Near London, 456 ; on Frames, Price of, 119 ; Price of Driven, 80 ; Planting for, 317, 337 ; Preventing Swelling when Stung by, 330 ; Pigeons and, 418 ; Races of, 220, 320, 420 ; Refusing to Enter Supers, 248 ; Refusing Sections, 268; Refusing Foun- dation, 269 ; Recording Obser- vations on, 296 ; Superseding Queens, 18 ; Safe .Tourney with Driven, 53 : Summer Manage- ment of, 131 ; Short of Stores, 198 ; Subduing, 280 ; Special- ised Development in, 439 ; Smothered in Transit, 444 ; 'J'its and, 87, 93, 103, 128, 136 ; IV INDEX TO VOLUME XXV. Transferring Themselves from Skeps to Frame Hives, 2G8, 330; Uniting, 147, 179, 217, 226, 310, 319, 324, 350, 3GS ; Utilising Driven, 248, 268, 278, 350 ; Unable to Fly, 299 ; Varieties of, 139, 390 ; Vicious, 279, 289 ; Short of Food, 81 ; Italianising, 88 ; huying Diseased, 117, 218; by Auc- tion, Selling Infected, 211 ; in Natal, 504 ; in Essex, 507 Bees' Eggs, Vitality of the, 454 Beginners : Assisting, 155 ; Advice to, 70; Experiences, 94 ; Hiving Swarms for, 97 ; Balance-sheet, 5, 448 ; Plans for '98, 499; Queries, 29, 89, 318. 417 Bell Glasses on Skeps, 266, 292 r.onndVoluniesofBKK Journal, 50 British B.K A. and its Affiliated Associations, 361 Brice, H. W., ilr., his "Poings of the Past Month," 32, 72, 113, 153, 193 Brood Spreading, 76, 203, 235 ,, in Spring, 202 „ Temperature for Safe Removal of, 208 in Sections, 267 Canadian Bee Journal (an ac- knowledgment), 150 Candy Making, 26, 46, 70, 78, 90, 100, 378, 460 Carbolised Cloths, Using, 367 Carniolan Queens, Non-Delivety of, 426, 435 Casts, Returning, 298 Celluloid for Feeding Stages, 17, 36 Chapman Honey Plant, Free Seeds of, 476, 500 Chilled Brood, 179 Christmas Holiday, My, 13 Chickens Stung by Bees, 292 Cider Industry, the, 27 Colony of Bees, What Consti- tutes a, 516 CoMB-KOUNDATION : 18, 87, 89, 98, 103, 179, 259, 263: and Honey Samples, 5(X) ; Row it should Hang, 14H, 164, 168, 229 ; Bees Refusing, 279, 310 ; * The New Deep-cell "Weed" 282 ; I'hin Super, 389 CorabCappings, Colonr of, 450 Comb-Honey Preserving, 231 Comb-Rack for Fumigating, 437 Combs, Hard Pollen in, 60 C(mibs : Using Mouldy, 160 ; Utilising Old, 81 ; losing Dis- eased, 217 ; Renewing, 233, 420 ; Storing Pollen, 339 ; ^toring Empty, 350; With Dead Larvic, 350; Misshapen, 430; Old Used Up, 440; Patched I'p, 448 Contribution from Wilts, A, 187 Contributors, Sjjaring, 372 Conversazione of B.B.K.A., 111, 182, 40', 406, 421, 431, 441 Copies of Journals for Free Distribution, 370, 47C Cottagers, A Hint to, 214 ,, Attempt at Modern Methods, 218 County Trophy, Labels, 21 ,, Competitions, 61, :-06 County Associations and their Work, 94, 104, 106, 116 Criticisii>g Contiibut ions, 150 Current Topics, 513 Dairy Show: 353,374,401,422. 435 ; Suggestions for next yeai's, 448 ; Prize List, 450 Dealers' Catalogues, 60 Dead Bees on Floor Boai-ds, 387 Detecting Disease, 389 Devonshire Bee-keepers, To, 482 Distance Pins in Bottom Bars, 18 Disadvantages of a Warm Location, 226 Diseased or Qiieenless, 320 Diseased Bees, Buying, 391, 400 Disinfecting Store Combs, 499 Divided Sections, 516 Division Boards in " W.B.C." Hives, 450 Doolittle, Mr. G. M., on Uniting Nuclei and After-swarms, 19; on Giving Foundation in Brood Frames, 39 ; on Securing Worker Combs, 116 ; on In- crease and Extracted Honey, 223 ; on the Value of Str )ng Colonies, 49; on Saving Time in Bee v\ ork, 149 ; on Feeding Back Extracted Honey, 348 ; on Comlts and Honey for Next Season, 3i9 ; on Preparing Honey for Market, 358 ; on Long Hives r. Tiering Up, 376 ; on Italian Bees not Working in Sections, 377 ; on Making Sugar Syrup for Bees, 410 ; on Preventing Swarms in an Out- Apiary, 41S; on Winter Pas- sages, 459 Double Queen System, 68 Doubling and Steiifying, 97, 109, 138 Driven Befs : Utilising, 248, 268, 35 J, 368; Uniting, 347, 357 ; Candy for, 360 ; Desert- ing Hive?, 378 ; Feeding, 379, 430, 438; Buying by Weight, 436, 447 Driving Bees, 330 Driving Bees, A Lady's Ex- perience of, 73 ; Date for, 13'', 219 ; Driving Expei iences, 408 Drone Brood, Early, 137 „ ,. in Worker Cells, 138 ,, ,, Cells in Brood Chambers, 263 Drone-fly, The, 414, 427 Drones : Returning to their Hives, 292 ; in Autumn, 3S7 ; Bees Killing, 299, 310, 490 Drunken Humble Bees, 169 Dysentery through fermenting food, 168 ; Suspected 7, 49 Echoes from the Hives, 38, 59, 69, 80, 89, 149, 159, 169, 189, 199, 216, 288, 309, 319, 348, 368, 380, 419, 438, 470, 508,516 Editors, Sorrows of, 207 Editorial Notices, &c., Ill Entomologists, Query lor, 407 Errata, 40, 95, 122, 136 Exhibits, Disqualifying, 370 Experts and their Work, 140 Experts' Examinations, 37 „ Certittcates, 80, 103, 279, 400, 439 Expert, a Word from the, 107 ,, Views on Important Points, 80a Experiments with Non-Swarni- ers, 458, 468 Extracting, 4, 76, 118, 388 Extracting: Honey in Feb- ruarv, 58 ; Honey ))y Melting Combs, 160 ; from Skep Covers, 357 ; from Brood Chamber, 420 Feeding-Stages, Vulcanite and Celluloid for, 7, 17, 36 Fekwng BEks : Granulated Honey for, 10 ; Stimulative iu Spring and Autunni, 29, 148, 347, 351, 401, 409, 412 ; Advan- tageous ? Is it, 202 ; Driven Bees and Spring, 127 ; Bought Honey for, 480 ; for Winter, 340; Inside Open Air, 4 3; Feeding under , Difficulties, Late, 399 Feeding Bottles, 230 Feeders, Regulating, 37 Five Days' AVeather in May, 204 Floorboards, Thickness of 6, 18 Ventilating, 203 Flowering Ampelopsis, 500 Food Adulteration, Bee-keeping and, 84 ,, in Brood-Combs, Excess of, 138 ,, for Winter, Amount of, 368 ,, over Winter, Keeping Un- sealed, 410 ,, Utilising unsealed, 79 ,, Stocks short of, 81 Foul Brood : 163, 174, 187, 219, 222, 300, 376, 400, 466 ; Vitality, of Spores, 36 ; Suspected, 50, 97, 110, 170, 299, 409; Bee Associations and, 68, 188 ; and Legislation, 91, 143, 151, 164, 175, 181, 187, 188, 196, 210, ::29, 451 ; Pessimism and, 176 ; Cottagers and, 187 ; Com- ments from Bucks, 188 Foul Brood and its Remedy, 482, 497 ; How it is Spread, 211, 317, 337 ; Dealing with, 197, 198, 219, 227, 235, 237, 309, 330, 340, 357 ; Legislation, Need for, 376 ; Helping to Stamp out, 397, 437 Frames: Glass Covers for, 17; Block for Making, 337, 397, 3o9 ; Standard, 296 ; Disin- fecting, 236; Spacing, 326, 459 ; F'or Wintering on, 360. Frame Hives : Starting with, 28 ; from ^keps, Stocking, 190, 209 ; Removing Skeps from, 238 ; Transferring to 316, 318, 327 French Honey Industry, 509 Glass Quilts, 17, 60, 65, 66, 136 Glass Covers, Cutting F'eed Holes in, 17, 109, 115 ; and Non-porous Quilts, 100 Gosforth Agricultural Society, 356 Granulation of Honey, 109, 310, 370 Granulated Honey for Bee Food, 97 ; Judging, 450 Heather, Varieties of, 370, 390 „ Hive for the, 250 Heather Honey Press, A New, 14, 136 „ ,, Extracting, 220 ,, ,, Working for, Hefford, Mr. Robert, Preeenta- tion to, 346 Hive Floors : Linoleum for, 17 ; Thickness of, 18; Willesden Paper for, 110 Hive Roofs: 370; Tar Felt for, 60 ; Willesden Paper for, 119, 128 Hive Roof, Wild Bees in, 222 Hives : The Langstroth, 50 ; The "Cowan," 70; The " W.B.C," 245, 256, 299 ; Can We have Too Many Bees in '? 34 ; Renueening, 309 ; Kinds of Bees in a, 360 ; Entrance, Aspect of, 436 ; Best Aspect for, 59, SO; Buying Second-hand, 128, 327 ; Black Shiny Bees in, 219 ; Deserted, 70, 275 ; Disinfecting, 239 ; Double V. Single Walled, 308 ; Enlarging the Brood Nest of Small, 288; for Ventilation, Wedging up, 28; for a Bee- house, 360 ; for Transit Abroad, Packing, 390; How Frames Should Hang in, 168 ; Home-made, 480 ; Inspecting, 389 ; in Summer, Shading, 69 ; in which Bees have Died, Using, 100 ; Enlarging in Early Spring. 98; Lattice-work in Front of, 99 ; Loose Stands for, 500 ; Moving, 400 ; Moth Larvic in, 169; Mice in, 90; Near Public Roads, 430; Weight of on Scales, 221, 234, 254, 263, 274, 286, 287, 302; Suitable for India, 300 Honey Imports, 20, 63, 9^. 142, 183, 233, 277, 324, 361, 412, 452, 500 Honey : Bright Outlook for, 233 ; a Finotes, 494 Supeiing Hives, Date for, 55 S upers Warm, Keeping, 156 Supers, Separate Entrance to, 246 „ Honey of '96 in Straw, 130 ,, Nonsectional, 516 Super-Clearer.5, 374 Surplus-boxes, Windows in, 29 Surplus Room, Giving, 231 ,, Working for, 238 I, Chambers, Bees Refu.sing to Enter, 248 „ Chambers, How Combs Should Run in, 388 „ Removing, 340 Swarm-Catchers, 98, 128, 110, 146, 227, 286, 328 SWARM : an Unlucky Stray, 118 ; Working from Skep into Frame Hive, 267 ; Leaving Hive, 268 ; Suffocated, 297 ; Uniting Queenless Stocks with, 299; Young Bees and, 300; Destroying Vagrant, 330 SWARMS : Dealing with, 217, 221 ; Artificial, 99, 208, 249, 263 ; and Undesired Increase, 2.37 ; Deserting Hives, 264, 282 ; Early, 197 ; Hiving, 300 ; Loss of, 169 ; Law of Ownership in, 179, 412 ; Preventing, 110, 129 ; Price of, 119 ; Returning, 340 ; Virgin, 330 Swarming: 239; Dealing with Skeps after, 2.';5; Dividing stocks after, 297 ; Erratic, 280 ; Excessive, 259, 317, 328, 447; Foul - brood and, 266, 267 ; Fever, 287 ; Factors influen- cing, 308; Immature Larvaj cast out after, 279 ; Natural, 436; or Returning Swarms, 136 ; Propensity, 255, 287 ; pre- venting, 456, 506 ; Queen lost in, 220 ; Queen " balled " after, 227 ; Vagaries in 1897, 236, 255, 266, 284, 288, 293 Syrup-making, 78 Syrup, using unhealed, 80 Technical Instruction in S.ot- land, 373 Text-Books, 100, 417 Thaw, the, 41 Tits and Bees, 87, 93, 128 Transferring Bees : 28, 49, 78, 89, 98, 126, 137, 155, 189, 198, 226, 238, 247, 268, 276, 288, 316, 318, 327, 343. 86T Transferring Cross-built Combs, 249 ,, from old Hives, 379 ,, to clean Hives, 420 Two Q ueen Larv:e [in one Cell 360 Uniting Bees after a Journey, 217 Useful Hints :2i, 41, 01, 81, 141, 172, 189, 201, 221, 231,311, 321, 351, 371, 401, 451, 471 Value of Strong Colonics, 49 Vegetarians and Honey, 406 Ventilating Hives, 28 Village Bee Associatitms, 486 Virgin Queen v. Princess, 415 Visit to Mr. Lancelot Quayle, 443 Wasps : 10 ; Protection from, 18 ; in January, 40 ; about Hives, Destroying, 128 Wax : 160, 466 ; Bleaching, 440, 487 ; 'i' Do Bees Make, 340 ; VI INDEX TO VOLUME XXV. Extracting, 26, 129, 309, 436 Judging, 450 ; Rendering, 404 Uses of. 466, 478, 487, 489 Selling, 507 Wax Imports, 407, 452, 460 Wax Moth in Skeps and Frame Hives, 58, 156, 398, 437 Wax, Moulds for Cakes of, 219 Weather Reports, 48, 95, 136, 188, 223 ; in May, Five Days, 204, 508 Wedding at the " Wells," the, 35 " Weed" Foundation, Howard's British made, 277 " Wells " Hives : Bees in, 5, 35; Hiving Bees in, 16; In- troducing Queens in, 70 ; Join- ing with Weak and Strong Stocks in, 79; My Experience of, 86; Bees Deserting Brood in, 200 ; Dividing Colonies in, 326 ; Curious Experience with a, 416 ; Making a, 470 "Wells," the System, 86, 103, 115, 434, 446, 453, 469 White Clover at end of July, 306 When Doctors Differ, 317 Winter Packing, 89 ; Removing, 168 ,, Packing Hive-sides for 490 ,, Preparation, 371, 479 ,, Hive, Entrances in, 449 ,, Stores, 466 ,, Weak Colonies for, 489 „ Preparing Driven Bees for, 470 Wintering Bees in CJarret, 390 ; in Greenhouses, 430 ; in Empty Room, 338, 377 ; on Unsealed Stores, 409 ; Pre- paration for, 311 Wintering Skeps above Frame- hives, 379 ,, Unsealed Stores for, 408 Wilts as a Bee Country, 129, 136 ; Bee work in. 414 Work in Advance, Giving Bees, 456 "W.B.C." Hive, How to Make It, 245, 256 ,, Packing Hives, 360 ,, Division Boards in, 4.50 Yorks Agricultural Society, 221 ILLUSTRATIONS. Thomas W. Cowan (portrait), 1 Heather Honey Press (diagrams), 14, 15 " W. B. C." Floor-board, IS Prize Trophy at South Kensington, 52 Summer Management of Bees, 131, 132 Braula Ca-ca, 207 Bees and Orchids, 213, 214 Comb Foundation, 146, 168 > ^iueen Bee on Comb, 241 Plan of " W. B. C." Hive, 245, 257 ' W. B. C." Hive, 256 .1. H. Howard's Foundation Machines, 277 County Honey Trophies at "Royal " Show, 1897 :— Notts, 296 ; Yorks, 315 ; Berks, 335 ; Kent, 355 ; Sussex, 375 ; Hunts, ' 395 Jubilee Honey Jar, 329 Mr. Ooodull's Hive, 366 Rack for Store-comlis, 437 Packing Box for Honey .Tars, 472 A Swiss Bee Valley, 477 Sladen's Split Section, 487 " The Home of Industry," 495 Three-side cut Sections, 498 Complete Divided Section, 498 Sinnnins' Section Holder, 498 An Italian Valley, 515 Apiaries of Our Readers : Wm. Woodley (Beedon), 24 Win. Lister (Gainsborough), 44 Jas. Gordon (AVierdeen), 64 John M. Hooker (Sevenoaks), 85 John Berry (Llanrwst), 105 C. N. White (Somersham), 125 W. W. Pryor (Breach wood Green), 145 W. Dixon (near Leeds), 165 Apiaries of Our Readers (cont.) : .John Todd (Girvan), 185 H. R. Cadwaladr (Rhostryfan), 205 Harry Gardner (Turvey), 225 T. H. Pringle (Charlton), 243 Thos. Faragher (Isle of Man), 265 W. B. Webster (Binfleld), 285 F. H. Taylor (near Manchester), 305 Robert Ness (Helmsley), 325 Wm. Crisp (Yorkshire), 345 F. A. Goodall (Tannvorth), 305 J. H. Howard (Holme), 385 S. Brooks (Newton Abbot), 405 Chas. Atkinson (Tockwith, Yorks), 425 Miss H. Laurence (East Keswick), 445 John Lee (Biggleswade), 465 Alex Schroder' (Trieste), 485 Robt. Kelly (Fife, N.B ), 505 The British Bee Journal. No. 759. Vol. XXV. N.S. 367.] JANUARY 7, 1897. [Published Weekhj. DIRECTLY PERSONAL. ! this form. However, the writer— while The portrait which appears on this I freely confessing to not a little era- first page of our twenty - fifth yearly barrassment as to the effect of its volume will come as a surprise to some 1 aiDpearance, under the circumstances, THOMAS W. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., ETC. who — along with ourselves — know how persistently the original of it has refused his consent to "appearing in public " in upon his senior — having assumed the responsibility, must perforce face all the consequences of his action. THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 7, 1897. AVhether or not modesty in a public man is recognised as a useful quality, or otherwise, we will not stop to inquire, but, to the writer at least, it has always seemed a remarkable thing that, while men more or less eminent — or even " prominent " — in the world of bee- keeping have been made familiar to all interested in the literature of the pursuit by their portraits, the one among the whole who (it is not too much to say) probably is better known ami more-' universally esteemed the wide world over than any other, has gently, but firmly, withheld his consent to any publicity of this kind for himself. The unique position held by Mr. Cowan as a bee-keeper is, no doubt, in a measure due first to his being a frequent traveller in foreign countries, and second, his powers as a linguist. Thus, to be present in the flesh with Russian, German, French, Italian, or Ave don't know how many other nationalities of bee-keepers is one thing, but to be able to converse with them in their own several tongues is quite another, and gives rise to a feeling of brotherhood altogether beyond a mere hand-shake. This, together with an extensive correspondence with bee- keepers and scientific men who are in- terested in bees dwelling in nearly every quarter of the globe, makes Mr. Cowan's position, as we have said, unique. It is also mainly due to our senior Editor's fondness for foreign travel, and the fact of his being at the present time some six thousand miles distant from King William-street, that the waiter, having determined to take upon himself the consequences of his present step, is enabled to do so with the comforting assurance that the mischief — if it comes to be regarded as such — will be done without the risk of a hurried " wire " to "stop press" and "leave out portrait." Besides, any misgivings we may have are somewhat modified by the fact that these lines will be first seen and read by the subject of them in far-distant Cali- fornia, most likely amid summer warmth and bright sunshine ; and we trust that their import will arouse feelings more in consonance with the surroundirigs than the testiness usually associated with London fogs and the hard frosts of a British winter. It has been more than once asked why Mr. Cowan's portrait did not take its place among those of bee-keepers which appeared in this (his own) paper a year or two ago 1 Well, beyond what is stated in the opening lines of this article, we have never been able to say why. Being, however, already possessed of an ex- cellent portrait in the photo, from which the illustration on page 1 is reproduced, the present occasion appears to us so appropriate for its appearance that we make no further apology than reminding Mr. Cowan that on leaving this country a few weeks ago for a prolonged absence he was good enough to entrust the writer with a " free hand " to do as he thought best with the Journal and its aflfairs. We have, therefore, decided as above, and also to say a few (a very few) words regarding its proprietor. In doing this we shall — to our certain knowledge — add to the interest of the occasion (as we hope) without oflTending the susceptibilities of the senior Editor himself, seeing that no more appropriate opportunity could well arise than the commencement of the volume which will, when ended, complete a full quarter of a century's existence for this paper. As is known to old readers, the British Bee Journal was purchased from its founder and first Editor, Mr. C. N. Abbott, some ten years or so after its inception in 1873 by the Rev. H. R. Peel, a gentleman enthusiastically de- voted to the encouragement of bee- keeping as a means of adding to the minor industries of the country, and also of increasing the incomes of our rural population. Being also at the time determined to make an effort for adding to the usefulness of the British Bee- keepers' Association — just then some- Avhat failing in the energy of its leading spirits from lack of the requisite funds for carrying out their labours — Mr. Peel thought that this work would be aided hy the possession of an official organ, independent and entirely freed from even the suspicion of any trade in- terest connected with it. He therefore, as we have said, bought the paper out- right, and, being possessed of ample means, was well known to have given no thought to profit from its publication. On the death of Mr. Peel in 1885 the paper was taken over by Mr. Cowan, not Jan. 7, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. from any desire on his part to engage in journalism, but at the earnest request of Mrs. Peel, Avho was anxious for a con- tinuation of the purpose and objects her husband had in view at the time of his death. The B.B.J., therefore, still occu- pies the by no means common position of not being "run" for profit — as the trade phrase goes — or in the interests of any supply trade, but because its pro- prietor entertains the same views as his predecessor, and the same willingness to give effect to them. Especially is this the case with regard to the B.B.K.A. (of which he has for many years past been chairman) having a perfectly inde- pendent organ to represent its interests. Hardly less does he realise the need for bee-keepers of all classes possessing a journal by means of which they can interchange views and receive such help as its pages afford in f9llowing the pursuit. Having, then, gone so far, and, for the reason stated, carefully avoided intrusion into matters too directly personal, we cannot resist the desire to raise a corner of the curtain Mr. Cowan elects to place between his journalistic duties and his labours in other directions, just to say — to those who know him only in the former capacity — that hard and con- tinuous work in the cause of charity, religion, temperance, education ; in fact, philanthropic effort of all kinds occupy by far the greater portion of a very busy life while in this country. Indeed, he regularly overtaxes his strength in this way when occupying his London resi- dence, and after getting " run down " in consequence, as regularly has to go abroad in order to secure the rest and change which impaired health demands. In this way it is his delight to occupy himself in such journeys as he aptly described under the title of " Bee Rambles in Savoy " a year or two ago in the pages of this journal. Had we been free to write of Mr. Cowan as our impulse dictates, these lines would probably have taken a different form, but realising the whole position, Ave feel that enough has been said if we would avoid even the resemblance of want of consideration or possible cause of offence — however small — to one whose regard we esteem so highly. The Junior Editor. THE EOYAL SHOW OF 1897. SPECIAL COUNTY HONEY-TROPHY CLASS. We have been requested to draw attention to the " General Regulations and Conditions," printed in the prize schedule of the Royal Agricultural Society, having reference to the hives and honey department of the show. No. 9 of these rules deals especially with the County Honey-Trophy Class, and reads as follows : — " Not more than one entry in Class 375 can be received from any county. The honey staged must be produced in the county by bees the property of not less than ten bee-keepers, and the minimum quantity contributed to the County Trophy by any one person must not be less than 6 lb. The exhibits in this class nuist be staged by the exhibitors or their representatives." The fact that some uncertainty exists on the point having been made known to us, renders it necessary that we should also make another thing clear to those interested, viz. : — However desirable it may be that all honey staged in this particular class should have been gathered by bees belonging to members of the respective associations in whose name it is entered and staged, yet there is nothing in the rules or " conditions " to disquabfy honey j«-o- duced in the county from competing, whether the property of members or non-members of the association in whose name it is staged. aii0m8pxrnil{na. The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents are requested to write on one side of the paper only and ■five their real names and addresses, not necessarily fo7 fublication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra- tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We do not undertake to return rejected communications. Communications relating to the literary department, reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries , Books for Review, bitter cold rain and sleet, day by day, and month by month, till every green thing — the very grass itself — is killed and rotting away ; while the streets are rivers of mud, and the brooks have overflowed their banks and are half a mile Avide, and the frosts puts the autumn- planted daisies and violas on the rack, and tears them limb from limb ! No matter how carefully painted, how neatly covered with zinc, my hives are saturated with moisture. The air, loaded with vapour, wraps them in a wet blanket continually, so that inside the hive beads of water cling to the sides, and occa- sionally trickle down on to the quilts. The beds of the poor bees thus being damp, it will surprise me if they are not soon suffering with asthma, broncbitis and rheumatism, so that I will have to buy them bottles of Mother Siegel's Syrup, which has the advantage of curing all the above diseases, and many more. On the eighth day of the new year it rained all day — the wind lashing in from the north. Towards night and throughout the night it was sleet, which finally in the early morning turned to snow. Yesterday it snowed slightly all day, but at night it came on thickly, and this morning we aAvoke to a white, silent weary world — the snow was a foot deep ! It had drifted half-way up the windows and came down in baby avalanches from the roof. It had blocked the hive entrances and stood ready on plinth and porch to further bath the poor infirm inmates. It had bent down and buried the brown fern fronds, and loaded itself into the pine's magnificent crest ; the holly berries gleamed ruddy as they veered over, but the white berries of mistletoe in apple boughs, along Worcestershire lanes, were dingier for the contrast. Why does the snow bring such a deep silence over the landscape, seeming to muffle every sound — except two ? Would to heaven it would muffle those — the Salvation Army and that old cracked (the bell, not the church) church bell. This morning deep snow, and now, to-night, it has nearly gone ! To-day greenhouse temperature, to-night another vapour bath, and very likely in the morning a summer's day. On Tuesday we will play lawn tennis, and on Saturday we will skate ! And so we go on bearing and enduring and saying to one another, " Isn't it seasonable weather ? " " Good morning," when it is dreadful had ! " Won't the snow do the ground a lot of good," &c., &c. And yet we know all the while that the richest land of all is where sno^v■ is never seen — nothing but the fierce heat of the sun and deluges of warm rain, together with decaying tropical vegetation ! Still, after all, our school-days were the happiest days of our lives, or we will ever con- tinue to swear by them, even as Mike will swear by " Ould Oireland,'' or a Scotsman get excited over his dreary moors, or I myself throw the gauntlet to the world and say, " Where else are there woods like Worcester- shire woods, or meadows like these ? '' Do you say "In Cheshire," Mr. Junr. Editor? Stuff and rubbish ! Don't tell me ! " The shuddering tenant of the frigid zone Boldly proclaims that happy spot his own ; Extols the treasures of his stormy seas. And his long nights of revelry and ease. The naked negro, panting at the line, Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine, Basks in the glare or stems the tepid wave, And thanks the gods for all the good they gave." — Goldsmith. MY CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY. A bee-man's trip to " THE DUKERIES.'' [2752.] Receiving a pressing invitation from a brother and sisters, living in the county of Notts, to spend a few days with them at Christmas, I prevailed upon " the goodwife " to join me in accej)ting the invite, and on Decem- ber 24 we started for the famous district known as " The Dukeries." My brother, well knowing my love for " the bees '' took care that I should not fail to have an opportunity for interchanging ideas with a few bee-keepers located in the district, and of holding one of those friendly chats about our hobby which bee-men never fail to enjoy. It was rather late on Christmas Eve when we reached Newark, and the evening was employed in other than bee-talk. The morning of Christmas day was beauti- fully fine, the sun shining bright and warm as in spring. We were early among the bees, and I had a good inspection of one apiary where the bees were flying quite freely and strong on the wing. I availed myself of an offer to look into the hives, and was very pleased to be of some service in consequence ; for although the bees were in perfect health some stocks were found dangerously short of stores. One queen showed her prolificness and good breeding powers by having already nearly tilled a whole comb with brood and eggs. To see the bees of a good queen like this wanting the needful stimulus of a " full cupboard" was more than I could stand, and the owner of the bees, not being very well versed in making candy of the right sort for winter feeding, 1 volunteered to make some on the spot. Unfortunately there was no cream of tartar in the house, bu t, not to be put off in so critical a case of im- pending starvation, I started^ accompanied by our friend's son as a guide, for Newark, where, with the help of a friendly chemist, we got our cream of tartar and returned satisfied. It was not long before we got the sugar and " stew- pan " in operation, with myself as chief cook, and you would have been amused to see yours truly — with shirt-sleeves rolled up— at work over a big fire, making — not the pudding — but a Christmas feed for the bees ! I explained 14 THE BRITISH BEE 'JOURNAL. [Jan. U, 1897. the " why " of each part of the process of mak- ing soft candy, and our friend, while looking on, said, his candy puUedout " stringy "enough, but, as 1 explained to him, it was on the " cooling ofi"'' properly that so much of success depended, and this " cooling off'' meant constant stirring — with the pan immersed in cold water — until the mass got stiffish and turned to something like the consistency and colour of honey that was nearly granulated white. When the candy had cooled sufficiently and was of the proper consistency, while still warm, I showed in practice how food given that way stirred into activity a starving stock on a fine day in December, and made the bees safe for many weeks to come. Having had ocular demonstration of the way it worked, our friend thanked me for the lesson. And later in the day I was introduced to another bee- keeper, then a third proving how readily " birds of a feather flock together." Bees and bee-talk so entirely occupied us that we had, very considerately, assigned to us a separate room all to ourselves, and there with ex- periences— ^jovial and otherwise — and all round hearty enjoyment, we sat till the " Sma' hours ayont the twal," as our Scotch friends say. The bee flora of this part of Notts consists mainly of clover in the meadows, and wDlows (Salix viminalis and S. triandra). The pollen- laden catkins of these two species of osier willows have a very stimulating efi"ect on bees in the early spring. I know this from personal knowledge of my own district in Hunts. Altogether, I was very pleased with the sur- roundings of the whole district comprised in the famed Dukeries from the bee-keeper's point of view, and I hope to make another journey to the same neighbourhood in the coming summer. After a pleasant time in the interim, I travelled on Monday the 28th to a place near Mansfield, whereto I had sent a stock of bees in the spring. They had gathered enough stores to keep themselves, but no surplus. 1 therefore concluded that the district was not a good one for bees. This was proved later by our driving over to visit a bee-keeper who has sixteen stocks at a small railway station near by, and where I was told the surplus harvesed in '96 did not average 20 lb. per hive. Friend Pugh, of Beeston, will under- stand this, as he has one stock "boarded out" in this same apiary. On Thursday, the Slst, we drove to Pleasey, and saw there an apiary of twelve stocks. Unfortunately, however, there was no one at home, so no information was obtainable either about bees or the district as a honey-producer. I was quite delighted with the beautiful scenery about here. Friday — New Year's Day — saw us on the road to visit Newstead Abbey, and during the journey we came across some htathe'^, which we d m't get in Hunts. On Saturday we started for home after a most enjojable tour. Tne final conclusion I arrived at was : Well, our county may be flat and wanting in the beauty of landscape we had left behind, but, with all its shortcomings, give me old North Hunts for bee-keeping. Wishing all bee-kefipers a prosperous honey season in 1897. — Richard Brown, Flora Apiary, Somersham, Htmts. A NEW HEATHER HONEY-PRESS. [2753.] According to promise I herewith enclose sketches of the honey-press mentioned to you some time ago. As will be seen, it is an adaptation of the principle of the Fig. 1.