Qiieries and Answers. 375 



affirm that the London clay, for instance, at the depth of 100 or 200 ft., 

 contains seeds, which, when the clay is exposed to the surface, will 

 vegetate ? As to the tree mignonette, I should really be glad to know 

 what plant is meant by it. Surely Mr. Jesse cannot mean the British 

 iZeseda lutea or Luteola ? Perhaps some of j our readers in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Bushy Park will be good enough to examine the spot, and 

 to send you the result. — A Loiter of AccuracT/. Hereford, April 14-. 1832. 



HutsJi's Beehive. — Sir, In your Encyclopcedia of Gardening, 2d edit., 

 § 1743., you have given a description of Huish's beehive. I, having come 

 to this part of India, was much delighted to find bees cultivated by the 

 mountaineers ; who, instead of hives, use the hollowed stem of a tree, and 

 shut it up at each end with a bit of plank, closing the joints with lime 

 mortar. The box thus made is preserved from the heat of the sun by 

 being placed under the eaves of the thatch of the cottages, which extend 2 ft. 

 or 3 ft., and come down very low, to exclude the heavy rains that fall here 

 for seven months ; or is protected at a distance by a few mats. The honey 

 is excellent. I have often tried to cultivate bees in the plains of Hindoo- 

 stan;and, though I have repeatedly caught and hived swarms, I could 

 never retain them. Once, indeed, I kept one for a fortnight, which began 

 to make a comb. I believe the reason is, that the heat of the hive is too 

 great, being frequently 120° to 130°, or perhaps more : the air is often 1 10° 

 to the westward. 



The object, however, of my now addressing you, is to enquire whether, 

 in Huish's Treatise on Bees, there is not a misprint, which you have copied. 

 He says : — " Having obtained eight pieces of well-seasoned wood, about 

 Sin. broad." Now, this would be 24 in. for the breadth of the hive, with- 

 out any interstice for his net ; whereas in his engraving [fig. 295. b, of 

 Encyc. of Gard.] (I have his book), the interstice is three times the breadth 

 of the piece of wood : perhaps it should be three quarters of an inch. 

 Pray do me the favour to consider this ; and, if you know Huish, enquire 

 from him the height and breadth of his hive, and how his eight pieces of 

 wood are placed. I am. Sir, yours, &c. — W. Craa-oft. Kossya Aloim- 

 tains, 4500/i;. high, Nov. 15. 1831. 



On application to Mr. Huish, he kindly sent us the following; which we 

 hope will be satisfactory to our correspondent, — from whom we shall be 

 happy to hear frequently. — Cond. 



In reply to your Indian correspondent on the Kossya Mountains, request- 

 ing some information relative to the construction of my hive, I beg leave to 

 inform him that he is perfectly right in supposing that the dimensions, as 

 stated in the first edition of my Treatise on Bees, are incorrect ; and I 

 regret to state that the error has been the occasion of many persons being 

 deterred from adopting the hive, on account of the difficulty attending its 

 construction, arising solely from the inaptnessof the dimensions as printed 

 in the book. When the first edition of the work was printed, I may say 

 that the hive was then in its infancy. The form was originally ciixular; 

 but the disadvantages of that form soon presented themselves : the prin- 

 cipal of which was, that the side combs, which are always the largest, and 

 contain the finest honey, were reduced to a very small size, on account of 

 the segment of the circle allowing the bees very little scope in which to 

 form a comb. By the aid, however, of some skilful workmen at Datchet, 

 I succeeded by degrees in bringing the hive to an almost perfect square ; 

 and as such it is now in use : and your Indian correspondent will find it 

 to be his interest to adopt that shape, as nearly as the skill of the workman 

 can accomplish it. Seven bars will be found quite sufficient ; although it 

 must be taken into consideration that I am here alluding to an English 

 climate. The bars should be three quarters of an inch, or an inch, in breadth, 

 and made of oak or elm : deal is in its nature too frangible, and too apt to 

 warp. The distance of the bars from each other should be from l^in. to 



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