October i), 1873. I 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



bnt with his usual caution aud correctness, he did not venture 

 to state this as a fact. Mr. Pettigrew is more venturesome, and 

 boldly asserts, while pitying my ignorance, that " these things 

 have been seen and handled hundreds of times during the last 

 half-century." It is an odd way of expressing the f ict, if fact it 

 be, that bees make honey after twice swallowing aud disgorging 

 it ; but may I ask Mr. Pettigrew for his evidences of these facts ? 

 The " instance " he mentions is no instance at all. The thin- 

 ness of the syi-up or honey collected from the bean flowers 

 proves nothing, save that the honey was thin. I have a theory 

 to account for the honey becoming thicker — it is a very simple 

 one — merely that of evaporation in the open cells before sealing- 

 np. It is but a theory I admit. But to allow that bees have a 

 power of "sweetening" honey from some source of sweetness 

 within themselves I cannot believe. — B. & W. 



THE ART OF SUPEBING. 



"I WISH I knew how to make my bees fill supers like these," 

 said a lady at the Manchester Exhibition ; " somehow mine are 

 either spoiled by brood in them or remain unfilled aud un- 

 finished. I wish you would tell me how to manage better." 

 This lady is a fair representative of a very large section of bee- 

 keepers who are anxiously trying to get supers filled with pure 

 virgin honeycomb. I therefore think it may be interesting 

 and profitable to many if the art of supering be explained in 

 your columns. 



Amateurs and most of our lady apiarians are not coucerned 

 to know which system of bee-management is most profitable ; 

 they keep bees for pleasure, and would like to have plenty of 

 honeycomb for their own use, and some supers well filled to 

 give as presents to their friends. A large crystal palace of 

 honeycomb is no mean Christmas gift, and cannot well be sur- 

 passed as a central ornament to a dinner-table. 



As my object in writing is not to teach experts, but to make 

 all mere beginners and learners in bee-keeping experts, I shall 

 probably do this most easily by detailing my own practice in 

 simple language, and, when necessary, giving reasons why this 

 and that are done. 



It should be understood by all, that though supers may be 

 obtained from hives of all shapes and materials, some kinds are 

 better than others, and where these are used both the bee- 

 master and his bees are placed on vantage-ground. For instance, 

 lu-ge hives are incomparably better than small ones ; straw 

 hives better than wooden hives; and those of simple construc- 

 tion are more easily managed, and give more freedom and scope 

 to the industrious inmates than those which are complicated. 



The position of the holes in the tops of hives, through which 

 the bees reach aud fill the supers, is of little importance. The 

 holes in my hives are all in the centre of the crown, and 

 measure 4 inches wide. Some modern inventors object to centre 

 holes because they are immediately above the brood combs 

 where queens are ever at work laying eggs, and may readily 

 step into the supers and there deposit some. To avoid this 

 danger these inventors have the holes in their hives nearer tlie 

 outside combs, where honey is generally stored. Both answer 

 well, for excellent supers of comb have been filled through 

 centre and side holes. I get supers weighing 10 lbs., 20 lbs , 

 30 lbs., and 40 lbs. filled over centre holes without a cell of brood 

 or speck of farina in them. The size of the holes is of some 

 importance. I think there should be a good thoroughfare and 

 plenty of room for travellers between the hive and super. If 

 the passage be too narrow, as it is in some lands of hives which 

 I could name, the bees are longer in filling the supers, and fre- 

 quently never attempt to fill them at all. 



Before I give my modes of supering I have to notice one 

 thing more — viz., that swarming is an indestructible instinct 

 of bees; it is a law of their existence. Hence there is some 

 risk of losing swarms by managing bees on the non-swarming 

 system. In attempting to prevent swarming by supering, the 

 most expert and experienced bee-master will sometimes find his 

 design frustrated. 



Elsewhere I have ventured to express an opinion that more 

 supers of comb can be obtained by managing bees on the 

 swarming system than on the non-swarming one. Very well ; 

 when a hive is fall of combs and these combs covered with bees 

 it will be ready to swarm in three weeks, weather being favour- 

 able. In about ten or twelve days after the outside combs are 

 covered with bees, and eggs deposited in them, preparations for 

 swarming may be seen going on inside the hive. Now I endta- 

 Tonr to prevent such preparations by giving the bees more 

 room— that is, when I prefer honey to swarms. Well then, 

 shortly after the combs are covered with bees, supers should be 

 put on the hives. If the supers be made of wood or straw I 

 first put two or three bits of clean drone-comb, well cemented 

 or waxed to labels, in their crowns, and thus tempt the bees to 

 go into them at once and commence work. From tho crowns 

 of the supers to the crowns of the hives I use ladders of wood, 

 a'jout as thick as a child's finger. On these the bees go up, aud 

 commence to build their combs from the crown downwards. 



