JOUBNAIi OF HORTIOUOTUBE AND OOTTAQE QARDENEB. 



[ March 8, 1817. 



article of his we read on a railway journey, wherein be referred 

 to the " crown board " of that hive, feeling evidently posed as 

 to its position, and at a station we pennf d a hurried reply, and 

 at the moment forgetting your much- vulued contributor was not 

 a brother Scot, used as the aptest phrase that came to hand that 

 of " taBiug the breeks oS a Heelacdmau," which we ever regret, 

 as he has never alluded to the Stewarton since, consequently 

 we may assume his experience is alike limited. " But you qaite 

 forget the authorities," says Mr. Lowe ; " are they not grand?" 

 We have as muoh respect as anyone for the honoured names ; 

 but would your correspondent at leisnre quote the passages from 

 all or any who refer to, much less condemn, my favourite hive 

 the Stewarton ? 



Before closing have been asked to reply to fresh queries anent 

 my competitive straw hive. What a fund of information has 

 been dug from its recesses ! how many have been taught ! It is 

 positively refreshing how the informer has been re-informed 

 therefrom. Mr. Lowe finds fault it had not been wrought a la 

 Pettigrew. Now, I beg to acquaint him and all readers my aim 

 is to produce as much super honey as possible from my stocks. 

 Thought I had already mentioned, had it been so wrought 

 strictly on such principle twos^varms would have emerged, and 

 the " honey result " — the contents of the beautiful glass which so 

 omameuted the table of my friends — would have been frittered 

 away in the construction of the combs of afiresaid swarms, 

 which (1875) was so bad a season here they would both have 

 died before autumn unfed, as well as the parent; but Mr. Bain- 

 ford thinks what a gain there would have been had Ihe hive 

 been a full-sized Pettigrew. Similar if not worse results would 

 have followed. The honey which I did manage to divert owing 

 to the comparative small size at first « la Stewarton to the 

 super would have disappeared in comb-building in the Pettigrew ; 

 and so successfully was it managed the lightness of the body 

 bore indisputable proof, a task Messrs. Liwe and Pettigrew will 

 find not quite so easily accomplished when they take to stori- 

 fying. For fuller information as to the evils attendant on 

 employing too large straw skeps in a poor district, I rafer 

 Mr. Riiiiford to an able article by an esteemed correspondent, 

 " R. S," vol. xxiv., where he will find that that gentleman was 

 obliged to entirely abandon them, yielding little else than bees 

 and empty combs in his county (Dumfriesshire), a much better 

 than ours. As to this hive Mr. Lowe farther remarks, " I had 

 no idea that so advanced an apiarian as ' A Renfrewshire 

 Bee-keeper' would have such an antiquated piece of furniture 

 in his apiary.' For once Mr. Lowe has guessed right; not 

 exactly my style, an incomer from his friend Mr. Pettigrew's 

 native county of Lanark, one of three purchased there unseen. 

 When they came I did think that however universal Mr. Petti- 

 grew supposes his large skeps to have spread over Scotland, 

 " a prophet is not without honour save in his own country," as 

 of old. — A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper. 



[We have been obliged to omit part of the above communica- 

 tion from want of space. — Eds.] 



STRAW SKEPS versus BAR HIVES. 



In the Journal of Horticulture of October 12th an account was 

 given of the harvest of super honey which I obtained from one 

 set of Stewarton boxes — i c , lii lbs. of perfectly pure virgin 

 honeycomb. A brief narrative of the subsequent history of the 

 liive may interest some of your contributors. The two last 

 sapors were removed early in August, and the stock then occu- 

 pied three 7-inch body boxes. They remained undisturbed until 

 October, when it became necessary to prepare for their winter 

 campaign. 



The lowest box was first removed. This had been given to 

 the bees as an empty box early in June. It was quite full of 

 comb, but contained scarcely any honey. Out of eight combs 

 the two outer are attached to li-inch bars, and are intended only 

 for the storage of honey. Four fjf the interior combs were com- 

 posed exclusively of worker cells ; the remaining two combs 

 were about half drone and half worker cells. 



The upper box was next overhauled, and proved to bo almost 

 completely filled with sealed honey and pollen : there was 

 hardly an unsealed cell in the whole box. The four central 

 frames were removed, and after the bees had been shaken and 

 brushed off the combs the lids of the cells were sliced off, and 

 the combs put into one of Abbott's centrifugal extractors, and 

 6 lbs. of honey was thus obtained. All the pollen, and a consi- 

 derable quantity of honey owing to the comparatively low tem- 

 perature, remained in the cells ; but the combs thus relieved 

 of a portion of their superflaoas treasure were then returned 

 uninjured to the bees. The centre, now the lowest box, was 

 finally examined : it contained a considerable store of honey, of 

 which a large portion was unsealed for present use. 



From this single colony I thus obtained iu one season 144 lbs. of 

 pure virgin super honeycomb, G lbs. of fine run or slang honey, 

 and a box of excellent empty comb, which cau either be returned 

 to the bees as it is or be used as guide comb for new stock boxes. 

 In addition to this, the colony which has yielded this harvest is 



still amply provided for and will not require any feeding. In 

 1875 this colony, as previously stated, yielded about 30 lbs. of 

 super honey and required no feeding after one of the worst 

 honey seasons ever known iu this district, Mr. Pettigrew seems 

 to make light of this; but had he been iu this locality he would 

 have found numbers of hives, both stocks and swarms, dying of 

 famine in the middle of Jaly. No honey was accumulated after 

 the middle of Jnne. 



In conclusion, I will remark that after the honey had been 

 removed from the central combs in the top box, the bees who had 

 previously clustered most densely in the box beneath ascended 

 en masse into the upper storey, and, after they had cleared the 

 combs and re-arranged their stores, took fall possession of the 

 box, and seem to have made it head quarters during the winter. 

 Both boxes are, however, pretty well occupied. Last winter 

 (1875-G) the bees occupied only the upper box. — J. E. Briscoe, 

 Albrighton. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Books iC. H. S.).— Davy's "Elemeata of Agricultural Chemistry," edited 

 by Mr. Shier, 



ADDEE33 (J. Tomlinsoti).-~We cannot state the aidress. If yoa enclose a 

 stamped letter here and open we will forward it. 



Rabbits (C. C).— We cannot name dealers. Go to auy of the prize- 

 winners and be your own judge. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



REMARKS. 

 2Stli.— Very bright and fine all day, bat the aoldeat day this year, taking it as 

 a whole. 

 Ist. — Colder early thau the preceding day, but very bright and pleasant, 

 getting gradually more warm toward night, followed by rain at mid- 

 night. 

 2Dd. — Rain in night and early morning ; fine from 10 a.m. to noon, after then 

 3rd. — Showery all day, ftod very warm. [damp aud showery. 



4th. — Dull and showery all day, rather bettor towards night. 

 5th. — Very bright, with slight white frost early, continuing bright aud fine 

 till 4.45 F m:., when it suddenly clouded over, and at 5 the darkness 

 was almost awful ; it only lasted a very short time, during which rain 

 fell, aud by 5.20 all was a^ bright a^ before. 

 6th. — Fine pleasant day, though rather cold early. 

 Mean temperatures nearly identic il with last week. Sharp frost at the 

 beginning of the week being compensated by considerable warmth on 8rd and 

 4th.— G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— MiECH 7. 

 No alteration in our market worth quoting. Trade very quiet, 

 little coming to this market. 



