LIBRARY

OF THE

MASSACHUSETTS

AGRICULTURAL

COLLEGE

#

:3*

THE

British Bee Journal,

AND BEE-KEEPERS' ADVISER.

EDITED BY

THOS. WM. COWAN, F.G.S, F.L.S., F.R.M.S., &c, and W. BROUGHTON CARE.

VOLUME XXIII

January-December, 1895.

PUBLISHED BY

SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, '& Co., Limited,

23, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G.

u l_
univi "r0F

MP OTS

amhersTIass.

Y

LONDON :

PRINTED BY WVMAN AND SONS, LIMITED,

GREAT QUEEN STREET, W.C.

INDEX.

Abuse of the smoker, 55

About our bees, 453, 403, 486,
507

Absconding swarms, 474

Act for Suppression of Foul
Brood, 11

Additional honey classes fund,
505

Adding Combs, 39 ; Supers, 239 :
driven bees to frame hives, 380

Adulteration, Art of, 374 ; of
beeswax, 311 ; of beeswax
with paraffin, 145 ; of honey
in France, 456

Advantages of an Association,
431

Advantage of Honey - sales
scheme, 10S

Advice for beginners, 160, 29S

Afternoon inaCottager's Apiary,
335

After the Winter in Lines., 120

Alighting boards, 483

American mixture, 53 ; Markets,
145 ; Antiphrasis, 165 ; Foul
brood Act, 32

Among the bees, 53, S3, 383, 387,
419

Amount of food for Winter, 380,
406

Ants in hives, 50, 119, 227

Another word from " A. Goose,"
16 ; success in 1895, 497

Apicultural literature, 70 ; notes,
-106

Apiary at Callington, 476

Apology, an, 253

Apologia pro Bacillus Alvei,
439, 463

Arctic Winter, an, 88

Are foul-brood Inspectors neces-
sary ? 450

Artificial swarms, 208, 227, 231,
268, 338 ; comb, 110 ; pollen,
36 ; honey, 504

Assisting our circulation, 114,
453, 465, 475, 513

Associations : — County, 3S3 ;
Strenthening our, 401 ; Royal
Patronage for, 443; British
Bee-Keepers', 2, 13, 31, 41, 52,
62, 81, 91, 103, 111, 124, 132,
141, 152, 171, 181, 191, 195, 201,
211, 241, 251, 281, 282, 292, 331,
371, 391, 411, 423, 437, 444, 409,
479, 490, 509 ; Berks, 52, 344 ;
Bristol, 73; Biggar, 381;
Cambs, and Isle of Ely, 141 ;
Derbyshire, 114, 372; Essex,
177, 252, 352, 415 ; Glamorgan-
shire, 332; Goole and District,
343 ; Hants and Isle of Wight,
241 ; Herefordshire, 141, 372 ;
Herts, 96, 475, 367, 374, 375, 3S5,
396, 405, 421, 429 ; Hunts, 499 ;
Hull and District, 235 ; Irish
22, 43, 83, 105, 162, 203, 275,
312, 415, 461, 513 ; Kent, 19, 31,
302, 842 ; Lanarkshire, 460 ;
Lancashire and Cheshire, 94 ;
Lauderdale, 343 ; Leicester-
shire, 133, 321, 381; Lincoln-
shire, 147, 195, 332 ; Manches-
ter and District, 206 ; Northum-
berland and Durham, 171 ;
North Norfolk, 372 ; North-
ampton, 32, 331 ; Notts, 113,
121, 351, 363 ; Oxfordshire, 142 ;
Roxburgshire, B.K., 414;
Scottish, 83, 441, 483, 495;

Shropshire, 341 ; South of
Scotland, 363 ; Stafford, 94,
205, 322 ; Surrey, 137, 147, 313,
325, 347, 353, 355, 384, 421, 409,
490; Sussex, 53, 76, 88;
Taunton and District, 333;
Warwick, 101 ; West Calder
and District, 403 ; Wilts, 351 ;
Wotton - under - Edge, 352 ;
Yorkshire, 332 ; Honey Labels,
29

Australian Honey resources, 397
,, honey-takes, 397

Autocrat of the breakfast table,
The, 405, 420

Bacteriology, 67

Backslider's doubts, 347

Badly fitting outer cases, 498

Bad law, A, 474

Badcock fund, 171, 181, 205, 245,

256, 275, 311, 321. 344, 455
Bee talk, 503 ; notes and hints,
514
„ and Honey shows of '95, 181
,, books and journals, 154, 190,

400
„ case) A, 456

,, cultivation in Cornwall, 224
,, culture in France, 409
,, escapes, Brass cones for, 217
,, farms in Servia, 455
,, flowers, 350
,, figures, 16
„ food, 279, 360, 410
,, houses, 471, 481
,, „ versus outside hives,

492

,, houses, roofs for, 492

,, Jottings, 144, 154, 165, 172,

196, 213, 222, 243, 272, 292,

312, 333, 353, 373, 393, 443

,, Journal, B.B.K.A. and foul

brood, 96
,. Journal and its readers, 83
Bee-keeping and the Press, 151,
402
,, and the Board of

Agriculture, 101
,, and Railway Ser-

vants, 316
., at Covent Garden,

89
A Lady's, 174, 184
A bad start in, 319
,, Best hives and

best systems of,
40
„ in Alsace, 10

,, in the Tropics, 114

,, in Cornwall, 142

,, in Germany, 158,

178
., in Swansea Valley,

254
„ in the Transvaal,

285
,, in Spain, 324

in Yorkshire, 335
in Herts, 431
,, in Surrey, 444

,, in Manchester, 451

,, in Wexford, 474

,, in Lines, 480

., in Palestine, 143,

156, 253, 274
„ London, 384

Mems., 123, 394
Royalty and, 330

Bee-keeper, How I became a,

493
Bee-keepers and the Board of
Agriculture, 292

,, Liability of, 445

,, Organisation for,

391

,, Review, 145

„ Ottering, 426

Bee-man's opinion, a, 26
„ Notes from Sussex, 24, 74,

126, 446, 185, 223, 516
,, ,, Hunts, 125

,, ,, under the

thatch, 78
,, Sunday, 35
„ Pasturage, 314, 324, 370
,, Parasites, 389
,, Plants, 78, 168, 190, 197
,, returns for 1894, My, 84
,, Season in 1895, 154
„ Stings, 222, 2:;2, 247, 348, 485
„ Statistics, 220
„ Syrup, 35U, 370
,, Van and its work, 107, 117,

433
Bees and Bicyclists, 352; Con-
fectionery, 245 ; dysentery,
110 ; fruit growers, 43 ; frost,
73 ; honey production, 225 ;
Legislation, 310 ; Sanitary
Laws, 215; School -masters,
356; Swarms, "Lazy," 247;
the Cold, 78 ; the Reforma-
tion, 456 ; their temper, 122,
143 ; as a hobby, 47 ; incu-
bators, 170 ; a lady's difficulty
with, 33S ; at the Cable Farm,
480 ; at Shows, 362 ; Buying,
7 ; blown over in a storm, 20 ;
Balsic slag and, 55 ; blocking
up brood nest with Honey,
268 ; by post, 309 ; chilled,
170 ; Chloroforming, 348 ;
Casting out brood, 319 ; carry-
ing eggs, 394 ; deserting hive,
40, 100, 228; dying, 90, 100,
157 ; dying outside hives, 457 ;
deposing queen, 258 ; Drone-
less and sluggish, 267 ; Driving
and uniting, 287 ; Do ducks
eat? 175 ; Driven, 354 ; Driv-
ing and hiving, 354, 366 ;
Effects of the frost on, 96, 116,
123; entering dwelling-houses,
398 ; from infected districts,
7 ; Fertile workers among, 12 ;
farming in an Arctic Winter,
90 ; for the Harvest, 407 ;
Heredity in, 214, 272, 304;
Hardiness in, 49 ; in Aus-
tralia, 397 ; in a coffin,
443 ; in a letter box, 305 ;
a storm, 9, 137 ; Banffshire, 422 ;
County Kilkenny, 462 ; hive
roof, 15S, 337 ; Ireland, 386 ;
Lincolnshire, 137 ; Northants,
497 ; North- West Durham,
419 ; Public Gardens, 491 ; the
Lake District, 452 ; Yorkshire,
265 ; Length of life in, 9 ; Loss
of, 370 ; Left hive, 150 ; Lecture
on, 171 ; Mixed, 374 ; Moving,
13, 60, 110, 149 ; not Working
in Surplus Chambers, 267 ; not
leaving hive, 130; near brick
kilns, 468 ; native and foreign,
20S, 214 ; Orchards for, 239 ;
obedient to training, 407 ;
Requeening vicious, 99 ; re-

fusing to raise queens from
eggs "given, 237; syrup, 149,
lt)0 ; to enter sections, 256 ;
surplus room, 259 ; to swarm,
326 ; foundation, 299 ; Smoking,
90 ; Spiteful, 300 ; Swarming (?)
in November, 488; Storing
sugar syrup in supers, 187,
198 ; transferring themselves
to frame hives, 170, 227 ;
Uniting, 30, 4* ; Vicious, 2S7 ;
Varieties of, 319; Virgil and,
357 ; Winter Chat about, 97 ;
Wintering, 110, 124; wilful
destruction of, 155 ; Winter
stores for, 401 ; Weight of, 443

Beet Sugar, 490

Beginners, Advising, 298

,, Hive Making for, 158

,, Queries, 299

,, Some hints to, 9, 160

,, Swarming and, 219

,, Transferring for, 50

Keuiuning bee-keeping, 186

Beware of Pyrethrum, 393

Birds carrying off bees, 198

Black robber-bees, 207

Blending beeswax and honey,
38S

Board of Agriculture and the
suppression of foul brood, 316

Bogus bees, 153
,, foul-brood remedies, 26

Bona- fide Cottagers, 388

" Braula Cceca," 180, 406

Brace combs, 53

British honey, 78

Bricks and morter and honey-
gathering, 314

"Brice" queen cage, 235

Brood-rearing, Curious position
for, 175 ; Chambers, Filling up,
251 ; Chambers, Enlarging,
340 ; Chambers, Super founda-
tion in, 318 ; Combs, Examin-
ing, 296 ; Combs uncapped by
robber bees, 329

Broad top bars, 364

Burning question, The, 25

Burnt honey for bee food, 406

Candy, 468 ; feeding, 488 ; for

bees in skeps, 00; making, 90,

299, 44S. 478, 488 ; overboiled,

60

Canadian Foul-brood Act, 11, 22

Canary seed as a bee-plant, 248

Can queens lay drone or worker

eggs at will? 125
Californian honey, 443
Capacity of standard frame, 398
Carniolan queen breeders, 299
"Casting bread upon the Wa-
ters." 392, 405
Certificates, Report on Experts',

170, 237
Chapman honey plant, 114, 132,

141, 147, 288, 388
Changing location for ridding

bees of foul brood, 327
Cheap conveyance to Moors, 14
'* Chestnuts," 4S3, 494
Chilled brood, 179 ; Bees, 170
Chilblains, Honey Cure for, 38,

57, 108
Clearing bees off frames, 37, 48
Cleaning-up wet combs, 398, 399,
403; wax, 259; supers, 306,
346

INDEX TO VOLUME XXIII.

Clippings from the Australian

Bee Bulletin, 397
Closing Season, The, 321
Code of honour wanted, 483
Colour of super foundation, 170
Combs, Old and new, 172 ; build-
ing, 171 ; soiled through dy-
sentery, 13S ; spotted, 256 ;
for driven bees, 39S ; not
cleaned up, 433 ; suspected,
434
Comb - foundation, breaking

down, 410 ; 146, 434
Completing unfinished Sections,

297
Complimentary, 295
Commercial packages at Dairy
Show, 432; Special class for,
475
"Come on Macduff," 481
Compulsory powers for dealing
with foul brood, 3, 5, 7, 21, 26,
28, 46, 50, 58, 282
Compensation in "kind," 57;

Compulsory Powers, and, 17

Concerning Notes by the Way,

174, 189 ; removal of bees

from allotment grounds, SO

Contagious Diseases (Animals)

Act, 1894, 22
Conversazione B.B.K. A., 91, 103,

211, 411, 423, 437
Concise Contributors, 366, 376
Conference at Board of Agricul-
ture, 282; at.Iermyn-street,509
Conference at Guildford, 444 ;
on bee subjects. Proposed,
331 ; on foul brood, 509
Consanguinity, 484
Confining drones to hive, 239
Contracting brood chambers, 232
Co-operative hives, 233, 246
Cork-stopped honey jars, 359
Correspondents, To our, 31, 356
Cost] of moving bees from roofs,

475'
Coverings for hives, 360
County labels, 375, 391
County associations and selling-
honey, 8, 108 ; and experts
visits, 33 ; compulsory powers,

Crimson clover, 393

Criticising Mr. Wells' Report, 20

Crossing bees, 69

Cross-built combs, Transferring

from, 298
Cure of foul brood, 87, 115
Curiosities of Wintering, 157
Curious incident, 175

,, position for brood-rear-
ing, 175
Cutting combs from skcps, 180

„ out queen-cells, 256

Dairy Show, 341, 350, 362, 366,
371, 381, 390, 392, 414, 410, 417,
428, 432, 442, 453, 461, 475, 484

Dates of honey flow, 179

Dealing with diseased stocks,
149 ; foul-broody hives, 173 ;
weak stocks, ISO, 196; old
"hives, 227 : nuclei, 207 ; foul
brood, 208, 398 ; swarms, 247 ;
unfinished sections, 368, 468 ;
queen cells, 397.

Dead queen cast out in Feb-
ruary, 68 ; bees in Supers, 277

Death of Mr. Henry Neighbour,
83 ; Mr. T. Badcock, 162 ; Rev.
L L. Langstroth, 426, 435 ;^Mr.
John Huckle, 439

Decoy hives, 232

Deputation to the Board of
Agriculture, 161, 111. 191, 201

Detecting Bobber bees and
queenlessness, 169

Devonshire bee-keepers, To, 56

Dialysis of Honey, 33

Dimensions of shallow frames,l30

Discordant Notes, 27

Distance apart for hives, 30

Distinguishing foul-broody bees,

49
Disturbance among bees in

Winter, 79
Disinfecting hives, 96, 145, 251,

254, 266 ; store-room, 180 ;

hives, 348
Disinfectants for foul brood,

96, 197, 497
Distance bees travel, 296 ; should

be moved to heather, 329;

between side-bars of frame

and hive sides, 170
Disappearance of bees, 128
Dividing for increase, 267, 275 ;

Colonies, 317, 339
Does bee-keeping pay? 98, 123,

136, 154, 163, 167, 184, 440, 449 ;

wired foundation injure brood?

170
Do bees steal eggs ? 395 ; bees

carry eggs? 292, 303, 321,

333, 345, 353, 364, 377, 395,

432 ; bees form ant ipathies ?

378, 384, 393; fertile queens

ever leave the hive ? 154 ;

ducks eat bees? 175, 183;

Martins or Swallows eat

bees ? 303 ; Self-hivers answer

their purpose ? 184
Double-queened hives, 15, 64 ;

stocks, 110
Driving bees, 500, 518 ; from

Skeps, 35, 288 ; what to avoid

in, 354 ; Condemned bees, 361 ;

and hiving bees, 354, 366
Driven bees, Combs for, 398 ;

Feeding up, 406
Dr. Adolphus de Planta, 101
Dr. Muller on his " plan," 46
Drone-breeding queen, 108, 170 ;

cells in foundation, 228
Drones flying in November, 116 ;

March, 128 ; Imprisoning, 248 ;

Superfluous, 259 ; white-eyed,

306 ; and swarming, 374 ; Late,

390 ; generally, 441 ; retained

from 1894, 451 ; and worker

eggs ; Can bees distinguish

between ? 418, 428
Droneless and sluggish bees,

267
Ducks and bees, likewise foxes,

183
Dysentery, 110, 120, 134, 13S, 160

Early section of honey, 170 ;
feeding up for winter, 176 ;
Swarms, 188, 225 ; honey in
Yorks, 216

Earwigs in hives, 298

Echoes from the hives, 20, 58,
109, 119, 127, 138, 14S, 158, 198,
206, 218, 238, 277, 286, 359, 309,
388, 407, 455, 461, 477, 497

Educational work, 112

Effects of foul brood, 76 ; soil on
honey production, 78 ; Severe
Winter on bees in Sussex, S7 ;
frost on bees, 116, 123 ; the
recent storm, 137

Eggs, do'bees steal? 395; carry?
292, 303, 312, 333, 345, 353,
364, 377, 395, 432

Entomological, 454

Essay on " Taste " 418

Establishing stocks with driven
bees, 327

Eucalyptus honey and foul
brood, 402 ; honey, 498

Events of 1895, 113

Examination for experts' certi-
ficates, 2, 141, 152, 163, 257,
271, 292, 309, 394 ; for Lecture-
ships in the Science of Api-
culture, Regulations for, 132

Kxamining brood combs, 290

Exhibitions, 113

Exhibits and county labels, 375

Exhibits at shows, 355

Bichibitors' Awards, 498

Experience, An, 255; with a

"Wells "hive, 407 ; gained in

1894, 14 ; in the Tropics, Mr.

Blow's, 114 ; with foul brood,

234 ; of Italian bees, My, 357 ;

of an Essex bee-keeper, 493
Experts' Certificates, 30, 77, 98,

170, 298, 302 ; Visits, 33
Extension of prize list at Dairy

Show, 381, 416, 428, 442, 453,

484," 491
Extracting, Shallow frames for,

35, 55 ; thick honey in winter,

50 ; wax, 138, 169 ; sections,

304
Extracted honey, Working for,

177
Extractor, Common use of, 484

Failures in Candy Making, 488
Faulty Combs, Removing, 334
Feeding-up bees, 370, 406
Feeding-up for Winter, Early,
176 ; candy, 488 ; in bad
weather, 208 ; Rapid, 383, 395 ;
in August and September,
Rapid, 379
Feeder, A New, 396, 404, 419;

Home-made, 491
Fertile workers, 12, 308
Fermenting Mead, Pollen for, 340
Figwort (Scrofularia nodosa), 199
Filling-up Brood Chambers, 251
Finding queens, 9, 244, 291
Finance, 112
Food for Winter, 39S
Foreign honey, 123
Forage for bees, 50
Foul brood, 56, 112, 295, 327, 393,
397, 402, 430, 439, 443,, 454 484;
and compulsory powers, 1, 3,
40, 62, 282 ; Act for the sup-
pression of, 11 ; and recruits,
18 ; and swine fever, 50 ; and
chilled brood, 350 ; An expert's
experience of, 472 ; B. B.
Journal and, 96 ; crusade, 13,
27 ; cured, 64 ; Cure of, 87 ;
curing by means of drugs, 110 ;
Dealing with, 107, 208, 472,
504, 517 ; Experience of, 234 ;
how it blocks trade, 1S4 ;
hardships, 255 ; inspectors and
their powers, 60 ; in Australia,
62 ; in comb foundation, 68 ;
in " Wells " hives, 249 ; in
ovaries of queen, 434 ; in
autumn, 478 ; legislation, 11,
45, 152, 316 ; law, The Utah,
121; Mainly about, 17; mea-
sures, 492 ; Old books and,
249 ; prevention better than
cure, 167 ; question, 51, 63, 71,
449 ; Readers of the B. B. J.
and, 147 ; remedies, 7, 16, 29,
4S ; bogus, 26 ; Second-hand
hives and, 497 ; Suspected,
197, 3S0, 434, 478; treatment
of, 34, 221, 309 ; by bromine,
480; What is? 56
Foul brood controversy, 172,
430, 439, 449, 450, 463, 472, 481,
484, 492, 504, 517
Foul-broody bees, Distinguish-
ing, 49 ; hives, Treatment of,
224
Foundation, fixing, 233; How
to convert old brood-combs
into, 214; Sample, 434; Wiring,
185
France, 241, 456
Frames, Glass covers for, 335
Free seeds for bee-keepers, 114,

121, 197
Friendly warning, 117
Fro3t and the flowers, 57, 87
From which parent do bees
inherit working qualities? 223
Fruit-growing, Bees and, 40
Fruit-growing and bee-keeping

in Cornwall, 142
Full sheets or Starters for Sec-
tions, 80

Galvanised-iron vessels for Bee

syrup, 207
Getting rid of ants, 348
Giving pea-flour, 140
Giant bee of India, by C. 1)

Holt, 153
Glazed section cases, 90
Glass supers, 170
Glass covers for frames, 335, 385
Good word for " Wells " system,

15
Good harvest, 306
Good average yield, 371

Half rates at " owners' risk," 440

Handling frames, 170

Hanging frames, The W.B.C.

Section rack of, 388
Hatching Queens and Thunder-
storms, 334
Heather honey, 376, 387, 419;
Southern, 394, 419, 440 ; from
old brood combs, Pressing, 50 ;
in April, 177, 264
Heather Season, 419 ; and Clover
Sections in Competition, 350 ;
Preparing for the, 442, 495
Heat wave, 401
Help wanted in Sussex, 29
Helpful hints for hard times
Helping native honey, 470
Heredity in bees, 214, 272, 283
Hertfordshire bee-keepers and
the Bath and West Show, 367
Hints to beginners (concluded),
9 ; for discussion 54, 66, 74, 85,
94 ; from Abroad, 75, 87
Hiving My First Swarm, 207
Hive, B. Taylor's latest, 369,
377 ; making for beginners,
158; making, 329; adopting
the frame, 128 ; entrances, 519
Hives. Quadruple, 197 ; in
storms, 131 ; disinfecting, 145,
251, 254 ; Re - queening, 160;
Protection for, 199; Size of,
199, 334
Holiday experience, A, 354
Hole's Hinge-plate Self-hiver, 216
Honey as a cure for chilblains,
38, 108 ; Chapped hands, 57 ;
And Confectioners, 59 ; And
wax exports, 452 ; bee, The
217 ; ' bird, The, 457 ; Bonus,
232; by rail, Sending, 440;
bottles, 443; British, 78;
Clouding,279 ; Crop in America,
393 ; in California, 443 ; Can-
dying badly, 457 ; Dialysis, of,
33 ; department at Wirral and
Birkenhead show, 373 ; dew,
309 ; district, Surbiton as a,
306; Eucalyptus, 498; Cana-
ries, 49 ; flow, Preparing for
the, 154, 176 ; flow, Dates of,
179 ; for exhibition, 319 ;
fields, 376 ; for the Lady
Mayoress, 427, 443 ; Granulat-
ing ; 40 ; Imports, 19, 62, 114,
143, 195, 232, 272, 331, 401, 461;
Imports for 1894, 73 ; Judging,
451 ; labels, 113, 313 ; labels
v. Government Seal, 397 ;
Market, 399 ; Preserves, 59 ;
Plant, Chapman, 132, 147;
Plants, 166, 168, 377 ; Quality
of, 390 ; remedies, 68 ; re-
sources, Australian, 397 ; Ri-
pening, 286, 288 ; ripener,
Cottagers', 337 ; River Plate,
274 ; Samples, 380 ; Selling, 8,
405, 432 ; Sales Scheme, 108 ;
Soap, 145 ; tins, 228 ; takes,
Australian, 397 ; Unripe, 400 ;
Vinegar for home use and
exhibition, 313 ; Value of, 380 ;
Weight of, 297
Hot lime-wash for disinfecting,

348
House Apiaries, 471, 485, 492
How bees and wasps form the
cells, 171

INDEX TO VOLUME XXIII.

How should frames hang, 237,

380
How to convert old brood-
combs into foundation, 214
Increasing stocks, 307

,, the circulation of

B.B.J., 453, 405, 475. 513
Incubators, Bees as, 170
Injured queen cast out, 219
Insurance against foul brood, 60
Instruction in bee - keeping,

Russian Method for, 400
Interesting letter, 225
Is bees- wax a drug? 39, 381, 394
„ foul-brood legislation to be

thorough ? 45
„ it a Pipe or a Whistle ? 223
„ there heather-honey in the

south ? 370
Italianising stocks, 2S5

Judging Honey, 451, 503

,, before showing,

431
,, Sections, 300
Judge's awards, 380

Keeping honey liquid, 289

,, comb honey in saleable
form, 449
Knife-heater, a eneap, 491

Lady candidates for Experts'

Certificates, 302
Lady's success in bee-keeping,

174, 50S

,, difficulties with bees, 33S
Lantern Slides, 00
Langdon's Non-swarming device,

137
Large order for Mead, 457
Late Swarms, 291, 380, 390, 433

,, fertilisation of queens, 350

,, Queen rearing, 350

,, drones, 390
•Law of ownership in Swarms,

155, 248
Laying workers, 502, 514
Lazy bees and Swarms, 247
Leaf-cutter bee, 279
Lecture on bees, Rutherglen,

N.B., 171
Legal rights of bee-keepers, 327

„ query— Who pays ? 400,

432
Length of life in bees, 9
Letter from R. F. Holterman,

Sec. Ontario A.E N., 41
Liability of bee-keepers, 445
Ligurian bees dying off, 378
Lincolnshire apiary, A, 493
'• Limnanthes Douglasii," 102
Liskeard honey-fair, 48
Locating hives in a barn, 478
Longevity of drones, 404, 420,

441
Losing swarms, 208
Loss of queen, 339

,, ,, bees, 370
Ludlow, Honey show at, 479
Lysole? What is, 214

Madame Modjeska as a bee-
keeper, 508
Malicious damage, 330
Managing "Wells" hives, 120,
217, 501
,, supered stocks, 247
Mead, Making, 117, 450, 498
,, Pollen for fermenting,

340
„ receipt, 190 years old, 83
Measuring Naphthol Beta, 309
,, pasturage. 314, 324

,, bees' tongues, 440
Meeting at the "Royal" Show,

Darlington, 241, 281
Medicating bee candy, 40, 418
Melting granulated honey in
sections. 468

Melting point of beeswax, 105
Metamorphosis of the bee, 507
Meteorological summary, 19, 59,
109, 149, 207, 238, 280, 337, 367
444
Mice and Honey, 145
Mildewed Pollen in Combs, 14S
Miscellaneous, 170

,, Queries, 445

Misrepresenting the B.B.K. A., 65
Missing Queens, 389
Mixed Bees, 374
Moisture at Hive Entrances, 457
Mouldy Combs in Hives, 128, 130
Moving Bees, 60, 90, 110, 149,
422, 475
„ „ to Clover, 13, 203
Mr. Wells' Report, 8, 40, 515

„ Reply to his Critics,
64, 78
,, ,, and his Critics, 89
Mr. John Huekle, 447, 467
Muddled up Frame Hive, A, 379

Names of Contributors, 498

Naphthaline, Using, 119, 204, 360

Naphthol Beta, 309, 357

Native versus Foreign Bees, 208,
214

New Swarms, When to put
Sections on, 189

Nine Eggs in one Cell, 205

Non - Granulating Californian
Honey, 309

Non - Swarming Arrangements,
155, 234, 245, 255

North Devon Bee-Keepers, 89

Notanda et Inquirenda, 464,
473, 482, 499, 518

Notes by the way, 3, 23, 43, 62,
105, 133, 163, 182, 203, 242, 204,
282, 303, 323, 344, 304, 383, 403,
448, 470, 491, 513

Notes, discordant, 27

,, from under the thatch, 78
,, ., South Devon, 365

'., Hunts, 125
,, „ Wiltshire, 125
,, ,, Herefordshire, 135
,, ,, Staffordshire, 166
,, ,, Shropshire, 17
,, ,, Mid-Derbyshire, 116
,, on what I know and want

to know, 28
,, sundry, 35, 49
,, of a novice, 176

Novelties, 210, 235, 237, 337

Nuclei, 207

Number of bees for winter, 3SS

Observatory hives, 150

Old and new combs, 172, 184

Old books and foul brood, 244

Old combs, Using, 130, 131, 219

Old contributors, 15

Old Cornish honey market, 48

Old granulated honey as bee

food, 410
Old hives, Dealing with, 227
On "Investigations," 387
" On " the Dairy Show, 417
Ordering queens from Italy, 350
Organisation for bee-keepers,

391
Our foreign correspondence, 324
Outside cases to hives, Badly

fitting, 498

Packing swarms for transit, 180
Painting bee-houses, 39 ; hives,

488
Paraffin Adulteration of Wax,

145
Parasites, bee, 389, 429
Pea-flour receptacles, 37, 140
Perforating zinc for "Wells"

dummies, 37, 390
Petroleum for chucking Rubbing,

70
"Points" for Judging Honey,

503

Pollen for fermenting mead, 340
Portable hive for lecturing

purposes, US, 100 ; bee-house

in Sections, 315, 320
Post entries and the "Plot,"

405
Pressing heather honey from old

combs, 50
Preparing bees for the Heather,

442, 479, 495, 519 ; for Winter,

348
Preparation for the Honey flow,

154, 170
Presentation to the Lady

Mayoress, 444, 459
Preserving queens, 340 ; Combed

Sections, 360 ; Combs, 410
Prevention of Swarming, 154,

496, 500 ; better than cure for

Foul brood, 167 ; of drone-
breeding, 495
Preventing Second Swarms, 209 ;

Swarming, 190, 276, 422, 483,

499; Moths in Quilts and

Combs, 329 ; increase, 360
Products of Palestine, 143
Progeny of Italian bees, 508
Prohibitory Clauses in Schedule

of Exhibits, 355
Prolific queen, 187
Protection for hives, 199 ; for

frames, 249
Protectionist schedules, 365, 375

Quadruple hives, 197

Queen-rearing. Late, 350 ; cast-
out, 50, 68, 219, 237, 400;
failing, 340 ; rearing, 200, 273,
293, 399, 478, 501; rearing.
Some questions about, 233,
230 ; Finding the, 244 ; Drone
breeding, 108, 170 ; Securing
fertilisation of, 177 ; Foul
brood in Ovaries of, 434 ; Pro-
lific, 187 ; Cage. The " Brice,"
235 ; Bees deposing, 258 ; Loss
of, 339; bee. A Wandering,
175 ; bee eggs, 393 ; flying in
November, 498

Queen-cells. Dealing with, 317,
350, 397

Queens' piping, 36, 155, 173;
from the egg, 244 ; in damaged

■ stocks. Safety of, 328; Pre-
serving, 340 ; piping in non-
swarmed hives, 338 ; and
Thunder Storms. Hatching,
334 ; Introduction of, 348 ;
Selecting, 379 ; missing, 3S9,
398 ; Old, 399 ; Italian, 400,
508 ; by Post in October, 434 ;
thrown out, 446 ; raised from
eggs or larva?. Are, 494 ; and
second swarms, 279

Queenlessness. Uniting and, 30
,, Detecting robber

bees and, 109

Queenless stocks, 399

Question and Answer, 405

Questions. Various, 08

,, on Examinations.

Some, 163

Questioning Judges' Awards,
358

Queries about Swarming, 21S
„ A Novice's, 379

Quilts. Wet, 123

" Qui s'excuse s'accuse," 427,
452

Quotations, 453, 460, 470, 500, 519

Rainfall in 1S94, 39

Rapid feeding, 383, 395; in

August and September, 379;

feeders, 419
Raw Muscavado sugar for bees,

508
Readers of B. B. J. and foul

brood, 147
Rearing " Al " bees and honey

production, 225
Recruits and foul brood, IS

Recording bee-keepers on Bur-
gess Roll, 50
Reduction in price of sugar, 99
Removing bees, 187, 307, 320,

359, 379
Remedy for bee-stings, 384
Renewing of queens and combs,

327
Repeating replies, 131
Reply to " Ajax," 432
Request to secretaries of County

Associations, 02, 392
Re-queening vicious bees, 99 ;

hives, 100, 238, 370, 358
Retrospect, A, 519
Return letter by " Bee-Kay," 18
Review of Continental bee

journals, 59, 69, 99, 129, 138,

257, 266
Rev. L. L. Langstroth, 435
Rev. Frederick Bastion, 489
Reversing boxes of shallow

frames, 309
Rheumatism. Bee stings for,

179, 247
Ripening honey, 286, 288, 503
River Plate honey, 274
Roofs for bee-houses, 492
Royal Show at Darlington, 161,

181, 241, 252, 261 ; Lancashire

Agricultural Society's, 181, 301;

visit to the bee tent, 242
Royal patronage for beek-keep-

ing, 443
Royalty and bee-keeping, 336
Runaway swarms, 225, 232, 272

Safety of queens in damaged
stock, 328

Sainfoin honey from Minorca,
482 : and buckwheat, 339, 400

Samples, Australian honey for
England, 397

Sanitary laws, Bees and, 215

Saving show honey for 1896, 444

School of Agriculture for Corn-
wall, 371

Schoolmasters and bee-keeping,
26

Sealing-wax and bees-wax, 498

Seasonable advice, -144 ; ques-
tions, 188

Season's results, The, 291

Season in Northants, 245 ; Kent,
248 ; North Wales, 325 ; New
Zealand, 393

Section racks, 504

Sections, Judging, 307 ; for
showing, 276 ; unfinished, 319,

Sections of honey from River
Plate, 176; when to put on,
188 ; extracting, 340 ; setting
on and taking off, 317

Second-hand hives and foul
foul brood, 497

Securing fertilization of queens,
177

Self-hivers, 84, 1S4, 216, 488, 498

Selecting bees for breeding, 433

Selling honey, 405, 432 ; combed
skeps, 400

Sending queens by post in
October, 434 ; honey by rail,
440

Shading hives, 404

Shallow frames for Comb Honey,
14 ; Dimensions of, 30 ; Revers-
ing boxes of, 309 ; for extract-
ing, 35, 55 ; Thick combs in,
35

Sham British honey, 19

Shipments of Australian honey,
397

Show at Blankney, 332 ;
Barry, 322 ; Birkenhead, 373 ;
Biggar, 381 ; Brinton Hall, 373 ;
Bakewell, 352 ; Dumfries, 363 ;
Derby, 372 ; Ooole, 343 ;
Grantham, 302 ; Halifax, 241,
332 ; Hereford, 372 ; Jedburgh,
414 ; Leicester, 321 ; Larkhall,
460 ; Loughboro', 381 ; Ludlow,

INDEX TO VOLUME XXHI.

479 ; Maidenhead, 344 ; Moor-
green, 363; Newbury, 333;
Northampton, 331 ; Newark,
351 ; Preston, 301 ; Shrews-
bury, 341 ; Shepherdswell, 342 ;
Swindon, 351 ; Thirlestane
Castle, 343 ; Tunbridge Wells,
304, 314 ; Taunton, 333 ;
Wotton-under-Bdge, 352; West
Bromwich, 32-2

Size of bees' eggs, 286 ; Sheets of
foundation, 422 ; Colonies in
Spring, 443

Skeps, Ants in, 199

Smoking bees, 90, 155

Soft Candy from an American
point of View, 145

Soluble Phenyle v. Phenol, 10

Something to do at night, 45 ;
like a Ibee plant, 190 ; like a
travelling hee-van, 400

Spiteful bees, 360

Spotted combs, 250

Spring dwindling, 477

Spring and the bees, 157

Stand for skeps, 279

Standard frames, Capacity of,
398

Starting bee Associations, 29 ;
bee-keeping, 213, 410

Stimulating early comb building,
118

Stimulative feeding, 129, 169, 478

Stock found dead, 119

Storm and the bees, 126

Straw skeps for Wintering, 168 ;
Supers for exhibition, 187

Strengthening Stocks, 218 ; our
Associations, 406

Subjugation, 154

Successful Irish Experience, 462

Sugar for bee-food, 340 ; made in
Holland as bee-food, 350 ; for
Candy Making, 508 ; for bees,
Muscovado, 508

Suggestions, 453, 465, 486

Supered Stocks, Managing, 247

Super-clearer, 337

Super foundation in brood nest,
318

Super, Dead bees in, 277 ;
Clearing, 306

Supers, Glass, 170 ; Eees storing

sugar syrup in, 187, 198 ;
Adding, 239

Superficiality, 373

Supply Dealer's Mishap, 234

Surplus Chambers, 267 ; Re-
moving, 291

Suspected comb - foundation,
457 ; foul brood, 197, 380, 434,
478 ; Combs, . 100, 218, 434 ;
Honey, 248

Suspicious sealed cells in combs,
360

Swarms, 231, 237, 242, 291. 350 ;
Losing, 208, 519; Artificial,
208,227, 231, 268; Preventing
second, 209; Sealed syrup
for, 219 ; Early, 225 ; Run-
away, 225, 232; returning to
parent hive, 227 ; Separating,
244 ; Dealing with, 247 ; Giving
Supers to, 250 ; Waiting for,
360 ; Law of Ownership in,
155, 248 ; Late, 386, 433

Swarm (?) in December, 19

Swarmed Stocks, Treating, 276 ;
Unfinished Sections on, 299

Swarming, Prevention of, 154,
276, 422, 483, 496, 500, 506, 519 ;
started, 197 ; and beginners,
219

Systematic apiculture, 37

Syrup, Bees refusing, 149 ; Gal-
vanised vessels for holding,
207 ; in brood chambers, 228

Taking bees to the Heather, 276,
338, 329, 504 ; honey, 279

Technical instruction in bee-
keeping, 186, 205, 206, 371, 476

Temperature at which honey
and wax will melt, 306

Text-book, The need for a, 338,
380

Time unsealed brood may be
exposed, 296 ; for taking driven
bees, 279 ; occupied in deve-
loping a drone, 374

To our Readers, 114 ; find the
queen easily, 155

Trade Marks Act, 98

.transferring, 20, 30, 90, 109, 130,
160, 169, 199, 236, 298, 329, 390,

477 ; for beginners, 50 ; from
Skeps in early spring, 176 ; in
October, 422, 433 ; from cross-
built frames, 298
Trials of a queen bee, 354
Trying time for birds and bees,

74
Two queens in one hive 156

Uniting, 30, 46, 109, 197, 248,
340, 387 ; in spring not always
advisable, 148 ; bees in
"Wells" hives, 185; weak
stocks in Spring, 188

Unpleasant exoerience, An 336

Unfinished Sections on Swarmed
stock, 299

University Extension College
Reading, 363

Urgent appeal to our Lady bee-
keepers, 415

Useful hints, 21, 61, 73, 131, 211,
231, 251, 291, 311, 321, 301,
401

Uses of bees-wax, 377 ; Anger,
223

Uses and Advantages of house
Apiaries, 471

Using old combs, 130, 131, 219 ;
Naphthaline, 199, 204, 360 ;
Suspected Honey, 248 , queen
excluder, 298 ; dark honey for
Candy Making, 299 ; Naphthol
Beta, 309, 357

Utah foul brood law, 121

Vacant Secretaryship B.B.K.A.,

479
Value of honey, 380 ; of a County

label, 391
Ventilators and bee - escapes,

Abbott's brass cones for, 217
Varieties of bees, 319
Vinegar, Honey, 313
Virgil and bees, 357
Vitality of bees' eggs, 239

Waiting for Swarms, 360
Wandering queen bee, 175
Warning, A, 479

Wasps' nest, 60

Wax-moth, 348

Wax, Adulterated, 395 ; Cap-
pings, 482, 491, 500, 503 ;
Colour of, 129 ; Extracting,
30, 67, 138, 169, 482 ; Render-
ing, 20, 35. 156, 165, 360, 464,
491, 500, 503, 519; production,
196 ; Spoiled, 349

Weather report for 1S94, 19

Weather reports for 1895, 69,
109, 138, 189, 226, 297, 357, 407,
455, 491

Weak Stocks perishing, Cause
of, 90 ; uniting, 248

Weight of bees, 443

"Wells" hives, 185, 217, 249,
319, 501 ; pamphlet, Mr., 120 ;
System, 78, 209, 501 ; reply,
Mr., 78; Dummy, 120; Report,

What is foul brood ? 50

What is Lysol ? 214

What to do with weak colonies
in spring, 166

When do young queens begin to
lay ? 297

White-eyed drones, 306

Wilful bee, The, 38

Wilful destruction of bees, 155

Wintering bees, 116. 124, 157 ;
weak stocks, 389 ; Straw skeps
for, 168; driven bees, 379;
driven bees on drone combs,
358 ; bees in a two-light
garden frame,, 422

Winter packing, 362 ; chat about
bees, 97 ; stores for bees, 401

Wiring foundation, 185

Wirral and Birkenhead Agri-
cultural Society, 373

W. B. C. Hive, 99

Wood Covers for Hives, 366

Working for Extracted Honey,

Workmen's Excursion, 316
Word in Season, 118
Workers, Laying, 502
Wot's it all about? 476

Young Bees thrown out, 350
Ye Olden Bee- Keeper, 505

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Mr. John Huckle, 447
Rev. F. Bastian, 489
Rev. L. L. Langstroth, 435
Cottager's Honey Ripener, 337

Self-Hiver, 85
Hole's Self-Hiver, 216
Chapman Honey Plant, 141
"W. B. C. " Cottager's Hive, 216
" Brice " Queen-Cage, 235

Portable Bee-House in sections, j Langstroth Hive, 436

315, 326 | Honey Trophy, 436

Meadows' Super Clearer, 337 Lininanthes Douglas ii, 162

,, Shallow Frame Case, I Braula Cieca, 389

337 I A Curious Parasite, 429

The British

Bee Journal

No. 654. Vol. XXIII. N.S. 262.] JANUARY 3, 1895.

[Published Weekly.

(Miami, Stoticea, &t.

FOUL BROOD™'

AND COMPULSORY POWERS FOR DEALING j
WITH IT.
The special committee appointed
for the purpose of carrying out the j
arrangements in connection with the :
proposed deputation of bee-keepers to
the President of the Board of Agri-
culture, and having reference to the ]
subject of foul brood among bees, held
their first meeting on the 27th ult. at
17, King William-street, W.C., all the j
members of the special committee (in-
eluding the chairman and vice-chairman
of the B.B.K.A.) being present.

There should surely be no need for us j
to impress upon our readers the extreme
importance, to the industry at large, of
the action now being taken by the
parent association in this matter ; nor
is there any reason to suppose that even
the most apathetic member of the craft
will remain a disinterested onlooker
with regard to what is proposed to be
done. Bee-keeping in this country, as
elsewhere, is known to be heavily
weighted and its progress hindered by
the scourge of foul brood, which hangs
over the pursuit like a pall, darkening
its prospects and rendering attempts to
make it a business success vague, un-
certain, and not seldom entirely futile.

The purpose in view is to remove this
bee-pest so far as wise and intelligent
combined action will conduce to that end,
and the gentlemen entrusted with the
task invite the hearty co-operation of all
concerned. More especially is an appeal
made to the executive officers of county
bee associations, who can render in-
valuable assistance by collating and
furnishing such necessary statistics on
the subject of foul brood as are needful
in making out a strong case, should
the President of the Board of Agriculture

consent to receive a deputation of bee-
keepers, as anticipated.

In order to adequately place the
subject before the hon. gentleman, it was
considered by the committee that in-
formation should be forthcoming on the
following points : —

1. The present extent of the bee-keeping
industry, with statistics as to associations.

2. The scope for further development.

3. The advantages to farmers, fruit-growers,
and cottagers likely to result from enlarged
apiculture.

4. The calamitously-destructive nature of
(so-called) " foul brood."

5. The impossibility of dealing with it by
private effort or the action of bee associations.

6. Its present widely-spread prevalence.

7. The strong desire in certain influential
quarters to have the disease scheduled by the
Board of Agriculture.

8. The encouragement to bee-keepers likely
to ensue from the recognition of the industry
by the Board.

9. The need for such recognition in view of
apiculture being now taken up by agricul-
tural colleges, the University Extension
College at Reading, and technical colleges in
various parts of the country ; as well as the
fact that considerable grants of money are
being voted by County Councils for the
teaching of the science and art of bee-
keeping.

The question of foul brood, and the
' desirability of obtaining some means of
effectively coping with it, has to our
i knowledge been before the committee of
i the B.B.K.A. for some years past, but
a former appeal to secretaries of bee
associations for information which would
! strengthen their hands in approaching
j the Government on the subject was, for
various reasons, not very successful.
Since then, however, the matter has be-
come ripe for solution, and less un-
accountable reticence is displayed by
bee-keepers in giving information regard-
ing the disease ; so that better results are
anticipated. Besides, to all who feel the
smallest amount of uncertainty as to the
way in which the matter will be handled

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan.

1895.

we speak of what we know in giving the
assurance that it will be dealt with in an
entirely sympathetic spirit. The injustice
and hardship apparently feared by some
of our correspondents is, therefore, more
imaginary than real. Anyway, no such
pecuniary loss is likely to occur with the
possession of " compulsory powers " as in
the case quoted on page 4, where consent
was voluntarily given to destroy no less
than forty hives of foul-broody bees with
no compensation whatever.

On the other hand, it would be easy
to enlarge upon the many advantages to
bee-keepers which appear to us likely to
accrue from State recognition and — to
some extent — regulation of the industry.
Among other benefits, swarms and stocks
of bees from districts possessing a clean
bill of health would be bought and sold
with mutual confidence, instead of, as at
present, all sorts of guarantees as to
freedom from foul brood being necessary
to entice unwilling purchasers. Then,
as to honey production, the county of
Kent is quoted as capable of easily pro-
ducing a ton of honey in each of its 400
parishes, but not one-fifth of this quantity
is now secured, the prevalence of foul
brood being the chief cause of diminished
production.

Referring to this same question of
honey production and Avhat the capabili-
ties of the United Kingdom are in that
direction, a few figures may be interest-
ing, and so, without picturing either a
very extravagant or fanciful sketch, let us
suppose that in the fifty-two counties of
England and Wales there is an average
of 250 parishes in each, and that every
one of these parishes could produce a
quarter of a ton of honey in an ordinary
season, this would give an aggregate of
3,250 tons ; add to this a modest couple
of thousand tons for Scotland and Ireland,
and we have 5,250 tons of British honey
per annum wherewith to face foreign
" imports." We invite readers who are
fond of figures, to calculate Avhat this
weight of honey would realise in pounds
sterling, at whatever price per lb. they
may choose to value it.

Finally, and in again appealing for
prompt action on the part of secre-
taries and all active members of county
associations, they should not overlook
ihe obvious advantage to the craft — and
to bee associations in an especial degree —

if the industry is recognised by the Board
of Agriculture. It will increase the
interest taken in — and more than pro-
bably add to the pecuniary help given
to — bee-keeping by county councils, and
in numerous ways extend the rapidly-
growing importance just now attached to
the honey-bee, of which industrious little
"rural labourer" the Pall Mall Gazette
said the other day : — " It is strange that
bees should form one of the great sub-
jects of rural controversy in mid-winter,
but in some parishes hardly anything
else is talked of."

Hon. secretaries of county associations
and others willing to furnish information
on foul brood will be supplied with
useful forms for the purpose by post on
application to this office, care of Editors
B.B.J., where information on any of the
points enumerated may also be addressed.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

REPORT ON EXAMINATION FOR SECOND-CLASS
CERTIFICATES.

Our report of the proceedings which took
place at the meeting of the B.B.K.A. com-
mittee held on the 13th ult. being necessarily
somewhat brief, it has been deemed advisable
— considering the importance of the subject —
to print the full text of the examiner's report
on the examinations held in October last, which
reads as follows : —

" The examinations for second-class certifi-
cates were held at various centres on October
26 and 27, 1894. Ten candidates pre-
sented themselves for examination, five of
whom passed and obtained the second-class
certificates. The following are the names of
successful candidates placed in the order of
merit :— W. R. Lilley, P. Scott, H. J. Banks,
P. Scattergood, B. Cock.

" There is a very considerable gap between
the number of marks obtained by the last
successful candidate and the first unsuccessful
one, but the examination on the whole shows
a satisfactory improvement in the knowledge
of the candidates over those who came forward
in 1893.

" The general knowledge as to the practical
part is satisfactory, although in many instances
the answers are very meagre, and in some
portions of questions are not answered at all.
The candidates do not sufficiently study the
questions put to them, and sometimes give a
brief reply to the last part, ignoring the main
points of the question altogether. .

"The section relating to 'foul brood' was
very satisfactorily treated by nearly all the
candidates, and shows a marked improvement
on last year.

Jan. 3, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

"There were only two questions referring to
the ' anatomy of the honey-bee ; ' one in
connection with 'wax and its production,'
the other with 'regard to the^ 'action of the
tongue in collecting honey.' With the excep-
tion of the answers from one of the candidates,
those of the remainder showed a hopeless
ignorance of the subject, although the syllabus
distinctly states that a knowledge of the
anatomy and physiology of the bee is required
of candidates tor second-class certificates.

"Candidates for second-class certificates
should be impressed with the obvious necessity
of a better acquaintance with this branch of
the subject, seeing that they may at any time
be called upon to give instructions in bee-
keeping, and should be able to give proper
answers to any questions which may be put to
them by pupils."

afflmspnta*.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shoivs, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books fpr Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <kc. , must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

%* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[2156.] We are on the eve of a new year,
and before this appears in print 1895 will be
ushered in ; let us welcome the glad new year ;
may it prove a good one for the craft, united
together by mutual interest in the industry
yclept bee-keeping, and may we successfully
grapple with the bete noir of bee-keeping
during the coming year.

For myself, I have studied the subject pretty
fully during the last year or two, and I am
bound to confess that the more I go into it,
the less fear I have of the pest.

Thanks, Mr. Wells, for your report ;
encouraging for a poor season, certainly, but
that lump of wax is a poser ; either your bees
lay on the capping pretty thickly, or you pare
off a good slice on each side of combs when
extracting, or you have some method of renew-
ing your brood-combs every season, and so
getting new ones built out, thus increasing
the size of your cake of wax. I remember in
previous reports you have always had a much
larger proportion of wax than I have ever had.
Please don't think for a moment that we doubt
the verity of your reports, but are bound to
acknowledge that your system is par excellence

for the production of wax, and from the constant
inquiry for wax there is a ready market for
the commodity. If you will kindly give us
full instructions how to produce it you will be
adding another source of income to poor bee-
keepers, and helping us to eke out poor
seasons. As regards comparison between Mr.
Wells' output and result for the year with
other apiarists in his immediate neighbour-
hood, of course they are not in it any
more than a similar comparison between my
own output, or net result, for the year would
be compared with the apiaries around me,
therefore I contend that such comparison
proves nothing, except that "modern bee-
keeping depends on management." I started
some half score bee-keepers with bar-frame
hives, say, ten years ago, and as long
as I took the trouble to attend to
them the bees did well, and produced good
"takes'' of honey, but as soon as I — from
stress of work in my own increasing apiary —
was obliged to give up the management the
apiaries went back, and the owners soon tired
of bee-keeping, and sold out. There is only
three of them that still keep bees. One has
not taken off his first crate of (empty) sections.
One of the other two has not had a pound of
honey this year ; and the remaining one had a
few sections (13) off one hive and one swarm,
and the other hive swarmed only. The crate
of the first one I put on myself, and soon after-
it was on the colony swarmed. This is
situated near my out-apiary, and my best
colony (non-swarming) filled four crates within
300 yards, so that I contend that it is the
management of bees that brings out the results,
and not the one-queen or two-queen colony.

I, as a purveyor of swarms and queens, can-
not expect to compete with other bee-keepers
who produce honey only ; I therefore make it
a point never to strike an average ; I only
know the net result at the end of the season,
and I can add that the balance has been on
the right side every time yet — even in 1888,
when I fed so heavily, I had a small balance to
the good by giving in my time, or enough to
pay for time, at a small wage.

"December 31, 1894. — We have had a change
in the Aveather since above was written. Frost
and a sprinkling of snow give a more season-
able aspect to the landscape on the distant
hills in Hampshire. — W. Woodley, Beedon,
Newbury.

FOUL BROOD

AND COMPULSORY POWERS.

[2157.] After the remarks in last three
lines of the editorial in your issue of December
20 (p. 502), nothing short of a very strong
feeling to the contrary prompts to express, by
your permission, a somewhat different opinion.
This is very forcibly brought home to my
mind by the allusion — in the article quoted
from the Standard — to the conditions attend-
ing swine fever, wherein the writer says " the

1

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 3, 1895.

cottager is already accustomed to the law.'
He is, but because he is, it by no means
follows that the law is a just or a beneficent
one. Nor is the cottager alone in this idea.
It is a law which is equally hard on the
farmer, the country gentleman, and all who
keep pigs. A law which prohibits the sale of
pigs, except they are slaughtered within a few
hours, over whole counties at a time, simply
because ia one particular area of that county a
certain disease has broken out, can hardly be
termed a reasonable law ; and in its ultimate
workings it probably produces evils great as
those it proposes to remedy.

If this ever-increasing interference of the
State into private affairs — restricting as it does
the freedom of the individual at every step —
is applied to apiculture, it will be well for
" the powers that be " to consider carefully,
before invoking State aid, what the ultimate
result will be of calling into play new and
coercive regulations affecting this particular
industry 1 It requires no very great stretch
of imagination to picture further and further
restrictions following a comparatively simple
law on the subject of foul brood.

What has the State done for the industry in
the past 1 Is the State responsible for its
present improved conditions ? for the bar-
frame hive, the extractor, the section ? No.
Individual enterprise, experiment, and labour
have given us these, and the enterprise of the
Editors of this paper has spread the informa-
tion from one end of the land to the other.
Yet, forsooth, when a man spends hours of
patient labour, to say nothing of hard-earned
cash, in perfecting his experiments to combat
a disease to which bees are liable, we are told
by " A Goose " (and a big goose, too, I think)
(on p. 504) that "it is not a favourable
augury when he vends his discovery for private
gain."

This is all part and parcel of our present day
so-called Socialism ; but the point I wish to
urge upon our Editors and all B. J. readers is
this — to earnestly consider before you lend a
hand : to set in motion a machine, whose
momentum and powers when once in motion
are most difficult to arrest, and whose move-
ments may produce in the future (whatever
immediate benefits they confer in special dis-
tricts) far greater hardships and evils to those
interested in apiculture than its most sanguine
supporters contemplate at the present time.—
E. H. Hopkins, (kecnhill, near- Bromsgrove,
December 12, 1894.

[The argument used by our correspondent is
remarkable. It amounts to this : That because,
not the Government, but private enterprise
nnd the influence of the British Bee Journal
have developed apiculture to a wonderful
extent, therefore the Government has no
business to intervene, even when urged by
influential bee-keepers who have themselves
suffered, and have known the ravages and
losses connected with foul brood. We are,

however, desirous that our columns may be
used for free and full discussion of the subject,
but — in estimating the value of arguments
pro and con. — it will be well to distinguish
between writers who are, or have been, them-
selves sufferers from the evils it is sought to
remedy, and those who argue from the vantage
ground of keeping their bees in non-infected
districts, seeing that the opinions of the latter
would probably undergo a complete change if
a foul-broody apiary were discovered in near
proximity to their own. — Eds.]

[2158.] It was with pleasure I read your
" Editorial " notes, especially those relating
to the foul brood pest and compulsory powers.
With Mr. Woodley I believe that, to be satis-
factory, full compensation should be given
when foul brood inspectors order total destruc-
tion, and this especially so when it is for the
public good. Mr. Woodley makes mention of
swine fever. To my mind, the compensation
paid to owners is quite inadequate, and I
know has been the cause of poor people con-
cealing the disease, with the hope of cure,
rather than make known to the authorities the
disease with which, perhaps, only one solitary
pig was infected. I fear the same will result
with foul brood, unless satisfactory compensa-
tion is offered.

A case of foul brood occurred a few years
ago in an apiary near me, and, after several
attempts to cure, on the advice of an expert
the whole lot (forty hives) were committed to
the flames, the bee-keeper consenting to the
above course when the seriousness of infecting
the whole distiict was shown to him ; the loss,
taking the figures of the bee-keeper himself,
being equal to £40 sterling. No one will
deny that compensation would have been a
great help in this case, as the man has not
been able to commence bee-keeping again.

Meeting with an expert in August, I had a
conversation with him with reference to foul
brood, and he said he did not fear it in the
least, in fact, he had introduced foul-broody
combs into healthy hives for the purpose of
experimenting ; and that with a mixture, of
American invention, he not only cured the
bees affected, but prevented the others
taking it. Perhaps you have heard of this
American mixture, and can make known the
remedy, and its proper uses ?

No doubt if foul brood is brought under the
Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, the "in-
spectors" will have an arduous task before
them, and meet with some strong opposition
from those obstinate and pigheaded ones re-
ferred to by Mr. Percy Sharp [2157, p. 497.]
Misgivings have certainly arisen with regard
to the powers inspectors will have given them.
One bee-keeper, a fortnight ago, told me he
would take care no man came and pulled his
hives about, or, if he did, he, the bee-keeper,
would not be answerable for the consequences.
I referred him to your notes, and, after perus-
ing, he confessed the idea was all right, but

Jan. 3, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

before the inspection took place he should
require some little notice.

That something should be done to arre3t the
disease is apparent to almost every one,
especially when its terribly infectious character
is known.

I have only heard of one case of foul brood
in this district during the past season, and
shall be glad if I hear nothing further.

Since writing the above my attention has
been called to an article in the Standard of
December 15, under the title of "A Bee-
keeper's Grievance,'' a perusal of which should
infuse greater activity into all who have the
interests of bee-keeping at heart ; and also en-
courage those who have the appointment of
the deputation, who will bring the question of
foul brood before the Board of Agriculture, to
persist in their good work until what we say
should be law has become a recognised fact.
— Wilfred Hardie, Bromsgrove, December 19.

[It is difficult to understand what is meant
by the "full compensation" advocated by our
correspondent. But whatever is done in that
direction, by way of affording compensation for
the destruction of diseased bees, it would be
absurd to suppose that foul broody stocks can
be regarded as of much value. Conse-
quently, we cannot see where the term " full
compensation" applies. Surely not because
the act of destruction tends to " the public
good," as stated. Referring to the "Expert,"
who " does not fear foul- brood in the least "
because of his " American mixture " and the
wonderful powers attributed to it ; but for
remembering those "Wooden nutmegs " manu-
factured somewhere down east in U.S.A., we
should have been glad to be furnished with the
name of the expert (?) mentioned. As it is,
and in view of the fact that no such
"mixture" is known anything of by bee-
keepers in America, we must be pardoned for
looking upon the statement regarding it as so
much rubbish. Our readers may rely on it
that so soon as anything new and really
valuable for curing foul brood appears in any
bee journal in the world, we might say, they
will be promptly informed of it. — Eds.]

[2159.] As about twenty of my stocks were
infected with foul brood last season, the dis-
cussion now going on especially interests me,
as it (f. b.) may break out again next spring.

By Mr. Wells' letter it is evident that
Kent is infected, and I was given to under-
stand when at Cambridge that that county
was also ; whilst there are over a hundred
hives here of which I have knowledge. The
strength of our arch-foe is equal to its preva-
lence.

The desirability or otherwise of compulsion
all depends on what is going to be done, and
what compensation is to be given.

In my opinion, when a person has a stock
infected — if we come to compulsion — he should
be made to inform the f. b. inspector of his

district at once, and the latter should imme-
diately destroy both bees and combs, &c, and
have the hive disinfected in his presence. The
bee-keeper should then have two-thirds value
of the bees, combs, and frame 3. This would
be better than giving full value, for if the latter
be given persons may not be so careful as they
ought ; beside?, they ought to bear a little of
their own misfortune.

Unless compensation is given to this extent
you cannot expect owners of larger apiaries to
destroy them. If by immediately destroying
an infected stock it puts an'end to the disease,
the case might be settled differently, but, as it
is, no sooner is the conclusion arrived at that
you have by stringent means eradicited the
disease, than it breaks out again. You may
destroy bees and combs until you have none
left, and then, if a fresh start be made, what
guarantee have you that the disease will not
return ? It must also be borne in mind that a
diseased stock is not necessarily one that will
yield no proh't the current year.

Another thing to be considered is the
method of investigation employed by the
inspector, if such be appointed. There are
bee-keepers who will not allow an expert (who
is always going from one apiary to another) to
inspect their hives. I have good reason to
believe that I carried the spores by which my
apiary was infected a mile in my clothes, and
if this is possible the inspectors will be one
means by which the disease may be spread.

It is surprising that you have so compara-
tively few communications on this subject.
There are plenty whose opinion would be
welcomed if they would give rt.

As regards remedies, I rind it is possible to
raise healthy brood in a badly -infected hive.
The brood raised from a newly-mated queen
seem to resist the disease better than that
from others. Hybrids also resist the disease
much better than natives. I do not think it
wise to let some of the statements made in the
Standard pass without comment, viz , the
shorthorn ; the queen ; cottager's hive as im-
portant as his pig ; the poor bee-keeper who
makes from £5 to £10 off two or three hives ;
£10 from one hive. A lie has never yet
helped on a man nor a cause, moreover, a good
cause has no need of sucn.

If hard-working men get an output of honey
as stated (I will take the maximum of 60 lb.),
if they have only one hive each will be 30 lb.
per hive. It is imputed, if not stated directly,
that a hive may bring in £10. Of course, in
both cases an average is quoted. Accordingly,
by the writer's argument, honey is like the
much-advertised pills " worth a guinea a pot."
— Beeswax, Beds, December 24.

MY BEE-KEEPING IN 1894.

SOME NEED FOR " COMPULSORY TOWERS."

[2160.] No echo having appeared from
Somerset in your pages, I thought, ere
1894 passed away, I would send a few

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 3, 189,r

lines. The season at its opening was very
promising, but unfortunately it did not last
long, and we had a long spell of wet weather,
in consequence many stocks were reduced to
starvation point ; fortunately I had a few
shallow frames of honey left from 1893, these
I uncapped and gave one to each stock, which
carried them through. I put them on top, and
the bees had just cleared out the honey and
made all acceptable, when the fine weather
began, and I was soon repaid for this frame of
honey. Swarms at tins time began to be
general, one of my " Wells " hives swarmed
twice ; the first time two swarms came off, one
much larger than the other, so after taking out
six frames with queen cells on them, for nuclei,
the bees were returned. One side swarmed
again, about ten days after, and were again
put back. From this hive I had about seventy
pounds extracted honey and ten sections. I
also made six nuclei with the six frames taken
away, from which the queens all hatched and
were safely mated. The fine weather con-
tinued about three weeks, and this was the
only honey flow we had, very little being
gathered, and scarcely any stored in surplus
chambers after that time. My returns were
less than in 1893, when I had fifteen hundred-
weight, but only about twelve hundredweight
this time, with an increase of twelve stocks.
Taking the season through, however, I must
not complain, for in our county of Somerset as
a whole, the honey return is much below last
year. There was a splendid show of bloom on
the heather, and for a few days the coveted
nectar was coming in, but the cold nights and
cloudy days caused very little to be carried
into surplus chambers, none of the stocks at
the heather, however, wanted feeding. I am
afraid that not a few stocks will have already
succumbed to starvation, for many swarms
in skeps which I examined in my travels,
could not possibly live through the winter ; I
begged the owners to supply them with food,
but am sure that in some cases it has not
been done. It is a pity some punish-
ment cannot be meted out to those who
keep bees and let them starve for want
of food, just as is done to those who
keep other living animals only to starve them.
Most animals find means of letting their
owner know when hunger pinches, but the
poor bees cluster together lor warmth, and
those most exposed drop off dead one by one
to the bottom of the hive in quite pitiful
silence. I am very pleased to see there is to
be a deputation to Mr. Gardener in reference
to foul brood, as it appears to be on the
increase in Somerset and Gloucester. It broke
out in one of my hives for the first time this
season, and, although a strong stock, I de-
stroyed it to prevent the risk of contagion in
my own and my neighbours' hives. One bee-
keeper I know has lost .£50 from the pest,
and, if something is not done, I fear it will be
good-bve to all surplus honey. There is a
tendency among bee-keepers to hide the fact

of their bees being diseased, which ought not
to be. We all ought, in common honesty to
each other, do all we can to exterminate it.
That there is money in bee-keeping, if worked
on the right principle, I am certain, once we
can overcome this pest of foul brood ; but
with this, as with all other enterprises, the one
who plods on steadily, and uses energy and
common-sense, will always be the most suc-
cessful. Being desirous of having the benefit
of what is new and good, I have tried wide-
frames and super-clearers, and think both
have come to stay. Wide-frames, both to the
bee and its keeper, must be a saving of labour,
as the bees have only to seal two combs now
where they had to seal three before, the bee-
keeper reaping the same advantage. Anything
that reduces labour must be a step in the
right direction. I gather from the Journal
that some bee-keepers have a difficulty in
disposing of their honey. Perhaps they do
not " push it " in a business sense, or do not
put it up in good marketable form. Anyway,
I find no difficulty in retailing over half a ton
every season at one shilling per 1-lb. bottle.
I always keep extracted honey in stock, put
up in screw-capped bottles. Though costing
a little more, I find the public prefer them.

I find a capital advertisement in giving all
my customers in my ordinary business outside
bee-keeping a bottle of honey at this festive
season, and often get application for more
during the year. Yesterday I had an order
from a gentleman for 50 1-lb. jars for dis-
tribution among his employes as a little
Christmas gift. Each jar was tied up with a
Christmas card or small book, and had the
name of recipient placed on it ready for
handing round. In these times of strikes and
strife, other employers might follow suit with
all-round advantage.

How time flies ! Memory carries me back
to the days when, at the age of ten, I found
my first swarm of bees in my father's
employer's orchard in Devonshire. I have
watched for hours at a time the busy creatures
passing to and from the hive loaded with
pollen, which then I thought to be honey,
and even now I remember with a shudder the
" taking " of the poor bees by my father by the
old method of suffocation — the hole dug, a
match applied, the hive lifted from its stand
and set over the burnins sulphur, then the
horrid whiz ! and all was over. To me as a
boy this was cruel in the extreme, and although
passionately fond of bee-keeping, this way of
getting the honey was the greatest drawback
of all. Happily, wiser and better methods
have dawned on the bee-keeping world, for
which let us heartily thank former pioneers of
the craft, some of whom have passed away
since the dawn of 1894. But " their works do
follow them." May this be said of some of us
remaining. I end this long epistle by wishing
all the craft — not forgetting our Editors— a
Happy New Year, with a prosperous honey
season for 1895. — J. Martin, Bedminster.

Jan. 3, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

BUYING BEES FROM INFECTED
DISTRICTS.

[2161.] In reference to foul brood — a
person hailing from Lincolnshire is advertising
for "bees in straw skeps cheap," in our local
paper. There is foul brood in the district,
and yet if he can get them cheap— well, he
will, and repent ever after. That is the way
to ruin his own and all apiaries near at hand.
I have striven to warn all concerned, but as
other correspondents witness, so I now testify,
people are not willing to have their hives
interfered with. Burning is my remedy. It
is time the County Councils had power to
interfere. I hope they soon will.

There is just one bit of advice I would
give to amateur bee-keepers, and that is,
cease buying driven bees, unless you have a
written guarantee of good health. The most
expert cannot always safely say a hive is clean.
It may have disease germs in and you cannot
detect it. Therefore be on the safe side.

Until there was so much queen-buying, and
such a demand for driven bees, one very rarely
heard of a foul-broody hive. Now it 's all
round, encroaching upon our own ground, and
we cannot keep it out. — Geo. Stocks.

BUYING BEES.
[2162.] I am a little surprised at Mr.
Woodley 's slightly discordant note on the foul-
brood question in your issue of December 13
(p. 492), though I can quite understand
how those who have never had their apiaries
devastated by the pest are inclined to mini-
mise the mischief, or think their less fortu-
nate fellow bee-keepers are displaying a zeal
that is not according to knowledge (I say it is
according to knowledge, and therefore -wise).
Mr. Woodley would have appreciated the
question better had he been at a meeting the
other day at which I was present, when it was
decided to start a model apiary in a certain
part of the country. One of the company pre-
sent said, " I strongly advise getting your bees

from ." Why did he " strongly

advise " this ? Because was clear of

the pest. Perhaps Mr. Woodley does not
know that several friends very properly refuse
to buy stocks from here. Now I tell him
this, perhaps he can guess the reason— WHY.

FOUL-BROOD REMEDIES.
[2163.] Referring to Mr. Blow's adveitised
remedy for foul brood, I wonder if anybody
has made any attempt to ascertain what is the
nature of it ? When we had some discussion
at the B.B.K.A. conversazione some time ago
about bromine as a remedy, you may remem-
ber that my special point was that, if we want
a real cure for the disease, we must not content
ourselves with remedies which profess to do no
more than arrest the development of the
bacillus. I admitted the difficulty of applying

a remedy sufficiently strong, but maintained
that if a real cure was attempted we must
attack the spores. Mr. Blow thereupon said
(see B.B.J., June 1, 1893, " The remedies at
present in use were cures." He went on to
say that if those strong remedies were made
use of which aimed at destruction of the
spores, 99 per cent, of the bees would be
killed, "but if the simple methods were
resorted to in the bacillus stage, that was all

THAT WAS NECESSARY ! "

After this I was naturally rather amused to
find him advertising in the B.B.J, a new cure
warranted to " destroy the spores, and, at the
same time, to be harmless to the bees.'5

There is another point about the advertise-
ment which also amused me. I had, as you
know, published the results of ray experi-
ments, which, at any rate, proved two
things, viz., that bromine toould destroy
the spores, and could be applied without
injury to the bees (see letter from me, B.B.J.,
June" 15, 1893). Nevertheless, Mr. B. adver-
tises " the first remedy that would destroy the
spores," &c. As my bromine was first in the
field, this is scarcely correct 1 At any rate I
made no secret of the agent I employed.

You may, perhaps, think me behind the times
to talk of curing now, when the air is so full
of "compulsory legislation." I can assure
you that I consider the latter most necessary
and urgent. At the same time I feel that,
whether we get this or not, there is as much
necessity as ever for a really effectual cure for
those numerous cases where the disease is de-
tected in the initial stage, — I mean where the
stock is but slightly affected, and no spores are
present. — Gerard W. Bancks, December 17.

COMPULSORY POWERS.

A SUGGESTION.

[2164.] Might I offer the following sugges-
tion for what it is worth ? —

That the secretaries or experts of the various
county associations, or old resident bee-keepers
where there are no county associations, should
canvass their districts and obtain signatures of
as many of the bee-keeping fraternity as are
in favour of the measure becoming law, these
signatures to go towards a monster petition,
which would probably influence a fair hearing
for the deputation.

When about the signatures, there might also
be listed the names, addresses, and number of
existing stocks of the various bee-keepers ;
and I venture to think that, printed and
published in directory-form, this would be a
valuable connecting-link, a helpful aid to
many beginners, who often cannot get prac-
tical assistance nor immediate advice when in
a difficulty ; and the sale would most probably
be remunerative to the B.B.K.A. It could
not comprise a bulky volume, and, with ad-
vertisements procurable from bee - appliance

8

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 3, 1895.

dealers and others, the cost of production
would be considerably lightened.

By your inviting reports from bee-keepers
generally, the work of canvassing would be
reduced to a minimum, and many could Bien
the petition at your office. — Edwin H.
Wilson.

[Referring to the above, we have already
seen a form of agreement entered into by
nearly every bee-keeper in a certain district,
wherein the signatories consent to the inspec-
tion of their hives by a competent recognised
expert, and agree to the destruction of any
that may be affected with foul brood. We
hope to publish the full text of the document
shortly.— Eds.]

MY BEE RETURNS FOR '94.
[2165.] You may remember my letter (1667,
p. 498) in your issue of December 14, 1893,
headed " Does Bee-keeping Pay ? " and as this
question can only be fairly decided by report-
ing each year, I send the following account for
'94 : — I began the season with seven stocks,
all of them in better condition than I have
ever had them before ; but the weather was so
bad that drone-killing and casting out of
brood was carried on for some time, as I was
unable to feed through surplus chambers
being on. I did give a little dry sugar below,
but don't think there was 1 lb. of honey in
the combs of the whole seven stocks for two or
three weeks. As the season advanced we had
intervals in which the bees made a little more,
but it was altogether a bad time here for bees.
Several stocks I drove for skeppists had
scarcely honey to the value of the old combs
for wax. My bees gave a little over H cwt.,
which, with an increase of two stocks and one
nucleus (which latter I have indoors), I am
about £8 in pocket for the spare time bestowed
on them, as I have sold bees and other things
to nearly pay expenses. — M. Wood, Swindon,
December 19.

MR. WELLS' REPORT.

[2166.] In reply to your footnote to my
letter (2139, p. 504) I have to apologise for
not reading the whole of Mr. Wells' commu-
nication, which I ought to have done, to the
very end. When arriving at that part which
gives an account of what other hives had done
in his neighbourhood, I thought " this won't
do at all ; " he is comparing hives and leaving
out of account the owners — as if the bee-
keeper had no part or lot in general results.
Had I seen the name of Mr. John M. Booker
(for instance) mentioned, who is I believe, a
neighbour in a bee-keeping sense, I would have
given attention to the reasoning, as it was, I
regret to say I stopped at the figures.

As regards the so-called u slip of the pen,''
we will not argue that, Messrs. Editors, for
whether 6s. 3d. is too much in some cases to

allow for feeding, I am quite sure if the sixteen
hives were denuded of honey in August the
sum of 3s. is too little to supply sealed food
until the following May ; but now this part of
the subject has become a dead donkey we will
cease thrashing it.

I have referred to the copy of "Bee-keepers'
Guide Book,'' by Thos. W. Cowan, which I have
in my possession — it is dated Nov., 1881 — and
I can find no reference whatever to the subject
of creolyne, alias soluble phenyle, on pages
151 and 165, as described by you, nor have I
ever seen Izal referred to as a better remedy
for foul brood than phenol — which, by the
way, I always understood was carbolic acid —
and, to crown my ignorance, I do not know
even what " Izal " is. I only know by repute
that it is non-poisonous, and a more powerful
destroyer of microbes than carbolic ; and any
kind of practical experience tending to
establish this fact is, to my mind, of value to
bee-keepers, hence my excuse for writing
about it. — Thos. P. Ward, Church House,
Highgate, December 21.

[In referring to " Guide-Book," pp. 150 and
165, we had in mind the last edition, whereas
it appears from the above that our corre-
spondent's copy is the first edition, published
thirteen years ago. As time goes on the book
is revised and brought up to date, and it is
now several years since phenyle was first
mentioned, and it has appeared in all the later
editions. We may here add that " Creolin,"
" Liquor Antisepticus," " Izal,'' " Lysol,"
" Solveol," &c, are analogous, and only other
names for the same nostrums, just as phenol,
phenic acid, hydrate of phenyl, &c, are o:her
names for carbolic acid. — Eds.]

COUNTY ASSOCIATION LABELS

AND SELLING HONEY.

[2167.] I was very sorry to read, 2123,
page 482, that " A Working Bee '' had been
"done'' by a bottle having upon it an as-
sociation label. On the other hand, it is a
pleasing fact to record that in this neighbour-
hood such a label proved to be a strong
recommendation. A friend of mine — a mem-
ber of the Worcestershire B.K.A. — shows in
his window a few bottles of honey bearing the
association label. Recently a lady called
and ordered two one-pound bottles, remarking,
" The other day my brother, a few miles from
here, bought a bottle of honey with a similar
label upon it, and he remarked that it was the
finest honey he had ever tasted, and recom-
mended me when buying honey to be sure I
got only association honey." This lady was
doubtless satisfied with her purchase, for she
bought several more pounds, and has since
recommended the "association honey,'' as she
calls it, to several of her friends. The above
shows how very careful we should be to put

Jan. 3, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

upon the market only first-rate honey, for
had the lady's brother been " taken in," our
association label would have been in bad
repute. A pleased and satisfied purchaser is
the best advertisement. — Percy Leigh, Bee
Mount, Worcestershire, December 17.

BEES IN A STORM.

LENGTH OF LIFE IN BEES.

[2168.] A severe storm of wind prevailed
here on December 21, which continued during
the whole night, doing great damage in all
directions. 1 am afraid it has destroyed a lot
of bees. Five of my hives were blown over,
and some of the combs and bees scattered all
over the ground. We set the hives up again
as soon as possible, but some of the combs
were broken down and in a great mess, some of
the frames standing up entirely out of their
places. I must leave any attempt to straighten
up properly until we get a warm day. At
one hive the bees keep up a great noise about
the entrance, and I guess it has lost its
queen.

Is it possible that bees will live over a year ?
I have some Italians which seem to have done
so, judging by the following facts : — I had a
stock in 1893 for which I bought an Italian
queen in the month of July. She was intro-
duced all right, but on examining the hive a
few days afterwards I found queen-cells built,
making it plain the queen was gone. About a
week later one of my other stocks swarmed,
and on examining the combs of the swarmed
hive we were astonished to find them one
mass of brood. Not long afterwards Italian
bees began to appear about the entrance. In
order to solve the mystery of Italian bees
showing themselves, the hive was again
examined to see if it could be possible that
the Italian queen was still alive and had got
into that stock by some means. However, we
found no eggs, though we did find a young
black queen which had evidently hatched out
after the swarm left. This being so, I can
only suppose that the Italian queen must, by
some means, have entered that stock when the
other old one was up in the supers above brood
nest, and being kindly received by the bees,
both queens had been laying in the same hive
for several days previous to the swarm issuing,
when both queens went out along with the
swarm.

Anyway, when the hive into which we put
the swarm was examined a few weeks later, a
black queen was found, and this makes me
pretty certain that the Italian queen was
killed at that time. Therefore, if my theory
be correct, the bees hatched from eggs laid by
that same Italian queen in July, 1893, were,
to my knowledge, still alive in the same hive
in July, 1894. In fact, a few were still there
when the bees were packed a few months ago
for winter. — S. Crawford, Lisnacloon, co.
Tyrone, December 24, 1894.

[It is so entirely contrary to all experience
for bees hatched from eggs laid in July, '93,
to be alive at nearly the close of '94, that we
can only suppose our correspondent is misled
by the Italian queen having left drone brood
behind her, and that her drone offspring, by
mating with some of the black queens in his
apiary, have so perpetuated the yellow-banded
bees. —Eds.]

FINDING THE QUEEN.

Some Hints to Beginners.

{Concluded from p. 512.)

It need hardly be mentioned that the first
step for the beginner is to make himself well
acquainted with the appearance of a queen.
Her representation in a good guide-book will be
a help. Best of tutors is an observatory hive.
If no friend possesses one, try and attend one
or two bee-shows. Search the frames till she
be found. Leave her, walk round the tent,
and at it again. There is no better practice.

Take up all bee jobs that may come in your
way, and while doing them have an eye for the
queen. In big operations, such as cleaning
out a neglected hive, it is well to secure her
under a pipe cover at the outset if possible.
You may then go to work without fear, and
the examination of a thoroughly neglected
hive, with combs at all angles, bridges of
propolis, the dirt of generations of earwigs
and wax moths, whose grubs are very likely
making rapid tracks along the floor-board,
will be a splendid object-lesson on the demerits
of a let-alone policy in bee-keeping.

Again, be early if you can when a swarm
comes off, and always look out for the queen.
It is really very rarely that she cannot be seen
amongst her clustering children, though it is
not well for the novice to grab at her royal
person when he gets but a glimpse of her
diving inwards into the swarm. Yet to be
able to catch her on the cluster will often save
a deal of trouble ; as in the case of the swarm
being round a post, and, therefore, not easily
to be dislodged. If, before placing the skep on
the top of the post, the queen be caged on to
the bung which should fit the feed-hole, the
swarm may be left to itself with confidence.
The bees will soon make their way to her. Or
again, if the queen is believed to be an old
one, and her appearance on capture be con-
firmatory, it may be best to destroy her at
once, when the swarm will soon go home
again.

Let, then, the young bee-keeper go forward
with confidence and energy, searching for the
queen, till he can find her with ease. He is
sure to succeed if he has the enthusiasm of a
real beekeeper. Only beware of chilled brood.
The spores of foul brood are probably all about
us. Introduced into our hives too in various
ways, perhaps in a sheet of foundation, or in
the honey which was mingled with the cake of
candy ; brought in by errant drones, or by

10

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 3, 1895.

workers fresh from the rifling of an infected
hive ; wafted in, maybe, by the fanners at the
doorway — for the air, doubtless, contains the
dried spores of our dread enemy, the bacillus
alvei, as it does the minute germs of diseases
which assail ourselves. They merely await a
suitable bed for germination, and such pre-
eminently are the cells of decomposing chilled
brood. And spores are never in a hurry ; they
can afford to wait a year or two. How comes
the mildew on our favourite shooting boots 1
Whence the microscopic fungus on the family
paste-pot in the neglected cupboard ? By
spontaneous generation ? Not so. The little
aeronauts have bided their time, and sailed in
through the key-hole, and in like manner,
alas ! may the spores of the bee-keepers' foe
enter unchallenged through the hive doorway.
To sum up, then, 0 would-be brother of the
craft, be bold and wary. Forget not the
timely naphthaline. Con well the " Guide
Book.'' Study the columns of the B. B. J.,
and forbear to vex the souls of our kindly
editors with needless questions. To whom, and
to all honest bee-keepers, above all to the be-
ginners whom we have tried to encourage, the
best wishes of the season from the — South
Devon Enthusiast, December 18.

BEE-KEEPING IN ALSACE.

This year (1894) became for bees worse and
worse, and in the autumn the hives in the
plains were in many cases in a starving con-
dition. In all my lectures and in the papers I
strongly urged bee-keepers to resort to copious
feeding, but, notwithstanding all the advice
and the efforts made, there always remain
negligent bee-keepers who do not take the
trouble to follow such advice when it is a
matter of spending a trifle in food. The
result was that a large number of hives
perished, even in the autumn before winter
commenced.

I put thirty hives into winter quarters,
which are all in good condition. The months
of November and December were very mild
with us, and the bees were able to take
frequent flights ; even to-day the bees from
one of my hives have been trying to fly out,
notwithstanding that the flight boards are
raised so as to prevent the rays of the sun
from striking directly on the entrance. Yester-
day we had our first fall of snow, which the
sun is melting to-day.

Next year we are going to have a large
exposition of agriculture, forestry, horticul-
ture, and bee-keeping in Strassburg, which
will extend from May to October. Great
preparations are already made, and large
halls are being constructed behind the
orangery.

This would be a good opportunity for you
Mr. Editor to come to Alsace. Our general
Assembly will take place in August, and I can
promise you a hearty welcome, — J. Dbnnler,
EivMim, December 29, 1894,

^nx'm ni %ty\m.

[1224.] Soluble Phenyle v. Phenol— I do
not quite understand the directions given on
p. 165 of the Guide Book for making the
phenyle solution : —

No. 9. Soluble phenyle ... | teaspoonful.
Water 1 quart.

No. 10. Soluble phenyle ... 2 teaspoonsful.

Water 1 quart.

Is this " ioluble phenyle " No. 7 or No. 8, or
is it the crystals ? 1 should feel very much
obliged if you could answer me this through
your useful little paper. With good wishes
for a prosperous new year. — C. F. Applebee,
Bexley Heath.

Keply. — The instructions in " Guide Book "
are quite correct. Nos. 9, 10, and 11 refer to
soluble phenyle, and have nothing to do with
Nos. 7 and 8, which refer to phenol, or carbolic
acid, an entirely different substance, as you
will notice on reference to p. 150. Soluble
plienyle is a liquid forming an emulsion with
water, if care is taken that the water is poured
on to the phenyle as described in the note
following the recipes.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

J. King (Colchester). — Bees were received,
smashed out of shape and mixed up in post.
They seem to be the ordinary brown bee.
On the abdomen of one there is a trace of
yellow band, indicating a slight mixture of
Ligurian, or other yellow- banded race ; but
whether the bee belongs to No. 1 or No. 2
we cannot say, as the box was broken, and
bees all together.

E. H. Hopkins (Bromsgrove) sends a cutting
from a recent issue of the Globe, which reads
as follows : — " An ardent lover of natural
history himself, the Duke of Argyll is en-
couraging its study among his people at
Inverary, where the well-known agriculturist,
Miss Baden-Powell, gave an admirable ad-
dress on " Instinct in Honey Bees." Whether
bees can speak or communicate their ideas
has been much argued by Sir John Lubbock
and others, who, however, have scarcely had
the advantages Miss Baden-Powell has in
her own beautiful invention for keeping bees
under observation."

Keferring to the " beautiful invention "
named above, our correspondent inquires —
" Are you acquainted with this ? " Not
knowing what the " invention " is we cannot
say, but do not think we shall be far wrong
in judging it to be an ordinary observatory
hive.

Jan. 10, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

11

FOUL-BROOD LEGISLATION.

FULL TEXT OF THE CANADIAN FOUL-
BROOD A< IT.

In view of the large amount of interest
now being taken in the question of
endeavouring to obtain legal powers for
the suppression of foul brood, it will be
useful to make our readers acquainted
with what is, we suppose, the only Act
of Parliament which has been framed and
passed entirely for that purpose — viz.,
the Canadian Foul-Brood Act.

A perusal of the text as printed below
will make plain that several of the clauses
are not suited for adoption in these
islands, but from the full text showing
the law as it now stands in Canada some
help will no doubt be got, useful in
shaping the views of bee-keepers in the
Mother Country on the subject.

The Act reads as follows : —
AN ACT FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF
FOUL BROOD AMONG BEES.

Her Majesty, by, and with the advice arid
consent of the Legislative Assembly of the
Province of Ontario, enacts as follows : —

1. (1) The Ontario Bee-keepers' Association
shall, at each annual meeting, or the executive
committee of the said association shall, if in
the interval between two annual meetings the
occasion should arise, appoint an inspector of
apiaries and a sub-inspector for the Province
of Ontario, and the said inspector and sub-
inspector shall be elected by the vote of the
majority of the members of said association
present at the annual meeting, or the vote of
the majority of the members of said executive
committee, as the case may be.

(2). The election and appointment of the
said inspector and sub-inspector, or their
removal from office, as hereinafter mentioned,
shall be subject to the approval of the
Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

(3). The said sub-inspector may, when so
directed, as hereinafter provided, perform all
the duties and exercise all the powers in this
Act directed to be performed or exercised by
the inspector, and the provisions of this Act
relating to the inspector shall be deemed to
apply to and include the said sub-inspector.

2. The said inspector and sub-inspector
shall hold office for one year from the date of
the annual meeting at which they were ap-
pointed, or if they shall have been appointed
by said executive committee, then until the
next annual meeting after such appointment,
and shall be eligible for re-election, but the
said inspector or sub-inspector may at any
time, subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-

Governor in Council, be removed from office
by said executive committee, for neglect of
duty or other sufficient cause, and in case of
such removal the said executive committee
shall without delay appoint a successor.

3. The said inspector shall, whenever so
directed by the President of the Ontario Bee-
keepers' Association, visit without unnecessary
delay any locality in the Province of Ontario
and there examine any apiary or apiaries to
which the said president may direct him, and
ascertain whether or not the disease known as
" foul brood " exists in such apiary or apiaries,
and whenever the said inspector shall be satis-
fied of the existence of foul brood in its
virulent or malignant type, it shall be the
duty of the inspector to order all colonies so
affected, together with the hives occupied by
them, and the contents of such hives and
tainted appurtenances to be immediately
destroyed by fire under the personal direction
and superintendence of the said inspector, and
after inspecting infected hives or fixtures or
handling diseased bees the inspector shall,
before leaving the premises, or proceeding
to any other apiary, thoroughly disinfect
his own person and clothing, and shall
see that any assistant or assistants with him
have also thoroughly disinfected their persons
and clothing ; provided, that where the in-
spector, who shall be the sole judge thereof,
shall be satisfied that the disease exists, but
only in milder types and in its incipient stages,
and is being or maybe treated successfully and
the inspector has reason to believe that it may
be entirely cured, then the inspector may, in
his discretion, omit to destroy, or order the
destruction of the colonies and hives in which
the disease exists.

4. The inspector shall have full power in
his discretion to order any owner or possessor
of bees dwelling in box-hives (being mere
boxes without frames) to transfer such bees to
movable-frame hives within a specified time,
and in default of such transfer, the inspector
may destroy, or order the destruction of, such
box-hives and the bees dwelling therein.

5. Should the owner or possessor of diseased
colonies of bees or any infected appliances for
bee-keeping, knowingly sell, or barter, or give
away such diseased colonies or infected appli-
ances, he shall, on conviction before any justice
of the peace, be liable to a fine of not less than
50 dols. or more than 100 dols., or to imprison-
ment for any term not exceeding two months.

6. Should any person whose bees have been
destroyed or treated for foul brood, sell, or
offer for sale any bees, hives, or appurtenances
of any kind, after such destruction or treat-
ment, and before being authorised by the
inspector so to do, or should he expose in his
bee-yard, or elsewhere, any infected comb,
honey, wax, or other infected thing, or conceal
the fact that said disease exists among his
bees, he shall, on conviction before a justice of
the peace, be liable to a fine of not less than
20 dols. and not more than 50 dols , or to

12

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 10, 1895.

imprisonment for a term not exceeding two
months, and not less than one month.

7. Should an owner or possessor of bees
refuse to allow the inspector or his assistant or
assistants to freely examine said bees, or the
premises in which they are kept, or should
such owner or possessor refuse to destroy the
infected bees and appurtenances, or permit
them to be destroyed when so directed by the
inspector, he may on the complaint of the in-
spector, be summoned before a justice of the
peace, and, on conviction, shall be liable to a
tine of not more than 50 dols. or less than
25 dols. for the first offence, and not more than
100 dols. or less than 50 dols. for the second
or any subsequent offences, and the said jus-
tice of the peace shall make an order directing
the said owner or possessor forthwith to carry
out the directions of the inspector.

8. Where an owner or possessor of bees shall
disobey the directions of the said inspector or
offer resistance to, or obstruct the said in-
spector, a justice of the peace may upon the
complaint of said inspector cause a sufficient
number of special constables to be sworn in,
and such special constables shall, under the
directions of the inspector, proceed to the
premises of such owner or possessor and assist
the inspector to seize all the diseased colonies
and infected appurtenances and burn them
forthwith, and if necessary the said inspector
or constables may arrest the said owner or
possessor and bring him before a justice of the
peace to be dealt with according to the pro-
visions of the preceding section of this Act.

9. Before proceeding against any person
before a j ustice of the peace, the said inspector
shall read over to such person the provisions of
this Act, or shall cause a copy thereof to be
delivered to such person.

10. Every bee-keeper or other person who
shall be aware of the existence of foul brood
either in his own apiary or elsewhere shall
immediately notify the President of the
Ontario Bee-keepers' Association of the exis-
tence of such disease, and in default of so
doing shall on summary conviction before a
justice of the peace be liable to a fine of 5 dols.
and costs.

11. Upon receiving the notice in the preced-
ing section mentioned or in any way becoming
aware of the existence of foul brood in any
locality, the said president shall immediately
direct the said inspector to proceed to and
inspect the infected premises ; provided that
when the person giving such notice is un-
known to said president, or there is reason to
believe that the information in said notice is
untrustworthy, or that the person giving such
notice is actuated by improper motives, then
the said president may require the person
giving such notice to deposit the sum of 5 dols.
with the president as a guarantee of good faith
before the said notice shall be acted upon, and
if it shall prove that said notice was properly
given, then the said deposit shall be returned
to the person giving such notice, but other-

wise the said deposit shall be forfeited to the
use of the said Ontario Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion.

12. The said association shall include in its
annual report to the Minister of Agriculture a
statement of the inspector's work during the
preceding year, which statement shall include
the number of colonies destroyed by order of
the inspector, and the amount paid to him for
his services and expenses for the preceding
year.

13. The executive committee of the said
association may from time to time make such
by-laws and regulations for the control and
guidance of the inspector in carrying out the
provisions of this Act as they may deem
necessary, and the said executive committee
shall also by law fix the amount of the re-
muneration of the said inspector and sub-
inspector, but all such by-laws and regulations
shall be subject to the approval of the Lieut-
tenant-Governor in Council.

FERTILE WORKERS AMONG BEES.

Quoting from the Journal of the Koyal
Microscopical Society, we find that in the
Bull. Soc. Entomol., France, 1894, pp. cxcv-vii.,
Dr. P. Marchal discusses the occurrence of
fertile workers, as alleged by several naturalists
from Aristotle to Huber, but still doubted by
such an authority as Prof. J. Perez in his
recent work on bees. From a case furnished
by M. Huillon, the author has convinced him-
self of the reality of the alleged occurrence.
A queenless hive supplied many examples of
workers with fully-developed ovaries ; the
numerous eggs were laid with much irregu-
larity (thus there might be ten in one cell) ;
the progeny consisting of males. Dr. Marchal
does not, of course, claim that his observations
are novel, but that they are useful as corrobo-
ration.

We should have printed the above without
calling any special attention to it had it not
contained statements which are incorrect.
There is, of course, as the author admits,
nothing new with respect to the existence of
fertile workers, and all bee-keepers who have
had an opportunity of making observations,
more especially with foreign races of bees,
must frequently have come across such
workers. Dr. Marchal does not seem to have
noticed that naturalists since Huber have
made similar observations, and we may here
remark that the subject of fertile workers is
very fully dealt with in " The Honey Bee, its
Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology,''
by T. W. Cowan. But what we wish par-
ticularly to point out is that it is stated that
Dr. Marchal says " A queenless hive supplied
many examples of workers with fully-developed
ovaries." This is surely a mistake, either of
the author's or of the reviewer's. According
to our own observations the ovaries of fertile
workers are only partially developed, and
never fully so. At p. 135 of the " Honey

Jan. 10, 1895."

THEBEITISH BEE JOURNAL.

13

Bee " there is an illustration of the ovaries of
a queen worker, and fertile worker, and the
difference can be seen at a glance. The
following extract from p. 150 ("The Honey
Bee ") will give the supposed cause of fertile
workers : —

All bee-keepers know that occasionally a
worker will be found laying eggs, and such an
one is called a fertile worker. The ovarian
tubes, according to Leuckart, have the same
structure as those of a queen, and, although
never so long as these, are a little longer than
those of an ordinary worker (Bienenzeitung,
1857). The oviducts and vagina are very
much smaller, there is only a vestige of an
appendicular gland, and the spermatheca and
bursa copulatrix are entirely absent. It is
evident such eggs, if laid, can only produce
drones, as they cannot be fertilised, and this
is, in fact, found to be the case. The question
may naturally be asked, Why their ovaries are
more developed than those of other workers ?
Leuckart discovered (Bienenzeitung, 1855, p.
209) that the larva of a worker was weaned
after it had left the egg three days, and, as we
have seen on p. 120 (The Honey Bee), the food
underwent a cnange, whereas the queen larva
received abundantly the same food during the
whole of her existence, which he called royal
jelly. He also found that it is exactly at the
time of the change of the larval food that the
female genital organs make their appearance,
which will remain rudimentary or develop
according to the food administered. If, there-
fore, weaning does not take place at the right
time, any excess of royal food will develop the
ovaries in proportion, and thus produce a
fertile worker, which cannot mate, and can
consequently only lay eggs producing males.

(fyttttBQtm&mtt

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books fyr Review, <tc.,must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <kc, must be addressed
to " The Manager, ' British Bee Journal ' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

•„* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
•when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION

AND THE FOUL-BROOD CRUSADE.

[2169.] The hearty accord given on every
hand to the B.B.fc.A. in their bee-pest
crusade, as well as in other matters less urgent

connected with the well-being of the industry, is
exceedingly encouraging to the Committee.
They are hard workers, particularly their chair-
man, and the letters they get, especially from
Ireland (where discontent is indigenous) act
like a spur to fresh exertion. The want of
pecuniary help somewhat hinders operations,
but even the financial outlook if not rosy,
nevertheless is wearing a brighter hue. Now
and then one hears a discordant note, but I
attribute it to those concomitants of Christmas,
" mincemeat and grumbles," rather than to any
real ill-will. Holiday-time and the opening of
the new year are periods when sensitive disposi-
tions are apt to get into bilious — or " bill "-
ious — frames. We must not, therefore, be
censorious, lest we should ourselves be troubled
with these unwelcome conditions of body and
mind. Here is a result of that which I refer
to. "Associations pulling together/' says a
certain friend of ours, " is the royal road to
success, but when you have to do with an
unbusinesslike set of men (hear this ye B.B.
K.A. committeemen — -the last indictment you
would dream of ! ) at the fountain-head. . . .
I could say a good deal, but — I shall advise
our Association to withhold their affiliation fee
until the ' British ' inform us what they are
going to give us for ' our guinea ! ' Where
does the good of affiliation come in ? "

The B.B.K.A. Committee are really working
like Britons with the object of making bee-
keeping more respected and extended, and are
doing yeoman service for the craft in the
right direction. This specimen of grumbles, or
rumbles is, therefore, peculiarly ill-timed, but
it is not anything more than I have ventured
to explain, and a better frame of mind will
quickly supervene. A friend has suggested
that the County Associations are getting 40s.
for their 20s., but " cent, per cent.'' nothing
like represents the profit accruing to them
from affiliation. Without the " British," the
County Associations would be but a rope of
sand. Also let me add, and add thankfully,
too, that without the County Associations the
British could not venture to attempt what it
is now almost sure to accomplish.

In conclusion, let me say — beekeepers who
have the general well-being of the industry
at heart, should stir themselves to supply
statistics at once, so that the B.B.K.A. may
have the fullest information procurable to back
their appeal to the Board of Agriculture. Let
each who can do so send a little map of his
district (however small a district it may be) with
a red mark at each place where there is known
to be foul brood.—" A Briton," January 4.

MOVING BEES TO CLOVER.

[2170.] In an article on bee-keeping which
appeared in one of the Church magazines, and
on some part of which you commented shortly
after its appearance, the writer attributed a
great deal of his phenomenal success to the
fact that his hives were moved to a clover

H

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 10, 1895.

field at the beginning of the honey flow. No
caution was added as to any risks which such
a proceeding might entail in unskilful hands.
I should like to ask your advice upon this
question. I live in a good clover district —
i.e., there are many large clover fields within
from half to three-quarters of a mile of my
bees. Under such circumstances, would you
consider it wise to move bees at all in order to
get them nearer to such fields ? If moved,
must they not be moved at least two miles ?
And would not the danger of a lost
swarm from a hive two miles off
probably counterbalance any possible ad-
vantage from closer contiguity to the honey
supply ? Would not the act of driving a hive
over two miles in a vehicle in the height of the
breeding season be liable to lead to much dan-
gerous excitement of the bees, and possible
loss ? It always appears to me that couhur de
rose descriptions of bee-keeping and bee-
methods in popular magazines are not the best
way of helping on such pursuits. I always say
plainly to intending bee-keepers that it is
hopeless to enter upon the work unless they
are prepared to take a lot of pains to learn to
do the right thing at the right time, and to
grapple with the smallest minutia; of the art.
— A Clerical Bee-keeper, January 4.

[With clover fields at the distance named
we should never advise incurring the risks,
cost, and trouble of moving bees to them in the
summer time. To be content with a smaller
return would be true economy. — Eds.]

EXPERIENCE GAINED IN 1894.

SHALLOW FRAMES FOR COMB HONEY.
CHEAP CONVEYANCE OF BEES TO THE MOORS.

[2171.] As this is a slack season, and it is
some time since I sent you a few lines, let me
state how the experience of the last season has
modi6ed some views I expressed early in
1894, &c.

As regards thick combs, I had a quantity
worked nicely out in shallow frames, furnished
with full-size drone foundation ; and I con-
sider that when the combs on eight frames are
built out so as to fill up an ordinary ten-frame
crate, they are sufficiently thick for extracting,
and, in short seasons, for using as honey-comb
in lieu of sections. I tried to get some extra
thick combs, but, owing to the unfavourable
season, they were not nearly so evenly finished
as the previous year.

In reply to Mr. Woodley's question about
extracting from the thickest; I would say
that it is possible to do so, especially from the
drone cells, but I would not recommend it, as
it requires much time and care. My aim is to
secure such handsome blocks or bricks of
honey-comb that my customers may prefer
them to sections, and I may have only shallow-
frames for supering throughout the apiary.
There would then be an advantage all round:
The consumers would have more honey in pro-
portion to the wax, and being packed in

butter-paper, its flavour would be preserved
better than in sections. The bees Avould have
the receptacle in which they best like to work,
and the bee-keeper's work would be much
simplified, when he has no sections to yearly
buy, make up, and extract when half-tilled.
Last season I placed 750 sections on the
hives, 200 of which had been worked out and
extracted in 1893 ; I removed 250 saleable
ones, had to extract about 200, and the rest
were not touched by the bees. On the other
hand, the result from the shallow-frames was
more satisfactory ; not to mention numerous
frames, which had been worked out in previous
years and which were perfectly filled and
sealed, I placed on twelve crates of new
frames ; of these, ten were well-filled, and
only two were not worked out. And I ought
to add that I generally put the sections in my
strong hives. On the moors, too, I have
noticed that the bees do better work in
shallow-frames than in sections.

Last season I also tried a good swarm in a
hive made up of three boxes of shallow frames.
The lowest held twelve frames with strips of
foundation, above which Avas an excluder, and
then two boxes fitted with full sheets of
foundation. The bees worked well in all
until the weather broke up ; but as they placed
a quantity of pollen in even the drone cells of
the lower surplus box, I shall for the future
cling to the standard frames for the brood-
chamber, and give a wide berth to " Heddon "
and similar hives.

In August I had the pleasure of meeting
bee-keepers from all parts of the county at the
Yorkshire Agricultural Show at Beverley ;
and thanks for the grant of shedding by the
council of that society, as well as the assistance
of Mr. Jemeison, of York, and Mr. W. Smith,
of Preston, I was again able to exhibit the
process of extracting in my glass-house. We
tried there the "Uncapper" Mr. Meadows made
for me, on which we had the advice of some
of the machinists on the showground and
others. If their suggestions are carried out,
and especially if the knives or saws are made
thoroughly rigid, there is promise of good
success next season.

I also showed at Beverley the following
interesting letter I had received from the
superintendent of the North-Eastem Piailway
at York respecting the carriage of bees : —

"With reference to your letter of May 15 last,
I beg to inform you that the question of the
charges for the conveyance of bees was con-
sidered at a meeting of the superintendents of
the railway companies generally on July 11,
when it was agreed that bees in hives sent in
truck-loads to the moors during the heather
season, should be conveyed at 6'd. per truck
per mile, station to station, owner's risk, with a
minimum charge of 7s. 6d.'r

This is the result of some years' correspon-
dence in which I appealed for more liberal
terms than " parcels rate " by passenger trains
during the heather season.

Jan. 10, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

15

I hope, now, to call the bee-keepers of this
neighbourhood together in the spring, so that
we may know how many will be willing to
unite in taking or sending their bees to the
Whitby moors for a second harvest.

Last season I had the advantage of having
ready plenty of travelling crates for the
" globe '' bottles, which made packing a
pleasure.

In future seasons I hope to enjoy a trip to
the moors all the more now that the bees can
be conveyed — carriage through — (three
junctions) at a reasonable rate.

By the by, is it generally known that
packages of honey above 14 lb. weight can be
sent by passenger trains at half Lthe " parcels
rate " ?

With best wishes for yourselves, dear sirs,
and all your readers, for 1895. — Richard M.
Lamb, Burton Pidsea Rectory, January 4,
1895.

DOUBLE-QUEENED HIVES.

A GOOD WORD FOR THE " WELLS " SYSTEM.

[2172.] Last season I sent you my experi-
ence and result with a " Wells " hive, which
you will find in your issue of December 14,
1893 (p. 499). The take of honey only being
small, 75 lb., considering the splendid sunny
season of 1893, but this I think I accounted
for by not having shallow-frames made in
time, and no shallow combs drawn out, and
not having an extractor to remove the honey
from the comb. I also mentioned I intended
trying two " Wells " hives during the
season of 1894, which I did with very
much more success. From one " Wells "
hive I extracted before going to the
moors 200 lb. of honey. This " Wells " hive
swarmed, and the bees were returned about
two hours afterwards. We divided the swarm
into two parts, and replaced one on each side
of division board.

My other " Wells'' hive did not swarm, I sup-
pose on account of the one side becoming queen-
less in June, but from this hive I took over one
hundred pounds. I fancy the queen got
crushed in removing from Bedale to Burrill, a
small village about two miles away, which I
found a very good district for clover, and a
splendid lot of lime trees ; but my bees did not
gather much from the latter, as the weather
changed when the lime trees were in bloom. I
have now four " Wells '' hives stocked for
1895, and intend making other four this
winter.

My result from the moors in 1894 was very
poor, but I always consider taking my bees
there pays me, even in a bad season, on account
of the splendid combs of honey I get for win-
tering, also having plenty of combs to give to
weak stocks left at home, and the remaining
combs to be given in the spring. The latter
are splendid for stimulating bees. Since I
commenced bee-keeping I have not payed
more than 10s. for sugar, and I now have four

"Wells" hives and eight single stocks. I
worked four small hives for sections, and got
105 saleable one3. Many were spoiled with
drone brood. Excluding zinc not being used
this season.

I was very pleased to see Mr. Wells's result
in the Bee Journal, and if he has not made
converts in his own neighbourhood he has
made a " VVellsite " of one who will have to
see or hear of something better before I change.
Should this meet Mr. Wells's eye, I shall be
mo3t pleased to make his acquaintance if ever
he should make a visit in the north. I live
about ten miles by line from Northallerton,
and shall be pleased to make him comfortable
for the night.

In conclusion, I did not intend sending any
report, only Mr. Wells wishes to know of
some results, and consider this a very small
acknowledgment for his trouble and time in
developing such a splendid system. — I. H.
Horx, Bedale, Yorlcs.

OLD CONTRIBUTORS.

[2173.] In your issue of December 13 (p.
496), Mr. Webster asks, " Where is the big
bee-keeper in Glamorganshire 1 Silent ! "
Now, sir, as I am the only bee-keeper in this
county, as far as I know, who has over 100
stocks, I presume I am intended to be " drawn "
or interviewed, and as I have no time for the
latter infliction, I will send you a few notes
from time to time. For some years I have
been running a large apiary, and have regu-
larly employed an expert to do most of the
work, because my own time is very limited.
However, I have come to the conclusion in
future to do all the work myself, because when
the real practical daily business of looking
after the bees is out of one's own hands, the
interest gets greatly lessened.

I see a sanguine correspondent talks of
starting a big bee farm. I wish he would buy
the back numbers of the Exchange and Mart,
published last August, and see how com-
pletely I and a number of other bee-keepers
smashed the fallacy that £300 a year could be
made from bees. I know that on paper a bee
farm pays amazingly, and I also know from
practice that a bee farm does not pay. I have
tried every branch, including honey raising,
queen-selling, and swarm selling, but the
average net profit is so bare that two or three
bad seasons would reduce my small margin to
a decided loss. A dozen or more hives pay
well ; a big bee farm does not pay, because the
seasons are too uncertain, and in not a few
districts forty hives is as many as a district
will carry.

My bees are wintering well, but it is three
months too soon to " crow," because I always
find the greatest loss occurs in the spring. In
the meantime see that all roofs are water-
tight and quilts dry, and see entrances are
clear. If short of food give soft candy. By
soft candy I mean such as can be easily cut

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 10, 1895.

with a spoon or squeezed up between the
fingers. I have never yet been able to make
any equal to what Mr. Saddler, of Forfar,
sells — his is simply perfection, and far cheaper
than mo3t amateurs can make it. — E. J.
Gibbins, Neath, December 20.

FOUL-BROOD remedies.

ANOTHER WORD FROM ktA GOOSE.''

[2174.] Your correspondent, Mr. E. H.
Hopkins (No. 2157, p. 4) considers me " a big
goose." I beg to say I am 6 ft. 1| in. and
weigh 13 st. 8 lb. Now, with considerable care
I have taken the dimensions and weight of
" E. H. H." entirely from his own letter, and
few of your readers will, I am sure, be sur-
prised to find that in height of folly he is by
far the bigger goose of the two !

Does not " E. H. H." perceive that anyone
possessing an infallible specific for an afflictive
disease, and making a secret of the agent {i.e.,
the composition) he employs, is, to say the
least, both selfish and inhumane 1 Bee-pest
threatens the welfare of a native industry and is
calamitous to bee-keepers ; is not that man
selfish who has the power to cure it arid don't ?
And further, if he professes to have the power
and hasn't, he is a "quack." "E. H.H.,"
indeed, must himself be a strange compound.
Will he please answer the following four
simple questions in the next journal ? 1. Is
he favourable to the spread of glanders ? 2.
Rinderpest ? 3. Rabies ? 4. Is he averse to
his laundress, his butcher, and his baker,
simultaneously nursing in their respective
houses, each of them, a fine old case of genuine
confluent small-pox without imposing the
smallest restriction on their individual free-
dom ? In fine, would he like the contagion
imported into his home weekly with the
washing, and daily with the meat and the
bread ?

Probably E. H. H. looks on the stringent
official regulations that operate so beneficially
in our own favoured land, to localise and keep
in check the spread of these and many other
dire diseases, as a sample of (to quote own
words) " that ever increasing interference
of the State into (sic) private affairs — restrict-
ing as it does the freedom of the individual
at every step ? " and u all part and parcel of
our present-day so-called Socialism ! " Oh,
patient, long-suffering Editors of the B.B.J. !
What are ye not compelled to print 1 How
many are your contributors who disguise
their identity instead of signing their
PROPER (?) names.

Meantime, pray continue to call me — "A
Big Goose," January 4.

SOME BEE-FIGURES.

BY A BEE-KEEPER FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY.

[2175] Having been a bee-keeper upwards
of fifty-five years (commencing at the age of
fifteen) — fifty years as a skeppist and five
years as a bar-framist — I cannot but feel very

thankful to you as " Editors " for the excellent
manner in which you deal with questions
from bee-keepers in the B.B J. ; answering
them in such a manner that a labouring man
like myself can understand and appreciate the
good that is being done by its publication,
not to bee-keepers alone, but the country
through them, as it enables many who, but for
his bees, would find the annual " September
2.9 " more difficult to meet were it not for the
assistance rendered even by a few stocks of
bees in the good old skep.

The story of how I became a keeper of
bees in bar-frame hives would probably not be
of sufficient interest to your readers. Suffice
it, therefore, to say that I have in excellent
winter quarters nineteen bar-frame hives, well
stocked with bees and stores, which will, I
trust, come forth in the early spring like well-
wintered colonies only can.

Being in a locality where you scarcely ever
see any bee-hive other than the straw skep,
and not knowing until the past few years
that bees were insects about which books
were printed, you will perhaps think we are
not up with the times. Well, probably we are
not, but all my life, through necessity, I have
been up early in the morning to endeavour as
far as possible to insure a favourable " Satur-
day night."

In your issue of the 3rd inst. (page 2), you
give some remarkable figures relating to the
possibility of producing " British Honey." I
have been amusing myself with the figures, and I
believe your estimate of 3,250 tons of honey to
be a very modest one. Now, at the rate of 6d.
per lb., it would yield some £182,000 — a sum
not to be sneezed at in these hard times ; and
if we only consider for a few moments we
shall find that not only is the £182,000 in the
hands of the bee-keeper for the benefit of
himself and family, but to produce this sum,
and to keep up the stock of bees, will require
about 291,200 beehives at the average rate of
25 lb. per hive ; these, properly made, painted,
fitted, and fully equipped as required, would
be worth, perhaps, 30s. each, or £436,800.
Now, allow each hive to last ten years, at a
cost of Is. per annum for repairs, &c, and we
have £582,400. Half of this amount we
must allow for labour, which will be required
to make and keep in proper weatherproof
repair these 291,200 beehives ; this would find
employment for 582 men at a wage of £50 per
annum — certainly a help in the nineteenth
century. Then, if we allow five hives to an
apiary, we have 5H,240 apiaries, and if there
is only the apiarian, his good wife, and one
child interested in each apiary, we have 174,720
persons deriving health, pleasure, not a little
remuneration (with a few stings thrown in),
from our delightful and interesting occupa-
tion ; if we proceed a little further, we shall

find that ad g (I fancy our Editor will be

saying : " Hold, good friend ; leave the bottles,
labels, and appliances until another time," and
so I end this letter).— Lett. Trab, Wiltshire.

Jan. 10, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

17

COMPULSORY POWERS

AND COMPENSATION.

[2176.] It appears to me that the principal
obstacle to the application of compulsory
powers is the question of compensation, and if
the special committee appointed to deal with
the matter can make it clear, it will enable
us to make up our minds on the subject. I
do not mean that our minds want making up
on the desirability of dealing with the disease,
but on the question of how ? And at the
bottom of the whole is this question of com-
pensation. It is all very well to tell the
owner of diseased stocks that they are of no
value, for in nine cases out of ten he cling3 to
the hope of saving them by means of one or
other of the remedies which are advocated,
and it is manifestly unfair that an inspector
shall be empowered to walk into a cottager's
garden, condemn his bees, and destroy them,
walk away, and leave him to get over his loss
as best he can . It is for the good of the com-
munity that this pest should be eradicated, and
it naturally follows that in common fairness
the community should help to put the unfor-
tunate bee-keeper on his legs again. In all
probability the fact of his bees suffering was
brought about by circumstances over which he
had no control. I do not suggest that this
compensation shall be extravagant, but I can-
not agree with your idea that diseased stocks
are of no value. The same thing may be said
of a pig with swine-fever, but I believe the
Government pay full value if it is declared
within reasonable time. I sincerely hope that
the committee will definitely make up their
minds to make it clear that when they ask for
compulsory powers they will make it a con-
dition that these powers shall be accompanied
by a fair and reasonable compensation. If this
point is made clear, I believe every bee-keeper
in the country will back up the deputation,
but without it their efforts will be futile.
Numberless difficulties will be placed in the
way of officials if compulsion is not accom-
panied by compensation, and the effort will
prove abortive ; on the other hand, everyone
will co-operate if the two go together, and
success will crown the very laudable efforts of
the British B. K. A. — A. D. Woodley, Hon.
Sec. Berks B.K. A., 17, Market-place, Reading,
January.

[The question of compensation is one that
will require the greatest care on the part of
those dealing with the matter referred to. It
is quite certain that to talk of anything
beyond reasonable compensation according to
precedents furnished by the present Con-
tagious Diseases (Animals) Act would not be
listened to. Moreover, our correspondent is
entirely wrong in his view of compensation in
cases of swine-fever. One-half the value of
the animal immediately before it became
infected is the most that is allowed. What we
are sure the Committee of the B.B.K.A. will

strive for is " reasonable compensation," and
this we trust will be secured, but the chance
of their request being favourably heard would
be small indeed if anything like full value of
a healthy stock of bees was asked for. — Eds.]

SHROPSHIRE NOTES.

MAINLY ABOUT FOUL BROOD.

[2177.] Among your correspondents there
are those who write week by week in " our "
valuable paper, and whose pithy bits are
eagerly sought after, and those who rise to the
effort, "like trout at a fly," only just when
they feel inclined. I must class myself with
the latter. I'll begin by wishing you the

com No, I won't ; you must be already

overwhelmed with good wishes. Still, I wish
" 'em " all the same. Have you had any frost,
ice, and snow up your way ? They have been
piling it on pretty thick down here, and
several cold nights, driving winds, with keen
frosts have been the order. It makes one's
heart feel glad to knoiv that our bees are com-
fortable and snug, no matter how hard " Jack
Frost " puts down his heel. The past season
in this country has been a fairly successful
one, and I think, on the whole, not much
under the average. Skeppists seem to have
fared rather badly. Some ten or twelve
stocks I have driven would not total 70 lb. of
honey. Mr. Wells, I consider, records yet
another success in his district ; still, his
" takes" puzzle me. I have given the system
a fair trial in competition with two strong
single stocks, and the " dodge " won by about
15 lb. in 1893, and about 7 lb. in 1894, but
none can touch his average, especially of 1893,
136 lb. Perhaps I do not extract often
enough, but leave all honey to be sealed over
and ripened in the hive.

All bee-keepers will be glad to see that the
foul-brood question is being seriously brought
to the front. Those who have read the articles
in the Standard cannot fail to express their
best thanks to friend Webster for putting Mr.
Maxwell-Hibberd in the right path. Surely
he has been sadly misinformed. Practical
experience tells us that the skep is a perfect
arrangement for harbouring and spreading the
disease ; and as to new combs, I've seen brood
in them simply rotten, and in my own apiary
are brood combs, years old, perfectly clean,
and I should hesitate to replace them with
new ones. What a grand thing it will be if
we can get the Board of Agriculture to take
the matter up. But cannot our associations do
something 1 What can ours (Shropshire) do ?
It is well known that the disease is lurking
among us — some districts badly infected — yet
we have no means of getting at them. Cannot
members be offered something more than
" reduced entrance-fees at our shows," and so
induce bee-keepers to join ? Only the other
day I was trying to persuade " a good man "
to become a member, and I simply got the

18

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 10, 1895.

usual reply, " What advantages are there ? "
And he mourns the loss of several stocks
through the disease. Could not associations
appoint district secretaries to work and report
under their orders ? I'm sure gentlemen (pro-
bably experts) could be found in many places to
undertake the duties free, to try and get into
touch with all the bee-keepers in their district,
give advice, and, if the '■ worst comes to the
worst," offer to supply remedies free (of course,
the association to find these). I for one am
agreeable, and would take an eight-mile
radius. Apologising for my encroachment, and
promising my " next '' will not be so long. —
Salopian, Broseley, Shropshire, January 4.

RECRUITS AND FOUL BROOD.

[2178.] lam glad to'see signs that bee-keepers
generally are becoming more and more disposed
to grapple with the foul-brood question in a
practical way, for in my opinion it stands
head and shoulders, in respect of gravity and
importance, above every other question in
bee-keeping. Some years ago I pointed out
the inadvisability of striving to enlist recruits
whilst the disease still raged unsubdued.
Naturally beginners like to get their bees as
cheaply as they can, and stocks, swarms, and
driven bees, all more or less infected, are, not
unfrequently, purchased to begin with, and
ignorance and inexperience then combine to
still further propagate and spread the disease.
I know this is no mere supposition on my
part. I could " unfold a tale '' that fully
proves my case.

I am aware that recruits are constantly
being warned by responsible persons against
beginning in this way, but, at the same time,
every encouragement is also being given to
induce people to enter the ranks in some way
or other, and such warnings fall flat when
established stocks, hives, combs, and bees all
complete, are obtainable for perhaps less
money than a healthy swarm. Indeed, it is
almost a question whether the term " healthy
swarm'' is practically much more than a
phrase in bee-keeping nowadays. A guaran-
teed healthy swarm may be bought, hived, fed,
and tended with all the solicitude of a novice
with a bad attack of the " bee-fever " on
him. In twelve or eighteen months he
becomes dissatisfied because his honey returns
are not up to sensation-mark. He calls in an
expert, who may, or may not, detect the
symptoms of foul-brood in its earlier stages
existing in the hive. But if he does, how is
it to be known or proved whether the swarm
was, or was not, infected when received 'I

I again urge this phase of the question upon
the consideration of all concerned, and ask, Is
it wise, is it generous, is it right, to persuade
novices to undertake bee-keeping under
existing circumstances ? Would not the
money and energy now spent by associations

and others in recruiting be better employed iia_
combatting the disease I

Of course, bee experts and appliance makers
may be expected to resent any cessation of
active proselytism, but let me point out to
them that their interests are but small com-
pared with those of bee-keepers as a whole,
and, if the disease is to be effectively checked,
they too must suffer as well as others.

Others will confidently assert that com-
pulsory powers will set all things right. It is
to be hoped that they may ! I must not
attempt to discuss probabilities at the close of
a letter. I suppose that no one will deny that
there is a " con " as well as a " pro " as to the
efficacy of compulsory powers. To conclude, I
believe that one of the best ways for bee-
keepers to check the spread of the disease is to
check the propagation of recruits in bee-keep-
ing, and then, perhaps, in time it will become
possible to draw a cordon round infected
districts and adopt comprehensive measures
for stamping out the plague. — H. T. Spice,
Sussex, January 4, 1895.

[We rather think the weakness of our corre-
spondent's argument lies in the fact that old
hands at bee-keeping— imbued with old pre-
judices— -are the greatest offenders so far as
foul brood goes. The recruit of to-day who
starts fairly well informed as to the mischievous
character of this bee-pest, must be blind indeed
if unmindful of the dangers to which our cor-
respondent draws attention.

To our mind, anything tending to put a stop
to, or even check, the rapidly-awakening
interest in the pursuit would be a retrograde
course, and one not justified by what are known
as the facts of the case. Rather let us have an
increase in the number of educated and intelli-
gent bee-keepers, and fewer of those who
refuse to be taught. The spread of technical
education in bee-keeping — free to all — com-
bined with a certain amount of State control,
is the remedy we look to with much confidence
as to the final result. — Eds.]

A RETURN LETTER : BY "BEE-KAY."
[2179.] I do not know whether " Mrs.
Harrison " or " Beta '' intend to respond to
" A Scottish Cousin's'' invitation to " report "
themselves (2137, p. 503), but as " Bee-Kay"
is included in the trio, she will do her little
best to say something, though it prove of small
interest. " A Scottish Cousin's " experiences
are grand ; may they ever be such, and I
congratulate her upon her success this year.
She is evidently a true bee-keeper, her heart in
her work, and no trouble too great, to say
nothing of profiting by experience. I prefer to
buy my experience at other people's expense.
It can be done in some cases, but in bee-
keeping the bees often determine you shall
buy it at their price. Personally, I am afraid
I am one of those who help to " bring up the
rear," though my interest has by no means
abated, and my B.B.J, is one of the pleasures

Jan. 10, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

19

of the week. But, practically, I am " far
ahin'." My season has been a bad one ; I
only averaged 15 lb. per hive. There is no old
pasture land very near, and the drought of
1893 dried up all seeds to such an extent that
sown clover was an unknown crop, so far
as my bees were concerned. I have six
bar-frame hives and one skep. I had three to
feed in September — they literally had nothing.
The other three were well off, and the skep
fairly provided for. I put on candy in October,
a month later had to renew it ; they had either
eaten or " taken down " every scrap, and as I
was leaving home until the end of January, I
wished to be on the safe side. The Lincoln-
shire County Agricultural Show was within
six miles of me, so, for the good of the cause, I
entered twelve sections and twelve 1-lb. jars
of honey. When the time to show came I had
only fifteen sections to choose my twelve from ;
but I took the second prize, so thought I did
well, as I knew I was having a poor " do '' all
round. I have not heard of any large "takes"
or averages in my corner of Lincolnshire, though
many bee-keepers were more successful than I
was. Here endeth my " Echo," and I would
like to thank "A Scottish Cousin " for remem-
bering my name amongst others, and wish her
and all bee-keepers a very Happy New Year.
May " the winter of our discontent be made
glorious by the summer sun " of 1895. —
Bee-Kay, January 3, 1895.

SHAM BRITISH HONEY.

[2180,] I find bottles of honey exposed for
sale with the words "Pure British Honey" on
the bottles, and on making further inquiries I
find the honey is from J amaica. On remon-
strating, I am told that " it is British honey,
because Jamaica is a British possession." Is
not this misleading? — A Lover of Good
Honey, January 5.

[It is worse than misleading, we should call
it a fraud. — Eds.1

KENT B.K. ASSOCIATION.

The Kent Bee-Keepers' Association will
hold their annual meeting at the Pump Room,
Tunbridge Wells, on Wednesday, January 16,
at 4 p.m. Members and all interested in bee-
keeping are invited.

At 5.30 a conference of Kent and Sussex
Bee-keepers will be held, with the object of
promoting a bee-keeping association for the
county of Sussex. Tea provided.

At 7 p.m. a lecture on practical bee-keeping
will be delivered by Mr. W. H. Harris, B.Sc.
(Lecturer on Bee-keeping to Univ. Ext.
College, Reading), with lantern illustrations.

Admission free by ticket to be obtained
from Mr. J. Garratt, hon. sec. K.B.K.A.,
Meopham, Kent, or Mr. H. G. Groves, 14,
Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells. A stamped ad-
dressed envelope should be sent,

HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of Decem-
ber, 1894, was .£2,894. — From a return fur-
nished by the Statistical Office, H.M. Customs.

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.

December, 1894.

Westbourne, Sussex, Dec. 1894.

Rainfall, 2'22in.
Heaviest fall/42 in. on 14th.
Rain fell on 18 days
Below average, '29 in.
Maximum Temperature, 50c

on 18th.
Minimum Temperature, 25°

on 31st.
Minimum on Grass, 18° on

28th. '
Frosty Nights, 13

.Sunshine, 67-8 hours
Brightest Day, 27th, 6'e

hours
Sunless Days, 14
Above average, 10-4 hours
Mean Maximum, 43°
Mean Minimum, 34°
Mean Temperature, 3S-5°
Maximum Barometer,

3066° on 27th.
Minimum Barometer,

29-25°, on 30th,

L, B, BlRKETT,

Locality, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.

Height above sea-level, 225 ft.

Rainfall, 189 in. ; heaviest fall, 034 in. on
14th.

Rain fell on sixteen days.

Snowfall, 0-15 in. on 29th.

Max. shade temp., 50° on 13th.

Min. temp., 22° on 4th.

Max. shade temp, at 9 a.m., 48° on 12th.

Min. temp, at 9 a.m, 23° on 4th.

Frosty nights, thirteen.

Max. barometer, 30'4° on 27th and 28th.

Min. barometer, 291° on 22nd.

A mild Christmas. Bee flying very freely on
the 25th and 26th, making quitean audible hum.
A sharp frost set in on the 28th. Some strong
winds during the month. Overturned hives
reported. A falling barometer at close of
month. Percy- Leigh, Beemount.

WEATHER REPORT FOR 1894.

Rainfall, 3904in.

Heaviest fall, 2-27 on Oct.

24
Rain fell on 192 days
Above average, 11-07 in.
Maximum Temperature, 82°

on June 30, and July 1
Minimum Temperature 12°

Jan. 5.
Minimum on Grass, 10° on

Jan. 5.
Frosty Nights, 57

Westbourne, Sussex.
Sunshine, 1740-9 hours
Brightest Day, June 29,

15 "2
Sunless days, 65
Below average, 84*4 hours
Mean Maximum, 54-9°
Mean Minimum, 42-l"
Mean Temperature, 48-5°
Maximum Barometer,

30-70° on Sept. 30.
Minimum Barometer,

28"28° on Nov. 12

L. B. BlRKETT.

A SWARM (?) IN DECEMBER.

As showing the mildness of the season, a
Long Sutton (Lincolnshire) correspondent
reports that a few days ago there was a swarm
of bees on the farm of Mr. H. M. Proctor, of
Spalding, at Sutton Crosses. Such an event
in December is believed to be unparalleled. —
Echo, December 31, 1894.

[From the number of copies of the above,
cut from various newspapers and forwarded
to us, it would appear as if the " event " re*

20

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 10, 1895.

ferred to had been recorded all over the
kingdom. One correspondent in enclosing it
asks, " Is this an early or a late swarm ? "
We do not know, and, instead of even hazard-
ing a guess, we prefer to take refuge in the
words of the wary old peep-show man, who,
when asked by the urchin, " Wich is Napo-
leon's army and wich is the Alps ? " replied,
" Wichever yer likes, my deer ; yer pays yer
money an' takes yer choice." — Eds.]

(fumfls and Unfits.

[1225.] Bees Blown, Over in Storms.—
During the gale last week one of my beehives
was partially overturned ; the lid was blown
off and the frames were slightly displaced, but
none of them actually fell out. Fortunately
it was not very cold at the tune, though it was
raining slightly. I don't think the accident
could have happened very long before I disco-
vered it, as the bees were still clustered on the
frames. The colony is a fairly strong one,
which I have fed wp well. (1) Is it likely that
the young brood has been killed by the expo-
sure ? The bees themselves seem all right, as
far as one can judge. (2) If the brood be
dead, how can I detect it ? (3) What would
you- advise me to do in the event of the death
of the brood ? — Ronald H. Archer, Yarm-
on-Tecs, January 4.

E,ErLY. — 1. There will probably be little or
no brood in the hive at this season, conse-
quently no alarm need be felt. 2. Should there
chance to be a little brood, its failing to hatch
out can only be discovered by examining the
combs a fortnight or so hence. 3. The chances
of mischief in the direction indicated are so
remote that we should take no trouble by way
of examining for dead brood.

(fctltm fwm tfa ghaa.

Chippenham, Wilts, January 2, 1895. — In
this neighbourhood bees have been flying more
or less every week till the last few days, when
bitter north-west winds and severe frost have,
I guess, made them "hug up" pretty close.
On Christmas Day young bees were flying
from several of my hives, and one stock was
carrying in pollen. Although my own bees
did much better in 1894 than in 1893, I
expect to hear of many cases of starvation
among skeppists, as, during my driving excur-
sions, the heaviest skep 1 " took up " would
not yield more than 12 lb., while some would
not yield 1 lb., and, even where their owners
are willing to be at the expense, they will not
be at the trouble of feeding them. In the
recent floods one bee-keeper here lost the
whole of his five hives. I would like to ask
where are the reports of those who tried " bee-
swarming in March and April ? "— F. W.

Noticesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column .

(Rev.) J. W. Scamell (Rugby). — Transferring
Bees. — The skep now placed above the top-
bars of frame-hive (No. 1) should remain
there until full possession has been taken
of the lower hive by queen and bees for
breeding purposes, when it may be removed.
You might work the frame-hive on the
double-queen or " Wells " plan if it holds
so many as sixteen or eighteen standard
frames. Referring to Nos. 2 and 3, we do
not at all like to advise beginners trans-
ferring bees and combs from skeps to frame-
hives. It is to them a risky and often
unsatisfactory operation. We much prefer
to advise peopling new frame-hives with
swarms, then filling the frames with patched-
up old combs. If you do decide to transfer
— and, indeed, for general purposes — the
help of a " Guide Book " giving full instruc-
tions for carrying out the operation is
indispensable for one inexperienced.

R. H. Clough (A beginner, Littleborough). —
Transferring from Sleeps to Frame Hives. —
If your district is a poor one for bees it, of
course, the chances of success whether skeps
or frame hives are used. 1894, however,
was not a good honey season. As to your
transferring the bees and combs from skeps
to frame hives, we do not recommend you
to try it. Far better to let them swarm
and hive the latter into the new hive.
Replying to your query, " Which is the
best hive for the purpose ? '' choose one of
the simplest construction, not costing over
10s. 6d. When you have succeeded with
the bees, go in for what you think best, but
for the present only invest in what is really
needed. White clover seed may be scattered
along suitable roadsides with advantage to
bees where none grows naturally, but they
should have free forage without the need
for "sowing" to supply honey if they are to
be made profitable.

Geo. Stocks. — Criticising Mr. Wells's Report
for 1894. — Our correspondent, dealing with
the above, declares " the figures to be mis-
leading.'' Why, we fail to see ; because if
Mr. Wells sold his honey at the price named
it would be rather absurd on his part to
state other than the facts.

F. Franklin (Hungerford). — Rendering Wax.
— By "throwing up continuous bubbles"
we suppose you mean scum, which should
not be difficult to remove by skimming off
while hot. Refer to B.J. for April 19, 1894,
p. 159, for information as to using acids in
rendering wax, and extracting generally.

We have several interesting articles in type,
but croio'ded out for lack of space, all of
which will appear next week.

Jan. 17, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

21

(Mtorwl, $fata ku

USEFUL HINTS.

IF mther. — So long a time has elapsed
since our last allusion to the weather in
this column (on December 13), that quite
a period of severe frost — extending over
some ten days or more — has " come and
gone " in the interval. The hard wintry-
weather which set in on the closing day
of the old year has, no doubt, set some
readers "a- thinking," on the condition of
their bees, and it will be Avell to get such
stocks as are badly provided with food,
started on candy so soon as a warm day
rouses them into full activity. By in-
serting a cake of properly made soft
candy right over the cluster, and cover-
ing all warmly down to retain the heat,
many a stock will be saved.

"Compulsory Powers" for dealing
with foul brood. — This subject continues
to occupy a prominent place in our
pages, and is likely to do so for some
time to come ; it may, therefore, not be
out of place, in the column primarily
devoted to " Useful Hints," to state in
what way the help, most likely to be of
value, may be rendered. In doing
this we are led to refer to the
length of time the Committee of the
B.B.K.A. have now had this matter in
hand. For several years past the ques-
tion of how to deal effectively with the
evils wrought to bee-keeping by the
spread of foul brood has been periodically
discussed at Jermyn-street ; and so far
back as September, 1891, a special meet-
ing was convened "to take into considera-
tion the report of the special sub-
committee appointed at the previous
committee meeting, to consider and report
on the best means of calling the atten-
tion of the authorities to the fact that
foul brood is to the bee-keeper what'
pleuro-pneumonia is to the farmer, and,
as such, it should be compulsory to
report it."

One result of this meeting was that
maps of the several counties were for-
warded to the secretaries of the affiliated
associations with a request that they
would indicate the several localities in
which foul brood was known to exist in
their districts ; and " it was further re-
solved that a special committee be
appointed to bring under the notice of

the Minister of Agriculture the desira-
bility of including the number of hives
and other information relative to bee-
keeping in the annual agricultural re-
turns."—(See B.J., October 1, 1891.)

The effort made in '91 did not result
so satisfactorily as was hoped, mainly,
as it appeared, because of the rooted
objection, then prevailing among the bee-
keepers, to its being known that foul
brood existed in their apiaries.

Wiser counsels, however, now prevail,
and the feeling that decisive measures
are needed for mutual protection has
done away with much of the unaccount-
able reticence formerly displayed, and
the question being now considered ripe
for dealing with it is confidently ex-
pected that the desired information will
be forthcoming.

The steps taken by the Committee
of the Irish Bee-Keepers' Association —
reported on page 22 — is worthy of
attention so far as the heartiness with
which the action of the B.B.K.A. is
supported, and as indicating the nature
of the information required for laying
before the Minister of Agriculture.

It is, of course, quite in the order of
things that opinions should differ as to
the advantage or otherwise likely to
follow possession of the powers sought
for. But, admitting that the evil exists
and is increasing, also that the enormous
damage to the pursuit caused by its
ravages are real and not imaginary, we
cannot conceive how opposition to State
interference can be maintained by sound
argument. Private effort is powerless,
nor can bee associations do more than
deal with their members, and even with
these in only a limited degree, for lack of
funds.

We are quite aware that British bee-
keepers share the objection entertained
by all " Britons " to any encroachment on
the liberty of the subject, especially
when the intrusion means depriving a man
of what is his own, and that whether he
likes it or not. But wherever order and
good government exists, there must also
be found law, which means power to deal
with any source of damage or cause of
mischief to the community at large.

We trust those who anticipate that the
possession of these powers will lead to
injustice to individuals will dismiss from
their minds any such fears. One cone-

22

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 17, 1895.

spondent, whose opinion we value, says :
" Suppose the disease breaks out in a
large apiary, such as mine, with fifty or
one hundred hives, will the inspector con-
demn the lot because the disease in its
incipient stage has appeared in one or
two hives ? " We can only say if any
such powers were proposed to be con-
ferred on an inspector we should con-
demn the proposal as absurd and uncalled
for.

The Canadian Foul Brood Act has been
referred to, but, as we stated when pub-
lishing the text of that Act, many of its
clauses are unsuited for adoption here.
Any way we may take it for granted that
the entire absence of provision for com-
pensation of any kind would make British
bee-keepers regard it with disfavour — for
in the minds of some " compensation " is
the all-important question of the whole
subject — and it is this point we should
like our readers to be clear upon.

" The Contagious Diseases of Animals
Act, 1894" [57 and 58 Vic, chap. 57] is
the only Act or law on which the
Board of Agriculture can take action at
the present time. The text of this Act
is before us as we write, and the
portion in which bees might possibly be
included is section 16, clauses (l)and(2),
which deals with Swine -fever. These
clauses read thus : —

16. — (1). The Board of Agriculture may, if
they think fit, in any case cause to be
slaughtered —

(ft.) Any swine affected with swine-fever, or

suspected of being so affected ; and
(6.) Any swine which are or have been in
the same field, pig-sty, shed, or other
place, or in the same herd, or otherwise in
contact with swine affected with swine-
fever, or which appear to the Board to
have been in any way exposed to the
infection of swine-fever.
(2.) The Board shall for animals slaughtered
under this section pay compensation as fol-
lows : —

(i.) Where the animal slaughtered was
affected with swine-fever, the compensa-
tion shall be one-half of the value of the
animal immediately before it became so
affected,
(ii.) In every other case the compensation
shall be the value of the animal imme-
diately before it was slaughtered.
After careful perusal of the full text
of the above Act, it seems safe to say that
its provisions — as laid down therein — do
not meet the case of insects, and by no
stretch of the imagination can bees be

classed as animals. We may, therefore,
assume that a short Act of Parliament will
be needed. Should this boon be obtainable
— and there is much to encourage the
anticipation that it will be secured — the
whole situation will undergo a change,
favourable in every way. Bee-keeping
will be included among the industries of
the kingdom receiving State aid and pro-
tection ; and once this aid and pro-
tection is secured there need be no fear
as to its efficiency and thoroughness.

Finally, if bee-keepers will combine in
promptly furnishing information on the
points deemed important, viz. : — (1)
Statistics as to the number of bee-
keepers in their districts, and the kind of
hives (skeps or frame-hives) in which the
bees are kept; and (2) the number of
places in their locality in which foul
brood is known to exist ; they may very
safely leave all side issues in the hands of
those who are taking the lead in the
matter, being fully assured that nothing
is desired other than the general good of
the craft.

Communications containing informa-
tion on the points indicated above will,
if desired, be regarded as confidential so
far as names of senders, and may be
addressed to the Secretary B.B.K.A. ;
Mr. John Huckle, King's Langley, Herts ;
or Editors B.B.J., 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C.

IBISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

The committee met on 8th inst. Very im-
portant letters were read from Mr. Cowan,
chairman of the British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, with regard to the deputation, which
is about to wait upon Mr. Gardner, Minister
of Agriculture, to ask for the extension of the
Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts to bees,
with a view to the compulsory destruction of
stocks infected with foul brood. In reply to a
request from Mr. Chenevix, Mr. Cowan ex-
pressed his perfect willingness to urge that the
measure asked for should be made applicable
to Ireland as well as to Great Britain.

He stated that a resolution of the Irish
Bee-keepers' Association committee, in favour
of this request being made, would strengthen
the hands of the B.B.K.A. deputation very
much, so far as Ireland is concerned, and that
it would also help the cause if it were known
that they were supported by bee-keepers in
Ireland, as well as in Great Britain. The fol-
lowing resolution was passed unanimously :—
" That we, the committee of the Irish Bee-
keepers' Association, heartily approve of the
movement to secure Parliamentary action

Jan. 17, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

23

with a view to having foul brood in apiaries
dealt with on the lines of the Contagious
Diseases (Animals) Act. We assume there
will be no question as to the extension of any
proposed legislation to Ireland, as the disease
is very prevalent here."

The attention of Irish bee-keepers is directed
to the above, and they are earnestly requested
to give the object of the deputation their
hearty support, especially as, without this, the
measure, even if granted for Great Britain,
would probably not be extended to Ireland,
and thus an opportunity would be lost — which
might not soon, recur — of stamping out a most
malignant disease. Support can be given in
the following ways : — 1. By sending to Henry
Chenevix, hon. sec, 15, Morehampton-road,
Dublin, particulars as to the disastrous effects
of foul brood, and the districts in which it is
prevalent, in order that the information which
the committee are about to supply for the use
of the deputation may be of the fullest pos-
sible character. Reports of cases in which
bee-keeping has been abandoned in conse-
quence of the disease would be especially
valuable. 2. By advocacy of the cause
through the Press. 3. By endeavouring to
secure the support of Members of Parliament
without distinction of party. No time is to
be lost. A short act would be required, and
the sooner the deputation waits upon Mr.
Gardner the greater is the chance of such an
act being passed in the ensuing session. —
Henry Chenevix, Hon. Sec, Irish Bee-
keepers' Association, 15, Morehampton-road,
Dublin.

(tymtsftmtenti.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should ; be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, die., must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William- street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

•»• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

"NOTES BY THE WAY."
[2181.] The weather during the past week
has been seasonable for January — frost, snow-
rime, rough winds drifting the snow, and
rendering the roads impassable ; and yet the
ordinary Britisher will persist in calling these
many discomforts seasonable !

The bees have been confined to their hives
nearly three weeks, and a change, which I

hope a south wind and falling barometer, with
a rising temperature, portends, will be accept-
able to enable them to get a cleansing flight.

The item " foul brood " is the principal
theme in recent numbers of the British Bee
Journal, and the majority contend for "com-
pulsory powers '' to deal with the subject.
The full text of the "Canadian Foul-Brood
Act," given last week, is a precedent on which
no doubt our own action in the matter will be
based — our editors do not give the year in
which the act became law — but I believe it
was in 1890 or 1891, and I also think that
Mr. Wm. McEvoy was the inspector appointed
by the (incorporated) Ontario Bee-keepers'
Association at that time, and that he has held
the post up to the present time. The act,
section 3, invests the inspector with power to
consign all colonies, and all hives occupied by
the infected colonies and appurtenances tainted
with the ^same, to the fire immediately, and in
the inspector's presence, and then he is in-
structed to thoroughly disinfect himself and
his clothing ; but in cases where the disease
is of a milder form {i.e., incipient cases), he
may use his discretion and withhold his hand
and allow remedial measures to be tried.

Now, right here I ask — Is sec. 3 of the act
carried out in the fourth year of the act's
existence ? My readings of the American Bee
Journal, Bee-keeper's Review, and Gleanings
(all American publications on bee-culture) lead
me to say that Mr. McEvoy, the foul-brood
inspector of the Province of Ontario, does not
use his powers in trying to stamp out the pest
by burning, but that he has adopted remedial
measures which he (Mr. W. McEvoy) asserts
cures every time ! What are those measures 1
Not disinfectants, not nostrums .'of mysterious
compound, but simply removing all combs
from the bees in the affected colony, giving the
bees starters only in frames, and on the even-
ing of the fourth day removing the frames
with the starters and any and all work
the bees may have accomplished during
the time. Then he inserts new frames, with
full sheets of foundation in the same hive in
which the colony has hitherto been living, and
by this simple method Mr. McEvoy asserts the
colony is cured. This is the result of practical
experience, gained in dealing with the disease
in the Province of Ontario, and the assertions
of a man who has proved it in hundreds, nay,
I may say, in thousands of cases.

This, I am fully aware, is in direct oppo-
sition of the theories of our scientists ; but, I
ask, have our scientists cured the disease, and
if they have failed in the past, are they likelier
to find cures in the iuture ? If we have tried
their remedies, and proved them failures, it is
quite time to turn from theories and put
practical common- sense to the test ; and here
I contend is tested common-sense to our hand,
and those who wish to rid their apiaries of
foul brood will do well to give McEvoy's
method of curing the disease a fair trial — not
a modified method of their own invention, but

24

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 17, 1895.

McEvoy's method pure and simple— at the
proper time I will, with Editors' permission,
write it up again. In the meantime I will
write Mr. McEvoy for full instructions.

Sec. 4 of the act, if followed in our case,
will, alas, clear out the long-cherished straw
skep and box hive, leaving only movable
comb hives in existence. This will simplify
matters in dealing with the disease. In fact,
I cannot see how an act can be of much service
unless these old-fashioned bee domiciles are
cleared out of the way, and every colony of
bees are in a get-at-able hive, having movable
comb3, so that inspection can be made of all
parts of the brood nest. Alas, for the pic-
turesque, another of the old fashions seems
likely to be doomed, and will only live in
memory, or as trade-marks, or in the pages of
past masters in bee craft.

Sees. 5 and 6 contain the stripes by which
dealers in second-hand bee gear from infected
apiaries shall receive as their flagellation. It
properly includes the careless bee-keeper, who
allows any combs to lie about ; also the reti-
cent bee-keeper, who would " keep it dark "
that his bees were diseased.

Foul brood is well known to be a contagious
disease, i.e., communicated by contact, but I
do not think that the spores can possibly be
wafted about by the fanning wings of the bees
at the entrance of the hives ; if such was the
case, the whole interior of an infected colony
would be infected, and every cell containing
brood must, of necessity, become diseased and
the colony become extinct in a very short
time ; whereas it is a well-known fact that
colonies infected with the disease linger on a
long time. Or, take an experiment by the
bacteriologist of the Provincial Board of
Health of Ontario, Mr. Mackenzie, B.A., who
chilled some brood in the cells, then infected
some of the cells with foul brood, allowed the
chilled brood to putrify in a moist chamber
for a fortnight. After that time he obtained
foul brood from the cells he had infected, but
could find no traces of it in the other
cells, and after the same piece of comb
had been kept in the moist chamber
for months, the chilled brood was still free
from foul-brood germs, except the cells at first
infected. Since Mr. MacKenzie investigated
the matter, Dr. Howard, M.D., of Texas, has
conducted experiments on similar lines, which
go to prove that foul brood cannot infect
healthy brood that are placed only three-
quarters of an inch distant, unless brought
into actual contact with each other ; these
experiments prove that the spores of foul
brood are not floating in the air of hives con-
taining colonies suffering from foul brood.

I should consider a request to the Ontario
B. K. Association, Canada, asking if their legis-
lative powers has proven as useful as they
anticipated or hoped it would in the sup-
pression of foul brood — a timely move, before
we try to acquire legislative powers ourselves.
Possibly there are some of our readers who

take the Canadian Bee Journal and can post
us up on the point. — W. Woodley, Beedon,
Newbury.

BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX.

[2182.] In the B.B.J, for November 15,
1894, at page 453, you were kind enough to
publish a letter from me, No. 2112, and to give
me some most sound and practical advice in
response to some queries of mine contained
therein. 1 wish first of all to acknowledge my
obligations to superior experience and wisdom,
and to describe how I have benefited by your
valuable counsel. It will be in some respects
a confession of errors ; but so long as it remains
true that humanum est errare, so long will it
also be equally true that we may profit most
by our mistakes, if we only use them in the
right way.

In primis, I was mistaken in the amount of
syrup fed to my six hives (counting a " Wells "
as two stocks, which it seems to me we cannot
help doing). There was a miscalculation during
my five weeks' absence, and only about 200 lb.
(instead of 250 lb.) of sugar was fed to them.
I don't know how much syrup this would re-
present. Perhaps you could kindly give a
formula for this, which might prove useful to
others beside myself? [Roughly speaking,
about 250 or 270 lb. — Eds.J At any rate, my
bees only received in consequence something
like 33 lb. of sugar for each stock.

When I discovered this, I began to doubt
the accuracy of some of my conclusions. And,
in effect, upon lifting the upper stories, in ac-
cordance with your advice, I soon discovered
that appearances had been deceptive, and that
little or no comb building and storing had
taken place below. In fact, there was only
one hive in which I could venture to drive the
bees below, and place excluder zinc between
brood chamber and lift of shallow frames.
But I also transferred the frames in both divi-
sions of my " Wells " hive from the upper to
the lower story (they were all standard frames),
and covered the brood chambers with excluder
zinc, because I particularly want some standard
frame combs built out above in the spring, and
I wish to watch the process through my glass
covers. Of course, I shall have to feed well
for this.

My other three hives each have the bees in
the upper shallow lift, with a brood chamber
below filled with standard frames, with starters,
or incomplete and empty combs. The bees of
one of these three hives dwindled unaccount-
ably during my absence, and did not take food
like the rest. I should suppose they were
queenless, were they not so thoroughly content
and active. To-day I glanced at them through
the glass under the quilts, and although it was
just freezing outside, they were cheerfully
roaming over the tops of the combs, with plenty
of sealed stores within reach. I should ex-
plain that they are in a sheltered spot, with
full exposure to the sunshine throughout the
day — and it shone brightly all to-day. But

Jan. 17, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

25

there are hardly two seams of them, and yet
they appear quite happy.

The bees in the remaining two hives cluster
over the tops of the frames right up against
the glass covers, which, far from shunning,
they appear to like. They all seem well and
strong, flying singly until the frost set in a
•week ago ; and, of course, I am careful not to
take more than a momentary glance at them,
and keep them well covered, over the glass,
with six thicknesses of carpeting and carpet-
felt. They always feel warm.

Since the beginning of December, although
the weather here was singularly mild, the rain
and mist were so continuous that I do not
think the bees came out in numbers on any
single day ; at least, I have not observed it.
I have before me a tiny nosegay picked from
my small garden on the shortest day (Decem-
ber 21), and it contains rosebuds, mig-
nonette, primroses, sweet alyssum, wall-
flower, cornflower, violets, everlasting-mallow,
calendula, and stock ; a curious mixture.
Things seem quite out of season. Some spring
stocks have nearly done flowering ; one or two
campanulas are blooming, while the autumn
alyssum is not yet over, although that sown
for the spring is already in flower. The
laurustinus is flowering profusely, and in
November was much favoured by the bees.
Of course, the hard frosts and slight snow
have spoiled and checked all this ; but it was
pleasant while it lasted. It was time, how-
ever, that the too-forward buds and blossoms
should be checked ; but daffodils and crocuses
are already showing above ground, and I first
saw some ten days ago.

I was much amused the other day, on look-
ing down at one of my clusters of bees, to
observe a large fly hoverirjg around it inside
the hive, apparently very happy, and quite
ignored by the bees. Now, if I mistake not, 1
had some days previously observed this gentle-
man, or his first cousin, making desperate
attempts to enter the hive. He would roam
about the entrance in an aimless and careless
manner, but each sudden attempt to enter was
frustrated by an angry buzz and rush from the
sentinel bees. However, there he was at last
in comfortable winter quarters, evidently
well satisfied with himself and contemptuously
tolerated.

A query which has occurred to me is this :
watching my bees in their endeavours to
pass from the tops of the frames to the under
side of the glass covers has made me ask
myself — Are not the bits of brace comb the
bees' ladders or staircases ? And are we right
in always removing them ? I have made up
my mind to destroy no more, except where
absolutely necessary, because, for the life of me,
I cannot see how, without their help the bee
is to pass up and down through the stories of
the hive with anything like facility and
despatch.

However, this letter is far too long, and I
hasten to conclude, with my best thanks and

all seasonable good wishes to the British Bee
Journal, its courteous conductors, and all
fellow-readers and contributors. — W. R. N.,
Sussex, January 4.

THE " BURNING QUESTION."
[2183.] I have read your very interesting
and instructive journal now for some years,
and thought it was quite time I sent you a
line to say how much 1 appreciate the valuable
teaching therein contained. The practical
application of " Useful Hints " has brought
to me a fair measure of success, till the hive
and its busy workers have a fascination for me
which few things can equal. Until I became
a reader of the B.B.J, my knowledge of bees
was confined to skeps, sulphur-pits, &c, and I
know of no method so likely to make keepers
of bees bee-keepers as a weekly acquaintance
with the best thought and practical experience
of those who have made the subject a special
study.

Talk about " a large capacity for ignorance,"
friend " Goose " (p. 504), why, some folks have
lived between sixty and seventy years, and
have not yet learned to distinguish a bee from
a ivasp ! I had a fine swarm treated to a
bucket of boiling water as soon as they had
clustered, and lest this should not prove suffi-
ciently destructive, a pound of powdered sul-
phur was sprinkled over the poor wriggling
mass of bees — " I don't want the wretched
wasps in my house" (thirty yards down garden),
" kill 'em all, gardener ! " He did his (best)
worst. " What did I do 1 " Did a weep —
couldn't help it.

The " burning question '' will, I trust, ere
the close of '95, have become a question of
burning, and the application of the " Conta-
gious Diseases (Animals) Act '' applied to bees
under the administration of B.B.K.A. Experts
only have done much to rid the industry of
this noxious pest, but I am told authorities
move slow. Then agitate, agitate, agitate ! Let
it be at once understood and acknowledged
that bee-keeping is a profitable rural occupa-
tion, and foul brood as detrimental to success
as lung or foot-and-mouth in cattle, and the
application of the law as just and reasonable
in the one case as in the other. But there are
other considerations apart from the stamping
out of disease which must not be altogether
ignored. In the case of animals, a suitable
place of habitation has to be provided, and
all reasonable precautions taken to prevent
an outbreak. Oh, that this were applied to
bees ! Some persons provide for the comfort
and well-being of their bees in such a manner,
especially with bar-frame hives, as to court
disease and failure. I went to see some
recently advertised for sale, and I found, not
simply disease, but every provision for safety
and comfort absolutely disregarded. Wide
entrances, leaky roofs ; hives looked ten years
old, and never seen a coat of paint ; bees
covering perhaps two frames, with nine or ten

26

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 17, 1895.

mouldy combs to keep warm into the bargain ;
no sealed stores, and, of course, no candy ; two
thicknesses only of covering, and this damp
and mildewed. One is reminded of a certain
society established for the prevention of
cruelty, &c. ; but notwithstanding occasional
instances of this kind, one is glad to find
that in '94 " the pursuit has made very
marked progress." What shall be done in
'95 ? Double queen stocks will become more
popular as the economic principle is more
fully appreciated and the simple details of
Mr. Wells's system more minutely carried out ;
tbe self-hiver will be brought nearer per-
fection ; additional colonial competition give
an increased impetus to the home industry ;
and, what is most important at this juncture
is, double the number of readers of the B.B.J.
I'll venture a suggestion, Messrs. Editors
(asking your pardon for the audacity in a first
letter). (Eightpence enclosed). A few
coppers' worth of odd copies, please, for
gratuitous distribution (enclosed cost) among
non-reading bee-keepers, and that one at least
may become a permanent reader. That
success may attend the efforts of B.B.K.A.
committee re "the powers," and a happy and
successful new year to the craft, is the sincere
wish of— Old Ebony.

[We are very pleased to forward odd copies
free so far as stamps sent cover cost of
carriage, and will gladly furnish such to others
for the same object, and on same terms. — Eds.

SCHOOLMASTERS AND BEE-
KEEPING.

[2184.] From the Schoolmaster of Decem-
ber 29, 1894, I extract the following communi-
cation. It is a paper read by almost every
teacher in the kingdom : —

" KEEP BEES.

" Sir, — I understand that in consequence of
great loss caused to bee-keepers, among whom
are many members of the union, throughout
the country, by the prevalence of ' foul brood,'
steps are being taken to bring the matter
under the consideration of the Government,
with a view to the prevention of the disease.
Many rural members of the union are probably
interested in this subject, and I should be glad
to hear from any of them who have views upon
this point.— J. H. Yoxall, General Secretary,
National Union of Teachers, 71, Russell -
square."

I see there are a couple of "geese " quarrel-
ling in the B.B.J., and feathers are flying con-
siderably . It is generally supposed that age,
rather than height or weight, determines that
peculiar " density " common to the goose tribe.
I believe they live, if permitted, to a great age.
Willoughby records an instance of one that
reached the age of eighty years, and was killed
at last for its mischievousness ! I hope no
such untimely fate awaits either of your
combatants.— E. D. T., Eijnsford, January 12.

BOGUS FOUL-BROOD REMEDIES;

[2185.] When I read the communication
2158, p. 4, in last week's Journal I was not
aware who " Wilfred Hardie " was, nor do I
now know who he is, as we have no person of
that name belonging to our association (Wor-
cestershire), in which county Bromsgrove is
situated ; but on seeing the statement anent
expert's remarks re "foul brood and
American mixture" I naturally became
curious as to what expert (?) he could refer.
I was certain I had made no such rash and un-
guarded statement as that quoted, because I
have a very wholesome dread of the horrid
pest, and hence could never do such a foolish
thing as " introduce a foul-broody comb into a
healthy stock of bees," neither for the purpose
of "experimenting" nor any other purpose,
as unfortunately I have met with too many
opportunities of experimenting without
making such. Perhaps we may hear again
from your correspondent, when he will inform
us to whom he refers. To say the least, it
was very unwise for any expert to make such
a remark in the hearing of an inexperienced
bee-keeper.

With reference to a " mixture of American
invention," I also should be glad to meet with
it ; and then — yes, and then ! — I'd tell to all
around what a precious remedy I'd found —
but, alas ! Bosh !

I am pleased to say that, so far as my
observation and information extend, our
county is not suffering from this pest to any
great extent ; but I fear, when I see, as I
sometimes do, the slovenly way in which some
apiaries are kept that the "conditions" are
being made ready for its introduction, and the
path is being prepared along which it will
travel with rapid steps.

I will not enter upon the question which
forms the burden of your " editorial " of last
week, except to remark that I am quite at
one with you as to the importance and the
absolute necessity of some such steps as those
suggested by the special committee being
taken without delay, and to this end I will
endeavour to furnish for the committee's use
such information as I may possess or obtain
respecting my own county.

Trusting you may be able to discover, and
then, having discovered, to disclose to us
through the medium of the B.B.J, this
"mixture of American invention," I will
thank you in anticipation of a " consummation
so devoutly to be wished." — E. Davenport,
First-Class Expert and Hon. Sec. Worcester-
shire Bee-Keepers' Association.

COMPULSORY POWERS.

a bee-man's opinion.
[2186.] I am much interested in the ques-
tion now being dealt with in the British
Bee Journal, and should like to tell
you what I know of foul brood in this district
South Hants). I am sorry to say it is not

Jan. 17, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

27

unknown by any means, or, rather, it has been
known in past years and made itself felt in
more cases than one. I started bee-keeping
some ten years since, and was very fortunate
with regard, to keeping clear of the disease
until about three years ago, when there seemed
to be something the matter with my bees.
On examining the hives I was astonished
and alarmed to find some of my very
best stocks ruined. This was the summer of
1892, and you may remember I asked advice
from you which was kindly given. That year
I lost six of my best lots, but I experimented
on two of the lots before destroying them, as
follows : — After burning all combs containing
dead brood, I put five of the outside combs
into an empty hive and fumigated well with
sulphur burnt under them in good quantity ;
then placing the hive, not on the old stand,
but halfway between the two, I united the
bees of both lots, saving the youngest queen.
I examined them again about fourteen
days after, and found splendid patches
of healthy brood ; they went through the
next summer, and gave me a little surplus
honey, but for some reason the bees never
thoroughly recovered, though they did not die
of foul brood. I might as well, therefore,
have destroyed them with the rest, but I
gained experience. I am glad to be able now
to tell you that although I have about thirty
stocks, all in bar-frame hives, I don't think
there is foul-broody comb in the apiary. In
this district there are a good many people who
keep a few skeps, and 1 have the bees for the
trouble of driving and taking the honey for
them, and I can truthfully say I have not seen
a sign of the disease for the last two seasons.
I believe it is only under certain conditions
that foul brood gets a hold on stocks. It did
not follow that because some of mine were
affected that it would go through the apiary,
but I think that once a stock has the disease
it is best to put an end to it, instead of tam-
pering with it, trying to cure.

With regard to "compulsory powers," I
think it is rather an uncertain piece of business,
but so far as I am concerned I should be quite
willing for an efficient expert to come and look
at all mine, even though he condemned all that
were diseased. But if once a thing gets into
the hands of the " powers that be," the question
is how far will they carry that power ? Every-
thing in the bee line should be attended to by
thoroughly practical men, and everything
directed and ruled by such men. Bees are
very different to pigs, and I consider it requires
more care and thought for a man to come and
overhaul an apiary than to overhaul a pigsty.
Bearing this in mind, I should have a very
strong objection to any one touching my bees,
unless I gave them the liberty to do so. I
never touch them myself unless absolutely
necessary, because I believe that too much
handling and overhauling has a tendency to
spread disease more than stop it. I should,
however, be very pleased to do anything in my

power in helping to stamp out the evil, and
very sorry to say anything against what our
leading bee-men believe to be the right course
in endeavouring to check the same. I wish
the committee of the B.B.K.A. and yourselves
every success in what you hope to do, and wish
all bee-keepers a prosperous New Year. We
had a heavy fall of snow here on the night of
the 6th, and to-day (7 th) was obliged to shade
all entrances, the sun being rather warm.—
Owen Browning, King So?nbome, Hants,
January 7.

THE FOUL-BROOD CRUSADE.

DISCORDANT NOTES.

[2187.] Now that our banner is aloft and
British bee-keepers are marshalled in full war-
paint to crush out foul brood by means of
" compulsory powers," it is a bit discouraging
to hear from the " front " such discordant
sounds as reach us in " A Briton's " letter
(2169, p. 13). Another harsh note sounds on
p. 18 (2178), but I judged this to emanate
either from one who lacked experience of the
enemy, or else has suffered from a too intimate
acquaintance therewith. Surely, however, no
bee association, or responsible members of
one, have indulged in such an unwholesome
luxury (?) without desiring anything short of
its extermination ? If they have, and the
crusade fails through any such crass imbecility,
they have laid the groundwork of their own
ruin as bee-keepers. To my mind it is clear
that, unless something is done, and that soon,
bee associations and bee-keepers worth the
name will be matters of history only before
many years have passed ; while the craft as
we wish to see it — i.e., flourishing and
advancing — will be a dream of the past.

Never was a great cause won without oppo-
sition, nor will the one we have engaged in
be won without combined effort, and it is
eminently satisfactory to find that bee-keepers
as a body are so nearly unanimous on this
question ; for every right-thinking man among
us agrees that no half measures are of any use
in coping with foul brood in the virulent form
it has now assumed in many counties. No one
can judge the extent of the trouble in some
districts but those who have seen it — and I am
one of them — and we are surely entitled to
have some little weight attached to what we
say.

To my mind we must look below the
surface, and while fairly taking into con-
sideration some immediate disadvantages, and
perhaps small pecuniary loss, should well
weigh the ultimate benefit to all if bee-pest
can be got rid of. For this reason I think
every one interested should lend a helping
hand in advancing the object in view, and
assisting the B.B.K.A. to obtain the powers
by means of which the craft will be placed on
a firmer and better basis than heretofore.

Mr. A. D. Woodley, on p. 17, talks as if
everthing depended on compensation. Com-

28

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 17, 1895.

pensation for what ? Surely not for the misfor-
tune of being afflicted with a contagious disease,
even among one's bees. It appears to me the
boot, in such a case, is put on the wrong foot.
Let bee-keepers rally to the "British"standard,
and render help, in the way they have been
asked, to the Committee of the B.B.K.A., and,
unless I am much mistaken, the benefits to
accrue will more than compensate for slight
temporary loss, should such occur. For my-
self, I am quite sure that our interests will be
looked after by the committee of the central
association, of which, I am pleased to say, I
am a member, though not a committeeman. I
enclose name, &c, but beg to subscribe myself
— "A Little Healthy Bee.':

COMPULSORY POWERS.
[2188.] I have been reading with much
interest the several articles in your issues of
January 3 and January 10, re the compulsory
powers for the suppression of foul-brood, and
wish you every success in your campaign
against this arch-enemy of all bee-keepers ;
and it has only been pressure of business that
has prevented me endeavouring to push my
mite in the good cause. Your correspondent
[2157, page 3] is evidently one of those very
bee-keepers who cannot see that the powers
sought for by the B.B.K.A. will be of great
and lasting benefit to the thousands of hard-
working bee-keepers. "Where is the hard-
ship in having a badly-diseased hive or
hives of bees destroyed and the hives pro-
perly disinfected 1 The bees would never do
any good, or be of any profit to their owner,
for in nearly all cases it is the weak hives that
contract the most virulent form of it. How-
would your correspondent like to have his bees
one side of a wall and know that there was a
badly-diseased hive on the other, which was
my case some two years since. His tone of
writing would be altered very quickly, if his
neighbour would not let him destroy it. If
the B.B.K.A. only succeed in their self-imposed
task they will earn the gratitude of all truly
interested in the development of the industry.
Inspectors will be found who will gently but
fearlessly do their duty, and if we all stamp
hard and stamp together the foul-brood
bacillus will soon be a rara avis here, for it
can be stamped out by energetic measures, not
half-hearted ones. A liberal use of the rhyme,
" If at first you don't succeed, Try, try, try
again," will have to be advised, and success will
come at last. My neighbour mentioned above
allowed me to conduct the funeral of that
badly-diseased hive, and this year he took
120 lb. from his three hives left on the same
stand ; a good record for hereabouts this year.
If the British B.K.A., when granting experts
certificates, made it a rule that all cases of
disease should be notified to them in forty-
eight hours they would get information enough
to direct operations against the foe. Taking
the bee-keepers in England and Scotland as a

body, I do not think they have any idea of the
number of infected districts and how the
disease is spreading. Here, in Lincolnshire, a
few years ago I knew of but one case, and that
in a town near where lived a correspondent,
who wrote to the B.B.J, thanking his stars
it was not in the county, when it was only about
three miles away from his own apiary, but now
from top to bottom of the county our association
experts report nearly a dozen centres of disease. I
have ofcen wondered that the British B.K.A.
do not publish a list of infected areas in the
B.B.J., but there seems a squeamishness
amongst bee-keepers in this respect, and f.b.
is always mentioned with bated breath ;
whereas knowledge of what districts were in-
fected would prevent many bee-keepers im-
porting the disease into their apiaries ; and if
we do get " compulsory powers " the Board of
Agriculture will surely proclaim the districts
the same as with other diseases, and where so
suitable a medium to warn bee-keepers as the
B.B.J, and the Record. Let all our B.K. asso-
ciations strengthen the hands of the British in
this matter till it does succeed in its effort to
give bee-keeping a recognised position as one
of the industries with State protection. —
F. J. Cribb, Ex-pert, Lincolnshire Bee-Keepers'
Association.

NOTES ON WHAT I KNOW,

AND ON WHAT I WANT TO KNOW.

[2189.] The late open weather has caused
an increased consumption of stores, but, thanks
to the new year, colder weather has come, and
the activity manifested has ceased. Bees are
now in winter-quarters, but they come out at
a lower temperature after than they do before
Christmas, so every warm day they will take
cleansing flights. Naturally, with the new
year, we begin to prepare for our spring work,
and the sooner we have all in order the better.
It is time to make calculations as to our
season's demands, for sections, frames, founda-
tion, and extra hives for increase of stock.
Orders should be given early, and discount
obtained before the manufacturers begin to
feel the pressure of harvest requirements.
These thoughts naturally draw our minds to
current and past topics discussed in our
journal, and of those asked, I, for one, wait
for further information— for instance, " Blow's ''
remedy for foul brood. We put a great deal
of faith in our Editors, and have no doubt that,
in view of the prominence given just now to
foul-brood curing, as soon as a discovery is
made, which they believe will kill the spores
and do the bees no injury, they will let us
know of it. There is no one, so far as I have
read, who has proved it a success and published
the news in the Bee Journal. I want to
know, why ?

So also Simmin's ' ' plumping " system is a
thing I would like to hear more of, yet no one
rises up to testify what glorious results accrue

Jan. 17, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

29

from its adoption. Has no one tried it? * I
tried a few strips of foundation on frames in
middle of brood nest, but, as I anticipated,
they were all filled up with drone brood, if the
hives were full of bees.

There are also one or two things I want to
say about honey for sale. It is a great mis-
take for vendors to bottle off into jars. Some
buyers want 14 oz., others 16 oz., and I find it
often leads to the lot being left on hand,
whereas if it was put into 7, 14, 28, or 56 lb.
tins, it could either be bottled to suit pur-
chasers, or sold in bulk ; and bee-keepers will,
as a rule, find the latter method far more pre-
ferable, except for their own local demand.
Again, the tins sold are not uniform, some sold
to hold 28 lb. have had over 40 lb. put into
them, others sold for 141b. would only hold
12 lb. There is a great demand for honey in
tins of uniform sizes, and our manufacturers
should see that their tin goods are of the size
they sell them for.

I see you have plenty of New Year's good
wishes, and I add mine to you and the bee
fraternity. — Geo. Stocks, Sandiicay, North-
u-ich, January 8.

FOUL-BROOD REMEDIES.

[2190.] Your correspondent, who in his last
letter (2174, p. 16) adopts my improved
nam de plume, like most anonymous writers, is
apparently much aggrieved at an expression of
opinion which differs from his own ; but his
specious argument as to the selfishness of a
possessor of a remedy who " vends that remedy
for private gain," however well it might work
in Utopia, is hardly practicable in the present
condition of life. If a man spends his energies
on perfecting an invention, he is assuredly
entitled to reap the advantages that may
accrue from his success ? Nay, more than this,
if he has others depending on him, and has to
work for a living, it is his positive duty to
make the best bargain he can for himself and
for them. Suppose he fails in his efforts, who
will compensate him for lost time ? If he
succeeds, why should he not profit by his
labour 1 If the patent laws are to be abolished — ■
for that is the logical outcome of " A Big
Goose's " argument — improvements and pro-
gress will be greatly delayed, for the chief in-
centive to invention will be removed.

As pointed out in my last, it is to private
enterprise, and not to State intervention, that
we owe nearly every advance made in all con-
ditions of life, as well as in matters apicultural.
State interference with the freedom of the in-
dividual has rarely produced the results anti-
cipated by its supporters, as, for example,
when typhoid-fever and diphtheria were
diffused by a State- ordered system of drainage
in Edinboro'.

On the very significant remark made by Mr.
H. T. Spice (2178, p. 18) ia this week's
Journal — " I suppose no one will deny that
there is a u con " as well as a " pro " as to the

efficacy of compulsory powers " — our " patient
and long-suffering Editors make no comment ;
and I would beg bee-keepers to bear this in
mind, and to reflect on what may be the
ultimate issue of this seemingly simple step
which is contemplated : for, remember, he can-
not act on one aspect of the case without
affecting it more or less in all its other phases.
When "A Big Goose" asks if I am in
favour of the spread of glanders, rinderpest,
rabies, &c, he might as well inquire if I were
in favour of battle, murder, and sudden death !
but I am tempted to ask him if he can con-
scientiously affirm that by Governmental
interference these diseases he has named have
been eradicated 2 If not, why should he
expect any more favourable result from a
similar interference on behalf of foul brood ? —
E. H. Hopkins, Green Hill, near Bromsgrove,
January 12, 1895.

ASSOCIATION HONEY LABELS.

[2191.] I am very pleased to see more
letters in the B. B. J. on this subject. The
somewhat disconsolate tone of the writers is
most excellent testimony to the value of the
label scheme. Only three days ago I called on
a B.K.A. secretary who had just received an
order from a persevering member for 1,000
Association labels. In the bee-keeper's letter
there was the following remark : — " I don't
quite see, though, what good they will be to
me if Association labels are used on such honey

as I saw labelled in a shop window in ."

What was the prompt answer of the secretary ?
" Please buy a jar for me ! " The sequel to
follow !— A Constant Reader.

STARTING BEE ASSOCIATIONS.

HELP WANTED IN SUSSEX.

[2192.] I have been a reader of your
valuable little journal now for upwards of six
months, and greatly interested in it. One
thing that especially interested me of late was
the subject referred to by " Kent Bee-Keeper "
in B.B. J., November 29 (2122), for, as a young
beginner in the business, I naturally feel that
an association for Sussex would be a great
boon. It is, I am sure, only expressing the
views of many others besides myself, in fully
endorsing the remarks of "Kent Bee-Keeper"
about starting an association in Sussex ; and
there is no doubt that bee-keepers in the
county would be very glad to know that there
was a likelihood of us having an association
established among us.

Who will make a start ? There are a good
number of bee-keepers around this neighbour-
hood, which is not far from Hastings. Surely
there must be some one in or near that town
who would take the matter up ? Now that we
are beset by that dread foe, foul brood, we
certainly ought to try and combine for the
general good of all lovers of bees, and there

30

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 17, 1895.

seems, to my mind, no better way than to form
a county association. I trust that some one
else will give us a little help on the way by
stating their opinion. — H. Screes, Pett,
Sussex.

WAX EXTRACTING.

[2193.] For the last twelve months I have
been patiently waiting to see " Buzzing's "
report anent his method of extracting wax.
In his letter, 1678, p. 507, Vol. 21., he some-
what condemns my plan, as described on
p. 347 (1537), Vol. 21. Whether my mode
is a good one or not I leave others to deter-
mine, but I find it very satisfactory ; and if
" Buzzing " will please turn to p. 373, Vol. 22,
he will there see that I took the first prize for
beeswax at the annual show of the Worcester-
shire B.K.A. — Percy Leigh, Beemount, Stoke
Prior, Worcestershire.

UNITING BEES.
[2194] The plan mentioned by Dr. Miller
can be successfully carried out if done according
to his directions. I united two lots together in
two different cases without any hitch what-
ever. Years ago I have placed a sheet of
perforated zinc between two stocks for a day
or two, and then, after taking it off, have
placed frames side by side, and all was plea-
sant going after that. — John Walton,
Weston, Leamington.

df wrics and Replies.

[1226.] " Uniting'' and Queenlessness. —
Will you please to give me your advice on the
following ? Last October we— myself and
friend — united some driven bees to a stock to
strengthen up for wintering. We found both
queens, and decided which one we would
allow to head the colony. My friend secured
the queen not wanted, and made two steps to
get the cage for her, when she slipped from his
fingers. We searched all over, but failed to
find her, and my friend (an old bee-keeper and
third-class expert) said she might have got
back into the hive, and if so would be thrown
out in about three days. I kept a good watch,
but no queen was thrown out. This was in
October. On December 19— a cold day — I
found a queen outside the hive. I picked her
up, and said to myself " dead as a door-nail."
I put her on my cool greenhouse stage, being
obliged to hasten away to business. On
returning in the evening I brought her indoors
for examination, and though she had appa-
rently never moved in the greenhouse (being
on her back), in less than half an hour she
showed signs of life, and in a short time was
able to crawl about. This she did for two
hours before finally dying. I may be mis-
taken ; but, as far as my judgment goes, this
is not the queen we left in the hive. I want

to ask you : — 1. Is it at all likely that two
queens could be in this hive from October 8
to December 19 1 2. How must I proceed to
find out if I have a queen or no in this hive 1
If the hive is queenless it upsets my plan for
next season, as I have only four stocks, and
meant to double into two for the honey-time.
3. If I buy a queen, can the stock be worked
up to be available for this season for doubling ?
— Wm. Carr, Blackburn, January 9.

Reply. — 1. Under the circumstances it is
quite possible the queen thrown is the one
which escaped after uniting. 2. Nothing less
than examining the comb for brood, so soon as
the weather is warm enough, will decide
whether the stock is queenless or not. 3. If a
prolific queen fcan be secured early in the
season there need be no difficulty in working
the stock up to full strength by the time the
honey season opens in Lancashire.

Noticesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it it
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Mr. G. Wells writes expressing regret that
press of business prevents him from answer-
ing several inquiries which have been
addressed to him through the B.J. He
will, however, take an opportunity of doing
so in an early number.

T. L. (Wigtown, N.B ).— Distance Apart for
Hives. — 1. Where there is room, 6 ft. to 8 ft.
is near enough for hives to stand to each
other. 2. The main mischief arising from
hives being too close together is that queens
are apt to mistake their hives on returning
from their mating flights.

Kenelm Goss (Langland). — Transferring
Bees. — Full instructions for transferring are
given on pp. 139-140 of "Guide Book"
(13th ed.). To be successfully done, how-
ever, the proper season must be chosen for
the operation ; nor should it be forgotten
that unless the combs in skep are not over
one year old and in good condition they are
not worth transferring to a frame - hive
at all.

S. Dickinson (Slough). — Dimensions of
Shallow-frame. — Experts' Certificates. — The
dimensions of the shallow-frame are exactly
those of the " Standard," less 3 in. in depth,
viz., 14 in. by 5^ in., with 17 in. top-bar.
Apply to the secretary of the B.B.K.A.,
Mr. J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts., who
will furnish particulars regarding experts'
certificates.

Jan. 24, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

31

(Mtaral, $a&m, &&

TO OUR CORRESPONDENTS.
The very considerable number of our
pages which have, for several weeks past,
been taken up in ventilating the question
of compulsory powers for dealing with
foul brood, forces upon us the necessity
for curtailing the correspondence regard-
ing it. Signs are not wanting in private
letters which reach us, that the subject is
becoming tiresome to a good many,
especially as many of the later communi-
cations partake of the character of lengthy
discussions between individuals. This is
particularly the case with a number of
letters before us as Ave write, and we are
perforce compelled to say that our space
is too limited for such. Our corre-
spondents must also pardon us for saying
that we can see no possible outcome of
good to bee-keeping in discussing such
subjects as " the fitness of the present
law for dealing with infectious diseases,"
or the far more personally interesting
question, " If Inspectors be appointed,
who is to pay their salaries 1 " however
sincerely it is to be hoped that we bee-
keepers will not be "let in" for it.

The above remarks also apply to what
may appropriately be called the "Goose"
letters, lately appearing in our pages,
which seem to increase in number and
length as time goes on. We have on our
" file " just now communications headed
or signed " A Big Goose," " Another
Big Goose," "A Little Goose," "A
Big Gander," and " Another Quack."
In some of these the tendency to per-
sonality largely predominates over what
can be classed as either useful or inte-
resting to the general reader. Moreover,
if this sort of thing were allowed to go
on, there would be some risk of the
B.B.J, being included among the
poultry journals of the country, to say
nothing of the bee-keepers being counted
among "the geese."

Seriously, however, we thank our
several correspondents for the expression
of their views as contained in letters
sent ; the salient points in them will be
carefully noted, and the whole laid
before the committee of the B.B.K.A.
appointed to deal with the subject, and
such suggestions as are of value will, no
doubt, be thankfully adopted wherever

possible. In the meantime we this week
substitute several articles already in tj-pe
and patiently waiting insertion. Bearing
in mind also our " Index for 1895," we
may be pardoned for suggesting that
such undesirable headings to letters as
are referred to above may in the future
be dispensed with.

BEITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

Nominations of members of the association
for election on the committee for the year
1895, must be made not later than Thursday,
January 31 ; forms for such nominations may
be obtained upon application to the secretary.

The annual general meeting of the members
of the association -will be held at 105, Jermyn-
street, S.W., on Thursday, February 21, at
3.30 p.m., the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, presi-
dent of the association, in the chair.

Notice of motions for this meeting must be
received by the secretary not later than
February 7.

A conversazione will be held after the close
of the general meeting. Members desirous of
introducing subjects for discussion, or sub-
mitting new and improved appliances, are re-
quested to communicate with the secretary as
early as possible.

The prize list for bees, hives and honey,
offered for competition at the Royal Agricul-
tural Show, to be held at Darlington, in June
next, are now ready.

The secretary will be glad to receive sub-
scriptions for the current year, which became
due on January 1. — John Huckle, Secretary,
King's Langhtj, January 21, 1S95.

KENT BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

ANNUAL MEETING, 1895.

The annual meeting of this Association was
held on Wednesday, January 18, at the Pump
Room, Tunbridge Wells, the Rev. T. S.
Curteis occupying the chair. There was a
numerous attendance of members, and it was
evident that the locality chosen for the meet-
ing was a good one.

The report of the council contained
numerous topics of interest, especially those
referring to foul-brood, and the foreshadowing
of the annual exhibition in the coming
summer. Other matters, such as the co-opera-
tion of the Kent County Council in the work
of extending bee-keeping, the production and
issuing of the Association honey label, and
the Canterbury Show during the past
summer were dealt with ; while the financial
statement inspired hope that the task of
management in the future might be lightened.

The thanks of the meeting were most
cordially given to the council and officers,
whose services were fully recognised.

The drawing of prizes— viz., a bar frame

32

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 24, 1895.

hive and supering racks — was duly performed,
two ladies kindly undertaking the task, and
resulted in favour of Louis Curtis (Seal), who
gained the hive, and C. Woolgar (Etching-
ham), Geo. Banner (Minster, Sheppy), H.
Munson (also of Minster), and G. Bowers
(Betteshanger), who each receive a " W.B.C."
supering rack.

A cordial vote of thanks to the chairman
for his conduct in the chair brought the pro-
ceedings to a close.

Subsequently to the meeting a short adjourn-
ment occurred for tea, after which a confe-
rence, which bad been previously announced,
between Kent and Sussex bee-keepers, was
held, the object being to initiate a movement
for establishing a bee-keepers' association for
Sussex.

A resolution expressing the desirableness of
such a step was unanimously agreed upon and
Mr. Garratt, hon. sec. of [the Kent B.K. Asso-
ciation, was requested to receive names of all
those who were prepared to give it their aid.

Mr. G. W. Hole, of Patcham, was in atten-
dance and exhibited his " Swarm Catcher :'
and gave explanations concerning it.

Mr. H. W. Brice also exhibited his most
interesting specimens connected with the
advanced method of queen rearing. A sample
of fine honey of 1882 was exhibited, thirteen
years old, the flavour and aroma were
declared by several beekeepers to be perfect.

At seven o'clock Mr. W. H. Harris, B.Sc, a
member of the committee of the B.B.K.A., de-
livered an exceedingly interesting lecture on
" Bees and Bee-keeping.'' The audience was
both numerous and thoroughly appreciative.

NORTHAMPTON BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The 12th annual meeting of the N.B.K.A.
was held on Saturday, January 12, in All
Saints' Schools, Northampton. Mr. A. L. Y.
Morley presided over a good attendance of
members. Letters of apology for absence
were received from several members. After
the minutes of the last meeting had been read
and confirmed, the chairman called on the
secretary to read the report for the past year,
which referred to the season of '94 as a dis-
appointing one for bee-keepers, notwith-
standing which a fairly good show of honey
was staged at the annual show. In connection
with the County Council grant, lectures on
bee-keeping have been delivered by Messrs.
Truss, Perry, and Adams respectively, at a
number of villages within the county, besides
outdoor demonstrations under the same
auspices at several agricultural shows. Lec-
tures and demonstrations alike were well
attended, and aroused an amount of interest
which will, no doubt, lead to the permanent
benefit of the association and the community
at large. The report went on to express the
pleasure it afforded the committee to state that
the association is in a fairly prosperous con-
dition, though its usefulness is limited through

lack of funds. An appeal is, therefore, made
for additional subscribers.

The balance-sheet showed receipts (includ-
ing £25 from the County Council) amounting
to ,£62. 15s. 2d., with an expenditure of
£49. 4s. 7d., leaving a credit balance of
£13. 10s. 7d. Of this sum upwards of £5
will be required to meet the cost of lectures
already arranged for to take place early this
year. The report and balance-sheet as read
were passed, after which the election of officers
for the year 1895 took place. It was decided
to invite J. L. Stratton, Esq., J.P., Turweston
House, Brackley, to accept the office of presi-
dent for the current year. The following
gentlemen were appointed on the executive
committee : — Mr. 0. L. Y. Morley (chairman),
Messrs. J. Francis, E. Ball, Manning, H.
Collins, C. Cox, G. Page, 0. Orland, J. R.
Truss, T. E. Adams, J. Cox, and J. Phillips.
Mr. R. Hefford was reappointed secretary, Mr.
G. E. Atkins treasurer, and Mr. J. Francis '
auditor.

Considerable discussion took place as to the
advisability of adopting a county honey label,
but it was decided to adjourn the matter to a
future meeting. The best thanks of the
meeting were also given to the B.B.K.A. for
the efforts they were making to eradicate foul
brood, and it was hoped that compulsory
powers, with fair compensation for destruction,
would be obtained. Meeting closed with a
vote of thanks to the chairman.

AMERICAN FOUL BROOD-ACT.

Lansing, Mich., February 3, 1881.

A Bill To prevent the spread of Foul
Brood among bees, and to extirpate the
same.

Section 1. The People of the State of
Michigan enact, That it shall be unlawful for
any person to keep in his apiary any colony
of bees affected with the contagious malady
known as foul brood ; and it shall be the duty
of every bee-keeper, as soon as he becomes
aware of the existence of said disease among
his bees, to forthwith destroy or cause to be
destroyed all colonies thus affected.

Sec. 2. In any county in this State in
which foul brood exists, or in which there are
good reasons to believe it exists, it shall be
lawful for any five or more actual bee-keepers
of said county to set forth such fact, belief, or
apprehension in a petition addressed to the
judge of probate, requiring him to appoint a
competent commissioner to prevent the spread
of said disease and to eradicate the same ;
which petition shall be filed with and become
a part of the records of the court where such
application is made.

Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the judge of
probate, on receipt of the petition specified in
section 2 of this Act, to appoint within ten
days thereafter a well-known and competent
bee-keeper of said county, as a commissioner,

Jan. 24, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

33

•who shall hold his office during the pleasure of
said court; and a record of such order of
appointment, and revocation, when revoked,
shall be filed as a part of the records of said
court.

Sec. 4. It shall he the duty of said com-
missioner, within ten days of his appointment
as aforesaid, to file his acceptance of the same
with the court from whom he received his
appointment.

Sec. 5. Upon complaint of any two bee-
keepers of said county in writing and on oath
to said commissioner, setting forth that said
disease exists, or that they have good reason
to believe it exists within said county,
designating the apiary or apiaries wherein
they believe it to be, it shall become the
duty of the commissioner, to whom such com-
plaint is delivered, to proceed without un-
necessary delay to examine the bees so
designated, and if he shall become satisfied
that any colony or colonies of said bees are
diseased with foul brood, he shall without
further disturbance to said bees, fix some
distinguishing mark upon each hive wherein
exists said foul brood, and immediately notify
the person to whom said bees belong, personally
or by leaving a written notice at his place of
residence, if he be a resident of such county,
and if such owner be a non-resident of such
county, then by leaving the same with the
person having in charge such bees, requiring
said person, within five days, Sundays excepted,
from the date of said notice, to effectually
remove or destroy said hives, together with
their entire contents, by burying them or by
fire.

Sec. 6. If any person [neglects to destroy or
cause to be destroyed said hives and their
contents in the manner as described in
section 5, after due notification, he shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and punished
by a fine not to exceed 50 dollars for the first
offence, and for each additional offence he shall
be liable to a fine not to exceed 100 dollars, at
the discretion of the court ; and any justice of
the peace of the township where said bees
exist shall have jurisdiction thereof.

Sec. 7. The commissioner shall be allowed
for services under this Act, 2 dollars for each
full day, and 1 dollar for each half-day, the
account to be audited by the board of super-
visors.

Sec. 8. In all suits and prosecutions under
this Act, it shall be necessary to prove that
said bees were actually diseased or infected
with foul brood.

DIALYSIS OF HONEY.

A firm of analytical and consulting chemists
write as follows concerning the dialysis of
honey, and, deeming the matter ' to be of
general interest, we print below the letter
and our replies to the several questions put: —

Dear Sirs, — We have been making an
examination of honey, according to Dr. Haenle's

method as described by you in the Bee
Journal of October 25, 1894.

About some of the points we are in doubt,
and so your answers to the enclosed queries
will very much oblige. ;

If we can at any time reciprocate your
anticipated goodness Ave shall only too glad to
do so. — Yours, &c, McCowan & Biggart,
Greenock, December 29.

Queries.

1. Are the degrees to which you refer sugar
or circular degrees ?

2. Was your polarising tube a 200 mille-
metre tube ? If not, what was its length ?

3. You put the average normal polarisation
of honey at — 30. Is this the polarisation of
an undiluted honey, or is it rather the polar-
isation of a 50 per cent, solution ?

4. In your paper you say, " The sample is
placed on the dialyser as shown, water being
allowed to flow so that the parchment is
depressed."' What do these remarks mean
exactly ?

Answers.
1. Sugar degrees, as we use a Soleil-Duboscq
polariscope.
• 2. Yes, 200 millimetres long.

3. In every case the honey diluted 2 to 1,
so that it is a 50 per cent, solution. Normal
honey, 30, + or — , according as to whether it
is flower or pine (conifer) honey.

4. This you will hardly understand without
seeing the special dialyser used. If vou
understand German, we will send you a paper
containing an illustration of the dialyser,
which would enable vou to make one.

<8/mwgtm&mt.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <kc, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

•»• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

" COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS AND

EXPERT'S VISITS."
[2195.] I notice there is some correspon-
dence of late in your columns on the above
subject, finding fault with the way this part of
association work is carried on. Now, as one
who has had a good deal to do with the work-
ing of one of our largest county associations

34

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 24, 1895.

for several years, I ask for a little space in
your paper to say a word on the other side, i.e.,
the executive's.

The complaint is that many members do not
receive the expert's visit, for which they join
the association. In my own association, one
of the rules —a copy of which is sent to every
member of the association in the annual
report — is that " all subscriptions shall be
payable in advance, and shall become due on
the day of the annual meeting (held in
February) in each year, and until such sub-
scription be paid no member shall be entitled
to the privileges of the association."

On April 1, out of a list of 351 members
thirty- eight only had sent in their subscrip-
tions. In addition to a copy of the report
containing this rule, a circular was sent out, in
it asking those members who wished for the
services of the expert to send a post-card to
the secretary as early as possible. I do not
think there was a single response to this
circular ? Nearly !200 of our members take the
Record through the association, in the
January number of which an insert was added
notifying to members that acceptance of the
Record would signify their wish to continue
membership, and have the paper sent during
the year. This was put in owing to the heavy
loss the association had been put to by people
accepting Records during the year and re-
fusing to pay their subscription*. In spite of
this insert, sixteen members who have accepted
Records have not yet taken any notice of the
two circulars asking for their 1894 subscrip-
tions. These are a few of the troubles the
executives of county associations have to put up
with, which, considering the time and money
many give to the work, is disheartening.

I maintain that if members would support
the committee of their associations by fol-
lowing the rules, there would not be many
cases of neglect of members.

The expert question is one of very great
difficulty with us, owing to the scarcity of
suitable men for the post. If we had several
men in the county who would visit members
at so much a head, the work might be done
more satisfactorily and cheaper. I should like
to see more candidates for the third-class certifi-
cate of the B.B.K. A., and hope more will come
forward this year. — Tuos. D. Schofield,
Alderley Edge, Cheshire, January 4, 1895.

TREATMENT OF FOUL BROOD.

[2196.] In the summer of last year I
explained at a quarterly meeting of the
B.B.K.A., and in a letter to the journal, some
experiments I had made with regard to the
treatment of foul brood. Having continued
these experiments through two seasons I am
now in a position to give some farther results.

While speaking, however, upon the subject
of "treatment" let me preface my remarks
by an expression of the strongest approval of
those measures which are now bein<f taken for

the purpose of obtaining compulsory legis-
lation in respect to this disease. In the
interests of the industry there is no doubt that
it is urgently required. This we must have
before effectual steps can be taken to stay the
plague. While heartily concurring then with
the efforts now being made in this direction, I
at the same time feel very strongly the neces-
sity that exists for more effective measures of
treatment than any we yet possess, to go hand
in hand with our Act of Parliament.

All who have experience in the disease
know that stocks are to be found in all stages
of infection, from those but slightly tainted to
ones possessing combs which exhibit only a
mass of corruption. Where the stock is
seriously diseased, I would be among the first
to advocate immediate, and, if necessary, com-
pulsory destruction. Treatment in such cases
must be worse than folly. But what of those
numerous cases where but slight symptoms of
the disease exist ? No one, I suppose, con-
templates compulsory destruction of these.
It is here, then, that the necessity for really
effective treatment arises.

It seems to me that, even in the mildest
case, it is hopeless to rely upon measures
which are little more than simply preventive.
However slight the taint of the disease may be,
before long spores will inevitably be present ;
and is there any reasonable expectation of
immunity from the disease so long as these
spores remain undestroyed 1 If by any
practicable method all spores in the hive
could be forced to germinate, the milder
remedies in vogue might be reasonably relied
upon. But th:s is not possible, and, therefore,
it seems to me that experiment should be
made in the direction of some practicable mode
of reaching the spores.

When describing my own experiment last
year I explained that the object I had before
me was to ascertain whether it was possible to
employ a more effectual remedy than those
hitherto used, and which aimed simply at
arresting the development of the bacillus. The
difficulty, of course, which at once presents
itself, is that of discovering a mode of applica-
tion which shall not at the same time prove
destructive to the bees themselves. My ex-
periments therefore, after finding a suitable
agent, were directed to the solution of this
problem.

A letter from me, explaining the object I
had in view, appeared in the British Bee
Journal for June 15, 1893. I may here re-
peat that I had at that date two stocks, which,
notwithstanding a course of bromine treatment,
were then alive and strong. And not only
alive, but healthy, although, in the autumn
before, badly diseased. Whether or no this
was due to the bromine, I agree (though
satisfied in my own mind) must remain to be
tested by further experiment. The main point
was that these stocks remained uninjured by
the treatment, while the presumption was that

Jan. 24, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

35

this treatment had destroyed the spores of the
disease, since independent experiment showed
that the spores could easily be destroyed by
means of bromine, applied in a similar
manner.

As I have since subjected the treatment to
further test, I am in a position to summarise
the results as follows : —

During 1892 and 1893 I treated fifteen
diseased stocks. One of these succumbed
during experiment as to regulation and
strength of dose. One weak stock I subse-
quently destroyed. Of the remaining thirteen
1 found this summer (1894) that nine were
free from disease. Of the remaining four,
three showed only slight traces of disease,
while one was still badly affected.

It seems to me that these are fairly satisfac-
tory results ; for, though complete success has
not been achieved, I at any rate think that
something has been proved in the right direc-
tion, and at the same time cannot help feeling
tolerably confident that, through the means
adopted, I have practically rescued my own
apiary from threatened destruction.

Where success has been incomplete I feel it
to have been due to the difficulties attending
effectual application of the means. In the
agent itself I have implicit faith, and I cannot
but think that further experiment will open
the way for more satisfactory methods of
application. — -Gfrard W. Bancks, Green-street
Green, Dartford, December 21.

SHALLOW-FRAMES
EXTRACTING :

FOR

ARE THEY ADVANTAGEOUS OVER STANDARD
SIZE1?

[2197.] There are two or three questions on
which I should like to elicit an expression of
opinion from some of your readers who are
well versed in apicultural matters. I have
been a bee-keeper for several years, and a con-
stant reader of your Journal, but do not
remember to have seen the " pros " and
" cons " of the following questions fairly set
over against each other. 1. In the first place,
have shallow-frames a decided advantage over
those of standard size for extracting purposes 1
I notice that one of the largest dealers in
appliances states in his catalogue that
they have not. So far I have not tried
them, but have always used standard
frames for extracting. 2. Do the advan-
tages of thick combs, secured by use of
the new wide metal ends, more than counter-
balance the disadvantage of more brace-combs ?
I understand that there is more trouble with
these when working for thick combs. All
other things being equal, can more honey be
secured with the same labour by using the
new wide ends ? 3. Is it better to have the
inner case of an extracting super separate
from the outer one, so that they can be lifted
off independently of each other ?

As I am wanting about forty new extract-
ing supers, with frames, &c, you will see that
the above questions are of some importance to
me ; and as now is the time to prepare for the
coming season, it is possible that a little dis-
cussion on these matters will be profitable to
other of your readers as well as to myself. —
Agricola, East Yorlcs, January 18, 1895.

[Our correspondent might, with some advan-
tage to himself, refer to the letter of a well-
known bee-keeper in his own county of Yorks
(2171, p. 14) and (2198) below.— Eds.]

THICK COMBS IN SHALLOW-
FRAMES.

[2198.] In your issue of January 10 (2171,
p. 14) I see a letter about thick combs in
shallow-frames, and I entirely agree with your
correspondent. Previous to the season of '94
I used in my supers two 2-lb. sections sus-
pended in a shallow-frame. In the spring of
'94 I got some spare brood-frames altered and
cut down, so that they would either hold two
2-lb. sections, a full sheet of foundation, or two
smaller half sheets of foundation. These
frames were put into the crates as they came
to my hand, pretty much alternately. The
result was that the frames holding full sheets
of foundation, or the half-sheets, were sooner
and better filled, and weighed about 1 lb.
heavier than the two 2-lb. sections, and, after
being cut out and wrapped in paper, were
found to keep their flavour better than the
sections. I fear, however, that honey packed
and sold in this way would not sell so well as
in the 1-lb. sections. The latter, neatly pro-
tected with glass, will probably sell better
than any honeycombs wrapped in clean white
paper, and some box or strong package would
be necessary to send it by iail with safety ;
but there is far less trouble in preparing the
supers by this process. — With best wishes of
the season, I am, sirs, F. McC , Blackyett,
Kirtlebridge, N.B.

SUNDRY BEE NOTES.

[2199 ] Driving Bees from Skeps. — To drive
skeps easily and quickly they should in no
case be previously disturbed, but each skep
should be suddenly taken up, as if taken by
storm, and immediately driven. The bees
cluster on the empty comb. When the skep
is disturbed they move upward to the sealed
honey ; but if the skep, on being taken up, is
suddenly inverted and driven, the bees in
this case move up into the empty skep placed
above. A skep "taken by storm" can be
driven in about four minutes, whereas, when
the bees have had previous warning to leave,
the same operation may require half an hour,
and the work even then be badly done.

Rendering and Purifying Wax. — I have
lately tried rendering wax from cap pings, and
also from old combs, on the simple plan re-

.°>G

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 24, 1895.

commended by Mr. C. Dadant. This plan
answers very well for cappings, which yield
but little refuse on the surface of the water in
the boiler ; but for old combs, which give a
large amount of refuse, it is an extremely
slow process, and it leaves a large amount of
wax with the refuse. So, instead of using
the wire-cloth dipper, lowering it into the
boiler, and removing the wax which strains
into it with a ladle, as recommended by Mr.
Dadant, I find a better plan for old combs
is to discard the wire-cloth dipper, and take
up the melted refuse itself with the ladle,
and pour it by ladlefuls into a potato-masher
or small press, held or secured above the dish
or pan placed to receive the wax. Each time
the masher is filled, press the contents until
the wax ceases to run out freely, when the
residue can be emptied out, and will then be
found to retain very little wax. A large
quantity of old combs can thus be placed in
the hot water of the boiler to start with, and
the hot refuse, after being well stirred, is then
dipped up, pressed over the side-dish or pan,
and in this way removed from the boiler as
the work proceeds, expediting the work, while
it gives a large amount of fine wax, much of
which, from old combs, could not be had with-
out using the press.

The next process is to purify the wax. For
this purpose the cakes when cold are removed
from the pans, washed in cold water, and the
greater portion of the sediment formed on
the under sides is scraped off. The cakes are
then broken up into pieces, and placed into a
tall vessel, larger at the top than at the
bottom, for the final melting. Several kinds
of vessels are used for this purpose. I generally
recommend the white pudding basins, found
in almost every home, to those bee-keepers
who own only two or three hives. Bee-keepers
who, like myself, have a large amount of wax
to purify, generally use special tin vessels,
so made that when placed in the boiler the
hot water will circulate freely under and
around them, to prevent the under-part of the
wax from burning while it is being kept
melted for several hours to get it thoroughly
purified. A better appliance, however, than
the tin vessel named is a glazed earthenware
pot — with lid and handle — called the
" Gourmet Boiler " (Challis' patent). This pot,
which also allows the water to circulate freely
under it, is made in a great number of sizes,
say from No. 1 to No. 20.

I have used No. 9, which gives a nice block
of wax weighing 3| lb. Bee-keepers should
choose one of a size suitable for the saucepan
or boiler in which they intend to use it. So
that when the pot with its lid is placed in the
boiler, it will allow the lid of the latter to be
put in its place, to enclose the heat, while the
melted wax is being purified ; and also to
allow the wax to cool down more gradually
when the boiler is i-einoved from the stove.
The best time to melt the wax to purify it is
in the morning. It should be kept melted all

day, and allowed to cool gradually during the
night following. The block of wax will
generally be sufficiently cold the next morning
to permit removing the sediment from its
under side to better advantage than when the
block has got quite hard. I find that when
the water in which the wax -pot is placed is
kept at about the boiling point, the wax purifies
better, and comes out of a lighter colour than
when kept at a lower temperature.

Queens Piping. — A young queen has some-
times continued piping, undisturbed, while I
held the frame of comb on Avhich she was in
my hands. The senior young queen, when
piping, seems to announce to the colony several
important facts. First and foremost she pro-
claims the presence of other virgin queens in the
hive ; and, as if the future existence of the colony
depended on her alone, she parades the comb
and examines minutely the interior of each
cell. In the bottom of one cell she finds a
little honey, in the bottom of the next she
finds pollen, a third and fourth cell have
sealed brood, while the next cell she examines
is empty and clean. Here she stops and
signals the absence of eggs in the cells by
piping. Each clean empty cell she meets
draws forth from her that sharp, piercing cry
which announces to the whole colony that
those elements of reproduction — the eggs — are
no more to be found in the combs. The
"piping" of the senior young queen, there-
fore, appears to be a solemn warning to the
bees that it is only by the advent of a fresh
fertile queen in the hive, pursuing her
maternal duties free from the dangers of the
sudden loss of life by rivals or otherwise, that
the colony can be saved from extinction.

Giving Artificial Pollen— In localities
where it is advantageous to give bees arti-
ficial pollen as a first stimulant to activity
after their long winter's rest, there are a few
particulars which require to be attended to,
so as to secure good results. And it it may
be by not complying with certain require-
ments, which should accompany the giviDg of
artificial pollen, that it is thought to be un-
necessary, whereas, if these requirements were
complied with, it would prove very advan-
tageous. To reap the greatest benefit the
stocks should be nicely packed in the autumn
with a good allowance of food for wintering,
and the hives should be such that the bees in
them will not be much affected by sudden
changes of temperature. I consider it best to
commence giving pea-flour about four weeks
before the plentiful supply of natural pollen
begins. The bees must be considered
ia winter quartet s during the whole
time they are working on the pea-
flour. They should not be disturbed, and
have no liquid food given them during that
time. My bees, so managed, use an average
of i lb. of pea-flour per colony each spring.
Some stocks remain partly dormant, and use
but a very small amount, but others appear to
utilise considerably over 1 lb. weight. The

Jan. 24, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

37

bees of stocks that are in proper order gather
the pea-floor only during fine weather, and the
hives remain perfectly quiet during bad
weather, even if it lasts for several consecutive
days. Thus, while food is being gradually
transformed into young bees inside the hives,
there is no loss of adult bees outside. It is
only when the bees have left off working on
the pea-flour, and that they are actively em-
ployed gathering natural pollen, that it is safe
to examine the hives to give more room by
adding frames where necessary. The bees,
when once stimulated by the pea-flour, pro-
perly administered, will not afterwards require
stimulative feeding with liquid syrup, and they
will be more free from dysentery or pollen dis-
charges.

Pea-flour Receptacles. — The receptacles in
which pea-flour is placed on shavings or other-
wise should be such as to admit of being
easily cleaned after use. A good thing for
the purpose is what I call the " artificial-
pollen bell," in which a bunch of white hemp
hangs, like the clapper in a bell, and extends
a few inches below the rim, much after the
style in which the stamens of the fuchsia hang
down down below its corolla. The " bell " is
suspended a few feet above the ground, and
the bunch of hemp is charged by simply
dipping it in a dish of pea-flour. It effectually
keeps off the rain from the pea-flour, and
when made of glass also admits the sun's rays,
which are beneficial to the bees while these
latter are engaged forming the pellets of
artificial pollen. — Peter Bois, Jersey.
{Conclusion next week)

CLEARING BEES FROM FRAMES.

[2200.] I notice in your issue of Octo-
ber 25 last (p. 421) a discussion on the
question of clearing bees from supers placed
on hives for cleaning up. About fourteen
years ago I adopted a plan, a very simple one,
to get rid of the bees from combs. I take a
sheet of thick brown paper and cut it into
pieces, each about the same depth and width
as the frames to be operated on. I then take
a feather and wet with Calvert's No. 5 carbolic
acid, and each piece of paper is then slightly
touched with the acid. The carbolised paper
is then placed between each of the frames of
bees ; the effect is instantaneous — a couple of
minutes suffices to clear out the whole of the
bees. There is little or no risk of the carbolised
paper contaminating the combs, as the thick
brown paper completely absorbs the acid, and
to all appearance is quite dry. — Jno. Hall,
High Blantyre, January 14.

PERFORATING ZINC FOR WELLS

DUMMIES.

[2201] When I first began bee-keeping

twenty-five years ago I recollect noticing a

peculiar stench from one hive. As I never

can endure anything unclean or unhealthy, I
immediately cut out the diseased combs and
buried them, and cleansed the hive, but did
not destroy hive or bees. I probably used
carbolic, as that was all " the go " at that
time. I have never seen any foul brood since,
and have always kept ten or fifteen hives
going. I always dread, purchasing old straw
skeps with bees, and I think it most likely
that I bought the disease and the experience.
Notice I did not destroy the bees, and yet no
harm ensued.

I consider the " Wells " hive a good thing,
but in my opinion perforated zinc does quite
as well as wood perforated ; it is stiffened with
zinc or tin ; sold in V -shape at the zinc shops,
and the whole thing is not | in. thick. — F. V
Hadlow, Buxted, Sussex, January 18.

[Referring to our correspondent's foul-brood
experience, it can hardly be regarded as con-
clusive, though to notice a " stench" coming
from a hive is suspicious enough, Unfortu-
nately, however, we have had repeated cases
brought to our notice where perfectly healthy
hives have been suspected because of the " bad
smell," i.e., " stench," coming from them in
spring, when black currant honey, (with its
peculiar smell) was being gathered. Any way,
we congratulate our correspondent on keeping
his bees healthy for so long. It speaks volumes
for the good which comes of hating " anything
unclean or unhealthy.'' — Eds.]

SYSTEMATIC APICULTURE.

[2202.] In these days when technical educa-
tion is making so great progress in almost
every branch of science and art, it will not, I
think, be out of place to make a few sugges-
tions which I trust will be profitable to
intending bee-keepers. Agriculture and api-
culture are two branches of science which
must ever go hand in hand for mutual good,
since the fertilisation of flowers depends to
such a great extent on external agencies. The
rearing to the best advantage of insects which
will, as it were, pay their way without encroach-
ing on the profits of the increased fruit
harvest, derived by their aid, ought to be a
matter of weighty importance to every fruit-
grower and agriculturist. Probably no other
form of insect culture has been studied with
so much care and to such a universal extent as
has that of the honey-bee, yet its systematic
and humane manipulation, has only taken place
within a comparatively short time. This is
not altogether to be surprised at, for in a
great many branches of study, practical bene-
fits have not always followed close on estab-
lished theoretical fact. Now that County
Councils are taking up the matter and intend to
deal with it in an efficient manner, more intelli-
gent working must be expected; but what I wish
to point out is that the good derived from County
Council effort is necessarily limited, and much
need not be expected at first from such. The

38

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 24, 1895.

greatest benefit is, however, to be derived
from personal effort by general reading. One
of the chief evils -which has retarded the
development of bee-culture in these later days,
and one which old bee-keepers are not alto-
gether free from, is that of allowing their
actions to be prompted by the belief that
their own personal experience is the only
guide to knowledge. Well, this is a partial
truth, which can only be applied to the
actual handling of bees, but it is a
great fallacy, and must be regarded as
an exceedingly retrogressive notion when
we deal with systematic reading. Because
in this as in everything else, headway can
only be made by building our new hypothesis
on the experience of those who have ex-
perimented before us, and on facts deduced
from corroborative observations. Want of
theory is to a great extent the cause of failure
in practice. This want can only be supplied
by a study of the principles which control the
actions of bees, derived from the various books,
guides, and articles on the subject. A know-
ledge of the advantages and disadvantages of
the chief types of hives in the market is also
most desirable, since we are then in a position
to choose the hive most suitable to our
climate and district. This knowledge can
never be expected to be got from magazines
on the subject, which must necessarily be more
for the information of the few than the pri-
mary education of the many, besides being
meant to do other duty than that of text-books
or elementary manuals. In expressing these
views I do not for one moment suggest that
practice and opportunity in the handling of
bees should be neglected ; but what I say is
this, that the actions of every bee-keeper
should be controlled by " the why and the
wherefore," and that any move should be
made, not for the purpose of simply
seeing what will happen, but rather
as the means to a definite end. My
opinion is that, if what I have hinted at
were carried out wherever possible, bee-
keeping would no longer be the stowing a
swarm of bees away in a box or skep, the
robbing them in the autumn, and then
leaving in, or giving barely sufficient food
to keep them from starving in the winter and
early spring, but it would be either a hobby or
a means of livelihood, which would elevate the
mind, and tend to raise its thoughts from nature
up to nature's God. — Jas. Keith, Uddington.

HONEY AS A CURE FOR
CHILBLAINS.

[2203.] My sister and self have found a new
use for honey as a cure for chilblains. On
Sunday last my sister suffered terribly with
chilblains on her left hand. It was so
inflamed with the frost, she could not bend
the fingers at all. And the back of the hand
was quite puffed up. All sorts of remedies

were tried, including the old-fashioned one
thought so effective, " salt and turnip," but
nothing seemed to give any ease ; and at last
we resolved to try honey — smeared the hand
over thinly, then put on a linen rag and
covered all with a handkerchief. The honey
gave instant relief ; two dressings taking all
the inflammation out of the hand.

I was myself suffeiing with the same trouble
in my feet ; could not get my boots on at all,
and my feet were quite discoloured with the
chilblains which gave me fearful pain. I
rubbed a little honey over my feet at night,
and laid on this some fine linen, then drew
over all a pair of bed socks ; dressed them
again next morning and put on a pair of large
shoes, and in two days was able to wear my
own boots again. Although some of my
friends consider me "bee-mad,'' if any one had
told me that honey gave the instant relief it
did, I would not have believed it. — A Lady
Bee Keeper, Leeds, January 18.

■* THE WILFUL BEE."

[2204.] You quoted on p. 431, November 1
last, part of Mr. Gilbert's song of "The Wilful
Bee.'' As you are, perhaps, aware, the song
in the opera concludes as follows (these lines
being omitted in your quotation) : —

" The hive were shocked to see their chum

(A strict tee-to-tal-ler) tee-to-tum.

The queen exclaimed, ' How terrible verv !

It's perfectly clear to all the throng
Peter's been at the old brown sherry,

Old brown sherry is far too strong.'
Buzz, buzz.

I must confess, Messrs. Editors — and I hope
you will agree with me — that the allusion to
old brown sherry appears somewhat inapt. I
have discovered alcoholic beverages in the hive
in the shape of fermented syrup, but never old
brown sherry. I think it must have been this
allusion preying upon my mind that suggested
an ': improvement " in the poem.

What do 3 ou think of the enclosed ? If
you have corners in the Bee Journal for
frivolities of this description pray help to fill
them up with it. — Nemo, January 2, 1895.

P.S. — Happy New Year to you, and success
to the " compulsory legislation " movement.

ANOTHER "SONG OF THE WILFUL BEE."
(WITH APOLOGIES TO MR. W. S. GILBERT.)

A hive of bees, 'lis said, one day

Addressed their queen, and thus spake they : —

" Please your majesty, all around
A dire complaint has seized the bees —

To follow the fashion we're surely bound,

And take ourselves the new disease."

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz.

Jan. 24, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

39

Said her Majesty, " Granted the rumour is
true,
Still it isn't a matter that rests with you ;
Some tiptop authorities say that 1
Am the one to infect my progeny.''
Shu-u-a. Shu-u-a.

Her Majesty's eyes, by the thousand, glared,
And her sting from out of its sheath was
bared,
Her Majesty's lip, too, began to pout ;
In short, it was plain that the queen was
put out.

Tu-tu-tu. Tu-tu-tu.
Her eyes they glared, and her stiDg was out.

That hive contained one cranky bee,

(I name her not) and thus spake she —

" Though every bee has shown white feather,

I have opinions of my own.
Why should we have it altogether ?
I'll take the malady alone."
Buzz, buzz.
Backwards and forwards she wriggled about,
She first turned yellow and then turned
brown,
In a long sticky string tried to pull herself
out,
And in other particulars acted the clown,
Buzz, buzz.

Pitiful sight it was to see,
Middle-aged Anglo-German bee,
So sadly thus to folly prone,
Having the new complaint alone,
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz.
Leading the fashion all alone.

The hive were grieved to see their mate

Succumb to such a doleful fate.

The queen exclaimed, " 'Tis a shocking scene,

It's perfectly clear to all the hive
We mustn't depend upon naphthaline,

But trustier measures at once contrive.
Buzz, buzz.

" Of all who thus themselves degrade
A stern example must be made.
To Parliament go, you tiresome bee,
We'll make your cure compulsoree.

Buzz, buzz.
" We'll have you scheduled with the swine,
With sickly sheep and seedy kine,
And you'll live to own in the sulphur flame
That folly and fashion are much the same."

Buzz, buzz, buzz.
In the sulphur-pit to the world proclaim,
That fashion and folly are much the same.

[We should have been very pleased to print
Mr. Gilbert's quaint little lyric complete as
written ; the author's, " All rights reserved "
injunction, however, very properly restrained
our hand, as it does now, and we only insert
the portion of the song's conclusion ■ having
direct reference to our correspondent's motif
in the above happy and very opportune parody
of the original. — Eds.]

IS BEESWAX A DRUG?
Mr. Denman was engaged a considerable
time in hearing a summons against Day's
Southern Drug Company, of High-street,
Streatham, and elsewhere, for selling beeswax
adulterated with 50 per cent, of paraffin wax.
Mr. W. W. Young supported the summons,
which was taken out under the Food and
Drugs Act, on behalf of the prosecutors, the
Wandsworth District Board, while Mr.
Blanchard Wontner represented the defend-
ants. Mr. Denman inquired if beeswax could
be considered a drug. Mr. Young said the
definition given by Webster was that beeswax
was a drug used for medical purposes. Mr.
Denman believed that the purchaser in this
case was prejudiced in making the purchase,
as he did not get what he asked for. He
imposed a penalty of 40s. with £Z. 3s. costs.—
Daily Telegraph.

RAINFALL IN 1894.

SOLIHULL, NORTH WARWICKSHIRE.

Above Sea-Level 460 ft.

No. of Days

Total

Greatest fall in

on which

Depth.

24 Hours.

•01 or more

Inches.

Depth.

Date.

Jan.

1-790 .

.. -26

.. 30

... 23

Feb.

2310 .

.. -78

... 17

... 18

March

1-210

.. -38

... 12

... 13

April

2-140 .

.. "475

... 11

... 15

May

2-535 .

.. -37

... 11

... 19

June

2-315 .

.. -69

4

... 16

July

3235 .

.. 1-07

... 24

... 22

Aug.

2-550 .

.. '54

... 25

... 24

Sept.

2 305 .

.. -935

.. 25

... 13

Oct.

3615 .

.. "77

.. 26

... 22

Nov.

2-840

.. -oo

... 12

... 18

Dec.

2-175 .

.. -36

... 11

... 20

Total

29-02

... 223

B. BOOTHROYD.

dftocmss and Replies.

[1227.] Painting Bee-houses, Adding Combs,
and Failure with ." Wells" Hive. — 1. What
time of year is the best for painting the out-
side of bee-houses? and what is the best
paint to resist rain and keep the alight-boards
clean and white 1 2. When should new
frames of brood-comb be inserted into the
hives 1 3. I tried working a hive on the
"Wells" system last year, but failed. The
two hives are in one box, with a division of
wood. Above they were well covered with
excluder zinc, and a frame containing sections
placed upon that, so that bees of both
hives could come up, but no dummy between.
They fought so badly that two days after I
shut the. one hive off. One worked splendidly,

10

THE BK1TISH BEE JOUKNAL,

[Jam, 24, 1895.

the other did nothing. What mistake did I
make ? — M. L.

Eeply. — 1. Bee-houses may be painted at
almost any time of the year. Early autumn is
a good time, as it helps to keep the bees dry
during winter. Good white-lead paint is the
best. 2. So soon as the bees require room in
spring. 3. The failure arose mainly from not
properly understanding the principles of the
" Wells " system. If the " division of wood "
between the two compartments of the hive
was perforated, and the perforations not
stopped up with propolis, there should have
been no fighting.

Noticesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish oar Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

A correspondent writes : — " Will some one of
your numerous readers kindly inform me
through the B.J. the nearest place to Great
Yarmouth where I can purchase bee candy
and requisites ? "

Ciias. Harvey (Stoke Prior). — Foul Brood
and Compulsory Poivers. — Ourcorrespondent
will, on reference to p. 31 see that we agree
with him in " thinking that too much is
being made of the foul-brood question," and
this will account for our not occupying space
with his own letter in full. But apart from
this view, we cannot help observing that the
book to which he refers has been extensively
advertised in our pages (testimonials included)
at the expense of the author, and we don't
quite see our way to inserting so large a
" free ad." as is contained in the letter before
us. Besides, methods of curing foul brood
(including the one we are asked to print)
have appeared in our pages over and over
again in the past under various persons'
names, yet foul brood is with us, and so
before testimony as to remedies becomes of
any real value it should be backed up by
practical experience of them, which our
correspondent has apparently had none.

Geo. Stocks (Sandiway, Cheshire). — Mr.
Wells's Report. — One thing we tbo»grii;
unnecessary was taking up space in rer at-
ing at full length the particulars given by
Mr. Wells, with only the difference in price
obtainable for the honey in Cheshire com-
pared with Kent. Our personal experience
of " Cheshire prices," too, are completely at
variance with those of our correspondent,
and we should like to have some corrobora-
tion by other Cheshire bee-keepers that

good honey produced in that county wlIT
only realise 5d. to 5Jd. per lb. The sample
sent cannot be called " good Cheshire
honey," but it is surely worth more than
the price quoted '?

A. Hawke (Sheffield). — Medicating Bee-
Candy. — The particulars for medicating are
sent out with packets of N. Beta sent from
this office. Mr. H. Crawley, 250, Canbury-
park-road, Kingston-on-Thames, is the bee-
keeper who sent out bee-plants free to
applicants.

A. T. Finch (Old Bramhope). — Honey Granu-
lating.— It is one of the curiosities of
granulation, that honey gathered in some
seasons will granulate much more rapidly
than that stored in others ; '94 was a year
of early granulation, '93 was not — hence the
anomaly to which you refer.

W. H. J. Maltiiouse (Arundel). — Bees De-
serting Hive. — There is no trace of disease
in comb received. The bees have evidently
deserted the hive owing to its becoming
queenless after swarming.

A Little Goose (Normandy Park). — Are we
to understand that the " body box with top
nailed on " is not fitted with movable frames ?
If so, we should set the body-box, holding
standard frames, above, and when the bees
had taken fully possession of it for breeding,
would set it under the frameless box below,
using the latter as a surplus chamber, pre-
paratory to doing away with it altogether.

Shepperton (Middlesex). — .1. Recipe for
candy making is given at p. 387 of B.J. for
Sept. 27 last. 2. Supers are set on so soon
as the hives are well filled with bees, which
by their activity show that honey is being
gathered. We strongly advise your pro-
curing a " Guide Book '' on bees, which will
supply needful and essential information on
many points, if you are to make a success
of bee-keeping.

F. W. Morey (Ventnor). — Honey is very fair
in quality, gathered chiefly from heather.

Bee-Keeper (Rotherham). — Comb sent is
very badly affected with foul brood.

J. C. Bamlett (Penzance).— Best Hives and
Best Systems of Bee-Jceeping. — The questions
of best hives and systems are so entirely
matters of individual opinion , that we could
not take upon us to state in so many
words which is best. We know what our
own preferences are, but it does not follow
that all should adopt our views. As to the
" Wells '' system, we advise learning how to
manage single-queen stocks well, and try
the double-queen plan later. If you can
make it succeed, as many have done, in-
crease your " Wells " hives, but not other-
wise. Meantime you might peruse Mr.
Wells's pamphlet, to make yourself
thoroughly acquainted with the method
followed.

(Several Letters,- &c, are unavoidably held
over till next week.)

Jan. 31, 1895.]

THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.

#4itoral, $aftmt to.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
Meeting of the committee, held at 105,
Jermyn-street, on Thursday, 24th inst. Pre-
sent T. W. Cowan (in the chair), H. Jonas,
Rev. C. W. Bancks, W. B. Carr, Major Fair,
J. Garratt, C. D. Till, J. H. New, and Messrs.
J. M. Hooker and F. H. Meggy, ex officio ;
John Huckle, secretary.

Communications were received from the
Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Mr. W. 0. B. Glennie
(treasurer), Captain Campbell, and Mr. W. H.
Harris (who had previously attended the
special committee meeting), regretting their
inability to be present.

The minutes of the last meeting were read
and confirmed. The statement of accounts
for the year 1894 was considered and ap-
proved.

Correspondence with the Hampshire Associ-
ation, and the Bath and West of England
Agricultural Society in reference to the associ-
ation being represented at the forthcoming exhi-
bitions to be held at Taunton and Bournemouth,
was read, and it was decided to offer to carry
out exhibitions on same conditions as last year.
The Educational Sub-Committee recom-
mended the following as suitable centres for
conducting third-class examinations during
1895.
Group 1. Notts, Derbyshire and Leicester.
„ 2. Lancashire and Cheshire.
„ 3. Staffs, Shropshire, and Warwick.
„ 4. Berks, Oxon, Bucks, and Hants.
„ 5. Cambs, Beds, and Hunts.
„ G. Gloucester, Worcester, and Here-
ford.
„ 7. Glamorgan and Carmarthen.
,, 8. Dorset and Somerset.
„ 9. Devon and Cornwall.
„ 10. Lincoln, Rutland, and North-
ampton.
,, 11. Herts, Middlesex, and Essex.
„ 12. Surrey, Sussex, and Kent.
., 13. At Darlington for surrounding
Counties.
The centres as enumerated above were
approved.

The Special Foul Brood Committee reported
progress, and stated that they had met three
times, and at the first meeting had drawn up a
list of statistics and other information which
they required, and had it inserted in the
B.B.J, in order to get the information from
those in a position to give it. A marked copy
of the Journal had been sent to Secretaries
of County Associations, with a letter asking
them to furnish the committee with informa-
tion. Up to the present replies with informa-
tion and suggestions had been received from
Berks, Bristol, Derbyshire, Hereford, Lincoln,
Notts, Surrey, Staffs, Warwickshire, and
Wilts. The statistics have been tabulated

and will be of great use. That morning
statistics had been received from Essex, Lan-
cashire, and Cheshire. Kent, Middlesex, and
Worcester have also promised to send full
information, which is being prepared. All sup-
port the action of B.B.K.A. in seeking for com-
pulsory powers for dealing with foul brood.
Valuable information from a private source has
been supplied with regard to Surrey, Sussex,
and Hampshire. No replies have yet be»n
received from Glamorganshire, Hampshire,
Hunts, Leicester, Norfolk, Oxford, Shropshire,
Wotton-under-Edge, and Yorkshire. Very
full statistics had been received from the Irish
Bee-Keepers' Association with regard to foul
brood in Ireland, and the committee of that
association had passed a resolution approving
the action of the British, and the secretary hid
written asking that the deputation should
urge that any measures for dealing with foul
brood by the Government should be extended
to Ireland. The Ulster Association had also
written supporting the action of the British.

In order to ascertain whether the act of
1890 had worked successfully in the province
of Ontario, Canada, the chairman wrote to Mr.
Holterm'ann, and had received the following
reply : —

Ontario Agricultural and Experimental Union,
Brantford, Ont., January 8, 1894.
Dear Mr. Cowan, — Your letter 28th
ultimo to hand, and in reply would say I have
been somewhat interested in the discussion
which has been going on in the British Bee
Journal re legislating about foul brood. I
am by this mail asking the Department of
Agriculture, Toronto, to send you half a dozen
copies of the act. Before telling you what I
know, it would perhaps be well to give you an
idea of the opportunities I have for getting
information upon the subject. I have attended
most of the county bee-keepers' associations
during convention, followed the proceedings
of the Ontario Bee-keepers' Association
attended the leading exhibitions of our province
and Dominion for four or five weeks every fall.
I am out for the fourth year addressing farmers
and bee-keepers in the province upon bee-
keeping for the Ontario Government, three
weeks during past years, and five weeks has
been mapped out this year, always in different
part3 of the province. I am editing the
Canadian Bee Journal, and also have all
letters with questions upon bee - keeping
handed over to me belonging to the extensive
correspondence of supply dealers (Goold,
Shapley, & Muir Company, Limited). With
all these opportunities of meeting and hearing
from bee-keepers, I know of only one man
who objects to the Foul Brood Act. That
man is a Mr. H. E. Hall, I believe, of Peter-
borough, Ont. He is known to me and a few
others as being opposed to the Act, otherwise
I never heard of him. On the contrary, as
years pass by, we are better pleased that our
provincial Government has given us something
of so great a value to the bee-keeping industry.

42

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 31, 1895.

We are still finding foul brood, and much
more than we care to own, but there is no
doubt it is being brought under control
steadily. In fact, no country can really form
anything like an idea of the extent of the
disease until machinery has been brought into
play such as we have in Ontario. There
has, of course, been fear that great loss
would result to those having foul brood in the
apiary for the benefit of those not having the
disease ; but such fear is passing away. The
inspector is a man of tact and judgment, and
uses both when necessity calls for it. He gives
every reasonable chance to cure diseased stocks,
and only when all hope of saving the bees, or
when the bee-keeper appears to neglect his
duty, does he destroy. In very few instances
lias it been necessary to do this, and generally
when some meddlesome person has interfered
and encouraged resistance. Often has the in-
spector visited an apiary and been at first re-
ceived with frowns and clouded looks, but
before his final visit was paid he has been
looked upon as a benefactor. He is looked
upon more as a man to point out disease, and
to instruct as to methods of curing and pre-
venting the spread of the disease rather than
to destroy property under the law. There have
been one or two instances in which bee3 have
been destroyed through negligence to cure ;
but the district and the country have
thus far supported the inspector, and
even those against whom the act was
turned, I believe, condemned not the act,
but the inspector, and said his action was not
legal. I can give instance after instance in
which the inspector detected the disease in
apiaries when the ovvners were ignorant of its
existence, and where, but for the provisions of
that act, the entire apiary would have been
destroyed. I have now on my desk two
letters, one asking that the Government be
asked not to do away with the inspector and
the act, but to ask the Government to set aside
300 dols. per annum for an inspector for each
county, making an annual expenditure of
.something like 15,000 dols. for the province.
This comes from a man whose apiary is nearly
ruined with foul brood, who is anxious to do
everything in his power to cure it, and only
wishes that the inspector had arrived sooner.
Another one wishes to have a set of lecturers
appointed to go about the country and have
meetings describing the disease ; but the
difficulty is to get those who should be reached,
out to these meetings. When at the North
American Bee -Keepers' Convention at St.
Joseph, Mo., U.S., the question was asked,
" What could the Convention do to prevent
the spread of foul brood ? '' Some one
said, "Nothing." That was the end of the
discussion. But I do not think the ques-
tion will end there ; foul brood is a hidden
enemy, and I am afraid it will continue to
spread over the United States or any other
country, and it must finally be stamped out or
the bee business will be wiped out. It appears

to me the only way to hold it in check or
subdue it is by Government authority, as
other contagious diseases are kept under. In
conclusion, let me say, I cannot understand
how any man can conscientiously say that
the act in Canada has been a complete failure,
and the appointment of an inspector has been
the ruin of bee-keeping in our country. We
have considered Mr. H. E. Hall in the past as
an extremist, and some years ago, probably
January, 1893, he wrote a letter to the
Ontario Bee-keepers' Association asking for
some sweeping changes in the act. That
letter was, upon prompt resolution, tabled for
a term of years without one dissenting voice.
You can give the above any publicity you see fit.
I am prepared to publicly deny that I know
of a single person, with the exception of Mr.
H. E. Hall, objecting to the Ontario Foul
Brood Act. No one in all my experience,
either by letter or word of mouth, or in any
other way, has communicated any dissatis-
faction with the act, and, to my knowledge,
in only two cases have objections been made
to the action of the inspector. I should say
by all means let your bee keepers take the
necessary steps to secure the passage of a
Foul Brood Act. The act gives light to
those not properly informed, pointing out the
disease and the remedy, and when necessary,
as unfortunately it is in rare instances, it
reaches those unwilling to act justly by all
men. — With kind regards, I remain, yours
truly, R. F. Holtermann, Secretary.

Their chairman (Mr. Cowan) had drawn up
the following suggestions to be incorporated in
a bill, which will be taken into consideration
at the next meeting of the Special Com-
mittee : —

1. The powers and duties conferred by this
act on the Board of Agriculture shall be dis-
charged in the manner provided by the Board
of Agriculture Act, 1889, and the Diseases of
Animals Act, 1894.

2. The local authorities to execute and en-
force the act.

3. The local authorities in England and
Wales shall be —

(i.) In boroughs, the Borough Council,
(ii.) In other places, the County Council.

4. Every person having in his possession, or
under his charge, hives ot bees suffering from
foul brood shall —

(i.) With all practicable speed give notice of
the fact of foul brood existing to a con-
stable of the police force for the area
wherein the hive so affected is.

(ii.) The constable to whom notice is given
shall forthwith give information to such
person or authority as the Board of Agri-
culture by general order direct.

5. The County Council or local authorities
to appoint suitable experienced men as in-
spectors.

6. The inspector to have power to order
destruction of combs and frames when foul
brood is in an advanced stage, or, at his dis-

Jan. 31, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

43

cretion, in mild cases to resort to remedies
for preventing the spreading of the disease.

7. He shall order hives and appliances to be
disinfected in such a manner as may seem to
him most efficient.

8. If his instructions with regard to remedies
and disinfection are not carried out he shall
order destruction of hives and contents.

9. He may report a district within a certain
area infected, and no bees, combs, hives con-
taining bees or combs of honey or brood shall
be sent out of that district until the restriction
is removed.

10. He shall thoroughly disinfect his person
and clothing after visiting an infected apiary,
and see that this is done by those assisting
him.

11. When receiving notice of disease in an
apiary he may, upon giving notice to those in
charge, visit and inspect the hives in any
apiary in the immediate neighbourhood within
a radius of one mile.

12. If any person is guilty of an offence
against this act he shall for such offence be
liable to a fine not exceeding .

13. If any person does any of the following
things he shall be guilty of an offence against
this act —

(i.) if he knowingly omits to give notice,
(ii.) if he exposes diseased stocks, combs,

honey, or appliances to the danger of

other bee-keepers,
(iii.) if he sells or in any way disposes of

the same,
(iv.) if he disobeys or obstructs the inspector

in his duties,
(v.) if he gives false information.

14. Where stocks are ordered to be de-
stroyed compensation shall be paid —

(i.) where stock was affected with foul

brood, one half value of the stock before

it was destroyed,
(ii.) in every other case the full value before

it was destroyed.
(?)WThether compensation should be in bees

from a healthy district or in cash.

15. The local authority may employ experts
to assist the inspector, and to value stocks, &c.

1(5. The inspector to send report of number
of hives visited and number destroyed, and
what measures have been taken to disinfect.

The committee cordially thanked their chair-
man (Mr. Cowan) for his untiring exertions
in preparing maps of the infected districts,
and other work of considerable detail, neces-
sary for the consideration of the subject.

Mr. Hooker's name was added to the
Special Committee.

The committee also recommended "That,
owing to the prevalence of foul brood and the
necessity of having every case reported, in
future only such experts as have passed the
special foul-brood examination since 1889 be
employed by the B.B.K.A., and that present
experts not so qualified should be required to
pass such examination. Also that the atten-

tion of the affiliated associations be called to
this new regulation."

The following new members were elected,
viz., Mr. James Dudin, Bush Hill Park, En-
field ; Mr. F. McConnell, Blackyett, Eccle-
fechan, N.B. ; Mr. A. G. Pugh, Buxton, Notts. ;
Mrs. E. A. Hawkes, Polyphant, Launceston.
This concluded the business of the meeting.

IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The committee, believing that valuable in-
formation may be afforded by means of Mr.
Cowan's photograph of comb affected with foul
brood, and the particulars as to the disease on
the back, have arranged to supply a copy post
free to any member willing to contribute the
small sum of twopence towards the cost. —
Henry Chenevix, Hon. Sec ., 1 5, Morehampton-
road, Dublin.

tyormpnhMt

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be dravm on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shoivs, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <Ssc. , must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

*»" In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by 'mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[2205.] On reading over my "Notes" of
last week anent Mr. McEvoy's method of
treating foul-broody colonies I fear I have not
been explicit enough ; therefore, I trust readers
of B. J. will not feel bored if I return to or
continue my remarks on the subject this
week.

Section 3 of the Foul Brood Act (Canadian)
gives the inspector power to burn the whole
apiary if infected with foul brood, and
possibly my fourth paragraph (p. 23) may
convey the idea that Mr. McEvoy does not
use the power by burning in stamping out the
pest. Allow me to correct that impression at
once, and state how much is burnt and how
much is saved by his method. The inspector
visits an infected apiary preferably in May or
June, when honey is coming in, waits
till the bees have ceased flying for the
day, opens the hive, shakes off all the bees
into the same hive from the combs, drops in
some frames with starters only into the hive

44

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 31, 1895.

■with the bees, replaces the quilts and cover,
and leaves the bees to do the best they can
for four days. If the weather should be bad
a little food is given to keep them from
starving, and the whole of the frames, combs,
honey, brood, and pollen, from which the bees
have been shaken, are burnt at once. Where
there are several hives they are all treated on
the same plan, and where colonies are reduced
in numbers Mr. McEvoy unites the weak
lots, adding, of course, to those in the next
hives— to prevent flying bees next day mix-
ing up— and removing the hive. This
removed untenanted hive will require
scrubbing out, as in shaking the bees
from the combs some honey may have
been shaken out also, and this honey may
teem with the germs or spores of the bacillus
alvei. Then at the end of the fourth day the
bees are shaken from the frames and combs
which they have built during the time, and
these frames and all their contents are burnt.
This is a sine qua non of his treatment of the
disease. After the frames containing the
four days' work have been removed, frames
fitted with whole sheets of foundation are
given, and the bees start again precisely as a
new swarm would, so that by this method the
hives are saved, and the bees are saved, and
thus, though paradoxically it may seem, the
colony of bees are cured of the pest.

Another item of importance, especially
where only part of an apiary is infected, is
that all the work connected with carrying out
the method should be done during the evening,
after the bees have ceased flying for the day.

The experiment of Mr. Mackenzie, B.A,,
quoted in B.J. (2181, p. 24) confutes the often-
expressed notion of bee-keepers— and generally
received without question — that chilled-brood
is a veritable hotbed for the germination of
foul-brood spores ; the experiment rather points
to the fact that the germs of bacilhis alvei
thrive best in the cells containing brood not
chilled, but starting into growth in the hive
in a normal condition. Chilled brood is
apparently a more suitable developing-ground
for septic bacteria than for bacillus alvei. I
do not by this contention wish to minimise the
danger to a colony by injudicious handling,
and more particularly spreading the brood nest
in our uncertain climate, but simply wish to
point out a fact in relation to what, in our
present knowledge of the disease, I think I
may term a modern error, and should not be
overlooked when dealing with the foul-brood
question.

Mr. McEvoy positively asserts that foul
brood is spread principally by honey from
foul-broody hive?, therefore contends that all
the frames, combs, and contents shall be
burnt ; and Dr. Howard, M.D., of Texas, has
proved conclusively by experiments that Mr.
McEvoy is right in his contention that spray-
ing combs with antiseptics and feeding bees
with medicated food cannot radically cure
foul brood. Proof of this do I hear some one

observe 1 Both these gentlemen say that the
disease germs or spores are fed to the larva by
the nurse-bees, and that honey is especially
the medium by which it is transmitted to the
larva. Dr. Howard contends that the honey
is contaminated with the spores of bacillus
by being stored in cells in which
brood has died, rotted, and dried up
at the bottom of the cells into a dark,
shiny, glutinous mass, which is immoveable
by the bees, and that this dried-up mass has
been proved by experiment to contain the
disease in the spore condition. Now, when
honey from these cells is used by the nurse •
bees as food for the larva the spores are fed
in the food, these germinate, and by their
growth produce chemical poisons, which
eventually kill the larva. These infected
larva are ofttimes sealed by the bees.
(Why bees should cap over or seal up
dead or dying brood we leave to further
investigation.) This sealing of the brood
prevents ordinary putrefactive bacteria from
attacking the brood for a time, or until the
hole is made in the capping ; after the putre-
factive germs gain a lodgment, putrefaction
goes on and finally dessication, the putre-
factive germs dying in their own prisons,
leaving the spores of bacillus alvei in the
dried-up residuum for a future resurrection and
reproduction so soon as another egg deposited
in the cell progresses to the larva stage of its
growth which receives infection by actual con-
tact with the spores in the cells, or is fed with
food stored in such infectious storehouses.

The very fact that pure cultures of the
disease have been grown from honey store! in
these cells, and that honey, though not a
media suitable for the growth or germination
of these spores, yet honey will hold the spores
in a quiescent state for indefinite periods,
shows how necessary it is, as a prime factor in
dealing with the disease, to remove this source
— nay fount— of infection. Mr. McEvoy's
method does this, and also teaches us that the
adult bees are not subject to, and do not con-
tain germs of the bacilli ; and, finally, that
the queen is not infected either — not even in
her ovaries.

Keferring to compensation for bees dealt
with under compulsory powers, I would
suggest that compensation take the form of
" kind," not cash, and that " kind '' should be a
restart in bee-keeping, otherwise I feel sure
that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of bee-
keepers will be snuffed out never to start
again ; whereas, if compensation is given in
"kind," a new apiary will arise phcenix-like
out of the ashes of its predecessor. As to how
far compensation shall go ; if it shall be full
value on the appraisement of a healthy stock,
no doubt many will hail its advent, but
if only half-value of a healthy stock, the
eagerness to share its benefits will be some-
what damped. In dealing with' bees, the Con-
tagious Diseases (Animals) Act will not apply,
from the fact that sec. 16, s.-s. 1 (b) " same field, ''

Jan. 31, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

45

&c, will require much modification for it to be
applicable to insects still in a state of ferce
nature, though owned and domesticated to a
certain degree, yet beyond control when
fulfilling their part in the economy of nature.
Sec. 2, sub-sees. 1 and 2, 0. D. A., affected
creatures' (in our case, colonies) owners receive
half. Those that have passed over the trail
and have escaped, yet because they have been
in the same field must be slaughtered, receive
full compensation. How will the area be
defined if the fine flight of the late Mr.
Cheshire's fancy be accepted that adult bees
may carry the germs of the disease, we hope to
stamp out, from flower to flower, and that
other bees from a distance may contract the
disease and carry it miles in another direction.
Bees cannot be confined within even county
boundaries, except those boundaries of coun-
ties are sea girt. I only throw out these hints
for discussion. — ■ W. Woodlkv, Beedon,
Newbury.

FOUL-BROOD LEGISLATION.

IS IT TO BE THOROUGH ?

[2206.] As Mr. Woodley intends writing to
the Inspector of Foul Brood in the Province
of Ontario for particulars as to the working of
his remedial measures (" Notes by the Way,''
2181), may I suggest that he should ask the
following questions % 1. In how many cases,
if any, has foul brood reappeared in any apiary
within one year after the reported cure ? 2.
How many within two years ? 3. Does the
inspector visit more than one apiary in a day ?
4. What, exactly, is the process of self-
disinfection adopted ? These points are, as I
think can be shown, of much importance.

It would be truly comfortable to set aside,
as Mr. Woodley suggests, the theories of
scientific bee-men, and to believe that by
adopting the Canadian remedy, as reported,
we can stamp out the enemy. But the
existence of bacillus alvei and its spores as
the cause of foul brood once admitted — and a
careful study of Mr. Cheshire's chapter on
foul brood, with its instructive figures of
microscopic preparations, will convince the
most sceptical. We have only to consider for
a moment the general obstinate vitality of the
spores of the large family of split-for-increase
fungi, to which our bacillus belongs, to come
to the sad conviction that not one of the
remedies hitherto recommended can be relied
on to effect more than partial or temporary
cures. The virulent action of the disease may
have died out with the bacillus, but under
ordinary circumstances the spores still exist,
and should conditions suitable to germination
arise, foul brood will be apt to reappear. The
bacillus can be discerned only under high
microscopical powers ; the spore is but
THoff in- "wide by T;~o n- in- long- Cheshire
tells us that one of the diseased bee-larvre will
contain one thousand million of them. He
kept spores for sixteen and a half months

exposed to extremes of temperature without
impairing their vitality.

Experiments on diseased comb carried on in
" moist chambers " (Mr. Woodley's notes,
p. 24) can hardly have much bearing on what
goes on in a busy and well-ventilated hive.
It is well known that spores of bacilli are
conveyed in the air in great numbers, so that
it is only by careful precautions that bacterio-
logists are able to keep their cultivating
mediums sterile till wanted for experiment.
But even if we grant, for sake of argument,
that the spores of our bacillus are not air-
borne, the nursing bees and the ordinary
traffic must obviously spread them throughout
the infected hive, and the bees themselves
must be covered with them. Hence, although
we can destroy the contents of the hive and
eliminate the bacillus by feeding with naph-
tholbeta, and by removal of the freshly-produced
comb, the bees themselves cannot fail to
convey the spores to their new habitation, so
that, after all, the little germs of future
trouble are only lying dormant.

It follows that not only is the picturesque
skep doomed, as Mr. Woodley says, but
that, unless we are to content ourselves with
a mere palliative, all diseased stocks must be
destroyed, and the hive3 thoroughly disin-
fected. We need not despair for the future,
but at present there is no known remedial
method which gives a hope of stamping out
foul brood. Mr. Bancks gave us hopes of
success by treatment with bromine. Unfor-
tunately it seems that he has not found it
practical. Mr. Blow has modified the terms
in which his new remedy was first advertised,
and he must pardon us if we feel unable to
accept his original statement, though doubtless
made in complete good faith, without some
scientific proof as to destruction of the
spores. To say that a cure will be effected in
a month or two means very little. Naphthol
beta will certainly do as much. I have the
misfortune to be qualified to speak with some
authority. It is about five years since foul
brood was first introduced into my apiary by my
foolish acceptance of a hive of bees from a friend
who was leaving the neighbourhood. It was
in the winter when examination was difficult.
Next spring I had two colonies diseased. I
destroyed them. Disease reappeared the fol-
lowing spring. Since then I have either
destroyed colonies or treated them with
naphthol beta, and for months together have
been free from all signs of disease. It has
been my practice to feed each autumn with
naphthol beta and to use naphthaline. In 1893
the combs were so fully stored that I omitted
to feed. Next spring, 1894, I found two
stocks diseased. One I destroyed. The
other had such a bright young queen, and the
bees were so vigorous that I had not the heart
to destroy them. I may say that my treat-
ment was very thorough. Bees shaken off
combs into special empty box. Hive contents
burned. Bees confined if honey was plentiful,

4G

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Jan. 31, 1895.

and fed on strongly medicated syrup. On
fourth day run into fresh hive, with starters,
and fed on same syrup. In four days more
frames removed, and fresh frames with foun-
dation given. Bees fed as before. The colony
last saved was fed with syrup medicated with
Mr. Blow's remedy. By its smell it should
be mainly a tar product, such as Jeyes' and
many other disinfectants. The label states
that " it is an advantage " to spray the combs
with a weak solution at the outset of the
treatment. I found that the bees would take
without much reluctance, and apparently
thrive on, a solution six times as strong. It
is hardly conceivable that such a spraying
would destroy even the spores it might touch.

As to disinfection, I have used scalding
with hot caustic soda, painting with pure
carbolic acid and methylated spirits in equal
parts, and heavy sulphur fuming. There are
tew bee-keepers in my neighbourhood, and to
the best of my belief there has been no foul
brood within miles of me for years past. What
other conclusion is possible but that the spores
have survived, and that when not kept down
by special treatment, they have managed to
germinate ?

Question No. 4, on self- disinfection. The
reason will be apparent. As long as the
inspector confines his operations to one case a
day, and changes his clothing, completely
disinfecting both it and his own person — no
easy matter — he is not likely to spread infec-
tion. If, on the other hand, we are destined
to receive the friendly visits of an official who
has been on tour, careering from village to
village, and farm to cottage, on a bicycle, he
will certainly be an object of terror to
thoughtful bee-keepers.

More power to the British Bee-Keepers'
Association ! with all my heart ; and may
the shadow of its subscribers never be less .
But, with all deference, it will not do to leave
the matter entirely to the committee. After
taking in the B.B.J, for a few years one is
apt to forget how many British bee-keepers
have never seen the journal or heard of the
Association, and how many more neither take
in the one nor subscribe to the other.
Stamping-out foul brood is a far more com-
plicated business than getting rid of swine-
fever, and the latter is yet to accomplish.
There will be much opposition, and very
naturally. Those of us who know the ins-
and-outs of the question must be able to
justify legislation. To do this we should first
make up our minds what we want, and why
we want it. — South Devon Enthusiast,
January 19.

COMPULSORY POWERS.

JSEES AND FRUIT GROWERS.

[2207.] With reference to the crusade anent
foul brood, I consider it a very Avise step,
especially to fruit-growers, as in this locality
there are hundreds of acres of top and bottom

fruit grown; and whatever should we do if this
terrible pest is to annihilate our army of
fertilisers 1 I know from personal experience
that we should not get one-tenth of the fruit if
it were not for the bees. My own experience
is a case in point. When I commenced fruit-
growing, sixteen years ago, I started with one
stock of bees, and there were not many kept in
this district at that time. However, I noticed
that my gooseberry bushes and apple trees
around where the bees stood always had more
fruit on them than the remaining part of the
orchard. The following year I increased my
stocks to four, and put them in various parts
of the garden ; the same result followed as in
the first case cited. I am now the possessor
of forty stocks, and through the good cultiva-
tion of my garden combined with the abun-
dance of bees, I have in the last four years
taken as under: — 1890, 6 tons 14 cwt. of
berries , 300 bushels of plums and apples ;
1891, 7 tons 1^ cwt. of berries, 150 bushels of
plums and apples ; 1892, 8 tons 3| cwt.
of berries, 200 bushels plums and apples ;
1893, 8 tons 15 cwt. berries, 400 bushels
plums and apples ; 1894, 9 tons 1 cwt. 1 qr.
berries, 250 bushels plums and apples, and
100 bushels pears. This is the returns of 3|
acres of land. So good has been the result;
that I have purchased 5 acres of land and am
planting it with fruit.

My bees pay me now on an average ,£25 a
year, and I do not know what I should do
without them now if this pest of foul- brood
was to infest this district — and I am sorry to
say I can put my hand on several malignant
cases not many miles from here. One case was
a very hard one. Two old poor people in the
declining years of life used to keep thirty
skeps, but the whole of them died out in two
years. They still preserve their skeps for
future use, to spread the disease. If the law
can be made operative to destroy foul brood,
it will be the one sure method of keeping
down the disease. The above facts I can
prove if required. Trusting you may succeed
in your endeavour. I am sure you will have
the good wishes of all bee-keepers. — R.
Brown, Somersham, January 22.

UNITING BEES.

DR. MILLER ON HIS " PLAN.''

[2208] In a late number of your valuable
publication a correspondent (2143, p. 508,
vol. 22) reports failure in trying to unite bees
by placing one lot over the other, with nothing
between them but stiff paper having in it a
hole for one bee to pass. Your editorial foot-
note explains quite clearly why there should
have been trouble. There is also another thing
in the case that differed from the way I have
done. If I understand him correctly, your
correspondent put the bees over with no chance
for egress from the box in which they were
imprisoned except the hole that allowed them
to go down into the other hive. The bees

Jan. 31, 1895.] THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.

17

would escape as prisoners, and would be in
that disturbed state of mind that would court
their prompt dispatch. In the few cases that
I tried — and you will please note that I don't
warrant success— I allowed both upper and
under colony their usual entrance wide open.
I think that might make a material difference.
Of course, that will allow the removed colony
to go back to their old place unless provision
is made against it, but that must be done in
any case.

In another number you reply to an inquiry
to the effect that artificial heat should not be
employed for wintering bees. Now, if you
were reasonable enough to stay within the
bounds of your '• sea-girt isle," I would have
no word of dissent ; but you have a way of
breaking over such bounds and getting thou-
sands of miles away, and it is entirely within
the possibilities that some of your readers
might be the better to have their bees warmed
by stove heat. I think you were entirely right
in that particular case ; and, moreover, 1 don't
think an oil stove ought ever to be used,
either for man or bee, without means to carry
away the gases directly from the flame.

Without entering into argument, I'll give
you my own case. My cellars are what are
considered good, but, like most cellars in this
region, if left to themselves the temperature
will sink below the freezing-point a good many
times. To avoid that, and to keep the tem-
perature somewhere between 40 deg. and
48 deg., I have a small cylinder stove in each
cellar, the part that contains the coal (anthra-
cite) being 12 in. deep and 8 in. in diameter.
When the thermometer in the cellar sinks
below 45 deg., which it does very soon after the
bees are put in the cellar, I start the fire, and
it is kept going day and night until the warm
weather of spring makes it unnecessary. For
years I wintered from 200 to 400 colonies in this
way in a satisfactory manner. Then I thought
I would try them one winter without fire, and
lost heavily. Another winter I tried putting
in occasional fires, as bees get an occasional
warming up in winter outdoors, but that also
resulted in much loss. So I have again gone
back to the steady fire for all winter. I don't
know of any harm the fire does. The stove
door stands wide open, the stove stands right
in the same apartment with the bees, and if
any bee should have a predilection for crema-
tion there is nothing to prevent the indulgence ;
but the deaths all occur, I think, outside the
stove, the dead bees being found on the
ground. Now, if I lived in England, or if I
had cellars warm enough, I might object to
artificial heat. As it is, I am sure I am
better off with it.

Sometimes towards spring, when the weather
is above 45 deg. outdoors, the fire is allowed
to go down, and the bees become uneasy. At
such times I have tried the experiment of
making a fire and raising the temperature,
perhaps to GO deg. or more. At first the bees
make a great roar, but as the fire dies down

they subside, and are then very quiet. I
think the heat helps to change the air of the
cellar. For when the temperature is the same
inside as out, of course there will be no change
of air, and it will become foul. — 0. C. Miller,
Marengo, III, U.S. A , January 17.

BEES AS A "HOBBY."
[2209.] Confined to home with severe cold,
my thoughts turn longingly to my now
snowed-up bee3. I see the Avhite hive tops in
my lower garden, sixty yards distant, but
neither can I go to the bees nor can they come
to me. Memory fondly reverts to the happy
hours spent with them last season, and I
keenly anticipate the fast coming time when
ice-bound winter shall give place to genial
spring, and my little friends be foraging for
their first pollen from arabis, crocus, and
catkin. Speed the pleasant time !

In the summer of 1 890 I was bantered by
friends on setting up two hives of bees.
" Sting-y things ! You will soon be sick of
them ! " " They cannot be made to pay ! "
Such was the left-handed encouragement
which did me more good than a lot of fine
compliments would have done. I determined
to succeed, and I did. Of course, in common
with scores of fellow-readers of your paper, I
refer to my bee-keeping, not as to a business,
but as to a small cult or hobby. Nobody
expects to live on twelve or sixteen hives of
bees ; but, as most men are happy with a
hobby, they must be happier when it can be
made to pay. On page 435, November 2,
1893, 1 told you how I had done for that season,
having taken between 5 and 6 cwt. of good
honey from fourteen stocks. During the season
of 1894 I obtained nearly 5 cwt. from twelve
stocks. This is counting my two " Wells ''
hives as one stock each. Nearly all my honey
was extracted from shallow frames, and of
good quality. I bottled it all in screw-capped
1-lb. bottles, and have sold nearly all of it
retail at Is. 2d. per bottle, the remainder going
at 10s. per dozen wholesale. My receipts for
honey at close of 1893 were <£23. 6s. 4d., and
for 1894 ,£20. 6s. lid. Against this I have
only to set expense of bottles, carriage
to local shows, &c, because I was pretty
fully equipped in appliances and founda-
tion before these two seasons set in. I
showed honey and an observatory hive of
bees at all " our local flower shows, ex-
plained bee-life to the visitors, and sold them
the honey. This created a future market, too,
and many people have called upon me without
my having to keep shop, " for more of
that nice honey they had at the show." I give
these particulars chiefly as encouragement to
beginners, especially those who tell us in the
Journal sometimes, that, though they have
succeeded in obtaining honey they can get no
market for it, except at losing prices. I want
to testify once more to the soundness of the
Wells' principle in the hands of those who

48

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 31, 1895.

have once learned how to manage bees in
single stocks. I think the failure will only
occur where the learner attempts too much at
first. My Wells' have again eclipsed any other
stock in production of honey.

I tried wide shallows last season, that is,
eight in a box instead of ten. I got much
heavier slabs of honey at less labour to the
bees, no doubt ; but I got them built down
continuously to the frames below, as others
did. This discounted some of the advantage,
but advantage there was, as I soon found, when
extracting. I bought no wide ends. I had a
lot of ordinary " W.B.C." ends by me, so, I
opened out the ends of every other one with
pliers, and there you are ! Eight frames fit
just where ten did before.

Regarding the discussion on compulsory
powers for stamping out foul brood, I quite
agree therewith. I have never seen it. I
don't want it. I use preventives. But if I
had it I would make short work with it. I
would prefer to " burn the lot '' and start
again. — Horninglow Cross, Burton-on-Trent.

FOUL-BROOD REMEDIES.

[2210.] Referring to Mr. Davenport's letter
(2185, p. 26), I can assure him he is not the
expert alluded to. As to the statement quoted
in my letter (2158, p. 4), however rash or
unwise it may appear to Mr. D., it was
received by myself and others with good faith
at the time ; moreover, our informant was an
"expert" employed by the Association, if
the report now before me is a truthful one ; if
not, the blame rests with those by whom it
was drawn up. I always read with interest
anything from across the Atlantic appearing
in the B B. J., and thought it possible
Americans might be a little before us in their
methods of treatment of foul brood. Alas !
that thought is now dispelled.

It is gratifying news to know the county of
Worcester is not suffering badly from the foul-
brood pest, and I hope the little there is will
soon be stamped out. Although my name
may not appear in the books of the W.B.K.A.,
I am proud to say I belong to an association
that is doing good work. — Wilfrid Hardie,
Bromsgrove, January 19.

CLEARING BEES FROM FRAMES.

[2211.] The plan proposed last week by Mr.
Hall (2200, p. 37) is, I fear, too troublesome
for general use, and the bees might as well be
shaken off the combs. It is usually sufficient
to put a quilt under the super, leaving for
communication a small feed-hole, or turning
back a corner of the quilt. Above the super
put a thin quilt, or, if the weather is warm, no
quilt at all ; and it is better to put the frames
far apart.

If the hive is very strong, or the weather is
very warm, or if there is insufficient room
below, the following plan (No. 2) rray be

adopted, viz. :— Put a quilt below the super,
leaving no communication with the brood-
combs, but leave a small opening to the super
from behind a dummy. No quilt should be
put on the super. This plan I have found
very effectual, and I have used it to clear bees
off stored combs for extracting. I do recom-
mend it for that purpose, as the combs get
cold, and they can be extracted much more
readily when warm from the hive.

I should vary plan No. 2 in the case of a
"W.B.C." hive by letting the super project
over one side of the body-box, so that the bees
could escape between the body-box and the
outer case.

I may add that in plan No. 2 it is necessary
to let some bees into the super to begin with
if there are none on the combs. — T. F. L.,
Brondesbury.

[Referring to our correspondent's postscript
— not printed above — we shall be very pleased
to have the information he kindly offers to
send for publication. — Eds.]

LISKEARD HONEY FAIR.

AN OLD CORNISH HONEY MARKET.

[2212.] Liskeard is a town on the Cornwall
railway in the eastern division of the county,
some fourteen or sixteen miles from Plymouth,
and on October 2 is held the fair of the year,
called St. Matthew's Fair. There is generally
a large gathering each year, persons coming
from all directions, some for the purpose of
visiting friends, others on business or pleasure
bent. Business begins early in the morning
with the farmers' cattle market, which closes
about midday ; the afternoon is generally
spent in various pleasures and exhibitions,
whilst a good business is also done by the
tradespeople, hawkers, and hucksters. But it
is of the honey fair I wish to write, an old-
established fair, of which not many such are
now held in the country. A small part of
one public highway is devoted to the sale of
honey and wax, and to that spot about one or
two p.m. on the day of the fairs may be seen
the old time skeppists repair, man and wife,
with one or two red-clay pitchers containing
the honey, and a quart measure for measuring
out ; also a straw stick wherewith to test the
consistency and taste the quality. One or two
usually have supers of comb honey with
weights and scales for weighing out, and
myself (for the last five years) with comb
honey in sections and extracted in glass jars.
Not until this year have I had any competitors
against me with sections.

I was sorry to see the number of sellers this
year was reduced to six or eight, whereas in 1893
there were some eighteen or twenty, showing
that we, too, in Cornwall, have suffered from
the unfavourable weather of June last. The
price of liquid honey started at 4s. per quart,
but later in the day it dropped to 3s. 6d.,
which was the ruling figure. By seven o'clock
I had disposed of all I took (about 140 lb.)

Jan. 31, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

19

except eighteen sections, and, packing these
up, I started for home, satisfied with my
day's work. The time passed pleasantly,
as it usually does when several of the fraternity
get together. There are, however, but few
bar-framists in the eastern division of the
county, but I observed a growing interest in
the new methods as shown by the many
inquiries about it.

The selling price of honey at this fair may
be taken as that of nearly the whole of the
eastern division of the county. Some persons
sell before this date at home, but at the price
afterwards asked at the fair, where also many
housekeepers lay in their year's store, the
honey being used for medicinal purposes
rather than for the table. In fact, we have
not yet been able to produce honey in suffi-
cient quantity for it to be seen frequently on
the breakfast or tea-table ; but we hope to
get there, and shall if bee-keepers continue to
place before the public a display of pure white
sections and neat bottles of extracted honey ;
they must attract the eye, and that will affect
the palate. Have we not all felt it ? — John
Brown, Polyphant, Lanceston, December 21,
1894.

SUNDRY BEE NOTES.

(Concluded from p. 37.)

Hardiness in Bees. — One day last autumn,
while "winter packing" the hives in my
apiary during cold weather, I came across one
lot — Italians — the bees of which could not
stand to be separated from the main cluster,,
even for two or three minutes, without imme-
diately becoming numbed. It struck me then
that another hive close by had what I con-
sidered the hardiest strain of bees in the whole
apiary, so, to test the two extremes, I shook
about a dozen of its bees from a frame down
upon the top of the quilts, and imprisoned
them there by closing down the cover of the
hive. My intention was to liberate them the
next morning, but bad weather prevented me
from going to the apiary, so I only liberated
them the morning following. Well, although
these bees bad thus been separated from their
colony during cold weather for about forty-
eight hours, on opening the hive cover about
two-thirds of them immediately flew around
to the hive entrance, and the remainder also
took wing a few minutes later on being a little
warmed up in my hands. This explains the
reason why the less hardy varieties of bees
prefer to work on small plants, in the plain,
where they receive the benefit of shelter and
warmth, while the hardier varieties betake
themselves tu more exposed situations, where
they give their attention preferably to the
blossoms of bushes and of trees.

Distinguishing ' Foul - broody Bees. — If,
during the active breeding season, we open a
hive and find sealed brood in the combs, that
is, not disfigured by the presence of an

emptied cell here and there in it, we then
know that the hive is perfectly healthy. If,
on the other hand, we find an " emptied "
cell here and there among the sealed brood,
then the colony may be slightly affected with
disease, and as such must be considered as
only in a secondary condition as to healthi-
ness. The emptied cells are those in which
brood has miscarried, and the bee-keeper must
learn to distinguish them from empty cells
from which brood has issued in the natural
way. Healthy brood, on arriving at maturity,
issues from its cells and leaves them practi-
cally empty, but unhealthy brood dies in the
cells, and such cells must be cleaned out by
the bees, hence the term " emptied " cells.
Empty cells are usually surrounded by mature
sealed brood, while emptied cells are
frequently found surrounded only by
young brood that has just been sealed
over. It is equally easy for a bee-
keeper who has once learned how to
distinguish foul brood, to tell if the combs
are badly affected with the disease, or if the
slightest trace of it is st'll present in any of
the cells. But there aie sometimes vigorous
colonies affected with incipient foul brood, which
manage to keep their combs clean, and only
show a few " emptied " cells among their
sealed brood to indicate their secondary con-
dition. It is well for the bee-keeper, more
especially for the expert, to be able to dis-
tinguish'from the outside, during the working
season, if a populous colony is thoroughly
healthy by simply noticing the demeanour of
the bees on the alighting board outside the
hive, and thus to dispenss with opening tho
hive for the purpose. The difference between
a healthy colony and one more or less affected
with disease is that in the former there are
usually no bees to be seen during the working
hours cleaning their hind legs on the alighting
board, near the entrance ; while all colonies
where some bees are generally seen cleaning
one hind leg with the other alternately must
be regarded with more or less suspicion, and
will invariably either have diseased brood or
emptied cells visible in the combs.

Honey for Canaries. — Honey has been
recommended, in the Revue, for canaries while
moulting, so as to get them re-feathered
quicker than they would without its use.
During the past summer I had a female canary
that, after losing her feathers, remained
almost featherless for several weeks. So,
remembering what I had read in Mr. Bertrand's
Bevue, I gave, each morning, half a teaspoonful
of liquid honey on a piece of bread previously
soaked in water, which I placed in the cage.
About a week after commencing to do so, the
bird began to show fresh feathers, and it soon
regained a very fine coat of plumage. Just as
I had commenced giviDg the honey the male
bird, in the same cage, moulted, and imme-
diately regained a fresh coat, without becoming
and remaining naked, as had done its partner.
— Peter Bo^s, Jersey.

50

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Jan. 31, 1895.

Noticesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Correspondents to bear in 'mind that, as it is
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

W. Drew (Winchester). — Foul Brood and
Swine Fever. — We can fully sympathise
•with our correspondent in his complaint as
to the hardship the Contagious Diseases
(Animal?) Act entails on those who are un-
fortunate enough to suffer from its effects.
It must be borne in mind, however, that the
many benefit from the loss of the few. But
what is the good of anyone trying to preserve
badly-diseased hives of bees ? And where is
the hardship in having hot-beds of infection
put out of sight and of harm's way for ever ?
Nothing like " meddlesome interference " is
intended in the action now being taken, and
our correspondent — and all who think with
him — may rest assured that the real inte-
rests of bee-keepers generally is the main
object to be attained by those who are
moving in the matter.

A. Raynor (Great Horkesley). — Queen Cast
Out of Skep ; and Transferring for Be-
ginners.— It is quite impossible for us to say
what has caused the dead queen to be thrown
out. An experienced bee-keeper could tell
in spring if there is still a queen in the skep,
by turning it up and examining the combs,
but for a " first season bee-keeper " the
queenlessness or otherwise of the skep can
only be determined from the outside by
watching if pollen is freely carried into the
hive in spring, and if the bees appear to
work hard and increase in numbers. We
strongly deprecate your joining the "weak
lot " of bees in the other skep to the first
named, and transferring both to a frame-
hive. In adopting the frame-hive you should
" start fair," and that is not by trying your
hand at transferring combs and bees from
skeps into the new hive, especially when the
queen proposed to head the stock is now
only the parent of a weak lot. Our advice
is — populate the frame-hive with a good
swarm, headed by a prolific young queen,
and we shall hope to see you become a
successful bee-keeper.

Extractor (South Norwood). — Ants in Hives.
— ]. The most effectual method of prevent-
ing ants from entering hives is to stand each
leg in a vessel (an old lobster-tin will do)
holding water. If the legs are previously
scaked in gas- tar it will prevent decay from
the wet. 2. Many such contrivances as you
describe have been devised for adapting the
" Little wonder '' extractor to the later, or
cylinder, form, but the latter can now be

had for so moderate a price that the cash
spent in improving the Little wonder would
almost pay the difference between the two.

Eichard M. Martin.— Comb sent in posi-
tively reekiDg with foul brood, and to give
the honey from such combs (as you propose)
to another stock would be the height of*
unwisdom, unless it was desired to ruin the
lot. We should burn every comb and frame
from the hive in which the bees have died,
taking c*re that not a trace of them remained
above ground for longer than could be
helped.

Esholt (Huddersfield). — Becording Bee-
Keepers on Burgess Boll. — Your suggestion
— intended seriously, we suppose — a3 to
revisers of burgess roll being asked to add
the letters B.K. to names of known bee-
keepers is uufortunately impracticable.

H. T. Spice (Sussex).— Compulsory Bovvers. —
We think our correspondent will find a
fairly satisfactory reply to his communica-
tion in the report of the proceedings at the
meeting of the B.B.K.A. committee, which
appears on another page of this issue. Nor
have we any doubt as to his being actuated
by no unfriendly spirit as to the good in-
tended by the proposed action.

J. Manson (Renfrew). — Fressing Heather
Honey from Old Brood-combs. — We fear it
is not wax but pollen which makes the
honey "yellow in colour and peculiar in
taste." If our idea is correct, and it is more
than probable, nothing can be done to. im-
prove the honey.

H. Edenborough. — Extracting very thick
Honey from Combs in Winter. — Cut up
the combs and place them in an earthenware
jar, which latter is then inserted in a pan
large enough to allow the jar to be com-
pletely surrounded by water (this is impor-
tant) to the height of the combs ; three or
four small pebbles on bottom of pan will
secure this. Let it heat. slowly until the
wax melts and rises to the top7 whence it
may be removed in a solid cake when cold.
If jar comes in direct contact with bottom
of pan the honey will burn and spoil. Nor
must it be subject to great heat for a long
or it will deteriorate in flavour and quality.

W. Morris Fletcher (Ririgwood). — Forage
for Bees. — We know of few really valuable
early flowers suitable for sowing in large
quantities or for supplying bees with suffi-
cient forage to enable them to store surplus
in appreciable quantity. A row or two of
Limnanitus Douglasii is about the only one
we advise for your purpose beyond the
white clover.

F. W. C. — 1. The address you inquire for is
" Signor Car. Luigi Sartori, Etablissementa
de Apicolture, Milan, Italy." 2. None we
know of.

A. B. (Chester).— Bees sent are Ligurian-
Carniolan hybrids. 2. In pure Ligurians
the three upper segments of the abdomen
are yellow in colour.

Feb. 7, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

51

$Baxwl |ttto> ta.

THE FOUL-BROOD QUESTION.

Much has lately been said and written
about foul brood, and although we do
not like to interfere with the free expres-
sion of opinion of our correspondents, it
being quite understood that Ave do not
hold ourselves responsible for the views
expressed by them, yet the subject is of
sufficient importance to induce us to
clear up a few points which might puzzle
and perplex the general bee-keeper. We
have recently heard much of the so-
called McEvoy method of curingf oul brood,
which has also been from time to time
alluded to in our columns. Perhaps
our readers will not be surprised to learn
that not only is this method not new, but
practically the same principle has been
in vogue for nearly 130 years, and
although Professor Cook recently claimed
it as Quinby's discovery, we find Shirach
in 1769 advocating it as a cure for foul
brood. Not only the method, but the
theory upon which it is based, viz., that
honey carries the infection, is almost as
old. Mr. McEvoy differs from others
only in this, that he asserts honey to be
the only source of infection, whereas
those who have gone before have stated
it to be one, amongst other, means of
infection. With this view they adopted
more drastic measures to induce the bees
to use up all the honey, and to prevent a
particle of it from being used for brood-
feeding, than does even Mr. McEvoy, for
the bees, after having been deprived of
all their combs, were subjected to starva-
tion, and any combs built were again and
again removed. Dzierzon relates how
repeatedly the disease broke out even
under this treatment. Mr. McEvoy does
not consider it necessary to disinfect
hives, although it has been fully proved
over and over again that the disease will
break out in such hives. Not being a
scientist himself, Mr. McEvoy compla-
cently sneers at science.

We were, however, sorry to find our
friend, Mr. Wm. Woodley, also holding up
scientists to ridicule, although he quotes
both Dr. Howard and Mr. Mackenzie in
supporting his views. But are not these
gentlemen scientists ? And why should
their opinions have greater weight than
those of others ? Although Mr. Woodley

admits that foul brood is a contagious
disease, he does not " think that the
spores of the disease can possibly be
wafted about by the fanning wings of
the bees," otherwise " every cell contain-
ing brood must become diseased." We
ask, Why should this be so % Not every
one in a house has fever because the
fever germs are Moating about, and in
the same way it is not necessary for
every larva to become diseased. With
bees, just as with human beings, the
weak and those whose vitality is im-
paired are the first to succumb, and it is
quite possible for the more robust to
withstand the disease altogether, even
though they are surrounded by it. To
an unbiased scientific mind, the experi-
ments of Dr. Howard and Mr. Mackenzie
do not prove by any means that the
spores arc not carried about. They
simply show that in a moist chamber,
where the air is quiescent, under condi-
tions entirely different to those which
obtain in a hive of bees, spores are not
thrown off into the air. They seem to
have overlooked the fact that bees do
attempt to clean out the cells and
remove the dried-up matter containing
the spores ; that they do also try to
remove diseased larvce ; and that both
these and the refuse from the cells,
in small particles, are allowed to
drop on the floor-board. We have
abundant proof that spores capable
of germinating are found in such
places. Mr. Woodley says that the
experiments of Mr. Mackenzie "con-
fute the often-expressed notion of bee-
keepers— and generally received without
question— that chilled brood is a veri-
table hotbed for the germination of foul
brood spores." Is there not some mis-
take here? as we can haidly suppose our
correspondent is not able to distinguish
between a medium for the propagation of
the disease, which is usually admitted,
and a hotbed for the germination of
spores. That chilled brood is capable of
being infected, Mr. Mackenzie has shown,
and our own experiments have convinced
us that bacillus alvei may exist in chilled
brood in company with septic bacteria.
That the spores did not spread to other
cells is no proof that they would not
have done so under different circum-
stances, or under such as exist in an
ordinary hive. Then, again, Mr. McEvoy,
supposing that the infection is only in

53

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 7, 1895.

the honey, if no honey has been spilled,
does not even think it necessary to
disinfect the hive ; but there is abundant
evidence to show that this disinfection is
absolutely necessary.

We remember many years ago a
gentleman purchasing, at a sale by
auction, for a few shillings, a disused
" Nutt's collateral hive." Our friend
thought he would like to have some bees
in it as a curiosity, and, after having
well-washed it, a swarm was introduced ;
but the bees did not seem to get on, and
when examined, they were found to be
suffering from foul brood. To prevent
further trouble the whole lot were
destroyed. Will our correspondent tell
us how foul brood was produced here,
because there was no question about any
honey being in the hive 1

That bacillus alvei is found in adult
bees we . have ourselves been able to
demonstrate, and Ave have mounted
slides of the blood of workers, drones,
and queens showing plenty of bacilli.
Dr. Howard says he has not had the
material to verify these statements, but
he assumes that bacilli do not exist in
adult bees. Scientists do not pretend
—in the present knowledge of science —
to radically cure the disease. Until
something is discovered that will destroy
the spores without killing the bees, they
know that so long as the spores are to
be found in a latent state, when these
are brought into contact with a suitable
medium they will germinate, and their
remedies are based upon this knowledge.
It is known that in the presence of
certain substances bacilli cannot exist ;
but to kill the spores the drugs used would
have to be of such a strength that they
would also kill the insects. Therefore
all that is attempted is to render the
environments unsuitable for the develop-
ment of the bacteria. Also by removing
everything that tends to cause weakness,
or impairs the constitution of the bees
to enable them to resist the disease.
When bee-keepers are intelligent and are
careful they can prevent the malady
from spreading; but it is the careless
and the wilfully obstinate who are a
danger to the community, and it is to
protect themselves against such that bee-
keepers seek for compulsory powers to
deal with the disease. We would cer-
tainly not wish to dogmatise, but we arc
induced to think that Canadian foul-

brood can hardly be of the same virulent
type as ours if it readily yields to treat-
ment that has failed in Europe.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

ANNUAL MEETING.

Iq view of the importance cf the business
coruingr before the annual meeting, to be held
at 105, Jerinyn-street, on Thursday, the 21st
inst., we are hoping to see a largely increased
attendance of members, and it will facilitate
matters if those who have resolved to attend
would send a post-card to the secretary, Mr.
Huckle, who, if the need arises, will be enabled
to provide the necessary accomodation, both
at the meeting and the usual quarterly
conver.-azione which follows.

The Baroness Burdett-Coutts, president of
the association, has intimated her intention of
being present, and will take the chair.

BERKS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION
The annual meeting of this Association was
held at the Queen's Hall, Reading, on the 30th
ult., between sixty and seventy members being
present, Mr. W. Carter in the chair. The
report an! balance-sheet, read by the hon sec,
ha-ing been unanimously adopted, the officers
for the j ear were elected. Mr. A. D. Woodley
was re-elected hon. sec, with Miss Egginton
as hon. financial secretarv. In returning
thanks for re-election, Mr. Woodley remarked
that this completed the twelfth year of his
official connection with the Association, and
Miss Egginton made the ninth hon. financial
secretary he had had as a colleague. Mr.
John Simonds was elected hon. treasurer,
and Mr. Frank Cooksey as hon. librarian.
The election of a representative council
brought this part of the business to
a close. Mr. Frank Cooksey then, on
behalf of the Association, presented Miss
Carr-Smith with an illuminated address as a
slight recognition of the valuable services she
has rendered to the association during the
four years she has acted as honorary secretary.
Mr. Cooksey referred to the loss the society
was about to sustain through Miss Carr-
Smith's departure from Reading. It gave him
pleasure, however, to state that Miss Egginton
had kindly consented to undertake the duties
of the office which Miss Carr-Smith had so
well filled. Mr. Darby, on behalf of the
Windsor district, testified to the great help
Miss Carr Smith had rendered to their branch
of the society, and expressed his regret that
she was leaving them.

The Rev. H. Carr-Smith briefly returned
thanks on his sister's behalf, expressing her
appreciation of their kindness, and wishing the
society every prosperity.

The address, handsomely illuminated, and
with the Berks Bee-keepers' Association honey
badge tastefully introduced, was mounted in

Feb. 7, 1895,]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

53

an oak frame, and was the work of Mr. ~W. S.
Darby, hori. secretary of the Windsor district
of the association.

The meeting then resolved itself into a
social gathering. Tea haviDg been served,
Mr. Flood gave a short address on practical
bee-keepiDg, illustrated by lantern slides,
after which Mr. Woodley spoke on the foul-
brood question, and the following resolution
was carried unanimously : "That this meeting
of Berkshire bee-keepers most heartily endorses
the action of the British Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation in their efforts to obtain legislative
powers to deal with this foul brood among
bees." Examination for third-class experts
certificates :— The University Extension Col-
lege have promised to provide accommodation
for the examination to be held in this centre.

B.K. ASSOCIATION FOR SUSSEX.

Those who have so energetically moved in
this matter are not relaxing their efforts, but
we should like to see Sussex bee-keepers alive
to the importance of prompt action. Time is
moving fast towards the season for activity
among bee-keepers, and in the short inter-
vening period not an hour should be lost. It
is of great importance to have at least the
nucleus of an organisation formed early in the
year, else the laudable desire of the Kent bee-
keepers to make a big display of honey and
honey products at the Tunbridge Wells show
in July will be seriously discouraged if Sussex
is slow to move. Who will come to the front
as organising secretary ?

tywnwonkMt,

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. A7o notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, dec, must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

*,* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
ivhen 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.

AMONG THE BEES.

" FOUL BROOD." — BRACE COMBS. — AMERICAN
MIXTURE.

[2213.] I was not only sorry, but sur-
prised, at the contents of Mr. Hopkins' letters
(No. 2157, p. 4, and No. 2190, p. 29), as
knowing that gentleman personally I could

not briDg my mind to bear to think that he
should conscientiously assert that compulsory
powers in the case of both Contagious Diseases
Acts (humans and animals) had had little
effect ; true, they have not eradicated any
disease, and while there is that constant inter-
change of both bumans and animals through-
out the world, tbere is little likelihood of any
disease being peifectly eradicated. That is
not the question, and I ask him : Has not
both of these acts very materially lessened the
effects of contagious diseases in this country '.
In my time 1 can remember that when there
was an outbreak of some infectious disorder
in any locality, it continued until it seemed to
have exhausted itself simply by claiming all
the victims that were amenable to its clutches.
But is it so now ? Remember the very serious
outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in London
but a few months ngo ; it was stamped out in a
few weeks. How? By compulsory measures.
Have we not seen the same thing occur over
and over again ?

I cannot possibly see how any one having a
colony of bees affecred with " foul brood '' can
have the— shall I say ? — " cheek '' to ask for com-
pensation. Why, I'd sooner be without the
bees, much less place a value on them. A
colony so affected is not only valueless, it's a
deal less than valueless, if there can be such a
condition of things. I know it's hard for the
poor bee-keeper ; so it is if he loses a child.
Yet he has to overcome his disappointment or
grief. It is simply the result of circumstances,
of which we all have to bear our share ; good-
ness knows I've had mine. But is his loss not
his gain ? If there were no act which would
compel the destruction of his bees, would he not
still go on year after year labouring and bear-
ing anxiety for nothing. I've seen it so in
scores of cases. The destruction of them would
save him all this, and would at the same time
save perhaps hundreds of others from expe-
riencing the same anxiety and loss. We do
not legislate for the individual ; that would be
wrong. Legislation is for the masses, high and
low, rich and poor. Some say it's a " bit tight "
on the latter. But, there — this is not a political
Journal.

Brace (burr) Combs.— Yes, " W. B. N."
(2182, p. 24) ; I like to see burr combs on the
frames when I put up my bees for winter, it
saves a heap of trouble and " fiddling " about,
making or forming winter passages, and it
also saves a lot of bee life, as I don't know
hardly anything more irritating to the bees
than scraping these off at late autumn — the
little beggars will sting* and so lose their
lives. Of course, it is best to remove them
in spring, so the section racks or supers fit
down nice and tight and level.

American Mixture. — Now, Mr. Davenport,
what's the use of your writing repudiating a
knowledge of this wonderful (mythical, I think)
"American mixture''? No one, I should
think, who knows anything about you sup-
poses that you were the "expert'' (?) As I

54

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 7, 1895.

trespass on your ground a bit at Brornsgrove,
perhaps it was I. I know that I have a very
big "'bacca'' pouch (one bee-keeper up in
Cheshire calls it Webster's " portmanteau ")
very often filled with American mixture, but
I'm a lot too selfish to give that to the bees,
except as smoke.— W. B. Webster, Birifield,
Berks.

"HINTS FOE DISCUSSION?"
[2214.] Hitherto one of the pleasures afforded
ine by yourvaluable journal has been the perusal
of Mr. W. Woodley's bi-weekly " Notes by
the Way," feeling sure that something of more
than usual interest will be found there, but I
am constrained to say that, after reading what
he terms, " Hints thrown out for discussion "
(2205, p. 43), I could hardly believe that so
practical a bee-keeper would have fallen into
so many errors, or given utterance to so con-
tracted a view of the important question with
which he deals. Nor can I even now under-
stand whether Mr. Woodley's view of the
question is from his personal knowledge of
the subject, or whether he is quoting the ideas
of some theorist who has had no practical
experience of Bacillus alvei at all !

Surely some one should point out to Mr.
W. that the data upon which he has founded
his remarks is unsound, and in very many
respects erroneous and misleading, I do not
pretend to pose as a scientist, neither do I
wish to criticise Mr. W. in any but the most
friendly spirit, but it appears to me he has
overlooked some of the most simple elements
of scientific bee-keeping, and has, moreover,
got so mixed up that a small volume would be
required to put him right. He shows no
acquaintance with the nature and uses of
tests for acidity or otherwise, of the unstable
mixture which figures largely in the com-
position of brood-cell caps, of their porosity,
or of their liability to rot and form
part of the medium of propagation when j
covering the contents of a diseased cell.
Mr. W. also ignores the infectious state
of the atmosphere in and about a foul-broody
hive, and how the spores themselves are
breathed by the very inhabitants of the hive,
to say nothing of the well-ascertained fact that
the bacilli have been found in crowds in the
blood and tissues of adult bees (queen,
worker, and drones alike), that they have also
been found in the ovaries of queens, and in the
eggs laid by diseased queens. In fact, he
speaks at random — not to say wildly— in
casting aside or ignoring the work of such
eminent scientists as Hilbert, Cohn, Watson -
Cheyne, and Cheshire, which has incontestibly
proved many facts connected with the disease,
and which Mr. W., without sound reason,
casts aside to talk of "glutinous, dried-np
masses," &c, and as proof of the theory he
propounds quotes to us what eome one else
aays.

I cannot but think that Mr. W. has inad-

vertently strayed out of his depth and into the
region of fancy, and, therefore, draw a curtain
over this portion of the "hints thrown out for
discussion,'' and pass on to the next, viz ,
" compensation." Mr. W. suggests that this
should take the form of " kind," not cash.
Does this mean healthy stocks for each of the
diseased ones destroyed ? If it does, I should
say the owner of the latter will get the best of
the bargain by a very long chalk ! Seriously,
though, this can surely be no fair equivalent I
Why, sirs, one healthy lot of bees would, in
my opinion, be ample compensation for a rather
large number of diseased stocks. If this sort
of compensation be allowed, we shall have to
tabulate diseased stocks according to the
quality and quantity of the disease.

I also notice that some of your correspon-
dents seem to think that inspectors are to be
allowed to sink, burn, and destroy every stock
having a taint of the disease. But surely
these alarmists ought (like myself) to attach
some value to the assurances given on pages
481 (Vol. xxii.) and 22, that nothing like this
is intended. As I understand the matter, only
badly-diseased stocks, or those kept by
notoriously careless bee-keepers, will be
immediately destroyed, for the sake of those
whose bees are in danger from proximity to
the diseased ones. There is one section of
bee-keepers, however, to whom the inspector
would be a veritable blessing, viz., the well-
meaning, but inexperienced, members of our
craft, who know little or nothing of the
economy of the hive, and in whose cottage
apiaries I have spent many happy hours
endeavouring to impart all I know of bees to
their darkened but willing minds ; and how
amply have I been repaid by the eagerness
with which they take in all I strove to incul-
cate. To such I again say, the " inspector "
will be an ever-welcome visitor. I don't
think it is very generally known how many
bee-keepers there are who don't know foul
brood when they see it. A few days ago I
was favoured with a view of a large piece of
comb taken from a hive in which the bees had
died, and sent to an experienced hand for
his opinion " whether he thought it was a
case of foul brood," and asking "if he migh1;
give the honey found in the combs to his
other stocks in the spring." I examined this
piece of comb, and though it was many inches
square, every cell was full of foul brood,
matter, and with cappings so rotten that the
contents exuded and stained the wrappings
through and through in great brown patches,
but not a single cell-capping had been per-
forated by the bees, as is so often seen where
they have attempted to remove the diseased
larvae.

Which, I should like to know, is the lesser
evil — to destroy one diseased stock, or to let
that one eventually be the means of permeating
a whole district with the pest ?

I hope your readers will lay well to heart
the letter from Mr. Halterman on page 41,

Feb. 7, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

55

and that of " South Devon Enthusiast," page
45 — more power to the latter, he is one of the
right sort, whoever he may be — and we shall
hear then less of the weak arguments put
forward in opposition to the good work the
B.B.K.A. have taken in hand. — Henry W.
Brice, Thornton Heath, Surrey, February 2.

SHALLOW FRAMES FOR
EXTRACTING.

[2215.] Your correspondent " Agricola "
(2197, p. 35) asks the opinions of readers con-
cerning shallow frames for extracting. My
opinion of them is that they are a " fad." I
have raised honey in every way known to myself,
including skeps, bar frames, standard and
shallow frames, sections, bell glasses, &c, and
I find my ideas (after being a faddist) as they
were when I started bee-keeping several years
ago. I started with reading Cowan's Guide
Book, which I admire, adopted the " Cowan ''
hive, with tho same method of storifying, and,
after wandering to shallow frames, with | to
li in. top-bar, &c, I shall stick to the plan
my old " Guide Book " taught, which, accord-
ing to my experience, cannot be beaten. I
have twenty-two stocks myself, but I have to
look after about fifty stocks altogether, which
has given me a chance to satisfy myself. I
have about 300 shallow frames of comb, but
they will soon be a thing of the past with
me.

The fixing of a standard frame is a benefit
to bee-keepers in general, and the bee-keeper
will find it to his benefit to stick to the
standard all through his apiary. I find it a
great advantage to be able to use soiled combs
of my supers in the brood-chambers ; useful
also in starting stocks, swarms, and nucleus ;
less attention required to supers, and the
larger amount of honey to the amount of
extracting, &c. By using the shallow-frame
in this district we get them sealed over one
week earlier. This is the only advantage which
I can get from them. Without them I can get
my honey in time for show purposes. As to
query No. 2, I can say nothing, as " metal
ends " are also a thing of the past with me : I
space the combs to the requirements of the
bees ; they are to me a fad. Query No. 3. I
find no fault with an out-and-out " Cowan "
hive, but at the bee-keeper's discretion he can
have the outer and inner cases of the brood-
chamber combined ; making it single-walled
back and front. I have some hives like this,
but in all cases I have the super separate from
the outer cases. I thiuk this has many advan-
tages. The bee-keeper can take his honey
with much less loss of bee life when robbers
are about ; and are less to handle, &c.

These remarks are from my experience. If
they are any value to '•' Agricola " or any other
bee-keeper, they are there with my best wishes.
The foul-brood question : On my visits to
bee-keepers about here, I find, whilst agreeing
that something should be done to stop the

careless spread of the pest, it is thought that
the greater amount of energy should be given
to find a sure reliable cure. And I am sure
all bee-keepers are indebted to the Rev. Mr.
Bancks for his experiments, and I trust victory
will crown his efforts, which he ha3 so kindly
let the readers of your excellent journal have
the beneht of. — Thos. J. Horsley, Wolver-
hampton.

BASIC SLAG AND BEES.

[2216.] Although not connected practically
with the apiarian industry, I am yet much in
sympathy with this branch of rural life, and
feel, moreover, greit admiration for those who
are now endeavouring, often quite disin-
terestedly, to promote the production of first-
class honey, and to demonstrate that this
comparatively insignificant department of
agriculture may still be a source of no mean
profit to those who acquire the necessary
scientific and practical knowledge to enable
them to utilise the improved appliances and
conveniences so essential to modern bee-
keeping.

The county of Durham is not, as far as I am
aware, especially celebrated as a bee-keeping
centre ; still I have observed in my numerous
visits amongst the Durham farmers that the
industry is by no means neglected. A very
considerable area of the land in the county has
of late years been more or less heavily dressed
with the phosphatic fertiliser basic slag or
Thomas phosphate, and the soil is of such a
nature as to respond very readily to its appli-
cation.

The chief manurial constituent in slag is
phosphoric acid, of which the material may
contain as much as 19 per cent. ; but an in-
gredient of no small importance is lime in
various forms, which may be present to the
extent of about 40 to 50 per cent. The effect
of this latter substance on the growth of
clovers is well known, and in county Durham
the application of basic phosphate to grass-
lands has frequently been followed by an
extraordinary development of the clover
herbage, so much so as to create a conspicuous
white carpet of clover on land where previously
it was scarcely known to have existed. One
can well imagine that when any considerable
acreage in a district has by this means been
made to produce such a quantity of clover
the occupants of the hives would find a
greatly increased supply of food at their dis-
posal, and would proceed to accumulate larger
stores of honey. That such is the case I am
informed on excellent authority, and this
already popular fertiliser will not suffer in
consequence. Unfortunately, I have not as
yet been able to collect any reliable figures
which would demonstrate the actual pecuniary
gain to neighbouring bee-keepers, but am
hoping to do so, and should like, to place them
at the disposal of your readers.

The effects produced by lime on tho growth

51)

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 7, 1895.

of plants would appear to depend very much
on the state in which the lime exists when
applied . In basic slag it is, or should be, in
the form of an extremely fine powder, and
would therefore be enabled to become more
thoroughly incorporated with the soil particles.
It must further be allowed that in all proba-
bility the phosphoric acid in the slag is not
inoperative in influencing the clover growth.

Basic slag is not, however, the only manure
which materially affects the growth of clovers,
for kainit also possesses this property in a
marked degree. This fertiliser is valuable
chiefly on account of the potash it contains,
and where this essential constituent of plant
food is not naturally supplied in sufficient
quantities, the application of kainit is in-
variably followed with good results.

Potash and lime are the great clover
developers, and it is not difficult to see that
certain artificial manures may, in the manner
above indicated, contribute markedly to the
profits of bee-keepers. — Frank O. Solomon,
The Durham College of Science, Newcastle- on-
Tyne, January 28, 1895.

WHAT IS FOUL BROOD ?

[2217.] Though a letter of mine appeared in
your journal a week or two ago on another
subject, I must say a word or two to tell you
how much I appreciate your efforts in trying
to stamp out " foul brood." Bee-keepers who
have not experienced it do not seem to be able
to take in its nature. A medical man and a
bee-keeper asked me a few days ago, " "What
is foul brood ? " Having about thirty years
ago experienced it myself, I could tell him
exactly what it is, and what I saw. I was
living in the outskirts of Edinburgh. I had a
large hive, with twelve or fifteen frames, in a
room, the bees going out by an exit under
the window. I wished to prevent swarming
by dividing the hive by a close-fitting dummy
into two parts. The result was that the bees
mostly joined the half where the queen was.
The brood in the weaker end got chilled, and,
whether from that or from outside influence,
" foul brood " set in in a most malignant
form. At that time I did not know much
about the disease, but I took away the diseased
combs. I could smell the hive some yards
from it. Disease soon commenced in the other
half, and, as the bees became less and less in
number, I put them into a one- combed obser-
vatory hive, and was in this way able to see
all that took place. The remaining bees, when
all were in, covered a space of 6 or 8 in.
diameter. During the day, when most were
out, the bees covered a space of 5 in. diameter,
and the brood-nest was 3 or 4 in. in diameter.
The grubs, as far as I remember, became
diseased about the time the cells were sealed.
The poor queen wandered about by herself
from one side to the other of the frame, trying,
no doubt, to find a suitable cell to lay in.
There wan, however, scarcely a healthy bee in

the cells. A very scientific bee-keeper asked
me to give him the hive, his object being to
cure the disease, but in a day or two the
queen was put out by the bees themselves.
This euded the matter. From what I saw I
should say that it would be impossible to cure
a diseased stock, and it is only enlarging the
circle of disease by allowing the hive to exist
a single day. On a small scale it is as bad as
cattle plague, which created such a sensation
in the country. Owing to the small value of
a hive of bees, getting a satisfactory bill
passed in Parliament will be very diffi-
cult to accomplish, but, nevertheless, the
necessity is great. The more bees that are
kept in the country the greater will be the
increase of disease. — T. M. C, Blachjett,
Kirtlehridgc, NB.

TO DEVONSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS.

[2218.] The present principal of the Exeter
Training College is a skilled bee-keeper, and
it is a pity his absorbing duties prevent all
possibility of his lending active aid in matters
affecting the prosperity and advance of bee-
keeping in Devon. I know he wishes well to
county bee-keepers. It is really a disgrace —
no, perhaps that's too hard a word — say, a
'• loss" — to Devon that (to quote an energetic
Axminster bee-keeper's own words) " no one
is found to take the matter up." I wish there
were more of his sort. It is of the utmost im-
portance that Devon bee-keepers should be
promptly " marshalled " as a Devon B.K.A.
Where are the " enthusiasts " in Devon ? I
see one signature on page 4G of your last issue,
a "South Devon Enthusiast." Cannot we
persuade him to set to work at once l —
Bee-Dun.

FOUL BROOD.

[2219.] As this dangerous question has of late
come into the first line of combat also in
England, I will try and add a little brick to the
fortress wall against that formidable disease by
giving my view of the case. If it does some
good, it will only be a very small return for all
the valuable knowledge I have found in your
journal for many years past.

Some twenty years ago a very bad disease
attacked the vine in France and Italy. It was
caused by a very little louse that attacked the
root of the plant— so thought the wine-growers
and the scientists, and thousands of remedies
(drugs) were applied to destroy those myriads
of lice, but all in vain. Year by year grew
the plague as long as the war was directed
towards the innoceut insect, which only
fulfilled its destiny when it destroyed those
degenerated vine plants. When the true cause
of the calamity was discovered, and the vine-
growers began to strengthen the plants by in-
troducing foreign varieties of vine and better
cultivation, then the attack of the imijlloxera
was lessened. I have applied this lesson to

Feb. 7, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

57

foul brood among bees. Is it possible to
destroy the myriads of bacillus alvei ? I
think not. Therefore let us try to strengthen
our bees so that they may be able to meet the
attack of those microbes. If this is the
correct, view of the case, then the remedies are
obvious. (1.) A far greater number of drones
in our co'onies than we modern bee-keepers of
late have permitted to see the light. (2 )
The exchange of bees among bee-keepers that
live many miles apart (the farther the better).
(3.) Introduction of foreign bees.

And now, I think, you will ask me, " How
have you arrived at that conclusion ? Is it a
mere theory % " No, it is an experience with
my own bees. For twenty-three years I have
kept bees, but I have never had foul brood
among them, though the disease has raged
very near my apiary, and infected combs have
been sent to me for examination more than a
hundred times. But I have never been hard
on the drones. At first I had a feeling of
some wrong in it, and later on I thought it was
not prudent. For the last eight years I have
every year introduced Italian or carniolan
queens among my bees in order to infuse fresh
blood. Certainly, this single instance is very
little to found such a theory upon, but in
trying the experiment and following my advice
for a few years you run only a very slight risk.
I conclude with the best wishes for the welfare
of British bee-keeping. — H. Ersler, Editor of
" Danish Bee Journal."

EXTRACTING WAX.

[2220.] Referring to 2193 (p. 30), 1 must
apologise to Mr. Leigh for delay in reply,
which was unavoidable. Now, however, I beg
to say I extracted last season's wax about a
fortnight since, and tried another plan this
time, viz., tying a piece of muslin on the
bottom of an ordinary saucepan-steamer. I
next about half filled the saucepan with water,
then filled up the steamer with comb, &c ,
placed on the fire, and boiled until all wax was
extracted, replenishing the steamer with comb
as the latter melted down. When all is done,
remove saucepan from fire, and when cold you
can remove wax in a lump, while all refuse is
left in the steamer. This method proved to
me of less trouble than Mr. Leigh's plan,
which I tried last year. Of course either plan
would suffice for a small apiary, but if I were
running a larger one I should prefer a wax -ex-
tractor, irrespective of the expense. — Buzzing,
January 24, 1895.

COMPENSATION IN "KIND."

[2221.] I write to say " Hear, hear" to Mr.
W. Woodley's suggestion that compensation
should be paid in " kind," not cash. I almost
think this is the best suggestion I have seen
with regard to this matter. My bees all on
flight on January 20. — Ned Swain, Fordivich,
Canterbury, Feb. 2.

HONEY AS A CURE

FOR CHILBLAINS AND CHAPPED HANDS.

[2222 ] I wish to thank your correspon-
dent, " A. Lady B-e-ktv per," for the informa-
tion contained in her interesting letter (2203,
page3S). My wife having read it (for being
a bee-keeper herself she eagerly reads the
B.B.J.) resolved to try what effect honey had
upon her chilblains and chapped hands.
Happy to say the honey gave great relief. —
Percy Leigh, Bromsgrove, Feb.

THE FROST AND THE FLOWERS.

[2223] On the shortest day, December 21, I
gathered a fine bunch of that beautiful flower
called Christmas rose (Helleborus niger). Prim-
roses and polyanthus were unusually precocious.
Many yellow buds, set in a ruff of tender
green — winter aconites —bravely looked out
upon a damp, dead, bee-less world — dead in
comparison to the other seasons, I mean. Still
a blue flower of veronica, daphne opening,
yellow sprays of jasmine, which open out
beautifully in a room ; great fissures in the
earth where snowdrops struggle, and daffodil
leaves prophesying of more April days.

But a rude barbarian frost came and set his
heel on the struggling things of the earth,
withered the gleaming verdant moss on the
wall, sent up the price of coal, and set us to
look for our skates, which had been mislaid.
There was snow and hoar-frost — beautiful to
us, but hard lines for blackbirds and robins —
and through it we made tracks to nearest
pools, to skim and glide and tumble down and
make stars ; to get thirsty and stiff and
benumb our extremities— which includes
noses, of course — yet, like boys, to declare
with enthusiasm that we had not had
half enough — soon forgetting the flowers, you
see. Half Birmingham were upon the ice,
most of them for the first time, judging by the
way they skated on their ankles. It was the
kind of ice Mr. Winkle would have been at
home upon — no necessity to purchase Sam's
support with jackets. It was rough and rutty,
and could only be enjoyed by following
devious paths cleared of snow, paths with
acute angles and frozen snow edgings, upon
which you might sit till melting snow told you
it was time to be up and doing. Late one
afternoon two swans (of infinite grace when
swimming, but finite grace when flying) fled
over the struggling mass of humanity and
seemed to have crude ideas of settling. Seeing,
however, so many men racing without visible
purpose, they thought better of it, and fled
away to fresh fields of air and frozen pools
new, and I went home to my homely meal of
hot milk, bread and honey ; simple fare, but
better than a table groaning under all sorts of
delicacies, which ultimately make us groan too !
Milk, bread, honey. Who would not wander
forty years in a wilderness for these, and
who would not wander forty minutes anywhere
for mince-pies and plum-pudding % Ugh !

58

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb.

1895.

The frost tightened his grasp until the
bitterness of the outside world made us love
the balf-forgotten miner, the poor abused coal
merchant, and quite love the long-suffering
noble horse who dragged the coal to us over
roads made of ice. We offered to make the
willing animal a bran mash ; but the driver —
hard of heart — declared " He didn't want no
bran mashes ; give I a jug o' beer, governor,
an' I'll bran- mash him when I gets him i' the
stable." So we feasted (not with a bran
mash) the black fellow-creature who came to
wheel it in, and I fully believe that, could he
have made that ton and a half into two tons,
be would willingly have done so ! The
fiendish frost gripped harder and harder, till
on January 12 it was positively murderous.
Hard lines for any living thing out that night.
The sword-wind cut and hacked at the trees,
and shrieked and blew as though some Saxon
Zernebock had escaped from some old Nor-
wegian stronghold, and was thus let loose
upon the world. Snow, fine as salt, drifted
through bee-hive ventilators, under slates,
under castle and under cottage doors,
whether the abode of the humane (!) frame-
hive man or the brimstone pittite. No
respecter of persons, you see. The wind
sifted it into heaps till it lay in given figures
of Euclid — words traced on the Kindergarten
system by nature, and so few to read or
understand ! Our girl — maid of all work and
chiefly bread and lard — having no enthusiasm
for perfect lines and curves, at any rate as
exhibited in drifts of snow under the hall door
(snow, perhaps, reminded her of starvation),
swept it all away. Snow half-way up the
doors, and completely obliterating the land-
scape of the garden, so that we wondered
which was the Alpine rockery and which the
paths, or whether we were dreaming, and
these were the mounds of the golden dustman
of Harmony Jail, with Silas Wegg prodding for
codicils of wills. Our doubts, however, were
soon over when by the sweat of our brow we
had dug ourselves out, and made a fosse and
snow-work that Eomans might have envied.
Snow and rain limited are beautiful, either en
masse (the former only), or in little bits under
the microscope (if the latter — rain — is fresh),
and, indeed, it is well to read the de-
lightful works of Tyndall and Huxley about
such things. Do not, however, read only.
You may read a book on " How to Skate
Gracefully," yet will not be able to understand
how it is done then ! To really appreciate
the magnitude of the forces of Nature, you
yourself (the gardener will not do !) must take
a spade and move a few tons of snow off the
garden-path, then wipe the sweat off your
brow and think of the weight of what there
is lying, say, between here and Helvellyn !
Also, while you are about it, remember the
miner, the navvy, all those that live by the
sweat of their brows, and thank Heaven you
happen to be not of that ilk !

The snow seemed to overpower Bir-

mingham. Thick it lay in the principal
streets as in any disused country lane ; and
having the same antipathy to slates as myself,
it took the earliest opportunity of sliding off
into the street — miniature avalanches, where
it immediately became dirty and unpleasant to
look or walk upon. The citizens of that for-
ward place thereupon spent £1,000 a day in
labour to cart it away. They met one another
and said " Good-day ! Rough, but seasonable,'
isn't it ? " Whether the bees, half-buried
alive, thought it seasonable, I cannot say ; or
whether they lived in happy memories of
the past or hope for the future, or if they
thought at all, we do not know. There they
were, and if they had all been under zinc-
roofed hives there I would have left them. But
many were not ; so, as it was thawing, there
was nothing for it but to dig another fosse,
and make another rampart in their direction.
This I did with much sweat of brow, res-
cuing them from an ice-watery grave maybe ;
and when I saw the snow melting in
at entrances, through guaranteed watertight
roofs, behind plinths and porches, I mentally
resolved to improve away some of these thiogs,
if I do not forget when more seasonable
weather come3 ; for certain it is that we do
forget many good resolutions when good old
King Sol returns and digs out for me and the
bees my snowdrops, crocus, aconites, snow-
glories, and, best of all, daffodils. With the
blue-bells in the wood I shall forget that there
ever was such a thing as snow, or a time as
January 12, and the hives will seem good
enoHgh to keep out April showers. — Lords-
wood.

" COMPULSORY POWERS."
A well-known and reliable authority writes,
under date January 31 : —

" I am sorry to read, in your issue of
January 27, that no report re the above has
been sent in from our county. I know of
several cases of foul brood which, if not taken
in hand quickly, will cover the face of the
county, as it has done in Cambs. In the near
future, unless compulsory powers are granted,
I see the disease rampant in this, which has
hitherto been an exceptionally free district.''

(Btkoen from tht Wxm

Honey Cott, Weston, Learning f.on,1February
1. — What weather we have had since the new
year commenced — snow and frost, wind and
floods (thought I am happily out of the reach
of the latter). I have had about 2 ft. of snow
up one side of my apiary, and shall be glad to
see a change for the better, as the bees need
a fly very much, seeing there has been no

Feb. 7, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

chance for them since the latter part of last
year. I find some stocks have lost more bees
than I like to see, but must hope for the best.
— John Walton.

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.

January, 1895.

Locality, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.

Height above sea-level, 225 ft.

Rainfall, 1'89 in. ; greatest fall in 24 hours,
0-50 in. on the 12th.

Rain fell on nineteen days, including nine
days on which snow fell.

Max. shade temp., 43° on lGth; max. for
January, 1894, 53°.

Min. temp., 10° on 26th ; min. for January,
1894, 9°.

Max. shade temp, at 9 a.m., 40° on 18th
and 22nd.

Min. temp, at 9 a.m , 17° on 26th.

Frosty nights, twenty-five ; during January,
1894, seventeen.

Max. barometer, 30233° on 30th.

Min. barometer, 28"78° on 13th.

Very severe weather during the month.
Some sharp frosts. On the 10th the tempera-
ture did not exceed 23°. Snow upon the
ground quite three -fourths of the month.
Some intervals of bright sunshine, causing the
bees to take a flight, notwithstanding the
entrances were carefully shaded, and so perish.
Defunct stocks reported. Biting winds from
the N.E. A falling barometer at the close. —
Percy Leigh.

REVIEW OF CONTINENTAL BEE-

JOURNALS.

By J. Dennler.

At last, after a long interval, I am again
able to give you a review of the continental
journals. I must ask you, as well as your
worthy readers, to excuse my long silence,
which was, however, quite involuntary on my
part. I hope I may be able to send you my
reviews more regularly in future. I now
begin with the

Bulletin de la Socitfte d'Apiculture
dy Alsace - Lorraine. 22nd year. Editors,
Dennler and Z willing. — A Disputed Question.
— M. Kuntz, the well-known proprietor of
the hotel at Hohwald, writes respecting
conifer honey : — "How do bees obtain it ? This
question is not yet settled, and some persons,
even bee-keepers, who are not very precise,
declare it to be simply aphis honey or honey-
dew ! I entirely agree with the Abbe
Voirnot. I say that the bees do not forage
where there are aphides ; I never saw my
bees collecting anything either in 1884, 1887,
or 1892, on my lime trees, which were then
covered with honey-dew and aphides. Nor
did I see any in 1893 on the small pine trees
at the entrance of my garden, which were
covered with myriads of aphides. I never

found a single bee there, a fact also
observed by Messrs. Cowan and Bertrand
last summer during the visit with which they
honoured me. For forty colonies of bees to
store 3,800 to 6,000 lb. of honey as they did in
1892, one must see them foraging. In going
into our pine forests in 1884, 1887, and in
1892, a loud and constant humming of bees
and other insects was heard high up in the
tops of the highest pines. In 1893 this music
was not heard, but there was abundant honey-
dew with legions of aphides, and while I left
my bees no honey for wintering, my fifty-three
hives only gave me 1,016 lb. of honey. My
conviction, until the contrary is proved, is
that the bees do not gather the honey-dew
ejected by the aphides. In order to verify
the gathering of conifer honey in distinction
from aphide honey, it would be necessary to
place ladders against the pines where the
humming is heard and there make the
observations.

" As you are aware, doctors, with very good
reason, discountenance rearing infants with
feeding-bottles, but M. Forester Dietz, who is an
enthusiastic bee-keeper, has had his infant son,
nowaged seven months, reared entirely with the
bottle which contained milk sweetened with
honey. The child has already consumed
25 lb., and is strong and plump, has never had
a single pain, and sleeps soundly the whole
night. At first the child received half milk
and half honey liquefied with water, now he
has four parts milk and one part of honey
liquefied with water."

Money Preserves. — M. Perin, of Metz,
writes : — " Like most other housewives do at
this season of the year, my wife proceeded to
make her annual preserves. Bearing in mind
the large amount of sugar used for this pur-
pose, the idea occurred to me to substitute
honey instead, and with this object in view
I made a trial on a small scale. I first
melted 200 grammes of old honey in a sauce-
pan, then I asked my housekeeper to spare
me 400 grammes of gooseberry juice, which I
mixed with the honey. This was boiled on a
slow fire for half an hour, care being taken to
skim off the froth. I then took it off the fire,
and poured the preserve thus made into glass
jars, when in due time it became a jelly. It
was then tasted, and two of my youngest chil-
dren, after partaking of it, found it to their
taste, and much superior to that produced
with sugar. I am also of their opinion. The
slight persisting flavour of honey is not at all
disagreeable. Next year, however, we do
not intend to make any other but honey- pre-
serves. I do not know if this experiment has
been tried before, but, at any rate, for me and
my friends, to whom I have spoken about it,
this is quite a discovery."

Honey and Confectioners. — Our honey of
Alsace-Lorraine does not ferment sufficiently,
and for this reason our confectioners prefer
Brittany honey. Wherein is the difference ?
Add pollen to honey intended for cakes and

60

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 7, 1895.

confectionery, and it will ferment just as well
as the other.

Bienenzeitung. 51st year. Editor, J. W.
Vogel.— No. 2 contains sincere congratula-
tions to Dr. Dzierzon, who has just celebrated
the eighty-fifth anniversary of his birthday.
This worthy and notable man was born on
January 16, 1811, at Lowkowitz (Prussian
Silesia).