— Elevation. " Garstang " press. But never having seen one ot these appliances — except in the published illustration thereof — I may say that all I know about it is gathered in this way, and Fig. 2.— Plan. from descriptions of its working in the journals. For the rest, I made the press e itirely for my own use, and after two seasons' experience, I now find the help and benefit of it Jau. 14, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL. 15 in converting what was to me one of the greatest nuisances connected with bee-keeping into one of its greatest pleasures. My press is some- ■what different in construction from the " Garstang " as I know it, and it will be found more come-at-able by those who manufacture their own appliances. I have dispensed with expensive screws and cast-iron plates, my object being to introduce a press to the notice of such of your readers as are willing and able to help themselves in providing an appliance for the purpose at a small cost. Further than that I have no interest either in its sale or manufacture. The press is made of " butternut," a wood close in texture, and comparatively light, and Pig. 3.— Vertical Section. Central Plates (actual si^e). which, when coated with spirit varnish, has the clean look about it that every article con- nected with honey production ought to have. By referring to the plan and elevation, it will be seen that the frame is so constructed that the parts can be taken separate in a few minutes. The back rail constitutes the end- plates, and a corresponding one, but movable, forms the plate against which the two screws act in pressing the combs. There are four centi'al plate.s (sections of which are shown full size in fig. 3). These reeded plates are covered with tinned wire-cloth (twelve meshes to the inch), bound on a light wire frame and fixed With wire hooks to the plates. The two bolts are f in. diameter, and work through an iron plates 5 in. by 2 in. by J in., having a I in. thick nut welded on the inside; the pressing-plate has an iron plate sunk into it, with a countersunk hole for the centrepoint of the bolts ; the ends of the movable plates are also slightly rounded Fig. 1.— Sectiou. vertically to prevent jamming. *' The combs are cut out of the frames, and, without un- capping, are wrapped in one thickness of" cheese-cloth or book-muslin, and placed against the back-plate. One of the central plates is then held hard against the en- wrapped comb, and so on until all five are in place. Then, to again partly quote the " Quide Book " (page 81) :— " When the bolts are screwed up and the plates forced together, the pressure forces the honey through the straining and wire- cloths into the grooves, from which it runs down quite clear into the receptacle below. The pressure is so even that every par- ticle of honey is ex- tracted, and nothing remains but a nearly dry sheet of wax.'' And I may add, if care is taken to keep the outside of the cloths clear of wax or other refuse, the honey may be bottled off direct. After the first (Horizontal Section.) lot of combs are pressed I find no difficulty in fixing the combs between the plates. Besides, I do not like the idea of tilting up the frame into a position which, if the screws are applied as described by some, must f( rce the honey over the tops of the plates where it is by no means wanted. The trough is made of tin, hung on two checked fillets screwed to underside of -Central Plates. 16 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 14, 1897. frame, the edges of the trough being turned so that it slides out or in either way. Across the trough, and soldered to the flanges, are three Jin. tinned wires, equidistant, to pre- vent the combs slipping into the trough in case of accident. Although, for the sake of illustration, the press is shown standing on the floor in fig. , it is necessary that it should be placed on a bench or table for com- fort and convenience in working. When not in use, if the uncapping board is made the size of and temporarily fixed by two screws to the top, with a neat curtained cushion, it makes a useful piece of furniture. I have only to add that the tracings sent are drawn to scale of 1 in. to the foot (except fig. 3, which is full size) ; therefore further details are un- necessary,— Robert Pebbles, Edinburgh. APICULTURAL NOTES FROM HUNTS [2754,] Ever since the honey season closed the weather has been almost one continuation of wet. With the exception of November, part of which was fine but somewhat cold, it has rained more or less almost every day since the third week in August, and at the time of writing we have had in this district four days of continuous rain, bringing about heavy floods. There has been very little fog, and an almost entire absence of frost. Our honey season last year was somewhat poor, the sur- plus taken being not more than half that of '95. Many of the brood-chambers, however, at the end of the season were heavily ladened with honey. Some stocks had more stores than were considered necessary, in which cases a few of the combs were removed, and either given to needy stocks or utilised for driven bees. By that moans I was able to prepare upwards of 130 stocks for the winter Avithout the aid of a single pound of sugar. I have just gone through the whole lot, including forty lots located in my out-apiary more than twenty miles distant from home, and which I have visited only twice during the past four months. I am pleased to say, after inspection, all' the colonies are safe so far both at home and abroad. In some cases there appears to be a scarcity of food in the immediate vicinity of the cluster, but in all such cases a lump of candy has been given. I don't give candy where there is plenty of honey get-at-able, nor do I ever give candy in early autumn, preferring to wait until the bees have clustered and then place the candy right over the cluster. Hearing so much about foul brood, and having got some naphthol beta by me, I used some in the first few lots of candy I made. But my bees have not been used to this medicating dodge, and they resent it strongly ; in fact, they have scarcely touched the candy so made, but the unmedicated is taken freely. This being so, if I come across any really needy cases I shall give wumedicated candy, and run the risk of foul brood rather than risk starvation of stocks. My old established colonies appear to be as strong as when packed up in the autumn ; some of the driven lots, however, have got somewhat weaker in num- bers. I am pleased to say there is an entire absence of any signs of djsentery, I used to use chaff cushions for winter packing, but the last two years I have used meadow hay, which is the best thing I have over tried for the purpose The weather during the last four or five months has been a pretty fair test for hive roofs, and any roofs that will stand such drenching rains without showing the slightest signs of dampness inside, may, I think, be considered as near perfection as can be, I have a large number of such roofs in use, made thoroughly waterproof by being covered with hard pressed tarred felt (like enclosed sample), at a cost of about 4d, per hive. All my new hives are being covered with the same, and another winter I hope to have all colonies housed under felt-covered roofs, — A, Sharp, The Apiary, Brampton, Hunts. HIVING BEES IN "WELLS" HIVES. [2755.J In response to foot-note on page 5 of last week's Bee Journal, I am willing to afford any information in my power on the subject, but cannot help saying that if persons would adhere strictly to the directions given in my pamphlet, they would find no trouble whatever through bees leaving one side of a "Wells "hive and joining those in the other compartment. Should anything have hap- pened to cause one side of the hive to be queenless, the bees are sure to do so, but this cannot be called a disadvantage, as it not only saves the queenless bees but removes all trouble and risk to the bee-keeper in uniting. Many persons err in stocking a '• Wells " hive with bees, especially so with driven lots. In the latter case, one side should have its entrance closed so that a bee cannot enter that com- partment. The first lot of bees are then run into the other side and allowed to quiet down, and when all have entered close the entrance so that not a bee can get out. Now open the opposite side and put the bees of the second lot into it, and allow them to become quiet as before. Then open the other entrance. Nei'^r side, however, should have more comb^in it than the bees will cover well. If all the combs are crowded in this way with bees Ijoth sides will be content. Should one lot have its queen damaged or killed in hiving, the bees in nearly all cases refuse to raise another from eggs or brood given them, as they seem to be aware of the close proximity of a queen in other part of the hive. If there is room for them to crowd into that side, they will do so. If they fail to find room the bees will cluster in the queenless part for a time, and, as the weather gets colder, will gradually join on to where the queen is, and Jan. 14, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 17 the other part will ia the end be found tenant- less. If the queenlessness occurs in the spring, the bees in that side will store honey and pollen, but make no attempt to raise a queen until both sides become overcrowded ■with bees. I take this opportunity to say that I have distributed a large quantity of Melilotus and Chapman honey plant seeds to those who sent stamped addressed envelopes. Having still seed to spare I can supply further appli- cants, as all are welcome who require them. — G. Wells, Aylesford, Kent, January 9. BEES IN WALES. BALANCINCt accotjnts. [2756.] Having read Mr. Kenelm C4oss'3 letter (No. 2748, page 5) I made the follow- ing calculation : — 13 sections, '95, at Is. 6d. Swarm '95, say 63 lb. extracted, '96, at Is. 72 sections, '96, at Is. 3d. 6 sections, '96, at Is. 6d... £d 11 6 Your correspondent says : — " After having charged the separate hives ' revenue account ' with all moneys expended, he has a balance in hand of £11. I7s. 6d." How is it done 1 I had a very good crop last season, an average of 66| lb. from four hives. — S. P. Davis, Salisbury, January 7. 0 19 6 0 10 0 3 3 0 4 10 0 0 9 0 GLASS COVERS FOR FRAMES. HOW TO cut CIRCULAR HOLES IN GLASS. [2757] In referring to the B.B.J, of Novem- ber 26 (2711 and 2712, pp. 472-3) there is an obstacle which prevents many from testing the advantages, or otherwise, of glass quilts, viz., cutting the hole for feeding. This obstacle is, however, very simply overcome when you know how ; so I will endeavour to explain as clearly as possible the way to do it. First lay the glass on a flat table or board, and, to prevent moving horizontally, nail four pieces of wood I in. thicker than the glass close against the sides. Having done this, cut a hole in a piece of |-in. board the size required — say 2 in. Place this over the part where the hole is required, then nail to side pieces. All is now ready for the drill to be inserted, in the hole in board which prevents drill from slipping on smooth surface of the glass. The drill is composed of a piece of copper tube, 2 in. diameter, fixed into an ordinary car- penter's brace, and fed with turps and powdered corn emery, care being taken not to press too hard, as you will find the drill will cut very quickly with gentle pressure. I hope I have made this subject clear to your readers, but should they require any further details, and will not be backward in communicating with you, Messrs. Editors, I vnll try to elucidate the queries raised, as it may be of interest to others besides themselves.— Artificer, Wool- wich, December 31, 1896. N.B.— The whole cost of above materials should not exceed 6d. LINOLEUM FOR IIIVE FLOORS. CELLULOID FOR FEEDING-STAGES. [:3758.] Having once been in the same dilemma as " Apicola " (1628, p. 6), it may interest him and others of your readers to hear how I got over the difficulty of obtaining a warm, damp-proof floor-board without unduly increasing the weight. A sheet of linoleum, about I in. thick, fastened to a board of, say, ^ in. thickness makes an excellent floor to the hive, which is easily kept clean, and has no cracks or crevices to harbour vermin. I have used floor-boards covered in this way for some years, with much saving of trouble to myself, and, I think, with comfort to the bees. " Apicola " will recollect that linoleum is to a large extent composed of cork, and is a much worse conductor of heat than wood, therefore -J in would be equal to a much greater thick- ness of wood in this respect. Old linoleum is quite good enough for the purpose, and can be procured at less than half the price of new. Mr. G. M. Saunders (1629, p. 7) will find celluloid an excellent material for feeding- stages. I enclose for your inspection a feeding-stage such as I have now used for some time, and which answers its purpose well. It has the advantage of being trans- parent, so that the bees can easily be watched through it. The holes can be punched by means of an ordinary shoemaker's punch, and should be about ^ in. in diameter. When of this size the bees can hang by their fore-legs while feeding, and there is no necessity to have the celluloid rough, and therefore opaque. The holes should be at least I in. fiom centre to centre to prevent overcrowding, and the consequent excitement of the bees. Celluloid, being a bad conductor of heat and transparent, is very useful for many purposes about a hive. From experiments I have made, I have little doubt that bees often refuse to pass through excluder zinc on account of its temperature being lower than the adjoining wood. I now use excluders of celluloid, and shall never return to zinc, as the bees undoubtedly prefer the celluloid. There is another reason why zinc may be distasteful to bees. When the hive moisture condenses upon it a zinc salt is formed, probably the acetate or forraiate of zinc, and this has not only a very disagreeable taste, but is also probably poisonous. — • Walter F. Reid, Addlestone, January 7. [It would be helpful to readers if our cor- respondent would kindly furnish us with price per superficial foot of celluloid, and where it may be obtained. Also if it is necessary to fix it between two thicknesses of wood (as in sample) to prevent it from twisting out of shape from varying temperature. — Eds.] 18 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. U, 1897. Queries m& Jlejfte* [1633.] Shalloiv-frame Surplus Chambers. — 1. Is it advisable to have the top bar of shallow-frames the usual, or standard, length of 17 in. ? My reason for inquiring is that I am making my supers from the wood of orange-boxes, sides i in., back and front J in., Avith the top bar reduced 1 in. at each end. I can turn out for a few pence a very neat- looking job. An outer case protects the super from weather. Frame-ends in brood-chamber would be covered by a strip of enamel cloth, with plenty of packing on top. By this means I get more room for packing, and I cannot see that the extra length of bar is necessary, but should like to have your valuable advice before making any more supers of the same kind. Distance Pins in Bottom Bars. — 2. Are there any serious objections to putting distance-pins in bottom of side bars ? I have great difficulty in getting my frames to hang straight in hive ; some of them will almost touch the next frame at oae end, while the other end will be just as much too wide. The brads would, of course, be removed when foundation was quite built out. — Bluestone, Bugeley, Staffs. Reply. — 1. As a general rule, it is most desirable that the top bars of all shallow- frames be of one uniform length, viz., 17 in. This secures a surplus-chamber which properly covers a body-box fitted with standard frames, and the, perhaps, more important point of uniformity and interchangeability in bee- appliances. The shallow -frame, like the " standard," should not vary in size or shape, so that makers and users alike will know exactly what is meant by the term " shallow- frame." There is no reason why our corre- spondent should not utilise orange-boxes for making surplus-chambers except that, if he wished to dispose of his appliances, he could not offer them as shallow-frame boxes without misleading a purchaser. 2. Although distance- pins in bottom bars are objectionable for many reasons, they might be used temporarily in order to secure the end referred to. But why not remove the diffi'julty at the outset by using only well-cut frames which will hang straight in the hive ? These may be bought so cheaply that we consider it false economy to use home-made ones. [1634] Bees S^qyersecUng Queens. — 1. I should like a little advice on the subject of queen-superseding. Is it safe to leave this matter to the bees, as advised by Mr. Dolittle (page 519 of B.J. for December 24 last)? Two of my eight hives have queens of 1896 ; about the remamder I know nothing as to their age. The Bee Journal for 1886 (page 142), con- tains a question by the late Eev. F. G. Jeveyns on queen-raising in small apiaries. I have looked through the volume, but cannot fiud any satisfactory answer. If it is saie to leave it to the bees to remove her majesty when she become too old to perform her duties, I should certainly prefer to do so, for, being a farmer's son, I have quite plenty to attend to without having to raise queens, form nuclei, &c. 2. Will you please say if an ordinary milk-strainer, the wire gauze of which is of brass, would be suitable for straining honey. I have one here quite new, but am afraid the brass wire would have a bad effect upon the honey ? — Bluestone, Bugeley, Staffs. Reply. — 1. The general opinion of ex- perienced bee-keepers in this country is that queens should be renewed after two fall years' breeding ; and as a rule it is, we think, admitted that the most uniform success follows this plan. On the other hand, no sensible bee- keeper would think of destroying a queen simply because she had reached the prescribed age if she was found (as some queens are) to be extremely prolific at that time. We may also add that our correspondent will, under the especial circumstances named, not be far wrong in accepting the assurance of so widely experienced a bee man as Mr. G. M. Doolittle that (subject to the qualifications named) it " is safe " to leave the matter to the bees them- selves. 2. The brass wire-cloth will have no bad effect whatever on honey passed through it. [1635.] Thickness of Hive Floors. — Can you kindly inform me what is the minimum thick- ness of floor that will give bees adequate pro- tection from cold and damp in winter ?— Apicola, Jan. 7. Reply. — We consider a i-in. floor, nailed on to stout side-pieces, 2A in. deep by Ih in. thick, constructed as in sketch, will afford ample protection to bees in winter. The above cut shows the floor-board of the " W. B. C." hive, and will be familiar to readers from having been copied in the catalogues of most appliance manufacturers. [1636.] Comb Foundation. — 1. Does the use of thick sheets of comb foundation in brood frames answer the same purpose as wiring the frame, or is it expedient to use wire even with thick sheets ? 2. Is it advisable to use flat-bottomed foundation for any pur- pose ? It would seem to aflbrd a better bed for wire, and to bring it better out of the way than the zig-zag foundation. — H. A. C., Oxford. Reply. — 1. Foundation of heavy make is supposed, in more or less degree, to do away with the necessity for wiring, but how far it Jan. 14, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 19 secures the object is a matter of opinion — some claim that it succeeds ; others the opposite ; not a little of the success or failure, however, depends on the bee-keeper himself. A trial of both plans will prove to which class of operator our correspondent belongs. 2. We prefer the natural-base for thick foundation. [1637.] Protection From Wasjjs. — Am I right in inferring from your kind reply to query 1,622 that it would be useless to try to protect hives against wasps with perforated 7.inc, as holes which would let bees pass would also allow wasps to get through, because, on an average, wasps are either the same size as worker bees or smaller ? — Apicola. Reply. — Quite so. In fact, if bees could be guarded against wasps in the simple way mentioned, our correspondent may rest assured it would have been discovered long ago. [1638.] Bees Dying in Winter. — About the middle of Desember I inserted a hooked wire into the entrances of my four hives, and raked out about half-a-dozen dead bees from each. At the end of the month I again repeated the process, with a like result in three hives, but in the fourth I drew out five or six hundred bees. All the hives are similarly constructed, quilted, and supplied with candy. I send sample of bees, and ask your opioion on this extraordinary mortality as compared with that of the other hives ? — Lamium, Old Trafford, Manchester. Reply. — The hive in which the greater mortality occurred would, no doubt, have a larger proportion of old and worn-out bees than the others ; hence the increase iu death rate. It by no means follows, however, that the loss will, for certainty, tell on the prosperity of the stock in the coming season of '97. It is quite common for colonies which suflFer great winter losses in the way mentioned to come out well, and be as strong or stronger than those from which very few dead bees are thrown out by the bees, or raked out by the bee-keeper. SEASONABLE QUESTIONS. ANSWERED BT G. M. DOOLITTLE. UNITING Nuclei and Aftkr-Swarms. Question. — Having some nuclei and light after-swarms that have not sufficient bees to winter as they are, I desire to know what is the best way for uniting two or more nuclei or after-swarms in the fall, preparatory to winter- ing ? When is the best time to do it ? Answer. — The time of year to unite nuclei or weak swarms is just as soon as the bees cease to gather honey and you have the extra queens disposed of as you wish. The last half of September and the first half of October is the time when I unite the most of my nuclei, or small colonies, if I have such. The sooner it can be done after September 10 to 15 the better, for then the bees are given more time to fix up their stores and arrange the hive in the shape they wish them for winter ; and the nearer these things are to what they would be in a full colony which has had all summer to prepare for winter in, the more assurance of successful wintering we have. A hive which has had its combs overhauled and put back promiscuously, after October 15, is in poor shape for winter, as the nest prepared for winter, with unsealed honey surrounding it on all sides, is thrown out of shape and made as uncomfortable to the bees as a bed would be to a man were it thrown over a pile of stones, instead of being smoothly placed over a mattress, and that mattress resting on woven wire springs. No disturbing of the bees winter-nest should be done later than Octo- ber 15 to 20, unless in case of positive necessity, north of 40 deg. north latitude. Well, how shaU we unite ? The old way, and the one still adhered to by many, is to draw the hives gradually together by moving them a few feet each day, or after the bees have had a flight each time, till the hives are close side by side, when both colonies are smoked thoroughly, and the bees caused to fill themselves with honey by pounding _ on the hive, or otherwise roughly using their home. This done, the bees are not liable to quarrel, especially if they are mixed by interchanging frames when putting them in the hive in which they are to stay. Put in their perma- nent home only such frames as contain the most honey, and place the fullest frames to the outsides of the hive ; and those containing the least in the centre. This leaves them more nearly in the shape a full colony would be in when undisturbed, and causes the bees less work in getting their winter quarters arranged. After getting in all the combs the hive will contain, in the same, shake the bees off the remaining frames in front of the entrance, shaking frames from the alternate hives each time, so as to mix all the bees thoroughly as they run in. If any bees stick to the sides of the hive, brush these out also, that all may go into the hive together. If you have not disposed of all the queens but one, you should do so before uniting, keeping the youngest, and therefore likely to be the most prolific, wherever you can have your choice to do so. Probably there are more bees united by this plan than by any other known ; still, I have always considered it slow and tedious, not giving any better results than a shorter method adopted by myself for the past few years, which is as follows : — When the time comes to unite I select the hive having the queen I wish to retain, as the one to contain the united colony. I now open this hive and take out what combs I consider necessary, leaving those containing the most honey, or otherwise, as the circumstances may direct, although it is seldom that united colonies have too much honey. Those left — after making sure the queen is on one of them — are placed 20 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 14, 1897. on one side of the hive, as closely together as I wish them to be left for wintering. The bees on the combs to be removed are now shaken off the combs and allowed to run into the hive, when, after closing, it is ready to receive whatever is to be united with it. I next go to the one or more colonies intended to be united with this first one ; and if they have a queen she is secured and dis- posed of as I desire ; all the frames are then removed but one, two, or three, according to the number of bees in the colony ; few being so small that only one comb is left, and in no (■iise is a colony weak enough in bees to need uniting, unless they can all crowd on three combs fixed as I am about to tell you. The combs left are generally those contain- ing the most honey, although some years there is little choice of combs on account of all being liberally supplied with stores. The combs (two or three) are now spread apart from 1 to IMn., and placed in the centre of the hive, when the hive is closed and the bees shaken off the combs taken out so that they can run in with those left on the spread-apart combs. I fix any others that are to be united in the same way, in some cases putting as many as four or five in with the one having the queen, but not usually more than one, two, or three, according to the number of bees each contains. I now wait till some cool, cloudy, raw, windy day, or a morning when there has been a frost, or nearly so, when I am ready for the uniting, which is very simple. The hive having the queen is uncovered ; or if the cover is a mat or quilt, this is rolled back till the comb next the vacant side of the hive is exposed, when I go, smoker in hand, to tho?e ready to be united with it, blow a few dense puffs of smoke in at the entrance, quickly uncover the hive, blow in freely of smoke over and around the three spread-apart combs, when I place the first finger of each hand between the first two combs ; and if three, the big fingers between the next, when the third and little fingers clasp over on the outside of the outside frame, the thumb tightening on the other side at the same time, when the three frames, bees and all, are lifted out all together and carried to the open hive, having the queen, and all lowered into said hive in a body, the same being placed close up to the side of the exposed comb. The quilt is now rolled over all the frames but the last, when another and another lot is brought in the same way till the required number are in, when the hive is closed and the uniting accomplished. If the day is cool and raw, or the night before has been cold, the bees which are to be carried will all be compactly clustered on and between the spread-apart combs ; and after you get the " hang " of the thing a little you can carry them where you wish, without any flying in the air or being left in the hive. Why only three combs are to be left under any circumsrtances is that a person cannot grasp more than these with the hands ; and to separate the clustered bees in any place is to make a bad job in losing bees and have them fly all oA'er you and out into the cold to perish. By removing the hive and stand from the old location no bees are lost by returning, although some will return and hover over the old spot on the first flight for a little time ; but you will soon find them with fanning wings at the entrance of their new home which they accept ever afterward. — Gleanings. HONEY IMPORTS. An account showing the value of honey imported into the United Kingdom during the month of December, 189G, £1,627.— JVow a return furnished to the Bee-keepers' Journal, by the Statistical Office, H.M . Customs, January 6, 1897. Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers. Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manvfac- turers or correspondents^ or -where appliances can be purchased, or replies giving such ii^ormation, can only he inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We toish our Correspondents to bea/r in mind that, a^ it is necessary for us to go to pi-ess in advance of the date of i^sue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue immediately following the receipt of their communica- tions. All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of personal interest will be answered in this column. Trieste (Austria). — Foreign " Homes of the Honey Bee." — The intention is to complete the series of bee-garden pictures, under this heading, for the United Kingdom first, and then we hope to include some of the apiaries of readers located abroad. We shall, there- fore, be very pleased j to receive a photo, of your apiary, together with such particulars connected with it as possess general interest. Your intended visit to this country in June next will afford a good opportunity for visiting the " Royal " Show at Manchester in that month, and also for meeting with some of those prominent in the craft. So far as the actual days for attending the Show, we would suggest the 24th, if only one day can be spared, and the 26th for a second visit, if convenient. The latter will give our correspondent an idea of the number of visitors attending on a popular (or shilling) day. A. J. Roberts (Petersfield). — Leaki7ig Sec- tions.