1384 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



ers. The average membership of the various so- 

 cieties I should roughly estimate at 300; but this 

 will not adequately represent the bee-keepers, as 

 many will not join, although it is to their inter- 

 est to do so. Well, the advantages are many; 

 but the chief one is to employ an expert to visit 

 and inspect their hives free of cost, and in the 

 winter months to take a lantern and lecture in 

 the outlying districts and thus cause the spread 

 of bee-keeping all through the county. The fee 

 for membership is very little. 



Now, where we are very much in front of 

 America is in the way of holding exhibitions of 

 honey, bees, and beeswax. Almost every county 

 town has its annual flower show, and we endeavor 

 to persuade the various committees to hold also 

 a competition for honey, etc. 



Needless to say, this is soon attended to, and 

 the small show continues to grow each year. 

 Our association then offers, for competition, sil- 

 ver and bronze medals, and thus greater interest 



is displayed. Then I attend the show, and with 

 the bee-tent, which is composed of mosquito-net- 

 ting to keep all the bees inside, I give a demon- 

 stration on handling live bees, explaining their 

 habits, how to com.mence the subject, the value 

 of honey as a food, etc. This is generally watch- 

 ed by a very large crowd, and many people take 

 up the business. The exhibition also induces 

 many to try honey for the first time, and people 

 are also able to see the genuine article, and thus 

 they are educated against any adulteration. The 

 county of Stafford, by the way, is comprised of 

 744,984 acres, and the population is 1,236,919. 

 Of course, some of the other counties are much 

 smaller and the others larger. It should be men- 

 tioned that each association is affiliated to the 

 parent body, viz., the British Bee-keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, which has its seat in London. Here ex- 

 aminations are conducted for the purpose of bee- 

 keepers qualifying for experts. Honey exhibi- 

 tions are arranged which are open to the whole 

 of the British Isles. These are held in Agricul- 



tural Hall, London, for a week at a time, and are 

 visited by many thousands of people. All these 

 methods tend to bring home to the British pub- 

 lic the value of honey, and thus it is that the con- 

 sumption of this article far exceeds its supply, 

 with the result that a large quantity is imported 

 each month from your country and others. 



Accurately cut by machinery. A fine pin driven through each 



joint keeps the frame rigid. The top-bar has a saw-cut for 



fixing the foundation. 



It should be noted that we have three bee-pa- 

 pers — the British Bee Joiir)ial,vieekly; the British 

 Bee-keepers ' Record, and the h'ish Bee-keepers ' Jour- 

 nal, monthly. In addition to these papers al- 

 most every horticultural and agricultural news- 

 paper issued devotes a small column to hints on 

 bee-keeping, and, as a matter of fact, I contribute 

 to several, giving work for the week, etc. 



Now that I have described bee-keeping gene- 

 rally in our islands, I will explain the type of 

 hive, appliances, and modes of working. 



The hive most used is that known as the " W. 

 B. C," which is named after the inventor, Mr. 

 William Broughton Carr, the present editor of 

 the British Bee Journal. 



It consists of separate inner and outer bodies, 

 with a dead-air space all around of 1^2 inches. 

 At the bottom of the hive a set of small frames is 

 arranged. This is to prevent swarming, as, in- 

 stead of clustering, they will fill the bottom por- 

 tion with honey, and then the bee-keeper can 

 withdraw the box and replace it over the brood- 

 nest, or on the top of the other supers. There is 

 a sliding arrangement at the back; and to prevent 

 the bees from sticking the body down, the bee- 

 keepers put on a small coat of vaseline. It should 



CHEAP RACK HOLDING 



be mentioned that we have a standard hive and 

 frame. The standard hive, as per illustration, 

 consists of a body-box which holds ten frames, 

 w ith accommodation for any quantity of surplus 

 room over the top of this chamber. The bodies 



