September 30, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



309 



nesB very much liko comb made from loaf sugar. In Class 12, 

 a tine glass super from Mr. Aaebee received the first prize. The 

 remainder to the seventh prize were of small merit, nor were 

 thirteen prizes allotted to cottagers any better. The prize for 

 liqueur or wine made from honey was taken by Mr. Desborough 

 with a sample twenty-eight years old. 



At intervals during the meeting Messrs, Abbott, Cheshire, 

 Carr, and others, gave practical demonstrations of driving, trans- 

 ferring, honey-extracting, itc, which was very attractive to the 

 general public as well as instructive to bee-keepers. The latter 

 class are noted for enthusiasm, and many came from very long 

 distances to the Show. Mr. Wood of Denmark, who, we pre- 

 sume, is an Englifibraau, musthave gone to considerable trouble 

 and expense to send his numerous and interesting exhibits to 

 instruct his countrymen at home. His things were very low- 

 priced, and therefore there could have been no hope of profit. 

 We append the award of prizes in detail. 



HIVES. 



Hive for Observation Purposes (all Combs to be visible on both eidefl).— Prize 

 G. Neighbour & Sons. 



Moveable Comb Hive (to include coveritg, for deprivinf; purposes) —1, C. N 

 Abbott. 2. J. M. Hookpr 



Hive for »«f on the Storifi/inq jninciple.—l and 2, C. W. Smith. 



Hive for u»e on the CuUatiral principle.— \, J. M. Hooker. 2. W J. Tettitt. 



The Jitost Economical [best and cheapest) Complete fliut' (on tlie Moveable 

 comb principle) for Cottae. rn' uee).— 1, C. N. Abbott. 2, J. S. Wood- 



Thebest and cheapest Sleep (for depriving purpoBee),--!, G. Neighbour & Sons. 



2, Mrs. Pagden. 



HONEY. 

 The largest and best harvest of Honey (in the comb, from one Block of beep- 

 under any syatem or combination of bj feteme).— 1, J. W. Cow an. 2, H. Wilbnall 



3, Rev. F- T. Scott. 4, W. Martin. 



The best exhibition of •iuptr Honey from one apiary.—S, 3. LiKhton. 



The best atraiv Super of Honey ~i, J. highion. 2, W. Martin. S,4,audG,F.R- 

 Jackson 5. Rev. C. N. Gray. 



The best Wood [or wood in combination with glass or straic) Super of Honey. 

 — 1. A. RuBbr^dge. 2. T. W. Cowan. 



The best Ghus Super of Boneit. -1. J. ABbhee. 2, W.Martin. S.F. G.G. Lines 



4, J. Shield, fi. O Youne. 6, Rev. C. N. Gray. 7, W. O. B. Glennie. 



The best exhibition of Run or Extracted Honey (in glasses of 5 lbs. to 10 lbs. 

 each).-l, G. Neighbour A Sons. 2. J. Walton. 3, A. Rusbridge. 



Tke best exhibition of Hi-ney in Sujyers (or sections of Supers, each seoarable 

 and singly, not more than 3 lbs. in weight).— 1, Hun. and Rev. H. Bligb.' 



COTTAGERS' CLASSES. 



The largest and best exhibition of Super Honey in Comb (the property of one 

 exhibitor, and gathered by his own bees).—!, J. Walion. 2, W. Marlm. 3, M. 

 Freeman. 



Best Super of Honey —J. W. Martin. 2 and 5, W. T. Ellingbam. 3, J. Walton, 

 4, J. CJay en. 



The best Exhibition of liun Honey in glass jars (containing 5 tba. to 10 lbs. 

 each).— 1, J. Ulayden. 2, W. Scorer. 3, W.Martin. 4, J. Walton. 5, W. T. 

 Ellingbam. 



COMESTIBLES. 



Lirjueur or Wine made from Honey (with recipe attached).— Prize, J. S. 