— The section sent is of the ordinary bass-wood, of which nearly all American folding sections are made. The statement that " the honey oozes through the grain of the wood so that the sections are dripping all over the top, sides, and bottom," is so entirely outside any experience we have had or heard of, that we cannot understand it at all. Several Letters and Queries are held over till next week. Jan. 21, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL. 21 OJditorial ^ofca, kt USEFUL HINTS. Weather.— On the evening of the 16th, and for the first time this winter, snow fell in sufficiently enduring quan- tity to clothe the whole Metropolitan district in seasonable white, enabling us, just before midnight, to look out upon what our friend " Lordswood " calls "a white, silent, weary world," (weary enough to too many dwellers in and around the big city) but inexpressibly beautiful withal, as we saw it. The bright moonlight, helped by the intense white- ness of everything around, made it lighter than any day tor have had for ever so long, and the clinging snow so altered the familiar outlines of gable, roof, tree, and every shapable thing within sight as to give them altogether novel shapes, curiously strange to us. Then, too, the " deep silence over the landscape, seeming to muffle every sound," at once recalled the words we have again quoted. Yes, after all, and drawbacks notwith- standing, we do like a taste of winter, if it will only come at the right time, and not wear out its welcome by stopping too long. Nor does the present promise of its having come to stay fail to give com- fort of a reflective kind to the bee- keeper, who — thinking, no doubt, of the bees — says to himself, " winter now won't mean winter in May." Meantime the ajjiary wears its winter garb ; hive entrances snugly shaded from cold winds, or, perhaps, treacherous sunshine ; and, should frost continue, the less dis- turbance of the quiet there prevailing the better. No need to clear away snow from entrances or roofs till signs of thaw begin to appear. Labels on the "County Trophy." — A question has arisen as to the admis- sibility or otherwise of county labels on the exhibits comprised in the honey trophies staged at the " Royal " Show in June next. We therefore take the first opportunity for saying that as no labels or anything else indicating ownership are allowed, there must be nothing in this line displayed upon the respective trophies competing. The judges are not supposed to know upon which county's exhibit they are adjudicating, and the reasons for this will be obvious to all ; so that prior to the awards being made no name, label, or mark " indicating owner- ship " must be seen. Once the judging is over the case, of course, becomes entirely difi"erent. Humble Bees in New Zealand. — On page 8 of our monthly, the Record, for January, there appears a letter from " A Kent Bee-keeper," giving some inte- resting particulars regarding the success- ful introduction of humble bees into New Zealand by Mr. Thomas Nottidge, of Ashford, Kent. In the winter of 1884 Mr. Nottidge, who was assisted in the work by Mr. Baldwin, of Bromley, Mr. S. C. Farr, and others, sent out nearly 500 humble bees to the colony, packed in moss, and a sufficient number arrived safely as to become established in their new home. The enormous financial results consequent on the acclimatisation of these insects may be gathered from a communication which reached Mr, Nottidge in 1895 from Mr. H. A. Bruce, secretary of the Canterbury Acclimatisa- tion Society, who under date of Jan. 25, in that year, wrote as follows : — "The humble bees have been a great success in Canterbury, and clover-seed has been expmied to England for the last three or four years. It is estimated that the clover-seed crop is worth £30,000 per annum to this province, and this entirely due to the successful imjmiation of the humble bee / " In view of the historical interest at- tached to the above authoritatively recorded facts, we invite atttention to an extract on page 22 from The New Zea- land Farmer, Bee ami Poultry Journal of April, 1896. The letters which we print from that paper deal only with the hive- bee. Apis mellifica, but they are very interesting not only in connection with the question of the first introduction of bees into the colony, but when con- sidered along with the fact of what has since been done with regard to the fer- tilisation of clover by humble bees. We have all along disputed the assertion that the Ligurian bee — by reason of its so-called longer tongue — was capable of securing the fertilisation of the seed of red clover and thus proved its superioritj'' over the common brown bee of this country. We have it on record that Mr. Hopkins, whose name appears at foot 22 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 21, 1897. of the communication quoted, some years ago imported large numbers of Ligurian bees for the purpose referred to, but failed entirely so far as securing the object aimed at. After the facts detailed above we think it may be safely taken for granted that the supposed superiority of the Ligurian bee is a myth having no foundation in fact. Page 1, Volume XXV.— That we were not far astray in our estimate of the pleasure with which we supposed page 1 of vol. 2.5 would be regarded by readers, is amply proved by the many letters received referring to the subject. Every one acquainted with the original seems struck with the " excellence of the portrait," and all are pleased to see it in print. Beyond this Ave need only add a personal word to those who expressed a wish to "also see the Junior Editor in print," by observing that the indi- vidual referred to — besides having al- ready appeared in these pages a few years ago, is so much in evidence (pic- torially) all through the pages of the " Guide Book " that any further appear- ance " before the curtain " on his part is unnecessary, for the present at least. DEEBYSHIRE B.K.A. ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Derbyshire Bee- keepers' Association was held on Friday after- noon, the 15th inst., at the Y.M.C.A., St. Peter's Churchyard. Mr. J. L. P. Barber, J.P., presided. The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed, the hon. sec. (Mr. Francis Walker) read the annual report, which, after referring to the somewhat unfavourable honey season of 1896, which, however, in no way mutilated the success of the annual show, went on to say: Fourteen lectures and demonstrations were given in various suitable centres during the past season, and 436 bee-keepers were visited, as against 230 the previous year. The total number of stocks in possession of these bee-keepers was 1,630. A satisfactory number of new members had joined during the year. The prevalence of foul brood in the county had caused the com- mittee a considerable amount of anxiety and expense. Special visits and treatment by the expert had been requisite, and several stocks had been destroyed in the attempt to stamp out that ruinous disease. The Technical Education Committeee of the County Council had gene- rously granted the Association £50 for educa- tional work in lectures and demonstrations in bee-keeping. The Derbyshire Agricultural Society also granted th^m £10 towards the Prize Fund at the annual show. The Chair- man briefly moved the adoption of the report, which was seconded by Mr. J. Stone (Cubley), and carried. The balance sheet, showing a slight deficit on the year's working, conr.equent upon certain unlocked for expenses, was also read and adopted on the motion of Mr. R. Giles (Etwall), seconded by Mr. T. W. Jones. The election of officers was then proceeded with. The Duke of Devonshire was re-elected president, and the vice-presidents were also re-appointed. Mr. Barber was re-elected chairman, Mr. Giles vice-chairman, Dr. Cope- stake hon. treasurer, and Mr. Walker hon. secre- tary. The other business transacted included the appointment of the Committee of Manage- ment, the appointment of district secretaries and local advisers, and the alteration of cer- tain of the rules. IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. The Committee met on 7th inst., present Cap- tain Millner in the chair, the Earl of Rosse, Mr. Read, Mr. Jenkins, and Mr. Chenevix (Hon. Sec, 15, Morehampton-road, Dublin). Sub- committees were appointed to consider the advisability of making further suggestions to the Royal Dublin Society as to honey exhibits, to revise the rules relating to Experts' Certificates, and to draw up the Report for 1896. BEES IN NEW ZEALAND. THEIR FIRST INTRODUCTION INTO THE COLONY. The Rev. Chas. Cotton — formerly Vicar of Frodsham, Cheshire, and a prominent man in the pursuit in this country for some years before his death — is so generally credited with being the first to introduce the hive bee, Apis mellifica, into New Zealand that special interest (from the historical point) attaches to the following correspondence, which appeared in The New Zealand Farmer, kindly forwarded to us by Mr. J. W. Rogers, of St. Albans. In the paper before us, the Editor of the Bee Department of The N.Z. Farmer, Mr. I. Hopkins, says : — "Shortly after the publication of the February number of The Farmer containing my article on the above I received a letter from Mr. J. H. Cook, of Makara, Wellington, apprising me of the fact that the Miss Wake- field mentioned as having charge of the bees sent by Mrs. AUom came out in the barque Clifford to Wellington, landing there in the evening of May 4, 1842. The next day the barque set sail for Nelson. Mr. Cook gave me the name of the lady, now residing in Wellington, who came out in the same vessel, and advised communicating with her, which I did through her son, who holds an oihcial posi- tion in the Civil Service. This lady, who was an intimate friend of Miss Wakefield, and constantly with her on shipboard, did not Jan. 21, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 23 recollect any bees being on board the Clifford. On communicating with Mr. Cook he very- kindly sent me the following interesting letter containing additional particulars, which, I think, can leave no doubt about the date of arrival and the vessel Mrs. Allom's bees came out in : — •' Makara, Hutt, Wellington, N.Z., February 20, 1896. "Dear Sir, — I am pleased my communi- cation was interesting, and hope Mrs. is able to give you conclusive information about the bees. If she is not, the following may help you to it. The Clifford was a Nelson immigrant vessel with large young families on board. There should be about Nelson several persons over, say, sixty-four years old that came out by her, who should remember the bees, and what became of them. The late W. Baigent, of Wakefield, has left sons who, if they can't say they know what became of the bees, should be able to name several who came out with them, or their parents, old enough to remember clearly, and to have taken a lively interest in what was made a show of to them in childhood or youth. With respect to your questions I hope you will not think the following impertinent. I was six rears and four months old when my parents with their four children emigrated from England on the Clifford, so I think my memory should not be relied on for record. Yet I remember my home in England, prominent incident of the voyage from it to AVellington, the appearance of the vessel, and what she carried on deck — such as a cow, pigs poultry, amidships, and one or more hives on the poop ; there were several (juite show- days to see the bees by invitation to the children below the poop, and some days when a few of the older children would be invited up, and once my sister, about nine years old, was persuaded by two girls in their teens to go with them up on one side of our deck to the poop, across it and down the steps on the opposite side, and if spoken to to ask permis- sion to look at the bees, for which, poor child, she was indebted to me, I think, for a scolding. I remember being taking on to the poop once, and not being willing to go a second time to see the bees. I can't remember the shape of the hive, but on looking through a piece of glass perpendicular to a dark background I saw dimly what I was told was a bee and " to look I look ! there is another I ' I saw it. I had never seen bees before. This is my personal knowledge of the bees. I was reading about six years ago out of your manual to amuse and interest my father who was old and feeble ■when he said, 'you know bees came out with us.' He could not tell where they were landed I feel sure, nor can I. — I remain, yours truly, * John Herman Cook.' "Presuming that the bees consigned to Nelson were the only ones landed alive, and allowing, say, four or five days at the outside for the passage of the barque from Wellington to Nelson, we may fairly conclude, in the absence of direct evidence, that the bees were landed at the latter place during the first half of May, 1842. This would be some few days before Mr. Cotton and his bees arrived in New Zealand, as the 29th May is given as the date of his arrival. So far, then, it seems that we have been able — thanks to Mr. Cook — to fix the date of the arrival of Mrs. Allom's bees, which, contrary to expectations, arrived before the Rev. Mr. Cotton's." — I. Hopkins, The New Zealand Farmer and Bee and Poultry Journal, Ajjril 1896. HOMES OF THE HONEY BEE. THE APIARIES OF OUR READERS. On page 24 we give a view of the " Home of the Honey Bees" at " World's End," near Newbury, Berks, the owner thereof being Mr. Wm. Woodley, well known to readers of this journal as the contributor of " Notes by the Way " to its pages. The photo from which our illustration is reproduced was taken some six years ago, but the hives occupy the same positions now as then, except that the straw skepj shown in the picture have gone the way of all things of a like nature. Close observa- tion will show a small hive with a round hole in its centre for an entrance, standing on the top of the twin-hive in the foreground. This was the home of a nest of humble bees, the property of Mr. Woodley's son, who, when a lad, used to keep several such hives tenanted during the summer months with colonies of the Bomhus genus. The figures shown are those of Mr. and Mrs. W., engaged in what will, no doubt, be a daily item of their bee- work during the busy season, viz., that of removing full racks of sections and replacing them with empty ones. The hou«e in the farther corner, on the left, was erected as a combination summer and manipulating house, at a time when the old shake-off or brush-away process of removing finished sections was in vogue. We learn that many a retreat from troublesome or angry and vicious bees has taken place behind the then thickly-curtained doorway when re- moving honey ; causing the work in the neighbouring farmyard to be carefully studied in order to prevent "war'' between the workers of the hives and those in the rick- yard adjoining. This trouble is now happily ended, and, thanks to the super-c'earer, we are told that " peace " now reigns between both sets of workers, and honey is removed at any time " even when the neighbours are garnering their corn the other side of the Avind break." The portion of a building on the right is a Wesleyan chapel, but Mr. W. and family regularly attend Beedon Church, in the parish of Hampstead Norris, three miles from his own village. In addition to the home-apiary, with its over a hundred hives, shown in the illus". 24 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 21, 1897. tration, Mr. Woodley has an out-apiary of fifty to sixty hives at Stantnore, a little over two miles from his house at Beedon. This entails considerable labour during the summer months, and the only help he gets in all the actual work of both apiaries is thdt of Mrs. Woodley, who may be taken as an ideal bee-man's wife. To use her husband's own words, " she has proved a true helpmeet in everything pertaining to the work in the apiary, either in hiving and packing swarms, folding and preparing sections for putting on the hives, cleaning and glazing sections after removal from the hives, for show or market, and thus handling in some way nearly all the output for bee-keeping pay seems fairly clear from the above, and although his prices may not be so good as in past years, he stiU holds his own, and for finest selected glazed sections still gets the good old price of 10s. j)er dozen wholesale, and corresponding values for second and third grades. The " home '' which contains the leading spirits of this " Home of the Honey Bees '' must also be a busy one, winter or summer, for while the bees outside are enjoying their winter's rest, the master and mistress of the " home '' are busy the year through, bee-work forming an important item at all seasons. The mistress, we are told, varies her household MR. WM. WOODLEY S IIOJIE-APIARY, BEEDON, NEAll NEWBURY. the past fifteen years from both apiaries. The only help we have being that of an old man to watch for and hive swarms into straw skeps of the out-apiary during the swarming season." Mr. Woodley further tells us : — "The work of preparing the produce of our apiaries for market is by no means a small job, the bulk being in sections, while nearly every parcel is double glassed with lace-paper edging in our well - known style, and each year brings a wider demand for this form of ' putting up,' without advertising of any kind. In fact, the goods advertise them- selves, and inquiries reach us from distant towns for a sample dozen, which invariably leads to repeat orders.'' That our friend makes duties with glazing sections as the orders for these come in during the autumn and winter, and in spring and summer Avith the multi- farious jobs incident to a busy life. The master also adds on to the labours of his trade the continual care of the bees ; breeding queens, overhauling, cleaning, repairing, and painting hives, and all the hundred items inci- dental to the well doing of a couple of apiaries two miles apart. A large correspondence also occupies a good deal of time in certain seasons, and when one thinks of the many journeys (to and fro) to the out-apiary (all on foot), not forgetting the packing of — we might say — tons of honey, so that it shall escape damage from the tender mercies of the railway Jan. 21, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 25 porter, who will say that the bee-man — like his bees — is not " busv " '? But this is not all, for we learn of Mr. Woodley that the public calls on his time are by no means few. Our friend is secretary and agent to a large branch of a benefit club, and vice-chairman of the Parish Council. He is also district councillor and guardian, and acting overseer for the parish of Hampstead Noma, besides being a member of the Council of the Berks Bee-keepers' Association, and of the Committee of the Newbury District Bee-keepers' Association. Mr. Woodley was born in 1846 and Mrs. Woodley in 1852, so that our busy friends are in the prime of life. Before closing, we may mention the interesting fact that on Old Christmas -day, the (Jth inst., they celebrated their Silver Wedding. (50rrapni^na, The Editort do not hold theinaelveti respmudbie /or the upinioim exprenned by corretfpondents. No notice vxill be taken of anonymmig communications, andcorrenpondents are requested to write on one side of the payer only and /-'■ve their real names and addresses, not necessanly foi ntblication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra- tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We do not undertake to return rejected communications. Com^nunications relating to the literary departineni , reports of Associations, S?iows, Meetings, Echoes, Querxet, Books for Review, )) ;j ^ :» )» )i " 4 £. s. d. 0 17 2 0 14 9 1 5 0 12 7 6 15 4 5 2 1 0 5 10 8 4 10 9 2 19 6 0 2 6 15 4 5 By Balance 12 7 6 I made an error of 10s. in my letter, so Jan. 21, 1897.] tHE BEITISH BEE JOUMAL. 2? that you will notice the credit to P. and L. account is 10s. more. The item £2. Is. for fertilising bloom is a subscription I received for the services the bees would render to the fruit and vegetable bloom — which is my father's hobby — in grow- ing them. I think that all will agree that this is a very fair way of keeping the accounts, and I hope I have made everything clear to your correspondent Mr. Davis, and others. — Kenelm Goss, Langland, near Sioansea, January 16. NOTES BY THE WAY, [2763.] The weather is as wintry as the jolliest schoolboy can wish, frost providing ice for some games and snow for others. But what of the bees ? Well, during last week they were on the wing for a few hours and got a cleansing flight. In my case all answered to the "roll call," save one colony in a makeshift hive, and examination proved that the bees were dead. On the top of quilts among th« wraps I found ensconced a fluffy nest, inhabited by a couple of mice, the mischievous little creatures having made a hole through the quilt and feasted on the contents of the bee- nest below, while, for a change of diet, they had eaten a great portion of the bodies of the dead bees ! This was at my out-apiary at Stan- more, which I had not visited for some few weeks : in fact, during the winter months I leave that apiary in charge of an octogenarian bee-keeper, whose flagging interest in the bees I manage to arouse when Christmas comes round by a substantial Christmas box. Planning for the Season. — Now is the time to plan for the coming season ; to place orders with manufacturers for your probable wants in the good time coming. You will now get better attention and — what is still more to the point to a Britisher — better terms than during the rush. Now, also, is the time for reading up articles which received but scant attention during the summer months, and for taking to heart the many items of valuable informa- tion which they contain for putting into practice. Let us also endeavour to do better in the coming season than we did last year ; to give more attention to our bees, and have everything likely to be wanted ready for use just at the time it is required. The mention, on page 463 of last volume, of Caucasian bees naturally develops a desira to know more of this race. I gather from a review of foreign bee- papers that there are two races of Caucasian bees, one of grey colour similar to the Carniolan race, the other of a bright orange, shading off to light yellow, similar to the Persian and Egyptian races of bees. How or in what form their introduction here may affect our British bees time alone can tell. A cross with the bright-coloured strain may add a few beauty spots to our brown bees, but as they are described as cross and vicious and ready for a robbing expedi- tion, it may also prove an illustration of the old proverb, " Though it please the eye it may plague the heart." Mr. E. T. Abbott, in a recent number of the American 'Bee Journal, has something to say against the use of drawn-out combs. His idea is that the bees will store honey in fully-built comb faster than it can be properly ripened, and that there will be a tendency of such un- ripe honey to sour. This has never been my experience ; the difference in climate may have much to do with the matter. Again, Mr. Abbott contends that combs carefully cleaned and preserved from dust and dirt are not — and never can be — so good as new combs built j ust as the honey is being stored in them. This also is not in line with my deductions of facts gleaned in practice for several years past. I well remember the late Mr. Barnet Taylor's enthusiastic introduction of his comb-leveller to the notice of American bee-keepers, and when my old friend, John Walton, and my- self held our next " bee convention," he asked me for my opinion of the aforesaid " comb - leveller ? " My reply was that " I wanted a leveller up, not a leveller down ! '' This opinion he promptly endorsed. If sections have been worked without separators, and the combs are " bulged," then they will require reducing in thickness so that when finished the comb will allow of glazing or casing. But after the bees have built natural comb, why should we demolish one-third to one-half their work to give them room to rebuild the comb again, and waste all the old material broken off.' No ; my honey harvests are too short, and my time and that of the bees too valuable to waste in doing over again work which has been well done already. If any one wishes to prove this for himself, let him place an empty comb over a strong colony just as the honey harvest opens, and twenty- four hours afterwards examine the same ; he will then see for himself if bees do not know how to clean and polish up a piece of comb preparatory to filling it with honey. — W. WooDLEY, Beedon, Newbury. THE CIDER INDUSTRY AND BEE-PASTURAGE. Our attention has been called to the follo^ir- ing letter, which appeared in the Times of the 6cli inst. : — ■ To the Editor of the Times. Sir,— The Hereford M.P.'s excellent letter in your issue of December 29 induces me to send you asimple fact, which to me has great pomological importance. We have in this village an industrious old cottager who in the year 1839 planted a " Winter Quoining " in his allotment, of which he has been in undisturbed possession for fifty-seven years. The year before last this tree, which is a most healthy specimen, with a 38 THE BMTISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 21, 1897. trunk 4 ft. in circumference, yielded him thirteen bushels of apples ! Had the old man chosen to store his fruit in " liquid form" he could have enjoyed a glass of prime cider every day for a period of some- thing like two years. "If I hadn't planted that tree," said the old man, " when I was young, I couldn't have had all this fruit." In Kent we owe a vast deal to the planting en- terprise of our predecessors ; but what are we of to-day doing in that direction in our own interest and that of our successors ? Let us encourage Mr, Radcliflfe Cooke in his good work, and hold an Arbor Day on the 30th of this very month, when every one in Kent who has the opportunity should procure and pro- perly plant an apple tree of good vintage variety ; if not (at first for a year or two) in its permanent home, subsequent removal will not hurt it. I have quite sturdy specimens of apple and pear planted in 1887, which for the last three seasons have yielded a liberal supply of fruit, and a farmer here is now planting an acre of vintage varieties and a few ornamental crabs, all of good cooking and keeping sorts, as suitable for market as for cider-making. Fifty years ago or less cider was made on almost every farm, on which one now sees but ruined remnants of fine orchards, telling both of past prosperity and present neglect. Cider-making is fast coming to the front again, and it behoves every rural parish in Kent to heed the good advice given us by Mr. Radcliffe Cooke in your columns. — Your obedient ser- vant, E. D. T. As the above suggestion, if carried out, will provide more bee-pasture, we publish it, and, although practically anonymous to the Times readers will with ourselves identify the initials appended as those of a well known corre- spondent of the Bee Journal. For our own part, we hope that not only Kent, but every other county, will give heed to the subject. Cider is the wine of Britain ; moreover, it is unquestionably valuable medicinally, and, we hear on excellent authority, an antidote for lumbago and other rheumatic tendencies. ^utxm m& llejjfes. [1639.] Starting with Frame-Rives and Transferri7ig from Skeps. — 1. Last summer I had two strong swarms given me which I put into skeps ; but my intention is in the commg spring to start with frame-hives. I therefore ask : Could I get the bees and combs now in skeps into frame-hives ? Or would it be best to let them swarm, and only put the swarms into modern hives in the spring, and drive the old stocks later on ? 2. What would be the best way to feed the bees, and with what food, as I am afraid they have not en ouch stores to carry them through the winter. I gave them a little syrup one warm day this week in a saucer on the alighting board, but to my surprise and regret I afterwards found a quantity of bees dead in front of the hives. 3. I should be glad if you could tell me the reason of this. — Novice, East Sheen, Jan. 1. Reply. — 1. We should not advise an entire novice at bee-keeping to attempt transferring combs and brood from skeps into frame-hives. Having two stocks in skeps, and desiring to furnish two modern, or bar-frame-hives, you might try two well-known and safe plans, and let us know which of these yields the most satisfaction at the close of the season : — With the first skep proceed as follows : Prejiare a irame-hive with full sheets of foundation, and covering top bars with a square of leather- cloth with a 4-in. hole in centre. Raise the front of skep in April or early in May next, and if the bees are seen to cover the lower edges of combs, set the skep right on top of cloth which covers top-bars in frame-hive, packing warmly the part not covered by skep. Place the hive on the original stand, and in a week or two the bees will have transferred the brood-nest to frame-hive below, using the skep as brood hatches out of combs as a store- chamber for honey. At close of season the latter may be removed and the honey appro- priated. Allow the second skep to swarm. Hive the swarm on about five frames, and set the new hive on the stand of parent skep, re- moving the latter some distance away. In eight or ten days, if weather is good, give a rack of sections for storing surplus in. Should the season be very good, tiU up the hive with full complement of ten frames. Both these plans are easy and safe, and we shall, as stated above, be glad to know which succeeds best with you. 2. Soft candy is the only suitable food at this season ; it must be moulded into a ball and pushed into feed-hole at top of skep, covering over all very warmly to prevent through-draiTght. 