October 9, 1873. ] 



JOUBUAL OF HOETICDLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



283 



mild to the taste, there was no smack of honey about it. I was 

 given to understand it was from Narbonne, in France, and was 

 sold at one time at 2s. Gd. per lb. On my way home I called at 

 tn-o more shops, in one of which I found the same class of honey 

 ten shades darker in colour. My suspicions were here confirmed, 

 that all the honey I had seen and tasted that day was manu- 

 factured from sugar by some process I was ig^noraut of. About 

 six months ago a surgeon called here, and in course of conver- 

 sation he told me he commenced his career as an apprentice to 

 a chemist, and then was frequently employed in raakm;; honey. 

 He was asked how it was made. He said, " To i lbs. of sugar 

 and lib. of water we put i lb. of honey, and boil all together. It 

 looks like crystallised honey, and is sold at Is. id. per lb., but it 

 is nothing but a toffy." If this " toffy " or trashy confectionary 

 find customers, what may we not expect when genuine honey 

 becomes known ? Consider also that hundreds of tons of foreign 

 honey are imported into England, and here find buyers. Most 

 of the foreign honey is far inferior in flavour to good English 

 honey. The Chilian honey is the best and purest of all foreign 

 honey that I have ever seen or tasted, but is not equal to British 

 honey. The working classes, especially the miners and colliers 

 of Scotland, use much honey at their tea-tables. It is used 

 on bread as butter and preserved fruits are. In the north of 

 England preserved fruit is used in large quantities by working 

 people. A fruit-preserver of Stockport told the writer that he 

 could not keep himself abreast of the demand. This was some 

 years ago, when he was preserving 150 tons of fruit, one-third 

 being Gooseberries. Since then he has told me the demand for 

 it is ever growing. I suppose that he now preserves about 200 

 tons of fruit. Bee-keepers, then, need not fear that honey good 

 and genuine will ever be a drug in the market. 



As for wax, they have only to ask a price for a genuine article. 

 Chemists in making up ointment dare not use the wax of com- 

 merce, knowing it is, generally speaking, a spurious mixture of 

 lard, rosin, and wax. Grocers, too, covet and readily purchase 

 real wax, for they find no difficulty in selling it to ladies for 

 cleaning and polishing furniture. AVe sell our clear honey at 

 Is. .id. per lb. ; heather or moorland honey, at Is. ijer lb. ; and 

 honeycomb from Is. 3d. to Is. G(/. per lb. ; wax at 2s. and 2s. '3d. 

 per lb. — A. Pettigbew, Sale. 



COURAGE MOUNTETH WITH OCCASION. 



I BEGAN bee-keeping this summer — no, perhaps I ought not to 

 say that, as last summer I had a swarm given me in a common 

 hive. It did very well till one day it was blown over, and after 

 that it never did well, and the bees died in the winter ; but this 

 bad luck, instead of disheartening me, first made me take an 

 interest in bees. I searched all the JonKN.iis of Horticulture 

 and Cottage G.uideners from No. 11 volume up to the present 

 time, and read all I could find on bees. I procured " Beekeep- 

 ing for the Many " and *' Profitable Bee-keeping," and studied 

 them during last winter ; lately I have been reading Langstroth. 

 I at first thought I would " walk before I ran," and bought two 

 flat-topped straw hives (Economic), but reading in one of your 

 back numbers the experiences of a beginner with a Woodbury, 

 and seeing how well he succeeded, 1 determined to have a 

 Woodbury, so sent to London for one. My swarm, a gift (as the 

 giver said it was unlucky to buy bees), arrived on the 2Rth of 

 May, before my hive 1 What a dilemma I was in ! However, 

 it came the next day, and having made all necessary prepara- 

 tions, and attached some bits of guide-comb as well as I could, 

 though I did it so badly that two or three fell off soon after on 

 the same evening, and taking a big walking-stick I went towards 

 the straw skep in which the swarm was located. I felt so dread- 

 fully nervous, for I thought. Here I am going to dash these 

 bees out of this hive. How do I know they will take to this 

 great box ? Perhaps they will fly away, or, worse still, settle 

 on me. How strongly inclined I felt to run away ; but remem- 

 bering how I should be laughed at if I turned coward, I seized 

 the step, and struck it with such force that I sent the top of it 

 in. Out tumbled the bees — such a splendid swarm ! I quickly 

 placed the Woodbury over the moving mass, and it was quite 

 delightful to hear the mighty hum and watch the bees marching 

 into their new dwelling. Some of the stragglers I spooned-up 

 and shook down in front of the hive, as directed by Langstroth. 

 A tingling sensation on one of my fingers made mo aware I had 

 received my first wound, but I was too busily engaged watching 

 and helping my bees into their new home to attend to it. Later 

 in the evening I placed tlie hive on its stand, and all was right. 



