Jano 14, 1877 ] 



JOURNAL OF AoBTICUIjTOBE AND COTTAGE QARDKNER. 



453 



For the benefit of our lady and non-political readers generally, 

 it mnst be explained that of the two gentlemen who were 

 recently candidates for the highest office in the United States, 

 that of President, one wa^ named Tilden. the other Hayes. A 

 clever advertiser thas atili8e3 the names to attract attention: — 



" Tilden ob Hayes, either can secure egea from premium stock. Houtlans, 

 Saltans, Brahmas, Cochins, W. C. ; Black, Golden, and White Polish ; White 

 and Brown Leghorns ; S. S. Hamburgbs ; B. B. Red Gam? Biutanii, &c." 



It would never, I am sore, enter into the heads even of our 

 shrewdest Yorkshire dealers to connect the names of Lord 



Beaconsfield and Mr. Gladstone with eggs, bo much a 



dozen. It reminds one of the story of the Mohommedan crier : 



— "In the name of the Prophet figs." But yet another 



gem. A gentleman who ought to be a rival to old Parr as to 

 age, and in whose existence the world is deeply interested, at 

 least that portion of it who want to buy egi^e, inserts his ad- 

 vertisement as follows ; — 



" 1 STILL LIVE and Bell eggs for hatching from two yards of choice Light 

 Brahmas; also Dark Brahma eggs direct from the Sharpless yards, acknow- 

 ledged by good judges to be one of the best strains of Dark Brahmas in this 

 country. Price, per sitting of 13, ■■?3.00, carelully packed." 



I can only hope the gentleman for his own, and we will hope 

 his country's good, will yet live longer and — advertise. 



The extreme iguorance and utter want of education in people 

 who do not advertise is thus hinted at;— 



" The man who don't advertise has his store hung around with shingles 

 and pieces of barrel-heads, inscribed with lampblack, " Irish Pertaters," 

 "Kom Meel," "Flower," "All kinds of kontury produce," "Kaikos and Kandies 

 for sail here." He says, " There aren't no oeos in noospaper advertising so 

 long as a man is smart ennff to tend to his own business and kin stand at the 

 door and hollow the fellers in." 



One more extract, as amusing as its predecessors, though the 

 word "bulldozing" is a puzzler: — 



"An honest count! no bulldozing or intimidation I 'Live and let 

 live ' is oar platform I We have, therefore, concluded to reduce the price of 

 eggs from onr first-class stock of land and water fowls (nearly 30 varieties) to 

 two dollars per sitting of fifteen. We guarantee our stock to be first-class, and 

 aecond to none in Arnerica I .Satisfaction guaranteed, as we will not under 

 any oiroumatances have the name of having one dissatisfied customer. Send 

 tor price list to ." 



These extracts from our clever cousins across the Atlantic will 

 provoke a smile in sober England. — "Wiltshibe Eectob. 



IMPEOVEMENT IN APIAEIAN KNOWLEDGE. 



No. 5. 



AuoNO the most notable improvements which have been made 

 in the profitable management of bees of late years should be 

 mentioned the production of honeycomb in saleable form by 

 means of supers email in size and easily removed; for, be it 

 observed, there is '" honey and honey," and enormous is the 

 difference between the ordinary, or even the best, run honey of 

 commerce and the delicious sweetmeat sealed up in the newly 

 made comb by the bees themselves. The one compared with 

 the other is " like Hyperion to a satyr ;" and as the object of 

 every bee-master should be qaality at a high price rather than 

 cheap and vulgar quantity, it is of importance that he should 

 study the best method of attaining the former profitable ex- 

 cellence. 



A year or two ago I urged in these columns the adoption of 

 the American plan of sectional supers, or at least a modification 

 of it suitable to our climate. I do not suppose that it would 

 generally answer in Eogland to cover onr hives with the multi- 

 tude of tiny supers which envelope an American stock like the 

 brooms and baskets of our travelling "cheap jacks" (I think they 

 have often as many as thirty of ttiem), but the principle is a 

 Bound one, and a modification of it quite within our experience. 

 At this moment I have a splendid stock fully at work in a sec- 

 tional super which I procured from the Brothers Abbott. I 

 think this super somewhat too low and narrow, although its 

 capability of extension lengthwise is admirable, and limited 

 only by the length of the crownboard of the hive. As I am 

 using it, it consists of four sections, each section respectively 

 being 7 inches long inside measurement, 4 inches high, and 

 4 inches wide; the whole f rar, therefore, will be Hi inches long. 

 I should have preferred each section to be 9 or 10 inches long 

 and 5 or 6 inches high. Eich terminal section has a pane of 

 glass let into one side of it. With this exception all is open 

 Irom end to end, and thus, however numerous the sections in 

 use at one time may ba, the whole fit together practically as one 

 super. It will be seen that this arrangement secures a combina- 

 tion of the English and American plans of supering. It is 

 better than the former because of the power it gives for partial 

 deprivation at any time, as well as because it can be enlarged 

 or contracted to suit the wants of the hive, whether before or 

 after swarming, or whether in the height or at the wane of the 

 honey-gathering season. I am glad to observe that your old and 

 valued correspondent, " D., Deal," endorses fully the estimate 

 I have formed as to the excellence of this principle of supering, 

 which is new to English bee-keepers. 



