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JOUBNAIi OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t November 27, 187S. 



cannot tell ; the only probable thing to my mind ia that they 

 have been starved. I found nothing but brood in the comb, 

 some of which was ahve ten days after the death of the bees. 

 The heather was in full bloom, and it was fine warm weather. 

 The other hive has been dreadfully robbed by the wasps, and is 

 very weak. 



From my stock hive, which I drove, we took 10 lbs. of honey 

 and half a pound of wax, together with two fine swarms, the 

 prime one of which I lost and the stock ; but this bad luck, I 

 think, instead of disheartening me, has made me take a fresh 

 interest in my bees, on the strength of which I have procured 

 another stock hive, which has not swarmed this year, feels very 

 heavy, and is full to the bottom of light yellow comb. From this 

 I expect great things next year. 



My hives stand in an open situation facing the south, with only 

 the protection of the common milk-panoheon, in the same line, 

 and about a yard distance from a small greenhouse. Which do 

 you advise— my having a shed built for them, or putting them 

 in the greenhouse for the winter ? the temperature is never 

 above 60°. 



I am at present using the ordinary straw skep, but am think- 

 ing of procuring other hives for my next year's swarms. Which 

 kind of hive would you recommend to me as easy of manage- 

 ment, supering, &o. ? Being only a beginner in bee-keeping, I 

 have not yet much experience, and that only obtained from 

 books. Tour Journal has afforded me much pleasure in reading, 

 and every week I eagerly look forward to receiving it ; more 

 especially that corner which is devoted to bee-management I 

 enjoy. My second swarm I think would be better able to stand 

 the winter if I could unite it to some more bees, but, unfor- 

 tunately, I know of none which are condemned in this neighbour- 

 hood. I should feel greatly obliged to any of the readers of 

 the Journal if they could inform me of any likely to be so, if 

 it is not too late in the season to purchase them. — L. A. H., 

 A Yorkshire Bee-Tceeper. 



FILLING A CRYSTAL PALACE GLASS SUPER 



Befoee proceeding to redeem my promise to describe " what 

 I did do " in assisting the bees to fill the crystal palace, I may 

 observe that my attention has been called to a letter which ba's 

 appeared in another journal, in which the writer suggests 

 certain methods by which it might have been effected. He 

 hints that there might have been brood-combs from other hives 

 added from time to time, and that some 40 lbs. of glucose might 

 have been given without much fear of detection while the 

 super was in course of being filled. To the first part of this 

 theory I have no objection to offer, further than to say that in 

 my case it would have been impracticable, the crown-board 

 having been firmly ecrewed-down before the super was put on, 

 and the latter, with its packings and outer wooden cover, being 

 of too formidable dimensions to be removed at pleasure ; liut as 

 regards the second, the writer of the letter in question does not 

 appear to reciprocate the opinion which I hold of him (I know a 

 little of him, by repute, through a mutual friend), when he in- 

 smuates that I might have filled my crvstal palace in part with 

 glucose and palmed it off as honey. I notice also, that I am 

 found fault with for not having volunteered at the exhibition a 

 description of the mode in which my crystal palace was brought 

 to such perfection. This would be almost sufficient excuse for 

 my withholding the information even now, after having pro- 

 mised to give it. The competition was for the "best glass 

 super," but there was certainly nothing in the conditions that 

 required an explanation of how the best had been attained to. 

 If the faultfinders had attended at the exhibition they might 

 have easily ascertained, that although not required to impart 

 the information, I made no secret of it, and they might have 

 heard Mr. Cotton describe the process over and over again to 

 the crowds who came to admire the crystal palace during the 

 four days it was on view. To such as were not there, however, 

 I now proceed to give even a more detailed account than that 

 given to Mr. Cotton. 



The hive upon which the crystal palace was built is a com- 

 mon Woodbury hive— all wood remember, you wranglers for 

 straw— but perhaps I should qualify " common " by stating it 

 was uncommon to the extent of having been the winner of first 

 prizes at all our local shows here for the last three or four years. 

 It was not in as good breeding condition as I desired at the com- 

 mencement of the past season, owing, in a measure, to its having 

 too much old heather honey in some of the combs ; and as there 

 was a heavy job before it, I commenced by helping it; thus, I 

 took out several of the combs, and having sl'iced-off the covering 

 of the cells I hung them up in the apiary to allow the bees 

 indiscriminately to clear them out. This I did in order to 

 secure to the queen, a three-year-old Ligurian fertilised by a 

 black drone, ample room in which to exert her laying powers 

 to the utmost, to encourage which I fed regularly and liberally. 

