100 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 1, 1878. 
bees get anything in such weather, and are they not exposing 
themselves unnecessarily? This I do know, that my bees in 
18-inch hives have done infinitely better than the Ligurians of 
my friend, and his locality is as good or better than mine. 
At the end of the season I will send you an account of the 
weights of my hives, and if you think it worth while you may 
publish it for the benefit of the labouring classes and others who 
will be at a little trouble and less outlay to make a substantial 
addition to the yearly income. 
The slinger I saw was Steele’s of Dundee, and cost 29s. It 
would be useful in»large apiaries to extract honey from black 
combs, but for my part I would give that to other bees to fill 
supers with pure honeycomb, the only form im which honey should 
be put on the table-—Harpy OF THE HILLS, Northumberland. 
CONDEMNED BEES. 
Mr. J. GUEST, who is offered some bees by his neighbours, who 
always destroy them to get their honey, asks “if they are worth 
having, when they should be taken, and the best way of feeding 
them.” 
I wish this correspondent, and all the apiarian readers of this 
Journal, to know that I value bees in autumn so highly that two 
years ago I bought twenty swarms in September (5 Ibs. each), at 
1s. 6d. per pound—that is, 7s. 6d. per swarm, and the expense of 
carriage besides. If the calculation is correct that 1 Ib. of bees 
contain five thousand in number, we see that the person who sent 
them saved five hundred thousand creatures from the brimstone 
pit, and got £7 10s. for his trouble. I am willing to buy twenty 
swarms at the same price this year. 
We advise our correspondent to accept the bees offered to him, 
to hive them in 4 or 6 fb. swarms in 16-inch hives, and give each 
5 tbs. of bees (each swarm of that weight) from 20 to 25 Ibs. of 
sugar made into good syrup. If the swarms offered be small 
let two or three of them be united in one hive with four or five 
cross sticks in it. 
The best way of feeding such swarms is by using a flower-pot 
saucer half full of chips of wood and placed on the centres ot 
their floor boards. The saucers should be large enough to hold 
one and a half quart of syrup each, and be refilled every night at 
sunset by means of small tubes or pipes of iron, lead, or wood 
driven through the sides of the hives and resting in the saucers. 
In this way swarms can be fed without disturbing the bees or 
even touching the hives and covers. There is no other mode of 
feeding swarms equal to this for simplicity, ease, and safety. An 
old rusty dripping tin or other vessel may be used instead of flower- 
pot saucers. I say rusty with a view to prevent new tin vessels 
or smooth pie dishes being used. If bees cannot crawl up the 
sides of smooth vessels they fall back into the syrup. But even pie 
dishes and new dripping tins may be safely used if they are filled 
with chips of wood, or hay, or straw, and when the 20 or 25 lbs, of 
sugar have been given the vessels and the tubes should be removed 
and the small tube holes corked up. How easy thus to create 
stocks of bees of superior value, for there are no stocks of bees 
better than those fed with sugar—A. PETTIGREW. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Ea@G WITHIN AN Ece (HZ. i.).—It is not an unusual occurrence. 
HIVES LOSING WEIGHT (fs. D.).—Your bees have done well consider- 
ing the weather we have had this year. Hach of your hives has given two 
swarms, and two of the swarms have been put together in a Stewarton hive. 
You fancy that as your supers and ekes have not been entered, and some of 
your hives are losing weight in fine weather amid good pasture, something 
must be wrong. Rest assured that your bees are not lazy or voluntarily 
idle, and that whem honey is in flowers they gather as much of it as they 
can; but they cannot gather it whenit is not to be found, neither can they 
fill supers and ekes and yield swarms at the same time. The two swarms 
put into the Stewarton hive had nothing to do for a time but build combs 
and store honey. Your old hives were full of brood, which required almost. 
all the strength of the bees left in them to hatch it. Both the bees and the 
brood required food, and part of this was taken from their combs, hence 
the hives became lighter. When wind is from either east or north very 
little honey is in flowers, even though the sun shines. You cannot help 
your bees at present to gather honey. Your aim should be to get your 
stocks well prepared for winter, and super them next year instead of taking 
swarms from them. 
CUTTING A HIVE FROM EKE (Comber).—Your proposal to cut the wooden 
eke (10 inches deep and 8 inches wide), from the old hive, and then place 
the second swarm hive on the eke with a view to make a strong stock for 
another year, and also get a little honey for present use, does not meet with 
our approval. The eke is too narrow for a stock hive, and probably half of 
the combs in it are drone combs, as the eke was filled this spring. In de- 
taching the combs from the top hive some of them may fall, and in uniting 
the two swarms as you propose one of them might be wholly slaughtered. 
But if all the proposed operations were to be successful the advantage 
gained would not be worth the trouble. Better drive all the bees into a 
decent hive and feed them into a stock, or unite them to the second swarm 
and make a strong one of it. Your aim should be to get rid of all narrow 
old hives, and haye your bees in good roomy ones. If you cut the hive in 
two parts let the operation be done when the other bees are not flying about. 
Evening, too, is the best time for uniting swarms. Driving can be done at 
all hours of the day. 
PRICE OF HONEY (Zve).—In’ordinary seasons the price of honeycomb is 
1s. 6d. per th. In seasons of scarcity it is readily sold at that price, but in 
times of abundance the price has to be lowered. Super honeycomb ranges 
in price between 1s. 3d. and 2s. per tb. 
