40 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



[ Jwnary 11, 1877. 



snlphnr pit, I think I can discover that the old and, as I thought, 

 exploded idea— that to the kind of hive we are indebted for large 

 honey resnlts — still haants the minda of some of our apiarian 

 brethren, and that therefore the real (juestion raised in this con- 

 troversy, and which ia at the root of it all, is simply this, " Which 

 is the best hive for producing most honey?" Assuming, then, 

 that I am right in this view of the discussion, let us see how 

 the matter really stands. 



On the one side we have your indefatigable correspondent 

 Mr. Pettigrew, the staunch advocate of the large straw skep 

 with its fixity of combs, and on the other side Mr. Briscoe and 

 your old and excellent correspondent "A Renfrewshire Bee- 

 keeper" in support of the bar-frame or Stewartou hive, each 

 claiming for their respective favourites the advantages of pro- 

 ducing the largest honey results. Now, I have gone over all 

 the communications of these gentlemen with the greatest care, 

 and I have failed to notice a single particle of evidence adduced 

 either that the straw hive, in virtue of its being straw, baa any 

 advantages over the Stewarton, or vice versa, the Stewarton, in 

 virtue of its being a Stewarton, over the straw hive in produc- 

 ing the alleged honey reaults. 



Mr. Pettigrew has, it is true, shown that both in his own 

 apiary aa well as iu others immense stores have been collected 

 by bees domiciled in straw hives, and this, no doubt, with the 

 object of proving that they are the beat honey-producing hivea; 

 but while he does this, why does he acknowledge to feel 

 "ataggered" in hia faith in the "straw" "in reading the re- 

 port of the Renfrew success " in the Stewartou, unless he begins 

 to donbt after all that either the one domicile or the other, apart 

 from system, haa anything to do with results ao far as weight of 

 Btorea is concerned ? 



" A Renfrewshire Bee-keepeb," however, has seemingly 

 more faith in hia Stewarton than Mr. Pettigrew iu his " straw." 

 All doabta on his part seem to be dispelled, if indeed they ever 

 existed. After referring to unfair comparisons, the one hive 

 with the other, indifferent localities, he triumphantly asks, "If 

 a straw skep yields 35 lbs. in South Devon, what would a Stew- 

 arton colony there give?" and we have then a narrative of 

 "facte" from his own apiary iu evidence of the Stewartou'a 

 superiority over the atraw hive. According to this narrative 

 there stood in his garden two colonies, oue located in a roomy 

 straw skep and the other in Stewart :)n boxes. Both were 

 possessed with queens of the same age, and each had an over- 

 flowing population. Being thus appirdutly equally matched, 

 both were treated according to the same system as depriving 

 hives, and so with the view of testing their relative merits as 

 honey-producers. The result was that the Stewarton yielded 

 68 lbs. in super honey, the straw about 2Ilbs., while the former 

 had amassed large stores in the boxes below, but the straw skep, 

 relieved of its super, required feeding. 



Now, I rather think that no intelligent apiarian can accept 

 thia narrative of facts aa a test or evidence of the superiority of 

 thi: Stewartou over the atraw hive at all. The same results 

 might occur even if the competing hives were both Stewartou. 

 Similar differences take place in every apiary, and that too 

 betwixt hivea apparently working under eqaaUy favourable 

 circumstances. In not a few cases we could determine the 

 cause, and, considering the impoverished state of the atock 

 straw hive referred to after removal of the super, there ia some 

 ground for suspecting that all was not right with that colony. 

 If "A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper" thinks tlie reverse, he 

 will kindly etate how the results are to be otherwise accounted 

 for. Is it by reason of the form, material, or construction of the 

 Stewarton hive which enabled it to eclipse so greatly the straw 

 skep in the amassing of atorea ? or what is it ? A " Renfrew- 

 shire Bee-keeper" so far explaina his views in one of his 

 communications by comparing the old straw skep to the "anti- 

 quated reaping hook," and his favourite hive to an " improved 

 implement or Stewarton hive; " but I doubt how far apiarians 

 generally will concur with him in this illustration. Most of us, 

 I presume, look upon the hives, not as the " reapers," but simply 

 as the storehouses ia which the bees, the real reapers, amasa 

 their sweets. 