3. The excite- ment of outside feeding has caused some upsets among the bees, and consequent death of a few. It was injudicious to feed with syrup as stated. [1640.] Wedging-up Hives for Ventilating. In the interesting description of storifying, in " Guide Book," p. 60, it is said " the fronts have to be railed, as in fig. 34, by means of wedges about an inch high, to give the bees access on three sides. The outer cesing is also raised to allow a free circulation of air." Fig. 34 in " Guide Book " shows with perfect clearness the floor-board, and its ledges, and the cut into it in front. It also shows the fronts of outer case and inner hive, not level with their backs, and in contact with the floor- board (as in fig. 13), but raised up. But if the thickness of the floor-board represents Ij in, in the drawing, the elevation of the front of case and hive above their ordinary level cannot amount to " about an inch '' or anything near it. Hence I fear I have not rightly understood the directions on page 60, which Jan. 21, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 29 appear to say that the hive front is to be raised an inch above its previous level -, is this so ? 2. I should also like to ask — as the bees are given an entrance along the two sides, as well as along the front, are they also given alight- ing boards at the sides, and is this to be taken as implied in " access.'' 3. When the hives are thus raised in front, is it advisable to take precautions against robber bees, moths, and the building of comb under the frames ? The wedging-up in front would give bees access at the sides to within 4 in. or 5 in. of the back, and it would give moths access almost to the back, where perhaps the bees might not have sentinels, not regarding it as a thoronghfare. — Apiculturist, January 9. Eeply. — 1. It is only necessary to raise the front "about an inch" as directed on p. 60. A little more or less is of no conse- quence. 2. No. There is no need for alight- ing boards at sides ; and at such times as ventilation is needed no fear need be enter- tained of robber bees or moths. [1641.] A Beginner's Queries. — Being only a beginner, I should feel much obliged if you would kindly give me information on the following points : — 1. How much flour cake should one put over a stock of bees to start breeding ? 2. If syrup is used instead of flour cake, would half a pint once a week be sufficient, allowing the bees only one hole to get it through 1 3. From what I have read in Bee Journal. 2-lb. sections are almost as soon filled as 1-lb. sections ; and if so, would it not pay as well to sell the 2-lb. one at Is. or Is. Id. as the 1-lb. sections at 8d. ? 4. To discover the presence of a queen, how long can one be examining a Jiive, and what would be the best time to do so in view of there being robbers about ? 5. I have one stock which did very badly last year ; would you advise me to destroy the queen in the spring ? On ex- amination yesterday, I found the stock in question very strong. The queen is two years old. — Jerseyite, Jersey, January 11. Eeply. — 1. Early in March, if weather is fine, a 1-lb. cake of soft candy (not " flour cake ") may be given to stocks in sufiiciently forward condition to warrant stimulative feed- ing. When this cake has been consumed, a second, having a little pea-flour in it, may be given, and this feeding continued till the end of the month, after which syrup food may be substituted in a slow-feeder until natural food is obtainable. 2. Yes. 3. Reference to what you may have read in our pages will show that the bulk of the opinion expressed was not in favour of the 2 lb. section. Anything further can only be arrived at by personal experience. 4. Some bee-keepera can usually find a queen in five minutes ; it is merely a question of skill and aptness. When robbers are about, a beginner should not open a hive at all. 5. If the queen is at fault, yes, decidedly, but not otherwise. [1642.] backing Bees for Transit. — Will you kindly give me advice? I have three stocks of bees in bar-frame hives to send a distance of over 100 miles by rail. Please say how they should be packed, and whether passenger or luggage is best way, and which is the best month to send them. — Jas. Adams, Kughxj. Reply. — Winter is the best time for send- ing. Let us know if you have no book on bees by you before we reply as to method of packing. [1643.] Wincloivs and Covers in Surplus- boxes. — 1 intend cutting a hole and fitting a piece of glass in one side of all my shallow- frame boxes belonging to W.B.C. hives, in order that I may easily ascertain what progress the bees are making when the boxes are tiered, i.e, by being able to see the outside face of one of the end combs, and judge the remainder by it. What 1 wish to know is, if it is at all necessary or to my advantage to fix hinged shutters on the outsiae of the glass 1 — T. H. B. Burgess, Exeter, Jan. 11. Reply. — The best plan is to cover the face of the "shutters" with a piece of old black cloth, cutting the latter large enough to cover the edges of wood forming the shutter, which is made so as to fit close in the recess and against the glass. No hinge is then required, but only a " lock screw," to give finger-hold in lifting shutter in and out. [1644.] Stimulative Feeding in February. — I shall nave occasion to give candy to two stocks in the beginning of February. 1. Will it be too early to give flour-candy ? 2. If so, how early can this be given with beneficial results ? We have a cold climate here. — R. C. S., Biggar, N.B. Reply. — 1 and 2. Give plain soft candy until mid-March. Use flour candy till end of that month, then syrup until natural food comes in. SUPERSEDURE OF QUEENS. shall bees or apiarist do it ? Some think it is best to see that no queen older than two years is left in the apiary, while many of our best bee-keepers believe in letting the bees take care of the matter to suit them- selves. I must confess I don't know for certain which is best. Generally I have allowed the bees to choose their own time for superseding. Of the sixty-four queens that started the season this year in the home apiary, six were reared in 1892, twenty-five in 1893, eight in 1894, twenty-four in 1895. Four of the 1892 queens were superseded ia April or May, and the six averaged very poor work in the supers, although two of them did good work. Although there were exceptions, I got my best work generally from ttie 1895 queens. It is noticeable that the 1893 queens 30 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 21, 1897. exceeded in number those reared in 1894 and 1895. Especially noticeable is the very small number of 1894 queens, only eight. I think that may be accounted for by the difference in seasons. The year 1894 was a very poor season throughout, the bees giving no surplus, and not getting enough for winter. So there were not many queens superseded. The year 1893 was a year of some surplus, so there were a good many supersedures. In 1895 the early crop was a failure ; but the fall flow was fine, so there were supersedures enough. In general, it seems that the bees supersede their quaens after a hard season's work much more than after a season of light work. Is it because the queens lay more in a good season 'i Without going into particulars, I may say that I am well satisfied that it mate 3 a good deal of difference whether a queen is super- seded in the spring or the fall. Geo. L. Vinal maybe right in thinking • late-reared queens superior ; but even if they are no better it is not hard to see why a colony changing its queen in April or May will not do so well. Take two colonies alike, and let one of them change its queen at the time when each has its hive about half filled with brood. No eggs are laid in the hive for a week or two, at the very time when it's most important, and one can easily believe that the colony which keeps its queen will surpass the superseding one. But when the superseding occurs in the fall (and I think by far the greater part occur then), the hive is filled with bees, and the loss of a week or two in laying is scarcely felf. More- over, the young queen lays enough longer in the fall to make up the deficiency ; and this later laying leaves the colony, in the opinion of many, in better condition for wintering, because of the larger number of young bee'. Some queens are better at four years old than some others at a year old ; and as the bees seem to have good judgment, and super- sede usually at the time when good queens can be reared, and when such rearing will be at least cost to the honey crop, it seems pretty good practice to leave the matter in their hands, especially as that is the easiest way for the bee-keeper. But then there are excep- tions, a worthless old queen being sometimes retained, and sometimes being superseded at a loss early in the season., so there's a good deal in favour of at least sometimes taking the thing into one's own hands. If Mr. Doolittle is right, it might at least be well to make sure each fall of the supersedure of each queen whose colony had done poor work during the summer. He says if you put a queen-cell in a super about the close of the honey-harvest, the old queen will be superseded. TWO QUEENS IN ONE COLONY. It is nothing unusual for a failing queen to remain in a colony for a time with her layingr daughter, but I have at present an excep- tional case. June 19 I started a nucleus by putting into No. 36 a frame of brood with adhering bees and a three-year-old queen. June 23 I found the hive deserted by all but a very few bees. I don't remember how much I looked for the queen, but at any rate I didn't find her. I then put into the hive a frame of brood and bees with a two-year-old queen. This was a very yellow queen. July 8 1 was surprised to find in the hive a very dark queen, the three-year-old queen I had first put into the hive. Looking further I was still more surprised to fine the yellow queen. No mistake about it, there they both were, doing duty peacefully together. A. curious feature of the case is that the yellow queen shows she has had pretty rough treatment, her feathers being gone as well as her wings, except just a shred of one wing, while the dark queen shows no trace of ill usage. As there were scarcely any bees in the hive except those put in with the yellow queen, one would expect the other queen to be the victim of ill treatment. To-day, August 1, I have been down to the hive, and both queens are all right after thirty- nine dajs of friendly association. — Dr. C. C. Miller, in Gleanings, Notioes to Correspondents & Inquirers. Letters or queries asking for addresses of manvfae- turers or oor respondents, or where appliances can be vurchased, or replies giving such information, can only he inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of insue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue immediately following the receipt of their oom/munica- tions. All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of personal interest will be answered in this column. A. C. Denny (Haverhill). — Dead Bees Block- ing Hive Entrance. — The few details given do not quite enable us to account for the heavy mortality mentioned. Either there is something faulty about the hive entrance or several teams of bees have perished through inability to reach the food in cold weather, and have died from consequent starvation. In the latter event the repeated blocking up of entrance with a pint or more of dead bees could be explained, but not otherwise ; unless the entrance arrangement is too shallow to allow of the bees carrying 0 it a few dead comrades as occasion re- quires, and the door becoming blocked in consequence. This, too, would add to the mischief, and cause the death of many bees. Examine the hive on the first fine day, and get rid of all the dead bees from floor-board, then watch if further blocking up occurs. Caleb Godfrey (Cardifl"). — Moving Bees. — Bees may at this season be moved any evening. If carefully done, not a bee need leave the hive in moving, even if entrances were left open. Jan. 28, 1897.] THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL. an (gtoml Mtjfiim, ^t BEE ASSOCIATIONS AND LEGIS- LATION. Seeing that during the next few weeks most of our county Bee-keepers' Associations will be holding their annual meetings, it would be ■well that resolutions should be passed "Approving of the draft measure for pre- Tention of bee pest (or foul brood), and asking Lord Thring to introduce the measure in the House of Lords during the present session." Those who have the matter in hand are still pressing the claims of bee-keeping, as involved in the above measure, upon the notice of those of our legislators whose assistance we count upon in the Houses of Parliament, and every bit of additional leverage which can be brought to bear from the outside will be helpful. It is thus most important for county associations to assist in the way we have suggested. KENT BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. ANNUAL MEETING. The eighteenth annual meeting of this Asso- ciation was held on Saturday afternoon, the 23rd inst, at the Pump Room, Tunbridge Wells ; this centre, which is on the borders of Kent and Sussex, having been selected in view of a proposal to extend the sphere of operations to the county of Sussex. Owing no doubt to the heavy snow-storm, the attend- ance was not 80 large as was anticipated. Mr. E. D. Till, Chairman of the Association, pre- sided, and those present included : — Miss Herschel, Messrs. John M. Hooker, W. Broughton Carr, G. C. Lyons, A. J. Carter, R. A. Dallas-Beeching, J. E. Hurst, H. Crow- ther, Samuel Kendon, Henry Neve, J. Garratt, and H. W. Brice, hon. sec. The Chairman, having he^irtily welcomed the members, referred to the fact of the Poet Laureate having become a member of the Association. Alluding to the proposal to extend the opera- tions of the Association to Sussex, he observed that it was pleasant for those who had laboured for this alliance to know that Kent and Sussex were now willing to join hands in the interests of bee-keeping. After the minutes of the previous annual meeting had been read and confirmed, the Chairman called upon the Hon. Secretary to read the annual report. In their 18th annual report the Council referred to the retirement of the late Hon. Secretary, after many years' service. The report recorded a considerable increase in the strength of the Association, the number of new members who joined in 1896 being 118. The number of local hon. secretaries had also been increased from eighteen in 1895 to forty- five in 1896. After dealing with the past honey season as it affected the county of Kent, and giving details of the various shoAvs held under the auspices of the Associa- tion, the report referred to the expert's spring tour among the apiaries of members, and goes on to say : — " The absolute necessity for legislative measures was very clearly demonstrated by the reports which the Hon. Secretary received day by day during the expert's tour. The state of the financts had steadily improved without in the least degree curtailing the efficiency of the work. More than half the debt with which the year began had been paid off, and in a few months the Council hoped the rest would be entirely extinguished." Referring to the Eastbourne Show, held in connection with that of the Royal Counties* Agricultural Society, on June 9 to 13, it afforded the Council the opportunity of inter- viewing many Sussex bee-keepers, and greatly conduced to the decision of the Council to extend the operations of the Association to the county of Sussex. They also owed to the same opportunity the fortunate circumstance of securing the Duke of Devonshire for Presi- dent. He was much interested in the bee and honey exhibits, and in the contemplated measures for uniting the two counties in the interests of bee-keepmg ; he was also interested in hearing of the desire to obtain legislative powers in regard to foul brood. Efforts to advance the sale of members' honey have been partially successful, and the Council were still working with a view to some solution of the question. The important county honey trophy competition at the Royal Agricultural Society's Show at Manchester next June had aroused much interest among the members, and endeavours would be made to contribute an exhibit worthy of a high place on the list of prize-winning counties. The report and balance-sheet having been adopted, the Chairman next moved the follow- ing resolution : — " That in future, the sphere of operations of this Association shall extend to the whole area of the County of Sussex as well as of Kent, and the Association be henceforward known as the Kent and Sussex Bee-keepers' Association." He said the proposal as to Kent and Sussex had come about slowly, but naturally, and without any forcing of the question. At Eastbourne Bee Show the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire were much pleased with the honey shown, and the Duke said he would do all he could to get a non-contentious measure through Parliament in regard to foul brood. He (the Chairman) had pleasure in asking Miss Herschel — the daughter and grand- daughter of famous astronomers — to take charge of a signet ring as representing the bee-keeping " union " of Kent and Sussex. On the inner circle of the ring were en- graved the words — " The MeDifical Union of Sussex with Kent. January 23, 1897." Mis* Herachel said she would gladly 32 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 28, 1897. accept the responsibility of taking charge of the " Union ring " on behalf of the two home counties, and would undertake to convey the signet to the Duchess of Devonshire. Subsequently the Duke of Devonshire was elected President of the new Kent and Sussex Bee-keepers' Association. The hon. secretary and hon. treasurer were re- elected with thanks for their year's services. The Secretary stated, amid cheers, that no less than 100 well-known Sussex bee-keepers had promised to at once join the Amalgamated Association. In order to give the Association a representative character, the following were elected on the Council for 1897 : — Rev. G. W. C. Bancks, Kev. N. E. Nightin- gale, Mrs. Kynaston Cross, Messrs. G. T. Giddings, M.D., E. D. Till, W. Smith, J.P., W. B. Carr, J. M. Hooker, John Sterry, M.R.C.S., C. G. Kennedy, J.P., V. V. Theo- bald, F. V. Hadlow, A. J. Carter, Ernest Walker ; Lieut.-Col. Reeves ; W. Stunt, H. W. Brice, J. C Roberts, G. C. Lyons, G. Hudson, H. Neve, William Newman, C Baldwin, and A. A. King. After the chairman had been heartily thanked for his enthusiastic interest in the work of the Association, the proceedings closed. (l^am%pUtntt The Editors do not hold themselves responsible /or the opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice mil be taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents are requested to write on one side of the paper only and rfive their real names and addresses, not necessarily f 01 •Publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra- tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We do not undertake to return rejected communications. *^* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the page on which it appear », DOINGS OF THE PAST MONTH. [2764.] Seven consecutive months of wet weather is a fairly good record for one season, especially when it can be safely described as persistent rain. Then, just when we had made up oiir minds we were to have no severe weather, a " cold snap " visits us that induced dreams of glacial periods, and the skates were at once sought out. With 14 deg. of frost on the nights of the 19 th and 20th, and a biting N.E. wind, the bees gave up all ideas of flight, and tucked themselves into closer quarters. I took advantage of this to rearrange my hives, the work entailing the moving of some eighteen stocks to their new quarters. I had them all hand- carried by passing a stout cord securely round each hive, and lifted by the cord by two strong lads and carried smoothly, and gently placed in their new positions. Not a single bee was seen during the whole of the operations. A little thought and personal supervision caused all to go well. Brood-raising must have started in most stocks, and I am getting anxious to know how it is coming on. Having already prepared a lot of candy-cake ready for use, the first opportunity — when a fine day occurs — will be taken advantage of to give a supply wher- ever needed. One's thought, however, seems naturally to turn to the bees, and the marvel to my mind is when a cold spell — such as we have recently experienced — intervenes, how does the brood get the necessary attention ? Of course one knows that at present there is but a small patch of brood on one, or at most two combs; but, even with ever so small a quan- tity, my ad vice is to now place extra quilting on top, and reduce entrances to small width, if possible. I would also shelter hive doorways from the cutting winds so prevalent of late. A visit to the Farningham Apiary disclosed several inches of snow, and nearly all hive- entrances covered over ; but I noticed the snow stood a little away from the hive front, clearly indicating life and warmth within. Bees have taken frequent flights this winter, and in my case it was noticeable that my Caucasians — which have so special an interest for me just now — have been more restful than either the Italians or natives. So markedly was the difi"erence noticeable, that I was prompted during a mUd spell to turn up the corner of the quilts of one Caucasian stock to see whether they were still in esse. They were found not only quiet, but doing capitally ; not a bee of them essayed to fly, they just looked up, and perhaps wondered at the intrusion, but, as is characteristic of the race, took " inspection " as a matter of course. I do not advise such interference at this time of the yeor, but when information on any given point is really desirable, and sought for only a good purpose, the end justifies the means. Another noticeable thing is that very few bees seem to have perished up to the pre- sent ; hardly any dead bees turned out, none yet laying on the floor-boards of any of the hives. We must be careful now tliat bees are not tempted out by the reflection of light from the snow, as many bees are known to perish from this cause. Either cover the entrances over with snow or clear it ofl" the flight-board altogether. We are now close on to the second month of the new year, and the bee- season will be with us ere we can turn round ; no time should, therefore, be lost in taking the hint given us by the bees having everything ready. They have made an indoor start for the season, and during the last few weeks I, too, have been doing my best to prepare all requirements, so that when the time comes nothing will be wanted. I note the reference to Caucasian bees made by our friend Mr. Woodley in last weeks B.J., and, being so directly concerned in the ijitro- duction of these bees into this country, I may be allowed a word in reply to what cannot be regarded as other than the rather unfavouiable inference " gatherable " from what appears on. Jan. 28, 1897.] THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL. 33 page 27 of the journal referred to. For Mr. Woodley's information, therefore, and in order to remove any alarm he may either feel himself, or that his remarks may create in the minds of others, let me assure all -who are interested in my little venture of introducing these bees into England, that any such bad traits of character as our friend foresees will ensure them prompt banishment from my apiaries. The loss will therefore be entirely my own. On the other hand, I would venture to ask if the evi- dence as to the character of the Caucasian bee offered at the meeting of the B.B.K.A. at Jermyn-street, and reported in page 463 _ of B.J. for 1896, is not sufficiently explicit and authoritative to be worth many times over the evidence Mr. Woodley offers on the other side ; gathered, too, from *' a review of foreign bee papers ? " On the page men- tioned above, the Chairman (Mr. Cowan) — who had handled Caucasian bees (without smoke or veil) before I had myself even seen them — winds up his remarks by saying : — " In fact, the Caucasian bees were less irritable than the English ones." This view, after several months' experience of handling them in my own apiary, I can fully confirm, and so the hope with which I started out, viz., that of introducing a foreign bee that would prove a real acquisition to our native stock, is in a fair way of being realised. But whether I succeed or not, your readers may rest assured that — so far as personal endeavour goes — 1 shall take no part in distributing among the bee-keepers of this country bees which will "plague their hearts," no matter how they may " please the eye." I hope, Messrs. Editors, you will not put your blue pencil through this paragraph of my " doings " as being a free advertisement. I did not seek it, but if your correspondents choose to attack (even by inference) the special " fad '■' I happen to have a particular interest in just now, you should in fiiirness allow me space to put them right, so long as I can do it legitimately and honestly. As to the future of the Caucasian bees, all I ask is that depre- catory observations may be reserved for a little while longer, or until I have had them at full work honey-gathering for a season. Pending which experience those who have confidence in my bona fides may leave the matter in my hands. — Henry W. Bkice, Dale Farh, Ujjjnr Norwood. APICULTURAL NOTES. PACKING HONEY FOR SENDING BY RAIL. [2765.] It is somewhat diSiculb to add any- thing to the instructions that have from time to time appeared in the B.B.J, on the subject of packing honey, and this being a time of the year when there is very little honey to pack, it may perhaps seem unnecessary even to refer to the matter. But it may be well to choose a time when the bee-keeper has most leisure for reading— and writing teo— and this will, I trust, be sufficient excuse for asking a little attention to the matter. There is reason to fear that the instructions for packing honey which have from time to time been published in your pages have not been read by all classes of bee-keepers, or if read have not been care- fully carried out. During the past season I sent section honey to several dealers whom I had not previously supplied, and in almost every case full instruc- tions for packing, labelling, &c., accompanied the order. In some cases I have been requested to " send by passenger train," in others the request has been to label " Glass, &c.," and have been assured by purchasers that unless such instructions were carefully carried out it would be "useless sending the honey, as it would be sure to get smashed in transit." Now I commend dealers for taking the pre- caution to give instructions for packing when they have any doubt about it being properly done, but the very fact of it being necessary for them to give such instructions shows clearly that they do sometimes receive honey in damaged condition. Many dealers will not touch section- honey, owing to the risk of damage in transit, and I know several bee-keepers who will not work for section-honey for the same reasons. Why this should be so, I am unable to understand. I would as soon pack and send by rail a thousand sections of honey as I would so many bricks. Moreover, I should have no more fear of breakage in the one case than in the other. The instructions to send by passenger train, or label "glass," I entirely disregard. I find that sections, unless in small quantities, travel just as safe by " goods" as by passenger train, and, of course, the cost of carriage is much less ; and 1 never label " glass," because any- thing so labelled would be charged double rate. In other words, a packet which, if labelled in the ordinary way, would cost Is. for carriage, would be charged 23. if labelled " glass," a fact Avhich all Bee Journal readers would do well to bear in mind. Last year I sent a consignment of fifty dozen sections to a firm in London, which in due course were delivered, after which I received a letter from the manager saying that, " out of the fifty dozen, one section was slightly damaged ; the whole of the remainder were in perfect condition." A few weeks ago I sent fifteen dozen nearly 200 miles by rail, every one of which arrived in perfect condition, a fact which so pleased the purchaser that he at once wrote and asked me to give him the first offer of my new season's sections. In nearly every case where I have supplied fresh customers I have been compli- mented on my packing. This is not stated for any purpose of self-glorification but with the simple object of ehowiug that, although so muoh honey is damaged in transit, the mis- chief could in nearly every case be avoided if the bee-keeper would but take the necessary trouble in packing properly. If a few simple 34 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 28, 1897. rules are observed there is practically no risk in the matter of sending section honey by train, whatever the distance it has to travel. There is one fact which should never be lost sight of, viz., every package of honey sent by train will either benefit or injure the honey trade. If it arrives in good condition the buyer will be pleased, will push the sale of same and be sure to send repeat orders. On the other hand, if there are constant cases of smashed sections leading to disputes, bicker- ings, and all-round loss and trouble, the buyer will soon incline to give the trade up in disgust. This is a most serious matter for the honey producer and one that ought not to be thought lightly of. We hear a good deal about the " careless porter,'' but I am bold enough to assert that nine-tenths of the breakages are brought about not through the "careless porter," but through the downright care- lessness of a thoughtless public. I could enlarge very considerably on this matter of " careless porter," but what I have to say thereon I will reserve for future notes. Let every one who has sectional honey to send by rail pack it in the manner described by Mr. W. Woodley, i.e., put the sections up in parcels of half-dozens, and pack ten or twelve such parcels in a " Tate's cube-sugar box." Put a little hay or straw under each layer of sections and at ends. If they are not glazsd, use thin strips of board along the ends of each layer of sections to protect the comb surface from damage. Use sufficient packing, so that the case is quite full and firmly pressed down. Bore two holes at each end of case, into which put stout rope or thick cord for handles, which latter should be long enough to lift by with- out grazing knuckles against case. See that the bottom of the case is perfectly secure, and nail on the lid as though it is never to be removed. Then put a thick wire, or, if you like, two wires, right round