May 27, 1875. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICUIiTOBB AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



423 



first were a good pen, as also the second. The class was of rare 

 quality, and many more notices might well have been made. 

 Dackwings won both prizes, although there were some most 

 perfect Piles. In the first-prize pen the cock was a gem, but 

 the hen a wretch indeed ; more, however, for want of bloom 

 than anything else. Second was a fair pen. To both of the 

 above we preferred Mr. Nelson's Duckwings and Messrs. Bel- 

 lingham it GiU's Piles. Black Bantams were good and in fine 

 order. Bantam cocks were the best class in the Show, almost 

 all being worthy of notice, and we could not envy the Judge's 

 task here. Black Reds were the winners. Hens were poor, and 

 the Ducks of both kinds of moderate quality. 



Dorkings.— 1, D. Gellatly, Meigle. 2, Henderson & Wardle, Bamopfiel(b 

 Dorbam. c, J. White, Northallerton. 



SPiNiBH.— 1. H. Beldon, GoitBtock, Bingley. 2, B. Shield, Swalwell. he, W. 

 Mclntyre, Ochilhee. 



Cocms'i.— Cinnamon orBuiT.— Cod, 1. and 2. Q. H. Proctor, Dnrham. he, C. 

 Turner, Norton, Stockton ; J. Hine, Kendal. Any other colour,— 1, G. H. Proctor. 

 J, W. Newbeffin. Newcastle. 



BRiHMJB.— Car*.— 1. T. F. Ansdell. St. Helen's. 2, W. Whiteley. Sheffield. 

 he, C. Venables, Sheraton, Castle Eden ; Lady A. B. Peirse. Bedale Hall, Bedale ; 

 T. F. Ansdell. Light —1, W. Whiteley. 2, S. H. Lloyd, Maabull. 



Game.— C((icfc or Brovn Reds.—Cnp and 1. J. Mason. St, John's. Worcester. 

 2. J. Kobson, Bishop Auckland, vhc, Henderson & Wardle. he. Miss M. .7. 

 Nelson, Cockuhaw, Hexham ; J. Dixon, Monkwearuiouth. .iny other variety. 

 —1, J. A. & H. H. Stayeley, Driffield. 2, J. Mason, he. J. Robson ; T. Youn^, 

 Bebside, Morpeth; E. Winwood. Worcester; R. Walker, Goinergal, Leeds. 



Gauz.— Any variety. — Cocfc.— I, J. Hnrrell, Bishopwearmouth. 2, A. Snpden, 

 Cleckheaton. he, C. E. Morgan, Bishop Auckland ; Miss M. J. Nelson. Hen.— 

 i, C. E. Morgan. 2, T. Young. 



HkiSBVRQBs.—Ootden.spanglcd. — Cup and 1, H. Beldon. 2, T, P. Carver, 

 Langtborpe, Boroughbridge. Silver.spangled.~l, H. Beldon. 2, G. Alderson, 

 West HartlepooL 



Hambcbghs. — GoW^-n-pfnciiitfd.— 1, T. P. Carver, 2. H. Beldon. e. J. N. 

 Lawson, Ryhope. Silver pencilled. — 1, H. Beldon. 2, J. T. Gilbert, Bishop- 

 wearmouth. he. Dr. Davidson, Bishopwearmouth. 



Malays.— 1, Rev. A. G. Brooke. Shrawardine Rectory, Shrewsbury, 2, R. 

 Hawkins, Seaham. he, G. Bnmell, Rugeby. 



Any otreb Vabiety.— 1, H. Beldon. 2, H. A. Clark. Aspatria. vhe. G. W. 

 Grainger, Bishopwearmouth ; J. T. Proud, Bishop .\uckland. ftc, W. Coulthard, 

 Southwick; T. P. Carver; C. Venables: Bridgwater & Yoxall, West Bromwich ; 

 A. Buglass. Durham. 



Game Bavtahs.— B'arS or Brotrn Bed.— Cnp and I, G. Hall. 2. T. Stansfleld, 

 Millfleld. he, G. Hall. Kendal ; F. H"lt ; Miss M J. Nelson ; J. Ferry, cowpen, 

 Morpeth. Any other colour — 1, D. Hunter, Sunderland. 2, T. Mallen, Sunder- 

 land, he. Miss M. J. Nelson ; Bellingham & Gill, Burnley ; T. Stanstield. 



