September SO, I860. 1 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTICUIiTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDEKEB. 



251 



28th of May to the 19th of July. The largo and heavy hox 

 was placed upon tho scales, and 1 found to my surpriso that 

 my busy little favourites had givon mo in comb and honey 

 61 lbs. nett weight. Such is my experience of tho use of a 

 box hive, and outer-box super on tho Woodbury eight-bar 

 system. This result in some neighbourhoods may not be 

 thought extraordinary, but in this district and at the horticul- 

 tural show before alluded to, it was regarded as a marvel by 

 admiring crowds, and won for me tho " first prize for honey 

 by deprivation." 



Now, that I am upon the subject of bees, I would venture to 

 place before the many who take an interest in apiarian matters 

 the diagram of a hive, which, from tho experience I have had 

 of its use this season, will bo found, I think, to be of better 

 construction than the ordinary straw hive with wholly or 

 partially wooded top. The idea carried out in this hive sug- 

 gested itself to me, from the fact that tho tops of tho hives I 

 have had in use now for some few years, have given way from 

 tho weight of honey they have had to support, thus rendering 

 their surface uneven, and in consequence making it somewhat 

 difficult to work supers well upon them. The hive under con- 

 sideration is so constructed as to entirely obviate these two 

 evils, at the same time it is so simple as to require no length- 



Fig- 1. 



Fig. 2. 



ened explanation. The crown-board a {fig. 1), is firmly screwed 

 to two bars, e e, projecting at either end just beyond the straw, 

 thus entirely preventing the crown-board giving way in the 

 slightest degree. These two bars are so arranged as to allow 

 of a double slide passing beneath them, the one of perforated 

 zinc for ventilation, the other of tin for cutting off all com- 

 munication with any super-glass which may be in use. There 

 is also a super-board, c [fig. 2), so constructed as to slide easily 

 between these two bars, resting at the same time upon them, 

 and thus exercising an equal pressure over the whole surface 

 of the crown-board. The super-board is also furnished with a 

 donble slide, so that to the most timid this arrangement of 

 slides will be found most useful in the manipulation of bees. — 

 A. K. H., Westhorpe. 



BEES AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 

 When in London a week or two ago I, of course, paid a visit 

 to the Crystal Palace, and equally, of course, when there com- 

 plied with the invitation which I descried posted in divers 

 conspicuous positions to visit " Marriott's working bees." Here 

 I found a couple of unicomb and tho same number of circular 

 glass hives tenanted and at work, so far as the advanced season 

 would permit, together with other hives of various descriptions, 

 filled supers, specimens of comb, royal cells, &c, the whole 

 being explained by Mr. Marriott in a brief but intelligent and 

 intelligible lecture repeated every few minutes. Judging from 

 the number of visitors and the interest which they displayed, 

 this little exhibition appears likely to answer the purpose of its 

 proprietor, as well as to minister to the growing popularity of 

 the rational culture of the honey bee. — A Devonshire Bee- 

 keeper. 



SAVING CONDEMNED BEES. 

 I am trying your plan (page 18), for saving condemned bees. 

 I united the inmates of four hives on the 4th instant, and have 

 fed since then with loaf sugar syrup through perforated zinc at 

 the top of my box, by means of an inverted bottle, at the rate 

 of 1 lb. of sugar per day, besides a small quantity of honey, 

 which I give them in a tin drawer in the bottom of the hive. 

 Do you think that quantity more than is really necessary? 

 The floor is nearly covered with small white flakes like wax. 



Does it require to bo cleared ? I havo placed them in a hex- 

 agon box of my own manufacture, mado of yellow deal ; it 

 measuros internally 11 inches across from side to side, and is 

 15 inches deep. Will the great depth bo any injury to the 

 bees ? 1 have a window in the side, so that 1 can watch their 

 progress. I believo the bees and comb now weigh from to 

 7 lbs., having inhabitod their new homo seven flaj . 