the case in the opposite direction to which boards run — pulled up with pliers, and by means of nails at each corner, until the wire is as tight as a fiddle- string. You may then (as our American friends would say) " bet your bottom dollar '' that that case of honey will, if necessary, travel round the world without damage, and you won't be disappointed in the matter. — A. Sharp, The Apiary, Brampton. BEES AND HONEY PRODUCTION. CAN WE HAVE TOO MANY BEES IN A HIVE ? [2766.] I am obliged for your letter. I have studied the "Guide Book" with the attention which so masterly a treatise invites and rewards. In my desire to avoid the risk of misinterpretation , I fear I have lapsed into asking unnecessary questions. That, of course, is a matter of which experts are the best iudges, and I gladly defer to them. If I understand the " Guide Book " aright, it may , be laid down as a rule that you can never have too many bees in one stock, with a view to honey production, and that the honey con- sumed in rearing a bee is always well invested. To increase the number of stocks as by swarm- ing may not be always desirable, but to in- crease the number of bees always is. I refer to this because one man to whom I was talking about bees said that if you had a very fertile queen you might find that the result was all bees and no honey. As the " Guide Book " ignores this danger, I presume it is non- existent. I conjecture that where a bee- master finds that he has many bees and no honey, it means that there is no honey tD be got about the country, and that having less bees would not mend the matter, but only result in there being no bees, in addition to no honey. But this man seemed to think that if less bees had been reared you would have had more honey — for the honey consumed in rearing would have been stored. If there were much in this, the point would be dealt with in the " Guide Book '' no doubt. All this seems fairly obvious, and therefore I do not put it as a question, unless you care to reply to it as being of general interest. — A. C. H., Oxford, January 19. [The question of " all bees and no honey " simply resolves itself into one of time. In other words, if the superabundant bees are pro- duced after the honey harvest is over they not only faU to add to the general store, but live only to consume that gathered by others. This is where too many bees result in " no honey.'' On the other hand, the experienced bee-keeper strains every nerve to secure as many bees as he possibly can by the time the ingathering begins, this being the main secret of success in honey production. — Eds.] BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX. A RETROSPECT. [2767.] In looking over the notes made last year in the course of my humble attempts to become a proficient in the gentle craft of bee- keeping, the following points were those which seemed to stand out from the rest in my own experience. The Yield. — In this neighbourhood the return for 1896 seems to have been fairly abundant, butnotabovetheaverage. Thequality was splendid. It was mostly early, gathered by June 15, little surplus having been stored after that date. I found the honey unusually thick, and difficult to strain. My early sec- tions were grandly filled, some weighing Ijlb. Clover and late crops were an utter failure, dried up and nectarless. Swarms. — This is rather like the celebrated chapter on snakes in the description of Ireland : there were none as far as my bees were concerned. That is to say, while I was absent for a fortnight in May, an attempt at swarming was reported, • but it Jan. 28, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 35 was believed the bees went back, and when I returned I could no longer tell if a swarm had issued from one or two hives, or none. From that time, I eflfectually stopped swarm- ing by stretching over the hives a canvas awning, sufficiently broad to well shade them from the sun at all times of the day. In consequence, I had no use for my two Hole's self-hivers, and can give no report upon them. This year, however, I intend to bring them into use again, especially in case of absence. Strength of Stocks. — This varied, in some cases, in a remarkable manner in the course of the year. I have been relieved to find that others— Mr. Wells, for instance — noticed the same fact. Four at least of my stocks kept up their strength fairly well the whole year through, and even now are as numerous as they can well be ; but with the rest there were two, if not three, periods of great falling off. The first was in AprU and May, when other stocks were doing a roaring business, and this in spite of careful feeding, warm coverings, and constant attention. The next was after mid-June, when there was a great falling off in all the hives. I was almost in- clined to think I had shaded my hives too^ much, and so checked brood-laying ; but iu a receut conversation a practical bee acquaint- ance drew my attention to a spell of cold weather in May Avhich had affected his bees in a like manner. And this would account for the strong stocks not being so much checked as weaker ones, as their numbers would better maintain the heat necessary for raising brood ; and once more the advantage of a large popu- lation— at any rate, amongst the bees — was shown. The third epoch was in September, before wintering. Although I never take stores from the brood-nests, although my stocks all seemed well provided, and although I fed lavishly wherever the least doubt could be entertained, many of the hives began the winter very weak in numbers. It is only fair to add that just before the present cold spell the bees had largely increased in all the hives, and if they now survive I believe they will presently give a very good account of them- selves ; they seem preparing for early work. " Wells " Hives. — I am stUl persevering with my one " Wells " hive. I have never yet gone fairly through the year without losing one of the two stocks in some way ; but the stocks winter famously, the early spring returns are enormous, and I am interested in the experi- ment, and am one of those who persevere doggedly until, by dint of profiting by past errors, success crowns the attempt. But I have never had any difficulty in filling both sides at once, one after the other, with driven bees. I have generally put two weak skepfuls on one side, and a strong skepful on the other, transferring them late, sometimes by lamplight, by shaking the driven bees out of the temporary skeps on to the opened hive-top, brushing them down between the frames, and then quilting over. Where there have been two lots to go in together I have mixed them at the same time and left the queens to settle matters between themselves, which they have done in every case to their and my perfect satisfaction. Those treated in this way, last autumn, are now nestling up against the perforated dummy on either side, and doing well. Anti-Sicarming Ghamher .—One of my best hives was one having between the usual ten-frame brood chamber and the entrance a second brood-chamber fitted with wooden dummies spaced j in. apart. This stock never offered to swarm, gave a magnificent return, and is now in first-rate condition. But a very curious thing happened. I suspect the bees must have tried to raise brood between the dummies, and were cramped for cell-room. At any rate, about June, a large number of tiny bees appeared, hardly bigger than house- flies ; and it was most comical to see the great burly drones, the normal (rather large-sized) workers, and these dwarf specimens all frater- nising and working and living harmoniously together. Perhaps others who may have tried this anti-swarming device, strongly recom- mended in your columns in 1896 or 1895, will kindly say if they have noticed anything of the sort, and how the plan may have so far succeeded with them ? Envoi. — In conclusion, having once tasted of the bee-fever, I shall now continue, if pos- sible, an ardent bee-keeper to the end. Even if prevented at any time, I shall never lose the interest once aroused in bees and their doings. The work comes at a time of year when it is a pleasure and a benefit to be out of doors as much as possible ; and all the rest of the year no pets could give less trouble. Theory and practice are alike absorbing. My hearty wish is — may 1897 put 1896 far in the shade as a bee-year. — W. R. N ., Sussex, January 25, 1897. THE « WEDDING AT THE ' WELLS.' " SUSSEX AND KENT UNITED ! [2768.] I hope your space for auspicious events will enable me to record a happy union. On Saturday last, the 23rd inst. — that incle- ment of all inclement days — the eighteenth annual meeting of the Kent B.K.A. was held successfully at Tunbridge Wells. Mr. Brice, the hon. sec, had received nearly two hundred missives in reply to the " invite," but while our railways are deaf as well as blind to the importance of cheap tickets on such occasions (the Council of the K.B.K.A. had pleaded it for their members), nothing but an attendance of some fifty were expected from the promises by post. Despite the storm, several came from remote parts of Sussex and Kent. Among those present, I must not forget Miss Herschel (daughter and grand-daughter of our great astronomers), who most fitly repre- sented ■ our women bee-keepers. The room of 36 THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 28, 1897. the *' Farmers' Club '' was indeed a cheerful refuge from the storm that prevailed without on that inclement afternoon. The meeting was presided over by Mr. E. D. Till, chairman of the K.B.K.A. The minutes of the previous annual meeting were read and confirmed. Mr. Garratt expressed regret that the 1895 report had been abbreviated. The Chairman, however, said that nothing but the dictates of a rigid economy — necessary at that period — occasioned that which the late hon. sec. regretted. Mr. Brice then read the report of the Council for 1896. Before its adoption, Mr. Garratt wished that more had been done to further the sale of members' honey. In reply, the Chairman said he had that very afternoon, in calling on buyers the Association had created in Tunbridge Wells, been compli- mented for introducing Kent honey. The first grocer in the " Pantiles " assured him that it had knocked the foreign article on the head completely. Very much more had been done than the late secretary supposed. Mr. Garratt also desired to show that the improvement in 1896 finance was entirely due to a " windfall " and the refusal of the present hon. sec. to take the customary secretarial allowance ; but the meeting saw too clearly that in income, expen- diture, work done, and indeed every particular, the secret of the immense improvement was due to other causes. Mr. Garratt was also unfavourably disposed to the alliance pro- posed, but the practical unanimity of the meeting, and a hundred favourable letters from bee-keepers of the two counties which Mr. Brice held in his hand, were sufficient answer to all objectors. The report was adopted with practical unanimity, and now the Kent and Sussex B K.A. is an accomplished fact. The Duke of Devonshire was elected president, the new Council too, and Mr. Brice and Mr. Morris were re-elected as hon. sec. and hon. treasurer with Mat. Miss Herschel was then desired to hand to the Duchess of Devonshire, to be held during the Duke's presidency, a gold ring engraved Avith these words : — ■ ■ " The Mellifical Union of Sussex with Kent, January 23, 1897.'' Thus terminated what I cannot help calling a happy event for our Southern bee-keepers, and I hope none will ever see a jusfc reason or impediment why two contiguous counties should not continue for long, long years working together in mutual esteem and amity. — A Member of the K. & S.B.K.A., January 25. "CELLULOID" FOR FEEDING STAGES. [2769.] In reply to your editorial footnote to 27i58, p. 17, I do not find that celluloid twists or warps in the' hive ; but by inserting the sheet in a wooden frame thinner material may be used. In the feeding-stage sent for your inspection, the perforated celluloid is fixed in a saw-cut by means of a waterproof cement. The thickness of the frame being I5 in., and the celluloid being fixed in the centre, there is a beeway underneath which- ever way the frame is placed. Celluloid of this thickness costs 8d. per square foot, plain, and can be obtained from Vavasour, Earle & Co., 139, Queen Victoria- street, London, who also supply the solution or cement for fixing it. A coloured kind can be had about Id. per square foot cheaper, but is not transparent. I perforate the celluloid myself, as I formerly did zinc, to the size which I find by experiment best suits my bees. There is not only a considerable difference in the size of bees, speaking generally, but they differ still more in height ; some strains are flatter in proportion than others. While on this subject, can you tell me if any one is now engaged in experiments with a view to increasing the size of bees ? I am aware of some experiments made in France with that end in view, but do not know if any one is working at the subject in this country. — Walter T. Reid, Addlestone, January 25. LOCATION FOR BEE-FARM. [2770.] Could either you or any of your readers kindly inform me of a good locality where to commence a bee-farm on a somewhat large scale. By so doing I should feel greatly obliged. — R. Ward, January 23. ^ttcms and |l«|jl«s. [1645] Vitality of Foul-Brood Spores. — Has it ever been ascertained the degree of frost which is sufficient to kill the spore of the bacillus alvei ? — R. Hamlvn-Harris. Reply. — We do not think so. What has been definitely ascertained is that the spore referred to retains its vitality after both freez- ing and boiling ; but for how long, and what degree of these respective temperatures the spore will remain uninjured, we cannot say. [1646.] Fading Bees for Tramit.—WAX you kindly give me advice? I have three stocks of bees in bar-frame hives to send a distance of over 100 miles by rail. Please say how they should be packed, and whether passenger or luggage train is best ? Also "vvhich is the most suitable month to send them ? — Jas. Adams, Ihcgby. Reply. — Packing bees for transit is fully described in '• Guide Book,'' from which we extract a few details adapted to your case as foUows :—" Supposing frames to have metal exids or brpad shoulder^, a rack fixed to. floor- Jan. 28, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 37 board will keep them from swinging, and a light frame of wood 1 in. square — having its upper side covered with either perforated zinc ox coarse net — is made of such a size that its sides rest on the metal ends and on the hive sides. When screwed down this frame not only keeps the frames steady, but allows a full inch of space into which the bees may pass for air." To this we need only add that, as the proposed removal is to take place in cold weather, a single quilt may be used instead of the zinc or net for covering the frame top, these latter materials not being essential in winter. Of course entrance must be covered with perforated zinc, and hives so fixed to floor-boards as to entirely prevent the escape of bees. Passenger train only is suitable for sending live bees by. [1647.] Experts Examinations. — Queries from If^ould-be Experts. — There are a few questions which two young bee-keepers in this part of Norfolk (meaning ourselves) cannot tind answers for, and would deem it a great favour if you would answer them for us. They are : — 1. flow are we to commence gaining first-class knowledge on the subject, such as will enable us to get certificates, and to be- come thoroughly practical bee-keepers, and, as we hope, eventually " experts " 1 2. What good books would you advise us to obtain in order to gain the full knowledge of bee- keeping we aim at ? 3. Where do the neces- sary examinations, &c., take place ? — Two YouKG Beginners, Kiw/s Lynn, January 21. Reply. — 1. By studying thoroughly a few reliable text-books on the subject, and by putting the knowledge gained therefrom into practice. To obtain practical experience of handling bees, it would be very helpful if you could get an opportunity of seeing a bee- keeper at work among his hives. Failing this, you might attend a show where lectures are given, and manipulations with live bees take place in the bee-tent. A conversation (easily obtained) with the lecturer would also be advantageous. 2. The books recommended by the Council of the British Bee-keepers' Association for the use of candidates seeking to obtain certificates of the B.B.K.A. are "The British Bee-keeper's Guide Book," Cowan's "Honey Bee," "Modern Bee-keep- ing," and Loot's '-'ABO of Apiculture." 3. Third-class examinations are held at various shows held throughout the kingdom, and also at such other places as may be appointed. The second-class examination consists entirely of paper-work, and is held at places convenient to the candidate and the super- intendent appointed to supervise the work. First-class examinations are only held once a year in London. [1648.] Regulating Dummy-board Feeder. — Can you or any of your readers tell me of - divifiioij-board or duti^my-board. feeder, i — yj,xu ^uu (ji auy ui your reaaers leii me < divifiioij-board or duti^my-board. feeder, which, the syrup can be regulated to feed a m the bees either slow or fast, in the same way as the bottle-feeder does, i.e , one hole up to, say, eight or ten holes ? — W. C, Blackburn. Reply. — We do not know of any such. [1649.] Showing Honey at the " Royal" 1897. — In Schedule of Koyal Show at Man- chester, it states that extracted honey is to be shown in jars not exceeding 2 lb. 1. Does that imply that it must be in either 1-lb. or 2-lb. jars ? or, 2. Will a sufficient number of reputed 1-lb. jars to make up a total of 12 lb. do ? — J. B , Llanrwst, January 23. Reply. — 1. According to the wording of Schedule, jars of any size, "not exceeding 2 lb. each," are eligible. 2. Their gross weight must " approximate 12 lb." In this way, what are known as "reputed 1-lb. jar?," will count as approximating 1 lb. each, and twelve such jars would, of course, make up a correct exhibit. On the other hand, if jars are known to contain as little as 14 oz. each, it would be advisable to send an extra jar to make weight. [1650.] Moving Bees in Winter. — I am desirous of moving my bees to a more isolated position than they at present occupy. Would you kindly say if your answer to query No. 1630, page 7, applies to moving hives a distance of 35 yards 1—M. W. S., Slough, January 22. Reply. — Yes. In winter time, and after the bees have been confined to their hives by cold weather, there need be no hesitation in moving hives into new positions when neces- sary. LECTURE ON BEE-KEEPING. On Saturday, the 16th inst., at the Thornton Heath Polytechnic, Mr. H. W. Brice, Hon. Sec. of the Kent and Sussex Bee-keepers' Association, delivered a lecture of great interest on bees and bee-keeping, Mr. E. A. Martin, F.G.S., being in the chair. Amongst the mass of information Mr. Brice gave on the .subject was that in 1716 Dr. Warden, of Croydon, made the discovery that the then so-called " king bee " was really a queen of the hive, and was mother and sole producer of the bees there. He was also able to prove the fact that the working bee was not a neuter, but an undeveloped female. Mr. Brice con- sidered there was no better field of interest open to old or young than bee-keeping, as it provided ample lessons of economy, order, scrupulous cleanliness, tender care of the young and devotion to the queen. In this industry there are many things remaining to be discovered, so that to the student it presents a field for scientific research. He contended, too, that no pastime or pursuit paid so well, especially in rural districts. Bees needed little care, but such care as was neces- sary must be given at the right time. Mr. 38 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 28, 1897. Brice explained, at considerable length and in a lucid style, apparently full of interest to his auditors, all the mysteries of the art and craft of bee-keeping. How the bees are subdued ■when the hive is uncovered was told. They are made to feel alarmed by the injection of smoke, and in this condition they attack their store of honey, feeding to the fullest extent. By doing this they entirely lose their inclina- tion to sting, and may be handled without danger. Mr. Brice exhibited some excellent lantern slides illustrating both the scientific and practical sides of his subject, explaining each as he went on. Those showing how a model bee-farm is kept were particularly in- teresting, as was the complete set of bee- keeping apparatus shown and explained. Alto- gether the lecturer proved to his audience that bee-keeping possesses many attractions. — Com- municated. (^diot^ from !k Dowthivaite, Keswick, Cumberland, January 25. — The weather here is most changeable — snow, frost, and rain, with bright gleams of sunshine. I omitted to shade ray hives during a sunny day, with snow on the ground on Saturday, and on going to inspect them this morning found a few dead and half-alive bees at the entrance?, which was to be expected ; but what could be the cause of there being honey (quite sweet-smelling) on the floor at the entrance of one of the hives, and the few bees there being in a sticky state, I cannot tell.— George M. Saunders. [We should examine the hive floor on the first opportunity. Or perhaps there may be a cake of candy overhead which is deli- quescing (or melting), and running down to the floor-board. — Eds.] HONEY VINEGAR: HOW IT IS MADE IN AMERICA. Vinegar originally was only sour wine (mn aigre), but it is now made from all sorts of beverages, and the common vinegar of com- merce is made by the distillation of wood (pyroligneous acid). Unprincipled dealers have been known to add to the vinegar water and sulphuric acid — a very injurious prepara- tion. Our farmers here make all their vinegar from cider. In England it is made from malt, and even from beer. But the best vinegar is made from grape-wine or from honey. In making our honey-vinegar we always use a little wine : for two reasons. In the first place, it helps to make it. In the second place, as we are grape-growers, and make a considerable quantity of wine, we often have remnants that lose in quality or become some- what sour, and these remnants can only be utilised for this purpose. In making honey vinegar we use only inferior grades of honey, or thin honey that has already fermented. We also use all the washings of our cappings. We have often noticed that many bee-keepers render up their cappings into wax without having previously washed them, and when we receive the beeswax from them it is still sticky with honey. This does no damage to the wax, but it is a waste for the apiarist, and this waste is unnecessary. When the honey is all extracted and the cappings well drained of their honey, so that they seem entirely dry, we put them into a large boiler with just water enough to soak them. This water is heated a little below the melting-point of beeswax — say, to 120 deg., or a little above this— to a point where you can just endure the fingers in it. The cappings are stirred in this water, then the water is pressed out. For this purpose we use a very small cider-press ; but the same work may be done almost as well with the hands while the wax is soft. The press goes faster and does the work more thoroughly. The water thus obtained is not very clean- looking, but if your cappings have been well cared for, the only thing in them to cause any residue is the propolis, and we all know there is nothing unclean about this. After the vinegar is made, however, all signs even of propolis will disappear, without leaving any trace, as it settles in the dregs. The honey- water is now tested. We use a must-scale, but to such of our readers as do not possess such an instrument, we give an easy test, viz : Take a fresh egg and drop it in the liquid. If it floats, showing a portion of its shell of the size of a sixpence, the liquid is of proper strength. If it sinks, you must add more honey, diluting it well till the egg comes up. If the egg projects too much, add more water. To make vinegar from honey, we use from 1| to 2 lb. to the gallon, according to the strength wanted. The sweeter the liquid, the stronger the vinegar when made. But the weaker it is the quicker it is made. The reason of this is that a small percentage of sweet diluted changes more promptly into alcohol and into acid than a Jarge quantity. If you put in too much honey, some of it may remain unfermented for a long time, and a very heavy solution would probably never all change by fermentation. The weaker the beverage, the quicker it sours. Bear in mind that the fermentation of any sweet or any fruit-juice is first alcoholic, then acetic. No acetic or vinegar fermentation can occur till an alcoholic fermentation has taken place, and the more thorough the alcoholic fermentation is, the more thorough the acetic change will be. After our honey-water has been made, we must induce the fermentation by some means Jan. 28, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 39 The temperature must be right, about 70 deg. Fahrenheit, and it is best to induce by heat- ing the liquid even as high as 90 deg. or 100 deg., if it has not already been heated as above mentioned. A little of excess is not so injurious as a low temperature, provided, how- ever, that you do not reach the germ-kiUing point (160 deg. to 170 deg.). If your liquid was heated to this point, it would have to stand till it had absorbed more ferment germs from the atmosphere, and this would be slow. Most honey contains plenty of ferment germs and needs but little inducement to start the alcoholic fermentation. If, however, there is any delay, a little fruit-juice, fresh grape- juice, fresh cider, or even a little yeast, will soon give it a start. The liquid is put ioto barrels in a warm, sheltered place, the barrel being only about two-thirds filled, as the boiling of fermentation will cause it to rise, and a full barrel would spill part of its con- tents. The bung-hole is covered with a thick cloth to keep gnats and flies away. Vinegar made during cool weather is best kept in a warm room. We keep ours in a cellar heated by a furnace. But if you have no convenient place in which the liquor may be kept at a temperature of about 70 deg. Fahrenheit, it may be stored away in a cool place till summer comes again without suffer- ing any harm beyond delaying the process of making. If your vinegar making is carried on in a warm place in the winter, when there is no fear of flies, give it all the air you can. Bear in mind that it requires oxygen, both for alcoholic and for acetic fermentation, and this oxygen is to be had only in the air. That is why wine-makers leave their casks open as long as the alcoholic fermentation lasts in the wine, but carefully fill and bung up the casks tightly before there is any chance of acetic change taking place. We must therefore give our vinegar all the air we can, and must transfer it from one vessel to another as often as we can if we want to make it rapidly. Vinegar-makers pour their vinegar over beech shavings, which assist in airing it, besides retaining much of the lees or sediment. But it is not necessary to go to all this trouble, for fermentation once well started, will continue with more or less speed, according to circum- stances, till good vinegar is produced. After the alcoholic fermentation has been well started, it is easy to induce acetic fermen- tation by adding a small quantity of sour wine or sour vinegar. We make it a practice to always keep at least two barrels of vinegar, the one sour, the other souring, and refill the one from the other occasionally. If clear vinegar is wanted, it must le racked by removing all but the lees, the latter being saved for using with new vinegar to help its formation. Good wine or cider must not be kept in the same cellar with vinegar, as the germs of the latter, floating through the air, will induce acetic fermentation very readily in the former. Good vinegar usually contains millions of small animalculse, which prevent it from having a bright or crystalline appearance. These may be destroyed by heating to 170 deg., and will then settle to the bottom with the lees or dregs. Let it not be supposed, how- ever, that these minute organisms are injurious, however numerous. In fact, one should beware of vinegar not containing any such organisms, seeing that it is probably made up of poisonous compounds that kill them. The writer, at the North American Conven- tion, in St. Joseph, Mo., in 1894, met a young bee-keeper who had tried to make vinegar and had succeeded, but said that he had to throw it away because it was full of little snakes , which he had detected by holding a very thin vial of the vinegar in the sunlight. It must have undoubtedly been first-class vinegar, and he was very much astonished to hear that he could with difficulty find any good vinegar that did not contain such " snakes," unless it had been heated. In or iler to strengthen vinegar that is fer- menting too slowly, pour it over crushed fruits, grape-skins, or even apple parings ; but, above all things, if you want to hurry it on, be sure it has plenty of air at the right temperature. We have now in our house cellar three or four barrels of wine and honey vinegar that has been a year in making owing to its not having been kept warm enough. — C P. Dadant, in A me^-ican Bee Journal. SEASONABLE QUESTIONS. answered by g. m. doolittle. Full Sheets of Foundation in Brood- Frames. Question. — Which pays better— to put full sheets of foundation in the brood-frames, or put in only starters and let the bees fill the frames with natural comb ? Answer. — That depends a good deal on the wants of the apiarist. If he is working for ex- tracted honey, and wishes his frames filled with worker comb, so that he can use these combs in any place in the apiary, then it is almost a necessity to use foundation ; other- wise only drone comb will be built in the upper stories — over the brood-combs — espe- cially where a queen-excluder is used, as it is best to do when working for extracted honey. Extracted honey is best produced with very strong colonies, and such colonies, as a rule, will build mostly drone comb when a honey- flow is on, while such comb is a disadvantage because of its being only available for special use over queen-excluders. Of course, drone comb works equally well with worker comb for storing extracted honey where queen- 40 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 28, 1897. excluders are used ; but unless the average apiarist is veiy different from myself, there will come a time in his life when he ■will say he would give almost anything if these combs Avere only worker comb?, so he could use them just when and where he pleased. Of course, where half-depth combs are used for extracting, as the custom of some is, it does not make so very much difference whether they are of the worker or drone size of cells ; and in this case I would allow the bees to build their own comb in the frames. If the apiarist is working for comb honey, then " which is best " will depend on whether he is going to allow swarming in his apiary or whether he is going to keep his bees from swarming. If the latter (I doubt about his success in this, however), then he will have as much need of foundation when combs are being built as he would if he were working for extracted honey, as strong colonies build- ing combs under any system of non-swarming will give a drone size of cells more often than otherwise. But if he is to work his bees on the swarming plan, and use full sheets of foundation in the sections (such use of full sheets being considered right by the largest jjart of our practical comb-honey producers), then I should say it would pay to allow the bees to fill the brood frames with natural comb. Each new swarm seems to go prepared for a start at comb-building in its new home, and such building seems to give them a greater activity than they show if the hive is supplied with empty combs or frames of foundation ; and I often think that, if the hive is contracted so as to hold two-thirds of the number of frames needed to fill the whole hive, this number of combs wiU be built by the bees without the loss of a single pound of honey to the apiarist, while the cells will be very largely of the worker size, unless an old or failing queen is used, in which case little else besides drone comb will be the result, under any cir- cumstances. But, really, the nicest way, where we decide to have our combs built by the bees is to set apart each year all the colonies we may happen to have, when the honey flow commences, that are not strong enough to do good work in the sections, or upper stories of hives for extracted honey ; and as soon as the honey-flow com- mences, take away all their combs, giving the brood to other stronger colonies to make them still stronger ; when just what frames these little colonies of bees can work on to the best advantage are to be given them, each having a starter of worker comb or comb foundation in it, say from half an inch to an inch in depth. In this way 1 can get the nicest of combs built ; and by taking them out in such a way as to keep the bees desiring only worker brood, a worth of combs may be obtained greater than any value of honey which it would be possible to produce with them. At least, this is the way I think I have proven the matter ; and if any are sceptical on this point, it will be very easy for them to test the matter for themselves ; and if the plan does not prove in their hands as it does with others, then they can change to what seems best with them.