469 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 12, 1878. 
Mr. B.—Haye you any records of results this year which we 
could compare and analyse ? 
Mr. P.—I know of two reports only of bee-keeping this year 
that can be compared, and neither of them is full or complete. 
The first is that of a Scotch clergyman who had a good harvest of 
super honey from eight Stewarton hives—viz., 445 ibs.,as reported 
in the Journal of Horticulture. One of these hives yielded 924 Ibs. 
of this sum total. The other report comes from James Somerville, 
a working man at Carluke, Lanarkshire. His hives are made of 
straw and managed on the swarming principle. The gross weight 
of one of his stock hives and its swarms was 352 lbs. From his 
five hives Somerville had 350 tbs. of run honey and 64 lbs. of honey- 
comb in supers. He sold his run honey at 1s. per lb. Ido not 
know what he got for his honeycomb, but comb is generally sold 
in Glasgow at 1s. 3d. per lb.—i.e., 3d. higher per pound than run 
honey. Neither do I know whether the clergyman sold his or 
not; but by taking the usual price in Glasgow of comb in good 
seasons we shall not go far wrong in our calculations of the money 
value of the results. At the prices indicated you will see, Mr. B., 
that the profits of the eight Stewarton hives this year haye been 
£27 16s. 3d., averaging £3 10s. per hive, and that the profits of the 
five straw hives managed on the swarming principle haye been 
£21 10s., averaging £4 6s. per hive. Ifthe wax of the straw hives 
be taken into account the profits would be quite £4 10s. per hive, 
leaving the Stewarton or non-swarming system 20s. per hive 
behind. But remember that the clergyman spoke of getting a 
harvest of run honey from his breeding boxes in addition to his 
super honey. If he has taken 20 Ibs. averagely from each hive, or 
240 tbs. altogether, his results will be equal in money value to 
those of the straw hives. And Iam sure that I would be gratified 
to learn that he has done all this. It would bea great happiness 
to me to ticket them “equal best.” The results in both cases are 
satisfactory and encouraging. Both gentlemen are able apiarians, 
and doubtless are living in pretty good localities for bees. 
such results, probably the highest models of success in 1878, we 
are indebted to the clergyman of Renfrewshire and the poor 
thatcher of Carluke, Lanarkshire. 
Mr. B.—Haye you forgotten that the clergyman’s bees were 
first-cross Ligurians ? 
Mr. P.—No, but I attach no importance whatever to that 
fact. I have no bias in favour of common bees nor prejudice 
against Ligurians, but the superiority of the one over the 
other appears to me to be only visionary. During the last 
twenty years no satisfactory proof of any superiority has been 
produced. There are so many people anxious to hold up the 
Ligurian bees that if any evidence can be found of their superiority 
the country will soon hear of it. For the grand results we are 
now considering and comparing we are indebted more to the size 
of the hives than anything else. Hives of any kind, any materials, 
or construction, measuring 18 inches deep and 14 inches wide, or 
18 inches wide and 14 inches deep, filled with either black or 
Ligurian bees, or cross-breds, will gather a prodigious amount 
of honey. 
Mr. B.—You seem to attach very little importance to the shape 
and construction of hives. 
Mr. P.—Very little indeed. We cannot help bees, and we cannot 
make them more industrious than they are. Let yours have plenty 
of breeding and store room and your success will be greater than 
you imagine.—A. PETTIGREW. 
SOME BEE EXPERIENCES OF 1878. 
LAST season [used zinc adapters with round perforations on two 
frame hives, and in one case [ found the queen in the uppermost 
of the two supers which had been last put on. As she had only 
found room for a small amount of brood she had evidently only 
penetrated there late in the day. Both supers were quite full, and 
the lower quite free from brood. Her majesty was as slimas a 
princess, and consequently I am not surprised at her squeezing 
through the perforations. It was a stock which had not swarmed, 
but which I had strengthened by the addition of a small cast; 
possibly this was the queen of the cast. I am sorry I had not 
leisure to examine the stock to ascertain if there was another 
queen. It would be interesting to know the experience of others 
as regards zinc adapters as to whether my experience is exceptional 
or not. Q 
I also found an incomplete queen cell built on the wooden 
dummy occupying the place of the side of a Cheshire hive. I 
never before found a queen cell built on the side of either a straw 
or wooden hive. Is it exceptional ?—O. B. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
KEEP OF FOWLS (A Subscriber).—It is impossible to estimate the ex- 
pense, so much depends upon the breed, season, locality, and object— 
whether for eggs, chickens, or exhibition. 
HENS FOR LAYING (7. A.).—We advise you to keep Andalusians. 
CANARY TREATMENT AND EXHIBITING (Novice).—Judging from what 
you state respecting the distressed condition of your Norwich cock bird, we 
have no doubt it is suffering from severe asthma, the result of cold and the 
For | 
removing of the bird into a different atmosphere. The difficulty of breath- 
ing and the painful and unpleasant creaking noises the bird utters are sure 
signs that life will soon terminate. Cayenne pepper will net cure it of the 
complaint, especially considering the advanced state of illness. The periodi- 
cal moulting has yery much weakened tho bird’s system. Give the sufferer 
a few drops of cod-liver oil mixed with a small portion of soaked bread, in 
addition to an occasional bread-and-milk diet. You had better procure 
another cock bird of last season’s breed, one not pepper-moulted. Three 
or four pairs of Norwich birds, clear or marked, according to fancy, will find 
you ample attention until you become better versed in the hobby of Canary 
keeping and breeding. Purchase a treatise upon Canaries. At present we 
should not advise you to pursue the cayenne-pepper system of moulting. It 
is not only expensive, but you must not expect to make headway in the 
fancy, especially in the way of successfully competing at bird shows in the 
peppered classes, with those who haye become adepts in the art of moulting 
Canaries of very high colour. There are classes for non-peppered Canaries 
at the Crystal Palace, Norwich, and other well-known exhibitions, in which 
| you would stand a better chance of getting a position if your birds be sent 
in a clean condition. Even beforethen you will have to learn how to wash 
a bird or get someone to manipulate for you. 