 Desborough. 



Cakes made from Honey (with recipe atttached).— Prize, Mrs. Jonea. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Tlie best aiul largest collection of Hives, Bee- furniture. Bee gear, and Apicul- 

 turisls^ necessities (no two articles to be alike).—!, G. Neighbour & Sons 

 Equal 2, C. N. Abbott, J. Lee. 



Drone Trap —Prize, F. Cheshire. 



Bee feeder (the invention or adaptation of exhibitor).— Prize, G. Neighbour 

 and Sons. 



The best method of Quieting Bees during Mani2)ulation.—TTize,T. W. Cowan. 



Best and cheapest Supers for general use in an apiary. — Prize, G. Neighbour 

 and Sons. 



Cheapest, neatest, and best Supers for producing Honeycomb in a saleable 

 /(Drm— Prize, T. W. Cowan. 



Honey-extractor (portability and cost to be taken into consideration).— Prize, 

 T. W. Cowan. 



The finest sample of pure Bees' Wax (the produce of 1875, in cakes of not less 

 than 1 I'l. in wt-ight) —1, J. M. Hooker. 2, W. Scorer. 3, S. Thorne. 



Any New Irii'ention calculated in the opinion of the Judges to advance the 

 culture of Bees —^\\-veT Medals, F. Cheshire and J.M.Hooker. Bronze Medals, 

 J. S. Wood and W. Carr. 



The best and most interesting collection of natural objects connected ivith 

 Apiculture, illustrating the natural history and economy of the Honey Bee. — 

 Prize, W. Carr. 



The best MS. Lecture on Beekeeping, with or without diagrams, the Prize MS. 

 to become the property of the Association,— Prize, W. Hunt. 



BEE HOUSES.— No. 1. 



Mr. Htjnter's interesting paper of a recent date, in which he 

 allndeB to bee honsee, induces me to make a few observations on 

 these structures. I believe Mr. Pettigrew condemns them 

 utterly; so do I, if by bee houses are understood those boxes with 

 a roof, shut in on all sides, which one usually sees in cottage 

 land even in more pretentions) gardens. These are for iLe most 

 part simple abominations. They have scarcely a single recom- 

 mendation. They are hot in summer, and harbour insects of all 

 kinds, notably the bees' worst enemy near home — the spider. 

 They are very difBcult of access, nor is it possible to meddle with 

 one hive in them without disturbing the others. Add to which 

 we never saw one yet which was not exceedingly unsightly. 

 Away with all such, we say; yet in all the years that I have 

 kept bees I have rarely had any hives that were not kept and 

 managed in a bee house or bee sheds of some kind or other. 



When I was firtt known to the readers of the Cottufie Gar- 

 dener, in very early days, under the name of " A Country 

 Curate," I used to keep my bees in windows in my lodgings. 

 As I sat at my study table I had sweet music discoursed (o me, 

 as pleasant to my ears as the wild notes of the harp of zEolus. 

 from the interior of what seemed to be an ordinary cupboard 

 just behind me. The strange noise which proceeded therefrom 



— strange to uninitiated ears — often attracted the attention of 

 visitors who were admitted to the privileges of my sanctum. 

 "Country Curate's" friends would say, " What have you got 

 there? Have you a spinning jenny behind those doors, or a 

 private engine droning ? " "Neither, my friend (I would reply), 

 although your allusion to the 'droning' is not far wrong in the 

 most literal sense." Then I would unlock my cupboard doors 

 and explain the mystery. Had you been there, reader of these 

 lines, you would have seen a window deeply inserted in the wall, 

 narrow and high. The frame itself was neatly boarded up from 

 top to bottom, so that the glass could not be seen, nor any light 

 find entrance. A stout board divided the space into two equal 

 parts, affording room for a colony of bees in a set of bee boxes 

 on each shelf on the collateral principle. In the bedroom above 

 was a similar window arranged for hives of wood or straw on 

 the storifying plan. I believe the collateral use of two boxes 

 was the invention of a Mr. White, long before Nutt advocated 

 the three-box system. In my own case I used supers of glass 

 and wood over the stock-box of each of my colonies, thus com- 

 bining the two principles. The bees, of course, found their way 

 into the open air through a tunnel ingeniously cut downwards 

 through the floor-board, and communicating with a correspond- 

 ing tunnel in the window frame. 