L'Abeille de VAisne. Editor, Noblecourt.
3rd year. — " Robbing." — Bee-keepers were
particularly subjected to robbing during 1894,
when honey was scarce. One of the causes
of robbing is frequently the bad construction
of the hives. All the robber-bees roam about
the hives, and if they find an opening through
which they can get in the harm is done.
From a few in number they rapidly become a
legion, and the fate of the robbed hive is not
to be envied, unless prompt assistance is
rendered ; therefore, in the construction of
our hives, let us carefully see to close-fitting
of the parts rather than beauty in the hives,
although the two together always produce the
best results.

The Abbe Dubois tells us the following
little story, which shows how greatly bees
are excited by the odour of honey, and with
what activity they carry it back to their
hives : — " A worthy Canon of Soissons asked
him one day to help him to take his honey
harvest. He heartily accepted his friends in-
vitation, and when all was finished he left.
Next day he met the Rev. Canon, who
approached him with a sorrowful look, and
said, ' Alas ! I am undone. I placed the honey
we took yesterday in the attic, and as the
casements were partially open the bees
entered and have carried it all off again.' "
{To be continued.)

Noticesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

W. H. B. Catford (Axminster). — Wasps' Nest.
— We thank our correspondent for his inte-
resting description and photo of the embryo
wasps' nest, which is that of Vespa sylvestris.
These nests are very common in the spring,
and are frequently found in skeps, hives,
boxes, and other such places. They have
been frequently alluded to in our pages,
and have been illustrated several times. On
page 168 of B.J. for 1893 there is an illus-
tration of one attached to a frame. What
were supposed to be eggs were probably the
worms of a parasite, Chrysis ignata, which
is very common, and lays its eggs in the
nests of hornets, wasps, &c.

Ignoramus (Tongham). — 1. Yes, bees work at
all hours. As to their seeing in the dark, it
is a moot point, but they can and do work
in the dark. 2. Only give the artificial
when natural pollen cannot be had in
plenty. The time to start this form of

stimulation is so soon as it can be had out-
side— generally in March. 3. Extractors
should be kept in a dry place. 4. Hives
should not have their aspect changed about
either in winter or summer. 5. No one
can say. 6. Your reason for keeping two
queens in one hive is an unsound one.

D. L. P. (Dumbarton).— Lantern Slides.— The
set of slides belonging to the B.B.K.A. may
bd hired on application to the secretary,
Mr. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

T. J. Anthont (Craven Arms). — Over-boiled
Candy. — To over-boil bee-candy means to
spoil it, and there is no method we know
for softening it afterwards. It should be
used in syrup-food in spring. Great care
and close attention to the directions are
indispensable in making candy, which should*
be so soft as to be easily scraped into
" buttery '' consistency with the fingernail.
Use cream of tartar (not vinegar), and stir
constantly while cooling.

T. Adams (Ely). — Foul Brood Inspectors and
their Powers. — We thank our correspondent
for his views, but if he will carefully read
the proceedings reported on pp. 41, 42, and
43 of our last issue, his fears regarding
purely meddlesome or unseasonable inter-
ference will, we trust, be dispelled. We
have over and over again repeated the
assurance that no such thing is intended.
As to the need for obtaining powers to deal
with foul brood, the report surely speaks for
itself.

Novice (Herts). — Comb contains nothing
worse than pollen, a little of it mildewed.
There is now no bee association in Herts.
Why, it is difficult to say, seeing how good
a county it is for bee-keeping.

F. Bramhall (Sheffield). — Candy -Feeding
for Bees in Sleeps. — The only way is to cut
a hole in crown of skep and thrust in a cake
of soft candy, covering all warmly and
securely, so that no bees can get at the food
from the outside.

E. H. P. (N. Devon). — Moving Bees in Winter.
Move the hives at once before the frost goes
and no harm will follow.

F. V. Hadlow. — Our correspondent would
quite understand our hesitation in accepting
many bee-keepers' opinions as to foul brood,
if he saw the many samples of comb sent to
us as foul broody which have no trace of
the disease, and vice versa.

A Novice (Cheltenham).— The frost has now
lasted long enough to make it quite safe to
move the bees 200 yards. Many thanks
for your views re "compulsory powers," and
for your appreciation of the efforts being
made to eradicate foul brood.

Arthur A. Rayner. — Insurance against Loss
through Foul Brood. — We wish your sug-
gestion as to an insurance-fund against loss
of bees through disease had a reasonable
chance of success, but we fear the subject
is too big for any hope of its being carried
through.

Feb. 14, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

61

(MtoraL gjtoticeg, fa,

USEFUL HINT~ST~

Weather : — So seldom can we expect
to have weather conditions of so extra-
ordinary a character to chronicle, as are
now being experienced in all parts of the
Kingdom, that we offer no apology for
occupying space here in placing on
permanent record, for future reference,
some particulars the like of which do not
occur often in a lifetime. Accounts
occasionally reach us from abroad of
abnormally low temperatures, quite foreign
to " British " experience, but to have
home reports of 40 deg. of frost, or
8 deg. below zero, and the thermometer
in numerous places, for many days in
succession, registering from 20 to 35 deg.
below freezing-point, are indeed rare.
These are, however, the weather conditions
as we write, conditions which have caused
the question to be raised in the press
whether a lower temperature than that
reported from Dunstable, Beds., on the
6th inst., viz : 8 deg. below zero, has ever
been recorded for this Kingdom. A
correspondent of the Standard settles the
point in the following communication
which appears in a recent issue of
that Journal. He says : —

"The winter of 1860 was, perhaps, the
coldest of which we have any record. On
Christmas morning of that year the tempera-
ture at 4 ft. above the ground was 8 deg.
below zero, on the grass, 13"8 deg. below zero,
or 45-8 deg. of frost. In the Nottingham
Journal of December, 1860, Mr. E. J. Lowe,
of Highfield House Observatory, Beeston,
near Nottingham, wrote as follows : — ' I here-
with send you a report of, perhaps, the most
extraordinary cold ever known in England. . . .
This morning (Christmas Day) the tempera-
ture at 4 ft. above the ground was 8 deg.
below zero, and on the grass 138 deg. below
zero, or 45 deg. of frost.' As the above extra-
ordinary temperature may seem impossible, I
herewith append the readings of a number of
thermometers placed in different situations : —

1. Negretti and Zambra's patent mercurial
minimum, 4 ft from ground — 8*3 deg.

2. Rutherford minimum, 4 ft. from ground
—8-2 deg.

3. Spirit thermometer on grass — 103 deg.

4. Spirit thermometer on grass — 10-7 deg.

5. Spirit thermometer on grass — 108 deg.

L6. Sensitive mercurial thermometer on
grass — 11 -7 deg.
7. Sensitive mercurial thermometer on
snow — 13 3 deg.
8. Spirit thermometer on snow — 12-8 deg.

The frost commenced on December 17, and
continued with great severity till the end of
the year. According to Mr. Glaisher, the
mean temperature on the 25th showed the
extraordinary amount of 32*5 deg. below that
of the average of the forty-three preceding
years— an unprecedented temperature in this
country."

Beturning to the present weather, we
find between the night of the 5th and
morning of the 7th the minimum tem-
perature was reached, between Avhich
dates the lowest temperature reported
was that from Dunstable, Beds., already
mentioned. Then we have reliable
accounts of 38 deg. of frost (6 below
zero) in Kent, Essex, Yorkshire, and
Norfolk, 36 deg. (4 below zero) in Surrey,
Lines, Cambs, Salop and Brecon, and
varying degrees from zero to 20 deg. of
frost in many other counties. In Devon
and Cornwall the frost has been intense,
rivers in the latter county being frozen
over for the first time since the year of
the Crimean War (1854).

In Scotland the mercury went down
to zero in Nairnshire, and in many
counties there the cold has not been so
intense for the last forty years. Ireland,
too, though not- suffering in so great a
degree, is experiencing a hard time of it,
so low a temperature as 24 deg. below
freezing being recorded in several places
there.

It goes without saying that such
adverse weather conditions as are briefly
detailed above, will have aroused a very
natural feeling of concern — not to say
alarm — in the minds of bee-keepers, as
to whether bees can withstand so terribly
low a temperature for so many days in
succession as we are now experiencing.
The effect of extreme cold on bee-life is
well known, it simply induces a state of
torpor, from which only warmth can
restore it to life and activity. "We may
therefore, be quite sure that a goodly
number of stocks — weak in bees when
packed for Avinter — and nucleus
colonies covering only three or four
frames in autumn will have already
succumbed to the continued cold, while
badly-protected and sparely-fed stocks
will have had a trying time of it. On
the other hand good stocks, well hived
and fed, Avill be found generally safe and
unharmed, despite the 40degs. of frost.

No doubt some readers Avill be in-
quiring Avhat can be done in extreme

62

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 14, 1895.

cases, and the question is not easy to
answer, so varying are the conditions
surrounding each case. Briefly, however,
we may say that a glance should be taken
at all stocks for the safety of which
any fear is entertained. Eaising a corner
of the quilts will generally suffice, and if
the bees are discovered in a state of
partial torpor, but not dead, the entrance
should be closed and the hive carried
indoors to a warm room. After a comb
of unsealed food is set close to the
cluster, a couple of warm bricks may
then be placed above the quilts to assist
in restoring animation, and if in course of
a little time a joyful hum is heard the
bees may be allowed to settle down in a
cool room indoors for a day, and set out-
side again in the evening.

(Remainder of "Hints " next week.)

FOUL BROOD IN AUSTRALIA,

AND COMPULSORY POWERS.

The following is the draft bill adopted at the
committee meeting of the National Bee-
keepers' Association : —

An Act to Prevent the Spread of Foul
Brood and other Contagious Diseases among
Bees. — Whereas it is desirable to prevent the
spread of and to eradicate contagious diseases
among bees — Be it therefore enacted by the
Governor of the Province of New South
Wales, with the advice and consent of the
Legislative Council and House of Assembly of
the said Province, in this present Parliament
assembled, as follows :--

1. Every person who shall have in his pos-
session, or under his care, any colony, hive, or
swarm of bees affected with foul brood or other
contagious disease, shall forthwith report the
same to the Department of Agriculture, and
take such steps for the eradication of such
disease as the department may direct.

2. Any person who shall, after one week's
notice in writing having been served upon him
by the department or person appointed or
authorised under the provi-dons of the next
clause, knowingly fail to ob-erve the foregoing
section in any particular, or shall knowingly
have on his premises any comb affected with
foul brood, or other contagious disease among
bees, shall be guilty of an offence under this
act, punishable, on summary conviction, by a
penalty of not less than 5s. or more than £10.

3. For the purpose of this act there shall be
appointed by ihe Governor one or more bee-
experts to carry out the duties necessary for
the administration of this act, and the Governor
may, from time to time, make such regulations
as may be necessary.

4. Any inspector, or person appointed or
authorised by the Department of Agriculture {
for the purposes of this act, may, with such

assistance as he may think fit, enter upon any
land or premises where bees are kept and in-
spect all beehives and materials used for bee-
keeping thereon.

5. This act may be cited as the Contagious
Diseases among Bees Act.

— Sydney Mail, November 10, 1894.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOUIATION.
V\Te Avould remind our readers that the
annual general meeting of the association
will be held at 105, Jermyn-street, on
the 21st inst., at 3.30 p.m. The president
of the association, the Baroness Burdett-
Coutts, is announced to preside. The com-
mittee hope to be favoured with a large
attendance of the members, and that members
of the several affiliated associations will also
make an effort to be present. Several im-
portant subjects are announced on the agenda
for consideration. A conversazione will be
held at 5.30, after the close of the general
meeting. Those intending to be present should
advise the secretary as early as possible.

HONEY IMPORTS.

The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of
January, 1895, was £522. — From a return
furnished by the Statistical Office, H.M.
Customs.

A REQUEST.

TO SECRETARIES OF COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

Will secretaries of County Associations please
send Six County B.K.A. Honey Labels as soon
as possible to Mr. John Huckle, King's
Langley, Herts ? They are for making up two
complete collections of honey labels for pre-
sentation to the Apothecaries' and Grocers'
Companies.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c.,must be addressed, only to "The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All busi7iess communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec., must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

"NOTES BY THE WAY."
[2224.] The weather is the great topic.
Intense cold has been the order of the day, and
intense cold the condition of the night.
Records have been broken, or new ones made,
and the spirit of my thermometer will have

Feb. 14, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

63

to contract itself into the very bulb to beat the
reduced column of Wednesday morning last,
when 31 deg. of frost were recorded. This
intensity naturally directs one's thoughts to
the poor bees, so susceptible to cold, when
isolated, yet able to withstand extreme cold
when clustered on a good supply of food.
The fact that cakes of candy were given to
all known to be in need buoys up the hope
that all will be well, but six weeks' continuous
confinement, with no sign of a break in the
wrather at time of writing, engenders fears of
dysentery in the weaker stocks and nucleus
colonies.

The Foul-Brood Question. — The reason I
have advocated Mr. McEvoy's method of
curing foul brood is that it is (to my mind) the
most reasonable and rational one. I know
of the " Quinby " and the D. A. Jones'
methods, but the starvation of the bees on the
D. A. Jones' plan may possibly injure both
bees and queen, while McEvoy's cannot do so,
as they are kept at work in a natural manner
all through the period of transition from
disease to health. A second reason for his
method is Mr. McEvoy is a British Govern-
ment official ; third, that he has cured, and is
still continuing to cure, foul-broody apiaries ;
fourthly, that other bee-keepers on the great
American continent have cured their apiaries
in the past by McEvoy's or similar methods.
Space will not allow of a list of bee-keepers
who have cured their bees by these simple
methods, but are they not recorded in the
annals of American bee-keepiDg ? I have not
stated that Mr. McEvoy asserts that honey
is the only source of infection, though the
fact cannot be gainsaid, that honey is the
only incentive for bees to rob out a defunct or
a weak colony, and proves McEvoy's contention
correct ; but McEvoy knows the combs and
their contents — bee-food — are sowers of con-
tagion, else why does he insist on the
destruction of all the contents ? Dzierzon's
case and McEvoy's may differ totally in their
environments. Dzieizon's apiary may be in
close contiguity to other diseased bees, and
contract the disease. Again, Mr. McEvoy,
armed with power, may have these chances
of re-infection destroyed, aud all the
diseased colonies of the district under
cure at the same time. I fail to find any-
thing in my " notes " holding up scientists to
ridicule, otherwise I should not quote from Dr.
Howard's admirable book on the rational
treatment of foul brood ; neither is ridicule
likely to emanate from my pen of those
masters in apicultural science who have
devoted so much labour and time to the
elucidation of the truth re the genus Api. I
contend that there is no analogy between foul-
brood germs in bees and fever germs in the
genus homo, or of bee-hives and dwelling-houses
(not even a cottage with only two rooms of
circumscribed cubical area), yet, I ask, how
many of a family of five or six children (the
susceptible ones) in such a confined space are

likely to escape infection, when fever, measles,
or whooping-cough invade these domiciles ?
I do not say all will die, but how few escape
infection is patent to every one. But I fail
to see any analogy, as the recovery in one
case depends on the individual constitution
combined with good nursing. But when we
come to consider the robustness or otherwise
of individual larvse, this opens up such a vast
debatable ground that space forbids even to
touch the fringe of the subject. I will only
add that so long as nurses feed the nursed
with germ-poisoned food, or the nursed are
placed in berths containing germs of the
disease, the chances of cure are very remote.
One would look for offspring of one mother
fecundated by one act of copulation with one
drone as all equal in robustness. No, sirs ;
the patch of brood from eggs laid the same
day must all be of equal robustness of consti-
tution.

Dr. Howard is, I believe, at the present time
investigating the new bee disease which, in
some districts of America, threatens to prove
more destructive than foul brood, and I hope if
he reads the British Bee Journal that he will
give the point further consideration, and test
the quiescent state or otherwise of the spores
of bacilli. A small mechanical fan driven by
watchwork could be used to agitate the air
of even a closed chamber. But to return,
Dr. Howard proves from microscopical obser-
vation and examination that bees do not,
because they cannot, remove the dried-up
residuum of foul brood from the cells ; that
they do their best to clean out these cells
every one who has practical knowledge of bees
and their habits know full well ; and we also
know that where they are unable to deal
with the foul mess they cap over the cells
and allow the capping to remain. The fact
that bees in clearing out these foul-brood
remnants from the cells, drop some on the
floor of the hive, and probably carry some out
of the hive to drop on the ground, and that
these particles contain germs, I have no doubt,
but how long these germs retain their vitality
is another question. Dr. Howard experi-
mented somewhat on this very question, using
sterilised road dust in which to mix his germs
of bacilli, procured from these very same dried-
up particles of diseased larvse, dissolved in
disti'led water and mixed with dust ; for three
days he made cultures on gelatine and potato,
beginning at once and continuing for three
days. Every 12 hours the growths were as
fodows :— At once all cultures grew ; at 12
hours f-, at 24 hours f, at 36 hours i, at 48
hours, t>0, and 72 hours none.

The mistake in questioning the truth "that
chilled brood is a hotbed for foul brood " is
mine, if it can be proved to be such. I know
Mr. McEvoy positively asserts that chilled
brood develops into or originates foul brood,
but our scientific bee masters, past and
present, say that it is impossible for septic
germs to develop into bacilli (i.e., if wheat is

64

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 14, 1895.

sown we do not get a crop of oats, to use a
homely simile). Our scientists contend that
unless the germs or spores of bacilli are
present in the brood before the latter is
chilled, foul brood cannot develop from larva1
rotting by septic putrefaction. As 1 under-
stand the matter, putrefactive germs, bac-
teria, and the germs of decomposing
brood, only destroy, i.e., use up dead inanimate
bodies or tissue. The bacillus alvci (of
Cheshire) feed on the living animate larva', and
eventually destroy (kill by poisonous com-
pounds) them. After the larvtc are dead the
septic germs join the bacilli in the destruction
of the dead brood, therefore, I contend that if
the pathogenic germ bacillus is introduced to
growing living brood, the living brood is a
better medium for its growth and development
than brood chilled and rotting and infested
with non-pathogenic germs.

The " Nutt Hive '' colony possibly, nay pro-
bably, contracted infection from outside ; other
bees in the neighbourhood of the sale may
have been diseased. Observe this hive was
well washed — i.c , to a certain extent disin-
fected. How do we know the germs or spores
resulted from the " Nutt Hive ? " The bees in
said hive previous to the sale may not have
had foul brood ; we have no evidence that
they had. If adult bees of diseased colonies
contain these myriads of bacilli — and they are
even to be found in the very matrix of the
life of a colony — how, I ask, are we to hope
for a cure ? Yet, on the other hand, we have
the dogmatic assertion by those who have
cured large apiaries, or part of large apiaries
(if space permitted I could give a long
list), by the simple method I have endeavoured
to lay before your readers. Can any reader
give an instance of a radical and complete
cure of a genuine case of foul brood by the
use of drugs ? I know an apiary where every
remedy has been tried that has been recom-
mended by science, except Blow's remedy, not
in a muddling way, but intelligently and per-
sistently for the past eight or nine years, yet
though the disease has been held in check, the
bees have not been cured in a single colony.
The owner writes me he fully intends to give
McEvoy's method a trial next summer. — W.
Woodley, Bcedon, Newbury.

Errata. — Page 44, col. 2, par. 1, for "putre-
factive germs dying in their own prisons,'' read
" dying in their own poisoiis."

FOUL BROOD CUKED.

[2225.] In 1892 my two stocks of bees gave
me 142 lb. of extracted honey and sections,
and I had no suspicion of foul brood ; but on
March 31, 18LC3, the county expert called, and
being unwell I fortunately asked him to look
at my hives. He reported that both were
badly affected with foul brood, and I at once
sent to the Journal office for naphthaline
and naphthol beta. I put the former into
both hives, and have continued it ever since,
I also put salt in the water I give to the bce.s.

On April 9 the hives were crowded with
bees and brood, with lots of new honey, and
not more than a few affected cells in each
brood-comb, so that they did not seem to me
to be badly affected. Not wishing to lose the
healthy brood, I poured syrup medicated with
naphthol beta along the seams of bees, and
continued this daily till April 24.

On that day I put the bees from my best
hive, which contained twelve combs, into a
fresh hive on foundation (with new frames and
ends), and put it in the evening in the place
of the other hive, as honey was still coming
in, and I wanted to have them strong for the
clover. I gave them three full sheets of foun-
dation and five half-sheets, and I continued
feeding this hive with medicated syrup till the
middle of May, when they again began to
store new honey. I supcred them on June 1 i ,
and they gave me 19 lb. of extracted honey
from the limes, which were quite over by
July 2.

The brood combs removed from my latter
hive on April 21 I put in my second hive.
The other combs with frames and metal ends
I destroyed, and I also removed and destroyed
all combs from the second hive, except those
containing a fair quantity of brood. There
was about 15 lb. weight of honey in the
combs which I destroyed.

The second hive I broke up into two and
treated it in the same way as the first, destroy-
ing the remaining combs.

The empty hives I washed carefully with
carbolic acid solution (2 oz. to a quart of
water) and painted them inside and outside.

I burnt the quilts, frames, and dummies
which had been used in the autumn and
winter, and carefully washed with carbolic
solution and afterwards sulphurised all supers,
shallow frames, and other apparatus. Soiled
sections and shallow frames I burnt, but those
which were quite clean I merely sulphurised.

In the autumn the expert reported that
both stocks were quite free from disease, and
he made a similar report in the spring and
autumn of 1894.

The most trouble was in disinfecting all the
apparatus, as I felt it must be done thoroughly.
Some of it has not yet been used in the hives,
but 1 trust all is now-safe. — T. F. L., Brondes-
bury, February 8.

THE DOUBLE-QUEEN SYSTEM.

MR. WELLS' REPLY TO HIS CRITICS.

[222(5.] In referring to Mr. T. F. Ward,
B.B.J, for Dec. 20, 1894, p. 504, No. 213!),
I quite agree with your correspondent that
32 lb. is not a big " take " from one stock
of bees in one year ; but the point is, would
he be dissatisfied with that amount if the
average " take " of his neighbours did not
amount to one-ninth part of that amount ?
Moreover, on what grounds does Mr. W. say,
" especially when it is considered that every

Feb. U, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

65

particle of honey in the hive is removed I '' If
that is his practice it certainly is not mine,
for under no circumstances do I remove
honey from the brood-combs unless they con-
tain more than the bees require for winter
use, in which case one or two combs are re-
moved and stored away until some stock
requires food, in which case an empty comb
is removed, and the full one inserted in its
place.

Mr. W. also ?ays, " in no other way could
such a large amount of wax be obtained.''
He falls short of the mark again, because my
wax is obtained in a far better way than that
suggested by your correspondent, who stumbles
again by suggesting that tbe cost of sugar for
winter stores must be deducted from the
profits. How could it be profit if deductions
like this had to be made ? Without intending
any offence, I must say it is rather begging the
question to talk of larger " takes '' than mine j
in some distant county. My view is that, to |
have any value, comparison of systems must j
be confined to results in one and the same j
county ; or, better still, of same district.
Your editorial fjotnote (for which I thank
you) appears to have opened Mr. W.'s eye3
somewhat, by the tone of his second note
(2166, p. 8). If Mr. Ward is really prejudiced
against the double-queen system, I know of
nothing so likely to remove his prejudice so
effectually as giving the system a fair trial
himself. Mr. J. M. Hooker has been referred
to by Mr. W., and could tell him something
about the system if he desired it. I hope your
correspondent will take what I have said in
the friendly spirit in which it is meant, and
that we shall have the pleasure of comparing
notes for many years to come.

Mr. J. Walton (2154, p. 515, vol. xxi.) also
expresses a wish to know how I obtain so
large an amount of wax. Well, I cannot say
whether or not this district yields more wax
than others, but I manage mine as follows :—
I know that for every 100 lb. of honey ex-
tracted the cappings will produce about li lb.
of wax ; then I every year set aside a certain
number of old combs to be melted down, and
from every 100 of these combs I get about
15 lb. of wax. I can thus always tell within
a trifle what my wax cake will weigh. In
189-1 I extracted 524 lb. of honey, and melted
down 110 old combs, which together yielded
about 24 lb. of wax, but it being darker than
usual, I have decided to send it to Mr. T. B.
Blow in exchange for foundation, &c, and I
can refer any one curious enough to care for a
sight of my 24-lb. cake of wax to that gentle-
man, who I doubt not would show it to them
if it is not yet melted down. It should also
be stated that I never remove more combs
than actually wanted until quite the end of
season, when the cappings are much thicker
than earlier on, or when just sealed over. I
do not think it either unfair or misleading to
get the wax in this way, and put its value
down as I have done, because, if I get so large

an amount from the old combs, the money paid
for foundation is reckoned in the expenses for
the whole year. Some persons seem to contend
that my figures are misleading ; why, I am at
a loss to say, as I try to make everything as
plain as possible, and it is surely not my fault
if they cannot understand.

I trust that friend Wm. Wood'ey, who is also
anxious to have this wax matter explained,
will be satisfied with what I have said above.
Of course he will see that I do not get it in the
way that he suggests. Next, Mr. Ward (2156,
p. 3) says that the comparison between my
own results and that of my near neighbours
" proves nothing." I must respectfully beg to
differ with him, because some of the apiaries
referred to were managed by their owners with
a keenness that leaves little more to be desired
in the one-queen system, and some of them far
older hands in the craft than myself ; in fact,
one of them possessed the first frame-hive I
ever saw, and when I began to use frame-hives,
he very kindly gave me his assistance. He
not only understands bees and their require-
ments, but has carried away first prize in every
class in which he exhibited at a B.B.K.A.
meeting. Friend Woodley may say this, too,
proves nothing, but I think it should go to-
wards showing that some of the bee-keepers I
have referred to do not " leave their bees to do
just as they like.'' As a matter of fact, some
of them give their bees more attention than I
have time to bestow upon mine.

In conclusion, I would say that one thing is
quite certain, namely, the two-queen ball has
started rolling, and I quite believe the man is
not yet born who will live to see it stop. I
thank Mr. J. H. Horn very much for his report
(2172, p. 15) and kind invite, and should I at
any time visit his neighbourhood I will cer-
tainly seek him out. B.B.J, readers desiring
to know anything about my wax extractor, will
find it described in B.B.J, for December 28,
1893, p. 315. — G. Wells, Aylesford, Kent,
January 23.

MISREPRESENTING THE B.B K.A.

[2227.] I have thought it my duty to call
your attention to a statement made by a con-
tributor to the Journal of Horticulture. The
writer to whom I refer seldom misses an oppor-
tunity of saying s-omethinsj either sarcastic or
derogatory with regard to bee associations, and
the B B.K.A. in particular ; but the climax was
reached on January 17, when, referring to the
action now being taken with regard to foul
brond, he writes as follows : —

" The question of foul brood has been much
discussed of late, and the Government have
been urged to take steps to have an Act passed
for its suppression. The object of ridding the
country of the disease is a laudable one, but
we cannot disguise the fact that the same
individuals who are so clamorous for Govern-
ment interference have shared not a little in
spreading the disease. They have condemned

66

THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL. [Feb. 14, 1895.

straw hives, and yet these were the only ones
they publicly demonstrated and manipulated
with at their exhibitions. Every one of which
I attended I saw foul-broorly combs from
them cast in the fields, and the bees from
neighbouring apiaries working on them."

A rather strong indictment, if true, and in my
opinion it ought not to be passed over ; and as
one who has had charge of bee-tent and
manipulation of boes, I cannot force myself to
believe it to be true. That experts appointed
by officials of bee associations act as above
is most improbable, and in the interest of the
craft I hope you will insert this, as I think it
very unfair that so unjust an accusation should
be scattered broadcast through the country.—
J. Martin, Expert, Bristol- Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation, February 9.

[The whole of the statement quoted above is
so thoroughly improbable that it refutes itself,
so it is hardly necessary for us to say that there
is no truth whatever in the allegations, and we
are only astonished that there should be found
any paper willing to publish such utter
rubbish. Every one knows that at all the
shows of the B.B.K.A. frame-hives have been
used for manipulation and straw hives only so
far as to show how bees should be driven out of
them and utilised instead of being destroyed
in the sulphur-pit when taking the honey.
Were an expert to cast about foul-broody
combs as alleged, he would certainly be liable
to forfeit his certificate ; but with all the
shows held throughout the country, such a
case has never once been brought before the
B.B.K A. Such statements by irresponsible
individuals are always best left to refute
themselves, for no impartial person, or one
Avith any knowledge of those who conduct the
affairs of the association, is likely to believe
them, and it would be certainly beneath the
dignry of the gentlemen at the head of the
B.B.K.A. to treat such allegations with any-
thing but the silent contempt which they
deserve. — Eds.1

" HINTS FOR DISCUSSION."
[2228.] Referring to " Hints for Discussion,"
and in reply to your correspondent, Mr. Brice
(2214, p. 54), I beg to say that this only
applied to the closing paragraph of my notes
(2205, p. 4o) ; yet I am open to discuss, in a
friendly way, anything I pen for these pages.
I never write without a reason, though I am
fain to admit I err.

Perhaps Mr. Brice will explain in what I
am "erroneous and misleading?" The
"theorist7' of Mr. Brice is a practical bee-
keeper, a writer of the most concise and prac-
tical work on " The Natural History and
Rational Treatment of Foul Brood," yet
issued from the press ; author of an es>ay
on '' Honey Producing Plants,'' some fifteen
or sixteen years ago, and more recently of
a valuable paper on " Honey Plants of North

Texas and how to utilise them," and at present
investigating the new bee disease that has
spread such havoc in America during the past
year or two. Mr. McEvoy is the man of
whom Mr. Holterman speaks as a man of tact
and judgment in the very letter Mr. Brice
hopes we readers will " lay well to heart." I
refer him to " errata" for answer to first part
of second par. There Mr. B. speaks of the in-
fectious state of the atmosphere around a foul-
broody hive, evidently believing that germs or
spores of bacillus are floating thistledown
fashion waiting for the next wave of air to
convey them to fresh hives and pastures new.
Notwithstanding all that our scientific teachers
have taught us on that and kindred subjects,
we have yet to wait further confirmation before
it can possibly be demonstrated that such is the
case. The glutinous dried up residue (not
a large mass, I admit), but enough to contain
myriads of spores of bacilli if the egg of a
bee is large enough to contain a hundred
millions of spores ((Cheshire, page 16, Foul
Brood). This residue is not soluble in alcohol,
but it is so in water, hence its dangerousness
in the brood nest, as honey recently gathered
containing a large proportion of water, or the
food stored by the nurse-bees for the larva;
containing water, would receive infection by
softening this residuum and liberating some of
the spores or germs, which have been in a
quiescent state, till suitable media has given
them a new growth.

Now a word re Inspectors ? Who will be
our Inspector or Inspectors I Will any special
examination he held to test the knowledge of
the candidates for this great and important
office, and with what instructions will he start
out on his inspectorial tour 'i Compensation
seems a bone of contention with us. I say
let us approach the matter in a fair, impartial,
yet generous way, and not forget the "golden
rule." (Mr. Webster, I am very sorry to say,
will not get a vote from me if Inspectors
depend on a plebiscite of bee-keepers for the
post, and he should become a candidate.)
According to Messrs. Brice and Webster, dis-
eased stocks are of no intrinsic value.
Mr. W. calls it " cheek " — whatever that
may mean — to mention the word compensation
in relation to a diseased stock of bees. I ask,
if a stock of bees is so bad that it will die
out during the next month or two, is it of no
value to surrounding bee-keepers with healthy
bees to have that stock cleared out ? I do not
wait a week for an answer, I anticipate, and
say, yes; but where is the liberty of the subject ?
where the Englishman's " castle home," if an
Inspector is to kill and destroy of his own free
will, without some compensating chuse? I
feel sure that we shall see such a decline
in apiculture for years to come that will
astonish, nay wreck, our associations, it Inspec-
tors are to go around burning and destroying
bees and appliances without compeusa'ioo. I
mentioned " kind" instead of cash as an incen-
tive to start again. Who, I ask, will expect full

Feb. U, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

67

value for a diseased stock of bees? Who has
suggested that a healthy stock should begiren
in place of a diseased one 1 But if the
inspector goes into a poor man's apiary and
has power to destroy his little stock of two or
three hives of bees, and has no compensation
to offer him, I say it will be a cruel shame to
that poor man. If, on the other hand, the
inspector calls, inspects the bees, and says "I
am sorry to tell you, Mr., your bees are in a very
bad state, you must burn the lot ; the hives are
shaky and some combs old, if they had
been healthy the three would have been
worth £'2 5s., or 15s. per stock. Under
the circumstances, I shall appraise the value at
253. This will not be sent to you in cash, but
through the county association, you will be
started again with bees and appliances to that
value in due course ; herewith I give you a
cheque note for the amount." This I say will
start the man again as a bee-keeper ; he will be
brought into direct contact with the associa-
tion of his county, and know where to look for
help and guidance in the future. Mr. Brice
says, "only badly-diseased stocks will be
destroyed.1' Mr. Webster says, referring to
diseased stocks, " would he not still go on year
after year bearing anxiety for nothing ; I've
seen it so in scores of cases." May I ask Mr.
W. if these lingering lives or deaths of colonies
have received any helping hand from drugs
or chemicals ? If they have, and still linger
on between life and death till the last
closing scene, what will Mr. Brice's inspector
offer to do for the not so very badly diseased
cases ? Will he dispense drugs ad lib. and
disinfectants broadcast ? In face of Mr. W.'s
assertion that all this worry, work, and anxiety
will be saved by the bonfire, rather would
it not have baen better if that man had never
been a poor bee-keeper, but had invested his
little savings in a" pis?," then he would have
got compensation, if he could get the inspector
to see the pis: before it breathed its last — W.
Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

BACTERIOLOGY AND ITS APPLICAr
TION IN THE APIARY.

[2229.] Owing to the labours and patient
research, combined with ingenious mental
capacities in the interpretation and linking
together of facts, of such masterly minds as
those of Davaine, Pasteur, Hansen, and Koch,
together with Lister, Burden, Sanderson,
Klein, and Watson-Cheyne in this country,
micro-biology has become, and will continue
in the future, one of the greatest keystones
to heretofore unknown secrets of natural
metamorphosis.

Moreover, knowledge gained by the
scientific study of bacteriology has now
become of such practical value to physicians,
agriculturists, brewers, dyers, and many
others, apart from the vital importance it
assumes in the actual existence of everything
which has life, that I need no further excuse

in bringing so important a subject before
my fellow- bee- keepers.

Discussion is also opportune now, by
reason of the controversy which is taking
place concerning the question of "How to
deal with the bee-keepers' pest of foul
brood," the solution of which is so intimately
mixed up with an accurate knowledge of the
bacillus ahei (of Cheyne and Cheshire),
primogenitor of whole question.

In a former paper to your journal I briefly
alluded to this bacillus, and the importance of
an accurate knowledge of its life history in
attempting to combat its effects. In a subse-
quent letter to the same journal, another
correspondent, as the result of an inter-
view with me, drew attention to my views on
an attempt to cure foul brood with the so-
called remedies.

I then said— and perhaps am still so intrepid
as to reiterate— that, so far as my experience
both of the disease and its cause is concerned,
I am of the opinion that in the majority of
cases it would prove not only ineffectual, in
curing or rendering profitable the infected
stock, but would, as I have frequently urged,
create a great danger in forming a focus of
infection in the immediate neighbourhood,
which in its turn may spread over a very
wide area.

And here I would beg to add that in the
hands of such eminently scienti fie bee-masters as
Mr. Cowan, Mr. Broughton Carr, the late Mr.
Cheshire, and many others, remedies may be
all very well, for they have great manipulative
skill, and still larger experience, but for the
average bee-keeper, and more especially those
who keep bees for profit and have a large
number of stocks in close contiguity to one
another and. to their neighbours' bees, it
seems to me abject folly to attempt a cure
with medicinal agents.

Now let us turn to the more practical side
of the controversy ; I refer to the granting of
powers to deal with the disease under the pro-
visions of the Contagious Diseases (Animals)
Act, 1886. The control, if granted, would, I
think, be very beneficial and far-reaching if ad-
ministered judiciously by those who had re-
ceived an adequate training in the scientific
and practical knowledge of bee-keeping ; but
it is to my mind of paramount importance
that such inspectors should also be practical
bacteriologists. Recently, whilst visiting bac-
teriological laboratories in Germany, I was
struck, as I have been before, with the way
these energetic and painstaking people make
use of and apply their scientific education, and
in this particular branch of science especially.
Why, as enterprising people, are we so behind-
hand by comparison ?

There are many capable bacteriologists
who might be induced t > undertake such
work, and, what is still more to the point,
original research might thereby be conducted
which would doubtless lead to the ultimate
advantage of not only individual bee-keepers,

68

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 14, 1895.

but the whole world, including, of course, these
industrious insects themselves. There is, for
instance, bee-dysentery : how much do we
know concerning its etiology ? Very little —
practically nothing. It is, indeed, to be
regretted that nearly all this kind of research
work is conducted con amove by a, compara-
tively speaking, handful of men entirely at
their own personal expense, yet the advan-
tages accruing from applied knowledge so
gained is oftentimes of enormous pecuniary
importance, apart from its value in the actual
saving of life and property.

Consider what the labours of Pasteur and
Hansen have done for the vine-growers, silk-
merchants, and brewers ! And yet there are
to-day agriculturists whose crops are allowed
to rot in the fields, just because they lack even
the most elementary knowledge of micro-
biology and its practical application. And
the same also applies to the bee-keeper.

I said in a former communication, sterilise
your infected hives and appliances with current
steam or dry heat, preferably the former ; and
should you think fit I will send a drawing of
such an apparatus, and also render any
further help that readers of the B.J. may
require if it lies within my power to render it.

Finally, I would add that as it is these
micro-organisms which are at the bottom of
this mischievous foul-brood, those who have
to deal with it must know more about it, or
they will fail.— Percy T. Adams, F.O.S.,
Maidstone.

[We shall be very glad to receive— for re-
production in our columns— a drawing of such
an apparatus as is suggested ; but would
specially lay stress on the necessity of its
being simple, inexpensive to make, _ and
•uitable for use in the hands of an ordinary
bee-keeper, if it is to be of real service.—
Eds.]

HONEY REMEDIES.

[2230.] I am glad to see so many testifying in
your paper to the medicinal and other valuable
properties of honey. I see now that chilblains
are cured by this simple remedy. Here is a
genuine and unsolicited testimonial to further
exalt its virtues. My friend, who is a well-
known author, says :— " You may like to
know that my doctor told me, and I amply
proved it by experience, that in doing hard
brain-work there is nothing better for the
work than pure honey. What you sent
appears to have been really what I needed, so
I feel greatly in your debt.'' — A Kent Bee-
keeper, February 11.

Queries and Holies.

[1228.] Dead Queen Cast Out in February.
— Having found a queen thrown out of one of
my strong stocks on the 4th inst., and having

two young queens, one in straw skep and one
in four bars nuclei, I write to ask which of the
two will be the best to give to them, and if
Dr. Miller's system will do at this season of
the year ; or what way do you think the best
for me to give them a queen ? Your reply
will be esteemed. — Thomas Moore, Hartford,
February 5.

Reply. — The chances are, of course, con-
siderably in favour of the supposition that the
stock from which the dead queen was thrown
thrown out is queenless. We would, however,
defer taking actual steps for requeening till a
favourably opportunity occurs for examining
the combs for queen or brood and eggs. This
course is advisable, because queens are some-
times cast out of hives, which, on examination,
are not found to be queenless. We need not
go into the question of the why and where-
fore of this, but merely state what is a fact
known to experienced bee-keepers. Mean-
time, and pending decision as to queenlessness,
it would be advantageous to the nucleus colony
to place it above the supposed queenless stock
with a single thickness of calico to part them.
The nucleus lot might thus be preserved from
the effects of the terribly keen frost now pre-
vailing, which will, we fear, cause many small
lots of bees to perish from extreme cold. If
this plan is adopted, you will, of course, fol-
low Dr. Miller's method, of allowing a free
entrance to both stocks, and substitute paper
for the calico if it is decided to unite later on.
[1229.] Foul Brood in Comb Foundation,
and various queries. — 1. May not foul brood
be introduced to healthy stocks by using wax
foundation ? 2. Will the process of rendering
wax in a proper wax- extractor kill the spores
of foul brood 1 3. Can you give the dimen-
sions of circular and square tins to hold 7 lb.
of honey 'I 4. What should be the density of
a fair sample of honey, water being 1*0?
5. Last spring I fed my bees (and I expect
some of my neighbours' bees as well) by the
plan recommended by an expert, viz., placing
a receptacle rilled with syrup in a secluded
corner of my garden ; but I found a large
number of bees unable to fly back to their
hives, and some dead; can you tell me the
probable cause ? The food was medicated, just
as I always give it. in the feeding bottles. —
Ignoramus, Tonbridge, January 31.

Reply. — 1. The question whether bees are
liable to become foul broody through using
foundation made from combs from diseased
hives has been fully discussed, but not
definitely decided. It is generally believed
that the risk of bees becoming infected with
foul brood through the use of foundation is so
small as not to be worth noting. 2. No.
Because wax melts at about 144 deg., and the
spores of foul brood have been known to
germinate after being subjected to 212 deg.,
or boiling-point, for over half an hour. 3.
We cannot ; but any grocer — who keeps the
ordinary 7 -lb. tins of golden syrup— would

Feb. 14, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

69

allow you to take the measurements thereof,
and these would apply to the same weight of
honey. 4. The simplest and most effective
test of the proper density of "a fair sample of
honey,'' is to dip the top end of a lead pencil
into it, and if, on -withdrawal, a good round
bulk of honey is "lifted" on the pencil and
runs slowly off, the specific gravity is right.
5. Open air feeding should not be started too
early in spring, and only when the weather is
warm. The food should also be very much
thinner than ordinary bee syrup.

[1230.] Crossing Carniolan mid Black Bees.
— 1. What qualities would bees possess pro-
duced by black queen crossed with Carniolan
drones ? Would they be in any way superior
by comparison to bees produced from Car-
niolan queens crossed with black drones 1
Which, in your estimation, is the best cross of
the two ? 2. What breed of bees would you
recommend for increasing stock ? as I find I
cannot get increase as fast as I would like
from pure blacks. — Amateur, Sunderland,
February 11.

Reply. — I. Queen raisers who favour and
cultivate the Carniolan strain of bees generally
hold that a black queen mated with a Carnio-
lan drone produces a far better strain than a
black drone and Carniolan queen. 2. The
swarming propensities of the Carniolan mark
them out distinctly as the best bee for rapid
increase.

WEATHER REPORT FOR JANUARY,

1895.

Westbourne, Sussex.
Brightest Day, 7th,

Rainfall, 2"99 in.
Heaviest fall, "88 in.

on 19th.
Rain or snow fell on

18 days.
Below average, -35 in.
Max. Temperature,

48° on 20th.
Min. Temperature, 20° I

on 29th.
Minimum on grass, 1 3° i

on 11th.
Frosty nights, 24.
Sunshine, 937 hours.

6*50 hours.
Sunless Days, 6.
Above average, 15*7

hours.
Mn. Maximum, 36-l°.
Mn. Minimum, 27 '7°.
Mean Temperature,

31-9°.
Maximum Barometer,

30-31° on 30th.
Minimum Barometer,

28-63° on 14th.

L. B. BlRKETT.

REVIEW OF CONTINENTAL BEE-
JOURNALS.
By J. Dennler.

(Continued from p. 60.)

Nahhla I'Abeille, Bulletin de la Societe

a" Apiculture d'Algcrie. Editor, Dr. Reisser. —

M. E. Reisser, jun., gives a description of a

Chinese hive, of which a friend of the family,

a missionary in Manchuria, sends him

The hive is built of bricks, and

who
sketches

covered with pantiles, and is consequently
not very easy to steal. At the back there is
a double door on hinges, which admits of
inspection, easily taking the honey, and intro-
ducing a swarm. In the front there is a
square board, in the centre of which is found a
circular opening, furnished with a zinc plate
perforated with holes. These are about 7 to
vS millimetres (about 5-16th of an in.) in
I diameter, and allow the workers to go out and
J in. If rose-beetles or death's-head moths are
; found there it would be impossible for them
| to get through such entrances.

The hives have a capacity of 50 to 60 litres
(11 to 13 gallons). What a difference between
this simple and practical construction and the
small cork and other unhandy boxes of our
Arab natives.

O ester rcichisch - ungarische Bienenzeitung.
Editor, P. Schachinger. — According to the
observations made by M. Schachinger, who is
a well-known bee-keeper, a colony of bees
containing : —

20,000 workers collect in one day | kilo of honey.
30,000 „ „ ,, i „

40,000 „ „ „ 2 kilos „

50,000 „ ,, „ 3 „

Consequently, have strong colonies.

M'dnchener Bienenzeitung. 17th year.
Editor, F. Fink. — M. Bachmaier gives a
description of the various processes to which
Dathe's hive has been subjected, in order to
ascertain whether straw or wood is the better
material for the construction of a hive. The
celebrated M. Dathe first constructed a hive
with double sides, the space between the
sides being filled with straw. He did not
think the wintering in it was quite so
good as in a straw skep. He then made his
hives of straw, with the defects known to all
bee-keepers. He then made them of wood
lined with straw, and in this way he got
swarms of wax moths. Dathe then tried the
reverse by putting wood inside and straw
outside with renewed disappointment. At
last he returned to his first hive, and has ever
since constructed his hives with double sides,
packing the space between with straw.

Bienenvater, Vienna (Austria). — The Court
Councillor and Professor of the University,
Dr. K. Claus, gives his opinion on the fact
noticed at the last Vienna Congress of two
queens working harmoniously together in the
same hive, and which so interested, amongst
others, Dr. Dzierzon. M. Claus affirms that
the case of two queens being found together
in one hive has already been frequently ob-
served. The cause of this abnormal condition
is to be attributed to the sterility of the old
queen, which, in consequence, is not able to
lay eggs, or lays very few ; or, on account of a
defect in the structure of her genital organs,
she is not able to lay eggs which are capable
of developing into life. In both cases the
mother is tolerated in the hive, although the
bees rear a young queen which lives peaceably
with the invalided one.

Revue Internationale d! Apiculture. Six-

70

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 14, 1895.

teenth year. Editor, Ed. Bertrand, Nyon. —
The manner in which M. Knill (Algeria) pre-
vents the queen from going up into the
supers : — Up to the present time I have never
taken any precautions whatever to prevent
the queen from going; up into the surplus
boxes. The frames of my supers are placed
across thoee in the brood chambers, which
contain twelve frames of the Langstroth model
(17 in. by 9| in.). The frames in the supers
are 17 in. by 5] in.

Our queens are hardly able to fill this space,
and 1 blame them for not being prolific enough,
therefore I mean to try them in comparison
with the Italian?, which I intend to import
next spring.

The method of placing the frames of the
supers across those below is very practical, as
it is very easy to separate them. I also am
led to believe that this position of the frames
often has an influence on the queen, and it will
prevent her ascending into the super so long
as there are empty cells below.

In a state of nature one never fiods upper
combs square upon those below, but con-
tinuous combs of one piece. I think, therefore,
that the way suggested is eminently suitable
for the object intended, namely, to prevent the
queen from mounting into the supers, it being
always understood that there is breeding space
available in the brood chamber.

Apicultural Literature.— La Conduite du
Rucher. By Ed. Bertrand. With bee-keepers'
calendar, three folding plates of hives, and
ninety-one illustrations. This is the eighth
edition, thoroughly revised and enlarged by the
Editor of the Revue Internationale. This
excellent work, containing 300 pages of text,
and«costing 2i francs, has been translated and
published in Italian, .Russian, German, and
Flemish, which is an incontestable proof of the
great success and favour with which it has
been received by the apicultural world.

A Swiss national exhibition will be held in
Geneva in 1896, in which bee-keeping will
take a prominent part. The object of this
exhibition is — (1) to present as perfect a
picture as possible of the present state of bee-
keeping in Switzerland, by the showr of the
best models of hives, instruments, and
machines of Swiss manufacture ; (2) to show
what is done in the way of education, and to
make known the works and activity of the
bee keeping societies, as well as what is favour-
able in the condition of the country to
apiculture ; (3) to obtain that notice and con-
sideration to the apicultural products of the
country which they deserve, both at home and
abroad.

Bulletin de la Sociite d' Apiculture de la
Meuse. In this paper we find the result of a
competition in this Department between the
masters who give instruction in bee-keeping
and tneir pupils. The prizes are numerous ;
they comprise a diploma ot honour, a si ver-
gilt medal, tour silver, and two bronze medals.
Some of the pupils received bee-books as

prizes. It is very desirable that such com-
petitions should be organised in every Depart-
ment, as they contribute very much in popu-
larising the good methods of bee-keeping.

Bulletin de la Societe d'Apiculture de la
Somme. Petroleum for checking " robbing."
I had just uncovered the super of one of my
hivts, during a sunny morning in July, 1S93,
when a distinguished lady bee-keeper from the
neighbourhood entered my yard. I hastily
threw the quilt on the super to go to my noble
visitor. After having entered my house and
talked about hives, appliances, and more
especially honey wine, for more than half an
hour, I reconducted her to the carriage waiting
for her at the door. I then returned to my
work, and to my surprise found a swarm of
robber bees round my hive.

In my haste I had not properly covered my
super, and the robbers were entering at both
corners. They wrestled and ro'led over each
other at these places, as well as at the hive
entrance, in fierce combat. The hive was
literally covered with robbers, who were
making every endeavour to find an entrance.

I first closed the top of the super, and then
considered what was to be done. The idea
occurred to me that petroleum was an insecti-
cide, and I hastened indoors to get some.
With this I rubbed the hive all over, except
a small space over and in front of the en-
trance. Ten minutes after this operation only
five or six robbers remained, who were
attempting to evade the vigilance of the
numerous sentries ranged at the entrance.
Half-an hour later the hive was pf rfectly quiet,
and in its normal condition. A few bees that
came in contact with my rag fell down dead,
as though they had been suddenly struck by
lightning.

The noble lady referred to, who was full of
excuses for having upset my work, is, no
doubt, quite ignorant of the fact that she was
the cause of my fortunate discovery.

(To he continued.) s

Noticesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

R. Chapman (Newton). — The correspondent
you refer to has, we believe, already made
his arrangements.

J. Paterson (Glasgow). — Our impression is
that the piece of skep sent in is of Scotch
make, but it certainly is not foreign, it is
very similar to the skeps we have had "many
years ago from Messrs. Yates & Son, seeds-
men, of Manchester, and they were called
" Scotch-made skeps," but we do not know
the actual maker's name. ,

Feb. 21, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

71

(littoral, State ftt

THE FOUL-BROOD QUESTION.

In the usual course we should have
added a foot-note to Mr. Wm. Woodley's
comments on our Editorial of February 7,
page 51, but as his "Notes by the Way "
arrived only just in time for press, with
an urgent request that they should
appear in our last issue, we deemed it
best not to hold them over, but to allow
them, in deference to our friend's wishes,
to appear. Mr. Woodley goes over a
great deal of debatable ground (pp. 63
and 4), too much for us to profitably deal
with in a single article, but Ave will
endeavour to point out generally Avhere
and why we differ from the views held by
our correspondent. We have no desire to
withhold from Mr. McEvoy all the credit
he deserves for the indomitable energy
and perseverance displayed by him in his
endeavours to stamp out the disease ; nor
should we allow ourselves to be biassed
in the slightest degree by the fact of his
being a "British Government official."
So far as knoAvledge is concerned, we are
perfectly cosmopolitan, and prepared to
acknowledge and give credit, as we always
have done, . to valuable discoveries,
whether they come from Germany,
America, Japan, or any other country.
What we maintain from practical evidence
is that Mr. McEvoy does not go far
enough in his treatment, and, notwith-
standing his assertions, Ave are not pre-
pared to discard the testimony of some of
the best and most scientific bee-keepers in
Europe, who have contended successfully
Avith foul brood.

As Ave before stated, Mr. McEvoy
only differs from others in that he asserts
honey to he the only source of infection.
Mr. Woodley has not stated this, it is
true, neither did Ave say that he had ; but
Mr. McEvoy has done so, and that is
Avhy Ave considered it necessary to point
out Avhere he differed from those Avho
had gone before him. We did not
mention Mr. Jones's method, as we con-
sider it both cruel and unnecessary to
starve bees to attain the desired end in
the Avay he recommended, and the treat-
ment Avould certainly be injurious to both
bees and queens ; but Ave have had prac-
tically the same method as that advocated
by Mr. McEvoy in use since 1769, in-

variably Avith the same result, viz., that
unless hives, &c, are disinfected the
disease aauII break out again sooner or
later. We certainly decline to believe
that Dzierzon and other equally able
men, who propounding the theory that
honey Avas the medium through which
the disease Avas propagated, would not
take the proper precautions to prevent
the conclusions derived from their experi-
ments from being erroneous. More
especially if Ave take into consideration
hoAV long ago those statements have
been made, and hoAV many German and
other scientists have been working on
the subject since.

Mr. Woodley, alluding to Mr. McEvoy 's
statements, says : — " This, I am fully
aAvare, is in direct opposition to the
theories of our scientists ; but, I ask,
have our scientists cured the disease 1
And, if they have failed in the past, are
they likelier to find cures in the future 1
If Ave have tried their remedies and
proved them failures, it is quite time to
turn from theories and put practical
common-sense to the test." What will
the numbers of men Avho have cured
foul brood as effectively with the help of
drugs as it is possible to cure it by any
means say to this 1 We could mention
a large number of eminent bee-keepers
Avho have resorted to drugs Avhen other
means had failed, and Avho have benefited
as a consequence. We recollect a feAV
years ago Ave were present at a conven-
tion of Italian bee-keepers in Milan Avhen
the foul-brood question Avas being dis-
cussed. M. Tartuferi, the oAvner of one
of the largest apiaries in Europe, he
having 1,000 hives, said he had had foul
brood in his apiary, but was no longer
afraid of it as he had effectually cured
it, and he did not want a simpler method
than fumigation with salicylic acid. With
such testimony as this before us, and a
great number of eminent bee-keepers
declaring in plain Avords that they have
been successful in combating the disease
Avith the aid of drugs, can Ave conscien-
tiously alloAV that " Ave have tried their
remedies (i.e., of the scientists) and
proved them failures," and that "it is
time to turn from theories and put prac-
tical common-sense to the test1?" Is not
this holding up scientists to ridicule 1

Mr. Woodley considers that "brood
from eggs laid the same day must all be
of equal robustness of constitution," but

72

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 21, 1895.

he has overlooked the fact that, although
all the larva? are fed with the same food
— possibly "germ-poisoned," to use Mr.
Woodley's own expression — only some
contract the disease and die, and we have
known in the earlier stages only one larva
die here and there. But according to
Mr. Woodley's reasoning, they should all
be diseased. As he objects to a compari-
son with man, let us take some other
animal, such as the young of a pig or
dog. The whole litter have the same
mother and are fed with the same food,
but every one who has any knowledge of
the rearing of these animals, knows that
pigs or puppies of the same litter vary
individually in robustness of constitution,
and while some are strong and vigorous,
others are always ailing, and in an out-
break of disease are the first to succumb,
while the others will successfully resist
the disease.

We are quite prepared to give Dr.
Howard credit for any observations he
has made, and for his study of foul
brood, but it is quite evident from his
pamphlet that he has only read what has
appeared in the English language on the
subject, and only that to a limited extent,
ignoring altogether what has been done
by Schonfeld, Cohn, Preuss, Hilbert,
Fischer, and others. Had he followed
Schonfeld from 1874, when the bacillus
of foul brood was first discovered, he
would have known that the fact of the
germs being carried about in the air was
ascertained and fully demonstrated, not
exactly as Mr. Woodley suggests, but
Schonfeld passed a current of air through
a glass vessel which had a plug of
Avadding at each end, and thus filtered
air was passed over a piece of foul-
broody comb ; in this way there could be
no other contamination but by foul-brood
germs. Dr. Howard has certainly not
proved that bees do not partially remove
the dried-up masses containing the spores,
nor are his experiments with sterilised
road dust by any means so convincing or
conclusive as Mr. Woodley thinks. When
we have known germs from foul-broody
combs that had been exposed to the air
for months to germinate on being placed
in a suitable medium, we are hardly
prepared to take Dr. Howard's experi-
ment as conclusive without further
verification. We would again point out
that Mr. Woodley confounds a medium

for propagation with a " hot-bed " for
germination of foul-brood spores. We
are not aware that any scientist has
held this belief, or has ever supposed
that chilled brood develops into foul
brood ; or that foul-brood germs could
develop in larva; rotting by septic-
putrefaction. But from the fact that
chilled brood has been found to contain
foul-brood bacilli, we want more evidence
before Ave can discard it as one of
the media through Avhich the disease
may be propagated, although Ave do not
for a moment admit that it is a " veritable
hot-bed for the germination of foul-brood
spores." We Avould like to point out
that foul brood can be not only pro-
pagated by spores, but by the bacilli
before they change to spores. For
instance, Ave have ourselves started
cultivation of bacilli from the blood of
adult bees which contained only the rod-
shaped bacilli, and this entirely disproves
the assertion that only the larvae are
subject to the disease.

There is nothing to prove that the bees
in the " Nutt's " hive mentioned had the
disease previous to the sale ; but, the
fact that this was the only swarm at
the time attacked by foul brood was very
strong evidence in favour of the estab-
lished theory that infection is carried
through other channels besides honey. •

We have had " dogmatic " asser-
tions of cures Avith every known remedy,
but Mr. McEvoy's statements do not go
unchallenged even in America. Mr.
A. I. Root, in speaking of the method,
says that it is similar to Avhat they
adopted, and by Avhich they cured
seventy-five diseased colonies some years
ago, but they took the precaution to boil
the hives. Ngav why should they " boil "
them if it AArere not to destroy the
germs of infection 1 This is Avhat he
says: — "We at one time thought it Avas
not necessary to disinfect them. Later
experience showed that colonies treated
and put back into their old hives without
boiling showed, sooner or later, the same
old disease." Noav this is just our own
personal experience and the experience
of hundreds of other bee-keepers. No
Avonder, therefore, that Ave prefer to take
and recommend the extra precautions of
disinfection Avhich Mr. McEvoy ignores.
By all means destroy combs, honey, and
frames, and start the bees afresh ; but, in

Feb. 21, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

addition, disinfect hives ; never give any-
thing but medicated food, and never be
deluded into the supposition that the
disease can be got rid of or even held in
check by carelessness. "We have already
taken up more space with this sub-
ject than was intended, but may take
the matter up again at some future date
and go into the history of the disease and
treatment, as it is not generally known
in the present day what has been done in
the past with regard to it.

USEFUL HINTS.

Continued from page, 62.

Bees and Frost. — Several cor-
respondents have written us in some
alarm during the last few days, inquiring
what can be done when bees in some
hives are found clustering at the doors
and "fanning," as if it were summer,
while those of other stocks remain still
and quiet 1 This has occurred with
several readers during a brief hour or two
of sunshine recently, at which time the
thermometer registered several degrees
below freezing.

In reply, it may be said that uniformity
of movement or action among the bees in
an apiary is not looked for at all seasons,
some colonies rousing up and showing
themselves, while others — neither better
nor worse as to condition — remain per-
fectly quiescent in frosty weather ; and
for no reason that can be readily defined.
It is simply analogous to one person
awakening at an untimelj'- hour, while
another slumbers soundly till morning.
But so far as such activity as has been
noticed causing alarm, it should have an
opposite effect, seeing that only strong
stocks will be found crowding entrances,
and " fanning " under the conditions
noted.

The " movement " may, however, be
said to arise — as a rule — from the cluster
of bees changing their position on the
combs, presumably in order to move in a
body on to those from which the food has
not been already consumed. Another
cause for alarm has been the nying
abroad of bees at times on sunny days
while the weather is frosty and snow
covers the ground. Few of these adven-
turers ever get back to their hives, but,
beyond shading entrances from bright
sunshine, nothing can be done to prevent

this mischief without risking the greater
evils, which often occur through con-
fining the bees indoors during winter.

"Hints" from Abroad. — On the
principle that good things cannot be
too well known, we refer readers to
pp. G9 and 70 of our last issue in case
they have been overlooked. On page 69
appears — as a result of experiment — the
remarkable fact that while a colony of
bees containing 20,000 workers gathered
l kilo of honey in one day, another with
50,000 collected on the same day 3 kilos,
or twelve times the amount ! Valuable
evidence this as to the value of strong
stocks ! On page 70 are " useful hints "
regarding petroleum for checking robbing
in extreme cases, and also as to placing
supers with frames across those in brood-
chambers to keep queens below.

Honey Imports for 1894. — The
total value of the honey imported into
the United Kingdom during the year
1894 amounted to £33,272 sterling.
This exceeded by the sum of £4,185, the
value of that imported in the previous
year of 1893, but shows a decrease of
£29,256, compared with 1892.

BKISTOL BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

ANNUAL MEETING.

The sixth annual meeting of the Bristol
Bee-Keepers' Association was held on the
13th inst., at the Priory Hotel, St. Augustine's-
parade. The proceedings opened with a social
gathering of members, nearly fifty of whom
partook of a " high tea.'' At the meeting and
soiree which followed Mr. Jesse Prestidge
presided, and the company included Messrs.
W. Bryant, A. E. Martin, J. Martin, S. J.
Bawbone, W. G. Wyatt, W. Webley, D.
Willcox, J. C. Cannard, and James Brown,
and E. A. S. Cotterell (hon. sees.).

Mr. J. Brown read the annual report, in
which, after referring to the past bee season as
one of average honey yield, and to the desira-
bility of further help in the Association's
work by means of County Council grants, the
committee went on to state that the increase
of membership had been highly satisfactory.
In 1890 the membership was 110 ; in 1891,
170 ; in 1892, 200 ; and in 1893, 223. During
last year forty new members had joined and
thirteen resigned, making a net increase of
twenty-seven, or a total membership for 1894
of 250. The report was adopted.

A very enjoyable evening was afterwards
spent, the more technical portion of the pro-
ceedings in the form of discussions on several
subjects connected with bee-keeping being

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 21, 1895.

agreeably diversified by vocal and instru~
mental music contributed by members and
their lady friends.

During the evening a resolution was passed
approving of and wishing every success to the
efforts now being made by the British B.K.A.
to obtain powers for dealing with foul brood
by Act of Parliament. A vote of thanks was
also accorded to the Editors of the B.B.J, and
the B.K. Record for the interest they have
taken in bringing the subject of foul brood
and its ravages before bee-keepers.

The meeting concluded with the election
of officers for the ensuing year. Lady Smyth
was re-elected president, and the Be v. L. H.
Deering, of Long Ashton Vicarage, and Miss
Dawes, of Long Ashton, were elected secre-
taries. General regret was felt at the retire-
ment of Messrs. Brown and Cotterell from the
general secretaryship.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, (Sec, must be addressed only to' 'The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

%• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX.

A TRYING TIME FOR BIRDS AND BEES.

[2231.] In my last letter (2128), written on
January 4, and kindly published in the B.B.J,
for January 17, p. 24, I gave an enthusiastic
description— which I am not a little amused
to read over now — of the extreme mildness
(although with the accompanying drawback of
excessive dampness) of the then season. How
little we anticipated the sudden change which
was so soon to pass over the bland face of
nature, and congeal it all beneath an im-
penetrable mask of frost and snow and rime.
How great the contrast between then and
now !

My garden is (at any rate apparently) an
utter wreck. Not a shred of green vegetable
to be seen. Even some hardy brussels sprouts
brown and withering. Most of the leaves of
plants in the same hapless condition. Every-
where, bare, dry sticks meet the eye. Here
and there may be seen a few snowdrops or a
crocus or two (the first appeared in flower on
January 20th) ; but limp and hanging their
heads, as if thoroughly ashamed of themselves

for having made such a mistake as to push up
out of their warm covert at so unpropitious a
time. A large out-door tree— myrtle, sturdy
enough to survive some severe recent winters,
has every leaf crisp, dry, and rapidly turning
brown. The very evergreens are languid and
withered ; the laurustinus blossoms, so full of
promise a few weeks back, are hopelessly
nipped and blighted ; the bark on the
euonymous is scarred and split and started.
Truly, the destruction of the less hardy shrubs
cannot but be great. Around us here, out in
the open country, rather more than a mile
from the sea, the birds are dying by dozens.
We feed all we can ; but our attempt is but a
drop in the ocean of their need. We have
revived a few thrushes by taking them indoors
and warming them up ; and now one or two
come in the morning and ask to be admitted
again, allowing themselves to be handled with
little or no difficulty, so tamed are they by the
hunger and cold.

The bees must have fared badly indeed in
some places. The cold has been simply
intense ; the winds, ranging in direction from
N.W. to S.E., have been terrific, both in force
and bitterness, positively at times making
breathing hard even for strong people, and
numbing weak ones to the marrow ; and the
clouds of dust have been most trying : but we
have been very fortunate in having little snow.
Certainly, since this long frost began, and to
the best of my observation since the beginning
of the year, if not from farther back still, my
bees have not ventured outside their hives
until to-day, when, for the first time in this new
year 1895, it has been warm enough in the
sun to tempt them out for a brief flight, which
must by this time have been sorely needed.
But even at midday to-day the ground has not
thawed. All my bees seem, however, well and
vigorous, except those composing one weak lot,
which, S3 far as I can see, are frozen to death
between two combs. But as a few came out
from the door of even that hive to-day, some
must yet be alive in some obscure recess lying
somewhere or other out of view ; and, of
course, I cannot explore this weather.

One can only hope that when the mild,
genial spring does at last set in, it will come in
earnest and to stay. The redeeming feature
with us of this extremely searching experience,
has been the general prevalence of cloudless
skies and bright sunshine, making it a little
more endurable for those who are not well
adapted to bear severe cold, amongst whom is
your humble correspondent, W. E. N., Sussex.
February 13.

" HINTS FOR DISCUSSION."
[2232.] I presume, from Mr. W. Woodley's
opening statement, on page 66 of your last
issue, that I should express regret for not
grasping his meaning re " Hints for Discus-
sion," and for discussing the whole of his letter,
page 44, instead of confining my remarks to

Feb. 21, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

75

the closing par. of his " notes'' on page 45.
Any way, it was in no carping spirit that I
drew his attention to one or two of the many
flagrant misconceptions into which he had
fallen when dealing with the scientific aspect
of the foul-brood case. Mr. W. may con-
sider me bold in venturing to do this, but I
refuse to stand by and see a respected, and
somewhat "looked up to," member of our
craft struggling amidst a mass of incongruous
and dubious facts (?) — to say nothing of com-
pletely floundering out of his depth among the
mysteries of science — without giving our
friend a word of warning. But, alas ! my
effort has not resulted as 1 hoped it would.
Had Mr. Woodley read my letter carefully he
would have discovered where he was " erro-
neous and misleading." and instead of request-
ing an explanation, have let the matter drop,
and so saved my pen and your readers the
infliction of this epistle. Mr. Woodley asks
me to explain where he is " erroneous and mis-
leading," and I will endeavour to do so. None
the less, however, do I acknowledge that, as
a practical bee-keeper he is one of the right
sort, but as a scientist he, on his own showing,
is nowhere. Mr. AVoodley calls attention to
the fact that the gentleman I referred to as
a " theorist " is a practical bee-keeper, and the
writer of the " most concise and practical work
on foul brood yet issued from the press,'' &c.
I beg to differ with him here ; I am fully
acquainted with the pamphlet of Dr. Howard,
which he dignifies as above-mentioned, and
have perused, and re-perused it. I have
also carefully considered every point raised
therein, and in the whole of its page3 fail to
find one new fact demonstrated and proved.

Mr. Woodley, in the closing paragraphs of his
letter (page 45), sneers at the " fine flight of
fancy" of the late Mr. Cheshire. I ask why ?
Cheshire's work on the subject is evidently
before him, and I presume some thought has
been given to the indisputable facts expounded
therein, and verified time after time by
scientists of the highest authority and unim-
peachable ability. But no, this is not our
friend's line just now ; the facts are too positive
for his mind, so he takes Dr. Howard's
pamphlet as his text book, and, by a very easy
process, paraphrases paragraph after paragraph,
attunes the matter propounded therein to suit
his own method of reasoning, twists the state-
ments of others mentioned therein, fits in a
few variations of his own, and lo ! we have a
perfect refutation of the scientific discoveries
of our most eminent men, all in a nutshell.
He then doles out the new discoveries in
instalments for the benefit of the uninitiated.
Why ? Simply because, by so doing, be hopes
to give weight to his views against '" Compul-
sory Powers " to deal with foul brood in this
country.

That he does so can easily be seen by refer-
ring to Dr. Howard's pamphlet and Mr.
Woodley's letters, and comparing the same as
follows :— Take Mr. Woodley, B.J., p. 21,

pars. 4 and 8, and compare with Dr. Howard's
pamphlet, pp. 45 and 47. Then read Mr. W.,
B.J., p. 44, pars. 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7, and compare
with pp. 11, 1G, 19, 25, 32, 41, and 45 of Dr.
Howard's pamphlet, and so on ad. lib. I can-
not avoid here asking, has Mr. W. himself
verified any one of the new theories he thus
discovers ? or has he personally carried out one
single experiment which proves that all
accepted authorities are wrong, and that Dr.
Howard and himself are right ? If he has,
then why has he hidden his light under a
bushel till now ?

It is not my intention to review Dr.
Howard's little book, which, though useful in
its way, cannot be considered for a moment
alongside the works of Hilbert, Cohn, Watson-
Cheyne, Cheshire, and others. Nor, as I take
it, does Dr. Howard intend that it should be
so considered. It is entitled " Foul Brood,
its Natural History and Rational Treatment."
Now, as a matter of fact, its "natural history "
is supplied by Prenez, Schonfeld, Pasteur
Cook, Cheshire, Watson-Cheyne, and others ;
and the " rational treatment " by Messrs.
McEvoy, McLain, and others. The author,
after remarking upon the works of many
eminent scientists, puts forward eight " Pro-
positions," and in support thereof refers to
certain observations — and in one or two in-
stances experiments — which he considers bear
on the subject ; he then gives his belief as to
their reasonableness, but Mr. Woodley in his
letters goes further even than Dr. Howard,
and positively states as facts what Dr. H. only
suggests may prove to be such. To prove the
correctness of my view I beg leave to quote
the following instances : —

On page 8 of the pamphlet, when dealing
with maximum and minimum temperatures at
which best growths are obtained in different
media ; peculiarities of each media; rapidity of
growth ; &c, Dr. Howard refers to the bac-
teriologists, who are mentioned in his work
"/or these data.''

On page 9 he also says :— "There is much
to be learned regarding this disease, which
only subsequent careful experiments can
reveal." Again, at page 10 (Proposition I.),
he says : — "To prove positively that bacillus
alvei is the cause of foul brood, &c, it is
necessary to carefully inoculate healthy brood,
and note positive results. This I have not
done, but the experiments of Cheshire,
Watson - Cheyne, and others have given
positive residts."

On page 13 (Proposition II.), referring to
the fact that bacillus alvei has not been shown
tobeaputrefactive non-pathogenic germ, &c, he
says: — "Further investigations in this line will
be necessary to prove this proposition." Again,
on page 19 (Proposition V.), is an account of
a microscopical examination of honey stored
in a cell containing the remains of a larva?
which had died and rotted of foul brood ; and
this is given as evidence of the honey being the
medium of retention of foul brood, and con-

76

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 21, 1895.

sequently the means of spreading the disease.
This is also the case on which Mr. Woodley
lays so much stress.

Page 22 (concluding paragraph). — Dr.
Howard says : — " If future investigations shall
demonstrate the correctness of these conclu-
sions an important point will have been
reached in the treatment of this disease.''
Then on page 23, in chapter headed " Con-
clusion." In summarising his own views and
the views of others, Dr. H. says : — "I
have finished my work, and, in a manner
satisfactory to myself, so far as I have gone ;
but I earnestly regret that, for want of proper
material, I am unable to verify the experi-
ments of Cheshire, McLain, and others," &c.,&c.

Now, from the above statements, it is to my
mind clear, beyond all question, that Dr. H.
has no desire that his views should be con-
sidered other than in the light of theories ;
what they may develop into in the future it
is not for me to discuss ; but when Mr. W.
quotes as absolutely ascertained and verified
tacts what Dr. Howard himself merely terms
" propositions," and gives us variations of his
own, based upon no data whatever, beyond
propositions upon which the author is unable
to satisfy himself, I consider myself well within
the mark in declaring that such statements are
" erroneous and misleading." To illustrate
the accuracy of the words thus used, take one
instance, viz., where Dr. H., on page 25
of his book, under the head of " Treatment,"
contents himself with saying : — " I regard the
use of any and all drugs in the treatment of
foul brood as a useless waste of time and
material, wholly ineffectual, inviting ruin and
total loss of bees," &c.

Contrast this with Mr. "Woodley on p. 44 of
B.J., whereon he says : — " Dr. Howard, M.D.,
of Texas, has proved conclusively by experi-
ments that Mr. McEvoy is right in his con-
tention that spraying combs with antiseptics,
and feeding bees with medicated food cannot
radically cure foul brood."

There is not in the whole of Dr. H.'s
pamphlet one single word as to an experiment
on this question of treatment with drugs
having been carried out by him (Dr. H.),
much less anything in shape of a conclusive
proof. I find nothing beyond a modest ex-
pression of opinion on the subject, arrived at
from the observations of others. I trust to be
excused for dealing with the matter thus, but
an explanation of the words I used was desired
by Mr. W., and I give him one. He must
also bear in mind that the end we have in
view is a vital one, in which one's personal
feelings must be set aside where the good of
the community of bee-keepers is being con-
sidered ; at any rate, he should know that
" theories " are not facts, and although when
received first hand they deserve — and should
have— careful consideration, when second-hand
(as Dr. H. gives them) they may make us
wonder if there is anything in them, but when
dished up for the third time, it takes more

than a little variation in arranging and gar-
nishings to secure their acceptance as proven
truths. But they are dangerous only to the
uninitiated, though this does not alter the fact
that they are none the less " erroneous and
misleading." — Henry W. Brick, Beulah-road,
N., Thornton Heath, Surrey, February 16.

BEE ASSOCIATION FOR SUSSEX.

THE EFFECTS OF FOUL BROOD.

[2233.] I, for one, would gladly join a
Sussex association if one is formed, and
should be happy if I could render help in
furthering its objects ; but I can scarcely see
that there is any use in my joining it at pre-
sent, or until some really certain cure is dis-
covered for the fearful disease of foul brood.
I am very glad that so much attention has
been lately given to this disease in the columns
of your useful journal, as, although it may be
an uninteresting and apparently an unim-
portant subject to those who have had no
practical experience of it, it is a very im-
portant matter for those who have had both
practical experience of it and have been put
to much trouble, loss, and annoyance by it.
When residing in the north, and taking a deep
interest in bee-keeping there, I and my neigh-
bours were never troubled by it ; but almost
directly after I removed — fifteen years ago —
into Sussex, foul brood appeared in my
hives and in the hives of my neighbours ;
and, although various remedies have been
thoroughly tried, and at times we hoped that
it was eradicated, it has reappeared, and given
us ever so much trouble again. Bee-keeping
cannot prosper whilst this is the case, and a
pastor feels compelled to hesitate before he en-
courages his parishioners to engage in it. If
only an effective and sure remedy Cjuld be
found for this troublesome pest, the case
would be completely altered. I hope that the
day is not far distant when such a remedy
will be discovered. How joyfully we should
hail it ! "We have diligently used preventive
measures in this neighbourhood, such as keep-
ing up a constant supply of naphthaline in
the hives, medicating syrup, &c, &c, but they
have all been more or less ineffective, and I
suppose that we must expect them to con-
tinue to be so as long as two or three careless
bee-keepers live at no great distance from us,
whose hives are full of the disease, an:l who
cannot be induced to take any steps to eradi-
cate it. One of them has had repeated offers
made to him which any reasonable person
might be expected to accept, but he persis-
tently rejects them— e.g., he was not only
offered an ample price for his hives and stocks,
and was at the same time assured, by com-
petent bee-keepers, that the disease had taken
such hold upon the stocks that they must
soon inevitably perish, but he was also told
that he might retain for himself all the honey
which might be found with them, yet he
would not listen to the offer.

Feb. 21, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

A poor summer — such as that of last year —
seems to have a bad effect upon the bees
during the following winter. I thought that
my hives were all in admirable condition when
I packed them up last autumn, and I fully
expected that they had sufficient stores to
supply them to the spring (under ordinary
circumstances they certainly had), but, upon
cautiously looking into one the other day, I
found, to my great surprise, that the whole
stock — a very fine one — had died of starva-
tion, every vestige of stores having dis-
appeared. Of course, I quickly examined my
other hives, and was glad to find that they
were all right ; but I at once gave them a
good supply of soft candy, to make sure that
such a fate might not also befall them. This
is the first time that such a fatality has hap-
pened to me in twenty-five years' bee-keeping
experience. I have almost always, happily,
found my stocks in the spring very nearly as
strong as they were in the preceding autumn,
and with a very small diminution of stores. I
am very careful to pack them well for the
winter, with a thick partition of cork-dust all
around them, and with plenty of cork cushions,
&c, above them. What was the reason of
this particular stock eating so much, and thus
perishing, I cannot imagine, except that syrup,
with which I thought I sufficiently supplied
them in the autumn, does not quite take the
place of natural stores, or prove as efficient in
supporting bee-life in the winter. — An East
Sussex Rector, February 12.

EXPERTS' CERTIFICATES.
[2234] I see a letter (2195, p. 33) in your
issue of January 24 from our worthy treasurer
(Mr. T. D. Schofield). I am sorry that he has
had to complain of the remissness of some
members — myself among the number— of the
L. and C.B.K.A. in not sending their sub-
scriptions at the proper time. Some of us
have been under the impression that our sub-
scriptions could be paid to the expert, when
he paid his annual visit, and have, therefore,
been in no hurry to forward them to the
treasurer. (By the bye, our local secretary
did write to the secretary of the association,
requesting the expert to visit the apiaries of all
the members of his branch.) I am glad your
correspondent has called attention to the
dearth of candidates for third-class certificates,
and I should like to point out one thing which,
in my opinion, contributes to it. I have been
given to understand that candidates are ex-
pected to discover the queen in a frame-hive
and in a skep in eight minutes, and that, if
they fail to do so in the given time, they are
rejected, though the rest of their examination
may have been " up to the mark." Now, as
one who has had considerable experience
in handling bees, I think this is rather
hard, and would probably in itself deter
me from going to the expense of entering

for the examination, and travelling some miles
to meet the examiner, &c. I have before my
mind two men who presented themselves for
examination. The one who was considered the
more intelligent bee-keeper was " ploughed "
because he failed in the given time to find the
queen, while the other came off victorious
because, with a bit of good luck, he was able
to spot " her Majesty.'' Surely success or
failure should not be made to depend upon
what is often " a bit of luck.-' I have known
a first- class expert, before to-day, fail to pick
out the queen in driving a skep, or looking
through a frame hive. We require to find
the queen so seldom, while the dexterous hand-
ling of combs is an almost every day necessity
in an apiary during the season, that if a
candidate shows general proficiency and skill
in practical bee-keeping he ought, in my
humble opinion, to pass, and so be encouraged
to go in for a second-class certificate. This, I
know, would be the case in one instance that
has come under my notice. In this way, we
could have in every district a supply of " hall-
marked " bee-keepers, qualified to superintend
the apiaries of our members without having to
summon the expert from a long distance, at
considerable expense to our association, and
without that delay which, reasonably or un-
reasonably, is a source of disappointment and
annoyance to those who think they have a
claim upon his services, and join the associa-
tion for that reason. May I suggest that the
whole subject is worthy of discussion at the
annual meeting on the 21st inst. ?

I see on page 40 of B.B.J, that Mr. G.
Stocks says that f>d. or 5jd. is the price
obtainable for Cheshire honey ! Last season
I took 520 lb. from seven hives, and sold none
of it under !)d., whilst the very best realised
lOd. — A Member of the L. and C. B.K.A.,
Cheshire, February 11.

[We do not know the source from whence
our correspondent obtained his information
regarding examination for third-class experts'
certificates, but he is entirely wrong with
reference to the points named. A certain
number of minutes are allowed in which to
point out or capture and cage the queen as the
case may be, but beyond losing marks for
excess time the candidate does not suffer.
With a competent examiner, luck — as our
correspondent puts it— counts for very little ;
at the same time, the general incompetency
displayed in the initial stages of the examina-
tion may be so apparent and conclusive that
further trouble to both candidate and examiner
may well be spared. We venture to think
that if the circumstances of the particular cases
specified are inquired into, something beyond
what is stated above will be found to have
caused failure. As a matter of fact, a candi-
date gaining full marks on all other points of
the examination save capturing the queen
could not be refused a " pass.'' Considerable
weight is, of course, attached to manipulative
skill in handling bees, but nowadays other

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 21, 1895.

points are considered of still greater import-
ance in the examinations, candidates fre-
quently failing though fully capable of driving
bees and handling frames. — Eds ]

THE "WELLS'" SYSTEM,

AND MR. -WELLS' RErLY.

[2235.] I entirely reciprocate the kindly
sentiments expressed in Mr. Wells' letter
(2226, p. 64) ; the word "prejudiced," however,
does not apply to me, for I have already stated
that I tried the double-stock system many
years ago, and have several double hives in my
apiary at this time. I am not concerned to
prove that this system is a failure, and I shall
be glad if Mr. Wells can give the same proof
of its great superiority as did Mr. Cowan, in
1874, at the Crystal Palace, when those
grand supers of honey stamped the bar-
frame hive as far superior to the skep. But
in criticising Mr. Wells' report I only seek to
obtain information and establish truth. I
have said it is an expensive, complicated, and
difficult system, and I see no reason to change
those views. Whoever expected to hear of
110 combs being melted down for the sake of
the wax, and then crediting the same as pro-
duce of the bees in one season ? I ask any
fair-minded man if this is a proper reply to
my remark that " in no other way could such
a large amount of wax be obtained." If it be
"stumbling,'' it is stumbling on truth. What
I have said on this subject has been in the
interest of beginners, and those who seek in-
formation and guidance ; the older bee-keepers
need no such advice, and if Mr. Wells is satis-
fied with the queries and reports on the
subject from time to time in our journal so
am I, in proof of my contention. — T. F.
Ward, Highgate, February 18.

BEE PLANTS.

EFFECT OF SOIL ON HONEY PRODUCTION.

[2236.] Enclosed extract from the Globe
(Echoes of Science) is interesting and valuable
to planters of bee forage— if there be any in
this country : —

" The production of honey by flowers varies
much with the longitude and latitude of the
place where the flowers grow, and, as M.
Bonnier now shows, with the nature of the
soil. He found that white mustard gave more
honey in chalk sandy and chalky than in
clayey soils, whereas Sarrasin (Polygonum
Fagopyrum) gave more in clayey than in
chalky soils. Phacelia prefers clay or clayey
eand ; Pastel and Luzerne prefer chalk.
Sainfoin gives less honey on soils very
chalky."

I was about to write you on the properties
of basic slag, having seen and heard excellent
testimonials to its value, when that interesting
article appeared in B. J. of the 7th inst.—
E. H. Hopkins, tlromsgrove, February 11.

BEES AND THE COLD.

[2237.] Here at Fordwich on one night,
and at Canterbury on another night, I hear the
thermometer was below zero. Consequently,
on reading " Useful Hints " (p. 62) about
bringing hives into the house, and the bees to
activity with hot bricks, I was feeling anxious
as to the condition of my own, as they had
been packed cold with cold current of air
round, and the front top of brood boxes open,

To-day, February 17, it being warm — over
40 deg. in the sun — I examined my twelve
hives with fourteen colonies, and found them
all on the hum. A little later in the day the
bees began to fly from nine hives, flying first
and most from a four-frame lot in a single-
cased hive, made from a Colman's starch box,
with fin. sides, and flying least, or not at all,
from the double-cased hives. They had a
good fly on January 20.

The easiest hive to examine had a board in
place of calico quilt, with \ in. space above
frames, and open in front for ventilation. I
have a larger loss in bees this year than last.

On the night of the 7th inst., feeling the
air at about zero at 10.30, I stopped entrances
with snow crystals ; before that the entrances
had been kept opened, the strips sometimes
being blown away by the late cold gales. —
Ned Sw ain, Fordwich, Canterbury, Feb. 17.

BRITISH HONEY.

[2238.] It is gratifying to know that British
honey is " holding its own" against imported.
This is the expression used by a large buyer
with whom I had a conversation the other day
in one of the largest stores in the metropolis.
I was glad to hear him say that " they were
doing a good and increasing trade in the home
product." He was satisfied it was going well,
and felt sure there would be a continued and
improving demand for it. Here is distinct
evidence of the B B.K.A. efforts to bring
British honey into greater prominence with
home buyers, and secure for it that preference
which it undoubtedly deserves.

The label scheme will further assist this
satisfactory movement.— E. D. T., February 18.

BEE NOTES.

FROM UNDER THE THATCH.

[2239.] Some little time ago, when your
columns were being deluged with floods of
communications on that all-absorbing question,
" compulsory powers " for the " stamping out "
of that dreaded bee peso, foul brood, the
cacoethes scribendi was sore upon me, and.
difficult it was to repress the pen-and-inky
fever fiend within me. But, remembering the
sage advice of " Divine William " to " refrain
to-night, and that will lend a kind of easiness
to the next abstinence — the next more easy,"
and so on, and finding other and equally
absorbing bee-work to do (dissections and

Feb. 21, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

79

mounting), and that the flow of the electric-
ink fluid was getting too strong— even for the
nerves of an editor — I overcame the fever and
was content to leave the solution of the
difficult problem of pleasing one and pleasing
all in the hands and heads — aye, and
hearts — of the indefatigable Chairman
of the B.B.K.A. and his able co-ad jutors.
But being by doctor's decree compelled to
hibernate here in bed, under the warm thatch
(veritable, I assure you) and blankets (not
forgetting— oh, generation of bee-keepers ! —
the quilt), and the news being daily — yea,
hourly — brought me of the dreadful cold with-
out— I felt it not — of temperature 4 deg. below
zero, of frozen pipes each night, and water-
jugs in bedrooms — with stoves going incess-
antly— being filled with solid ice— my thoughts
naturally took wings to my poor pets — the
bees. Truly, these trying times must make
us all anxious for the thaw, the warm sun, and
winds — aye, and the rain. Never will the
appositeness of the analogy of " the gentle
rain from Heaven, that droppeth on the
place beneath " to the " quality of mercy "
be more apropos from the bee - man's
point of view. It will, indeed, be " twice
blessed" — by one, I know, a thousand-fold.
In these later days, when permitted to sit up,
my time has been pleasantly and profitably
passed in reading and re-reading old bee
books — Thorley, Huish, Bagster, and others.
How quaint, crude, and, at times, childish
these early authors seem to us ! and yet un-
doubtedly they were close observers. But
some of my most enjoyable reading has been
the 1890 and 1891 vols, of the B.B.J. With
ineffable pleasure I have re-read the charming
account of Mr. Cowan's " Bee Bambles in
Savoy/' and longed to have shared the com-
pany and conversation of three such bee-men
as MM. Bertrand, Cowan, and Layens. With
some of the writmgs of the first-named I am
familiar through the medium of an old
volume of the Revue Internationale cC Api-
culture. " Development of the Honey Bee," by
Mr. Grimshaw, the papers on microscopic
work, and the thousand and one other in-
teresting articles spread about in the above-
named volumes have made the would-have-
been weary hours of confinement and inactivity
hours of happiness and enjoyment. I would,
most heartily impress upon my fellow readers
that if they want a " real treat " to look up
their old volumes and re-read them. Then,
and then only, will they discover their value,
and the treasures of bee-lore which lie — not
locked up if so used — spread out before their
minds. Then will they perceive the Journal
is more than a passing hebdomadal paper, to
be glanced at when it arrives fresh from the
newsagents, and after thrown away, but a
lasting source for all times, whence flow never-
failing streams of intellectual waters. We
have not been entirely inactive here, but
quietly pushed our way more prominently to
public view. I send you "cutting" of

leaderette from the Manchester Guardian, and
three letters which it called forth. In answer
to my own I received nearly thirty inquiries
for advice and assistance. To each of these I
replied in full on the various points they
sought for information. Moreover, I invited
such as could conveniently attend to an
address here on "Modern Bee-Keeping for
Beginners," when I gave them a two
hours' practical demonstration with the aid of
hives, appliances, and diagrams. It was my
intention to continue the "classes" fort-
nightly through the winter, but my illness
intervening, and the doctor laying his interdict
on speaking, the " labour of love " has been
temporarily — only so, I hope — foregone. Still,
my efforts so far have not been unrewarded,
and I have had promises of several new
members. I intend to hold periodical meetings
here in the summer and autumn for all those
members in my district who care to come.
L' Union fait la force with men as well as
bees, and I trust that soon our numbers round
here will be so augmented, and our members
so persevering and successful that a great local
Bee Show and Honey Exhibition will be an
annual "event," eagerly looked forward to
by all.

" Bon Voyage " to the new barque " Legis-
lation," which, captained and manned by a
sturdy crew of British bee-keepers — able-
minded as well as able-bodied — will, I hope,
weather the stoutest Parliamentary gales that
may blow, and bring prosperity and luck to
her owners. While applying for the present
" compulsory powers," could we not have a
fuller Bee-Bill, in which the law, as regards
" property in swarms " might be more clearly
defined ? From my own reading, both as
regards the law and the County-court judges'
decisions, it is, as to the first, very indefinite,
and as to the second, very unsatisfactory.
Trusting you will have a good annual meeting,
and a very enjoyable conversazione after-
wards.— Frederick H. Taylor. Local Hon.
Sec, L. and C. B.K.A., Birch Fold Cottage,
Falloivjielcl, Manchester, February 13, 1895.

^ntxm and Dalits.

[1231.] Disturbance among Bees in Winter-
— I dare say you will think this a very strange
time for an " Echo from the Hives," but the

j circumstances are so unusual that I should
very much like to have your opinion of them.

I I have several stocks of bees, the hives of which

I face full north, but are sheltered by the house ;

1 the sun has no effect whatever on the entrances
to them, but yesterday, the hives facing south
were all alive with bees (though carefully
shaded), but by spreading sacks and straw on
the snow I saved a great many bees. To-day,
at about 4.30 p.m., I went out and was much
surprised to find that the bees of one of the hives
which faced aorth were all, crowding at the

80

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Feb. 21, 1895.

entrance, and a hum going on which reminded
me of the summer when honey is coming in.
The thermometer registered 5 to 6 degrees of
frost, with a bitter east wind blowing at the
time. I have looked carefully round the hive
but can find nothing to cause the bees to be
disturbed. As I write (5.30 p.m.) they are
still at ihe entrance ; now and then one
attempts to fly off but never returns. Can
you give any explanation for this unusual
occurrence, as I nave had no parallel case ? I
fear this will be a bad winter for the bees. —
G. Jordan.

Reply. — Though the circumstances are un-
usual we see nothing in them to cause alarm.
The disturbance was no doubt nothing more
than a general movement of the cluster of bees
within, resulting perhaps in a change of
position on the combs so as to be in closer
proximity to a fresh supply of food.

[1232.J Full Sheets or Starters for Sections.
— Knowing jour willingness at all times to
help your brethren of the grand order of the
" Busy Bee,'' I venture to trespass on your
space to ask— (1) From a business point of
view, is it advisable to use whole sheets or
only starters of foundation in sections ? (2)
Granting the same conditions, do bees take
more readily to whole sheets, and work out
better 1 I must confess that, though a bee-
keeper for seven years, I have not arrived at a
satisfactory conclusion. The results in the
same hive have been most contradictory ; at
one time the starters have been drawn out and
well filled, while the next section, which has
been a whole sheet, has not been touched,
and vice versa. This has happened con-
tinually throughout my ten hives, and
both sections have been equally well
finished. There seems to be no doubt
that sections with whole sheets travel
better, but then many of my customers com-
plain that the wax will not melt in their
mouths like the others supplied (those with
starters). I cannot sell run honey at all, but
find a good market for sections, but not at the
fancy prices (Is. and Is. 2d.) as some of your
correspondents get. Thank goodness, we here
in Bucks (North) do not know what foul brood
is ; most of us keep our hives clean, and boil
down old comb as soon as possible. What a
sight it is to put fresh foundation in a hive,
and see how the queen lays in nearly every
cell ; she is no slut, but likes fresh comb well,
as well as we do. — A. B., North Bucks,
February 7.

Reply. — 1. While making certain allow-
ances, for the conditions at time of giving
sections, we have no doubt as to whole sheets
of suitable foundation being preferable to
istarters from a business point of view. 2. Yes,
but here it is that the words we have italicised
come in. The foundation must be very thin,
pale yellow in colour, soft in texture, and pos-
sessing the fragrance of good, pure wax.
Thick foundation of bleached wax, which has
so often a marked tallowy smell, is disliked by

the bees, so much so that we have known
them to refuse to work on the foundation at
all, and build combs alongside it. The best
makes of super-foundation are now rolled out
so thin as to nearly approach natural comb in
fineness of midrib.

Notioesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

A True Lover of Bees (Aberdare). —
Experts' Certificates. — In order to qualify
for the examination for third-class certifi-
cates, not only is skill in manipulating bees
and hives necessary, but candidates are
required to have a fairly comprehensive
knowledge of bee-keeping in all its branches.
In addition to this, there is also a special
examination on the subject of foul brood
which candidates are now required to pass.
Full particulars may be had from Mr. J.
Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

Northants Bee-Keeper. — Compulsory Re-
moval of Bees from Allotment Ground.—
Under the circumstances, a reply might be
sent to the notice served upon you by the
company, offering to waive any objection you
might have to their proposal, provided fair
compensation is given for the pecuniary loss
you will sustain by their action. If fairly
put, the chances are that some compensation
would be given. We should, however, hesi-
tate before incurring legal costs in endea-
vouring to compel compensation by law.

Richard Bayly. — Comb sent is badly
affected with foul brood.

Honey Pot (Market Harboro'). — See reply
to " A True Lover of Bees " above.

Novice (Herts). — 1. Bees often die of hunger
and cold with sealed food in the hive. 2.
The spots on combs are not "unused
pollen " ; they indicate that the bees were
affected with dysentery before they perished.
3. Only use the best and cleanest of the
combs for a swarm. Melt the others down
for wax. 4. No. 4 sugar is good for syrup-
making in spring, but No. 7 is preferable
for autumn use. A reliable guide-book on
bees is necessary to every novice who hopes
to succeed ; our reply column is not suffi-
cient for any one>'s sole teaching.

A Worker (Tadcaster). — 1. No distancing
apart of hives will prevent promiscuous
mating of drones and queens from different
stocks. 2. Hives should be moved in winter
if possible, unless the distance is over two
miles. It is, however, fairly safe to move
them one and a half miles in March or early
in April in your district.

Feb. 28, 1895."

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

81

MMiml, JtofieeB, ku

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

The final meeting of the council elected for
1894 was held at 17, King William-street,
Strand, on the 21st inst. Present — T. W.
Cowan in the chair, Hon. and Rev. H. Bligb,
H. Jonas, E. D. Till, J. Garratt, W. B. Carr,
W. H. Harris, Major Fair, J. H. New, W. J.
Sheppard, and the following ex-officio mem-
bers :— J. M. Hooker (Kent), Rev. W. E.
Burkitt (Wilts), and F. H. Meggy (Essex),
John Huckle, secretary. Communications
were receivedj from W. 0'. B. Glennie (trea-
surer) and P. Scattergood (Notts) regretting
their inability to be present.

The minutes of the last meeting were read
and confirmed.

Letters were read (1) from the Rev. J. A.
Kempe, of St. Veryan Vicarage, Cornwall,
generously offering his services to the Asso-
ciation by giving lectures on bee-keeping,
aided by the use of an excellent lantern and
slides. Resolved, That the best thanks of the
Association be given to Mr. Kempe for his
kind offer ; (2) from the hon. secretaries of
the Notts and Shropshire Associations offering
suggestions in reference to third-class exam-
inations. Resolved, That the same be further
considered at the next meeting.

The Southern Counties committee met at
1.30, and, after considering several matters
brought before them, it was recommended that
certain steps be taken with the view of form-
ing an association for Sussex.

The special committee on foul brood also
met later, and had before them further par-
ticulars from affiliated associations with regard
to foul brood in different counties. In view
of the large amount of information requiring
to be dealt with, it was found necessary to
hold another meeting on the 27th inst., at the
offices of the Bee Journal.

The following new members were elected : —

Mr. G. J. Wright, Picton-road, Ramsgate.

Miss F. Hemsker, Burgess Hill, Sussex.

Mr. H. T. Spice, Witham, Hastings.

Rev. G. H. Samson, Southlands, New
Romney.

Mr. C. H. Hooper, Highlands Farm,
Swanley.

A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to
the chaiiman and vice-chairman for their
services during the past year.

The annual general meeting of the members
of the Association was held at 105, Jermyn-
street, on the 21st inst. Considerable interest
was manifested in the proceedings, as shown
by the large attendance. Among whom, in
addition to the gentlemen already named as
attending the earlier meeting of the Council,
we noticed the following :— The Revds. Dr.
Bartrum, Gerard W. Bancks, R. Errington, E.

Davenport, and W. Handcock, Miss Eyton
and Mrs. Bancks, Messrs. R. T. Andrews,
H. W. Brice, J. S. Baldwin, F. J. Cribb, J. S.
Greenhill, John C. Walthen, W. B. Webster
and many other well-known bee-keepers.

In the unavoidable absence of the president,
who was detained abroad, the chair was taken
by Mr. Cowan, chairman of the council, who,
in opening the proceedings, expressed the
regret of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts in not
being able to preside as announced. The
chairman read a letter received from her lady-
ship congratulating the Asseciation on the
excellent work accomplished during the past
year, more especially in regard to the provision
which had been made for establishing lecture-
ships in apiculture, and expressed the hope
that strenuous efforts should be made towards
increasing the list of subscribing members.
The minutes of the last annual meeting having
been read and confirmed, Mr. Garratt read the
report of the committee for the past year.

The Chairman, in moving the adoption of
the report and statement of accounts, con-
gratulated the members upon the improved
financial position of the association, in respect
to which they were all considerably indebted
to the active exertions of the vice-chairman,
Mr. Jonas, who, as chairman of the Finance
Committee, had been most assiduous in his
endeavours to place the association in a better
financial position. The chairman specially
alluded to the matter of finance as referred to
in the committee's report, remarking that,
although practically out of debt, if the associa-
tion's position was to be maintained it was
absolutely necessary that the list of annual
subscribing members should be increased con-
siderably, so that an additional income of at
least £100 per annum might be assured. He
also drew attention to the assistance which had
been rendered to the parent society by the
affiliated branches, and expressed the hope that
the cordial relations now existing would be con-
tinued. Inalludingto the question of foul brood,
he pointed out that, in deference to the generally
expressed wishes of bee-keepers that they
should take some steps to check the spread of
the disease by carelessness or wilful negligence
on the pait of persons owning diseased stocks
whom the association could not reach, four
years ago the matter was brought before the
notice of the association, but, for lack of
statistics, it could not be brought before the
Board of Agriculture at that time ; since then,
however, the extent of the evil has so rapidly
increased, that information is now readily
obtained, and the question has, in consequence,
become ripe for settlement. ISot only has the
Council had the help and support of affiliated
Associations, but the Irish Bee-keepers'
Association has sent full statistics, and now
asked that it should be urged that any pro-
tection that covdd be given to the industry
of British bee-keeping should also be extended
by the Board of Agriculture to Ireland.
Although a draft bill had been published in

82

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 28, 1895.

the B.J., the complete details and the statistics
received would require the most careful con-
sideration of the Council before any decided
steps were taken, so as to carefully guard the
interests of bee-keepers, especially those of
the cottager class. The chairman concluded
by quoting from the official returns, giving the
value of honey imported into the United
Kingdom, and observed that although the
imports for 1894 were valued at ,£32,472, they
fell far short of those for 1892, when the total
value amounted to no less than £62,528 ; so
that, notwithstanding the unfavourable cha-
racter of the past year for honey gathering in
these islands, the home industry more than
held its own against importations from abroad.

Mr. Till, in seconding the adoption of the
report, craved the indulgence of the meeting
to refer to a few points which, although small
in themselves, were of considerable importance
to bee-keeping. He drew special attention to
the need for giving every possible encourage-
ment to local shopkeepers to sell only the
purest and best honey and wax. Attention
should also be given to the manufacture of such
things as mead, honey- vinegar, and articles of
food in which honey might form an ingredient.

The motion for the adoption of the report
was carried unanimously, as was also a hearty
vote of thanks to Mr. Kirchiner for auditing
the accounts.

The Rev. Dr. Bartrum, in moving a vote of
thanks to the retiring officers and committee,
considered that the members of the associa-
tion were deeply indebted to the Council for
the large amount of excellent work which they
had carried out during the past year. As an
old member of the Council he could affirm that
their work was one of great responsibility, as
they were called upon to legislate on behalf of
the industry throughout the United Kingdom.
He thought that all were agreed that the work
of the past year had been done both wisely
and well. He hoped that in the work which
they now had undertaken in respect to the
question of foul brood they would carefully
consider the difficulties of the question, and
not seek compulsory powers until it had been
abundantly proved that such were absolutely
necessary.

Mr. Cribb seconded the resolution, and said,
speaking for his own association (Lines.), they
heartily concurred in the efforts now being
made for the suppression of foul brood, and.
they would also give full support to the
B.B.K.A. in their efforts to obtain com-
pulsory powers for dealing with it.

The usual votes of thanks were also unani-
mously accorded to the Royal Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for the
use of their board-room for council and other
meetings. After which the re-election of the
Baroness Burdett-Coutts as president and
the other officers of the association were
unanimously agreed to.

The following resolutions were also carried
nem. con. : — (1) " That the trustees be em-

powered to sell certain ' stock ' for the pur-
pose of issuing a new edition of ' Modern
Bee-keeping,' the sum thereby expended to be
re-invested in the Post Office Savings Bank
from the proceeds of the sale of the work ."
(2) " That the privileges of affiiliation be
amended to provide for the payment of a fee
not exceeding one guinea to judges and
examiners." (3) "That the rules of the
association be amended to provide (a) for all
subscriptions paid by new members on and
after October 1 to cover the period to
December 31 in the following year ; (b) that
the word ' council ' be substituted for ' com-
mittee ' in respect to the managing body of the
B.B.K.A."

It was also resolved " That the conditions
observed by the affiliated associations for the
supply of medals during 1894 be renewed for
1895.''

The chairman next drew attention to the
irregular way in which the reports were issued
by several of the affiliated associations. The
period of the year at which some of them
were issued destroyed much of their useful-
ness, because secretaries of county associations
would find the bound volumes much more
serviceable if they could have them at an
earlier date.

On the motion of the chairman it was
resolved " That the best thanks of the Associa-
tion be given to Captain Campbell (on his
retirement from the Council owing to ill
health) for his long services to the associa-
tion as a member of the Council."

The proceedings closed with a vote of thanks
to the chairman and vice-chairman for their
services during the past year. Mr. Harris, in
submitting the motion, said the members
generally did not know how much they were
indebted to these gentlemen for their untiring
exertions on behalf of the association. As an
instance of the interest the chairman took in
the work of the association, he might state
that he had travelled almost from Lands End
in order to be present at the meeting.
The resolution was carried with acclamation ;
after which, in thanking the meeting, Mr.
Cowan and Mr. Jonas replied in a few
appropriate words.

The newly-elected Council for 1895 subse-
quently held a short meeting, and elected Mr.
Cowan as chairman, and Mr. Jonas as vice-
chairman for the ensuing year. It was resolved
to hold the monthly meetings on the second
Thursday in each month. The annual first-
class examination was fixed for May 9th, and
the second class examination to be held on
October 25th and 26th. The Council adjourned
to Thursday, March 14th.

The Council for 1895 is constituted as follows:
The Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Rev. G. W.
Bancks, Rev. R. Errington, Major A. W. Fair,
N. T. Andrews, H. W. Brice, T. W. Cowan,
W. B. Carr, J. Garratt, W. H. Harris, C. H.
Hooper, H. Jonas, J. H. New, W. J. Shep-
pard, and E. D. Till.

Feb. 28, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

83

On concluding the general business of the
annual meeting, a short adjournment was
made for refreshment, after which the pro-
ceedings connected with the usual Conver-
sazione commenced, report of which will
appear next week, together with an abstract of
the committee's report for 1894.

IRISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The committee met on 5th inst. Present
Dr. Traill (in the chair), Mr. O'Bryen, Captain
Millner, Mr. Read, Mr. Gillies, and Mr.
Chenevix (hon. sec. 15, Morehampton Road,
Dublin). It was reported that a satisfactory-
scheme had been arranged with the Congested
Districts Board for the expenditure by them
of £200 in the promotion of apiculture.
Much evidence has been collected in support
of the British Bee-keepers' Association's
application [for legislation to stamp out foul
brood.

DEATH OF MR. HENRY NEIGHBOUR.

It is with much regret that we announce
the death of Mr. Henry Neighbour, senior
partner in the firm of George Neighbour and
Sons, of High Holborn, who passed away on
the 21st inst., after a few days' illness, caused
by congestion of the lungs, in his 72nd year.

A melancholy circumstance connected with
the above event occurred in the death, on the
morning of the same day, of Mr. Neighbour's
only sister, with whom he (being a bachelor)
had lived all his life. Miss Neighbour was
several years older than her brother. A close
and loving intimacy of over seventy years was
thus terminated by the death of brother and
sister within a few hours of each other.

MEAD

MADE FROM A RECIPE 190 YEARS OLD.

" How to mahc English Canary no way
inferior to the best of Spanish Wines."
" One hundred and twenty pounds will make
a barrel of very good mead ; but if you make it
of clear honey, then your best way is to allow
4 lb. to every gallon of water. Let your quantity
be much or little, which you ought to govern
yourself by either considering the bigness of
your cask or the quantity of honey you have
to make up into mead, mix it in your copper,
and then boil it an hour, and scum it well,
which scum you may strain through Hippo-
crate's sleeve, or a taper bag, made of swan
skin, with a hoop at the broad end, letting
the narrow end come to a point. This bag
will make it as fine as the other, through
which you may put it. When your mead
is almost cold, Tun it up, clay it down, and
let it stand till it is fine, and old enough
to drink, which sometimes will be sooner
than other, according to the time of the

year and weather that comes upon it after
making. This liquor is one of the choicest of
wines, as well as the most wholesome of all
vinous liquors in the world, and ought to be
drank and made use of in possets, &c, as
canary ; and thus used, it is impossible to
know whether the posset was made of your
own mead or canary.

Thus for making of mead with clear honey.
But if you do it with the washings of combs,
or dissolve all your honey from the combs, then
you must dissolve it in warm water, till an egg-
will swim in the mead the breadth of a shilling.
But here you must be very careful, that before
you break your combs into the sieve, or
strainer, you separate all the young bees,
which you may easily know, from the honey,
and also the Sandrach (or bee-bread), which is
a yellow substance, with which some of the cells
are filled, which otherwise will give your
mead an ill taste, and then proceed to boil,
scum, and turn as before. It is best if it be
kept till it is a year old ; and if you make it
well (as before) it will keep as long as you
please."

[The above recipe is from Dr. Warder's
work on bees, published at the beginning of
the 18th century. The correspondent who
forwarded it also sent a sample of Mead made
in March last, according to the directions
given above, and it is certainly one of the
finest samples we have ever seen and tasted. —
Eds.]

tymntyankut

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice vrill be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c.,must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, 6cc, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements ).

%• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

THE "BEE JOURNAL"

AND ITS READERS.

[2240.] I wonder whether you realise what
an unquiet time you give to many of your
readers ? Now it is " foul brood," a little
while ago it was " balled queens ; " I have
never seen the latter, and never smelt the
former. I read your journal diligently, and
each time as I lay it down I sigh, " Who
would be a bee-keeper ? " Now and then I
foolishly take the trouble to make a disciple ;

84

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feh. 28> 1S95

how scared they always are at first about foul
brood — " Is this it ? " " Is that it 'I " A comb
laden with pollen is enough to give a fit to a
tyro, for, of course, they read the text-books,
which delight and revel in enlarging upon foul
brood. But, seriously, can you not help us to
the cause or causes of the evil, for " prevention
is better than cure," and as a cure in the case
of foul brood seems hopeless according to your
journal, prevention becomes of the utmost im-
portance. 1. May not old combs used year
after year in the brood-nest have something to
do with it ? It costs an effort to cut up and
run down an old worker comb ; as it stands it
seems valuable, melted it gives an ounce or
two of wax (pace Mr. Wells, 2226, p. 64), so
back to the hives it goes. I date all the ends
of my frames, and after three years the combs
are taken out, the frames well scrubbed, set
up with foundation, re-dated, and then off
again ; yet even so a frame escapes me now
and then, and I found a comb last autumn
eight years old! 2. May not the vis;ts of
experts have something to do with it ? Under
your compulsory powers you will, of course,
have a head inspector to keep an eye on the
working inspector to see that he is properly
disinfected, and to burn his clothing once a
week at least ! But, now, who looks after the
experts ? They go from one apiary to another,
and I am so ignorant as to think it possible
that they may carry the seeds of the disease about
the country. Do, Messrs. Editors, reassure
us by saying that such a thing is impossible ;
throw just a little gleam of hope over this
black cloud of foul brood that hangs at present
over your paper and over our craft. 1 could
suggest other causes — real or imaginary —
which enter into my mind, but could not you
give us a short list — or a long one, if you like
— of what we ought to do and what we ought
to avoid so as to keep this pest at arm's
length ? Stamping out is all very well :
escaping the plague is better. 3. Does bee-
keeping pay in the money sense of the word ?
I doubt it very much. Shall I write you a
letter about that ?— R. S. Routh, Longstoclc
Vicarage, Hants, February 1!).

[We congratulate our correspondent on never
having " emelt " foul brood. Long may his
present immunity from this trouble continue.
For ourselves, we fully realise the " unquiet
time " felt by, alas, too many of our readers
Avhose bees have suffered from it, and who are
themselves suffering from its consecpiences.
Those who are troubled in imagination only
need not concern us much. It does, however,
seem to us somewhat paradoxical for our
esteemed correspondent to complain of the
text books which, according to him, " delight
and revel in enlarging upon foul brood," and
then request us to further enlarge upon the
" evil '' by entering into a dissertation on the
causes thereof in our pages. Nor can we take
as other than a bit of playfulness his affectation
of ignorance as to the cause of foul brood and
its effects on bee-life. Few persons of to-day,

possessing ordinary intelligence and average
education, fail to realise the fact that fevers,
and numerous diseases of a like nature, are
caused by the presence in the body and blood
of the animal so affected, of certain minute
germs which — under favourable conditions, and
if not themselves destroyed — increase so
rapidly and enormously as to destroy life.
Besides, after all that has appeared foryears past
in our pages on the subject referred to, we
cannot take " seriously '' our correspondent's
appeal for help as to the cause of foul brood.

Our entire agreement that " Prevention is
better than cure " goes without saying, in face
of our persistent advocacy of the constant use
of preventives, and of a continuous advertise-
ment of those being on sale at this office. The
other questions put may be replied to as
enumerated : — 1. No. Old combs cannot of
themselves generate foul brood. It is, how-
ever, advantageous to renew combs as soon as
they become old and offensive from the cells
being choked up with hard mouldy pollen or
any other cause ; besides, the danger of combs
becoming infected with disease carried into
the hive is lessened by renewing them every
two or three years. 2. All reliable authorities
insist on disinfection of the clothing of anyone
manipulating diseased colonies of bees, be they
experts or otherwise. Our invariable insistence
on this precaution led us to innocently believe
that all our readers knew of and appreciated
the necessity for it. 3. Speaking generally, it
may be said bee-keeping pays, or fails to pay,
according to the aptitude or otherwise of the
bee-keeper, and the abundance or scarcity of
honey-producing flowers in the district the
bees work over. We fancy this is fairly well
demonstrated in the reports recorded in our
pages from time to time. We shall, however,
be very pleased to get our correspondent's
promised letter on the subject, though our
hope of his success is somewhat discounted
beforehand by his closing words — " I doubt
it very much."

We do not care to parade our personal
success Avith bees, though our experience has
been a very satisfactory one ; it may,
however, in some degree serve as a
further reply to the third query to say
that Mr. W. McNally, of Glenluce, N.B.,
records having taken 18 cwt. of honey and
sold thirty-eight swarms from his apiary of
102 hives last season, besides increasing his
stock to 108 hives, all fit to stand the winter.
Another bee-keeper is mentioned in same
issue of the Record, as having secured just on
1,000 lb. of honey from his twenty stocks of
bees in '94, before taking them to the moors
for the heather harvest. — Eds.]

SELFHIVERS.

[2241.] After reading the articles on Self-
hivers contained in your issue of Dtcember 27
last, it occurred to me that a record of our
experience with one might interest a few of

Feb. 28, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

your readers. Owing to the general back-
wardness of the weather, and more especially
the severe frosts which were so prevalent in
the month of May, bees, except in a few cases,
did not swarm till well on in June, thus losing
to a great extent the benefit of the new
colonies for the clover season. The swarm
with which we experimented was the second
from a hive, which had already swarmed on
June 27. The hiver used was made of
ordinary queen-excluding zinc, bent into
the form shown in the accompanying
diagram (Fig. 1 ) . This we placed so that the

opening (a) covered the entrance of the old
hive, the end (b) covering a rectangular
aperture cut in the side of the hive, which we
intended to be this swarm's new home pro
tern. The door of this hive we also covered
with queen-excluding zinc. The clustering

began about the entrance on July 6, and we
placed the hive in position. The bees then
had no inclination to remain inside the hive,
nor to walk obediently into their newly-pre-
pared home, but flew abcut to a greater
extent than when swarming naturally. From
observations made on that day we con-
sidered that, in order to be perfectly
successful, we must guide the bees as
well as the queen. On the early part of the
7th, a bright and warm day, they still ex-
hibited the same exceptionally restive dis-
position, and it being the tenth day after the
first swarming we were almost certain of an
exodus taking place. Seeing the state of
affairs we procured pieces of clear glass, cut to
such a size that they covered the zinc hiver
except at the entrances A and b, and the end
next a. The placing of the glass over the zinc
and applying a cloth scented with carbolic
acid to the end of the hiver was the work of a
few seconds. No sooner had the bees' senses
become affected by the acid fumes than they
were greatly agitated, and early in the after-
noon ran in a continuous stream right
through the hiver into the new hive,

but unfortunately the queen - excluding
zinc which covered the entrance to this hive
did not prevent the swarm, accompanied by
its young queen, from passing through and
flying. From this it would seem that one of
the chief principles in the construction of a
self-hiver is that it shall control the workers,
and in so doing the actions of the queen will
also be governed ; for it does not seem at all
likely that the queen would lead the van in
escaping through the excluding zinc, but
rather that she was carried along with the
bees through the hiver and the excluder.
This escape would also lead one to believe
that however useful queen-excluding zinc may
be in preventing the thoroughfare of elderly
queens, it is deficient when the queen is very
young. We wrote you some time ago regard-
ing drones in November, but the continued
spell of good weather breaking, prevented us
from opening up the hive for examination.
Since then we have examined, and found
everything in a normal condition. The only
conclusion we can come to is that the fast-
feeding had caused the bees to fill the combs
except at the bottom, and the weather being
then favourable for breeding, the queen had
been forced down among the drone-cells —
hence their appearance at such a sea°on. —
J. K., Uddington, January 4.

HINTS FOR DISCUSSION.

[2242.] I thank my would-be mentor, Mr.
Brice, for his letter (2233, p. 74). I may add
I am not convinced by his sophistries, and to
those of my readeis who feel any interest in
this subject, I say get a copy of Dr. Howard's
work, and read for yourselves. Probably
Messrs. Neighbour, High Holborn, supply the
book, Is. to Is. 6d. each. Regarding these letters
on the foul-brood question as not altogether
a waste of space, I will, with your permission,
reply shortly to Mr. Brice. 1st. No regrets
either expected or hinted at even between the
lines in my last (page 66). Thanks for pity of
my position on the borderland of science ;
possibly Mr. B. thinks I am on a quicksand
because I have, forsooth, ventured out of the
beaten track. Mr. Brice may differ from me
on the estimate or value we attach to Dr.
Howard's work on foul brood. I am content to
remain in the company I am with in estimat-
ing its value. On this matter we will agree to
differ. Regarding Mr. Cheshire's fanciful
theory that adult bees from " foul-broody "
hives carry the germs and contaminate
the flowers with them, and another bee
from a healthy colony visiting the flowers,
takes the germs, and carry the same to
the hive (possibly miles away), and infects
the healthy colony with disease — this I
make bold to contend was a "phine
phlight of phancy,'' and is not, neither is it
likely to be, in my line. The fact is not
positive. Other facts of " Cheshire's '' I accept.
In fact, I look on his work as the magnus opus

86

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 28, 189E

on bees and bee-keeping. I challenge Mr.
Brice or anyone else to point out a single
sentence, line, or word where I have expressed
any opinion against " an act dealing with
foul brood." I flatter myself I have en-
deavoured to keep the matter to the front
during the past few months. Either I must
be sadly ambiguous and abstruse, or Mr. B.
very obtuse, for such a mistake to receive
credence on his part. My aim has been,
and will be in the future, to not only
get the new " weapon," but also to know
how to use it when we have got it.
I hope that when we get the "compul-
sory powers " we shall be in a posi-
tion to give our inspector or inspectors full
instructions how to deal radically and
rationally with the pest, and that we shall
also give compensation for property destroyed
pro bono publico. And if it comes to personal
feelings, allow me to tell my friend that I am
waiting — aye, ready — for the power to stamp
out a diseaee that is marching on me and
mine. By degrees it has got three miles
nearer to me during the last year or two than
formerly. This very fact has roused me up to
study the thing in all its bearings, and a close
reading up of the methods of cure. And I
may add, as far as "stakes" are concerned,
I opine I hold as many as any man this
side the Tweed. Mr. Brice accuses me
of "twisting" statements of others to suit
my own purpose, &c. If our readers who have
the book will verify for themselves, they will
find Mr. Brice guilty of what he accuses me.
As an instance, take his par. 4, page 75, B.J.,
2nd col. Prop. I., page 10, reads as follows
(continuing Mr. Brice's quotation) : — " I have
found Bacillus alvei present in all cases of
foul brood examined, in brood of all ages, in
the dry coffee-coloured masses, and in the
honey in the adjacent cells ; and where the
spores were found as in the dry masses, and
in the honey, pure cultures have been obtained
which in turn produced spores."

In next par. Mr. B. misquotes. Dr.
Howard says :— " Further investigations in
this line will be necessary to prove positively
that putrefaction would not take place in the
presence of these bacilli alone." This sentence
is written after a par. re his experiments with
cultures of foul brood, bacillus alvei, and other
bacteria, in a moist chamber. Again, Mr.
Brice says : — " On page 19, Prop. V., is an
account," &c. With the book in my hand as
I write, I find, first, a microscopical ex-
amination of the masses found in the open
or unsealed cells containing honey, the spores
and bacilli were found. To make sure, Dr. H.
carefully examined the cells which were capped
by the bees, and in nearly every instance was
found these same hard masses of old foul
brood. These were carefully dissected and
examined, and found to contain spores and
bacilli, from which cultures were made. "My
next trial was to take the honey removed
without disturbing the cell walls, and ex-

amine under the microscope, which revealed
both spores and bacilli suspended, from which
pure cultures were obtained." I ask any sane
person if such conclusive facts are not enough
to make any one who keeps bees to lay stress
on honey as the principal medium in spreading
the disease ; bees will not attempt to rob out
a stock of dead bees unless honey is in the
hive. Without honey there is no incentive
to rob.

Now contrast the following excerpts in con-
firmation of what I have written previously,
and see if I have mislead your readers. On
page 33, Dr. Howard says : — " From my own
observations, I must conclude that spraying
the combs will not reach the germs in the
honey or the spores in the glue-like dried
masses entirely submerged with the honey in
the cells, sealed or open ; nor will feeding
medicated syrups to old bees in a 'foul-
broody ' colony cleanse the ' feet and antenna?,'
or purify the combs containing the foul
masses, or the foul cells in which the eggs are
deposited by the queen, even though it might
eradicate the disease from the old bees which
has not the power of re-infection." This con-
firms what I wrote on page 44, B.J., January
31.

Dr. Howard criticises the work of Mr
Cheshire, of Mr. McLain, of Professor Mac-
kenzie, and lastly, of Mr. McEvoy, in
the last twenty pages of his book. Space
forbids extracts of any length, but I
think the following closing paragraph in
the work, page 47 (except a list of scientific
works) : — " Thus it will be seen that,
though McEvoy's method of treatment, which
was at 'first so unpopular, and seemed so far
from being correct, has, much to my surprise
(and need I say disappointment) been shown
to be the only rational method laid down
among all the writers on this subject."

Mr. Brice should re-read the work again
before he states what he does in his last par,
B.J., 76. Dr. Howard's experiments, as
enumerated from his book, I find as follows :
— P. 11, examination of nearly 100 dead
pupa? ; p. 12, treatment of pathogenic and
non-pathogenic germs in a moist chamber ten
days, and extended experiments to prove the
quiescent character of foul brood germs in
comparison with ordinary putrefactive germs ;
p. 13, examination of a supposed case of foul
brood in a Texan apiary, in which was
found no bacilli in either combs, honey, or
brood ; p. 16, culture of bacillus alvei
from honey ; p. 17, cultures on gelatine
under mica plates in a dry-air chamber, and
stab cultures on agar agar — also pure cultures
from honey showing that the antiseptic quality
of honey does not destroy the bacilli, though
it is not a media suitable to their growth ;
p. 19, microscopical examination and more
cultures ; p. 20, experiments in ten tubes of
gelatine exposed to boiling point — lasting
seventy-two hours ; p. 21, a series of similar
experiment exposed to low temperature, an

Feb. 28, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

low as 5 deg. below zero — also of trial cultures
exposed to atmospheric air for seventy-two
hours, and results. These experiments are no
more second-hand than was Mr. Cheshire's
experiments at the Healtheries in 1884. Then
we have par. as previously referred to in this
feply as from p. 33 of Dr. H.'s work. Work
such as above is surely worthy of something
better than a sneer — as a second-hand col-
lection— in which Mr. B. indulges, p. 75 B.J.
— W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

THE CURE OF FOUL BROOD.

[2243.] Some interesting observations on
this subject at the conversazione last Thurs-
day suggest a modification of the ordinary
treatment of the disease. It was laid down
by Mr. Cowan — than whom there can be no
higher authority — that the foul brood bacillus
can be easily destroyed, but that the spores are
almost indestructible, and unless they are
destroyed the disease is almost certain to
break out afresh.

Mr. Cowan considered the naphthol beta
treatment perfectly satisfactory for destroying
the bacillus, but not the spores ; and he stated
emphatically that the latter could not be
destroyed by sulphur fumes, carbolic acid
solution, &c.

Mr. Bancks' experiments have satisfied him
that the fumes arising from bromine poured
into a saucer will destroy the spores ; but
there is a difficulty in applying this remedy to
a hive of bees, as it kills the brood, and it
kills the bees also if not used in very small
quantities.

Does it not follow that the bees should be
treated with naphthol beta, and that in bromine
we find the very thing that is wanted for easily
disinfecting all hives and appliances ?

Mr. Bancks' valuable discovery will, I hope,
before long be confirmed by further experi-
ments ; and perhaps he and Mr. Cowan may
be good enough to give to your readers their
views on the above suggestion ?

At the conversazione objection was taken to
painting hives inside ; but I for one should
cercainly do so (after disinfecting them), taking
care to fill up all joints and cracks with paint,
and thus sealing up any spores which might
not have been sufficiently exposed to the
bromine fumes. For about eight years I have
used one or more hives painted inside.
Indeed, in one case I put in the bees before
the paint was quite dry, and they seemed none
the worse, though they rubbed off most of the
paint. — T. F. L., Brondesbury.

HINTS FROM ABROAD.

[2244.] I was glad to read your reference to
" Hints from Abroad " on page 73 last week,
being anxious to know your opinion, especially
with regard to petroleum for checking "rob-
bing " in extreme cases; and supers with frames
across those in brood chambers to keep queens
below. On the question of " fanning '' at

doorways in winter, let me say — the sun being
quite warm on the 19th, my bees had a good
fly, and, while looking at the entrances, I
noticed an unusual kind of " fanning " going
on at one of the hives. Suspecting something
wrong, I lifted the quilt, and I found the
largest part of the bees half-dead ; in fact a
good many had dropped on to the floor-board,
apparently lifeless, except for an occasional
move of a leg or wing in a bee here and there.
I sprinkled them with warm syrup, which
soon revived them. With plenty of stores in
the hive, the bees evidently could not reach
them, owing to the cold. I was, however,
just in time to save their lives. I have lost
three or four lots this winter the same way.
Being away last autumn, I did not give them
winter passages in the usual way — thus they
were starved with plenty of food close at
hand. — 0. Browning, King's Somborne.

THE FROST.

EFFECTS OF SEVERE WINTER ON BEES IN
SUSSEX.

[2245.] Taking your "Hints" on page 61,
and feeling my bees required some attention
after 38 degrees of frost on February 17, I
made an inspection of our five hives with the
following result : — No. 1 . Quilts rather damp,
top one quite frozen, candy all gone, a little
honey in comb, bees looked hopeless and
lifeless. This was my strongest swarm last
summer. I dried the covering and placed back
with a cake of candy, although I fear this lot is
gone. No. 2. Candy all gone, bees appeared
almost in a state of stupor ; gave them cake of
candy, and trust they will come all right. A
few were flying out of this lot. No. 3. Much
the same as No. 2. They had built a piece of
comb from where the candy was laid, and were
very active until the cold weather came. I fear
these are gone also. Gave them a lump of
candy and hope I am mistaken, although I fear
for them. No. 4. Flying out quite like summer.
This was my weakest lot. They were so lively
I could not inspect properly, so pushed a lump
of candy on to them, and one rewarded me
with the first sting of the new year for my pains.
No. 5. These I have down at my house ; they
were a late cast, and were working nearly until
Christmas. These were also out flying to-day.
The coverings being very mouldy, which I
changed them, and gave bees a lump of candy ;
the bees appear quite strong considering they
were breeding late. Many dead have been
thrown out from this lot.

I suppose it would be better to wait before
giving the doubtful ones up entirely to see if
warmer weather will bring them round again.
The combs would, in any case, be none the
worse, I should think, from bees dying on
them, if they should really be dead ? Unfor-
tunately, I cannot bring them indoors for
reviving the bees, four lots being over a
mile from my house. Why should some quilts

S8

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 28, 1893.

and coverings get mouldy I cannot make out,
while others under the same circumstances do
not. This is my first winter with bees, not
more fortunate, 1 fear, than my first summer.

How can I prevent bees building comb on
to the feeders in summer ? With me they
attach quite a piece of comb to the wooden
part of the bottle-feeder, which seems to me a
waste of time. Is this usual, and can it be
prevented ?

Thanking you for your hints, which I took
the first opportunity of putting into practice.
— S. T. Badcock, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex,
February 16.

[It is just possible a subsequent inspection,
after the departure of frost and the few warm
days which have followed, may have revealed
a more hopeful condition of things. The past
winter has, however, been exceptionally trying
to bees, especially in inexperienced hands.
Combs on which bees have died from causes
other than disease may be used again. There
must be some defect in the construction of the
feeders referred to. No space should be
allowed on the underside sufficiently deep for
the bees to fill it with comb. Such a thing is
most unusual. — -Eds.]

AN ARCTIC WINTER.

[2246.] How are the poor bees getting on, I
wonder, in these arctic regions about 1,000 ft.
above sea level, with the thermometer for a
full fortnight steadily below freezing-point,
and on more than one occasion recording
— 17 deg., or 49 deg. of frost? Christmas
Day was fine and mild, and my bees had a
splendid cleansing flight. Since then for eight
weeks the hives have been covered with from
1 to 3 ft. of snow. I trust this may act as a
blanket and shield them from the extreme
cold. Populous hives, well provided with
stores, may survive, but all weaklings must go
to the wall. It will be the survival of the
fittest only. I must specially note results and
record matters at a later date. At mid-day,
when the sun is beating down in fiery but
chilling grandeur, I noticed a neighbour's
bees (the hives not being covered with snow)
issuing in considerable numbers to have a look
round. But woe betide the luckless adven-
turers, for certain death awaited one and all.
When they fell it was to rise no more,
and their death was so sudden that they
never made the least motion. Our " Church
bees," too, were thus tempted out in large
numbers, and were lying in thousands all
round the sacred edifice on Sunday last. This
fate, I feel thankful, mine are at present
spared, but whether a worse fate may await
them time alone can tell. Animal life has
suffered to an unprecedented extent. Hares
and rabbits are mere skeletons, and are dying
in large numbers. Grouse are succumbing
fast, and are preyed on, even before life is
extinct, by flocks of starving crows. Deer

from the neighbouring forests are famishing,
and roam quite near houses. Small birds are
scarcely now seen, having migrated to warmer
regions. Higher creation is suffering, too, and
even the necessaries of life are running out
in many of our retired glens. The road to our
market town is blocked with snow, and no
vehicle has come near us since the New Year.
Attempts were made several times to cut the
roads, but again and again they have drifted
in worse than ever. Seeing that higher and
lower creation is thus- suffering, it is natural
that apiarists should begin to feel anxious
about their bees hid away beneath such
piles of snow. While it was freshly fallen
it was open, light, and porous, and the hives
had a fresh supply of air I doubt not. Now,
however, it has got hardened to the consistency
of granite, and I question if what air now
surrounds them is not stagnant and vitiated.
I Avould on no account remove any of the snow,
as I don't doubt it is a safe-guard — at least,
until the thaw sets in. I have, however,
pierced holes near the sides of the hives to act
as ventilators. If a recurrence of this extreme
season takes place we should make some
experiments on the American cellar plan of
wintering.— D.M.M., Banffshire, N.B., Feb-
ruary 20th.

BEE ASSOCIATION FOR SUSSEX.

[2247.] The Sussex Bee Association does
not appear to be making very much progress
yet. We hope the matter will not be allowed
to drop. Surely there is sufficient bee-
keeping zeal in the county to support an
association. I venture to make a suggestion
in order to ascertain how many there are
ready and willing to join an association if such
were formed, viz., that every one willing to
become a member should send a post-card
with their name and address to some person
who would transmit the list of names to the
promoters of the association. — Hv. Neve,
Heathfield, Sussex, February 24.

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS

AND COMPULSORY POWERS.

[2248.] As many county associations are
now about holding their annual meetings, I
write to suggest that they might greatly help
the parent association, in the endeavour to
secure compulsory powers for dealing with foul
brood, if they were to pass resolutions support-
ing the efforts of the B.B.K. in this matter.
Copies of such resolutions could then be for-
warded to the members representing the
several counties and boroughs wherein the
associations are established, praying them to
support the passing of any bill brought into
the House of Commons for the purpose.

A resolution to the above effect was pro-
posed by myself at the meeting of the Bristol
B.K. A., as reported in your issue of last week,
and passed unanimously.

When the hoped-for " Foul Brood Bill " is

Feb. 28, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

89

ready for introduction into the House of
Commons, copies of the resolution will be for-
warded to the four members for Bristol, and
also to the members for North Somerset and
South Gloucester, asking them to support the
bill. Our association covers the whole area
represented by the six members referred to,
four of whom, I am pleased to say, are vice-
presidents of our association. — J. Martin,
Bristol B.K.A.

NORTH DEVON BEE-KEEPERS.

[2249.1 Referring to 2218 (p. 56), asking
where are the " Enthusiasts '' in Devon ? I
may say that if they do not make their names
public, there are plenty in the county interested
in the bee-keeping industry. With respect to
the foul-brood question, I have carefully read
all that has appeared on the subject in the
B.B.J., and have arrived at the conclusion
that it is time to adopt compulsory measures
with a view to stamping out the disease, and
Avould willingly do anything in my power to
help on the object. But I think there should
be some compensation, where hives are only
slightly affected, if such are destroyed.

I have twenty-three frame hives, but as yet
have had no experience of foul brood. I
always keep naphthaline in the boxes, and
generally use carbolic when manipulating. A
friend and neighbour also keeps about twenty-
five hives, and I should consider there are
about 150 frame hives and skeps within a
radius of a few miles. Four or five of these
I know are badly affected with foul brood, and
have been for several years. One bee-keeper
who has left the neighbourhood had about
twenty frame hives, a great many of which
were badly diseased. On leaving, he took
hives, bees, combs, and all with him, thus
helping to spread the disease in his new
locality, which would have been prevented had
the act we are striving for been in force.

Another bee-keeper friend, who resides two
miles away, has four or five hives, one of which
is affected. He burnt the bees, combs, and
frames, burnt sulphur in the box, washed it
out with strong carbolic solution, and gave the
box two coats of paint inside and out, put in
a healthy stock of bees, and those are the ones
now diseased and at present in the hive.
After this, will Mr. McEvoy tell us how those
bees got infected, as there could not possibly
be any honey about ? He always keep 3 naph-
thaline in his hives, and last autumn fed them
up with syrup medicated with naphthol beta.
The other hives are not affected. This bee-
keeper is strongly in favour of bringing all
diseased stocks to light, as he says no good
can accrue from keeping it secret. As I con-
sider the diseased stocks above - mentioned
(and there are probably many more) a source
of danger to my own, I have decided to spread
mine about in small lots several miles apart.
Last year was a very poor season with us. The
average was about 10 lb. per hive, and some

got no surplus whatever, and had to be fed to
be kept from starvation. In 1893 I had eleven
hives, and had an average of 49 lb. per hive. —
F. G. Letherex, Chulmlcigh, North Devon,
February 13.

MR. WELLS AND HIS CRITICS.

[2250.] In reference to your correspondent
Mr. T. F. Ward (2235, p. 78). It appears to
me that nothing I can write will convince
Mr. Ward of his errors, so I will not trouble
him any further in that way. I may, how-
ever, be allowed to say that all I have in the
1 ee line is open to his inspection at any time,
and I should be most happy to explain any-
thing or everything on the spot should he
think it worth his while to visit me, where he
will find the hospitality of a friend. — G.
Wells, Aylesford, Kent, February 22.

BEE-KEEPING AT COVENT-GARDEN.

[2251.] Just by way of showing how
curiously the lately-awakened interest in bees
and bee-keeping on the part of the general
public displays itself, I send you a cutting
from a leading morning paper wherein appears
an account of the fancy dress ball held on the
previous evening at the Royal Opera House,
Covent-garden. Referring to the three most
noticeable costumes in the competition for
a dress displaying originality of design, &c,
we read : — " The next notable dress was en-
titled " Honey, my Honey." This was of
satin, trimmed with sunflowers, a bee-hive for
head-dress ; bees were painted on the skirt,
honeycombs rested on the shoulders, and a
large sunflower was carried in the hand."—
Domino, February 16.

[We are not told what sort of bee-hive was
worn for the head-dress, but charitably hope
our old friend the straw skep was adopted,
seeing that under no condition can we imagine
the fair wearer winning a prize— other than a
" wooden spoon " — for beauty of a costume
which involved the carrying a bar-frame
hive on her head ! — Eds.]

^nxm and l^fe.

[1233.] Working for Extracted Honey. — I
intend working for extracted honey this
season. Will you, therefore, kindly advise me
on the following ? — 1. Which are the best
kind of shallow frames for extracting, the
wide self-spacing frame, or the ordinary
narrow frame, with wide or narrow ends ?
2. Should full sheets of foundation or starters
only be used in shallow frames ? 3. Is it
necessary to use queen-excluder above brood
chamber when working wide combs in supers 1
— A Novice, Yorkshire, February 26.

Reply. — If you have the ordinary shallow

00

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Feb. 28, 1895.

frames on hand we should advise retaining
them, and having a supply of both wide and
ordinary " ends '' for use according to the
season. But, if laying in a new stock of frames
for extracting, we should have them made
1| inches wide, on all sides, with "lugs"
shouldered back to § width take both wide
and narrow ends. The question of working
extra thick combs for extracting is also entirely
one of personal preference, and it would be
unwise to decide beforehand and without trial.
2. We prefer full sheets. 3. Yes.

[1234.] Cause of Weak Stocks Perishing. —
The weather here, as in other parts of the
kingdom, has been terribly severe. Early bee-
forage will consequently be very backward,
and a cautious peep to see how stores are will
be absolutely necessary. Fortunately, a day
or two before the frost set in I had given to
each hive a cake of candy to make sure of
supply, and from the lively appearance of
some of the occupants of the hives so treated,
they are evidently all right. In one hive,
however, there were so few bees that I con-
sidered them too few to unite, so, as they had
plenty of food, I covered them up pending
consideration, but on looking at them yester-
day I found them all dead. I enclose the
queen. Is she fertilised ? If not, that would
be the cause of the mischief. — H. Lander,
Wadebridge, February 19.

Eeply.— Queen received has evidently been
fertilised. The cause of death was no doubt
loss of vitality through cold, owing to paucity
of numbers.

[1235.] Bees "Fanning" in an Arctic
Winter. — I have two hives in my apiary, and
both have what I take to be streams of con-
densed vapour formed into icicles and reaching
from the entrance right across the alighting
board. The bees in one (a single-walled hive)
were busy yesterday turning out a mass of
dead and a number of dying bees. With a
bent wire I drew out a large quantity of dead
bees, mixed with the uncappings of the combs,
and much signs of dysentery. The most
remarkable thing, however, was that in this
particular hive the bees were vigorously fann-
ing at the doorway in the afternoon of yester-
day and to-day with the thermometer at
30 degrees, while during each of the previous
nights the thermometer had sunk to 8 degrees
at four feet above the ground, and to zero on
the grass. As there can be no want of food
in any of my hives, can you say why con-
densed vapour should come out of these two
hives, and why " fanning " should take place
in one of them in the depth of winter ? —
R. J. P., Linhvood, Elgin, February 19.

Reply. — " Fanning " in the case referred to
probably proceeds from an effort on the part
of the surviving bees to rid the hive of the
foul atmosphere caused by the dysenteric
symptoms described. Advantage should be

taken of the first warm day to ascertain the
cause of " condensed vapour " running out at
entrance. It may proceed from so many
opposite causes that it is quite unsafe for us
to judge at a distance and from details given
above.

NoticestG Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Beginner (Hinckley). — Smoking bees. — If the
bees are so cross as stated, a little smoke
will always be necessary when lifting the
quilts for manipulating purposes. Do not
overdose the bees, but give just sufficient to
prevent them from taking wing whenever
they begin to fly viciously. We do not
advise your interfering with the combs built
across the frames, under all the circum-
stances.

F. G. Lethven (North Devon). — Moving
hives. — We should take the earliest chance
of moving the hives while weather is cold
and there is little brood in the combs. The
frames will require making firm and rigid
for transit, when, with care in handling,
they will take no harm at this season. Mr.
J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts, will
furnish you with all information as to
experts' exams.

J. T. Pressley (Chesterfield). — Bees Dying. —
1. Your note does not make quite clear
whether only the one stock of Carniolan-
Italian hybrids, or all three stocks have
perished. But there is no sign of dysentery
on the piece of comb received. 2. The
"jellyfied stuff" — as you term it — is simply
pollen which has had its surface covered
with syrup by the bees during feeding up
time last autumn. No doubt the dead bees
in cells would cause the foul smell. 3. If
there are no more signs of dysenteric dis-
charge on the other combs than on the piece
sent, they may be used again with impunity ;
otherwise they should be melted down.

Greenhorn (Farnham). — Transferring Skeps
to Frame Hives. — 1. The "staining marks"
about entrance are merely the result of the
bees' long confinement. So long as all is
clean within the hive no alarm need be felt.
It is too eaxly to give syrup food. 2. Do
not drive the bees at all in April, or put ex-
cluder zinc between skep and frame-hive.
Let the bees transfer themselves to the
latter, as they will when room is wanted for
breeding purposes. Then remove the skep
as a super when filled.

Anxious (Guildford). — Transferring to Stan-
dard-size Frames. — As the odd-sized frames
are already filled with patched-np combs
from skeps, we should not retransfer them
at all, but allow the hives to swarm, and let
the bees stock the new hives with new
combs. Better all-round results will thus
be obtained.

March 7, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

91

(B&ttxM, $tt&m, to,

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

CONVERSAZION E.

The quarterly conversazione was held after
the conclusion of the annual meeting, at
6 p.m., when among the large audience as-
sembled were the Hon. and Rev. Henry
Bligh, Revs. G. W. Bancks, W. B. Burkitt,
and E. Davenport, Miss M. Eyton, Mrs.
Bancks, Major Fair, Messrs. R. T. Andrews,
H. W. Brice, J. S. Baldwin, T. W. Cowan,
W. B. Carr, F. J. Cribb, J. Garratt, W. O'B.
Glennie, J. S. Greenhill, J. M. Hooker, W. H.
Harris, H. Jonas, F. H. Meggy, W. Soar, J.
C. Walthen, &c.

Mr. Glennie, having been unanimously voted
to the chair, openel the proceedings, and
invited the members present to initiate a dis-
cussion on any subject of interest to bee-
keepers. Possibly it might be advantageous
to further consider any of the topics which had
been incidentally referred to at the earlier
general meeting,

Mr. Harris, in response to the suggestion,
asked whether the time had not arrived when
the term "foul brood '' might be discontinued,
and a more appropriate one chosen to desig-
nate the disease. The use of that name was
misleading, especially to cottagers, because it
allowed of the inference that if the brood were
destroyed the disease could be eradicated,
which, as. they all knew, was far from being
the case. Perhaps it would be said in reply
to this that the term had now become so
naturalised that there was no danger of the
kind to be feared ; but those who had to
examine from time to time bee-keepers and
experts knew what a vast amount of ignorance
on the subject prevailed, even among experts.
He suggested that the association should hence-
forth drop the name " foul brood,'' and adopt
some other — "bee pest," for example. The
cattle plague was denominated " rinderpest,"
and the greatest plague of bee-life might be
called " bee pest." The editors of the
B.B.J, might adopt the latter, or some
other more suitable expression than "foul
brood,'' and recommend that their example
should be followed, when the desired change
would soon be brought about.

Mr. Cowan thought it quite possible to
change the name, but did not see the neces-
sity for it, as the term " foul brood " was now
well known all over the world as the designa-
tion for a certain disease. The name originated
from the Germans, and could be traced back
at least 130 years, long before which it was
known that brood had rotted, and the Ger-
mans defined this condition as rotten brood —
" Brut faulniss,'' or " Faulbrut," from which had
arisen our English term of foul brood. He
did not see any value in changing the words
to " rotten brood," which, however, would be

a literal translation of the German title. He
objected to " bee pest " as too general, although
this was one of the names given to the disease
in Germany. If any change was adopted
there would be confusion, because the altera-
tion of name could only be carried out as
regarded England, and other English-spaaking
countries would probably not adopt it.

Mr. Andrews considered the term " foul
brood '' most expressive, because it described
exactly what it was. The words " bee pest "
applied equally well to dysentery, and we
might say "torn-tits," &c, for certainly tom-
tits were bee pests.

Mr. Webster said some one had suggested
" bee-thrax.'' He did not think there was the
slightest use in changing the name, which was
derived from the effect, not the cause, just as
in the case of black fever, yellow fever, and
scarlet fever. The term was known throughout
the world, and the special features of the
disease also, and the adoption of a new name
would lead to endless confusion.

Mr. Harris reiterated that his chief reason
for desiring the alteration was because the
words "foul brood" seemed to suggest that if
the brood was destroyed the disease was
stamped out, whereas the destruction of the
brood was only a small part of the remedy
necessary to banisli the evil from an apiaiy.

Mr. Hooker thought that if the brood were
destroyed in every case there would be very
few bees to transmit the disease. Whatever
conclusion that meeting might come to, every
English-speaking nation would continue to
call the evil foul-brood.

Mr. Cribb asked whether a word could not
be added to indicate the infectious nature of
the malady.

Mr. Baldwin feared a change of name would
do little good ; besides, " foul brood " was
more expressive than " bee pest." He agreed
that the mere destruction of the brood was
quite insufficient to stamp out the evil. He
thought it would be better to keep to the old
name, and spend their time and thought, and
experiment, in trying to get rid of the disease.

Mr. Cowan quite appreciated Mr. Harris's
reasons for suggesting the change, as the words
certainly did not convey to the minds of un-
educated persons the danger and extent of
the disease. They knew that not only was
the brood diseased, but the workers, drones,
and the queen also. This Mr. Cheshire
had shown by his microscopic examinations,
and Hilbert had proved also that the queens
were disea3ed ; they were aware that hives
carried the infection ; also that swarms put
into hives that had contained foul brood
sooner or later became affected therewith.
Those were arguments in favour of the
alteration ; nevertheless, he did not see his
way clear to adopt a better name, and instead
of changing it, he thought it was their duty
to impress on bee-keepers the immense danger
of foul brood, the difficulty of curing it, and
the necessity of strict precautions against it.

92

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 7, 1895

Unfortunately, people were careless in the
matter. They had a report from the Middlesex
Association, from which it appeared that a
bee-keeper had actually taken out of a hive
pieces of diseased comb, and thrown them on
the ground for other bees to clean and
suck up the honey. It was impossible to find
a name which would cover every phase of the
disease ; and, considering that the present
one was applied all over the world, he did
not think it expedient to change it.

Mr. Garratt sympathised with Mr. Harris
in his desire to find a less unpleasant
sounding and more comprehensive term than
foul brood ; but he must admit that those
words described the disease in its most dis-
tinct form. At the present time the name
was universally adopted, and therefore the
obstacles to changing it were very great.

Mr. Carrsaid that personally he regarded with
alarm the proposal of Mr. Harris that the
editors of the B.B.J, should take up the task
of changing the term " foul brood," and was
not a little pleased that the feeling of the
meeting appeared to be against the suggestion.
The word " brood " should, he thought, not be
left out in the designation. That was the bee-
keepers' indicator. He never looked at the
queen or the bees to ascertain whether the hive
was healthy, but always wanted to see how
the brood was hatching out in order to tell
whether it was diseased or not.

Mr. Meggy considered the term "foul brood "
was as suitable as could be found unless they
gave a definition extending over a couple of
lines of the B.B.J.

Miss Eyton asked if " infectious foul brood "
would do ; to which Mr. Carr objected that all
foul brood was infectious.

Mr. Harris said he had raised the question
for the purpose of discussion, and would now
withdraw his proposition for the present, so
that bee-keepers might have time to think
over the subject with a view to adopting some
more suitable name.

Mr. Till appreciated the objections of Mr.
Harris, whose profession led him -to look for
exact expressions to convey thoughts and
meanings.

The Chairman thanked Mr. Harris for intro-
ducing the discussion, but thought there would
be no possibility of making the desired
change, since the term "foul brood" was
universal throughout the world, and any
attempt to alter would inevitably lead to
confusion, especially among cottagers.

Mr. Cowan remarked that for the last four-
teen years the words "bee pest" had been
associated with foul brood in his Guide-book,
and yet there seemed no disposition to adopt
that name.

Mr. Cribb,in speakingof the remedies' for foul
brood, said that they often heard of such
measures as killing the bees, cleansing the
hives, supplying new foundation, burning the
combs, &c., but seldom or never heard of
cleansing the ground where the hive stood ;

and he had known of cases where the hive,
after purification, had been again put down
among the decaying carcases of bees which
had died of the disease. He had had foul
brood in his own apiary, and, besides using
all the other remedies, had removed 3 in. of
earth from underneath the infected hives, and
substituted clean ashes. By these means his
bees remained free of the disease for the fol-
lowing year and the year after. Probably if
he had not cleansed the ground, the result
would have been different.

Mr. Baldwin thought that not only hives,
but all the surroundings thereof, should be
cleansed after the destruction of foul brood.
It would be a good thing if the B.B.K.A.
were to lay down some rules to guide bee-
keepers in keeping free of foul brood. He
was much in favour of the issue of rules to
assist prevention. Their cause depended to a
great extent on beginners, who quickly became
disgusted when their hives were attacked.

Mr. Harris said Mr. Baldwin's suggestion
as to issue of rules had been mentioned in
committee, and would no doubt be adopted.

Mr. Till remarked that the cleansing of the
ground and disinfection of stands was advo-
cated in Mr. Cowan's book. They ought to
have facilities in every district for disinfecting
hives.

Mr. Webster believed steam or boiling water
to be the best disinfectant. He thought there
was a simple plan by which associations might
disinfect hives, and that was by obtaining a
boiler like those used by farmers to steam
potatoes, from which a tube could be brought
and turned into some receptacle capable of
holding a hive. He believed it was impossible
to disinfect properly with carbolic acid.

Mr. Cribb advocated boiling the hive in an
ordinary copper ; when the solutions that
were considered desirable might be placed in
the water. That was a cheap and efficacious
method.

The Kev. Mr. Bancks inquired whether
burning paraffin or kerosine would not be
equally as effective as steam.

Mr. Cribb replied that it would where the
flame touched, but it never succeeded in
scorching in the nicks and crevices, and if
one spore was left in, the good done was
minimised.

Mr. Andrews wanted to know why steam
was preferred to sulphur. He suggested
putting the hives in a large box made for the
purpose, and disinfecting them with sulphur
cakes — a cheaper and more practicable method
to most people than steam.

Mr. Garratt agreed with regard to the value
of sulphur as a disinfectant. Sulphur candles
were used very much in cases of illness in the
household, and if effective there, as was gene-
rally admitted, why not in the bee-hive ?

Miss Eyton emphasised the value of the
sulphur candle for disinfecting rooms.

Mr, Cribb said the disinfection of rooms
was a somewhat different matter. Pieces of

March 7, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

9TS

wax, combs, and propolis stuck on the sides of
a hive, and might cover up spores, which
would not be reached by the fumes ; besides,
sulphur would not penetrate the double walls
of the hive. Sulphur with a jet of steam
would be more effective, but anything covered
up required a steam heat of 212 deg.

Mr. Cowan said the product of burnt
sulphur — sulphurous acid gas — had been
found to be of no use whatever in destroying
spores. Bacilli could be killed by it, but
spores could not. Carbolic acid, formic acid, and
other antiseptics had little effect on spores.
But it had been found that spores could be
destroyed after subjecting them to dry or
moist steam, the latter preferred, for a few
minutes only. Perhaps it would be best to
steam them several times at intervals,
because they might resist the first
attempt, but would be sure to succumb
after twice or thrice. All the drugs used were
only effective on bacilli. Many bee-keepers
professed to have cured foul brood, and
probably they had done so while the disease
was in the bacillus stage ; but when the spore
condition was reached a cure was next to im-
possible. The chances were that the spores got
into out-of-the-way places, where nothing that
was used could get at them ; even steaming
in consequence of that would fail sometimes.
He recommended as a prevention that bees
should always be fed with medicated food, and
the hives disinfected. Immediately the bacilli
developed they could be easily destroyed by
carbolic acid or other well-known antiseptics.
When the disease advanced to the spore stage
then the best remedy was burning and destruc-
tion of combs and frames and disinfection
of hives, giving bees a fresh start. There was
a good deal of misconception with respect to
foul brood. The terms bacilli, spores, and
germs were used indiscriminately, showing that
the important difference existing between them
was not understood. "When a larva was
attacked by disease the bacilli found in it a
suitable medium for propagation, and as soon
as all the nutrient material was exhausted the
bacilli changed to spores. Whilst in the
bacillus stage antiseptics were of use because
the bacillus could be destroyed, but when the
spore condition was reached it was quite a
different matter, for the spore could not be
killed unless the antiseptics were of such
strength as i would kdl the bees. Moreover,
the spores would have to be subjected to them
for a considerable time to be affected by
the drugs. Should one of these spores
get into the alimentary canal of a larva it at
once sprouts and becomes a live bacillus, which
in turn multiplies until all the nutrient mate-
rial is exhausted. He hoped to publish soon
a list of different drugs that were used as
curatives, with the effect each one had on
bacilli and spores respectively, so that bee-
keepers might know the value of each drug
as an antiseptic. The increase in bee-keeping
and the traffic in bees was no doubt answerable

in a great measure for the spread of foul brood,
and the former destruction of the bees every
autumn helped also to destroy the disease. As
far back as 1779 there was an epidemic of foul
brood in the Island of Syra, and nearly all
the bees died in consequence. When visiting
Savoy a few years ago he saw empty bee-hives
at almost every farmhouse, and on investi-
gating the reason was told that the bees had
died by a " visitation of God,'' which upon
inquiry of intelligent bee-keepevs in the
country he found to be synonymous with foul
brood, the epidemic having destroyed all the
bees there. That was six or seven year3 ago.
Since the bees had died out bee-keeping had
made a fresh start in the Department on
modern principles, and was now flourishing.
Foul brood existed long before the invention of
the bar-frame hive, but less was heard about the
disease because it was not understood, and the
havoc that followed it was attributed to natural
causes, and such absurdities as the neglect of
the household to inform the bees of deaths in
the family, &c. There was no doubt the
disease was spreading rapidly, and the Associa-
tion was bound to take notice of the fact, or,
as they were told, bee-keeping would gradually
become extinct in the country. In reference
to Mr. Webster's remarks, he would say that
the heat that would be sufficient to cook
potatoes would be of no avail for destroying
spore3, as it would be less than 212°.

(Conclusion of report in our next.)

SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPEKS'
ASSOCIATION.

A special meeting of the members of the
Scottish Bee-keepers' Association was held in
the Imperial Hotel, Edinburgh, on 16th lilt.
Mr. Weir Heriot presided over a fair attend-
ance. The assistant-secretary, Mr. J. Wishart,
submitted the financial statement for 1894,
and also laid before the meeting an account of
his intromissions during the current year.
Mr. Wishart then intimated the resignation of
Sir T. D. Gibson-Carmichael from the honorary
secretaryship of the association on the ground
of his not being in a position to devote the
time a secretary should to the interests of the
.society. On the motion of Bev. Mr. Blake,
seconded by Mr. Chouler, it was resolved to
ask Sir Thomas to reconsider his decision.
Mr. Wishart's resignation was next considered,
and that gentleman positively declined to again
take office. A small committee was appointed
to consult together and thereafter appoint a
new assistant-secretary. They decided to wait
upon Mr. ( '. N. Craik, Dalkeith, with the view
to his appointment.

Previous to the meeting of members, the
committee met to consider the case of two of
the disqualified " Displays of Honey " at the
last show in Edinburgh, viz., those of Messrs.
Boss & Kerr, Dumfries, and Messrs. Learmont
& Gilchrist, Castle Douglas, the said exhibits
being disqualified on the ground of their not

94

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 7, 1895.

conforming to the rules as laid down in the
show schedule as to the space to be occupied
by the " Displays " in Class I. A protest
lodged by Messrs. Ross & Kerr against the
exhibit of Mr. T. K. Newbigging, Dumfries, in
the same class, as not conforming to the same
rule, was also considered by the committee.
After discussion, the committee were unani-
mous in agreeing to uphold the decision of the
judges. On the motion of Kev. Mr. Blake it
was resolved to convey to Sir Thomas Gibson-
Carmichael the hearty thanks of the associa-
tion for his very liberal support of it since it
was instituted by him in 1891. The usual
votes of thanks brought the meeting to a
close.

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE B.K.A.

AKNUAL MEETING.

The annual meeting of the above association
was held at 20, Sir Thomas-street, Liverpool,
on Monday, February 25, at three p.m.
Among those present were Messrs. J. Bell (in
the chair), H. Firth, W. H. Chapman, T.
Shuttleworth, C. Wade, Geo. Roberts, Geo.
Rose, J. Fame, T. G. Hill, H. E. Mothersole,
Dr. B. E. Jones (hon. sec), and T. D. Schofield
(hon. treasurer). The report and balance-sheet
were duly adopted, it being very satisfactory
to note that the association is at present in a
much better financial position than it has been
for some time ; the number of members is
also steadily on the increase. After the usual
votes of thanks had been passed, and the re-
election of officers decided upon, the following
resolutions were unanimously carried: — 1.
"That the L. & C B.K.A. do most heartily
agree and sympathise with the B.B.K.A. in
the matter of the steps they are taking to
procure legislation for the compulsory destruc-
tion or treatment of foul brood among bees,
and trust that they will be successful in their
efforts." 2. " That this association wishes to
express its deep sense of the great loss the
be"e-keeping world has sustained during the
last twelve months in the death of two gentle-
men whose names are well known in its
ranks, viz., Frank R. Cheshire and Charles N.
Abbott."

After the annual meeting the committee
held their first meeting, Wm. Tyrer, Esq.,
J. P., being elected chairman of committee for
the year, and Mr. W. Jones Anstey expert to
the association.

STAFFORDSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

The annual meeting of this association was
held in the Guildhall, Stafford, on February 12,
Alderman W. G. Bagnall presiding over a
good attendance. In opening the proceedings,
the Chairman said the last show held in con-
nection with the Staffordshire Agricultural
Society, at Stone, was a magnificent success,
and showed that ^reat strides had been made

in bee-culture in the county. It proved, more-
over, that apiculture was not only interesting
but might be made a source of profit. The
report of the expert stated that tbe season of
1894 was one of the best for honey that had
been experienced lately. The exhibition at
Stone was the largest ever held, the entries
being 166 at Stone as against 137 at Lichfield
in 1893. During the year he had visited 1,232
hives of various kinds in the county, and had
given lectures on bee-keeping where there was a
demand for them. The hon. secretary (Mr.
Harold Twentyman) then read the annual
report, which dealt largely with the necessity
there was for legislation to enable them to
stamp out the foul brood, as had been done in
Germany, Canada, and the States. So far as
Staffordshire was concerned, the committee
was resolved to do their utmost to stamp
out the disease by every means in their power,
and they had instructed the expert that
wherever he discovered foul brood to exist he
should, if possible, purchase the hive and its
contents, and destroy it. The report of the
treasurer showed receipts £50. 12s., and
expenditure £31. 4s. Id., leaving a balance in
hand of £19. 7s. lid. With regard to the
Stone show, there was a deficit of £15. The
reports were passed ; after which Mr. R. Cock
gavean address on "FoulBrood." Subsequently
on the motion of the lecturer, the association
resolved to heartily support the action of the
British Bee-keepers' Association in the effort to
stamp out foul brood, and entirely approved the
proposed legislation. A vote of thanks was
passed to the president and officers for their
services, and they were all re-elected.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Commmiications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, (Sec, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." ' All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William- street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

•„• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

HINTS FOR DISCUSSION.

[2252.] Not without much reluctance do I
feel constrained by Mr. Woodley's communica-
tion, on p. 85 of last week's B. J., to inflict yet
a few more words on you and your readers,
who are, no doubt, heartily tired of this phase
of the discussion on the foul-brood question.
This, however, shall be my final " say " on this
particular subject. In his last effusion (p. 85)
Mr. W. show himself to be an adept at

March 7, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

!):>

obscuring, in a mass of verbiage, his inability
to grasp a few plain facts, and answer a few
simple questions. He wanders aimlessly like
a modern " Don Quixote '' — to quote himself
— " out of the beaten track" into the "border-
land of science," with only a third-rate
pamphlet as a companion in lieu of a " Sancho
Pan/a.'' I should be well content to leave
them in each other's company, but, true to the
character of the "Don," he takes the first
opportunity of throwing down his gage, and
challenges me (as if I were the historical wind-
mill) or any one else, to point out a single line
he has written or expressed against " an act
dealing with foul brood." How does the
following read ? — " But if our craft is advanced
enough to require the strong arm of the law to
regulate the matter is another question. The
law deals hardest with the poorest in this as in
other matters,'' &c, vide B.J., vol. xxii., p. 492
(the italics are mine) ; and again (2228, p. 67)
"But if the inspector" (under the proposed
new act, remember) " goes into a poor man's
apiary, and has power to destroy his little
stock of two or three hives of bees, and has no
compensation to offer him, I say it will be a
cruel shame to that poor man." To my mind
it requires something more than obtuseness to
construe these sentiments into expressions
favourable to the obtaining of " compulsory
powers." The whole of his last letter is
entirely beside the question, and in no way
alters what I emphasised in my letter (2232),
viz., that there is not " one new fact demon-
strated and proved" in the whole of Dr.
Howard's book — and I might add — nor in the
heterogeneous mixture compounded therefrom
by Mr. W. Nothing but the most every-day
demonstrations, such as are constantly carried
out by ordinary individuals interested in
microscopic researches in bacteriology, and
reiterations of the experiments of others are
set forth therein.

It is, however, useless going over the ground
again so long as the queries in my last are
unanswered, and to endeavour to convince
any one having so large a capacity for amissi-
bility in more ways than one as Mr. Woodley
is a hopeless task. I put the question in
my last, "has Mr.* W. personally carried out
one single experiment " to test or prove the
theories he expounds ? From his silence, I
judge he has not. To take a piece of diseased
comb, transfer a minute portion of the rotten
larvae to a glass slide, stain it by any of the
known methods, and examine it under a micro-
scope is not an arduous task, and can in no
way entitle the person who succeeds in it to
be classed above the ordinary experimentalist.
This, however, is all Dr. H. claims to have
done, and we have no assurance that Mr. W.
has even gone so far as this. On page 86, at
bottom of first column, he tells us that "to
make sure, Dr. H. carefully examined the cells
which were capped by the bees, and in nearly
every instance was found these same hard
masses of old foul brood. These were care-

fully dissected and examined, and found to
contain spores and bacilli, from which cultures
were made." Surely it required no great
stretch of imagination to foresee this result !
What else would he expect to find in foul
brood but foul brood ? As to the " cultures,"
this is no difficult task ; any way, test and
culture tubes are cheap enough. Why, common
watch-glasses costing a few halfpence per
dozen answer admirably. A small heated
chamber or box, with 'glass top or otherwise, a
reliable thermometer, a short length of plati-
num wire, and there we are fairly on the way
to make a few experiments on our own
account. And I may be permitted to think
that a little experimenting on simple lines like
these would entirely alter the views Mr. W.
at present holds, and save him from making
so extravagantly feeble a remark as appears on
page 66, as to my "evidently believing that
germs or spores of bacilli are floating thistle-
down fashion, waiting for the next wave of air
to convey them to fresh hives and pastures
new."

He here holds up to ridicule another well-
ascertained fact, which — in the present chaotic
state of his researches into the scientific — he
is not in a position to speak upon. Not quite
"thistle-down like," my friend, so many
dozen to the square yard, but floating from
the entrance of a badly diseased hive in so
many thousands to the square inch ! saturating
the very breath of life in and near such a
plague-spot, and only requiring a suitable
medium of propagation to spring into re-
newed life and vigour. Might I suggest that
Mr. W. should do as others have done — try a
few experiments in his own little way ? It is
marvellous how differently those who have
endeavoured to acquire knowledge by personal
experiment view the works of others, and how
it enables one to distinguish between the
wholesome grain and the weeds. As to cul-
ture media — if your correspondent decides to
adopt my suggestions, don't let him trouble
about agar-agar (Gracilaiia lichenoides), other-
wise sea-weed, or Ceylon moss, bacillus alvei,
nor in fact any other zymosis — are not over-
particular ; try gelatine, gravy, or potatoes, or,
if these are not handy, a soft place on an old
boot, with a little preparation, is not to be
despised on a pinch. Then try the effect of a
few well-known agents and reagents upon the
cultures, such as napthol, napthol beta, cor-
rosive sublimate, chloride of lime at 98 deg.,
sulphurous acid, carbolic acid in its many
various forms, boric acid, bromine, iodine,
permanganate of potash, &c, in different dilu-
tions, and he will then be well landed over
the border of the enchanted land whereof he
speaks, and know something more about the
subject he discusses than even appears in the
work I have yclept his " Sancho Panza."

To sum up, two facts have been elicited by
this discussion, which were not at first quite
clear. The first is the admission by Mr.
Woodley that the late Mr. Cheshire's book is

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 7, 1895.

the great work, or, to quote our friend's Latin,
"the magnus [sic] opus on bees and bee-
keeping," and the second is Mr. W.'s declara-
tion that he is in favour of " compulsory
powers " for dealing with foul brood ; he has a
rather curious way of saying so, but perhaps he
was waiting to see how the wind was going to
blow, and it is highly satisfactory to record, as
a final result, that his is not a case of
" another good man gone wrong." — Henry W
Brice, Thornton Heath, Surrey, February 28,
1895.

EFFECTS OF THE FROST ON BEES.

A BEE ASSOCIATION FOR HERTS WANTED.

[2253.] The severe frost has at last dis-
appeared, but traces of the general havoc
everywhere present themselves. It is distress-
ing to see the burnt-up appearance that the
laurels have, and even hardy coniferse have not
escaped. Many of over twenty years' stand-
ing, that a few weeks ago were green and
flourishing, have now bowed their majestic
heads to the all-powerful and destructive
enemy. So severe has been the frost with us,
that a sheep was roasted on the River Lea,
not many hundred yards from my apiary. The
last occasion that such an opportunity pre-
sented itself was about forty years ago.

Bee-keepers will be anxious to know the
effect that this severe and prolonged frost has
produced on their stocks. Saturday being a
bright day, I had a peep into all my twenty-
seven stocks, but, alas ! eleven had succumbed.
The stocks were fairly strong, and well sup-
plied with stores, and all the hives are perfectly
water-tight. Moisture, however, must have
caused the mischief, as their bodies were
literally frozen together. I can only attribute
this to the floods and fogs of last autumn.
Strange as this may seem, and wholly unac-
countable for, is the fact that a small nucleus
stock of about 2 lb. weight has survived.

I am quite of the opinion that Hertfordshire
should have its association, and that Hertford
and St. Albans would make good centres, and
should be glad to give any assistance that was
within my power in promoting its interests.

My " Wells " hive has wintered better, and
is stronger than any other in my apiary. It
has a non-swarming chamber below the brood-
nest. — John J. Ker, Willoughthorpe, near
Ware, February 25.

" THE BEE JOURNAL," THE B.B.K.A.,
AND FOUL BROOD.

[2254.] May I be allowed to express my
thanks to the Rev. S. Routh for his very
timely remarks on the foul-brood question
(2240, p. 84). A head gardener who has an
apiary of twenty hives has written to me
within the last week pointing out that, accord-
ing to the Bkr Journal, cure is hopeless, and
that fire is the only remedy ! He writes
asking me what he is to do ?. The B.B.K.A.

would, as it seems to me, render a public
service if they would issue a simple leaflet
with plain and decided directions. We don't
waat any elaborate dissertations, nor a repeti-
tion of the dozen or fifteen remedies (?) some-
times suggested, but something which simple
folk can understand and act upon easily.
When the public have been officially in-
formed what is the latest, best, and cheapest
cure, as well as the best method of prevention,
then all will know exactly what to do. I am
speaking now for others rather than for myself.
We have had foul brood badly here, but got
rid of it without much difficulty, as I have
already explained in the B.J. for July 28, 1892
(p. 284). And I submit that until some such
directions have been issued, and their efficacy
fully tested, the question of compulsion and
the appointment of a swarm of paid Govern-
ment inspectors is premature. — E. Bartrum,
D .D., Wakes Colne Rectory, Essex.

[Our correspondent will probably find the
information he desires in the discussion which
took place at the meeting of the B.B.K.A., a
partial report of which appears in this issue
(the concluding portion in our next). But so
far as the ability of the B.B.K.A. — or anyone
else — to formulate a leaflet the perusal of
which would enable " simple folk " to cure
foul brood " easily," it seems to us somewhat
analogous to asking for printed directions
which will enable people to dispense with the
assistance of a medical man in case of typhoid
or similar disease. — Eds.]

CANDY-MAKING

AND GLAZED SECTION-CASES.

[2255.] I have lately been trying my hand
at candy-making, after the recipe and direc-
tions in Cowan's Guide Book, but instead of
the three-quarters of a pint of water, as recom-
mended, I substituted a pint of liquefied honey.
The result was very fair, although the candy
was not so soft as I could have wished, yet the
bees eat it with avidity. Having by me a few
discarded glazed cardboard section-cases I
used them as moulds. By using these I can
tell at a glance when the "supply of food needs
replenishing. — Percy Lee, Beemount, Stoke
Prior, Worcester.

DISINFECTING HIVES.

BROMINE AS A DISINFECTANT.

[2256.] In reply to " T. F. L." (2243,
p. 87), I beg to state that I have for the last
two years been in the habit of using bromine
for the purpose of disinfecting hives, and have
had every reason to be satisfied with the
results.

It has been my practice, in the first place, to
paint the hive with paraffin, and fire it ; and
then, in order to reach every nook and crevice,

March 7, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

97

and to penetrate between double walls, &c,
I have employed the vapour of bromine. To
complete the work I give, a good coat of
paint.

It seems to me that nothing could be
simpler than this method. The whole thing
is clone with a minimum of trouble and cost,
and, as far as my experience goes, is
thoroughly effectual.

I consider that the process of disinfection
could be effectually completed with the bro-
mine alone, but for more than one reason I
prefer to commence with the firing, and it is
really very little extra trouble. — Gerard W.
Bancks, Dartford, March 2.

A WINTER CHAT

ABOUT THE BEES.

[2257.] February is the month when old
Britain is supposed actually to take the waters
more than at any other time. And in this way
my hives will, I suppose, have become water-
tight in the same way as a tub, i.e., by the
swelling of the wood. Certain it is that they
have been wet enough all through January.
Towards the end of the month there are
generally a few spring-like days when bees
also begin to take the waters, and search the
gardens far and wide for early flowers ; their
buzz after the weary silence of winter stirs the
heart more than when the year is warmer.
We do not know how much it is to us till we
are deprived of it.

There are snowdrops coming out, and in
cottage windows the hyacinth begins to
answer to the more loving touch of the sun.
It is not so very long since the hyacinth was
taken in hand by the Hollanders, yet it has
already become old, a flower as necessary to an
English Window as a daisy to an English
garden (perhaps I ought to have said nastur-
tium ?).

The human family require change, whether
of religion, raiment — I wonder whether
knickerbockers come under that designation ?
— food, or flowers. From the spinning-wheel
and tapestry ladies degenerate to wax-flower
making, leather fruit and flower making.
Then comes a wave of civilisation, and now
they are, oh so busy, as artists and carvers in
wood. The good old days when bread was
Is. a loaf — and more like putty than the
staff of life at that — and a tulip bulb fetched
anything up to £50 have gone ; then came
the middling days, when bread was cheaper
and more money to buy it ; when farmers
prospered (because they worked hard) and
double dahlias captivated us one and all.
Now the days are admittedly good, but not so
good as the good old days. The farmers,
indeed, ride about on their cobs, and say it is
bad, can't live, and yet they do live somehow.
Now we do not bind ourselves to grow one
kind of flower only, as though we were under
some inexorable law. We grow the brilliant
tulip, the erstwhile despised daftodil, begonias,

dahlias, saxifrages, anything so long as it has
some merit of beauty. Yet flowers will come
and go for ever. Future gardeners will wonder
what on earth a begonia was, or what we could
see in gaillardias. We must have change of
fashion. Cottagers will forget their akyverinses
(echeveria) and flerniaria glabra, in the delights
of new and strange gods. Let us hope that
some of our old friends will remain with us
for ever — carnations, pansies, mignonette, pinks,
double daisies, best of all, the rose.

Every bee-keeper worthy of the name is
longing for the spring. Winter is more bitter,
dull, dead, to those who are accustomed to be
out, if not in body in spirit, with the bees.
We see the contrast better than do those folk,
whom we may term altogether unnatural,
house folk, whose eyes are ever turned town
and theatre wards. What are lengthening
alder catkins, bursting chestnut buds, redolent
of propolis, to them ? The colour of pollen,
the play of the young bees before the hive, the
first drone in May ? Winter days, to the bee-
keeper, go so slowly. With February in, how-
ever, the days — as a time of light — are
perceptibly longer. Gardeners are busy sowing
seed and making preparations, and it is a good
plan to read one of their papers now. They
are so hopeful, these men of cucumbers and
candy tuft ; they say, " Do this and that ''
with as much confidence as if April showers,
the sun, &c, were worked like the idols of old,
with string, and they had the pulling of it.
The old world has never disappointed us, and
I find my daffodils have the same faith as
mankind — by parting their leaves you can find
some buds. The queen bees, too, begin to lay
without any " crock eggs " to remind them of
their duty.

I saw a paper the other day from Australia —
that land where all things are topsy-turvy—
the south wind being a cold wind and the
north wind a hot wind. Where the goose-
berry-bushes creep about and run beneath the
soil ; where the spring is in the autumn, the
hottest time at Christmas, and autumn in the
spring ! A miserable place where the sun
rises in the west and sets . . . but here I stay,
for the line must be drawn somewhere ; never-
theless there must be a oood opening for poets
there, because our poetry would naturally be
all wrong. What is the good of staying here,
ye poets, on the off-chance of becoming poet-
laureate ?

The good, well-printed paper is called Rural
Australia. It was a September edition, and
in the article for bee-keepers, reminding them
that swarming time (the only thing tint isn't
topsy-turvy it seems) is not far off, and
supers must be got ready. I gathered that
bee-keeping is much on a par to what it is
here. This astonished me, for I had an idea
that the shining hours there were unlimited,
and the bees, being ever ready to improve
them, did it so well that extracting honey was
like milking cows — a twice-a-day performance .

Bee-keepers here are well off if only they

98

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March ?, 1895.

knew it ! Nowhere else can better appliances
be had, or more easily. Nowhere else is the
demand so certain and the price so high.
Nowhere else in the world are there better
flowers for honey, or better honey than
English honey ! Not Hymettus ? No, not
even Hymettus ! I have tasted Hymettus
honey, Californian honeydew, orange-blossom
honey, Sandwich Island toffee, chemists' pure
honey, &c., and I say, "Give me some
Cheshire clover honeycomb, out of an old-
fashioned bell-glass ! ''

Below I give an extract from the paper
before referred to, almost the only alteration
in which at my hands is the substitution of
the word "flowers" for "feed." What on
earth does a man want to use the word feed
for in a sentence like this : — " Bees cannot do
well in localities where feed is scarce " ?
Sounds as though bees wallowed in a trough
like mere swine — no poetry in these colonists !
" Bee fever symptoms usually break out in
visible form about this time (October 1), but
there are few, if any, indications this year. I
was in Sydney recently, getting necessary
supplies for the season, now opening for us
rather favourably in these mountain districts,
and was told that business in bee-goods is
very quiet ; that very few new people appear
disposed to take up with bees ; and that the
usual spring- time "bee-fever" is nowhere visible
as yet. But I don'c think there is much cause
for regret. The spurts of former seasons did
more harm than good, for many persons went
into bee-keeping without weighing the condi-
tions that lead to success. For instance, bees
cannot do well in localities where honey-pro-
ducing flowers are scarce, and the suggestions
made during several seasons at this time in
the " Kural " to commence with just a few
stocks — say, two or three— is far more likely
to lead to success than to have double the
number, or more, and to find that they starve,
or, at least, can collect honey enough only to
keep them alive. There is a great future for
the honey industry here, but it is not helped
by the fever-like excitement which leads
people to believe that bees can be worked
profitably without first testing the honey-pro-
ducing qualities of a locality."— Lordswood.

THE TRADES MARKS ACT.

DOES BEE-KEEPING PAY ?

[2258.] In reply to a question put in the
House of Commons on the 12th inst., asking
the President of the Board of Agriculture
what arrangement, if any, he had come to with
the Board of Trade for the regulation of the
trade in imported meat, and for the protection
of customers against the fraudulent sale of
such meat under British description ?

Mr. H. Gardner said it seemed to him
doubtful whether the provisions of the
Merchandise Marks Act of last Session were
fully known, and he, therefore, proposed to
issue an explanatory circular on the subject

which would be distributed among the
Chambers of Agriculture, farmers' clubs, and
farmers' societies. He had no wish to see the
Act become a dead-letter, and he would do his
best to secure that all offences under the Act
were dealt with as they deserved.

Mr. Hozier asked whether the proceedings
contemplated by the right hon. gentleman-
included fruit as well as meat.

Mr. Gardner said they would include all
agricultural produce.

I think the reply given above, and the
words " all agricultural produce," should be
recorded in the B.B. Journal for the use it
may be to bee-keepers and honey-producers in
the country in the future. Bee-keeping has
been called " the poetry of agriculture,'' and
the production of honey certainly belongs to,
and forms part of, the greater industry of
agriculture.

A few years ago I was favoured with a cata-
logue from a dealer in the North of England,
containing a statement that an authority on
bee-keeping had said : — "Every square mile
of this country was capable of producing one
ton of honey." This surprised me, and led
me to think whether it were possible. Since
then other bee-keepers have stated that every
parish would produce that quantity. Although
I have been a reader of the Bee Journal for
many years, I do not remember seeing a state-
ment that would verify the above.

Perhaps there are bee-keepers who read the
Bee Journal who could put this statement
beyond doubt by giving their take of honey
in weight from a single apiary in one year. — ■
J. Brown, Polyphant, near Launceston,
February 19.

[A yield of a ton of honey to every parish
in a good honey county is a very moderate
estimate indeed, and far below what is pos-
sible in good seasons. As to individual
returns, refer to p. 84 of last issue.

EXPERTS' CERTIFICATES.

[2259.] I think there is a good deal of truth
in what your correspondent (2234, p. 77) says
about experts' certificates. Though not a cer-
tificated expert myself, I have handled bees
for upwards of ten years, and sometimes under
the most difficult circumstances. I have an
apiary of my own, consisting of about thirty
stocks, and in managing these of course one
has often to find the queen. Sometimes I can
pick her out at once, at others I may have to
examine comb after comb twice over before I
find her. No doubt some reason exists for
limiting the time in which the queen must be
found, but why such a few minutes ? I have
seen experienced experts drive bees and fail
altogether to find the queen at first trial, and
why should more be expected from candidates ?
I should also like to ask, are candidates sup-
posed to manipulate without a bee- veil ? and
if so, why 'I In all important work I use a
veil, and if I am to dispense with one in order

March 7, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

99

to get a certificate I shall never try for it . I
can stand fifty stings on my hands and arras,
but with a tenth of that number on my face I
could not see very well for some time after.
In conclusion, I suggest that when your cor-
respondents are criticising each other's letters
they should use softer words. It costs nothing
to be considerate for each other. — Owen
Browning, King's Somborne, near Stockbridge.

REDUCTION IN PRICE OF SUGAR.

The spring feeding-time being now near at
hand, we are glad to note a considerable reduc-
tion in the price of pure cane sugars, from
March 1 till further notice, good sugar, suit-
able for spring feeding (No. 4 Denierara), being
now obtainable at 17s. 6d. per cwt., as will be
seen on reference to price-li9t on usual page.

[1236.] -The t:W.B. 0." Hive.— I am

making some new hives to take the place of
the old, and have selected the " W.B. C."
as my model. Will you, therefore, kindly
reply to the following : — 1. Are the frames
parallel, or at right angles to the entrance ? 2.
When the body-box is put into position, does
it fit close to the outer case in front, or is there
a space left 1 If there be a space, does there
not then require a bridge to keep the bees
from running up into the wrong place1? 3.
When manipulating with the bees, do they not
get down between outer case and body-box ?
or is it necessary to put a piece of wood all
round the body-box to prevent them, or does
it not matter ? 4. Are newspapers good things
to use as winter packing ? — F. Smith, Nant-
wich.

Reply. — 1. Personally we work frames at
right angles to entrance, but several manu-
facturers make the "W. B. C." hive so that
the body-boxes may be set with frames hang-
ing either way at will. 2. Close up to front,
so that bees cannot pass into the space between
hive and outer case. Some makers nail a thin
slip of wood on body-box to form a fixed cover
over the passage-way, but we prefer a loose
piece capable of removal at certain times.

3. A cone of perforated zinc is permanently
fixed over the ventilating holes in roof, by
means of which any stray bees may pass out.

4. Yes ; we always use them for the purpose.
[1237.] Re-queening Vicious Bees.— I have

two stocks of English black bees. One stock
is very quiet, and gave me a good surplus last
year, the other stock is very fierce and did not
get any surplus. I want to re-queen No. 2
stock with a queen reared from No. 1 stock.
Shall 1 put an empty frame of worker comb in
brood nest (as told us on page 122 of Guide-
book), and when this is filled with eggs catch

the queen and introduce her into stock No. 2?
Or would you advise me to buy a stock of
carniolan bees to breed some drones to mate
with the queens ? I want to get some very
quiet bees, as when I am stung I am laid up
for a week with an arm in a sling, which is
inconvenient. — Saml. J. Lloyd, Corby, near
Kettering.

Reply. — Under the circumstances we should
not advise your doing anything by way of
either queen-rearing or breeding special
drones from a carniolan queen to obtain a
quieter strain of bees. When the proper
season arrives for buying queens, remove the
vicious one and introduce one of quiet strain
bought from some reliable queen-breeder, who
devotes himself to raising such bees.

TEMPERATURE IN 1894.

Stoke Prior, Worcestershire. Above sea

level- 225 feet.

Jan 53°

Feb 53°

March ... 64°

April 68°

May .;.... 64°

June 79°

July 81°

Aug. ...... 72°

Sept 67°

Oct 60°

Nov 60°

Dec 50°

9°
20°
23°
29°
27°
35°
40°
36°
30°
24°
23°
22°

f^ s
17
14
11
3
5
None.

Percy Leigh.

REVIEW OF CONTINENTAL BEE

JOURNALS.

By J. Dennler.

Revue Internationale cV "Apiculture. — Editor,
E. Bertrand. — No. 12 gives the portrait and
biography of an eminent scientist and devoted
friend oi* apiculture, the Dr. A. de Planta.
Instigated by the celebrated chemist Liebig
and by his friend Professor Erlenmeyer, Dr. de
Planta has devoted ten consecutive winters to
investigation of bees and their products, and
has not yet ceased to explore this rich and
interesting field of science.

These are some of his works which have
beeu published in the Swiss journals : —

" Chemical Study of the Bees," 1883 and
1886.

"Pollen and Bee Bread, and the Ferments
which they Contain,'' 1879.

" On the Presence and Function of Formic
Acid in Honey," 1884 and 1894.

" The Cappings of Brood Cells," 1884.

100

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 7, 1895.

" To what is the Colour of Wax due V 1885.

" Study of the Chemical Composition of
the Pollen of the Hazel and Pine," 1885.

" Analysis of the Barricades constructed by
Bees,'' 1886.

" Chemical Composition of some Nectars,"
1886.

" Composition of Larval Food," 1887 and
1890.

Dr. de Planta will be 75 years old on May 20
next. May he long live and enjoy good health
for the benefit of his friends and advancement
of science.

The Life of Bees during Winter. — Under
this title the same paper has published during
1994 an excellent monograph by a Russian
bee-keeper, M. Tseselsky, which contains a
large number of interesting and valuable
observations.

L' Apiculteur. — Editor, Sevalle. Exposition
in 1900.— The Journal Officiel has published
the decree respecting the exhibition to be held
in 1900. It is to be opened on April 15 and
to close on November 5. There is to be in
the different classes a retrospective exhibition
showing the progress made during the century
commencing from the year 1800, in the dif-
ferent branches of production, to whiih will be
added a contemporary exhibition. The site
selected for holdiog the exhibition will include
the Champ de Mars, the Trocadero, and the
surrounding grounds, the Quay d'Orsay, the
Esplanade of The Invalides. The Quay of the
Conference, the Cours-la-Reine, the Palais de
1' Industrie and the ground adjoining this
building, and between it and the Avenue
d'Antin.

Bordeaux. — The Philomathic Society of
Bordeaux is organising for the spring of 1895,
and for a period of six months, its thirteenth
exhibition. The products of bee-keeping, as
well as the implements in use in this branch
of industry, will be admitted to the exhibition.

Schweizerische Bienenzeitung. 18th year.
Editor, Gbldi-Braun. — Propolis as a com
plaster. M. Leemann, in the Swiss bee journal,
gives the following recipe : — Propolis from bee-
hives has proved to be an excellent remedy for
corns on the feet. A colleague who could
hardly walk, the pain being so great, made
some small plasters with propolis slightly
warmed, and was able, eight days afterwards,
to make a long and tolerably tiring mountain
excursion continuing for two days, without
feeling the slightest pain.

No. 1 gives the biography as well as the
portrait of the celebrated bee-keeper, Peter
Theiler, of Rosenberg, Zug, who at present
cultivates 260 colonies of bees, and who is well
known and respected, not only in Switzerland,
but also in the whole beekeeping world.

Apiculture at the end of the Century begins
to be more and more scientific, and we as bee-
keepers are not insignificant in this century of
light ; but alas ! what a number of compli-
cations impeding our progress and useless to
the bees. During the time of the late M.

Hamet the bee-keeper was a man who kept
bees for the sake of honey and wax ;
to-day the bee-keeper is no longer a bee-
keeper ; he is an encyclopaedia. In fact, if he
wishes to be at the head of his profession, he
must be a naturalist, botanist, chemist, car-
penter, zinc-worker, plumber, and even a tin-
smith. St. Valentine ! patron of bee-keepers,
tinsmiths in general, and of perforated metal
in particular, save us !

{To be continued.)

Noticesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

G. M. Thompson (Brocklesby). — So long as
the sugar received is guaranteed pure cane,
it Will do very well for bee-candy.

W. S. P. (Cowbridge). — Suspected Comb. — 1.
There is no foul brood in comb sent, only
pollen. 2. We find no trace of comb-
foundation in septum, or midrib, of the
drone-comb, and imagine that by some
means the worker-foundation has been
got rid of, and not transformed into drone-
cells, as you suppose. Full sheets of worker-
foundation practically ensures worker-cells
being built in the frames.

H. Dudley Arnott (Gorleston). — Bees Dying
from Famine.— There is no trace of disease in
comb received. It is, however, pitiable to
see capped healthy brood of this year's pro-
duction dead in the cells. Evidently the
stock was doing well to be breeding nicely
in such excessive cold as we have had, but
the bees have simply perished from only
having candy (perhaps hard and useless for
food at such a time) in the hive. The
combs containing dead brood must be
burnt, but the others may be used again.
Bees are the ordinary kind with a trace of
carniolan in them.

" Tedd " (Swansea). — Comb is badly affected
with foul brood.

Anxious Novice (Kirriemuir). — Bees De-
serting Hive. — 1. The probability is the
bees deserted the hive through queenless-
ness. 2. If there be no trace of disease in
the combs — i e., capped brood cells — and
they are in good condition, you might use
them for a swarm, otherwise we should melt
them down.

George Motton (Diss, Norfolk). — 1. § in.
space is sufficient between bottom bars of
surplus chambers and top bars of body-box.
2. No, we never use dummy boards in
shallow-frame boxes. 3. There was an
association in Norfolk, of which Mr. J. J.
Rice, Wensom-street, Norwich, Swas [the
secretary, but we are not sure if it still
exists,

March 14, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

101

(fcilttoral, Ijtotiaa, &L

DR. ADOLPHUS DE PL ANT A.

It was only last week that a short account
was given in " Reviews of Continental Bee-
Journals " of some of the works of this
eminent scientist, and now it is our painful
duty to have to record his death, after a very
short nines*.

Dr. de Planta was born on May 13, 1820, at
Tamins, in the Canton Orisons, Switzerland.

was in 1793 that the King of the French, Louis
Philippe, at that time the Due de Chartres,
sought refuge here under the name of Chabot,
and for nine months acted as one of the
masters, and memorials of his visit still exist.

Young de Planta was educated in the
college at Schnepferthal, and it was here that
he acquired a taste for natural sciences. He
then attended the classes at the Industrial
School at Zurich, and upon deciding to devote
himself specially to chemistry, he went to
study in the Universities of Berlin, Heidel-
berg, and Giessen. In 1845 he completed his

DR. ADOLniUS DE TLAXTA.

His property and residence, the Chateau de
Reichenau, is beautifully situated at an alti-
tude of 2,021 ft., at the confluence of the
Vorder-Ehein and the Hinter-Rhein . The
river here is 140 ft. wide, and at this point
first receives the general name of Rhine.
The chateau was erected by the Bishops of
Coire, and named by them after the Abbey of
Reichenau on the Lake of Constance. The
property was already in the possession of the
de Planta family in 15G8, but was for a brief
period occupied by others. At the end of the
last century a philanthropist named Tschainer
established a boys' school at Reichenau, and it

studies, and after passing a brilliant examina-
tion he obtained the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. Being fond of nature and study,
he travelled through France to England, after
which he visited Norway, Spain, Portugal, as
well as Egypt and Palestine.

For fifteen years Dr. de Planta worked
assiduously in his own laboratory at Reichenau,
and occupied himself principally with re-
searches on the mineral springs of the Canton
of Grisons. During his stay in Germany,
whither he had repaired for the education of
his children, he was urged by Dr. Liebig and
his friend, Professor Erlenmeyer, of Munich,

102

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 14, 1895.

to investigate the unsettled points in con-
nection with bees and their products. To this
he devoted ten consecutive winters, and on his
return to Switzerland he continued his
researches.

There is hardly another man who has given
so much time to scientific investigations for
the benefit of bee-keepers as Dr. de Planta.
Being of independent means, and with
characteristic zeal and energy, this amiable
and benevolent man was able to devote con-
siderable time for the advancement of the
pursuit in which he took so great an interest.
Although we knew Dr. de Planta by his
works previous to 1883, it was in that year
that we had the pleasure of making his
personal acquaintance, and have from that
time carried on a constant correspondence.
In 1883, whilst at Zurich, we had the oppor-
tunity of seeing some of the results of our
friend's work, and it was to settle some
of the points undecided up to that time
that Dr. de Planta undertook the work.
The results of seven years' labour were repre-
sented in two small cases in the exhibition.
He had been experimenting for seven years
with a view to determining the constituents of
honey, as he found this different to the
nectar in the flowers ; and he also wanted to
determine what part pollen played in the
production of honey or wax. A bottle con-
tained pollen which had been got from hazel
blossoms, and thirteen other bottles contained
the different constituents of which this pollen
was composed. Dr. de Planta explained to
us the difficulty he had had in getting a
sufficient quantity of pollen for experiments,
and it was such as would have certainly
deterred any person with less perseverance
from prosecuting the experiments. The same
difficulty was experienced in getting sufficient
nectar, which had to be collected by means of
a pipette and sealed up at once to prevent the
action of bacteria. The constituents showed
no coagulated albumen, but this was after-
wards found in honey. He also found that
whereas nectar contained cane sugar, honey
contained none or simply a trace which could
not enter into calculation. To determine what
caused the difference, he tried to find out
what part the glands played in the
transformation. The way in which he carried
out his experiments in this line is very inte-
resting. He pounded a large number of
heads of bees in a mortar, and dissolved out
the saliva with glycerine, from which he was
afterwards able to separate and analyse it.
He found that by means of the saliva various
substances in the nectar were converted into
other substances which only appeared in the
honey. This way he was able to prove that
honey undergoes a change in passing through a
bee, and that the saliva plays a very im-
portant part in producing this change. This
determined, Dr. Planta tried to find out
what prevented honey from fermenting or
decomposing. This he found was formic

acid, which is known to be a powerful pre-
servative or antiseptic. Bee-bread was next
experimented upon, and was found to contain
pollen, honey, and saliva. Experiments on
wax showed that it contained cerotic acid,
myricene, and saliva; so that it is evident
saliva plays a very important part in the
products of the hive, which was quite
unknown before that time. Another important
work was to test the various substances on
which bees could be fed with advantage for the
purpose of producing wax. Bees were fed on
honey alone, sugar and honey, sugar and yolk
of egg, sugar alone, sugar-dextrine and rose
water, gelatine and sugar. The combs pro-
duced from these substances were of various
colours, those from sugar being the whitest,
next came the produce of gelatine and sugar,
third honey and sugar ; fourth honey alone ;
and those produced from other substances Avere
quite brown. He has further experimented on
the methods of distinguishing between pure
and adulterated honey. One of the grandest
and most important works was that of
determining the nature of the food of the
larvre and royal jelly, and thus confirming the
view taken by iSchonfeld that brood food was
semi- digested and produced in the chyle
stomach. In opposition to this Schiemenz,
who followed Leuckaxt, stated that " The food
is not produced in the chyle stomach, but is a
secretion from the glands,'' and this view,
without anything to corroborate it, was
adopted by Cheshire. The subject is too long
to go into now, but it will suffice to say that Dr.
de Planta's chemical experiments were quite
sufficient to set this theory competely at rest,
and to show not only that Schonfeld Was
correct, but that the anatomical structure of the
bee was specially adapted for the particular
way of feeding with chyle, and that the food given
to the different larva; differed in quantity and
quality, according to their development. It
would take too much space to go into the full
details here, but those interested will find full
particulars in " The Honey Bee " (by T. W.
Cowan) and back volumes of B.B.J. Dr. de
Planta occupied himself with other chemical
studies, more particularly with respect to the
esculent properties of various vegetables.
The amount of work done in connection with
bees may be judged from the following papers
and memoirs published from time to time : —
"Chemical Studies of Bees " (in conjunction
with Dr. Erlenmeyer), 1878 to 1886; "Eco-
nomy of the Hive ; '' "' Pollen, Bee-Bread, and
the Ferments which they contain ; " " Methods
of Distinguishing between Pure and Adul-
terated Honey ; " " Cappings of Brood Cells ; "
" The Presence of Formic Acid in Honey ; "
" The Collection of Pollen by Bees ; " " What
Causes the Colour of Wax ; " " Detritus Col-
lected in Hive ; " " Chemical Composition of
Hazel Pollen ; '' " Experiments in Artificial
Feeding of Bees ; '' " Analysis of Barricades
Constructed by Bees ; " " Chemical Composi-
tion of some of the Nectars ; " " Composition

March 14, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

103

of Brood Food;" "Fruit Sugar as Food for
Bees ; " " The Formation of Honey and the
Elimination by the Bees of Water from
Nectar,-' &c, &c. These are some of
the works for ■which bee - keepers are
indebted to Dr. de Planta. He was busy
at his favourite subject even up to the last,
for only a few weeks ago we had a letter from
him in which he told us that he was occupied
on the pollen (bee-bread) in cells. Here is an
extract from his letter : — " I am occupied with
a big work on bee-bread (Bienenbrod). I have
made partly myself, and have had done by an
assistant, the analysis of combs, honey, cane-
sugar, pollen, and bee-bread. As a result, the
proof will be furnished that the opinion of
Gerstung with regard to the degeneration of
colonies of bees, on being fed on sugar, without
pollen, is perfectly correct. "What is self-
evident, and i3 found by practical experience,
will be confirmed and decided by figures
derived from analysis." The letter concludes
by informing us of the proposed exhibition to
be held next year, and inviting us to be
present.

We are pleased to be able to present our
readers with a portrait, reproduced from one
appearing in the Revue Internationale of
December last.

For some time Dr. de Planta was president
of the Swiss Bee-Keepers' Association, and
entered heartily into the work of that society.
Last year he was elected honorary mwnber of
the British Bee-Keeper's Association, in con-
sideration of the services he had rendered in
the advancement of the science of apiculture.
We have only briefly alluded to some of Dr.
de Planta's work, but it is sufficient to show
the great loss sustained by bee-keepers, and,
in company with our Swiss brethren, we
mourn his loss, and extend to his widow and
children our heartfelt sympathy.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

COHVEESAZIOS E.

(Concluded from page 103.)

After various remedies and their relative
values as disinfectants had been discussed by
several gentlemen present, Mr. Cribb said that
probably every workhouse had a steaming-
chamber for disinfecting purposes, which
might be utilised by bee-keepers' associations.
Mr. Webster thought his own suggestion met
the difficulty. Mr. Meggy remarked that all
the fever hospitals had steam chambers. Mr.
Cowan suggested— as a disinfectant which was
in vogue before they knew so much of foul
brood as they did now — the boiling of hives for
ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, using a
food-boiling copper for the purpose, and the
washing afterwards with salicylic acid. This
was his method when he cured his bees of foul
brood about twenty years ago. He then fed

with salicylic acid, and has never used other
than medicated syrup since. At the request
of Mr. Cowan, who said that bromine and
chlorine had been recognised as powerful dis-
infectants, the Rev. Mr. Bancks explained his
experiments with bromine. His object was to
ascertain whether it was possible to use an
agent which would not only arrest the develop-
ment of bacilli, but destroy the spores without
damaging the bees, and he had been fairly
successful in his experiments with bromine.
After two seasons' use of it he found, out of
thirteen affected stocks, nine were free of the
disease last summer ; but he could not say
that his investigations had proved conclusively
the curative effect of the agent, but he thought
they did establish that a powerful drug like
bromine could be employed without injury to
the bees. He meant to continue his experi-
ments with a view to obtaining more precise
conclusions. Extreme care must be exercised
in using bromine, because the fumes from it
were overpowering, and very objectionable if
they became lodged in the throat. His plan
was to pour a small quantity (a teaspoonful) of
the drug into a saucer and place it at the back
of the hive and allow it gradually to evaporate,
the vapour within a few hours penetrating
every crack and crevice of the hive. Bromine
costs one shilling per ounce, and different
degrees of strength could be obtained ; if the
ordinary disinfectant strength were used, about
three teaspoonful s in the place of one would be
required. It was a white powder, and water
added to it liberated its essence. He found
three or four applications necessary or desirable,
each time putting the saucer in a different
place. He recommended the experiments to
be made when there was very little or, prefer-
ably, no brood in the hive.

Mr. Till asked whether it would not have
been more economical to import new stocks,
and begin de novo.

Mr. Bancks thought not, but in any case it
was of great importance to find an agent that
would destroy spores without inflicting other
damage.

Mr. Webster said that when the least
amount of brood was in the hive the greatest
amount of honey would be 'there. Would
the fumes disinfect the honey capped in the
cells ? This was an important matter, because
honey was a great means of spreading con-
tagion.

In reply to this and other questions, Mr.
Bancks said he could not tell whether the
honey became disinfected, but could only
point to results. From these he knew the
brood was killed because he had seen the
larva) dead, which were in few instances
uncapped, although destroyed ; that he had
destroyed one stock altogether through mis-
takes in experimentation ; that in order to
prove that the spores had been destroyed he
subjected a piece of diseased comb to the
fumes of bromine, and afterwards inoculated a
tube with some of the contents, and found that

104

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 14, 1895.

no development took place, whilst with the
same process he obtained immediate cultiva-
tion from a diseased comb that had not been
submitted to bromine.

Mr. Carr said that after the terrible tale of
difficulties to be encountered in the destruction
of foul-brood spores every one must pity the
poor bee-keeper ; but there was some conso-
lation in knowing that Mr. Cowan had met |
abroad a bee-keeper who owned no less than j
1,000 hives, and who declared that he did |
not care a a bit for the disease, which he could
always master by the use of Hilbert's plan,
or by fumigation with salicylic acid. That
was a simple remedy, and, if effectual, why
was it not more generally adopted 1 It was
said that frequent application thereof was
sufficient to keep down the disease and make
the apiary a prosperous one.

Mr. Cowan said that when he attended the
Bee-keepers' Conference at Milan the question
of foul brood was considered, and Mr. I
Cheshire's remedy, phenol, discussed. The
conclusion was arrived at that phenol was too
complicated to use in comparison with salicylic
acid, and M. Tartuferi, who lived near Naples
and owned 1,000 hives, said he had had foul
brood in his apiary, but was indifferent to it, I
as he was always able to keep it in check by
means of salicylic acid. A number of bee-
keepers both in Germany and Switzerland had
also relied on that remedy for their success. '
In the face of evidence like that it was J
nonsense to say that drugs in certain cases
were inefficacious. They could not suppose
that experienced men like these did not verify ]
their experiments, and stated what was not
true. He (Mr. Cowan) had seen large apiaries
that had been cured. M. Jeker, of Soleure,
Switzerland, was lecturer, and gave courses
of instruction in the German part of
Switzerland every year on bee-keeping, and
he is also a prominent bee-keeper, and was
for some years president of the Swiss B.K.A.
M. Jeker had fifty hives in a bee-house in
which every hive was attacked with foul brood,
and he cured the whole entirely with salicylic
acid. Whenever the disease showed any signs
of reappearing, the acid speedily stopped it.
M. Bertrand, who visited us last summer, had
foul brood badly in his apiary and cured his
bees, and has kept the disease at bay in the
same manner. He heard a few days ago that
in Germany the evil had reached great propor-
tions, as many as 3 per cent, of the hives in
Silesia being affected with it. In one district
they had a system of insurance amongst the
local bee-keepers for the purpose of indemni-
fying the members on account of losses result-
ing from foul brood.

The Chairman (Mr. Glennie) had in the old
days applied the salicylic acid remedy, by
giving it in the autumn food, and sprinkling it
over the hive and surroundings, and had been
fairly successful ; but the scourge had not
then made such havoc as recently. He was
sure they would all look forward with pleasure

to the information Mr. Cowan was shortly
going to publish on the value of remedies.

After a vote of thanks had been passed to
him, the Chairman retired, and Mr, Till took
the chair.

Mr. Brice exhibited a combined travelling
and introducing queen cage, which he had
used with excellent results. The cage was in
two parts, fitting into each other for con-
venience in packing, one part being an adapta-
tion of the ordinary wooden travelling cage,
but having a wire gauze top and an opening
in the bottom covered with an easily movable
slide, the other pirt being a wire gauze cage
open at the top, and so cut us to tit level with
an ordinary top-bar. Mr. Brice s.iid he found
the advantages of his cage were that the
elements of chance in introducing queens were
to a great extent removed, and all danger of
injuring the queens by handling them entirely
obviated. On receiving a queen it could at
once be seen if she was alive and well.
Assuming the queen to be satisfactory, her
safe introduction was reduced to a pure
mechanical operation, with the almost absolute
certainty of success. Mr. 'Brice then gave
full detailed instructions, showed in detail
how the safe introduction of the queen was
effected by the bees themselves, and concluded
by observing that he had introduced a number
of queens by this method, and had not had
one single failure. He thought the breaking
away of the caps of the honey cells, causing
the honey to flow both inside and outside of
the wire cage, had much to do with the success
of introducing queens by this plan.

Mr. Greenhill then exhibited his new make
of the " W. B. C." hive, which, as he explained,
contained all the good points of the original,
together with some additional advantages, such
as allowing the body-box to be worked either
right-angled or parallel to entrance at will. The
deep " lift " for roof could also, by reversing,
be made to slip down over the body-box in
winter, and thus give further protection from
extreme cold.

Mr. Carr next showed a contrivance made
by Mr. Brown, of Somersham, for use on the
" Wells" hive. Though called an " equilizsr,"
it was practically a " candy-feeder," by means
of which it was claimed by Mr. Brown that the
bees in both compartments of the hive fed from
one cake of candy placed in a box covered on
its under side with excluder zinc, and on the
upper side with a sheet of glass, through which
it could be seen when the candy was taken.
The box extended over both compartments of
the hive, and the bees were thus induced to
cluster for breeding just where mutual warmth
would be beneficial to both lots of bees, i.e.,
on and close to the perforated division board.

The several contrivances exhibited were
handed round for inspection, and met with
general approval ; and owing to the lateness
of the hour some other things intended to have
been shown, were held over till the next
quarterly conversazione.

March 14, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

105

In bringing the proceedings to a close, the
Chairman spoke of the indebtedness of all bee-
keepers to Mr. Cowan for the immense services
he had rendered to bee-keeping, and the pains
and trouble he was now taking in the prepara-
tion of evidence for the Board of Agriculture.
They were also much obliged to the county-
associations for their help in such matters, and
they wanted to see the system of county
organisation carried out thoroughly. He
recommended the circulation of the monthly
Record in the counties gratis to all subscribers,
with a cover reporting the local news, which
he believed would increase the membership.
There was a great dearth of experts, but he
was glad to hear of the remarkable proficiency
of many lady bee-keepers in the counties.

After a vote of thaoks to the chairman the
proceedings terminated.

(The Annual Report will appear next tveek.)

IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

The committee met on 5th insb., present,
Capt. Milloer, in the chair, Dr. Tradl, Mr.
O'Bryen, and Mr. Chenevix (hon. sec, of 15,
Morehampton-road, Dublin). In response to
an invitation from Mr. Cowan (chairman of
the British Bee-keepers' Association), Capt.
Millner was appointed to represent the Asso-
ciation on the deputation to Mr. Gardner
(president of the Board of Agriculture) which
is to ask for Government aid in dea'ing with
foul brood. The annual general meeting was
fixed for April 18.

tyomtymkntt

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
pitblication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c.,must be addressed only to "The
EDITORS of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William- street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

*»* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inverted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2260.] Once more the month of March —
the opening month of our " bee-year " — is
with us. The fears of February have been
proved real or not by results. The hive roll
has been called over ; defunct colonies cleared
out ; and frames of food distributed to the
needy ones ; and the empty combs secured for

further use when colonies are building up
later on, and to help to bring the nuoleu:;
colonies up to supering strength by the first
week in June. Where removed combs con-
tain a large quantity of mouldy pollen they
may be profitably rendered into wax, which is
scares and dear just now.

Then all empty hives should be scrubbed
out, first removing all adhering wax and
propolis with a scraper, or an improvised substi-
tute for one ; well wash out with sofc-soap and
boiling water, and when dry the hives will be
equal to new ones for your first new swarm of
bees in May or June.

Now a few closing words on " Hints lor
Discussion," and to quote Sancho Panza, I ask,
" Is it a good law of chivalry that says we
shall wander up and dowD, over bushes and
briars, in this rocky wilderness ? " of discussion,
which anyone may see is not convincing to
either party. Mr. B. draws largely on his
imagination in the par. (second column page
95), where, he says the " germs of bacilli are
fioa'i'ig in the air in so many thousands to the
square inch, saturating the very breath of life
in and near such a plague spot." Dr. H.'s
experiments, if recorded in only a third-rate
pamphlet, proves very much the contrary of
the ideas of Mr. B. If these germs are (?)
floating around these plague s,jots, how was io
that the brood inclosed in a close place within a
short distance did not receive infection ? The
ordinary putrefacative germs reached it, but
not the germs of bacilli.

The two facts Mr. B. prides himself as having
elicited were patent to any one who had read
my correspondence, and my opinions as to
compensation are clearly stated therein. I
maintain that agricultural labourers working
perhaps for the munificent sum of 9s. per week
should receive compensation if their little
all be consigned to the fl inies, to insure im-
munity from disease for their more opulent
neighbours.

The chief object (I find in pist numbers of
Bee Journal) is to obtain the act for the
suppression of foul brood by the strong arm
of the law, and while I am at one with the
most ardent having that object in view, I feel
that our knowledge of how to set to worK, and
our preparedness to do so, should run con-
currently with our acquisition of the power.
In fact the method of cure seems to me of
equal, if not of greater, importance than the
mere power of the law. In any interview
with the Minister of Agriculture I have no
doubt that gentleman will ask : " How do you
propose to deal with this disease if powers are
granted for the purpose ? " Now please — my
brother bee-keepers of the deputation — have
you a unanimous answer ready for that pro-
bable question ? I maintain that we must be
ready and agreed beforehand on the course of
action we intend to follow before we can hope
to convince the Board of Agriculture of the
necessity for, and our capacity for carrying
out the powers asked for to a successful issue.

106

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 14, 1895,

I notice that a new edition of " Modern
Bee-Keeping " is to be issued ; I trust that
full instructions will be given in relation to all
phases of the foul-brood question. At the con-
versazione, the Rev. G. W. Bancks suggested
the disinfecting of hives by burning out the
interiors with kerosine or paraffin. Now,
referring to the difficulty of getting into the
corners and crevices, I beg to suggest a handy
tool for this job. Get a French blow-pipe,
such as painters use for burning off old paint ;
with this in hand you can char all corners
and crevices inside hives. I have used one
occasionally for twenty years for brazing gold,
silver, brass, and iron articles, of course laying
the articles on charcoal ; but if fire will kill
our salamander, I think this article will meet
the want. Paint your hives inside with the
paraffin, kerosine, or petroleum, then fill your
lamp with methylated spirit, and half-fill the
boiler with spirit, light the wick, and as
soon as the spirit in boiler begins to evaporate
the flame of lamp is projected by force of the
escape nozzle being brought to a level with
centre of flame. Care must be taken to keep
some spirit in boiler, and not have too great a
flame from wick. If you want to extinguish
the lamp, raise it, and blow sharply under the
flame.

During last summer I had complaints from
different parts of the country about bees
objecting to work out foundation in supers,
and asking my opinion on the subject. In
some few cases the bees built combs on the
dividers, rather than touch the foundation,
which was left severely alone. Now as this
subject concerns all of us, more or less, I have
reverted to it again. My opinion was that
soap was used as a lubricant in the machine,
and that the bees were disgusted with the
flavour. The matter rests with our foundation
manufacturers, who are no doubt looking out
for the best, and at the same time, the cheapest
lubricant for the job. — W. Woodley, Becdon,
Neivbury.

APICULTURAL NOTES.

A TRYING TIME FOR THE BEES.

[22GL] I have been a bee-keeper between
twenty and thirty years, during which time
we have had all sorts of seasons, but I never
knew a worse time for bee-keeping than has
been the last twelve months. A dry spring,
with cold north-east winds. Bees had to be
fed up to the middle of May to prevent starva-
tion. Then came the wet, cold summer.
Swarming difficult to control. Surplus honey
practically nil. The only profit that the
apiary could be credited with for 1894 was in-
crease of stock. My apiary — or rather
apiaries — had grown from seventy to 100
stocks. This increase was brought about by
natural swarms, artificial swarms, and driven
bees. In the latter case, ready-built combs
were used . In addition to the above I pur-

chased about twenty stocks in skeps, bringing
up my total to something like 120 colonies.
The skeps were in first-class condition, and
were, therefore, passed by as all right for the
winter. I then went through the 100 stocks
in frame hives, and marked on the top of each
hive that was short of food the quantity of
syrup considered necessary to carry it safe
through winter. Having supplied each hive
according to the note it bore, I then went
through them a second time, to make sure
that my calculations had not fallen short of
the actual requirements, and in several cases
when going my second round I made the re-
mark, " Wants 5 lb. or 6 lb. syrup.'' al-
though at the same time I did not believe that
a single ounce was really necessary ; but I had
made up my mind that if there was any mis-
take it should be on the right side. Nearly a
quarter of a ton of sugar was used. I then
made a final examination. In some cases the
combs farthest from the bees contained the
largest amount of food, when a change of
position was made — that is, the combs with
the most stores were placed close to where the
bees had clustered. Strips of wood were laid
across the frames to afford winter passages,
and extra quilts were added, consisting of
carpet, chaff cushions, or any suitable material
that came to hand, and I was satisfied that
every stock in my apiary would be perfectly
safe for six months, both as regards food
and warmth, to face any winter that might
follow. But the autumn was just as unfavour-
able as had been the spring and summer.
Mild weather prevailed right up to the end of
the year, and I never knew stores to disappear
so rapidly at that time of year. Supplies
which in nine cases out of ten would have
lasted up to the end of the month were practi-
cally exhausted by Christmas. Before the
close of the year three of my stocks were
on the verge of starvation, when the com-
mandment, " Give bees no syrup in winter,"
was quickly broken. A couple of quarts of
warm syrup was given to each stock, which
they soon appropriated, a lump of candy
added, and all covered down snug and warm.
Those stocks are now amongst my best.
Others would have been similarly treated, but
the new year brought with it new weather,
which would not allow any further breaking
of the commandment referred to. Candy
feeding, therefore, had to be relied on. I
made it a practice to go through my hives
once a week and give candy where required.
But one day, in the beginning of February,
when going my usual weekly round, I dis-
covered, to my great annoyance, that two of
my best stocks had died of starvation. One
had got a nice lot of sealed honey, but had
failed to make use of the winter passages pro-
vided. The other was marked '' Want3
candy." The candy arrived, but it was just
too late. To avoid a repetition of such catas-
trophies I set to and supplied every stock in
the apiary with candy — no trifling job to make

March 14, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

10*3

up candy for 100 colonies, nor will the cost of
sugar be trifling either. I calculate that from
the close of last season until my bees are able,
to provide for themselves I shall use from
15 cwt. to 1 ton of sugar. That, however,
does not dishearten me; the cost will be charged
to the bees, which they sooner or later will
have to settle, or eviction will follow. I
believe they will do their very best to avoid
the latter course being taken. But when one
spares neither time nor money, and deems
nothing too much trouble that is likely to be
conducive to the well-being of his bees, and
then, in spite of all, find his best stocks dying,
one does not, under such circumstances, find
his enthusiasm go up by " leaps and bounds."
But old hands at bee-keeping, as well as young
ones, often get stung. In the former case, how-
ever, the effects soon wear off.

The spring, summer, and autumn then was
as unfavourable for bees as it could possibly
be. Then came the winter, the likes of which
some of us had never seen, and we don't mind
if a repetition of such does not come for a very
long time. Two long months of zero weather
— that's the best name I can find for it —
during which time the poor bees could not
stir a peg, only as they dropped down dead on
the floor-board. Several of my stocks died with
honey in the hive and candy on the top of
frames. The candy had been eaten away just
as far as the cluster of bees extended, but no
farther. Others died with candy right over
the cluster. Candy is capital stuff to eke out
stores ; but I quite agree with Mr. Webster
that bees won't live on candy alone. We are
now getting well into March, and although we
have had a few mild days— of which I took
advantage and gave the bees half-a-dozen
pailfuls of syrup — there has not been a single
day warm enough to open a hive with
impunity, nor have the bees jet had a
thorough cleansing flight. So far as I can at
present see, my losses from all causes will
bring my 120 colonies down to about 100, the
main cause of my loss being dysentery, of
which I will, with your permission, have
something to say next week, which I doubt
not will interest, and perhaps benefit, some of
your readers. — A. Sharp, The Apiary, Bramp-
ton, Huntingdon.

THE BERKSHIRE BEE VAN.

[2262.] Arrangements are being made for
something like three months' work with this
van during the coming season. One month in
Berkshire and upwards of two months in
Surrey have already been arranged, under the
auspices of the respective County Councils.

In order to make the tour as comprehensive
as possible, a collection of appliances is carried
by the van for the purposes of illustrating the
lectures, and the hon. secretary will be glad to
hear from manufacturers who would like to
send samples of their specialities to be in-
cluded in the collection. It will be impossible

to take many hives or the larger appliances
owing to want of room, but if makers will
forward a list of what they would be willing to
send it shall have careful attention. — Address,
The Hon. Secretary, Berks B.K.A., 17,
Market-place, Beading.

DEALING WITH FOUL BROOD.

RE-QUEENING AS A REMEDY.

[2263.] Referring to " Notes by the Way,''
under the heading, " The Foul Brood Ques-
tion," (2224, p. 64), Mr. W. Woodley says :
" I know an apiary where every remedy has
been tried that has been recommended by
science, except Blow's remedy, not in a
muddling way, but intelligently and per-
sistently, for the past eight or nine years, yet,
though the disease has been held in check, the
bees have not been cured in a single colony.''
I should like to ask if the experiment of re-
moving the queen, and substituting a healthy
laying queen before administering the medi-
cine, has been tried ? If not, the secret of
success will be found in this direction. If a
hive is affected with the disease, it is right to
assume the queen is also ; and so long as she
is producing diseased eggs, the phenol does
not appear to reach the fountain - head,
unless it is given strong enough to kill
the queen. That it will kill the bacilli we do
know, but there appears to be a doubt about
the spores. Now if we first stop the produc-
tion of bacilli by the queen, then destroy what
are already existent in the hive. We certainly
must also stop the production of spores at
same time, and, having substituted a healthy
laying queen, the disease quickly disappears
— at least, so 1 have always found to be the
case. What becomes of the existent spores
I cannot say ; but certainly after spraying the
combs, and feeding the bees with phenol
syrup, I have never had any return of the
disease under the system, and I have really
cured some bad cases.

As regards the McEvoy method of cure, it is
so opposed to all my experience and practice
that I am inclined to believe there is more
than one kind of foul brood disease.

I should like to suggest the compulsory
registration of all bee-keepers in the British
Isles, for it is no use giving power of exami-
nation and destruction unless we know where
to find the hives, and if once we commence the
operation of stamping out, the work must be
thoroughly well done, and nothing less than
the total destruction of all diseased stocks,
together with all empty hives in every diseased
apiary, will satisfy me that we have a chance
of success, for I have known the introduction
of empty hives — the remnants of diseased
apiaries — into a healthy apiary after nine
years to destroy every stock in the place. Anil
I also say, stop the importation of foreign bees,
too, for unless every precaution is taken we
shall fail.

As regards compensation, if we have a

103

THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL. [March 14, 1895.

register kept we might possibly invent a
system of insurance which would cover all
coats of destruction, and so make every bee-
keeper contribute to the expense of treeing
him from the disease. — Thor. F. Ward,
Church House, llighr/ate, March 4.

[The advantage of a change of queens in
obstinate cases of foul brood has long been
admitted, and, besides being mentioned on
p. 148 of Guide, Book, it was specially referred to
in a paper read by the present senior editor of
the B. J. at the Conference of Bee-keepers in
1886, wherein he remarks : — "I have found in
obstinate cases that the removal of the queen,
and her replacement by another aids
materially in affecting a cure." As a rule,
hcwever, it may be said, the source of mischief
lies outside the queen. — Eds.]

COUNTY HONEY LABELS.

ADVANTAGE OF HONEY-SALES SCHEME.

[2264.] Some weeks since a letter appeared
in your columns intended to show that the use
of association honey labels was of no help to
the bee-keeping industry. I send you the
enclosed correspondence. It will throw a
somewhat different light upon the subject.
For obvious reasons you will suppress mines,
&c, and I would also add that there is no in-
tention to reflect on the bona fides of the
writer referred to, but rather to show the
a -Wantages of the honey -sales scheme
initiated by this association. — A. D. Woodley,
Hon. Sec, Berks B.K.A., March 7.

It would occupy too much space to print in
full the half-dozen letters embraced in the
correspondence leferred to, the gist of which
hiy in the fact that a bee-keeper happening to
run short of honey wherewitn to supply his
regular customers, purchased a dozen jars of
good-looking honey from a shopkeeper in the
town of Reading, and on which was the Berks
B.K.A. label. Beaching home he proceeded
to melt a jar of the honey to see its quality in
liquid form. This he describes as being
" black as coal" when melted; altogether of
very inferior quality, and such as he could
neither eat nor sell. Complaint was then
made to the hon. secretary of the Berks
Association ; the name of firm from whom the
honey was purchased being given. In reply
to this the buyer was requested to forward a
sample of the honey to the hon. secretary for
inspection. This was done, and resulted in
the following reply being dispatched to the
sender : — " I have carefully examined the
two sample jars of honey you sent at my
request, and find that the candied honey is of
first-class quality. You appear to have melted
the contents of the other bottle in a very care-
less manner ; in fact, it has all the appearance
of having been raised to boiling heat. You
should have known that honey will not stand
this. I am returning both bottles to show you
tbat it is entirely your own fault. I have

melted the bottle of candied honey, and you
must admit that the result is everything that
could be desired. Therefore, I have no hesita-
tion in saying that the seller of the honey is
entitled to an ample and unqualified apology
from you for having either through careless-
ness or want of knowledge misrepresented the
quality of his goods."

To this communication a reply was returned
from which we quote a portion below : —

" I am very sorry to have put you to so
much trouble, as it was entirely my own fault
in melting the honey down. I put the jar on
the stove when going to bed, and did not
dream of the honey getting too hot ; but, as
you say, it must have boiled. I have never
had any overheated like it before, and I will
take good care it don't happen again. I beg
to withdraw all I have said about the honey
being of an inferior quality. I wrote off to
you in too much haste, and therefore ask you
to accept this full apology. I am writing to

to night to apologise for same, and

trust I have not injured your association or
his firm's business in any way."

[The above serves to illustrate the fact that
a county label on the jar is extremely useful in
affording an opportunity for clearing up such
unfounded charges as that made by the pur-
chaser of the honey in dispute. — Eds.]

HONEY FOR CHILBLAINS.
[2265.] Having noticed the letter of "A
Lady Bee-Keeper " (2203, p. 38) recommend-
ing honey as a cure for the above, I advised
my daughter— who was troubled in the same
way — to try honey in the way described by
your correspondent. She did so, and next
day came running to tell me how much better
her feet were. Since then she has made no
complaint at all of difficulty in walking,
though she has to go a mile to and from school
daily. — R. Chapman, Newton Kettering,
Northants.

<$tt«fk» and J^Itos.

[1238.] Stock with Drone-lreeding Queen. —
In your issue of October 25 last, page 429
(Query No. 1187), you were good enough to
give your opinion. I wrote the dealer from
whom I bought the queen. He insists on the
fertility of queen sold. Stock has been un-
touched since packed in autumn for winter till
February 25 last, when I had a peep, and
gave a cake of candy. Bees seem lively, but
of course not nearly so numerous as one would
like. I have only the one stock, and sup-
posing it to be queenless, or having a drone-
breeding queen, what would you advise me to
do ? I intend to buy another stock soon.
"Would it do to stimulate this new stock, and

March 14, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

109

tmnsfer a frame of brood to old one in hope
of them raising a queen ? — J. W. Chalmers,
Kirkwall, Orkney.

Eeply.— Presupposing that the stock has
had no other than a drone-breeding queen at
its head since August of last year (in accord-
ance with the query referred to), the bees in
the hive will be utterly worthless for either
re-queening or any other purpose.

[1239 ] Transferring and Uniting.— Last
autumn I drove bees from two skeps into two
■wooden hives of my own make (not standard
frames), and now wishing to start with
standard size, will be grateful for advice on
the following points :— 1. Would you recom-
mend transferring the bees into standard-frame
hives filled with comb foundation this season,
and when should it be done ? 2. The number
of bees being apparently few, could the two
lots be advantageously united now ? 3.
Having bees in straw skeps, could they also be
transferred to advantage ( 4. What flowers
could be grown about the hives to produce
honey? — Gooxmilly Amateur.

Eeply. — 1. Unless the help of some expe-
rienced hand is available, we should not advise
transferring the combs and bees to new
frames. 2. If there are Jess than three seams
of bees in each hive now, it will be advan-
tageous to unite, care being taken to preserve
the best queen, i.e , the one which has the
most hatching brood. 3. No. Better keep
the skeps for swarms, and stock new hives
with these. 4. Excepting a few for early
bloom, it should not be necessary to grow
flowers for honey. If the district does not
produce a natural source of supply, it will not
pay to provide one.

[1240.] Renewing Combs. — I have a number
of hivts in which the combs are rather unevenly
built within the frames. During the coming
season I want to remove these combs and
insert Abbott's patent frames, will you kindly
tell me the best way to proceed not to injure
my bees?— E.S., Somerset, March 4.

Eeply. — The best way to have straight
combs built under such circumstances is to
select a couple of the straightest combs and
insert between them a new frame fitted with
full sheet of foundation. When this is built
out, give another frame (fitted as before) next
to the recently built one, and repeat till all are
renewed.

Echoes from tfo §iws.

Durban. Natal, S. Africa, February 9. —
Bees are very active here now, it being the
middle of summer ; but so far it has not beeo
a good scitson— toj mm-]) rain,

There are a good many "bar-frame-men" out
here, but I have only just began myself, and
as the country varies in climate from almost
tropical to quite cold, with frost and snow,
there is a good opportunity for observing bees
under different conditions. As a subscriber to
the B.B.J., I can sympathise with you in the
" Foul Brood " campaign, but I have not heard
of it being out here. A. C. Sewell.

Wobum Sands, March 11. — Bee weather
has come at last. My bees have come through
the winter and are in first-rate condition.
They have been busy carrying pollen in to-day
in most of my hives.— E. Boyes.

WEATHEE
Westbourn
Rainfall, '19 in.
Heaviest fall, '10 in.

on 1st.
Eain or snow fell on

3 days.
Below average, 1*44 in.
Max. Temperature,

44° on 23 rd.
Min. Temperature, 13°

on 7th.
Minimum on grass, 5°

on 7tb.
Frosty nights, 27.
Sunshine, 123'3 hours.

REPOET.
e, Ferruary, 1895.
Brightest Day, 28th,

9 6 hours.
Sunless Days, 6.
Above average, 29'8

hours.
Mn. Maximum, 34°.
Mn. Minimum, 21-5°.
Mean Temperature,

27;7°.
Maximum Barometer,

30-37° on: 17th.
Minimum Barometer,

29-31° on 11th.

L. B. BlRKETT.

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.
February, 1895.

L scanty, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.

Height above sea-level, 225 ft.

Rainfall, 0 09 in. ; greatest fall in 24 hours,
0-06 in. on the 24th. 1*75 in. fell in February,
1894.

Rain fell on two days ; in February, 1894,
on thirteen days.

Max. shade temp., 41° on 24th and 28th ;
max. for February, 1894, 54°.

Min. temp., minus 3° on 7th and Sth ; min.
for February, 1894, 20°.

Max. shade temp, at 9 a.m., 40° on 28th.

Min. temp, at 9 a.m , 4° on 8th

Frosty nights, twenty-eight ; during Feb-
iuiry, 1894, fourteen.

Max. barometer, 30-2 on 16th, 17th, and
18th.

Min. barometer, 2949 on 11th.

An unusually cold month. Some severe
frosts. Thirteen days during the month the
maximum temperature was less than 32°. On
three nights the mercury was below zero. The
snow that fell during January had not entirely
d sappeired by the end of February. A
falling barometer with warmer wiads from the
S.W. at close of month. The first snowdrop
out on the 27th. Stocks on the whole have so
far wintered well in this neighbourhood. Few
losse.-; repq ted, — Percy Leigh, Rcemo>'nt:

110

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 14, 1895.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertise meats, the space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. Wt
wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, qileries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

AU queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

J. White (Toddington). — Curing Foul Brood
by Means of Drugs. — The causes of failure
to cure, and the possibilities of holding the
disease in check were so fully discussed at
the annual meeting of the B B.K.A., and
the subsequent conversazione, as reported in
B.J. of the 7th mat., and continued in this
issue, that our correspondent will find the
case— as put by himself — fully met. We
would especially refer him to what appears
on page 93 of last week.

Robert S.EouTh (Longstock Vicarage, Hants).
— We thank our correspondent for the
expression of his views on foul brood and
compulsory powers, and venture to think
very hopefully that tho-e who have the
matter in hand will be enabled to guard him
— and those who constitute the small
minority of bee-keepers who are opposed to
any action being taken — from the evils he
and they fear, and that the '• delightful
time'"' he ruefully anticipates will exist only
in the imagination. Please refer also to
reply to J. White above.

E. A. Farthing (Plymouth). — Bees and
Dysentery. — We hope you made quite sure
the bees were really suffering from dysentery
before dealing with them as stated, because,
after long confinement, the mere taking of
a cleansing flight will sometimes cause
rather alarming symptoms to those not
experienced in the form of " spotting " on
the outside of hives. If dysentery, it was
the proper course to give the bees a clean,
warm hive, and keep combs ; but to " extract
the contents" of the full comb11, and depend
on candy for their food, keeping the bees
alive, alarm us for their safety, especially
when we are told that "the candy has
become so hard that it is still untouched."
The bees should certainly have a comb of
food given them, uncapping the honey first.

J. IIamsiiar (Burgess Hill). — Doubled Stocks.
— 1. Hives worked with two body-boxes,
each containing ten standard frames, should
always be reduced to a single story (or ten
frames) for wintering. 2. If the ten frames
forming the brood-chamber are filled with
good worker combs, with cells free from
hard old pollen, and available for brood-
raising, you will get the best result in
section honey by confining the queen to the

ten frames and giving sections overhead.
3. There is no truth in saying that the
simple fact of replac;ng an J^Dgliah quten
with a Ligurian wdl cause foul brood,

F. Cockett (Bjttle). — The frame of comb,
with dead bees and br>od in cell?, strong y
points to starvation as the cause of death.
The fact of stores being still in the hive only
shows that the bulk of the bees have mr ved
on to such of the combs as contained food,
while those on the comb sent have clung to
the hatching brood to protect it as well as
they could ; and subsequently died, after
every particle of food in the comb was con-
sumed. There is no trace of disease.

J. Manson (Renfrew). — Artificial Comb. —
Since ordering some of the comb referred t >
from the manufacturer who sent the sample
we have heard nothing further of it.
Should an explanation of the delay be
forthcoming, or the comb be put on the
market, our readers will at once be made
acquainted with the fact.

Shannon (Castle Oonnell). — 1. S imulating
should begin about six weeks before the
usual date the honey harvest regins in your
district. 2. You had better rely on natural
swarming for increase, and put the swarms
on the old stands, giving them the surplus
chambers on at the time of swarming for
completion, and moving the parent hive to
another stand some distance away. 3. Write
to H. Chenevix, Esq., 15, Morehampton-
road, Dublin, who will no doubt help you
with information as to expert help.

Tiios. L. Smith (St. Asaph).— 1. The old
queen accompanies the first swarm, and
remains at its head in the new home given
the bees. 2. The skeps may be placed
above frame-hives as suggested at beginning
of May, and will transfer themselves
thereto. ,

Kenelm Goss (Swansea). — Moving Bees —
If you proceed according to the method
stated, the bees may be safely moved at this
season. Mind you choose a hive in which
there is hatching brood on two or more
combs.

Enquirer (Hants). — See reply to E. A.
Farthing.

J. Jones (Banstead). — Comb is affected with
foul brood.

J. H. Horn (Bedale). — Royal Show. — Mr. J.
Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts, secretary of
the B.B.K.A., will on application supply
schedules of prizes and other particulars
regarding the show at Darlington.

T. J. — Refer to Mr. Banck's remarks in report
of B.B.K.A. meeting on p. 104.

Bladud (Bath). — Both bees sent are adult
queen«, but we cannot tell their age.

Wm. Baker (Cawood). — Comb received con-
tains only pollen and honey. No trace of
foul brood.

March 21, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

Ill

flMrtorial, $faiim, ku

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

The monthly meeting of the Council was
held at 105, Jermyn-street, on Thursday, the
14th inst. There were present T. W. Cowan
(in the chair), Rev. G. W. Bancks, Major
Fair, H. W. Brice, W. B. Carr, J. Garratt, H.
Jonas, J. H. New, E. D. Till, and J. M.
Hooker (ex officio), John Huckle, secretary.
Communications were received from Mr.
Harris (who had previously attended a sub-
committee meeting), Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh,
and Mr. C. H. Hooper, regretting their
inability to be present. The minutes of the
previous meeting of the Council were read and
confirmed. The statement of accounts to
February 28 was considered and adopted.

The Council had under consideration the
advisability of making special arrangements to
afford those experts whose certificates were
issued prior to 1891 an opportunity of com-
peting for a certificate of competency in the
knowledge and treatment of foul brood at the
earliest possible date. Resolved : " That such
examination be held on Saturday, May 11.
Candidates to give notice of their intention to
enter such examination on or before April 20,
and to pay an entrance fee of 2s. 6d.''

The several standing committees for finance,
exhibitions, educational, and other work were
duly appointed for the ensuing year.

The special committee on Foul Brood, who
met earlier in the day at the offices of the B.J.,
17, King William-street, W.C., reported
having had before them a considerable amount
of correspondence and information from various
sources relative to the foul brood question
received since they had last met. All useful
suggestions had been carefully considered, and
the salient points collated and embodied in
statistics, which are being prepared for pre-
sentation to the President of the Board of
Agriculture in due course.

The Chairman reported that Mr. Till and
himself had had an inter dew with the Secre-
tary to the Board of Agriculture, and were
most cordially received, much valuable advice
being given to them, which was calculated to
be of considerable assistance to the committee
in framing the suggestions for an act for the
suppression of foul brood among bees. The
following new clause of a draft bill was brought
up for consideration : — " That any person
having reason to suspect the existence of foul
brood in an apiary not his own shall forthwith
give notice in writing both to the owner of
such apiary and to the inspector for the dis-
trict. The inspector shall at once notify to
the owner of the apiary the fact of such notice
having been received, and that an inspection
of his apiary must take place within fourteen
days." It was also resolved to add a clause
giving power to an inspector to deal with

errant swarms of bees in trees, rocks, or build-
ings, or wherever found.

The Chairman called attention to the report
as to Irish bee-keeping, in which it was
reported that a less quantity of honey was
now gathered in Ireland than formerly, owing
to the great prevalence of foul brood.

The following new members were elected,
viz., Dr. Percy Sharp, Brant Broughton ; Mr.
H. E. Hall, 111, Peckham-road, London, S.E.;
and Mr. J. Ilelsby, 35, Denmark-street,
Watford.

The Council adjourned to April 12.

In our report of the proceedings at the
recent conversazione of the B.B.K.A., Ave
inadvertently omitted any mention of the set
of fine stereoscopic slides on bee subjects photo-
graphed by Mr. Alfred Watkins, hon. sec. of
the Herefordshire B.K.A., and lent by him
for the occasion.

The slides were much admired by those
present, and added considerably to the interest
and pleasure of the evening. We are asked
to express the thanks of many present to Mr.
Watkins for his kindness in lending them.

REPORT FOR 1894.

The annual report of the council of the
B.B.K. A , submitted at the annual meeting
on the 21st prox., contains matter of such
general interest and importance to the bee-
keeping community that we subjoin an
abstract thereof as under : —

" The year 1894 has proved to be one of
marked importance in the advancement of bee-
keeping. The council of the British Bee-
keepers' Association consequently find much
pleasure in submitting the present report.

" The forward movement, initiated toward
the close of the preceding year, has been ener-
getically maintained, and the resultant opera-
tions have been immediately productive in
increasing the popularity of bee-keeping and
in elevating its status as a praclical industry.
The year has also been marked by a material
relief of the financial strain, which in the past
has seriously hampered the activity of the
association.

" The influences and means which have
conduced to this progress have been of
various kinds. The London and Provincial
Press ha9 freely opened its columns to corres-
pondence on matters relating to apiculture.
Many of the County Councils have included it
in their courses of technical education, and have
devoted important sums to establish it as a
profitable raral industry. Several technical
colleges have included it in their curricula of
instruction. Important shows, such as those
of the Royal Agricultural Society, at Cam-
bridge ; the Royal Counties Agricultural
Society at Canterbury, and the Dairv Farmers'
Association, at the Agricultural Hall, have
furnished occasions for the holding of excellent
exhibitions of honey, honey products, and bee-
keeping appliances. These have taken place
under the direct management of the B.B.K. A. ;
while other very successful shows have been
held by the affiliated associations in many

11:

THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL. [March 21, 1895.

counties, and these have proved most useful in
giving instruction throughout the country in
the best methods of honey producing.

"Finance. — The council desires to direct care-
ful attention to the improved position of the
association, and to express its warmest thanks
to those who have so promptly responded to
the appeal for financial support at the com-
mencement of the year. The annual subscrip-
tions have been increased by £12. 12s., due to
the generous way in which several of the
affiliated associations have come forward to
help the parent association by contributing
towards the medals and certificates.

" The Royal Agricultural Society and similar
institutions have also given valuable support to
the association.

" Many new subscribers have joined, but
their accession is neutralised by deaths and
by withdrawals from the British to the County
associations.

" Special donations ta the amount of .£70
have been received from City Companies,
anonymous friends, and other generous donors.
This 'has enabled the council to pay off most
of its debts, which had been compulsorily
neglected in favour of the various projects for
bringing bee-keeping before the public. But
much remains to be done. The balance of our
indebtedness must be cleared off, funds must
be obtained to enable the association to seize
on the chances that may occur of advancing the
position and increasing the uaef illness of the
association in the country. The subscription
income of £95 is absurdly small.

"Donations cannot be relied upon; the
annual subscribers must be increased, or we
shall lose ground. The council would, there-
fore, urge every member to secure, at least,
one new member ; and would appeal to the
prize winners, the manufacturers of appliances,
and others whose interests are identical with
those of the association, to follow the excellent
example of the affiliated associations during
the past year.

" Educational Work. — Examinations. — Second
Class Certificates. — The annual second-class
examination was hold on Oct. 26 and 27. Ten
candidates entered, of whom five were suc-

" Third Class Certificates. — Examinations for
experts' certificates have been held during the
year in the counties of Berks, Shropshire,
Staffs, Cambs, and Lines. Twelve candidates
presented themselves, eight of whom passed
successfully.

" It is a matter of regret that the holders of
certificates granted prior to 1891 have not come
forward in larger numbers for further exami-
nation in respect of foul brood. By a recent
resolution, the council has decided that none
but those who have passed such an examination
shall be eligible for engagements under
B.B. K.A. auspices. The council have had
under consideration the recommendation of the
Northern District Committee of 1893 relating
to the formation of convenient areas with
defined centres for the holding of third-class
examinations, and the subject having been
further discussed during the past year by that
committee, and also by the Southern District

Committee, the following groups of counties
have been arranged : —

1. Notts, Derbyshire, and Leicester. 2. Lan-
cashire and Cheshire. 3. Staffs, Shrop-
shire, and Warwick. 4. Berks, Oxon,
Bucks, and Hants. 5. Cambs, Beds, and
Hunts. 6. Gloucester, Worcester, and
Hereford. 7. Glamorgan and Carmarthen.
8. Dorset and Somerset. 9. Devon and
Cornwall. 10. Lincoln, Rutland, and
Northants. 11. Herts, Middlesex, and
Essex. 12. Surrey, Sussex, and Kent.
13. At Darlington, for surrounding
counties.
" The failure of a considerable proportion
of the candidates offering themselves for
examination is probably due to a lack of
appreciation of the extent of knowledge and
practice demanded by the association. There
is a distinct need of grasping the fact, that the
possession of a certificate of competency to
manage bees and give advice to others is such
an important matter as not to be lightly
regarded. Plainly put, it is very noticeable
that there is little evidence of Jserious prepara-
tion. The spread of foul brood throws upon the
association a greater responsibility than here-
tofore, and it devolves upon the executive to see
that none but those who show an intelligent
acquaintance with the nature, manifestations,
and treatment of the disease, shall receive cre-
dentials from the B.B. K.A.

" Among the important measures recently
taken by the council, must be mentioned the
decision to institute examinations for high-claes
lectureships in apiculture. The need for this
step has arisen, first, from definite inquiries for
men to teach teachers of bee-keeping ; and,
secondly, for the wider development of the
science and art of apiculture under the auspices
of bodie3 interested in technical education.
Already 'a series of regulations for such
examinations have been drawn up, and copies
of them, together with a circular relating to
the subject, are about to be sent to the
Universities, to the authorities of agricultural
and technical colleges, and to such other
institutions as are likely to furnish candidates
for the proposed lectureships."

Some observations follow as to the need for
freeing the parent association from the obliga-
tion to provide judges and examiners without
fee. The report proceeds :—

" Foul Brood. — The ravages of foul brood, and
its constant advances in all directions, have
been, and are at present, engaging: the most
anxious attention of the council. The demand
for measures of repression is heard from all
quarters, and it may be certainly concluded
that the great majority of bee-keepers are pre-
pared to submit to any practical regulations
which may be devised for coping with the evil.
Certain members of the council are now actively
engaged in collecting statistics of facts bearing
upon the question, and in formulating a scheme
for dealing with the disease. The council hopes
shortly to bring the whole subject under the
consideration of the Board of Agriculture,
from whom it is desirable to obtain the powers
necessary for dealing drastically with the pest.

March 21, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

113

Distinct support on the part of county associa-
tions will be a valuable help in securing atten-
tion from the Minister of Agriculture.

" Honey Labels. — During the year an impor-
tant advance has been made by some of the
affiliated associations, in adopting and giving
practical application to the principle of using a
distinctive registered label for honey offered
for sale by members. This, it is confidently
hoped, will produce highly beneficial results,
in distinguishing British from imported honey,
and in strengthening the hands of the associa-
tions, through whom alone the labels are
supplied. The following counties have already
adopted them : — Berkshire, Kent, Lancashire,
and Cheshire. Notts and Glamorgan and others
are now contemplating the same seep.

"Exhibitions. — Following the well-established
precedents of foimer Royal Agricultural Shows,
the bee-keeping industry met with its customary
recognition at the hands of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society, at their Cambridge meeting, on
.Tune 25 and four following days. Under most
favourable conditions of weather, and the atten-
dance of upwards of 110,000 visitors, a great
opportunity was provided1 for the association to
attract attention to its exhibits and its objects.
The appliances, of vthich a fair number were
staged, were thoroughly representative of
modern methods of bee-keeping."

Some particulars are next given of the work
done in connection with the several exhibitions
held during the year under the auspices of the
association, along with other matters, and con-
cludes as under : —

" Events in 1895. — Arrangements for holding
exhibitions in the coming season have been
entered into with the Royal Agricultural Society,
whose show will be held at Darlington on
June 24, and four following days. Negotiations
with the Royal Counties Agricultural Society
are in progress, for holding an exhibition at
their Bournemouth meeting. The Bath and
West of England and Southern Counties Asso-
ciation have renewed their donation for pro-
viding the bee-tent, and for lectures, at their
show to be held at Taunton, commencing May
29. And as regards the Dairy Show, in October,
the council hope to utilise the occasion which
this show affords; but the condition of the
finances of the British Bee Keepers' Association
warns them that this can only be done through
more liberal money-contributions, or by means
of special funds raised for the purpose.
Members may be again reminded that this is
the sole opportunity the association has for
holding a metropolitan exhibition.

" In concluding this report, the council have
to regret that such important counties as
Sussex, Herts, Dorset, and Devon, with several
others, continue without any bee-keeping
organisation, and would urge the making of
resolute efforts, during the ensuing year, to
remedy this condition of affairs. It might be
suggested, in view of the difficulty of taking in
hand the organisation of an entire county, that
the first step is the formation of local associa-
tions at various centres : for instance, at
Hastings, Brighton, Chichester, and Horsham,
in Sussex ; Hertford, and St. Albans, in
Hertfordshire, &c. By such means, strong

nuclei might be established, and the whole
county ultimately be drawn together in one
organisation.

" Lastly, the council would direct the attention
of the members to the great aid which affiliated
associations might render towards obtaining a
bee-keeping census of their respective counties
parish by parish. The Essex B.K.A. issued
with their last annual report a convenient form
for that purpose. We notice also that Kent ia
showing similar commendable efforts."

NOTTS. BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

The annual general meeting of this associa-
tion was held in the People's Hall, Nottingham,
on Saturday," March 9. Mr. J. L. Francklin,
J.P., was announced to take the chair, but
was unable to be present owing to an attack
of influenza, and his place was taken bv
Councillor F. R. Mutch, M.D. (Sheriff of Not-
tingham). There was a goodly attendance,
amongst those present being Messrs. Wood,
A. G. Pugh, Riley, Merryweather, Poxon,
Hayes, W. P. Meadows, Faulconbridge, New-
ton, Marriott, Mills, Turner, Radcliffe,
Wootton, Warner, Maskery, Forbes, Baggaley,
Burton, Burrows, and White. A number of
letters were read from members unable to be
present through indisposition. The annual
report showed a slight decrease in member-
ship, the totals being 207 at the commence-
ment and 198 at the close of the year. There
was, however, no loss in amount of subscrip-
tions, and for the first time since the associa-
tion commenced active work a balance re-
mained in the hands of the treasurer. The
thanks of the association were due to the Presi-
dent, Viscount St. Vincent, and the various
horticultural societies for their liberal dona-
tions towards prize funds at the various
shows held during the past year.

Referring to the honey labels issued to
members by the association, it was stated that
4,400 had been sold, and they appeared to
be much appreciated by both members and
their customers. Foul brood was unfortunately
on the increase, although it was not of so
virulent a type as reported in some counties.
Special measures were being considered by the
British Bee-keepers' Association committee to
prevent its spread, and it was earnestly hoped
that members would take every possible pre-
caution to prevent the spread of this pest.
The report and balance-sheet were unani-
mously adopted. Viscount St. Vincent was
unanimously re-elected president for the
ensuing year. Mr. A. G. Pugh was re-elected
hon. secretary. Mr. Scattergood was also
reappointed auditor, and a committee was
appointed. The proceedings were followed by
a tea and conversazione, during which the
usual drawing for prizes, presented by the
president and various other donors, took place
and resulted as follows : — " Wells " hive, won
by Mr. G. E. Puttergill ; "XL all" hive,
Mrs. Hallam ; do. do , Mr. W. Herrod ;

114

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 21, 1895.

honey ripener, Mr. Wright ; rapid feeder, Mr.
Annable ; Beeston feeder, Mr. Wiggett ; 100
sections, Mr. Breward ; 100 sections, Mr.
Measures ; volume of Record, Mr. Fox ; a
" perfect smoker,'' Mr. Brooks ; an improved
super clearer, Mr. Draper. — Communicated.

DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO-
CIATION.

The annual report of the Derbyshire Bee-
keepers' Association is now issued, giving list
of members, balance-sheet for 1894, and elected
officers for 1895.

Among other matters, the report states that
" the list of members has increased, likewise
the subscriptions during the past year."

" The expenses of working have been heavy,
but an improvement and reduction in certain
branches will this year be made. Notwith-
standing the expense, the society is perfectly
sound, there being a cash balance, with other
assets, amounting to over £2b to commence a
new year's work."

" Foul brood calls for vigorous measures for
checking the same. Qualified experts, able and
willing to grapple with it, must be found, so
that the thrifty bee-keeper may be protected
from the careless and selfish."

Mr. W. T. Atkins has been re-appointed
general secretary, with Mr. F. Walker as hon.
assistant secretary. — Communicated.

HONEY IMPORTS.

The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of
February, 1895, was £930. — From a return
furnished by the Statistical Office, H.M.
Customs.

TO OUR READERS.

ASSISTING OUR CIRCULATION.

In view of the exceptional interest just now
aroused on the subject of bees and bee-keep-
ing among those outside the craft, a favourable
opportunity presents itself to readers for intro-
ducing our weekly and monthly journals to the
notice of persons likely to become bee-keepers.
We will not only be grateful for such help,
but will be very pleased to forward, post free,
specimen copies of either the Bee Journal
or the Record to anyone of whose name and
address our friends will furnish particulars on
a post card.

CHAPMAN HONEY PLANT.

FREE SEEDS FOR BEE-KEEPERS.

In compliance with request of a well-known
contributor to our pages, who has placed a
small parcel of seed of the " Chapman honey
plant " at our disposal, we will forward a few
seeds gratis to any one sending a stamped
addressed envelope to our office.

tyotmpwkntt

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c.,must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <Ssc, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

•»• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, m well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE-KEEPING IN THE TROPICS.

MR. T. B. BLOW'S EXPERIENCE.

[2266.] You will remember about five
months ago I told you that I was thinking of
taking an entire rest and change during the
winter months, having been much out of
health for nearly a year past. I also said that
if during my travels I saw anything of interest
to bee-keepers I would communicate it. I
decided to go to the northern part of South
America and the West Indian Islands, and
sailed direct to Demerara, via Madeira. I
found that British Guiana does little or
nothing in the way of bee-keeping commer-
cially. There are two or three bee-keepers in
Georgetown (the capital), and their bees are
kept in rough box - hives or hives with
American frames. There appears to be a
moderate yield of honey, but owing to the
great equality of the climate all the year round
(the variation not amounting to more than
10 deg. of temperature), there is nothing in
the shape of a harvest as we understand it. The
bees I saw were all descendants of imported
bees, and grfeatly resembled Carniolaos. There
is a wild bee here of the genus Apis (about
half the size of Ajris mellifica), stray swarms of
which often enter into possession of an empty
box in an apiary ; they however yield but little
honey, and are few in numbers compared with
a colony of ordinary bees. After seeing some
of the sugar factories here, for sugar is the
greatest industry (though at present in a very
bad way, owing to the great competition with
German beet sugar, many of the estates
biing abandoned, although in a high state
of cultivation, and some have £100,000
worth of machinery in the factories, yet they
are] quite unsaleable), I proceeded to see the
gold mines which are becoming quite a great
indus'iy. They are, however, rather remote
from civilisation, the nearest being between
200 and 300 miles up the Essequibo River and
its tributaries — most of the ground they
occupy being part of the territory so long in
dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela.

March 21, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

115

The only way to reach them is by open boat
rowed — or rather paddled— by about twenty
coloured men, and as a great many rapids and
falls are encountered, it takes about seven
days to accomplish the journey. Etch day
when we halted the boat for the midday rest,
I went into the bush as far as possible to
see what bees I could. There were great
numbers of the small stingless bees (Trigona)
that stored their honey in little bladder-like
receptacles ; and at one place I noticed quite a
number of bees, pollen laden, at a creek taking
water. They much resembled Carniolans, but
were fully one-third larger, and much more
hairy. I was sorry that time did not allow
me to trace them to their nest. This journey,
botanically, was most interesting, for at the
rapids, which are the only parts of the river
that support any vegetation at all, I was
able, during the time the boat was being
drawn up, or portages made, to study the
habits of about three species of Podostomaccce,
of which very little is known. Altogether
this journey was a great treat — the camping
at night, our hammocks swung between the
trees, and the numerous camp-fires with the
men cooking their evening meal was some-
thing quite new to me.

Leaving the South American mainland,
Trinidad was the next point of call, and
though so beautifully written about by Charles
Kingsley in "At Last," yet I somehow failed
to appreciate it, and I was rather glad at the
end of twelve days to make ready to depart.
There are a few bees kept near the town, and
quite a lot in Maraval, on the Mocha estate
there. Their owner is Mr. Watkins, who hails
from near Hereford, and I had a real good time
with him. Mr. Hart, the Government
Botanist, keeps a colony of the stingless bees
(Trigona) near the door of his laboratory, and
he told me that at dusk each evening the
entrance to the stock was sealed up by the
bees to prevent intruders entering during the
night. Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia,
Martinique, Antigua, Nevis, St. Kitts, and
Redonda were visited, but the last and most
interesting was Montratse. I was here
enabled to make an interesting calculation as
to the quantity of beeswax produced in a
given area. The island is quite a small one,
30,000 acres, with a population of 9,000. Bees
are kept to some extent, but I imagine a
quantity of the wax is got from the
wild bees in the forests on the moun-
' tains. I had the good fortune to be
provided with a letter of introduction to a
gentleman who is practically the sole buyer of
all the beeswax that is exported. The whole
appears to be brought to him, with the
exception, perhaps, of a little that the chemist
gets for local use. The average quantity is
about 1,120 lb. per annum, or about 1 lb. to
every 27 acres. This island is in a better
position than any I visited for the production
of honey, owing to the vast plantations of
limes, the property of Sturge's Montserrat

Lime Juice Company. The honey is very
superior, being much like the South European
orange-blossom honey, and commands quite a
high°price locally— abjut 5d. per lb.— being-
put up in empty whisky bottles, which I com-
pute hold about 2h lb. The surplus honey
finds a ready market in Trinidad. I here
found my time was exhausted, and was there-
fore obliged to give up my intended visit to
Cuba, Hayti, and Jamaica, which, of course,
are the great bee-keeping islands, and am now
writing this at Barbadoes, on my way home.
— Thomas B. Blow, s.s". " A tlantes,,: Barbados,
February 8, 1895.

CURING FOUL BROOD.

[2267.] The discussion that has been going
on for some time past in B.B.J ., makes me pen
a line to say that foul brood is curable by care,
time, and watchfulness. In spring of 1893 I
suspected foul brood among my bees, but took
no steps to remove it until the autumn of that
year, my reason being that I was not quite
satisfied that it was the dreaded disease that
the bees had contracted ; but all through the
summer it went from bad to worse, and there
was no mistaking the fact of foul brood being
present. However, I sent up a piece of comb
to editors of B.B.J, and got a reply through
journal. It was so bad that I was advised to
stamp it out by burning the lot ! Out of
fifteen stocks I had ten bad, and two slightly
touched. Well, I set to work in earnest, and
cured it right away. I took the bees from
the ten bad hives and joined them into three
lots ; put the three lots into clean boxe3, and
fel with medicated syrup, according to in-
structions given with naphthol beta, I also
used naphthaline in the boxes, four balls in
each hive. Before the end of October I had
them well fed up, more than needed for winter
requirements. They came out in the spring
of 1894 strong and to all appearances healthy,
and have remained so ever since. With the
two slightly-affected stocks I used naphthaline
only, and although during spring and summer
of 1894 I looked carefully for foul brood, I
could not see a trace of it. La^t autumn,
when packing them down for winter, I again
examined thoroughly for it, and still saw no
foul brood there. I have kept naphthaline in
my hives ever since, and although the bees
have carried it repeatedly out during the
breeding season, I just either put it back, or,
if too greatly reduced in size, put in fresh
pieces. I believe in keeping naphthaline in
the hives if there is the least suspicion of foul
brood.

It may be naturally asked what I did with
hives, supers, quilt?, frames, &c, used with
diseased lots ? Well, I pursued my own
course, and found the bees none the worse for
it in 1894. I cleansed everything about the
apiary, whether used on diseased stocks or
healthy one. My procedure in cleansing was

116

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 21, 1895.

simply this : I set the boiler agoiDg and put
one thing after another in it, and gave every-
thing full twenty minutes of boiling water
with a little carbolic acid or naphthaline
added to the water, and if the dreaded spores
of bacillus alvei could come through that
process without damage, I would almost say it
deserves to live.

If at any time I have the misfortune to go
through the same trouble again, I would not
start and feed right away, but put bees into a
temporary box for at least two days. This
would, I think, very much assist the curing
process. And, while one should try and get
rid of foul brood at any time of the year, I
consider the autumn ought to be the time to
put forth our best efforts to be rid of the pest ;
for by the time we get through the cleaning
operations the quiet season is on, and the
opportunity occurs of allowing the cleansed
hives, frames, &c, to be exposed to the winter
storm and frost, which will help the " boiler
dip " for effectually disinfecting.

I hope your correspondent, Mr. Wm.
Woodley, will not get annoyed and sulk in his
tent at the difference that has sprung up
between Mr. H. Brice and himself. As I read
the several letters, they both wish to do their
level best to give us readers of the B.J. a
fuller knowledge of the whole matter.

Dr. Bartrum (2254, p. 26) asks for a leaflet
to be circulated. I hope when that leaflet is
printed that such as the Dr. will get a double
supply of it, for foul brood was, without a
doubt, brought into this district through a
friend of mine buying a stock a few years
ago of a certain dealer. The bees were
Carniolans, and two months afterwards my
friend dug a pit in the ground and flung the
whole contents into it. Far and the best way,
I consider, when you have only one affected.
He buried everything in connection with it,
and remains to this day free from the slightest
trace of foul brood. — A. M'Gregor,
Croftamie, N.B., March 12, 1895.

WINTERING BEES.
[22G8.] The problem how to winter success-
fully is a complex one, especially in high
altitudes, and I trust the subject will receive
some attention after the trying and abnormal
winter we are just emerging from. My bees
(see B.J., February 28, 2246, p. 88), on being
dug up from their long sleep beneath the white
blanket that covered them in for ten long
weeks, were found to be all alive, with reserves
of stores to keep them going for some time.
Saturday last was a mild and sunny day, so I
removed shade boards and allowed them to
have a cleansing flight, although several feet of
snow lay all around. The welcome sunshine
roused them up effectually, and in a few
minutes they were out in tens of thousands.
I feared dysentery if they were forcibly con-
fined longer, and signs of the beginning of it
were not wanting. Further development of

the pest is, I trust, checked. I knew it was a
choice of evils letting them out, as many were
likely to find a snowy grave, and so it proved,
for again and again

One more unfortunate

Weary of breath,
Rashly importunate,

Went to her death.
The number, however, was small compared
to the loss I would have sustained if dysentery
set in in earnest. It has been established
conclusively that bees will survive a great
deal of cold when warmly covered in by a
mantle of snow. Why for a fortnight with us
here it never rose above zero, and for a great
part of that time it registered 49 deg. of frost
I trust of Mr. McNally's alternatives, " fortu-
nately or unfortunately," that he will find it
was fortunate for him that his hives were
covered in with drift. He might let us know
what his experience is, and compare results
with those exposed. Mr. Stokes, too, with
his 100 hives might let us know how he has
got on in this Arctic winter. Hundreds of
Scotch bee-keepers would thank them for an
experience which must be quite unique. A
severer test than my own case may be
instanced. I assisted a neighbouring bee-keeper
to dig his four hives from under ten feet of
snow where they lay for over eleven weeks.
All were alive ! One even had its top
partly off owing to a young tree having
been crushed over it by the weight of snow,
and so tilting up the roof piece. Quilts,
too, were loosely fitted, and yet the bees sur-
vived it all at an elevation of nearly 1,500 ft.
This one, owing to the disturbance probably,
showed marked signs of dysentery, and will
require careful looking after. As a contrast to
these instances, I may record the experience of
one of the best and most successful bee men in
the north. He has lost about one-third of his
colonies. They were literally frozen to death
in the midst of plenty. The bees were in
double-walled hives, warmly wrapped, and
with chaff cushions overhead. They were
strong colonies when winter packed. They were
not, however, covered with snow when the
keenest frost prevailed. This apiarist is at a
much lower altitude, and in a much more
favourable locality, yet his bees have gone !
Others have survived under the most un-
favourable surroundings. Won't some others
give us their experience of the white blanket ?
— D. M. M., Banffshire, March 18, 1895.

DRONES FLYING IN NOVEMBER,

EFFECT OF FROST ON BEES.

[2269.] In November last I wrote (2190,
p. 447) informing you that drones were flying
that month from a hive of mine, and also from
one belonging to my son. As then stated, I
felt sure the stocks were all right, though two
experts thought otherwise. I this morning
examined the two hives referred to, and found

March 21, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

11'

both in splendid condition, both queens
breeding well.

I notice Mr. J. J. Ker (2253, page 96)
describes the effect of severe frost on his bees.
Will he kindly inform us what kind of sugar
his bees were fed on, and if they had winter
passages provided over tops of frames 1
With plenty of sealed food made from pure
cane sugar, free passage above frames, and a
liberal supply of quilts, I believe bees will
stand the most severe winter England has ever
known. I fancy his bees were frozen together
after death. My bees are in grand condition ;
never came through a winter better than this
last one.— J. Pearman, Derby, March 13'.

A FRIENDLY WARNING.

[2270.] I enclose a letter received from a
gentleman about to start bee-keeping a few
miles from me, I send it on as a sample of the
straightforward honest way which I have
found to predominate among the bee-keepers
in my county. Some there may be who have
acted otherwise, but although acquainted with
many, I have yet to find them.

Dear Sir, — May I take the liberty of
addressing you without a formal introduction.
I am a bee-keeper, and have recently been

appointed stationmaster at . I own

filteen stocks of bees ; four at , one within

two mile of you, two at , and eight at

It is principally with reference to these last
named eight I write now. Last Septem-
ber, I spent my holiday among the bees,
looking into or going over some fifty hives. I
had finished my own, and the last day was at

, about five miles over the hill, about a

mile from my stocks, and the very last hive
examined, I found seriously affected with foul
brood. My time was up, and I could not go
further with the case then, and have had no
chance since. I remember here and there a
capped cell in my own hives, near the locality
last mentioned ('92, '93, and '94 combs, nearly
all), and although I examined one or two at the
time, it was with a satisfied feeling that there was
no foul brood in the district, but subsequently
thinking over these same few cells, I do not
feel so satisfied. As far as I have since been
able to see they are healthy, and I believe they
are so now.

In my previous position I was able to get
away better than I shall now be, so I want to

shift my hives to , within two miles

of your own apiary. I think of letting them
remain until, say, end of April, and then ex-
amine thoroughly, and if all are healthy, shift
them. Living within bee- flight of you I think
it only right to let you know what I propose
to do.

What I find, and what I do later on I will
let you know. — Yours truly, .

For obvious reasons, I omit all names but

since receiving above letter I have had the
pleasure of seeing my correspondent as to
foul brood, and he is determined to have none
of it, and decides to stamp it out. I have,
therefore, promised to assist him. He is fully
alive to the necessity of the above course, and
is, in my opinion, one of those bee-keepers we
should appreciate if we desire to eradicate the
bee-pest.

Sussex is to try and have a bee-keepers'
association. What about my own county and
its moribund association ? Why should it
remain inert when we have such men as my
correspondent with hives in many parts of the
county ? Some score of others I know of
equally energetic and straightforward, who
are still unattached. I have asked these ques-
tions before, but am still waiting for a satis-
factory reply.

Surrey may not be able to average 100 lb.
per hive all round, but there are many parishes
capable of yielding nearly double this quantity
under favourable circumstances. — Henry W.
Brice, Thornton Heath, Surrey.

THE BERKSHIRE BEE VAN.

[2271.] Arrangements are being made for
something like three months' work with this
van during the coming season. One month in
Berkshire and upwards of two months in
Surrey have already been arranged, under the
auspices of the respective County Councils.

In order to make the tour as comprehensive
as possible, a collection of appliances is carried
by the van for the purposes of illustrating the
lectures, and the hon. secretary will be glad to
hear from manufacturers who would like to
send samples of their specialities to be in-
cluded in the collection. It will be impossible
to take many hives or the larger appliances
owing to want of room, but if makers will
forward a list of what they would be willing to
send it shall have careful attention. — Address,
The Hon. Secretary, Berks B.K.A., 17,
Marlet-place, Reading.

MEAD MAKING.

[2272.] I was glad to note in your last
week's issue (page 83) a fresh recipe for
making mead (if the term " fresh '' can rightly
be applied to anything 190 years old), as I
hoped it would prove more easy of compre-
hension than others I had come across in the
past — uncertainty as to the instructions in
which has so far deterred me from attempting
to manufacture this delicious beverage.

On the whole, the prescription seems a very
simple one, but I should be glad if you or
your correspondent would enlighten me on
two or three points, and probably the infor-
mation would be useful to other readers who,
like myself, are ignorant of the technicalities
of liquor manufacture. First, then, I am

118

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 21, 1895.

puzzled to find nothing is said about ferment-
ing, which I have always supposed to be a
necessary part of the process.

Second, the sentence — " Tun it up, clay it
down, and let it stand till it is fine, and old
enough to drink" — is unintelligible to me.
The dictionaries give " Tun (verb), to put in
a cask,'' which is simple enough. " To clay,"
according to one authority, is M To cover with
clay,'' while another gives it as "To purify
with clay.'' Assuming this last meaning to be
the one intended, some instructions as to the
method of procedure would be advantageous,
and I should also like to know if the cask
should be at once bunged up. If any fermen-
tation is to take place, I suppose it would have
to remain open for a time at all events, and in
that case it becomes necessary to know how to
produce the fermentation, and when to close
the cask.

In other recipes I find such directions as —
" Put in a sufficient quantity of yeast," " Fer-
ment with yeast for a sufficient time," &c,
which are doubtless quite sufficient for any
one who knows all about it, but very little
help to those who want to learn.

Third. It is stated that " it will keep as
long as you please.'' Would this be in the
cask or after being hottled ?

I must apologise for troubling you with a
letter on this subject. My excuse is the
desirability of the many uses of honey being
as widely known as possible, and the pro-
bability that others like myself may be only
waiting for clearer instructions to try more of
them.

This winter must have been a very trying
one for bees even here, though we have
probably suffered less than in any other part
of England, ten degrees of frost having been
the lowest record. I took the first opportunity
of a peep at my five hives and found the stocks
all lively. I gave each a cake of soft candy to
ensure their having plenty until the weather
is more favourable, and I can give them a
thorough examination.

I have read with interest the articles and
correspondence on proposed foul brood legis-
lation, and hope the desired powers will be
obtained. I have been a sufferer myself, and
last autumn destroyed three stocks, one of
which was badly, and the two others slightly,
affected, in the hope of stamping out the
disease; but this, of course, gives me no
security as long as my neighbours are keeping
diseased stocks, and allowing empty infected
hives to stand in their gardens as a decoy for
swarms, as I know has been done in the past
in spite of all protests. — W. Wilkinson Cox,
Kinbrae, Chelston, Torquay, March 7.

[1. Fermentation is, of course, necessary, and
the reason no mention of it appears in the recipe
quoted, lies in the fact that two centuries ago
honey was got from the combs by cutting the
latter up and subjecting them to pressure or
squeezing, according to the usual method of

the time. In this process more or less pollen
got mixed with the honey and a very small
quantity of pollen suffices to bring about fer-
mentation. With the use of extractors and
modern methods of preventing the admixture,
of honey and pollen, a small quantity of the
latter would need to be added when making
mead. 2. " Tun it up, and clay it down,"
simply means to put the liquor into a cask,
turn its bung-hole uppermost and cover the
hole with clay, so that if the subsequent fer-
mentation caused the clay to be blown off, no
further harm would follow. 3. The cask is
meant, we should say ; but if fermentation has
entirely subsided, and bursting of bottles
bottles prevented in consequence, it would
keep as well in bottles as in cask. — Eds.]

A WORD IN SEASON.
[2273.] Couldn't Mr. W. Woodley stick to
his " Notes by the Way," which are the
admiration of all true bee-keepers ; and Mr.
Brice give us some more of his excellent
articles on " Queen Rearing," which are more
interesting and fascinating than a novel — and
both agree to let science alone ; leaving it to
scientific men who really understand it ?
Tilting at windmills is really an unprofitable
occupation. The other subjects are full of
general interest and profit. — Scot, Banff.

^urm m& Julias.

[1241.] Portable Hive for Lecturing fur-
poses. — Does any manufacturer make a really
portable hive, i.e., one that can be taken to
pieces and screwed together again in the lecture
room ? In visiting country villages it is not
easy to carry an ordinary hive about. — F.
Boyes, Beverley.

Reply. — The demand for hives such as that
referred to being so small, it may be safely
said that no manufacturer makes them unless
specially ordered.

[1242.] — Stimulating Early Comb Building.
— 1. On looking at my hives the other day, I
found one had only enough bees to cover two
combs, and these were close to the entrance
end of the hive. At the back end were
several frames filled with syrup fed to them
about the middle of last September, but
hardly any of it was capped. As far as I
could see, it appeared to be all righ.nQ^"
bees are from two skeps I drove and r \T . '
the end of last season. What is the r SnJinS
there being so few bees ? Is it that f™}
queenless. 2. Is it possible, by slow'te p
feeding at this time of year, to make "■ . °
draw out foundation so as to have : °Jmns?

surplus combs when the honey-flo

(found

March 21, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

119

niences ? 3. How would an observatory hive,
made just like an ordinary one, but with two
sides and one end of glass, answer, if there
were wooden shutters affixed, so as to keep
them in darkness ? 4. When extracting, say
. at a week or fortnight's interval, can one drain
off the extracted honey into the same ripener
at each extraction ? I mean, is there any objec-
tion to mixing honey when extracted at
different times ? 5. What is the best time to
commence stimulative feeding or uncapping
honey to stimulate brood-rearing 1 6. Is
the sample of honey sent a good one 1 It
is last year's. I only got 1401b. last year
from six hives, most of it extracted. 7. That
is a very bad average, isn't it?— C. D. G.,
Cambs, March 11.

Reply. — 1. Rapid diminution of bees in
driven stocks usually makes one suspect loss
of queen, but does not point conclusively that
way. 2. Very strong stocks will build out
comb foundation at this season, but only by
inserting the frames, so fitted, between combs
containing brood. Moreover, as the cells are
drawn out, they will largely be filled with
eggs, and so rendered useless for the purpose
proposed. 3. Hives having glass sides for
observation purposes are common enough.
Nor do the bees in them require keeping in
darkness. 4. So long as the honey extracted
is of fairly uniform quality there can be no
objection to mixing it as proposed. 5. About
six weeks prior to commencement of the main
honey-flow. 6. Yes. 7. Not " bad/' but fair.

[1243.] Stock found Dead. — I have five hives
which I packed for wintering in October last,
allowing each stock some candy, in addition to
the sealed stores left in the hives. Noticing
that bees were flying freely from four hives,
but not from the fifth — which was the parent
hive, and the strongest of all in the autumn — I
recently made an examination of the latter,
only to find the bees all dead — clear case of
starvation. The upper portions of the combs
n four frames were entirely filled with dead
bees, and the space3 between the combs were
also piled to the top with them. There was no
sealed honey in these combs, but in the two
frames at the back next the division-board
there was a plentiful supply, but no bees. 1
wintered the stock in eight frames, but
omitted to make passage-holes, and also to put
the sealed stores in the middle. Would these
omissions account for the starvation to which I
fear these wholesale deaths must be attributed?
I do not think the severe cold is accountable for
the mortality, as the hive was well packed,
and had such a large number of bees in it. I
•-.:ul" ,/a piece of comb, with a few bees, as
•™e *>d shall be obliged (1) with your
is to cause of death. (2) Should I

them.

t only Pjj kees out 0f comD before putting it

to do,

e again, or leave that to be done by

bees ? The piece I send is from the

iJ0U f frame. — Salopian, Shrewsbury,

What

For o

12.

Reply. — 1. A palpable case of death by
starvation with food in the hive. It is not at
all certain that the making of " passage ways "
would have saved the bees in such a winter as
we have just passed through. Where hives
have the frames hung parallel to entrance, all
combs containing little food should be placed
in the rear when packing for winter. 2. If
you can remove the dead bees from the cells,
it will save enormous labour to the next
occupants of the combs.

<&t1\m from tfo gicw.

Beemount, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire,
March 9. — Happy to say my fifteen stocks
have so far wintered well. The driven bees I
put into two empty skeps last September, and
to which I gave 30 lb. of syrup per stock,
have wintered exceedingly well in an attic. I
was astonished last week to find how heavy
they were. One of these lots I have now
removed to the garden, but the other I intend
keeping where it is. I have taken out a pane
of glass in the attic window, and in its place
put a piece of very stout cardboard, in which
is a hole sufficiently large to take a glass tube
of 2| in. diameter. The other end of tube is
fixed to the entrance of skep, and kept in
position by the aid of cement. I will relate
in a later echo what results I get from this
particular hive. One of my other stocks
(driven bees) I commenced stimulating with
syrup about three weeks ago, hoping to get the
bees in good trim for the gooseberry blossoms.
Last Wednesday I found two drone larvte on
the alighting board, and upon examining the
frames the following day found a number of
drone eggs, drone larvse and sealed drone
brood in worker cells. I am afraid this stock
must have either an unfertilized queen or a
fertile worker. I failed to find the queen on
Thursday, but will look again when the
weather is propitious. When removing an
empty case last Tuesday, which was put on
full of candy a fortnight ago, I was surprised
to find a large piece of newly-built comb in it.
A friend of mine here relates a similar
experience. Early for comb -building, is it not %
— Percy Leigh, Hon. District Sec. W.B.K.A,

[Early comb-building in candy-boxes by
bees, after removal of contents, is not an
infrequent occurrence. — Eds.]

Honey Cott, Weston Leamington, March
16. — The bees have passed through a very try-
ing winter season, during which they have had
to endure almost zero weather. What a lesson
has been learnt from it ! Teaching us to sea
that stocks are well provided with food. I
have lost four stocks, partly through my own
fault, because of not going to the trouble of
putting strips of wood on top of frames for
passage to the food- Yesterday being a mild

120

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 21, 1895.

day, about 55 cleg, in the shade, I had a
pleasant afternoon's job changing floor boards,
and otherwise looking to see how the bees
were oft" for food. Some of my hives have
fixed floor boards, but most have loose ones,
which I like much better ; they can be so much
easier changed and cleaned. Again to-day the
bees are on the "go" for water, &c, but I
have not seen any natural pollen brought in
yet ; indeed, vegetation has scarcely begun to
move yet, and the ice has not entirely dis-
appeared. Snowdrops and crocuses are
just showing, and if this mild weather con-
tinues I shall give pea flour next week.
Previous to friend Woodley mentioning the
painter's burning lamp, on p. 106, I had used
it this week just for testing burning in the
corners of hives, so I tried it to see how it
would act, seeing what was said at the con-
versazione about getting anything to burn in
the angles, &c, and I can say that I should
think nothing could withstand its heat, as if it
is not moved continuously it would soon burn
the wood, and the flame comes out with such a
roar and force that I think it would be very
efficacious, in my opinion better than boiling
or steaming, &c. By all means let us have
this foul-brood pest settled if we can, as we do
not want it here, having heard enough of
friend Martin having it, and many others
round about Wycombe.— John Walton.

Notice sto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All querieg forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

W. Lidgey (Camborne). — 1. Dysentery in
bees is shown by the marks of involuntary
discbarge of the feces on the surface of the
combs and hive sides. We should judge the
" ruddy brown contents of the ceils " to be
pollen, but cannot say for certain without
seeing a sample. 2. From the activity of
the bees at this season, and pollen being
carried in, it may be safely assumed the
queen is all right. 3. Crystallised pure
cane sugar is the proper kind for bee food.
4. The bees will work out the combs in due
time, but the probability is there will be a
preponderance of drone comb.

W. S. Tiurr (Marsham).— 1. There is no
trace of disease in comb sent, the bees having
evidently died of cold and hunger. From
the fact of breeding haviDg been started in
the comb on which the bees have died, it
would seem as if they had clung to the
brood instead of moving to other combs
where food was. The extreme cold has
without doubt also helped to bring about
the mishap. 2. You have done quite right
in dealing with the other " Wells " hive.

J. Helsby (Watford). — Comb received is
affected with foul brood. After the expe-
rience you have had in buying stocks, we

should advise the purchase of a healthy
natural swarm, and need hardly say the
frame hive you have will require very
thorough disinfection before using again.

L. Edwards (Charlton). — There is foul brood
in comb received, and, in consequence, those
left in the defunct hive will be unfit for use
again. They should be burnt, and the hive
disinfected before using again.

Robt. Thomas (Cowbridge). — Different bee-
keepers have their preferences, with which
we need not interfere, but the " Smoker " is
far more generally used as intimidant for bees
than any other.

E. E. Schofield (Newton Abbot). — Manag-
ing " Wells" Hives. — We strongly advise
your investing 6|d. in the purchase of Mr.
Wells' pamphlet on his hive and system,
and take your instructions as the matter
inquired of direct from the author.

W. A. W. (Guildford). — Bees are workers of
the ordinary or common variety. See reply
to " Joseph King " for address of hon.
secretary Surrey B.K.A.

John Baxter (Blairgowrie). — The honey
sent is an admixture of heather and flower
honey. We should fancy the latter has not
been quite ripe judging by the rather thin
condition of the sample. The quality cannot
be called more than fairly good.

H. Wilcox (Talywain). — Mead- Making.—
Refer to footnote to 2272, page 118.

Joseph King (Godalming). — Captain Camp-
bell, Oakside, Box Grove-road, Guildford,
is hon. sec. of the Surrey B.K. Association.

W. Williams (St. Briavels).— Mr. WelW
Pamphlet. — The price is 6id., and for other
particulars please refer to advertisements.

Busy Bee (Dumfriesshire). — Gramdated
Honey in Hives. — If all the honey in
combs is granulated, a supply of syrup will be
needed to keep the bees going, though it is
more than probable there is some honey
still available, otherwise you would find
granules of the solid honey lying thickly
scattered on the floor board.

Ishmael Girling (Leiston). — Comb contains
nothing worse than mildewed pollen.

W. Burrows (Eskmeals). — Wells Dummy.
— 1. According to Mr. Wells' description,
as given in B.J. for May 19, 1892, p. 193,
the wood used is best yellow pine, | in.
thick, with holes nearly |- in. diameter, and
\ in. apart. 2. Where surplus chambers
are in two parts, the entrance connecting
them should be about 5 or 6 in. long by
§ in. high. 3. We should put the two
stocks in " Wells " hive as soon as weather
becomes warm if they now stand in close
proximity to each other. 4. Yes, thyme is
a good honey plant.

J. Hamshar (Hilgay). — The surplus combs,
beyond ten good ones, should be removed
on the first warm day.

W. B. (St. Albans).— Bad case of foul brood.

March 28, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

121

(Editorial, $jtotioa, &

THE UTAH FOUL BEOOD LAW.
Enacted 1891-2.

1. It shall be the duty of the county-court
of each county to appoint, from among bee-
keepers of the county, one or more suitable
persons as inspectors of bees.

2. These inspectors shall be appointed
biennially, viz., on the first Monday in March
for each alternate year, or at the first regular
sitting of the court thereafter, and shall
perform the duties of bee-inspectors for two
years, and until their successors are appointed
and qualified. Said inspectors shall qualify
by taking and subscribing an official oath, and
giving bonds 'with sureties to be approved by
their respective county-courts, and said bonds
to be filed with the clerks of said courts.

3. In determining the fitness of a person to
fill the position of inspector, the court may be
guided by the wishes of the majority of the
bee-keepers owning or keeping bees in their
respective counties, and it shall- be deemed
lawful for any inspector, if he so desires, to
invite one or more persons to assist him in
prosecuting his inspections ; provided that no
charge is made for this voluntary service.

4. It shall be the duty of the inspector to
visit all the hives of bees in his county or dis-
trict at least once a year, and at any time
upon the complaint of any bee- owner that the
disease known as " foul brood '' exists among
the bees of any person, whether owner or
custodian. It shall be the duty of the
inspector to whom the complaint is made, to
immediately inspect the bees said to be thus
infected ; and if such inspector finds that " foul
brood" does exist among such bees, said
inspector shall immediately take charge and
control of them and give them proper treat-
ment for the cure of the disease; or he may
destroy [such portions of the bees and brood
and of the hives and contents as may be
necessary.

Provided, in case the owner has any doubt
about his bees being affected, and objects to
their being destroyed, as in this act provided,
then such fact shall be determined by arbitra-
tion, the said inspector choosing one arbitrator,
the owner of such bees another, and they two
a third, from among the bee-keepers of said
county, who shall immediately inspect such
bees, and determine whether or not the bees
so inspected are diseased.

5. If any person shall in any way obstruct
by threats or violence, or in any other manner,
to prohibit or prevent a duly- appointed bee-
inspector from inspecting, taking charge of,
treating or destroying bees, as provided in
this act, on conviction thereof before the
nearest justice of the peace of the precinct in
which said bees are kept, the person so doing
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour

and shall be fined in any sum not less than
5 dols. nor more than 25 dols. for the first
offence, and for each additional offence be
liable to a fine not to exceed 50 dols.

6. To provide for the prosecution of the
duties of bee-inspector under this act, the
county-courts are hereby authorised to and
shall appropriate the sum of three dollars per
day for the time that the inspector is actually
employed in the performance of his duties, out
of the revenue created by a special tax as
hereinafter provided ; provided that it shall
be unlawful for such inspector to receive gifts
or compensation from the owner of bees or
from any bee association.

7. It shall be the duty each year of the
assessor of each county to levy a special tax,
not exceeding five cents, on every colony of
bees in the county, to be known as a bee- tax.
Said tax shall be collected by the collector of
each county, and paid to the county treasurer
in the manner provided by law for the collec-
tion and payment of other county taxes, and
said fund shall constitute the "bee-fund,1' to
be used for the payment of the bee-inspector.

FREE SEEDS OF HONEY PLANTS.

Notwithstanding the fact that we have been
generously furnished with a second supply of
seed of the above by the same donor, and our
having doled the last packet out in very small
quantities, we are still unable to "fill orders,"
so numerous have they been. Does any other
reader of the B.J. possess a surplus supply of
seed ? and, if so, will he kindly send it on to
us ? We do not care to return stamped
envelopes empty.

Again, we have been (unthinkingly, no
doubt) asked by many applicants to " enclose
cultural directions, please." As we cannot
undertake the labour involved in doing this
privately, we give below some particulars
regarding the plant, and how to grow it.
The " Chapman Honey - Plant " (Echinops
sphoerocephalus) belongs to the thistle family,
and grows from 2 to 5 ft. in height (in rich
soil it sometimes reaches G or 8 ft.). Each
stalk is surmounted by a cluster of ball-shaped
heads of bloom, which are covered by small
star- shaped white flowers with blue anthers
surrounding the pistil. It is a biennial, easily
grown and perfectly hardy, but if sown early
will bloom the same year.

Mr. Chapman, the American bee-keeper
after whom it is named, says : " two acres of the
plant started my 175 colonies storing honey."
It is also recorded in " Boots's A B C " that
over 2,000 bees have visited a single flower in
one day.

NOTTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Under the auspices of the Notts Bee-keepers'
Association, aided by the Notts County
Council, a lecture on " Bee-keeping '- was given
in the Board School, Keyworth, on the 14th

122

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 28, 1895.

iast., by Mr. Arthur G. Pugh, hon. secretary
of the association, and certified expert of the
B.B.K.A. There were nearly 100 persons
present, and the chair was occupied by the
Rev. F. Robinson, of Keyworth. The lec-
turer dealt with the anatomical and physio-
logical structure of the bee, the various classes
of bees, the different kinds of hives and
apiaries, and the various methods of
managing bees. All the subjects were
fully illustrated by lantern slides, many
of which were actual photographs of one of
the editors of the Bee Journal manipulating
bees in the processes of swarming, driving,
and changing of hives. The lecture was
listened to with great attention, and Mr. Pugh
seemed to have a thorough knowledge of the
subject he had undertaken to explain. Al-
luding to the profits from bee-keeping, the
lecture? stated that during 1894 no less than
.£33,472 worth of foreign honey was imported
into this country, thus showing that there is a
demand for the product.

Referring to the above, the hon. secretary
writes : — I enclose " cutting " re last lecture
of present season. Six have been given, as
follows :— At Beeston and Beauvale, by Mr.
P. Scattergood, jun. ; Tuxford and Radcliffe-
on-Trent, by Mr. H. J. Raven ; Oxton and
Keyworth, by Mr. A. G. Pugh. These lec-
tures have all been much appreciated ; and as
during last summer four horticultural shows
were also visited with bee tent, and lectures in
bee-keeping given thereat, the sum of £20,
granted by County Council, has been made to
do good service. Had a larger grant been
obtained, several applications that had to be
refused could have been acceded to. — A. G.
Pugh.

ajwraptuiace.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, 6cc, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

"«• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEES AND THEIR TEMPER.

[2274.] It is very easy when manipulating
a hive, and for some unknown reason or other
the bees are unusually savage, to attribute
their bad temper to something either done or
left undone at that particular time, whilst we

seek, and seek in vain, for what it is. Every
bee-keeper of any experience must own that he
has been many a time puzzled by such un-
accountable outbursts, and as there is a cause
for everything, even though we cannot find it
out, it seems wise to ponder over the point
until we get at some probable solution of the
problem. Excessive manipulation may perhaps
cause bad temper in some particular hive ; so
may peculiar electrical conditions of the atmo-
sphere, but these are only symptoms, or,
rather, these only produce symptoms of con-
stitutional peculiarity, the causes of which lie
deep in the nervous system of the bee, and
this extreme susceptibility to irritation must
be inherited from those who go before it, to
be handed down also to those who follow on
and carry on the race.

I notice with regret that the ordinary
British bee-keeper is inclined to sneeringly
give the cold shoulder to what is called the
science and theory of our art, and we have
him to deal with, all too often, when lectur-
ing, particularly at shows. I could number
with the fingers of both hands the (in my
opinion) enlightened bee-keepers in England
of to-day, the rest may be graded as we grade
honey, and classed as eager enthusiasts with
their accompanying fads (and all praise to
them, for no progress in any hobby, useful,
artistic, and scientific can be made without
them), or they may be classed as past masters
in the craft, men of mark who have had their
day, and now rest on their laurels. One had
only to attend an annual meeting of the
B.B.K.A. to meet many such, and the remem-
brance of my association with these is as a
pleasant green spot to the mental eye.

Green spots in mem'ry's waste of years.
I take no count of the persistent skeppist, nor
of the bee-keeper whose perpetual " push " has
put him into a position of office, so that at last
he is seen of men, they are those who are
passed on the wayside by those who would be
acquainted with the true knowledge of the
bee and how to keep it.

But to return. The question of heredity
amongst bees has been dealt with more parti-
cularly by our continental neighbours, who are
far and away ahead of us in most science. John
Bull reads their books and lumbers along
heavily behind, as usual, and it has been a
source of great pleasure to the gentleman who
first started the new theory that abroad, at
least, the question was considered of much
importance. The summary of it may be
shortly given thus : — Queen and drone do not
hand to their progeny something they give no
evidence of possessing ; workers hand down
qualities and instincts they do possess, to the
brood, by means of brood food. Therefore
we should do as much, and act as " Dra-
conically," with regard to the extirpation of
bad-tempered bees as we do in the matter of
foul brood. You must remember that the
laying queen owes its position as a mother to

March 28, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

123

the food fed to it in its babyhood out of the
system of the worker bee ; let that food be
Stinted in quantity at a certain time, and the
laying mother of the hive had been a barren
worker. One might as well change the hive
as change the queen when seeking to eliminate
bad temper from bees. The matter has been
argued out and thrashed out before. So, to
those who disagree with the theory, I have
only to recommend a trial with the practice of
it. Try, if you have an irascible strain, to
cure it by re-queening, and fail, as scores have
failed before you ; but it has yet to be re-
corded that the destruction of the living bad-
tempered workers, with the division of the
combs amongst the other hives, has not in
every case succeeded. I know it is hard to get
a theoretical truth down a practical (?) gorge,
it rises at it. The British farmer in matters of
artificial manure and scientific items generally,
the practical poultry keeper, the rule-of-thumb
gardener, and (worst of all) the '' common '' (or
garden) bee-keeper, are all so filled with
their kind of knowledge that any information
sought to be conveyed by those who profess
some scientific acquaintance with their art is
given a cool reception, if it be not indeed
actually derided. They will, however, without
acknowledging what they get from science, use
items of information as though they were the
results of their own experience. The question
of temper amongst bees should, I think, be
always approached from the standpoint that
mental characteristics are handed on by the
pap-like food secreted by nurse bees who
inherited, amongst other things, their temper
from their foster-mothers, and so on back-
wards. Looking forward then to the develop-
ment of a strain of bees with even tempers we
should, when he have accidentally (by exces-
sive or faulty manipulation) roused or caused a
really vicious disposition which up to that time
had been latent, take vigorous effective
measures to prevent such vice being handed
on to the young brood, the future tenants of
the house. This can only be done by remov-
ing the frames of brood, &c, to other hives,
until night time, when the living vicious
workers should be destroyed. The queen
could be caged and an artificial swarm or
nucleus could be made with her in the old hive
the next day.

I trust this " theory " will not be attacked
on the ground of cruelty. If so, I will add
now that extirpation, relentless stamping out
(pace Nottingham !) is at last becoming the
order of the day with regard to F. B., and so it
should be with any badness we wish to
eliminate. It is cheapest, best, and most
humane in the long run. — R. A. H. Grim-
shaw, Woodlands, Horsforth.

EFFECTS OF FROST ON BEES.
[2275.] In response to Mr. J. Pearman's
queries (2269, page 117) on my letter (2253,
page 96), I have, I think, quite accounted for

the disastrous loss of my stocks during the
late severe frost. Last autumn, symptoms of
foul brood showed themselves in many of my
stocks, and it was a consideration whether I
should immediately take the bull by the horns,
or wait for the spring. I preferred the former
course, and there and then set about removing
all old combs and honey, and feeding up well
with medicated syrup. The stocks were not
strong, but I built those up, with the addition
of driven bees and re-queened, and finally,
about the end of November, closed for the
winter. The sugar I used is crushed lump
from the C.S.S.A., and medicated with
naphthol beta. I also provided the usual
winter passages over the frames, and on these
placed the quilt, and then a cushion 4 in. thick,
with a hole in the centre for the feeding-bottle.
Dysentery, I find, has been the cause of all
this mischief. When cleaning out the defunct
stocks last week I found the combs, frames,
and floor-boards spotted in all directions with
the dark brown muddy discharge. There is
no doubt that the late autumn feeding and
long confinement during the winter (at one
time for nearly five weeks) had brought this
about. However, with me it has been the
survival of the fittest, and perhaps for many
reasons it is best that it has been so.

Hertfordshire, then, is to be without its
association, as no one at present seems willing
to come forward. I think that a want of
energy will account for such fine honey-pro-
ducing counties as Herts, Sussex, and others
being without the assistance of a properly
organised body of intelligent bee-keepers. —
John J. Kee.

BEE-KEEPING MEMS.

WET QUILTS. — DO BEES PAY ? — FOREIGN
HONET,

[2276.] I see that your correspondent 2245
(p. 87) complains of wet quilts. I, too, after
the heavy autumn rains, found very many of
my hives with wet and mouldy quilts. These
I replaced, fortunately before the severe irosts
came on. The roofs apparently were water-
proof—no cracks being visible. As some of
my roofs are covered with zinc, and as the
quilts under these were perfectly dry, I con-
cluded that the wooden roofs somehow leaked,
but where or how I cannot even now make out.
Another correspondent (2240) asks on p. 84 :
" Do bees pay ? " Now, as to " paying," I
myself consider that that depends on three
things : First, a favourable locality ; secondly
not too many stocks ; thirdly, good manage-
ment— though perhaps I ought to put the last
first. I know when I kept twenty-five to
thirty stocks, my average take was 50 lb .
per hive, whereas when I increased my apiary
from eighty to ninety stocks my yield has been
12 to 18 lb. per hive, although I expended
proportionately much more time and
trouble with the latter. This is partly

124

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 28, 1895.

attributable no doubt to the drought and its
after effects on clovers, &c. Still, I think it
is possible to be overstocked, because I believe
that bees do not forage so far as many people
imagine. Anyway, there is a village about
two miles distant from me full of lime trees,
and during the period that these limes are
in flower— generally about the third week in
July — I notice my bees are in a quiescent
state, whereas the bees of that village are
having a real good time of it. My idea of a
bee paradise is: — plenty of orchards, clover,
sainfoin, and lime trees on one side of the
apiary, and a moor covered with heather on
the other side. The apiarist has thus about
three strings to his bow, and then bees do pay.
Referring to foreign honey, I tasted a sample
of Sandwich Island honey, and it reminds me
very much of toffee, or Demerara sugar and
water. I think people who know the
flavour of English honey will not be
tempted with the foreign article, though
I expect a market for it will be found amongst
schools and with chemists, who are perhaps
careless as to flavour as long as the article is
honey. Frost. — The thermometer here stood
at 8 deg. on the house wall, or equal to about
zers on the grass for many mornings. My
bees have been flying on sunny days, but I
have found three stocks dead in spite of abun-
dance of stores (I left all my hives with 30 lb.
each) and Hill's devices, dummy boards, and
six thicknesses of carpet. — Apiarist, Oxford,
March 11, 1895.

WINTERING BEES.

[2277.] In reply to D. M. M. (2268 p. 116)
I beg to say that my bees have come through
the winter without loss. I may state that this
has been my experience for the past thirteen
years, not having lost a stock of bees during
winter. Yet my bees are in a colder and more
exposed situation than any apiary I know of
in the north of Scotland.

In my experience extreme frost will Dot kill
bees, providing they have sufficient food and
warm coverings. I should perhaps blush to
tell that I never scrape or clear the bits of
comb from the tops of the frames, but leave it
for winter passages. I have always looked
upon snow as my best friend in wintering,
having frequently had hives buried for two and
three months at a stretch. These have always
come out the strongest and with the least con-
sumption of food, and were the first ready for
the supers.

Until a week ago I had over thirty hives
completely buried since Christmas. A few
hives on the highest ground had little or no
snow about them ; the latter showed more
dead bees, and much larger consumption of
storss, but were otherwise fairly strong.

Instead of clearing the snow from the hives,
as mentioned by " D. M. M.,'' I continue
shovelling it up to the entrances, as long as
there is any to be got. I have never had but

one case of dysentery, and that was caused by
a leaky roof and damp cushions, not by con-
finement to the hives by snow.

I can't say wherein my success in wintering
lies. I have bees of all races, so it is not in
the hardiness of the bees. My hives are
home-made, and of the simplest form, bat I
use a loose outer case, which perhaps plays an
important part in my success.

A hive of the " W.B.C." pattern, plenty of
food, a cake of candy on top of frames (which
forms excellent winter passages, and gives the
bees a chance to reach their food from the
cluster), with warm covering? and a tight
roof, would, I may venture to assert, safely
winter bees in any part of Scotland during
our coldest winters. — W. Stokes, Carr Bridge,
Inverness-shire, March 22, 1895.

P.S. — A few years ago one of our Editors
(Mr. W. B. C.) requested me to test a few
hives not packed between the body and outer
case. I found that they wintered equally as
well as those packed, but with me 1 require
warm picking in spring, so I made straw mats
to fit loosely into the space left for packing.
This gives the necessary warmth, and the free
course of air advocated by " W. B. C."
Perhaps this may explain the freedom my bees
have from dysentery. Mr. Woodley's criticism
is invited. — W. S.

THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

ANNUAL REPORT.

[2278.] The abstract of the annual report of
the B.B.K.A., as printed in last week's B.J.,
reveals a state of things which, though satis-
factory from one standpoint, is, to my mind,
far from being so, if it is considered how much
the bee-keeping public owe to the central or
parent association for work already accom-
plished, and how much remains to be done if
the industry is to be permanently raised to its
legitimate position in the country. I have
myself seen bee-keeping emerge from an un-
scientific and obscure position to one the
exact opposite of this, mainly through the
efforts of those who have during the last thirty
years or more banded themselves together with
the definite object of arousing public interest
in a pursuit at once healthful, pleasurable, and,
to a very large extent, important. The success
which has attended these efforts is very notice-
able, and, as I think, deserves recognition.

I believe that if you would kindly inform us
what the subscription amounts to, many well-
wishers would come forward and join the
Association, whether able to attend the
meetings or not, simply on the principle that
if the body is to be preserved in health and
activity, the vital organs, and especially the
" heart," must not suffer for want of nourish-
ment. Next year's report would not then, I
trust, contain such a sentence as this : —

" The balance of our indebtedness must be

March 28, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

125

cleared off, funds must be obtained to enable
the Association to seize on the chances that
may occur of advancing the position and
increasing the usefulness of the Association in
the country. The subscription income of £95
is absurdly small."

I am happy to say my bees have come
through the Arctic winter admirably. Two
double and one single are of double glass with
wood outer cover, others are wood with outer
covers or cases, and some two or three are of
inch wood without cases; all have J in. wood
and about four quilts over the frames, with
| in. passage way. — F. V. Hadlow, Buxted,
Sussex.

[The subscription to the B.B.K.A. is 5s.
and upwards per annum, and we need hardly
say how pleased we should be to learn that our
correspondents appeal has resulted in sub-
scriptions being forwarded to the Secretary of
the Association, Mr. J. Huckle, King'j
Langley, Herts. — Eds.]

BEE NOTES FROM HUNTS.

CAN QUEENS LAY DRONE OR WORKER EOQS
AT WILL 1

[2279.] In accordance with my usual custom
I send you a report of my bee-doings here in
Hunts during the past year. I wintered about
thirty stocks and they did well till the middle
of April, when the wind changed to the east
and kept there till the middle of June ; and
this affected my bees so much that I don't
think they were any stronger then than on
May-day. In fact, some were on the verge of
starvation for weeks, one stock dying in May,
an experience I never had before. The honey-
flow was of short duration, beginning a few
days previous to the "Royal" Show and
finishing up on the following Sunday with a
scorching day, which blighted my crop of peas,
knocking four or five coombs per acre off
them. I think it must have blighted the
clover as well, for the bees gathered no more
honey, although we had several fine days
during the next week. A strong swarm a
neighbour hived for me when I was at the
" Royal " gathering scarcely any honey. My
take wa3 about four hundred pounds, or less
than a stone per hive, which is a poor
average, as I reckon thirty pounds fair for
this district ; in fact, I am satisfied if
I get that from my hives spring count. Several
bee-keepers round here, however, got no
surplus, so I must not grumble. I have not
thoroughly examined my stocks since the great
frost — and what a stinger it was ! The weather
has been too cold ; but I glanced at a few last
week that looked suspiciously quiet, and from
the result am afraid there will be a greater
percentage of losses than usual. What sur-
prised me on examining these defunct colonies
was to find in some of them great patches of
sealed brood on two or three combs. The
eggs must have been laid in January. 1. Is

not that rather unusual ? I gave them a cake
of candy on top of frames, and 6 in. of chaff-
packing in the autumn. When the weather is
warmer each colony will get a cake of pea-
meal candy, as I always think it stimulates
breeding in spring. Foul brood seems to be
claiming a lot of attention just now, but,
happily, we are free from it in this district,
although I believe it has got a hold in the
adjoining county of Cambridge.

2. I should like to know if the queen has
the power of depositing drone or worker eggs
at will? I asked (the question of an expert,
and he said it was supposed to be determined
by the size of the cell in which they were laid.
On thinking it over, I cannot exactly see that,
as I have seen drones hatched from worker
cells when there has been a scarcity of drone
cells in a hive. Perhaps you can enlighten
me ?— Richard Few, Needing worth, Hunts.

[1. Brood rearing is quite common in
January wLth strong stocks. 2. It has been
supposed by some authorities that what may
be termed "sexing" the egg is a merely
automatic operation which takes place during
the act of ovipositing — or laying— without
special effort on the pirt of the queen bee. In
other words, that the smaller size of the
worker-cell necessitates contraction of the
abdomen of the queen for insertion therein
when depositing the egg ; the result being
pressure on the spermatheca, and consequent
impregnation of the egg in its passage from the
ovary of the queen into the cell. Without this
impregnation the egg would, of course, produce
a drone bee.

The physical structure of the queen and the
position of the spermatheca gives considerable
colour to the above theory, but it has been
conclusively demonstrated that the queen
herself possesses the faculty of depositing eggs
which produce workers or drones at will. This
may be verified (1) by placing a sheet of comb-
foundation in centre of brood-nest in the
height of the breeding season. In a few hours
worker eggs will be laid in cells not drawn
out more than one quarter their normal depth,
and consequently where no pressure on the
spermatheca could possibly take place ; (2) By
giving a prolific queen only drone-combs in
which to deposit her eggs. In this case she
will at first wander over the combs in apparent
perplexity and distress, but eventually eggs
will be laid in the drone- cells from which
worker bees will hatch out. — Eds.]

WILTSHIRE NOTES.
[2280.] Walking down our village the other
morning I espied my old friend, John, placing
an ingeniously -made box filled with candy on
the top of a skep, over which he carefully
replaced the good old hackle, so dear to bee-
keepers in the locality. This being the first
fine morning of the year, I ventured to remark
that no time had been lost in giving the bees

126

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 28, 1895.

ention. " No," said he ; " the harvest
depends, you see, upon the next two or three
weeks." Evidently John is very shrewdly
conscious of what a good honey harvest
depends upon.

In your current issue I see the final instal-
ment of report of annual meeting of the
B.B.K.A. The more hopeful view taken of
the possibility of dealing with foul brood
in a satisfactory manner, as expressed during
the latter part of the proceedings, is,
to say the least, encouraging. But how de-
pressing it must have been to listen to the
suggested remedies for disinfecting hives,
especially to the remarks about taking them to
the workhouse, the fever hospital, and good-
ness knows where beside. What an admirable
arrangement — a journey of from twelve to
twenty miles there and back ! Of course, the
horse, cart, and attendant would have to be
passed through the disinfecting chamber in
order to prevent spores acquired during the
forward journey being carried back again to
the hives during the return half.

I was much interested in that "steam
cooking apparatus." I looked up Professor
Long's " Book of the Pig," and there I found
just the article required to ensure complete
success . It only costs £25, that is all ! I am
in sympathy with Mr. Carr in saying " pity
the poor bee-keeper." Why, if this sort of
thing goes od, we may ere long — in the pro-
gress of civilisation — expect to hear the voice
of the village crier announcing a " grand dis-
infecting day," when the County Council's
travelling steaming, boiling, fumigating, and
spore-killing apparatus will be at work on the
village green, for the benefit of the foul brood
afflicted bee-keepers of the district, warning
all and sundry to bring their infected hives
and appliances to be " gone over " forthwith,
under pains and penalties in case of failure,
&c, &c.

Do please, Messrs. Editors, give us full
particulars of that simple plan of fumigating
with salicylic acid, known as Hilbert's method,
which will, I trust, enable us to paraphrase a
good old song, and say " ' Cheer, boys, cheer,'
foul brood will soon be gone ! " — Lett Trab,
March 16.

[The apparatus referred to is fully described
in the Guide-Boole, pp. 146-7, and 8. — Ens.]

AFTER THE WINTER IN LINCS.

THE STORM AND THE BEES.

[2281.] I find that the mortality among the
bees during the past severe winter in my
district has not been so heavy as might have
been expected. Few bee-keepers have escaped
loss entirely, but most have only lost one or
two, the heaviest loss I have heard of being
six out of nine stocks. Personally, I have lost
one out of nine, and that, too, in one-half of a
" Wells " hive, all the rest being in single hives,

and have wintered well. The lost stock was a
splendid swarm of last year, weighing 6| lb.

The cluster was away from the perforated
dummy at the opposite end of the hive, and
there was plenty of food in the hive, but no
winter passage over the frames, nor was there
on the other side, which has wintered well.
The holes of the dummy are not propolised,
and what brood there was was quite healthy.

Yesterday afternoon a high wind sprang up,
so I went to inspect the condition of the roofs.
One was blown off while I was watching, and
another hive carried bodily off the bricks on
which it was resting, but not overturned.
While replacing the latter the next hive was
bodily overturned and the roof of my poultry
house blown off, so we had a pretty
lively Sunday afternoon. I fortunately got
the overturned hive soon put right again, but
have not yet been able to inspect what damage
was caused.— Perot Sharp, L.R C.P., &c,
Brant Broughton, Newarlc-on-Trent, District
Hon. Sec. Lines. B.K.A.

BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX.

[2282.] Since i last wrote, on February 13
(2231, p. 74), there has been a slow but steady
improvement in the glacial weather ; the long-
continued and severe frost has at last passed
away, after haunting us a bit by nights, and it
is now possible to get to work once more in
the perforce neglected gardens, and make up a
little for lost time. Everywhere in this
neighbourhood, peas and beans, early potatoes
— and even the main crop — onions, parsnips
and carrots, turnips, &c, are being hastily got
in, and flower and vegetable seeds are being
diligently sown. The softening ground is
being dug and prepared for the later plantings
and for the subsequent pricking and planting
out, and the wreck left behind by the recent
wave of excessive cold is being gradually
cleared away.

But what a scene of desolation meets the
eye ! Shrubs which have withstood many
previous winters, such as laurels, ancubas,
euonymus, laurustinus, bays, are rapidly
shedding their sere and shrivelled leaves, and
it remains to be seen whether there is any life
left in the bare brown stems disclosed to view,
or even in the roots ; whether the naked
skeletons will sprout out afresh later ; whether
they are withered down to the ground, as many
fear ; or whether the very roots have also
perished, as is certainly the case in some
instances.

As yet none of the seasonable green tints of
spring are to be seen ; only brown, withering
leaves and blackened sticks. Everything is a
good month or six weeks later than last year.
And when the poor bees, tempted out by
the warmer southern breezes, and more
powerful sunshine, and more genial tempera-
ture, roam feverishly about far and near in
search of a few droplets of nectar, or a few
granules of pollen, of the former they can find

March 28, 1895.] THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.

127

none, and for the latter they dive frantically,
frequently four at a time, into the few crocus-
cups as yet to be seen, or hover persistently
round the same snowdrops or the same earliest
primroses. One feels quite sorry — not to say
distressed — for them. They are strong on the
wing, indefatigable in their hopeless researches,
taking water freely, but there is really next to
nothing for them to glean from the general
barrenness.

Nor can there be for some time to come.
The fruit-buds — apple and pear, quince and
medlar, red and black currant, gooseberry,
raspberry, &c, &c. — are just beginning to
swell ; but the hedgerows and trees, as yet,
make little or no sign, and everything seems
nipped, repressed, and backward. The autumn-
sown plants, which should now be making a
fair show, are all killed — stocks, wallflower,
alyssum, silene, geum, nemophilia, for example,
all have perished. In my own sheltered
garden only some forget-me-not has survived ;
and a few plants of arabis on a protected
border ; but campanula, Canterbury bell,
columbine, pa:ony, polyanthus are also safe.
Until these and the flower seeds now sown
come into bloom, there can be absolutely
nothing for the bees but what they can obtain
from the bulbs — snowdrop, crocus, hyacinth,
tulip, daffodil, narcissus, lilies, and such like ;
from the fruit-blossoms and from the trees ;
and from early wildflowers. And when will
these be ready ?

I should feel very unhappy about my
remaining five stocks did I not know them to
be well provided with stores ; and were it not
that I cannot induce them to take pea -flour as
artificial pollen, although I have had small
tubes made specially to fit on the alighting
board of each hive, and have tempted them by
putting honey amid the flour. They go in
freely, carefully take out the honey, but
evidently turn up their apologies for noses in
bee fashion at the make-believe pollen. They
also clear out with surprising alacrity any
uncapped frames of honey I introduce to their
notice within the hives.

My surviving stocks have so far done well,
are strong, healthy, and active. They are
beginning, as last year, to build brace comb
wherever they see a fair chance — only a full
month later ; and after this winter's experience
I am satisfied with the perfect success of my
glass covers, as there is no trace of damp,
mildew, or dysentery within, and it is most
convenient just now to be able to see at a
glance the condition of the bees, the state of
their stores, and what they are doing — their
playful addiction to brace comb building, for
instance.

The practical difficulty I have been trying
to solve to my own satisfaction is this, and it
is one I have long foreseen : I am persuaded from
past experience the less I pull my hives about the
better ; and no ambition to pick out queens, to
crowd the bees on frames, to extract end
combs, &c, which one sees so constantly advo-

cated, will induce me this year to worry and
harass unnecessarily my industrious little
friends. I shudder to think of what I read
and know these unfortunate victims go
through on occasions in over-zealous hands ;
and I can quite hope a time may come — some-
where about the year 2,000 perhaps— when no
one will be allowed to keep even bees (much
less any other creatures) who has not gained
some certificate, or given some other guarantee
both of competency and humanity ; and when
even the long-suffering bees will be protected
from well-meant over-meddling. Meanwhile.
I want to give my energetic brace-building
proteges something better to do ; but if I put
on shallow frames or sections, in the first place
I can no longer see how they are getting on
at this critical time down below ; in the next,
it is a very delicate business to feed them so
carefully that they will only build comb and
not store up syrup in the supers ; and thirdly,
just at this very time they ought to be kept as
snug and warm as possible, and be interfered
with, and chilled as little as may be, while
they are hatching the young brood, unless one
particularly wishes to have spring dwindling.
So that I have to find a solution to a dilemma
which seems to have quite an abnormal supply
of horns.