This is of great importance, for bees naturally build down- 

 wards ; and when supers are thus filled tho combs are squared* 

 off and finished before they touch the crowns of the hives* 

 When half tilled they can be examined, by lifting, without in- 

 jury. If guide-combs be not used the bees would probably 

 build the combs into the supers upwards from the combs and 

 the crowns of their hives. By using two or three bits of guide- 

 comb the bees are tempted to commence work in the supers 

 at the outsides as well as in the middle of them. Drone comb 

 is used in supers as guides for this reason, that drones are seldom 

 — I might venture to say are never — bred in supers of ordinary 

 sizes. These supers of drone comb are invariably filled with 

 pure virgin honey. But if you had no drone comb at hand, 

 would you use a bit of worker comb ? Tes, certainly, to 

 induce the bees to begin at the top and build their combs in 

 the natural way. Thus the combs in the supers are at some 

 distance from the brood combs, till they and the super are 

 nearly full of honey. But at the time of supering, any bee- 

 keeper may lift one of his hives aud cut out a few pieces of 

 drone comb to be used as guides. Indeed, when we are bending 

 our energies to get many and fine supers of honeycomb we cut 

 out of oiu" hives all the white drone comb we can get. I prefer 

 it empty, so that it can be easily fixed in supers before they are 

 put on hives. As soon as they are put on, the bees go up 

 amongst the empty combs, fix them more firmly, and begin to 

 store honey in them ; and when such supers are taken off, it 

 will be found that the clumsy work of the bee-master has been 

 hidden amongst the more perfect work of the bees. Such supers 

 are just as good, sweet, and saleable as those that have never 

 been touched by the hand of man. 



One year I made a special effort to get a great number of 

 supers of honeycomb. When all my straw aud glass supers 

 were filled, I went to our grocer at Rusholme, aud bought a great 

 many small boxes, which he had emptied of mustard and other 

 articles. They were about a foot square and 3 inches deep — 

 just what I wanted. He charged 2d. each for them. A small 

 hole, say 3 inches wide, was cut in the bottom of each box ; 

 then they were filled as full and as neatly as I could with combs 

 (white and beautiful) cut from large hives, and placed on hives 

 ready to fill them with honey. Thus more than half the work 

 was done for the bees before they entered these supers. Next 

 to straw supers, about 4 inches deep and 12 inches wide, come 

 these cheap shallow boxes for convenience. They are conve- 

 nient both to fill and to empty. 



Next week I shall notice the best ways of filling glass supers, 

 crystal palaces, and other matters pertaining to this art. — 

 A. Pettiqrew, Sale, Cheshire. 



Autumn Sw.iiim. — In one of the Yorkshire newspapers it is 

 stated that on September 30th Mr. John Davison, of Richmond, 

 took a swarm of bees which had swarmed in a garden in French- 

 gate. The same gentleman was similarly occupied with a swarm 

 belonging to Mr. Thos. Thompson, of the Green. The fact is 

 attributable to the hot weather which prevailed. On the follow- 

 ing morning the thermometer reached 89", and 72' in the shade. 



SIR EDWIN LANDSEER. 



Occasionally I notice in your Journal articles on dogs. Now 

 that the great painter of dogs is no more, may I ask if any of 

 your elderly correspondents happen to remember Landseer in 

 his youth ? If so, was he sportsman ? wliat dogs did he himself 

 pet and most care for? »tc. Just at this time any additional 

 information concerning the great painter, and especially con- 

 cerning his early days, would be read with excessive interest. 

 — H. 



[We know much of " the great painter of dogs " iu his early 

 days. He was staying together with his friend, Mr. John 

 Hayter, jun., at the clergyman's of a village in Essex, where we 

 then resided, and he was then engaged on painting the re- 

 pliques of his " Rat-Catchers." We think he had orders for six, 

 and he was painting them all at the same time, so that each 

 might have precisely the same colours. He mourned over the 

 monotony of the occupation. Either then, or not long after, we 

 heard him talk of painting a " Hector and Andromache," an 

 idea he realised in the duck mourning over the dead drake, and 

 which Mr. Graves under tho title of " The Widow," has now 

 exhibiting in his noble collection of engi*avings of Sir Edwin's 

 pictures. We recommend our readers to inspect tliatcollectiou — 

 there are 305 engravings from the pictures Ijy " the Shakespeare 

 of the animal world." In infancy, his mother being weakly, we 

 were told, he was sent to be nursed at Beeleigh, near Maldon, 

 in Essex. At the latter place he continued in boyhood at Mr. 

 Woolley Simpson's, and even then he painted in oil colours. At 

 the time we became his acquaintance ho was taken across the 

 country shooting to a furm-liouse, tlio good dame at which was 

 requested to have some bread and cheese placed before him and 

 his friend in "the keeping-room." With glistening eyes and 

 smiling lip, rubbing his hands, lie went up to an oil painting 