If I tell you I hardly slept at all that night I suppose you will 

 be amused : snch was the sober truth ; the bees drove all sleep 

 from my eyes. In a couple of days, having kepi out a frame 

 for that purpose, I secured with clips three bits of honeycomb 

 that fell out of the skep when I transferred the bees, and pro- 

 viding myself with some sweetened water and a roll of smoulder- 

 ing linen rags— still very nervous — took off the crown-board, 

 slipped in the frame, noticed with much satisfaction some combs 

 begun in the frames, slid the crown-board on, and left them. I 

 removed the supports in a few days, finding the bees had made 



all secure. Nine out of the ten combs were begun ; they had 

 only been in the hive nine days. The 27th of June I put a 

 glass super on, carefully wrapped in cotton wool, with two bits 

 of guide-comb (all I had) in it, and did not look at it again for a 

 fortnight, owing to beiug^from home. When I did I found to 

 my intense vexation no comb built, only a thick cluster of bees 

 hanging at one end. The 21st of July I made a grand discovery 

 —my bees had really begun making a comb. I caught a glimpse 

 of it when the cluster of bees opened a little. I think that 

 moment was one of the proudest moments of my life, for as no 

 one about here has such a hive as mine, all skeps, I have had 

 everyone telling me I shall do no good with these " new- 

 fangled " hives. First I was told the bees would not take to 

 the hive ; I proved that wrong ; and next, that they would not 

 take to the super. So you see I have had no help except from 

 books. I thought bees always worked from the centre of the 

 super or hive ; I found mine had begun the two outside combs 

 first. 



The beginning of August I saw the unlucky drones being 

 dragged forth. I covered the wooden covering of my hive with 

 a straw hackle, because I fancied the green paint attracted the 

 heat. Did I do right? I also raised the adaptiug-board on 

 wedges to give the bees more air. August 2.5th I took off the 

 super, found two of the frames of the stock hive had stuck to 

 the under side of the adapting-board. My bees got so furious 

 that I received two stings before I discovered what was the 

 matter. I retired, put on another pair of thicker gloves, and 

 separated the frames with a knife. I managed to get the bees 

 out of the super very well; they left directly it was tilted up a 

 little. I found a little honey in the centre of one comb, -nhich 

 I afterwards tasted — my own honey ; it was delicious. The 

 bees had carried down all they had stored in the outside combs; 

 about five combs were begun. I have put the super away till 

 next year. I have another swarm of June 3rd, but they do not 

 seem nearly so strong as the swarm in tlie Woodbury; the 

 reason I believe to be is that I have not all the swarm, for the 

 cottager from whom I bought them (for although I prefer to be 

 given my bees, I am not too superstitious to buy) neglected to 

 bring them the day they swarmed as she promised. The swarm 

 had been put in my hive (an Economic), which I had previously 

 left with the cottager, so I had no alternative but to have the 

 swarm, so sent for them at once, and they were carefully carried 

 home .and no combs broken. So nine days after the swarm had 

 come forth it was lodged in the garden. I tried a super on three 

 weeks after swarming, but though the bees crowded into it, they 

 refused to begin working, so I took it off at the end of August. 

 The Woodbury swarm has appeared twice as strong as the other, 

 more bees going in and out. The wasps have not troubled the 

 bees much ; if they get in they are hustled out immediately. 



I cannot conclude without telling you how much your paper 

 has helped me. Every week it is eagerly scanned to see if there 

 is anything fresh about the bees. I assure you it has become 

 much more interesting than any other kind of reading. My 

 friends tease me, and say I have "bee on the brain." In spite 

 of having my hands swollen several times, and once having to 

 appear with a bandaged eye in consequence of the too close 

 attention of one of my pets, and getting well teased, and asked 

 if I was cared of my mania, to which I gave an indignant 

 denial, I must sign myself — An Enthusiastic Monmouthshike 

 L.U)Y Bee-keeper. 



SKELETONISING LEAVES. 



The solution for destroying the soft tissues is made by first dis- 

 solving 4 ozs. of common washing soda in a quart of boiling water; 

 then add 2 ozs. of slaked quicklime, and boil for about fifteen 

 minutes. Allow this solution to cool; afterwards pour off all the 

 clear Hquid into a clean saucepan. When the solution is at the 

 boiling point, place the leaves carefully in the pan, and boil the 

 whole together for an hour. Boiling water ought to be added 

 occasionally, but sufficient only to replace that lost by evapora- 

 tion. The epidermis and parenchyma of some leaves will more 

 readily separate than in others. A good test is to try the leaves 

 after they have been gently simmering (boiling) for about an 

 hour, and if the cellular matter does not easily rub off betwixt 

 the finger and thiimb beneath cold water, boil them again for a 

 short time. When the fleshy matter is found to bo sxVlEcieutly 

 softened, rub them separately, but very gently, beneath cold 

 water until the perfect skeleton is exposed. 



The skeletons at first are of a dirty white colour: to make 

 them pure white, and therefore more beautiful, all that is neces- 

 sary is to bleach them in a weak solution of chloride of lime. I 

 have found the best solution is a large tablespnnnfiil of chloride 

 of lime to a quart of water ; if a few drops of vinegar are added 

 to the bleaching solution it is all the better, for then the free 

 chloride is liberated. Do not allow them to remain too long in 

 the bleaching liquor, or they will become very brittle, and can- 

 not afterwards be haudlf d without injnry. About fifteen minutes 

 are sufficient to make them white and clean-looking. 



After the specimens are bleached, dry them in white blotting 