— Gleanings. Notices to Correspondents , Bees, so far, are all right ; most of my hive entrances are wide open, some of them the full width of the hive. The bees are now clustered in close quarters, from which they will not move so long as this severe weather continues. All stocks are therefore supp)ied with soft candy, made of best loaf-sugar and honey, which they are taking freely. I used to give a large lump of candy, enough to last several weeks ; but I now, especially at this time of year, go on the " little and often " principle. The candy is placed right over the cluster, and a slight examination — sufficient to enc.,ble me to ascertain all I Avant to know^s made of all stocks in my home apiaries once a week, care being taken not to disturb the bees un- necessarily. A thick layer of meadow hay is placed on top of quilts, firmly pressed down, all being kept dry with waterproof roof. In fact, nothing has been left undone that might be conducive to the well-being of the bees. Nevertheless, I am getting just a little anxious about them. It is many weeks since they had a thorough cleansing flight, and if their con- finement lasts much longer I fear that dysentery will put in an unwelcome appear- ance. If the snow would now go and be followed with just one bright day, warm enough to rouse the whole bee-community, it would indeed be a godsend. After the much-" needed cleansing flight, entrances will be narrowed. At the conversazione at Jermyn-street in October last, a discussion took place on the advisability, or otherwise, of working for 2-lb. sections of honey. No doubt it will be re- membered by some who were present that I stated my opinion that if we produce 2-lb. sections the public will soon want them at the price they are now paying for a 1-lb. one. But perhaps I ought to have said : If we produce 2-lb sections, some one will soon be offering them at the price we are now getting for the smaller or 1-lb. one. Well, your correspondent " Jerseyite " (query 1G41, p. 293) wants to know if it will pay to produce 2-lb. sections at Is. each ? It might do, but not while ex- tracted honey can be sold wholesale at 6d. per lb. It will also be remembered that at the above-named conversazione a gentleman present ofiered, yea, almost pledged himself, to take all the 2-lb. sections that I could pro- duce next season at double the price of 1-lb, sections, whatever ]that price might be. Well, 1 really thought seriously of producing a few hundred just by way of experiment. But since reading query referred to I have come to the conclusion that it will be wise to think twice before I act once in the matter. If I or any other large honey producer were to produce 2 lb. sections, and it became known that sales of same had been efi'ected at remunerative prices, scores of others would, no doubt, at once follow suit, and I predict that, such being the case, we should, in less than three years, find the price of 2 lb. sections very little, if anything, above the present price of a 1 lb. one, and that the present price of the latter would consequently still further decline. Now, I think it will be agreed on all hands that the wholesale price of the 1 lb. section is in all conscience low enough already if we are to have a fair return for our labour. My advice, therefore, to all who are about to produce 2 lb. sections is, " Don't ! " — A. Sharp, The Apiary, Brampton, Hunts. CANDY MAKING. HOW TO MAKE SOFT CANDY. [2773.] In response to the request of your correspondent, "A. Dummy'' (2761, p. 26), I beg to give my method of candy making as follows : — To 10 lb. of pure cane sugar add \\ pint of clear soft water (not hard water), joz. of salt, and half a teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Put the whole into a copper or brass stew-pan, set it on a brisk fire, and keep con- tinually stirring until the sugar has quite dis- solved. When it comes to the boil draw the pan back so that it simmers gently for ten minutes, and as the scum rises to the surface skim it ofl'. If medicated with naphthol beta add the solution about two or three minutes before finally removing the pan from the fire, Feb. 4, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 47 stirring ia the proper quantity of the solution to medicate 10 lb. of sugar, viz , one table- spoonfnl, or ^ a liquid oz. Why I have men- tioned this is that the methylated spirit used for dissolving the crystals is partly evaporated and there is not the slightest taste of it left in the candy, consequently the bees will take it as freely as if unmedicated. This hint may be useful to our friend, A. Sharp, who on page 16 mentions some trouble in this line. After the syrup has boiled for ten minutes altogether, place the stew-pan in a larger vessel containing cold water, and keep stirring the mixture until it begins to granulate. This continual stirring I find breaks up the granules of the sugar very fine. As it cools to the con- sistency of thick cream pour it out in moulds on glazed (not ordinary) paper. I find ordi- nary paper is a great absorbent of the mois- ture of the candy. This — according to my experience — is the cause of a great deal of candy becoming hard after being placed upon the hive. Instead of paper moulds I often use glass-topped boxes (size 8 in. by 4 in. and 2 in. deep). This gave me the cue of re- taining the moisture of the candy. Those who go in for the "Wells System " may by tacking on a piece of Queen excluder feed the two stocks at the same time. That is why I called this form of candy box an " equilizer,'' or indicating feeder. If you require any more information I shall be glad to answer any further questions. — R. Brown, Somersham, Hunts, January 22. A WEATHER AFTERCAST. [2774.] Oh, what a gloomy day ! The grey clouds sweep over with a steady persistency which leads one to believe that the tail end of them must still be in Ireland, and they are going westward, via America and China, so it will be a fortnight before we may expect to see a rift of blue ! The icy north wind which has been blowing "great guns," and from that to penny pistols, for many days, has subsided. The branches of the weeping birch still weep, but their hair is not dishevelled, nor do they wring their hands and wave their arms.. The beeches stand dark and silent, grim ghosts of their summer selves ; rooks stand disconsolate in their tops, forced to say, as the grey clouds spit sleet down their backs, " Caw - aw, aw-aw ! '' It does not thaw. It does not freeze. The sleet stays where it falls ; the lover sees his sweetheart's boots imprinted in it, and a coolness springs up between them where all before was love. Two fields away the landscape is bidden completely, a wet sheet of mist is drawn across, hiding the white hills and lonely vales that lie between them. Hills and vales that are strangely .silent, for the wheat-ears have gone south, and no bee— British or musical Italian — was ever found willing to carry his harp there in the bitter winter weather. In the city the streets are the same as if they had been ploughed. Cabmen and drivers of all sorts mend their whips and look up their vocabulary of swear- words. The human freight, the coal, the sacks of wheat and maize, the bales of merchandise, are just as heavy, or even heavier, as if it were frosty, or dust dry as in summer. They arc heavier, for trade is brisk ; people are hungrier, and, as it seems to me, more thirsty for alcohol. They must have coal, and every one is anxious to get a seat on the omnibus. Thus overloaded, and the wheels sinking in over the tyres, who can be surprised at the volume of steam that rises from the backs of the horses ? It is but natural that some of the poor beasts fall down dead, many are " broken-winded," and many a thousand sent to the " block " when winter is over, to be sold for what they will fetch. Still, they are but horses ! And the way man compels them to work is a mere nothing compared to the way he will work himself, involuntarily. (Some, not all ) Not all ! I myself know a hundred things that want the doing ! Gravel wants turning, trees want pruning, manure wants wheeling, leaves (new as well as old !) want turning, hives want making, and yet I look out of the window and see the white spots of water drop, drop, drop from the roofs of the hives — hives that are as silent as the dead ! I see the grey sky spitting bits of snow, and mechanically I let down the blind, light the lamps, and touch up the fire. — LORDSWOOD. NON-SWARMING CHAMBERS. [2775.] I cannot quite understand how your correspondent " W. R. N.'' (2767, p. 34) should have had brood raised in what he calls the " anti-swarming chamber " below the brood nest. If the wooden dummies are properly made and hung in the lower or non- swarming chamber as first described by me in B. J. for January 23 last year (page 36) there should not be room for raising either diminu- tive or normal-sized brood. At all events, after my oft-repeated trials of this plan of preventing swarming it has never failed yet-. Nor do I think there is any other method which can compare with it for fulfilling the purpose. " W. R. N.," in referring to the excellent harvest obtained from his hive made on this plan, also confirms my own experience of it as a honey-producing hive, for it also beats all others I have tried in this latter respect. My lower, or non-swarming chamber is in the form of a sliding drawer holding the ten wooden dummies, and it slides in below the brood-chamber from the rear. There is an aperture at back, covered on the inside with fine-hole perforated zinc, and on the outside with a wooden shutter. In the warm weather of summer the shutter is removed, and a free current of air passes through the dummy-filled chamber, and thus keeps the hive cool and well ventilated. 48 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 4, 1897. If, as advised by some, shallow frames of comb are fixed below the brood frames in body box, the bees will continue their brood-nest down into these lower shallow combs, and begin storing honey in the upper frames as the combs become free from brood. With my wooden dummies they cannot do this, and this is why they answer the purpose so much better, besides yielding so great an increase of honey over hives fitted in the ordinary way as my own does. If, as I hope to do, I send a photo of my apiary, your readers will be able to see hives with the non-swarmlng arrangement, and also with my swarm-catchers in use — H. Seamark, Willingham, January 28. A JA.NUARY DAY. "^ [2776.] A January afternoon, almost a blizzard outside, with fine driving snow. School is over at five o'clock, but several of the scholars who have to tramp home long distances — four and five miles — are allowed to go at four. The master looks at the clock ; it is a quarter to four. He says : " Nicholls senior and junior, Gardiner senior and junior, as it is a rough afternoon you may go at once." The boys fill their satchels with books and are soon fighting with the north wind and stinging snow. Tom and Dick Nicholls pro- ceed through the main street of the country town. The snow is already six inches deep, and many feet where it has drifted. Oh ! it is a wild afternoon ! Bad for grown-up men ; how much worse for tender, childish faces, and slender limbs protected only by stockings ! The cold was intense ; the dry snow squeaked under the boys' feet and beat upon their faces till they were almost blinded. They could scarcely speak, so furious was the storm, and it was half-past four and daylight waning before they reached the stile which led across the fields — more than half an hour it had taken to walk a mile. " Shall we go across the fields to-night, Tom," said Dick. " It will save half a mile." " No, we had better keep to the road,'' answered Tom. And so they trudged manfully on, two small white figures amongst the wind and whirling snow-flakes and deep drifts that were being quickly formed by the roadside. "We can steer clear of the drifts along the main road," said Tom, " but when we get into Cooper's-lane and up by the Fox Woods we shall have to go through them. I wish we were home." " So do I,'' said Dick, who deep down in his heart wished Tom would oifer to take his hand— a thing he would have scorned to do any other day. At last they came to Cooper's-lane, where the drifts were already up to their waists, so that Tom did indeed have to take Dick's hand to haul him through them. Then through the gloom there appeared a cottage with a light shining in the window. " I vote we' go in and get Mrs. Heath to let us have a warm," said Tom. So Tom knocked loudly at the door, and when Mrs. Heath opened it, up went her arms as she ejaculated, " Lawk-a-mussy, did ye ever ! Come in by the fire, Ma-jter Tom and Dick ; never mind makin' a bit of a mess, it's on'y pure snow, an' I can soon clear it oop. Sit ye doon by the fire and I'll get ye some hot elderberry wine. Ye munna stay many meenits or else ye'll nevir get whome this night. Hallo ! Master Dick, bin yer cryin' ? Come, that wunner do ; ye mun be brave ! My man's gone round th' sheep, or else he would ha' come wi' yer." Then the two lads set out again, and they cannot now distinctly remember how they managed to negotiate the last two miles. The snow was so blinding, the wind wrestled with them so strongly, the elderberry wine was strong and they were not used to it. They remember plunging through drifts that took them up to their shoulders; they also remember that the road, which lies high by the Fox Woods, was filled level over with snow, a matter of twelve feet deep, and that they went back some little way trying to find a gap in the hedge to get over into the field, but could not, so there was no other way except to creep through a hole in the hedge. They remember knocking feebly at the door and seeing the tremendous contrast between the interior of the bright warm kitchen and the world outside. They remember the ice melting off their faces, and their own and mother's tears, and that they could not speak for hours after. They remember that on the morrow the snow was level with the tops of the hedges and they could not get to school for ten days, and one of them is sure that if it had not been for a little elderberry wine there would now have been no Dick, who is — Lordswood. WEATHER REPORT. Westbourne, Sussex, Januart, 1897. Rainfall, 2*69 in. Heaviest fall, '55 on 8th. Rain fell on 18 days. Above average, "26 in. Maximum Tempera- ture, 46° on 3rd. Minimum Tempera- ture, 20° on 18th. Minimum on Grass, 15° on 18th. Frosty Nights, 20. Sunshine, 50'7 hours. Brightest Day, 26th, 7"1 hours. Suxdess Days, 13. Below Average, 25*8 hours. Maximum, Minimum, Temperature, Mean 37-4°. Mean 31-7°. Mean 34-5° Below average, 0.1°. Maximum Barometer, 30-53° on 2nd. Minimum Barometer, 29-08° on 30th. L. B. BiRKETT. I Feb. 4, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 49 [1651.] Transferring to New Hives — Using Old Gift Hives for iSwarms. — 1. I have a stock of bees in an old hive, the wood of which is now nearly rotten, and which may tumble to pieces any time. I therefore ask, can I lift the combs and bees bodily into a new frame- hive (placed close beside the old one), and do this safely, without adversely affecting the work of the hive ? If safe and practical, I would like to do the transferring as soon as possible. 2. A friend invited me into his garden yesterday to look at his bees, which were being enticed out by the bright sunshine, though the snow lay thickly on the ground. I saw several of the bees alight on the snow and unable to rise ; there were also on the flight board, and on the snow around, several rust- coioured spots ; does this indicate dysentery '? I have never seen the same thing before. If it' is as I suspect, what is the remedy ? The bees seem a strong stock, and had soft candy given to them early in January. 3. I had some old hives given me this winter. They have not had bees in them for two years. Will it be safe to use them for swarms, or is there risk of foul brood in, doing so ? — J. F. G., Stevenage, Herts. Reply. — 1. If the frames are sound, and combs in fairly good condition, the transferring will be quite safe if done quickly, and on a fine sunny day. Set the new hive on the old stand, with combs in the same position a« before, cover down warmly, and no harm will foUow. 2. See reply to H. Crowther regarding dysentery. 3. The hives should on no account be used without being first thoroughly dis- infected. [1652.] Suspected Dysentery. — During this last week I have noticed signs on the alight- ing board, and on the snow around one of my four hives, that make me fear the bees are afflicted with dysentery. Is this not rather strange, as I have not fed them at all ? After removal of surplus I left them on seven frames of natural food, and the bees have been very lively, and seem so now — not " slow and weak,'' as the " Guide Book " states. I have not opened the hive, but gather my impression from what I have seen at the entrance, as stated above. I should be greatly obliged if you wiU advise me in this matter. I have no spare combs on hand, and how must I manage about opening the hive this cold weather ? — H. Crowther, Pemhiry, January 30. Reply. — We rather think it is a case of false alarm, and should take no steps in the way of remedies till an opportunity occurs of opening the hive on a fine day, when bees are flying freely. If an examination shows the combs to be spotted as the alighting board is, the remedial measures recommended in "Guide Book " may be adopted ; but if combs are all right, the bees will be all right too, and the marks noticed only a result of long confinement. THE VALUE OF STRONG COLONIES. In order to secure section honey we', must have plenty of bees in our hives when the honey season arrives, or a failure is almost certain, as those reared as the season draws to a close will be consumers instead of pro- ducers. But how shall we secure the bees ? is a question frequently asked. I will tell you the best way I know of to secure them. As soon as they are out of winter quarters, see that each colony has plenty of stores to last until pollen becomes plenty, also a queen. The latter is told by the brood they may have and the former by the amount of sealed honey they have. If they do not have honey enough, feed them in some way, frames of sealed honey being preferable at this time. When pollen becomes plenty, reverse the brood nest; that is, put the centre frames of brood on the outside, and the outer ones, or those having the least brood, in the centre. In this way the queen will soon fill the frame having little brood more fully than were the others, thus giving a great gain in brood. In from ten days to two weeks go to the hive again and take an outside frame having as much sealed honey in it as possible, and break the sealing to the cells by passing a knife flatwise over it and place it in the centre of the brood nest. The removal of this honey will stimulate the bees to great activity, cause them to feed the queen, when she in turn will lay many more eggs than otherwise, thus increasing the number of bees which will batch twenty- one days later. In ten days more reverse the brood nest again and you will find that the bees will soon have every available cell filled with brood, and that from two to three weeks sooner than she would have done had the colony been left to them- selves. By June 20 every available cell should be filled with brood and the hive full of bees. By this time white clover is nearly in fuU bloom and all the sections should be put on, if not already on. I like to put on sections when the hive is so full of brood and the bees so anxious for some place to put honey that they will commence work in the sections at once. Mr. E. Gallup, who stood first among the bee-keepers of twenty-five years ago, gave us the secret when he said : " Get the bees and they will secure the honey, if there is any to be had." Keep an eye to business and do things at the right time if you wish success. If we wait about putting on the sections, when our bees have arrived at the condition I have supposed them to be on June 20, and we should have but few days' honey yield, we should get nothing. It is no unusual thing to secure from eight to twelve pounds of section honey from a colony per day if we have the hive full 50 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 4, 1897. of brood and bees, and honey is plenty in the flowers. Now I will suppose that, instead of managing as given abuve, we let our bees take care of themselves, leaving weak colonies un- protected, and if any bees have died during the winter, we leave their stores for the bees to carry away. After carrying off this they will be apt to rob our weak colonies, and thus their combs will be filled with honey instead of brood. Soon the willows blossom, then the apple-trees, and thus the hives are kept full of honey. Too much stores in May and June gives about the same assurance of section honey as would be given in letting the colony starve. There is no such thing as having the combs full of honey during the fore part of the season, and then securing lots of sections full of clover honey, for where would the bees come from to gather said honey ? Mr. Gallup said again : — " We must never allow the bees to get in advance of the queen, for if we do the prosperity of the colony is checked at once — that is, if the bees are allowed to fill the combs with honey in the spring, before the queen has filled them with brood, the colony will be an unprofitable one." Honey cannot be obtained without bees. The nine Gallup frames which I use in a hive give about 45,000 worker bees every twenty- five days, and a queen that is worth keeping, worked on the plan given in this article, will keep the frames full of brood after they are once full, till the honey season draws to a close, providing the sections are put on at the proper time ; but give the same queen only 5,000 bees, and those old ones, or field worker?, and they will keep the combs so filled with' honey that no surplus will be obtained. If our hives contained 5,000 bees on May 1, with 10 lb. of honey, they are what would be called extra good colonies. Now if we should give them what honey or syrup they could carry during the month of May instead of using up the 10 lb. in rearing brood, they would store the honey in the brood-cells in addition to the 10 lb. already there, so we would have about 5,000 bees in our hives all the summer. Thus, it will be seen, it is the bees and brood we want in our hives the fore part of the season instead of honey. If by the process given our bees run short of stores, of course we must feed them, and money thus spent in feeding will return a large interest if the season is anything like favourable. There is no time in the whole year that it pays as well to put a little money in feed for the bees, Avhere they need it, as it does at this time, yet how few seem to realise it. I often hear it said if the bees cannot get a living now — during the first half of June — let them die. No greater mistake could possibly exist. When any of the sections are filled, take them off before soiled, and put empty ones having a starter of nice white comb or thin comb foundation, in their places, and thus you will avoid the difficulty, so often experienced, of getting the bees to work in a second set of sections after a full set has been taken off. As the season draws to a close, place the unfinished sections together, and as near the brood as possible, contracting the amount of section room to suit the number of bees, and thus you will secure the most of your honey in a saleable form. — G. M, Doolittle, in American Bee-keeper. Notioes to Correspondents & Inquirers. All queries forwarded will he attended to, and thoet only of personal interest will be answered in this column. S. Clough (Northwich). — Much obliged for your lines on " My Bees." We shall have pleasure in printing them next week. Fireman (Dundee). — The " Langstroth" Hive. —We have never heard of a "Langstroth" hive "Woodbury size'' (printed " Wood- byury " in list sent), nor do we advise the adoption in this country of any frame other than the British " Standird." In B.J. of October 31, 1895, appears an article on the Rev. L. L. Langstroth, with an illustration of the " Langstroth " Hive. F. B. W. (Baih).— Suspected Foul Brood.