382 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
{ November 14, 1878, 
such cells without letting the taint or taste of pollen pass into the 
honey ; and rather than risk danger in this direction we put aside 
the pollen combs with honey in them for feeding purposes. For 
quality we sacrifice quantity ; and by this method of pressure we 
obtain more honey and better quality than is had by the cottager’s 
plan of breaking all the combs with a knife and draining the 
honey through a cheesecloth, because the knife breaks the pollen, 
and this taints the honey. I hope that someone will invent a 
simple instrument to press the honey out instead of the hands. 
My inventive powers are but feeble, but I can see that two per- 
forated boards fixed about 2 or 3 inches apart to receive honey- 
combs edgewise, with some lever like a pump handle to come 
down between them, would be much better in every way, and do 
four times more work than human hands. Before I leave the pro- 
cess of honey-taking let me ask the reader to bear in mind that 
the honey should be drained from combs in their natural heat, 
and that, if allowed to cool, the honey does not run so well. It 
is rather difficult to impart artificial heat to honeycombs. In 
doing this before a fire the combs are apt to melt. 
I do not know how foreign honey is taken from combs, but 
much of what comes to England is well and cleanly taken. I 
have seen barrels of pure Chilian honey on sale in Manchester 
without any impurity or taint whatever. 
The lady at our house is wonderfully clever in the work of 
melting wax. All the loose, empty, offal combs are closely pressed 
together in big lumps and cast into a large bag of cheesecloth. 
When this bag is full its mouth is closely tied and cast into a 
copper or boiler of clean water. When it boils, the wax—a beau- 
tiful yellow oil—swims on the top. This oil is skimmed off and 
yun through a strainer or muslin cloth into a pan with some clean 
cold water in it. When all the oil is thus skimmed off, the copper 
is emptied and washed. The wax is boiled a second time in clean 
water and put through the strainer. This finishes the work of 
wax-melting. 1 
the cakes would crack on their surface. As wax is very inflam- 
mable, containing as it does more than 80 per cent. of carbon, 
great care should be used in boiling it not to let it tip over the 
copper into the fire. As wax sticks to everything it touches, 
plenty of soda should be used in. cleaning dishes, &c., used in 
making it. Honey is an excellent soap in cold water, but forms 
a greasy mess in warm water. Nothing but pure cold water should 
be used in cleaning anything touched by honey.—A PETTIGREW. 
STRAW SKEPS AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE SHOWS. 
My attention has been directed to a statement of Mr. Peiti- 
grew’s in a late number of the Journal, that straw skeps were 
refused admission to the Crystal Palace bee shows, which your 
correspondent “‘ A RENFREWSHIRE BEE-KEEPER” calls upon the 
Hon. Sec. to refute. As I held that office at both shows I say 
most emphatically that Mr. Pettigrew is wrong. I do not know 
whether he means full skeps or empty ones, but referring to the 
first catalogue I find there were four competitors for a prize for 
the latter class. Nine prizes were offered and competed for by 
filled straw supers alone, and twenty-nine prizes open to both 
wood and straw. So far from admission being refused to straw 
skeps, the many visitors to the Show must remember that scores 
of such hives appeared on the tables, and at the second Crystal 
Palace Show they were also well represented. I can hardly 
understand how Mr. Pettigrew could make this mistake, seeing 
that I myself sent him the prize schedules and invited him to 
udge the exhibits. f ; y 
I have also another grievance against Mr. Pettigrew. n the 
Joumal, November 7th, in explaining the wrong measurements 
he had given of the Stewarton hive, he says he quoted from the 
description of the hive in my book, “ A Manual of Bee-keeping.” 
Rather astonished I refer to the book and find the true dimensions, 
14 inches diameter, are there given, and not 15 inches as Mr. 
Pettigrew has stated. Surely Mr. Pettigrew should be a little 
more particular before shifting his own blunders on to my 
shoulders.—JOHN Hunter, Haton Rise, Baling. 
UNPRODUCTIVE EGGS. 
Tur fact that a correspondent of this Journal saw some eggs 
in combs which did not become brood or hatch into bees, does not 
jn our opinion prove that they were blind or incapable of yielding 
pees. The eggs of a queen bee are unlike the unfertilised eggs ot 
pirds, which cannot be quickened into life. There are no blind 
eggs ina bee hive. With proper treatment they are productive. 
A fertilised queen lays both male and female eggs ; an unfertilised 
queen produces male eggs only, and very few of them compara- 
tively. These things are well known by our respected correspon- 
dent. It is believed that the female eggs only are fertilised in 
the body of the queen, and that the male eggs of a fertilised 
queen bee escape unfertilised. Though there are difficulties and 
mysteries surrounding the mamner or question of egg-fertilisation, 
almost all advanced apiarians accept the theory as well established. 