Seriously, I may be mistaken, and no one
will be more glad than myself if I prove to be
so; but it certainly does seem to me that the
apicultural outlook this spring is one of the
most cheerless well imaginable. Here are the
bees come (mine are, at any rate) well through
the winter, numerous and lively, their young
brood coming along fast, their stores quickly
disappearing, and so foraging with the energy
of despair, and the end of March is arrived,
and there is positively nothing outside the
hives for them to feed on or store up ; and,
what is worse, no prospect whatever of any-
thing to speak of for at least six weeks to
come ! I should imagine that the price of
sugar will go up briskly indeed, and that the
faces of bee-keepers will lengthen as their
pockets lighten !

I greatly fear that bees in skeps will have
mostly perished from cold or famine, or both.
1 heard of a neighbouring bee-keeper who has
lost seven out of eight stocks in frame-hives !
On the other hand, a nearer neighbour has by
heeding advice successfully wintered all his
six stocks, and I have lost but one weak lot
out of six stocks in frame-hives.— W. R. N.,
Sussex, March 21.

$thm frcm tit* §iws.

Wakes Colne Rectory, Halsteacl, March 11.
— Please send me a box of naphthaline, as
before. This is the drug for the bee-keeper ;
to us it has been invaluable. Twelve out of
thirteen hives safe and strong, after all the
severe frost ; thirteenth lost through slabs of

128

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 28, 1895.

hard food being left without vacancies for bees,
or winter passages. — E. Bartrum.

Rochester, March 11. — I thought of giviDg
my bees a little warm syrup now. For the
two previous winters I covered the hives with
thatched gates, but I thought this last was
going to be a very mild one, and consequently
left my thirteen hives uncovered. Eleven of
these have come through safely, so far as being
still alive, but I have not opened the hives to
see their actual strength or condition. I
thought to give warm syrup for two or three
weeks, and then choose a mild day for examin-
ing thoroughly. I noticed some of them
fetching water to-day. With one stock last
autumn I fitted two pieces of glass together
and cut a hole in the centre for feeding ; the
glass was laid on J in. strips of wood, so that
the bees could run over the top of the frames.
They seem all right now, and there are quite
a lot of bees. I use old books and newspapers
above the quilts to the depth of 4 in., and it
answers well. — Richd. Illman.

County Police Station, Ipswich, March 21.
— I have lost two stocks out of twenty-two
this winter ; the rest have, up to present,
wintered wonderfully well. Both these cases
were from the first rather weak colonies. —
Chas. E. Fisher.

Wadebridge, Cornwall, March 21. — Weather
here beautifully mild with genial showers.
Bees busy carrying in pollen at intervals of
sunshine. — H. Lander.

(fttrtks and HtylttS.

[1244.]. — Mouldy Combs in Hives.— On
opening my frame hive I find the comb more
or less tainted with mildew, like sample sent.
Will you please say what is the cause and
remedy for same ? and what I shall do with
them at present 1 The frames next the dum-
mies are the worst, and the mischief diminishes
as you go to the centre of the hive. The floor
was damp and wet, but there were very few
dead bees about, all seeming lively and strong.
— Greenhorn, Darwcn, March 19.

Reply. — The slight mouldiness seen in
comb sent cannot be guarded against except by
removing all combs not covered by bees when
packing the hive for winter. All combs not
so covered are liable to be more or less affected
by the atmosphere of the hive. The bees will,
however, soon remove all traces of mould when
requiring the cells for breeding purposes.

[1245.] Adopting the Frame Hives. — As I
am about adopting the frame-hive system, I
would like to know, through the Journal,
whether it is customary, when putting whole
sheets of foundation into standard frames for
brood nest, to insert any drone foundation ? I
may mention that my bees — eight straw skeps

— have wintered well, and all seem pretty
strong. The district is a good one for white
clover, and I am within half a mile of the
heather. There are several skeppists in this
locality, and the newer system only requires
to be begun to enlist most of them. No such
thing as foul brood in this district. — John
Richardson, Peebles, March 18.

P.S. — If successful, I will give an account
of my season's work in autumn.

Reply. — The space of half an inch between
lower edge of the sheet of foundation and
bottom bar of frame is quite sufficient for the
drone cells required in a hive, therefore only
worker-cell foundation should be given. Glad
to hear of your future progress with frame
hives.

[1246.] Drones in March. — Three weeks
ago, the day being warm and sun shining
brightly, I went into the garden to look
at the bees, which were flying grandly, but
noticing drones flying from one of the hive?,
I thought there was surely something wrong.
However, I had a look into the hive
last Saturday (March 16), and saw plenty
of brood, and also > some young bees running
on combs. There were also some adult
drones, although I saw the same hive killing
the drones last year. 1. Is it not unusual for
bees to allow drones to live through the winter
and spring when there is a feroile queen and
plenty of brood in the hive 1 2. Can you
account for this state of things 1 The drones
were again flying briskly on the 17th. The
worker brood is all right, but there is no drone
brood.— J. Reekie, East Fife, March 22.

Reply. — 1. Very unusual indeed, if the
queen is still hearty and laying well. 2. We
cannot account for it, but will be glad to have
further particulars of how the stock gets on,
as its history for the next month or two
might tend to throw some light on what
seems quite unaccountable to any one not able
to inspect the hive.

[1247]. Disappearance of Bees. — The fol-
lowing seemed to me a rather peculiar
experience, and I give it for what it is
worth. I commenced bee-keeping last autumn,
when I drove two straw skeps, united the bees
in a frame-hive, and fed them up with syrup.
Last Saturday on examining I found the
frames and combs considerably spotted with
indications of dysentery, very few bees on the
combs, and a great many dead on the floor.
Those on the combs were in a comatose condi-
tion, apparently dead. I looked carefully, but
could not find the queen, and thinking the
bees dead I took out the frames and stood
them against an empty hive close by, leaving
them there all night. The next day was very
warm, and on going round to my hives I found
that a large number of the bees had revived
and were eating the honey, of which there was
a good quantity ; they continued to do this
until dusk, when they all disappeared, and I

March 26, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

129

have only seen a few about since. Can you
account, for this ? — A. G. Eveson, March 22.

Refly. — The few bees which revived (if
any did so) will probably have joined those
carrying off the honey, which would, no doubt,
be the bees of other hives, either belonging to
yourself or your neighbours.

REVIEWS OF CONTINENTAL BEE
JOURNALS.
By J. Dennler.
(Continued from page 100.)
Deutsche Bienenzucht in Theorie und
Praxis. — Editor F. Gerstung. — Preventive
Measures against the Spread of Foul Brood. —
The central society of Silesia came to the fol-
lowing decision at its meeting on December

28 last. All applications for the admission
of live bees to the exhibition which is to take
place at Gbrlitz in September next, at the
sixth meeting of the Central Society of
German Bee-keepers, must be addressed to the
President. M. de Prittevitz, and be accompanied
by a certificate declaring that foul brood does
not exist in the apiary from which the hive
containing the bees is to be sent. These cer-
tificates will be given by competent persons
appointed by the president* of the various
societies.

Bienenseitung. Editor, Vogel. — M. O.
Barleben, an engineer, has eighty kives. To
save time in taking swarms, he clips the wings
of his queens. At swarming time he finds
his first swarms on the ground in front of the
hives. He then cuts out all queen-cells but
one frum the hive that gave the swarms.

Oesterreich - Ungarische Bienenseitung.
Editor, P. Schachinger. T. "Winkler attri-
butes the grey colour of wax to : —

1. Hard (lime) water.

2. Dust.

3. Grey pollen.

A reddish colour to : —

1. Large quantity of red pollen.

2. Contamination with tin.
A brown colour to : —

1. Iron rust.

2. Excrements of wax moth.

3. Burning of the wax.

4. A too sudden cooling of the liquid wax,

preventing the impurities from settling.

Deutsche Illustriertes Bienenseitung. —

Editor, C. F. H. Gravenhorst.— The Central

Society of German Bee-keepers will hold its

sixth general assembly from September 25 to

29 next, at Gorlitz, in Silesia.
BienenwirtscliaftlichcsCentralblatt. — Editor,

Lehzen. — A bee-keeper in the Grand Duchy
of Oldenburg obtained in 1894 from his hives
6,600 lb. of honey and 450 lb. of wax. One
village in the heath district of Oldenburg
despatched 8,000 postal boxes of honey, which
reached nearly 72,000 lb. in weight.
Le Rucher des Allobroges, — President, M.

Minoret. — The following communication was
presented by M. Minoret, at the Congress of
Nancy :— In 1893 I made eau-de-vie with
honey of inferior quality from the plains, such
as that from chestnut3 and buckwheat. Seven-
teen kilos, of this honey gave me about 11
litres of eau-de-vie of from 60 deg. to 61 deg.
of strength. To make it ferment I placed
50 litres of water in the extractor with 15 kilos,
of grapes gathered in my garden. After
crushing the grapes I put the bunches in a
sieve, which I placed on the extractor, allow-
ing the juice to percolate into the mixture of
honey and water. I then placed the extractor
in a close room, in the sun near the window,
and covered all over with a cloth without
taking any further trouble. Fermentatiom was
completed in thirty-five days, when the liquid
was distilled. The process is quite simple.
By this process 100 kilos, of honey furnish
65 litres of eau-de-vie.

lllustrierter Schweitzer Bienenfreund. —
Editor, A. Studer. The frog is a determined
enemy of bees, which in spring and summer
it eats in large numbers. The creature takes
up a position usually in a field of clover, or near
flowers much frequented by bees, in order to
catch and eat them at leisure. As many as
twelve bees have been found in the stomach
of a frog at one time.

Nahhla, LAbeille. — Bulletin of the Society
of Algerian Bee-keepers. Editor, Dr. Reisser.
Statistics of Deaths Attributed to Bees. — An
American has published returns of all cases
of death attributed to bees during the last eight
centuries in the whole world. The number
reaches twenty-two. After analysing the facts
only four instances are clearly attributable to
bees, two of which happened to thieves who
imprudently during the night eat of the
stolen combs ; one to a greedy child, also
from eating comb carelessly ; and the last case
is that of a woman in the Vosges, who, in
taking a swarm off a tree, fell from the ladder,
and the bees, precipitated into space, attacked
her, inflicting thousands of stings. In all the
other instances the fatalities were due to
wasps or hornets.

(To be continued.)

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only o/ personal interest wiU be answered in this column.

G. J. Burden (South Woodford). — Stimula-
tive Feeding. — 1. In uncapping sealed
combs for stimulating in spring it is suffi-
cient to scratch or break a few inches of the
surface with the edge of the knife without
removing the cappings at all. The un-
capping should be done about ever}' four
days, and the smallest exposure of the
sweets will cause the bees to remove the
contents of the honey cells into the parti-
cular comb wh<n-e breeding is going on.

130

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [March 28, 1895.

2. Artificial pollen, i.e., pea- flour, is usually-
given in an old skep or box which has been
inhabited by bees, the odour of the
receptacle attracting them to the spot where
the pea-flour is placed. The skep is placed
in a sunny spot, and partly filled with clean
wood or paper shavings, on which the pea-
flour is thickly sprinkled. Some bee-keepers
put a little of the flour into the cups of
crocus blooms, from whence the bees soon
carry it off.

F. A. Chinchen (Longfleet). — Using old combs.
— 1. If the bees perished from dysentery,
it naturally follows that the food in the combs
will most likely be unwholesome to have
caused the disease. We should therefore not
feed other stocks with it. 2. The combs also,
if much fouled by the excreta, should be
melted down for Avax. 3. The pamphlet
referred to on p. 120 can only be had from the
author, whose address is Aylesford, Kent.
4. In selecting drones for breeding purposes
as described in " Guide Book " (p. 121), the
colony from which early drones are desired is
treated precisely as directed, and when thus
reared are ready for mating purposes before
the ordinary drones are on the wing.

11 Transferring Stocks" (Martock).— 1. The
middle of a brighty warm day in April will
be most suitable for the transferring to new
hive. 2. As the frames will not occupy the
same position relatively in the new hive,
care must be taken that there are no such
irregularities in the surface as will bring
the combs at any point closer on the face
than J in., or the bees will probably attach
them together, and so create difficulty in
handling.

Doubtful (Chelmsford).— 1. The fact of bees
being placed in an orchard of 100 apple-
trees would not have much effect on the
amount of surplus honey stored, because,
though in some seasons the apple yields
fairly of honey, it cannot be relied on. 2.
Honey gathering is shown by raising the
quilt a little, when the edges of the combs
will have a white appearance, as if the
cells are being lengthened out. 3. Super-
clearers are described in B.J. for June 15,
1893 (p. 232). 4. It is a matter of opinion
whether frames should be at right angles to,
or parallel with, the entrance. We prefer
the former. 5. Don't use old combs in
fitting up shallow frames for extracting ;
have new ones built. 6. We attach no
value to the fable of the "longer tongue
of the Italian bee." Second crop red
clover sometimes yields honey to the hive
bee, but the first crop is of no value to the
bee-keeper. 7. If you "start an out
apiary" at some distance away, you must
have some one at hand to secure swarms, or
they will be lost.

0. A. (Hinckley).— 1. Many bee-keepers use
no excluder-zinc below sections ; it is a
matter of preference, 2. Experienced

hands always hive their swarms into the
permanent hive so soon as the bees have
settled in the hiving skep, but beginners find
it safer to defer the final hiving until even-
ing, when the bees will stand " knocking
about " without risk of them taking wing.
The swarm — whether hived in a skep or " in
a bucket" — must be carried to the hive
mouth downward, and thrown on to the
frames — as your hives have fixed floors —
covering the bees at once with a light sheet
until they have descended into the hive.

H. 0. W. (Leeford). — 1. Our copy of
"Root's A. B. C. of Bee-Culture" is dated
1888, and there have been several editions
issued since. 2. Dr. Tinker's book "Bee-
Keeping for Profit," can be bad from the
author, Dr. G. L. Tinker, New Philadelphia,
Ohio, price 30 cents, including postage.

H. T. Icingbell (Taunton). — There is no
foul brood in comb sent ; food in the cells,
however, is thin, and inclined to ferment,
which would account for the dysentery in
the defunct bees. We should not advise
using such combs again, but have new ones
built.

C. Gardner (Northampton).— Combs like
sample sent, which is black with age and
filled with old, mouldy pollen, are only fit
for burning. The small quantity of (what
you call) honey in the comb sent is not
wholesome bee-food. It is like thin, badly-
made fermenting syrup. We should cer-
tainly not allow the bees to clem out such
food, but burn the lot.

Fred. G. Bennison (Darlington). — 1. We
cannot give any opinion on the "treacly-
looking substance " without seeing a sample
of comb containing it. If, as stated, your
stocks are " in grand condition,-' it rather
negatives your susjaicion of foul brood ; but
that is all we can safely say. 2. There is foul
brood among bees in your county, but as to
the extent of its prevalence we cannot say.

Ely. — Mouldy Combs. — If the mouldiness is
not excessive, the bees will themselves
remove it, and with combs of last year's
building we should allow them to do so.

A Durham Reader. — Bees not Leaving
Hive. — Why the inmates of your friend's
hive, " with a plentiful supply of honey and
plenty of bees " should " never come outside
the hive "is a mystery we cannot explain from
a distance. Our first thought would be to
see (1) if bees were dead, or (2) if they
could get out if they tried. On no other
grounds can we imagine them being so lazy
and unlike the " busy bee " with which bee-
men are familiar.

St. Albans. — No foul brood in comb re-
ceived, but it is old, black, and the cells
are choked up with mouldy pollen ; conse-
quently it is of no use whatever, not even
for melting down for wax.

April 4, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

131

tffitoral Itotioa, ku

USEFUL HINTS.
Weather. — At length there would
appear to be fair grounds for supposing
that the warmth of another spring is at
hand, or, shall we say, for believing that
the hurricane which did such havoc on
the 23rd and 24th has carried off with
it all that remained of one of the severest
winters in modern records. Anyway, the
bee-keeper has again the always pleasur-
able sensation afforded him of seeing the
bees at work busily carrying in the first
pellets of pollen for '95. The frequent
recurrence of warm days will also give,
to even the most dilatory, plenty of
opportunity for getting through his first
spring overhaul and finding out how the
bees have " come through." We are not
going to anticipate results as to winter
losses, but simply express a hope that
readers will find the general condition of
their stocks as well or better than —
under all the circumstances — they might
have been, and that this will content
them. The battle with King Frost is
now over, and no time should be lost
either in burying the dead or attending
to the wounded. Many a good stock of
bees in extremis through want of food
may yet be saved from perishing out-
right by the prompt giving of a pint of
warm syrup, and we may well cry
"Shame" on the bee-keeper who allows
suchathingtohappen after April has set in.
Repeating Replies. — It is not without
some valid reason that "A Reader"
makes what he calls his "complaint of
the frequent repetition of replies to the
same questions which appear in the
current numbers of B.J." This "com-
plaint" is not new to us; indeed, we
might confess to having been the
recipients of outside sympathy on
account of our troubles in that line.
But it should not be forgotten that the
mission of the B.J. is mainly to teach,
i.e., to help those who "don't know."
Those who do, need no help, and while
it is, no doubt, trying enough for the
veteran bee-keeper to encounter too
often the simple questions of his less
experienced brother in the course of his
reading, it will be admitted that our
share of the business is not free from its
trying side also. We may, however, be

acquitted of any desire either to lessen
the usefulness of our paper to the beginner,
or to limit the dimensions of its Query
Column if we refer several correspon-
dents— whose communications are before
us— to pages 128 and 130 of last week's
issue for replies to their queries.

Hives in Storms.— Referring again
to the tremendous gale of a few days
ago, some rather alarming accounts of its
effects in exposed places appear in this
and last week's numbers, while we have
had several letters, not for publication,
Avherein similar and worse mishaps are
recorded. We are also asked to give the
best way of securing hives from being
blown over, or having roofs, "carried
several fields away." Of course nothing
seems easier than weighting down with
stones laid upon roofs, but we con-
fess to a preference for our old plan, as
shown in the accompanying "cut"
below. A stout, notched stake, 12 to
18 in. long, is driven in the ground, close

under the hive-stand in an oblique
direction, point inwards. One end of a
strong cord is fastened to the stake, and
to the other a couple of bricks. This
keeps the roof quite secure, yet easily
removable. In very exposed situations,
where hive and stand run a risk of being
overturned, a second stake is driven in
on the opposite side, and, by using a
longer cord, the latter may be passed
over the notch of the second stake and
carried over roof again, thus tying hive
and stand down to the ground.

Using Old Combs. — Regarding the
value of old combs from hives in which
bees have died during the past winter,
and as to how far they are useful for
using again with swarms, we may say
that— judging from the many samples
sent for our opinion — very few of them

132

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 4, 1895.

are of the slightest use for anything but
melting down for wax. Moreover, all
that are either black with age, filled with
hard, dry pollen, or bearing any signs of
disease, are fit for nothing short of the
fire, and a thorough burning with that.
Some cases will no doubt occur where
the combs are in good condition and
contain wholesome food ; these may be
retained and made useful ; but we advise
being very chary of using food in combs
for the sake of economising where there
is the smallest risk of disease about.

In grading combs intended for melting
down, too, those which are dirty ©r full
of pollen-choked cells are better burnt
than mixed up along with better ones ;
they lessen rather than increase the
quantity of wax got, and spoil its colour.
On this latter point it is generally known
that the yellowish brown colour of the
wax, of which brood foundation is usually
made, is largely attributable to the
quantity of pollen it contains. Some
interesting and useful information as to
the causes of the various other colours
which beeswax assumes is given by an
Austrian bee-keeper on p. 129 of our last
issue.

Chapman Honey Plant. — We have
been quite taken aback by the number
of requests received for seed of the
above, and, pending the chances of ob-
taining a further supply, we must ask
that no further applications be sent at
present. Mr. S. Killick, of Oxted, has, in
response to our invitation of last week,
been good enough to send a large packet
of seed, which, in addition to a small
quantity sent by a lady, has been dis-
tributed to over another hundred appli-
cants, and, unless this notification
should induce some reader to supplement
this, we can send no more. This year, no
doubt, the Chapman honey plant will be
sufficiently plentiful among readers to
allow of " free seeds all round " for 1896
— a marked contrast to the 2 dols. per
oz. which (according to Root's " A.B.C.")
was originally charged for it in America.

BRITISH

BEE-KEEPERS'
CIATION.

ASSO-

The following letter, together with syllabus
of regulations for examinations for Lecture-
ships in the Science of Apiculture, have been

forwarded to Agricultural and Technical
Colleges in the United Kingdom : —

17, King William-street,
Strand, London, W.C.

March, 1895.

Dear Sir,

The British Bee-keepers' Association,
founded in the year 1874 for the promotion of
scientific apiculture, has been steadily at work
with this object in view, and has achieved
important results throughout the country
during the last twenty years.

As the recognised central authority in
matters relating to bee-keeping, the Council
is in touch with the various county associa-
tions—nearly thirty in number — gives them
advice and help of various kinds ; offers prizes
and medals to be competed for at shows of
honey, wax, and apparatus used in bee-keep-
ing ; sends judges to such shows ; undertakes
examination of candidates to become certifi-
cated first, second, and third class experts, of
whom there are now 207 on the published
list. By these means, and in other ways, the
Association has greatly extended intelligent
and humane methods of managing bees, and
has secured a largely increased production of
honey and wax.

Owing to substantial sums of money being
now annually voted by County Councils for
the teaching of apiculture in rural districts, it
has been represented to the association by
influential persons that there is a distinct need
of lecturers of greater scientific knowledge,
and of abilities for conveying public instruc-
tion considerably beyond those possessed by
the ordinary certificated expert. Such lecturers,
if thoroughly competent men can be secured,
will become teachers of bee-keeping, and
will, it is believed, find remunerative
employment under the various local autho-
rities. They will also be most useful in
attracting to the too-much neglected science
and art of apiculture the attention of our edu-
cated classes.

The Council of the British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation have, therefore, determined, after mature
consideration, to undertake the examination of
candidates for such lectureshij«,and have drawn
up the series of regulations herewith enclosed.

A copy of this circular letter will be sent
to the Universities, the Agricultural and Tech-
nical Colleges throughout the country, and to
such other institutions as may be considered
likely to furnish candidates at the proposed
examinations. — I am, your obedient servant,
Thos. Wm. Cowan,
Chairman of Council.

REGULATIONS FOR EXAMINATIONS FOR LEC-
TURESHIPS IN THE SCIENCE OF APICULTURE.

1. Every candidate shall produce evidence
of having received a good general education,
such as a certificate of having passed Respon-
sions at Oxford, the Previous Exam, at Cam-
bridge, the Matriculation Examination of the

April 4, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

133

London University, the Senior Oxford or
Cambridge Local Examination, the First-class
College of Preceptors' Examination, or such
ather testimony as the council of the British
Bee-keepers' Association shall approve.

2. The examination shall extend over three
days, and shall include the following sub-
jects : —

1. The Literature of Bee-keeping.

2. The Systems in vogue in different
countries in modern and remoter times.

3. The Natural History of the Bee, in-
cluding the Physiology and Anatomy.

4. The Produce of the Honey-bee.

5. The Establishment and Management
of Apiaries.

6. The Diseases of Bees and their Treat-
ment.

7. The Relation of Bees to Horticulture
and Agriculture.

8. Bee Appliances and their Relative
Value.

3. A certain amount of practical skill shall
be shown in simple manipulations. (The
necessary amount of practical skill could be
acquired by a week's training during the
working season in an apiary of repute.)

4. Ability to give outline or complete
lectures, with or without notes, will be required.
(Special stress will be laid on this point by the
examiners.)

5. The fee for the examination shall be three
guineas. Any candidate failing to satisfy the
examiners may present himself at a subsequent
examination at the reduced fee of two guineas.
All fees must be paid, and notice of intending
candidature must be given to Mr. J. Huckle,
secretary, British Bee-keepers' Association,
King's Langley, Herts, at least one calendar
month previous to the dates which may be
fixed for holding the examination.

LEICESTERSHIRE B.K.A.

The annual meeting of this association was
held on March 23, in the Mayor's Parlour, Old
Town Hall, Leicester. A large number of
members attended, including several ladies.
In the absence of Sir Israel Hart and Sir
Thos. Wright, neither of whom were able to
attend owing to domestic matters, Mr. A. G.
Pugh was elected to the chair. After the
minutes of the last annual meeting had been
read and confirmed, the thirteenth annual
report and balance-sheet were submitted. The
total payments amounted to £44. 19s., and
receipts and cash in hand to £42. lis. 5|d.
Notwithstanding this small adverse balance of
£2. 5s. 6id., the association is, on the whole,
in a very satisfactory position, the deficiency
being caused chiefly by several supporters not
contributing as usual, owing to the agricultural
depression. The report and balance-sheet
were adopted. Among the various matters
dealt with in the report it was stated that
great progress has been made. Many new

members had joined, and owing, no doubt, to
the efforts of the association, there have been
better results both in the way bees are kept
and in the manner of handling and harvesting
honey. The county has partially been divided
into districts, and the local secretaries have
rendered valuable help by enrolling over fifty
new members, making a net increase for the
year of twenty-one.

The officials and committee for 1895 were
elected as follows :— President, His Grace the
Duke of Rutland, K.G. ; vice-presidents, the
Marquis of Granby, M.P., with life members
and subscribers of 10s. and upwards ; hon.
treasurer, Mr. H. M. Riley ; hon. sec, Mr. J.
Waterfield, Kibworth ; committee : Miss
Chester, Miss Throsby, and Messrs. Nicholson,
Carter, Cooper, T. J. Clark, Rev. T. C.
Deeming, Drs. Emmerson and Fulshaw, W. P.
Meadows, Fawkes, Widdowson, and Martin,
and the several district secretaries.

The prizes won at the Agricultural and
Abbey Park Shows were then distributed, and
a hearty vote of thanks to the chairman
brought the meeting to a close. — (Covimuni-
cated.)

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, <fcc, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Be8 Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements ).

%• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

"NOTES BY THE WAY."
[2283.] By the time this reaches the office of
B. J. we shall have passed what the almanacs
term "All Fools' Day," and the fourth
month of '95 will have commenced. The
year so far has been a disastrous one for bees,
and an expensive one for bee-keepers, with
every prospect of a continuance of expense for
some time to come. The fields are barren, the
woods still leafless and bare, scarcely a prim-
rose to be found even in the most sheltered
spots. I noticed to-day the buds of the -willow
begin to swell, but we shall have no palm in
bloom by " Palm Sunday '' in this part. The
cyclone of the 24th prox. whipped the few
snowdrops and crocus blossoms out of existence,
and the past week has been so wet and cold
that the bees have not had a chance of a flight
till the 31st, when a few hours of fitful sun-
shine set them busy in the skeps after the

134

THE BEITISH BEE JOUENAL. [April 4, 1895.

substitute for pollen. If the condition of my
own apiary is any criterion of the general
trend, then I say, feed ! feed ! feed ! Reports
of losses still reach me as I " talk bees '' with
bee-keepers, and nearly all losses have been
from starvation, the few from dysentery and
queenlessness.

I found a case of foul brood at a friend's
apiary last autumn, and advised burning the
whole of the contents of the hive, and on
calling the other day, found my instructions
had been carried out. I shall examine the
remaining colony (very strong in bees now, I
am .told) later on when I am in the district
again, and if I find it infected I shall try Mr.
McEvoy's method of cure.

Do bees pay ? I am often asked. I reply-
Yes, to the specialist ; but the man who
expects that they will board themselves and
fill supers without any management or care,
will be woefully disappointed when he tots up
expenses and expects a fortune out of a few
hives. I say, and I speak from practical
experience, that the road to fortune is not
through a bee-hive. The enthusiast in his first
years of bee-craft may have one or two hives
that give a large surplus ; the season may be
of the kind to rejoice the bee-keeper's heart ;
the crops in the immediate vicinity of
the hives may be of the best, one following
the other in succession ; the climatic condi-
tions compatible to a good flow of honey, and
his best colony may earn the distinctive title
of "The Old Hundredth," this abnormal
quantity may be sold retail at a good price to
admiring friends, and our enthusiast's bosom
swells with conscious pride as he strikes the
balance at the end of the harvest, and vows
that another year his apiary shall be increased
to a goodly number of hives. These the fond
dreamer hopes and expects will all reach the
average of the present colony — or, may be, the
average of his present number of stocks —
never considering that his environment may
be changed considerably in even one season by
drought, by a killing frost, by a wet season —
.sometimes, aye, by a succession of unpro-
pitious seasons — and our erstwhile enthusiast
will discover that he was pecking about in the
callow down of folly rather than, as he believed,
in the full plumage of wisdom.

Speaking of environment reminds me of the
good old times for bee-keeping hereabouts,
when, in May and June, our hedgerows were
white with hawthorn blossom, and the air was
fragrant with its balmy odours. But now,
lander the present system of closely- clipped
hedges in lanes and fields, we get practically
no "May-blossom" honey, and with " Inclo-
sure Acts " the commons have passed away,
along with their wealth of blossom, during the
greater part of the year — i.e., the gorse, the
broom, the heather, the wild flowers, in con-
tinued succession. The fields under cultivation
are not what they were a decade ago in the
matter of honey-producing plants, high culti-
vation having given place to a condition

approaching, in some instances, ferce natural.
The mixtures of grasses sown for " ley " are
different, all containing a smaller proportion of
that queen of bee flowers, white clover ; and
comparatively small breadths of trifolium are
now sown. All this tends to circumscribe
the forage - ground of the bees. A few
years back the extension of dairy farms
was instanced as being likely to add to our
honey crop in pasture districts ; it would be
very interesting if our bee-keeping friends
living in those districts would state how far
these prognostications have resulted. In
reply to a recent inquiry in B.J. as to size of
honey tins, I have two shapes, each holding
14 lb. ; one 6|in. high by 8 in. diameter ; the
other 10-i in. high by 6 in. in diameter, both
lever-lid" tins of the S.O.T.B. Co.'s make.
Another " kink " I would chronicle comes from
" Gleanings.'' " To fill cracks in wood, such
as hive roofs, gaping cracks around plinths of
hive bodies, &c, mix paint and dry sand —
better if sand is used hot — and well work it
into the crack." The writer in " Gleanings "
says " it does not shrink." I have used it,
but thought others would like to try it also —
time will prove if it is a reliable stopping for
cracks ; putty fails, I know from experience.

Foreign honey, I am sorry to hear, is being
palmed off on the British public as "pure
British " or " pure English honey." Will the
Trade Marks Act reach these nefarious prac-
tices and punish the persons who are trading
on the reputation of honest English bee-keepers'
produce ? Here on the one hand are bee asso-
ciations endeavouring to increase and safeguard
one of our minor industries ; then, so soon as
a trade is established, foreign honey is foisted
on the public as " English." I have not the
slightest objection to the sale of foreign honey
providing it is sold as such, then the purchaser
will know the source of the product and be, to
a great extent, protected against fraud, both
in quality and price. This game has been
going on some time, to the detriment of honest
British producers of honey. Possibly there is
some clarifying process (similar to the
molasses clarifying with sulphate of zinc,
which has lately attracted attention in
scientific circles) as I hear the colour of this
foreign honey is fair. Has the time arrived
when a " Bee-keepers' Trade Protection Asso-
ciation" should be formed to prosecute in
these cases ? — W. Woodley, Becdon, Newbury.

DYSENTERY.

WHAT CAUSES IT, AND HOW CAN IT BE
PREVENTED ?

[2284.] So far, it has been my good fortune
never to have seen a single case of that bee-
pest known by the name of foul brood. There
is, however, another bee-pest — viz., dysentery
— of which I have had more experience than
is either profitable or pleasant. Four years
ago we had a very severe winter — something
like ten weeks of continuous frost, accompanied

April 4, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

135

with dense fogs, at the close of which I dis-
covered that many of my stocks were badly
affected with dysentery. Some of my best
stocks were dead, others were reduced to such
a wretched state that they never recovered,
thereby reducing my forty colonies to some-
thing like twenty ; in other words, I sustained
a loss of nearly 50 per cent, of my stocks. My
bees were all located in good sound hives, and
were well supplied with stores. The question
then naturally arose as to what could be the
cause of the mischief, to which several replies
were immediately forthcoming. A well-known
bee-keeper and an intimate friend of mine
said, " It's your faulty system of management
that is at fault. You have always sworn by
the long hive and the parallel system, and now
you see where it has landed you ! " Well,
such an explanation might have been satisfac-
tory but for the fact that about one- third
of my stocks were in square hives, with
the combs at right angles to entrance,
the percentage of diseased stocks being
just as great in the one case as in the
other, thus proving that the position of
the frames had nothing whatever to do
with the matter. It was then suggested that
ventilation was at fault. Well, some of the
hives had entrances 9 in. wide ; others were
reduced to about 2 in. In either case there
were healthy stocks and stocks killed by
dysentery, proving the ventilation theory to
be just as groundless as that of the position of
the frames. Finally it was argued that I must
have used unsuitable sugar for feeding-up in
the winter ; but I had only used about 30 lb.
of sugar, and that was given to about three
stocks. All the rest had, I was going to say,
natural stores ; but anyway they had stores of
their own gathering, therefore the blame could
not be laid to the sugar.

The question was then passed by as un-
accountable, with the hope that, as that was
the first experience of the kind after many
years of bee-keeping, it Avould also be the last.
The next winter my bees were packed in the
same manner, in the same hives, and located
in the same position. They all came out in the
spring healthy, and fresh as a rose, hardly a
dead bee to be seen, which may be said ot
each succeeding winter until the present
occasion.

At the present time I have two apiaries,
one at Huntingdon, the other at Brampton,
not more than two miles apart. My Hunting-
don apiary, where dysentery was so bad four
years ago, consisted last autumn of about forty
stocks, which, with one or two exceptions,
have wintered splendidly. Never had bees
wintered better. My Brampton apiary at the
same time consisted of about eighty stocks,
which, to simplify matters, I will divide into
four lots.

Lot 1 consisted of twenty skeps purchased
in the autumn, and brought a distance of
about ten miles. They were well supplied
with natural stores. These were put up

in a somewhat careless manner, old doors
or anything that came to hand acting
as floor boards, while the only coverings used
consisted of old tea trays and sheets ot corru-
gated iron weighted down with bricks. They
have all wintered well — hardly a dead bee to
be seen. Lot 2 consisted of stocks made up of
driven bees and fed entirely on sugar. They,
with the exception of one or two that ran
short of store, have come out in good condition
— hives as dry and clean as the day the bees
were put in. Lot 3 consisted of natural
swarms and stocks, which stored in the brood
combs honey gathered in the early part of the
season. Most of these had dysentery, but of a
comparatively mild form. We now come to
Lot 4, consisting of stocks which had either
stored the early-gathered honey in sections or
had used the same for brood-raising, and were
therefore depending on late-gathered honey for
their winter support. These were very badly
affected with — I was going to say dysentery,
but that term scarcely describes the condition
they were in. It just looked as if some one
had been to each hive, turned back the quilt,
and then poured in a quantity of chocolate-
coloured paint in such a manner that it
splashed all over the frames, combs, hive sides,
and floor board. The bees, of course, were
dead, or so reduced in number that they were
useless.

The cause of dysentery then — so far, at all
events, as my case is concerned — is very plain,
and the remedy is not far to seek. I am
sanguine enough to believe that I shall never
again suffer any loss from this evil. More
might be said on the subject, but my letter is
already somewhat lengthy. Perhaps others
who have had experience with this bee pest,
dysentery, will be good enough to give us their
opinion as to cause, &c. — A. Sharp, The
Apiary, Brampton, Huntingdon.

NOTES FROM HEREFORD.

[2285.] I am just recovering from a sharp
attack of influenza. Propped up on pillows
while writing, I can survey through my window
a lovely spring day, which makes one long to
be about again. Except when reading, the
hours pass as days, still I have been able to
do that, and write a little.

I have! wondered how hives in general have
stood last Saturday's gale. Mine are right, I'm
glad to say ; every winter I place a couple of
bricks on each hive.

In this district chimney-stacks have been
going through the roofs, and slates flying about
like gigantic hailstones.

Two of my stocks have gone ; the long con-
finement did it. There was plenty of food, but
the bees could not move to it. One lot also
had dysentery slightly. My most forward lot
at date of writing was made up last autumn
with four driven lots. Ten days ago it was a
treat to see how they worked ; the bright
yellow balls of pollen they toddled in with

13G

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 4, 1895.

surprised me, for the crocus was not then open,
though now they are in full bloom.

I have no patience with experiences of
" Wells " hives, as given on page 32 of March
Record, when a bee-keeper coolly tells you that
" on lifting the roof the bees would pour out
from under the quilts on all sides.'' How such
bee-keepers succeed with single hives is a
wonder to me ; of course they never can
expect to with double ones. A bee-keeper I
know started a " Wells " hive the season before
last ; he is a slovenly, careless man, one whose
" fingers are all thumbs." He would show you
beautiful sections quite spoilt by having used
dirty old quilts above thera, &c. Well, to my
surprise, he succeeded that season, and had a
big take from his " Wells," and admitted
to me when I met him that "there was some-
thing in it," and that he should go in for it,
but I find this last season he failed entirely.
Another man who failed on attempting the
system is one who keeps a large number of
stocks, and has had a lot of experience, yet for
the following reasons I consider him unfitted
to succeed : — His apiary consists of home-made
hives of all shapes, and crowded together so
that in some places one can only just pass
between the hives. His bees are very mixed,
some of a most vicious nature, and, being a
labourer, he spends nearly the whole day on a
farm far away from his bees. I don't consider
the " Wells " system will succeed except with
advanced bee-keepers, yet I'm sorry to see the
wrong ones starting it, i.e., beginners, and
those who haven't the slightest knowledge of
the " science " of the craft.

I, like Mr. W. B. Webster, see my old
smoker rusting on a shelf ; for three seasons I
have used the carbolised cloth, and I shall never
go back to the smoker. I read your valuable
B.B.J, and Record regularly, and have derived
great benefit from them ; the former I have
bound for the last five years. I'm sorry to say
so, but it seems to me you have some corre-
spondents who write too much and too often ;
part may contain good advice, but it is just a
repetition of what they said a week or so
before, and a lot of it is repetition.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Mr. H. W.
Brice's articles on queen-rearing, and shall
look forward in the future for more. —
Western County, March 27.

DOES BEE-KEEPING PAY ?
[2286]. In accordance with your kind invi-
tation (B.B.J, of February 28, page 94), I
now send jou my letter on the question,
" Does bee-keeping pay ? " But I wish at the
outset to disarm certain criticisms which I shall
otherwise meet with from you and from your
readers. I do not say for a moment that no
one can make bee-keeping pay ; the sellers of
stocks, swarms, and queens, I dare say, do
more than make both ends meet. But bee-
keeping, pare and simple, for the production
of honey and wax for the market, is the ques-

tion ; and again I should like to set aside the
very large producers, the men with 100 hives
and the like, who are miles above me, who
have a far wider knowledge than I have. I
wish to keep to my oavu level. The keepers of
a few hives — ten or twenty — who are supposed,
according to the current literature of the day,
to supplement their yearly income, or their
weekly wages, by a handsome profit from their
hives ; these, I presume, form the great
majority of bee-keepers. For once, Messrs.
Editors, let us forget all about the existence
of foul brood, and suppose that there is no
such thing ; for if that came into one's apiary
and (a compulsory inspector, at a fortnight's
notice, after it, not only any possible profit,
but also one's capital, would disappear in
smoke.

I cannot help thinking that in those roseate
balance-sheets which sometimes appear in your
journal, there is a slight bias in favour of the
receipts against the expenditure. I myself
have hitherto affirmed boldly that bee-keeping
pays ; but last year I set down every item of
expenditure, every item of receipts, and this
has entirely altered my opinion. You say at
once, " Oh, you have chosen a bad year. I
had just as much honey last year as I usually
have. It is a curious thing that, try as I will,
I cannot persuade my bees to produce more.
I work for section honey, and what is the
result? Ten hives, spring count ; 278 saleable
sections, and 48 lb. of run honey, sold for £13.
13s. 10d., and a second prize for run honey at
the Cambridge Show, value 10s. = £14. 3s. lOd.
in all.

Now for the expenditure. I am not going
to trouble you with all the petty details, but if
you want them at any time you can have them,
down to the 2d. for the return of an " empty "
from the station. The total I paid out was
£12. 9s. Id. ; but I sold at cost price to
neighbours, foundation, a hive, sections, frames,
&c, to the amount of £1. 3s. 9d., bringing the
expenditure down to £11. 5s. 4d. Ostensibly,
this shows a profit of £2. 18s. 6cl., and with
that, I suppose, most men would sit down and
say, " then bee-keeping pays." But there is
absolutely nothing reckoned for the destruc-
tion of clothes by honey and paint, nor for the
time spent over the hives, which, at union
rates, ought not to be less than 4d. an hour ;
besides which, I invested at the outset a good
£30 on my bees and bee appliances, and an
annual £1 of interest is not much to demand
for that outlay. Take out the interest, £l ;
the time, say ninety hours, £1. 10s., and the
clothes, 10s., and where is your profit ? You
say, "The time is nothing.'' Do you know
any harder and hotter work than taking sec-
tions from the hives at midsummer ? I don't.
But then, of course, you are above me ; sec-
tion clearers are the things. Yes, I know, but
they cost money. Again, where is my invested
£30 ? I should like to know where it is. I
have got a whole heap of hives, a stack of
section crates, an extractor, an old smoker, and

April 4, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

137

a few bees. What would they fetch to-
morroAV ? Not a £5 note. If I had that £30
in Consols, there it might stop ; but in bee-
hives it won't stay.

Here is a heretic for you, Messrs. Editors !
Burn him along with the bacilli. Alas ! the
worst of it all is that I rejoice in bee-keeping.
But foreseeing the heap of rebuke that will be
boldly pitched upon me, I shall reduce myself
to even smaller dimensions than I possess
already ; I shrink down to the size of a spore
(all your readers know by this time what a
spore is), unsquashable, imperceptible, abso-
lutely indestructible, and in that very small
and safe condition I await with confidence the
prolonged boiling or steaming or whatever
other torture you and your readers may have
in hand for me. — Robert S. Bouth, Long-
stock Vicarage, Stockbridge, March 27.

[We don't quite know why our Beverend
correspondent should look forward to even
metaphorical "boiling, steaming, or whatever
other torture," &c, from either readers or
ourselves because of the relation of his inter-
esting "tale of woe." The fact that he
"rejoices in bee-keeping" covers a multitude
of sins in bee-management, at least in our
eyes. But by blending the pleasures of the
craft with a little business thrift, we are
sanguine as to his learning in time how to
manage ten hives of bees, and harvest
.£13. 13s. lOd. worth of honey with a less
expenditure than ,£11. 5s. 4d.! Otherwise,
and in view of what appears in the above com-
munication, it would seem that bee-keeping for
profit is not our correspondent's forte. — Eds.]

BEE-KEEBERS' ASSOCIATION FOB
SUBBEY.

[2287.] I am glad of the opportunity to
refer to the above question raised by Mr.
Brice in your last issue. I would suggest that
he shall take the matter in hand and com-
municate with our old friend, Captain Camp-
bell, who will, I feel sure, give him his cordial
co-operation in reviving this once flourishing
association. While lecturing with our van last
year in Surrey, we had the pleasure of the
gallant captain's company for one or two days,
and I gathered that, while still retaining all
his old ardour for the bees, he finds that
advancing years prevent his continuing the
active part of the work which is so necessary
to the welfare of a county association. If
therefore Mr. Brice will step in and devote
his undoubted energies to the work, I feel sure
he will have his reward in a large increase of
members in the Surrey Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion. My special reason for writing is that
we have arranged to send our van on nearly
two months' lecturing tour in Surrey in June
and July, and if, in the meantime, the Surrey
Bee-keepers' Association can be put on a
working footing we shall be very pleased to
press its claims for support upon the bee-

keepers we come in contact with while travel-
ling through a very large portion of that
county. With this in view, if Mr. Brice or
some other gentleman will take the matter up,
I can promise the cordial co-operation of the
Berks Bee-keepers' Association, whose efforts
in the matter are with the intention of pro-
moting rational and humane bee-keeping when
and wherever they can. If this can be done,
no time should be lost in calling a meeting and
getting the association into working order. —
A. D. Woodley, 17, Market-place, Beading,
March 23.

BEES IN THE STOBM.

[2288.] Though the severe winter has done
much damage amongst the bees, I am afraid
the storm of Sunday last, the 21th inst., in
East Anglia has done more. When hundreds
of huge trees were uprooted, it is almost a
marvel that bee-hives were able to stand at all.
My man informed me at three p.m. that my
seven hives were roofless and the bees very
savage. However, he managed to put the tops
on and lay bricks on them. I need scarcely
say that wraps and chaff cushions were many
of them lost. No hive was overthrown for-
tunately, but I am sure that that is only owing
to the half-sheltered position in which they were
placed. The damage done to houses and parks
is terrible. Huge coping tiles were lifted off
the church roof and carried some 200 yards,
slates being twirled about in the air like
leaves. Scarcely a house has escaped loss of
tiles or something. In future at the vernal
equinox I mean to put bricks on my hives,
and at the autumnal equinox, too. — W. S.
Trapp, Marsham, near Norwich, March 28.

" LANGDON'S NON-SWARMING
DEVICE."
[2289.] On p. 242 of B.B.J, for June 22,
1893, appeared a description of the above,
anci although it reads very " glowing " — it's
American — like yourself, I have wondered how
it works out in practice. If British bee-
keepers who have tried the plan will favour
your readers with the result, I feel sure you
will kindly give us the benefit. of it through
your columns, and I have no doubt it would
greatly interest others besides.— S. F. Cluttex,
Southward, Suffolk, March 33.

BEES IN LINCOLNSHIRE.

EFFECTS OF THE RECENT STORM.

[2290.] A hard time it has been for the
bees, owing to storms and frost. On the
Saturday before Christmas we had a tremen-
dous high wind here, in which roofs and quilts
were carried off, though many of the hives
were heavily weighted down with bricks.
When I arrived home from market on that
day, the garden was literally covered with
dead and disabled bees. As the bees took

138

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 4, 1895.

wing they were cut down by the wind never
to rise again. On the first mild day, how-
ever, I got quilts and all put right again.
About a fortnight ago I examined my hives,
and found that some of the strongest stocks had
several seams of dead bees and the greater
part of the food gone, while two or three
weak lots, strangely enough, had scarcely a
dead bee about them. On March 24 we had
a perfect cyclone, during which not only were
hive covers carried oft", but the hives were
some of them turned over bodily, exposing
the bees to the fury of the gale. It being
impossible to get at and move them, they had
to remain so for some time. How the brood
will fare I cannot say. Some empty hives
placed against a high wall had their roofs
(heavy Cheshire ones) lifted ever the wall, and
carried right across the field. — J. K. Truss,
Ufford Heath, Stamford, March 26.

<&thit& fnrm tk gins.

Hill 'Top, West Bromwich, March 22. —
Twenty of my twenty-one stocks are all doing
Avell, the odd one being a nucleus of four
frames in which the bees have perished. The
others are carrying in pollen this day from
crocus and from the pea-flour corner. — Thos.
Griffiths.

^teras ani Unites.

[1248.] Extracting Wax. — To-day I have
been extracting wax from last year's comb ;
that taken from old straw skeps came out
well, and was good-looking wax ; while that
from my bar-frame hives, into which I put
foundation, I cannot understand, as it will not
set, but mixes with the water into which it is
run when melted. Can you explain how it is 1
I am sending sample of foundation used, and
what I have extracted from the comb.— J.
Moore, Stone-Lea, Eastwood Vale,Rotherham,
March 29, 1895.

Reply. — There must be some other reasons
beyond those given for the difference in the
quality of wax extracted. Bees-wax will not
mix with water whether from frame-hives or
skeps. What has mixed in the way stated
will be pollen and refuse only, because any wax
in the combs would not only float on the top
of the water, but could be lifted off in a solid
cake when cold. If we could see a sample of
each comb before melting we might be able to
explain further, but nothing can alter the above
facts.

[124!).] Combs Soiled th/rouffh Dysentery. —
Along, 1 have no doubt, with other bee-
keepers, I find myself with over a couple of
dozen otherwise good combs, taken from hives
which suffered a good deal from dysentery.

They seem too good to melt down, and yet I
do not like to give them to the. bees again as
they are. Can anything be done to get rid of
the excessive soiling in such combs, which are
only of last year's building ? — A Sufferer,
Norfolk, March 30.

Eeply. — Had the combs been old and black
with age, we should have advised melting
down or else burning, but with such combs as
the above we should cut away the face of the
cells, and with them the marks of the faeces
left on them. Even if pared down to the
midrib, it would save having to refit with
comb-foundation.

WEATHER REPORT FOR 1895.

Rainfall, 2'13in.
Heaviest fall, -63 on 26th
Rain fell on 16 days
Above average, -26
Maximum Temperature, 60°

on 21st
Minimum Temperature 23°

on 4th
Minimum on Grass, 16° on

4th
Frosty Nights, 13

Westbourne, March, 1895.

Sunshine, 159-3 hours
Brightest Day, 18, 10-40
Sunless days, 6
Below average, 77
Mean Maximum, 47°
Mean Minimum, 33-4°
Mean Temperature, 40-2°
Maximum Barometer,

30-42° 15th
Minimum Barometer,

28-78° on 28th

L. B. BlRKETT.

REVIEWS OF CONTINENTAL BEE

JOURNALS.

By J. Dennler.

(Continued from page 129.)

A Foolish Regulation. — The same journal
mentions the extraordinary decree which has
just been published by the administrator of
one of the communes in the neighbourhood of
Algiers. Here are some extracts from the
several clauses : —

Art. 1. — No proprietor or occupier of a
garden or enclosure in the district of Thiers,
&c, may establish and keep more than one
hive, which must be placed at not less than
25 metres from the highways, public paths, or
neighbouring properties.

Art. 2. — Professional bee-keepers in these
districts, owning more than three hives, shall
not place an apiary nearer than 100 metres
to any dwelling, cemetery, or public road.

Art. 3. — No existing hive or apiary may
be kept, and no new hive or apiary started,
without the special permission of the muni-
cipal administration having determined the
conditions on which they may be kept.

This regulation is absurd, says the Bulle,i?i
de /« Soci/te du Bassin de la Meuse, and sup-
presses apiculture completely in the commune.
It will, without doubt, be annulled by a
superior authority, and the apiphobe (dreader
of bees) who has passed the decree will be
placed in the first rank as a bee-enemy, even
before the bear, &c.

JSfeiv Bee Publications : Die Natiirlichen
Grundlagen der Bienenthiitigkeit, by Fred.

April 4, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

139

Durr, Rector at Breslau. 1st vol. Published
by 0. A. Schwetschke & Sons, Brunswick.

Bienenndhrpflanxen. — Describing bee-plants,
their structure and use to the forester, farmer,
gardener, and bee-keeper, -with instructions for
improving bee-pasturage, by Herman Melzer.
Published by J. Neumann, Neudamm.

Der Thuringer Zwilling. — 3rd edition, by
F. Gerstung, Pastor of Osuianstedt. Price
60 pfennigs (6|d).

Das Grundsetz der Brut-und-Volksentwick-
lung. — 2nd edition, by the same author.

L'Avocat de I' Apiculteur. —By M. F. F.
Bachan, magistrate and councillor-general of
Dordogne, at Pessac-sur-Dordogne. Published
at the office of the Apiculteur in Paris. This
pamphlet is not so large as one's hand, but
the author, with remarkable precision and
talent, has introduced into it all the laws, with
comments and the various decisions of the
Courts, with respect to apiculture. It is
evident that, with the progress of bee-keeping,
the three clauses of the French code pub-
lished in 1889 are insufficient. M. Bachan
thinks he has been of use in putting in the
hands of French bee-keepers a, work they
have long needed. To understand how to
manage an apiary may be easy, but to settle
the legal points which may arise with neigh-
bours or strangers is indispensable. The
Avocat de V Apiculteur is the apifuge which we
must all have at all times in our hands. Price
1 franc.

Le Miel et son Usage. By J. Dennler.
Seventh edition, revised and corrected. Price
20pfennigs (2jd.) (Silver medal at the Universal
Exhibition, Antwerp.) — This is what the
Bulletin de la Soc. d'Apic. de la Meuse says
with regard to this pamphlet on honey and its
uses : — "You complain, brother bee-keepers,
of not being able to get rid of your honey.
Well, read M. Dennler's pamphlet, and your
trouble will vanish as by enchantment, and
if you still complain it -will be that you
have not enough honey for your own use, and
that of your customers, who have become insati-
able. Honey can be used in so many different
culinary preparations, and has so many virtues,
that one is surprised that it is not more sought
after. It is for honey producers to popu-
larise its use, and M. Dennler shows U3 how
to do it. Distributed gratuitously among our
friends and customers, they will be pleased
at our generosity, and will then read it with
growing interest, and at last become pur-
clr sers of honey with which so many things
beneficial to health may be made."

La Cire des Abeilles. — Analysis and Adul-
teration of Beeswax, by A. and P. Buisine.
Published by Gauthier-Villars, Paris. — After
having described with much detail the physical
and chemical properties of wax, and the cha-
racteristic reaction, both qualitative and quan-
titative, with certain re- agents, the authors
study the action of the same re-agents on

the different substances which serve usually
as adulterants of beeswax. These are
Japan wax, China wax, vegetable wax, Car-
nouba wax, mineral wax, paraffin, grease,
whale fat, stearic acid, and resin. All these
substances have certain characteristics in
common with beeswax, and adulteration is
extremely difficult to detect. Messrs. Buisine
have determined seven different reactions, and
have thus devised a method of analysis,' the
details of which will make it evident how ex-
tremely difficult it is for a person not acquainted
with current scientific methods to determine
for certain if wax is adulterated — unless it is
done in a very rough manner. Thus wax
merchants and unscrupulous manufactuiers
of comb foundation have hitherto had much
their own way, and have been able to sell
at the high price of pure wax, mixtures
which sometimes have no wax in them but
in name only. There are even manufac-
turers who have taken patents for composi-
tions entirely of artificial wax. Messrs. Buisine,
by their scientific researches and the publication
of this work, have rendered a great service to
bee-keepers and honest manufacturers, who
now have the means of analysis at hand ; or, in
any case, are able to place the analysis in the
hands of competent scientific persons to ascer-
tain if the wax or comb foundation supplied to
them as pure be really so.

TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.

Geo. Neighbour & Sons, 127, High Holborn,
London. 70 pp. The above very complete
and well -illustrated price list for 1895 is now
issued, and includes illustrations of hives at
prices varying from 10s. 6d. to £3, together
with a full line of apiarian appliances of every
description, all of the latest or up-to-date
construction. We are glad to find this very
old-established business for bee appliances
still being carried on, and the fact of the
manufacturing department being under the
management of Mr. James Lee is a sufficient
guarantee for excellence of workmanship,
which has so long been the distinguishing
characteristic of the firm.

F. Armstrong, Longfield, Kent. 10 pp.
Though only a small list, this embraces all
needful requirements for the apiary.

T. Lanaway & Sons, 26, Station-road,
Bedhill. 16pp. We notice that Messrs.
Lanaway make a special feature of dove-tailed
hives for sending out in the flat, to save the
risk of damage in transit incurred when
" built-up " hives are sent by rail.

Rev. G. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. Price
list of queens, stocks, swarms, and nuclei.
Mr. Brereton is now sending out the above for
the eighth successive season.

J". S. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road, Wimble-
don.— A short but very concise list of useful
bee-goods. Among the illustrations of hives

140

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 4, 1895.

are several process blocks taken from direct
photographs.

The A. I. Boot Company, Medina, Ohio,
U.S.A., and W. T. Falconer, Manufacturing
Company, Jamestown, N.Y. — The above firms
send their respective catalogues for 1895, and
they are, if anything, more comprehensive
than before. Manufacturers and dealers will
find in them much useful information. We
have a few spare copies \ of the first-named list
by us, and will forward one on receipt of §d.
stamp with name, &c.

Notioesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for ms to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the * receipt of their communica-
tions.

A Novice (Southgate). — There is certainly no
method of removing honey from combs
without damaging the cells other than by
means of an extractor, which latter may be
had at prices varying from 7s. 6d. upwards.

Kenelm Goss. — Seeing that the salient points
of the information conveyed in cutting sent
have been gathered from what has already
appeared in our pages, there is no need for
us to repeat it. What surprises us, how-
ever, is the way in which the past and
present efforts of the B.B.K.A. in the direc-
tion indicated are ignored by the gentleman
interviewed, who cannot be ignorant of what
has been done.

Owen Browninu (King's Somborne). — Giving
Pea- flour. — If " bees are gathering natural
pollen quite fast," it is worse than useless to
supply them with the artificial substitute in
shape of pea-flour.

J. W. P. Monroe (Morley).— We should by
all means furnish the new hives with swarms
and new combs rather than transfer the
bees and old combs from skeps into them.
Refer to what has been said in our pages on
" self-hivers " if you are unable to see to
your swarms.

New Subscriber (Bourton-on- Water). — 1. See
reply to "Owen Browning. 2. The Hon.
Sec. of the Bristol and South Glos. B. K. A.
is Mr. Jas. Brown, 42, Baldwin-street,
Bristol.

H. M. S. (Devon). — We cannot publish the
statement regarding the reputed first-class
expert unless the fact was properly verified.
Nor can we think that any one holding a
certificate would act as stated.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, <ke. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

EES FOE, SALE.— Apply, Vicar, Old Bramhope,
Leeds. g 46

B

SEVERAL Good STOCKS, with bar-frame Hives, for
SALE. Apply, CHITTENDEN, Lydd, Kent.

WANTED to EXCHANGE, 3 Pairs of Homer Pigeons
for a Hive of Bees. Address, G. H. Wood, Great
Kendale, Driffield, Yorks. G 44

EXTRACTOR WANTED, 2 or 3-frame. State size,
all particulars, and price. L. Bailey, 55, Park-
road, Leek, Staffs. G 45

QUEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulhorough, Sussex. 109

FOR SALE. — 1 cwt. of EXTRACTED CLOVER
HONEY. Sample, 3d. Ed. Long, Cottenham,
Cambs. G 34

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. WooDLET, Beedon, Newbury.

FOR SALE, EXTRACTOR, 14s. (cost 21s.) Two
"Wells " Hives 14s. and lis. " Buncefield " Hive,
5s., and Standard 10-frame Hive, 5s. Apply, H. R.
Outram, 80, Croydon-road, Beckenham, Kent. 6 49

STRONG HEALTHY STOCKS of English BEES for
SALE, cheap, in good bar-frame hives. Young
Queens and grand working strains. Particulars on
application. Mason, Nunclose, Armathwaite, Cumber-
land. Q48

SPECIAL COMBINATION HIVES, new, with 10
Standard Frames ; room for 15. Price 12s., worth
double. Wide-shouldered Frames, Is. 9d. doz. in the
flat. Geo. Webb, Hive Maker, 502, West Green-road,
London, N. G 47

TWELVE of the BEST HONEY* - PRODUCING
PLANTS :— Sweet Alyssum, Aliabis Alpina, Aubretia,
Balm, Barlonia Aurea, Borage, Cornflower, Horehound,
Limanthes, Marjoram, Mignonette, Sweet Scabious.
Price 3d. per large packet, or 2s. 6d. for the dozen. Cash
with order. Thojias Walmesley, Jun., Bee Appliance
Stores, Lichfield, Staffs.

EEKEEPERS in LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE and

surrounding Districts please note that the
CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES
for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL at the OLD
SPOT, 50, GREAT CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE
ROSE. Why pay carriage from long distances, when
you can buy as cheap and good locally, and have your
orders promptly attended to ? Catalogues gratis.

Sow now 14 varieties of Bee Flowers, price Is. Full

directions to each ; easy to grow. Cash with order.

Buyers of big quantities of SECTIONS, JARS, &c, please

write for quotations per 1,000 and per 5 gross.

Wholesale and Retail.

BLAKEY'S BEE FEEDER.

Made of wood, zinc, and glass. Holds over 1 lb. of
syrup, and can be filled without removing from hive,
and bees may be observed as they take the food without
escaping. Price 6d. each. Postage of one costs 4id.,
two 6d., four 9d., six Is. lid. J. M. BALMBRA^ 2,
East-parade, Alnwick, Northumberland. G 33

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLES, Triangle, Hitchen, Herts,

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow,)

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

AMERICAN SECTIONS.

TO DEALERS,

All SECTIONS are now landed, and a portion of the
1 Falcons " stored at Liverpool ; " Roots " at London.
Terms for both, moderate. Apply to—
WM. B0XWELL, Patrickswell, Limerick. 107

April 11, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

HI

(Mtoral, Ifcrta &t.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.
Examinations. — Attention is called to the
following arrangements : The annual first-
class examination will take place in London
on Thursday, May 9. Either first or second
class certificates may be competed for at this
examination, and it is open to all those who
hold a third class certificate. A special
examination in the nature and treatment of
foul brood will be held on Saturday, May 11.
Entries for both these examinations must be
sent to the secretary, J. Huckle, King's
Langley, Herts, on or before April 20.

THE CHAPMAN HONEY PLANT.

ECHINOPS SPn^ROCEPHALUS.

We have just received from Mr. G. W.
Davis, Crayford, Kent, a bag of seed of the
above large enough to supply the great bundle
of stamped envelopes we had on hand, and
leave sufficient to fill a couple of hundred
more packets. Mr. Quartermain, whose
letter appears on another page, sends some
seed, and our well-known correspondent, Mr.
G. Wells, also offers to send free seeds of the
plant if needed. There is no need, therefore,
for any one to remain short.

So great has been the interest aroused on
the subject among our readers that we have
thought it well to reprint from a former
number of the B.J. full particulars regarding
the plant, together with an illustration of it
in bloom.

" This plant, which is just now all the rage
amongst American bee-keepers, and has been
by them called the Chapman honey plant, owing
to it having been introduced by Mr. Chapman
for this purpose, is a native of Southern Europe
and Western Asia. The name is derived from
cchinos, hedgehog, and ops, appearance, refer-
ring to the globular and spiny character of the
flower. The English name is Great Globe-
thistle. It belongs to the order Composite,
composite flowers. The plant is bushy, with
stems from four to six feet, and alternate
leaves, green and slightly hairy above, whitish
and downy beneath. They are large, pinnatifid
(i.e., divided half-way to the midrib in seg-
ments in a feathery manner), sinuate (with a
curved margin), with unequal segments, and
slightly spinose (hard-pointed lobes). The
stems are erect, branched, and streaked with
longitudinal lines. The flowers are globular,
of a very pale blue, and the plant continues in
bloom from July to September. The lowest
florets expand first, and the others continue to
do so in succession, so that each flower is a
considerable time before it is fully blown. It
is commonly grown as an ornamental garden
plant, and at a distance resembles a g'gantic

and handsome thistle. It grows without care,
and almost any waste place will do, although it
thrives better in a light calcareous soil. It is
visited by the honey-bee as well as by humble
bees and wasps. We have grown it as an
ornamental plant for some years, and it is
easily cultivated in shrubberies, and, where
hoeing is frequent, as in well-ordered gardens,
can be easily kept within bounds. The seed
can be sown from April to June in a bed, and
then pricked out in October, from 2 feet to
2 feet 6 inches apart. When the plants
are fully established they can be propagated
by division of the roots in the spring. It is a
perennial and is sometimes called Echi-
nanthus."

" Another perennial plant, much handsomer,
belonging to the same family, is Echinops ritro
(Small Globe-thistle), which grows only from
two to three feet high, and has smaller heads
of flowers of a deep azure blue, with a
metallic lustre."

CAMBS. AND ISLE OF ELY B.K.A.

We are very pleased to learn that the above
Association was re-established at a meeting
held at Cambridge on the 23rd ult. Dr. A.
Peckover, Lord-Lieutenant of the County, was
appointed presideut, and the following noble-
men and gentlemen consented to act as vice-
presidents for the year : — Viscount Hampden,
the Earl of Ellesmere, Sir George Newnes,
Bart., M.P., R. U. Penrose Fitzgerald, Esq.,
M.P., Hugh Hoare, Esq., MP., Hon. A.

142

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 11, 1895.

Brand, M.P., Professor Jebb, M.P., H.
McCalmont, Esq., W. H. Hal), Esq.,
R. Jennyns, Esq., C. R. W. Adeane, Esq.,
M. Thorpe, Esq., C. Dunn Gardner, Esq.,
C. Hammond, Esq., Rev. Dr. Lumly, Rev. 0.
Townley, Eev. tJ. B. Dalison ; hon. treasurer,
E. J. Mortlock, Esq., Cambridge ; hon. sec,
Mr. 0. N. White, Somersham, St. Ives.

In a circular addressed to residents in the
county, it is stated that among the objects of
the Association at starting are " the extension
of modern systems of bee-culture and the
extinction of the bee disease, Foul Brood, the
main obstacle to the progress of one of the
most interesting and not the least profitable of
rural industries."

It is also proposed to hold an exhibition of
bees, hives, and honey, in connection with the
Agricultural Society's Show at Ely.

All communications as to membership, &c,
to be addressed to the hon. sec. as above.

HEREFORDSHIRE B.K.A.

We have received a copy of the report and
balance-sheet for 1894 of the above Asso-
ciation, from which we gather that the annual
general meeting took place on February 7 last,
the Rev. F. S. Stooke-Vaughan in the chair.
The balance-sheet and the secretaries and
experts' reports were received and adopted.
All the officers were re-elected with the excep-
tion of Mr. W. Tomkins being substituted for
Mr. W. Parlby on the committee, and Messrs.
J. H. Woottoa and W. Branston were elected
local sees, for the Weobly and Bredwardine
districts.

The bee- van of the Association has com-
pleted its third tour of the county with very
satisfactory results ; the cottager bee-keepers
in all pares visited, taking a good deal of
interest in the lectures, demonstrations, and
wayside instructions offered them. It is matter
for regret that the financial position of the
Association is not a little strained, owing to
dilatoriness in the payment of members' sub-
scriptions. This in a great measure appears
to arise from an impression that the County
Council grant is expended in general expenses
connected with the ordinary Association work.
As a matter of fact, however, the " grant" is
rather a financial burden than otherwise,
seeing that every penny of it is expended on
the bee- van tour, and instead of diminishing
it increases the general expense of the ordi-
nary work amongst members.

OXFORDSHIRE B.K.A.

The annual meeting of the members of this
Association was held on March 27, at the
Wilberforce Temperance Hotel, Oxford. The
Rev. K. Hutchinson presided, and among those
present were Messrs. Hancox, Perry, Salmon,
Hughes, Slatter, H. M. Turner, Anstey, Grant,
Reynolds, S. Hancox, F. P. Turner, &c.

According to the annual report, the member-
ship, which last year stood at 151, has now risen
to 165, the increase being mainly due to the appeal
made to local secretaries in 1893 to obtain new
subscribers. After dealing with the Annual
Show of 1894, and the expert's tour, the
report goes on to say : — The committee are
sorry to say that foul brood has shown itself in
the northern and southern districts. The
usual remedies have been applied, and the
fullest instructions given by the experts. It is
hoped if any member has the slightest sus-
picion of an affected colony he will at once
communicate to the secretary. The financial
position of the Society is rather more satis-
factory, as receipts and expenses will show a
slight balance on the year, but, having to take
over the deficit of 1893, leaves us still this
year with a deficit of ,£3. 12s. 8d.

The report and balance-sheet were adoptpd.

The Hon. Mrs. Brassey was unanimously
elected president.

The following, vice-presidents :— Mr. G. H.
Morrell, Mrs. Herbert Morrell, Mr. G. R.
Benson, M.P., Hon. Mr3. Brassey, Mr. J.
Mason, Colonel Blunt, Mrs. Baskerville, Mr.
E. S. Hamersley, the Bishop of Oxford, the
Duke of Marlborough, Rev. R. Hutchinson,
Colonel Ommaney, Mr. R. T. Hermon Hodge,
and Mr. Tubb, with Mr. E. F. Turner as hon.
secretary and treasurer.

Messrs. Salmon and Beeson were selected
auditors, and the committee as follows :—
Messrs. E. Goddard, Slatter, C. B. Anstey, J.
Salmon, W. Beeson, F. Stamp, W. I. Reynolds,
C. Heath, and H. M. Turner.

Mr. Hancox, of Sandford St. Martin, was
appointed expert for the year, and was
directed to commence the spring tour in
April.

It was decided that the annual exhibition of
honey should take place in Oxford in August.

The Secretary announced that Mr. Blow
had given an extractor and a bar-frame hive
as prizes for the annual show. Six sections of
honey in Blow's bottles, first prize, an ex-
tractor ; 12 lb. honey in Blow's 1-lb. bottles,
first prize, a bar-frame hive.

The usual votes of thanks were passed to
the retiring officers and the Rev. R. Hutchinson
for presiding.

FRUIT-GROWING AND BEE-KEEPING
IN CORNWALL.

The Callington Technical Instruction Com-
mittee on Monday, the 1st inst., provided
another useful series of practical demonstra-
tions for the benefit of the public. Some
time since the committee planted a large
number of apple and plum-tree3 in the field
they have set apart for experiment?, and on
Monday morning Mr. W. Cundy, of Calling-
ton, a practical gardener, gave a series of
lessons on grafting these stocks, the work
being watched with interest and attention. In

April 11, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

143

the afternoon a number of persons assembled
at the field to witness a demonstration in bee-
keeping by Mr. J. Brown, of Polyphant, who
is well known in the district as a most suc-
cessful manipulator of bees. Mr. Brown gave
a short explanatory address, and exhibited the
bar-frsme hives which the committee keep in
the field, and which were found to be in ex-
cellent condition. Especially interesting were
his experiments in transferring the bees and
comb from ihe old-fashioned straw hives to
the modern bar-frame and section hives, the
lecturers skilful management being a valuable
object-lesson to the spectators. Among those
present during the day were Mr. J. W. Lawry,
C.C., chairman of the committee ; Mr. S. P.
Eattenbury, C.C., and Mrs. Eattenbiuy, Dr.
Davis, Messrs. N. Coad, S. S. Davey, E.'Snell,
W. Peace (local secretary), and J. Gill
(county organising secretary), together with
several young farmers of the district, who
manifested considerable interest in both the
grafting and the bee-keeping experiments. In
the evening, at the Public Hall, a highly-
instructive and very interesting lecture was
given by Mr. Brown on " Modern Bee-
keeping," his remarks being illustrated by
diagrams of bee-life. A profitable discussion,
which followed, brought out many details of
practical value to those who keep bees for the
market; and at the close Mr. Brown was
heartily thanked. The chair was occupied by
Mr. J. W. Lawry.— (Communicated.)

HONEY IMPORTS.

The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of
March, 1895, was £2,975. — From a return
furnished by the Statistical Office, H.M.

Customs.

BEE-KEEPING IN PALESTINE.

The following extracts from the Morning
Star with reference to the present settlement
of Jews in Palestine will interest some of our
readers : —

"Products of Palestine. — We under-
stand that large consignments of wine and
honey are on their way to England from
Palestine. The honey is the ' Orange Blossom
honey/ from Joppa, and the wine comes from
the Rishon le Zion colony. The wine, it is
believed, will be used by ardent ' Zionites ' for
the Lord's Supper.

" Bee-hives at Wadi Harim, another Jewish
colony, have produced a very good quantity of
honey. Ninety-two hives product d in two
gatherings 678 rotels of honey, or about
3,729 lb., reckoning 5i lb. to the rotel. Will
some reader who understands bees inform us
whether this is good or bad or indifferent ? "

Forty-one and a half pounds per hive is not
at all a bad average, although we have no

doubt that with modern hives and a know-
ledge how to use them, very much bettei
results could be shown.

dftroaponifetttt.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c.,must be addressed only to "The
Emtob-S of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

•»• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEES AND THEIR TEMPER.
[2291.] I have read with much interest
Mr. Grimshaw's article on " Bees and their
Temper '' [2274] page 122, and quite agree
with him that the influence of the nurses on
bee character is a point requiring investiga-
tion ; yet I venture to think that his views go
further than the facts of the case warrant.
It will, I think, be generally admitted by
biologists that the characteristics of an
individual depend chiefly on two points — 1st,
inherited qualities — those derived from
parentage ; and 2nd, on external conditions
which, in a greater or less degree, tend to
produce various modifications. Let us, then,
admit that the characteristics of a bee will
vary with the character of the food-supply,
it by no means follows that bad-tempered
nurses will necessarily produce bad-tempered
bees ; irritation may alter the character of the
milk secretion, but not necessarily in such a
way that when given as food it will produce
similar irritation in the recipient. In the
case of the offspring there is continuity of all
life with the all life of the parents, and theory
and universal experience both agree that the
characteristics of the parent reappear in the
offspring. But in the case of foster-mothers
there is not the same continuity of all life,
since the food has to be digested and its all
life destroyed before it is assimilated by the
individual. To take an analogous case in
mammals ; there is no evidence that a baby fed
upon the milk of the cow or the goat thereby
acquires the characteristics of either of these
animals, though abundant evidence that the
quality of the milk supplied may affect the
health and development of the child. Mr.
Grimshaw says : — " You must remember that
the laying queen owes its position as a mother
to the food fed to it in its babyhood out of

144

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 11, 1895.

the system of the worker bee ; let that food
be stinted in quantity at a certain time and
the laying mother of the hive had been a
barren •worker.5' No better argument could
have been advanced against the theory that
the worker transmits its own characteristics
through the food stuff it supplies.

The worker possesses a highly developed
food-secreting gland, and practically a merely
rudimentary ovary ; if then the food it sup-
plies tends to transmit its own qualities, we
should expect that the royal larvae, which are
supplied in greatest amount with the food
secretion, should most resemble the foster-
mother. The reverse is the case, a large supply
of the food-secretion prevents the development
of the very gland which supplies that secretion
and causes the enormous development of other
organs which are merely rudimentary in the
foster-mother.

If temper could be transmitted by the
nurses, then surely all other qualities would
also be transmitted, and some of these — e.g ,
colour, size, &c. — would be more readily
capable of direct measurement, but we find no
evidence of this ; in fact, quite the contrary.
Even if we admit that qualities can be trans-
mitted by the nursing bees (which I do not),
still bad temper is about the last quality I
should expect to find transmitted. We are
told that " excessive manipulation may perhaps
cause bad temper in some particular hive."
Granted that it does so, still in the summer-
time, when alone excessive manipulation and
requeening experiments can be practised, the
nursing is confined entirely to the young bees,
and I have never yet seen young nursing bees
put into a bad temper by any means either of
manipulation or non - manipulation, and I
question whether any beekeeper ever has. It
is the old bees which are so apt to use their
stings, and these do practically no nursing.
If temper were transmitted by the nurses,
then a very interesting course of experiments
would be open to us. We might take eggs of a
race known to be irascible, e.g., Cyprians, and
rear them in a hive of tame bees, e.g.,
Carniolans, and get bees of Cyprian blood
possessing the quiet characteristics of the
Carniolan race. Few bee-keepers, however,
will admit the possibility of such a result. I
bring these points forward because I think in
the present state of our knowledge it would be
a great mistake to destroy a hive of bad-
tempered but possibly hard-working bees,
unless we have much better grounds for
believing the theory here advocated. The
method advocated at the end of the article
seems to me even to be contradictory to the
theory advanced. We are told " this can only
be done by removing the frames of brood, &c,
to other hives." But, on the supposition that
the brood inherits the qualities of the nurse
bees then we must throw away or destroy the
brood as well, especially sealed brood which
has already imbibed all its qualities from the
feeding nurses ; in fact, it would only be safe

to preserve the eggs — and a few frames of eggs
are practically hardly worth saving in the
summer time. — M. C. Clutterbuck, Spring-
field-road, Brighton, April 3.

BEE JOTTINGS

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2292.] First, and by way of introduction,
let me begin with a confession, — I am
by nature of an inquisitive turn of mind,
and so averse to taking anything for granted
without inquiry, or accepting things as they
are because we are told to do so, that I go
poking into and prying round and about them
in order to test for myself whether they will
"work out" quite as we are told, or not. At
the same time, I would resent being classed
along with those very objectionable individuals
who are perpetually grumbling at everything
and everybody. In my case, it amounts to
little beyond an extreme unwillingness to take
anything for granted without making the
slightest effort to know why. But I have
acquired a habit of filling up every spare
moment of time — after completing the daily
task by which the family " cupboard " is filled
— either by reading or some change of occupa-
tion other than my diurnal desk-work ; and
this habit, together with an almost morbid
dislike to being unoccupied, makes the
quantity of printed matter — bee literature
especially — I get through something of " a
caution." I read most of the world's bee
journals which are printed in English, and
almost whine because of my inability to " get
at" the contents of those of all other nations
as our senior editor so readily can. To me a
a good bee-book or journal, and my pipe, are
— well, all bee-keeping enthusiasts who smoke
know what ! Anyhow, in my case, the small
hours of the a.m. are perhaps too often reached
before Morpheus gets hold of me.

This, however, brings me to the point I am
driving at. As already said, I read a great
deal about bees and their ways, not super-
ficially, but with the sole object of picking up
what is good in them, and making a mental
note of it for future use. Now it has occurred
to me that the results of my reading and
thinking might possess some interest for such
of your readers as have only their weekly Bee
Journal to fall back upon for what is said in
the bee world. If our editors agree with me,
and will grant the necessary space, I purpose
sending from time to time such jottings as are
enclosed for the benefit of " all whom it may
concern," asking my readers to bear in mind
that iiny personal opinions I may offer are to
be taken for what they are worth and no more.

The Laying Capacity of Queens. — Dr. C. C.
Miller, in the American Bee Journal, dis-
cussing the above query, says : — "Some queens
might keep up to the mark (3,01)0 eggs per
day), but, being cramped for room, must limit
the number." In these contusions I entirely

April 11, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

145

concur. Let us take our 10-framed hive
(" Standard " frames, of course), as a test, that
being the size most in use for brood-chambers ;
the comb in each frame contains slightly under
5,000 cells, of which we will assume that
0,700 are available for brood- rearing. This is
rather a high estimate, because, unless honey
is stored in the upper portion of the comb, the
queen would lay no eggs therein, and, as the
brood-nest diverges from the centre — especially
in the honey - season, when queens breed
fastest — so will the frames be found to be
more fully tilled with honey and pollen ; but
we will say 3,700 cells notwithstanding, and
eight times this number (the two outer
frames must be excluded from the calculation,
as queens very rarely lay eggs in them), gives
a total of available cells as 30,000. Now if a
queen lays 3,000 eggs for twenty-one days we
get a total of 63,000 eggs. The number of frames
may be reckoned as nine (not ten), because the
outside cells of the two outer combs are rarely
occupied with brood, and these two outsides
make one full comb. We thus get 33,750.
This clearly requires consideration, and as Dr.
M. further says : " There is a serious side to
the matter ; if, as some one has suggested, the
repression of laying has an injurious effect on
the queen herself." Dr. M. also adds, " more
light is wanted.'' To me it appears that more
room is wanted also.

Something to do at Night. — " During the
first part of the fruit-blossom when bees are
gathering their first honey, they are eager for
something to do inside the hive at night ;
hence they will repair all the mutilated combs,
fasten some to frames, &c, much more readily
than at any other time." — G. M. Doolittle,
in Gleanings.

This little wrinkle might, to my mind, be
taken advantage of in several ways which
readily suggest themselves.

Paraffin Adulteration of Wax. — " A simple
test for the above," says Gleanings, " though
not entirely reliable, is to take a small piece
of the suspected wax and chew it. If it
crumbles up within seven or eight minutes in
the mouth, it is probably pure wax. If
paraffin is mixed with it you can chew it
longer without its crumbling, and it will not
crumble quite so much."

American Markets, March 14. — "Demand
for extracted honey good beeswax continues
scarce ; markets are bare, and prices are
stiffening. Another advance in price of
foundation contemplated." — Gleanings.

Honey Soap " contains no honey whatever,"
says Deutsche Imh'.r. Dr. Miller says : — "If
you want something tbat will keep your skin
soft and free from chaps, make it yourself.
Take one pound common hard soap, add rain-
water ; place the earthen dish with the soap
in a water-bath, and boil till dissolved. Then
add an ounce of honey, and continue boiling
till the water evaporates." — Gleanings.

Any use to which honey can be put js
helpful, in fact its. uses are legion.

Mice and Honey. — In The Bee-Keepers
Review (Am.) Mr. Hasty says : — " I have kept
piles of sections in a mouse-infested garret,
with almost no damage," and that he " once
had some young mice get into a deep box
from whence they could not escape. A few
sections of honey were in that box. The
mice perished apparently from starvation,
without having eaten much of the honey."

I have had mice eat holes in combs before
now, but whether pollen or honey was the
inducement I cannot just now say. I fancied
at the time it was the honey.

Soft Candy from an American point of view.
— Criticising an " editorial reply '' in the
British Bee Journal, an American "autho-
rity " asks, " Why soft ? " If I might be
allowed to answer the critic in question, I
should reply — because hard candy, given under
the circumstances dealt with, would have been
of about as much use to the bees as a piece of
brick ! The gentleman referred to, who con-
ducts the " Notes and Comments " column in
the American Bee Journal, further says: —

"I am at a loss to know why so many
people have an idea that candy must be soft
when given to the bees for winter food. I
have used sugar-cakes made out of granulated
sugar for a number of years, and I make the
cakes as hard as I can make them, and put
nothing in the mixture but sugar and water.
The harder it is the better it will be. The
bees will look after the softening of it all
right, if it is put directly over the cluster.
When it is put on too soft, it is apt to run
down and smear the bees."

I need hardly tell British bee-keepers that
our soft candy is not "apt to run down and
smear the bees." Moreover, if the bees of
our good friends across can take candy in
winter in cakes " as hard as I can make them,"
our bees can't, and if our Editors were to
advise giving a colony of bees — starving for
want of food in the month of February — a
cake of such candy, I for one would begin
to feel my confidence in their bee-wisdom not
a little shaken. — H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath.

DISINFECTING HIVES.

[2293.] I was greatly interested in the
remarks about foul brood in the late numbers
of the British Bee Journal. I have been
fighting foul brood the last five or six years.
I find naphthaline and naphthol beta the best
cure so far, but each October I generally find
a few suspicious cells in a few of the hives, so
I think some of the sporea must remain in or
about them, seeiDg that, as a rule, I sulphur
the hives and bees, as well as everything about
them, two or three times, and burn the bees
and combs after the first sulphuring.

If I am not troubling you too much, I
would like your opinion on the following plan,
which I have thought may be a good one, and
though a little troublesome, not very expen-
sive— that is, placing the inside of the hive, or

146

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 11, 1895.

parts of hive, and also any crates, frames, &c,
for five minutes, more or less, in a boiling
solution of say 1 lb. or 2 lb. of pearl-ash (some
call it black or caustic potash) to 1 gallon of
water. The pearl-ash will remove any wax,
&c, but do you know if it will destroy the
spores of foul brood 1 Of course, great care
must be taken, as the pearl-ash will burn the
hands, and also destroy any animal or woollen
substances. The outer casings of the hives to
be repainted.

I make all my own hives ; the inside is
separate from the outer, with air all round
between them. — R. W. Topp, R.N., Riverstoivn,
Co. Cork.

[Caustic potash, usedin the manner described,
would no doubt destroy the foul-brood spores
very effectually, which sulphuring alone will
not. But it is a question whether five or ten
minutes' boiling in clear water would not as
effectively destroy all possibility of the spores
germinating. — Eds.]

COMB FOUNDATION.

[2294.] The following extract from an
article on " Bee Ranching " in California
appears in that widely-read magazine, Cham-
bers' Journal, for January, 1895 : —

" Of late years many innovations have been
introduced which would cause the famous
Roman (Virgil) to stare in surprise, if he
could rise from his ashes. The foundation
on which the combs are built are not made of
bees-wax at all. The services of these insects
have been dispensed with entirely in the
manufacture of this article, which is produced
from paraffin, and stamped with the form of
the cells, forming as it were a plan of opera-
tions which the intelligent bees at once com-
mence to carry out, building up the cells on
the foundation thus supplied, and of course
effecting a considerable saving of bee-labour.
Even the cells have been produced by arti-
ficial means, and being filled with a mixture of
glucose and sugar, can be made to resemble
the genuine article in such a manner as
almost to defy detection," &c, and further
on : " It is a fact, however, that many people
prefer honey to which sugar has been added,
just as most people in England prefer coffee
when mixed with chicory, instead of the pure
article."

As I am a little sceptical on the point that
paraffin foundation-sheets are used in some
countries and form a good substitute for that
made from bees-wax, I shall be glad to have
your opinion on the matter. I am afraid the
author of the article in question has been
drawing on his imagination, and, if so, I think
such misleading articles should not be allowed
to pass without contradiction. — J. H.

[The above only serves to show how readily,
and no doubt inadvertently, even high-class
journals give currency to utterly unreliable

and misleading statements on technical sub-
jects. To talk of " the foundation on which
combs are built, not being made of bees-wax at
all," but of " an article produced from paraffin
and stamped in the form of cells," is just to
give utterance to so much rubbish. Paraffin
wax melts at a temperature of 112° or 114°,
and, even supposing that tees would accept
comb - foundation made from it — which anv
bee-keeper of experience knows they would
not — the inevitable result would be a collapse
of the foundation and a tumbling of the bees,
and it in a heap on the floorboard ! Pure
bees-wax melts at about 146° to 150°, and so
necessary is it for manufacturers to make even
pure bees-wax foundation bear as great a
strain as possible without sagging or breaking
down, that bees-wax from particular quarters
of the world noted for its toughness is blended
along with other kinds in order to increase its
bearing strain. We do not pretend to say
that all foundation is made from pure bees-
wax only, but when any other wax is used it
must be in such small quantities as not to
cause any such collapse as would inevitably
happen to foundation made from paraffin wax.
On the second point of artificially-pro-
duced comb, filled with a mixture of glucose
and sugar, being made to resemble the genuine
article, &c, we would refer the writer to the
fact that, after some controversy on this sub-
ject in America a few years ago, Mr. A. I.
Root, editor of Gleanings, deposited a sum of
1,000 dollars, which sum was to be handed
over to the man who produced a sample of
artificial comb, filled as stated with artificial
honey, manufactured and filled without the
help of bees. This offer remained open for
one or two years, yet the money was never
claimed, nor was any attempt made to claim
it.— Eds.]

BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX.

[2295.] Eighteen days have passed since
my last report (2282, page 126), and I am very
sorry I am still unable to give a more favour-
able account of bee prospects. There were a
few warm days during the last fortnight, and
the bees flew more freely ; but cold and wet
weather is again the order of the day. Satur-
day (April 6) we had a violent S.W. gale ;
Sunday was a succession of heavy hailstorms.
The glass is now going up steadily, after
a sudden depression, so we will hope for the
best. But so far it has been impossible to
overhaul any hive with safety.

The accounts of the recent gale in East
Anglia are surprising. We certainly had
nothing so severe here, and it must have been
comparatively local.

The bitterly cold winds have played havoc
with the crocuses, and I am afraid the bees
obtained little enough from them, although
they tried hard enough — poor things. For
some reason, unknown to myself, none of my
bulbs are doing nearly so well this year as

April 11, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

147

previously. I have scarcely half the usual
number of blooms from permanent clusters of
daffodils, &c. Is this the experience of others,
I wonder ?

Can any one also tell me if the catkins of
the aspen — " pussies " we used to call them
when children — furnish pollen ? I have two
overhanging my garden ; and chestnuts, and
various kinds of firs, elders, and black and
whitethorns, are close at hand. The fact is,
I am trying to puzzle out whence, and when,
my bees are likely to get their first supplies.
I can watch their proceedings with various
flowers, but it is not practicable to follow them
up into trees ; and last year they obtained
both pollen and honey plentifully, from sources
quite unknown to me, at a date much earlier
than this.

We shall now be very anxious about the
weather in these parts. The apple and pear-
buds are just showing rosy tips, and an hour's
good sunshine would open them. Unfavour-
able conditions during the next fortnight will
mean the loss of another year's supply. The
bush and cane fruit-trees are bursting into
leaf, but are not opening their fruit-buds as
yet. The hedges are still very backward, The
larger trees are showing leaf-buds. It is
curious, but I cannot persuade my cottage
neighbours that the bees have anything to do
with their fruit harvest. They maintain frost
at night is the only thing to be feared. And
yet 1 am quite clear that last spring, when my
apples and pears utterly failed for the first
time in six years, there was no frost, but the
high and cold winds and wet weather kept the
bees from the blossoms. Experientia docet.

Will Mr. Wood ley [2283, page 134, col. 2]
allow me to pass on to him for what it may be
worth, a wrinkle re putty, confided to me by a
friendly house - painter who once saw me
struggling with like difficulties — that is, if he
does not already know it. It is simply this . —
Give the article to be puttied a good first coat
of paint, working the paint well into all cracks
and crevices to be puttied up, before applying
the putty. Then fill in the putty, and give a
second and third coat over all, and the putty
will, at any rate, last much longer than other-
wise. Also, my informant imparted to me the
further hint that few amateurs work up putty
sufficiently before using it. — W. E. N., Sussex,
April 8.

CHAPMAN HONEY PLANT.

[2296.] Please find enclosed a few seeds of
"Chapman's Honey Plant." I would have
sent earlier, but having changed residence in
the beginning of January my things got dis-
arranged, and I only came across these the
other day. I have not yet succeeded in get-
ting the plants to bloom the first year, though
I have grown it for several years past. I dis-
tributed a quantity amongst purchasers of my
Limnanthes. These seeds were saved last
summer.— J. Quartermain, Tenby, April 8.

READERS OF B.J. AND FOUL BROOD.

[2297.] I would with permission like to
put before yourselves and your readers the
necessity for correspondents who write to
your valuable paper, to know whether certain
pieces of comb are affected with foul brood,
that they should have their names in the reply
column printed in full. The B.B.J, is read
by many beginners like myself who might
purchase a stock from a neighbouring bee-
keeper, not quite as straightforward as he
should be, and so we would find our bees dead
and gone before completing our first year of
bee-keeping.

A good many beginners also send comb up
to you to ask if it is affected with foul brood,
and your answer is in some cases " yes,"
which answer appears in the B.J. Now a
beekeeper living near this unfortunate might
happen to see it in the paper, and so would
probably hunt him up and offer him help in
getting rid of the pest, for the double purpose
of helping a brother bee-keeper and safe-
guarding his own bees.

Your paper is of very great help and interest
to its readers, and I think that if this pro-
position was carried out, it would be more so.
And now that bee-keepers are taking steps to
get rid of this pest, I think this would be a
very beneficial movement towards the end in
view. — Justitia, Swansea, April 8.

SURREY BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
[2298.] Referring to Mr. A. D. Woodley's
communication [2287, p. 137) and my own
remarks in your issue of March 21 regarding
the above association, I should have been very
pleased to undertake the lion, secretaryship
had I been able to spare time for the work.
Like the typical village blacksmith, however,
I am so fully occupied : —

Week in, week out, from morn to night,
that to " take on " more work and perform it,
either with satisfaction to myself or advantage
to the association, is entirely out of the ques-
tion. I am, therefore, with much regret com-
pelled to decline even nomination for the
office. — H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath,
Surrey, April 6.

LINCOLNSHIRE BEE - KEEPERS'

ASSOCIATION.
[2299.] Lincolnshire, being a very large
county, is divided into three parts, known
respectively as Lindsey,Kesteven,and Holland,
each having its own County Council, and the
first-named Council is the only one that has
hitherto responded to the appeal of the Lines.
B.K. A. for a grant in furtherance of the
objects of the Association. For the past two
years a sum of ,£25 has been set apart for this
purpose, and the last grant has just been
expended in the Lindsey Division in lectures,

148

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 11, 1895.

fifteen in all having teen given. Mr. F. J.
Cribb, our expert- in- chief, lectured at Haxey,
Owston Ferry, West Butterwick, Althorpe,
Wootton, and Hibaldstow. Mr. F. H. K.
Fisher at Bartneby, Stickney, Waltham, South
Ormsby, Sausthorpe, and South Thoresby.
Mr. C. N. White at South Kelsey. Mr. W.
Lilly at Ingham and Sturton-by-Stow. These
lectures have all been attended by large
audiences, and listened to 'with marked atten-
tion, many afterwards expressing their inten-
tion of keeping bees. The chairman at the
last-mentioned place wrote me saying "he was
much interested in the lecture, and would
endeavour to have a series given in his village
next winter.1' I have often been asked — are
these lectures doing any gocd ? The answer
I have always made is — look at our annual
report, you will there find we have twenty-
five districts, with local secretaries in the whole
county, and of this number there are fifteen
in the parts of Lindsey (Lincoln not being
counted), and out of 318 members in the
county 167 of them are in Lindsey. From
the success of these lectures this -winter we
hope and expect a large increase of members
during the coming season from the places
visited ; and I trust when the councils of
Kesteven and Holland see the results from the
grant given by the Lindsey Council they will
also give us a like amount to be expended in
their divisions.— R. Godson, Hon. Secretary,
Tothill, Alford, Lines., April 6.

$thm from the gim

Stanford Rivers, Romford, March 25. —
My six hives of bees have come through the
winter very well, seeing how severe it has been.
Not more than two dozen dead bees have been
carried out of the lot. I gave each stock a
3 lb. cake of candy on December 26, and this
has done much in helping them. Friday last
being a beautiful day, I overhauled all my
hives on the hives, and was surprised at the
quantity of brood in five of them. The bees
are bringing in pollen quite fast.— J. Down-
ham.

Factory Rouse, Royston, Cambs., April 1,
1895. — Bees are out to-day, busy carrying
pollen from crocuses, daffodils, and such few
wall-flowers as have escaped the frost. I have
eight hives ; one is a " Wells " of my own
make. I put two lots of driven bees into it,
and they have wintered well, although I did
not get them until late in September. I am
hoping I shall succeed with them. One small
lot that I saved in a straw skep (a late cast), I
have lost — much as I expected. One very
weak one in a wood hive has also perished ;
so, out of — counting the " Wells" hive as two

eleven lots two have gone, so I do not think
I have done very badly, if those left come out
all light now. In October last, two of my best
stocks had drones flying in abundance, so I

got two lots of driven bees and put one in
each. The drones were soon killed off after
this, and they seem all right. I have kept
candy on each hive through the winter, and
renewed as wanted. I feel sorry so many
have had their hives turned over through the
storms, and I used to lay awake on a windy
night sometimes and wonder if mine were
turned over ; so, to make them safe, I got two
iron pegs for each hive, and drove in the
ground, one on each side, and put a piece of
wire over the hive roof, this keeping all tight
down ; and have never had a hive moved yet.
This may be of use to some, and the cost is a
mere trifle. — Walter Jarman.

<$nmts and ^t$M.

[1250.] Uniting in Spring not always
Advisable. — I examined my two hives —
holding ten standard frames — on April 1.
The bees in both are on four frames, and I
found each frame about three parts full of
brood in all stages ; there are also a lot of
young bees just hatched out in both hives,
but neither lots being so strong as they ought
to be at this date, I write to ask — 1. If you
think I should unite them ? Or will they get
strong enough for supering, say, in a month,
as I want to have supers on for the apple,
sycamore, and chestnut-trees, of which there
are hundreds hereabouts. There are also
about fifty old lime-trees within 200 yards of
my bees. I got last year 42 lb. of honey from
one of these hives, and only 10 lb. from the
other ; the latter having a queen which pro-
duced nearly all drones. This year, however,
she is breeding workers all right, and her bees
seem to work harder than the others so far as
the present season has gone. 2. What can be
the reason for this 1 We have few bee-flowers
in bloom here at present, but there are two
large peach- houses and a conservatory a
hundred yards off ; on fine days the bees get
plenty of pollen from the bloom in them. 3.
Are chestnuts, sycamore, wild cherry, and holly
good honey producers 1 We have lovely
herbage for bees in the meadows here, for a
mile or more round, while no bees but my own
are kept for a distance of two miles. 4. Do
you consider the fact of my getting 40 lb. from
one hive in 1894 points to this being a good
honey district ? — H. Hamilton, Tisbev, Wilts,
April 3.

Rei-ly. — 1. Decidedly not. Both hives re-
quire additional combs since there is brood on
each of the four frames, and they may be con-
sidered as doing fairly well. 2. The drone-
breeding queen will have been deposed last
year and replaced by another. 3. Excepting
holly, the others yield honey well. 4. Yes.

[1251.] Mildewed Pollen in Combs. — I
have some frames of comb that were taken
from hives last autumn when bees were packed
up for the winter. They have had no honey

April 11, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

149

deposited in them, but the cells in centres of
combs are full of pollen. This has become
slightly mildewed. I do not like to sacrifice
the comb, but, of course, would do so if there
is any risk of causing harm to the bees. —
W. E. Money, St. Asaph.

Reply. — Slight mildew will be removed by
the bees, but pollen lefc out of hives since last
autumn will have become hard and useless
to them. We should remove it by cutting
away the cells down to the mid- rib.

[1252.] Moving Bees. — I have to move five
frame-hives a distance of two miles and a half.
I propose to do so in a spring-cart over two
miles of the road which is good, though rather
up-and-down hill, and then carry on a hand-
barrow the remainder distance, which is bad
road. Under these circumstances, will it be
necessary (1) to make the frames hang rigidly
by screwing down, &c. ; (2) to cover with per-
forated zinc in place of quilts during the
journey ; (3) would it be best to make the
move in the early morning or late afternoon ;
and (4) how soon after arrival should I open
the entrances ? — W. Morris Fletcher,
Hurley Beacon, Bingwood, April 3.

Reply. — 1. Yes, we should certainly screw
a couple of strips of wood across frame ends.
2. No. A piece of coarse canvas tacked down
over frames will answer the purpose fully. 3.
In the early evening, after bees have ceased
work for the day. 4. Open entrances at once
if bees are much disturbed ; but, if quiet,
open them at nightfall.

METEOEOLOGIOAL SUMMARY.
March, 1895.

Locality, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.

Height above sea-level, 225 ft.

Rainfall, 160 in. In March, 1894, 0*80 in.
fell.

Greatest fall in 24 hours, 023 in. on the
6th.

Rain or snow fell on 19 days ; in March,
1894, 10 days.

Max. shade temp., 61° on 21st and 22nd ;
max. for March, 1894, 64°.

Min. temp., 13° on the 3rd ; min. temp, for
March 1894, 23°.

Max. shade temp, at 9 a.m., 50° on 20th.

Min. temp, at 9 a.m., 27° on 2nd

Frosty nights, 14 ; during March, 1894, 10.

Max. barometer, 30*1 on 15th, and 16th,

Min. barometer, 28'6 on 28th.

Some very bright and warm days during the
month, thus enabling one to overhaul the
stocks with comparative safety. The pro-
verbial March winds, on the whole conspicu-
ous by their absence, except on Sunday, March
24, when the wind blew a hurricane for about
half-an-hour, velocity, eighty-six miles per
hour, and pressure 37 lb. to the square ft.,
thus giving bee-keepers great anxiety about
the safety of their hives. More than a
hundred large oak, elm, poplar, fir, and willow
trees brought low, and several nouses unroofed,

within a radius of a mile and a half from here,
but, fortunately, no serious damage done to
hives nor occupants. Saw first crocus in full
bloom, March 10 ; gooseberry and currant
bushes coming into leaf. Barometer and
temperature low at close of month.

Percy Leigh, Beemount.

Nolicesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving svxh information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot ahvays be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

" Doubtful " (Chelmsford). — Bees refusing
Syrup. Before attributing their refusal to
other causes, try them with a wide-mouthed
jar of warm syrup, covering the mouth with
a piece of muslin, and inverting over the
feed-hole, with nothing between the bee3
and the muslin. If they carry in pollen
freely, and no other food can be had outside,
there is no reason why well-made syrup
should be refused at this season.

John Brown. — 1. Comb is affected with foul
brood. 2. Bees in pill-box are practically
chilled brood, though not in the ordinary
acceptation of the term. They are imma-
ture bees, probably of last autumn— chilled
before the wings and other organs were quite
developed — which have since then dried up
in the cells. The bees will remove such
dead inmates of the cells when cleaning the
latter out for use.

J. Hamshar (Hilgay). — Dealing with Diseased
Stocks. Foul brood is rapidly developing
in comb sent If the bees are fairly
numerous, we advise removing them from
the combs as soon as the weather offers a
chance, and putting them on a few new
frames fitted with foundation. If kept
warm and fed with medicated food while
building out the new combs, it will give
them their only chance of recovery. Burn
the old combs and frames immediately after
removal from the infected hive, and put
naphthaline, as directed, on floor-board when
giving the new frames.

T. C. Gaulton (Blandford). — Renewing
Combs.— 1. Presuming that the stocks were
driven in the early autumn of last year, and
are now doing well, as stated, they will
probably need the remaining frames by the
end of this month, or sooner if those in the
respective hives are now nearly covered
with bees. 2. It is the best plan to have
about two new combs built in each hive in
the spring of every year. In this way, if
the best are retained, and all faulty ones
removed as they become so, the hives will

150

THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL. [April 11, 1895.

be kept famished with g->od combs at all
times.

"Bees Left Hive" (Perry Barr).— From the
brief particulars given we cannot judge well
why the hive has been deserted by " all but
about 200 dead bees." It would seem to
be a case of queenlessness in autumn.

D. (South Devon). — Observatory Hive. — 1.
Bees are kept in observatory hives with
combs hung above each other, and so visible
on both sides, for a few months in summer
time. Such hives, are, however, generally
used for show purposes only; when the bees
are never confined more than seven or
eight days at a time. 2. If bees are kept
for any length of time in them, they need
much care by way of warmth, feeding, &c.
3. They take no harm at shows.

J. B. (Kidderminster). — The " discharge "
noticed is simply the natural excreta of the
bees.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, &e. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

F

OUR STOCKS of BEES, Frame-Hives, £1 each.
Wood, 23, Morris-street, Rodborne-road, Swindon.
G54

FOR SALE, cheap. 12 NEW WELLS HIVES, complete.
Maker T. B. Blow. Apply, ROE, Ironmonger,
Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. G 50

TWO STRONG STOCKS, Carniolan Bees, in Bar-frame
Hives, 35s., or Offers. H. Hudson, Parkgate,
Cheshire. • G 58

FOR SALE.— Beautiful CLOVER HONEY (Extracted)
similar to Dairy Show Honey. C. Atkinson,
Tockwith, York. G 56

UEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

Q!

LACE PAPER tor GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 Inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. Woodlkt, Beedon, Newbury.

GUARANTEED healthy 8-Frame STOCKS on wired
Frames, 1894 QUEENS, very strong, 25s. each,
packing included. O. Whiting, Valley Apiary, Hundon,
Clare, Suffolk. G 57

CHEAP to clear,10 strong STOCKS of Bees, Bar Frame
Hives, with crate of 5-inch frames 17s. 6d. ; with
two sets of 9-inch Frames 25s., all worked out ; also lot
of empty Hives to clear cheap. SCAIFE, Sunderlandwick.
Driffield. G 57

TO CLEAR, Half-dozen
standard size, with
new, 10s. or Is. 9d. each ;
excluder zinc, outside box,
or 2s. each ; A few Super
Shallow Frames at Is. 3d.
sections at Is. 9d. per 100
notes 9d. dozen ; Bee
complete Is. ; Wanted
Samson, New Ronmey.

3s. 6d. Box Frame-Feeders,
perforated zinc interior, as
Four supers for skeps, with
and 15 lib sections, 7s. 6d.
ing Boxes with Standard or
to clear ; About 2,000 1-lb.
in the flat ; Hive Slates for
Escapes with Crown board
Cheshire's work. Rev. G.
G52

CLEARANCE SALE— Large Bingham Smokers 3s.
each, list price 7s. 6d. ; Bineham Honey Knives
Is. Gd. each, list price 3s. 6d. ; Foundation Fixers 7d. each,
list price Is. 6d. BOOKS.— " British Bee-keeper's
Guide Book," in cloth, by T. W. Cowan, Is. 3d. each,
list price 2s. Od. ; " Bee-keeping, Plain and Practical,"
by Alfred Rusbridgc, price Is., list price Is. 6d. ; "Bee-
keeper's Guide," by A. J. Cook, price 2s. Gd., list price
5s. ; "Quinby's New Bee-keeping," by L. C. Root, price
3s., list price 0s. ; " The New Bee-keeper's Text Book,"
by A. J. Kin«, price 2s., list price, 4s. Carriage paid to
any part. W. Lee, 71, Hurdsfield-road, Macclesfield.

G55

TWELVE of the BEST HONEY - PRODUCING
PLANTS : — Sweet Alyssum, Arabis Alpina, Aubretia,
Balm, Barlonia Aurea, Borage, Cornflower, Horehound,
Limanthes, Marjoram, Mignonette, Sweet Scabious.
Price 3d. per large packet, or 2s. 6d. for the dozen. Cash
with order. Thomas Walmesley, Jun., Bee Appliance
Stores, Lichfield, Staffs. G 53

BEEKEEPERS in LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE and
surrounding Districts please note that the
CENTRAL SUPPLY STOBES
for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL at the OLD
SPOT, 50, GREAT CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE
ROSE. Why pay carriage from long distances, when
you can buy as cheap and good locally, and have your
orders promptly attended to ? Catalogues gratis.

Sow now 14 varieties of Bee Flowers, price Is. Full
directions to each ; easy to grow. Cash with order.
Buyers of big quantities of SECTIONS, JARS, &c, please
write for quotations per 1,000 and per 5 gross.

CHAPMAN'S HONEY PLANT SEED, 6d. Packet.
Wholesale and Retail.

BLAKEY'S BEE FEEDER.

Made of wood, zinc, and glass. Holds over 1 lb. of
syrup, and can be filled without removing from hive,
and bees may be observed as they take the food without
escaping. Price 6d. each. Postage of one costs 4£d.,
two 6d., four 9d., six Is. ljd. J. M. Balmbra, 2,
East-parade, Alnwick, Northumberland. G 33

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Be

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

AMERICAN SECTIONS.

and

TO DEALERS.

A few thousand "Roots" still at Stores, London
" Falcons " at Liverpool ; and both Roots and Falcons
at wholesale depot for the "Howard" Cut Sections
Holme, Peterboro'. Apply to—

WM. BOX WELL, Patrickswell, Limerick.

TOOLS

Of every description and best quality at lowest cash
prices :— Jack Planes, 2J-in., 4s. 3d. ; Smoothing ditto
2£ in., 3s. lOd. ; Firmer Chisels, set of 1 doz. from TV to
1-in., 7s. 6d. ; Best Claw Hammers, 2s. 9d. ; Bench
Axes, 3s. 6d. ; Braces from 3s. ; Set of 36 Bits, 16s. ;
Spokeshaves, Is. 2d. ; Squares, 6-in., Is. 9d. ; 9-in. at
2s. 6d. ; Hand Saws, 26-in., Cs. ; Ripper ditto, 2S-in., 7s. ;
Tennon ditto, 14-in., 5s. ; Foot Rules from 9d. to 3s. 6d.
each ; Clyburn Spanners, H-in., 10s. 6d. each ; Chipping
Chisels, lid. per lb. Cash with order. W. J. GILLESPIE,
Agricultural Implement and Tool Dealer, Glentriplock,
Port William, Wigtonshire.

THE HIVE TO BUY.

GreenMll's 'W.B.C.' Cottager's Hive

This Hive is constructed after the original "W.B.C."
Hive, in order to meet the requirements of Bee-keepers
wishing to adopt a cheaper form. It consists of Stock
Box, with Ten Frames, Section Crate, or Shallow Frame
Crate, Stand and Cover complete for 15s.
The Cheapest House for BEE APPLIANCES. Send
for a Catalogue.

J. S. CREENHILL, 80, Graham road, Wimbledon.

(27 Years witn Messrs. G. Neighbour & Sons.)

W. P. MEADOWS,

(ah Letters to Syston.) Syston and Leicester.

Owing to our orders in '94 being more than double
those of '93, besides our unprecedented success at shows,
and in giving satisfaction to our customers, we are
hoping for a still further and continued success for the
coming season. In view of this, we are largely increas-
ing our premises, putting down more complete and
expensive machinery, and shall spare no pains to main-
tain our reputation, and hope to receive orders as early
as possible. NEW CAT-A-L0G READY SHORTLY.

April 18, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

151

(Mtorkl, Ifrriim, ku

BEE-KEEPING AND THE PRESS.

Much of the remarkable and continued
interest taken at the present time in bees
and bee-keeping is, no doubt, due to the
frequency with which the subject is
referred to, not only in the newspaper
press, but in the columns of periodicals
and magazines occupying a large place
in the popular literature of the day, and
circulating by hundreds of thousands at
every issue. All this is, of course,
eminently satisfactory to those who are
endeavouring to foster the pursuit of
bee-keeping by extending its usefulness
and popularity, and Ave are quite ready
to admit our indebtedness to the Press
and to pressmen for an amount of
publicity — which means help for the
cause we advocate — quite unattainable
in any other way. One's gratification,
however, becomes somewhat qualified at
times by the appearance of sensational
paragraphs referring to apiculture, not
only silly and misleading in themselves,
but tending to create a suspicion of
trickery and dishonesty connected with
bee-keeping and honey-production which
has no foundation whatever in fact.

We had occasion last week to deal
with a matter of this kind on page 146,
and a cutting from a popular London
weekly newspaper — perfectly harmless
in itself, and, moreover, free from the
objectionable features above referred to
— has just now reached us which is so
amusing from the bee-keeper's point that
we venture to reproduce it for the benefit
of our readers. It is headed " Well-
trained Bees," and reads as follows : —

"In the education of animals it is more re-
markable to see the smaller ones trained to
exercises that seem absurdly out of place by
the patient care of the human brain that de-
votes itself to this educational process. Mice,
canary birds, and fleas ! They have all been
upon the boards. The idea of teaching the
vivacious flea to perform certain specific antics !
How was it instilled into its small impercep-
tible faculties, that in obedience to certain
signals from the master, man, it should do
things which would never enter into the mind
of the simple, natural flea ! Among the
smaller animals, there is none that seems so
intelligent, so practical, and sober-minded as
' the little busy bee.' He will mount in the
air, and fly in a straight line for his hive. It

has passed into a proverb, and when a man
wishes to say that he has gone by the shortest
line from one point to another (and that, as
mathematics teaches, is the straight line), he
says he ' made a bee-line ' for the place. So
in the structure of their cells they apply by in-
stinct the form and proportions which reason
proves to be most effective and economical of
space. They are fine subjects, and obey im-
plicitly their queen, and they take good care
of the drones as long as they are useful to the
wellbeing of the community, and kill them as
soon as they cease to be so. It would appear,
therefore, a very simple thing to teach bees
tricks, and introduce them to a professional
life as performers on the amusement stage.
Yet probably very few have ever seen them
trained. In 1831, however, a man named
Wildman, of Plymouth, did train a
troupe, and exhibit them for the re-
creation of the curious public. He got
swarms of bees so well trained that he could
make them enact manoeuvres with as much
precision and unity as troops of soldiers go
through field tactics. This man used to
exhibit the bees in a large hall, outside of
which was a garden. "When the bees got through
working as trick performers, they could have
a good time playing among the flowers. Wild-
man would appear before the audience with
the bees swarming all over him. They were
on his face, on his hands, crawling over his
clothes, and his pockets were full of them. It
looked as if he were a great flower full of
material from which honey could be made,
from the assiduous attention which these busy
little bees paid to him. Whether they had
been despoiled of their stings or not is not
said. But he must have felt uncomfortable if
he knew that many scores of bees, were they
so minded, could have stung him at will.
Such a quantity of bee stings as that could
easily settle a man and leave him stung to
death. Anybody who has ever been unlucky
enough to receive the sting of even one
healthy, vigorous bee will not find it difficult
to believe this. The hives of the bees were iu
a certain part of the large hall quite removed
from the stage where Wildman stood with
them thickly clustered on him. All at once
he would ffive a whistle, and, presto ! the bees
started oft' and flew straight to their hives.
When they had got well settled there he
would whistle again, and back they flew and
settled on his face and hands and clothes once
more. This was done with the greatest
promptness and regularity. It must have
been with some solicitude that the spectators
assisted in this performance. But it is due t »
the bees, and perhaps to Wildman, to say that
no one was ever stung by them."

Anyone at all acquainted with bee
literature will, no doubt, " have read of
Thomas Wildman, and will probably
regard the famous old bee-man of the
early part of the century as a sort of

152

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 18, 1895.

" Barnum " in his wajr, so far as the show-
man exploits with bees, which he turned
to profitable account. In the light of
present-day knowledge, however, we
know that what were at the time re-
garded as marvellous performances with
bees would be nothing beyond a few
variations on what can be, and is, done
by scores of experts to-day.

In the interest of truth, therefore,
we must ask the writer of the above
article to take it from us that what he
calls "the intelligent, practical, and
sober-minded bee " never was — and
never will be — trained to go through the
manoeuvres described above ; nor even
so much as induced to leave its hive and
return to it at the " whistle and presto ! "
of Wildman or any other man. In fact,
the above article may be said to contain
a minimum of truth overlaid and obscured
by a maximum of fiction.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

The monthly meeting of the Council was
held at 105, Jermyn- street, on Thursday, 11th
inst. Present : t. W. Cowan (in the chair),
Major Fair, H. W. Brice, W. Broughton Carr,
J. Garratt, G. H. Hooper, E. D. Till, and
J. M. Hooker and Dr. Rayner, ex-officio, J .
Huckle, secretary. Communications were
received from the Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh,
Rev. G. W. Bancks, Messrs. R. T. Andrews,
H. Jonas (Vice-chairman), W. O'B. Glennie
(Treasurer) and W. H. Harris, regretting their
inability to be present.

The minutes of the last meeting of the
Council were read and confirmed.

The statement of accounts to March 31st
were considered and adopted.

Letters were read : (1) From Mr. A. D.
Woodley, offering to read a paper at a future
meeting of the association. Resolvtd that
Mr. Woodley be thanked for his kind offer.
(2) From Mr. C. N. White, notifying that the
Cambs and Isle of Ely Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion had been re-established under the Presi-
dency of the Lord Lieutenant of the county.

The Educational Committee presented their
report recommending that the annual first-
class examination to be held on May 9, do
commence at 10.30 a.m., at 17, King William-
street, Strand, the usual test-lectures to be
given by the candidate at 105, Jermyn-street.
after the close of the ordinary business of the
Council.

The Chairman reported that considerable
progress had been made in the revision of
" Modern Bee-Keeping," and that the com-
mittee had decided upon a series of new
woodcuts for illustrating the work. Resolved
that the report of the committee be adopted.

The Chairman further reported that com-
munications had been made with the Board of
Agriculture, and that the Minister of that
department would probably fix either April 30
or May 7 as the date for receiving the pro-
posed deputation from the association.

Mr. Carr reported that Mr. S. Atkin, of
Norton Lees, Highgate, had kindly offered the
proceeds of the sale of three stocks of bees in
frame hives as a donation to the funds of the
association. Resolved that the best thanks of
the Council be given to Mr. Atkin for his
generous gift.

The Council resolved to make arrangements
for the holding of a meeting of bee-keepers in
the show-yard at Darlington, subject to the
approval of the Royal Agricultural Society.

The following new members were elected : —

Miss Maw, Benthall, Kenley, Surrey.

Mr. S. Percy Jackson, 9, Lincoln's Inn-
fields, W.C.

Mr. F. V. Hadlow, Parkhurst, Buxted.

Mr. F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.

Mrs. M. Cox, Middlecote.

Mr. T. Minns, Merton Colliery, Sunderland.

Capt. Wigney, Hampton.

Messrs. Ernest and H. W. Lanaway, Redhill.

Mr. Thos. G. Peel, Armagh, Ireland.

The Rev. F. Aston, Bushbury Vicarage,
Wolverhampton.

The Council adjourned to May 9.

We are desired to draw attention to the
arrangements made for conducting the examina-
tions which take place on May 9 and 11,
entries for which close on the 20th inst. At
the examination to be held on May 9 prox.
first and second class certificates will be
awarded. Entrance fees 10s. and 21s. re-
spectively, half the fees paid to be returned to
the unsuccessful candidates. The examination
will take place in London. For particulars
see report of B.B.K.A. Council meeting in
opposite column.

The examination to be held on May 11 con-
sists of paper work only, and may take place
where the candidate resides, arrangements for
which must be approved and confirmed by the
secretary of the affiliated association. This
examination has been arranged in order to
afford to those candidates whose certificates
were granted prior to 1891 an opportunity of
gaining a diploma on the nature and treatment
of foul brood. Entrance fee, 2s. 6d.

In reply to inquiries as to the books for use
in qualifying for the above examinations, the
books referred to are — Modern Beekeeping
(7d. post free), Cowan's Guide Book (Is. 8d.
post tree), Cowan's Honey Bee (2s. SJd. post
free), and Root's A.B.C. of Bee Culture.

FOUL-BROOD LEGISLATION.

In view of the proposed deputation to the
President of the Board of Agriculture, which

April 18, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

153

will probably be received by Mr. Gardener at
the end of this month, or early in May, the
committee of the B.B.K.A. hope that secre-
taries of county associations who can suggest
the names of members of Parliament likely to
aid the movement should immediately
communicate information to Mr. Huckle,
King's Langley. This matter is urgent, and
prompt attention is earnestly desired.

BOGUS BEES.

This time bogus bees are announced from
America. An enterprising American from
Kentucky is advertising " The Giant Bee of
India." There has for a long time been a
hankering after apis dorsata in America, and
some have even wished that the Goverment
should take up the question of the importation
of this bee, notwithstanding all that has been
written about it. When it is known that
apis dorsata is quite a different species to apis
mellifica, and that the two species will not
interbreed, the barefaced imposture of the
following article, which. has found its way into
the American Bee Journal, will be apparent : —

The Giant Bee of India.
By C. D. Holt.

This bee was brought from Ceylon to the
United States in 1891, and is distinguished
from our bees by its giant size, and the manner
of obtaining honey from flowers that the
common bee cannot gather from. The Indian
bee (apis dorsata), with its front feet, and
large, strong mandibles, tears open any flower in
which it can't reach the honey with the tongue,
and gathers nectar where no other bee could
enter. It is one-half size larger than the
Cyprians, but gentler and easier to handle than
the Italians. While they will not gather any
more honey than either of the above, yet the
crosses of the giant and Italian gather more
than twice the amount of any rac9 of bees
known.

The full-blooded Indian queen is not so
prolific as our natives, but she and her workers
live longer. The workers live through the
season of six or eight months instead of two
or two and a half, as with our common bee. The
great advantage of this bee is in crossing. By
using an Indian drone and an Italian queen,
her half-breed workers partake of nearly the
size of the Indian bee — their gentle disposi-
tions, their ability to go into any flower — red
clover, pea-blossoms, and all — and their indis-
position to swarm.

The full-bloods swarm but once in a season,
under any circumstances, and you can hardly
make them rear more than two young queens at
a time in one colony, and but few drones. The
young queens are generally fertilized in the
hive, or on the ground ; put a young Italian or
black queen in a cage with an Indian drone,
and he will fertilize her at once, and one
drone will fertilize as many as four queens.

The above is as nearly correct as I can give,
but I am satisfied that this bee is of greater
importance to us than any other strain or
family of bees. They and their crosses don't
tolerate moth or any enemy to prey on their
stores.

For a more minute description of them, see
special bulletin of our Agricultural Depart-
ment for August, 1891, and a short notice in
the report of 1893, page 201.

In a footnote, the editor, Mr. York, says : —

[Mr. Holt lives in Kentucky, and claims to
have the bees which he describes. I do not
believe in discouraging new things too much,
but I would suggest, before anybody "goes
wild " over the above-described " giant bees of
India," that these bees be experimented with
by a few bee-keepers like Hon. R. L. Taylor,
Dr. C. C. Miller, Hon. Eugene Secor, and other
equally reliable and prominent men in our
ranks. It does not pay to rush after new and
untried things too much, and until fair and
impartial trial has been given, I would say,
" go slow."

Understand me, I do not say that Mr. Holt's
bees are not what he says they are — I merely
suggest that they have not yet received
sufficient trial to warrant bee-keepers investing
very heavily in them. — Editor, Am. B.J.]

The advice to " go slow '' is all right, but
would it not have been better to have told
readers that the above article was merely a
"hoax," and that it was only another attempt
at obtaining money under false pretences ? If
Mr. Holt claims to have these bees, all that
he says about " the crosses " in the above
article is perfectly untrue, and the fabulous
amounts of honey produced by them is a myth.
The queens cannot be fertilized in the hive
because there is the greatest difficulty to in-
duce this bee to stay in a hive at all ! Instead
of only swarming once, as stated, apis dorsata
is the most restless of bees, usually building
combs on the boughs of trees, or, occasionally,
in caves, and repeatedly swarming, the whole
of the colony abandoning its combs. We need
hardly say that if a young Italian or black
queen were put in a cage as suggested, she
would not be fertilised as stated. We simply
write this as a caution to our readers. No
doubt an equally enterprising Britisher will
find some editor over here gullible enough to
give him a free advertisement, but we would
ask our readers not to part with their money,
and to have nothing whatever to do with these
bees until we hear further from America. We
have ourselves no doubt that the whole thing
is a hoax, but as the advertisements have ap-
peared in other respectable papers as well as in
the American Bee Journal, we shall no doubt
hear something from the editors of these
papers, which, it is to be hoped, will promptly
put the matter in its 'true light, and prevent
imposition.

154

THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL. [April 18, 1895.

^oxmpnkntt

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 s:\de of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, 6cc, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

%* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
tchen speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE JOTTINGS

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-FATIIS.

[2300.] The lee-season of 1895 is now the
question amongst us bee-keepers. Is it going
to be a good one ? Judging from my own
district I should say yes ; everywhere around
are indications of bee-forage — though late —
being more than usually abundant. The white
clover plant looks stronger and more plentiful
than I ever remember it, while the meadows,
hedgerows, and woods are simply covered
with bee-flora, which if not highly classed as
honey plants, are still all helpful to oar bees in
early spring. Among others I notice the wood
anemone, aconite, agrimony, borage, bitter-
sweet, campanula, coltsfoot, catmint, lady's-
finger, orchis, mallows, sorrel, speedwell,
several of the nettle tribe, ragwort, wild
strawberry, &c. In a word, the busy season is
close on us. Are we preparing for it 1 Are
the bees being gently but continuously fed in
the time of scarcity, and to b'jild them up to
be ready and strong when the "push :' comes 1
This question of " building up " always brings
to mind that of " spreading the brood ; " an
operation at once so helpful and so harmful.
Taken generally, f consider that brood spread-
ing is best lefc alone, though in skilful hands
it may be advantageously employed. The
average bee-keeper should rely upon slow feed-
ing, and adding a frame of uncapped honey
next the dummy-board as the bees require
room. If queens are right they will produce
brood enough to keep the workers busy, and
if the latter are in good heart queens will not
lack cleaned-out cells for e<rg-laying.

Preparation for the Honey Flow. — Then
comes the important thing for the bee-man to
consider, viz., the date his honey flow begins.
It is worse than useless for him to have his hives
full of brood and young bees that don't work
just when the flow is " on." At that time he
needs a full working field-force. Every egg
laid a month before the honey flow is worth
how many times its weight in gold ? but every

egg laid during the same is a dead loss. The
moral of this is : Keep your eye on dates, and
remember how long it takes to change an eeg
into a full-strength worker-bee.

Do bees pay ? — Your correspondent (2286,
p. 136) is indeed unfortunate. One phase of
his letter, however, strikes me as curious, and
that is the way in which he must have wasted
his money. Thirty pounds invested in bee-
gear; an additional £11. 5s. 4d. expended in
1894 ; total, £41. 5s. 4d. ; and, according to
your correspondent's own valuation, not £5
■worth of goods and bees to show for it ! Still,
there is hope for bee-keeping if with less than
£5 worth of bees and appliances he makes an
annual profit of £13. 13s. lOd. Why this is
nearly 300 per cent. ! There should not be
much cause for doubt on the question your
correspondent deals with, for, even on his own
showing, and bearing in mind the adverse
circumstances of the case, it is clear that even
his bees do "pay."

Do Fertile Queens ever Leave the Hive ? —
" Leberceht Wolf saw a laying queen come
out of a hive in early spring and fly away,
returning in three minutes." " J. W. Roth, in
February, found a queen in front of one of his
hives. She was given to a colony found
queenless the day before, in which she com-
menced laying within twelve hours. The
apiary was immediately inspected, but no
other queenless colonies found." Both the
above cases are recorded in Bienenzeitung
(Gravenhorst).

Bequeening for Prevention of Swarming. —
" Requeening early in the season scores a point
in favour of non-swarming." — W. N. M'Neal,
in American B.J. I think Mr. N. is right to
a certain extent, but the question arises, how
or where is the new queen to be got " early in
the season ? " It would not improve matters
to requeen with an old one. Besides, to have
any effect on the swarming question, it must
be a queen of the current year. Even then I
do not think it would answer in every case.
There are also other points to be considered,
viz., at what time of the early season the new
queen was given, and to what race of bees she
was joined. If carniolans, I think they
would swarm— as they always do — on the first
opportunity.

Bee Books and Bee Journals. — Referring to
the question whether a beginner should
obtain a complete work on bees, or subscribe
to a bee journal, when commencing his studies
of the craft, the Canadian Bee Journal
says : — " Get a book," and adds — " Every
man who wishes to advance and study the
business should take in a bee-paper." " Those
who do not wish to keep bees in the best way
had better stay out of it. Their doom is
generally sealed before they begin."

I agree with the above, but add — take both ;
but in any case a good bee-book is indis-
pensable. If you can afford it, take all you
can get. It is not money thrown away.

Subjugation. — The article on this subject by

April 18, 1895.] THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.

155

Mr. Webster, in Record of April, is worth
consideration. I don't favour the carbolic
cloth myself. My experience of it is
that it first frightens the bees a bit, and
makes them more cross afterwards. I may, of
course, be wrong ; and as Mr. Webster offers
to supply samples (at cost of postage) ; I will
be very pleased t) have one. 1 will fulfil my
part of the contract and get the mustard tin
and the twopence ready. I take it, our friend
Mr. Webster, has his "American mixture and
portmanteau '' a'so well under way when
manipulating ?

Non-sivarming Arrangements. — This ques-
tion is arousing attention among bee-keepers
in other parts of the world along with our-
selves. As reported in the JB. K. Mevieiv
(Am.), Mr. Aspinwall uses boards half an inch
thick, and perforated with holes large enough
for the bees and queen to go through. These
boards are placed during the swarming season
alternately between each of the brood combs,
the theory being that as the bees can put no
comb or honey into these holes, they (the bees)
regard the hive as being half empty. Any
way, this spreading out of the brood, and bees
must be risky, and require much care, and
necessitate the use of large hives. Before the
idea could be adopted here with safety, we
should have to consider the difference in the
temperature of our climate. Mr. Aspinwall
states that he had seven colonies thus arranged,
and no sign of swarming took place ; and a
fair amount of comb honey secured, whilst
seven colonies in hives without this arrange-
ment all swarmed, and only gave an average
of 2 lb. of honey per hive.

Abuse of the Smoker. — " It is a very
difficult thing to estimate what amount of
mortality is caused among bees by the inju-
dicious use of the smoker ; but could it be
accurately arrived at, I daresay a good many
bee-keepers would be surprised to find what
havoc they have caused among the inhabitants
of their apiaries by the injudicious and indis-
criminate use of even a 'cold-blast' smoker.

A few puffs of smoke, if properly

directed, are all that are generally needed,
there being no use in smoking bees when they
show no disposition to sting. Many people
work the smoker like a blacksmith does his
bellows, and as though they thought their
lives depended upon it." — E. T. Abbott, in
American B.J.

To find the Queen Easily. — A corre-
spondent of the American B.J. says: — "If
you have a queen that is wild and difficult to
find, and you are anxious to interview her,
instead of shaking the bees out on the ground
and straining them through perforated zinc,
place in the hive a queen-cage that has lately
held a queen. In about an hour, or a little
less, open the hive, and nine times in a dozen
you will find her (royal) highness in the cage
looking for a supposed rival."

The above very original plan, so far as my
knowledge goes, seems an extremely simple

way of overcoming what has proved a difficulty
to many bee-keepers who are unable to " spot "
a queen easily. I have not yet tested it
myself, but it appears quite feasible, and well
worth trying. — H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath,
Surrey.

QUEEN'S PIPING.
DR. c. c. miller's VIEW.

[2301.] The "why" of the piping of
queens is an interesting matter, and your corre-
spondent "Peter Bois" (2199, p. 36, B.J.,
January 24) gives some new light. But I
confess to being a little puzzled over his state-
ments. By " piping," he says the young
queen " first and foremost proclaims the pre-
sence of other virgin queens in the hive. In
auother place, he says she pipes when she
finds a clean empty cell. Now, what are we
to understand l Are we to understand that
she will not pipe unless there are other virgin
queens in the hive 1 Also, that she will not
pipe if no empty cells are found by her ?
Suppose one of these conditions were present
without the other, would she refrain from
piping ?

If these rules are to be relied on, I feel
pretty sure they are not without exceptions. I
think I have known virgin queens to pipe
when no other virgin queens [I prefer your
British word princesses] were in the hive, and
I am sure I have known laying queens to do
so. I have also known princesses to pipe
when held in my hand, with no empty cells in
the case, and I have read of laying queens
piping while lying caged on A. I. Root's desk.
How is it ?— 0. C. Miller, Marengo, 111,
U.S.A.

WILFUL DESTRUCTION OF BEES.

THE LAW OF OWNERSHIP IN SWARMS.

[2302.] Perhaps you may remember that
last July, 1894, I complained of the conduct
of a neighbour of mine destroying two swarms
of bees belonging to me. On Wednesday last
at Tuam Marter Sessions I had no difficulty in
getting decrees of 15s. for each swarm against
this man.

The defendant admitted destroying both
swarms, one of them by pouring water over it,
but claimed that he did not know whose bees
they were, and challenged proof of ownership.
I proved that I saw them swarm out of their
hives and saw them cluster, and was standing
beside him when he destroyed one of them
and claimed it as mine.

His honour, the county-court judge, said it
was not necessary for my solicitor to quote
the law on the ownership of bees to him, as he
knew it already, and gave decrees at once.

The law relied on by me is laid down in
the " Commentaries on the Laws of England,"
by H. Broom, LL.D., and E. A. Hadley, M.A.,
Vol. II., and the particular passage, "" But a

156

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 18, 1895.

swarm, which fly from and out of a hive,
belong to the owner of the hive so long as he
can keep them in sight, and have power to
pursue them, or, which is much the same
thing, identify them, and, in these circum-
stances, no one else is entitled to take them."
His honour also said that I was entitled to
follow them into my neighbour's garden under
these circumstances, just as if they were my
sheep or cattle, as how else could I reclaim
them?

This judgment may be one of importance in
such cases, so, perhaps, you might kindly
insert it in next issue of the Bee Journal. —
T. Kirwan, Tuam, Co. Galivay, April 7.

bee>keeping in Palestine.

[2304.] Referring to your notice in B. B. J.
for April 11, page 143, on "Bees in Palestine,"
the question is put forth whether 41i lb. per
hive is good, bad, or indifferent. You have
already answered it yourself by saying it is
not bad. The Jew referred to is a settler in
a small colony, Wady Hnain (the Vale of
Yearning), probably from the many battles
fought there between Philistines and Israelites,
the Israelites and Egyptians, Macchabees
and Eomans and Greeks, Crusaders and
Saracens, especially big battles with
Bichard Cceur-de-Lion, and, in our own
times, Bonaparte's army against the Pales-
tine Arabs. It is quite near the Valley
of Sorek, — Samson's field of labour and
destruction. The Jew is one of the Russian
refugees. In 1882 we taught him bee-keeping,
and it is our hives he has— i.e., a double-story
hive with same size of frame throughout.
Each story of the hive holds thirteen frames
11^ in. by 10 in. Wady Hnain is about ten
miles from Jaffa, so Moses (that is his name)
loads his hives (just as my brothers still do,
and as I did for many years) on camel-back
about the beginning of March, and carries
them to Jaffa, where are several hundreds of
thousands of orange-trees in a compact mass,
giving a greater quantity of honey than the
orange-trees in the south of France. The orange-
tree blooms in Palestine from about middle
of March to middle of April, whilst here they
flower at beginning of May, and very irregu-
larly to arrive at the height of blooming and
honey secretion about middle of the month ;
and in ten more days all is over. Yet to
average 42 lb. (or 21 lb. during orange-blossom)
is not good ; but it must be borne in mind
that the honey season of 1894, bad in Europe
in general, has been an average bad year in
Palestine too. There has been a succession of
fairly good years from 1882 — 1887 included,
1884 and 1887 being a good deal better, when
some hives gave me between 100 and 200 lb.
1888 was a most miserable year ; still, we
averaged something like 15 lb. a hive in Jaffa
from orange-blossom. Then again a series of
excellent years, 1889 — 1893 included. I

averaged up to 1892, when I left Palestine,
100 to 120 lb. per hive. 1894, however, was
bad, as my brothers reported. Then Moses
does not remember to always " extract
early and well," partly because of his
living ten miles away from the apiary, and
partly from religious causes. Easter week,
falling generally right in the orange-blossom,
and although some Jews do their work in the
week, and " keep " only the first and last days,
Moses' wife is of the tribe of Levi, and they
keep it stricter, though in some occasions the
Jew " turns the law." Since they have settled
afresh (1882), and taken to agriculture, they
tried to follow the law in letting the land rest
every seventh year (Leviticus xxv.). But
cupidity was ingenious. Moses, our bee-
keeping friend, sold his land in 1889 (Jubilee
year) to his farmer, a Mohammedan ; but the
sale was fictitious, and the fellah had to give
back land and money of its sale at the end of
year, and, to avoid unpleasantness, the Jew
kept the money for the fellah every time he
sold anything. So the Jew has lost nothing,
and the outside varnish of the law -was kept.
A second gathering of honey at "Wady Hnain
and Ekron completed the meagre harvest for
1894, but the failure must partly be put to the
account of the exceedingly dry summer. —
Pn. J. Baldensperger, Mont-Gros, Nice,
April 13.

TWO QUEENS IN HIVE.

RENDERING WAX, AND OTHER MATTER9.

[2305.] Your prognostications came quite
correct concerning the young queen I wrote
about in October last (page 430). I put a
division between the two queens, as stated,
but when the cold weather came, they joined
together again. Upon overhauling the hive a
month ago, I found the young queen. The
old one, minus. Examining again, a week
ago, found drone brood in worker cells. You
may guess I soon dispatched her and united
bees with next stock.

I don't know how many of your readers are
"locked out," as I am, but, compared with
the bees, even I must not complain. They
have been practically " locked in " for these
three months past. They are, however, out
again, at last, and how they enjoy it ! To-day
while strolling through the woods the air was
all music with the joyful hum of the bees ;
round about every willow the apis mellifica
sang a merry tune. I was surprised to find so
much pollen and honey in what we call the
" palms."

Last week I had a " go in " for wax render-
ing. My plan of doing it was rough, but it
may be useful to some readers. It was as
follows : — Put a large pan half full of water on
fire ; place an ordinary vegetable-strainer (or
collander) on pan ; put combs in collander.
The heat and steam soon melt the combs, and

April 18, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

157

the wax runs through the holes into the water
below. When all is melted, allow to cool ;
take out cake of wax when cold and pare dross
from under side. Finally, re-melt in small
quantity of clean rain-water, and run into
moulds. — W. H. Smith, Kingsivood, Bristol,
April 9.

CURIOSITIES OF WINTEPJNG.

[2306.] It is very strange that many stocks
that were well cared for have perished during
the past winter, while others uncared for have
survived. I went to look at two hive3 belong-
ing to a neighbour ; one had a box of sec-
tions on top of frames, and the only covering
on the box was a bit of calico and one thick-
ness of a piece of an old counterpane. The
bees in this hive were as strong as any I have
seen — indeed, the hive was quite full. The
other lot, a last year's swarm (which hived
itself !) had only calico and one thickness of
felt over frames, and was also very strong. — B.
Boothrotd, Solihull, Birmingham, April.

[It is no less strange than true that healthy
stocks of bees, headed by vigorous and prolific
queens, will prosper spite of the most un-
favourable surroundings, just as the opposites
of the above will do no good no matter how
carefully tended. — Eds.]

THE SPRING AND THE BEES.

[2037.] To lovers of nature spring is always
a cheerful season, and an interesting time it is
when a warm day invites one to take the first
peep of the year into the hives ; especially is
this so if five long and cold (zero cold) months
have elapsed since the last peep was taken.
The doubts and suspicions engendered by
absence gave place to the pleasure afforded by
sight, and a pleasant sight it was to me or. the
3rd inst. to see the bees in my out apiary (of
eight hives) merry as crickets, "wiling the
happy hours away " in flight and buzz.

During the journey of seven or eight miles
over moorlands and country lanes, the retarded
state of vegetation strikes one forcibly ; the
season is a backward one, scarcely a leaf to be
seeD, the usually early catkins of the hazel are
even behind their time, and, although pollen
is being carried in, one wonders almost where
it come3 from. Only here and there a sweet
violet or a modest primrose may be seen
coming in the spring time to tell of countless
sunny hours, long days, and solid banks of
flowers, and, may we add, a good season
withal.

Your hopeful expression in " Useful
Hints," that stocks may come out better than
expected, has in my case been realised, and I
hope with many others of the craft. Of four-
teen stocks, one died from cold with a mint of
stores at hand ; another — with shame I say it
— from want of stores ; and in a third case

the bees in one compartment of " Wells " hive
went to visit their friends the other side the
division-board, and stayed there. Curiously
enough, a stock with twenty shallow frames
overhead left on to be cleared last autumn,
and another with ten, have come out vigorous,
and all the better for autumn neglect ; but
this is not my rule. I am convinced that to
winter well early feeding should be the order.
In 1893 I fed up the last week in August (too
early, say you), but I had the gratification of
seeing early foraging —
Honey-bee, so mad for love of early blooming

flowers —
and a fair return of honey in a poor season,
too. We are glad to note the weather is much
warmer, and appears to be verging on the
joyful time of the singing of birds, and the
general bursting forth of green life on all sides.
Welcome genial springtime. — Tomtit, Swan-
sea, April 3.

<f ttf-ms and Defies.

[1253.] Bees Dying. — I herewith send you
a few dead bees, and shall be glad if you will
kindly tell me the cause of their dying in such
a strange way as they do. I have six hives,
but only one is affected. They all came
through the winter safely. I put on candy
cakes as soon as the weather broke. On fine
days they would come out on the alighting
board, and be apparently cleaning themselves,
and then would roll off on to the ground. I
noticed dozens of them clustered about on the
ground, and they all had the same swollen
appearance as the enclosed. The fact of robbing
going on at this hive to-day, and no pollen
being carried in, made me suspicious, so I
made an examination, and was surprised to find
not more than a pint of live bees and about an
equal quantity dead and dying. I could not
find a queen, though I saw some recently-
hatched bees, some brood, and a queen-cell
started with a larva in it ; but this, as well as
the other larvae were apparently dead. There
is plenty of food in the combs, which are not
at all soiled ; but the entrance of the hive is
a good deal spotted, indicating dysentery. I
enclose sample of the candy cake used, made
from what was warranted pure cane sugar, but
the bees have not touched it. The same sort
is on my other hives, but if not suitable I will
take them off. I have some hundreds of plants
of the Canadian balsams, self-sown. Any
readers of your valuable paper who would like
to have some can do so by sending stamps to
defray postage to W. Snell, Eggesford
Station, N. Devon.

Reply. — Bees sent are suffering from ab-
dominal distension, and consequent inability
to fly. If they have partaken of such candy

158

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 18, 1895.

as sample received it would in a measure
accpunt for the mischief, as it is apparently-
made from raw sugar, Only granulated sugar
should be used for candy making.

[1254.] Hive-maJcing for Beginners. — I
commenced bee-keeping last September with
three straw skeps I got from parties who
despaired of their living through the winter.
I gave them 5 st. of sugar in syrup ; made
canvas oiled covers, which were kept on every
night and wet day. I lifted the skeps off the
floor boards yesterday, and did not find a
single dead bee. They have been bringing in
large loads of pollen for the last month (where
from I cannot make out), and have increased
very much. The bees in bar-frame hives
round here have all died except with two
parties, whom I had great trouble in getting
to feed them. Not a single straw skep has
failed of hundreds, and some of them are so
rotted away that it is only the combs that are
resting on the floor. I have timber cut and
seasoning for the last three months, to make
hives after the Cowan plan, and there are
some points I would like to know, as I do not
see it given in Guide Booh. 1. What space
should be allowed between the hive and outer
case ? 2. Would it be better to make the
roof with deeper walls, so that a second story
need not be used for wintering, and so reduce
the height of hive, and lessen the danger of
being overturned in storms 1 3. Would car-
bolised vaseline be dangerous to rub to ends
of top bars of frames, to prevent bees from
sticking them to the walls of hive 1 4. Are
the black bees so commonly spoken of
as being vicious entirely black ? All the bees
about here have three or four yellow rings on
the abdomen. 5. Would you recommend full-
sized frames in surplus chambers when working
entirely for extracted honey ? and if so, should
they be wired ? 6. About what time may I
expect the skeps to swarm, as they are in very
good condition ? — Inquirer, Neivmarket-on-
Fergus, April 6.

Reply. — 1. About 1 in. space on all sides
is usually allowed. 2. Shallow ' ' lifts " (about
G in. deep) are used for raising the roof as
needed when surplus chambers are on. 3.
Non-carbolised vaseline is much moie suitable
for the purpose as being unobjectionable to the
bees. 4. Black bees are usually credited with
less viciousness than some of the yellow
varieties. 5. Shallow frames h\ in. deep are
now generally used for extracting purposes,
and need no wiring. 6. In May, or early in
June.

[1255.] Bees in Hive Roof. — I made seme
purchases from the apiary of a friend on the
border of Berks ; and on examining one
frame-hive after getting it home, I find the
roof full of combs, bees, and brood. The
owner had shaken a swarm on top of frames,
and just put the roof on and left them to take '

up their quarters therein instead of in the
frames below. 1. What can I do with them 1
Should I let them swarm 1 2. Is this stock
of the same value as if the bees had been hived
in the proper way ? The bees are very strong.
— G. Webb, Swindon, April 15.

Reply. — 1. Since the stock is strong in
bees, and doing well, we should not break in
upon its prosperity, but let it swarm, and deal
with the combs in roof twenty-one days later,
when all brood will have hatched out. If the
season is good the combs in roof would be
mainly filled with honey. 2. A stock of bees
located in roof of their hive is by no means of
equal value with one in good working order.

(Mflfls from the 2§tws.

Roundstone, East Preston, Worthing, Sussex,
April 15. — The weather, from a bee point of
view, is simply atrocious. A bitter E. or N.E.
wind— at times a gale— has been blowing con-
tinuously since Thursday night last. In the
lulls my bees are bringing in bright yellow
pollen. I cannot tell whence, as there are no
willows (to my knowledge) anywhere near. —
W. R. Nightingale.

\tt j^Iuitra to tyamt

June 24 to 28. — Royal Agricultural Society's
Show at Darlington. Entries close May 1.
Schedules from J. Huckle, King's Langley,
Herts.

BEE-KEEPING IN GERMANY.
By C. J. H. Gravenhorst.
Read at the recent Convention of the North-
American Bee- Keepers' Association.

It is with pleasure that I accede to the re-
quest to prepare an article for the convention
in St. Joseph, Mo., and I willingly select, of
course, the subject which has been suggested
as one about which information is desired.
Although this subject is such a prolific one
that I might write volumes on it, I will
nevertheless make my article as brief as
possible.

The keeping of bees in Germany is very
old. Records which show this reach back 400
years before the Christian era. The bold
mariner Pytheas of Massilia (Marseilles), a
contemporary of Alexander the Great, records
in history that on the north coast of Ger-
mania, on the banks of the river Ems, he had
found honey used in the preparation of mead.
Junius states that before the battle of Arbalo
against the Cherusker (11 B.C.) a large swarm
of bees settled on the cord and shaft of a

April 18, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

159

lance in front of the tent of the camp-prefect
Hostilius Eutilus, in the camp of Drusus.
Moreover, Peinius records the finding in north
Germany of a honey-comb 8 fc. long, taken
from a log-hive — that is, a hive hewn out of a
tree trunk. He tells how the old Germans
followed the keeping cf bees in the forests
and in gardens, in living trees in which a
lodgment for the bees was hewn out, or in
hives which they had cut from the trees and
placed near their dwellings. Especially the
Slavic laws prove that already in the fifth
century of the Christian era covered as well
as uncovered bee-houses existed.

The greatest development which apiculture
has ever had in Germany occurred in the so-
called Middle Ages. This began, however,
with the introduction of Christianity, from
which time on the consumption of wax in the
shape of candles and tapers constantly in-
creased. The information which has become
available to us through the writings left by
monasteries and churches proves through the
records of taxes for honey and wax which had
to be met annually by the peasants, that bee-
keeping yielded enormous returns. Thus it
came about in the Middle Ages that the trade
in honey, wax, and mead reached its highest
prosperity. Great quantities of the products
of bee-keeping were exported by way of
Hamburg and other seaports to Spain, Con-
stantinople, Syria, and Palestine. This
flourishing of apiculture was greatly aided by
the great attention paid to it by princes and
owners of large estates. The so-called zeidler
societies were founded. These were composed
of those who were engaged in the care of bees,
and also such as were engaged in collecting
and straining honey and clarifying wax, and
were called Zeidler.

These zeidler societies formed closely-allied
branch associations, which were given special
rights and privileges. The strictest laws pro-
tected them. Only skilful bee-keepers were
accepted as members. They elected judges
(starosten) and elders from their own number.
The forests were divided off into districts, and
each district was under a zeidler, while several
districts formed a society, which, in most
instances, managed large numbers of colonies.
The Upper Lusatian Zeidler Society, for
example, had 7,000 colonies. The zeidler
system was especially flourishing in the Mark
of Brandenburg. It was developed on a
similarly extensive scale in the so-called royal
apiaries in the Bavarian forest in the vicinity
of Nuremberg. In the year 1538 the value
of two colonies was the same as that of a
cow.

But, unfortunately, from this time on, apicul-
ture in Germany went down hill at a great
rate. On account of the Reformations the
price of wax decreased greatly, for the glitter-
ing lights in most of the churches were extin-
guished. But what contributed most to the
downfall of apiculture in Germany was the
fearful thirty years' war which raged on account

of religion, after the close of which, in 1648,
three-fourths of the inhabitants of Germany
and 80 per cent, of the cattle had been
destroyed, and one-third of the cultivated lands
laid waste. Only gradually, very slowly, people
thought of apiculture again. During this time
conditions had also greatly changed. People
had learned to replace wax with substitutes,
and honey with cane and beet sugar, syrup,
&c. ; the mead breweries, which had cost so
much, had disappeared, the forests had been
decimated, and, through intensive culture,
many of the honey-producing weeds extermi-
nated. The belief that bee-keeping was no
longer profitable gained ground constantly.
To awaken even a degree of interest in it
again required great and persistent efforts.
In this men like Nikol Jacob in Silesia,
Schirach in Saxony, who first practised the
artificial increase of colonies, Riem, Spitzner,
and Christ were notable. Christ invented the
magazine hive, which consisted of several
boxes placed one upon another.

After the the thirty years' war, apiculture
made exceptional progress on the north Ger-
man plains, as for example, at the mouths of
the Jims, the Weser and the Elbe, and
especially in that portion which to-day is
included in the province of Hanover, and the
adjoining lands, where endless areas, covered
with Erica vulgaris, and, here and there buck-
wheat, offered to the bees a good autumn
harvest. Here bees were kept, and are still
kept to-day, in the round bell-shaped straw
hives. The method followed is a very rational
one. The colonies, through feeding, are urged
to give off numerous natural swarms, and if,
for example, 50 coloaies increase to 150, of
the3e 100 are sulphured in the fall. In
good years for honey these yield about 3,700
pounds of honey and 50 pounds of wax.
These returns are obtained mainly by following
the migratory system. Even though in many
other localities in Germany bees were kept in
straw hives, this is of little moment. Box and
log hives have nearly disappeared. Housing
bees in living trees is no longer followed.

(Conclusion next week.)

TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.

W. P. Meadows, Syston and Leicester. 56
pp. — Mr. Meadows' catalogue for 1895 is very
admirably got up ; full of illustrations, many of
them new, and all excellent. Nothing the
bee-keeper, or amateur hive-maker, can possibly
require is omitted from the list. Three capital
engravings of work- benches and tools of all
kinds, besides a full list of hives and bee-
appliances of every type, price and make.

John H. Howard, Holme, near Peterboro.' —
Mr. Howard runs the above very close with a
still larger list of 72 pages. Among the

160

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 18, 1895.

various goods illustrated and described are a
good few novelties not obtainable elsewhere,
all bearing the impress of the practical " bee-
man."

We cote that Mr. Howard is the sole agent
in this country for the Porter Bee-escape.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Cm-respondents to bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

Errata. — We regret that by a printer's
error in the first paragraph of Mr. Clutter-
buck's communication (2274, p. 143), the
words "all life'' occurs in three separate lines
which in each case should have been printed
cell life.

Portable Hives for Lecturers. — Messrs. Lan-
away & Sons, Warwick Head Works, Red-
hill, referring to the above and to query
1241 (p. 118 of B. J. for March 21), write to
say that they are making hives in the port-
able form desired for the use of lecturers.

H. Ballington (Matlock Bank). — Advice for
a Beginner. — 1. The best hive for a
beginner is certainly not a " Wells." It
would be obviously unfair for us to recom-
mend any particular hive to the detriment
of many others equally as good, and we
make a point of never doing so. Buy a
simple hive, costing about 10s. 6d., and
decide upon your own preference when you
have gained a little experience. 2. White
clover and heather are the main sources of
honey in this country, but we do not
recommend " sowing the former under
garden walls.'' It must be plentiful in the
meadows and pastures around to benefit the
bee-keeper to the full. 3. Get a catalogue
which includes tools for hive making. 4.
Any respectable dealer will guarantee the
bees he sells free from disease.

H. Deacon (Westbury). — Re-quetning Hives.
— 1. So long as the stock in frame-hive con-
tinues to do well there is no need to trouble
as to age of queen or about re-queening. It
is only when the colony fails to make head-
way that either the queen is at fault, and that
her fecundity is failing, or there are grounds
for suspecting disease in the hive. 2. If
the " cap " (or top) now on the skep con-
tains no brood, it may be removed so soon
as natural food is fairly plentiful, and as

this removal will considerably reduce the
capacity of the skep, it will increase the
chances of an early swarm from it.

Chas. E. Beale (Cork). — Comb marked No. 3
is free from disease, but, being very black
and old, it sadly needs renewing. No. 4
has slight traces of foul brood in it. The
sample marked with name (W. F.) is dis-
tinctly affected with foul brood.

F. Bridgett (Cheadle). — Bees Refusing Syrujj.
— If the bees are well supplied with food there
is no cause for alarm. An examination of
the feeders might, however, serve to explain
why the syrup is not being taken.

E. Oldham (Ashton-on-Mersey). — The debris
sent affords no clue as to the presence, or
otherwise, of foul brood in the hives from
whence it was taken. Only a sample of the
brood- comb will settle the point.

Boston. — Transferring Old Combs. — If you
you really intend to transfer combs from
skeps to the frame hive after swarming, the
proper time to do it is twenty-one days after
the issue of the first swarm. It is, how-
ever, not worth while to transfer old combs
unless tbey are in very good condition.

J. R. Truss (Stamford). — Dysentery : What
Causes it ? — If our correspondent will refer
to Mr. Sharp's letter (2284, p. 134) he will
find it is an entire error to pre-suppose
that " Mr. Sharp asks for information as to
the cause of dysentery." Mr. Sharp puts
the query, only to answer it himself, from
the knowledge gained by experience in his
own apiary ; and so far from requesting
readers of the B.J. to help him in finding
out the cause of his trouble, the last para-
graph of his letter makes it clear that he
now knows all about it. The words are,
" the cause of dysentery is very plain, and
the remedy is not far to seek." " I am san-
guine enough to believe that I shall never
again suffer any loss from this evil." In
view of this our correspondent will no doubt
agree that it would be somewhat superfluous
to advise " ventilation and good thick syrup,
given early," etc., to so experienced a bee-
man as Mr. Sharp, whose main object in
writing was, no doubt, to show what bad
results sometimes follow wintering bees on
natural food gathered late in the year.

A. Hamshar (Chilworth). — 1. By all means
use either shallow frames for extracting, or
else a rack of sections for surplus in pre-
ference to a straw super. 2. In melting
combs for wax, they should, if possible, be
subjected to moist, not dry heat. Many
simple contrivances for doing this may be
found described in back numbers of B.J.
3. The time a swarm takes to fill its hive
with combs depends very largely on the
amount of honey obtainable outside or on
the artificial food supplied, if weather is
unfavourable at the time. Sometimes they
fill the hive in four or five clays.

April 25, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

161

% ditoral, $atim, ku

BEE-KEEPING AND THE BOARD
OF AGRICULTURE.

DEPUTATION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE
BOARD.

Arrangements have now been com-
pleted for the deputation appointed by
the British Bee-keepers' Association, and
representing the bee-keeping industry of
the United Kingdom, to wait upon the
President of the Board of Agriculture,
who has arranged to receive the deputa-
tion on Tuesday, May 7, at his residence
in St. James's-square, W.

As our readers are, no doubt, aware,
the purpose of those who will be present
on the occasion is to urge upon Mr.
Herbert Gardner the need for the official
recognition of bee-keeping by the Govern-
ment in order to obtain reliable statistics
connected with the industry along with
the ordinary agricultural returns, and, if
possible, to secure compulsory powers for
dealing with the disease known as foul
brood among bees.

It is expected that the deputation will
be an influential one, several noblemen
and gentlemen — including members of
Parliament — known to be interested in
agriculture and its kindred pursuit of
apiculture, having been invited to take
part in the proceedings, and some have
already intimated their intention to be
present.

THE "ROYAL" SHOW AT
DARLINGTON.

We wish to call the attention of readers—
who are either bee-keepers or appliance dealers
— to the date upon which entries close for the
above important exhibition, viz., May 1. This
is the last opportunity we shall have of men-
tioning the matter, our next issue being too
late for making entries. In view also of the
lateness of the present season, it may be well
to print the " Special Notice " to exhibitors,
giving the opportunity for entering at _ once,
with the favourable proviso of insuring a
return of the entrance-fee in the event of non-
ability to send the proposed exhibits.

The notice reads as follows : —

" In the event of exhibitors in Classes 324,
325, 326, and 328 (for honey gathered in
1895), not being able to send their exhibits,
owing to unfavourable weather for honey
gathering, the entrance-fees will be returned,

provided that six clear days' notice has been
given of their inability to send such exhibits.

" In the absence of exhibitors, the British
Bee-keepers' Association will undertake the
sale of exhibits."

A large amount of interest is being aroused
among northern bee-keepers in the Darlington
show, and it is expected that not only will the
attendance of bee-men thereat be large, but
business brisk. We offer this as a hint to
dealers at a distance, who will, it is hoped, be
able to turn the occasion to profitable account
by appearing as exhibitors and salesmen.
There are also four classes for honey in which
that of previous years is eligible for competi-
tion, so that the show does not rely entirely on
the produce of the current year. Moreover,
there are nearly two months between close of
entries and date of show, in which to do the
"gathering'' for '95, so we urge prompt entries
between now and Tuesday next, the 30th inst.

WARWICKSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

The annual meeting of the Warwickshire
Bee-keepers' Association was held on the 11th
inst. at the Grand Hotel, Birmingham. Major
Deykin presided ; and among those present
were Mrs. J. R. Young, Mrs. J. N. Bower,
Mrs. E. Sargant, Mrs. A. L. Bayley, Mrs.
Evans, Mrs. Kenrick, Miss Robinson, Mrs.
Allen, Mrs. Brooks ; and Messrs. C. Allday,
W. Allday, G. H. HooDer, J. L. Hawkes (hon.
auditor), J. Simkins, Boothroyd, T. H. Bower,
H. Bower, Percy Leigh, J. R. Young, J. N.
Bower (hon. secretary), J. R. Ingerthorp
(assistant secretary), J. J. James, W. B.
Webster (expert), W. E. Perks, A. H. Foster,
&c. Apologies for absence were received from
Lord Leigh (Lord Lieutenant), the Earl of
Warwick, Mr. P. A. Muntz, M.P., and the
Right Hon. Jesse Collings, M.P. The chair-
man congratulated the members on the fact
that bee-keeping was very much on the
increase throughout the country, so that,
instead of having thousands of pounds of
honey imported annually from abroad, we
were now producing large quantities, and
had to spend only a small amount of
money for foreign honey. To cottagers,
bee-keeping was a very essential thing. It
enabled them very often to pay their rents,
and if a man had good luck he ought to
make from 30s. upwards of profit on
each hive. With regard to foul-brood, he
understood that the British Beekeepers'
Association were endeavouring to get an Act
passed for the suppression of foul-brood
among bees. If that were done, the yield of
honey would be much greater, and there
would be no fear of disease. Mr. A. H.
Foster, in moving the adoption of the report,
said he thought that the Board of Agriculture
should take the matter up with the view of
learning what was the average yield of honey

162

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 25, 1895.

in this country, and other matters in connec-
tion with the industry. He was glad that the
Warwickshire County Council had taken bee-
keeping up in connection with the dairy
school at Whitacre. This would be favourable
to the Association rather than otherwise. The
motion was carried unanimously, and the
officers were re-elected, namely — the president
(Lord Leigh), the vice-presidents, the hon.
treasurer, secretary, and assistant secretary,
and the expert, with the whole of the com-
mittee, the usual votes of thanks being passed.
The proceedings concluded with a lantern-
lecture by Mr. Webster on " Foul-Brood.''

IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

The annual general meeting was held on
the 18th inst. The report, which was adopted,
shows an increase in the number of members.
The operations for promoting bee-keeping
under the Congested Districts Board had been
fairly successful in Mayo, and remarkably so
in Donegal. The new arrangements for
facilitating the conveyance of honey had
worked satisfactorily. At the association's
depots a large amount of honey had been sold,
and the price of sections well maintained.
Two important lectures had been given at
Blackrock, and a conversational meeting held
in Dublin. A new departure had been made
by the issue periodically to members of a
circular giving seasonable hints on the manage-
ment of bees, as well as short items of associa-
tion news. , The committee were supporting
the British Bee-keepers' Association in their
efforts to obtain legislation for stamping out
foul brood with compensation to owners of
stocks destroyed.

A vote of thanks was passed to the Royal
Dublin Society for offering prizes for hives,
bee appliances, and honey at the spring show.

Three new members were elected on the
committee ; Messrs. Isaac Crawford, Thos. A.
Govan, and T. Kirwan. The president, vice-
president, treasurer, and secretaries were re-
elected. Inquiries as to terms of membership,
&c., should be addressed to Henry Chenevix,
hon. sec, 15, Morehampton-road, Dublin.

LIMNANTHES DOUGLASII.

Limnanthes Douglasii is one of our
prettiest annuals, and is perfectly hardy. It
is a native of California, and was introduced
into this country in 1833. It belongs to the
order Geraniacece, and the name is derived
from limne, a marsh, and anthos, flower, and
has reference to the habitat of the plant. It
is a very showy plant, with a spreading habit
and prostrate stems. The leaves are alternate
cut and exstipulate. When grown in masses
it is usually covered with bees, as in good soil
it yields nectar freely. Although a marsh
plant, it is not at all particular as to soil, and,
provided this is rich, flourishes in any sunny
spot, and keeps in bloom for about four weeks.

Its propagation by seed is very easy. Sown
in March or April, it will flower during the
summer ; but for spring blooming it should be
sown in August and September. The plants
should be thinned out to 9 in. apart. Those
removed can be transplanted, but will not
grow so vigorously as others not disturbed, and

LIMNAXTHES DOUGLASII.

will generally flower a little later. In this way
the flowering period can be prolonged. No
garden should be without it, as, apart from its
beauty and ease of cultivation, it is very
useful to our bees. The seed should be
gathered as soon as ripe.

DEATH OF MR. T. BADCOCK.

Many readers of the Bee Journal will
regret to hear of the death of Mr. Thomas
Badcock, late schoolmaster of Southfleet, which
occurred on Sunday, March 31. Deceased,
who was educated at St. Mark's College,
Chelsea, had been suffering from heart disease

April 25, 1895.] THE BEITISH BEE JOUENAL.

163

for some time before his death, and was
obliged in consequence to resign his duties as
head master of the schools six months ago.
He was an ardent bee-keeper, and took great
interest in all subjects connected with bee-
keeping, and in his quiet, unobtrusive way
always willing to give advice and help to any
one in need of such. Mr. Badcock was a
certificated first-class expert, and was at one
time a member of the Council of the Kent
Bee-keepers' Association. He also wrote a
series of articlee on Bee-keeping for the
Gh-avesend Standard.

As a science teacher he was most pains-
taking, and for some years taught classes in
botany and agriculture at the Higher Grade
Schools, Gravesend, also at Dartford, Swanley,
Eynsford, and other places. Three years ago
he gained, the bronze medal for agriculture,
being second on the list for all England. He
will be missed by a large circle of friends, and
much sympathy is felt for the widow and
large family, who are totally unprovided for. —
Communicated.

[We very willingly bear testimony to the
regard in which Mr. Badcock was held by
many bee-keepers who, along with ourselves,
had the pleasure of his personal acquaintance,
and would be only too glad to hear of an effort
being made for the benefit of his widow and
ten young children. — Eds.]

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. Mo notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Be8 Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

%* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2038.] I notice that on page 136 our candid
critic, " Western County," thinks it is time for
some of the regular correspondents of this
journal to lay down the pen, or, in common
parlance, " dry up." Feeling that this is a
direct thrust on myself among others, I reply
for myself only (leaving others to do the
same, if so disposed) that so soon as I feel I
have written myself out, or that my (i Notes "
are of no further use in the field of apiculture
either for its advancement or sustaining the
present standard of the craft, I am ready and
■willing to wipe my pen, and place the stopper
in the ink-pot. That " writers repeat them-

selves " may be true, as found in every trade
journal in replying to questions. I my self get
a number of letters during a year asking for
reply by post or in my next " Notes.'' Why
should I spend several hours in hunting up
back volumes to give correspondents a refer-
ence— and possibly the number in which a
general reply appeared is out of print — when I
can write a " Note " in a minute or two 1

Does Bee-Keeping Pay '! En passant, I must
say that the expenditure of £11 on ten hives
(established stocks, I take it, of previous year)
incurred by your correspondent Mr. Routh
(2286, p. 136) is a very large item. In fact,
it seems hardly credible to one who has always,
like myself, endeavoured to keep down ex-
penses in the management of the apiary to
find a bee-keeper spending over £1 per hive
in expenses. No wonder our bee-keeping
friend is convinced that bee-keeping under
such a system does not pay.

What of compulsory powers 1 Is there any
hope ? Are our to-be inspectors being trained,
ready to take prompt action when the power
is obtained to send them off on their mission ?
I opine Mr. Routh had been reading the
American B.J. for March 14 when he wrote
about the bee-keeper's capital disappearing in
smoke at the hands of inspectors.

Some Questions on "Examinations." — In
the forthcoming examinations on foul brood,
are our examiners going in for exams, on the
theory of foul brood ? If so, may I ask (1) is it
an established fact that bacilli are the cause or
the effect of foul brood? And if on the
premises that the practical is of more value
than the theoretical in the matter, on what
lines will the examination run ? (2) What prac-
tical work will be undertaken by these embryo
parchment holders to eradicate the pest of
which they start in quest 1 Will these candi-
dates be required to prove that they have
already had a long, weary fight with the
invisible enemy ? or will any one possessing
good retentive powers read up one or two works
on the subject, and sail into port, through the
rocks of Scylla and the dangers of Charybdis,
on the barque of a good memory, without
having any practical knowledge of the disease ?
The proposition in your correspondent's
letter (2297) on page 147, if carried out,
would place the keepers of foul broody bees in
the public pillory. Now this is the very
opposite of what is done in Canada. There, as
I understand, only the highest official is
acquainted with the name and location of the
owner of a diseased apiary by the inspector, so
that when the apiary is freed from the disease
the owner should be able to trade in the usual
way as soon as he gets a certificate from the
inspector stating that bis apiary is freed from
the disease. The knowledge that the British
Bee-Keepers' Association intend to take action
on the foul brood question is beginning to get
known. I have been offered two small apiaries
during the past week at my own price (no foul
brood in the neighbourhood, so far as I am

164

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 25, 1895

aware), because they " have heard say as how
people's bees is goin' to be burnt if they bean't
well.'' I declined the bargains, even at my
own price. Another item. — I was at the
house of a 'neighbour (a large farmer and a
C.A.). He told me he had tried to start his
workpeople with bees by giving them a swarm
each as a start, but some of them would not
have the bees at a gift unless he would consent
for them to do as they liked with them after-
wards, i.e., sell the bees first opportunity. This
shows that modern bee-keeping is not favoured
or appreciated by the agricultural labourer.
The number who keep bees are a fast
diminishing quantity in this part of the
country. As old bee-keepers die out, the
sons take up or sell out the long- established
little apiary, and the bees that " paid the
rent '' are a memory of the past. There is no
survival of the fittest in these instances ; it is
rather senility in the craft. This leads one to
take a prospective flight, and ask, What of the
years to come ? Who will be the bee-keepers
of the future ? Who will sustain the reputa-
tion of West Berks in the next decade in the
apicultural world ? Will it be the proprietor
of the " apiaries in Berks," for which an
advertisement in your pages was asking
capable men to speak out for the management ?
That, I opine, will be the method of honey-
producing in the future ; men will make a
specialty of bee farming. The seasons of the
past few years have not been such as would
warrant any one in investing their all in
bees and appliances, though, perhaps, a
cycle of years may follow in which en-
vironments may conduce to big " takes " of
honey. Electrical conditions suitable to good
flows of nectar may follow season after
season, and cheer the heart of the manager,
and pay a fair percentage on the invested
capital to the proprietor. Then when our
inspectors have rid the craft of foul brood, and
our future bee-keepers have bred a race or
strain of vigorous bees by introducing new
blood, and paid the attention the subject
deserves to the male portion of the colony,
then and not till then we may hope with suit-
able seasons that bee-keeping in the future
will equal if not excel anything in the
chronicles of the bee-keeping in the past.

The thought struck me as I penned the
above paragraph that a word in favour of the
drones would not be out of place. We are now
at the commencement of the breeding season
of 1895, and are hoping to rear fine queens —
queens noted for long life, prolificness, vigorous
progeny— yet what of the drones ? Look
through the back volumes of the books on
bees, or into the current bee literature of the
day, and note the paucity of articles on drone-
rearing. They teem with matter on queen-
rearing,from old Nature's way to the artificially
model formed cell, in which the " Koyal food "
is placed in larger proportions than if left to
the natural instinct of the bees ; the " master
hoping to thereby increase the size of his

queens," &c. I ask what is done for the drone
by the modern bee-keeper ? Full sheet of
foundation on which the bees may possibly
insert a few drone cells along the bottom edge of
each comb; no special comb allowed of which a
large part is naturally-built drone-cells, inserted
in a strong colony noted for its good, points,
so that the drones reared in these best stocks
may embody the vigour and strength neces-
sary for the perpetuation of a strain of vigorous
offspring! Some one may say "how shall I
proceed to insure fine, sleek, fat, vigorous
drones for the coming season to mate with my
queens ? " Well, about the middle of May
insert a frame in the centre of your strongest
stocks having only a starter of foundation, and
the bees will build a fine new comb almost
wholly of drone-cells for you, and the queen
will stock it with eggs. Then your apiary, if
it is isolated, will want some manipulation of
stocks to prevent, as far as possible, the chance
of drones and young queens from one hive
mating. Only study of the subject and know-
ledge of the age of your batch of queen-cells
will enable you to confine the drones in any
hive to prevent in-and-in breeding. — W.
Woodley, Beedon, Neivbury.

[We do not precisely know to whom the
questions put by our correspondent are
addressed, but bearing in mind that our con-
nection with the matters referred to are not
only editorial but directly official — owing to
our position on the committee appointed by
the B.B.K.A. to deal with it — and that an
answer will, reasonably enough, be expected,
the task is perforce ours.

Before replying, however, to the questions
enumerated, we must confess our inability to
quite understand what is meant by the
inquiry at the outset, "Are our examiners
going in for exams, on the theory of foul
brood ? "

For the rest, we reply (1) by asking, What
does it signify in dealing with the eradication
of the disease ? (2) Mr. Woodley seems to mix
up the questions, first, of passing an exam, for
expert's certificate, and, second, qualifying for
the position of inspector under an Act of Par-
liament. It need hardly be said how wide is
the difference between the two. And, so far
as the last-named, it may be safely taken for
granted that none but those who have had
thorough practical experience in dealing with
foul brood will be appointed inspectors.

On the general question of " compulsory
powers,'' as dealt with by our correspondent,
we may again refer him to the terms of the
Suggestions for incorporation in the proposed
bill drafted by the chairman of the B.B.K.A.,
and printed in B.J. for January 31 last, since
which time several amendments and suggested
improvements have been adopted by the com-
mittee. These will appear in our pages
shortly, and we might suggest that anyone
disposed to criticise or to anticipate results
favourable or otherwise, will bear the wording
of the proposed Act in mind, and see how far

April 25, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

165

it meets the case. We also charitably assume
that every one concerned will believe that good
and not harm to bee-keeping is intended by
the certainly not inexperienced bee-keepers
who have the matter in hand. — Eds.]

BEE JOTTINGS.

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2039.] American Antiphrasis. — "Too many
cooks spoil the broth " is a trite saying, and
may, I think, be very justly applied to the
American Bee Journal so far as the special
column devoted to " .Notes and Comments " by
one of its many editors. To say that the general
tenour of the " Notes and Comments " in
question are in bad taste hardly fits the case ;
the editor in question is either terribly hard up
for " copy " or deliberately desires to discredit
the teaching of a contemporary. Not a very
exalted aim, one would think, even if there
had been any j ustification for his comments,
and utterly inexcusable when there is none.

The first " Note " is entitled, What are
they ? and deals with a paragraph in the
"Useful Hints" column of B.B.J, for
January 17, page 22, where, in dealing with
the question of foul-brood legislation — and to
make the matter clear to readers — you quote
certain clauses from the Contagious Diseases
(Animals) Act dealing with swine-fever, and
then go on to say : " After careful perusal of
the full text of the above Act it seeni3 safe to
say that its provisions — as laid down therein
— do not meet the case of insects, and by no
stretch of the imagination can bees be classed
as animals " for the purposes of the Act
quoted.

Now, any one possessing a grain of common
sense would surely have understood both the
words and the intent of the above ; but no,
the enlightened editor in question, without
giving his readers the slightest clue to the con-
text, picks out the words I have italicised,
talks of the " three kingdoms '' of which he
has a faintremembrance,and says, "Surely bees
are not vegetables or minerals 1 " Had he quoted
the subject matter, or given some clue to what
was being discussed, it would require no
stretch of the imagination to arrive at the
conclusion that, although a bee is classed
among small animals, yet, for the purposes of an
Act of Parliament, it could not by any possi-
bility be dealt with under the clauses of the
Act, which Act formed the subject of your
remarks.

I should not have noticed this matter, but
in the following week's issue of Am. B. J. the
same sort of thing again occurs, this time
under the heading, "Nor any other time."
This is also stated to be an "editorial in B.B. J.,"
which is said to run thus : — " Open-air feeding-
should not be started too early in the spring,
and only when the weather is warm. The food
should also be very much thinner than ordinary
bee syrup." Then the same embodiment of

enlightenment— viz., one of the many editors —
goes on to remark : — " It seems strange to me
to have an editor of a bee paper explain how
or when to feed in the open air." I trust that
our editors will pardon me for taking up the
cudgels on their behalf, but I know they are
averse to noticing this sort of thing them-
selves. But let us see what the facts of this
case are. Firstly, I can find no one case in
B.B.J, where its editors have ever recom-
mended open-air feeding, but I find many
instances where they have advised their
readers not to do so. Secondly, the quotation
referred to is not from an " editorial " at all,
but forms part of a reply given by way of
a caution to query (1229, p. 68, B.J. for
February 14), which query reads thus : — " Last
spring I fed my bees (and I expect some of
my neighbours' bees as well) by the plan
recommended by an expert," &c, and the
querist goes on to say—" but I found a large
number of bees unable to fly back, and some
dead. Can you tell me the probable cause ? "
&c, and in reply you, Messrs. Editors, used
the words of caution above quoted. Surely
a high-class bee-journal like the A.B.J. — with
plenty of talent employed in its production —
should employ that talent in other ways than
obtaining even "Notes and Comments" by
such dubious methods as those to which I have
called attention. I call it " playing a bit low "
(to use a vulgar phrase), even though some
may regard it as what the writer of " Notes
and Comments " calls " a hint to the wise."
That it is misleading there is no doubt, but I
go further and say it is not quite honest and
straightforward. Fair criticism should be
always welcome, but to go out of one's way
to pervert the sayings of others may in some
countries be considered "cute," but it does
not alter the fact that here we should certainly
consider it bad taste, if not distinctly savour-
ing of dishonesty.

Melting Point of Bees Wax. — As a result
of experiments on the above, detailed in
Gleanings, the melting point of " pure white
wax is 156 deg., entirely liquid at 160 deg. ;
pure red wax at 160 deg., entirely liquid at
166 deg. ; new wax 153 deg., entirely liquid
at 159 deg." Now, if the lower figure in each
case is the melting point, what has the higher
figure to do with it ? If we find wax melts at
153 deg., it is but a question of time and bulk
to reduce any quantity of wax to liquid con-
dition at that temperature ; true, the higher
figure will cause the wax to liquefy more
quickly, but does not give the true melting
point. All the figures, in my opinion, are too
high by two or three degrees— although, as
Gleanings point out, "dirt and repeated
melting may raise the figures, and that fresh
wax from the hive may account for the
difference."

Concerning Wax. — The report by Frank T.
Shutt, M.D., F.I.C., states that " Dumas and
Milne Edwards found that bees fed with
500 grammes of sugar produced 30 grammes

166

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 25, 1895.

of wax, the same weight of honey only yield-
ing 20 grammes. It would also appear that,
although pollen is not absolutely necessary to
the production of wax, its consumption by the
bees greatly reduces the amount of honey or
sugar otherwise required (Berlepsch.). From
this it becomes evident that wax is secreted,
primarily at the expense of the tissue,
and secondarily of the food consumed. —
Canadian B.J.

What to do with Weak Colonies in Spring.
— Good advice is given by Dr. C. C. Miller in
the Am. B.J. when he says : — " I used to take
a great deal of pains to try to nurse up such
little weaklings as come out half-dead-and-alive,
with very few bees in them. Sometimes I'd
give them brood from a strong colony to help
bring them up. The idea was that if there
were one very strong colony and one very
weak one, if I let them alone the weak
one would die, and then I'd have only
one colony, but if I gave the weak one
brood from the strong colony, then both would
live and I'd have two colonies. But giving
brood from the strong didn't strengthen the
weak as much as it weakened the strong.
Then I tried uniting the weaklings, but some-
how four or five of them together seemed in a
little while to be just as weak as if they had
been left separate. So I finally settled down
to unite a weakling with a good colony, for
the good colony would thus gain a little in
strength, and, even if it didn't, no harm would
be done, for the weakling was good for
nothing any way. When they first begin to
fly they'll unite without any difficulty." —
H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath, Surrey.

HONEY PLANTS.

[2040.] I have lately got hold of a copy of
Boot's "AB C of Apiculture," dated 1883
(I suppose this is not the latest edition), and
I there find a description of a most wonderful
honey plant, "The Spider Flower " (Cleome
pungens). Mr. Boot says of it : "With the
aid of a teaspoon I dipped honey enough from
three or four plants to fill a two-dram vial,
such as we use in queen cages, a little more
than half-full. The honey in some of the
flowerets had collected in a quantity so large
that it spilled out, and actually streamed on
the ground ! '' The "ABC" also describes
another plant in glowing terms, viz., the
" Simpson Honey Plant," or figwort (Scrofu-
laria nodosa) I should very much like to
know whether these plants have been grown
by bee-keepers in this country, and with what
results 1

I take this opportunity of backing up the
request of " Justitia" in B.B.J, of April 11
(2297, page 147), that correspondents who
write to you about foul brood should have
their names and addresses in the reply column
printed in full, especially if the comb, which
has been examined shows that the disease
exists in their apiaries. I am thankful to say
that we in this immediate neighbourhood do

not yet, from practical experience, know what
foul brood is, though rumour says it has come
within four miles " as the crow flies."

All my twelve stocks have come through the
winter safely, and only jtwo seem weak, but I
hope they will build up before the clover
blooms at the end of June. Of course, all
stocks are very backward, especially as com-
pared with last year. — E., Chester, April 20,
1895.

[It need hardly be said that we shall always
regard as strictly " private and confidential "
any names sent us,&c, when so desired. — Eos.]

STAFFORDSHIRE NOTES.

[2041.] Staffordshire is a large county, well
adapted for bee-keeping, yet I have not seen a
report from it in your columns since I first
read the B.B.J.

During a long ride on my cycle to-day I
was pleased to see several cottagers had in
their gardens a few bar-frame and " Wells ''
hives, neatly painted, and looking very well in
most cases, but not a single skep was to be
seen. A lot of people here say that at one
time they have had some thought of keeping
bees, but for some small reason have never
done so. I think if the "County Council
lectures " on this subject were a little more
frequent (I have only heard of one twelve
miles away) the number of proprietaires des
ruches would be greatly increased. Pollen
seems to be plentiful just now but honey
scarce, but we are hoping for the pear blossom
in three or four days, and the apples to follow
in a week or so.

Stocks of bees came through the winter
fairly well ; none of mine have died, while I
find those weakest last autumn have come out
best in spring. A bee-keeper not far away
lost six colonies. I hope all British bee-
keepers will have as good a season as we are
sanguine of getting. — Apiarius Invenilis,
Staffs, April 20.

SPRING NOTES FROM MID-DERBY-
SHIRE.

[2042.] Winter past, spring at last ; and
what a winter, too ! one not likely to be soon
forgotten. The bees have evidently forgot the
past, and are making the best of the present.
Vegetation is very backward, consequently
there is just now little to gather, either in the
shape of pollen or nectar ; but for the artificial
pollen-basket (or pea-flour skep) and syrup,
my bees would have been backward, too, but
they have wintered better than I ever remem-
ber (though many were weak), and are in quite
a forward condition. Yesterday I noticed an
immature drone cast out of a skep, showing
that early drones are on the way. I attribute
this to a small but regular supply of syrup and
plenty of pea-flour.

Thanks to genial old Sol, fruit blossom is
coming on well, and in a week or two honey
will be being gathered from it. It is sur-

April 25, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

167

prising how readily queens will take to founda-
tion in preference to old comb. On Easter
Monday I examined nine stocks that each had
a frame with foundation inserted on Good
Friday, and found in seven lots the combs
were built out, and had eggs laid in ; some of
the new combs simply packed with eggs.
Apart from the risk of beginners overdoing it,
this comb-building in spring makes it profit-
able to melt up old combs more often than is
usually done. It is to be hoped the deputa-
tion of bee-keepers on the foul-brood question
will meet with ample success to reward the
council of the B.B.K.A. and our editors for
their never-tiring energies on behalf of bee-
keepers in general. The question is a big one
to grapple with, but not insurmountable with
the right men at the wheel. I think, before
we can say adieu to foul brood, we must say
good-by to the skep system, as the risk in-
curred by the purchase of driven bees is
great. Who, for instance, can tell upon lifting
a skep whether or not it is slightly infected ?
True, I have bought driven bees, but always
with a certain amount of fear. Once a law is
in vogue that will deal effectively with the
disease, and with the careless, ignorant, or
(worse than all) unfriendly bee-keeper ; and
the industry will prosper. Meantime, we
must " wait and hope." — H. Hill, Ambaston,
Derby, April 20.

FOUL BROOD.— PREVENTION BETTER
THAN CURE.

[2043.] Having read with much interest
nearly all that has been written on foul brood
for some months past, and the experiences
given by those who have attempted its cure,
I would, with your permission, like to give
an opinion which I have with regard to one
of its most fruitful causes.

The honey-producing industry is, like most
others, carried on at high pressure. In the
old times, if a skep when taken up in autumn
should approach 3 st. in weight, it was
registered as a " record ; " but now to hear of
cwts. taken from a hive, and even tons of
honey taken in a season from one apiary, con-
vinces the thoughtful man that there must be
a great amount of stimulating effort on the
part of those owning apiaries. I am not
writing as one having had any experience
with the disease — never having seen it —
but taking a common-sense view of the
methods practised, especially at this season
of the year, by a great many in the
stimulating effort, I have no hesitation in
saying that the constant use of drugs in
the syrup given to bees is a more fruitful
cause of foul brood than of its spreading by
infection. It is well known that food, pure or
impure, has a very great effect upon females,
through all the range of creation, but
especially when in a state of fertility. But
in order to make as plain as possible the
theory which I hold, that the impure food

given to bee3 produces disease, I wish to draw
an analogy between laying hen and the
fertile queen bee. It has been demonstrated
over and over again, that when a laying hen is
for the most part fed on Indian corn, a very
small percentage of her eggs hatch out, and of
such chicks as do straggle into existence, most
of them die just when getting their breast
feathers. Whereas if the same hen has sound
oats as its staple food, the eggs are more fer-
tile, and the result is a larger number of
healthy chicks.

This theory, to my mind, applies to the
fertile queen bee, her structure being so fine,
and her susceptibilities so keen. Seeing that
in so many instances she is obliged either to
live upon medicated syrup or die, she clings to
life, consequently the vitality of her eggs is so
seriously affected that they are produced under
unnatural conditions, their vitality impaired,
and, as a natural result, the brood dies in
different stages of incubation. And very often
the nurses attending the hatching brood, on
account of unfavourable weather, are obliged to
give the same food, which has already pre-
viously weakened their constitutions ; conse-
quently dead brood in various stages, and such
as struggle into existence being enfeebled, the
drone, or male bee, not excepted. No wonder
that there are so many plague spots, and to
my mind will continue to be, even after
compulsory powers may have been obtained.
What we bee-keepers want is the exercise of
common sense in the treatment of our little
toilers by giving them healthy food, pure
syrup from pure cane sugar, clean and healthy
habitations, then — and only then — will they
bring in the much wished-for return. — J.
Barker, Winton, Kirkby Stephen, April 17.

[Without discussing the somewhat abstruse
theory advanced by our correspondent, we
would just observe that its fatal weakness lies
in the fact that the great maj ority of our most
successful bee-keepers, whose apiaries continue
healthy, and whose bees prosper, invariably
medicate all artificially-prepared food given to
their stocks. On the other hand, those who
fail in using preventives against foul brood
are only too often the owners of weak, unpro-
sperous, and diseased colonies. — Eds.]

DO BEES PAY?

[2044.] Your correspondent, Mr. Brice

(2300, p. 154), supplies your readers with an

excellent example of how to cook an account,

and this is how he does it :—

" Capital expended ten years ago £30 0 0

Last year's outgoings 11 5 4

Eliminate these, and take in their stead the
present value of hives and bees, £5 ; now take
the gross receipts of last year, £13. 13s. 10d.,
and you clearly have a profit of close upon
300 per cent. ! "

Let us try some other commercial enter-
prise on the same lines— say a mine (for bee-

168

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 25, 1895.

hives are supposed by some to be mines of
wealth) : —

Capital raised ten years ago . . . £30,000
Last year's working expenses ... 11,000
Present value of property ... 5,000
Gross receipts of last year ... 13,000
and on these figures Mr. Brice proclaims a
dividend of 300 per cent !

Now, Messrs. Editors, it is exactly this way
of twisting solid facts that made me try to
raise a discussion in your journal on the ques-
tion, "Does Bee-keeping pay 'for the small
Bee-keeper ? ' " Do those men who sometimes
give us wonderful accounts of their bees'
doing, and balance-sheets, with the balance
always on the right side, take everything into
account 'I Interest on capital expended, time
spent over hives, wear and tear of clothes (in
my case Mr. Brice quietly skips all these),
depreciation of plant, carriage of goods,
postage, subscription to association, &c. I
rather doubt it. I know my eyes were opened
considerably when I set clown all that I spent
because of bees and of my connection with
bee-keeping. I do not exactly know why Mr.
Brice calls me " unfortunate." I think I am
very lucky, for I have no foul brood in my
apiary, and my bees are a great pleasure to
me. I demur to his stating that I have wasted
my money, because he does not know how I
have spent it. I prefer to see a neat, well
painted hive in my garden, rather than an old
soap-box with a sack and a piece of zinc tied
over it ; but I must not let my pen run on or
you will never print my letter. — Robert S.
Routh, Longstoch Vicarage, Hants.

[We think that — so far as the personal
aspect of the question goes— this discussion
may now be allowed to drop. — Eds.]

STRAW SKEPS FOR WINTERING.

[2045.] This remarkable winter, followed by
a season which, I suppose, all are agreed may
be termed very far from good, if not decidedly
a bad one, not only in respect to honey-storing,
buc also on account of the small quantity of
brood in the hives in the early autumn and the
larger consumption of stores during the mild
weather up to Christmas, has resulted in a
greater loss of bees than, I imagine, almost
the oldest bee-keeper can remember. I have
lost all my bees of six stocks in single hives
and one or two (?) in a " Wells " hive, while
two skep'j of my own and two of a neighbour's
are apparently in good condition, working
vigorously and carrying pollen, and busy at
the water from morning till evening when
weather permits ; and this result was unex-
pected, for Stock 1 was a very iveak, small,
second swarm, which was given me as useless ;
however, I fed it rapidly with about 20 lb. of
syrup, and I am rewarded. 2. Was a first
swarm, which I bought on October 8, and fed
a little. 3. An old stock in a neighbour's
garden, with no protection but two tiles on

the top, in a very old skep. 4. A swarm in
the same condition. I am not a " skeppist,"
but my belief in the excellence of the skep for
wintering is confirmed. It is on this point I
should like to hear the opinion of brother
bee-keepers with more experience than myself.
As to the cause of the loss of my other bees,
let the verdict be bad management, neglect, or
anything you please, but I trust my brother
bee-keepers will not ridicule me unmercifully,
as I am very " down in the mouth," and have
had already as much as I can bear at present !
I have kept bees for several years, and have
never lost but one stock before. One other
remark I will make, and that is that I do not
intend to try dry Porto Rico sugar on the top
of the frames laid on thin paper, which I did
this year, and which in other years has been
fairly successful — a plan which, I think, was
recommended in B.B.J, about ten years ago. —
A. P. J., Norfolk, April 18.

BEE - PLANTS.

[2046.] Your remarks on p. 141 made me
regret I did not know sooner, for within a
month I have made away with a full gallon of
seed of Chapman honey-plant. Perhaps you
may remember my offering through the B.B. J,,
some two years ago, to send seeds to any one
forwarding a stamped envelope to me. Your
being " taken aback ! " caused me to laugh at
the remembrance of my own experience, and
the piles of letters arriving morning after
morning for several days. Not only was I
taken aback, but our postman, with arms full
of letters morning after morning, was dumb-
founded. " Whatever does it all mean ? ''
said he. I counted up the time expended in
what you call " filling orders," and found it
took me about three entire days !

I have grown the "Chapman" for seven
years now, and believe it to be a very good
honey-plant. I only sowed it once, since which
time it comes up from the old stem, and hun-
dreds of young plants from self-sown seeds.
There are just now thousands of seedling
plants that I would gladly give away to bee-
friends if called for in a week or two, but they
would be smashed up in post.

Another bee-plant which I strongly recom-
mend is the white rock (" ragged Jack ■' some
call it). To my mind it is the first and best
bee-flower that grows in early spring. Four
years ago I bought for Is. two dozen plants,
set them out 9 in. apart, and now I have a
bed of it 15 ft. long and 3 to 6 ft. wide, with
two other beds, 6 ft. square, planted out last
year after the bloom had finished its two
months of blooming. These, too, are now a
" sight " for a bee-man to see, and any living
within reach will be welcome. My man tells
me that when in the garden to-day he saw at
least a thousand bees working on it at one
time.

My bees (eleven frame-hives and eight skeps)
have, I am pleased to say, come through the

April 25, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

169

severe winter well. They had plenty of
natural stores when "packed" last autumn,
and I just peeped beneath the quilts of frame-
hives six weeks ago, finding food plentiful.
The stocks in skeps also are alive and hard at
work now, appearing to be somewhat stronger
than the frame- hives ; but all are carrying in
pollen fast.

I had — along with my bees— a rough bit of
experience with the late storm. I was a little
distance away from home about 3 p.m., when
a message reached me : " Come at once ; the
bee-hives are rolling about in the garden like
footballs." Hurrying down, I found one skep
upside down, blown as far into a corner as the
wind could take it, the bees huddled up
together for warmth. Two frame-hives
stood on end, carried clean away from their
stands, roofs gone off several hives, quilts,
and loose fixings flying about in all directions.
We gathered all up, replaced coverings as well
as we could, weighting roofs down with bricks,
&c, and after two hours' hard work got things
fairly straight agaiD, and I sat down to my
tea, thankful it was no worse. — George
Beealey, Grendon, Northanls, April 14.

[We are rather pleased than otherwise to
have some corroboration of our own experience
in regard to the applications for seeds. And if
our correspondent's letters on the subject even
approached ours in bulk, we can well under-
stand his three days' work in " filling orders."
Anyway, it has been extremely gratifying to
find the B.B.J, so very much en evidence
among bee-keepers as to call forth so large an
amount of interest in bee-plants. Personally,
we do not for a moment grudge the labour in-
volved in sending seed to many hundreds of
applicants, whose thanks are due less to our-
selves than to those who supplied the seed,
especially to our correspondent, Mr. H. W.
Brice, the hitherto anonymous donor of the
first packet distributed some weeks ago. —
Eds.]

<$«rie& m& $qtltes.

[1256.] Wax Extracting.— I. I have a hive
24 in. long inside measure, and wish to turn
it into a " Wells." How shall I manage ?
2. Shall I have to use shallow-frames above
for brood-nest ? 3. What is the simplest and
most economical way to extract wax in a
small apiary of two hives ? 4. Will it matter
if I use half-sheets of thin brood-foundation
(cut standard size) for shallow-frames, and
must the foundation be wired ? 5. Being
away from home from 7 a.m. till 7.30 p.m.,
how can I best control swarming ? 6. What
is a fair price to give for a stock of bees on
frames of comb at this time of year 1 —
W. H. S., King's Heath.

Reply. — 1. A hive 24-in. long will only
take about fifteen frames, therefore if divided

into two compartments for working on the
double-queen system (which we do not recom-
mend for you under the circumstances), it will
require a box of shallow-frames added over
each division to enlarge the brood-chamber,
just as Mr. Wells himself does in his own
hives. 2. Yes, as stated above. 3. Refer to
B.J., p. 156. 4. Thin brood- foundation will
answer in shallow frames for extracting, but
we should use full-sized sheets and have them
wired in. If for breeding purposes only, half
sheets will do, used as proposed. 5. Only by
giving timely room, with plenty of ventilation
and shade in hot weather. 6. A good stock of
bees on frames at this season is cheap at 20s.,
irrespective of the hive.

[1257.] Transferring Combs— Stimulative
Feeding. — 1. When doubling stocks, as recom-
mended in the Guide Booh, is excluder zinc
placed between the two body-boxes, or are both
left for breeding purposes 1 2. Will the bees
at once pass up and keep the brood warm 1
3. I bought a combination hive last year, which
has very large-sized frames. I want to get rid of
these, and have only " standard " frames in the
apiary. How would you advise me to proceed
so as to transfer the stock into another hive
with the least loss ? 4. Is it necessary or
advisable to give syrup to a stock which has
sufficient stores if you wish (a) to get an early
natural swarm from it, or (b) to raise drones in
it, or'(c) to obtain queen-cells ? — M. A., Chester,
April 18.

Reply. — 1. As described in the Guide
Book no excluder zinc is intended to be used,
otherwise it would be so stated. 2. Yes. 3.
You cannot do better than follow the instruc-
tions given for transferring combs from skeps
to frames on page 139 of Guide Book. 4. To
obtain the advantages named respectively a, b,
and c, stimulation is a main factor towards
achieving success, and "stimulation" means
either slow and continuous syrup-feeding, or
else uneapping at intervals of a few days
portions of the sealed stores in the hive. The
subject of stimulative feeding is also fully
explained in Guide Book, p. 105.

[1258.] Detecting Bobber Bees and Queen-
lessness. — I sometimes see a bee escorted out-
side of the hive by half a dozen or more of its
fellow-workers, who surround it on the flight-
board, and appear busily engaged licking or
washing it all over whether it likes it or not.
They then pull the bee about for a few
minutes, after which it shakes itself, takes a
fly round, and re-enters the hive. 1. Do you
think the bees thus treated are young ones 1
2. When pollen is carried into a hive, is it a
sure sign the queen is there 1 I have to-day
examined my eleven frame-hives, and find food
plentiful in nine of them. The other two were
short, so I gave to each a frame of last year's
honey. — G. Brealey, Grendon, April 18.

Reply. — 1. We rather suspect the bees over-
hauled as described are strangers caught in the

170

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [April 25, 1895.

act of helping themselves at a cupboard not
their owd, and made to disgorge their plunder
by the "escorting'' bees referred to. 2.
Though very strongly presumptive of the
presence of a queen and breeding in a hive to
see pollen carried in, it cannot be called a sure
sign, for queenless bees do occasionally carry
in a little pollen, as when a fertile worker is
present, or when the bees are making futile
attempts to rear a queen by building queen-
cells.

[1259.] Bees Transferring themselves to
Frame-hives. — About the middle of March I
bought a light straw skep of bees, said to
contain a cast of last year. Having carried
it home, I placed it on the top of the frames
in a frame-hive containing some honey,
stored pollen, and dead brood, the former
inhabitants not having been strong enough in
numbers to carry quite through the winter.
The bees in skep are now very busy carrying
pollen, but they have not taken possession of
the frames through which they carry their
burdens up to their original quarters. Can I
do more at this time to induce my little
friends to go down lower? — Philip J. Ash,
Buthin, North Wales, April 22.

Kepi/st.— When the skep becomes over-
crowded the bees will take possession of the
lower hive, and breeding will be transferred to
the combs therein. Nothing, however, can be
done to hurry them down.

Noticesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column .

A. F. Williams (The Rookery). — Distance
between Side-bars of Frame and Hive Sides.
— A quarter-inch is the correct distance
from hive side, with half an inch between
bottom-bar and floorboard.

E. Jones (Kidderminster). — Drone -breeding
Queen. — Brood is chilled, not foul. The
queen is also a drone-breeder, as shown by
the lengthening out of worker cells and
drone larvae in them.

A. L. Y. M. — No foul brood in comb. Apart
from the decaying dead bees in cells (which
cause the bad smell referred to) there is
nothing other than pollen. Probably
dysentery has been the cause of the bees'
death.

J. B. M. (Garforth). — 1. Any good hive is
"suitable for working for both comb and
extracted honey," the question which hive
is " best " being simply a matter of personal
preference. 2. Pale yellow foundation
made very thin and of good bees-wax is the
" most suitable for sections."

0. Browning (King's Somborne). — Experts'
Certificates. — Handling Frames. — 1. Candi-
dates for certificates must belong to a Bee
Association. 2. There is only one way of
properly turning a frame of comb while held
in the hands. The method is fully de-

tailed on page 97 of Cowan's Guide Booh.
The plan described as yours is entirely
■wrong, and would of itself tend to dis-
qualify you as an expert.

J. Perry (Pewsey). — Does Wired Founda-
tion Injure Brood ? — Comb foundation
properly wired in the frames is in no way
injurious to brood. The only way in which
" wiring " may be objectionable at all is
when it is not properly embedded in the
mid-rib of the foundation, in which case
some of the cells may be rendered useless for
brood rearing.

J. G. Willy (Addlestone). — Glass Supers. —
In preparing square glass supers the upper
surface is warmed sufficiently to slightly
melt the wax of " starters '' when pressed
against the glass, the starters being fixed
at the proper distance (2 in.) apart.

Novice (Knutsford). — 1. You will find it far
better to allow the bees in skep to swarm
naturally, and hive the swarm in the
frame-hive. Transferring bees and old
combs to a new frame-hive is never desir-
able, while to a beginner dealing with his
just purchased and (we suppose) only skep,
it is courting disaster. 2. In working for
sections of comb-honey the section-rack is
set directly over the frames in brood-
chamber.

Carrick (Maybole, N.B.).— Queen sent has
never been " mated," and has probably never
laid an egg. She is physically unfit for use,
wings and legs being imperfectly formed,
and incapacitating her from flying, or even
walking properly. If there is now no queen
in the "box" referred to, it is simply a
question of the bees being worth re-queening
or not. They may be all so old in conse-
quence of queenlessness as to be of no use
either for uniting to another hive or for
re- queening.

E. Carr (Kirkby Lonsdale). — Chilled Bees. —
1. We can only suppose the bees to have
failed to reach the alighting-board when
pollen-loaded, and, falling to the ground,
have clustered together for warmth. Warm-
ing at the fire would soon have restored
them. 2. The "Guinea," as advertised.
3. Swarming cannot be entirely prevented ;
it can only be minimised by giving timely
room and ventilation in hot weather.

A. R. C. Newburgh (Bantry). — Colour of
Super Foundation. — Of the two samples
sent we prefer the yellow to the white.

" Box " (Feltham). — Bees as Incubators. — For
particulars as to this, see B.J. of Octobsr 18,
1894, p. 417.

T. J. — The best time to deal with a diseased
stock on the plan referred to is when the
weather becomes settled and warm, and
honey is being gathered.

*#* Conclusion of the Article on " Bee-keeping
in Germany '' is unavoidably held over till
next week.

May 2, 1895.1

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

171

(Mtorial, Ijtotitea, ku

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO-
CIATION.
The next conversazione will be held at 105,
Jermyn-street, on Thursday next, 9th inst.,
commencing at six o'clock. Members intend-
ing to be present, and being desirous of
introducing subjects for discussion, are
requested to communicate with the secretary.

AN APPEAL.

Since the notice in our last issue referring
to the death of Mr. Badcock, and in response
to the appeal made in the footnote appended
thereto, we have received — or had promised
— the following : —

British Bee Journal and Record £l 1 0

T. W. Cowan 10 0

E. D. Till 0 10 0

Miss E. A. Till 0 10 0

A.W.Harrison 0 5 0

H. W. Brice 0 5 0

H. M 0 10

It need hardly be said how pleased we
shall be to take charge of and acknowledge
receipt of any further sums — large or small —
which may be sent to this office tin aid of the
very laudable object to which the fund will be
applied.

NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM
B.K.A.

The second annual general meeting of the
members was held on Monday, April 22, at
Lockhart's Cafe, St. Nicholas-square, New-
castle-on-Tyne, Mr. J. W. Wakinshaw in the
chair. The following members were present :
— Messrs. Wilson Ritson, J. Anderson, W.
Pearson, J. Davison, W. Bean, J. Cuthbert-
son, J. C. Wilson, Geo. Gibson, T. Gardner,
T. Dixon, J. Atkinson, T. Russell, J. Darling,
and J. N. Kidd, hon. sec.

Several suggestions were considered for
the working of the Association during the
current year, and among other matters
arrangements were resolved upon (I) for excur-
sions to the apiaries of leading bee-keepers
in the locality ; (2) to promote a bee-depart-
ment in connection with the chrysanthemum
show to be held in Newcastle in November
next ; (3) to make arrangements with the
County Councils of Northumberland and
Durham for the delivery of a series of lectures
on bee-keeping, preferably by Mr. Geo. Wells,
of Aylesford.

Local correspondents to be regarded as
members of the general committee.

The election of officers resulted a3 follows :
— Committee, J. G. Angus, Wilson Ritson,

C.C. T. R. Dodd, Geo. Gibson, F. E. Schofield,
T. Gardner, and J. Atkinson. Hon. treasurer,
Jos. W. Wakinshaw. Hon. secretary, J. N.
Kidd, 1, Havelock - terrace, Gateshead-on-
Tyne.

The following local correspondents were
nominated and elected : — J. Cuthbertson,
Bedlington ; J. Brassell, Ushaw ; J. Davison,
Ryton ; G. Robinson, Greatham ; J. Ironside,
West Hartlepool ; J. Ladbrooke, Boldon ;
J. R. Appleby, Amble ; W. Codling, Hart-
burn ; W. Pearson, Chester-le-Street ; T.
Brown, Forest Hall ; J. Anderson, Washing-
ton ; J. M. Balmbra, Alnwick ; J. Weightmaii,
Whittingham ; R. Greenwell, Warkworth ;
J. L. Dent, Burn-hill ; J. Bruce, Belford.

This concluded the business of the annual
meeting. During the conversation which
followed, Mr. Davison of Ryton reported
having had an exceptionally good return last
year at the heather (as compared with the very
meagre results obtained by local bee-keepers),
one hive having yielded 42 lb. of section honey,
and his total amount of heather honey alone
from four hives had realised £5 net. The
bees had been fed up with syrup before the
hives were removed to the heather, so that the
brood-combs were full, and he attributed his
success to this latter fact. — J. N. Kidd, Hon.
Sec, April 26.

LECTURE ON BEES

AT RUTHERGLEN, N.B.

In connection with the scheme for technical
education by the County Council, the Rev. R.
M'Lelland, of Inchinnan, Renfrew, delivered
a lecture on April 22 in Macdonald School on
" Practical Bee-Keeping." There was a large
attendance, and County Councillor J. T. Tullis,
Burnside, occupied the chair. The lecturer,
who was warmly received, gave a lucid de-
scription of swarming, driving, and culture of
the bees. He also gave a few interesting hints to
those who intended to pursue the science. The
lecture was illustrated by limelight views,
and at the conclusion a hearty vote of thanks
was accorded to the rev. gentleman for his ex-
position. The branch of the Bee-keepers'
Association at Rutherglen has been greatly
augmented by the enthusiasm infused into the
subject by Mr. Pearston, H.M. Inspector of
Mines. — {Communicated.)

COMB BUILDING.

HOW BEES AND WASPS FORM THE CELLS.

Some years ago there was a controversy as
to whether the cell-building of bees was worked
from, or towards, a centre. Writing in the
Quiver, for February, Surgeon - General
Hutchinson says : — I have demonstrated that
the former prevailed among wasps, and, there-
fore, ought to among bees. Chance took me
one day into an empty outhouse at Peshawur,

172

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 2, 1895.

and from its roof descended a solitary hexa-
gonal and stalked paper cell, about which a
yellow wasp was busily fussing ; carefully was
she dressing its sides with her mandibles, and
more than once she went inside to see that
all was right. Satisfied on this point, she
came out, looked about her approvingly, and
then crept into the cell backwards, laid an egg,
came out again, licked her antennae, and then
flew away. -»

Looking in with a magnifier, I could see the
pearly egg at the bottom of the cell. Satisfied
thus far, I went away, and returning in two
hours, found the wasp absent and the cell a
quarter full of wa?p-bread. Presently I heard
a buzz, and in she flew with a pellicle of pro-
polis, which she rammed into the cell, came out,
cleaned her jaws, and flew away.

On returning next day the cell was full, and
covered in with ,a ^hemispheric dome, and the
two sides of a second cell were budding on one
of the first, and thus the work went on, until a
roughly circular comb, containing about fifty
charged cells, was completed. Then the
anxious mother disappeared, probably creeping
into a crevice to die. — Communicated).

tymxttymhnt

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice vrill be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should : be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c.,must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William,
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

•»* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE JOTTINGS.

From Highways and Bypaths.
[2047.] Old and New Combs. — As the
science of bee-keeping becomes more fully
understood, so will the necessity for taking
advantage of every item of detail become
patent to the advancing bee-keeper, and one
ite7n which now receives less attention than it
should in the hands of the average bee-keeper
is that of the production of beeswax for the
market. Viewing the subject from the stand-
point of the well-being of our bees, old combs
are clearly the very worst for a queen to breed
in. From many samples I have had under
notice, I find the cells have in them many
used cocoons, dried up food and other resi-
duum sealed up between each successive layer

of cocoons. These considerably reduce the
size of the cells, and although the bees clean
them carefully out for use, they never
remove the old qocoons. Happily the larvae
passes no dejecta, but they moult several
times in this fast growing stage, and the
cocoon is spun over these residues, which
are found in a solid mass at the base of
the cell. By actual measurement I have
found that old combs, though varying but a
trifle in diameter, have been a full quarter
of an inch less than the original depth,
and on removing the cocoons I found
the residue at the bottom of the cells
as hard as a stone. The most super-
ficial thinker must at once see that to raise
bees in such abnormally shallow cells cannot
be in any way advantageous. And my atten-
tion was very forcibly called to this fact by
observing how much more readily queens will
lay in new combs, while, unless pressed for
room, they give a wide berth to the old ones.
This was especially noticeable in a comb cut
down by myself, and afterwards renewed by
the bees. The queen of the hive in question
began ovipositing ^at once in the newly built
portion, while she persistently refused to place
a single egg in the old comb, which hung in
the hive for months unnoticed by the bees,
practically forming a barrier to the extension
of the brood-nest in its direction. Viewing
the question also from a point of profit, my
experience shows that combs bred in for years
do not contain sufficient wax to make them
worth melting down. It is no figure of speech
to say I have had many pounds of old combs
from which not one ounce of decent wax could
be extracted. Where has the wax gone ? may
be asked. These combs were originally all
wax, but when old there is left in them hardly
enough of the original material to hold the
accumulation of cocoons together. A certain
amount of wax has no doubt been absorbed by
the cocoons — or skins — of successive genera-
tions of. brood hatched in the cells, but no
profit is possible by way of wax- extracting
from such combs, and they become just so
much waste in the hive. On the other hand,
by a gradual renewal of all combs about once
in every four years, healthier stocks and greater
prosperity to the bee-keeper will follow, owing
to larger profits secured by giving more atten-
tion to the production of beeswax than is now
accorded this branch of apiculture. Let
every bee-keeper consider this question
as a means of making his bee3 pay,
and adopt some system for the more
frequent renewal of the combs in his hives.
As mentioned in a previous jotting, more wax
is produced from sugar-syrup than from the
same weight of honey. New comb3 should
therefore replace old ones in regular rotation,
taking care that the renewal is sufficiently
frequent to make the operation of wax extrac-
tion profitable. Beeswax will always sell
readily, and the price is steadily advancing.
The complaint of its scarcity among makers of

May 2, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

173

foundation has become chronic, yet in most
apiaries this source of profit is wasted. I say
wasted advisedly, and base my opinion on an
experiment carried out a few years ago by
myself in order to test whether bees would
secrete wax when they bad little use for
it. I gave a stock nothing but built- out
comb, and from the floor-board of that hive
I collected during the season quite a big
lot of wax in flakes which had been abso-
lutely wasted. I offered a hint a few weeks
back in this column as to the wisdom of giving
the bees something to do at night, or when
little or no honey was coming in. With this
in mind, I have by slowly feeding a strong
stock right up to the honey flow, had as many
as a dozen complete combs built out from half
sheets of foundation (nine sheets to the lb.),
and could have had as many more by the end
of the season had I so wished. This makes
me positive that the suggestion is a thoroughly
practical one, and that the idea may be turned
to a profitable account, especially in bad

The production of wax as above would in
no way interfere with the honey crop if
properly carried out, and the question arises
whether (in poor honey districts or in bad
seasons) it would not pay to run the whole of
our hives for wax production alone ? Another
fact worth noting is that at times when pollen
is coming in freely, the amount of honey or
sugar used in the production of wax is greatly
reduced. Finally, I feel certain that this is
a phase of bee-keeping to which attention
might well be given with beneficial results.

Dealing with Foul-Broody Hives. — J. B.
Adams, bee-inspector of Boulder County,
U.S.A., reports in the Am. B.J. as follows : —
" It has been necessary for me to disinfect
hundreds of foul hives, and I have experi-
mented with foul brood for a number of years.
I will give the best way to manage that I
have found. I have a galvanised iron tank,
large enough to hold a dove-tailed hive, and
used to boil them, but that injured the paint
and caused some of the hives to warp and
become open at the joints. I now fill the
tank with water, build a good fire under it,
then cut out all foul parts of combs, and put
them into the fire, then put the frames, if
there is no honey in the rest of the comb,
into the water, and weight them below the
melted wax, and boil them hard for at least
ten minutes. After all the wax is melted, let
it cool until the wax will come off in a cake.
Take the frames out and they are perfectly
safe to use again. While they are being
boiled cut what pieces of comb that will pay
out of the hive, and put them into the tank,
then put a piece of paper or cloth (I use a
long sack nearly as long as the hive) on the
bottom, saturate it with coal-oil, and set it on
fire. By moving it with a stick all the inside
of the hive can be thoroughly heated, but it is
not necessary to char the wood. When the
wood commences to char, put the cover on,

and close the entrance of the hive air-tight.
This will smother the flame and force the heat
into all joints and cracks. This disinfects the
whole hive at once. Leave it closed until
cool.

In my experiments I took a number of hives
from an apiary where the last bees had died
two years previously with foul brood. I also
scraped some as clean as they could be with a
hive-scraper, put bees into them, and the
disease develoDed in all eleven of them with
the first brood ! This is not according to Mr.
McEvoy— the danger is with the germ in the
honey. When Dr. Howard (see Dr. Howard
on " Foul Brood ") asked Mr. McEvoy what
he would do if honey were spdled in the
diseased hives, he replied that he would clean
it off. Now, suppose (which is quite liable to
be the case) that the honey should run into a
crack or joint of the hive, and a bee should
afterwards put its tongue in and get some of
the honey. You had better disinfect, and be
sure, rather than run the risk."

The above report comes to hand just now
most aptly, and its closing words should be
well remembered in dealing with the disease
in this country. We cannot afford to take
half-measures, and whatever we do we must
be sure of the efficacy of the treatment adopted.
I and many others who have had this matter
earnestly under our consideration for the last
few months are positively certain that to
eradicate the disease the destruction or
thorough disinfection of diseased hives must
be a sine quel non. Mr. Adams has promised
to give further particulars of his way of curing
foul brood by an " easy " method, and so soon
as he does so my readers shall be made
acquainted therewith. So please keep a sharp
eye on this column. — H. W. Brice, Thornton
Heath, Surrey.

QUEEN'S PIPING.

REPLY TO DR. MILLER.

[2048.] Dr. C. C. Miller, in B.B.J, of
April 18 (2301, p. 155), referring to my
article on the piping of queens (2199, p. 36,
January 24), puts a few questions to me on
that subject. I have had a great deal to do
in the rearing and handling of queens during
the greater part of the last quarter of a
century, and am pleased to answer in the
light of the experience so gained. Let me
give, at the outset, what I consider to be a
fundamental rule on the piping of queens, as
follows : — " When a queen pipes she does so
through her apprehension of some existing
threatening cause." The case mentioned by
me on p. 35, as well as each case given by Dr.
Miller, comes under the rule just cited, in a
manner either visible or assumed. In my case
the piping of the senior young queen is caused
by the presence of rival princesses. The empty
cells (with the total absence of eggs and young
brood in the hive) have only the power to

174

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 2, 1895.

modify the piping, but their presence cannot
by itself alone create piping when no inciting
cause is present ; nor can their absence pre-
vent it when the contrary is the case. They
must be looked at, therefore, when present, as
"a modifying condition only," under which
piping may occur, and in no case as "the
cause " of the piping.

When, as stated by Dr. Miller, a virgin
queen pipes at a time when there are no other
virgin queens in the hive, it is always from
some disturbing cause, such, for instance, as
the presence of stranger bees which may be
harassing her. In the case of a laying queen
piping while lying caged on an office desk, her
forced imprisonment is a sufficient cause of
alarm to incite her to pipe.

In referring to my article, Dr. Miller has,
inadvertently no doubt, slightly mis-quoted
me, by overlooking a significant little word of
great import. I did not say the " young
queen," as elliptically quoted by him, but the
" senior young queen," " when piping, first and
foremost proclaims the presence of other virgin
queens in the hive," which makes it evident
that I was then referring only to a case in
which the presence of the junior virgin queens
was the distinctly-stated cause of the piping,
without reference to piping from any other
cause. — Peter Bois, Jersey, April 29.

A LADY'S BEE-KEEPING.

[2049.] The interest in bee-keeping seems
to be increasing in this neighbourhood, so that
we arranged a bee lecture in connection with
one of our fortnightly "pleasant evenings " on
March 30. Our hon. sec, Mr. R. A. H.
Grimshaw, lecturing, and Mr. W. Dixon, of
Leeds, manipulating the lantern and showing
a number of excellent slides, some of which
were prepared by himself, both gentlemen
kindly giving their services on the occasion.
Mr. Grimshaw first described the anatomy
of the bee, showed the different parts of the
body, and described their uses, then explained
the old and new methods of bee-keeping, and
showing the superiority of the modern over the
old, the slides showing different styles of hives,
driving bees, manipulating hives, extracting
honey, &c. At the close the lecturer showed
a fully-fitted up modern hive and a quantity
of appliances necessary to the successful bee-
keeper, explaining their use3. The lecture was
much appreciated by the audience, and many
friends in the surrounding villages were dis-
appointed at not being able to be present, as
it was such a very wet night.

I am thankful to say my hives have got
through the severe winter with only the loss
of one queen, which is not bad, seeing I have
seventeen stocks.

I fed up well in September before the frosts
came. Put on warm quilts, cutting a hole
over the brood-nest, and placed over it the
stage of a float-feeder, and over that a piece of

glass, picking up with cork dust-cushions.
About the middle of December I put on the
stage, first removing the glass, a box of soft
candy to be ready when the severe weather
came. I do not cut winter passages, pre-
ferring the stage of the feeder being put
over the brood-nest, so that it enables the
bees to creep over the frames without leaving
the warmth of the cluster. It is also ready
for the feeder in spring without having to
remove the quilts. I do not believe in dis-
turbing the bees and looking into the hives
more often than is absolutely necessary. The
bee3 were not interfered with again (except to
replace the candy-boxes) till the day after
Good Friday, when I examined to see if breed-
ing had commenced, so as to be certain there
was a queen. One side of a " Wells " hive
we found to be without, so I took a queen and
comb of brood from one of two small lots of
driven bees (placed in a small " Wells '' to
winter), caged the queen for twenty -four
hours, then released her, and to-day I find
three frames full of brood, so that all is going
on well. I scented the two lots of bees in the
small "Wells," and next day removed the
dummy-board and joined the two lots together,
and intend to transfer to a single hive as soon
as it is warm enough to do so.

I have not suffered from the storms as far as
the bees are concerned, as I tied all hives down
before winter. One hive was blown over, but
no damage done, as it was well packed with
cushions ; but we had a large part of the roof
blown off, and the vinery was a complete
wreck, vines of twenty years broken to pieces,
the wall of a new house our neighbour was
building falling into it.

I hope to send you a few lines for next
issue in reply to your correspondent, " Mr.
Routh,'' and will try and inform him how I
manage to make my " bees pay." — Helen
Laurence, East Keswick, Leeds.

CONCERNING "NOTES BY THE
WAY," &c.

[2050.] Although only an occasional cor-
respondent to the Bee Journal, I am very
glad to note, and am quite sure many other
readers will be equally ready to express their
satisfaction, that our interesting and valued
old contributor, Mr. W. Woodley, does not
intend— to quote himself—" to dry up " yet.
Why, it would scarcely seem like the B.B.J.
without an article of some sort from him. I
have just been re-reading one in an old volume,
and hope he may be spared to write in many
more volumes yet, but I am very sorry to
note in his letter, 2038, that he says, "the
number who keep bees is a fast diminishing
quantity in this part of the country." This is
a great change from what he wrote in March,
'93 (page 115) where he said : " The continued
grant of the County Council is evidence that
we are doing a good, useful work in the

May 2, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

175

county." If this is his present report, after
several seasons' work of the bee-van, what is
the cause, and what is the remedy ? Since
the B.B.K.A. have taken up the matter of
"compulsory powers," our hitherto jovial
friend seems to have a " bee in his bonnet "
with a vengeance, and his tune is constantly,
" Hush ! the bogie-man ! " Now, this must
have a depressing and demoralising effect
amongst the bee-keepers in his county. I
therefore urge him to take grace of heart and
look up to the sky — the sun still shines — and
change his tune to " Cheer, boys, cheer ! " and
"There's a good time coming.'' His many
friends, seeing him " himself again," will have
confidence restored. Because his friend,
the large farmer, could not persuade
his workpeople to keep bees, it does
not follow — as he says — -that modern bee-
keeping is not favoured by the agricultural
labourer. Maybe in that particular case it is
so, but let us hope that is an isolated one. The
report of our Lincolnshire Association shows a
still increasing number of bee-keepers, because
we all keep stirring and working, each district
secretary doing his best for the advancement
of the industry, and, although foul brood un-
doubtedly does exist in the county, we shall not
look upon the inspector— if one comes— as a
travelling crematorium, such as friend W. so
constantly seems to imagine him. So much re
" Notes by the Way ; " now for the '; &c." That
is a very pretty theory enunciated in letter No.
2043, re cause of foul brood — and theory I am
afraid it is likely to remain. Given the pure
cane-sugar and the pure water, stored in a
clean hive, supposing a wanton bee " goes a
iobbing," as they ofttimea do, and literally
puts his foot in foul brood, and flies home and
puts the said foot again into the pure syrup, so
carefully made, and spoils the lot by intro-
ducing the germs into it. No. Common-
sense says make the syrups antiseptic by using
some preservative, such as naphthol-beta or
salicylic acid, and then you are not providing
food for the bacilli, but good healthy food for
the bees ; and when your correspondent has
had some experience of the practical treatment
of the disease he will say so too, but, if pre-
vention is better than cure, then always give
medicated (if you will call it so) syrup to
your bees and none other. — F. J. Cribb, Morton,
Gainsboro1, April 29.

A WANDERING QUEEN BEE.

CURIOUS INCIDENT.

[2051.] I wish to bring to your notice the
following incident :— On April 11, at five p.m.,
the sun shining brightly at the time, I found a
queen-bee on the footway in a street of this
town. I took her home, and the warmth
revived her. I took her to my apiary, placed
her in a cage, removed an old queen (a drone-
breeder) from one of my hives, and placed the
caged alien-queen in her stead. The next day

I released the caged queen, but the bees would
not take kindly to her. I re-caged and again
placed her in the hive, and next evening I
carefully released her.

I examined the hive on the 17th, and found
she had laid at least 1,000 eggs. Seven days
later I again examined, and found worker
brood being raised from the eggs she had
laid.

I examined some of my hives, but, being
unwell, could not examine all. So far as I
have gone, however, I find queens in all of
them. The nearest stock of bees are about
300 yards from where I found the queen, and
as far as I know there were no drones flying
yet. I am under the impression she is an old
queen, for she was as well developed on the
11th as on 24th. Two days after 1 had found
her, I informed an old bee-keeper of my
" find," and that I should write to the B. J.
But seeing in B.J. of the 18th (p. 154), the
question asked, " Do fertile queens ever leave
the hive ? " I thought I would see if the queen
I found was fertilised, which I find to be the
case. — R. French, Leamington.

[The above may, we think, be regarded as an
incident unique in the annals of bee-keeping.
— Eds.1

DO DUCKS EAT BEES ?

[2052.] Will you, or some reader of the
B.B. J., give your opinions on the above ? My
garden lies about fifty yards from a small run-
ning brook, and I have in the former sixteen
frame-hives in good order. In early summer
the bees visit the edge of the brook in
hundreds after water. In the same brook
ducks are swimming and feeding. I look with
suspicion on these ducks, and wonder if they
eat the bees 1 As this question might be
of interest, perhaps some one may be able to
say in your pages whether I am right or not. —
John Cameron, Dumbarton, N.B., April 23.

[Perhaps some reader, with more experience
of ducks and their bee-eating propensities than
ourselves, will reply to the above. — Eds.]

CURIOUS POSITION FOR BROOD-
REARING.

[2053.] About a month ago, finding a stock
short of food, I placed an empty frame flat
on top of frames, and on this laid a frame full
of sealed honey. This morning on removing
to feed with sugar this comb had a large patch
of sealed brood. I put it in the body box,
taking the precaution, of course, to place it
close to other brood combs. Is it not rather
singular for bees to use a comb in this position
when they had plenty of room in the body-
box 1 — Arthur Smyth, Parracombe, April 24.

[We have seen brood reared in curious
positions in comb which had fallen out of

176

THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 2, 1895.

frames, but have never before heard of a case
where a queen chose of her own will to deposit
eggs in cells lying mouth downward. — Eds.]

SECTIONS OF HONEY FROM RIVER
PLATE.

[2054]. —At the request of a gentleman resi-
dent at Buenos Ayres, we are sending you two
sections of River Plate honey, which is, we
believe, the first to arrive in this country. We
should be very glad of any editorial comments
you may make.

Bee-keeping is making very rapid strides in
Argentina, according to the reports of our
client, who is a large peach-grower there.

Our representative, who is now in Brazil,
and will shortly proceed to Buenos Ayres, is,
we think, a member of the Bee Association,
and may report to you on the progress of bee-
keeping in South America. — Frost & Co.,
London, E.G., April 26.

[Regarding the sections of River Plate comb
honey referred to, we have pleasure in saying
that, so far as appearances go, they are in good
marketable form. The wood of the sections
is beautifully white and clean, the comb well
attached to the wood, and fully sealed over.
The colour of the honey resembles that from
heather. We charitably refrain from com-
menting upon the flavour and aroma of the
sample, except to say that it would have hardly
any marketable value at all here for table use.
Whatever bee flora may predominate in the
district where the honey was gathered, it is
altogether unsuited for the British palate. —
Eds.]

MISCELLANEOUS.

[2055.] Early Secretion of Honey. — Last
Tuesday week, April 9, when overhauling a
stock of bees about four miles from here, I
was surprised to find four large patches of
newly-stored honey — unsealed. This stock
had had no syrup given to it. Another stock
in this neighbourhood I found yesterday con-
tained some new honey. The bees were work-
ing the gooseberry bushes on Easter Monday,
and have been very busily employed upon
them every day since.

Early Feeding-up for Winter. — Your corre-
spondent, "Tomtit" (2037, page 157), says
he is convinced that to winter well early feed-
ing should be the order. He is not alone in
this belief, as he will see if he refers to Mr.
W. Woodley's letter (1709, p. 23, vol. xxii.)
and to my short note (1727, p. 38) in the same
volume. I always endeavour to get my feed-
ing done by August 31, and have net lost a
stock during the winter since adopting that
plan. I never extract from the brood-nest,
and any honey stored by the bees after July 31
I let them keep. Unfortunately there is no
Erica vulgaris in this neighbourhood, or I

should, of course, act differently. — Percy
Leigh, Hon. District Secretary, Worcestershire
B.K.A., Stoke Prior.

NOTES OF A NOVICE.

Like " Western County " (2285, p. 135), I
am just recovering from the influenza, and
have occupied some of my time in reading up
the Bee Journals, and, like him, I think
some correspondents may write too much and
too often, but it certainly is not the older
writers. When searching the B.B.J, for
practical advice, I generally find it in " Notes
by the Way " or " Useful Hints."

My system of bee-keeping is to have a few
handsome well-kept hives and try to secure
good harvests of honey. I don't go in for
manufacturing artificial queen-cells, or " trim-
ming the bees' toenails and sharpening their
stingers,'' as a friend recently remarked.

Bees round this district are decidedly back-
ward, but I have a few stocks ready for the
fine weather and fruit blossom ; those reduced
to eight frames for wintering are this year
ahead of others wintered on ten, which is
unusual in my experience. — W. Bryer,
Thame, Oxon, April 29.

^um and ^tylm.

[1260.] Transferring from Skeps in Early
Spring. — On April 18, assisted by a bee-
keeping friend, I transferred a stock of bees
and combs from a skep to bar-frames. We
had as much of brood, eggs, &c, as filled two
frames. For the past two days dead brood
(almost perfectly developed) has been cast out
by the bees — a few every day. 1. Is that
because the brood was " chilled ? " The work
was done on a warm afternoon, and it is a
good stock of bees. 2. When do you advise
its being supered 1 3. I am selling a swarm of
July last in skep for 10s. 6d. Is that too
cheap ?

Reply. — 1. The brood cast out will either
have been damaged during the transferring or
otherwise chilled by exposure. We cannot
too strongly advise being chary of trans-
ferring unless weather is warm and settled.
2. All depends on the progress made by the
bees in their new home. It's no use giving
surplus room until the hive is well filled with
bees and honey is coming in. 3. If the queen
is young and bees strong in number, any one
wanting such should consider it very cheap at
this season.

[1261.] Preparing for the Honey-flow. — In
your correspondence (2300, p. 154) is a para-
graph on " Preparations for the Honey-flow,"
in which the bee-man is told to avoid having
" his hives full of brood and young bees just
when the flow is ' on,' and to have a full

May 2, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

177

working field force." Now, as regards myself,
though I have your valuable " Guide Book,"
and study it often, I do not find any instruc-
tions how to manage so that the queen only
lays when required. I am completely at the
mercy of my bees, and feel I can only trust to
luck or to themselves that they will regulate
their own affairs to my advantage. 1. Can you
assistme 1 Ihave been feeding them with syrup,
but on April 6 gave them two cakes of candy,
made with meal (" whole meal") flour, but on
April 13 took it away, as they were bringing
in pollen. Did I do right 1 I have since
read that the meal stimulates the queen to lay,
but (2) I had an idea that \i pollen was coming
in, it demoralised the bees to give them candy,
or is this only meant for pea- flour, &c, when
given as artificial pollen ? Another thing I
am]wishful to know, viz., I have two empty
combs in which honey was stored last year,
one at front and one at back, but the bees are
not using nm for brood. 3. Is this because
they were not used for this purpose before ?
I hought by giving these, they would get
them filled with brood, and the hive be so
much stronger. I have also given them some
shallow frames — fitted with comb foundation -
at back of hive, with queen-excluder between,
but the bees have not begun to draw it out,
though I want them to "do it, ready for the
honey flow. 4. Why is this ? Any informa-
tion would be gratefully accepted. — E.
Oldham, Ashton-on-Mersey, April 23.

Keply. — 1. The words quoted from page 40
refer entirely to the efforts the bee-keeper
should make to get his stocks strong in honey-
gathering bees when the flow of nectar begins,
and to the fact that in order to take full
advantage of the few weeks during which
honey-gathering continues, the bees should be
in full " working field-force " when the time
comes, which means that they should be
mainly bees hatched out a fortnight before-
hand. Full instructions how to secure these
advantages will be found in the "Guide
Book '' in the chapter on " Feeders and Feed-
ing." 2. If natural pollen is abundant the
artificial article is not only unnecessary, but
harmful. But in any case flour candy is un-
suited for feeding in April, while " whole
meal '' flour should never be used in candy -
making at all. Pea-flour is the most suitable,
but wheaten-flour answers. 3. Bees never use
the outside combs for brood until the queen is
pressed for room, and the central combs are
fully occupied. 4. It is yet too early, and
honey is too scarce for bees to take to the
foundation.

[1262.] Securing Fertilization of Queens. —
I have a hive in which a young queen has been
hatched out this week. I overhauled my
strongest stock to see if any drones were
hatching out, but only found some grubs and
eggs in drone-cells, which I have put in the
hive where the young queen is. Will they be
early enough to fertilise her, or will she be a

drone breeder ? Had I better unite them 1 —
A. T. G.

Reply. — The drone lame mentioned would
be, we fear, too late for use, but seeing that
we are now in May it is quite possible drones
may be flying in your neighbourhood. In view
of this we should allow matters to take their

[1263.] Working for Extracted Honey. —
I intend working a hive for extracted honey.
Is one rack of shallow frames sufficient, or
will I have to work it as for sections ; that is,
by placing an empty under when the other is
getting sealed? — Beedom, Isle of Man,
April 20.

Reply. — Everything depends upon the
honey flow. Should honey come in well tier
up, but should the reverse be the case, then
one super of shallow-frames may be sufficient.

[1264.] How should I be likely to get most
surplus honey from a strong stock of bees now
working well in a skep ? (1) By sectioning the
skep in the usual way, or (2) by transferring
bees and combs to a frame-hive and working
for extracted honey1? — E. B., Macclesfield,
April 29.

Reply.— By working sections on skep.

HEATHER HONEY IN APRIL!

" Mr. R. Johnson, writing from the Warren,
Hollesley, Suffolk, April 22, says :— This
morning I took five sections, completely
finished, and four only partially so, from one of
my hives. This is an extraordinary occurrence
at this early period of the season, especially so
after such a severe winter. I have about
400 acres of heath-land for my bees to roam
over." — East Anglian Daily Times. This
seems extraordinary, and one would like to
know if the heather supplies nectar for bees
in the spring. Mr. Johnson does not say
whether his sections have been put on this
season, or have remained on from last year.
Can you explain it ? — W. B.

[Whatever explanation may be forthcoming
regarding the statement quoted, we have no
hesitation in declaring it an absurdity to talk
of heather honey in April. — Eds.]

ESSEX BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The Essex Bee-keepers' Association are
making a vigorous effort to get a good show of
honey and hives at Southend in June, the
management of this department of the Essex
Agricultural Society's exhibition having been
handed over to them, as it has been for a good
many yeara past. The Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion get no gate money on these occasions, so
that all expenses incurred have to be met by
special grants and donations. The regular
work of the association lies more in the direc-
tion of encouraging bee-keeping as an industry

178

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 2, 1895,

by sending a practical expert twice a year to
visit the cottager in his own home, so endea-
vouring to teach him how to take care of his
bees, and produce honey to the best advantage.
Schedules will be forwarded on application to
Mr. F. H. Meggy, hon. sec. Essex B.K.A.,
Chelmsford. Entries close May 27. — (Com-
municated.)

BEE-KEEPING IN GERMANY.

By C. J. Gravenhorst.

(Concluded from page 159.)

Apiculture in Germany did not again receive
a general impulse until Dr. Dzierzon came
forward in 1847 with his invention of the
movable-comb hive, which appeared in the
bee-journal founded in Eichstaedt, Bavaria,
established not long before this by Andreas
Schmidt. At first he had powerful op-
ponents, among whom was Von Berlepsch.
But when the latter, with bag and bag-
gage, went over into Dzierzon's camp, and
other prominent bee-keepers followed him,
the new system gained ground constantly,
especially after the invention of comb founda-
tion and that of the honey extractor were
added, and the itinerant convention of the
German and Austro-Hungarian bee-keepers
came into existence. The first one of these
conventions was held in Arnstadt in 1850, and
the thirty-ninth in September of this year in
Vienna. These conventions are always accom-
panied by apiarian exhibitions. The apiarian
societies which are scattered all over Germany
have had the greatest influence upon the spread
and elevation of apiculture. We have in the
first place the separate societies, which are
made up of members of a given locality. These
societies meet monthly, half-yearly or yearly.
A number of these societies form, in the
several lands or provinces of a state, so-called
central associations. Nearly all of the central
associations, that of the kingdoms of Bavaria
and Wurtemberg excepted, have banded them-
selves together to form a German Central
Association, which thus numbers about 20,000
to 30,000 members. The German Central
Association, by the side of the German-
Austro-Hungarian Itinerant Association, but
independently, holds every two years a great
convention, with an exhibition. The last
one was held in 1893, in Heidelberg. All
of the separate central associations receive
subventions from the State. The Mark
Association, for example, to which I belong,
and which is composed of eighty-three sepa-
rate individual societies, having about 1,880
members, receives yearly about 300 dols.
Other societies receive more, and others less.

Every member of an association receives at
a reduced rate the official organ of the society.
The Hanoverian Centralblatt organ of the
Hanover Central Association, is most widely
distributed among the members of societies,

the editions being 13,000 numbers. It
appears monthly, and costs to members of
the society 24 cents, yearly. In addition to
these official organs, numerous other bee-
journals are published. Besides these journals
— there are about sixteen of them — besides
the (multitude of other apiarian publications
which are poured forth annually, and aside
from the activity of the societies, the so called
bee-keepers' schools work for the elevation of
apiculture, as, for example, the bee-keepers'
school under the protectorate of the
Archduchess of Baden, which is located
at Eberbach on the Neckar, where several
courses are given every summer, many
ladies also attending ; and also the
bee-keepers' school of Pastor Weygandt.
Notwithstanding all these extraordinary exer-
tions, the elevation of apiculture in Germany
proceeds only slowly. Indeed, it has even
gone backwards in the last twenty years, but
is now on the increase, especially the method
with movable combs. In the year 1883, the
number of colonies of bees was 1,911,797, so
that there were 3"5 hives per square kilometer,
and for every 100 inhabitants 4'2 hives. Of
these 19-3 per cent, were movable-come hives.
According to the last census, in 1892, there
were 2,034,479 colonies, that is, 3-8 hives per
square kilometer, or for each 100 inhabitants
4-1 hives, 31*3 per cent, of which were movable-
comb hives. Unfortunately, no exact figures
concerning the honey-yield of these colonies
are at my command, but it may be fairly esti-
mated that in what are called good honey
years, the honey harvest reaches 82,000,0001b.,
and the wax harvest 1,000.000 lb.

It should be noted here that in Germany
little comb honey is produced, there being for
the greater part no market for it. From the
hives with fixed combs the best honey that is
obtained is what is called " run honey,'' and
it approaches extracted honey very nearly
in quality. The crushed combs are
placed in a sieve or a trough, and the
honey permitted to run off. What re-
mains is gently heated , and strained.
Extracted honey and run honey are sold
on the average for 25 cents per lb., the
strained honey 12 to 13 cents per lb. Comb
honey and extracted honey are the same in
price. The honey is gathered chiefly from
fruit-bloom, rape, esparcette, acacia, or honey-
locust, linden, corn-flower, buckwheat, and
heather.

So far as the hives are concerned in which
bees are kept in Germany, the bell-shaped
straw hives are most widely used, the few log
or box hives, or other hives with immovable
combs are not worth consideration. The
confusion in the construction of hives with
movable combs is infinitely greater in
Germany than in America. The great
majority of these hives are built cupboard-
like, with several stories one above another,
which opens at the sides where the gables
are placed, or from the back end. The

May 2, 1895.]

THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.

179

frames in these hives, quite in contrast
to those in American hives, are placed
with the longer dimension perpendi-
cular. The full-sized German standard
frame does not differ greatly as regards
its contents from the Langstroth frame.
American hives have been but little intro-
duced, or not at all, here. Among the
German hives most preferred are the Dzierzon
twin hive, the Berlepsch hive, the four-story
upright hives, the Dathe hive, the Albert leaf
hive, and the hive which I use, the Bogen-
stueiper.

Whether, notwithstanding the great ex-
ertions which are constantly being made for
the elevation and spread of apiculture in Ger-
many, it will ever be brought up to the point
it reached in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and
fifteenth centuries of our era, is still a great
question. The many flowers growing wild in
those times have disappeared because of im-
proved methods in the management of
meadows, forests, and fields. But in return
many other honey-producing plants have be-
come naturalized with us, so that the lack has
been made good again. We Germans enter-
tain the hope that constant progress will mark
the course of apiculture, and this so much the
more since we can profit by the valuable in-
vestigations of bee-keepers in other lands, and
not the least among these are to be counted
those of our brother bee-keepers in America,
who so nobly stand far in the lead in pro-
gressive apiculture. God grant it. With this
sincere wish, and with hearty greetings from
Germany, I present to the honourable body of
North American bee-keepers, my profound
respects as one of your honorary members. —
C, J. H. Gravenhorst.

\tt jWurans to dfane.

June 12, 13. — Essex Agricultural Society's
Show at Southend. Entries close May 27.
Schedules (ready shortly) from F. H. Meggy,
Hon. Sec. Essex B.K.A., Chelmsford.

June 24 to 28. — Royal Agricultural Society's
Show at Darlington. Entries close May 1.
Schedules from J. Huckle, King's Langley,
Herts.

TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.

H. Hutchings, St. Mary Cray, Kent. —
22 pp. A novelty is introduced into above
list in shape of a " Guinea Outfit " for bee-
keepers, including a complete hive and all re-
quirements for a start off in the craft — the lot
for 21s.

T. A. Flood, Donnington-road, Reading. —
A short but concise list of bee-goods, and, in
addition, containing specially written articles

on " Modern Bee-Keeping " and " Handling
Bees," together with calendar of bee-work for
every month in the year.

Wm. Raitt's Trustees, Blairgowrie, N.B. —
This firm, who continue to make a specialty of
high-class comb-foundation of pure beeswax
only, are issuing for 1895 a condensed list
from their full catalogue of last year, with
revised prices, and send the latter free to
applicants.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

All queries fcruarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest uill be answered in this column.

Major-Gen. Robinn (Bishopstoke). — Chilled
Brood. — 1. We can readily believe that the
foundation is of genuine bees-wax, but
bleaching to make it white nearly always
gives the foundation a sort of " tallowy "
smell, which bees decidedly object to.
Pale yellow super foundation of unbleached
wax is much to be preferred. 2. If brood
is only '* chilled " (not foul), it may be left
to the bees to remove unless there is a deal
of it in the comb, in which case it should be
removed and destroyed.

E. D. B. (Yorks). — 1. Combs received contain
no foul brood, but only dead adult bees, the
mouldy and decaying bodies of which causes
a stench sufficient to promptly point out the
fire as the best place for them. The frames,
however, if well scraped, will be quite tit
for using again, as will the clean combs in
the hive. 2. The hive also will need
nothing beyond a good scrub out with hot
water with a handful of washing soda in it.

Enquirer (Broomfield). — Dates of Honey-
flow — Bees' Stings for Rheumatism. — 1.
White clover generally begins to bloom in
the south the first week in June. In the
Midlands about the middle of the same
month, and as we get further north the date
ranges from June 15 to the first week of
July. The honey-flow from it usually lasts
about twenty days. Limes bloom about the
time the clover has ceased to flower ; but
the honey-flow from this source seldom con-
tinues more than seven or eight days. 2.
Some very remarkable instances of the good
effects of bee-stings in cases of rheumatism
have been recorded both in this country and
on the Continent. There are also sound
Reasons for supposing tha,t, what may ba

180

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 2, 1895.

termed the poison of the bees' sting (formic
acid) is beneficial in the direction referred
to.

A. E. Furnival (Notts).— Comb received is
probably from a hive the bees of which
perished from foul brood, but so long ago
that all traces of the diseased larvae have
been dried up and disappeared, only to be
traced may be by much trouble and the use
of the microscope. No need to destroy the
hives if thoroughly disinfected.

S. H. Mills. — Comb sent is affected with
foul brood. Our correspondent is evidently
entirely unconscious of the infectious nature
of the disease, when sending an envelope
for " seeds " in same package as comb con-
taining rotting foul brood.

H. W. H. (Herts). — Cutting Combs from Sleeps.
— We should not advise the cutting away of
part of the combs in skeps as proposed. It
would only have the effect of providing
quite a superfluous quantity of drone comb
in lieu of that removed, and could not tend
to the ultimate prosperity of the bees in the
skeps. The outside combs might be re-
moved, but no others.

S. Makin (Sheffield). — No foul brood in comb
sent, but a few cells contain chilled brood.
The appearances indicate scarcity of food
as the cause of the mischief.

I. P. A. (Penryn). — Disinfecting Storeroom. —
If all quilts, coverings, and portable things
used about the hive are boiled, no harm
will follow, and, with the free use :
naphthaline in the store-room, we should
not hesitate to use it again for storing
appliances in.

E. B. (Dublin).— The address of Mr. F.
Benton is U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Washington D. C, U.S.A.

J. H. N. (Watford).— " Braula Catca" in
Hive. — Use tobacco paper in the smoker,
and give a few pufts among the bees in-
fested by the parasites. As there are but a
few of the bees troubled with them, one
smoking should suffice to cause them to drop
on the floor-board, from whence they may
be brushed off in an hour or so.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, «fce. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

B

BBS in Double-wailed Frame-Hive. Strong lot, 25s.
Miss Lockwood, Kipon. G 07

'WARMS WANTED, with last year's Queens. Apply
> to David Patterson, Struan, Calvine. G 75

'OR SALE, Six Bar-framed and Three Skeps of
BEES. Offers. Price, Thrumpton, Notts. G 84

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

WANTED, HONEY and BEESWAX, any quantity.
W. Rushton, Hive Factory, Bedford. G 74

TWO Good Healthy STOCKS BEES, in Skeps, lis.
each. J. Lyon, Brook Dam, Soham, Cambs.

G78

FOR SALE, 5 Doz. well-filled SECTIONS. Wrhat
offers ? Wm. Richardson, Copmanthorpe, York.

G76

-J A JOINER-MADE BAR-FRAME HIVES, Section
-1 " Crates, &c. Offers for whole or part. M. Hope,
17, Trumpet-road, Cleator, Cumberland. G 77

WANTED, BEES; Skeps preferred. EXCHANGE
Black Rosecomb Bantams, prize winners ; perfect
pets. Birchall, Kingsley, Maidstone. G 82

FIVE STOCKS, in Bar-frame Hive, as advertised at
25s., reduced to 21s. Particulars Head Gardener,
Sunderlandwick, Driffield. G 83

C>C\ YEARS a Speciality-QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
^V^ Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. SIMMINS, Heathfield, Sussex. 116

SPECIAL BEE VEILS, fine silk net, post free 9d.
each. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. G 60

STRAW HIVES, best cane-bound, round or flat top,
Is. 3d. each, 12s. dozen. Abbott Brothers,
Merchants Quay, Dublin. G 59

Q?

UEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 Inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. Woodlet, Beedon, Newbury.

36 Slips of White Rock (grows readily), post
free, Is. Apply, Geo. Brealey, Grendon, Northants.

GS5

GARDENER, married, aged 45, wants SITUATION.
Experienced bee-keeper ; good straw skep maker.
Address, J. Gardener, 36, Temple-street, Manningham,
Bradford, Yorks. g 80

FOR SALE, SEEDLINGS CHAPMAN'S HONEY
PLANT, from open ground. 6d. dozen, carriage
paid ; Seeds of same, 6d. large packet. Holder, Wim-
borne. G 81

WANTED, few Good Stocks of BEES in Bar-framed
Hives or Skeps ; also good Second-hand EX-
TRACTOR or Honey Press ; Bar-frame Hives, second-
hand. Give full particulars and maker, with price.
Winterbotham, Smalldale, Bradwell, Sheffield. G 79

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

J. HUNTER, late Hon. Sec. of the British Bee-Keepers'
Association.

A Manual of Bee-Keeping.

Containing Practical Information for Rational and
Profitable Methods of Bee Management. Full instruc-
tions on Stimulative Feeding, Ligurianising and Queen-
raising, with descriptions of the American Comb
Foundation, Sectional Supers, and the best Hives and
Apiarian Appliances on all systems. With Illustrations.
Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.
London : W. H. ALLEN & CO., Ltd., 13, Waterloo-place.

May 9, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

181

(fiitcrrml, $frriim, tot.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

DEPUTATION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Just before going to press we are glad to be
able to report very briefly tbe fact of the
deputation representing the British Bee-
Keepers' Association having been received by
the President of the Board of Agriculture at
the offices of the Board, St. James's-square, W.
The deputation was introduced by the
Right Hon. Sir John Gorst, Q.C., M.P., and
the following members of Parliament, with
other gentlemen, accepted the invitation of
the Chairman of the B.B.K.A. to attend and
support the Right Hon. gentleman and
the views of the deputation : — Sir Mark J.
Stewart, Bart, MP., Sir Herbert E. Maxwell,
Bart, M.P., Right Hon. D. Plunket, M.P.,
Sir Geo. Newnes, M.P.i Hon. Mark Napier,
M.P., Sir George Kekewich, C.B., Sec. Edu-
cation Department, W. Burdett-Coutts, M.P.,
Col. Lockwood, M.P., Major Rasch, M.P.,
Col. Cotton- Jodrell, M.P., J. Round, M.P.,
(representing National Agricultural Union),
C. W. Radcliffe Cooke, M.P., Thos. Snape,
M.P. (representing County Councils), T. N.
Archibald Grove, M.P., T. F. Halsey, M.P.,
Jas. Rankin, M.P., A. Baldwin, M.P., R. W.
Perks, M.P., and H. D. Green, Q.C., M.P.,
J. H. Yoxall (representing National Union of
Teachers), W. Lees McClure, L.C.C., and J.
Anderson Graham.

The British Bee-Keepers' Association were
represented by T. W. Cowan (chairman),
Henry Jonas (vice-chairman), and the follow-
ing members of the council :— Rev. G. W.
Bancks, Major Fair, W. Broughton-Carr,
Jesse Garratt, W. H. Harris, and E. D. Till,
with J. M. Hooker and F. H. Meggy (repre-
senting the counties of Kent and Essex), and
John Huckle, secretary.

The influential character of the deputation
will be gathered from the above list, and,
while reserving till next week a full report of
the proceedings, it may be said that the depu-
tation were very cordially received by the
President of the Board, who spoke at con-
siderable length in reply to the speeches of
Sir John Gorst and others advocating the
claims of the bee industry.

The right hon. gentleman's remarks were
couched in an entirely friendly and sym-
pathetic spirit, and he concluded by suggest-
ing that a small committee of the B.B.K.A.
council should be appointed to confer with
the officials of the Board as to several points
which required clearing up before action could
be taken. This was agreed to, and after
thanking Mr. Gardner for his kindly recep-
tion the deputation withdrew.

AN APPEAL

ON BEHALF OF THE WIDOW AND FAMILY OF
THE LATE THOMAS BADCOCK.

The following sums have been received or
promised : —

British Bee Journal and Record £l 10

T. W. Cowan

...10 0

ED. Till

... 0 10 0

MissE. A. Till

... 0 10 0

Rev. E. Bartrum, D.D. ...

... 0 10 0

A . W. Harrison

... 0 5 0

H. W. Brice

...0 5 0

S.P.J

... 0 5 0

Elvey Smith

... 0 5 0

A. G. P

...050

G.Wells

... 0 .3 0

W. W. Cullwick

... 0 2-6

Miss Tarr

... 0 2 6

H. M

... 0 10

It need hardly be said how pleased we
shall be to take charge of and acknowledge
receipt of any further sums — large or small —
which may be sent to this office in aid of the
very laudable object to which the fund will be
applied.

BEE AND HONEY SHOWS OF 1895.

THE " ESSEX," " ROYAL," AND " ROYAL LAN-
CASHIRE " AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S
ANNUAL SHOWS.

The first important bee and honey shows of
the season of 1895, are, as announced in our
pages, those of the several agricultural societies
named above. That of the " Essex," at South-
end, on June 12 and 13, leads the way, and
schedules can- be had as notified on p. 189.
Then follows what, in some respects, is le-
garded as the show of the year, viz., the annual
exhibition of the B.B.K.A. in connection with
the "Royal" at Darlington, extending from
Monday, the 24th, to Friday, June 28. The
present favourable weather, and the abundant
bee-forage now available, augurs well for a
good display of the present season's produce at
the u Royal." There are six weeks of honey
gathering before the date of show, and we
know what can be accomplished in that time
with sunshine and strong stocks of bees.

Finally, we have the "Royal Lancashire"
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston a
month later, viz., July 25, 2G, and 27, another
big show. Here the classes in the bee section
are for honey only, no hives or appliances being
included, save one for " most interesting and
instructive exhibit of any kind connected with
bee-culture."

The honey shown must be gathered in 1895,
and six of the seven classes are open to all.
The single class "limited to persons residing
within fifteen miles of the Preston Town Hall"
is a tempting one, viz., 12 1-lb. jars extracted
honey, with prizes of i'3, £2, and £1 for the

182

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 9, 1895.

best three samples. Of course, it is quite
natural for the donor of such liberal prizes to
make the clas3 a local one, but he would have
secured a much more extensive display and
stronger competition had it been open. As it
is, we can only say "lucky locals," and hope
they will do credit to themselves by numerous
entries.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[2056.] The weather has been more pro-
pitious for both agriculture and apiculture,
the breadth of forage having extended in all
directions during the past week. Sycamores
and chestnuts are bursting into bloom, and
fields of sainfoin, which a few days ago were
covered with a mantle of dark green, are now
studded with the bright yellow of the dande-
lions, and in some old layings of grass the
fields are like a cloth of gold. Then the wood-
lands are radiant with blossom, the " wint
flower " {anemone), the primrose, and violet
and the wild cherry, both stem and tree, are
covered with thickly- clustering blossoms.
Other fields are yellow with turnip bloom,
while the hop clover {trefoil) is beginning to
show a few early flowers. So much for present
bee-forage, not forgetting the fruit bushes,
gooseberry and currant.

Thanks, Mr. Cribb, for comment on " notes "
2050. One does not always see things through
the same spectacles. My comment on con-
tinued grant from C. C. was true so far as it
related to our Berks association's endeavours
to spread a knowledge of modern bee-keeping,
and I trust that the good seed sown will bear
fruit in the future. What I wrote the other
week is also true of the diminishing number
of bee-keepers among the labouring classes in
this district. I have personal knowledge of
many little apiaries being sold out or taken up
in my immediate neighbourhood ; in fact,
during the past twenty years the number who
keep bees have fallen from tens to units, and
in hamlets to cyphers. I find my little
successes in bee-culture have in no way raised
a spirit of emulation in the labouring or
mechanic class, though I could record a few
cases of farmers' sons and clergymen who have
adopted the modern hives, yet, so soon as they
had to rely on their own management, they
tired of the pursuit, and gave it up or sold
out as unprofitable.

Any "note" of mine on the foul-brood
question has been written in the interest of
bee-keepers, my endeavours having been to
elicit facts. I have been searching and craving

for "more light " on the subject, and am still
following up the quest. A travelling " crema-
torium," combined with compensation, would,
I think, be far preferable for the eradication
of the pest than a " travelling sanatorium."
In some "notes" I supposed Mr. South was
referring to the American Bee Journal of
March 14, in which is recorded a complaint as
to the action of the foul-brood inspector in
burning up a diseased apiary. The American
Bee Jouma /of April 11 contains a full and
complete reply from the inspector as to his
action in the matter.

In turning our attention to wax production,
as suggested by Mr. Brice (2047, p. 172), we
must take a lesson from Mr. Wells, or dis-
pense with the extractor and return to
strained or run honey, breaking up the combs
in the old method. The importance of the
question will depend on the profitableness of
wax production in comparison with that of
honey, and if 10 lb. or 12 lb. of honey is con-
sumed by the bees into producing 1 lb. of
wax, the said pound of wax will cost the bee-
keeper some 5s. or 6s., while the best price he
will obtain will not exceed 2s. for pale prim-
rose colour, and Is. 6d. for ordinary brown
wax. Beferring to wax-scales dropped and
wasted on the floor-board, the weight will be
very small — in fact, I have noticed the same
occur in straw skeps when no foundation has
been given, therefore I cannot attach much
importance to so small a quantity.

I hoped Mr. Routh would have given us
some of the larger items of expenses in his
management. For myself (or ourselves), i.e.,
the wife and I, we have always endeavoured to
keep down expenses. Why, I had over twenty
colonies of bees before I possessed a "smoker " !
I just managed with a roll of smouldering rag.
I then acquired a smoker, which, though
home-made, answered very well. My first,
second, third, and fourth series of hives were
home-made ones— not in leisure hours, though.
After the ordinary day's work was over, I
turned into the kitchen and worked 'till the
sma' hours, oftentimes up again and " on the
job " at 4 a.m. During the past few years —
during which time my apiary has mustered
considerably over a hundred hives — we only
have the help of a watcher at the out apiary
for swarms. For ourselves, we put in some
sixteen hours' work among the bees per day ;
and I suppose this is how we make it pay.
The old adage, " That he who by the plough
would thrive, himself must either hold or
drive/' applies with special force to bee-
keeping. Depend on it, my friends, if you
intend to derive any material benefit from the
pursuit, you must put plenty of hard work
and some brains into it. — W. Woodlev,
Beedon, Newbury.

THE LA.TE THOMAS BADCOOK.

[2057.] Beferring to your notice of Mr.
Thos. Badcock's decease, I send you postal

May 9, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

183

order, 5s., kindly sent me by one of his old
friends. The following extracts, from a letter
written by Mr. Badcock last January, from
Betsham, possess an interest for your readers
generally, and particularly so for those who
knew him.

"I am suffering from heart disease. I
at first thought it was only indigestion.
In June I had to give up work, and spent six
weeks in bed. Then I got about again, and
was apparently ready for the usual ' tallying '
in the hop garden during the holidays ; but
fainting-fits returned, and though I tried hard
not to give up, I was able to get through only
four days' school work, — getting to and
from school tired me very much. I therefore
resigned my post, and declined five offers of
science classes. I have recently returned from
a six weeks' sojourn in Guy's Hospital. At
present, rest is the thing I most need — not
medicine. I remain in bed till midday. J
am, in fact, a drone ! "

We all know Tho3. Badcock was never a
" drone," though he writes it in pleasantry of
himself. He worked bravely as long as ever
he could, and he has left a manuscript which
he finished only a week or two before his
death. His idea was to present on a large
card — or cards — for school walls the principal
facts of bee-keeping, with apt illustrations,
giving, as it were, " a bird's-eye " view of the
subject to suit the comprehension of children.
It is clear, concise, and simple, and finished
with that painstaking care which so charac-
terised him in all work he undertook.

I hope some one will purchase this manu
script and publish it for the benefit of the widow
and children, and that it may become a sort of
monument to our late friend on the walls of
many a rural school. If so, it will certainly
promote the pursuit of bee-keeping. — A. M. I.,
Kent, May 3.

AMONG THE BEES.

DUCKS AND BEES, LIKEWISE FOXES.

[2058.] I note you require some informa-
tion re ducks and bee3. Well, I can just fill
up that bill right away. Ducks and bees
agree just about in the same proportion as the
generality of foxes and ducks do. The results
of my experiences, which I now lay before
you, I think are sufficiently conclusive with
regard to both statements I have thus made.

I was the proud possessor of twenty-eight
white sleek-feathered Aylesburys. Often
during their growth from ducklinghood until
near their maturity had I pictured to myself a
rich brown ornament to the table with the
usual concomitants, green peas ; but, alas ! this
was not to be, as the sequel shows. Upon
one fine morning the boy who looks after the
swarms imparted to me the intelligence that
these sleek-feathered demons regaled them-
selves, after their usual breakfast of barley-
meal, with an after-dish of bees ! I watched,

and the result was I saw a row of ducks
(fancy, Messrs. Editors, eight-and-twenty of
'em) stationed at the entrances of eight-and-
twenty hives, busily engaged gobbling up the
bees as fast as they alighted at their homes.
Now, I just passed their death sentence at
once (it had been done before), but owing to
other matters taking my attention away just
then, and the fact that my family gathering at
meal times is not sufficiently extensive (four
all told) to consume eight-and-twenty ducks
at one sitting, they were allowed a short (very
short) respite. About three days after the
same youth informed me that the ducks were
missing. From certain " spoor " I found, and
the knowledge that there were a Mr. and Mrs.
Beynard, together with a family of six, in a
copse adjacent to my apiary, I placed myself
in communication with my neighbour, the
head keeper, with the result that a short time
after one of the said keeper's boys, breeches,
gaiters, and all, brought to my house a neat
brown paper parcel. From the malicious grin
that overspread that boy's face I guessed the
result. The parcel opened displayed fifty-
one ducks' legs ! I haven't kept ducks since.
— W. B. Webster, Binfield, Berks.

DO DUCKS EAT BEES ?

[2059.] "Eat" is hardly the word for
what I caught my drake and ducks doing
one fine day back in the winter, when all
their usual between meal tit-bits were
hidden by snow. Outside my one hive
stood the four of them, shovelling the bees
off the flight board at a desperate rate.
Very reluctantly they moved away when I
dived down the bank to shift them, catching
bees on the wing as they went, and the impu-
dent young drake stood on the top of the
bank and caught three or four while I adjusted
a screen to keep them a respectable distance
away. I picked up master drake, and talked
seriously to him (he is very sociable and intel-
ligent), and, to his credit it must be said, that
neither he nor his wives have been seen near
the hive since ; and I do not think he would
look at so insignificant a morsel as a tiny bee
now that he can obtain (and swallow too)
young frogs half as big as the eggs his wives
lay.— F. F., Selhurst, May 2.

[2060.] In reply to John Cameron (p. 175),
I should recommend that some wire net be
placed round the edge of the brook where the
bees go for water. Ducks are very destruc-
tive to bees, as I know from practical ex-
perience. Some years ago when I used to
pay business visits to Neighbour & Sons' Bee
Farm at Hemel Hempstead, I have seen
them eat them wholesale. — J. S. Greenhill,
Wimbledon, May 3.

[2061.] Kef erring to the above query on
p. 175, I think not. Last summer I had
twenty Aylesbury ducks, which were allowed

184

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 9, 1895.

to run, with fowls, to within eight feet of my
hives (five) ; and in order to test whether they
would eat the bees, I threw several dead ones
to them whilst on their pond, which, however,
they declined to touch. — Enfield, May 4,
1895.

[2062.] I see in your issue of May 2 (2052,
page 175) a correspondent inquires " Do ducks
eat bees 1 " I may say I have kept ducks and
bees in the same enclosure, and on several
occasions have seen the ducks standing in front
of the hives snapping at any bee within reach.
— E. A. Douglas, London, S.E.

[As an outcome of the above several com-
munications, we think it maybe safely averred
that ducks do eat bees. — Eds.]

A LADY'S BEE-KEEPING.

DO BEES PAY 1

[2063.] I write to keep the promise made
on page 171 last week, but have been hindered
all day by callers, so can only send a few lines.
1 had proposed giving my income and expen-
diture since I commenced bee-keeping in 1891,
but reference to my letter of April 5, 1894,
will show what I had done up to then.

Last year I had only 430 lb. of honey and
one swarm from thirteen stocks.

For the honey I got ... £22 10 6
6 lb. of wax at Is. 9d. ... 0 10 6
Prize money 0 10 0

My expenditure.

23 11 0
10 8 0

Profit balance £13 2 0

I do not work my hives for sections, as they
do not sell here, and I find I can get double
the quantity of run honey in the same time,
while the combs do again year after year,
which is a great saving in time and honey to
the bees. 1 get a good price for my honey —
12s. a dozen for screw-cap jars in large
quantities, and 14s. a dozen for small — but I
am very particular about the quality. Each
comb is looked carefully through before
extracting, the clear, light-coloured being put
through one machine, and the dark through
another. I also tie a piece of fine flannel
under the " drainer " of the ripener ; it makes
the honey so much brighter, and does not clog
so soon as the muslin.

My expenses were very heavy last year, but
then it includes several new hives fitted with
comb-foundation, lifts, bar-frames, &c, which
will all come in for this year. — Helen
Laurence, East Keswick, Leeds.

OLD AND NEW COMBS.
[2064.] Mr. Brice's communication herein
(2047, p. 172) is most timely. 1 have been
struck by the readiness with which queens

take to a sheet of new foundation placed in
the brood nest. Mr. Brice explains the
queens' feelings upon the subject in an
admirable way. I moved my hives with the
kind help of Mr. Cribb, from Lincolnshire, last
autumn. They have all come safely through
the winter, but two stocks have been weakened
by flights of bees on to the snow — a new
experience to me. I noticed that there were
signs of a queen having been lost in one hive
on April 20. I fear she must have been killed
when I cleaned the floor-board a day or two
previously. The bees were evidently mourn-
ing her loss on the 20th. There is now a
sealed queen- cell in the hive. Will there be
drones in time for her mating, or what course
am I adopt ? Could I unite another hive with
queen to this one ? — C. E. Cockin, Etton,
Hull.

[Seeing that May is now in, drones should,
in the ordinary course, be flying in time for
the purpose referred to. — Eds.]

FOUL BROOD. HOW IT BLOCKS
TRADE.

[2065.] We are free from foul brood in this
district, and sincerely desire to keep it at a
respectable distance ; but a difficulty presents
itself — I wish to purchase some stocks of bees
for customers, and, knowing that the disease
exists both in Suffolk and Norfolk, it is neces-
sary to exercise caution. Hoping the Editors
of the B.B.J, could help me, I wrote asking if
they could name the locality, or localities, where
it prevailed in the above counties. The reply
received states that foul brood does exist in
the two counties named, but as all letters re-
ferring thereto are considered " private," unless
otherwise stated, they cannot give the infor-
mation required. The Editors are to be com-
mended for their action ; but what about the
bee-keepers who thus marked their letters
" private " ? Are they not inflicting an injury
upon others residing in the same counties, by
stopping the sale of bees — (1) from the possi-
bility of purchasing bees where the disease
exists ; (2) by deterring persons from pur-
chasing bees, fearing they might come from an
infected district ?

An honest man should, for the sake of his
fellow bee-keepers, let it be known that the
disease exists in his apiary. — L. Wren,
Lowestoft.

SELF-HIVERS.

DO THEY ANSWER THEIR PURPOSE ?

[2066.] As the interest in self-hivers is very
great, and as some of your correspondents have
somewhat doubted the strict accuracy — or
freedom from colouring — of the reports 1 gave
in B.J. last year, June" 7, p. 226, and July 19,
p. 282), I trust you will give me space for the
insertion of a letter received the other day
from an extensive fruit grower in Cornwall

May 9, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

185

(an entire stranger to me) , to whom I supplied
in June. 1894, the only self-hiver last year for
which I took payment. I never heard how
the contrivance worked with the purchaser,
and, remembering that it was only a rough,
home-made one, I last week wrote offering to
send him, free of cost, one of the new and im-
proved articles I am now having made, on his
returning the old one. Well, the letter I ask
you to insert is his reply, and reads as
follows : —

" April 25, 1895.

"Dear Sir, — Your letter, with pamphlet,
to hand. I am glad you have made an im-
provement in ' Swarm -catcher.' The one you
sent last year, however, gave me every satis-
faction. I placed it on a hive, and it remained
on about five weeks. At last one hot day I
chanced to be away from home, and on my
return in the evening I found safely hived in
the ' receiving-box ' an enormous swarm weigh-
ing 91b. ! I note in your letter just received
you want me to return the old ' hiver,' and
you will send one of your new ones in its stead,
but I like the old one so much that I cannot
part with it.

" I shall, however, be very pleased to pur-
chase one of the improved ones, on being in-
formed of the price. — Yours, &c, K. D.
Thomas, Polgoon, Penzance, April 25."

Of the above testimonial I can at least say
it was " unsolicited." — G. R. Hole, Patcham,
Sussex, May.

UNITING BEES IN " WELLS " HIVES.

.] It is very gratifying to me to see that
we have at least one lady bee-keeper (2049,
p. 174) who is trying what can be done
with two queens in one hive, separated with
the perforated division. For the information
of your lady correspondent, and of any other
reader requiring guidance in this direction, I
may point out that there was no need what-
ever to scent the bees in small " Wells " hives
before she withdrew the perforated dummy.
The bees would have united without any
fighting, and worked just as harmoniously
together as any other single colony. — G.
Wells, Ayles/ord, Kent, May 4.

WIRING FOUNDATION.

[2068.] I have hit upon a little contrivance
for embedding the wire in brood foundation,
which can be made by any one at a' cost of
about 2d., and answers the purpose equally
well as the various " embedders " costing Is.
to 2s.

I use an ordinary bradawl of rather large
size, and file away a V-shaped groove in the
point, which, being heated and run along the
wire, acts in the manner desired. — Geo. 0.
Nicholson, Market Harborough, May 1.

BEE NOTE3 FROM SUSSEX.

[2069.] Since I last wrote (2295, p. 146) I
wish I could report better progress in our
parts from a bee point of view. I have come
to the conclusion that the weather— like a
good many other things — must seem curiously
different to different people. Years ago
battling against a good gale was an immense
delight to me. Since I have become a cyclist
I look upon the wind as my mortal enemy.
Since I have also become a bee-keeper I am
constantly finding defects in the weather which
I never noticed before. A day which satisfies
many people is often anything but perfect to
me, because, by reason of fog, or rain, or
wind or temperature, it will not suit the bees.
Certainly, in the fifteen years I have spent on
this South Coast I have never known so many
sea-mists, gales, and cold, chilly spring days.
We have certainly had a few warm days lately,
but they are far between, and even to-day it
has been blowing hard from the north-east, and
last night was frosty. We are six weeks
behind our normal year.

On April 11, the only possible day for some
time previously and ten days later, 1 ventured
to shift a single hive and a " Wells " hive into
fresh quarters, clean floor-boards, &c, repairs
being imperative. Whether in consequence of
this or not I cannot say, but I found next day
most of the bees on one side of the " Wells "
hive and the other division apparently queen-
less — possibly another case of balling ! It was
out of the question to re-open the hive in the
inclement weather which prevailed ; so, after
watching the conduct of bees on alighting-
board for several days, I tried, by the great
kindnes3 of one of your well-known con-
tributors, to re queen them. My efforts were,
however, in vain. So I can only conclude I
missed a queen cell (I cut one out) when
searching combs before introducing her. I
only saved her — a fine Ligurian and English
hybrid — by halving a strong stock, and giving
her to the queenless half ; and even then had mis-
haps, and narrowly escaped failure. However,
I believe I now have my original six stocks
once more in good condition : three very
strong, two somewhat weak, and one very
weak for the time being.

What is the apiarian outlook ? It is
notoriously unsafe to prophesy ; but I think I
will venture. With us the daffodils are over,
tulips and narcissus are coming on. The
primrose is at its height. The fruit-blossoms
have been extraordinarily kept back, and are
positively only now opening. Young goose-
berries and currants are plentiful. To-day I
noticed the first white in the hedgerows.
Opposite us a nightingale sings day and night,
answering others. The bees are bringing in
much yellow (willow ?), orange (dandelion ?),
and white (fruit-blossoms?) pollen. They
take enormous quantities of water, and they
partake freely of thin syrup ; and, in conse-
quence, they are building brace-combs again

186

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 9, 1895.

so fast that I have given two stocks some
shallow frames to work out just to amuse
them. Everywhere the green tints are
appearing in field and hedges, and all we now
want — especially for our many convalescents
from the influenza — is some settled warm
weather. In these parts this usually comes in
with June, when fires can be finally left off.
If this be the case this year, then the bees
will be just ready for it. All the various
blossoms, flowers, and crops, so greatly
retarded, will come on rapidly together, and
there will be a big " boom " for those bee-
keepers who have known how to wait, and
possess their souls in patience.

Personally, I am very hopeful. I have
reason to be. Just the other side of the road
there is a big field of peas ; a little lower down,
a bigger of clover. Other pastures fair are
within a mile radius. I have just seen an
enormous field at the back of my house sown
with clover over oats, promising a rare good
time next year, whatever this one may turn
out to be. But I shall be very much
astonished if this present year does not prove
a record beater. Swarms may be few, but I
fancy the honey takes will be large. At any
rate, such is the hearty and sanguine wish, for
himself and all others of the truly gentle craft,
of W. R. N., Sussex, May 3, 1895.

TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION IN WEST
SUSSEX.

[2070.] I beg to inform you that I have
been appointed lecturer on bee-keeping for the
West Sussex County Council. Any one who
wishes to have lectures in their parish should
communicate with Mr. Edwin Young, County
Hall, Lewes, the organising secretary for
technical instruction, without delay, as it is
important the lectures should commence at
once.

Perhaps if bee-keepers in East Sussex would
write to Mr. Young expressing the desire to
have lectures in that division of the county,
the East Sussex County Council might be in-
duced to do the same ; and then there would
be a good opportunity for starting a bee
association for the whole county. — C. Brere-
ton, Pulborough, May 6.

dftoms m& ItarKta.

[1265.] Dealing with Weak Stocks.— I have
four stocks of bees, two being fairly strong on
seven or eight frames, the other two very
weak, one having three seams of bees with two
and a half frames of brood, the other three
seams with two frames of brood. 1. Would
you advise me to unite these two weak ones,
making one fairly good stock, or let them
build up by themselves ? If kept separate
would they be likely to yield any surplus

honey, as the season here ends about the end
of July ? Last year I had about 80 lb. of
honey gathered in July ; it granulated shortly
after extracting, but had a bitter taste. 2.
What was the reason of this ? 3. Is lime
honey generally bitter, as I think the greater
part was gathered from the lime-trees? 4.
Do horse-chestnut-trees yield much honey, and
is it of good flavour ? — E. A. Douglas,
London, S.E.

Reply. — 1. The fact of there being so large
a quantity of brood for the proportion of
bees in each hive argues so well for the good
quality of the queens, that we should be loth
to unite, seeing that there are still — as stated
— nearly three months before your honey
harvest closes. 2. We could not account for
the flavour without a sample of the honey to
guide us. 3. Lime honey is known by its
having a slight but distinct minty flavour.
4. In some seasons the horse-chestnut yields
honey freely, but the flavour of it is not good.

[1266.] Packing Swarms for Transit. —

1. What is the best thing in which to pack
swarms for a long railway journey ? 2. Are
the ordinary skeps, with cheese cloth tied
over, the popular method, and safe ? — En-
quirer, Gloucester, May 4.

Reply. — 1. A properly constructed swarm-
box, as made by any appliance dealer, is the
best thing ; the next best is a sensibly-made
but simple substitute for the above. A fairly
strong box (such as may be had for 3d. at any
grocer's) of a capacity to hold, say, about a
peck and a half of peas. In this box cut
holes 6x3 in. on two sides and bottom. Cover
these holes with perforated zinc on the insides,
and nail a couple of strips of wood across
bottom to keep it raised an inch from ground.
Secure lid firmly on, and, with a stout cord to
carry by, a swarm will travel in it any dis-
tance. 2. An " old hand " at packing swarms
for transit can manage it quite well in skeps,
but beginners often fail in sending them safely
in this way. The main point is to provide
means of keeping the skep mouth upward,
and covering with open material.

[1267.] Beginning Bee-keeping at the Wrong
End. — I started bee-keeping last year with
two swarms, which were put into frame-hives
of my own making. I now learn, however,
that the friend who advised me how to make
them was not well up in that sort of hive, and
in consequence the bees in one hive have built
their combs across the frames instead of within
them. J. cannot, therefore , remove the frames,
and further, I left too much space between the
frames and hive sides, so the bees have filled
it in with comb. In the second hive the combs
are built inside the frames all right, but the
extra space is here, too, filled in with comb,
and the frames are immovable unless I break
away the comb at sides. 1. What can you
advise me to do in order to remedy things ?

2. My frames are not " standard " size, being

May 9, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

187

14^ in. by 8J in., outside measure. As I think
of making some more hives, would you advise
adopting the proper " standard," or to make
all of one size ? 3. Are garden or field peas
good for bees ?— F. Hayes, Hatfield Peveril,
Witham, Essex,

Eeply. — 1. The best advice we can offer
under the circumstances is, first, the investing
of a few coppers in a book on bees (say
" Modern Bee-keeping," price 7d.). Next,
allowing both hives to go on as they now are,
and while giving a limited amount of surplus
room when the bees are ready for it, let them
swarm, and put the swarms in hives made in
accordance with the instructions in your 7d.
book. Twenty-one days after swarming you
may deal with the badly-combed hives (being
also directed hoiv in book referred to) by
transferring bees and combs to proper-sized
frames and hives. 2. By all means revert to
" standard " sized frames, and we advise buying
these instead of making them. But, in any
case, make the hives to fit the frames, not the
opposite. 3. The blossoms of peas are not
counted among the sources of honey.

[1268.] A Prolific Queen.— In the middle
of this week I was examining a hive of three
combs, to which, about a fortnight ago, I
united another small lot. I noticed a great
many cells (which were surrounded with
healthy brood) in which more than one egg
had been deposited. In one cell I counted as
many as nine eggs, and a great many cells
with as many as four and five eggs in each. I
also saw in a few cells two grubs about two
days old. There was a good lot of brood on
two of the three frames. Is not this rather
unusual ? — W. A. Warren, Petersfield,
May 4.

Reply. — No doubt a stock on eight or ten
frames would be far more suitable for the
above queen than one on three frames, but it
is not uncommon for prolific queens to dupli-
cate eggs as stated under the same circum-
stances. " Nine eggs '' in one cell is, however,
very unusual indeed.

[1269.] Removing Bees from House Front.
— 1 should be much obliged if you could
advise me as to best means of securing a stock
of bees which have for some years been lodged
in the wall of a house, between the ceiling of
one room and the leads of a balcony above.
The bees have found entrance by means of a
ventilator grating, which now serves as the
door of the hive, and I can get a plumber to
take up the lead of the balcony above the
place where the combs are. I might then
either put a skep over the opening in the leads
and drive the bees up into it by blowing
smoke in through the ventilator, and after the
bees have gone up into the skep, cut out the
comb ; or I might fumigate the bees with
chloroform as recommended in Bee Journal,
July 26, 1894 (page 297), and then cut out the
combs with bees attached. Which of these

methods would you recommend ? I have a
frame hive in my own garden (about 300
yards away from the house where the bees
are) containing a few queenless bees into
which I hope to put the stock if I can remove
it safely. — J. Constance Brown, Harrow.

Reply.— We strongly advise our corres-
pondent endeavouring to enlist the friendly
help of some bee-keeper of experience in the
proposed operations. So mush depends on the
conditions under which the bees and combs
are found after being exposed to view, that it
is very difficult to advise the best course while
lacking this knowledge. Perhaps some
reader residing within easy distance of Harrow
will volunteer help 1

[1270.] Straw Supers for Exhibition. — A
prize is offered at our local flower show for
" best straw top of honey," and, not knowing
how honey is judged, may I ask through your
valuable journal — 1, which are the most
important points in judging, and how can I
secure a good " top " 1 2. Is there any prefer-
ence as to the shape ? 3. Are there any means
of fixing foundations in straw tops ? 4. Does
quantity as well as quality count ? 5. Having
bar-frame hives, could I not get a larger
" top '' from one of them than of an ordinary
straw skep ? — Novice, Oban, N.B., May 3.

Reply. — 1. The main " points " in a straw
" top " or super for exhibition are that it be
filled with thick, even, well-filled combs,
perfectly clean and of good colour, every cell
being sealed over, and all the combs dry and
nicely " rounded off :' on lower edges. To
secure such a top it should be given to the
bees just when the hive is populous and honey
coming in well, so as to secure its being
quickly filled. 2. The flat-topped one pre-
sents the best appearance on the show bench.
3. Narrow strips of thin lath with starters of
foundation attached may be fixed into the
roof by means of a couple of wire nails pushed
through the laths and into the straw, 2 in.
apart from centre to centre. 4. Undoubtedly
a large and handsome top is more commend-
able than a small one equally handsome. 5.
The frame-hive certainly gives some advan-
tages to a skilled bee-keeper, but there is no
reason why a good skep should not produce
the winning " top."

[1271.] Bees storing Sugar-Syrup in Supers.
— I wintered two stocks on the " Wells " plan,
one on six, the other on five frames. At end
of March each lot had formed a brood nest in
centre of its own compartment, while nearly
all holes in perforated dummy were closed up.
The six-frame lot came out strongest, and have
built up well, and a fortnight since had eggs
in drone cells and brood on every frame.
The others are building up more slowly, but
doing fairly well. 1 have stimulated both by
uncapping stores at intervals, and the strongest
lot has a feeding-dummy filled with Porto

188

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 9, 1895.

Rica sugar. I find this stock is storing and
sealing something, and top edges of combs are
white with newly lengthened-out cells. I
want to add super to try and get some surplus
from fruit-bloom, but don't want any sugar-
syrup stored. Kindly say, is it probable that
the bees are converting sugar into syrup, and
storing it ; and is there any danger of its
getting into super if feeding-dummy is left in
when former is added 1 Porous quilting only
used above frames with plenty of warm
wrapping over. Your advice will be esteemed
by " Stingbug," Croydon, May 1.

Reply. — If " feeding - dummy " contains
more than a pound of the raw sugar referred
to, we should advise its removal before super-
ing. Otherwise harm would follow, as the
sugar would be consumed in comb-building.

We cannot quite compliment " Stingbug "
on his choice of a nom de plume. It isn't nice,
and if his bee-friends should get to know it,
just fancy such a name sticking to one — even
in fun !

[1272.] Uniting Weak Stocks in Spring. —
On going through my hives, I find that in one
— a very weak stock — the queen has been
laying eggs, two, three, and, I think, even four
in a cell. 1. What is this a sign of, and what
ought to be done ? 2. Three of my stocks
being weak, but all having fertile queens,
would it be advisable to unite any or all of
them? — (Rev.) E. H. Puttock, Halwill
Bectory, N. Devon.

Reply. — 1. The queen is evidently a prolific
one, and needs a stronger stock of bees to
keep pace with her egg-laying powers. 2. It
would be very helpful to the first-named stock
to add the bees of one of the latter to it. For
the rest, it is always advantageous to unite
weak lots of bees in spring. Only strong
stocks can be made profitable.

SEASONABLE QUESTIONS.

answered by g. m. doolittle.
Early Swarms.

Question. — I am desirous of securing early
swarms. Would there be a gain or loss along
this line by putting on surplus cases of
sections ?

Ansioer. — It might be safe to say that, taking
early swarms into consideration, there would
be a disadvantage or tendency towards a few
days' delay, if the surplus arrangement is put
upon the hive before the bees swarm. Heat is
one of the elements in forcing early swarms ;
hence, by putting on the surplus arrangement
before the hive is crowded with bees, much of
the heat from the colony will be distributed up
among the sections, which would retard swarm-
ing, as it also does brood-rearing. If early
swarms are what we must have, even if we
have to sacrifice other values, then it is best to
keep the top of the hive as close as possible,
and (stimulate the bees by feeding them or

otherwise. Later on, when the hive becomes
crowded with bees, and preparations for swarm-
ing begun, the placing on of sections may not
delay it, but if we count surplus honey a gain,
then I can conceive where t here would be a
gain in putting on sections as soon as our main
honey- harvest opened, as it is often the case
that, with all our crowding and desiring early
swarms, the bees will obstinately refuse to
swarm, when we not only fail to accomplish
what we are after, but lose a part or all of the
honey crop we might have had if we had put
on the sections at the proper time. I verily
believe that, during the past, when conducting
experiments along this line, I have sustained
more loss by trying to force swarms by crowd-
ing the bees than by giving them too much
room. Hence ray advice of late years has
been to place the sections on the hives at the
proper time, no matter whether swarming is
desired or otherwise, resting assured that, with
the majority of bee-keepers, more swarms
will issue, when doing our best to secure a good
crop of section honey, than we could expect
under any conditions, and fully enough to
satisfy any reasonable person.

When to put on Sections.

Question. — When is the proper time to put
on sections for surplus ?

Answer. — No set time as to month or day
can be given for putting on sections in any
locality, as all depends on the strength of
colony rand the time of the opening of the
blossoms which give us our main honey crop,
both of which are advanced or retarded in
accord with the earliness or lateness of the
season. Some say, put on all surplus arrange-
ments as soon as the first buds giving our
surplus honey are about bursting open, no
matter about the strength of the colonies.
Others tell us to put on sections as soon as the
colonies are strong enough, without any refer-
ence to the time of the blooming of the flower.?,
they saying, " It is a mistake to put off putting
on sections till the honey harvest is upon the
bees, as they will sometimes waste time looking
through the surplus apartment before going to
work.'' I cannot agree with either of the
above, as it savours too much of the old " luck
in bee-keeping" we used to hear so much about,
and does not give credit to any apiarist of
managing his business intelligently. After
years of experimenting, to know just when the
sections should be placed upon the hive, I have
arrived at this : Wait about putting the sections
on till the hives become populous with bees
and the combs well filled with brood, and till
the bees are securing enough honey from the
fields to begin to lengthen the cells along the
tops of the combs next the top-bars of the
frames, or build little bits of comb here and
there about the hive. When we see this it is
time to put on the sections ; for if we delay
longer we are sure to lose in time and honey ;
while if we place sections on the hive, no
matter how populous with bees it may be, before

May 9, 1895.]

THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.

189

any honey is coming in from the fields, we
shall lose by the bees gnawing or tearing down
more or less of the foundation placed in the
sections. If we use only starters of natural
comb in oUr sections, then they can be placed
on the hive as soon as the colonies are strong
in bees and brood, if we so desire ; but even
then I can see nothing gained over the other,
unless we are liable to be crowded for time at
the right time for putting them on. If my
memory serves me rightly, Dr. Miller has put
forth the claim that it is only after the honey
season is over that the bees gnaw holes in and
tear down foundation, which may be correct
with him in his locality ; but with me bees
always mutilate foundation in the sections,
more or less, at any time of the year when an
abundance of numbers, or hot weather, crowds
them into the sections at a time when there is
no honey coming in. I had scores of sections
one season in which all the upper half of the
foundation was gnawed away but a little strip
or neck about § to % of an inch in width ; and
when honey began to come in, and the founda-
tion was worked out, it twisted and turned to
such an extent that it was attached to the
separators on either side, thus spoiling such
sections for market when they came to be re-
moved, as the honey would be set to running
in getting the combs loose from the sections.

When to put on Sections on New Swarms.

Question. — When is it best to put on sec-
tions on a hive having a new swarm ?

Answer. — That will depend somewhat on
how you work. If your swarm is large, and
you have full sheets of foundation in the
brood-frames, it is well to place a case of sec-
tions (and they should also be filled with
foundation) right on the hive when the swarm
is run in ; but should you fill the sections with
foundation, and use only starters in the brood-
frames the queen would be likely to go into
the sections to deposit her first eggs unless a
queen- excluder were used, in which case she
could not get into the sections, no matter how
the hive was arranged below. With nothing
but starters in the brood-frames, and no queen-
excluder used, then it is best to wait about
putting on sections till the queen has com-
menced laying in the new comb built below,
when the sections can be put on without fear
of brood in them. The plan I consider the
best, and the one I use more largely than any
other is, to contract the brood-chamber to two-
thirds its usual size, using only frames having
starters in them of foundation about half au
inch wide, on top of which is placed a queen-
excluding honey-board. The new hive thus
prepared is set on the stand of the parent
colony while the swarm is out, and the sec-
tions from the removed hive placed over the
queen-excluder on the new, when the swarm is
hived in this new hive on the old stand, when
the old or parent colony is placed at some
distance away on a new stand which we wish
it to occupy. In this way work^ does opt gtop

in the sections at all, and we, as rule, get the
frames in the contracted brood-chamber filled
with nice straight worker combs, at a less cost
to us than the purchasing of foundation and
fitting it into wired frames.— Gleanings.

WEATHER REPORT.

Westbourne, April, 1895.

Rainfall, 2 25 in.
Heaviest fall, '52 in.

on 24th.
Rain fell on 14 days.
Above average, -72 in.
Max. Temperature,

62° on 17th.
Min. Temperature, 28°

on 1st.
Minimum on grass, 20°

on 1st.
Frosty nights, 2.
Sunshine, 1 03 hours.

Brightest Day, 14th,

127 hours.
Sunless Days, 2.
Below average, 390

hours.
Mn. Maximum, 52,4B,
Mn. Minimum, 39 -5P.
Mean Temperature,

45-9°.
Maximum Barometer,

30-40° on 12th.
Minimum Barometer,

29-23° on 7th.
L. B. Birkett.

£}# j^ftmra to Ofirmt

June 12, 13. — Essex Agricultural Society's
Show at Southend. Entries close May 27.
Schedules from F. H. Meggy, Hon. Sec. Essex
B.K.A., Chelmsford.

June 24 to 28.— Royal Agricultural Sooiety's
Show at Darlington. Entries closed. Secre-
tary, J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

July 25, 20, and 27. — Royal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries close July I. Schedules from Jas.
Birch, Sec, 3, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded trill be attended to, and thost
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

R. Panton, Geo. Stocks, and E. T. J. —
Concerning " Notes by the Way." — We are
very pleased to have your appreciation of
the sentiments expressed by our corre-
spondent, Mr. Cribb, in the first par. of his
letter (2050, p. 174), and need hardly say
how heartily we concur therein, as, no
doubt, will our readers generally.

E. Oldham (Ashton-on-Mersey). — 1. Frames
like sample sent we should consider dear at
any price. The appliances of which you
complain were, no doubt, sold as a cheap
job lot, but if anything like sample they
could in no sense be called in " good con-
dition.'' As to " obtaining redress,'' we
cannot assist you. 2. We always advise
the use of excluder zinc below boxes of
shallow -frajnes worked, fox extracted honey.

190

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 9, 1895.

Samuel Head (Ivybridge). — Bee Boohs. —
1. The issue now being sold of the " Bee-
keepers' Guide Book" is the eleventh
edition, price 2s. 6d. cloth gilt, or Is. 6d. in
paper covers (postage 2d.). The largest
work on bees published in this country is
Cheshire's " Bees and Bee-keeping," price
16s. 2. The measures taken for disinfecting
the diseased should prove effective if carried
out as described. 3. Regarding the danger
of infection from diseased colonies in your
immediate neighbourhood, nothing can be
done beyond the constant use ofprev entives.

S. H. W. (Elgin). — Comb sent contains nothing
more than honey (or syrup) and pollen.

Arabis (St. Ives). — The dead larvae received
are " chilled,'' not diseased. There is little
cause for alarm unless the mischief continues
and increases, in which case an examination
of the combs should be made.

H. A. 0. Grimbly (Margate). — Preventing
Swarming. — It would certainly lessen the
chances of swarming if — as you propose —
the two front combs are removed once a
week and frames with starters only substi-
tuted. And in view of your " only seeing
the bees once a week * probably no better
plan could be followed under the cir-
cumstances.

George Molton (Diss). — If the bees have
been long queenless it will be better to unite
them to the next colony than hope to get a
queen raised by giving a comb of brood.
Your first question, which reads thus : —
" What time to put supers on so as not to
have a superfluity of drone-comb ? '' puzzles
us, and we confess our inability to know
what is meant by it.

Novice (Hants). — 1. Comb is badly infected
with foul brood. 2. In view of your having
some healthy stocks, we should destroy bees,
combs, and frames, and disinfect the hive
before using again. 3. Your third query
answers itself.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, dee. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

SWARMS, 12s.
house, Glos.

Free on rail. Rev. Jarvis, Stone-
G90

'WARMS WANTED, with last year's Queens. Apply
► to David Patterson, Struan, Calvine. g 75

W

ANTED, strong STOCKS of BEES in skeps. State
price to Rev. Jarvis, Stonehouse, Glos. G 91

OR SALE.-StroiiK STOCK of BEES. Bar frame
Hive. High Nest, Keswick. G 88

N

ATURAL SWARMS, 3s. 6d. per 11). No foul brood.
1894 Queens. Rose, Feltham.

SEVERAL Healthy 1894 QUEENS FOR SALE, 3s. 6d.
each. A. Simpson, Mansfield, Woodhouse, Notts.
' ' G92.

EXCHANGE "WELLS" HIVE for Stock, or good
swarm of BEES. Page, Earldoms, Ridgeway,
Enfield.

BEES.— Healthy STOCKS in Standard Bar-Frame
Hives, 22s. 6d. each. H. WITT, South Ascot,
Berks. G95

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

FOR SALE. — Strong 10-bar-framed HIVE ; also
Super (quite new), and Excluder zinc. Walter
Keevil, Ivy Bank. Hebden Bridge. G 94

PURE BEESWAX COMB FOUNDATION, Associa-
tion size from Neighbour, 30 lbs. FOR SALE at
Is. 6d. per lb. C. Smith, 9, Grove-street, Oxford. G97

Cr>f\ YEARS a Speciality-QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
^vy Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathneld, Sussex. 116

QUEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
_ healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

LACK PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 Inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. Woodlbt, Beedon, Newbury.

C\r\ SEEDLINGS CHAPMAN HONEY PLANT, and

OW 36 Slips of White Rock (grows readily), post
free, Is. Apply, Geo. Brealey, Grendon, Northants.

GARDENER, married, aged 45, wants SITUATION.
Experienced bee-keeper ; good straw skep maker.
Address, J. Gardener, 36, Temple-street, Manningham,
Bradford, Yorks. G 80

CASH MARKET FOR SECTIONS, EXTRACTED
HONEY and WAX. Packages sent. State lowest
price. Address, H., Bee Journal Office, 17, King
William-street, Strand, London.

FOR SALE, three ten-framed Neighbour's HIVES,
Perfect condition. Supers, ekes, sections, &c. ;
also quantity Bee-Keepers' Records, 30s. 125, Rushey-
green, Catford, Kent. • G 89

A& J. WARREN, Wholesale Druggists, 23 and 24.
. Redcliff-street, Bristol, are Buyers of English
Beeswax and English Honey. No offers made by the
Firm. Seller to state net price and send samples. G96

FOR SALE, Strong STOCKS of English BEES in First-
class Bar-frame. Hives, Young Queens and Splendid
Working Strains. Price moderate. Particulars on
application, Mason, Nunclose, Armathwaite, Cumber-
land. G 93

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. EULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

J. HUNTER, late Hon. Sec. of the British Bee-Keepers
Association.

A Manual of Bee-Keeping:.

Containing Practical Information for Rational and
Profitable Methods of Bee Management. Full instruc-
tions on Stimulative Feeding, Ligurianising and Queen-
raising, with descriptions of the American Comb
Foundation, Sectional Supers, and the best Hives and
Apiarian Appliances on all systems. With Illustrations.
Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.
London : W. H. ALLEN & CO., Ltd., 13, Waterloo-place.

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS

From LUCIO PAGLIA

ROYAL BEE ESTABLISHMENT.

7/. each , six for 39/-
CASH WITH ORDER.

J. S. GREENHILL,
80, GRAHAM ROAD, WIMBLEDON.

May 16, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

191

(Mtorial, Ijtotios, &u

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

DEPUTATION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

As mentioned in our last issue, the deputa-
tion representing the British bee industry was
received by the President of the Board of
Agriculture, on Tuesday, the 7th inst., at the
offices of the Board, St. James's-square. The
right hon. gentleman was accompanied by Mr.
T. H. Elliott (permanent secretary), Mr.
Anstruther (private secretary), and Major
Tennant. Reference to the names (on p. 181)
of those who supported the deputation will
show how large and influential it was, in-
cluding no less than nineteen members of
Parliament. Lord George Hamilton, M.P.,
Sir John Hibbert, Mr. Leonard Gourtenay,
M.P., and several others, though unable to
attend, also wrote expressing sympathy with
the movement.

The Right Hon. Sir John Gorst, in intro-
ducing the deputation, said : — Mr. Gardner,
I have the honour, sir, of introducing to you a
deputation which represents the British Bee-
keepers' Association, an association which has
been engaged for twenty-one years in endea-
vouring to spread the culture of bees amongst
the rural population of the United Kingdom.
It is quite unnecessary for me to point out to
the Minister of Agriculture the immense
advantage which the spread of an industry
like this would be to the rural population. It
gives the cottagers a means of adding to their
incomes, not only without any loss to the
community, but a means ■which, by largely
increasing the fertility of seeds and practically
increasing the supply of fruit, is actually
indirectly beneficial to the districts in -which it
is carried on ; and at a time like the present
everything which increases the comfort and
the means of our rural population is deserving
of national encouragement (hear, hear).
Well, the efforts of the Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion have been seconded in recent times by the
application of the Technical Education grants,
and by money the County Councils devote to
lectures upon this subject, and I believe there
is every hope that these lectures will produce
practical fruits, and that the keeping of bees
will be more extensively carried on by our
country population. The Agricultural Colleges
have also moved in the same direction, and
are making the study of bees a distinct part
of their curriculum, but all the efforts in this
direction are at present threatened with
destruction by the prevalence of a certain
disease amongst bees known by the name of
" foul brood,'' which is contagious, which
spreads from hive to hive, and which
threatens most seriously to interfere, not only
with the progress of the industry, but with

its maintenance in its present condi-
tion. The efforts which the Bee-keepers'
Association — along with the County Councils
and other local authorities — are making
to extend this industry will be absolutely
abortive, unless some means can be adopted
by which this disease can be checked ; for when
cottagers find that (after a considerable amount
of trouble, and taking great care of their hives)
through no fault of their own, they contract
this contagious disease amongst their bees
from their neighbours, and lose the whole
fruits of the industry, they are only too
ready to abandon what is after all a novel
industry to them. This deputation comes,
therefore, to you, as the Minister of Agricul-
ture, to ask that you will take this into
your consideration ; to ask whether, proceeding
upon the lines which have been adopted in
the case of other rural industries, in regard to
cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs, you will do
something to prevent the spread of this con-
tagious disease ? They desire to ask whether
the department over which you preside will
provide some measures by which the disease
can be stamped out, and by which the people
of the country will be enabled to carry on this
industry with some amount of protection from
the Government and public authorities which
the larger industries — the breeding of cattle
and horses and so on — now erjjoy.

I will now ask Mr. Cowan, who is the
President of the British Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, and who fully understands this subject,
to state to you the facts which he, as a
scientific man, is prepared to vouch for, and
which I think you will find worthy of con-
sideration.

Mr. T. W. Cowan, Chairman of the British
Bee-keepers' Association, said : —

It is hardly necessary for me to say many
words, since the papers which have been placed
in your hands fully express what the British
Bee-keepers' Association desires to bring before
your notice.

The British Bee-keepers' Association was
founded in 1874 for the purpose of advocating
the more humane treatment of the honey bee,
and likewise for bettering the condition of the
cottagers of the country and of the rural popu-
lation generally. Since its formation, its
efforts have met with considerable success,
and bee-keeping has been raised from a mere
amusement to an important industry, by
means of which many in the country add
considerably to their incomes, whilst fruit-
growers reap the indirect though considerable
advantage of the fertilisation of the blossoms
by bees.
* Much has been done by the Association to
spread information. "We have now 200
experts who have passed examinations aEd
have obtained first, second, and third class
certificates.

Owing to modern methods now prevailing
in the country, the amount of honey raised
to-day we safely estimate, at lea<t, at 1 cwt

192

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [May 16, 1895.

where twenty years ago only 1 lb. was pro-
duced. It is very difficult to give statistics for
England with regard to bee-keeping. It is
more easy to do so for Ireland, as there
statistics are regularly collected. We have,
however, in England a certain number of
county associations affiliated to ours, and of
which some twenty have made returns. From
these we gather that there must be about
52,000 bee-keepers in England and Wales,
and that the amount of honey produced
may be valued at from £100,000 to £150,000
a year. This calculation of the value of the
honey is based on the Irish Agricultural
returns, but in Ireland straw hives predomi-
nate, and in frame hives much more honey is
produced. The average has been taken at
17 lb. per hive ; this will do for straw hives,
but with modern hives we can produce from
501b. to sometimes 1001b. per colony. The
industry at present appears small, but it is
capable of very great expansion. There are
vast tracts of country where no bees are kept
at all, yet where bee pasturage is abundant,
and we are satisfied that at least ten times as
many hives could be kept as exist at the
present moment.

The only hindrance to a rapid expansion of
bee-keeping is the prevalence of the disease
known as "foul brood," which is spreading
rapidly over the country, making bee-keeping
a hazardous occupation. It is a germ disease,
and as a cure is uncertain, owing to the diffi-
culty of killing the spores, destruction seems
necessary, together with disinfection of hives.
The disease is known to exist in nearly every
county in England, in most counties in Scot-
land so far as we can ascertain, and likewise
to a great extent in Ireland, and in some
places bee-keeping has been given up in con-
sequence. I have myself known of large
apiaries destroyed — one, for instance, belonging
to Dr. Dzierzon, of Carlsmarkt, in Silesia,
who lost 500 hives owing to the disease — and
I know of another case, that of Herr Blatt, of
Rheinfel den, Switzerland, where 300 hives were
lost from the same cause. It is difficult to get
ignorant bee-keepers to take precautionary
measures, and it sometimes happens that bees
are allowed to die out, and the hives are left
on their stands, and thus communicate the
disease to other hives in the neighbourhood.

Our association is powerless to deal with
this disease ; we therefore appeal to the Board
of Agriculture and the Government to help us
in our endeavours to stamp it out. Bee-
keeping is recognised on the Continent, and
many societies which make it a study are sub-
sidised by the Government of Germany.
Quite recently, too, the colony of Victoria has
decided to grant a subsidy of Id. per lb. on
all good honey exported. We do not ask for
protection of this sort, for we believe that
with free trade the quality of our honey will
always enable it to hold its own against
foreign competition. But the industry has
reached a stage when there seem3 to be a

general desire that it should receive some recog-
nition by the Government, and we ask that the
Board of Agriculture should collect statistics
similar to those collected in Ireland and also
on the Continent of Europe, and that some
measure of relief be granted by means of com-
pulsory powers, so that this disease of " foul
brood " may be stamped out, or kept from
spreading. I have no hesitation whatever in
saying that if we could grapple with it, bee-
keeping would extend rapidly, and the advan-
tages to the country would be very great.
Indirectly, its advantages to the fruit-grower
and the cultivator would be even greater than
to bee-keepers.

Mr. D. Plunket was to have represented
Ireland, but as I do not see him present I will,
therefore, ask, on behalf of the Irish Bee-
keepers' Association and urge that — as " foul
brood" exists to a serious extent there —
the Board of Agriculture will recollect that if
it be proper to grant any measures of relief to
England and Scotland, those measures should
also be extended to the sister country.

Sir Mark J. Stewart, Bart., M.P., speaking
specially on behalf of Scotland, observed —
What we really do want are some preventive
measures to ensure the stamping out of this
disease, foul brood. Up to a comparatively
recent date it was almost unknown in Scotland,
but since that its ravages have been most
marked. — After quoting the case of a Scotch
working man, who produces annually from a
ton to a ton and a half of honey — he especially
pleaded that in the interest of the rural work-
ing class the Government should confer on
County Councils, the power to utilise the ser-
vices of certified and competent experts — of
whom there are many in England — in this
matter. After some further remarks, the hon.
Baronet proceeded : — As to the draft Bill
prepared by the Council of the Bee-keepers'
Association, he would merely say that the
practical point is to give the inspector power
to report to the County Council, and to em-
power the latter to say whether or not they
will stamp out the disease. In concluding, the
hon. gentleman further said :— There is a
growing desire on the part of many Scotch
people, and particularly on the part of the
labouring classes, that something should be
done to protect this industry. 1 speak from
considerable experience in the matter, and I do
not want to see all the honey consumed in this
country imported from abroad. We have tens
of thousands of acres practically without a bee
upon them, and this condition of affairs could
be rectified by a little fatherly care on the part
of the Government.

Mr. T. Snape, M.P., who next spoke, said :
— Although I am announced to address you
Sir, "as representing County Councils," the
subject the deputation has in hand has not, so
far as I am aware, been brought before the
Association of County Councils. Therefore, I
cannot claim to speak for the County Councils
generally, but only for the County Council of

May 16, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

193

Lancashire. As you are aware, sir, the
Lancashire County Council devotes a sum of
£40,000 a year to the purpose of technical
instruction, and a large proportion of that
amount is devoted to agricultural technical
instruction. Of that ,£40,000 we have devoted
some £250 annually to the special purpose of
stimulating apiculture and leading the agri-
culturists of the country to pay increased
attention to the subject, and we are very
anxious to stimulate this portion of petite
culture amongst agriculturists. Therefore, the
Lancashire County Council is thoroughly in
sympathy with the Bee-keepers' Association
in their desire that some steps should be taken
by the Department to prevent the continuance
of this disease called foul brood. They feel
that if it has been found possible to stamp out
other pestilences that afflict agriculture, it
is possible also to extinguish this disease.

Continuing, the hon. gentleman strongly
advocated increased technical instruction as a
means of enabling persons to combat the
disease and preventing the destruction of their
bees. He also thought that the funds of the
department might be usefully applied in assist-
ing County Councils in increasing the amount
of instruction in apiculture, as was already
done in giving grants to the university exten-
sion colleges for agricultural purposes. In con-
clusion, Mr. Snape observed that, according to
a computation, not one-tenth of the amount
which could be obtained from bee-keepiDg is
at present realised, and, as the one-tenth that
is secured amounts to between £100,000 and
£150,000 annually, it is obvious that, if they
could lead the agricultural population to pay
more attention to the subject, that sum could
be increased to a million and a half per annum
(hear, hear). No doubt the draft bill which
had been prepared, was capable of improve-
ment, but he thought it might form the basis
of legislation, if legislation be needed to give
the department increased powers.

Mr. C. W. Radcliffe Cooke, M.P. :— In the
absence of Mr. Rankin, who is President of
the Herefordshire Bee-keepers' Association —
who has been called away to attend a
Committee in the House of Commons — I
venture to say a few words. My interest in
the subject is chiefly centred in the orchards
of Herefordshire and in the fruit, and the
product of the fruit in a liquid form. Now,
we cannot get that product of the best quality
unless the flowers are properly fertilised, and
they are not properly fertilised, as we know,
except with the help of these small insects.
I know also that the small cottagers do derive
considerable benefit from the sale of honey, or
rather, I should say, perhaps, that they did do
so, for of late I think I shall be borne out by
the members of the British Bee-keepers'
Association when I say there has not been so
much bee-keeping as there was, ten or twelve
years ago, in consequence of the existence
of this disease, called "foul brood," which
has deterred people from going into the

industry. Some years ago in my own porti6n
of Herefordshire one farmer alone staged at
the honey fair in Hereford 19 cwt. of honey.
Many cottagers also followed the industry,
and I know of one or two who practically
paid their rent out of the money they received
for the honey produced. I do not think they
could do so now. I think that the first step
that ought to be taken is to procure statistics
on the subject. If we can get statistics from
Ireland why cannot we get the same from
England ? I feel almost assured of this, that
if these statistics .were properly collected —
and the Bee - keepers' Associations could
easily collect them from the cottagers
with fair accuracy — then I am convinced
that the statements of previous speakers as to
the industry being larger than is generally
supposed would prove to be correct. Some-
thing has been said as to not requiring any
money from the Government in support of the
proposition of the Bee-keepers' Association,
but, for my part, I think we ought to have
some assistance from the Government.

The speaker further observed that, as in
Ireland the Congested Districts Board had
made money grants for starting cottagers in the
industry of bee-keeping, he did not see why
help of the kind now asked for could not be
had for English bee-keeping. Continuing
his remarks, the hon. gentleman mentioned
the fact that, according to a German Blue-
book issued last year, and reported to the
Royal Commission on Agriculture, in Germany
they give assistance towards apiculture, and if
in foreign countries they assist agriculture —
even small agriculture— in this way, how
seriously are we handicapped in foreign com-
petition (without suggesting such a thing as
protection) if our Government does not assist
us also ! As to the proposition of this asso-
ciation, I do not think it is their duty to do
more than offer suggestions to the Govern-
ment. It appears that our colonies and other
countries have taken action in this matter for
the purpose of putting an end to foul brood,
and, that being the case, surely we ought to
do something. If foreign Governments have
taken action, why should not our Govern-
ment 1 These Governments took action be-
cause individual enterprise and effort were not
found sufficient for the purpose, And indi-
vidual enterprise and effort will not be
sufficient for the purpose in this country.
Those interested in the industry here are
small people, and they are scattered all
over the country — over wide areas.
How can they make their appeal ? How
can cottagers combine to influence the
Government ? The matter is one which the
Government should take in hand itself.
Furthermore, poor people have in their pro-
perty a great incentive to endeavour to make
a little money when they can. The speaker
concluded an animated speech as follows : —
I hope I have said enough to show that the
Board of Agriculture is the authority to take

194

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [May 16, 1895.

action in the matter, first of all by collecting
statistics to show -what the nature and extent
of the industry is, and then by following the
example of foreign countries a Bill could be
brought forward. It would receive careful
attention. None of us would oppose it, and
in view of the fact that an annual grant is
given to Ireland for bee culture, I do not think
there would be likely to be opposition from
that quarter. If the Bill were a reasonable
one — as no doubt it would be — and there
were no opposition, it would pass through
the House rapidly, and the whole question
could be disposed of in a few weeks.

Mr. J. Bound, M.P. : — I represent the
National Agricultural Union, which is a large
body extending all over England, its object
being to watch the interests of the land. A
great many members of that body are inte-
rested in the bee-keeping industry, and they
are anxious to see measures adopted to effect
the objects expressed by Sir Mark Stewart
and other speakers. If you, Mr. Gardner, can
do anything to assist us in checking and pre-
venting the spread of this disease, "foul
brood," you will be doing a great deal for
those who take an interest in bee-keeping.