Bantaus. — Black and White Rosecombs- — 1, J. Mayo, Gloucester. 2, H. 

 Beldon. he, Milner & Beanland, Keighley ; Miss M. B. Yonll. Bishopwearmouth ; 

 R. H. Ashton, Manchester. Any other variety.— 1, T. B. Carver. 2, R. A. 

 Eoissier, Penshurst, 



Bantams.— .iny variety.— Cock.— Cut;) and l.Miss M..T. Nelson. 2, A. Sugden. 

 he, W. Newbegin; R. Brownlie, Townsend; H. H. Thompson, Bishopwear- 

 mouth (2) , D. Hunter, Sunderland, c, G. Hall. Hfn.—1,T. Clark, Sunderland. 

 2, T. Stansfield. he, G- Alderson ; Miss M. J. Nelson ; J. Barlow, Monkwear- 

 mouth ; G. Hall : A, Sugden. 



DucK^— Aylesbury.— I, R. Roddom, Hetton-le-HoIe. 2, F. E, Gibson, Middle- 

 ton-iu-Teesdile. Boiien.-I, W. H. Young. Driffield. 2, Miss M. J. Nelson. 

 Any other variety.— 1 and 2, J. Johnson, Sunderland. 



Selling Class.— 1, J. Hine. 2, J. Robson. he, W. Allon ; J. N. Lawson. 



The Judge was James Dixon, Esq., North Park, Bradford. 



"A SWARM OF BEES IN MAT IS ." 



While hay is being sold at £3 per ton the most advanced and 

 pronounced apiarians dare not finish the above sentence or make 

 the assertion ; still I, and many others, venture to assert that 

 bee-keeping is both an easy and profitable occupation. To both 

 rich and poor it is, or may be, a self-rewarding recreation. I 

 speak from experience in saying that it is a pleasing and uphold- 

 ing thing for a son of toil to know that while work and weather 

 combine to cover his forehead with perspiration, his industrious 

 bees are working harder than he and gathering together the 

 worth of a week's wages in one day. 



Aforetime I have had great pleasure in writing for the encou- 

 ragement and benefit of working men ; and for their encourage- 

 ment I will here state that from 1870 to 1874 my profits from 

 bee-keeping, after deducting all expenses, amount to i'220. The 

 first three years of this period were considered unfavourable for 

 bees. 1S73 was the most unfavourable year for them I ever 

 experienced ; and last year, though unfavourable till the end of 

 May, became favourable in Jane, and continued so till the end 

 of the season. These facts and figures are named here to help 

 young apiarians to look hopefully to the future. 



Bee-keeping is an easy and profitable pastime. Where shall 

 we find anything living that requires less attention than bees ? 

 They clean and furnish their own houses, and in ordinary seasons 

 store up more honey than they need — honey enough for the 

 market or their owner's use. A few hives in a garden indicate 

 recreation, not toil — profit, not expense. What less costly to 

 keep than bees ? With sugar at 3d. per lb. (some is sold in 

 Manchester at 2Jd, per lb, good enough for bees) bee-keeping is 

 not a losing game even in unfavourable seasons. The expense 

 of feeding during unpropitious weather is as nothing now com- 

 pared to what it was fifty years ago, when sugar cost from Od. to 

 Is. a-pound. Four or five shillings' worth of sugar given as 

 syrup to a swarm will enable it to fill, or nearly fill, its hive 

 with combs and store up food enough for the winter months, 

 thus making a stock hive worth 30s. 



Once in possession bees may be managed on any system their 

 owner likes. On the multiplying principle one will become 

 three, and ten will increase to thirty in one season. Swarms 

 from small hives under good management or kindly treatment 



will fill larger hives. In this way stocks increase not only in 

 number but in value. With good stocks of bees and a little 

 knowledge of them progress and profit will bo made. To work- 

 ing men bee-keeping is more than a hobby ; it is an aid to bread- 

 winning in his family — a perennial source of income. 



Bees may be managed on the restrictive or mon-swarming 

 system. An eagle may be chained to a block of wood or stone, 

 and a vine may be grown in a pot ; but all this is restrictive 

 and unnatural. Bees have powers of multiplication, expansion, 

 and growth that may be restricted to narrow limits, and there 

 kept in a state of dwarf-hood. But on any system of manage- 

 ment there is but little work or attention required. Where beoa 

 are farmed to the utmost extent, and taken from one locality to 

 another, there is an expense of both time and money. 



