228 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Scptombor 18, 1873. 



from 20 inches wide inside down to smaller sizes, supers of all 

 tinds and sizes, and a Stewarton hive, which did not appear to 

 advantage beside the rest. 



Mr. Aston, of Newport, Salop, exhibited some of his simple 

 and nseful drone traps and other bee furnitni'e. The Judges 

 awarded him a prize of 20s. for his traps, &c. I bought a drone 

 trap of him, and have tried it already, and I am glad to say it 

 answers well. Bee-keepers must thank Mr. Aston for his excel- 

 lent contrivance. 



Mr. Wood, of Nyborg, Denmark, sent a hive and a large boxful 

 of various kinds of honey, mead, was, &z., so interesting that an 

 extra prize was given for it. 



"WTien the Bee and Honey Show was suggested and tacked on 

 to the International Fruit Exhibition it was my intention to 

 exhibit some heavy hives, with thirty or forty big supers of 

 honeycomb from my own bees, but the season has been so un- 

 favourable for honey-gathering that I could only place one hive 

 and two supers on the tables. The hive weighed 108 lbs., and 

 the smallest glass super 26 lbs. ; both were fiUed by my first 

 swarm obtained on the 21st of May. The hive alone was sold 

 for £i 5s. as it stood. The other super might be termed a 

 Crystal Palace too, for it stood 20 inches high and weighed 40 lbs., 

 though not quite finished. The Judges were the Rev. W. Cotton, 

 Frodsham; and J. S. Cunhffe, Esci., Handforth. — A. Pettigkew, 

 Sale, Cheshire. 



BEES ON A FIR TREE. 



A SWAKM of bees some time in the summer settled on a small 

 Scotch fir in my shrubbery, about 2 feet from the ground. They 

 were seen only lately, and have made a quantity of beautiful 

 white comb, now being filled with honey. It is fixed to the 

 stem of the tree, whidh is only 5 feet high. Is there any safe 

 method of taking the honey, and how ? If left till the winter, 

 would the bees die and the honey be spoilt ? — A. R. 



[If left the bees would certainly die. Are the combs fixed 

 outside the tree, or are they in a hollow ? If the former, you 

 may drive the bees off the combs by steady fumigation with 

 brown paper, and cut the combs away easily. In the latter case 

 you must destroy them with brimstone. — Ens.] 



BEE-FEEDING. 



ExcTTSE my taking exception to your advice to "B. G." about 

 bee-feeding. The food suggested is cane-sugar syrup. As its 

 water dries from it, it crystaUises. Applied as you recommend, 

 it would be partly taken down during the night. In the morn- 

 ing, as the temperature rises, the expanding air which stands 

 over the syrup in the bottle will drive down a deluge over the 

 bees; this crystallises upon their bodies and destroys numbers, 

 besides rendering useless the adjacent sides of the two middle 

 combs, which are the most important in the hive. Bxperto 

 crede. The sugar should have added to it a teaspoonful of 

 strong vinegar for each pound, or, better, three drops of sul- 

 phuric acid, which, upon being boUed, changes the cane sugar 

 into grape sugar (the form in which sugar occurs in honey), 

 which will not crystallise, and which is more natural as a food, 

 and better for storing than cane sugar. The method of giving 

 food recommended I thought was exploded. Place a piece of 

 perforated zinc (that called No. 6 is best) over the feeding hole. 

 Pour your syrup into the bottle, and place over it a piece of zinc 

 bent up at one edge, then turn your bottle over. Place all upon 

 perforated zinc, and withdraw the sUde. The whole operation 

 is simple and cleanly. If you wish to remove the bottle, replace 

 the slip. The form of the zinc piece is immaterial, but a shovel 

 heavy in the handle is most convenient. — F. Cheshire. 



[We cannot admit that our advice to '• B. G." was in any way 

 incorrect. We are almost tired of reiterating our assertion that 

 food prepared in the proportions, and boiled for the time which 

 we recommend, can be safely administered by the bottle system 

 of feeding. Whether net or muslin in conjunction with zinc, 

 or a piece of zinc only between the fluid and the bees, be used, 

 is a,matter of but little consequence. We prefer the net, as it 

 enables the bee-master to supply or remove the bottles much 

 more readily. We never find the food crystallise ; and if it 

 should happen to run over the bees or the combs, not the 

 slightest injury results, as the bees are soon cleaned by their 

 sisters, and the combs also are soon licked d :y. Whether or not 

 the syrup would be improved by the ar iition of vinegar or 

 sulphuric acid we caimot say, but wiU give the treatment a 

 trial. — Eds.] 



V.u.TiE OF Hens. — A curious statement has been made and 

 pxiblialied in a French paper in regard to hens. It reckons the 

 number of hens in France at 40,000,000, valued at $20,000,000. 

 Of these about one-fifth are killed annually for the market. There 

 is an annual nett production of 80,000,000 chickens, which in 

 market yield ?24,000,000. The extra value to be added for 

 capons, fattened hens, and the like, is put at |2,200,000. The 



production of eggs is reckoned at an average of 100 eggs per hen, 

 worth $48,000,000. In all it is reckoned that the value of hens, 

 chickens, and eggs sold in the markets of France is $80,000,000. 

 — [Boston Cultivator.) 



CoNSiTMPTioN OP Eggs. — The importation of eggs increases. 

 In the last eight months the declared value was ^£1,797,759, 

 against i;i, 302,870 of the preceding year. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Stocking a Htve of Ejipty Combs (G. H. F.). — If your geven-yeai's-old 

 straw hive is strong, you may drive out the bees into an empty butt, and 

 when pretty well settled shake them into your frame hive, whieb immediately 

 place upon the stand which the straw hive had previously occupied. You 

 must make up your mind to feed Uberahy : at least 20 lbs. of food will bo 

 necessaiy. Possibly you would not object to give a good quantity of the 

 dai'kest honey from tbe old butt. If you hud that the bos has not as many 

 bees as you would wish, you can get some cottager to allow you to drive out 

 and bring home the bees of a doomed stock, which you may add to yom- own. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Camden Square, London. 



Lat. 51° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0° 8' 0" W. ; Altitude 111 feet. 



REMARKS. 

 10th. — Fine morning, occasionally cloudy, with much wind, but not any rain* 

 11th. — Rain in the night and early moruing ; but fine by 8 a.m., and all the 



remainder of the day. Lunar halo at 11.15 p.m. 

 12th, — A tine bright day, with less wind than on the previous ones. Solar 



halo at 4 p.m. 

 13th. — Hazy morning, rather dull all day. Solar halo at 10 a.m. ; wet in the 



evening. 

 14th.— Rain early, fine at 9 a.m., but rain again at 10.30, followed by a showei-y 



day. Rainbow in the eai'ly evening ; rain at night. 

 15th. — SuDBbine and showera all tbe day ; two vivid flashes of lightning about 



2.30 P.M., with bail, followed very quickly by two loud peals of thunder; 



several sharp but very short showers dining the day. 

 16th. — A beautiful day throughout. 

 A Blight increase in temperature, but still rather chilly. — G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— September 17. 

 We have had a large quantity of fallen fruit in the mai'ket, shaken down 

 by the late high winds, which baa been selling at very low prices, and which 

 has interfered with that of gathered sorts, neither good Pears or Apples 

 quite maintaining last week's prices. Plums also continue plentiful, Damsons 

 ralher scarce. Vegetables are well supplied, and of excellent quahty. 



FRUIT. 