Mr. Herbert Gardner's reply was as fol-
lows : — Sir John Gorst and Gentlemen, I can
assure you that I have received this deputation
with the utmost pleasure, and that I have
listened with the greatest interest to the very
able speeches which have been made in support
of the objects which you have at heart, and I
can also further assure you that I most
thoroughly sympathise with the objects which
you have now brought forward (bear, hear).
I admit at once that the Board of Agriculture
is undoubtedly the proper Department to
which you have a right to look, and to which
you have a right to apply, though there is
another Government Department which, though
not so directly interested in the subject,
still regards it with interest — I mean the Edu-
cation Department. That Department is also
interested in the subject, not only on account
of its connection with technical education, of
which apiculture forms a part, as has been
pointed out by various speakers, but also
because, as I am informed, the matter is one of
great importance to every elementary school
teacher in various parts of the country. Well,
as President of the Board of Agriculture, I
am very glad to hear that we have one interest
still remaining connected with agriculture
which is not afraid of foreign competition
(hear, hear). I think even on that account we
ought to do all in our power to assist bee-
keeping as far as we are able (hear, hear). We
are all of us anxious, I am quite certain, to
preserve, to encourage, and to stimulate such
of our cottage industries as are useful and
profitable, and of these I should undoubtedly
be of opinion that bee-keeping is not amongst
the least useful and the least profitable (hear,
hear). I thoroughly endorse the very able
remarks made by the introducer of this

deputation as to the advantage which an
industry such as this must be to the
cottagers in the various parts of the United
Kingdom, especially at a time when agricul-
ture in these districts needs all the assistance
we can possibly give it. And, moreover,
I am glad to hear and to know that
this industry is one which might, with
advantage, be enlarged and extended. As
I gather from the statistics given by Mr.
Cowan, there are something like 52,000 bee-
keepers who make a profit, or, at any rate,
produce an industry which is of the value of
something over £100,000 a year, so that at the
present moment, if my calculation — but
momentarily made — is right, it is of the value
of about £2 a head to each bee-keeper. This
is, of course, a matter for improvement, and
might very well be extended. Well, under
these circumstances, you will see at once that
any reasonable and practical action which I or
the Government can take to assist this ancient
and profitable industry will have our heartiest
support. It is unnecessary for me — because it
has been ably done by various speakers — to
remind you that bees, on account of their
fertilising action, are almost a necessity to
horticulturists and to farmers generally, and
on every account it would not only be regret-
table, but absolutely harmful to such interests
if bee-keeping, through discouragement or
disease, were to become one of the lost arts of
this country. Therefore, having made these
preliminary remarks, I hope you will under-
stand that if I venture to put before you
certain difficulties that seem necessary to be
surmounted before we can take the action you
are here to recommend, it is not because I am
unsympathetic to your proposals, but rather
that I wish, with your assistance, to arrive at
a practicable and possible solution of these
difficulties with a view to legislation as soon
as possible. I propose now, after the remarks
that have been made, to shortly place before
you certain points— I will not call them diffi-
culties, but will merely call them points which
require settlement — and which I shall be
grateful for your assistance in solving. In the
first place, I should like to ask you whether, in
the opinion of scientific bee-keepers, any
preventive or remedial measures are possible
in dealing with " foul brood ? ''

I am told that the use of naphthol, phenol,
and bromine sometimes prove efficacious as
a curative of the disease ; but the evidence
does not seem conclusive on that point, and
owing to the danger of infection — by the bees
of other neighbouring colonies infesting the
hives where there are sick bees — it is a moot
point whether destruction is not the safest
and surest remedy in every instance (several
voices : " Yes, destruction ! ''). I am glad to
receive from honourable gentlemen a positive
opinion on that subject. I shall be glad of
any information which scientific bee-keepers
can give me on this subject. I should like to
hear from any practical, scientific bee-keeper

May 16, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

195

an opinion as to the action that is to be taken
by any public authority, as such action must
necessarily be based upon a system of com-
pulsory notification of the diseise wherever it
occurs. That compulsory notification of the
disease must be enforced, if you require it, by
proceedings for penalties in the event of non-
compliance of <bee-keepers with the regula-
tions that are set down . The second question
I will put — and it is a very important one —
for your consideration is whether you think
that public opinion amongst bee-keepers is
sufficiently matured and pronounced to justify
the introduction of such a compulsory system ;
and without animadverting in any way on
past history, I will point out that the Board of
Agriculture have had some experience in
regard to adopting public opinion. Without
regard to any particular instance, I may say
from time to time deputations have come to
us, and frequent speeches have been made in
the House of Commons, and articles have been
written in the journals, pressing the Govern-
ment and the Board of Agriculture to take
action in stamping out diseases, and when any
action has been taken, involving as it does
compulsory notification and penal action —
penal action for non-compliance with this noti-
fication— it has happened that the very
speakers and the very journals who have been
so anxious to urge this action on the Govern-
ment have found, when it came home to them
in their various parts of the country, that the
action of the Government was absolutely un-
founded and entirely wrong ; therefore, I
should like to be thoroughly sure before we
take action in the matter that public opinion
amongst the whole of the bee-keepers in the
country is that the action you propose is so
well founded and efficacious that we shall not
be met by an outcry that we are endeavouring
to do something that we ought not to have
undertaken.

[In view of its importance to the British
bee-keeping industry, we had i7itended to pub-
lish the fall report of the proceedings of
which the above forms part.

We are, however, reluctantly compelled, from
lack of space, to hold over the completion of
Mr. Gardners speech and the concluding
portion of the proceedings till next week. — Eds.]

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The monthly meeting of the council was
held at 32, Sackville-street, Piccadilly, on
Thursday, the 9th inst. Present: T. W.
Cowan (in the chair), H. Jonas (vice-chairman),
Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, H. W. Brice, W. B.
Carr, C. H. Hooper, J. H. New, E. D. Till,
Rev. W. E. Burkitt, and J. M. Hooker (ex-
officers) ; John Huckle (secretary). Mr.
W. O'B. Glennie (treasurer) wrote regretting
his inability to be present.

The minute3 of the last meeting of the
council were read and confirmed. The state-
ment of accounts for the month ending
April 30 was considered, and various bills
ordered to be paid.

A letter was read from the secretary of the
Royal Agricultural Society statiug that the
council would be pleased to grant the use of
their large tent in the show-yard at Darling-
ton for a meeting of bee-keepers, the date and
hour of meeting to be subject to arrangements
to be made for the holding of meetings by
other societies.

The council devoted some time to the con-
sideration of the several points raised by the
President of the Board of Agriculture during
the proceedings attendant upon the deputa-
tion attending at the offices of the Board, 3,
St. James's-square, on the 7th inst. Resolved,
that Mr. H. Jonas (vice-chairman), Mr. W. B.
Carr, Mr. W. H. Harris, and Mr. E. D. Till
be appointed a special committee to confer
with the officials at the Board of Agriculture
in accordance with the suggestions made by
the President of the Board. (A full report of
the proceedings at the offices of the Board of
Agriculture will be found at page 191.)

The following new members were elected : —
Mr. B. Boothroyd, Solihull, Birmingham ;
Mr. J. Hammond Horn, Sussex Villa, Bedale,
Yorks ; the Rev. Glynn Grylls, Sheldon,
Honiton ; Mrs. B. M. Kirk, Stillington,
Easingwold.

The council adjourned to June 13.

The usual Quarterly Conversazione followed,
particulars of which will appear in our next.

HONEY IMPORTS.

The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of
April, 1895, was £2,729.— From a return
furnished by the Statistical Office, fi.M.
Customs.

LINCOLNSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The quarterly committee meeting of the
above association was held at the offices of the
Lincolnshire Apicultural Institute, on Friday,
the 3rd inst. — G. J. Young, Esq., J. P., in the
chair. After the minutes of the previous
meeting had been passed, and some accounts
certified for payment, the list of subscriptions
to the numerous local shows was compiled.
Post-cards and manifold books were ordered
to be printed for the use of the experts on
their tours, so that correct detailed statistics
could be returned to the hon. secretary. The
question of special honey labels for the use of
the members of the association was then dis-
cussed, and it was decided to obtain some
suitable designs for same. A copy of

196

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [May 16, 1895.

" Cheshire's Bee-Keeping " was ordered to be
purchased for the library, and also two com-
plete bar frame hives in travelling cases for
the use of lecturers in the bee-tent. A vote of
thanks to the chairman concluded the meeting.
— Communicated .

Qomtymkut

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c.,must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c. , must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King Williamftreet, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

%• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the Utter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE JOTTINGS

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2071.] Dealing ivitk Weak Stocks. — Referring
to this question, may I be allowed to inform
your querists that, in my opinion, the only
profitable use to be made of weak stocks— in
view of the present outlook — is to join them
up three or four together, or otherwise add
them to the nearest strong hive. Every spring
we find some stocks that " won't get on,'' why,
who can safely say ?

It may be that cessation of income — after
removal of surplus the previous autumn —
has stopped breeding too soon, resulting in a
large percentage of old bees which die off
rapidly in the following spring, and are quite
unable to bear the strain of the early brood-
rearing. Consequently, instead of building up
rapidly at that time, "spring dwindling"
follows. One thing is certain, viz., that one
season's work is all that can be got out of each
bee. It may live through the following winter
— and by so doing help to keep its comrades
alive — but young bees, bred in autumn — which
have undergone no wear and tear of hard
work — are absolutely necessary for the profit-
able stocks of this year. It will be noticed
that stocks weak in bees often stand the
winter better than stronger ones, the reason
being that young bees predominate, and they
build-up rapidly in spring because of this latter
fact.

Sometimes, no doubt, the queens are worn
out and want replacing. But, be the cause
what it may, there are generally a few weak
stocks in every apiary, and, as already said, if
two or three are united now a flourishing and

profitable colony may be secured. Care, how-
ever, must be exercised in preserving the most
prolific queen. Bees will unite readily now if
the unsatisfactory queens are removed twenty-
four hours in advance. When uniting, I
sprinkle the bees with a little warm and very
thin syrup scented with aniseed, but a piece of
naphthaline placed in each hive when removing
the queens will answer. All combs containing
brood should be put in the centre, and the
hive filled up with such of the combs as
contain honey, some of which may be un-
capped. Arrange the frames and bees alter-
nately with those to which they are joined,
and no fighting will occur. If the operation
is performed in the evening hardly a bee will
fly. Should there be more frames than the
hive will accommodate, shake the bees from
such frames on to the alighting board in front,
opening the entrance wide to allow them to
run in. And if the queen to be kept is a
valuable one, it would be well to cage her for
twenty-four hours, although just at this season
I hardly think it necessary, but one or
two of the queens to be deposed might be kept
for a day or two in small boxes with a few
bees and a supply of food, in case of an
accident.

Something like a Bee-plant. — Sacaline
(Polyonum sachalinense) is the name of the
new and wonderful forage and honey plant (?)
described and illustrated in Gleanings. It is
said to be "perfectly hardy, needs no cultiva-
tion, and no manuring ; once planted, it stands
for ever ; grows in poorest soils ; young shoots
and leaves may be eaten as a vegetable ; pro-
duces 90 to 180 .tons of green forage per acre ;
grows 14 ft. high by June ; enriches the soil,
affords shade in summer, and protection from
storms in winter. Floods will not destroy it. Fire
will not kill it." I am tempted to say, How's
that for high ? The editor of Gleanings, how-
ever, puts on the finishing touch by adding : —
" Last, but not least, there are reports floating
around that Sacaline is a great honey plant.
I cannot find out anything very definite in
regard to it. There do not seem to be any
4 posies ' in"; the picture, but perhaps the plant
had not got quite tall enough to bear honey
when the photograph was taken," and that
" further reports in regard to it should follow."
I am going to await those further reports.

Production of Wax. — I agree with Mr.
Woodley (2056, p. 182) that the whole ques-
tion turns on its profitableness ; but I think
the estimate of 10 lb. to 12 lb. of honey being
necessary for the production of 1 lb. of wax
far too high. He no doubt remembers the
time when we were told it took 20 lb. to 25 lb.
to produce the same result. I consider about
6 lb. of honey and a still less amount of sugar
to be much nearer the mark, especially when
pollen is abundant, the latter figuring largely
in wax production. Of course Mr. Woodley's
proposal about returning to old methods is not
meant seriously ; but that there is waste more
than is apparent on the floor-boards, I am con-

May 16, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

197

vinced, and if we are to get the full benefit
from our craft that waste should be avoided.
If one bee-keeper can get 3 lb. of wax per
hive, and his honey crop into the bargain,
there is a leakage somewhere if others cannot
do likewise.

Uniting Bees. — W. Stolley, in American Bee
Journal, says : — " In uniting bees, kill off all
queens but one, and place slices of onion in
each hive to be united ; in twenty-four hours
transfer all queenless bees to the one con-
taining queen. If combs are too many to go
in hive, shake bees in front of hive, and a puff
or two of smoke will finish the job. No bees
will be killed and no fighting follow." He
adds, " this is a practical and sure way of
uniting bees, and has never failed with me."

Quadruple Hives. — E. France, in Gleanings,
gives a full and illustrated description of a
quadruple hive he uses ; he wintered 140
colonies in 1894-5, and has not lost one. Two
colonies in one hive is cumbersome enough for
my liking, and unless there is any commen-
surate advantage in having one twice the size
I shall not be tempted to try it. Nothing is
said about perforated division boards ; in fact
the division boards used are described as
double thickness of i lumber ; nor is anything
said about an increased honey crop by this
method, and the bees appear to work in
separate supers, so that I assume they are con-
sidered as four colonies and not one. — H. W.
Brice, Thornton Heath, Surrey.

SWARMING STARTED.
[2072.] There having been no notice so far
in the B.B.J, of any swarm this year, I write
a line to say that 1 had one to-day (May 11).
Considering the cold of last February, and the
late spring, this appears to me to be a very
early swarm. — Lionel Burrell, Sidcup,
May 11.

FREE BEE-PLANTS.

[2073.] I beg to again offer my surplus
plants of Borage and Canadian balsam free to
bee-keepers who send name and address, with
stamps to cover cost of postage. Last year I
had the pleasure of supplying over sixty ap-
plicants with one or two dozen plants each,
and if there was some trouble connected with
the task, I am repaid by the forage they would
furnish to the bees. — H. Crawley, 250,
Canbury Park-road, Kingston-on-Thames,
May 3.

THE LATE THOS. BADCOCK.
[2074.] Having on several occasions met the
late Mr. T. Badcock, I can bear testimony to
your remark on page 162 of B.B.J. His
disposition was most genial to all with whom
he came in contact, and no trouble was too
great for him that would further the bee-

keeping industry. For the sake of all who
were near and dear to him, it is gratifying to
see that a subscription has been started
through the medium of your columns. Under
the circumstances I am sure that contri-
butions, however small, will be gladly accepted
in aid of the fund being raised for his family.
I enclose a small donation of 5s. — A. W.
Harrison, The Apiary, Potters Bar.

<f ttM*s mi J^to.

[1273.] Disinfectants for Foul Brood. —
Last year some of my stocks were affected
with foul brood. I extracted all stores and
fed up with medicated syrup, and, so far,
have only seen one stock affected this season.
Being desirous of disinfecting all frames, hives,
quilts, &c, I should be glad of your assistance
on the following points : — 1. What strength
bromine is that used by the Rev. G. Bancks,
and does water have to be added when using ?

2. If steam be used, should it be under pres-
sure ? and would it not remove the paint 1

3. Would dipping frames, &c, in spirits of
turpentine efficiently disinfect them ? I
may mention that I am using eucalyptus
oil in all stocks in the manner described in
B.B.J, some two years ago, as bees will no
longer take food. — Anxious, Essex, May 11.

Reply.— 1. Refer to B.J. for March 14
last, page 103, where Mr. Bancks himself
describes his use of bromine. If used only as
a disinfectant, it might, of course, be used of
greater strength than when experimenting
with it on living bees. 2. We cannot think
that the idea of using steam is a very prac-
ticable one, and would ourselves prefer boiling
for ten minutes, or more. Reference to B.J.
for March 10, pp. 92 and 93, will show about
all that can be said as to using steam under
pressure for disinfecting. 3. We think not ;
besides, there are many objections to U3ing
turpentine for the purpose.

[1274.] Suspected Foul Brood. — Last Sep-
tember I went with a friend— who knows
nothing about bees — to a friend of his to bring
a present of a hive from where there are a score
of others, situated in a nice hilly locality five
miles' distant. We got the hive safely home,
and it was placed in a small garden walled in.
As far as could be judged at the time, and up
to the beginning of April, they were healthy,
but within three or four weeks past a rather
sickening smell comes from the mouth of the
hive, and is perceptible two or three yards off.
The hive is full of bees and honey. We
cannot inspect the young brood as the combs
are not built within the bar-frames, but are
running cross-wise. The bottom of the hive
is also fixed and immovable. Under the fore-

198

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [May 16, 1895.

going circumstances, I beg to ask : — 1. By the
description given, do you consider the case one
of foul brood ? 2. If so, would it be dangerous
for me, who have a score of other hives to
manage, to be near this hive, or have anything
to do with it ? 3. From description of the
offensive smell given, would you consider it to
be the body of a dead mouse in the hive in a
decomposed state ? 4. Would the heavy fall
of snow last winter — which was bank high
where the hive was placed— have anything to
do with the matter ? 5. What would you
recommend to be done under the circum-
stances ? — John Moonan, Noan, Thurles,
May 8.

Ekply.— 1. It is more than probable that
the hive and bees are perfectly healthy. Of
course we cannot say with certainty without
having a sample of the dead brood, but it is
quite common for inexperienced bee-keepers
to be alarmed because of the peculiar smell
emanating from prosperous hives in the early
season when gathering honey from certain
sources. Black currant bloom, for instance,
yields honey having a very curious smell
when first gathered. 2. Where foul brood
exists, it is a most risky thing for a bee-keeper
with healthy stocks to be handling the combs
of infected hives. 3. No. 4. No. 5. Treat
the stock as a healthy one so long as the bees
prosper and do well, as, according to your
description, they are doing at present.

[1275.] Bees Storing Sugar Syrup in
Supers. — In reply to a correspondent (1271,
page 188) you say that feeding dummy should
be removed before supering, " otherwise harm
would follow, as the sugar would be consumed
in comb building." Now, in the previous
issue (page 165) one of your correspondents
states that sugar is more suitable for wax
producing than honey. Why, therefore, should
you give a caution against the use of sugar for
this purpose ? or has that little word " raw "
anything to do with the matter ? 2. In the
" Guide Book " it says — " if two swarms issue
at the same time, treat them as one swarm,
and the extra yield will amply repay the bee-
keeper." Does this hold good with three or
four swarms, or how far can this be carried ?
3. If you have only one swarm, is it advisable
to make an artificial swarm and add to it 1 4.
May Lucern be relied on for surplus honey ? —
W. X. Y., Chelmsford, May 11.

Reply. — 1. We do not quite understand
our correspondent's meaning when referring to
what he calls " that little word row." We
are very pleased, however, to get his query,
because of its enabling us to correct a printer's
error in our reply on page 188, which should
have read thus : — «' Otherwise harm would
follow, as the sugar would not be consumed,"
&c. Our point was to show that a " feeding
dummy," filled with Porto Rico (raw) sugar,
should not be left in a hive the bees of which
were storing in supers, but that if the dummy
contained no more than 1 lb. of the sugar
referred to, no harm would follow, as the sugar

would be used in comb-building only — not
stored in the cells instead of honey. 2. Two
swarms are usually found enough to join
together. Any further extension of the plan
may be left to the choice of the bee-keeper.
3. No. 4. Lucern is considered a very good
honey plant.

[1276.] Birds Carrying-off Bees. — Is there
any way of keeping birds (especially sparrows)
from taking bees ? They carry them off from
the alighting boards at the entrance. I tried
protecting the entrance and front of hives by
wire netting last seasoD, but it did not answer,
as the birds perched on the wire and took the
bees as they entered, and they have begun fo
doing again. Any hint will be gratefully
accepted. — J. B., Aylesbury, May 8.

Reply. — Birds seldom trouble bees except
when their usual food is scarce, and we can
only suggest the adoption of such means of
scaring them as are found necessary by
gardeners when protecting fruit-trees, such as
coloured threads, &c. As a rule, they dis-
regard all means of frightening them after a
time, and this proves the need for only taking
precautions at given times, and discontinuing
them when the danger has passed away.

(Btlvm fwm the §»*».

Kingston-on-Thames, May 1. — Most bee-
keepers in this district have lost one or two
stocks, not from scarcity of stores, but because
the bees were not strong in numbers at the
commencement of winter. There was very
little breeding done after beginning of Sep-
tember. I lost two stocks myself in January.
— H. Crawley.

Midlothian, May 3. — Bees came through
winter fairly well, and are now very busy, the
weather being nice and warm. Stocks were
about the same condition here on April 1 last
year as they are on May 1 this year. As
regards brood, I have had drones flying from a
" Wells " for more than a week. The frame
nearest the dummy, having drone comb on the
bottom of frame, is the cause of this. — H.
Marrs.

Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington, May 11.
— May has brought with it nice weather and
lots of bee-forage everywhere around, the
fields being all ablaze with dandelion bloom,
and bees are going ahead finely. Sycamores
in full flower and "roaring" with the hum of
the bees in them. I have been busy getting
boxes of combs ready, tiering them up to be
ready for use as required. Yesterday I saw a
stock in a skep that had been placed on a
frame-hive last season, and which did not
swarm. It was not disturbed in autumn at
all, but allowed to remain with all the honey
gathered. The bees had wintered well, and it
was a sight to see them working and rolling in
with pollen, &c. Having three stocks a mile

May 16, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

199

away from home which I did not wish to
swarm, I went at night and lifted the bees and
combs out of each hive into an empty body-
box of the same size, and substituted ten
frames with full sheets of foundation. The
bees and combs were then set on top, and,
after putting on a sheet of excluder zinc,
another box containing empty worked - out
combs was put over all. I did this to the
three stocks, and by this means I hope to
prevent their swarming and get new combs in
the stock hive below. I can also tier up on
top to any extent needed. Temperature one
day last week 74 deg. in the shade. — John
Walton.

Flora Apiary, Somersham, Hunts, May
13.— Splendid bee-weather, bee3 rolling in
heavily-laden with nectar and pollen. Had
my first swarm yesterday (Sunday). I think
our district is the land of promise for bee-
forage in spring. While writing I see the
apple-blossom is a sheet of bloom, and bees
working as if for dear life.— R. Brown.

Ut ^furies to Offlmt

June 12, 13. — Essex Agricultural Society's
Show at Southend. Entries close May 27.
Schedules from F. H. Meggy, Hon. Sec. Essex
B.K.A., Chelmsford.

June 24 to 28. — Royal Agricultural Society's
Show at Darlington. Entries closed. Secre-
tary, J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

July 25, 26, and 27. — Roval Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries close July I. Schedules from Jas.
Birch, Sec, 3, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries close June 29.
Schedules from Marshall Stephenson, Sec,
York.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be awicered in this column.

J. A. Aiken (Kesh). — 1. Comb foundation is
of good quality. 2. We know of no dealer
who makes glass sections. 3. Mr. C. Cox,
of Brampton, Northants, prepares honey-
comb designs for sale. 4. Instructions for
making appear in Record for April, 1890,
obtainable for 2hd., post free.

E. E. Sciiolefield (Newton Abbot). — Fig-
wort (Scrofularia Nodosa) is a weed known
by many names, as "square stalk," "heal-
alJ," and more recently as " Simpson's honey
plant." Its flowers are bell-shaped, and in
some districts under cultivation it yields
freely of thin honey. Height, 4 to 8 ft. It
is a perennial found wild in Great Britain
in the hedgerows. Being regarded as a

weed, we know of no seedsman here who
could supply it.

Lady Mart Plowden — 1. All wasps now
on the wing are queens. 2. From the bee-
keeper's point of view they should be
destroyed whenever seen.

W. H. (Newark).— Queen received has never
been mated.

John T. H. Ward (Gosport). — Specimens
sent are wild bees belonging to the genus
Andrcna, species Fulva.

T. J. (Bristol). — Using Naphthaline. — Used as
per instructions on label attached to every
package sent out from this office, naphtha-
line will never have other than a good effect
on bees. Referring to the bees carrying out
the pieces, why did you split the two balls
into six instead of four pieces ? It should
never be put behind the dummy, but on
the floorboard inside the hive, as directed.
We cannot ourselves express an opinion on
the expert's view regarding the dead brood
without seeing a sample ; but whether it be
" chilled " only or foul, we advise its removal
from the hive at once.

When writing name should be sent accord-
ing to rule printed at head of correspondence

column.

Addison Brown (Darlington). — Protection
for Hives. — It is always desirable to secure
a sheltered corner for hives, and, in very
exposed situations, some protection should,
if possible, be afforded against bees being
blown to the ground in early spring.

Tonbridgian (Kent). — Ants in Skeps. — 1. It
is just possible that "dosing the coverings"
of skeps with turpentine may have caused
the bees to " ball " the queen before she
was cast out. 2. The turps would certainly
tend to cause excitement in the hive because
of its odour being offensive to the bees, and
the latter do sometimes evince their affec-
tion for the queen in the very curious fashion
of " balling " her to death while excited.
3. If the bees are working well, and carry-
ing in pollen, it may be fairly assumed that
the queen is all right.

Fred. Astbury (Wellington). — Transferring
Bees. — We do not recommend transferring
bees and combs from skeps to frame-hives.
For preference, let the skep swarm, and hive
the swarm into the new hive.

J. C. (Romsey). — Benewing Combs. — 1. So
long as there is no brood in the outside
frames, they may be removed as proposed,
and clean new combs substituted. Put the
new combs outside the one on each side
having brood in it, and if the bees are strong
you may during the present warm weather
give one comb in centre of brood-nest, thus
adding three frames of new comb at one
operation. 2. Yes.

A. O. Butler (Hants). — Size of Hire.— There
is no particular reason why the hive should
not be made large enough to hold ten frames,
the two slips of wood, and a dummy, too.
The only reason for making it smaller —

200

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [May 16, 1895.

thus necessitating removal of dummy in
summer — is to save expense by reducing the
size of hive and outer case.
S. F. C. (Coventry). — Comb contains nothing
worse than newly gathered pollen.

Several communications already in type are
unavoidably held over till next week.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, due. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

ATURAL SWARMS, 3s. 6d. per lb. No foul brood.
1894 Queens. ROSE, Feltham.

N

Qpv YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
^2 \J Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfleld, Sussex. 116

Q!

UEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. BRERETON, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 Inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

STRAW HIVES, best cane-bound, round or flat top,
Is. 3d. each, 12s. dozen. Abbott Brothers,
Merchants Quay, Dublin. G 59

SPECIAL BEE VEILS, fine silk net, post free, 9d.
eacb. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. G 60

BEES MANAGED and Hives put in Order for
obtaining best returns. Low charges.— S. S.G.
153, Wirtemberg-street, Clapham. H 7

BEES, Strong Healthy Swarms all '94 Queens, 10s. 6d.
each. Swarm-boxes to be returned. Ed. Long,
Cottenham, Cambs. H 11

SIX STOCKS from Apiary purchased from expert, on
straight wired combs. Bar-frame hives, 20s. each
on rail. Chittenden, Lydd, Kent. h 9

SEVEN HIVES (various) ; almost new ; five have 15
frames. Cash offers. Willoughthorpe, Stan-
stead Abbotts, Ware. H 1

TREADLE SAW -BENCH, heavy fly wheel, rising
spindle, suitable for making hives, frames, &c.
Geo. Webb, 502, West Green-road, London, N. G 100

SWARMS, 10s. 6d. each ; or 2s. 6d. per lb. Apply,
ARTHUR Felstead, Rempstone, near Lough-
borough. G 99

FOR SALE, Four Strong Stocks, Young QUEENS, in
Frame Hives, with section crates, cheap. William
Milne, 6, Russell-street, West Hartlepool. H 8

SELLING OFF STOCKS and SWARMS. New and

second-hand appliances. Show stands. Price low.

No foul brood. Also astronomical telescope. BRADLEY,
Scretton, Yockleton, Salop.. h 16

IT will PAY all BEE-KEEPERS in Scotland, Ireland,
Wales, Devonshire, Somersetshire, and Cornwall,
to send to Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. H15

ABBOTT'S PATENT FRAMES, improved pattern,
interchangeable with W. B.C. ends, 2s. doz.,21s.
gross. Abbott Ukotiikiss, Merchants Quay, Dublin.

H14

S WARMS DELIVERED before 20th May. :U lbs. '94
Queens, 13s. 6d., box gratis. Warranted healthy
and from healthy district. Leonard SMITH, Elstow,
Bedford. e 3

UARANTEED Healthy NATURAL SWABMS, 3J to
4 lbs., 12s. 6d. Packing included. Expected
early in June. Orders in rotation. CHAS. Whiting,
Valley Apiary, Hundon, Clare, Suffolk. H 4

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

CARNIOLANS.— Four Strong STOCKS, near swarm-
ing, 11 and 12 Frames of Brood, and Stores.
Guaranteed Healthy Queens, July, 1894. 30s. and 35s.
each. 135, Ramsden-road, Balham, S.W. H 6

HONEY, superior sample, WHITE CLOVER, in 1 lb.
screw-top glass jars, 8s. 9d. per doz., carriage
paid on 6 doz. Sample jar Is. post free. Geo. Summers,
Sandbeck-park, Rotherham. H 12

A& J. WARREN, Wholesale Druggists, 23 and 24.
. Redcliff-street, Bristol, are Buyers of English
Beeswax and English Honey. No offers made by the
Firm. Seller to state net price and send samples. G96

GIVING UP EXHIBITING. — FOR SALE, a Pyra-
midal SHOW STAND and CASE complete ; the
same with which I have taken many first prizes ; also
Unicomb Observatory Hive, and quantity Metal Section-
Cases. Particulars, H. Wood, Paradise, Lichfield. G 98

FOR SALE, Three Bar-Framed HIVES ; a small
Slinger ; crates of sections ; feeding bottles, &c.
All from Abbott's. Also six straw skeps with bell-glass
supers. What offers. S. C. 17, Park-road, Southborough,
Tunbridge Wells. h 5

COMB FOUNDATION, Abbott's celebrated flat-
bottom or natural base, Is. 8d. per lb., super 2s.,
with addition of Is. with each order for packing,
booking, &c. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. Sample parcel 2s. post free. H 13

CASH MARKET for any quantity of HONEY COMB
in SECTIONS, EXTRACTED HONEY and WAX.
Packages for Sections lent free. State lowest price.
Address, H, Bee Journal Office, 17, King William-
street, Strand, London.

ALL who want HIVES, FRAMES, FEEDERS, and
SUPER CLEARERS, &c. should send to J.
TRE BBLE one of the oldest establishments in England ;
hundreds of prizes and testimonials from all parts.
Send two stamps for catalogue. J. TREBBLE, Romans-
leigh, South Molton. h 10

WELLS HIVE, nearly new. Full standard size.
Non-twisting division board. Made well, looks
well, and warranted to give satisfaction. Exchange
good field or opera glass, subject to approval.
Apply to David Campbell, Invergarry, Inverness-
shire, N.B. H 2

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

J. HUNTER,

Hon. Sec. of the British Bee-Keepers
Association.

A Manual of Bee-Keeping:.

Containing Practical Information for Rational and
Profitable Methods of Bee Management. Full instruc-
tions on Stimulative Feeding, Ligurianising and Queen-
raising, with descriptions of the American Comb
Foundation, Sectional Supers, and the best Hives and
Apiarian Appliances on all systems. With Illustrations.
Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.
London : W. H. ALLEN & CO., Ltd., 13, Waterloo-place.

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS

From LUCIO PAGLIA

ROYAL BEE ESTABLISHMENT.

7/. each, six for 39/-
CASH WITH ORDER.

J. S, GREENHILL,
80, GRAHAM ROAD, WIMBLEDON.

May 23, 1895.]

THE BEITISH BEE JOUENAL.

201

(Mforial, $e&a%, ku

BRITISH BEE -KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

DEPUTATION TO THE PRESIDENT OP THE
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

{Concluded from page 195.)

Mr. Gardner continued as follows :—
In the third place, I would venture to ask
you to consider whether an honest and careful
bee-keeper would be able to recognise and
notify the appearance of disease in his hives
before it had reached a stage of infectivity 1
That you will see for yourselves is an im-
portant point : the earlier the notification we
get of a disease in a hive, the sooner and more
efficaciously should we be able to prevent the
disease spreading throughout the length and
breadth of the country. If the bee-keeper
cannot notify the appearance of the disease,
would not the work of extirpation be of a
highly difficult, if not of an impossible cha-
racter ? I hope you will understand that in
putting these very practical questions before
you it is not in any way because I do not wish
to see legislation such as you desire passed,
but because I think it necessary that we
should not hastily embark in this matter
without proper consideration.

In the fourth place, we come to a very
large and somewhat difficult subject connected
with the question, which I hope we shall be
able amongst us to answer, so as to enable
us to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. If
a compulsory report has been made to the
local authorities, I would ask you to tell me
as scientific bee-keepers, conversant with the
subject, what expert assistance would be neces-
sary for those local authorities to avail them-
selves of in order to test the accuracy of the
report ? "Without wishing to throw any re-
flection on the honesty of the bee-keepers in
general, it is quite possible to imagine that
there might be a man who would be very
anxious to get compensation for the loss of
his hive without his bees bein;,' ill at all.
Therefore it would be necessary for the local
authority or the public department who had
to administer the funds to have expert assist-
ance to show whether a man was making
an honest report, or merely trying to help
himself from the public funds. Then, again,
I would ask, what expert assistance would
be necessary to support any proceedings
that might have to be taken ngainst re-
calcitrant bee-keepers who did not agree
with the proposition that they were to
report at once in order to set in motion
the local authority or the public department
with a view to stamping out the disease which
we all desire to see stamped out 1 Then I
think you will see that the financial difficulty

to a certain extent comes in, because if it is
necessary to have a staff of inspectors available
for service such as is required all over the
country, or if it is necessary to pay fees, such
as a minimum of two guineas a day for a man
to visit hives — I mean a specially qualified
expert — I am inclined to think that the ex-
pense of stamping out the disease would be out
of all proportion to the benefits which would be
secured by so doing. Then, again, I do not
put this subject forward as being in any way
final, or settling the question. Far from
it. A mode should be found which would
be at once cheap, and which should
balance, as it were, the expenses, if any,
of stamping out the disease with the profit
to be secured, and the capital involved.
To give you a homely simile, you can get a
steam-hammer to crack an egg, but you would
hardly buy a steam-hammer in order to crack
eggs. Therefore, you will see that the
machinery necessary to stamp out disease
must be in some way balanced by the capital
involved and the advantages we should secure.
Now, such inspectors as I have pointed out
and such expert assistance, would seem to me
to be almost an absolute necessity if Imperial
funds were involved, and if a central authority
was invoked to take the matter up. It is
possible, and I think it probable, that these
experts would be demanded and required if
the local authorities of large areas such as
County Councils were empowered to take up
this matter. It has occurred to me — and I do
not for a moment put it forward as anything
more than a suggestion — to ask you to con-
sider whether it would not be better to place
a matter such as this in the hands of the
smaller local authorities, such as the Village or
District Councils. Would not such an under-
taking be well within the scope of the functions
of these newly-constituted authorities— pecu-
liarly within the scope of their functions 1
And would not the more easily-worked dimen-
sions of the smaller areas tend to cheapen the
methods, and make it possible to set up
machinery that would be able to deal with the
subject with some regard to the amount
involved and the profit to be secured 1 I am
inclined to think — though I do not say that I
have finally arrived at that conclusion — that
these would be the authorities to deal
with such a subject, and that the task
is very appropriate to their powers at
the present moment. Then we come to the
question of expert assistance. I was very
glad to hear Mr. Cooke, in the interesting
speech he made, refer to the existence in every
village of some one, I think he said, who was
almost an expert on this subject.

Mr. Radcliffe Cooke : Where the Bee-
keepers' Association has members.

Mr. Herbert Gardner : Quite so. I was
glad to hear him make that reference, because
I think that if that be true— if it is confirmed
by the Bee-keepers' Association — I think I
see light on this question. Now, the matter

202

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [May 23, 1895.

of expert assistance is, no doubt, one of great
importance with regard to economy. It is
necessary that you should have this expert
assistance, but if the experts are to be paid by
fees, we are again met by a difficulty, and we
must ask the question, " What will be the
expense of the machinery compared with the
nterests involved ? " Now, would it be im-
possible for the Bee-keepers' Association or
any of its affiliated societies to have, as Mr.
Cowan has pointed out, in each district cer-
tificated persons to supply voluntarily, or for a
small sum, the expert assistance the local
authorities would most undoubtedly require
in this matter ? I do not think that would be
impossible, so far as I am advised ; and if it
could be done, we should have taken a very
long step in the direction of the action you
gentlemen are here this morning to advocate.
There is only one more point I should like to ask
your attention to, and this, again, is closely con-
nected with the question of expert assistance.
It is with regard to what compensation should
be paid for the hives that are destroyed. I
believe the Bee-keepers' Association have
recommended that something like 10s. per
stock should be paid. But what I want
to ask you is, should that be paid in all in-
stances ? Is the sum too great or too small ? I
should like to know — and the local authorities
who undertake this matter must undoubtedly
know — on what basis and by whom is the
precise amount to be settled and the amount
which is to be paid in compensation 1 Now I
have endeavoured, and at some length I am
afraid, to put before you the various points
that have occurred to me. I will not call them
difficulties, as I have said before, I call them
points for settlement. I do not see any reason
for discouragement in the matter, and what
seems to me the best way of arriving at a
settlement is for the Bee-keepers' Association
to appoint a small committee— a committee of
two or three — who could confer with the
officers of my department in order to arrive at
some satisfactory and speedy settlement of the
difficulty. If the Bee-keepers' Association is
prepared to do that, I am sure the officers of
my department, and I myself— for I take a
personal interest in this matter — will be glad
to assist you, and we could arrive at some
alteration of the circumstances surrounding
the industry of bee-keeping by means of
legislation which would pass without confusion
in the House of Commons. I am anxious to
encourage in every way I can an industry
of this kind which affects so many of the
poorer classes in the country, and one which I
am given to understand may be extended very
largely. I trust that the efforts of the com-
mittee you may appoint and of the officers of
my department may tend to the satisfactory
solution of the problems placed before them.

Colonel Lockwood, M.P., said, I feel certain,
sir, that your suggestion as to the power to be
exercised by the Parish and District Councils

is a step in the right direction if you and your
department would consider the possibility of
arming those authorities with certain powers.

Mr. Herbert Gardner : Oh, certainly !

Colonel Lockwood : Then there is another
important point you alluded to, and that was
the question of public opinion. There is no
doubt that we have, as bee-keepers — for I
have kept bees myself — endeavoured to collect
the opinion, so far as is possible, of those in-
terested in apiculture, but it must be clear to
you that it would be impossible for us, how-
ever much trouble we took in the matter, to
bind ourselves that we could represent, even
twenty years hence, the authority and con-
sensus of opinion of all bee-keepers throughout
the kingdom. When a bill was brought for-
ward there might be opposition, not from us
who are interested, but from other persons
outside. I am certain the Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation will do its best to collect individual
opinions.

Sir John Gorst : I am asked to thank you,
Mr. Gardner, for having received the deputa-
tion and for your extremely sympathetic and
practical speech. The deputation understand
that you do not wish to have the questions you
put to them answered on the spot, but I am
asked to say that they think they can give
satisfactory replies to all the inquiries you have
made. They will, of course, appoint a small
committee to confer with you and the officers
of your department, and endeavour to satisfy
you on the important points which you say
should be settled and decided before anything
like legislation can be thought of. The asso-
ciation and the cottagers and the bee-keeping
industry at large throughout the country are
very much obliged to you for the manner in
which you have received their representatives.

The deputation then withdrew.

Judging from the many hundreds of press-
cuttings we have received during the past
week referring to the proceedings reported
above, the amount of publicity given to the
subject must be something enormous, and the
interest just now taken in bee-keeping will be
correspondingly large. This is, so far, very
satisfactory, but we fear that not even a
moderately correct notion of what took place
on the occasion referred to can be gathered
from the press reports before us. Under the
circumstances, therefore — and bearing in mind
the extreme importance of placing on perma-
nent record a full and reliable account of the
proceedings connected with the deputation —
we invite the special attention of our readers
to the report begun on page 191 of our last
week's issue, and concluded above.

The speeches of the Right Hon. Sir John
Gorst, of the Chairman of the B.B.K.A., and
the reply of the President of the Board of
Agriculture are therein reported verbatim,
while those of the remaining speakers are given

May 23, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

203

at sufficient length to include the salient points
of each.

Our object in emphasising the importance of
this is twofold : First, we would point out the
advantages accruing from a full and accurate
Imowledge of the facts which will enable
interested readers — and we may take it that
all bee-keepers are interested readers — to set
right misleading statements regarding the
industry too often appearing in the local press
in various parts of the kingdom. A striking
example of this is shown in the press-cuttings
to which reference has been made, some dozens
of which report the Chairman of the B.B.K.A.
as having stated that " there are 2,000 bee-
keepers in Great Britain." Now, what Mr.
Cowan did state was this : " There must," he
said, " be about 52,000 bee-keepers in England
and Wales.'' Thus, our would-be good friends
gave just one twenty-sixth of the correct
number, and left out Scotland and Ireland
altogether !

In the second place, the momentous import-
ance to bee-keepers of the issues at stake
render it absolutely necessary for them to have
in their possession the means of setting straight
such unreliable reports as we have quoted, and
enabling them, as occasion offers, to direct
public opinion aright. Just imagine the aid of
a Government department being invoked, and
compulsory powers sought for by Act of Par-
liament, to protect an industry in which 2,000
persons only in the whole kingdom are more
or less interested ! Why, such a proposal
would be scouted as absurd and unworthy of
a moment's consideration. We are, therefore,
glad that, at least among readers of the
journals exclusively devoted to the interests
of British honey-producers, there will be no
uncertainty as to what took place, or what
was said, on the occasion referred to ; so that
a careful perusal of our pages will put readers
in possession of the facts we desire to have
widely known among the craft.

So far as the several " points '' which, as
Mr. Gardner said, require settlement, we do
not think they present any insurmountable
difficulty. Anyway, we hope they are in
fairly safe hands for being dealt with on our
side when the occasion arrives for discussing
them. Judging by the very sympathetic
reply made to the deputation, a good case has
been made out for Government assistance in
some form, and it remains for us to show that
it is practical, and capable of being worked to
the substantial advantage of the agricultural
labouring classes and to a deserving portion of
those who dwell in rural districts.

IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The committee met on 7th inst. Present :
Mr.JRead (in the chair), Dr. Traill, Mr. Govan,
Mr. O'Bryen, and Mr. Chenevix (hon. sec, 15,
Morehampton-road, Dublin). It was decided
to make arrangements for lectures and exami-

nation for experts' certificates in connection
with the Strabane shows on July 30 and 31.

Mr. Chenevix reported having given notice
to members that they can now obtain the
Bee-Keepers' Record for an extra payment to
the association of Is. a year (the ordinary
annual subscription to the Record being
2s. 6d.). Members can also now procure
Willesden paper (an excellent waterproof
covering for hives) on specially favourable
terms from Messrs. Edmondson Bros., 10,
Dame-street, Dublin.

HONEY SHOW AT HALIFAX.

YORKSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

In accordance with their custom, the York-
shire Agricultural Society offer some valuable
prizes for bees, appliances, and honey at their
annual exhibition at Halifax on August 7, 8,
and 9 next. There are six classes in all,
those for "collection of appliances'' and for
" best display of honey " having prizes of £3,
£2, and £1 for three best exhibits in each
class. The other classes have prizes of £1 and
10s. for best two exhibits in each. Entries
close June 29. See " Shows to Come."

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c.,must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <&c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

V In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2075.] Referring to the proceedings reported
on pp. 191 to 195 last week, I do not think
the County Council grants to the various
County Bee Associations could be turned into
a more useful channel, or put to a greater
educational work than educating the apicul-
turist how to keep his bees in health and
vigour. The present channels of the grant
often benefit only the few individuals who
form the classes receiving instruction, and thus
the individual benefits more than the com-
munity. The apiculturist, however, will not only
be benefited, but in view of the fact of the busy
bee filling so important a place in the economy

204

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [May 23, 1895.

of nature in most rural callings connected with
the culture of land — the community reaps a
still greater benefit, the owner of the bees a
lesser, i.e., the honey. I contend that the
keepers of bees in a parish or district are the
benefactors of all their neighbours, as the
visits of the industrious insects are absolutely
necessary to the vital interests of nearly all
branches of our food production ; every plant
that contains honey in the nectaries of its
blossom requires the visit of an insect to
fertilise that blossom to produce fruit ; this
fact has been demonstrated over and over
again.

The very fact that honey (or nectar) is in
the bloom proves conclusively that the insect
is required for its fertilisation, otherwise the
beneficent Creator would not have placed it
there, and where shall we go for the insect if
our busy bee is doomed to practical extinction
by disease ? The prime necessity for the culti-
vation of bees in every rural parish, is a factor
that should weigh with the Board of Agricul-
ture. The advanced civilisation of the country
precludes the possibility of bees existing in
sufficient numbers in hollow trees, dilapidated
roofs of houses, or even in church towers, to
insure a crop for either the farmer or fruit-
grower, and when our " Grand Old Man," Mr.
Gladstone, some few years ago commended to
farmers the advisability of growing fruit and
making it into jam, he would have done well
to have added — "and keep bees to fertilise
the blossoms and secure a crop of fruit."

And now a line on the method of " curing
foul brood." I have during the past year
referred to what I call " the McEvoy method,"
and to " The Rational Treatment of Foul
Brood," by Dr. Howard, of Texas, U.S.A.
This writer started out to refute McEvoy's
method, but Balaam-like he praised it at the
end of his researches as the only " cure " to be
depended on. The Foul Brood Act of Ontario
passed in 1890. Mr. McEvoy was then ap-
pointed F.B. Inspector, and he still holds the
office. Mr. Allen Pringle, then President of the
Ontario Bee-keepers' Association, in a letter
to Gleanings, September, 1890, says : — ''Foul
brood can be cured, and cured every time, by
a simple hygienic process, and without the aid
of chemist, druggist, or the drug doctor. This
is a broad and radical statement, but I make
it deliberately and advisedly." The method
by -which foul brood is cured in Canada is the
McEvoy method, and an eye-witness recounts
the effective work done by the inspector in
Gleanings, vol. 18, October, 1890. Then, five
years afterwards, Mr. E. 11. Root (now editor
of Gleanings), April 15, 1895, says : — "Foul
brood inspector Wm. McEvoy has done some
pretty thorough work in eradicating foul brood
in Ontario. If he continues in office (as we
hope he will) the disease will soon be a thiDg
of the past in Canada."

In face of these facts, ought we in Great
Britain to still pin our faith to the antiseptic
treatment ? I say no. Let us rather cast

medicine to the dogs, and do as our brethren
in Canada and America have done and are
doing — Make a radical cure straight off ! All
we want is the power, and the inspectors to
carry out the power, for the benefit of all.

The Act will require notification of the
disease in an apiary. This will be a rather
difficult matter to deal with, especially among
the cottager and mechanic classes, but I have
no doubt that the public papers will note the
passing of the Act, and the powers conferred
to deal with the subject, and that every one
who does not understand the matter them-
selves will call in their better informed neigh-
bour, such as the village schoolmaster or the
minister of the parish. One or other of these
would probably be bee - keepers. Failing
that, the county or district Association
would send their expert to render help,
or possibly advanced bee-keepers in certain
districts might be appointed deputy inspectors
to take action in the matter and report to
headquarters. In closing, I admit there are
difficulties in our path, but no very great
ones ; a few will suffer without doubt,
and that is why I have advocated com-
pensation where the inspectors are, perforce,
obliged to burn the stocks and their belong-
ings, as in cottagers' straw keps, for instance,
one must know how ill able they are to suffer
loss pro bono publico, and through no fault of
their own. Shall I go too far if I say that the
disease may have been introduced by some
more opulent bee-keeper who, not satisfied
with the healthy acclimatised bee of our
country, sent to foreign climes for an improved(?)
strain, and with them introduced the disease
from which the poor cottager is now suffering
loss. Cases of this kind should receive com-
pensation, but in compensating let it be a new
start in bee-keeping, rather than a few shillings
in cash which would be spent on other things
than bees for a restart. — W. Woodley, Beedon,
Newbury.

HEATHER HONEY IN APRIL.

[2076] Referring to " W. B.'s" note in your
issue of May 2 (page 177), I may say that,
though I am living in Devon, which ought to
be much earlier than Suffolk, the heather with
which I am surrounded is brown as far as
eye can reach, all brown, and my bees are
clustering on the mazards in full bloom and
on the laurels, but I have seen none on the
heather, and should certainly think there is no
honey to be got from it. — Fred. H. Oldfield,
The Warren, Woodbury, Devon, May 13.

USING NAPHTHALINE.

[2077.] Referring to your reply to " T. J.,"
Bristol, on page 199 of last week's Journal,
I believe I am the expert alluded to, and as

May 23, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

205

chilled brood is mentioned, I think your
correspondent must have misunderstood me.
I do not think it was a case of chilled brood at
all, but as the naphthaline was broken up into
bits, and too large a quantity used — besides
being placed right under the brood nest — in
my humble opinion it caused asphyxiation of
the brood. 1 find it a common practice for
bee-keepers who have foul brood to use a deal
too much naphthaline, with the danger of
getting the brood suffocated by its fumes. —
J. Martin, Bedminster, Map 18.

TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION IN
BEE-KEEPING,

AND THE STAFFORDSHIRE B.K.A.

[207S.] Your correspondent "Apiarius
Invenilis," in your issue of April 25 (page
166), complains of not having seen a report
from the county of Staffordshire in the
columns of the B.B.J, since he first became
a reader of the paper. He is evidently a
novice, or else reads his B.J. carelessly, for in
your issue of March 7 of the present year
nearly a column is devoted to the annual
report of the S.B.K.A. If "Apiarius In-
venilis " will read this up, and also the county
paper of February 16, he may gain a little
knowledge of the work our County Council is
doing, and also of the strides bee-keeping has
made in the county during the past three
years. He also coo-iplains of the lectures
being too few. As he does not give his name
or address, I can offer no explanation why,
beyond the fact that no application for
lectures, demonstrations, or visits to bee-
keepers in any part of the county has
been neglected. Further than this, the
County Council have sent into every
parish of the county of Stafford circulars
announcing the names and subjects of the
lectures, and teachers of the various branches
which come under the head of technical in-
struction. Had your correspondent applied to
the Director of Technical Instruction or to
myself, his application would at once have
received attention, and instead of rushing into
print with an unwarrantable complaint, he
might have applied to the secretary of the
S.B.K.A., or have made inquiries for the
expert ; but he does not appear to be suffi-
ciently interested in bee-keeping to belong to
the county association, and when he says
Staffordshire is a large county and well
adapted for bee-keeping, he has made a good
guess. And if he desires to know what has
been done to promote bee-keeping, I think the
report to which I have referred shows it fairly
well. If he will communicate with me, I shall
have great pleasure in arranging for lectures or
demonstrations in the district he appears
interested in. — Robert Cock, Expert to
S.B.K.A, Stafford.

TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION IN EAST
SUSSEX.

[2079.] I am glad to inform you that the
East Sussex County Council has also sanc-
tioned technical instruction in bee-keeping.
Applications for lectures should at once be
made to Mr. Edwin Young, County Hall,
Lawes. — C. Brereton, Pulborough, May 18.

NINE EGGS IN ONE CELL.

).] I noticed in your issue of May 9
[1268], p. 187, a correspondent mentioned
finding as many as nine eggs in one cell. I
had a similar stock composed of queenless bees
united to a stock which came through the
winter very weak, owing first to flights when
snow was on the ground, and afterwards owing
to the entrance slide getting closed by accident
which caused the bees to be thinned off a great
deal by death. I also found my other stocks
robbing them, so I smeared paraffin on the
hive front and joined the bees next day to the
queenless lot referred to. The latter had not
enough bees to cover one frame, though the
queen was a fine large one of last year. After
reading of " nine eggs in one cell '' (on page
187), it occurred to me to examine my similar
stock, and was surprised to find many of the
cells around a patch of brood containing from
two to eight eggs in each. I could not find
any cell with only one single egg in it. Many
cells had five, six. and seven e^gs in them, and
I saw two, three, and four small grubs in some
cells. I suppose the hot weather we had
about the 10th inst. caused the fruit-bloom to
yield honey well, and stimulated the queen fo
lay, as she had but few bees with her to cover
the brood. She was cramped for cell room. 1
spread the brood a little, thinking it best to go
slowly, but owing to cold weather lately, have
not examined since. Do you think it possible
for more than one bee to hatch out in one cell ?
— W. H. L., Ide Hill, May 20.

[It may be taken as an established fact that
two perfect bees cannot hatch out from one
cell.— Eds.]

AN APPEAL

ON BEHALF OF THE WIDOW AND FAMILY OF
THE LATE THOMAS BADCOCK.

Amount received or promised ... £5 5 0

The following sums have since been
received : —

Hawlev Bowler 0 5 0

T. W.'J 0 2 6

J. R 0 2 6

Rev. R. T. Shea 0 2 6

206

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 23, 1895.

TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION IN BEE-
KEEPING.

The first of a series of interesting practical
lessons in bee-keeping was given by Mr. E.
H. Smith (science master) on the Christ
Church experimental plots, Warminster, on
Tuesday evening, the 23rd ult., to the mem-
bers of the bee-keeping class which has been
held in connection with the Technical Educa-
tion Committee's work during the past winter.
The object of the lesson was to demonstrate
the advantage of scientific manipulation of
bees. Mr. Smith transferred six bar-frames of
comb and bees from an old box used as a
makeshift during the winter to a properly-
constructed hive, and explained the advantages
of stimulating bees to breeding by the judicious
use of thin syrup, some of which was placed
in a feeder on the top of the frames for the
purpose of making the bees settle quietly in
their new homes. He also pointed out the
risk bee-keepers ran from the ravages of mice
through badly-constructed temporary hives. He
stated that he had caught three mice in this box,
and exhibited the injured comb and dead bees.
The teacher next explained the different kinds
of bees in a hive, and the different cells in
which they were reared. He also pointed out
the queen bee, the pollen or bee bread upon
which the young bees were fed, and the eggs
and larva3 in various stages of development.
In the course of the lesson Mr. Smith strongly
recommended the use of whole sheets of comb
foundation, the advantage of which was to
produce a maximum number of worker bees
with very few drones. The hives in use were
constructed by Mr. Smith, and each member
of the class during the winter has made a hive
for his own use. The lessons promise to be
most interesting and should be of the greatest
value to all concerned in bee-keeping.

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT B.K.A.

The above association held their first annual
meeting, on April 29, at 52, Thomas-street,
Manchester, Mr. W. Knowles in the chair.
There was a large attendance of delegates from
suburban districts. According to the report
presented by the committee, the district meet-
ings of the association had devoted considerable
time to showing the great and important
service which the bee-keeping fraternity were
constantly rendering to the farmer, the fruit-
grower, and the gardener. The meetings had
fully demonstrated the possibility of successful
bee-keeping within a reasonable radius of the
city. In addition to the holding of meetings,
the committee felt it necessary to submit the
views of the association to persons of influence.
By this method they hoped to have laid the
foundation of one of the most successful bee-
keepers' associations in England. They had
entered into correspondence with members of
Parliament and members of the committees of
horticultural and agricultural shows, besides

making arrangements with the Royal Botanical
Gardens and the Worsley Horticultural and
Agricultural Show to have exhibitions this
season of bees and honey, for which medals and
certificates would be given. Permission had
also been obtained to place an observatory hive
in the Peel Park Museum. The chairman said
that it was their object to prove that the keep-
ing of bees was something more than a pastime,
it was a profitable and instructive occupation.
For this purpose they meant to institute
lectures, and hoped to have their share of the
funds provided for the purpose by the County
Council. Mrs. Vernon K. Armitage was
elected president of the Association. The
Dean of Manchester, Sir Humphrey de Trafford,
Sir Henry Roscoe, M.P., Mr. Lees-Knowles,
M.P., Mr. J. W. Maclure, M.P., Mr. W. H.
Holland, M.P., Messrs. B. Armitage, and B.
Mullen were elected vice-presidents. The
Committee of Management was constituted
as follows : — Messrs. E. D. Weeks, W. Knowles,
A. Stonex, J. Ragdale, P. J. Turner, James
Seel, George Royle, and Thomas Howarth ;
and Mr. E. M'Nally, secretary. The follow-
ing resolution was subsequently carried : —
"That this meeting heartily endorses the
action of the British Bee-keepers' Association
in bringing forward the question of foul brood
and kindred bee-keeping matters before the
Board of Agriculture, and recommends that
those honorary vice-presidents of our Associa-
tion who are members of Parliament be
earnestly requested to advocate our wishes in
this matter.'' — (Communicated.)

[Referring to the above report, and to some
remarks of the correspondent who forwards it,
we would observe that affiliation with the
British Bee-keepers' Association can only be
obtained on the fulfilment of the usual condi-
tions, including the publication of a balance-
sheet at the annual meeting. We would
observe that no mention is made of this latter
item at the meeting reported as having taken
place on the 1st inst. — Eds.]

<&thm from tfo gum

Eeigate, Surrey, May 17. — In reading this
week's Journal, the "Echo" from Midlothian,
May 3, agrees with this district, viz. — " Stocks
were in as good condition on April 1, 1894, as
there were on May 1 this year," that is, they
are now a full month later, and as blossoms
producing nectar are also quite a month
behind 1894, it simply means waiting so
much longer for our surplus honey. The last
two days have been cold and windy — not bee
weather — and little work has been done. From
the 10th to 14th inst. a fair quantity of honey
was stored. I have six hives of bees on four-
teen to twenty standard frames, which I con-
sider good for this season. — Wm. Hinson.

[Any reliable opinion on the subject re-
ferred to will be welcome. — Eds.]

May 23, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

207

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.

AmiL, 1895.

Locality, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.

Height above sea-level, 225 ft.

Rainfall, 1-46 in.

Greatest fall in 24 hours, 039 in. on the
25 th.

Rain fell on 13 days.

Max. shade temp., 60° on 9th, 10th, 21st,
23rd and 30th.

Miu. temp., 24° on in and 12th.

Max.. shade temp. 9 a.m., 53° on 20th,
28th, and 29th.

Min. temp, at 9 a.m., 34° on 4th.

Frosty nights, 7.

Max. barometer, 30-2° on 12th.

Min. barometer, 29-18° on 7th.

Not a good month on the whole for bees.
Notwithstanding the abundance of gooseberry
blossom, bees were not able to work on it to
advantage owing to cold wet days. Stocks not
so forward as in corresponding period of last
year, but if May is genial, doubtless they will
soon " pull up." Last May stocks required to
be fed.

Some very cold winds from the N.E.

Temperature and barometer high and steady
at close of month.

Percy Leigh, Beemount.

§nm% ni ^tylm.

[1277.] Black Bobber Bees. — Kindly inform
me if enclosed insect is a species of wild bee.
I have twelve stocks, and these very black
bees attempt to enter gll of them, and are
always thrown out. There are large numbers
of them dead in front of many hives. It
seems strange that they should attempt to rob
now that there is any quantity of honey about.
—John C. Roberts, Maidstone, May 14.

Reply. — The insect is a genuine hive bee,
Apis mellijica; one of that singular class which
may be termed professional robber bees. They
are easily distinguished by the loss of the
natural pubescence (or hairiness) of the insect
in its normal state. This gives them the
shiny black appearance presented, the hairs
bang all rubbed off the body in the constant
pulling and dragging about they receive from
the bees of such hives as they plunder. Poor
little wretches ! they may be said to illustrate
the truth that "the way of transgressors is
hard,'' for they are literally pulled or tugged
to death. They never, sting their opponents,
but only show their courage by persistent
attempts to steal, and then escape from the
clutches of the defending bees, until they at
last get the final sting which ends their career.
A case of " moral perversity " which nothing
will cure.

[1278,] Hiving my First Swarm. — In
October last I bought a few pounds of bees,
and by way of hiving (not having any previous
experience) I turned the box containing them
upside down over the top bars of my frame-
hive. I expected the bees to fall down into
the hive, but was disappointed ; they didn't
fall down, and, in fact, they have remained in
the box there throughout the winter, and are
there still. I fed them through some holes in
the top of the box. I should like to know
how to get them down on to the frames ? They
have nearly filled the box with comb, and are
breeding rapidly, if I may judge by the rapid
pollen-gathering and the number of small bees.
— O. H . Coombe, Chiswick.

Reply. — The box may be left where it now
is until the present honey season is over, by
which time the bees will have taken possession
of the lower hive, and be using the upper box
as a storehouse for the honey gathered. As
such it may be appropriated as surplus honey
at the close of the harvest.

[1279.] Galvanised Iron Vessels for holding
Bee Syrup. — Kindly inform me whether gal-
vanised iron vessels are detrimental to bee-
syrup, as I am desirous of making a large
quantity of the latter, and storing same in
said vessels, which are convenient not only for
their size, but also that they have taps fitted
to them ?— A. Pond, S. Woodford, May 14.

Reply. — Since tin vessels can be more
readily fitted with taps than iron ones, there is
no reason why galvanised iron should be used.
The vinegar usually added to bee-syrup would,
no doubt, act on the zinc used for galvanising,
and the oxide produced is no doubt poisonous.
A case in point appeared in our pages about a
year ago, where honey stored in a galvanised
iron vessel, and afterwards given to bees as
food, is stated to have caused the death of the
larva? in the cells.

[1280.] Dealing with Nuclei. — I wish to form
a nucleus colony or two, and I understand
that such colonies should never be left without
eggs and brood till the young queen is mated,
or failure will follow. As I am now from
home during the week, and cannot, therefore,
supply them with eggs and young brood,, I
have thought of the following plan — that is,
placing a piece of excluder zinc over the
entrances, thereby keeping the young queen in
hive, and at the end of the week placing a
frame of eggs, &c, before taking zinc away.
1. Do you think this will answer 1 2. What
would be the result if I did so. — Ely, Netvn-
ham, May 18.

Reply. — 1. Unsealed brood is given to a
nucleus hive to attach the bees to it and pre-
vent them leaving along with the young queen
when she takes her marital flight. Full par-
ticulars as to dealing with nuclei appeared in
our columns on p. 313 of B.J. for August 9
last. On no account must any attempt be
made to control young queen3 as stated. 2.
Failure !

THE BRITISH BEK JOURNAL. [May 23, 1895.

\tt %km% to tyomt

June 12, 13. — Essex Agricultural Society's
Show at Southend. Entries close May 27.
Schedules from F. H. Meggy, Hon. Sec. Essex
B.K.A., Chelmsford.

June 24 to 28. — Eoyal Agricultural Society's
Show at Darlington. Entries closed. Secre-
tary, J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

July 19 and 20. — Bristol District Bee-
keepers' Association. Annual Show at
Knowle. Entries close July 13. Schedules
from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long Ashton,
Bristol.

July 25, 26, and 27. — Royal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries close July I. Schedules from Jas.
Birch, Sec, 3, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries close June 29.
Schedules from Marshall Stephenson, Sec,
York.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West
Bromwich. In connection with the Staffs.
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.
Schedules, when ready, from Harold Twenty-
man, Wolverhampton.

Noticesto Correspondents and inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
food of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
ssue, queries cannot always be replied ' to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

%* We are still compelled to hold over our
report of the Quarterly Conversazione of
the B.B.K.A. which will appear in our
next.

A. R. (Harrogate). — Dealing with Foul Brood.
With nine combs of brood in similar con-
dition to one sent, and six healthy hives
near at hand, we should not lose an hour in
removing all combs and frames from the
hive referred to and burning the lot ! If, as
stated, the hive is now lull of bees, the
disease must have been recently contracted,
for there is foul brood enough in sample sent
to prove it a bad case, and it would need to
be a very fine stock, and a very good queen,
to cause us to hold our hand — to save
further risk— from destroying the bees as
well. However, if there be an excuse for
trying to save the bees, it has force now.
The season is suitable, and if the queen and
bees are worth the effort — not forgetting the
unavoidable risk to the healthy stocks — get

them off the diseased combs into an old
skep or box which may be afterwards burnt.
Keep them in confinement and without food
for about forty to forty-eight hours. Then
return them to the hive, the latter having
in the meantime been thoroughly disin-
fected, and furnished with new frames fitted
with full sheets of foundation. All quilts,
&c, should be boiled for ten minutes before
using again. Feed the bees with medicated
syrup while combs are being drawn out.

C. D. G. (Canibs).— Moving Bees to Clover. —
1. If the field of clover is large (eight or ten
acres at least), the clover in good bloom and
weather favourable, it might pay well to
move a half dozen stocks two miles to it,
not otherwise. 2. The hives would require
careful preparation for the journey, or
disaster would most likely ensue. An ex-
perienced hand ought to see to the packing
to make transit safe. 3. Yea, the horse-
chestnut sometimes yields well, but not a
high-cUss honey.

New Chum (Tonbridge). — Feeding in Bad
Weather. — Your swarm of the 9th inst. is
among the earliest we know of this season.
It is a good practice to keep strong stocks
going by a little feeding in adverse weather
at this season. Those now working in sec-
tions, however, should on no account have
syrup given them. It makes no difference
in honey results which way the combs hang
with regard to the entrance. Don't neglect
feeding your recent swarm.

B. Baldry (Forest Hill). — Losing Swarms. —
Under normal conditions, the appearance of
drones on the wing is a fair indication that
swarming will not be long delayed, but we
cannot pretend to say how soon the swarm
will issue. Since you are compelled to be
away from home, a swarm-catcher might be
very useful in preventing loss of swarms.
See Mr. Hole's advertisement on another
page. Being entirely inexperienced, we do
not advise trying your hand at artificial
swarming just yet.

J. B. (Launceston). — Making Artificial
Swarms. — We deem it to be so absolutely
necessary for any one attempting such
operations as making artificial swarms to
have read some book on bee-management
before starting, that we advise our corre-
spondent to procure either the "Guide
Book," price Is. 8d., or the handbook
" Modern Bee-keeping," price 7d., both post
free. Either of these works give fully
detailed instructions how to proceed, which
it is quite impossible for U3 to afford space
for in this column.

Mark Dobell (Marden).— Native v. Foreign
Bees. — The experience of bee-keepers in this
line is very varied. Some consider foreign
bees best, while others regard them as very
much inferior to our own for this country.
One thing we advise — viz., don't go in for
new varieties, except on a small scale, and
judge for yourself by results.

May 23, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

209

Kobt. S. Eouth. — As stated in foot-note on
p. 168 — and in view of the space already-
taken up in ventilating the views of our
correspondent — we think the discussion may
now be considered closed.

A Young Beginner (Stapenhill).— The date
of annual show of the D.B.K.A. will be
found in " Shows to Come," p. 208.

A Diligent Bee-keeper (Castlederg). —
Comb is affected with foul brood. Names
should be sent (in confidence, of course)
with all samples of comb.

E. Eatwell (Berks). — Very pleased to have
your opinion that '• the Journal and ' Guide
Book' are necessary to successful bee-
keeping."

A. W. Ping (Fife). — For description of insects
forwarded, see reply to John T. H. Ward,
page 199 of our last issue.

Nemo (Redhill). — Preventing Second Swarms.
— 1. Cutting out all queen-cells save the
best one on the sixth day after issue of first
swarm will, in most cases, prevent further
swarming. 2. Regarding the peculiar smell
noticed as coming from hive entrance, see
reply to John Moonan, on page 198 of our
last issue.

Hopeful (Glo'ster). — 1. "When "honey
abounds," as you say, there is no need to
feed strong stocks to assist breeding. 2. For
sending queens there are properly devised
travelling boxes, which may be had from
most appliance dealers. 3. In a moderate
sized apiary, situated in a good district, we
should work for honey rather than swarms,
unless the bees were kept in skeps. 4. No,
we would limit the quantity of drone-cells
in each hive rather than have to cut out
brood where drones are too numerous.

J. S. W. (Winsford).— The plan of dealing
with top swarm will work out all right, but
putting the skep after swarming above the
top-bar of another frame-hive will not pre-
vent the issue of a second swarm unless all
queen-cells but one are removed after the
top swarm has left.

Geo. Nicholson (Stockton-on-Tees). — We
should unite the queenless bees to the other
stock.

Inquirer (Newmarket-on-Fergus).— 1. There
need be no fear of swarms From hives not
having flying drones in them. 2. Plenty of
drones and crowded skeps are strong indica-
tions of early swarms.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, «fce. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

PURE BLACK BEES, swarms, nuclei, queens, NOW
READY. Alsford, Expert, Blandford. h 23

SWARMS, May and June, 12s. 6d. each, or 3s. 3d. lb.
Rev. — Jarvis, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire. H 17

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

ENGLISH and ITALIAN BEES FOR SALE. W.
Hill, Scotlands, Cannock-road, Wolverhampton.

-J C> STRONG BORAGE PLANTS sent to any address
-*■ ^-" on receipt of six stamps to pay box and postage,
R. Illman, Nurseries, Strood, Rochester. H 30

FOUR STOCKS of BEES, five empty Standard
Hives, Appliances. Foul brood unknown. List
on application. F. Crewe, Oulton, Stone, Staffs.

H26

STRONG, Healthy, Natural SWARMS from united
stocks, 1894 Queens. Price 15s. No foul brood in the
district. ,T. Wattie, Hinderton Hall, Neston, Cheshire

H27

QO YEARS a Speciality-QUEENS, NUCLEI, <fcc.
^ \J Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfield, Sussex. 116

UEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

Q!

w

ANTED. Cylinder EXTRACTOR. Description and
price. W. H. Leigh, Ide Hill, Sevenoaks. h 28

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. Woodlky, Beedon, Newbury.

STRAW HIVES, best cane-bound, round or flat top,
is. 3d. each, 12s. dozen. Abbott Brothers,
Merchants Quay, Dublin. G 59

SPECIAL BEE VEILS, fine silk net, post free, 9d.
each. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. G 60

BEES, Strong Healthy Swarms all '94 Queens, 10s. 6d. ,
each. Swarm-boxes to be returned. Ed. Long,
Cottenham, Cambs. H 11

SELLING OFF STOCKS and SWARMS. New and

second-hand appliances. Show stands. Price low.

No foul brood. Also astronomical telescope. Bradley,
Scretton, Yockleton, Salop. H 16

BEES. Natural Swarms, 3J to 4 lbs., 12s. 6d. each.
Guaranteed healthy. Box and packing free.
Albert Twinn, Apiary House, Ridgwell, Halstead,
Essex.

WILL any BEEKEEPER who has bought appliances
from the Reverend G. H. SAMSON, New Romney,
kindly communicate particulars to Mrs. Oldham,
Mersey House, Ashton-on-Mersey, Cheshire. H 24

FOR SALE, 220 SECTION CRATES (made specially to
the order of a large Bee-keeper, who does not now
require them). Take 21 Mb. Sections i\ by 4 J by 2, with
glass at one side, movable shutter, tin dividers, complete.
What offers for whole, or any number? Sample
sent post free for 2s. 9d. J. Ironside, 2, Penshurst-
terrace, Belle Vue, West Hartlepool. H 21

TBUDGEN, THE APIARY, THREE BRIDGES,
i Dealer in Bee-Keepers' Appliances. Apiaries
established. Undertakes the management of Bees by
contract or otherwise. H 20

THREE-FRAME (Standard) NUCLEI, Selected Bees,
headed by 1894 Queens, strong, healthy ; 10s. each
on rail free; travelling box to be returned. Wm.
Hinson, Westholme, Reigate, Surrey. H 18

O "LITTLE WONDER" HONEY EXTRACTORS,

JL unused, but soiled ; free on rail, 4s. each or 7s. the
two. Exchange. Wm. Hinson, Westholme, Reigate,
Surrey. H 19

TWO BAR-FRAME HIVES, 4 Box-Hives with glass
sides and divisional super suitable for Bee-house,
3 Super Boxes and covers for supering Straw Hives.
Cost over £5; tak$£l, on rail. EfcNESX Davis, Great
Bookham, Surrey. H 29.

210

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 23, 1895.

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

IT will PAY all BEE-KEEPERS in Scotland, Ireland,.
Wales, Devonshire, Somersetshire, and Cornwall,
to send to Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. H 15

ABBOTT'S PATENT FRAMES, improved pattern,
interchangeable with W. B.C. ends, 2s. doz., 21s.
gross. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay, Dublin.

H14

GUARANTEED Healthy NATURAL SWARMS, U to
4 lbs., 12s. 6d. Packing included. Expected
early in June. Orders in rotation. CHAS. WHITING,
Valley Apiary.Hundon, Clare, Suffolk. H i

COMB FOUNDATION, Abbott's celebrated flat-
bottom or natural base, Is. 8d. per lb., super 2s.,
with addition of Is. with each order for packing,
booking, &c. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. Sample parcel 2s. post free. H 13

CASH MARKET for any quantity of HONEY COMB
in SECTIONS, EXTRACTED HONEY and WAX.
Packages for Sections lent free. State lowest price.
Address, H., Bee Journal Office, 17, King William-
street, Strand, London.

ALL who want HIVES, FRAMES, FEEDERS, and
SUPER CLEARERS, &c. should send to J.
TREBBLE one of the oldest establishments in England ;
hundreds of prizes and testimonials from all parts.
Send two stamps for catalogue. J. TREBBLE, Romans-
leigh, South Molton. H 10

SCREW-CAP HONEY BOTTLES,

English Make. Cheap. Clean. Handy.

16-oz. size, per 10 doz., 12/9 ; 8-oz. size, per 6 doz., 7/-.

Packing free.

EXPERT SMOKER (Patent applied for).
Both hands at liberty to work frames.
An Old Bee-keeper's Testimony :— " With the valve
added, your little Smoker is perfect." Post free 2s.

W. T. GARNETT, Steade Road, Sheffield.

BEEKEEPERS in LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE and
surrounding Districts please note that the
CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES

for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL at the OLD
SPOT, 60, GREAT CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE
ROSE. Why pay carriage from long distances, when
you can buy as cheap and good locally, and have your
orders promptly attended to ? Catalogues gratis.

Sow now 14 varieties of Bee Flowers, price Is. Full
directions to each ; easy to grow. Cash with order.
Buyers of big quantities of SECTIONS, JARS, &c, please
write for quotations per 1,000 and per 5 gross.

CHAPMAN'S HONEY PLANT SEED, 6d. Packet.
Wholesale and Retail.

SWARMINCJEASON, 1895.

NO MORE LOST SWARMS,

my SELF-HIYER is used.

If

NO OBSTRUCTION TO THE BEES.
Admitted to be as near as possible to perfection.

Send Address for Illustrated Pamphlet post free.
G. W. HOLE, PATCHAM, SUSSEX. 115

W. P. MEADOWS,

Send for Syston & Leicester.

i Now Ready,

Post Free.

Read report in B.B.J.,
April 18th, 1895.

Many Novelties, all
up-to-date,

HEW REMEDY FOB FOUL
BROOD.

In view of the disastrous spread of Foul Brood-
especially in certain districts— I beg to announce that I
have just brought to a successful conclusion a long
series of experiments with a new agent, which I have
found to be an absolute and simple CURE for this
disease in all its stages— the first remedy that will
destroy the spores, and at the same time be harmless to
the Bees.

Half-pint Bottles, 2s. 6d. Pint Bottles, 4s.
With full Instructions.

COMB HONEY IN SECTIONS.

During the past winter I have purchased between two
and three tons of the above. It has been bought in-
discriminately from the Bee-Keepers of Great Britain
and Ireland. I hope to require five tons during the
coming autumn and winter, and shall purchase by
preference from those Bee-Keepers who are among my
customers for appliances. Special arrangements can
be made to take the whole Comb Honey product of large
apiaries, and special prices can be given for the Honey
where part payment is taken in appliances. Spring
crates are lent free to ensure safe transit by rail. Any
quantity of English Bees- Wax can also be purchased.

THOMAS B. BLOW,

Manufacturer of Bee-Keeping Appliance),

WELWYN, HERTS. 121

THE YORKSHIRE
Bee-beepers' Supplies,

WILLIAM DIXON,

5, Beckett St., Leeds.

Hives, Extractors,

Smokers, Feeders,

Foundation, &c.

Prizes Awarded, Gold,
Silver, &BronzeMedals.

^d

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLEIi, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

DON'T GET STUNG!

WHEN, BY USING J±. PIFUGE

YOU CAN PREVENT IT.

«ST BEE-KEEPERS SAY IT IS MARVELLOUS, AND "*»

THEY WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT IT-

Send for a Bottle at once.

Small Bottles, 1/2, Large Bottles, 1/9, Post Free.

Cash must accompany Order.

To be obtained of all Appliance Dealers and

DARCY CRIMSHAW, H0RSF0RTH, LEEDS.

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS

From LUCIO PAGLIA

ROYAL BEE ESTABLISHMENT.

7/- each, six for 39/-
CASH WITH ORDER.

J. S. GREENHILL,
80, GRAHAM ROAD, WIMBLEDON.

May 30, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

211

iiitorial, $fr&#, &&

USEFUL HINTS.
So large a portion of our front page
has, for some weeks past, been occupied
■with what may, not inappropriately, be
termed the politics of bee-keeping, that
there is some danger of the familiar
heading with which this column begins
dropping out of sight altogether. Indeed,
so frequently have our intended " hints "
been " omitted for want of space," that,
had the control of the "w.p.b."been in
other hands, we might, like the Irishman,
have " tuk umbridge " at the treatment
accorded to this particular column of the
B.J. Even now, indeed, we have only
permitted ourselves to step in — Paul Pry
like — with a " hope I don't intrude " sort
of apology, to say how heartily we shall
welcome the advent of a quieter time for
Editors and readers alike. A time when
the hateful term " foul brood " will be as
nearly banished from our pages as we
can " ban " it. A time, too, when our
" craft " will be sailing in smoother
waters, and bee-keepers be enabled to
work with something like confidence and
security, as we think they assuredly will
once the common enemy has been
" scotched," if not killed, and the
disastrous march of this bee-pest brought
to an end.

No great evil, however, can be removed
or even grappled without arousing more
or less contentious feeling in some
quarter, where so many individuals are
concerned, and there is cause for con-
gratulation in that the general opinion
on the subject has been so nearly unani-
mous. We could have wished that our
own more immediate task had been a
little less irksome, so far as keeping out
of print personalities and " faddist "
views regarding legislation, the ventila-
tion of which could do no good, and
might, possibly, do much harm. So far
as the task undertaken by the council of
the B.B.K.A. has progressed, there is
much cause for satisfaction. The ques-
tion has not only been lifted into the
region of practical politics, but has been
considerably advanced toward the stage
for being practically dealt with. Of the
labour involved in securing even so much
of official recognition as has already been

gained for the bee-industry, only those
who have borne the burden of it know
much, but the result, as we have said, is
eminently satisfactory.

All this has, of course, reference only
to the future of the pursuit, and we turn
with equal pleasure to the present, con-
cluding with what we almost invariably
begin with, viz., the

Weather. — It is now, and has been
for ten or twelve days past, almost per-
fect bee-Aveather. A bit cool at night,
but the heavy mist of each succeeding
early morning has been the forerunner of
a bright, warm day, and, in consequence,
bees have been tremendously busy.
Forage is everywhere abundant, with
honey coming in fast ; the immediate
difficulty being the prevention of un-
desired swarms. The actual honey season
has, however, still to begin in most places,
white clover being only due for flowering
a fortnight hence; so there is plenty
of time ahead, and surplus-room may be
given freely with the view of preventing
swarming. Reports are to hand of
swarms coming off fast, while here in
Kent bees are doing so well that a fine
season is certain if weather does not
change. In Cornwall our senior Editor
(before going abroad for a well-earned
rest) has had to put additional storeys on
his hives, so crowded are they with bees
and so rapidly were the surplus-chambers
already on being filled.

All is, therefore, as full of promise as
well can be, and it seems as if '95 would
be memorable for the craft in more ways
than one.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

QUARTERLY CONVERSAZIONE.

The quarterly conversazione was held at 32,
Sackville-street, St. James's (the usual place
of meetiDg, 105, Jermyn-street beiDg un-
avoidably engaged), at 6 p.m. on the 9th inst.

Mr. E. D. Till presided, and was supported
by the Hon. and Rev. Henry Bligh, Rev.
W. E. Burkitt, Messrs. S. Atkin, Bevan, H.
W. Brice, T. B. Blow, W. B. Carr, R. Green,
J. S. Greenhill, J. M. Hooker, H. Jonas, G.
H. Morris, N. Swain, and others.

The Chairman regretted that Mr. Cowan
had been obliged to leave before the com-
mencement of the proceeding?. That gentle-
man had within the last few months been
working very hard in connection with the
foul-brood deputation which waited on the

212

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[May 30, 1895.

Minister of Agriculture a day or two ago.
It was surprising to know what an amount
of labour was necessary ia preparation of the
material for presentation to the Minister.
Mr. Cowan had been specially engaged for a
long time in tabulating facts, and corre-
sponding with Members of Parliament on
the subject, and he had now gone to seek a
little rest in Cornwall. He (the chairman)
was also sorry that Mr. Blow had another
engagement which took him away, because
an account of his recent trip to the West
Indian Islands relative to the importation of
wax would have been interesting to the meet-
ing. It appeared, according to what he had
heard, there were very few countries from
which superior and genuine bees- wax could
be obtained — a very large proportion of that
imported into this country being more or less
adulterated. In view of the very low price at
which some foundation is now sold it was
difficult to know how it could be produced
from genuine bees-wax. He thought it was
a question whether the exhibition of home-
produced wax at shows was sufficiently en-
couraged. Turning to the subject of the recent
successful deputation, he hoped they might
have the advantage of some practical sugges-
tions from those present with regard to the
questions put by Mr. Gardner. After some
further remarks he invited comment on the
matter.

Mr. Jonas explained that it was proposed to
inflct penalties on those who knowingly with-
held the information that their stocks were
affected with foul brood.

Mr. Hooker added, and those who, when
told that their bees were diseased, refused or
neglected to have them destroyed.

On the question being asked whether in-
spectors would have power to inspect hives at
any time-^-which was important seeing that
public inspectors were not particular about
the time of their visits nor the troublethey
caused, it was stated that due notice would be
given, and Mr. Jonas added that inspection
would not take place at all unless invittd by
the bee-keeper himself or complaiut had been
lodged that foul brood existed in the neigh-
bourhood.

A desultory conversation followed, bearing
upon matters, some of which must necessaiily
take time for further consideration so far as
working out de-ails regarding inspection,
destruction, compensation, &c, all of which
questions were stated to have been, or were
being, carefully considered by the committee
appointed to deal with the matter.

.Referring specially to the visits of in-
spectors, Mr. Hooker said he wished to em-
phasise the fact that it was not proposed to
inspect except when foul brood was reported
as existing in any apiary or district.

Mr. Jonas added that the process would be
to notify the fact that certain hives were
iufected, and. if the information carafe from an

authentic source, an inspector would be sent
to examine the hives. He thought that every
one who hid the interests of bee-keeping at
heart would notify the presence of the disease
immediately.

The Rev. W. E. Burkitt knew bee-keepers
who had had the disease among their stocks
for three or four years, and refused to let any -
one examine them.

Replying to a question regarding the
expense involved in carrying out the Act, Mr.
Hooker said that if a person refused to destroy
his bees when compensation was offered
stringent measures must ba adopted. No
greit good could be done without expense.
The Chairman also said that the proposed Bill
would give the inspector discretion as to
destroying the bees, which he would not do
where remedies were practicable.

On an inquiry being put as to whether it
was not certain that the origin of foul brood
lud never yet been discovered, Mr. Carr said
what they had now to deal with was not the
origin, but the effect of the disease, which was
terribly infectious, and spread rapidly if
unchecked.

Mr. Jonas and Mr. Carr further explained
the modus operandi of the proposed Bill in
the case of those bee-keepers whose hives were
infected, and who failed to give notice of the
same, thereby contravening the projected
statute and incurriug penalties. Notification
shouid come preferably from the owner him-
self, or, failing that, somebody would give an
intimation to the nearest constable, who in his
turn would repoit to the proper authorities.
Notice would then be given to the owner of
the hive of the iutended visit of the inspector.

The Chiirman thought that not more than
5 per cent, of hives were diseased ; therefore
the inspection would not ba anything like the
formidable matter some few supposed.

Mr. Carr observed that they would rather
conciliate than ask for penalties, and at the
beginniog would only deal with flagrant
cases.

Mr. B.ice said the mere passing of the Act
would bring about a remarkable change, the
possible visit of au inspector creating a good
deterrent effec".

Mr. Hooker thought bee-keepers would
themselves notify the disease, when found, for
their own protection.

Tke Chairman was also of opinion that
owners of hives would often be glad to have
the question settled by an expert where there
was any doubt, because the signs of the
disease in its first stage were not unmistak-
able. He felt sure that only a small minority
would be opposed to inspection.

Mr. Carr said they would endeavour to
guard against the Act being used as a mean3
of oppression. Every one who made a com-
plaint against another must show solid grounds
for the same.

Mr. Bevan wished to know what was the

May 30, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

213

object of employing experts by the affiliated
associations, if not to detect disease ? The
county associations spent a large amount of
money on that business, and he was afraid
very little information was imparted to bee-
keepers. Those were the men who should
give advice.

Mr. Jonas thought it would be unwise for
the association's experts to become Govern-
ment experts, as it would have the effect of
making the associations unpopular, although
he agreed to some extent with Mr. Bevan's
criticism.

Mr. Bevan knew a bee-keeper of thiity
years' standing who allowed no one to look at
his hives. He had had the disease on his pre-
mises for years, but boasted that he had exter-
minated it. His objection to experts was that
by examining hives affected by foul brood they
might carry the germs about in their clothes,
and thus spread the disease where it would not
otherwise appear. The expert always pro-
fessed to carry disinfectants about with him,
but that was open to question.

The Chairman said that no doubt a man
appointed as Government inspector would take
very great care to disinfect himself thoroughly.

Mr. Jonas believed that county experts
would decline to act for the Government ; at
any rate, he did not see how they could hold
the two appointments. It would be a very
invidious thing for the county expert to go and
condemn hives. To do so would be likely to
put a step to information being given volun-
tarily as now by bee-keepers.

The proceedings were continued for some
time in more or less conversational form, the
discussion finally turning upon the point of
the most suitable local authority for dealing
with the question, as mentioned by the
President of the Board of Agriculture. The pre-
vailing opinion, however, was that County
Councils would be the proper bodies for
entrusting with the administration of the Act,
as being less subject to local influence than
District Councils.

Mr. Carr then brought to notice the
sections of Argentine honey referred to in
B.J. for May 2 (p. 176) and it would be
seen on reference that an endeavour was being
made to place this honey on the British
markets. The samples now shown, whicb, as
they would see, arrived in excellent condition,
and, so far as marketable form, were very good
indeed, had been sent to the B.J. office by a
London commission house. Comments being
invited thereon, and the opinions of the
editors asked as to whether there was any
probability of a trade being established
between South American bee-keepers and this
country for comb honey of that description.
It looked like heather honey, but the taste
and smell in his (Mr. Carr's) opinion did not,
to put it mildly, justify the appearance.
There was a large quantity of io en sale in
London.

The samples were then parsed round the

room and admired generally, so far as its ap-
pearance went ; but after being tasted and
snielled, the unanimous opinion was the
reverse of favourable or complimentary.

The Chairman said the danger attending
this introduction was that it might be bought
for English honey, and its flavcur and
aroma (?) only discovered afterwards ; but if
the Associations made a point of usiDg their
own labels, there would be no possibility of
this happening.

Mr. Carr thought English bee-keepers had
nothing to fear from this importation, and in
order to remove the taste of Argentine honey,
as well as for comparison, he passed round a
specimen of Cheshire extracted clover honey,
which was highly relished by those who
tasted it,

Mr. Carr also exhibited a feeder sent by Mr.
Dixon, of Leeels, and known as the " Leeds
feeder." Among its merits was its use as pro-
viding passage-way over several combs in
winter, and beirg laid on the frames below
quilts, the circular tin syrup-holder could be
put on or removed as required without any
disturbance. It also served as a candy-feeder
for giving cakes of candy without disturbing
quilts. It was much approved.

Mr. Greenhill exhibited frames of different
sizes furnished with foundation fixed at the
sides instead of at the top bar. He claimed
that this was the best way of fixing foundation,
because no "sagging " or breaking-down was
possible. The usual saw cut in top bar kept
the foundation straight along the bar, and the
side bars being in two pieces held the sheet
perfectly safe and rigid. After inspection the
method of fixing foundation was generally
admired.

The proceedings closed with a vote of thanks
to the chairman lor presiding.

djorrapntatt.

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 urite on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should bedraunon 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,
Bocks for Review, <kc.,must be addressed only to " The
EDITORS of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Stra7id, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c.,must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

BEE JOTTINGS

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2081.] Starting Bee-keeping. — I would re-
commend those who are thinking of making
a start in bee-keeping t ) lose no time in
getting their bees, or the chance of their re-
ceiving any benefit therefrom this season will

214

THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAI. [May 30, 1895.

be gone. A good swarm or stock should more
than pay for itself if procured at once, if the
beginner goes the right way to work, and has
read the subject up well. Some may desire to
know what constitutes a good swarm. In my
opinion it should consist of, say, 30,000 bees,
and will weigh five or six pounds. Having
fixed on the purchase of the bees, I would
advise the uninitiated to obtain the assistance
of a friendly expert, or of some one well up in
the craft, to put things straight, and to see
that all is in order, so that the disappointment
usually resulting from a bad start may be
avoided. There is nothing I know of in which
the advantage of a good start is of more im-
portance than bee-keeping. Again, on no
account buy stocks because they are cheap
without having them examined by a person
competent to certify as to their condition.
They should be healthy, have young, prolific
queens, and plenty of bees. Do not buy a
hive in which the combs are old and black ;
they are sure to be unprofitable in the end. In
the case of swarms, from whatever source the
bees are obtained, bear in mind also that,
should the weather become cold after hiving,
the bees must be fed until it becomes warm
again.

Heredity in Bees. — An interesting letter on
this subject appeared in B.J. fur March 22
(2274, page 122), closely followed by a reply
on April 11 (2291, page 143). It certainly
looked as if we were in for an intellectual
feast, but disappointment followed, for the
matter dropped. It is a pity a subject so full
of interest should be just touched upon, and
then fall through without further discussion.

Native and Foreign Bees. — Your corre-
spondent Mark Dobell (page 208) inquires
as to foreign bees. Having had some little
experience on this matter, permit me to advise
" M. B." to just leave them alone, and be
content with the old and tried natives. What
are called pure-bred bees, whether Ligurian,
Cyprian, Syrian, or Carniolan, are not, in my
opinion, worth naming alongside " natives "
for all round work, and the only benefit to be
derived for investing money in any of the
former is to infuse fresh blood, and to obtain
crosses with our own bees. In crossing, too,
the only one I have found that did not make
matters worse instead of better, is the one
produced by a cross between the Ligurians
and native bees.

What is Lysol ? — C. J. H. Gravenhorst, in
Gleanings, relates some facts with regard to
this new disinfectant, which, by the way, is
"made in Germany" from coal-tar, being
brown in colour and smelling like tar. He
tells us how Mr. Fulde use3 " lysol 24 drops,
carbolic acid 4 drops, to every 10 lb. of sugar
syrup," and cures stocks badly infected with
foul brood therewith, stating that he found
" the sick larvte dry in their cells after three
days' use, and after a lapse of three weeks not
a trace of foul brood was to be found. They
were sound, and sent out a swarm ; " but, Mr.

Gravenhorst adds, " I do not have such con-
fidence in lysol as Mr. Fulde has ; '' aod con-
tinues as follows : " On account of the
importance of the matter it may not be
out of the way to report concerning a
disinfectant I have used nearly twenty
years, with the result that I hold the
foul-brood question fully solved." He then
gives a long account of the different places and
conditions under which he " had to fight
hard" against the disease, and overcame it,
and adds, "I used, and have used till to-day,
carbolic acid — not the refined article you get
at the drug-store, but the black and unrefined
article which is intermingled with coal-tar."
Then come detailed instances of cures, and
corroborative testimony of other German bee-
keepers of standing, in confirmation of what
he says. The recipes he gives are, as a pre-
ventive, a quarter gallon rain-water, and one
teaspoonful of unrefined carbolic acid, and
mix. He also washes his hives out annually in
spring with this mixture and, as I gather,
transfers bees, combs, and all into the washed
hive whilst it is still wet with the solution.

When a stock is lightly affected Mr. G.
says : — " I spray the combs, besides washing
the bottom boards, with a warm solution of
four or five drop3 of my carbolic acid to a
teacup of water thoroughly mixed up in a
bottle. This does no harm either to open or
sealed brood. Besides this treatment I feed
now and then such infected colonies with
sugar-syrup, and add to a teacupful of the food
three or four drops of my carbolic acid."

" Colonies badly infected with foul brood I
treat in the following manner : — At a time
when the bees will build comb, I brush them
off their combs, and put them upon ' starters '
in clean hives. Wash the bottom boards, and
feed the bees with those solutions of food I
have mentioned above. I have found out that
' starters ' are better than full foundations."

Mr. G. also advises the removal and destruc-
tion of the queen in infected colonies, and con-
cludes by saying, '■ If all be true that is said
of lysol, it will surpass unrefined carbolic
acid. Lysol consists of cresulic acid, made
soluble in water by means of saponification. "
The question arises in my mind whether the
foul brood spoken of above is of the same
virulent nature as that with which we are
acquainted in this country. If so, it seems
pretty clear that it can be cured by drug treat-
ment, and that carbolic acid in some form or
other is the drug needed. But a fresh diffi-
culty arises — bees don't like carbolic acid, and,
in my experience, will sooner go without food
than take it. In fact, no matter how weak the
solution is, they give it a wide berth — so far
as taking it in their food. I agree with the
removal of the queen in infected stocks, and
think that in treating diseased stocks this
should be a sine qud non.

How to Convert Old Brood Combs into
Foundation. — W. M. Little, in Gleanings,
Siys : — " During the past season of 1894, 1 had

May 30, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

215

about 200 old combs that had been in constant
use for twelve years. I tried rendering some,
but could secure little wax from them, as the
cocoons and other substances absorbed all the
wax. So I began to experiment a little with
a sharp Bingham honey-knife, trimming down
the cells of these old combs. I soon found I
could cut through the cocoons down to the
septum by care, and leave the base of the cell
intact ; then, turning the frame over on a
board, cut the right size to fit the frame, thus
supporting the comb ; I could trim down the
other side in like manner, leaving a sheet with
the base of the cells well defined. The bottom
of each cell will be filled with the base of the
cocoons of all of the past generations bred in
them ; these, however, the bees remove in a
short time, leaving the septum much like a
sheet of foundation at first. If the sheet is
torn, or if there are patches of drone-comb that
Idesire todispense with, I cutit out and patch it
with brood-foundation, using melted wax to hold
the patch in place until the bees fasten it per-
manently. I succeeded in getting 150 combs
of this kind rebuilt in a few days in the early
part of June last, before the honey-dew began
to be gathered by my bees, when they would
not build comb of any kind. These combs
were mostly built on wired foundation in the
first place, and, having been rebuilt, are firm,
and stronger than those built first on founda-
tion."

The bees seem to delight in pulling out the
base of the old swaddling-clothes of former
generations of bees, and mending the rents
and patches in the old comb, and working
them over. Here is a chance to economise,
especially as wax is so scarce. — Henry W.
Brice, Thornton Heath, Surrey.

BEES AND SANITAKY LA.WS.

[2082.] On reading the very interesting
report in the B.B J. of the deputation to the
President of the Board of Agriculture, on the
all-absorbing (to bee-keepers) question of pro-
tection from foul brood, it occurred to me to
express my views on this subject, in the hope
that through your pages some further light
might be thrown on the origin of and means
of eradicating or lessening this bee-keepers'
pest. I am a bee-keeper of some eight years'
standing, and have been very successful with
my bees, managing them entirely alone, but,
having suffered severely from foul brood on
one occasion, have naturally given it some
thought.

I gather from the report above referred to
that foul brood is supposed to be on the in-
crease. But is this so, or is it only more
noticeable now than formerly because more
attention is paid now to the daily habits and
conditions of bees than heretofore ? Formerly,
when anything went wrong with the hives, it
was ascribed to witchcraft, and possibly some
old woman made to suffer for being a witch.

Now the real cause is searched for, and the old
woman let alone. Few formerly fed their bees
up for and protected them from the winter's
cold. Swarms and one-year-old stocks were
supposed to collect sufficient supplies for their
winter wants, and allowed to keep what they
got. Whilst those stocks that had lived the
longest, worked the hardest, and become,
the heaviest, were relegated to the sulphur-
pit, and thus periodically the germs of
the disease [(if it then existed) were, to a
certain extent, stamped out. Now our
bees are cared for, and supplied with
an ample amount of stores, warm, dry hives,
and thick quilts for winter use, and are not
called upon to live the same wild life their
ancestors did. When spring comes they are
stimulated to the utmost limits, and during
the summer are worked their hardest. Does
not this treatment render them less hardy and
more liable to take diseases than formerly 1
We all know the partiality bees have at
certain times for manure heaps, mouths of
drains, and open cesspools. May not the
effluvia and possibly also the germs of some
disease arising from these places, acting on the
enervated constitution of our bees, produce
what we term foul brood ? I have not unfre-
quently seen in rural districts pigstyes without
drainage, privies placed over open ditches, and
several stocks of bees all within a few yards of
each other. Now, how can these stocks be
healthy, and how can any bee-keeper, how-
ever scientific and careful he may be, hope to
keep his stocks healthy if within measurable
distance of such pest-places 1 Take my own
case. Before leaving my last abode, I had
twenty-four healthy stocks in bar-frame hives.
My apiary was kept scrupulously clean, and
tended only by myself, yet foul brood ap-
peared. How I know not. I could hear
of no other cases in the neighbourhood, until
at last I was told privately that a lady living
within a measureable distance of my apiary,
with surroundings almost described above had
twostocks, one of which was badly diseased
with foul brood. As 1 was then leaving the
neighbourhood and so could not fight the
disease, and not being willing to spread the
infection, I destroyed all my bees, combs,
quilts, and hives, and, so far as I could do,
stamped it out. Now, if my theory is correct,
that foul brood emanates in the first place
from such places as I have described, ought we
not rather to petition our legislators to carry
out our sanitary laws in rural parishes espe-
cially, and in all parishes generally more
strictly than at present, than to request them,
as I gather the late deputation did, to
make laws to eradicate the disease after it has
gained a footing in our hives ? I send you this
letter, Mr. Editor, to insert in your valuable
journal should you think any good will be
derived by so doing. — James Hutchinson,
Hereford, May 25, 1895.

[Our correspondent may accept our assur-
ance that foul brood will never be developed

216

THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL. [May 30, 1895.

in the way he suggests. Bees do sometimes
seek for the saline matter found in offensive
places, such as manure heaps, but never in the
honey season. But, apart from this, the par-
ticular bacillus of foul brood will not be found
in the places named unless combs or other
matter from diseased hives are conveyed
thereto. — Eds.1

EARLY HONEY IN YOKES.

[2083.] On Saturday, May 25, I took off
honey in sections from my hives, and, if the
weather keeps fine for a few days, I shall be
able to take two crates off during this week.
Hawthorn just blooming, white clover begin-
ning to flower, and drones flying on May 12.
Not having seen any early honey taken, I
thought I would send word of mine. Every
prospect of a good honey season.— T. Rothery,
Stutton, near Tadcaster.

NOVELTIES FOR 1895.

1. greenhill's " W. B. c." cottager's hive.

It cannot be said that any rush of "new
hives and appliances " have so far made their
appearance to either bewilder the bee-keeper

B. C. COTTAGER HIVE.

or tax his pocket with the cost of new fangled
notions. We have so far received but one
illustration (not a very good one — a " process
block " from a photo, by the way), of what is
stated by the maker to he an adaptation of the

" W. B. C." hive, constructed after the
original model, but in cheaper form. Accord-
ing to the description sent us, "the frames
can be worked either parallel, or at right
angles, to entrance ; there is ample space for
packing between hive and outer case in winter,
while the roof and deep covering for supers
being detachable, the latter, when inverted,
drops down over the lower portion of outer
case, and so forms a still further protection to
the stock hive in winter. The super cover
is deep enough for one shallow frame box and
a rack of sections, or for two of the former."

2. hole's hinge-plate self-hiver.

Concerning this device— which though used
last season has now been much improved — for

hole s self hiver.

securing swarms in the absence of the bee-
keeper, the inventor says : —

" If the bees swarm the queen is at once
trapped in a commodious compartment from
which there is no return, while there is every
facility for the flying bees to join her, which
in nearly every case they have been found to
do. If, however, they should not happen to
do so, they return to parent stock, and so the
swarm is saved.

" A most important feature in the self-hiver
is the fact that the bees enter freely into the
hive, both drones and workers, without having
to squeeze their bodies and pollen-laden legs
through the slots in the queen excluder zinc.
There is, consequently, no brushing off of the
pollen pellets, and the hive can never become
quite clear of drones, a few of these being
necessary to keep up the working ardour of
the colony.

" The self-hiver can be applied to any hive
in a few minutes ; its only contact with the
hive is at the entrance, as shown in illustration ;
it therefore does not stand in the way of any
system of supering, or when manipulating.
Unless in an exposed position, the hiver has

May 30, 1895.]

TIIE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

217

been found to need no more fixing than its
weight and shape supplies. A little weight
applied to the top would make it stand secure,
however exposed. The only attention required,
after once fixing, is to nightly remove the
drones that may be trapped (sometimes a great
many in hives that have too many drones), and
to occasionally notice that nothing prevents
the hinge plates dropping perfectly.

"The bees may be a little upset by the
novelty of the entrance-way, but after the
first day or so they will work through the
hinged plates as freely as an open doorway."

(See advertisement for further particulars).

3. ABBOTT BROTHERS' BRASS CONES FOR •
VENTILATORS AND BEE-ESCAPES.

Although there is nothing actually " new "
about this little device— so far as the purpose
to which it is applied. We can verify the
description of the makers who speak of it as
•' a beautifully-finished article in solid brass.
Better in every way than zinc, and cheaper."
It is evidently punched from the sheet of
brass into cone-shape, with a " holed '' flange for
nailing, and from its appearance might be
gilded.

MISLEADING STATEMENTS.

A correspondent sends us a copy of the
following letter which appeared in the Man-
chester Courier of the 24th inst. : —

" Sir, — I should like to say a few words
with respect to seme statements made in a
letter published in the Courier for Friday last,
April 21, re "Land Allotments at Didsbury,"
in particular those referring to bee-keeping,
which are, in my opinion, misleading, and cal-
culated to do considerable harm to the best
interests of bee-keeping. With respect to the
statement that "Modern apiarists say that
with sugar at l|d. per pound, and honey at Is.
per pound, large fortunes may be made by
getting the bees to convert sugar into
honey." I do not know what authority your
correspondent has for such a statement,
which, from all I have either heard or read, is,
to say the least of it, misleading. Such
sugar as can be bought at that price is in-
jurious to bees — I don't say they won't take it.
The highest authorities I know of recommend
pure cane sugar only, and that cannot be
bought at l|d. per lb , and I have a dealer's list
before me as I write. I do not say that honey
cannot be sold at Is. per lb , as I know it can,
but, at the same time, English honey can be
bought at 7d. or 8d. per lb. easily. It certainly
is news to read that bees will convert sugar
into honey ; if they did, there might be a
chance of making the large fortunes referred
to by your correspondent. I know from
experience that fortunes cannot be made at it,
though I do not say that bee-keeping does not
pay those who know what they are about. I

question the statement that " 90 lb. of honey
and four swarms were obtained from one hive
last j ear," which was a bad year for honey, but
a good one for swarms. It is a recognised fact
among bee-keepers that a large amount
of surplus honey and swarms cannot be had
from the same hive in the same season. The
tenant referred to must have had a good
market for his swarms, as good swarms can be
obtained easiiy for 10s. or 12s. each. Some
light might have been thrown on the matter
had your correspondent given the kind of hive
his tenant used, and the length of time he had
kept bees. The authorities I refer to are the
editors of the British Bee-keepers' Journal,
one of whom is also the editor of the "Bee-
lieepers' Guide Book," a perusal of which
would, 1 think, dispel some of the ideas con-
tained in the letter. I do not, by any means,
pose as an experienced bee-keeper, but I
think I have seen enough to know that the
statements referred to are entirely misleading.
I trust you may find space in your paper for
the above, as I consider such statements
should not be allowed to go without comment.
— Yours, &c, L. Bateman, Neivton, Hyde.

THE HONEY BEE.
A very capital lecture, dealing comprehen-
sively with the above subject, and illustrated
with seventy or eighty original lantern slides,
the majority of which were photo-micrographs
taken by Mr. J. T. Holder, wa3 given at the
Goldsmiths' Institute, New Cross, on Tuesday,
30th ult. 'I he natural history of the bee and
its influence on fertilisation of fruit and flower
blossoms were explained. Apiculture as a
practical pursuit was strongly recommended,
and several instances of large honey harvests
made in this country were mentioned. The
audience appeared thoroughly to enjoy the
lecture, and at its close a hearty vote ot' thanks
was given to the lecturer. — {Communicated).

^urm an£ J^lifs.

[1281.] Managing " Wells" Hives. — Having
several "Wells" hives with only single-
queened stocks in them, and being desirous to
divide them so as to get two queens and
possibly prevent swarming, I shall be glad if
you would inform me whether the present
cjueen should be retained in her present
quarters, or should be put into the fresh com-
partment. — Richard Dutton, Witham,
May 27.

Reply. — Under the circumstances and
season, our plan would be to super the hive
now and let the stock swarm later, then hive
the swarm into the empty compartment of the
" Wells," giving only about six frames (with
foundation), and giving surplus chambers at

218

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [May 30, 1895.

the time to the swarm. It would, of course,
work for the rest of season as a double-queened
stock, if all queen-cells but one are removed
after first swarm comes off.

[1282.] — Strengthening Stocks. — I have two
hives standing close to each other, one is doing
well and the other has only four frames with
patches of brood. I propose removing the
poor hive, shifting the other midway and so
get all the flying bees, making one good hive
to work for extracted honey. 1. Will the
bees unite amicably if I put a couple of pieces
of naphthaline in each hive a few days before,
will it be sufficient to give them a common
scent 1 The poor stock I thought of placing
close to another hive containing a young
queen, but which has not been able to make
headway owing to damp and cold having killed
nearly all the bees. The next day, having
killed old queen, give the frames with brood,
to young queen and so make another fairly
good stock. Will you kindly advise as to
uniting this second lot, and will this be a good
plan 1— Tyro, Bideford, May 27.

Reply. — 1. If you first make sure the stock
on your frames is not diseased, the plan pro-
posed will certainly be advantageous to the
hive from which surplus is expected, and will
work out all right so far as method. 2. Unite
the second lot by first using the naphthaline
for a day or two, or sprinkle bees with scented
syrup, and, after spacing frames in hive wide
apart, alternate those of the stock to be j oined
up, putting a frame between each, so far apart
that the bees will not touch.

[1283.] Queries about Swarming. — On
Sunday, the 26th, one of my frame-hives
swarmed, notwithstanding they had on a rack
of sections half worked out, which I put on
them the 5th inst. I watched the bees till
eleven o'clock, so they must have swarmed
later, but I find no trace of them in any of
the numerous trees around. 1. How can I
prevent the second swarm from issuing ? 2.
Will the bees work out the remainder of the
sections ? 3. Can I depend on a self-hiver
working right ? my hives being a mile from my
house. 4. How soon after top swarm comes
off does the young queen begin to deposit her
eggs ? Being eager for a crate of early honey,
I kept my bees a bit short of room, instead of
giving them another crate under. 5. Do
)ou think this was the cause of their coming
out, or did I not put the crate on soon
enough ? Bees that have been looked after
and fed this spring here are very strong, but I
know of ten hives (bar-frames) which wintered
■well, but seven have died ri»ht out since for
want of a little sugar. — H. Hamilton, Wilts,
May 27.

Reply. — 1. By at once removing all queen-
cells butthe best and most neatly hatched one,
i.e., that having the wax capping of cover
thinned down, as it were, by the bees. As
bees swarmed five days ago, don't delay too
long. 2. Very likely they will if no second

swarm is allowed to come off. 3. That we
cannot vouch for. Read descriptions on
another page, and judge for yourself. 4.
Usually about a week or ten days after she
hatches out, if weather is warm and drones
flying freely. 5. Delay in giving room will
have hurried on the swarming, no doubt.

[1284.] Suspected Combs. — On examining
two of my stocks the other day, I found two
pieces of comb which I have sent you for in-
spection, fearing they contain foul brood. All
of the combs seem about alike, rather dark and
badly built ; I think they are o'd ones. The
queens in both hives look bright and fresh, and
appear to be young ones — probably last year's.
There is a lot of brood in both hives, and one
lot is very strong in bees, and both working
well. Would it be advisable to shake the
bees off these combs and put them on new
frames and foundation and feed with medi-
cated syrup ? I should like to do away with
the old combs, but to do that would, of
course, destroy the brood now in the frames.
My two other stocks are standing close by and
working well, and being, as I think, in health,
I do not want to run any risk. Any advice
will be most acceptable. — A. H. S., Surrey.

Reply. — The contents of the few sealed
cells in comb sent are so completely dried up
that nothing remains to aid us in judging
whether it has been chilled brood or foul
brood. A very short time, however, will
suffice to show if the present sealed brood
hatches out all right or not. In the latter case
a sample of comb with the dead brood therein
will decide the point. Under the very slightly
suspicious circumstances it would be a pity to
take the bees from present combs and sacrifice
the brood if not diseased. There will also be
time enough to take the more drastic course
later on.

(ftrfws from the giws.

Calside, Paisley, N.B., May 27— This has
been the earliest year on record with me. I
usually have my first swarm about June 8.
This year I had my first swarm on May 20.
Another issued from a second hive the fol-
lowing day — the 21st — but, as a cold wind
was blowing, it returned. To this hive I had
been adding a comb of foundation at inter-
vals until it had fourteen frames. I also put
supers on it a week ago, and yesterday, the
26th, it sent off a very large swarm. At the
same time a cast came from the hive that
swarmed on the 20th. Both these hives had
two-year-old queens ; a third hive, also with a
two-year-old queen, is ready for swarming,
but my fourth and last hive, with a last year's
queen, is far behind. I have tried a " Wells ''
bive for two years, but have not succeeded.
The two always unite and become one. A
friend whom I induced to purchase a " Wells "
has had the same experience. — M. Flett.

May 30, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

219

^u £fora« to $mt

June 11 to 14. — At Bournemouth, in connec-
tion with Royal Counties' Agricultural Society.
Annual show of Hants and Isle of Wight
B.K.A. Liberal prizes, opea to all. Schedules
from hon. sec, E. H. Bellairs, Wingfield,
Christchurch. Entries close June 7.

June 12, 13. — Essex Agricultural Society's
Show at Southend. Entries close May 27.
Schedules from F. H. Meggy, Hon. Sec. Essex
B.K.A., Chelmsford.

June 24 to 28. — Boyal Agricultural Society's
Show at Darlington. Entries closed. Secre-
tary, J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

July 17, 18, 19. — Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society's show at Grantham. Thirteen classes
and liberal prizes for bees, honey, hives, and
appliances. For schedules, apply to S. Upton,
Sec, St. Benedicts-square, Lincoln. Entries
close June 28.

July 19 and 20. — Bristol District Bee-
keepers' Association. Annual Show at
Knowle. Entries close July 13. Schedules
from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long Ashton,
Bristol.

July 25, 26, and 27. — Royal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries close July I. Schedules from Jas.
Birch, Sec, 3, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries close June 29.
Schedules from Marshall Stephenson, Sec,
York.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West
Bromwich. In connection with the Staffs.
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.
Schedules, when ready, from Harold Twenty-
man, Wolverhampton.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

Notfoesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

(Rev.) A. G. Roberts (Petersfield). — Using
Old Combs. — 1. So long as combs are free
from disease they may be used again after
picking out the dead bees as stated. 2.
Bees of this stock have evidently been
troubled with dysentery. Where combs
are much soiled with the voided excreta,
they should be melted down for wax.
Beyond feeding till new combs are built,
nothing can be done unless sheets of foun-
dation be given to save time and help the
bees forward.

C. M. W. (Middlesex). — Swarming and
Beginners. — The fact of skep weighing only
7 lb. or 8 lb. a month ago, and now drawing

the scale at 20 lb., shows that bees are
working hard and doing well. Under all
the circumstances, we should rather advise
trying the self-hiver (see advertisement)
than trying to make an artificial swarm from
your single skep. To super the skep would
delay swarming, no doubt. We cannot
judge whether hive should be considered
strong or not from details given, but it is
evidently doing well. Your idea of driving
bees, though creditable to your ingenuity,
would not do ; besides, the orthodox method
is so much easier, and more simple.

J. Hamsiiar. — Injured Queen Cast Out. —
Queen has been ruptured internally by some
accident. It is almost certain that another
will be raised unless the injury was received
some time ago, which is not likely. The
hive will, of course, receive a check through
loss of queen. Very pleased to hear that
our instructions for treating foul-broody
stocks have resulted in cure.

Novice (near Gosport). — 1. " Bee from roof. "
A small specimen of the ordinary black bee.
2. Bee from "Cowan hive." Slightly
tinged with the foreign element, as is usual
with our bee of this country. 3. " Bee
from strange swarm." Hybrid Carniolan.

A. Drury (Surrey).— Queen is an adult, but
we cannot give her age. Don't disturb the
stock or supers ; all will come out right if
left alone.

H. T. Icinqbell (Taunton). — Sealed Syrup for
Swarms, &c. — Insects sent are wild bees of
the Andrena species. We should not take
any trouble to destroy the nest, an i do not
think any damage to the tree will follow
their locating where they do. They are of
no use to bee-keepers. Combs of sealed
syrup may be given to swarms so long as it
remains liquid.

F. G. L. (Chulmleigh). — Comb crushed per*
fectly flat when received, through insecure
packing. We detect slight traces of disease
in the crushed cells, and, for the safety of
the stock in other compartment of the
" Wells " hive, we should take out frames of
comb at once and destroy them.

E. F. T. (Cornwall). — The piece of drone-comb
to hand has no signs of brood in any of its
cells, none of which are sealed over. So
there is nothing to indicate disease.
Naphthaline should be used in hives at all
seasons.

J. H. W. (Hereford). — Bad case of foul brood.

T. T. (Cheltenham).— Only chilled brood in
comb sent. If no sealed cells remain in
other combs we should not hesitate to use
them again.

Mr. W. (Coventry). — The bulk of sealed cells
contain chilled brood. There are, however,
traces of foul brood in a few, and we advise
burning the combs and frames forthwith to
avoid risk of infection in adjacent hives.
Disinfect hive before using again.

220

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [May 30, 1895.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, tbe. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

PURE BLACK BEES, swarms, nuclei, queens, NOW
READY. Alsfoud, Expert, Blandford. H 23

'WARMS, May and June, 12s. 6d. each, or 3s. 3d. lb.
) Rev. — Jarvis, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, h 17

B

EES. — A few SWARMS FOR SALE. For price,
apply, Giles, Cowsfield Apiary, Salisbury, h 35.

■i C) STRONG BORAGE PLANTS sent to any address
-L^-1 on receipt of six stamps to pay box and postage.
R. Illman, Nurseries, Strood, Rochester. H 30

STRONG, Healthy, Natural SWARMS from united
stocks, 1894 Queens. Price 15s. No foul brood in the
district. .T. Wattie, Hiuderton Hall, Neston, Cheshire

H27

G} f\ YiiARS a. uptLiaiiuj — v^uiijunu, i, uuaju*, ww,

^ v Most interesting circular on Bees published, free

Speciality-QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
ssting circular on Bees p
S. Simmins, Heathfleld, Sussex.

QUEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
~ Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

STRAW HIVE3, best cane-bound, round or flat top,
Is. 3d. each, 12s. dozen. Abbott Brothers,
Merchants Quay, Dublin. G 59

SPECIAL BEE VEILS, fine silk net, post free, 9d.
each. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. G00

BEES, Strong nealthy Swarms all '94 Queens, 10s. 6d.
each. Swarm-boxes to be returned. Ed, Long,
Cottenham, Cambs. H 11

SWARMS, 3s. per lb., 3£ lbs,, 1S94 Queens, packing
free. LEJIIN, 294, Hoe street, Walthamstow.

H31

FOR SALE, TWO good COMBINATION HIVES, 16
frames, fitted foundation, 1 lb. brood, 1 lb. super,
smoker ; 25s. CHILD, Alexandra-road. Epsom. H 33

SIX STRAW HIVES, with wood bottoms and straw
and wood supers, nearly new. Exchange for
strong Swarms of Bees, 1894 Queens, weight 6 lbs.
M. CALLUM, 3, Church-street, Hamilton. H 32

NOW READY, NATURAL SWARMS, 3J to 4 lbs.,
12s. (id. each. Guaranteed healthy. Box and
packing free. Albert Twinn, Apiary House, Ridgwell,
Halstead, Essex. H 30

IT will PAY all BEE-KEEPERS in Scotland, Ireland,
Wales, Devonshire, Somersetshire, and Cornwall,
to send to Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. H 15

ABBOTT'S PATENT FRAMES, improved pattern,
interchangeable with W.B.C. ends, 2s. doz., 21s.
gross. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay, Dublin.

H 14

GUARANTEED Healthy NATURAL SWARMS, 3£ to
4 lbs., 12s. Cd. each. Packing included. Orders
in rotation. Porterage Telegrams, Is. Gd. CHAS.
Whiting, Valley Apiary, Iluiidon, Clare, Suffolk. U 4

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

FOR SALE, Three Bar-Framed HIVES; a small
Slinger ; crates of sections ; feeding bottles, &c.
All from Abbott's. Also six straw skeps with bell-glass
supers. What offers. S. C. 17, Park-road, Southborough,
Tunbridge Wells. H 5

CARBOLINE POMADE (Fourth Season).— Kills B ee-
stings like magic, and prevents the horrible
smarting and burning inflammation. Prevents getting
stung, robbing, &c. In Is. bottles, post free. T.
Holliday, Astbury, Congleton.

COMB FOUNDATION, Abbott's celebrated flat-
bottom or natural base, Is. 8d. per lb., super 2s.,
with addition of Is. with each order for packing,
booking, &c. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. Sample parcel 2s. post free. H 13

CASH MARKET for any quantity of HONEY COMB
in SECTIONS, EXTRACTED HONEY and WAX.
Packages for Sections lent free. State lowest price.
Address, H, Bee Journal Office, 17, King William-
street, Strand, London.

YOUNG MAN wants SITUATION as Head or Single-
handed Gardener. Can take charge of apiary.
Eight years in list situation. First-class references.
Apply, Bee, care of Editor, Bee Journal, 17, King
William-street, Strand, London, W.C. H 34

THE YORKSHIRE
Bee-keepers' Supplies,

WILLIAM DIXON,

5, Beckett St., Leeds.

Hives, Extractors,

Smokers, Feeders,

Foundation, &c.

Prizes Awarded, Gold,
Silver, JcBronzeMedals.

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. EU1LSR, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

DON'T GET STUNG!

WHEN, BY USING A P I P TT O Tj

YOU CAN PREVENT IT.

«3T BEE-KEEPERS SAY IT IS MARVELLOUS, AND *®a

THEY WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT IT.

Send for a Bottle at once.

Small Bottles, 1/2, Large Bottles, 1/9, Post Free.

Cash must accompany Order.

To be obtained of all Appliance Dealers and

DARCY CRIMSHAW, HORSFORTH, LEEDS.

THE HONEY BEE :

Its Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology.
By T. W. COWAN, F.G.S., Ac, &c.

Editor of the British Bee Journal.
Cloth gilt, price 2s. 6d. ; postage, 2£d.

London: H0ULST0N & SONS, Paternoster Square;

ALL BOOKSELLERS ; AND

British Bee Journal and Record Office, 17,
King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.

June 6, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

221

TREATMENT OF FOUL BROOD.

As might have been expected, the
month of May has brought with it the
usual large increase in the number of
queries referring to foul brood, accom-
panied with specimen of diseased comb.
We do not know of anything which
should specially tend to develop the
disease at this season. Indeed, the
plentifulness of the reported cases may
be rather accounted for through its being
the season for finding out the hives where
mischief is being wrought, because of
inspection being more frequent than
earlier in the year.

In view, therefore, of the help needed
by readers in dealing with diseased
stocks just now — and at the request of
several correspondents, who hear of, but
do not see, our monthly paper — we insert
below an article from the Record, bearing
directly on the subject referred to,
which, after a few introductory words,
continues as under : —

We would therefore gladly banish the
gruesome subject from our pages at a
time when everything is, to the bee-
keeper, so full of hopefulness. But this
is just what we cannot do, for if an
attempt at cure is to be made, this is the
time to put it into practice. Another
reason which adds to the present need
for some light on the matter is the
lamentable lack of knowledge prevailing
among beginners as to the nature and
character of the disease with which they
sometimes have to deal. A letter
recently received forces this fact so
forcibly home to one's mind that,
although already replied to by post, we
print its contents here along with our
reply, the latter being somewhat extended
to make it more general in its applica-
tion, and because of its special apposite-
ness at the present time. Our corre-

spondent, dating from the county of
Herts on May 10, says : —

" Sir, — Having been asked by a friend to
look at his bees (six hives), I examined them
last evening, and find three out of the six
affected with foul brood. One is past hope,
the other two have a fair number of bees and
several frames with brood, but very patchy.
My object in writing is to ask if naphthaline
or naphthol beta can be given at this time of
year ? and if so, which of the two would be
more suitable under present circumstances ?
And what quantity should I require for
curing 1 "

Our reply was in effect as follows : —

" This is the most suitable and proper season
for making an effort to cure diseased stocks,
but we first say that none but hives having in
them as many bees as would constitute a fair-
sized swarm are worth troubling about, unless
two or more can be joined together. The
attempt to cure decided on, prepare before-
hand a set of new frames, and fit them with full
sheets of foundation ; provide also an old skep
— or a box of about the same capacity. Choose
a suitable day for the work, and don't begin
till the bees have ceased flying for the day.
It is also a good move, if convenient, to put
on some garment which can be boiled after
using. First, take the readiest means at hand
for avoiding any commotion among the bees
of adjoining hives ; set the skep on box
propped up in front on an extemporised plat-
form, the latter being covered with a spread
out newspaper ; lift out one by one the
frames of the hive, and shake the bees
off them on to platform in front of the skep.
As the frames are cleared of bees an assistant
should carry them indoors, laying them on a
newspaper ready for burning. "When the bees
are all got into the skep, tie over the mouth a
piece of coarse canvas or net, and put it away
where the bees may be kept quiet till wanted.
Next proceed to burn the diseased combs,
taking especial care to do away with all con-
taining honey, so far as burying out of sight
all remains which might attract bees if left
above ground. Follow on the same night
by scrubbing the hive well, using very
hot water in which a large handful of
common washing soda has been dissolved.
After scrubbing, pour boiling water from a
kettle spout all over the inside surface of the
hive. Leave it till next day to dry, or dry
well indoors. Next evening prepare a small
torch, by wrapping a piece of rag round the
end of a stick, wet the rag with paraffin, set
it alight, and pass the flame over the inside
of hive, going well into all corners and
crevices, so as to scorch, without burning, the
whole surface. After being exposed to the air
for the night, to remove any smell offensive
to the bees, the hive is fit for re- tenanting by
the bees. Next morning, therefore, place in
new frames of foundation, adjust the quilts

222

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[June 6, 1895.

(clean ones, of course), put the hive on
its old stand, return the bees, and feed with
medicated syrup till the combs are drawn
out. It need hardly be said that two or three
lots of bees taken from diseased combs as above
will get on better than a single lot ; but after
the above process has been gone through, and
subsequent preventive measures taken, there
are very fair chances of success. On no
account, however, should the labour be under-
taken for the purpose of trying to save a weak
lot of diseased bees. With such, burning
along with combs and frames is the only
sensible course to take."

We assume the writer of the letter
dealt with above, to be a beginner, other-
wise it would be the reverse of encourag-
ing to find such lack of knowledge on a
subject to which so much space has been
devoted in our journals for many years
past. Any way, we give his letter as
written, and may now still further add
to our reply by repeating what has been
so often said, viz., that naphthaline and
naphthol beta — valuable though they,
undoubtedly, are as remedial agents in
curing diseased colonies of bees — will be
ineffectual so long as combs with cells
full of rotting brood, dead through being
affected with bacillus alvei, are left in
the hive. In all but the very slightest
cases of incipient foul brood the whole
of the combs containing brood or honey
must be removed from the bees and got
rid of. This is imperatively necessary.
To inquire — as many do — "Will the
balls of naphthaline put on the floor of
the hive rid the bees of foul brood " ? is
simply absurd. Neither naphthaline nor
naphthol beta will kill the spores of the
disease. To say they will is to mislead,
and those who make statements to the
contrary are doing harm to the craft.
We do not believe the chemical agent
has yet been discovered that will destroy
the spores without destroying brood and
bees as well.

The value of the remedies referred to
and their usefulness in preventing infec-
tion and the spread of the disease are
indisputable ; hence it is that we advise
the constant use of naphthaline on floor-
boards and medicating all bee-food with
naphthol beta. Attention to this advice,
and action such as is described above-
when season and surroundings are
favourable — will put readers in posses-
sion of all the help we can render in
ridding their bees of foul brood.

^axmpvikna.

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be
taken of anonyrrtous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith, illustra-
tions should ; be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c.,must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William'
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

BEE JOTTINGS.

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2084] Bee Stings. — These are ominous
words in the ears of the average mortal, not-
withstanding the Briton's dictum — " Who's
afraid ? " Well, it is not for me to say ; but
certainly if something akin to this feeling was
not experienced by some, even of us Britishers,
a far greater portion of our rural population
would be bee-keepers than at present is the
case. To my mind, it is simply marvellous — ■
considering the way some good folks knock
their bees about when manipulating — that
more stings are not inflicted. Armed with so
perfect a means of defence, it speaks volumes
for the bees' good temper that this is so,
because, no matter how well intentioned the
interference of the " bee master," he can, from
the bees' point of view, only be regarded as an
enemy. A bee never volunteers an attack,
save in the immediate neighbourhood
of its hive, and even then never with-
out some reason. Under manipulation the
case is somewhat different, but, even here —
with bees in normal condition — ordinary care
and a certain amount of aptitude or deftness
will, in nearly all cases, secure immunity from
assault. There are seasons and conditions,
however, when bees should be left severely
alone — as in hot, sultry, thundery weather, or
when robbing is the order of the day. Queen-
less stocks, too, are sometimes inclined to resent
interference. There are also some people so
naturally nervous and "jerky " in their move-
ments as to render them totally unfit to go
near a bee-hive. Others, again, whom I have
met, go " slap-dash " at a hive, and bang about
them when manipulating in a way that
makes it positively painful to see them.
To avoid being stung, one must study
the foibles, requirements, and weaknesses, of
our " little labourers," so that when operating
or working among we may be able to avoid
the hundred and one little — unintentional
perhaps — provocations which lead to stings.
In a word, the whole secret of avoiding stings
is "management." Learn to manage your

June 6, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

223

bees quietly, coolly, and carefully, but always
with confidence. No nervous fear and
tremblings when opening a hive, no sudden
jerks, no jars, and no crushing bees. Gently
remove frame after frame, do what is required,
and the result is, no stings ! Morever, never
interfere with a hive without sound reasons
for doing so, and when these reasons exist
don't keep it open longer than necessary.
Wear a veil on the hat always, ready for
pulling down over the face when needed, but
don't wear gloves ; use the smoker or other
subjugator just sufficiently to bring about the
desired result, but no more. Finally, re-
member that to have confidence in oneself
is to secure the confidence of others among
•whom we work, and this truism may be
applied to that sensitive and wide-awake
little creature — the honey bee.

Br aula Cccca. — Some driven bees and queen,
hived last autumn, were much troubled with
this pest. The tobacco smoke, tried at the
time, affected the bees more than the parasites.
I thought the severe winter we had would
have exterminated them, but a spring examina-
tion showed them to be as numerous as ever,
the queen carrying five of them. I tried hand
picking, but it did not answer. At the end of
April I placed three half balls of naphthaline
in the hive, and as the same disappeared I
kept up the supply, and to-day (June 1) not a
single one of the vermin could be found in
the hive after careful search. They may have
died out naturally, but the stock was affected
for nine months, so I put it down to the
naphthaline.

The Uses of Anger. — It might at first
appear well for mankind if the bee were with-
out its sting ; but upon recollection it will be
found that the little insect would then have
too many rivals in sharing its labours. A
hundred other lazy insects, fond of honey and
hating labour, would intrude upon the sweets
of the hive, and the treasure would be carried
off for want of armed guardians to protect it.
And it might at first appear well for mankind
if the principle of anger was not a part of our
constitution. But then we should be overrun
with rogues. The presence of anger, always
ready to start forth when an injury is done or
intended, has the effect of suppressing much
gross impudence and intolerable opposition.
The sting of noble anger applied to a dastard
who has bullied the weak or injured the un-
offending, has a most salutary influence in
restraining him for the future, and in warning
his fraternity of the like punishment which is
all ready for them. But man should control
his anger as the bee does its sting. It is not
to be perpetually projected on every
possible occasion, but to be used only when
impertinence, laziness, injustice, or fraud
require. — Family Doctor.

From which Parent do Bees inherit Working
Qualities ? — This was one of the questions
asked at the meeting of the Vermont B.K.A.,
reported in Canadian Bee Journal, and the

unanimous answer was " from both." I think
so, too, in fact it seems pretty clear that all
qualities, good, bad, and indifferent, come
from the same sources.

Is it a Pipe or a Whistle? — W. W.
M'Neal, in Am. B.J., says :—" Virgin queens
often call to each other, or to something, by
means of ' piping,' but that the wings are all
that is brought into action is not yet clear to
me. I have ' whistled ' swarms out by imitat-
ing the call of the queen ; so, in those cases, it
was through the aid of sound alone the com-
munication was given." "Well, well, this
clearly "takes the cake." Another thing is
clear — W. W. M'Neal is, beyond all question,
an expert, at any rate at bee-keeping. If
W. W. M'N. would only give us full instruc-
tions " how to do it," we need not trouble any
further about self-hivers, swarm-catchers, &c,
but have simply to choose a quiet day, and,
like the "pied piper of Hamlin," play or
whistle our tune, and, presto ! out comes our
swarm just to suit our convenience. Dear me,
the longer we live the less we know, and if we
go on at this rate and live long enough, we
shall all die in ignorance. After learning
so much, too ! — H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath,
Surrey.

BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX.

[2085.] About a month since I ventured
(2069, p. 185) upon a bold prophecy. We all
know what an unmitigated satisfaction to
human nature it is to be able to say, in others'
misfortunes, "There, didn't I tell you so?"
But when you have plunged head over ears
into a rash forecast of good luck, and, to your
own unbounded astonishment, come out all
right, you give yourself (metaphorically) a
hearty slap on the back ; you say to yourself,
" Well done, my boy ! '' and you feel on
beaming good terms with everybody else — for
the time being.

The " big boom " has, at any rate, begun.
May it continue ! Though the season is late,
everything connected with the bees is full of
promise. Here, on the South Coast, for weeks
we have been enjoying cloudless skies, day
and night. The winds have been a little keen,
but not enough to seriously incommode the
bees in their flight after forage. All the
blossoms seem to be running on in a con-
tinuous sequence without a perceptible
break. The fruit blossoms were some-
thing marvellous. The bees simply revelled
amongst them, with the consequence that,
with us, apples will be plentiful, gooseberries,
plums, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, and
currants only a little less so ; and only pears
seem likely to be scarce. Then have followed
on lilacs, laburnums, horse-chestnuts, and now
the hawthorns and elders. The flowers and
red clovers have also all come on together.
Only a little rain has been wanted. In the
last fortnight we have had two thunderstorms,

224

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[June 6, 1895.

but only a cupful of rain each time ; not
enough to lay the dust on our roads, which are
in a shocking and almost dangerous condition,
the stones having worked out, and lying about
loose all over the surface.

In my " Wells " hive the bees from one
side (the other being yet too weak) are build-
ing out and storing by themselves all sixteen
frames of a widespaced shallow super at a rate
little short of marvellous. To-day, since the
little rain last evening, I can say for certain
that honey is being stored in quantity. In
two single hives sections are being worked out,
and the bees are increasing so fast in these
three hives that I shall have all I can do to keep
them back from swarming just yet, although
under the brood-chambers of all three I have
frames with starters only after Mr. Simmins'
plan. _ The two halves of the hive I divided
are doing well. One will receive its last two
frames of brood foundation to-morrow, and
will be supered as soon as these are covered
and occupied. The other is showing a rapid
increase in its population, owing to the quick
hatching out of the beautifully-marked brood
of the hybrid queen, whose introduction, after
serious mischances, thus proves to have been
successful. Both these lots are being carefully
fed, and will give a good account of them-
selves presently.

If we can only get some rain before the
white clover begins, and then a continuance
of this fine weather, I am convinced the honey
yield this year will be perfectly phenomenal.
Only yesterday I was called to look at a
neighbour's hive, where, although one rack of
sections was on, the bees were hanging out in
two great clusters ; and no lift or further sec-
tion-rack was ready to give them relief, poor
things. In the village, a swarm from a skep,
after being hived, flew away yesterday when
no one was on the watch, and was lost. To escape
the possibility of myself losing another swarme
this year, I have secured, and have just received,
one of Mr. Hole's most ingenious self-hivers,
slightly altered, through his kindness, to meet
some ideas of my own which (to me at any
rate) increase its usefulness ; and it will give
me the greatest pleasure, both for my own sake
and his, if later on I am enabled to report its
usefulness and success in my hands.

When space is not so valuable as it must
needs be at present, there are two subjects as
to which I have much sympathised with
several recent writers to the B.B. J., and upon
which I should also much like to have my
little say. 1. The expense of starting even a
small apiary, which I (who have kept a true
account of all expenditure and receipts) find
enormous. 2. And the woes of dealing with
black bees, when a sting on the hand makes
your arm swell to three times its normal size
right up to the shoulder, and a sting in the
face places you hors tie combat for quite three
days afterwards ! Truly, when you come to
think of it, a bee-keeper is a wonderfully
courageous, enthusiastic, and long-suffering

being ; and I am rather inclined to believe
must be, like the poet, born and not made. —
W. R. N., Sussex, May 31, 1895.

TREATMENT OF FOUL-BROODY
HIVES.

[2086.] Now that the season for bee3 and
honey is at hand, and the dreaded pest of foul
brood will be making itself felt, I wish to
report, for the benefit of bee-Keepers, how the
stock I treated, and reported in B.J. for August
23 last year (2054, p. 334) came through the
winter.

I have been fighting this disease for more
than five years, and tried several remedies
recommended ; but failure was invariably the
result. But, thanks to the plan pursued of
driving the bees from the diseased skep, and
treating them as a swarm, I am now able to
report that the stock above referred to is very
strong, and seems now perfectly cured of the
disease. I also treated two other stocks abcnt
a month later than above. One, a skep which
appears all right and apparently healthy, but
the other stock in a frame hive was killed by
the frost, not having been securely packed,
and being situated in a very exposed position.
There were plenty of stores in this hive, which
I had no hesitation in distributing among my
other stocks, not finding a single trace of
disease in the combs.

Now that the honey flow is almost with us,
I would recommend bee-keepers having foul-
broody stocks fairly strong not to let the season
pass without an attempt in curing them. I
may be allowed to remark that a stock found
suffering from foul brood last autumn will
rarely be found strong in bees after such a
winter as is just past, or, indeed, any winter.
— M. K., Piltown, co. Kilkenny.

A BEE DISTRICT IN CORNWALL.

[2087.] I had, a short time ago, the plea ure
of spending a couple of days with a friend
whose apiary is situated on the banks of the
Tamar, and partaking of his hospitality. On
the evening of the second day we proceeded to
a favourable situation to view 20 acres or
more of cherry, plum, and pear trees in
bloom, and it was a sight to cause the heart of
the bee-man to rejoice ; but my friend is not
only in possession of such an orchard as this,
but many other kinds of fruit are grown on
his farm. There are several acres of straw-
berries, besides gooseberries, raspberries, and
apples, making it a veritable paradise for the
bees, and an enviable location for any bee-
keeper. During the two days spent in the
immediate neighbourhood, I had an oppor-
tunity of observing, both near and at a dis-
tance, what the two banks of the Tamar are
worth as a gathering ground for bees, and

June G, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

225

■whoever visits it— say from Saltash to Cal-
stock — will agree with me that there is scarcely
any better to be found in the counties of
Devon and Cornwall.

Those residing on the banks of this charmiDg
river, with its many nooks and valleys, would
be giving attention to their own interests if
they were to consider what are the possibilities
of so large and well-favoured a piece of
country as this is for bee-keeping, for not only
is every large farmer in this district engaged
more or less in the production of fruit and
vegetables, but nearly every cottager seeks to
obtain some return from his bit of garden
from the few flowers or small fruits it pro-
duces, and which finds so ready a market in
one of the three 'towns.

It is not sufficiently understood how neces-
sary bees and other insects are to a good crop
of fruit. Even those who have studied botany
(plant life) on the one hand and entomology
(insect life) on the other, are not often prac-
tical men, and while they see that it is neces-
sary for every bloom to be visited by insects
to fertilise it and cause the fruit to set, the act
is such an insignificant one that they scarcely
advocate it or mention it as a fact. Think
what would be the increase in fruit in such a
djstrict as the one I am referring to if the fer-
tilisation of the blooms of the many thousands
of fruit trees were ensured ! Think, too, of
the quantity of honey that might be gathered
by the bees if there were bee-keepers in the
neighbourhood, and how much might be added
to the cottagers' earnings if they were in pos-
session of a few stocks of bees managed intelli-
gently.— John Brown, Tolypliant May 6,
1895.

AN " EARLY " SWARM.

[2088.] I have a colony of bees on eight
frames which I supered on Monday, May 27.
This morning I covered up the hive about
seven o'clock, as usu?i, with a sack, and, much
to my astonishment, a first swarm issued from
this hive at 8.30 a.m., the sun at this time
being very powerful, although its rays were
not striking directly on this hive. Is not
this a very unusually early hour for a first
s warm to issue 1 — Gaffer, Gosport, May 29.

[It is unusual for swarms to come off at
8.30 a.m., though we have had several as
early in our own experience. — Eds.]

RUNAWAY SWARMS.
[2089.] I have just met with, to me, an odd
experience. For some days past one of my
three hives has been apparently on the point
of swarming. To-day at 11 a.m. we found a
swarm clustered on a small fir-tree -within
fourteen feet of said hive. Twenty minutes
later I hived them in a skep, where they re-
mained quietly until 3 p.m., when I found the
swarm on the wing. They then flew to a
neighbour's garden 150 yards off and entered a
hive already full and also expected to swarm,

at least so I am credibly informed. Is not
this very unusual ? Neither hive (frame
hives) now appears crowded at entrance, but
that may be explained by my neighbour's
hive having tier of sections on. I seem to
have lost a swarm without remedy. — Jno.
Foale.

[There is no accounting for such bee-
vagaries as the above, but they do sometimes
occur even in the best regulated apiaries. —
Eds.1 F

AN INTERESTING LETTER

ON REARING " A 1 " BEES, AND HONEY
PRODUCTION.

Our old and esteemed correspondent, Mr.
John Walton, of Weston, Leamington, has
favoured us with a letter written to him some
years ago by the late Walter Marshall, who
was for so many years Messrs. Geo. Neighbour
& Sons' " bee-man,'' and manager of the bee-
farm at Hemel Hempstead belonging to that
firm. The letter, besides being valuable as
giving the views of a very experienced bee-
keeper, is especially noticeable now because
of its advocacy of working twin stocks of bees
for mutual advantage, as doe3 Mr. Wells to-
day. We therefore print it below, believing
that our readers will be as much interested in
its perusal as we were ourselves. After some
reference to private matters, Mr. Marshall
goes on to say : —

Honey bees— for that is what we all want —
in saying "all," I don't include those who
merely keep bees as a " hobby," but only those
who work them for profit. Now I am just
going to tell you what I should do were I
working for myself, you understand. I should
select the very best brown English queen (the
small black sort are not so good) to breed
from, one whose bees had done well in
honey gathering, start cells from this selected
queen, and raise as many as I required for
my purposes. Meantime, I should manage to
have nothing else but Italian or Carniolan
drones in my apiary. To succeed in this I
should keep down drone-brood raising at
nearly as I could, but if the bees persisted in
raising drones after supplying full sheets of
foundation, I should shave off the heads of all
black drone-brood raised, and supply every
stock with drone-brood from the best Italian
or Carniolan stock I had. I should keep
frames of drone-comb by me for the purpose,
and by placing one of these into the
selected Italian, &c, stock every few days,
I should soon get all my stock supplied
with drones of the kind wanted, and that
will satisfy the bees and keep them from
raising drones from the eggs of their own
queen. Having the queens hatched out, and
plenty of the selected drones to mate with
them, the chances are I should get most, if not
all, of my young black queens mated with
Italian or Carniolan drones, and thus have the

226

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[June 6, 1895.

desired bee for my purpose. On the other
hand, hybrids got by crossing an Italian queen
with a black drone are not nearly so good,
and are very vicious. With bees crossed as
advised, we get the best points of both. From
the native queen we get (1) the hardiness ;
(2) winter's well; (3) makes whitest comb
honey ; (4) are more suited to our climate ;
and the Italian drone gives us the qualities of
prolificness and gentleness. Now, we are
supposing, then, that we have got the right
sort of bees for " biz," as the Americans say.
Next comes the best hive. Well, I suppose
every one has got that, just as every mother
has got the "best baby." My preference,
however, is for twin-hives ; they have, to my
mind, many advantages over single ones. In
the first place, two fair stocks winter better
together than single lots, and they build up
quicker in the spring, as each derives the
benefit of the other's warmth. In the hive
that I prefer the two stocks are placed in the
centre with thin close-fitting dummy, i.e., one
that, when in position, will not allow a bee to
pass. It is to be made of ^-in. pine, with
centre hole cut out 1^ in. by li in. Over this
hole is tacked a piece of wire cloth on both
sides. This allows the heat to pass through,
and keeps both colonies of the same smell (an
advantage which you will presently see). Give
the bees sufficient room, and close up with thick
double dummies fitting close at sides, but allow-
ing J in. space at bottom for bees to pass under
into the empty chamber or play-room on each
side. The advantage of this play-room in
spring I can put candy, water in a saucer with
a sponge in it, also syrup or pea-flour, and on
cold days the hive can be closed entirely to
keep bees at home, and if they are well sup-
plied with the above there will be no " spring
dwindling," as in hives the bees of which are
allowed to fly just as they like.

On fine mild days it is, of course, beneficial
for them to fly, and to remove dead bees, &c,
which, in the meantime, will have been
brought forth from the brood-nest into the
outer chamber.

By having a window at the end of hive,
you can see at a glance how the bees stand for
food, water, &c, without opening the hive.

Now, let us suppose that breeding has been
going on, and combs added as required until
both ends of hive are full of bees and brood
and are fit to swarm ; also that honey is coming
in. I should then take away the queen with
three or four frames of brood, bees, and honey
(hatching brood would be best), and place
them in a new hive ; then, by adding frames
full of foundation, I build them up into a
good stock. I next attend to the honey-stock,
which contains all the old or honey-gathering
bees and brood. I just alternate every frame,
thus uniting both stocks without any fuss or
fighting. If they are to be run for comb-
honey, I place seven or eight combs of either
hatching brood, or about half brood, and the
others empty combs, into the centre with the

remaining queen on them. That forms the brood
nest. I then close up the thick dummies and
place all the remaining combs containing
brood, &c, at the respective ends of the hive,
and set on super over the brood nest. The
bees will hatch out the brood on the outside
combs, and that forms a rousing stock on from
twenty to thirty frames. Then comes the
honey glut. If the bees had only the brood-
nest proper and the supers, they would have
to stay at home comb-building in the supers ;
but instead of that they have all the combs on
the outside of brood nest wherein to store the
honey gathered ; they can store during the
day and all hands (or all bees) work away in
supers at night, carrying up the honey from
outside combs into super as fast as they can
build combs to receive it. Thus the bees are
not idle at any time ; having room to spare,
they do not crowd the brood chamber with
honey and stop breeding, which means swarm-
ing and loss of honey. If the bees will not
take to supers readily, you can run the outside
combs for extracted honey, so you get the
harvest either one way or the other.

Walter Marshall.

WEATHER

Westbourne,
Rainfall, "18 in.
Heaviest fall, '08 in.

on 18th.
Rain fell on 4 days.
Below average, l-89 in.
Max. Temperature,

74° on 30th. '
Min. Temperature, 34°

on 2nd.
Minimum on grass, 26°

on 2nd.
Frosty nights, 0.
Sunshine, 314"2 hours.

11th,

75-4

REPORT.
May, 1895.
Brightest Day,

13-9 hours.
Sunless Days, 1.
Above average,

hours.
Mn. Maximum, 61-9°.
Mn. Minimum, 44'3°.
Mean Temperature,

531°.
Maximum Barometer,

30-01° on 2nd.
Minimum Barometer,

29-50° on 18th.

L. B. BlRKETT.

BEE STATISTICS.
A correspondent sends a press cutting —
(without naming the paper from whence it
comes) — which reads as under : — " For some
reason, what that reason is we are not aware,
bee-keeping is not in this country so general
by any means as it should be considering the
profitable character of the industry. On the
Continent much more is made of the products
of the hive. According to the latest details
available the annual output of wax is about
15,000 tons, with a value approaching
£1,350,000. Of honey, however, the annual
production is estimated at 80,000 tons, and its
value at £2,200,000. Of this total Germany,
which possesses 1,910,000 stocks, contributes
20,000 tons ; Spain, with 1,690,000 stocks,
19,000 tons ; Austria, with 1,550,000 stocks,
18,000 tons ; and France, with 950,000 stocks,
10,000. Even little Denmark produces 900
tons of honey, and Greece 1,400. In the

June 6, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

227

United States of America there are about
2,800,000 stocks of bees, producing annually-
some 30,000 tons of honey. No statistics
relating to this industry are collected in Great
Britain, but we assuredly do not make the best
of our opportunities in this regard."

<f Hems Hiul Helios.

[1285.] Bees Transferring themselves. —
About a month ago, having a skep which was
doing well, I set it above a frame-hive with
five frames filled with foundation. In a week
the bees had begun to draw out the founda-
tion, so ten days ago I drove the queen below,
and they now cover seven frames (brood in
five). 1 shall, therefore, give the other three
frames within ten days, when I propose re-
moving the skep. Under these conditions
would you advise me to let them swarm at
once (after removal of skep) or try and pre-
vent them (skep will be removed on Saturday,
June 8) 1 Honey is the chief object, but I
should not mind sacrificing 10 lb. or 151b. this
season. — W. X. Y., Chelmsford.

Reply. — If the stock were ours, we should
first prepare a box of shallow frames, filling
latter with foundation. Then remove skep
and put on a queen excluder ; drive the bees
into a similar skep, run them into shallow-
frame box, and set on top of queen excluder.

[1286.] Ants' Nest in Hive— I bought
three hives of bees the other day, two are
strong and carry pollen plentifully, and as the
bees clustered in a heap on the alighting- board
I put on the shallow-frame box with founda-
tion, as I read in the B.B.J, that that it tends
to stop swarming if they have plenty of room.
The other hive was so quiet, a bee rarely
being seen to come out of it, so I have just
examined it, and find that halfway up the
lower box there has been an ants' nest, and
only a few bees are left in one space-. I find
that the comb for that distance up is black,
and empty, covered with cobwebs, and the
remainder fairly clean, but where the bees are
working the cells are full of honey ; they
carry no pollen in, but I see them come out to
sun themselves, and often keep turning round,
fall on the ground and die. I have sent you
two dead bees and comb, the black is the
bottom. The specimens in the lower box are
from the other two hives, as on looking at
them I find large quantities of dead between
the side of the hive and the box of brood
comb, as if they had got out of the box
and could not get out of the hive, and
had died there. That is only supposition on
my part, as I know nothing about bees except
their " hinder end.'' When should the shallow
frames be put in ? and would it be safer to
put a swarm into the hive I have just de-

scribed ? I bring this before you at once, in
case it may be foul brood. — John M. Hen-
derson, Dorset, May 20.

Reply. — The hive with ants' nest — either
past or present — wants turning inside out so
far as combs and contents. Bees sent show no
visible cause of death, but having recently
hatched drones (Ligurians) among them, we
should say the queen is worthless, and the few
bees left are worthless too. We can say
nothing as to foul brood from comb sent, but
would clean the hive out well before using
again, and burn the combs, if not worth
melting down for wax.

[1287. J Artificial Swarms. — I should be
glad if you would kindly advise in the follow-
ing case : — I made an artificial swarm on
May 24 by removing the old hive when the
bees were flying freely, and placed a hive with
combs of honey and one frame of brood from
another hive in the old position. I find now
that I have two queen-cells close together.

1. When will the queen hatch 1 and when may
I expect to find brood ? 2. Of course, only
one of these queens will head the stock, the
other being killed. When she goes out on her
mating trips, will the other bees follow her,
there being no unsealed brood ? — W. H. P.,
Nomoood.

Eeply. — 1. Eight days from the sealing over
of the cell, or sixteen days from the laying of
the egg — probably the 5th or 6th inst. Queens
usually commence laying about forty-eight
hours after fertilisation. 2. There is just a
possibility of this happening, but a frame of
unsealed brood from another hive would
prevent this, and be helpful to the bees in
other ways.

[1288.] Swarms Returning to Parent Hive.
— 1. I had a swarm on Sunday, May 19, and
they pitched on a currant bush. I hived the
swarm in a skep in the usual way, but in a
few minutes the bees all went back into the
parent hive. What was the reason of this 1

2. Are they likely to swarm again ? This is
my third swarm this month, the others being
hived all right, and are doing well. — E.
Holloway, Westbury, Wilts.

Beply. — 1. The queen either has for some
reason failed to cluster with the swarm, or she
has been killed during the process of hiving.
2. In the ordinary course the hive should
swarm again about nine days later.

[1289.] Dealing with Old Hives. — Last year
I bought a stock of bees in an old hive which
was only held together by comb inside. I
have just moved it into next garden, and by
so doing have so badly shaken it that the
sides have given way, and the bees (which are
very numerous and likely to swarm soon) can
enter at every corner. It is useless trying to
repair it, as the wood is rotten. Please advise
what is the best thing to do. Shall I super

228

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[June G, 1895.

and patch up the hive, or drive into new one,
or wait until they swarm, and then re-hive ?
— Constant Reader, Isle of Man.

Reply. — We should at once set the old hive
on top of the frames of new one — fitting the
latter with full sheets of foundation to pre-
vent excess of drone- comb — and let the bees
work down into it.

$}w $fam to- tyomt

June 11 to 14. — At Bournemouth, in connec-
tion with Royal Counties' Agricultural Society.
Annual show of Hants and Isle of Wight
B.K.A. Liberal prizes, open to all. Schedules
from hon. sec, E. H. Bellairs, Wingfield,
Christchurcb. Entries close June 7.

June 12, 13. — Essex Agricultural Society's
Show at Southend. Entries closed.

June 24 to 28. — Royal Agricultural Society's
Show at Darlington. Entries closed. Secre-
tary, J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

July 17, 18, 19. — Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society's show at Grantham. Thirteen classes
and liberal prizes for bees, honey, hives, and
appliances. For schedules, apply to S. Upton,
Sec, St. Benedicts-square, Lincoln. Entries
close June 28.

July 19 and 20. — Bristol District Bee-
keepers' Association. Annual Show at
Knowle. Entries close July 13. Schedules
from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long Ashton,
Bri3tol.

July 25, 26, and 27. — Royal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries close July L. Schedules from Jas.
Birch, Sec, 3, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.

July 25, 26. — Kent B.K.A. annual show at
Tun bridge Wells. Schedules from J. Garratt,
Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 5 (Bank Holiday).— Notts B.K.A.
Annual County Show on the Sconce Hills,
Newark. Eighteen classes for bees, hives, and
honey, with liberal prizes, open to all. Entries
close July 27. A. G. Pugh, hon. sec, N.B.K.A.,
51, Mona-street, Beeston.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries close June 29.
Schedules from Marshall Stephenson, Sec,
York.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West
Bromwich. In connection with the Staffs.
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.
Schedules, when ready, from Harold Twenty-
man, Wolverhampton.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

Noticesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queriet forwarded will be attended to, and thou
only of personal interest will be answered in this eolwmn.

T. Jones (Kidderminster). — Honey Tins. —
These may be had from W. P. Meadows,
Syston, or wholesale from the Self-Opening
Tin Box Company, London. Honey in
section being of last year, and granulated, is
out of condition for sale purposes, but
beyond being rather thin it is fairly good,
and we do not detect any marked " sour-
ness," as stated.

Felix Bridgett (Stoke-on-Trent). — Drone
Cells in Foundation.- If comb-foundation
is made for drone-cells, we should not use
it for any but surplus- chambers. It would
lead only to trouble to try if bees would
alter the cells to worker size by using it in
brood-chambers.

Perplexed (Tolgarth). — Syrup in Brood
Chambers. — 1. There are no means of dis-
tinguishing betwen honey and syrup when
inspecting combs, but sugar syrup is not
honey, and if bees store it along with the
latter the honey will be spoiled as honey. 2.
Yes. 3. A stock should have about 20 lb.
of stores in the combs, when packed up for
winter, and if the food is sealed it is so
much the better.

W. H. H. (Tender). — Bees Deserting Hive. —
It is so altogether unusual for bees to
repeatedly desert or swarm out of their hive,
as stated, that without further details we
cannot explain it. Is there any brood in the
hive ? Or. anything unusually offensive
about the combs ?

E. H. M. (Hereford).— If queen has been
raised from brood or eggs inserted on
May 27, she may possibly have hatched out
by the time this appears in print, or soon
after. If she hatches out all right, there need
be no fear of her not being fertilised at this

J. Fenwick, Benedick, and T. S. M. — Refer
to the article dealing with foul brood on
page 221.

W. A. Balcombe (Faversham). — Driving
Bees from <S/c^s. — There is no risk in
driving bees from skep twenty-one days after
top swarm has issued. In fact, if it is
desired to do away with the old skep, and
put the bees into a new hive, that is the
proper time to do it.

M. T. H. (Tunbridge Wells).— Comb is affected
with foul brood, but as the disease is evi-
dently not of long standing, we advise deal-
ing with the stock as directed on p. 221.

Joseph Smith (Kettering). — Stock is foul
broody, and as the bees are so few in number,
we advise destruction of bees, combs, and
frames, and disinfection of hive.

Several replies to queries are in type but
unavoidably held over till next week.

June G, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

229

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, Ae. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

PURE BLACK BEES, swarms, nuclei, queens, NOW
READY. Alsforp, Expert, Blandford. H 23

F

H

lES. — A few SWARMS FOR SALE. For price,
apply, Giles, Cowsftel'd Apiary, Salisbury, h 35.

IVES, &c. FOR SALE. Low price. X. 27, Knight's
Hill-road, S.E. H 40

W

ANTED, CATALOGUES for Bee Outfits. Plants.
Balcombe, 11, Nelson-street, Favershara, Kent.

M

AKE YOUR OWN SWARM, and add our fine
virgin Queens. Price 3s. E. Brock, Sedlescombe.

STRAW HIVES, best English make, 12s. dozen.
Send P.O.O. Is. for sample. H. Seamark,
Willingham, Cambridge. H 42

FIRST-CLASS OBSERVATORY HIVE, fitted Standard
Frames, £1. PETTY, Broughton, Stockbridge,
Hants. H3S

FOR SALE, TWO strong STOCKS of BEES, £2 and
£1. 10s. Miss Pellatt, North Mimms, Hatfield,
Herts. H37

STRONG natural SWARMS, 10s. each, never seen
foul brood. Apply, E. Middlemass, Stamford,
Alnwick. H 36

STRONG, Healthy, Natural SWARMS from united
stocks, 1894 Queens. Price 15s. No foul brood in the
district. J. Wattie. Hinderton Hall, Neston, Cheshire

H27

Q?

UEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

Or> YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
^ ^ Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfleld, Sussex. 116

LACE PAPER lor GLAZLNG SECTIONS. Three naat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 Inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

STRAW HIVES, best cane-bound, round or flat top,
Is. 3d. each, 12s. dozen. Abbott Brothers,
Merchants Quay, Dublin. G 59

SPECIAL BEE VEILS, fine silk net, post free, 9d.
each,. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. G60

NOW READY, NATURAL SWARMS, 3£ to 4 lbs.,
12s. 6d. each. Guaranteed healthy. Box and
packing free. Albert Twinn, Apiary House, Ridgwell,
Halstead, Essex. H 30

T T will PAY all BEE-KEEPERS in Scotland, Ireland,
J. Wales, Devonshire, Somersetshire, and Cornwall,
to send to ABBOTT BROTHERS, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. H 15

ABBOTT'S PATENT FRAMES, improved pattern,
interchangeable with W.B.C. ends, 2s. doz., 21s.
gross. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay, Dublin.
h 14

HEALTHY BEES taken in EXCHANGE for Books
of Festival Pieces suitable for Band of Hope or
S. S. Festivals. Sample free. Address, Coniston Villa,
Lilymead-avenue, Totterdown, Bristol. H 43

HEALTHY BEES WANTED in EXCHANGE for
6d. Copies of " Thirty Old Tunes" set to popular
Hymns and suitable for Old Tune Services. Sample
free. Coniston Villa, Lilymead-avenue, Totterdown,
Bristol. H 44

WANTED, SECTIONS of HONEY COMB and
Extracted Honey. Packages lent free to Bee-
keepers and Associations. Prompt cash. State lowest
price, enclosing stamped envelope, to Rev. W. Hand-
COCK, Hampton Hill, Middlesex.

CARBOLINE POMADE (Fourth Season).— Kills Bee-
stings like magic, and prevents the horrible
smarting and burning inflammation. Prevents getting
stung, robbing, &c. In Is. bottles, post free. T.
HOLLIDAY, Astbury, Congleton.

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

BEES, Strong Healthy Swarms all '94 Queens, 10s. 6d.
each. Swarm-boxes to be returned. Ed. Long,
Cottenham, Cambs. H 11

COMB FOUNDATION, Abbott's celebrated fiat-
bottom or natural base, Is. 8d. per lb., super 2s.,
with addition of Is. with each order for packing,
booking, &c. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. Sample parcel 2s. post free. H 13

FOUR, strong joiner-made Hives, double walls, each
with 10 new standard frames, excluder zinc, 2
crates with 20 shallow frames with combs mostly drawn
out, 20s. each ; strong Hive, 10 frames, excluder, section
crate, crate with 10 shallow frames with combs, 15s. ;
make-shift Hive, 10 frames, excluder, Lee's crate, 4 doz.
Lee's sections with block, 7s. 6d. ; Extractor, bicycle-
chain gearing, 20s., cost 31s. 6d. ; Honey Ripener, 2
strainers, 10s. What offers for straw skep, bell glass
(4 lbs.), 10 doz. W.B.C. metal ends, 20 standard and
9 shallow frames, veil, smoker, 60 sections, crate clearer,
3 rapid feeders, 7 bottle feeders. 2J lbs. brood
foundation, 1 lb. section foundation ? Mr. HoVvSE, Castle
Rising, King's Lynn. H 41

YE 0LDE ENCLISHE BEE.

Fine selected English Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Postage 3d. W.
Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

BEEKEEPERS in LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE and
surrounding Districts please note that the
CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES

for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL at the OLD
SPOT, 50, GREAT CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE
ROSE. Why pay carriage from long distances, when
you can buy as cheap and good locally, and have your
orders promptly attended to ? Catalogues gratis.

Sow now 14 varieties of Bee Flowers, price Is. Full
directions to each ; easy to grow. Cash with order.
Buyers of big quantities of SECTIONS, JARS, &c, please
write for quotations per 1,000 and per 5 gross.

CHAPMAN'S HONEY PLANT SEED, 6d. Packet.
Wholesale and Retail.

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

THE Y0RESH1EB
Bee-keepers' Supplies,

WILLIAM DIXON,

5, Beckett St., Leeds.

Hives, Extractors,

Smokers, Feeders,

Foundation, &c.

Prizes Awarded, Gold,
Silver, JcBronzeMedals.

SCREW-CAP HONEY BOTTLES,

English Make. Cheap. Clean. Handy.

16-oz. size, per 10 doz., 12/9 ; 8-oz. size, per 6 doz., 7/-.

Packing free.

EXPERT SMOKER (Patent applied for).

Both hands at liberty to work frames.

An Old Bee-keeper's Testimony :— " With the valve

added, your little Smoker is perfect." Post free 2s.

W. T- GAUNETT, Steade Road, Sheffield.

'For HIVES made of ,

carefully selected and '

seasoned wood.

For EXTRACTORS,

FOUNDATION,

SECTIONS,

SMOKERS,
<fcc. &c.
Is a very good Railway
Centre for the West of
England.
Illustrated Catalogue Free.

E. J. BURTT

GLOUCESTER.

230 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 6, 1895.

W. BAZELEY & SONS,

FOR-

NORTHAMPTON,

Best Smokers,

Best Foundation,

Best Section (Grooved or Plain),

Best "Guinea Outfit,"

Best Goods of every description.

CATALOGUE POST FEEE.

ALL GOODS CARRIAGE PAID.

W. BAZELEY & SONS, Northampton.
E. C. WALTON & CO.,

MUSKMAM, WEWARK,

SEASON I895.

We hold a large stock of Sections, Foundation, Feeders,
Smokers, Veils, Extractors, Frames, Knives, and other Bee

Appliances, and can sender return. We also have ^e=^a^ Q/ft

a Stock of our well-known "MARVEL" HIVE, ||E3w our well,
with Crate of Sections or Carr's Frames complete IBfiSKi known

for 10s. 6d. JF?J5t? ' MARVEL '

Eetail Orders of Bee Appliances over £2 carriage paid to any station in Great Britain.

COODS ON APPROVAL-DEPOSIT WITH EDITORS.

Swarms, Wax, and Honey taken in Exchange for Appliances.

Catalogue of Bee Appliances FREE. Catalogue of Greenhouses, Frames, &c, FREE.

Catalogue of Poultry Houses, Coops, Buildings, Stables, &c, FREE.

E. C, WALTON & CO., MUSKHAM, NEWARK.
iJ. ■!■ SlUff AStUji Near Peterboro'.

QprpiAl I Scarcity and price of BEESWAX compels me to advance
Ol LuIJiL I 2d. per lb. on FOUNDATIONS above Catalogue prices.

OUR 1895 GATALOGUE READY. POST FREE.

One Recipient writes— " J. II. II., This Catalogue eclipses all others, also proving you
reliable and original."

Our " FALCON " SECTIONS to hand months back.

These are the only Sections fit to use for Self-Foundation Fixings.

Tons of Beeswax still Wanted— 1/6 per lb. paid cash, 1/7 per lb. in trade.

To be delivered, Carriage Paid, Holme Station, Q.XT.B.

June 13, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

231

(Mtorial, §jtritra, to.

USEFUL HINTS.

Weather. — Almost without a break
beyond a few much-needed showers, the
Aveather has continued most favourable
for bee-keeping, fully maintaining the
character given of it a fortnight ago on
p. 211, the, natural result being rapid
honey storing, which, as we Avrite, is still
continued where bee-forage is plentiful.
We learn from a reader located at St.
Albans that he had third storeys of
shallow-frames on one hive, nearly all
sealed over and ready for removal a week
ago, the honey coming mainly from a
large field of sainfoin. A Kent bee-
keeper also reports, on another page,
having taken 50 lb. of new honey from
one hive on May 31. Some very fine
new sections, too, have already been
placed on the London market, so that
the beautiful bee weather of the past
three or four weeks has not only pro-
mised, but yielded well.

On the other hand, we hear of a few
cases where strong stocks, with bees in
full possession of surplus chambers, have
been gathering but slowly for some days
past. This, however, may very safely be
put down to lack of forage in the district
Avhere such hives are located. Bees
cannot gather surplus if there is a scarcity
of nectar-secreting bloom in the locality,
and nothing short of this latter condition
will account for the difference in results.
Where one or two sources of supply are
solely reliedjupon for surplus, the point is to
work up for them; in a word, to be ready
with a large army of workers, and wait !
The bees will themselves soon make it
plain when honey is to be had.

The present season, though now so
full of promise, was almost an entire
failure so far as the early supply usually
got from fruit-bloom. Excepting where
raspberries are grown by the acre, as in
Kent, the fruit-bloom has been over for
some time, and, owing to cold winds just
at what ought to have been its best
period, little or no surplus was gathered
from it. But full amends have since
been made for the earlier failure, and
rapid storing is now so general in favour-
able districts that new season's honey is
assured for the early shows. What is

now wanted is a few good soaking showers
at night to help on the clover plant and
make the bee-keeper rejoice.

Swarms. — Bees maintained their pre-
dilection for Sunday "outings," the 12th
ult. being a big day for swarms. The 1 1 th
and 13th also appear to have yielded a
fair number, but Sunday was the bees'
choice. More or less swarms issued
subsequently, until the cold winds of the
latter end of the month supervened and
stopped further bee-emigration, which is
now getting into full swing again. Where
top swarms come off just when honey is
coming in fast, and surplus chambers are
filling well, it is important to set the
swarm, after hiving, on the old stand,
and at once remove the supers from
parent hive to the swarm for completion.
If the latter is hived on about six or
seven frames fitted with full sheets of
foundation, and the hive contracted by
close-fitting division boards, there will be
little or no diminution in the amount of
surplus honey compared with what
would have been secured if the stock had
not swarmed at all.

The parent hive, after removal to a
new stand some distance away, may have
all queen-cells but the best one cut away,
and be left to recoup itself, unless increase
of stocks are desired ; in which case the
brood-combs may be divided into two or
more nuclei, with a good queen-cell in
each. Carefully tended and kept warm
in their earlier stage, these nucleus
colonies often make the best of stocks
for another year. The opportunity
should also be taken (when dividing up
into these nuclei) for removing all frames
containing superfluous drone-comb, or
any that are faulty from whatever cause.
Artificial Swarms. — The favour
with which natural swarms are now re-
garded, and the preference shown for
such over artificial swarms, is very
marked, nor do we see anything but
consequent'good as a result of the change.
Everyone claiming to be a bee-keeper
should, of course, know how to form an
artificial swarm, because there are times
when, and circumstances under which it
is the best of "management" to swarm
a few stocks artificially, but for the
ordinary bee-keeper suitably situated
natural swarming is, for many reasons,
incomparably the best and most
generally successful.

232

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 13, 1895.

Preventing Swarms. — Where not
already on, surplus chambers should at
once be given to all strong hives. Better
give room too early than too late, if pre-
vention of swarms is desired, because
once bees make preparation for swarm-
ing, no amount of room will stop them.
Nothing, however, more surely tends to the
latter object than keeping young queens
at the head of stocks, and this is one
good reason for rearing a few surplus
queens in nuclei, as already mentioned, to
replace old queens in autumn. Before
giving first surplus chambers, advantage
should be taken of the opportunity for
renewing the supply of naphthaline on
floor-boards of all brood-chambers. A
supply given now will last till bees are
being packed for winter.

Runaway Swarms. Decoy Hives. —
Inquiries as to these are again coming
in. On the first point we cannot do
more than refer readers to what has
appeared in our pages regarding the law
on the subject, so far as it has been pro-
pounded. Decoy hives, too, placed in
gardens for the purpose of enticing
errant swarms are annoying enough to
the victims of such tactics. But they
are not illegal, consequently no steps —
beyond trying " moral suasion " — can be
taken to compel removal of the same.

Contracting Brood - Chambers.—
We would once more remind readers
that bees produced from eggs laid after
midsummer day has passed will do little
or no surplus storing this year except
where hives are within reach of heather.
Bearing this fact in mind, therefore, it
will be seen how secondary in importance
becomes the need for a large brood-
chamber subsequently to the date named.
And this is why it has been urged, not
without good reasons, that a contracted
brood-chamber is decidedly advantageous
during the honey-gathering season, so
that a larger body of workers may be
available for field labour, which means
honey.

Fixing Foundation.— The general
use of split-top bars for frames, and later
of split tops for sections, have largely
dispensed with the necessity for the
wax-smelter formerly used for running
hot wax along the edge of foundation to
attach the latter to the wood of frames
and sections. Those who still prefer the
old method named last may provide

themselves with a good enough substi-
tute at almost no cost by bending a
metal spoon into the form shown in cut.

This is an old " dodge," but it answers
the purpose very well if the cup contain-
ing the molten wax is inserted in a pan
of water kept as near boiling point as
may be. The secret of making a firm
joint is using very hot wax for your
" solder."

Honey Bonus. — According to an
Australian press - cutting sent us, the
Victorian Government, in order to en-
courage an export trade in honey, " has
decided to grant a bonus of Id. per lb.
for honey of approved quality gathered
by bees in Victoria and exported."
Another reason for the use of county
honey labels.

Bee Stings and Rheumatism. — An-
other press cutting received is one on
which British bee-keepers will look with
more favour than helping Australian
honey into our own market. It reads as
under: — "In Malta bees are plentiful,
and bee stings are in such repute as a
cure for rheumatism that resort to this
primitive method of inoculation has
been in common practice in severe cases
for generations, the results, it is said,
having been most satisfactory to the
patients."

HONEY IMPORTS.

The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of
May, 1895, was £3,293. — From a return
furnished by the Statistical Office, H.M.
Customs.

AN APPEAL

ON BEHALF OF THE WIDOW AND FAMILY OF
THE LATE THOMAS BADCOCK.

Amount received or promised ... £5 17 6
The following sums have since been
received : —

J. Huckle 0 5 0

R. Green 0 5 0

We purpose closing the fund next week ;
those purposing to send a donation will there-
fore please forward same without delay.

June 13, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

233

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Offiee, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

%• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
trill oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

A CO-OPERATIVE HIVE.

SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT QUEEN-REARING.

[2090.] So much has been already written
on the system of keeping several queens in
one hive, that it is with some hesitation that
I venture to add to the literature of the sub-
ject. I have kept bees for nearly fifteen
years in almost all sorts of hives, and until
recently have been strongly impressed with
the advantages of comparatively small,
manageable hives, say, ten bars, which could
be tiered up to any required strength. Most
of my experience has, however, been in a
large garden of nearly 3 acres, where, for a
matter of thirty hives, space was no object.
Having now only a very small strip of garden
to devote to bees, it seems to me that any form
of economising space is an advantage to bee-
keepers similarly situated, and therefore last
year I determined to try Wells' system with
ordinary combination hives, having an entrance
cut at the back ; and it seems to me that, while
admitting the trouble of manipulation with
large fixed hives, the system might, in certain
circumstances, be not only useful but capable
of extension. I intend if possible this summer
to fit up and stock such a large compound
hive, say 6 ft. by 2 ft., holding perhaps half a
dozen colonies. It seems to me that such a
hive would be useful where space is limited,
and that also the danger of robbing would be
minimised, as probably all the bees in such a
hive, whatever entrance they might happen to
use, would incline to treat the hive as common
property, and not attempt to rob except from
another hive. This can, of course, only be
decided by experiment. I hope to get over the
difficulties of queen-mating by having a few
entrances at the back, which can be used for
nuclei. Apart from this, however, it seems
that the " Wells " system, as ordinarily prac-
tised, has the advantage of readily allowing us
to save an extra queen or two in autumn to make
up any losses in the spring, and also that it has
a considerable bearing on the kind of race and
style of queen it is desirable to rear. The only
objection to which I attach any weight which

has been urged against " natives " is that the
queens are less prolific than those of other
races. As to their ceasing to store honey
sooner in the year, I think that the fact that
they generally do well at the heather shows
that where honey is to be had they will store
it. But by having two queens in a hive, each
laying, we have much the same effect as having
one queen of twice the prolificacy. Or, in
other words, while securing a large brood-nest,
taken as a whole, we yet reserve to each queen
a fairly contracted brood-nest, and if we adopt
narrow spacing, and say seven or eight bars to
each queen, my experience is that we get these
frames a dense mass of brood, that the bees
take readily to the supers, and that little or no
honey is found in the brood-nest. At the
same time the queen is not overtaxed in
any way. No special stimulation, except
feeding in bad weather, is necessary, and
the queens should be available for at least
two or three seasons, instead of being worn out
in one, as is the case when heavy and con-
tinuous breeding is required on the part of the
queen, so that the expense of queen raising is
very much reduced. It would therefore appear
that in rearing queens for working on the
"Wells" system, longevity, hardiness, and
honey-getting qualities should be sought,
while great fertility on the part of the queen
is of secondary importance, although, of
course, that should also be secured if possible,
though not at the expense of the other points
mentioned.

And now a word or two as to securing the
race of queens we require. Your correspon-
dent, Mr. Brice, in B.J. of May 30 (p. 214),
regrets that the discussion on heredity (by
which, presumably, he means Mr. Grimshaw's
letter and my reply thereto), has been allowed
to drop. I should be much interested in
hearing his own views on the subject, and,
doubtless, many other bee-keepers would be
glad to hear them also.

I should also like to ask a few questions
with regard 'to Mr. Brice's articles on queen-
rearing which appeared last autumn, and which
I read with great interest. As I have not the
back numbers of the B.B.J, by me, while
writing this, I may be pardoned if I quote
him incorrectly, or have misunderstood some
of his remarks. In the first place, why does
he consider it necessary that to produce fine
queens there must be a fertile mother present
in the hive where they are reared ? I have not
found this to be the case practically, and
theoretically one would expect that queenless
bees would, in their effort to obtain a queen,
devote all their energies to that purpose. All
that I have found necessary is to secure a
strong colony, with plenty of youDg hatching
bees, little or no unsealed brood to feed, and
eggs to start from. Secondly, if I remember
rightly — but I am not sure about this —
Mr. Brice concludes that when rearing a
queen in the ordinary course of nature, the
bees do not first make a queen cup in which

234

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 13, 1895.

the egg is laid, but that the queen cups found
on combs are utilised for this purpose ; but,
on the contrary, the bees construct a queen
cell round a larva already hatched. Remem-
bering the distinction which the late Mr.
Cheshire draws in his admirable work (vol. ii.)
between a normal and what he terms an
emergency queen cell, and the diagram of
former with egg in position at base of. cell, I
felt doubtful of this, as such a careful worker
as Mr. Cheshire would hardly be likely to
draw on his imagination in such a matter, but
still, until this morning, I had no personal
proof of the contrary. To-day, I was removing a
comb of brood from a strong stock to make
room for a sheet of foundation to supply eggs
for queen-raising. The comb removed was a
new white one, worked out from foundation a
few weeks before containing capped brood,
and in the centre of comb I noticed two open
queen cells. On inverting the comb to look
in I saw in the base of each an egg evidently
deposited in the cell for the express purpose
of raising a queen. I removed frame to
another stock, and shall see whether they
continue the work already begun for them. —
M. C. Clutterbuck.

(Conclusion in our next.)

NON-SWARMING SYSTEM.
[2091.] I have been much interested this
winter in the perusal of Mr. Simmins' book on
the above system. I therefore determined to
experiment with it on one of my best hives.
About three weeks ago I united two hives
into one, filling it with twelve full brood-
combs, placed another hive below with frames
and starters as directed, put a super above the
top tier, and waited for results. The first
result which gave me uneasiness was that the
bees refused to take to the super, while all my
other bees were working well into theirs. This
I did not like. To-day I thought I would look
below, as I remembered Mr. Simmins' in-
junction never to let a comb be finished. I
confess it was not without misgivings that I
lilted off that hive, for the habit of bees to
finish up " starters " with drone-comb was one
which I was not altogether unacquainted with,
and it had often occurred to my mind, What
if a large family of drones be coming on
in the " non-swarming chamber " ? However,
I confess I was not prepared for what I did
find. Every frame was being nicely filled up
with lovely drone comb j and there the
charming creatures were in every stage from
the egg to the capped cell ! Had I left them
a little longer my apiary would have been well
" manned." Now what was to be done ? If I
could have found the queen in this chamber I
should have put her into the parent hive, and
all would have been simple, for I should never
have given back that drone brood to the bees.
But 1 could not find her ; the comb, too, was
very tender, and would not bear much
handling ; so I swept the bees gently off into

the parent hive, supered it with two good
section boxes, and took away all this comb,
which, when the eggs and grubs are dead, can
be used for supering. Who would willingly
adopt a system which lays them open to ail
this waste of time and of bee labour '( While
they have been building all this drone comb
and finishing it with useless brood, they might
nearly have filled a box of sections. I should,
however, be glad to know whether others who
have tried this system have found it answer.
For myself I am only thankful that I confined
my experiment to one hive. I shall not speedily
repeat it. — Charles E. Cockin, Etton, Hull,
June 8.

EXPERIENCES WITH FOUL BROOD.

[2092.] Seeing by the Bee Journal and
Record how much there is of agitation re-
specting foul brood, I will try and relate how
I eradicated this disease from my apiary. I
have tried almost all known remedies — viz.,
salicylic acid, phenol, camphor, and last, but
not least, naphthaline ; but, depend upon it,
none of these remedies are complete without
removal of the queen from diseased stock.
The only plan I can find to deal with foul brood
is, when you are quite certain that the bees
have it, is to get a clean hive and a clean set of
combs (perfectly free from even suspicion).
Make a swarm of the diseased bees, substi-
tuting a young and vigorous queen for the one
previously removed from the affected hive, the
combs and frames of which must be burnt.
Feed gently with medicated syrup made ac-
cording to Cowan's " Guide Book,'' and with
naphthaline placed on floor-board, here, again,
according to directions sent out. I repeat
again, remove the queen, as, in my humble
opinion, this is where the evil lies, and have
no doubt in saying if the Cheshire cure is
carried out to the letter— which is similar to
above statement — a cure will be effected.

I would like to add that I have always
given the empty hive from which bees were
removed two coats of oil paint inside and out,
well rubbed in. A hive thus treated two
years ago is now one of the strongest stocks I
have this season, as, indeed, it was last.— J. D.,
Chichester.

A SUPPLY DEALER'S MISHAP.
We are sure that not a few readers — who
have known Mr. J. S. Greenhill for many
years as bee-man to Messrs. G. Neighbour &
Son — will share our regret at hearing of a — to
him — serious fire, which occurred in his work-
shop, Wimbledon, on Saturday morning last,
destroying the whole of his stock of timber and
a number of hives, &c, in the fiat ready for
nailing up. The saw-bench and most of the
tools were also so damaged as to be practically
useless. How the fire started remains a
mystery, for work had gone on as usual up to
breakfast-time, and no fire or lights were used

June 13, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

235

in the workshop. Mr. Greenhill had left the
shop, and was breakfasting in the house
attached when the alarm of fire was raised,
and, owing to the inflammable nature of the
stock, the place was burnt out before any
effort could be made to extinguish the flames.
Fortunately the fire was confined to the work-
shop, the stock of made-up goods in the ad-
joining building being uninjured ; otherwise
the loss would have been still more serious, as
nothing was insured.

HULL AND DISTRICT B.K.A.

The sunless sky of Monday, June 3, was
rather a drawback to the visit of the Hull and
District Bee-keepers' Association to Burton
Pidsea, at the invitation of the vicar, the
Rev. R. M. Lamb, but a most interesting
afternoon was spent in the vicarage garden,
and the vicar's lucid explanation of the habits
of the busy bee, and the pitch to which the
production of honey can be raised by long
experience and careful study of these habits,
was no less interesting to the lay mind than
to the students of bee-culture themselves.
Mr. Lamb was able to demonstrate that, with
proper care and attention, bee-keeping could
be made a profitable as well as an interesting
hobby, and his willingness to impart the
results of his own experience and others
should lead to the extension of bee-keeping
in the East Riding, which is admirably suited
in every way for the production of that
delicious but comparatively little-used deli-
cacy, honey. — (Communicated.)

NOVELTIES FOR 1895.

THE " BRICE " QUEEN-CAGE.

The queen-introducing cage here illustrated
has been devised by our correspondent, Mr.
H. W. Brice, whose articles on queen-raising,
which appeared in our pages last year, created
considerable interest in the subject. Regard-
ing his queen-cage Mr. Brice says : — If we
take the parts 1, 2, and 3 separately there is

Fig. 1.

little that is entirely original in them, but
viewed together the cage will be seen to con-
tain a useful and novel combination. Fig. 1
shows the ordinary travelling cage for queens,

but with the addition of an opening in the
bottom covered with a cardboard slide, B.
This slide is seen partly withdrawn in fig. 2.
The portion of the cage which is fixed upon
the comb when in u;e is made entirely of

wire cloth, the open side being pushed through
the cells of a comb containing honey nearly to
the midrib. As seen in fig. 3,
it is shaped so that the top-
bar of frame fills in the part
" shouldered out " when fixed
on comb, leaving an aperture
at top of the wire cage through
which the queen passes from
the wooden one (fig. 1) when
the slide B is withdrawn and
enabling her to pass below.
She remains there until the
bees complete the introduc-
tion of the new " mother "
by eating away the comb
round the edge of cage, and
releasing her themselves,
„. „ usually within forty - eight

Fl§- 3- hours.

The same cage allows of another method of
introduction as simple and easy as the above
which dispenses with the wire-cloth cage en-
tirely. By this second plan the cage (fig. 1)
is placed face down on top of the frames for
twenty-four hours ; then, removing the cover
A (fig. 1), and replacing the cage as before.
The bees will release the queen — by eating
away the candy, to which they have access
after removal of cover — and allow her to enter
the hive unmolested.

The advantages claimed for the above cage
are — 1. Buyer can inspect his purchase with-
out breaking seal of slide, and, if not satis-
factory, can return same to seller intact, thus
securing bona fides of both. 2. No handling
— or even touching — queen needed. This is
most important in safe introduction. 3. The
same cage offers the choice of two methods of
introduction, both easy and both safe, as
described above.

A BEE "SHOW."

We print below a specimen of the sort of
" bee food " administered to the — technically —
uninformed readers of our popular weekly
periodicals, with enormous circulations. The
story is evidently intended to be taken

236

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 13, 1895.

seriously, though it will create a smile among
bee-keepers, and the only reason for its appear-
ance here is that we may characterise it as a
bit of ridiculous nonsense. It is headed —

" FILLS HIS MOUTH WITH BEES,"

and reads as under : —

" I am the only man I know of in my line
of business," said to the writer a man who
carried about with him a number of ordinary
bees in a box.

And the man's show was certainly a novel
one. When he had gathered a crowd about
him he dispersed the insects from the box into
the air, and they flew away in different
directions. Then he began to whistle, and
stretched forth his right arm rigidly from his
body. All the bees returned and settled at
once on the extended right hand and wrist.
Then he took his cap off', and the bees all
settled on his hair. Then he put his cap at
his feet, and the insects transferred themselves
to the cap. Then he placed several of the
bees in his mouth shut the latter for a moment,
and then slowly opened it, whereupon the
bees flew out in a leisurely way.

His strong point then was to challenge the
country people about to bring bees of their
own, he alleging that he could do " anything
he liked" with the strange insects. When
the performance was over he whistled again,
and the bees flew into the box.

He said afterwards to the writer : —

" I dare say my word isn't worth much,
guv'nor, but I tell you I can manage strange
bees just as well. Try me — let me earn half-
a-dollar — there are lots of bee-beepers about
here. I'm giving away no particular secret
when I say that in my performance I smear
my hands, cap, and hair with a syrup made
according to a secret prescription."

[The above would imply that the street
performer had taken to bee-keeping as a
profession — that the performing canaries and
the dogs are played out, and that his latest
" find " is bees — our bees ! We are glad to
note the phrase — " let me earn half-a-dollar "
— fixes the source of the story across the
water. Anyway, so long as it is only laughed
at for its absurdity, no one will be misled
by it.]

(ftttria and Julias.

[1290.] Transferring Bees, — Some weeks
ago I purchased a hive of bees, and as the
frames have only 15-in top-bars I decided to
transfer them to standard frames. In doing
this I placed the eleven frames comprising
brood-chamber over a body-box with frames
of drawn-out comb, some of which were partly
full of honey. I hoped that the queen would
descend to bottom set of frames, but on exami-
nation a fortnight later 1 found she had not

done so. Though objecting to the old short-
bar frames, I do not want to lose such a good
lot of brood. I also thought that after the
brood was hatched out bees would use the top
chamber as a super. 1. Shall I be doing right
if I take some of frames from lower chamber,
and place a few with brood alternately to
fill up ? And if I do this how many frames
should I put in bottom chamber ? Also, how
long will the remaining frames be before they
are availablefor honey, supposing, of course, that
the queen remains below ? In this connection
I should also ask, am I to be particular to put
frames of empty comb between brood in
bottom chamber, and will this be likely to
chill the brood 1 2. As I do not want to
retain the old frames in body box through the
winter, will it do if, instead of moving several
frames down, I found the queen and placed
the frame that she was on in bottom chamber
in the middle, and did not put any more old
frames in bottom body box, not using excluder
zinc, as there is drone-brood above ? — Young
Bee-keeper, Leicester.

Eeply. — 1. The wisest and best course is to
let the box with short top-bars remain as it is,
without disturbing it in any way. When
further room is required by the queen for
breeding purposes the brood-nest will be trans-
ferred to the standard frames below, and as
honey comes in it will be stored in the combs
of the upper box as the brood in latter hatches
out. At close of season — or when full — the
box may be removed as a super. 2. As
stated above, do not do any removing of
combs or queen from upper box at all, nor
should queen-excluder be used between the
two chambers under the circumstances.

[1291.] Transferring from Sleep to Frame-
hive. — I have a strong skep of bees which for
the last fortnight has looked like swarming,
but has not done so. I, therefore, on Satur-
day last, the 8th, moved the skep to a bar-
frame hive, putting it on to the top of the
frames fitted with comb foundation. Would
you be so good as to tell me (1) if at the end
of two or three weeks I might remove the
skep again, and repeat the operation with
another hive ? I should not want to keep
the skep as a stock hive, but should transfer
the bees to the second frame-hive. 2. If I
do this I suppose there must be brood in the
queenless hive from which a queen will be
raised. Must it be unsealed, or can the bees
alter a sealed cell ? How near must the
second hive be to the first ? 3. Is it right to
still put salicylic acid in all food used ! — H.,
Burgess Hill, Sussex.

Keply. — 1. Pre-supposing that the bees
have transferred their brood-nest from skep to
the frame hive below, it is more than probable
that after the lapse of three weeks the main
portion of the brood in skep will be hatched
out, and have been replaced by honey. 2. We
do not quite follow last part of first query,
which connects itself with No. 2. Is it pro-
posed to remove the skep— three weeks after

June 13, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

237

setting it on first frame-hive— and put it over
a queenless stock located in another frame-
hive, in order to get the latter re-queened?
If this be so, the plan adopted would be
entirely futile. Bees can only raise queens
from eggs, or from young larvae not more than
three days old. Besides, all the flying bees
in skep would — after the second removal —
return to the frame-hive from which they were
taken. 3. Yes. All food given should be
medicated.

Bees Refusing to Baise Queens
from Eggs Given. — I want to ask your advice
in a matter that has happened to others besides
myself here. I refer to the difficulty in getting
a queenless stock to raise a new queen. Find-
ing one of my stocks early in May to be in
this condition, and having plenty of drones, I
introduced a frame of eggs and brood to the
queenless hive. These were duly hatched,
and I then gave another, with the same result,
but no indication of queen- cells, although
corners were given on which to form them ;
another similar frame has been given since,
but there seems an inability to supply the
necessary article. Perhaps I should have
given a queen-cell in process of formation,
but I failed to find one amongst my other
hives. What would you advise ? — Jas.
Partridge, Barnstaple.

Reply. — We can only imagine one of two
causes for the bees persistent refusal to raise
queens — i.e., they have either been too long
queenless, or else there is a worthless queen
still in the hive. It is quite a common oc-
currence for old bees— long queenless— to act
as above.

[1293.] Swarms. — How should Frames
Hang. — 1. Will bees swarm before queen-cells
are formed, providing that the hive is very
crowded with bees, but with no drones flying ?
2. What are the advantages in having the
frames hanging at right angles to the entrance
over having them the other way ? 3. What
distance should the combs be from the per-
forated dummy in a " Wells' '' hive ? 4. In
putting sections on a swarm that came off on
May 29, and were hived in a skep, will it be
necessary to have queen-excluder between skep
and sections ? 5. Would the old bees from a
skep go into a frame-hive if I was to move the
skep away after swarming and put a frame-
hive in its place ? — W. Barrows, Eskmeals.

P.S. — Is it not very strange I cannot get my
B.B.J, on a Saturday ? The agent here from
whom I get it says that the people who supply
him say that it is not to hand in time for
Saturday's parcel, and I am always in a great
hurry for it. It is a grand paper.

Reply. — 1. Bees will not swarm naturally
unless there are queen-cell3 in the hive
tenanted with embryo queens. 2. Among
other advantages it is considered to be better
for ventilation that frames be hung at right
angles to entrance. It also avoids the risk in
winter of a seam of bees perishing and their

dead bodies blocking up the entrance way
after dropping from between the combs. 3.
Half an inch. 4. It is not imperatively
necessary to use excluder zinc below sections,
either with skeps or frame hives. 5. You
cannot make an artificial swarm of flying bees
secured in the manner stated. The bees must
first be driven from the skep in the usual way.
Referring to difficulty in getting B.J., the
paper is delivered in London to wholesale
agents on Wednesday afternoon. We cannot
account for your not getting it till Saturday.

[1294.] Queen Cast Out. — I sent you yester-
day a dead queen bee, which I found near the
entrance of one of my hives. She was sur-
rounded by bees, and they were about to drop
her on to the ground. She was nearly dead.
I examined this hive three weeks ago, not
being satisfied with what I saw outside. There
was a large quantity of brood-cells filled with
worker brood, a fair quantity of drone brood,
both of which were sealed, but very few eggs
and unseated brood. I again examined the
hive this morning. I find a smaller number
of sealed worker brood, and very few eggs or
young brood. Nine frames are, however,
covered with bees on this beautiful morning,
when probably most of the bees are out. I
also found one queen -cell sealed. If the queen
I sent you is an old one, I can quite under-
stand they are superseding her ; but if she is
young and unfertile, 1 do not quite know what
to think. Will you be kind enough to give
your opinion? The bees are working hard
this morning, and there has been no swarming.
The drones are flying, and much pollen is
coming in. The principal movement in the
dying queen was that she kept putting out her
sting. — T. McO. Blackyett, Ecclefechan.

Reply. — Queen received presents the ap-
pearance of having been " balled.'' She is an
adult, but we cannot even guess her age. No
doubt the bees have themselves deposed her,
and are raising a successor.

[1295.] Examinations for Experts' Certifi-
cates.— Will you kindly give me a little infor-
mation about the examinations held to qualify
bee-keepers as experts : — 1. Is it a written or
oral examination ? 2. What kind of questions
are set or asked, and do any of them go into
the anatomy ? 3. Where are such examina-
tions held, and at what time of the year ? 4.
Is there a syllabus published showing what
subjects are necessary for this examination,
and if so, where could I get same ? — Arthur
L. Roberts, Syston, June 3.

Reply. — 1. The examination for third-clas3
certificate consists of various manipulations
with bees in skep3 and in frames, together
with an oral examination on the important
points in bee-keeping and the general manage-
ment of bees on the modern system. The
second-class examination consists entirely of
paper work, into which both the anatomy and
physiology of the bee enters. The first-class

238

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 13, 1895.

examinations go higher still, and are held in
London at stated periods. 2. Reply to
this is contained in the above. 3. Third-class
exams, are held during the whole season in
various parts of the country ; very often in
connection with bee and honey shows. 4. All
particulars regarding the above may be had
from Mr. J. Huckle, secretary of the B.B.K. A.,
King's Langley, Herts.

[1296.] Bequeening Stocks. — I took the in-
closed queen bee to-day from a colony formed
last autumn from driven bees, and am curious
to know if she is too old to be now efficient,
or whether there is any reason apparent why
her hive should have failed since the winter to
have furnished its frames with brood and
stores ? There has been some progress and
breeding, but as up to date there were only
five combs of brood, I to-day united with
another hive, and left two combs, on one of
which were two queen cells ; I added two
frames of foundation, and presume the colony
will now build itself up when the young queen
is hatched and mated. I shall be grateful for
any remarks you may make on the above. I
am a beginner since last season. They wintered
on seven frames, and were fed in the spring. —
Burley Beacon.

Reply. — Queen is old, but — if she left five
combs of brood behind her — could hardly be
called " worn out." Anyway, if young queen
in the united stocks gets safely mated, no
doubt the colony will build up well for another
year. For the present season, however, all
will depend on the present strength of the
working force, so far as numbers go.

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.
May, 1895.
, Locality, Stoke Prior, "Worcestershire.

Height above sea-level, 225 ft.

RainfalL 069 in. In May, 1894, 2"49 in.
fell.

Greatest fall in 24 hours, 040 in. on the
1st.

Rain fell on 7 days. In May, 1894, 16
days.

Max. shade temp., 79° on 30th ; max. for
May, 1894, 64°.

Min. temp., 28° on the 1st ; min. temp, for
May, 1894, 27°.

Max. shade temp, at 9 a.m., 69° on 29th.

Min. temp, at 9 a.m., 41° on 16th.

Frosty nights, 1. During May, 1894, 5.

Max. barometer, 30:35 on 2nd and 3rd.

Min. barometer, 29"5 on 18th and 19th.

Taken as a whole, May has been a very
favourable month for bee-keeping ; a few cold
days, however, about the middle of month.
No lack of food in the hives ; in fact, as much
as 12 lb. of honey (apple) taken from one
stock in this district. Bees very busy among
the raspberry canes the last week. Few
swarms reported.

A few thunderstorms, but little rain fell.
Rain wanted.

Barometer low at close of month.

Percy Leigh, Beemount.

$i\im from tU liws.

Southfleet, Kent, May 31. — Bees doing
well. Took 50 lb. of honey from one hive on
Friday, May 31. — Elvey Smith.

Ty Newydd, Langland, near Swansea,
June 5. — Glorious bee weather here ; honey
coming in fast. Put on supers to-day. Three
frames in body-box, full of partly sealed and
unsealed honey. Clover just coming out. I
saw four frame-hives on my way from Swansea
to Worm's Head and Porteynon, a distance of
eighteen miles, but only three of them had
supers on. I did not notice nine hives, which
I was told on my return were on the road I
went, but I think they had some supers on, so
that we expect a very good season. I wish all
other bee-keepers the same. We had no rain
from May 1 till May 29. — Kenelm Goss.

He* $hmm to <2|jjme.

June 24 to 28. — Royal Agricultural Society's
Show at Darlington. Entries closed. Secre-
tary, J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

July 17, 18, 19.— Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society's show at Grantham. Thirteen classes
and liberal prizes for bees, honey, hives, and
appliances. For schedules, apply to S. Upton,
Sec, St. Benedict's-square, Lincoln. Entries
close June 28.

July 19 and 20. — Bristol District Bee-
keepers' Association. Annual Show at
Knowle. Entries close July 13. Schedules
from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long Ashton,
Bristol.

July 25, 26, and 27.— Royal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries close July I. Schedules from Jas.
Birch, Sec, 3, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.

July 25, 26. — Kent B.K.A. annual show at
Tunbridge Wells. Schedules from J. Garratt,
Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 5 (Bank Holiday).— Notts B.K.A.
Annual County Show on the Sconce Hills,
Newark. Eighteen classes for bees, hives, and
honey, with liberal prizes. Several open
classes. Entries close July 27. A. G. Pugh,
hon. sec, N.B.K.A., 51, Mona-street, Beeston.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries close June 29.
Schedules from Marshall Stephenson, Sec,
York.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West

June 13, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

239

Broniwich. In connection with the Staffs.
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.
Schedules, when ready, from Harold Twenty-
man, Wolverhampton.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.

Thos. B. Blow, Welwyn, Herts. 76 pp.
This is another large and profusely illustrated
list of hives and bee goods of all kinds. It
also includes a very full and comprehensive
description of the hive-making industry, and
also of bee-farming, as carried on at his own
works at Welwyn, the same being profusely
illustrated with process blocks from photos.
At the end are also a half-dozen pages devoted
to what are called "Hints on Successful Bee-
management."

Jas. A. Abbott (Abbott Bros., Dublin), Mer-
chants Quay. Mr. Jas. Abbott (late senior
partner of Abbott Bros., Southall), who became
sole proprietor of the Dublin branch of the
firm, issues a condensed list of goods, the
special feature of which is a considerable
reduction in prices, which will no doubt com-
mend it to favourable notice. The sample of
" bee veils at 9d., post-free," sent to us for
inspection, prove them both good and cheap.

Edmondson Bros., 10, Dame-street, Dublin.
Messrs. Edmondson issue a condensed list of
eight pages, which, however, has in it prices
and particulars of all necessary requirements.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

A.U queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

J. L. (Innellan). — Vitality of Bees' Eggs. —
Bees will always remove eggs from combs
left out of the hive long enough to have
become "chilled" or spoiled ; they will also
make away with any eggs given them in
combs placed outside their brood-nest when
breeding is going on. It is not easy to say
how long they will retain their vitality when
exposed, so much depends on the tempera-
ture ; but it is quite certain that the egg of
the bee must not be considered as analogous
in this respect to that of any of the
feathered tribe, as our correspondent seems
to imagine.

A. Hamer (Llanarthney). — We are very
pleased to note the active interest you take
in promoting bee-keeping in your district.
Unfortunately, however, with important
shows being held in all parts of the king-
dom, we could not devote space for the long

notice sent of your successful and praise-
worthy effort to get honey prizes offered at
local cottager's show. Should an examina-
tion of candidates for third class experts'
certificates be held in Carmarthen, no doubt
the secretary of the B.B.K.A. will be glad
to get the offer of the use of your apiary for
the purpose, if conveniently situated.

H. (Bury St. Edmunds). — Adding Supers. —
Confining Drones to Hive. — 1. The time
when a second surplus chamber will be
required depends entirely on the continuance
of the honey flow. If, on raising covering
of present super, the upper portion of
combs are sealed over a second may be set
under it. 2. Drones must on no account be
confined to the hive as proposed. It would
inevitably lead to mischief.

Beeswing (Wetheral). — Blossom received is
that of the corn-flower (Cyanus minor).

Saruit (Salisbury). — The appearances noted
in drone sent are a frequent result of ex-
citement, and not, as you suppose, a sign of
mating.

Thos. L. Smith (St. Asaph). — All three insects
are wild bee?, of the genus Andrena. The
two larger ones belong to the Rosea species.

G. G. (Honiton). — Orchards for Bees. — A
nicely situated orchard is a very suitable
place in many respects for keeping bees in.

Guthlac (Petersfield). — Brood in comb
received is " chilled," not foul. The few
bees in the hive would account for it. If
the stock is increasing in strength, as stated,
it will no doubt be all right in a week or
two.

A. R. C. N. (Bantry).-See reply to Thos. L.
Smith.

T. D. (Barrow-in-Furness) and H. C. (North-
ants). — Combs received from above are both
affected with foul brood. In the latter case,
however, the disease seems only of recent
origin.

H. H. Woosnam (Newton Abbott).— Honey
received is good in colour and consistency,
but is from mixed sources. There would,
we think, be some apple orchards in flower
in the district where it was gathered, but
beyond this there is no sufficiently charac-
teristic flavour to guide us in venturing to
name the blossom it came from.

Old Subscriber (Cumberland). — Comb is
badly diseased with foul brood.

J. H. Shaw (Sheffield). — 1. A piece of crushed-
up comb like that sent is quite unfit for
examination as to foul brood. Diligent
search, however, reveals a trace of the
disease, which leaves us in no doubt as to
its being there. 2. The dead bee received
is a queen.

Mistley (Essex).— The sample of super foun-
dation is of good quality, and we can only
imagine that some lubricant has been used
when passing the sheet of wax through
the mill, which is distasteful to the bees.
We should like to know the name of maker
in order to decide this point.

230

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 13, 1895.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations
Twelve words, Sixpence
words or under, One Penny

Publications, Bee Plants, <fee. — Up to
for every additional Thru

FOR SALE, TWO strong STOCKS of BEES, £2 and
£1. 10s. Miss PELLATT, North Minims, Hatfield,
Herts. h 37

TRONG natural SWARMS, 10s. each, never seen
foul brood. Apply, E. Middlemass, Stamford,
Alnwick. H 36

Q!

TJEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Erereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

Q (\ YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
" '■-' Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfleld, Sussex. 116

LACB PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. "Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

PURE BLACKS, Swarms, 5s., 10s. 6d., and 15s. ;
Nuclei, 5s. ; Queens, 3s. 6d. ; free on rail ; empties
returned. Alsford, Expert, Blandford. 139

HONEY FOR SALE. Mb. Sections at 9d. ; Run. 7d.
per lb. G. R. Downer, Drayton Manor, Chiches-
ter. H53

WANTED, Natural First Swarms of Bees, in EX-
CHANGE for Gas Stove. Cost 50s. Cutts,
Ardsley, Barnsley. H 50

GOOD HIVES, once used, 10s. ; new Sections, 2s. 3d.
per 100 ; Frames, Foundation, and Bottles. E.
Bunney, Swansea. H 46

HONEY SECTIONS WANTED, for cash, new. Best
pale, well filled, and sealed only received. T.
SMITH & Co., 17, Cambridge-street, Hyde Park, W.

H47

WANTED, OFFERS for 3 Ten-Bar-framed HIVES ;
one by Neighbour, two by Woodley ; complete
with Section Crates. Used few seasons. Good as new.
Frisby, Harting, Petersfield.

FOR SALE, Three Bar-framed Hives, a small Slinger,
Crates of Sections, Feeding Bottles, &c. &c. All
from Abbott's. What offers? L. C, 17, Park-road,
Southborough, Tunbridge Wells. h 51

NOW READY, NATURAL SWARMS, Z\ to 4 lbs.,
12s. 6d. each. Guaranteed healthy. Box and
packing free. Albert Twinn, Apiary House, Ridgwell,
Halstead, Essex. H 30

WANTED, SECTIONS and EXTRACTED HONEY.
Packages lent free to Bee-keepers and Associations.
Prompt cash. State lowest price, enclosing stamped
envelope, to Rev. W. HANDCOCK, Hampton Hill, Middle-
sex.

CARBOLINE POMADE (Fourth Season).— Kills Bee-
stings like magic, and prevents the horrible
smarting and burning inflammation. Prevents getting
stung, robbing, &c. In Is. bottles, post free. T.
Holliday, Astbury, Congleton.

FOR SALE, or EXCHANGE for Safety Bicycle, The
Cambridge Hive, in 17 parts ; fitted with non-
swarming apparatus. Also a Swarm Catcher, W.B.C.
system ; all brass fittings ; enamelled all over ; on
approval. Write, H. Seamark, Willingham, Cambridge.

H45

WANTED, earliest date and lowest price for Four
5-lb. lots DRIVEN BEES, with young Fertile
Queens, one Italian ; or would Exchange Cassell's " Old
and New London " in sixty shilling parts, perfect con-
dition. Also about Two Thousand Pipings of the small
White Pink, for swarms. What offers ? Mr. Attwood,
Turner-road, Lee, Kent, S.E.

FOR SALE, 95 SECTION CRATES (made specially to
the order of a large Bee-keeper, who does not now
require them). Take 21 1-lb. sections, 4J by i\ by 2,
with glass at one side, movable shutter, ten dividers,
complete. What offers for whole or any number ?
Sample sent, post free, 2s. 9d. J. Ironside, 2, Pens-
hurst-terrace, Belle Vue, West Hartlepool. h 52

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

BEES, Strong Healthy Swarms all '94 Queens, 10s. 6d.
each. Swarm-boxes to be returned. Ed, Long,
Cottenham, Cambs. h 11

WANTED, EXTRACTOR. EXCHANGE dozen best
Electro-plated Teaspoons and two pair Sugar
Tongs, or suit length Cloth. Deacon, Westbury, Wilts,

YE 0LDE ENCLISHE BEE.

Fine selected English Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Postage 3d. W.
Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

TO DEALERS.

AMERICAN SECTIONS at Liverpool, London, and
Wholesale Depot, Petefboro'. Also in America, a large
Stock waiting shipment, immediate orders for which
secure delivery in July. Cheap in quantity ex steamer.

W. BOX WELL, Patrickswell, Limerick. 13s

BEEKEEPERS in LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE and
surrounding Districts please note that the
CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES
for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL at the OLD
SPOT, 50, GREAT CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE
ROSE. Why pay carriage from long distances, when
you can buy as cheap and good locally, and have your
orders promptly attended to ? Catalogues gratis.

Sow now 14 varieties of Bee Flowers, price Is. Full
directions to each ; easy to grow. Cash with order.
Buyers of big quantities of SECTIONS, JARS, &c, please
write for quotations per 1,000 and per 5 gross.

CHAPMAN'S HONEY PLANT SEED, 6d. Packet.
Wholesale and Retail.

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

TEE YORKSHIRE
Bee-keepers' Supplies,

WILLIAM DIXON,

5, Beckett St., Leeds.

Hives, Extractors,

Smokers, Feeders,

Foundation, <fcc.

Prizes Awarded, Gold,
Silver, JcBronzeMedals.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'

PRACTICAL NOTE -BOOK.

With Bules for the General Management of

Movable Comb Hives.
By THOS. W. COWAN, F.G.S., &c,

Editor British Bee Journal,

Price Is., Postage Id.

British Bee Journal and Record Office, 17,
King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.

{For HIVES made oj
carefully selected and
SECTIONS,
SMOKERS,
&c. &c.
Al mmro-rrn i Is a very good Railway

GLOUCESTER. ]^eniOTtheWesfcof

Illustrated Catalogue Free.

June 20, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

241

(Mtorral, Ifata te.

BEITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

MEETING AT TnE " ROYAL " SHOW,
DARLINGTON.

Arrangements have been made for holding
a meeting of bee-keeper3 in the show-yard, at
Darlington, on Wednesday, June 26, at 3 p.m.,
the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society
having kindly granted the use of their tent
for the purpose. At the suggestion of the
Durham and Northumberland Association the
subject of the need of a pamphlet on the
preparation of bees for the heather harvest
will be discussed. Bee-keepers desirous of
being present and bringing forward subjects
for discussion are requested to communicate
with the secretary, John Huckle, whose
address until the 27th iDst., will be 26,
Louisa-street, Darlington. The Council of the
B.B.K.A. are anxious that the department at
Darlington should be as attractive as possible.
It is hoped that bee-keepers and others
interested will help the Council by forwarding
small parcels of cut-flowers, more especially of
those from which honey is obtained. The
same may be sent by parcel- post or other-
wise, addressed to the secretary, Bee Depart-
ment, Royal Agricultural Show Ground,
Darlington. Carriage of such parcels will be
paid when desired.

FRANCE.

The Society Centrale cV Apiculture et d'ln-
sectologie of Paris is about to hold an exhibi-
tion in the Jardin dAcclimatation, extending
from July 7 to 31 next, and in which bee-
keeping will be largely represented. It is
hoped that everything connected with the
production of honey will be exhibited, all sorts
of hives and appliances, also the products of
bee-keeping, such as honey, wax, hydromel,
eau-de-vie, cakes, &c, as well as articles in
which honey or wax form an ingredient ; also
all that refers to the natural history of the bee.
Exhibitors from abroad are invited, as are also
collective exhibitions of societies.

Those who wish to take part in this exhi-
bition must make application to the secretary,
167, Rue Lecourbe, Paris, by June 20 next,
who will send schedules, programmes, and
forms of application. Exhibits must be for-
warded by July 1, and will be staged the day
previous to the exhibition.

The following letter has been addressed to
Mr. Cowan on the subject by the president of
the society : —

" Mr. Chairman B.B.K.A. — I have the
honour to inform you that an exhibition,
organised by the Societe dApiculture et
d'lnsectologie, of which I have the honour of

being President, will take place in the Jardin
d'Acclimatation, from July 7 to 31 next.

" The sincerest wish of all members of this
society would be to see those of yours taking
part in this exhibition by showing some of
your publications, and by making a collective
exhibition.

"The attention which we hope this show
will attract would thus be increased, and we
should have another proof of the interest
which you take in apiculture. A Congress of
Bee-keepers and Entomologists will take place
on July 18. We should be pleased to see the
foreign societies taking part in it. We should
also like to hear from them what questions
they would like to have discussed.

" Awaiting a favourable reply, believe me,
Mr. Chairman, &c, — The President of the
Society, and late Minister of Public Works,
De Heredia."

The council of the society has also invited
Mr. T. W. Cowan to act as one of the judges.

We hope those who are able to exhibit will
write for schedules without delay, and we are
quite sure those who may visit the exhibition
during their passage through Paris will be well
repaid for the trouble, as the honey show is
generally good.

HONEY SHOW AT HALIFAX.

increase in prizes.

Referring to the announcement regarding
the Bee, Honey, and Bee appliances depart-
ment of the above show, the Rev. R. F. Lamb
writes to say the Yorkshire Agricultural
Society, "as a departure from their custom of
offering £18 in driblets in twelve classes, offer
this year extra valuable prizes amounting to
£24 in six classes. The prizes for the two
grand classes ' collection of appliances ' and
' best display of honey ' are £5, £3, and £1
(not £3, £2, and £l, as stated in your issue
of May 23j, for three best exhibits in each
class. The conditions in the honey trophy
class are that competitors be individuals or
members of the same District or County
Associations, and they have the privilege of
selling their honey on the last day of the
show." — Entries close, June 29.

HANTS AND ISLE OF WIGHT BJ£.A.

BOURNEMOUTH SHOW.

What proved to be one of the most impor-
tant Exhibitions ever held in the South of
England, took place at Bournemouth on the
11th to the 14th inst., and bee-keepers from
all parts of the country were unanimous in
their expressions of congratulation at the
immense interest and enthusiasm of the vast
crowds attending the Honey Show and Lecture
Tent each day.

The number of people passing the turnstiles

242

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 20, 1895.

into the show was, we believe, a " record
number," something like 11,000 paying on the
half-crown day, and 20,000 on the first shilling
day. And of this number it is no exaggera-
tion to say the majority spent more or less
time in the Bee Department, evincing' an
amount of interest that even an old experi-
enced hand admitted he had never before seen
surpassed. Indeed, the three bee-appliance
dealers had a busy time selling the stocks
they had bought, and booking forward orders.
The sale of honey, too, was brisk, and
satisfactory in price.

Owing to the good season, there was an
unusually fine and large display of honey in
the several classes, and the judges, Dr.
Andrews, of Basingstoke, Dr. Blake, of West-
bourne, Kev. W. E. Medlicott (appliances
only), and Mr. E. F. Maberly, of Christchurch,
had a very long morning's work in making
their awards.

ROYAL VISIT TO THE BEE TENT.

The bee tent, as indeed the whole department
for bees and honey, was in charge of Mr.
E. H. Bellairs, who is well known amongst
bee-men north and south, and at stated inter-
vals he delivered popular lectures to immense
audiences. On Thursday H.R.H. Prince Henry
of Battenberg (President of the R.C.A.S.)
visited the show, and spent the best part of
half an hour in the bee tent, listening atten-
tively to the lecturer, who delighted the crowd
by telling them that this was not the first time
Prince Henry had stood there, but that with
his bride, the Princess Beatrice, who was the
President of the Hants B.K.A. from its birth.
The Prince was greatly interested, and, indeed,
expressed his appreciation in such a way that
it was evidently the event in the whole show
which most attracted him. In addition to the
visit of the Prince many local and county
magnates attended, and the popularity of bee-
keeping and its support by the Hants County
Council was assured. On Wednesday and
Thursday the audiences in the tent were so
large that lecturing went on almost conti-
nuously from twelve till five.

PRIZE LIST.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, W. Woodley ;
2nd, E. C. R. White ; 3rd, H. W. Seymour.

Twelve lb. Extracted Honey. — 1st, H. W.
Seymour ; 2nd, A. Broom ; 3rd, D. Aston.

(Collection of Bee Appliances. — 1st, Lanaway
& Sons ; 2nd, C. Overton ; 3rd, J. S. Green-
hill (special).

Best Frame Hive. — 1st, Lanaway & Sons ;
2nd and 3rd, C. Overton.

Cottager's Frame Hive. — 1st, Lanaway &
Sons ; 2nd and 3rd, C. Overton.

Honey Extractor. —1st, C. Overton ; 2nd,
J. S. Greenhill ; 3rd, Lanaway & Sons.

Section Bach. — 1st, Lanaway & Sons ; 2nd,
C. Overton.

Sleep with Section Back. — 1st, not awarded ;
2nd, C. Overton.

Neiv Invention in Bee Appliances. — G. W.

Hole, Bronze Medal for " Self-Hiver." Cer-
tificates, H. Rowell, for "Uncapping Ma-
chine," and W. Tilley for " Quilt.''

MEMBERS ONLY.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, T. Giles ; 2nd
Miss Robinson ; 3rd, Rev. A. Headley.

Six 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, E. Ainsley ; 2nd,
H. Rowell ; 3rd, Rev. A. Headley.

Six 1-lb. Sections {Cottagers only). — 1st, T.
Giles ; 2nd, H. Rowell ; 3rd, E. Ainsley.

Twenty-four lb. Granulated Honey. — 1st,
not awarded ; 2nd, A. Broom.

Twelve lb. Extracted Honey. — 1st, H.
Rowell ; 2nd, Miss Robinson ; 3rd, Wm.
Drew.

Twelve lb. Extracted Honey (Cottagers only).
—1st, D. Logan ; 2nd, H. Rowell' ; 3rd, T.
Giles.

Bees Wax. — 1st, A. Broom ; 2nd, Wm.
Burgess.

Hive made by Amateur. — 1st, H. Rowell;
2nd, D. Logan.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should | be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

V* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, at well
as the page on which it appears.

NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2093.] The weather of 1895 is nearly a
replica of 1893. The honey harvest has
arrived earlier than even the most hopeful
amongst us expected. The fields have been
resplendent in wealth of bloom, and bees have
been busy gathering nectar in abundance ;
what more can we want ? Well, I am fain to
say there are two important items still wanting
for a continuance of the good time, and that
is rain to increase the blossom of the aftermath,
and bees to gather the honey when welling up
in the nectaries of the flowers. In my own
apiaries I have no lack of bees, never before
have we had so many swarms in May, or so
much honey in the store-room and in the
hive3 by June 15, so that with hives teeming
with willing workers, all we want is a
good, soaking rain, and suitable weather
afterwards. But, from what I hear, I fear
that my neighbours are not so well placed as
regards bees — some have not had a single
swarm from apiaries of close on twenty hives.

June 20, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

243

How is this 1 Why, friends, I will tell you.
When the fortnight's bee- weather came early
last month they neglected to increase the size
of brood nest by supers or by extra frames of
comb or foundation. The consequence was
the brood nest was turned into a honey store
to the exclusion of the queen, and consequently
the number of workers remain practically
stationary, instead of increasing to swarming
point. They were thus not ready to take
advantage of the honey flow or increase the
number of stocks by swarming.

In a previous "Note" I referred to bees
objecting to super foundation in sections, that I
had received some correspondence on the
subject with other bee-keepers, and in my
replies I could only say that I expected it was
the lubricant used in its manufacture that was
distasteful to the bees. I have had cases
myself of quite empty sections in the centre
of otherwise full crates— i.e., sections inter-
spersed with the foundation not touched, while
the other sections were perfectly sealed in the
same crate. How is this to be accounted for ?
One would suppose that every sheet of
foundation was equal in the same parcel,
dipped from same tank of wax, at the
same temperature, and the same lubricant
used, also the same machine used in its
manufacture. Where can the difference come
in ? I can only conjecture that all sheets
of wax from the dipping tank are not the
same thickness, and that with a slight lowering
of the temperature of the workroom, the
thicker sheets of wax in passing through the
machine are pressed so hard, that the bees are
not able to manipulate it, therefore object to
build on to the foundation. I have known
and heard of case3 of bees building to the
dividers and using the foundation as divider in
the centre of the section. This matter ought
to receive attention from our foundation
makers as well as from bee-keepers, who are
the principal losers by the bees refusing to
work out the foundation, as in a large apiary,
like my own, for instance, which is run for
comb honey, a few sections in a number of
crates means a very considerable loss to the
bee-keeper. — W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

BEE JOTTINGS

PROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2094.] Sivarms — On casting about for a
subject for my "jottings " this week, your
reference to swarms in " Useful 'Hints" of last
issue (p. 231) came most welcome. The advice
what to do where top swarms come off " just
when the honey is coming in fast," is, to my
mind, Fright ; anyway, it gave me the cue I
wanted. Most people having swarms would,
no doubt, hive them in the orthodox manner
either on sheets of foundation or on "starters."
But I wonder how many give a thought as to
what takes place within the hive when the
swarm is housed, or have taken the trouble to
ascertain how the new tenants adapt them-

selves to their change of home ? Bees before
swarming take especial care — like all wise
emigrants — to start provided with every neces-
sary for the formation of a new colony. They
help themselves freely from the stores of their
own gathering before handing over the " cup-
board J' to the children, carrying off provisions
enough to last them several days under adverse
circumstances ; and, if their surroundings are
favourable, transforming the food into furni-
ture for their new home.

Take a swarm just being hived on " starters"
in a frame-hive as an illustration. The single
bee — among the many thousands thrown upon
the ground — in the greatest hurry to enter is
the queen. No sooner is the note given of a
new home found than she becomes agitated,
and, scrambling over her children, "mother"
makes straight for the entrance. Once she is
within, the demeanour of the bees changes ;
the " hum " goes round, the gladsome vibra-
tion of their wings begin just as if " dusting
down '' the new dwelling was in progress, and
they seem to say, " Keep it up ; mother's
safe." Could one look inside a little later,
we should see the work of comb construc-
tion already commenced ; long festoons
of bees stretched from floor to roof
increasing in number and thickness as the
work • proceeds. In the centre, or may be
slightly on one side of the hive, hangs the
bulk of the bees in a solid cluster, from which
the festoons spring, forming a base of opera-
tions and of communication, extending in all
directions and to all parts of the hive. Mean-
time, where is the queen ? She has not yet
entered the cluster, the centre of which is
perhaps too unpleasantly warm at present.
She will be found walking round the outside
of the cluster, anxiously waiting for the first
bit of completed comb to commence her part
of the business. For the method by which
the bees cling to one another when forming
these festoons, with the mode of secreting the
wax, and the formation of the cells, I refer
readers to the excellent description given in
Cowan's " Honey Bee,'' confining myself to
a brief account of the method adopted by the
bees in maintaining the temperature necessary
for the production and elaboration of the wax
of which the combs are formed. The bees
forming the inner portion of the cluster above
referred to are the wax-workers, or comb-
builders, the outer layers of bees for the time
simply fulfilling the purpose of maintaining
the necessarily high temperature required
for carrying on the labours upon which
the said comb - builders are engaged.
In this way, when the excitement and con-
sequent heat of the hiving operations have
abated, the usefulness of this outer covering of
bees is apparent — especially if the nights are
cold — for, concurrently with the task of
maintaining the temperature, they are them-
selves distilling within their own bodies wax
from the honey carried off from the parent
hive. In a few hours may be seen exuding

244

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 20, 1895.

from segments on the under side of the abdo-
men tiny flakes of wax. The outer layers of bees
are now ready to change places with those
within the cluster when the latter have ex-
hausted their material. And so the furnishing
of the new home goes on. Next morning the
tirst batch of comb builders will be busily
hurrying forth as foragers, while most pro-
bably the queen will have deposited eggs in
the combs just built. The utility of the
hanging festoons or ladders of bees is now
seen, forming as they do a direct communi-
cation from the hive entrance to the " base of
operations," and so soon as a few inches of
comb is completed, a few eggs laid therein, and
a little honey stored, the prosperity of the
new colony is in a fair way of being assured.
In very hot weather the importance of this
outer clustering is, of course, not so noticeable,
and the work proceeds more rapidly, but if
weather be cold and inclement the wisdom of
this outer covering for what may be called the
" workshop " is at once perceptible. The
rapidity with which whole combs are com-
pleted and filled with brood and stores in good
weather is marvellous, and must be seen and
studied in order to fully realise the wonderful
economy exercised. Not a single particle of
food or wax is wasted, not a moment of time
lost, or space left unutilised, till the object the
bees have in view, viz., the formation of a new
home, is attained.

Separating Sivarms. — R. D. "Wallace, in the
American Bee, Journal, says : — " When two
or three swarms cluster together, if for three
swarms, tier up three hives with an entrance
to each on a stand ; raise the bottom hive an
inch from the board to give bees room to go
in ; stop entrances to the two upper ones ;
shake bees in front of hives, and let them
settle for half an hour ; then take top hive
and put it on a stand, put the second on
another, and let the bottom one remain, and
your three swarms and queens are separated."
He adds : — " I have tried this plan three
seasons successfully," but " doubts whether
a greater number would separate."

Queens from the Egg?— Charles Norman, in
Bee-Keepers' Review (American), has an idea
of his own that queens are the best when
raised from the egg. He says:— "Queen
larvte but a day old are larger than worker
larva: of the same age." I am afraid our friend
"Charley over the water" has got on the
wrong scent this time. I should like to ask
how did he recognise queen larva; in worker
cells from the other grubs ? "Jumped it," I
suppose.

Finding the Queen. — Dr. C. C. Miller says :
— "Generally there isn't much trouble in
finding a queen, but it can be made a very
difficult job." The doctor "touches the
spot" in saying this. He further explains,
" If he wanted to get a colony in shape, so
that he could not find the queen, he would
"give the bees a lot of smoke, jar the combs,
and handle them a bit roughly." If, on the

other hand, he wanted to find her, he says : —
" I should handle them 'gently, giving only a
little smoke, and avoid setting them running."
How often do we hear it said in our own
journal that readers find it difficult, or in some
cases impossible to find the queen, yet, in my
opinion, it is a simple matter enough, if we go
the right way to work and the advice given
above is followed. I think no greater mistake
is ever made in manipulating bees than to use
the smoker too freely. There is no necessity
to half suffocate bees with dense volumes of
smoke in the way some people do. Only
enough smoke should be used to keep the bees
quiet. In this respect the carbolic cloth
possesses certain advantages over the smoker,
as its quantity and quality is stable, and not
at the will of often irritated bee-keepers, who,
to my knowledge, in failing to effect the pur-
poses they wished, and because of the bees'
opposition, have taken up the smoker to " show
them who was master," and have so dosed
them with smoke that it was no wonder the
bees were cros3. One bee-keeper I came across
had quite a collection of smokers, and pro-
ceeded to charge the largest, " warranted to
give an immense volume of smoke." I selected
the smallest one, and, giving the bees just a
couple of puffs across the top of the frames,
transferred them to a clean hive, found the
queen, got no stings, and no occasion even to
pull the veil down. "Little smoke, few
stings," would be a good maxim for many
apiaries. — H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath.

OLD BOOKS AND FOUL BROOD.

[2095.] The late Rev. W.' C. Cotton, M.A.,
in the 1812 edition of " My Bee Book," give3
a list of about 125 books on bees, published
between 1539 and 1840, but, so far as I can see
there is no mention of foul brood in any of
them. Can you, or any of your readers say
who was the first to write on the subject ?

J. De Gelieu's book " The Bee Preserver,''
translated from the French and printed in
Edinburgh in 1829, is not mentioned in the
above-named list, but Gelieu in his book
says (chapter xxv.) : — " Bees have no real
disease," and he states he was occupied with
bees 64 years. — W. Lees McClure, Lytham,
Lanes.

[Aristotle and also Virgil mentioned
what some think is foul brood, but we are
rather inclined to think it is dysentery they
allude to. Schirach described the disease, and
advocated the hunger cure in 1769, and Della-
Rocca in 1790. There are many other writers
besides De Gelieu who knew nothing about
foul brood, and who supposed bees had no real
disease, and although bees died out, the losses
were attributed to epidemics and other causes.
It is only since the introduction of movable
comb hives, that a real knowledge of the
disease has been obtained. — Eds.]

June 20, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

245

THE BADCOCK FUND.

[2096.] Referring to the notice on page 132
of your intention to close the above this week,
will you alio w me space to invite attention to
the very moderate response so far made to
what I regard as an exceptionally deserving
case for the exercise of a little fraternal
liberality 1 I am not without hope that many
bee-keepers — especially the " men of Kent,'' for
whom we learn that Mr. Badcock worked so
disinterestedly and well — have inadvertently
overlooked the " appeal '' and its pathetic
surroundings, briefly detailed on page 162 of
B.J. for April 25, and by your correspondent,
" A. M. L," in that of May 9 (p. 183). If you
would postpone closing the fund for another
week, at the request of one who, though per-
sonally unknown to the late Mr. Badcock, has
been impressed with the testimony to his
worthiness recorded in your pages, I feel sure
that some who read these lines will welcome
the opportunity for repairing an oversight on
their part, and that a small portion of the
stream of good fortune now flowing into the
pockets of bee-keepers— through a bountiful
honey season — will find its way into your
subscription list. — H. W. Brice, Thornton
Heath.

[We willingly accede to the request of our
correspondent that the list shall not be closed
for another week. — Eds.]

NON-SWARMING SYSTEM.

[2097.] I think your correspondent in
B.B.J, of June 13 (2091, page 234), con-
demns Mr. Simmins' system on incomplete
grounds and somewhat hastily. He appears
to have left the starter frames unlooked at for
three weeks, by which time more work was
done in them than should have been allowed.
He should also, I think, have taken steps to
get his bees into the super at once, possibly
not using the lower chamber of starter
frames until the work in the supers had been
fairly begun. Though the hives I have at
present are not fitted with a lower chamber, I
have tried Mr. Simmins' principle by putting
five starter frames in front of the brood nest,
over which is a super of sections. Work goes
on well in the sections, and I have at interva's
taken away from the front frames very useful
pieces of unfinished drone and worker comb
which have come in for use in sections. In
common with your correspondent I have
found a tendency in the bees to build drone
comb, but I don't see that this is objectionable
for the purpose in view. — Burley Beacon,
June 16.

.] You kindly inserted some remarks
of mine upon this subject last week. Perhaps
the sequel of the story may be interesting.
Yesterday, June 16, the hive sent out an
enormous swarm, and on examination I

found over a dozen queen cells in it, showing
that every preparation had been going on for
this operation before the " non-swarming
chamber" was reversed on June 8. Am I
right ? and can you, or anyone, explain the
failure of this system ? I put the " non-
swarming chamber '' below the hive — a very
strong one — on twelve frames of brood on
May 22. I may add that after a very late
spring and a trying winter hives which have
been well attended to have developed wonder-
fully, and are gathering very fast. — Chas. E.
Cockin, Etton, Hull, June 17.

THE SEASON IN NORTHANTS.
[2099.] Sitting in the old arbour in my
garden for a few minutes, my ears gratified by
the merry hum of thousands of bees working
from my seven stocks (two double and five
singles), and at the same time looking through
the B.B.J, for June 13, I noticed how the
honey flow was on in different places, and
resolved to send a brief report of my bee-
season so far as it has gone. Well, the weather
is splendid ; white clover just coming out in full
bloom. I have had four swarms and one cast ;
first swarm May 26 (3old) second swarm
May 30 (put into new hive), third — a cast —
June 13 (queen cells cut out and returned),
fourth and fifth, two swarms June 13, re-
turned. All now working splendidly. I
have, up to date, 14th inst., taken 300 lb.
of honey from my seven stocks, and
my best double stock has given 111 lb. of
this lot. I am running the _ single stocks
against the doubles again this season, and
doing that which I think best for each for the
purpose of testing the two singles against the
one double. And I am of opinion already that
the doubles will win the race. However, at
the close of the season, with your approval, I
shall send you my short report as usual. I am
keeping the quantities taken from each hive
separate. — Wm. Tustain, Farthinghoe Station,
Northants, June 15.

BEES AND CONFECTIONERY WORKS.

[2100.] As an amateur bee-keeper _ inte-
rested in bees, I would like your opinion on
the following : —

My employment is at a large confectionery
factory (almost exclusively sugar work), and
during the summer, between spring flowers
and clover season, also after the clover is done
(there is no heather near for miles), parts of
the factory are literally swarmed with bees,
attracted, no doubt, by the boiling of sugar
continually going on. In June last year, the
foreman of one of the departments told me
that he put out quite a bucketful of dead bees
almost every morning after a fine day. The
bees get in principally through the roof
ventilators, and the great bulk of them never
find their way out again. All the swing-

246

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 20, 1895.

ventilators in windows are taken out at such
times, and frames covered with muslin are
fixed to secure ventilation and keep the bees
out, but the roof-ventilators cannot be man-
aged in this way. 1. Can any way be
suggested to keep the bees out 1 2. Can the
bees that get in and cannot get out be utilised
in any way by bee-keepers ? I could secure
fair quantities of the bees alive and take them
to my own garden where I have my bees, about
four miles away. 3. Would it be worth while
utilising the bees in this way 1 — Great Corby,
June 12.

[1. Since the unfortunate maurauding bees
when inside the works are a source of trouble
and, no doubt, of loss, it might be worth while
to provide some sort of wire-cloth covering
which would, while ensuring ventilation, keep
the bees out. Not being conversant with the
construction of the roof-ventilators, we cannot
even suggest how, but it is surely practicable .

2. If the bees received no physical damage or
serious bodily injury, they might be saved and
joined to your stocks located four miles away.

3. All would depend on whether surplus
bees were wanted at the time the sugar
stealers were available. You would be able
to judge better than any outsider whether the
condition in which the bees are when captured
was such as to make them worth preserving.
—Ed.]

A CO-OPERATIVE HIVE.

SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT QUEEN-REARING.

{Concluded from page 234.)

If now— as is contended by many natural-
ists— parents are subjected to certain ex-
ternal conditions at the time of parturition,
then queens so produced would have a swarm-
ing tendency impressed upon them, and from
that point of view would be inferior to queens
reared from " worker eggs," if I may make
use of the expression reared in a queenless
stock ; but if the bees merely make cells around
ordinary worker larvae or eggs, as I understand
is Mr. Brice's contention — then I do not see
that queens reared naturally would have a
greater tendency to produce swarming bees
than those raised artificially. At the risk of
being tedious, I am going a little further into
the origin of characteristics of individuals as
taught by some of our'great naturalists, or, at
least, as I understand their views. Let us take
the views of, say, Lamarck, Darwin, and
Weismann on this subject, and I will take a
simple illustration— say the long neck of the
giraffe. Lamarck would say that this was pro-
duced by the animals stretching up to reach
the branches of trees, their necks in conse-
quence being stretched, and thereby their
offspring, when born, would already have a
neck somewhat lengthened, and so on in-
creasing through generations. Darwin, while
admitting such a process as a possible factor,
would assign to it a comparatively unimportant

place, and put down natural selection as the
main factor, along with a tendency to varia-
tion, thus : — Some giraffes would be born with
long, others with short, necks ; the long-
necked ones get food, and reproduce their
kind, the short-necked ones die out, and hence
we gradually get a long-necked race.

Weismann would contend — though I believe
his views are now somewhat modified — that
Lamarck's factor does not come in at all ; that
when the young are born ihe germs of their
produce being already formed within them, no
external conditions to which the parent may
be subjected can produce any corresponding
change in the offspring. This has always
seemed to me a rather big assumption, still, it
is, I believe, the view held by many eminent
naturalists. And now — to leave theories — a
word or two on the season here. My bees,
like most people's I suppose, were very back-
ward this spring, but they have picked up
wonderfully lately. My best stock is now on
seventeen frames, spaced 1^ from centre to
centre, and densely packed with brood ; it has
a 24-lb. super nearly completed, and I am
about to place an empty one underneath to
prevent swarming if possible. My other
stocks are also now well at work in the supers,
and there is prospect of a good yield, although
this is not a good locality and the bees can
only forage on the north, the other sides being
in the town. I must apologise for this lengthy
article — perhaps it may require a liberal
use of the editorial scissors— and yet before
closing I should like to briDg up one
more point. It seems that, willy - nilly,
we are to have inspectors for our bees ;
now, without going into the- foul - brood
question, I would merely suggest that the
said inspectors should be subject to certain
regulations — subject to forfeiting their posts if
infringed — e.g., under no condition should an
inspector be permitted to visit an apiary which
he does not know to be infected with foul
brood, on the same day after visiting one so
infected. Let him visit all diseased apiaries
at one time by themselves, and not go near
others until thoroughly disinfected, unless he
knows them to be in same condition. I think,
too, that when proposing a visit to an apiary
where the disease is not known to exist, he
should suit, as much as possible, the con-
venience of the owner, so that, if wished, the
latter might do all the manipulating, and
he could do the inspecting, thereby
lessening risk of infection. It would
even be possible to bring the combs one
by one to be examined through a window if
the light were suitably arranged. Of course,
when the disease is found to exist there would
not be any need for so much precaution. I
have only had one case of foul brood at all,
and that was in Somersetshire many years
ago, in a straw skep. As I intended to
go abroad next week for the summer, and
had thirty other hives at hand, I decided the
safest plan was to sulphur the bees at night

June 20, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

247

and burn the whole concern, although it was a
strong skep. I have never seen anything more
of the disease since ; although I met several
bee-keepers in Germany who told me they
were very much troubled with it. Many of
them, cottagers and so forth, did not seem to
have any idea of the true nature of the
disease, but put it down to a wet season, &c.
This somewhat amused one who is so frequently
told how far behind our Continental neigh-
bours we are in popular education. — M. C.
Clutterbuck.

<$ttM£5S M& $e|K<>8.

[1297.] "Lazy" Bees and Swarms. — Bee
Stings for Rheumatism. — 1. Into one compart-
ment of a " Wells " hive this week I put a
strong swarm on wired foundatioa. They
started work next day, having taken down
2 lb. syrup the night before. In the other
half of the hive I had a pretty strong stock,
but all spring they were sluggish and lazy
until the new arrival in the next compart-
ment, and now they are working "like
niggers." Is this usual, and if so, is it due to
pride, prejudice, or emulation 1 2. Why do
humble bees patronise flowers (particularly
those of N. order, Labiate and Scrophu-
lariacece), which the honey hive bee does not
frequently visit 1 3. The next case of very
painful chronic rheumatism I have to treat, I
propose using bee - stings from three bees.
How may I best apply them, say, to the knee-
joint ? 4. Does the sting contain anything
besides formic acid ? 5. Should cracked hive
tops be first painted before cracks are filled in,
and would you putty or white-lead the cracks 1
— B. Walker, Kirkby- Stephen, June 17.

Reply. — 1. " Emulation," we hope, was the
moving cause, induced by the buzz of active
work going on " next door." By the way, Mr.
Wells will be claiming this as one more "point ''
in favour of his hive. 2. Different varieties of
bees select flowers wherein the position of the
nectary is fitted to the organs with which the
insect gathers its food. Thus, the humbla bee
works on many flowers whose nectaries are
entirely beyond the reach of the tongue of the
hive-bee. 3. The sting must be inserted by
the bee itself, and the operation managed
thus : — Take a worker bee gently by its wings,
and place it — in natural standing position — on
the surface of the knee-joint ; a little down-
ward pressure will cause the bee to at once
insert its sting ; hold it so for a few seconds,
to give time for the injection of a full supply
of the sting contents ; then let the bee release
itself, minus its sting. Repeat the operation
with as many bees as required. A practical
bee-man would, without any hesitation, illus-
trate the modus on himself, so there is nothing
difficult about it. 4. The sting-poison is a

secretion of the blood of the bee, formic acid
being the active agent. 5. Give a coat of
paint before using the putty, or else fill up
cracks with plenty of white-lead, before the
painting.

[1298.] Dealing with Swarms. — I hived two
swarms on June 5, each on six frames of foun-
dation, and gave each half a pint of syrup for
four days. On examination I find the combs
drawn out and stocked with syrup or honey,
I don't know which, probably the former. 1.
Did I give the bees too much food ? 2.1 can-
not see any eggs in the cells, nor are any yet
capped over. Why is this 1 The queens seem
all right, but do not appear to be laying. 3.
Should I extract the syrup (or honey) from
any of the combs ? 4. What is the best time
of day for examination of the combs — when
the bees are flying, or when at re3t in the
evening 1 5. I use carbolic acid solution for

driving the bees from the top of the
but though it make3 them run down from the
top, it does not quiet them. How long should
I leave the saturated cloth on the top bars
before examination ? — H. E. C, Torquay,
June 14.

Reply.— 1. If honey is plentiful in the
fields and weather fine, feeding swarms is
quite unnecessary, as it apparently was in
your case. In bad weather, however, a half-
pint of syrup daily for four days is not too
much for a newly-hived swarm. 2. If they
are "top swarms," headed by the parent
queens of the swarmed hives, eggs should
certainly be found in the newly drawn-out
comb3. This point needs further explanation
on your part. 3. On no account. To attempt
extracting the contents of combs just built
would probably ruin them, and for no definite
purpose. 4. The "best time" is when the
bulk of the bees are abroad honey gathering.
5. About one minute. It is well, however, to
have the smoker at hand in addition to the
" cloth " when any trouble is experienced in
manipulating. In fact, with bees viciously
inclined the smoker is far more effective and
useful than the carbolised cloth.

[1299.] Managing Supered Stocks. — Reply
to following queries will oblige. 1. A strong
stock was supered with rack of twenty-one
sections (partly drawn out) on May 28. On
June 7, this was found two-thirds full, and a
second one placed under. June 16, second
one half full, raised this, and placed third rack
under. Sealing has commenced in top crate.
Not wanting any increase of stocks, would it
be safe to leave hive as at present until top
crate is ready for removal, or should a fourth
rack be placed under third one. Honey flow
ceases about end of July ? 2. In securing
early sections, is it safe or advisable to
allow first crate to be finished, and then giving
another immediately? 3. In taking sections
singlehanded, to prevent bees unsealing same

248

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 20, 1895.

I propose raising on small wedges overnight and
leaving carbolised or very thin quilt on, and
removing crate in early morning. I have
guide-book, but should be pleased to know if
there is any better way to remove sections than
therein stated ? 4. If stock swarms, I purpose
taking out all frames containing brood, cutting
out queen cells, fill up with frames of founda-
tion and returning swarm, placing brood in
doubling box on top with excluder zinc
between. Should I remove drone larvae when
doing this ?— J. E. W. T., Eastney, June 17.

Reply. — 1. "We should give no more sur-
plus room till top sections are ready for re-
moval. An opportunity will then offer for
examining lower racks and of judging if a
further addition is desirable. 2. If early
sections are specially wanted one rack only
should be used, and the finished sections
removed as ready. 3. Using the super-
clearer does away with all the trouble proposed
to be taken. 4. We should place no excluder
between the added lower body-box and present
brood-chamber under the circumstances stated.

[1300.] Uniting Weak Stocks — Imprisoning.
Drones. — On June 8 [ united two weak
stocks, and put a divider of excluder zinc
between them, thus having two queens to one
hive but only one entrance. In the further
compartment from the entrance I noticed
there was a quantity of drone brood which
has since hatched out, aud consequently these
drones are imprisoned in the back part of the
hive. 1. Ought I to take the queen-excluding
zinc away, liberate the drones, and chance the
queens fighting it out ? 2. Will the drones
do any harm locked up in the back part of
the hive ? There is plenty of brood each side
of the queen-excluding divider. — A. 0. S.,
Croydon, June 16.

Reply. — 1. Yes, the present state of things
would never work. 2. The drones should be
liberated as early as convenient.

[1301.] Using Suspected Honey. — I thank
you for note of yesterday. Might I further
ask whether honey, in sections and in frames
for extracting, in supers only (excluding the
brood-nest, all the combs of which would be
destroyed in their entirety), is perfectly fit for
use in case I find others of my stocks more or
less tainted with foul brood ? I have looked
at some more of my hives, and, although I
can find no trace of foul brood, there is not, as
I have said, the usual "go" in the bees,
although many of the surplus chambers have
already as much as 20 to 30 lb. of stored
and sealed honey in them. It is concerning
this last-named that I ask, in case I find more
instances of disease in the brood below. —
M. G. F., Cheltenham, June 13.

Reply. — Excepting for use as bee-food, the
honey referred to is perfectly good for all other

purposes. The fact of the stocks (not yet
examined) having already stored 30 lb. of
surplus is also a hopeful augury that things
will not be so bad as our correspondent fears.

[1302.] Ownership of Stray Swarms. —
Please to inform me through your valuable
journal if I can recover by an action at law a
swarm of bees found and hived by me as
follows. A friend told me of a swarm of bees
being clustered in a hedge in a certain wood,
and on the following morning I hived the
same, and placed the hive on a public road.
At night I sent my cousin for the bees, but
they were gone — hive, cloth covering, and all.
The man through whose land the road passes
through had carried off the lot. He has since
brought back the cloth and an old hive in
exchange for mine, but I have refused to take
his old hive in. Do you consider I have a
legal claim to the bees ? The bees in question
are Ligurians, and had been on the hedge for
two days before I hived them.— F. G. Davey,
Legbourne, Louth, June 17.

Reply. — There seems very good grounds
for supposing that you would succeed in
recovering value of bees carried off, and, in
any case, the value of your hive in which they
had been hived. The fact of the swarm
remaining unclaimed for two days would rend er
the bees ferce .naturm, and as such, the
property of whoever captures them. If pro-
ceedings for recovery of the value of the
swarm involved anything beyond a County
Court summons, we should advise consulting a
solicitor as to the legal aspect of the case, but
it would be worth the effort when the cost of
lings are but trifling.

[1303.] Canary Seed as a Bee Plant.—
Would you kindly tell me whether the com-
mon canary seed is of any use to bees ? I have
about 30 acres of it near me, but I cannot find
out more about it than that it comes into
flower in July, and belongs to the teasel tribe.
— G. H. S., New Eomney.

Reply. — We have no personal knowledge
of the above as a honey-producing plant.
Perhaps some reader can tell something of it,
for the information of our correspondent.

it ^Juries to dpxrnt^.

June 24 to 28. — Royal Agricultural Society's
Show at Darlington. Entries closed. Secre*
tary, J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

July 3. — Hunts B.K.A. Annual show at
St. Ives. Open class for Three Sections.
Prizes £3. 10s. Schedules from C. N.
"White, Somersham, Hunfs.

June 20, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

249

July 17, 18, 19. — Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society's show at Grantham. Thirteen classes
and liberal prizes for bees, honey, hives, and
appliances. For schedules, apply to S. Upton,
Sec, St. Benedict's-square, Lincoln. Entries
close June 28.

July 19 and 20. — Bristol District Bee-
keepers' Association. Annual Show at
Knowle. Entries close July 13. Schedules
from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long Ashton,
Bristol.

July 25, 26, and 27. — Royal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries close July L. Schedules from Jas.
Birch, Sec, 3, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.

July 25, 26. — Kent B.K.A. annual show (in
connection with the Tunbridge Wells and
South-Eastern Counties Agricultural Society),
at Tunbridge Wells. Schedules from J.
Garratt, Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 5 (Bank Holiday).— Notts B.K.A.
Annual County Show on the Sconce Hills,
Newark. Eighteen classes for bees, hives, and
honey, with liberal prizes. Several open
classes. Entries close July 27. A. G. Pugh,
hon. sec, N.B.K.A., 51, Mona-street, Beeston.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries close June 29.
Schedules from Marshall Stephenson, Sec,
York.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West
Bromwich. In connection with the Staffs.
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.
Schedules, when ready, from Harold Twenty-
man, Wolverhampton.

August 15. — Goole and District Agricul-
tural Society. Annual show at Goole. Five
open classes for bees and honey. Entries
close August 8. J. Luddington and H. S.
White, secretaries.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec , Cattle Market, Derby.

Notice8to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be annoered in this column.

J. G. G. (Loughborough). — Foul Brood in
" Wells" Hive. — Comb is affected with foul
brood. We advise immediate removal and
destruction of all the infected combs from
the diseased compartment of the hive. If
the bees are worth saving, keep them
twenty-four hours in an old box or skep ;
then return them to the healthy portion of
the hive, and keep the other compartment
shut off with a solid dummy until it can be
disinfected.
R. C Ward (DarliBgton). — Protectors for
Broad-shouldered Frames. — There would be

no demand for the device sufficient to
warrant its being put on the market ; besides,
the price would exceed that of the frames
themselves. A visit to the " Royal show
next week, and inspection of the exhibits
shown, would, we think, convince our corre-
spondent of the correctness of our view
regarding his "invention."

Anxious (Essex). — Nos. 2 and 15 are affected
with foul brood. In 10 and 12 the brood is
" chilled," not foul.

J. Harkness (Annan). — Insect is a wild bee
of the Andrena species, common in this
country.

Beeise (Grayshott). — We cannot give price of
wire cloth for honey press, but anyone who
makes sieves or riddles would no doubt
supply it.

G. N. (Newport). — The stock from which
comb sent was cut is affected with foul
brood. Deal with it as directed on page
221 of our issue for June 6.

Sarum. — A case of foul brood.

J. McGibbon (Luss, N.B.). — There is nothing
worse than "chilled" brood in comb received.
The queen is evidently old and worn out, as
shown by drones being raised in worker
cells.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, cfce. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

BEES, Strong Healthy Swarms all '94 Queens, 10s. 6d.
each. Swarm-boxes to be returned. Ed. Long,
Cottenham, Cambs. h 11

UEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

Q!

<£>(~\ YEARS a Speciality-QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
*-,v-' Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfleld, Sussex. 116

ACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat

patterns, 100 strips, 22 inches long, 8d., post free,

600, 28. 9d., post free. W. Woodlet, Beedon, Newbury.

PURE BLACKS, Swarms, 5s., 10s. 6d., and 15s. ;
Nuclei, 5s. ; Queens, 3s. Cd. ; free on rail ; empties
returned. Alsford, Expert, Blandford. 139

ANTED, SWARMS. EXCHANGE First-class Black
Rosecomb Bantams and Pedigree Homing Pigeons,
ready for training. Birchall, Kingsley, Maidstone.

HONEY SECTIONS WANTED, for cash, new. Best
• pale, well filled, and sealed only received. T.
Smith & Co., 17, Cambridge-street, Hyde Park, W.
H47

FOR SALE, Three Bar-framed Hives, a small Slinger,
Crates of Sections, Feeding Bottles, &c. &c. All
from Abbott's. What offers? L. C, 17, Park-road,
Southborough, Tunbridge Wells. h 51

NOW READY, NATURAL SWARMS, 3£ to 4 lbs.,
12s. 6d. each. Guaranteed healthy. Box and
packing free. Albert Twinn, Apiary House, Ridgwell,
Halstead, Essex. h 30

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS, from LUCIA PAGLIA,
Royal Bee Establishment, 7s. each ; six for 30s.
Cash with order. J. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.

ENGLISH HONEY (Comb and Extracted) WANTED,
for prompt cash. Packages lent. State quantity
and lowest price to H. H. Thorne, 32, Herbert-road,
Wimbledon. h 54

250

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 20, 1895.

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

TWO-FRAME standard size OBSERVATORY HIVE,
nearly new, stained and varnished. Packed and
free on rail, pr;ce 12s. Apply at once, Brown, Flora
Apiary, Somersham, Hunts.

FOR SALE, One Dozen SECTION CRATES, with
tin dividers, hinged shutter one side ; take IS 1-lb.
sections ; A\ by 4\ by 2 ; 10s. the lot, or Is. each. Also
a handsome young NANNY GOAT, cheap. BAILEY,
Itchingfteld, Horsham.

1 QQR HYBRID QUEENS.— Special Ligurian Hy-
-LO£/cJ brids — Queens, tested, 5s. 6d. each ; Virgin
Queens, 3s. each. All Queens sent in my new Intro-
ducing Cages, post free. Safe arrival guaranteed.
H. W. Brice, Beulah-road N., Thornton Heath, Surrey.

WANTED, SECTIONS and EXTRACTED HONEY.
Packages lent free to Bee-keepers and Associations.
Prompt cash. State lowest price, enclosing stamped
envelope, to Rev. W. Handcock, Hampton Hill, Middle-
sex.

YE OLDE ENGLISHE BEE.

Fine selected English Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Postage 3d. W.
WOODLET, Beedon, Newbury.

TO DEALERS-

AMERICAN SECTIONS at Liverpool, London, and
Wholesale Depot, Peterboro'. Root's Creams at cash
prices to clear. Also in America, a large Stock of
Sections waiting shipment, immediate orders for which
secure delivery in July. Cheap in quantity ex steamer.

W. BOXWELL, Patrickswell, Limerick. 138

BEEKEEPERS in LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE and
surrounding Districts please note that the
CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES

for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL at the OLD
SPOT, 50, GREAT CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE
ROSE. Why pay carriage from long distances, when
you can buy as cheap and good locally, and have your
orders promptly attended to ? Catalogues gratis.

Sow now 14 varieties of Bee Flowers, price Is. Full
directions to each ; easy to grow. Cash with order.
Buyers of big quantities of SECTIONS, JARS, <fcc, please
write for quotations per 1,000 and per 5 gross.

CHAPMAN'S HONEY PLANT SEED, 6d. Packet.
Wholesale and Retail.

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES, OF

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER. Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

TBI! YORKSHIRE
Bee-keepers' Supplies,

WILLIAM DIXON,

5, Beckett St., Leeds.

Hives, Extractors,

Smokers, Feeders,

Foundation, <fec.

Prizes Awarded, Gold,
Silver, JcBronzeMedals.

SCREW-CAP HONEY BOTTLES,

English Make. Cheap. Clean. Handy.

16-oz. size, per 10 doz., 12/9 ; 8-oz. size, per 6 doz., 7/-.

Packing free.

EXPERT SMOKER (Patent applied for).
Both hands at liberty to work frames.
An Old Bee-keeper's Testimony :— " With the valve
added, your little Smoker is perfect." Post free 2s.

W. T. GARNETT, Steade Road, Sheffield.

NOTICE,

In reply to letters from Customers, asking if I shall
be exhibiting at the "Royal" Show, with the view of
buying my goods there, I regret that pressure of trade
prevents me from showing. I will, however, send all
goods over £1. 10s. in value carriage free to end of July.

J.^TREBBLE,

Saw Mills, Romansleigh, S. Molton.

^W, P. MEADOWS,

SYSTON and LEICESTER,

ROYAL SHOW, DARLINGTON.

I shall show a Collection of Appliances
from the 24th to the 28th, and shall be
pleased to see my friends.

Address all Letters " Syston."

Is theOldest Es-
tablishment la
the United
Kingdom
wholly devoted
to Bees and

manufacture of Bee-keepers' supplies. His prices will
compare most favourably with those of any other Maker,
while for quality of material, suitability and workman-
ship he has no rival.

A large consignment of the beautiful

" FALCONER" SECTIONS,

both i bee-way and 2 bee-way, on hand.
Direct importation.
Price 2/6 per 100 ; cut to receive Foundation, 8/- per 100.
By Parcel Post, 1/- per 100 extra.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers' Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which "contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books," post free for
2d. stamps.

Address S. J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.

y. B —More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and

other Prizes, and Testvmonials innumerable.

NEW REMEDY FOR FOUL

BALDWIN'S

BROOD.

In view of the disastrous spread of Foul Brood-
especially in certain districts— I beg to announce that I
have just brought to a successful conclusion a long
series of experiments with a new agent, which I have
found to be an absolute and simple CURB for this
disease in all its stages— the first remedy that will
destroy the spores, and at the same time be harmless to
the Bees.

Half-pint Bottles, 2s. 6d. Pint Bottles, 4s.
With full Instructions.

COMB HONEY IN SECTIONS.

During the past winter I have purchased between two
and three tons of the above. It has been bought in-
discriminately from the Bee-Keepers of Great Britain
and Ireland. I hope to require five tons during the
coming autumn and winter, and shall purchase by
preference from those Bee-Keepers who are among my
customers for appliances. Special arrangements can
be made to take the whole Comb Honey product of large
apiaries, and special prices can be given for the Honey
where part payment is taken in appliances. Spring
crates are lent free to ensure safe transit by rail. Any
quantity of English Bees- Wax can also be purchased.

THOMAS B. BLOW,

Manufacturer of Bee-Keeping Appliance*,

WELWYN, HERTS. 121

June 27, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

251

(Mtorral, $Mim, &t.

USEFUL HINTS.

Weather. — Excepting for a few hours'
soaking rain — the want of which is being
badly felt in the South — the weather
continues about perfect for bee-keepers.
We write these lines (in the early hours
of as lovely a June morning as could be
wished for) some 250 miles away from
London, on the opening day of the Royal
Show at Darlington. The " Ground " is
less than a mile away, and gazing
through the open window we see every-
where around the thick Yorkshire
pastures and mown meadows, betokening
no sign of the drought beginning to show
itself in Kent and the Southern counties.
The big green (not brown) 'haycocks, so
characteristic of Yorkshire haymaking,
are not yet carted off to the stackyards,
but what crops they show ! There is no
burnt-up look about the bottom grass
either, but rather the promise of a fine
aftermath. It makes one feel quite
proud to be a Yorkskireman. On the
journey down, after leaving King's Cross
100 or 150 miles or so behind, good fields
of white clover began to show them-
selves with a frequency very pleasing to
a couple of bee-men, always on the look-
out forsuch. The bee-bloom was plentiful,
and no doubt yielding well, though on
enquiry at our journey's end, we find
supers are only now starting to be filled,
but — as they say — "its coming if
weather will only hold out." We echo
the wish that it may, for bee-keepers
first, and second for the success of what
promises to be a grand show week.

Disinfecting Hives. — A correspondent
from Birmingham (p. 254) gives some use-
ful advice on disinfecting hives. Jeyes'-
Fluid, which he so strongly recommends,
is one of the best of several excellent
disinfectants, now sold under various
names, and its use, as suggested by our
correspondent, will no doubt add to its
usefulness for the purpose referred to.
The difficulty, however, in meeting the
special needs of bee-keepers, is to find a
chemical agent sufficiently powerful to
destroy the spores of bacillus alvei — or
foul brood — without killing the bees and
brood also. No disinfectant now in use
will destroy the spores referred to,

though many of those included in the
various coal - tar products have the
desired effect, when the spore reaches
the active or "growth " stage.

FlLLIXG UP THE BrOOD-ChAMBER. — At

the moment of going to press we hear of
" big takes " in the south, already one bee-
keeper having, to the present, taken over
100 lb.of honey from several single stocks.
This is highly satisfactory, of course, but
it becomes necessary to see that the
brood-chambers are not also filled up
with honey so as to stop brood rearing
altogether. We have known this to
happen when honey comes in so fast
that the super-room has proved totally
inadequate to hold all the abundant
stores gathered. When a super is com-
pleted and is removed, or a fresh super is
added, a glance in the body of the hive
will disclose how matters stand, and the
removal of three or four frames of honey
therefrom and the insertion of empty
ones will materially help matters, and
save a prosperous colony running entirely
down. A hive and supers full of honey
is a grand thing to contemplate, but we
must give room for "mother" to carry
on her part of the economy, or other-
wise we shall find our bees become list-
less, and not reap the full measure of
the harvest we should otherwise have
secured.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
CIATION.

ASSO-

The monthly meeting of the Council was
held at 105, Jermyn-street, on Thursday, 13th
inst. In the absence of the chairman and
vice-chairman, the Bev. R. Errington was
voted to the chair. There were also present
W. O. B. Glennie (treasurer), Rev. G. W.
Bancks, C. D. Till, Major Fair, J. H. New,
J. M. Hooker (ex-offieio), and John Huckle
(secretary). Communications were received
from the chairman, vice-chairman, and Messrs.
Carr, Garratt, Harris, and Hooper regretting
their inability to be present.

The minutes of the last meeting of the
counsel were read and confirmed.

Letters were read, (I) from the secretary of
the Boyal Agricultural Society, intimating
that the society's council tent would be placed
at the disposal of the B.B.K.A. for a meeting
to be held in the Show Yard at Darlington, on
Wednesday, 26th inst., at 3 p.m. (2) From
the secretary of the Durham and Northum-
berland Association, suggesting that the
question of the publication of a pamphlet on
''The Preparation of Bees for the Heather

252

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 27, 1895.

Harvest." The secretary was instructed to
communicate with the secretary of the Durham
Association, and Mr. Grimshaw, secretary of
the Yorkshire Association in reference to the
subject.

The Educational Sub-committee reported
that Messrs. C. N. White, R. Green, Rev.
W. E. Burkitt, F. H. K. Fisher, 0. T. Over-
ton, and the Rev. E. Davenport had success-
fully passed the foul-brood examination held
on May 11. Mr. Till reported on behalf of
the Special Foul Brood Committee, that the
committee had prepared the information asked
for by the President of the Board of Agricul-
ture, and the necessary arrangements for the
committee to wait upon the officials at the
offices of the Board of Agriculture would be
complete in the course of the next few days.
The secretary reported that he had written to
the British Dairy Farmers' Association, in-
quiring as to whether the Association would
offer prizes for honey at the forthcoming Dairy
Show, but had not as yet received their reply.

The following new members were elected : —
Miss Nicholson, 13, Lloyd-square, W.C. ;
Mr. W. J. Anstey, Marlboro:-road, Oxford ;
Mrs. L. H. Svmonds, Four Post Hill,
Southampton.

The Council adjourned to July 11.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

SHOW AT DARLINGTON.

Ju3t before going to pres3 we are enabled to
report the opening of the annual exhibition of
the British Bee-keepers' Association in con-
nection with the Royal Agricultural Society's
great show at Darlington.

The weather on Monday was brilliantly fine
the whole day, and the show week promises to
be one of the most successful on record.

We append the list of prizes awarded, and
full "report of the show will appear in our
next.

AWARDS.

HIVES AND APPLIANCES.

Collection of Hives and Appliances.— 1st,
Chas. Redshaw, South Wigstown, Leicester ;
2nd, W. P. Meadows, Syston, Leicester ;
h. c, W. Dixon, Beckett-street, Leeds.

Observatory Hive stocked with Bees. — 1st, W.
Dixon ; 2nd, R. Brown, Somersham, Hunts.

Most Complete Frame- Hive. — 1st, C. Red-
shaw ; 2nd, W. P. Meadows ; 3rd, C. Redshaw;
h.c, Geo. E. Pattergill, Mona-street, Beeston,
and C. Redshaw ; c, Lanaway & Sons, Redhill,
Surrey.

Cottagers Hive. — 1st., C. Redshaw ; 2nd,
W. P. Meadows ; 3rd, C. Redshaw ; h.c, A.
C. Jamieson, Dringhouses, York.

M tractor.— 1st, 2nd, and h.c, W. P.
Meadows.

New Inventions in Bce-ApjMances intro-
duced since 1893. — Bronze Medal, G. W. Hole,

Patcham, Sussex, for Self-Hiver ; certificates
to Harold M. Bryans, Hampton, Malpas,
Cheshire, for Super-Clearer ; and A. C. Jamie-
son, for " Multum-in-parvo."

Interesting Exhibit connected with Bee-
Cult ure.— Bronze Medal to W. Dixon for
collection of photographs, lantern-slides, &c.

Twelve l-lb. Sections.— 1st, E. C. White.
Woodford, Salisbury ; 2nd, S. E., Agricultural
College, Wye, Kent ; 3rd, Jesse Garratt,
Meopham ; c, Horticultural College,
Swanley, Kent.

Six l-lb. Sections. — 1st, R. Brown, Somer-
sham, Hunts ; 2nd. E. C. R. White ; 3rd,
Miss F. E. Smith, Lichfield.

Twelve l-lb Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, J.
Garratt ; 2nd, B. Crisp, Henley-on-Thames ;
3rd, S. E. Agricultural College; h. c, E. C. R.
White ; c, S. & E. Cooper, Leicester.

Twelve l-lb. Sections {any year). — 1st,
H. M. Bryans ; 2nd, S. Cartwright, Shrews-
bury ; 3rd, W. Dixon ; c. W. Woodley, Beedon,
Newbury.

Three Shallow Frames of Honey. — 1st, A.
J. Carter, Billinghurst ; 2nd, Geo. Wells,
Aylesford, Kent ; 3rd, W. Dixon.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey (any
year). — 1st, Rev. F. J. Evans, Hargrave Vicar-
age, Chester ; 2nd, 0. Roberts, Tarporley,
Cheshire ; 3rd, T. H. Jackson, Kirby-Moorside,
Yorks ; h.c, H. Wood, Paradise, Lichfield ;
c, W. Dixon.

Tioelve l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey. — 1st,
Wm. Woodley ; 2nd, Mr. Daniels, Sinderley,
Thirsk ; 3rd, E. Bowes, Elmhurst, Darlington ;
h.c, W. P. Meadows and H. Wood.

Collections of Honey. — 1st, W. Dixon ; 2nd,
W. P. Meadows ; 3rd, S. and E. Cooper ;
c, Mrs. Kirk, Stillington, Easing-wold.

ESSEX B.K. ASSOCIATION.

ANNUAL SHOW AT SOUTHEND.

For nine years, during which time the Essex
Beekeepers' Association have had the manage-
ment of the honey and hive department at
this show, the beekeepers of Essex have been
gradually educated up to exhibiting their pro-
ductions in the best form. The present season
is a very favourable one for bee-keepers, and
the result was a finer show of honey than has
ever been seen in Essex before. The twenty-
two classes were all fairly well filled. The
quality of the honey throughout was good, the
first prize in several of the classes being carried
off by Mr. T. Collier, for some beautifully
flavoured run honey. In the class for hives
and appliances there were entries from
Messrs. Dines & Son, of Maldon, H. Hutch-
ings, St. Mary Cray, Kent, and C. T. Overton,
Crawley. There were six entries in the class
for useful inventions since 1894, but that
which the judge considered should have the

June 27, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

253

prize — a self-hiver shown by Mr. G. W. Hole,
of Patcham — was disqualified as having been
shown in 1894. Mr. F. H. Meggy, hon. sec.
to the E.B.K.A., had charge of this depart-
ment of the exhibition. Talks about bee-
keeping were given in the bee tent by Mr.
Roland Green, Messrs. T. I. Weston, C. R.
Finch, F. H. Brenes, A. Barnard, and W.
Debnam (expert of the E.B.K.A).

Hives and Appliances. — 1st, J. Dines &
Son, Maldon ; 2nd, H. Hutchings, St. Mary
Cray.

Useful Invention. — Winner disqualified.

Amateur-made Frame Hive. — Withheld.

25-lb. Sections of Comb Honey. — 1st, T.
Colyer, Good Easter ; 2nd, W. Debnam,
Chelmsford ; 3rd, A. Mayell, Bradwell-on-
Sea.

Twenty-five l-ti>. Jars Extracted Honey. —
1st, T. Colyer ; 2nd, W. Debnam ; 3rd, A.
Mayell.

Collection of Comb and Extracted Honey. —
1st, F. H. Brenes, Brentwood; 2nd, J. C.
Chillingworth, Bradwell-on-Sea.

Mr. J. M. Hooker, who officiated as judge,
made the following

Awards.

Three Frames of Comb Honey for Ex-
tracting.— 1st, F. J. Carter, Galleywood ;
2nd, T. Colyer.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, W. Debnam ;
2nd, T. Colyer.

Six 1-lb." Sections— -1st, Rev. R. T. Shea,
Little Wakering ; 2nd, F. H. Brenes ; 3rd,
F. J. Carter.

Single l-lb. Section.— 1st, T. Colyer ;
2nd, F. J. Carter ; 3rd, A. Mayell.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, T.
Colyer ; 2nd, W. Loveday, Hatfield' Heath.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, T.
Colyer ; 2nd, W. Loveday ; 3rd, W. Debnam.

Six l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey. — 1st, W.
Debnam ; 2nd, C. M. Collins, Tillingham ; 3rd,
W. Loveday.

One l-lb. Section.— 1st, Rev. R. T. Shea :
h c, T. Colyer.

One l-lb. Jar Extracted Honey. — 1st, T.
Colyer ; 2nd, F. H. Brenes ; 3rd, W. Debnam.

Bees' Wax. — 1st, W. Debnam ; 2nd, Rev.
R. T. Shea ; 3rd, J. C. Chillingworth.

COTTAGERS ONLY.

Collection of Comb and Extracted Honey. —
1st, J. Winter, Kelvedon Hatch ; 2nd, H.
Hale, Broomfield ; 3rd, C. M. Collins.

Single l-lb. Section. — 1st, J. Winter ; 2nd,
A. Mayell ; 3rd, L. J. Camping, Southminster.

Six l-lb. Sections. — 1st, J. Winter ; 2nd,
L. J. Camping, Southminster ; 3rd, C. Bradd,
Grays.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, J.
Winter ; 2nd, W. Loveday ; 3rd, A. Mayell.

Bees' Wax.— 1st, J. Winter ; 2nd, A.
Mayell ; 3rd, C. M. Collins.

Amateur-made Wood Hive. — 1st, J. Tween,
Good Easter. — (Communicated.)

tt

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be
taken of anonymcncs communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should : be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, dec, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

%* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE-KEEPING IN PALESTINE.

[2101.] Several articles have appeared in
The Morning Star respecting the products of
Palestine. Your question whether an average of
42 lb. per hive was good for our country, was
answered and inserted in your much-esteemed
British Bee Journal. It is, therefore not
necessary for me to write upon this matter,
but if it will interest you I can say something
about their products, and on their producers.
The culture of the vine is extending rapidly
and has made great progress during recent
years, especially in the German colonies estab-
lished by Rothschild, and inhabited by Jews
who have emigrated from Russia and otber
parts. We are invaded by the descendants of
Father Abraham, who also came in the earlier
times from Armenia, to such an extent that
one is tempted to believe in the restoration of
the Kingdom of Israel. This is very well,
provided they do not apply the law of Moses
to storm us with stones, and that all Canaanites
must perish with the edge of the sword. The
Jew does not like to till the ground, therefore
cultivation of every description is left to the
natives, who by this means prosper very well.
The sons of Isaac and those of Ishmael under-
stand each other like good friends, the one
has the money, and the other has strong arms.
The works were formerly superintended by
the French, but latterly by the pupils leaving
the agricultural colleges. If the Jew is not a
worker it is not his fault, for having left the
" house of bondage " he was spoilt during forty
years, wandering in the desert supplied with
quails falling at their feet and manna dropping
from the trees. Although the Jew is not an
adept at cultivating the land, he is certainly
so at manipulating instruments connected with
art and trade. The installations in their
colonies are of the very best. The machinery
used in the manufacture of wine and other
articles is driven by steam (quite unique in
Palestine) and they have the latest inventions
from Europe. Depots of their wine and eau-
de-vie are found everywhere and their nurseries
and gardens supply thousands of trees,

254

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 27, 1895.

flowers and plants. Bee-keeping is carried on
by three or four individuals, two of whom
have adopted our system of hives. One young
man, only recently arrived, and who has
studied apiculture with the great German bee-
keeper, Herr Dathi, has settled in one of these
colonies of Baron Rothschild, with the inten-
tion of keeping bees in German hives.

The honey obtained by these Jewish bee-
keepers is seldom gathered from one species of
flower, because during the short honey flow
from some particular flower, which yields a
good quality of honey, holidays intervene and
prevent the extraction of the honey, and work
is often suspended for eight or ten days. The
first flower ceases to bloom, and the bees
gather honey from other flowers, which may
produce an inferior quality, and it is for this
reason that they do not export the product of
their hives, but sell it on the spot.

There are four German colonies, one at
Jerusalem, two in Jaffa, and one at Carfa,
founded and inhabited by natives of Southern
Germany, and Germans who had formerly
emigrated to America and Russia, but who
have come to Palestine to join their brethren.
This dates from 1870-71, wnen they emigrated
in masses, and have come to Palestine on the
pretext of rebuilding the " Temple." They have
in consequence adopted the nameof "Templars."
They form a sect by themselves, deny the
divinity of Christ, and have substituted for
baptism " the presentation of their children to
the Lord," as practised formerly by the Jews
at the Temple of Solomon. They have no
priests, and one cf themselves is selected to
conduct the service on Sundays and holidays,
which are pretty frequent. They have no
churches specially set apart for prayer, but they
have a building which they call " Saal," which
serves for their meetings, concerts, and theatre.
They had given up their German nationality,
but being threatened by their Government with
the withdrawal of its protection and their aban-
donment to the tender mercies of the Ottoman
Empire, they have again adopted their old
nationality, and furnish every year a certain
number of young men for the army. The
Government protection is certainly worth
having, for one is tempted to believe that the
promise to Abraham that " thy seed shall be
like the sand that is upon the sea-shore " might
be applied to them considering their rate of
increase. — Jean Baldensperger, Jaffa,
May 7, 1895.

(To be continued-)

BEE-KEEPING IN SWANSEA. VALLEY.
[2102.] As your journal has a large circula-
tion in this district, and its contents are much
appreciated by bee-keepers in geneial, I, as a
constant reader, am surprised that no apicul-
ttualist residing in this (Swansea) Valley has
taken pen in hand to write something about
their doings. Much attention is devoted to
beekeeping in the valley, and it is known to

have been so for the last 100 years or more.
Most bee-keepers who read the B. J. are also
aware that the vile epidemic known as foul
brood is to a great extent spread by neglect
and carelessness on the part of a few, and thus
it infects the hives of other bee-keepers who
are more careful. I think, therefore, that a
little occasional intercourse on these and other
matters through the medium of your valuable
journal would benefit others who take an
interest in apiculture as well as myself. Bees,
like humans, carry good as well as evil in
their wanderings, and thus the careful bee-
keeper may have to suffer through the neglect
of those who are careless in their management
of bees. But how are we to find out those
who at fault without some means of inter-
course one with the other. This is why I now
write to invite correspondence. — Richard W.
Grey, Llansamlet, Swansea Valley, June 14.

DISINFECTING HIVES.
[2103.] In your editorial, on page 221, you
refer to the treatment of foul brood and dis-
infecting after it, so I thought I should like
to give my brother bee-keepers what I con-
sider the best method of disinfecting their
hives, fittings, &c, both as a preventive and as
a safe and sure method of disinfection after
foul brood. I would here like to say, in order
to assure your readers that I know something
about infectious diseases, and methods of
disinfection, I have for the past six years
been practically engaged in dealing with infec-
tious diseases and disinfecting after them ;' and
what I say now is also the result of experi-
ments with my own bees and hives, &c.
First, I agree with what you say with respect
to burning all diseased combs, &c, and the
method of dealing with the bees ; with
respect to this latter, I am awaiting an
opportunity to carry out experiments with
the bees themselves, and, if satisfactory,
will send on the result. But with regard
to disinfecting the hives, fittings, &c, in
which the disease has been, I believe that there
is not a better disinfectant for these purposes
than Jeyes' Fluid. This is acknowledged by
eminent scientists to be the standard coal tar
disinfectant ; and moreover, being a disinfect-
ant of the naphthaline series, it is of more
value to bee-keepers than any other, and will
enable them to dispense with the poisonous
carbolic acid. To disinfect the hives, &c,
after foul brood, proceed as follows : — Make a
solution of Jeyes' Fluid (can be obtained from all
chemists in 6d. and Is. bottles) by adding four
tea-spoonfuls of the fluid to a quart of water :
put this in a vessel (I use a golden-syrup tin)
over the fire till it boils, and then thoroughly
well wash the insides of hives, and all fittings,
taking care to get it well into all corners and
crevices. When done stand the hive in the air
to dry. This will destroy all germs of the
disease, as you get not only the action of a
powerful disinfectant, but also the action of

June 27, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

255

moist heat, which is also a good disinfectant.
Put such quilcs as are worth keeping, in a
boiling hot solution as above, to soak for
twenty-four hours, then rinse in clean water,
and dry in the open air, and they will be quite
fit for use again. I give my hives a dressing
like this every spring (but with half the
quantity of fluid), and have so far escaped
the disease, although there is foul brood within
a quarter of a mile of my bees. I also U3e a
cloth saturated with the solution, instead of
carbolic acid, when manipulating, and find it
answers quite as well. At the same time it
is non-poisonous and harmless, and, therefore,
much better than having a dangerous poison
about like carbolic acid. — Thomas Payne,
Birmingham, June 15.

NON-SWARMING SYSTEM.
[2104.] I am much obliged to your corre-
spondent " Burley Beacon " for his remarks.
I think it quite possible that the cause of my
failure is, as he suggests, the omission to deal
more promptly with the combs in the lower
chamber. However, Mr. Simmins, in his
book, gives no idea as to the frequency with
which this chamber should be examined. If
it requires looking into, say, every week to
remove all comb approaching completion, I
can only say that the remedy appears to me
worse than the disease ; if, indeed, that be a
proper term to apply to such a natural process
as swarming. A swarm managed as advised
in the excellent editorial " Useful Hints" of a
fortnight ago is a benefit, not an injury, to the
apiary. But the necessity of lifting a heavy
stock with super frequently off a non-swarming
chamber, is one which we may well think twice
before incurring. However, my object in
writing was to draw out information from
others who had tried the plan, and I thank
" Burley Beacon " for his reply. — Charles E.
Cockin, Etton, Hull.

FOUL BROOD HARDSHIPS.

[2105.] On examining two hives yesterday
that I intended to unite, I found that I have
got foul brood, and thus what I feared from
the individual 1 wrote you about the other day
coming near me has happened. I have kept
bees now for about ten years without having a
touch of it, and my hives were quite healthy,
and free from anything in shape of disease, I
believe, so late as a month ago, but now,
through that bee-keeper (?) bringing his
poisonous stock near me, the whole of my
stocks are perhaps ruined. I think it is a
shame that he cannot be prosecuted, and that
I have no redress. I suppose I can do nothing
but keep naphthaline in the hives now 1 1
burned one stock that was the most badly
infected of the two I intended to unite, and
shall melt the combs down. — W. H. J.

[Our correspondent will do well to read the

article on page 221 in B.J. of the 6th inst.
The above, however, is but another instance
proving the need for compulsory powers in
dealing with cases such as the one detailed. —

Eds.]

AN EXPERIENCE.

[2106.] The following experience may be
worth relating : — I yesterday purchased a cast
as it hung in a tree, and hived the same tem-
porarily in a skep. When hiving the bees we
saw a queen run into the skep. In the even-
ing I sent an assistant to bring them home,
and on his return he also brought with him
two dead queens in his pocket, which he had
found on the temporary floor-board. When
the cast had been hived in a frame-hive in
the usual way there were unmistakeable signs
of the bees being queenless, and then we
noticed a third queen lying dead on the cloth.
As it was then nearly 9 p.m., we decided that
nothing could be done that night, and came
away, bringing the three queens with us. I
laid them down while having supper, after
which I intended to dissect them. On going
to pick them up, however, I noticed one move
a leg. I immediately took her up and warmed
her in my hand before a fire. Shortly she
began to clean her antenna;, and then to rub
her hind legs and wings. Finally she became
quite lively, running about my hand : so I
warmed a small box and placed her in it, and
took her down to the hive, into which I
inserted her on the " Simmins " plan. This
morning, however, I noticed a strange quiet-
ness about the entrance of the said hive, and
on opening it found about six (!) bees left, and
the queen dead on the floor. — Percy Sharp,
Newark- on- Trent, June 20.

[The " experience " was certainly an unusual
one. It is probable, however, that the swarm
has decamped with a young queen at its head.
—Eds.]

AN APOLOGY.

[2107.] We beg, through the columns of your
valuable journal, toapologise to all ourcustomers
whom we have inconvenienced through our
delay in executing their kind orders. The
following cutting from our local paper of
April 25 last will show the position in which
we unfortunately found ourselves at the com-
mencement of the season. We have neces-
sarily had to repair and replace as well as
possible the damage done : —

"Everybody will sympathise with Mr.
William Bazeley, the well-known naturalist
and taxidermist, of Sheep- street, in the unfor-
tunate fire which this morning practically
destroyed his valuable collection of natural
history specimens. The fire, the origin
of which is unknown, was discovered just
before eleven o'clock, and nearly the whole of

256

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 27, 1895.

the contents of the room in which it occurred
were destroyed. The collection, I believe,
numbered about two thousand specimens,
which it had taken Mr. Bazeley his lifetime
to get together. It is almost impossible to
appraise in terms of money the value of so
much skilful and patient work."

Trusting this will explain to those whom we
have unavoidably disappointed, and ensure a
continuation of their valued orders, which we
are now prepared to execute by return of post.
— W. Bazeley & Son, Northampton.

AN APPEAL

ON BEHALF OF THE WIDOW AND FAMILY OF
THE LATE THOMAS BADCOCK.

Amount received or promised ... £5 17 6
The following sums have since been
received : —
J. Garratt £1 I 0

F. Armstrong 0 5 0

Miss Beach .050

G. Newman 0 10

tyntntz and $*$lta.

[1304.] Spotted Comb. Gutting Out Queen
Cells, &c. — 1. I took a frame full of drone
brood out of one of my hives, and laid it on
one side. I now find the brood has got quite
black in places, and is spotted with black
marks in others. Would it be safe to put the
frame back into a hive for the bees to clear
out ? I have failed in trying to clean out the
comb myself. 2. On June 111 went through
all my hives, and cut out all queen- cells. I
should prefer having no swarms this year, and
wish to know if it would be judicious to repeat
this operation at stated intervals. How many
days should I leave between each operation to
make sure of no swarms issuing ? 3. Is it a
fact that an egg laid in a worker-cell when
removed to a drone-cell will eventually hatch
into a drone 1 and would an egg from a drone-
cell placed in a queen-cell eventually be a
queen ? 4. Would you kindly give me the
name and address of a reliable patent agent,
who would thoroughly understand and pro-
perly protect an appliance connected with bees
which I wish provisionally to protect ? —
H. M. Bryans, Cholmondeley, Cheshire.

Keply. — 1. Under the circumstances de-
tailed, we would advise the destruction of the
comb and contents by fire, so saving all risks.
2. If all queen-cells are removed every sixth
day, there will be little chance of the bees
swarming. It entails a lot of trouble, how-
ever, and if the supers are on the hives— as wo
anticipate they are — we should not consider it
judicious to upset the colony every week, but
would rather rely on giving the bees more room

above , with plenty of ventilation from below.

3. It is not a fact. An egg from a worker-cell
may become a queen, but a worker egg can
never become a drone, or a drone egg a queen.

4. We know of no patent agent we can
recommend.

[1305.] Giving Supers to Swarms. — Guide-
books and writers in the Journal instruct us
to place supers on hives a few days after
hiving a swarm, whereas a friend advises me
not to do so, or I shall have to feed them all
the winter. The swarm has nine frames in
brood chamber, with whole sheets of founda-
tion, but they cover only about five frames at
present. The parent stock has a super of
sections ; four or five are nearly full, but the
rest not touched. 1. What should be done
under such circumstances ? 2. Is it the best
to remove these sections as soon as they are
sealed over, and substitute empty ones ? I
mean in preference to introducing a frame of
sections underneath. The parent stock and
two swarms are together in another hive. 3.
Is it good policy to buy a swarm this season so
as to prevent (in some degree) inter-breeding ?
— Novice, Axmi?ister, Devon.

Reply.— 1. Looking to the fact that the
swarm only covers five frames of foundation it
would be useless giving them a crate of
sections at present . The better course would
have been to have returned the swarm after
cutting out the queen-cells from stocks. See
" Guide-Book," by Thos. W. Cowan, pp. 15
and 16. Everything depends upon how much
honey is left in the brood-chambers whether
" Novice '' will have to feed up for the winter
or not. 2. Sections may be removed when
completed and fresh ones given as proposed. 3.
It is good policy to prevent in-breeding cer-
tainly, either by introducing a queen or
buying a swarm from a distance. We think
the former method would be the cheaper. A
more careful study of the " Guide Book "
would, we fancy, much help " Novice," and we
can safely say that he will not go far wrong by
following the advice given therein.

[1306.] Bees Bef using to Enter Sections. — I
had a swarm on Sunday (16th inst.) from a
hive which was strong in bees on eleven
frames. Will you kindly inform me — 1. Will
there be a chance of the old stock doing any-
thing in supers this year ? 2. Ought they to
be fed 1 Before the bees swarmed I had put
a rack of section on at the beginning of May,
hoping to prevent swarming, but, though the
bees clustered in the super, they never com-
menced drawing out the starters or doing any
work at all. 3. Can you give any reason for
this 1 — B. Dymond, Southgate, June 29th.

Reply. — 1. We fear not. Sections not taken
to before a stock swarms are not likely to be
filled after the hive has swarmed. 2. It should
not be necessary to feed the parent hive in
such a season as this, unless bee forage is

June 27, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

257

exceptionally scarce in your district. 3. The
clustering in sections and doing no work therein
is certainly owing to the absence of nectar-
producing bloom in the vicinity. A change
may come when the limes are in flower if
meanti me no clover is available ; but yom may
be quite sure the fault dees not be with the
bees. They will work if there is bloom to
work on.

[1307.] Are Young Fertilised Queens Left
in Hives when First Swarms Issue ? — 1 .
Do you think it ever occurs that a young
fertilised queen is left in the hive when the
old queen leaves with the first swarm ? 2. If
queen, as above, was in the hive, would she
allow four or five queen-cells to remain un-
touched for two days ? 3. If such a queen
was at work would the bees fill the centre of
combs with honey — said combs being in the
middle of brood-nest ? 4. With abundance of
brood and some eggs, what is likely to be the
outcome ? — G. D., Long Eato?i, June 12.

Eeplt. — 1. Pre-supposing that by " fer-
tilised'' a laying queen is meant, we have
never heard of such a thing, and consider it
very improbable in your case. 2. A recently-
hatched queen, whether fertilised or no, will
not tolerate embryo rivals in the same hive, and
unless the latter are protected by the worker
bees, they would soon be destroyed. 3. The
bees would fill with honey any cells found
vacant, whether in the centre or not, so long
as no egg-laying was going on in the hive. 4.
When the young queen left in the hive begins
ovipositing, all will, no doubt, go on right.

REVIEWS OF FOREIGN BEE PAPERS.
By J. Dennler.
Le Eucher Beige. — Editor A. Wathelet. —
Prevention of Swarming and Bad Food. — M.
Felicien Chatelain, of St. Marc, writes : Ex-
perience has shown me that during a bad
season a crowded hive soon swarms if frames
of comb foundation are given to it. If there
is a honey-flow the combs are completed in the
frames, otherwise the small quantity of honey
remaining in the hive is used to feed the
brood, increasing the population, which then
swarms. The enlargement of the hives, in
good as well as bad seasons, is not the proper
means of preventing swarming. If the hives
are short of stores in the spring, and a period
of bad weather arrives, they do not swarm.
On the contrary, they do so after this enforced
repose, even if honey is scarce. Old bee-
keepers, who take up their heaviest hives in
the autumn, know that they will not swarm in
spring. If we left at least 40 lb. of stores in
our hives for the winter and spring, swarming
would not take place generally. There is no
use in enlarging hives unless there is an abun-
dance of honey in the hive. To succeed in
preventing swarming, the hives must be
treated in regard to the quantity of honey

remaining in the hives or the honey-flow
out of doors. I leave plenty of stores
in my hives, and do not resort to stimu-
lative feeding. In my locality there
have been pears in abundance, and many
have made perry. The pears were cooked in
an air-oven in the yard, and the bees, attracted
by the smell, perished in the pan, others
gorged themselve a with the liquid coming from
the press, and the people making the perry
destroyed them as fast as they could. They
brought a quantity of this stuff into the hives,
which have in consequence suffered enor-
mously. The majority of the population died
in a few days. It is proposed to renew this
manufacture of perry next season, but what
is to be done with the bees ] (They should be
shut in.) During November my bees gathered
honey on ivy growing against the wall of
our house, but the cobwebs covering this ivy
caught thousands of bees.

Swallows are the worst enemies my bees
have. In September they caught them within
a foot of the entrances of hives, especially on
rainy days. The manufacture of perry, the
cobwebs, and the swallows have made sad
havoc with my colonies.

LApiculteur. — Editor, E. Sevalle. — Bee-
keeping in China. — Rene Madeline gives
details on bee-keeping in China, which, during
the progress of events in this Oriental country
at this time, are not without interest.

1st. Style of hives used.

The primitive hive, composed of a hollow
trunk of a tree.

2nd. Apiculture in general.

Apiculture is very little practised in this
country. It is often the priests of the temples
in the villages who cultivate bees.

3rd. The harvesting of the honey and wax.
This take3 place twice a year, in the spring
and autumn. For this purpose the lower part
of the tree trunk is removed, and half the
combs are cut out, the bees having been pre-
viously smoked. The smoking is done by
burning the roots of a species of artemisia
(wormwood).

4th. The use made of the honey.

It is largely used in pharmacy, and also for
making preserves of fruit.

5th. The value of honey and wax.

Honey sells for one tael the nine and a-half
pounds. A Chinese pound is equal to about
one and a-half English pounds. The tael is
worth three shillings. In Pekin, Honey sells
for about Is. a pound retail (0.42 cents of a
piastre).

Wax of first quality sells on the spot for
one tael the pound. Second quality wax only
realises one tael for two pounds.

These prices are for wholesale in the moun-
tain villages to the north of Pekin.

Wax is used in China for the purpose of

hardening tallow-candles. It is also used by

chemists as a covering to pills and in this

manner the chemical matters contained therein

1 are preserved.

258

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[June 27, 1895.

6th. Do the Chinese convert honey into
drinks ?

Not as a rule. Sometimes in summer they
put a little honey in hot water and use this as
a drink. Lastly, the people in this country
have no special appliances for bee-keeping.
They use just those that have been always
used, and these are certainly most primitive.

Elsass-LothringischeBienenzilchter. — Editors
Dennler & Zwilling. — A gum for labels. —
Take white of egg and beat it into a froth,
allow this to settle, and with a camels-hair
brush apply the liquid to the back of the label.
This is afterwards pressed on the glass by
means of a clean cloth. This gum resists damp
very well.

§« $Um to (tyttmt.

June 24 to 28. — Eoyal Agricultural Society's
Show at Darlington. Entries closed. Secre-
tary, J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

July 3. — Hunts B.K.A. Annual show at
St. Ives. Open class for Three Sections.
Prizes £3. 10s. Schedules from C. N.
White, Somersham, Hunts.

July 17, 18, 19. — Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society's show at Grantham. Thirteen classes
and liberal prizes for bees, honey, hives, and
appliances. For schedules, apply to S. Upton,
Sec, St. Benedict's-square, Lincoln. Entries
close June 28.

July 19 and 20.— Bristol District Bee-
keepers' Association. Annual Show at
Knowle. Entries close July 13. Schedules
from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long Ashton,
Bristol.

July 25, 26, and 27. — Royal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries close July 1. Schedules from Jas.
Birch, Sec, 3, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.

July 25, 26.— Kent B.K.A. annual show (in
connection with the Tunbridge Wells and
South-Eastern Counties Agricultural Society),
at Tunbridge Wells. Schedules from J.
Garratt, Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 5 (Bank Holiday).— Notts B.K.A.
Annual County Show on the Sconce Hills,
Newark. Eighteen classes for bees, hives, and
honey, with liberal prizes. Several open
classes. Entries close July 27. A. G. Pugh,
hon. sec, N. B.K.A., ol, Mona-street, Beeston.

August 5 and 6. — At Delapre Park, North-
ampton, Northants B.K.A. Annual Show.
Nine classes for honey. Special open class for
single 1-lb. jar of extracted honey. Five
prizes : 1st, silver medal and 10s.; 2nd, 15s. ;
3rd, 10s. ; 4th, 5s. ; 5th, 2s. 6d. Entries close
July 25. Robt. Hefford, Hon. Sec, Boughton,
Northants.

August 5.— Berks B.K.A., Newbury Dis-
trict, in connection with the flower show in
Shaw - avenue, Newbury. Liberal prizes.
Entries close August 2. Schedules from W.
Hawkes, Hon. Sec, Newtown-road, Newbury.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries close June 29.
Schedules from Marshall Stephenson, Sec,
York.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West
Bromwich. In connection with the Staffs.
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.
Schedules, when ready, from Harold Twenty-
man, Wolverhampton.

August 15. — Goole and District Agricul-
tural Society. Annual show at Goole. Five
open classes for bees and honey. Entries
close August 8. J. Luddington and H. S.
White, secretaries.

August 22. — Show of bees, hives, and
honey, in connection with the Horsham Horti-
cultural Society's show at Springfield, Horsham.
Entries close August 17. Lectures in Bee-tent
by the Rev. C. Brereton. R. Gilburd, Sec,
39, Carfax, Horsham.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

Notioesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

F. B. F. (Chiswick). — Bees Deposing Queen. —
It is not an unusual occurrence for bees,
when a queen is failing through age or acci-
dent, to take steps to depose her. In your
case she may have been injured in hiving
the swarm.

A. C. C. (Church Gresley). — Comb is affected
with foul brood.

J. 0. (Somerset). — Comb contains nothing
more than sealed honey or syrup.

Cosmos (Swansea). — Slight case of foul brood.

M. L.— 1. Comb contains honey and pollen
only ; so we can express no opinion as to
similar comb being fit for giving to bees or
not. 2. Use half as much again of water
in making thin syrup. 3. We don't know
what size of frame is used in the ''Blantyre
hive." Ten standard frames are about
right for the brood- chamber. Names and
address should be sent with queries (not
necessarily for publication).

Hartpury (Glos.) and C. H. (Bromsgrove). —
Both bad cases of foul brood.

H. A. (Manchester). — 1. Queen received is
too dry and hard for dissection. She has
every appearance of being a virgiD, and it is
almost certain she is not the queen pur-
chased. 2. If there are eggs in the hive
from a mated queen, the bees will raise a
successor, otherwise a fertile queen should
be introduced without delay.

A Derbyshire Novice. — We cannot judge
for how long a period bees have been affected
with foul brood from inspection of the

June 27, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

259

diseased combs, unless under exceptional
conditions not present in your case. We
should, however, be glad to hear what the
" dealer '' referred to has to say on the
subject, and you ought certainly to write
him.

F. W. Merrills (Manningtree). — We will
make inquiry of the dealer referred to.

H. Burts (Bury St. Edmunds). — Superfluous
Drones. — Bees Be/using Stirplus Boom. —
1. It is a very common occurrence for hives
which have sent out several swarms to have
a large preponderance of drones. The latter
cling to the parent hive for obvious reasons,
and all the drones which happen to go off
with the swarms invariably 4return to it.
The only way of avoiding superfluous
drones is to limit their production by not
allowing more than a very limited amount
of drone-cells in the combs. 2. The fact of
bees refusing to take to supers, preferring
rather to send off swarms than do so, is
generally explained by the "room" being
given after preparations for swarming had
already been made.

Wm. Campion (Burton-on-Trent). — Cleaning
Wax: — Apart from the possession of a wax
extractor, say, of the "Gerster" type, the
simplest way of cleaning the wax is to melt
and re-melt it in hot water, skimming the
wax off the top (before it boils) into clean
hot water, and cutting away the discoloured
portion of the wax from the underside of
the cake when cold.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, <hc. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

TRONG HONEY CANS. 21b. Bottles. What offers.
» W. Gkiffin, Oxford-road, Reading. H 60

w

ANTED, one BEE WAY SECTIONS. CLUTTEN,
Southwold, Suffolk. H 62

Q

UEEN EXCLUDERS, Abbott's pattern, standard
size, 12s. doz., Is. 4d. each, free, or exchange.
Clutten, Southwold. H 61

SECTION CRATES, complete, 21 lbs., ready for use,
Is 6d. each ; 12s. per dozen to clear. W. LEDGER,
Weybridge. H 63

WHAT OFFERS for EXTRACTOR by Neighbour &
Sons. Good condition. Weathekhead, Red-
bourn. H 59

PURE EXTRACTED SUPER HONEY, Sainfoin and
Honeysuckle. Sample, 3d. PuLLEN, Ramsbury,
Hungerford. H 58

T C 21b. SCREW TOP BOTTLES. Splendid Pale
1 *-* Extracted 1895 Honey. What offers. Walter
Adams, Welwyn, Herts. n 57

CYCLOPEDIA of AGRICULTURE. SCIENTIFIC
AND PRACTICAL. By Morton. Seven volumes.
Cost £3. 10s. What offers. Bee-keeping appliances or
cash. Fleming, Foggy Furze, West Hartlepool. H56

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

BEES, Strong Healthy Swarms all '94 Queens, 10s. 6d.
each. Swarm-boxes to be returned. Ed. Long,
Cottenham, Cambs. H 11

QUEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

Qf\ YEARS a Speciality-QUEENS, NUCLEI, <fec.
^ v-' Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfield, Sussex. 116

LACE PAPER lor GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 Inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. WoODLEY, Beedon, Newbury.

PURE BLACKS, Swarms, 5s., 10s. 6d., and 15s.;
Nuclei, 5s. ; Queens, 3s. fid. ; free on rail ; empties
returned. Alsford, Expert, Blandford. 139

HONEY SECTIONS WANTED, for cash, new. Best
pale, well filled, and sealed only received. T.
Smith & Co., 17, Cambridge-street, Hyde Park, W.
H47

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS, from LUCIA PAGLIA,
Royal Bee Establishment, 7s. each; six for 39s.
Cash with order. J. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.

ENGLISH HONEY (Comb and Extracted) WANTED,
for prompt cash. Packages lent. State quantity
and lowest price to H. H. Thorne, 32, Herbert-road,
Wimbledon. H 54

1 QQR HYBRID QUEENS.— Special Ligurian Hy-
J.Oo'O brids— Queens, tested, 5s. 6d. each ; Virgin
Queens, 3s. each. All Queens sent in my new Intro-
ducing Cages, post free. Safe arrival guaranteed.
H. W. Brice, Beulah-road N., Thornton Heath, Surrey.

ANTED, SECTIONS and EXTRACTED HONEY.

Packages lent free to Bee-keepers and Associations.
Prompt cash. State lowest price, enclosing stamped
envelope, to Rev. W. HANDCOCK, Hampton Hill, Middle-
sex.

YE 0LDE EMCLISHE BEE.

Fine selected English Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Postage 3d. W.
Woodlet, Beedon, Newbury.

CARBOLiNE POMADE

(FOURTH SEASON).
Kills Bee-stings like magic.
CARBOLINE POMADE

Prevents the horrible smarting and burning
inflammation.
CARBOLINE POMADE

Prevents getting stung, robbing, &c.
CARBOLINE POMaDE

Is. per bottle, post free. T. HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY
CONGLETON.

TM lUttkflHliUS
Bee-keepers' Supplies,

WILLIAM DIXON,

5, Beckett St., Leeds.

Hives, Extractors,

Smokers, Feeders,

Foundation, &c.

Prizes Awarded, Gold,
Silver, &BronzeMedals.

E. J. BURTT

GLOUCESTER.

For HIVES made or

carefully selected and

seasoned wood.

For EXTRACTORS,

FOUNDATION,

SECTIONS,

SMOKERS,
<L-c. &c
Is a very good Railway
Centre for the West of
England.
Illustrated Catalogue Free.

260

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [June 27, 1895.

SEASONABLE GOODS.

Finest Quality Sections 18/- 1,000; 2/3 100.

Stock Foundation per pound, 2s.

Super Ditto „ 3s.

Honey Glasses, metal top gross 21s.

Glazed Case (both sides)., doz. Is. 9d. ; gross, 18s.

Special Honey Extractor, with cog wheel ... 35s.

SEND FOR A CATALOGUE.

J. S. GREENHILL, 80, Graham road, Wimbledon.

(27 Years with Neighbour & Sons.)

SWARMINGJ3EAS0N, 1895.

NO MORE LOST SWARMS,

If my SELF-HIVER is used.

NO OBSTRUCTION TO THE BEES.
Admitted to be as near as possible to perfection.

Send Address for Illustrated Pamphlet post free.
G. W. HOLE, PATCHAM, SUSSEX. 115

TO DEALERS.

AMERICAN SECTIONS at Liverpool, London, and
Wholesale Dep6t, Peterboro'. Root's Creams at cost
prices to clear. Also a large Stock of Sections in
America waiting shipment, for which immediate orders
secure delivery in July. Cheap ex steamer.

W. BOXWELL, Patrickswell, Limerick. 138

BEE-KEEPERS in LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE.&c.
THE CENTRAL SUPPLY STOEEa
for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL 60, GREAT
CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE ROSE. Why pay
earrioge from'longMistances, when you can buy as cheap
and good locally, and have your orders promptly attended
to ? Catalogues gratis. Sow now CHAPMAN'S HONEY
PLANT, 6d Packet Expected shortly, big lot of
HONEY JARS (screw and tieover). Large buyers, please
write at once. Very low prices per crate sold ex dock
on arrival and for cash. Best Falcon Sections very low
per 1,000 or 10,000.

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLSR, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'

PRACTICAL NOTE -BOOK.

With Rules for the General Management of

Movable Comb Hives.

By THOS. W. COWAN, F.G.S., &c,

Editor British Bee Journal.

Consists of a Series of Tables by means of
which the Bee-keeper can keep a record of all
his Observations and Operations. A Pocket-
companion indispensable to the practical
Bee-keeper.

Price Is., Postage Id.

British Bee Journal and Record Office, 17,
King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.

LINCOLNSHIRE AGRICULTURAL

SOCIETY

GRANTHAM EXHIBITION,

17th, 18th, and 19th July.

PRIZES are offered for BUTTER, EGGS, CHEESE,
TABLE POULTRY, POULTRY, HONEY, HIVES, &c,

amounting to £130. Entries Close 28th June. For
Prize Lists and Entry Forms apply to

STEPHEN UPTON, Secretary.
St. Benedict's-square, Lincoln,
10th June, 1805.

W« P. MEADOWS,

SYSTON and LEICESTER.

ROYAL SHOW, DARLINGTON.

I shall sho-w a Collection of Appliances
from the 24th to the 28th, and shall be
pleased to see my friends.

Address all Letters " Syston."

YORKSHIRE AGRICULTURE
SOCIETY.

PATRON : H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES, K.G.
President : SIR SAVILE B. CROSSLEY, BART.

The FIFTY-EIGHTH

ANNUAL SHOW

Will be Held at HAL/FAX,

7th, 8th, and 9th days of August, 1895,

When PRIZES amounting: to £2,455

Will be offered for

CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, PIGS, HORSES, SHOEING,

BUTTER, CHEESE, BEE APPLIANCES, & HONEY.

The Entry Closes on Saturday, June 29th.
Prize Lists and Forms of Entry for Stock and Imple-
ments will be forwarded on application to

MARSHALL STEPHENSON,

Secretary.
York, June 1st, 1895.
Telegraphic Address : " YAS, YORK."

NEW REMEDY FOR FOUL

BROOD.

In view of the disastrous spread of Foul Brood-
especially in certain districts— I beg to announce that I
have just brought to a successful conclusion a long
series of experiments with a new agent, which I have
found to be an absolute and simple CURE for this
disease in all its stages— the first remedy that will
destroy the spores, and at the same time be harmless to
the Bees.

Half-pint Bottles, 2s. 6d. Pint Bottles, 4s.
With full Instructions.

COMB HONEY IN SECTIONS.

During the past winter I have purchased between two
and three tons of the above. It has been bought in-
discriminately from the Bee-Keepers of Great Britain
and Ireland. I hope to require five tons during the
coming autumn and winter, and shall purchase by
preference from those Bee-Keepers who are among my
customers for appliances. Special arrangements can
be made to take the whole Comb Honey product of large
apiaries, and special prices can be given for the Honey
where part payment is taken in appliances. Spring
crates are lent free to ensure safe transit by rail. Any
quantity of English Bees- Wax can also be purchased.

THOMAS B. BLOW,

Manufacturer of Bee-Keeping Applianeee,

WELWYN, HERTS. 121

July 4, 1895.]

THE BEITISH BEE JOUENAL.

261

<Mtoral, $fata &u

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
SHOW AT DARLINGTON.

THE BEE DEPARTMENT.

The fifty-sixth annual show of the Premier
Agricultural Society of England opened at
Darlington on Monday, June 24, and was con-
tinued till Friday, the 28th. The meeting will
be recorded as one of the most successful ever
held, notwithstanding the fact that rain sadly
interfered with the comfort of the visitors on
the two popular or shilling days, when the
attendance, in spite of the drawback men-
tioned, was something enormous. The un-
usually large acreage of Hummerstock Park —
lent for the meeting by Arthur Pease, Esq.
— however, afforded ample room and to spare,
both for the exhibits and those who went to
see and admire them. The attendance for the
five days of the show exceeded 100,000.

The week began most auspiciously in bril-
liant summer weather, which continued
unbroken till the afternoon of the third day.
On Tuesday the Shahzada paid what we
supposed would be the first visit in his life to
an Agricultural Show, and judging by the
intelligent interest he seemed to take in the
various exhibits inspected, no doubt he
will carry back to India some novel ideas
regarding agriculture not generally current
in Cabul. An interesting little event,
arranged for at the request of the
Royal visitor, took place close to the bee
department. This was a view of the method
of sheep-shearing by the new mechanical
process, and the astonishment of Nasrullah
Khan himself and of the dusky Afghans of
his suite was very visible in their counte-
nances while watching one man quietly
turning a handle as the shearer worked bis
little cutter round and about the sooty fleece
of a long-woolled sheep, and in a few minutes
turned the animal out of its own coat appa-
rently as astonished as the Indian onlookers,
and hardly knowing itself after the close crop
it had undergone.

The fleece (all in one piece) was removed
from the sheep's back, neatly rolled and tied
up ready for market, we suppose, and shown
to the Shahzada all in about the space of
half a dozen minutes !

The Royal Afghan visitor afterwards made
a tour of the showyard, under the guidance of
the Hon. Cecil T. Parker, Honorary Director
of the Show.

On Wednesday the Duke and Duchess of
York visited the show-ground, and spent some
hours inspecting the chief objects of interest,
besides witnessing a parade of the prize
animals from the royal enclosure at the Grand
Stand. Indeed, the whole show was a very
notable and successful one, marred only by the
sad fatality which occurred on the afternoon of

the 26th. The heat during that day had been
intense, and about five o'clock in the afternoon,
shortly after the departure of the Royal
visitors, a brief but violent thunderstorm
broke over the ground. A flash of lightning
was instantaneously followed by a terrific
thunder-clap, startling in its loudness, and it
soon became known that five persons had been
stricken down by the electric fluid, two of
the number receiving fatal injuries ; the
others, though rendered insensible, eventually
recovering.

On Thursday and Friday, as already stated,
rain fell heavily during the afternoon of each
day, but beyond lessening the attendance caused
nothing worse than temporary discomfort to
the crowds of visitors who flocked to the show.

The Bee Department.

The main interest of our readers will doubt-
less be centred in the Bee Exhibits which
were sufficiently numerous to necessitate an
extension of the amount of shedding this year.
Altogether the display of bee-goods and of
honey was satisfactory and creditable. The
honey classes suffered more or less — as they
always do at the " Royal " — owing to the early
date on which the show is held, and this fact
should not be overlooked when comparing it
with shows held a full month later. The
entries were rather less than last year, though
the number of exhibits staged would exceed
those at Cambridge in 1894, owing to fewer
exhibitors taking advantage of the withdrawal
clause.

Class 319. Collection of Hives and Appli-
ances (5 entries). — In this important class
each of the manufacturers competing staged a
large and varied collection of well-made goods.
Messrs C. Redshaw, of South Wigston, and
W. P. Meadows, of (Syston, again competed
along with two dealers from Yorkshire, whom
we were veiy pleased to see upholding local
prestige, in the persons of Wm. Dixon, Leeds,
and A. C. Jemieson, of York. The two first-
named had a very close run for premier place —
very few points parting them at the finish,
while Mr. Dixon made a good third. Mr.
Jemieson's collection, too, though smaller than
the others, was also a good one. In view of
the heavy cost involved in staging collections
of appliance?, it may be worth considering
whether the schedule in this class could not be
made a trifle more elastic at the discretion of
the judges. With a small entry two prizes of
£5 and £2. 103., respectively, are, no doubt,
good and all- sufficient, but when a larger
entry is attended with a keen and close com-
petition it would, to our mind, be more satis-
factory and do more complete and all-round
justice if the sum offered in prizes could — to
meet the condition above noted — be divided
into three prizes instead of two, where, in the
opinion of the judges, such a departure was
desirable.

In Mr. Redshaw's 1st prize collection all the
hives were admirable alike in wood and work-

262

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[July 4, 1895.

roanship. Our main attention, however, was
directed to finding out what was new in the
collection. In this line there was here a neat
case of polished pine for staging at shows
either two "standard" or three shallow-frames
of comb in competition, or it could be adapted
for showing two standard combs with queen
and bees as an observatory hive. Neat and
useful siDgle-glazed cases for staging shallow or
standard frames of comb-honey in competition
were also staged at Is. 3d. and Is. 6d. each
respectively. Among several other novelties
we also noticed an adaptation of the " Porter
bee-escape," with a casing of wood instead of
tin.

The second prize collection, while uniformly
good, was, as is usual with Mr. Meadows,
strong in metal- work. Indeed, he has this
year introduced metal into his hive-making to
a greater extent than ever. Most of the hives
staged had porches of sheet zinc, and linings
of tin to spaces below the frame-ends in brood
and surplus chambers. The suitability or other-
wise of metal for these various purposes will be
better judged after a summer and winter's trial
in the open, but we were surprised that Mr.
Meadows' preference for metal did not take
the form of using it for roofs, seeing the fre-
quent complaints about hive-roofs not being
watertight. That this wideawake manufac-
turer has not quite overlooked this view was,
however, shown in one hive with a roof-
covering of corrugated iron, which makes us
think the idea will eventually develop in the
direction we have indicated.

In Mr. Dixon's collection we noticed a
useful little rack, specially adapted for bee-
keepers located within easy distance of
heather, who only keep one or two hives and
do as little manipulating as they can help.
It is arranged for working sections and
shallow-frames alongside of each other, so
that when the heather season arrives a few
shallow-frames fitted with full sheets of thin
foundation may be set in the centre, and any
unfinished sections placed outside of these,
thus affording the best chance of getting all
completely filled with heather honey, and
entailing very little manipulating. Mr. Dixon
evidently caters largely for what we may call
<: villa bee-keeping," his " Leeds " ieeder
being eminently suited for such. It is a
simple but excellent little appliance, forming a
winter passage-way above tops of frames ; it
serves as a rapid feeder, or for cindy-feeding ;
the glass cover affords a view of the cluster of
bees without disturbance, or, if a bottle
feeder is preferred, the tin tiough can be
removed and a muslin-covered bottle substi-
tuted without disturbing the stage at all.

Class 320.- — Observatory Hive Stocked with
Bees and Queen. — Mr. W. Dixon took first
prize in this class with a good hive nicely
stocked and well fitted. Mr. Brown's hive,
which got second prize, was fitted with filled
sections, as was that of Mr. Eobinson.