— Comb sent contains chilled brood only, and from the dead bees in cells we gather that scarcity of food in the vicinity of the cluster has caused starvation of the bees and deser- tion of the brood, resulting in death to the latter. F. CoRRT, Jun. (Raholp). — Average Returns. — Swarm-catchers. — Forty pounds per hive is a fair average in such a moderate season as that of 1896. We would rather advise the use of a queen trap in your case than a self- hiver. The latter needs attention at times or matters often go wrong ; but with a queen trap swarms will never be lost, no matter what becomes of the queen. W. Ford (Wolverhampton). — Bound Volumes and Illustrations. — The fault you complain of must lie at the door of your " binder.'' Among all our stock of bound volumes we do not find a single one wherein the illus- trations are set-off, or " transferred to the opposite page," as yours is said to be. Our correspondent also writes : — " I wish to correct an error on page 452 of volume for 1896. Two paragraphs, headed re- spectively ' Mr. W. ■ J. Moore ' and ' Another Gentleman,' contain the remarks made by myself at the conversazione of the B.B.K.A." In a crowded meeting, like the one referred to, where so great a j^ortion of the report comprises colloquial matter, it is not easy for a shorthand writer to secure names of speakers who are strangers. This is how the " slip " occurred, no doubt. Letters on " Candy-making " and " Waj- moth,'' together ivith some qtteries, ivill be dealt tvith in our next. Feb. 11, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 51 (Kdifoml ^tutim, ^t POINTS REQUIRING ATTENTION. At a season -when the general interest in all that pertains to bee-keeping — even on the part of known votaries of the craft — is, from the very nature of the sur- roundings, apt to flag someAvhat, it may be well to remind our readers of one or two points that should be kept steadily in view. We say this, feeling convinced that it is most important not to lose sight of them, even for a time, or allow their value to be lessened in the slightest degree if success is to be ensured. Foremost among the points we have in mind may be named the pressing need of legislation for obtaining compulsory powers for dealing with foul brood. We give this subject the premier place because it is just possible that some good friends and well-wishers to the pursuit of bee-keeping may have begun to imagine that the zeal of those who, some few months ago, were busy with the project referred to are losing heart in the business ; that the work already done is intended to go for naught, and that the year 1897 finds us no further forward than we were a couple of years ago. No greater mistake could be made than to suppose that such is the case. But (and there (■■< a "but") it becomes only too apparent that in the present year of grace — when Government is beset on all sides with questions of the gravest import to the world at large — the difficulties of making progress with an Act of Parliament — even of such small proportions as the modest Bill pro- posed in the interest of bee-keeping — becomes very perceptibly increased. Moreover, it is more than ever necessary that the Bill — if it is to receive favour- able consideration — must, on its intro- duction, be supported by statistics such as will plainly prove that there is a real need for it at all. It was just this need which impelled us, on page 31 of our issue for January 21, to allude to the fact that County Asso- ciations could strengthen the hands of those who have the matter in hand by passing a resolution at their annual meetings approving of the draft Bill prepared for introduction into the House of Lords at an early date. Reference to the reports in our pages of the meet- ings of several Bee Associations show that our suggestion was adopted, and we trust it will not be lost sight of at meetings still to be held. The Duke of Devonshire has been successfully ap- proached with reference to the subject, and has promised to do all he can in supporting a non-contentious measure on its introduction to the Upper House. Lord Thring, too, has in the kindest way given a conditional promise to in- troduce the Bill in the House of Lords, but he insists on being supplied with sufficiently substantial facts, in the form of statistics, showing the extent to which the disease prevails in the various coun- ties, to warrant him in taking charge of the "Bill for Dealing with Bee-Pest or Foul Brood." So far as the Joint-Committee of the British Bee-keepers' Association and repre- sentatives of County Councils appointed in December, 189-5, they have obtained, at considerable expense, such statistics as were available, all of which have been embodied in printed documents for use when needed. It now remains for our County Bee-keepers' Associations to do their part in furthering the object in view. This means supplying properly prepared forms — stating the number of hives inspected and their condition when examined — to all experts who visit mem- bers. These forms to be filled up and returned to the secretary of the respec- tive Associations, and by him forwarded to the Secretary of the B.B.K.A., 12, Hanover-square, London. Reliable in- formation from private nidividuals will of course, be also acceptable. The par- ticulars thus supplied will not be pub- lished broadcast; in fact, it need not be published at all, so there should be no personal hesitation in furnishing in- formation on the part of those who, for divers reasons, do not wish it known by every one that their bees are affected. What we desire to impress upon all who have the good of the pursuit at heart is, that such statistics as have been men- tioned form the pressing need of the hour, and we trust they will not be asked for in vain. The second point for consideration at coming Annual Meetings is the County Competition at the forthcoming " Royal " 52 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 11, 1897. show in June next. Everything tends to the belief that the " Special County Honey-Trophy Competition " at Man- chester Avill be a memorable event in the history of our County Associations. Nor must we overlook the important influence it will doubtless have upon the future interest of the pursuit. The home honey trade is now in such a position by reason ing how important are the advantages obtainable from our staging the finest display of county exhibits we possibly can "put up" in June next. It is very pleasing to hear, as we do, of the hearty manner in which the Trophy Class is being entered into by several counties, to whom we say " may the best win." Meantime the note of preparation for the PRIZE COUNTY TROPHY AT SOUTH KENSINGTON. of foreign competition, that it would be the veriest folly for those who are interested in the sale of British honey to overlook so splendid an opportunity as ihe occasion affords for displaying to the world what the native product really is. Bearing in mind, too, the scores — we might say hundreds — of thousands who will visit the show, it goes without say- fray has already been sounded, and as the important matter of " What is to be the shape of our Trophy " is a question of much moment to the active spirits in the movement, we venture to give an illustration of the First-prize Trophy — from a fphoto taken at the time — at the first and only County Competi- tion hitherto held in this country, viz.. Feb. 11, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 53 that in the large conservatory of the Royal Horticultural Society, in the grounds of the Colonial Exhibition, South Kensington, in 1886. Unfortu- nately the handsome surroundings of the building in which the Show was then held, as seen in the picture, will be absent at Manchester, but that will not interfere with the design of the Trophies themselves. What we wish is to show the sort of thing then staged, not by any means as a model — the conditions being entirely different — but as suggesting how an educational aspect may be given to the arrangement of a honey trophy. In the one before us the table-space to be filled was larger than the size at Manchester, consequently the weight of honey shown is much greater. But so far as the design itself, the upright central por- tion— -on the top of which is seen the words "Lancashire and Cheshire B.K. Association " — consisted of a case, glazed on both sides, in which are suspended five shallow- frames, illus- trating the modern method of working for extracted honey. The top frame is simply fitted with untouched foundation, followed lower doAvn by combs in various stages of progi'ess, from the partly worked out comb to the fourth one shown filled with honey, fully sealed over, and the lowest one — after being put through the extractor — empty. For the rest, the illustration explains itself, and having taken a share in preparing the design and staging the exhibit as shown, it affords the writer much pleasure to give the pictiire, just to show the sort of thing we of the older school put up for our county and (we are not too modest to withhold the words) won with. HELMSLEY AND DISTRICT B.K.A. ANNUAL MEETING. The first annual meeting of this association ■was held on Friday afternoon in the Court House, Helmsley. The Eight Hon. the Earl of Feversham, President of the association, presided. The Vice-Presidents are Major the Hon. Hubert Dunconibe, M.P., and E. W. Beckett, Esq., M.P. The association was formed in February of last year on the occa- sion of two lectures delivered at Helmsley by Mr. P. Scattergood, junior. Advantage was then taken of the presence of a goodly number of bee-keepers to form the new district associ- ation. Thanks are due to Mr. Scattergood for his interesting lectures and also to Mr W Mennell, secretary to the Technical Instruc- tion Committee of the North Riding County Council, for his valuable help in arranging for the delivery of lectures on bees at Helmsley, Stillington, and Northallerton, the prominence thus given to the subject being very helpful to the formation of this association. Prior to the commencement of the present meeting Mrs. Punshon, of Oldstead Hall, intimated to the hon. sec. her intention to give prizes of 10s., 5s., and 2s. 6d., in a class for "Best rack of sections as it comes off the hive " at the next show, and a hive of bees to the most deserving case of those who felt desirous of commencing hee-keeping in the district. Dr. Frank Collins, Wanstead, Essex, also promised a prize of 10s. for the " Best observatory hive." The hon. sec. then read the annual report, from which it appeared that the association now numbered thirty-nine members, and there was every prospect of a good increase during the coming season. Though the past honey season was unfavourable in the district, it was gratifying to find that the entries in the nine classes numbered fifty, one lady bee-keeper carrying off six first prizes, and dividing the first and second in other two cases. Votes of thanks were passed to all donors of special prizes, Lord Feversham, the Vice-Presidents, Mrs. Punshon, and others, and those who had assisted the prize list in any way. The noble Chairman, in replying, expressed his gratifica- tion at the satisfactory work of the association in its infancy. The hon. sec, in reading the balance-sheet, reported a balance in hand of £1. 8s. 9d. Several matters were discussed for promot- ing the successful working of the association. Mr. Robert Ness, Sproxton-park, Helmsley, in addition to the office of hon. secretary, was appointed local expert to visit noviciate bee- keepers. The report and balance-sheet being adopted, the proceedings closed. — {Communicated.) (Slimz^mknct The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice mil be taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents are requested to write on one side of the paper only and 'jive their real names and addresses, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra- tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We do not undertake to return rejected communications. *^* In order to facilitate reference. Correspondents when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the page on which it appears. BEES IN SOUTH AFRICA. A SAFE JOURNEY WITH DRIVEN BEES. [2777.] I have just arrived in South Africa, and can now tell how the bees have borne the long journey. I could not get any information before leaving England respecting bees out 54 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 11, 1897. here, so did the best I could by way of pre- paring the little emigrants for the road. I got three lots of driven bees from a cottager near Bristol, in October, and put two of these lots in a small box I formerly used for carrying three shallow frames of honey to shows for exhibition. Having these frames of comb by me, they were just the thing for the purpose. I placed one of them on each side of a "Wells'' dummy cut the same depth as ' the frame, putting one lot of bees with their queen each side. They were small lots, consisting of about a thousand in each with their queen. I got them safely on board, and on November 28 left Plymouth in the steamer Ionic. The weather being cold, the bees were left free to pass out at the entrance at each end up to the time of our leaving England. It was very rough, and not being used to the sea, for some days I was in no favourable mood to think about bees. Howe'ver, I put them in under my bed with the flannel wrapper taken oflf ; they could thus get plenty of air from the holes in box, which were covered with per- forated zinc. I was glad that the weather was so cold as to keep the bees from humming, as I did not want my fellow-passengers to know I had bees under «ny bed. So all went well for the time. As we began, however, to get into a warmer climate, I knew the bees would be thinking of gathering honey, and, in con- sequence. Would refuse to keep quiet, so I made the acquaintance of the ship's butcher and got permission to place them in a room near by the ice-house, where the temperature was about 40 deg. Fahr. I thought the ice- house itself would be too cold. When we arrived at Cape Town the bees were brought up on deck, and I was very glad to find were all alive. They did not, however, quite appreciate being kept fastened up, so 1 had to pass them through the Customs at the first chance. This I did by paying fourpence dock dues, without even being asked what was in the box. I was rather amused at this, as it was a very suspicious-looking package. Once free to look around, the first thing was to get lodgings ; but there was no place convenient for bees to be liberated, so I had to keep the box beside me while having dinner. During the meal my fellow-boarders heard " the bee- hive's hum,'' and were naturally somewhat solicitous to know whether the bees could get out, I took an early opportunity to make my way to the Department of Agriculture here, to a Mr. Pillars, who is in the Fruit Depart- ment. This gentleman was quite interested in the bees, and kindly invited me to bring them out at Eondebosh, his private residence, about three miles from Cape Town, and liberate them in his garden. He also told me there was a bee-keeper living at Montrose, Sea Point, named Mr. Attridge, and thither I took the bees. I soon found that Mr. Attridge was one of the bee-keepers whose address you kindly gave me as taking in the Journal. He wag pleased to see me, and also glad to see some bees from the old country. When the entrance was opened, the bees, too, were evidently glad to have a flight. They came out in grand style, and in a day or so were busy carry- ing in pollen as if still flying in old England. I had to wait here for about ten days in order to see a gentleman ; and I then shut the bees in again and left by the steamer Tintagd Castle for Port Elizabeth. I berthed in a six-cabin bunk, and took the bees in with me, as I expected the queens would be laying, and did not want the brood chilled. Eventually, however, we (bees and myself) landed here at Port Elizabeth, where I had to get my things through the Customs ; and, having to stop two or three days on business, the bees got another flight. My next journey was one of eighty miles by rail, and finally I had to carry the bees seven miles across country on horseback, which was safely done. Yesterday (January 8) I put the two lots in separate hives, and found both queens in splendid condition ; each having a good patch of brood, nearly ready to hatch out. On one side there were young bees already out. I can thus congratulate myself on having landed the bees all right ; whether they will prove better honey gatherers I cannot say, but they are much larger than the native bee. The latter is a prettily marked bee, not unlike the Ligurian, quite a nimble little chap, sometimes very quiet, at other times quite the reverse, and having, I notice, a very sharp hum. There are very few bees kept in hives here, the natives getting honey from wild bees in the mountains, and — so they tell me — they eat the brood in comb in all stages of growth ; but I must " spare the Editors," and readers, too, on this brood eating business ; it's nasty ! If you think it would interest your readers I will send on an occasional note about my doings here. It is all new, and so very interesting, with much to be learnt, both in fruit-growing, market- gardening, bee-keeping, and ostrich farming. In thinking over it all I get almost bewildered. I forgot to mention that we had two evenings on " The Bees " while on board ship, which were very well attended. On the first occasion our " talk '' was on the " Diagrams," and a couple of nights afterwards we had " Bees and Their Eelation to Man." The passengers were very much interested, and I had splendid audiences. Kind regards to all bee-keepers at home, not forgetting our Editors. — J. Martin, Expert B.B.K.A.,Blue Cliff, Fort Elizabeth, S. Africa, Jan. 9, 189'7. JANUARY DAYS. [2778.] At the beginning of the year we had many warm, spring-like days that were very comforting to the yellow jessamine and Christmas roses. The rooks in the trees even began to repair their nests. The winter aconite pushed up an elbow above the soil, and our last year's chicks became flushed in Feb. 11, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 55 their faces and combs, and boldly laid eggs, which we promptly appropriated. Those — and they were many — who had predicted a very severe winter, now thought better of it, and predicted that the rest of it would be un- usually mild. They were, however, doomed to be disappointed, for at the middle of the month there began a tug of war between King Frost and Prince Gulf Stream, and, as it proved, after a deal of tugging this way and that, the northern warriors won easily. Human beings and various other animals, also flowers, such as stocks, waU-flowers, snap- dragons, pentstemons, ca,n live through an amazing amount of cold, so long as the air is still, but if, in addition, the north wind coils round and through them like a boa-constrictor — well, no wonder they become shrivelled and constricted. Thanks to our having laid in a stock of porridge, mutton chops, &c., we have, so far, pulled through, but the above-named flowers, and scores more, are dead. The frost increased nightly, and I watched their death struggles — watched the cabbages till they became mere scare-cabbages, and nothing but the buttons of Mr. Brussels sprouts remained. Oh ! it was a dire and dreadful sight. Would that nature might relent and send down a thick, warm eider-down quilt of snow. Nature, however, cares nothing for our yearnings. It rained and froze at the same time till the roads were an inch thick in ice, and boys skated about them. The June grass and clover were near dead ; ice and what appeared like boiled rice, lay among it. At last, on the 22nd, the north wind — which had been sharpening itself to a razor-edge on the sleek sides of icebergs — brought a few storm- clouds, and down came the eider-down snow in giddy, swirling dances. Uncertain of their bearings, like a swarm of bees, the swarm of flakes swayed and drifted, some into the needles of the pines, some into the knuckles of the fist of ferns, on hawthorn and hazel twigs underneath, on celandine and strawberry. Like a swarm of bees the flakes drifted through the hedge, and, settling one by one, the branches became thickly covered till they were hidden completely ; fantastic swarms thus hung along every hedgerow. Bents and dry stems of lychens became the purest wax candles, while crimson-barked brambles were archways of marble and the whitest alabaster. Sometimes there were ragged rents through the storm vapour, where in the day the sky might be seen looking grandly blue, or, in the evening, the stars tingled with the keenness of the wind. There seem to be many kinds of snow. In America I see they have had warm hailstones, which were sweet, and flavoured with vanilla ! We don't get that sort here, but my barber assures me he saw some snow which resembled frog spawn ! This I have never seen, but I have seen everything between water and the fully-fledged flake. The finene-s, the dryness. and crispness of the snow on- the 22nd and 23rd were remarkable. It sang under the feet, and you could not make it into snowballs. To show that it was like eider-down, warm and cosy, the thermometer on the ground was six degrees higher than the temperature above ! On the 23rd the storm was terrific. Many deaths through exposure were recorded through- out Britaio, caused, no doubt, more from lack- ing a friend at the " halfway " house, and a little hot elderberry wine, than from the severity of the storm. The razor-edged wind lifted the snow, and chopped it into snow- mist, so that even the boys— home-fed boys — departed from their tobogganing, with the excuse that they wanted to finish that chapter of " The Skeleton Knights," or " The Mystery of the Dagger," but, if the truth must out, they felt their ears were safer indoors. Those bees whose houses faced the north had no need to whiten their door-steps or the top of their porch — it was done for them, morning after morning. Mr. Blackbird sat disconsolate on an apple bough, and if looks said anything, he was saying to himself, " Well, this takes the cherries ! Can't remember the morn when last I stretched a worm ! " Then he put one foot down and held the other against his breast, then slowly closed his eyes. Even Mr. Jolly Sparrow was silent, or only gave a few chirps which, being interpreted, meant, " Aye, billy-ho, I shall have to go and look up a few more of those gooseberry sprouts, and thei/ ain't exactly like ripe peaches ! " Kooks and starlings stalked about the frozen fields from force of habit, and larks twittered to one another as they Jay shielded from the force of the wind in the furrows. Only one bird sang — sang from the apple boughs in the morning. He had noticed — he, only of all the birds — the elbow of the winter aconite, the sword-blades of snowdrops struggling. He sang sweetly, "Hope on ! ye spring is coming." He had the softest of brown coats, the darkest of dark eyes, and a red breast. The bees heard him. Each took a cell of the best clover and drank the toast, " Here's health and long liPe to our good friend, Cock Eobin ! " — Lord- wood. DATE FOR SUPERING HIVES. [2779.] The interesting paragraph from the American Bee- Keeper on p. 49 suggests the query whether the date for supering there recommended, June 20, applies to the English season as well as to the American. If so, I think many bee-keepers will say that it must be accepted with some latitude. Last season was a capital one in East Yorkshire for early honey. Hives were strong, hawthorn blossom and all other tree blossom profuse, weather favourable for harvesting the stores which were flowing on every side ; so that by the end of June supers were well filled with an exceptionally good sample of honey. After that date I fancy little wa3 gathered. Now, if the advice given 56 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 11, 1897. by Mr. Doolittle had been strictly followed, the result would have been that we should have kept our bees idle (as far as any control of ours can do that) during the most profitable part of the year, while waiting for a clover harvest, which never came in consequence of the prolonged drought. Why should June 20, or any other fixed date be considered the " psychical moment " for supering our hives ? If we can get the brood chamber filled with brood and young bees by May 10, surely the supers should be given them then. I extracted my first box of frames (71 lb.) on June 26. Should I have done so if I had acted on the advice of Mr. Doolittle ? May I ask whether the practice of " doubling " holds its ground as firmly since the introduction of shallow frames as it did before ? The result of doubling is that you will have a hive of standard frames to fill before your bees take to any shallow frames you may give them in addition. Now when once you have learnt the ease with which a shallow frame is uncapped and extracted you do not view with favour a hive full of standard frames waiting for extraction. — Charles E. CocKiN, Etton, Hull, February 6. [The date given by Mr. Doolittle applies no doubt to the district wherein his bees work, and this fact must be considered whenever dates are given . In so comparatively small a place as Great Britain the time of clover bloom- ing differs from twelve to twenty days, taking extreme north and south. We never fail to emphasise the point that bee-keepers — in arranging their work for the season — must bear in mind the flora from which the bees are to gather, and the date of its blooming. Thus we find numbers of those engaged in honey production striving by every means to secure strong stocks for filling sections in April, while those in the Midlands and further north seldom look for or expect bees to be working in supers before mid- June. With bees, as with most other things, to achieve success more or less of intelligence must be brought to bear upon the work, and this means a knowledge of the sources of supply in the district wherein each of us happens to be located. The shallow-frame super has of late years largely superseded the method of " doubling " with standard frames when working for extracted honey. — Eds.] BEE NOTES FROM NORTH HAMPSHIRE, [2V80 ] Following the example of your correspondent " W. R. N.,'' I send you a few notes of the doings of the bees last year in this district, the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. The yield was, I think, rather better than usual in these parts, my average from seven single hives being 45 lb., and from two double ones 56 lb. respectively— nothing remarkable you wiU say, but better than I have done before. According to the local paper, a bee-keeper last year showed at the flower show at Minley, near Farnborough, 120 lb. from one hive, the said hive being stocked, in the autumn of 1895, with one lot of driven bees, which cost a shilling ! We seem to have been more fortunate than neigh- bouring counties (e.g., Sussex), for on June 10 and 11 we had splendid rains, and the bees, which had been getting on rather slowly during the beginning of June, soon felt the benefit. White clover made its appearance by the road- sides, in the hedges, and even in those fields which, by courtesy, we call " permanent pasture.'' The honey-flow, in fact, held out better than usual, and there were very few sections still unsealed at end of season. There were also no end of swarms ! All my hives, save one, swarmed. That one, however, gave me the best yield of all, though it was not the first to begin work in the super. Nothing I could do would stop the swarming.- "W. R. N." states that he " efi'ectually stopped swarming '' by stretching an awning over his hives ; but post hoc ergo propter hoc is not always a safe argument, though a favourite one with most of us bee-keepers. I can only say that I shaded the hives with wet sacks, and gave abundant ventilation ; but all to no purpose. The swarms were all returned, and in some cases would remain at home, but in others would come oflf again in a week or ten days. I hope next year to try an air- chamber under the brood-nest, either such as Mr. Simmins uses or as " W. R. N." described — a sort of eke fitted with wooden dummies J in. apart. The great day for swarms was June 2, when I lost two large double swarms and secured four. One swarm escaped while I was out ; the other moved ofi", being disturbed because a fresh swarm wanted to settle on the same branch. On the same day three other swarms decamped from this village, and three stray swarms were captured, all of the latter being secured earlier in the day than the former escaped ; so that there must have been swarms flying all over the country on that particular day. Some interesting letters appeared last year in the B.B. J. on the way to stop swarming. Perhaps those who took part in that corre- spondence have had some new experiences or experiments during the season. I see Mr. Dadant says swarming cannot be stopped unless you work for extracted honey. I shall be ever grateful to you, Messrs. Editors, for telling us about Mr. James Abbott's waxed paper for covering sections, and to that gentleman for introducing it to the notice of bee-keepers. If any one has a difiiculty in making the waxed paper stick, he will find that " Stickphast " will do it, as will, I expect, also ordinary paste. I see that some of your correspondents aim at retailing honey to their customers at Is. 3d. or Is. 6d. a pound, while the columns of the B. B. J. offer it at 8d. or 9d. a pound. It is Feb. 11, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 57 doubtful whether this is wise as regards their own ultimate advantage. If the farmer who sold me batter were to tell me the price had risea to 23. 6d. per lb., and I paid him that amount, and afterwards found it advertised for Is. 5d. and Is. 6d., I should in future refrain from dealings with that farmer. Of course, honey, like other things, differs in quality and consequently in value ; but so it is with butter. Kegarding honey, I suppose the question of demand and supply is at present so uncertain that there hardly is a regular market price as yet. Only if we spread abroad these exceptional or " fancy " prices for our honey, we may soon see in England some of the 36,000 lb. of white clover honey which Mr. Dadant harvests in America every year, and is able to sell cheaper than sugar. Perhaps we bee-keepers, who eat honey whenever we like, hardly realise how rarely an ordinary well-to-do person buys it. He has an idea that it is very costly, and if he pro- duces it at his breakfast -table, it is with an apology for such extravagance. " I have had a little present of honey," or " my gardener keeps bees." If you show him that honey nowadays costs very little more than jam, he cannot get rid of the ingrained notion that to eat honey is very extravagant. To eat butter, jam, or marmalade is all right, but honey is beyond the bounds of legitimate luxury. — H. E. S., near Winchjield, Hants. BEE-KEEPING IN THE LAKE DISTRICT. [2781. J This district is not weU adapted for clover-honey, but is an excellent locality for heather-honey, given favourable weather during August. I have eleven stocks, chiefly blacks, but with a fair trace of Ligurian, some being crossed with English drones. The latter I find are by far the best honey gatherers, one hive yielding over 60 lb. last season, whereas the blacks did not average over 20 lb. per hive. I find pure Ligurians profitless, and my sole reason for keeping the pure breed is for raising hybrid progeny. One bee-keeper in this dis- trict averaged about 30 lb. per hive out of a dozen stocks — not a bad record, seeing that it was from May blossom and heather, as the clover crop was practically a failure. I have one Wells hive, and cannot speak favourably of the system from my own ex- perience of it ; one side is pure Ligurian and the other English. I have had no difficulty in introducing queens, but found it very difficult to introduce driven bees into one side, which lost its queen in winter of 1895, as the first lot were almost all destroyed. I succeeded at the second attempt without any fighting, however. The return last season did not equal an ordinary hive, though they were very strong in bees, and only had thirteen brood frames altogether ; perhaps the fact of one lot being pure Ligurians may account for this, as they would not enter the super, though the blacks did. — Dr. Allen, Hawkshead, Ambleside. HIVE BEES IN NEW ZEALAND. (Concluded from page 43.) " When I went to Kaipara in 1857 I may say the bush was full of bees. We seldom went for a walk without seeing a swarm of bees, which we often secured and put into a candle box, and carried it home. In this way we started our apiary, and we made boxes after the fashion of Mr. Cotton's, and employed what were then called ' raisers ' for the storing of surplus honey. In this way very nice honey was obtained, and as a luxury we used a glass bell, which, when well filled, made a handsome centre piece for the table. When Mr. Hopkins first published a description of a Langstroth hive I felt it was just what we required in order to obtain control of the bees, and I wrote to him requesting him to send me a sample hive ready for work and some in the flat. I was very much gratified at Mr. Hop- kins' reply, and also with a frame of sections with comb attached, which he kindly gave me to make a start. The hives gave me perfect satisfaction, and I increased my apiary to about sixty hives, still keeping some of the old-fashioned box hives, though in time I learned to value the new hive entirely to the exclusion of the old ones. I also tried a honey extractor for the bush honey, but found it too glutinous to flow in sufficient quantities, and also succeeded in using a wax extractor, which gave me much relief in the separation of wax from the old combs. When we removed from the Kaipara I left my apiary in the care of a person who neglected the bees, and as far as I know they have all died out. " M. GiTTOS." Thvis, there is every reason to believe that we have at last reliable evidence as to the date, &c., of the landing of the first honey bees in New Zealand. There is no possibility of Mrs. Gittos having made a mistake, as she remem- bers everything so clearly, being at the age when the circumstance took place — nine years — that such an event as the landing of honey bees would make a deep and lasting impression upon her mind. Then, again, there is the evidence of others who were passengers by the same ship referred to by Mrs. Gittos, so that there is not the slightest room for doubt. As to the date of the arrival of the ship James at Hokianga, that can be verified by any person through the Customs records, and it is not at all likely any mistake would be made in that matter. Allowing one day after the ship anchored before the bees were landed, this brings us to March 14, 1839, nearly or quite twelve months before the arrival Lady Hobson's bees, and, moreover, the bees in question came from England, not New South Wales. 