January 32, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTIGULTUEB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



91 



Nuns were not numerous, but the first and second were very 

 good. 



Dragoons are birds we do not care much for in Scotland, and 

 •consequently cannot know much about, but according to our 

 light the first-prize bird well deserved its place ; there was little 

 choice between the second and third prizetakers. 



Antwcrps were the smallest class in the Show, three entriea ; 

 and next year we hope there will be no class for them, as they 

 are quite out of place in a show pen. 



In Common Tumblers a pair of nice Black Mottles were first, 

 Whites second. 



Any other variety was not a large class. First, Lace Fantails ; 

 Becond, Magpies ; third. Archangels. 



The Selling class contained no fewer than thirty-eight entries, 

 and comprised some very good Pouters. The first prize, No. 665 

 (T. Eule), went to a perfect gem of a Jacobin, quickly claimed at 

 S.\ 155. Second a Mealy Pouter, and third a pair of grand- 

 coloured Red Magpies. 



HONEY AND BEES AT SHOWS. 



A SHOW— what is its nature, and what its effect ? la it an 

 exhibition of ordinary or extraordinary things ? Could the 

 cattle, the poultry, the Pigeons, the Rabbits, the song birds, the 

 fruits, the vegetables, and the flowers, &c., be produced and pre- 

 sented in such fine form and perfection at various shows, as is 

 the custom, by ordinary means ? I think not ; and it is the fact 

 that they are not, nor are they expected to be. Why, then, should 

 a bee show have restrictions that are not applied to auy other 

 kind of shows ? To sell sugar syrup for honey, or foreign honey 

 as the pure nectar of English flowers, is right down dishonest, 

 and deserves visiting with as severe punishment as any other 

 fraud. Dishonesty of this kind, to some extent, carries its own 

 corrective, for few will face the dog a second time which has 

 bitten them ; so, few will purchase a spurious article from the 

 party who has cheated them once. But to ascertain and to exhibit 

 what our little favourites can do under the most favourable cir- 

 cumstances and assisted by artificial treatment need cause no 

 one pain. Have shows a demoralising tendency? I think not ; 

 for it is perfectly understood that every method that art can 

 suggest is resorted to to accomplish the desired result. It would 

 never do for the agricultural societies to establish a rule that 

 stock for exhibition should be simply turned into a pasture field, 

 the ordinary mode of producing beef, because they would find 

 their exhibitions, like the honey supers mentioned by "A 

 South La.vcishire Bee-keepee," at the Burton-on- Trent Show, 

 not half what they ought to be; and it they did, some one would 

 begin to squabble about the particular herbage of the field. So 

 that I think for exhibitions there is nothing like a fair field and 

 no favour, and the fewer restrictions the better, for you have 

 only to say to human nature, "You must not," to awaken and 

 stimulate the spirit of evasion. Of course, if there are to be 

 restrictions, let them be properly defined and by all means 

 honestly carried out ; but I think the restrictions suggested by 

 some of your valuable cent ibutors would tend to give the prizes 

 to situation, and not to the abilities and intelligence of the 

 exhibitors. 



I cannot think that any bee-keeper would leave the Manchester 

 Exhibition with false impressions, for he would know that such 

 supers could not have been obtained in 1873 without artificial 

 treatment. I am afraid that more false impressions are made 

 by parties recommending this and the other fine hive, and this 

 and the other grand system for obtaining honey, whereas the 

 description of hive is only a secondary matter, if it only is 

 sufficiently large for breeding purposes and for storing honey. 

 The main desiderata are good pasture, fine seasons, and strong 

 colonies ; for without these, no matter what system is pursued or 

 what kind of hive is adopted, the result will be very poor indeed. 



The nature of shows is extraordinary, and necessitates extraor- 

 dinary treatment, and their effect is to stimulate the exhibitors 

 to fresh exertions, and I hope we shall have many more of them. 

 — Thomas Bagshaw, Longnor, near Buxton. 



HONEY AND HONEY EXHIBITIONS. 

 I HAD hoped that the question of "What is honey? " would 

 not again be discussed in "our Journal " till the simple experi- 

 ments suggested by me would be tried by " B. & W." and others, 

 who fancy that crude honey, or honey as it is found in flowers, 

 becomes perfect by evaporation. I am quite certain that if the 

 question be fairly and fully tested by experiment, my state- 

 ments will be amply confirmed. In addition to the experiments 

 suggested, I may mention another, which goes a long way to prove 

 that honey as found in flowers undergoes a great change in the 

 hive. Let bees returning from the fields with their bags well 

 filled be caught and dissected, and let an equal number be fed 

 from a honeycomb and dissected. The honey in the former will 

 be found to be crude and imperfect — a mere sweet juice, lacking 

 the smack and pungency of real honey. If any of our friends 

 object to take the Uvea of beea with a view to settle so unim- 



portant a question, let me ask them to catch the bees containing 

 the honey (for examination) by the wings, and tickle or touch 

 the under side of their abdomen with a straw or small twig, 

 and they will thus cause the bees to deposit the contents of their 

 bags on the straws or twigs. Let the bees be afterwards set at 

 liberty, and the deposited honey examined and tasted. 