: BEES LEAVING THEIR COMBS (Charleville)—In the absence of sight it 
is impossible to say why your bees left their combs and brood and clustered 
on the outside of their hive, and preferred to bear a drenching rain rather 
than go inside, They clustered outside before the hive had been swarmed 
artificially, and after the swarm was removed almost all the bees left in the 
stock hive preferred the outside. The smoke used in swarming was not the 
cause of this. We have never known bees act as yours have done in the 
absence of foul brood. This terrible disease often causes bees to cluster on 
the outsides of their hives, both before and after swarming. Sometimes 
when the rays of the sun strike hives and raise the internal heat too high, 
even to the softening of the combs, bees seek air and protection outside. 
RHUBARB WINE (G. D.).—We published a recipe in the Journal of Hor- 
ticulture on August 2nd last year. 
BLACK CURRANT WINE (/. /.).—Take dry and ripe black currants 
70 Ibs., loaf sugar 10 tbs., water sufficient to make fifteen gallons, brandy 
two bottles. Bruise the fruit in a tub, then add the water, allowing it to 
stand for twenty-four hours, stirring it occasionally; then draw off the 
liquor, pressing the fruit ; boil the whole for a few minutes, skimming all the 
time, then add the sugar, and when the liquor has cooled to 75° put it into a 
cask with yeast and leave it to ferment. At the expiration of fourteen or 
twenty days the spirit is to be added and the wine bunged up and left for 
three months, when it may be bottled for use. z 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40” N.; Long. 0° 8’ 0” W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
9 AM. IN THE Day. 
Hygrome-| £3 |S.,,|Shade Tem-| Radiation | 3 
ter. =a S 2 perature. ,Temperature, g 
fe 8 e5 Tain On 
AS |e Max.| Min.| sun. | grass! 
deg. | deg. 
3 | 61.7 
REMARKS. 
24th.—Fine clear morning at 5 A.M., dark and foggy at 8, cloud by 9; showery 
from 11.50 till 1 P.M.; sunny afternoon ; thunder at 5.16, lightning and 
thunder at 5.50, heavy rain 5.46 to 5.52 = 0.1linch ; damp evening. 
25th.—Showery morning ; sunny and bright from 1 P.M., dark clouds at 4, 
shower at, 4.30; fine evening. 
26th.—Cool pleasant morning ; cloudy afternoon ; slightrain at 9 P.M.; light- 
ning and thunder from 10 till 11 P.M. 
27th.—Fine day, cloudy at intervals ; very fine evening. 
28th.—Dull morning, heavy clouds with every appearance of a storm, but 
none came here; fine sunny afternoon ; beautiful evening. 
29th.—Fair morning, cloudy and dull-looking after 11 A.M., heavy shower at 
3.35 P.M.; fine evening. 
30th.—Fine morning, sharp sudden shower at 0.10; fine rest of the day, but 
dull heavy-looking clouds. 
Cooler and damper, with occasional thunderstorms, but none heavy here.— 
G. J. SYMONS. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.—JULY 31. 
THOUGH the London season is over there has been a brisk demand for hot- 
house fruit, and prices have been well maintained. Soft fruit are nearly 
finished, and large buyers are off the market, consequently business will be 
quiet for a short time till we get a better supply of Plums and Apples. 
FRUIL. 
s.d. & d. s. d. s. d 
isieve 2 Oto4 0 | Melons each 4 Otol0 0 
dozen 1 0 3 0} Nectari dozen 4 0 12 0 
eib 0 6 1 6| Oranges Y100 8 0 16 O 
bushel 10 0 20 0/| Peaches dozen 2 0 12 0 
ve3 6 46 dozen 0 0 0 0 
60 6 6 dozen 0 0 0 0 
20 40 vib. 3 0 6 0 
yc Om08 10040) Zsieve 3 6 5 6 
00 00 tb. 0 6 10 
06 09 ~Plb 0 6 10 
1 0 6 0} Walnuts bushel 5 0 8 0 
6 0 10 0 ditto.. p10 00 00 
VEGETABLES. 5 
Sod. S. de sd. s.a@ 
Artichokes...... dozen 2 O0to4 0} Mushrooms.... pottle 1 6to2 0 
Asparagus,..... bundle 0 0 0 O| Mustard & Cress punnet 0 2 0 4 
Beans,Kidney forced? tb 0 8 O 6 | Onions .... bushel 2 6 3 0 
Beet, Red ...... dozen 16 38 0 pickling ..... quart 0 4 0 6 
Broccoli ........ bundle 0 9 1 6| Parsley.... doz.bunches 2 0 0 0 
Brussels Sprouts }sieve 0 0 O 0O| Parsnips ... dozen 0 0 06 
Cabbage ........ dozen 1 0 2 O| Peas.. quart 0 9 10 
Carrots bunch 0 4 0 8] Potatoes bushel 3 6 7 0 
Capsicums. #100 16 2 0 Kidney .. bushel 5 0 7 0 
Cauliflower: dozen 3 0 6 0] Radishes.. doz.bunches 1 0 1 6G 
Celerygeeneseeces bundle 1 6 2 0} Rhubarb. ... bundle 0 6 0 9 
Coleworts..doz.bunches 2 0 4 0| Salsafy bundle 0 9 1 0 
Cucumbers .... each 0 4 1 0] Scorzonera . bundle 10 0 0 
Endive dozen 1 0 2 0} Seakale ... . basket 00 00 
Fennel... bunch 0 8 0 O| Shallots. 5 eib 038 O 4 
Garlic ... ~ tb. 0 6 O 0} Spinach. . bushel 2 6 4 0 
Herbs ... bunch 0 2 0 0} Turnips. . bunch 06 09 
Leeks ... ... bunch 0 2 0 4] Veg. Marrows.. each 0 2 0 4 
Lettuce .,...... dozen 10 2 0 
