180 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
{ August 29, 1878. 
dunghill for the fowls to peck at. He evidently thought me very 
foolish when I offered him a like sum for the combs as the bees, 
but rather changed his mind when he saw on fetching them the 
ease with which they were cut up and fitted into the frames of 
a Stewarton set of boxes, and his bees introduced, a new and 
better colony arising phcenix-like from the ruins of his old. It 
so interested and delighted him that I could not resist presenting 
him with an improved hive. This he peopled the following 
season, and he afterwards told me the couple of supers it yielded 
realised him between £3 and £4, with the stock left over to 
boot, and that he was for ever done with the old skep plan.— 
A RENFREWSHIRE BEE-KEEPER. 
APIARIAN JOTTINGS. 
RETURNING home after a six-weeks absence in Jersey and Brit- 
tany I was eager to see what my bees had done, and full of hopes 
from all I heard and saw elsewhere that a really good honey season 
might be chronicled at last. Nor on the whole have I been disap- 
pointed, for although doubtless had my apiary been planted else- 
where, or had I been at home (which I never am during the 
greater part of July and August), a greater success might have 
befallen me, still I have no reason to complain. Of honey cer- 
tainly there is more than enough for home consumption, and for 
the surplus I must seek a market. 
At page 20 of the current volume of the Journal will be found 
a statement of the condition of my apiary when I left home. 
Eyery possible super had been given to every hive, and every- 
thing to tempt the bees up into them; still I found that “the very 
general complaint this year that bees would swarm” continued to 
be verified in my apiary, in that “the one strong hive” then re- 
covering from the effects of the tedious spring, which had as yet 
not swarmed, had sent out a fine colony on the 3rd of July, two 
days after I left home. The loss of the swarm aggravated the 
misfortune, as there was no one at home at the time to follow it or 
hive it. I left the bees in first-rate condition, working in two large 
supers, filling both with their numbers and every cell below as 
cram full of brood as it could be. It was also one of my largest 
hives not bar-framed. In spite, however, of this loss I found one 
of the supers beautifully filled with honeycomb, sealed through- 
out, and weighing over 30 Ibs. net. The bees had also begun opera- 
tions in the other super, and laid up a sufficient store in the hive 
below for winter. I have no means of knowing certainly whether 
they sent outa second swarm, butit is at least probable they did so. 
One of the other “weaker hives” alluded to at page 20 had 
filled up its hive with comb and sealed up a large portion of 
it. I took off it also a nice super containing about 17 lbs. of pure 
honeycomb, and some sealed dronecomb below with over 5 Ibs. of 
honey in it. The other had contented itself with filling up the 
hive and working a little in a super. They ought to have done 
more, as the hive was overstocked with bees ; but I suppose, 
owing to the too small passages communicating with the super, 
they preferred to hang about outside the hive in masses rather 
than work diligently in it. This hive contained one of my last 
autumn’s best imported Italian queens, so that I have had no ad- 
vantage from it as yet. It does not appear to have swarmed, and 
yet it is one of the few hives in my apiary which has retained its 
drones August 17th. 
Since writing the above, it haying occurred to me that its 
drones might be utilised for the production of a race of pure 
Italian queens, I resolved to remove the queen and give her to 
another hive, while compelling the bees to rear some queens from !} 
her brood ; but after driving and failing to find any eggs or brood 
in open cells it became evident that the old queen must have led 
off a swarm at no very distant period, for there were still some 
hundreds of cells occupied by brood sealed in, and several royal cells 
appeared to have been tenanted quite recently. The queens also 
refused to be caught, taking wing immediately and flying home 
straight as a young queen would, entering a temporary hive put 
there to catch and occupy the attention of homeward stragglers. 
It is matter of regret that my imported queen was thus lost, having 
evidently gone off with a swarm ; but this young queen ought to 
be very pure, as there have been very few impure drones in my 
apiary fora long time. It was also a good opportunity for break- 
ing up a yery old hive and transferring the bees to a bar-framed 
hive, which accordingly we did, intending to feed them up this 
autumn with sugar. 
The same day (17th) I also examined the large bar-framed hive, 
which had given me two swarms, as recorded, on the 13th and 17th 
of June. I had cut away a quantity of royal cells having two or 
three, and a young queen was seen by me at the time perambulat- 
ing the combs. For all that I found no queen in the hive, only 
some few hundreds of old bees, and absolutely no honey at all. 
This hiye accordingly was immediately broken up, and after its 
bar frames had been re-arranged and comb-deviations corrected it 
was given to the bees, dealt with as described in the foregoing 
paragraph. 
I may mention that in dealing with my bees this autumn my 
plan is to rob them of every possible pound of honey ; accordingly 
this morning the bar-framed hive into which we hived the prime 
swarm, described at page 20 as issuing on the 15th of June (pure 
imported Italian), was taken in hand. It had given me a perfect 
little super with about 9 tbs, of honeycomb. Every comb was now 
taken out except four combs in the centre, which contained brood. 
These combs alone will remain, but as they run pretty true I pur- 
pose putting an empty bar-frame with guide comb between each 
and encouraging the bees by liberal feeding during the next six 
weeks to fill up the intervening spaces with fresh worker combs. 
They will doubtless breed largely this autumn, as there is a very 
large population, many of them vigorous young bees. 