GOLD FISH MANAGEMENT (/. W.).—Draw off the water almost entirely 
every day by means ofasyphon. <A piece of indianrubber tube makes the 
best of syphons for emptying a glass globe, it is so flexible and manageable. 
River water should be employed. Keep a few aquatic plants in your 
aquarium, and give the fish a very few small pieces of vermicelli daily. 
There should be some clean pebbles and sand at the bottom of the globe for 
the fish to scour against. We do not know the cause of their becoming 
partly black. Can any of our readers state the cause or remedy ? 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat."51° 32’ 40" N.; Long. 0° 8’0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
9 A.M. IN THE Day. 
Hygrome-| 85 |S#,./ShadeTem-| Radiation | 
ter. Sa |¢=5| perature. |Temperature.| 3 
ORE ETS: S 
oe — 
2 Be | San In On 
y-| Wet} QS |X | Max. Min.| sun. | grass 
Inches, deg. | deg. | deg. des. | deg. in. 
N. 38.5 | 41.6 | 34.2 47.7 380.5 _— 
N.W.. | 38.2 | 43.3 | 33.3 46.7 28.5 | 0.011 
N.N.W.! 38.0 | 39.7 | 29.3 66.5 26.1 | 0.130 
N, 37.0 | 36.5 | 30.4 43.6 27.8 — 
N. 36.8 | 35.2 }) 31.6 57.8 29.0 _ 
N.W.. | 36.2 | 344 | 39.0 5A | TOF | — 
N.N.E. | 35.9 | 28.4 | 26.2 29.4 | 29:5 _ 
32.4 37.2 “37.0 80.6 | 49.4 27.2 | 0.141 
REMARKS, 
4th.—Fine pleasant day, clear bright sky at sunset ; moonlight evening. 
5th.—Foggy morning, overcast but dry till 345 P.M., rain until 7 P.M.; 
moonlight night. 
6th.—Beautitul bright, clear, frosty morning, very fine day; snow com- 
menced at 8.45 p.m ; cloudy night and snowing. 
7th.—Raw damp morning, snow melting, dull and overcast all day; flakes 
of snow in the evening. 
8th.—Fair and dry, bright sunshine at intervals during the morning ; little 
thick in afternoon ; fine night. 
9th.—Cold, but very bright fine day throughout ; moonlight evening. 
10th.—Thick white frost in morning, very cold all day, no sunshine, overcast 
and rather thick. 
Very cold, mean temperature nearly S° below the average.—G. J. SYMONS. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.—DECEMBER 11. 
THE only improvement in our Market is amongst late-keeping Apples, 
such as Wellingtons, Blenheims, and Nobs, all of which are in good demand 
at higher rates. 
FRUIT. 
s.d. s. d. s. ds. da 
Zsieve 2 Oto5 0] Melons......... 5 each 1 O0to4 0 
dozen 0 0 O 0} Nectarines .... dozen 00 00 
ib 0 0 O 0} Oranges .. yw 100 4 0 10 0 
bushel 12 0 16 0/| Peaches........ dozen. 0 9 0 0 
tsieve 0 0 O O| Pears,kitchen.. dozen 0 0 8 0 
$sieve 0 0 0 0 dessert ..... . » dozen 3 0) § 0 
dozen 0 0 O 0} Pine Apples.... Y 205-40 
tb. 0 9 1 O| Piums.... .. sieve 00 00 
Ib 0 9 1 O| Raspberries.... ~eib. 0 0 00 
Gooseberrie » quart 0 0 0 0| Strawberries .. Pib. 00 00 
Grapes,hothouse tb 1 6 6 0| Walnuts.. 80 00 
Lemons ........ y100 4 0 $ 0} ditto 00 00 
VEGETABLES. 
s.d. s. ae a a ft Gb ee 
Artichokes...... dozen 2 0to4 ushrooms pottle i) 
Asparagus...... bundle 0 0 0 0| Mustard & Cress punnet 0 2 0 4 
Beans, Kidney.. #100 10 16 ushel 2 6 3 0 
Beet, Red vs dozen 1 6 8 0 quart 0 4 0 0 
Broccoli bundle 0 9 1 6 «bunches 2 0 0 6 
Brussels Sprouts 4sieve 2 0 4 0 dozen 00 00. 
Cabbage =s..0... dozen 10 2 0 quart 0 0 0 6 
Carrots punch 0 4 0 8 bushel 8 6 4 0 
Capsicums a0 w100 1 6 2 0 bushel 4 0 5 G6 
Cauliflowers. dozen 3 0 6 0 bunches 10 1 0 
Celery .. 196 -42)40 bundle 0 0 O 0 
Coleworts.. 20 40 bundle 0 9 1 6 
Cucumbe: g o4 10 bundle 10 00 
Endive dozen 1 0 2 0 basket 2 6 3 0 
Fennel.. bunch 0 8 0 0 Pib 038 0 0 
Garlic .. tb. 0 6 O 0} Spinach bushel 2 6 4 0 
Herbs .. bunch 0 2 0 0} Turnips bunch 0 2 0 0 
Leeks bunch 0 2 O 4 | Veg.Marro each 00 00 