Class 321. — Best and most Complete Frame

Hive (11 entries). — Some capital hives were
staged in this class. Mr. Redshaw's goods
were fully up to his usual standard, which means
being in the front rank. His three exhibits
taking respectively first and third prizes and a
high commend. The first prize was awarded
to the maker's " W. B. C." hive, embracing
every little improvement that experience can
suggest. As staged, the hive consisted of body-
box, section rack, with hanging frames,
shallow-frame box, new super-clearer, fitted
bee-escape ; queen-excluder ; roof fitted with
cone-clearers ; stand ; with lifts and outer cases
forthe whole. The price (24s.)may beconsidered
high, but, with the very complete fittings
included, it is a cheap and good all-round
hive. Mr. Meadows got second with what he
calls his " X. L.'' hive, with loose outer cases
on " W. B. C." plan. The hive as staged here
had embodied in it several alterations since
he won first with it at Cambridge last year.
Among other things we observed at back
of floor-board was a new idea in shape of a
ventilator of perforated zinc, covered — when
desirable — with a shutter fixed below. This
allows a current of air to play about the inner
hive, keeping it cool in summer and driving
off dampness in winter. It also contained
body-box, hanging frame section-rack, and
box of shallow-frames with wide ends, the
whole priced very low at 21s. Mr. G. Putter-
gill received a H.C.and Messrs. Lanaway &
Sons were commended for good substantial
hives of the solid class preferred by some bee-
keepers.

Class 322. — Most Complete Inexpensive
Hive for Cottager's Use (11 entries.) — Among
some capital hives staged here, it was plainly
evident that several exhibitors had overlooked
the fact that the class is specially intended as
one for a cheap hive, suitable for the use of
cottagers, and that the judges are supposed to
bear this in mind when awarding the prizes.
This has not been sufficiently appreciated by
some exhibitors of late years, for hives priced
at 16s. or 15s. cannot be considered as meeting
the requirements of a cheap cottager's hive,
and they lose points in consequence. The
first prize went to Mr. Redshaw for an excel-
lent little hive (price 10s. 6d.) suitable for
taking to the moors after the earlier harvest is
over. Nothing better than this could be
wished for, so far as a cottager's needs. Mr.
Meadows' 8s. 6d. hive, which took second
prize, was also a capital one for the purpose.
The roof, with its covering of corrugated
galvanised iron, pleased us immensely, as
already stated in our reference to it above. In
every respect, this was a true "cottager's hive."
The third prize— also awarded to Mr. Redshaw
— was for a hive priced at 8s. 6d., and a com-
plete little article for the money. Mr. Jemie-
son took a high commend for his hive at
1 2s. Od. This, also, was a very good article ;
but as we have said, getting too high in price
for this class.

Class 323. — Best Honey Extractor .—Prizes

July 4, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

263

offered by Mr. T. W. Cowan (6 entries). —
Mr. Meadows carried all before him in this
class, taking first, second, and h.c. for his three
exhibits. The first was given to his Cowan
Extractor with reversing cages, and fitted
with gearing and cover. The price (50s.) of
this machine no doubt places it beyond the
means of many, but as an Extractor of the
highest excellence, it will not be easily sur-
passed. The second prize was awarded to one
of the maker's well-known "Guinea" type of
machine, with chain-gearing and cover, bring-
ing the price up to 30s. The " Raynor," with
"Cowan" gearing and cover, price 40s., only
received a h.c, because of the " Guinea" being
better adapted for extracting unfinished sec-
tions.

One of the non-placed machines we noticed
was fitted with an iron cage altogether too
strong and heavy for the purpose, the cage
alone being as heavy when empty as it should
be when loaded up.

Class 332. — Useful Inventions connected
with Bee - keeping, introduced since 1893
(16 entries.). — The unusually large entry in
this class produced nothing very notable or
striking. Mr. G. W. Hole received a bronze
medal for his self-hiver. "We should, how-
ever, like to see some improvement in the
" make " of the " hinge-plates " of this useful
contrivance before it is done fall justice to in
regard to its effectiveness for the purpose. The
little falling-doors don't work perfectly, and
may cause partial failure. Apart from this
fault — and, being entirely a fault in making,
it should not be difficult to overcome — this
hiver seems far more likely to meet the long-
felt want of a good appliance for the purpose
than any yet brought out. Mr. Jemieson's
" multum in parvo "—or, to put it in English,
"much in little" — which had a certificate
of merit awarded to it, justifies its appellation,
for it is quite a collection of bee-appliances in
itself. It serves the purposes of shallow-frame
box, section-rack, rapid feeder, slow-regulating
feeder, candy and dry sugarfeeder, chaff cushion,
and winter-passage provider. No doubt many
bee-keepers would prefer to have a separate
appliance for each of these purposes, but here
is one that answers for all, and no doubt will
answer well, .too. Mr. H. M. Bryans also got
a certificate for his new super-clearer. This
contrivance— though not nearly so simple as
those of the " Porter '' type — has the advan-
tage to timid bee-keepers of enabling the
operator to clear the super automatically
without raising it or disturbing the bees at
all. Of course, this means providing a clearer
for every supered hive, but once on, the simple
turning of a thumb-screw from the outside
cuts oft a lot of entrances to the super by
covering them over with metal ; the same
operation opening a single circular hole in
centre of the clearer, through which the bees
pass below, and cannot return ; so that the
super is taken away without a bee being dis-
turbed in its removal. The clearer successfully

used last year was staged, and gave much
satisfaction to the inventor, which, notwith-
standing our preference for the " Porter,"
we hope to see shared by those who try it.

Among the unplaced exhibits were some
interesting items, several of which will, no
doubt, be put to a practical trial in the near
future. One termed a " Division frame for
double-queened hives," was simply a frame
close-fitting all round, in -which was a built-out
comb of worker cells. The careful avoidance
of " pop-holes " made up a division-board of
comb, and in the bottom edge of the frame
were a few holes — too small for bee passage —
to give it the character, we suppose, of a per-
forated dummy. If this " division frame "
answers the purpose in other respects, it should
certainly conduce to mutual warmth, and go
far to ensure a continuous cluster in the two
compartments of the hive. After a season's
successful trial this device will be better
judged on its merits, and should be seen again.
Several super-clearers shown, though very good
ones, were supposed to have already had their
merits recognised at last year's shows, and so
were presumably passed by on this account
only.

Class 333. — Interesting Exhibits connected
with Bee Culture (3 entries.) — Mr. Dixon
received a Bronze medal in this class for a
large and interesting collection of photographs
of bees and bee subjects, taken by himself,
including some good lantern slides.

THE HONEY CLASSES.

These were not so well filled as last year,
but, as the number who availed themselves of
the withdrawal clause was considerably less
than in 1894, the exhibits actually staged
would be greater than at Cambridge. The
quality of the season's produce was very good
indeed, extracted honey of the current year
being especially fine. Some good sections of
1895 were also staged, mainly from southern
counties, Kent coming out strong in both
comb and extracted honey. It was also very
gratifying to note the Technical Colleges at
"Wye and Swanley among the successful
exhibitors. Local bee-keepers, though not
unrepresented in the honey classes, were, of
course, placed at a disadvantage in the Show
being held before their season had fairly set
in. They did, however, carry off some prizes
in the classes for honey of any year.

The publication of the awards in our issue
of last week relieves us from occupying space
in going through the honey classes in detail,
but we must add a word of commendation
regarding the four collections of honey staged
in Class 331. Mr. Dixon's display, which took
first prize, showed in what good and saleable
condition honey a year old may be preserved
with proper care. Almost the whole of the
honey (comb and extracted) was of last year,
yet the sections show hardly any signs of
granulation, and the extracted honey looked
as if just gathered. Mr. Meadows' 2nd prize

264

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[July 4, 1895.

collection was also a very good and tastily
displayed one, showing the same good points
of knowing how to keep honey in good condi-
tion as the first-named one.

The Misses Cooper's collection, which took
3rd prize, was mainly granulated honey, nicely
got up, and well staged ; as was Mrs. Kirk's
commended exhibit in the same class.

We were pleased to see " Class 328 (Three
Shallow Frames of Comb Honey for Extract-
ing ") with so many as nine entries. This class
is growing in favour, and we think that in
time it will become one of the most popular in
our honey shows. The prize exhibits were
good for the season, but no doubt finer finished
combs will be seen later on. The three combs
exhibited by Mr. Brown (the 3rd prize
lot) we were told weighed about 6 lb. each ;
the others being also good heavy combs.
Taken altogether, enough was seen at Dar-
lington of the quality of the honey of 1895
to warrant us in saying that it will be very
good indeed.

For full prize list we must refer readers to
last week's issue, and it only remains for us to
say that the duties of judging were undertaken
by Messrs. J. M. Hooker, J. F. Cribb, and
W. Broughton Carr.

A report of the meeting held in the show
ground on Wednesday, under the presidency
of the Earl of Winchilsea, will appear in our
next issue.

$ama$imktttt.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be dravm on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <kc, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

•„• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2108.] After a long drought we have bad a
few light showers of rain which has revived
the scorched-up vegetation somewhat, but the
good soaking rain which goes down to the
roots to sustain new growth, and fill the ponds
with water for the use of the cattle, delayeth
its coming. Still we hope on ; the wild
mustard and vetches are about all the forage
we have just now ; in a week's time the limes
will be in bloom, and the clover fields white
with blossonr if we get sufficient rainfall ; then

with the close of the lime blossom comes the
close of our honey harvest in West Berks.

The quality of the year's produce so far has
been exceptionally good ; sections well filled,
colour uniform — primrose to pale straw — none
of the heavy yellow capping I have had in
recent years, showing that our flora is changing,
and, fortunately, in favour of the honey pro-
ducer. The crop of 1895 honey varies.
According to reports to hand in some places
there is a good yield ; in others a poor return
for the trouble and outlay of the bee-keeper.
I hope the fortunately situated ones who have
secured a share of the summer's wealth will
not be foolish enough to jump to the conclu-
sion that because they have a few dozen extra
sections of honey more than they get in usual
seasons the market is overstocked, and that
prices will rule low. I offered some fine
honey in sections to a customer who replied
that they had bought some fine stuff at 7s. 6d.
per dozen (my offer was at 10s.). I did not
reply for a few days, and before I did so an
order came for a good quantity of my sections
at the price I offered them at to the firm. I
have no wish to " corner '' the thing, or make
a ring to keep up prices, but I do not see why
the actual honey-producer should not reap the
benefit of his forethought and labour, and not
play into the hands of the retailers. Every
trader should have a fair profit on the sale of
his goods, whether it be a bottle of pickles, a
jar or section of honey, or a box of confec-
tions. To bee-keepers I say put your honey
up in a clean presentable form. If you don't
know how, attend some large show and note
my sections, or failing that, enclose six penny
stamps to me and I will send you a section
(empty) glazed and car paid by parcel post,
and for Is. postal 100 lace papers in addition
to the sample section (see advt.).

Early last autumn I had some correspondence
with the postal authorities re the transmission
of living bees through the post. I sent off
some queens as I had done for several years
previous, and had them returned with an
intimation that no living creature could be
transmitted through the post. I replied, quot-
ing usage for many years, the loss to the
revenue if the queen trade was stopped, and
of crippling our growing industry, &c, that
the railway charges for small parcels precluded
their transmission by that route — also men-
tioned the large number of queens sent through
the post every year, that there could not
possibly be any danger to the officials by the
bees, as they were packed very carefully to
secure safe transit, &c, &c. After some time
I received a reply that the Postmaster General
had considered the matter, and would permit,
as a special exception to the code, the trans-
mission of queen bees through the Parcels Post.
This season I have sent all queens per Parcels
Post and in reply to a query if the " exception ''
extended to all parts of the country, I received
the reply enclosed, if our Editors think well to
publish same. To insure safe transit amongst

July 4, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

20,r

the large heavy parcels, I inclose each queen
in one of my introducing cages similar to the
" Howard" cage (or the Peet Cage U.S.A.).

It is not often that I presume to correct our
Editors, but if the healty lot of bees iu the
" Wells'' hive is not infected by the introduc-
tion of those bees from the foul broody side of
the hive after only 24 hours' confinement, I
shall be very much mistaken (vide reply
J. G. G., Loughborough, 249 B.J.). I wonder
if all the holes in the " Wells '' dummy were
filled with propolis, if not, how can one side be
healthy and the other diseased in one hive,
when our savants say the spores float by in the
air of the hive ?— W. Woodley, Beedon,
Neivbury.

[Referring to what our esteemed corre-
spondent terms his " presuming to correct our
Editors," and the infrequency with which his
corrections occur, we cannot help wishing he
had included the present one in the number
withheld. In fact, we think that with the full
text of the letter— to which our brief reply on
page 249 refers — before him he would have
deemed his correction unnecessary. Any way,
we are content to leave this to the judgment of
the correspondent to whom our reply was ad-
dressed.

Having said this, we hope to be pardoned
for — as gently as we can— correcting our
friend Mr. Woodley, in so far as reminding
him of what he has no doubt forgotteD, viz.,
that the concession by the postal authorities of
leave to send live bees by parcel post was
obtained long ago for bee-keepers by the direct
efforts of the British Bee-keepers' Association,
who appointed a deputation to wait upon the
authorities on the subject. Our Senior Editor,
Mr. Cowan, chairman of the B.B.K.A., besides
being one of the deputation, made direct per-
sonal efforts to have the matter placed on a
proper footing, and consequently bees have
been transmictable in this way for several years
past.— Eds ]

NON-SWARMING SYSTEM.

[2109.] I have tried the plan referred to by
your correspondent, 2104 (p. 255), for a good
many years, but I modify it to prevent my
having constantly to interfere with the bees.
For a " W.B.C." hive 1 put an eke with
shallow- frames under a brood chamber. The
centre frames I fill with foundation, the next
two-thirds, the next one-third, and put merely
starters in the four outer frames. The entrance
is the full length of the hive, and I let a
current of air in at all sides by supporting the
eke on four bits of sections. The bees can
build drone comb if they like, but only in the
cold outside frames, so that they do not build
too much, and it almost always prevents
swarming, even with hybrid Carniolans.

In a long hive I put the combs to the back,
then two frames full of foundation, then one
frame half full, and then two frames with

starters. I also pull out the floor board to
leave *-in. opening at back of hive, and I put
the qmlt £ in. back from the hive front. Put-
ting frames with starters J in. apart had
practically no effect in preventing drone
comb.

I hoped that Mr. Simmins would himself
answer Mr. Cockin's letter, and so enhance the
value of the reply. — T. F. L , Brondesbury,
June 27.

[2110.] Most bee-keepers will agree with
your correspondent [2104 p. 255] that the
necessity of lifting a heavy stock, with super,
frequently, off a non-swarming chamber, would
be a fatal objection to working the system in
the way he himself has attempted. But it is
only fair to point out that no such difficulty
arises if the system is worked in either of the
ways recommended by Mr. Simmins, who
explains that the non-swarming chamber can
either be drawn out like a drawer from the back
of the hive, or may be formed, in a long-
shaped hive, by using the six front frames
with starters only on which no comb is
allowed to be completed ; in the latter case the
super is, of course, put over the hinder combs,
and does not interfere with frequent examina-
tion of the front ones. I have tried the
latter plan, and, so far, no swarm has issued,
while the supers are being filled satisfactorily.
I am not clear, however, that the system is
preferable in all respects to working with
natural swarms. — Burley Beacon.

[2111.] There have been two or more letters
in the Journal lately on this subject, and
though it is perhaps too early in the season to
give an opinion upon the " Simmins " system,
it appears, so far as my small experience goes,
to work well. I am trying it in a combination
hive which holds fifteen frames ; six of the
frames are fitted with starters. I have had
occasion so far to remove but one frame, which
was partly filled with drone comb, while the
bees are now busy in the super, and honey is
coming in fairly well. The objection raised to
the system by your correspondent (2104,
p. 255) that it is necessary to lift a heavy
stock with super at frequent intervals can be
overcome by using a combination hive, in
which, by looking in from the front, one can
see the condition of the frames without dis-
turbing the super, or a hive like Simmins'
" Conqueror," in which each body can be
separately withdrawn for examination without
moving any of the others. — Cestiensis,
June 29.

BEES IN YORKSHIRE.

[2112.] Just a few lines on the season of
95 in this locality. On the whole, bees came
through winter weak, with a few exceptions.
Very few swarms have been got in this locality

266

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[July 4, 1895.

up to now, though there are a good many bees
kept. Some honey is being gathered now.
White clover just nicely out, but I have not
heard of any being taken off yet. I have
been trying a " Wells " hive. I started it
when we went to the heather in August last.
It did moderately at the heather, one side
being much weaker than the other when we
brought them home. It, however, got through
winter with both queens, and commenced
breeding. They then turned the queen of the
weaker end out, afterwards raising another
and turned it out also. I then joined them
for a time, then divided again. They have
since raised and turned out another queen, and I
am doubtful whether they have one now. There
is no brood or eggs, but they work as if they
had one. I intend to persevere with this one
hive. As you are aware, foul brood has broken
out in this locality, as reported by A. R. a
month ago. There are over twenty stocks
within half a mile, and good pasturage
between them ; so we shall have to look
out. — G. Duffield, Bilton Junction,
Harrogate.

P.S. — There are several hives hereabout
the bees of which are continually scratch-
ing one another on the alighting board.
Is there anything we can do to stop this ? It^
causes considerable idleness and a little killing'
off of workers. Should be glad of your
opinion as to the cause and cure, if any. I
have noticed it for years, more or less, but
cannot find any parasites on the bees. — G. D.

DISINFECTING HIVES.
[2113]. The advice given in your last issue
by " Thomas Payne " (2103, p. 254) as to using
Jeyes' Fluid for disinfecting hives is very good.
There can, I think, be no better disinfectant
for the purpose. My experience, however,
shows that instead of boiling the solution it is
just as well to pour hot water on the fluid and
use when fresh. This is more simply done and
there is less loss of strength from evaporation.
If hot water is not at hand cokl water will do
if poured on the fluid and well stirred. The
only difference is the solution does not mix so
well.— Geo. Childe, Trowbridge, June 29.

"ROYAL." SHOW AT DARLINGTON.
[2114.] Fresh from the battle, I wish to cross
swords with grumblers, and express my satis-
faction both as to the arrangements, the
judging, and everything connected with the
show. After twelve successive years' showing
at the " Royal," I must say this one was, in
every respect, equal to, if not better, than pre-
vious ones. We were very pleased to have
friend Huckle with us again. At one time
we had our doubts, but he " came up like an
old charger,'' snorting for action, and better
when it began. The worthy secretary of the
B.B.K.A. reminds me of my old schoolmaster,

he gives us a " whacking " at times, but we
like him the better for it ; and no show
has a bee department managed like the
" Royal." Our visitors were, taking them
altogether, the best lot of people I ever did
business with ; we scarcely heard a grumble
from one. I was exceedingly sorry more
of them did not turn up at the meeting, and
cannot think how it was, especially as the
gathering was entirely in the interests of the
immediate neighbourhood. Those present,
however, were very pleased indeec with the
able manner the subject was taken up by the
chairman, Lord Winchelsea. I was very near
throwing my hat up and shouting hurrah !
I need hardly say how much we should have
liked Mr. Cowan to have been there, the
chief show hardly seems complete with-
out him, and a few very old friends we
generally see in the booth, but taking it
altogether we had "a good time." — W. P.
Meadows, Syston, July 1, 1895.

QUEEN-REARING.

[2115.] I send you a brief account of my
first attempt at Queen-rearing, and also wish
to ask one or two questions. Having a
queen of uncertain age in one of my hives
that did not do very well this spring, I thought
I would try my hand at rearing one myself,
and this is my way of doing it, and up to the
present it has, I think, been successful. I en-
couraged my strongest stock, with a 1894
queen, to swarm, which it did (preferring a
Sunday) on June 16. While the swarm was
out, I selected what I considered the best
(sealed) queen cell, and formed a nucleus with
three frames, as per " Guide Book," cut out all
remaining queen cells, returned the swarm, and
put on the supers. I watched the nucleus daily,
and expected to see the queen hatched out in
about three days; but not so, she was not hatched
when I examined on Saturday evening, June
22, that is six days after forming the nucleus.
I did not look on Sunday, 23rd, but on
Monday morning, June 24, queen was hatched
out, and I saw her on the comb. 1. Was the
above method a good one for me to begin
queen-rearing ? Now, as to fertilisation :
To-day, June 29, I was in the garden and
noticed a small cluster of bees at the entrance
of nucleus hive, so went to ascertain the
cause, and there was my young queen
apparently just come out of the hive, for she
at once left the alighting-board and flew away,
when I lost sight of her. I remained by the
hive and watched, when I saw her return, she
having been away between four and five
minutes. 2. Is it possible for queen to be
properly fertilised in so short a time ? (There
were plenty of drones fljing at the time). 3.
Would mating with one drone be sufficient 1
4. How soon can I expect queen to commence
laying. — Thomas Payne, Warley, Birming-
ham, June 29.

[1. The method given in "Guide Book " ia

July 4, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

267

as good a one as we can offer. 2. Quite
possible. 3. Yes. 4. In lest, than a week
after fertilisation. — Eds.]

AN APPEAL

ON BEHALF OF THE WIDOW AND FAMILY OF
THE LATE THOMAS BADCOCK.

Amount received or promised £7. 19s. 6d.
The following sums have since been
received : —

£4

0

0

1

0

0

5

0

2

6

A friend

Henry Jonas

J. M. Hooker ...

A Native of Islay

Total ... 13 7 0
[Any additional donations which may be
received up to the close of the present week
will be added before forwarding a cheque for
the amount to Mrs. Badcock. And we here
tender thanks on her behalf to those who have
contributed to the fund. — Eds.]

^nttkn m& ^tylm.

[1308.] Dividing for Increase. Preserving
Surphts Queens — I have this season so far had
a very interesting time with the bees. I tried
the plan of forcing a swarm by putting a queen
cell in the top of a skep, but although strong
in bees they tore it to pieces. It does not
always succeed. Then I find that out of a
dozen different trees, ten swarms coming off out
of twelve have made for a yew, which shows
their decided preference for the purpose they
have in view. I saw recently a queen out on
her honeymoon and caught her and introduced
her successfully to a stock made up. Both the
catching and introducing were new to me and
gave great delight. Could you oblige by
answering the following in next issue: — 1. I
want to increase by dividing several strong
stocks. How late may I do it if I introduce
a fertilised queen to the queenless half? I
propose to take a strong stock with ten or
twelve frames and take five or six frames of
brood and honey and make another one, in-
troducing a queen soon afterwards and prevent
delay by them in raising one. 2. How may I
best preserve surplus queens to sell in a month
or two or in the spring ? — Excelsior, Stone-
house, Glos., June 27.

Beply. — 1. Dividing for increase on the
plan proposed above may be done after the
honey season closes, say about mid-August.
In this case both portions of the divided colony
should be stimulated to brood-raising for a
month after dividing, so as to rear plenty of
young bees for wintering. 2. The only way of
preserving surplus queens for sale or use is to
form nuclei in which they may be mated and
kept breeding.

[130!) ] Bees not Working in Surplus
Chambers. — On May 16 I purchased two hives
of bees from a cottager (who lives in a
country village six miles from my residence).
He informed me that the bees were strong
and healthy, and had yielded upwards of
70 lb. of honey last year. Three days after
getting them home I put a crate of sections in
one hive, and shallow frames in the other
(both sections and frames being fitted with
" starters.") Although the bees appear to be
fairly busy, up to the present time they have
only drawn out the combs in their sections,
and in the other hive have not gone up into
the shallow frames at all. My garden has
several fruit trees — apples, pears, cherries,
currants, and some chestnut trees in the
avenue, all of which were in full bloom when
the bees were brought— and at the present
time there is abundance of roses, elder
blossom, woodbine, &c, out. Is it not
singular that they have not gathered any
honey ? I shall be glad of your opinion and
advice. — Propolis, Carlisle, June 28.

Reply. — If you can be sure the bees are
" strong and healthy," as stated, no blame need
be put upon them for not gathering honey.
They will not fail to do their part when the
honey is to be had, but — as we have observed
to another querist from your own city— the
season is very slow at starting this year in the
north. We have it on the authority of a well-
known Scotch bee-keeper — owning, too, over
one hundred hives and located in your neigh-
bouring border county of Wigtownshire — that
his bees were only taking to supers in earnest
at the latter end of June. The flowers last-
named as being in bloom at the present time
are of little value as honey plants.

[1310.] Droneless and Sluggish Bees. — Can
you give me a reason for a hive of bees which
is in a perfectly healthy condition — having ten
frames covered with bees and an abundance of
brood and young bees hatching daily — being
sluggish in their movements, not taking the
least advantage of the honey flow 1 I have
examined the hive twice during the last ten
days and each time failed to discover a single
drone. Could this be the cause ? I have re-
moved the queen from the hive to-day to give
them the opportunity of replacing with a
young one. — Kitchner, Hallbank Gate,
Carlisle, June 25.

Reply. — We rather think the fault lies in
the " honey flow," not the bees, and that the
latter will show none of the sluggishness
referred to when nectar is to be had. We are
strengthened in this view by reports of the
slow start at honey gathering reported from
several districts in the north this year. It
was a mistake to destroy the queen without
enquiring as to the good or bad policy of such
a proceeding. The absence of drones is
rather in the queen's favour than otherwise, as
it indicates her youthfulness— not age as you

268

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[July 4, 1895.

suppose — and the absence of any intention to
swarm.

[1311.] Artificial •Swarming. — Enclosed I
send you two sample pieces of old comb taken
from a hive in which the bees died early this
spring (or late in the winter) from dysentery.
1. Will you kindly say whether such combs
are fit to be given to bees during the heather
season for filling up, or should they be
destroyed ? 2. I artificially swarmed a stock
of bees some weeks ago, and the swarm made
five queen cells ; one queen I know hatched
out, and other cells were destroyed, as I
examined the hive and found the queen there,
but a few days afterwards I found a queen,
which I presume was the same, outside the
hive, dead ! I then gave the bees a frame of
quite new brood from another hive, and left
them to rear another queen, they did
not do so. I repeated the operation, and still
they will not form a queen- cell, although they
seal up and rear the other brood. There is no
sign of a queen in the hive at all, and no brood
except the two frames mentioned above, which
I gave them. Had I best get a new queen by
purchase, as bees are working well and are a
fairly strong lot ? I cannot understand why
they appear to to do so well without a queen,
but I certainly can find no trace of one, and
I think the dead one I found was the one first
hatched. — Enquirer, Sheffield, June 29.

Reply.- — 1. The sample of comb is partly
filled with granulated honey. Similar comb
would not be suitable for bees at the heather,
but should be melted up, and the honey used
as bee-food. 2. The refusal of the bees—
which appear to be doing so well — to rear
another queen, leads us to suppose that they
have a queen in the hive already, though not
yet laying. We would not advise the intro-
duction of a queen until it is clearly esta-
blished that the bees are queenless.

[1312.] Bees blocking up hroodnest with
honey. — My bees swarmed on June 17. I
hived them by placing the hive, filled with
comb foundation, over the swarm, and they all
went up readily. I have examined the hive
to-day (June 24), and find all the ten frames
of foundation drawn, and filled with honey,
greater part sealed, but no brood, 1. Does
this indicate queenlessness ? If so, what is
the best course to pursue ? 2. Shall I insert
a new queen, and lift the present combs and
honey above the brood chamber, to be sealed,
and insert new foundation and empty combs
in the brood chamber. — H. Dudley Arnott,
Gorleston. June 24.

Reply. — 1. Refer to third paragraph of
"Useful Hints " last week, p. 25. The further
details given in your case make it very pro-
bable that some mischance has happened to the
queen in hiving the swarm. It is altogether
abnormal for a prolific queen to cease laying
after leading off a swarm. A comb of young
brood and eggs inserted in the hive would
soon test its queenlessness or otherwise as queen

cells would be raised if there is no queen now
there. See also reply to " Enquirer," query No.
(1311). 2. Give no alien queen till it is
made clear beyond doubt that there is none
other in the hive. In the latter case, remove
three or four combs of unsealed honey into
second body box below and substitute frames
of empty combs. Put the combs of food in
lower box on the outside and fill up with full
sheets cf foundation or empty combs.

%tt $hw& to §mt.

July 17, 18, 19. — Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society's show at Grantham. Thirteen classes
and liberal prizes for bees, honey, hives, and
appliances.

July 19 and 20. — Bristol District Bee-
keepers' Association. Annual Show at
Knowle. Entries close July 13. Schedules
from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long Ashton,
Bristol.

July 24 and 25.— Cambs. and Isle of Ely
B.K.A. At Ely, in connection with the
C. and I. of E. Agricultural Society. Entries
close July 6. C. N. White, Hon. Sec, Somer-
sham, Hunts.

July 25. — Glamorgan B.K.A. Showat Barry,
in connection with the Glam. Agricultural
Society. Entries (free to members of the
G.BJv.A.) close July 7. E. Thornton, Hon.
Sec, Bridgend, Glam.

July 25, 26, and 27. — Royal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries closed.

July 25, 26. — Kent B.K.A. annual show (in
connection with the Tunbridge Wells and
South-Eastern .Counties Agricultural Society),
at Tunbridge Wells. Schedules from J.
Garratt, Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 5 (Bank Holiday).— Notts B.K.A.
Annual County Show on the Sconce Hills,
Newark. Eighteen classes for bees, hives, and
honey, with liberal prizes. Several open
classes. Entries close July 27. A. G. Pugh,
hon. sec, N. B.K.A., 51, Mona-street, Beeston.

August 5.— Berks B.K.A., Newbury Dis-
trict, in connection with the flower show in
Shaw - avenue, Newbury. Liberal prizes.
Entries close August 2. Schedules from W.
Hawkes, Hon. Sec, Newtown-road, Newbury.

August 5 and 6. — At Delapre Park, North-
ampton, Northants BJ£.A. Annual Show.
Nine classes for honey. Special open class for
single 1-lb. jar of extracted honey. Five
prizes : 1st, silver medal and 10s. ; 2nd, 15s. ;
3rd, 10s. ; 4th, 5s. ; 5th, 2s. 6d. Entries close
July 25. Robt. Hefford, Hon. Sec, Boughton,
Northants.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West
Bromwich. In connection with the Staffs.
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.
Schedules, when ready, from Harold Twenty-
man, Wolverhampton.

July 4, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

269

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries closed.

August 15. — Goole and District Agricul-
tural Society. Annual show at Goole. Five
open classes for bees and honey. Entries
close August 8. J. Luddington and H. S.
White, secretaries.

August 15. — Berks B.K.A. (Windsor dis-
trict) Show, at Maidenhead, in connection
with the Maidenhead Horticultural Society.
Fourteen classes, with good prizes, for bees,
hives, and honey. For schedules apply to the
Hon. Sec, W. S. Darby, Consort Villas,
Clewer.

August 22. — Show of bees, hives, and
honey, in connection with the Horsham Horti-
cultural Society's show at Springfield, Horsham.
Entries close August 17. Lectures in Bee-tent
by the Rev. C. Brereton. R. Gilburd, Sec,
39, Carfax, Horsham.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

Notioesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded trill be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Gamma (St. Mary Church).— The " Wells "
System. — Mr. Wells has published a
pamphlet (price 6d.), which gives all
particulars of his system. Address : George
Wells, Aylesford, Kent.

T. Griffiths (West Bromwich). — It is a
well-known fact that toads at certain times
in the year carry off bees fast, if not guarded
against.

Several replies to queries together with con-
clusion of Mr. Baldensperger's letter (began on
p. 253) will appear in our next. •

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, Jee. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

PURE ENGLISH HONEY FOR SALE, good quality.
H. May, Kingston, Tetsworth, Oxon. H 65

OJ

UEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

O/-} YEARS a Speciality-QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
^^•J Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfield, Sussex. 116

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 Inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. WOODLEY, Beedon, Newbury.

PURE BLACKS, Swarms, 5s., 10s. 6d. ; Nuclei, 5s. ;
Queens, 3s. ; free on rail ; empties returned.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford. 139

TTONEY SECTIONS WANTED, for cash, new. Best
±L pale, well filled, and sealed only received. T.
Smith & Co., 17, Cambridge-street, Hyde Park, W.

H47

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

FOR SALE, several cwt. new ENGLISH HONEY.
Excellent colour and quality. G. Reynolds, Eaton,
St. Neots. " H 64

TO SELL or EXCHANGE, Three Volumes ENGLISH
HISTORY, nearly new. For New Guinea.
Extractor. Harry Peel, Croft Head, Skelmanthorpe,
Huddersfield. H 66

FOR SALE, NATURAL SWARMS, 7s. 6<L, 10s. 6d.,
12s. 6d. Free on rail, packages returnable. Stocks
in straw-hives and on bar-frames. Honey in sections.
Linstead, Garboldisham, Thetford.

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS, from LUCIA PAGLIA,
Royal Bee Establishment, 7s. each; six for 39s.
Cash with order. J. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.

-lOQC HYBRID QUEENS.— Special Ligurian Hy-
-LOcyCJ brids— Queens, tested, 5s. 6d. each ; Virgin
Queens, 3s. each. All Queens sent in my new Intro-
ducing Cages, post free. Safe arrival guaranteed.
Orders executed in rotation. H. W. Brice, Beulah-
road N., Thornton Heath, Surrey.

WANTED, SECTIONS and EXTRACTED HONEY.
Packages lent free to Bee-keepers and Associations.
Prompt cash. State lowest price, enclosing stamped
envelope, to Rev. W. Handcock, Hampton Hill, Middle-

YE 0LDE ENCUSHE BEE.

Fine selected Fertile Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Sent in my Intro-
ducing Cage, guaranteeing safe arrival. Parcel Postage
3d. W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

An Examination for Certificates

As Experts to the above Association will be held at
STBABAWE,

In the last week of July.

For particulars apply to HENRY CHENEVIX, Hon.
Sec, 15, Morehampton-road, Dublin. 151

CARBOLINE POMADE

(FOURTH SEASON).

Kills Bee-stings like magic.

CARBOLINF POMADE

Prevents the horrible smarting and burning
inflammation.
CARBOLINE POMADE

Prevents getting stung, robbing, &c.
CARBOLINE POMaDE

Is. per bottle.post free. T. HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY,
CONGLETON.

DON'T GET STUNG!

WHEN, BY USING A P I P TT ft H

YOU CAN PREVENT IT.

«•* BEE-KEEPERS SAY IT IS MARVELLOUS, AND "©»

THEY WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT IT.

Send for a Bottle at once.

Small Bottles, 1/2, Large Bottles, 1/9, Post Free.

Cash must accompany Order.

To be obtained of all Appliance Dealers and

DARCY CRIMSHAW, HORSFORTH, LEEDS.

For HIVES made oj

carefully selected and

seasoned wood.

For EXTRACTORS,

FOUNDATION,

SECTIONS,

SMOKERS,
Jkc. &c
Is a very good Railway
Centre for the West
England.
Illustrated Catalogue Free.

E. J. BDRTT

GLOUCESTER.

270

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[July 4, 1895.

SEASONABLE GOODS.

Finest Quality Sections 18/- 1,000; 2/3 100.

Stock Foundation ■ per pound, 2s.

Super Ditto „ 3s.

Honey Glasses, metal top gross 21s.

Glazed Case (both sides)... doz. Is. 9d. ; gross, 18s.

Special Honey Extractor, with cog wheel ... 35s.

SEND FOR A CATALOGUE.

J. S. CREENHILL, 80, Graham road, Wimbledon.

(27 Years with Neighbour <ft Sons.)

SWARMINCJEASON, 1895.

NO MORE LOST SWARMS,

If my SELF-HIVER is used.

NO OBSTRUCTION TO THE BEES.
Admitted to be as near as possible to perfection.

Send Address for Illustrated Pamphlet post free.
G. W. HOLE, PATCHAM, SUSSEX. 115

BEE-KEEPERS in LANCASHIRE and CHESHJRE.&c.
THE CENTRAL SUPPLY STOEEJ
for all BEE REQUISITES is m LIVERPOOL 60, GREAT
CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE ROSE. Why pay
earriage from long-distances, when you can buy as cheap
and good locally, and have your orders promptly attended
to ? Catalogues gratis. Sow now CHAPMAN'S HONEY
PLANT, 6d. Packet. Expected shortly, big lot of
HONEY JARS (screw and tieover). Large buyers, please
write at once. Very low prices per crate sold ex dock
on arrival and for cash. Best Falcon Sections very low
per 1.000 or lO.QPQ.

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

SCREW-CAP HONEY BOTTLES,

English Make. Cheap. Clean. Handy.

16-oz. size, per 10 doz., 12/9 ; 8-oz. size, per 6 doz., 7/-.

Packing free.

EXPERT SMOKER (Patent applied for).
Both hands at liberty to work frames.
An Old Bee-keeper's Testimony :-" With the valve
added, your little Smoker is perfect." Post free 2s.

W. T. GARNETT, Steade Eoad, Sheffield

DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'

ASSOCIATION.
THE FOURTEENTH ANNUAL

EXHIBITION

OF

Hives, Bees, Honsy, and Appliances

Will be held in the

SHOW CR0UNDS OF THE DERBYSHIRE AGRICULTURAL

SOCIETY AT DERBY,

OnWednesday and Thursday, Sept. 11 & 12, 1695.

The following Claxxex are open to all comers —

Class 14.— Best Twelve 1-lb. Sections. First Prize,
£1 ; Second, 10s.

Class 15.— Best Twelve 1-lb. Jars of Run Honey.
First Prize, £1 ; Second, 10s. ; Third, 7s. 6d. ; Fourth, 5s.

Class 16.— Best Twelve 1-lb. Jars of Granulated
Honey. First Prize, £1 ; Second, 10s.

Class 17 (offered by Mr. F. Walker. Hon. Sec.
D.B.K.A.)— Best Two Combs of Honey in Standard
Frames. First Prize, 15s. ; Second, 10s. ; Third, 5s.

Class 18.— Best Collection of Appliances, first Prize,
£2 ; Second, £1.

For h'titri) Fornix or other information, appbl

F. WALKER, Hon. Sec.,' Cattle Market, Derby.

Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society.

GREAT SHOW AT
PRESTON,

JULY 25th, 26th, & 27th, 1895.

PRIZES, Value £2,800.
Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Pigs,
Goats, Dogs, Poultry, Pigeons,
Cheese, Butter, Honey, Work-
ing Dairy, and Implements.
Entries finally close Sth July.
JAMES BIRCH, Secretary.
3, Brunswick-st. Liverpool. 149

ll the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United
Kingdom
wholly devoted

BALDWIN'S

to Bees and

manufacture of Bee-keepers' supplies. His prices will
oompare most favourably with those of any other Maker,
while for quality of material, suitability and workman-
ship he has no rival.

A large consignment of the beautiful

" FALCONER" SECTIONS,

both 4 bee-way and 2 bee-way, on hand.
Direct Importation.
Price 2/6 per 100 ; cut to receive Foundation, 8/- per 100.
By Parcel Post, 1/- per 100 extra.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers' Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which "contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books," post free for
2d. stamps.

Address S. J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.

V. B — More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and

nthnr Prizes, and Testimonialsi innumerable.

W. P. MEADOWS

SYSTON and LEICESTER.

EXTRACTORS.

My Patent Tin Backed.
OVER 30,000 SOLD.

THE BEST IN THE WORLD.
Head Prizes wherever shown many years.

THE COWAN.

LITTLE

WONDER, 7/6
WINDSOR, 15/-

ORIGINAL
GUINEA, 21/-
NEW
(immi 21/-

RAYM,}40/-
The COWAN,

as illustration,
with Covers A(\/_

i and Gearing,

Gearing to Guinea

or Raynor's,

10s. extra.

July 1 1, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

271

(Mttorial $fcr&£8, ku

EXAMINATIONS FOR EXPERTS'
CERTIFICATES.

The periodical season for holding ex-
aminations of candidates for the Third
Class Certificates of the British Bee-
keepers' Association having now opened,
the time seems opportune for a few
observations bearing upon them, and the
changed circumstances under which they
are now conducted. Judged by the ex-
perience of recent years, this part of the
Parent Association's educational work is
growing in interest and apparent value,
and the recent grouping together of
several counties as centres for holding
examinations will no doubt add to the
list of candidates. But, when comparing
the number of certificates actually ob-
tained with the failures, the percentage
of the latter is seen to be considerably
more than was the case a few years ago.
Not that there is any perceptible lessening
of intelligence or skill on the part of
those presenting themselves — in fact,
rather the contrary — but, as we have
said, the circumstances or conditions are
now very much changed. Up to quite
recent years the business purpose for
which a certificate was sought, never
went beyond the emoluments to be
gained by becoming the County Expert,
whose periodical visit to members took
place in the spring and autumn of each
year, and were paid for at so much per
day. The qualification for the position
usually included ability to undertake
"tent work "at shows, and knowledge
of such practical work of an apiary as
would enable the " expert " to advise
members what to do, and " when and
how to do it." For such work the main
requirements are skill in handling live
bees, together with a fair knowledge of
their habits. Consequently, it was taken
for granted that the man who could
drive bees in workmanlike fashion ;
handle combs in frame-hives with skill
and proper care ; find the queens quickly,
and, in short, get through in fairly good
style what are known as the " manipu-
lations " which form one division of
the examination, was quite safe for a
" pass." Weil, to some extent this was
true when dealing with the subject on
the lines followed a few years ago. but

to-day experts' certificates are used for
purposes entirely beyond the scope of
what was intended when these examina-
tions were first instituted. Technical
education, for which public money is
voted, has supervened, and the expert's
certificate now carries Avith it a consider-
ably enhanced value as a testimonial of
efficiency for work of a far higher
character than before. More or less
employment is now voted by the Techni-
cal Instruction Committees of County
Councils, to teachers of, and lecturers
on, the art of bee-keeping.

Nor does it stop here. The work is
still taking higher ground ; for, along
with the marked advance made in bee-
keeping, and the enormous .addition to
the number of those taking an interest
in the pursuit, what may be called the
"forward movement" has brought with it
trouble and anxiety to all concerned, in
consequence of the increase of foul brood
among bees, and the imperative necessity
for obtaining powers for dealing with it.
This again lifts the question of " experts "
on to a higher plane ; for if compulsory
powers for dealing with bee-diseases are
obtained by legislation, Inspectors will
be needed for carrying out those powers,
about whose qualifications there must be
no shadow of doubt. One of the proofs
of this will be the possession of a certifi-
cate of proficiency from the only body
in this country at present recognised as
having the power to grant such, viz.,
the British Bee-Keepers' Association.

These are among the " altered con-
ditions " surrounding the question of
experts' certificates to-day, and we have
probably indicated enough to emphasise
the need for would-be experts — when
preparing for an exam. — acquainting
themselves with some knowledge of the
craft beyond the manipulative ability
already referred to. To put the matter
plainly, it may be explained that the
examination consists of three divisions.
(.1.) Manipulations. These are briefly
explained above. (2.) An Oral Exam-
ination, embracing the whole subject of
practical bee-keeping. (3.) A special
exam, on Foul Brood. In specifying
these several divisions, and slightly
indicating the character of each,
it is far from our purpose to magnify
the difficulties to be encountered,
our desire beinc; to assist candidates

272

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 11, 1895.

by preparing them, for what they have
to undergo, so far as removing the — all
too frequent — impression that mere
"manipulating" alone will carry them
through. This feeling was painfully
prominent at a recent examination — in
which the writer took part — wherein
otherwise competent candidates were
unavoidably " failed " for lack of know-
ledge, which a few hours' study of
" Cowan's Guide Book," or some other
good work on bees, would have furnished
them with. The curious part was that
every one of the candidatss possessed a
" Guide Book," and had read it, too, but
with no special attention in view of
the examination, because of not having
any fixed idea a.s to what particular
points — if any — importance would be
attached. There seems, to our mind,
something approaching to unfairness in
this to candidates and examiners re-
spectively, and we cannot help sharing
in the regret expressed that some reason-
ably clear intimation of what is required
has not been formulated by the Associa-
tion* for the use of candidates, which
would make plain to the latter the main
points on which the examinations are
based. So much of general intelligence,
to say nothing of aptitude for acquiring
bee-knowledge, was displayed by several
of the candidates on the occasion referred
to, that it was positively painful to think
how different a complexion would have
been put on matters if it had been made
directly known beforehand what was
expected in the way of special study for
the oral or viva voce part of the business,
which seemed to come upon some of
them as a surprise. " A half day's study
of 'Cowan's Guide Book,' with the
experience I have just gained with-your-
self ," remarked one of these, u would
have made a difference in my case."
And we have no doubt it will have made
a difference when the gentleman referred
to comes forward again, as he good-
humouredly declared he would at the
earliest opportunity available.

These remarks are not intended to
convey the impression that the third-
class examination is a very terrible ordeal
to go through ; quite the contrary, nor
is there any need for a tedious course of
" cramming " to prepare for it. We only
wish to place the matter on a clear
footing, and make it plain that more —

much more — is needed now than was
deemed necessary before the altered
conditions arose. We read in the annual
report of the B.B.K.A. that " all informa-
tion respecting examinations may be had
from the secretary," and on pages 29
and 30 of the same report will be found
full particulars of what has indirectly
led to the penning of this article, in
concluding which we may observe that
the not unimportant position now held
by our experts in connection with county
council work, and the still higher places
possibly in prospect for the holders,
render certificates worth working for,
while the responsibility of the associa-
tion which grants them is correspond-
ingly increased. These facts make it
doubly necessary that only persons really
qualified should receive the coveted
parchment.

HONEY IMPORTS.

The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of
June, 1895, was £9,926. — From a return
furnished by the Statistical Office, H.M.
Customs.

$armpnkMt

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 wnte on one side of the paper only' and
give their real names- and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should bo drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shmvs, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &e., must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

*.' In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE JOTTINGS.

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2116.] Heredity in Bees. — Your corre-
spondent, Mr. C. Clutterbuck, on p. 233 of
B.J. for June 13, requests my views on this
subject. Well. I have had a "think" over
the matter. While bound to admit the force
of the argument in favour of heredity, and of
the very many sequences which tend to
support the theory propounded by Mr. Grim-
shaw (B.J., March 28, p. 122), yet I cannot
disabuse my mind of the fact that the whole
question of heredity is theory, and theory

July II, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

273

only. There may be corroborative correla-
tion, perhaps, of the strongest kind warrant-
ing one in arriving at a conclusion in a
measure satisfactory, but I must confess I cannot
find it, and although fairly well acquainted
with the works of Darwin, Lamarck, and
others bearing on evolution, &c, I see nothing
in them which enables me to give a positive
opinion on the subject, and indeed, it was
this happy state of uncertainty which made
me regret that those whose opinions have
become fully developed with regard to this
interesting matter, did not feel disposed to
give those of us who are in the transitive
mood, the benefit of such opinion. When the
busy season with the bees is over, I am hoping
to go further into the matter. Meantime,
perhaps that good old comrade of B.B.J.
readers (Mr. Grimshaw), will give us his
farther views — seeing that the question is his,
and not mine — on the point raised by Mr.
Clutterbuck.

About Queen Bearing. — Mr. Clutterbuck
also "asks (on page 246) a few questions as to
queens raised under the swarming impulse
being impressed with a swarming tendency.
From what I have already said, Mr. C. will
gather my unpreparedness to admit that this
is so. I would rather say, that certain strains
of bees possess certain characteristics of their
own which according to Darwin and others,
are evolved and strengthened from generation
to generation until they become fixed traits or
prominent peculiarities of the species. But it
by no means follows that these are fixed
characteristics. Members of the same family
may be — and often are — as unlike as possible
in many phases of character, yet, if the strong
trait which is the marked characteristic of the
strain is absent from individual members of
the same family, the theory of Darwin and
others becomes faulty. My argument is that
if queens are raised from stocks that have
nevtr swarmed, that particular trait will not be
a marked characteristic of the resultant bees.
In fact, queens raised by such bees will have
little chance of being impressed with the
external conditions existing at the time of
parturition. Here, again, I admit not having
yet studied this phase of the question suffi-
ciently to give a decided opinion regarding its
bearing on the swarming propensity of some
races of bees. I have, however, made a mental
note on the point as one for further considera-
tion and hope to go into it later on.

" "Why do I consider finer queens can be
produced with a laying mother present in the
hive ? " is another question put to me by Mr.
C. Well, my reasons are — first, because of
having proved that it is so ; second, because
the queens are raised from selected larvre, and
not from larvae of bees possessing the swarming
propensity ; third, because the queens are
raised koc of necessity, or by compulsion, but
willingly, and from choice, and under an en-
tirely different set of circumstances to those
brought about by the swarming fever. Defer-

ring, for the time, my usual " by-way jottings,"
I will endeavour to make clear how this state
of willingness to raise new " mothers " is
brought about. In my former articles on
queen-rearing, it was explained how a stock
should be brought into flourishing condition,
and how I proceeded to place brood in the
doubled hive, &c. Now, in due course the
brood in the chamber above being crowded
with bees, and no unsealed brood therein, the
queen being limited to a certain extent below,
I find, on placing a frame of artificial cells
above, that the bees almost immediately begin
to fashion them into perfect queen-cells, and
why ] Well, my opinion is, because they are
under the impression that the old queen below
is getting worn out, or failing ; and seeing
that brood is decreasing in the upper cham-
bers, it behoves them to take steps to get a new
mother there. It is well known to old hands
at our craft that a finer queen will be raised
when she is intended to supersede a failing
one. There is, then, no raising of queens
from larvae of all ages ; no undue haste, which
is clearly shown by my rarely having a queen
come forth from her cell until well into the
seventeenth day from the laying of the egg !
The above facts I have had the opportunity of
verifying every week— I might say nearly
every day for the last two months.

Mr. C. is not correct when he says I con-
clude "that when rearing a queen in the
ordinary course, &c, the bees do not first
make a queen cup.'' I never remember saying
this. If I did, however, I am going to take it
back, as such is certainly not my experience.
I find plenty of cups made ; but what I do
say is that I have never yet seen a queen lay an
egg in such a cup, and until I see her do
this I am not going to admit anything to the
contrary. They may be eventually used for
raising queens even, but I would rather favour
the supposition that bees will transport eggs
or larvae thereto for that purpose, although I
have never caught them in the act. There
are, however, instances on record from various
sources where bees have been found to tran-
sport eggs for the purpose of queen raising, so
that the late Mr. Cheshire was not quite
correct in stating, on page 287, vol 2, of
"Bees and Bee-Keeping,'' that "practically
eggs must hatch, and the larva; must be
brought up where the former were laid."
Although the language in this particular
chapter is carefully guarded, I think I have
proved at any rate that he never contemplated
queen-rearing in artificial cups when he wrote
the paragraph in question. I might draw
attention to several other points in Mr.
Cheshire's book which are not quite " up to
date,'' but we must remember that fresh facts
are being discovered every day, and, like most
other things, bee-keeping is advancing, and in
view of this it would neither be fair nor in
good taste to criticise the excellent work of
one who is no longer among us. Nor should
I have mentioned his work now in a contro-

274

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 11, 1895.

versial spirit, but that Mr. Clutterbuck quotes
from it in support of his theory.

In the particular instance under your cor-
respondent's direct notice referring to a queen-
cup containing an egg, I note, he says,
" evidently deposited in the cell for the express
purpose," &c, it is not stated by whom, nor is
there any evidence of the queen having laid it
there. I gather, too, from Mr. Cheshire's
book that he too was in the same predicament.
It cannot be said the queen does not lay eggs
in queen cups, but my impression is that if she
does, it is simply because she has eggs to lay and
the queen cups are the only available cells. It
is well known that a queen, if cramped for
egg room, will lay four or five eggs in a single
worker cell. — H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath.

RIVER PLATE HONEY.

[2117.] Having sent you samples of River
Plate honey through Messrs. Frost & Co., of
London, and same having been those referred
to in your Journal of May 2 of this year ; as a
subscriber to your valued paper through my
London agents I take the liberty of requesting
you to favour me by answering the following
questions : — 1. From what flora, if any, was
such honey obtained % 2. Might it not have
been from honey-dew 1 3. Could it have been
procured from peach-refuse thrown out during
the packing season from the factory in which 1
am interested, and close to which my apiary is
situated? At my partner's apiary, situated
about twenty miles from mine, all his sections
contained almost transparent honey, and of a
beautiful flavour. My chief object in sending
samples of honey which I knew to be of a
very inferior quality was to ascertain, as I
expected to do, your opinion as to the source
from which it had been obtained.

In these islands of the Delta of the River
Plate, my partner, Mr. Lawrence, and myself
have been the first to introduce the bar-frame
hive, and our success has been such that, in a
little more than two years, we find ourselves
each with fifty strong colonies.

This past season my (to be exact) fifty- one
colonies gave me 2,016 marketable 1-lb.
sections, and 377 lb. oi' pressed honey, which
result may be, I suppo&e, considered satisfac-
tory. About one-third only contained the
inferior honey already referred to ; but even so
this is a serious loss, and unless 1 am able to
prevent the bees from gathering it, I think my
best plan will be to send my colonies over to
my partner's apiary.

The sections you refer to as being so
beautifully white and clean came, as nearly all
my bee material does, from Messrs. Abbott
Bros. Apologising for troubling you with so
lengthy a letter.— James H. Hunter, Tigre
( F.G.N. ), Buenos Ayres, June 12, 1895.

[We are very pleased to receive the above.
It affords an interesting — and, no doubt,
perfectly accurate — explanation of what

puzzled us much at the time. The honey
referred to when shown at the B.B.K.A.
Conversazione wa3 adversely — but fairly — -
criticised by those present. Its odour . was
simply vile, as we and others thought, and in
the flavour we could detect no trace of the
nectar of any flora with which we were
acquainted. It did, however, remind us in
some way of rotten fruit ; and our corre-
spondent's mention of " peach - refuse "
supplies the missing link. We fortunately
have one of the sections sent still by us, and
on re-tasting cm distinctly trace the decaying
peach flavour in it.

On the three points enumerated for reply,
Nos. 1 and 3 are answered in the above, and
for the second, we do not find any resemblance
to honey-dew (at least of this country) in it.
We congratulate our correspondent on his
success with bee3 in the Argentine. — Eds.]

BEE-KEEPING IN PALESTINE.

(Concluded from page 254)

They have adopted nearly every description
of trade, and have founded several business
establishments. Many of them cultivate the
land, and their plantations of trees and vines
are splendid, and the same can be said of their
gardens, the work being done with great care.
Bee-keeping is carried on in one of their
colonies by ten colonists. The hives, of the
German style, are placed on benches formed
of boards, in a shed covered with tiles, but
open to the front. Some leave their hives
standing in the open, and one of them,
a bee-master and bee-keeper of long standing,
stands at the head, having 100 hives. They
do not migrate wkh their hives as we do, but
simply harvest what the bees gather on the
spot. They are good workmen, industrious,
and generally honest, minding only their own
business, respecting every one, and living on
good terms with strangers, but convinced that
the first rank in Paradise is reserved for
themselves.

The honey harvest from orange blossoms is
now over, but it has been goorl, and we have
now moved our apiaries to different localities.
These consist of thirty-five to forty hives each.
Our next bee-forage is from the flower3 of
Ar/nuscastus. The plant is called Char by the
natives, and is known in the south of France
as wild pear. It grows in Palestine along the
banks of the rivers, and with its green foliage
and blue and lilac flowers embellishes the
water-courses and Wadys (the beds of the
rivers which receive the water during the
great rains and which are dry during summer).
These Wadys with their banks (in some places
80 to 100 metres wide) are not cultivated.
They cross the plains and lead to the sea, and
their course is easily seen from a distance,
owing to the verdure of the Agnuscastus.
The flowering season lasts from seven to eight

July 11, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

275

weeks, during four of which the yield of honey-
is abundant, and this plant may be considered
as one of the best, although the honey is not
extra fine, but as for quantity, it is not to be
despised. It is generally sold on the spot, as
the natives are very fond of it ; for the very
good reason that it costs less than other
honey.

In some stony and rocky localities we
obtain very good honey from a species of
horehound.

Three of our apiaries are situated by a
village in the plains, distant from Jaffa four
hours on horseback. This village is called Im
Ghar, and it is the ancient town of Makkedah
(Palestine Exploration Fund, July, 1875).
The town was taken by Joshua the Great,
Commander of Israel and conqueror of Pales-
tine (Joshua 10, 28), and the inhabitants were
killed as well as the live kings of the
Canaanites who hid themselves in a cave
near the town. The pasturage near the
village of Im Ghar is indifferent, and this
decided my brother after the discovery of the
Agnuscastus as a bee plant, to establish an
apiary there. " Im " means mother, and "Ghar ''
laurel, or the mother of laurels. Please
remark that the Arabs give the name Ghar to
the Agnuscastus, and this name it bears in all
the country, but it is an error (many others
exist in our land), as the word Ghar is the
correct one for laurel. Lieutenant Coador
says in " Palestine Exploration Fund '' that
the name of our village is derived from
Monghar (cavern). He may be right, but Ave
are fortunate in having found so rich a
pasturage, thanks to the supposed name of
"mother of the Agnuscastus." After the
honey harvest from this plant, our bees find
pasturage on thyme covering the sides of the
hills which rise from the plains on one of
which the village of Im Ghar or Monghar is
built. — Jean Baldensperger, Jaffa, May 7,
1895.

HONEY SHOW IN KENT.

The honey at Farningham, on Wednesday
last, July 3, on the occasion of the annual
Rose Show, was quite a credit to the locility.
Exhibits were numerous and generally excel-
lent. It shows that bee-keeping is advancing
in the neighbourhood, and that cottagers are
taking up the work, for the four winners in the
cottager classes are all first year's men with the
modern hive. The Horticultural College had
a fine Stewarton super displayed. Mr. John
M. Hooker acted as judge. The following
were the awards : —

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — Is1", Rev. G. W.
Bancks ; 2nd, E. Longhurst ; 3rd, The Horti-
cultural College, Swanley ; h.c. R. E. Tudor.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, E.
Longhurst ; 2nd, The Horticultural College ;
3rd, H. Bates ; v.h.c, E. D. Till.

Shallow Combs for Extracting. — 1st, E.

Longhurst; 2nd, R. J. Bradshaw ; 3rd, Rev.
G. W. Bancks.

COTTAGERS ONLY.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, H.
Bates ; 2nd, G. Sutton ; 3rd, R. J. Bradshaw.

Six: l-lb. Sections. — 1st, H. Bates ; 2nd, H.
Goose.

Prizes in three last-nam2d classes given
by the Kent Bee-Keepers' Association.

Kent bee-keepers have hid a good season.
We hope they will at once send liberal entries
for the K.B.K.A. annual show at Tunbridge
Wells, and make a really fine honey exhibit at
that populous centre. — (Communicated.)

IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

The committee met on 4th inst. Present —
Captain Millner (in the chair), Mr. Gillies,
Mr. Govan, and Mr. Chenevix (hon. sec, 15,
Morehampton-road, Dublin). The report of
the sub-committee appointed to revise the
conditions on which experts' certificates are
granted was accepted, and some important
details were settled as to the next examination,
which will be held at Strabane on 24th inst.,
the first day of the show.

AN APPEAL

ON BEHALF OF THE WIDOW AND FAMILY OF
THE LATE THOMAS BADCOCK.

Amount previously acknowledged. £13 7 6

Friend at Farningham 0 5 0

George Roberts (Broad Green) ... 0 5 0

W. J. Anstey 0 5 0

W.H.Harris 0 5 0

R. Illman 0 2 C

Total

£14 10 0

<f ntx'm and Unites.

[1313.] Dividing for Increase. — I have some
eighteen bar-framed hives, only one of which
has swarmed, and in this case the swarm was
lost ; so for increase I must depend upon
dividing later on. I had intended to have
formed nuclei, but am disappointed, and
would be pleased if you would describe to
1,308 query (p 267 of last week's B.J.) and
myself particulars— (1) The manner how; (2)
the time when ; and (3) the stimulating
formula. — Adam Marsh, Winchester, July 6

Reply. — Our querist of page 267 proposed
to divide the brood and combs of several
strong stocks into two parts, leaving the
present queen with one part and giving a
fertile to the other. The onlv question was,
" How late could it be done?" Mid- August
was the date given in reply. If the same
course is intended to be followed in your case
we reply (1) provide a new hive, remove the
old stock a little to one side of its present

276

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 11, 1895.

stand, and set the new hive a little to the other
side, so that the flying bees may divide them-
selves between the two. Divide the combs as
stated, between the old and new hives, and
give as many of the young bees as possible to
the queenless half to which the alien queen is
introduced. This is done by shaking them
from the combs and allowing them to run in
at entrance. If the queen is purchased from
a queen-breeder, instructions for introducing
will be (or ought to be) furnished along with
her. (2) Time is stated above. (3) "Stimu-
lating " means slow and continuous syrup feed-
ing by the use of a " regulating bottle-feeder,"
to be had from anv dealer for about Is. or
Is. 6d.

[1314.] Treating Swarmed Stocks. — I treated
a swarmed stock as follows yesterday, and
should be glad to know if 1 did light, or
where I was wrong, as it was my first swarm.
I did not want increase this year to my three
colonies, nor that, in returning the swarm, it
should re-start queen-cells and swarm again,
■ but that work in the supers should go on
without interruption in this fine bee-weather.
Also I shall want two young queens in the
autumn, but to make nuclei I had only one
hive with one entrance. The stock was on
ten frames, with plenty of brood on eight of
these, and had five completed queen-cells, two
capped and three uncapped, with a little royal
jelly left in one. I took from it five frames,
with brood and hotfey and one capped queen-
cell, and put tbem, with adhering bees and
the bees from two other frames, into a hi've
placed away from the parent one, and packing
well with felt quilt and cork-dust bag. The
parent stock had therefore remaining two out-
side combs and three brood-combs. I gave it
two frames of foundation, wired, and a partly-
drawn-out comb, making eight frames in all.
I had previously cut out all the remaining
queen-cells. I returned the swarm, which had
been hived in a skep, in the evening. The
bees this morning were up in the two boxes of
hanging-section, and foraging as usual. 1. Are
the above arrangements right for the objects
named ? 2. Should I have given the two
capped queen-cells, instead of one only, to the
nucleus ? I thought there might be some
disadvantage in more than one re-swarming.
3. I propose to give the nucleus a frame of
brood on the seventh day to prevent the bees
swarming out with the young queen on her
flight. Is this the proper time, and may it be
capped brood, or must there be eggs and
uncapped larvae 1 4. Shall I be right in
returning to the stock hive in a few days two
brood-combs from the nucleus, without the
bees on them, thus leaving three combs in the
latter ? My object in giving five frames to the
nucleus was to deprive the stock hive of suffi-
cient brood at first to lessen the chance of
preparations to swarm again, but as they have
a heather season to go through, I must keep
them strong. 5. Would it be better to utilise
the young queen, if successful, before sending

hives to heather, or on return ? 6. Is there
any safe way of uniting a small nucleus with
queen to a stock made queenless, or is it better
to introduce queen by the ordinary methods,
and unite the nucleus bees a day or two later "i
7. How came the three uncapped queen-cells
and only two with queens in ? All the combs
were built last year, and had no queen-cells, or
remains of them, at the end of last season. I
had an old bee-keeper helping me in examining
for queen-cells, and I am certain we missed
none, going through the frames twice. — F. S.,
a Lancashire Novice, July 7.

Eeply. — 1. Yes, perfectly right. 2. Only in
case of any uncertainty as to perfect" ripeness "
of the one chosen. The disadvantage you refer
to is not worth taking into account. 3. Yes ;
but the brood given should be uncapped.
Kggs are not necessary. 4. This is not usual,
but cannot do any harm — and may do good —
for the purpose intended. 5. It is advan-
tageous to take young queens to the heather.
6. It is quite easy to do this by using a little
scented syrup made very thin ; but if any
fear is felt for the safety of queen, cage her
for twenty-four hours when uniting. 7. There
are no means of safely accounting for this.
We can but suppose either that one egg had
" missed," or that the larvae had failed in some
way.

[1315.] Taking Bees to the Moors. Sections
for Shoiving. — 1. Will you kindly state in
Journal the breed of enclosed bee, and why
have they such a propensity for stinging one
many yards from their hive ? My pure
Italians and blacks do not attack me, and I
have ten or eleven stocks. 2. What is the
usual (average) date for taking hives to
heather in Cumberland and Durham, and how
long do they usually remain ? 3. In preparing
section honey for exhibition in glazed cases, do
you gum the fancy paper inside the glass (on
it) or on the margin of the section itself 1 4.
Are "pop-holes'' a bar to prize taking. —
Ajax.

Keply. — 1. Bee sent is a hybrid Italian. It
occasionally happens that firit cross hybrids
are viciously inclined.. It cannot be accounted
for. There is no remedy save requeening. 2.
About first week in August is the usual time
for taking bees to the moors, and the second or
third week in September for the return
journey. 3. The "edging" is fixed on the
outside, the lace portion extending over the
glass not more than f in. We prefer some
sort of paste like that known as " Stickphast," to
gum for fastening. 4. Yes, "pop-holes" are a
decided bad point in sections for showing.

[131(3.] Preventing Swarming. — I started
bee-keeping last year, but too late to do any
good, so this season is practically my first
season, and I have three doubled stocks of
from fourteen to seventeen frames standard
each, arranged one above the other as shown
by the rough sketch below. The wide-

July 11, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

277

dummies, AA, at front and back of upper
hives — now forming surplus chambers — are
light box- dummies, equal to about three
frames, to be taken out if more room is re-
quired for storing surplus. B in lower hive,
or brood-chamber, is empty space with close-
dummy and cover of oilcloth, used simply to
reduce the size of hive when doubled. The
six frames in front of nine rear ones in lower
hive are fitted with " starters '' only. A
sheet of queen excluder zinc divides the
upper and lower chambers. The frames in
both upper and lower hives are all " standard''
size, as I have no others. I am tryiDg to
prevent swarming. My queens are all of 1894,
except one of 1893. Like your correspondent
C. E. Cockin, in B.B.J, for June 13 and 20, I
am troubled by the bees building drone-comb
on the " starters," and the queen generally lays
in the newly-built cells, which makes the
matter worse. If I change the starters for full
sheets of foundation, the bees draw it out, and
the queen takes possession, and the brood-nest
gets enlarged, and my super suffers through
the bees having too much brood to care
for. I think you will understand my
present position from the description given.

1, therefore, ask — 1. Would it be advis-
able to put full sheets of foundation
in front of the combs of brood-nest, and
remove them when built out and partly filled
with worker eggs, putting them into my other
hives, which are building up into stocks ? 2.
May I put a dummy between brood-nest and
starters, with bee-space at the bottom 1 This
will allow drones to pass out from below, and
may deter the queen from so easily finding
the new built-out drone-comb. My third
question does not relate to the above, but is
on another tack. How must I proceed to
extract from combs built this season from
starters only ? I fear they wilt break in the
operation. 4. How can I wire combs,
built from starters, for future use ? 5. Would
it answer to wire frames with starters, and let
the bees embed the wire in the comb in build-
ing it out '?— Non-Swarjier, Blackburn.

Keply. — 1. No ; we should use starters
only, as advised by Mr. Simmin, whose plan
of preventing swarming you have adopted.

2. You might try this, but we do not think it
will have the desired effect. The idea is to
give plenty of unoccupied space in brood-nest,
but cutting the latter off from the uncombed
frames nullifies it. 3. You will have con-
siderable trouble in extracting safely from just
built-out standard frames of combs. It is
done by removing part ODly of the contents of
one side, then reversing and extracting the
other before completing the first side ; great
care is, however, needed in avoiding a break-
down. 4. To use the quaint expression of an
old bee-keeping friend of ours, " It can't be
did ! '' 5. This plan is open to many objec-
tions. Our advice is, " don't try it."

[1317.] Dead Bees in Supers. — Over a
brood-chamber of seven frames full of brood and

honey, sealed, I placed, about a week since, a
super of six shallow frames, with full sheets
of foundation on the top of excluder, and
under a crate of twelve sections, some of which
were sealed. On looking at them to-day
(July 2), when the bees were having a turn out,
I found nearly a pint of dead bees amongst
the frames and on the excluder, and as many
more living and able to fly. The foundation
in five frames is more or le3s drawn out, the
best one having nearly 1 lb. of honey in it.
There was a beeway under alLframes, excepting
one. The bottom bar having bent downwards,
the bees had fastened it to excluder. The
bees in the hive in question — although nearly
twice as strong in numbers in March last —
have not done half so well as my other hive on
the same stand ; owing, I expect, to their
having covered the alighting board from
morning until night in clusters of two and
more bees cleaning or doing something at
another bee, which treatment the latter does
not appear to dislike. Yet, in time, all the
hair is pulled off, and they are then turned out,
black, dead, or dying. I enclose a box full of
bees as taken from the supers, and you
will see some black and others partly so.
The ground in front of this hive is daily
covered with dead bees. A fortnight
since I washed a new hive out with hot
Avater in which some naphthaline had been
dissolved, and when dry put the bees into it
to see if that would do them any good, as
this waste of time and bees has been going on
since early in April. I also put two balls of
naphthaline on floor-board as per instructions.
To-day I have given two more, as there was
only one bit left. Can you tell me the cause
of death, and if any cure ? There are others in
the neighbourhood who are affected by this
same business, but not in such a bad way. We
should very much like your opinion on the
subject.— B. B., Harrogate.

Reply. — We rather suspect some defect in
your supering arrangements is the cause of
death. The bees sent have, by their appear-
ance, apparently been unable to pass from the
surplus chamber below, as all the pubescence —
or natural hairyness— has been worn off their
bodies in their efforts to free themselves. We
should thoroughly inspect the means of com-
munication to see if all is right, as we fear it
is not.

ffithm from the pees.

Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington, June 29,
1895. — The last month has been good for honey
gathering, though the variable temperature
has, no doubt, impeded the honey flow to a
certain extent, in requiring some little time
and trouble wrapping up supers to keep them
warm against cold nights. I have taken off
some nice sections, and a rare lot of shallow

278

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 11, 1895.

frames of sealed honey of good colour and fair
quality. I worked one hive for extracted
honey with standard frames 1^- in. wide. I
weighed one frame for curiosity, it was 9| lb.
"We are now getting a little showeiy weather,
which will start the white clover growing up,
if we can but get enough of it along with warm
weather. I find honey that I have already
extracted candies very quickly, owing, I think,
to the wild mustard, of which we have had
more than ever I have known about here.
There appears to have been a great scarcity of
swarms all round our neighbourhood, and I
have not been troubled with many either, for
which I am very glad, although I have taken
outside full combs away, and inserted frames
of foundation in centre of brood nest, so as to
give the queens more room, to save them from
being crowded out, and to stop swarming, as
far as practical. I have got a self-hiver to test,
but so far the bees have not seemed at all
inclined to swarm. I had them supered with
shallow frames, which they filled entirely, and
which I was obliged to take away, as they
were so full, and bees laying out in the porch
at front. They have filled a second set of
frames, and have also carried some honey into
the top set of frames placed to receive the
swarm if it had come off. There is no fear of
losing a swarm by using this hiver, but occa-
sionally the front entrance with the excluder
zinc has to be lifted at night to remove the
dead drones that cannot get out. — John
Walton.

New Hedges, Tenby, July 5. — Two of my
stocks of bees were frozen to death in the
winter, and two have since died out from
spring dwindling. 1 have hived two swarms,
a third (which was a cast) I returned to parent
hive. All are doing very well, and as honey
was stored in brood chamber, I extracted
(excepting the frames with brood) last month.
1 have a fine bell-glass full, and sealed. As I
work this season chiefly for run-honey, I have
but few section crates on, and not any filled.
I hope the recipients of the " Giant Thistle "
seed have been more successful than myself,
for we scarcely had rain from about Eastertide
till last Saturday, and since heavy showers.
Tne ground was parched, grass and flowers
dried up, and but little white clover. The
Whitethorn failed to bloom about here. Last
year's plants are not half grown. — J. Quarter-
main.

!&,ti ^homs to $amt

July 17, 18, 19. — Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society's show at Grantham. Thirteen classes
and liberal prizes for bees, honey, hives, and
appliances.

July 19 and 20. — Bristol District Bee-
keepers' Association. Annual Show at
Knowle. Entries close July 13. Schedules

from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long Ashton,
Bristol.

July 24 and 25-.— Cambs. and Isle of Ely
B.K.A. At Ely, in connection with the
C. and I. of E. Agricultural Society.

July 25. — Glamorgan B.K.A. Showat Barry,
in connection with the Ulam. Agricultural
Society.

July 25, 26, and 27. — Royal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries closed.

July 25, 26. — Kent B.K.A. annual show (in
connection with the Tunbridge Wells and
South-Eastern Counties Agricultural Society),
at Tunbridge Wells. Schedules from J.
Garratt, Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 5 (Bank Holiday).— Notts B.K.A.
Annual County Show on the Sconce Hills,
Newark. Eighteen classes for bees, hives, and
honey, with liberal prizes. Several open
classes. Entries close July 27. A. G. Pugh,
hon. sec, N.B.K.A., 51, Mona-street, Beeston.
August 5.— Berks B.K.A., Newbury Dis-
trict, in connection with the flower show in
Shaw - avenue, Newbury. Liberal prizes.
Entries close August 2. Schedules from W.
Hawkes, Hon. Sec, Newtown-road, Newbury.
August 5 and 6.^ — At Delapre Park, North-
ampton, Northants B.K.A. Annual Show.
Nine classes for honey. Special open class for
single 1-lb. jar of extracted honey. Five
prizes : 1st, silver medal and 10s. ; 2nd, 15s. ;
3rd, 10s. ; 4th, 5s. ; 5th, 2s. 6d. Entries close
July 25. Robt. Hefford, Hon. Sec, Boughton,
Northants.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West
Bromwich. In connection with the Staffs.
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.
Schedules, when ready, from Harold Twenty-
man, Wolverhampton.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries closed.

August 15. — Goole and District Agricul-
tural Society. Annual show at Goole. Five
open classes for bees and honey. Entries
close August 8. J. Luddington and H. S.
White, secretaries.

August 15. — Berks BK.A. (Windsor dis-
trict) Show, at Maidenhead, in connection
with the Maidenhead Horticultural Society.
Fourteen classes, with good prizes, for bees,
hives, and honey. For schedules apply to the
Hon. Sec, W. S. Darby, Consort Villas,
Clewer.

August 22. — Show of bees, hives, and
honey, in connection with the Horsham Horti-
cultural Society's show at Springfield, Horsham.
Entries close August 17. Lectures in Bee-tent
by the Rev. C. Brereton. R. Gilburd, Sec,
39, Carfax, Horsham.

September 11 and 12.— At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

July 11, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

579

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Sam Hughes (Dover). — We have had do
experience of linseed as a honey plant. If,
however, the bees work hard on it in a
field several acres in extent, it may be
safely inferred that they are gathering
from it.

W. B. (Lowestoft). — Queens with Second
Swarms. — Young queens which lead off
second or later swarms are not fertilised at
the time of swarming.

E. A. Douglas. — There is certainly an
admixture of lime honey in sample sent.
It is of very fair quality.

J. M. Balmbra. — The prize-list as given in
our last issue is full and perfectly correct.

Jas. Wilson (Cardross). — Comb shows no
sign of disease ; it contains only drone
brood, but is so old and black as to sadly
need renewing at the earliest opportunity.

C. W. Evans (Carshalton). — Comb contains
nothing worse than pollen. The dark colour
of this only indicates the source from
whence it comes. Several flowers yield very
dark-coloured pollen.

George Edwards (Henfield). — Leaf -cutter
Bees. — The bees in question are those known
by the above name ; genus Megachile, of
which there are seven British species. The
mason-bee (Osmia) belongs to the same
group, having the ventral surface of the
abdomen furnished with long stiff retroverted
hairs, by means of which the pollen is
brushed from the anthers as the insect
passes in or out of the flowers.

Jno. Mills (Nunthorpe). — Runaway Swarms.
— It does occasionally happen tnat swarms
join on to full stocks as in your case, though
such incidents may be set down as " un-
usual."

H. A. C. (Wickham Market). — Honey Cloud-
ing.— The fault you complain of is caused
either by air bubbles— which will pass off
with the application of just a little warming
in water — or otherwise it is beginning to
granulate, in which case it must be warmed
in water till it becomes clear.

Carl Nunan (Tunbridge Wells). — Taking
Honey. — Super- cl ear ers are, we suppose,
now made by every manufacturer of bee-
appliances in this country, a3 may be seen
in our advertising pages.

Bee Fancier (Kent). — Bee Food.— The best
food for bees — apart from that gathered
naturally by themselves — is syrup made from
pure cane sugar and boiling water. If by
" syrup " you mean the golden syrup of
household use, it is not at all suitable for
bees, being merely treacle in refined form.
Above reply was delayed by its being
addressed (contrary to rule) to our
publishers.

Annune (Derbyshire). — Stands for Sleeps. —

We fear there is not sufficient originality in
in the stand, designed for use as a covering
for skeps, to warrant an appliance maker in
taking up its manufacture on the terms
stated. As a matter of fact, we saw a stand
exhibited at a show some \ear3 ago,
intended to serve precisely the same purpose
as yours, but having also the additional
advantage of being adaptable a3 a frame hive
if so desired. It is also quite a common
occurrence for those who adopt outer cases
to their frame hives to use these cases for
skeps when such are required. You might,
however, obtain the opinion of some dealer
on the point. If furnished with the blocks
necessary to illustrate your description, we
will be very pleased to print it in our
columns.

Glynn Grylls (Honiton). — Time for Taking
Driven Bees. — 1. Get the bees as early as
their owners will allow them to be taken.
The earlier the better for you. 2. Yes, the
keeping of top swarms by cottagers tells
against them the following year in having
old queens ; but all do not follow that plan.

R. G. — (Renfrewshire). — Queen sent is young,
but whether fertilized or not we cannot say,
the body being too hard for dissection.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, dee. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

LARGE CHAPMAN'S HONEY PLANTS FOR SALE,
9d. dozen. Post free. Holder, Wimborne. H 71

T TALIAN BEES FOR SALE, Four Hives, Two Skeps.
1 What offers? Woodcock, Devonshire Villa,
Chiswick. H 67

TWO STRONG STOCKS FOR SALE in Jbar frame
hives. Guaranteed healthy. 21s. each. Packed
free. H. Skinner, Whittlesea. h 69

BEE HIVES (Wells), double-walled, with crate,
nearly new. Exchange for telescope or sell.
Campbell, Invergarry, Invernesshire, N.B. H 68

FOR SALE, several cwt. new ENGLISH HONEY.
Excellent colour and quality. G. Reynolds, Eaton,
St. Neots. h 64

QUEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
" Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

G)f\ YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
^ '»-' Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfleld, Sussex. 116

I BEG to thank my Customers who have done business
with me for so many years, and to ask them to
forward their orders. I have some splendid Clover
Honey (fit for any table), pale colour, and good aroma,
7d. per lb. in 601b. tins. T. Holliday, The Apiary
Astbury, Congleton. 153

FOR SALE.— Having let my house and grounds from
August 1st, I must sell my Bees and Hives : four
strong Stocks in large fiat top straw skeps, twelve Stocks
in standard bar frame hives of best makers, all headed
by either 1894 or 1S95 fertile queens. Must sell within
the next fortnight. Particulars on application.
Warranted all healthy. They can be inspected any day.
£25 the lot, or would separate. W. HlNSON, Westholm,
Reigate, H 70

280

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[July 11, 1895.

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. Woodlet, Beedon, Newbury.

PURE BLACKS, Swarms, 5s., 10s. 6d. ; Nuclei, 5s. ;
Queens, 3s. ; free on rail ; empties returned.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford. 139

HONEY SECTIONS WANTED, for cash, new. Best
pale, well filled, and sealed only received. T.
Smith & Co., 17, Cambridge-street, Hyde Park, W.

H47

PUBE ITALIAN QUEENS, from LUCIA PAGLIA,
Royal Bee Establishment, 7s. each ; six for 39s.
Cash with order. J. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.

1 ftQK HYBRID QUEENS.-Special Ligurian Hy-
J-Ut/u brids— Queens, tested, 5s. 6d. each ; Virgin
Queens, 3s. each. All Queens sent in my new Intro-
ducing Cages, post free. Safe arrival guaranteed.
Orders executed in rotation. H. W. Brice, Beulah-
road N., Thornton Heath, Surrey.

YE 0LDE ENCLISHE BEE.

Fine selected Fertile Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Sent in my Intro-
ducing Cage, guaranteeing safe arrival. Parcel Postage
3d. W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

GARBOLINE POMADE

(FOURTH SEASON).

Kills Bee-stings like magic.

CARBOLINc POMADE

Prevents the horrible smarting and burning
inflammation.
CARBOLINE POMADE

Prevents getting stung, robbing, &e.
CARBOLINE POMADE

Is. per bottle.post free. T. HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY,
CONGLETON.

Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society.

GREAT SHOW AT
PRESTON,

JULY 25th, 26th, & 27th, 1895.

PEIZES, Value £2,800.
Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Pigs,
Goats, Dogs, Poultry, Pigeons,
Cheese, Butter. Honey, Work-
ing D>airy, and Implements.

Entries posted to-morrow
(Snt iint mi) -n- ill be in time.
JAMES BIRCH, Secretary.
3, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.

DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'

ASSOCIATION.

THE FOURTEENTH ANNUAL

EXMIBITIOW

OF

Hives, Bees, Honey, and Appliances

Will he held in the

SHOW CR0UNDS OF THE DERBYSHIRE AGRICULTURAL

SOCIETY AT DERBY,

On Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 11 & 12, 1895.

The following Classes are open to all comers —

Class 14.— Best' Twelve 1-lb. Sections. First Prize,
£1 ; Second, 10s.

Class 15.— Best Twelve 1-lb. Jars of Run Honey.
First Prize, £1 ; Second, 10s. ; Third, 7s. 6d. ; Fourth, 5s.

CLASS 16.— Best Twelve 1-lb. Jars of Granulated
Honey. First Prize, £1 ; Second. 10s.

CLASS 17 (offered by Mr. F. Walker. Hon. Sec.
D.B.K.A.)— Best Two Combs of Honey in Standard
Frames. First Prize, 15s. ; Second, 10s. ; Third, 5s.

Class IS.— Best Collection of Appliances, first Prize,
£2 ; Second, £1.

For Entri/ Forms or other information, apphf

F. WALKER, Hon. Sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

BEP-KFEPERSin LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRF.&c.
THE OENTHAL SUPPLY STOEE.-.
for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL 50, GREAT
CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE ROSE. Why pay
carriagefrom long distances, when you can buy as cheap
and good locally, and have your orders promptly attended
to ? Catalogues gratis. Sow now CHAPMAN'S HONEY
PLANT, 6d Packet. Expected shortly, big lot of
HONEY JARS (screw and tieover). Large buyers, please
write at once. Very low prices per crate of 3£ gross
ex dock on arrival. Best Falcon Sections very low per
1,000 or 10,000. __

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO.J.BULLSE,, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

'For HIVES mads of
carefully selected and
seasoned wood.
For EXTRACTORS,
'OUNDATION,
SECTIONS,

SMOKERS,
&c. &c
Is a very good Railway
Centre for the West of
England.

E. J. BURTT,

GLOUCESTER.

Illustrated Catalogue Free.

SEASONABLE GOODS.

Finest Quality Sections 18/- 1,000; 2/3 100.

Stock Foundation per pound, 2s.

Super Ditto „ 3s.

Honey Glasses, metal top gross 21s.

Glazed Case (both sides)... doz. Is. 9d. ; gross, 18s.

Special Honey Extractor, with cog wheel ... 35s.

SEND FOR A CATALOGUE.

J. S. CREENHILL, 80, Graham road, Wimbledon.

(27 Years with Neighbour & Sons.)

W. P. MEADOWS,

Syston and Leicester.

Royal Show, aARJuIIiaGTOM.

I thank the friends who gave me their orders and
expressed regret at my not getting first prizes. I only
entered one Hive in each class, both made exactly the
same as those awarded first prizes at Cambridge last
year, and which have given such general satisfaction.
Pressure of business prevented me staging quite so
good a collection as I could have wished.

SWARMillO^SEASON, 1895.

NO MOKE LOST SWARMS,

If my SELF-HIVER is used.

NO OBSTRUCTION TO THE BEES.
Admitted to be as near as possible to perfection.

Send Address for Illustrated Pamphlet post free.
G. W. HOLE, PATCHAM, SUSSEX. 115

DON'T GET STUNG!

WHEN, BY USING J\. PIPUGE

YOU CAN PREVENT IT.

&T BEE-KEEPERS SAY IT IS MARVELLOUS, AND "=£*

THEY WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT IT.

Send for a Bottle at once.

Small Bottles, 1/-, Large Bottles, 1/9, Post Free.

Cash must accompany Order.

To be obtained of all Appliance Dealers and

DARCY GRIMSHAW, HORSFORTH, LEEDS.

July 18, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

281

(Mtorml, $titim, &u

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

The monthly meeting of the Council was
held at 105, Jermyn-street, on Thursday the
11th inst.. present Eev. G. W. Bancks, Major
Fair, H. W. Brice, W. B. Carr, E. D. Till,
C. H. Hooper, and J. M. Hooker (ex officio),
John Huckle, secretary. In the absence of the
Chairman and Vice-Chairman, Mr. Till was
voted to the chair.

Communications were received from the
Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh,Mr. Garratt, Mr. Harris,
Mr. Scattergood, and the Chairman and Vice-
Chairman regretting their inability to be

The minutes of the last meeting of the
Council were read and confirmed.

The following resolutions were passed. 1.
" That the best thanks of the Association be
given to Mr. Jonas (for acting as steward) and
to Messrs. W. B. Carr, F. J. Cribb, J. M.
Hooker, for their valuable services as Judges
and Examiners at the Darlington Exhibition."
2. " That the Association desires to tender its
best thanks to all those who contributed plants
and flowers, and in other ways gratuitously
assisted the Council in making the bee depart-
ment of the Darlington Exhibition successful."

The Finance Committee recommended "That
the chairman of the Finance Committee be
empowered to authorise the payment of the
prizes and accounts relating to the Darlington
Exhibition on receipt of the statement of such
accounts from the secretary." Resolved that
the report of the Finance Committee be ap-
proved.

The Exhibitions Committee reported that
arrangements had been made with the British
Dairy Farmers' Association whereby the
B.B.lvA. had undertaken to contribute half
the amount of the prizes awarded for honey
at the forthcoming dairy show, to be held at
the Agricultural Hall, London.

The Council had under consideration
numerous communications in respect to the
appointment of judges and examiners from the
counties of Wilts, Yorkshire, Ely, Lincoln,
Derbyshire, and Staffs. A letter was read
from Mr. Scattergood, of Stapleford, Notts,
suggesting that some arrangement should be
made for endorsing the certificates of those
candidates who had passed successfully in the
"knowledge and treatment of foul brood."
Resolved, " That the secretary do endorse all
such certificates on their being returned to
him."

The Special Foul Brood Committee's report
of the conference held at the office ot the
Board of Agriculture appears later on.

The secretary reported the results of the
meeting held in the Show Yard at Darlington,
under the presidency of the Earl of Winchil-
sea, at which it was recommended that the

information already published on the subject
of the preparation and removal of bees for the
heather harvest should be brought before the
notice of the Durham and Northumberland
Association. The secretary was instructed to
convey this information to the association re-
ferred to, and to express the regret of the
council that no member of the association
attended the meeting to express their views on
a subject placed on the agenda at their express
wish, and intended solely for the benefit of
bee-keeping in the north of England.

The following new members were elected : —
Mr. J. W. Jacomb Hood, Leigh-grove, Sur-
biton ; Mr. J. N. Kidd, 1, Havelock-terrace,
Gateshead-on-Tyne ; Mr. H. W. Morris, 15,
Spring-gardens, Doncaster ; Mr. F. H. Taylor,
Fallowfield, Manchester.

The council adjourned to September 12.

MEETING AT SHOW GROUND, DARLINGTON.

A meeting of the Association was held (by
permission of the Couneil of the Royal
Agricultural Society) in the Show Yard at
Darlington, on June 26. The chair was taken
by the Earl of Winchilsea, President of the
Lincolnshire Bee-Keepers' Association. Repre-
sentatives were present from Yorkshire, Hunts,
Darlington and other districts. Mr. W. Brough-
ton Carr and Mr. J. M. Hooker, members of
the Council, and John Huckle, Secretary of
the B.B.K.A., were also present.

On the motion of Mr. Hooker, it was
resolved " That the thanks of the British Bee-
Keepers' Association are due and are hereby
tendered to Mr. E. Bowes and Mr. A. B.
Mounsey, of Darlington, and Mr. Robinson, of
Greatham, for the valuable assistance rendered
by them in connection with ihe bee depart-
ment of the Royal Agricultural Show."

At the suggestion of the Durham and
Northumberland B.K. Association the subject
of " The necessity or otherwise for the publi-
cation of a pamphlet on the preparation of
bees for the heather harvest " was discussed.
In the absence of representatives of tbe
Durham Association, the subject was opened
by Mr. R. A. Grimshaw, secretary of the
Yorkshire Association, who contended that
the work of preparing and taking bees to the
moors had been fully written upon by various
competent authorities, including the late Mr.
William Raitt. The speaker concluded by
referring to several articles which had already-
appeared in the Bee Journal and Record
by various writers who had given attention to
the subject. The Chairman regretted the
absence of those who appeared to be chiefly
interested. He gathered from the remarks
of Mr. Grimshaw that much useful in-
formation on the subject had already
been published, which was calculated to
be of great use to the northern bee-keepers.
He would suggest that the more salient
points of the several articles be brought
before the notice of the Durham Association

282

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 18, 1895.

who might then see their way to affiliate with
the central society, with the view of co-operat-
ing with them in the production of such a
leaflet as might tend to help the gathering of
the heather harvest.

On the motion of Mr. Carr, it was resolved
" That the best thanks of the Association be
given to the Royal Agricultural Society for
the gratuitous use of their council tent."

A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the
Earl of Winchilsea for presiding.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION

AND COMPULSORY POWERS FOR DEALING WITn

FOUL BROOD.
CONFERENCE AT THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

On Wednesday, July 10, the Special Com-
mittee of the B.B.K.A. (Messrs. H. Jonas,
vice-chairman, W. H. Harris, E. D. Till, and
W. Broughton Carr) attended by appointment
at the offices of the Board of Agriculture,
Whitehall, to confer with Mr. T. H. Elliott
(permanent secretary) and other officials of the
Department, with a view to fully discuss the
question of compulsory powers for dealing
with foul brood among bees. The conference
occupied a considerable time. All the points
raised by Mr. Herbert Gardner on the occasion
of the recent deputation of the B.B.K.A. were
dealt with, and answered — it is confldently
believed — to the satisfaction of the Depart-
ment.

As a result of the circular sent by the
B.B.K.A. to various County Councils through-
out the kingdom, appealing to them to aid in
the work by nominating a representative to
confer with the B.B.K.A. Council on the whole
question, replies — in the main, very favour-
able—have already been received from twenty-
five Councils, and there was every prospect
that the funds of County Councils would be
available for the purposes of Finance. It was
shown that competent and duly-qualified ex-
perts would be forthcoming to act as inspectors,
while to administer the Act in such a county
as Kent only a very moderate annual expendi-
ture would be necessary ; not at all out of pro-
portion to the capital involved, or the value of
the honey harvest. Then, as the area of the
disease diminished, so the annual expenditure
would grow less ; and it must not be forgotten
that the visits of skilled experts to numerous
apiaries will be the means of conveying valu-
able instruction, thus advancing Technical
Education in bee-keeping.

On the main points raised there were
practically no difficulties to prevent the intro-
duction of an " Adoptive " Act, i.e., an Act
which would only come into force at the
option of County Councils. Thus the success-
ful working of the measure — in such counties
as chose to adopt it — would gradually encourage
its extension over the whole area of the king-

dom,, and, -by not forcing the Act on any
county, even the anticipatory opposition —
usually expected where compulsory powers are
sought — would be removed, and anything like
hostility disarmed.

The Department is also favourable to the
issue of an official leaflet on the subject of
foul brood, its detection and treatment. The
dissemination of this instruction all over the
kingdom will, it is felt, be exceedingly helpful
to British bee-keeping, and the Council of the
B.B.K.A. have reason to be fully content with
the result of their labours on the important
question dealt with, so far as they have gone.

tyotmpnkMt

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should : be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shoios, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating toAdvertisements,<i;c.,must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

*»• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[2118.] The rain, which as I said in my
last budget of Notes, "delayeth its coming,"
has still to come. The dry weather has ex-
tended till the middle of July, and the burnt-
up condition of the grass leys tells a sorry tale
for the farmer and bee-keeper. The honey
season, which opened with so much promise
for an exceptionally good one, has again
deluded us with false hopes, and we find that
the result is rather below a good average crop
of honey. Our harvest generally extends till
the middle of July or St. Swithin's, but this
year bee3 have done practically nothiug since
July came in, so that we shall have a full
third less crop of homey than if we had had
a good rain a fortnight or three weeks ago.
The thirty acres of white clover at the side of
my home apiary, on which I had set my hopes,
does not contain a single flower to the acre ;
the sanfoin fields are in the same condition
as when cut a month ago, the vetches are all
seeded, the wild mustard (charlock) is dried
up, and even the roadside wastes are bare of
flowers. In fact, there is nothing for the bees
to gather honey from except the trees in the
woods, and in a few days the last blossoms on
the limes will be over.

In adverse circumstances there is often some-
thing to be thankful for, our bees owing to
continued drought and absenoe of heavy dews,

July 18, 1895.]

THE BEITISH BEE JOUENAL.

283

have not stored any appreciable quantity of
" honey-dew," therefore the quality of honey
iu this immediate neighbourhood is good, in
fact lighter in colour than we have had it for
many years. I know how vexed I was one
morning late in June to find such a hum with
the bees at work on the fruit-tree leaves, i.e.,
the plum, red and black currant, &c. — and on
examining the underside of the leaves I found
them infested with aphides, but this lasted
only a few hours, until the " dew,'' which on
that particular morning was very heavy, was
dried up, and I have not seen the bees working
on the same trees since, through the stickiness on
the leaves being of too resinous a nature for the
bees to collect. The offer I made to send
sample glazed sections to show bee-keepers how
we do our glazing (and which I beg to say
are still on offer) has been embraced by a large
number. It was amusing to see the bulky
condition of the mail bags at our local sub-
office for a few days.

I would again impress on bee-keepers perfect
cleanliness when handling honey, especially
honey in sections. When these are removed
from the racks, scrape off carefully and
thoroughly every particle of wax and propolis ;
store them in the same position as when on
the hive, in a dry room or cupboard, and
protect from dust and light. If you have no
convenience, after you hive taken them out of
the racks and carefully scraped off all propolis
and brace-combs from the racks, lay a piece
of newspaper at the bottom of your empty
racks and replace the full sections after
scraping in these latter. When wedged up
tight they make a capital store place for the
honey till wanted for market. The section-racks
can be stored one on the other without damage
to the honey if the sides of racks are as
high as your sections, so that the crate sides
form the bearing ; if they are not high enough
to take the pressure off the sections, you can
easily make them so with strips of thin board
either tacked on or simply laid on.

" Will the change in our Government inter-
fere with the prospects of our much hoped for
powers of dealing with the pest of bee-keeping ? "
was a question asked me last j week by more
than one correspondent. If our editors can
answer the question in a " footnote,'' no doubt
the bee-keepers referred to, as well as many
others, will be glad to know that the Perma-
nent Secretaries of the Department have power
to continue the negotiations with the
B.B.K.A. [See report on p. 282.— Eds.]

The past bee season has not been a swarm-
ing season in the old swarming style of swarms,
smarts, casts, chits, and maiden swarms, and
even maiden casts, as of yore — in fact, we have
not had large increase from excessive swarming
for several years. Is it that the seasons are
different, or are our bees less inclined to swarm
than formerly ? If the latter proposition holds
good, the question resolves itself into
" heredity,'' and we shall be inclined to think
— if even we go no further — that by breeding

from stocks that were noted for quantity of
honey stored, rather than extra prolificness — -
i.e., abnormal swarming — there is a certain
tendency in such stock to reproduce the
same characteristics as in the present
stock .

The number of frames in a hive has had a
full discussion on the American continent
during the past year or two, and I think I
shall sum up the matter in a short note if I
say that the concensus of opinion amongst the
honey-producers is that a medium size brood
nest is the best for all practical purposes. The
many articles and answers to pointed questions
on the subject all trend in that direction. I
have said all, perhaps I ought to have said
nearly all. There are a few who advocate ten-
frame hives, but generally these live in a good
honey-producing district, and as I said above
the majority use only eight or at most nine
frames in the hive.

The reversible brood-nest seems to have died
out, very little is now said in its favour. One
writer advocates the reversible shallow-bodied
hive, i.e., the brood nest being in two shallow
compartments instead of one deep one, as with
us. Now this style of hive, if the two bodies
containing the brood nest are inverted every
nine days, entirely prevents swarming, as
queen cells when turned up the wrong way
fail to hatch out. The writer uses this style
(the Heddon hive) in his out apiaries, and by
following this practice saves the expense of a
watcher during the swarming season.

A parting "note" to those who are intending
to re-queen by purchasing queens from a
distance, don't de-queen your stock until you
receive your new queen to replace her, many
things may happen to cause delay, and hives
that have been long queenless are oft-times a
trouble in accepting a queen. The novice, by a
little delay or a little bungling, may lose a
valuable queen by a slight mistake or an over-
sight of even a simple matter. — W. Woodley,
Beedon, Newbury.

HEREDITY IN BEES.

[2 11 9. J For the subject on which I now
propose to trouble your readers, I beg to refer
them to

" Bees and their Temper," B.B. J., March 28.
„ „ April 11.

" Bee Jottings " „ July 11.

from which I will take the liberty of quoting.
Mr. Clutterbuck (p. 143) thinks my views
" go further than the facts of the case warrant."
Perhaps I have not made myself clear when I
said (p. 122), "excessive manipulation may
perhaps cause bad temper in some particular
hive ; so may peculiar electrical conditions of
the atmosphere, but these are only symptoms
of constitutional peculiarity, the causes of
which lie deep in the nervous system of the
bee, and this extreme susceptibility to irrita-
tion must be handed down also to those who
follow on and carry on the race." Again, I

284

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 18, 1895.

say (p. 123), " Looking forward then to the
development (italics are mine) of a strain of
bees with even tempers we should, when we
have accidentally (by excessive or faulty mani-
pulation) roused or caused a really vicious dis-
position, which up to that time Imd been latent,
take vigorous effective measures to prevent
such vice being handed on to the young brood,
the future tenants of the hive." I hold Mr.
C. has not grasped my meaning when he
remarks (p. 143), "it by no means follows
that bad tempered nurses will necessarily
produce bad-tempered bees." Bad temper is
latent defensive instinct, called into excessive
play by varying causes ; furious rage is only
extreme bad temper finding an outlet in
violence, but the whole is only, as I say above,
" a symptom of constitutional peculiarity, the
causes of which lie deep iu the nervous system
of the bees," and has evidently had centuries
upon centuries of ancestry for its evolution or
devolution before being "screwed up to the
sticking point."

Your correspondent, when speaking of foster
parents, says, ' to take an analogous case in
mammals, there is no evidence that a baby fed
upon the milk of a cow or the goat thereby ac-
quires the characteristics of these animals."
This is not analogy, my friend, when one goes
to the most opposite natural orders for its
nurse-mothers ! The nurse-mothers of honey
bees are at least honey bees ! If Mr. Clutter-
buck will do me the honour of reading my
paper on " Heredity in Bees," read before the
Linnsean Society, and also before our associa-
tion (B.B.J., October 31, 1889), he will find
that I do not claim that the Great Worker
suddenly works wonders in one generation, but
that " 1 hope I have given you sufficient rea-
son for coming to the conclusion that countless
generations of foster-mothers have been the
real highways of heredity in our bees, that as
the milk-like secretions of the nurse bee are
fed alike to drone, queen, and worker brood,
it is by this means her wonderful adaptations
in structure, &c, are perpetuated."

One glaring want of analogy is exhibited by
your correspondent : — " But in the case of
foster-mothers there is not the same continuity
of cell-life, since the food has to be digested,
and its cell-life destroyed before it is assimilated
by the individual." He evidently is not aware
of, or has momentarily forgotten the fact, that
the brood does not take its baby food as he in-
fers, but, on the contrary, absorbs it, as the
polyglot schoolboy would say, " per bocca, per
anum, et partout."

I could quote many opinions of the greatest
weight on the effects of foster-motherhood on
animals so reared, but the opinions expressed
by Mr. Cowan (than whom there is no higher
authority) in the discussion (B.B J., October 31,
1889) on my paper should suffice.

It is as I have said elsewhere, we are so
very, very practical in this good old land of
ours, that with the majority anything having
even (to use Mr. McClure's significant word)

a " tack " of science or theory about it, is
received with an incredulous shrug of the
shoulders. My theory of heredity has been
discussed, admitted, translated into the Swiss,
French, German, and Russian journals ;
shelved, secretly experimented upon, and re-
discovered by an eminent German scientist;
discussed, and finally adopted as correct. Lastly,
after being pigeon-holed half a dozen years, its
accuracy is questioned at home, and I am not
now disposed to take up arms whilst fondly
taking rest of a sort, hence my silence on the
subject since April 11. I thought it best to
let newer blood have a turn. ' But noticing
such gentle, courteous urgings as have
sprung up in the " Bee Jottings " of Mr. H.
W. Brice (who, by the way, reminds me of the
" one down, another come on " principle
amongst your most interesting contributors,
or rather shouldn't I say " there's as good
fish in the sea," &c. ?), I am constrained
to bring my personality once more into
your columns, but Mr. Brice, most kindly dis-
posed to him as I am, must excuse me if I do
not take up a refutation of his statement
(p. 272) that " the whole question of heredity
is theory and theory only.'' I am sure it is a
slip of the pen. (Pabot on " Heredity ''
should dispose of it if not so), for Mr. B.
goes on to say, on queen-rearing : " Certain
strains of bees possess certain characteristics of
their own which, according to Darwin and
others, are evolved and strengthened from
generation to generation until they become
fixed traits or prominent peculiarities of the
species " Such is heredity. Yes, but how is
it carried on, I ask your readers, by drone
and queen who have not certain characteristics
of the honey bee to hand down to posterity and
by the worker who has such characteristics
but is generally unfertile ? If not by the
theory of brood-food, which holds the field,
substitute a better theory with more reason
behind it, if one can be found ; then mine will
obey the law of nature and " climb down," as
the coon did to save the dead shot Major
Jackson the trouble of shooting. — !i. A. H.
Grimshaw, Woodlands View, Horsforth, near
Leeds.

THE HONEY SEASON IN KENT.

[2120.] A correspondent writes in B.B.J,
of July 11, page 275, " Kent bee-keepers have
had a good season, and hopes they will send
liberal entries for the K.B.R.A. annual show
at Tunbridge Wells, and make a really good
show.

If the said show is to depend upon the
honey gathered in the immediate neighbour-
hood, I am afraid it will be a very poor dis-
play. Taking my own bees as a starting-
point, I have at present fifteen stocks in frame
hives, and at the present time I have not
taken a single section of this year, and, with
about three exceptions, I don't know of any
one else that has. If other people's bees were

July 18, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

285

gathering honey and mine were not, I should
say it was ray bad management ; but when
you find the bees of a brother bee-keeper,
holding a first-class experts' certificate, are not
doing any better than your own, I cannot lay
it off to that. I have queens from a month
old up to five years, and it don't seem to make
much difference. They work like niggers for a
day or two, and then the wind goes round
north, and they stop indoors and consume
what they have collected previously.

I had intended showing, bat cannot see
where I am to get the honey from. — Man of
Kent, Hildenborough, Kent, July 12, 1895.

[We rather fear that our correspondent is
located in a poor part of Kent for honey,
because, notwithstanding his failure, not only
has remarkably fine honey been gathered in
the county, but plenty of it. This is a fact
which cannot be gainsayed concerning several
districts which we know of. We are hoping
that this will be fully verified at the show to
which reference has been made. — Eds ]

ITALIANISING STOCKS.

[2121.] On the 17th June — live weeks and
three days ago — I began preliminary operations
for the Italianising of one of my strongest
stocks of black bees on ten frames by the re-
moval of the old queen. On the 8th I was
proceeding to introduce the queen, and had
the hive opened for the purpose, when I care-
lessly dropped a frame of bees, and upset the
box in which was the Italian queen, whose lid
was loose. When I and the bees recovered
our equanimity there was no trace of the queen
so far as I could discover, after diligent search,
either inside or outside of the hive ; but the
blacks were hard at work despatching the few
Italian attendants that had been with the
queen.

I quickly closed the hive, and spread a cloth
under the alighting board, supposing that the
queen and her attendants, if destroyed and in
the hive, would be brought out. Next morn-
ing I collected a full tally of dead Italians,
sufficient to account for all that had been with
the queen — but not the queen herself.

On the 23rd, or fifteen clear days after, I
again opened the hive to note developments.
Thi3 was sixteen days afier the black queen's
removal. On six of the frames I found one
or more queen cells (three on one frame), bus
all but two uncapped. The two that were
uncapped were torn open with a vertical in-
cision, and the contents destroyed. One other
queen cell had the appearance, from its pen-
dulous cap, of having lately housed a queen
nymph. There was no single egg or larva
throughout the hive to indicate the presence of
a fertile queen, and no sign of a queen, fertile
or the reverse, so far as I could discover, after
a weary search through and through the hive.
A small quantity of capped brood, the last of

the black queen's family, of course there
was.

I closed the hive, hoping that there was an
unfertile queen present that I had overlooked,
but if this was the case, then my stock must
have been raising queens preparatory to
swarming, which fact 1 had overlooked when I
removed the original queen. To-day, or
twenty-one days since the last examination,
I have again opened the hive, and I find, to
my great surprise, five frames fully covered,
and two more frames well supplied with brood
in all stages of development. I find also an
active and evidently prolific queen, but my
previous experience of the race does not
qualify me to say whether or not she is the
Italian that I lost. She strikes me as being a
big queen, and she has three narrow bands of
yellow, but not such distinct bands as mark
the worker of the Ligurian race.

The question in my mind is whether, if she
is not the Italian queen, she could have been
fertilised (as she must have been) within the
last twenty-five days, and have left her mark
in the hive, in the shape of brood, to the ex-
tent that the queen that is present has done ?

Will you kindly give me the benefit of your
experience on this point, to settle the question
in my mind as to whether I have an Italian or
young English mother at the head of this
stock ?

With apologies for so lengthv an explana-
tion, I am, sir— J. W. Jacomb Hood.

[There can be little doubt that the queen
now healing the stock is the supposed lost
Italian one. A day or two. however, will set
the matter at rest, when the progeny of the
reigning queen begin to show themselves on
the wing. — Eds.]

BEE-KEEPING IN THE TRANSVAAL

[2122.] In conforming to my promise I
send you a short paragraph on " Bee-keeping
in the Transvaal," together with my experience
during the last two years, and hope the same
may be of some interest to the readers of your
valuable journal.

The first bees I got acquainted with were a
stock of my fathers in the Cape Colony, kept
in a barrel, which was stuck in the notch of an
old plum tree. It was there where I tried
my hand for the first and last time at teasing
bees. The manner of my reception was as
follows : —I forced a long reed into the entrance
— need I intimate what happened, or how I
felt about the eyes, nose, ears, &c, or what
the difference was between the keynote of the
pursuing bees and that of the cane following
soon after 1 Suffice it to say the youth learned
the lesson soon enough, never to tease the
little animals again.

When I tried my hand the next time with
them it was to work for profit and pleasure
combined.

On coming to the Transvaal I found a new

286

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 18, 1895.

mode practised in obtaining the nectarine pro-
duct manufactured by the smallest servant of
man. Some parts of! the country teem with
bees, and a farmer, if in want of honey, orders
two or three Kaffirs to inspan eight or ten
oxen, jtlacing two barrels to hold sixteen
gallons each on the waggon, and then sends
them off to go and rob " bees' -nests," as they
style them. These " nests " are found in
burrows made by porcupines, in ant-heaps, and
in hilly parts under and between rocks. I
know of one district where the natives, when
tilling the ground for mealie -pi anting, have
the habit of placing three or four flat stones
together — pyramid -like — and covering over
with loose soil, so as to produce a sort of
cavity. Generally these are taken up by
swarms, and in the fall the natives break up
and rob, destroying their habitat.

Well, after several days the farmers' Kaffirs
return with waggon and oxen, bringing one or
one and a half barrel of run honey. The same
is generally obtained at the cost of the bees'
lives, as, all combs being cut out, the bees are
obliged to find a new home.

Often, too, a large fire is kindled at the
entrance, and tbe bees thus burned to death.
Sometimes the honey is so dirty that no one
will buy same.

About three years ago, seeing and hearing so
much about bees, and honey obtained from
them in this rough and brutal way, I resolved
to acquire some knowledge of bee-keeping,
and wrote at once for books on the subject.
I might here state that your valuable journal,
Mr. Cowan's "Guide Book," A. I. Boot's
"A. B. C. and Modern Bee-keeping," soon
gave me 110 deg. of bee-fever, and the next
order was two hives (standard size), and other
accessories. When I had bought two swarms,
caught one myself, and fairly set them at
work, winter was upon me, and the only thing
I could do was to prepare for next spring, by
getting ready some more hives. When, spring
came the still high fever again rose higher,
and my main object then was increase of
swarms ; so, with guide-book in pocket, I soon
set out dividing and rearing queens. I suc-
ceeded well, and when winter came I had fed
up six pretty populous colonies. During
winter, however, I lost one of these again,
and uniting the two weakest gave me four
strong stocks to super last season. This I did
as soon as peach and pear blossomed. Judge
my joyful surprise when I was able to carry
home my first rack filled with 1-lb. sections.

And now at the end of my first honey har-
vest, after deducting all expenses, my net
profits amount to £27 4s. 6d., leaving the com-
plete stock on hand fully paid off. Of course
my time and labour I reckon as most
pleasantly spent with the beekeeper's little
friends.

Now I will conclude with one remark. At
the time when your bees were suffering so
severely from last winter's cold, ours were
dancing among the flowers in the height of the

African honey flow. Now again, ours are
sitting benumbed while I read in your
Journal of the fields being covered with all
the radiant flowers ; and niusiDg thus I am
cheered, knowing that although old Sol now
and then hides his face from us he is always at
his meridian to, at least, some of our dear
little pets, the bees. With apologies for en-
croachment on your valuable space. — P. J.
Van der Merwe, Pretoria, Transvaal, June
22, 1895.

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.

June, 1895.

Locality, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.

Height above sea-level, 225 ft.

Rainfall, 1-86 in. In June, 1894, T60 in.
rain fell.

Greatest fall in 24 hours, 133 in. on the
27th.

Rain fell on 5 days. In June, 1894, 11
days.

Max. shade temp., 80° on 25th and 26th ;
max. for June 1894, 75°.

Min. temp., 30° on the 14th ; min. temp, for
June, 1894, 35°.

Max. shade temp, at 9 a.m., 71° on 22nd.

Min. temp, at 9 a.m., 53° on 6th.

Frosty nights, 2. During June, 1894, nil.

Max. barometer, 30'25 on 24th and 25th.

Min. barometer, 29'525 on 29th and 30th.

An exceedingly hot and dry month. Early
in the month the nectar was secreted very
freely, but later, owing to the parched con-
dition of the soil, the flow was much less.
The wished-for rain made its appearance on
the 26th, accompanied with very vivid
lightning and heavy thunder. No less than
1*33 in. rain fell within seventy minutes. Few
swarms reported. Clover all cut, poor after-
math owing to the drought. A falling
barometer at close of month. — Percy Leigh,
Beemonnt.

(ft eta from the ffixti.

Flora Apiary, Somersham, Hunts.— Glorious
weather, bees still at work on mustard. Buck-
wheat will soon be coming in. I allow them
this to fill up for the winter. Never had such
a honey season before ; filled up everything
that was put on. Taking off all surplus-
chambers now. — R. Brown.

<f notes and Ignites.

[1318.] Size of Bee's Egg. Ripening Honey.
— I would be glad to have the following cjues-
tions answered: — 1. While honey is ripening,
should it be covered over lightly, or tightly ?

2. If stood in too warm a place, will it ferment ?

3. What is the size and appearance of a bee's

July 18, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

287

egg ? In a comb I took from a hive the other
day I found no brood, but in a few cells
clusters of tiny green eggs, and, in some others,
white eggs, about the size of a grain of hemp-
seed. The latter were mostly two or three in
a cell. The hive swarmed three weeks ago, and
there was no brood at all in it, and I could not
find the queen. 4. There were two large
empty queen-cells, with rough edges, where
apparently they had be»n torn open. Does
that mean two queens have hatched lately 1 Is
the hive probably queenless ?— " Novice,"
Gosport.

Reply. — 1. Honey must be only lightly
covered to allow for free evaporation of super-
fluous moisture. 2. Warmth will not cause
ripe honey to ferment. It should be kept at a
temperature of 80 deg. Fahr., or over, till
jarred off. 3. The egg is a tiny oval body,
with rounded ends, pearly white in colour,
and, to be fairly exact, in size about rTr in.
long, and TV m- diameter. These measure-
ments will not assist much in gauging the size
by the eye, judged by which the egg may be
compared in size to a full TV in. cut from the
point of a pin. You are, therefore, altogether
mistaken in what you suppose to be eggs, some
green and some white in colour, " about size
of a grain of hemp-seed." 4. The signs noted
simply indicate that the young queens in cells
torn down have been destroyed. The proba-
bility is that the young queen left in the hive
has not yet began laying.

[1319.] Vicious Bees.— Will the Editor
kindly assist a constant reader, and one per-
plexed, with the manipulation of vicious bees ?
The other day I opened a full hive of black
bees (with three racks of sections on), being
desirous to examine brood- chamber, but I had
scarcely removed one super when the bees
attacked me by scores. This is very dis-
couraging to a novice, and beginner. I will,
therefore, be very thankful, and appreciate
your advice, and do my best to succeed with
these " vicious, but good, little workers.'' I
am thinking the fault lies at my door, which
makes me very anxious how to succeed in
removing three or four crates, examine brood-
chamber, extract from frames if required, and
replace all without a sting. — "Perplexed,"
Tulgarth, Brecon, July 15.

Reply. — Our correspondent will best show
his appreciation of our advice by giving up all
anxiety in the future to extract from brood-
chambers of hives having " three racks of sec-
tions " above ; and he will pardon us for saying
that we think all the more highly of his " good
little workers " for resenting such a proceeding.
Moreover, we hope he will, in the future, set
his face against extracting from brood-combs,
for we consider it bad bee-management to do
so, unless under very special conditions. The
best course '' Perplexed " can adopt is to avoid
disturbing the brood-nest at all — so far as
robbing it of stores — when surplus chambers
are on.

[1320.] Do Bees Carry Stored Food into
Supers ?— A talk I had with an old skeppist
lately raised in my mind some doubts which
I should like set at rest. I therefore ask :
1. Is there a possibility (and if so, under
what circumstances) of the syrup which has
been fed in autumn and spring being carried
up into the supers, provided, of course, the
latter are not on while feeding % 2. I turned
out some bottles of '93 honey to-day, and
found the top layer of thin stuff unusually
deep, while the candied portion was softer
than I'm accustomed to find it, as if the thin
portion had soaked into it. Do you think this
is owing to the unripeness of the honey when
bottled, or to the fact that it has been in a
decidedly damp room since it was stored
nearly two years ago ? The remainder of my
honey is in the driest room in the house. —
J. P. S., Penrhyn, July 12th.

Reply.— 1. Leaving out the " possibility,'' we
may say there is not the remotest probability
of bees carrying syrup stored away several
months ago into surplus chambers. 2. It is
not unusual for crystallised honey a couple of
years old to become liquid on the top while
the lower portion remains granulated. This is
caused by the subsequent varying temperature,
the change taking place, of course, while the
temperature is much higher than that at which
the honey originally became solid.

[1321.] Driving and Uniting Bees. — I
should be much obliged if you would answer
the following :— 1. I have four frame hives
and three straw skep3. I wish to take the
honey at ths end of September from one of the
skeps, but wish to save the bees. Can I unite
them with one of the other skeps, and if so,
how should it be done 1 Should I take away
one of the queens, and would it be necessary
to drive both skeps, or will it be sufficient to
drive the one I take the honey from 1 2. Is
it necessary to wire foundation in frames
intended for extraction ? 3. What is the best
form to place honey from skeps on the market,
strained or comb, and how put in the bottles ?
4. Is there any advantage to be gained by
joining the Irish Bee-Keepers' Association ?
Do they help you in any way to dispose of
your honey ? — Cormorant, Bantry, July 13.

Reply. — 1. When uniting bees as proposed,
it is best to drive both lots, selecting beforehand
the queen which is to be preserved. Capture
and cage the other when driving, and keep her
till the bees have been united, in case of mis-
hap with the other queen. Both lots of bees
should be driven into one skep, the whole
being well shaken up together — just as you
would mix peas, then throw the bees out in
front of the skep to be retained, and let them
run in. 2. Standard-size frames are far safer
for extracting, if the foundation is wirel in.
Shallow frames of comb, on the contrary, if
built on ordinary brood-foundation, need no
wiring. 3. Honey from skep3 is more suitable

288

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 18, 1895.

for market, if nicely extracted, and put up in
neat glass jars, after straining through slightly-
damped muslin. 4. We have no doubt that
full information on these points will be supplied
on application to the Hon. Sec, Mr. H.
Chenevix, 15, Morehampton-road, Dublin.

[1322.] Ripening Honey. — The " Guide
Book " appears to be in favour of reasonably
frequent extracting ; nor do I see a single
passage to indicate or infer that the honey so
taken is in any way inferior. But in the J une
number of the Record the following sentence
appeared : — " More honey will undoubtedly be
secured by extracting once a week during the
height of the season, but that which is left on
the hives to ripen will be much superior in
quality." Is there really much difference
between honey extracted soon after being
sealed and that left on hive for a month or six
weeks after? 2. Where can the novices'
metal corners mentioned in " Guide Book '' be
obtained ? 3. What are Messrs. Dixon,
Green, and Overton's addresses, please ? —
Igno, Lydbrook, July 11.

Beply. — 1. With the ordinary bee-keeper of
to-day the tendency is to extract honey not
fully ripened, a large portion of which even-
tually ferments and spoils in consequence.
This is one reason why frequent extracting is
now deprecated. Besides, it is found in prac-
tice that honey ripens nowhere so well as on
the hive, and that left with the bees for two or
three weeks after being sealed over is always in
the finest possible condition for keeping, and
certainly much superior to that extracted as first
mentioned. 2. The " corners " referred to
have of late years been so largely superseded
by metal ends of later make that we do not
know of any dealer in this country who' now
supplies them. 3. 5, Beckett-street, Leeds ;
Bainhana, Kent ; and Crawley, Sussex, respec-
tively.

[1323.] Cultivation of Chapman Honey
Plant. — I received the Chapman Honey
Plant seed, for which I thank you very much,
and have now a nice lot of plants, each about
2 ft. high. Will you please reply to the
following : — 1. How shall I bed the plants out,
and will they flower this year 1 2. If a bee-
keeper had three stocks of bees, with queens
heading them each three years old, but the
bees doing fairly well now, would you advise
him to requeen the stocks, or let them take
the chances of requeening themselves ? 3. Is
requeening necessary in a small apiary if
swarming is prevented ? — Nemo, Staffs,
July 12.

Beply. — 1. Full cultural directions will be
found in B.J. for April 11 last. 2. If there
are fairly good grounds for supposing that the
queens are so old as stated, the stocks should
be requeened this year. 3. Yes. In all casts it
is advantageous to have all stocks headed by
young and prolific queens.

|Jec $Um to Qmt

July 19 and 20. — Bristol District Bee-
keepers' Association. Annual Show at
Knowle. Entries closed.

July 24 and 25.— Cambs. and Isle of Ely
B.K.A. At Ely, in connection with the
C. and I. of E. Agricultural Society.

July 25. — GlamorganB.K.A. Showat Barry,
in connection with the Glam. Agricultural
Society. Annual meeting of the Glam. B.K,A.
will be held on Show Ground. E. Thornton,
Hon. Sec.

July 25, 26, and 27. — Boyal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries closed.

July 25, 26. — Kent B.K.A. annual show (in
connection with the Tunbridge Wells and
South-Eastern Counties Agricultural Society),
at Tunbridge Wells. Schedules from J.
Garratt, Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 5 (Bank Holiday).— Notts B.K.A.
Annual County Show on the Sconce Hills,
Newark. Eighteen classes for bees, hives, and
honey, with liberal prizes. Several open
classes. Entries close July 27. A. G. Pugh,
hon. sec, N. B.K.A. , 51, Mona-street, Beeston.

August 5.— Berks B.K.A., Newbury Dis-
trict, in connection with the flower show in
Shaw - avenue, Newbury. Liberal prizes.
Entries close August 2. Schedules from W.
Hawkes, Hon. Sec, Newtown-road, Newbury.

August 5 and 6. — At Delapre Park, North-
ampton, Northants B.K.A. Annual Show.
Nine classes for honey. Special open class for
single 1-lb. jar of extracted honey. Five
prizes : 1st, silver medal and 10s. ; 2nd, 15s. ;
3rd, 10s. ; 4th, 5s. ; 5th, 2s. 6d. Entries close
July 25. Eobt. Hefford, Hon. Sec, Boughton,
Northants.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West
Bromwich. In connection with the Staff*.
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.
Schedules, from Harold Twentyman, Wolver-
hampton. Entries received until July 22.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries closed.

August 14 and 15.— Kent B.K.A., in con-
nection with the Shepherds we' 1 Horticultural
Show. Entries close August 3. J. Garratt,
hon. sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 15. — Goole and District Agricul-
tural Society. Annual show at Goole. Five
open classes for bees and honey. Entries
close August 8. J. Luddington and H. S.
White, secretaries.

August 15. — Berks B.K.A. (Windsor dis-
trict) Show, at Maidenhead, in connection
with the Maidenhead Horticultural Society.
Fourteen classes, with good prizes, for bees,
hives, and honey. For schedules apply to the
Hon. Sec, W. S. Darby, Consort Villas,
Clewer.

July 18, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

289

August 21. — Wotton-under-Edge and
District Bee-Keepers' Association. In the
Town Hall, Wotton-under-Edge. Eight
classes for honey. Entries close August 14.
Schedules from the hon. sec, E. W. Kead,
Wotton-under-Edge.

August 22. — Show of bees, hives, and
honey, in connection with the Horsham Horti-
cultural Society's show at Springfield, Horsham.
Entries close August 17. Lectures in Bee-tent
by the Rev. C. Brereton. R. Gilburd, Sec,
39, Carfax, Horsham.

September 5th.— North Norfolk BK.A.
annual show in connection with the Holt
Flowtr Show, to be held in the grounds of
Brinton Hall. Two special open classes for
single 1 lb. sections and 1 lb. jars of extracted
honey. Entries close August 24. Schedules
from the Hon. Sec, C. J. Cooke, Edgefield,
Melton Constable, Norfolk.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 3L. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

Noticesto Correspondents and inquirers.

Alt querxe* /orwaraea unit be atunaea to, ana those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Bee-man (Egham). — 1. Bee sent is a young
queen not long hatched out. 2. You will
not succeed in getting the flying bees of
No. 2 stock to remain in No. 1 if placed
there ; they will return to their old home.

W. T. Lane (South Devon). — We must leave
it to readers of the work mentioned to form
their own opinion as to its merits. For
ourselves, we are personally so strongly
opposed to any departure from the
" Standard '' frame for use in brood-
chambers that Ave shall advocate no other,
and we can safely say that the bee-keepers
you name use none but " Standard " frames
for breeding purposes.

Mr. Hurnard (Hingham). — We are not
dealers in honey-tins, or in appliances of
any case. Any of our advertisers will supply
prices, if written to.

A. F. (Duns). — Queen received is a hybrid
(but not a first cross) ligurian-black.

Felix Bridgett (Stoke-on-Trent). — The bees
sent are very fine ones, but of course afford
no indication of the age of their maternal
parent.

Perdix (Barnstaple). — Comb sent is affected
with foul brood.

S. R. (Bromsgrove). — Keeping honey liquid.
1. Beyond keeping extracted honey in a dry,
warm place during the winter season,
nothing can be done to prevent its granula-
tion. 2. Ripe honey will not " go sour," as
our correspondent states, " when kept in a
warm place." 3. Early or late granulation
depends largely upon the season and the
source from whence the hon°y is gather?:!:

4. A strong stock should have 20 to 25 lb.
of stores to make it safe for winter.

J. A. Aiken. — Surely our correspondent can-
not be serious in his query ? Anyway, the
insect sent is a moth, bearing no resemblance
to a bee — queen, or worker.

A. Hamer (Llanrthney). — Sample of honey
received is of good quality. There is less
of the clover product in it than usual
according to our previous experience of the
honey in your district, which accounts for
its deeper golden colour ; the consistency
is also rather less dense, but these two
points are no doubt attributable to the
admixture of lime honey, which some may
call an improvement. It is, however, a
good sample.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, fuolicatione, Bee ftanta, <le: — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. Three neat
patterns, 100 strips, 22 Inches long, 8d., post free,
600, 2s. 9d., post free. W. WOODLKT, Beedon, Newbury.

PURE BLACKS, Swarms, 5s., 10s. 6d. ; Nuclei, 5s. ;
Queens, 3s. ; free on rail ; empties returned.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford. 139

HONEY SECTIONS WANTED, for cash, new. Best
pale, well filled, and sealed only received. T.
Smith & Co., 17, Cambridge-street, Hyde Park, W.
. H47

QUEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
" Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

OA YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
" w Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfield, Sussex. 116

WALLFLOWERS (dark) for early spring flowering,
Is. 6d. per 100 ; 10s. per 1,000, free. H. B. Pollard,
Evesham. h 76

T70R SALE, 28 HIVES of BEES and a Honey Ex-
V tractor. Apply to Herbert Wilson, Grocer,
Methley, Leeds. h 75

INE TESTED 1895 FERTILE QUEENS, 3s. 6d. each.
Guaranteed healthy, and safe arrival. C. Whiting,
Valley Apiary, Hundon, Clare, Suffolk. h 74

ILL EXCHANGE GOAT in milk (first kid) for

three Swarms of BEES, 5-lb. lots.— Apply, A.

Surtees, Blacksmith, Low Teams, near Gateshead. H 77

WO STRONG S WARMS FOR SALE, one as taken
in small hive, with one month's honey gathering
included, price £1. 5s ; the other in box, price 10s. 6d.
Apply, E. V. S., Curfnells, Wimbledon. h 78

per dozen. Packages free and on rail. Will
sell the whole or part. Deposit. R. Brown, Somersham,
Hunts.

FOR SALE, NATURAL SWARMS, 7s. 6d.. 10s. 6d.,
12s. 6d. Free on rail, packages returnable. Stocks
in straw-hives and on bar-frames. Honey in sections.
Linstead, Garboldisham, Thetford.

FOR SALE, FREEHOLD FARM, Two COTTAGES,
Waggon Lodge, Outbuildings, <fec. ; 30 acres ; south-
west aspect, good water, long road frontage. £16 per
acre.— BEES WANTED. Don't burn bees: send for
particulars to Land, Myrtle Villa, Hornchurch, Essex.
H 73

I BEG to thank my Customers who have done business
with me for so many years, and to ask them to
forward their orders. I have some splendid Clover
Honey (fit for any table), pale colour, and good aroma
7d. per lb. in 60 lb. tins, T. H0LL.IPAY, The Apiary
Astbury, Congleton. 153

290

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 18, 1895.

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS, from LUCIA PAGLIA,
Royal Bee Establishment, 5s. each. Cash with
order. J Greenhill, 80, Graham-road, Wimbledon.

1 ftQ1^ HYBETO QUEENS.— Special Ligurian Hy-
IOc^a brids— Queens, tested, 5s. 6d. each ; Virgin
Queens, 3s. each. All Queens sent in my (lew Intro-
ducing Cages, post free. Safe arrival guaranteed.
Orders executed in rotation. H. W. Brice, Beulah-
road N., Thornton Heath, Surrey.

YE OLDE ENCLISHE BEE.

Fine selected Fertile Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Sent in my Intro-
ducing Cage, guaranteeing safe arrival. Parcel Postage
3d. W. Woodlet, Beedon, Newbury.

OARBOLINE POMADE

(FOURTH SEASON).

Kills Bee-stings like magic.

CARBOLINF POMADE

Prevents the horrible smarting and burning
inflammation.
CA^BOLINE POMADE

Prevents getting stung, robbing, &c.
CARBOLINE POMADE

Is. per bottle.post free. T. HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY,
CONGLETON.

SCREW-CAP HONEY BOTTLES,

English Make. Cheap. Clean. Handy.

16-oz. size, per 10 doz., 12/9 ; 8-oz. size, per 6 doz., 7/-.

Packing free.

EXPERT SMOKER (Patent applied for).
Both hands at liberty to work frames.
An Old Bee-keeper's Testimony :— " With the valve
added, your little Smoker is perfect." Post free U.

W. T. GARNETT, Steade Road, Sheffield.

Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society.

GREAT SHOW AT
PRESTON,

JULY 25th, 26th, & 27th, 1895.

PRIZES, Value £2,800.
1 Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Pigs,
Goats, Dogs, Poultry, Pigeons,
Cheese, Butter, Honey, Work-
ing Dairy, and Implements.

Grand Leaping Competition
over Hurdles and Water each
day.
Admission.

First Day 9 a.m. to 6 p.m 2s. 6d. each.

Second Day ... 9 a.m. to 6 p.m Is. 6d. ,,

Third Day ... 9 a.m. to 5 p.m Is. Od.

JAMES BIRCH, Secretary.
3, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.

lathe Oldest El-
tablishment in
the United
Kingdom
wholly devoted
to Bees and

manufacture of Bee-keepers' supplies. His prices will
compare most favourably with thrseof any other Maker,
while for quality of material, suitability and workman-
ship he has no rival.

A large consignment of the beautiful

" FALCONER" SECTIONS,

both 1 bee-way tfnd 2 bee-way, on hand.

Direct importation.

Price 2/6 per 100 ; cut to receive Foundation, 8/- per 100.

By Parcel Post, 1/- per 100 extra.

For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's

Bee-keepers' Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-

bined), which "contains more practical and reliable hints

than all the large, expensive books," post free for

2d. stamps.

Address S. J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.

N. B —More than BOO Silver and Bronze Medals, First and

other Prize*, and Testimonials innumerable.

BALDWINS

Bee-keepers m Lancashire and cheshirf,&c
THE OENTBAL SUPPLY STOEEb
for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL 50, GREAT
CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE ROSE. Why pay
carriage from longfdistances, when you can buy as cheap
and good locaily, and have your orders promptly attended
to ? Catalogues gratis. Sow now CHAPMAN'S HONEY
PLANT, 6d. Packet. Expected shortly, big lot of
HONEY JARS (screw and tieover). Large buyers, please
write at once. Very low prices per crate of 3£ gross
ex dock on arrival. Best Falcon Sections very low per
1,000 or 10,000.

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

'For HIVES made of

carefully selected and

seasoned wood.

For EXTRACTORS

FOUNDATION,

SECTIONS,

SMOKERS,
dec. Ac
Is a very good Railway
Centre for the "West of
England.

E. J. BUM

GLOUCESTER.

Illustrated Catalogue Free.

SEASONABLE GOODS.

Finest Quality Sections 18/- 1,000; 2/3 100

Stock Foundation per pound, 2s

Super Ditto „ 3s

Honey Glasses, metal top gross 21s

Glazed Case (both sides)., doz. Is. 9d. ; gross, 18s

Special Honey Extractor, with cog wheel ... 35s.

SEND FOR A CATALOGUE.

J. 8. GREf-NH ILL, 80, Graham road , Wimbledon.

(27 Years with Neighbour & Sons.)

W. P. MEADOWS,

Syston and Leicester.

Royal Shoi

DARLINGTON.

I thank the friends who save me their orders and
expressed regret at my not getting first prizes. I only
entered one Hive in each class, both made exactly the
same as those awarded first prizes at Cambridge last
year, and which have given such general satisfaction.
Pressure of business prevented me staging quite so
good a collection as I could have wished.

BE IRosal Xetters patent.

no moSFlostswarms,

If my SELF-HIVER is used.

NO OBSTRUCTION TO THE BEES.
Admitted to be as near as possible to perfection.

Send Address for Illustrated Pamphlet post free.
G. W. HOLE, PATCHAM, SUSSEX. 115

DON'T GET STUNG!

WHEN, BY USING APIFUGB

YOU CAN PREVENT IT.

«** BEE-KEEPERS SAY IT IS MARVELLOUS, AND "W

THEY WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT IT.

Send for a Bottle at once.

Small Bottles 1/-, Large Bottles,, 1/9, Post Free.

Cash must accompany Order.

To be obtained of all Appliance Dealers and

DARCY CRIMSHAW, HORSFORTH, LEEDS.

July 25, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

291

USEFUL HINTS.

Weather. — After a long spell of hot
weather — dry enough to class 1895 as a
year of summer drought — the change
has come, and we have had rain enough
and to spare. Though very welcome to
farmers — whose root-crops threatened
failure — the welcome showers have come
too late, we fear, to benefit bee-forage to
any great extent, so far as southern
pastures. It may start second -crop clover
into yielding a week or two's ingathering
in the more northern districts, but, in
the main, the honey season is rapidly
coming to an end for '95.

The Season's Results. — Regarding
the results, we know it has been a good
year in many parts of the south — extra
good in both quantity and quality in some
districts. The Midlands have also done
well according to our advices, but for the
north there is reason to think it will fall
below the average. From Scotland
reports are even less favourable than the
North of England, the weather there
having been cold and against nectar
secretion for many weeks past. We
trust the coming heather-season will
make amends for the short crop of flower-
honey beyond the Tweed.

Late Swarms.— Reports show, too, that
1895 has not been at all prolific in
swarms. A few issued very early, and
then came a long stoppage of swarming
weather, putting an end to bee-emigra-
tion altogether in many cases. Late
swarms, second swarms, and swarmed
stocks will have fared but badly unless
fed, and will require seeing to in the
early autumn. Breeding' is still general,
and a little food will keep up the con-
tinuance of increase for several weeks
later than it would be otherwise, to the
manifest advantage of stocks attended to
in this respect. The season has, however,
been very favourable for queen-rearing
and mating. This is important at a time
when young, fertile queens will be in
demand for replacing old, worn-out ones
in stocks which have failed to swarm ;
and as very many colonies are now
immensely strong in bees, they may be
divided for increase and queened with-
out any stoppage of brood-rearing.
Removing Surplus. — This operation is,

we hope, losing its terrors for the nervous
bee-keeper of to-day, and, as the season
draws to an end and the usual autumn
predatory habits of bees begin to develop,
the value of the super-clearer becomes
every year more apparent. In fact,
where bees are kept in close proximity
to the dwellings of neighbours who are
not bee-keepers, the possession of a good
" clearer " — on the principle of the " Por-
ter Bee-escape" — becomes an absolute
necessity. No amount of " free adver-
tising" must prevent us making this fact
known to all who experience trouble in
removing their surplus honey. We
thought the method of using the
" clearer " was now well enough known
to render a repetition of the modus
unnecessary, but we are reminded that
some timid bee-keepers still go a bit
wrong in using it, and for these we say,
first get an assistant to " stand by,"
clearer in hand ; then quietly remove
roof, " lifts," and all other coverings, so
as to leave the junction of hive and
super free. Next, with the point of a
screw-driver gently raise the super at
each corner about an eighth of an inch
and slip in a little wooden wedge ; do
this at each corner, and then blow just
one puff of smoke at the opening on each
of the four sides and with a screiving
movement lift up the super for a moment
while your assistant slips on the clearer ;
before the bees have time to think, or
recover from the smoke, set the super
above the " clearer," and the job is done
in less time than it takes to write it. If
this is done in the evening, the rack of
sections — or box of frames for extracting
as the case may be — is free from bees
and ready for removal next morning. Or
if it be done in the early morning it can
be removed at night.

Finding Queens. — A brief "hint" may
be given to correspondents who write
complaining of being unable to pick out
queens when examining frame-hives.
We cannot tell anyone how to " spot "
queens quickly — only practice will do
that — but where the trouble is great,
the difficulty may be lessened consider-
ably by lifting out bodily the outer comb
(if broodless) on one side, shaking the
bees off, and setting it aside in a safe
place till wanted. The combs may then
be placed out of " touching " distance, as
they can in a combination hive, and this

292

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 25, 1895.

tends to keep the queen to the comb she
is " on," instead of passing from comb to
comb in her alarm. Another point to
remember when searching for queens is
that the bees don't " run " much on the
comb whereon she is, but generally have
a contented appearance, not otherwise
present.

Bee-Keepers and the Board of Agri-
culture.— Very encouraging indeed is it
to read the report of what took place at
the Board of Agriculture on the 10th
inst., and very refreshing were the pro-
ceedings to the ene'rgies of those who are
labouring to bring about some good to
the craft. The idea of making the Act
an "adoptive" one is most valuable,
clearing the ground of a lot of possible
hindrance and trouble. Coming, too, as
it did from the far-seeing presiding
permanent Secretary to the Board, it
warrants us in believing that Mr. Elliott
is in warm sympathy with our move-
ment, and desires its success. Equally
satisfactory was the suggestion of our
Committee with regard to a leaflet on
foul brood to be prepared by the
B.B.K.A. Council and issued by the
Board of Agriculture. The suggestion
was at once accepted. Referring to the
feeling in Scotland on the subject, a well-
informed correspondent .writes from
Edinburgh under date July 16 : —

" I was wondering what became of your bill
at the general 'smash,' especially as in the
great bee-keeping districts where I have been
the dread of foul brood is great. It has broken
out in several places, and there is a fear that
when the bees are carried to the heather it
will spread. Suppose you got your ' adoptive '
act, and Eoxburgh, which is almost exempt,
took it up, while Northumberland, where it is
prevalent, did not, what good would it do ?
The bees from the two counties during the
heather season are placed side by side. There
is a great outcry for legislation on the Borders,
and some disappointment that it has not been
obtained for this autumn."

BRITISH

BEE-KEEPERS'
CIATION.

ASSO-

EXAMINATION FOR THIRD-CLASS CERTIFICATES
AT HALIFAX.

An examination of candidates for third-
class certificates will be held at Halifax on
Thursday, August 8, commencing at 10 a.m.
Applications to be made to Mr. R. A. Grim-
shaw, secretary of the Yorkshire Bee-keepers'
Association, Horsforth, Leeds, or to the
secretary of the British Bee -Keepers' Asso-
ciation, John Huckle, King's Langley, Herts.

tyttrmpnkMt

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Revieiv, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

V* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,,
wttl oblige by mentioning the number of the Itt'er, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE JOTTINGS.

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2123.] Do Bees carry Eggs ?— This question
has to me been surrounded with some few
elements of doubt, but a letter received
whilst these notes were under consideration
pretty well removes from my mind any un-
certainty I may have previously had, and
furnishes on the point one of the most
interesting cases that have come under
my notice. A bee-keeper, who is also
a first-class expert, purchased a laying
queen of this year from me, which I de-
spatched in the usual way, after keeping her
(as is my custom) from twelve to twenty-four
hours in a warm place . I do this in order to
give the queen the opportunity of relieving
herself of any superabundance of eggs before
being shaken in the post. Having rid herself
of these eggs (whic'h the bees usually eat !),
she is considerably reduced in size, and conse-
quently in better condition for travelling. But,
to return, I am pleased to say the circum-
stances I am about to record may be
accepted as authentic, coming from the source
they do. My correspondent says : — " I made
the stock queenless when writing you first,
and kept a sharp look out to detect any possi-
bility of there being a fertile worker, and on
Friday night" (a. too brief space of time
having elapsed for the bees to have produced
a fresh queen, so that this element does not
enter into consideration), " when the new
queen arrived, I examined thoroughly all the
frames again, but there were no signs of eggs
at all. 1 put the queen (caged) on a comb
the same night, and left her till the following
Monday, when I found the queen still caged.
I then noticed a few eggs in the cells of one
of the combs." My correspondent then let
matters remain as they were, and continues : —
"On Wednesday morning I examined again,
and found quite a number of cells, perhaps
200, with young brood and eggs, some just
hatching, some a few hours old ! " The queen
was released and accepted by the bees, and has

July 25, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

293

been seen since peaceably occupied in ber
maternal duties. The points for consideration
are : — (i) Was tbere a queen in tbe bive
before tbe one received from me was caged
therein 1 I should say no, otherwise tbe new
queen would have been refused when released.

(2) Was there a laying worker 1 I am
forced to the negative conclusion, because the
time would not have been sufficient to have
developed her latent ovipositing powers .

(3) Did the caged queen lay the eggs?
There is little doubt that she did, and that the
bees, anxious for a "mother," had actually
gathered up the eggs — of which the over-
charged queen had relieved herself— and
themselves placed them in worker cells for
hatching out in the ordinary way !

This we are told is " instinct." It appears
to m« to be something more than that ; but,
not to digress, we will talk of this another
time. If a laying worker laid those eggs, the
resultant bees will be drones, so that this point
will soon be decided. On the other hand, if
there had been another queen in the hive the
fact of the case being dealt with by an expert
makes it certain that she would have been
found beyond a doubt. Tbe other points
bearing on the subsequent well-being of the
queen corroborates this, so that, provided the
eggs deposited in the worker-cells develop into
worker-bees, it is clear they were laid by a
mother-bee. If this is shown to be so, it will
also be equally clear that the eggs were those
of the caged queen ; *and the question " Do
bees carry eggs ? " may then be certainly
answered in the future in the affirmative ? —
Bee-houses. — I think there are compara-
tively few readers who are acquainted with
tbe luxury of a good bee-house, and with the
comfort and ease with which bees can be
worked and manipulations carried out under
the shelter thereof. I have for years kept two
fairly good-sized houses going, and am so satis-
fied with the result that a third one is being
built for me. In constructing a house for this
purpose, much, of course, depends on the
space and the cash available for tbe purpose.
Very small houses cannot be recommended. I
consider a good size about 12 it. long by 8 ft.
wide, with a span roof, and about 9 ft. in
height. The door in the middle of one end,
and the window on the sunny side. This
window is made to turn on a pivot in the
centre, and having an outside shutter, which,
when closed, makes the interior almost dark.
A house of the above dimensions will accom-
modate from twelve to eighteen stocks, ranged
round the interior, either in one or two tiers.
I used to work the hives in two tiers, but
experience makes me prefer a single row about
1 It. from the ground, ranged round the house.
Handling hives on the top row caused much
inconvenience, hence its being given up.
Under the shelter of a sound roof we are prac-
tically independent of the weather, and on
rainy days much work can be done
which would otherwise be left undone.

Another advantage is that lighter and less
expensive hives can be used, roofs being en-
tirely dispensed with. Fewer coverings, too,
are needed in summer, and for winter a
chaff cushion or a bundle of quilts and news-
papers spread over the tops of the hives is all
that is necessary. In all my experience with
wintering bees in houses, I have only lost one
stock. Another point is that bees can be more
easily bandied inside than in the open. Any
that fly make straight for the window or door,
and are gone, instead of buzzing and annoying
the operator as they do when hives are
manipulated outside. Then a very important
point with timid manipulators is the fact that
bees are much less disposed to sting indoors
than out. Surplus honey, empty frames,
combs, and stores can be stored in such a house,
and be always at hand ; feeding, too, is done
with the certainty that, once the house i8
closed, no robber bees will be dodging round
about the hives in the dark; and, entre
nous, it is also one of the greatest comforts
in bee-keeping to be able to go inside one's
bee-house, and do what is necessary about
hives and bees without our actions being fol-
lowed, may be, by the inquiring eyes of well-
meaning, no doubt, but distinctly inquisitive
neighbours. The chance of an " upset " in the
apiary when bees are in a " but," is also very
remote indeed. There are, no doubt, a few
disadvantages as a " set off," but with care
they can be easily overcome, as they chiefly
relate to cleanliness and orderliness. First,
we have dirt ; next, spiders ; then mice, the
latter finding most snug winter's quarters be-
tween tbe warm coverings of a strong stock,
but I do not find them do much harm, and
they are easily got rid of.— H. W. Brick,
Thornton Heath.

QUEEN-REARING.
[2124.] I am much obliged to your corre-
spondent, Mr. Brice, for replying, on page 273,
to my questions on his method of queen-
raising. I feel, however, that the replies do
not altogether meet the point at issue, or it
may be that I put the questions under a mis-
apprehension of Mr. Brice's real views on the
subject. I was under the impression after
reading his article (2071), page 373 and seq.
of B.B.J, of September 20, 1894, that he
objected to queens raised naturally by stocks
under the swarming impulse, on the ground
that the queens so raised were frequently, and
indeed, generally produced from larvae which
had passed some days as worker larvae, and
were, therefore, only partially differentiated
queens. He says, "Undoubtedly the very
worst method of rearing queens is the let-alone

method Take a hive that has just

swarmed, for instance, on examination we find
several cells, some just capped, others only
partly completed. Then comes the im-
portant question — What was the age of the
larvce when the first royal food was given to
the young grub. The chances are that it was

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 25, 1895.

too old for good results, for although bees
build rudimentary cells prior to swarmiDg, I

never saw a queen lay an egg in one yet

The next question is, Do the bees place eggs
in embryo cells ? They may ; but I am more
inclined to the view that it is the young grubs
that are placed therein by bees. Has it ever
been recorded that these empty embryo queen-
cells are the identical cells which are used
eventually for raising queens 1 I think not.
I am, therefore, of opinion that .... in the
majority of cases the cells are built round the
young larvas, and in practically every case
round larvae over thirty-six hours old."

Since I wrote my last letter I have had
abundant and convincing evidence that
when a colony intends to swarm, eggs,
not larva?, are normally deposited in the
queen cells, and whether they are deposited
there by the queen or by the workers is
nothing to t he present purpose, though I see
no reason, in the absence of proof one way or
the other, to assume the latter. It is a point
capable of solution, and I hope to do so next
spring. Any beekeeper may convince himself
of the truth of my statement by placing in
centre of a colony possessing the swarming
impulse, a half-sheet of foundation and
examining in three days' time. He will find, if
the impulse is strongly developed, probably a
fringe of queen cells arranged in a surprising
orderly manner along the lower edge of drawn-
out foundation which preferably only extends
about three or four inches from top bar, so as
to be in centre of brood nest ; and in numbers
of these cells eggs will be found attached at
base, and in fact this year I have raised many
queens from combs so prepared. If, then,
we leave out of account the possibly increased
swarming tendency of such queens, which,
after all, is not an unmixed evil, the queens
produced under the natural swarming ten-
dency, so far as feeding and rearing are
concerned, are fully equal to any queens raised
by any method; and, so far from being raised
from worker-grubs, are always normally raised
from eggs, and are by no means the " half-
formed insect " of which Mr. B. speaks.
Mr. B. further adds in the same article that,
" after careful examination of many stocks
about to supersede the reigning queen, I have
found queen cells built over larva? of different
ages." As I do not keep old queens, I am not
prepared to dispute this statement, which,
however, seems a little at variance with the
statement by the same writer in British Bee
Journal, July 11, 1895 [2116] that " It is well
known to old hands at our craft that a finer
queen will be raised when she is intended to
supersede a failing one. Of the two, t am inclined
to place more faith in the former statement.
Mr. Brice, I understand, regards the supe-
riority of the queen raised as directed, to be
due to the fact that they are raised willingly.
What does this argument really come to ? If,
as he thinks, the bees are impelled to raise
new queens under the impression that the old

one is failing, they will be still more willing to
raise them if they think that the old queen is
gone altogether, only in that case we have to
guard against undue haste by allowing them
only eggs, not lame. My own impression is
that the queens raised as directed in article
referred to are raised, not as supercession
queens, but because bees have an instinct for
continuing work begun, and also probably
have an idea of swarming. If this is not
the case, why does Mr. Brice insist on
the necessity of raising them only at
the natural swarming time? If they are
raised as supercession queens any time would
do provided food were abundant. I hope that
my remarks on this matter will not be mis-
understood. I do not for a moment wish to
insinuate that good queens cannot be raised by
the method suggested, all that I contend is that
in so far as raising and feeding from the egg is
concerned, they may be as good if taken
sufficiently young, but they cannot possibly be
better than queens produced under swarming
impulse which are always normally intended
for queens from the very start, and are de-
posited in the queen cups before hatching.
With regard to who deposits them there (which
is immaterial to the point at issue) since
there is no record, so far as I know, of
anyone having seen the queen lay in the
queen cup, or the bees introducing the eggs,
it is quite as logical to assume, in the
absence of direct proof, fhe former to be true
as the latter. Next year I shall introduce two
half sheets of foundation to a stock under
swarming impulse, separate by an excluder
dummy, and introduce a comb of eggs beside
the comb for queen cells in the queenless side.
If, after a series of such experiments, I find
queen cups with eggs in them on the queenless
side, then we have proof that the bees put
them there, but if they are invariably found
only on the side where the queen is, we have
strong presumptive evidence that the queen
puts them there. I hope also to attempt a
more direct proof, into which I will not enter
at present. I shall, of course, use hives with
an entrance at each end, so that each half, with
the exception of queen, shall be precisely
similarly situated. One more point before
closing. Mr. Brice seems to think it was
hardly fair of me to quote Mr. Cheshire
in support of my argument. I should not
have quoted him to support a theory, but
merely to support an actually-observed fact —
namely, that the queen-eggs, if I may use the
word, are actually deposited (by somebody) in
the queen cups ; and he gives us a drawing of
a cell, of which he actually made a section.
No advance in theory can overcome a
matter of direct observation of this kind, and
I have fully verified, to my own satisfaction,
the correctness of the observation. I am
quite aware that some of the arguments
brought forward by Mr. C. will no longer
hold ; and indeed, some of his negative state-
ments— e.g., that pollen is not deposited in

July 25, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

295

drone combs — are only approximately correct,
as I have a sample of drone comb packed with
pollen.

A few days ago I observed something which,
so far as I know, has not yet been recorded,
and I therefore mention it, though it has
nothing to do with the point at issue. I had
removed a couple of combs, one of which had
a sealed queen's cell, with adhering bees to
form a nucleus. In due course tne queen
hatched, but was some time before commencing
to lay. Making an examination one morning,
I found a queen cup ivith an egg in it ; most of
the rest of the brood had hatched, and there
were no other eggs on the combs ; of this I am
certain. I somewhat damaged the cell opening
it up to see into its base, and the bees imme-
diately removed the egg. I replaced the comb
and found on examination next day a con-
siderable breadth of eggs. I can only infer
that the very first egg the newly-mated queen
laid was deposited in a queen cup, but the
observation, so far as^ I know, is without
parallel. I should be glad to hear if any bee-
keeper has had a similar experience. — M. C.
Clutterbuck, July 1 5.

FOUL BROOD.

[2125.] It is indeed good news to learn that
we are at length likely to have an official leaflet
on the subject of foul brood, its detection and
treatment, from the B.B.K.A, at the instiga-
tion, it appears, of the Agricultural Depart-
ment. I suggested such a leaflet in your
columns some months ago, and was soundly
snubbed for my pains ; whereupon I urged the
Department to issue one, or at all events to
ask the B.B.K.A. to do so, as a plain and
simple duty. Such a leaflet will do endless
good, and, moreover, reassure many panic-
stricken bee-keepers. We had foul brood in
a very bad form here, about four years ago,
and then took the measures which have been
described in the Bee Journal. The cure, ap-
parently, has been complete, for this year we
Have taken from ten hives to start with, nearly,
if not quite, half a ton of honey of the finest
quality. -E. Bartrum, D.D., Wakes Colne
Bee tort/, Essex, July 18.

[We share the gratification expressed by our
Kev. correspondent at the prospect of a
leaflet dealing with " the detection and treat-
ment of foul brood " being issued by the Board
of Agriculture. We also trust that the com-
munication referred to as having been addressed
by him to the Board on the subject may have
had some weight, but simple justice to the
special committee of the B.B.K.A. — who have
so far had the matter in hand — compels us
to add that the suggestion regarding the
leaflet came entirely from themselves, and not
from the outside. With reference also to
what our correspondent facetiously describes as
" a sound snubbing '' administered to him in a
footnote appended to a communication on the

subject (which appears in our issue of March 7
page 96), our known respect and regard for
the writer should render it unnecessary for us
to disclaim the slightest intention of saying
what could possibly be construed into anything
of the kind. What we endeavoured to express
was our opinion that to write a leaflet (as
suggested by Dr. Bartrum on p. 96) " with
plain and decided directions which simple
folks could understand and act upon easily,"
and — to again quote the letter dealt with —
" giving the latest, best, and cheapest cure "
for foul brood, is beyond the ability of any
man or men of the present day. To this
opinion we still adhere, while none the less dis-
claiming any intention to " snub " our esteemed
correspondent. The leaflet suggested at the
conference on the 10th inst., for obvious
reasons, stops very far short of this, its
scope— as stated in the report on page 282 —
being limited to the " detection and treatment "
of foul brood. — Eds.1

COMPLIMENTARY.
[2126.] Reading the other day one of the
old numbers of the British Bee Journal
(January, 1890), I was struck by the difference
(even allowing for January being a dull season
for bee-keepers), I may say vast difference, in
the character of the contents, as compared
with the matter in the Journals of to-day. I
cannot help feeling that such a Journal as the
last (July 18) reflects very distinctly an awaken-
ing, and a general advance in bee-keeping all
along the line. How delightfully interesting
have been the letters from your foreign con-
tributors ! I wish to say how much I (shall
I not rather say " we '' ?) appreciate them — the
letters from Egypt (when shall we have
another ?) ; the letters from your Palestine
friend ; that interesting letter from the
Argentine about the peach-blossom sections ;
and last, that very satisfactory letter from the
Transvaal, Mr. Van der Merwe. There are
other foreign letters that have been very
instructive, from parts I forget ; but all foreign
contributors should know how we British bee-
keepers delight in such contributions. May I add
— though it seems selfish to say it — we hope that
we shall not be flooded with foreign " contribu-
tions '' of honey until the public taste has been
so cultivated as to largely increase our present,
though growing, home consumption ! Then it
is pleasant to see Mr. Grimshaw's name to
that instructive letter on " Heredity." I fear
it is a subject too wide for us bee-keepers, as a
class, but it has its practical side. Then there
is Mr. Jacomb-Hood's letter, to which your
excellent correspondent, " H. W. B.;' is so well
suited to contribute a brief reply on the cir-
cumstance. If I were the " pointsman " I
would certainly " switch " him on to that line
of things — where he is in his element — rather
than let him run in a polemical "track.

296

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 25, 1895.

Then there is Mr. Woodley, whose contribu-
tions are so eminently practical, " pricking up
his ears '- over the F.B. measure, showing how
solicitous they are about the fate of the move-
ment in Berks — good again ! Then I am
pleased, as well, surely, as Mr. Huckle must
be, to see your correspondents appearing as
subscribers in the recent list of new members
to the B.B.K.A. (Mr. Jacomb-Hood's name,
to wit). The B.B.K.A. foul brood campaign
will cost the British a good deal of money.
They must need funds, or in other words, new
members, badly. Can Mr. Hood tell us what
sort of a honey-field is Surbiton ? Can Mr.
Webster (another of your willing helpers) tell
us whether the heather at Bagshot, Wisley
Heath, Chobham, and the like, is of any good
— substantial good — to bee-keepers ? I fear
not. I sympathise with "Man of Kent " and
Mr. W. Woodley re honey-flow. In many
parts of Keat the honey has literally poured
in. Extractors have been in strong request ;
personally, I am " sticky '' from head to foot. 1
dislike extracting honey, but what pursuit is
wholly exempt from some disagreeable feature 1
I congratulate you, Messrs. Editors, and
may your readers increase io every clime ! —
A. Beille, Kent, July 18.

DISTANCE BEES TRAVEL.
[2127.] May I trouble you to tell me if the
notice below is, in your opinion, within the
bounds oftruth? And will you kindly tell
me what is the recognised weight of nectar
brought home by bees ? I wrote this notice
for a private show, but as I wish to send some
sections to a public one, I should be very
thankful to have your opinion. — " Tinker.''

TO THE PUBLIC. PLEASE THINK OF THIS.

There are 12 sections of honey, each of one
pound weight, in this case. 1 lb. equals 7,680
grains. Bees do not carry home more than one-
tenth of a grain of nectar at a journey, so that
each section represents 76,800 bee-loads. The
average journey would be at least 500 yards,
but hence the total distance covered by the
bees in collecting nectar for one section at the
lowest estimate would be 76,800,000 yards, or
(say) 43,500 miles !

[As has been often said, " figures can be
made to show anything,'' and, bearing this in
mind, we are not quite satisfied that the above
''showing " can be borne out by facts. Take
the quantity of honey carried home by a bee
in one journey. The weight stated (one-tenth
of a grain) is too low. It is practically .j-gV otn
part of an ounce. Now, the honey- sac of a
bee is said to have a capacity of about one-
third of an ordinary " drop." Therefore, by the
above calculation, there must be 1,600 ordinary
drops in 1 oz., whereas we think that there are
no more than 480. Considering, too, the
specific gravity of honey compared with water,
it will hardly be maintained that the calcula-
tion is a correct one. — Eds.]

EXAMINING BROOD COMBS.

TIME UNSEALED BROOD MAY BE EXPOSED
WITHOUT DANGER OF CHILLING.

[2128.] It would be a great help to novice
bee-keepers if some competent authority would
give them some guide as to the length of time
combs may be exposed to the open air without
danger of chilling the brood in them. Of
course, this will vary much with the tempera-
ture of the day, and whether there is wind or
not. It may also be said that it is impossible,
therefore, to lay down any rule. Still, it must
be possible, I think, to say as a rough guide :
" If the thermometer is under so and so in the
shade, no frame should be lifted from the hive,
while under the most favourable circumstances,
i.e., with the thermometer at or over so much
and no wind blowing, brood may be handled
.with safety for so long, which is the maximum
time brood should ever be kept out of its
hive.''

Thus with an approximate minimum and
maximum to steer between our discretion
might be expected to guide us safely. — Burley
Beacon, Ringwood, July 16.

[Of the experienced bee-keeper it may be
said that he can tell, without reference to
thermometers, when it is safe to open hives,
but in any other than warm weather he exposes
unsealed brood for as short a time as possible,
and never unnecessarily. This last precaution
should be borne in mind by all who keep bees.
For the rest, it may be said that the less hives
are opened during the breeding season, when
the temperature is lower than 60 deg. Fahr ,
the better. When, however, it becomes neces-
sary to do so, such combs as have unsealed
brood in them should not (and need not) be
exposed for more -than one or two minutes.
With the temperature below 50, unsealed
brood should not be exposed at all without
real need for it, and when this occurs with the
thermometer between 50 deg. and 60 deg.
(especially if unprotected from wind) from half
to one minute is long enough. In his articles
on " Queen-Rearing," B.J. for October 4, 1894,
page 395, Mr. H. W. Brice says : — " One of
my experiments has been devoted to finding
out, as nearly as possible, at what temperature
very young larv«3 will chill and die, and I find
approximately that from four to five minutes
outside at 65 deg. is fatal to it, while under
the shelter of an open shed, protected from the
wind, it is alive after fifteen minutes at the
same temperature. But whether it would
recover the effects of the chill if subjected to
subsequent warmth I am at present unable to
say. — Eds.]

EXPERTS' CERTIFICATES.
[2129.] In the editorial of July 11 great
stress is put on the value of experts' certifi-
cates, and I fully endorse what you say on the
subject ; but when a candidate has entered for
his exam., I think it rather misleading to have

July

1895.1

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

297

a sort of syllabus of likely questions that are
supposed to be on his set of papers, and then
when the test is applied to find on his papers
that there is only one of the set that really
has any bearing on the particulars that were
supplied in the syllabus. Perhaps this is a
point for the Educational Committee to inves-
tigate ; if so, here is another question I should
like to see taken up by them, that is experts
who have passed the special exam, on foul
brood have no mark to that effect on their
third-class certificate ; the only place where it
can be seen is in the annual report of the
B.B.K.A., in its list of experts, where those
that have passed are marked with an asterisk.
Now, my suggestion is that, if we are entitled
to the special mark we should also hold it on
parchment, for which I have no doubt all
would be willing to pay the cost of the certi-
ficate if it is granted to us. — F. H. B.

[Keferring to the first portion of the above
communication, our correspondent overlooks
the fact that our leader on page 271 expressly
deals with the Third Class Certificate, and with
it only, and for this no " set of papers," nor,
indeed, papers of any kind are used by those
undergoing examination. In the remark about
the candidate "finding on his papers" some-
thing he did not expect, our correspondent
evidently has in mind the second-class exam.,
which consists entirely ot paper-work, and has
no bearing on the case in point.

The need for an addition to the Third Class
certificate, notifying that the holder has passed
the special exam, on foul brood, was dealt
with at the last meeting of the Council of the
B.B.K.A., on the 11th inst.— Eds.]

WEATHER

Westbourne,
Rain/all, "70 in.
Heaviest fall, *32 in.

on 13th.
Rain fell on 6 days.
Below average, 1'07 in.
Max. Temperature,

76° on 24th.
Min. Temperature, 36°

on 16th.
Minimum on grass, 29°

on 16 oh.
Frosty nights, 0.
Sunshine, 248-7 hours.

REPORT.

June, 1895.
Brightest Day, 20th,

14-50 hours.
Sunless Days, 0.
Above average, 34'5

hours.
Mn. Maximum, 674°.
Mn. Minimum, 49-3°.
Mean Temperature,

58-2°.
Maximum Barometer,

30-49° on 25th.
Minimum Barometer,

29-60° on 19 th.

L. B. BlRKETT.

tyufm and J^pta.

[1324.] When do Young Queens begin to
Layt — 1 would be glad to know how soon
after a queen-cell has been removed from the
parent hive and placed with brood and bees
in a nucleus, should eggs appear in the new

colony 1 I made a nucleus on June 15 ; great
numbers of young bees have hatched out, but
the combs are rapidly filling with honey, and
there are no signs of eggs. In another
nucleus, made on June 17, I have seen the
queen, but the condition of affairs is the same
rapid ingathering of honey, but no sign of
eggs. I have added sheets of foundation to
give extra room. All conditions have been
favourable for mating. The honey flow in York-
shire just now is abnormal.— Amateur, Hull,
July. 3.

Reply. — So many thing3 must be taken
into account so far as the general question put
by our correspondent, that an accurate reply
based on the information furnished is im-
possible. We know the queen would be
hatched out in about fifteen days from the
laying of the egg, and that she generally
begins to lay in about a week after safe fertili-
sation, but beyond this we cannot go. Pro-
bably, however, the queens referred to will
have begun their maternal duties by the time
these lines are in print.

[1325.] Completing Unfinished Sections. —
Weight of Honey.— I will be thankful for
information on the following :— 1. The top
racks of sections on two hives are sealed over,
with the exception of a few cells on the top
row : Is this as near completion as they will
be, or may I expect to get every cell sealed ?
The bees appear to have deserted the top lot,
and are now working on sections in lower
racks. Could I get these cells sealed by in-
verting the racks ? 2. Could you give the
weight of one gallon or the weight of 1 cubic
foot of honey ? 3. When extracting from new
combs, what precautions can I take to avoid
same breaking out of frames 1 The founda-
tion is not wired.— JonN Tatler, Eastney.

Reply. — 1. Unless the honey season abruptly
came to an end there is no reason why the few
cells should not have been sealed by the time
these lines are in print. But in any case, it
would rather retard completion to change the
position of section racks. 2. It is not possible
to give the accurate weight of " a gallon," or
of "one cubic foot of honey,'' owing to the
variation in density or specific gravity of dif-
ferent houeys. For all practical purposes,
however, it is enough to say that one gallon
(four imperial quarts) of good honey will
weigh about 15 or 16 pounds. 3. The " pre-
cautions '' needed — besides carefulness — are
(a) moderation in working the handle of
extractor to avoid a too rapid movement of
the revolving cage ; (b) reversing the combs
after a portion of the contents of one side has
been thrown out, then extracting the second
side, and, finally, reversing the combs again
before removing the remaining honey from the
first side operated on.

We regret delay in above reply, caused by
our correspondent's letter being inadvertently
mislaid.

298

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 25, 1895.

[1326.] Earivigsabout Hives. — Using Queen-
Excluder. — I often find a good many ear-
wigs about my bee-hives — i.e., they get under
the roofs, and harbour between the quilts. 1.
Do they interfere with bees or honey, and what
is the best way to keep them out of hive ? 2.
I also find a difficulty in getting bees to take
to supers when using queen-excluder. Could
you inform me what is the best way to manage
supers, when using zinc excluders ? — William
Briggs, Dorking, July 16.

Reply. — 1. For driving and keeping away
earwigs, ants, moths, and all such insect bee-
pests, we know of nothing that excels a good
sprinkling of powdered naphthaline, in such
places as they are likely to harbour. Used
between quilts and hive coverings generally, it
is valuable, too, in many ways besides those
mentioned. 2. Other conditions being favour-
able, there is little difficulty in getting bees to
pass through excluder zinc into supers. It is
generally either lack of bees or of honey
income that causes failure in nineteen out of
twenty cases.

[1327.] Transferring Bees from Cross-built
Combs. — A bee-keeper to whom I was talking
tells me he has a frame-hive in which the bees
have built the combs " across and anyhow," so
that the frames cannot be moved. He is
anxious to get them into a new hive prepared
for a swarm, and with foundation in the
frames. I advised him to put the old hive on
the new one, and let the bees work down,
removing the old hive when the brood had all
hatched out. 1. Is it too late for this (our
honey season is over) ? or could the bees be
driven, put into the lower hive, and excluder
put on between the two hives to beep the
queen below ? 2. If this latter plan is the
best, how should driving be done under the
circumstances? — E. R., Hambledon, Hants,
July 19.

Reply. — The season is now over for trans-
ferring bees to new hive on the plan proposed.
Nor do we advise following the alternative (or
No. 2) plan. If the bees are to be allowed to
transfer themselves to a hive prepared with
full sheets of foundation placed below, it
should be deferred till May next year. The
present cross-built combs would then be used
as a surplus-chamber, and removed when filled
with the current season's produce.

[1328.] Advising Beginners as to Driving
Bees. — I have a stock in skep which I wish to
drive into a bar-frame hive ; being only a
beginner I am at a loss to know — 1. When is
the best time to drive them ? 2. When will
the hive be free from brood? — Young
Beginner, Ellesmere, Salop, July 15.

Reply. — From the brief and very vague
information furnished to us in the above, we
incline towards recommending "Young Be-
ginner " not to drive the bees from the skep at
all (especially if it be his only stock), but keep

them in what we suppose to be their present
well-furnished home for the winter, and fit up
the frame-hive with a swarm from the skep
next season. On the other hand, if driving be
decided upon, before we can give really helpful
advice we should be told (1) If the stock is a
strong one ; (2) If it has already swarmed
this season ; (3) Whether it is itself a swarm
hived during the current year ; (4) If the
frame-hive is intended to be fitted with ready-
built combs, or with full sheets of foundation ;
and (5) If our correspondent has had any
experience of driving and transferring ? These
points cleared up, we shall be in a position to
advise, and will be glad to do so.

gee ^fortes to §mt

July 24 and 25.— Cambs. and Isle of Ely
B.K.A. At Ely, in connection with the
0. and I. of E. Agricultural Society.

July 25. — Glamorgan B.K.A. Showat Barry,
in connection with the Glam. Agricultural
Society. Annual meeting of the Glam. B.K,A.
will be held on Show Ground. E. Thornton,
Hon. Sec.

July 25, 26, and 27. — Royal Lancashire
Agricultural Society's Show at Preston.
Entries closed.

July 25, 26. — Kent B.K.A. annual show (in
connection with the Tunbridge Wells and
South-Eastern Counties Agricultural Society),
at Tunbridge Wells. Schedules from J.
Garratt, Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 5 (Bank Holiday).— Notts B.K.A.
Annual County Show on the Sconce Hills,
Newark. Eighteen classes for bees, hives, and
honey, with liberal prizes. Several open
classes. Entries close July 27. A. G. Pugh,
hon. sec, N. B.K.A., 51, Mona-street, Beeston.

August 5.— Berks B.K.A., Newbury Dis-
trict, in connection with the flower show in
Shaw - avenue, Newbury. Liberal prizes.
Entries close August 2. Schedules from W.
Hawkes, Hon. Sec, Newtown-road, Newbury.

August 5 and 6. — At Delapre Park, North-
ampton, Northants B.K.A. Annual Show.
Nine classes for honey. Special open class for
single 1-lb. jar of extracted honey. Five
prizes : 1st, silver medal and 10s. ; 2nd, 15s. ;
3rd, 10s. ; 4th, 5s. ; 5th, 2s. 6d. Entries close
July 25. Robt. Heffjrd, Hon. Sec, Boughton,
Northants.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West
Bromwich. In connection with the Staffs
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.
Schedules, from Harold Twenty man, Wolver-
hampton. Entries received until July 22.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries closed.

August 14 and 15. — Kent B.K.A., in con-
nection with the Shepherdswell Horticultural

July 25, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

299

Show. Entries close August 8. J. Garratt,
hon. sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 15. — Goole and District Agricul-
tural Society. Annual show at Goole. Five
open classes for bees and honey. Entries
close August 8. J. Luddington and H. S.
White, secretaries.

August 15. — Berks B K.A. (Windsor dis-
trict) Show, at Maidenhead, in connection
with the Maidenhead Horticultural Society.
Fourteen classes, with good prizes, for bees,
hives, and honey. For schedules apply to the
Hon. Sec, W. S. Darby, Consort Villas,
Clewer.

August 21. — Wotton-under-Edge and
District Bee-Keepers' Association. In the
Town Hall, Wotton-under-Edge. Eight
classes for honey. Entries close August 14.
Schedules from the hon. sec, E. W. Bead,
Wotton-under-Edge.

August 21 and 22. — Shropshire B.K.A.
annual exhibition of honey, hives, and bee-
appliances in connection with the Shropshire
Horticultural Society's great fete in "The
Quarry," Shrewsbury. Upwards of ,£'35 in
prizes. For schedules apply T. Whit tin ghaui,
secretary, Upton Magna, Shrewsbury. Entries
close August 5.

August 22.— Show of bees, hives, and
honey, in connection with the Horsham Horti-
cultural Society's show at Springfield, Horsham.
Entries close August 17. Lectures in Bee-tent
by the Rev. 0. Brereton. R. Gilburd, Sec,
39, Carfax, Horsham.

September 5th.— North Norfolk B.K.A.
annual show in connection with the Holt
Flower Show, to be held in the grounds of
Brinton Hall. Two special open classes for
single 1 lb. sections and 1 lb. jars of extracted
honey. Entries close August 24. Schedules
from the Hon. Sec, C. J. Cooke, Edgefield,
Melton Constable, Norfolk.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

STAFFS. BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

A Third Class Examination

WILL BE HELD AT

•WEST BROMWICH

On the Morning of August 7th.

Members wishing to present themselves as candidates
are requested to send in their names without delay to
the Hon. See., HAROLD TWENTYMAN, Wolver-
hampton. 154

Notioesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All querist forwarded, will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this oolumn.

A. E. Dewar (Rockhampton, Australia).— We
have written the Italian queen-breeder
referred to on the matter dealt with in your

note, and received his reply to say that he
will explain the delay, and fulfil the order
at once.

Beginner (Axminster). — Unfinished Sections
on Swarmed Stocks. — When complaining
because the bees will not complete unfinished
sections, our correspondent should bear in
mind that hives which have sent off two
swarms this year are not in condition for
storing surplus, because of their being
denuded of nearly all the field workers.
Any sections worth taking should, therefore,
be removed without delay, or the proba-
bility is that their contents will be carried
into the brood chamber below.

New Subscriber (Ellaud). — A Beginner's
Queries. — 1. You need have no fear of the
skep sending off another swarm this year.
2. If bees really require room (which we
doubt), the only plan is to provide an " eke "
of straw — same diameter as skep — or a
wooden hopp for placing below the skep,
and so adding about 3 in. to its present
depth. 3. Rather than take a swarm in
skep (hived only a few weeks ago) to the
moors for no apparent reason beyond
securing winter stores, we should save risk
in journeying too and fro, and trouble by
giving syrup at home if feeding is found to
be necessary. 4. Bees are the ordinary sort.
5. We have no knowledge of your district
as to its suitability for bee-keeping.

J. G. (Garswood). — Bee reached us (as
usual when sent in an envelope unprotected)
smashed flat in post, leaving no trace to
guide us as to its breed or variety.

A. B. B. (Stourbridge). — The drone brood
plainly shows that queen sent (though a
fine one) has not been fertilised. Examine
comb of eggs and brood given to see if queen
cells are built. If none are found, give
another comb with eggs, &c, in it, to try
again.

Sarum. — Bees Refusing Foundation. — We
have made inquiries, and are assured by the
maker that no offensive lubricant has been
used in rolling the foundation. Also that
the super-foundation sent out by the firm
this year has given every satisfaction to
users. Was yours bought this season or in
1894?

Geo. Buller (Burton-on-Trent). — Carniolan
Queen Breeders.— The best dealer in these
bees W3 know of is Michael Ambrogie,
Moistrana, par Legenfeld, Carniolia,
Austria. As, however, M. Ambrogie does
not understand English, any letter to him
should be written in German. If our corre-
spondent is in any difficulty with regard to
this let us know, and we may be able to
help him.

Interested (Redhill). — Using Dark Honey
for Candy-making. — We should not mix
more than 2 lb. of honey to 10 lb. of candy,
stirring it in after removal of pan from the
fire. Some persons don't trouble' to extract
the honey, but stir it in, wax and all.

300

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 25, 1895.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, dee. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

DRIVEX BEES FOR SALE EARLY. W. MARTIN,
Well Cottage, Dawnley, High Wycombe. H 82

PURE BLACKS, Swarms, 5a., 1
Queens, 3s. ; free on rail :
Alsford, Expert, Blandford.

s. 6d. ; Nuclei, 5s. ;
empties returned.
139

QUEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
" Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

0/-\ YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, <fcc.
^v-/ Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfleld, Sussex. 116

WALLFLOWERS (dark) for early spring flowering,
Is. 6d. per 100 ; 10s. per 1,000, free. H. B. Pollard,
Evesham. H 76

FOR SALE, 28 HIVES* of BEES and a Honey Ex-
tractor. Apply to Herbert Wilson, Grocer,
Methley, Leeds. H 75

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS, from LUCIA PAGLIA,
Royal Bee Establishment, 5s. each. Cash with
order. J. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road, Wimbledon.

TWO STRONG STOCKS in SKEPS, healthy, sell
cheap.— Apply at once, Robert Clough, Town-
ouse, Littleborough. H 82

SPLENDID WHITE CLOVER HONEY. Extracted
CAd. Comb 8Jd. G. R. Downer, Drayton Manor,
hichester. H 81

HONEY AND ITS USES." By Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, M.A. 3s. Od. per 100. Specimen copy

t.— Address, The Green, Dartford.

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. 100 strips,
22 inches long, 8d., 200, Is. 3d., 300, Is. 9d., 400,
2s. 3d., 500, 2s. 9d. Three neat patterns -stocked.
W. WOODLEY, Beedon, Newbury.

FINE TESTED 1895 FERTILE QUEENS, 3s. 6d. each.
Safe arrival. 3-Frame Nuclei, including Queen,
10s. 6d. Bees Is. 6d. lb. for 5 lb, lots or over, queen
included. Guaranteed healthy. Boxes to be returned.
C. Whiting, Valley Apiary, Hundon, Clare, Suffolk.

H79

FREEHOLD FARM, Two COTTAGES and Gardens,
Waggon Lodge, Stable, Barn, Cow-sheds ; 30 acres ;
south-west aspect, long road frontage. £16 per acre.—
BEES WANTED. Don't burn bees, exchange garden
seeds, roses, fruit trees, &c. — Particulars. Land,
Myrtle Villa, Hornchurch, Essex. h 78

I BEG to thank my Customers who have done business
with me for so many years, and to ask them to
forward their orders. I have some splendid Clover
Honey (tit for any table), pale colour, and good aroma
7d. per lb. in 60 lb. tins. T. Holliday, The Apiary
Astbury, Congleton. 153

i QQR HYBRID QUEENS.-Special Ligurian Hy-
1Uc;<J brids— Queens, tested, 5s. 6d. each ; Virgin
Queens, 3s. each. All Queens sent in my new Intro-
ducing Cages, post free. Safe arrival guaranteed.
Orders executed in rotation. H. W. Brice, Beulah-
road N., Thornton Heath, Surrey.

YE 0LDE ENCLISHE BEE.

Fine selected Fertile Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Sent in my Intro-
ducing Cage, guaranteeing safe arrival. Parcel 'Postage
3d. W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

SHROPSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

EXHIBITION

HONEY, HIVES, AND BEE APPLIANCES,

At which upwards of £35 in Prizes will be

awarded.

To be held in connection with the

SHROPSHIRE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S CREAT FETE

In THE QUARRY, SHREWSBURY,

On Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 21st & 22n d.

Schedules of prizes and regulations from T-

WHITTINGHAM, Secretary, Upton Magna, Shrewsbury.

ENTRIES CLOSE AUGUST 5th. 155

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLEB, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

BEE-KEEPERS in LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE,&c.
THE CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES

for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL 50, GREAT
CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE ROSE. Why pay
carriage from longMistances, when you can buy as cheap
and good locally, and have your orders promptly attended
to? Catalogues gratis. Sow now CHAPMAN'S HONEY
PLANT, fid. Packet. Expected shortly, big lot of
HONEY JARS (screw and tieover). Large buyers, please
write at once. Very low prices per crate of Z\ gross
ex dock on arrival. Best Falcon Sections very low per
1,000 or 10,000.

SEASONABLE GOODS.

Finest Quality Sections ..

Stock Foundation

Super Ditto ...

Honey Glasses, metal top
Glazed Case (both sides)..

... 18/- 1,000; 2/3 100.

per pound, 2s.

„ 3s.

gross 21s.

doz. Is. 9d. ; gross, 18s.

Special Honey Extractor, with cog wheel ... 35s.
SEND FOR A CATALOGUE.

J. S. GREENHILL, 80, Graham road, Wimbledon.

(27 Years with Neighbour & Sons.)

IflT. Xs. MEADOWS,

Syston and Leicester.

SEASON GOODS.

My Patent Extractors, none to equal them. Super-
Clearers, best made. Three prize medals. You
can't successfully harvest Honey without them. Honey
Ripeners and Honey Tins. Every Bee-Keeper must
have my new 5s. Ripener. Section and Show Cases, Ac.
Address all letters "SYSTON," near Leicester.

CARBOLINE POMADE

(FOURTH SEASON).

Kills Bee-stings like magic.

CARBOLIN^ POMADE

Prevents the horrible smarting and burning
inflammation.
CAPBOLINE POMADE

Prevents getting stung, robbing, &c.

CARBOLINE POMADE

Is. per bottle.post free. T. HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY,
CONGLETON.

Aug. 1, 1895.]

TIIE BRITISH Bee JOURNAL.

301

(Mtorral, $atim, ku

ROYAL LANCASHIRE AGRICUL-
TURAL SOCIETY.

THE HONEY DEPARTMENT AT PRESTON.

The annual show of the above society was
held at Preston on July 25, 26, and 27. So
far as that part of the proceedings which
precede the actual exhibition, everything
promised well, the entries in all departments
being numerous, and the local support so
liberal as to make the prize-list a tempting
one. It was also thought that the considerable
amount of rain which had fallen in all parts of
the kingdom for a few days prior to the open-
ing day would have cleared the air for a sight
of the sun and blue sky while the exhibition
remained open. The fates, however, ordered
otherwise, and the weather can only be de-
scribed as bad right to the last day. Thanks
to the foresight of the executive in the way of
providing excellent footways of timber raised
above the wet grass, visitors were enabled to
get about with comparative comfort. The
ground, too, was covered by so firm a turf
that the grass never got worked into
"puddles," as it sometimes does under the
wear-and-tear of a big show in wet weather.
But while the regret was general that Jupiter
Pluvius should reign (either way of spelling
the word will do) over the proceedings, there
was a kind of comforting reflection in the faet
that the financial position of the R.L.A.S.
removed serious anxiety as to the " Gate."
Had the weather been even fairly favourable
there is no doubt but the show would have
been one of the most successful ever held by
the society.

The Royal Lancashire is one of the few large
agricultural societies which make a point of
providing for and liberally supporting a bee
department in their annual show, all the
prizes, excepting those in two special classes,
being presented by the society ; and it has
occurred to us, while writing these lines, to
suggest the advisability of the Lancashire and
Cheshire B.K.A. considering whether they
could not arrange for three or four addi-
tional classes (including one for cottagers
only) in which the County Bee Asso-
ciation might give the prizes, and confine
their Competition to members only. There
seems to us to be no difficulty in the way of
such an arrangement, and it would enable the
Agricultural Society to make all their classes
" open to the United Kingdom," instead of
two only, as is now done. This would no
doubt bring an increased entry, apart from the
fact of making it in every sense a good county
show for the Bee Association ; and we feel
sure that an appeal to the members of the
L. and C. B.K.A. for funds to meet the ex-
penditure incurred in providing for prizes
would meet with a generous response, the

result being probably one of the best bee-
shows in the country. Anyway, we venture
to make the suggestion for what it is worth.

THE EXHIBITS.

The honey staged in the open classes was, as
may be supposed, mainly from the South,
some excellent exhibits appearing in the
classes for both section and jars of extracted
honey. The sections, indeed, were the finest
we have seen this year. Nor was the ex-
tracted honey behind in merit, as will be seen
from the awards. We were glad to see a
fairly good display in the special class for
extracted honey gathered within fifteen miles
of the Preston Town Hall, the prizes (£3, £2,
and .£1) being sufficiently tempting to bring-
out the best honey the county could produce.
After awarding first and second prizes, the
judge (with permission of the donor, divided
the third prize into two sums of 10s. each,
there being nothing to choose between the
next two exhibits in point of merit.

In the class for " Most interesting and in-
structive exhibit of any kind connected with
bee-culture" the first prize went to a good
collection of bee-appliances, and the second to
a new form of super-clearer.

Mr. W. Broughton Carr judged the exhi-
bits, and made the following awards :—

Twelve l-lb. Sections.— 1st, Wm. Woodley,
Beedon, Newbury ; 2nd, Geo. Bush, Peters-
field, Hants ; 3rd, R. Brown, Somersham,
Hunts ; v.h.c, Rev. R. T. Shea, Southend,
Essex, and F. E. Smith, Lichfield ; h.c,
E. C. R. White, Salisbury.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st,
E. D. Till, Eynsford, Kent ; 2nd, Owen
Roberts, Tarporley ; 3rd, E. C. R. White ;
v.h.c. B. Crisp, Henley-on-Thames, and H. W.
Seymour, Henley-on-Thames ; h.c, Dr. B. E.
Jones, Freckleton, near Preston ; c, Wm.
Woodley, and W. H. Ley, Easton, Stamford.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey (County
only).— 1st, Jos. F. Williamson, Fleetwood ;
2nd, Dr. B. E. Jones ; 3rd, Thos. Parker,
Myerscough, Preston.

Twelve l-lb. Sections (County only).— 1st,
Jos. F. Williamson ; 2nd, Dr. B. E. Jones ;
3rd, John Hale, Croston, Preston.

Exhibit of Honey not under 50-lbs. — 1st,
Dr. B. E. Jones.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— Special
Prize, limited to residents with 15 miles of
Preston.— 1st, Dr. B. E. Jones; 2nd, Jas.
Cragg, Great Eccleston, Garstang ; equal 3rd,
John Hale and Robert Rymer, Hesketh Bank,
Preston ; v.h.c, R. Jolly, Wren Green, Kirk-
ham.

Most Interesting Exhibit connected ivith
Bee-culture.— 1st, Geo. Rose, Great Charlotte-
street, Liverpool; 2nd, Harold M. Ryans,
Malpas, Cheshire.

On the second day of the show Mr. Carr
conducted an examination for third-class
experts' certificates, six candidates presenting
themselves for examination.

302

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Aug. 1, 1895

KENT BEE-KEEPEES' ASSOCIATION.
The K.B.K.A. had a very successful show
in connection with the Tunbridge Wells
Agricultural Society on July 25 and 26. The
entries numbered 123, and the quality of the
exhibits staged was of a very high order of
merit. Mr. J. M. Hooker officiated as judge,
and made the following awards : —

Observatory Hive. — 1st, E. Drincqbier,
Dover ; 2nd, C. T. Overton, Crawley.

Twenty-four l-lb. Sections. —1st, Eev. G-
W. Bancks, Dartford ; 2nd, E. D. Till,
Eynsford ; 3rd, F. Langley, Sevenoaks.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, The Horticul-
tural College, Swanley ; 2nd, South Eastern
College, Wye ; 3rd, E. Drincqbier ; h.c, E.
Seymour and Eev. J. E. E. Jones.

Twenty-four l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. —
1st, F. Swanzy, Sevenoaks ; 2nd, E. D. till ;
3rd, E. Longhurst, Longfield.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, F.
Langley ; 2nd, South Eastern College, Wye ;
3rd, E. Longhurst ; h.c, A. Chapman.

Display of Honey, not over 100 lb.— 1st,
Eev. G. W. Bancks ; 2nd, E. Longhurst ; 3rd,
H. E. Jeal, Hadlow.

Display of Comb Honey not over 25 lb.—
1st, Horticultural College ; 2nd, W. Smith,
Shepherds well ; 3rd, E. Drincqbier.

COTTAGERS ONLY.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, F. S. Bensted,
Sittingbourne ; 2nd, E. E. Smith, Southfleet ;
3rd, J. Bridge, Polegate.

Six l-lb. Sections.— 1st, F.' Langley; 2nd, T.
Earl, Three Bridges ; 3rd, E. Frederick,
Sevenoaks.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, F.
Langley ; 2nd, E. Frederick ; 3rd, E. E. Smith.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, E.
Frederick.

BEE-APPLIANCES.

Collection of Appliances. — 1st, T. Lanaway
& Sons, Eedhill ; 2nd, C. T. Overton, Crawley ;
3rd, J. S. Greenhill, Wimbledon.

Frame Hive, not exceeding 10s. — 1st, J. S.
Greenhill ; 2nd, C. Eedshaw, South Wigston ;
3rd, T. Lanaway & Sons.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Beeswax. — 1st, E. Longhurst; 2nd, A. J.
Carter, Billingshurst ; 3rd, T. Earl.

Honey Beverages. — 1st, Eev. G. W. Bancks.

Objects of General Apiarian Interest.—
1st, H. W. Brice, for Artificial Queen Cells,
and Live Bees and Queens, Illustrating
System.

Equal 1st, Mrs. G. W. Bancks, for Display
of Dried Bee-Flowers and Painted ditto.

Mr. Hooker, assisted by the Eev. G. W.
Bancks, afterwards held an examination of
candidates for third-class experts' certificates.
— {Communicated. )

LINCS. AGEICULTUEAL SOCIETY.

The annual show of this society was held
at Grantham on July 17, 18, and 19, when
the department devoted to bees, hives, and
honey was well represented, some first-class
honey and sections being staged, as well as
four large exhibits of honey in the form of
" collections." Lectures on bee-keeping were
given at frequent intervals every day by Mr.

E. Green, of Eainham, Kent. The total
number of entries in the bee department was
61, the judge being Mr. Brown, of Winterton,
whose awards wefe as follows : —

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, G. E. Fancourt,
Stamford ; 2nd, P. Sharp, Brant Broughton ;
3rd, E. C. E. White, Salisbury ; 4th, H. 0.
Smith, Louth.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, H.
Johnson, Scawby ; 2nd, A. W. Weatherhoff,
Willoughton ; 3rd, E. Godson, Tothill ; -1th,
G. Taylor, Bracebridge ; h.c, Eight Hon. Earl
of Winchilsea and Notts, and J. Emmerson,
Lincoln ; c, Miss Ethel Chester, Melton
Mowbray ; H. W. Arbuckle, Thorne, Don-
caster ; and D. Seamer, Grimsby.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey (cottagers
only). — 1st, N. Prestow, Grantham ; 2nd, G.
Taylor ; 3rd, F. G. Davy, Leybourne.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey. — 1st,

F. J. Cribb, Gainsboro'.

Collection of Honey. — 1st, and bronze medal
of the Lines. B.K.A., A. W. Weatherhoff;
2nd, Tom Sells, Uppington ; 3rd, J. Emerson ;
4th, and silver medal of the Lines. B.K.A.,

G. C. Fancourt.

Observatory Hive. — 1st, D. Seamer; 2nd,
E. Godson.

Collection of Hives and Appliances. — 1st,
W. P. Meadows.

Best Frame Hive for General Use. — 1st,
2nd, and 3rd, W. P. Meadows.

Best Frame Hive for Cottagers' Use. — 1st and
2nd, W. P. Meadows.

Best Extractor. — 1st and 2nd, W. P
Meadows.

Fair of Section Backs. — 1st, W. P
Meadows ; 2nd, J. S. Greenhill, Wimbledon.

Rapid Feeder. — 1st, W. P. Meadows ; 2nd
J. S. Greenhill.

An excellent collection of lantern slides,
illustrating the apparatus used in bee-keeping,
the development of the honey bee and mani-
pulations with bees, as well as photos of
several apiaries, was exhibited by Mr. F. J.
Cribb, of Gainsboro'. — {Communicated.)

Aug. 1, 1895]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

303

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, <bc, must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <5sc, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

%• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[2130.] The drought has broken up with a
heavy rainfall, and our cisterns are full to over-
flowing ; the dried up vegetation of a fort-
night ago has put on a mantle of green, the
cereal crops have improved, and, though the
harvest is delayed by cloudy, sunless weather,
it gladdens the heart of the farmer to know
that the bulk and yield of his crops will be in-
creased, and that a crop of roots and food for
his cattle is ensured. The welcome change
will also prove not only a present help to the
bee-keeper, but lay the foundation of a suc-
cessful season for him another year, so that we
may look forward with hope to 1 89G. We have
reached the end of our honey harvest in this
district. The little honey now gathered will
be required for brood-rearing. Pollen has been
freely carried into the hives during the last few
days, and on Friday last bees were busy
bringing in honey during a few hours' sun-
shine. My globe-thistles are in bloom, and
bees are on them all day when it is not
raining.

To those who still keep their bees in straw
hives and " take " them in August, I say the
sooner they " take " them when the season is
over the larger the produce from them will be.
For those also who wish to get their bees by
driving, the sooner it is done the more advan-
tageous it will be to both parties, but especially
the "driver.'' I would also suggest to my readers
that if you are driving a cottager's bees — said
cottager being, perhaps, a poor agricultural
labourer, working for 9s. or 10s. per week —
don't accept them as a gift ; give a fair if not
a generous price for them, remembering that
the bees you carry off take with them pro-
bably a pound or more of the poor man's
honey.

Do Martins or Swallows Eat Bees '( is a ques-
tion that has been put to me several times
lately. My answer has been " Yes,' I believe
they do." My reason for this belief is that at
the side of my house I have three hives stand-
ing, the bees taking flight along the side and
spreading out away in front of the house,

under the weather- tiling of which are some
dozen martins' nests. Towards the end of
June these birds — whose nests I can reach
with my hand — so upset the bees, either by
cStching them when on the wing or by flying
about constantly in their line of flight — that I
notice the bees chase the martins, several
bees pursuing each bird — and when the latter
got beyond range, the infuriated bees vented
their rage on any moving thing near, be it man,
woman, child, or animal. I watched carefully,
and on several occasions saw a heavily
laden bee slowing down in its flight on
nearing its home ; then a martin would
glide in a line behind it, and in a moment
the bird passed on, but no bee was to
be seen. I did not actually see the bird
catch the bee, but the latter was gone ! As a
protection, therefore, to my bees and those of
my neighbours, I decided that the martins
must quit. The nests were broken down, the
eggs sharing the same fate ; the bees then
returned to their normal temper and pursued
the even tenour of their way. Notwithstand-
ing the ruthless destruction of the nests,
however, a few have started building again ;
but another year I shall prevent their building
at all so near the hives.

Do Bees Carry Eggs ? is a question I cannot
personally answer in the affirmative. Some
inexplicable things happen sometimes which
lead one to almost agree that they do ; but
what looks so positive at one time has not
seldom to be relegated to the negative position
again. On the other hand, I ask, " What
becomes of, say , a dozen queens that are
allowed to hatch out in a hive, and the matter
of selection is left to the bees 1 Which of
those queens shall take the duties of queen-
mother, and what becomes of the ten or eleven
others ? Have bees a language, and is it pos-
sible that some of these virgin queens may
introduce themselves, and be received by the
queenless stock 1 In my large experience some
inexplicable things have occurred in connection
with queens. This last spring I had a hive
that was queenless and broodless in May ; there
were a good number of bees, and as the combs
were old, I left them on five frames (as the
honey flow came on) to fill the brood combs
with honey, intending later in the season to
add a swarm and three or four sheets of founda-
tion, and thus renew the stock. But when
I looked in again in June there were both
eggs and brood in the hive, and on search-
ing I found a fine queen at the head of the
now improving colony. Where did the queen
come from ? Did the bees steal the egg to
rear a queen, or did some virgin queen intro-
duce herself ? If the bees stole the egg from
another hive, why do colonies ever die out
from queenlessness after breeding has com-
menced in the spring, and eggs can be had for
the fetching from other hives ? Rather would
I say that if virgin queens, or mated queens
out on their wedding tour, enter a queenless
colony, depend on it either the one, and espe-

304

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 1. 1895.

daily the other, would be joyfully received by
the colony lacking the very source of its life
and prosperity.

I believe — nay, I have had enough expe-
rience to lay it down as a fact — that the
greatest obstacle to successful queen introduc-
tion has been the handling of queens in the
various processes of introduction. — W.
Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

HEREDITY IN BEES.
[2131.] I shall have much pleasure in
reading Mr. Grimshaw's paper on ' Heredity
in Bees," and thank him for the reference on
page 284. Meanwhile, I have only to say
that, since Mr. Grimshaw objects to my use of
the word digestion, I am quite willing to with-
draw it, but still the fact remains, — or at least
so I think, — that the body of which the bee is
composed is obtained by cell division from the
original fertilised ovum of the mother-bee, and
therefore partakes of the character of the queen
and drone. The food-stuff supplied by the
workers is, therefore, only of assistance in
nourishing the developing cells of the body of
the future bee, so that I must adhere to my
statement that there is no continuity of cell life
between the foster-mother and the grub
nourished by it. If it be true that mental
properties are conveyed from the old to the
young worker bees I should rather be
inclined to attribute it to imitation afterwards.
Let me mention another analogous case, i.e.,
that of the tumbler pigeon. Here it is of no
consequence what happens to be the breed of
the parents by which the young birds are
nourished ; but afterwards, when flying, it is
necessary to keep them away from other birds,
or they are apt to acquire the habit of flyiDg
as the latter do, and so gradually lose the
tendency to tumble at all. I do not, however,
put this forward as beyond a suggestion, and
am inclined to think that where re-queening is
not found to effect a change in disposition, the
vicious bees have destroyed the queen intro-
duced and raised another, or else that sufficient
time is not allowed to let the former breed
of bees die out before deciding about their
temper. I do not propose to enlarge on the
question any more at present, but will add
that it is entirely on theoretical and not
practical grounds that I am inclined to doubt
the theory propounded by Mr. Grimshaw,
and chiefly, as I have already said, because I
consider that the whole body of the bee is de-
rived by cell division from the ovum. How-
ever, I may perhaps be converted after reading
the paper on heredity referred to in the first
sentence of my letter. Mr. Grimshaw quotes
Mr. Cowan in support of his theory. I do not
know what the latter gentleman's views are,
but I note in the replies to queries— for which,
I presume, the editors are responsible — No.
1315, p. 276 (July 11, 1895), reads as follows :—
" Bee sent is a hybrid Italian. It occasionally

happens that first-cross hybrids are viciously
inclined. It cannot be accounted for ; there
is no remedy, save re- queening." The writer
of that reply evidently believes that the bees
owe their temper to their parents, and not
their foster parents. — M. C. Clutterbuck,
July 22.

Without any reference to the scientific as-
pect of the matter under discussion, or ven-
turing an opinion upon abstruse points — which,
though very interesting, are " deep down " —
we may just say here that the reply quoted
was based upon a fact so familiar to experienced
bee-keepers as to be generally accepted — from
the practical standpoint — without entering in-
to the reasons why and wherefore. Regarding,
also, what our correspondent mentions as Mr.
Cowan's support of Mr. Grimshaw's theory,
our senior editor is, unfortunately, not avail-
able just now for a personal reply ; but we
have no doubt of his being able — if necessary
— to maintain any " views " which he may
have expressed on the subject. — Eds. (W.
B.C.)

AT THE TUNBR1DGE WELLS SHOW.

[2132.] There was so much at the above
show to interest bee-keepers generally that I
hope you will allow me space to record my
own impressions of the occasion in your pages.
It was a decided success. The quantity of
honey, and the quality, too, were all that could
be wished. There were several Sussex exhibits
of fine honey. Mr. Overton (Crawley), Mr.
Lanaway (Redhill), and Mr. Greenhill (Wim-
bledon) helped the show by a capital collection
of hives and appliances. Much interest was
manifested by visitors in the observatory hives,
of which three were staged. A quantity of
the honey was sold, and many orders booked.
One or two large consumers of honey came.
One who buys West Indian at very low price
said he would prefer to (and will) use English
at double the cost after tasting Kent and
Sussex samples. The principal Tunbridge
Wells chemists and grocers were visited by a
member of the K.B.K.A. in the hope that
they would buy largely, but only one enter-
prising grocer took any, and he bought four
dozen screw caps of the prize exhibit, half
labelled and half not. The wretched stuff sold
as British honey in the shops is a serious dis-
couragement to consumers of honey. The
sooner the county labels get into general use
the better. At Tunbridge Wells show the
K.B.K.A. labels were most conspicuous on the
exhibits. Other county associations should
I urge the adoption of the label, and endeavour
to expose the spurious honey that now does
duty in so many shops for the genuine thing.
To taste some of the shop honey was quite
enough to explain why honey does not come
more into general use. It is uninviting in
appearance, and it is dear as well as bad. On
the other hand, it was delightful to sample the

Aug. 1, 1895,]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

305

honey staged at the show, and to see how many
appreciated the Kent and Sussex honey.

The Horticultural College at Swanley
carried off two firsts. Two of the Swanley
College lady students were very useful as helpers
at the show, and were in for third-class expert
certificates. There were three or four other
candidates for certificates, and several passed
successfully. Examination of two had to be
adjourned for lack of time. It is a satis-
factory feature to see bee-keepers, and espe-
cially ladies, coming forward for this work in
such good numbers.

Much interest was manifested in the honey-
vinegar. It would be well to repeat the
simple recipe in an early number of the
B.B.J. Several seemed eager to make it
after tasting Mr. Bancks' fine exhibit. It is
certain that those who once try will not go
back to shop-vinegar. It is cheap, whole-
some, and palatable. By using an extra
quantity of honey one gets a splendid acid
beverage that will compare favourably with
raspberry vinegar.

Several vans were used to bring the honey
from long distances — one as far as twenty-
three miles off— collecting exhibits on the
road, saving much trouble and risk in packing
for rail.

The show on such a scale is new in the Tun-
bridge Wells district. It will cost the
K.B.K.A. a large item — about ,£50, including
prizes. Contributions in aid will be very
welcome,, as the South-Eastern Agricultural
Society give no grant. The show has un-
questionably helped the bee-keeping industry,
and particularly in Kent and Sussex. Several
Surrey bee-keepars asked for information, and
there were many inquiries as to when Sussex
i-5 likely to hava an association. — A Kent
Bee keeper, July 27.

" HELPFUL HINTS FOB HAED TIMES."
[2133.] Now that the political disturbance
of our surroundings is over, perhaps it will
not be out of place if a few thoughts be given
to the Agricultural question admitted on all
hands to be ripe for dealing with. "From
Land's End to John 0' Groats " the farmer is
having his withers wrung as to how to make
farming pay, so that anything that is calculated
to let in gleams of light through the dark
curtain of " hard times " should be particularly
welcome, and such come to hand in the
admirable little handbooks edited by the Eev.
E. Bartrum, D.D.,and bearing the above title.
Dr. Bartrum, who is a prominent member of
our association, has enlisted the services of the
best men possible for the work, amongst whom
we need but mention G. Bunyard on " Fruit
Culture,'' and D. T. Fish on " Kitchen-garden
Matters." The subjects already dealt with by
experts in these penny handbooks are apples,
pears, cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, and
currants, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, geese
and turkeys, ducka and fowls, the dairy and

butter, temporary and permanent pastures,
heavy clays, stock and dairy cattle, willows
and osiers ; last but not least beekeeping will
shortly be dealt with in " Bees and Honey.'' To
read these little books is to come to the con-
clusion that they are a marvel of concise, prac-
tical information without any superfluous
wordy matter, and as such, they ought to be in
the hands of everyone interested in the helping
on of the small cultivator to whom we must,
after all, have to look some day in our turn
unless we wish to see our town densely packed
with a congested mass of people struggling to
live and our fair pastoral Britain denuded of
its rural population. — K. A. H. G., Hortforth,
Leeds, July 29.

BEES IN A LETTER-BOX.

[2131.] On Saturday, the 6th July, the
rural letter-carrier from Caistor to Irby, in
North Lincolnshire, reported to his postmaster
that a swarm of bees had gone into the letter-
box at Irby, and consequently the villagers
could not post their letters. I was asked to
go over and take them out, but when I got
there (a. distance of six miles over the Wolds)
I was told the bees had all come out, about
ten minutes previous to my arrival. I returned
home in consequence, rather disappointed.
However, it appears they had not gone very
far, for after hanging upon a tree all night, at
about eight o'clock on Sunday morning they
again took possession of the letter-box (au iron
one built into the wall). I was again asked to
dislodge them, but as I could not afford the
time for a second long journey, I advised (in
the event of no one volunteering to get them
out) that sulphur should be put into the box
in order to drive them out, or destroy them.
The letter-carrier, however, did not quite like
the idea of having to open the box door and
set fire to the sulphur, as it was a very large
swarm. The matter being reported to the
head office, the Caistor postmaster was
asked to get them out by some means, and
the authorities suggested that I should again
go over to Irby, and get the bees out without
destroying them. On Friday afternoon, the
12th inst., I made the second journey, and
upon unlocking and opening the box door
what a sight was presented. The box appeared
full of bees, and beautiful slabs of comb, built
from the top, the longest of which was about
twelve inches, the whole of the combs nearly
filled with honey, and a few of the top cells
already sealed over. The task of removal
seemed so formidable I almost despaired of
succeeding, but set to work by giving a dose
of smoke. I then worked my hand carefully
between the combs, and one by one broke
them away, brushed off the bees, and gave the
combs to the onlooking villagers. After an
hour and a half hard work I appeared to be
about as near getting them out as at the com-
mencement ; but the bees shortly began to
show signs of giving in by coming out of the slot

306

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 1, 1895.

and forming clusters, which I swept into a skep
with a brush, but they preferred settling upon
myself to staying in the skep until I was
literally covered with bees from head to foot.
At last I had evidently swept her majesty into
the hive, for the bees did not fly out again. I
then brushed as many bees off myself on to
the cloth as I could, and the greater part ran
into the hive, much to my delight. After that
matters were comparatively easy, but it took
me about two and a half hours to complete the
job, get them tied up in the skep, clean out
the box, brush it well all over with carbolic
solution, and get ready for home. I ran the
bees into a frame-hive, in which I placed three
frames of honey and one of brood from another
hive, and so far they are working away, and
appear as happy as sandboys. The bees
weighed 4 lb. 4 oz., I suppose about 20,000.
I think I shall place "V.R." in vermilion
letters upon that stock. — Chas. Ainger,
Caistor, Lines.

A GOOD HARVEST.

[2135.] I write to say that I have this season
taken 162 lb. of honey from one hive holding
tenStandard frames. It was all super honey
stored in standard and shallow frames, and all
got above the brood nest with excluder zinc
between. I have not touched the brood
chamber since I put the supers on, and the
honey was weighed after extracting. I rirst
took off ten standard frames which gave me
40 lb. ; then ten wide-spaced shallow-frames,
yielding 60 lb., then 36 lb. more from stand-
ards, and last Friday I took the shallow-
frames off again and extracted 26 lb. more
from them. Can you tell me if more than
that quantity has ever been taken from one
hive? I have also taken 115 lb. from a
swarm. — H. May, Tetsworth, Oxon, July 27.

[162 lb. is an excellent result from one hive
in a single season. It has, however, often been
exceeded in very good seasons. Several reports
of over 200 lb. from one hive having been
recorded. — Eds.]

SURBITON AS A HONEY DISTRICT.

[2136.] A correspondent (2126, p. 295) asks
for information as to the value of this district
as a honey-field.

If he knows Surbiton, and the conditions of
our existence here, he will understand that a
neighbourhood so well covered with bricks and
mortar is not likely to prove an ideal collecting
ground for honey ; but Southwards and west-
wards of us there are nice stretches of open
country, well-farmed, chiefly for dairy pur-
poses, which yield fair supplies of bee-food
from such crops as clover and sainfoin. We
have also an abundance of early fruit blossom
around us, but the main source of supply is
the limes. Of these there are a great number
about, and they may be taken as our only
reliable crop. The honey harvest here this

year has been most disappointing. I am able to
sympathise fully with " Man of Kent,'' because
his case is a parallel one to mine. With stocks
in good order early and ready for an abundant
honey-flow, practically nothing was done
between the passing of the apple-blossom in
May and the opening of the limes during the
first week of July. No sooner were the limes
opened than the crop of blossom was over, and
I have as a result practically no honey harvest
this year. The fine exhibition of lime-honey
collected at Lewisham, that was shown at Tun-
bridge Wells, certainly does not confirm my
experience, but neighbouring bee-keepers are
little better off than I am. In many parts of
Surrey, however, I hear that the harvest has
been unusually good. — J. W. Jacomb Hood,
Surbiton, July 27.

CLEARING SUPERS.

[2137.] Having seen a great many super-
cleaners mentioned in B.J., I just wish to tell
you how I get my supers cleared. I take a
rack of empty sections, and set it on a board
away from the hive ; then set the full one on
top of this, give the bees a few puffs of smoke
in at the top, and cover over with a cloth. I
have found this to answer its purpose very
well, not more than about a score of bees
remaining in the super, as the bees go down
into the empty crate. This may be of use to
some one who can't well afford to buy fancy
appliances.— Constant Reader, Longtown,
Cumberland.

[1329.] Temperature at which Honey and
Wax Melt. — Can you oblige by telling me — 1.
What is the lowest temperature at which
granulated honey will reliquify ? 2. What is
the highest temperature to which it can be
subjected without injury ? 3. What is the
melting point of wax ?— Sarum, Salisbury,
July 27.

Reply. — 1. We have never experimented
with the object of settling this point. Prac-
tically it is enough to know that vessels
containing honey for remelting should be
immersed in water hot enough to make it
uncomfortable to hold the finger in it. 2.
We consider that the aroma is destroyed and
the flavour deteriorated if honey is subjected
to a temperature above 150 deg. 3. Beeswax
melts at from 145 deg. to 150 deg. Fahr.

[1330.] White-eyed Drones.— Judging Sec-
tions.— Can you tell me :— 1. What is the
matter with the enclosed drones ? They come
out of hives blind and dash themselves against
any obstacle ; their eyes, as you see, are white.
None of the drones in ten other hives are like
these. 2. Is the "Guide Book" correct in
stating that pure Italians are of a more

Aug. 1, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

307

amiable disposition than blacks, and less in-
clined to string 1 I do not find them so ;
mine are not only waspish in colour, but also
in temper. 3. What are the points in judging
section honey, and what relative number of
marks would you give to each point ? 4.
Does the paper-lacing or delicacy of the
"get-up" of the tin case count much1? 5.
Is it usual this season, north of York, to get
both one's shallow-frames and 1-lb. sections
filled by a reasonably good stock ? — Ajax,
Kirlcby-Stephen, July 20.

Keply. — 1. White-eyed (or Albino) drones
though not common, are occasionally found in
hives. They are abnormal bees, of course, but
the peculiarity so far as we know has never been
satisfactorily accounted for. The white scale over
the eyes renders the insectquiteblind,andwhen
once they leave the hive they never return to
it. In some dead drones we have examined
when the scale was peeled off the eye seemed
to be all right underneath. 2. As a rule the
pure Ligurian is the quietest bee known. The
probability is that yours are a first cross and
not pure, these latter being often very vicious
if bred from an Italian queen and a black
drone. 3. Experienced judges rarely decide
by " marks." The good points in a section of
honey are colour, evenness of capping, and
absence of any " coarseness '' in capping, few-
ness of unsealed cells, and absence of pop-holes.
4. The perfect cleanness of section and its
attractive appearance or " get-up " count, of
course, but not so much as the first- named
points. 5. We cannot answer for this season
but it is quite common to get both sections
and shallow frames for extracting from a good
stock in one season.

[1331.] Increasing Stocks. — I have a hive
of Italian bees — not very strong, but with a
good 1895 queen — and I wish to increase my
stock of this kind of bee. Would the follow-
ing plan be likely to succeed? — 1. I propose
to form a nucleus by taking two or three
frames of unsealed brood out of the hive,
putting them into a new hive, and placing the
latter on the old stand. Of course, doing it
when the bees are flying, and by this means
getting all the bees that are out at the time
into the nucleus hive. I know that it is late
for making a nucleus, and that doing so would
very much weaken the parent stock ; but I
could put a driven lot of bees into each of the
hives, and feed them well in the autumn. 2.
Would the queen, hatched by the bees in the
nucleus hive, and mated by a drone from the
parent stock, be a good one ? 3. I read in the
B.B.K. " Guide Book " that, having formed a
nucleus, it is " now ready to receive queen-
cells." Is it necessary to introduce queen-cells
if I give the bees some egg3 to raise a queen
from'? 4. How far does a young queen fly
when she goes on her mating trip 1 5. How
far apart should I have to place a hive of
black bees so as to keep them separate from
the Italians, or the Italians from the blacks 1

— F. Thompson, Cashel, co. Tipperary,
July 27.

Reply. — 1. You would be more likely to
succeed by making an artificial swarm from
the ligurian stock, as directed in " Guide
Book " on p. 92. You would, however, require
to make sure of some drones before operating,
and also doing it promptly. 2. No concern
need be felt on this head, as there is little
chance of keeping the Italian bees pure so
long as there are other drones about. 3.
Queen-cells are far more certain than eggs, for
it not seldom happens that bees refuse to
raise queen-cells late in the season. 4. There
is no given distance, but mating usually takes
place within a mile of the hive. 5. Three or
four miles, and even this distance will not
always ensure perfect isolation.

[1332.] Removing Bees from Roof. — In the
spring of 1894 a strong swarm took up its
abode above an attic window in my house.
The bees lived all through the winter, and
now they form a very strong stock indeed. I
intend to break in upon them from inside the
room by opening a hole in the ceiling, after the
honey season is over, to get whatever honey
there may be, but I wish also, if it be possible,
to save the bees. Now perhaps you, Messrs.
Editors, or some of our veteran bee-keepers
will give a novice some hints as to the modus
operandi of driving the above-mentioned
stock from their present abode into more
modern quarters. Is the following plan
feasible ? Towards evening fasten a skep
above the entrance on roof ; and with a little
sulphur (not enough to bring them down) drive
bees out on to the slates and, if possible, into
the skep. (Would smoke be preferable ?)
Carry off the skep to where the hive is to
stand. Cut out combs, fit them in frames, and
hive bees. Close up entrance in roof so that
bees cannot return. Suppose queen were
lost or destroyed during operations would
the bees stay in their new quarters, a few
yards from the house ? 2. When would be
the most suitable time to make the attempt ?
We are in the vicinity of the heather here.
While Mr. Wm. Woodley, in your issue of
July 18 (2118), is complaining of drought, we
have been getting rain in torrents. For nearly
three weeks now the bees have done nothing —
though there is plenty of clover— on account of
the wet. In the beginning of June the
clover yielded beautifully, and for three
weeks or thereby honey was being gathered
in abundance ; then the weather broke, and
sections left on the hives are now being rapidly
emptied. But limes are coming into flower
now, and if fine weather ^returns soon the
bees might be able to do a little yet.— Dee-
side, N.B., July 26.

Reply. — No plan of removing the bees is
so likely to succeed as taking off slates to
expose the combs, and, after smoking the
bees well, cut out the combs one by one, brush
the bees off, and allow them to enter a skep

308

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Aug. 1, 1895.

fixed to receive them. Keep the brood-combs
as warm as possible, and. when all are secured
tie them into the frames of the hive into which
it is proposed to run the bees. For the rest,
we reply : — 1. If queen is lost during the
operation, there is a chance of another being
raised, but it is not certain it will be so, or
that the bees will remain in the hive at all
unless some young brood and eggs are given to
them. 2. It should be done as soon as con-
venient.

[1333.] Fertile Workers. — I am strongly of
opinion that I have a " laying worker '' in one
of my hives. When I have ascertained
beyond doubt that this is so, what is my best
plan for getting rid of her 1 The stock has
already thrown out an Italian queen on intro-
duction.— South Coast, July 27.

Keply. — We should advise bringing this
colony into close proximity with one con-
taining a laying queen, and eventually j oining
them together, or better still, divide the
combs of the stock between the other hives.

§ce £fumis to afxrmt

August 5 (Bank Holiday).— Notts B.K.A.
Annual County Show on the Sconce Hills,
Newark.

August 5. — Berks B.K.A., Newbury Dis-
trict, in connection with the flower show in
Shaw - avenue, Newbury. Liberal prizes.
Entries close August 2. Schedules from W.
Hawkes, Hon. Sec, Newtown-road, Newbury.
August 5 and 6. — At Delapre Park, North-
ampton, Northants B.K.A. Annual Show.

August 6 and 7.— Staffs. B.K.A., at West
Bromwich. In connection with the Staffs.
Agricultural Society's meeting. Twenty
classes for bees, honey, and appliances.

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries closed.

August 14 and. 15. — Kent B.K.A., in con-
nection with the Shepherdswe'.l Horticultural
Show. Entries close August 8. J. Garratt,
hon. sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 15. — Goole and District Agricul-
tural Society. Annual show at Goole. Five
open classes for bees and honey. Entries
close August 8. J. Luddington and H. S.
White, secretaries.

August 15. — Berks B.K.A. (Windsor dis-
trict) Show, at Maidenhead, in connection
with the Maidenhead Horticultural Society.
Fourteen classes, with good prizes, for bees,
hives, and honey. For schedules apply to the
Hon. Sec, W. S. Darby, Consort Villas,
Clewer.

August 21. — Wotton-under-Edge and
District Bee-Keepers' Association. In the
Town Hall, Wotton-under-Edge. Eight
classes for honey. Entries close August 14.

Schedules from the hon. sec, E. W. Bead'
Wotton-under- Edge.

August 21 and 22.— Shropshire B.K.A.
annual exhibition of honey, hives, and bee-
appliances in connection with the Shropshire
Horticultural Society's great fete in "The
Quarry," Shrewsbury. Upwards of £35 in
prizes. For schedules apply T. Whittingham,
secretary, Upton Magna, Shrewsbury. Entries
close August 5.

August 21. — Wilts B.K.A., in connection
with the Swindon Horticultural Fete in the
Public Gardens, Old Swindon. Nineteen
classes for honey (seven open classes) but no
appliances. Entries close August 14. Schedules
from hon. sec, Kev. W. E. Burkitt, Butter-
mere Kectory, Hungerford.

August 22. — Show of bees, hives, and
honey, in connection with the Horsham Horti-
cultural Society's show at Springfield, Horsham.
Entries close August 17. Lectures in Bee-tent
by the Rev. C. Brereton. B. Gilburd, Sec,
39, Carfax, Horsham.

August 28. — Lanes, and Cheshire B.K.A.
at Fleetwood, Lanes. In connection with the
Horticultural Society. Show of honey. Open
to Lancashire and Cheshire only. Sec,
J. F. Williamson, 18, Bold-street, Fleetwood.
Entries close August 14.

August 31. — Manchester and District B.K.A.
at Worsley ; in connection with Worsley
Horticultural and Agricultural Show. Six
classes for bees, hives, and honey. Liberal
prizes. Entries close August 20. Schedules
from Mr. Upjohn, Worsley, Manchester.

September 5. — North Norfolk B.K.A.
annual show in connection with the Holt
Flower Show, to be held in the grounds of
Brinton Hall. Two special open classes for
single 1 lb. sections and 1 lb. jars of extracted
honey. Entries close August 24. Schedules
from the Hon. Sec, C. J. Cooke, Edgefield,
Melton Constable, Norfolk.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

September 3 and 4, South of Scotland
B.K.A. — Annual Honey Show in connection
with the S. of S. Horticultural Society's show
at Dumfrie?, nineteen classes for honey. Over
fifty prizes. Entries close August 30. John
Currie, Secretary, 7, Assembly-street, Dumfries.
September 28. — Roxburghshire B K.A.
Annual Show in the Corn Exchange, Jed-
burgh. Numerous .prizes. Entries close
September 24. Thos. Clark, Secretary.
Pleasants, Jedburgh.

October 8, 9, 10, and 11. — Dairy show at
the Agricultural Hall, London. Liberal prizes
in five classes for honey. Open to all. Entries
close September 9. For schedules apply
Win. C. Young, sec. Dairy Farmers' Associa-
tion, 12, Hanover-square, London.

Aug. 1, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

309

STAFFS. BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

A Third Class Examination

WILL BE HELD AT

WEST BKOMWICH

On the Morning: of August 7th.

Members wishing to present themselves as candidates
are requested to send in their names without delay to
the Hon. Sec, HAROLD TWENTYMAN, Wolver-
hampton. 154

Notioesto Correspondents ana Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

H. Wallis (Manchester). — Examination
for Experts' Certificates. — An examination
of candidates for third-class certificates took
place at the Preston Show on Friday last,
in connection with the Lancashire and
Cheshire B.K.A. We are not aware of
any other examination announced to be held
in the county this year, but the Secretary
of the B.B.K.A., Mr. J. Huckle, King's
Langley, Herts, will furnish all particulars
if written to.

A Worker (Tadcaster). — Non-granulating
Calif ornian Honey. — We can scarcely go
the length of saying that honey which we
have never even seen is impure, even though
" sold as Californian, which does not granu-
late." We should, however, very strongly
suspect the presence of glucose in non-
granulating honey. And, for confirmation
of this suspicion, there is the fact that all
pure honey gathered in this country does
granulate.

W. S. T. (Marsham).— Treating Foul Brood.
Measuring Napkthol Beta. — 1. Both samples
of comb are affected with foul brood. 2.
The best advice we can offer as to treatment
was given in B.J. for June 6 last (p. 221).
3. The ounce packet of N. beta is put into
an eight-ounce medicine bottle — to be had
from any chemist, marked off in one-ounce
divisions — the bottle being then half filled
with pure methylated spirit and shaken till
the crystals are dissolved. Then add more
of the spirit till the line marking the
seventh division is reached ; shake well,
and the liquid is then ready for use. One
tablespoonful of this solution, or half a
division, medicates the syrup made from
10 lb. of sugar.

W. T. Koberts (Freshfield). — Reversing Boxes
of Shalloiv Frames. 1. Mr. Jas. Heddon, an
American bee-keeper of repute, some years
ago introduced and advocated the use of
what is known as the " Heddon '' reversible
hive. It had a short run of prominence
here for a short time, but soon fell into
disuse among British bee-keepers, as we
predicted it would from the first. The idea
was — among other things — to handle hives
instead of frames. 2. The sample of honey
sent is a good one, excellent in colour and
aroma, and very fair in flavour. It is, how-

ever, rather poor in consistency, which gives
the impression that it has been extracted
from sections and not fully ripe.

John M. Henderson (Hamworthy). — 1. Bees
sent are merely immature drones. 2. We
should judge that the portion of the swarm
which returned to the parent hive did so
because of the box into which you hived
them being already supplied with a comb of
bees before hiving the swarm. 3. By
" Inspectors " we presume you mean
" experts " employed by county associations
to assist members, but there is no county
bee-association in Dorset. The advantage
to your bush-fruit crop is obvious, and you
are only one of many fruit-growers who
have found out how advantageous bees are
to the crop.

M.A. (Ince). — Honey Dew. — Honey dew can
be detected by the flavour and colour of the
honey when extracted ; or by an examina-
tion of the foliage of the trees in the
neighbourhood. It is not injurious save
that it spoils honey for market and
table purposes, without affecting its keeping
properties. 4. It does not interfere with
granulation.

Cumbo (Oarnforth). — 1. We prefer the " New
Guinea " extractor of the two. 2. Leave
the unfinished sections on for completion
at the heather. 3. Heather honey can only
be got from the combs by means of a
" honey-press.'' 4. Full sheets secure better
sections. Use pale yellow foundation of
any good make. 5. No. When uniting, it
is safer to cage the queen if you are inex-
perienced. 6. Yes.

W. Houston (Colorand). — Bees by Post,—
The bees arrived smashed flat in post, and
utterly unfit for identification.

Several letters, queries, &c, are 'unavoid-
ably held over till next week's issue.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, Ac. — Up to
Twelve words, t8ixpence; for every additional Thru
words or under, One Penny.

SIX Strong Stocks BEES, Bar-framed Hives, 20s. each.
Botes, Woburn Sands. h 88

WANTED, several strong lots DRIVEN BEES, with
Queens. Dr. Walkeii, Kirkby-Stephen. H 83

SEVERAL TONS of ENGLISH HONEY WANTED.
Send price and sample to Ludovic NoeL, 7, Soho-
square, Loudon, W. 156

WILL EXCHANGE Stocks of BEES, on Bar-frames,
for a Cushion-tyre Safety BICYCLE. E. Garner,
Broom, near Biggleswade, Beds. H 85

HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES, and their Queen, at
Is. 3d. per lb. Box to be returned carriage paid.
E. Garner, Broom, near Biggleswade, Beds. H 91

WANTED, SECTIONS and RUN HONEY in bulk.
Send lowest prices, with samples, to Savery,
Madrid, Clay Hill, Enfield. H 84

310

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Aug. 1, 1895.

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

FOR SALE, Two-Frame Observatory HIVE, 12s.
Packed free on rail. Watkin Bird, Priory-street,
Huntingdon-road, Cambs.

PURE BLACKS, Swarms, 5s., 10s. 6d. ; Nuclei, 5s. ;
Queens, 3s. ; free on rail ; empties returned.
ALSPORD, Expert, Blandford. 139

WALLFLOWERS (dark) for early spring flowering,
Is. 6d. per 100 ; 10s. per 1,000, free. H. B. Pollard,
Evesham. H 76

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS, from LUCIA PAGLIA,
Royal Bee Establishment, 5s. each. Cash with
der. J. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road, Wimbledon.

it TJONEy AND ITS USES." By Rev. Gerard W.
STL Bancks, M.A. 3s. 6d. per 100. Specimen copy
sent. Address, The Green, Dartford. H 80

UEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

Q!

20

YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfield, Sussex. 116

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. 100 strips,
22 inches long, 8d., 200, Is. 3d., 300, Is. 9d., 400,
2s. 3d., 500, 2s. 9d. Three neat patterns stocked.
W. Woodley. Beedon, Newbury.

Cyri DOZ. SCREW-TOP BOTTLES (Honey), 1-lb. size ;
^^J 5 doz. Glazed SECTIONS, well filled, FOR DIS-
POSAL. All 8s. per doz. Deposit. Walter Rogers,
Princes Risborough, Bucks. H 87

FOR SALE, Two Strong STOCKS, in first-rate Bar
Hives, Extractor, 3 Feeders, extra Frames, Foun-
dation, Swarm Catcher, 2 Skeps, Super-Crates, Hand-
books, &c. £4 the lot. G. STRONG, Strawberry Hill-
road, Twickenham, Middlesex. H 86

FINE TESTED 1S95 FERTILE QUEENS, 3s. 6d. each.
Safe arrival. 3-Frame Nuclei, including Queen,
10s. 6d. Bees Is. 6d. lb. for 5 lb. lots or over, queen
included. Guaranteed healthy. Boxes to be returned.
C. Whiting, Valley Apiary, Hundon, Clare, Suffolk.
h79

I BEG to thank my Customers who have done business
with me for so many years, and to ask them to
forward their orders. I have some splendid Clover
Honey (fit for any table), pale colour, and good aroma,
7d. per lb. in 60 lb. tins. T. HOLLIDAY, The Apiary,
Astbury, Congleton. 153

1 8Q ^ HYBRID QUEENS.— Special Ligurian Hy-
±OS/C<» brids— Queens, tested, 5s. 6d. each ; Virgin
Queens, 3s. each. All Queens sent in my new Intro-
ducing Cages, post free. Safe arrival guaranteed.
Orders executed in rotation. H. W. Brice, Beulah-
road N., Thornton Heath, Surrey.

YE 0LDE ENCLISHE BEE.

Fine selected Fertile Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Sent in my Intro-
ducing Cage, guaranteeing safe arrival. Parcel Postage
3d. W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

BLAKEY'S BEE FEEDER.

Made of wood, zinc, and glass. Holds one pint of
syrup, and can be filled without removing from hive,
and bees may be observed as they take the food without
escaping. Price 6d. each. Postage of one costs 4Jd.,
two 6d., four 9d., six Is. Id. J. M. BALMBRA, 2,
East-parade, Alnwick, Northumberland.

SCREW-CAP HONEY BOTTLES,

English Make. Cheap. Clean. Handy.

16-oz. size, per 10 doz., 12/9 ; 8-oz. size, per 6 doz., 7/-.

Packing free.

EXPERT SMOKER (Patent applied for).
Both hands at liberty to work frames.
An Old Bee-keeper's Testimony :— " With the valve
added, your little Smoker is perfect." Post free 2s.

W. T. GARNETT, Steade Road, Sheffield.

SHROPSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

EXHIBITION

OP

HONEY, HIVES, AND BEE APPLIANCES,

At which, upwards of £35 in Prizes will be

awarded.

To be held in connection with the

SHROPSHIRE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S CREAT FETE

In THE QUARRY, SHREWSBURY,
On Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 21st & 22nd.
Schedules . of prizes and regulations from T.
WHITTINGHAM, Secretary, Upton Magna, Shrewsbury.

ENTRIES CLOSE AUGUST 5th. 155_

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

BJSK-KKKPERSin LANCASHIRE and <JHESHlKK,&c.
THE CENTRAL SUPPLY STOREb
for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL 60, GREAT
CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE ROSE. Why pay
carriage from longdistances, when you can buy as cheap
and good locally, and have your orders promptly attended
to ? Catalogues gratis. Sow now CHAPMAN'S HONEY
PLANT, 6d. Packet. Expected shortly, big lot of
HONEY JARS (screw and tieover). Large buyers, please
write at once. Very low prices per crate of 3£ gross
ex dock on arrival. Best Falcon Sections very low per
1,000 or 10,000.

SPECIALJNOTICE,

J. S. GREENHILL has been awarded FIRST
PRIZE for his Ten Shilling: Cottage Hive,

at Tunbridge Wells Show, a most suitable Hive for
Cottagers,

Metal-top Glasses, with wads per gross 21s.

Glaze Cases (both sides) ... Is. 9d. doz. ; 18s. gross.

J. S. GREENHILL, 80, Crafoam road , Wimbledon.

(27 Years with Neighbonr & Sons.)

DON'T GET STUNG!

WHEN, BY USING A. JE» I F XT G5- £3

YOU CAN PREVENT IT.

•T BEE-KEEPERS SAY IT IS MARVELLOUS, AND "®»

THEY WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT IT-

Send for a Bottle at once.

Small Bottles 1/-, Large Bottles, 1/9, Post Free.

Cash must accompany Order.

To be obtained of all Appliance Dealers and

DARCY CRIMSHAW, HORSFORTH, LEEDS.
CARBOLINE POMADE

(FOURTH SEASON).
Kills Bee-stings like magic.
CARBOLINE POMADE

Prevents the horrible smarting and burning
inflammation.
CARBOLINE POMADE

Prevents getting stung, robbing, &c.

CARBOLINE POMADE

Is. per bottle.post free. T. HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY,

CONGLETON.

'For HIVES made of

carefully selected and

seasoned ivood.

For EXTRACTORS

FOUNDATION,

SECTIONS,

SMOKERS,
dec. Sec
Is a very good Railway
Centre for the West of
England.
Illustrated Catalogue Free.

E. J. BDRTT

GLOUCESTER.

Aug. 8, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

311

USEFUL HINTS.

Weather. — Still more rain almost
daily, and, in consequence, still less
chance of securing any further income
from second-crop clover. Instead of
surplus being added to, the probability
is that unsealed honey now in supers
will be taken down into brood-chambers
below by the bees if not removed at
once. Only the heather, therefore, now
remains for those whose bees are located
near it, and we can but hope with them
for a dry August.

Adulterated Bees- wax for Foundation-
Making. — A sheet of paper reaches us by
post, on which is written neither name
nor address of sender, or even a date, but
simply these words : — ■

Query (a) May I have super-foundation
and observatory brood-foundation made from
pure white bees-wax. (6) How would super-
foundation of pale yellow wax with 50 per
cent, of paraffin-wax do? (c) Has that per-
centage ever been known to break down when
worked out for sections 1

We judge our anonymous, correspon-
dent to be a new reader of this journal —
first, from the terms in which his query
is put ; second, from his entire ignorance
of our views, fand those of bee-keepers
generally, on the subject of adulterated
beeswax for foundation making ; and
third, from his non-compliance with our
rule regarding anonymous communica-
tions. Notwithstanding all this, how-
ever, and in the interest of good bee-
keeping, we gladly overlook " non-
compliance " in order to inform our
correspondent on the several points
raised. To begin with then («) we say :
Pure beeswax is what all bee-keepers
look for and hope to get when buying
comb-foundation, but what is generally
sold as " pure white beeswax " is a long
way from being "pure;" and in any
case, white wax, whether pure or not,
is unsuitable for foundation making.
Beeswax can only be made white by
being bleached, and bleaching spoils it
for use as foundation for comb-building.
(6) Beeswax (no matter of what colour)
adulterated with 50 per cent, of paraffin
wax is utterly unfit for giving to bees in
the shape of comb foundation, and the
manufacturer who makes up such a com-
bination into foundation, or the dealer

who sells it for the purpose, commits a
fraud upon bee-keepers, (c) Apart from
the almost certainty of a breakdown, we
say that persons who knowingly sell
foundation so adulterated can only be
characterised as swindlers.

(Remainder of " Hints " next week)

RESULT OF APPEAL

ON BEHALF OF THE WIDOW AND FAMILY OF

THE LATE THOMAS BADCOCK.

A FURTHER GENEROUS OFFER.

Tn publishing below a full list of donations
to the fund for the benefit of Mrs. Badcock
and family it was intended to close the list
with this issue, but we are induced to leave it
open for a short time longer in consequence
of a generous offer made to us at the Preston
Show by two gentlemen (who are already
donors to the fund) to give a further sum of
103. each conditionally on eight others being
found willing to subscribe a like sum, and
thus increase the fund by an additional £5.
One 10s. has already been promised, and it
goes without saying how pleased we shall be
if the names of seven more donors are forth-
coming.

A Friend £4 0 0

T. W. Cowan 110

J. Garratt 110

A. T.M. Pipon 110

Bee Journal and Record ... 1 0 0
Henry Jonas 10 0

E. D. Till 0 10 0

Miss Till 0 10 0

Dr. Bartrum, D.D 0 10 0

H. W.Brice 0 5 0

A. W. Harrison 0 5 0

Elvey Smith 0 5 0

S.P.J 0 5 0

A. G. P 0 5 0

Hawley Bowler 0 5 0

J. Huckle 0 5 0

R.Green 0 5 0

Miss Beach 0 5 0

F. Armstrong 0 50

J. M. Hooker 0 5 0

Friend at Farningham 0 5 0

Geo. Roberts 0 5 0

W. H. Harris 0 5 0

W. J. Anstey 0 5 0

Christopher Wade 0 5 0

Dr. B.E.Jones 0 5 0

Geo. Wells 0 3 0

W. W. Culwick 0 2 6

MissTarr 0 2 6

T.W.J 0 2 6

J. R 0 2 6

Rev. T. R. Shea 0 2 6

R. Illman 0 2 6

Native of Islay 0 2 6

G. Newman 0 10

Total

... £15 19 6

312

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Aug. 8, 1895.

IRISH BEE- KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met on 1st. inst. Present,
Mr. Read in the chair, Mr. Gillies, Captain
Millner and Mr. Chenevix (Hon. Sec, 15,
Morekampton-road, Dublin.) As the result
of the examination held lately at Strabane,
certificates of competency as, Experts in
Modern Bee-keeping were granted by the
Irish Bee-keepers' Association to Rev. A. H.
Delaf, Rector of Strabane ; Messrs. Samuel &
Isaac Crawford, Lisnacloon, Castlederg ; and
Mr. David Wray, Male N. School, Donegal.
Mr. J. J. Macrea, of Lislane, Fivemiletown,
was appointed District Hon. Secretary for
County Tyrone. It was reported that the
lectures in the bee-tent, both at Churchtown
House, County Kerry, and at Strabane, had
been very well attended and much interest
shown on both occasions.

<§:omtytmkntt.

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. 2?o notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should , be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, <bc, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
Street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to " The Manager, ' British Bee Journal ' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

%* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE JOTTINGS

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2138.] Do Bees carry Eggs ?— Referring to
this subject, I have to thank the Editor of the
Revue Internationale d' Apiculture for the
following facts gathered from an article in that
paper, a translation of the salient points of
which will, I think, pretty conclusively decide
this question of bees removing eggs. M. Ed.
Bertrand says : —

" The question whether worker bees are
capable of carrying eggs from one comb to
another, with the object of raising queens, has
again been made the subject of inquiry in
various quarters, and has caused some diver-
gence of opinion. One correspondent described
how he had met with cases of bees carrying
eggs, but that from such eggs only male larva;
resulted. He also stated that eggs found in
the condition mentioned were invariably
produced by laying workers.'' This statement
provoked some discussion, into which I need
not here enter. M. Bertrand, however, con-
tinues : — " The question of the removal
of eggs by workers was settled long ago
for readers of the Ecvue at the time as well as

for ourselves ; in fact, we have several
time3 published observations on this subject
emanating from experienced and reliable per-
sons. The following editorial footnote was
added by us to an article Avhich appeared in our
Bulletin of January, 1884 : — ' The removal of
eggs or of larva; by workers, therefore, no
longer presents any doubt, to ourselves, espe-
cially after the statements of Langstroth and
of many other observers so entirely worthy of
credence.' Here is an extract from what
Langstroth wrote in November, 1878, in
Gleanings : — 'In the year 1864, having a
very strong but queenless colony, without
young larvae or any means of raising a queen,
it occurred to me that if I could supply the
bees with eggs or young larvae in a very
small quantity, it would, perhaps, cause
them to raise queens of exceptional
size and beauty. I therefore gave them
a piece of comb about ^ in. wide and
3 in. long, containing suitable larva;. On
examining this some days later, I found
at least a dozen queen cells started, and, with
the head of a pin, removed the queen larva;
from all but four of the cells, leaving nothing
in the others. When these four cells were
sealed over I thought it would be advanta-
geous to raise by means of this strong colony
a second series of queens. Having inserted
the first piece of comb, in a position expressly
prepared for this purpose between the frame
and the comb, I put the second piece in a
similar place on the other side of the same
frame. Some days later, I examined the comb,
to see how things were going on, and I was
surprised at not finding any queen-cells com-
menced in the last piece inserted, nor any
larvae in the cells. On looking at the piece
first inserted, I found, to my amazement, that
all four of the queen-cells, the larva; of which I
had taken out, were again occupied, and that
these cells were much more advanced than at
the time when I destroyed their first occupants.
The bees were evidently determined not to
throw away the labour devoted to the con-
struction of the first series of cells, and con-
sequently had carried into these as many as
they required of the larva? from the cells of
workers on the opposite side of the comb.
Fourteen years have since elapsed, and I still
feel something of the enthusiastic joy that I
experienced when I showed these wonders to
my family and also mentioned them in the
Journal which I have taken since 1 852.'

" The same Langstroth also says in his re-
markable work, ' The Hive and the Honey-
bee,' (fourth edition, p. 219): — Huber has
shown that bees usually do not carry the eggs
of the queen from one cell to another. I
have, however, had the opportunity of know-
ing several cases in which they have carried
workers' eggs into the maternal cell. Mr.
Wagner (well known as an apiarist, and
founder of the American Bee Journal) put
some queenless bees, brought from another
locality, on to empty combs which had been in

Aug. 8, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

313

his attic for two years. When he gave them
some breeding-cells they raised a queen in
one of these empty combs ! Mr. Richard
Colvin, of Baltimore, as well as other bee
friends, have informed me of similar incidents
quite as striking." Mr. Bertrand continues :
— " We could mention, amongst much unex-
ceptionable evidence, two very conclusive
observations made by a well-known apiarist in
Italy, the Bev. Joseph Franceschi, Frior of
Catignano. They are related in a very con-
cise manner, in VApicoltore (for the years 1873,
p. 184, and 1874, p. 107), and leave no doubt
as to the fact that worker-bees, in certain
special and determined circumstances, carry
eggs or larvse from one cell, and even from
one comb to another. Finally, we do not
think that at the present time any true
apiarist denies the fact."

Honey Labels. — Your correspondent " A
Kent Bee-keeper" (2132, p. 364), in last
week's issue, touches a tender spot when
mentioning the "wretched stuff" sold as
British honey. There is clearly a bad leak
somewhere, when on p. 272 we read that the
foreign import of honey into the United
Kingdom "for June, 1895, was £9,926."
Where has it gone to, and what has it been
sold as 1 How much of it has been sold and
palmed off under labels describing it as ': pure
English honey ,; and " British honey ? " I
gather from inquiries made that tons of
doubtful honey are brought into this country
and sold as " British." So no wonder we hear
people say they don't care very much for honey.
Why ? Simply because they have never had
a chance of testing the pure British product.
The sooner the use of county association labels
becomes universal, and bee-keepers wake up
to the necessity for protecting their most vital
interests, the sooner will the £10,000 per
month find its way into British pockets ;
,£10,000 per month (the import for June, I
know, is high, but importations are more
likely to increase than diminish) means
£120,000 per annum, and something should be
done to keep this money at home in these days
of " agricultural depression."

Surrey B.K.A. — Another season practically
gone, and the Surrey B.K. Association still
slumbering. Will no one come to the front as
hon. sec. 1 Hundreds of others beside myself
are badly wanting a county label to put on our
honey for exhibition at the Surrey Bee-keepers'
Annual Show, ivhen the show takes place. Like
Sussex, we are indeed as sheep gone astray.
We want a leader with a bell to indicate his
whereabouts. Surrey has a County Council,
too ! — H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath.

NON-SWARMING SYSTEM.
[2139.] Having tried Simmins' non-
swarming system for two seasons, I have been
much interested in reading the letters upon
the subject in your valuable paper. My own
experience has been that it decidedly prevents

swarming, for both this year and last, when
working upon the system, I have not had a
single swarm from very strong colonies. I
have, however, found the same difficulty about
lifting the upper storeys off when full of honey,
in order to examine the suplus chamber, and
as several times I really could not manage it,
have been obliged to let the bees alone to
build out the frames of comb. But this I do
not mind at present, being desirous of experi-
menting to see if the bees will fill the combs
with both brood and honey when left to them-
selves, in spite of being supered.

Mr. Simmins recommends the " Conqueror "
hive for working upon his system, because of
the ease with which each compartment can be
manipulated without any lifting at all. My
hives are only the ordinary ten-framed standard
size, piled one on the top of another, and I
gather from the letters in your pages the same
is the case with the other bee-keepers who
have tried the plan. It is, therefore, perhaps
not quite fair to blame him if we do not suc-
ceed. The two colonies I have worked entirely
upon this system are the strongest I ever had,
and I have kept bees more than ten years.
One has yielded 35 lb. clover honey, whilst the
other has only given 14 lb., but has far the
most brood of the two, so I should be glad if
any one will tell me if the reason is that the
queen has had too much room 1 Both queens
are in their second year, and exactly the same
management has been carried out for the two
colonies— G. W. W., Malton, July 27.

HONEY VINEGAR.

FOR HOME USE AND FOR EXHIBITION.

[2140.] " Strong vinegar with very fine flav-
our—one part honey ; four parts water. Expose
to heat of. sun in open vessel protected from
insects for about six weeks.'' (I take the
foregoing from Mr. Bancks' " Honey and its
Uses.'') Another recipe says " Rain water, and
shake up occasionally.'' I made mine in a
large butter crock, and covered with muslin in
the greenhouse. If, instead of one part honey,
two parts are used, the result is as good as
the raspberry vinegar described by your Kent
correspondent for a diluted acid drink. Try
it?

As there is just time now for all enter-
prising bee-keepers— I do not address those
to whom it is too much trouble to prepare an
exhibit for show— I say all " enterprising "
bee-keepers, to get some honey vinegar, both
for table use and for beverage, prepared
properly in time for the Dairy Show, October
8 ; and mind it is well cleared— -i.e., bright and
clear in white glass, and the bottles not too
large. There is not a moment to lose. Of
course refuse honey will make fair vinegar for
the house, but not for competition. The same
remark, re dairy exhibits, applies also to mead,
but we really ought to get honey-vinegar to
the front this season at all the late shows. I
see there are some liberal public spirited men

314

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 8, 1895.

at Preston— a Mr. H. W. Johnston donor of
£6 for a single honey class of 12 jars, prizes £3
£2, and £1, to be competed for by bee-keepers
fifteen miles round Preston. Cannot you get one
or two of the same sort to reside in Sussex,
Surrey, or Kent ? I am glad to see one of your
correspondents urging the adoption of the
county label on our honey. I sold to a grocer a
lot of bottles half labelled— half plain — think-
ing he might not like the label. He writes
me for labels for the plain bottles ; proving that
a good tradesman appreciates the label.
People are asking me where to sell their honey ;
some of it is very fine, but so many make the
mistake of mixing their various lots instead
of keeping the different sorts separate. Rasp-
berry honey, in my opinion, is worth 2 i. a pound
if very choice — it is folly to level all down to one
price. I prefer lime honey to any, but all do
not like it ; it has a grand flavour this season
and ought to sell well. — H. Ives, August 2.

P.S. Monsieur Bertrand thinks we make our
vinegar too strong ; the Swiss use about one
part honey to eight water — perhaps you can
give the Swiss recipe.

BRICKS AND MORTAR AND HONEY
GATHERING.

[2141.] Just a few lines by way of endors-
ing Mr. J. W. Jacomb Hood (2136, page 306),
on the effect of bricks and mortar, how it pre-
vents honey gathering. Guildford says ditto
to Surbiton, for whereas some twenty years
ago (and for many since), I used to get a good
supply for the last few years I have had but
little ; this year, I fear, none at all. I have
now taken off all supers, the bees only
amusing themselves therein propolising every
little open space they can find. I, with some
neighbours, attribute this non-finding of nectar
to bricks and mortar. I also endorse Mr.
Hood's account of the failure of the lime
blossoms, and of the acacia also. I have
several trees here of both, which I myself
planted several years ago. They are now
good-sized trees, capable of supplying much
nectar, if the weather did not so often cause a
disappointment to the bee-keeper.

I do not know where Mr. Hood obtained
his knowledge of "a good supply in parts of
Surrey'' (not Guildford, I think). I hear of
some enthusiasts who, I fancy, draw along bow,
who tell you, " they have whole frames, filled
and sealed." When asked to raise one of
them, they are found to be sealed only at the
top, and probably some brood just below. —
Fredk. H. Lemare, Guildford, August 3.

MEASURING BEE PASTURAGE.
[2142] This village contains 2,000 acres,
but although I propose giving the subject my
attention, I am not now prepared to state with
any degree of accuracy, how much of this area
grows the raw material suitable for the pro-
duction of honey. Roughly speaking, I should

say not more than half, or, say, 1,000 acres.
Now I have 30 stocks which probably contain
a million bees, and there are ten other stocks
in the village, so that, according to my calcu-
lations, each bee has an average of two yards
square to work on, and this it has to share
with numerous other members of the insect
world.

And now comes the question : May I not
only increase my apiary, but also invite the
County Council (which has £2,500 to spend
on technical education) to send their expert
and demonstrate how the rent may be paid
by keeping bees, or shall I, when enquiries are
made on the subject, declare that there are
quite enough bees already in the village, and
discourage any attempt which may be made
to increase the number of hives, on the plea
that over-production invites famine disease1?
Whichever side I take I shall be glad to
have the authority of the Bee Journal to
quote in corroboration of my views. Such
calculations as I have made often produce
unlooked-for results, and when I saw a
labourer setting out to water his land, he was
surprised to hear that 25 tons of water are
required to keep his " chain " of land up to
the mark during a dry month.

During the hot weather my bench was
under the trees, where I worked at high
measure, making " ekes " for my hives, but
now that I have come to the third storey,
either the bees have exhausted their four
square yards of raw material, or they get an
inkling of what is going on, when a crate,
containing honey bottles by the gross, arrived
on my premises from Liverpool.

Esse apibus partem divinse mentus et
haustus iEtherios dixere. — Edward Lock-
wood, Kingham, Oxfordshire.

HELPFUL HINTS FOR HARD TIMES.
[2143 .] May I be allowed to thank " R. A. H.
G." for his appreciative notice of Helpful Hints
for Hard Times, and to add that they can be
obtained (Id. each) at the Head Office of the
S.P.C.K., Northumberland-avenue, W.C ; at
the 300 depots of that society ; and at Smith
& Son'3 Railway Bookstalls. The first edition
of 140,000 is nearly exhausted, and I shall be
glad to receive any hints or corrections to assist
me in preparing the second. — E. Bartrum,
D.D., Wakes thine Rectory, Essex.

TUNBRIDGE wells show.

[2144.] In reporting theprize3 at above show,
the winners of the B.B.K.A. medals and certifi-
cate were inadvertently omitted. Will you,
therefore, kindly insert as follows : —

24 l-lb. Sections.— B.B.K.A., Silver Medal ;
Rev. G. W. Bancks, Dartford.

24 l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — B.B.K.A.,
Bronze Medal ; F. Swanzy, Sevenoaks.

12 l-lb. Sections.— B.B.K.A., Certificate ;
F. S. Benstead, Sittingbourne.

Aug. 8, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

315

I do not know what has been the custom
hitherto, but undoubtedly cards should be
issued by the B.B.K.A., to be displayed on the
successful exhibits. It would enhance the
value of the prize if the B.B.K.A. were to
prepare coloured cards, and send them to all
exhibitions at which the medals and certificates
are competed for. — E. D. T., Eynsford
August 5.

BEE HOUSES.

A portable: bee-house in sections.

[2145.] The interest taken by readers in this
subject seems to be very general, judging by
the letters I have received asking for further
particulars. Some correspondents would be
glad to have full details, with measurements
and illustrations ; but this, of course, means
considerable expense in preparing blocks to
illustrate the building of such a house as I
would recommend. I have, however, in my
recollection a house described. in the monthly
li&cordiov 1 890 by "H.T.W," which is simple in
construction, cheap, and, moreover, possessing
many good features. If, therefore, our editors
could see their way to reproduce the drawings
and reprint the description referred to, it would
answer every purpose, and, I feel sure, be
appreciated by B.B J. readers. The dimen-
sions and lines laid down could be modified,
varied, or may be improved upon, so far as
meeting individual taste, or accommodating
the structure to different persons' means
and wants. I would also advise making
provision for ample ventilation and means
of lighting ; with windows revolving on cen-
tral pins, so as to be easily " turned inside
out," along with any bees which happened to
be upon them. In an octagonal house, like
the one in view, the hive entrances will natu-
rally point in different directions, and I would
add, do not have all entrances at the same
elevation. I made this mistake myself at first,
but now arrange them at different heights
from the ground, especially those of adjoining
hives.

Assuming that the illustrated article I have
referred to appears, an examination thereof
will, I think, serve as a reply to most of the
queries about bee-houses sent to my address.
And if you would also reprint the illustrations
of bee-houses from Record of December last,
for the information of those requiring either
very large and very small houses, I do not
think any one will miss much of what they
desire to know upon the subject. — H. W.
Brice, Thornton Heath, Surrey.

[The article contributed by our correspon-
dent, " H. W. T.," reads as under. — Eds.]

" Will you allow me to suggest a very simple
design for a portable bee-house 1

The most convenient shape for a small bee-
house would, I thimr, be octagonal. I will
therefore describe such, and it will be evident
that it can very easily be enlarged or modified.

This house would \be 5 ft. high at wall-plate
(7 to 8 ft. over operator), 8 ft. in diameter,
coul i hold seven large double and storifying
bar-framed hives, could be set up or taken
down in fifteen minutes, and when removed
would consist of only two packages, each about
6 ft. by 3 ft. by 2 ft.

1st. — For the sides construct eight panels
(like ledge doors) each 5 ft. by 3 ft. by 1 in.,
having three battens each 3 ft. by 3 in. by
1 in. (fig. 1.) N.B. — One of these panels
should be pierced for a small " wicket " door a3
shown by dotted lines.

2nd.— For the roof construct eight triangu-
lar panels each 6 ft. long, 3 ft. 6 in. wide at
base (fig. 2), and 2 in. wide at top.

p=§

" 'brrv

1

1

1

1

I
1

1

" — I —

i

1

i

i

I

' o

e=K

-3'cr--
Fiff. 1.

3rd. — Next procure twenty-four stout strap-
hinges at least 6 in. long, and having strong
pins running through their ' eyes.' Knock out
this central pin and replace it by an equally
strong piece of wire with loop
for handle (fig. 3). Also file
the edges of corresponding
eyes in hinges, so as to let
them be connected very easily.
4th.— For ridge-piece take
a piece of timber about 6 in.
square and 12 to 18 in. long.
Divide each side of one end
into three parts and draw lines
across like the dotted lines
in illustration, plane off the
angles marked X> an(l y°u
will have an octagonal bar
(fig. 4). Drive staples into
each side about 6 in. from

Fig. 3.

one end, and finish off the upper end in any
pattern that you may desire.

Now fasten a half-hinge on each corner of
side panels, as shown in elevation (fig. 1), taking
care in every case to put the half-hinge having
two eyes on the right side, and the half-hinge
having only one eye on the left side. Fasten

316

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Aug. 8, 1895.

another half-hinge pointing upwards in middle
of upper side, as shown. Fasten the corre-
sponding half-hinge to middle
of lower batten of roof panel
(fig. 2). Also make and fasten
on top end of roof panel a
similar half-hinge, ending in a Fig. 5.

hook — instead of an eye —
(fig. 5), which is to be hooked into staple
driven into the ridge-piece.

This completes the house. To erect it,
select a level piece of ground about 9 ft.
square. Set up a pair of the 5 by 3 ft. panels
side by side and run a looped wire through
eyes of hinges at top and bottom of corre-
sponding sides. These two sides, if put at
any angle (fig. 6) will stand by themselves ;
add the remaining side-panels one by one, and
you will have an irregular octagonal figure
(fig. 7). Bring it to about the desired shape,

Fig. 6. Fig. 7.

and then stand inside it on a box or stool, and
let a friend bring you two of the triangular
roof panels, and hinge them on opposite side-
panels, hooking their upper ends into ridge-
piece. When the eight roof panels are
fastened into their places you will find that
the sides will have been drawn into an exact
octagon. It only remains for you to drive a
peg into the ground at each of the eight angles
inside and the bee-house will stand secure.
(Conclusion next week)

WORKMEN'S EXCUESION.

The workmen employed at Mr. T. B. Blow's,
Bee-hive Factory, Welwyn, Herts, had their
usual outing on the 29th ult., when advantage
was taken of an excursion to Hastings. The
Great Northern Railway Company kindly
placed a saloon carriage at the disposal of the
party and a very enjoyable day was spent. —
A. Robins (Foreman), Welwyn, August 2nd.

BEES AND LEGISLATION.

THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, AND THE
SUPPRESSION OF FOUL BROOD.

Many of those who keep bees are wondering
what will happen to the Bill for the extinction
of Foul Brood now that a change of Govern-
ment has occurred. It will be remembered
that, after considerable discussion in the press,
and some platform agitation, Mr. Gardner was
induced to meet a deputation, and that he
promised to pilot the bill through the House.
Since then much more evidence has been

accumulated. In Scotland and Wales great
apprehension is felt, because there it is the
custom of carrying bees to the heather just
about this season. That many stocks should
be placed together is a necessity. The moor-
lands are very sparsely populated, and it is the
custom for one shepherd to take care of all the
hives of a district. He charges from a shilling
to half-a-crown each for his trouble. We have
counted over a thousand hives in a single
sheepfold.

An arrangement more favourable for the
propagation of an infectious disease could
hardly be devised. Many districts that up to
now have been perfectly exempt from the
pest are in close contiguity to others where it
has broken out virulently, and " bee-masters "
are thoroughly scared. In very many cases a
private arrangement may be come to, and in-
fected bees kept away ; but in others the
stocks are endangered by careless and ignorant
owners. There is no remedy for this season,
but bee-keepers may rest content that under
the new Government the matter will not be
allowed to drop. Representatives of the
British Bee-keepers' Association have con-
ferred with the Department of Agriculture,
and the subject will be immediately brought
under the notice of Mr. Gardner's successor.
What is proposed is to bring forward an adop-
tive Act ; but we rather doubt the efficacy of
this method. County Councils are not uniform
in their ideas.

One very sensible arrangement has been
made. In the opinion of experts foul brood
may be checked and cured if taken in its
earlier stages. The danger is that many owners
are neither able to identify the symptoms nor
take the right measures for dealing with them.
For the purpose of meeting this difficulty a
leaflet similar to those issued by the Board of
Agriculture is to be drawn up, and distributed
through the department. As no one can
doubt that such leaflets— as, for example, those
dealing with acorn-poisoning in cattle and
ensilage — have been of the utmost benefit, it
may be anticipated that equal service will be
rendered to the beeman. Indeed, the plan
might be extended so as include many other
of the interests of the small holder. — Pall
Mall Gazette.

BEE-KEEPING AND RAILWAY
SERVANTS.
The porters and other servants on the moun-
tain districts of the Gothard railway, where
trains are few and far between, have much
spare time on their hands. They occupy their
leisure, it seems, with bee-culture, and the
directors of the railway have lately encouraged
them with small grants and the issue of
practical directions for beginners. In the
year 1887 there were three stands for bee-
hives belonging to railway servants on the
northern side of the St. Gothard ; in 1888 there
were thirty-seven, in 1889 there were sixty

Aug. 8, 1895.]

THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.

317

three. Since that time they have increased so
fast that there were 257 in 1894. The quantity
of honey obtained by the railway bee-keepers
last year amounted to 3,500 lbs., nearly all of
it being taken upon the northern side of the
St. Gothard.

WEATHER REPORT.

Westbourne,
Rainfall, 4-78 in.
Heaviest fall, P39 in.

on 18th.
Rain fell on 16 days.
Above average, 1 -67 in.
Max. Temperature,

73° on 10th.
Min. Temperature, 45°

on 7th.
Sunshine, 194'2 hours.
Brightest Day, 8th,

14 hours.

3-5

July, 1895.
Sunless Days, 3.
Below average,

hours.
Mn. Maximum, 66°.
Mn. Minimum, 51 -8°.
Mean Temperature,

58-9°.
Maximum Barometer,

30-30° on 6th.
Minimum Barometer,

29*43° on 21st.

L. B. Birkett.

§urm and l^ltes.

[1334.] Setting On and Taking Off
Sections. — When placing a section-rack on a
hive I blow a little smoke under quilt. Lift
quilt and give more smoke on top of frames to
drive down bees and then place the rack in
position, but I find after removing sections
there are always several crushed bees adhering
to bottom walls of rack and cross-bars for sup-
porting sections. Again, when placing a
second rack under a partially filled one, the
" bee-crushing" is still greater. I ease-up the
partially filled rack, then lift it off ; insert the
second one below and set the half-filled one in
position above. I use no smoke in this latter
operation because I destroy as many bees with or
without using smoke, for while I am driving
the bees in body-box below the frame tops, to
avoid crushing them in giving the rack of
empty sections, those in full one are running
all over the bottom of rack, so I put on the top
one and trust to good fortune as to how many
bees will be crushed. This is, to my mind, a
most inhuman way to go to work, and I shall
be obliged to be informed — 1 . How to place
section-racks on hives that no bees (if possible)
may be crushed % 2. On going to work with
"Porter Bee-escapes," as described in " Useful
Hints" (July 25, 1895, p. 291), the same diffi-
culty presents itself to me. I use a flat board
(with a liner all round it to keep it off sections)
fitted with zinc cones, and I remove the section-
rack from hive and place it on a board, but in
doing this I also crush very many bees. 3.
How can I avoid this ? I know no one within
five miles of my residence who keeps bees, yet
I see in B.B.J, a bee-keeper writes under the
nom de plume, " Novice, Gosport." If it is
not against your rules I shall be greatly

obliged if you could give me " Novice's "
address that I may have a yarn with him con-
cerning bees. I find it a very great drawback
having no one handy with whom to compare
notes. — Gaffer, Gosport, July 28th.

Reply.— 1. The truism as to a pound of
practice being worth a ton of theory is
especially applicable to bee-operations, and
makes us wish our correspondent was within
reach of an experienced bee-keeper who could,
in a few moments, demonstrate how simple a
thing it is for a bee-man to avoid "bee-
crushing" when removing surplus honey.
However, since the trouble is to be met in
some cases, we advise " Gaffer '' to try using
two carbolised cloths in lieu of smoke, or
rather as an adjunct to that useful bee-subju-
gator. After preparing these cloths in the
usual way, enlist the help of an assistant till
confidence is gained, and go to work as
follows : — Spread out one cloth over a board
same size as section-rack, previously prepared,
with a raised rim of wood, i in. square, on all
sides. After easing-up the rack sufficiently
high to allow of a puff of smoke being blown
in at the junction on all sides, lift the rack off ;
the assistant then instantly lays on the spread
out carbolised cloth, while the full rack is set
on the " board "pceviously covered by the second
cloth. You then remove the first cloth from
the top of frames and, before a bee rises or
shows itself put on the rack of empty sections ;
shake off adhering bees from the cloth and lay
the latter on top of the sections. The assistant
then grasps the overhanging corners of cloth,
on which the partly-filled sections have been
stood — to prevent its sticking to bottom of
rack, while you lift the latter, and on the
assistant removing the cloth, set it above the
empty one and the job is done ! If a single
bee is crushed or injured during the operation
the " job " is badly done. 2. When our corres-
pondent, in writing of the " Porter Bee-
escape " observes that " the same difficulty
presents itself," we are constrained to say he
sadly needs "showing how" to deal with bees,
because in a properly-made " clearer " there
is bee-space both on its upper and under sides
and — except for the outer edges — we cannot
see how bee-crushing can possibly occur.
Besides, whatever "board" a section-rack (full of
bees) is set on, there should be a raised rim to.
protect the bees from "crushing." Finally, " a
flat board fitted with zinc cones," is an entirely
different affair to a super-clearer fitted with a
Porter Bee-escape.

[1335.] Dividing Colonies and Dealing with
Queen-cells. — I commenced the year with
one hive, which I divided at the end of April
because I found queen-cells formed. I put all
brood-combs (except that on which the queen
was) in a new hive, cutting away all queen-
cells but one. The new hive (which f call
No. 2) has gone on quite right. The original
or parent hive (No. 1) — in which was placed
the frame with the queen — alongside full

318

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Aug.. 8, 1895.

frames of foundation, was left on the old
stand. As I did not want any more
increase I thought all would be right, but,
alas, No. 1 swarmed on July 13. I put
the bees back again. Next morning I
examined the combs— which were fall of
brood — and, not knowing the age of queen, I
removed her, besides cutting away all queen-
cells but one. On July 24, No. 1 swarmed
again in two clusters, and while the first
cluster was being hived, the other portion of
the bees went back. The combs were then
examined and swarm returned. I found
twenty queen-cells had been formed after
July 14 ; from old cell I left in the queen had
hatched out all right. On July 26 the swarm
again came out, clustered, and finally returned
to parent hive. I, therefore, ask : — 1. Is it
usual for bees to start making queen-cells
when they have a good one left ? 2. If I had
put the old queen in the new hive and on the
new stand, would it have altered matters ? 3.
Are the bees — of which I forward a sample —
Carniolans, or what 1 — A Bad Beginner,
Bwton-on-Trent, August 1.

Reply. — 1 . It is very unusual. 2. To have
clone this would have been to court failure,
seeing that the one comb of bees with queen
could not possibly have constituted an
artificial swarm on removal to a new stand,
as no flying bees would have been secured.
3. Bees are hybrid carniolans.

[1336.] Super Foundation in Brood-nest. —
1. If half-sheets of super foundation, unwired,
were given by mistake to brood-nest of swarm,
would any serious breakdown be likely to
occur 1 2. Could I drive an early June swarm
(now in skep) first into a box, and then join
bees to parent frame-hive, say about the end
of September, so as to get the honey ? The
parent hive is fairly strong already, but, in
consequence of .swarming three times, there is
no surplus ; and I want a little honey, but do
not wish to destroy the bees. Of course, I
should pick out the skep queen if I could find
her, but, in case I could not, probably the two
queens would fight it out, as they would be
unlikely to swarm at the end of September. —
Amateur, Manchester, August 1.

Reply. — 1. We should be very much sur-
prised if the result was not a break-down.
'2. If the bees are considered as of no value,
they may be driven as suggested ; but we
would prefer cutting out the two outer combs
for honey and leaving the rest for the bees to
winter on.

%tt ^totra to <pmt

August 7, 8, and 9. — Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Halifax. Entries closed.

August 14 and 15. — Kent B.K.A., in con-
nection with the Shepherdswe'l Horticultural
Show. Entries close August 8. J. Garratt,
hon. sec, Meopham, Kent.

August 15. — Goole and District Agricul-
tural Society. Annual show at Goole. Five
open classes for bees and honey. Entries
close August 8. J. Luddington and H. S.
White, secretaries.

August 15. — Berks B.K.A. (Windsor dis-
trict) Show, at Maidenhead, in connection
with the Maidenhead Horticultural Society.
Fourteen classes, with good prizes, for bees,
hives, and honey. For schedules apply to the
Hon. Sec, W. S. Darby, Consort Villas,
Clewer.

August 21. — Wotton-under-Edge and
District Bee-Keepers' Association. In the
Town Hall, Wotton-under-Edge. Eight
classes for honey. Entries close August 14.
Schedules from the hon. sec, E. W. Read,
Wotton-under-Edge.

•August 21 and 22. — Shropshire B.K.A.
annual exhibition of honey, hives, and bee-
appliances in connection with the Shropshire
Horticultural Society's great fete in "The
Quarry," Shrewsbury. Upwards of £35 in
prizes. Entries closed.

August 21. — Wilts B.K.A., in connection
with the Swindon Horticultural Fete in the
Public Gardens, Old Swindon. Nineteen
classes for honey (seven open classes) but no
appliances. Entries close August 14. Schedules
from hon. sec, Rev. W. E. Burkitt, Butter-
mere Rectory, Hungerford.

August 22. — Show of bees, hives, and
honey, in connection with the Horsham Horti-
cultural Society's show at Springfield, Horsham.
Entries close August 17. Lectures in Bee-tent
by the Rev. C. Brereton. R. Gilburd, Sec,
39, Carfax, Horsham.

August 28. — Lanes, and Cheshire B.K.A.
at Fleetwood, Lanes. In connection with the
Horticultural Society. Show of honey. Open
to Lancashire and Cheshire only. Sec,
J. F. Williamson, 18, Bold-street, Fleetwood.
Entries close August 14.

August 31. — Manchester and District B.K.A.
at Worsley ; in connection with Worsley
Horticultural and Agricultural Show. Six
classes for bees, hives, and honey. Liberal
prizes. Entries close August 20. Schedules
from Mr. Upjohn, Worsley, Manchester.

September 5. — North Norfolk B.K.A.
annual show in connection with the Holt
Flower Show, to be held in the grounds of
Brinton Hall. Two special open classes for
single 1 lb. sections and 1 lb. jars of extracted
honey. Entries close August 24. Schedules
from the Hon. Sec, C. J. Cooke, Edgefield,
Melton Constable, Norfolk.

September 3 and 4, South of Scotland
B.K.A. — Annual Honey Show in connection
with the S. of S. Horticultural Society's show
at Dumfries, nineteen classes for honey. Over
fifty prizes. Entries close August 30. John
Currie, Secretary, 7, Assembly-street, Dumfries.
September 4.— Herefordshire B.K.A. annual
show and honey fair, at Hereford. Eight

Aug. 8, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

319

classes for honey. Entries close August 30.
Hon. Sec, Alfred Watkins, Imperial Mills,
Hereford. Consignments of honey for sale
solicited.

September 7. — Lancashire and Cheshire
B.K.A., in connection with Bramhall and
Woodford Horticultural Society. Annual
show of bees and honey at Bramhall Hall.
Open to district only. Schedules from Secre-
tary, J. Bell, Davenport, Stockport.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

September 28. — Roxburghshire B.K.A.
Annual Show in the Corn Exchange, Jed-
burgh. Numerous prizes. Entries close
September 24. Thos. Clark, Secretary.
Pleasants, Jedburgh.

October 8, 9, 10, and 11.— Dairy show at
the Agricultural Hall, London, Liberal prizes
in five classes for honey. Open to all. Entries
close September 9. For schedules apply
Wm. C. Young, sec. Dairy Farmers' Associa-
tion, 12, Hanover-square, London.

Notioe8to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queriet formardal mil be attended to, ant those
i nly of personal inttrat will be amwerei in this column.

Sidney Oakley (Dover). — A Bad Start in
Bee-Keeping. — Our correspondent has made
an unfortunate start. If, however, among
the " lot of bee literature '' lately studied by
him, the " Guide Book " was included, the
chapter on " How to Commence Bee-Keep-
ing " (page 136) should have had an especial
interest for a beginner, and a perusal there-
of would probably have been a caution
against buying " vtry weak " stocks in
straw skeps, apparently without even know-
ing whether the bees were healthy or not.
When starting bee-keeping in frame-hives
it is always best to furnish the hive with a
good swarm (a natural one, if possible), and
get it earlv in the year. Otherwise, or where
established stocks— whether in frame-hives
or in skeps — are bought, the help of a com-
petent person should be enlisted forjudging
of their condition, unless implicit confidence
is placed in the seller. It would be folly to
burn the skeps because they bave not
swarmed or yielded any honey this year,
before having a reliable opinion as to their
condition. Unless the help of a friendly
bee-keeper could be enlisted our advice is to
join the Kent B.K.A., and get, the expert to
report on the sk^ps when on his autumn
tour among members. The hon. sec. (J.
Garratt, E^q., Meopham) would furnish all
information if applied to.

Beginner (Hinckley). — Unfinished Sections.
— 1. If the outer sections are not taken to
while inner ones are filled, it denotes some

fault in not packing properly for warmth.
2. It is better when outer cells are well
filled close to the wood, but it is only in
good seasons that very perfect sections can
be had. 3. Use a narrow edging of lace-
paper to hold the glass in position and give
a finish to the appearance of the section.
They should be sent to the show in a proper
crate made for the purpose by appliance

T. H. D. (Elland).— Bees Casting Out Brood.—
The symptoms noticed are not unusual at
this season, and indicate the stoppage of
natural income. Food should on no account,
however, be offered to bees " in a dish
placed by the hive," nor should additional
room have been given under the circum-
stances. In fact, " T. H. D." seems to sadly
need a bee-book of some kind for his general
guidance, and when the useful handbook,
" Modern Bee-keeping," can be had post
free for 7d., he should certainly invest that
sum, both for the sake of his bees and him-
self.

H. M. Turner (Oxford).— "Wells'' Hives for
Winter. — Each compartment should have
as many frames as the bees will cover well.

W. C. Thomas (Falmouth).— Foul Brood.—
The question you put is entirely one of
opinion, and for ours refer to B.J. of June 6,
page 221.

Geo. Head (Windsor). — Honey for Exhibi~
Hon. — Honey sent is certainly good enough
for showing, but whether it would win or
not depends, of course, upon the quality of
the competing exhibits. In any case, how-
ever, greater care will be needed in straining
your honey. All the samples sent are
spoiled for showing by having more or less
small particles of wax in them. Straining
through fine muslin would, however, remove
this fault. Of the samples we like No. 1
best. All are good in colour, Nos. 1 and 2
best in flavour, but the latter is the weak
point in all four specimens, none being first
rate in flavour. No. 1 is good, the others
medium, on this point.

Thos. Goocii (Sydenham). — Varieties of Bees.
— The queen of No. 1 is a hybrid ligurian,
but, if the accompanying bees are her
progeny, she has mated with an ordinary or
black drone. No. 2. Hybrid ligurian.
No. 3. Ordinary brown bees.

T. G. G.— Sample received is a good specimen
of honey, mainly from white clover. It is
rapidly granulating however, and if in-
tended for showing would require gently
warming in warm water till it cleared.

R. Auld (Combe Grange) — Honey sent is
chiefly from limes. It is too thin to be
classed as good honey, though free from
honey dew.

Beeswing ( Wetheral). — Renewing Combs. —
The best time to renew combs by giving
sheets of foundation is during settled
weather in the nion^h of April, when bees

320

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Aug. 8, 189o.

are breeding freely. If the foundation is
well fixed in the frames, and the hive set
level, there is no actual need for " wiring ''
the foundation, though it is safer to do so.
Give one sheet at a time, at intervals of five
days, in centre of brood-nest by parting the
combs after removing an outside frame
(broodless, of course). Do not operate with
hives having less than five or six frames well
covered with bees.

H. S. W. (Cambs).— The bulk of dead brood
in comb sent, by its appearance, strongly
bears out your idea that " overdosing " has
had something to do with the mischief.
There is, however, a slight trace of foul
brood, which necessitates the medicating of
all food given. But be careful about over-
dosing in the way stated in future.

The Holms. — Comb is badly affected with foul
brood, and, as you report the stock " very
weak," the best course by far is to burn the
lot.

W. Summers (Pershore.) Removing Bees
from Frame-hive. — The bees may be removed
by shaking them off the combs on to a
board and allowing them to run into a skep
raised in front for entrance. You cannot
well " drive " them from the frames, besides
shaking off is much easier. We are curious
to know why you " wish to destroy the bees
as they are rather savage '.' 1 Why not re-
queen them ?
We are again compelled to hold over several

letters till next week for want of space.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, dee. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three

words or under, One Penny.

BSEKVATORY HIVE, mahogany ; unused. Cost
£3. 15s. EXCHANGE for Bees, or offers. MALLOCH,
Bentham, Yorks. H 94

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS, from LUCIA PAGLIA,
Royal Bee Establishment, 5s. each. Cash with
order. J. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road, Wimbledon.
« TTONEY AND ITS USES." By Rev. Gerard W.
li Bancks, M.A. 3s. 6d. per 100. Specimen copy
sent. Address, The Green, Dartford. H 80

QUEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
" Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

Qr\ YEARS a Speciality-QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
^\-J Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfield, Sussex. 116

ACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. 100 strips,
22 inches long, 8d., 200, Is. 3d., 300, Is. 9d., 400,
2s. 3d., 500, 2s. 9d. Three neat patterns stocked.
W. Woodley. Beedon, Newbury.

''pHREE "WELLS" HIVES, well stocked with
1 Ligurian Bees and '95 Queen, plenty of stores for
winter, £2. 2s. ; with 4 Crates, 21 1-lb. Sections, £2. 10s.
Three-Frame Nuclei, Ligurians, 5s. 6d. Hybrids for
Sale. J. Pargeter, Cropredy, Leamington. h 93

DRIVEN BEES, guaranteed perfectly healthy, Is.
per lb., Queen included. In ordering, mention
railway station. Money promptly returned where
orders cannot be supplied. A few spare Queens at 2s. Od.
each. Owen Browning, King Somborne, Stockbridge,
Hants. H92

FINE TESTED 1895 FERTILE QUEENS, 3s. 6d. each.
Safe arrival. 3-Frame Nuclei, including Queen,
10s. Od. Bees Is. 6d. lb. for 5 lb. lots or over, queen
included. Guaranteed healthy. Boxes to be returned.
C. Whiting, Valley Apiary, Hundon, Clare, Suffolk.
Porterage telegrams, Is. 6d. H 79

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued,

I BEG to thank my Customers who have done business
with me for so many years, and to ask them to
forward their orders. I have some splendid Clover
Honey (fit for any table), pale colour, and good aroma,
7d. per lb. in 60 lb. tins. T. Holliday, The Apiary,
Astbury, Congleton. 153

-| OQt5 HYBRID QUEENS.-Special Ligurian Hy-
■iUo'<-' brids— Queens, tested, 5s. 6d. each; Virgin
Queens, 3s. each. All Queens sent in my new Intro-
ducing Cages, post free. Safe arrival guaranteed.
Orders executed in rotation. H. W. Brice, Beulah-
road N., Thornton Heath, Surrey.

YE 0LDE ENGLISHE BEE.

Fine selected Fertile Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Sent in my Intro-
ducing Cage, guaranteeing safe arrival. Parcel Postage
3d. W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

BLAKEY'S BEE FEEDER.

Made of wood, zinc, and glass. Holds one pint of
syrup, and can be filled without removing from hive,
and bees may be observed as they take the food without
escaping. Price 6d. each. Postage of one costs 4^d.,
two 6d., four 9d., six Is. Id. J. M. BALMBRA, 2,
East-parade, Alnwick, Northumberland.

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

BBE-KEEPERSin LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE,&c.
THE CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES
for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL 50, GREAT
CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE ROSE. Why pay
carriage from longdistances, when you can buy as cheap
and good locally, and have your orders promptly attended
to? Catalogues gratis. Sow now CHAPMAN'S HONEY
PLANT, 6d. Packet. Expected shortly, big lot of
HONEY JARS (screw and tieover). Large buyers, please
write at once. Very low prices per crate of 3 gross
ex dock on arrival. Best Falcon Sections very low per
1,000 or 10,000.

SPECIAL_NOTICE,

J. S. CREENHILL has been awarded FIRST
PRIZE for his Ten Shilling: Cottage Hive,

at Tunbridge Wells Show, a most suitable Hive for
Cottagers,

Metal-top Glasses, with wads per gross 21s.

Glaze Cases (both sides) ... Is. 9d. doz. ; 18s. gross.

J. S. CREENHILL, 80, Graham road, Wimbledon.

(27 Years with Neighbour & Sons.)

DON'T GET STUNG!

WHEN, BY USING .A. PIPUGB

YOU CAN PREVENT IT.

•T BEE-KEEPERS SAY IT IS MARVELLOUS, AND "©*

THEY WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT IT-

Send for a Bottle at once.

Small Bottles 1/-, Large Bottles, 1/9, Post Free.

Cash must accompany Order.

To be obtained of all Appliance Dealers and

DARGY GRIMSHAW, HORSFORTH, LEEDS.

CARBOLINE POMADE

(FOURTH SEASON).

Kills Bee-stings like magic.

CARBOLIN^ POMADE

Prevents the horrible smarting and burning
inflammation.
CARBOLINE POMADE

Prevents getting stung, robbing, &o.
CARBOLINE POMADE

Is. per bottle.post free. T. HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY,
CONGLETON.

Aug. 15, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

321

USEFUL HINTS.
(Continued from page 311).
The Closing Season. — We are now
getting within sight of the close of the
bee-season of 1895, and those who would
be wise in time will do well to at once
set about some needful work by way of
preparing their bees for the quiet time
now near at hand. It may be regarded
as a truism that— in bee- work — prepara-
tion for the coming year begins in the
autumn of the preceding one. This is
always true, because no amount of after-
care in nursing stocks of bees — begun
only when the warmth of April is
making itself felt — can possibly result in
a manner entirely satisfactory to the bee-
keeper. In preparing for a successful
season in '96, the start should be made
in the autumn of '95, and — to come to
details — the most important point
towards achieving success is to have
every colony in the apiary headed by a
good queen. We ask, what is the
good of caring carefully for, and in-
curring expense and trouble in
" seeing to " a stock of bees, the
very existence of which is fading out
of sight by reason of its being headed by
an aged and worn-out queen ? Hence
the absolute need for making the
"mother-bee" a first consideration.
Well knowing the value of this point,
experienced bee-keepers appreciate it
accordingly. Next in importance comes
feeding-up in good time, wherever stores
are short. No urging should be required
on this point. The need for ridding of
its superflous moisture all syrup-food
given to bees, and of getting it sealed
over while the weather is warm, is so
obvious that no one can afford to over-
look it. Where a good supply is needed
the food should be given at the rate of
about one quart of syrup per week, — and
the " feeder " should be so arranged that
it occupies the bees seven days in taking
it down. During the third week in
September an inspection of the combs
is made, and if any additional food is
required it must be given in " one dose "
with a " rapid feeder." Subsequent pro-
ceedings include a full examination of
combs to see that no suspicious sealed-
cells are scattered over them, also

that there is no superfluous drone-
comb, or faulty combs in any of the
frames. If such are seen they must be
marked for removal when the final
" winter packing " takes place later on.
In our next " Hints " we shall continue

this subject.

AN APPEAL

ON BEHALF OF THE WIDOW AND FAMILY
OF THE LATE THOS. BADCOCK.

In response to the generous offer made on
page 311 of our last issue, the names of five
intending donors of 10s. each have been
forwarded to us ; so that five more contribu-
tions of 10s. will secure an additional five
pounds to the above fund.

LEICESTERSHIRE B.K.A.

SHOWS AT VICTORIA AND ABBEY PARKS.

The annual show of this association was
held in connection with the Leicestershire
Agricultural {Society, at the Victoria Park,
Leicester, on July 31 and August 1. It is a
gratifying sign to note the increasing interest
taken in this section of the show. The entries
were the largest yet known, numbering eighty-
seven. The quality also was very fine, there
being an evenness in the whole of the exhibits
which made the competition very keeD. The
artistically arranged collections of honey were
very effective, and, together with an interest-
ing display of appliances, made up an exhibi-
tion that it would be difficult to equal, and ex-
ceedingly hard to surpass. Mr. J. H. Howard,
of Peterborough, gave very instructive lectures
on bee-keeping on each day in the manipulat-
ing tent, and also officiated as judge. The
following were his awards : —

Observatory Hive. — 1st, J. Cooper, Leicester ;
2nd, J. Waterfield, Kibworth.

Twenty-four lib. Sections.— 1st, J. Water-
field.

Three Shallow Frames of Honey.— 1st, J. P.
Falkner, Market Harboro ; 2nd, J. Waterfield ;
3rd, Dr. Fulshaw, Earl Shilton.

Twenty-four l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. —
1st, Miss Chester ; 2nd, A. Parry ; 3rd, Mrs.
Parry.

Twelve l-lb. Sections.— 1st, J. Waterfield ;
2nd, Mrs. Green, Mowsley Rectory ; 3rd, J.
Fewkes, Glenn Magna.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st,
Miss Chester ; 2nd, J. Waterfield ; 3rd, Mrs.
Parry.

Display of Honey in any form. — 1st, J.
Waterfield ; 2nd, J. Cooper ; 3rd, Miss Chester ;
extra prize, Miss Throsby.

The above association also held an exhibition
of honey, in connection with the Leicester Hor-
ticultural Society, at the Abbey Park, Leices-
ter, on August 6, and although inclement
weather prevailed, this department proved, as
usual, a great source of attraction to visitors.
Interesting lectures on bee-keeping were given
at intervals by Mr. A. G. Pugh, of Notting-

322

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 15, 1895.

ham, assisted by the secretary of the L.B.K.A.,
Mr. J. Waterfield. A word of praise is due to
the exhibitors of " collections of honey,'' for
the very tasteful way in which they were staged.
Mr. Pugh acted as judge, and made the
following awards : —

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, J.
Waterfield; 2nd, G. B. Cooper; 3rd, Mrs.
Parry ; 4th, W. P. Meadows.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, J. Waterfield ;
2nd, W. P. Meadows.

Collection of Honey. — 1st, J. Waterfield and
W. P. Meadows (equal) ; 3rd, J. Cooper.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey. — 1st,
W. Parkinson, Groby ; 2nd, W. P. Meadows.
— Communicated.

GLAMOEGAN B.K. ASSOCIATION.

SHOW AT BARRY.

The annual exhibition of the above associa-
tion was held in connection with that of the
Glamorgan Agricultural Society on July 24
and 25. The honey classes were exceedingly
good for the season, and the special interest
taken in the honey department was very
marked, no doubt owing to the large number
of bee-keepers in the county of Glamorgan.
The following awards were made : —

Six l-lb. Sections {Open). — 1st, A. Hamer,
Llanarthney Station ; 2nd, Mrs. Powell,
Gilston Manor, Cowbridge.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, W.
Parry, Bridgend ; 2nd, M. A. Thomas, Cow-
bridge.

Six 1 or 2-lb. Sections {Local). — 1st, General
H. H. Lee, Dinas Powis ; 2nd, Thos. Matthews,
Dinas Powis.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
General H. H. Lee ; 2nd, Thos. Matthews.

Frame of New Honey. — 1st, Thos. Matthews ;
2nd, James Mote, Cadoxton.

Beeswax. — 1st, General H. H. Lee ; 2nd,
Thos. Williams.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, E. Thornton,
Bridgend ; 2nd, B. Thomas, Cowbridge.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
T. Gregory, Bridgend ; 2nd, Thos. Matthews.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, B. Oakley, Cow-
bridge.

Twelve Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, J.
Gardener ;^2nd, E. Thornton.

Single l-lb. Section. — 1st, E. Thornton. —
{Communicated.)

STAFFOEDSHIEE BEE-KEEPEES'
ASSOCIATION.

The annual exhibition was held in connec-
tion with the show of the Staffordshire Agri-
cultural Society at West Bromwich on
August 6 and 7.

The provision made by the society for the
display of the exhibits in the bee department
was excellent, and in contrast to the limited
accommodation at the Jubilee Show at Stone

last year, where, it will be remembered, addi-
tional space had to be improvised at the last
moment. The total quantity of honey staged
was upwards of 1,500 lb. The most con-
spicuous and attractive feature on entering
was the collections of " honey in any form,"
which were tastefully arranged on a long
table. Mr. Williams, of Lichfield, was again
to the fore with a fine display of light and
uniformly- coloured honey, and took the Bee-
keepers' Association gold medal. The second
prize exhibit of Mr. Elihu Clowes was little
inferior. All except one of the six exhibits
staged in this class had their merits recog-
nised by the j udges.

Taking the exhibits as a whole, they were
most creditable, and with a large entry in
nearly all the honey classes an exceedingly
good show resulted.

Mr. Cock, the expert of the Association,
gave lectures and practical demonstrations in
the bee tent during the show. Mr. H.
Twentyman, the hon. secretary, Mr. E. E.
Crisp, and several members of the committee

rendered important aid in arranging the

exhibits.

On Wednesday Mr. Palmer conducted an

examination of five candidates for experts'

certificates.
The judges — Mr. John Palmer, Ludlow,

Salop, Mr. E. T. Jones, Etwall, Derby— made

the following awards : —

Exhibit of Honey not over 150 lb. — 1st,

Wm. Williams, Lichfield ; 2nd, Elihu Clowes,

Blackbrook ; 3rd, A. W. Eollins, Stourbridge ;

4th, T. Simpson, Lichfield ; 5th, T. Greensill,

Queslett, Birmingham.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, Mrs. G. E.

Dyott, Lichfield ; . 2nd, Thos. Simpson ; 3rd,

J. W. Hughes, Lightwood Chase, Longton ;

4th, Elihu Clowes.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. —

1st, E. E. Crisp, Stafford ; 2nd, Miss

F. E. Smith, Lichfield ; 3rd, J. H. Collier,

Stafford ; 4th, Elihu Clowes ; v.h.c, W.

Williams, Miss E. A. Cooper, Aldridge, Mrs.

Fausset, Tamworth ; h.c, Miss A. M. Lloyd,

Lichfield, E. W. Jackson, Milton, T. J.

Horseley, Wolverhampton.
Six l-lb. Sections. — 1st, T. Simpson ; 2nd,

F. E. Smith ; 3rd, Harold Twentyman, Wol-
verhampton ; v.h.c, Mrs. G. E. Dyott.

l-lb. Section and l-lb. Jar of Extracted

Honey.— 1st, Miss F. E. Smith ; 2nd, Harold

Twentyman ; 3rd, E. Clowes ; 4th, T. J.

Horsley.
Non-Sectional Super.— 1st, A. W. Eollins.
Twelve l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey. — 1st,

H. Wood, Lichfield ; 2nd, E. W. Jackson ;

3rd, T. Simpson ; v.h.c, E. Clowes ; h.c,

J. H. Collier.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,

John Wallis, Keefe ; 2nd, P. Blair, Trentham

Gardens; 3rd, T. J. Horsley; h.c, W.

Williams.
Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey in Blow's

Screw-cap Bottles. — E. E. Crisp.

Aug. 15, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

323

OPEN CLASSES.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, S. Cartwright,
Shawbury, Shrewsbury ; 2nd, T. Simpson ;
3rd, Mrs. S. Richards, Wolverhampton ; v.h.c,
J. Grove, Birmingham.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
S. Cartwright ; 2nd, Miss F. E. Smith ; 3rd,
Mrs. G. Dyott ; v.h.c, Rev. E. Charley, Ince
Vicarage, Chester ; h.c, J. H. Collier,
and George Woodward, Rugeley.

Collection of Hives and Appliances. — 1st,
T. Walmsiey, jun. ; 2nd, Messrs. Thomson,
Birmingham.

Best Hive. — 1st, T. Walmsiey, jun. ; v.h.c,
W. H. Bayliss, Stafford ; h.c, T. Greensill.

Beeswax. — 1st, T. Simpson ; 2nd, E. Clowes ;
3rd, H. Wood ; v.h.c, J. Beach, Burntwood.

Observatory Hive. — 1st, A. W. Rollins ; 2nd,
Elihu Clowes ; 3rd, Robert Cock, Stafford.
labourers' classes.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, R. Middleton,
Stafford.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
C. Shearman, Lichfield ; 2nd, R. Middleton ;
3rd, W. T. Collier, Hajighton.

l-lb. Section and l-lb. Jar Extracted Honey.
— 1st, R. Middleton. — (Communicated.)

tymmpnkMt

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should , be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, <kc, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <kc, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements ).

%* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[2146.] Weare having a spell of wet, unsettled
weather, which is trying to the farmer and
also interferes with the bee-keeper's hopes of a
harvest of heather-honey. I hear the "ling"
is in full bloom away on the hills, but fear
the weight of hives located there are not
augmenting.

We have here a good sprinkling of clover-
bloom, and during sunshine the bees take
advantage of the little breaks and work on it
like — well, like bees !

Choosing a Bee-Location. — One or two
correspondents have lately asked my opinion
as to certain districts being " good for bee-
keeping." Now, I will state a few of the
difficulties in the way of answering straight off'

or with advantage to querists. One ought to
know (1) the system of farming pursued in the
neighbourhood with about the proportion of
arable to pasture land. (2) If wild mustard
grows spontaneously along with the various
crops, and (3) if there is any heather or down-
land adjoining? Salient points like these
must be known to any advisor desiring
to give practical help to his questioner.
Speaking generally, however, and for
myself only, of course, I may say that
first, in planting an apiary I would not seek
a solely fruit-growing district. Fruit trees
bloom too early in the Spring to be of much
service in securing a crop of honey in our fickle
springtime, and stocks cannot be readily
brought up to the " boiling over " point by the
time of fruit bloom. I have in my mind a
fairly large apiary in a fruit district in which
the balance is on the wrong side. If there
are orchards with adjoining fields of white
clover, sainfoin, wild mustard, vetches, beans,
&c. also lime trees, here I would establish my
apiary on the sunny side of a wood if possible
in which were grown a goodly number of
withies, (usually called "palm"). Bees will
work profitably on flowers — if in quantities —
within a radius of two miles. But has anyone
thought of the large area of forage-ground
included in a two-miles radius ? Why, two
miles to all the points of the compass gives
about 12^ square miles of bee-forage. This
fact will account for bees storing so _ large a
quantity of honey at times in a good district.

I have been asked to give my method of
using the " super-clearer." Our Editors, in
reply to " Gaffer" (on p. 317), fairly cover the
ground, but as I have no "assistant" and do
not require one I proceed as follows : — Provide
a "carbolised cloth" by dipping a piece of
calico in carbolic solution prepared in the usual
way ; wring it out well ; take a stool, a box
or a light crate— this is jour porter all through
the season— place the rack of sections on your
" porter," remove all coverings except the last
piece of carpet ; and, after shaking out carbo-
lised cloth, take the two front corners of carpet
between your thumbs and fore-fingers, while
holding the carbolised cloth between the first
and second fingers ; then, as you peel off
carpet, the carbolised cloth takes its place, and
the obnoxious effluvia causes the bees to rush
down between the combs ; lift off the cloth
and you can place the super on without killing
a bee. When adding a second rack under the
first one, place the former on your " porter,"
then give the rack of sections on the hive a
slight twist — to break attachments to
frames — shake out your cloth ready and
drop its folds down in a heap (so to speak)
between the front of hive and rack of
sections ; now raise the rack, and, while
adroitly swinging it back, allow the cloth to
fall on top of frames ; then gently lower
the rack of sections on to the top of spread
out cloth above frames, keeping it in your
hands : the smell of the carbolic will drive

324

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 15, 1895.

the bees in super up into the sections ; place
it on top of the empty rack on your
"porter." Take hold of carbolic cloth by the
the middle, raise it a little, and then let it fall
once or twice, to drive the bees down out of
your way ; remove it quickly, and place the
two supers over the brood again without
crushing a bee (I sometimes use two cloths,
but I never lay a cloth on the super clearer).
When removing racks of finished sections
stand your "*porter " at a convenient distance
with super clearer on it ready to receive the
honey ; a little twist — as before — will loosen
top crate from bottom one ; grasp it both
sides, also the two corners of carbolised cloth,
and, as the rack travels in your hands towards
the clearer, the cloth covers the crate on hive ;
the full one is placed on " clearer," the cloth is
pulled off, the clearer and rack being placed
on the lower rack and the hive cover replaced.
After the bees are out and the honey removed,
the " clearer " is removed, the top of sections
still on the hive being covered for a moment
with the carbolised cloth. On removing this,
replace the quilts before bees come up. — W.
Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

[In view of our correspondent's description
of his method of using super-clearers being
regarded in the light of a comparison with — or
suggested improvement on — the plan followed
when removing surplus honey by the writer of
"reply" quoted, it may be well to remind
readers that the directions given to " Gaffer "
were intended to meet the special troubles
detailed in query 1334, and not in any way as
a description of an experienced bee-keeper's
method of using a super-clearer ; or — as seems
to be inferred — of the plan personally followed
by the Editor who wrote the reply on p. 317.
—Eds.]

OUR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE.

BEE-REEPING IN SPAIN.

[2147.] Seeing the gentleman from Kent
(2126, p. 295) is delighted with foreign corres-
pondence, I concluded to add my mite and
drop you a line on bee-keeping in Spain.

Within a few years, modern bee-keeping has
made great strides on the Peninsula and in
our Balearic group. We have now in Spain
three apicultural journals published, one in
Barcelona by Senor Bellock, translator of your
Guide Booh ; another in Badajoz by Senor
Martin ; and a third in Minorca by your
humble servant. Two of us use the " Cowan
hive '' and English fittings ; the third in
Barcelona is partial to the French one-story
hive of De Layens.

Our season here in Minorca has been just
splendid. We possess three apiaries, two in
the interior and one at home. There are
several others besides. During the sainfoin,
honeyflow (Hcdysarum coronarium), in the
interior, when the fields are all ablaze with the
blooming of this magnificent bee-plant, it is,

indeed, a sight worthy of the ancient gods. It
is the greatest boon we ever had here. Some
farms which would formerly have sold for a
few hundred pounds, the land was so poor,
and which could hardly manage half-a-dozen
cows, are now, owing to this excellent foraging
plant, worth their thousands, and now keep
twenty or forty head of cattle.

During the bloom of the sainfoin our farmers
just let the cattle into some of the overflower-
ing pastures and fatten them after the fashion
of fattening hogs in the corn-fields of the west.
Large quantities are also cut and sold for hay,
and enough is left for food the year round.

The method generally followed here for
planting sainfoin is as follows : — When the
young seedlings are a few inches high, say in
November or December, they are transplanted,
some three or four feet apart, among the already
growing wheat in the fields. The sainfoin then
grows about a foot high. Thus the sainfoin
grow but thinly, shut in by the wheat, but
after the latter is harvested (by hand, of
course,) the plant flowers and produces enough
seed for the wants of the coming year.

It sows itself, and the year following the
field is a brilliant mass of green and red. In
fact it grows so rank that you cannot see the
cattle fattening in its shade. It also produces
honey of the finest quality in large quantities.
Our two apiaries in that region— some eighty
hives— have given us this season over a ton of
very superior honey, and in all probability we
shall extract a few hundred weight more. At
the home apiary some of our stocks of hybrid
bees have done so well that, after filling three
stories and refusing to swarm, they went to
work on a 21 section rack we added as a
preventive, and filled and capped it in a solid
mass. Of course, no precautions were taken
to drive the bees into the sections, the object
being to keep them from swarming. Only
two out of 20 hives swarmed, and as a result
I have here but half-a-dozen good swarms
for next year's honey-flow. But the bees are
at work as for dear life, filling second stories
and even "drawing-out foundation."

Your season would seem to have been less
abundant than ours. This made me think of
sending over a few hundred weight of our
honey as a sample. But your " Tight little
Island " seems jealous of us " furriners ; " even
" A. Beille " who so delights in foreign corres-
pondence and contributions, hoping no " con-
tributions " of honey shall be allowed to flood
your markets. Sorry for you, as Dr. Miller
says, "we be brethren." — Yours fraternally,
F. C. Andreu, Port Mahon, Spain, August 2.

MEASURING BEE-PASTURAGE.

[2148.] Referring to Mr. Edward Lock-
wood's letter in last week's B.J. (2142, p. 314)
allow me to say that in our village and a
village adjoining, there are over 30 stocks of
bees, all within a square mile of ground, or 640

Aug. 15, 1895.] THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL

325

acres, pasture, arable, and fruit. Where the
bees have proper attention they gather much
honey — from 30 up to 120 lb. per hive. All
districts are, of course, not equally favourable
for bees, and if your correspondent's pastures
are unsuitable for the purpose he ought not to
write a cynical letter, casting reflections which
our opponents will use to the discouragement
of bee-keeping generally. A better distribution
of bee- keepers all over the kingdom is no doubt
desirable. There are in some parts grand
bee-pastures without a single bee-keeper ; on
the other hand, and probably it is the case
at Kingham, bees are overdone — unless the ill-
success happens to be caused by bad bee-
keeping. I fear statistics are often very un-
reliable a3 proofs. Lord Beaconsfield is said
to have classified untruths in gradations, thus :

— " Lies," " D lies," and " statistics." I

think, too, we are much indebted to Mr. Lock-
wook for starting a very profitable question,
and if he had but rendered his classical quota-
tion into plain English, for the benefit of the
less scholarly bee-keepers, he would have con-
ferred a further favour on your numerous
readers. I am just off to the vicarage to get
it translated. — I. Prior, August 10.

SURREY BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

[2149.] Your correspondent, Mr. H. W.
Brice (2138, p. 313), sends up another wail at
the state of slumber into which the Surrey
Bee-keepers Association appears to have fallen,
and it is a matter of sincere regret to myself
that I can only re-echo that wail. We have
just completed a two months' tour in that
county with our Bee- Van on behalf of the
County Council, and I can safely say that with
a strong committee and an energetic honorary
secretary, there is no county with which I am
acquainted that offers so good a field of labour
in. this respect as Surrey. In almost every one
of the places we visited (upwards of 40) we
were met with the question, Where is the
Surrey B.K.A. ? and our only answer could be
that it was practically non-existent. We
found ample evidence of good work having
been done in the past by our "Grand Old
Man," Captain Campbell, but at his great age it
is physically impossible to carry on" the work,
although I feel sure he would do all in his
power to help any one with the work, and in
this respect his extensive experience would be
invaluable. As an honorary secretary of some
years experience I can promise any one with
the necessary time and energy who will take
up the work— and it will be no sinecure — that
they will find a rich reward in finding hosts of
friends to help them in the work.

I hope later on to have an opportunity of
saying something further on the subject, but if
in the meantime we can do anything to help
forward the revival of the Surrey B.K.A. into
its old vigour, I for one will be glad to do so.

Your correspondent (Mr. Brice) also refers
to the desirability of the adoption of the
County Association label. As the pioneers of
this particular branch of County Association
work, I may perhaps be allowed to say some-
thing, and I venture to assert that in no part
of our work has there been such satisfactory
results. We find that our agents are awakened
to the fact that it pays better to sell genuine
British honey, with the endorsement of the
County Association upon it, than the spurious
foreign article sold as " pure honey,'' which
has too often been found in their shops. With
the general adoption of official labels under the
guarantee of the County Associations, and
with an association for each county there is no
reason why this rubbish should not be relegated
to its proper place, and pure British honey
substituted. Of course, there are some pre-
cautions to be taken in the matter, but it
is not necessary to refer to them now, as they
were fully dealt with in my paper before the
British B.K.A. I shall, however, have great
pleasure in giving further particulars to any
county secretary who wants help in the matter,
as we have often been able to do in the past.

Permit me to add that my remarks re the
Surrey B.K.A. have been written without
reference to Captain Campbell, and 1 feel sure
he will understand the spirit in which they are
written ; knowing so well the valuable work he
has done in the county of Surrey, he will, I
know, be the first to help any one willing to
step in and continue it. I can only repeat Mr.
Brice's query, " Where is he ? '' — A. D. Wood-
ley, Hon. Secretary, Berks B.K.A., 17, Market-
place, Reading, August 10.

THE SEASON IN NORTH WALES.

[2150.] In the Vale of Clwyd, North Wales,
we have had an excellent season with the bees,
although there is very little heather honey
within reach. Our bees do remarkably well
just while the honey flow lasts. Foul brood
is also unknown in our district, or for miles
round ; in fact, I don't know anyone who
could tell what such a thing was like. I am
wondering if it is a common thing for bees
to damage fruit ? Last year I noticed them
attacking the pears, and this year they are
very busy on the gooseberries. It is my
second year with bees, and I find them very
profitable indeed. I have made ,£3. 7s. 6d.,
besides giving a good quantity of honey away
to my friends. I have also had three swarms,
all of which are now in an excellent con-
dition. I bought two Italian queens, and in-
troduced them roughly, one into a skep, the
other into a frame-hive, and both have done
well. When introducing the queens I used
no cage ; but simply worked the bees about a
good bit, and then united them peacefully,
and they have fully stocked both hives. We
have no Bee Association in this part, so that

326

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 15, 1895.

bee-keepers are generally very backward in
the craft. It is the usual thing for cottagers
around here to commit their bees to the
sulphur pit. — Thomas L. Smith, St. Asaph,
North Wales.

BEE-HOUSES.

A PORTABLE BEE-HOUSE IN SECTIONS.

(Co7icluded from page 316.)
To furnish it, cut seven shelves or flaps,
each 2 ft. broad, the outer edge being 3 ft.
wide, and the inner edge only 16 in. (Fig. 8).
Hinge the upper face of each shelf to lower
side of central batten in
--* each side, so that when
not in use it can fall down
flat against side, and cut a
slit 6 in. by \ in. through
side of bee-house for a bee-
passage. Cut fourteen
laths 2 ft. 6 in. by 3 in. by
1 in., and hinge two of

Fig. 8.

them to bottom batten of each side panel, so
that they may support the shelf when in use,
and when packed may lie fiat over same shelf.
The details are made clear in Fig. 9.

Fig. 9.

A small alighting- board can be easily secured
by screws to outside of house opposite each
hive when in use, and as easily removed when
desired. In the same way a strip of zinc, 6 ft.
long and 6 in. wide, could be tacked over
joinings of roof panels, and panes of glass
12 in. long and 3 in. to 6 in. wide inserted in
roof for light and ventilation.

When the house is erected it would be well
to finish it with a neat eave-spout, and also
slightly lower the ground for a few inches all
round it to keep out damp. — H. W. Brice,
Thornton Heath.

[The other two Bee-Houses referred to by
our correspondent on p. 315 are shown
below. — Eds."

BEE-HOUSE FOR FOUR HIVES.

§wxm mi Unites.

[1337.] Bees Refusing to Swarm. — About
twelve months ago I received of a friend a
present of a colony of bees in a straw skep.
It was a swarm of that year (1894). There
was some heather in the neighbourhood and
the bees pastured it well before going into
winter quarters. I put extra covering on to keep
them warm and dry, but the winter here was
unusually severe, many of the bees died, and
they came out in the spring very weak. They
continued, however, gradually to increase in
numbers, until at last they became really
strong. And then, as I was anxious to increase
my stock, I subscribed for the Journal and
Record, ordered several of the best manuals on
the subject, procured a frame hive, filled it
with five frames of foundation to begin with —
flanked with a division board — and put it in
place for the reception of the impatiently
expected swarm, which, however, up to the
present has failed to materialise. I noticed
that on the 24th ult. some drones began to
make their appearance, and supposed that
the bees intended to supersede the queen, and
that we might by-and-by have a new queen
and perhaps a late swarm. But, instead, they
quit work, betrayed symptoms of apprehen-
sion or indecision, sometimes flew wildly
about, and at others clustered in a bunch

Aug. 15, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

327

under or from the edge of the alighting board.
I have been from home for several days, and
on returning last night I found them clustered
as before. But to-day I find, say, about half
of them idle and the rest at work bringing in
pollen varying in colour from cream colour to
a deep vermilion.

Now, what do you advise me to do with
them ? If queenless, would they all perish ?
If not queenless, should they be allowed to
winter in the old skep, or would it be better
to order a Ligurian queen and drive them into
the new frame hive % I may add that I have
everything in the shape of appliances that I
think I shall require for manipulating the
bees. — J. H. Hanna, The Manse, Armagh.

Reply. — There is nothing whatever in the de-
tails given above to indicate queenlessness. The
stock was evidently so weak in spring that the best
portion of the swarming season was over before
the hive was at all incommoded with excess of
population, and this has no doubt removed all
desire to swarm. In view of the desire to get
the frame-hive to work, it is unfortunate that
our correspondent did not communicate with
us earlier in the season, because there would
have been little difficulty in making an artifi-
cial swarm from the skep directly it became
strong enough to bear depleting of its surplus
bees. It is, however, too late now to think of
following that course, and we advise wintering
the bees in skep.

In the early spring of '96 a little judicious
stimulation will bring the bees on in good
time for either natural swarming or for making
an artificial one ; and this will be far the best
method of furnishing your first frame-hive.

[1338.] Establishing Stocks with Driven
Bees. — 1. Mrs. L. wishes to know whether if she
bought driven bees now (how many pounds)
she would be likely to get honey earlier next
year, than by buying a swarm in the spring of
'90 ? 2. If you recommend the purchase, should
the driven bees be fed, and for how long ? and
will a hive prepared with comb formation do
for this purpose 1 — Shepperton Cottage, Middle-
sex, A ugust 6.

Reply. — 1. Unless our correspondent had
a stock of ready-built combs on hand, it would
be far preferable to buy a strong natural swarm
in early spring. 2. We do not recommend the
purchase of driven bees for starting with in
autumn, unless, as stated above, frames of
combs are available ; in which case four or five
lbs. of bees, with young queen, will, if well fed,
generally made a very good stock for early
honey gathering next year.

[1339.] Changing Location for Bidding
Bees of Foul Brood. — I have kept bees for
several years in frame-hives and have been
very successful up to about three years since,
when foul brood made its appearance, and by
the end of 1S94 swept every stock from this
district. I had cured my own stocks two
seasons following the outbreak, but only to

find that it had returned again the succeeding
spring. Last April I bought two healthy
stocks and put them in new frame-hives, and
everything used was new, naphthaline put in
each hive and bees fed on medicated food up
to June. At this time they were healthy,
but by the end of June foul brood had broken
out. I may say they stood on the same ground
as the old diseased stocks did. Do you think
it possible the spores of bacillus alvei are in
the ground on which the bees stand 1 There
are now nine stocks in this district, all healthy
except mine, and all of those except my own
are standing on new ground. — W. C. Thomas,
August 8.

Reply. — If changing the ground has had
the desired effect in the case of neighbours it
famishes incontestable grounds for following
the same course, and we shall be very pleased
indeed to record the result if our correspondent
can conveniently try it, for the benefit of bee-
keepers generally.

[1340.] Renewing Queens and Combs. — I
have six stocks of bees in frame-hives, in all of
which the queens are three years old. I
intend, therefore, to get some driven bees,
casts, or old stocks from skeps, and save the
young queens, and destroy the old ones of my
hives, and unite one cast to each hive. 1.
Will the plan proposed answer, and is it the
right course to take 1 2. I have also a stock
in a straw skep which has stood four years
without swarming. This year I put on two
straw supers — one a skep of ordinary size, the
other a small one. The lot now are a tre-
mendous weight, and I want to save the bees
in one skep to stand the winter, but the
bottom skep, which is full of dark comb, badly
wants "taking up" in consequence. The
second, I think, is too full of surplus honey
to winter them in, and the third not large
enough. Will you kindly advise me what to
do in this case? — C. Smith, Wheatacre,
August 8.

Reply.— 1. If well carried out the plan
proposed will hardly fail to have the best
results. 2. We should not recommend doing
away with bottom skep, which is practically
the brood-chamber of the stock. The proba-
bility is that the larger of the two supers will
contain much too great a proportion of drone-
comb, and thus be rendered unsuitable for
brood-rearing. We should take off the surplus,
feed the bees, if necessary, and by giving no
surplus-room next year induce the bees to
swarm ; then do away with the old skep
twenty- one days later.