The " battle of the hivea," in this aspect of it, ia not a new 

 affair. We have had the question more thau ouoe discussed in 

 these pages, but it ever ami auou crops up anew after a brief 

 repose, and though always set at rest for the time, yet, like the 

 Phieaix from its ashes, it again rises up with renewed fary; but 

 X have no doubt that the good sense aud intelligence of all con- 

 cerned will concur, as before, in coming to the conclusion that 

 no such adventitious circumstances aa the kind of hive alluded 

 to can have much or any influence on the amount of stores col- 

 lected by the bees. 



Before concluding these few remarks, I cannot help joining 

 with Mr. Pettigrew in protesting against the idea of straw hives 

 being in any way whatever allied to the brimstone pit, nor can 

 I aympathiEo with many of the depreciatory remarks regarding 

 its general uses as a bee domicile easily managed by our cottagers. 

 Apirt from the advantages which 'lur observatory, frame, and 

 Huber hivea afford for experimenting, and studying the internal 



economy of the hive and the natural history of its wonderfal 

 inmates, we do not look upon the modern atraw skep with dis- 

 favour. It has some redeemiug points of excellence as a bee 

 domicile in our cold northern climate. It is cheaply made and 

 can be easily managed, and many of the ordinary operationsof 

 modern bee-keeping can be managed aa aafely and as well with 

 atraw akeps aa with moveable frame hives. — J. Lowe. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Fowls Weakly (Mrs. W.).—Feai your fawls well, give them grouad oats 

 twice per day, and any rough cookei me*t yoa may have chopped-up small. 

 If you have no gi-ouuJ oats give thgoi barleymeal. 



LiGuaiAN Bees {Mrs. Wray}. — Write to any of those who advertiaa in our 

 Journal. 



METEOROLOQICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



Camden Square, London, 



Lat. 51° 32' 4}" N. ; Long. O'' 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feot. 



BEMA.RE9. 



3rd.— Showery all day, aad wet evening. 



4th. — Very wet moiraiDg, showery dull day ; fine eTSning, bat wet night. 



5th.— Fair early, brif^ht forenoon, cloudy by 1 p M.; showery all the remaiadev 



of the day. and windy at night. 

 Cth. — Dull and damp all day, and windy at night. 

 7th.— Raining at 9 a.m., bat f iir soon after to midday ; rain in afternoon, aud 



at times heavy. 

 8th. — Very doll, dark, rainv day, at times unasually dark. 

 9th. — Dull morning with showers; bat fine afternoon. 



Terperature very similar to the previous week, and rainfall esc3B3ive. The 

 yearly fall at this station beim^ oa the average about 21 inchae, it is evident 

 that the fall in each weak (25-^-52) may ba expected to be abmt half an inch. 

 The fall in the last nine weeks has been aa folio vs : — Week ending 



De3. 19th total rain 791 inches 



„ 26t.h „ 2.6^9 „ 



Jan. 2nd „ 1.255 „ 



„ 9:h „ 2.01T „ 



Nov. 14th total rain 1.246 inches 



2l8t 



„ 23th 

 Dec. 5th 

 13th 

 Giving a total in nine 

 in a twelvemonth— that is to say, 

 nine weeks.— Q. J. Stmons. 



1.363 

 0.992 

 1.672 

 0.632 



weeks of 12.637 inches, or exactly half the usual fall 

 have bad six mintba' rain iu the last 



COVENT GA.RDEN MARKET.— Januabt 10. 

 All kinds of early forced vegetables— such as Aspara^s, New Potatoes, 



Rhubarb, and French Beans— are now putting 

 sequence of slack trade are realising low priot 

 Easter Bearrc and Ne Plus Meuris, while Apples 



, and i 



3. Pears are restricted to 

 ,r3 nearly off the market. 



