November 7, 1878. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
359 
£5 2s, from his Stewarton colony “J. R.” must have expended 
2s. 9d. each, or 8s. 3d. for the three supers employed, but at the 
enhanced price of 6d. per pound super over run honey he was 
repaid thrice over, but their price was not deducted, as they 
would form part of his working plant, coming in serviceable for 
other hives and seasons. 
Next as to time. My experience is most decidedly in fayour of 
the non-swarming or bar-frame over the swarming skep system. 
What a pleasant task is the look round the apiary of a morning, 
to put everything to rights before leaving for town, which is all 
that is required during the honey season. The business man can- 
mot wait at home the middle or best part of the day to watch 
for skep swarms ; that duty is delegated to some member of the 
family, who rolls it over on the gardener or some domestic, when 
neglect too often ensues, and our little favourites are voted all 
round a shocking bore. Take the case of “J. R.” He said, “I 
hived my first swarm on the 17th of June, and lost much time 
watching for the other, which did not come off till late (12th of 
July).” Supposing this stock had been a frame hive instead of a 
common skep, the half of that cottager’s breakfast hour any morn- 
ing would haye been amply sufficient to obtain an artificial swarm 
by simply placing a frame brood with the queen in an empty 
Stewarton on old stance, moving the stock close to first swarm, 
whereas he and his family lost their time and were distracted 
from other duties during a part of twenty-five days with what 
on an improved system could easily be accomplished in less than 
one half hour—A RENFREWSHIRE BEE-KEEPER. 
THE STEWARTON HIVE AND OTHER MATTERS. 
WE have read that if two goats going in opposite directions 
meet on a bridge too narrow to allow them to pass each other, 
one kneels down to let the other pass over him, and that the goat 
which thus kneels is a finer gentleman than Lord Chesterfield. 
‘When two men ride together on one horse it is understood that 
one of them must sit behind the other. Though I have no Ches- 
terfield pretensions and accomplishments, it is well known that 
I have for five years been playing the humble part of allowing 
others to pass over me. Very recently I tried to get on horseback 
behind the “ RENFREWSHIRE BEE-KEEPER,” with a view to do 
my best in helping him to introduce the Stewarton hive to the 
notice of the apiarians of Great Britain. Strange as it may appear 
he would not let me, The offer of my services has been rejected 
without thanksgiving; for my pains and good intentions I am 
‘grumbled at and found fault with. Some people are unfcrtunate 
and miss their way. A short time ago a lady at the head of a 
tea table asked me, “ How it comes that so many writers on bees 
find fault with you while you do not find fault or interfere with 
them?” “Well, madam, answer me this question first: What 
makes all the sighing maids around pick at the pretty girl of the 
village?” “Oh, Mr. Pettigrew, you can get over everything and 
everybody,” said the lady. Of course I can, and so can anybody 
else if he goes rightly to work. Iam going to work in earnest to 
get over the “ RENFREWSHIRE BEE-KEEPER.” If I succeed in 
making him take the place of the humble goat on the bridge he 
sill be a finer gentleman than Lord Chesterfield, and if he can | 
humble himself to sit on horseback beside Mr. P. he would be a 
great boon to the apicultural world, and his fame would spread 
far and near. 
I do not need to tell the readers of the Journal of Horticulture 
that the Renfrewshire gentleman is a faultfinder with almost 
everybody and everything out of his own school, that his criti- 
isms are often severe and I feel unwarrantable, and that they 
are mixed up with personal allusions of a character not suitable 
for the intelligence of the present day. For five years he has been 
finding fault with me—almost everything I do or say is wrong. 
Mr. George Fox, the most successful gentleman in supering hives 
that England has produced, is found fault with. The day has 
past for large supers; the mode of filling them is wrong; the 
eommon bar-frame hive is wrong, its crown hole objectionable, 
and Pettigrew’s lumbering waggon so full of great straw hives 
must be driven off the high road. Our friend down in Renfrew- 
shire is fit for better work than this. There is a great deal of 
good stuff in him, and there is before him a wide field and around 
him a wide sphere of usefulness if he can abstain only from so 
much faultfinding, which at best is profitless work. 