‘The extracted comb, after removal of honey by slicing the comb. 
will be adjusted in another bar-framed hive, and the population of 
encther oa hive driven into it to be treated in a similar manner. 
—b. Ww . 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
INSURING LIVE Stock (B.).—We do not know of an i in- 
sures stock against disease or death. F Socieby Waban 
Straw Hives (Wm. Burch).—Mr. James Lee of Bagshot sold straw hives 
at one time, and for aught we know may do so now; but Mr. Samuel Yates 
seed merchant, Manchester, has always a good stock of straw hives on hand, 
and sells hundreds of them annually. We obtain ours from him. We advise 
you to accept the condemned bees, which are one-third of a mile from your 
garden, put them in empty hives, and place them beside your hives for a 
week or uO, and jhe aunite them. If you were to unite them at once the 
strange bees would like y back to the old place. Ke i - 
ing till they forget their old home. R sep them alive lby teed 
HIVES (W. H. H, Hudson).—Write to Messrs. Neighbour, High Holborn 
for the information you need. ThE f 
A HIVE WITHOUT BEES (A. G.)—Your bees, which clustered outside so 
much in summer and filled a super 12 ths. weight, while at the present time 
your hive has not more than half a pint of bees, probably swarmed in July 
once or twice without your knowledge. The queen which was hatched in 
it after the first swarm left might be lost on her marriage tour—a common. 
occurrence, and the queenless bees would gradually dwindle down to their 
present weakly state. Your hive being without queen and without brood 
and with very few bees and little honey, makes us think it has come to its 
present condition in the way indicated above. The price of the best Scotch 
straw hives in the Manchester market (Mr. Yates’) ranges between 4s. and 
6s. each, according to size; and English-made ones 2s. each. We use the 
Scotch-made hives. ; 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 32’ 40" N.; Long. 0° 8’ 0” W.: Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 9 AM. IN THE Day. 
nee Hygrome- Eps ‘S# ;|Shade Tem-|_ Radiation I 
. ter. SA |a=9| perature. Temperature, & 
August] 2 = j Ee |BSs Ian On ql 
Dry.| Wet.| AS |B sun. | grass 
-| deg. | deg. d da Z. 
We. 21 59.9 | 5 NE. | 6 1033 
Th. 2 64.1 *| 3.E. | 6: 111.0 
Fri. 23 63.7 | EEG. a 90.0 
Sat. 2 64.3 . 61.6 cf 116.4 
Sun.25 i 60.1 61.0 a 105.8 
Mo. 26 497 | 63.6 | 61.0 ; 102.6 
Tu. 27 | 29.692 | 62.7 6L3 | 7% : Wt | 547 | 0.173 
Means] 29.684 | 62.6 | 59.4 | 612 107.2 | 515 | 1.865 
| 5 | 1. 
‘ REMARKS. 
21st.—Fine day, but not very bright, and rather cool; very slight shower in 
evening. 
22nd.—A rather dull day ; a little sun in the morning, over i = 
noon, wet in the evening, and heavy rain at eke oa zn theiates 
23rd.—Overcast in morning, rain at 11.30, thunder at noon, 0.31 of rain fell 
between 0.15 and 0.35 P.M., when the sun began to shine, but the 
thunder continued almost incessant till 1.30 P.M; heavy showers with 
eh plus! sky at intervals and distant thunder all the afternoon. 
24th.—Dull morning, thunderstorm between 11 A.M. 4 2 
pat pllovers at intervals all day. A es 
25th.—Fine pleasant morning; heavy clouds at 1.30P.M., making i a - 
dark, heavy rain from 2.5 to 2.40 P.M., showery sane eens 
fine evening. [evening. 
26th.—A dull, close, gloomy day; a little sunshine in the morning ; fine 
Pi eee a carly morning, but Hs clouded over and became dull with a 
good deal of heavy rain; early in the after. i y 
rest of the day a fine and bright. BR rT eee 
The weather during the week was unsettled and showery, the amount of 
Tain being considerable. Temperature rather below Jast week, sun tempera- 
ture very much below. Barometer low.—G. J. SYMONS. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.—Avcusrt 28. 
OUR market has been heavy, and clearances have been hardl eff 
classes of goods being lower. Kent Cobs and Filberts are ZaNiils aCe a 
FRUIT. 
s.d. s.d. 
Apples... dsieve 2 O0tot+ 0 | Melons each 5 fo BaD 
Apricots dozen 0 0 0 0} Nectari dozen 10 8 0 
Cherries . tb 0 0 0 0} Oranges #100 § 0 16 0 
Chestnuts bushel 0 0 0 0} Peaches dozen 1 0 8 0 
Currant dsieve 0 0 0 0 dozen 00 00 
Black 3 sie 00 00 dozen 00 00 
Figs... dozen 10 3 0 #tb. 30 6 O 
Filbert #ib. 06 09 ysieve 26 50 
Cobs.. ete PIb 06 09 Pb 06 10 
Gooseberries .. quart 00 0 0 Pb. 00.00 
Grapes,hothouse tb 0 6 6 0} Walnuts bushel 5 0 8 0 
Lemons ........ 2-100 6 0 10 0 ditto ~100 00 00 
i 
vi 