" Where shall we find a market for our honey ?" is a cry that 

 comes frequently to us from the country, and from bee-keepera 

 in all positions of society. This cry indicates skill and tact in 

 apiculture, and it is very pleasing to us to know that hundreds 

 of bee-keepers are now pocketing the proceeds of very successful 

 management. In country places there is a difficulty in finding 

 a market for all the honey gathered in a good season. But so 

 far as I know, all country bee-keepers do in time find a market 

 and demand for their produce. I am frequently hailed by buyers 

 in Scotland, but last year I was hailed by a dealer in Chelsea 

 market, London, who wanted all I had. Fortunately I did not 

 send any to him, afterwards learning that he is one of a " long 

 firm," who obtained honey from some bee-keepers in a neigh- 

 bouring county without making payment. — A. Pettigbew. 



CEMENT FOR GUIDE COMBS. 



When using bar-frame hives or supers it becomes a necessity 

 in order to secure good straight combs to furnish some guide for 

 the bees to start their foundations on — a thin strip of comb, 

 Neighbour's impressed wax sheets, or simply a narrow strip of 

 molten wax run down the centre of the bar ; either of these plans 

 answers, but how to fix the wax guide to the wood has always 

 been a trouble. Various smelters have been invented, but 

 they are troublesome from the liability of the hot wax to congeal 

 before the operation is successfully completed. This led me to 

 set my wits to work and bring my chemical knowledge into use 

 to discover some solvent for wax which would make a good 

 cement ; after trying several things, the result was the " liquid 

 wax " I exhibited at the British Bee-keepers' Association's 

 Conversazione, and which answers the purpose admirably, not 

 only for a cement, but to form a wax guide itself when desired. 

 It is made thus : take of wax cut up small 1 oz,, put it into a wide- 

 mouthed stoppered bottle, and add to it 1 oz. of benzine or ben- 

 zole, not benzoline ; in twenty-four hours it will be found to be 

 a paste which may be rubbed smooth on a slab with a pliant 

 table-knife. The benzole has the well-known gassy smell, but 

 being highly volatile passes completely away after a few hours' 

 exposure to the air. In cementing on the strip of guide comb 

 use the cement as a bricklayer does mortar in laying a brick, 

 pressing the comb into it, or a ridge of the cement may be placed 

 on the bar. I have tried it both ways, and find the bees have 

 not the slightest repugnance to it, showing that no trace of the 

 benzine is left. — John Hunter, Eaton Bise, Ealing, 



DRIVING BEES FROM SUPERS. 



As your correspondent, " W. (}.," is not alone in finding it 

 rather difficult to rid a super of honeycomb of its bees, a few 

 words here may help others as well as himself. On taking a 

 super from a hive the first thing to be done is to sever it from 

 the hive by drawing a fine wire between the two, then raising 

 the super about three-eighths of an inch by wedges to allow the 

 bees to lick the honey clean from the broken cells. They gene- 

 rally do this in less than an hour. As soon as it is done, smoke 

 from fustian or corduroy rags should be blown into the super 

 by the top hole in abundance. This smoke makes the bees 

 run from the super into the bottom hive. 



This easy and simple mode answers well in warm weather, 

 for often not a bee remains behind. In colder weather bees ar& 

 not so easily dislodged. On two or three occasions we have 

 had to use a small bit of brimstone rag amongst the fustian rags 

 ere we could make the bees leave the supers. The smallest 

 taste or sniff of sulphur fumes terrifies bees and makes them 

 run for their lives. But the greatest precaution is necessary in 

 using it, for if given freely, or even in moderate doses, it would 

 kill the bees amongst the combs ; and dead bees between the 

 combs of a super could not be taken out without injuring tha 

 combs. Sulphur should not be used by inexperienced people. 

 If a dozen or two of bees remain amongst the combs after the 

 smoke of fustian rags has been applied, we take the super off 

 for a few minutes and cover it with a cloth, then carry it to 

 the door of the hive in which the noise of the bees attracts and 

 withdraws the bees from the super. Once make them run, 

 bees are like a flock of sheep or a pack of hounds in following 

 one another* la running from super to hive the beea make a 