Auother valued correspondent — viz., " A Renfrewshibe Bee 

 KEEPER," has appeared with a new theory as to how honey is 

 consolidated in hives. He asks, " May it not be that our 

 favourites at this particular stage possess the power, before 

 hermetically sealing up, to suck out and extract the aqueous 

 and aiirial properties, causing it ever afterwards to consolidate 

 and keep ? " If we were disposed to examine and compare 

 theories, and award prizes for best and second best on this 

 subject, our Renfrewshire friend, so high in other matters, would 

 not be at the top of the list. At the commencement of his letter 

 he says, " Mr. Pettigrew is perfectly correct in treating, for all 

 practical purposes, sealed honey as a distinct article from 

 unsealed." I am very sorry he has misunderstood ray meaning 

 or xrn wittingly misrepresented it in this matter, for I have never 

 treated honey sealsd as dilferent from honey unsealed, or made 

 a distinction between them. Much that I say about bees is 

 quoted from these pages and re-appears in country newspapers, 

 and hence, while courting honest criticism, I am very anxious 

 to be fairly represented by those who disagree with my opinions. 

 I hold that honey proper is produced from the sweet juice 

 found in flowers, and is converted from this sweet j nice or crude 

 honey into perfect honey by being re-swallowed and disgorged a 

 second time by bees. Whether found in cells with or without 

 lids it is perfect honey. I respectfully request those who think 

 differently to put the matter to the test. 



Now for a word about honey exhibitions. If rules could be 

 framed to operate for the benefit of exhibitors and exhibitions 

 I should be gratified. At all events, they could be tried. Mr. 

 Yates and I wrote the schedule of prizes for bees and honey at 

 the Manchester Show. Mr. Yates gave £.5 of the £25 offered, 

 the rest being collected by myself. We were anxious to make 

 the Show a success r.s well as an example. The Curator lately 

 told me that bees and honey would be a feature in all future 

 aixtumn exhibitions at the Manchester Botanical Gardens. 

 Why should not the Crystal Palace introduce " hives and 

 Tioney " at its next September show? It would be a new and 

 attractive element at their annual fete. Good prizes will secure 

 great competition. In the case of the Crystal Palace, in which 

 bees in glass houses may be seen always, it will not be necessary 

 to offer prizes for bees and glass hives, but simply for supers 

 and hives of honey. This suggestion is thrown out for others 

 to take up and carry into execution. 



Those who attempt to frame rules and limits for apiarians 

 should remember two things — viz., the uncertainty of our 

 seasons and the desirability of having something strikingly 

 grand for visitors to look at. Who cares to see what is not 

 uncommon ? And who cares to exhibit what is not worth 

 notice ? Prizes are offered for things that command the admi- 

 ration of visitors. A hard-and-fast line, forbidding artificial 

 treatment in the case of bees, would probably cause every second 

 exhibition of honey to be a complete failure. I speak now iu 

 the interests of societies offering prizes and of bee-keeping gene- 

 rally, for it is not my intention ever to compete for prizes, 

 though I have used many incentives for others to do so. If we 

 visit an agricultural exhibition we find the prodigious products 

 of artificial treatment — cattle of immense weight and size, each 

 of which when young consumed the milk of four cows. If 

 artificial treatment is permitted amongst cattle, &c., it should 

 be doubly so amongst bees which are dependn.nt on sunshine. 

 Apart from all considerations of prize-taking, I hold a few pounds 

 of sugar given to a swarm lately hived to be in accordance with 

 the management of all able apiarians, and of immense advantage 

 to the swarm. — A. Pettigrew. 



OUK LETTEK BOX. 



TnEDEGAR Poultry Show (TT. L.).— We are surprisecl that you have 

 received no answer respecting the money for the birds sold. Write again to 

 the Secretary. 



Devizes Poultry Show flrffHil.— The card in the first instance was 

 probably misplaced. You can have no remedy under auy circumstances. 



PouLTEY Diary (H. E. R.\. — We publiahed one some years since, but ifc 

 did not sell, and we know of none now. There is an American periodical so 

 called. 



Hens for Breeding {Qlaiicus). — They are not good hena to breed from, 

 being too mossy and indistinct in the markings; at the same time many worse 

 are bred from, and much worse take prizes at some shows. When we say 

 they are not good to breed from, wo mean if you want perfect birds ; but to 

 produce good stock you may use them. 



Market for Tdbkeys (A. C). — As a rule, Tiirkeys sell better at home — 

 i e., in the nearest market town, than in London. Much expense in the way 

 of carriage and commisaioa is saved. You should make Is. per lb. of them 

 all, and those weighing 20 lbs. should make more. If they will not make 

 this price, you must have them fatted, killed, and picked clean, and sent to 

 London. We repeat, as a rule they sell better at home, 



Brahma Useless — Hoddans (J. E. L.).— The Brahma is a failure, and you 

 will do well to kill him. The description is anything but that of a stock bird. 