[1341.] Legal Bights of Bee-keepers and Un-
friendly Neighbours. — After keeping bees at
the extreme bottom of my garden for some six
or seven years, I regret a neighbouring farmer
(whose grass field adjoins bottom of same
garden) has this season complained of hens
and chickens being badly stung. Rough
sketch plan herein indicates my position as

328

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 15, 1895.

regards boundaries, over which complaining
farmer's hens have ere now trespassed. I
wish to know whether or not I am quite
within my legal rights to continue my bees as
before, but at the same time Avish to behave
fairly to myself whilst considering my neigh-
bour?—G. A.

P.S. — Neither of my neighbours occupying
the cottage and strip of garden on each side of
my piece of garden, where bees are kept, have
ever complained to me.

Keply. — If your neighbour could prove
loss or injury to his live stock through the
too close proximity of bees he would cer-
tainly have some ground for claiming com-
pensation in a law court. The stinging of a
fowl or a chicken, however, would, we think,
hardly constitute a sufficient claim in such a
case ; but the real question is, can bees be
kept at nine or ten yards' distance from a
fowl run with little or no risk of any such
mischief as is complained of 1 We say they
can, and it depends largely upon the bee-
keeper himself to secure this result. There
seems to us far more danger to horses or cows
in the pasture-field adjoining your garden, and
separated from it only by a hedge 4 ft. or 5 ft.
high ; but even this danger (if it is one) could
be minimised by growing, say a row of
runner beans behind the hives to a height of,
say 10 ft. If the flight of your bees lies in
the direction of the farmei'd land, this would
always be helpful in the way of removing risk,
because it is a well-known fact that when bees
are located close to a public thoroughfare they
never do harm either to pedestrians or
animals passing along the road when flying to
and fro at a few feet higher elevation than the
traffic. "What we advise is that our corre-
spondent should take all the precautions
which modern methods suggest to cause no
upset among the bees when removing surplus
honey, or when performing operations likely
to anger the bees if carelessly done. The
adoption of these precautions and the exercise
of ordinary skill in managing bees will, we
feel quite sure, render it quite unnecessary for
entertaining any idea of being compelled to
discontinue bee-keeping under the circum-
stances stated because of a complaining neigh-
bour.

[1342.] Safety of Queens in Damaged
Stocks. — I received a stock of bees on July 26
last from some distance, and on arrival I found
the honey was all running from the comb,
and had drowned a good many of the bees. I
therefore transferred them to a frame-hive,
and, not seeing the queen when doing this, I
am anxious to know whether she is alive and
all right or not. The bees were, however,
carrying in pollen to-day. 1. Is that a sure
sign of the queen being safe? 2. Shall I put
feeder on, as the stock is rather weak ?— John
CRirrs, Strcatham Common, August 5.

Reply. — 1. The inference is so strongly in
favour of the queen being with the bees that

little or no alarm need be felt. A glance
at the combs, to see if there are eggs therein,
would, however, set at rest any doubt on the
matter. 2. Yes. Any stock now weak in
bees should be fed, to induce a continuance of
breeding.

%n pharos to ^amt,

August 21. — Wotton-under-Edge and
District Bee-Keepers' Association. In the
Town Hall, Wotton-under-Edge.

August 21 and 22.— Shropshire B.K.A.
annual exhibition of honey, hives, and bee-
appliances in connection with the Shropshire
Horticultural Society's great fete in "The
Quarry," Shrewsbury.

August 21. — Wilts B.K.A. , in connection
with the Swindon Horticultural Fete in the
Public Gardens, Old Swindon.

August 22. — Show of bees, hives, and
honey, in connection with the Horsham Horti-
cultural Society's show at Springfield, Horsham.
Entries close August 17. Lectures in Bee-tent
by the Rev. C. Brereton. R. Gilburd, Sec,
39, Carfax, Horsham.

August 28. — Lanes, and Cheshire B.K.A.
at Fleetwood, Lanes. In connection with the
Horticultural Society. Show of honey. Open
to Lancashire and Cheshire only. Sec,
J. F. Williamson, 18, Bold-street, Fleetwood.

August 31. — Manchester and District B.K.A.
at Worsley ; in connection with Worsley
Horticultural and Agricultural Show. Six
classes for bees, hives, and honey. Liberal
prizes. Entries close August 20. Schedules
from Mr. Upjohn, Worsley, Manchester.

September 5. — North Norfolk B.K.A.
annual show in connection with the Holt
Flower Show, to be held in the grounds of
Brinton Hall. Two special open classes for
single 1 lb. sections and 1 lb. jars of extracted
honey. Entries close August 24. Schedules
from the Hon. Sec, C. J. Cooke, Edgefield,
Melton Constable, Norfolk.

September 3 and 4, South of Scotland
B.K.A. — Annual Honey Show in connection
with the S. of S. Horticultural Society's show
at Dumfries, nineteen classes for honey. Over
fifty prizes. Entries close August 30. John
Currie, Secretary, 7, Assembly-street, Dumfries.

September 4.— Herefordshire B.K.A. annual
show and honey fair, at Hereford. Eight
classes for honey. Entries close August 30.
Hon. Sec, Alfred Watkins, Imperial Mills,
Hereford.

September 7. — Lancashire and Cheshire
B.K.A., in connection with Bramhall and
Woodford Horticultural Society. Annual
show of bees and honey at Bramhall Hall.
Open to district only. Schedules from Secre-
tary, J. Bell, Davenport, Stockport.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual

Aug. 15, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

329

show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

September 28. — Roxburghshire B.K.A.
Annual Show in the Corn Exchange, Jed-
burgh. Numerous prizes. Entries close
September 24. Thos. Clark, Secretary.
Pleasants, Jedburgh.

October 8, 9, 10, and 11.— Dairy show at
the Agricultural Hall, London. Liberal prizes
in five classes for honey. Open to all. Entries
close September 9. For schedules apply
Wm. C. Young, sec. Dairy Farmers' Associa-
tion, 12, Hanover-square, London.

DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION

A Third Class Examination

WILL BE HELD AT

3D E 3R, B "Z"
On the Morning: of September 12, 1895.

Members of the Derbyshire, Notts, or Leicestershire
Assoc, wishing to present themselves as candidates are
requested to send in their names to the Hon. Sec,
F. WALKER, Cattle Market, Derby.

Notioesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

A. Hamer (Llanarthney). — Takiny Bees to
Heather, — 1. Of the three sprigs of heather
bloom received, Nos. 1 and 2 are honey
producing varieties ; No 3 is of no use to
bees. 2. In taking hives so far as five
miles to 300 acres of mountain heather wq
should strongly prefer a location nearer than
three-quarters of a mile away. It would
obviously be far more advantageous to have
the hives " among the bloom,'' or within a
few hundred yards of it. 3. Early granu-
lation of honey in some seasons cannot be
satisfactorily accounted for. It arises, no
doubt, from the particular atmospheric con-
ditions existing at the gathering time, and
this is about all we can say as to the
" cause " of rapid granulation.

R. J. P. (Elgin, N.B.).— Distance Bees should
be Moved to Heather. — There would cer-
tainly be some bees lost by returning to the
old stands if only moved one mile away to
the heather. We should, therefore, leave
the hives at home, and let the bee3 travel
to the forage-ground, which is by no means
out of their reach.

Young Beginner (Ellesmere, Salop).— Trans-
ferring from Skep to Frame-hive. — Since
you have made up your mind to drive the
bees from skep and v> inter them in a frame-
hive the sooner it is done the better, so as
to give the bees a few weeks of flying
weather in which to fix up their new home.
The full information now given enables us
to answer fully the former query (1328, p.
298) as follows : — 1. Invest 7d. in a copy
of " Modern Bee-keeping," for full informa-

tion (with illustration) on the method of
driving bees from skeps. 2. Put the bees
on the five frames of drawn-out combs, and
feed at once till full stores for winter are
given. 3. Cut out from skep, after driving, ,
any combs containing brood, and lie them
in a frame for insertion in the frame-hive,
removing this latter frame after the brood
has hatched out It is not certain when the
hive will be free from brood ; besides it
would never do to defer transferring opera-
tions on that account.

Glynn Grylls (Honiton). — Brood Uncapped
by Bobber Bees. — There is no trace of foul
brood in comb sent. It is quite evident the
brood ha3 been partly uncapped during the
excitement while robbing was going on, and
it has perished in consequence. Great care
will be needed in supplying the robbed-out
stock with food, which should be given in
the evening and feeder removed next
morning, otherwise the robbers will carry off
the food as fast as given, and weary out the
defending bees in trying to save it.

Mrs. Bent (Bury-St.-Edmunds).— Preventing
Moths in Quilts and Combs. — A few balls
of naphthaline crushed into powder and
sprinkled between quilts will effectually
prevent moths harbouring in them. Frames
of comb for next season's use should be kept
in the boxes used for them on the hives,
each box being wrapped in newspaper — in
separate packages — with three or four balls
of naphthaline in each.

Joiner D. (Oxon).— Hive Making— I. The
hive referred to is now seldom seen in use,
as few bee-keepers who keep abreast of the
times would think of using any but standard
frames. Full particulars for making these
are given in either of the books mentioned,
i.e., the " Guide Book " and " Modern Bee-
Keeping." 2. Provided there is about 20 lb.
of food in the eight frames left behind, you
might remove the outer one on each side of
the ten now in the hive.

T. James (Bristol). — Honey received is not
altogether from clover, but the quality is
very satisfactory, and we should say the
district it came from is a good one for bees.

*** We are compelled to hold over Beports
of Northants, Yorks, and Lines. B.K.A.
Shoivs, with several letters, till next toeek.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, «*«. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

FOR SALE, 12 STOCKS of BROWN BEES. Apply
T. Smith, Moulton Chapel, Spalding. I 3

WANTED, Healthy BEES. EXCHANGE Prize Breed
Dutch Rabbits or new Frame Hive. T. WATSON,
22, Harrow-street, Armley, Leeds. I 2

D

RIVEN BEES, with Queen, healthy, 5s. Empties
returned. A. Moreton, Bransford, Worcester.

GOOD STOCKS, in straw skeps, FOR SALE. Healthy
young Queens. Apply, Gay, Edmondsham, Cran-
borne, Salisbury. H 100

330

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 15, 1895.

Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)

FOR SALE, several cwt. ENGLISH HONEY. Ex-
cellent colour and quality. G. Reynolds, Eaton
Ford, St. Neots. H 98

* T>EV. HENRY MATTHEWS, Swynshed Rectory,
JN. Kimbolton, OFFERS Choice Extracted Clover
Honey at 9d. per lb. ; less per cwt. H 99

HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES, Is. 3d. lb., in 5-lb. lots.
Boxes to be returned, or they will be charged for.
Ed. Long, Cottenham, Cambs. j 7

NEW SECTION HONEY, 7s. dozen ; Extracted Screw-
top Bottles, 8s. dozen. Apply W. G. Hedges,
Bishops Waltham, Hants.

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS, from LUCIA PAGLIA,
Royal Bee Establishment, 5s. each. Cash with
order. J. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road, Wimbledon.

Li TTONEY" AND ITS USES." By Rev. Gerard W.
Xi. Bancks, M.A. 3s. 6d. per 100. Specimen copy
sent. Address, The Green, Dartford. H 80

Q!

UEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

OA YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
^ ^ Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfleld, Sussex. 116

THE "GARSTANG" HONEY PRESS, for pressing
Heather Honey. The best press in the market.
For price, &c, apply B,obt. Barton, Joiner, Garstang,
Lancashire. j 4

Q/-\ DOZ. SCREW-TOP BOTTLES (Honey), 1-lb. size ;
^^5 doz. Glazed SECTIONS, well filled, FOR DIS-
POSAL. All 8s, per doz. Deposit. Walter Rogers,
Princes Risborough, Bucks. H 87

LIGURIAN HYBRID BEES, noted for quiet handling.
—Tested Queens, 5s. 6d. each, sent in new Intro-
ducing Cages, post free. Safe arrival guaranteed. H. W.
Brice, The Apiary, Thornton Heath, Surrey.

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. 100 strips
22 inches long, 8d., 200, Is. 3d., 300, Is. 9d., 400,
2s. 3d., 500, 2s. 9d. Three neat patterns stocked!
W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.

NOTICE.— No more orders can be taken for Driven
Bees.— FOR SALE, HONEY in bulk, 6d. per lb
Owen Browning, King Somborne, Stockbridge, Hants.
H95

DRIVEN BEES, Is. per lb., guaranteed healthy, with
1895 Queen. Boxes returnable. Extra 1895 Queens
2s. each, post free. S. Oaten, Expert, Prior's Farm,
Pitminster, Taunton. H 96

WANTED, 1 cwt. of New, Splendid, Pure WHITE
CLOVER HONEY, in 1-lb. Screw-cap Bottles,
packed and sent to railway for cash, from healthy
stocks. State price, &c, to F. Bridgett, Kingsley
Holt, near Cheadle, Stoke-on-Trent. h 97

THREE "WELLS" HIVES, well stocked with
Ligurian Bees and '95 Queen, plenty of stores for
winter, £2. 2s. ; with 4 Crates, 21 1-11). Sections, £2. 10s.
Three-Frame Nuclei, Ligurians, 5s. 6d. Hybrids for
Sale. J. Pargeter, Cropredy, Leamington. h 93

THE BEST BEE FLOWER for early flowering is
ARABIS ALPINA. I will send you 50 strong
layers (not seedlings) for Is. 3d. free. Increases rapidly.
Should be in every Apiary. Leigh, Florist, Broughton
Hants. j 5

FREEHOLD LAND, RAYLEIGH, near Station. Five
Acres, main London road, £150 ; 8 Acres, £240 ;
Plots, 50 ft. frontage, 250 deep, .£18 each ; 3 Acres, close
railway, £100; 60 Acres, Farmhouse, &c, £15 per acre.
Part cash may remain on mortgage. Land, Myrtle
Villa, Hornchurch, Essex. j 6

FINE TESTED 1895 FERTILE QUEENS, 3s. 6d. each.
Safe arrival. 3-Frame Nuclei, including Queen,
10s. 6d. Bees Is. 6d. lb. for 5 lb. lots or over, queen
included. Guaranteed healthy. Boxes to be returned.
C. Whiting, Valley Apiary, Hundon, Clare, Suffolk.
Porterage telegrams, Is. 6d. H 79

I BEG to thank my Customers who have done business
with me for so many years, and to ask them to
forward their orders. I have some splendid Clover
Honey (fit for any table), pale colour, and good aroma,
7d. per lb. in 60 lb. tins. T. HOLLIDAY, The Apiary,
Astbury, Congleton. 153

TO BE SOLD, CHEAP, the CONTENTS of a large
and successful Apiary :— Eight Hives of Bees for
a house on 12 bars, well-provisioned, 15s. each ; 4 Hives
of Bees on stands, with good covers and tiers for double
set of combs, Excluder, and a pair of improved Section
Crates, 20s. each. The Hives are worth 30s. without
bees. Also a number of good Hives, with clean combs
(just fit for driven bees), Honey Vats, Travelling Cans,
Crates, Cases, Extractor, &c. I have had a long and
successful experience, and have never had any disease
in the Apiary. For further particulars apply to C. J. H.
Fitch, Hill House, Sible Hedingham, Halstead, Essex.

YE 0LDE ENCLISHE BEE.

Fine selected Fertile Queens, 3s. 6d. each ; finest
tested English Queens, 5s. each. Sent in my Intro-
ducing Cage, guaranteeing safe arrival. Parcel Postage

: uig.

OODLEY, Beedon, Newbury.

BLAKEY'S BEE FEEDER.

Made of wood, zinc, and glass. Holds one pint of
syrup, and can be filled without removing from hive,
and bees may be observed as they take the food without
escaping. Price 6d. each. Postage of one costs 4£d.,
two 6d., four 9d., six Is. Id. J. M. BALMBRA, 2,
East-parade, Alnwick, Northumberland.

TO BEE-KEEPERS AND SECRETARIES OF

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.

GEO. J. BULLER, Triangle, Hitchin, Herts

(Many years Foreman to Mr. T. B. Blow),

Is prepared to undertake the management of Bees and

general expert work, by the day or season.

For terms, apply as above.

(DEALER IN BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.)

BEE-KEEPERS in LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE.&c.
THE CENTRAL SUPPLY STOKES
for all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL 50, GREAT
CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE ROSE. Why pay
carriage from long'distances, when you can buy as cheap
and good locally, and have your orders promptly attended
to? Catalogues gratis. Sow now CHAPMAN'S HONEY
PLANT, 6d. Packet. Expected shortly, big lot of
HONEY JARS (screw and tieover). Large buyers, please
write at once. Very low prices per crate of 3 gross
ex dock on arrival. Best Falcon Sections very low per
1,000 or 10,000.

SPECIAL_NOTICE,

J. S. CREENHILL has been awarded FIRST
PRIZE for his Ten Shilling: Cottage Hive,

at Tunbridge Wells Show, a most suitable Hive for
Cottagers,

Metal-top Glasses, with wads per gross 21s.

Glaze Cases (both sides) ... Is. 9d. doz. ; 18s. gross.

J. S. GREENHILL, 80, Graham road, Wimbledon.

(27 Years with Neighbour & Sons.)

DON'T GET STUNG!

WHEN, BY USING J\. P I F U G B

YOU CAN PREVENT IT.

*T BEE-KEEPERS SAY IT IS MARVELLOUS, AND "W

THEY WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT IT-

Send/or a Bottle at once.

Small Bottles 1/-, Large Bottles, 1/9, Post Free.

Cash must accompany Order.

To be obtained of all Appliance Dealers and

DARGY CRIMSHAW, H0RSF0RTH, LEEDS.

Aug. 22, 1895.] THE BEITISH BEE JOUENAL.

331

(Mtorial, $e&m, ku

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ATION.

ASSOCI-

J EOPOSED CONFERENCE — ON BEE SUI'JECTS —

EETWEEN THE B.B.K.A. AND KEPBESENTAT17ES

OF COUNT! COUNCILS.

In pursuance of the further steps
taken by the Council of the B.B.K.A. in
the endeavour to obtain Government
recognition of the Bee-Industry and its
needs, the following letter Avas sent to
the various County Councils throughout
the country : —

17, King William Street,

Strand, London, W.C.
To the Chairman,

TECHNICAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE.

Dear Sir, I heg to enclose a report of a
Deputation of the British Bee-keepers' Associ-
ation, which has been received by Mr. Herbert
Gardner, President of the Board of Agriculture,
with a view to devise some plan for dealing
with "Foul-brood" among bees,

The prevalance of the disease is seriously
affecting Bee-keeping throughout the kingdom,
and it is therefore a question of considerable
importance to the rural districts.

The Council of the British Bee-keepers'
Association do not think that Parish or Dis-
trict Councils, as suggested by Mr. Gardner,
would avail for carrying out the proposed
measures. On the other band, they consider
that County Councils could properly assist in
furthering the object for which they have
approached the Board of Agriculture.

If your Council have voted funds for
technical instruction in bee-keeping, either
alone or jointly with other subjects, I should
be glad to know to what extent this has been
done.

May I ask you further to inform me whether
your Council would be willing to nominate a
icpresentative with whom the Council of the
British Bee-keepers' Association might confer
on the whole subject?— I am, sir, your
obedient servant,

Tnos. Wm. Cowan, Chairman.

We are gratified in being able to report
that the response to the above has been
very satisfactory. Several gentlemen
have already been nominated to represent
various County Councils in the forth-
coming conference with the Council of
the B.B.K.A., while others promise to
favourably consider the subject. Some
replies arc; deferred in consequence of no
meetings of Technical Instruction Com-
mittees till later in the year. It is, h<,\\ -
ever, quite clear— from the replies to

hand — that many County Councils favour
bee-keeping by making annual grants
on its behalf. The help thus being
accorded to the bee industry is very
gratifying, but, as usual, the satisfaction
is not quite without alloy. One County
Council refers to past financial aid being
spent in an unsatisfactory manner by the
local bee association, and states that in
consequence further, help is suspended.
In another case it would appear. that bee-
keepers are themselves apathetic, seeing
that grants have been offered for several
years without the local Bee-keepers'
Association caring to avail themselves of
the proffered help. The replies received
undoubtedly show that a large amount of
active work is in progress. There is
also abundant proof that such County
Councils as really understand the sub-
ject, are in full sympathy with the
measures being taken by the British
Bee-Keepers' Association ; and we may
look forward hopefully to a considerable
addition to the supporters of properly-
directed efforts on behalf of our industry
when the conference referred to in the
letter .of the chairman of the B.B.K.A.
has become an accomplished fact.

HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of
June, 1895, was £5,550. — From a return
furnished by the Statistical Office, II. M.
Customs.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE B.K.A.

The annual show of the N. B.K.A. was held
on August 5 and (J, in conjunction with the
Horticultural Show at Dclapre Park, North-
ampton. The great attraction to bee-keepers
was the splendid display of honey in the open
class, represented by over 80 entries, 73 of
which were staged. The parcels post was
responsible for breakiog three of the exhibits.
In the "workhouse class" theie were 50
entries. All exhibits in this o'ass are to be
^iven to the guardians for the inmates of the
Northampton workhouse. The entries in the
various classes open to subscribers exceed the
average of any previous year. The total
number of entries amounttd to 213, quite
crowding the tent. The judges, Dr. Bellew,
Mr. J. Francis, and Mr. J. Perry, made their
awards as follows : —

SPECIAL TRIZES. — OPEN CLASS

(All exhibits to become the property of the
N.B.K.A.).

l-lb. Jar of Extracted llov.cy.— 1st, W.

332

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. . [Aug. 22, 1895.

Tustain, Farthinghoe Station ; 2nd, A. Hamer,
Llanarthney ; 3rd, Wm. Loveday, Harlow,
Essex ; 4th, J. Pollard, Tingewick Mill, Bucks ;
5th, Thos. Salmon, Brackley ; certificate and
h.c, L. Inwood, Uffington ; v.h.c, Chas. Slater,
Irchester, Wellingborough ; h.c, George Page,
Holcot, Northants.

SPECIAL PRIZES. — WORKHOUSE CLASS.

(All exhibits in this class become the
property of the N.B.K.A. for presentation to
inmates of the workhouse.)

l-lb. Jar Extracted Honey. — 1st, J. B.
Butlin, Kugby ; 2nd, H. W. Seymour, Henley-
on-Thames ; 3rd, A. Hamer ; 4th, Thos.
Elliott, Collingtree, Northants ; 5th, C. Cox,
Brampton.

PRIZES PRESENTED BY MR. C. REDSHAW,
SOUTH WIGSTON.

Twelve 1-lb. Glass Sections. — 1st, C. Cox :
2nd, 0. Orland, Flore.

PRIZES PRESENTED BY MR. W. A. PALMER.

Best l-lb. Section.— 1st, C. Cox ; 2nd, W.
Tustain; 3, W.Reynolds.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, W. Tustain ;
2nd, J. R. Truss, Ufford Heath ; 3rd, Thos.
Salmon ; 4th, C. Cox.

12lb. Extracted Honey. — 1st, Lewis Jordan,
Holdenby ; 2nd, John B. Butlin ; 3rd and 4th,
equal, J. R. Truss and 0. Orland ; v.h.c,
James Adams, West Haddon ; h.c, Percy
Grundy, Broughton Manor Lodge.

Six Bottles Granulated Honey.. — 1st, W.
Tustain ; 2nd, 0. Orland ; 3rd, James Adams.

Exhibit of Honey in Comb. — 1st, W. Tus-
tain ; 2nd, 0. Orland ; 3rd, E. Brice, Dalling-
ton ; 4th, C. Cox.

Bees' Wax.— 1st, Percy Grundy; 2nd, C.
Cox, 3rd, James Adams, 4th, O. Orland.

Six l-lb. Sections (non-previous winners
onfy).— «F." 1st, W. Reynolds, Overstone ;
2nd, J. S. Partridge, Wollaston ; 3rd, Thos.
Elliott.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, J. B.
Butlin ; 2nd, G. Page ; 3rd, P. Grundy ; 4th,
Thos. Elliott.

Super of Comb Honey. — 1st, Thos. Eng-
land, Overstone.

Mr. J. R. Truss gave practical demonstra-
sions in the " bee tent " at intervals during
both days, a large number of interested
spectators attending. — Communicated.

YORKSHIRE AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

SHOW AT HALIFAX.

The above important exhibition was held at
Halifax on August 7, 8, and 9, and as usual a
section was devoted to bees, hives, and honey.
This department of the show has developed
exceedingly during the past few years. A
large number of visitors were attracted to this
section of the show-ground, and Mr. R. A. H.
Grimshaw, the hon. sec. of the association
named, Avas attentively listened to by large

numbers of visitors during the delivery of his
short lecture on bees and bee-keeping at various
intervals during each day. He was assisted
by Mr. W. W. Dixon, of Leeds, and the Rev.
R. M. Lamb, who also gave hints on bee-
keeping of an eminently practical character.
The society offered substantial prizes for ex-
hibits, which had the result of creating keen
competition. The authorities of the Yorkshire
and other shows do well, therefore, to encourage
bee-keeping, and the exhibits at the Yorkshire
show are yearly increasing in interest and
extent. This year, for the first time, there were
trophy exhibits of extracted honey and honey-
comb, and the splendid trophy of Mr. William
Dixon, Beckett-street, Leeds, attracted general
admiration. The whole of the honey shown
was of the finest quality, as the early part of the
season was very good for the bee-keeper, but
last month's heavy wet and cold winds were
far from being beneficial to the bee.

The Rev. J. L. Seager officiated as judge,
and made the following awards : — ■

Collection of Hives and Appliances. — 1st, W.
Dixon, 5, Becket-street, Leeds ; 2nd, A. C.
Jemieson, Dringhouses, York.

Most Complete Frame Hive. — 1st, W. Dixon ;
2nd, A. C. Jemieson.

Observatory Hive. — 1st, W. Dixon ; 2nd, A.
C. Jemieson.

Honey Trophy. — 1st, W. Dixon ; 2nd, W.
Smith, Preston, Hull ; 3rd, Miss S. J. Cooper,
St. Nicholas-square, Leicester.

Twelve Sections.— 1st, W. Smith ; 2nd, Miss
S. J. Cooper.

Twelve Pounds Extracted Honey. — 1st, Miss
S. J. Cooper ; 2nd, H. W. Seymour, Henley-
on-Thames.

LINCOLNSHIRE B.K.A.

SHOW AT BLANKNEY.

This popular Show, the honey department
of which is held in connection with the
Lincolnshire B.K.A., took place on the
picturesque grounds of Blankney Park by
permission of the Right Hon. H. Chaplin, M.P.,
and was attended by quite 20,000 people.
There was a grand display of honey and bees-
wax, the exhibits numbering fifty-five. The
bee-tent of the L. B. Iv. A, was present and
Mr. F. H. K. Fisher gave lectures to large
audiences. Gerard J. Young, Esq. J.P., and
Mr. F. H. K. Fisher acted as judges and made
the following awards : —

Observatory Hive. — 1st, R. Godson, 2nd,
J. Coulson.

Twelve lib. Sections. — 1st, R. Godson, 2nd.
A. Barnes, 3rd, D. Ablewhite, 4th. T. Sells.

Twelve l-lb. jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,.
J. Coulson, 2nd, C. Foster, 3rd, A. Barnes.
4th. Mrs. Hawley.

Six l-lb. Sections (Cottarjcrs only). — 1st, J
Coulson ; 2nd, A. Barnes.

Six l-lb Jard Extracted Honey {Cottagers

Aug. 22, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

333

W.

only). — 1st, J. Coulson ; 2nd, W. Phillips
3rd, Miss Baines.

Beeswax. — 1st, W. Phillips ; 2nd,
Paulger ; 3rd, G. Taylor.

Bell-glass Super. — 1st, J. Hammond ; 2nd,
W. Allenby.

Money Design (Special). — D. C. Blackburne.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections in Blow's Sections. —
1st, T. Sells.

Twelve 1-/6. Jars of Extracted Honey in
Blow's Jars,— 1st, G. Roberts.

TAUNTON AND DISTRICT B.K.A.

An exhibition of honey, arranged by ihe
above association, was held in Vivary Park,
Taunton, in connection with the show of the
Horticultural Society on August 10.

The bees and honey occupied a separate
tent, and formed an exceedingly pretty
show. On the whole, it is the bett exhibition
of this kind that Taunton has bad for several
years past. In the comb and run honey
classes the judges experienced considerable
difficulty in arriving at their decisions, owing
to the general evenness of quality and the
large number of exhibits.

The duties of judging were undertaken by
Col. Lewis, Muloxton, and Mr. 0. Tite,
Yeovil, who made the following awards : —

Collection of Honey. — 1st, R. Addison,
North Petherton ; 2nd, W. Pierce, North
Petherton ; 3rd, J. Seldon, Barnstaple.

12-/6. Sections. — Equal 1st, R. Addison and
J. Seldon ; 3, W. Pierce.

12-/6. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, E. Addi-
son ; 2nd, J. Hookway, Wellington.

Class Super. — 1st, J. Seldon ; 2nd, E.
Addison.

Super in Straw or Wood. — 1st, H. Bennett,
Long Sutton ; 2nd, E. Marks, West Buckland.

Beesicax. — 1st, J. Hookway, 2nd, J. Seldon.

Observatory Hive. — 1st, W. Warren, Bridge-
water ; 2nd, J. Buckland, Pitminster.

Collection of Bee-keeping Appliances — 1st,
A. Wolfe, North Curry; 2nd, J. Trebble,
South Molton.

During the afternoon, Mr. A. Wolfe, Hon.
Sec. T. and D.B.K.A., gave an interesting
demonstration of practical bee-keeping in the
bee-tent. The lecturer advocated the claims
of the Bee-Association, and urged the use of
the county label on all honey bought and sold,
as a protection to both buyers and sellers.

SHOW AT NEWBURY.

One of the. largest and best Honey Shows
yet held in Newbury was that on August 5, in
connection with the Newbury Flower Show,
and the District Committee of Berks Bee-
keepers' Association are to be congratulated
on the success which attended their efforts.
Nearly three-quarters of a ton of honey and
wax exhibited, all of excellent quality. On
entering the honey tent one was struck by the

three displays staged on the centre table. The
palm must be given to the superb exhibit ot
Mr. W. Woodley. The Kev. W. E. hurkitt
and Mr. A. D. Woodley officiated as Judges,
their awards being as follows : —

Display of Honey. — 1st, W. Woodley ;
2nd, E. \V. Goddard' ; extra, J. Butler.

Best Exhibit not over 50 /6. — 1st, E. Turner;
2nd, Miss E. E. Myers ; extra, W. Seymour.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, E. Turner ; 2nd,
A. Canning; 3rd, Mr. Sejmour; h.c, E. W.
Goddard.

Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
E. Turner ; 2nd, Mrs. A. Jackson ; 3rd, Mr.
Seymour ; v.h.c, Miss E. E. Myers.

Six 1-lb. Sections (Loral Glass). — 1st, Mr.
Canning ; 2nd, W. Woodley ; 3rd, Mr.
Lawrence ; v.h.c, J. II. D. Btales, J. Buller ;
h.c, E. W. Goddard.

Six 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, W.
Woodley ; 2nd, A. Canning ; 3rd, E. Turner.

Non-Sectional Super. — lsr, Lawn nee ; 2nd,
J. Butler ; 3rd, Sergt. D.mce.

Six 1-lb. Run Homy (Cottagers only). — 1st,
Mr. Bishop ; 2nd, Mr. Bew ; 3rd, Mr. Bucket.

Six 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, Mr. Bishop ; 2nd,
Mr. Bew ; 3rd, Mrs. Allen.

Beeswax. — 1st, Mrs. Woolridge ; 2nd, Mr.
Peskett.

Driving Competition. — 1st, A. Canning ;
2nd, Mr. Lawrence ; 3rd, E. W. Goddard.

The judges made the following note on the
show: — ''The judges wish to place on record
their opinion that ihe large quantity and the
uniform splendid quality of the exhibits aie
strong evidence that the Newbury branch of
the Berks B.K.A. are doing excellent work ;
the exhibits in cottager classes being quite
equal to those in the open classes.''

$,mm$<mkm.

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. Xo notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily /or
publication, bxti as a guarantee of good faith. lllustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, d-c, must be addressed only to " '1 he
EDITORS of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
Street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements. ,<kc. , must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

"#" In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the, number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE JOTTINGS.

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BYPATHS.

[2151.] D<> Bees Carry Eggs? — Since I
last wrote on this subject (2123, p. 21J2) the
unexpected has happened, resulting in the
development of what I consider to be one of

334

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 22, 1895.

the most interesting facts connected with
bee-keeping which has as yet come under my
notice, a fact which, moreover, throws a new
light on the domestic economy of the bee-hive.
The correspondent I referred to on p. 292
writes me as under : —

" This is the twenty-seventh day since the
queen arrived, and for several days past
worker-bees have been coming out of the cells;
the drones are also forcing themselves out into
the hive ; they are small owing to their being
raised in worker cells, and are much lighter %n
colour than any drones I have, hitherto, had in
my apiary.''

The Queen mentioned, it will be remembered,
was kept caged in the hive for several days
after she arrived, so that the fact of workers
issuing from their cells on the twenty-seventh
day is accounted for by the queen laying the
eggs almost immediatelyaftershe was liberated.
The drones, however, take twenty-eight days to
develope, yet on the twenty-seventh day they
began to appear. This may be explained by
the warmth of the weather. It is, however, far
more probable that they were from eggs laid
by the queen during transit and not eaten by
the bees that accompanied her, but removed
after she was placed in the hive by the
inhabitants thereof. The queen bad a
large percentage of the Ligurian element
in her constitution, which makes it
certain that her progeny, especially the
drones, would show in more or less a degree
Italian markings. Now, as the drones pro-
duced from the removed eggs are lighter than
any before seen in that particular apiary, the
inevitable conclusion is that the eggs referred
to — whether producing drones or workers —
were laid by the queen while in durance. In
fact, the colour of the drones forms an indis-
putable corroboration of the fact that bees do,
under certain circumstances, remove egg's for
their own purposes. I should not trouble to
enforce this point so strongly but for its very
important bearing on what I would term the
practically scientific side of the question.
Assuming, therefore, the facts above detailed
to be proved, there is still another point worth
recording, i.e., that a queen seems possessed of
some latent instinct enabling her to know that
eggs laid under the then existing conditions
would be wasted, and that in consequence she
should have preserved the fertilising element
for eggs laid under more favourable conditions.
This should cause no surprise considering the
perfect economy prevailing in everything con-
nected with bees, which may, indeed, be said
to " do nothing invariably.''

J latching Queens and Thunder Storms, — Tn
July of last year I recorded in B.B.J.
(p. 284) how a batch of embryo queens had been
destroyed in their cells by a thunder-storm.
Less than five weeks ago a precisely simil.ir
mishap occurred in my own apiary during the
storm on July 4, last. Queens within twenty-
four hours of hatching out were safe as were
those in unsealed cells, but nearly every queen

that had just recently passed into the nympha
or pupa stage was destroyed ! It not seldom
happens that an odd cell or two for some un-
accountable reason fails to hatch. I also
occasionally find that a new queen is malformed,
such as being minus a wing or wings, deformed
legs, &c, but, just as with human beings, these
malformations may be traced to extraneous
circumstances over which the most careful
beekeeper has no control.

Size of Hives. — Much discussion has taken
place in the American bee journals as to the
most profitable size of hive for all purposes,
and, as might be expected, there is a great
difference of opinion on the subject ; but I
think the majority have come to the conclu-
sion that a hive of very nearly the same
capacity as our own ten-standard frame one
is the best. There, as here, local circum-
stances must be taken into consideration, but
there is one point upon which I think too
little stress is laid in determining the ques-
tion, and that is the enormous difference in
the fertility of queens ; for, whereas one queen
would cover twelve to sixteen standard frames
with brood if she had the opportunity, for
others eight frames are amply sufficient. It,
therefore, appears less a question of size of bive
as prolificness of the queens occupying them. If
this element be taken into consideration, make
the hive large enough, and have the means of
adjusting size of brood-chambers to meet the
laying capacity of our queens, and the question
is solved. On this side of the Atlantic we
have this desideratum ; whether we take full
advantage of it is, of course, another question.
It is something, however, to find that in some
things apicultural we are in advance of our
cousins on the other side. There is the ques-
tion : Whether a queen that will cover twelve
to sixteen frames with brood will give as large,
or a larger, surplus as one covering only eight is
matter for experiment. But no one can doubt
that so far as producing abundance of bees at
the proper time, i.e., before the honey flow,
the more frames the queen will cover with
brood the merrier, but, after the flow is over,
big armies of bees are of comparatively little,
value. — H. W. Brick, Thornton Heath.

REMOVING FAULTY COMBS.

[2152.] I notice in this week's " Hints" you
advise readers first to feed up for winter and
then look over hives for superfluous drones or
faulty combs, marking same for removal later,
when packing up for winter. While admitting
that it is somewhat presumptuous for me t>
criticise you, I can't help thinking it would be
undesirable to first induce bees to fill faulty
combs with syrup and then remove them. I
would rather say remove faulty combs directly
brood which may be in them is hatched and
then feed up for winter. Personally I often
take, at this timo of ycir, a frame of ill-formed

Aug. 22, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

335

or pollen-clogged combs from brood nest,
place it in back part of bive for brood to
hatch, and then remove it. I strongly object to
having old, ill-shaped, or drone combs in
hives, and consider the present a good time to
weed them out. Hope you will excuse
" cheek,'' bad grammar, bad spelling, and bad
writing. With best wishes. — E. S. Miller,
Chippenham, August \§th.

[The last line of " Hints " referred to should
have read, "marked for removal when final
winter packing takes place, or later on,'' the
word or being inadvertently omitted. When
writing we had in view, not so much faulty
combs, as the extreme importance first of
getting all feeding-up completed early, and
afterwards of detecting scattered sealed cells
caused by foul brood. For the rest it may be
said such combs as our correspondent names
may be left in the hive till spring without any
ill effects, if marked for removal at that time.
We might have made our meaning clearer on
page 321 had this been said in so many words.
We fail, however, to see anything like what
our correspondent terms " cheek " in his
criticism, which is quite unobjectionable. His
own view of what is best to be done is a per-
fectly correct one in his own case. Unfortu-
nately for ourselves, however, we have to frame
the expression of our views so as best to meet
those of thousands, with all their varying
surroundings. — Eds.]

GLASS COVERS FOR FRAMES.

[2153.] A correspondent in B.J. of October
4, 1894 (p. 396), recommended^ "glass covers"
for hives, so I forthwith set* about making
some, and, being quite a novice, it has been
most interesting to me to be able to watch the
progress the bees were making. I would like
to know if the writer above referred to used
these glass " quilts " in the winter, or if he
then reverts to the orthodox "pile of marine
stores 1 ''

It seems to me that the moisture arising
from the bees in winter would condense on
the glass, and be harmful. You will, perhaps,
remember that I wrote you last autumn for
some advice re transferring from skeps to
frame-hive. Well, I followed your advice —
namely, to put skeps on top of frames fitted
with lull sheets of foundation. One was an
observatory hive, so I was able to watch pro-
ceedings, and when I saw brood below ready
to hatch out I took off the skep, and found it
pretty nearly filled with honey. Most of the
brood had hatched, but what little was there I
cut out and fitted into frames (contrary to your
instructions, this part of this business), but
now consider myself a fool for my pains. My
year's work stands thus :— Hive No. 1, 34 lb.
honey ; No. 2, 39 lb. ; a third lot (a swarm
bought May 28, and hived on seven-wired
frames of foundation), yielded 12 lb. in sec-
tions, besides having worked out a lot of comb

which I have put away for the future. The
above weights do not include unconsidered
trifles which found their way to one's mouth
during manipulations. I took my honey be-
tween July 6 and 13, and then divided my
stocks, so that I now have six— all, I believe,
having queens. I have been feeding slowly
ever since dividing the stocks, and all appear to
be doing satisfactorily, the smallest lot of bees
covering six frames.

I made an attempt to introduce a fertile
queen to my one hive— where I was in doubt
as to the presence of a virgin queen, which
hatched out a fortnight before, and had laid no
eggs — but found her dead thirty hours after.
Would the bees, having an unfertile queen, kill
the one in the cage 1 I send her herewith, and
would like to know her probable age and
variety. No doubt I have handled my bees a
great deal too much, but I want to learn all I
can practically, and acquire skill and coolness
in handling.

I send rough, unfinished photos, of two of
my home-made hives. (I have ten in all.)
Don't you think they look quite professional I
I make my own "tin ends" for spacing frames,
and they cost next to nothing. I send one as
sample. If I am bothering you too much just
chuck this into the gaping jaws of the W.P.B.,
and try and forgive— A Countryman, Here-
ford, August 16.

[Before introducing alien queens the one to
be deposed should always be removed before-
hand, whether fertile or not. The hives and
home-made tin ends are most creditable, and
quite prove your independence of professional
help in these matters. — Eds.]

BEE-KEEPING IN YORKSHIRE.

AN AFTERNOON IN A COTTAGERS APIABT.

[2154.] A visit to Bedale on official business
connected with society shows led me to spend-
ing a very pleasant afternoon in the apiary of
that well-known Vale of Mowbray veteran
bee-keeper, Mr. John Chisholme, of Leeming
village, a few miles from the famous market
and historic town of Bedale. Starting from
Leeming Bar railway station, after travelling
for about two miles south on the beautiful
Great North road, we arrived at Mr. Chis-
holme's apiary. A very pretty little place
it is, nicely retired, just far enough away from
the main road to suit the owner of a goodly
stock of bee-hives, and surrounded by all that
makes a "model" for an English cottager's
home. In the front, flowers, fruit, and
vegetables grow in abundance in the ^,ood-
sized and well-kept garden. Indeed, the
neatness, scrupulous cleanness, and order pre-
vailing everywhere, inside and out, nude it
quite delightful to contemplate how many of
God'd gifts are available in an humble home
with such occupants as John Chisholme and
his good wife. Our host met us, and, after a
cordial greeting, we were soon busy among the

336

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 22, 1895.

bees. The most prosaic— though by no means
a dull or uninteresting— part of the surround-
ings is the bee-yard, which in every sen-e it is.
No one would call it a bee-garden, for nothing
grows in it, if we except bees and honey. The
stocks of bees — between thirty and forty in
number — are all in frame-hives, and stand
in just so much space as will hold them, and
allow passage way round ; the limited space
at command compelling this arrangement.
Although it strikes an onlooker how advan-
tageous it would be to have the hives occupy-
ing about four times the space, however, as
one sees plainly, the bees have grown and
multiplied, while the size of the yard perforce
remains stationary, so Mr. Chisholme makes
the best of it, and is too old a bee-man not to
be able to maintain order, even in so crowded
an assembly of "workers'' as his. Mr.
Chisholme has been more fortunate than any
other bee-cultivators that we have come across
this season. He, during the cold and flower-
less forepart of the year, kept his bees well
nourished, consequently they were in good
working order when the late foliage bloomed.
By his forethought he has not only greatly
improved his stock of bees, but also increased
the weight of their produce. We should con-
sider that, at the present time, he has one of
the finest and best stocks of honey north of
York.

A number of his friends press him to exhibit
his sections, but as he has not made a practice
of doing this, he flatly refuses to do so.
Should he change his opinion, there is no
hesitation in stating that he would take
first honours at what ever shows he ex-
hibited. The weight of his sections far excel
all his anticipations, and will amply repay him
for his trouble. We must not forget to state
that his wife, although an invalid, greatly
assists him in working his apiary. Bis apiary
is well worth a visit of all lovers of bee culture
and there is nothing delights Mr. Chisholme
more than to meet a brother bee-breeder, and
have a chat about bee-breeding. In a short
time Mr. Chisholme will be removing the
greater part of his hives to Ellingstring moors,
where the bees will get an ample supply of
honey from the heather, and there is no doubt
that on their return, it will be pronounced that
the yield of 1895, has far surpassed all previous
years. — Wm. Hy. Walton, Northallerton,
July 27.

MALICIOUS DAMAGE.

AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE.

[2155.] In the autumn of 1894 I purchased
a skep of bees for 2s. Gel. There were few
bees in it ard less stoves. An old bee-keeper
said I could not winter it, but by careful feed-
ing, &c, and wrapping-up, a few bees and the
queen survived (a '94 queen). I fed it slowly
during spring, and it turned out one of the
strongest stocks that I had. 1 put a very
large super on at beginning of June, and on

looking at it last week found it nearly full of
beautiful white comb and honey. I entered
my super for our local show. To-day I made
preparation for removing what I hoped would
be my prize super, but on going into the
garden I found the hive turned over under a
gooseberry-bush, and my grand super lying a
few yards away smashed to pieces, and the
poor bees lying dead in hundreds. It was
positively hard work to keep the tears back,
and, to make matters worse, I got Avell stung
into the bargain.

My bees have paid me well, and this is the
first reverse 1 have had. It is clearly the
work of some malicious individual. My worst
wish is that the perpetrator may " reap as he
has sown." — F. G. Bennison, Scorton, Dar-
lington, August 15.

BEE-CULTURE IN SOU HI CORN-
WALL.

[2156.] On July 25 a small quantity of
honey was exhibited at the meeting of the
Serpentine District Horticultural. Society, held
in the grounds of the Eev. J. J. Mallock, St.
Ruan Minor Rectory, near the Lizard. Several
parishes are included within the range of the
society's interest, and there seemed to be
several members who were at least interested
in bees and honey. By way of encouraging
the production of honey, prizes were offered
this year for the best six sections. Only four
lots were staged — some good, all fair. Two
were well set up, but the operation did' not
secure each a prize. The adjudication was
made by the Rev. C. R. Sowed, Vicar of St.
Goran, an active member of the Cornwall
Association while it existed. But that gentle-
man's chief work was to give two addresses
during the afternoon on modern bee-keeping. He
had the use of a hive and the diagram of the
B.B.K. Association, kindly lent by Mr.
Cowan, and he treated of the natural history
of the bee, conipared the old methods with the
new, explained driving, transferring, re queen-
ing, &c, and afterwards answered several
questions. It was obvious that many people,
who knew a little about bee-keeping, wished
to know more, and it may be hoped that a
stimulus has been given to the industry. A
good deal of clover honey should be secured
in the neighbourhood, weather, of course, per-
mitting. The lectures were given at the
instance of the Technical Committee of the
County Council of Cornwall. — South Corn-
wall, August 5.

ROYALTY AND BEE-KEEPING.
The Empress. Frederick of Germany is at
present taking a great interest in the cultiva-
tion of bees and the production of honey, and
has been visiting various noted bee-keepers in
her neighbourhood. Her Majrsty takes a great

Aug. 22, 1895.] TIIE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

331

interest in all industries, and hopes, by example,
to persuade the peasant population to take up
new and left-off industries. — British Weekly.

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.
July, 1895.

Locality, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.

Height above sea-level, 225 ft.

Rainfall, 2'65 in. In July, 1894, 257 in.
rain fell.

Greatest fall in 24 hours, 0'58 in. on the
18th.

Rain fell on 14 days. In July, 1894, 12
days.

Max. shade temp., 76° on the 8th ; max.
for July, 1894, 81°.

Min. temp., 38° on the 12th and 29th ; min.
temp, for July, 1894,40°.

Max. shade temp, at !) a.m., 67° on the 7th.

Min. temp, at 9 a.m., 55° on 3rd and 4th.

Frosty nights, nil. During July, 1894, nil.

Max. barometer, 30"075 on 5th and 6th.

Min. barometer, 29 "3 on 2nd, 20th, and
21st.

A cold and wet month. What a contrast to
June ! Very little nectar secreted. Sections
being emptied in some hives. Aftermath far
better than anticipated, but owing to the low
temperature not much visited. Yield of honey
in the immediate neighbourhood far below
the average. — Percy Leigh, Beemount.

NOVELTIES FOR 1895.
Mr. W. P. Meadows forwards particulars of
some seasonable novelties for present use.
The first of these is his latest improvement in
super-clearers, which— as will be seen in the
cut— consists of a slide of tin, inserted in the

meadows' improved super-clearer.

outer edge of clearer, by means of which a
circular hole in floor of the latter is covered or
opened at will from the outside. This arrange-
ment enables the bee-keeper to set his clearer
on in the usual way, and when the surplus
chamber is removed after beiDg cleared of
bees the combs can be returned tor " clearing
up" after extracting, the bees re-admitted by
withdrawing the slide, when combs are

cleared, and again shut off from below by
pushing in the slide, the bees passing into
the brood nest by
the bee-escape. Thus
the bees pass in and
out of the super at
the will of the bee-
keeper, and no trouble,
upset, or sting* need
be feared.

Another useful
bee appliance just
introduced by Mr.
Meadows is the
"Cottager's Honey
Ripener.'' The ac-
companying cut shows
its form, and Avhen
we state that its price
is only 5s., with Is.
extra for " drainer "
shown at top, none
will dispute its suita-
bility for the means
and wants of the
cottager bee - keeper.
By its use the thick
honey, as it ripens,
may be drawn from
the bottom by means
of the valve shown.
Lastly, we have a cheap and neat case or
frame— glassed on both sides— for sending

MEADOWS COTTAGER'
HONEY RIPENER.

145

SHALLOW FRAME CASE.

to shows either three 1-lb. sections, or a
shallow-frame of comb honev. The price of
these show cases is Is. each, or 10s. per
dozen. .

Qntr'm and ^Rcjjlits.

[1343.] Bees in Hive Roof.— I should be
glad if you could advise me in the following
matter :— A friend in Normandy started bee-
keeping this year with a bar-frame hive. The
hive was put in position, and a neighbouring
peasant instructed to put his first swarm into
it. He did so, but, never having seen a hive
of the kind before, poured the bees amongst
the frames, and omitted to put the quilts in
place ; with the result that the bees have filled
the roof with comb, and not touched the
foundation in frames. My friend (who is a
lady) knows nothing about bees, and writes me
to ask what is to bo done. My idea is as
follows :— Take off roof, drive bees into a skep,

338

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 22, 1895.

then run into frames from front of hive, put
excluder over frames, replace roof, and leave
until end of season, then remove roof again,
cut out all comb, feed and pack up for winter.
If the foundation is not drawn out by that
time, I suggest putting drawn-out comb in
place of foundation. I shall probably be able
to go over during the last fortnight of August
or first ditto of September,, if this is not too
late. I have not been a bee-keeper long
myself, and have never driven bees, so any
advice you can give me will be acceptable.
Hoping I am Dot troubling you too much, and
thanking you in advance. — W. L. C, London,
E.G., August 1.

Eeply.— If you are yourself competent to
drive the bees from hive-roof they could be got
out to built-out combs in frame-hive and fed
up for winter. We should, however, on no
account put queen excluder between roof and
hive body, seeing the risk of queen being left
alone in the latter to perish, while the bees crowd
through the zinc to the brood and stores
above. In " driving," the frames of comb
should be arranged in position and coverings
properly fixed, the hive being raised in front
to allow free entrance for the bees. Then
turn roof gently over and fix it level
with the alighting board and with ends of the
combs towards entrance ; beat on the sides of
the roof, and use a little smoke if needed to
drive the bees in at the entrance. After
driving, cut out all combs containing brood
and tie them firmly into frames, inserting each
one among the driven bees as soon as ready.
Feed well for winter with syrup, and appro-
priate the honey in roof. We should not
entrust the carrying out of the above operation
to the peasant who hived the swarm.

[1344.] Taking Bees to the Moors. Queens
Piping in Non-Swarmed Hives. — I took my
bees to the heather on August 10, and, when
finally closing the entrance to one stock, dis-
tinctly heard the queen inside ': piping.'' Now,
as the hive had not swarmed this season I could
not understand it, for, though I have kept bees
for niaDy years, I never previously heard
'• piping'' before a first swarm had come off.
However, as the stock was very strong in bees,
and likely to store honey well, I determined
to take them. When set down at the moors I
again heard the piping, and acting upon the
strong recommendation of a bee-keeper more
experienced than myself, I was persuaded to
get the stock back without delay. During the
homeward journey the weather became so hot,
and the bees so excited that the combs all
melted dowD, and the stock was ruined. I
therefore ask : — 1 . L)id I do wrong in taking
the bees out, and in bringing them home ? 2.
(Jan you account for the mishap ? 3. Is it
usual for queens to pipe under the circum-
stances ? — W. Nixon, Horsby, August 12.

Eeplt. — 1. It was a mistake to undertake
the outward journey after hearing the queen
"piping," and a fatal error to keep the bees

confined and attempt the return journey on a
hot day. We have little doubt that the stock
has sent out a top swarm unseen, and, through
some mishap to the queen, the swarm has
returned to the parent hive. So that the
" piping " would be from the young queen,
which, if the hive had been left at home, would
have swarmed out with practically a top or
prime swarm. 2. The mishap would no doubt
arise through the heat and excitement within
the hive occasioned, may be, by an attempt to
swarm and consequent suffocation of the bees
in their mad attempt to get out. The break-
down of the combs resulted from the heat and
jolting in transit.

[1345.] A Lady's Difficulty with Bees. — 1.
Will you kindly tell me the best thing to do
with my hive of bees, which has given me this
year forty 1-lb. sections, besides filling up all
the twelve frames in the brood- chamber. I
have seen two or three maggots turned out at
the entrance, besides no end of wax cappings,
and, therefore, judge that the wax moth has
got into the brood-frames. I cannot say if it
has got into the lower rack of sections, but
hope not. However, I shall know when I
remove the sections in about a week, as I
don't think there is much more honey to get
about here now. 2. What do you advise me
doing with the lower frames, where the moth
is evidently located 1 I have an empty hive
fitted with comb foundation, which I thought
of driving the bees into. I shall then, of
course, have to feed on medicated syrup,
which would not be needed if the bees could
have remained in their present hive. 3. Can I
remove the moth from the brood-frames, so
as to use them again next spring for other
bees, or must 1 destroy all the comb and put
fresh in the frames ? I shall look anxiously
for an answer in next week's Journal. — (Mr*)
J. M. Arnott, Woodbridge, August 8.

Reply. — 1. The " best thing to do with the
hive '' is to remove the remaining rack of
sections at once, and we shall be very pleased
to hear that their contents are intact, for we
rather suspect some portion of the " no end of
wax capping^' mentioned, will be the cappings
of sections removed by the bees before carrying
the contents into the hive below. The
'• maggots" turned out will no doubt be the
Drva3 or young brood of bees, not of the wax-
moth at all. 2. If, as we anticipate, the lower
frames are found to be not too well-filled with
honey, leave them and bees where they are.
3. Let us know what condition the frames in
brood-chamber are after examination, when we
will advise further.

[1346.] The Need for a TeH-Book—
Making Artificial Swarms in Autumn.
— One of my hives swarmed about middle
of July, but after settling on a bush
for about ten minutes the bees went back to
the parent hive, and there has been no appear-
ance now of swarming again. I therefore

Aug. 22, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

339

ask: — 1. Would it be too late now to make
an artificial swarm from the above hive ?
2. Would it do to remove the above hive to a
new location, and put a new hive on the old
stand, so that the flying bees will form the
second swarm, if I introduce anew queen, as
I wish to leave the old queen in number one
hive with the young bees ? 3. Would the
young bees not go back to the parent hive, and
leave the old queen and brood deserted ? —
R. G., Renfrew, N.B.

Reply. — 1. For making artificial swarms
successfully, two thiDgs are indispensable —
viz., honey income and drones. Now, as both
these essentials are — in most places — usually
absent in August, the chances of success are
practically absent. 2. Your second suggested
method is just the reverse of the right one ;
the proper way being to set the queen with a
comb of brood on the old stand. This done,
the adult or flying bees return to their original
location, and form the swarm, while the young
bees left in the parent hive raise a queen from
the eggs or brood left with them. To depart
from this rule is to court failure. 3. Young
bees — which have not become regular field-
foragers— will stay wherever put, but old ones
will go back to the old stand. Want of know-
ledge on these important points clearly proves
the need for a text-book to all beginners in
bee-keepiDg.

[1347. J Sainfoin and Buckwheat. — Can
Sainfoin, so highly recommended by your
Spanish correspondent on page 324 of yester-
day's issue (August 15) be grown in England
with equal success ? 2. What return could I
expect from a quarter of an acre of buck-
wheat, and is the plant of any further use to
cattle after the grain has been gathered? —
E. H. C., Par Station, Cornwall, August 16.

Refly. — 1. Sainfoin is largely grown in
districts of the south where chalky soils pre-
dominate. It is an equally good forage plant
with the best clovers, and in good seasons
yields a plentiful supply of very fine honey,
2. After the crop of buckwheat is gathered in,
what remains is exactly analagoua to the
" stubble " of a wheat crop, and is, like the
latter, ploughed in.

[1318.] Dividing Stocks. — Loss of Queen.—
On Monday, August 5, I drove several lots of
bees which I united into four lots. The
queens began laying at once and all went well
until to-day on looking at what has, up to the
present, been the most prosperous stock, I
found that the queen had disappeared and
that they were raising about twelve queen cells,
all with larvae of some days' growth in them.
The queen has evidently been lost at least three
days. The stock is fairly strong and I am un-
willing to unite it to another unless that is
really advisable. I would, therefore, be glad
of your opinion on the following points : —
1. What will have been likely to hive

happened to the queen ? 2. Will the young
ones be likely to get fertilized ? (My other
stocks have destroyed all drones and this one
has none, but there are plenty of bees in the
neighbourhood). 3. Would it be worth while
buying a fertile queen ? — " Fenjian," Boston,
Lines, August l-ith.

Reply. — 1. If you have been manipulating
the frames of hive after uniting driven bees we
should suppose that some mishap had happened
to the queen while the combs were being
handled. In no other way can her disappear-
ance be satisfactorily accounted for. 2. The
chances are entirely against the queens now
hatching ever getting mated. Why not add
another lot of driven bees with their queen ?

%n Chairs to Offline.

August 21 and 22.— Shropshire B.K.A.
annual exhibition of honey, hives, and bee-
appliances in connection with the Shropshire
Horticultural Society's great fete in "The
Quarry," Shrewsbury.

August 22. — Show of bees, hives, and
honey, in connection with the Horsham Horti-
cultural Society's show at Springfield, Horsham.
Entries close August 17. Lectures in Bee-tent
by the Rev. C. Brereton. R. Gilburd, Sec,
39, Carfax, Horsham.

August 28. — Lanes, and Cheshire B.K.A.
at Fleetwood, Lanes. In connection with the
Horticultural Society. Show of honey. Open
to Lancashire and Cheshire only. Sec,
J. F. Williamson, 18, Bold-street, Fleetwood.

August 30. — At Abington, in connection
with the Abington Flower Show. First
Annual Exhibition of the Upper Clydesdale
B.K.A. Schedules from Mr. Robert Coltart,
Arbory Villa, Abington, N.B. Entries close
August 24.

August31.— Manchester and District B.K.A.
at Worsley ; in connection with Worsley
Horticultural and Agricultural Show. Six
classes for bees, hives, and honey. Liberal
prizes. Entries close August 20. Schedules
from Mr. Upjohn, Worsley, Manchester.

September 5. — North Norfolk B.K.A.
annual show in connection with the Holt
Flower Show, to be held in the grounds of
Brinton Hall. Two special open classes for
single 1 lb. sections and 1 lb. jars of extracted
honey. Entries close August 24. Schedules
from the Hon. Sec, C. J. Cooke, Edgefield,
Melton Constable, Norfolk.

September 3 and 4, South of Scotland
B.K.A. — Annual Honey Show in connection
with the S. of S. Horticultural Society's show
at Dumfries, nineteen classes for honey. Over
fifty prizes. Entries close August 30. John
Currie, Secretary, 7, Assembly-street, Dumfries.

September 4 — Herefordshire B.K.A. annual
show and honey fair, at Hereford. Eight

340

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 22, 1895.

classes for honey. Entries close August 30.
Hon. Sec, Alfred Watkins, Imperial Mills,
Hereford.

September 7. — Lancashire and Cheshire
B.K.A., in connection with Bramhall and
Woodford Horticultural Society. Annual
show of bee3 and honey at Bramhall Hall.
Open to district only. Schedules from Secre-
tary, J. Bell, Davenport, Stockport.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

September 28. — Roxburghshire B K.A.
Annual Show in the Corn Exchange, Jed-
burgh. Numerous prizes. Entries close
September 24. Thos. Clark, Secretary.
Pleasants, Jedburgh.

October 8, 9, 10, and 11.— Dairy show at
the Agricultural Hall, London. Liberal prizes
in five classes for honey. Open to all. Entries
close September 9. For schedules apply
Wm. C. Young, sec. Dairy Farmers' Associa-
tion, 12, Hanover-square, London.

October 19. — Lanarkshire B.K.A. annual
show of honey and bee appliances (appliances
open to all), in Public Hall, Larkhall. Also
general meeting of members same dav at
5 p.m. Entries close October 12. Schedules
from John Stevenson, secretary, Merryton
Braes, Larkhall, N.B.

DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION

A Third Class Examination

WILL BE HELD AT

ID IE IR :b "ST
On the Morning: of September 12, 1895.

Members of the Derbyshire, Notts, or Leicestershire
Assoc, wishing to present themselves as candidates are
requested to send in their names to the Hon. Sec,
P. WALKER, Cattle Market, Derby.

Notieesto Correspondents ana Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Bee-Man. (Belfast.) Extracting Sections. —
Either " Louths" or the " Improved Guinea"
extractor answer well for extracting section?.

J. Cox. — Comb is affected with foul brood,
but it does not strike us as a very bad case.
We advise, however, your taking every pre-
caution against iDfectiDg your other hives.

John Taylor (Eastney). — Sugar for Bee
Food. — Sugar sent is entirely unsuitable for
making into syrup for bees. It is a coarse
raw sugar (pure cane it may be) just the
kind to induce dysentery in bees wintering
on food prepared from it.

E. Oldham (Ashton-on-Mersey). — Enlarging
J '.mod- chambers.— I. It is altogether too
late to think of giving a body-box over
brood-frames at this season. 2. Honey
sent is from clover and various llowers.

The flavour is very fair, colour good, but
not bright. Without being classed very
high, it is a nice honey for table use.

Novice (Halesowen, Birmingham). — Queen
Failing. — If it is really the queen's second
seasorj, and she has ceased laying for so
many weeks, there must be something
radically wrong with her. The only thing
to save the stock is re-queening.

G. F. Townsend (Studley, E.S.O.).— Pollen
for Fermenting Mead. — A piece of pollen
the size of a hazel nut will start fermenta-
tion in a barrel of mead.

W. H.— Comb sent is badly affected with
foul brood. Our correspondent sadly lacks
knowledge of the disease or we should not
have had to wash the envelope containing his
note before it could be handled. To stick a
letter on top of a slab of foully diseased
comb is not nice to the receiver.

Hugh Bonser (Ooatemere). — Preserving
Queens. — 1. Queens may be kept alive for
many days by putting her — along with a
dozen or more attendant bees — on to a
combed section glassed on both sides. A
small quantity of syrup poured into the
cells will suffice for food, and the section
only needs keeping in a warm place. 2. It
is an ascertained scientific fact that drones
bred from a virgin queen are capable of fer-
tilising queens, but most bee-keepers prefer
to have them mated with normal drones.

A. R. C. N. (Bantry). — Uniting Driven Bees
to Stocks in Frame-hives. — LJrive the bees
from skep in usual way, and then sprinkle
them with a little very thin syrup scented
with peppermint. Set the skep with driven
bees on a good-sized board, raising the front
of skep on one side an inch or so. Brush
off the bees from combs of frame-hive in
front of skep, and sprinkle them with a
little of the scented syrup as they run in.
When both lots of bees are joined in the
empty skep, throw the lot down on a plat-
form fixed in front of frame-hive, the latter
being raised in front to allow of free
entrance.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, dec. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Three
words or under, One Penny.

FREEHOLD LAND, well sheltered, near Station,
main London road, Rayleigh, 9 Acres, £270;
Few plots, 40ft. frontage, 400 ft. deep, £20 ; 8 Acres,
£2.r)0; 30 Acres, 2 cottages, out-buildings, &c, £17 per
acre. 9 acres £145. Few second hand "Abbott's" or
" blow's" hives wanted. — Address, Land, Myrtle Villa,
Hornchurch. 1 8

FOR SALE. Stock of FOREIGN BEES (Carniolan ex
"Holy Land ") in Sandringham pattern Hive, this
year's Queen, 32s. 6d. Two stocks blacks, in a " Wells "
hive r>0s. Super for above, 20 shallow frames with
foundation, 7s. 6d. Stock of hybrids (good workers)
2.r)s. Extractor for two frames (new last year) 15s. (id.
Six new Simniin's pattern rapid frame feeders (list
3s. 6d. each) 9s. Four Perfection feeders 4s. Gd. Super
21 sections with starters, 3s. Travelling swarm box or
nuclei hive 2s. All in good condition. Accept part
Exchange good Clover Honey.— Arthur Cooper,
71, High-street, liurton-on-Trent. I 91

Aug. 29, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

341

(Mtorial, Itofiees, &u

THE COMING DAIRY SHOW.

As the entries close September 9 we appeal
to bee-keepers throughout the kingdom to
make the coming show the finest exhibit of
British honey that has ever been collected at
the Agricultural Hall.

After this issue of the Journal there will
only be one more number published in which
to reiterate the appeal before the entries close.
Those who are responsible for the success of
the show have only the medium of our
Journal for " whipping-up " exhibits. Bee-
keepers in the north and midlands usually
show much more alacrity in responding to
such calls. There is certainly more "go" in
them than with the bee-keepers of the south.
We felt somewhat ashamed of Kentish apathy
last year, but we rely on their better response
this season, and, indeed, from all the southern
counties right away to Cornwall. Nor must
we forget to appeal to our Scotch, Welsh, and
Irish friends. Let them also make a note to
send entries early. Schedules to be had from
Mr. W. C. Young, British Dairy Farmers'
Association, 12, Hanover-square, London. The
Dairy Show is the finest possible opportunity
for disposing of honey, and no good samples,
if priced reasonably, need fail to find buyers.
Secretaries of county associations will please
render what assistance they can.

SHROPSHIRE B.K.A.

ANNUAL Snow AT SHREWSBURY.

The twenty- first annual fete of the Shrop-
shire Horticultural Society was held in " The
Quarry," Shrewsbury, on August 22 and 23.
The weather on both days being beautifully
tine, the attendance of visitors may, we suppose,
be counted as a record one. We were informed
the gate receipts exceeded by £70 the highest
takings ever before recorded for a first day.
The attendance on the two days during
which the show lasted exceeded 50,000,
while the total receipts were no less than
X'2,000. Among the numerous popular
attractions which go to make the " Shrewsbury
Floral Fete " one of the best attended meet-
ings of a like kind in the country, not the
least, by a long way, is the exhibition and
honey fair of the Shropshire Bee-Keepers'
Association. Held in conjunction with so
large a gathering, the beautiful weather on
both days made up a complete success. Owing
to the very moderate bee-season in Shropshire
the entries were less than last year. But it
was a big show notwithstanding, as attested
by the fact that 2,600 lb. of honey was staged
in competition. The schedule comprised some
forty-three classes, twenty-six of which were
for honey in its various forms, the remaining
seventeen being for bees, hives, appliances,

and miscellaneous items connected with bee-
culture. The extent of the honey classes can
be imagined when it is seen that exhibits of
four and two dozen sections, and the same
number of jars of liquid honey, are quite
frequent in the schedule, the wonder being
how numerous are the entries for each.

Several very fine honey trophies and collec-
tions of bee-flowers were staged, the 1st prize,
" Trophy '' of Mr. Tetley-Nickels being a most
tastefully arranged one. Indeed, all the four
trophies were good. Miss Eyton, hon. sec. of
the S. B. K.A., and her coadjutors, laboured
assiduously in arranging all the details of the
extensive bee-department, and, as a result,
everything went off smoothly and well.
Indeed, nothing marred the pleasure of the
occasion save the heat and crowds of visitors
to the bees' tent, which made the time spent
under canvas — especially on the second day —
not a little trying.

An adjoining tent was occupied by Mr. W.
P. Meadows, who, at intervals on both days,
delivered interesting lectures on bees and
bee-keeping to appreciative and numerous
audiences. This latter tent was also utilized
on the afternoon of the second day for the
presentation of the prizes to the winners, who
received their respective awards at the hands
of Miss Eyton.

Messrs. W. Broughton Carr, Jesse Garratt,
and E. J. Burtt officiated as judges, the first-
named adjudicating in the classes for bees,
hives, appliances, and miscellaneous items.
Mr. Garratt taking the comb-honey classes,
and Mr. Burtt those for extracted honey,
which latter proved so heavy a task that Mr.
Garratt assisted in completing the whole.
AWARDS :—
Honey (open classes).

Twenty-four 1-16. Sections.— 1, S. Cart-
wright, Shawbury ; 2nd, W. G. Preece, Shrews-
bury.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, J. Palmer,
Ludlow ; 2nd, A. Hamer, Llanarthney.

Twenty-four l-lb. Jars Extracted Homy. —
1st, S. Cartwright ; 2nd, J. Carver, Welling-
ton ; h.c, J. Palmer.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st,
T. R. Horton, Much Wenlcck ; 2nd, Rev.
F. J. Evan?, Hargrave Vicarage, Chester.

Twenty- four l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey.
—1st, Not awarded ; 2nd, T. R. Horton.

Collection of Extracted Honey from Different
Sources.— 1st, A. Beale, Meole Brace ; 2nd,
A. W. Rollins, Stourbridge.

Twelve l-lb. Blow's Sections —1st, Rev. H.
Bryans, Malpas, Cheshire; 2nd, Miss S.Ward,
Hadnall Hall, Salop.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey in Blow's
Jars.— 1st, J. Carver ; 2nd, W. Blower,
Shrewsbury.

Forty eight l-lb. Sections (members only).—
1st. J. Carver ; 2nd, S. Cartwright.

Twelve l-lb. Sect 'ions.— 1st. Rev. H. M.
Brvans ; 2nd, W. Boughton Knight, Brom-
field.

342

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 29, 1895.

Single 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, P. Jones ; 2nd,
A. Hamer.

Forty-eight 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
S. Cartwright ; 2nd, B. G. Brocklehurst, Lud-
low.

Twenty-four 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. —
1st, J. Carver ; 2nd, T. R. Horton.

Twenty-four 1-lb. JarsDark Extracted Honey.
— 1st, B. G. Brocklehurst ; 2nd, A. Beale.

Novelty in Honey or Wax. — 1st, P. Scott,
Broseley.

artisans' classes.

Twenty - four 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, —
Pritchard, Bucknell ;• 2nd, P. Jones.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, E. Brookfield,
Middle ; 2nd, P. Jones.

Twenty-four 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. —
1st, T. C. Clark, Bridgnorth ; 2nd, S. Brem-
niell, Overley.

COTTAGERS only.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, J. Hammond ;
2nd, J. Lewis.

Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, J.
Lewis; 2nd, G. Lloyd.

Six 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, J. Walford, Grins-
hill ; 2nd, G. Croxton, Yorton.

Six 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, G.
Lloyd ; 2nd, J. Lewis ; 3rd, Mrs. A. Ward.

Honey Cake. — 1st, W. Blower.

One-lb. Jar Extracted Honey. — 1st, J.
Lewis ; 2nd, S. Bremmell.

Single 1-lb. Section. — 1st J. Walford ; 2nd,
J. Hammonds.

Collection of Bee Flowers. — 1st, G. Lloyd.

Honey Trophy, not over 60 lb. (open to all).
— 1st, J. Tetley-Nickels, Day House, Shrews-
bury ; 2nd, W. P. Meadows, Syston ; 3rd, A.
Beale.

HIVES AND APPLIANCES.

Best Complete Hive (cost not over 15s.). — 1st,
W. P. Meadows ; 2nd, — Oliver.

Best Complete Hive. — 1st, W. P. Meadows ;
2nd, J. Carver ; h.c, T. Lanaway & Sons.

Collection of Bee Appliances.— 1st, W. P.
Meadows ; 2nd, T. Whittingham.

New Invention {useful to Bee-Keepers). — 1st,
W. P. Meadows ; h.c, Rev. H. Bryans and
W. P. Meadows.

1-lb. Brood Foundation. — 1st, A. Beale ;
h.c, T. Whittingham.

1-lb. Super Foundation. — 1st, T. Lanaway
& Sons ; h.c, T. Whittingham.

Two Samples Soft Candy. — 1st, J. Carver ;
h.c. Lanaway & Sons.

Honey Beverage. — 1st, Rev. G. W. Bancks,
Dartford.

Fruit Preserved in Honey. — 1st, Mrs. Lloyd,
Overley.

Honey Cake.— 1st, T. Whittingham.

2 lb. Beeswax (Salop only). — 1st, J. Carver ;
2nd, A. Beale ; h.c, P. Scott ; c, T. R.
Horton.

Honey Vinegar. — 1st, Rev. G. W. Bancks ;
h.c, T. Whittingham.

Collection of Bee Flowers.— 1st, A. Beale ;
2nd, G. Lloyd.

Best Stock of Bees (Salop only).— 1st, W. G.
Preece ; 2nd, J. Carver.

In addition to the above awards, an illu-
minated certificate was offered for the greatest
number of first prizes for honey exhibits, but
a difficulty arose in consequence of J. Carver,
Wellington, and Cartwright, of Shawbury,
being equally successful both as regards
first and second awards. Eventually, it was
arranged that the certificate be presented
to Carver, and that an extra award, a silver
medal, be given to the other exhibitor.

KENT BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

SHOW AT SIIEPHERDSWELL.

I hope you will afford me a little space to
record my impressions of a pleasant two days'
visit to Shepherdswell Horticultural Show on
August 14 and 15. The Kent B.K.A. were
invited for the first time there to organise a
Bee and Honey show at this annual floral fete
with manipulations in the bee tent. The
entries were numerous and staged in a hand-
some marquee. Mr. J. M. Hooker acted as
judge and was delighted with the exhibits
generally. Mr. G. J. Wright (Ramsgate Local
Hon. Sec. K.B.K.A.) rendered much assistance
on both days. Two years ago there was not a
modern frame-hive in the place, but through
the County Council lectures Shepherdswell is
now likely to become a chief honey centre of
East Kent. The district is also in advance of
many parts as regards its cottage horticulture,
owing in no small degree to the energy of the
Horticultural Society's hon. secretary (Mr. J.
Jacob) who is a bee-keeper and desires to see
apiculture a prominent feature at all horticul-
tural shows. The fete was held in the grounds
of Mr. W. Smith, J.P., who is a successful
bee-keeper, doing much to encourage honey
production in the district. His place adjoins
the railway station and was well illuminated
at comparatively small cost by hundreds of
Hurricane lamps. The honey tent was also
well lit up by two big paraffin lamps with
shades to throw the light on the exhibits.
Numbers of labourers from far and near with
their wives were thus enabled to profit by the
occasion who would otherwise have been de-
barred from seeing what can be accomplished
in the modern hive. Honey is seen to fine
advantage in a well-lighted tent, the big mar-
quee looking very picturesque in its trans-
parency among the overhanging foliage of the
trees. County B.K.A. secretaries should make
a note of this and endeavour to keep the honey
tent open up to ten o'clock at night. A long
frame with the words "bees, hives, honey"
in large white paper letters pasted on Turkey
red ground, 12 ft. long, hinged in centre so as
to fold over for convenient carriage, met the
eye of visitors as they entered the show.
Lighting up the tent so as to make the bees
and honey visible after dark seems to me well
worthy of attention. I suppose this is always
done at the big honey " fair " at Shrewsbury.

Aug. 29, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

343

I append list of awards. — A Member of the
K.B.K.A.

PRIZE LIST.

Observatory Hive. — 1st, E. Drinqbier, Dover;
2nd, Green & Sons, Rainham.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, Agricultural
College, Wye ; 2nd, G. Bower, Betteshanger ;
3rd, E. D. Till, Eynsford ; h.c, Rev. F. C.
Villiers and Horticultural College, Swanley,
E. Drinqbier and F. Langley, Sevenoaks.

Six 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, Mrs. Curtis, Kears-
ney Abbey ; 2nd, W. F. Hopper, Eythorne ;
3rd, Miss Wakeling, Shepherdswell.

Twelve I -lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,'

E. D. Till ; 2nd, Miss Wakeling ; 3rd, E.
Drinqbier; b.c, H. Dobell and Agricultural
College, Wye.

Six 1-lb. Glasses. — 1st, F. Langley ; 2nd,
Miss DAeth, Canterbury ; 3rd, Mrs. Curtis ;
c, W. F. Hopper.

Three Shallow Frames. — 1st, Horticultural
College.

Exhibit of Honey not over 25 lb. — (East
Kent only). — 1st, Mrs. Curtis ; 2nd, W.
Smith, Shepherdswell ; 3rd, G. Bowers.

Trophy of Honey not exceeding 100 lb. —
1st, W. Smith ; 2nd, Green & Sons ; 3rd, E.
Drinqbier.

Wax. — 1st. Mrs. Curtis ; 2nd, Miss Gosby,
Dover ; 3rd, W. Smith.

COTTAGERS CLASSES.

Six 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, G. Bowers ; 2nd,

F. S. Bensted, Newnham ; equal 3rd, J.
Friend, Dover, and L. Keen, Betteshanger.

Six 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, J.
Friend ; 2nd, L. Keen ; 3rd, G. Bowers.

Super. — 1st, Miss Gosby ; 3rd, J. Fox,
Shepherdswell.

GOOLE AND DISTRICT B.K.A.

The annual show of this society was held in
the Victoria Pleasure Grounds, Goole, on
August 15, in connection with that of the
Agricultural and Horticultural Society, the
weather being beautifully fine, and a very
large number of visitors were present during
the day.

The bee and honey section was under the
charge of Mr. A. Woodhead, hon. sec. of the
G.B.K.A., assisted by Messrs. W. T. Lumley,
C. Douglas, G. Remrner, W. Chester, and E. J.
Giddy. The honey was staged in the fruit
and vegetable tent, and made a grand display.

Mr. J. H. Howard, Holme, Peterborough,
officiated as judge, and during the afternoon
delivered lectures on the management of bees,
&c, to large and interested audiences.

The following are the awards : —

Observatory Hive. — 1st, E. J. Giddy,
Welton, Brough ; 2nd, W. ( 'hester, Goole.

Six 1-lb. Sections of Comb Honey. — 1st, R.
Brown, Somersham ; 2nd, W. H. Woods, St.
Ives ; h.c, E. J. Giddy ; c, Miss M. J.
Ducker, North Ferriby.

Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
W. H. Woods ; 2nd, R. Brown.

Most Interesting Exhibit Connected ivith Bee
Culture. — 1st, A. Woodhead, Goole.

Two Frames of Comb Honey. — 1st, R.
Brown ; 2nd, W. H. Calvert, Swanland,
Brough.

Classes open only to members of the Goole
and District B.K.A. :—

Six 1-lb. Sections (Members only). — 1st, G.
Remmer, Knedlington ; 2nd, W. Chester.

Six 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, W.
Chester ; 2nd, E. Wainman, Howden.

Best Super. — 1st, E. Wainman ; 2nd, W.
Chester.

Two 1-lb. Sections, and two 1-lb. Jars Ex-
tracted Honey. — 1st, G. Remmer ; 2nd, E.
Wainman.

Three 1-lb. Jars Granulated Honey. — 1st, Dr.
Arbuckle, Thorne ; 2nd, G. Oakley,' Greenoak,
Eastrington ; commended, Dr. Arbuckle. —
(Communicated.)

LAUDERDALE B.K.A.

The annual show of this association was
held on August 10 in conjunction with the
show of the Lauderdale Agricultural Society
within the policies of Thirlestane Castle.
Messrs. R. Greig, secretary of the Berwick
B.K.A., and R. Douglas, Greenlaw, officiated
as judges. The display of honey was very
satisfactory, although, when contrasted with
last season's, much smaller and more highly
coloured.

Amongst the exhibits may be mentioned a
handsome and well-finished design in comb
by Mr. Geo. Moffat.

The Silver Cup, given by the Association,
for the best Ten 1 lb. Sections, was won by
Mr. Alex. Lothian. The prizes were awarded
as follows : —

Class I. (Open).

Ten 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, Alex. Lothian,
Blainslie ; 2nd, R. & G. Robson, Lauder ;
3rd, J. Buckham, Lander.

Six 1-lh. Sections. — 1st, David Pringle,
Chapel; 2nd, Alex. Lothian; 3rd, R. & G.
Robson.

Six lb. Extracted Honey. — 1st, R. & G,
Robson ; 2nd, John Turnbull, Lauder ; 3rd,
W. Murray, Lauder.

Display of Honey. — 1st, J. Turnbull ; 2nd,
R. & G. Robson; '.3rd, Wm. Murray; 4th,
the Countess of Lauderdale.

Non-Sectional Super. — 1st, Geo. Moffat,
Stockbridge Toll-house, Gordon ; 2nd, J.
Halliday, West Mains, Lauder ; 3rd, R. & G.
Robson.

Beeswax. — 1st, G. Robson ; 2nd, R. Robson ;
3rd, R. Bruce, Lauder.

Class II. (Beginners only).

Five 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, Wm. Scott,
Lauder; 2nd, J. Houston, Thirlestane Castle
Gardens ; 3rd, Mrs. Turner, Lauder.

Three 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, J. Houston ; 2nd,
Mrs. Turner ; 3rd, K. Bruce.

344

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 29, 1895.

3-lb. Extracted Honey. — 1st, J. Houston ;
2nd, D. Hutchinson, Lauder ; 3rd, R. Bruce.
— (Communicated.)

BERKS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

The "Windsor district of the Berks Associa-
tion are to be complimented on having held a
most successful show of honey and appliances
at Ives-place, Maidenhead, on August 15, in
coDJunction with the Maidenhead Horticul-
tural Society. Favoured with splendid weather,
Mr. W. S. Darby, hon. sec, assisted by the
committee, Messrs. Attfield, Cartland, W.
Carter, and Stoneham, ably carried out the
arrangements. 720 lb. weight of honey was
staged, of a very superior quality. The
exhibits were put up in good style, with the
effective county label attached, and customers
were readily found, the greater part being
sold on the spot, to the satisfaction of the
exhibitors. Rev. R. Errington and Rev. S. R.
"Wilkinson were the judges, and made the
following awards :—

OPEN CLASSES.

Collection of Hives and Appliances. — 1st,
W. B. Webster.

Most Complete Hive, price not over 12s. 6d.
—1st, W. B. Webster ; 2nd, H. W. Seymour.

Rapid Feeder.— -1st, W. B. Webster.

Observatory Hive. — 1st, Geo. Head.

Exhibit of Bee Flora.— 1st, H. Attfield.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, W. Woodley ;
2nd, A. Canning.

Six l-lb. Sections.— 1st, A. Canning; 2nd,
W. Woodley.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
W. Woodley ; 2nd, W. H. Seymour.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, H. W.
Seymour ; 2nd, W. Woodley.

MEMBERS ONLY.

Exhibit of Comb and Extracted Honey,
weight 40 te. — 1st, W. Woodley; 2nd, H. W.
Seymour.

Twelve l-lb. Sections (in Blow's Sections). —
1st, A. Canning.

Six l-lb. Jars' Extracted Honey (in Blow's
Jars). — 1st, A. Canning.

WINDSOR DISTRICT ONLY.

Six l-lb. Sections. — 1st, Mark Pottinger ;
2nd, Albert Head.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, Mark
Pottinger ; 2nd, A. H. Miller.

THE BADCOCK FOND.
Referring again to the above, and the
promise of two gentlemen to give 10s. each if
eight others would contribute a like sum, in
order to add another £5 to the amount to be
given to the widow of the late Mr. Badcock,
we have pleasure in saying that eight of the
ten donors required have responded, so that
only two more half-sovereigns are needed to

secure the extra ,£5 for the very praiseworthy
object to which it is to be devoted. Shall we
be too sanguine in expressing a confident hope
that in our next issue the amount Avill be
made up ?

dfomspmidente.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, <Ssc.,must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

" NOTES BY THE WAY."

[2157.] The show of the " Windsor Dis-
trict " of the Berks B.K. A. was held at Maiden-
head, on Thursday, 22nd inst., and proved a
rendezvous of bee-keepers, both new and old
exhibitors. Messrs. Martin and Lacey I had not
met since 18S0 or 1881, were there (visiting)
to renew old acquaintances, also Mr. J. Walton,
Leamington, Messrs. Darby, Cartland, Carter,
A. D. Woodley, W. B. Webster, Turner (New-
bury), Seymour, and others. The hours
passed pleasantly in " talk on bees." Mr.
Martin was to be commiserated on his losses
in the past with foul brood. I think he told
us he had lost altogether about 140 stocks.
This, it need hardly be said, is a very serious
matter to a working man, and the fact that he
still remains a bee-keeper speaks well for his
love for the craft and the persistency with which
an Englishman sticks to his guns. But "hope
that springs eternal in the human breast "
animates frjend Martin, and he believes he
has found the right treatment at last, but does
not wish the secret divulged at present, until
he is able to cry "eureka" emphatically.

Mr. Webster showed us his " bee- bag," in
which he carries home his driven bees — a
capital " dodge " it is too for a cycle journey.
Pie also showed us the " Hole " swarm-catcher.
This appliance I would improve by making
the swarm-receiving compartment long enough
and deep enough to take standard frames, so
that the bees when hived could start work at
once; an improvement especially useful in case
of out apiaries — which cannot be visited every
day — or when a bee-keeper is not able to get
to his bees till late on the day of swarming.
He would then find his swarm hived and honey
stored in the combs — if climatic conditions con-
duced to that end — with the bees and frames in
best of condition for transferring to the per-
manent hive. Another interesting object on
Mr. Webster's stand was a model of foul-
brood — a piece of comb, 4 to 5 in., in which Mr.

Aug. 29, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

345

Webster had manipulated wax with remark-
able fidelity to the arch-pest of bee-keeping.
There were cells capped, and sunken cells per-
forated in capping, and the foul, stringy, cor-
rupted brood drawn out and held on the end
of a lucifer match. "Without wishing to give a
free advertisement to friend Webster, I do
think that experts and lecturers who are deal-
ing with the subject would do well to procure
a similar model from him. They will find it
far more realistic than a photograph or a lan-
tern slide, and with the thing illustrated on a
piece of brood-comb everyone who saw it once
would remember it ever afterwards.

The most profitable size I can suggest for a
fairly good honey district is a hive of nine
frames. I have again secured the largest
" takes " from hives worked with nine frames
standard size. I used in my novitiate days to
work with ten to twelve frames, but experience
(that best of teachers) has proven for my dis-
trict and comb honey that a nine-frame brood
nest is the best size. My aim is to have the
hive just at boiling-over point, yet, by judicious
management, to keep them at work straight
off without much swarming. We often hear
or see in print that a queen will deposit 3,000
eggs per day ; but to have room for that
number, or even 2,000 per day will require a
hive capacity of some twelve frames reckoning
4,000 cells per frame. I have just counted a
sheet of stock foundation, and find one side
contains 2,646 cell shapes, Now, we should
rarely get 2,000 out of the lot full of brood at
one time, even in a frame practically full of
brood, and the two outside comb3 iu a
twelve-frame hive ought to be at least
three-quarters full of honey to carry the colony
over a break in the weather during the honey
harvest ; otherwise the sections would be like
those of a bee-keeper who wrote me a week or
two back, asking " when he ought to take his
sections off, as, on looking in a day or two pre-
vious, they (the sections) were so many empty
combs, although the hive seemed wonderfully
full of beei." The bees were evidently a pro-
lific strain, capable by late breeding iu using
up about all they could gather, and then de-
pending on the bee-keeper for help to tide
over the winter months. While on the subject
of proliticness of queens, may I ask if it is a
demonstrated fact what constitutes a bee's
egg? We know — or think we know — that
when a queen emerges from the cell she does
not at that moment contain all the thousands
of eggs that it will be possible for her to
deposit during the following three or more
years of her life ; theta, if not in the ovaries,
where are the eggs of the future ? Are they
produced by food ? — that is to say, do eggs
consist of honey, pollen, &c , partly digested
by the worker bees ; or are they produced by
the internal economy of the mother-bee from
food taken by herself? Who will make these
matters plain to us ? — W. Woodley, Bcedon,
Newbury.

[In reply to our correspondent's closing

words, it may be said the germ of every egg
the queen produces during life is contained in
her ovary when she emerges from the cell ; the
subsequent development b«ing simply a matter
of time or of natural growth. So far, however,
as the actual bulk of the egg, which is analogous
to the yolk and white of a bird's egg, it does
not " consist of honey, pollen," &c, but like
any other portion of the body is certainly
produced from the food taken by the queen-
bee. The question is fully dealt with in
" The Honey Bee," by T. W. Cowan, in the
chapter on Queen Organs, and on p. 163 of
same work. — Eds.]

DO BEES CARRY EGGS ?

[2158.] Mr. Brice, in his "Jottings"
(2123, p. 292), refers to myself in connection
with this interesting subject, and, with your
permission, I would like to detail the facts of
the case, which to me are so full of interest.
Before doing so, however, let me correct an
error Mr. B. makes in referring to my expert's
certificate. At present I am only a second-
class expert, not " first," as stated. I may
say that all my observations and examinations
have been carefully made, and, being noted at
the time, the details now given I know to be
correct. 1 received from Mr. Brice the queen
referred to, and a few workers safely in one of
his own cages, on July 12 last. 1 made the
stock queenless a few days beforehand, and
had carefully examined the hive on the
previous day. I also very closely inspected
every frame about six o'clock on the evening
the queen arrived, just before introducing her,
and there was no sign of eggs, to sny
nothing of unsealed brood in the hive.
I followed the instructions sent with the
queen, pressing the cage well into the comb
and honey, I then left the hive alone till
Monday the 13th, being of opinion that many
failures in queen-introduction are due to too
much fussy manipulation. However, 1 opened
the hive on the date named and found the
queen was still imprisoned, the bees not having
liberated her by eating their way into the
cage, allowing the queen to come out ; I then
took out the frame next to the one on which
the queen was caged, and found a few eggs
deposited in worker cells. This made me
wonder if a fertile worker was present in the
hive. However, I let matters remain as they
were and did not liberate the queen, nor did
I again examine till Wednesday morning
the J 7th, when I found the queen still caged.
On examining the comb as before I found
quite a number of cells (nearly 200) with
young brood a few hours old, and eggs, not
deposited here and there all over a comb as a
fertile worker usually deposits them, but quite
in regular manner, in rows (on one comb only)
four cells deep, having eggs a few cases near
the centre of the patch rive cells deep, and
only in one case did I see more than one

346

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 29, 1895.

egg in a cell. I then released the queen
and she was at once joyfully accepted ; more-
over, she is now laying well after having been
caged nearly five days. Some may say, " too
long.'' Well, perhaps under ordinary circum-
stances it would have, but these were not
ordinary circumstances, and therefore I was in
no hurry, if I could by careful observation
learn something more about the bees. The
three questions raised by Mr. Brice are so
satisfactorily answered by him, that I need say
nothing respecting them, save that his con-
clusions entirely coincide with my own ; but
someone may ask : — " What has been the
result ? " and though as Mr. W. Woodley
points out (2,130, p. 203), it is one of those
inexplicable things which occasionally happens.
The important fact, however, remains, that the
eggs' deposited while the queen was caged have
produced both workers and drones, and the
latter were much lighter and brighter in colour
than any in my apiary, my bees being all
blacks. The fact of workers and drones of a
distinctly lighter colour to any of my bees
resulting from the eggs deposited in the cells
as noted above, furnishes a complete corro-
boration of the theory that the eggs were laid
by the queen while caged, and were carried by
the bees into the cells in which the workers
and drones mentioned have been reared.

But for trespassing too much on your space,
I could'give the days and dates of my notes and
observations, but probably sufficient has been
said on the point, except to add how pleasing
it would be if some of our scientific bee men
would give us their opinion on this, to me,
interesting part of our study. — Peter Scatter-
good, Stapleford, Notts, August 19.

[2159.] It is always a great pleasure to
read the letters of my friend Mr. Brice in the
B.J., as they evince an enthusiastic desire to
search out for himself all that relates to the
economy of the bee, more especially the queen.
His articles are particularly interesting and
useful, and are not unfrequently reproduced
in the bee-papers of Canada and the United
States of America.

In his letter (2151, p. 334), in his desire to
prove that " bees do carry eggs," he, however,
has come to this conclusion entirsly on false
premises. He says: — "The drones, however,
take twenty-eight days to develop, yet on the
twenty-seventh day they began to appear."
My experience is that drones usually come
forth from the cells twenty-four days from
the laying of the eggs, and this is the time
given by all the text-books on the subject.
Thus, there is nothing to be surprised at in
the drones referred to appearing on the twenty-
seventh day from the arrival of the queen,
who, if "kept caged in the hive" three days,
had still twenty-four days for the development
of the drone. I think, therefore, we cannot

come to the inevitable conclusion that the eggs
referred " to were laid by the queen while in
durance.'' The colour of the drones, no doubt,
points to this particular queen _ having laid
the eggs that produced them, but can in no
way prove "that bees do under certain cir-
cumstances remove eggs for their own pur-
poses."— John M. Hooker, 9, Beaufort-
S.E., August 26.

[2160.] Mr. Brice, in your last issue (2,151,
p. 333) appears to have based his argument in
favour of the theory that bees do carry eggs in
this particular instance on a misapprehension.
In reading his interesting article, I was sur-
prised to find him stating positively that the
drone takes twenty-eight days to develop. I
at once turned to all the authorities I had by
me, and I can find none to support him ; all
agree that twenty- four days is the normal
time, which, if correct, Mr. Brice's interesting
facts fall to the ground, as there was time for
his queen to have laid drone eggs after libera-
tion and for them to have arrived at the stage
of development to which he refers. I fully
believe that bees do carry eggs, but we are
still waiting positive proof that they do so.—
A. D. Woodley, August 24.

[2161.] Referring to my "Bee Jottings"
last week (2151, p. 333), I see I made a stupid
blunder in stating that " drones take twenty-
eight days to develop.'' It should, of course,
have been twenty-four days. I send on this
at once, and hope it will be in time for this
week's Journal. — H. W. Brice.

[Feeling that some share of blame might
attach to ourselves in allowing so obvious a
" slip '' as the above to pass into print without
pointing it out to the writer, we desire to
explain that, owing to our having to leave
town for the Shrewsbury Show early on the
20th inst. the proof of Mr. Brice's article did
not come under our notice, as under ordinary
circumstances it would have done. — Eds.]

CLEARING SUPERS.
[2162.] Much seems to be written to your
journal about clearing supers, and the use of
super-clearers. The latter is no doubt a useful
thing to have, but everybody cannot afford it.
I never have any trouble in clearing my
supers of bees. My " clearer '' is an empty
hive, or box with a hole in it and lid attached.
When I want to take off a super I have an
empty hive — if I have got one — with a couple
of empty frames in to carry the super. I raise
the quilt and blow in a little smoke to drive
down the bees a little, then loosen the super
and lift it on to the two bars, care being taken
not to crush any bees. I then replace quilts
of the hive from which this super is removed
and carry the empty hive and super to the
nearest shady tree ; put the cover on and

Aug. 29, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

347

leave. In about three- quarters of an hour the
bees have all left and joined the stock, and all
is quiet. I took one off last week, and when
I returned to look, I only found two bees in
the super. I don't know if there is any danger
of carrying the queen away like this, but I
have had no misfortune up to now.

Bees have done fairly well here this season,
and there is now a good sprinkling of white
clover in the fields. — W. Burgess, Tewkesbury,
August 20.

A BACKSLIDER'S DOUBTS.

[2 163.] In studying physiology or pathology
we use experimental science a good deal in
forming conclusions, and give in many cases
reference to the steps taken in this or that
series of experiments. 1. In the study of bees
it strikes me that the dicta promulgated in our
Bee Journal would be a good deal more con-
vincing if the answers to many of the more
debateable points were backed up with refer-
ences ; for instance, I would ask the editors
what precise experiments they have read of, or
tried, proving that brood foundation, contain-
ing 40 or 50 per cent, of hard paraffin — a
tasteless, odourless, pearly white substance —
has frequently broken down if wired, and if
the hive is stationary — i.e., not carted to the
heather, or otherwise harshly handled.

2. Again, I should like data proving that in
a series of cases, healthy bees were given
dysentery, totally through feeding (say August
driven bees) on the "good old brown
Demerara" which my good old grandmother
fed her bees with without getting the said
flux.

To me these are not idle suppositious queries,
because I have just bought 4 cwt. of moist
brown Demerara (guaranteed cane) for my
bees at 10s. per cwt. plus carriage, and unless I
see a strong proof, backed up on experience of
a series of cases, I do not consider that I should
hesitate to use it ; I enclose you a sample.

Pray excuse my pertinacity, and slay me for
it if you will, only let references and statistics
do the fell deed. — Backslider,' Westmorland,
August 24, 1895.

[It is, of course, perfectly competent for
correspondents to suggest what they consider
to be improvements in the method of conduct-
ing the editorial department of this journal,
but may we not venture to hope that the
present editors have not occupied their posi-
tions for all these years without acquiring an
amount of experience on the subject quite
beyond the reach of any outsider. Anyway,
the knowledge gained leaves us in no doubt
whatever that to give chapter and verse of
reference, together with the " why and where-
fore " of every " reply " to queries would not
only entail an intolerable and unnecessary
amount of labour, but would be extremely
irksome to 90 per cent, of our readers. Again,
it should be borne in mind that the B.J.

consists of but sixteen pages weekly, and
therefore the space allotted to "text" is
utterly inadequate for the purpose suggested
by our correspondent. Besides — and while
desirous of helping readers in every possible
way — we must assume that ascertained and
proved facts will be accepted as such, with-
out being needlessly repeated. Corre-
spondents seeking information on given
points should also, in common fairness, con-
sult the indexes of past volumes or refer to
contents of back numbers in their possession,
and not seek to inflict more repetition on
their fellow readers than is necessary. We
also somewhat confidently hope that the
long practical experience in managing bees
enjoyed by both editors will have secured
for them a certain amount of confidence
on the part of readers which they trust is
not often misplaced.

The melting point of paraffin is 112 deg.
Fahr., while that of bees-wax is 145 deg. to
150 deg. Fahr. This is why foundation adul-
terated with paraffin stretches, and sometimes
even breaks down altogether in hot weather,
the entire mass of comb, honey, and brood
falling down in a mass of irreparable ruin.

Regarding the second query put by " Back-
slider,'' we may say that the sample of sugar
sent is, we think, known as Demerara
"syrups," sold chiefly to refiners. For the
rest, if our correspondent properly chooses to
follow the good example set by his grand-
mother or any one else in feeding his bees on
raw sugar, we see no reason either for our
objecting to his doing so, or for occupying
time and space in quoting cases to prove why
he should not use it. — Eds.]

SURREY BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

[2164.] I am not surprised at vour corre-
spondent, Mr. H. W. Brice (2138, p. 313),
desiring to rouse our Association from the
lethargy into which it has of late fallen. I
have known Captain Campbell for many
years, and he has no doubt done considerable
service to bee-keepers in the country ; but
seeing how urgently a younger and more
active hon. secretary is needed, I venture to
suggest that we should invite Mr. J. W.
Jacomb-Hood, to undertake the secretaryship.
With that gentleman's acceptance of office I feel
certain the Association would in a few months
double its membership. Not only so, but
with an energetic secretary who could do
something towards providing a market for the
honey produced by members, and especially
of cottagers, much good would be done. This,
and the holding of an annual show, is the
only way to bring it before the public. I
know a great many bee-keepers who would
like to join the Association if they could see
some tangible result for their subscriptions. —
J. Greenhill, Wimbledon, August 21.

348

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 29, 1895.

§nxm mi $^jiKa

[1349] — Wax Moth, — Chloroforming Bees
— 1. May I ask you for a short description of
the wax moth in our Journal ? Three
varieties of moths frequent the vicinity of my
hives, viz., (a) a mottled-winged pale-brown
moth smaller than (b) ; (6) a yellow-winged
moth spotted black ; (c) a white moth, midway
in size between (a) and (b). 2. Refer-
ring to chloroforming bees, I am experi-
menting with this anaesthetic, and should like
to know of former experiments with a view to
producing ancesthesia of a stock of bees for
three or tour minutes ; the method most prac-
ticable; and if in the author's experience he
has ever found that any anaesthetic adminis-
tered has caused the queen to become sterile
or impaired her productive power ? — Ajax,
Westmoreland.

Reply. — 1. Dr. Bevan, in his work on the
Honey Bee, quotes a well-known naturalist's
description of the wax-moth {Tinea, mellonella)
as under : — " Mr. Espinasse says that this is
the smallest of the genus, and it is of a whitish-
brown colour. The butterfly usually appears
about weak hives in April, and may be seen
till the end of October. This insect is remark-
ably active in its movements ; and if the
approach to the hives be observed of a moon-
light evening, the moths will be found flying, or
running round the hives, watching an opportu-
nity to enter ; whilst the bees that have to guard
the entrances against their intrusion, will be
seen acting as vigilant sentinels, performing
continual rounds near this important post, ex-
tending their antennas to the utmost, and moving
them to the right and to the left alternately.
Woe to the unfortunate moth that comes within
their reach ! '' 2. Among repeated references
to the use of chloroform for stupify-
ing bees we may mention the very full
particulars given in our issue of August 26,
vol. xiv., p. 367. As to its effect on queen life,
those who have used chloroform have found no
ill effects from it in the direction mentioned,
if not overdone. For ourselves, and in common
with all practical bee-keepers, we find the
smoker or the carbolised cloth so completely
effectual in subduing bees that we should never
think of using anaesthetics for the purpose.

[1350.] Hot Lime-wash, for Disinfecting
Hires. — 1. Have you any personal experience
or have heard of lime being used as a coating
for the inside of hives. My enquiry, of course,
refers to the disinfecting properties of lime. I
should think, if the bees don't object to it,
would be a capital thing to use. I have
foul brood in several of my hives and
have destroyed four stocks already. 2. If I
put two stocks together now, would the bees

draw out foundation this time of the year 1 —
Enquirer, Swansea, August 22.

Reply. — 1. We know from personal ex-
perience that hot lime-wash is an excellent
thing to use for the purpose stated. And
when well dried before putting bees into hives
so treated the bees don't object to it at all. 2.
Bees will not draw out foundation at all nicely
at this late season unless crowded closely on to
just as many sheets as they will cover thickly,
and fed well.

[1351.] — Preparing Bees for Winter. — Will
you kindly say : — 1. Whether, in wintering
Dees, entirely empty frames, alternated with
the stored ones, are advantageous or disadvan-
tageous ? 2. If a slab of candy, covering the
whole of the frames, is the best position for
candy in packing down for winter? 3. Whe-
ther porous or non-porous quilts are the best
for wintering ? 4. Whether another body box
(9 in. deep) is too much space to give under
frames and cluster for wintering ? 5. If 9 in.
are too much, would 6 in. be too much ? — A.
Brayshaw, Northants, August 22.

Reply. — 1. Disadvantageous. 2. The " slab "
of candy should be of such a size as to allow of
coverings to frames being neatly packed down
on all sides to prevent the escape of heat from
hive. 3. This is entirely a matter of preference
and the system of ventilation adopted. 4. We
prefer an "eke" 3 in. high for giving space
below frames in winter, but you might give
6 in. without harm.

REVIEWS OF FOREIGN BEE PAPERS.
By J. Dennler.

Bemedy for Bee Stings. — A person was stung
by a bee close to the right eye. The sting
was removed and eau-de-vie (alchohol) will do
applied to the spot, which was afterwards
powdered with violet powder. This occupied
a few seconds, and all pain was at once removed,
and there was no swelling.

Introduction of Queens. — M.Froissard intro-
duces his queens to queenless stocks in the
following manner : — The bees are first smoked,
then two or three combs with bees are removed,
the bees are then brushed off on the alighting
board of the same hive and sprayed with
scented syrup, the queen being dipped in the
same liquid. She is then placed amongst the
sprayed bees with which she enters the hive.

Getting rid of Ants.—M. St. Pohl has a
very simple method for getting rid of ants.
He introduces a few spoonfuls of powdered
alum in the cracks of the floor, and the ants
are not long in leaving. With a quill pen this
powder can be introduced into the smallest
crack.

Etude complete de VEssaimage. — This is
a treatise on swarming, followed by re-

Aug. 29, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,

349

queening hives, transposing them in summer,
by Nicolas Mercier, Apicultural Lecturer of
the Belgian Government. Sivry.

Der Lehrmeister in der Bienenzucht. By
Sauter & Herrgen. This treats of the
relation of the schoolmaster to bee-keeping,
and is written for the members of the Society
of the Palatinate by this society. It is a
volume of 184 pages. Price 60 pfennigs.

Badische lmkerschule. By J. M. Both,
Editor of the Bee Bulletin of the Grand
Duchy of Baden. It is designed as an
assistant and guide to instruction in bee-
keeping by lectures, as well as a handbook of
national bee-keeping. The volume contains
118 pages and is illustrated. Published by
F. F. Reift' at Karlsruhe.

Runstliche Blenenverhnungen. By P.
Warnstorf. This book contains descriptions
of the essential requirements in the construc-
tion of hives, and the rules for their manage-
ment are systematically demonstrated. It is
illustrated with 28 engravings, and can be had
of the author at Buslar. Price 80 pfnnigs.

Ungarisehe Biene. Editor, Fr. Iviihne. —
In 1894 there were in Hungary 522,002 hives
of bees, of which 131,031 were on the movable
comb system, and 390,971 with fixed combs.
The amount of honey harvested is estimated
at 22,300 cwt., and the amount of wax at
246,743 cwt.

Pfiilser Bienenzucht. Editor, M. Reiden-
bach, gives a recipe for easily separating comb
foundation from the press in its manufacture.
It consists in moistening the press with a
liquid composed of 1 part honey, 2 parts
of water, and 3 parts of pure spirits of wine.
This recipe should not be forgotten if good
foundation is desired.

%tt £hmtis to dfmnt

August 30. — At Abington, in connection
with the Abington Flower Show. First
Annual Show of the Upper Clydesdale B.K.A.

August 31. — Manchester andDistrict B.K.A.
at Worsley ; in connection with Worsley
Horticultural and Agricultural Show. Six
classes for bees, hives, and honey.

September 3 and 4, South of Scotland
B.K.A. — Annual Honey Show in connection
with the S. of S. Horticultural Society's show
at Dumfries, nineteen classes for honey. Over
fifty prizes. Entries close August 30. John
Currie, Secretary, 7, Assembly-street, Dumfries.

September 4.— Herefordshire B.K.A. annual
show and honey fair, at Hereford. Eight
classes for honey. Entries close August 30.
Hon. Sec, Alfred Watkins, Imperial Mills,
Hereford.

September 5. — North Norfolk B.K.A.
annual show in connection with the Holt

Flower Show, to be held in the grounds of
Brinton Hall.

September 7. — Lancashire and Cheshire
B.K.A., in connection with Bramhall and
Woodford Horticultural Society. Annual
show of bees and honey at Bramhall Hall.
Open to district only. Schedules from Secre-
tary, J. Bell, Davenport, Stockport.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries close August 31. F. Walker, hon.
sec, Cattle Market, Derby.

September 28. — Roxburghshire B.K.A.
Annual Show in the Corn Exchange, Jed-
burgh. Numerous prizes. Entries close
September 24. Thos. Clark, Secretary.
Pleasants, Jedburgh.

October 8, 9, 10, and 11. — Dairy show at
the Agricultural Hall, London. Liberal prizes
in five classes for honey. Open to all. Entries
close September 9. For schedules apply
Wm. C. Young, sec. Dairy Farmers' Associa-
tion, 12, Hanover-square, London.

October 19. — Lanarkshire B.K.A. annual
show of honey and bee appliances (appliances
open to all), in Public Hall, Larkhall. Also
general meeting of members same day at
5 p.m. Entries close October 12. Schedules
from John Stevenson, secretary, Merryton
Braes, Larkhall, N.B.

DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION

A Third Class Examination

WILL BE HELD AT

DERBY
On the Morning of September 12, 1895.

Members of the Derbyshire, Notts, or Leicestershire
Assoc. Wishing to present themselves as candidates are
requested to send in their names to the Hon. Sec,
P. WALKER, Cattle Market, Derby.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
f o/persom

only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

E. E. Thompson (Cashel) Spoiled Wax.— So
far as we can judge from sample the bees
would not refuse to work out the damaged
wax if made into foundation. But in any
case, no trouble need be taken to make it
" better in colour." Bees are not fastidious
in this respect.

Mits. Buchanan (Isle of Wight). — Comb
sent is unmistakably affected with foul
brood. Considering, however, that the
disease is only in the incipient stage, and
the very few cells in which the brood has
failed to hatch out, we advise removal of
all combs in which is found a single sealed
cell of dead brood, and the use of remedies
both in food and on the floor-board of all
your hives, whether affected or not.

350

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Aug. 29, 1895.

B. H. Greensitt (Blaydon-on-Tyne). —
Ordering Queen from Italy. — The particu-
lars and instructions given in Signor
Paglia's advertisement (see B.J. for first
week in each, month) are so plain and con-
cise that we do not see how we can make
the matter clearer. The very first " condi-
tion" answers your query as to free
delivery. We cannot say in how many
days the queens would be delivered here ;
probably a week would suffice for ordering
and receipt of queens.

A. Rayner (Gt. Horkesley). — Queen-cells in
August. — The combs should be examined
and queen found, if there. The presence of
either eggs or very young larva? will suffice
if queen be not seen. Do not think of
buying a queen until the question of queen-
lessness or otherwise is clearly determined.
We fancy all will be right.

J. Parry (N. Wales). — Comb sent is badly
affected with foul brood. The combs and
frames should be at once burnt,'and the hive
disinfected before using again.

H. W. B. (Cornwall). — There is a trace of
incipient foul brood in comb received, but
being only very slight, the brood in cells is
nearly fully developed and perfectly normal.

Constant Beader (Cumberland). — Sample
of honey received is good in colour and
flavour, and of fair consistency. It is a good
sample. Whether it will win or not, at
your show depends on the exhibits staged
against it. .

M. "Hill (Wambleton). — Heather and Clover
Sections in Competition. — 1. Sections of
heather honey should not be staged in same
class as those of flower — or clover-honey.
But if they are, and both kinds are equal
in every other respect, it will depend en-
tirely upon the judge as to which he will
award the prize. 2. Comb is affected with
foul brood.

W. B. (Cambs). — There are undoubted traces
of foul brood in two or three cells of comb
sent, but as the young bees are hatching
out freely (twenty or more having emerged
from the cells since comb left your hands) it
seems as if the case was one for treatment
if surroundings are favourable. In latter
case we should at once put naphthaline on
floorboard of hive and be very careful when
feeding. If the slightest sign of " robbing J'
is seen the stock had best be promptly
destroyed for the sake of the healthy hives
close to it.

S. T. Badcock (Bexhill-on-Sea). — Young Bees
Tin-own Out. — The specimens of bees sent
reached us (as they almost invariably do
when sent in an envelope) smashed out of
all shape, and perfectly flat. Wc can, there-
fore, express no opinion as to their imperfect
wings. It may, however, be said that im-
perfect wings, distorted limbs, and other
abortions — which affect the bee when in
the chrysalis or nympha condition — arise

generally from lack of the warmth
necessary for its proper development.

Phoznix (Hexham).— Swarm Perished. — Bees
received have all the appearance of being
from a swarm smothered in transit. We
cannot conceive of them having been hived
into a frame-hive in anything like normal
condition, and being found next day satu-
rated (as they now are) in honey or syrup,
and all dead, as stated, unless the syrup
from feeder ran in among the already half-
dead bees of the swarm, and caused asphyxia-
tion for want of air by their blocking up the
entrance.

Padora (Bamsgate). — Bee Flowers. — We do
not call sweet alyssium at all a good bee-
flower. The best for early spring are crocus,
white-rock (Arabis Alpinus), limnanthes,
and wallflower. Mignonette is one of our
best bee flowers. Borage also should not be
overlooked in planting for bees.

L. Doran , (Harristown). — Late Fertilisation
of Queens. — So long as there are drones in
the hive, there is, of course, a fair chance of
the young queen being mated if weather
keeps fine, but we cannot go so far as to say
you may " depend on her being fertilised."

S. Head (Devon). — 1. There need be no
fear of the bees swarming again this year.
2. The box contains only immature brood,
which has for some reason failed to hatch
out. There is no sign of foul brood about
the specimens.

Tyro (Parton). — Late Queen-rearing. — It is
now past the season for queen-rearing, and
the chances are against those now in cells
becoming fertile queens for wintering. It
may be well, however, to see how they
get on, so long as there are drones in the
hive. A fertile queen may be introduced
later on if necessary.

(Bev.) G. J. (Stonehouse). — Foul Brood and
Chilled Brood. — The main difference in
appearance between chilled brood and larvae
which has perished from bacillus alvei is
that the former retains its normal crescent
shape, while, after death, the dead grub
turns first grey in colour, and later nearly
black. With foul brood, on the contrary,
the dead larvae is found stretched out, and
having a flabby appearance. It also becomes
of a pale dirty yellow colour. There is no
photo of chilled brood.

Sweet Moneyrea (Co. Down). — We must
have sample of brood in the comb before we
can give you our opinion or advice.

King of the Forest (Hull). — Bee Syrup for
Autumn Food. — Five pints of water to ten
lbs. of refined cane sugar. Add one oz.
vinegar and a half teaspoonful of salt. Boil
gently for one or two minutes.

*#* The Editors will be much obliged to any
reader of the B.J. having by him a copy of
Index to vol. xvii. (1889), and willing to
part with same, who will forward it to the
office, stating price, which will be remitted
to sender.

Sept. 5, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

351

(MimiaL $toiim, to.

NOTTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION

SHOW AT NEWARK.

The annual show of the Notts B. K. A.,
was held at Newark on Bank Holiday August 5,
in weather eminently satisfactory. The
exhibits were staged in a spacious tent and
presented a most pleasing and effective
attraction to the show in connection with
which the exhibition was held. Nearly the
whole of the 128 entries were staged, and,
according to the general opinion, formed the
largest and best show the Association has yet
held. The open class brought together some
exceptionally good honey, while the local
classes, considering the very moderate season
they have experienced, did the members great
credit. In the class for display of appliances
Mr. Meadows' exhibit was extensive and
meritorious.

To Mr. Pugh, the energetic hon. sec, the
thanks of members are ungrudgingly given,
as also for the ready assistance of the stewards.
The judge, Mr. C. N. White, of Somersham,
Hunts, was assisted by Mr. S. W. Marriott.
During the day Mr. White delivered a series
of lectures in the bee-tent and also conducted
an examination for 3rd chiss certificates.

Collection of Appliances. — 1st, W. P.
Meadows, Leicester.

Bed Hive.— 1st, Gr. E. Puttergill, Beeston ;
2nd, W. P. Meadows.

Amateur-made Hive. — 1st, J. T. Faulcon-
bridge, Bulwell ; 2nd, C. H. Pickin, Fledboro'.

Six 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey (open). —
1st, Miss A. Beatrice, Stow Brandon ; 2nd,
W. H. Woods, St. Ives ; 3rd, R. Brown,
Somersham.

Trophy of Honey. — 1st, Viscount St.
Vincent, Norton Disney; 2nd, G. Marshall,
Norwell ; 3rd, W. Lee, Southwell.

Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, A.
J. Mortimer, Oxton ; 2nd, R. Mackender,
Newark ; 3rd, H. Merryweather, Southwell ;
4tb, J. W. Herrod, N. Clifton; 5th, W.
Measures, Upton; h.c, J. Wilson; c, Vis-
count St. Vincent.

Six l-lb. Sections. — 1st, Viscount St. Vin-
cent ; 2nd, C. H. Pickin ; 3rd, A. J.
Mortimer.

Six 1-lb. Jars Granulated Honey. — 1st, H.
Wiggett, Hucknall ; 2nd, G. E. Puttergill ;
3rd, H. Merryweather.

Shallow Frame of Honey. — 1st, Geo. Mar-
shall ; 2nd, J. W. Herrod, N. Clifton ; 3rd,
G. E. Puttergill.

Six I -lh. Ja/ri E-< tractedHoney (Amateurs). —
1st, C. II. Pickin ; 2nd, W. Herrod ; 3rd,
G. E. Puttergill ; 4tb, T. Marshall, Sutton-
on-Trent.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections (Bloiv's).— 1st, C. H.
Pickin.

Twelve 1-lb. Jars Honey (Blow's jars). —
1st, C. H. Pickin.

Honey Vinegar. — 1st, Mr. Wilson, Newark ;
2nd. G. E. Puttergill.

Honey Cake. — 1st, Mr. Fromings, Radcliffe-
on-Trent ; 2nd, G. E. Puttergill.

Observatory Hive. — 1st, H. Merryweather;
2nd. W. Herrod ; 3rd, T. Marshall ; 4th, T.
Maskery, Kirkby.

Beeswax. — 1st, J. Wilson, Langford ; 2nd,
J. & W. Herrod, Sutton-on-Trent.

Bee-driving. — 1st, W. Herrod ; 2nd, A. G.
Pugh, Beeston.

WILTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

The county show of the W.B.K.A. was held
at the invitation of the Swindon Horticultural
Society in the Town Gardens, on August 21.
Of ninety-four entries eighty-five exhibits
were staged, the greater part of them being of
marked excellence, and carefully put up.

The committee of the Horticultural Society
provided a spacious marquee, affording ample
accomodation for the display of honey.

The centre table excited much admiration,
the ends were occupied by tastefully arranged
trophies, each consisting of about 1 cwt. of
first-class honey.

At one end of the tent a net screen was
stretched, behind which sundry bee-manipula-
tions by the hon. sec. and expert took place at
intervals, several members of the W.B.K.A.
committee and other friends assisting. Great
interest was shown in the work, and much
information regarding bees was sought and
given.

The B.B.K.A. appointed the Rev. R.
Errington, Rector of Clewer, as judge,
assisted by Mr. W. Hawkes, of Newbury.
Mr. Errington also examined a candidate for
3rd-class certificates.

The judges' awards were as follows : —

MEMBERS ONLY.

Exhibit of Honei/ not excecdinq 1 cwt. — 1st,
E. C. R. White ; 2nd, S. W. Filtness.

Six 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, E. 0. R. White ;
2nd, M. S. Filtness ; 3rd, J. Bennett ; h.c,
W. E. Burkitt.

Six 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, W.
E. Burkitt ; 2nd, M. S. Filtness ; 3rd, E. C.
R. White ; h.c, W. Tucker.

Twenty-four 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. —
1st, M. S. Filtness.

COTTAGERS ONLY.

Bun Honey, not less than 3 lb. — 1st, J.
Bennett.

orEN CLASSES.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections, in Blow's Sections. —
1st. E. C. R. White.

Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey in
Blow's Jars.— 1st, E. C. E. White ; 2nd, E.
Turner; 3rd, H. W. Seymour; h.c, M. S.
Filtness.

Six 1-lb. Jars Granulated Honey.- 1st, M.

352

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Sept. 5, 1895.

S. Filtness; 2nd, E. C. K. White; 3rd, M.
Tucker.

Three Shallow-Frames of Comb Honey. —
1st, E. 0. R. White ; 2nd, M. S. Filtness. '

Honey in Comb (not under 3lb.) — 1st, B.
Lawrence ; 2nd, E. C. E. White ; 3rd, M. S.
Filtness.

Bun Honey (not under 3 lb.). — 1st, E. C.
R. White ; 2nd, W. E. Burkitt ; 3rd, M. S.
Filtness.

Beeswax, — 1st, W. Tucker ; 2nd, Rev. J. A.
Kempe ; 3rd, E. C. R. White.

Single 1-lb. Section. — 1st, C. Cox ; 2nd,
B. Lawrence ; 3rd,M. S. Filtness ; h.c, H. W.
Seymour.

1-lb. Bottle of Honey. — 1st, H. W. Seymour;
2nd, W. E. Burkitt ; 3rd, M. S. Filtness ; h.c,
W. Peirce.

Observatory Hive. — 1st, M. S. Filtness ;
2nd, exhibit disqualified for want of a queen.

WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE B.K.A.

HONEY SHOW AT THE TOWN HALL.

The local bee-keepers' association held their
annual show of honey, fruit, flowers, vege-
tables, &c, at the Town-hall on August 21,
and it was patronised by a good number of
visitors. Among the numerous interesting
exhibits were two wasps' nest, fully inhabited,
and these came in for a large share of
attention. The Rev. E. Davenport officiated
as judge, and made the following awards : —

Exhibit of Honey in any form, not less than
56 Ib.-lst, W. Griffin ; 2nd, A. H. Chanter.

Twenty-four 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, R. Brown ;
2nd, Mrs. Till ; 3rd, A. H. Chanter.

Twenty-four 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—
1st, R. Brown ; 2nd, W. Griffin ; 3rd, G.
Gunston.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, A. H. Chanter ;
2nd, Mrs. Till ; 3rd, General Burn.

Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
C. W. Workman ; 2nd, W. Griffin ; 3rd, G.
Gunston.

Exhibit of Honey, not over 50 lb. — 1st,
C. W. Workman ; 2nd, A. J. Brown.

Beeswax,. — 1st, C. W. Workman ; 2nd, W.
Griffin ; 3rd, A. J. Brown.

For the Best Wasps' Nest.— 1st, W. Griffin ;
2nd, A. J. Brown. — (Communicated.)

HONEY SHOW AT BAKE WELL.

In connection with the Bakewell Horti-
cultural and Industrial Exhibition, a show of
bees, honey, and wax was held on August 1,
and, considering it was the first venture,
reflected very creditably on all concerned.

The bee-tent of the D. B.K.A. was in at-
tendance, and was crowded to excess for each
of the manipulations and lectures, which were
conducted by Mr. C. Wootton, of Draycott,
and proved to lie one of the chief sources of
interest.

Mr. C, Wootton also acted as judge for the

apiarian section of the exhibition, and the
following is the list of awards : —

Observatory Hive. — 1st, J. A. Carrington ;
2nd, H. Clulow.

Six 1-lb Sections. — 1st, Mrs. J. Wildgoose ;
2nd, H. Clulow ; 3rd, J. A. Carrington.

Six 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
H. Clulow; 2nd, G. Thornhill ; 3rd, E.
Throp ; 4th, J. A. Carrington.

Bees Wax. — 1st, H. Clulow ; 2nd, G.
Thornhill.

Three Combs of Honey in Shallow Frames. —
1st, H. Clulow ; 2nd, J. A. Carrington.

Six Sections and Six 1-lb. Jars of Extracted
Honey. — 1st, Mrs. J. Wildgoose ; 2nd,
H. Clulow ; 3rd, J. A. Carrington. — Com-
municated,

ESSEX B.K.A.

THE EXPERT RETIRES.

At a meeting of the committee of the Essex
Bee-keepers' Association, held to audit the
accounts of the show at Southend, in June,
Mr. F. H. Meggy, the hon. sec, reported that
the cost thereof had been between £40 and
£50. All the grants and special prizes pro-
mised had been received except one, about
which there was some misunderstanding, and
when that was paid the accounts would just
balance. The accounts having been passed,
the question as to whether they would be able
to hold an Autumn County Show was dis-
cussed. Eventually it was left for a sub-
committee to report upon the subject next
month. After some other matters had been
considered the main business of the evening
was dealt with — viz., the resignation of Mr. W.
Debnarn, who has acted as expert of the Asso-
ciation ever since its foundation, and who
wrote to announce his retirement at the end of
the year. He explained that he felt compelled
to do this owing to the large number of mem-
bers now belonging to the Association wanting
to be visited as quickly as possible each spring
and autumn. The great distances to be covered
made it impossible for him to do justice to the
Association, especially as he was not so strong
as he used to be. The announcement was
received with general regret, anditlled to some
high testimony to the work Mr. Debnam has
done for the Association. The hon. secretary
believed they would be able to retain Mr.
Debnam's services for a portion of the county
if they decided to divide it up into districts ;
but the subject, requiring a good deal of con-
sideration, was deferred until a future period.
The hon. secretary invited a vote of censure
for not having yet called the annual meeting,
but said he hoped to arrange for it next
month. — (Communicated.) ,

BEES AND BICYCLISTS.
This is the season of the honey show — an
institution greatly developed during recent
years, that held this week at Shrewsbury being

Sept. 5, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,

353

one of the most important. Between bees
and bicycles there may not at first glance
appear to be more connection than is caused
by the alliteration of the words. We have
recently come across a case, however, in which
the one has had a good deal to do with the
other. An enthusiastic bee-keeper, unable to
find scope for his hobby in London, has rented
standing room for his hives in a flowery part
of Kent, just about eighteen miles from the
metropolis. He has erected a kind of movable
house on the ground wherein he can pursue
his entomological studies. The distance is
nothing to a cyclist, and he runs out when-
ever he has time to spare. As he only pays a
sovereign per annum for the piece of ground,
and the house or shanty cost no more than a
few pounds, he will easily be able to make
his hobby remunerative. One reason for
mentioning it is that it provides an example
of wholesome and inexpensive recreation for
townsmen who follow sedentary occupations,
and yet are fond of country life. Bee-keep-
ing with the aid of a bicycle is but one of
many resources to be recommended to them.
—Pali-Mall Gazette.

djtarrajrmukna.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shaws, Meetings, Echoes, Queri.es,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <kc, must be addressed
to " The Manager, ' British Bee Journal ' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

BEE JOTTINGS.

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BYPATHS.

[2165.] — Do Bees Carry Eggs ? — My regret-
table " slip '' in " Jottings " on page 334, has
given one or two of your more observant
readers an opportunity for doubting the facts
therein stated. I am sorry for this, for, with
all the said facts before them, they would, I
think, have seen at once that the observation
as to drones taking twenty-eight days to
develop was purely a slip of the pen. Refer-
ence to back numbers of B. J., however, shows
that I stated on page 292 that the queen was
caged from Friday to Wednesday, and that the
eggs appeared in the combs on the Monday.
My mistake, therefore, in no way interferes
with the "inevitable conclusion" 'arrived at.
Moreover, positive proof is not wanting, seeing
the queen was caged five days and not three,
as your correspondent Mr. Hooker assumes,
which bears out my conclusions, and, allow me

to add, upsets his assumption. The main fact
upon which I base my conclusions is that eggs
were deposited in the cells of the adjoining
comb upon winch the queen was caged,
during her confinement, and these self-saine
eggs are those which produced both drones
and workers distinct in race from any in the
apiary referred to. Now, although the mate-
rials upon which I based my theory were
not so full as might have been desired, still,
seeing that the information which reached me
was furnished by so careful an observer as Mr.
Scattergood, it was amply sufficient to make
me certain that the statements were cor-
rect and incontestable. Now, however, Mr.
Scattergood has himself favoured us on page
345 with particulars and details which prove
the facts to be as I have stated, and that
my conclusions are inevitable. Since my first
letter was written I have also tested the
question in my own apiary, and find that bees
not only do carry eggs, but do so pretty
frequently. I can give two positive cases
bearing directly on the point, but prefer for
the present to rest on the one already pre-
sented to your readers, first, because it
has been carefully and efficiently noted
by Mr. Scattergood in his letter of last week,
and second, because it is possible to give your
readers too much of even a good thing. That
I unthinkingly made a slip, I candidly confess,
but when those of my " candid friends " who
draw marked attention to it imply that I
did not know how many days it takes to de-
velop a drone, it has too much resemblance to a
joke to be taken seriously. Notwithstanding
this, however, the case is so clear in itself that
it should satisfy the minds of the most critical.
The point of the letters (2159 and 2160) is to
prove that the drone eggs were laid after the
queen was released. Now on this question I
would observe, in cases where mating has for
some reason been long delayed, queens will
sometimes start laying by depositing a few
drone eggs. Here, however, is a queen— that
had headed a large colony in my own apiary
and laid many thousands of worker eggs —
credited by your correspondents with deposit-
ing drone eggs, and these largely interspersed,
too, with worker eggs, in worker cell?,
although there were plenty of drone cells in
the hive, and all before she was released from
the cage ! No, gentlemen, "it isn't good
enough." In other words she couldn't do it, and
it will hardly be suggested that a laying worker
produced the impregnated eggs ! Perhaps your
correspondents will explain how the Ligurian
bees came to that hive if bees did not carry the
egg3 ? I am very glad, however, to see the
name of Mr. J. M. Hooker at the foot of a
letter in B..T. again, even though it is to criti-
cise myself. He so seldom favours us in this
respect, that one is inclined to say, better thus
than not at all.

Surrey B.K.A. — I can fully endorse what
your correspondents say with regard to the
services to bee-keepers rendered in the past by

354

THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Sept. 5, 1895.

Captain Campbell. A more genial, enthu-
siastic, and hard working secretary than he in
his younger days it will be hard to find, bat as
the worthy Captain has many times expressed
a wish to retire on account of his age, and has
personally told me that the work " was now
more than he could undertake," he would, I
feel sure, be glad to be relieved of it. No
doubt, Captain Campbell could and would do
much to assist his successor, whoever that may
be. Under these circumstances, therefore, I
heartily second Mr. J. Greenhill's proposal of
last week, that we invite Mr. J. W. Jacomb-
Hood (to whom I am not entirely unknown)
to become the active hon. sec. of our asso-
ciation, and I promise to do all that lays in my
power to make the association "buzz along''
again.

The Trials of a Queen Bee— The follow-
ing particulars showing the hardy nature of
a queen-bee will, I fancy, not be without
interest to many of my readers. In the
autumn of 1894 I drove a skep of bees and
sent them to a friend. In July last I required
for making-up an exhibit on " queen-rearing "
a queen raised by natural means, and knowing
the driven queen was well advanced in years I
approached my friend as to letting me use her
for this purpose. He assented thereto, and the
queen was exhibited accordingly, and — as it
afterwards turned out — had a very trying time
of it. During the show in question a queen
was required for the bee-tent demonstration,
in consequence of the queen of a stock that
had been driven taking flight and getting lost.
To make good the loss, my friend's queen was
trotted round for public examination in a cage,
and was subsequently allowed to run in with
the driven bees. After the show was over the
driven bees and their new queen were sent to
one of our agricultural colleges for further ex-
perimental purposes. Finally it was despatched
to a permanent resting-place some thirty miles
from London, and on being examined last
week the poor, hardly-used " mother-bee '' was
found in flourishing condition, surrounded by
bees, brood, and eggs more than sufficient to
ensure the welfare of that colony well into
another season.

Driven Bees. — These are fast becoming a
thing of the past in many districts. I have
been and am now journeying by road, rail, and
on the " byke " to various parts south and
south-east of London, and my experience
proves that the displacement of the skep by
the modern hive is most marked. It is now-
very difficult to obtain even a few healthy
stocks of driven bees. In one woefully-ne-
glected apiary we got permission to drive a
stock fairly strong in bees (but stronger still
in disease), and after very much forcible
argument and a " consideration " leave was
ultimately given to destroy the lot ! Time was
precious and loss of bee life deplorable, but
there was a big fire that night, and about a
dozen skeps (new and old) disappeared in the
holocaust !— II. W. Bkice, Thornton JJeath.

DRIVING BEES.

" WHAT TO AVOID " IN DRIVING COTTAGERS'
BEES.

[2166.] Would it not be well to give in
next Journal some plain warnings to those
who " lightly go about bee-driving " ? Yester-
day I interviewed an old lady in a " healthy "
district, who had over a dozen stocks doomed
to the sulphur pit. I want bees just now to give
some unfortunate bee-keepers who have con-
sented, pro bono publico, to let me destroy their
diseased stocks. In vain I pleaded for these
bees. Nothing would induce her to forego
the sentence. " She once gave a man per-
mission to drive her bees " — her apiary was
upset — robbing set up — and the following
winter every hive she had perished ! I have
found it well to drive a good way off the stand
and not to windward of it. A dish and wet
cloth in which to put comb as it is removed is
very useful. A wetted feather is also better
than a dry one for brushing bees from combs.
— -N. S. Ford, Kent, August 31.

[We will endeavour to comply with the
above suggestion next week. — Eds.]

DRIVING AND HIVING BEES.

A HOLIDAY EXPERIENCE.

[2167.] Would you kindly allow me space
in your valuable journal, to relate my ex-
perience in bee-driving and hiving, and tell me
what was done that ought to have been undone,
or what was left undone that ought to have
been done 1 1 I was spending a part of my
holiday at a farm in the village of Ludham,
Norfolk. Whilst there, the gentleman told
me he intended to " burn '' four skeps of bees ;
so I immediately discountenanced such bar-
barous proceedings, and told him I would
take the honey from the skeps if I might have
the bees. He gave me permission to do so.
Well, in the afternoon, I hunted up a old box ;
made a hole in the lid, and nailed a piece of
wire-gauze from an old sieve across it. Then
in the evening, having had a piece of muslin
" pinned " around my head (in lieu of a veil), I
proceeded ,to " drive " the bees. I procured
a pail, and having inverted the skep of bees,
placed it upon the pail, and was just putting
an empty skep upon the top of the other
preparatory to driving, when I found there
was a flaw in my "fortification," and in con-
sequence thereof, I received a sting upon my
forehead ; then another, then four upon my
chin, and then two on my neck! Deeming that
my punishment was exceeding my fault, I
began to think it was wisdom, to replace the
skep where I got it from, and fly to the nearest
shrub, which, to say the least, was rather
"infra dignitate." Looking out from my leafy
retreat, I perceived the owner of the bees with
his coat off' and swinging it around his head; but
the " swinging " was of no avail, for he soon
received a sting over his left eye, and a farm
lad, coining up at that moment, struck with

Sept. 5, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

355

the ludicrousness of the scene, was laughing
boisterously, when, apparently disapproving of
this mirthiulness, an irate bee at once stung
him upon his upper lip. I need hardly say
his face immediately assumed a different
shape.

Well, to be brief, we left the bees alone for
that day, and I wrote home for a smoker and
four boxes to send the bees away in. Mean-
time, I drove over to Norwich and procured a
proper " bee veil.;' Boxes and smoker arriving
in. due course, I made another start in the
evening to drive the four skeps of bees, which
I did successfully. I first drove the bees into
an empty skep, and then poured them into the
boxes and placed the latter upon the stands
where the skeps stood, and lefc all for the
night. Upon arising the next morning at
3-30, I was delighted to find all the bees in
their respective boxes, so I nailed them up,
harnessed the horse, got my boxes of bees in
the trap, and drove with them to the station,
seven miles away, and sent them off to my
father at Kingston, 130 miles distant. He
received them the same night, and next morn-
ing he (having prepared previously two foul-
broody hives by thoroughly scalding with
steam from a factory boiler) proceeded to hive
them. He opened the box containing the
largest lot of bees and found half of them
dead ! So he threw them all out upon a towel
in front of the hive, but they would not run
in, they seemed stupefied. He then got a wooden
spoon and guided a few towards the entrance,
butthey would notmarch ; he next tried coaxing
them with the smoker, but it was of no avail.
Finally he thought that, as they were rather
a small lot, he would unite another box of bees
with them, which he did successfully, and then
they went in all right. He placed an un-
finished section of honey upon the top, and
they are going on nicely, carrying in pollen.
Well, after breakfast he decided to unite the
other two lots of beps, so he opened the boxes,
gave the bees a good dredging with flour, and
poured them upon the top of the frames. He
then put a section of honey upon the top of
them, lightly covered all up, and left them for
about an hour. On going to look at them
again, he fcund the bees had cleared out the
section and were fighting a little among them-
selves. Whilst he was still standing there
looking on, the bees suddenly began to pour
out at the entrance, and soon the air was full
of them as if a big swarm was on the wing.
At that moment he was called away. On his
returning he observed the hive looking un-
usually quiet, and upon examining the interior
he found it was empty and the bees gone !
Moreover, they have neither been seen or
heard of since. So, will you kindly tell me : —
1. Why did half of the bees die in the largest
box, as they had plenty of ventdation '. '2. Why
thev would not enter the hive before uniting I
3. Why the last swarm evacuated the hive ? —
H. Ide, Kingston, Surrey, August 31.

[1. If, as stated, the bees had plenty of venti-

lation, and were delivered in good condition
at the station, the mishap must have occurred
through some mismanagement on the journey,
of 130 miles by rail. 2. The half-dead condi-
tion of the remaining bees would account for
their sluggishness. 3. To say the bees were
" poured upon the top of the frames and a sec-
tion of honey pur, upon the top of them,"
after being well " floured," gives us the idea
that they were not dealt with in the very best
manner, and the bees, disliking the treatment,
absconded in consecpience. It would have
been far better to introduce them in the usual
way by throwing them out in front. There
should be no difficulty whatever in getting
driven bees to remain where placed if fed and
cared for properly. Your first attempt at
driving the bees exactly illustrates our mean-
ing. Badly begun, all went wrong— properly
carried out, everything went right ; and so it
would have been all through in the hands of
any experienced bee-keeper. We have no
doubt you will profit by the experience
gained, and succeed next time. — Eds.]

EXHIBITS AT SHOWS.

A PROHIBITORY CLAUSE IN SCHEDULE.

[2168.JT wrote for a schedule of the Show to
be held at Derby September 11 and 12, with
the intention of sending an exhibit, but to my
great surprise I found the following clause
printed across the entry form — a condition
well calculated to deter any but bee-keepers
in the locality. It seems prohibitory to all
who cannot fetch away their exhibits. The
clause reads thus : — " N.B. — The committee
do not undertake the packing and returning of
any goods.''

On my obtaining schedules of Horsham,
Hereford, Lancashire and Cheshire, and South
of Scotland Shows I also find their classes
strictly " protectionist.''

On this account it seems to me useless to
advertise them for so many weeks in the
columns of the Journal. They ought to de-
pend for publicity on their local Press. On
the other hand, I consider the Shrewsbury
schedule was liberal and comprehensive,
evidently framed with considerable care, and
should serve as a model for honey schedules
generally. — E. D. Till, Eyntfoed, August 24.

SURREY B.K.A.
[2169.] There are some hopes now that the
re-formation of the Surrey Beekeepers' Asso-
ciation will in the near future become an
accomplished fact. I have just received a com-
munication from the Organising Secretary to the
Technical Education Committee of the Surrey
County Council asking me to furnish him with
a list of names of those interested, as he pro-
poses at an early date to hold a conference o
beekeepers and others with the view to th
formation of an association for the County. n
shall feel obliged if you will allow me to as->

356

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Sept. 5, 1895.

through your columns for the names 'and
addresses of any who are interested in the
matter to be sent to me so that they may be
included in the list I am compiling for the
purpose.— A. D. Woodley, Hon. Sec. Berks
B. K. A., 17, Market-place, Reading,
August 30.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

BY ONE OF THEM.

Write upon pages of a single size,
Cross all your t's, and neatly dot your i's ;
On one side only let your lines be seen —
Both sides filled up announce a Verdant Green.
Correct, yes, re-correct, all that you write,
And let your ink be black, your paper white ;
For spongy foolscap of a muddy blue
Betray a mind of the same dismal hue.

[2170.] You printed the above lines in the
B. B.J. twenty years ago (August, 1875). In
the meantime another generation of bee-
keepers has come upon the scene ; I therefore
suggest that you print them again for the
benefit of those who have not seen them pre-
viously. Many impetuous correspondents
dash off their thoughts to you currente
calamo and never dream of revising what
they have written nor aim at brevity. It is
surprising how letters can be condensed with-
out sacrificing clearness.

Redundancy of expression, or the habit of
" laying it on too thick," is a specie of verbal
obesity afflictive all round, usurping more than
its fair jLshare of space, time, and editorial
patience.

If all who wrote to the Bee Journal
studied conciseness, interesting matters would
less frequently be elbowed out from week to
week. Verbum sap. — T. Long, August 24.

WOOD COVERS FOR HIVES.
[2171.] Will youkindly allow meto ask advice
from your correspondent " R. T. Shea " (who
wrote on the above in B.J. of September 20,
1894, page 375), under the following circum-
stances :— I have made a cover 16 in. square,
of i-iu. wood, in three pieces. On the under-
side of two outside pieces I have nailed
window lath, | by \ on the ends and one side ;
the middle piece, which is 6 in. wide, has a
piece of lath on each end and a hole in centre
for feeding purposes. I wish to contract my
bees to six frames by taking out the two out-
side combs on each side and bringing up the
dummies, but the bees can get over the
frames and out at side into outer case ; while
if I place the empty frames at back of dum-
mies, the bees will still have access to the
whole of frames. Does this make any differ-
ence ? If so, how should I avoid it 1 I also
find, in placing on a chaff- covering, that the
outside pieces of the wood-cover are liable to
get displaced. Do you use any covering
besides the wood one, and candy in wood box

with glass in top for inspection ?— A Worker,
Long Eaton, August 26. P.S. — During the
last winter a neighbour's stock, which had
the super-clearer left on, came out the best
stock in spring.

[We will draw the attention of Mr. Shea to
the above. — Eds.]

THE DAIRY SHOW.
[2172.] Having seen the appeal to bee-
keepers of the United Kingdom to make the
last show of 1895 a success by entering in the
honey classes, I should like to offer a sugges-
tion with regard to the exhibit of mead, honey
vinegar, honey labels, &c, exhibited by the
B.B.K.A. Could not the parent association offer
small prizes, such as certificates for such exhibits
as are enumerated above, and for other interest-
ing exhibits connected with apiculture ? I feel
sure that bee-keepers would support these
classes and would not mind paying a small
entry fee for their exhibits. Last year the
exhibit of the B.B.K.A. was both educational
and interesting, and I see no reason why their
exhibit should not be one of the most interest- •
ing features of the coming Dairy Show. —
— H. W. Seymour, Henley-on-Thames,
August 30.

SUGAR " MADE IN HOLLAND "

for use as bee food.

[2173.] The excessive cold of last winter
proved too severe for several hives of bees fed
upon syrup. They appeared to have died
from dysentery with plenty of stores sealed in
their hives which were well packed for winter.
The bees were principally driven bees on
drawn out combs and sheets of foundation.
The syrup was made according to directions in
" Cowan's Guide," from lump sugar guaranteed
pure cane by a local grocer whose word I did
not doubt until finding all bees dead. When,
on examing the end of the hundredweight box
which contained the sugar, which was delivered
sealed as sent out by the makers, I found in
large letters across " Made in Holland." My
reason for troubling you is to ask if any cane
sugar is made in Holland?. — William E.
Tanton, Great Torrington, August 29.

[We are unable to say. — Eds.]

BEES AND SCHOOLMASTERS.
[2174.] "Der Lehrmeister in der Bieneu-
zucht," referred to in "Reviews of Foreign
Bee-papers " in your journal, August 29, treats
of the " Relationship of the Schoolmaster to
Bee-keeping." As this is a subject of great
importance, and one that the B.B.K.A. and
affiliated associations wish to promote in the
country, it would be a service if some bee-
keeper acquainted with German would kindly
scan the book, and see if there are any valu-
able hints to be derived from it. — E. D. T.,
Eynsford, August 31.

Sept. 5, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

357

VIRGIL AND BEES.

[2175.] Referring to Journal, August 8,
letter from Mr. Lockwood [2142, p. 314], I
believe the translation of the Latin quotation
is as follows :— " They have said that bees have
part of the mind divine and ethereal breath."
The word " mentus " should have been printed
mentis. — I. P., August 20.

WEATHER REPORT.

Westbourne,
Rainfall, 3 23 in.
Heaviest fall, "78 in.

on 3rd.
Rain fell on 18 days.
Above average, "76 in.
Max. Temperature,

73' on 21st.
Min. Temperature, 44°

on 25th.
Sunshine, 223"S hours.
Brightest Day, 17th,

13 hours.

It has been a good
my average per hive is

24-

August, 1895.
Sunless Day, 1.
Above average,

hours.
Mn. Maximum, 652°.
Mn. Minimum, 52-4°.
Mean Temperature,

58-8°.
Maximum Barometer,

30-30° on 31st.
Minimum Barometer,

29-27° on 4th.

season for honey here ;
about 801b.

L. B. BlRKETT.

$ntm and $eyltts.

[1352.] Using Naphthol Beta in Bee Food.
— The other day, when I did not happen to
be present, 50 lb. of sugar with 70 grains of
naphthol beta were made into syrup for use
for the bees. I am, however, rather doubtful
about using it for the two following reasons : —
1. The syrup, when made, was put into the
empty extractor, which had been, for the last
month or so, used for extracting comb, some of
which have had honey in them taken
from hives in which there may have been a
taint, more or less, of foul brood. I say " may
have," for I am not certain. The extractor,
however, had, previously to the syrup being
put in, been well washed out with boiling
water in the usual way. Under the circum-
stances can I, do you think, use the syrup with
safety, or had I better not risk it, and throw
the syrup away 1 2. My question appears
trivial, but I am loath to waste the good sugar
unnecessarily. The naphthol beta had been
dissolved in whisky, not spirits of wine, and
I am afraid did not resolve itself into a pure
liquid. 3. In a general way is naphthol beta
supposed to be only a prophylactic, or does it
tend to actually cure the disease if only in a
mild form ? Suppose, for instance, I have a
diseased stock in my garden, and other hives
get at it and begin robbing, will the fact that
those others are being fed with medicated
syrup tend to prevent the introduction of foul
brood 1 This last has actually happened to

me. By accident the cover of a diseased lot
was left open about half an inch for half an
hour or so, and, when I discovered the mistake,
robbing was in full swing. I, of course, shut
up the box, front and rear, instantly, but I
shall, not improbably, lose the most of my
stocks, twenty-eight in number. 4. Suppose

1 were to add to the syrup 60 or 70 more grains
of naphthol beta properly dissolved in spirits
of wine, would that do ? Would the mixture
be too much impregnated with the naphthol
beta, or would the 70 grains already put in,
and not properly dissolved, sink to the bottom
ia the form of a deposit :j — M. G. F.,
Cheltenham.

Reply. — 1. We should not hesitate to use
the syrup prepared under the conditions stated.

2. Whisky is just as good as spirits of wine
if sufficient be added to form a clear solution.
The failure to secure this was no doubt caused
by using too small a quantity of the spirit.

3. Naphthol beta tends very greatly towards
effecting a cure if given when the disease is in
the incipient stage, and, if used in all syrup
given to bees as food, there can be no doubt
as to its beneficial effects. 4. On no account
give the additional 60 or 70 grains of n. beta.
It would be dangerously overdosing the bees
to do so, and could have none but injurious
effects.

[1353.] Alg Experience of Italian Bees. —
In the middle of May last 1 bought a stock of
pure Italian bees on eight frames. They
came to hand nicely packed and in good
health, but as for them being sold to me as a
stock on eight frames, why three frames
would have held the whole of the bees ! I
was charged 35s. and carriage, and consider I
was myself sold. I find all dealers in bees
and appliances have one condition which they
invariably stick to, i.e., money down before
you get a sight of what they mean to send
you. I was expecting to have a stock for 35s.
which I could get into condition for doing
something to pay part, at least, of their cost,
but they have done nothing because of being
too weak when received to get up strength in
time. They are now a grand lot of bees,
covering twelve frames, and most of them are
solid sheets of brood (eggs, grubs, and capped
brood), with stores on all frames about

2 in. down from top - bar. They have
never swarmed, and killed oil' their drones
first week in August. The above is a
sketch of the history of the only stock
of Italians I have. On August 24 I
examined them again, and was surprised to
find two frames nearly full of capped drone
brood. These two frames were originally put
in with starters only, and the first lot of
drones were hatched in them. They have
killed oil' one lot of drones, as before stated,
and now another hatch is coming on. 1. Do
you think they mean to swarm so late as this ?
I could do with some of the capped brood (of
which there is a great lot) to strengthen up

358

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Sept. 5, 1895.

some other lots which need help to get ready
for winter. 2. The hive in which the Italian
stock is in holds thirteen frames, and is practi-
cally full. Would you advise me to take
away the drone-frames and put in worker-
frames, or would you space the remaining
frames wider apart for wintering ? Have I too
many bees in this hive to winter well ? — Your
advice will greatly oblige. — Learner, Black-
burn, August 27.

Eeply. — 1. There is no fear of the bees
swarming this year. It would seem as if the
queen had refilled the drone combs with eggs,
because of there being no other vacant cells in
the hive. The very best way, therefore, in
which her prolificness may be utilised is to
take frames of Italian brood to strengthen your
weak stocks and keep the queen supplied with
worker combs in lieu of those removed. 2. By
all means remove the drone-brood, which is
worse than useless at this late season.

[1354.] Is He-queening Advisable ? — I have
a bar-frame hive of bees, which, according to
our county expert when on tour in spring,
ought to be re-queened this autumn. At his
visit bees were scanty, and covered only about
six frames well. He told me not to put supers
on till about middle of June. They have
given only about 6 lb. honey in supers and
one frame at back of hive (with no brood) for
extracting. But now I am uncertain what to
do, as the bees thickly cover ten frames, and
when I take dummy out it is covered with bees,
and in moving frames back to give space for
manipulating, bees are thick on sides of hive
and on the floor. Nearly every frame is full
of sealed brood also. 1. Do you think by this
description it is possible the bees have dis-
placed their old queen, and have raised a new
one ? By the present state of colony it seems
as if they had. Should this be the case, will
not re-queening be unnecessary, and not
advisable ? 2. I have some bees in a skep, in
which they were hived June 21. They are a
second swarm or cast. At present time they
weigh but little, skep, bees, comb and contents,
and floor-board included. 1 thcught of driving
them out of skep (I can get driven bees) and
uniting, and letting the two lots, les3 one
queen, run in entrance to frame-hive, fitted
with full sheets of foundation, and putting
skep on top for batching out brood ; then
rapid feeding. Would this be a good plan, or
can you tell me a better ?— Sartor, Ascot,
August 31.

Reply. — 1. There is little doubt the old
queen has been deposed and another raised
in her stead. It would be the height of folly
to re-queen the hive under the circumstances
stated. 2. Your plan of procedure will do
very well except putting the skep above frame-
hive for hatching out brood. This will not do
at all. The queen would icniain in skep and
continue breeding there quite late in the

autumn after adding driven bees. The better
plan is to cut out brood from skep after
driving, and tie it into frames for hatching
out in lower hive. Then begin feeding at
once.

[1355.] Wintering Driven Bees on Drone
Combs. — In June last I placed a swarm in a
frame-hive, but being "green " at the business
I put only strips of foundation in frames in-
stead of full sheets. The result is the bees
have built a good deal of drone-cells. The
remaining four frames I put full sheets in. I
propose to take out and give two of the
frames containing drone-cells to a hive of
driven bees now. Could you advise me better
— e.g., would you recommend the cutting out
of drone cells ? I think it is, as a rule, in little
matters like these that beginners are so apt to
go wrong. 2. Can you inform me why some bee-
keepers put bee- space slit at bottom of dummy
board? Do you recommend it?— Drone,
Tenbury, Worcester.

Reply. — 1. The two frames with prepon-
derance of drone cells may be used for
wintering the driven bee3 on as proposed, but
they should be placed on the outsides (one on
each side) of any other combs or sheets of
foundation given them. You will thus get
full advantage of comb3 and food for the
driven bees, while the outside ones may be
removed in April or May and replaced by
worker combs built out at that time. 2. It is
sometimes advantageous to have passage-way
below dummy-boards, but when made so there
should be some means of rendering them
close-fitting when needed to be used thus.

[1356.] Questioning Judges' Awards. — Will
you kindly say which you consider to be the
most worthy recipient of a prize at an exhi-
bition for the best 16 lb. of super honey, in
box (according to schedule) : — 1. The man
who produces a box of super honey from one
hive, and does not use shallow-frames, but
shows it in one solid mass as made by the
bees ; or, 2. The man who has the choice of
six hives, and uses six shallow-frames placed
in an observatory hive case, and has the frames
arranged in tiers of two deep :J This was the
case at a recent flower show, and the award
caused dissatisfaction. Please, therefore, give
an unbiassed reply.— One Hive, Burton-on-
Trent, August 26.

Reply.— It does not require much discern-
ment to discover the trend of our corre-
spondent's views in the case presented for our
" unbiassed reply.'' In fact " one hive "
decidedly (as the lawyers say) puts a "leading
question,'' and— if he will pardon us -for saying
so — endeavours to get us to upset an award ob-
viously adverse to himself. If this be so, we
must again repeat that, as a rule, this re-
judging of awards is a task we must for many
reasons decline to undertake. In the case
under notice, however, and as we understand

Sept. 5, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

359

the wording of schedule, the prize went to the
"best 161b. of super honey." Had the words
been " best super of honey not over 16 lb." the
case would have been altogether different; but,
according to. the schedule the judge had no
concern as to which was " the most worthy
recipient," &c. He would probably consider it
rather an advantage than otherwise to be able
to examine and judge of the quality of the
" 16 lb. of super honey " by having each comb
open for free inspection in a glazed case. In
these days of keen competition advantage is
taken of every improvement in raising comb-
honey of good quality and in profitable quan-
tity, and in securing this result the shallow
frame is so advantageous that we fear senti-
ment must go down before utility, thus con-
firming the judge's award in the case referred
to.

[1357.] Cork-stopped Honey Jars. — Can
you inform me where I can purchase 1-lb.
glass honey jars with cork stoppers 1 My
customers complain that the screw-cap jars
leak, more or less when the honey is in aliquid
state, and the tie-over jar is also very unsatis-
factory as some of them hold 17 to 18 oz. of
honey, and unless quite full, purchasers find
fault with them. If you cannot furnish the
information, perhaps some reader of the B.J.
may be able to kindly say where such buttles
can be got, or the place where they are made 1
— T. James, Stanbrulge, Downend, nr. Bristol,
August 28.

Reply. — Our correspondent will find honey
jars of various kinds advertised in this journal
and would do well to write for particulars to
those who deal in such corks, for tie- over jars
are easily obtained.

[1358.] Memoviyig Strain Supers from Frame-
hives. — I am anxious to remove a " straw top,"
with excluder under it, from a bar-frame hive.
My habit is to draw a string between super
and hive, thereby cutting a number of bees
along with the combs. Will you let me know
the best way to avoid this ? I fixed comb
foundation in super 2 in. from centre to centre,
as you advised me in beginning of summer. —
D. McG., Pennjifuir, Oban, N.B., August 19.

RErLY. — Fine brass-wire is far better than
string for the purpose referred to, and if very
gently and carefully " pulled '' no bees need be
injured in the process. A couple of bits of
wood should be attached to the wire, as is done
by tradesmen who use wire for cutting butter.
The super will need raising slightly, just to
allow the wire to pass under it, and, when
"pulling," draw the wire in an opposite
direction to the way the perforations in zinc
run ; this reduces the chance of cutting bees to
a minimum. After the wire bas been drawn
through, the super should be raised a little,
and left so for half an hour, to allow the bees
time for removing the running honey from the
severed cells. But take care, however, that no
bees can get at it from the outside.

®thm fnrm the §hm

Penngfuir, Oban, August 29. — Bees were
rather weak here in the spring, and it was well
on in June before swarming started, then,
with the hot weather towards the end of the
month, a number of swarms were lost ; but
honey was gathered fast until the rain came
on in July, and this stopped outside work
here almost entirely. Since then stores have
disappeared very quickly, and some stocks
have to be fed. We have, however, the heather
before us yet, and the weather is certainly
brighter. If the present warmth continues we
will have a fair honey harvest in the west of
Scotland yet. Last year was my first with
frame-hives, and I had an average of 35 1-lb.
sections from each, although it was the middle
of August before they started in supers. —
D. M. G.

%n j&hatws to $mt

September 7. — Lancashire and Cheshire
B.K.A., in connection with Bramhall and
Woodford Horticultural Society. Annual
show of bees and honey at Bramhall Hall.
Open to district only. Schedules from Secre-
tary, J. Bell, Davenport, Stockport.

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries closed.

September 28. — Roxburghshire B.K.A.
Annual Show in the Corn Exchange, Jed-
burgh. Numerous prizes. Entries close
September 24. Thos. Clark, Secretary.
Pleasants, Jedburgh.

October 8, 9, 10, and 11. — Dairy show at
the Agricultural Hall, London. Liberal prizes
in five classes for honey. Open to all. Entries
close September 9. For schedules apply
Wm. C. Young, sec. Dairy Farmers' Associa-
tion, 12, Hanover-square, London.

October 19. — Lanarkshire B.K.A. annual
show of honey and bee appliances (appliances
open to all), in Public Hall, Larkhall. Also
general meeting of members same day at
5 p.m. Entries close October 12. Schedules
from John Stevenson, secretary, Merryton
Braes, Larkhall, N.B.

DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION

A Third Class Examination

WILL BE HELD AT

D E K B "ST
On the Morning of September 12, 1895.

Members of the Derbyshire, Notts, or Leicestershire
Assoc, wishing to present themselves as candidates aw
requested to -end in their names to the Son. Sec
¥. WALKER, Cattle Market, Derby.

360

THE BEITISH BEE JOUKNAL.

[Sept. 5, 1895.

Notioesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest uUl be answered in this column.

E. C. (Newcastle). — Beeswax. — "We should be
very pleased to offer our opinion on the
several samples of bees-wax forwarded if
our correspondent will give us his assurance
that the samples have not already been
adjudicated upon by a judge or judges. In
which case we should not care to express an
opinion. We are led to make these remarks
because the samples present the appearance
of having been on the show-bench in com-
petition with each other. Exhibitors should
loyally accept the verdict of judges, without
seeking to weaken their awards by obtaining
outside opinion. Comparisons are always
odious, and when brought to bear upon
awards at shows are obviously unfair.

A. L. Y. M. (Northants). —Preserving Combed
Sections. — 1. It cannot be otherwise than
very helpful to keep combed and partly
combed sections — from which the honey has
been extracted — for use another year. And
for the difficulty with wax-moth referred to,
it may be entirely overcome by wrapping
each rack of sections in a newspaper, and
sprinkling a little powdered napthaline on
the paper before laying the rack on it. 2.
Combed sections no more encourage queens
to " go up '' than do sheets of foundation.
3. It is a good plan to pare the comb of
sections down, cutting half an inch of the
face of cells away before putting on, so as to
get a new " facing " built to the cells.

F. G. Kirkby, (Sheffield). — Coverings for
Hives. — 1. A first covering of " ticking "
with another of felt under-carpet or indeed
any old carpet available, and a bag of chaff
over all makes an admirable winter covering
for frame-hives in winter. 2. Refined sugar
as sample— if guaranteed pure cane — is
quite suitable for winter bee-food. 3. Honey
in sections will no doubt become solid in
time, but we cannot say how soon, it varies
so. It can only be removed from combs by
means of the extractor, or by cutting the
comb up and straining through fine muslin.

Chelsfield. — Though not badly affected,
there is certainly foul brood in comb sent.

"W. M. McFarlane (Atherstone). — Sugar
sent may be pure cane, but, being a raw,
unrefined sugar, it is altogether unsuitable
for feeding bees in ;.utumn.

J. Kinnings (Craven Arms, Salop). — Pre-
vailing Increase.— \. Increase of stocks can
only be kept down by preventing swarming
or by "joining-up '' in autumn or spring.
Nineteen frame-hives from eight in spring
is certainly a "big increase " for one year ;
and, since you desire to sell some, why not
advertise them in our sale column ? 2. If
body-boxes are " full of honey," the two outer

combs of each may be removed and extracted.
The present time is suitable for taking it.
Twenty stocks in frame-hives is too many
to keep unless you have some spare time
to attend to them.

David Howell (Bunyport). — Waiting for
Swarms. — 1. Your experience is a very un-
fortunate one. "Why the bees refused to
swarm it is not easy to say, except that
young queens are less disposed to emigrate
than older ones. You should have driven a
swarm in May, when the drones referred to
were on the wing. Having, however,
waited till end of July it was too late to put
sections on, just as August 21 was too late
to make an artificial swarm by driving the
bees. Having done so, however, and put
them on six sheets of foundation, they must
be fed regularly till they have 15 to 20 lb. of
food stored in the drawn-out combs. Give
them 3 or 4 lb. of syrup per week.

A. B. T. (Endon).— Making Bee-food.— I. The
sugar named is suitable for syrup-making,
but to 10 lb. sugar must be added 5 pints
of water (not " 2^ pints '' as in your note) .
2. We consider it best to boil the syrup
gently for one or two minutes, but if very
inconvenient to do so, the boiling may be
dispensed with. Some bee-keepers just stir
it in the hot water as proposed.

(Rev.) A. J. Roberts (Hailing Rectory).—
Suspicious Sealed Cells in Combs. — The
suspicious cells referred to on p. 32 L are
those from which brood has failed to hatch
out, and in consequence remain capped over.
To see such cells is to suspect foul-brood —
as we thought all bee-keepers knew — and
they should be examined accordingly.

E. Hyles (Harlow). — If seller guarantees
sugar sent to be pure cane, it will do very
well for the purpose, but not otherwise.

Blandford (Dorset). — Spiteful Bees. — It
seems a great pity to destroy two good
stocks of bees merely because they are
" spiteful." Why not re-queen them ? If
your friend is unable to do anything with
the bees referred to, why not enlist the help
of some one who would take away the old
queens and introduce new ones ? You have
an expert in the neighbourhood who, no
doubt, would give the desired help.

F. R. Kent (Ipswich). — Bee food should
always be made from cane sugar, and* the
sample sent would do very well for spring
food, but for winter it is much better to use
the refined white-crystals like second sample.

W. G. Blackwell (Hampton in Ardcn). —
Bees sent are the ordinary kind. There
is no accounting for the progeny of some
queens being persistently vicious, and you
did well to destroy the queen after "driving."

A. F. Gcodino (Rochester). — Using Naptha-
line.— Yes, naphthaline should be kept in
hives all the year round, but especially in the
spring months.

Sept. 12, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

361

(Mtorial, $aiimt fa.

USEFUL HINTS.

Weather. — It requires a long retro-
spect to recall so exceptionally fine an
autumn as the present one. Bees have
had a splendid time of it for several
weeks past — everywhere we hope — but
here in Kent honey has been gathered
all through August, and is still coming
in. Never before have we seen the
unusual sight of hive-bees busily work-
ing on red clover ; a few days ago, how-
ever, they were scattered plentifully
enough over a splendid second crop of
bloom, and no doubt gathering well from
it. It is to be hoped that the abnormal
warmth and continuous sunshine will
make the heather yield a crop, otherwise
bees will have fared very poorly, -we fear,
in the north and in Scotland, according
to our reports. .

Driving Condemned Bees. — Iu response
to the request, on page 354 of last issue,
we offer a few remarks on this subject,
having direct and personal knowledge of
several cases of similar trouble arising
from mismanagement by amateur bee-
drivers as bad as the one referred to. But
after a full and varied experience of
"driving expeditions "in years gone by, we
can safely say there is no need whatever
for causing such upsets in the apiary of
the cottage skeppist as are recorded at
times, if the work is properly carried
out. In doing this the points requiring
careful attention are (1) selecting a suit-
able day — i.e., when bees are honey-
gathering — and a shady spot some dis-
tance away from the apiary (the further
the better) for the " driving," and extem-
porising a " bench " whereon to work.
(2) Providing yourself with a good bee-
veil, smoker, and a full supply of dry fuel
for the latter, and an empty skep for
driving into, with another to set on the
old stand after removal of the stock to
be driven. (3) See that everything
required is close at hand before starting ;
this being attended to, fix the veil
securely so as to protect the face, what-
ever may happen ; this gives confidence.
The operator never allows the bees to get
the upper hand for a moment ; if easily
subdued, use little smoke ; if awkward,
and inclined to be irascible, smoke them
freely. All being ready at the " bench,"

with smoker and empty skep in hand,
go to the skep fixed on for driving ; blow
a few puffs of smoke in at the doorway,
and at once lift it (floorboard and all) and
set it on the ground while the empty
skep is put in its place to gather in the
bees returning from the fields ; give just
one more puff of smoke to the full skep
and carry it to the bench. Should the
bees still remain quiet, use no more
smoke before loosing the skep from its
floorboard by means of a flat chisel, or
an old knife. When free for lifting blow
in a good whiff or two of smoke, then, at
once, turn the skep bottom upwards and
invert it in bucket already on bench. If,
on combs being exposed, the bees are
inclined to fly, give a little more smoke ;
but if quiet, at once pin the edges of the
two skep3 together in the usual way,
taking care that the " hinge " — or joint
— comes across the ends of the combs.;
then raise the front of upper skep at
such an angle as gives a good view of the
bees, and fix the " driving irons " firmly
in opposite sides of the two skeps.
Unless bees are active or restless, give
no more smoke, but begin rapping, not so
vigorously as to loosen the combs, but
sufficiently so to make the bees move
pretty quickly. Once they begin to
"run," a slight tapping usually keeps
them going, and this is continued till the
bees are practically in upper skep. This
done, take out the driving irons, lift off
the skep with driven bees, and throw a
cloth over the full one. Carry the
former to the old stand and substitute it
for the decoy hive placed there, prop up
the front a little to allow the bees shaken
from the " decoy " to run in. Return to
the covered-up skep of honey, brush out
with a feather any straggling bees left
therein, and carry it indoors out of harm's
way. When all is quiet, a second skep
may be operated on as before. And so
on. (4) In the very rare cases where
bees immediately turn vicious on starting
to "drive," use the "close driving"
method : that is, tie a cloth round the
junction of the full and empty skeps, so
that no bee can escape, and bind them
together with the driving irons ; then
proceed as with open driving. Continue
rapping until the loud hum in upper
skep tells that the bees are well " up."
If the driven bees are to be carried away
in the small boxes used for the purpose,

362

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 12, 1895.

they must be run into these directly after
driving, and the boxes fixed up on the
original stand to gather in the flying bees
as before.

Replying to the question, "What to
avoid in driving cottager's bees," we
would say the bee-keeper, who has' had
little or no practice in "driving," should
avoid such a task altogether till he has
gained both nerve and experience.

Winter Packing. — By which is meant
securing every advantage tending to
secure in the early spring good and
prospering colonies of bees for next
season's work. To this end we need
(1) A young and prolific queen, with
plenty of bees bred in August and
September. (2) A set of good, straight
worker-combs, with not more than a
fourth of one comb in the hive contain-
ing drone-cells. (3) About 20 lbs. of
sealed food in the combs, so arranged as
to give facilities to the bees for reaching
the food by providing passage ways
above tops of frames. (4) Good ven-
tilating arrangements, and warm cover-
ings above frames. (5) A sound dry
hive with rainproof roof, and entrance
capable of protecting the bees from
chilling cold winds. It is now generally
admitted that a light inner hive of sound
material — with a light outer-case, large
enough to allow from 1 to 1| in. of air
space on all sides — will winter bees quite
as safely as one with heavy double walls,
cork-packed sides, and all the rest of it.

In such a hive, with its floorboard
freed from the past season's debris, its
proper quantity of naphthalin placed
thereon, and the above enumerated re-
quirements seen to, may be regarded as
safely and well packed for winter.

Bees at Shows. — Not the least of the
trouble caused by bee mismanagement
through lack of experience, may be
named the " upsets " we occasionally
hear of through bees at shows. The
latest of these reaches us through a press
cutting, which read as follows: —

" If it be conceded that a bee ought to know
good honey when he sees it, then it must be
admitted that, judging by the number of the
industrious insects which swarmed into the
small tent at the Westend show on Wednesday
afternoon, August 14, the honey there on view
was superfine in quality. The exhibits weie
so remarkably attractive to all the representa-
tives of the genus apis which came within the
circle of their influence that they virtually con-
verted the tent into a monster apiary. Nobody

seemed inclined to dispute possession with
them, and the visitors to the show contented
themselves with a mere peep in at the opening
of the tent, within which the bees buzzed
approbation and improved the shining hour by
feasting on all the honey which was not secure
from their depredations.''

The Coming Dairy Show.— Mr. H. W.
Seymour may, we think, confidently
reckon that his suggestion [2172, p. 356]
will be discussed in a few days by those
who have the responsibility of ordering
the arrangements relating to the coming
Dairy show exhibit.

Lady Candidates for Experts' Cer-
tificates.— It was our pleasant task the
other day to participate for the first time
in conducting an examination of lady
candidates for 3rd-class certificates of the
B.B.K.A. The candidates were students
of the Horticultural College, Swanley,
Kent, and probably would not have been
singled out for special mention here but
for the very agreeable surprise we expe-
rienced on finding so much of general
aptitude for the practical work of bee-
keeping— particularly where the hard
manual labour comes in — on the part of
the candidates. It may be, and most
likely was, the spirit of advancement
characterising the present day which
made one nearing the sixties regard with
a certain amount of amused wonderment
the determination and pluck which en-
abled, refined and highly cultured ladies
to engage in work heavy enough to tax
the strength of a strong country girl.
But so it was, and heavy skeps choke-
full of bees and. honey were tackled with
an amount of energy and courage worthy
of all praise. Though the day was hot,
and, as some would think, likely to make
bees " hot " too, there was neither fear
displayed of the bees or their stings, or
half-heartedness in " driving" them. To
have found the students 'well versed in
the book-lore of the subject was — in
view of their technical training at the
college — naturally expected, and in this
our expectations were fully realised. But
it was highly satisfactory to find the
young ladies as intelligently courageous
in handling bees as the best of male can-
didates we have met. Thus, what we
feared would be a weak or failing point
in the ordeal, was gone through with
much credit, while in the "oral" exam,
they passed very well indeed, and it affords
us much pleasure to record their success.

Sept. 12 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

363

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION COLLEGE,
READING.

We have been requested by the secretary
to publish the following pass list issued by
the Oxford aDd Reading Joint Committee for
Agricultural Examinations.

" The awarding examiners in the Agricul-
tural Examinations held under the authority
of the Oxford and Reading Joint Committee
hare issued the following pass list : Certificate
in Agriculture, John Francis Adams ; Dairy
Teacher's Certificate, Jane Forster ; Diploma
in Agriculture, first year's examination, passed
in all subjects, Thomas Edward Gunter,
Leyton Price Richards and Charles William
Thorp ; passed in all subjects except biology,
Claude Reginald Powell ; passed in all subjects
except chemistry and physics, Edward Thomas
Brown ; passed in biology and geology, Eric
Dowson ; passed in geology, Clement Hugh
Weston Alalet. The following were the ex-
aminers : — Professor E. B. Poulton, .F.R.S.,
Professor A. H. Green, F.R.S, Mr. D. A.
Gilchrist, B.Sc, Mr. A. F. M. Druce, Mr.
W. J. Glasson, M.A., Professor J. W. Axe,
Mr. E. Brown, Mr. W. W. Fisher, M.A., and
Mr. H. N. Dickson."

[Though, up to the present time, only a
small beginning with apiculture has been
made at the College, it is we believe intended,
so soon as circumstances permit, to take up
the subject definitely as a part of the curricu-
lum, and to establish courses of lectures and
periodical examinations in bee-keeping. —
Eds. B. J.]

SOUTH OF SCOTLAND B.K.A.

ANNUAL SHOW.

Conjoined with the horticultural show, the
members of the South of Scotland Bee-
keepers' Association opened their annual
exhibition in the Drill Hall, Dumfries, on
Tuesday, September 3. Formerly the show
was a partly open one, but this year it was
confined to Scottish exhibitors, with the
result that the English exhibits, which were
formerly a by do means unimportant part of
the exhibition, were missing. Under the
auspices of the society Messrs. J. & II. Thyne,
Glasgow, and Messrs. Kerr Bros., Dumfries,
displayed a number of articles useful to bee-
keepers. The present honey season has been
the most unfavourable for many years, and on
this account, added to the restriction referred
to above, the entries fell far short of previous
shows. The exhibits were, however, of a
most creditable character. The arrangements
for the show were ably superintended by the
lion, sec, Mr. John Currie. Colonel Bennett,
Alloway Park, Ayr, acted as judge, his awards
being as follows : —

Three 1-/6. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
Wm. Hogg, Castle-Douglas ; 2nd, W. Graham,
Cummertrees ; 3rd, Ross & Kerr, Dumfries ;
h.c , J. Currie, Dumfries.

Three l-lb. Sections. — 1st, Ross & Kerr ;
2nd, Wm. Hogg ; 3rd, Peter Jeffrey, Kin-
mount.

Display of Honey. — Ross & Kerr.

Super under 25 lb.— 1st, W. Hogg ; 2nd, J.
M'Donald.

Super under 15 lb. — 1st and 2nd, W. Hogg.

Super under 7 lb. — W. Hogg.

Bell Glass.— J. Boyes, Auldgirth.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, W. Hogg ;
2nd, Ross & Kerr ; 3rd, J. Learmont, Bal-
maghie.

Six l-lb. Sections — 1st, Ross & Kerr ; 2nd,
J. Learmont; 3rd, P. Jeffrey ; h.c, W. Hogg.

Two l-lb. Sections. — 1st, Ross & Kerr ; 2nd,
J. Learmont ; 3rd, W. Hogg.

Six 2-/6. Sections. — 1st, Ross & Kerr ; 2nd,
W. Hogg ; 3rd, J. Richardson.

Three 2-lb. Sections.— 1st, W. Hogg ; 2nd,
Ross & Kerr ; 3rd, J. Richardson.

Twelve Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, Ross &
Kerr ; 2nd, P. Jeffrey ; 3rd, J. Currie.

Six Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, Ross &
Kerr ; 2nd, J. Coyd, Kinmount ; 3rd, W.
Graham.

Two Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, W. Hogg ;
2nd, J. Learmont ; 3rd, Ross & Kerr.

Bun Heather Honey.— J. Scott, Langholm.

MEJIBEBS OWNING NOT MORE THAN SIX HIVES.

Six l-lb. Sections.— 1st, R.M'Naught, Auld-
girth ; 2nd, Jardine, Dumfries ; 3rd, J. F.
Hyslop, Carse Mill, Auldgirth.

Two l-lb. Sections.— 1st, W. Graham ; 2nd,
R. M'Naught.

Super under 12 lb. — 1st, J. M'Donald ;
2nd, A. Geddes, Shawhead ; 3rd, Jas. Boyes,
Burnhead.

Six Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, W.
Graham; 2nd, J. Coyd; 3rd, J. Richardson.

Tao Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, W.
Graham ; 2nd, Jas. Coyd ; 3rd, J. Boyes.

Besides the above, prizes included silver
cups and medals, presented by various donors,
and in addition a large number of medals
were offered by the Association.— Communi-
cated.

NOTTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

MOOllGREEN SHOW.

The bee section of the show proved most
attractive to visitors, who surrounded the
"Observatory" hives during the afternoon of
the 3rd hist., watching intently the busy ani-
mated scene within. The honey shown at
Moorgreen was of excellent quality, and the
show was altogether interesting. Mr. P.
Scattergood, jun., officiated as judge of honey,
and made the following awards : —

Best Specimen of Bees of any race, with their
Queen, in a Unicomb Hive.— 1st, A. Warner ;
2nd, G. Marshall ; 3rd, H. Wiggett.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, G.
Marshall ; 2nd, W. Lee ; 3rd, S. W. Marriott,
Nottingham.

364

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 12, 1895.

Best Twelve Bottles of Honey (members with
apiaries within five mites of the show ground).
— 1st, W. Brooks, Eastwood ; 2nd, A. Warner,
Moorgreen ; 3rd, G. Reeve, Moorgreen.

Best Frame of Honey (in case). — 1st, Mar-
shall, Norwell ; 2nd, S. W. Marriott, Notting-
ham.— Nottingham Daily Express, September 4,
1895.

ti/omtyon&tVLtt

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, inc., must be addressed only to "the
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <Scc., must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
paqe of advertisements).

•»• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query prtvi tusly inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

"NOTES BY THE WAY."

[2176.] With the month of September our
work in the apiary will— or should— draw to a
close. The past fortnight has been a blessing
to bee-keepers who have had driven bees to build
up into stocks for another season or who have
added them to stocks depleted in number from
any untoward circumstances. The glorious
harvest weather, broken only by one or two
thunderstorms, has been an ideal time for the
late harvest, and I trust our brethren in the
craft in the far north have had a good time
with their bees on the heather. I have had a
few reports from " ayont the Tweed " of a very
satisfactory character.

In the south and midlands bees seem to have
been able to add considerably to their winter
stores, and those on the aleit for the best
results and who do not do everything according
to rote and rule, but use their own judgment,
have had the pleasure of taking of crates of
sections, fairly tilled and sealed, at the end of
August and early in September. In my own
apiaries this has made a great difference ; these
sections, if taken off in July, must have been
extracted, now they are saleable, and though
not of the highest quality are marketable as
No. 2 grade sections.

I would impress on bee-keepers the desira-
bility of watching the forage of their immediate
neighbourhood if they wish or hope to make
the best of bee-keeping from a £ s. d. point of
view.

The bee-keeper should also know in what con-
dition his stocks arc. If brood-combs arc
poorly stored, supers should be removed earlier
than where the brood-chamber is full of food ;
in the former case, the late harvest would save

both labour and expense in feeding, and in the
latter the supers still left on Avould prove a
great help to the colony, as the brood-combs
would be used for brood, while any surplus
honey could be put in the super?, thus bene-
fiting both bees and bee-master.

Do B<ses carry Eggs? — Mr. W. H. Brice
and his friend, Mr. Scattergood, may have
satisfied themselves on this point, but I think
the majority of bee-keepers, both scientific and
practical will require further proof before they
accept the assertion that the bees did carry
the eggs in this particular case. To further
elucidate the matter under discussion, will Mr.
Scattergood kindly say what style of cage was
used, and why the queen was caged from the
Friday until the following Monday ; was the
cage open for the queen to be released by
the bees after the feed-hole was cleared of
food ? Ifso,it is just possible thatthequeen may
have returned to the cage if in its near vicinity,
and Mr. S. may have inspected the hive j list
as the queen had re-entered the cage. I have
no wish to cast doubts ; all we want is " more
light " on a certainly interesting subject.

Broad Top Bars. — The present season has
proved conclusively to my miud that the wide
top-bars for brood frames made for me early
last season by Abbott Bros., are a great
advance on the ordinary width generally in
use. The advantages of the wider frame are
better shaped combs, no brace- combs between
the sides of hives, and the sides or ends of
frames, and none whatever on the top ot frames
between frames and bottom of sections. I
have had inquiries from bee-keepers during
the summer respecting these frames, and am
pleased to say they are a decided improvement.
I lifted off a crate yesterday from a hive fitted
with the wide frames, and there was not a
particle of wax on either the tops of frames
or bottom of sections, or on the slots of wood
on which the sections rested, the only
adhesive matter being lioe3 of propolis showing
the position of crate when on the hive. This
has been my experience in every hive in
which the wide frames are used. These frames
and a super-clearer makes the labour of bee-
keeping light compared to what it was only a
decade or so back. A question was asked in
your columns some little time ago re glass
covers for winter. I used a glass hive some
years ago, having a glass cover in two pieces
fastened together with gummed paper. There
was a bee-space over the frames, and the hive
was covered with an outer case of wood,
allowing a good thickness of dry-chaff packing
all round, and I heaped on the chaff at the top.
The bees wintered well in it, but when the
summer sun blazed down on it— radiated also
oft" a high wall behind my beautiful super —
made of glass to fit the hive — melted and the
honey ran out of the entrance. This I secured,
but the poor bees perished, drowned, and
suffocated in their honey. — W. Woodley,
Bcedon, Newbury.

Sept. 12, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

365

PROTECTIONIST SCHEDULES.

[2177.] In your issue of this day, Mr. E. D.
Till [2168, p. 355] complains of the "strictly
protectionist '' classes of certain societies,
mentioning the L. and C. B.K.A. Now, if I
remember rightly — and my note in the cata-
logue confirms it — this very gentleman gained
first honours at the Preston Show, where there
were not only " open classes,'' in which, as' I
say, he gained first prize, but he gained that
prize by a stretch of courtesy, for he palpably
broke an important regulation which declared
that no mark or label must appear on the
bottle or exhibit beyond the number supplied
by the society. Whereas I failed to find the
catalogue number on any of his bottles, and
they were all labelled with the Kent B.K.A. 'a
label. I may mention that many noticed the
infringement, and wondered at the award.
The Birkenhead and Audlem Shows —indeed,
all the big shows — -have opea classes, and my
experience is that only. at the very small dis-
trict shows are the classes confined to members
only. — Frederick H. Tatlor, Local Hon.
Secretary, L. and C. B.K.A.

[No doubt our correspondent Mr. Till will
say a word in reply as to the above in our next
issue. We may, however, observe that the
Preston Show cannot be regarded as involving
the L. and C. B.K.A., seeing that the County
Association took no part in the arrangements
of the show or of the schedule. Had they
done so it is, we hope, not too much to say
that the county label — to which praiseworthy
prominence is being given by the Association
represented by our correspondent — would not
only have been freely allowed on exhibits, but
its U3e strongly urged on all members' honey,
as is done by all County Associations who have
adopted the " label." It is no mark of " owner-
ship" to see a county label on an exhibit, and
this was the view taken by the gentleman who
acted as steward of the bee department at the
Preston Show, and of the writer, who made the
award in question. —Eds.]

NOTES FROM SOUTH DEVON.

[2178.] Circumstances having recently led
me into the south-west corner of Devonshire, a
district from which we seem to hear little of
bee-keeping, and into the acquaintance of a
bee-keeper of some years' standing, a few notes
of what I saw and heard as regards the
industry in that district may not be without
interest. Mr. Patey's apiary, consisting of
about thirty stocks of bees, is situated in the
heart of the hamlet of Chillington, where, the
owner carries on his daily business, some five
miles to the south-east of the town of Kings-
bridge. This gentleman was led to take an
interest in bees now many years ago, and was
advised from the first by his then rector to
adopt bar-frame hives, and to have nothing
else in his apiary. This advice Mr. Patey has
strictly followed to his advantage. He has

never had the benefit of any expert advice
other than that afforded by a diligent study
of the "Guide Book'' and "Record" and the
results of his enterprise, successful as they
have been, are evidence of what can be done
by an otherwise busy man determined to
succeed with bees. I found Mr. Patey
practising with every variety of hive from the
highly-finished production of the factories of
Baldwin or Abbott to the humble hive of
home make, but his experience has led him to
adopt nothing but a ten-frame hive as the most
profitable working size. I was privileged to
examine most of the stocks, and was interested
to see them in such order and condition as
betoken healthy and profitable bee-keeping.
Stocks were uniformly strong, and were being
fed where necessary for the winter. Queen-
rearing had been attempted in the apiary as a
matter of curiosity, but no systematic method
ofrequeening throughout had been adopted.
Although atmospheric conditions were against
it, bees were unusually quiet upon handling,
but I thought them a small variety, and that
judicious crossing with new strains would be
an advantage. The owner admits that the
earlier profits from his stocks have shown a
tendency to decline recently, and this may be
due to the want of strong, well-cho3en queens,
and new strains of blood. Mr. Patey has
never had foul brood among his stocks and
does not know of any case having occurred in
his neighbourhood.

I understand that the honey-flow in this dis-
trict is of short duration. Although generally
wintering well, bees are not expected to be
working in supers until June, and by the
middle of July the flow is supposed to be over.
In the apiary in question swarms have never
been abundant, and are not to be had earlier
than the middle of June.

The yield of honey during the past summer
has not been more than an average one to Mr.
Patey, and he tells me that the experience of
most bee-keepers in his neighbourhood is
similar.

To my own knowledge the keeping of bees
by cottagers in straw skeps is very usual in
South Devon— I am told that there are
comparatively few apiarie3 where modern
methods are adopted— and it is quite usual for
"skeppists" to adopt obsolete and barbarous
practicas for securing their honey. I found
Mr. Patey busy establishing sundry colonies of
condemned driven bees, and he tells me that
he has no difficulty in securing as many con-
demned stocks as he can take.

In the neighbourhood of Kingsbridge there
are some few gentlemen who are interested in
bee-keeping on modern scientific principles ;
and, chiefly through the instrumentality of the
Rev. Mr. Adie and Messrs. Parkhouse and
Skinner, all of whom are bee-keepers, an exhi-
bition of honey and bee appliances was re-
cently held in Kingsbridge, said to be the
first for twenty years.

The classes for honey were fairly well filled,

366

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. . [Sept. 12, 1895.

and the quality of the exhibits was excep-
tionally good, the first prize in the class for
12-lb. sections going to Mr. Patey, of Chilling-
ton.

Surely there is material here and elsewhere
in the county for the reinstatement of a
Devon County Association. — J. W. Jacomb-
Hood.

THE COMING DAIRY SHOW.

[2179.] Will you please allow me to remind
all who are able to send good exhibits to the
" Dairy Show " that post entries will be
received up to September 16 at Is. 3d. extra 1
I hope no one who feels disposed to exhibit
will miss this further opportunity.

Last year the judges' report expressed the
belief that honey in all forms, and particularly
in commercial packages, would become a very
prominent feature of the Islington show.

If our bee-keepers will but support the
classes liberally, the " Dairy Show '' will be
recognised by buyers as the Annual Honey
Fair of the Metropolis — this is my chief reason
for craving a corner of the journal. Much
honey changed hands last season. I believe a
good deal more will be sold this. — E. D. Till,
Eynsford, September 7th.

DRIVING AND HIVING BEES.

ANOTHER EXPERIENCE.

[2180.1 Seeing the letters re "Driving and
Hiving Bees " in your issue of September 5
(p. 354), I venture to ask if you can explain
my late experience in that line.

On a fine hot day in the middle of last
month I went to "take'' two condemned
stocks of bees in skeps for a cottager. The
stocks were two or three years old, and well
populated. About five o'clock in the evening
I began work by puffing in a little smoke, and
after a few minutes inverted the hive. Imme-
diately I did so, the bees made a " dead set"
at me, even before I had moved a yard from
the stand. Fortunately I had on my veil,
but they attacked me furiously, crawliDg up
legs and arms, and busily creeping under my
coat. I persevered, however, and after sprink-
ling with a little syrup and waiting some
quarter of an hour (the hive still inverted) I
drove the greater part of the bees without
further trouble. I then tried the second skep,
and before otherwise touching gave a little
smoke three times and about ten minutes for
them to have more opportunity to fill them-
selves. But it was of no avail, for again on
moving the hive I was so furiously attacked
that I had to retreat and take refuge in a
clump of bushes. Nor did sprinkling with
syrup in this case allay the anger of the bees,
and I was obliged to leave them till dark,
when they met with the fate from which 1

would have saved them, viz., suffocation by
brimstone.

The skep I succeeded in driving had a large
quantity of honey, nearly all sealed, and very
little brood. There were about two or three
quarts of bees, and allowed themselves to be
hived in a bar-frame hive, and subsequently
examined without further hostility, and are
now working well and raising brood.

I may mention that I have driven bees
many times before, often without any pro-
tection, and have never had a similar ex-
perience. The owner gave the bees a good
character ; and I examined the other hives at
the same time, without protection, smoke,
or any attempt on the part of the bee to attack
me. I enclose my card. — " Badly Stung,''
September 7.

[There are at times days when, from some
unaccountable reason, bees are very irascible
and easily roused to anger, and, when this is
so, more drastic measures that ordinary are
needed. To have seen our correspondent at
work would no doubt soon disclose the weak
point in his modus. But not having this
advantage, we can but suppose that his
failure arose from not giving the bees a second
dose of smoke just before inverting the skep.
The subject of "driving" is dealt with in
" Useful Hints " on another page — Eds.]

WOOD COVERS FOR HIVES.

[2181.] I have much pleasure in replying to
your correspondent, "A Worker" (2171,
p. 356). I very rarely contract my hives,
and when I do, dummies 2 in. wide, filled
with chaff, are used. The bees are allowed
to run over the tops of the dummies. I gave
up using the ordinary dummy some seven
years ago, and I find my bees winter best on
ten or eleven frames. I use two blankets,
18 in. square, on the top of wood cover, and
when a box of candy is put on I add two more
blankets.

I do not find that the tops get displaced ;
but if they did I should adopt some plan to
prevent it, such as a strip of wood 18 in. long,
with a 1 in. block of wood fixed to each end,
which would act as a cramp, and keep the
three pieces together.— R. T. Shea, South-
end, Se2ot ember 7.

CONCISE CONTRIBUTORS.
[2182.] Your rhyming advice to corre-
spondents referred to by T. Long (2170, page
356) is evidently most necessary. " Queries
and Replies," September 5, contains some
effusions of querists from which I can certainly
cancel no less than one-third of the words
with advantage to sense and clearness. Thus
sender, receiver, compositor, and reader are
alike burdened with an unnecessary task,
all but the first named reflecting that in-

Sept. 12, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

367

structive matter might have been profitably
substituted. "Backslider'' (2163, page 347,
August 29) robs us of no less than a column
and a half by inconclusive cavil and reference
to the practice of his " good old grandmother,"
little suspecting that were she still living she
would lecture him soundly for daring to in-
struct her in the art of extracting the embryo
juices of an egg by suction. I should like to
ask seriously, in the pages of the Journal, the
following question — Have bee-keeper corre-
spondents a conscience ?— B. Short.

HERTFORDSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS AND
THE "BATH AND WEST" SHOW.

[2183.] The "Bath and West" will open
its annual show at St. Albans on May 27,
1896. It is most regrettable that so important
a meeting, and, moreover, one so near London,
and to which thousands of Londoners who are
buyers and eaters of honey will come, should
be held in a county which possesses no associa-
tion to represent its bee-keepers. Hertford-
shire produces good honey, and Hertfordshire
has some excellent bee-keepers. Here is a
splendid opportunity to be lost to the bee-
keeping of the county, and I may say to Great
Britain also, for the lack of a little Hertfordian
public spirit. It may not yet be too late to
move. One zealous man could do a lot if he
stirred at once, but is one to be found ? — A
Prior.

AN ASSOCIATION FOR HERTS.

CAN IT BE RE-ESTABLISHED ?

On Wednesday, the 4th inst., by permission
of the committee of the St. Andrew's Paro-
chial Cottagers' Flower, &c, Society, a small
exhibition of bees, honey, wax, mead, &c. (the
first exhibit of the Kind for many years),
took place at Watford, in the grounds belong-
ing to Lady Longden. Besides an observatory
hive stocked with bees and queen, the display
consisted of sections, extracted honey (liquid
and granulated), and shallow frames. There
was no competition, the object of those inte-
icsted being simply intended to ascertain if
the bee-keepers of the district were disposed
to make an etfort to re-establish an association
for the county, or, failing this, for the district,
which should embrace the whole of West
Herts.

The tent of the B.B.K.A. was also erected
for the occasion, in which manipulations of live
bees were undertaken by two local bee-
keepers, and a few explanatory remarks made
by a member of the B.B.K.A. on the differ-
ence between the old and the modern methods
of keeping bees, questions being answered and
advice given. Altogether it was considered to
have passed off very satisfactorily, and hopes

were raised that the result will be the forma-
tion of a county association and a good show
in succeeding years. — (Communicated.)

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.
August, 1895.

Locality, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.

Height above sea-level, 225 ft.

Rainfall, 2*41 in. In August, 1894, 226 in.
rain fell.

Greatest fall in 24 hours, 0*48 in. on the
2nd.

Rain fell on 20 days. In August, 1894, 19
days.

Max. shade temp., 75° on the 16th, 17th,
18th and 22nd ; max. for August, 1894, 72°.

Min. temp., 39° on the 7th ; min. temp, for
August, 1894, 36°.

Mxx. shade temp, at 9 a.m., 65° on the 15th,
20th, and 21st.

Min. temp, at 9 a.m., 53° on the 12th.

Frosty nights, nil. During August, 1894,
nil.

Max. barometer, 30'0 on the 15th, 16th,
and 17 th.

Min. barometer, 29 '2 on the 4th.

The first half of the month cold and wet, but
the latter portion very warm and dry during
which period the bees were busily working the
clover and borage from early morning until
evening. Cjuite a luxuriant crop of aftermath,
in some places nearly ten inches in length.
Some heavy dews. Wasps numerous. Con-
tracted entrances a necessity. Those bee-
keepers who advocate early " feeding-up " for
winter have had grand weather to carry out
what they recommend. — Percy- Leigh,
Beemount.

Queries mi Replies.

[1359.] I live about the middle of a row of
eighteen houses, with gardens at the back
20 yards long and 5 yards wide, running from
north to south. The hives therefore face direct
east on my strip of land, and my path of
necessity runs in front of the hives. I have
kept my bees in that position for six years
without a single complaint, but this year one
of my female neighbours unfortunately got
stung, and as it caused her eyes to swell a
good deal she sent for the doctor, who pro-
nounced it erysipelas, and in consequence it
got announced in the district doctor's report
as an infectious disease from the sting of a
bee. I, of course, declared it was all nonsense,
person stung having quite got over the trouble
in three days ; but I am in an uncomfort-
able position. What I want to know is : Do
you think a bee-house would prevent the bees
flying and annoying the neighbours when I am
looking through the hives 1 (for they never

368

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 12, 1895.

cause alarm or trouble at other times.) I am
anxious to examine my bees now, but fear to do
so on account of my neighbours. I tried to do it
at night by candle-light, but that is out of the
question. I did, however, take the supers off
at night, but the bees crawl all over one from
head to foot. I thought of making a bee-house
of corrugated iron. Do you think that would
answer ? I have kept bees now about a dozen
or fifteen years, but I am afraid it is all over
with my bee-keeping now, though I have
joined the County Association, and have done
well at shows. What makes me write to you
for advice is the remarks of Mr. Brice in the
Journal the other week about bee-houses. I
shall be much obliged if you give me a reply
in Journal. — Charles Slater, Wellingboro\
September 3.

Reply. — That a bee sting is an " infectious
disease " is, of course, nonsense, although by
injudicious treatment it might, as in the above
case, lead to something more serious in a person
whose constitutional weakness renders him or
her receptive to certain disorders. There is no
doubt that bees in a bee-house, when under
manipulation, show less inclination to sting
than those kept in the open ; but if our cor-
respondent's bees are at all inclined to be
vicious, we would suggest that a gentler strain
be [kept, and that manipulations should be
carried out in the early morning, before the
neighbours are about.

[1360.] Dealing with Unfinished Sections.
— I have about two dozen unfinished sections,
some almost finished, and wish to give the
honey to the bees, but don't want the trouble
of extracting and then putting them on again
to be cleaned up. 1. May I uncap and
put them in a rack over a hive short of stores,
or is it better to keep them for finishing
next year (which I would rather do if they
would keep good) ? 2. How long will sections
keep without the honey granulating, or are
they at all eatable when the honey is granu-
lated 1 3. Are there any "metal ends" that
will do when you have got already four or
five hives with broad shouldered frames 'I —
W. J. H., Norwich.

Rel-ly. — 1. They should be given to the
bees to clear out at once. 2. It is not safe to
say how long honey in sections will remain
liquid. Sometimes they may be kept for a
year without granulation ; at others the honey
becomes solid in a few weeks. The honey is,
of course, eatable when solid in the comb, but
not so nice. .3. Broad-shouldered frames are
supposed to dispense with metal ends.

B. TAYLOR'S LATEST HIVE.
I see you still wish bee-keepers to give
their ideas in regard to small or large hives.
I have tested more styles and sizes of hives in
my forty-five years of apiarian experience than
any other bee-keeper I know of. To me it is |

a great pleasure to realise that I know a thing
in counter-distinction to merely believing it,
for belief may be founded on either truth or
error, and we must not forget that error is no
less harmful because honestly entertained.
" Prove all things, hold fast to that which is
good."

Many years ago I made four large hives that
contained 4,000 cubic inches each. I expected
to get large yields of comb-honey from them.
I reasoned that, by clover time, these large
hives would contain gigantic colonies of bees,
and would not be likely to swarm. Well, I
believe they never did swarm during the three
or four seasons I used them ; but the giant
swarms were never ready at the right time
when the white-honey harvest came. Each
season these big hives would contain no more
bees than hives with 1,200 in. of comb capa-
city, and I never got any surplus from them
worth mentioning, while what they did give
was simply dark fall-honey. You see, they
had ample room in their big brood-chambers
to store all the white honey not used in raising
the great colonies of bees that alwayB re-
mained at the end of the season. This
immense force would, before spring, have con-
sumed nearly all of the large store of honey
which such hives always contained at the com-
mencement of winter ; but, being old bees,
most of them would be dead before a new
force of young bees could be raised the
following spring to take the field, and they
would have to build up again from about the
same condition as swarms in small hives, with
this disadvantage — that the large hives did
not utilise the heat of the colony nearly as
well as the smaller ones in the cool weather of
spring.

A year or two ago we resolved to discon-
tinue further general experiments in testing
hives, and selected from the fruits of our
experiments the hive and system that actual
experience had taught us would give the best
results in white surplus-honey, either comb or
extracted, with the least amount of work, and
be good at the same time for wintering and
breeding up colonies in the spring. And now,
friend .Root, to describe just how these hives
are constructed, and the reasons for them, and
the system of using them, will give a clearer
explanation of my present understanding of
the best hive than any other words possibly
could.

The new hives are 16 in. square, outside
measure, 14| in. inside, and the bodies are
9 in. deep. The frames are 13i in. long by
8f in. deep. Each frame contains 100 in. of
comb-surface, and we use ten of them in a
hive. The hive thus contains 1,000 cubic
inches of comb-surface. This, according to
the common popular understanding, is a small
hive. And now for the system of using. We
hive new swarms on eight combs, two dummies
being used in place of the outside combs.
Each hive will have given to it all supers of

Sept. 12, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

369

sections filled -with either finished combs or
, foundation, or part of each that they can use.
At the end of the white-honey season (bass-
wood here) we remove the surplus cases, take
out the two dummies, return the combs, place
a queen-excluding honey-board on top, and on
this another hive, either a new one filled with
foundation or one filled with bees and brood
from which a swarm has previously issued.
If the last is used we see that the queen from
the new swarm is removed, and the old swarm
with its young queen put under. We want no
brood raised further in the top hive. As the
brood in the top hive hatches the combs will be
filled with fall-honey. If the flow should be
good other hives are added as needed until
the end of the season. At the end of the
honey season we take off all hives above the
queen-excluder, having, a day or two pre-
viously, put an escape-board under them, and
run all the bees into the parent hive below,
which hive will be examined as to stores, and,
if lacking, an abundance given from the filled
combs of the top hives taken away. We winter
the colony in a single hive. They are easier
to handle, take less room in the cellar, and we
know that, with us, a small hive with a good
colony of young bees, and plenty of stores, is
in the best possible condition for cellar
wintering.

In the spring the colonies are removed to
the summer stands. These stands have room
for two colonies each, but we put only one
colony on the stand until swarming time. Pre-
viously, however, we shall have added to each
colony a second hive taken from those used on
top last fall, and more or less filled with honey,
not adding the second hive until the first one
is well filled with brood, as the bees breed up
much better in small single hives in the cool
weather of early spriog. — Gleanings.
(Tb be concluded next week.)

(fetes from the Mm.

Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington, Sep-
tember 7. — At last I have taken off all surplus
receptacles, and got the bees down into the
brood-nests. As a rule, I find the latter
crammed with stores for winter. I have had
a fair yield both of comb and extracted honey,
and think I may fairly say that, for this
season at least, I have a nnn-swarining race of
bees. Having hid so few swarms, I trans-
ferred two stocks from skeps this last week ; I
deferred the job, thinking I would let the bees
stand as they were for the winter, but circum-
stances made me alter my mind. Having
plenty of combs of sealed honey by me, I
placed about six of these in a frame-hive,
and lifted the skep off its stand, and set
the frame-hive with its combs thereon to
catch the flying bees. Then after driving
the bees from skep, I threw them out
on a trav to let them run in, first securing

the queen, putting her in at the entrance and
letting the bees follow her as they liked. A
week ago I was driving three stocks for an old
bee-keeper ; the bees were very quiet, and
after I had done the job, I said to the man.
<; I suppose I need not caution you to keep
every trace of honey covered up and let none
get about." Oh, yes they quite understood
that (the man and his wife), I saw them again
in a day or two. and they said " they had been
bothered very much with the wasp3 and bees."
I then asked if they had done anything to
start them % Well, the old man said he had
just put the skeps outside for the bees to clean
out, and trouble resulted in consequence,
although it was not very serious in this case,
perhaps the old lady who allowed some one to
drive her bees, as recorded in 216(5 p. 354, did
the same thiDg. I was rather surprised to
read of a correspondent of yours advocating
the old-fashioned way of getting the bees out
of supers by taking them in the shade of trees
in a box, &c. It might act all right some-
times, but for clearing supers the Porter
bee- escape for me. The only failure I
have had with it was caused by a bee
getting jammed between the spring ; but for
combs in shallow frames or standard frames I
usually shake the bees off with little trouble.
About the beginning of August I had to get
some stocks ready for taking away on the
evening of the same day, of which I
had notice by post during the morning.
As these stocks had surplus receptacles on
at breakfast time, I raised under each of these
a bee-escape, and at dinner time the bees had
vacated the lot. At night I lifted the hives on
to fresh bottom boards, having put a strip of
wood 1 in. deep to the two sides and back to
give air-space below, and placing two strips
across tops of frames, tacking strainering over
these, and finally closing up with a piece of
zinc at front. I could not possibly have got
these stocks ready at so short notice but for
the bee-escape.— Joiix W ALTON.

Ballaugh, Isle of Man, September 2, 1895.
— The season now ending is the worst known
in this district for beekeepers. The year
came in with gales of wind, hard frost, and
thou a " blizzard,'' which so damaged the
furze (the chief spring supply) that where
feeding was neglected the bees were very
weak. Then the spring and summer were so
dry that our bee flora was a total failure.
Most of the beekeepers around have no sur-
plus at all. Two or thrte have had an average
of about 12 11). per hive. My own hives of
native blacks have only averaged 15.V lb.
each. Last year they averaged 53 lb. A
hive of Ligurian- English bees have given me
80 lb. This is their first season. Strange, is
it not, with all hives side by side, that there
should be so much difference in the results 1
I have only heard of one swarm in the district.
The number of stocks, about forty, are mostly
on frames. — " Bek.''

370

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 12, 1895.

$tt j&hrnra to Cfirate,

September 11 and 12. — At Derby. Annual
show of the D.B.K.A. in show grounds of
the Agricultural Society. Eighteen classes.
Entries closed.

September 28. — Roxburghshire B.K.A.
Annual Show in the Corn Exchange, Jed-
burgh. Numerous prizes. Entries close
September 24. Thos. Clark, Secretary.
Pleasants, Jedburgh.

October 8, 9, 10, and 11. — Dairy show at
the Agricultural Hall, London. Liberal prizes
in five classes for honey. Open to all. Entries
close September 9. For schedules apply
Wm. C. Young, sec. Dairy Farmers' Associa-
tion, 12, Hanover-square, London.

October 19. — Lanarkshire B.K.A. annual
show of honey and bee appliances (appliances
open to all), in Public Hall, Larkhall. Also
general meeting of members same day at
5 p.m. Entries close October 12. Schedules
from John Stevenson, secretary, Merryton
Braes, Larkhall, N.B.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of pergonal interest will he answered in thig column.

W. S. Brothers (Dewsbury). — Making Bee-
syrup.— Earwigs in Hives. — 1. As we
reminded "A. B. T.," on p. 360, one pint of
water should be added to each 2 lb. of
sugar in making bee-food for autumn use.
That proportion makes the syrup quite thick
enough. 2. Powdered napthaline sprinkled
about quilts and coverings will keep earwigs
from harbouring there. 3. Queen excluder
zinc is not suitable for a " Wells " dummy.
4. It has been proved in practice that two
compartments are quite sufficient for a
" "Wells " hive, and that any number beyond
two only increases the risks of failure. 5. A
slow-feeder must be so made that bees can
only get at the food through a very few
very small holes. To allow a single bee-
way to a rapid feeder would in no sense
make a slow feeder of it, seeing that a con-
tinuous file of bees might be passing in and
out.

A. D. Hughes (Anglesea.) — Very had case of
foul brood. The stock should be at once
destroyed, and combs, frames, and all
belonging to it burnt.

J. H. Moore (Holmbrook Tower). — Be-
(/ueening. — If you are sure the queen is
lour years old, the sooner she is deposed
and replaced by a young one the better.
Refer to past numbers of B.J. for method
of introducing queen. If one is purchased,
instructions will, no doubt, be sent along
with queen.

Cordelia (Cheltenham). — Bee Pasturage. — 1.
Five acres of giant sunflower and five of

white clover would largely supplement the
ordinary forage of a district, and render
much help to ten or twenty hives ; but if
chiefly relied on, would not keep profitably
more than half a dozen. 2. 30 lb. per hive
is a fair average yield. 3. Good honey is
sold by the cwt. at 7d. to 9d. per lb., higher
prices being obtainable in some localities.

H. W. R. (Cornwall).— In Nos. 1 and 3 of
samples received the brood is chilled, but in
No. 2 there is foul brood. There must be
some reason for the presence of chilled
brood in hives in the very warm weather
now prevailing. Can you offer no explana-
tion of it 1

St. George's (Ely). — Referring to the reply
to " Young Beginner " on p. 329, the frame
mentioned is advised for removal " after
brood is hatched out," in order to do away
with so faulty a comb as patched-up ones
generally are.

W. Burrows (Eskmeals). — The appearance of
dried-up larvre is that of chilled brood, but
it is impossible to tell with any certainty
whether the stock is affected with foul brood
or not. We shall be very pleased to get a
report from your district.

Kent (Tunbridge Wells).— Loss of Bees. — 1.
It would not surprise us if the bees had
joined those of the stocks which plundered
the hive of its stores. The dead bees sent
are of the ordinary kind, common in this
country. The few left in the hive have no
doubt been killed during the fighting.
Sample of comb bears evidence of the stock
being robbed, nothing more. The second
hive named has evidently suffered from
same mischief as the first one. Regarding
the third one, with "about five times as
many drones as workers," it is not worth
the trouble of re-queeniDg.

T. W. (Kent).— 1. Sugar will do very well, if
pure cane. 2. Sprinkle powdered naphtha-
line among quilts to drive away earwigs
from them. 3. No. Confining queen to
hive by means of excluder zinc is not a
proper course to prevent swarming. 4.
Carbolic acid smeared about hive entrances
tends to prevent robbing, but the doorway
must not be reduced to one-bee-way in this
hot weather.

A. T. D. (Stoke Gabriel).— Feeding-up Bees.—
1. Bees should be fed with sufficient stores
for winter at once. 2. Fermenting syrup
should not be given to bees at all ; it may
cause damage. 3. Nos. 7 to 1 1 are suitable
sugars for the purpose of autumn feeding.
No. 4 would do for spring feeding.

S. Standing (Blackpool). — Comb contains
nothing but honey and wholesome pollen.

Novice (Skelmanthorpe). — 1. Comb is affected
with foul-brood. 2. They may be evidence
of queenlessness ; we should destroy the
bees and burn the combs. 3. Hive No. 2 is
of no use unless a fertile queen be given and
the drone breeder deposed.

Sept. 19, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

371

(MtoriaL ^stixm, ku

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION

Meeting of the Council held at 105, Jermyn-
street, on Thursday, September 12. Present :
the Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Rev. G. W.
Bancks, W. B. Carr, H. W. Brice, J. H. New,
E. D. Till, J. Garratt, W. O'B. Glennie,
Treasurer, and J. M. Hooker, ex- officio, and
John Huckle, Secretary.

Communications were received from the
Chairman, the Vice-Chairman, and Mr. C. H.
Hooper, regretting their inability to be
present. The Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh was
voted to the chair. The minutes of the last
Council meeting were read and confirmed. The
Finance Committee reported that the several
accounts relating to the Darlington Exhibition
had been paid. Payment of other accounts
was recommended by the Committee, and the
same were approved by the Council.

Correspondence was read (1) from Mr.
Loveday, of the Essex Convalescent Home,
asking for the loan of the Association's lantern
slides for a lecture to be given to the patients
in that institution. Resolved that Mr. Love-
day's request be granted.

The Secretary reported that his attention
had been called to the distribution of a circular
issued by the Manchester District Bee-keepers'
Association, setting forth that the association
was in affiliation with the B.B.K.A., to which
lie had drawn the attention of the secretary,
Mr. E. McNally. Correspondence between
the Manchester District Association and the
secretary of the B.B.K.A. was read. The
Council having approved the action taken by
the secretary in reference to the circular, a
letter was read from the Manchester District
Association requesting that the association
might be affiliated to the B.B.K A. Resolved
that the secretary do communicate with the
secretary of the Lancashire and Cheshire Bee-
keepers' Association, directing his attention to
the conditions of affiliation in reference to
this subject.

Mr. Till reported on behalf of the Exhibi-
tion? Committee that application had been
made for space at the Annual Exhibition of
the Dairy Farmers' Association for the exhibi-
tion of honey and other exhibits in which
honey formed an ingredient. Mr. Till further
reported that several members of the Council
had promised to be in attendance during the
time of the exhibition, to give advice and
assistance.

The following new members were elected,
viz. : —

Mr. II. M. Turner, The Turl, Oxford.

Mr. Samuel Head, Ivybridge, Devon.

Mr. D. McGeachy, Pennyfuir, Oban, N.B

Mr. E. H. Taylor, Hive Works, WelwyD.

Mr. W. H. Patterson, Ihursby Nurseries,
Colchester.

The Council adjourned to October 10.

TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION IN
BEE-KEEPING.

"We invite the attention of the bee-keepers
resident within reasonable distance, to the
course of lectures on bee-keeping to be
delivered in connection with the Durham
College of Science, Newcastle - upon - Tyne.
The course commences on Monday, September
30 (see Advertisement on another page), and
will be continued weekly.

A SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE FOR
CORNWALL.

Callington District Technical Instructio
Committee met on Wednesday, the 4th inst. ;
present, Mr. J. W. Lawry (chairman) and
Messrs. S. P. Rattenbury, C. Rendell, S. S.
Davey, C. Bolt, J. Bennett, and N. Rosekelly.
Arrangements were made for classes during
the ensuing year, and the following grants
were allotted : — Science and art and continua-
tion classep, £40 ; agricultural demonstration,
£20 ; bee culture, £6 ; cookery, £10 ; car-
pentry, £10; dressmaking, £5 ; and library, £5.
A discussion took place ou the proposed scheme
for the establishment of a central school of agri-
culture by the Cornwall County Council. The
chairman explained the proposal, and thought
the plan a good one and deserving of support.
A resolution approving the scheme was
carried unanimously. The secretary (Mr. W.
Pearce) reported that the receipts for the sale
of fruit and bees had up to the present been
£9, that there appeared to be abundance of
honey, and that the crops of potatoes and
apples were very large, so that there was
every prospect of the garden yielding a good
return this year. The Chairman said the report
was most satisfactory and encouraging. The
result of the various experiments had exceeded
the most sanguine expectations, especially the
use of the Bordeaux mixture for the potato
crop, and the large number of agriculturists
who had inspected the garden that day spoke
very highly of the results obtained, the work
of the committee, and the appearance of the
garden. — (Communicated).

THE DAIRY SHOW.

TO INTENDING EXHIBIT* >I:S.

Referring to the coming Dairy Show, the
secretary writes us as follows : — " Would you
kindly mention in next issue of your journal
that I have received, in an envelope bearing
Henley-on-Thames postmark, an entry of comb
honey, without name or address of intending
exhibitor, and that all cli'ort3 to trace the
sender have, hitherto, proved fruitless. If this
meets his eye, will he kindly communicate
with me ? — Win. C. Young, Secretary British
Dairy Farmers' Association, 12, Hmover-
square, London, W.

372

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 19, 1895.

DERBYSHIRE B.K.A.

ANNUAL SHOW.

The fourteenth annual show of the above
association was held on the show ground of
the Derbyshire Agricultural Society on the
11th and 12th inst. In consequence of the
bad season, the entries in the local classes were
not so numerous as last year, but the compe-
tition in the Open classes, both for sections
and run honey, was most keen, all the ex-
hibits being of excellent quality. A special
feature of this annual show is the number of
competitors in the classes for bees shown in
observatory hives, no less than fourteen entries
being staged, and during the two days of the
show large crowds were attentively watching
the bees, members of the committee being in
attendance, pointing out the queen, and ex-
plaining the mysteries of the bee-hive. On
Thursday afternoon the bee-tent was crowded
with spectators watching the manipulation of
bees in a skep and in a bar-frame hive, the
exhibition being given by Mr. Joyce, one of
the experts of the association. Mr. W.
Broughton Carr officiated as judge. During
the afternoon Mr. Oarr also conducted an
examination of several candidates for the
third-class expert's certificate of the B.B.K.A.
in the apiary of Mr. F. Walker, hon. sec. of
the D.B.K.A.

The awards were as follows : —

HONEY CLASSES (MEMBEBS ONLY).

Display of Honey in any Form, not to
Exceed 120 lb.— lfct, J. Stone ; 2nd, W. G.
Sale ; 3, G. H. Varty ; 4th, A. Cooper.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, J. Stone; 2nd>
H. C. Jacques ; 3rd, W. Holdcroft.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, J.
Stone ; 2nd, J. R. Bridges ; 3rd, J. Pearman ;
4th, W. G. Sale ; v.h.c, F. Walker ; c, H.
Joyce.

Observatory Hive with Queen and Bees on
One Brood Frame. — 1st, A. Cooper ; 2nd, H.
C. Jacques ; 3rd, J. Pearman ; h.c, H. Hill ;
c, C. Clarke.

Observatory Hive with Queen and Bees on
Two or More Brood Frames. — 1st, H. Hill ;
2nd, T. Richards ; 3rd, H. Joyce ; h.c, F.
Walker.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey. — 1st,
J. Stone ; 2nd, W. G. Sale ; 3rd, R. Giles.

Three Shallow-frames of Comb Honey. — l&t,
J. Stone ; 2nd, J. Pearman ; 3rd, G. W.
Foster.

Single l-lb. Section and l-lb. Jar Extracted
Honey.— l&t, J. Stone ; 2nd, F. Walker ; 3rd,
G. W". Foster ; 4th, T. W. Jones.

Beeswax.— l%t, J. Stone ; 2nd, T. W. Jones ;
3rd, G. W. Foster ; 4th, J. R. Bridges ; h.c,
H. Hill.

Six l-lb. Sections in Blow,s Sections. —
1st, J. Stone.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey inBloiv's
Jar*. — 1st, F. Howard.

OPEN CLASSES.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, R. Brown,
Somersham ; 2nd, T. Simpson, Lichfield ;
v.h.c, J. Stone, Cubley ; and W. H. Woods,
St. Ives ; h.c, H. Wood, Lichfield ; c, W.
Williams, Lichfield.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
Miss Smith, Lichfield ; 2nd, W. H. Woods ;
3rd, R. Brown ; 4th, H. Wood ; v.h.c, Miss
Chester, Waltham ; h.c, S. Eaton, Audlem ;
W. Williams ; and R. Bridges, Chesterfield.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey. — 1st,
J. Stone ; 2nd, H. Wood ; h.c, W. H. Woods.

Tivo Combs of Honey in Standard Frames.
— 1st, J. Stone.

Collection of Appliances. — Equal (dividing
1st and 2nd prizes), G. H. Varty, Burnaston,
Derby, and T. Walmsley, junior, Lichfield. —
Communicated.

HEREFORD B.K.A.

ANNUAL HONEY FAIR.

The weather of the past season has been
very much in favour of bee-keepers, and the
result of the eleventh annual Honey Fair, held
at the Butter- market, Hereford, on Sept. 4,
under the auspices of the Herefordshire Bee-
keepers' Association, was most encouraging to
the promoters. The majority of the exhibits
were exceptionally good. Altogether about
two tons of honey was staged ; there was a
larger quantity than usual in tins, as the sale
in bulk increases yearly ; and the quality
exceeded that of the previous year. Honey
was sold at 9d. per lb. in purchasers' own jars,
and about Is. per lb. in jars and sections. Mr.
Alfred Watkins ably discharged the secre-
tarial duties, and the judges were Mr. E. J.
Burt and Mr. J. Palmer. The following is the
list of awards : —

Exhibit of Honey, not exceeding 200 lb. —
1st, M. Meadham, Hereford ; 2nd, W. Tomp-
kins, Burghill ; 3rd, J. Wootton, Byford.

Exhibit of Honey, not exceeding 100 lb,
(Novices only). — 1st, W. Williams, Canon
Froome; 2nd, A. Williams, Bodenham.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, T.
Pritchard, Bucknell ; 2nd, Jos. Thomas, Here-
ford ; 3rd, Chas. Turner, Byford ; v.h.c, J.
Wootton and J. Greenwood ; h.c, W. Tom-
kins.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey (Novices
only).— l&t, J. Smith, Ross ; 2ndj W. Wil-
liams ; 3rd, A. Anning, Birch ; v.h.c, E.
Pewtress ; h.c, J. Meadham and G. Bedford.

Twelve l-lb. Sections.— 1st, W. Tomkins ;
2nd, T. Pritchard ; 3rd, J. Wootton.

Six l-lb. Sections (Novices only). — 1st, T.
Meadham, Howie Hill ; 2nd, Miss Wootton,
Byford ; 3rd, T. Pewtress, Bishopstone.

Best Exhibit of any Shape.— 1st, T. Mead-
ham ; 2nd, F. Mailes, Hampton Bishop ; 3rd,
T. Pewtress.

Champion Prize. — Exhibit of Honey, not
exceeding 12 lb. (Previous Winners only). —
1st, E. Hill, Withington.— Communicated.

Sept. 19, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

373

WIRRAL AND BIRKENHEAD AGRI-
CULTURAL SOCIETY.

THE HONEY DEPARTMENT.

The show of honey in connection with the
above was unfortunately not so extensive as
usual, this beiDg probably largely due to the
bad season bte-keepers have experienced in
this district. A fair sbow of extracted honey
was, however, made, the " district " class
being especially well filled, and some very
good samples shown. Sections were few in
number, and, with one or two exceptions, of
only average merit.

The L. .and C.B.K.A. had their bee-tent on
the ground, in which the Association expert
gave lectures and demonstrations on both days
to large and apparently very interested
audiences. Rain fell at times, but not so
heavily as to seriously interfere with the pro-
ceedings.

It is to be hoped that Lancashire and
Cheshire bee-keepers will support this show
more liberally in the future, the prizes aregocd
and the situation of the show central for all.

The committee of the L. and C.B.K.A. held
a meeting in the honey tent on the second day
c f the show.

Mr. W. J. Anstey judged the honey exhibit3
and made the following awards : —

OPEN CLASSES.

Tivelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, J. Stone ; 2nd,
Harry Wood ; 3rd, S. Cartwright ; 4th, Thos.
llenshaw.

Tirclve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
Owen Roberts ; 2nd, H. Wood ; 3rd (equal),
Dr. B. E. Jones and Rev. T. J. Evans.

DISTRICT ONLY.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, Rev. T. J.
Evans ; 2nd, Dr. B. E. Jones ; 3rd, H. M.
Bryan s.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, 0.
Roberts ; 2nd and 3rd (equal), Rev. T. J.
Evans and Dr. B. E. Jones ; 4th, Stephen
Eaton. — {Communicated.)

NORTH NORFOLK B.K.A.
The annual show was held in the grounds
of Brinton Hall on September 5, when an
excellent display cf honey was staged in a
tent lent by the president (Lady Bastings).
Messrs. J. H. Pearson and J. J. Rice
c fficiated as judge?, and made the following
awards : —

MEMBERS ONLY.

Collection of Honeif. — 1st. H. W. Woo'sey,
F.lgefield ; 2nd, Rev. H. C. Fitcb, Beeston
R etory.

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, J. Goldhawke,
Rtymerston ; 2nd, R. Attoe, Briston ; 3rd, E.
Bambridge, Briston.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st,
R. Attoe ; 2nd, J. W. Platten, Briston ; 3rd,
H. W. Woolsey ; extra 3rd, E. Bambridge.

OPEN CLASSES.

Twelve l-lb. Sections.— 1st, W. H. Woods,
Hemingford Grey, St. Ives ; 2nd, J. Gold-
hawke.

Twelve lib. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st,
W. H. Woods ; 2nd, J. W. Platten ; 3rd,
Rev. H. W. Blunt, Bridgham Rectory.

Single l-lb. Section.— 1st, W. H. Woods ;
2nd, Miss F. E. Smith, Lichfield ; 3rd, Rev.
R. T. Shea, Little Wakering, Rowney Rec-
tory, Hants.

Single l-lb Jar Extracted Honey, l-lb,
Bottle.— 1st, Mrs. E. Pridoaux, Brune ; 2nd,
Miss F. E. Smith ; 3rd, Owen Roberts,
Tarporley, Cheshire.— (Communicated).

(^otmpnkna.

The Editorg do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C" All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "THE Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

BEE-JOTTINGS

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2184.] Superficiality. — The remarks of
Messrs. 'J'. Long and B. Short, in recent
numbers of the B.J.,are most apt, and should be
borne in mind by all of us. There is, however,
another class of your contributors to whom a
few words might also be said ; I refer to those
who peruse the text in a superficial way, and
in consequence jump to hasty and erroneous
conclusions, simply from failing to give due
attention and weight to the facts and figures
which have appeared in previous numbers.
How often, for instance, do we see in " Queries
and Replies " the same question and practically
the same answer given time after time. In
the case of beginners and those not possess-
ing back numbers for reference it is, of course,
very different, but when " bee-keepers " keep
on repeating questions answered in extenso
only a few weeks back, one cannot be surprised
at some of your more observant readers utter-
ing a mild protest. The complaint however,
is a common one, journals connected with
Poultry- keeping, Gardening, Cricket or any
other pursuit, business, or pastime are sure to
possess a certain proportion of sciolistic
readers too indolent to trouble about finding out
things for themselves, even though entailing no
more labour than a reference to back numbers.

374

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 19, 1895.

The Art of Adulteration. — From two of our
leading papers of the 10th and llth inst. I ex-
tract the following paragraphs: — 1. " Beeswax
is sold (wholesale) in Mincing-lane containing
50 to CO per cent, of paraffin wax ; " and, 2,
" Housekeepers (and bee-keepers) will feel
gratified in learning that they buy 'Deme-
rara' sugar which is only a cheap beet sugar,
skilfully coloured with aniline dyes." I am led
to ask, should it not strike all of us, who are
sufferers from the above state of affairs, to in-
quire where is the " Adulteration Act," and
those who are empowered to enforce it ? When
leading " dailies " inform us of dealings in
such commodities by the ton by our City
merchants, it may well be said, How is such
barefaced adulteration to be checked 1 A few
small tradesmen, probably ignorant of the
fraud, are occasionally prosecuted, whilst the
real offenders seem to be permitted to pursue
their nefarious dealings unmolested. Bee-
keepers will clearly want a " Trade Protection
Society " or something of the kind next.

Time occupied in developing a Drone. — "We
were recently told in your pages that " all
authorities and all text-books agree that a
drone takes twenty-four days to develop from
the laying of the egg." Now, while this is near
enough for practical purposes, permit me to
say that if we are to be quite correct, then " all
authorities and text-books " are wrong, as it
really takes twenty-five days under normal
conditions to develop a drone, and under ab-
normal conditions a day to a day and a half
longer. I have spent a large portion of this
season rearing drones, and have verified the
above statement. Thus, an egg laid on the 1st
of the month will develop into and come forth
a perfect drone on the 25th of that month, and
not before. I rather fancy there is, at any
rate, one authority whose text-book confirms
this.

Drones and Swarming. — Mr. Doolittle, in
Gleanings, remarking upon the impression that
a hive with no drones is no guard against
swarming, observes that some colonies in his
apiary which were allowed neither drones nor
even drone comb had " swarmed as promptly
as did those having drones." I have certainly
never had a droneless colony swarm, and it has
always been my opinion that bees in this con-
dition will not swarm. 1 should, therefore,
ascribe swarming of the colonies Mr. Doolittle
mentions as due to some abnormal condition
of which he was not cognisant.

Mixed Bees. — From the Bee-Keepers' Review
(American) I gather that Mr. Gravenhorst has
an idea that the mixing of bees from different
queens makes them work better, and with this
view the eminent German bee-master goes to
the trouble of taking frames of brood from
different hives to give to other stocks, and in
this way mixes the bees when the brood
hatches out. Now, when a man of Mr.
Gravenhorst's standing in the bee-world does
this, it should make one think there is some,
thing in it. Personally, however, I cannot bu^

think that great risks are run, especially in
districts where disease among bees is prevalent
and the difference in the amount of extrawork,
done seems hardly commensurate with the
trouble involved. — H. W. Brice, Thornton
Heath, Surrey.

AN ASSOCIATION FOR HERTS.

NEED IT BE RESUSCITATED ?

[2185.] After reading the letter signed "A.
Prior" (2183, p. 367), one is tempted to
wonder, if he considers an association so in-
dispensable, why he does not take steps to
form one ; but perhaps he may be encouraged
into doing so after reading the account of what
occurred at Watford on the 4th inst. Probably
he is not aware of the existence of an asso-
ciation having its headquarters at Bishops
Stortford.

But the question is, Do we need a County
Association ? For myself I answer most
emphatically — No ! Certainly not because
of the Bath and West of England Show being
held at St. Albans next May. In my judgment
the organising of honey shows in connection
with the large agricultural societies, who visit
a county only once in one's lifetime, properly
belongs to the British Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, and not to the local County Association.
Again, there is no longer any need of a County
Association for educational purposes. The old
order in this, as in many other things, has
changed with changing time. County Councils
have now taken up this work in common with
instruction in many kindred subjects. In
some counties where there are Bee-keepers'
Associations, County Councils have delegated
this branch of their work, and where the
associations have done the work satisfactorily
it is likely to continue to be left in their
bands. But in Herts the Technical Instruc-
tion Committee is always ready to receive
applications for a course of lectures in bee-
keeping, to be given in any village where an
audience can be got together, and they are
also ready to send a lecturer and the bee-tent
to the Cottage Garden Shows.

Moreover, penny weekly prints have in-
creased during the pist ten years at a
marvellous rate, and all of them which deal
in rural pursuits have a bee-column, where
information is given about which most of us
may rejoice, and the more readily because it
was not always thus. What other advantages
have a County Association to offer us ? I am
prepared to be told, the services of an expert
once a year, a county annual show, a honey
label, and, if affiliated with the B.B.K.A , two
mtdals per annum for competition, and the
services of a judge. I will take them seriatim,
beginning with the, last :— (i.) When you get
your judge, if pome of you petition the
Council of the B.B.K.A., pointing out that
you have no confidence in the judge they sent
you, you will probably have to meet a law-

Sept. 19, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

375

suit for libel, (ii.) I have no wish to detract
from the competitive value of the medals ;
when honestly won they are trophies of which
their owners may well be proud, (iii). A honey
label is a thing I have yet to learn the need of.
I never knew a person with a good reputation
for good honey, put up in good style, who
could not sell it at a fair price. When they
cannot sell it at a fair price, let them eat it. It
is one of the best foods God ever gave to His
creature-man. (iv.) The experts visit. Yes,
at springtime, at an hour when working
people are at their daily toil, and nine chances
out of ten but that he calls on an inclement
day. My experience is that the people who
most want the expert are those who live in
villadom and not the bona-fide cottager. The
dwellers in villadom are able and ought to
pay a fee to the expert, and call him in when-
ever they wish to have his services.

My interest in bee-keeping has not abated
one jot. As the old hands die or drop out,
new one3 fall into the ranks. I am still, as in
the old time, the happy bee-father of a fairly
numerous family, and an hour ago was busy
helping one of them to take off a super.

Local bee-clubs, meeting periodically, where
its members may exchange ideas and mutually
help each other, I have strong faith in, but
that is altogether a different matter from a
county association which I admit did much
good in its day, but the need for which no
loDger exists. —Amateur Expert, September
14.

[We print our correspondent's views, as ex-
pressed above, without editorial comment for
the present, except to observe that there
appears to be some justification for the remarks
made by Mr. A. Prior in the communication
which follows that gentleman's letter on page
367, and the further one from "Sainfoin "on
this page. — Eds.]

AN ASSOCIATION FOR HERTS.

[218(5. "| If you knew how delighted I was
to see the heading on page 367 of hist week's
JOURNAL, " An Association for Herts. Can it
be Established P " you, and even B. Short,
would excuse this letter. I have kept bees
two years (three seasons), and have taken the
JOURNAL ever since I began. Afcer reading
of the glorious doing in other places, I have
thought to myself what an unfortunate county
ours is, especially as Mr. Huckle, above every-
body else, lives amongst us. I have often
thought of writing to him, but, fearing to get
snubbed, have not done so. Now, however,
seeing that our neighbours at Watford are
waking up, permit me to say that as soon as
ever an association is formed I will join it.
Why did not our Watford friend-*, through
the Journal, let the bee world know of their
show, and I, for one, would have visited it.

One other matter and I am done. Your
correspondent, A. Prior (p 3(37), regrets " that

so important a meeting as the Bath and West
Shows " should be held at St. Albans. "A.
Prior " you surprise me ! You ought rather
to be glad that it is so, and do all you can to
make the show a means of raising bee-keeping
in Hertfordshire to the height of prosperity it
has attained in other counties. At the end of
your letter you say that u one zealous man
could do a lot if he stirred at once." To Mr.
Prior I say, Be that man ! — Sainfoix, St.
Albans, September 16.

COUNTY LABELS.

SHOULD THEY APPEAR OX EXHIBITS ?

[2187.] Referring to 2177, p. 365, Septem-
ber 12, 1 intentionally put our county label on
the Preston exhibit. I knew it might dis-
qualify, but had I lost a prize thereby,
'' labelling " would have gained. Indeed, it
has gained by Mr. Taylor's letter. I have
labelled all my exhibits this year, for only thus
can we "mark off" wretched substitutes now
doing duty for native honey. I hope county
labels will be the rule, not the exception, at
the coming Dairy Show. Rules which dis-
courage labelling ought to be repealed. I
thankfully acknowledge the steward's cour-
tesy at Preston, but it was consideration for
the true interests of bee-keeping, not for me
individually. This is an important difference.
Mr. Taylor quotes Birkenhead and Audlem
shows to prove me wrong, but these shows
were not in question ; they were not adver-
tised in B.B J., neither did I quote them in
my letter. Mr. Taylor's letter implies that
Preston show was held by the L. andC.B.K.A.
Nothing of the kind. The shows I named
were " protectionist," because useless to bee-
keepers generally. I heartily thank Mr.
Taylor for his letter. It will do good. — E. D.
Till, Eynsford, Ken*, September 16.

PROTECTIONIST SCHEDULES.
[2188.] I am deeply grieved to see from
your footnote to my letter (2177, p. 365) that
you have misconstrued the purport of my
writing. My sole object was to defend the
L. & C. B. K. A. against the charge of issuing
schedules which were "strictly protectionist.'
Both last year and this I have been astonished
at the expeditious despatch and efficient
packing of exhibits after shows. With regard
to the Preston show not coming under the
head of those under the auspices of the
L. & C. B. K. A., you are strictly speaking,
correct— yet the L. & C. B. K. A. was so
much in evidence that the majority of people
looked upon it as theirs. Referring to the
" county label," you admit that the steward
allowed a very liberal reading of the clause
that no other mark should appear on the
exhibit but the accredited number. As to the
" identity " question, I never once intended my
letter to be so construed, and your remarks
about encouraging the use of labels at shows

376

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 19, 1895.

would be all very well in their proper place—
i e., the Editor's column — and the practice very
laudable if generally carried out without in-
fringing regulations. Deeply regretting you
have misread into my letter that which was
never meant.— Frederick H. Taylor, Local
Hon. Sec. L. and C.B.K.A., Fallowjield, Man-
chester, September 16.

[We are very pleased to give our corre-
spondent the opportunity of expressing his
personal view of the matter dealt with ; but,
while regretting the pain our footnote has
caused him, and the misconstruction of which
he complains, we can only say that we did our
best to understand his communication, and are
content to be judged by what appears on
page 365. Eeferring to what our corre-
spondent terms the " proper place " — or
column— for any editorial remarks necessary,
he must kindlv allow us to be the best judge
of that.— Eds.]

CONCISE CONTRIBUTIONS.

[2189.] I notice in to-day's Journal that
Mr. B. Short (2182, p. 366) accuses me of
robbing the Journal of a column and a half
by inconclusive cavil and grandmotherly
reference. Well, I am astonished ! I thought
my remaiks on paraffin and wax, and the
relativity of good old Demerara to cube sugar
concise, explicit, and certainly not verbose.
If, during the coming winter, I were permitted
to ask a few questions on the histology of the
germinal layer of the ovary of the queen bee,
or the most reliable bacillus stain for foul
brood in microscopic work, perhaps I should
please Mr. B. Short better, for I might be
speaking on a subject he held in awe and
esteem and with which he had not enjoyed an
interview. But I have been a reader of the B.J.
for ten years and prefer to ask workable
questions which may help me, when answered,
to teach my poorer neighbours and myself how
to cut down costs, now that wholesale buyers
are offering .5|d. and 6d. per lb. by the cwt.
for best English honey, carriage paid. Mr. B.
Short appears to be labouring under a tempo-
rary spell of jocular aberration when he accuses
me of teaching my "good old grandmother''
to suck eggs, for I distinctly stated her practice
and theory of feeding bees on " Demerara."
Lastly, Mr. Short should not speak of "the
embryo juices of the egg" when he ostensibly
means the egg itself; the embryo juices are
too abstruse in their exact composition — being
protoplasmic — for him and me to quite grasp.
I should like to write an illustrated paper on
an " Ideal hive for the heather '' if Mr. B.
Short could approve of the paper being
admitted within the doors of the Journal
office and also if he could coax the long-suffer-
ing Editors to allow another column or two
some quiet week to " Wavering Backslider,"
— Kirkby Stephen, September 12.

[So far from deeming it necessary to " coax

the long-suffering Editors'' in the direction
indicated, we have an idea that Mr. Short
would welcome the appearance of any useful
contribution to our columns as heartily as the
Editors themselves. We do, however, venturo
to ask our correspondent if he does not some-
what discount (by anticipation) the value of
the promised article by his unfortunate choice
of a nom de plume ? No one desires to see
" backsliding " in bee matters : we want to
': get on.'' May we suggest " Forward " as an
improvement ? — Eds.]

HEATHER HONEY.

IS THERE SUCH IN THE SOUTH ?

[2190.] The following passage occurs in a
book on the New Forest by Rose de Crespigny
and Horace Hutchinson : — " Almost every
forester is a bee-keeper ; but in addition to
the domesticated bees, wild bees are very
numerous. Burley old enclosure is perhaps
the spot they favour most. In Elizabeth's
reign it was quite a business collecting and
selling the honey of the wild bees, and this in
the days when the honey buzzard was a com-
mon bird.

" The honey the bees collect from the oak
bloom is the worst, and of a bad green colour.
In later months they have to pick up their
nectar here and there in cottage gardens or an
occasional field of clover ; this produces the
ordinary yellow honey.

"Later still the purple heather bloom is
everywhere, and from it the bees cull that rich
dark honey that is most valued in the
market."

In a recent number of the B.J. (2126,
p. 296), I asked for information as to the value
of heather to South Country bee-keepers. No
one appears to have replied on the subject.
Mr. Webster perhaps overlooked the request.
Have Chobham, Wesley, Weybridge, Woking,
and other big commons heather of value, and,
if so, what soit of honey results therefrom ?
Is it the practice to cart bees to the heather
in any place south of the Trent ? — A. Beille.

HONEY FIELDS.
[2191.] In a recent number one of your
correspondents raised a doubt as to the value
of the stretches of heath lands in the
southern counties as honey fields, and expressed
a hope that we might hear the opinion of Mr.
W. B. Webster on the subject, especially with
reference to the heath in the neighbourhood
of Bagshot. Failing any word up to the
present from the latter gentleman, it may be
of interest to record that I have this year
established some stocks of bees on the border
of Lios Forest in Hampshire, an adjunct to the
better-known Woolner Forest, with the result
that honey is now being stored from the
heather in considerable quantity, and
apparently of good quality. In fact, my bees

Sept. 19, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

377

at Lios have been working better during the
last week than any time in the summer. I
find the cottagers in that neighbourhood
recognise the value of the heather crop ; but
that it is not usual for them to take up these
bees until the last days of the month. One
bee-keeper of many years' standing has told
me that his skep3 will usually double their
weight in the month of September.— J. W.
Jacomb-Hood, Surbiton, September 12.

DO BEES CARRY EGGS?
[2192.] In reply to the above question, I
emphatically answer, Yes, they do. And
to prove the matter, place a frame of comb
with queen in an observatory hive. In the
excitement, caused by the change of hive, the
queen will frequently drop eggs anywhere on
the comb surface, which eggs the workers will
carry off and place in empty cells', if there are
any. Again, if a strange queen — on being in-
troduced to a hive — is caged, and the bees take
kindly to her, they will give her food through
the wire-cloth. This feeding will cause the
queen to begin laying eggs in the cage, and the
bees will take away these eggs and insert them
in empty cells. If they don't take to her
there will be no eggs. This is wbat my ex-
perience teache3. — H. Seamark, Willingham,
Cambs, September 11.

USES OF BEESWAX.
[2193.] A postmistress [in Kent, who is a
good bee-keeper, gets profitable sale for all her
honey in her shop, and uses the beeswax in
making very good sealing-wax. Ihe P.O.
Department do not find their officers in either
string or sealing-wax. In this particular in-
stance the broken seals from the incoming
letter bags are preserved daily and remelted
into sticks, with the addition of a little pure
beeswax. — A Kent Bee-Keeper, Septem-
ber 14.

HONEY PLANTS.

[2194.] Will some of your readers oblige'me
with a few seeds of " The Chapman Honey
Plant '' ? I can give in exchange some seeds
of " Anchusa Italica." — Arthur Hailstone,
Chateaubriand, Corey, Jersey, Sep>tember 14.

THE HONEY SEASON IN KENT.

A GOOD AVERAGE YIELD.

Ouresteemed correspondent, the Rev. Gerard
W. Bancks, of Green St. Green, Dartford,
Kent, in a note just to hand says : — " I send
you the following particulars of my honey
takings for this year, that you may make any
use of them you like : My twelve best stocks
yielded an average of 90 lb. per hive. Giving
respectively, 140, 120, 100, 100,94,90, 88, 87,
73, 07, 61, and 60 lb. The average yield of

my whole apiary, consisting of eighteen
stocks, is 75 lb. per hive, or a total weight of
1,350 lb."

The best " use" we can make of the above
is — to our mind — allowing the figures to speak
for themselves.

B. TAYLOR'S LATEST HIVE.
{Concluded from page 369.)

By this system each colony has two hives at
swarming time. We also give each colony,
run for comb-honey, cases of sections earh,
for we do not care whether they swarm early
or late. They are kept storing surplus with-
out swarming at all, as long as plenty of room
will do it ! but we use no force measures to
prevent swarming, for, after the most search-
ing effort in that direction, we are now
thoroughly convinced that it cannot be done
profitably. "When the swarm does finally
come (if it does) we hive it in a hive contracted
to eight frames or less ; remove all surplus
cases from the old to the new swarm ; set it on
the old stand, turn the entrance of the parent
colony in an opposite direction on the vacant
space on the same stand to be re-queened, and
the two colonies will be united again after the
white honey-flow as before.

In working fcr extracted honey we simply
give each colony all the frames they will fill, and
in case they swarm, treat them exactly as for
comb-honey. After we have supplied all our
colonies, in fall and spring, with all the combs of
honey they can use, if any remain we extract
them ; but every pound of dark honey is used
for winter stores and brood-raising, for by this
management we secure nearly the entire white-
honey crop for surplus.

Now, Mr. Editor, I have written not only
about small hives but how to use them. Many
bee-keepers try small hives. They use them
exactly as they would large ones. They do
not find small hives profitable, and argue
against them. I have great respect for the
Dadants as bee-keepers, and their argument
for large hives had almost persuaded me ; but
now comes Mr. Dadant, in the American Bee
Journal of May 9, and states that his average
yield of extracted honey from colonies in his
big hives is only ffty pounds, and that his
greatest yield was 150 lb. per colony.
Friend Dadant, you have, to me at least, given
away the whole argument for your large combs
and brood-chambers. A small comb, all will
agree, can be handled more easily and plea-
santly than a large one, and small hives the
same. You may say I have more combs to
handle in my two sets that I use at times, but
I tell you that, with my wired end-frame —
with which no followers, wedges, thumbscrews,
or other traps are used, but where each comb
can be taken from any part of the brood-
chamber with the naked fingers, and returned
to their exact place without the use of our eyes

378

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 19, 1895.

at all — the handling of frames becomes a
pleasure and pastime1 As for crops, we have
always worked for comb-honey, and have for
twenty years regarded less than 100 lb. per
colony, spring count, as partial failure. We
have in a good year secured 143 lb. per colony
from a whole apiary, and 90 per cent, of it
white honey. The seasons of 1893 and 1891
Avere regarded as bad ones here, and yet we
harvested more fine comb-honey each of those
seasons than Mr. Dadant says he gets in
extracted in average good years. No, friend
Dadant, you may go ahead with your big
hives. I now refuse to be " persuaded."

Now, friend Root, in praising my own
special hives I do not mean to condemn other
small hives (or large ones either). I have no
doubt your eight-frame dovetailed hive can be
used in the system I practise, and have
explained in this article, to advantage. — B.
Taylor, Gleanings.

§nxm and lilies.

[1361.] Ligurian Bees Dying Off. — 1. Is it
correct that Ligurian bees and their crosses
are subject to some disease which causes them
to die completely off after beiog to all appear-
ances in good health for three or four years
after importation 1 I have been told tbat it is
so. 2. A statement appeared in Answers a
few weeks ago to the effect that a bee, with all
its hard work and numberless journeys, only
collects about a teaspoonful of honey during a
whole season. Can this be correct ? I can't
believe it at all, as, on putting a spoonful of
honey within reach of the bees and only
allowing one bee at a time to it, it does not
require very many loads carried off before it is
all gone.— Bee, I.O.M.

Reply. — 1. We know of no disease affecting
Ligurian bees to which other varieties are not
subject ; but we have noticed that from some
cause or other Italian queens frequently dis-
appear after a season's work. 2. It has been
carefully calculated that the honey sac of the
hive bee has a capacity for carrying one-third
of an ordinary drop. This is about as far as
we care to go in calculating how much honey
each individual, bee stores ia a seison, bearing
in mind the saying, "figures can be made ti>
prove anything."

[1362.] Do Bees for* Antipathies ?— Will
you kindly give me through the B.B.J, your
opinion under the following circumstances : —
I have three stocks of bees, and have hitherto
had no trouble in manipulating them ; but for
the past few weeks, without apparent reason,
the bees have shown a decided antipathy to
my attentions, and will not allow me to inter-
fere with them at all without stinging me,
even after I have put on gloves. Now, as
the stings cause my hands to swell, and be

very painful for days afterwards, I wish to
avoid this trouble. The bees have always
been exceedingly quiet, and in order to test
them 1 got a friend of mine who is
only a learner to help me, and we worked
together ; but, although they left my
friend alone, they fairly drove me from
the hives, and followed me to a distance of
twenty or thirty yards, trying to pierce my
gloves and veil and altogether stinging me
through my gloves in ten places. Is it possible
that some physical change has taken place
with me, of which, however, I have not the
slightest idea, but which is obnoxious to the
bees ? I am in good health, and do not sweat
at all excessively. Can you suggest a remedy
t> help me? The bees are at present on the
heather, and are rolling in honey as fast as
possible as the weather has now taken up
splendidly. — Inquirer, Sheffield, Septe?nber 2.
Reply. — We cannot imagine bees forming
such antipathies or sudden dislike to in-
dividuals as you suppose, under any circum-
stances. Cases are, however, known where
some persons are apparently always objection-
able to them for some reason. It is also a
known fact that at times, when the bee-
keeper is nervous — " unstrung '' as it were — he
cannot work nearly so well among his bees as
when in robust health. If your method of
handling the bees is equally good as that of
the friend who was unharmed, the difference
in result is to us altogether unaccountable.

[1363.] The Need fur a Text-book— Re-
fering to reply 1346, page 338, in B.J. for
August 22, I beg to state that I have the
Guide Book. 11th edition, got from your office
two years ago, and also " Modern Bee-
keeping," bought three years ago. I have
also taken in the B.J. for the past two and a
half years, so it was not for the want of books
that caused me to ask the three questions
already stated. My reasons for asking the
questions were : — 1. As the hive was very
strong in bees, I thought if I divided the
frames betweeen No. 1 and No. 2 hives all
would go well. 2. In Guide Book, page 92,
it goes on to say, " on a fine day," &c, that
was my reason for asking the second question ;
and for No. 3, I beg to thank you for answer-
ing this question, for I was not very sure
about it. Now, Mr. Editor, you may think
me very stupid asking these questions, but
I was anxious to hear your opinion on the
matter. — R. G., Renfrew, September 3.

Reply. — The several queries put in 1346
(page 338) certainly lead us to suppose that a
guide-book was badly needed by our corre-
spondent. With the help afforded by such
a book at hand it becomes difficult to under-
stand, because, in the introduction words of
the chapter oa "Artificial Swarming,'' page
91, it says, "As soon as a stock hive is
crowded with bees and contains drones, and
honey is being collected abundantly," &c.
This could hardly refer to making an artificial

Sept. 19, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

379

swarm at the end of August. Then our corre-
spondent's quotation from page 92 of "Guide
Book " dealt with making three colonies from
hoo, and explains a reliable mode of doing it ;
but in his query No. 2 (page 339) proposes
an entirely different plan of procedure, and
one which would certainly fail. Keferring to
his third query, it is, we think, pointed out
in mo3t text-books, and repeatedly in our
Journal, that young unflown bees — whose
work is made up of nursing brood and such
home duties — will remain wherever put, but
that adult or foraging bees will return to any
hive placed on the old stand ; and if their
queen and a comb of brood be placed thereon
will remain there. When, therefore, our corre-
spondent finished up his questions by asking
if the young bees " would not go back to the
parent hive, deserting the old queen and
brood,'' we may we hope be pardoned for sug-
gesting the need of a text-book.

[1364.] Wintering Driven Bees, Selecting
Queens.— L drove a skep on September 9,
and hived bees on three standard frames of
fully drawn out comb and fed them siuce — this
year's queen. 1. Will they be able to pull
through the winter with good care ? 2. Do you
advise buying an Italian queen now at 3s. or
waiting till April and paying 7s. 6d ? 3. Last
September the tritonias were not touched by
the bees ; this year they are feasting on them
late and early. Why? 4. Would not sweet,
well-saved hay make good winter packing
around the inner cases of " Cowan " pattern
hives ? — Inquirer, Neivarket-on-Fergus, Sep-
tember 14.

Rei-ly.— 1. There should be at least five
combs for wintering bees on. 2. We should
purchase now for preference. 3. The warmth
of the present month accounts for the difference.
4. Yes.

[1365.] Pi,apid Feeding in August and Sep-
tember.— I have been feeding up my bees
rapidly during the last fortnight, but on
examining them yesterday find that they
have stored the syrup principally in the
middle combs, leaving the outside practically
empty ; the queen is thereby debarred from
laying, and there is very little brood. Very
little of the syrup has been sealed over. What
ought to be done ?— Herbert E. Cater,
Torquay, September 10.

Retly. — During August and early Septem-
ber bees should not be fed rapidly — except in
the case of driven stocks with combs to draw
out. The food should be given rather slowly
till the last week in September, and then com-
pleted rapidly. Move the syrup-filled combs
to the outside, and endeavour to induce the
queen to continue breeding by slow feeding
for ten days or so, then resume rapid feeding,
and keep the bees confined to the number of
combs they can cover thickly.

[1:566.] A Novice's Queries. — Removing
Bees, &c. — 1. Having purchased four stocks of

bees in frame-hives, would you advise me as
to removal of same to my own garden .say if
early in morning or late at night ? 2. No
honey has yet been taken. The hives are not
very full of honey. Should I take it before
moving or after, or would it be better to leave
it where it is ? 3. What would be the best
thing to do to prevent or cure foul brood, if
any? 4. What "Bee books" do you think
most suitable for bee-keepers ? 5. Please
give general information as to keeping bees for,
say a few months, as being a novice I require
advice. — Amateur, Sheffield, September 12.

Reply. — 1. Evening is the best time for
removal, but if the bees are now located less
than one and a half to two miles away from
their new stands they must not be moved
during " flying weather," or many bees would
go back to the old stands and be lost. The
only way to overcome this difficulty is to take
them to a temporary stand two or more miles
away, and keep them there for a few weeks
before setting the hives in your own garden.
2. Leave the honey for bee-food. 3. The pre-
ventives we reoommend are Naphthaline and
Naphthol Beta. For information as to
curing consult a standard work on bees. 4.
We know of no more useful work than
Cowan's " Guide Book." 5. The named book
will supply this.

[1367.] A " Mvddkd-up" Frame Hive.—
A little while ago I bought a hive of bees from
a farmer. It is a ten frame-hive, but while
removing the supers I saw that there were only
seven frames in it, and these occupied the
whole space of the ten. Some of the frames
are in their right places, but the others are
spaced far apart ; in the former the bees had
filled up the frames properly, but they had
built combs across from one frame to another,
and thus fastened all together. One comb is
stuck to the hive side. On inquiring how this
happened, the farmer said he hived them last
June on seven frames ; a little while after he
tried to take out one of the frames which was
full of honey, but failed, and got badly stung
in the attempt, so they had been left all
muddled-up ever since. 1. If you would tell
me what had best be done with them I would
be much obliged. 2. If I united two skeps of
bees and hived them on four frames of sealed
honey and the rest foundation at the end of
the month, would they winter all right if fed ?
because I can't get them before. — A Young:
Subscriber, Lusthigh, Devon.

Reply. — 1. The help of a bee-keeper
sufficiently experienced should, if possible, be
enlisted to get through so difficult a job as the
one detailed successfully. The properly built-
out combs will be the only ones available for
wintering the bees on, all others should be cut
away and removed. If five straight combs
are available, the others may be built out in
spring by inserting a full sheet of foundation
in centre at intervals of a week. 2. If you

380

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 19, 1895.

can get as many bees as will crowd the four
frames of sealed food and two of foundation,
it may be done, but the bees would require
constant feeding to induce them to draw out
foundation so late in the year.

H*e £foroa to Gpmnt

September 28. — Roxburghshire B.K.A.
Annual Show in the Corn Exchange, Jed-
burgh. Numerous prizes; Entries close
September 24. Thos. Clark, Secretary.
Pleasants, Jedburgh.

October 8, 9, 10, and 11. — Dairy show at
the Agricultural Hall, London. Liberal prizes
in five classes for honey. Open to all. Entries
close September 9. For schedules apply
Win. C. Young, sec. Dairy Farmers' Associa-
tion, 12, Hanover-square, London.

October 19.— Lanarkshire B.K.A. annual
show of honey and bee appliances (appliances
open to all), in Public Hall, Larkhall. Also
general meeting of members same dav at
5 p.m. Entries close October 12. Schedules
from John Stevenson, secretary, Merry ton
Braes, Larkhall, N.B.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

"One Hive." — Judges' Awards. — We do not
quite understand what is meant by " Obser-
vatory Hive Case." But, seeing that the
wording of the schedule was somewhat
vague, we think our correspondent should
appeal to the show committee, who are
responsible for it. We are, of course, not
in a position to pass any opinion as to a
judge's award without hearing both sides.
But, apart from this — and with every desire
to assist in obtaining justice — it is much
better for exhibitors to submit complaints to
the proper authorities instead of to outsiders
like ourselves.

A. Griffiths (Stourbridge). — Honey Samples.
One bottle smashed and contents run out
when received. The other (probably the
" tall one ") contains a good honey gathered
from mixed sources.

C- C. Yates (Didsbury). — Suspected Foul
Brood. — Neither of the two pieces of comb
received contain anything worse than honey
or pollen. In one sample every cell in the
comb has been so much "poked into" and
the contents mixed up that it is difficult to
tell what the mess consists of, excepting to
say that it is not, as supposed by our corre-
spondent, " rotten brood." Full instructions
for use accompany all packages of Naphthaline
and N. Beta sent out from this office.

W. H. M. (Valley of Avalon).— Value of
Honey. — One bottle (No. 2) reached us
broken, and contents run out. Enough
remained for us to say the honey is fairly
good, similar to some we saw sold at 7d.
per lb. in bulk. No. 1 is very good in
colour and consistency. The flavour is rich,
but a little peculiar. We think it has been
got from plum-bloom as well as the apple-
trees referred to. Market values vary so
much in different localities that we can-
not do more than say No. 1 should sell at
full value for good honey in the neighbour-
hood.

Subscriber (Martock, Somerset). — Amount
of Food for Winter. — 1. Driven bees hived
on full sheets of foundation so late as
September 14 should be fed till combs are
drawn out, and have at least 151b. of stores
sealed over— after comb-building is com-
pleted— when packed down for winter. 2.
Autumn is the best time for establishing
stocks of driven bees, but they should, if
possible, have built-out combs given them.
3. If the bees will " draw out " six combs
they will winter well on that number, but
we fear that fewer will have to suffice, un-
less the bees are very numerous and weather
keeps warm.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, Jec. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Thru
words or under, One Penny.

HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES, with Queens, Is. per
lb. in 5 lb. lots. Boxes to be returned, or will be
charged for. Ei>. Long, C'ottenham. J 45

FOR SALE, one pound SECTIONS, well filled with
white clover and heather honey, 8s. per dozen.
Ed. Long, Cottenham, Cambs. J 46

FOUR dozen well-filled sections of COMB HONEY,
7s. dozen. Petty, Broughton, Stockbridge, Hants.
J 43

ENGLISH HONEY FOR SALE, good quality, 6frd.
per lb. Tins and crates free.— H. May, Kingston,
Tetsworth, Oxon. J 37

SIX STRONG HEALTHY STOCKS. Good stores.
Bar frame hives 15s. 1895 queens 3s. 6d.— Laurence
Taylor, Hathersage, Derbyshire. J 40

FOURTEEN DOZEN SECTIONS at 7s. 6d. doz. Also
14 doz. at Cs. 6d.— F. Cousins, Misterton, Gains-
borough. • J 39

HONEY.-One cwt. of lib. CLOVER SECTIONS;
one cwt. Extracted for SALE. What otters?
G. Gray, Alarket-place, Burgh, Lines.

TWO STOCKS of BEES for SALE, 1 Frame Hive, 1
Skep. Price, 30s. Hancock, Earl Grey, Wotton-
under-Edge. J 30.

HONEY. — FOR SALE, 2 cwt. of pure extracted
HONEY, at 7d. per lb. Wm. Bettles, Bozeat,
Northamptonshire. J 47

HONEY EXTRACTOR FOR SALE. "Cowans."
What otter in cash or Honey? Kitchener,
Hallbankgate, Carlisle. J 42

FINE NET BEE VEILS, better than wire, 9d. post
free. Abbott Brothers, Merchants Quay,
Dublin. J 38

Sept. 26, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

381

Editorial, $stim, &L

THE DAIRY SHOW.

THE PROPOSED SUPPLEMENTAL CLASSES.

A member of the B.B.K.A. Council has
interviewed the secretary of the British Dairy
Farmers' Association on the subject of a sup-
plemental class for honey products at tne
Dairy Show, such as honey vinegars and
mead, and though Mr. Young is strongly in
favour of the exhibition of honey produces, he
sees an objection to a competition this year in
anything which has not been already included
in the printed schedule of the Dairy Show.
It will be necessary, therefore, to postpone
the arrangements for a competitive class in
honey products until next season. It i3 hoped
that those bee-keepers who, have so willingly
prepared honey vinegars and mead for the
occasion will not feel keen disappointment,
and that they will send up a sample of each
product (in clear glass bottle) for staging
among the non-competitive objects. Such
samples will be of special interest to bee-
keepers, and of interest generally to all who
visit the honey department. Some have
already promised to do this.

The entries this year number 121 (as
compared with 84 in 1894). This is most
satisfactory, especially when we consider that
there are only five classes. It shows what
dimensions the Dairy Honey Fair will assume
in the near future when the contemplated
extension of classes and prize-money will afford
our bee-keepers double or treble the present
inducement to compete.

LEICESTERSHIRE B.K.A

This association held its first sho-u; in
connection with the Loughboro' Agricultural
Association, on the grounds of W. B. Paget,
Ksq., Smthtield, Loughboro', on Wednesday,
September 18. This innovation was much
appreciated by visitors, and proved most
successful. It should be the institution of a
g>od annual honey show for this district.
Tne honey sttged was of good quality, and
the " display " class very effective. Two good
c Elections of appliances were shown by
Messrs. W. P. Meadows of Syston, and C.
Redshaw of South Wigston. The manipulat-
ing tent was in charge of Mr. A. Gh Pugh of
Nottingham, who gave practical demonstra-
tions and lectures on bee-keeping to very
attentive audience-'. Mr. Pugh officiated as
ju I'.'e, and mule the following awards : — •

Twelve 1-U>. Jar* Extracted Honey. — 1st,
J. Waterfield, Kibworth ; 2nd, H. Di'lworth,
Shannon; 3rd, W. P. Meadows, Syston ; h.c.,
W. Falkner, Market Harboro'.

Tin he l-lb. Sections.— 1st, J. Waterfield.

Display of Honey, any Form.— 1st, J.

Waterfield, 2nd, W. P. Meadows ; 3rd, Miss
A. Throsbv, Leicester.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey.— 1st
W. Parkmon, Groby ; 2n4, W. P. Meadows;
h.c, J. Waterfield.

Six l-lb. Sxtions, or Two Shallow-Frames
of Comb Honey in Meadow's Cases. — 1st, J.
Waterfield ; 2nd, J. Fewkes, Glenn Magna.

Single l-lb. Section. — lit, J. Waterfkld,
Kibworth.

Six l-lb. Sections in Redshaw's Glass
Sections. — 1st, J. Waterfield. — (Communi-
cated.)

BIGGA.R BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

The annual exhibition of the above was
held in the Corn Exchange in connection with
the Flower Show, and notwithstanding the
recent unfavourable weather in Scotland, some
splendid specimens of the bee-man's craft were
staged, notable being Mr. Walter Rae's honey-
comb design of a crown, which was much
admired, and, though not entered for competi-
tion, received a v. h.c. The sections were
exceptionally good, but the supers were not
first-rate. The judge, Mr. Robert Colthart,
Abington, rnade the following awards : —

Super of Flower Honey. — 1st, Win.
Ormiston ; 2nd, M. Rae ; 3rd, David Pater-
son.

Six l-lb. Sections. — st, Andrew Boa ; 2nd
Wm. Ormiston.

Six l-lb. Sections Heather Hone;/. — 1st, R.
W. Clarkson ; 2nd, Jas. Lawson. Mr.
Andrew Boa was also awarded a Commend
for his collection of bee appliances. — (Com-
municated.)

IS BEESWAX A DRUG?
A grocer has been charged before the
Bearsted Bench, under the Food and Drugs
Act, for selling bees-wax of which seventy parts
were paraffin ! The cpaestion whether bees-
wax was a food or a drug, or if it were either,
might give the wisest some pause, but the
Bench cleared the fence at a bound, and cou-
victed the grocer. In another case the Cran-
brook Bench refused to convict, holding that
bees-wax was not a drug within the meaning
of the Act. In its plain sense there is no doubt
bees-wax is neither a food nor a drug. Who
ever heard of bees-wax being iucluded in any
dietary ; aud who shall call it a drug 1 Web-
ster gives the primary meaning of drug : —
"The general Dames of substances used in
mediciiie." (Bees-wax is largely used for
plasters). Bailey's definition of a drug is : —
" All kinds of simples, for the most part dry,
for the use of physic, painting, &c. ; also sorry
commodities which stick on hand." Surely
•'bees-wax" of which 7(> per cent, is paraffin
is a very "sorry commodity " which ought to
stick well " "t» hand/'

382

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 26, 1895.

Bat the Bench convicted. Why 1 Because
defendant was guilty of " a technical offence."
The defendant had either traversed the Act or
he had not. The Bench, perhaps courageously,
decided that he had. If so, the offence was
not in the least " technical." It was an
offence which the Act was specially framed to
punish, and a most atrocious piece of adultera-
tion. It is no answer for the vendor to say
that he bought it " from a tradesman of good
repute." No doubt he did, and his redress
lies against that most " reputable " wax
merchant.— 8.E. Gazette, Sept. 10, 1895.

<§mt%pvikm.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, <bc, must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <kc, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

•»• In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, at well
as the page on which it appears.

"NOTES BY THE WAY."
[2195.] Here we are in the last week of
September enjoying lovely summer weather,
the thermometer to-day registering 70 degs.
on a N.W. wall. The month has been a grand
one to the farmer for the ingathering of the
late harvest, and also for makiDg fine crops of
aftermath ^into useful provender for winter
food for his cattle, or replenishing the too often
slender purse of the agriculturist. "And
what of the bees," do I hear someone eay ?
Well, the weather has been most suitable for
everything connected with bee- work, be it in the
apiary or in the store-room. The bees are
foraging daily. Ivy is blooming earlier than
usual, and the late flowers, so profuse this j ear,
are yielding pollen and a little honey. I am
informed that driven bees hived on full sheets
of foundation a fortnight back have nearly
built out combs, and filled them with honey
and patches of brood in the centre frames from
the wild mustard (Charlock) now blooming
profusely. The owner had not troubled to feed,
but would do so if the weather changed. The
suitable weather has also favoured the sowirjg
of trifolium seed (crimson clover they term it
in America). Near my out-apiary I noticed
a field of several acres just coming up,
and more of it is "coming on" for spring bloom.
It is usually sown for early cutting as "green

meat " for horses. It makes good hay, but
grows no second crop, as do other clovers.
These fields of trifolium close to my apiaries
will influence my management another spring,
as the plant blooms a fortnight earlier tbaa
sainfoin and white clover. Spring-sown grasses
are nearly a failure in this district, owiog to
the long drought, and farmers are thinking of
leaving the old " laying " to stand over
another year ; this will insure a certain breadth
of white clover.

Marketing the honey crop will be the work
of the coming month, and I would urge pro-
ducers to send their sections into market clean
and bright, so that British honey may not only
hold its own, but grow in favour. Progress
has been made during late years, but let us
still advance. To learn how packages of edibles
are now put up to tempt purchasers, go into
an Italian warehouseman's shop and observe
the multitudinous assortment of commercial
packages containingbeautifully put-up eatables,
of which our fathers never dreamt. There-
fore, I say to bee-keepers, let your sections of
honey, when on the grocer's or dairyman's coun-
ter, show no soiling by thumb-marks, lumps
of propolis and bits of dirty wax, such as 1 saw
recently in a shop in a fashionable seaside
town, and was told could be bought at 7s. per
dozen. Why, it was worth another 6d. a
dozen to get them clean enough to be put in
the hands of customers, without the 2d. tin
case, in which they were sold, to say nothing
of the preference for what is clean and whole-
some-looking. For extracted honey I cer-
tainly think the honey-bottle is still wanting.
Screw-capped bottles look well, but are dear
and leaky, and will soon pass out of use when
the bottle is introduced. Next to the '' screw-
cap '' for appearance is, to my thinking, the
tall tie-over jar, but this may be vastly im-
proved by a smaller mouth and using a cork
covered with parchment, on which could be
printed the name of the honey producer. By
buying in the best market, cost of bottles and
corks need not exceed Id. each, whereas the
"screw-cap'' jar costs fully 2d. Self-opening
tins, holding from 2 oz. to 30 lb. are good
packages if covered with a neat label. They
are durable, cleanly, cheap, and honey in tbem
travels per rail at a much lower rate than in
glass or comb.

I am only voicing the wish of manv if I say
how thankful we shall be if our large bee-
keepers will give us their methods of putting
up their honey and the styles of commercial
packages. What we want is cheapness and
utility. I have been inquired of as to the
size of the wide frames mentioned in my last
"Notes," and therefore give dimensions as
follows : — Width of top bar, 1^ in. ; width
of shoulders, 1 fa in. ; sides and bottom bar
same width as top bar, but bottom bar barely
I in. thick. Since writing a fortnight ago I
have removed the last supers from my out-
apiary, and in one hive the frames were part
wide and part narrow. The portion of supef

Sept. 26, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

383

over wide frames was clear of brace-combs,
but over the ordinary ones there were more
brace-combs than I like. The super-crate is
therefore marked for alteration — i.e , I shall
reduce the thickness of slats on which the
sections rest ; but practical tests can con-
clusively prove the matter. — W. Woodley,
Btedon, Newbury.

AMONG THE BEES.

EAPID FEEDING.

[2196.] My article appearing in the Sep-
tember number of the Record re rapid
feeding and feeders has called forth a query
from a gentleman who, as he requests me to
answer it in the B.B.J. , very evidently and
wisely reads both journals. He asks : — "Do
you not think that a feeding stage, made to
accommodate six one pound bottles, would be
feeding sufficiently rapid without causiDg the
excitement always present when using a rapid-
feeder ? " Not having previously tried such an
experiment, I could not answer it off-hand. I
iirst supposed that six ordinary feeding-bottles
were meant, but upon re-reading the query, I
noticed it read : — " Six one pound bottles,"
Kightly or wrongly I jumped to the conclusion
that he meant ordinary one pound honey-
bottles. I therefore made a stage with six
holes in it, covered the holes with ordinary
perforated zinc, and inverted thereon six
ordinary one pound honey bottles filled with
syrup, and having pieces of muslin tied over
the mouths of same, these I placed upon a
half-fed stock of driven bees. The result was
certainly a deal less excitement than with the
ordinary rapid-feeder which had been removed
to accommodate this, shall I coin a word ?
" poly phagon" — that's a good (?) word for a
bee-appliance — The work of untying and
tyinjjj the bits of muslin when it was necessary
to replenish the " poly phagon '' was a job 1
should certainly Dever " hanker after," for I
reckon it would take me about two days to
provide < ne day's feed to the bees. This need
hardly be considered much of a drawback, as
something could be easily invented to do away
entirely with the muslin business. Now, accord-
ing to my idea, there is something in this query
which oilers a chance for some ingenious mind
to construct a rapid-feeder different to the one
now in use, which will obviate the annoying
excitement always present when using same.
I have, it is true, tried many plans to quell
this excitement, but have as yet met with little
or no success. The necessity for rapid feeding
at certain times no practical bee-keeper can
gainsay ; it is an absolute necessity. One
cannot feed up a lot of condemned bees, say,
during September, with an ordinary regulating
bottle-feeder. The advice I gave in the Sep-
tember Record to use a rapid-feeder for about
two days, during which time a strong lot can
e;isily store 10 lb. of food, and thtn substitute
a bottle-feeder, has met, in my case, with the
greatest success. I may not be right, but I

have an idea that the distance bees have to
traverse, when using the present rapid-feeder,
to and from the combs is a main cause of the
trouble ; therefore if we can construct one for
use within the hive— a bottle-feeder is the
nearest approach to this, standing, as it does,
almost on the combs— we shall in a great
measure lessen the excitement and consequent
injury to the stock, both from fighting and
" balling " of the mother-bee. B.J. readers,
who have read my article in September Record,
will note that I object to the present rapid-
feeder, not only on account of its excitement-
producing qualities, but also from the fact
that the combs get filled, or partially so, with
syrup (by " partially " filled I mean a little
in each cell) to such an extent that the
mother-bee is almost entirely prevented from
breeding during the time of feeding. Thus
the colony goes into winter quarters with
members who have spent the best part of
their energies in storing the food ; in fact, it
consists largely of a worn-out lot of bees which
have had no opportunity of adding to their
numbers young bees possessing the necessary
store of latent energy for successful spring
work. Of late years ic has seemed to be the
rule to cram a great quantity of food into the
hive within a given (very short) period, and to
take no note of the condition of the bees
which have to survive the rigours of winter,
and — here's where the "rub " comes in — build
up the colony in the ensuing spring. A stock
of bees which fed up during autumn in four
or five days will very comfortably live until
February or beginning of March ; but what
about the iollowinw April and May 1 "Why,
it is often worse off than it was in January !
This, 1 maintain, is entirely owing to rapid
feeding — too rapid, I mean.

How to obviate this condition of things is
rather a poser, otherwise than by using the
rapid-feeder as recommended by me in the
Record, and the bottle for the remainder of
their stores, and never to feed rapidly (except
in the case of near starvation) a colony
partially stored with natural food. In the
latter case begin with the bottle-feeder at the
commencement of August, and continue until
they are well provided. Never mind the
extra labour, it will amply repay in the end.
You will find fewer motherless stocks in spring,
and a much larger percentage of strong,
healthy colonies when May comes round
again.— W. B. Webster, Bwfield, Berks.

COUNTY B.K. ASSOCIATIONS.

NEED THEY HE RESUSCITATED ?

[2197.] I notice with extreme surprise that
your last issue contains a letter (signed
"Amateur Expert") (2185, p. 374) which
cynically condemns County Bee-keeping Asso-
ciations, and particularly the county honey
label. Now the label "has a future," and is
undoubtedly the only means we have for

384

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 26, 1895.

properly distinguishing our genuine native
product from the inferior stuff palmed off as
pure British honey. Happily, such as " Ama-
teur Expert " are in a very small minority, but
it is surprising how a small number of dissatis-
fied spirits, by their persistent pessimistic out-
cry, make people believe that they correctly
represent true opinion. Comparatively few
take the trouble to search out matters ; they
swallow what is put before them without
questioning its truth.

In the Times of Friday last there is the follow-
ing valuable opinion expressed in a letter contri-
buted by Mr. R. Henry Eew :— " The capture
by the foreigner of our butter markets is often
cited as a proof of the superior enterprise of
French or Danish farmers. I venture to think
that it proves only the superior organisation of

their trade The secret lies in one

word — " Organisation ; " but the organisation
has been commercial, not agricultural. The
moral for us of this conclusion is evident.
The recent successful effort of the British Bee-
Keepers' Association in the direction of whole-
some measures for preventing the spread of
foul brood seems to me to prove the benefit of
organisation. Without organisation the move-
ment would have been impossible. This is
but one proof of its advantage. I could give
others, but surely no open-minded bee keeper
wants convincing that "Amateur Expert'' is
wrong, and his letter mischievous.— E. D. Till,
Etjnsford, Kent.

SURREY BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

[2198.] May I ask you to publish the
enclosed circular which has reached me from
the Surrey County Council, and which will
explain how matters are progressing with
regard to the above ?

I have to thank those who have already
sent in their addresses, and request any of
your readers who are desirous of taking part
in the conference to communicate with Mr.
Macan. I believe it will probably he held at
Guildford on the third Saturday in October,
and hope Surrey bee-keepers will come to the
front and show the County Council that they
appreciate their efforts on behalf of the bee-
industry.— A. D. Woodley, Reading, Sep-
tember 20.

Surrey County Council.
Technical Education Committee.
Bee-keeping in Surrey.
Dear Sir, — The success which has attended
the tours of the Berks bee-van in this county
during the last two years, and the requests
which have been made to this committee for
further instruction, have encouraged them to
engage Mr. Jesse Garratt, the well-known
expeit, to give practical instruction during the
coming spring ami summer in several parts of
the county. It is also proposed to hold a con-
ference of bee-keepers y.t Guildford early in

October, with a view to — 1, Reorganising the
Surrey Association and placing it upon a
satisfactory basis as regards funds, &c. ; 2,
organising systematic instruction and promot-
ing examinations in bee-keeping ; 3, taking
steps to influence Parliament to give power to
the County Council to make regulations to
check the ravages of " foul brood " in the
county. — Yours faithfully, H. Macan,
Organising Secretary, County Hall, Kingston-
upon-Thamcs, September 10.

DO BEES FORM ANTIPATHIES?

[2199.] J was much interested in query
1362, p. 378, in this week's Journal, as my
experiences have been very similar. In the
spring I could look through a whole hive with-
out the bees flying about or showing any dis-
position to sting ; but now I have great diffi-
culty in examining even a single frame ;
indeed, I found it quite impossible to do so in
one case. I am a beginner, and should be glad
to know how a practical man would proceed
under the circumstances. Of course I could
wear gloves and otherwise protect myself, but
bee-keeping under such conditions becomes
at once a nuisance. — Excelsion, Herts,
September 21.

[It would be far easier for " a practical
man " to demonstrate on the spot his method
of overcoming the trouble referred to, than to
detail his probable procedure on paper from a
distance. The particular district of Herts
from whence our correspondent writes is, we
know, well supplied with experienced bee-
keepers, from whom some help could be
obtained probably for the asking. Why not
try this ?— Eds.]

LONDON BEE-KEEPING.

[2200.] After eleven years of bee-keeping
within 3J miles of Oxford-street, I am reluc-
tantly compelled to give up my bees, and I
enclose a statement showing the honey
obtained from my " Cockney bees " which may
be of interest.

Excepting during the first few years I have
always used impervious quilts, even with
nuclei, and have never lost any bees in the
winter other than one nucleus in which the
queen got pinched. But I always pack the
floor board so that the bees do not get chilled
at the bottom of the hive, and they can clean
out the dead bees themselves without the
assistance of a bent wire. The bees are
descended from a Carniolan queen (crossed
black) which I introduced a good many years
ago, with a view to improving their flying
powers, but for .several years past I have
avoided swarming by giving plenty of room,
&c. The honey has been mostly lime mixed
with clover. At the Colonial Exhibition at
South Kensington it obtained a medal, and

Sept. 26, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

385

some sent to the Chicago Exhibition was

"highly commended.'' Only once has any
honey dew been stored in the supers.

Though no longer a practical bee keeper I

shall still hope to take an interest in bees and
bee-keepers. — F. P. L., Broudeshury.

The statement of my honey produce is as

follows : — lb.

1885. One hive 100

(Also from nucleus built up with eggs
and brood from this hive, 27 lb.))

1S86. Two hives 98

1887. „ (no rain) 88

1888. „ 4(5

1889. „ 75

1890. ,, 93

1891. „" 200

(Also from nucleus, 2 lb.)

1892. Twohive3 142

1893. , 22

(Both hives had foul brood)

1894. Two hives 44

(Still weak after foul brood)

1895. Two hives 83

Total from hives 941

Annual average for eleven years, 45 lb. per
hive ; ditto (omitting '93 and '94), 51 lb.
per hive.

Total honey from two hives in eleven years
(including two nuclei as shown), 970 lb.

F. F. L.

GLASS COVERS FOR FRAMES.

[2201.] In the B.B.J, for August 22 (2153,
p. 335) I see that "A Countryman" asks
whether I keep on, during the winter, the
sheets of glass usually laid over the tops of the
frames in my hives, and whether moisture would
not then condense on the under surface of the
glass, to the injury of the bees.

Well, I know that theoretically this ought
to be the result. All I can say is, that practi-
cally I have not found it so. During the
exceptionally severe winter of 1894-5 I had
glass covers to six hives, of course thickly
packed above with layers of carpeting, felt,
and old drugget, completely rilling up the
vacant spaces under the roofs. The hives had
all a lift of standard or shallow frames over the
usual standard body-box, as I wanted to try
Mr. Simmies' non-swarming plan. All came
triumphantly through ths ordeal except one
weak lot, which, with my present experience,
I might perhaps have saved. I had neither
mildew beneath the glass nor among the
wrappings ; although the previous winter I had
great trouble with mildew amongst wraps
placed over the ordinary quilting. In the
spring I had not a trace of dysentery.

As I have this summer taken about 250 lb.
of sections and comb honey off three of these
fame hives, I don't think there can be much
doubt as t) the healthiness and vitality of
their occupants. With the other two hives I
experimented for new breed and increase, but

they were quite as healthy and responsive in
their way.

Perhaps there is sufficient ventilation
through the porous corks with which I close
the 1J or 2 inch circular feed-holes which I
cause to be cut in the glass sheets. At any
rate, I can but state facts as I have found
them. I ought, however, to mention one
great drawback. It is the provoking way in
which the tees fasten down the glass-sheets
with propolis and brace-combs. This makes
their removal a troublesome and tedious
business. But I do not know that the incon-
venience is greater than that experienced from
the same causes with quilts, and, at any rate,
you can see what the bees are doing under-
neath, and checkmate them if needful. Next
year I hope, by a more liberal use of vaseline,
to get rid of much of this annoyance ; and I
now use much thicker glass than at first, to
avoid breakages. I would add that, along with
others, and I must give up Mr. Simmins"
plan of empty lower chambers, for ten-frame
hives. When such hives are roaring and over-
flowing with bees, it is quite out of the
question to be continually lifting them off,
storied up, as mine were, with four and five
lifts each, to take away built-out combs and
replace them with starters below. And if this
is nob done, the lower receptacles become
simply a vast breeding ground for drones ; and
the trapping of these is not pleasant. More-
over, the continual interference ruins the
temper of the bees, and soon makes them
become a perfect nuisance.

In apology for my silence, allow me to say
that I have been abroad for a holiday, and
have only just seen the last six weeks' issues
of the B.B.J. , or I would have replied to "A
Countryman's " inquiry long before this. I
shall be glad to give him any further infor-
mation in my power, as to my mind the com-
fort and advantage of the glass covers are
immense, and I am much interested in know-
ing how they m y answer when tried by
others. — W. R. N. Sussex, September 11.

AN ASSOCIATION FOR HERTS.
[2202.] Referring to 2185, p. 374, "Amateur
Expert" asks why I do not myself start a
B.K.A. for Herts. My answer to him and
to " Sainfoin " is that I am fully occupied in
serving the B.K.A. of my own county.
" Charity begins at home," but does not end
there, hence my anxiety for Herts. I have
tried to stir up solicitude, but I appear to
have aroused opposition. Nevertheless, " Sain-
foin's '' letter is encouraging. " Amateur
Expert " may " emphatically " deny the need
of Association. I as emphatically affirm the
contrary. Where was Herts when the
B B.K.A. went to the Board of Agriculture '>.
What did Herts contribute in the way of
information, statistics, or support ? Nothing.
At least, I do not remember anything in the
B.B.K.A. reports in your journal from Bishops

386

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 26, 1895.

Stortford. Will the secretary of that Asso-
ciation kindly favour us, through the B.B.J. ,
with some account of its work and member-
ship 1 But it is worse than useless arguing
with one who makes light of prizes, judges,
honey labels, experts' visits, and associated effort
generally though pietending affection for " bee
clubs.'' How many of these has "Amateur
Expert " started and kept going 1
It strikes me we nay say of him —

" 0 name him not,
For he will never follow
"What other men begin."
Were " Sainfoin '' to enlist him in the pro-
jected movement, it would only be to court
failure at the very outset. "Amateur Expert's "
attitude has its counterpart in that of a bee-
keeper I know in another county, who also
studiously holds aloof from associated effort.
He, too, favours " bee clubs," and, like
" Amateur Expert," necessarily blocks the
way. I wonder whether there is any county
axe to grind. Self-interest always warps a
man's judgment, and so I say mistrust opinions
where self-interest is concerned. — A. Prior.

[2203.] May I, in reply to "Sainfoin's"
letter, page 375, and to that of A. Prior,
page 367, request those two gentlemen to con-
sent to form a provisional committee with
myself and any other bee-keeper in Hertford-
shire, who may be inclined to commence the
formation of an association for the county ?
what we now want is action, and I feel sure
that when once the work is begun, others will
come forward and join, giving their united
help to push the society among the younger
bee-men and women in their several districts.
But before an association can be said to exist
many details have to be considered, and these
can only be carried through by a few indi-
viduals co-operating together and bent on
making it a success. Hertfordshire bee-
keepers can, I am sure, safely leave any com-
ment on "Amateur Expert's" negative letter
on page 374 in your hands ; but, Mr. Editor,
there does exist a great need for an authority
in this county such as an association alone
can give, and through which advice, teaching,
and other matters connected with the industry
maybe disseminated. — J. H. New, Essex-road,
Watford, September 23.

BEES IN IRELAND.

A LATE SWARM.

[2204.] On September I) I found a swarm of
bees in my garden ; if they have come from
my own hives (nineteen), it is the first I have
had this year. After hiving them I examined
my stocks, and found all boiling over with
bees. I removed all supers early in August.
Brood-chambers are well filled, and bees are
still gathering from wild flowers of different

kinds growing in the neighbourhood. The
yield was fairly good. I would be glad to
know if any swarms have come out so late in
the season. I am a reader of the Bee
Journal for the last three years, and have not
seen any similar report. I have the rapid
feeder on, and bees are drawing out combs
and taking down syrup very well. — Matthew
Caffrey, Brogheda, Sept. 16.

[The swarm must certainly be regarded &s
an abnormal one, from the altogether un-
natural date on which it issued. We judge it
is a vagrant swarm from some cottager's
apiary. — Eds.]

HOW TO HANG FOUNDATION IN
FRAMES.

[2205.] Whilst spending my holiday at
Exeter I went to a local flower show. A hive,
consisting of body-box and crate of sections,
was shown fitted with brood and super founda-
tion. On examining the frames I found the
foundation was hung with the cells the wrong
way, whilst in the case of the sections it was
suspended in all sorts of ways. Ascertaining
the exhibitor's address, I called, and found he
had no idea that it mattered which way foun-
dation was hung. As you know, brood founda-
tion is bought in sheets of the requisite size
for standard frames, so that if inserted entire
it can only be put in the frames the right way.
It was therefore evident this foundation was
bought wrongly impressed. This was the
case. Obtaining the name of the loc.il dealer,
I called upon him, and found all his stock was
like what I had seen. I pointed out to him
the error, but he would not admit his founda-
tion to be wrong. The dealer assured me he
sold tons of foundation of a similar character ;
that he used the same sort himself ; and that
it made not the slightest difference whichever
way foundation was embossed, or whether it
was embossed at all.

What do you think of such facts ? Do you
wonder I found several in the district who
had been disappointed with bar-frames, and
who complained bees would not take to them
or to supers 'I How do you reconcile the
dealer's assertion with published facts, and
what do you think of the manufacturer
(whoever he may be) who supplies " tons of
foundation " wrongly stamped 1

I think there is much need for the County
Council to spread light on bee-keepiug and
management in the district.

I should like to say that there must be some
in Exeter who know what is right, for I saw
in the shop of the Cathedral Dairy the finest
olass super of standard frames it has been my
privilege to see. — (Rev.) Fred. W. Dunster,
Soham, (Jambs.

[This matter was fully discussed in our
issue of June 14 last ytar, p. 231. — Eds.]

Sept. 26, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

387

ON "INVITATIONS"

IN GENERAL, AND TO SCOTCHMEN IN
PARTICULAR.

[2206.]_ Mr. J. Stevenson, Secretary of the
Lanarkshire B.K.A., sends me schedule of
the show to be held at Larkhall, October 19.
This schedule would please jour correspondent
who protested against protectionist shows.
His protest recalls to mind the fable of the
Stork and the Fox. Ileynard iavited the
stork to a dainty feast, but served it up in a
shallow di.-<h ! The sturk with his long bill
of course fared very badly, but with true
etiquette invited his host to a return banquet.
This he served in a deep bottle with a long
narrow Deck! Your column of "Shows to
Come " will probably contain fewer " shallow
dishes " next season. The Laikhall schedule
is largely " free trade.'' The secretary must
be enterprising to send invitations unsolicited
so far south. The " Trophy " class is the most
suitable for south-country bee-keepers, but it is
scarcely satisfactory to class heather honey in the
same category with southern. Schedules need
to be framed expressly when north and south
compete. How pleasant it would be to see a
few of our Scotch bee-keeping friends at the
Dairy Show and the ( Conversazione of the
British B.K.A. on October 10. Cannot you
persuade some to take a flight south that
week ? There ought to be special classes at
the Dairy Show for Scotch bee-keepers, but
when the B.B.K.A. have carried through their
KB. measure they will have leisure to look to
this. Northern associations would then have
reciprocal classes for us southern bee-keepers.
A representative of Scotch associations on the
Council of the B.B.K.A. would pave the way
to much more intercourse between north and
soulb, and it would help to remove a deal that
remains of the great wall of Sever — us ? — A
Member of the K.B.K.A.

P.S. — The wall of Severn?, I believe, runs
from the Tyne to the Solway, not from the
Tweed ; but I fancy Northumbrians are as
Scotchmen so far as bee-keeping is concerned.

AMONG THE BEES.

HEATHER HONEY.
[2207.] Glancing down the " Contents "' of
this week's B.J. I caught sight of the follow-
ing query — '' Heather Honey : Is there any
such in the South ? '' Well, I thought, here's
a matter that I can give a very reliable opinion
about. What was my surprise upon reading
the contributions to find that this same query
had been pointedly directed to me in a
previous number of the Journal by Mr.
Jacomb-Hood, who, by-the-bye, I had the
pleasure of meeting some months ago '' Among
the Bees" — yes, in my own apiary. I must
really apologise for carelessness in overlooking
the query ; some, perhaps, will think that I
didn t care, or wouldn't take the trouble to
answer it. The fact is, however, just the

reverse. I feel rather disappointed if two
days pass over without my receiving some
sort of query, which— negligent friends kindly
read this — in about eight times out of ten
arrives by post without the necessary "d" to
pav the postage of the answer. Too bad, isn't
it \

Now to return to the query, u Heather
Honey: Is there any such in the South;''
Yes, most emphatically yes ; plenty — such as
it is. But there's about as much difference in
the heather honey gathered around Ascot,
Bagshot, Finchampstead, Camberley,Chobham,
&c, and that gathered in districts above
53 deg. of latitude a? there is between honey
dew and the finest sample of Al grade of fine
clover honey. Often thin, washy and
smoky. Never (no, never !), with the bright
amber colour of the moors or the specific
gravity of the same districts. Not! seldom
quite unpalatable, and sadly deficient in
aroma. To sum it up— It's no good ! I have
walked across the moors in Scotland and north
England on a warm day in August, and upon
returning have found my boots sticky with the
nectar kicked from the flowers. I have also
strolled across the moors (!) about here, or
rather four miles from here, but never with
the same result. Take a section of heather
honey from the south ; why the honey will
fairly run out when you cut the comb. But
handle a fine comb of genuine northern
heather honey in the same way — you can pick
the hexagonal pellets of honey up like jelly,
and the aroma will fill the room. Quite a
number of bee-keepers here in the south have
never tasted genuine northern heather honey.
Some think our southern trash is nice. Well,
my advice to them is to get some of the
genuine sort, and try the difference. I could
do with a fine-grade section on my table now ;
unfortunately, it is not there. It's quite three
years since I had one.

Out in the south-west of England there are
quite extensive stretches of heather land. I
have never tasted or seen any of the heather
honey from these parts ; if it equals the
northern heather we should have heard about
it long ago. No doubt your readers are aware
of the fact that the produce from a given
district is always looked upon by the inhabi-
tants of that particular district as superior to
any other. This idea seems to form a part of
the erroneous impressions of the gen/us homo,
no matter where we travel. Take the case of
a farnifr's wife or dairymaid. Their particular
make of butter is far superior to any other,
and we at once forfeit the esteem forever of any
of these ladies (men are as bad) if fault is
found with the results of their labours in this
direction. Just so I think that most bee-
keepers in their particular districts vaunt
their produce, forgetting that, although com-
parisons may be odious, it i3 absolutely essen-
tial that a comparison be made before a ri^ht
conclusion can be arrived at. I have made these
comparisons in quite a number of cases, and

388

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 26, 1895.

say that the heather honey of the south,
although obtainable in large quantities, is a
very bad substitute for the genuine moorland
honey of the north.

I have moved my bees year after year to the
heather in this district, but never in a single
case have I obtained any of the right sort of
heather honey, although the hills were as
purple as those in Scotland.

Apropos of this subject, a very large land-
owner in the south near here imported several
batches of grouse on several occasions and
turned them down on the moors (we don't
call them " moors '' here), with the result that
they never increased, and finally died out.
Why is it ? The flower looks the same. Must it
not be the soil ? I don't know. I do know
that the description of soil makes a wonderful
difference in the colour of honey. I can
never get very pale-coloured honey in my
home apiary, it is always of a rich daik amber.
I am on the clay. — W. B. Webster, Binfield,
Berks.

South fleet, near Gravescnd, September 16. —
This is a record year for honey with me. Even
now the bees are storing, instead of licking
frames out. I have taken 150 lb. of honey
from one hive, my previous best being 100 lb.
— Elvey E. Smith.

$Mtm m& J^lta

[1368.] The " W.B.C." Section Back of
Hanging Frames. — I wrote to B.J. office the
other day for the numbers of Bee Journal
giving dimensions and instructions to make the
"W.B.C." section-rack for hanging-frames,
but was informed the instructions J. wanted
have not appeared in print. I have adopted
the " W.B.C.1' pattern, and am making hives
for next year. Knowing how willing you are
to help those who make their own appliances,
I venture to ask if you could give me the
measurements of the section - box, which
completes the hive, as described in " Guide
Book," page 47. Thanking you in anticipa-
tion,— J. C. Bamlett, Penzance, September IP.

Reply.— As already stated, no instructions
for making the section-box and hanging-frames
for sections designated as above have been
printed. Indeed, we do not think it wou'd
tend to increase the favour with which the
" box " is regarded to advise its being made
by the ordinary amateur joiner. As a matter
of fact, the efficiency of the hanging-frame
depends so largely upon the perfect accuracy
with which it is made that we strongly advise
the purchase of a "box" made by a reliable

maker as a pattern, not only for measurements,
but for details only to be gathered from a well-
made pattern.

[1369.] Blending Beeswax and Honey. —
Can beeswax and honey be made to blend
chemically ? I can do it mechanically, but it
always separates at the melting-point. —
Blend, Glasgow.

Reply. — If beeswax is boiled in water to
which potash is added it will dissolve, and can
be mixed with honey.

[1370.] Number of Bees Biiidred for Safe
Wintering. — 1. Are bees which now cover
fairly well about five frames of comb suffi-
cient to winter safely if given plenty of food ?
2. What is the lowest number frames of comb
and bees capable of wintering in safety ? 3.
Drones have been raised in worker cells on a
comb which also contains drone-cells. The
queen is one of this year. What is the reason
of this? — B., Chester, September 19.

Reply. — 1. If queen is young and prolific,
and bees are not old " worked out '' ones,
there is no reason why they should not winter
safely. 2. As implied in the answer to first
query, it is less the number of combs covered
with bees now than the respective condition
of the queen and the inherent vitality of the
bees which governs safe wintering. We havo
known little over a pint of bees to winter
safely, and make fine flocks the following
season with a little care in nursing. 3. The
queen i3 a drone breeder, and consequently
useless.

[1371.] Bond-fide Cottagers. — Will you
kindly inform me if a single young man
(member of a County B.K. Association), aged
19, living in lodgings, paying 2s. per week rent
for them, and earning about 16s. per week, is
a bona- fide cottager, and eligible to exhibit in
a cottagers' class for honey in any shape !
There is nothing in schedule to define a
cottager. — Novice, Boss, September 16.

Reply. — In view of the particulars given
we have no hesitation in answering " Yes " to
the above question.

[1372.] The Chapman Honey Plant.— I
stand alone in this neighbourhood as a bee-
keeper, and have no one to advise me. I
therefore appeal to you for help in the follow-
ing fix : I have a drill 80 yds. long, in which
are at present growing 170 plants, Echinops
Sphfrrocephalnx, Chapman honey plant, raised
from seed sown in spring. They are too thick
to remain where they are, and I don't know
at what distance to transplant them. The
farmers about here cannot help me, as mine
are the first specimens of the Chapman honey
plant that have been grown here, and, being
only a girl, I don't know what to do. —
Maggie 0. Smyth, Carsontown, September 18.

R.EPLY. — The plants as now growing are too
close together. We should thin them out to
one-half the present number. Full particulars*

Sept. 26, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

389

as to cultivation appear in our issue of
April 11, page 141.

[1373 ] Bee Parasites.— On Tuesday last I
drove (from a straw skep) a stock of bee3
which had sent off a strong swarm early in the
summer and united them to a frame hive.
The operation was very successful ; the bees
in the. skep were strong and ran well into the
other skep and afterwards into the frame hive.
I removed the queen with a few other bees as
they were ascending and placed them in a box.
On examining them later in the day, I found
two parasites of a reddish colour about the size
of a pin's head on the queen, in the region of
the thorax, some of the other bees being
similarly affected. These parasites seemed
active and to irritate the bees considerably at
times. I did not notice that the main body
of the bees were suffering frcm the parasites,
and the skep, in which the bee3 had
wintered and passed the summer, was in
good condition and quite sweet. I should be
glad if you would tell me the name and habits
of these insects or give me a reference to
some book where I can obtain information.
Also whether they are injurious to the queen
and other bees generally, and what steps
should be taken to get rid of them. — R. B.,
Beckenham, September 19.

Reply.— The above query crops up as regu-
larly as each autumn comes round ; it may be
well, therefore, for the benefit of those still
ignorant of the bee-pest referred to, to again
give an illustration, together with particulars
regarding it from B.J. of September 27 last
year, which reads as under : — The braula cc&ca
or blind louse is not indigenous to this country,
and, luckily for British bee-keepers, it will not
increase here, the climate being too humid for
it to thrive or live long. It is usually im-
ported on the bodies of foreign bees, and
although it may increase during the summer

BRAULA COECA.

season in the south, our winters are generally
fatal to its continued existence. The parasite
has a special partiality for the queen-bee,
which is usually pestered by from tour to ten
of the active little creatures. The accompany-
ing illustration represents the parasite (much
magnified, of course), in its perfect form and
also in its undeveloped condition. Fumigation

with tobacco smoke causes them to drop off
the bees and combs, when they may be brushed
from the floor-board and burnt. The floor-
board should then be washed with diluted car-
bolic acid, and if this operation is repeated a
few time3 the stock may be rid of the pest.

[1374] Wintering Weak Stocks.— Referring
to the bees upon which you kindly advised
me in the B.B.J, of August 15, 1895, they
seem stationary, and I fear cannot live
through the winter, as they have no stores
and the bees do not increase. We are feeding
every evening. Can one continue this right
through the winter ? or could we unite bees to
them now ? I fear it is too late in the season.
There are bees on four frames, two of these but
half-filled with comb. I should be glad to see
a bee association for Devon. Could you give
some hints for forming one in your columns ?
— Glynn Gryles, Honiton, September 18.

Reply. — Feeding may continue, so long as
the bees continue to take food ; but you should
be quite sure they are not queenless before
taking any trouble with them, so far as feeding
up for winter. In any case, their paucity in
numbers and stores augurs badly for their
wintering safely without the addition of a
driven lot of bees. Mr. Huckle, sec. of the
B.B.K.A., will supply information as to the
establishment of county associations.

[1375.] Missing Queens. — Uniting.— On
August 14, I divided a stock of native
bees and introduced an Italian queen in
cage, but found her dead (in cage) forty-
eight hours after. I introduced another queen
on the 24th ult., by Simmins' process ; but,
although the queen was not thrown out on
following morning, I have since failed to find
either queen or any traces of brood. 1. Is it
possible for her to be in hive 'I Before intro-
ducing second queen the queen-cells were cut
out. On examining the parent stock, Sept. 17,
I find no trace of brood, but a good number
of drones present. 2. What time of the year is
it usual for queen to cease breeding for the
season i 3. If I fail to find queen in divided
stock would it be better to re -unite with
parent stock 1 I am feeding up with this in
view. — Novice, Newport, Mon.

Reply.— 1. It is quite possible for queen to
be in hive, although our correspondent failed
to find her. An examination should, however,
show either eggs or brood in comb, otherwise
it looks as though she were missing. 2. An
entire absence of brood at this date, coupled
with the retention of drones, is strong pre-
sumption of queenlessness. 3. We should
advise joining up, but the bees should not be
fed before hand. Join up first and feed
afterwards. Is there no bee-keeper near at
hand willing to assist in finding the queens
and advise you on the spot as to what is best
to do under the circumstances ?

390

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Sept. 26, 1895.

1# $fom ta $mt

September 28. — Roxburghshire B K.A.
Annual Show in the Corn Exchange, Jed-
burgh. Numerous prizes. Entries closed
Thos. Clark, Secretary, Pleasants, Jedburgh.

October 8, 9, 10, and 11. — Dairy show at
the Agricultural Hall, London. Liberal prizes
in five classes for honey. Open to all. Entries
closed.

October 19. — Lanarkshire B.K.A. annual
show of honey and bee appliances (appliances
open to all), in Public Hall, Larkhall. Also
general meeting of members same dav at
5 p.m. Entries close October 12. Schedules
from John Stevenson, secretary, Merryton
Braes, Larkhall, N.B.

Notioesio Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Jacques (Dorset). -Perforated Dividers for
" Wells " Hive. — The use of perforated
metal for dividers tends to defeat the object
Mr. Wells has in view — viz., to induce the
bees of both compartments to form one con-
tinuous cluster. Very thin wood is the
best material for this purpose ; metal — by
reason of its coldness in winter— the worst.
It is, we think, advisable, for all who work
bees on Mr. Wells's plan to procure his
pamphlet on the double-queen system, which
may be had direct from the author for a
few pence.

Beginner (Tenbury). — Late Drones.— Owing
to the continued honey income in some
districts, drones are being tolerated in
stocks to a later date this season than we
remember them to have been for many
years past, and it is quite possible your case
is simply one of several we know of where
the queen is all right and breeding well.
We should, however, examine the combs to
make quite sure of the presence of a fertile
queen before finally packing away for
winter.

" Box " (Feltham). — Transferring Bees from
Crooked Combs in Frame-hive. — It is now
too late to operate as proposed. We should
leave the transferring till next year. Then
set the one hive above the other, and let the
bees transfer themselves on to full sheets of
foundation.

S. M. (Yorkshire). — No. 1 sample is fair in
quality, but too thin to be called good honey.
We should say it is from clover and other
mixed sources. No. 2 is a very nice honey,
but could not be sold as " pure heather,"
seeing it is largely mixed with other honey.

G. A. (Fulham). — Adding Driven Bees to Stock
in Framc-hivc. — After driving, throw both

lots out on to a temporary platform fixed in
front of frame-hive, and sprinkle a little
very thin scented syrup on them as they run
in. The best queen of the three lots of
bees should be secured beforehand, and
caged on a comb in frame-hive, destroying
the others.

H. E. Jeal (Tonbridge). — You are quite
right ; we wrote under the impression that
the proper quantity of N. Beta had been
mixed with the food in the first instance,
in which case the additional 70 grains would
have been a big overdose. Much obliged
for the correction.

Sam (Dover). — Comb is badly affected with
foul brood.

J. A. Aiken (Kish). — Quality of Honey. —
We judge that your honey was deemed
lacking in consistency, to cause its beim*
passed over. It is of fine colour and good
flavour, but too thin to rank as a prize
honey.

M. L. — There is nothing in dead bees sent to
indicate the cause of death. The presence
of one or two wasps among them and the
bodies of the bees indicate that fighting has
been rife ; but, beyond the fact of the per-
forations in queen excluder being possibly
too small, we cannot say why numbers of
dead bees were found between sections and
excluder.

Wm Briggs (Dorking). — Sugar Samples. —
Nos, 1 and 3 are quite suitable for bee-food
if pure cane. No. 2 is a granulated yellow
sugar more suited for spring use.

Verax (Birmingham). — The Dairy Shoiv. — 1.
It is hoped that an observatory hive or two
mry be staged at the Dairy Show, and there
is usually a small exhibit of bee appliances,
but these are only an adjunct to the Show
proper, which is limited to honey and honey
products. 2. The Show season is now nearly
over ; we can, therefore, only refer you to
our list of " Shows to Come,'' on another
page. 3. Leave the seven frames in hive
for winter as they now stand, and set on
the enamel quilt below the others, not over
them

Constant Reader (Mount Azay). — The
stock is evidently affected with foul brood
of a bad type, and we advise its entire
destruction at once.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, Jto. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Thru
words or under, One Penny.

3CWT. Rim HONEY, (id. per 11). 1'ULtEN, Rams-
bury, lluiiL'crfonl. Sample 3d. J 59

II

ONEY.— Fine 1-11). SECTIONS, carefully packed on
rail, 7s. doz. P. LEE1IOTT, Fulbotirn, Cambs.

HEATHER jIIONEY, also Clover, in 1-lb. Bottles,
price Is." each, packed. J. (,'akkiniiton, Avenue,
liakevvell J 48

Oct. 3, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

391

(SSAoM, $jtaftm, ku

ORGANISATION FOR BEE-KEEPERS.

THE VALUE OF A " COUNTY LABEL."

In a recent leading article the Standard says :
— The correspondence on bee-keepiDg which
has appeared in our columns during the last
few dajs has many featuras in common with
the letters we have published of late on other
departments of rural industry. Again and
again the cottager has been told that he must
follow the petite culture of the French peasant,
and learn to produce some of the thousands of
pounds' worth of articles of food sent us by
the foreigner, though they might quite as easily
be grown at home. Honey more especially
was recommended as suitable, and bee-keeping
societies are unwearied in their exertions to
encourage this fresh departure. So far these
efforts have been successful But the complaint
now is, on one side, that there is no market for
the honey, and from the other that the only
honey to be had is a vile concoction which had
never had any relationship to flowers. To a
certain extent there is some foundation for
both grievances. Organisation is wanted to
bring the producer and the consumer together.
A correspondent points out how this is done
in Berkshire with perfectly satisfactory results,
and no doubt the system might be made
general all over the country. But to do
so, the bee-keepers who are members of
the various associations must possess that
modicum of acquired skill necessary to
success in every occupation. And, above
all, the honey farmer, no matter on how
small a scale he works, must be honest. The
Salvation Army dealer will otherwise find that
a reputation for piety will not long make
glucose pass for the genuine article ; while
the simple cottager who sells wax " naturally
mixed'' with forty per cent, of hard paraffin
may, before long, have to explain how it is
done to an unsympathetic bench of Magis-
trates. Leaving out of account these in-
genious rogues, it is clear that, with some busi-
ness aptitude, there is still a fairly paying
market for all the good honey that is for
sale. The truth is that the organisation is
lacking. All the little bee-masters around a
country town rush to the local grocer's with
it. And, as that middleman is soon stocked,
he naturally does not care to buy except at
a price which yields a profit to one party
only. But if the primary principle of business
— not to sell on a falling market— is neglected,
either through ignorance or uecessity, nothing
cm save the needy seller from the conse-
quences of his act. Uowever, it must be re-
membered that honey is not like strawberries.
If well put up, it can be kept until prices
improve, and as there is a period between one
season and the next when honey is scarce, the
improved value pays very <,rood interest to th«

men who can "hold his produce." Agriculture,
moreover — even the keeping of bees — is under-
going a remarkable revolution, which, though
unpleasant to those who suffer by it, must be
taken into account. The native bee-master
has no longer the business in his own hands.
Foreign competition is keen, and from the
extensive apiaries of Southern California and
other parts of America thousands of tons of
honey come every year. No doubt, a great
deal of what passes as such is quite innocent
of honey. It is largely adulterated, or is some-
times even the output of a chemical labo-
ratory. Still, much of it is a very respectable
article, carefully harvested, and put on the
English market with all the precautions calcu-
lated to meet the public taste. Above all, the
grocer can make certain of receiving a steady
supply of a perfectly uniform quality, and as
soon as the customers get accustomed to a par-
ticular brand, be it of butter, or cheese, or dried
fruits, or jam, or honey, it is difficult to per-
suade them to take any other, It would be
idle, and, perhaps, not altogether to the dealer's
interest, to tell these inexpert folk that a par-
ticular quality of honey is equal or superior to
what they had last week, when he finds that, as
soon as they acquire a liking for it, nor more is
to be had. Hence the large grocer will scarcely
look at the little grower, who comes with
forty or fifty, or even with a hundred, pounds.
That is not enough, he will be told, to keep his
trade going for a month. Hence, he prefers to
buy the Californian importation, even though
it yields him no more profit, if he cannot
reckon on being steadily supplied through some
such agency as that which the Secretary of
the Berkshire Bee-keepers' Association and
other correspondents describe. The labelled
guarantee of such a society is itself a " brand."
Nor should it be forgotten that there must
necessarily be different brands ; for different
districts, owing to a variety of pasturage, pro-
duce honey widely unlike. For this reason,
it would be unwise to have co-operative dis-
tricts too large. Naturally, the variously
flavoured honey3 must compete with each
other. Yet, so long as they are the best of
their kind, no great harm would result.
Butter and cheese and meat have to undergo
competition of this kind, and England 'u large
enough to indulge in such a multiplicity of
tastes as to afford all brands a fair field, as
soon as the consumers learn to distinguish
artificial glucose from natural honey.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO-
CIATION.

The next conversazione will be held at 105,
Jermyn-street (close to Piccadilly Circus), on
Thursday, October 10, at six o'clock. Mr.
A. D. Woodley, lion. sec. of the Berkshire
B.K.A., will read a short paper on "A Tour
with the Berkshire Bee Van." Members
desirous of introducing other subjects for dis--

392

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 3, 1895.

cussion, or submitting new and improved
appliances for consideration, are requested to
communicate with the secretary. — John
Huckle, Secretary, King's Langley, September
30, 1895.

"CASTING BREAD UPON THE
WATERS."

A bee-keeping friend known to many of us
has made a suggestion to which we should like
to accord the fullest support. He considers,
and so do we, that it would become those who
are interested in Association work to show an
appreciation of long services rendered by one
who, though in no sort of a way occupied in
apiarian work, has in a constant and unob-
trusive way (not in money help), done a great
deal to advance bee-keeping. This looks like
a riddle to those who are not in the secret,
but if we were to explain details at the present
stage of the project we should rob the plot of
all its pleasure. In order to farther its suc-
cess, we content ourselves with saying that we
shall be very much obliged indeed to those
friends, to whom we never appeal in vain, if
they will at once send us either a section or a
bottle of 1895 honey — we should like good
honey, of course — but ever so little from each,
so that the bulk will be thoroughly representa-
tive English, Welsh, Irish, and Scotch all
joining hands. We must have it before
October 8— or at latest by October 10, the
earlier the better — addressed Editors Bee
Journal, 17, King William-street, Charing
Cross, W.C. We have confidence that our friends
will give us carte blanche with each contribu-
tion, and we promise them that they will not
be disappointed when we have the pleasure of
publishing details of the whole proceeding.

Already we are able (to announce several
promised contributions of honey for this object:
E. D. Till, H. W. Brice J. Garratt, J. H.
New, Rev. G. W. Bancks, Miss Biggs (Eynes-
ford), Mr. Bradshaw (Eynesford) ; and a section
of clover honey from a Scotch bee-keeper, who
is now in London, Mr. Robert Kerr, Newhouse
Farm, Dairy, N.B. This is a good beginning.
Each friend must tie sender's name and
address on each section or bottle, otherwise, so
many small parcels of similar shape arriving
simultaneously at our office, may render iden-
tification very difficult, if not impossible.