 I next procured a stock in a common straw hive, and having 

 driven a small swarm from it, I placed the remainder on the 

 top of the Woodbury, thus uniting both the bees that remained 



and aU the brood in course of being hatched to the latter. I 

 may now refer to one of the causes which existed for building- 

 up the hive in the manner just described, and which I hinted 

 at in my former letter as an apparent misfortune, but which 

 ultimately turned out the reverse. The form of the glass was 

 designed by Mr. Yates, of this city, through whom I ordered it, 

 and by myself ; but, owing to its great size, it was not until after 

 a third attempt that the manufacturer succeeded in turning it 

 out ; and as time was flj-ing and the exhibition would not wait, 

 it was necessary that the hive should be strengthened in every 

 possible way if the glass was to be filled, when it did arrive, in 

 time for the exhibition. Indeed the hive was so full of bees and 

 brood, whUe waiting for the glass, that there was danger of their 

 swarming. I therefore extemporised the foundation of the 

 palace in the following manner, in order to allow the bees to bo 

 " going on " with their work. I procured a wooden hoop, such 

 as hair sieves for culinary purposes are bound with, and having 

 adapted it to the diameter of the bottom of the glass ordered, 

 and bound it round thickly with canvas, I placed it on the 

 board on which the glass was to stand, covering it over with a 

 sheet of thick plate glass, which was kept warm by wrapping 

 all up in folds of canvas. It was at this point that the idea of 

 getting the bees to build upwards and downwards simultaneously 

 (which Mr. Pettigrew has spoken of as if it had been a common 

 practice) first presented itself. Last year the hive of which I 

 am now writing filled a common bell-glass weighing 43 lbs., 

 and which was the finest super that ever had been seen heio up 

 till then, without a particle of extraneous aid or an ounce of 

 feeding, and this was built entirely from the bottom upwards. 

 But this is a digression, and I return to the palace. 



There being such a number of bees in the hive ready to com- 

 mence work, and the glass being of such immense size, I con- 

 ceived the idea that if I could induce them to work from both 

 top and bottom it would strengthen the chances in favour of 

 the super being ready, short as the time was, for the exhibition. 



1 therefore placed some bits of pure honeycomb about li to 



2 inches high and 3 or 4 inches long, at regular measured dis- 

 tances from centre to centre on the board upon which the super 

 was to stand. The bees at once commenced to work upon 

 these, building upwards and longitudinally in straight lines, till 

 they had fastened the ends of the combs to the wooden hoops, 

 and the upper edges to the sheet of glass, and this hoop they 

 had entirely fiUed with solid sealed combs before the super 

 came to hand. When it did arrive, the lid, even after a third 

 attempt, was unshapely and a bad fit, I therefore rejected it; 

 and this second apparent misfortune forced me to carry out my 

 preconceived idea. Having with a thin knife cut away the sheet 

 of glass which served as a lid to the hoop, then having passed 

 the knife round the ends of the combs inside the hoop, I lifted 

 the latter gently off and replaced it with the super. The bees 

 at once fastened the ends of the combs to the glass and com- 

 menced vigorously to build upwards. I next got ready a stout 

 piece of board to serve as a temporary lid, and having nailed a 

 cross-bar on its upper side to prevent it from "winding" or 

 " warping " (take your choice, it all depends on what part of 

 the country you reside in), I fastened to its under side some 

 strips of guide-comb at the precise distances from centre to 

 centre, in which tJie combs at bottom stood. I placed this 

 board on so that the combs at top and bottom would not only 

 run parallel with each other, but would point centre to centre. 

 Let it be borne in mind, however, that so far from fastening 

 empty combs to this top cover, the slips so put on, merely tO' 

 serve as guides, were not more than one cell deep, my object 

 being that when cutting away this wooden lid I could get tha 

 knife under these bits of guide-comb, and leave nothing in the 

 super but the pure new white comb built by the bees. The 

 result realised all my anticipations. The bees in wandering 

 about over the sides of the glass soon found the board at top 

 and commenced nibbling at the bits of guide-comb, making 

 them more secure to the boards. They soon began to rope, and 

 in a very short time the cluster from the top was in contact 

 with the combs at bottom, thus forming a much more graceful 

 ladder whereby to mount than that described by Mr. Pettigrew ; 

 for, let me say here, that I do not think a piece of wood up the 

 centre of a crystal palace to serve as a ladder, would be an im- 

 provement to it, and it certainly is not necessary, as the little 

 gymnasts themselves in their beautiful ropes form a most per- 

 fect ladder, and a most pleasing object to behold. 



From the foregoing description it will at once be apparent that 

 after having put on the wooden cover, I could not have again 

 renioved it for the purpose of packing empty combs into' tlia 

 middle of the super; first, because the bees almost immediately 

 had the upper comb carried across the point of junction between 

 the board and the glass ; and next, because if I had done so I 

 should have defeated the object in view, which was that tbs- 

 combs should so meet and be joined together by the bees that 

 the point of junction would not bo perceived ; and this is now 

 actually the case. The combs, then, having been joined from 

 top to bottom, and fastened to the glass from front to back, it 

 was quite safe to out off the board at top, taking care to bring 