Nothing could be more successful than this sort of bee house. 

 It was a continual source of pleasure to me, accessible at all 

 times, and I found it profitable too, as I obtained a quantity of 

 honey mostly from supers, but also I secured some in the side 

 boxes. Nor did I find any difficulty in getting rid of the bees at 

 any time when occasion required that 1 should take off or shift 

 supers or boxes. It was only necsssary to darken a part of the 

 other window in the room while opening wide the rest, and the 

 escaped bees missing their queen were soon off in search of her, 

 and troubled me no more. My recollection of this early ad- 

 venture with a bee house warrants me in confidently recom- 

 mending its like to any person who can aflord the trifling expense 

 of fitting it up. Now is a good time to have such a one arranged 

 and tenanted in view of the year 187G, which we are all looking 

 forward to in hope of a better honey harvest than this year has 

 given us. 



My next apiary was started while still a country curate, on 

 higher ground in the same parish in Herefordshire. Here, to 

 my great regret, I had no suitable windows to rig up for my 

 bees. However, I soon found myself in possession of a bee 

 shed of wood capable of holding eight colonies, four on each 

 shelf. As far as I can recollect the dimensions of it were as 

 follows — it was 7 feet high from the ground to tlie " wall plate," 

 if I may so call the wood frame on which the roof rested. The 

 width was 6 feet, allowing ample room for four colonies abreast, 

 mostly superod stocks, for I soon found the collateral principle 

 cumbrous and comparatively unprofitable, and so I presently 

 discarded it for ever. The depth of this bee shed was 2J feet. 

 It was closed-iu at the sides, and had doors at the back suspended 

 on hinges and falling downwards. They were so arranged that 

 I could open one of them and communicate with the upper or 

 lower tier of colonies and not disturb the others. The front of 

 the shed was quite open to the air. This shed I found very 

 useful, although it had some of the disadvantages open to all 

 such structures. For instance, I had to wage a continual war 

 with spiders and ants, besides which, in the autumn time espe- 

 cially, I had some trouble with angry or inquisitive bees from 

 the adjacent colonies. On the whole, I can honestly recommend 

 a bee house like it. It has this great advantage over single 

 detached colonies on separate stands, that there was no need of 

 covering the hives against sun or rain. They were always dry, 

 and stood side by tide under the protection of a common roof. 

 I should state that to the best of my recollection the four corner 

 uprights were let into stout sleepers which simply rested on 

 the surface of the ground. As it was erected in a sheltered 

 situation there was no fear of its beiug blown over. Had there 

 been any such danger it would have been remedied by securing 

 the sleepers to posts let into the f round at each extremity. 



I must add that in front there were moveable boards running 

 from side to side, one at top just under the eave of the roof, and 

 one at the bottom below the upper shelf to partially shade the 

 hives during the hot weather. The hives themselves also were 

 moved backwards or forwards in the summer and winter so as 

 to receive more or less of the sun's warmth as the season re- 

 quired. The planks rested in assort of groove made of bent iron 

 affixed to the upright posts, and were removeable in an instant. 

 — B. & W. 



A CHAT ABOUT QUEENS. 



The description given in the Journal of the 9th inat. of the 

 reception given to young queens which had cot been in contact 

 with other bees is interesting and curious, and suggestive that 

 we have not yet arrived at the full knowledge of the sentiments 

 and habits of our little favourites. 



The observatioas of your correspondent on the combats of 

 queens opens a wide question, as it is so extremely dif&calt 



