NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 193 



PAPERS READ. 



I. — Apiarian Notes in Argyllshire for 1879. 

 By Mr. B. J. Bennett. 



In January and February the severe frost made it impossible to 

 open the hives. Later on I discovered two of my best stocks 

 were nearly lost, as the intense cold had caused them to eat all 

 the honey around the cluster — thus dispelling the popular delusion 

 that bees during frosty weather lie dormant and consume no 

 stores. In preparing for winter, passages should be made through 

 all combs, so that the bees may easily get at their food. I again 

 pay a high tribute to the use of the Quilt, as last year it carried 

 off all damp vapours from the atmospheric influences, and this year 

 any that may have arisen from the compact clustering of the bees, 

 passed into the quilt and were quickly dispersed. 



On March 5th I examined stocks, and was amply rewarded for 

 the trouble, finding all in a very fair condition, with the exception 

 of the two above-noted. After the four months of protracted 

 frost and snow (any variation being only sleet or rain), I dusted 

 liberally with pea-meal as a substitute for pollen, and began 

 stimulative feeding. It was well that I did so, as from this date 

 till the close of the month there was hardly a day that hives could 

 have been opened. Never do I remember seeing the country so 

 far behind. Crocuses, primroses, wallflowers, and similar flowers, 

 which are generally abundant by this time in our gardens, had not 

 yet made their appearance. 



In April flowers began to show, and the willows, which had 

 almost stood stationary for the past two months, made a fresh start. 

 With the ingathering of pollen and artificial feeding, breeding 

 began, and hopes were raised that all our cares and troubles for 

 another season were over. 



On May 7th I examined stocks, and found stores nearly 

 consumed in every hive, in two cases almost beyond hope of 

 recovery, clearly showing that, up to this date, the bees had not 

 procured any honey from outside sources. On the 24th inst. 

 I attended a sale of bees at Dairy, and bought nine stocks, two 

 of which were pure Ligurians. This, I may mention, was the best 

 sale of bees I have ever seen or heard of in Scotland, about 

 eighty persons being present, which shows a growing interest in 

 Apiculture, 