THE DAIRY SHOW.

TO INTENDING EXHIBITORS.

Sample bottles of Mead and Honey
Vinegar for non-competitive exhibit in the
B.B.K.A. annexe at> the Dairy Show should
be addressed, carriage paid : " Secretary,
Honey Department, British Bee -Keepers'
Association, Agricultural Hall, Islington,
London," to arrive on October 7. Be sure
each sample is labelled with sender's name and
address.

A REQUEST.

Will the Secretaries of County B.K. Asso-
ciations send at once to Mr. E. D. Till,
Eynsford, Kent, three specimen county labels ?
Unfortunately, several that were previously
furnished, which are adhesive, have been
spoiled by adhering in transit. We are
pleased to receive' already a sample of the
Lincolnshire label from our friend Mr. Cribb.

®&impnkntt.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &e., must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

*„* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.

BEE JOTTINGS.

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

[2208.] The Honey Market— At this time
of year, and in so good a season as it has been
in the south, there is a tendency to flood the
market with the year's produce. With a large
amount of " stuff " on hand representing so
much cash, the temptation is great to realise
quickly ; consequently prices rule low, and,
after all our care and anxiety, work, and
worry, our honey is sold at a price which
largely reduces our profits. Few bee-keepers
can resist the temptation of placing their
harvest on the market as soon as gathered, and
the net result is usually disappointing. Con-
trasted with the many products which, being
" perishable," must be placed on the market
and sold at once, it should yield considerable
comfort to the bee-keeper to know that honey
well harvested will keep good for years ; and,
in the case of some honeys, literally improve
by keeping until granulated. Bee-keepers,
therefore, in their own interest, cannot do a
more unwise thing than crowd the market
as soon as the season closes, causing the
price of good honey to be much less than
quite inferior honeys will realise three months
hence. I have known bee - keepers so
anxious to handle the "coin'' that they
would part with their goods for half-value to
sell "at once." This is a great mistake ;
" small profits and quick returns'' are all very
well in some cases, but when an article will
keep AI for years, and in view of the fact

Oct. 3, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

393

that bad seasons are as sure to come as good
ones, it is sheer folly not to reap the benefit
of the " fat years '' by holding on to our
stores until the lean ones are come — as come
they will in their turn. My advice is, to
those who have good honey to dispose of,
don't be in a hurry ; let the rush come and
go. A few weeks' waiting will bring the con-
solation that a good article generally fetches
its price. Foreign honey we need not fear,
and with own name, and the county label on
every package or jar, we shall reap the profit
which the over-anxious ones missed.

Queen-Bee Eggs. — I have recently come
across some bee-keepers who seem to be
under the impression that (to quote
from the Bee - Keepers'1 Revieio) " when
queens are desired, the queen, if not entirely
disabled, deposits an egg — the proper one for
the purpose, &c." Now I am positive that
there never was a graver error, than to suppose
that this is so. It is tantamount to sayiDg
that a queen is capable of laying three kinds of
eggs, viz., those from which workers are pro-
duced (the fertilised eggs), those producing
drones (the unfertilised eggs), and those that
generate queens (the eggs of doubtful quantity).
It only requires a careful study of the anatomy
of the queen bee to be perfectly certain that
there is only one kind of egg in the queen's
ovaries, and that the difference resulting is in-
variably brought about at the time, or just be-
fore, the egg is deposited, and that difference
is either positive or negative — in other words,
" male or female," as the case may be. There
is no provision in the structure of a queen's
organs for another kind of egg in any shape or
form, and the sooner the bee-keepers in ques-
tion disabuse their minds of this fallacy the
better. The difference between a worker bee
and a queen bee is simply brought about by
the quantity and quality of the food given,
and the turning-point or crux of the whole
question resolves itself in what is known as
the " weaning period," which occurs about
the third day of the growth of the larvae.

Foul Brood. — The Bee-Keepers' Rt view
says : — " F. B. is not transmitted through the
queen ; at least, this seems to be the decision
of all practical bee-keepers who have had to do
with the disease." The late Mr. Cheshire
found spores in the ovaries of a queen ; and
Mr. McEvoy says : " I have taken home a
great many queens that have been removed
from diseased colonies, and used them in my
apiary, and no disease has been transmitted by
this course." It is well known that spores
have, since Cheshire made his discovery, been
found in the blood and tissues <>f all bees from
diseased hives, queens and workers alike, and
in the face of this fact and of the perfect
cures we read of under treatment which
would certainly fail in this country, the ques-
tion arises, is the F.B. of America the same
virulent disease as that which we know here
by the Bame name ? Some week's ago I dis-

cussed the subject with one of our county
experts, having at the time several diseased
hives under consideration, and he agreed that
there could be no question, as he had tested it
on several occasions, that treatment of the
bees and hives and changing the queens had
always effected a cure, and he considered the
latter part of the programme the most
essential. I can only say I should not care to
run the risk of using a queen from a diseased
hive, and if the facts be as Mr. McEvoy states,
I am doubtful if the disease is of the same
nature as ours.

The Season in Ncio Zealand. — Reports say
that the present winter is the wettest they
have had for several years. From beginning
of June to end of July scarcely a day passed
without a heavy downpour of rain.

Crimson Clover. — American bee-journals
are just now giving great prominence to
the crimson-clover as a good honey plant,
which it undoubtedly is. Why its merits
have been so long hidden is, however, what
puzzles me. Surely they have grown trifolium
incamatum before 1895 ? In this country the
trifolium has long been known as a honey
plant, yielding nectar freely, but we have found
out what our American cousins will probably
do after it has been tried, viz., that the honey
from it is by no means first-rate. I mean, of
course, if the plant is our trifolium, and I have
little doubt it is.

The Honey Crop in America. — From the
reports in the Canadian Bee Journal it appears
that the huney crop is in many districts a
total failure this year, mainly owing to the
drought of last year and the severe winter.
G. M. Doolittle says, " This has been the
poorest season for twenty-five years."

DO BEES FORM ANTIPATHIES?

BEWARE OF PTRETRRUM !

[2209.]— Several years ago my bees gave me
a great surprise. I went to the hives, as I was
dady doing, in fine weather, and I thiuk I
got as far as unroofing one. Almost instan-
taneously the band began to play all around me
in a key of all " sharps." The attack, musical
and military, was decisive. Like a late noble
statesman, who in Africa was not a bit afraid
of the lioDs, I wasn't afraid, but the notice to
quit was so peremptory I had to " go.'' I
don't remember running, but I hastened.

Almost simultaneously, with a curious
wonder as to the cause of the change of
disposition on the part of my warm (and some-
times attached) friends, the solution of the
problem occurred to me. 1 had been pricking
out pyrethrum from a seed-bed and trans-
planting it to a border. Pyrethrum is deadly
to insects, and its odour is one of their pet
aversions. Any bee-keeper objecting to this
ipse dixit can experiment for himself. I went
straight to the bowl, washed my hands, using
c.irbolic BOap, and returned immediately to the

394

TBE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 3, 1895.

■work I had in hand with the bees. Whether
they were forgetful or forgiving I don't know,
but they were as gentle as sucking doves, and
this not more than three minutes after the
outbreak of hostilities.

It is a pity bee-keepers should scare them-
selves with the fear ot losing nerve ; far better
patiently seek to trace the connection between
cause and effect. I like the term " bee-
master," for that is what every good bee-
keeper will be, without asking leave.— S.
Jordan, Bristol, Sept. 27.

SOUTHERN HEATHER HONEY.

[2210.] Mr. Jacomb Hood's letter last
week, and Mr. Webster's letter in this
(p. 387), are valuable for the informa-
tion they afford on the subject of Southern
heather — nevertheless the information is
disappointing inasmuch as Southern heather
seems of little worth. I do not think bee-
keepers sufficiently understand how greatly
the bee pasturage may vary even in a single
parish — one side of it may yield superb honey
— the other may produce honey unfit to eat. I
was struck this season (and my hope is that
the peculiarity of the season may account for
it) on tasting some honey from Brasted in
Kent, and some of very similar colour and
flavour from the other side of Westerham,
near Edenbridge, it was dark and unpalatable,
it is sufficiently disappointing to bee-keepers
in those parts, but the distribution of such
honey to shops and private customers is
detrimental to the demand for the home
product— no one would buy it a second time —
on the principal of " one black sheep spoiling
the flock,'' I consider the use of the coucty
label on such samples ought to be forbidden.
I see my bees are now revelling in ivy blossom.
Either for pollen or nectar.— A. Beille,
Sejjiember 27.

EXAMINATION FOR EXPERTS'
CERTIFICATES.

[2211.] I note your unfailing courtesy with
correspondents, and thank you for replying
to me lately in B. B.J. re difference chilled v.
foul brood.

Referring to examination of candidates for
experts' certificates, do you not think that
something more definite should be laid before
candidates for the various certificates ? I note
in B.B.K.A. report what is required for first
and second class examinations ; but both are
run into each other, and it has occurred to me
that it would be fairer and less bewildering
to candidates if they knew what was required
of them for the second, and what for the first,
and the one set of subjects separated from the
other. I called the attention of the secretary
to this, but he replied that he knew of no
other list. You sympathine with definitenesfi,

I know, because in the late article in B.J.,
wherein you said that candidates for third-
class should know just what was required of
them. As I have lodged 10s. with the secre-
tary for the second-class examination, I should
like to know if there is anything more definite
for me than the list given in the B.B.K.A.
report.

I am here for a rest. Success to your
efforts and mine (for B.B.J.).— Excelsior,
Ilfracombe.

[The "paper work" for the first and second
class certificates covers the whole subject of
bee-keeeping, including the natural history of
the bee, and practical bee-keeping in all its
details. We cannot, therefore, well see how
this could be altered. Then first-class candi-
dates have, in addition, to deliver an extem-
pore lecture in public, and undergo an oral
examination besides. This statement seems
to us sufficiently definite. So far as the paper-
work is concerned, second-class candidates
require to know as much as first-class, and it
it is impossible to separate the subjects,
seeing that they are practically the same. If
our correspondent will look into the matter
again in the light of the above remarks, we
fancy he will be quite prepared for all that is
required of him as a candidate. — Eds.]

BEE-KEEPING MEMS.

[2212.] The season in these parts has, after
all, not been a very good one.

The honey flow began in May, almost before
the bees were ready, and ended about mid-
June. The fierce drought — nine weeks with-
out rain — scorching up the clover heads and
flowers generally.

I wintered ninety-two stocks, leaving them
30 lb. each of stores with dummy-boards and
six thicknesses of quilting. In spite of this
I lost thirteen stocks from various causes.
This left me seventy-nine alive, and then 1
had to unite three of the weakest.

Out of seventy-six thus left with which to
begin the campaign of 1895, five yielded
nothing, and the remaining seventy-one gave
1,837 lb. of run honey— an average of about
25| lb. per hive. About half my queens were
one year old, and none are more than two
years, as I make it a rule to re queen half my
stocks every year.

Swarms. — I had none, owing, I think, to my
method of tiering.

Bo Bees steal Eggs ? — I am sure they do.
One of the above-mentioned weak stocks,
having a drone-breeding queen, I killed her on
June 25, and on August 21, on opening the
hive to put in a driven lot, I found a young
queen and eggs !

Bees Carrying Eggs.— This they also do.
Another of the weak stocks, referred to
above, being queenless, I suspended a queen
in wire cage between the combs con-
taining a queen from a driven lot. After
hanging twenty-four hours I was obliged

Ocfc. 3, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

395

to take her away to again replace her at the
head of her own bees, the queen with the latter
having got accidentally killed. I find the
queenless lot has now some brood and queen
cells, a clear proof, I think, that the bees
carried eggs from the queen whilst confined in
the cage. .

I have invested in a Porter " Bee-escape,"
and find it a very great comfort. Its price —
2s. (id. — however, is rather against it, seeiDg
how little it is required, and in a large apiary
like mine a supply of escapes is a serious
item.

Rapid Feeding. — The slower this can be
done the better, provided there is time. I find
from experience that rapidly -fed stocks are
generally weak in the spring. — Apiarist,
Fairspcir, Ascolt - Wychwood, Oxford, Sep-
tember 30, 1895.

ADULTERATED WAX.

IS BEESWAX A DRUG ?

[2213] I rend further cutting from our
Maidstone paper relative to magisterial
decisions. Cranbrook Bench did not consider
beeswax a drug. Bearsted fined an offender
heavily for vending wax of which only about
25 per cent, could have ever had any connec-
tion with bees. Could not you publish that
portion of the report recently issued by the
Royal Commission on Adulteration, in so far as
it relates to beeswax i

[If of sufficient interest to readers we will
do so. — Eds.]

Our bees will wax " waxy " if their good
name is used in so wholesale a manner to
describe such rascally compounds. — Kent
Bee-Keeper, September 26.

[The cutting enclosed reads as under: — Eds.]

" 'A member if the Kent Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation ' writes to applaud the decision of the
Bearsted Bench in the matter of adulterated
beeswax. ' I sell the wax produced in my
apiary to some manufacturers of patent
medicines in the north— one firm being noted
for its pills and plasters. This entitles beeswax
to rank as a "drug.'' I hold Cranbiook to be
wrong taking any other view.' Cranbrook
will know better next time. ' Beeswax is in
no sense a "drug'' in the market. Pure
samples are in request and fetch a good price.
I know two makers of bee-keeping appliances
— one a Kentish man — who take trips abroad
and especially to the West Indies in search of
new sources of supply. But much of the
foreign beeswax is greatly adulterated. There
is a peculiarly fine aroma with pure beeswax,
and it is not a little difficult to discriminate in
the beeswax classes at our honey shows. Bees-
wax bleaches by exposure to light. An
exhibitor I know recently endeavoured to
hasten the process by means of sulphur. The

judge's nose detected this, and, as the aroma
was also injured by the process, the exhibit
took no place.' ''

DO BEES CARRY EGGS?
[2214.] In reply to Mr. W. Woodley (2176,
p. 364) on the above question, I would refer
Mr. W. to my letter (2158, p. 345) in which I
distinctly state that the queen was received in
one of " Mr. Brice's " cages and this was the
cage used. I have no doubt that Mr. W. will
remember that it was fully described and
illustrated on p. 235 of the Journal, and if he
will kindly read the description and look
at the illustration I have no doubt he
will clearly see through the arrange-
ment at a glance. At present I am afraid
that he is just a " wee bit" mixed in the cage,
and confounds this cage with the Root and
Howard cages, which I believe some time ago
he said, in "Notes by the Way," he uses. I
have always used the Howard cage up to this
time, and the arrangements are somewhat
different, because, in the " Howard " cage the
bees eat away thefoodfromthefeed-hole and the
queen walks out to herduties,butinthe "Brice"
cage after the cardboard slide in the bottom
of wooden portion of the cage is withdrawn
the queen and the few workers caged with her
enter the wire mesh or perforated compart-
ment, which, as I said in my letter, was
pressed well into the comb and honey. Con-
sequent^ there was no ingress or egress via
the feed hole into the hive, and I expected the
bees would eat their way into the cage, and
thus release the queen, but this they did not
do, though they had commenced to do so when
I liberated her on the Wednesday. This, I
think, disposes of the second question : Why
the queen was caged from Friday till Monday,
i.e., just because the bees did not liberate her ?
besides which, as I said in my letter, I do not
care for too much fussy manipulation.

I think Mr. W. has made a slight error here.
I said the queen was caged from Friday till
Wednesday, not Monday, and on p. 346 I
gave my reasons for keeping the queen caged
so long.

The question of queen re-entering the cage
is rather far-fetched and wide of the mark,
because she had never been released, conse-
quently she could not go back again into the
cage. I am pleased that Mr. VV. is tryiDg
to get more light on this interesting subject,
and, in my opinion, he would see more light
if he had for examination one of Mr. Brice's
cages.

I hope to meet friend Woodley at the
Dairy Show and the quarterly meeting of the
British, and then we may have a chat on this
and other matters. — Peter Scattergood,
Jun., Stapleford, Notts, September 30, 1895.

P.S.— I would have replied before, but have
been from home enjoying a much-needed rest
at the seaside.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 3, 1895.

A NEW FEEDER.

[2215.] In answer to Mr. W. B. Webster's
remarks, 2196, p. 383, permit me to explain
my method of feeding, which, I think, can be
utilised for a rapid feeder, and yet do away
with the bits of muslin, and your correspon-
dent's two days' work ; it also carries out his
idea of a feeder close to the frames.

I use a wood cover with J in. space above
frames ; this gives ready access to every frame.
In centre of cover I cut — with a fret-saw — a
hole 3| in. across. I then take two ordinary
self-opening 2-lb. golden-syrup tins ; the lids
I fit with a piece of | in. wood cut as follows :
One half of the circle is made 3y in. across,
the other half is 2£ in. across, this leaves J in.
space half-way round the lid. My next step
is to fasten the wood into the hollow of the lid
with a screw in centre from inside. The
wood will now turn round like a wheel, and
shut off to any number of holes I require ;
a dozen holes half round the lid com-
pletes the feeder, which holds just 1 lb. of
sugar when made into syrup. I fill my tins at
home, put on the lid, turn the wheel, and
close the holes for carrying it to the bees.
Arrived there, the hive is uncovered, and the
wheel of tin turned to the number of holes
required ; give the empty tin a screw-round to
release it from propolis, lift it off rapidly, and
replace with the full one. The few bees ad-
hering to the empty feeder-lid are allowed to
run in at hive entrance.

I have been well pleased with this feeder.
It works well in practice. Fifty tins can be
filled if required, and charged, the lids changed
as wanted for use. There is no trouble at the
hive. The merest novice, if veiled and a car-
bolic cloth ready, need not fear to change the
tins, and be sate against accident. As the
wood stands up above the lid, and the bees
cluster on it, very little tin comes in contact
with the bees ; besides, a tin vessel is also
safer against accident than glass.

Here is Mr. Webster's rapid feeder at once :
two self-opening 7-lb. tins (larger if you like),
fitted-up as above, will just meet our friend's
wants. Where a quilt is used instead of a
wood cover, a stage will have to be made of
^-in. wood with a fret saw, and a j-in. window-
lath nailed on for bee-space. — A Worker,
Long Eaton, September 31.

AN ASSOCIATION FOE HERTS.

NEED IT BE RESUSCITATED ?

[2216.] I venture to assert, Mr. Editor, that
if bee-keeping is to make progress in the
county, a well organised and well-mana»ed
association, embracing the whole county, is
absolutely indispensable. The formation of
such an association with an energetic execu-
tive would, I am sure, soon obtain suitable
recognition from the Technical Committee of
the Herts County Council. It is well known
that thin committee is very favourably dis-

posed towards the promotion of all small
industries connected with agriculture.

The existing local association at Bishop
Stortford might form a good nucleus for such
an association, providing its executive were
favourably disposed towards such an exten-
sion.

I am under the impression that your
correspondent " Amateur Expert '' (2185,
p. 374) refers to the "Herts Technical In-
struction Association. A useful institution,
no doubt, in its way, but in no sense consti-
tuted to carry on the work of a bee-keepers'
association. — Herts, September 28.

[2217.] I am very pleased indeed to think
there is a prospect of a bee association for
Hertfordshire. I have for two years wished
for one, and know others of the same mind in
this locality. I have read your excellent
Journal for six years, along with many first-
class authors on bees and bee-keeping; but
ever since I have kept bees I have felt much
the need of a practical hand to look into my
hives when I am at home to watch his mani-
pulations.

I am perplexed too about queens, and about
sealed brood, the difference between sealed
honey cells and sealed brood cells, and several
other hive matters.

For three years I have had no swarm, have
not seen the usual drone massacre at the end
of honey flow, and have received honey but
from One hive out of three this year. The
strong colony has given me about 30 lb. of
honey, filling beautifully a box of shallow
frames and a few sections imperfectly. The
section foundation was that white wax which
the bees do not take to, and to this fact I
ascribe a loss of honey, the bees preferring rather
to put honey in brood chamber than carry
it into such sections. I am sorry to say that
my stock of section-foundation is entirely of
that composition. I have suffered a deal this
summer from bee stings in the hands, though
protected by gloves, so I sent for a well-known
" remedy," and went to work with impunity ;
but only to get a dozen stings in my hands.

This large dose swelled my hands and arms
a good deal, with the usual irritation for days.
Do let us have, if possible, a Bee association
for Hertfordshire, where bee-keeping is
increasing. — " Solicitous," Hertford, Sep-
tember 27.

A LATE SWARM.
[2218.] It may interest you to know of a
" later " swarm than the one mentioned last
in your pages, for a stray swarm visited me
on Sunday, September '22, about two o'clock
in the afternoon. They were a very small
swarm, and not worth hiving. I had them
put into a skep, taking the queen away, and
left to do as they pleased. Some tried to
enter my hives, others lied. — B. J., Aylesbury,
September 28.

Oct. 3, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

$97

CLIPPINGS.

FROM THE AUSTRALIAN " BEE BULLETIN."

[2219.] Honey Labels v. Government Seal. —
At the Convention of bee-keepers held at
Melbourne in July, the question of honey-
labels was discussed, and it seems that the
Government seal occupies the place of our county
association label. This seal apparently takes
the form of a guarantee that the goods are of
good value. If that idea works out satisfac-
torily it looks as if they managed the honey-
selling business better over there than we do
here.

Australian (Victoria), Honey Resources.
On reading the account of this I was amused
by the queer names of the various honey
producing plants, shrubs, &c. Here are a few
name3 with description of honey yielded by
some: — "Yellow-box" (good flavoured light
honey), "gray-box'' (dark honey), " stringy
bark' (still darker honey), "red-gum,"
"messmate" (eucalyptus obliqua), "manna-
gum," "penny royal," " white- gum," "black-
box," "yellow-box," " blue-box," " apple-box,"
"box-thorn," "mallee," "Ti-tree," and " shrub-
box." The " boxes " have it, and as I know you
havfi B.J. readers both in Australia and New
Zealaad, it would be interesting if any of them
could give us the botanical names of these
box plants and some information as to their
honey - yielding qualities. White-clover,
eucalyptus, peppermint, lucerne, &c, are also
honey plants in the colony.

Shipments. — Australia exported from
Victoria during the half-year ending June 1895.
86 tons of honey. The report goes on to
say : — " We have just began to fight our way
forward, and will meet with many difficulties
needing patience, tact, and perseverance to
overcome the obstacles purposely placed in oar
way."

Mr. E. Meadows, of Trengrouse & Co.,
London, said :— " The price of Australian
honey a few years ago was 56s. to 60s. per
cwt." His past experiences were, however,
rather unfortunate, for, " after selling a few
lots to dealers, he was unable to quit any
more in that direction on account of bad
flavour, and had to sell the balance to black-
ing manufacturers. For medicinal purposes
the colour was unimportant," and " they need
not be discouraged by ad they saw in print."

Mr. Chambers, another bee-keeper, observed
that "honey shipped to South Africa sold
freely ; he had also sold to France and Ger-
many, and had an offer from Germany to
supply regular quantities, but an import duty
of nearly 15s. per cwt. had recently been
imposed. This," he Paid, " would stop trade."

Black v. Yellow Ikes in Australia. — The
same authority says : — " To a large extent the
working qualities of bees have been sacrificed
to prettiness." Mr. Benhuo remarked that
" black bees were quite as industrious as
yellow ones, but were not uo prolific. The

hybrid combined most of the desirable points,
being both prolific and hardy."

Foul Brood. — Referring to this subject, Mr.
W. Symes observed : — " With black bees, he
found them so subject to foul brood that he
despaired of getting rid of it ; but he had
introduced Italian bees, and the disease gra-
dually disappeared." Mr. Bolton agreed in
this view as to foul brood. Mr. Russell and
others, however, preferred " hybrid bees, as
they could be handled quickly and easily ;
black bees were more liable to disease than
hybrids." Mr. Adams preferred " first-cross
hybrids for honey gathering."

Australian " Honey -takes." — At the
Bathurst Convention, reported in the same
journal, a bee-keeper, located at Orange, stated
that, between the months of October and
April last, he had five tons of honey from
twenty-six colonies! while at Wattle Flat four
bee-keepers last season netted £991. Another
bee-keeper, Peterson by name, netted £602
the same season, and another took from 100
colonies 12£ tons ! I leave it to our B.J.
readers to say which of these " takes " — "takes
the cake ! "

Samples for England. — Mr. Micklejohn
spoke in favour of sending samples of honey to
England free of cost. Last year he " sent
four cwt. to Scotland, and paid all expenses,
and hoped to be successful." Mr. Gale said
" agents preferred dark honey to light, as it
permitted the use of glucose. New arrivals
in the colony told him " our honey was
superior to anything they had in England." —
Verb. Sap. — H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath,
Surrey.

tyuxm mi $ejfc

[1376.] Dealing with Queen-Cells. — Last
June, before putting on a rack of sections, I
inspected the brood-combs in a strong stock.
Finding five queen-cells capped over. I removed
one comb, and placed it in an empty hive,
together with the bees clustering thereon. A
queen hatched out and got mated properly,
anel they now form quite a strong stock,
as I have fed up well. The other frame
which I took had two queen-cells ; both
being left for the bees to select which
they would have, and after a few days I
found both bad hatched out, but one queen
had evidently been thrown out of hive by, I
suppose, the first that hatched out. I waited
for results and found no brood or eggs being
laid, nor could I see any queen. There were,
however, plenty of drones flying about, too
many, I think. A frame of brood and eggs
was then given from another hive and queen-
cells were stalled but not finished. I waited
until all the brood hail hatched out, and then
gave them another frame of broud and

398

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 3, 1895.

eggs. From this last, -when I looked a
week ago, I found a beautiful queen-cell
capped over, but, as I have not inspected yet,
do not know if she is hatched out. The cell
measured quite an inch long on the face of the
last comb given, evidently selected from an
egg. I noted also several drones in the hive
quite young, and several patches of drone-
brood not capped over, built out on the face of
worker comb. Now, is there any prospect of
this queen, if hatched out, being any good ?
The weather is certainly very June-like, and
these young drones might mate with her.
What was the reason why the two first queen-
cells failed ?— S. T. B., Bexhill-on-Sea.

Keply. — It appears to us that the queen
must have failed in mating, otherwise there is
a laying worker in the hive in question ; only
this can account for the drones. From the
size of the last cell built, we should not be
surprised if this was raised on a drone larva.
A careful search is necessary to ascertain
whether there really is a queen or not in the
hive, and steps should be at once taken to
provide it with a laying queen if the stock is
worth saving. If weak, it should be joined up
to another stock.

[1377.] Bees Entering Divelling-houses. —
Can you tell me why my bees should have
taken to coming into the house this month ? —
numbers are in the scullery and also in the
morning-room. One or two here and there in
other rooms. The supers have been taken off
and we are feeding all the hives.

There is no honey or syrup about in the
rooms referred to. If there is anything we can
do to induce them not to come in I shall be
glad to know it. — C. F. W., Hants.

Reply. — It is quite certain that the odour
of the honey removed from the hives is
attracting the bees to the house. Personal
experience has proved to us that, with proper
care, bees may be entirely prevented from
following the track of honey taken from
them. They are, however, very keen at scent-
ing it out if left exposed in any way, especially
at a time like this, when all natural inflow has
stopped.

[1378.] Food for Winter. — Capacity of
the Standard Frame.— \. What is the' least
number of frames of stores on which one
could with safety leave a stock to winter ?
2. What is the average weight of stores a
standard frame holds. 1 take this opportunity
of thanking you for the globe thistle seeds you
kindly sent me a few months ago. The plants
are flourishing, though they have not, of course,
flowered.— R. Dymond, Souihgate, Septem-
be r 19.

Reply.— 1. ]f full— or three-parts full— of
stores, four standard-frames would hold amply
sufficient to winter a stock. The bee-keeper
must, however, use his judgment in endeavour-
ing to secure 1G to 20 11). net of food for each

stock, apart from weight of combs or any
pollen they may contain. 2. A standard
frame of comb, if entirely full of sealed honey,
usually weighs from 6 to 8 lb.

[1379.] Cleaning up Frames after Ex-
tracting.— After extracting honey from frames
in July, I gave them to the bees again, hoping
they would ' clean them out ready for storing
away for winter. But' during this long spell
of fine weather in September I find some of
the frames have been partially refilled. What
do you recommend met to do ?— Novice, Col-
chester, September 26.

Reply. — It does occasionally happen that
bees act as stated above. And we have our-
selves been found in a like predicament. We
got over it however by putting an enamel-cloth
quilt between the box with frames for cleaning
up and the body-box, spacing the frames in
former wide-apart, and covering lightly with a
single quilt. In time the honey was carried
below by the bees.

[1380.] Queen Missing. — In examining my
hives I found two broodless. In one there
was a fine queen, but could see no queen in
the other. Both are swarms of last year, and
fairly strong. How can you account for this 1
— James Coalis, Tiverton - on - Avon, Se]>-
tembcr 9A.

Reply. — We should say that the bees had
deposed their old queens, and that the young
ones subsequently raised had not yet begun to
lay. It will be necessary, at this season, to
closely watch these hives, and see that there
are fertile queens in both before it is too late,
otherwise the stocks may be lost.

[1381.] Combs for Driven Bees. — I am short
of worker-combs for giving to condemned
driven bees. Shall I give one or two shallow
frames in the middle, and give sheets of
foundation in the spring? — A Welsh Reader,
September 29.

Reply. — If you have frames of worked-
out shallow-combs by all means winter the
bees on them. You can give full sheets of
foundation in standard frames in spring by
fitting up a body-box with these, and setting
it below the box of shallow frames in April or
May. The latter will eventually become a
surplus chamber, and may be removed as such
next season.

[1382.] Dealing ivith Foul Brood. — I have
seven stocks of bees, two in a Wells hive, and
five in single hives, one of which was very
weak and gave no surplus this year. From the
other six I obtained nearly 250 lb. of honey.
Two of the single hives are stocked with
hybrids, and a.s they are rather savage I
intend requeening with native queens. On
examination a few days ago I noticed in
two or three frames several cells with holes in
the capping, and the brood dead, also uncapped
cells, with half dry dead brood sticking to the
sides of cells. I can detect no bad smell from

Oct. 3, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

399

them. I had surplus-boxes of standard
frames on at the time, and entrances full open,
and thought that perhaps at night the bees had
clustered thickly in the warm super, and so
left some of the brood on the lower part of
frames uncovered and so chilled. I enclose a
piece of comb and shall be much obliged if you
will give your opinion on it, as to (1) whether
it is a first stage of foul brood or only chilled
brood. If the former is there any need to
destroy frames which were in super ? They are
new this year and only been used for honey.
(3) Had 1 better requeen hybrids now or wait
until spring (of course I should give fertilized
queens) I (4.) If now,hadI better feed slowly
to stimulate new queens, or simply pack up for
winter ? I have left sufficient stores for
winter, so they will not require feeding on that
account. — Bee-keeper.

Reply. — 1. The stock is affected with foul
brood of a rather bad type. 2. We should
melt the super-combs down and use the wax
got from them for household purposes only.
3. If the stocks referred to are so vicious as to
render requeening desirable, we should do it at
once. It is easier and more advantageous to
get fertile queens now than in spring. 4. If
food is right do no stimulating, but pack for
winter soon as convenient.

[1383.] Qucenless Stocks— Old Queen.— I
have three hives, queeuless, but fairly full of
bees. Also one hive with a very old queen.
Should I buy Liguarian 1895 queens, with
a pound or two of bees to unite to each of the
above ? And where could 1 buy really healthy
bees, and at what price ? For hive with old
queen would it be best to get aLigurian queen,
and introduce her now, or wait till spring to do
this ? I often think how useful it would be if
a travelling bee-expert could be started to
traverse the' country in autumn and spring
with bees, appliances, and to examine the hives
of lady bee-keepers like myself. There is no one
near who can help in the least, so I have to
do everything single-handed. 3. Is the
smoker advertised in Bee Journal as "Expert
Smoker" really worth buying, and do you
know if it allows both hands to be at liberty
as it professes ? — M. L.

Reply. — 1. Queens (Ligurian or otherwise)
should be given at once. A young queen
and bees as proposed might well be added to
the queenless stocks. For price refer to our
advertising columns. 2. Introduce a new
queen without delay. 3. As the smoker in
question, is cheap and highly recommended
by the maker, our correspondent had better
try it.

[1384.] Queen Bearing. — I should very
much like your opinion, through B.B. J., of a
hive I have just completed, and intended for
queen rearing. Inside dimensions are as fol-
lows : — 23] in. by 14| in. by 8i in. The body
box is divided into four, by three perforated
"dummies" ft in. thick. The lloor-board I

have not yet " sunk " for bee-ways, not being
satisfied as to whether it would be best to
make all four entrance? on one side, or one at
each end and two in front. 1. Do you think
it a feasible plan to work four nuclei together 1
2. Would perforated crown-boards with
quilts above — be better and safer to work with
than quilts alone ? 3. Will two entrances at
front and one at each end be more likely to
give better results than all four entrances at
front?— Tyro, Cumberland, September 30.

Reply. — 1. The plan proposed has been
tried before, but abandoned in favour of sepa-
rate nucleus boxes. 2. Quilts alone are most
suitable if the whole be covered with a sound
roof. 3. An entrance on each side would be
best.

[1385.] Clearing up Wet Combs after
Extracting. — 1. How do you get your combs
cleared by the bees after extracting without
setting the place in an uproar ? If you can
find room for details please do so. I have tried
placing the combs above the bees, with and
without excluder between ; with and without
quilts between ; with and without quilts over
all, and yet cannot succeed. They don't clear
up their own combs, but visit those of other
hives with the usual rowdy result. 2. How is
wax run into small moulds ! I melt a good
deal in the usual smelters, but don't see how
to manage filling the small mould without
waste of wax, time, and, I expect, patience. —
J. P. S., Penryn, September 22.

Reply. — 1. Wet combs for clearing-up
should be given to the bees after nightfall,
when, if all access to them from the outside is
carefully guarded against, there should be no
such result as named above. We do not
wonder at an uproar being caused if the tops
of wet comb3 are left exposed quiltless. The
smell of the honey through roof-ventilators
would cause it at once. 2. Pour the hot wax
into moulds, after slightly damping the latter,
and let it cool very gradually to prevent
cracking.

t§ j^to) to (Borne.

October 8, 9, 10, and 11.— Dairy show at the
Agricultural Hall, London. Liberal prizes in
five classes for honey. Open to all. Entries
closed.

October 19. — Lanarkshire B.K.A. annual
show of honey and bee appliances (appliances
open to all), in Public Hall, Larkhall. Also
general meeting of members same day at
5 p.m. Entries close October 12. Scheduels
from John Stevenson, secretary, Merryton
Braes, Larkhall, N.B.

400

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 3, 1895.

INSTKUCTION IN BEE-KEEPING.

A RUSSIAN METHOD.
SOMETHING LIKE A TRAVELLING BEE-VAN.

" The Acclimatisation Society of Moscow-
must," says Nature, '' be credited with more
than ordinary originality and ingenuity in its
efforts to improve the system of bee-keeping
in vogue among the Kussian peasants. Anti-
quated and unremnnerative methods of hive
management are still in general use in Russia,
and in order to diffuse a knowledge of the
more rational methods of modern apiarists the
society last year organised a travelling bee-
keeping exhibition upon a novel and, as it
proved, most successful plan. A barge, seventy
metres long and eight metres broad, was
procured and fitted up wTith a museum?, a
garden with trees and flower beds, hives of all
kinds, old and new, and a number of hives
with living bees ; there were also dwelling-
rooms for the travelling staff. The museum
contained examples of bee-keeping appliances
and products, together with a set of prepara-
tions illustrating the structure and life-history
of bees and their natural enemies. The staff
in charge of the exhibition consisted of
a practical bee-keeper, two entomologists,
and ten men-servants for the vessel. The
floating exhibition was towed down the
river out of Moscow by twenty horses,
ten on each bank ; and six towns and
about twenty villages were visited between the
old capital and the town Kaluga. The
travelling was done during the night. During
the day, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., a halt was
made at some town or village ; the objects in
the museum were explained to visitors by the
staff, and the methods of working the model
hives were demonstrated to the bee-keep- ,
ing country folk. The exhibition has worked
with great success. The great expense which
this interesting and instructive exhibition
demanded was most willingly defrayed by
Herr F. Motschalkin, who is himself an
enthusiastic bee-keeper." — (Communicated )

Notioesto Correspondents and inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertiseynents. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
jood of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
accessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
Kssue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
Immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

All queries forwxrded will bs attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

E. H. C. (Par Station, Cornwall).— Sainfoin
and Buck wheat). Any good seedsman will
supply seed of above with cultural direc-
tions. Write Carter & Sons, seed growers,
London, or Sutton & Sons, Reading.

North Yorks (Helmsley).— Italian Queens.
— 1. The queen sent is what is known as a

" leather-coloured " Italian. Though not so
attractive-looking as the " yellow " variety,
their progeny are often the best of workers.
2. There is no reason to suppose the queen
to be unfertile. 3. " Piping " in the cage
seldom occurs, but is simply the result of
the abnormal condition in which the queens
find themselves. 4. Doolittle's book can be
had by writing the author, G. M. Doolittle,
Borodino, Onon Co., N.Y., U.S A.

Jas. G. Godwin- (Withington). — Thanks for
sending the tin " end," which we will for-
ward to W. J. H., Norwich, as desired.

S. M. Hardy (Aldbrough). — Colour of Wax.
— The "' cappings " must have got soiled in
some way to yield wax of no brighter colour
than sample sent, unless the ''sooty" ap-
pearance is derived from melting in rain-
water. A little oil of vitriol — added when
melting — will improve the colour.

A. J. Moore (Newton Abbot). — Unripe
Honey. — The honey sent is so thin and
unripe as to be altogether unfit for keeping ;
in fact, it begins to show signs of fermenta-
tion already. Whenever honey is in that
condition the very thin portion should be
given back to the bees as food, and only the
bottom, or thick part, used as table honey.

S. Crawford (Lisnacloon).— Bee Books for
Retailing. — The books referred to may be
hadfromthis office (in dozens), with the usual
trade discount of 25 per cent, for cash
with order. We cannot say why you got
no reply to your letters, if addressed pro-
perly.

R. H. Clougii (Littleboro'.) Selling Combed
Sleeps. — The best way we know of is to
advertise them in our ': prepaid" column.

C. Hopkins. — Comb is affected with foul
brood ; destroy the combs, frames, and bees
at once, for the sake of the healthy stocks
adj oining.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Twelve wor&s, Sixpence; 'for every additional fhrte
words or under, One Penny.

QUEENS, Tested, '95 Natural raised. I have a few
more left, at 2s. each. Shall not keep them after
*"*" this week. A. J. Carter, Newflelds Apiary,

Billingshurst, Sussex.

FOR SALE,well bound " BRITISH BEE JOURNALS,"
1SS7, 18S8, 18S!), 1890, 1S91, in splendid condition.
Also, unbound, 1892, 1893, 1894. Wji. Kekne, Widford,
near Ware, Herts. J 62

BULBS from the Grower. Largest Yellow CROCUS,
White, Purple, each Is. Gd. 100 ; 7s. 500 ; Common,
Is. 100; Blue Scillas, Is. 6d. 100. 5s. orders carriage
free. W. Merchant, 2, Maldon-terrace, Foleshill-road,
Coventry. j 61

WANTED, SECTIONS and EXTRACTED HONEY.
Packages lent free to Bee-keepers and Associations.
Prompt cash. State lowest price, enclosing stamped
envelope, to Rev. W. Handcock, Hampton Hill, Middle-
sex.

Oct. 10, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

401

(Mtorial, $atim, fcu

USEFUL HINTS.

Weather. — It will require a good
memory and an old head to recall so
generally fine an autumn as we have
now passed through, the 'abnormally
high temperature for several weeks past
having been the subject of comment not
only in our home but in that of most
European countries and of America. The
" Heat Wave " — as it was termed —
extended far and wide, in this country
temperatures of 80 to 85 degrees in
the shade being recorded in many
places during the month of September.
Referring to the exceptional heat of that
month, the Standard says : —

There were twenty-two days at Greenwich
with a temperature of 70 deg. or above during
September, and, with the exception of 1865,
this has not been exceeded since 1841 ; but
the month just closed has the largest number
of days of any September with a temperature
of 80 deg. or above. During the past summer,
from April to September inclusive, there
were 100 days with a temperature of 70 deg.,
and this is the greatest number of warm days
since 1868, with the exception of 1893. There
were twenty -six days during the whole of the
six summer months with a temperature of
80 deg. The mean temperature in September
was 64 deg., which is as warm as any of the
preceding summer months, and the mean of
the highest day readings, 75*5 deg., was higher
than in any of the summer months. Both the
mean and the average maximum are higher
than in any September during the last half-
century, with the exception of 1865, when the
day readings and the mean were about 1 deg.
higher than in the month just closed. The
mean temperature for the whole of the summer,
from April to September, was 596 deg., which
is juet 1 deg. below the mean temperature of
the six summer months of 1893 ; but with this
exception it is the warmest summer since
1868, when the mean was 60'4 deg. The total
sunshine during September in London was
195 hours, which is about 15 hours less than in
August, but 20 hours more than in July.

It needs no saying that, for bees, the
autumn has been one of the most favour-
able within living memory. Wherever
nectar-yielding flowers grew honey has
been gathered right down to the last day
of September, on which day the long
period of moro than summer warmth
suddenly came to an end. The storm of
the 1st inst. brought not only " the wind

and the rain," but an abrupt lowering of
the temperature, which in some places
fell as much as 30 deg. in a few hours.
Since then we have had wet and cold
enough and to spare.

Strengthening ode Associations. — The
year is just out, and all concerned should
now be thinking how we can strengthen
the "British" and its affiliated County
Associations by the introduction of new
blood on the various committees and
councils. Members who have the well-
being of their associations at heart should
suggest the names of capable gentlemen
willing to serve. We think the idea
recently mooted in our columns — of
adding a representative for Scotland to
the B.B.K.A. — well worth consideration.
We ought to secure all the able entomo-
logists we can, provided, of ^course, that
they arc something more than mere
" ologists." Business men are wanted,
for unless our philanthropic associations
are conducted on business principles they
certainly won't prosper.

Winter Stores for Bees. — It may be
safely assumed that some readers will —
in spite of repeated warnings — be in
arrear with their bee-work, and be
hurrying up with syrup-making, only to
find the bees declining every inducement
to "cany it down." On this point we
agree with the bees. Watery syrup-food
is not only bad for their bodily health
to-day, but worse for their well-doing in
the future. The " big candy - cake "
alone must, therefore, be relied on for
making good any scarcity of stores found
after October sets in. We are asked,
" What weight of food is sufficient to
winter a stock of bees safely 1 " Well,
broadly speaking, 15 lbs. of stored food
in October will keep a big stock alive
till the end of March. But it should be
that weight nett, otherwise we should
make assurance doubly sure by giving a
3 lb. cake of candy in addition. Another
querist asks as to " equalising the food
in hives." Here again a word of caution
is needed. If all stocks are known to
be healthy, only all-round good can
result from taking superfluous combs of
food from hives over-supplied and giving
them to others known to be short of
stores; but there is so much of risk in
u interchanging " combs wherever the
slightest uncertainty as to foul brood
exists, that we hesitate to recommend it,

402

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 10, 1895.

just as we do the interchange of floor-
boards. " Once bitten, twice shy," should
be borne in mind by all who know what
foul brood is.

Eucalyptus Honey and Foul Brood. —
A correspondent sends a cutting from
" Rural Notes " in the Liverpool Mercury,
which reads as under : —

In Mr. Smith's (Queensland) notes last
week it will be noticed he remarks there is
no foul brood amongst bees in that country,
but it is a great pest in all other parts of the
world. "Why this should be will, no doubt,
be a matter which some have considered since
readiog the note in question. I am of opinion
it is owing to their being so much associated
with the eucalyptus. From what Mr. Smith
says, the composition of the combs, as well as
a great deal of the honey that goes into them,
must be largely composed of eucalyptus. As
yet the eucalyptus honey is not very well
known in England, but the liquid extracts of
eucalyptus, as sold by chemists, is well known,
and it has now taken a foremost place as a
disinfectant, disease preventer, and sanitary
agent. Its properties combat foulness in all
forms, and I have come fully to the opinion
that it is the use the bee3 in Queensland make
of the eucalyptus flowers that enables Mr.
Smith to assert that foul brood is unknown in
the country of his adoption.

We should only be too pleased to receive
confirmation of the above evidence as to
the value of eucalyptus for the piirpose
referred to, and will endeavour to obtain
information on the point from Australia.
We have ye't to learn, however, that
foul brood is unknown in the country of
his (Mr. Smith's) adoption, having very
reliable evidence to the contrary.

Bee-keeping and the Press. — We are
again pleased to acknowledge the valuable
help rendered to our pursuit by the
numerous and frequent allusions to bee-
keeping, its usefulness and its delusive-
ness, its pleasures and its pains. We
make this acknowledgment, notwith-
standing the fact that — as we think —
more prominence is given to the " kicks "
than to the " ha'pence," seeing that it
does good to have the "craft" talked
about. And if a bee-keepiDg corre-
spondent of the " papers " — who is so
lacking in ordinary business capacity as
to sit down with his bee produce on his
hands, and complain of inability to turn
it into cash — if, as we say, this individual
gets more prominence for his "wail"
than is given to the assurances of those
who can sell their honey, we must con-

tent ourselves with knowing that things
will come right in the end. It is, how-
ever, none the less true that the reverend
correspondent of the Standard, who could
" find no market whatever " for his
honey (60 lb. or 70 lb. in all), has had
his statement repeated in the Press all
over the kingdom ; while the equally
definite assurance that another clergyman
— of whom it was stated a couple of days
later in the same paper that he had " not
the smallest difficulty is disposing of his
crop (1,350 lb. !) at top prices " — has
been allowed to pass unnoticed. This is
scarcely fair.

It is hardly worth noting with what
eagerness certain of the daily papers seize
upon the " Fatality " scare in connection
with bees. " Death through a bee-
sting " is a familiar heading to para-
graphs where, in the vast majority of the
cases quoted, death occurs from causes
apart from the bee or its sting at all.
Another " line " taken by the bee para-
graphist deals with the scientific and
useful purposes the poor bee may be
trained to accomplish. The Daily Tele-
graph says : —

Englishmen are determined to be thoroughly
prepared for the next great war, as far, at all
events, as the Intelligence Department is con-
cerned. Not content with balloons and pigeons,
they intend to enlist as letter-carriers the
humble, industrious, and swift-flying bee. An
apiculturist has already commenced their
training. After a few preliminary trials he
says he took a hive of them to the house of a
friend four miles distant. After some days,
when the bees had become familiar with their
new surroundings, some of them were liberated
in a room, where they soon settled on a plate
of honey which had been specially prepared for
them. While they were busy eating it, their
trainer placed on their backs the tiniest of de-
spatches, fastened with the thinnest of thread,
and so arranged them as to leave the head and
wings absolutely free. They were then thrown
into the air, and soon arrived at their home
with the letters on their backs. The writing
was magnified and quite legible. Here, then,
is an opening for a new industry. In the time
of war bees would have the advantage over
pigeons of invisibility, and might go through
the enemy's lines with impunity. Whether
they would resist the temptation of a luscious
flower on the road is another thing. The
apiculturist who discovered the new letter-
carrier is a genius.

We could go on proclaiming our in-
debtedness to the Press for rendering such
kindly help to apiculture in the way of

Oct. 10, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

403

"free ads.," not forgetting the many
" dailies " and " weeklies " which regu-
larly include a "Bee-Column" in their
pages. Bat we will conclude by offering
a " hint " to the editor of one journal in
the Midlands— who "cultivates" bees in
his paper in this way — by way of remarking
that, in a recent article on " Observatory
Hives," he slightly confuses his readers
by an illustration in which the hive is
shown standing on its head !

WEST CALDER AND DISTRICT B.K.A.

This Association, which was started in the
Bpring of this year, held its first annual show on
Saturday last, and, notwithstanding the back-
ward season, a pretty fair competition took
place. The exhibits being uniformly good,
the judge had some difficulty in giving his
awards, which were as follows : —

Top-Box of Flower Honey. — 1st, James
Gilbey, East Calder.

Top Box of Heather Honey. — 1st, Wm.
Kay ; 2nd, Alex. Walker ; 3rd, Jas. Gibson, all
of New-park.

Ten \-lb. Sections. — 1st, Alex. Greenhorn ;
2nd, Wm. Gowans ; 3rd, R. M. Cormachie.

Ten 1-lb. Sections Heather Honey. — 1st,
Walter Wate ; 2nd, R. M. Cormachie ; 3rd,
Alex. Hall.

Six 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, Alex.
Greenhorn ; 2nd, Alex. Hall ; 3rd, Jos. Michell.
— Communicated,

tyormpnknit.

The Bditorg do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. Wt
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <bc. , must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[2220.] Once more October's sombre tints
are visible on the foliage in the distant wood
as I write, and the long-continued summer
weather has broken up. To-day we are having
heavy rain, which at the rate of the past
twenty-four hours will soon supply the 5 in.
deficiency our meteorologists say we lack as
compared with ordinary seasons.

Disposing of the honey crop with some bee-
keepers seems to become a more difficult job

as the years roll by. I have had many in-
quiries this year for a market for honey, and
am sorry to say I have not been able to be of
much service to inquiring friends. I consider
the most important point is to hold your cus-
tomers after you have secured an order. Prac-
tical experience tells me how difficult this is
in some cases, especially in places where an
abatement of 6d. in the dozen will secure an
order for the new producer, as against the old
supply. Where the seller has only a few
dozen sections or bottles to dispose of from his
few hives, the reduction does not make much
difference ; but where a large number of sec-
tions are put on the market, 6s. or 12s. in a
'gross makes a considerable alteration in the
" tot-up." This is why I would like to see "a
Price Current" in our Journal at least
every fortnight, so that bee-keepers in
the country would know the state of the
market. The association agencies are
a step in the right direction, as is the
" county label '' ; but what service are a few
agents with so large a supply ? Again, honey
in sections is liable to deteriorate considerably
in damp weather, especially unprotected honey,
and in very cold weather from crystallisation.
Here is a distinct loss to the trader who has
been induced to buy a larger quantity than
he has immediate sale for. These items of
" loss and deterioration " have a twofold effect
on the future sales of our commodity, because
the retailer buys sparingly, and his customer,
remembering the poor quality of a previous
purchase, is shy of buying again, consequently
sales drop off. This subject ought to engage
the serious attention of bee-keepers. Many
people— other than bee-keepers— do not care
what becomes of their produce after it is
delivered to the buyer. But is this a likely
way of keeping up a connection and securing
future orders ? 1 should say certainly not. I
want to put my comb honey into my customers'
hands so that they shall secure a growing
trade in honey, and in such condition that
their customers shall state a preference for my
brand of comb or run honey when ordering
another supply.

Cleaning up Combs. — The super-clearer
forms a capital platform on which to stand a
box of combs— after extracting— for the bees
to clean up. Lay your quilt on the frames
with the feed-hole left open; take the " escape "
out of the board, place the latter on the hive
and the box of frames for cleaning up on the
board, wrap carefully so that no bees can get
in from the top. The bees will clean the combs
dry ready for packing away. When putting
them away place a couple of lumps of naphtha-
line and wrap in a sheet of paper, and store in
a dry place.

Referring to the word polyphagon (219(5,
p. 383), ought not this word to have been
printed polytiagon (many bottles) 1 If Mr. W.
intended it as a new word to express many
eaters, from palus (many), and phagvs (eater),
the rapid feeders hitherto in use should b<?

404

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 10, 1895.

dubbed polyphagons rather than the inverted
bottles on a board, seeing that the six 1-lb.
bottles (even wide-mouth Breffit's tie-over
squat jars) will not enable so many bees to
feed at one time as the rapid Canadian-feeder
shown in B.B.J, advertising pages. In all my
feeding of bees I have never had a rapid feeder.
My feeders (and they are many) are made from
the 3-lb. jam bottle to the 1-lb. tie-over jar.
I do no tying of muslin over mouths. Cut a
piece of zinc or tin half an inch wider than
the mouth of the jar; turn J in. back on
each side so that the turned edges will clip
over the mouth of your jar, punch some small
holes, cut a hole in a piece of wood and insert
your bottle of syrup over feed hole of quilt,
wrap up so that bees and wasps cannot get to
the bottle. Of course the thick lips ot the jam
jars will want f inch to an inch to turn back
to clip their mouths securely (this is one of my
wrinkles how I make it pay).

Referring to " F. B." and the introduction
of queens from foul-broody colonies, E. R.
Root says in Gleanings (page 709), " A few
years ago, when the disease raged with us so
badly, I took at different times queens from a
dozen badly-affected stocks and gave them to
healthy ones. These remained healthy in
every case." He then goes on to say that
Cheshire saw, or thinks he saw, foul-brood
germs in the ovary of the queen. In Review
for September, p. 256, Hon. R. L. Taylor,
Michigan's State apiarist, at his experimental
apiary, says, " I took a queen from a colony
affected with foul brood of the worst descrip-
tion, and the case was of such a serious
nature that at least one-half the brood
was dead. This was on April 20, the queen
was caged, and placed in a healthy colony.
This colony was strong and apparently
in excellent condition, except that it was
queenless. In thirty-six hours the queen was
released, and accepted by the bees, and began
to deposit eggs within a few hours. The
colony prospered better than the average of
the colonies in the apiary. It has been care-
fully examined at divers times for any appear-
ance of foul brood, but up to the present time
no indication of the disease can be discovered.''
I beg to thank Mr. Scattergood for the fuller
information on the queen-cage. If he has had
the handling of many queens, he will admit
how prone they are to slip into any pop-
hole in the combs, and I have had them this
season run out of a cage over my hand and
back into the cage again. I read a description
of ihe "Brice" cage when it appeared (illus-
trated), and was under the impression that the
bees did the final release themselves ; there-
fore, my premises that the queen may have
returned to the cage of her own free will, or
being near to the cage when Mr. Scattergood
opened the hive, slipped in out of the way, was
not very " far-fetched," or not more so than
that teas carry eggs — presumably deposited
by the queer. — through the wire cloth oa the
mandibles (or in the pollen baskets!) of the

workers — for the purpose of depositing in the
cells. If these workers had set about construct-
ing queen cells around these transmitted eggs,
that would have been another point in favour
of the carrying if these identical cells were
carefully watched to development. Or may
not these eggs, after all, have been the pro-
duction of a fertile worker bee 1 " More light,"
said the dying Goethe. Turn on the search-
light, says W. Woodley, Bcedon, Newbury.

REMARKABLE LONGEVITY OF
DRONES.

[2221.] In several counties, especially in the
south, there is a particular sort of drone that
survives the severest winters, and, so far as I
have observed, they far exceed in longevity
the life of the queen. Your able correspon-
dent from Thornton Heath may find it worth
while to devote his attention to this singular
and hitherto unreported circumstance, so as to
corroborate my observation. They are cer-
tainly found in Kent, Surrey, Middlesex, and
Essex, but so far none have been remarked
this year in either Herts or Sussex — i e , J have
not observed any. No doubt some of your
readers will remark, as I have done, that
though these drones do not exist in large
numbers, they have a most disastrous and
depressing effect on the workers. Were their
places supplied by good workers, I am sure the
best results would follow. Will you kindly
iuforni me how they can be ejected ? I
name them "typical'' drones (Typicalis)
because their activities are wholly confined to
figuring in " Type." The workers do not seem
to have the power of turning them out. —
T. D. Elliott, September 5.

P.S. — Since writing the foregoing, I learn
that specimens of Typicalis <? were observed in
Hertfordshire many years ago, but for some
reason " fighting " was set up, " dwindling "
then followed, and finally they disappeared.
Hertfordshire bee-keepers should take care, or
they will reintroduce the nuisance. If county
B.K.A. members are in any doubt as to the
character of supposed workers, let them send
full description to 17. King William- street,
and obtain a reliable opinion. I quite believe
I shall discover a female — a real specimen of
Typicalis $, they are, however, much rarer
than the males, but I know there are female
drones— even tbough "II. W. B.," or you,
Messrs. Editors, may discredit my assertion. —
T. D.E.

A NEW FEEDER.

[2222.] I was pleased to see that someone
besides myself had found golden syrup tins
useful for feeders. But "A Worker" gives
himself a lot of work which might deter many
from adopting them in the way described on
page 300. I use the tins in a much more
simple way and find them very useful. When

Oct. 10, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

405

wanting a slow-feeder I prick a very small
hole in the bottom of tin so that the syrup
will drop very slowly or only just ooze out,
and enlarge the hole if I want to feed rapidly.
It can be made a fast or slow feeder by a tap
of the hammer to lessen size of hole, or enlarge
a little with bradawl or point of pocket-knife.
There is thus no changing tins, but just lift
lid, and put in what syrup you think necessary.
They can be easily moved about, too, from one
point to another on hive by making a small
hole in any position you wish, and if one uses
impervious quilts it is easy to fold down a
small square or open it again.

Speaking of impervious quilts, I use a
material which I have never seen mentioned
by any writer on quilts. I mean the "patterns "
of linoleums, &c, which are sent out to large
furnishing houses. They are printed in oils
on a stiff brown paper, and answer admirably.

They can generally be had from these houses
for nothing after the patterns have gone out of
date. They vary in size, some as large as
20 in. by 17 in., and, as the cost is trifling,
can be renewed on becoming sticky with
propolis. In my opinion they are equally
good as American cloth. — G. C. Lyon,
Hastings.

AN ASSOCIATION FOR HERTS.

AN ANSWER WANTED.

[2223.] Referring to my letter in your issue
of September 20 (2202, p. 315), I do not see
any reply as to the work and membership of
the Bishops Stortford B.K.A. — as asked for
by me — nor from "Amateur Expert," as to
how many bee-clubs he has started and kept
going ? I thoroughly agree with your Eyns-
ford correspondent in declaring that "Amateur
Expert's " letter is mischievous. I could use a
stronger word. The above are straight ques-
tions, and your readers look for a plain
answer.— A. Prior, October 5.

THE AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST
TABLE.

[2224.] Once a week "as regular as clock-
work," my faithful friend arrives with a post-
man's rap. He usually comes in time for
breakfast. If downstairs, I welcome him at
the door ; if not, my servant takes him to the
breakfast-room to await me. He is so full of
information, and always so communicative,
that I anticipate his visits with ever-increasing
pleasure. My best attentions are accorded
him, and he ever takes priority of other
visitors. The Times lies neglected whenever
he is at our board, and letters, even though
addressed in a lady's hand, remain unopened
on the table. With a quick incisive movement
of the band, I bid him " take off his coat,'' and
at once set him at liberty to begin our inter-
course ; an intercourse so absorbing that our
attention is completely diverted from all that

is moving around. Perhap3 a voice of entreaty
reminds me that I " have cut no bread " for the
hostess ; and when a storm seems brewing
from behind the teapot, our intercourse sutlers
a momentary interruption, only, however, to
recommence with ever-increasing earnestness.
I fear the duties as head of the table are some-
times neglected, but did you know the charm
which my companion carries into all society,
considerateness would acquit me of blame.

A voice from behind the teapot, remonstrant
in its tones, urges me to eat the toothsome
" rasher " ere it gets cold ; my friend is then
under compulsion, as it were, to " shut-up " in
order that I may " save my bacon." I have
not ventured to guess your riddle of last week
■ — can you guess mine ? Who is my friend and
what is his name, and on what day does he
come ? Perhaps you m iy think this a jeu
d'esprit, but 1 assure you I write in all
seriousness. — B. South, October 4.

SELLING HONEY.

[2225.] I take the liberty of sending you
a photo of our stand of honey and bee appli-
ances, just as we have shown at five of our
local flower shows. Visitors seem interested
in examining the same, and our interest has,
of course, been centred in selling the honey
to them. We have taken 430 lbs. from seven
hives, two of them being swarms I bought, not
having had any swarms ourselves. I might
say that we (my son and I) have learnt a great
deal from the B.B.J. AVe use the smoker
and carbolic cloth, and neither of us got stung
at all during the whole of this summer. We
have built a bee-proof house, in which is kept
all the bee tackle ; and here we do the ex-
tracting and bottling up. A large cupboard
wherein we keep different appliances is also
most useful, and I strongly recommend such a
place in every bee-house. — R. I., Rochester,
October 3.

[Many thanks for photo and above letter,
which serves to show how bee-keepers may, by
the exercise of a little of the business tact
employed in every-day affairs, create a market
for their bee-produce. — Eos ]

POST ENTRIES.

IN CONNECTION WITH " THE TLOT.''

[2220.] With reference to your appeal on
page 392, headed " Bread Cast Upon the
Waters," you do not seem willing to wait
" many days " for the " bread." Surely " post
entries " are possible, or your foreign friends
will feel hurt. Remember that your corre-
spondents are not all within the narrow limits
of our inland postal area, and it will be as
impossible for your contributor in Minorca,
as for the other friends in the Argentine, Syria,
Egypt, South Africa, Australia, and New
Zealand to get a pot of honey over in less
than a week ! But the honey will toddle in

406

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 10, 1895.

from all seven correspondents if you only give
them time. Besides, you will probably get a
letter from each, which will please us readers
of the B.B.J. Ask that the bottles may be
labelled with the name of the plants from
which the bees are supposed to get the honey.
I am curious, rather, to taste Minorca sainfoin
honey, and to compare it with my own. I
have not observed any letters in your Journal
from either Tasmania, Japan, or British
Columbia, which is to be regretted. — A.
Beille, October 4.

BKAULA CCEOA.

[2227.] I rememher assisting you in pro-
curing a number of bees, with the parasite
attached, twelve months ago, for one of your
correspondents at Newmarket, under promise
by him to contribute a paper on the parasite
for the B.B.J. Your reference to the subject,
September 26 (1373), reminds me of this pro-
mised paper. When is it to be published ? A
good one would be most helpful. — E. D. Till,
October 4.

[If the above reminder meets the eye of the
correspondent referred to, we may, perhaps,
hear from him on the subject. — Eds.]

FEEDING UP DRIVEN BEES.

[2228.] Referring to the difficulty in feeding
up driven bees, I have this year fed up twelve
stocks without any trouble whatever and the
queens have gone on breeding all the time. I
make my own feeders the same as the
"Canadian" but without partitions, simply
using a square box with a partition behind to
form a place wherein to pour the syrup, and a
wood perforated float with glass cover. I have
not had a single bee drowned or experienced
an upset of any kind.— C. Rayner, Great
Horksley, October 1st.

Qntxm m& Jkjfc

[1386.] Queen Cast Out— I had the misfor-
tune to lose the queen of one of my hives, and
the bees hatched a new one ; but from what I
had read in your excellent journal I resolved
to introduce a fertile queen. I therefore sent
for a swarm with tested '95 queen. I received
them and, after removing young queen and
sprinkling all the bees with peppermint and
warm water, I united them very successfully.
There were about 100 dead bees amongst the
swarm which had died during the journey.
They were very calm and have worked well,
gathering both honey and pollen, but to-night
(September 30) on arriving home I had handed
me the enclosed queen, which evidently had
beer, brought; out of the hive this afternoon-

It appears to me to be in an advanced stage of
decomposition. I should be very thankful if
you will give me your opinion as to what has
been the cause of its death, and also what you
would advise me to do under the circumstances.
I am only a beginner, and am anxious to have
them in prime condition. — Richard Brierley,
jun., Preston, September 30.

Reply. — Queen sent is not the young queen
at all, which latter we expect will be in the
hive all right. We should judge the queen
sent to have been cast out of the hive many
weeks ago.

[1387.] Dealing with Foul Brood in Autumn.
— A hive very strong in bees is badly affected
with foul brood, five frames being almost
nothing but sheets of the disease. A mode of
curing is given in your issue of June 6 last
(p. 221), in which it is strongly advised that
no cure should be attempted except on a hive
well stocked with bees. I would feel obliged
for your advice whether it would be better to
destroy the lot, bees included, or attempt a
cure as referred to. My own idea is that it is
too late in the season to try to cure them. — An
Irish Bee-Keeper, Cork.

Reply. — The best and only safe course is
to burn bees, combs, and frames at once, and
so put them out of the way of doing harm for
all time. It would only be waste of time and
trouble to attempt a cure in such a case at this

[1388.] A Legal Query— Who Pays?— A.
bee-man sells 2 cwt. of honey to a shopkeeper,
who dies, and his estate goes into
Chancery. How does " Beeman " know when
Chancery settles matters, and where does he
look for payment ? No solicitor is employed,
nor will be, otherwise the " sweetness '' of the
honey will be totally lost. I should also say
the estate was placed in Chancery, not because
of want of assets, but of family quarrels. —
Ajax, October 5.

Reply. — The above query is so entirely out-
side, and apart from, " bee-keeping," that we
are not even ashamed to confess our entire
ignorance regarding it. Perhaps some reader,
more learned in such matters than ourselves,
will furnish the information asked.

[1389.] Amount of Food for Winter.—
Burnt Honey as Bee Food. — I have fed my
bees on Tate's No. 1 Cube-Sugar, giving
10 lb. of sugar to each hive, and adding two
quarts of water according to Guide Book. 1.
Is this enough to carry them through the
winter, and when would they require feeding
again ? 2. The sample of honey sent is some
that I put in the oven to run as it had got
granulated, and when reached out the wax
had mixed with it. Would this do to give to
the bees now ? I might say they are driven
bees put on combs {draivn out, of course). —
Novis, Stourbridge, October 7.

Reply.— I. Supposing the bees to have had

Oct. 10, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

407

some stores on hand when feeding began, the
amount of syrup given will suffice for the
winter. 2. Honey sent has been burnt in
melting, and is quite unfit for bee-food in its
present condition.

[1390.] Experience with a " Wells" Hive —
I have had a very curious experience with a
" Wells " hive. About a fortnight ago I
found all the bees were on the one side of the
division board. I took it for granted that one
of the queens was dead, but on examination I
found the two queens in the same brood-
nest on neighbouring combs. As the bees
were very strong. I put the queen (injudiciously
as it turned out), which was nearest the
division board in the empty compartment of
the hive with her quota of brood and bees.
Next day I found all the bees had joined her
and were on the same side, but I could only
find one queen. Making a more careful search
the following day I could find no queen at all.
On examining the hive to-day, after an absence
from home, 1 have found a queen- cell sealed
up, and three or four dro?tc-cells with raised
seals, but rather small, and a little worker-
brood, probably near hatching. There can be,
I suppose, no doubt that the hive is queenless.
Do you think it possible for the bees to raise a
fertile queen, and would you advise me to
allow them to try, or should 1, whilst there is
yet time, unite to adjoining stocks? — T. B. G.

Reply. — By all means unite the bees to
another stock, unless you can procure a fertile
queen to give them. It is quite useless
attempting to raise queens at this late season.

<& thm from the pots.

Aberdeen, September 31. — I have pleasure in
stating that my quadruple hive has this year
yielded me close on a total of 200 lb. This I
consider very good, when compared with my
single hives, which have been very poor indeed.
— Wm. Morrison.

WEATHER REPORT.

Westboubne, Sussex, September, 1895.

Rainfall, 92 in.

Heaviest fall, "75 on
24th.

Rain fell on 6 days.

Average, T07

Maximum Tempera-
ture, 75 on 24th.

Minimum Tempera-
ture, 40 on 17th.

Minimum on Grass,
31 on 17th.

Frosty Nights.

Sunshine, 248 '8 hours.

Brightest Day, 5th,

11'50 hours.
Sunless Days, 0.
Above Average, 83'9

hours.
Mn. Maximum, 67*5°.
Mn. Minimum, 50-5°.
Mn. Temperature, 59°.
Maximum Barometer,

30-38° on 21st.
Minimum Barometer,

29-85° on 11th.

L, B. BlRKETT,

BEES OBEDIENT TO TRAINING.

A REMINISCENCE OF WILDMAN.

Though it is customary in many rural dis-
tricts of England, when bees are swarming, to
make a clanging noise with metal implements
under the impression — an erroneous one, we
believe — that it will induce the swarm to
settle, it is not generally supposed that bees
are susceptible of being trained to obey in
many respects the orders of their teacher.
Such, however, is the fact, and an instance
of it occurs in the following advertisement
which we have copied from an old newspaper.
We will give it as we find it, but it is not very
clear what locality is meant by " their proper
places'' : —

"At the Jubilee Gardens, Dobney's, 1772.
Daniel Wildman rides, standing upright, one
foot on the saddle and the other on the horse's
neck, with a curious mask of bees on his face.
He also rides, standing upright on the saddle,
with the bridle in his mouth, and by firing a
pistol makes one part of the bees march over
a table, and the other part swarm in the air,
and return to their proper places again,"-—
From " Ten Thousand Wonderful Things."

THE BEES FOR THE HARVEST.
Bead at the Indiana State Bcc-kcepcrs' Con-
vention.

BY FRANK BENTON.

In colder portions of our country each
colony of bees as ordinarily brought through
the winter will be found during its early
spring flights to contain only a small part of
the adult workers necessary to take fair advan-
tage of any honey-yield that is to follow. If
an important honey-flow occurs early in the
season it is impossible to secure the full advan-
tage of it. The bees to gather the honey are
lacking.

The young workers do not normally, even
thoucjh honey be plentiful in the flowers, enter
the field as gatherers before they are about
two weeks old ; adding to this the three weeks
required for the development from the laying
of the egg to the appearance of the imago or
perfect insect, we see that all eggs to produce
workers for a given harvest must be laid five
weeks before the harvest begins. But as the
amount of brood which may be developed at
one time in a hive is to a great extent limited,
not alone by the fecundity of the queen, but
also by the supply of food, the number of bees
to cover the brood, and the temperature about
the brood-nest, it is evident that the five
weeks required to get one generation of bees
ready for the field will not suffice to render
the hive suitable populous for a given harvest.
It is not at all difficult to have queens whose
fecundity is even greater than the ability, early
in the spring, of any colony to care for their
eggs and developing larvae and pupa-. N^r

408

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 10, 1895.

•will the careful bee-keeper neglect the second
point mentioned, and let the colony lack for
food. But the other conditions which limit
the increase of population are not so easy to
meet. We may house our bees or pack
warmth-retaining material about the brood-
nests so as to keep the temperature moderately
warm and as even as possible, and may thus
favour brood-rearing. But we find practically
that the only way to secure the desired number
of bees in each hive for a given harvest is to
see that brood-rearing is going on at a rapid
rate some time previous to the five weeks'
limit noted. In other words, three weeks or
more must be added to this period in order to
produce workers in sufficient numbers to care
for the main brood which is to develop into
the field-bees for the given harvest. Thus our
hives, all of which contain at the openiDg of
the spring comparatively few bees besides
those which went into winter quarters, and
which, therefore, are too old to avail much as
gatherers, must, in proportion to the bees they
contain, be well stocked with brood eight or
ten weeks before the opening of the honey-
flow. Moreover, the brood-rearing should be
kept up without interruption as long as it is
expected that the workers can be utilised in
the given flow.

White clover being, in our middle latitudes,
an important yield which usually begins early
in June, it follows from the above that our
hives must be well stocked with brood toward
the end of March. It has been argued by
many, whose experience it has always seemed
to me should have taught them better, that
early brood rearing was disadvantageous. Some
— perhaps merely for the sake of the notoriety
to be gained by being quoted as differing from
the majority — have even gone so far as to say
that brood-rearing should not be begun before
May 1 in our northern States. It is plain,
from the facts stated above, that such a plan
could only contemplate the securing of a crop
of honey in July or later, and would lead to a
great disappointment in localities whose main
honey flow comes earlier, and where no mid-
summer or fall yield occurs. But in most
localities in these States there are, aside from
these later yields, usually two good honey
flow3 before midsummer— namely, that from
fruit blossoms and that from white clover just
mentioned ; while in some places a third yield
is added — that from tulip trees (Liriodendron
tulipifera), called in some localities poplar, and
in others whitewood trees. Where these occur
there is no reason why the full advantage from
all of them should not be taken, yet I venture
that not one bee-keeper in twenty realises how
far he is from fully utilising these early honey
flows, especially that from fruit-bloom. When
we are obliged to take time, after the middle
or latter part of April, to develop strength in
a colony in order to have it ready for a harvest,
the early honey flow passe3 with no return
beyond what it furnishes toward building up.

Successful wintering is, then, the first essen-
tial toward securing the full advantage from
an early honey yield ; and by successful win-
tering I mean that the colonies ought to reach
the earlier honey yield in condition to take
full advantage of it — i e., in such condition as
regards numbers and health as they are ordi-
narily found after this early yield has passed.

Let us see what course Nature pursues in
preparing her willing subjects, the honey-bees,
to pass successfully the ordeal of winter and
enter upon a season of prosperity. Perhaps we
can profit by imitating the platfs of the ancient
dame, who is supposed to have been wise even
in the long-ago ages when our remotest
ancestors were but inert molecules.

As a matter of fact, strong colonies of bees
located in hollow trees, or in log gums, or in
box hives, and whose combs are theiefore
undisturbed in their natural arrangement, if
well provisioned, and so constructed as to be
fairly protected from extremes of weather, to
permit the escape of surplus moisture, while at
the same time retaining during the colder
portions of the year as much as possible of the
natural heat generated by the bodies of the
bees, are, barring natural accidents or pro-
visions having no connection with the above-
named conditions, ahvays in excellent condition
on the opening of spring, and ready to fulfil
the double work for which they were created,
namely : 1st, the pollenising of blossoms, to
the end that more and better fruits and seeds
should be borne ; and, 2nd, the collection and
elaboration of a valuable sweet. I say ahvays
in excellent condition, for, if the conditions
named above are present, the colony will with-
stand our coldest winters without freezing ;
nor Avill it starve if well provisioned, for that
implies an abundance of good stores suitably
disposed for the bees to reach them during any
kind of weather ; nor will inclement weather
cause the colony to become diseased as long as
the bees and their habitation are dry. Colonies
in frame-hives can be put into practically the
same condition as those box-hive colonies I
have taken as examples above. Indeed, if we
fully understand those conditions, we can be
more sure with frame than with box hives
that they are uniformly and exactly complied
with.

Some one might argue that, even when the
preparation of the bees for their most trying
season is left wholly to Nature, such conditions
are not always established by our good mother
as to most favour the bees. They die. Ad-
mitted. Yet this by no means controverts
what I have just claimed, for Nature, in
working out her laws, purposely sets certain
destructive forces over against our protegees.
She looks well to all her creatures, and only
exceptional merit will cause her to let one
kind flourish to the exclusion of others — so
nicely is the balance adjusted. And if no
checks had been provided the bees would soon
have overrun all.

Oct. 10, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

409

Perhaps a study of these same natural
agencies which are set as a limit to bee- life
will also be a good lesson — will show us what
we must fight constantly, and what to avoid.
In a state of nature we find colonies that go
into winter with queens decrepit — either pre-
maturely or after years of good service,
rendering them unable at the most critical
period — late winter and early spring — to keep
up the population of the hive, or, again,
repeated swarming may have unduly reduced
their numbers. Such weak colonies may not
be able to keep up sufficient heat to drive off
the moisture surrounding the cluster ; it
gathers and trickles down over the combs and
bees, rendering their food sour and themselves
unable to withstand a low temperature. The
soured food is sure to bring on dysentery if
the bees are confined to it for any length of
time, or the dampness of the bees themselves,
combined with chilling of their bodies, will
produce the same effect. Or, again, an un-
favourable season has prevented their securing
an abundance of stores, or what they may
have obtained is perhaps not so located that
severe weather will find them able to reach it.
Or the bees may have failed to find the most
suitable habitation, such as would properly
protect them from inclement weather, and
permit evaporation without great loss of heat,
yet give them pure air. All such causes,
unaided by man, combine to exterminate
thousands upon thousands of colonies every
winter. A man, with his interference in the
brood-chamber Of the colony, and in the sur-
rounding conditions, is often another destruc-
tive agency.

I cannot give here at length the details as
to the plan of wintering which has resulted
from the foregoing considerations, together
with my success and failures of over a quarter
of a century— much of the time in very cold
climates. The principle is, however, simple,
and all who will may apply it. Indeed, it is
nothing but what all have been trying to do —
namely, to keep the bees warm and dry,
furnish them with good food always accessible,
and with pure air. This can be carried out
either indoors or outdoors, but cellar wintering,
or wintering in special repositories, introduces
into the problem the possibility of complica-
tions, and for the majority, therefore, I feel
sure the outdoor plan is the best. For the
North, however, all of the ordinary single-
walled hives are, for this purpose, an abomina-
tion, and not to be tolerated at all. Most of
the double-walled hives should be put in a
category near to those just mentioned.

The brood-combs upon which the bees are
to be wintered, and which contain the winter
stores, should be surrounded closely on all
sides, above and below, with six or more
inches (according to severity of climate) of
porous, yet warmth-retaining, material — woollen
goods and newspapers are best. There must
be several inches of space between the material

that is over the bees and the roof of the hive,
and this space must be freely ventilated ; but
not a drop of water must be allowed to reach
the packing from outside the hive ; the combs
must be six or more inches above the bottom
packing ; the entrance or flight-hole must be
wide, so as to give ample lower ventilation,
and, where it reaches the alighting-board,
preferably 10 in. below the bottoms of the
combs ; between the latter and the flight-hole
there should be a screen, to prevent draughts
of air from rushing against the combs ; the
food should be well-ripened honey or properly-
made syrup, and either case a plentiful supply
— stored mostly above the cluster of bees.
Hence if frames of the Langstroth shape are
used, they should be on end for the winter.
It is best to have a good supply of pollen in
the combs. Vigorous queens and plenty of
bees bred the latter part of the active season
are essential. The colony is to be put into
this condition before severe freezing, and not
disturbed after that, if the best results are
expected, until settled and moderately-warm
spring weather has returned.

As the apple-blooni comes in May, stimula-
tive feeding for this harvest may commence in
March. At that time the bees will have been
breeding for over a month, and gentle stimu-
lation with thin food at night, without
permitting any loss of heat, and without
manipulation or disturbance, will not induce
flying out during unseasonable weather. The
stores in the combs being ample, brood-rearing
will go on apace, and apple-blossoms will find
the bees ready for the harvest.

BEE CULTURE IN FRANCE.
In a recent number of Lc Figaro an interest-
ing account of the thirteenth exhibition of La
Society dAgriculture et d'Insectologie in the
Palm House of the Jardin d'Acclimatation in
Paris, is given over the signature Guy Tomel.
The writer estimates the number of bee masters
in France at about 10,000, and these are
mostly to be found on La Beauce — a vast
tract of prairie lying between Paris and
Orleans, where the best wheat raised in France
is grown — and in the Gatinais (Loiret), where
as many as 800 hives are held by a single pro-
prietor. It is said that last year a bee master
of La Beauce sold the honey he had obtained
from his hives for .20,000 francs, not
counting the value of the wax. Next in
importance are the Bretons and bee-keepers
of the Landes near Bordeaux. As for
Narbonne honey, strictly speaking, there is
now little or none of it to be had collected
round Narbonne (Aude), in consequence of
the dearth of labiate plants which gave to
the old Narbonne honey its character. The
best and finest-flavoured honey now comes
from Savoy, but the quantity is limited, owing,
as the writer says, to the bees having a habit

410

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 10, 1895.

of only visiting one variety of flower during
their day's work, so that if they happen to
prefer a flower not very abundant, the number
of journeys they make is less the greater the
distance these flowers are apart, and, conse-
quently, the smaller the amount of honey
they have for their labour.

In La Beauce the variety of flowers is not
so great as in Savoy, but the quantity is very
large, so that the bees soon collect their
5 decigrammes of honey — the extent of their
carrying capacity— and consequently can make
nearly treble the number of journeys per day
that their equally hard-working but less
fortunate relations can iu Savoy. Each hive
yields from 25 to 30 kilos, of honey, selling at
about 1 fr. 30 wholesale per kilogramme, so
that at the least 40 fr. is realised, and as
the hive itself costs only 15 fr. and 5 fr.
for maintenance, the profit to the happy
owner is very handsome. The other side to
the question lies in the fact that French people
do not use honey to the same extent as we do
in England as an article of food, but restrict
its use almost entirely to medical purposes,
looking upon it as a medicine, good enough, at
any rate, to use in gargles. The demand is
naturally not very great for home consumption,
and as for foreign markets the large and in-
creasing quantities of American and Chilian
honey 'now'produced have caused the price to
drop, so that after carriage has been paid there
does not remain much profit for the French
producer.

As a remedy for this unsatisfactory state of
things, the writer proposes that, as his country-
men and women don't eat honey, it would be
now a fitting opportunity to reintroduce the
"hydromel," or favourite beverage of their
ancestors, who used to drink it out of golden
cups or the skulls of their enemies, though he
does not insist upon the latter alternative.
Therefore, during the exhibition, it is intended
to serve " hydromel '' to the fair sex, and so
attempt to set a fashion which it is hoped will
mean the salvation of apiculture in France.

HONEY IMPORTS.

The total value- of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of
August, 1895, was ,£5,159, and the amount for
September, 1895, was £3,578. — From a return
furnished by the Statistical Office, II M.
Customs.

^t{ $faw to dome.

October 19.— Lanarkshire B.K.A. annual
show of honey and bee appliances (appliances
open to all), in Public Hall, Larkhall. Also
general meeting of members same day at

5 p.m. Entries close October 12. Schedules
from John Stevenson, secretary, Merryton
Braes, Larkhall, N.B.

Notieesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
yood of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
lecessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
ssue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica
tions.

All querist foru>%rded will be attended to, and those
only ofpersonalinteretl will be ans wired in this column.

H. Lander (Wadebridge). — Old Granulated
Honey in Comb for Bee-food. — That portion
of combs containing honey (not pollen) may
be cut up and put in a vessel for melting by
inserting the latter in water heated to 150
or 160 deg. Fahr. The wax can be lifted
off when cold, and the honey used as bee-
food or otherwise.

A. Pearson (Rutherglen). — Comb-foundation
Breaking Down. — The sample of brood-
foundation may be beeswax, but it is
evidently the product of old combs, and so
charged with pollen as to lose all its
adhesiveness. It is quite unfitted for
bearing the strain required in a bee-hive,
and we do not wonder at its breaking down.
Referring to the sample of super-foundation
we should require as much wax as is
contained in a full sheet to test its melting
point and give an opinion as to its bearing
bees.

C. E. Fisher (Ipswich). — Preserving Combs.
— A large wood tank, if dry and mouse-
proof, would make an excellent receptacle
for frames, and if a good supply of naphtha-
line is placed under the frames they would
be safe from the ravages of the wax moth.

Vegetus (Thornton Heath). — Starting Bee-
keeping. — We should not advise starting
now, as the season has gone. Wait until
next spring. An early start may then be
made with an established stock or a good
swarm, as preferred.

J. R. (Hawick). — Bee reached us smashed out
of all shape — as nearly always happens when
sent in envelope and unprotected. Enough,
however, remains to enable us to say it ia
not a queen at all, but a worker-bee.

*#* Referring to query 1375 (p. 389), we have
received the following : — " If I can be of
any assistanca to your correspondent
" Novice," I should be happy to render my
services." — Ernest HoorER, Scard-street,
Newport, Mon.

Oct. 17, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

411

(BixtxM, $totit», &u

BRITISH BEE - KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

Meeting of the Council held at 105,
Jermyn-street, S.W., on Thursday, October 10.
Present : — Thos. W. Cowan (chairman),
Henry Jonas (vice-chairman), Hon. and Rev.
H. Bligb, Major Fair, Messrs. W. H. Price,
W. B. Carr, J. Garratt, W. H. Harris, C. H.
Hooper, J. H. New, E. D. Till, and the fol-
lowing cx-officio members : — Rev. W. E.
Burkitt, J. M. Hooker, and P. Scattergood,
junr. Messrs. A. G. Pugh (hon. sec. Notts
B.K.A.) and J. Waterfield (hon. sec. Leicester
B.K.A.) were also present.

Mr. W. O'B. Glenn ie (treasurer) wrote re-
gretting his inability to be present.

The minutes of the last meeting of the
Council were read and confirmed.

The statement of accounts to September 30
were also read and approved.

Correspondence was read — (1) A request
from the Wotton - under - Edge Association
regarding affiliation fees ; and (2) a suggestion
from Mr. E. C. R. White referring to awards at
the Royal Show. After some discussion, the
first-named was agreed to, and the second
referred to the Exhibition Committee to con-
sider and report.

The following new members were elected : —
Mr. E. W. L. Sladen, Ripple Court, Dover ; Mr.
R. Hamlyn Harris, Hambrook, Bristol ; Mr. S.
Livsey, Ranmoor, Sheffield ; Rev. J. King
Cummin, Eastbournehill, Midhurst.

This concluded the business of the Council.

CONVERSAZIONE.

The attendance at the concluding quarterly
Conversazione for 1895, which began at 6 p.m.,
was so numerous as to entirely fill the board-
room of the R S.P.CA. Pressure on our
space this week prevents us from giving
names of those present, but we may say that
beyond many residing within easy distance of
town and in closely adjoining counties the
attendance list bears the names of bee-keepers
from Berks, Hunts, Leicester, Notts, Bucks,
Hants, Lines, Lancashire, and from York-
shire.

The first business of the evening was the
presentation to Mr. John Colam, secretary of
the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals, of a trophy consisting of a large
number of sections and bottles of honey, the
gift of bee-keepers located in all parts of the
kingdom. The trophy, handsomely arranged
in pyramidal form on the board-room table,
was an object of general admiration. Mr.
Colam having taken his seat on the right of
the chairman,

Mr. Cowan said he was very pleased to see

so large a meeting that evening. It was
gratifying on general grounds, but more par-
ticularly because of a little " plot " which had
to be unfolded. Probably some of those
present had noticed in the B.B.J, that an in-
vitation had been issued to all gentlemen who
took an interest in bee-keeping and its
advancement to contribute a little honey from
their apiaries for the purposes of a presenta-
tion. Nothing was stated as to the nature of
the proceedings nor the name of the recipient ;
but, as a result of that appeal, the trophy set
out on the table was a fairly representative
collection of honey from all parts of England,
Scotland, and Wales, and was gathered
together with the object of making some
slight recognition to a gentleman who had
rendered them invaluable services spread over
a great number of years, and to whom they
felt exceedingly grateful. The members of
the B.B.K.A. had met in the Board room of
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals now for fifteen years, and their rela-
tions with the Society had always been of a
most friendly and pleasant character.

Everything that had been asked on behalf of
the Association had been willingly acceded to,
and all present could judge for themselves of
the splendid accommodation afforded for their
meetings (cheers). The Association unfor-
tunately was unable to give a more substantial
proof of its gratitude for the Society's
assistance, and it was therefore thought that
the only way it could show some appreciation
of the same was by presenting Mr. Colam
with the small offering exhibited on the table,
and begging his acceptance of it as a mark of
respect from the bee- keepers of this country,
as well as a small expression of their thanks
for all the Society has done on their behalf, in
which tribute he and the council of the
B.B.K.A. heartily joined (cheers).

The Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh esteemed it a
great privilege that he had been asked, as one
of the oldest members of the Association, to
add a few words to those of the chairman.
In addition to all that Mr. Colam had done for
the B.B.K.A., of which he in common with
others had enjoyed the benefits, he must also
remember the kind way in which that gentle-
man had extended similar favours to the
Middlesex Association, which for several years
he (Mr. Bligh) had represented as secretary.
He was, therefore, glad of the opportunity, on
behalf of himself and the Middlesex Associa-
tion,of which there wereseveral members present,
to specially thank Mr. Colam for his uniform
courtesy and kindness towards them (cheers).
It had struck him, when looking at the collec-
tion of honey displayed on the table, that
after all they could hardly claim it as a present
from themselves ; he ventured to suggest that
it was a thank offering from the bees to Mr.
Colam in token of their acknowledgment of
sympathy and kindness shown towards them
and the other members of the animal world.
Mr. Harris heartily supported what had

412

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 17, 1895.

fallen from the chairman and Mr. Bligh as to
the obligations the Associations were under to
Mr. Colam. He (the speaker) had had to
give a good deal of attention to etymology,
and he recognised " colam " as the first
person of the future tense of " colo
— I cultivate '' (laughter) ; and to judge
by his career it would seem that Mr.
Colam had adopted the translation of his
own name as the object he would set before
himself in life—at any rate amongst his multi-
farious duties he had paid special attention to
those who called themselves " a/nculturists "
(cheers and laughter). He heartily joined in
acknowledging the indebtedness of all bee-
keepers to their honoured guest, whose words
he hoped after this presentation would be
more "honeyed" than ever, and he did not

rendered their cause worthy of recognition in
the magnificent offering they had kindly pre-
sented to him on that occasion. He regarded
himself only as a busy bee in the society which
he represented, a kindred institution to their
own, working for a noble object, and did not
claim anything from them, his fellow- workers
in the cause of humanity. If thanks were due
to any one they were to the committee of the
society whom he had the honour to serve, and
he was sure the committee would appreciate
their kindness. He was glad to say that it.
would always give them the greatest possible
pleasure to help the association by granting
the use of the board room for meetings, and in
any other way in their power (cheers). While
sitting there he had been wondering whether
they intended this trophy as a compliment to

HONEY TROrilY PRESENTED TO MR. J. COLAM BY BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS.

doubt that, when Mr. Colam had absorbed all
the honey before them, the members of his
family, as well as all those who came in con-
tact with him, would find him "the essence of
sweetness ;; (laughter and applause).

Mr. Colam said he really was at a loss to
find words which would express, in the first
place, his surprise, and secondly, his agreeable
satisfaction, that the members of the associa-
tion had thought any little services he had

him from another point of view, for the gift
seemed to portend for him longevity beyond
reasonable probability, looking at the amount
of honey piled up on the table (laughter). At
any rate he would now rest assured that the
days of sweetness in store for him following
that meeting would be considerably prolonged
(cheers and laughter). He was not a bee-
keeper, but he had a great respect for bees,
although, much to his regret, he knew very

Oct. 17, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

413

little about them. When he looked at
the Interpretation Clause of the Statute for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
he was sorry to say he did not find
the bee included there. He did not
know why it should not be, for if, like
" the poor beetle that we tread upon, it can in
corporal sufferance feel a pang as great as
when a giant dies/' surely it was entitled to
some legislative consideration (hear, hear).
Nevertheless he could not but feel that the
time was distant when legislative protection
for them would be an accomplished fact in this
country. He remembered the ridicule caused
many years ago by the Marquess Townshend,
amid great laughter, bringing forward in the
House of Lords a bill for the protection of
black beetles, and he was afraid any proposal
of a similar character for the prevention of
cruelty to bees would be met as were the
efforts of the great Lord Erskine in 1810,
when he rose in the Upper House to claim
protection for the lower animals against the
barbarous cruelties prevalent at that time. The
noble and learned lord was " cockcrowed " and
treated with the utmost contumely. The
relations between bees and flowers were very
close ; scientists were now telling the world
that flowers were capable of sensation as
regards pain and pleasure, as they knew bees
were ; but he was reminded by the trophy on
the table that there was a marked difference
between bees and flowers in one respect, for it
was evident by this collection of honey that
bees did not "waste their sweetness on the
desert air," as they were told that flowers often
did (cheers and laughter). He felt just a
tinge of compunction in receiving this gift,
because the question arose in his mind as to
whether it was fair that they should steal all
the product of the bees' anxiety and labour
during a long summer season, and it might be
that he should feel himself as particeps
criminis in receiving stolen property (laughter).
But, after all, he was consoled by reflecting
that the busy worker, whether bees or
hum;>ns,worked not only for himself but for the
good of others, and that every hard-worker
found pleasure even in the act of working, as
he himself had always done — and even if bees
found that the results of their labours were ap-
propriated by others, he was afraid that hap-
pened to most of the bee-keepers also. In con-
clusion, he would always have great pleasure
in rendering any services in his power to the
association, with whose excellent objects he
was in entire accord (applause).

Mr. Till was anxious to assure Mr. Colam
that the welfare of the bees was not being
neglected, and that they hoped soon to have an
Act of Parliament for the protection of bee-
keepers, and for the compulsory examination
of diseased hives, which would indirectly tend
towards the better treatment of the bees.
They had a serious plague existing amongst
bees, a contagious disease, which had spread,
through ignorance and neglect, and was causing

terrible havoc in some districts. The sugges-
tions of the B.B.K.A. had been very favourably
received by the Board of Agriculture, and the
committee hoped that before long they would
be able to announce the passing of a measure
which would extend the powers of the Conta-
gious Diseases Animals Act to the protection of
bees. With regard to Mr.Colam's compunctions
of conscience in taking from the bees all the honey
stored by their labours during summer, he had
great pleasure in assuring that gentleman that
no true bee-keeper ever took from the bees
one oz. of honey more than they could spare.
There were bee-keepers and keepers of bees —
a distinction which, to his mind, represented
a considerable difference. A bee-keeper was
considerate, and always took care to leave
sufficient store in his hives to carry the bees
through the winter, or, at any rate, to provide
them with food before the winter set in. He
wished that a Parliamentary power existed by
which those who robbed the bees of their
necessary winter provender could be punished
(cheers). He heartily concurred with the
gentlemen who had spoken, and expressed the
pleasure he felt in the presentation of the
simple but representative token on the table
of the gratitude felt by bee-keepers generally
for Mr. Colam's service to their cause.

The Chairman, in answer to Mr. Colam,
said that even bee-keepers were unable to say
how long honey would keep. There was con-
siderable variation in that respect ; but he
would tell them of a remarkable instance
which had come to his knowledge. Two or
three years ago excavations were taking place
on the site of an old house at Dresden, when
some jars were discovered containing honey in
perfectly good condition, which had been
deposited there as far back as the fifteenth
century ! That fact would probably dissipate
any misgivings that Mr. Colam might have.

Mr. Colam intimated that he would be glad
to watch the progress of the Bill referred to by
Mr. Till. He presumed that the proposed
statute would be economic in character, but it
would nevertheless be impossible to deprive it
of a humanitarian aspect.

Mr. Harris thought the association might
take credit for having saved the lives of
millions of bees. •

Mr. Colam said that he should have much
pleasure in leaving the trophy on the table
until Monday next, when he hoped it would
sweeten the committee of the R.S.P.C.A., who
would meet on that day (laughter, during
which the speaker retired).

The chairman called upon Mr. A. D.
Woodley (hon. sec. of the Berks B.K.A.), to
read his paper, entitled " A Tour with the
Bee-Van.''

[Mr. Woodley 's paper, together with names
of donors to the "Trophy"— of which the
" cut " on preceding page is a representation
— will appear in our next, along with
remainder of proceedings at the conversazione.
— Eds.1

414

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 17, 1895.

DAIRY SHOW AT THE AGRICUL-
TURAL HALL.

The Twentieth Annual Show of the Dairy
Farmers' Association was held on the 8th inst.
and three following days amid very favourable
surroundings, the exhibits in the particular
section of the show in which our readers are
interested being excellent in quality, and, what
is equally gratifying, largely increased in
number beyond those of last year. The class
for extracted honey was capitally filled, forty-
three exhibitors staging 500 jars of very high-
class honey among them. When we state that,
over and even above the actual money prizes
awarded in the five classes, no less than fifty-
one exhibits were recognised by the judges,
and of these twenty-eight were reserve
numbers and v.h.c, it will be understood
how keen was the competition, and how far
from easy was the labour of judging.

Sections also were an exceedingly good class,
with 38 entries against 17 last year. The
classes for granulated honey brought 23 ex-
hibits against 17 in 1894, and the quality of
the produce staged here was a decided improve-
ment on that of last year.

The classes for Extracted Honey in commer-
cial packages produced seven exhibits in the
cwt. class, and ten in that for 28 lb. We were
glad to note a decidedly better understanding
of the requirements of the schedule by exhi-
bitors, all of whom — save one — apparently
were bearing in mind the fact that the class
was for "extracted honey,'' and not one for
a " commercial package," took pains to so pack
their exhibits in safe and presentable form. It
was matter for regret to see the exhibit referred
to above disqualified, but it was a plain case of
" non-conformity " with the schedule. Onr
space is so much taken up this week with
" Dairy Show " matter that this report must
necessarily be brief, further comment, if needed,
being deferred till our next issue.

Messrs. W. Broughton Carr and J. M".
Hooker officiated as judges and made the fol-
lowing awards : —

Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — (43
entries). — 1st, R. Brown, Somersham, Hunts ;
2nd, R. Godson, Tothill, Alford, Lines. ; 3rd,
Win. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury, Berks ; 4th,
W. H. Woods, Hemingford Grey, St. Ives ;
reserve number, Rev. W. E. Burkitt, Hunger-
ford ; v.h.c, E. C. R. White, Salisbury ;
E. D. Till, Eynsford, Kent; L. Inwood,
Uffington, Berks ; John Palmer, Ludlow,
Salop ; 0. Roberts, Tarporley ; H. W. Sey-
mour, Henley-on-Thames ; E. E. Smith,
Southfieet, Kent ; S. E. Agricultural College,
Wye, Kent ; and J. Blyth Clark, Braughing,
Herts ; h.c, Rev. T. J. Evans, Hargrave
Vicarage, Chester; Jas. Gardiner, Margam,
Glara. ; R. J. Bradshaw, Eynsford ; W. Dixon,
Leeds ; S. Cartwright, Salop ; Miss Ethel
Cheston, Waltham ; Jesse Garratt, Medpham,
Kent, and John Carver, Wellington, Salop ;

c, G. Catley, Goxhill, Lines., and T. Colyer,
Good Easter.

Twelve l-lb. Sections (38 entries). — 1st,
Win. Woodley ; 2nd, Jabes Sopp, Walling-
ford, Berks ; 3rd, J. W. Painter & Co., Chalk
House-green Farm, Berks ; 4th, W. H. Woods ;
reserve number, H. Rowell, Hook, Winch-
field ; v.h.c, L. Inwood, H. W. Seymour,
Wm. Woodley, W. Debnam, Chelmsford, and
A. Hounsom, Bosham ; h.c, E. C. R. White,
R. Brown, John Palmer, and J. T. Brickwell,
Otley, Yorks ; c, T. B. Blew, Welwyn, and T.
Giles, Salisbury.

Twelve l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey (23
entries). — 1st, H. 0. Smith, Louth, Lines ;
2nd, W. Parkinson, Groby, Leicester ; 3rd,
H. W. Seymour ; reserve number, A. Sharp,
Brampton, Hunts; v.h.c, H. W. Seymour,
Dr. H. W. Arbuckle, Thorne, Doncaster, E. E.
Smith, and W. H. Woods ; h.c, W. Debnam,
H. Merry weather, jun., Southwell, Notts,
Jabes Sopp, H. Wood, Lichfield ; c, Lieut.
H. C. Hawker, Longparish, Hants.

Extracted Honey, not less than 1 cwt. in
7, 14, or 28 lb. commercial packages (seven
entries). — 1st, R. Godson ; 2nd, R. Brown.
(Third prize not awarded owing to there being
less than nine entries.) Reserve number,
W. H. Wood ; v.h.c, E. C. R. White ; h.c,
Lieutenant H. C. Hawker ; commended, C. T.
Overton, Crawley.

Extracted Honey (not less than 28 lb. in
similar packages to previous class). — 1st, H.
W. Seymour ; 2nd, W. H. Woods ; 3rd, E.
Drincqbier, Dover ; reserve number, Wm.
Woodley ; v.h.c, E. C. R. White, and E. D.
Till ; h.c, Lieut. H. C. Hawker.

ROXBURGHSHIRE B.K.A.

ANNUAL SHOW.

The annual exhibition of the R.B.K.A. was
held in the Corn Exchange, Jedburgh, on
September 28. The honey harvest has been
fairly good. Clover honey has been collected
in considerable quantity. Heather honey,
however, has in many places been very scarce,
and this district seems to have been exception-
ally favoured in a comparatively good return
from the heather. One of the features of the
show consequently was the large quantity of
good heather honey of very fine quality,
exhibiting the peculiarities which make this
product specially attractive. There was also
quite a large display of clover honey, and
generally speaking the quality was fine.
Equally attractive were the jars of extracted
and granulated honey, of which there was an
extensive array. The judges were : — Mr.
J. S. Dudgeon and Mr. Richard Cairns ; their
awards being as follows : —

Collection of Honey (nut exceeding 100 lb.)
— 1st, Thomas Clark, Pleasants ; 2nd, James
Whellans, Camptown.

Collection of Appliances. — 1st, Thomas
Clark.

Oct. 17, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

415

Twelve l-lb. Sections. — 1st, Alex. Ander-
son, Minto ; 2nd, Harry Wood, Lichfield.

Twelve l-lb. Sections (Heather Honey). — 1st,
Thos. Clark ; 2nd, Nichol Dodds, Melrose.

Design in Honeycomb (County only). — 1st,
Dr. Fyfe, Jedburgh.

Hive made by Exhibitor. — 1st and 2nd John
Cranston, Jedburgh.

Six l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey. — 1st,
George Wilson, Kelso ; 2nd, James Whellans.

Beeswax. — 1st, Alex. Anderson, 2nd, Harry
Wood.

Six l-lb. Sections.— 1st, H. Wood ; 2nd,
A. Anderson ; c, Thos. Clark.

Six l-lb. Sections (Heather Honey). — 1st,
Adam Oliver, Jedburgh ; 2nd, Thos. Clark ;
3rd, George Ormiston, Knowesouth.

Five l-lb. Sections. — 1st, A. Anderson ;
v.h.c, Thomas Mabon, Jedburgh ; o, George
Ormiston.

Five l-lb. Sections (Heather Honey). — 1st,
Geo. Ormiston ; c, A. Anderson.

Bar-Frame of Honey. — 1st, Thos. Ellis,
Jedburgh ; 2nd, Kobt. Miller, Jedburgh.

Single l-lb. Section. — 1st, A. Hamer,
Llanarthney, S.W. ; 2nd, George Ormiston.

Super (Non- sectional, any weight). — 1st,
Jas. Wyllie, Newbigging ; 2nd, A. Anderson.

Super (7 to 10 lb.).— 1st, Thos. Clark ; 2nd,
Jas. Whellans.

Sxqnr of Heather Honey (7 to 101b.). — 1st,
Thos. Mabon ; 2nd, Jas. Whellans ; c, Wm.
Swaneton, Castlegate.

Super not under 10 lb. — 1st, Alex. Scott,
Jedburgh.

Glass Super. — 1st, Dr. Fyfe.

Six-lb. Extracted Honey. — 1st, James
Whellan ; 2nd, James Kerr, Camptown.

Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
Adam Oliver ; 2nd, H. Wood.

Six l-lb. Jars Heather Honey. — 1st, James
Kerr, Williescrook ; h.c, John Scott, Lang-
holm.

Six l-lb. Extracted Honey. — 1st, James
Whellans ; 2nd, Thos. Clark.

Beeswax. — 1st, George Ormiston ; 2nd, A.
Anderson.

Wasp Byhe. — Robt. Sinton, Bonjedward.

The super of honey which had been claimed
by the society fell by lot to Mr. A. Forrest, and
the observatory hive (presented by Dr. Fyfe)
to Mr. Fairbairn, Crailing. — (Communicated).

ESSEX BEE-KEEPERS" ASSOCIATION.
The committee of this association, who
were compelled labt year, owing to want of
funds, to forego the autumn show of honey
which had been held for a good many years
previously, have decided, if the public will
support them by contributing to a special
prize fund, to hold an autumn show this year.
Thr interest taken by cottagers and bee-
keepers throughout the county in this exhi-
bition leads the committee to hope that their
efforts wilt be heartily seconded. On former

occasions cottagers have driven about thirty
miles to bring in their exhibits, notwithstand-
ing long, dark return journeys they were com-
pelled to make on a dark November night.
This year honey is so plentiful that it was felt
it would be a pity not to hold a show. The
Chelmsford and Essex Horticultural Society
have consented to its being held in connec-
tion with their exhibition in November.

IPJ8H BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The committee met on 10th inst., present Dr.
Traill in the chair, Mr. Read, Mr. Govan, Captain
Millner, and Mr. Chenevix. It was decided
to hold a conversational meeting of members
at Trinity College, on Wednesday, November
6, at 7. 30 p.m. Arrangements were made for
enabling members to insert, at a low rate, in
the " Notes and Hints " circular, advertise-
ments (other than trade advertisements) rela-
ting to the purchase, sale, and exchange of
bees and bee appliances. Particulars will be
found in the number shortly to be issued, and
advertisements received for subsequent num-
bers. It was reported that at the Dublin
depot there has been lately a good demand for
high-class sections at 9d.

AN URGENT APPEAL.

TO OUR LADY BEE-KEEPERS.

A correspondent — whose generous and
public-spirited support of all that tends to the
good of the bee industry is well known —
writes us as follows : —

" The circumstance of the Lady Mayoress
on the occasion of her visit to the honey
section and B.B.K.A. annexe at the dairy
show last Thursday, expressing herself willing
to accept a representative sample of British
honey, furnishes a favourable opportunity for
again bringing to prominent notice at the
Mansion House the importance of cultivating
the taste and the demand for native honey and
honey products.

" I am anxious this opportunity should not
be lost, and would suggest that the collection
be presented by a committee of lady bee-
keepers. It will show that ladies can pro-
fitably occupy themselves in apiculture, and
correct the erroneous and general impression
that men have the monopoly of bee-keeping.
Lady Renals, in her public capacity, will
appreciate the object.

" I hope, therefore, some skilled apiarists
such as Miss Eyton, Miss Lawrence, Mis3
Gay ton. and a few others, will favour the pro-
ject, and communicate with you at once. As
the present Lord Mayor goes out of office
November 9, there is not a moment to be lost.

" I beg, as a favour, that those bee-keepers
in the various counties of the kingdom who
sympathise with my object will send imme-
diately to the B.J. office either a pound section
or a pound jar of prime honey, or more if they

416

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 17, 1895.

wish. Sections will only travel safely specially
packed in a case within a case, and the inner
one surrounded by straw. Each packet must
bear sender's name and address.

"May I hope that the project will receive
full support from yourselves as Editors, and
that the wide influence of the Bee Journal
will be used in carrying it out ?

" P.S. — I would also earnestly request that
representatives of the Press will not use this
information until the arrangements are ma-
tured, of which they will receive due notice in
a few days."

We need hardly assure our esteemed corre-
spondent that any proposal tending to the
advantage of bee-keeping and the good of
bee-keepers will at all times command all the
support that this journal can give. We
would, however, suggest that the project
advocated be confined to " the ladies,-' in so
far as asking for contributions of honey from
lady bee-keepers, or from the wives or
daughters of bee-men. It is rather a mis-
fortune that the time is so short, but this fact
adds force to our correspondent's remark —
" not a moment is to be lost,'' and if the
response is anything like that recorded in
another page, it will be a gratifying result of a
well-meant effort for benefiting " the cause."

tifomsprndeno.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

THE DAIRY SHOW.

PROPOSED EXTENSION OF PRIZE LIST FOR
1896.

[2229.] Referring to the above show, what
I hope some day to see regarded as the big
'■ Annual Honey Fair " for 1895, is now a thing
of the past, and those who were unable or who
neglected to take the opportunity of visiting
it, and making themselves acquainted with
the facilities it affords for selling a large
amount of honey, are out of " the swim " as
regards disposal of bee-produce. During the
time the show lasted, at least whenever it was
my "turn "to be present, we were in an atmo-
sphere of "sold again and got the money ! "
The reunion of old friends, and the making of
new ones; are also things not to be forgotten,
while participation in the hearty good-fellow-
ship pervading the bee-men present was worth
much beyond what it cost. To my mind, the
Dairy Show should be only the great Honey
Fair of the year, but the annual gathering
ground of British bee-keepers. The " show
week" possesses obvious and special advan-

tages in this respect ; the season of bee-work
has closed ; the harvest is gathered in ; and
most of us are— or should be— glad of a few
days' relaxation. This being so, what better
thing can we do than unite pleasure with busi-
ness, send our honey to the show, follow it to
town, and hope to see it staged with an
" award " card attached 1 Bat, with or without
this latter desideratum, we can sell our pro-
duce, if good, and as cheap excursions to
"Town "run from all parts during the week
the cost of a trip is not great. Then comes the
opportunity of being present at the closing
conversazione for the year of the B.B.K.A.,
which is arranged to be held during
the show week, and what an enjoyable
meeting was the one held on Thursday
last ! The memory of the oldest will
hardly recall a pleasanter evening than that
of the 10th inst. The spirit of all-round
geniality was to me simply delightful. The
pyramid of honey looked altogether " fine,"
representing, as some one said, " a sweet
tribute of the busy bee " in honour of the
occasion. Well, Messrs. Editors, while your
" plot " was being hatched out so successfully,
" yet another " was being concocted among a
few of us which took somewhat this form : —
Deeming it desirable to find a means of in-
creasing the sale of honeys — which, though of
f.ood quality, could not be called first class,
and also of honey other than that, suitable for
table purposes — transacted at the show, that
first-class honey could be easily sold at
good prices, it was, after full inquiry,
agreed nem. con. that as no " extra
prizes '' were available, and that the sum
now voted must go to classes for honey only,
while the B.B.K.A. could not, owing to
lack of funds, endow additional classes for
mead, honey - vinegars, wax, honey - con-
fections, &c., it was for bee-keepers them-
selves to take the matter in hand, and it was
considered that no better way could be decided
upon than to ask the helpers of our craft to
cast still more " bread upon the waters '' by
assisting the " plotters " to raise a fund for the
purposes indicated. The few of us present
agreed to subscribe annually a small sum to
form the nucleus of a fund for offering prizes
for classes as are above referred to.

The matter is urgent seeing that the secre-
tary of the Dairy Farmers' Association, when
approached on the subject, said:— "If any-
thing is to be done for next year's show it
must be done now." It, therefore, is a case of
"now or never," and in consequence those
willing to assist should send in their names,
addressed " Additional Classes Fund," Bee
Journal Office, 17, King William- street,
W.C., stating the amount they are willing to
contribute. The object is one entirely for the
general benefit of bee-keepers and bee-keep-
ing.

Having this object in view, a few of us
availed ourselves of an opportunity for dis-
cussing the matter during the show week, and

Oct. 17, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

417

the absolute necessity for taking immediate
and active steps was plainly manifest to those
present. I, therefore, on behalf of my fellow
li conspirators " and myself, pen these lines,
hoping that good may accrue therefrom. —
H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath, October 12.

[It is hardly necessary for us to add that the
project mooted in the above communication
has our full approval, and we wish it all
Buccess. — Eds.]

"ON" THE DAIRY SHOW.

[2230.] After a week at the Dairy Show,
" working like a horse"— I might perhaps use
the name of another useful quadruped for the
comparison — I gladly sit down to record my
impressions of the show while they are fresh
in memory. Though the entries were half as
many again as last year, they are inadequate
to such an important occasion. There are two
causes for this — lack of public spirit among
bee-keepers and too few prizes. Nevertheless,
the honey section this year has been a grand
success, and the honey of superb quality, well
repaying the B.B.K.A. for the hard work it
has thrown upon several of the council.

The exhibits came from twenty-one English
counties, one Welsh, one Irish, 0 Scotch. The
following is an analysis by counties : —

ANALYSIS OF ENTRIES AND PRIZES BY

COUNTIES

Entries.

Prizes.

Kent

. 15 .

.. 1

Berks

. 14

.. 4

Hunts

. 9 .

.. 5

Sussex

. n .

.. 0

Oxon

. 9

.. 2

Wilts

. 8 .

.. 0

Herts

. 8

.. 0

Hants

. 8

.. 0

Shropshire

. 8

.. 0

Essex

6

.. 0

Middlesex

5

.. 0

Lines ...

. 4 .

.. 3

Yorks

3 .

.. 0

Staffs

. 3 .

.. 0

Hereford

2

.. 0

Leicester

'J

.. 1

Cheshire

2

.. 0

Bucks

'. 1

.. 0

Derby

. 1

.. 0

Northampton ...

1

.. 0

Notts

. 1

.. 0

Ireland (Tipperary) .

. 1

.. 0

Wale3 (Glamorgan) .

. 1

.. 0

Scotland

. 0

.. 0

Number of counties 23 121

16

Many exhibits were sold — all might have
been had exhibitors been more reasonable.
One buyer bid Is. per section all round, if he
could have all that were exhibited ; this was,
of course, impracticable. We counted twenty-
three entries unsold, for which reasonable

prices were offered, but exhibitors' notions
were too high, and in other instances no sale
instructions had been given. On the other
hand, one buyer cleared sixteen of the lots,
purchasing besides half a ton from a cottager
exhibitor ! The maximum price in every case
ought to be entered on the show card, and a
note inviting bids if limit be above buyers'
notions. This would save a vast amount of
time and trouble. Waiting one's turn for this
information at the sale office is very incon-
venient indeed. Many sections of honey broke
down in transit, occasioning loss and disap-
pointment to exhibitors. Sections require
exquisite care in packing to guard against the
effect of concussion. No end of honey samples
were purchased at the B.B.K.A. annexe. Both
Mr. J. S. Greenhill and Mr. C. Overton had
stands adjacent ; both did good business ; the
latter exhibited three frames of live bees. Mr.
J. M. Hooker's fine observatory hive was a
continual source of interest to visitors. Arti-
ficial draught was applied by a candle within
a glass chimney, and a small thermometer
showed the inside temperature. We are much
indebted to the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, our
president, for sending her manager from
Holly Lodge with plants and cut flowers for
decoration. This made the honey section (as
the Times described it) " most attractive."

On Thursday the Lady Mayoress visited the
Hall, and accepted our invitation to inspect
the honey. She seemed greatly interested,
and was shown the queen and Mr. Brice's
exhibits, illustrating artificial rearing of
queens. We explained to her ladyship how
greatly it would assist future shows if a Lord
Mayor's prize, and also prizes from the Grocers'
and Apothecaries' Companies, were offered.
We believe her ladyship made an indelible
note of this.

The experience gained last week leads me
to think we should have in future —

A comprehensive schedule, with far more
classes and prize money, and a B.B.K.A.
medal.

Separate classes for Scotch honey.

Separate classes for honeys of distinct
character, such as that from heather.

Classes for mead, honey vinegar, honey con-
fections, wax, and appliances.

County specials, if we can get them, from
county noblemen or gentlemen.

Commercial packages from h lb. glasses and
tins, and this class judged wholly irrespective
of honey.

If spared for another show, I hope to see
the hall entirely lit by electricity. Ga3 makes
the atmosphore poisonous, especially in the
evening. There should be means of laying
the clouds of dust, which entirely mar the
fine effect of the exhibits.

We had a most painstaking B.D.F.A.
steward, but a skilled bee-keeper is most
desirable. Other departments of the Dairy
Show have men thoroughly conversant with
the industry they represent.

418

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 17, 1895.

Several lots of honey were stolen, showing
that watchmen are careless. Exhibitors should
insist on compensation.

In these details Mr. Young, the B.D.FA.
secretary, is sure to aid all he can. We owe
our best thanks to Messrs. New, Brice, Hooker,
Shepherd, H. Brice, jun., Jack, Elvey Smith,
Brown, Greenhill, 0 verton, and many others
for assisting us so much throughout the show.
— E. D. Till, B.B.K.A. Steward.

CAN BEES DISTINGUISH BETWEEN
DRONE AND WORKER EGGS ?
[2231.] From recent correspondence, I sup-
pose we can accept it as a fact that " bees do
carry eggs." In Mr. Brice's " Jottings " (2151,
p. 333) we read : "Drones are smaller, owing
to their being raised in worker cells." This
suggests the question, have bees power to
discern between drone and worker eggs ? If
not, I should like to ask your correspondent,
have they been known to carry drone eggs into
a queen-cell, and attempt to raise a queen
from it 1 If bees can discern the difference
between drone and worker eggs, I ask, where
the combs in brood-nest consist entirely of
worker-cells, and there are drone-cells only in
super, have bees been known to carry eggs
through excluder into drone- cells, and so defeat
our modern hive arrangements ? — A Worker,
Long Eaton, October 7.

IMEDIOATING BEE-CANDY.

[2232.] In the recipe for making medicated
candy, as given in the " Guide Book," we are
instructed to dissolve the naphthol-beta in
spirit, and add it to the candy just as taken
from the fire, and " while still hot." I should
be much obliged if you would give me the
reason of this, as I have always observed the
following to occur when the instructions are
carried out: — First, the spirit is at once
driven off, and immediately afterwards a pun-
gent cloud of vapour arises, which I presume
to be naphthol-beta, either volatilised or decom-
posed. Have I erred in adding the solution
of naphthol-beta to the molten sugar while the
latter was too hot ?

I saw a strange sight yesterday (October 8)
near here — viz., a cluster of bees on their
combs, which latter were built in the open air
beneath, and attached to the floor-board of a
frame-hive.

They were first seen about three week3 ago,
and were then thought to be " overflow" from
the hive which contained a strong colony.

The hive is on short legs, and the combs do
not extend to the front or back, but are about
the middle. There are four or rive combs
about 1 ft. in length, and 6 in. or 8 in. deep,
the outer ones being empty, and there is no
protection for them whatever except a hedge
a yard or two behind the hive. All the combs
except the outside ones were well covered with

bees, and the latter were alive. I came to the
conclusion that they were a swarm or cast, and
probably had a queen with them — else, had
they been simply crowded out from the frame-
hive during the hot weather, surely they
would have gone back again on the advent of
cold weather and frosty nights ?

P.S. — I am desirous of getting some nucleus
hives for queen-rearing, but do not see such in
the makers' catalogue. I should be glad of
any information on the subject as to style, and
the most useful number of frames that each
should be made to hold. — Percy Sharp,
Brant Broughton October 9.

[1. The solution of naphthol-beta is added to
the candy " while still hot,'' in order to pre-
vent its recrystalising. If it volatilises as
stated, probably your syrup is too hot, as only
the spirit should be driven off. 2. Any of our
advertisers who are appliance-makers will
supply you with a good nucleus-hive at a
small cost. They are staged at every show of
bee-goods, and good ones are to be had of
any maker. — Eds.]

AN ESSAY ON " TASTE."
[2233.] ./Esthetic in my views and prone to
the use of the pallet, my present remarks are
connected with "taste" of another kind, and
in relation to another sort of palate. That
" tastes differ " all will allow.

In the Times of the 10th inst. the honey
prizes at the Dairy Show are classified by
counties, thus : —

5 to Hunts out of 9 entries.
4 „ Berks „ 14 „
3 „ Lincoln „ 4 „
2 „ Oxon „ 9 „
1 „ Leicester „ 2 „
1 „ Kent „ 15 „

Total 16

Kent standing first for entries and last in

prizes.

This looks like a " climb-down '' for Kent,
but when Kent had her meadows brown and
burnt up, the bees of Hunts were revelling in
nothing but wide expanses of luxuriant white
clover. This circumstance is reflected in the
above table. Our honey judges have a most
difficult task, and are certainly, like the
Chevalier Bayard, sans peiir et sans reproche.
Hunts honey seems to have taken the cake
before all comers. I don't for one instant
question the decisions, but desire to ask
whether we ought not to frame our schedules
more comprehensively, so that honeys totally
different in character, in colour, consistency,
and flavour may not be put in competition with
each other. In poultry Bhows it is always un-
satisfactory to compete in the "any other
variety " class. If Sandy were to come south
to judge honey, what reversals we should
witness ! Scotch bee-keepers worship heather,
not clover, sainfoin fruit, or lime. Separate

Oct. 17, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

419

classes for honeys of distinct character are a
necessity. It is very unfair to the j udges to
have such a paucity of classes— flavour, con-
sistency, and condition are all taken into
account. Colour takes a subsidiary place.
But it is impossible to ignore the fact that
every man, and therefore every judge, has his
own particular standard of excellence, his
"beau ideal'' of flavour, consistency, and
colour. Chacun a son goat is an old proverb.
Sometimes it has been written, Ghaque ane a
son goiU, probably by some cynical bee-keeper
unsuccessful at a honey show. Will some one
tell me which of the two is the proper reading 1
I hope I shan't be "sent to Coventry" for —
Contempt of Court.

RAPID FEEDERS.

[2334] Referring to Mr. W. B. Webster's
notes in September Iiecord on Rapid Feeders,
and to those by other correspondents in B.B.J,
on same subject, we send you a feeder which
we find is very much liked by Irish bee-
keepers ; its only drawback is its being made
of tin ; but in our own use of it we must say
this does not seem to have reduced the tem-
perature. It is perfectly free from the defects
mentioned by Mr. Webster, we have never
seen one bee drowned, and its great advantage
is that it can be filled so easily and without
allowing any cold air to get into the brood-
nest. — Edmondson Brothers, Dublin, Oct. 9.

[The feeder sent is a well-made circular tin
one of a good and useful type. It is, however,
an improvement, in our opinion, to have a pro-
jecting ring round its lower edge, so that if left
on for winter it forms a winter passage above
frames. — Eds.]

AMONG THE BEES.

HEATHER HONEY AGAIN !

[3235.] Referring to my' letter (2,207, page
387), appearing in B.J. of September 20, upon
the subject " Heather Honey: Is there such in
the South 1 " 1 gave my experience as to the
quality of such production from the heather
country south of latitude 53° ; but in the same
letter I informed my readers that I had no
experience of those large stretches of moorland
which can be found in Devonshire and other
parts of the south-west.

As showing the great utility of an inter-
change of experiences — which experiences can
only be gained through the medium of a
journal such as this — I received by post a
section of heather honey gathered from the
west side of Dartmoor. This was forwarded
to me by a gentleman who desired information
as to how such honey compared with the
moorland honey of the north : l"pon opening
the package the unmistakable aroma of genuine
heather honey was very marked. In appear-
ance it quite equalled that of the north, and
upon cutting it (and, of course, eating some), I
could not but say to the " guid wife,'' " Well,

this is the right sort," in which opinion she con-
curred. Yes, if that section had been sent to me
from the "land o' cakes" (and heather), I should
have simply thanked the donor for a real treat
of that which until now I supposed to be a
monopoly of our friends in the far north. The
gentleman who, for reasons best known to
himself, asked me not to mention his name in
the journal, informed me that it was gathered
from heather growing at an altitude of 500 ft.
above sea level. Well, that's not a very great
height, so it cannot be the altitude, and very
evidently it is not the latitude which prevents
the ling in other southern districts producing
the genuine heather honey ; therefore it must
be — as I ventured to suggest in my letter — the
nature of the soil.

I must publicly thank the donor for his
kindness in imparting knowledge which per-
haps at some future date may be of great
service to me, and last, but very far from
least, to my readers. — W. B. Webster, B in-
field, Berks.

HEATHER HONEY.

IS THERE SUCH IN THE SOUTH l

[2236.] To return to a recent correspondence
on the above subject, and especially to Mr.
Wrebster's letter (2207, p. 387) in B.J., Sep-
tember 26, it may be that the southern heath-
lands do not produce the same quality of
honey for which the northern heather is
famous ; but my experience of the heather
harvest in Hampshire, just closed, does not
bear out Mr. Webster's impressions that honey
gathered from heather in the south is distinct
in character from that of the north.

To support my view I have ventured to send
you a little sample of the honey stored by my
stocks in Hampshire from the heather. You will
see that it does possess something of the magni-
ficent amber colouring of the northern honey ;
that it is neither thin, washy, nor smoky ; and
that it is not altogether devoid of the delicate
aroma that is to be expected.

As regards density, the honey is to be found
in the combs as hexagonal pellets of well-set
jelly, upon which the extractor makes no
impression.

The sample sent to you suffers from being
expressed from the comb rather roughly by the
aid of the domestic potato-masher, failing a
proper honey press ; and I find it impossible,
without spoiling the colour and filling the
honey with minute air-bubbles, to strain the
particles of wax from it.

Your opinion of the value of this honey crop
will be of interest to others beside myself. —
J. W. Jacomb Hood, Surbiton, October 12.

[Sample received is an excellent specimen
of tine heather honey. — Eds.]

THE HEATHER SEASON.

BEES IN NORTH -WEST DURHAM.

[22:57.] The heather season of 1W>."> ranks as
one of the best in the above-named district.

420

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 17, 1895

The plant grew well during the summer
months, the weather at the time of its
setting for flower being so good that the bloom
was ready for the bees on August 2. From
this date to end of season the weather varied
from moderate to excellent.

My own hives (six) yielded an average of
23 lb. per hive of heather honey ; two of the
six (a straw skep and a late swarmed stock)
yielded only 14 lb. and 16 lb. respectively.
My brother's hives (four), standing alongside
my own, gave a better return, ow'ng, I think,
to his having more time to attend to them.
He got an average of 36Mb. per hive. All
the above consists of saleable 1-lb. sections,
and does not include two frames, 6 lb. each, and
8 lb. of unfinished sections. We had located
at our place 106 hives from different parts of
the county of Durham, including East
Boldon, Sunderland, Swalwall, Shildon,
Crook, and Durham City. I think all the
above should do well, excepting three late
swarms and two queenless stocks, which suc-
cumbed early in the season.

The words, " all should do well," may be
taken exception to by some of the owners of
the before-mentioned hives, owing to their
bees not having stored much honey in the
surplus chamber. But that is entirely the
fault of the bee-keeper himself. Many make
the mistake of sending their hives to the
moors with too many frames in the brood-
chamber. They should remember that the
brood-nest is getting less and less as each
week of the season goes on, and it seems
superfluous to have so many empty frames in
the bottom when section honey is desired. It
is like courting failure and disappointment.
My experience of the last seven or eight years
leads me to think that eight-standard frames
is the best size for brood-nest during the
heather season. I have been asked how would
the bees fare for food during a long spell of
bad weather if reduced to eight frames 1 My
answer is, " They would live as well on eight
as on twelve empty frames." With eight
frames the bees are crowded into the sections,
and if a few cold nights come are not so liable
to leave the same.

All weak stocks and late swarms should be
kept at home — unless the latter are very
strong — as thev generally succumb to their
stronger neighbours. I noticed in B.J.,
June 20 (p. 241), a suggestion that the
B.B.K.A. issue a pamphlet on the preparation
of stocks intended for the heather. To my
mind no better work could be undertaken, as
there is plenty of room for education in that
direction. It would help in making bee-
keeping more successful than it has been
hitherto. Will not some of our northern
craftsmen come forward and shed light on the
subject ? There are surely some in the north
who have mastered the details, and can speak
with authority on the subject ; or have we to
look to our southern bee friends to help us out ?

As a member of the association referred to,

I say we should undertake the work, and
prove that the Northumberland and Durham
association exists not only in name but in
reality. — Joseph L. Dent, Bumhill, Was-
Jeerley, October 9.

[.Regarding the suggested action of the
Northumberland and Durham B.K.A. in con-
nection with the issue of a pamphlet, we need
only refer our correspondent, and those inter-
ested, to report of the meeting held in the
show ground at Darlington, which appears in
our issue of July 18 (page 281), and to add
that we are not aware of any action having
been taken in the matter by his association. —
Eds.1

THE AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST
TABLE.

[2238.] The charming visitor referred to in
the jeu d' esprit of your correspondent, B. South,
cannot be any other than my old acquaintance,
B.B.J. He is regularly at my breakfast table
every Thursday morning, and from what I
have heard he must — like Sir Boyle Roche's
bird — posses? the faculty of "being in two
places at once." — D. T. E.

There is one day of all the six

I always call my high-day,
For on that day comes B.B.J.,
Twixt Wednesday and Friday.
From your own "Laureate."

LONGEVITY OF DRONES.

SOME REMARKABLE COINCIDENCES.

[2239.] One of my strangest experiences is
that your correspondent T. D. Elliott (p. 404,
2221) should have referred to myself as being
possibly able to throw some light on the
question he propounds ! Pray do not think
me egotistical when I say, if there is one sub-
ject upon which I claim to be an fait, it is
this. I suggest, however, that 1'. D. E.,
though evidently very observant, is here just
a trifle off the track ; and, as I hope to show,
has, by a series of remarkable coincidences,
confounded terms and meanings. Every one
has not the knowledge of our ancient Saxon
lingo which enables one to lucidly trace the
whole thing out ; and so, in the light of my
own special and particular wisdom (already
mentioned) I am going to put T. D. E.
right. His first error, then, has refer-
ence to the name apis, to which one
class of drones belongs. This has clearly
been mixed up with api (Icel.), apa (Sax.),
otherwise ape. In this genus, by another
queer sequence, we find drones also, but the
last mentioned is classified as one of the family
of quadranous animals having teeth ; manlike,
and possessing " no tails or cheek pouches."
As to confusion of terms, a still further and
peculiar instance crops up when we have a
collection of the3e quadrupeds in durance
termed an apery ! The members of which, by

Oct. 17, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

421

their imitative antics, give rise to the term
apish. They are not honey bees, but, on the
contrary, very much " otherwise," if sweetness
is part of their economy. But if by the light
of our " Darwin " we plunge a little deeper, it
may be found that "T. D. E." is not so very
far away from the truth after all. Darwin tells
us of the " missing link'' between animate and
apparently inanimate life (another remarkable
"one of 'em"), and in his theory of evolution
pounced down upon Mr. Apt as the one
essential link necessary to complete the theory.
With all this in our minds, and a gentle
elongation of one's imagination, the whole
question of these, particular drones works out
as follows : —

Genus :— Homo

(Roquire
(Rogues)
or Schrok
(Sharks)
I

I I

Snican \ ,<, . . Lacnian
orSnaca ) (Snakes\Leeches)

I I

Vermis (Vermin)

Sub-class, Xadige (Toads)

Direct branch :— Man.*

* A rare species now, owing to deterioration by ab-
sorption into other and inferior classes.

Now a line as to the word drone "deri-
vated." By the light of the original Saxon
(another one of 'em) drone, or dronje (Sax.),
signifies a sound (mostly unpleasant) ; but
(here's another) this term also indicates what
would appear to be a kind of chronic disease
applicable to both sexes of the above genus.
In the direct branch, however, it appears only
in the transitory stage while passing from the
perfect state into that of the lower order or
class. The term by which shall we call this
disease is opprobriousiiess ?

Yet another: — " T. D. E." is again astray
on bisexuality (such cases do exist, but are
extremely rare). Though claiming to have
discovered a new species, your correspondent
is, as I have said, wrong. ! Our old friend the
Saxon was amicted much in the same way, in
what was then known as wifman mowe, or
wimmannovus (the "new woman" !). Now, as
then, however, I have no doubt this will prove
a mere passing freak of Nature. As to type ?
Well, I confess myself puzzled. A little learn-
ing, " T. D. E.," is a good thing in a way.
Typically, but you have got hold of the wrong
(Saxon) word ! Don't you mean tyke (spelt
"C U R")? Or mayhap the printer has
blundered.

To conclude, however, your correspondent
asks how these drones " can be ejected.'' I
advise him to make no attempt in that
direction. Read the first portion of this letter
again ; provide an "apery" ! (Jive them no
chance — either by intercourse or other form of
sociality — or opportunity for exercising their
enervating influence to the detriment of such
of us as have an honourable ambition to earn
the dignified title which I have designated the
" direct branch''

I trust my conclusions are quite clear,
although not very certain as to this myself.
If there is a "muddle" anywhere, please
ascribe it to my ancient friends the Saxons, or
else say it's another "remarkable coincidence."
— H. W. B., Thornton Heath.

PROPOSED ASSOCIATION FOR
HERTFORDSHIRE.
A number of bee-keepers and others inte-
rested in promoting the formation of an asso-
ciation for the county of Herts were present
at the Dairy Show on Wednesday, 9th inst.,
including Miss Gayton, of Hadham ; F. W.
Silvester, of St. Albans ; J. Kelsby, Watford ;
— Hodges, Kings Langley ; E. H. Taylor,
Welwyn, all of whom promised their active
assistance in promoting the interests of a Herts
association in their respective neighbourhoods.
A meeting of those present, together with
Messrs. J. H. New, E. D. Till, and J. M.
Hooker, members of the council, and J.
Huckle, secretary of the B.B.K.A., was held
at four o'clock, and a unanimous expression of
opinion arrived at, " That the formation of an
association for the county of Herts was desir-
able, and that steps should be taken to call a
meeting on an early date with the view to
form a working committee." Much stress
was laid upon the desirability of immediate
action being taken, inasmuch as the Bath and
West of England Show, to be held at St.
Albans next year, presented a favourable
opportunity for the reorganisation of Herts
bee-keepers and the restoration of the industry
of bee-keeping in the county to the prestige it
enjoyed only a few years since.

SURREY BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

Referring to the notice of a conference of
bee-keepers to be held at Guildford this month,
under the auspices of the Surrey County
Council, which appeared on page 384 of our
issue for September 26 last, we are now in-
formed that the meeting will take place at the
Technical Schools, Ward-street, Guildford, on
Saturday, the 19th inst., at 3 p.m.

The attendance of all Surrey bee-keepers
and of those interested in the movement is
invited.

3q J$tw to atom*.

October 19. — Lanarkshire B.K.A. annual
show of honey and bee appliances (appliances
open to all), in Public Hall, Larkhall. Also
general meeting of members same day at
5 p.m. Entries close October 12. Schedules
from John Stevenson, secretary, Merryton
Braes, Larkhall, N.B.

422

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 17, 1895.

Notices to Correspondents and inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

" Tryon " (Liskeard). — Preventing Swarming.
— 1. You do not state what particular
system of prevention is referred to when
saying:— "I read that swarming can be
considerably lessened by putting another
body - box beneath brood - chamber, &c."
Consequently we cannot advise without
knowing what is before us. Please inform
us on the point. 2. The " "Wells " system
may be referred to in a general way in new
edition, but nothing beyond this.

Cumberland. — Wintering Bees in a Two-light
Garden-frame. — If the two frame-hives and
skep are well protected from wet and cold
our preference would strongly incline to
wintering them in the open on their
ordinary stands. We see both disadvan-
tages and inconvenience as likely to occur
in using a garden-frame for the purpose, if
it can be avoided.

B. Firkin ( Wyrley). — Moving Bees. — The only
danger in moving hives a quarter mile at
this season is the risk of losing bees by their
returning to the old stands ; and this
danger may be minimised by altering the
appearance of the hives for a few days after
removal.

Juno (Roseneath). — Size of Sheets of Founda-
tion.— 1. Foundation — if used unwired —
should always be cut so as to hang free
of sides and bottom of frames, otherwise it
will sag and twist out of shape in use. 2.
If sample of suspected comb, with dead
brood in cells, be forwarded we will gladly
give an opinion on it.

John Craig (Northallerton).— Transferring
Bees in October. — Honey Labels. — 1. It
would be ruinous to the chance of success
next year to transfer bees and combs from
skeps to frame-hives at this date. Leave
them where they are well-off and safely pro-
vided for, and furnish the frame-hives with
swarms from them next year. Any of our
advertising dealers will send you samples of
labels for a few pence if written to.

H. J. Blacklocks (Lydd).— Zinc is, in some
degree, certainly harmful in contact with
honey, because of the oxide being poisonous ;
it cannot, however, be very injurious to
bees, seeing how often they take syrup
through perforated zinc.

Felix Br i duett (Cheadle). — Honey sent is
gathered mainly from clover.

We have quite a number of Letters, Queries,
(fee, in type, which arc unavoidably held over
till next iveek.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, dee. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Thrss
words or under, One Penny.

FOR SALE, 100 lbs. of Fine Extracted HONEY, 8d.
per lb. M. Hall, Hutton Rudby. J 69

W

ANTED. RUBBER BEE-GLOVES, second hand.
State price. — W. Rabt, Southam, Rugby. J 76

PURE BLACKS. A few Stocks in Straw Skeps to
spare. Apply, Alsford, " Expert, ' Blandford.

WANTED, Clean CYLINDER EXTRACTOR, cheap.
State particulars. Edwin Tiller, 28, Reulah-
road, Thornton Heath, Surrey. J 72

EXTRACTED HONEY WANTED. Best quality,
pale, season 1895. T. Smith, 17, Cambridge-
street, Hyde Park. J 74

EXCHANGE Bees, Appliances, or Honey for strong
.■ Safety Bicycle (cushion or solid). DALE, Little
Haywood, Stafford. J 73

BEAUTIFUL HONEY, in bottles and in bulk.
Sample 3d. Thomas Charles, Caerswall, Much
Alarcle, Glos. J 71

LANT NOW, for Bees, LIMNANTHES DOUGLASII.
Strong Plants, 120, Is. Clark, Boarbank,
Grange-over-Sands. J 66

SAXIFRAGAS and other ALPINE PLANTS, very
cheap. Also Daffodils. Send for list. SANDS,
Harborne, Birmingham. J 67

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS. Sent, carriage paid this
month, at 4s. each ; 1895 reared. W. B. Webster,
Biufleld, Berks. J 57

QUEENS, STOCKS, and NUCLEI. Guaranteed
healthy. Queen rearing a speciality (8th Season).
" Rev. C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex. 109

C}(\ YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, Ac.
^ v Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfield, Sussex. 116

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. 100 strips,
22 inches long, 8d., 200, Is. 3d., 300, Is. 9d., 400,
2s. 3d., 600, 2s. 9d. Three neat patterns stocked.
W. WoODLEY, Beedon, Newbury.

FREEHOLD LAND, 13 acres, 18 acres, 26 acres;
well sheltered, £12 per acre ; 10 acres, wood, fine
covert, £230; 9 acres, £270. Land, Myrtle-villa,
Hornchurch. j 75

WANTED. HONEY, comb or extracted, or appli-
ances, in exchange for handsome Fox in massive
glass case. Also large Heron in glass case with corner
pillars.— Dr. Walker, Kirkby-Stephen, Westmorland.
J 77

SEVERAL STOCKS of BEES in home-made Standard
Hives, quite healthy and splendid honey gatherers,
25s. each ; or, in make-shift hives, 15s. each. Can be
seen by appointment. Also J) lbs. Beeswax, Is. 8d. lb.,
carriage paid. Rev. Rees, Dalton Parsonage, Thirsk.
J 70

HONEY AND ITS USES," by Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, M.A,, 3s. 6d. per 100. By distributing
this Pamphlet, a ready market for honey may be made
in Bee-keepers' own neighbourhood. Specimen copy
sent. Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," post
free 2jd. Address, The Green, Dartford. j 7s

W^ ^ MEADOWS,

Syston and Leicester.

SEASON GOODS.

My Patent Extractors, none to equal them. Super-
Clearers, best made. Three prize medals. You
can't successfully harvest Honey without them. Honey
Ripeners and Honey Tins. Every Bee-Keeper must
have my new 5s. Ripener. Section and Show Cases, &c.
Address all letters " SYSTON," near Leicester.

Oct, 24, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

423

(B&toM, $atim, fcu

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

CONVERSAZIONE.

Continued from faqe 413.
Mr. A. D. Woodley, on the invitation of
the Chairman, then read the following paper,
entitled : —

THE BEE-VAN AND ITS WORK.

The promotion of rational and humane bee-
keeping being the chief aim and object of the
British Bee-keepers' Association, it may not
be uninteresting if I give you a short sketch
of what the Berkshire .bee-keepers' Association
has been, and is, doing in this particular
direction. My object is specially to give the
representatives of other county associations
who are present to-night the benefit of our
experience, and also that we may gain some
fresh ideas which -will assist in making our
efforts in this direction even more successful
than they have hitherto been.

Before going into details, however, let me
give you a brief history of how we came to
take up this part of our work in this parti-
cular form. In 1891, like many other county
associations, we made an application to our
County Council for a grant of money under
the technical education scheme for the
promotion of bee-keeping. Aided by some
little influential pressure, we obtained a grant of
£50. No special conditions were laid down as
to how we should use this sum ; indeed, pro-
bably at that time the various County Councils
hardly knew themselves how to use the large
sums of money placed in their hands, and were
not prepared to lay down stringent rules when
making grants. Well, thus aided we under-
took and carried out an extensive and detailed
expert tour among the bee-keepers of Berk-
shire, irrespective of their being members of
our County Association or not, and collected
all the information we could. This has proved
of great value to us, for never previously had
we been able to say how the bee-keeping
industry actually stood. It also enabled us to
supply statistics to the 'deputation from the
British Bee-keepers' Association which re-
cently waited upon the President of the Board
of Agriculture on the foul-brood question and
no doubt it was of service to them. The
remainder of the money was spent in giving
lectures during the winter months.

In 1892 this programme was repeated, and
it is certain that a vast amount of good was
done, though, of course, we were unable to
point to actual definite results. After two
years' experience the Technical Education
Committee of the County Council desired to
see something tangible for the money voted to
us. Now if any of my hearers doubt the value

of the work done in return for our grant, I
should like them to try a little business dealing
with the Berks County Council, and I fancy
they will arrive at the conclusion that that
particular County Council will have twenty
shillings' worth of work for every pound sterling
voted.

Early in 1893 it came to our knowledge that
the Technical Education Committee contem-
plated the withdrawal of the grant of £50 for
that year ; my committee therefore felt that
some special effort must be made to retain it.
The reason for this was stated to be that we
were not doing sufficiently distinct work ; they
imagined that we were simply adding the
money to our own association funds, and that
we were going on much as before ; so that if
the grant was to be retained a fresh line of
work must be started. We accordingly put
ourselves into communication with Mr. Alfred
Watkins, hon. sec. of the Herefordshire B.K.A.,
who had the previous season run a bee-van on
behalf of their County Council. On the
strength of his report, and from the informa-
tion he kindly furnished, we drew up a scheme,
and asked for a grant of £100, i.e., £50 to-
wards cost of a bee-van, and £50 for the ex-
pense of working it for the season. On April
22 the grant was made, and we then set to
work, got our van built, and on June 24 were
ready to start for a twenty-five days' cruise
" on wheels.''

The district 'selected was that part of the
county lying between Reading and Hunger-
ford, bounded on the north by a range of hills,
each side of which is well known as a fine
bee-keeping district. Having myself a fort-
night's holiday, along with a friend we
arranged to devote it to " van " work, and made
a beginning ; the remainder being done by our
expert, Mr. Flood. The country traversed
was well calculated to test the qualities of
men, horses, and van, but I hope that we got
through the work creditably ; and, as some
proof °of this, the grant of £50 has been made
to us each year since. But our difficulties
were not yet over, for it was found that at the
close of the season the £100 had not sufficed
for expenses, and our association was left to
face the serious deficit of over £40. An ap-
plication was, in consequence, made to the
County Council to renew the grant of £100 to
enable us to clear this off in 1894. This was
declined, but a smaller grant of £50 made,
the whole of which was to be spent in definite
work. An effort was therefore made to over-
come this difficulty, and— after a somewhat
ineffectual appeal to our members and friends
for help— we thought that with only a month's
work to do in our own county, there were at
least two more months which might be utilised
in trying to make the " van" work off our debt.
After due inquiry we ascertained which of
the neighbouring counties had made no grant
to their Bee-keepers' Association, and only
approached these in view of doing some work
for them. Our offer having been accepted by

424

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 24, 1895.

the Surrey County Council, we have for the
last two years carried out a tour in that county
with the pecuniary result that — along with
contributions from funds of the association —
we shall begin work in 1896 practically free
from debt.

I have dwelt somewhat upon the historical
side of the question in order that other county
associations may benefit by oar experience.
"We wish particularly to impress the fact upon
them that they will have greater chances of
success in securing County Council grants by
showing a well-defined programme of. work to
be done outside their ordinary operations.

Our mode of procedure has been as follows :
We first submit to the County Council a list
of places it is proposed to visit ; these having
been approved and the grant made, we send
to the local clergy, schoolmasters, and all
known bee-keepers a circular explaining our
object and asking their co-operation in making
our visit successful. So hearty has been the
response, that in many cases our visit is
regarded as an "event" in the villages and
neighbourhood. On some occasions consider-
able trouble has been taken on our behalf.
Garden parties have been given, and visitors
to these have been invited to see our after-
noon demonstrations, the working classes
coming to our evening lectures. We endeavour
to arrange for setting up the van on the
village green, or in some public place, and take
care to secure the loan of a stock of bees or
the use of an apiary for our afternoon
demonstrations.

Our van is equipped with sleeping accommo-
dation and cooking apparatus, making us
practically independent of outside help ; this
is really necessary, as in some of the places
visited it would often be next to impossible to
get either board or lodgings. We carry with
us a lantern and set of slides, together with a
collection of bee - appliances of the most
approved kinds.

Each day's work is arranged and may be
detailed somewhat as follows : Turn out at
about 7 a.m., feed the hone and get our own
breakfast, then pack things for travelling, and
it not seldom happens that we have several
neighbouring bee-keepers to call upon and
help over some difficulty. This done, we
usually start between ten and eleven, and our
journey being arranged in stages of about six
miles we reach our next stopping place between
twelve and one. While dinner is being got
ready we have a look round and endeavour to
find a few people who take an interest in our
work. Usually, however, they find us first,
and so, having disposed of our midday meal,
preparations are begun for an afternoon
demonstration, generally at four o'clock. For
this we erect our tent in a suitable spot close
by, or in a bee-keeper's garden. Operations
begin by showing the visitors how to handle
bees both in skeps and in frame-hives. These
manipulations and explanations occupy us till
tea-time, after which there is a spare hour or

two either for visiting bee-keepers or friends,
plenty of whom we find ready to welcome us
wherever we go. At 7.30 comes the " Talk
about Bees," when we invite and answer
questions and explain the uses of our collection
of appliances ; this proves to be a most useful
part of our work. At 8.30 the " Lantern
Lecture " begins ; this generally lasts about
three quarters of an hour, and by 9.30 the
day's work ends. In this way the whole
county of Berks has been practically covered
and many places visited which it would be
impossible to reach in any other way, besides
bringing us into direct contact with the very
class we are most anxious to benefit, bringing
" Technical Education in Bee-keepiDg" to the
cottage door, and there should be now no
excuse in our county for want of knowledge on
this subject.

During the last three years something like
200 lectures and demonstrations have been
given to audiences averaging nearly 100, so
that upwards of 20,000 persons in the county
of Berks have had an opportunity of hearing
something about modern apiculture. An equal
number received instructions from us in the
county of Surrey during the last two years, so
that it may be safely said that in very few
departments of technical education has so much
work been done at so little cost.

We distribute literature in the shape of
small pamphlets, and also supply a list of
flowers sought after by bees. The latter have
been issued by Messrs. Sutton & Sons,
Beading, and both are given gratis. We also
take with us a supply of " Modern Bee-keep-
ing," " Cowan's Guide," and other books. The
number of these sold is surprising, and the
information thus disseminated must produce
very considerable results in the near future.

In conclusion, permit me to offer a word on
lecturing. Experience has taught us that, in
order to secure the attention of a country
audience, the instruction should be as plain
and as practical a3 possible. As a rule, there-
fore, we leave the anatomy of the bee and such
other details to be dealt with in classes, and
devote our attention to the advantages of bee-
keeping, and to showing plainly and clearly
how to achieve success in the pursuit.

One indirect result of the work in the
county of Surrey is that there is now a general
cry for a revival of the Surrey Beekeepers'
Association. The value of an active county
association has moreover been so far re-
cognised by the Surrey County Council that
steps are being- taken in conjunction with our
old friend Captain Campbell for putting that
association on a satisfactory basis. For this
purpose a conference of Surrey bee-keepers
will be held at Guildford on Saturday after-
noon the 19th inst., at three o'clock, and I
trust these efforts will be heartily supported,
and that the Surrey Bee-keepers' Association
will soon be at work again with all its old
vigour. There is no doubt that where a
county association has fallen into a dormant

Oct. 24, 1895.

THE BKITLSII BEE JOURNAL

425

condition the tour of a bee-van would do
much to stimulate it into new life and
activity.

Our old friend, " Amateur Expert," in the
Bee Journal of September 10, referring to
the proposed revival of the Herts U.K. A.,
appears to have taken up the "rest and be
thankful " position towards county associa-
tions, arguing that there is no need for such
organisations in that or any other county.
After some years of active experience in asso-
ciation work, 1 am fully convinced that there
is still a vast amount of useful work for county
associations to do. I also believe that, where
an active association exists, or where it can be
brought into renewed life, the county council
will show wise economy in using the organisa-
tion for the development of that particular
industry. We have proved this in our own
county, and I feel sure that similar results
will follow in the county of Surrey.

Mr. Woodley then distributed a few speci-
mens of pamphlets and papers circulated during
the tour, and also some photos taken at differ-
ent times.

Mr. Till asked Mr. Woodley how the bee-
van tour had assisted in obtaining members to
the Berks Association. There were always
causes at woik, such as death and discontent,
which brought about a diminution in the
members of an association, and it was therefore
necessary to be always on the look-out for
new supporters.

Mr. Carr also inquired as to the nature of the
help given to local bee-keepers during the van
tour. If expert help, such as that rendered by
county experts, were granted it would have a
tendency to injure county associations so far
as membership, because if bee-keepers could
bave County Council assistance free they
would hesitate in sending a subscription to
county associations. He was under the im-
pression that in Herefordshire there had been
a reduction of membership owing to that
cause.

Mr. Andrews expressed a wish to know
what was the expense of the tour.

Mr. Woodley, in reply, said that the County
Council bore all the expense, that being a
matter of airangement with them, and every-
body was paid a fair and reasonable wage.
He confessed that this new step had not in-
creased the county membership as largely as
was anticipated, although there was a slight
augmentation of supporters. His outline of
the usual day's work proved that there was
little time to spare for personal visits to bee-
keepers. Their announcement bills stated
t^at the expert was instructed to render help
as far as possible on or near the line of route ;
and this was carried out, luore or less, accord-
ing to the time at disposal. The bee-van has
actually been a source of revenue during the last
year or two. This year they had been out
eleven weeks, and a very satisfactory profit on
the tour resulted. The Surrey tour was

purely a business transaction between the
Berks Association and the Surrey County
Council. They received a fixed sum of two
guineas per day. The Herefordshire B.K.A.,
he believed, worked their van only on alter-
nate weeks ; but that plan they found did not
pay, especially in Surrey, where they were a
long distance from home. They started out
on May 15, and finished on July 29. The
ownership and control of the bee-van remained
vested in the Berkshire B.K.A., subject only
to their engagement with the Berks County
Council, who made a contribution towards the
original expense.

Mr. Carr did not doubt that Mr. Woodley
would guard against demoralising bee-keepers
by giving them the help which they ought to
secure through county associations ; and Mr.
Harris added that, where the van travelled,
the people should be told that they could not
expect skilled assistance every year, which
could only be obtained by joining county
associations.

Mr. Woodley replied that he was too much
intereftei in the success of the Berks Associa-
tion to do anything which would detract
therefrom.

In reply to other questions, Mr. Woodley
said that the van accessories could be hired at
the price paid by the Surrey C.C., viz.,
two guineas per day ; thus, any bee association
could secure about twenty-four or twenty-five
days' work for £50. Sleeping and cooking
accommodation were available inside the van.
Referring to the original cost he would say
that the Berkshire C.C. had made a grant of
£50 towards the price of the van, and £50
towards the expense of working it for the
season. This allowance, however, only paid
part, the van and equipment costing just over
£140 ; but the whole apparatus now practically
belonged to the association.

The Chairman was sure the members would
all join with him in thanking Mr. Woodley
for his interesting description of the work done
in Berkshire. They had, no doubt, read of it
in the B.B.J., but a personal interview was
always preferable. They would all be pleased
to know of the success that attended the
tour with the bee-van, and the fact of the van
bringing in a profit was quite refreshing. He
believed there was no better way of reaching
the cottager than by such means. There
might be a difficulty in getting them to attend
lectures in a room, but the van brought educa-
tion to their doors.

The thanks of the meeting was voted to Mr.
Woodley for his paper.

Mr. Woodley expressed his acknowledg-
ments in suitable terms ; after which Mr. Till,
referring to the indirect good done by means
of shows and bee-vau tours, instanced the
case of a show held at Tuubridge Wells at a
loss to the association, but one beneficial after-
result was that a well-known dairyman came
to him at the Agricultural Hall, and, after

426

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 24, 1895.

recalling their meeting at Tunbridge Wells,
ordered twenty dozen jars of honey for re-
sale. Consequently, he felt that the heavy
expenditure had not been in vain, if it were a
means of opening up the market to bee-
keeping.

Mr. Pugh (Notts), referring to the com-
parative cost of the bee-van, and the giving
of single lectures in isolated places, said there
were a lot of incidental expenses in connec-
tion with the latter, such as train fares, a
lantern operator, and the cost of getting the
apparatus from place to place. He thought
the sum mentioned by Mr. Woodley (two
guineas) was the very least that could be
charged.

Mr. Woodley replied that although
lectures were sometimes given in the nearest
building available, experience showed that the
cottagers' presence could be secured better on
the village-green than in a building.

Mr. Scattergood exhibited a cheap feeder,
made by an ingenious bee-keeper in Derby-
shire. It was manufactured out of an old
treacle-tin, and had been used with good
results. He also referred to a matter which
would probably interest those concerned in the
spread of education. Being officially connected
with the School Board in his own district, he
had asked the teachers to introduce bee-keeping
in the form of object lessons in the schools.
As a result the subject was now taught there,
and an observatory hive had been shown the
children, which was a capital way of securing
their interest. He had also procured sets of
cards illustrative of bee-life in some form or
other, which on the Kindergarten plan were
designed to be filled in witn needlework or
coloured, and he exhibited some that had been
so manipulated by little children under six
years of age. Such object lessons were allowed
by the Code, and could be taken as part of the
ordinary curriculum.

The merits of the swarm-catcher, and self-
hiver were freely discussed by Messrs. Till,
Scattergood, Brice, Hooker, and Meadows,
who were of opinion that there was no in-
vention that would satisfactorily catch a swarm
and hive the bees, the two operations having to
be done separately.

Mr. Carr said with all respect that Mr. Hole
bad caught his swarms and hived them by
means of his hiver in half-a-dozen instances.

Mr. Howard said it had been part of his
ambition to settle the swarm-catching business,
but after considerable experience he had come
to the conclusion that it was a matter well left
alone from a monetary point of view of the
school. The speaker then explained a self-
hiver, which the swarm could be hived on to
the frames direct, an advantage which he had
never seen in any other self-hiver.

(The remainder of proceedings will appear
next week.)

THE BEE-KEEPERS' " OFFERING."

Referring to the presentation of a " Honey
Trophy" to Mr. Colam at the conversazione
of the B.B.K.A. last week, we have peculiar
pleasure in acknowledging the very cordial and
liberal response to the invitation conveyed on
page 392 of our issue of the 3rd inst. The
result of the " plot " — as divulged in last
week's B.J. — will no doubt be eminently satis-
factory to the donors whose names appear
below. That the bee-keepers' offering was '' in
kind " rendered it' far more valuable in our
eyes, and, we believe, in those of the recipient,
than if it had taken any other form. In fact,
judging by the enjoyable character of the
whole proceedings during the progress of the
little function at Jermyn-street, and the evi-
dent hearty gratification it afforded to the
gentleman it was desired to honour, we are
safe in saying that those whose good fortune
it was to participate therein will refer to our
permanent record of the proceedings with a
feeling of satisfaction for many years to come.

The following list of donors to the
"Trophy" does not include all, as some did
not send names : —

R. Auld, W. Bramley, A. Brayshaw, Miss
Biggs, C. Burge. W. H. Brenes, R. Brown.
Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Bradshaw, H. Bates,
H. W. Brice, Rev. W. E. Burkitt, T. W.
Cowan, A. J. Carter, P. J. D. Collin, F. J.
Cribb, W. B. Carr, Harry Clark, C. H. H.,
A. Fuller, Mrs. Fiett, A. G. Fisher, F. C.
Gaulton, J. Garratt, F. Gay. J. Hall, Lieut. H.
C. Hawker, J. Huckle, G. Hole, L. Inwood.
R. Illman, H. Jonas, Phil Jones, Mrs. Kirk
Robt. Kerr (Dairy), Mrs. Kipping, H. G. S.
Leigb, G. LyoD, H. P. Morris, M. Meadham,
W. McNally, J. Mclnnes, J. H. New, T.
Owen, T.Pntchard, W. Petty, Miss Robinson,
R. Sillito, L. H. Smith, H. W. Seymour,
Sergr. Sutton, P. Scattergood, Junr., Elvey
Smith/ E. D. Till, J. R. Truss, E. H. Taylor,
T. F. L., E. C. R. White, John Walton,
W. H. Woods, A. D. Woodley, Mrs. Way,
Geo. J. Wright, and G. J. Young.

Beatb of tfoe 1Re\\ %. %.
Xangstrotb.

Just before going to press the sad news
reaches us of the death of the above venerable
gentleman, who died suddenly on the 6th inst.
of apoplexy, while addressing a large audience
at Dayton, Ohio, where he has for some years
past resided.

Wherever modern bee-keeping is practised,
and the frame-hive is known, the name of
Langstroth is known also, and bee-keepers the
world over will, we are sure, learn the melan-
choly news of his passing away with sorrow
and sincere regret. Next week we hope to
give some details of the life and work of one
whom we regard as the benefactor of bee-
keepers in all lands,

Oct. 24, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

427

<§am%$ttn&tixtt.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

" QUI S'EXCUSE, S' ACCUSE."

[2240.] I have received the "following letter,
which has been addressed to the Editors of
the B.B.J, for me by '•' Amateur Expert,1' in
which he still fails to say "how many (if
any 1) bee clubs he has started aud kept
going." The excuse he puts forward for the
secretary of the Bishops Stortford B.K.A. is
quite sufficient for all purposes. Qui s'excuse,
s'aceuse could never have better illustration.
Fancy the secretary of a B.K.A. never read-
ing the B.B.J. ! This reveals the importance (?)
' of the Bishops Stortford B.K.A. with a
vengeance !

As to my "personality,'' I beg to assure
" Amateur Expert "' that I am no " bogus
subscriber" (though possibly a "bogey'' to
him). A. Prior, however, is not my name ; it
is a nom-Oe-plumc, though " non" -de-plume
might be appropriate if 1 were the non entity
"Amateur Expert " supposes. However, the
letter below must speak for itself. — A. Prior,
October 17.

Cole Green, Hertford,

October 14, 1895.

Dear Sir, — I replied to some of my
numerous critics in the B.B.J., but the
editors have not inserted it. The hon. sec. of
the Bishops Stortford Association, in common
with many thousands of bee-keepers, does not
read the B.B.J., consequently he has not seen
your letter.

1 looked on you as a bogus subscriber. If
you are bona-fide and will reply to this
privately, I have something else to tell you.

I use a non-de-plume [(sic) A.P.], not
because I am ashamed nor afraid to sign my
name, but because amongst old bee-keepers I
am better known by it than I am as, —Yours
faithfully, Joux P. Sambels.

[The publication of the above letter — for
which we are free from responsibility — in
some degree compels us to add a word regard-
ing it. We, therefore, say that, while Mr.
Sambels' gratuitous allusion to the " thousands
of bee-keepers who do not read the BRITISH
Bee Journal "' may be passed by without
remark, we may be excused fcr observing that
the veracity of that gentleman becomes open
to question — or shall we say he " made a bad
shot " — in pointedly referring to the hon. sec.
of the Bishops Stortford B.K.A. Any way,
in view of the communication on page 42!) of

this issue, it becomes fairly clear that, however
many bee-keepers may — much to our regret
— be non-readers of the B.J., the gentleman
referred to by Mr. Sambels is not one of them.
We may also add that, so far from the letter
mentioned as " not inserted " containing replies
to the writer's numerous critics, only one (Sain-
foin) was alluded to ; the substance of the
letter comprised some not very pleasant
allusions to the regrettable ill-health of one
well-known to our readers, together with
personalities which we did not care to publish,
and an offer to deliver lectures on bee-keeping
without fee or " asking for travelling expenses,"
provided a suitable room was arranged for.
Having said this much, our conscience is quite
clear in the matter, and we ask that it now be
allowed to drop. — Eds.]

HONEY FOB THE LADY MAYORESS.

[2241.] I shall be delighted to send you a
small pot of honey for the occasion, if you
can allow a gentleman bee-keeper to contri-
bute any. I think the proposal to offer the
Lady Mayoress of London a sample of English
honey ought to be carried out. There are
many skilful lady bee-keepers, and it only
wants this fact known to bring a good many
more ladies into the field of apiculture. I
hope the lady bee-keepers will have an oppor-
tunity to introduce the subject of honey adul-
teration, which, more than anything else,
spoils the taste for good honey, and spoils the
price, too. Only the other day a chemist
showed me some so-called South American
honey, beautifully put up, but not, in my
opinion, tasting at all like genuine honey. It
was very cheap so far as price was concerned ;
the chemist himself told me he thought it
probably adulterated. The fact is, not one
person in a thousand knows the flavour of
good English honey — very likely the Lady
Mayoress herself does not. There ought to
be a first-rate pamphlet to instruct and
interest on the subject of honey generally, and
to show the multifarious uses of honey as a
food, a medicine, and a product from which
so many excellent and economical preparations
can be made. — Well Wisher, October 21.

[We do not know of any reason why bee-
keepers not blessed with a " better-half "
should be refused a place among the donors,
although all who have so far promised support
are ladies. And we are very pleased to say
that several have sent honey to us for the
" presentation." — Eds.]

[2242.] The presentation to Lady Eenals
by lady bee-keepers is in the interest of British
bee-keeping. We have to use every legitimate
means of bringing native honey into public
notice. The Lady Mayoress, in her public
capacity, will certainly appreciate our object.

428

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 24, 1895.

Our President is herself a lady, and probably
approves. I would make " no bones " of
telling the Lady Mayoress ivhy we make the
present. In the first place, we want every
housewife to put British honey on the break-
fast table. We want every housekeeper to
give honey vinegar a trial. We want bee-
keeping more taken up by ladies. We want
Lady Renals to ask "Tier" Lordship for a
prize— not necessarily for the dairy show, but
for some important metropolitan honey show ;
and finally we want prizes for honey and
honey products from the worshipful City com-
panies, especially the Grocers, Apothecaries,
and Fruiterers, because honey is a product
connected with each of these trading guilds.
Let the samples be good, and'let them also be
good examples, properly labelled with the
plant from which the bees have obtained the
nectar — fruit, beans, mustard, clover, heather,
sainfoin, raspberry, lime, &c, as the case may
be. This will make this representative offer-
ing doubly interesting. If possible, let the
present be made on November 1, for that was
the date of our first present of honey to the
Lord Mayor.

Perhaps some bee-keepers make light of the
project. They may not see its importance, or
are not in the habit of giving away samples of
their honey to beget a taste for the native
product. Well, to such you do not appeal.
There will be plenty of sympathisers without
them. It could be done by one, of course, and
there need be no appeal at all, but that would
deprive the present of its representative
character. I do not agree with the man who
left his wife at home because taking her with
him " halved pleasure and doubled expenses."
I contend that participation not only lightens
the burden, but doubles the pleasure, and that
is why you propos9 the privilege should be
shared. I only wish I were a lady bee-keeper,
so as to participate in the function ; but
in any case I will, if allowed, gladly contribute
forae honey and sign it — Member of the
Kent B.K.A.

CAN BEES DISTINGUISH BETWEEN
DRONE AND WORKER-EGGS 1
[2243.] "A Worker" (2231, p. 418), puts
the above question to me ; I therefore reply
by saying that the evidence is rather to the
contrary. I have known bees raise queen-
cells round a drone larva when no worker
larvse have been available. Several clear, and
distinct cases of bees carrying eggs about in
hives have also come under my personal
observation, but no instance Avhere drone-eggs
have been carried into gupers for want of
drone-cells in the brood chamber. I have
u'so had cases where bees cut down worker-
combs and converted them into drone-cells.
Bees will place drone-eggs in worker cells and
a " lay ing- worker " will deposit eggs in worker
and drone cells indiscriminately, sometimes

half-a-dozen in one cell, but a fertile queen
never makes a mistake of this kind — she
evidently knows the difference. — Henry W.

Brice, Thornton Heath, Surrey.

[2244.] I think my late experience will, in a
measure, answer the query put by " A
Worker" (2231, p. 418), by showing that bees
do not appear to be able to tell the difference
between drone and worker eggs. One of my
made swarms I found contained an unmated
queen, and the bees had built on drone brood
a fine queen-cell. This they did while the
unmated queen was still in the hive. The
insect appeared to hatch-out, but, as Mr. H.
W. Brice kindly informed me,, it would die,
and the bees would remove it. Mr. B.
also mentions that he had many such cases in
his early bee days.

The bees were a long time building the
queen-cell, and I was rather taken aback with
the result, but I seem to have learnt some-
thing.— Badcock, Bexhill, October 17, 1895.

THE DAIRY SHOW.

EXTENSION OF PRIZE LIST FOR 1896.

[2245.] I entirely agree with Mr. Brice
(2229, p. 416) " that the Dairy Show should
not only be the great honey fair of the year,
but the annual gathering ground of British
bee-keepers," and if as great an improvement
as was shown between this year's show and
last continues, there need be little fear that
this will soon be the case. What is wanted to
more fully popularise the honey classes is well
set forth in Mr. Till's able letter (which
follows on page 417) — i.e., "a more compre-
hensive schedule with far more classes and
prize money." If, however, heather honey
has a distinct class, there should, I think, not
be separate classes for Scotch honey.

What friend Brice terms our "plot "will I
hope meet with generous support, in which
case there should be little difficulty in
getting these additional classes included in the
schedules for next year, and if the ladies
take the honey-confectionery into their special
care, no doubt it will be well to the front. I
consider the honey shown was much superior
to that of last year, nearly every sample in the
large class of extracted honey being what
might well be termed " show honey " — in, fact,
I was pleased to recognise some old acquaint-
ances that I had seen as prize-winners at
county shows before.

Had your correspondent, "Contempt of
Court" (2233, p. 418), been an observant
visitor at bee and honey shows, he would not
say " colour takes a subsidiary place." We
are all agreed that flavour is the mo3t im-
portant factor, but if he had gone carefully
round the exhibits at any large show he would
find that the high class honeys do not vary
so much in flavour as they do in colours ana

Oct. 24, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

i-2i

that the latter appeals so forcibly to the eye
that he may venture to predict that, in nine
cases out of ten, the light amber-coloured
honey take premier honours. Quite rightly, too,
I thiak, because it has invariably been gathered
in virgin combs just in the height of the
season, and is not an admixture of good, bad,
and indifferent products, as is very often the
darker coloured honey.

No doubt Hunts honey has " taken the
cake " this year, and if it were desirable and
practicable to set up a standard for honey
par excellence, 1 fancy some that has been
gathered in Hunts and shown this year might
be used for the purpose; for, personally, I never
saw honey of greater all-round excellence than
some shown by Hunts bee-men in 1895. A
class for heather honey will enable us to com-
pare such samples as Mr. Webster and Mr.
Jacomb-Hood refer to in their letters with the
real " native " Scotch article.

Hoping Mr. Till will not have to lament of
" lack of public spirit among bee-keepers, or
too few prizes at future Dairy Shows.'' —
Arthur G. Pugh, Beeston, Notts, October 21.

AN ASSOCIATION FOR HERTS.

[2246.] Having seen in the last few num-
bers of your valuable journal that some
venturesome spirits in this county have mooted
the question of re-formiog the old Herts Asso-
ciation, and also asking for particulars of our
local B.K.A., I send you a few lines just to
show what we are doing in this outside corner
of the county. "When I commenced bee-
keeping here in 1887 there were a few bee-
keepers here (under a dozen), visited annually
by the Herts expert, but the county associa-
tion collapsed in the following year, and we
were two years without any assistance. In
September, 1889, a meeting was called here,
and a president, secretary, auditor, and com-
mittee elected, a regular association was
formed, and about thirty members were visited
in 1890 by an expert, who undertook the office
for us.

Receipts for that year were £7. 17s., ex-
penses £4. 19s. Prize money, the gift of the
then president, L. D. Wigau. Esq, did not
appear in the accounts. In 1891 we increased
to thirty-eight members. Receipts .£10. 4s. Gd.,
expenses £'9. 15?., including prize money,
10s. Gd.

In. 1892 we numbered forty members.
Receipts £11. 17s. 6d. Expenses: Expert
expenses, two visits, £8. 7s. Gd. ; prize money,
£2. 9s. ; advertisements, &c, £1. lis. 4d.
This left a trifling balance on the wrong side.

During the last two years the number of
members has increased to nearly fifty, and, as
some live at a long distance, the receipts have
not covered the expenses, and, although' one
member of the committee has kindly conveyed
the expert round the district free of charge,
we were at the end of lastyear£G. 9s. Gd.indebt.

In this unsatisfactory condition we com-

menced the present year, but, thanks to a
small grant of £5 from the Herts Technical
Educ ition Committee, and by the kindness of
one of our members, who collected the prize
money for the year, we shall, I hope, be able
to clear off the deficiency by the end of the
year. Our members always receive two visits
annually by the expert.

For the last four years we have bad the
valuable assistance of Mr. W. C. Child, of
Hemel Hempstead, a former expert in the old
Herts Association, who has done all in his
power to advise and assist members ; but I fear,
if a county association is formed, he would,
like myself, be too busy to undertake office.
What I would recommend is, that those who
wish to start a county association (and I should
be glad to see one) should call a public meeting
and make sure of some cash, appoint their own
officers and committee, and draw up their own
rules, leaving the bee-keepers here at liberty to
join or not as they think proper. The County
Association would then stand on its own footing,
and our position as a local effort will not be
injured if the county association falls through.
I enclose a copy of our rules and the reports
and balance-sheets for the last two years. —
G. W. Sworder, Hon. Secretary and Treasurer,
Bishop's Stortford B.K A., October 18.

A CURIOUS PARASITE.
[2247.] On May 30 I was removing a piece
of board which was leaning against the
alighting-board of one of my hives, when I
noticed a bee crawling upon it having some-
thing the matter with one of its upper wings
(see sketch). At first I
thought that the wing
was malformed, but on
closer observation the
obstruction turned out
to be the pupa-case of
some insect. It was
firmly attached at one
end to the extremity
of the wing, and was
yellow and semi-trans-
parent, having two
small projections at the
free end. Fixed to it
was a black shrivelled
mass, evidently the
skin or skins of the larval state that it had
thrown off. It was about H mm. in length.

I kept the puparium in a warm place, in the
hope that the insect within would hatch out,
but having been now in my possession for
nearly four months, I conclude that it must
have perished. Although I have made careful
searches in all my hivc3, I have not found
another specimen. Possibly the parasite may
turn up again in the spring. It would be
interesting to ascertain if bee-keepers in other
parts of the country have observed anything
similar.— F. W. L. Sladex, Ripple Courts
near Dover.

430

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 24, 1895.

FOUL BROOD.

[2248.] An incident has recently occurred
in my apiary which seems to me so full of
instruction in connection with the question of
foul brood that I venture to ask your leave to
relate and to comment on it.

In looking through our thirteen hives on
October 1st (preparing them for winter) we
came upon a hive with a frame affected by
oul brood. As we had had this disease badly
in tbe apiary not very long ago, I was neither
surprised nor alarmed, especially as the hives
had not been touched since the end of July.
Tbe serious risk of robbery which arises as
soon as the honey harvest is over is the ex-
planation of what may seem to some like
neglect or inattention.

Now, in the event of the Legislature compel-
ling every one having a hive affected with
"Foul Brood" to give notice to the Inspector
appointed to his district, what would happen
in such a case as mine ? I should be obliged
at once to send for the inspector ; he would,
according to the views of some, destroy all the
hives ! There are thirteen of them, all full of
bees and full of honey. What compensation
would he give ? He would, in any case,
examine all the hives, and spend, of course, a
day or two about the business, all at the public
expense. Who is to pay him ? The rate-
payers ? Are not our rates high enough and
to spare already 1 Is not the history of almost
every country district a history of impoverished
landlords, ruined farmers, land lying desolate
and unfilled, and villages depleted more and
more of their population ? Why add to the
burdens which are already too heavy ?

But now look at this point. In my large
house (with high walls in some parts) there
are two or three colonies of bees. These are
probably affected with foul brood; as I have
had hives for several years affected by the
disease. What would the inspector require to
be done with these colonies ? Remove them 1
The expense would probably amount to £20,
as scaffolding and bricklayers' work would be
required. Who is to meet this cost? The
ratepayers once more 1 Let the advocates of
legislative interference answer this question.

Your readers will inquire what course was
adopted when "foul brood" was discovered.
The comb affected was taken out and burnt ;
some small pieces of naphthaline were put at
the bottom of the hive, and the trouble was
over. Had the naphthaline been added at the
end of the honey harvest, we probably should
have found no traces of "foul brood." And I
may mention, as an illustration of the little
cause for fear which some folks find in this
dire disease (as so many consider it), that an
eminent bee-master, who has recently been my
guest, took away four frames full of honey in
order to feed driven bees ! I wonder whether
he washed them with a proper solution before
he put them into his hives 1

May I suggest that those who adyocate the

appointment of " Foul - Brood Inspectors "
throughout Great Britain and Ireland should
let us know their views on the question of
compensation? Should all my apiary, in as
good condition as it can well be (most pro-
ductive and profitable this last year), be
destroyed ? What compensation should I —
what should others — receive, and who is to
pay the bill ?

Swine fever is sometimes quoted as an illus-
tration of the system which might be adopted
with regard to compensation, and also as a
precedent for legislative interference. I very
much question whether the regulations respect-
ing swine fever afford a good example for us to
follow. We have them in force just now in
Essex, ruining our markets and reducing the
value of our stock 25 to 50 per cent. " All
the money spent in two of our largest counties
in the administration of the orders of the
Board of Agriculture has been absolutely
thrown away." Such is the language of
"T. H.'' in the Agricultural Economist of
this month.

I am quite willing to admit that I have not
studied the swine fever question, but I know
so much of the disastrous effect of the regula-
tions in force all around me that I strongly
object to anything like them with respect to
bees and bee-keeping.

Sometimes it is said that, unless the legis-
lature interferes, the bee industry will be
destroyed. This statement, to my mind, is a
mere bogey, raised to frighten weak minds.
Good honey has been selling in the village
next to mine at 6d. a lb. A friend of mine, a
working tailor, has had a grand harvest of the
very best honey, and is glad to sell even at (3d.
The columns of the Bee Journal testify from
time to time that honey is being produced as
plentifully as ever, and that there is almost
always good English honey on offer at a
moderate price.

Let the B.B.K.A, persevere in the course
which they have recently adopted of requiring
a thorough knowledge of the disease and its
remedies from all candidates for its certificates ;
let the county associations follow suit in the
case of their experts ; let us have, ere long,
the promised leaflet on " foul brood " ; then I
am convinced this panic will soon pass over,
and we shall not have imposed on our country
districts the incubus of State or rate paid
inspectors, increasing, of course, in cost and
numbers every year, and probably applying
remedies which often would be worse than the
disease. One point is perfectly clear ; we
should have to pay a small army of inspectors
as well as compensation. Another point not
so clear is, whether they would do any good
but to themselves. " Foul brood " need occa-
sion no alarm to any man who keep3 bees in
bar-framed hives, and understands tolerably
well how to manage them.— E. Bartrum,D.D.,
Wales Colne Rectory, Essex, October 8, 1895.

[The question of fcml hroqd has, been so

Oct. 24, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

431

fully discussed in our columns that we very
reluctantly — especially as the points raised
have been met and ansAvered fully and authori-
tatively— publish the above, and only do so
lest we should be thought unwilling to allow
" light " to be let in on the subject. We must,
however, say that our esteemed correspondent's
communication throws no new light that we
can discover, nor is there any information (that
we can see) which is likely to be helpful to
those suffering from the pest.

Referring to the removal of combs of honey
for feeding purposes mentioned above, if Dr.
Bartrum would have readers believe that foul
brood is so little to be feared that combs of
honey from affected hives may be used with
impunity for feeding healthy bees, it would
be interesting to know the name of the
" eminent bee-master " referred to. For
ourselves, we should take leave to question the
" eminence " of the bee-master who took part
in, or even sanctioned, such a proceeding. —
Eds.]

JUDGING HONEY BEFORE SHOWING.

[2249.] Might I suggest a notice in the
editorial column to the effect that the Editors
do not feel free to give an opinion on samples
of honey sent to the B.B.J, office, as you may
be oiiiciating as a judge at some future show ]

Take my case. Such a notice would have
saved me some expense and much wasted
trouble. I send three samples of my honey,
wishing to know which is best for the show.
I enclose a stamped and addressed envelope to
enable me to receive an early answer, and then
wait and wait till the very last moment, when
the selection has to be made, the labelling,
polishing up, and packing done, all in a great
hurry ; and in my case the honey that your
junior Editor and another distinguished expert
consider the best is not sent. Had the refusal
of opinion been sent back at once in my enve-
lope I should still have had time to have con-
sulted another expert. Of course, after six
years' bee-keeping, I ought to have known
which of the three honeys was the best ; but I
acknowledge that I am a " duffer," hence my
wish for guidance from such past-masters in
the craft as our esteemed Editors. I trust
that you quite understand that I am not fall-
ing out with your feeling that a judge is not
free to give his opinion more than once on a
particular honey (though doesn't that rather
preclude his acting at more than one show in
the season, and in the case of granulated honey
at more than one show in all ?) ; but as a sub-
scribe! of some six years to the B.B.J., during
which time I have, I think, only troubled you
with questions three times, I think it would
have been the civil thing to have font your
refusal by return of post, instead of waiting
till " the day after the fair.'' — A Duffkk,
Long i wish, Herts.

[We fear our correspondent rather fails to
realise the various aspects with which Editors

must regard cases like his own ; foremost
among which "aspects" is the invidious
position in which they are placed with regard
to any and everything connected with
"showing." If correspondents would give a
moment's consideration to our all - round
position it should strike them that to invite us
to select a honey for show-purposes — from
among several sent — is to set our opinion
against that of another judge, who, by reason
of his having everything before him, is in a
better position to form an opinion than we are,
but who should, nevertheless, be spared any-
thing like " comparison." Our correspondent
will also, we trust, credit us with casting no
thought as to whether he had troubled us
three or 300 times during the period he has
been a reader of the B. J., though if he did but
know the amount of wearying pen-work we
get through in the endeavour to keep pace
witb the wants of readers — whom we are glad
to number by thousands— he would not be too
hard on us for failing to do the " civil thing "
referred to earlier. We knew his honey was
for showing, where it would be our task to
judge it ; hence the delay, for which we are
sorry. But, so long as show committees
honour us by seeking our services in judging,
and we can, in fulfilling that not easy task,
secure the confidence of exhibitors, we neither
feel ourselves free to accept the suggestion of
our correspondent for declining the office, nor
refuse to help bee-keepers in appraising the
comparative value of honey sent to the B.J.
for our opinion thereon. — Eds.]

BEE-KEEPING IN HERTS.

TDK ADVANTAGES OF AN ASSOCIATION.

[2250.] I read with great pleasure of the
interest taken in the question of a Bee Associa-
tion for Herts, and the prospect of a revival of
the old association. The district being so near
London, a few remarks about the bee-keeping
of Southgate may be of interest.

About two year3 ago bee-keeping here was
in a most flourishing condition, many local
gentlemen keeping bees, and one especially
encouraging cottagers to keep them by giving
hives and swarms gratuitously. A small bee-
club was then formed, and once a year a -
lecture given in connection with the local
tlower show. An expert was also engaged to
visit the hives of the neighbourhood periodi-
cally. Soon after, when bee-keeping here was
at the height of its prosperity, " foul brood "
made its appearance, and rapidly spread.
The decline of bee - keeping then began.
Many who had hardly begun to taste the
pleasure or reap the profit of the pursuit
were discouraged, and gave up disappointed.
Others, unacquainted with a reliable way of
treating the disease, either made but a feeble
effort to cure or allowed it to run its course,
and, as a natural result, soon found them-
selves " beeless," and in consequence hardly a
half-a-dozen bee-keepers now remain in the.

432

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Oct. 24, 1895.

Southgate district. Notwithstanding their
misfortunes, however, thos9 who formerly
kept bee3 still take a lively interest in and
are always pleased to have a chat about them ;
but if a new Herts Bee-keepers' Association
was formed, with an energetic secretary at its
head, and simple lectures given, many of the
labouring classes would be induced to keep
bees. 1 think these lectures ought to be
simple, and illustrated by only those appli-
ances absolutely necessary for a start, explain-
ing {inter alia) when to feed, put on supers,
prevent swarms, and the use of frames —
standard and shallow — section crates, and per-
form such practical operations as are needed.

I make these observations with the greatest
deference, for, although I have long take a an
interest in bee3 my practical experience with
them only date3 from last spring, and my
result for the year is but a swarm and 10 lb. of
honey. This district is, however, not one of
the best for honey, the principal sources being
limes, orchards, and a little clover. With the
help of a book of bee-keeping and especially
of the B.B.J., I have managed to steer clear of
many of the mistakes common to beginners ;
but one of the greatest advantages of the
Association would be the bringing together of
neighbouring bee-keepers, so that by the
advising of less experienced brethren, and the
mutual relation of bee experiences among the
beemen, the chances of success in bee-keeping
would be greatly increased. — R. Dymond,
October 14, 1895.

A LEGAL QUERY.
reply to "ajax." (1388 p. 406).
[2251.] The estate referred to being in Chan-
cery theremust be someone — either a creditor or
relative — who is bringing an action to adminis-
ter the estate. The solicitors for this person
will, no doubt, have inserted an advertisement
in the local papers stating that an action for
administration has been commenced and call-
ing on creditors of deceased to send in their
claims before a date fixed and named.
Accounts are then brought before the chief
clerk in Chancery, and if passed are paid in
due course. If the claim is not allowed the
creditor must support it by affidavit. Your
correspondent "Beeman" must therefore
send in an account of his claim at once to the
solicitors for the administration, asking them
at the same time to acknowledge the receipt of
it. He will then receive a notice informing
him whether or not his claim is allowed, as the
case may be, and, if the former, it will in due
course be paid. — R. Dymond, October 14,
1895.

COMMERCIAL PACKAGES AT THE
DAIRY SHOW.

[2252.] Referring to the class for extracted
honey in commercial packages at Dairy Show
(exhibit 1280, in class 63), I sent off one of

the crates by rail from here this week con-
signed to Walthamstow — owner's risk, for 3d.
It weighed 19 lb, ! The Eynsford station-
master said the open crate was " an excellent
contrivance, because the contents could be
seen." Consignee - advises safe arrival, and
says : " The honey came splendidly in your
patent crate, which is most admirable. If you
don't mind, I am going to send it to my bee-
keeping'friends in Roxburghshire as an example
of good packing." The consignee said further
that his Walthamstow station-master declared
it "the best package he had ever seen for
ensuring safe transmission." Railway men
ought to be good judges of packages. Per-
haps we can get one to help our judges at the
next Dairy Show (?). My bee-keeping friends
chaffed me considerably for my " bird-cages."
I wish them to know that railway people
award them two "Firsts." — E. D. Till,
Eynsford, October 1 9. ,

DO BEES CARRY EGGS 9
[2253.] Our Friend Woodley in his " Notes "
(2220, p. 404) gives a good illustration of the
old Proverb —

A man convinced against his will
Is of the same opinion still.
I am afraid it is no use turning on the "search
light '' in this case, because I think when Mr.
W. gets an idea, his methodical mind must
have clear light, full proof, and certain
knowledge, before he will move from the
position he has taken up. I admire him for
this ; if more bee-keepers were like him, fewer
miserable mistakes and canards would be
recorded, to the annoyance of modern bee-men.
I am pleased that Mr. W. does not accept
the position, in a shut your eyes, open your
mouth and take what L give you sort of
fashion, but wishes for more light. He must,
however, pardon me for turning on the search
light to the points raised by him as to the
release of the queen, and the fertile worker
theory. I have distinctly stated all along that
the queen was not set free till I myself re-
leased her ; she could not therefore slip in or
out either "of her own free-will." Then as to
a fertile worker, I would ask where did the
eggs that produced the worker bees come
from if they were not carried into the cells
by the bees ? To my mind the question is so
clear that no search light, however brilliant,
could possibly make it clearer, perhaps Mr. W.
may have the opportunity next season of
testing this interesting fact for himself.— Peter
Scatterqood, Jun., Stapleford, Notts, October
17, 1895.

SELLING HONEY.
[ 2254 J I can sympathise with the corres-
pondent of the Standard, referred to on p. 402,
who has difficulty in selling his 70 lb. of honey,
I have before me now a printed circular from
my Appliance Maker, wherein he offers the
magnificent price of 6 j. 6 1. per dozen for 1 lb.

Oct. 24, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

433

sections, carriage free ! I have also in my
mind a buyer (an advertiser in B.J.) who tries
to compel sellers to pay carriage and give tins
in free, and asks for a stamped envelope for
reply. He will wrangle on post-cards over a J
farthing per lb. , and, having bought the honey,
will ask for " discount for cash." Then, after
complaining that " your honey (in my case
extracted from sealed combs) is not " ripened
properly," will write — <: the honey I had from
ynu was very nice, have you any more to
offer ? " This sort of thing tends to daunt and
disappoint a new beginner, or one who is
obliged to turn his produce into cash. When
I began bee-keeping I had a difficulty in dis-
posing of my 50 or 60 lb. surplus. But now,
my honey being always of one uniform quality,
I have repeat orders every year. I have
already sold over 400 lb. to old customers.
One, indeed, has just inquired how much I can
supply him with. I must say, however, I can j
never make the Is., 10d., or 9d. per lb., some-
times mentioned in your pages. I usually get
6M. to 7d. (rarely Sd.) and that, too, for finest
quality honey. It make3 one wonder what
the current market prices really are.

Honey Bottles. — We certainly require a use-
ful good-looking bottle, the price with carriage
not to exceed Id. The present screw-cap costs
quite 2d. Cans, too, leave something to be j
desired. The self-opening tin is unsuitable j
for pouring liquid honey out of, and awkward j
to cut the honey from in its solid state. I am j
devising a can with an over-all lid, which will,
when slightly warmed, enable the honey to be
slipped out in a solid mass. I am, however,
somewhat puzzled what sort of a fastener to
have on it combining simplicity with safety
from pilfering. — Apiarist, Fairspeir, Ascott,
Wyclwood, Oxford.

[While agreeing with our correspondent as
to the low prices insisted on by wholesale
buyers, we cannot help observing that he ;
follows the same line in dealing with glass ;
honey-jars. We certainly can never hope to I
get a screw-cap jar at a penny each, while the
tie-over costs less than Id. "carriage free" at
present rates. — Eds.]

Queries and Holies.

[1391.] Combs not Cleaned up.— I have
some nice combs, both in shallow and
standard frames, but in consequence of the
weather suddenly becoming cold before I had
them cleaned up by the bees it is now too late
for the purpose, as they are altogether at rest.
1. What shall I do? Is it possible to wash
them in water, or to remove the dregs of honey
by syringing the combs, or should I give them
to the bees early in the spring I 2. If washed,
should the combs be left in the open air to dry
or be put in a dry room ? Thanks very much
for your former reply. I like every word you

say, and have always much pleasure in
reading all the contents of the Bee Journal..
— Welsh Reader, Pwllheli, October 15.

Reply. — Soak the combs for a short time
by hanging the frames in cold water, then
syringe well, and by afterwards giving them
a few minutes' revolving in the cage of the
extractor, they will be dry enough for storing
in a warm room before finally packing away
for winter.

[1392.] Late Sicarm.—I noticed in B.J. of
September 26 (p. 386) an account of a swarm
of bees on September 9. I had a swarm on
the 29th of that month. I suspect it came
from a hive into which three stocks of driven
bees were put about six weeks ago. I have
since examined the hive, and find very little
brood. Could the swarm have issued from the
latter hive of driven bees '? — Charles Hop-
kins, Hampton Lovett.

Reply. — There may have been two queens
left alive with the driven lots, and, if so, it
would account for their " parting company " in
shape of an abnormal swarm.

[1393.] Transferring from Sleeps in October.
— I last week bought a straw skep of bees weigh-
ing about 40 lb. Is it too late to transfer them
to a frame hive this year ? If so, what would
you advise me to do with them \ I should
like to get some of the honey, but don't want
to drive and unite the bees to another colony.
—James Richards, ColeshUl, Birmingham.

Reply. — It is too late now for transferring.
The best and more profitable course will be to
leave the bees just as they are ; protect them
well and winter them in the skep. An early
swarm should yield more profit than a few
pounds of skep honey at this season.

[1394 ] Selecting Bee* fn- Bra ding from. —
I requeened a vicious stock this autumn with
a Ligurian on September 9, and to-day the
young ones are flying. The old bees for the
last week remain rubbing their hind legs on
the floor-board before flying off, and as your
most interesting correspondent, Peter Bois,
says, this is a suspicious sign. I am afraid I
may have got foul brood from the Italian
queen, especially as my other stocks (six) do
not practise the rubbing. Is there any infor-
mation of the advertiser whose name I en-
close selling diseased bees ? I intended io let
my hives swarm naturally, and retain the
swarma after catching and killing the old
queens, so as to have all young ones crossed
with Italians. But, in consequence of the
wide divergence of opinion among the
" authorities," I am in doubt whether I ought
to interfere with the breed ; and before doing
so I ask :— 1. Has this question of the best
breed to use been decided by any representa-
tive body of bee-keepers % 2. Will there be
danger of chilling the brood if I inspect the
combs the next warm day we get ? — Inquirer,
Newmarket-on-Fergus, October 13.

Reply. — 1. No, and before any attempt ia

434

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 24, 1895.

made to reconcile what looks like divergence
of opinion we should know the exact circum-
stances under which such opinions were ex-
pressed. 2. If judicious care be exercised, and
a warm day chose o, no harm need follow
really necessary inspection of brood-combs. It
is, however, rather stretching a point to assume
that the stock is diseased because of the
suspicious sign attributed to our correspondent
Mr. Peter Bois, and we advise some further
confirmation than the " sign '' before supposing
that foul-brood is present.

NotiQsstoCQrfawondenisanltnqjirars.

All qusriei forv>%rAil will bi a'.Unitl «>,a%i those
only of pergon&linttreit toill bt anno-.rei in this column.

Errata. — Referring to names of new members
of the B.B.K.A., announced on page 411,
the address of the Rev. J. King Cummin
should be " Easebourne Vicarage, Midhurst,"
not Eastbourne-hill, as printed.

J. D. (Wexford).— Comb Foundation.— The
sample of super foundation i3 of good
quality ; probably the season has had much
to do with " bees refusing to take kindly to
it." Light brood-foundation, similar to that
sent, will answer if wired, but it is too thin
for use unwired. The wire sent is un-
necessarily heavy for the purpose. That
known as "No. 30 tinned '' should be used.

F. G. Kirkbt (Sheffield).— Suspected Foul
Brood. — If we are safe in accepting your
description, it seems a case of foul brood
only developing at the close of the breeding
season. The removal of the three affected
cells and their contents was, of course, quite
right, but it by no means follows that this
will do away with the danger. However,
nothing — beyond the remedial measures
already taken — can be done at this season.
. The hive must be closely watched in the
coming spring, when you might write again
and remind us of this communication for
reference.

J. Griffith (Garswood).— Bees sent are of
the ordinary or native variety ; if good
workers they are equal to any for honey-
gathering purposes.

Tnos. A. Govan (Saggart, co. Dublin).— Foul
Brood in Ovaries of Queen. — The dead
queen sent has been badly injured (the
intestines being ruptured), which plainly
accounts for her ceasing to lay. But apart
from this, while examining her organs
under the microscope, we found bacillus
alvei in abundance in the ovaries.

D. M'Coll (Roseneath).— Suspected Comb.—
A full and careful examination under the
microscope failed to reveal any trace of foul
brood in comb sent. We do not, however,
wonder at your suspicion, in view of the
contents of sealed cells.

II. Laudkr (Wadebridge). — Sending Queens
by Post in October.— Thanks for sending
queen, but she was dead when received.

Queens sent alone by post at this season

will not probably survive an hour after

posting.
A. Fuller (Cressing Braintree).— Thanks for

honey. It may certainly be classed as a

" good saleable honey."

We are again compelled to hold over several
letters till next week.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publication*, Bee Plant*, Jee. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Thru
words or under, One Penny.

PURE BLACKS. A few Stocks in Straw Skeps to
spare. Apply, Alsforp, " Expert,'' Blandford.

EXTRACTED HONEY WANTED. Best quality,
pale, season 1895. T. Smith, 17, Cambridge-
street, Hyde Park. J 74

BEAUTIFUL HONEY, in bottles and in bulk.
Sample 3d. Thomas Charles, Caerswall, Mueh
Alarcle, Glos. J 71

SAXIFRAGAS and other ALPINE PLANTS, very
cheap. Also Daffodils. Send for list. SANDS,
Harborne, Birmingham. J 67

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS. Sent, carriage paid this
month, at 4s. each ; 1895 reared. W. B. WEBSTER,
Binfield, Berks. J 57

OA YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, &c.
« >-' Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. 8. SIMMINS, Heathfield, Sussex. 116

FOR SALE, Large OBSERVATORY HIVE, quite
new, price 12s. Particulars on application. E.
Pratt, Winshill, Burton-on-Trent. J 79

OFFER WANTED for Five Dozen Sections of Clover
HONEY. Geo. Crombie, Hotham R.S.O., East
Yorkshire. J 80

WILL EXCHANGE 21 Two-Shilling Volumes. "Age
We Live In," for Heather HONEY, in Sections
or Jars. W. Anderson, Ards, Caledon, Ireland. J 81

FOR SALE, 5 doz. Glazed 1-lb. SECTIONS, 9s. 6d. per
doz. ; 5 doz. not glazed, 8s. per doz. ; all in excellent
condition. White, Woodford, Salisbury. j S4

XCHANGE, White HOMER PIGEONS for BEES,
Honey, or Hives. F. .Tellings, 28, Bright-street,
Stoney Stanton-road, Coventry.

STRAW SUPERS of HONEY WANTED, any quan-
tity. Must be superior quality. Apply, W.
Shepherd, The Apiary, Oxton, Tadcaster. j 83

ACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. 100 strips,

22 inches long, Sd., 200, Is. 3d., 300, Is. 9d., 400,

2s. 3d), 500, 2s. 9d. Three neat patterns stocked.

W. Woodley. Beedon, Newbury.

BULBS from the Grower, Largest Yellow CROCUS,
White, Purple, each Is. 6d. 100 ; 7s. 500 ; Common,
Is. 100; Blue Scillas, Is. Od. 100. 5s. orders carriage
free. W. Merchant, 2, Maldon-terrace, Foleshill-road,
Coventry. J 82

HONEY AND ITS USES," by Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, M.A., 3s. 6d. per 100. By distributing
this Pamphlet, a ready market for honey may be made
in Bee-keepers' own neighbourhood. Specimen copy
sent. Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," post
free 2kl. Address, The Given, Dartfonl. j 78

IflT. JP. MEADOWS,

Syston and Leicester.

SEASON GOODS.

My Patent Extractors, none to equal them. Super-
Clearers, best made. Three prize medals. You
can't successfully harvest Honey without them. Honey
Ripeners and Honey Tins. Every Bee-Keeper must
have my new 5s. Ripener. Section and Show Cases, <fcc.
Address all letters "SYSTON," near Leicester.

Oct." 31, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JC&TATAL.

435

(Mtorial, $tttim, tot.

REV. L. L. LANGSTROTH.

Last week we had the melancholy duty of
announcing the death of this venerable gentle-
man, who has been rightly designated '• The
Father of American apiculture. We now
give some details of his life and work, together
with a portrait taken when in his prime.

Lorenzo Loraine Langstroth was born in
the city of Philadelphia on Christmas Day, in
the year 1810. The spirit of the day on which
he first saw the light, and that of 'the city of

to discourage Ais "strange notions.1' He
could not, however, resist the bent of his
nature, but persisted in his observations, and
devoted to them much of the time spent by
his school-mates in sport. r»>

In 1827, at the age of seventeen, he entered
Yale College ; and graduated four years later.
All readers of Langstroth's work on the
" Honey Bee '' have been charmed by its lofti-
ness of style and the purity of its diction, and
it may be safely argued therefrom that the
time passed at college was conscientiously and
industriously spent. His father's means having
failed, he was considered competent to teach
in the college in which he had received his

" brotherly love," seems ever to have animated
him, for love to others has been the great
characteristic of his life. In his early days
he took an unusual interest in insect life. His
parents were intelligent people, and in com-
fortable circumstances ; but they did not
encourage their son's studies in this direction.
No books on natural history were ever placed
in his hands ; but rather, every means taken

education. He was for two years mathematical
tutor in the college, and was thus enabled to
sustain the expenses of his theological course.

In May, 1836, he was ordained pastor of a
Congregational Church, Andover, Massachu-
setts. Mr. Langstroth devoted himself with
all his strength and assiduity to the duties of
his lofty calling. In August of the same year
he married Miss Anna M. Tucker, of New-

436

THE BUITiSH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 31, 1895.

haven, Conneriicut, by whom. & h&d. one son
and two -tfeugbters. In ^'js -wife lie secured a
faithfulhelpmeet. Touring the severe illnesses
to «diich Mr. La,Dgstrcth had been subject, she
carried on |gi extensive and arduous corre-
spon iiev.ve, and helped him considerably in his
bee ■ Creeping experiments, and in the compila-
t'la of his great work.

It is singular that, notwithstanding his
pass', ^nate love for insects in early life, he,
during his college life, never took any parti-
cular interest in bees, but in 1837 the sight of a
glass vessel filled with beautiful comb-honey on
the table of a friend led him to inspect the bees
of the latter, which were kept in an attic. This
sight revived the enthusiasm of his early days,
and he could not rest satisfied till he had
purchased two colonies in box-hives. His
knowledge of bee-keeping was very slight,
Virgil and the work of an American author—
who doubted the existence of a queen-bee —
being at this time his only instructors.

During the year 1839 Mr. Langstroth's
health became so impaired that he was
obliged to relinquish his clerical duties
He removed to Greenfield, Massachusetts,
where he devoted much time and atten-
tion to bees. He gradually increased the
number of his colonies, and sought for infor-
mation on all sides. The " Letters " of Huber,
and the work of Dr. Bevan on the " Honey
Bee " falling into his hands about this time,
gave him an introduction to the vast litera-
ture of bee-keeping, and he gathered indus-
triously the works of American and foreign
authors on the subject.

After leaving his pastorate in Andover, Mr.
Langstroth was chosen principal of the Abbott
Female Academy, aad subsequently became
principal of the Greenfield High School for
Young Ladies ; he was also for five years pastor
of the second Congregational church in that
place ; but failing health again compelled him
to resign his pastoral charge.

In 1848 he removed to the place of bis
birth, Philadelphia, and opened a school for
young ladies. Here, with the help of his wife,
he began to experiment with hives of different
forms, but made no special improvements
in them until 1851, when he devised the
movable comb-hive (shown in cut), which
was used by American bee - keepers in
preference to all others. In his Journal, under
date of October 30, 1851 (the day on which
he devised his movable frame-hive), we find
the following remarks : -" The use of these
frames will, I am persuaded, give a new im-
petus to the easy and profitable management
of bees."

Tli is hive enabled Mr. Langstroth afterwards
to make many observations and incidental
discoveries, the most of which are embodied
in his work on the natural history of the
" Honey Bee." This work was first published
at Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1852,
and in the preparation of it, he, like
Huber, received considerable assistance from

his wife. A revised edition was published in
1857, and another in 1859, since which time
it has not received any revision, though many
copies have since been sold. Thirty years had
elapsed since the issue of the last edition,
when its revision was placed in the hands of
Messrs. Dadant & Son. These gentlemen
have ably performed their duty, and its infor-
mation has been most efficiently brought up to
the present time.

THE LANGSTROTH HIVE.

In January, 1852, Mr. Langstroth applied
for a patent for his invention, but he was de-
prived of all the profits arising from it, and
the law suits in which he was consequently
involved impoverished him considerably, and
were a source of much trouble.

In 1853 Mr. Langstroth removed to Oxford,
0., where, with his son, he engaged in rear-
ing Italian queens for sale. His apiary was
large, and in a single year he sold queens to
the value of 2,000 dols. This at the present
day may appear a small result, bat at that
time it was considered something astonishing.

The death of his only son in 1870, and of
his wife in 1873, combined with a severe form
of head trouble, which often incapacitated him
for mental or bodily exertion (one attack having
lasted for two years), together with a serious
railroad accident, compelled Mr. Langstroth
to sed his apiary in 1374 ; but he was seldom
wholly without bees.

Mr. Langstroth was "venerated" by American
bee-keepers, who were fully aware of the great
benefits they received from his inventions.
Whenever able to attend Bee-keepers' Conven-
tions, all present were pleased to see and hear
him, and vie with one another how to do him
honour. In 1887 he removed to Dayton,
Ohio, and made his home with Mrs. H. C.
Cowan, his eldest daughter, with whom he
resided at the time of his death.

During his periods of convalescence he was
entirely engaged in bae-keeping, and wrote
frequently to the bee papers. He was Avel-
comed at conventions, and his kindly and
intelligent face, broad culture, pleasing
manners, and delightful social characteristics,
made him a charming companion. During
the time of our visit in America, Mr. Langs-
troth was suffering from his head-trouble, and,

Oct. 31, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

437

much to our regret, we were, in consequence,
unable to see him. Our correspondence,
however, was of the pleasantest. So re-
cently as a few weeks ago we had several
letters inviting us to attend the con-
vention of the North American Bee-keepers
and asking us to try some experiments
with malted milk. He had been reading
" The Honey Bee,'' and referring to it, observed,
" What I wrote to you about the malted milk
meets with confirmation in what you say about
chyle-food. Let the mixture be made with hot
honey-water — and how near it seems to come
to chyle." We regret that this was
his last letter to us, and we have since
had no opportunity of trying the experi-
ment he icferred to. Mr. Langstroth
attended the Convention of Bee-Keepers
at Toronto and was surrounded then by
admiring friends. He died of apoplexy while
addressing a congregation at Dayton, Ohio ;
and thus, at the ripe age of 85, he passed away
in His Master's service. All bee-keepers will
mourn his loss and will join us in extending
our heartfelt sympathies to his surviving
relatives and our American brethren.

BRITISH

BEE-KEEPERS'
TION.

ASSOCIA-

CONVERSAZIONE.

Continued from page 426.

The Chairman, Mr. Cowan, after thanking
Mr. Scattergood for introducing the subject
just discussed, exhibited — within a small box
fitted with a glass side, somewhat like an
observatory hive — a nest of Australian Bees
(trigona carbonaria). These bees had been
six weeks on the journey from Australia, and
arrived here on the first of June. He received
a letter from Mr. R. W. Pender, a friend
residing on the banks of the Hunter River,
stating that he had sent a nest of native bees
by the P. & O. Co.'s mail steamer Australia,
and that some one was to meet it at the docks.
As he (the chairman) was leaving for the Con-
tinent before the arrival of the steamer, his
friend Mr. Hooker kindly undertook to go on
board aDd receive the bees, which he did ac the
London Dock. The little hive was then passed
into the keeping of Mr. Carr, who, a few days
nfter wards sent him on to Switzerland par-
ticulars of the safe arrival of the bees, and en-
closing specimens of them, which he had much
pleasure in showing at a congress of bee-keepers
held soon after, at which he was present. •

These bees, as would be seen, were about one-
third the size of the common house-fly. They
did not, like our hive, cluster to produce heat,
but required a certain temperature to live in.
Mr. Carr, as they would see, had for some
minutes been holding his warm hand on
the glass to rouse them into activity by
raising the temperature of the inside of
their domicile. (The case was then handed
round for examination, and the little bees in

motion, as well as their work, excited much
curiosity and interest.) They were torpid at a
temperature of 59 deg. Fahrenheit, but were
lively and could fly ac 64 deg., while below
50 deg. they would die. They had not been
allowed to leave the hive since they had been
in this country, but were still very active and
lively, and appeared to like the food given
them, and which they had stored in their small
honey-cups or cells. The habits of these
miniature bees are quite different to those of
our hives : the combs being built horizontally,
one row of cells opening upwards on a hori-
zontal base, while each comb is supported on
columns of wax. The first cell constructed is
round, on a column of wax, and is built also
on a waxen column. Other cells are then at-
t iched, and the pressure causes them to assume
a hexagonal form. When a certain number of
cells are ready, and are consolidated by the
columns of wax aforesaid, the bees partially fill
them with food, composed of honey and pollen.
The moiher-bee then deposits the eggs in the
cells, which are afterwards sealed over. The
cells in which the young bees are reared are
not used a second time for the purpose, but cut
down to the foundation and constructed afresh.
While one storey is hatching, others, built as
before, are constructed above, and regularly
placed, till the several stories are surrounded
by an envelope of wax in plates, and form a
labyrinth through which strange insects would
find a difficulty in making their way. The
bees, however, leave a channel through this
labyrinth of plates which conducts to the out-
side, and here a small hole is provided large
enough for one bee to pass out at, the entrance
being always guarded by a sentinel. These
bees seem also to have adopted the eight-
hours movement, for they keep their tiny
entrance closed with wax and propolis till about
10 a.m., when outdoor work begins. It is then
opened, and carefully sealed up again before
sunset. As thedifferent storeys hatch the weight
of the upper ones compresses those on the lower
one. The upper storey is fixed to the envelope of
wax plates, and when the brood in this is
entirely hatched the colony seeks a fresh place
for a nest, swarms, or perishes.

The honey is not stored in the combs but out-
side of them in special cells, or more properly
pots, constructed for the purpose and resemb-
ling in shape a bird's egg. All these honey
receptacles are connected by bands of wax,
the bottom ones being made stronger than
those where the honey cells are hermetically
sealed — and being placed as far as possible from
the entrance it would be extremely difficult
for robbers to reach the stores of food by the
tortuous channel passing through the labyrinth
of plates. The nests are built in holes in rocks
or in trees and when they have no more room
a departure is made to a new location. The
females, of which there are sometimes several
in one nest, are much larger than the others
and lay all the eggs. The males work as well
as the workers. These bees are not quite so

438

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 31, 1895.

cleanly as tho,e of our hives, seeing that in
bad weather they do not leave their nests but
deposit their excrement in some corner thereof.
The carcases of such bees as die within the
nest are chopped up and partly removed, the
residue being covered over with wax and pro-
polis in the nests. This is plainly seen in the
nestnow being inspected. They had no stings, but
were able to bite, and the bite of some of the
species was very poisonous although those ex-
hibited were quite harmless. The greatest
inconvenience connected with the handling
of these little bees was their tendency
to crawl over one and getting into
one's hair, for they are as difficult to
dislodge as ants. He (the chairman) hoped to
be able to keep them alive through the winter
by not allowing the temperature to get below
60 deg. At the present moment they seemed
as lively as when they first arrived, and as the
importation of these bees had hitherto failed,
great credit was due to Mr. Pender, who sent
them off when they were hibernating, and
could not have selected a more suitable time
for their arrival in England. That gentleman
had also forwarded him specimens of different
sorts of honey and wax gathered by these and
the common bees, which he would be pleased
to show them at the next meeting (great
applause).

Mr. Carr said that Mr. Hooker handed the
little hive over to him on receiving it from the
ship; and being determined not to lose any of
the bees he had kept them at Orpington and
never let them out, except one or two for the
purpose of sending to Mr. Cowan in Switzer-
land. Upon making an examination some
weeks afterwards he was delighted to notice a
patch of brood nearly as large as the palm of
his hand, on which was what he took to be the
queen. He did not know what was going to
happen, but hoped to have the privilege of
watching some of the brood hatching out, but
when he next inspected the patch of brood
it was quite hidden behind a thick covering of
wax. He had noticed a number of tubular-
shaped black objects covered over with
propolis, but could not at the time explain
them.

Mr. Hooker said that when he went on board
the ship he sought out the steward, thinking
that he would probably have charge of the
bee.s, but he found that they were in the cook's
possession, who kept them in the place where
his meat was stored. The cook had been told
the tempsrature necessary for them, and he
had carefully maintained such heat.

Mr. Till invited the opinion of the members
on the subject of bottles for the exhibition of
honey, and also advocated the inclusion in the
schedules of all future dairy shows of a
special class for " Commercial Packages " inde-
pendent entirely of the contents thereof. In
the case of honey bottles, ho thought these
might be considered eligible for competition in
this class even if empty. So much'depended
on a pretty and showy bottle for the attraction

of customers and the development of trade
that he asked, why should not the B.B.K.A.
patent a special kind of bottle ? Messrs.
Brice, Hooker, Carr, and others discussed Mr.
Till's proposal, the general opinion being that
it was of the greatest importance that the
bottle selected should be one that would pack
easily. It was also thought that the long
bottle without shoulders, and which was in
general use at the present time, could not be
improved upon. At any rate, a round bottle
with a small base gradually widening up to
the shoulders, although handsome-looking,
could not be recommended because it occupied
too much space, and would not pack easily.

The Chairman said that the ordinary tall
glass jar now in general us a was the result of
twenty years' experience of jars of all shapes.
Shallow and wider ones had been tried, but
fell into disuse. He thought honey looked
better on a table in a narrow jar in which it
could be seen through than in a wider one ;
besides, the former could be easier, more
securely, aud more advantageously packed
than the fancy-shaped jars, which wasted
space. On the Continent just like here, all sorts
of jars had been tried, but they were
adopting the parallel- sided jars in pre-
ference to others.

Mr. Howard had been asked by a bee-
keeper to bring under the notice of the meet-
ing a " frame-grip," which he now exhibited.
He did not believe much in such appliances,
but they might be useful to those who feared
to bring their fingers in contact with frames.

Mr. Hooker thought that bee - keepers
generally preferred to lift the frames by taking
hold of each end.

The Chairman said that " grips " — made
rather longer than the one shown because of
the larger frames used— were adopted on the
Continent in some parts. He would, however,
much rather manipulate with his hands, and
it was seldom that one's fingers were stung.

Mr. Hooker then showed, a small observa-
tory hive for staging bees on standard frames
at shows, and which could also be adapted for
exhibiting three shallow-frames of comb.

Mr. Garratt admired the exhibit, and said
it was very necessary to provide some means
by which shallow frames of comb honey might
be displayed at shows in a uniform manner.

A general conversation ensued, Messrs. Pugh,
Garratt, Hooker, Meadows, Scattergood, the
Chairman, and others taking part therein, from
which it transpired that Mr. Charles Redshaw
had produced an observatory hive, adaptable
in the same manner and very much like the
one shown ; also that Mr. Howard had for
some time manufactured and sold a similar
appliance.

Mr. Hooker also said that he did not claim
any new features for his exhibit.

Mr. Pugh called attention to what he
described as an indiscriminate giving away of
various kinds of medals by associations as
prizes. Two years ago his committee pro-

Oct. 31, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

439

vided a neat silver pendant, designed to take
the place of the ordinary medal, and which,
being worn on the watch chain, was much prized
by prize-winners. He passed a specimen " pen-
dant'' round for examination, when it received
general commendation.

Mr. Till would like to see the County Asso-
ciations provide regular honey customers with
a good ornamental certificate, which could be
posted up and displayed in shop windows.

Mr. Hooker, however, pointed out how that
privilege was capable of abuse. Last year he
notice at a dairy shop in London some genuine
honey ticketed as from a bee-keeper's associa-
tion. When this honey was sold, a lot of
inferior stuff took its place, but the tickets
remained.

Mr. Garratt moved a vote of thanks to the
chairman for presiding, which was carried by
acclamation, and suitably acknowledged, the
Chairman expressing his pleasure at seeing such
an unusually large attendance. The company
then dispersed, after having spent a most
enjoyable evening.

Beatb of /Ifor. 3obn Ibucfele.

His numerous friends who are readers of
this journal will share the deep sorrow with
which we announce the death of Mr. John
Huckle, Secretary of the British Bee-keepers'
Association, and for many years connected
with the business department of the B.B.J.,
who passed away at his home, King's Langley,
Herts, on the afternoon of Friday last, the,. 25 th
inst.

"We defer till next week a further notice of
Mr. Huckle, and of his labours in the cause of
bee-keeping.

tyamtytmhm.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. Wt
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

"APOLOGIA PRO BACILLUS ALVEI."
[2255.] Your correspondent, Dr. Bartrum
(2248, p. 430), concludes his new edition of
" Apologia pro Bacillus Alvei," with the extra-
ordinary statement that the disease "need
occasion no alarm to any man who keeps bees
in frame-hives and understands toleraby well
how to manage them''! Will Dr. Bartrum
kindly say whether he has himself (I mean
with his own hands) managed his own hives as
well as actively helping his neighbours in the
honest endeavour to wage war with the pest —
burning, medicating, and disinfecting— and

then, after all the work and anxiety of the
campaign, has he felt, as many must have done,
how completely heljrfess one is to effect per-
manent good, in the presence of an igaorant
or obstinate bee-keeper who persists in keeping
a centre for infection right under one's nose ?

It is intensely disappointing to find an author
like Dr. Bartrum — who at least has the reputa-
tion for bee-keeping wisdom — making light of
honest endeavours to obtain protective legisla-
tion. I should like to know whether Dr.
Bartrum has really been himself at the work, or
is he trading on the experience of his "eminent"
friend or that of his gardener ? I contend that
no man "understanding (even) tolerably well,
how to manage frame-hives " can advocate such
mischievous views. In 1893, Dr. Bartrum — as
reported in B.B.J. — wrote in the same strain.
His diseased hives had been "easily cured."
Alas ! the pest reappears. It is bad enough
to have an active centre of infection at Wakes
Colne, but far worse to have the seeds of such
unsound doctrine blown broadcast from the
Rectory all over the land.— E. D, Till,
Eynsford, Kent, October 25.

FOUL BROOD.

[2256.] Under the above heading in your
last issue, our good friend Dr. Bartrum has
expressed himself with characteristic frankness
and candour, and as I have recently been
enjoying a most refreshing holiday under his
hospitable roof, I can, through a somewhat
curious coincidence, speak to the circumstances
related by him in connection with his apiary,
as they are completely identical with those
which were presented to his other guest — whom,
by the way, he made no allusion to during my
visit — "an eminent bee-master." The identity
of circumstances is so complete that I also
" bore away with me four frames of honey in
order to feed driven bees," and therefore, Mr.
Editor, my statement on the subject may
perhaps suffice to obviate the necessity of a
reply from the "Eminent" one, and enable
him to retain his incognito. The examination
which I made occurred on September 30 and
one or two succeediug days, the weather being
beautifully warm, so that it was leisurely done.
With one exception the hives were in excellent
condition as to strength, stores (pollen
being unusually abundant), and sanitation. At
Dr. Bartrum's suggestion, several of the hives
were deprived of one comb to allow of the
remaining ones being spaced a little wider, to
permit of the bees' clustering more freely.
This, of course, resulted in there being a certain
number of spare combs, and as I could see no
probable use for them in the apiary, and I
having at home some colonies of " driven
bees," to whom they would be a great assis-
tance, the doctor readily assented to my
proposal to acquire them. Thus far you will
notice that I have not referred to the condition

440

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 31, 1895.

of the hive to whi.'.\h I made an exception.
This I found to be subject to foul brood in a
very limited degree, and hardly to be regarded
as infectious, inasmuch as the few cells dotted
here and there were so heavily coated with wax,
as to amount to almost hermetically sealing ;
the rest of the combs being perfectly clean, and
clear of brood. I saw no necessity for insisting
upon the removal of more than one comb, and this
was accordingly done and the comb subsequently
burnt ; and 1 trust, Mr. Editor, that the course
I took may not earn for me (or the "eminent")
a heavy censure. You will see that I at least
did not take away diseased combs to feed
healthy bees with.

During my visit the subject of foul brood
legislation and the methods of repression were
naturally touched upon, and as the doctor
has spoken his views so freely in his letter to
you, 1 am free to say that our temperate dis-
cussion did not result in precise agreement.
If bee-keepers generally were so enlightened
as to know the disease when they saw it, and
how to overcome it, and, above all, to set them-
selves to work to stamp it out, then arbitrary
rules might be dispensed with ; but when we
find classes of persons taking up a selfish
attitude and opposing every kind of effort
simply on the ground of interference with their
liberty to do as they choose— and of such
there are representatives in all directions — then
the powers that be must be invoked in order
to protect the bee-industry. Optimism is
much preferable to pessimism, but both may
be said to be extremes. I myself lean so much
to the former in this matter that I differ from
many in regard to the cost of inspection
and compensation. Taking the doctor's
apiary as a sample case, twelve hives out of
thirteen are found to be free from disease ; the
one only is our immediate concern ; remedial
measures are prescribed and carried out ; this
suffices for the present. A note is kept of the
result of the inspection, and in due course a
second visit is paid, when the inspector will
be guided by what he then finds to deal more
drastically, or, on the other hand, certify the
disappearance of the disease. In the mean-
time, the bees in the roof may be ignored, and
I need not lengthen out my letter by attempt-
ing to follow the disease into all its possible
ramifications. As to compensation, I take it
that hardly any one counts upon the wholesale
destruction of apiaries because of the existence
of the disease in one or two hives ; but, assu-
ming the necessity of the destruction of
diseased hives, the amount of compensation
should not, in my opinion, exceed the maxi-
mum of ten shillings. By hives I mean the
bees and combs in the hive. There is much
exaggeration in the arguments used in oppo-
sition to the proposed measures, and the
analogy of the swine-fever regulations and
such like which are put forward, will be found
on close examination to have very slight
bearings upon the question at issue. — Jesse
Garratt, Meopham, Kent, October 25.

HEATHER HONEY IN THE SOUTH.

[2257.] Mr. Jacomb Hood has been kind
enough to send me also a sample of Woolmer
Forest heather honey. My folks exclaimed,
when tasting it, "How delightful!'' The
flavour reminds us of honey partaken of in the
" dew of youth," half a century ago, at
Wonham Mill, bordering on Eeigate Heath,
where heather used to abound. I yesterday
had a visit from two Scotchmen who both
declare it equal to average Scotch heather
honey and were delighted with it. I once
transplanted a large number of young but well-
rooted heather seedlings from a peaty common
—the subsoil of their new habitat was chalky
and dry. Not a plant survived ! A Scotch
farmer near me says "heather always dis-
appears with the application of lime." Can
you suggest a good bee-plant for a very steep
chalk bank ? They say St. John's Wort likes
chalk, but I do not remember to have seen the
bees working it.

I feel we are greatly indebted to Mr. Hood
and also to Mr. Webster for their valuable
testimony to the value of Southern heather ;
it is absolutely refreshing to find a man cheer-
fully admitting himself mistaken. Perhaps
some of our correspondents who stick so hard
and fast to unsound opinions may be en-
couraged by Mr. Webster's example to confess
themselves also in the wrong. I know men
who get perfectly wild when you talk to them
of " Foul brood '' legislation ! They remind me
of one in a better cause who,

" When his legs were smitten off,

He fought upon bis stumps ! "

But obstinacy, after all, is only degenerate

firmness, so I must not be too hard lest I

become degenerate myself.— A. Bielle.

SENDING HONEY BY RAIL.

HALF- RATES AT " OWNER'S RISK."

[2258.] Referring to letter No. 2252, p. 432,
my crate of honey, weighing 19 lb. gross, has
been surcharged 3d., making in all 6d. carriage
for twenty-five miles.

I felt that the lower charge was " too good
to be true," but it was not my mistake, the
" minimum " had been overlooked. I believe
nine out of ten who send honey by rail are
ignorant, as I was, of the half-rate regulation
("owner's risk"). — E. D. Till, Eynsford,
Kent October 26.

DOES BEE-KEEPING PAY %
[2259.] I send a few mems. of my bee-
keeping for 1895 : — I began the spring with
eight colonies (four old stocks and foui driven
lots), all in good order when clover begins to
yield in June. My object being honey, not
increase, I returned a swarm which came off
on June 20. Weather grand till July 7, then

Oct. 31, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

441

cold and wet. I removed ninety saleable
sections by July 25, and, after extracting all
unfinished ones, have a grand lot of partially -
built-out combs for next year. Total weight
of pure clover honey of beautifully light
colour 8i stone.

I took three of my best hives to the heather
after giving them a crate of worked-out sec-
tions each ; weighed one on going and on
returning ; increase in weight 24 lb. Got
thirty-three completed sections ; total amount
heather honey, 3| stone. Referring to the
question, " Does Bee-keeping pay ? " I can
only say it pays me, for, so far as I have gone,
my total expenditure is £7. lis. 2d. for two
years ; honey sold for 1894, £2 ; and in 1895,
£5. 12s. Id. ; total £7. 12s. Id. On hand,
about 3 stone and ten good colonies of bees
for next year.

I make all my hives and fittings — frames,
sections and foundation excepted, of course.
I live rather too near the sea for having big
" takes " — my bees having all to go inland for
their forage and fly nearly half a mile before
they reach clover, which is a great disad-
vantage.

I use the golden syrup tins for feeders. I
simply cut a hole in the "ticking" next the
frames, invert the can, with holes punched in
the lid, right over it, and then cover up with
sacking or anything to keep out the cold.
When I want to change it I take another can,
lift the empty one gently off, and put the full
one on, before the bees have time to know
what has happened. Any bees that adhere to
the can are shaken on to the alighting-board.
We are hoping to have some lectures on
" Bee-keeping " this winter which will, I trust,
increase the devotees of the art. — W. Barrows,
Eslcmeah, October 15.

THE SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

have never named its name for ten long
months. Can you, or any of your readers,
give any explanation of the mysterious dis-
appearance ? — A. Member of S.B.K A., Banff-
shire, N.B., October 24.

).] I have been waiting patiently and
hoping joyfully for some indication that we
have still a Scottish Bee-keepers' Association,
but can no more " possess my soul in patience."
Started with the brightest prospects and the
greatest enthusiasm so recently as 1891, it
purely has not already given up the ghost.
The work it did might entitle it to a V.H.C.
at least. Shows were held under its auspices,
and an excellent library, small but steadily in-
creasing in numbers, was doing admirable
work in disseminating bee knowledge of the
best and most modern kind. Reports were
sent out full of interest to Scotch bee-keepers.
A market wa3 promised us for our honey, and
something at least was done to secure it.
Everything seemed bright, rosy, and " ominous"
of success. But it has evaporated ! I can use
no more expressive word, for apparently the
place that knew it " knows it no more." Bee
Journal, Record, Scotsman, and local prints

REMARKABLE LONGEVITY OF
DRONES.

[2261.] I was amused at Mr. Elliott's letter
on the above subject (2,221, p. 404), and wish
he could have given us the whole classification
of these drone3. I believe they start with the
animal kingdom, but in some inexplicable way
degenerate or break away before they get into
the class Insecta. Indeed, the only way in
which they show any signs of connection with
this class at all, is that in many cases, during
transformation, abnormal changes have taken
place, and unlike ordinary drones they have in
some unnatural way developed a sting ! Some-
times, too, their jaws, or mandibles, are strong
enough to give them the power to bite and
inflict pain. They belong to an interesting
order known as " Dog in the Manger." The
family name is "Grumblers," Genus "Fault-
Finders," and the species may be termed
"Typicalis," possessing a3 special attributes
peculiarity, selfishness, and brag ! They
are not common in the northern and
J north midland portion of the country,
as the climate and surroundings favour the de-
I velopment of too many sturdy workers to
i tolerate them in the hive. They are, however,
i found in larger numbers, and with stronger
j jaws in the south midlands and south eastern
portion of the country, and in order to prevent
this undesirable species from spreading I sug-
gest that they be transferred to a separate
hive of their own, to be located where there is
no chance of contaminating the working bees
of other districts. If my suggestion cannot be
adopted, then apply the following good county
association mixture : — plenty of work of a
practical kind ; willingness to help and allow
other people to think ; avoidance of such things
as carping criticism, mischievous action, and
too much printer's ink. The above to be applied
in strong doses, and if this does not remove
| these pests, put in practice the old " dodge,"
| followed in cases where drones are sometimes
tolerated in a hive after their natural time is
; up — i.e., kill off two or three as a start, and
: the workers will take up the game and finish
! off the rest in a very short time by clearing
them out "stock, lock, and barrel." This may
cause slight " dwindling " in numbers, by
reason of the turn-out, but these undesirable
drones can well be spared, and the hive will
be better for their riddance. — Peter Scatter-
good, jltn., Sta2)leford. Xotts.

DRONES GENERALLY.
[2262.] Male and female drones are not con-
fined to B.K. A.'s. They are constantly found on
Dummy Boards of all societies and are a curse

442

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 31, 1895.

wherever they congregate. I hope Messrs.
Editors you will not give too much encourage-
ment to joking in the Journal, or we shall
associate those well-known initials with
British Bad Jokes ; nevertheless 1 sympathise
with T. D. E., and understand his object in
proclaiming what he deems his new (?) dis-
covery. The time of year is approaching for
B.K.A. elections. I hope a wise selection
will precede them all. Every B.K.A. should
use a Drone Excluder. You must not think
me a solemn individual unable to laugh. I am
fond of brevity in combination with wit. I am
first cousin to " B. Short," and a partner in the
firm of Merry and Wise of Ponder's End.—
Middle Sex, October 25.

DAIRY SHOW.

EXTENSION OF PRIZE LIST.

[2263.] Like Mr. A. G. Pugh (2245, p 428),
I quite agree with Mr. Brice that the prize-
list of the Dairy Show should be extended, and
I shall be glad to forward a small subscription
towards the fund for prizes. Five classes for
honey (with none for honey products), is an
absurdly small number for such an important
affair as the Dairy Show, which is, so far as my
knowledge goes, the only annual honey show
held in London. Many bee-keepers complain
of not being able to sell their honey, but, to
my mind, the only way of selling goods is to
let people know that there are goods to be
bought ; and what better way is there of
bringing honey and its products before the
notice of the people than by means of shows ?
Surely, too, the metropolis should have by far
the largest show in the country, which, cer-
tainly, is not now the case.

As a recent beginner with bees, I cannot,
of course, claim much experience, but so far I
have had no trouble whatever iu getting rid
of my honey, and making the bees pay. I
took 43 lb. from my one hive this year, and
though some was not taken off till the middle
of August, it was all sold before September,
together with 1} lb. of beeswax. This is
rather a large amount of wax, but, through my
not having an extractor, I had to follow the old-
fashioned method of obtaining the honey, and
so reduced the crop. There is nothing wonderful
in result ; but this is a bad honey district by
reason of there being too many houses. London
is a few miles to the north, and Croydon two
miles south ; you can also walk from my place
into London without going twenty yards from
a house. So far, therefore, my bees have paid,
as I still have the bees and appliances left, the
latter in as good, the former in better condition
than when I started. I consider the price of
the wax and honey as clear profit, i.e-t nearly
80 per cent. But to return to the question of
selling honey, I contend that proper co-opera-
tion and organisation is required for securing
this, and as a beginning let every bee-keeper
send a small subscription to the B.J. office,

with the object of extending the prize list
in 1896, depend upon it the money will
not be wasted. We are told in the Journal
for May 16, p. 192, that there are 52,000 bee-
keepers in England and Wales alone. If each
sent but Is. we should get £2,600. Why, at
this rate we should crowd the hall out ! Of
course we cannot expect this from the poorer
bee-keepers, but surely some of those who are
better off can make up the deficiency. —
E. Tiller, Thornton Heath, October 28.

BEES IN BANFFSHIRE.

[2264.] 1895 has been a year of abnormal
weather. The winter was the longest and
most severe on record. Early May gave us
excessive heat, late September more excessive
still. All summer was April weather, sun-
shine and shower, but far more of the latter
than the former. Thunder and lightning, with
accompanying storms, prevailed to an un-
exampled extent. October has again proved
abnormal, and we have had the heaviest snow-
fall ever experienced at this date (22nd), the
depth of snow being over a foot. Bees, like
the weather, have been abnormally variable.
At one time they promised to "beat the
record," at another to give no surplus what-
ever. At last they have ended in giving a
fair amount to some ; while, almost side by
side, they have proved a source of expense
for feeding with no income to compensate the
outlay. I have been fairly successful, but the
returns have been strangely unequal in hives
to all appearance doing the same work. My
best gave me seventy-two finished sections, my
worst only three. This last sent out a power-
ful swarm, which was returned, yet it only
gave me 15 lb. of surplus. My best scarcely
showed a single drone all the season. Another
week would have almost doubled my total, but
a perfect waterspout on August 14 completely
washed out the heather when it was at its best.
Swarming, too, showed a considerable amount
of erratic oddities. In my own apiary I had
only one bar frame which swarmed. A neigh-
bour had eighteen swarms and casts from
about a like number of colonies. Late swarms
have done badly, and those keeping them on
will find the game is not worth the candle.
Sections sold well. All my hives have gone
into winter quarters strong in bees and food. —
D. M. M., Banffshire, N.B.

PREPARING FOR THE HEATHER.

[2265.] Referring to the proposed pamphlet
on the " Preparation of Bees for the Heather
Harvest,'' mentioned by Mr. Dent (2237,
p. 420), I beg to say this question is receiving
attention, and a paper thereon will be read to
the members of the Northumberland and
Durham Association at an early date. I was
very sorry that the Northumberland and

Oct. 31, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

443

Durham Association was unrepresented at the
meeting held in the show yard at Darlington,
and I gave Mr. Huckle an explanation regard-
ing this when I saw him the day after.

With regard to the statement that sufficient
information on the subject had already ap-
peared in the Bee Journal and Eecord,
before suggesting the publication of a pamphlet,
I looked up my Bee Journals for four year3
back and did not find that much attention had
been given to the matter ; but many bee-
keepers have no back numbers, including be-
ginners and noD -subscribers ; and to show
what difficulty there is in finding the various
papers, Mr. Grimshaw's important article
(p. 497, Vol. 20, 1892) is headed and indexed
" How to obtain Honey in poor districts." —
J. N. Kidd, Hon. Sec. N. and D.B.K.A.

BEE JOTTINGS.

FROM HIGHWAYS AND BY-PATHS.

>.] Si::e of Colonies in Spring. — Mr.
Hand, in Gleanings, says : — " Too large a
swarm in early spring is not desirable." I am
afraid we do not suffer much in this respect.
The general complaint is that our colonies are
too small at this period for our liking. Any
way, it is better to have too much of a good
thing than too little, especially when a cure is
at hand, viz. : either make two stocks of it
(the colony) or use the surplus bees to help on
any light lots. For my part, I should put a
super on and get them to work building
comb3.

Royal Patronagefor B.K. Association — " On
August 10 last, the fortieth convention of
German, Austrian, and Hungarian Bee-keepers
took place at Leipzig. The whole affair was a
great success, 1 , 500 persons being present. King
Albert of Saxony, who had accepted the Pro-
tectorate of the convention, was present for an
hour or two." — (Gleanings.) The bee-keepers
present, no doubt, rose to the occasion, and
agreed that the " craft " had got a rise in the
world. We haven't reached the higher ground
yet, but it is coming into view ; everything
comes to those that wait, it's only a question
of waiting long enough.

Califomian Honey. — C. W. Dayton, in
Gleanings, writes : — " It is estimated that one-
half the honey produced in California has been
adulterated with glucose, and sent east (i.e.,
to Europe) by wholesale firms." " Thus," he
continues, " the coffers of wealthy adulterators
have been filled, and the pockets of the poor
bee-keepers emptied.'' The Editor, somewhat
indignantly says : — " I cannot believe this to
be true." Well, seeing is believing, and so
far as this portion of the " east," re-
liable people (myself included), can attest
that more than half the foreign honey
on our markets is not only adulterated,
but is " Pure Honey," quite innocent of ever
having seen the interior of a beehive ! This is
not the worst of it either, for it is found that this

trash is being sold as English honey. Some
one is making a fat thing out of it. I quite
echo Mr. Root's sentiments when he says
" Let's have the truth '' — though it is doubtful
whether we shall ever get the " honest
expressions " he desires.

Foul Brood. — Gleanings, I am pleased to
see, takes up very decided lines on this
matter, and one of the " Heads of Grain " is
to burn everything, and 'don't waste time
arguing that the queen or bees will not infect
other combs." Tne Editor adds: "I should
sleep better to know that everything per-
taining to F. B. was thoroughly burned up."
Good again !

Bees in a Coffin /—J. E. Walker, of Shaon,
China, relates a curiou3 case of " Bees in a
Coffin." It appears to be a common custom of
the land for the aged to have their coffins
built and ready, finished up and varnished, in
a shed adjoining the house. One of the lids
of such a coffin fitted loosely, and a swarm of
bees found a resting-place, and made a home
there.

Mr. Walker' continues : — " Chinese bees
seem quite domesticated,'' and as far as he had
observed, "always locate in, or near, some
human habitation," seldom in trees, and " the
coming of a swarm of bees to a house is con-
sidered a lucky event."

Weight of Bees.— Professor B. F. Koons
(" Gleanings ") gives as the result of his
experiments on the above, some very interest-
ing figures. The smallest number of bees
necessary to carry one pound of honey as
thereby shown, is 10,154, in other words, one
bee can carry T3|jftli part of a pound of honey,
and the largest number required to carry the
same quantity of honey is 45,642 ; the
average of all the sets of bees weighed by
him is 20,167, so that the average load of
an incoming bee is 7|1^ll(1th part of a pound.
After two years' observation he finds from
3,680 to 5,495 bees go the pound, and that the
average i3 4,800. Drones go (largest) 1,808 to
the pound, and the smallest 2,000 to the same
weight. From the above, taking the average,
it would appear that the difference in the
weight of 20,167 incoming bees, and the
same number of out-going bees, is 1 lb., and
that practically a 4-lb. swarm when first
hived is 3 lb. of bees and 1 lb. of honey. So
that in buying my next swarm I shall stipu-
late so many pounds of bees at, say, Is. 6d. per
lb., honey at — shall I say, 6d. per lb. ?— and
deduct 1 lb. in every 4 from the gross weight
on this latter account. — H. W, BRICE,
Thornton Heath, Surrey.

HONEY FOR THE LADY MAYORESS.
[2267.] When the British bee-keepers went
to the then Lord Mayor, Sir Stuart Knill,
they took with them, if I remember right, a
hundredweight of honey, in order to give

444

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 31, 1895.

ocular demonstration of the bulk of honey-
obtainable from a well-managed hive. It
must have been a fine object lesson. This
year, however, a hundredweight and a half has
been harvested from single hives. I hope the
lady bee-keepers won't give a less effective
object lesson than the gentleman bee-keepers
did. We must remember that lady bee-
keepers are not at present very numerous.
The gentlemen bee-keepers must therefore
help by contributing liberally. Scotland and
Ireland must not be left out ; Wales is sure to
help. I glad send my pound and say in con-
clusion to you and all — B. Sharp.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

It is requested that, until further notice, all
communications intended for the late secretary,
Mr. Huckle, King's Langley, be addressed
"The Chairman, B.B.K.A., King William-
street, Strand, W.C.

PRESENTATION TO THE LADY
MAYORESS.

We do not yet know the exact date on
which this presentation is to be made, but
expect it will be during next week before the
B.J. of November 7 has been issued. The
response is satisfactory so far, but our friends
must not relax their interest. We hope for a
good number of contributions from (gallant 1)
gentlemen bee-keepers to help the ladies'
effort.

If any bee-keeper possesses a small portable
device of any kind showing comb, bees, &c,
explanatory of modern bee-keeping, will he
please communicate with us at once, in case
such an exhibit may be wanted for the occa-
sion.

Just before going to press we are pleased to
be able to announce that the Lady Mayoress
has consented to receive the deputation of
lady bee-keepers, with their representative
collection of native honey from the British
Bee-Keepers' Association, at the Mansion
House on Thursday, November 7, at 3 pm.

"SEASONABLE ADVICE."

SAVING SOME SHOW-HONEY FOR 1896.

It may be well for readers — who are ex-
hibitors of honey — to bear in mind that in
addition to the " Royal " Show at Leicester,
in June next, there is every probability of a
good exhibition of honey being held in con-
nection with the annual show of the Bath and
West of England Agricultural Society at St.
Alban's. This latter show usually precedes
that of the Royal by several days.

"Show-honey" will not be too plentiful in
June next, consequently we venture to offer a
a hint by way of — verb. sap.

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.

September, 1895.

Locality, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.

Height above sea- level, 225 ft.

Rainfall, 0 49 in. In September, 1894,
098 in. rain fell.

Greatest fall in 24 hours, 0-25 in. on the 9th.

Rain fell on 6 days. In September, 1894,
6 days.

Max. shade temp., 82° on the 27th ; max.
for September, 1894, 67°.

Min. temp., 34° on the 20th ; min. temp, for
September, 1894, 30°.

Max. shade temp, at 9 a.m., 68° on the
23rd.

Min. temp, at 9 a.m., 46° on the 19th.

Frosty nights, nil. Daring September, 1894,
two.

Max. barometer, 3023 on the 20th.

Min. barometer, 29 52 on the 11th.

Wonderful weather daring the month. Some
days were not merely warm but very hot. The
maximum for the last two years was reached
on Friday, 27th inst., when the reading of
thermometer in the shade was 82°. On four
other days the mercury stood at 80° and over.
Pasture land again assuming a patched and
arid appearance. A falling barometer at close
of month. Drones flying freely from some of
the hives during the last week, notwithstanding
young laving queens are present. Not much,
brood in most of the hives. Wasp3 still
abound.— Percy Leigh, Becmount.

BEE-KEEPING IN SURREY.

CONFERENCE AT GUILDFORD.

On Saturday, October 19, a largely attended
meeting of those interested in bee-keeping in
Surrey, convened by the Technical Education
Committee of the County Council, was held at
the Ward-street Hall, Guildford. Mr. E. J.
Halsey, chairman of the County Council,
presided, and there were also present Captain
Campbell (secretary of the Surrey Bee-keepers'
Association), Mr. H. Macan (organising
secretary to the committee), Mr. E. Dawe,
Professor Lodge, the Rev. H. West, Mrs. Alan
Cameron, Mrs. Maclear, Miss Thornfield, Mii-s

E. Blundell, Messrs. A. D. Woodley, F.
Baring Gould, J. N. Wohlgemuth, T. Tebbutt,
J. W. Jacomb Hood, J. Garratt, C. T. Overton,

F. B. White, A. H. Stedman, F. Brown,
J. R. Aubry, Thomas Marsh, R. Blundell,
Walter Reid, F. Blackmore, F. T. Fletcher,
J. G. Welby, A. J. Carter, J. S. Greenhill. J.
Gilbert, B. E. Day, J. Cox, E. E. P. Tindall,
R.N., H. W. Lanaway, C. H. Adams, J. H.
New, Michael Brown, Jesse Puttock, N. Soil,
F. Lemare, &c.

Mr. Macan read a number of letters from
gentlemen unable to be present, but expressing
their interest in the proceedings.

After some remarks by Captain Campbell,
hon. sec, and Mr. D?we, treasurer of the

Oct. 31, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,

445

S.B.K.A., the Chairman said he thought they
had heard sufficient to convince them that
some new step was necessary, though there
was no reason why the new organisation should
not retain the name and traditions of the old.
He had a great desire to do anything he could
to help forward any such rural occupation as
that of bee-keeping, which was undoubtedly
of great value, and went a long way towards
providing those who followed it with many
little comforts and luxuries which they would
otherwise have to go without. The recent
tours of the Berks bee van in Surrey, under
the auspices of the County Council, had given
great satisfaction at a comparatively small ex-
pense, and had greatly stimulated interest.
As there were at least 600 known bee-keepers
in the county, the industry was one to which
it was their duty as well as their plea-
sure to give attention to. His suggestion was
that a provisional committee should be formed
to discuss matters with the old Association and
report as to the best course to adopt. So far
as the County Council, who had convened that
meeting, were concerned, they were prepared
upon a business-like footing to assist them.
They could not — and he was sure they would
not expe*ct it — vote public money simply to
pay old debts, but they would endeavour to
put the matter upon an honest footing, and
see that in the future it was carried on regu-
larly and properly. The Association would
benefit, not merely from a financial stand-
point, but from the fact that the County
Council organisation was such that it covered
the whole county. In conclusion, he thanked
Captain Campbell for what he had done for
bee-keeping, and thought that at lm age it
was little short of marvellous.

Mr. Jacomb-Hood proposed, and Mr. R. G.
Blundell seconded, that a provisional committee
be formed for the purpose of consulting
with the old Association and drafting proposals
for its reorganisation. Replying to a question,
the chairman said he might lay it down that no
sanction or aid in any way would be given by
the County Council to any proposal which in-
volved liabilities. The idea of the Council was
that if the Surrey Association were able in any
way to be restarted they would rather do this
than simply start a new thing altogether. The
motion was carried. A committee was then
formed, consisting of the proposer and se-
conder, Mr. Brice, of Thornton Heath, Mr.
F. B. White, of Redhill, and Mr. W. Reid,
of Addlestone. Mr. Garrett, who has been
engaged by the County Council to give prac-
tical instruction in bee-keeping during the
coming spring and summer in several parts of
the county, emphasised the importance of
resting practice upon a sound and thorough
basis of knowledge of the best methods. Mr.
Woodley said there was a vast amount of
work to be done by the organisation in this
and in every other county. Organised effort
only was necessary for the ready disposal of
home-produced honey to the displacement of

foreign produce. This had been tried in Berk-
shire with every succe-93.

Some discussion followed on the subject of
foul brtfoi and the sfcep3 proposed to be taken
for checking the progress of that disease, after
which the Chairman, in his concluding remarks,
said he supposed the County Council would
not be illiberal in this matter of bee-keeping
if it proved to be for the good of the county.
He urged the need of more organisation and
co-operation among farmers and dairymen and
everyone employed in rural pursuits, and said
that until there was real combination of effort
prices would remain as they were and the
public would continue to be swindled by eat-
ing and drinking that which was not what it
was represented to be (applause), A vote oi
thanks to Mr. Halsey for presiding brought
the meeting to a close. — (Comrminicated).

<$tttn*a and $eplta.

[1395.] Micdlaneous Queries.— 1. When
bees carry in pollen during October, is that in
itself evidence that the colony is not queen-
less ? I requeened the stock about six weeks
ago, but cannot spot the queen nor find brood,

2. Can I convert surplus syrup (made in
autumn with the usual vinegar and salicylic
acid) into candy ? 3. My bees have refused
to clean out some few extracted combs. What
i3 the l>est thing now to do with these combs ?
4. Is the lace-paper advertised for glazing sec-
tions used on the cardboard boxes sold or
upon the bare sections ? — G. J. A., Lymington,
Octobrr 15.

Reply. — 1. Pollen-carrying is at all times
evidence of brood-rearing, but not by any
means conclusive on the point, seeing that
bees of queenless stocks, in their efforts to
raise a mother bee, carry in pollen sometimes
freely. 2. The only satisfactory way is to add
sufficient sugar, and boil afresh. The quan-
tities are G lb. of sugar to one pint of water.

3. Wash them in lukewarm water, and pass
them through the extractor. 4. The lace-paper
sold is generally for bare sections (when
glazed). Boxes, as a rule, are glazed and
papered ready for use.

LIABILITY OF BEE-KEEPERS.

At the Kidderminster County Court, James
Jones, greengrocer, Stourport, sued the Rev.
E. Davenport, Worcester, expert and lecturer
to the Worcestershire Bee-keepers' Association,
to recover £'15, damages in respect of injuries
to himself, and to his horse, and breakage of
his cart, on July 16, through the alleged negli-
gent and insecure packing of two hives of bees
belonging to defendant. Plaintiff said he was
engaged by defendant's man, Mark Hinds, to
remove two hives of bees on July 16 from

446

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Oct. 31, 1895.

Burlish Lodge to Hinds's house on Hartlebury
Common. Witness had not gone very far
before he and his horse were swarming with
bees. The horse reared and kicked most
violently owing to the bees stinging him, and
he then bolted, breaking the cart. Plaintiff
said he was so badly stung himself that he
was unable to do anything for an entire week,
and his horse was in the care of a veterinary
surgeon for nearly five weeks. The defence
was a denial of liability on the ground that the
bees had been given to Hinds, and that Mr.
Davenport had not himself engaged the plain-
tiff to remove them. His Honour decided to
see an empty hive of the same construction as
those used, and gave his judgment after an
adjournment of the case for that purpose.
He said he considered the defendant was
liable in damages for the injuries plaintiff
sustained. Part of the claim was for pay-
ments out of pocket, and his verdict would be
for £10. 10s. with costs. (Communicated.)

MEASURING BEES' TONGUES.

A French naturalist has invented a very
remarkable instrument, which he has termed a
" Glossometer," for the purpose of measuring
the tongues of bees. To the student of evolu-
tion these instruments will prove of great value
in determining the part played by natural
selection in developing the bee's tongue — that
member which has so much to do with
the fertilisation and perpetuation of our
flowers and plants. It has been found that
the length of tongue in bees differs very much
in various hives, and it is evident that a bee
which has a long tongue can obtain nectar in a
flower with a deep calyx, where bees with
shorter tongues cannot reach the nectar at all.
It is to be hoped that this interesting subject
of research will be followed up.

Notieesto Correspondents andlnqt frers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only o/personalinterest will be amwsred in this column .

M. L. (Manse of Applegarth).— Boxes of soft
candy required for supplementing short
stores should be put on hives now.

"W. H. Wilson (King's Norton). — Queen
turned out. — Looking to the fact that in all
probability there was a queen with the stock
in the first place, a queen with the added
swarm in the second, and a further queen
introduced in the third, our correspondent
need hardly be dismayed at finding one
queen turned out. He had better wait
till next spring before disturbing the bees
again, when an examination may prove the
queen to be all right.

T. Hastwell (Bowness). — Queens thrown out.
— Queens received are too dry for post
mortem examination, and owing to the
cessation of egg-laying for the season, it is
not easy to judge from their appearance
whether fertile or not. If they are, the
probability is that they have been " balled "
by their own bees, owing to rather rough
manipulation ; this not seldom causing
" balling " in late autumn and early spring.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, Ac — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Xhrts
words or under, One Penny.

BEAUTIFUL HONEY, in bottles and in bulk.
Sample 3d. Thomas Charles, Caerswall, .Much
Al arcle, Glos. J 71

SAXIFRAGAS and other ALPINE PLANTS, very
cheap. Also Daffodils. Send for list. Sands,
Harborne, Birmingham. J 67

PURE ITALIAN QUEENS. Sent, carriage paid this
month, at 4s. each ; 1895 reared. W. B. Webster,
Binfleld, Berks. J 57

Of) YEARS a Speciality— QUEENS, NUCLEI, &C.
" *-' Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfleld, Sussex. 116

OFFER WANTED for Five Dozen Sections of Clover
HONEY. Geo. Crombie, Hotham R.S.O., East
Yorkshire. J 80

WILL EXCHANGE 21 Two-Shilling Volumes, "Age
We Live In," for Heather HONEY, in Sections
or Jars. W. Anderson, Ards, Caledon, Ireland. J 81

FOR SALE, 1 cwt. of Fine Extracted HONEY, 7J,d.
per lb. Walter Prince, Atherstone, Warwick-
shire. J 88

WANTED, in EXCHANGE for Safety BICYCLE,
BEES in Bar-frame Hives. Full particulars on
application. GODFREY Kitching, Mellwood, Sharrow,
Sheffield. J 85

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. 100 strips,
22 inches long, 8d., 200, Is. 3d., 300, Is. 9d., 400,
2s. 3d., 600, 2s. 9d. Three neat patterns stocked.
W. WoODLEY, Beedon, Newbury.

FOR SALE, 500 lb. splendid White Clover HONEY,
packed in 1-lb. tall glass tie-over bottles. Price
for the lot £16. 13s. 4d. ; or in lots to suit purchasers.
Payment by deposit system. Chas. Carter, Gwynne
Apiary, Newmarket. J 87

ORDER AT ONCE, Large CROCUS, any colour, Is. 6d.
100; second size, Is. 100; Scilla Siberica, very
early flower, Is. 6d. 100. 6s. 500. Planting time now.
A. Marchant, 2, Maldon - terrace, Foleshill - road,
Coventry. J 86

HONEY AND ITS USES," by Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, M.A., 3s. 6d. per 100. By distributing
this Pamphlet, a ready market for honey may be made
in Bee-keepers' own neighbourhood. Specimen copy
sent. Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," post
free 2£d. Address, The Green, Dartford. J 78

W, I». ME ADOWS,

Syston and Leicester.

SEASON GOODS.

My Patent Extractors, none to equal them. Super-
Clearers, best made. Three prize medals. You
can't successfully harvest Honey without them. Honey
Ripeners and Honey Tins. Every Bee-Keeper must
have my new 5s. Ripener. Section and Show Cases, &c.
Address all letters "SYSTON," near Leicester.

Nov. 7, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

44;

% ditoral, $toiim, ku

MR. JOHN HUCKLE.

LATE SECRETARY BRITISH B.K.A.

It is not too much to say that the brief
announcement of the death of Mr. Huckle on
page 439 of our last issue will have caused a
feeling of sorrow and sincere regret among
bee-keepers throughout the land. For our-
selves—and seeing how prominent a place in
the bee-world our friend and co-worker had
for some years past occupied — it is with some-
thing akin to melancholy pleasure that we
place before our readers such particulars as are
in our possession regarding one so worthy of
all the good that can be said of him as John
Huckle.

Born forty - nine

years ago near to

the Tillage of King's
Langley, Herts, he
lived, and laboured,
and in the end died
there. As a boy he
worked in the local
paper-mills owned by
Messrs. Dickenson &
Co., and being of
humble parentage, his
day-school life had
been of the briefest ;
but for some years he
was a diligeut pupil
at the evening classes
conducted by the
village schoolmaster,
and thus made up
for his want of oppor-
tunity by day. In
early life, however, a
long and serious ill-
ness quite unfitted
him afterwards for
hard and continuous
manual labour, such
as he had been pre-
viously engaged in.
But with quiet cou-
rage he set about
instructing himself in
the trade of book-
binding, by cutting up old books in order to
find out how the work was done. Eventually,
having profited by a few hints from a prac-
tical bookbinder, he became sufficiently expert
at his new trade to earn sufficient to maintain
himself. His superior intelligence, too, even
at this time, brought him into prominence,
and he was appointed hon. secretary of the
King's Langley Cricket Club, which office he
held for thirty- three years, in fact till his death.
During this long period of time Mr. Huckle
took a large share in the public work connected
with his native village ; every movement

MR. JOHN" HUCKLE.

having for its object the well-being of his
neighbours, finding in him an unostentatious
bur active, and, withal, judicious supporter.
He was elected a member of the first Parish
Council, and among the many public offices
filled by him may be named that of secretary
to the Parochial Committee, hon. sec. of the
local Horticultural Society and of the Con-
servative Association, assistant sec. of the West
Herts Habitation of the Primrose League,
member of the Technical Instruction Com-
mittee and of the committee of the Reading
Room. He was also appointed official scorer
to the Herts County Cricket Club. _ Mr.
Iluckle's connection with cricket at this time
led him to take up the business of tent-making,
and he for some years supplied tents in all
parts of the county for cricket matches,
political meetings, &c. Later on his usefulness
in cricket matters brought him under the
notice of Mr. Peel,
of Abbots Hill, and
other influential gen-
tlemen, all of whom
entertained a high
regard for his ability
and worthiness.

In 1S78 began his
first connection with
bee-keeping. Mr. Peel
having in that year
undertaken the hon.
secretaryship of the
British Bee-Kcepeis'
Association, and,

being fully aware of
the value of Mr.
Huckle's assistance
in secretarial work,
he at once secured
his services as assis-
tant secretary. In
this capacity Mr.
Huckle had charge of
the arrangements at
most of the shows
held under the man-
agement of the B.B.
K.A, his remarkable
capability as an or-
ganiser proving of the
utmost value in mak-
ing the bee depart-
ment of the " Royal ''
and other shows under his direction models of
efficiency and thoroughness. When rules
were made, he not only adhered to them him-
self, but saw that they were properly carried
out by others. He also managed— by the
combination of quiet yet firm and judicious
tact, with unvarying courtesy— to keep on
good terms not only with exhibitors, but with
all officials of societies under whose auspices
the shows were held.

On Mr. Peel resigning the hon. secretary-
ship of the B.B.K.A., Mr. Huckle was, in
1883, appointed paid secretary of the associa-

448

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Nov. 7, 1895.

tion, which office he held to the time of his
death. Naturally of a retiring disposition
and somewhat reticent in manner, he never
pushed himself unduly forward ; nor did he
ever enter into the discussions of the com-
mittee, unless invited to express an opinion,
when his replies were invariably simple,
straightforward, short and to the point. So
far as the members of the B.B.K.A. generally
he earned and secured the personal esteem and
goodwill of all, from the Baroness Burdett
Coutts down to the humblest cottager. His
correspondence on behalf of the association
was at times very voluminous, necessitating
numerous letters between the chairman and
himself, even when Mr. Cowan was abroad,
but he scrupulously avoided taking any step of
importance without first consulting the chair-
man and securing his approval or advice.
John Huckle was, in fact, an ideal secretary,
and will be very difficult to replace, for, not-
withstanding the many complex questions and
conflicting interests with which he had to deal,
we do not think he ever made a single enemy
among those with whom he had business or
social relations in his secretarial work con-
nected with the B.B.K.A.

Mr. Huckle was also for some years manager
of the business department of the B.B.J, and
retained that position until failing health com-
pelled him to give it up.

Regarding his labours in the same direction
at " home " amid the surroundings of his
village life, we learn that those who sought
advice and guidance from him — and they were
very many— no matter under what circum-
stances, never left without receiving help
in the shape of thoroughly practical and good
common-sense views ; moreover, his advice
was generally followed with advantage to the
recipient. Indeed it may be truly said of
him: —

" Still the wonder grew
How one small head could cany all he knew."

The effects of the illness already referred to
as having occurred many years ago never left
him, and through the whole of his after life
his bodily health was undermined by an
internal complaint, which in the end carried
him off after only a week's confinement to his
bed. His mental powers, however, were never
dimmed, and in the person of John Huckle
was seen a man of small stature, weak in body
through broken health — besides labouring
under other disadvantages which would have
kept most men far in the background — who
by patient application and perseverance won
for himself a position among iris fellows in the
place wherein his life was passed, only to be
gauged by the impressive scene at his funeral,
when the whole village seemed full of sorrow
for the loss of one who had been the unob-
trusive but warm friend of all.

Two years ago an unusually severe attack
of illness necessitated Mr. Huckle's giving up
work altogether for a time, and going away
for rest and change, and during his absence a

public testimonial was set afoot, which resulted
in the presentation to him of an illuminated
address and a cheque for 150 guineas, £50 of
■which sum was subscribed by his bee-keeping
friends through this journal.

Although never a bee-keeper himself, the
late secretary took a warm interest in the
association and did all in his power to advance
the pursuit audits best interests. A few days
subsequent to the meeting and conversazione
at Jermyn-street, on October 10— at which Mr.
Huckle was present in his usual health, and
exceptionally cheerful spirits because of the
good meeting — he contracted a chill which
obliged him to keep his bed. His frequent
rallies from similar attacks, however, caused
his friends and himself to believe that in the
course of a few days he would be about again,
but he gradually became worse, and in the end
passed peacefully and quietly away on Friday,
October 25, in his forty-ninth year.

The esteem in which Mr. Huckle was held
by his immediate neighbours was testified by
the large congregation of mourners, who com-
pletely filled the church at King's Langley,
representing people of high and low degree,
among whom he had lived and laboured for
the common good all his life.

The British Bee-keepers' Association was
represented by the vice-chairman, Mr. H.
Jonas, and the Bee Journal by one of its
Editors, and among the profusion of floral
wreaths with which the coffin was more than
covered was one from the B.B.K.A., sent
through its chairman, and another " with the
deep sympathy of Thos. W. Cowan."

<§mm$tm&mtt

The Editor » do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. Wt
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

NOTES BY THE WAY.
[22G8.] Candy Making. — In answer to
queries which have reached me lately on
candy making, I would say — The chief diffi-
culty with candy makers seems to be the
stirring during the cooling process, or while
the candy is in the water-bath. This part of
the operation requires constant attention and
continuous work with the spoon or wooden
spatula until the mixture is of about the
colour and consistence of oatmeal porridge ;
then, if poured out into basins, soup plates, or
the blocked-tin baking dishes — first lined with
paper— the cakes, when cold enough, can be
inverted over the feed hole of quilt ; or, if
preferred, a hole can be cut in quilt right over

Nov. 7, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

449

the cluster of bees. After the candy cake is
placed in position, -wrap all up snug, warm,
and dry. Do not depend on the bees reaching
candy unless it is placed directly over them,
as the winter cluster is formed ere this ; and
many stocks have starved, with food but a
short distance from the defunct cluster.

Keeping Comb-lloncy in Saleable Form. —
This subject has been dealt with in detail time
after time, yet it will well bear repetition, and
as we are in the damp and fogs of November
a caution will not be out of place for the sake
of new readeis who look to the Journal for
help on all subjects incidental to the pursuit.
Comb-honey, in order to retain its pristine
state as when first taken from the hives, should
be stored in a waim, dry room, carefully pro-
tected from dust and mice. 1 myself find the
racks in which the sections are worked on the
hives, very good receptacles for storing comb-
honey till wanted for market. After scraping
the sections quite clean, I lay a piece of
paper over the bottom of rack, and then re-
place the twenty-one sections, wedging the
whole tightly together by means of a board.
Correctly made section-rack3 have their sides
high enough to take the pressure orf the actual
sections and so allow of stacking in tiers above
each other without damage to them. I usually
stand about four layers of sections on strong
shelves with a single layer of paper between
each tier ; pieces of glass are fixed in front as
a protection, and a clean cloth spread over all,
which keeps off any dust that may arise. If a
sudden fall occurs in the temperature, the room
is warmed by means of a lamp, and this heat —
provided the lamp is kept properly trimmed —
is the purest we can get. It is also the cheapest
and it prevents any deterioration in the
quality of the honey, sometimes, indeed,
actually inproving its ripeness. I should not
advise glazing the sections until an order is
received for dispatch to customers, as they
then reach the retailer in the best possible
condition.

With the Editors' permission, I should like
to say a few words on the class for commercial
packages at the recent Dairy Show* not in
carping criticism, but as pointing out a few
of the defects apparent to my mind when
looking through the class. 1st. I will take
the padlcck class of exhibits : Who, I ask, in a
usual way of trade, would ever think of adding
such an appendage as a padlock to a case of
honey going per railway '. I will give the
exhibitors credit for attempting to add some-
thing to its security against thieves, but when
we examine the hasp of the case, through

[* We would again remind Mr. Woodley
that the class to which he refers was not for
"Commercial Packages." as here stated, but
for " Extracted Honey." The wording of the
schedule is as follows : — " Extracted
Honey. Not less than 1 cwt. iu 7, 14, or
28 lb. commercial packages, suitable for whole-
sale trade." — Eds]

which the bolt of padlock is placed, we find
the security more apparent than real. Again,
take Mr. Howard's case, shown in the adver-
tising pages of the B.J. and Record, why the
removal of the three screws would give the
thief free access to the contents !

The basket form of exhibit, too, 13 not at all,
in my opinion, adapted for the wholesale trade.
These baskets would do very well for sending
off a single tin of honey to a customer (private
trade) but the cost would be too much. Why,
only last week I received two orders for family
jars or tins, one for London, one for Chelten-
ham (14-lb. tins in each case.) These I packed
in a grocer's " empty " at a cost of 2d. each.
Baskets would have cost 9d. to Is. each,
padlock 3d. or 4d. To such expenses I offer
my strenuous opposition, as handicapping a
growing industry, while to the necessity for
expensive cases I say " fudge!" My own exhibit
in the class was ''boxed "for 4d., contained
identically the same honey as my prize honey
in the bottle class, yet did not get uearer than
a " reserve No." to prize winning, because I
endeavoured to show beekeepers how to pack
cheaply, though efficiently, and, with a little
extra trouble, securely against thieves.

Referring to the question of extending the
prize list of future '' Dairy Shows," or other
London shows, I beg to thank Mr. Till, also
Mr. Brice, for their suggestions; but our new
Thornton Heath friend, Mr. Tiller, has im-
proved upon their suggestions, and if his
suggestions are acted on by a tithe of the bee-
keepers of Great Britain, our parent association,
the (; British " would be in a position to make
the schedule comprehensive enough to embrace
all classes- of honey, together with edibles and
drinks in which honey forms the principal
ingredient. Space in the Hall is valuable, but
if bee-keepers will only make a grand show, it
will be the means of bringing the industry to
the front, and educating the British Public in
the use and preference for the British product.
Another point not generally known is that if
an exhibitor makes four or more entries, he
will get an exhibitor's pass for the show all
through its duration . (not transferable, of
course).

I have failed to get honey sent at "half
rates " per G.W. Railway passenger train
(owner's risk). Can any one say if the reduc-
tion emanated from the Board of Trade as a
suggestion ; also if some railways have reduced
their lates for honey and others not ? I find
charges somewhat higher per cwt. (goods train)
than they were a year or two ago. — W.
Woodley, Beedor^ Newbury.

THE FOUL BROOD QUESTION .
[226!).] My friend Mr. Till (2255, p. 439),
in what he oddly calls my "Apologia pro
Bacillus Alvei," inquires whether I have
managed my hives with my own hands I I
beg, therefore, to assure him that I have taken

450

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Nc

7, 1895.

an active and personal share in the manage-
ment of my apiary, often spending hours in
working among the bees, with my gardener
usually assisting me. Mr. Till, however,
should address himself, not to personal ques-
tions, but rather to this point: — Is the appoint-
ment of a number of inspectors throughout
the three kingdoms a matter of paramount and
absolute necessity ? Nothing, in my opinion,
but overwhelming necessity can justify au addi-
tion to the burdens under which we country
folks are staggering. I, at all events, cannot
discover any such necessity. As I look
around what do I see ? Not far off, rich,
good land lying desolate, covered not long
since with thistles, the noxious seeds of which
the winds were scattering far and wide. In
several parishes close at hand, land which
used to grow some of the best barley and
wheat that England can produce, is let at
7s. 6d. and 5s. per acre, in some cases tithe
free ! Farm houses, farm buildings, cottages,
go to rack and ruin ; the young men hasten
to the towns where they swell the
number of the unemployed. Meanwhile
county, district, and parish councils appoint
inspectors, increase officials, and raise our
rates ! Last year the taxes and rates on my
living (worth about £300 a year, with a large
house and extensive grounds to keep up)
amounted to over £100, besides £55 paid for
the enlargement of the parish school. In the
first half-year of 1895 I paid ,£107, and am
just asked for £40 more ! In one of the
Essex towns the rates are close on 10s. in the
pound, and are likely soon to be over lis.
"Dwelling among my own people,'' seeing
year after year our distress increasing, I feel
bound to oppose any (as I think) unnecessary
and uncalled-for increase of our burdens.

The argument that others may suffer seri-
ously if an " ignorant or obstinate bee-keeper,"
with foul-brood among his bees, refuses to take
measures to check or extirpate the disease, is
not, in my judgment, a convincing one. The
ignorant man is pretty sure to suffer ; but his
neighbours need not ; they can keep olf the
disease by napthaline or napthol beta. All the
candy supplied to our bee3 in the early months
is medicated with napthol beta, a precaution
which has proved a very useful one. Even
admitting (for argument's sake) that the
neighbours of the *' ignorant and obstinate "
man will in some degree suffer, does such
suffering warrant the appointment of paid
inspectors (with power to award compensation)
throughout the length and breadth of the
land 'i I think not.

Will anyone argue now that the supply of
English honey is becoming scarce by reason
of foul brood. This morning with the Bee
', i- there comc3 a letter from Miss Meclii
(an honoured natno in Essex) stating that an
allotment-holder had ju;;t offered her some
" dressed " honey (as he called it) at (3d. per lb.
He had a large quantity and could not sell it.
First rate honey (as I stated recently) was

selling in a neighbouring village in September
at 6d. per lb. Once more I ask, where is the
promised leaflet on foul brood 1 When are we
to have it 1 That, as it seems to me, would
probably do great good and at very little cost.
When are we to have it ? — E. Bartrum, D.D.,
Wakes Golne Rectory, Essex.

[Keferring to the above paragraph, it is
news to us to learn that, because of the
obstinancy of some " ignorant or obstinate
bee-keepers/' the appointment on so large a
scale of inspectors, armed with such powers,
was contemplated, and we should be glad to
know how the idea has arisen in the mind of
our esteemed correspondent. — Eds.]

FOUL BROOD.

ARE INSPECTORS NECESSARY ?

[2270.] Having carefully read Dr. Bartrum's
letter in your issue of October 24, and also
Mr. Jesse G-arratt's remarks thereon in this
week's issue (p. 439), I thought it would not
be presumption of me to relate my experience
of foul brood during the three seasons I have
kept bees.

Early in 1893 I bought two hives, and in
May or June obtained two swarms to tenant
them, with the result that at the end of the
season we took about 30 lb. of honey, and
packed them for the winter. In 1894 we got
two swarms, which made up four colonies. At
the latter end of the season one hive smelt
badly, which made me suspect foul brood ;
bub, before proceeding further, I should have
said that in the spring of 1894, on opening one
of my hives some of the comb was found
to be green with mould (apparently the result
of damp or mildew) ; this comb we cut out,
and thought no more of it ; but on suspecting
foul brood in the hive referred to, I fed the
bees with syrup, medicated with " Blow's
remedy," and put camphor in the hive, and
later on closed them up for the winter. On
opening the hives this spring I found this
colony was dead, and on sendiug you sample
of comb you pronounced it foul brood, but
apparently it had been treated properly.

Having lost one stock, I then bought
another, and started the season of '95 with
four again. From these I saved seven swarms,
and a cast, beside losing one, and have taken at
leist 180 lb. honey. At the close of the
present season we proceeded to prepare the
bees for wintering, doubling up and reducing
the number to eight. Unfortunately, however,
on examining one hive (the one that had pro-
duced most honey), found signs of foul brood
again, which was pronounced by yourself to
be of a rather malignant kind, and as a result
we have destroyed them.

In reading Dr. Bartrum's letter, the ono
thing that strike;; me moat forcibly is his
apparent contempt for the disease ; as., though
it was something like chicken-pox or measles
among children — a thing they must have, and

Nov. 7, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

451

nothing to be frightened at — well, I wish I
could have similar confidence ; but, be that as
it may, some of my neighbours seem to think
as he does, for it is quite evident the disease
has been in our neighbourhood for years.
Early this year one of my neighbours, who had
lost a swarm during the winter, threw all the
comb out of the hive for his other bees to
clear out. I told him I thought it very wrong.
Nevertheless he did it, and now has four
colonies healthy and apparently very vigorous.
Of course, you will say it is possible his might
not have been foul brood. To this all I can
say it had all the appearances that mine had
— no difference to be observed in any way.

With regard to remedies, I have been using
naphthaline all this season, but do not like it
as well as camphor, for the simple reason that
if there is the slightest naphthaline too much
the bees die by the thousand, which did not
seem the case with the camphor, and giving
them naphthol beta in their syrup.*

In conclusion, let me add, I should welcome
a Government inspector to examine my hives,
and if he thought it would be for the advan-
tage of the neighbourhood to kill all my bees
(seven stocks, now full of bees and fall of
honey) on account of the infection, I should
readily agree to it, and get a fresh lot from
some healthy neighbourhood, and try again. —
Saml. Head, Ivybridge, Devon, November 2.

[* We do not know what kind of naphtha-
line our correspondent has used, but so far as
that sent out from this office, no such result
as is stated need be feared. In fact, we have
cognisance of cures where double the quantity
stated in the " directions " for using has been
given with no bad result whatever. — Eds.]

DRONES RETAINED FROM 1894.

[2271] I would tell you a plain, un-
varnished tale which conveys a fact, I should
think almost, if not quite unique. My bees
last year slaughtered the drones about the
usual time, in August, but one hive, which I
will call my W.B.C., was observed to have
some flying all through October. In the mild
weather of November they continued flying
daily in considerable numbers. So late as
December 25, a very mild day, when the bees
had an excellent " fly.'' My diary notes : —
" Drones still flying from W.B.C. hive."
Then came the long winter and the bees
never looked out till March 9, when
they had a cleansing flight. On that day
the entry is : " Seven drones oeen.;'
March ltt : "A good many.'' All through
April the same story holds good. Of course,
at Christmas and during March I suspected
queenlessness ; but in April the hive showed
so many bees, pollen was being carried in so
well, and the work showed so much heart and
energy that such doubtr; were dispelled. An
examination on the 20th confirmed this, and
showed a fine fertile queen, and a considerable

quantity of brood— no drone brood visible — ■
but drones were still in evidence, though not
numerous. I add no remark of my own but
this : That hive was my second best this
season, and gave me forty-nine finished sec-
tions. I wish this tale to go to the " World's
End" as the bees came all the way from there.
Can you give me an explanation of the seeming
anachronism ? — D. M. M. Banffshire, N.B.,
Nov. 2.

[" Bees do nothing invariably." — Eds.]

JUDGING HONEY.

[2272.] With reference to "A Duffer's "
letter (2249) and your reply thereto, I should
like to know what there is to prevent Mr.
Duffer from obtaining any information he may
require as to the comparative value of any
samples of honey he may send to you. Lately
you witheld your opinion because you knew
he was going to show. Another time he must
get a friend, whose name is not on the list of entries
for any forthcoming show, to send up his honey
for him, and then, so far as I understand you,
you will not hesitate to appraise the value of
the honey sent.

I think it would be helpful to those who are
called upon to judge honey at small local
shows, and also to those who wish to exhibit
at larger ones, if you would be so kind as to
publish the amount of points allowed for
colour, clearness, flavour, density, get up, &c.
of run honey. An expert I have in my mind
made a great deal of density ; how much does
that count for ?— Robert S. Routii, Longstock
Vicarage, Stochbridge, October 29.

BEE-KEEPING IN MANCHESTER.

[2273.] Early in the year I sketched a pro-
gramme of our work for the season. This has
been faithfully carried out in every detail with
the exception of the shows. Arrangements
had been made with our society for a show on
a very large scale, but for reasons with which
I will not trouble your readers, it came to
nothing. Also the pourparlers with two other
societies fell through from the same cause.
No blame, however, is to be attached to the
committee or workers of the L. and C.B.K.A.
Indeed they made very generous offers. In
the fiVst instance a sum of over £7 being
offered to swell the prize list. Still, notwith-
standing many regrettable drawback- to the-
work being done in this district) we have had
an increase of over thirty active members and
a new district formed. The new members
have shown great and intelligent enthusiasm
and have diligently set about mastering the
difficulties of the craft.

Three lectures have been given hero. A
splendid meeting and lantern- lecture by the
expert, Mr. Anstey, at the Technical School ;
A lecture at Northendeu, by the local H.S. ;
and another at Stalybridge, when a new

452

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 7, 1895.

district was formed. Four out-of-door demon-
strations have been held at this place, the
first three being very well attended. The
results have been — for this bad season in the
North — fairly satisfactory ; one beginner in
the Sale district having taken over 50 lb.
of excdlert honey from one hive; another
at Northenden has secured over 30 lb.
Taking the members all round, those
who started with stocks, or purchased
" six-combed stocks " early in the spring have
recouped themselves, while those who pur-
chased swarms — s warms being very late this
year — have not had very much surplus.
Still they have had very Jiotle feeding-up to
do. Here, so near town, my takings, though
the average is ltss than halt' it was Jast year,
have been 170 lb. from seven hives, or nearly
25 lb. per hive. Had the weather of Sep-
tember prevailed in July the result would
have been very different ; but I am content,
and live in hopes of better " clover weather "
next year. Having a good retail market,
after purchase of a second swarm, a new
hive, and many accessories, I am £7 to the
good and heartily hope that others may have
been as fortunate. In addition to the above
honey takings I have secured about 3 lb. of
wax. My takings might have been greater,
but in the summer (May and June), to prevent
swarming I piled on the supers and gave my
bee3 work to do drawing out sections and
shallow frames. The result is that I have now a
stock of over 120 beautiful shallow combs ready
to receive the forage of the bees next season. — ■
Frederick H. Taylor, Local Hon. Sec,
Falloivjield, Manchester.

BEES IN THE LAKE DISTRICT.

[2274.] As I am a constant reader of the
B.B.J., and as I very seldom see any mention
of the English Lake District as a honey-pro-
ducing locality, perhaps a few lines may prove
interesting at this period when active opera-
tions amongst the bees are suspended. I
reside at a place about equi-distant between
Ambleside and Windermere, but on the west
side of Windermere Lake, in the midst of a
splendid heather district, but one not so very
well suited for clover honey, as the white
clover seldom comes to perfection in this part.
We have a Bee-keepers' Association which has
been in existence for several years, and you
may judge of its flourishing conditioa when I
tell you that at our show in August, held in
conjunction with the Local Horticultural
Society, we offered prizes for hon°y to the
value of nearly £8.

The season has been a bad one, the average
yield per hive being only about 13 lb. owing
to the severe winter of 1895 having destroyed
much of the heather, and the weather during
the heather harvest having been unfavourable!

At one time it is evident that almost every
/arm had it3 stock of straw skeps, for the
recesses in the walls where they used to stand

still remain, but now, alas ! they are not
tenanted, as the prejudice against frame hives
is strong, and the straw skeps seem almost
absolute.

The complaints of many of your subscribers
as to the difficulty of disposing of their honey
at a fair price does not apply here, for there is
no difficulty in obtaining a shilling per lb. for
heather honey, and I have known it frequently
sold at Is. 6d. in sections or in bars. I may
say, however, that extracted honey is not
so saleable.

I could give many amusing stories about our
| little friends which I have heard, but shall be
I obliged to defer them to a future occasion, or
I may monopolise too much of your valuable
space. I am sorry to say we are not free
from foul brood as it prevails in a localised
form, so far as I can learn, but not very
extensively. I am wintering nine stocks, two
being in a Wells hive, with which, however,
I have been most unsuccessful hitherto, but
am determined to give it a fair trial as it
promises well for heather-honey. Hoping I
have not trespassed too much on your space. —
Wm. Allen, M.B., &c, Haiokshead, near
Ambleside, November 1.

HONEY AND WAX EXPORTS.

[2275.] The following figures, taken from
the Jamaica Gazette of August 29, may
interest your readers. They refer to the ex-
ports during quarter ended June 30, 1895, and
are compared with the corresponding quarter
in 1894. — E. H. Hopkins, Bromsgrove, Octo-
ber 14 : —

Cwt. qr. lb. ^ric^

1895... Beeswax 472 0 4 ... per lb. 1 3

1894... „ 444 2 5 ... „ 13

1895... Honey 1,852 2 26 ...percwt.14 O

1894... „ 1,698 2 25 ... „ 15 0

"QUI S'EXCUSE, S'ACCUSE."
[2276.] I observe " Amateur Expert " (Mr.
J. P. Sambels) has written direct to your
correspondent, A. Prior (2240, p. 427). I also
received a letter from him dated September 26,
but marked " private." I cannot, therefore,
publish it, nor would any good end be served
thereby. " Amateur Expert " must not, how-
ever, think me discourteous in leaving his
letter unanswered. Correspondence begun in
a periodical ought, as a rule, to end there ;
that is the chief reason why press correspon-
dents conceal names. I trust I may remark
that "Amateur Expert's :' character has been
cast in so eccentric a mould that no amount of
'• oil " in those endeavouring to work with him
could prevent fatal friction. I say no more,
but maintain to the letter what I have already
expressed as to his original ill-advised contri-
bution, which appears in B.J. for Septem-
ber 19. — E. D. Till, Eynsford, Kent,
October 29.

Nov. 7, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

453

QUOTATIONS.
[2277.]— Is our friend Mr. Scattergood
(2253, p. 432) correct in the quotation : —

" A man convinced against his will
Is of the same opinion still."
And can he give us a recipe for performing
that most desirable operation ? An old college
worthy being once asked by an undergraduate
for a piece of good counsel likely to stand him
in stead through life, was treated to the fol-
lowing brief bit (characteristic of B. Short?) : —
" Young maD, always verify your quotations ! "
Our good friend Dr. Bartrum having (also
recently) expressed himself with (such) charac-
teristic frankness and candour, can probably
inform us whether A. Bielle's quotation —

" Who when his legs were smitten off
He fought upon his stumps " —
is correct, and who is the hero in question ? —
0. Y., November 2.

DAIRY SHOW.

ADDITIONAL CLASSES FUND.

[2278.] I shall be pleased to add my mite
to the above fund. Please put me down for
10s., and say when the cash should be sent. —
S. A., Highgate, Oct. 29.

A SUGGESTION.

INCREASING THE CIRCULATION OF P.. R.J.

[2279.] I hope the following suggestion will
be received in the same spirit in which it is
sent out, and that it may bear some speedy
fruit. It has occurred to me that the increase
in the number of British beekeepers must be
comparatively slow, as they form only a very
small proportion indeed of our rural population.
It therefore follows that the circulation of so
instructive a periodical as the B.B.J, can never
increase by leaps and bounds, and the question
occurs to me whether we bee-keepers, who owe
so much to the Journal and its Editors, could
not improve the circulation by procuring it an
entrance in every public library and reading
room throughout the land. Take for example
the matter contained in recent numbers : Mr.
Colam's speech at Jermyn-street ; Mr. Cowan's
reply about the preservation of honey at
Dresden — his description of Trigona car-
bonaria ; southern heather honey by Mr.
Hood, and so forth ; where could you get a
better pennyworth of instructive reading even
for one who is not a bee-keeper I The Editors
so thoroughly lay themselves out for the
service of bee-keeping, that it behoves all who
recognise the obligation tomakea strong eil'ort
for the good of the B.B.J. Let every constant
reader obtain one new subscriber. Smith
& Sons' Bookstalls supply it at a penny a
week, and now let us try and present the pro-
prietor with a Christmas box in the shape of a
increased circulation. AVhat shall it be < I say
600 a week ! — E. D. Till, Eynsford,
November 1.

ABOUT OUR BEES.

INTRODUCTORY.

The above heading has been in my mind
for some time past as a suitable title for a
series of papers which our Editors may perhaps
find room for, and which it is my intention to
write. I have, in some measure, been instigated
to undertake the task because of several bee
friends having incidentally suggested to me
the opinion that a good portion of the
matter which appeared from time to time in
my " Jottings " was to a certain extent worthy
of a special column where experiences and
experiments relating to bee-keeping in our
own country could be recorded while leaving
"jottings" as a medium for expressing
the opinions or experiences of others gleaned
from American and other colonial bee litera-
ture. Whether I am right or not in adopting
these suggestions I must leave to the judg-
ment of readers, but having in view the
favour with which my articles on "Rear-
ing Queens," "Eormiug Nuclei,'' &c, h;ive
been received, it is not too much to hope that
what I now propose to write may be read
with equal interest. I may say, however, that
it is not my present intention to embrace
herein anything like the whole art of scientific
and practical bee-keeping. A task so com-
plex and difficult I leave to abler hands.
Having, moreover, in view the fact that books
already exist, dealing ably and exhaustively
with bee-keeping as a whole, the necessity
does not arise. I propose rather to handle
my subject mainly from the practical point,
with just sufficient of the scientific element to
give my readers — so far as I can — the raison
d'Strs for such conclusions as I may arrive at.

In order, however, that my remarks may
possess a fair amount of coherency, I must
begin, so to speak, at the beginning, and by
degrees work through so much of the whole
subject as may be deemed necessary, so that no
important branch of apiculture may be over-
looked. This will in some measure necessitate
going over ground already well trodden by the
old hand at bee-keeping, and I must ask those
who already " know " all about it to bear with
me for the sake of the large numbers who have
joined our ranks, and are continually joining.
Kepetition can hardly be avoided, but it may
serve the purpose of giving deeper root to
important elemeuts and operations necessary
to success in our craft in the minds of the
experienced, while to those who are not so deep
in the finer points of the art it cannot but be
helpful.

Like most others, I have had my full share
of failures, aud have seen many a pet theory
shattered in the light of knowledge gained in
the hard school of practical experience. In
fact, knowing as I do how apt things are
to turn out not exactly " what they seem/'
my readers may be assured that any facts
brought to their notice will be verified by
careful experiment and consideration, so to

454

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 7, 1895.

arrive as closely as possible at the true state of
affairs.

ENTOMOLOGICAL.

The ground over which I shall take my
readers has — as already said — been travelled
oft before, yet there are phases of bee-keeping
upon which my conclusions may appear some-
what at variance with accepted authorities.
Such bee-operations, however, as are com-
prised in queen-rearing, dividing, uniting,
forming nuclei, wintering small stocks, &c ,
have, during the season, been my almost daily
work for years past, and as each one goes
about work of this description in his own
Avay, if success follows we are naturally apt to
consider our ways are the best. Should re-
peated trials verify our ideas in this line, it is
surely well to let others have the benefit
thereof, and there is no better means of doing
so than in our bee journals.

I do not propose to dwell longer than neces-
sary on the scientific aspect of our art, seeing
that those in want of a full insight into the
natural history of the bee, its anatomy, and
physiology, have available so excellent a work
as *' The Honey Bee," by Mr. T. W. Cowan.
I therefore content myself with a brief
resume.

The honey bee, from an entomological point
of view, may be said to be one of the most
marvellous creatures in its structure ever sent
to be of service to man. From the historical
point we find honey, and the tiny producer
thereof, alluded to in the most ancient writings,
sacred and secular, but not until comparatively
recent times has the structure of this wonder-
ful insect received attention from men of
science. Even at the present day the uses of
some of its important organs are still a blank,
and several of its delicate senses are imper-
fectly understood, some being, in my opinion,
either totally unknown or unappreciated.
Take, for instance, the sense of feeling. A
bee when accidentally imprisoned — say be-
tween the frames or under a quilt — will
utter a cry of apparent pain, where
no pain to the insect can have been given. I
have known bees fixed beneath the slightest of
coverings utter pitiable cries, which, as I have
said, could not be caused by actual pain, but
simply by irritation under restraint. Then,
what bee-keeper has not heard the queen's cry
of passionate irritation, known as " piping,''
when a rival is about to come forth from her
cell and dispute possession with her 9.9 maternal
head of the colony ? It may, of course, be a
cry of mental rather than physical pain, but it
is there nevertheless. On the other hand, who
has ever heard an insect cry of pain under tho
dissecting knife 'I Pull off a leg or wing, or
even cut the insect into two, and no sound
will igsue under the operation, BO that it may
be safely assumed that many of the senses
with which insects are gifted are totally
unknown to us, as we understand them. A

careful study of these questions opens up
a wide field of useful work which to the
present day has been comparatively unex-
plored.

The honey-bee (along with wasps, ants, &c.)
is found in the class Ins acta ; order, Hymen-
optera ; family, Aphida? ; genera, Apis ;
species, Mellifica. Of the above order there
are 3,000 representatives in Britain, and —
approximately — 36,000 in the whole world
(Kirby). This order of insects is, therefore,
one of the largest in Britain, being about
equalled in numbers by those of Coleoptera
(beetles) andDiptera (flies), although only one
species of Hymenoptera is indigenous to
Britain — viz., Mellifica. Apis Mellifica, in
common with most of its class, are provided
with one pair of antenna? aud six legs in the
perfect state ; the body is divided into three
parts — viz., the head, thorax, and abdomen,
and these being again sub-divided. All
insects of this order have two pairs of wings,
and before reaching maturity the bee passes
through four separate stages of existence —
viz , that of the egg, larva?, pupa, and imago
stage. The word aphida? is given to this
family on account of their feeding their young
in a large measure on pollen, or pollen and
honey mixed.

They are provided with two large eyes — one
on each side of the head — composed of facets
to the extent of many thousands. There are
also a pair of simple eyes termed ocelli,
placed near the top of the head, but so far I
can find no certain or reliable data on which
to base an opinion as to the respective uses of
these separate organs. The nervous system is
composed of a double chain of ganglia, ex-
tending from th3 head to the extremity of the
body, the fibres reaching to all parts of the
entire structure.

The antenna? is credited with being the
seat of the organs of hearing, touch, and smell.
The formation of the mouth embraces jointed
organs termed labial and maxillary palpi, with
the mandibles, proboscis, and tongue, orligula.
The abdomen is made up of six segments or
rings, gradually diminishing in size towards
the point or end. The upper or back plates being
known as the dorsal, whilst those of the under
side of the abdomen are termed ventral plates.
Space precludes my entering upon the internal
anatomy of the bee, but my readers will find full
and interesting details in Mr. Cowan's work
referred to above. The sting is, perhaps, too
well known to require minute description
now, but regarding this I consider it a mistake
to look upon this organ as given to the bee
merely as a means of defence. The sting has
other important and undoubted functions
beyond that mentioned. Bees breathe by
means of spiral openings ranged along each
side of the body, the worker having seven
pairs, queens the same number, while the
drone has eight pairs. — Henry W. Brice,
Thornton Heath, Surrey.

(To be continued.)

Nov. 7, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,

455

BEE FARMS IN SERVIA.

Mr. Leveson-Gower, in a report to Lord
Salisbury, from Belgrade, dated September 4,
1895, on the present state of agriculture in
Servia, gives some interesting particulars on bee
culture in Servia, which is at present in its
infancy ; at the same time, he says a good deal
of progress has been made of late years and at
the present time there are several bee farms of
considerable size in different parts of the
country. One of these Avhich he had the
oppportunity of visiting the other day is
situated close to Topschidere, a village about
four mile3 distant from Belgrade, This farm
is the property of a Servian society called
" The Society for Bee and Fruit Culture.'' It
contains about 200 hives placed in regular
rows over the ground, and at an equal distance
of 6 ft. 6 in. from each other, facing north, and
in alternating rows. These hives are all on
the bar-frame principle, and of the pattern
generally shown as Dzierzon hives, and
contain about 80 lbs. of honey in the
comb when full. They are made of
wood with straw sides, and are produced
at a cost of 15 fr. or about lis. each. The
bees, to the uninitiated, appear to be a species
of the common bee hive (apis mellifica), but
are rather small in size and unusually tract-
able. On inquiring whether the Italian bee
(apis ligustica) had been introduced into the
country, the manager told me these bees did
not succeed well in Servia, and became quickly
merged with those indigenous to the country.
The bee farm at Topschidere is provided with
two centrifugal honey extractors of very simple
design, but perfectly practical. The honey is
extracted from the comb in these extractors,
and put into glass bottles with screw tops of a
very neat pattern, imported from Austria, con-
taining respectively h lb., 1 lb., and 2 lb. The
price of the honey is 1 franc per lb. (about
8£d.)j exclusive of the bottle, tor which an
extra charge of 50 c. is made. The wax is sold
to the wax chandlers for making into church
candles, and realises 3 fr. 40c. per kilo, or
about ls.3d. perlb. The importance of encourag-
ing bee culture is evidently fully realised
by the members of this agricultural society,
and others interested, and the introduction
of a law La in contemplation, obliging all
priests, schoolmasters, and certain others
holding employment nnder Government to
turn their attention to the keeping of bees.
Judging from the Organisation of the bee farm
at Topschidere, and the scientitic and business-
like manner in whish it is managed, it appears
likely that this society may be the ineaus of
introducing a system of bee-keeping on scien-
tific principles, and of developing the industry
throughout this country, where, until lately,
tho peasants have been in the habit of keeping
their bees in conical straw skeps daube I witfi
mud or plaster of the most primitive descrip-
tion, and destroying the bees in order to obtain
the honey. Tne object of tho society would be

still better attained if cheap straw skeps with
supers, as well as bar-framed hives and other
apicultural appliances, which have been
brought to such perfection in England, could
be introduced into this country, and the cum-
bersome Dzierzon hive dispensed with. — Globe.

WEATHER 'REPORT.

Westbourne, Sussex, October, 1895.

Rainfall, 3 43 in.
Heaviest fall, 1'02 in.

on 31st.
Rain fell on 13 days.
Below average, l-25in.
Max. Temperature,

65° on 1st.
Min. Temperature, 23°

on 28th.
Minimum on grass, V.)°

on 28th.
Frosty night, 8.
Sunshine, 108-0 hours.

Brightest Day, 17 th,

7*8 hours.
Sunless Days, 6.
Below average, 10*7

hours.
Mn. Maximum, 52°.
Mn. Minimum, 38°.
Mean Temperature,

45°.
Maximum Barometer,

30-52° on 18th.
Minimum Barometer,

28-95° on 9th.

L. B. BlRKETT.

<&thm fnrat tte Mm.

This is a period when no " echo " is heard,
for all the " busy hum" is a thing of yester-
day. A deep sleep or semi-torpid dream
reigns in every hive. With me they are clad
in a mantle of white. Stands are invisible,
and even floor-boards are a thing of faith, and
not sight, while roofs are a perfect picture,
with miniature Alps of snow rising high above
them to a height of nine inches. — D. M. M.,
Banffshire, N.U., November 2.

MR. S. J. BALDWIN'S VISIT TO
AMERICA.

We are requested to say that during Mr.
Baldwin's absence in America — where he will
remain till about Christmas time— his business
at Bromley will be carried on as usual.
Important personal matters may in the mean-
time be addressed to him at 554, Maddison-
avenue, Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S.A.

THE BADCOCK FUND.

We are now enabled to give the namns of the
donors of 10s. each to the above fund, as
suggested in our issue of August 8, p. 311,
the required number of names having been
received. Those who have not yet forwarded
the amount will please do so, when the fund
will be closed and dealt with. The following
is a list of tho donors to the above special
fund:— W. J. Anolev. 10,;.; British Bee
Jpurnal, 10,.; Tho,. W. Cowan, 103.; T.
Greenhalgh, 10s.; Dr. B. E. Jones, 10,.; J. U.
II., 10*.; Arthur G. Pugh, 10s ; E. D. Till, 10*. ;

456

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Nc

1895.

Geo. Wells, 10s.; "Let brotherly love con-
tinue," 10s.

It should be stated that the above suggestion
emanated from Dr. Jones and Mr. W. J.
Anstey, at the Preston Show on August 8
xast.

A BEE CASE.
In the Perth Sheriff Court on November 1
proof was led in an action at the instance of
John M'Nab, water manager, Auchterarder,
against J. Or. Morrison, The Fens, Auchter-
arder. The action was for payment of
£-2. 10s., as value of a swarm of bees claimed
by the pursuer as having flown from his hive
on July 6 last, and settled in defender's
garden. The defence, while admitting that a
swarm of bees had alighted in the garden, was
a denial of its being the pursuer's, and also of
its having remained there and continued' in
the possession of the defender. Sheriff
Grahame held that it was doubtful if the
swarm referred to was the same as had come
from pursuer, but while inclined to think it
was the same, he considered pursuer had no
right to enter upon the defender's grounds,
and that, in the circumstances, defender could
claim the hive. The verdict Avas, therefore, in
defender's favour. — Scotsman.

ADULTERATION OF HONEY IN

FRANCE.
Interesting letters have been exchanged be-
tween the French Minister of Agriculture and
M. Naquet, the well-known deputy with a
pharmaceutical experience, regarding the sup-
pression of adulteration of certain articles of
food, and especially of honey and cf olive oil.
The latter draws attention to the fact that be-
sides being used in pharmacy, and as an article
of food, honey serves also for making ginger-
bread, as well as certain sweets and fermented
liquors. Unfortunately adulteration has caused
the article to fall below its real value, and the
industry of apiculture is threatened with ruin
as a result. The deputy asks that, if there is
no other means of preventing the fraud, a law
should be passed prohibiting the adulteration
of honey, similar to those already existing in
respect of wine, butter, &c. M. Naquet sug-
gests that the law should contain two penalties,
one — the most severe — against adulteration
injurious to health, and the other for merely
commercial falsification. In reply, the minister
draws attention to the fact that glucose syrup
is the article most in use in adulterating honey.
The scientific processes for discovering the
fraud are, he says, well known, and it can al-
ways be detected by an experienced chemist.
The law of Germinal, year xi., and the decree
of 1859, enable a commission of competent
men, chosen amongst members of the Council
of Hygiene, to inspect the purity of products
offered for sale by pharmacists, druggists, and
grocers, at least once a year, and, in fact, as

often as may be required. Prosecutions follow
these inspections when necessary. Circulars
are issued from the Ministry of Agriculture
each year regarding any special articles that
require particular attention, and a special note
will be devoted to honey in the next issue. —
The Chemist and Druggist.

MEAD MAKING.

If ordinary people know little about the
quality of honey, they understand still less
about hydromel, metheglin, or mead, as it is
variously termed. The general conception of
it is gained from the stuff commonly manu-
factured for home use by cottage bee-keepers.
It is heavy stuff that would be drunk by no
one in preference to a light cheap wine. But
the sole reason for its badness is that it is
manufactured from old combs and honey
refuse. The makers tell you it ferments of
itself — the pollen in the combs being the real
ferment. But mead, if brewed from pure
new honey and fermented by a preparation of
crushed grapes or other suitable material, is a
liquor fit to be compared with any wine, and
may be had either still or sparkling. Con-
siderable attention has been paid to the
matter recently, and we cannot help thinking
that science would be well employed in im-
proving such an admirable home product.
And those who have been in the habit of
brewing good mead ought to let the fact be
known.

It is of little use to lament that old-
fashioned drinks like mead and cider are
almost discarded for malt liquors. The truth
about mead is that, when England was Roman
Catholic, bee-keeping was very profitable,
owing to the demand for wax candles, and as
honey was plentiful, liquor was freely made
from it. Then the Reformation came, and
among less important changes, brought de-
pression and discouragement to the apiary.
Beer came into vogue, and has been immensely
improved. Cottage mead is to-day, however,
just what it was when Wamba, the son of
Witless, had it for his supper. Now, how-
ever, owing to an increased demand for boney
and a wide extension of bee-keeping, the time
has come to devote more attention to it, and
in these autumn days the goodwife in many a
household would be very well employed were
she to imitate her ancestors. — Pall Mall
Gazette.

BEES AND THE REFORMATION.

An ingenious correspondent's theory that
the Reformation was bad for the bees and
their trade seems quite tenable. In the old •
days they used wax candles on all occasions —
when they were christened and buried, married
and churched, when they made vows, when
they performed penances, when they went
journeys, when they came back, when they
I anticipated trouble, and when they escaped it.

Nov. 7, 1895.J THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

457

No ceremony was complete without candles.
A candle was as necessary as the stole of the
priest, and the church may be said in a
secondary way to have been founded on bees-
wax. In fact, it might be contended " No
Candle : No Crown." And it must be the
right sort of stuff. You remember what Pope
Gregory told Sir Ingoldsby Bray in detailing
how the Prior of Abingdon's shrine should be
arranged in Ingoldsby Abbey : —
And plenty of lights
Shall be there o' nights ;
None of your rascally " dips," but sound,
Best superfine wax-wicks, four to the pound.
In these circumstances one may well under-
stand that bee-keepers had a good market for
their commodity.

The Reformation, also, wa3 apparently bad
for English bee-keepers in another way. You
know the old rhyme : —

Hop3, Reformation, bays, and beer
Came into England all in one year.
The advent of beer meant the disappearance of
mead, metheglin, and the various beverages
into which honey entered as an important con-
stituent. But perhaps this is not a very exact
statement. So far as hops are concerned,
there seems much doubt as to the date of their
appearance. Mr. Edward J. L. Scott, Egerton
Librarian, writes to say that he has found
among the muniments of Westminster Abbey
a reference in Latin to the plant dating back
to the time of Henry I., that is, the first half
of the twelfth century.— & E. Cazette, Octo-
ber 1.

THE CZARS CORONATION.
a "large order'' for mead.

The Standard of the 22nd inst. says : — " The
committee now sitting in Moscow, upon the
arrangements for the Coronation ceremony next
spring, have placed orders for four hundred
thousand mugs, bearing a portrait of the Czar,
and over forty thousand gallons of mead, to be
distributed to the poor people in celebration
of the occasion."

[This appears a very large order, but it must
be remembered that mead is used like beer in
Russia, and that there are large breweries
devoted to making it. The beverage as made
there is about the strength of very mild beer.
—Eds.]

THE HONEY BIRD.

" The honey-bird, of which we saw several
during the trip, is well worthy of mention as
a natural curiosity. It is a little grey, com-
mon-looking bird about the size of a thrush.
It first forces itself upon the notice of the
traveller by flying across his path, uttering a
shrill, unlovely cry. It will then sit on a
neighbouring tree, still calling and waiting for
him to follow. By short, rapid flights, the
bird will lead its guest on and on, till, after a

while, the traveller notices that the bird has
stopped its onward course, and is hanging
about among a certain half-dozen trees. These
being visited one after another, and carefully
examined, the search will be rewarded by
finding a nest of bees in one of them. The
probability is that there will be honey in it,
but I have known the bird mistaken. It is a
matter of honour with the natives to set aside
a good portion of honey for the bird. Although
this action of the honey-bird is an established
fact of natural history, it is none the less un-
accountable, and it would be interesting to
know whether he ever tries to entice quad-
rupeds also to assist him in obtaining his
much-loved honey." — From "Lion Hunting
beyond the Hand " (East Africa), by H. C.
Lowther, in the "Nineteenth Century" for
September, 1895.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded %oill be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

J. C. (Somerset). — Honey Candying Badly. —
The whits streaks or patches appearing on
outside of glass jars of granulated honey
are caused by filling the jars improperly, so
far as not allowing the stream of honey —
when liquid— to fall in centre of jar, and
fill so gradually as to let no air-spaces at
sides. It is the air which causes the
" whiteness " you complain of.

Anxious (Bristol). — Bees Hying Outside Hives.
— 1. If bees are healthy, well supplied with
food, and warmly wrapped, there is no rea-
son for them " coming outside to get chilled
and die of cold " at end of October. The
only remedy we can offer is to see that the
essentials referred to above are fulfilled. 2.
It may be that the candy-food now on hive
requires water to enable the bees to soften
it sufficiently for use, and that search for the
liquid moisture brings them out. Bees
should now be entirely quiescent, except on
warm, sunny days. An examination of the
hive interior may serve to clear up matters
somewhat.

J. Rhodes (Greenhythe). — Moisture at Hive
Entrances. — If the bees are strong in num-
bers there is no cause for alarm in the
moisture at entrances. It is nothing more
than the condensation of the warm air. of
the hive's interior, as it reaches the lower
temperature of the outside, on the '"' frosty
mornings " mentioned.

A. Pearson (Rutherglen). — Suspected Comb-
Foundation. — The foundation sent is, no
doubt, made from beeswax. There may be
a very slight adulteration, but we found the
melting point of sample high enough to
warrant a dealer sending it out as of good
beeswax.

458

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 7, 1895.

Special Prepaid Advertisements.

Situations, Publication!, Bee Plants, *e. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for every additional Thrse
words or under, One Penny.

qaa GOOD Heather SECTIONS for SALE. W.
^\J\J Wright, Pickering. J 95

W

ANTED, 56 lbs. Good HONEY.
COLLINGE, Photographer, Leyland.

Price, &c,

'OR SALE, about 150 SECTIONS of HONEVT. What
offers? Drake, Sutton, Ely. J 92

' OR SALE, a CIRCULAR SAW BENCH, 1 r jadle power,
cheap. L. Burch, 84, Donald-street, Cardiff. J 90

Most interesting circular on Bees published, free
by post. S. Simmins, Heathfield, Sussex. 116

BEAUTIFUL HONEY, in 4, 10, and 14-lb. tins.
Sample 3d. Thomas Charles, Much JVJarcle,
Glos. J 89

HIVES, Appliances, Bees, Honey, Wax, &c—
AGENCY WANTED to SELL the above on com-
mission. L. Burch, 84, Donald-street, Cardiff. J 91

LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS. 100 strips,
22 inches long, 8d., 200, Is. 3d., 300, Is. 9d., 400,
2s. 3d., 500, 2s. 9d. Three neat patterns stocked.
W. WooDLEY, Beedon, Newbury.

WILL EXCHANGE, Three GUINEA FOWLS, also
Plymouth Rock Cock, slightly crossed, tall, hand-
some bird, ali May-batched, and 10s., for 56 lbs. good
Honey. Woods, Normandy, Guildford. J 94

FOR SALE, 500 lb. splendid White Clover HONEY,
packed in 1-lb. tall glass tie-over bottles. Price
for the lot £16. 13s. 4d. ; or in lots to suit purchasers.
Payment by deposit system. Chas. Carter, Gwynne
Apiary, Newmarket. J 87

WANTED, SECTIONS, EXTRACTED HONEY, and
BEESWAX. Packages lent free to Bee-keepers
and Associations. Prompt cash. State lowest prices,
enclosing stamped envelope, to Rev. W. Handcock,
Hampton Hill, Middlesex.

BEE-KEEPERS In LANCASHIRE and CHESHIRE,&c.
THE CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES

tor all BEE REQUISITES is in LIVERPOOL 50, GREAT
CHARLOTTE STREET. GEORGE ROSE. Catalogues
gratis. Sow now CHAPMAN'S HONEY PLANT, 6d.
Packet. Yellow Crocus, Is. 3d. 100; all colours same
price, lis. 1,000. Snowdrops, Narcissus, Scillas, Single
Daffodils, Anemones, all 4d. dozen, 50 for Is. ; Tulips,
mixed colours, 6d. doz., 50 for Is. 9d. ; Hyacinths, Is. 9d.
doz. ; Double Daffodils, 8d. doz. GEORGE ROSE,
" Seeds and Bees," Liverpool.

THE BEST WINTER FOOD.

GREENHILL MEDICATED CANDY

This Candy is made of Pure Cane Sugar and
Honey (medicated with Naphthol Beta).

48. 6d. per doz. Cakes, 2s. 6d. per half -doz.

J. S. GREENHILL,

80, GRAHAM ROAD, WIMBLEDON.

('27 Years with G. Neighbour & Sons.)

BEE-KEEPING, its Excellence and
Advantages. Price 3d. British Bee Journu.1
and Record Office, 17, King William Street,
Strand, London, W.C.

GLEANINGS

IN BEE CULTURE.

A Journal devoted to Bees, Honey, and
Home Interests.

Edited by A. I. HOOT,

Medina, Ohio, U.S.A.

The above popular Fortnightly American Bee
Journal can be had from the Office of the
British Bee Journal and Bee-Keepers' Record,
17, King William Street, Strand, W.C, at
6s. 6d. per annum.

We cannot take Subscriptions for the above
for a less term than One Year, and intending
Subscribers should notify us, when ordering,
if subscription is to cease on expiry of the
year for which payment is made.

NOW BEADY, new edition of

MODERN BEE-KEEPING

A Handbook for Cottagers.

Thoroughly revised and brought up to date by the
Council of the British Bee-Keepers' Association.

Eighth Edition.
Seventieth Thousand.

Price Sixpence. Post Free Sevenpence.

Published for the British Bee-Keepers' Association by
Longmans, Green, & Co., Paternoster-row. May be
had also from the Office of the "BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL " and " BEE-KEEPERS' RECOiCD " 17, King
William Street, Strand, W.C. ; and all Booksellers.

THE HONEY BEE :

Its Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology.
By T. W. COWAN, F.G.S., ftc, &c.

Editor of the British Bee Journal.
Cloth gilt, price 2s. 6d. ; postage, 2£d.

London : H0ULST0N & SONS, Paternoster Square ;

ALL BOOKSELLERS ; AND

British Bee Journal and Record Office, 17,
King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.

IttneOldegt Es-
tablishment In
the United
Kingdom
wholly devoted

BALDWIN'S

to Bees and

manufacture of Bee-keepers' supplies. His prices will
compare most favourably with those of any other Maker,
while for quality of material, suitability and workman*
ship he has no rival.

A large consignment of the beautiful

" FALCONER" SECTIONS,

both i bee-way and 2 bee-way, on hand.
Direct Importation.
Price 2/fl per 100 ; cut to receive Foundation, 8/- per 100.
By Parcel Post, 1/- per 100 extra.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers' Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which "contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,'' post free for
2d. stamps.

Address s. J. BALDWIN, The Apiary. Bromley, Kent.

N.B —More than 600 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and

other Prites, and Testimonials innumerable.

Nov. 14, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

459

(BStiaM, $stim, kt .

PRESENTATION TO THE LADY
MAYORESS.

The above "event," which, it is not too
much to say, was regarded with lively interest
by a considerable section of our readers, was
brought to a successful termination at the
Mansion House on the afternoon of the 7th
inst., in the presentation to the Lady Mayoress
of a representative collection of British honey,
" contributed " (to quote the words of the
ladies themselves) " by women bee-keepers, or
the wives and daughters of bee-men in various
parts of Great Britain."

The presentation took place in the drawing-
room. The honey, &c, was neatly arranged
in '' trophy" form on the central table, prettily
decorated with flowers and ferns. The ladies'
" display,'' though not quite so large as that
seen on a similar occasion at Jermyn-street a
short time ago, looked very well indeed,
haviDg some additions in the shape of
beautiful samples of British beeswax, mead,
honey vinegar, &c, together with an excel-
lently-worked design in honeycomb, consisting
of the figures " 1895,'' contributed by Mrs.
Wm. Dixon.

The deputation, comprisiug the ladies whose
names appear below, was suppoited by Mr.
E.D. Till, Mr. Jesse Garratt, Mr. W. Broughton
Carr, and the Rev. G. C. Bancks. Pasteur
Langel, president of the Swiss Bee-keepers'
Association — who happened to be in London
at the time — was also present.

In the unavoidable absence of Sir Ja?.
Whitehead (vice-president of the B B.K.A.),
Mr. Till briefly introduced the deputation to
the Lady Mayoress, who was accompanied by
the Lord Mayor ; and Miss Jessie Smith, of
Clayton Croft, Dartford Heath— who, by the
way, is herself a practical bee- ke?per— read
the following address : —

To the Lady Mayoress of the City ok
London.

May it please your ladyship, we, as repre-
senting the women bee-keepers of the United
Kingdom and the British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, as well as the many county associa-
tions affiliated thereto, beg your ladyship to
accept at our hands a representative collection
of native honey, contributed by women bee-
keepers, or the wives and daughters of bee-
men, in various parts of Great Britain.

It will be gratifying to your ladyship to
know that the minor rural industry of bee-
keeping, in which we take a special interest,
has of late made very satisfactory progress.
This is, in great measure, due to the advocacy
of bee-keeping in the public press, and parti-
cularly to the favourable reception accorded
to the deputation of British bee-keepers by
Sir Stuart Knill, at the Mansion House, on

November 1, 1893. The Merchant Taylors',
Clothworkers', and Mercers' Companies have
also contributed, since that event, by most
acceptable donations to the British Bee-
keepers' Association.

