204 



JOUBNAIi OF HOE.TICULTUE.E AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



[ September 8, 18C3, 



About a montli ago I lifted up the hive and found the 

 entire comh reduced to a mass of decay, appearing almost 

 like yellow moss. In the centre there was a large cone 

 attached to the roof, of which I have broken off a piece, and 

 forward it to you by this post. The top of the hive was 

 also covered with single cocoons like those in the enclosed 

 mass. Each appears to contain a grub, and the moth 

 which I enclose was adhering dead to the side of the hive. 

 It appears to me (who have vei-y little knowledge of these 

 things), to be one that has come forth from the chrysalis, 

 but that never has flo\vn. — S. E. 



[This inqiiii-y reached us in Mai-ch last, but none of the 

 moths came to perfection until the 30th July. They tiu-n 

 out to be GaUeria melloneUa (Linnceus), probably the worst 

 kind of wax moth, and appear, as far as we can judge by 

 the illustrations in Mr. Langstroth's work, to be identical 

 with the species which is so much di'eaded by American 

 apiarians. The male is the G. cereana of Linnaeus, G. cerella 

 of Guenee, and is smaller than the females, which also it 

 outnumbers by about twenty to one. Fortunately it is 

 scarce in this country, and the mass of cocoons you sent 

 have proved quite a boon to all the entomologists in oiu' 

 neighboiu-hood.] 



A NEW AND SUPEEIOR MATEEIAL FOE 



HIVE-MAEING. 



One consequence of my trip to north Devon, the incidents 

 of which have been already described, is the discovery of a 

 new material for hive-making, which promises the best 

 resiilts. It is Elymus arenarius, or Upright Sea Lyme Grass, 

 which grows plentifully on the sand-hills in many pai'ts of 

 oiu- coasts, and the principal use of which is to bind sand- 

 banks so as to prevent encroachments of the sea, and keep 

 the sand itself from drifting during high winds. The 

 dwellers on the north coast of Devon have also applied it to 

 the nianufactiu'e of a cheap kind of broom, as well as a sub- 

 stitute for straw in liive-making. Being informed that 

 hives fabricated of this material were much neater than, 

 and lasted thrice as long as, those made of straw, I pur- 

 chased and brought away with me a sufficient quantity for 

 a Woodbury ii'ame-hive. This I liave placed in the hands 

 of Messrs. Neighbour & Sons' hive-maker, who eulogises 

 it most highly ; and if it at all equals his expectations, the 

 apiarian world may hereafter rejoice in the fact that the 

 cottager's of north Devon, although much behind the rest of 

 us in many respects, were yet able to aiford a valuable hint 

 to — A Devonshire Bee-keepee. 



FOUL BEOOD PEODUCED BY FEEDING 

 BEES WITH FOEEIGN HONEY. 



I WAS Sony to see the report in The Journal of Horti- 

 culture, of July 21st and 28th, of "A Devonshire Bee- 

 keepek's" apiary suffering from foul brood, and am afi-aid 

 he has not yet found out the right cause. I have been a 

 bee-keeper now some thu-ty years, and have only known 

 one case of foul brood from English honey. It was a hive 

 which had been sent to the moors and came back about 

 60 lbs. weight, when the owner set it up for winter stock. 

 The foUowiug spring the bees did not ajipeai- to increase, 

 but gi-adually dwindled away, and when the bee-keeper came 

 to examine his hive he found the combs and honey cankered, 

 and disagreeable in smell. 



I win give my own experience. About twelve years ago I 

 bought a quantity of foreign honey for myself and friend. I 

 gave to one of my stocks a quantity of the honey just as it 

 was, and the following spring the bees commenced working 

 as usual ; but still they never increased, and, besides, I per- 

 ceived some of the bees crept out and died. So I tm-ned up 

 the stock and examined it. The combs were partly covered 

 with a brown substance, and the smell from it was most 

 offensive. Besides this, the combs were nearly rotten, and 

 the few bees left were crawling about, poisoned with the 

 honey and foul smell. T'le honey I sold to my friend he 

 boiled along with lump sugar, and the following spring part 

 of his bees died, but towards the latter end of AprO they 

 partially recovered theii- strength, but were not as good 



hives as they ought to have been at that season. Both my 

 friend and myself laid the blame at the time to the foreign 

 honey, as my hives, which had aO honey given them, dwindled 

 completely away, whilst his which had only part honey 

 mixed with sugaj-, recovered after losing part of their- bees. 