‘As to the eggs seen in the combs which did not produce bees, 
The wax should not be cooled rapidly, otherwise | 
there does not appear to be any difficulty in accounting for the 
fact if we admit that working bees have both the will and the 
power to remove eggs and destroy them when they do not want 
brood, and this destruction of eggs or prevention of brood-rear- 
ing is of very common occurrence. Egg-laying, or the produc- 
tion of eggs in queen bees, is involuntary so far as she is con- 
cerned. A queen can neither form nor hinder the formation of 
eggs, and when they are formed she cannot retain them. But the 
working bees can determine whether the eggs shall or shall not 
be quickened into life—whether they shall or shall not become 
perfect bees. Very often in the middle of summer, when queens 
are laying perhaps two thousand eggs a day, have we known the 
bees decline to set them, but hatched out the brood that was some- 
what advanced. In times of unfavourable weather setting in, 
threatening the whole community with poverty and starvation, 
the bees wisely or instinctively decline to set eggs. We have 
known young swarms after building a few combs, and by reason 
of unfavourable weather were hindered from building more or 
gathering honey, decline to set eggs, and left their hives and 
combs, and went off as “hunger swarms” without an egg or 
speck of honey in them. In autumn, in the face of winter, bees 
are naturally disinclined to engage in the work of brood-rearing, 
but on being vigorously fed and kept warm this disinclination is 
removed to a certain extent and breeding recommences—not 
always, but oftentimes.—A. PETTIGREW. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 32° 40" N.; Long. 0° 8’ 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE 9 A.M. IN THE DAY. | 
on Hygrome-| 25 :|Shade Tem-| Radiation | & 
1878 ter. Sa perature. Temperature. é 
Nov Ze a ne BELO 
as \Max.} Min.| sun. | grass 
deg. | deg. deg.| In. 
We. 6 N.W. | 42.0 | 44.8 30.2 _— 
UNE ie N.W. | 41.9 | 47.0 31.5 | 0.011 
Fri. § Ss. 41.3 | 45.7 27.7 | 0.148 
Sat. 9 N.W. | 41.0 | 44.7 27.4 | 0.363 
Sun.10 Se 41.2 | 514 3844 0.413 
Mo. 11 N.W. | 42.2 | 449 32.5 | 0.011 
Tu. 12 W. 41.0 | 41.3 28.1 = 
Means | 29.609 PALS | 45.7 | 84.1 718 30.3 | 0.946 
REMARKS. 
6th.—Little snow in morning; clear fine bright day ; beautiful moonlight 
evening. 
7th.—Windy in morning, but very clear sky; fine day throughout with 
bright sunshine ; little misty towards evening ; moonlight night. 
8th.—Wet morning, hail shower 10.5 A.M., brighter with intervals of sunshine 
in middle of day ; cold shower in afternoon ; squall with heavy rain 
at 4.5P.M.; high wind and rain in evening. 
9th.—Clear frosty morning ; very fine bright day ; moonlight night. 
10th.—Very squally with rain during the night; wet morning at 2.45 P.w., 
great squall of wind, with rain and sleet, windy and wet all day; at 
9.30 P.M. fine and moonlight. 
11th.—Clear bright morning, short shower of small hail at 1.35 P.M.; fine 
afternoon ; showery in eyening. 
12th.—Clear fine morning; solar halo 2P.M.; after 3 P.M. dull and rather 
misty ; damp and cold evening. 
Not quite so cold as last week, but still cool for the season—G. J. SYMONS. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.—NOVEMBER 13. 
WE have no alteration to quote from last week. 
FRUIT. : 
Saude) Sed. §.d. s. a 
Zsieve 1 Gto+t O| Melons ........ each 1 Oto4 0 
dozen 0 0 O 0) Nectarines dozen 0 0 0 0 
bushel 0 0 0 0} Oranges .. 100 8 0 16 O 
dozen 0 0 0 0| Peaches ........ dozen 0 0 0 0 
tb. 0 8 1 0| Pears, kitchen... dozen 0 0 0 0 
Pib. 0 8 1 0 dessert. ace dozen 3 0 6 0 
Grapes, hothouse tb. 0 9 6 0} Pine Apples.... ib. 2 0 4 0 
Lemons .......- p 100 G6 0 18 0| Walnuts ...... bushel 5 0 $8 0 
VEGETABLES. 
Ss. d. s. d. : sd. Ss. 
Artichokes...... dozen 2 0to4 0|Mushrooms.... pottle 1 6to2 
Asparagus...... bundle 0 0 0 esS punnet 0 2 4 
Beans,Kidney .. pib 0 3 0 ions bushel 2 6 8 
Beet, Red ...... dozen 1 6 8 pickling quart 0 4 0 
Broccoli ........ bundle 0 9 1 6] Parsley.... doz.bunches 2 0 0 
Brussels Sprouts }sieve 38 0 4 6] Parsnips........ dozen 0 0 0 
Cabbage ........ dozen 1 0 2 0)/:Peas): quart 0 0 0 
Carrots bunch 0 4 0 8 | Potatoes. bushel 3 6 4 
Capsicums.. e100 16 2 0 Kidney ...... bushel 4 0 6 
Caulitlowers dozen 3 0 6 0] Radishes.. doz.bunches 1 0 1 
Celery ......0055 bundle 1 6 2 0] Rhubarb........ bundle 0 0 0 
Coleworts..doz.bunches 2 0 4 0|Salsafy ........ bundle 0 9 1 
Cucumbers .... each 0 4 1 0/Scorzonera .... bundie 1 0 0 
Endive dozen 10 2 0}Seakale ....... . basket 26 3 
Fennel, bunch 0 8 0O 0] Shallots ........ Ppib 038 Of 
Garlic . yp tb. 0 6 O 0| Spinach . ... bushel 2 6 4_ 
Herbs ... bunch 0 2 O 0|Turnips...... bunch 0 2 0§ 
Leeks bunch 0 2 0 41Veg. Marrows.. each 0 2§ 0) 
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