At the present time, therefore, our desire
is not so much to urge the extension of bee-
keeping as to encourage increased consump-
tion of native honey and its products — honey
vinegar, mead, and honey confections.

Beyond all question, our British honey
should have a recognised position on the
breakfast-table- not merely as a luxury, but
as an essential article of the household
dietary.

The sale of spurious and adulterated honey
has been very detrimental to the development
of a healthy taste for our own British honey,
and it is probably only necessary for this fact
to be known to the Worshipful Company of
Grocers and the Worshipful Company of
Apothecaries, to ensure their initiating an
effective crusade against the vendors of such
objectionable compounds.

No more fitting opportunities can exist for
drawing public attention to the excellent pro-
duct of our native hives than competitive
exhibitions of bees and honey similar to that
at which your ladyship was recently present at
the Agricultural Hall. We venture, there-
fore, to express the hope that future occupants
of the civic chair will extend to honey compe-
titions held within the sphere of the Mansion
House influence those practical encourage-
ments already given with such good results in
other departments of agricultural production.

Our bee-keeping associations would fain
hope that the trade guilds of this great com-
mercial centre might be induced to offer
kindred encouragement, in order to bring
together large representative collections of
native honey from the hives and the cottager
homes of our rural population. We are certain
of this, that no prizes would be more sought
after by British bee-keepers.

In conclusion, we desire to accord your
ladyship, and also Sir Joseph Renals, our
hearty thanks for graciously affording us tho
opportunity of bringing our tribute to the
Mansion House, and explaining to you the
objects we have at heait, in our desire to
beneBt bee-keeping.

London, November 7, 18!)5.

Monsieur Langel, as we have said, happened
to be in London, and the Lord Mayor sent him
a formal invitation to be present. He was
very much delighted with the.proceedings, and
told the Lady Mayoress that the adulteration
of honey, or, more properly speaking, we fear
artificial' manufacture of what the Swiss call
"Hotel' honey, is carried on to an enormous
extent, and he very much regretted the fact.

We append a list of the names of those who
have contributed so effectively to the success
of the presentation to tho Lady Mayoress.
The time was short. The work of taking out

460

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 14, 1895.

the name?, packing the honey and staging
it at the Mansion House, had to be done by
volunteers who had little leisure. Con-
sequently we hope if any who kindly sent us
contributions of honey find their names
omitted they will excuse it, and, on hearing
from them, the omission shall be supplied next
week.

DONORS OF HONEY, &C.

Mrs. Jas. Alexander, Eynsford.

Miss M. Alexander.

Miss Atkey, New Barnet.

Miss A. H. Arbuckle, Thorne, Yorks.

Mrs. Gerard Bancks, Dartford.

Mrs. H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath.

Mrs. J. Bruce.

Mrs. Harry Bates, Farningham.

Miss Biggs, Eynsford.

Mrs. T. S. Curteis, Sevenoaks Rectory.

Mrs. T. W. Cowan, Fowey, Cornwall.

Miss Cowan, Fowey, Cornwall.

Miss E. Cowan, Fowey, Cornwall.

Miss M. J. Carver, Wellington, Salop.

Mrs. W. Broughton Carr, Lee, Kent.

Miss L. M. Carr, Lee, Kent.

Mrs. Wm. Dixon, Beckett-street, Leeds.

Mrs. J. 0. Dewey, Swanley, Kent.

Miss Drincqbier, Ewell, Dover.

Miss Dunnington, Worcester Park.

Miss F. Hughes, DAeth, Canterbury.

Miss M. E. Eyton, Wrockwardine Hall,

Wellington, Salop.
Miss Eggington, Reading.
Mrs. Stanley Edwardes, Farningham.
Miss Emerson, Hextable.
Miss Gayton, Much Hadham.
Mrs. Jesse Garratt, Meopham.
Miss Garratt, Meopham.
Miss Ethel Garratt, Meopham.
Mrs. R. Godson, Tothill, Lines.
Mrs. A. Hamer, Llanarthney, Carmarthen.
Mrs. J. W. Jacomb Hood, Snrbiton.
Horticultural College, Swanley (Women's

Branch).
Mrs. Kirk.

Miss H. Laurence, Clitheroe House, Leeds.
Mrs. Longhurst, Longfield, Kent.
Miss Micklethwaite, Chepstow.
Miss McLennen, Boro' Green, Kent.
Mrs. John New, Croydon.
Mrs. Oldbam, Ashton-on-Mersey.
Mrs. A. M. J. Pipon, Farningham.
Miss Graham Powell, Hextable.
Mrs. W. H. Rand.

Mrs. H. W. Seymour, Henley-on-Thames.
Evelyn A. Seymour (the baby bee-keepar).
Mrs. Frank Swanzey, Sevenoaks.
Mrs. W. Smith, Shepherdswell.
Mrs. Elvey Smith, Soutbfleat.
Mrs. A. Sharp, Brampton, Hunts.
Miss Jessie M. Smith, Dartford Heath.
Miss Mildred Smith, Dartford Heath.
Mrs. Shea, Little Wakering Vicarage.
Mr3. Owen Tudor, FarniDgham.
Miss Tudor, Farningham.
Miss E. A. Till, Eynsford.

Mrs. Todd, Hextable.

Miss Windemer, Tunbridge Wells.

Mrs. William Woodley, Newbury, Berks.

Mrs. Watson, Hextable.

Mrs. Wilson, Langford.

Mrs. George Wright, Ramsgate.

Mrs. J. Wildgoose, Bakewell, Derbyshire.

Eight Lady Bee-Keepers (per H. Jonas, Esq.).

Of the above, the following were present at
the deputation : — Mis3 Jessie M. Smith, Miss
M. Smith, Mrs. Watson, Mrs. Jas. Alexander,
Miss M. Alexander, Miss C. McLennen, Miss
Garratt, Mrs. E. Longhurst, Miss L. M. Carr,
Miss Micklethwaite, Miss Atkey, Miss
Dunnington, Miss Windemer, Mrs. Gerard
Bancks, and Mrs. H. W. Brice.

The ceremony passed off without a single
contretemps. The Lady Mayoress and the
Lord Mayor both made all present feel
thoroughly at home. The words he addressed
to the ladies were pleasant and practical, and
cannot but have an excellent effect.

After the ceremony the Lady Mayoress in-
vited those present to partake of light refresh-
ments, and conversed freely for a long time
with one and another of the company in the
most hearty and friendly manner.

LANARKSHIRE B.K.A.

The first show under the auspices of this
association was held in the Public Hall, Lark-
hall, on Saturday, the 19th ult., with most
encouraging results, there being over 150
exhibits of houey and bee appliances. The
show throughout was of the most interesting
character, and augured well for the future.
No little credit for the success of the show
is due to Mr. John Stevenson, the secre-
tary, and the active committee. The judges
were the Rev. R. M'Clelland, Renfrew ;
Messrs. John Wishart, Peebles ; Wm. Gorrie,
Carluke ; and Samuel Deans, Dalserf, who
made the following awards : —

Display of Honey. — 1st, M. Paterson,
Larkhall.

Display of Honey {not over 100 lb.). — 1st,
M. Paterson.

Honey Design. — 1st, Walter Rae, Biggar.

Super (not over 20 lb.). — 1st, W. Brown,
Strathaven ; 2 ad, S. Mitchell, Garnkirk.

Super of Heather Honey (not over 20 lb.). —
1st, J. M 'Donald, Larkhall ; 2nd, R. Stewart,
Stonehouse ; 3rd, James Greenshields,
Larkhall.

Super (not over 10 lb.).— 1st, M. Cowie ; 2nd,
Willie Cowie ; 3rd, Jas. Cowie, Lesmahagow.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, Andrew Bow,
Biggar.

Twelve 1-lb. Heather Sections. — 1st, A.
Bow.

Six l-lb. Heather Sections. — 1st, A. Bow ;
2nd, W. Brown, Larkhall.

Two-lb. Section. — 1st, Wm. Brown ; 2nd,
John Park, Crossford.

Nov. 14, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

461

One-lb. Sections. — 1st, A. Bow ; 2nd, Wm.
Brown.

Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey and
Twelve 1-/6. Jars Heather Honey. — 1st, Jas.
Cowie.

Twelve-lb. Extracted Honey and 12 lb.
Heather Honey, in 2-lb. Jars. — 1st, Jas.
Cowie.

Three 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st, A.
Bow ; 2nd, W. Rae.

Three 1-lb. Jars Heather Honey. — 1st, A.
Bow ; 2nd, John Leiper ; 3rd, W. Bae.

Three 1-lb. Sections. — 1st, Walter Brown,
Strathaven.

Three 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
S. Mitchell ; 2nd, M. Cowie ; 3rd, John
Greenshields, Larkhall.

Three 1-lb. Jars Heather Honey. — 1st,
Robert Meikleham ; 2nd, Thos. Anu son,
Larkhall ; 3rd, J. M'Donald.

Observatory Hive. — 1st, John Paterson,
Pollokshields ; 2nd, W. Rae ; 3rd, M. Pater-
son.

Frame Hive. — 1st, J. Paterson ; 2nd, James
Allan, Stewarton.

Super of Honey. — 1st, James Muir, Lark-
ball.

Collection of Bee Appliances. — 1st, J. and
R. Thyne, Glasgow.

Four Frames Comb-Honey. — 1st, Robert
Meikleham.

Comb foundation. — 1st, J. and R. Thyne.

New Invention Useful to Bee-Keepers. — 1st,
G. W. Hole, Patcham, Sussex.

Wax.— 1st, Alex. F. Thomson, Larkball ;
2nd, James Gold, Larkhall ; 3rd, James
Cowie.

Honey-Calce. — 1st, W. Rae ; 2nd, A. Bow.

The" judges and others were afterwards
entertained to dinner, at the close of which
interesting addresses on the subject of bees
were given by several of the judges, Mr.
Lambie, and Mr. Pearson, Assistant Inspector
of Mines, &c.

HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of Octo-
ber, 1895, was £1,780. — /YVo»i a return
furnished by the Statistical Office, II. M.
Customs.

IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A Conversational Meeting was held on
6th inst., a report of which will be sent next
week. The Committee met on the following
day. Present : Captain Millner, in the chair,
Mr. Reid, Mr. O'Bryen, and Mr. Chenevix.
A sub-committee was appointed to confer
with the Congested Districts board as to the
measure to be adopted in their districts next
year for the promotion of bee-keeping. The
question of holding Conversational Meetings
four times a year was raised, but left over for

further consideration till next meeting. It
would be of service if members, who would be
likely to take advantage of such an arrange-
ment, would kindly write to that effect to
Henry Chenevix, Hon. Sec, 15, Morehampton-
road, Dublin.

tymttymitm.

The Editor* do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should, be drawn on separate pieces of paper. Wt
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c.,must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c. , must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Office, 17,
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see 1st
page of advertisements).

THE DAIRY SHOW.

EXTENSIOX OF PRIZE LIST FOR 1896.

[2280.] I have much pleasure in reporting
that the idea suggested in my letter (2229,
p. 416) is developing exceedingly well. I
have now a list comprising many names of our
leading bee-keepers, who approve and promise
assistance in the scheme. All agree that it is
time bee-keepers did something to help them-
selves by concerted effort, and that up to now,
too little attention has been paid to organisa-
tion or amalgamation. We have each gone on
in our own way, and considered self-interests
paramount ; forgetful of the fact that unity is
strength. I am more than ever certain that if
we can establish a big annual metropolian
exhibition and honey fair, the outcome will Je
of the greatest good to the craft generally and
to bee-keepers individually. The earnest and
patriotic co-operation of all, however, is needed,
and bee-keepers— whether in a large or small
way— should assist according to their means,
either in cash or in kind. For the latter I
would suggest the sending on of a pound or
two of good honey to be sold at the annual
.show, and the proceeds credited to the
"additional classes fund." Direct assistance
of this kind would, of course, have to be
recognised by the honey of such helpers
receiving some preference when "selling "is
going on during "Fair time.''

I am hoping that the council of the B.B.K.A.
will consider this question and take the matter
up, so soon as we can judge even approximately
of the amount of assistance likely to be
afforded. I am pleased to see that a pupil of
mine has pointed out in the B.J. of October 31
(226:;, p. 442), that Is. from each of the
52,000 bee-keepers in England and Wales
alone would be £2,600 ! A trifle less than

462

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 14, 1895.

this would content us ; but, seriously, there
should be no difficulty in raising a fund suffi-
ciently large to enable us, by attractive dis-
plays at all exhibitions, and the formation of
"selling-classes,'' &c, thereat, to sell a very
large portion of the honey-crop of Great
Britain in this way alone. A few hard workers
have taken this matter in hand, and if bee-
keepers as a body are willing to co-operate in
the way indicated, not only will prize winning
be open to all kinds and varieties of bee-
products, but the "honey fair"' would provide
a market for their produce, and thus give
British honey a fair chance of becoming
favourably known to the British consumer. A
result like this could not be regarded other-
wise than as an unprecedented success. — H. W.
Brice, Thornton Heath.

[2281.] The matter being ventilated under
the above heading recently in your valuable
Journal is surely one to demand the attention
of every bee-keeper seriously interested in the
future well-being of the industry — Whether
Mr. Tiller's hopeful estimate of the generosity
of the bee-keeping fraternity generally is likely
to be realised or not, it is, nevertheless, in my
view, incumbent upon all of us who wish to
see the culture of bees take its proper place
among the national industries, to find funds
somehow for one of the first objects we have in
view, viz. — The encouragement of exhibitions
of bee-produce, and indirectly the development
of a proper demand for honey and its
products. From what we see and read, it
becomes evident that funds for the purpose
will not be forthcoming without individual
effort, and are not to be found in the coffers of
the British Bee-keepers' Association. But
should not the parent Association take this
matter up officially, and, as a responsible body,
open a fund for a really representative and
national honey exhibition, and contest either
in connection with some other agricultural or
horticultural association or independently ? I
can assure those gentlemen interested in this
matter that any such fund would receive
whatever small financial support I could afford.

Upon this subject of exhibitions under the
.'ogis of the British Bee-keepers' Association,
I venture to express the view shared by others
of my acquaintance, that the recent show of
bees and their products at the Agricultural
Hall, although possibly an advance on former
years, was not worthy in arrangement and
presentation to the public of the important
industry it represented. I know that nothing
better could be done with the means at
disposal, and that only by a liberal subscrip-
tion to a special fund for the purpose can a
really representative exhibition that will rivet
the attention of the public be given.

The untidy corner of one gallery allotted
to the honey exhibits at Islington recently
did not give evidence that the exhibition
authorities regarded them as an important

branch of the show. The general advertise-
ment of the exhibition seemed designed to
exclude any notice of the honey classes, as did
most of the reports of the show published in
the daily press. 1 know more than one party
of individuals who visited the hall, and came
away without any idea that honey and bee
appliances were on show, and all for the want
of proper pushing and advertising.

Until wholesome honey and its products are
metaphorically pushed down the open throats
of the British public, they will be content to
be poisoned with the deleterious mixtures
passing as "jam,'' and with the low quality
foreign butters that the salesmen thereof
force upon them. — Jno. J. H., Swbiton,
November 7.

BEES IN COUNTY KILKENNY.

A SUCCESSFUL IRISH EXPERIENCE.

[2282.] Now that the bee-season of '95 is
over, extracting, cleaning-up, bottling, glazing,
exhibiting, marketing, and feeding is over, it
may not be out of place for me to send you
some notes of remarkable things relative to
bees that came under my notice during the
now closing year. The honey season here was
an exceptionally short one, beginning about
June 1 and practically ending on the 26th.
It was, however, very good for stocks up to
full strength at the start of the honey-flow,
but for backward colonies it has been a failure.
My four best stocks were supered with a second
story of standard frames, every alternate frame
having a built-out comb, the others a full sheet
of wired foundation. This was my first year
of working for extracted honey, and I am well
pleased with the result. Each brood-chamber
had eleven frames, and the same number in
super, which, in the four hives referred to, were
filled and sealed from top to bottom, some of
the combs weighing (J lb. 1 oz. Nor did a
swarm issue from any of these colonies. My
other stocks — worked for section-honey — did
not get through half the work done by the
above, although their supers were largely com-
posed of combed-sections kept over from the
previous year. The skep has been almost a
failure here this season ; owners, as a rule, got
no surplus honey, while those " taken up"
would only average about 15 lb.

I am glad to be able to report no trace of
foul brood in my apiary at present. I had
one stock "bad" last spring, but when the
season had advanced and honey began to come
in, I again tried the " plan " that proved so
successful the previous year. I took away
the combs and reduced the stock to the con-
dition of a swarm, setting them up on starters
of foundation. About noon on the third day
after this operation, however, the bees deserted
their new home, coming out as a swarm, and,
flying about 100 yards, attempted to join the
strongest stock in my apiary.

A fierce fight went on for two days, and on
the morning of the third day I found the

Nor. U, 1895. J THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

463

queen dead on the ground in front of the bive.
Bee-keepers having experience of foul brood
can form some idea of my anxiety for my best
stock, so wantonly intruded upon by this
infected lot ; but when the season was over I
examined it carefully, and could find no trace
whatever of the disease. I did not bave a
single natural swarm from my eight stocks
during the season.

Having got leave from a farmer to drive
three stocks in skeps, I went to his place, set
to work and drove the bees of the first
lot very easily, but on taking the skep
containing the honey indoors, I found
it to be a very bad case of foul brood.
I need hardly say this lot of bees were by my
directions consigned to the sulphur-pit that
night. The remaining two skeps contained fine
healthy bees, which, after driving, were united,
set up on ready -built combs, and made a fine
stock. I nearly lost one colony in spring by
robbing ; but its after history will, perhaps, be
of interest to your readers, as showing what
may happen, through an accident, in the fol-
lowing way : — The day before the " robbing "
commenced I examined the stock ; finding it
had plenty of stores and a nice lot of bees.
Well, in order to tighten them up, I put some
of the frames behind the dummy-board, and
in going away left the roof insecure. My
opening of the hive had attracted robbers, and
owing to the carelessly fixed roof, they got in
and cleared out the combs placed behind the
dummy-board, and after that they made an
attack at the entrance, and did the same,
leaving the unfortuuate occupants nothing to
live on. After a hard fight-, and greatly re-
duced in numbers, they left their hive as a
swarm, and settled in a small tree some yards
away. The little lot of bee3 when found were
only about the size of an ordinary tumbler. I
hived them, however, on two of their own
combs, and set them on a stand about 1 00 yards
distant from where their former hive stood.
In a day or two the queen began to lay, and
after a few days there was a couple of small
patches of brood, and they progressed quite
rapidly for so small a lot, so that when the ex-
tracting commenced, they did all the cleaning
up of the wet combs for me. The troubles
undergone by this lot of bees seem to have
made them terribly vicious, su much so, that
on one occasion I was forced to abandon an
examination of their hive. The robbers, how-
ever, never found them in their new home.

I got first prize for six sections at our local
show, held on September 9. The sections
were glazed according to Mr. W. Woodley's
plan, and were very much admired by bee-
keepers and the public generally, several bee-
keepers inquiring where I got the lace -paper,
&c. I had also staged (not for competition)
eighty 1-lb. ia tie-over jars, with the Irish
label, "Finest Irish Honey;'' also some
sections, glazed as above (in all about 100),
which attracted the notice of visitors very
much. A merchant bought the whole lot at a

good price before the show was over, paying
me Is. each for the sections.

A very unusual thing came under my notice
on October 20 last. In glancing round my
apiary on the morning of that date I observed
some large " cappings '' at the entrance of one
hive (such as is seen about April or May), and
on going out again at noon I found . a dozen
young live drones, fully developed, on the
ground in front of the hive. The day being
fine and bright I watched for some time, ex-
pecting to see drones flying, but none
appeared. What can the cause of this be ?—
M. K., Piltown,co. Kilkenny, November.

[Without the means of investigating it is
impossible for us to give any reliable explana-
tion of the above occurrence. The drones
were, however, entirely abnormal, and were,
no doubt, cast out by the bees as useless. —
Eds.1

APOLOGIA PRO BACILLUS ALVEI.
[2283] Dr. Bartrum (22G9, p. 44!)) must
really forgive me for insisting that I have kept
to the point and he has not. My point was Dr.
Bartrum's contention that " no one need fear
foul brood who understands tolerably well how
to manage a frame-hive." To that point I pin
Dr. Bartrum. Taxation, uncultivated acres,
and the like are not to the point at all, and it
is puerile to talk of armies of inspectors, &c.
Dr. B. will, I know, excuse me for speaking
with "frankness and candour.'' We have
offered to do the inspection of the county of
Kent, including compensation, for £250 per
annum or less, and have satisfied the Board of
Agriculture that this estimate, which is over
rather than under the mark, will annually
decrease and ultimately cease altogether.
The visit of the inspector, who must be a skilled
expert, will carry with it much profit and in-
struction to bee-keepers. The expense is, there-
fore, legitimately chargeable to the account of
Technical Education. The rateable value of
property in Kent in 1891 was £4,369,901 and
in round numbers five and a half million !
Thus the cost of inspection per annum, includ-
ing compensation, will not exceed one-twentieth
part of a farthing in the £1. I hope Dr.
Bartrum will no longer pile up the agony on
so small a base as the twentieth of a farthing.
It's tco ridiculous. Besides, the expense will
come out of a fixed sum already levied for the
purposes of Technical Education, and in that
case not cause any augmentation of existing
taxation.

As to naphthaline and naphthol beta afford-
ing proper security against foul brood, Dr.
Bartrum knows it does not ensure exemption.
The impossibility of dealing with one man —
who chooses to be obstinate — is the best pos-
sible proof that compulsory powers are a
necessity.

The groundwork of the foul brood leaflet is
already prepared— it will be issued early iu

464

THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 14, 1895,

the spring of 1896, but it would be foolish to
issue it now.

The letter from Mr. Jesse Garratt (2270),
on the subject of the hives at Wake's Colne
Kectory, is a marvel of euphemistic composi-
tion. In fact, our " Jesse " is a " master of
euphemy," and has only to survive the present
occupier of Hawarden to secure the Profes-
sorial Chair. Nevertheless, he is risking his
reputation as a " bee-master " by the importa-
tion of combs into Kent from tainted colonies.
Had I accompanied him in his passage across
the river, I should have followed the notable
example of that Most High and Mighty
Prince, King James II., in the matter of the
Great Seal, and as the jettison disappeared
beneath the surface — of course, I mean the
combs, not their carrier (for

" With all thy faults I love thee still,
And even Dr. B "),

I say— as they disappeared beneath the flood
—I should not have pronounced a blessing,
but rather — well, to speak with " euphemy," —
1 might possibly have uttered the ejaculatory,
intensive, and abbreviated form of the verb
" condemn," to which your readers had better
give a guess than audible expression. — E. D.
Till, Eynsford, Keiit, November 8.

NOTANDA ET INQUIRENDA.

[2284 ] In the course of the three years
during which I have now kept bees, entirely
self-iustructed, and having gradually increased
my "holding'' from one to nine hives as I
gained experience and confidence, I have
noted many points in bee management, and
many queries and puzzles have from time to
time suggested themselves to me. I have often
thought I should like to ventilate them in the
B.B.J. ; and I now send a couple as samples
to speak for themselves.

Wax Rendering.— This autumn, for the first
time, I have had sufficient cappings, old and
drone comb, broken combs, and odds and ends,
to make wax rendering a serious business.
After thinking the matter out, I had a sauce-
paD, made of ordinary tin-plate, with lid, into
which fitted closely a rim of the same material
for about half its depth. Bound the bottom
of this rim, and inside it, a slight flange was
soldered ; so that from beneath a stout circular
wire, carrying a fine meshed brass sieve, could
be inserted, and firmly fixed by the use of
some little force.

When the rim, thus fitted with the sieve,
was inserted in the saucepan, and pushed
down as far as a shoulder, overlapping the
edge of the saucepan, would allow, the recep-
tacle was divided into two halves. The lower
I filled with the comb, pouring on enough
water to rise well above the sieve into the
upper division. On boiling carefully, the
wax rose from beneath through the meshes of
the sieve, and formed a cake above it, leaving

the bulk of the impurities below on the under-
side of the sieve.

So far so good. But do what I would I
could not get a cake free from all impurities
on the under surface. I tried boiling and re-
boiling, with and without vinegar (I had no
sulphuric acid at hand). I tried doubling the
wire sieve with a tiffany strainer; and,
through the interstices getting clogged, nearly
blew up the whole concern, as the water in the
portion under the strainers got converted into
steam before that in the upper p3rt boiled.
This, by-the-bye, is a serious danger, which
should not be overlooked in these operations.
I tried remelting without the strainer ; and
the plaguy thing boiled over when my back
was turned for a moment, lost me a lot of
wax, and nearly set the place on fire. But
this led me to a discovery which was well
worth paying the price of all this experience
for, and which I give for the benefit of others,
having seen it nowhere stated in print. I
only wish I had. Of course, I had essayed
rubbing off the coating of impurities which
collects on the under side of a cake, even
when squeezed out through muslin ; but
always when it was cold. Now, by chance, I
lifted the set cake out of the hot water while
itself still hot, happened to begin rubbing,
noted the ease with which the deposit came
off, went to work with a will, and found all
my difficulties vanished in a moment.

In short, if you scrub the cake while still
hot, and in hot water, with any stifl'-haired
brush (a common wooden nail-brush answers
very well), every particle of scum is removed
as if by magic, and your cake of wax comes out
as clean on the under side as on the surface,
although, of course, it will not be smooth and
bright, but pitted and dull. You will lose no
wax in the operation ; and, for me at least, the
terrors of wax rendering are gone. One melt-
ing, letting the wax rise through the sieve, and
then rubbing while the cake is still hot will
suffice.

I will only add that I think vinegar spoils
the colour, and I mean to try sulphuric acid
next year.

Shading Hives. — Gan any one tell me of a
simple, inexpensive, and removable means of
shading hives ? Mine stand on my lawn, with
south aspect, a shrubbery at the back (north),
and a garden wall on the east. The bees get
nearly all possible sunshine during winter, and
thrive accordingly, bat in summer they have
too much of a good thing. Do what I will in
the way of heaping on supers, using swarm-
catchers, &c, &c, they will swarm ; when my
neighbours' are perhaps as quiet as lambs. I
am very anxious to find some easy way of
shading the hives and alighting boards. As I
have eight single and a " Wells '' in a semi-
circle, even Is. each mounts up ; so I want a
cheap device.

Last summer, two magnificent swarms, after
being hived, came out next morning, flew
away, and were lost, it being Sunday ; the

Nov. 14, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

465

cause, I believe, was the extreme heat. As I
live in the open country, I nearly always lose
the swarms, and I am persuaded that shading
the hives, when necessary, would abate the
swarming fever. — Self Taught, November 8.

ANOTHER "SUGGESTION."
[2285.] Will you do me the favour to pub-
lisn my suggestion (2279, p. 453) again this
week — %£., repeat it — for some do not always
see a request, and by repeating it many are
reminded ?

I think I have secured five new subscribers.
I hope others of your readers will have done
better than this. If a hundred of us can
accomplish five apiece we shall have finished
the task, or rather the treat I call it, which
we proposed to ourselves. — E. D. Till, Eyns-
ford, November 11.

[Not without some qualms of conscience do
we comply with the well-meant suggestion
conveyed in the above, even in the modified
form of quoting page whereon the communica-
tion appears, instead of reprinting the whole.
Our esteemed correspondent's unselfish
enthusiasm is so undoubted, and, moreover, he
so persistently works himself at any proposal
emanating from himself, that one cannot but
wish him success in his various busy projects
for the good of bee-keeping. Having said this
much — and while thanking Mr. Till for his
generous views concerning ourselves — we now
ask his acceptance of our " suggestion/' saying
with Falstaff, " Hal, an thou lovest me'' (and
adding) kindly forbear sending " repeat orders
for the above, even as an advertisement."
Seriously, though, if but a few hundreds like
our correspondent could be found, how bee-
keeping (and the B.J.) would "get on!'' —
Eds.1

" BREAD UPON THE WATERS.

5.] — We cast our " bread upon the
waters " by forwarding you from Barcelona,
per parcel post, a small packet containing three
1-lb. pots of honey. You will kindly let your
correspondent, " A. Beille,'' have a taste of it ;
also put us in correspondence with some house
willing to handle a few cwt., if not this year,
the next, and so on. No harm will come of it
— we are so little, you know, that one can
hardly find the place on the map.

I also send a few seeds of our sainfoin,
Jhdysarum coronarium, which we think un-
rivalled for honey and fodder, though, for all
I know, you may have a better kind. I
believe the rule is to sow without covering —
the sun and rain will do the rest. If too
thick, transplant when a foot high in Novem-
ber, December, January, &c. It is not an
annual, but does better the second and third
year. I would thank A. Beille to tell us how
our sainfoin honey compares with his.

In managing our hives, I think we have
some advantage over you, viz., that of wintering
without previous feeding-up in the fall. All
our fine winter days the bees forage on wild
flowers, and manage to pick up a little nectar
for brood-rearing on a small scale. In January
and February they just revel on almond blos-
soms, winds and rains permitting. All sorts
of fruit blossoms in March, of course.

Our honey-flow begins in April, swarming
also. We don't make much of honey collected
during summer and autumn, which is inferior,
often letting the bees keep it for us over win-
ter. Last year we didn't extract a drop.
Those big square comba come in so handy
when a weak stock or an early swarm want a
helping hand, so our crop is mainly spring
count. I suppose this proceeding is not very
correct, but it saves trouble both in feeding-up
and in spring dwindling. Stocks keep pretty
strong. And may it not save some of the
white spring honey '>

In one of our small apiaries in the interior
we had quite a flow of heather honey last
autunia. The result was my son had to take
it out this spring to make room for sainfoin.
Pretty hard extracting, too. We took out a
couple of hundred weight from eighteen hives.

Last June we received a swarm of Italians
from Madame Chinni. They were almost
used up by the long voyage, and by the hot
weather of our southern clime, as they came
in one of those old-fashioned hives which I
presume date from ever so far back. They
are made of a hollow trunk some 3 ft. high,
with half-a-dozen inch-holes bored in the
centre or upper part. The gentle fellows were
so attenuated on arriving that we dared not
transfer them. I even fastened a strip of
excluder-zinc over the two or three holes left
open, to keep out robbers, for we had to feed
them.

Where Virgil speaks of the castle or fort re38
from which the bees hurl down that vile
canaille the drones, don't you think he refers
to these very turret-like hives ?

After the pretty fellows got reinforced
through borrowed brood and stimulation, they
picked up wonderfully, all the entrances being
wide open. Soon after, some of our death's-
head motbs paid them a visit, and I noticed
that in coming out they stuck fast in those
same round holes. The bees soon undertook
to put out their carcases, and they worked so
hard that they even drove the strip of
excluder a little one side, causing it to bulge.
How do you suppose they go to work to do
so? Through a strong, push and a push
altogether, I think ? — Yours fraternally, Editor
" Rkvista Apicola," ilfa/to/i, Minorca, Itfpain,
October 19.

[Samples of honey referred to arrived a few
days ago in good condition. The honey is
very nice, but has a much stronger flavour,
and .is higher coloured than our sainfoin honey.
Hedysarum coronarium, or sulla, is cultivated

466

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 14, 1895.

in English gardens, and is known popularly
by the name of French honeysuckle. Owing
probably to the richness of the soil, it attains
to more vigorous dimensions here, and the
seed is larger than that sent from Minorca.
The plant blooms profusely, and is constantly
visited by bees. It is not cultivated here
like sainfoin, our climate not being suitable for
it. Hedysarum coronarium and Onotrychis
sativa (sainfoin) both belong to the order
Leguminosrr. To make sure of the seed ger-
minating we have found it expedient to place
it in boiling water for five minutes before
sowing. This is the plan adopted in Algeria,
and it is found that the germination of the
seed is not only more rapid, but a larger pro-
portion of it grows than if sown in the ordinary
way. — Eds ]

QUOTATIONS.

[2287.] We are all indebted to your corre-
spondent, " 0. Y." (2277, p. 453), for intro-
ducing some literary fun into the columns of
the B.B.J., and I have to thank him for a
pleasant hour spent by a book-loving friend
and myself in answering the queries which he
has put respecting two quotations which
appear in your pages. Mr. Scattergood's
lines —

" A man convinced against his will
Is of the same opinion still " —

Are an approximation to a passage in Butler's
" Hudibras," which runs thus in the edition
from which I quote : —

'•' He that complies against his will
Is of the same opinion still."

" 0. Y." then inquires of me whether A.
Bielle's quotation —

"Who, when his legs were smitten off,
He fought upon his stumps " —

is correct, and who is the hero in question 1
His reference to " B. Short " (should he not
have said "Tommy Short" formerly Fellow of
Trinity College, Oxford ? ) seems to indicate
that he hails from that renowned University,
and if so, no doubt he has a Spectator, which,
in my time, was (he book for turning good
English into bad Latin ! In No. 74 he will
find an allusion by " C '' (Addison) to his hero
Witherington, and the edition before me gives
the following passage "as it stands in the
original ballad " (foot note) : —

" For Wetharryngton my harte is wo,

That ever he slayne shulde be ;
For when both his legges wear hewyne in to,

Yet he knyl'd and fought on hys kne.''

It is evident from this passage that these
early ballads may differ not a little in their
renderings, and three editions of "Chevy

Chase '' before me, each give a different version .
One of these runs thus : —

" For Witherington needs must I wayle,

As one in doleful dumps ;
For when his leggs were smitten off,

He fought upon his stutnpes."

In " Hudibras,'' Witherington becomes Wil-
drington : —

" As Widdrington in doleful dumps
Is said to fight upon his sturnp3."
If " 0. Y. " desires to investigate the subject
respecting which he has asked for information,
he might consult Professor Skeat's " Speci-
mens of English Literature, " published at the
Clarendon Press, or Dr. FumivalPs " Percy's
Ballads.''— E. Bartrum, D.D., Wakes Colne
Rectory, Essex.

[Another correspondent signing " Mouche-a-
Miel " also sends correct quotations on above.
He also adds : —

" The Witheringtons were an old family who,
from the reign of Edward L, lived at Wid-
drington Castle, about four miles south-west
of Felton.

"In 1643 Sir William Widdrington was
created baron, and was slain soon afterwards
at Wigan, and in the year 1715 the estate was
forfeited by his grandson." — Eds.]

ABOUT OUR BEES.

[Owing to the hurried work of preparation
connected with the presentation to the Lady
Mayoress last week, we regret to find that the
right-hand column of Mr. Brice's article on
page 454 was inadvertently sent to press with-
out having been " read," and that several errors
occurred in consequence. We, therefore, have
thought it best to reprint the whole of the
column referred to, beginning at the fifth line
from top of page. — Eds ]

The honey-bee (along with wasps, ants, &c.)
is found in the class Insecta ; order, Hymen-
optera ; family, Apidaa ; genus, Apis ;
species, Mellifica. Of the above order there
are 3,000 representatives in Britain, and —
approximately — 36,000 in the whole world
(Kirby). This order of insects is, therefore,
one of the largest in Britain, being about
equalled in numbers by those of Coleoptera
(beetles) andDiptera (flies), although only one
species of the genus Apia is indigenous to
Britain — viz, Mellifica. Apis Mellifica, in
common with mo3t of its class, is provided
with one pair of antenna? and six legs in the
perfect state ; the body is divided into three
parts — viz., the head, thorax, and abdomen,
and these being again sub-divided. All
insects of this order have two pairs of wings,
and before reaching maturity the bee passes
through four separate stages of existence —
viz , that of the egg, larva, pupa, and imago
stage. The word apidaj is given to this
family on, account of their feeding the young

Nov. 14, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

4c;

in a large measure on pollen, or pollen and
honey mixed.

They are provided with two large eyes— one
on each side of the head — composed of facets
to the extent of many thousands. There
are also three simple eyes termed ocelli,
placed near the top of the head, but so far I
can find no certain or reliable data on which
to base an opinion as to the respective uses of
these separate organs. The nervous system is
composed of a double chain of ganglia, ex-
tending from ths head to the extremity of the
body, the fibres reaching to all parts of the
entire structure.

The antenna; are credited with being the
seat of the organs of hearing, touch, and smell.
The formation of the mouth embrace? jointed
organs termed labial and maxillary palpi, with
the mandibles, proboscis, and tongue, orligula.
The abdomen is made up of six segments or
rings in the queen and worker, and seven in the
drone, gradually diminishing in size towards
the point or end. The upper or back plates being
known as the dorsal, whilst those of the under
side of the abdomen are termed ventral plates.
Space precludes my entering upon the internal
anatomy of the bee, but readers will find full
and interesting details in Mr. Cowan's work
referred to above. The sting is, perhaps, too
well known to require minute description
now, but regarding this I consider it a mistake
to look upon this organ as given to the bee
merely as a means of defence. The sting has
other important and undoubted functions
beyond that mentioned. Bees breathe bv
means of spiracles— openings ranged along each
side of the body, the worker having seven
pairs, queens the same number, while the
drone has eight pairs.

(II.)

PHYSIOLOGICAL.

Among ancient writers, Aristotle, Virgil,
Pliny, and others were well acquainted with
the fact that a colony of bees consisted of
several different kinds of the same insects,
each having form, structure, habit?, and
functions of its own ; not, however, till the
beginning of the eighteenth century was there
anything like certain knowledge as to the
offices performed by the several inhabitants of
the hive : Some old authorities supposed the
colony to be governed by a " king," while
others imagined that a fourth kind of the same
insect dwelt in the hive. Kirby speaks of this
last as " an insect blacker than a worker." Von
Berlepsch, however, proved this "black
insect " to be nothing more than an old worker-
bee, and, as time went on, Dr. Warder clearly
demonstrated, in 171G, that the " king " was
in fact the " mother '' bee of the hive or colony.

We, therefore, find that during the summer
season there are three kinds of bees in a
normal colony, viz., the queen, or mother bee ;
the workers (undeveloped females) ; and the
drones, or male bees. The last-named are
driven forth from the hive at the clo:e of the

honey season, and — save under exceptional
circumstances — never permitted to live over
winter.

The discovery referred to regarding the
mother-bee caused considerable divergence of
opinion as to the functions performed by the
latter, mo3t extravagant notions and curious
theories being set up to account for the fertili-
sation of the egg? produced by the queen bee.
Then in the year 1842 came Dzierzon's im-
portant announcement', declaring that "all
eggs that come to maturity in the two ovaries
of the queen bee are only of one and the fama
kind, which, when they are laid without
fertilisation, become male bees ; but, on the
contrary, when fertilised, produce female bees"
(vide Siebold, on the " Parthenogenesis in the
Honey Bee,'' 1853). In 184!) Dzierzon went
still further by declaring that "it was neces-
sary for a queen to ma:e outside the hive."
Eventually, in 1853, the famous German bee-
master was enabled to set this much-debated
question at rest by the introduction of the
Italian bee. His theory was, however, the
subject of searching investigation at the time,
and, as we know now, its correctness was
abundantly verified.

THE WORKER-BEE.

The whole of the labour involved in the
management of the hive is borne by the
worker bees, of which there are usually from
20,000 to 50,000 in a colony. Almost as soon
as the newly-hatched worker comes forth a
perfect insect, it begins its labours by feeding
and attending to those of the hive's future
inhabitants as are in the larval stage, and ere
many more days have passed we find them
busily occupied either as fully-fledged field-
workers bringing home honey and pollen ; or as
comb-builders and general labourers of the
community.

Among the many and various offices per-
formed by the worker-bee maybe enumerated:
guarding the entrance against intruders, feed-
ing the queen, storing honey and pollen in
their various cells, cleaning floor boards, re-
moving used cappings, dust, rubbish, &c,
about which I shall have more to say anon.
With so much work to do and so little time
to do it in, can we wonder that a worker-
bee— whose lot is cast at a time when work
is busiest — will wear itself out and die of
old age, as it were, within so short a space
of time as six weeks ! On the other hand, bees
born in the fall of the year, when little or no
work is done will live for months— indeed all
through the winter and well on into the
following spring— thus, by a wise provision of
nature, enabling younger bees to come into
existence, and so preserve the continuity of
the colony and carry on the labours of the hive.

One of the most important organs possessed
by the bee is the sting, and regarding this, it
has been claimed by some writers that the
sting has uses quite apart from its purpose as a
weapon of defence, one whom I have in mind

4G8

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 14, 1895.

even going so far as endeavouring to prove its
uss as an ovipositor. Now, while admitting its
undoubted use for purposes other than those
of defence, we must avoid being ourselves misled
in ascribing to it uncertain properties, without
the very strongest evidence that such exist.

LAYING WORKERS.

The worker-bee, though classified as "an
undeveloped female,'' is very rarely found to
take upon itself maternal duties. The excep-
tion occurring in colonies long queenless.
Even in these cases, however, it does not
by any means follow that in every hive will
appear the rarities known as " laying- workers."
The tendency to develop these troublesome
pests to the bee-keeper is found with far
greater frequency in bees possessing Italian,
Cyprian, or Syrian blood than with the ordi-
nary native or black bee, the difference being
so widely marked that, while a colony of
" blacks " seldom produces a laying-worker,
as many as six or eight will be found in a
single colony of the former varieties. Eggs
laid by these abnormal worker-bees produce
drones only, consequent on imperfect develop-
ment and the physical impossibility of their
ever becoming fertilized or " mated."

TIIE DRONE.

I am not at all disposed to agree with
Shakespeare's definition, " The lazy, yawning
drone," as a correct description of the male
bee. " Loud-mouthed drone " would be more
to the bee-man's view, for there is no mis-
taking the sound — almost approaching a
"roar" — made by the burly drone when on
the wing about noon on a bright day in mid-
summer. Drones, then, are the males of
the hive, and usually make their first yearly
appearance therein between the months of
April and May. Here they remain until the
end of the honey harvest, when, as a rule, they
are destroyed by the workers. The drone is
more bulky than the queen, and considerably
larger than the worker. Its appearance, how-
ever, belies it, for while compared with the
other inhabitants of a hive, most formidable
and certainly the noisiest, it is, in fact, perfectly
harmless, having no sting or means of defence
or attack whatever. Their primary purpose
and use so far as has been discovered, is that
of continuing their race. The life of the drone
may be aptly summed up as " short and
merry" living on the best the hive affords ;
rarely seen outside save on warm sunny days and
then only for a hour or so about mid-day. The
very name " drone," popularly symbolises
"laziness," or is at all events synonymous
with uselessness.

"Whether this character is not undeserved
we, however, take leave to doubt. Knowing as
■we do that the drone is created to fulfil a dis-
tinct and necessary purpose, is it unreasonable
to assume that its apparent inertitude is an
essential concomitant to that end 1 Bearing in
mind, too, the special office of the insect is
fulfilled at the cost of its life, we should not

be " quite too hard " on the, by some, despised
drone. Time was when among our bee-keep-
ing forefathers the appearance of the first
drone of the season was an occasion for a little
merry-making in honour of the event. Nor
does the bee-man of to-day fail to welcome the
debut of the early drone which foretells the
" early swarm." — H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath.
(To be continued.)

Notieesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

Alt querist forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of pergonal interest will be antwered in thit column.

E. W. (Boston). — Melting Sections of Granu-
lated Honey. — The comb, when sliced up,
is put into an earthenware vessel, the latter
then being placed in a pan large enough to
hold it when surrounded by about a quart
of water. A couple of small sticks £ in.
square are first set in pan — to keep the
honey vessel raised from the bottom — and
the pan is then partly filled with cold water
and the whole placed in an oven or on a
stove. Heat the water to near boiling
point, and when the honey is thoroughly
melted remove from fire. When cold, the
wax may be lifted off in a solid cake.

J. Cowan (Carnforth). — Bee-Candy. — Judging
by its general appearance, taste, smell,
colour, and texture, the candy sent is nob at
all suitable for bee-food. We should be
glad to know the exact ingredients of which
it is composed, together with the process of
manufacture. To us it resembles badly-
made "butter-scotch" or "hard-bake'' in
which some kind of dripping or fat was sub-
stituted for butter. How it got the pale
yellow colour we cannot say.

E. G. (Renfrew;. — Dealing toith Unfinished
Sections. — The trouble in "letting them
remain as they are '' arises from the difficulty
in preventing granulation of the honey in
them. At this date, too, bees will seldom
carry down the contents if the sections are
placed above the brood-ne3t. We should,
therefore, either put the unfinished sections
through the extractor or leave them on the
hive for completion next season, risking
granulation in the meantime.

Maud (Epsom). — If the bees have not less
than 15 lb. of food now in the hive, and a
2-lb. cake of soft candy be given, they will
be quite safe so far as stores till next spring.
Leave the two quilts now on the top of
frames, and add some warm material above ;
but there is no need to " fill the top of the
hive with carpet," as proposed.

Inquirer (Warminster). — Placing Bees near
Brick-kilns. — So far as damage to bees,
placed 100 yards away from a brick-kiln,
we do not think any harm would follow.
It is, however, quite different with fruit-
trees placed at that distance, and we can
well understand the fumes from a permanent
kiln " spoiling " these.

Nov. 21, 189;

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

469

(Mtorial, $atim> kt ♦

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

The usual monthly meeting of the Council
wa3 held at 105, Jermyn-street, on Thursday,
November 12. Present : — T. W. Cowan (in
the chair), H. Jonas (vice-chairman), the Hon.
and Rev. H. Bligh, Messrs. R. Andrews,
H. W. Brice, W. Broughton Carr, J. Garratt,
C. Hooper, J. H. New, W. J. Sheppard, and
E. D. Till ; with J. M. Hooker, ex-officio
representative.

The minutes of the last meeting of the
Council were read and confirmed.

Letters were read from Messrs. Glennie,
Harris, Martin, and P. Scattergood, jun., re-
gretting their inability to be present. Several
letters were also received expressing sympathy
with the Council in the death of their late
secretary, whose loss was referred to by the
Chairman, who moved that the deep sym-
pathy of the Council be conveyed to Mrs.
Huckle. Carried nem. con.

A resolution was next carried appointing
Messrs. Harris, Till, and Carr as a committee,
along with the chairman and vice chairman,
to consider the terras and duties connected
with the appointment of a new secretary ;
meantime a secretary was appointed pro tern.

The Finance Committee's report included a
recommendation for the payment of several
accounts, and was agreed to.

Letters were read from Captain Campbell
and Mr. R. A. Grimshaw having reference to
the non-payment of affiliation fees by the
Surrey B.K.A. and the Yorkshire B.K.A.
respectively, the letters being dealt with in
accordance with the established rule.

The Exhibitions Committee submitted the
revised schedule of prizes for the Royal Agri-
cultural Society's Show, to be held at Leicester
in June next, the same being approved and
adopted.

The Exhibitions Committee also reported
that negotiations had taken place with the
Bath and West of England Agricultural
Society having reference to tbe show at St.
Albans in 18!)(i ; and a local committee having
undertaken to rain- a sum of £4<> in the
district, a further sum of £'10 was granted by
the B. & W. Society, to cover the cost of a
bee tent and manipulations thereiD. After
some discussion it was proposed and carried
that the Council undertake the management
of the bee department <>n the terms proposed.
The committee submitted a draft schedule
for the show in question, which Mas approved
by the Council. Jt was also resolved that the
same committee be asked to draft an applica-
tion to be forwarded to several of the City
Guilds and also to the Lord Mayor asking for
special prizes at the St. Albans Show.

After dealing with correspondence, referring

to a proposal for conferring certificates of tbe
B.B.K.A. upon prize-winners at "Royal"
shows, and some minor matters, the chairman
reported that he had had an interview with
the secretary of the Board of Agriculture on
the subject of the leaflet on foul brood to be
issued by the Board when ready for printing ;
the matter was advanced a stage further and
the leaflet will probably be issued in the
coming spring.

The chairman also reported that replies had
been received from nearly all the County
Councils applied to on the subject of appoint-
ing delegates to confer with the Council of the
B.B.K.A. on the subject of foul brood among
bees. It was finally resolved that the neces-
sary preparations be made, and invitations
issued for a conference— on the lines indicated
— to be held at 105, Jermyn-street on Friday,
December 13 next, at 4 p.m.

After some further routine business had
been transacted, the Council adjourned till
December 13, when a preliminary meeting to
the one mentioned above will be held at 17,
King William-street, W.C., at 12 o'clock.

The following new members were elected :
— Mr. Wm. C. Young, Sec. Dairy Farmers'
Association, 12, Hanover-square, London ; F.
Mansell, Esq., Derwent Lodge, Isle worth.

It is requested that, until further notice, all
communications intended for the late secretary,
be addressed "The Chairman, British Bee-
Keepers' Association, 17, King William-street,
Strand, W.C."

THE LATE MR. JOHN HUCKLE.

We have received numerous letters of con-
dolence with, and sympathy for, the widow
and family of the late Mr. Huckle in their
sad bereavement. The testimony of bee-
keepers seems also to be entirely unanimous
as to the loss the pursuit has sustained in the
death of the late secretary of the B.B.K.A.,
and the difficulty of replacing him by any one
who will succeed in securing so large an
amount of personal regard on all hands.

SURREY BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

The first meeting of the Provisional Com-
mittee was held at Guildford on the lGth inst.,
Mr. E. Daw presiding, at which information
having been given that the affairs of the old
association had been entirely wound up, it was
decided to form a new association, for the
management of which a strong committee of
gentlemen interested in bee - keeping, and
residing in every part of the county, was
appointed.

A report to the Surrey County Council was
drawn up explaining the steps that had been
taken for the establishment of the association

470

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Nov. 21, 1895.

and asking for financial support ; and a circu-
lar, to be issued immediately to every known
bee-keeper in the county, was also agreed to.
The committee includes, among others, such
well-known supporters of bee - keeping in
Surrey as Messrs. E. Daw, Arch. Seth
Smith, Blundell, White Reid, and Captain
C. D. Campbell ; and Mr. J. W. Jacomb Hood,
of Surbiton, will act as honorary secretary
pro tern.

The prospects of establishing the association
on a sound and lasting basis are most
promising.

HELPING NATIVE HONEY.
A correspondent informs us that the notice
in the Times of the recent gift of honey to the
Lady Mayoress has been copied right and left
into daily and weekly journals all over the
land, and he hopes with good effect. It would
be well, he adds, for all bee-keepers to keep
in mind the three, points of the address at the
London Mansion House, viz. : —

1. Cultivating a taste and demand for
native honey.

2. Exposure of adulteration.

3. Advantage of municipal prizes at our
honey shows.

He urges that this programme should be
extended to the provinces, and suggests that
the lady who presides over the hospitalities
of each provincial municipality should be
afforded the opportunity of tasting really fine
native honey, and at the same time be
acquainted with the three joints which should
be explained to all those who are most likely
to promote our special object. He further
remarks that if even the one point as to en-
couraging honey production by the offering of
municipal prizes at provincial shows be
advanced by one zealous apiarist in each
county, much good must result next season.
He concludes by saying that " Now " is the
time to do it, in which opinion we most fully
concur.

(tymmpnkm.

The Editort do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. W*
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[2288.] The tempestuous weather of last
week has been followed by a calm sunny day
or two, and the apiary has resounded with the
merry hum of the bees. Nasturtiums and
other self-sown seeds have sprouted and made
considerable growth, "buttercups'' and

daisies, too, putting forth here and there a
blossom during the past month of mild
weather. In the fields the " clover-root " has
established itself well, and by deeper rootlets
will, no doubt, endure a greater degree of
frost without injury. Trifolium also — of
which plant more than the usual acreage is
being grown here about — is looking well, and
promising early bee-forage for 1896. Then
another good bee-plant, vetches, is making a
good show. All this tends to show that, unless
a long and severe winter follows, we may
count on a good breadth of forage for bees in
the coming spring.

The long evenings now before us will give
ample time for those bee-keepers who make
their own appliances to construct hives, section
racks, super clearers, &c, to suit their own
tastes. To such as care for my advice, I would
say don't use any size frame except the British
standard. Make your hives as simple as pos-
sible, and if you hope to continue bee-keeping
employ only the best material, which proves
cheapest in years to come. The " Cowan ''
hive I consider a very good one ; so, also, is
the" Combination" (Abbott's pattern) hive.
In the latter the frames are parallel with the
entrance, but in the " Cowan " the frames can
be either parallel or at right angles, to suit the
fancy of the bee-keeper. Regarding the way
the combs hang, so far as the well-being of
the bees, I have failed to notice any
appreciable difference, though I have
had colonies by the score in hives of
both styles ; but, I may add, all my re-
cently-made ones have frames in the parallel
position, as I consider it gives greater facilities
in manipulating. The bee-keeper working a
large apiary tacked on to another business
which engages a considerable part of his time,
must, of course, at times conduct apiary
operations very differently to the methods read
of in books, where we are told to " blow in a
little smoke at the entrance of the hive and
then allow the bees time to gorge themselves
with honey." Why, in the busy time I should
want the hive attended to and the next one in
hand before the time for "gorging" had
expired. This causes my predeliction for the
combination hive. One great advantage of the
" Cowan " hive is that the brood chamber
proper can be removed for purifying in the
family wash-pot if suspected of harbouring
the germs of foul-brood, but the " Combina-
tion " hive is too big for this method of cleans-
ing, though the spread of knowledge warrants
us in saying that boiling hives will not for long
be recommended as any security against
bacillus alvei.

I would counsel beginners to make their
section-racks to hold 21 1-lb. sections, having
the sides the same height as the sections, so
that when tiered up on the hive the sides of
the rack bear the weight of the full sections.
Don't bother with end or side passages ; your
sections will not be filled any better for having
a passage round them, while, if left on the hives,

Nov. 21, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

471

the wood of sections will be stained oftentimes
beyond removal. When making racks, nail
on a little strip of wood 4 or 5 in. long by
J in. thick, about 1 in. from the top of each
side near the centre of sides, to form useful
handles for lifting by. I consider a handle of
some kind most helpful in handling full racks
of sections.

Leaking hive-roofs can be avoided at small
extra cost if the roof is made of a rather
thinner material, and the same covered with
thin sheet zinc ; this is far superior to wood
only, and even old roofs can be rendered equal
to new ones by using zinc as a covering. — W.
Woodley, Becrfon, Newbury.

HOUSE APIAKIES.

THEIR USE AND ADVANTAGES TO DEE

FARMERS.

[2289.] Considering the many advantages
(which I hope to prove) of house apiaries, it
seems strange that they are so seldom in evi-
dence in the B.B.J. Is it because they have
received so little attention that they are still
few and far between \ Or are they considered
too costly to build ?

In the development of modern apiculture,
although house apiaries have been discussed a
time or two, they have to my mind not
received a tithe of the attention which is their
due. Hives, swarm-catchers, all sorts of ap-
pliances, foul brood, wintering bees, &c,
nave ever been to the front, why not house
apiaries and honey rooms % Are these unim-
portant ? Surely there are bee-keepers who,
like myself, consider them first and best. The
question naturally of many will be : — " What
is a modern house apiary ?" Well, with your
permission, I will do my best to explain :—

The one I have now in use is a lean-to
house facing west (for convenience). It is
22 ft. long, 5 ft. high in front, 8 ft, at back,
and 5 ft. wide. It stands upon a concrete
foundation, with a course of bricks for the
wall-plate to rest on. The south end has a
door, and the walls at end and front are
double match-board, with 3 in. space packed
with sawdust ; and entrances to hives near the
ground, and full width of hive.

The house has a stone wall at back, nicely
plastered. The floor is of concrete, and the
roofing is of match-boards inside, common
tiles outside, and sawdust between. Tiles all
pointed, to keep oat rain and driving snow.
The house will accommodate thirteen hives,
all of which were previously used outside as
" Cowan " hives. A strip of wood is nailed
through the match-board into the wall-plate,
and a piece of scantling used for the back,
and on these each floor-board is placed (mine
are 1J in. thick, of pitch pine, with two strips
of wood nailed to the under side to prevent
warping), and the hive rests on this solid
foundation, with a 3-in. space between the
floor-board and floor. In the centre of the

front is the window, with space under the
bottom glass for the bees to escape, and per-
forated zinc outside, 6 in. deep. The house
communicates with the honey-room at the
north end, where all extracting, &c, is done.
And this room, 22 ft. by 8 ft., is double-
walled two ways, and packed with sawdust,
with two windows and a west dcor.

The advantages I claim are that inside it
is always dry, never cold or hot, compact,
saves stings during manipulation, better win-
tering, and smaller quantity of stores con-
sumed than in hives outside ; nothing more
than simple boxes, floor-boards, and quilts
required ; economy in time, as at any time
during spring and summer, sunshine or shower,
work of all kinds can go on. I may add, too,
that with proper management there is no
swarming.. During the two seasons that I
have worked this house there has been no sign
of swarming, Avith hives crowded to their
utmost capacity. Therefore, no need of
swarm-catchers, or anxious watching. Con-
sider also the great advantage of covered
apiaries in such weather as we had on
March 24 last. Most of my hives outside,
although well sheltered, had their roofs and
quilts blown all over the orchard, and some
of the hives were blown completely over, while
inside the house everything was snug and
comfortable, and all hives were undisturbed as
usual.

My best stocks under cover gave me this
season about 90 lb. of honey in shallow-frames,
and in every hive I have left enough stores
to last till next spring without feeding.

I have never interfered with a queen, nor
had occasion to introduce one, and all the bees
are natives.

While on this point allow me to instance, by
way of comparison, the results from two hives,
both outside :— No. 1 has a last year's queen,
and I naturally expected a gocd yield of honey
in shallow-frames ; but no, not an ounce have I
had from it during the whole season. No. 2
has a queen the age of which I have no idea,
and yet, after tea one evening in July, I
removed three crates of shallow-frames, nine in
each crate, and averaging 3 lb. of honey each.
Another crate was filled and removed later on,
as our season was practically at an end before
the end of July.

But to return for a moment to house apia-
ries, what can be said against them 1 Are they
too costly ? I think not in the long run, and
for the following reasons : — No roofing is
required for the hives ; no legs, no outer
cases, and no paint ; nor is so much covering
required in the way of quilts, as I use the.
same all the year round. Then, if the bee-
keeper builds 'his own house, and only em-
ploys a bricklayer for the foundation, floor,
and, may-be, the outer covering, the main
expense is the wood. All things considered,
the covered apiary will be found the cheapest.
It may be said that in working with long?>
covered apiaries there is really great risk of

472

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Nov. 2.1, 1895.

losing young queens, but where there are no
swarms there can be no loss of young queens.
In any case, all alighting boards should be
painted, in different colour?. I have not lost
a queen, nor do I think it probable that I shall
in the future.

I am just now planning a honey room,
&c, intended to be 40 ft. long, together
with a covered apiary for fifty hives. It will
have a span roof, be 8 ft. wide, half the hives
facing east, half west-, and a passage right up
between the two row.-". One or two things 1
do not feel quite decided about, and will be
very pleased if some of oar brother bee-keepers
who have experimented with covered apiaries
will give the result of their experience : —
First, as to the best kind of roofing for keeping
out rain, snow, cold, and heat ; and, secondly,
as to packing or no packing between double
walls.

All through the summer the temperature in
my house varies but very little, and the
boards never felt warm as compared with the
atmosphere outside. I would especially like
to know if any one has tried the air-spaca
simply without packing and with what result ?
If there is no advantage in filling the 3-in.
space with sawdust or other material, it means
a great saving of labour and expense. I ven-
ture to hope that some of our veteran bee-
keepers will shed the light of their experience
upon this subject of house apiaries, as I feel
sure our editors will rejoice in any and every
advance that can be made in the successful
working of modern bee - farms. — Norfolk
Dumpling, Mcthwold, November 11, 1895.

[The importance of ventilating the above
subject — to one about to venture so largely in
bee-farming— is so obvious that, in the general
interest, we cordially endorse our correspon-
dent's invitation to those whose opinions are of
value on the subject. We need hardly say how
much the expression of their view3 will be
welcomed in our pages. Personally, however,
we have no hesitation in saying that, so far as
this country is concerned, the filling-in of
the 3-inch space between the walls of the bee-
house described would be singly throwing
labour and money away, as the air-space will
answer every purpose intended. — Eds.]

FOUL BROOD.

AN EXPERT'S EXPERIENCE.

[2290.] Since reading Dr. Bartrum's letter
on the above subject and its connection with
legislative interference — on page 430 of B.J.
for the 24th ult.— I have thought how vast is
the difference between his experience and my
own, and have sincerely wished that 1 could,
treat the pest as lightly as he does. Dr.
Bartrum avers that when affected combs are
burnt, and naphthaline put in hives, the
trouble is over. Well, I can certainly say
that naphthaline is good as a disinfectant or
preventive of the disease, but experience has J

taught me that foul brood will sometimes
break out in hives where naphthaline has been
placed. Our Association provides me with it,
and, on examining the stocks of members, I
drop a piece in each — a very easy way of
keeping away the pest if effectual, but, as I
have sdd, ic cannot be relied on in all cases,
according to my experience. I am aware that
foul brood can be cured, but some will not
take the pains or trouble to cure it, and their
bees, in consequence, spread the disease in all
directions.

Our Association covers an area of about
forty miles square ; in three districts only are
we troubled with the disease, and in each of
them the negligence of some and the ignorance
of others is the sole cause of its spreading.
Four years ago only one apiary was affected in
the area referrei to ; the owner, however (a
cottager), refused t) believe his bees diseased,
and we had no power to compel either treat-
ment or destruction. This year about ten bee-
keepers in the same district had more
or less of foul brood among their bees. Some
of these we have succeeded in curing, but they
are, of course, quite likely to contract the
disease again from the same source.

In another district the infection came
through buying bees from a non-member,
whose stocks we got permission afterwards to
examine, only to find our suspicions fully con-
firmed. We could not, however, prevail upon
the seller of the diseased bees to allow the
destruction of the foul-broody stocks, though
a cottager member had not long started bee-
keeping in the adjoining garden, and whose
case is so specially hard that I will conclude
my already too long letter by mentioning the
particulars of it. Here was a man earning
only 15s. per week, and who out of this small
sum had saved sufficient wherewith to buy
bees and hives, hoping to add something to his
income from them, and yet when I examined
his bees this last autumn, I found them
diseased, and his hopes frustrated in conse-
quence. And this, I may say, entirely through
the obstinacy — or worse — of a compiratively
well-to-do neighbour. I could go on repeat-
ing well-authenticated cases within my own
knowledge if space allowed, but hope I 'have
said enough to show that compulsory powers
are needed to make obstinate bee-keepers
either "kill or cure.'' When such powers are
obtained, we may — and I hope will — exter-
minata the pest, but not till then. — J. Martin,
Expert, Bristol B.K.A.

THE FOUL BROOD CONTROVERSY.

[2291.] It is surely time that this discussion
should close. The subject must go to a higher
court, and possibly a more impartial tribunal.
But the discussion has brought out these facts :
1. That we are to have a leaflet on foul
brood next spring. This is a great point
gained. 2. That some do not regard foul

Nor. 21, 1895. J

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

473

brood as seriously as our Eynsford friend, Mr.
Till. 3. That there is a proposal for each
county to contribute a certain sum apparently
out of the Technical Instruction Funds, for the
suppression of foul brood, for the payment of
experts, and for compensation. Mr. Till
considers that £250 per annum will meet the
wants of Kent, and that soon the happy time
will come when there will be no foul brood,
and no special foul-brood experts needed !
Similar sanguine hopes were no doubt enter-
tained when the swine-fever regulations, with
their compensation clauses, were introduced,
when county and district councils, too, were
established. Now for two facts. The high-
way rate around here has just been doubled,
and a fortnight ago, in one district alone of
this unhappy county, 788 swine were massacred
to " stamp out infection."

May not similar failure attend the attempt to
" stamp out " foul brood 1 So I pray you, Mr.
Till, lessen your expectations, and soften your
language. If the expenses of this new ex-
periment are to be paid out of the Technical
Instruction Funds, as chairman of a Technical
Instruction Committee, and deeply interested
in the subject, I think I may promise you that
your proposals (if they ever become law) will
be thoroughly sifted before they are accepted
in Essex, and that the question will arise
whether the £250 to £500 per annum which
his county would probably require, might not
be spent with greater advantage to our com-
munity.—E. Barteum, D.D., Wakes Cobu
Rectory, Essex, November 10.

[We quite agree with Dr. Bartrum that—
unless some new light can be brought to bear
upon it directly connected with bee-keeping —
the above discussion might now with advantage
be closed. — Eds.]

"NOTANDA ET INQTJntENDA."

[22!) 2.] Stings. — These are a serious matter
to some people, myself included, and I hive
often thought that it is rather a mistake to
make too light of them, as is constantly done
in print. No doubt some constitutions are
not so susceptible to them as others ; mauy
become used to them, indurated or inoculated
with the subtle poison, so that it loses its
virulence ; while there are evidently bees of
very different tempers, and, I strongly suspect,
of somewhat different stinging powers. But,
to the ordinary run of mortals, an average bee-
sting is no joke. It means more or less dis-
comfort, inconvenience, and frequently actual
pain, feverishness, and disablement for some
three days. To those, like myself, busily
engaged in public duties, to have to go about
for three days with a head and face disfigured
beyond bearing, or a hand and arm swollen up
to the shoulder, and almost useless, from even
a single bec-sting, is simply out of the ques-
tion, and I can we1! understand that in sensi-

tive, predisposed subjects a sting might
possibly bring on erysipelas, or some similar
skin trouble.

Contrary, perhaps, to the usual course of
procedure, I began bee-keeping bravely
enough and manipulated my first stock, a
swarm, gloveless and sometimes veil-le3s, until
''taking" time. Then, having to do with a
pure black bee, irascible, unusually large, and
powerful in proportion, finding even methyl
salicylate a snare and a delusion, after suffer-
ing severely, I at last gave up, and now rarely
touch a hive except double-gloved, much to
my regret and inconvenience.

But I have lately made this discovery — and
herein is the point of this note — that if, when-
ever stuug, you at once extract the sting, then
bite the place as hard as you can bear, and
suck strongly, you will obviate all unpleasant
after-effects except a certain tenderness for ai
hour. or two around the puncture. The com-
pression with the teeth prevents the poison
from spre tding to the tissues, and the su ction
extracts the venom. Having (rather unfortu-
nately for myself in many respects) very
sensitive gustatory nerves, I can distinctly
taate the well-known and unmistakable smell
of the bee during the short operation. At all
events, I now fear no bee-sting that I can
reach with my teeth. Perhaps others may feel
inclined to try this plan and will, in that case,
kindly tell me if they find their own ex-
perience corroborative of mine.

I think, however, all books on bees should
contain more warning than most of them seem
to do as to the oftentimes serious effects of
the sting of the bee ; and should also put
beginners more on their guard as to the
occasional unexpected but most dangerous
onslaughts which bees will at times make on
the operator and others during manipulations
of skeps and hives. " In my next note I shall
hope to give some of my own experiences of
this irascibility. — Self Taught, November 15.

BRAULA. CCECA : THE BEE LOUSE.

[2293.] My attention has been drawn to a
note in your Journal of October 10 referring
tn a s imewhal unredeemed promise of mine.
I believe I promised that if I were supplied
with a nice series of the bee louse (braufa
ca ■" I would write a short paper for you on
it. Well, a box arrived, much broken, with
some dead bees in it, on which were no
Braula ; but a close search amongst the
fragments of the box did produce a few speci-
mens in the <>dd corners and in the wrappings
of the box. On these specimens I began to
write a simll paper, but, after beginning it, I
turned off to Other subjects. I now, however,

send you some notes very inadequately com-
pleting my hotes of a year ago, and I can still
Bay that i should be glad to receive a few more
specimens, as my series is by no means com-
plete. I should also be glad if correspondents

474

THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 21, 1895.

would give some idea of the range of this
insect in Great Britain, as dipterologists seem
to be just as ignorant of what is known to
apiarists, as they are to the " flies " named by-
anglers, whose various " March Browns," &c,
are mysteries to the scientific entomologist. I
was almost omitting this species from my
"List of British Diptera," published in 1888,
because of an absence of knowledge that it
occurred in Great Britain ; but, fortunately, I
saw it in Dr. P. B. Mason's collection at
Burt on-on-Trent just in time.

Braula cceca, which by interpretation means
the blind louse, is a curious dipterous para-
site which attaches itself to the common
hive bee. The extreme outlying limits of the
Diptera are very difficult to defiue, as the
relationships of the Aphanvptera (or Pulicidce)
at the one extreme, and the Omaloptera (other-
wise called Pupipara or Eproboscidea) at the
other extreme (both parasitic on other living
creatures), have led to various different
opinions. The present prevailing opinion,
with which I do not concur, forms the
Pulicidce (or fleas) into a separate order called
Aphaniptera, but with these Braula cceca
has no relationship whatever, and therefore
no more need be said about them in this
article.

The present prevailing opinion, with which
I do concur, unites the Omaloptera with the
Diptera, and the " stepping-stones " seem
obvious, inasmuch as when one admits the
common New Forest fly, Hippobosca equina
(on horses) to be dipterous, no limit can be
raised which would exclude the progress to
Omithomyia (on birds), Stenopteryx and
Oxypterum (on swallows), Lipoptena (on deer),
to the absolutely apterous Mdopltagus (on
sheep), and so on to Braula (on bees), and
Nycteribia (on bats). These all occur in
Europe,_ but in exotic regions another
connecting - link occurs in Strebla and
its allies. These comparatively few species
form, however, several families, as is
usually the case in abnormal groups, and so,
while we have in Britain about sixty families
of Diptera for more than 3,000 species, which
leaves an average of over fifty species to a
family, yet in these Eproboscidea we have
three families with only about ten species
altogether, and the subject of this note has a
family (Bravlidce) to itself. The genus was
foundedin 1818 by Nitzsch in Germar's "Maga-
zin der Zoologie,'"' Vol. Ill,, page 28G, and he
most remarkably recognised its affinities, for
which great credit is due to him, but the
insect itself had been known long before as
Pediculw apis, and was elaborately worked
out in 1741 by Reaumur in his "Memoires
pour servir a l'Histoirc des Insectes," Vol. V.,
part 2, pages 411-414 ; he there is of opinion
that they mainly attack old bees, and he
is also of opinion that they do not do much
harm, and that they can be mitigated,
if not destroyed, by very simple and, as
wj should now say, very antiquated

methods. Very few scientific entomolo-
gists seemed to have known much about
the insect, but in 1853, Egger, who was a good
dipterologist, gave a detailed monograph of the
species in the '' Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-
botanischen Vereins in Wien,'' Vol. III.,
page3 401-408, which, I believe, is the best
up to the present time, though his mono-
graph was mainly a compilation. The
species appears to be a parasite exclu
sively on the hive bee, and I believe is not
known to occur on any species of wild bee.
There is a most extraordinary development in
all the Eproboscidea of which the life history
is known, inasmuch aa, while all insects must
go through the four stages of egg, larva, pupa,
and imago, in these few species the stages of
egg and larva occur in the mother's body, and
the pupa is extruded ready to produce the
perfect insect. It is obvious that very much
more connection will have to be established
between the apiarist and the entomologist
before the history of Braula cceca is at all well
known, although its position in entomological
science is probably established beyond any
doubt. — G. H. Verrall, Sussex Lodge, New-
market, November 12.

BEE-KEEPING IN WEXFORD.

[2294.] The year 1895 has given me the
poorest results since I began bee-keeping
eight years ago. I commenced the season
with twenty- one stocks, all weak in bees and
stores with the exception of four hives. I had
to feed constantly for two months to keep the
bees going before the honey flow began. In
this district it generally starts about June 10.
As usual, I worked entirely for sections, save
one hive, which was kept for extracted honey,
and the produce of which I fed back to enable
other stocks to finish off some all but complete
sections. The twenty hives gave me 360
sections, or an average of eighteen per hive,
together with some unfinished ones, which I
fed to weak and driven stocks.

I, however, increased my number from
twenty-one to thirty-three stocks, all of which
are strong and well covered down for winter.

The price I received for my sections this
year was 8s. Gd. per dozen delivered in Dublin
carriage paid. 1 also took first and second
prizes at the Wexford Agricultural Society
Show. Seven exhibitors eomjieted this year,
which shows that the production of honey in
this district is now beginning to stir people up,
seeing that I had only one exhibit to contend
against lastyear.— J. D., Wexford, November 3.

A BAD LAW.

AnSCONDING SWARMS.

[2295.] Referring to "A Bee Case" (B.B.J. ,
November 7, p. 450), the decision given in
this case, and similar cases, appears to me to

Nov. 21, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

475

call for some action on the part of bee-
keepers in general. Such decisions, viz., that
" because one's bees are not seen actually on
the whig to fly into his neighbour's garden, one
cannot claim them," although no other bees
may be kept -within twenty miles of the spot,
are, in my humble opinion, altogether illogical
and totally at variance with the principles of
common sense.

Let us apply the principle to any other
farm-stock, and suppose that our lambs or
calves, or chickens, or what not, had strayed
into the next garden, I venture to say there is
not a judge on the bench who would decide
that, because the owner did not actually see
them go, they were not his, lawfully. It may
be said that it is the law ! My answer is, — it is
a bad law, and the sooner it is mended the
better. So far as I am aware, it is an anom-
alous law, sanctioned only by precedent — and a
bad precedent at that — as having no justifiable
grounds for being acted upon. May I kindly
suggest the subject as one worthy of discussion
by the committee of the B.B.K.A. with a view
of intrusting those most likely to bring the
matter before the notice of those who have the
power to amend the same 1 — E. Bunney/,
Swansea. November 14.

THE DAIRY SHOW.

SPECIAL CLASS FOR COMMERCIAL PACKAGES.

[229(3.] I am glad to see that Mr. Till
(2230, p. -417) advocates a special class for
" Commercial Packages," independent entirely
of the contents thereof. In practice, I send
my honey tins singly with a square of board
at top and bottom tied with a strong string, or,
if a number, packed in a common non-return-
able case. My customers prefer to be saved
the trouble of sending back " empties."

Be the last "Dairy Show,'' one of my
exhibits in the Twelve Jars Extracted class
received a " very highly commended " card.
I saw the card myself late in the afternoon of
the first day of the show, but some " miserable
sinner " evidently removed it, as my name did
not appear in the v.h.c's. of that class. There
is certainly something wrong when any out-
sider can alter the awards.

It has been a decidedly over-average season
in these parts both for quantity and quality.
The density is very much greater than last
year, and in spite of along spell of dry weather,
not a shade of honey dew to spoil the colour.

I did not arrive from abroad till the middle
of May, and so was behind with my supers ;
consequently all my stocks but three swarmed,
and I have only taken about 1,100 lb. from
twenty-one stocks and a nucleus (spring count).
After all, however, one must not expect
much from A Duffer, Lone/parish, Hants,
November 4.

P.S. — I enclose two samples of what was
sold to me as pure cane sugar. I should be
obliged if you will give me your opinion of

them, and tell me if they are fit for winter
candy for bees.

[There would, indeed, b3 " something
wrong," as our correspondent puts it, if awards
could be altered by " outsiders," as suggested
above. We are, however, able to assure him
that no alteration occurred, and that if a
" v.h.c." card appeared on his exhibit, the
" miserable sinner " who placed it there— who-
ever the latter might be — found out his mis-
take, and rectified it. Anyway, the list of
awards — as printed on page 414 of our issue
for October 17 — is perfectly correct, and accord-
ing to the "Judging Book." This much we
can personally vouch for. Referring to post-
script re sugar. If samples can be relied on as
" pure cane," the white sugar will do very well
for candy-making. The yellow " Demerara "
is, however, unsuitable for the purpose ; though
it would be quite suited for syrup food in
spring or summer. — Eds.]

PROPOSED ASSOCIATION FOR
HERTS.

[2297.] Referring to the notice on this
subject on page 421, October 17, and in view
of the coming Bath and West of England
Show for 1S90, which involves its principal
residents in a large amount of guarantee
money, it has been thought desirable to hold
over the formation of the association until next
year, when bee-keepers and all others in-
terested could more readily have the advantage
of a conference on the Bath and West of
England Show ground. I should, in the mean-
time, be glad to receive the names of those
desirous of joining, and whether they would
be willing to undertake local secretary's work
in their several districts. — J. H. New, 14,
Essex-road. Watford.

COST OF MOVING BEES FROM
ROOFS.
[2298.] I see in the B.J. of October 24
(2248, p. 430), that Dr. Bartrum estimates the
cost of removing the bees from his dwelling-
house at £20. Allow me to say that I have
had a great deal of experience in that line, and
I believe the whole job might be done to his
perfect satisfaction for the sum of £5, and he
would have the honey into the bargain. —
W. A. Withtcombe, Second Class Expert,
Bridgwatt r, Novemb i 14.

"CIRCULATION."

[ 2299.] A good "circulation," which every
possessor cannot appraise too highly, depends,
as everybody knows, largely on the quality of
the heart, and although you have been pleased
to pour a cold douche on the "suggestion"
(2285) (in order, I suppose, to lower your cor-

476

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 21, 1895.

respondent's temperature), I, for one, go
heartily with the suggested effort, though
understanding how modesty in the Editors may
be a little abashed at the plea appearing in
their own paper — but why 2

We bee-keepers owe very much to the
Journal, and its prosperity is synonymous with
the prosperity of bee-keeping. If, therefore,
we can place the Journal on the table of every
public library and reading-room in the land,
and other tables beside, we not only help the
circulation of B.B.J, but B.K'p'g in the
bargain !

I admire the remark of a recent contributor
that " Optimism is better than pessimism,"
though both are extremes. But for optimists,
the world would stagnate. Poor Ferdinand de
Lesseps' chief fault was being too optimistic,
yet Ave must all admit that, had it not been for
his optimism, we might still be steaming round
the Cape t3 Calcutta. I see nothing at all
unreasonable in your somewhat optimistic
contributor's " suggestion," but rather the
reverse.

I am happy to inform you that the " cold
douche " above referred to (whatever its effect
on Mr. E. D. Till) has stimulated me to do as he
has suggested, and I feel pretty confident that
all earnest bee-keepers have already put the
item on their — Agenda, November 16.

" QUOTATIONS.'1

[2300.] I am very much indebted to Dr.
Bartrum, as well as instructed and amused by
his full reply to my two queries. The Doctor
is in his element when literary research is in
question, and I am sure your other readers will
have derived considerable amusement from
such interesting matter as the letter contains.
The supposition that I hail from Trinity is not
correct. " B. Short " is not the " Tommy Short ''
the Doctor refers to, though the coincidence
was quite sufficient to warrant that assump-
tion. One quotation was supposed to come
from Hood's song, "Ben Battle,'' who left his
legs "in Badajoz's breaches;*' but Dr. Bartrum
has settled the point conclusively.

One of your correspondents lately signed
himself "A Duffer.'' 1 cannot find the origia
of the word, but have an idea it was originally
applied to sheep-stealers. I hope, therefore,
he is not serious in the use of so compli-
mentary a title. — 0. Y.

[We have to thank several other corre-
spondents for interesting communications on
" Quotations,'' but as the ground is coveud by
what lias already appeared in our issue of the
1 4th inst., it is unnecessary to occupy space by
repetition. — Eds.]

WOT'S IT ALL ABOUT 1
[2301.] I ain't much of a skollcr, mister
editur, but it do seem to me as if some of yure
xiters as well as me are a h]i short of eddica-

shun, judgin' by there ways of speakin'. If a
party can't spel, wy don't 'e say so an let you'
spel for 'im so as we can make out what 'e
menes 1

In yure paper lately i have bin quite fogged
by the eddins to some chappters, an1 i can't,
an' the missis can't, nor the yung-uns can't
make 'ed nor tale of it, not avvin lerned
french. One gent tops is lettur " pro appel "
sumthin, an' another cal's his " noty andy
enquire," et cetera ; but wot's it all about ?
that's wot i begs inquire.

Then there's them " quotashuns," wotever
they mene, about " fitin' on 'is stumps." An
tawkin about " Tommy Short.'' Who's Tommy
Short? I don't want to be rood Mister
editor, but isn't it "Tommy " somethin else
that'* ment ? At awl events i do wish as our
gentlemen riters would just think about sich
as me, who pays is penny for a bee-Journal,
an' as to scratch is cd an' wurry is branes
try in to make out a lot of lingo that can't be
understud. If it's spelt rong yu shud spel it
rite for them, that's wot i say. N.B. — My
nondy ploom is " Plane Inglesh "

TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION IN
CORNWALL.

RErORT OF THE COUNTY COUNCIL APIARY AT
CALLINGTON.

The chairman of the District Committee for
Technical Instruction of the Cornwall County
Council (Callington District), Mr. J. W.
Lawry, has favoured us with the subjoined
report, which he rightly judges will be of
interest to our readers. Having ourselves
visited the apiary referred to we have especial
pleasure in publishing its annual report : —

Dear Sir, — I have great pleasure in for-
warding you my report on the management of
the apiary at Callington, under the direction of
your committee, and shall feel obliged if you
will place it before your committee at the next
meeting.

1. Tne atmospheric conditions of the year
have been favourable, for bee-life and for the
gathering of nectar by the bees, with the
exception of the month of May, which was
dry, and consequently checked to some extent
the egg-laying and rearing in the hives. Since
the drought of that month, bees increased, and
there was a steady income of honey up to the
end of September.

2. Your committee at the beginning of the
year approved* of my suggestion of working
lour hives for honey, and setting aside two for
artificial swarming so that an increase of
stocks might be obtained ; I found that the
distance at which I resided from the apiary,
prevented me from giving the many small
attentions which artificial swarming requires,
one swarm was made, and to save time and
act more economically, I abandoned the
artificial swarming and allowed them to swarm

Nov. 21, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

47?

naturally, and as a result, the number of
swarms issued has been eight from the six hives
the year was begun with.

3. The quantity of honey produced by the
six hives is about 115 lb. (much less than last
year's yield), the average is about 19 lb. per
hive, the greater part of this has been sold,
giving a return for honey about £4. 16s. Six
swarms have been sold and the other two are
bespoke, which at 10s. per swarm have given
a return of £-1, so that the credit and debit
accounts of the year's working will be thus : —

Receipts,

Honey sold and in hand £4 16 0

Swarms do. do. 4 0 0

Total

... £8 10 0

Expenditure.

itional appliances

les, &c

... £0 9 0
... 0 6 0

Total £0 15 0

4. As the objects of your committee are
first to show that the keeping of bees is profit-
able, and secondly to give instruction in
practical bee-keeping by lectures and demon-
strations, your committee will not obiect to
me reminding them of last year's work on the
first of these heads, which was as follows : —
Receipts.— 1894.

Honey Sold i,'G 12 G

1895 8 1G 0

£15 8 6
Expenditure. — 1894.
Five Stocks of Bees, Hives,

Carriage, &c £13 4 6

1895 0 15 0

£13 19 G

5. With regard to the second, I am pleased
to report that a greater interest is being taken
in this minor industry in the district which
your committee represent, but not so much
amongst the rural working classes as is desired.
This is to be regretted, as nearly 50 per cent,
of our rural population might obtain 50 or
GO lb. of honey every year with but very little
outlay and attention, if they would first obtain
a few stocks of bees, make themselves ac-
quainted with their management, and give tbe
necessary attention they lequire, which would
be considerably less than they give to their
poultry or pig. No extraordinary talent is
required in bee-keeping, simply a knowledge
of the first principles of bee-culture, and a
little energy and perseverance will ensure suc-
cess.— Yours obediently, John Brown.

November, 1895.

" To Mr. Wm. Pearce, secretary, Technical
Instruction Committee, Cornwall CO., Cal-
lington District."

The Chairman adds : — " Any fruit-growers,
bee-keepers, or others interested in technical
insf ruction, visiting Cornwall next year, are

invited to pay a visit to the plot laid out for
these purposes at Callington, when the secre-
tary will be pleased to give all the information
in hisvpower."

<8thm from tht glints.

Sussex, November 8. — My nine hives of bees
have gone into winter quarters wonderfully
strong in numbers and well provided with
stores. In mid-September I drove the' bees
from five skeps ; filled a " Wells " hive with
four lots, two either side ; and was obliged to
put one lot by themselves in a single hive on
six frames, not being able, and it being by that
time too late, to drive more. These I have all
fed bountifully, and they have filled built-out
combs and added to them. Now they are all
provided with 2 lb. cakes of candy, and are
warmly "tucked up" for their winter sleep.
But there is no sleep in them ! Only a day
or two ago, before this deluge of rain, they
were bringing in bright yellow pollen, taking
in water freely, and dancing in the sunshine as
if it were spring instead of autumn. During
the recent severe cold and frosts a good many
bees died and were carried out, but now they
seem in first-rate condition.

Since writing the above I have ascertained
that the pollen comes from some rape and
mustard not far off which is flowering out of
season owing to tbe extraordinary mildness of
the weather. This is such, that some broad
beans in my garden are again in flower !
Another, and less satisfactory, proof alike of
the mildness of the season and the undesired
activity of the bees is, that whereas about
November 4 I put on all my hives 2 lb. boxes
of soft candy, at this date (November 15) little
remains of it on any hive, and none at all on
some. Yet the bees are well provided with
abundance of stores. But the hives are so
full, and the restlessness of their inmates so
great, that I shall have to watch them, and
look after feeding them very carefully in spite
of their well-filled larder. — W. R. N., Sussex,
November 15, 1895.

tymmz and ffiiplitt,

[139G.] Spring - dwindling. — In looking
over an old B.J., that of June 30, 1892, I
note (on page 249) your instructive remarks
on spring-dwindling, the generally accepted
causes being given as a bad season, early
cessation of brood- raising and consequent
wintering of old and almost worn-out bees.

Now with our abnormally hot September of
this year bee3 were adding somewhat to their
stores all through the month ; and even
where but little nectar was to be obtained,
that little would give the bees hard work to
obtain it. But in this neighbourhood it was

478

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 21, 1895.

not at all uncommon for hives to be found at
the same time absolutely without any young
brood. So we have had the unusual combina-
tion of late income with hard work, and
comparatively early cessation of brood-raising.
This has caused me some apprehension of
danger next spring, though the stocks on
putting up for winter, were strong in bees and
well supplied with stores. 1. May I ask if
you consider such fear justified? 2. Could
you say what flowers give to a sample of
Narbonne honey its somewhat almond-like
aroma ? I have been told by a retail dealer
that this honey sells next best to English
honey. The preference for English honey is
gratifying to those of us who sell our own. —
S. Jordan, Bristol, November 15.

Reply. — 1. We do not think that any un-
easiness need be felt as to spring-dwindliug
being common in 1896. On the contrary, it
would much surprise us if the early cessation
and non-resumption of breeding was at all
general in the past autumn. Anyhow, our
personal experience points in an entirely oppo-
site direction, and we regard the fall of 1895
as an unusually good breeding time, stocks, on
the whole, going into winter quarters strong,
and having a large proportion of late-bred
bees. 2. The aroma referred to is derived
from herbs growing in the locality from whence
the honey is gathered.

[1397.] Queen-rearing. — I wish to rear
queens next season just for my own use, and
a friend advises me that I might safely
keep several queens together in an ordinary
liive, provided they were all fertilised before I
put them together. He informs me also that
only virgin queens fight, and that after mating
they would not attempt to destroy each other.
I should be glad if you would kindly tell me :
— 1. If it is possible to safely keep several
fertilised queens in one hive as stated above ?
2. Is there any particular method by which
this must be done ? 3. If the plan is practi-
cable, would it not be an advantage to keep
more than one queen in each hive, and thus
help to strengthen weak stocks 1— Frank
Dodworth, Sheffield, November 14.

Reply. — 1. Not unless the queens are caged
to prevent fighting. 2. Several (caged) queens
may be preserved, but not for more than a
few weeks. 3. It is not practicable to have
more, than one laying queen in a single stock,
except on what is known as the "Wells"
system.

Notices to Correspondents and Inquirers.

All querist forwarded wiU be attended to, and those
only of pergonal interest will be answered in this column.

Ree-Keeper (Penarth). — Foul Broody in
Autumn. — In view of the risk of " robbing "
in early spring, and the serious consequences
to the other six healthy stocks should this
occur — we strongly advise doing away with

the diseased colony entirely. To have six
good stocks made safe is surely worth the
loss of an affected one, to say nothing of
the trouble involved in the curing process,
and the chances of infecting the other hives
attendant on manipulating the diseased
stock in the coming spring.
R. Chapman (Newton, Northants). — Locating
Hives in a Barn. — A good roomy barn, such
as the one described, would make a capital
bee-hoii3e, so long as free outlet is afforded
to any bees which may escape during mani-
pulations ; nor need too much importance
be attached to the particular point of the
compass towards which the hive-eutrances
face. What we don't understand in the
details of your proposed plan is the placing
on north side of barn " four rows," and at the
east end " six rows of hives above each other.'1''
Our correspondent surely does not contem-
plate so impossible as feat in hive fixing as
the words quoted seem to imply 1 The
" palm willow " yields pollen in abundance
during early spring, and will be very helpful
to the bees at that time.
E. E. Parsons (Stoke Golding). — Stimu-
lating and Transferring. — -1. Pea-flour candy
is given in spring as a substitute for pollen
at an earber date than the latter is available.
Ordinary bee-candy, of course, lacks the
nitrogenous food so helpful in stimulating
bees to early breeding. 2. Under the cir-
cumstances stated it is far better to let the
bees transfer themselves from the skeps to
frame-hives and so "save the trouble of
driving. &c." In doing this, the skep3 must
be fixed above the frames, thus allowing the
bees to work down on to the frames fitted
with foundation below. It would ba very
difficult indeed to fix the frame-hive above
skep and let them work upwards as sug-
gested, besides being likely to retard the
process of transferring. 3. On no account
should the bees be confined to the hive by
perforated zinc to prevent loss of bee-life.
The remedy Avould be worse than the evil
complained of. Let the bees alone if
warmly wrapped and well provided with
stores.

" Homo '' (Tadcaster). — Candy Making. — The
mistake of substituting tartaric acid for
cream of tartar in making bee-candy will
cause no bad results if no more than the
proper quantity of the acid was used.

F. Goodrich (Methwold).— 1. Vipers Bugloss
(Echium vulgare) is a very good bee-plant,
yielding honey freely. The "wire-woof"
roofing mentioned would make an admir-
able covering for a bee-house roof if the cost
were no objection.

S. R. Wilkinson (Great Marlow). — Suspected
Foul Brood. — The dead brood in comb sent
is chilled, not foul, and it is more than
probable that over-dosing with naphthaline
has caused the mischief.

We have several interesting Articles and Letters
in type, which will appear next week.

Nov. 28, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

479

<$AttorisL $ttt\m, ku

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

THE VACANT SECRETARYSHIP.

Attention is invited to the announcement in
our advertisement columns regarding the ap-
pointment of a secretary to the association,
rendered vacant by the death of Mr. John
Huckle. Full particulars will be found in the
advertisement referred to.

LUDLOW CHRYSANTHEMUM AND
FRUIT SOCIETY.

The first annual exhibition of this society
was held in the Town Hall, Ludlow, Salop,
on Thursday. November 14, and resulted in a
splendid collection of flowers, fruit, and
vegetables. Open classes for comb and
extracted honey were also included and every
exhibit staged in these was of excellent
quality. Mr. John Palmer, of Ludlow, acted
as judge, and the success of the honey clas'es
is mainly due to his energy and interest. "We
trust in the future many more entries mav
be received and the show committee well
supported in their endeavours to further the
cause of bee-keeping. The awards were as
follows : —

Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
Jas. Lewis, Cold "Weston, Craven Arms,
Shropshire ; 2nd, Jos. Thomas, Ryelauds-street,
Hereford ; 3rd, Win. Williams, the Union
Workhouse, Lichfield.

Twelve 1-lb. Sections of Comb Honey. — 1st,
C. A. Boughton-Knight, Bromfield, Salop ;
2nd, Win. Williams, Lichfield.

Mr. Palmer exhibited a fine trophy of
extracted honey, not for competition, to which
the show committee were pleased to award
one of their special certificates of merit. —
{Communicated.)

A WARNING.

Asa good honey season is frequently fol-
lowed by a bad one, so we may find 1896 dis-
appointing our ordinary expectations, and
may discover, when too late, that sections and
extracted honey will not be forthcoming for
the early shows.

The " Bath and' West " Agricultural Society
have hold out special encouragement to bee-
keepers at their St. Albans show in June next.
We therefore hope there will be a generous
response in the shape of liberal entries of
honey. . '

The schedule has been so framed r.s to admit
1895 honey. Bee-keepers ought, therefore, to
keep some choice samples over in order to be
prepared for any eventuality.

COUNTY BEE-KEEPING STATISTICS.
According to the bee census taken 1894-5
by the honorary local secretary of the Kent
B.K.A., Ramsgate district, there are fifty bee-
keepers owning 179 hives. The details are : —
Ram?gate and St. Lawrence, nine members,
owning twenty frame- hives and nine skeps
and twenty non-members, having among them
fifteen frame-hives and eighty skeps. In
Broadstairs and St. Peter's there are six
members, whose apiaries consist of sixteen
frame-hives and three skeps, and fifteen
non-members owning twenty-four frame-hives
and sixteen skeps. Total, fifty bee-keepers j
seventv-five frame-hives, 104 skeps. Show-
ing that, even with a most painstaking
and zealous local honorary secretary, not a
third of the bee-keepers are associated. At
Ramsgite and St. Lawrence " skeps " unduly
preponderate, showing non-progression.

Essex is likely to have the most advanced
and comprehensive bee-keeping census, if
what we hear be correct. It would be inte-
resting to know what progress has been made,
and when the county will be completed.

(^mtxgsn&tut.

The Editor* do not hold themselves responsible f«r the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondente
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. W*
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

PREPARING BEES FOR THE
HEATHER.
[2302.] A-llow me a small space in your
valuablri journal, so as to refer to 2237,
page 491, B.B.J, for October 17, and also to
state that 1 quite agree with the remarks of
Mr. Joseph L. Dent when he states that
" there is much to learn as yet in preparing
bees for the heather.'' Let me stite, in the
first place, that I, for one, would very much
like to see some of our northern bee-men come
forward and give their experience relative to
this subject. I have triei Mh small brood -
chambers and lar^e ones, and find it is most
profitable to regulate brood chambers accord-
ing to the prolific nature of queens. I work
my old queens on from nine to eleven frames, as
mine nearly alway swarm wh^n on le-s, which
is a dead loss. My virgin queens I put on
from five to eight frames, according to their
age and prolificDess, as they will allow being
crowded into sections, without taking the
swarming fever as old ones do. My hives
are all constructed to tike a rack holding
28 1-lb. sections, and tier up as required.
I extract all unfinished sections and return
empty comb3 before taking them to U\Q

480

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 28, 1895.

heather, as my object is to get " pure heather
honey," because at the present time I have ,
only a poor sale for clover, and almost none
for the extracted honey, as I cannot induce
the public to buy it. I have my bees to
remove about nine miles to the heather, to a
place called Harehope Hall, near Edmund-
byers. There were no less than 206 hives
located at this place, and only two died out of
the whole number. Most of the bee-keepers
that I have come across and had conversation
with were highly satisfied with their takings.

Let me further remark that I had a very
strange experience in the spring. I put nine-
teen stocks into winter quarters. But of this
number, eleven had old queens, and eight from
1894. Three of the best stocks died owing
to the severe winter — with brood in centre of
the cluster. Two came out queenless, seven
turned out drone-layers — five youDg and two
old ones — leaving five single stocks and one
double-queened hive to commence the season
with. 1 . A Ligurian stock I increased from
one to three. 2. A Carniolan, increased from
one to six — both 1894 queens. 3. Hybrid
Carniolan, increased from one to three. 4.
Hybrid Carniolan, no increase. 5. English
Black, no increase. 6. Double queen stock,
Hybrid Carniolan, no increase. Quantity of
honey taken this season : —

Clover, Extracted Heather Total.

1-lb. sections. lbs. 1-lb. sections. No. lb.

No. 1 .. .. 12 .. 9 .. 37 .. 58

„•!.... 8 .. 9 .. 80 .. 97

,, 3 .. .. 31 .. 6 .. 29 ... 66

., 4 .. .. 6 .. 4 .. 73 .. 83

„ 5 .. .. 18 .. 8 .. 33 .. 59

„ 6 .. .. 14 .. 15 .. 101 .. 130

Total 493*

* This total does not include unfinished sections
from the heather.

Blackhill,co. Durham, Georgk Rochester.
November 20.

BEE-KEEPING IN LINCS.

BEES AT THE CABLE FARM.

[2303] I believe it is some years since I
wrote to you, I think not since I gave up the
secretaryship of the Notts B.K.A., but I
have been taking an active part in
bee-keeping all the time. As you will see by
the address, I am located in Lines, and close to
Lord Winchilsea's Cable Farm. This causes
me to write, for it will no doubt interest your
readers to koow that at the "Cable Farm"
bee-keeping has been taken up as one of the
minor industries worthy the attention of
farmers.

The Earl of Wiachilsea is president cf our
County Association, and about a year ago
wrote to our most energetic secretary, Mr. R.
Godson, about some bees, and he supplied him
with two good stocks in October, 1894. These
wintered well, and I was asked to look at them
the first week in May (they had not been
opened before except when they arrived). I
found both in excellent condition, but likely

to run short of food, so advised feeding. This
was done, with the result that the bees never
looked back, and swarmed early, in fact on
the day I moved into this district (June 8)
they had their second cast. Both hives
swarmed and cast, so the increase has been
from two to six stocks. All these are in good
condition for winter, and have required no
feeding. Five out of the six have given
surplus, the total being 125 lb. of honey (viz.,
forty-seven good sections, and 78 lb. extracted),
and 1 lb. wax.

I think you will agree that increase and
honey taken are very satisfactory for a first
year. These results are being published in
The Cable to encourage farmers to adopt bee-
keeping. No one on the place knew how to
manage frame hives, but I have done nearly
all, so they have been more favourably fixed
than most beginners.

I have done a lot of expert work in Lines,
having a fortnight's tour in spring and a
month in the autumn. There is much less
foul brood in the county than last year. This
I attribute to two causes— first, our visits the
previous year, second, the severe winter which
has caused the weak stocks to die off, and
where the old combs have been burnt there
have been little or no signs. For this county
I consider the season has been a pretty fair
one. As usual, those whose stocks were built
up ready for the honey flow doing very well,
while those hives which were weak at the
commencement of the honey flow did little
more than get sufficient for winter.

The difficulty seems to be to get rid of
small quantities of honey, such as a stone or
two, but I think I am not far wrong in stating
that this county will have a honey depot
next year and we hope to be able to dispose of
members' honey. One of our members, I am
told, took half a ton of honey to the dairy
show and easily disposed of it.

I have judged honey at various shows, but
never saw better samples than were staged
this year, and the style of getting up the
exhibits is better. I think we can claim to
have come off best at the dairy show, certainly
if we judge by proportion of prizes to exhibits.
The attendance at the lectures in bee tent
at the various shows has been good, and
greater interest seems taken all round. The
evening lectures in the winter under the
auspices of the County Councils and the
L.B.K.A. have done, and are doing, much to
promote bee-keeping. —Frank H. R. Fisher,
Ewerbij, Sleaford, November 18.

FOUL BROOD.

TREATMENT BY BROMIXE.

[2304.] Having received during the last
twelve months many inquiries from bee-
keepers respecting the treatment of foul brood
by bromine, as suggested by me, I should be
glad to be allowed to state through the

Nov. 28, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

481

Journal that my apiary this summer ap-
peared qu'.te free from disease.

When 1 say that my average yield of honey
per hive was between 70 lb. and 80 lb , I think
you will agree with me that this fact of itself
serves as a fairly good guarantee of the
healthiness of my bees ; and when I remind
you that two years ago my apiary contained
fifteen diseased stocks, you will admit that I
have soma reason for considering that this
treatment has, in my own ci.se, proved suc-
cessful. But, as I have before stated, 1 do not
suggest that, at present, this treatment can be
indiscriminately recommended. What I do
claim f jr it is that, in the bands of any one
who is able to apply it with sufficient care and
caution, the spores of the disease may, without
injury to the bees, be attacked, and a real cure
effected ; and that the devising of simpler
methods of application is probably only a
mutter of time.

There is, at any rate, one point about the
treatment which I cannot help thinking is of
immediate and practical value to all bee-
keepers. I believe that my ownsuccess has been
very greatly facilitated by the simple, yet
thorough, means of disinfection which, in bro-
mine, 1 have had ever at hand. As a disin-
fecting agent for hives, &c, I cannot imagine
anything more effectual, and at the same time
so simple.

Sulphur fumes and carbolic solution we
know are powerless to touch the * pores, while
the effective application of steam is too trouble-
some ami expensive a process to be commonly
and constantly resorted to. My plan with
hives is as follows : — Having stopped up en-
trance, &c, I allow the fumes of bromine to
pervade the interior, after which, with a
bromine .solution, 1 thoroughly wash inside
ami out.

I claim for this method a simplicity equal to
that of the ineffectual practices commonly
resorted to, and at the same time a thorough-
ness as complete as the more troublesome, and
formany people impracticable, application of
steam.— Ghraud W. Bancks, Durham lions,,
JJarffvnl, November 14.

HOUSE APIARIES.

CONCERNING LARGE AND SMALL BEE-HOUSES.

[230.").] I am much interested in " Norfolk
Dumpling's'' description of his bee-house
(p. 471), also in Mr. Brice's account of his
bee house some weeks ago.

I commenced to build a snull bee-house
eirlylast spripg, and it is not quite i'mished
yet, owing to my uncertainty as to the best
plan on which to construct the front.

The house is 12 ft. long, 5 fc. wide, 8 ft. at
the back, and G ft. at the front. It is con-
structed of scantling 4 by 2, and matchboards.

My chief difficulty was what to roof it with.
In the end I selected Allport's " patent wire-
wove roofing," and so far I am well pleased
with it ; so much so, that I intend roofing a

honey-house, I purpose making, with it.
The honey-house will be 20 by 14. My
present one — 12 by 10 — is uncomfortably
small.

I think the front of a bee-house should be
capable of opening, for many reasons. The
front of mine is divided into rive divisions, by
scantling 4 by 2, each division being 2 ft.
wide. Two divisions are made of slabs of
wood 2 ft. by 2 in. by £, backed with 2-in.
strips of zinc 2 in. wide ; consequently the
whole front is flexible, and, by means of a
coi-d and pulley, can be drawn up under the
roof. The chief advantage is it can be fixed
at any height according to the weather. The
other divisions are worked on a different
plan, and are not quite finished yet. The
house is constructed to hold six hives
in two blocks of ihree hives. It is less
trouble making three hives in one u block," and
the bees in the middle hive are very snug,
as they have a hive on each side of them.
There is a 2 in. space between the middle and
side hives, to allow for handling the supers.
This chamber is connected with the hives, and
can be used for feeding purposes. The floor
of the bee-house is boarded, and oilcloth laid
down the passage at the back of the hives. A
good wooden spout carries the water from the
roof into a drinking-trough for the bees. The
matchboarding is o in., which I consider amply
thick enough. The house will not cost me
more than about £4. The roof is the ex-
pensive item— £1. 2s. My honey-house is
inatchboarded outside and inside, with a 2 in.
air space, in which the mice have fine fun. To
fill in the air space would be no advantage,
unless the window and roof were treated in tbe
same manner. My window bs a hinged
shutter, which draws up with a coid over a
pulley, which helps to keep the extreme cold
out of honey-hou«e. — B. T. Shea, Southend,
Essex, November 23.

"COME ON, MACDUFF !''
[2306.] My reverend opponent in the F.B.
controversy seems to have had "enough" of
it, judging by his wild bitting. In fairness,
however, to me and to the question at stake,
you must please allow one more "round," for
the doctor has not yet properly thrown up the
sponge — he has only tried to run away from
the stickiDg-point. Dr. Bartrum long since
hinted in tbe Journal that he was the father
of the suggestion as regards the issue of a foul-
brood leaflet. Allow me to say, as one of the
conference at the Board of Agriculture, that it
was Mr. W. II. Harris, of the B.B.K.A.
Council, who conceived the idea, and Mr.
Elliott, the secretary of the board, fathered it
there and then. Dr. Bartrum, who had not
then long resigned his seat on the council of
the B.B.K.A., very unadvisedly, I think, went
behind the council, and wrote direct to the
Board of Agriculture protesting against our
proposals. The project of the leaflet has uot

482

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 28, 1895.

been forgotten for a moment by the B.B.K.A.
All the information thereon that has acci-
dentally come to light through the recent
controversy (which, by the way, Dr. Bartrum
himself fir3t provoked) is that the materials
have been prepared, and, I am happy to say,
as a guarantee of thoroughness, by our friend
Mr. T. W. Cowan. Therefore Dr. Bartrum's
" point one " is worth— nothing !

As to the discussion proving that "s->me"
regard foul brood less seriously ''than your-
self,'' Dr. Bartrum's " some '' (a very indefinite
"sum" indeed) comprise the doctor and one
besides, best known in this controversy as the
"Eminent Expert." Now. both are friends,
they both hold heretical opinions in regard to
foul brood, and their practice accords with
their doctrine. They are, in a certain sense,
"consistent," but when bee-keepers are thus
heretical they cannot help foul brood tracking
their Bteps. You can trace them by the
apiaries they start. Indeed, that does not need
proving ; it follows as an inevitable sequence.
This disposes of Dr. Bartrum's point " two.''
I am glad, however, to think that our friend
Mr. Garratt, who can speak from a large and
valuable expedence, considers the B.B.K.A..
estimate for Kent, viz , £250, for the first
year's inspection and compensation far too
high. He put it at £125 or less, so that in-
stead of the necessary rate being " one-
twentieth of a farthing in the pound," it is
more likely to be but one-fortieth ! Verily a
trifle to contend about, but when people mean
to be unreasonable, even the fortieth part of a
farthing can be made to serve for casus belli.

The discussion I think has row pretty well
drawn the teeth of the opposition, and when
all the arguments that can be brought to bear
against the B.B.K.A. programme consists in
irrelevent topics, such as the Swine-fever Act
and the highway rate, the true friends of bee-
keeping need not be alarmed at the threat
with which Dr. Bartrum winds up his last
letter. I confess to feeling genuine sympathy
with the doctor on the s-uhject of local taxation,
but let him come and live in Evnsford ! He
would then appreciate the force of Dr. Samuel
Johnson's advice to discontented Britons
generally, to domicile themselves for a year
abroad in order to come home again conten'ed.

When at Whitehall last Friday I called
in at the office of the Ecclesiastical Com-
missioners in ord*r to ascertain the acreage of
Wake's Co'ne and also the amount of the
rectorial and vicarial tithes in that parish, but,
though I was treated most civilly, I found the
information less accessible than 1 riad supposed.
I was reminded of that celebrated d^sciipcion,
either from the pen of Dickens or Punch, con-
cerning the intric(k)acies of " circumlocution."
I was told that I ought to apply at the office of
the Tithe Commis>i>n in St. James's-square.
Unfortunately, it was then nearly train time,
so I had to abandon further r- s -arch. This
was somewhat regrettable, because the io-
foriu'ition woull have enabled me to better

appreciate Dr. Bartrum's position and the
special incidence of local burdens on the land
at Wake's Colne. Tithes are, of course, tixable
property ; I do not, therefore, wonder that our
friend Dr. Bartrum feels the inequality of the
position. I have heard " some " use the word
" iniquity " — of the present burdens on land.

It is a comfort to know that our Govern-
ment is strong, and 'ikely enough to lift the
tithe bodily from off the land in the comiag
session. Dr. Bartrum must not suppose that I
use the word "lift'' in its undesirable sense.

In conclusion. I assure Dr. Bartrum that I
am now quite of his opinion that it is high
time the present controversy was brought to an
end. — E. D. Till, Eynsford, Kent, Novem-
ber 23.

[It is satisfactory to know that we shall
meet the wishes of our correspondents in now
ciosing the above discussion. — Eds.]

SAINFOIN HONEY FROM MINORCA.

[2307.] I will thank you to tell your (and
"our') valued correspondent, the editor of
Revista Apicola, in Minorca, that you have
afforded me the privilege of tasting his
sainfoin honey. Next time he writes perhaps
he will say what his handsome bottles cost per
dozen and how much each contains. I consider
the hooey very good, but I hope I shall not
occsion him disappointment if I remark it is
not quite equal to British sainfoin honey.
The Minorca sainfoin is a different variety to
that found here, and hence the difference in
the flavour of the honey. The Minorca is
sweeter and has a pleasant aroma like quince
pivs3rve, quite distinctive in character from
ours. If he tells you when his consignment is
ready we must try to find him a buyer, in
f^ct such foreign honey as his is a pleasure to
see, but I fear as we are getting good British
in bulk at 6d. and 6|d. the English pound, his
tasty bottles (even if a full pound) would no-,
fetch over 7id. each to sell again. —A. Bielle.

WAX EXTRACTING, &c.

[2308.] Notanda ct Inquirenda. — I was vprv
pleased to see " Self- Taught" (228-1, p. 464)
giving his method of cleaning impurities from
under-side of wax cakes. This was a grievance
that I too had not overcome. There are, no
doubt, many little " tips " found out and
practised by B J. readers, and not generally
known, but which our Editors would n >
doubt be pleased to find space for, and be
appreciated by members of the craft.

Wax Cappings. — I now run my apiary
solely for extracted honey, but found a diffi-
culty in getting my wax cappings drained dry,
and when hanging them up in a cheese-cloth
bag I was tormented with wasps and bees.
This past season, however, when my un-
capping-dish was full, I put the cap-
piqgs through a "honey-squeezer'' (the one.

Nov. 28, 1895.] THE BKITLSH BEE JOUKNAL.

483

illustrated in most dealers' catalogues), then
pressed them into a small tin pail, such as you
will see children using at the sea-side on
the sands (you can get them any s'ze at a small
cost), then put the piil in a pot of boiling
water on the fire for a little time. I had then
my cake of wax and a considerable quantity
of honey, which I mixed up with my autumn
syrup when feeding up ; formerly I consider
this honey was lost to me.

Alighting Boards. — In order to extecd these
down to the ground I use any scrap pieces of
wood I have about, and cut into eighteen-inch
lengths ; I then drive two wire nails through
near the top corners and the same at the
bottom, but from the opposite side, then with
a blow of the hammer bend the nails so as to
project over the ends. I use length of nails to
project about half on inch ; press the bottom
nails into the ground and the top olcs to rest
oa the alighting board. If the weather buckles
the board, turn it top for bottom, and the
weatlv r will bring it back again. — John
Brown, Perth, November 19th.

PREVENTING SWARMING.
[2309.] In answer to questions asked by "Self
Taught" on page 464 of B.J. for November 14,
1895, I recommend, from personal experience,
that, j revious to your bees working, see that
there are no queen cells in the hive. As the
weather becomes warmer, raise the front of the
hive one inch, this will give more air, and, if
very hot, place a wet sack over tbe hive. This
will prevent s warming t> a great extent.
Swarms should be fed and treated in the same
way. I have kept bees for the last twelve
years, and have strictly adhered to the above
plan, with success. — Wm. Bent, Expert,
B.B.K.A., Grohify near Leicester.

THE SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

[2310.] I noticed in your issue of October
31 (p. 441) a question by a north-country
correspondent anent the S.B K.A Other
pressing business has prevented my replying
to it, but in case no one has undertaken the
task, courtesy compels me to say a few words
in reply. 1 will be very brief, as " brevity is
the soul of wit,-' and "'least said is soonest
mended." In the end of February this year
I received an invitition to attend a meeting of
the S.B.K.A. It so happened that it was
impossible on account ot professional duties
for me to journey to Kdi ibur„'h that week.
1 learned afterwards, through the kindness of
the secretary, that. Sir Thomas G. Carmichael,
the president, and Mr. Wishart, the secretary,
had tendered their resignations, and that a
commi.tee had been appointed to see Sir
Thomas and ask him to reconsider his
position. Hearing no result after wait-
ing patiently for some time, I then wrote

to Sir Thomas privately, and found that while
he still seemed willing to do something for the
association, his resignation and practical
severance from the S.B.K.A. was final. I
suggested to him the calling of another general
meeting and offered to do the secretary's work
if any one would act as treasurer, and to try
to get as many members as possible to double
their subscriptions for a time till we got on a
proper footing. Nothing came of this. In
the autumn, at the flower show time, I aca'n
wrote to Mr. Wishart, asking him to consult
Sir Thomas and see if he would now call a
meeting of all the members on a show day in
Edinburgh or Glasgow by post card, so we
could make an effort to save the society. Mr.
Wishart replied promptly and most cour-
teously that neither Sir Thunas nor himself
had now any connection with the S.B K.A.
And there the matter now stands. And a
thousand pities it is, for the S.B.K.A. has
been cut off prematurely in its health and
usefulness. I blame no one but I deeply
deplore the undoubted fact. — RoBRRT
McClelland, The Mans; Inchinnan, Ren-
frew.

A CODE OF HONOUR WANTED.

[2311.] Is there any code among bee-keepers
for the proper recognition of services volun-
tarily rendered ? I devote hours to a man's
bees, whose appreciation consists in charging
me for the milk which my thirsty soul compels
me to consume on tbe job ! I will treat you to
a further bit of experience. A bee-keeper, who
is not particularly skilful, asks me to tike a
stray and strong stock from an almost perilous
position. I secure for him, in a most successful
manner, a grand lot of honey as well as bees,
and return home, laden with — well, I leave you
to guess — "honey" say you — n<>, not honey,
but quite a big load ot gratitude ! I am a man
to whom time is money, and not above a
gratuity, besides, I have a poor, thin, delicate
wife, who almost goes into fits if I go up a
forty-round ladder, and I have a youngster or
two whose souls are stirred at the very sight
of run honey. Of course, there is always, to
me, immense satisfaction in having accom-
plished a risky job successfully, but gratitude
" doesn't pay the grocer." What do you think
such a job is worth ] — A. Smith.

[One who has " had a deal of experience in
this line " (see 2298, page 475) says five
pounds ! but suppose we say ten shillings ! —
Eds.]

"CHESTNUTS."
[2312] The approach of the festive season
and dark December's dreary hours recalls the
roarings, in our younger days, around the
winter's tire, of the above-named edible. It has
occurred to me lately, while perusing our
JOURNAL tba\ sure as winter comes round,
your editorial fire is often used by us — children

484

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Nov. 28, 1895.

of a larger growth — for the purpose of toast-
ing "chestnuts" of another kind. And, as of
old some nuts got burnt, either one side or
altogether, and others turned out bad ones, and
sometimes the toaster's fingers were often made
unpleasantly hot, still we enjoyed it all. So
with the "literary" ch?stnuts of our later
days ; some turn out very bad indeed, some are
overdone — burnt to a cinder, and some of the
toasters get their fingers bady burnt. Still,
we enjoy it all, and the uni y of the craft
surfers none for the indulgence in the harmless
pastime. So, with your kind permission, I,
too, will gather round the health warmed by
your hospitable and genial editorial fire, and,
though the storm without may (and does)
'• roar and rustle," the safety of my hives be ng
provided for,/ do not ''mind the storm a
whistle.-'

Foul brood— we thought this "nut" had
been left for the " council " to cook, b-.it the
recent "Apologia pro Bacillus Alvei" has
brought it into open market once again. Let
us stand firm on this matter, and never rest
till we have the strong arm of the law on our
side, and, what is more, the stronger arm of
custom, to help us in stamping out this baneful
obstructive to all advancement of our craft.
I am thankful to say I have never known
it, nor seen a trace of it in the scores of
hives I have examined during the past two
years ; but with the advent of many well-
meaning enthusiasts around here — who
seem to think that to be a succes-ful
bee-keeper means constant and incessant
manipulations of the brood nest, in season
and out of season — there is no telling Iioav
soon it will be upon us. Indeed, I have
heard of a case — not of a member of the
L. & 0., I am glad to say— which had to be
summarily dealt with by the best of all enres,
fire ! Anent the dreaded tax gatherer, J think
the fears in that respect aie too highly
magnified, and I would gladly submit to a
special " bee-tax" (say Gd. per hive or so) in
order to cover the extra expense entaded,
without burdering the general public. Perhaps
some of your leaders may not be aw^re that in
the Holy Land a tax of lour piastres, about nine-
pence, is levied upon each hive by the all-
devouring Turk, and no return for it in any
shape or form. The mother of a friend of
mine who has between thirty and forty hives
of the native pattern (of which I hope to say
more some other time,1, had one bad season to
pay in bee-taxes more than she received in
honey value. Surely we, in this favoured land
of bar-frames and " Wells" hives, associations,
experts, extractors, and the 1,001 adjuncts to
practical bee-keeping ; with our yields of
20 to 200 lbs. of honey per hive ; I say. surely
we can spare a like sum to the poor Syrians
of Galilee, and, unlike them, not to satisfy the
rapacity of a- tyrannous Government, but for
our protection and welfare?

Dairy Show and Extension <>f Prize List. —
Here again there is a worthy opportunity for

the exercise of generosity on the part of some
of the 52,001 who have " done well" this year.
Though directly many of us may not be
benefiied, yet, "if it be aught toward? the
general <; ood," we should all gain in the event.
Therefore, put up a liso with a shilling liiuit,
and let us see of what stuff we Britidi bee-
keepers are mad^.

The " Circulation.'' — "We are told that " the
blood is the life," and certainly without the
B.B.J, and Record the life of bee-keeping
would not be of much value. The best means
then of keeping the body- politic of-bee-beeping
in full working order is to look after its blood-
circulation. And there is nothing better for
this advisable end than starting bee-keepers.
I have lighted the torch of interest and love
for the " cult " within the hearts of over fifty,
and as I have impressed upon every one of
these the undoubted advantages of a " bee-
piper,'' nearly every one of these new bee-
keepers takes either the Journal or Record,
many both.

Common use of Extractor. — This practice
has been so o!ten condemned by the authori-
ties that you may think it a very " well done
nut '' indeed. Yet I learn the custom has
been set up again by a society recently formed
— any member of winch has a right to the
"common extractor" of the society. —
Frederick H. Taylor, Old Hull Lane,
Fallowfield, Local Hon. Sec. Lancashire ana
Cheshire B.K.A.

CONSANGUINITY.

[2313.] The question of heredity was
discussed^ at one time in the pages of the
Journal. It is a subject which in its allied
branches, especially consanguinity, might
supply us with much mental food. In the
past it has not, I venture to think, been taken
sufficiently into consideration as it affects our
races of bees. It is a " pious opinion "only
with most, and many hold it does not affect
them at all. In-and-in breeding, however, I
maintain causes the insect to degenerate all
round. Years of it brin^ about a dwindling in
size, the energy of the bee becomes less, its
activity decreases, and it becomes a source and
means of producing and disseminating all
forms of disease. Thus a stock that shows
signs of dysentery (perhaps a moot point)
in the spriDg of one year is much more
subject to a recurrence of the disease in
the following spring than a healthy stock,
other things being equal. Nay, I go
a step further and state as a fact that the pro-
geny of that stock has in it something like an
hereditary tendency towards a like result.
Now two or more stocks thus affected, with
drones and queens mating, or one of these
mating with a healthy queen, hands down the
tendency to future generation*. Weakness and
dwindling set in at an accelerated pace, and
down goes that collection of hives. Apart,

Nov. 28, 1895. J THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

485

however, from any pronounced disease, the
same deterioration conies sure and certain
where the subject of consanguinity is not
taken into consideration. I need not waste
your valuable space arguing faces well known
to all your intelligent readers, as the animal,
and even the vegetable, kiugdom is teeming
■with proofs so plain that he who runs may
read.

Skeppistsof wide experience, unaware of the
cause, have repeatedly maintained that there is
a mysterious something, which after a number
of years causes the stocks to degenerate ; and
once that sets in, a few years' struggle to main-
tain a flickering existence, and then their
stock has died out. This has been the
universal experience of every one I have
sounded on the subject. They, one and all,
gravely shook their heads and predicted
such a fate for mine. From tne start,
however, I took a rational view of the
matter, and every year I add some
bees or queens from another and [distant
apiary, with the result that, so far, I have as
healthy a set of bees as can be found. I have
at least seven distinct strains, and the crosses
from so many intermixtures of blood and
pedigree must tend to an increase of health,
strength, and energy, if my premise is correct.
I don't set it up as any new theory or discovery,
but I maintain that with the average bee-keeper
it is little practised, and generally neglected.
I am far from shutting my eyes to the fact that,
in the past, carelessness, indifference, and inex-
perience may have tended to assist, if not
create, this dying but in some cases, but
curiously the development followed the best
care and attention. Nor can we lay the
•whole blame at the door of that sealed
book, the straw-skep, for a like experience
has resulted since the bar - frame hive
has been used. I have a knowledge of
locally "prominent" bee-men, with apiaries
of considerable size some years ago, who have
now only one or two stocks— likely the sur-
vival of the fittest — which will soon dwindle
and die like tLeir fellows. CleanliLess, care,
and attention were given them, but no
new blood was introduced for many years,
and so the something set in, and they
are gone! Consanguinity, I maintain, is the
cause of all the ill. Far more of it would be
heard of but that neighbouring apiaries with
different families of befs are so near that
drones and queens from different hives meet at
mating. The cure, where this is not the case,
is a true and simple one, and I have never found
it fail. Introduce strange bee?, either queens
or swarms with queens, as a preference
from a considerable distance. Individually
I prefer to bring them from the south of
England, and I tind that these not only make
excellent workers, but the infusion of new
blood rouses up the old lot, and imparts
t<» them a supply of new energy. I think it
almost always happens that the drones from
these hive3 are flying at an earlier date

than from our natives, and so there is more
chance of young queens being fertilised
by them. Thus the old race gets a new lease
of life. The old listlessness disappears. Vigour
and energy take the place of lassitude and
balf-heartedness. The enervating process is
stayed and powerful swarms and full supers
follow instead of the former handful of bees
and no surplu?. It is only following out
a commoa-sense principle underlying all
the "change of seed" the farmer periodically
thinks a necessity, and the introduction into
his herd, stock, or poultry yard of the new
blood, without which rent would soon be a
thing which none of them could pay. Bee-
men should give more attention to the subject
in the future than in the past. — D. M. M.,
Bmitt'&hire, N.B., Novemler 10.

BEE-HOUSES AND BEE-STINGS.
[2314.] Bee-Houses.— The interesting letter
of your correspondent, " Nor.Vk Dumpling "
(page 471), reminds me of seme experience in
a similar direction which may interest readers.
My hives were placed in a rocm with a wiudow
facing south, and one of the first difficulties
I met with was with regard to an exit for tbe
bees. On opening the lower part of the
window they invariably flew upwards, and
exhausted themselves in ett'jrts to find an
opening at the top and, even with the window
opm top and bottom, the bees lost much time
and labour in finding an exit. It is also a
very satisfactory arrangement to construct
from each hive to tbe window-opening a
passage about 1 in. deep, of the breadth of tbe
hive entrance, and covered with glass. If the
coveting be of wood— or other opaque sub-
stance— the bees find their way into the open
more quickly ; but the glass is a great pro-
tection against robbers. The inhabitants of
ihe hive soon get accustomed to the
sheet of glass overhead, and learn not to
take wing until outside the building. A
strange bee, on the contrary, attempts to fly
upwards directly on quitting the entrance and,
being utterly bewildered, and perhaps laden
with stolen goods, learns a lesson not likely to
lead to a renewal of the visit. I would
strongly advise "Norfolk Dumpling" not to
make his bee-house too warm, having myself
lost large numbers of bees in that way. In
my case, on a bright day in winter, even with
a frost outside, the temierature rose so high
that numbers of the bees ventured out, became
torpid with the cold, and fell to rise no more.
I have now abandoned my bee-house and
prefer hives in the open. In any case tbe
chief advantage of such a building seems to
be its roof which affords protection from
damp, even if tbe construction of the hives
be somewhat defective.

Bee-Stings.— "Self Taught" (p. 473) may find
it more convenient to press a watch key or
other small key upon the spot from which he

486

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 28, 1895.

has extracted a sting than to use his teeth as
remedial agents. The pressure used should be
considerable, and it is a great advantage to fill
the barrel of the watch key with strong
ammonia before applying it. I use a small
tube containing a solution of cocaine, which
soon relieves the pain. Two separate effects
seem to be caused hy the sting of a bee. The
first, sudden pain, is probably due to the acid
nature of the liquid injected ; for this, ammonia
is a good antidote. The after-effects, however,
seem to be due to wha1-. may be termed a
physiological poison, similar to that of venom-
ous snakes, and as it has been recently found
that inoculation is a remedy for, or rather a
preservative againsN snake poison, it is more
than probab'e that the same will be found to
hold good with bee-stings. It seems to be a
prevalent opinion that bees loose their stings
when those weapons hive once been used, and
then die ; but this is by no means the ca=e. I
have frequently seen them, after inserting their
sting, buzz round and round, and, as it were,
screw the sting out of their victim, after which
they seem none the worse for their sudden
outburst of temper. — Walter T. Reid, Addle-
stone, November 25.

[So far as windows to house apiaries, it may
be safely assumed that any one possessing
knowledge of the ordinary requirements of
such a place would have the windows swung
on pivots, so that they may be instantly turned
"inside-out,'' as it were. This arrangement is
considered a sine qua non in a Hee-hou^e. The
3 in. space between the double walls would
also prevent the inside warmth complained
of.— Eds.]

MORE SUGGESTIONS.

A bee-keeper who devotes much of his
time to exhibition work writes as under.
1. Badges should be worn by all who help in
the capacitv of stewards at shows, in order
that inquirers may know of whom to ask
questions. 2. A lock-up box should be pro-
vided for articles belonging to stewards or
visitors. At Dairy Show several things were
stolen from the B.B.K.A. stall. 3. Show
stands should have the return (home) railway
station painted on to save re- addressing.
4. Hon. local secretaries should be encouraged
to go in for third-cla s examination. 5. Hon.
local secretaries should make bee-luepiog
census of their districts, i.e., record all hives
and owner?, wht ther members or not. 6. Cot-
tager piiz-s *>t local shows should be given
in a year's supply of the B.BJ, thus,
1st prize, 2s. 6d. and twelve months' Bee
Journal ; 2nd prize, twelve months' Bee
Journal. 8. That the meeting of amalga-
mated co-operative societies- at the Crystal
Palace in August, 1896, be used for a grand
show of honey and appliance?.

One who appreciates the " suggestion ''
writes ;— " I am g'ad Jo. say that since

October 5 I have taken in the British Bee
Journal. J had no idea it was so good. I
wish I had been advised to take it sooner.
Why are not readers of the Record advised to
read the B.B.J. ? ''

ABOUT OUR BEES.

"the drone."

Continued from page 468.)

Many theories have been set up as to the
usefulness and otherwise of the male bee but
so far nothing very conclusive or even satis-
factory has been evolved from them. By
some their very usefulness has been applied as
a term of reproach applicable to all sorts of
individuals who " do no work," though making
a big noise, and so on. For myself, I cannot
thus look upon the drone bee ; in fact after
much careful study, I am convinced that
sooner or later a sphere of usefulness
beyond the or* mentioned will be found
which will place the hitherto despised and
often ill-used drone high up in the estimation
of all who study the bee and its uses.

One thing I would here note, that drones are
not all of the same shape ; the abdomen of some
being much more pointed than others. I do
not for a moment suppose that differently
shaped drones have different functions, but
rather attribute the result to the food supplied
to, or by accident withheld from, the larvae
during development ; or age may account for
the change. I have sometimes asked mj self
the question — Are these strangely-shaped
drones bi-sexual ? but so far have been unable
to determine the point. That they do not
perform any labour of the nature done
by the workers is clear beyond all ques-
tion. Most writers even go so far as
to say they do not even feed themselves, but
this is not quite correct ; I have often
seen drones helping themselves to honey from
the open cells, as have I also seen laying queens
feed themselves ; so that however useless they
may be, according to our lights, do not let us,
because they have a bad name, vote the poor
drone worthy only of being "hilled off'' by
way of riddance, because others tell us they
deserve it ; rather let us try and find some
redeeming feature which may be se*. off as a
palliative to their many enormities (?), and at
the same time thr >w light upon one of, what I
term, the modern mysteries of the bee-hive.

THE QUEEN, OR MOTHER-HEE.

Of the queen-bee it may truly be said that
in her is centred the main element which goes
to make up the difference between a good and
a bad stock of bees. Indeed, so far does the
prolificness or breeding- powers of a really
'good queen" overcome difficulties and
obstacles of all kinds— tending to prevent the
development of a strong and vigorous colony —
that fmch a queen and little more than a pint of
bees in ear'y spring— located, moreover, in a big,

Nov. 28, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

487

half-combed, and more than half- rotten skep with
a cold flag for floor-board — have to my know-
ledge built themselves up into as powerful a
colony as could be wished for in time for
the same season's honey-flow. I therefore
propound no new theory in saying that the
queen is the all -important member of the bee
community, and is so regarded by all expe-
rienced bee-keepers. The beginner who is in
earnest over his work seldom rests satisfied
till he is able to distinguish the queen bee on
the combs as she performs her maternal
duties. This, of course, entails the need for
becoming familiar with her shape and general
appearance, in addition to the quickness of
eye which enables some bee-keepers to " spot "
the queen so readily, even on the combs of a
crowded hive. Some queens, too, are much
more difficult to find than others. But in all
cases it is well to open hives quietly — when a
sight of the queen is the special object of the
inspection — and so avoid starting the queen
to " run," by which term is meant so disturbing
the colony that the bees and queen run rest-
lessly over the combs and off them on to the
sides and floor of the hive. By lifting the
frames very gently this disturbance is avoided,
and the mother-bee is so little upset in the
process as to frequently continue her maternal
work of egg-laying while the comb is in the
hands of the operator.

A queen is recognised by her elongated ap-
pearance, the apparent shortness of her wings,
and length and golden colour of her legs ; these
latter being quite different to those of the
worker. The legs of the queen are also
entirely devoid of the " pollen baskets,'' which
form so distinguishing a feature in the legs of
the worker. Referring to the queen bee,
Reaumur says she "has a grave and sedate
walk, and is the mother of all the others.''

The queen is also the only fully-developed
female in the hive. Her ovaries, of which
there are two, are very large, containing
"from 180 to 200 tubes or follicles " (Cowan) ;
so that the number of eggs and egg-germs con-
tained therein at one time must be many thou-
sands. A single queen in the course of her
life is capable of laying an enormous number
of eggs. Professor Cook says: — "I have
known queens to lay 3,000 eggs a day. These
I find weigh 3*900 grains, while the queen
herself only weighs 2'299.'' Thus a queen
may lay nearly double her own weight of eggs
per day. The sting of the queen is somewhat
similar in structure to that of the worker,
but it is curved and longer, and some
consider it analogous to and used as an
ovipositor. A queen is mated but once,
and then always outside the hive, which fact
has a very important bearing on the question
of in-and-in 1 needing. A queen generally
commences to fly from the hive from three to
six days from the time she comes forth from
the cell, aid although queens are sometimes
successful during these early flights in finding
a mate, yet my experience goes to show that

the usual period is from the tenth to the
fourteenth day, if the weather is favourable,
and I have had queens during bad seasons go
twenty-six to twenty-eight days Mure queens
are lost during the first few days of their
flight than at any other period, so that if I
find a queen safe after the first few days I feel
quite satisfied that she will not be lost, but
wil1, bar accidents, eventually head the hive
she is in, in the way desired. A queen
usually commences her maternal duties tbrty-
eight hours after a successful " mating.'' The
brain of the queen is relatively small ; a some-
what natural consequence, seeing that many
of her other organs are so highly developed.
In the same ratio, the brain development of
the worker is much more marked. During
the season when egy production is at its height
queens are largely fed by the workers,
Schiemenz and Sehonfeld holding the opinion
(which I share) that bees feed b^tn queens and
dron°s with digested food similar to that sup-
plied to the larvae. Seeing how much is involved
and dependent upon the mother-bee it is sur-
prising that greater attention is not given
to her by bee-keepers in this country. So
long as they know that the hive is " queened ''
it is taken for granted by some that all that
is necessary has been done, and yet they
wonder why 90 per cent, of their stocks fail to
prosper. To be thoroughly successful bee-
keeper* we must no longer be content to jog
along the old beaten track, but must take the
matter into our own hands, and, by the light
of practical science, breed only queens from
selected and tried mothers. What is known
as " allowing bees to re-queen themselves "
or raising a batch of cells from the first stock
available are methods no longer to ba thought
of. The same principle must be followed as
when breeding farm stock, cattle, or poultry, in
connection with which small fortunes are spent
in obtaining individual animals possessing
traits which will ultimately benefit our stocks.
Bee-keepers, as a rule, do practically nothing
in this direction, the " let alone " system being
paramount. They fail sometimes because disease
is rampant in their apiaries, and at other
times because they pay no attention whatever
to the queens at the head of their colonies,
yet wonder how it is that some individual
stocks will gather two or three times the
quantity of supplies that others in the same
apiary will collect.

The answer to this question has long troubled
bee-keepers, but I maintain that the secret
lies in the queen, or mother-bee, and this fact
will, sooner or later, be admitted and recog-
nised. When a proper amount of intelligence
is brought to bear on the breeding and selection
of the queens at the head of his hives, the bee-
keeper has done his share towards obtaining
uniform and satisfactory results, and without
attention to these points I dont see how
uniformity in returns is to be hoped for in
bee-keeping. — H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath.
(To be continued.)

488

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Nov. 28, 1895.

tyntrka and Qt$\m.

' [1398.] SeJf-Hivers — As an old subscriber
to the B.J. I should be very much obliged if
you could give me information as to self-
hivers. Are any of those now in the market
practical contrivances, and worth a trial ? You
might perhaps think it worth while to give
the pros, and cons, in a short article, giving
your readers reliable information as to the use
of self-hivers during the last two or three
seasons 1 I know that with many bee-keepers
this is a very practical question, and many of
us are eagerly looking out for a really good
self-hiver. In my own case, my hives are
placed out of every one's way at the end of
my orchard, and just over the wall is a large
elm avenue. Do what I will, some years
swarms will issue, and up they go, either to
the top of the orchard or elm trees. Conse-
quently, unless they are actually seen to issue,
the chances are they are lost, or even if located,
the process of hiving is rendered certainly
difficult, if not dangerous. This year I parti-
cularly wanted a swarm to replace the only
loss I have had in [five hives in eight years.
Two swarms issued, but they settled on to the
higher parts of high trees. With all this foul
brood about I shall certainly never buy a
swarm. If you can give me and others any
information on this matter you may be assured
of our combined and hearty thanks.— A. L. Y.
Morley, Gt. Brington, Northants, Novem-
ber 17.

Eeply. — The only "reliable information"
that can be given with regard to self-hivers
must come from those who, having put to a
practical test the various appliances made for
the purpose, succeed or fail with them. And
as we cannot include ourselves in either class,
our evidence will not be of much value. It
may, however, be remembered that the subject
of self-hivers was discussed at the last conver-
sazione of the B.B.K.A. (vide B.J. of October
24 last, p. 426), and we then maintained that
the self-hiver of Mr. Hole had successfully
secured swarms, and had, moreover, retained
them in the receptacle provided until the
following day. The inventor of the hiver
referred to, after reading the report mentioned,
sent on for our inspection several testimonials
from known bee-keepers as to the efficacy of
the appliance, after trial, which for obvious
reasons we did not print. The query of
our correspondent, however, renders this men-
tion of them perfectly fair and proper, as
affording the desired information in the only
way we can, with all-round justice, publish it.

[1399.] Bees Swarming (?) in November. —
As a constant reader of the B.B.J., could you
kindly give any reason for bees swarming in
this month of .November? My hives are well
supplied with honey, and well-packed for the
winter, but to-day there issued from one hive

a small swarm, with a queen and about three
handfuls of bees, which I hived off the front
of a neighbour's house.' I have put them on
four shallow-frames of honey. Could you
give me any further advice ?— Novice, Boclen-
ham, Leominster, November 22.

Reply. — An examination of the hive from
which the supposed " swarm " issued should
offer an explanation as to why the bees
deserted their home as stated. To an outsider
— without such means of judging — it would
appear that the bees left because the paucity
of their numbers proved to them the futility
of endeavouring to maintain sufficient warmth
for keeping themselves a'ive. if an examina-
tion proves the contrary, the "three handfuls
of bees " should be either returned to the hive
from whence they came, or added to another
stock, as in no other way can they be utilised.

Notieesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
jood of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

H. Creber (Harlesden). — There is an associa-
tion for Middlesex, of which Major Fair, 13,
Anlaby road, Teddington, is the hon. sec,
and will, no doubt, afford full information
as to membership if applied to. We will be
very pleased to print particulars of your last
season's bee- work in '' Beginners' Column "
of our monthly, the B.K. Record, for
December.

Anxious (Bristol).— Candy Feeding.— If the
bees are known to be well provided with
food for winter, there is certainly no need to
give another 3 lb. cake of candy. It does
not at all follow that, because bees carry
down candy fast, they are short of food.

W. T. Lane, (Teignmouth). — Failures in
Candy-making. — Our correspondent in ask-
ing for " more precise information " as to
making bee- candy than that given in
" Guide Book,'' because of having failed in
his attempts, surely does the book in-
justice by acknowledging that he has not
adhered closely to the instructions himself !
We can only say that the cream of tartar is
essential. The mixture also must be con-
stantly stirred, while cooling, until it becomes
white in colour and of a stift' consistency, but
soft enough to pour into the saucers or
moulds. Candy properly made will not
become stone-hard, but may at all times be
easily scraped away by the finger nail.

E. E. Thompson (Cashel, co. Tipperary). —
Painting Hives. — We could not tolerate
hives painted "all of different colours."
Ours are all painted light-stone colour, and
by placing them 6 ft. or more apart no mis-
chief in loss of queens arises.

Dec. 5, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

469

(Mtonal, $otim, &u

REV. FREDERICK BASTIAN.

We have for some time past intended to
present to readers of the B. J. a portrait and
a brief biographical sketch of one of the most
rpspected and highly esteemed of onr con-
tinental bee-maste? s in the person of the late
Pasteur Frederick Bastian, of Alsace, and in
fulfilment of our wish, append the following
particulars regarding him furnished by our
friend M. Dennler : —

Frederick Bastian was bom at Weiler, near
AVissembourg, on April 2(5, 1834. After

attended the course of bee-lectures given in

this province, and there initiated himself in

the movable comb system, with the fixed

j intention of introducing it into Alsace,

where only the old straw skep was

known. Bastian applied himself to the task

< and met with unexpected success. In 1868

I he published his first bee-book, "Les Alieilles,

i Traite Theorique et Pratique, l'Apiculture

! Bationelle," which was also • translated into

, Italian. This was the precursor of his ex-

j tended and energetic researches for the

advancement of apiculture. In 1868 he

: founded the Alsace Bee Association, which at

first consisted of himself and a few friends and

neighbours, Bastian being elected president,

and retaining that post for twenty-five years.

REV. FREDERICK BASTIAN,

having completed his theological studies at the
Protestant College in Strasbuig, he afterwards
performed the duties of curate and pastor at
Wissembourg, officiating in this capacity for
nearly thirty years.

In 1874 he was elected President of the
consistory and ecclesiastical inspector of
Wissembourg. Bastian fulfilled his pastoral
duties well, but it is especially as a bee-keeper
that he made for himself a name, which will
always retain a place of honour in the annals of
Alsace-Lorraine bee-keeping. Profiting by
the neighbourhood of the Palatinate, he

From this small beginning has grown a society
now comprising Beventy-four sections, and
numbering 4,50o members.

lie was the inventor of a hive which goes by
the name of the " Bastian hive,'' or the
"Alsatian hive." In 1874 he wrote his
''Handbiichlein des Elsiissischen Bienenzucht,"
which was translated in the following year
into French by M. Colombain. In 1873 he
founded the bulletin of the Society, " Der
Elsassische Bienen/.iichter," and was at first
sole editor. In 1874, however, he handed the
editorship over to bis disciples, Dennler of

490

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Dec. 5, 1895.

Enzheim and Zwilling of Miindolsheim. It
was President Bastian who, with his charming
grace and conciliatory spirit, knew how to
conduct the meetings of the Society with tact,
and avoid the introduction of those pernicious
polemics which often cause disunion and
disorder. His opinion was always respected,
and he spoke with authority. Twenty-five
years passed under his leadership since
the formation of the Society, years of study
and serious labour, and the work of Bastian is
to-day crowned with success.

In remembrance of the services which he
had rendered to bee-keeping in this country, it
was decided to celebrate the twenty-fifth anni-
versary of the foundation of the society at
Wissembourg. Various gifts were made by
grateful members to M. Bastian and his two
disciples, MM. Dennler and Zwilling. Unfor-
tunately, Bastian was dangerously ill at the
time of the Wissembourg fetes, and a few
weeks later the society had to grieve for the
loss of its founder and devoted president.

Frederick Bastian died November 3, 1893,
at the age of 59, after a long and painful
illness. A large number of members and
friends came from all parts of Alsace-Lorraine
to assist at the funeral of their venerated pre-
sident, who will be long remembered as one
of the leading bee-keepers in Europe.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

It is requested that, until further notice, all
communications intended for the late secre-
tary, be addressed "The Chairman, British
Bee-Keepers' Association, 17, King William-
street, Strand, W.C."

SURREY BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The following circulars have been sent to
members of the above association, and copies
forwarded to us for publication : —

RERORT TO MEMBERS.

A movement, promoted by the Technical
Department of the Surrey County Council, to
resuscitate the failing cause of Bee-keeping in
Surrey, resulted in a meeting of bee-keepers
for this object being convened at Guildford, on
October 19, 1895, and presided over by the
chairman of the County Council.

After discussion, a provisional committee
was formed to carry out the objects in view,
and to elect a standing committee.

In view of such resuscitation, a special
general meeting of the Surrey Bee-keepers'
Association was summoned for November 15,
1^95, at the County and Borough Halls,
Guildford, when it was unanimously agreed to
dissolve the assoc'ation in view of the new
departure ; suggesting to all Surrey Bee-
keepers the advisability or joining the above
movement, started under such auspicious cir-
cumstances. — C. D. Camrbell, Secretary,
Nov. 15, 1895.

Along with the above was enclosed a notifi-
cation regarding the proposed new association
of Surrey Bee-keepers, which is intended shall
take the place of the now defunct organisation
instituted in 1879. It will be seen that the
prospects of the proposed new Surrey Bee-
keepers' Association are of the most encourag-
ing kind, and we are requested to state that
any lady or gentleman interested in the move-
ment will write to the hon. sec, whose address
appears at foot. Slightly condensed the cir-
cular reads as under : —

At the instance of the Surrey County
Council, as you are probably aware, a confer-
ence of bee-keepers in this county was recently
held at Guildford.

A provisional committee was then appointed
to confer with the committee of the pieviously
existing Surrey Bee-keepers' Association as to
the steps to be taken to reconstitute the Asso-
ciation in a form to secure the support of bee-
keepers throughout the county, and financial
assistance from the County Council.

I now have the honour to inform you that
the result has been the formation of a new
Association, with a strong committte of
gentlemen, of business capacity, representing
every division of the county, who are -willing,
if adequate support is forthcoming, to give
time and energy to the management of the
Association.

Under certain guarantees for the proper ex-
penditure of public money, the Association,
under this management, may expect to receive
substantial monetary assistance towards their
educational efforts irom the Technical Instruc-
tion Funds at the disposal of the County
Council.

Ihe affairs of the old Association are wound
up, and the new organisation begins its career
with the objects of :—

1. Promoting more scientific methods of
bee culture.

2. Spreading a knowledge of the industry.

3. Taking joint action lor the extermina-
tion of disease and

4. Providing means of co-operation for
the readier aDd more certain disposal of
products.

Subscriptions to ensure membership of the
Association will be not less than five shillings
per annum, except to bona-fidc cottagers, whose
subscriptions will be half-a-crown per annum,
payable in half-yearly instalments.

in return for the annual subscription mem-
bers will be entitled to —

1. A yearly visit from one of the
authorised experts to the Association,
free of cost, and to expert advice, at
any time, on payment of a reduced fee.

2. A monthly periodical, on the subject
of apiculture, free, and to bee publica-
tions at reduced cost.

3. Participation in the special contests to
be promoted by the Association, and

4. The benefit of the means that may be
devised for the disposal of products.

Dec.

1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

491

It is hoped that all details of working can
be completed by the end of the present year,
and that the committee will be in a position to
call a general meeting of the members early in
the new year for confirmation of their pro-
posals ; but everything must depend upon the
amount of support that is forthcoming from
bee-keepers and others in the country. — 1 have
the honour to be, your obedient servant, J. W.
Jacojib Hood, hon. secretary, pro tern., The
Avenue, Surbiton, November, 1895.

BEES IN PUBLIC GARDENS.

A member of the B.B.K.A. Council writes
as follows : — " I lately inquired whether an
observatory hive of bees could be located at
the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, some
member of the B.B.K. Association under-
taking the necessary oversight. It appears
they were once tried at the ' Zoo,' and it is
said 'stioging and swarming' made them
objectionable. Certainly it would be awkward
if a swarm settled on the pole of the bear pit,
or in some other place of ugly surroundings.
Those in authority at the Zoo are evidently
not favourable to bee-keeping in the gardens.
It is rather unfortunate, as an observatory hive,
with a few exhibits explanatory of our industry,
would be very interesting and instructive to
thousands of visitois."

"The following is from the Director of Kew
Gardens in reply to a similar suggestion. It
is very sympathetic, and, so far, encouraging
to us and our industry, but that is all. I
should like to see bees to the front in Botanical
Gardens, perhaps there is a better chance in
the provinces for this new departure.''

Dear Sir, — Bee-keeping is entirely beyond
the scope of " Kew '' work, which is already
more than we can easily keep in baud, and,
with the development of the Empire, is con-
tinually growing. I could not possibly under-
take any fresh departure.

In saying this 1 entirely sympathise with
the object you have ia view, and am most
anxious to see this and every other minor rural
industry encouraged, and 1 veiy much appre-
ciate your kind offer of help. — YV. C. Thisel-
ton-Dyer, Director.

WEATHER REPORT.
Westbouiine, Sussex, November, 1895.

Rainfall, 5*34 in.

Heaviest fall, "58 on
4th.

Rain fell on 24 days.

Above average, 1'73.

Maximum Tempera-
ture, 58° on 7th.

Minimum Tempera-
ture, 28° on 18th.

Minimum on Grass,
26° on 18th.

Frosty Nights, 3.

Sunshine, 537 hours.

Brightest Day, 13th,

7'3 hour-;.
Sunless Days, 9.
Below Average, 6*96

hours.
Mn. Maximum, 50*1°.
Mn. Minimum, 39"3 .
Mean Temperature,

44 7°.
Maximum Barometer,

30-39° on 18th.
Minimum Barometer,

29-20° on 11th.

L. B: BlRKETT.

(ftmtsfm&tm.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. Wt
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[2 315.] The work connected with the
apiary at this period of the year is mostly of a
preparatory kind, and the long winter evenings
may be profitably employed in repairing or
constructing various bee-appliances. Consider-
ing the capabilities of the average amateur,
many things used are cheaper to buy ready-
made, seeing how few are master of all the
trades, like Kaiser Wilhelm II.

A Honn-made Feeder. — For making a cheap
"feeder," I commend the ordinary 1-lb. and
2-lb. glass-jaw ; then get a piece of zinc or
tin, 4 in. square for the 1-lb., or 5 in. for a
5-lb. jar. Bend back two sides of the tin to
the extent of | in., just far enough to clip the
lip of jar on both sides tightly, so that no
leakage will occur when the jar is inverted.
To complete the feeder, drill cr punch the
required number of holes for fast or slow
feeding, as required. Next cut a 2^ in. hole
in a piece of, say, ^-in. wood. A bit of glass
to cover the feed-hole in stage when refilling
jars completes the feeder, and I use but few of
any other kind. For making those of larger
sizes a 3-lb. grocer's jam- bottle may be used,
and makes a good strong feeder— cost nominal.
Tins I have discarded after trial, as with them
one cannot see whether focd is taken down cr
not.

A Cheap and Efficient "Knife-heater." —
Buy a used ''snuff-tin'' from a tobacconisl or
grocer (cost Id.). These are well-made and
don't leak ; make two apertures in the lid (for
inserting the knives) each § in. wide and I ' in.
long. Next punch two small holes just below
the lid, and through these holes run a piece of
wire to form a handle. When filled with hot
water this "heater" will answer every pur-
pose by placing it on grate, stove, or over a
lamp.

Wax and Wax Cappings. — After straining,
I keep these in self-opening tins until " melt-
ing" time. When lids are on, these tins keep
the contents secure. Odds and ends of dry
wax are kept in a box with a lid until required
for melting. A few lumps of naphthaline
being always placed in the box, to guard
against moths.

I '/id for '96 Dairy Show. — I have not
written Mr. Brice to add my name to his list,
but I know he takes it for granted that myr
" mite '' may be counted on. Mr. F. H. Taylor's
suggestion, on p. 484, of " a list with a Is.
limit," deserves the general support of bee-

492

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Dec. 5, 1895.

keepers in all parts of the kingdom, and
though we do not expect it to rank with the
" W. G. Grace contribution,'' yet if all bee-'
beepers who have received " tips," '; kinks," or
even "chestnuts," nicely browned, from tbe
pages of the British Bee Journal will
acknowledge their indebtedness, and plank
down their " bob," a goodly sum will be forth-
coming to strengthen tbe hands of our Central
Association, and enable us to have a show
worthy of the B.B.K.A. But why should
there not be a " ladies' class ? " We have lady
bee-keepers, from our loved and honoured
president, the Baroness Burdett-Coutts down
to the humblest cottager's widow. All that is
wanted is prompt action ; and I trust the pages
of the B.B.J, will show us that, ere long, a
liberal response has been made to the proposals
referred to.

Bee Houses versus Outside Hives. — This
question, I should think/may be profitably dis-
cussed at this season. With no practical
experience of bee-houses myself, I have read
with interest many descriptions of them as
used in America. On that vast continent
those who keep bees in houses are in a small
minority, yet some are very successful with
them. There are some special advantages exist-
ing in "houses" compared with hives on outside
stands, especially wBen the bee-location is
some distance from home. Protection while
manipulating in showery weather is a saving of
time, especially to the busy man. Then the
convenience of having everything under one
roof is another saving, while the cheaper
style of hives suitable for a bee-house, would,
I think, reduce first cost to that of an apiaiy
of single or double hives. In constructing a
bee-house to hold, say, forty colonies, my
preference would be for the honey or
store-room in centre, with the bees in the
wings ; so as to utilise all sides of a span
roof building. This I should have six feet
to eaves, with match-board roof, covered
with corrugated iron ; thus allowing free
ventilation to keep the interior moderately cool
even in summer. The floor should be brick* d,
and tbe bottom row of hive resting on bricks ;
top one on a stout platform of scantling. The
bottom row of entrances outside should have
alighting boards extending to the ground. I
would also have the wall outside painted in
different colours. The top row of entrances
outside could have hanging alighting boards
(removable) ; large ones for summer and small
ones for winter. These could also be painted
different colours if desired. — W. Woodley,
Bcedon, Newbury.

ROOFS FOR BEE HOUSES.
[2316.] "Norfolk Dumpling" (on p. 472),
askg for the experience of bee-keepers as to
the "best kind of roof for keeping out rain,
snow,'' &c. I beg to give mine so far as
regards the kind of roof which I think will be

hard to beat, and the style of which is unusual,
I think, as to its make. It is in my cise used
as a roof for a small bee-shed holding six
hives. The roof is made from pine boards,
about 3j in . wide, by f or § in. thick. These
are machine hollow-planed boards and these
with a stout strip to cover the joints make
so many spouts down the roof, so that the
slant of roof — (J ft. at the highest and 3 ft. at
the back — runs oil" any storm of rain possible.
The back faces the west, and is subject to
storms with a direct blow of seventy to eighty
miles, and since 1882 I never once knew a
single drop to come through the roof. — W. G.,
Ra stride. Yorks.

FOUL BROOD MEASURES.

[2317.] I should have, been very pleased to
have concurred in the wish expressed by you
and the combatants engaged in the foul- brood
controversy that the correspondence should
now cease, but my name having been intro-
duced somewhat invidiously in the contribu-
tion of last week (p. 481), under the heading,
" Come on, Macduff," I feel that I am justified
in asking your indulgence to offer some remarks
thereon.

It is necessary, for the sake of clearness, for
me to say that 1 have reason to believe that
the complimentary title of " Eminent Bee-
master,'' used by Dr. Bartrum in his over-
flowing kindness, was intended to apply to me.
Mr. Till lurns this, probably inadvertently,
into " Eminent Expert," and 1 may say, by the
way, that they are both gratuitous and could
be well dispensed with ; and, but that circum-
stances— for which I am in no way responsible
— require it, this explanation would not now be
made, nor the matter alluded to.

Now, although I am in no way averse t:>
being closely associated with Dr. Bartrum in
his general ideas on bee-keeping ; I quite fail
to see why I am bracketted with him in the
matter of foul brood ! In the only contribution
which I have made to the discussion J.
distinctly said that the conversation which I
had with Dr. Bartrum on the subject did not
result in precise agreement, and, as evidencing
my soundness, it is quite well known that I
formed one of the deputation which waited
upon the President of the Board of Agriculture
to press for legislative powers. Why, thea; am
I treated as an adversary ? Mr. Till says,
alludiDg to Dr. Bartrum and myself " now
both are friends, they both hold heretical (?),
opinions in rpgard to foul brood, and their
practice accords with their doctrine. . . . but
when bee-keepers are thus heretical they
cannot help foul brood tracking their steps.
You can trace them by the apiarie3 they
start."

Herein is a grave charge, and to avoid
notice of it would imply a want of courage and
an admission of guilt. I therefore ask Mr.
Till to disclose the facts upon which he bases
so serious an imputation.

Dec. 5, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

493

In conclusion, 1 may say that I know of no
other cause of offence given by me than that
I happen to differ •with Mr. Till on the ques-
tion of the cost of carrying out the provisions
of the proposed measure ; my estimate being
at least half of what he deems necessary. —
Jesse Garratt, Mcopham, Kent, December 2,
1895.

[Notwithstanding the editorial footnote, on
page 482 of last week's issue, the reasons for
our willingly inserting the above communica-
tion are so obvious as to need no further
explanation. — Eds.]

EXPERIENCE OF AN ESSEX
BEE-KEEPER.

3,900 LB. OF HONET IN '95— i: DO BEES PAY ? "

[2318.] I have been a reader of your valu-
able Bee Journal for the last five or six
years, and during that time have received
many useful hints from it. Seeing also that
bee-keepers relate their experiences in its
columns, it may not be out of place for me to
relate the following : — ■

I started bee-keeping nine years ago with
one bar-frame hive and three skeps, and at the
present time have sixty-six stocks, all in frame-
hives, well provided with stores, and snugly
packed away for the winter.

I began the spring of this year with forty-
five stocks, eight out of that number being ia
skeps.

Total amount of honey taken this season is
3,900 lb., besides selling twenty-six swarms
and increasing my stocks to fifty-one. During
this last autumn I have made up fifteen stocks
from driven bees, making a total of sixty- six
colonies for wintering.

In the spring I examine all ray hive, and
weed out all old combs, replacing them with
full sheets of foundation. I then take a miik-
pan, and chop up some straw into pieces two
or three inches long, and during suitable
weather pour into the pan and over the
choppcl straw a dozen or so pounds of syrup.
I do this in the afternoons of warm days, as
long as I think the bees require it, placing
the syrup-pan about fifty yards away from the
apiary. In this way I get my bees very
strong by the time the honey harvest com-
mences, and as I was this year quite sur-
rounded with white clover, I had to keep the
extractor going oftener sixteen than the much
talked-of " eight hours " per day.

Of course the above plan of open-air feeding
will not answer if you are surrounded by hives
belonging to neighbours ; but I have none
nearer than a mile, and not many even at that
distance.

From my best single hive this season, which
did not swarm, I extracted 216 lb. of honey,
and left them well provided with stores for
winter. This hive holds thirteen frames in the
brood chamber, It ah}0 had all surplus cham-

bers filled with shallow frames of ready-drawn-
out combs. I space all my shallow frames
wide apart, putting eight where I formerly
used ten ; I find I get better returns that way.
I use full sheets cf foundation for brood and
for shallow-frames and also for sections ; it
costs more, but, so far as my experience goe3,
it pays best. I help my bees all I possibly
can, and keep each stock as strong in numbers
as possible. I generally put two swarms, and
sometimes three, in one hive, and at once put
on supers, and find that is the best plan to get
honey, especially in a poor season.

Some of the old skeppists will rather stifle
their bees in the sulphur pit than let any one
drive them. They generally shake their heads
and say, " Its bad luck to part with the bees."
I am glad to say foul brood is a stranger to
me, and, from what I have read, I hope it will
always remain so. I have never come across a
case, although I have been for some miles
around bee-driving.

I cannot complain of my honey-selling expe-
rience, although I don"t get such prices as I
read of at different times in the Bee Journal.
I have sold, since June, 2,(500 lb. I put it in
the market as attractively as I can, and I find
it pays for a little extra trouble, as where I sell
once they write for more.

Hoping I have not taken up too much of
vour valuable space. — A. Twinn, Apiary
'House, Ridgwell, Hdlstead, Essex.

[We need hardly .say that such encouraging
repoits of bee- work as the above are not only
welcome, but useful, as showing what can be
done by an intelligent and practical bee-
keeper.— Eds.]

A LINCOLNSHIRE APIARY.

HOW 1 BECAME A BEErKEEPBR.

[231!)] I enclose two photographs of my
apiary, •' In Winter Quartern," I893apd 1895;
the latter one to show not only the increased
number of stocks, but also the stand I have
made for them tj rett on. They were
originally placed in the garden, but were
removed thence to the bjttom end of a
paddock, 'which eventually was turned over
and made into an orchard. The weeds, how-
ever, got the better of us, and the hives were
almost smothered by them ; besides which we
had often the discomfort of standing on muddy,
wet ground while manipulating. This winter,
therefore, we got a large quantity of brick
rubbish and old tiles, which were broken up
small and laid evenly along the whole length
of the hedge for a width of 7 ft. When levelled
and rolled these were well tarred and covered
with sand ; the front having a border of
garden tiles. The hives being placed in or
about the middle of this "stand,'' there is
ample room behind for the manipulator, while
in front there is a clear space of 1 }2 ft. to 2 ft.
through which, I trust, th it weed; will b,§

494

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[Dec. 5, 1895.

unable to penetrate. The bricks are placed
on the roofs all winter to prevent the latter
being blown off during the high winds to
which we are very subject about here.

The hives, as will be seen, though all
" standard '' size inside, are of various makes
and patterns, and nearly all of different
colours ; they all also are capable of going at
least one storey higher during the summer, as
I work mostly for extracted honey.

As regards the past season, the results have
been pretty good. I started with seven stocks,
and now have twelve (two hives having two
stocks in each), and have taken about 400 lb.
of honey and 7 lb. of wax, 380 lb. being
extracted. The best hive gave about 82 lb.
extracted ; this was the result of an experi-
ment, as about June 1st I moved that hive
about a mile and placed it in a field
10 acres in extent, and sown with white clover.
I prevented swarming, by giving abundant
super room, and by examining the brood-
nest for queen-cells every six days ; on one
occasion finding ten cells started I destroyed
them all and they were not reformed. The
hive was brought home in September, and
neither then, nor when the bees were first
moved, did any bees return to their former
location. In the spring 1 wrote you concerning
some " constitutional effects of bee-stings,"
and another correspondent wrote having ex-
perienced the same alarming effects ; it may
interest you to hear that those effects have
not been repeated, nor have I (as I was
afraid) lost my nerve or confidence ' in
manipulating.

I have had many hobbies, but never have
had one so interesting or so deserving of study
and care as bee-keeping, moreover it is the
only one I ever bad thnt j)ays. I was a most
unwilling beginner though. Having lived in
large towns all my school and college days, I
was absolutely ignorant of bees and their ways
when I came to live here. My predecessor
on leaving could not take his bees with him,
and having failed to find a purchaser in the
locality, he spent some considerable time trying
to talk me into buying them. He succeeded, I
am glad to say, though after no little effort
on his part. Having bought them (in the
winter) I at once bought the " Guide Eook"
and subscribed to your valuable Journal
and Record ; and as soon as I had an
opportunity joined the County Association
and profited greatly by the visits of experts,
until having become one myself (3rd) I now
hope to be able to give that help to others
which was so willingly extended to me in the
days of my novitiate. My thanks are also
due to you for replies received to letters,
both by post and in your columns. — Percy
Sharp, Brant, Broughton, Lines., November 28.

As a postscript to my letter of a couple of
days ago, let me say — 1 notice in this week's

Journal you say that you would place hives 6 ft.
apart, and would not tolerate their being painted
of different colours. Mine, as stated in my letter
of the 28th inst., are mostly of different
colours, no two hives of the same make
being painted the same colour ; and where
two hives of the same colour are together,
their external shape is very different. I adopted
this plan in consequence of what I read in
Prof. Cheshire's work, and also in Sir John
Lubbock's work on Ants, Bees, and Wasps,
where he demonstrates that the colour-sense is
present in bees. Also in consequence, through
want of space, of my being unable to place the
hives more than one yard apart from the centre
of one entrance to that of the next. I think
the variety of colours no detriment from an
artistic point of view, and have never yet lost
a queen when returning from mating. —
P. S.

MOEE "CHESTNUTS."

[2320.] Are Queens Raised from Eggs or
Larvee ? — While this interesting subject was
being discussed in your columns I followed it
with very great interest, but, owing to the
whole of my time being absorbed in visiting
and helping the numerous new members, and
giving weekly, and almost daily, instruction to
them here, I could not take part in the dis-
cussion at the moment. However, after
making " a mental note of it on a bit of
paper," I resolved during the coming winter
to throw what little light I could on the
matter. And now, on turning up my diary, I
glean the following: — "May 27. Made
artificial swarm." I do not know if it will in-
terest readers — perhaps it may beginners — to
know how this was done, but my modus was as
follows : — From a very strong hive — possessing
exceptionally fine drones and a young queen
of a very good strain — I took two combs, well
filled with brood in all stages of development,
and a number of eggs. Shaking therefrom
every bee, I placed them in another hive on
the old stand. To the old hive I gave in
exchange two full sheets of foundation, and
jmt three drawn-out combs and a frame of
foundation in the new one. The old hive was
then removed thirty yards away. Being a
glorious day with bees flying freely, I bad not
long to wait for my swarm. In balf-an-hour
four of the frames were covered, still there
did not appear any excitement, the bees
coming and going, and bringing in pollen as
usual. It was not till the following day that
I observed the outward signs which synchro-
nise with the extraordinary inward activity
of " raising, a new queen.'' Thus, I think I
am right |in presuming that it was not until
May 28 that the bees set about this work.
On June 3, explaining the process of artificial
swarming and queen-raising to a neophyte, I
examined the hive, and found four queen-cells
— three of which were sealed, and one not.

Dec.

1895.J

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

495

Now, had these three sealed cells been built
round eggs, or supplied with them, this could
not possibly have occurred, for " the cell is
sealed over on the ninth day." Yet here we
have them in that condition on the sixth :
or, granting they were made on May 27, which
I do not think likely — the seventh day. From
this I think that the only conclusion to be
drawn is that the bees built the royal cells
round larvae. And in the case of the unsealed
cell — in which there was a young grub — they
were raising a queen from the egg, on the ofi*-
chance of the others failing. So much for
proof one. But let us go to the end, and we
shall see further that the hatching out of the
imago fully confirmed the theory that bees by
preference elect their sovereign— in such cases
— from the larvae and not the egg. My diary
then reads : — "June 11 (morning), picked up
virgin queen, dead, in front of the hive. Later
in >the day, 5 p.m., picked up another queen,
which bore unmistakable signs of having
recently been fertilised.'' Now, here on the
fourteenth day we have two surplus queeris,
and, most probably — these two being remark-
ably fine ones — the elected sovereign would be
the first born, and as queens do not go out to
meet the drones the very day they are born,
the fact of one of them being fertilised shows
that the elected one must have been so, and,
consequently, have been born several days
previously. The above appears to me very
conclusive, and I think the bees themselves
can give an answer to the query, " Why do
they appear to prefer to raise queens from
larva' instead of eggs \ " The answer is very
easy — " Because we want a queen as soon a3
we can get one, and by taking the three-day-
old larvae, which has not been weaned, we get
her six days sooner than we should by taking
a newly-deposited egg," and we may also
imagine our wise little friends adding : — " Six
days breeding is a very important item with
us, as you modern bee-keepers are aware."

"Prevention of Drone-breeding.- The nos-
trum generally recommended for this end is
" full' sheets' of worker foundation." Cer-
tainly this (ends lo minimise the evil ; but my
own observations trend to the belief that if
Bees wish to swarm or raise drones they will
make drone-comb even in the very centre of a
sheet of worker foundation. I have had fre-
quent instances of it, but will only enumerate
one. In the spring of '93 I removed an out-
side frau e containing drone-comb ■with newly-
deposited eggs. In return I placed near the
centre [of the brood-nestja frame containing a
full sheet of worker foundation, the middle of
which they made into drone-combs, the cells
above and below being worker. We must
seek another remedy it we need it. Person-
ally, so long as they ate kept at a minimum, I
don't mind— the safest means of preventing
swarming being plenty of room and young
queens.— Frederick H. Taylor, Birch Fold
Cottage, Old Hall lane, Fdttowfield, No-
vember 23, 1805.

THE SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

[2321.] My query re above society on
p. 441 has now borne fruit, and in your last
(2310, p. 483) the Rev. R. McClelland throws
some light on the cause why it has gone into
" winter quarters," for I trust it is only a
species of hybernating that has been going on
for the past year. Bearing in mind the rev.
gentleman's generous offer to act as secretary,
it need be so no more, and the reviving spring
of 1896 should see new life infused, and the
merry hum of active work should be heard
from our hive, headed by the " right man in
the right place." The inner ring may have
more information on the subject ; but, to one
outside that charmed circle, it seems inex-
plicable why a society in so flourisbiog a
position, and doing such excellent work,
should be cut off suddenly, without any ap-
parent reason, in the heyday of its youth
and prosperity. All will acknowledge with
grateful thanks the admirable work done by
Sir Thomas G. Carmichael ; but I entirely fail
to see why the retirement of any one man,
however important he may be, should cause
collapse and chaos in a society numbering so
many members. Let Mr. McClelland call his
undoubted zeal and energy into play. Let
him communicate with all the members of
committee and every other prominent bee-
man possible. Let them call a meeting and
make an earnest endeavour to resuscitate the
now slumbering society. In this good work
Jie will have the passive sympathy, and, in the
way of doubling subscriptions (oven for a
number of years), the active support of at
least one Member of the S.B.K.A., Banff-
shire, N.B., October 29, 1895.

PREPARING BEES FOR THE
HEATHER.
"2:522.] For my own part, I should be
much interested if those who are in the habit
of sending bees to the heather would give us
some of their experiences. Could they tell us,
for instance, what likelihood there is of bees
swarming at the heather I Thus Mr. George
Rochester in B.B.J, for November 28 (2302,
479) implies that if, while bees are at the
heather, the brood-chambers are contracted,
there is danger of swarming. Is not swarm-
ing over by the middle of August \ In this
neighbourhood we consider that after the end
of June or the first week in July no more
swarms will issue ; but if the bees were sent
to the heather at the begining of August, and
there was a good flow of honey, is there a
likelihood of swarming I Again, could they tell
us at what time it is best to send the
bees to the heather? Is it advisable to send
them to the new locality some days before the
flow of heather honey begins ? In this district
the regular honey flow ceases suddenly about

496

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

[De

1895.

the second or third week of July, and the ling
is not in flower till at least three weeks later.
Whether the hives are here or at the heather
duriDg these three weeks the bees would make
no honey ; but, if the bees were at the heather,
might not the queen be more inclined to
continue laying eggs with a view to the coming
flow of heather honey ? Once more, which
hives should be sent ? The answer, of course,
is " Your strongest hives" ; but is it not often
the case that your hive which has done best
early in the season, and is perhaps still your
strongest at the middle or the end of July,
contains a queen who has done her year's
work and is by this time not laying so well ?
I notice, for instance, that in Mr. Rochester's
list of hives (B.B.J. 2302) the hive that
made most clover honey made least heather
honey ; that which did second-best at the
clover was second-worst at the heather ;
that which was third-best at the clover was
third-worst at the heather. I suppose the
proper course would be to examine the hives
two or three weeks before the flow of heather
honey, and select for sending to the heather
those hives which at that date have most
sealed brood. In the . southern counties,
where the season begins early, it is difficult
to have the hive strong both in June and
August. Would it be possible to re-queen
the hives before sending them to the heather ?
There is heather within five miles of my
bees, to which I sent two hives last year, but
with very poor results. It was no use to try
again this year, as the severe winter of '94-5
cut the heather down to the ground ; but I
intend to send some hives next year, though
Mr. Webster's letters warn me not to expect
much from south-country heather. — A
Beginner, near Winchfield, Hants.

PREVENTION OF SWARMING.

[2325.] Nothing is more certain than the
fact that no mechanical supplementary appa-
ratus will ever prevent the issue of swarms,
and it is almost as certain that no such
appendage to hives will remain in use for the
proposed purpose of catching swarms.

Most of the so-called swarm-catchers in use
are in a greater or less degree a development
of Henry Alley's drone and queen trap, than
which there is nothing more simple for the
use of those who have to leave home or are
unable to .manage their bees without swarming.
The queen cannot be lost, while the bees
generally return to the same hive, so that the
owner has plenty of time to put the stock in
order.

What is wanted, and that which I have
advocated for more than ten years past, is the
adaptation of simple brood chambers and their
frames in such a manner that the bees are never
over-crowded — even when working for comb
honey — and that they shall always have some-

thing to do, and room wherein to do it. Let
the space so provided allow of the most perfect
ventilation from the mere fact of the vacant
space under the brood nest ; use only young
queens ; and then, with one more provision,
the bee-keeper need fear little trouble or
worry from swarming.

That other important point is forthcoming
when I state that the stocks which give most
trouble in swarming are those, which, without
being weakly, are not in full working condition
early in the season.

Given the foregoing conditions, as fully ex-
plained by myself in the past, it will be found
that those stocks which are very early — those
which delight the eyes of the owner by white,
newly-shaped cappings to the cells near the
top bars of the frames in the month of April-
are those which can be depended upon to do
the real work of the season ; and rarely
troubling to swarm when worked on what is
known as my non-swarming plan. Their
business is honey, and honey they will get, when
more backward stocks would starve without
feeding. Why ? Solely because the latter
have too large a proportion of young bees and
an excessive quantity of brood, which together
dispose of ten to fifteen pounds of honey per
week. These must swarm — there is no alter-
native with such a superabundance of con-
sumers that keep the stores low — and so leave
the queen free to do as she likes.

By all means secure stocks crammed with
bees, but see that they are in that condition
ready for the earliest possible flow. How
early that may be few realise until they have
stocks ready and waiting for it. Why the
difference ? It is to be found by examination
of the combs. The early stock maintains a
large adult population of real workers far in
excess of the number of consumers : the stock
combs are gradually stored with honey and
largely with pollen, to the partial restriction
of the queen, so that the hatching of young
thereafter only keeps pace with the wear and.
tear on the adult population ; there is little
inclination to swarm, and absolutely no need
for a queen excluder.

Just here I would point out the folly of
extracting from the stock combs. How
frequently has the bee-keeper been advised to
extract the honey from the brood nest when
it appeared to be crowded with honey ! Why
not rather show him how to induce the bees
to place it directly into the surplus receptacles,
by securing early stocks that will always do
it ; by uniting if necessary to secure that
strength in time ; and by warmth above with
ample ventilation below. And should the
combs be really crowded, what more rational
and profitable proceeding can be adopted than
that of removing the outer clogged combs,
storing them for winter use, while placing
new sheets of foundation in the centre ?

But to come now to the difficulties of some
who have tried my non-swarming plan, per-
haps a few hints may be of use to those who

Dec. 5, 1855.] THti BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

497

have made inquiries through the journals and
by private correspondence. To begin with, it
appears to be taken as a principle in manage-
ment that the empty -frames in front of or
under the brood-combs are arranged expressly
that the bees may build comb3 therein for the
bee-keeper to be constantly removing. This
is an erroneous conclusion, and readers of
" Modern Bee Farm " will find, by referring
to page 116, the following sentence: — "The
true principle of management consists in so
manipulating the supers that none of the
frames with starters have finished combs all
the season."

Yes, that is the point ; see that the comb-
building and storing is all done in the supers ;
not below, where it is not wanted, and where
the open chamber is allowed as a " safety
valve " — a prevention of over-heating ; and a
complete cure for the clustering of idle bees
on the door-step. Many reports come in from
private correspondents showing that nothing
whatever was built in the frames below, while
work proceeded rapidly in the supers, and this
is what will generally be found where my
directions are carefully followed. — S. Stm-

MINS.

(Conclusion in our next.)

BEES IN NORTH A NTS.

ANOTHER SUCCESS IN '95.

[2324.] I send you a short report of my
bee-doings for 1*95. It has been another suc-
cessful time, so far as my own bees are con-
cerned. I be^an the season with seven stocks,
two double-queened and five single ones. I
have had four swarms, and one lost. I sold
one swarm, and one ditto put in new hive, and
the other jtwo swarms and the lost returned.
My take of honey has been as follows : —

Double-queened stock
Single „ ,,

Double-queened Btock
Single „ „

„ lSftf) swarm

Ex traded

Honey. Sections,
lb.
181 .... 8 ....

22 ...

•23 ...,
21 ...

Total
lb.

65

280

117

8 Total hiveB, as above

The above shows an average of 105 lb. per
hive, with swarm included. I think this must
be a capital situation for bees, judging by my
last three years, which have all been very suc-
cessful. 1 have put my bees (eight stocks)
into winter quarters without any feeding this
time, with the exception of one stock, which
required 12 lb. of food. All stocks are now
in good trim, with plenty of stores.

Other bees in the neighbourhood have done
fairly fell. — W. Tust.un, Farthinghoi Station,
Northanta, November 23.

<ft rfwes from th Wxts.

Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington, Novem-
ber 30, 1895.— So f^r as the season has gone,
bees have had many chances to be out and ou
the wing, and as all stocks are well provisioned,
they are in a fair way to stand the winter,
come what may. For myself I like to see
them get a good fly for an hour or two once
in every two or three weeks. Honey seems to
be selling in a very satisfactory manner, and
by the time frcst comes I daresay there will be
still more inquiry for it. I was sorry to read
of the death of Mr. Huckle, and as far as I can
recollect, there are children who are, I should
think, as yet quite unable to do anything for
themselves. — John Walton.

<$ttm*8 and ^tjjlws.

[1400.] Bromine aetd Foul Brood. — In the
interesting and useful communication from
the Rev. (r. W. Bancks on bromine as a disin-
fecting agent incases of foul brood, he states
that *' two years ago his apiary contained
fifteen diseased hives." Now, 1 ask, how would
these be treated under the proposed new law ?
Destroyed, and compensation given '. If not,
what course would be taken ? We want
more light and less rhetoric. — Puzzled.

Reply. — We think the reply to our corre-
spondent's queries will be found in the substance
of the suggestions proposed to be incorporated
in the Bill for obtaining compulsory powers
{vide B.J. of Jan. 31, 1895, p. 42). If that
Bill became law the inspector would in the
exercise of his discretion— or in the light of
his experience — apply remedial measures, and
cure if possible. In the event of failure to cure
— whether from the steps taken being ineffective
or through the obstinacy of the owner — the
bees would be destroyed.

[1401.] — Second-hand Hives and Foul
Brood. — Having purchased some bar frame

hives with a lot of old combs therein, of which
I send sample, will you kindly say if it is lice
from foul brood, having previously asked
the seller if such was the case when he replied
in the negative 1 Sample I send you by post.
Having washed hives and frames in a copper
of boiling water, letting them remain in awhile,
then afterwards washed with Condy's Fluid,
would they be safe next season to use, or
would you recommend further treatment i —
Kent.

RbplY. — There is nothing in the crushed up
old comb to indicate disease ; in fact, only a
tedious microscopic examination would detect
germs of any kind in the -ample. If, however,

498

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 5, 1895.

the assurance of the seller is worth anything,
we should not hesitate to use the hives after
the disinfecting process they have been put
through.

[1402 .] Self-hivers and Swarming. — Last
season I bought one of Hole's self-hivers which
I put on a stock expected to swarm, as they
had drones flying for several days before. I
left " hiver " on all the summer, but the bees
did not swarm, though the hive was quite full
and they had begun queen-cells. During the
whole summer they went on breeding drones,
I expect to take the place of those removed
from top of " hiver." Can you explain why
they did not swarm ? Would the constant
breeding of drones to take the place of those
that were caught in a trap tend to stop the
hive from swarming ? — H. W. Cox, Sheffield.

Reply. — "We have no means of arriving at
a safe reply to the above query. An inspection
of the hive during the season mighthave set the
matter at rest, but from the bare details given
we are as much in the dark as our correspon-
dent.

[1403] Sealing-wax and Bees-wax. — I use a
considerable amount of sealing-wax in packing
honey, &c, for the market, and have more or
less bees-wax to dispose of every year. This
being so, I thought that if sealing-wax is
made from bees- wax, it might save something
tomyseif, and perhaps others, if we could
make our own. If you have any information
at your command for making sealing-Avax, and
could publish the same in your valuable
journal, it would be adding another act of
kindness to bee-keepers at large. — A Bee-
Keeper, Maidstone, November 27.

Reply. — We have no recipe by us for making
sealing-wax, which is a compound of resinous
materials, pigments, &c, one of the main
ingredients being a common kind of shellac.
After comparing the present market price of
sealing-wax and of bees- wax, our correspondent
may safely assume that the latter forms (if
any) a very small part in the composition of
sealing-wax.

[1404.] Queen Flying in November. — Yester-
day, 26th ult., I was watching the bees flying
from one of my hives, which I thought to be
queenless, when my attention was attracted to
a queen bee (enclosed) circling round the hive.
I caught it and put it on the flight board, when
it was seized by a worker and thrown off. I
lost sight of it after it got up and flew. I
examined a large board this morning in front
of the hive, and found the queen dead. It
seems strange, to my mind, that bees, so late
as November 26, should rear a young queen. —
T. Hastwell, Bowness-on- Windermere.

Reply.— The fact of the bees killing the
queen would seem to indicate that she was a
stranger ; there therefore may possibly still be
a queen in the hive. We have little doubt
that the one sent is a virgin ; it i«, however.

difficult to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion
without examination, and although queenless
bees will raise a queen at all times during mild
spells (provided they have the materials) , Ave
cannot advise interference with the bees now.
We should leave them alone until the return
of bee weather.

Notieesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents^ or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
yood of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. W
ivish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in. this column.

Jno. H. Hall (Sheffield.) Mead Making.—
Full particulars for making mead will be
found in B.J. for February 28 last (page
83), or in our issue of April 19, last year
(page 153). Mr. Banck's pamphlet also (as
advertised in our present issue), deals very
fully with the subject of mead-making.

Sannyer Atkin (Higbgate.) Names of
Contributors. — We quite agree that in some
cases the ordinary rule might with advantage
be altered, and it is probable it may be
done in new vol. for '96. Thanks for
suggestion.

W. S. Trafp (Norwich.) Badly - Fitting
Outer-cases to Hives. — The fault complained
of is decidedly that of the maker, not the
hive. Unless outer-cases are made to fit
properly so as to exclude bees, very man)-
troubles and worse mischief may arise in
other directions than the one named.

W. T. L. (Teignmouth).— Beet Sugar.— The
evil of using beet-root sugar for bee-food
arises mainly from the chemicals used in the
manufacture of beet - sugar. The article
sent in no way alters this fact or lessens the
need of pure cane-sugar for bees' use.

F. McConnell (Carlisle).— Eucalyptus Honey.
— We thank you very much for article on
the above, and will take an early oppor-
tunity of utilising it in our pages.

A Duffer (Longparish). — Exhibitors
Awards. — We share our correspondents
annoyance at the mistake in placing the
award card, but feel that he will agree with
us as to where the fault lay.

Several Articles, together with some Queries?
are in type, and tvill appear tiext wceli.

Dec. 12, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

499

(Mtoral JJito, to.

HUNTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

On Saturday, the 30th ult., a conversazione
was held in the Town-hall, Huntingdon, in
connection with the Hunts Bee - keepers'
Association, when the prizes awarded at the
annual show were distributed. 'J he meeting
was held in the Council Chamber, which was
well filled, and in front of the platform was a
handsome trophy of honey in sections and
bottles, erected by Messrs. Howard and W.
II. Woods, which, it was announced, would
be presented to Mr. A. W. Marshall, vice-
president of the association, and a former
mayor of the borough, on behalf of the
members. Mr. G. J. Rust presided, and
among those present were Mr. A. H. Smith-
Barry, M.P., the Ven. Archdeacon Vesey,
Rev. H. S. Budge, Rev. G. Thompson, Messrs.
J. S. Smith (Mayor of Huntingdon), A. W.
Marshall, H. Goodman, G. Thackray, C. N.
White (hon. sec), T. A. Clark, J. Pascoe, J.
White, flazlitt, JacksoD, Allison, Harrison,
Hicks, and F. B. Thackray ; several ladies
were also present.

The Chairman briefly announced the object
of the meeting, and called upon Mr. Smith-
Barry, who had to leave by an early train, to
say a few words.

Mr. Smith-Barry said he knew a great deal
more about honey-eating than he did about its
production, but he felt it was of the greatest
importance that bee-keeping should be en-
couraged and developed in this country, and
that everything in connection with bee-keeping
should be thoroughly and scientifically taught
and understood. Apiculture was a very great
advantage to the agricultural classes of the
community, because bees did a great deal
more than produce honey ; they were very
active fertilisers of many plants, which
formed a large proportion of our crops. They
were Buffering at tbe present time very largely
from agricultural depression, and it was of the
highest importance that they s-hould do any-
thing they could, directly or indirectly, to
improve their sjstem of agriculture, and to
produce greater profits for these engaged in it.
But it was especially upon the ground that
bee-keeping and the sale of honey were of
great advantage to cottage gardener) that he
thought they ought to support it, and to give
it everv encouragement.

Mr.C. N. White (Hon. Sec.) then stated
that letters regretting their inability to attend
had been received from Lord Sandwich
(President), and other gentlemen interested in
the association, after which the Chairman dis-
tributed the prizes won at the annual show of
the association to the successful competitors in
the respective classes, viz. : Mrs. Allpress,
Messrs. R. Brown, W. H. Woods, II. J. Bull,

J. Osborne, W. R, Billing, A. Sharp, E. Allen,
W. Woods, B. Bull, H. Seamark, and W. Ellis.

The Chairman also announced that the silver
cup (given by the Members of Parliament for
the county) which had been won by Mr. W. H.
Woods, would be presented at the annual
meeting in January, also the silver medal won
by Mr. R. Brown, the bronze medal won by
W. H. Woods, and certificate by Mr. Ellis.

Mr. White, who had been delegated by the
donors of the trophy of honey referred to above
to make the presentation, which he did,
spoke in very appreciative terms of the services
rendered to their association by Mr. Marshall,
to whom, he said, they were indebted for a
large portion of their success.

Mr. Marshall, in acknowledgment, ex-
pressed the great pleasure it afforded him to
accept the very handsome trophy of honey
presented by Mr. White on behalf of the
Bunts Bee- Keepers' Association.

Mr. J. H. Howard thoroughly endorsed all
that had been said of Mr. Marshall, but he
observed.tberewas one other gentleman who had
been a worthy member, and who at all times
was ready to lead a forlorn hope, and that was
their hon. secretary, Mr. White. He there-
fore begged, on behalf of a few fellow members,
along with himself, to offer their friend a small
token of their recognition of his services. Mr.
Howard then presented Mr. White with a
handsomely - bound volume entitled. "The
Natural History of British Butterflies and
Moths," by the late Edward Newman.

Mr. White in a few appropriate words
returned thanks for the honour done him, and
the meeting closed with the usual vote of
thanks to the chairman for presiding.

The meeting then resolved itself into a
very enjoyable social gathering, and it is to
be hoped will result in a considerably increased
interest in the work of the association.

<£/nmtyimiltMt

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. Wt
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

NOTANDA ET INQUTRENDA.

WAX RENDERING — PREVENTING SWARMING
" DRIVING."

[2325.] I am eorry my title is one of thos
which are stumbling blocks to "Plane Inglesh ;'
(2301 , p. 476). I used Latin instead of English
simply for two reasons:— 1. The usual head-
ings of "Notes,'' "Notes by the Way,
" Jottings," &&, are all, more or less, hackneyed
and are besides appropriated already, and I
could not think of any that would exactly

500

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 12, 1895.

suit ray purpose and express my meaning.
Because (2) what I desired to head my contri-
butions to bee literature with was not " Notes
and Queries,"ebut " Points Worth Noting and
Inquiring Further Into'' — and this long English
sentence the Latin expresses in two words.
So, now I have explained, I must ask forgive-
ness for continuing the use of the obnoxious
signboard. With all deference to " Plane
Inglesh,'1 and, joking apart, it will be a bad
day for the B.B.J, if the style of its contents
should ever be brought down to the level of its
illiterate readers exclusively. In my own
judgment — and I am an editor myself — the
Editors of the B.B.J, provide in a truly admir-
able manner for the varying needs of the
necessarily very numerous classes of their
readers.

Wax Rendering. — I am glad ''John Brown"
(2308, p. 482) has found my " tip " useful. I
was extremely glad to find it out for myself.
It came just in time, for I was beginning to
boil over worse than my wax with pent-up
wrath and annoyance. Had I only seen it
anywhere in print, it would have saved me a
lot of trouble, a deal of temper, and a heap of
wax.

Wax Gappings. — Whenever the bees will
condescend to clean these up I put them in a
large shallow dish, and place this on the.
ground, well away from the hives ; and in a
very few hours they will be perfectly dry.
During the honey-flow, when the bees will not
deign to look at them, even if placed close to
the floor-boards, I put them in a dee pish
dish, scoop and pat and press them up into a
firm cake with a spoon, tilt the dish a little,
and let them drain for a few days. Nearly
every drop of honey will be found to come
away.

"John Brown's " plan of rendering the wax
without allowing any water to touch the cap-
pings is, I am convinced, the best, and will
yield the best-coloured wax. Any dross can
easily be cleared away from the underside of the
cake, as I have elsewhere stated, ivhcn hot ;
and one melting should suffice — possibly with-
out even straining. But of this I cannot be
certain until extracting-time comes round again
next year, and I can experiment further, and
satisfy myself.

Preventing Swarming. — I note Mr. Bent's
(2309, p. 483) kind reply to my inquiry as to
some cheap and easy method of shading hives.
The objections to " raising the front of (my)
hives one inch" are threefold. (1.) We are
usually sadly pestered with wasps, and I
should place my bees at the mercy of their
worst enemies, in my experience. (2) I have
many ricks in my neighbourhood, which every
now and then send us a plague of mice. In a
week or two this summer we killed over a
hundred who were trying desperately to enter
and stay in my house. Again, I should fear
for my bees, which hitherto have not suffered.
(3.) I should fear for myself. I am pretty
fearless too, having reduced my hives to order

under some particularly lively conditions, but
to tackle my black bees while they enjoyed
such unlimited power of egress would probably
be long remembered by the operator. All the
same, 1 am much obliged for the hints, which
may yet be useful.

Probably, the wet sack is the most prac-
tical, for me ; but I shall not rest till I have
found a satisfactory working solution. Just
now my thoughts are turning in the direction
of sheets of corrugated iron, projecting beyond
roofs on all sides, slightly bent to their shape,
and just laid on top of them. But then I also
have in mind some awful gales ! and how
then ? To be constantly doing up and un-
doing fastenings is much too troublesome.

Irascibility. — I promised to give some
illustrations of this — on the part of the bees,
not of myself, of course. I will do so under
side-headings ; —

In Driving. — Why is it that no directions
for " driving " bees give you any warning that
when you turn the skep over the bees may
come at you in their hundreds ? Yet this i?
sufficiently possible and serious to make a
caution very necessary.

I have now driven bees for three years. The
first year I drove five lots, the second three
lots (both these from one place), this autumn
five lots (two from a new place, three from the
old quarter). I have, I am quite willing to
admit, never seen a skep driven or a hive
handled, but I have read everything on the
subject I can get hold of. I have been careful
and gentle, and am by nature humane, and
have succeeded in managing my hives fairly
well. But on every occasion of " driving "
bees, while following exactly the same pro-
cedure so far as I am aware, the bees of
different skeps have behaved with startling
differences of temper. One or two lots have
been as quiet and manageable as flies. Others
have been a little troublesome when first the
skep has been turned over. But each time
the occupants of at least one skep have
behaved as if possessed by all the furies.
They have settled in clouds all over myself
and the lad who assists me, stinging and
returning again and again to the charge, so
that if we had not been, happily, thoroughly
well protected and actually invulnerable, the
consequences might have been extremely
serious, in spite of smokers, carbolic acid, and
all the rest of it.

Is this merely the effect of " a fine spirit "
in that particular lot of bees ? If so, I should
very much like to know its signs, so as to
discern it beforehand. It is remarkably dis-
concerting ; especially when a number of
admiring (?) spectators are watching your
proceedings from a safe distance, and comment
in a free and easy style upon any mishaps. If
I had not used a great deal of forethought and
precaution, some very untoward results might
more than once have ensued. Certainly,
" driving " should never be undertaken in a
light and careless mood.

Dec. 12, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

501

To forestall useless criticism, I may say that
I have invariably given the regulation puffs of
smoke, and waited, &c, as usually recom-
mended. It answered perfectly in some cases,
disastrously in others. Why ?— Self Taught,
November 29, 1895.

[In reply to the query with which our
correspondent closes his interesting communi-
cation— and as in some degree defending the
course followed in giving "directions for
driving bees " — we are glad to note that he
has "never seen a skep driven." This is a
point not overlooked in such directions as we
have had to do with, and it is by us always
urged that " half an hour's observation of a
skilful bee-master at work, is worth any
amount of reading.'' Personally we should
never dream of using any protection whatever
when driving bees, and after many hundreds
of "drivings'' have never been attacked as
stated. Nor is our own experience at all un-
common, but may be verified by any well-
known expert. — Eds.]

A COTTAGER'S BEE-KEEPING.

A GOOD HARVEST IN 1895.

r 2326.] With your kind permission I wiil give
Ton my experience as a cottager bee-keeper at
Newmarket. I began ten years ago by secur-
ing a stray swarm, which I put into a straw
skep. Having told a friend that I had got a
swarm of bees, he persuaded me to adopt the
bar-frame hive, which I first did in the year
following, although, at the same time, I
regarded my friend's account as to the large
" takes '' of honey got from frame-hives as a
bit of romancing, or something of a fairy tale.
I am pleased to say, however, that 1 have
exceeded the estimates there given many times.
My apiary stands in the centre of some large
stud-paddocks used for breeding race-horses.
These paddocks are hugely laid down with
white clover, which is the chief source of our
honey supply. We have al^o some lime trees
and sainfoin, but no heather.

My " take " of honey in 1893 was 11 cwt.,
or 1,232 lb. of honey, from fifteen hives. This
year I have taken 2,01)6 lb. from twenty-three
hives, spring count. Two of the above gave
me 150 lb. each, and a " Wells" hive yielded
300 lb. The lowest take from one stock
was o;> lb. From a swarm which issued on
June 6 I got sixty perfect sections.

I have sold all my honey locally with the
exception of 500 lb., and this I advertised for
sale in the P.J., which soon found me a cus-
tomer for same. I think it very encouraging
to have a good yield of honey and a good Bale
at a fair price, and cannot understand people
not being able to sell their produce.

I make all my own hive.; in my Bpare time ;
being a postman I come under the eight-hours-
a-day system, so I have sufficient time to do
this work in. I am a strong believer in Mr.
Wm. Woodley's plan of exercising strict

economy in the management of my apiary
and have profited in various ways by reading
his notes by the way. — Charles Carter,
Gwynne Apiary, Newmarket, December 7.

"WELLS" HIVES.

MY EXPERIENCE OF THE " WELLS SYSTEM,'
AND OF QUEEN RAISING.

[2327.] I have been looking for Mr. Wells's
annual account of his bee doings for 1^9-5 ;
but, though so far it has not appeared, I hope
it will not fail us. For myself, I bought a
"Wells "hive in May, 1893, and about the
same time I put two swarms into another big
hive, and managed it on same principle, bo that
I have worked the double-queened hives ac-
cording to Mr. Wells's directions so far as I
could, but have not succeeded in making one
" Wells " show better, or even as good, results
as two single-queened hive3. I put the bees
of two strong single stocks into the " Wells "
hive referred to above early in June, '93, and
immediately put on a surplus chamber filled
with frames of foundation and partly worked-
out combs. The bees took possession directly,
and swarmed in the course of a week. I
removed the two queens, and put the swarms
back, after cutting out the surplus queen-cells.
The bees did not swarm again, but worked
away pretty well in the super, and gave a fair
return of honey, though not so good in pro-
portion as my single hives.

Towards the close of the season I observed
that the bees were using only one entrance,
and so, fearing something wrong, I lifted off
the super, and found one compartment queen-
less, and nearly beeless, and so ended 1893.

In the spring of '94 I transferred the bees
from a single hive into the empty end, and
from the doubled stock of the above hive in
that year got eighteen standard frames well
filled with honey, and a second lot of drawn-
out combs, and a few pounds of honey in
them. The bees did not swarm, and went
into winter quarters for 1894-5 with a fair
amount of natural stores. In the spring of
1895, though both lots were clustered against
I he dummy-board, neither of the queens com-
menced to lay early or fast— perhaps the hard
winter might account for this — and when the
two compartments of the "Wells'' hive bad
brood on seven combs and five combs respec-
tively, in my best two single stocks examined
on same day I found brood on nine combs in
one and eight combs in the other. At the
close of the honey season my " Wells " hive
had one tier of standard combs about three
parts filled with honey, while from two single-
queened hives worked" for the extractor I got
from one a tier of combs well filled ,im\ sealed
(several weighing 7 lb. and S lb.) ; the other
yielded one tier well tilled, and a second with
about 20 lb. in it. My "Wells" swarmed
early in June. I removed both queens, and

502

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 12, 1895.

put bees back ; but they swarmed again iu
ten or twelve days, and clustered in two por-
tions. I gave one lot to a friend, and returned
the other, after cutting out queen- cells. After
a time I found east end of the " Wells '' again
queenless. The two entrances are not far
apart, though there is an outside dividing-
board between them, and I suppose both
queens entered the same compartment after
mating.

The friend to whom I gave the swarm has
had a " Wells '' hive working for two seasons,
and his experience has been very like mine.
Last year his hive swarmed, and one end
became queenless. He took the remaining
bees out of it, and this last summer furnished
it with two swarms, the second of which was
added a fortnight after the first one. The
queen of the first lot was laying well, brood
showing on several combs when tbe second
swarm was put into the other compartment.
On examining both divisions some days after
neither eggs nor young brood was found in
either. We concluded that the queen of
second lot had gone to the wrong entrance
when returning from her mating trip and had
killed the laying queen. Curiously enough,
my friend found eggs in both compartments
after a time, but being convinced that the first
queen was killed — and having observed that a
good proportion of her now hatching progeny
were marked like Italians— he waited with
interest for the hatching out of the later lot
of brood, and sure enough they were all blacks,
thus confirming our impression. Now, we saw
three queens go in with the last-named swarm,
which was got from me, and, if we are right in
our premises, the bees must have kept two of
the queens alive for a time, and when re-
turning from her mating flight one had found
its way to the wrong entrance and been
killed!

Queen- Raising. — If space allows I would
like to describe my attempt at queen-raising.
I gob an Italian queen about mid-July this
year, and on observing, at nearly the end of
August, a lot of drones in the hive to which I
had introduced her, I determined to try the
business, proceeding as follows : — I removed
the queen with two combs of brood and
adhering bees, leaving other four or five combs
with brood on them on the parent hive. The
bees built five queen-cells, two of which were
on a comb half full of drone brood. On
examining the hive some days afterwards, I
could only find two of the five cells, one (un-
sealed) on the face of the drone comb, the
other (which was capped over) on another
comb. About eight days later I looked again,
and found neither cell hatched out. I put a
queen cage over the latest sealed one, and
covered all up again. Next day, finding the
first sealed cell hatched, I searched for and
caught the young queen, putting her in a
nucleus hive from which I had recently taken
the queen. I then took away cage from the
other queen-cell, leaving the hive undisturbed

for two or three days, when I examined and
found the cell still sealed over. Thinking
there must b? something wrong, I gently
uncapped the cell with my penknife and found
in it a big white drone ! It was a properly-
formed queen-cell, and as there were worker
eggs and brood in plenty, why did the bees
budd the cell round a drone egg ? The hive
was now queenless, so I took the young queen
from the nucleus and re-transferred her to her
mother hive. Unfortunately, however, she
was still unmated, and, after flying out next
day to meet the drones, she weat back to the
nucleus where I left her until she became
fertilised. Meantime, the bees in stock hive
were killing their drones. Being, therefore,
uncertain as to whether they might not have
another queen, I gave them a comb with eggs
and brood. In a few days queen-cells were
found, and so, thinking I had better put my
old queen back into the hive, I caged her for
half an hour then I let her run in, and
next day found her lying dead on the flight-
board, through my forgetting to destroy
queen-cells ! After doing so, I introduced the
young queen, her daughter, and the bees took
to her all right. I saw her. fly several times
from the nucleus hive, and during the warm
Week we had in September I saw her fly in
with the marks of fertilisation on her, and,
after a few days she commenced to lay, but
the cold coming on soon stopped her. — D. M.,
Aluth, Perthshire. December 4.

LAYING WORKERS.

DO THEY DEPOSIT EGGS INDISCRIMINATELY ?

[2328.] Mr. H. W. Br'ice says (2243, p. 428)
" a laying worker will deposit eggs in worker
and drone cells indiscriminately." I am not
able to prove Mr. Brice is in the wrong, but
I have such faith in his carefulness as an
observer, and such faith also in his fairness,
that I want to ask him to take the trouble to
prove himself wrong.

It is a well-known fact, I think, that when
laying workers are present it is common to find
a plurality of eggs, sometimes as many as a
dozen, in a queen cell, and one of the common
signs of their presence is the finding drone
cells with more than one egg in each cell. On
the other hand, I have known cases of laying
workers in which eggs were laid only in
worker cells, and the work was just as regular
as that of a queen, only one egg being laid in
a cell.

I once saw a laying worker in the act of
laying an egg — the only case I ever saw, and
when she thrust her short abdomen down in
the cell her wings were pushed up about her
thorax in" a very uncomfortable-looking way.
Now I'll venture to theorise a little: — As
between the three different kinds of cells—
queen, worker, and drone — the queen cell is the
one that can be used by a laying worker with
the greatest degree of comfort, and will be first

Dec. 12, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

503

used. More than once I have diagnosed
the presence of laying workers by finding
no eggs in a hive except one in a queen cell.
Sometimes a number of eggs will be laid in
the queen cell before the less comfortable
drone cells are used. Rather than use a
worker cell, drone cells will be used over
again, and only after they become scarce are
worker cells used. If no queen or drone tells
are present, then, perforce, worker cells must
be used. As they are present in crreat numbers
there is no need to put more than one egg in
a cell, so they are filled just as a normal queen
would fill them, unless ic be that some of the
eggs are laid on the side instead of the bottom
of the cell. Now there's my theory, friend
Brice, and if you think it worth while you can
prove or disprove it. If I am right, then,
instead of using worker and drone cells indis-
criminately, worker cells will only be used
when the supply of larger cells runs short.

As againsc the theory, I have an indistinct
impression that I have sometimes seen drone
cells with more than one egg, while around
them were other drone cells unoccupied. But
did you ever see laying workers put a whole
pile of eggs in a worker cell ?— C. C. Miller,
Marengo, Illinois, November 15, 1895.

WAX CAPPINGS.
[2329.] Your correspondent, Mr. Brown
(2308, p. 4S2) is not above asking for little
"tips." Will he accept this one? If he
hangs a cheese-cloth bag of cappings inside his
extractor, by the top of the cage or by a stick
laid across, he need have no trouble at all with
wasps and bees, and will secure some of his
best honey for market instead of par-boiling
it to mix with syrup later on. His cappings
will be well drainpd by the time the honey in
the extractor has been strained. But for Mr.
Brown's difficulty one would never have
thought of mentioning this little matter of
constant practice. — S. J., Bristol, November 31.

"POINTS" FORJUDGING HONEY.

A UNIFORM SCALE.

[2330.] In 1893, tin' secretary of our local
Royal Horticultural Society requested meto
semi iii ;i scale of points for use in judging
the honey exhibits, and also to In- printed in
the schedule, so as to enable intending ex-
hibitors to know the qualities to be sought for
ia their exhibits.

I devised the following uniform scale of
points, which has so fir, I believe, given
satisfaction. I shall be pleased to see it
receive the benefil of friendly criticism at the
hands of those best able to deal with the
subject, because such scale, or a modification
of it, may be of service in country-places, at
small local shows, where the judges thai are
adjudicating on the floral or fruit exhibits

have also to mike awards on a few classes for
honey : —

EXTRACTED HONET (LIQUID).

Points.

Transparency 4

Density 4

Brilliancy 4

Lightest Colour • 4

Flavour 4

EXTRACTED HONET (GRANULATED).

Lightest Colour

Smallest Grain

Uniformity of Granulation ...
Freedom from White Streaks
Flavour

Points

... i

... 4

... 4
... 4
... 4

20

HONEY IX THE COMB.

Whiteness of Comb

Evenness of Sealing ...

Fulness and Weight

Cleanliness of Wood

Flavour

Points
... 4
... 4
... 4
... 4
... 4

20
Peter Bots, Jersey, Nov. 12.

[We shall be glad to sea the above subject
discussed in our columns, though personally
we must confess our inability to see how a
"uniform'' scale of points can be of any service
whatever in adjudicating. Take, for instance,
the above scale for " liquid" extracted honey:
According to that scale an exhibit might
easily win first prize by gaining maximum
points on the first four heads, while having
flavour so bad as to be unfit for table use and
so earn no points at all ! Besides, no mention
is made of the very important point of aroma.
We think that all competent judges agree that,
no matter how "handsome" a sample of honey
be staged, if the flavour ami aroma are " bad "
its chances of an award are nil, notwithstanding
its good looks. — Eds.]

BEE TALK.

[2331.] Bee Houses or House Ajnaries. — This
subject is just now continually cropping up in
the B.B.J. , and this in spite of a general con-
sensus of opinion that bees do better in the
open. Nor is this a modern opinion only.
Some fifteen years since bee-houses were con-
demned by our never-to-be-forgotten pioneer,
Mr. ('. N. Abbott. One argument often used
in their favour is a Baving of cost in the hives ;
as no roofs or lifts are needed, and the material
may be very light indeed, but when we come
to add the cost of the building the tables are
turned, and I fancy we should rather find the
" saving "come on the other side.

Ripening Honey. — A corrugated-iron roof
to a honey-howie, which is also used as a work-
shop, is not altogether the best thing, as in

504

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 12, 1895.

summer the sun makes the place like an oveD,
but (and here is the wrinkle) it makes a
splendid place to ripen honey in. Shelves
•hould be arranged round the walls near the
roof, and these will carry the crates of sec-
tions, and the ripening of the honey will be
ensured, if, of course, we are favoured with a
fair amount of sunshine.

Section Backs. — I have found nothing to
equal tinned iron girders for these. They
are superior to those made of zinc and " tin-
plate," in that they do not sag nearly so much.

Talcing Bees to the Heather.— 1 have had
several years' experience of heather-going,
and as this topic has been touched on lately,
will explain my way for the benefit of those
fortunate ones who are located near these
"happy hunting grounds" of the bees. I
have found no way of confining the bees so
good as the hinged alighting-board. The
entrance- slides and the piece in which they
run should be confined within the porch-
cheeks, and should be arranged to lift up, so
as to .give a full-width entrance when
necessary. In preparing the hive for the
moors the entrance is lett open to the fullest
extent, and the alighting-board folded up
against the face or front ot porch and secured
there by a hook and staple. This operation occu-
pies about as many seconds as the plan of tacking
on perforated zinc does minutes, and there is
also the great advantage of the bees being
able to come out into the porch space (I
have found them clustered there on arriving
at the moors), and so, not feeling so confined,
they do not get over-heated.

The floorboard should be securely fixed by
screws, clamps, or angle-pieces of galvanised
iron. If the hive is on the fixed inner-wall
plan, as in the " Combination," with wide-
shouldered frames, the dummy should be put
close up to about eight frames, and fixed by
putting a couple of wire nails against it and
into the inner walls. This prevents the frames
from moving back when the hive is lifted on
the dray. Section-racks or shallow-frame
boxes must be secured either by screws
through the " lift " or by angle-pieces screwed
to rack and hive- walls. Eoof and lifts may
be made perfectly rigid by pieces of wood
screwed on. Pack all the quilting on you
can.— S. P. S., Winchester, December 7.

QUESTION AND ANSWER.

AS TO FOUL BROOD.

[2332.] I was in hopes that this question
would have been less prominent, at least for a
time, in the pages of the Bee Journal, but as
Mr. Garratt, on page 492, asks for facts to
prove my complaint as to the practice of those
who hold what I call heretical doctrines on
the subject of foul-brood, I bog to state that
the disease has manifested itself in the follow-
ing apiaries during this and last season : The
Misses Smith, Dartford Heath ; Mr. Cecil H.

Hooper, Swanley ; South - Eastern College,
Wye. I believe the bees were supplied in
each case by Mr. Garratt. In the case of the
Wye College Apiary I urged Mr. Garratt to
get bee3 from some district known to be
healthy, because it was of all importance to
secure successful honey results at that school,
and run no risk of foul-brood appearing. I
have no knowledge where the bees were
obtained, but if from a clean district I acquit
Mr. Garratt of all blame. In the report of the
Technical Education Committee, submitted to
the Kent County Council, Nov. 20, 1895, there
occurs the following paragraph : " During the
season an apiary has been formed at the
County Council College, at Wye, from which
results have been obtained of a most encouraging
kind." I am not aware that a good honey
crop has resulted, while I know that foul brood
has broken out among the bees there. The
report is signed by Mr. Jesse Garratt, lecturer
and demonstrator. This report, which ought
to have been first passed by the Council of the
Kent Bee- keepers' Association, was sent in
direct. I should, as a member of the Kent
B.K.A. Council, have challenged this state-
ment had the opportunity occurred. I disown
for myself, and on the part of the K.B.K.A.,
all responsibility for tlie publication of such
an unaccountable statement. I deeply regret
having to probe this question thus, but you
and your readers will see that Mr. Garratt's
challenge leaves me no option. — E. D. Till,
Briory, Eynsford, Kent.

ARTIFICIAL HONEY.

HOW IT IS MADE.

[2333.] As I scanned the columns of a
certain publication recently, I chanced upon
the following announcement : —

" How to make Artificial Honey. Cost 3d.
per lb. Sell at 9d. Send seven stamps," &c.

Having forwarded sevenpence to the address
given, I duly received the recipe, and learnt
that the necessary ingredients were gum arabic,
sugar, and water in proper proportions,
flavoured with oil of rose, spearmint and
jasmine, and coloured with tincture of saffron.
I was further instructed to boil for twenty
minutes, and then informed that the " honey "
would be " ready for sale when cold."

I followed the instructions given, and manu-
factured Lsome " honey," a sample of which I
send you with .this. In respect to outward
appearance, this appears to me fairly present-
able, but I think you will agree with me that,
regarded in the light of an adjunct to the
breakfast-table, there is no more suitable ex-
pression with which to describe it .than
nauseous mess.

Surely, did the British public realize that
such compounds as 'this are really iu the
market, together with many containing posi-
tively injurious ingredients, to say nothing of
the immense quantity of inferior foreign

Dec. 12, 1895. J THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

505

honey regularly imported, the value of the
Association label would soon be appreciated.

The sooner tradesmen, too, discover that
John Bull is not altogether devoid of the
power of discrimination, and is little likely
to be taken in a second time and come back
for further supplies of such an article as that I
now send you, or, indeed, of some real honey
that I have tasted, the better for them. —
Gerard W. Bancks, December 7.

[After tasting the " sample " we can only
describe It as abominable rubbish. There
need be no fear of its being offered for sale by
any one possessing a grain of common sense,
and so no harm will be done to bee-keeping or
to the sale of honey ; but the cool impudence
of the advertiser in telling buyers of the recipe
that the stuff made from it will " sell at 9d."
per lb. is past belief, and makes one wonder
that any respectable paper will allow its
advertising columns to be used for such a
purpose. — Eds.]

ADDITIONAL HONEY CLASSES
FUND,

[2334.] I trust there will ba no mistake in
the minds of your readers as to what is desir-
able to be done anent the above . I may also
be allowed to say that the names of bee-
keepers cordially supporting the scheme in-
clude those of leading spirits of our craft, all
of whom are willing to join hands in helping
bee-keepers to help themselves. I am more
than pleased with my " list " of supporters so
far as it has gone, but whether or not com-
plete success — as I see it — is to follow depends
upon bee-keepers themselves. It is necessary
to say this much because I feel very strongly
that this particular effort should not be turned
aside from its original purpose, and take the
form of a philanthropic movement benefiting
only a few. I, for one, will be no party to
that idea in any shape. However, as several
pounds have already been promised by those
who can receive neither direct nor indirect
benefit from the movement, thi3 fact makes it
all important that those whom it vriU advan-
tage— viz., our practical bee-men who are
honey-producers, and who, in consequence,
take a lively interest in bee-shows and honey
fairs — should "not be backward in coming
forward" (as the old " showmen'' used to say)
with their contributions, whether these take
the form of special donations, or a " Shilling
Fund,*' or even contributions " in kind " to
swell the " Additional Classes Fund."

My own idea of such a fund is that it should
— if means allow — be used to supplement or
extend the prize-lists of every important
show in the kingdom where honey and bee
products are staged for competition and tie.
In this way it is practicable to bring, not only
honey but mead, honey-vinegar, confectionery,
and other things in which honey or beeswax
are used, prominently forward. The number

and value of prizes offered, and the extension
of prize-lists to shows all over the kingdom is,
of course, only limited by the amount of
assistance rendered by the persons to be
directly benefited, i.e., bee-keepers them-
selves.

I trust, therefore, that you will not offer
any objection to the "subscription list'' being
posted up at the Bee Journal office, to
which address cash or donations in kind might
be sent to care of the Editors. Any further
information I will be glad to afford on receipt
of a postcard addressed to myself. — H. W.
Brice, Beulah-road, Thornton Heath, Surrey.

YE OLDEN BEE-KEEPER.

[2335.] I possess an ancient tome, some two
hundred and forty years old, which professes
to give reliable information concerning all
things in the earth below and in the heavens
above. Of course a corner is devoted to the
bee-keeper, wherein the mysteries of the craft
are unfolded and rules laid down for the
proper management of the apiary. One is
struck by the soundness of much of the advice
here given. Perhaps I ought to say of some
of the advice, but readers of the B.B.J, shall
judge for themselves.

The following are a few of the points upon
which information is volunteered : —

Water. — "This makes bees healthful, and
to provide good honey. You must lay in
great stones, and pieces of wood above the
water, that the bees may stand upon them and
drink with ease. If there be no running water,
you must bring it forth from a well or fountain,
and bring it along in pipe3. But these must
be near to the bees, lest they fall sick with
carrying water."

Hives. — " The hives they live in must be
excellent good, made of oake, or figtree, pine,
or beech tree, the boards a cubit in breadth
and two cubits long. They must have holes
made slant waies, that the winds, blowing in
gently, may dry up spiders' webs and other
corruptions, and may cool them."

General Management. — "This creature
delights exceedingly in rest, and doth not well
like that men should come to the hive. He
that keep3 bees must about them build up a
wall of hollow stones, that the bees may fly
in there into holes, and so escape birds that
lye in wait for them, and be preserved from
dew."

I own that it has never occurred to me to
erect these stone walls. Perhaps the " birds
that lye in wait '' were more troublesome in
those days, and the dews heavier.

Hives of oak, too, are unknown in my
apiary, and although an eighteen-gallun cask
of water, near the bees, drips 00 a couple of
bricks, I must confess that 1 have never gone
to the trouble and expense of laying on pipes
from the fountain.

8 ''rms. — "When there are many young
bees the old ones will send them forth to live

506

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 12, 1895.

by themselves, as the Sabines often did when
their children became very many. You are
aware when this is about to happen, because
they make a vehement noise, as soldiers do
when they are about to march. Then the
bee-keeper casts dust amongst them, and,
tinkling a kettle, he astonishes them, and.
makes them stay."

While presenting to the readers of the
B.B.J, the foregoing extracts, I feel bound to
utter a word of warning. My oracle is not
infallible. I may say it is not always truth-
ful. Or, to use plain language, it does not
scruple on occasion to tell you the most bare-
faced— well, we will call them stories.

In corroboration of this indictment I would
refer to certain instructions for turning lead
into gold. You are directed to cast an ounce
of a certain preparation upon 3 ok. of lead,
then, in the words of the oracle, " it will turn
yellow ; then cast 1 oz. upon 8 oz. of lead pre-
pared, and you shall have perfect gold.
Praise God for it, and give something to the
poor ! " — Gerard W. Bancks, , Green-
street Green, Dartford.

(To be Continued.)

VERIFY YOUR QUOTATIONS.

[2336.] Just a line to say that the lines
quoted (No. 2287, p. 466) from Butler's
,k Hudibras,"

" He that complies against his will
Is of the same opinion still,"
are given in the edition from which I take
this extract : —

" He that complies against his will
Is of his own opinion still."
—Butler's (1 Hudibras,'' part iii., canto iii.,
lines 547-8, Gilfillan & Clarke's edition,
vol. ii, 1862.— D. D., November 21.

PREVENTION OF SWARMING.

(Concluded from page 497.)

Those early colonies already mentioned will
show how to get comb-building done above
the stock chamber ; you have only to give
them the supers wherein to do it, but do not
attempt to use starters only in the sections.
Use nothing les9 than fall sheets — and surely
foundation is cheap enough, with nearly one
hundred sheets (for sections) to the pound.

If any difficulty recur get the bees to start
building in one rack of sections before the
lower chamber is added ; then, with a second
super and warm covering above, and the
lower chamber added at the same time, the
latter need not afterwards be touched, as little
or no comb-building will be carried on there.

By observing the foregoing conditions the
bee-keeper will find himself in possession of
permanently strong colonies and larger yields,
combined with greater safety in wintering, as
the lower (open chamber) is left under the stock.

I must repeat that backward colonies give

the most trouble in swarming. They do not
develop their brood-nest fully until the best
part of the honey season arrives, and then the
hive is handicapped by the excessive number
of consumers which continue to keep the cells
empty for the queen to still further add to an
already tOD costly population. It has been
this sorb of, not management, but mismanage-
ment, which has upheld the use of excluder-
zinc — in my opinion, one of the most useless
fads the apiarist has ever been asked to adopt
iu connection with honey-production.

Irregular or badly-shaped combs will fre-
quently favour the formation of queen-cells,
iu spite of unlimited room, and I need hardly
explain that old queens and large quantities of
drones are also to be condemned. There is
no need for drone comb, if any should be
built, in the frames provided with starters ;
but those who fear that difficulty can place
the frames only |-inch apart, and be almost
certain of worker combs.

The accompanying illustrations will explain
to the uninitiated what my non-swarming
chamber implies. Fig. 1 — a form of hive not

favoured by myself — is a sectional view of the
'' Combination, ' with the foremost frames
having narrow wax-guides, while the supering
is done above the actual stock combs. Fig. 2

shows the usual eleven-frame chamber, by far
the best 3tyle for honey production under any

Dec. 12, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

50 ;

form of management. Two tiers only of sec-
tions are shown, but, of course, one does not
attempt to restrict a powerful colony to that
number when honey is coming in freely.

With reference to the "Conqueror hive,"
referred to by several correspondents, I would
repeat that the starters are not arranged in the
lower frames f< jr the purpose of inducing the
bees to build comb therein ; but the said open
chamber between the brood nest and the
entrance, being the principle of prevention, it
is necessary that a natural arrangement be
provided in view of utilising in a practical
manner any combs that through an oversight
or sudden influx of honey may be built
therein.

It should be particularly noticed that by
covering the supers up warmly, while at the
same time providing a large entrance, the bees
have no choice but to leave the empty frames
alone and proceed to work in the supers where
it is warmer.

As a matter of fact, where the apiarist is
troubled with comb-building below, it will
invariably be found that the entrance is too
email. By the simple adaptation of heat and
cold, or warm covering and ventilation, the
bees will always be willing to build where
wanted, just as the circulation of our own life
blood may be restricted at one point, and
encouraged at another by the principle of hot
and cold water application.

I had not time earlier to reply to the various
articles calling attention to the prevention of
swarming, but I may say that the Conqueror
has now been adapted to the necessities of the
case. The entrance of this hive is capable of
expansion to the extent of some 18 in. by
1^ in., while the lower chamber, in addition,
touches neither the floor nor the actual stock-
chamber above it, thus giving so much ven-
tilation in the right direction that the bees are
forced upwards. And so is overcome the
difficulty once experienced in producing comb
honey while the bees had unlimited room.

Should there be any point not quite clear
to those who recently referred to the subject, I
shall be pleased. to explain any further apparent
difficulty by kind permission of the Editors. —
Saml. Simmixs.

ABOUT OUR BEES.
(III.)

THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE ISEE.
Asi a general rule, it may be said that eggs
intended to produce workers are laid in
worker cells, while drone eggs are deposited in
drone cells. A fertile queen in normal con-
dition never makes a mistake in this respect,
provided cells of both kinds are available ;
nor does she lay more than one egg in a
cell, save under stress of circumstances which
may arise from (1) want of room, i.e , egg
space ; (2) insufficient bees to cover the brood,
where cells are available, as a queen will not

deposit eggs on the uncovered combs out-
side the cluster.

On examining a hive, it will be found that
the manner of the bees, on such combs as are
being used for breeding, is totally different
to those on the frames unvisited by the
queen at the time, and if the frame is raised
carefully, so that she is not disturbed, it is a
most interesting study to watch the care taken
by the mother-bee in depositing her eggs, and
the seeming deference paid to her by the
adjacent bees. Having found an empty cell,
she carefully inspects the interior, and,
having mnde up her mind, deliberately
walks the required distance across it,
and, then inserting her abdomen, deposits an
egg, waits a few seconds, withdraws her
body, and proceeds to the next cell. She
usually lays about five eggs in quick succes-
sion, and then, while resting for a moment or
two, is fed and caressed by the surrounding
bee?, afwr which the same process is again
gone through. I have watched for hour upon
nour, but the routine is almost always the
same. Old or inferior queens seldom lay more
than two or three eggs in succession, some-
times only one, and often with long intervals
between. On examining a cell just after an
egg is laid, we find a small white speck stand-
ing on end, attached to the base of the cell,
and slightly on one side of the apex thereof ;
it is fixed in this position by a watery,
semi- sticky substance which at this period
envelopes the whole of the egg. With-
in a few moments, however, one of the
nurse bees enters the cell — head first, of
course— and, after a few seconds of activity,
withdraws and hurries away to the next cell
to "go on" as before. Now, let us examine
the cell again, and we find that the nurse-bee
has carefully placed the new laid egg down
on its side and in its orthodox and proper
position at the bottom of the cell. The egg
from this time forward is a matter of constant
care and attention on the part of the nurses, who
are persistently examining it, probably to see
how it is " getting on.'' On the second day
we find the bees have shifted its position
to an angle of about 35 degrees ; on the third
it is again moved to an horizontal position,
and on the fourth day it hatches out.

This brings us to the question, What is the
still undeveloped insect to be ? But in any case,
whether worker, drone, or queen, we find the
young larva lying in crescent shape at the
bottom of the cell, and here it rests for
some hours almost unnoticed by the bees,
and certainly unfed for twelve hours. Then
is seen a little transparent food, upon
which the larva almost floats. In twenty-
four to thirty-six hours the food first ex-
hibits a slight milky opacity, and becomes
more abundant until about the third or
fourth day, during which time the food is
absorbed by the mouth and other portions of
the body floating upon it, the larva' passing no
ejections whatever. At the period men-

508

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 12, 1895.

tioned — and with either worker or drone larva?
— what is known as the " weaning period/'
occurs, and for a short time no food is sup-
plied. Then, when nourishment i3 again
necessary, the food is changed, and the rich
nutriment previously given — which appears to
me to partake of the nature of " Royal jelly " —
is discontinued, and honey and partly-digested
pollen take its place. The worker larva? are
fed on this until the end of the eighth day,
when the cells are capped over, and after the
twenty-first day the insects come forth from
the cells perfectly deve'oped, in the form of
brownish-grey little creatures, apparently re-
garded by the adult workers as hardly
belonging to the same community. How-
ever,, in a very short time the newly-arrived
ones are running about the combs, clearly to
the "manor" born. Drone larva? are fed
for one day longer than the workers', the cells
being sealed over about the ninth day. They
do not, however, issue as perfect insects until
after the twenty-fourth day from the laying of
the eggs, both days inclusive.

Bees have the power to prolong the above
times, but I have failed to discover that they
can shorten the time occupied in the meta-
morphosis. They have, however, a marvellous
power of lengthening the period, instances
having come under my notice where worker
larva? has been kept at apparently from three to
four days old from the egg, till the eighth day,
these same cells having been found unsealed
on the twelfth day. This often happens in
queenless colonies. I have also known drone
larva? to remain unsealed for days after the
generally-accepted period. The protraction of
time in sealing the cells is more marked, how-
ever, in the case of queen-rearing. A
larva intended for a queen is fed during
the first three days on the same partly-
digested food as the worker and drone
larva? with the important difference that
the larva? intended for queens are fed
abundantly with this food from first to last
and are not weaned or stinted in any way or at
any period, thus the usual time for a queen to
develop is sixteen days : viz., the egg hatches
on the fourth day ; larva feed until the eighth
day, when an extra abundant supply of food
is given, and the cell is sealed by the ninth
day — the perfect queen coming forth on the
sixteenth day. This is generally the case
under normal conditions, but it is not unusual
to have whole batches of queens not forth-
coming until the eighteenth and nineteenth
day, sometimes issuing nearly all at one time,
and sometimes hours after one another, being
almost entirely dependent upon when the cells
were respectively sealed. This power of con-
trolling the development of their young, and
the many varied circumstances which affect
this question is one of the most absorbing
phases of our craft, and is another portion of
scientific bee-keeping upon which more light
is wanted. — H. W. Bricss, Thornton Heath.
(To be continued.)

A FAMOUS ACTRESS,

AND A SUCCESSFUL LADY BEE-KEErER.

A letter from San Fransisco, in the Berlin
Tdffliche Bundschau, gives an account of the
once famous actress, Mme. Modjfska, in her
present character as a Californian farmer.
She has a ranche at the foot of the Santiago
Peak, where she owns large flocks of sheep,
from which she derives a comfortable income,
and she includes amongst her stock 500
splendid Angora goats. Her great delight,
however, is her prosperous bae culture, for
which she has acquired a wide renown. She
owns over 760 bee-hives, and the honey is
declared in the neighbourhood to be the best
in the world. Mdme. Modjeska rises every
morning at half-past five, visits her stable3 and
cattle-sheds, and makes the round of her bee-
hives ; then she mouats her horse, which she
bestrides after the masculine fashion, and
gallops across her fields to see that everything
is in proper order. She finds the actual
shepherding to be more laborious, but more
pleasant, than the part of the jewelled and
ribboned shepherdess a la Waltca u behind the
footlights.

Notmsto Correspondents and Inquirers.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
jood of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those,
only of personal interest ivill be answered in this column.

Mentone (East Yorks). — Sugar for Candtj-
making. — Brown sugar, whether in crystals
or not, is unsuitable for making bee-candy.
Only refined white cane-sugar should ba
u?ed.

D. M. (A'yth). — Progeny of Ptire Italian
Queens. — It is quite common for the
progeny of "pure Italian queens " to bear
very little of the yellow bands or markings
of their parents, because of the latter being
mated to a hybrid or a black drone. But
even when mated to native Italian drones
the markings vary a good deal, a large per-
centage of pure Italian bees being what are
called leather-coloured or brown-banded.
These latter are considered by many to be
superior to the yellow-banded sort for
working qualities.

Wm. HALriN, Jun. (Knockmagen). — Eaw
Muscovado Sugar for Bees. — The sugar
sent is entirely unsuitable for candy-making.
You will find in recipes given either lump
or refined cane sugar is always recom-
mended for use in candy-making. Eaw
sugar may be used for bee food in the
summer time, but at that time only, for
not only is syrup made from it very liable
to fermentation, but it has a tendency to
cause dysentery among bees.

Dec. 19, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

509

(ftdtforisi $olxm> ku

BRITISH BEE - KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

The monthly meeting of the Council was
held at 17, King William-street, Strand, W.C.,
on Friday, the 13 th inst., at twelve o'clock,
the Finance and Educational Sub-committees
having met at an earlier hour in the day.

Present : — T. W. Cowan (Chairman), Henry
Jonas (Vice-chairman), the Hon. and Rev. H.
Bligh, Rev. G. W. Bancks, Major Fair, Messrs.
R. Andrews, W. Broughton Carr, J. Garratt,
and J. H. New. The Rev. W. E. Burkitt and
Messrs. J. M. Hooker and F. H. Meggy were
also present ex officio.

The minutes of last meeting were read and
confirmed. Letters were also read from mem-
bers of the Council regretting their inability to
attend.

The statement of accounts to November 30
having been read and dealt with, certain
accounts were passed for payment.

Referring to the vacant secretaryship of the
Association, the Chairman stated that the
special committee appointed to deal with the
matter had under consideration the numerous
applications received, and without deciding to
recommend any one at present, would report
later on .

The correspondence included an application
for affiliation by the Manchester and District
Bee-Keepers' Association. The Council, after
having fully considered the matter, decided, —

" That as the district proposed to be covered
by a Manchester and District Association, is
already efficiently worked by a branch of the
Lancashire and Cheshire Association, the
application for affiliation of the former with
the British Bee-keepers' Association cannot be
entertained."

The Educational Committee reported the
results of examinations held during the year
of candidates for second and third clas3
certificates.

The Council adjourned to January 10 next.

[A full list of candidates who have passed
\\ ill appear in our next issue. — Eds.]

CONFERENCE OF COUNCIL OF THE B.B.K.A,

Willi DELEGATES FROM COUNTY COUNCILS.

A meeting was held in the Board-room
of the R.S.P.C.A., 105, Jermyn-street, at
four p.m. of the same day, consisting of
the members of the Council of the British
Bee-keepers' Association, and delegates ap-
pointed by different County Councils, in
accordance with an invitation from the Asso-
ciation. This step was taken in pursuance of
the interview which took place in May last
between the Council of the Association and
the President of the Board of Apiculture,

on the subject of proposed legislative measures
for the protection of bee-keepers and the exter-
mination of foul brood.

The meeting at the outset resolved itself
into a joint committee, and on the motion
of Mr. W. Lees McClure, Mr. T. W. Cowan
was voted to the chair. In opening the pro-
ceedings, Mr. Cowan said : — I should first
like to announce that most of the County Coun-
cils of the kiDgdcm have appointed delegates
agreeably to our wish, but in some cases these
representatives are unable to attend here to-
day. That is the case as regards Worcester-
shire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, and the
Lindsey division of Lincolnshire. Mr. Mon-
tague Sharp, of the Middlesex County Council,
also writes regretting his enforced absence.
The County Councils which have not ap-
pointed delegates have made no grants to
bee-keeping ; but there are only two or three
of these. I think most of those present know
all about the greatest scourge of bee-life —
foul brood ; and, therefore, I shall confine my
remarks to the history of our movement — so
far as the steps which have led up to this meet-
ing. Some two or three years ago pressure was
brought to bear on the Council of the B.B.K.A.
Association with a view to getting this
question of foul brood dealt with ; but at that
time our organisation was not sufficiently
advanced to enable us to do anything, and the
matter remained in abeyance for a time. Last
year, however, we again took it up with
increased earnestness, and through the County
Associations were enabled to accumulate a
mass of[statistics, digest them in a Report, and
go before the Minister of Agriculture fully
prepared to show him the evidence on which
we invited Government action. In May last
we formed a deputation to the then President
of the Board, Mr. Herbert Gardner, which
deputation included members of Parliament,
members of County Councils, and other bodies
in addition to the Council of the Association.
We met with a favourable reception from Mr.
Gardner, who promised to give the matter
his attention. The report above referred to
deals with the whole question ; all the work
done is there stated, and was brought before
the Board of Agriculture. In the course of
an exhaustive and sympathetic reply to the
deputation, Mr. Gardner raised several points
for our consideration, suggesting among other
things the appointment of a small committee
to confer with the permanent officials of the
Board of Agriculture. The Council of our
Association, acting upon that suggestion,
appointed four of their number for the purpose,
and these gentlemen met Mr. Elliot, Perma-
nent Secretary, and other officials of the Board
in July last, at the offices in Whitehall. The
result of this interview was very encou-
raging, as you will hear later on. It
was pointed out afterwards that as the
County Councils would most likely have
to administer any Act of Parliament
that might be passed, they should be invited

i'10

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 19, 1895.

to send representatives to meet the B.B.K.A.

council to confer with them on the whole

subject, and form a joint committee for taking
action in the matter. We approved of this
view, and accordingly invited the various
Technical Education Committees to appoint
delegates to meet us to-day. As I have
already stated, a favourable response was
received, resulting in the present meeting.
With regard to the interview with the perma-
nent officials of the Board in July, which I have
already referred to, and points touched on by
Mr. Gardner, in one — as to the cost of carry-
ing out any measures of relief — the in-
dustry did not appear t» be sufficiently
large, in Mr. Gardner's view, to justify the
appointment of inspectors all over the
country, as was the case under the Contagious
Diseases' (Animals) Act. To this the reply
was given that that was not what bee-keepers
desired ; they wanted the power to stamp out
foul brood where it existed, and inspectors
were, therefore, not necessary where foul
brood did not appear. It was considered
that for a whole county the cost should not
exceed £250 per annum, so that I think the
Board were satisfied on that point.

_ The next query raised was as to the possi-
bility of curing the disease by means of drugs.
That is a matter which you all know is very
difficult to settle. In the case of many
diseases of animals drugs have been tried and
failed. No doubt in the earlier stages of the
malady, and at a time when few but expert
bee-keepers can detect it, it is possible to
arrest the disease ; but when a more advanced
stage is reached, then it is more difficult if
not impossible to combat its ravages, and
the only course to take is complete
destruction of combs and bees. At any
rate, there must be more education in bee-
keeping before you can arrive at the con-
clusion that it will be safe to trust the average
bee-keeper with drugs. This plague can be
attacked successfully by experts in its earlier
stages, but not afterwards. The next point
referred to the notification of infected areas,
and compensation. In the Bill you will see it
is suggested that anyone having the disease in
an apiary should at once notify the inspector
or a police constable of the fact, upon which
the inspector would visit the premises and
give instructions for effecting a cure where
possible, and, if his instructions are not
carried out, he would have power to order
the destruction of hives and contents. We
do not propose that persons shall be en-
couraged to inform against their neighbours,
which would sometimes open the door to
the gratification of private spite. Let the
notification be voluntary on the part of
the bee-keeper. It is to his interest that
his hives shall be clean, and where it is
necessary to destroy them we propose to give
compensation. Where a bee-keeper conceals
the infection from the authorities we say that
he ought not to receive compensation, and,

moreover, ought to be fined. Then, as to
experts, it was asked whether there were
experts available for inspectorships, and it was
shown that such experts already existed.
With regard to the size of the industry, which
was also a subject of consideration, everybody
who knows anything about bee-keeping will
realise that it is capable of very considerable
extension. At present its value is represented
by about £150,000 per annum, so far as we
can calculate, but, from accounts we have
received, these figures might be expanded
almost indefinitely, there being large tracts of
land in this country where bees have never
been kept at all. We could very reasonably
estimate the possible size of the industry as
ten times the amount I have mentioned ; and
the Board of Agriculture are quite satisfied
with what we say of its value to fruit and
flowers in regard to fertilisation, as well as the
production of honey ; indeed, its value to
horticulturists and fruit - growers is incal-
culable. The Board of Agriculture have also
agreed to issue a leaflet of four pages on the
subject of foul brood and its treatment.

So far as the merits of the question, I have
probably now said enough ; but we want you
to consider the advisability of appointing a
sub- committee consisting of delegates from the
County Councils and members of our own
Council to go into this matter, watch over the
Bill, and confer with the Board of Agriculture
thereon. The Association is, quite prepared to
enlarge the committee if six be considered too
small a number, and they will be very pleased
to confer ( with the delegates on that point.
The next consideration will be to give the sub-
committee instructions what to do, and how to
meet the expenditure likely to be incurred in
the introduction of this Bill and the necessary
Avork in connection with it. These are the
main questions I have deemed it necessary to
put before you, and I shall be very pleased to
answer any inquiries that may be made.
Perhaps, after we have settled this matter of
the sub-committee, we can go into questions of
more general import. I should say in con-
clusion that the Board of Agriculture propose
to modify the Bill by making it an adoptive
measure and not a compulsory Bill, so that the
County Councils may adopt or not as desired.

Mr. W. H. Harris, in proposing the first
resolution, said the council of the B.B.K.A.
had devoted much attention to the subject of
foul brood. It had cost them an enormous
amount of thought and labour, and they con-
sidered that when they had arrived at the
point of being received by the Board of Agri-
culture, they had taken an immense step
forward. But it was soon found that the
work had, in reality, only just begun. A
further advance had been made by the appoint-
ment of a small committee to confer with the
permanent officials of the Board. County
Councils also had shown sympathy with the
movement and every intention to help it to
a satisfactory issue. A further step forward

Dec. 19, 1895. J THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

511

was the presence to-day of the County Councils'
delegates, sent specially to confer with the
Council of the B.B.K.A, and he would add
that yet another step in the right direction
would be made if the meeting would agree to
pass the following resolution : —

"That three delegates from the County
Councils be chosen as a sub-committee to act
in the matter of legislation on foul brood, with
a similar number of representatives of the
British Bee-Keepers' Association, with Mr.
T. W. Cowan as chairman.''

Mr. Meggy seconded the resolution, which
was carried unanimously.

The Chairman thought it would be well if
the names of suitable gentlemen to act on the
sub-committee could be chosen at the present
meeting. And in this connection it had been
suggested that Mr. Harris, Mr. Till, and Mr.
Carr should represent the B.B.K.A. And,
unless the delegates were already prepared to
submit names, he would suggest those of Mr.
W. Lees McClure (Lanes.), Major-Gen. Luard
(Kent), and Mr. Walter Martin (Lindsey Div.,
Lines.). It was, however, perfectly free for
them to substitute any other names they might
wish, if it was thought desirable.

Mr. Lees McClure, as a member of the
Lancashire CO., could say — and he presumed
the same applied to other County Councils —
that whenever his county spent money they
liked to have the application of it under their
control, and to see a good return for the outlay.
And in an important matter like the present,
where the police were to be empowered to
interfere, many of the counties would like to
have a voice in the matter. He saw no diffi-
culty as regarded his own county in that
coming before the standing committee. But
as all counties did not work alike, some
matters would have to be threshed out,
although no permanent difficulty presented
itself. As his name had been ment ioned in
connection with the sub-committee, he would
be very glad to serve if appointed, for he had
attended bee meetings hero during several
years, and had sufficient experience to
know that there was a great deal to be
done on this question before a practical
result would be achieved. Foul brood had
cnu-ied much harm in Lancashire. Even at
the present time, when they bad a farm to
tfach students agricultural work, they were
afraid to go to expense in providing bees and
equipment, because there could be no security
that foul brood would not supervene. There
might be a neighbour next door whose bees
were attacked, and if so whatever money were
spent would be wasted. He had the strongest
feeling that before any bees were obtained,
and bee-keeping taught at the farm, there
should be some means of legally preventing a
neighbour from destroying their property,
and the yood effect of their labour and teach-
ing. Without overlooking the difficulties
with regard to dealing with disease among
cattle, he trusted that their action to-day might

lead to the adoption of some means for the pur-
pose of stamping out foul brood among bees.
He would do his best to obtain legislation,
and he hoped the bulk of the County Councils
would fall in with that view.

Mr. St. John (Warwickshire C.C.) thought
the subject as explained to-day had not
been brought before the different County
Councils with sufficient clearness; besides
which he considered that the Technical
Education Committees were hardly the right
persons to take up this question. His com-
mittee had appointed him as a representative
in response to the invitation of the B.B.K.A.,
but they were not fully acquainted with the
steps that had been taken, and he believed that
the subject should be more fully ventilated
before serious steps were taken. Before com-
mitting himself to any opinion he would like
to have the opportunity of placing before his
committee the objects of the Conference.
Regarding the proposal for compensation, for
instance — and he felt sure that his committee
would not fall in with that — he thought a
hive once infected with foul brood was worth
nothing at all. He had had experience of it, and
had succeeded in eradicating the disease, but the
infinity of trouble, and the uncertainty led
him to think that it was better to bum
the whole lot ! The Warwickshire C.C. were
taking great interest in the question of bee-
keeping ; they had lately adopted a scheme
for the encouragement of the industry.
Lectures had been given throughout the county
and they were now endeavouring to establish
Bee Clubs, with the object of spreading a
knowledge of scientific bee-keeping among the
members. The Daily Farm School students
were also instructed in theoretical and prac-
tical bee-keeping. His council were quite in
earnest in the matter, and when the subject
was properly put before them they would, no
doubt, enter into it with a determination to do
their best to advance the interests of bee-
keepers.

The Chairman, referring to Mr. St. John's
remarks about compensation, said that the
maximum amount proposed was only 10s.,
while the actual sum to be allowed was left
to the discretion of the inspector, so that he
might value a diseased hive at from 10s. down
to nothing at all.

Mr. Welch (Surrey C.C.) said :— In Surrey
they had been tolerably active of late with
regard to bee-culture. They had the Berks
bee-van perambulating the county. At the
Agricultural College at Wye, in Kent (which
they shared with the Kent C.C.), bee-keeping
was taught, and the Council had also taken
steps to resuscitate the old Surrey Bee-keepers'
Association. He was quite sure the Surrey
C.C. would do all in its power to encourage
the bei -keeping industry, and also take any
8teps advisable for the suppression of foul
brood.

Tli'' Chairman said that what was desired
t>i day was that a sub'Committee should le

512

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 19, 1895.

appointed to take the matter in hand, and
report its work and conclusions to the general
committee, who would in its turn report to the
County Council.

Mr. Harris was under the impression that a
considerable amount of information on the
object of their meeting to-day had been fur-
nished to the County Councils, and he was
rather surprised to hear from Mr. St. John that
particulars had not been laid before them.

Mr. St. John maintained that no exact
account of the work done had been brought
before the County Councils.

Mr. McClure said that as a body probably
the County Councils knew little or nothing of
the matter. Although the report now on the
table before them had been forwarded, it must
be borne in mind how impossible it was for
County Councils to read all the printed matter
sent to them. Members interested in the sub-
ject would no doubt follow it up through the
pages of the Bee Journal, but others knew
nothing about what was going on. The
whole question would therefore be left to
those who understood it, and the delegate
would be selected therefrom.

Mr. St. John — as secretary of the Technical
Education Committee — said his Council had
not had the whole subject put before them as
in the report on the table.

The Chairman., replied that the B.B.K.A.
had sent out to each County Council the
following letter addressed to the Chairman of
the Technical Education Committee : —

Dear Sir, I beg to enclose a report of a
deputation of the British Bee-keeper's Associ-
ation which has been received by Mr. Herbert
Gardner, President of the Board of Agri-
culture, with a view to devise some plan for
dealing with foul brood among bees.

The prevalence of the disease is seriously
affecting bee-keeping throughout the kingdom,
and it is therefore a question of considerable
importance to the rural districts.

The Council of the British Bee-keepers'
Association do not think that Parish or
District Councils, as suggested by Mr. Gardner
would avail for carrying out the proposed
measures. On the other hand, they consider
that County Councils could properly assist in
furthering the object for which they have
approached the Board of Agriculture.

If your Council have voted funds for techni-
cal instruction in bee-keeping, either alone or
jointly with other subjects, I should be glad
to know to what extent this has been done.

May 1 ask you further to inform me whether
your Council would be willing to nominate a
representative with whom the Council of the
British Bee-keepers' Association might confer
on the whole subject. — I am, sir, your obedient
servant, Tnos. W. Cowan, Chairman.

With this letter was sent a report which it
was supposed the County Councils or those
who took the matter in hand would read and
make themselves acquainted with the subject.

The B.B.K.A. concluded that the delegates
chosen would be those who took an interest in
bee-keeping and therefore knew something
about it.

Mr. Welch thought that the three delegates
who has been suggested by the chairman
should be elected as being most qualified for
the office. He, therefore, proposed that the
representatives of Lancashire (Mr. W. Lees
McClure), 'of 'Kent (Major-General Luard),
and of the Lindsey Division of Lincolnshire
(Mr. Walter Martin), be the delegates of the
County Councils on this committee.

Mr. Andrews seconded the resolution, which
was carried unanimously.

Mr. Jonas, on behalf of the B.B.K.A., pro-
posed that Mr. Harris, Mr. Till, and Mr. Carr
be elected to serve on the sub-committee as
representing the Association.

Mr. Hooker seconded the resolution, and
this was also carried unanimously.

Mr. Meggy said that the representative of
the Warwickshire C.C. had asked whether
there was any good reason why this sub- com-
mit tee should not be enlarged. The chairman
had answered that the number six was men-
tioned, because Mr. Gardener had suggested
a small committee. He would, therefore, move
— " That the committee now formed have power
to elect members to fill vacancies that may
occur in their body from any cause and to add
to their number if they find it desirable to do
so, in either case acting as far as possible in
accordance with the suggestion that a distinct
part of the country should be represented."

Mr. St. John having seconded, the resolu-
tion was carried unanimously.

Mr. St. John said he was anxious that the
particulars should be put before all members
of the County Councils in a condensed form, so
that every member would know what he was
voting for, and he therefore moved the fol-
lowing resolution :—

" That the sub-committee be requested to
confer with the Board of Agriculture on the
subject of legislation respecting foul brood,
and to submit to a future meeting of this
committee a report and a scheme for the
payment of expenses incidental thereto.''

The resolution was carried unanimously.

The Chairman then invited suggestions with
regard to the proposed Bill.

Mr. McClure asked whether there was any-
one present who objected to legislation on the
subject ? He feared the question had not been
asked in Warwickshire. In Lancashire, so
far as he could gather, they were quite willing
to invoke Parliamentary powers.

The Chairman observed there was no doubt
that bee-keepers as a body all over the King-
dom were in favour of legislation.

Mr. McClure was anxious that the sub-
committee should commence work as soon as
possible, and he hoped the date of the first
meeting would be fixed before they separated.
He moved a vote of thanks to the chairman

Dec. 19, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

513

for presiding. Mr. Andrews seconded the
vote, which was carried amid applause.

The Chairman returned thank?, and said he
echoed Mr. McClure's wish that the com-
mittee would begin their labours as soon as
possible. There was already a large mass of
information at their disposal, to that they
could proceed at once. Many members of
Parliament were willing to support a bill,
and there was no doubt Ministers would be
quite ready to assist a measure which had for
its object the relief and benefit of agricul-
turists and cottagers. He trusted an enact-
ment could be framed which would be alike
acceptable to bee-keepers and County Coun-
cils, especially as the latter would have a
direct voice in the matter before any decisive
action was taken ; and he hoped before the
conclusion of another year to be able to con-
gratulate them on the successful result of
their efforts.

The proceedings then terminated.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

THE VACANT SECRETARYSHIP.

In reply to inquiries from candidates for the
office of Secretary to the B.B.K.A. as to the
appointment, we are authorised to say that a
large number of applications have been received,
and are now under consideration by the
Council. When a decision has been arrived at
the result will be made known in the earliest
issue of the Bee Journal.

IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The committee met on 12th inst. Present :
—Mr. Read (in the chair), Dr. Trail), Mr.
O'Bryen, Captain Millner, and Mr. Chenevix
(hon. sec, 15, Morehampton-road, Dublin).
It was resolved to hold a conversational meet-
ing next spring, and to give notice of it in
the next number of Notes and Mint*. After-
wards the sub-committee appointed for the
purpose settled on the outlines of a scheme to
be recommended to the Congested Districts
Board for the promotion of bee-keeping in
their districts next year.

(S/ormpnkna.

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
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be draivn on separate pieces of paper. Wt
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[2337.] The year is speeding quickly to its

close ; in less than a week we shall have reached

the shortest day, and with the turn of days

the sun will start on its journey southwards.

Then, we have our great festival of Christmas,
with its re-unions of families, and goodwill to
all. These marks of the passing year remind
us that our thoughts should ever be prospective,
and so, instead of contemplating what iS passed,
let us inscribe on our banner '' Vorwarts.''

The industry of bee-keeping will receive
considerable impetus during the coming year
if action be taken by the Bee-keeping Associa-
tions to keep the aims and objects of the craft
to the front.

The chief aim has hitherto been to reach the
cottager class of bee-keepers, and I do not
think it is over-stating the fact to say we have
failed in this so far as teaching the agricultural
labourer a better system of bee-kt eping. There
are a few exception?, I know, but they can be
counted on the fingers of one hand in most
districts. Improved methods of production —
say of extracted honey — has tended to restrict
the local sales of the cottager's strained honey,
and consumers now purchase in smaller quanti-
ties than of yore. Thus the pots of honey
weighing 14 to 20 lb., formerly bought from
cottager producers, are not so saleable as in
past years. Then the agricultural labourer is
more migratory than formerly, and bees are
not so easily moved as some kinds of stock.

The action initiated by the British B.K.A.,
and now supported by County Councils, will
do much to popularise not only bee-keeping,
but also lead to a greater consumption of
honey as an article of food, and as being
specially suitable for invalids where the use of
sugar is denied. In these cases honey is the
only form in which sweets can be taken with-
out injury, In this and other ways we may
look forward to the demand keeping pace with
the supply. The day of fancy prices has gone
never to return, and it is only by increasing
our output per hive that we can make up the
difference in value per pound.

My opinion is that bee-keeping will, in a
few years time, resolve itself into a speciality
here as in America, rather than in a wide sprea'd
application of modern methods. The trend of
things commercial lies in that direction, and
honey-producing will follow suit. Trade
demands are also engendering the output of a
uniform article. In the past, producers of a
few pounds of honey had a difficulty in selling,
whereas larger quantities have been saleable
when a regular supply of uniform quality can
be depended on by the trader. This has been
my experience.

Residents in "Villadom," and occupiers of
suburban dwellings, who take up bee-keeping
as a fad, or to employ a leisure hour, will not
make any appreciable difference to our ranks
as affecting the market price of honey ; their
product ion will rather tend to create consumers
by cultivating a taste for honey among their
friends.

Our Journal. — In recent numbers I notice
that some well-wishers of the B.J. have been
suggesting an effort on the part of readers for
increasing the circulation. The commence-

514

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 19, 1895.

merit of a new volume is the time for such an
effort. Then, when we have a wider circula-
tion, the advertising pages will be of increased
value to advertisers generally. There can be
no objection to an extension of the advertise-
ment pages by admitting trades outside bee-
craft, as the reading matter is easily removed
from the advertisement pages when required
for binding. Thus the most fastidious cannot
complain. Our bee-appliance advertisers might
object to their advertisements being mixed up
with those of a general kind, but this could
easily be arranged by classifying the advertise-
ments on separate pages. — Wm, Woodley,
Beedon, Newbury.

SOME BEE NOTES AND "HINTS."

FROM A DISTRICT IN WEST CUMBERLAND.

[2338.] Bee-keepers in Cumberland, owing
to the severe frosts we had in January and
February, and the cessation of the honey-flow
so early as July 2, caused by a severe hail-
storm on that day and cold and wet weather
during most of the month, have not had a big
honey harvest this year, although some of us
whose bees were strong in the beginning of
June secured fairly good "takes.'' I have
heard of many who declare their average this
year is only from 13 lb. to 20 lb., while in
1894 they got over 50 lb. per hive. I, with a
few others, had little to complain of. My
average per hive (spring count) was close upon
45 lb., but very few of my sections were
fully filled in consequence of the honey-flow
being so soon over; and so, finding my hives
crowded with bees, I looked about for some
employment for them during the slack time
which followed.

Work for Bees in Drawing-ont Combs. —
After extracting on the first week of July, and
returning the empty combs, I found the bees
doing nothing, owing to the weather, and,
having no heather near, I experimented with
two of my strongest hives by removing the
empty combs that had been put through the
extractor, and afterwards cleaned out by the
bees, giving instead frames fitted with founda-
tions, which I hoped they would draAV out ;
but, although covered with bees, nothing was
done for some time. I then tried if feeding
slowly (a pint of syrup or so a day) would
induce them to draw out the combs, and it did
so to the extent that in a short time I had
some beautifully — though not fully — drawn-
out combs. The best of these I removed and
replaced with more frames fitted as before, so
that by the end of September had about
thirty frames of similar new combs from these
two hives. By feeding sooner and setting my
six hives to work, it is hard to say how many
combs 1 could have get drawn out. This may
be a common thing to do, but not about here.
I therefore venture to offer a " hint " to those
who know the value of a few dozen drawn-out

I combs put carefully away for use another

season.
I Shape of Honey Bottles. — The shape of the
j 1-lb. honey bottle for easy packing was dis-
cussed not long ago in your columns, but why
not follow the shape of the honey-cell, as we
all know space cannot be used up to better
effect than by honey-cells 1 And, besides,
they would look very neat for the table, and
the different shape of bottle cannot possibly
make much difference in price.

Do Bees carry Eggs ? — I suggest that all
who can should try a few experiments another
season, and report. A good many of us are
known to be rather sceptical about this matter.
One experiment, for instance, might take
something of this form : — Remove the queen
from a hive, and eight or nine days later —
when the larva; left in the hive Avere too far
forward for any more young queens to be
raised, other than those already started —
cut out all queen-cells, and on the following
day place a piece of comb containing eggs on
the floor-board. Would the bees carry any of
these eggs up into the hive to produce a queen
or queens ? If they did, all uncertainty on
the point would be at an end.

Keeping Honey in Sections over] a Year. —
Place sixteen 1-lb. sections in a common tin
biscuit-box, 9 in. by 9i in. high, just when
taken from the hive. Then gum a strip of
paper round the lid to exclude the air. This
done, and the honey will keep liquid, and
without granulating, for a year or more. I
am using 1894 sections at present, in as good
condition as when taken from the bees, and
have kept sections in the same way for two
years without granulating. — J. T., Baggrou;
Carlisle, December 10.

LAYING WORKERS.

REPLY TO DR. MILLER.

[2339.] I have great pleasure in responding
to the request made by Dr. C. C. Miller on
page 502 of your last issue, and if I can
'' prove myself wrong'' — as the worthy doctor
invites me to do — shall not grudge trouble iu
the operation. I must, however, say candidly
and at once that although I have not seldom
gone to no end of trouble to prove myself
right, the proving me "wrong'' is a task I
generally leave to other folk". But to come to
Dr. Miller's letter :—

In considering the points raised it must be
borne in mind (1) that bees possessing one or
more fertile workers are in an abnormal condi-
tion, and consequently not quite accountable
for their actions. (2) That b(es under this
condition would not all act alike. (3) That
climatic conditions would affect their action
in a more or less marked degree ; and (4) That
different races of bees have their own distinc-
tive idiocyncrasies under all conditions. Hence
the great value of Dr. Miller's communication,
as from his experience in a distant land under

Dec. 19, 1895.]

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

»15

different surroundings, some light may be
thrown on matters iu which even bee-men who
are " Doctors (may) differ ; " as when Dr.
Miller asserts that the presence of eggs in a
queen cell indicates the presence of a laying
worker. It must not be understood, however,
that I intend to interfere with that particular
bit of theory. It may be perfectly correct and
I shall pay careful attention to the subject in
the future.

We all know how easy it is to be mis-
taken in bee matters, and how greatly circum-
stances alter seemingly similar cases. In
several of my hives this season laying workers
appeared, two cases being distinctly impressed
on my mind. In one a hive came through
the winter strong in bees, but minus the
queen (a hybrid Cyprian). In April I exa-
mined this stock, and found no brood, but
most of the combs contained eggs, several in
a cell, and laid apparently without any
attempt at regularity, with certainly not
more than six or eight cells in any single
cluster in which there was not a cell or two
eggless. The eggs were, moreover, deposited
in worker and drone cells in a manner which
1 can only describe as indiscriminate. There
were many queen-cells, including one from
which a queen had ha'ched at some time
but could not be found. In this case, so far
as my memory serves, there were no eggs in
the queen-cells, arid I do not think it possible
that I should have overlooked them had any
been present. I did notice that all the eggs
were deposited within the space the bees could
cover, naturally concluding that the laying
powers of the queen outpaced the covering
capacity of the bees, thus accounting for the
multiplicity of eggs in each cell, but this was
clearly proved not to be so. The second case
occurred in July last in a five-frame nucleus,
in which a young queen was lost on her
mating trip, leaving sealed brood behind.
Embryo queen - cells were started, and I
gave a r early ripe queen-cell. On August 5
I found the queen - cell unhatched, and
no brood ; on the 7th the queen-cell was cut
down. On looking for a queen, I noticed a
small patch of eggs in centre frame, but no
queen. On the 10th still no queen, but the
hive with " eggs everywhere in worker and
drone cells, just anyhow," averaging ' six to
eight in a cell, and extending to cells not
covered by the bees at all." The details quoted
are from my note-book, and it struck me
as most curious. In this case there were
positively no egas in the embryo qneen- cells,
and the brood raised from all these eggs were
drones.

Without asserting that laying workers do
not deposit eggs in queen cells, I can speak
confidently only of matters as I find them.
r^o see a laying worker ovipositing, is a Bight

corded to few bee-keepers, and while envj ing
I? . Miller, I should like to ask whether he

Miller says plurality of eggs is a sign of a laying
worker, but a queen with insufficient bees will
duplicate or even triplicate eggs in a cell
though not to the extent of six or more.

One phase of this interesting question de-
serves more than passing attention, viz , what
constitutes a laying worker ? In other words,
in what stage of development are her ovaries ?
To my mind it is clear that all workers are not
capable of producing eggs. Do errors in diet
during the larval stage effect the question ? I
rather think so, for we know that queens care-
lessly raised are little more than half-worker3.
I would therefore suggest that workers not
properly weaned are little less than half-
queens.

In concluding, permit me to express my
hope that Dr. Miller will favour us again,
and that shortly, with more of his views and
experiences on bee matters. Friendly inter-
course of this kind can only tend to the
benefit of all, while good fellowship — always
good — is not too plentiful nowadays, and I am
only echoing the feelings of beemen here in
wishing all our brother bee-keepers on the
other side, and Dr. Miller in particular, health
and a prosperous 1896. — H. W. Brice,
Thornton Heath.

Dr

has

ever had a.queen cell completed over eggs
desposited, and with what remit j Dr.

MR. WELLS' REPORT FOR 1895.

[2340.] It is just twelve months since my
report for 1894 appeared in B.J., and I am
again late in sending a brief account of my
bee doings for 1895. The causes of delay are
devoid of interest, and so I will proceed witli
events concerning the bees.

In the autumn of '94 I decided to work
only seven hives this year, six of them were
packed ,for the winter of '94-5, well stocked
with bees and stores, and, of course, two
queens in each. The seventh hive-— holding
twenty frames — hud in it four queens and four
lots of driven bees of a. very fine strain, all of
which queens I wished to save in the event of
contingencies daring the winter. These driven
lots were each placed on three frames of comb,
the two centre lots well supplied with stores ;
the two outside lots were, however, sparely
furnished with food, so I decided to helpthern
out with a cake of soft candy. This I duly
made, but, owing to after-events, not necessary
to explain, was never given to the bees until
too late to be of service ; for one day at end of
February this year, on examining the hive to
see the cause of the quietude of its two out-
side compartments, 1 found that the candy
had never been given, and the poor bees had
died of famine ! My other fourteen (preens
were, however, safe, with plenty of bees for
the time of year, and, strange to say, the two
driven lots proved my best slocks this season,
yielding me 231 lb. of extracted honey.

My hives were strong in be(s and all were
supeied for the fruit bloom, but the unfavour-
able weather prevented much storing in

516

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 19, 1895.

surplus chambers, though the bees increased
rapidly in numbers. Beyond giving surplus
chambers [to avoid overcrowding, the bad
weather took away much of my interest in the
bees, but as in some hives they did not
increase as usual, and the end of May had
come, I took off the supers in order to
examine brood nests, and found that five of
the seven hives were more or less affected with
foul brood ! I at once set about doing my
best to cure them, and by the ICth of July not
a sirjgle bad cell of brood was to be seen.
The previously affected stocks afterwards
storing quite a nice lot of honey. At close
of the season I had taken in all 685 lb. of ex-
tracted honey and 39 lb. in sections. I kept no
account of the surplus yielded by my second
best hive, which was not diseased, but I
estimate it at 2001b. extracted honey, and
24 lb. in sections, the remainder being got
from the best lot referred to and the five foul-
broody hives.

I feel that few can conceive the amount of
trouble this disease has caused me in various
ways. The large number of store combs I had on
hand could not be again used and so it became
necessary to melt down all in the least
doubtful. This has made my " take " of wax
this year weigh no less than 85 lb.

I thought to have been able to report a com-
plete cure of foul brood among my bees, but
when packing for winter I found two hives
still slightly affected. I therefore defer
further remarks till the spring of '96, when I
hope to write you again. My financial posi-
tion with the bees for 1895 is as follows : —

S5 lb. extracted honey at 7d. .
30 1-lb. sections honey at lod..
85 lb. wax at Is. 4d.

£19 19 7
1 12 (i
5 13 4

Total £27 5 5

Deduct total expenditure during
the season 4 19

Balance for labour ... £23 3 8

The very large amount of wax this year is,
of course, accounted for by the melting down
of so many stock-combs ; but any readers who
may doubt the weight of my " wax- cake " for
'95 can have ocular demonstration of its
weight, as it is still in my possession, and will
be for some time, unless I can get a better
" bid " for it than my present " highest,'' viz.,
Is. 4d. per lb. Some readers may wonder
why I reduce my stocks, if bee-keeping pays
me so well. My answer is (1), nearly the
whole of my time is now taken up with my
ordinary business, which is quite apart from
" the bees.'' (2) My two sons, who formerly
did between them the largest part of the
labour of the apiary, are now away in South
Africa, and so more of the work falls upon
myself ; (3) Seven hives well managed pay far
better than fourteen badly attended to, and
so the proportion per hive is much higher,
and the labour, consequently, less in com-
parison. My district being a poor one for
honey, compared with some others in Kent,

and the bees having to go long distances for
it after the first week in July, 1 may say they
get a good deal from plants which I grow for
them on such waste lands as rough banks
and hollows about here. Some are also grown
in my garden, among which may be named the
white melistus — a splendid honey plant,
growing anywhere almost— the seed of which
was sent to me several years ago by our
esteemed editors ; I shall be very pleased to
send a few seeds to any one forwarding me a
stamped and addressed envelope The Chap-
man honey plant which I grow is another
good plant for honey ; I will also send free
seeds of that. Borage also is good, but does
not transplant well.

I must apologise for taking up so much
space, but if I am spared until another year I
hope to be able to report a mastery over foul
brood ; it has, however, cost me something
by way of labour, and not a little for the stuff
used. Hoping that few bee-keepers will ever
have a similar experience of this disease to
mine of 1895.— G. Wells, Aylesford, Kent,
December 11, 1895.

BEE NOTES FBOM SUSSEX.

[2341. | Being at last in a position to give a
correct summary of the results of my bee-
keeping for 1895, I do so as an encouragement
to any who may be placed in the same position
as I have found myself— that is, be obliged
to puzzle out everything about their bees,
whether theoretical or practical, for themselves,
from books, or the invaluable and ever-wel-
come B.B.J, and Record, without ever
having been able to see a bee, skep, or hive
handled by another, or to obtain any help
from a brother bee-keeper in the management
of their favourites.

I began the season this year with five
colonies. Nos. tl and 2 were strong. No. 3
was a single colony in a " Wells " hive, with
access to both sides. Nos. 5 and 6 were weak
halves of one original hive, divided in mid-
April to preserve a fine Ligurian and English
hybrid queen, refused by the queenless side of
the " Wells '' hive, all the bees of which con-
centrated ultimately on the other side. All
except No. 5 were black bees— 1 believe, of
pure race.

On the memorable swarming day, Saturday,
June 11, two enormous swarms issued from
Nos. 2 and 3 (".Wells"). Beturning home in the
evening, I found the lad I employ had cleverly
secured these — which had settled accommo-
datingly in a neighbouring field — in skeps ; and
by working hard and late, we hived them as
best we could. Next (Sunday) morning they
simultaneously came out again about 10.30,
Hew clean away, and were utterly lost. 1
have strong reason to believe I also lost a
swarm from No. 4 at some unknown time.

1 prevented swarming in No 1 by using
one of Hole's swarm-catchers. So far as I am

Dec. 19, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

517

aware, no swarming was even attempted ; and
the yield of honey was the largest from any of
my hives, except the " Wells.'' Too late, I put
another swarm catcher on the occupied side of
No. 3 (" Wells "). In the end, I found both
stocks queenless ; and being compelled to go
abroad for a month's holiday before 1 could
requeen them, I lost them both. Just before
leaving, however, at end of July, I managed
to divide No. 4, having divided No. 2
earlier. In mid-October 1 distributed four
skeps of driven bees between the two sides of
the now empty " Wells" hive ; hived another
strong skepfull in a single hive — I had
previously hived a stray cast — later I bought
another hive and stock ; and thus I start for
a fresh season with nine stocks and queens.

With all these adventures and misadven-
tures the honey yield has been as follows —
premising that I commenced with no built-out
super combs, but with about forty more or less
built-out sections : —

l-lb. Extracted Total
sections. lbs. lbs.

No. 1. Single : blacks ..63 .. 18 .. 81

„ 2. „ „ .. .. 30 .. 23 .. 53

„ 3. Wells: „ (1 stock) — .. 115 .. 115
„ 4. Single: „ .. .. 8 .. 5 .. 13
„ 5. ,, : hybrids .. — .. 18 .. IS

Total lbs 101 .. 179 .. 280

The sections were magnificent, averaging, I
should think, quite 17 oz., many being over
18 oz., and even reaching 19 oz. in weight. So I
have no hesitation in calling them each 1 lb.
I had no difficulty in disposing of sections and
honey at lOd. per section and 10d. per lb.
This further simplifies accounts. My bill
therefore stands as follows : —

280 lb. honey at lOd.

21. Hi. wax at Is. (id.

30 built-out sections, say at 2d. . .

50 super (wide) and brood combs at (id.

t s.

11 13

3

5

1 5

Total £13 T 1

I sold all I cared to part with — about two-
thirds of the above honey, and the wax— to
one firm, who have offered to take all I oan
produce next year ; so I presume they are
satisfied, as I am.

If all those who forward reports of their
" takes '' would do so in the form I have tried
to follow out— viz., tell us what stock of built-
out comb3 and sections they start with, and
what remains to them after melting down for
wax at the end of the season, I suspect com-
parisons would b8 more fair, and possibly less
startling, than they now sometimes are.

Next week I will furnish some notes on the
action of Hole's swarm-catchers.

I will only now add that of the above, 40 lb.
extracted honey was yielded in August, after 1
had begun taking off' supers in view of my
holiday— viz., 8 lb. from No. 1 ; 18 lb. No. 2 ;
5 lb., No. 4 ; and 18 lb., No. 5. Had I left
on more supers I believe I should have
obtained much more, as on my return in Sep-
tember all the hives were plentifully stored for
the winter, except one of the smaller halves of
a divided hive, since fed up.

I have apportioned the yield to the various
hives as best I can ; but it is only rough, as
unfinished sections were shifted from hive to
hive to fill up crates and ensure capping over.
No. 1. and the half-tenanted " Wells " hive,
both of which had on Hole's swarm-catchers,
did best, but I lost the queens, and eventually
the stocks, in both instances. No 2 I divided
early in June. No. 4 was but a weak half-
hive by June, and suffered from further divi-
sion early in August. No. 5 (the hybrids)
refused to go into a section rack all the
summer ; did not swarm (so far as I know),
but built out and fairly filled a ': lift " of full-
foundation wide-spaced combs in August, as
did No. 1, after all the section racks above
had been taken off' at end of July.

It is easy to be wise after the event, and
doubtless 1 ought to have done better ; but even
with all my mishaps and bad luck the outcome
is sufficiently satisfactory to induce ma to hope
that I may do proportionately better next
year by virtue of the very experience I have
thus gained. — W. R. N., Sussex, December 14,
1S95.

THE FOUL BROOD CONTROVERSY.

r^:542.j The correspondence on the above
subject has had a remarkable and unlooked-for
development, inasmuch as it ha3 come down
to a distinctly personal phase, of which I am for
the time being the central figure. The process
has been so guided that it would almost appear
that "mine own familiar friend in whom I
trusted " has been carefully nursing a grievance
and ha3 proceeded to explode it in a manner
that shall seriously damage my position as a
teacher of bee-keeping.

I fear the comparatively short letter of
Mr. Till's (2332), appearing in the current
issue of the Journal, will necessitate my
asking your indulgence to enable me to reply
to the charges therein formulated. With
curious forgetfuluess the letter concludes :
'k I deeply regret having to probe this question
thus, but you and your readers will see that
Mr. Garratt's challenge leaves me no option."
Would Mr. Till have it to be understood that
insinuations can be cast by him and yet not
be noticed by those whom he aims at ? The
challenge was his, not mine : therefore he is
entirely responsible for the prolongation and
extension of the controversy.

The term " heretical doctrines " has been
imported into the discussion. Will Mr. Till
kindly explain whit this means ? And at the
same time say who are the orthodox elect !
Is he not aware that the opinions of many
prominent bee-keepers are still open upon the
question of how to deal with foul brood 1
Does he ever call to mind tint his short ex-
perience as a bee-keeper hardly justifies him
in taking upon himself to judge and publicly
denounce, on prima-faeie evidence, those who
have had twenty and thirty years' experience i

518

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 19, 1895.

Mr. Till has indicated three apiaries in
which foul brood has been discovered, and
indicts me before your readers in connection
with them ; two of these being owned by-
mutual friends, and the third by the South-
Eastern Agricultural College at Wye. As the
latter, for public reasons, is the most important
case, I propose to lay the facts relating to it
before the public in the fullest manner, giving
the entire history of the apiary from its for-
mation. From what follows you will see that
I was not unmindful of the necessity of using
great care to secure healthy bees.

Meopham, Kent,

January 24, 1895.

Dear Sir, — Can you supply me with, say,
five stocks of bees early in the spring ? I
want them from an apiary and district which
are entirely free from disease, and they should
be headed by young queens. If you can do
this I shall be glad to know the price you can
do them at ; and I should also like to know
how you would propose to send them. Your
early reply will oblige. — Yours very truly,
J. Garratt.

Mr. W. Woodley.

To this Mr. Woodley replied that he could
not [undertake the supply. I then wrote to
Mr. John Walton, of Weston, near Leaming-
ton, a similar letter.

This also being unsuccessful, I was somewhat
at a loss where to turn to ; but on March 2
I received a letter from a gentleman who had
come into Kent from Oxfordshire, telling me
that, on account of his intended removal to
another county, he wished to dispose of his bees,
stating that "they were strong lots, with
young queens most of them." I thereupon
wrote to him :— " Can you give me an assur-
ance that the bees are free from disease 1 " and
received in reply : — " As far as I know, the
stocks of bees in my hives are in a perfectly
healthy condition. "

Being desirous of making an early start at
Wye, I deemed this, coupled with an examina-
tion which I subsequently made of the hives,
a suitable means of stocking the apiary, and
accordingly four colonies were transferred to
makeshift hives, and thence ultimately to the
new hives, which were in readiness for their
reception at Wye. During the summer I dis-
covered slight evidence of foul brood in one
hive, and of this no secret was made, as I saw
that, however much it was to be regretted, an
opportunity was given to educate the students
in its appearance, character, and treatment ;
and this was also done at the summer meeting
of elementary schoolmasters held there in the
month of August. The disease has been held
completely in check, and I have confidence
that it will by next spring be entirely
t radicated.

In the report which Mr. Till says "ought
to have been first passed by the Council of
the Kent B.K. Association," but with which I
may say tbc Association, sp fay as it (the report)

related to Wye, had nothing whatever to do,
I said advisedly that "results of a most
encouraging kind had been obtained," for in
spite of the misfortune which had attended the
establishment of the apiary, the experiment
has proved the locality to be eminently suited
to bee-keeping ; the quantity of honey
gathered, and the fact that prizes and honours
have been gained at leading shows, fully
testifying thereto. Why Mr. Till should be
so ready to publish a damaging report without
taking steps to ascertain the real circumstances,
and abstain from finding out anything which
might place the matter in a better light, can
only damage his cause and expose him to the
imputation of mala fides.

With regard to the other two cases I will
not attempt to go into them at length. I am
unable to recall with any precision the source
from which the bees were drawn, whether from
my own apiary or not, and the only fact that I
feel called upon to own is that the disease did
make its appearance, but the surrounding
localities were previously notoriously affected
with foul brood. I may add to the foregoing
that in no single apiary used at the numerous
centres of technical instruction which I have
attended during the past three years has
disease been discovered.

It would have been more creditable to my
assailant if he had, before publicly pillorying
me, a9ked for information which I could have
supplied ; and he has to learn yet that the
question of the treatment of bacillus alvei has
been helped very little by his high-handed
action. — Jesse Garratt, Meopham, Kent,
December 12.

NOTANDA ET INQUIRENDA.

DRIVING — LARGE ENTRANCES — WAX.

[2343.] Your correspondent, " Self-Taught "
(2325, p. 499), is candid enough to explain
that he still has some difficulties, and is
seeking knowledge from others. With regard
to driving he appears to have got along as well
as, or better, than many in their novitiate
days. Of course "driving" is preferable to
" bumping " in autumn, where skeps are
heavy, and the owners, as is mostly the case,
insist upon the combs remaining intact ; but
if he will cause the bees to exhibit the same
state of consternation that the "bumping"
induces, by thumping rather hard upon the
crown of the skep after the dose of smoke, and
then giving a little more smoke as the hive is
raised from the block, his driven bees will give
him no more trouble. Wherever I have driven
bees the owner and family generally stood
close by duriDg the operation, whether few or
many were being taken, and I do not re-
member that any one was ever stung ; or
myself, unless pressing a bee without noticing
it, " Self-Taught " will 'find, however, that
gloves inutrt be dispensed with before his

Dec. 10, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL

il9

lessons in this direction can be satisfactorily
completed.

Had your correspondent seen bees properly
driven, one of his closing paragraphs would
never have been written The disagreeable
occurrence he refers to was not the effect of
u a fine spirit," but a fault of his own that will
rectify itself by further experience, and cer-
tainly he would consider the expert does
undertake driving in a light and careless mood
— he might call it an absolutely reckless mood
— treating them, as he doe?, like so many
harmless flies. " Elaborate precautions," " un-
toward results," are terms and conditions
unknown to an expert.

Now as to a large entrance. Are not your
correspondent's three objections really without
any foundation in fact 1 During the swarming
season, while such entrance is necessary, wasps
are barely in evidence, and need not be con-
sidered ; while a mouse could not live for ten
seconds among the teeming thousands found in
a well-stocked hive. The depredations of
these enemies are only to be feared after
autumn has set in ; but even then can be
guarded against by a smaller entrance. In the
case of robbing bees and wasps at that time of
the year, a shaded entrance is the best safe-
guard, even for weak nuclei, while if the
entrance faces north, hardly any trouble will
be experienced in this direction.

I have yet to find any more difficulty in
handling bees with extra large entrances than
with limited openings. In practice the former
presents by far the more effectual means of
subduing the bees, should they really want
such treatment during the busy period.

As a concluding note I would remark
that where cappings are not too bulky the
simplest plan for clearing them from honey is
to place them in the oven with a very little
water at the bottom of the vessel. This carries
out a double operation at a stroke, without any
messing ; very little refuse is found where
good cornb3 have been extracted from, while
the honey is of great density. It is never safe
to leave the bees to clear up honey in the
open. Even if robbing is not induced, it may
be the means of spreading disease — present,
but so far undiscovered.

In rendering wax in larger quantities and
from odd combs, the vessel receiving it should
not only have water at the bottom, but that
water should be sufficiently hot all the time it
is ruuning to keep the whoh> of the wax just
melted, when'no dros-s will be found intermixed,
and very little mi the bottom of the cake when
allowed to cjol slowly by the fire, and the
vessel covered up. — Samuel Si mm ins.

"VERIFY YOUR QUOTATIONS."

[•2314.] This excellent rule in literary life

might, 1 would suggest, be well applied to

some of the titles placed above the articles in

the B.B.J. "Come on, Macduff," (placed

recently over a very combative contribution)
appears in the ordinary editions of Shake-
speare as " Lay on, Macduff ; " and curiously
enough, the speaker (Macbeth) was subse-
quently slain by the Macduff whom he
challenged. — A Critic.

PREPARING BEES FOR THE
HEATHER,

AND PREVENTING LOSS OF SWARMS.

[2345 ] As a regular reader of B.B.J. , and
a young bee-keeper from north the Tweed,
please allow 1113 to give my experience on the
above subject to your many readers. In 1893
and 1894 I lost swarms after taking bees to
the heather, so I set about the following plan
this spring, but, owing to the bad season all
through, I can scarcely call it a practical test.
In May or June, when the bees show signs of
swarming, I examined all combs and cut out
queen-cells where they happened to be,
and placed a lift of shallow-frames under
brood nest with starters only in the frames.
This I left on for the rest of the season ; at
same time I put a rack of sections on top,
but, owing to the cold, dry weather, and the
scarcity of clover, these were not filled, but
were sent to the heather with an empty rack
underneath, and I had the pleasure of getting
twenty-one half- sealed sections and twenty-
one of drawn-out combs. The bees had four
shallow-frames in the " lift " built out, and by
next year, if all goes well, I will place them
on for a super during the clover flow.

In my opinion, the above will do away with
the great evil of swarming ; but about here, if
your bees do not swarm, they are said to have
foul brood or some other such evil.

Hoping to hear from some other novice or
old bee-master through your valuable paper, —
Not too Young to Learn, Larhhall, N.B.

A RETROSPECT.

[234G.J The chief topic of conversation
here is the weather. Old folk siy they never
remember such a wet month (bad memories I
suppose) ; young folk are down with coughs
and colds which strangely are just at their
worst when school time approaches ; middle
aged folk, in fact, one and all, do nothing but
abuse the poor weather, but for my part I like
toseeit, for it is only 4t such times as this that
the life-giving moisture reaches the roots of
the great forest trees, which now spread out
new nets of rootlets to catch the harvest they
have waited for so long. Those who have had
the handling of plants know very well how
eager they are to make an abundance of root
in the late autumn. Not only the eastern
hyacinth of id ass-bottle fame, but our own
wilding, the hyacinth or blue-bell of our
woods. When digging round the boles of
great trees at this time of the year I

520

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 19, 1895.

often fiod these white bulbs, pushing
out new roots into the moist earth, while
the crowns show a strong desire to have
another look at our world — which is no
doubt their heaven. Wood anemones, too,
have white knotty points where tender leaves
and flowers will be, and the meadow saffron
broad white fans of roots from their leathery
bulbs. These kings of the hedge and of the
meadow are, perhaps, of more importance to
the world than we imagine. Nature is now
laying the foundation of next summer's
flowers — the apple blossom, and " May," alder
and hazel catkins, clover heads as the sand on
the sea shore iu multitude, all the flowers
which our bees love. Therefore, I hope that
bee-keeper3 at least will bear the present
dismal skies and wet with fortitude, remem-
bering the past and with hope for the future.
It is of the past I wish to write now — the past
splendid summer ! My memory being poor,
or perhaps the other summers being so far off
and this one so near, I think it the best I have
ever known. Years ago, the climate of this
district seemed to go all awry. While the fruit
trees blossomed, it was all east wind. The grass
grew so strong as to choke the clover. When the
limes flowered there was the east wind again.
Year after year the bees stored honey dew in the
supers, and directly July was out strife entered
into their hearts and there was constant war-
fare—few bees, then, like the ancient Irish
kings, died peacefully in their beds. From an
entomological point of view, also, the summers
were wanting. The wall-butterflies were very
scarce in their accustomed place. Tortoiseshells,
red admirals, peacocks were rare, although
their food-plant, the stinging nettle, was as
abundant as ever. Small " coppers," like their
human namesakes, were not to be found when
wanted. Common blues belied their name :
orange-tips came not to lay their eggs on the
dame's-violet. The whites only came to pay a
visit to their loved cabbages. The birds left
us, and the few that stayed seemed to have no
relish for their natural food, for the slugs
increased considerably more than a thousand-
fold in my garden. There was I, night after
night, long after ordinary humanity was asleep,
picking sleek slugs off my most cherished plants,
Alpine androsaces,soldanellas, campanulas, and
the like, for, believe me, the more rare the
plant, the more relished by slugs. I often
wished I could meet with a whole regiment of
snail collectors — for there are such — those
that grow enthusiastic over slugs, who blow
them up, dry, and paint them and label them.
I will plead guilty to collecting many natural
objects, such as plants, butterflies, and bees,
wasp species, dragon-flies, &c, but one must
draw the line somewhere, and I drew it at
slugs. If I did collect them it was to drop
their repugnant selves into a tin of salt and
watch their death-kicks — if anything without
legs can be said to kick— with much satis-
faction. There were at least four kinds. One
you could stand on without occasioning him

much perturbation ! Another was of a kind
out of which I should say they make india-
rubber. Others were young and tender, and
some had shells on their backs. I rather
liked the latter because the shell was a con-
venient handle to carry them by. But this
is not to the point ! Well, what with
one thing and another, I began to get
disgusted with the locality. I thought
to myself, "perhaps it is being so close
to this great city, Birmingham — for our
scientists say there is a great cloud of dust
hanging over all large towns, so the sun cannot
exert his purifying influence as he would do,
in their near neighbourhood." I became dis-
couraged. I thought I saw this dust settling
into the flowers, where the bees gathered it
together with the honey — as tares with wheat
— so that the honey was dark. It seemed to
get into my eyes and heart so that I saw
everything as through a glass darkly. " Then,"
said I, " I will remove my household, dogs,
cats, bees, &c, from these ash - manured
gardens. I will hark away to the violet fields
of, say, the Vale of Evesham. I will make hives
and fill them with bees — the bees shall sweep
the flowers for me. I will have out-apiarie3
to provide folk with swarms gratis, for nothing.
There are great seas of flowers, clover and
heather. I will launch some arks of ' Wells '
hives on them.'' But the fates decreed otherwise.
I lingered on here almost without hope. The
leaves on the trees appeared to wither and
become seared ere they had reached their prime.
You could not find a nice fresh branch of birch
or beech to give to caterpillars after June was
gone, whereas I have no doubt the beech on
tbe Chiltern Hills, behind High Wycombe, was
fresh and beautiful well on into September.
(Conclusion next Week.)

Motieesio Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries fonvarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Sarum (Salisbury). — Candied Honey as Bee-
Food. — Candied honey is not suitable for
bee-food, because all of such honey that is
available for the bees' use is the moist
portion. Our personal experience of giving
candied honey as food is that the dry
granules are cast out by the bees or allowed
to accumulate on the floorboards in heaps.
It is therefore advisable to melt candied
honey along with hot syrup if intended for
bee food. Of four samples of honey sent,
Nos. 1, 2, and 3, are excellent in consistency,
colour, and brightness, No. 1 being so
dense as to lead us to suppose it has been
" ripened " by heating. But the flavour of
all three somewhat lacks character. In
this way, too, No. 3, though not so thick
as No. 1, is a shade best in flavour, so that
there is really little to choose between.
No. 4 is thin, and beginning to show signs
of fermentation.

Dec. 26, 1895.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

521

<B littoral IJirfim, ku

"EXIT" 1895 !
How much of import is contained in
the simple word of four letters in the
above heading ! " The departure from the
stage of a player who has played his
part." Thus says the dictionary, and, so
far as these columns, the year has fulfilled
its mission ; the current number ending
our chronicle of events for 1895. Looking
back, and narrowing our view within
the little world of " bee-dom " — while
still further confining ourselves to the
part played therein by this journal —
several questions arise. One may say

What have we don<

Another adds,

" How have we done it ? " Or the pith of
the subject may be summed up in
" Where do we stand to-day ? "

Now, although fairly well versed in
the "query and reply" business, an obvious
difficulty presents itself in the very first
question we have ourselves suggested.
To tell what we have done is no reply,
seeing how large a portion of our task
has been a mere chronicling of the work
done by others, in so far as conducing to
the general advantage of bee-keeping
and of its votaries. The British Bee-
Keepers' Association stands first in
regard to this, its Council having
initiated, worked out, and brought
within the sphere of probable realisation,
measures which must indisputably tend
to the all-round advantage of the
pursuit.

County Associations, too, as a rule,
have loyally kept shoulder to shoulder
Avith the parent body in the forward
march, and the work of the year may be
said to have culminated in the con-
ference reported in our last issue. The
proceedings thereat fairly sums up the
position as we stand to-day, and it is not
too much to expect that the end of 1896
will find bee-keepers within sight of the
goal towards which so much of effort has
been directed. In other words, our
hope is that in the coming year they
may be either actually guarded by law
against injury through ignorance, care-
lessness, or wilful culpability among
themselves, or not far removed from the
possession of sadly - needed protection
against all who are wrong-doers.

The amount of thought and labour
involved in the progress already made is
known only to those who have taken
part therein ; but, whether or not com-
plete success follows, the labour has
been alike ungrudgingly given and un-
selfish in motive. Speaking, there-
fore, for the workers referred to, we can,
with some confidence, invite attention to
the present position of vital matters
connected with bee-craft as an answer
to the question, " What have we done ? "

The second point — " How have we
done it ? " — may l^e taken as more closely
referring to the Bee Journal itself than
to the Associations whose official organ it
is still our pride to remain. Briefly,
then — and for ourselves as Editors — we
have done our best in an honest endea-
vour to deal fairly with complex ques-
tions— when such have arisen — besides a
few diverse opinions, and the somewhat
conflicting interests inseparable from our
position. Whether the work has been
well or ill done, we are perforce content
to be judged by the record of our action
as it appears in the volume now ended.

Finally — "Where do we stand to-
day % " This, too, may be considered as
a question directly touching the B.B.J.

Well, in simple words— which are
facts — we shall start on our twenty-
fourth yearly journey with an augmented
rather than a diminished number of con-
tributors ; while our general correspon-
dents are so numerous as to call for a
word of apology — now sincerely offered
— from us for what must at times seem
like discourtesy owing to the impossi-
bility of our replying so promptly as we
could wish to inquiries.

So well have we been supplied with
interesting " copy " as to be nearly every
week reluctantly obliged to hold over
articles for want of room. Since its
very early days it has been the privilege
of the BEE JOUBNAL to say — what we
again repeat — that it is written hy bee-
keepers for bee-keepers, who, in the
main, may be said to know whereof they
speak, and the Fact of its stall of writers
being entirely voluntary renders their
contributions doubly valuable in every
way.

It is not for us to Bay whether the
contents of the volume now ended are
better or worse than those of its prede-
cessors, except for such appreciation as

522

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Doc. 26, 1895.

is shown by increased circulation- -
which, by the way, is steady and satis-
factory. It therefore > only remains for
us to gratefully acknowledge the
generous help rendered by contributors,
and to thank readers for their warm
support, while hoping for its continuance.
For an answer to the final question sug-
gested by a retrospect of the now ending
year's work, we can report the Bee
Journal as entirely free from the York-
shireman's charge of getting " no
forrader." We thankfully declare it to bo
making good progress, and we are grate-
ful accordingly. But we are none the less
alive to the fact that if all who now
find more or less of pleasure in the
perusal of our pages would make an
effort to procure for us one more reader
the result — besides adding to our obliga-
tions to them — would be beneficial all
round ; and so with every good wish
of the season to all for the coming year
— we are, &c, The Editors.

BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.

The Education Committee reported that
during the season examinations for third-clas3
certificates had heen held in sixteen centres,
and there had beea fifty-five candidates, of
whom the following passed and obtained cer-
tificates : — Revs. G. J. Jarvis and G. H.
Samson, Drs. Percy Sharp and Benjamin E.
Jones, Messrs. R. Hamlyn - Harris, R. S.
Peacock, S. Jordan, G. E. Puttergill, H. E.
Twentyman, T. J. Horsley, R. Ness, W.
Dixon, G. Ruddle, R. C. Salmon, H. E. Jeal,
Miss Windemer, Miss E. Brooks, T. Potts,
Miss L. A. Dunnington , Miss C. H. Currie,
G. J. Wright, E. W. Goddard, S. Knight, E.
Turner, L. Smith, W. E. Nutley, E. Oakes,
Miss Micklethwaite, Miss E. Atkey, J. W.
Jacomb-Hood, Miss Meredith Jones, Mr. Row-
land Sillito.

Examinations for second-class certificates
were held on October 25th and 26th at
thirteen centres. There were twenty - one
candidates, and the following passed and have
obtained their certificates : —

Equa

( Dr. Percy Sharp.

( Samuel Jordan.
Dr. B. E. Jones.
Leonard Smith.
Miss E. Windemer.
Miss L. A. Dunnington.

( R. 0. Salmon. ) „ ,

"I MissE. Micklethwaite. / *'lual-
Miss E. Atkey.
Rev. G. H. Samson.

9. G. Jarvis.
10. S. Knight, Junior.
„ J G. Ruddle. "U ,
1L \ J. Martin. JEclUal-

Special foul-brood examinations for experts
holding certificates prior to 1891 were held in
May and October. There were nine candi-
dates, of whom the following satisfied the
examiners, and were passed, their certificates
being endorsed.

First Class.

Rev. W. E. Burkitt.

Rev. E. Davenport.

C. T. Overton.

C N. White.

Second Class.
F. H. K. Fisher.
Third Class,
T. Pritchard.
Special foul-brood examination to qualify as
experts to B.B.K.A., Roland Green.

$nm%$imkm.

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice toill be
taken of anonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper. Wt
do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the ' British Bee Journal,' 17; King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C." All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager, ' British Bee Journal' Offi.ce, 17.
King William-street, Strand, London, W.C." (see lit
page of advertisements).

PREVENTING SWARMING.
[2347.] Referring to the letter of Mr.
Simmins (concluded on page 506), I notice his
nadir, or lower chamber, is not added until
the second super is placed in position ; and
then he says : — "Little or no comb building
will be carried on there '' (in nadir). Now, I
ask, how would a hive "conquer" the invasion
of their enemies with a l^-in. entrance ? I
know of a well-known bee-master who asserts
that comb-building is the real value of a
nadir. These statements do not fit very well
together. I should, therefore, like to ask your
readers to say of what practical value is a
nadir ? Personally, I always thought that
the old Scottish system was to add a nadir
first, to give room, and yet retain all the heat
in brood nest should the weather be cold. If
weather became hot, the bees have plenty of
spare room to work in, either to store honey
or build comb, without fear of brood getting
chilled, a3 is too often the case when a super
is given too soon. The modern apiarist tries
by foundation and extracting to save all comb'

Dec. 2G, 1895.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

,23

building he can. Without more knowledge
on the subject, it appears to me a wrong
system to give bees the pleasure of building
what comb they like ; if a nadir is given
filled with combed frames, will bees store
honey there if requiring room, instead of
swarming'? In other words, is it comb-
building or room to store honey that will
prevent swarming ? — A "Worker, Long
Eaton, December 10.

[2348.] In B.B.J, for December 12 (page
506) you publish the conclusion of Mr.
Simrnins' article on the "Prevention of
Swarming." In the year 1894 in a "Blatt"
hive, and in 1895 in seven similar hive3 I
tried the " prevention of swarming " on Mr.
Simmins' plan, and on both occasions I suc-
ceeded. The Belgian bee-paper Abeille has
also drawn the attention of bee-keepers to the
excellence of the system. — Genouceaux,
Liege, December 13.

HEATHER HONEY IN THE SOUTH.

[2349. j A close study of the habits of bees
in the cottage gardens of Britain is sometimes
useful and always interesting. An experience
that came under my notice many years ago
was in such a cottage apiary. The cottager
was an intelligent bee-keeper, and, though not
advanced to frame-hives, supered his stocks,
and liitd at the time taken to "driving''
instead of using the brimstone-pit.

There was on a continuous stand eighteen or
twenty stocks in skeps, placed pretty close
together, and on inspecting the various hives
on a hot summer's evening one of the most
interesting sights that I remember was taking !
place between two strong stocks in adjoining j
skeps, the floors, in fact, touching each other.

Between the two hives was a continuous
stream of bees intermingling with each other,
and all working in perfect amity. They had
evidently been on these good terms for some
considerable time, and with every probability |
of the two communities continuing to make
common use of both hives for storage purposes.
The excessive heat caused the bees in each
stock to remain outside, partly on the
alighting-board, but chiefly up the fronts of
the skeps. They were not clustering idly to
the alighting-boards — indeed, both hives were
very rapidly filling fair size skep3 with
" beautiful heather honey."

Such a sight was suggestive of many things,
and one result was the tirst (I believe) double-
queened hive ever made. This same hive
was exhibited at one of the earliest B.B.K.A.
shows.

I use above the words " beautiful heather
honey," and this was produced in the south.
Although Mr. W. B. Webster's communica-
tion referring to the poor quality of southern
heather honey appeared some time ago, I
think the question must be interesting to not a

few bee-keepers. One suggestion which may
account for Mr. Webster's experience presents
itself to my mind, and it is this : — Most of
the heather that I know of in Berks is found
growing amongst the pine woods. Now, if
the heather honey spoken of was produced
under the shadow of the Scotch fir, I can
conceive nothing else but a very weak solution
of the genuine article.

I do not pretend to say that harvests of
good heather honey can be produced with any
degree of certainty approaching that from
Scotland, but I may be allowed to add my
assurance that this has been produced from
the heather of Surrey, and probably Hamp-
shire also, and what has been once gathered
will be again without doubt. From a long
personal experience of the Surrey heather, on
the borders of which I resided for many years,
it may very safely be said that, given a hot
August, with close, sultry nights, and an
atmosphere charged with electricity, a slight
rainfall which has been preceded by ruber
copious summer rains, and heather honev nay
be gathered in Surrey which for density,
flavour, and that fine strong aroma peculiar to
this honey, could be pitted against that pro-
duced anywhere north of the Tweed.

But are not the atmospheric conditions at
that particular time of year in the north more
favourable for the secretion of honey I — James
Lee, Hornsey, N.t December 14.

" POINTS " FOR HONEY JUDGING.

[2350.] The question raised by Mr. P. Bois
(2330, p. 503) is one of intense interest to
bee-keepers generally, and I hope that the
discussion his letter raises will lead to the
adoption of some definite rules by the B.B.K.A.
Council for the guidance of all judges. I
believe there is a general agreement that
the difficult and arduous task imposed upon
judges is fairly and impartially performed ;
but I do know that a definite ruling on a few
points would be welcomed by many who think
that there should be as little play as possible
for the idiosyncrasies of the judges. The
points to be taken into consideration and the
marks awarded will vary, and whether they do
or do not is really immaterial if quality, that
is flavour and aroma, determines the award.

First, one's attention is naturally drawn to
the ' get up ' of the exhibits, inasmuch as that
is a very important point in attracting cus-
tomers ; but this point need not trouble the
judge if competitors are compelled to start
fair — at any rate when competing for the chief
county prizes — by showing extracted honey
in a similar pattern bottle, and sections in a
similar pattern case. This done, colour will
claim attention, but a judge will hardly err
here, because I take it that the best samples of
clover and sainfoin would be taken to give the
standard. Then density, the test for ripeness,
will be of great assistance to the judge in

524

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 26, 1895.

thinning down rival claims, but in this matter
an injustice may be done. Some samples
equally ripe are of different density, the point
of merit being sometimes obtained by the
ingenuity of the exhibitor against Avhom I
have not a word to say ; but I do think that in
all cases, flavour and not density should be the
determining point, even if the best flavoured
sample should fall a point back in density, or
even a point in colour, because, after all it is
the flavour and aroma of any particular sample
that will give consumers a desire for more.

To illustrate this point I may say that an
award of mine during the past season gave a
little dissatisfaction owing to the fact that
No. 2 in my award was decidedly No. 1, as far
as density was concerned, and decidedly No. 2
in flavour. On a subsequent date, when judg-
ing at a show in the Midlands, I recognised
bottles standing No. 1 in the above competi-
tion, among the exhibits in the open class, and
at once declined to give the final awards in that
particular class. Curiously enough No. 2 above
was also there, and took the first prize solely
on-account of density, No. 1 taking a lower
position, though it was afterwards shown that
the gentleman who made the award, the hon.
sec, and myself, were unanimously of opinion
that the sample that gave way was in point of
flavour the best in the class.

With regard to sections : having got uni-
formity by the rules guiding exhibitors, the
points to guide the judge should be : 1, Clean-
liness and whiteness of sealing. 2, Filling of
section; that is, the comb should present a
level surface and be built up to the wood and
sealed all round. 3, Capping ; I incline
strongly in favour of a fairly thick capping, for
then, with the other points enumerated, I
believe we get the best, because the most sale-
able section.

There is another point to which reference
may now be made. Those who, with the hon.
sees, of the various exhibitions, undertake the
duty of unpacking, and, if not sold, repacking
exhibits, are in many instances put to unneces-
sary trouble which might well be minimised
by the adoption of another rule : making it
imperative that sections should be sent in
spring crates similar to fig. 74 in the " Bee-
keepers' Guidebook," and bottles in a box, and
packed as shown in Fig. 76. — C. N. White,
Homer sham, Hunts, December 14.

DRIVING BEES.
[2351.] I have read the letter of inquiry,
No. 2325, in to-day's Journal, in which your
correspondent refers to driving bees, and how
they sometimes turn on him. Having for
many years past done a considerable amount
of bee-driving, and undergone the same very
unpleasant experience of the bees rushing out
against one's face, it may be of interest to say
that I have now completely overcome any
trouble of that kind. For the benefit of
others, I will, therefore, give my plan of Opera-

tions, as under, if you can find space for the
same : — I first provide myself with an old
pan or pail ; and with the empty skep,
driving-irons, smoker, and carbolic cloth, I
then puff in a little smoke, and at same time
make sure to lift the skep up from the stand
so as to loosen it entirely from its floor, then
drop it in its place again ; this is important.
Next puff in a little more smoke to make all
bees that are on the floor or stand run up
among the combs. I then lay the carbolic
cloth on the ground, lilt the skep with
the bee3, and set it down on the cloth.
The time occupied so far ought not to
exceed a couple of minutes. The great
mistake is in allowing too much time
for the bees to gorge themselves. Then,
raising the four corners of the cloth, carry the
skep to where the driving is done, and, while
fixing it in the pail and pinning the empty
skep to the full one, the pan or pail, still keep
the carbolic cloth on or over all the bees.
When all is ready, pull back the cloth a little
bit — say 4 or 5 in. — so as to leave an opening
just where you want the bee3 to run up into
the empty skep. After the bees have begun
to ascend, and are quiet, the cloth may be
taken away altogether. I have occasionally
kept the cloth on until half or more of the
bees have run up. Since adopting the above
plan I have not had the least trouble in
driving, while in years gone by I always had
more or less fear as to what the bees might
do. Now, however, I go about it with the
greatest of pleasure, because of feeling confi-
dent of running no risk. But, as you, Mr.
Editor, say, seeing it done once is much better
than pagps of writing. — Richard Williams,
Ladock, ('vrmvall, December 12.

PREPARING BEES FOR HEATHER.

[2352] In the B.B.J, for December 5 "A
Beginner" (2322, p. 495) asks a number of
questions in regard to taking bees to the
heather, and invites those who have done so
to relate some of their experiences.

Without attempting a categorical reply to
all "A Beginner's" questions, I would say
that about the time when the heather is
coming into bloom is the best time for
removal, unless, as a matter of convenience,
they are as well at home till this time.

Although as a rule swarming is past by the
time the heather is in bloom, when the
weather is warm a crowded hive occasionally
does swarm, and to contract the brood-nest at
this time must increase the tendency of such
an untoward event happening. Accordingly I
never do this in my practice ; but sometimes
the bees take this matter of contracting the
brood-nest into their own hands, as the follow-
ing experience will show :

In the first week of July, 1894, I hived a
very large swarm in a ten-frame hive furnished
with a comb of honey at each side, and eight
frames filled with foundation between. Work

Dec. 26, 1895. J THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.

525

commenced at once, and in the course of a
fortnight all the frames of foundation were
drawn out, and well filled with brood in
different stages of development. In the last
week of July, when the first planted brood
was hatching, I removed all my stocks (five
hives) a distance of about two and a half
miles, having first provided eaoh of them with
a rack of twenty-one sections, fitted with strips
of foundation, and set them down in a moor
where hundreds of acres of heather were just
bursting into bloom. Three weeks later I made
my first visit, and while four of the hives
had done welk, I was surprised, on removing
the cover from th« particular one I am
writing of, to find the rack entirely empty
both of bees and honey. This at once aroused
my suspicions, and I took off the rack, when
my worst fears were in a few minutes realised.
Removing the outside comb, I found a solid
dab of honey sealed from top to bottom, the
next one was identically the same, and
eventually I found that the two outside combs
at the other side were in the same condition,
while in the remaining six combs, filled with
honey more than half-way down, there was
not a patch of brood, or even an egg, to be
seen, but in the centre of the hive, on the new
combs, were several empty queen cells.
Reasoning from this state of matters, I con-
cluded that a swarm had come off, probably
only a few days after I had removed them ;
that the young queen had not yet begun to
deposit her eggs, and that the bees left in the
hive had filled the cells as the young were
hatched, until they had left her almost no
brood n-:st at all. Removing the two outside
combs, I returned again the same evening
with two frames filled with foundation, and
inserted them in the centre, and in a day or
two breeding commenced. What became of the
swarm I never could learn, more than one
search amongst the surrounding heather being
unavailing. I think I hear some of your
readers saying — serve you right ; why didn't
you examine the combs when packing up for
the heather? This I generally do, but I was
a little hurried, and in this case, from the short
time the bee3 had been in the hive, I concluded
all would be right in these respects. Another
practical experience of the folly of taking
anything for granted where proof can be
obtained. — An Old Hand, Selkirk, Decem-
ber 10.

A RETROSPECT.
(Concluded from page 520.)
Then came the change. Those lovely early
springs ! Snowdrops in February. March fine
and warm, and what a blaze of daffodils in
my garden then ! April, the old joyous April
of many smiles and many tear3, when nightin-
gales came, and the cuckoo ; and my bees
swarming before the end of the month ! Some-
times I think I let these springs go by top

easily. I might have spent more time in the
woods gazing at the perfect development of
leaf and flower, for how often do we see
the young leaf torn from the bough in early
spring. Sometimes our roads are strewn with
them, and for that year the foliage is never
what it might have been. But in the years of
which I write it was as though the world was
a perpetual greenhouse. The leaves expanded
and the down upon them was not frayed
away. The fruit-tree blossom was a dream of
loveliness — no tropical plant could vie with it
in beautv. The sweet air bore no petal to the
ground before its time. No rude wind took
ihe bees' pollen before he had it safely packed,
or teased him by holding out a flower and
then suddenly taking it away. The ride3 in
the great woods near here were exquisite with
plant and insect life. Hybernated " brim-
stone " butterflies, with battered wing, were
there in plenty, also small tortoise-shells, and
occasionally a peacock. Delicate wood-whites
settled on heads of bugle flowers, while pearl-
bordered fritillaries pursued each other over
countless primrose plants. I used to spend
whole days by myself in these woods
searching for new plants or a rare moth,
yet now, when 1 look back, I think I
let those days go without seeing enough.
Certain it is that such lovely springs are few
and far between. The present year has, I
think, even eclipsed the others. After the
intensely cold weather of the early months
the spring came all one way, and that irom
the sunny south, or perhaps some extra pres-
sure on the Gulf Stream. It was not an early
spring, but when fruit blossom opened, the
bees were quickly into supers. Indeed, they
gathered so much early honey that brood
frames were blocked with it, consequently
3warms were scarce. Clover was out early,
i.e., the first week in June. The bees had a
splendid time on it, and also on the limes,
which yielded well. The latter were over
before the end of July, which is unusual here.
At this time I take the honey — getting it done
before robbing commences. The honey was
beautiful, as it has been for several seasons,
notwithstanding that great duet -cloud which
overhangs this city. The bees have not touched
honey dew for years. Since I took the honey
the bees have worked splendidly. Never
before have I seen them working so energeti-
cally throughout August and September.
They seemed to turn their swords into pruning
hooks, for there has not been the usual
warfare. Never before do I remember a
summer in which there were so many working
days for the bees. Day after day I said,
"Well, I think this is the very best day we
have had yet,'' and still the next day was as
good, or better. Yet it did not become
monotonous — for a continuity of blue skies
are to me as unbearable as the bitter grey days
we get in March. Some days the sky was
overcast as though we might expect rain. At
other times nature spread a thin veil of vapour

52(

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [Dec. 26, 1895.

over the whole dome, which tempered the heat
to the blue harebells, the wild caticly-tuft,
horse-shoe vetch, and sun-rose, of the high
hills. When I lay down in the cool shadow
of a high beech and saw the thin carpet of
flowers growing oat of the solid chalk, two
inches of soil at the most, I thought " unless
we have rain soon these things will certainly
perish.'' There was the above-mentioned
flowers together with a profusion of eye-bright
so thick indeed as in places to whiten the
breast of the hill. There was the clustered
bell-flower with one, or rarely two, flowers and
scarce an inch high, field gentians and stemless
thistles, thymes and salad-burnet, spotted
orchids and handsome bugloss, all so dense
and diminutive that the great curving line of
the hill against the sky appeared unbroken
save for the small bushes of juniper which
clung to the ground like a mountain saxifrage.
The heat, however, which prostrated me
seemed to invest the lesser life of the earth
with renewed energy. Dingy-hive bees, or
hybrids with one amber band ; humble bees,
or their more expressive name " bumble" bees,
together with their relatives, the Apathus,
Osmia, and Megachile bees ; flies of a thousand
kinds, and butterflies ; tiny blues and nut-
brown skippers, small heaths and speckled
woods ; all revelled in the well-prepared
feast, in the flood of sunbeams, in the fulness
and immensity of a splendid summer's day.

I think the flowers of these arid chalk hills of
Oxford are kept alive in such seasons more by
the heavy dews which nightly fall than by the
rain, which came once in about four or five
weeks, and if so, how absurd it seems to spend
so much time daily watering our lowland
gardens. It is this that tends to keep such
an abundance of slugs in suburban gardens,
and which makes the soil so hard and so dirt-
like compared to the sweet earth of the
meadow or the wood. In my own garden
the whole family of snails have been burnt
out utterly, and the change in the character of
the years has filled me with delight, for the
whole of the things which I had mourned as
lost have returned to me. Well on into teens
of hives have gathered the old golden honey.
Orange - tipped butterflies, which, if you
remember, once over-laid their eggs on the
dame's-violet, have laid them there again,
whilst the flowers have been crowded with
tortoise-shells, with peacocks and resplendent
red-admirals. Beech and birch leaves have
been again as they ought to be, not torn and
battered before their appointed time. This is
the appointed hour, now, when the gale tosses
them against these hazel stools athwart the
flowerless ride, while overhead the angry
clouds rush on, throwing down tons, ah ! lakes
of rain. But prunella leaves, still green,
under these bruised leaves formed catkins in
alder and hazel ; white rootlets bursting from
buried bluebell bulbs — all prophesy of a
returning summer and a dear, delightful
spring !— Lordswood.

THE BEE'S STING.
The infinite superiority of Nature's handi-
work over the finest work of man is clearly
illustrated in the relative fineness of the
point of a bee's sting and that of a delicate
cambric needle. Under a powerful micro-
scope the former is hardly discernible, while
the latter appears to be about an inch in
diameter, and very coarse and rough in
finish.

Notieesto Correspondents and Inquirers.

All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.

Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents, or where appliances can be
purchased, or replies giving such information, can only
be inserted as advertisements. The space devoted to
letters, queries, and replies is meant for the general
jood of bee-keepers, and not for advertisements. We
wish our Correspondents to bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always be replied to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of their communica-
tions.

Errata. — Owing to a printer's error the weight
of honey — as stated in table (on page 516)
appears as 85 lb., whereas the correct weight
is 685 lb.

A Working Man (Kidderminster). — Disin-
fecting Hives. — Boil, if possible, or scald
the hives with boiling water, and paint over
with a strong solution soluble phenyle, 3
table-spoonfuls to one quart of water. The
frames (if not destroyed) should be boiled
for half an hour before using again.

M, H. (Tunbridge Wells).— Width of En-
trances in Winter. — In very cold weather,
or during the prevalence of cutting winds",
it is best to reduce entrances to about one
inch in width.

Tinto (Biggar). — Unseeded Honey in Sections.
— 1. The honey, if thin and unripe, will
probably ferment and be unfit for giving
back to the bees. 2. If it granulates, the
bees will rather carry out the granules than
fill up the cells with new honey. 3. Un-
sealed honey extracted from sections is
generally inferior in quality because of its
unripeness. 4. See reply to No. 1.

Wm.- Campion (Burton-on-Trent). — Cleaning
Wax. — The sample of wax sent is a good
one, though not so bright in colour as it
might be. If a half teaspoonful of sulphuric
acid is added to each quart of water used in
boiling the wax it will much improve the
colour. The information in our monthly
Record for December will be very helpful in
the matter of wax rendering.

The space taken up by the Index in this
number compels us to hold over till next week;
several articles already in type.