 If "A Devonshire Bee-keeper" has fed his bees with 

 foreign honey, I should say that is the cause of the disease. 

 I merely suggest this from my own experience, and I have 

 never used loreign honey since. — C. B. H. 



[This nan-ative confii-ms the correctness of German 

 apiarians, who state that foul brood is usually produced by 

 feeding bees \vith imported honey. In my own case, how- 

 ever, I have no reason to believe that it had anything to do 

 with the misfortune, since, although I used a portion of 

 foreign honey, I pai'ted witli some of it to my friends, Messrs. 

 S. B. and George Fox, in neither of whose apiaries were 

 any evil effects produced by its use. — A Devonshire Bee- 

 keeper.] 



BEES IN CUMBEELAND. 



Perhaps a short account of apiarian doings in Cumberland 

 may be interesting, and I will, therefore, write a few lines 

 upon the subject if you think them worthy of publication. 



In the first place, I may say that it has been generally 

 considered a very favourable season, although swamis were 

 not so early this year as last. The fii'st that I heard of was 

 on the 30th of May. and during the first week in June they 

 were frequent; and for numbers a very old bee-keeper 

 assm'ed me he never knew such a season, he having a top 

 swarm wliich swarmed four times, two of which swarms 

 he lost. Another individual has a hive which has swarmed 

 seven times since the 19th of June last, all of which swarms 

 he seciu'ed ; and another person has a hive wMch swarmed 

 twice in one day. So much for swarming. 



I have watched with interest the progi-ess of the Ligurian 

 species, and rejoice to hear that they have acquited them- 

 selves so well; but I think they must not be allowed to 

 carry off aU the honoui- and gloi-y. An old friend of mine 

 who has been a successful bee-keeper with the cottage straw 

 hive, although knowing little about bees scientifically 

 (calling the queen " the Maister Bee "), took from a hive a 

 top swai-m lately, which weighed 8 stone 2 lbs., and a top 

 he took off the same hive before weighed 8 lbs. That, I 

 think, the Ligmians will find it difficult to exceed. I have 

 often thought that the elevation of the bee-stand has a 

 considerable influence upon their successftd swaiiuing. If 

 too high they are apt to fly away, and if on the level they 

 are very slow in swai-ming. A gentle elevation I think 

 answers best. A few hives under my own care stand low, 

 and the swarming was so tedious that I have practised arti- 

 ficial swarming for the last ten years by driving, and always 

 with success. I only once failed in diiving the queen at the 

 first operation — five minutes I find sufficient time to drive. 

 A bee-dress or gloves I never think of. A few puffs of 

 smoke fi'om a puff-ball keep them quiet. 



With regard to famOy affaii-s, I have kept them quite 

 dark ; but, if it be true that Huber heai-d them speaking 

 the French language, some of yoiu' readers that spe;ij; 

 French might inquire if they ai'e at all sensitive upon th.- 

 subject. — A Friend of the Bee. 



OUE LETTEE BOX. 



Sheffield Poulit-y Show.— In reply to "ExHiBiTon," r. H. Nicholas 

 and T. Davies, of Newport, Monmouthsihire, be? to state that they have 

 not received their prize money from the ]:ue Show. 



liAEBiTs KILLING THEiit YouNG [F. M. J*a/Aci), — The ohIj cure is to 

 Ititl the infanticide. 



Taking Honey — Hliibt-z Bees (A. G.).— Honey mar be taken as soon as 

 the honey-harvest is over, but this varies rery much in different localities. 

 In some districts all increase ceases in July, whilst in others it continues 

 till October. The bees you have purchased belong to the only species of 

 hive bee indigenous to Britain. The large, heavy, black-velvety bees yon 

 describe are a species of wild humble bee, the females of which alone sur- 

 vive the winter. They do not store honey like the hive bee, and their 

 natural history precludes their being dnniestieaced in the same manner. 



Work on Bees (Hot aii Old Subscriber).— \o\i will find ;iU hives worth 

 notice described, and many depicted, in the fifth edition of "Bee-keeping 

 for the Many," just published at our orSce. You can have it free by jiosr. 

 for sis penny posta^'e stimps. All cominuaications to our departmental 

 writers must be in the pages of our Journal, 



Squirrels (— ).— You will find an article on the subject in our nesr 

 Number. 