In a recent JoRi'nal (May 17th) Mr. Hunter approves of the 



sectional supers used by a Mr. Root of Ohio, which are four- 

 sided — i e., closed-in on all four sides. This to my mind is an 

 objection. Bees like to work in an open space more or less 

 roomy, and will often decline working in small supers where 

 they cannot mass themselves. Such, doubtless, is not the case 

 in America, where the climate in summer is hotter and less 

 variable than in this country. The mean we have to strike here 

 is something between the old-fashioned single super of English 

 use and the sectionals of the Americans. It seems to me that 

 the Messrs. Abbott's are the nearest approach to the supers 

 required here. Each of the sections is supplied with two lines 

 of wax in grooves : thus each will hold twofeombs, which if well 

 filled and sealed up should weigh nearly 2 lbs. of honeycomb. 

 I cannot but hope that the exhibitions of all the apiarian socie- 

 ties in England will be well supplied with these sectional supers 

 in the coming autumn, and that they will introduce a new era 

 in the marketing of honey. At least twice the quantity of 

 honeycomb would be sold at remunerative prices in comparison 

 of that which now changes hands everywhere. 



These sectional supers are very easily removed or added, 

 whether fall or empty. Tou have only to insert two pieces of 

 glass between the sections which are to be parted, also a piece 

 of zinc or glass may be slipped under the section which is to be 

 removed. After removal another section can be put in its place 

 directly and the slip of glass removed. These sectionals have 

 the merit of cheapness, as they can be procured for 2s. Gd. per 

 dozen, or they could be manufactured at home by anyone who 

 knew how to use a few tools adroitly. These sectional supers 

 will, I feel certain, supersede everything of the kind hitherto in 

 use. The marvel is that they have not been invented sooner. 

 — B. & W. 



DO BEES REMOVE HONEY? 



I PLACE on record the following circumstance, which con- 

 siderably puzzled me last year, with a view to invite the obser- 

 vation of my fellow bee-keepers during the present season on the 

 point in question. 



At the end of last July I was watching the progress of a super 

 which a strong stock was finishing off with great rapidity ; but 

 what bafilid me was where the bees could procure the honey 

 from, the harvest, according to my knowledge ol the neighbour- 

 hood, being over. 



Seeing that honey was still being stored in this super I did 

 not remove my other supers which did not afford facilities for 

 observation. I also advised a neighbour to return an incomplete 

 super, as, judging from my observatory super, the harvest was 

 not a' an end. My observatory super being completed, I re- 

 moved it and replaced it by another three pacts finished ; but 

 ttoring now ceased. I then proceeded to remove my other 

 supers, but to my surprise these had been partly consumed. It 

 was the sam^ also witti my neighbour's. Here was to my mind 

 a problem to be solved — viz.. How was it that whilst others 

 were emptying one was storing up ? I was beaten. Thanks to 

 our Journal light presently dawned. Not long after I there 

 read Mr. Pettigiew'a statement that bees do remove honey 

 above from below. I was convinced that this was the only ex- 

 planation of the circumstance in question. 



If any of your readers can give a more satisfactory explana- 

 tion, or will make observations this season with that end in 

 view and record their experiences, they wiU oblige— 0. B. 



FOUL BROOD. 



About a dozen years ago I was the possessor of fifteen or 

 twenty stocks of bees doing fairly well, when I made au un- 

 lucky purchase at Windsor of a wholo apiary of twenty stocks 

 iu all sorts of hives, that had at one time belonged to the Rev. 

 Mr. Cotton, whose bees had died iu them of foul brood. The 

 infection had remained with the hives, and, of course, came to 

 me. At that time I was inexperienced in bee-keeping and knew 

 not whit was troubling me, but it will be sufficient to say I lost 

 all my bees ; still for some years I kept the hives and re-stocked 

 them, but prosperity never came, and eventually when I arrived 

 to more knowledge of bees and their ailments I destroyed the 

 lot. Still each year foul brood in one hive or more never failed 

 to make its appearance, but by constant and timely supervision 

 I was enabled to excise the diseased combs, and so for the time 

 eradicate the plague before the stock was harmed, until I began 

 to laugh at foul brood in my hives, the combs of which were 

 all constantly under my view, and where a few foul cells were 

 sure to be detected without delay. So little did I fear it that I 

 voluntarily more than once bought diseased stocks, trusting to 

 my skill that no harm should come of them. Vain trust! My 

 first trouble last year was with my queen rearing in nucleus 

 boxes. Scores of queens advanced as far as the sealed larva state, 

 but there they died ; not one in a dozen hatched, and my experi- 

 mental queen-raising was consequently a failure. The stocks, 

 however, last summer were healthy until September, when 

 some Hungarian brood became very bad, and I destroyed their 

 combs, adding the bees to a neighbouring colony. Then one 