Some twelve months ago I had before me the letter of a lady 
seeking information about and a description of the Stewarton 
hive. I was greatly inclined to describe this hive in my own 
way, but being rather afraid of offending other folk I turned to 
Mr. Hunter’s book, and there found a description of the hive from 
the pen of the “ RENFREWSHIRE BEE-KEEPER,” which I quoted. As 
the Stewarton hive still remains unknown to nine-tenths of British 
bee-keepers I thought it would be well for me to picture in words 
as well as I could this hive, and recommend it. Hence I wrote a 
description of the hive in question ; and, sure enough, I could not 
write a better one now. Well, our Renfrewshire friend finds fault 
in his own characteristic way with almost everything I said about 
the hive. He says, “It is rather an unpleasant task to be required 
so frequently to demonstrate that Mr. Pettigrew is out of his 
reckoning.” Iam fond of demonstrations of facts, and invariably 
pay far more attention to things proved than to things merely 
said. I may not know what he means by the word “demon- 
strate.” If he assumes that somebody is wrong and he is right, 
and tells the world so, has he proved anything ? I am not aware 
that he has succeeded once in proving that I have been wrong or 
out of my reckoning. I am anxious to avoid making mistakes, 
and whenever I discover that one has been made I openly with- 
draw it. The Stewarton was described as consisting of two 
breeding boxes 6 inches deep and 15 inches wide, with two supers 
4 inches wide, all with cross bars. Our friend says “it actually 
consists of at least three boxes 14 inches wide, with as many honey 
boxes as are required.” This correction is rather too frivolous to 
dwell upon. A bar-frame hive and a straw hive are what they 
are called without either supers or nadirs ; and a Stewarton hive 
is what it is called without either nadir or super. If a Stewarton 
hive be ordered of Mr. Allan he sends two breeding boxes and 
two supers or honey boxes ; if more are required he charges extra 
for them—I think 7s. for a box, and 3s. for a super. The “ReEn- 
FREWSHIRE BEE-KEEPER” has, I think, been successful in filling 
supers on two boxes. As to the width of the hive being only 
14 inches I have nothing to say. A friend of mine procured two 
from Mr, Allan last year—one of which was more than 15 inches 
wide — made to order. If a greater width be adopted, say 
16 or 17 inches, the hive will be improved. The shifting of the 
slides, too, is a matter of choice. I said all were removed. Our 
friend says, ‘‘ The slides are never removed from the tops of the 
breeding boxes to the tops of the supers, giving the bees free 
access from both first and second floors to the attics, which on no 
account is allowed.” Again, “ Mr. Pettigrew is far astray in stating 
that the queen can go into the super as often as she pleases. She 
is strictly debarred by the central slides being kept closed.” Our 
friend knows, or should know, that if only one slide be withdrawn 
the queen can enter the super whenever she likes. Mr. Briscoe, 
who uses the Stewarton hive, lately told a correspondent seeking 
information that if three breeding boxes were not used the queen 
went into the supers. In determining what combs shall be used 
for brood the working bees appear to be the prime factors. My 
crown holes between hives and supers are 4 inches wide, and 
during thirty years I have found a patch of brood in two supers 
only. If ever I work on the Stewarton principle all the slides 
between hives and supers shall be withdrawn. Free access from 
all parts of the hive to the supers would tend greatly to prevent 
swarming. The Stewarton hive would not appear to me half so 
valuable if it could not be supered without the slide. Ample 
freedom and thoroughfare lessen complication and separation. In 
search of other demonstrations I shall have to take a retrospect. 
A few months ago “ RENFREWSHIRE BEE-KEEPER” wrote in the 
Journal that a hive of bees was like asealed book to those that do 
not use moveable-comb hives. How could he demonstrate this ? 
Some fifty years ago I knew many working men who never saw a 
moveable-comb hive, and yet they knew a great deal about the 
internal workings of hives, and had then learned lessons which 
he has yet to learn. It is very painful for me to tell him this 
but it is right that he should be told. : 
About the same period of time the question of crude and per- 
fect honey was being discussed in the pages of this Journal, and 
it is well known that I hold there is a difference between them 
—that bees gather crude honey, and at home convert into perfect 
honey. Our friend pounced upon me like an eagle by declaring 
that Mr. Pettigrew’s notions were “the crudest of all crude 
theories.” I had seen, handled, and tasted both crude and perfect 
honey a thousand times, and could smile at the demonstration and 
let it pass ; but seeing that he looks to his past doings it is just 
possible that he may consider that he put me right on the ques- 
tion, I think I can put him right. I intend going to Scotland 
next spring to remain some weeks. When I am there I shall be 
happy to visit his garden and let him, and as many bee-keepers as 
he may please to invite, have a demonstration. If he consents, I 
will turn up one of his hives and take from it both crude and 
perfect honey, and hand it to competent judges for examination, 
and leave them to say who is right and who is wrong. A demon- 
stration of this kind would settle the question for ever; and by 
making arrangement for it our friend will show that he loves 
truth more than his own opinions. If the gentleman consents 
and makes the arrangements, and I live to go down to Renfrew- 
shire, I shall beg leave to show him that he is wrong in stating 
that bees work in the day, and at night “enjoy a well-earned 
repose.” What a treat it would be to me to see a swarm of bees 
asleep enjoying a well-earned repose! I think there will be no 
difficulty in showing him or anybody else that bees are during the 
night engaged in many offices of activity, one of which is carry- 
ing honey from the bottom to the top of the hive—from the 
breeding combs to the honeycombs, and that supers get great 
additions of comb and honey during the night. 
On another occasion he stated that eggs were never removed 
from one cell to another. Many bee-keepers beside myself have 
known eggs removed from cell to celi after the queen was re- 
moved from the hive, and others have seen the bees in the ack of 
removing them. 