68 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 11, 1897. Mr. Hobbs speaks of Mrs. Gittos as an " enthusiastic and experienced bee-keeper.'' I can vouch for that, as I well remember some eighteen years ago the pleasing correspondence that passed between us on the matter of scientific bee culture, extending over a period of two years or more, and I believe Mrs. Gittos was the first person I sent a Langstroth hive and other bee-keeping appliances to. 1 thank Mrs. Gittos for her interesting communication. — I. Hopkins, The New Zealand Farmer, Bee, a7id Poultry Journal. tm nU ^t^lm. [1653.] The Wax Moth and Pollen Mite — I send by current post a box containing some insects which I take to be a species of the wax moth. 1 cannot think it is the common wax moth of this country ; the larva; seems so much larger than what I have hitherto seen, and the grub is brown in colour, while the common moth grub I have seen is usually white. In the summer time the grub is most active, putting one in mind of a weasel in its move- ments— darting back quickly if you try to catch it. I have referred to the " Guide Book '' for instructions how to destroy it but failed to get any information beyond the statement that it is essential to have strong colonies in order to keep it out of hives. I may say, however, mine are all strong colonies ; yet the moth gained entrance. 1 have also been informed that naphthaline is a preventive, but it is not so in my case. I may mention that these grubs and moths I have taken from some comb which was stored away in a warm room. They had naphthaline placed in with them when stored away. You will find them in all diflFerent stages of growth, viz., the grub, chrysalis, and the full-grown moth. Will you please give me any information you can respecting the species, and also its destruction ? 2. You will also find enclosed in box a small paper parcel contain- ing a large quantity of "mites." ,1 have looked at them through a very strong microscope and find they are white in colour, and their movements puts me in mind of the green fly which attacks plants in greenhoufes. Will you kindly tell me what it is? — Alfred Bishop, Bury St. Edmunds. Reply. — 1. Box received contains the moth in its " different stages of growth '' from larvae to perfect insect. It is the true wax moth (Oalleria cereana). Notwithstanding the un- reliability implied as to the statement in *' Guide Book " regarding this moth, we repeat — without any reservation whatever — that " strong colonies " have nothing to fear from this or any other moth in this country. It is stated above that the "grubs and moth were taken from combs stored away in a warm room.'' We fail, therefore, to see that the mischief occurred in hive tenanted by bees at all. It would seem as if a moth got at the combs, maybe prior to the introduction of the preventive, and once the eggs were laid the naphthaline would neither kill the grub nor the moth. It is only placed there to keep away the moth because of its smell being offensive to the latter. Experience has so fully proved that strong colonies are a complete preventive that our correspondent may dismiss any alarm on account of moths. 2. The powder Eent contains the common pollen mite frequently generated in combs stored with pollen when kept in a warm room. These mites never appear in hives when the bees are sufficiently numerous to cover the combs. [1654.] — Extracting Honey in February--^ Working for Extracted Honey. — I am much obliged for the information which you kindly gave me in your issue of the 21st ult., and should be glad to also have replies to the following : — 1. Can I extract honey from sections now ■? I have forty which I cannot sell, but I could dispose of the honey if extracted. If I extract the sections, could they be used again ? 2. I shall want to have some labels printed with my name, &c., for the coming season, can you give me the name of a firm who could do this for me ? 3. With regard to working for extracted honey, which gives the best results, shallow or standard frames ? Also do you recommend extra wide frames ? 4. Do you recommend the use of excluder zinc when working for extracting ? 5. I have one hive, in which the bees have wintered, with twelve frames, and on examina- tion yesterday I found there was a lot of honey. Would you advise me to remove four or five frames on first sunny day and extract with the sections referred to above 1 6. Does it follow that when bees collect pollen they also collect honey ? What I mean is, can there be pollen without honey ? I ask this because I saw some of my bees arrive the other day loaded with pollen. — Jersetite, .Jersey, February 5. Eeply. — 1. There will be little chance of your succeeding in removing honey from combs by means of the ordinary extractor at this season. We should rather cut the combs up into slices and hang them in a coarse muslin bag before a good fire. This would reduce the consistency of the honey and cause it to run into the vessel placed below. If granulated, it would need putting into an earthenware vessel, and immersing the latter in hot water till the wax melted and rose to the surface, whence it could be removed in a cake when cold. 2. Most appliance dealers supply honey labels with blank space for name, which latter could be added by any local printer. 3. It is a moot point which gives best results. We prefer the shallow frame. 4. Yes, zinc is indispensable for success in working for extracted honey. 5. No. Leave it where it is, or give a comb of food to more needy stocks. 6. Bees collect pollen at times when practically no honey is available. Feb. 11, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 59 [1655.] Using " Guide Book " Recipes. — On page 145 of " Guide Book," when referring to the difference between chilled brood and foul brood, we read wi'.h regard to the former that " the dead larva; are also generally removed by the bees, but they seldom attempt to carry out those which have died from disease, except under certain conditions which we shall presently mention." I also notice on pages 146 and 147 it says : — " It has previously been stated that adult bees are sometimes attacked by the disease. Such bees leave the hive to die, whereas the infected larva? remain in the cells unless disinfectants to arrest decomposi- tion are used, in which case the bees remove them from the hives." 1. Does this refer to the use of naphthaline, or solution No. 9 as recommended on page 150 for spraying combs ? 2. Will solution No. 12 do as well as No. 9 for comb-spraying with brood in cells ? — Seeker, Long Eaton. Keply. — The quotation is intended to ex- plain that if disinfectants are used in time to arrest decomposition of the larva before it has reached the " ropy " condition, the bees may be able to remove the dead grub from the cell. 2. The passage quoted from page 150 deals specially with the author's experiments with soluble phenyle, and we are therefore not pre- pared to say that carbolic acid eolution will answer the same purpose. In fact, we do not recommend a trial of the latter. [1656.] Best Aspect for Placing Hives. — Up to the present I have kept my bees in the kitchen garden, but, as I now with to extend my apiary, I propose moving them into a meadow close by, and therefore ask : — 1. Shall I put them in a corner facing S.W., sheltered on the N.W. and N.E. sides by high trees and shiubs, or have them more in the open ? It is exposed, being .360 ft. above sea level. 2. Is there any objection to placing the hives close up to 2-in. mesh wire netting ? 3. Being in such an exposed place, would it be at all necessary to build a covered apiary ? With regard to the illustrations in B.B. J., my own opinion is that they greatly enhance its value. — Kent, Whitjield, near Dover. Reply. — 1. The shelter referred to, and the aspect facing S.W., ought to make an ad- mirable location for the hives, much preferable to their being placed out in the open. 2. No. 3. In exposed situations a covered apiary or a bee-house is, no doubt, advantageous, but, with the protection mentioned above, it becomes less a necessity than a matter of personal comfort of the bee-keeper. (^t\m^ from tk gitie^. Chippenha,m, Wilts, February 5. — The frost, which commenced to give way on the 29th ult., has been succeeded by almost incessant driving rains, with the wind bearing from S.E. to S.W. A slight break yesterday morn set the bees in motion, but the strong breeze prevailing at the time, and the clouds coming over, many bees were borne to the ground never to rise, thereby prov'iding a dinner and supper without trouble for the tits, which with me, as with our friend, Mr. Woodley, are a great nuisance. Later on the wind shifted to N.W., and the rain came down in torrents, continuing till this evening (twenty-four hours). Result, the low- lying lauds are already flooded and the river rapidly rising. The still more unwelcome result to me, as a bee-keeper, is that tho wet has percolated through the corner joints, &3., of hives to an extent I have not experienced for years. Newly painted hives and zinc roofs are not exempt ; it really seems a mystery how and where the wet gets in. A warm sunny day would be a great boon, both for the benefit of the bees — they not having had a real flight since December 28 — and also that the roofs, lifts, &c., may be turned inside to the sun and air, and thereby get the drying so much needed. — F. Wooldridge. Hildenhoro\ Kent, February 5. — Yesterday being a mild day after the cold snap we have had here in mid-Kent, my bees took advan- tage and had a good turn out, the first since December 27 last. My nineteen stocks all answered to the roll call. They appear to be well up in bees, and have brought out only a normal quantity of dead, but the flight-boards have been covered with "cappings," which shows that they have been well on the sealed food. From experiments made this year and other years, it appears to me that, given a good queen, plenty of food and a dry hive, chaff cushions, winter passages, &c., may be cast to the winds. I am trying experiments with three hives at the present time as regards wintering. The first is a swarm put into a clean hive on foundation on .June 21 last ; five days later I gave them a rack of sections, but they did little in them, nothing worth taking off. I therefore decided to leave them and see how the bees wintered with the sections on without any additional covering. I looked at them on the 4th inst. and found the bees up in the sections clearing them out. They appear to be strong in numbers at present. The second is a lot driven of bees from a small skep and put on to five frames of foundation on August 16 and fed with sugar syrup. They went into winter quarters weak in bees, the wasps having been very troublesome to them while feeding was going on. They have, however, plenty of food now to tide them over any risk of a " cold snap." The third is a lot of driven bees also from a small skep, put into a make- shift hive, on five frames of empty comb on September 21 and fed slightly. 1 should have given more food but the wasps would not let them have it. I feared this lot could not live, but they are all right and I expect to save them now. They have only got a piece of calico and two tnicknesses of carpet over the frames. — Man of Kent. 60 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 11, 1897. MY BEES. Come, taste of my honey ! The bee-keeper said, For you never before On such nectar were fed. As my bees are my friends, Their virtues I sing ; Does the sun only shine. They are out on the wing, To the hills and the dales. Where cowslips bloom sweet, To orchards and gardens, Fruit blossoms to greet. To brookside and woodland, Where the wild roses grow, To pastures, so fragrant With clover, they go. Bringing in the sweet food God's nature supplied ; No floweret, though humble. Its sweetness can hide. And so, as they gather For their home and for mine, In profit and pleasure We each of us join. Oh, yes, my dear friend. Their praises you sing. And though I believe you, I say, " Can't they sting ?'' "Sting 1" why, yes, so they can, And so, too, would you If rifled and handled. With no mercy in view. But kindness and tact Are wonderful things With man, bird, or beast, Or bees that have stings. Sarah Clough. North^ich, January 28. Nqtioes to Correspondents & Inquirers. All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of personal interest will be answered in this column. A VON Kriegsheim (Biel, Switzerland). — Pressed Tar Felt for Hive-Roofs. — Hard felt, as sample referred to by Mr. A. Sharp (2754, p. 16), if properly put on, will make an admirable covering for hive roofs, and would last for years. We could ascertain the price at which it can be had in this country for you, if desired, but cannot say how much transmission to Switzerland would cost. A. H. (North Bucks).— G^Zass Qtt(7is.— There is no analogy between what are called glass quilts and the use of a covering of American cloth above porous quilts. When American cloth is used along with porous coverings, the former should be fixed not over but under the quilts, with the glazed side next the top-bars of frames, the remaining quilts being placed above. The " glass quilt," on the contrary, does not touch the top-bars at all, but is raised above them sufficiently high to allow passage-way for the bees below the glass. Referring to quotation from " Guide Book," as to size of hive body, if our correspondent will quote the page in book wherein the dimensions are given as stated, we will deal with it. J. R. T. (Workington). — Suspected Comb. — Excepting for one cell — the contents of which are suspicious — the brood in comb sent in is chilled, not foul. The numerous adult dead bees in cells (into which they have crept head-foremost to die) have perished through starvation, or not being clustered within reach of the food. We should give warm s6ft candy at once, and keep a sharp eye on the hatching brood in spring. Geo. Wells (Aylesford). — If the gentleman referred to is not a reader of our journal, anything appearing therein will not be likely to meet his eye. We advise writing to Mr. R. Bainbridge, local secretary, Technical Education Committee, Frosterley, Durham, who will, we think, be able to furnish the address asked for. R. I. P. (Elgin). — Phenol and Naphthol Beta. —Phenol is so far analogous to naphthol beta that both are crystalline substances, obtained by the destructive distillation of certain organic bodies, such as wood, coal, &c. But regarding the particular use for which naphthol beta is recommended to bee- keepers, according to Dr. Lortet's formuliT, phenol is entirely unsuitable, and would not do at all. W. J. Brown (Bridport). — Hard Pollen in Combs. — There is no use trying to " pick out " pollen from cells after it becomes hard and mildewed as in comb sent. The comb may, however, be again utilised, in a mea- sure, by cutting down the cells almost to the septum or midrib, and giving them to the bees to rebuild. Hard pollen is useless to the bees. S. G. Leigh. — Comb is aflfected with foul brood. E. Parsons (Tunbridge Wells). — Dealers' Catalogues. — 1. The suggestion that we should print a free list of names and addresses of bee-keepers desiring catalogues sent to them is quite impracticable. 2 The hon. sec. of the Kent and Sussex B.K.A. is Mr. H. W. Brice, Dale Park-road, Upper Norwood. 3. Bees obviously must possess the power either to see in the dark, or be endowed with some equivalent sense of touch, in view of so much of their labours being carried on in darkness. Feb. 18, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 61 (^dif0ml ^dim, ^t USEFUL HINTS. The Honey Trophy. — From com- munications received we gather that the illustration on page 52 has not only aroused interest in regard to the Man- chester Show, but has given pleasure to some of those purposing to compete in the Trophy Class at the " Royal " in June next. Enquiries have also been made for information as to details of the design in last week's B,J., apparently not quite clear in the illustration. We do not know why such particulars are desired, and only made our description on page 53 so brief because of not deem- ing anything beyond the picture neces- sary. However, we now add a few par- ticulars as requested. The upright glazed case in centre was 3 in. or 4 in. deep, and wide enough for holding within a 1-lb. jar in the spaces on each side of the frames shown. The opposite side of the Trophy was a reproduction of the front view, while the two side displays were necessarily some- what different, because of there only being space for single sections and jars where the combs show in front. The two rows of 1-lb. jars below the shallow- frames stand on shelves of thick glass arranged in step fashion, both shelves being backed with silvered glass. The main rows of shelves are in four sections, fixed to, and radiating from, the central case, seven rows of jars being staged in each " arm " or set of shelves, which latter are supported by turned pillars of wood. The bottom shelf ex- tends to the extreme corner of the table, while the others gradually shorten in length, the top one holding only three jars. On the platform above the centre case stands a considerable weight of honey in 2-lb. jars. The suspended shields, front and back, on which are the words " White Clover Honey," in white letters on a chocolate ground, and the side bannerets of blue silk, complete the whole. The explanatory wording printed across the top-bar of each frame of comb (too small to be readable in the picture) simply explained to the uninitiated the various stages in which the combs are shown. The " feature " of the exhibit, how- ever, was not the design, but the quality of the extracted honey shown, and the fact of its being staged as entirely white clover honey. The bright, pale-yellow colour was uniform throughout. No screw-caps were used, all being tie-over jars, while the vegetable parchment . covers were carefully damped before using, so that, when dry, the covers were as "tight as a drum," and perfectly white. The weight of honey was, of course, considerable — probably over 700 lb. — but we cannot now remember the exact quantity. The "Royal" Prize Schedule. — Questions are also arising as to the clear and definite meaning attachable to the mention (in Class 375) of other honey products beyond "comb and extracted honey." To prevent misconception at the outset, we therefore take the earliest opportunity for defining — as clearly as our knowledge of " Queen's English " will allow us — ^what the words used are intended to convey. The schedule reads thus : — " Special County Honey Trophy Competition. Class 375. For the best and most attrac- tive display of Comb and Extracted Honey and such Honey products as Wax, Mead, and Vinegar, arranged in Trophy form on a space not exceeding 4 ft. 6 in. square by 5 ft. in height. The gross weight of the Honey (which may be in any form and of any year) must approximate 300 lbs." We thus see (and the words are capi- talised to impress them on the mind) that the Trophy is primarily a Display of Comb and Extracted Honey, and that about 300 lb. weight of this must be staged on a given space. Then, in order to increase the attractiveness of the Trophy and also to bring before public notice certain valuable products obtain- able from honey. Wax, Mead, and Vine- gar are named. But, so far as these latter products, any one or more of them may be included in the exhibit as desired. One must be staged ; the words "and honey products, such as, &c." making this point clear. The inclusion of more than one is, however, not actually obligatory, and therefore a matter of choice or convenience to exhibitors, though all three are eligible and may be staged if desired. In other words. 62 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 18, 1897. honey and wax, or honey and vinegar, quite cover the requirements of the schedule, as do honey and mead without either wax or vinegar. In this way then, county associations, unable to include either mead or vinegar, may be perfectly satisfied that they compete correctly so long as honey and wax is staged. No fair-minded person should conclude that those whose duty it may be to make the awards will attach too much importance to the " extras," as they may be termed comparatively. The words of the schedule, as given above, will, we take it, guide the awards, and the " extras " not calculated at more than their proper value ; a value altogether secondary, compared Avith what we have named. Bearing in mind, however, the advisability of beautifying the "Trophy" by every legitimate means, we hope nothing will be omitted that tends to improve its appearance, or show the good taste of those who arrange the display. In this latter respect all have an equal chance, for the good old custom of giving simple and equal table space to all, offers a free field and no favour. We trust these remarks will remove any possible difference of opinion as to the wording of the schedule, and demon- strate the desire of those who framed it to impose as few restrictions as possible, while doing justice to all. Since writing the above we note some questions referring to the same subject appear on another page from the pen of Mr. Woodley, to which a word of what we may term unauthorised reply may be here given ; official replies can, of course, only be obtained in response to queries addressed in proper form to the B.B.K.A., through their secretary. So far, then, as the stands on Avhich the trophies are staged are concerned, they will, no doubt, be of the usual height of all those on which collections of honey are staged at "Royal " shows. Regard- ing the question of separate stands for each trophy, we expect these will be arranged for if at all possible, as it would add immensely to the appear- ance if this can be done. The " size of the top of stand," as Mr. W. puts it, is already clearly defined in the schedule as stated above. It was also considered absolutely necessary to clearly approxi- mate the weight of honey to be staged^ but that the quantities of wax, mead and vinegar respectively should be left to those in whose hands the arrangements are left. In view of what has been said above, there need be no fear, we fancy, of the "extras" being allowed to over- shadow the substance of what is to all intents and purposes a HoNEY trophy. For the rest, we have endeavoured above to make clear the wording of the schedule as to the need or otherwise of showing all or a part only of the several " honey products " beyond honey at the discretion of exhibitors themselves. BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' CIATION. ASSO- The monthly meeting of the Council was held on Friday, February 12, at 105, Jermyn- street, S.W. Present -.—Mr. H. Jonas (in the chair). Major Fair, Messrs. H. W. Brice, W. Broughton Carr, W. O. B. Glennie, W. H. Harris, J. H, New, E. D. Till, T. I. Weston, J. M. flooker (ex-officio), and the Secretary. A letter was read from the Hon. and Rev. Heniy Bligh, apologising for inability to attend. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. New members of the Association were elected as under : — Mrs. G. W. Bancks, Green - street - green, Dartford. Rev. John Barton, The Manse, Wingrave, Aylesbury. Mr. Robt. Burnett, Creacombe, Morchard Bishop, Devon. Mr. Archibald Collitt, Nethercole Apiary, Bourton-on-the- Water. Mr. W. L. Crowley, 1, Ross- road, Walling- ton, Surrey, Lieut, C. L. Hervey, St. Clare, Exeter Park, Bournemouth. Kent and Sussex Bee-keepers' Association, Mr, H, W. Brice, 2, Dale Park, Upper Nor- wood, Hon. Sec. Mr. A. A. G. Kindell, Hillside, Muswell- hill, N. Miss Louisa King, Swinford, near Rugby. MisG Nisbett, Durham House, Green-street- green, Dartford. Mr. Joseph Peckett, Rose Cottage, Haver- croft, Wakefield. Mr. Wm. Spence, Brynfield House, New- town, N. Wales. West Dorset Bee-keepers' Association, Rev. H. C. B. Field, Bradpole Vicarage, Bridport, Chairman and Treasurer. Mr. Jas. V. Wilson, Westal, Cheltenham. Major Fair presented the report of the Finance Committee, including the Honorary Auditors' report on the accounts for the year 1896, which was duly approved. Feb. 18, 1897.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 63 It was stated by Mr. Hooker, on behalf of the Exhibitions Committee, that arrangements were in progress for the joint management of the Bee and Honey Department of the Royal Counties' Show at Eeading, by the British and the Berks Association. Of the sum to be given as prize money, it had been decided to allocate £10 for local competition only. In all some £30 will be available for distribution in the various classes at this exhibition. The report was received. The Secretary read a letter from the Lines. B.K.A. in regard to the approaching County Honey Trophy Competition at Manchester, and received the instructions of the Council in respect to a reply. It was moved by Mr. Till, seconded by Mr. Weston, and carried iinanimously : "That the Secretary issue a form of inquiry to be filled up by the bee-keeping associations, and such individuals as he may deem advisable, with information in regard to foul brood, in order to supplement the data already obtained for advancing legislation on the subject, and that the Secretary be assisted, in the work of framing the circular, by Messr.^ Carr, Brice, and Till." Subject to the approval of the President, March 12 was fixed as the date of the annual general meeting of members, to be followed by the first conversazione of the season. Members desirous of bringing forward matters for discussion at the general meeting should give notice to the Secretary on or before Friday, February 26. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE B.K.A. The annual meeting of the Northants Bee- Keepers' Association was held in All Saints' schoolroom, Northampton, on Saturday, Feb- ruary 13. Mr. L. Jordan occupied the chair. Amongst those present %vere Dr. Bellew, Messrs, Winterton, Collis, Craddock, Brag- shaw, Timras, England, Colling, Orland, Perry, Wright, Mrs. Ball, &c. The secretary, after stating that he had received apologies for non- attendance from Mr. A. L. Z. Morley, Mr. Nigel Stewart, Mr. Ball, and several others, read the report for the past year, which, together with the statement of accounts as read were passed ncm con. The committee elected for the ensuing year were Mr. A. L. Z. Morley (chairman), Mr. J. it. Truss, Ufford Heath ; Mr. H. Collins, Berry Wood ; Mr. 0. Orland, Flore ; Mr. G. Page, Holcot ; Dr. Bellew, Wollaston ; and Mr. Francis, Mr. Ball, and Mr Manning, Northampton ; hon. sec, Robert Hefford, Boughton ; hon. treasurer, G. E. Atkins ; hon. auditor, Mr. J. Francis. Mr. Truss, Mr. Perry, and Dr. Bellew were appointed experts. The lules and schedule of prizes for the annual show were then revised, and after con- siderable discussion were agreed to. Dr. Bellew then offered some "suggestions for a mutual assurance association against loss by foul brood.'' He also showed a sample of honey vinegar, and explained the many ways honey could be utilised in food, drinks, &c. The meeting, which lasted three hours, concluded with a vote of thanks to the retiring president and officials of the past year and to the chair- man for presiding and the manager for use of the schools.— {Communicated). WOTTON-UNDER-EDGB DISTRICT B.K.A. AND ANNUAL MEETING. The Annual General Meeting was held in the Town Hall on Saturday, February 13. Messrs. Watts and Fowler were elected on the committee in the places of Messrs. Tilley and Workman, resigned. After various discussions relating to local bee-keeping matters, a resolution was carried unanimously " that we heartily approve of the efforts of the B.B.K A. to promote legislation with regard to the stamping out of Foul Brood." It was greatly regretted that more of our younger men did not take any interest in bee-keeping. The financial condition of the Association was shown to be more satisfactory this year owing to our having dropped the " Fruit, Flower, and Vegetable Section " at the Show. The secretary suggested that at the usual summer monthly meetings of the Society the articles in the Journal should form subjects for discussion. This suggestion met with general approval, as it had always been difficult to get new and original subjects in an associa- tion with so few members. It was gratifying that several members had found the books in the library of so much assistance. — {Com- municated.) IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. The Committee met on llthinst. Present : Captain Millner (in the chair), Dr. Traill, Mr. Delap, Mr. O'Bryen, and Mr. Chenevix (hon. sec, 15, Morehampton-road, Dublin). Rev. J. G. Digges, of Clooncahir, Lough Rynn, who was co-opted a member of Committee, also at- tended. Mr. Digges having stated his inten- tion of establishing a Lough Rynn Bee-keepers' Association, the conditions for its affiliation to the I.B.K.A. were settled. It was resolved to supply on loan some show cases to dealers for the sale of members' honey. HONEY IMPORTS. The value of honey imported into the United Kingdom during the month of January, 1897, was £267. — From a return furni