I am preparing supers on a plan recommended me by W. 

 Hedley, Esq., of Charlwood, each piece being about 1 inches 

 deop, tho top fitted with sliding laths. Will such plan be tho 

 best? — An Amateur Bee-keeper. 



[You are not feeding your bees too profusely. The supply 

 should bo continued uninterruptedly until the stock weighs 

 something approaching to 20 lbs. nett. The floor-board need 

 not be cleared of the small whito Hakes, which are scales of 

 wax secreted by the bees and dropped by them in the process 

 of fabricating comb. Your hive is somewhat deep, and tho 

 supers rather shallow, but the bees may, nevertheless, prosper 

 in the first, and you may deepen the latter by inserting a second 

 box under the first when nearly full.] 



THE EGYPTLVN BEE.— Paot V. 



now i proceeded to increase and multiply it. 

 (Continued /mm page 150.) 

 Before entering upon a description of the attempts which I 

 made to propagate Apis fasciata during the autumn of kst 

 year, and the degree of success by which they were attended, I 

 may be permitted again to refer to my correspondence with 

 Herr Vogel, which terminated on his part with a long letter in 

 his own language, which reached me in September, and frcm 

 which I make the following extracts : — 



" The Egyptian queen which you received from me was 

 reared in June last ; she is, therefore, about four months old. 

 This queen has received a true impregnation, because the 

 mothers that were reared from her brood here produced true 

 Egyptians. I sent you this queen because the queens that 

 were thus reared became all beautiful and true Egyptians. 



" The cells of the Egyptian bees are one-tenth narrower 

 than the cells of our northern bee, so that ten Egyptian cells, 

 including the partition walls, are equal in width to nine cells 

 of our bees. If the Egyptian bee is bred in the combs of Apis 

 mellifica, and by native bees, it becomes bodily somewhat 

 larger and also makes somewhat larger cells. The black or 

 the Italian bees no doubt feed the Egyptian larvis with abun- 

 dance of pollen, wherefore the young bees bred in their larger 

 cells are of unusual size when hatched out. If, however, there 

 are only Egyptians in the hive, all the bees will ultimately 

 revert to their original size." 



Herr Yogel then gives his opinion of my hives, of which I 

 had sent him a description, accompanied by a sketch of one 

 of my frames, which in respect to size occupy an intermediate 

 position between the large ones in use in America and the 

 diminutive ones of Germany, and are, as I believe, the best 

 adapted for our climate. He says : — 



" The Egyptian bees require as large a hive as the Italian. 

 I think your hive too wide. The Dzierzon hive is made 

 but 10 inches wide (compare the line A B'). Hives provided 

 with frames are 11 inches in width, but the combs are then 

 also but 10 inches wide, as the frame stands off a quartet 

 of an inch on each side, and each part on either side is a 

 quarter of an inch thick, consequently four quarters, or one 

 inch, must be deducted. We find here that the bees winter 

 better in narrow hives because the warmth is better kept 

 together in them. Our hives have three storeys one above 

 another (stiinderstock), and each storey contains from ten to 

 twelve combs, so that the stock when filled contains from 

 thirty to thirty-six combs, each 10 inches wide, and about 

 8 inches high. The ' lagerstock ' has but two storeys, each 

 storey containing about fifteen combs, both taken together about 

 thirty. My opinion as to the size of your hives may, however, 

 be wrong, because I know England, it3 clirnate, and bee- 

 pasture only from books, and, therefore, may be mistake:). 

 The breadth of our comb-bars is exactly an inch, n id i 

 from the breadth of your bars. Your bars are ton narrow, as a 

 brood-comb is exactly 1 inch thick, but will just suit the 

 Egyptian bee whose comb is not so thick." 



» This line is 10 German inches in length, and marked on tho margin 

 of the letter. I Bnd on comparing it, that 10 Prussian inches are equal 

 to about 9J inches English. 



