134 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 10, 187S. 



cloth, and if a queen is there eggs will be found in the morning 

 on the black ground. Certain it is that in June last I found 

 abundance of euch dropped eggs in a cloth that had been tied 

 round a ekep containing a swarm. — John Hunter, Eaton Rise, 

 Ealing. 



FILLING SUPERS AND FRAMES WITH 



HONEYCOMB. 



Mr. Hunter says that " Mr. Pettigrew's idea of filling small 

 frames with such combs [honeycombs cut from honey hives] 

 and then giving them to the bees to clean and fix will be found 

 a failure. The bees' first and only idea would be to fill their 

 hive, and to do this they will very quickly empty the strange 

 combs. I have tried it and know it fails, although I gave them 

 a much better chance than Mr. Pettigrew promises with his un- 

 furnished hive." Tbis is very plain and honest language, and I 

 am sure that Mr. Hunter and the readers of the Journal will 

 now permit me to speak as plainly and honestly as he has done. 

 He has not tried my plan, and therefore does not kuow that it 

 will fail. I have tried it again and again, and in my hands it 

 never fails. The two instances that Mr. Hunter brings into 

 view are not to the point at all. He presented strange combs 

 and new honey to full hives. He might have anticipated failures, 

 for this was a temptation too strong for any bees, for they in- 

 stinctively fill their own hives, and will carry honey both up- 

 wards and downwards and from every quarter to fill their own 

 combs. But if they have no combs of their own to fill what will 

 they do with the honey given to them ? "Where will they carry 

 it to ? Mr. Hunter has yet to consider this question, and try an 

 experiment or two. Sball I be permitted to suggest one or two 

 which may be of considerable and permanent importance to 

 bee-keepers generally? 



1. Let the frames of a hive be filled artificially as well as 

 possible with honeycombs cut from honey hives, and placed 

 over a good swarm in an empty hive. The bees will not carry 

 an ounce of honey below. Instead of doing this they will com- 

 mence fixing the combs in the frames, and if honey in quantity 

 be given to them in the bottom (empty) hive, they will carry it 

 aloft and store it in the combs thus given to them. This is a 

 very short and easy way of filling frames with virgin honey- 

 comb, and I sincerely tru6t that maDy poor bee-keepers will by 

 it be enabled to convert their honey hardly saleable at Wd. into 

 a form readily saleable in any market at Is. Sd. per lb. 



2. Let a super of any kind or size be filled with honeycomb, 

 sealed or unsealed, and placed in like manner on a swarm of 

 bees in an empty hive, and fed with honey either extracted or 

 in broken combs. All the honey will be carried aloft, and the 

 super will be found unobjectionable from every point of view, 

 and saleable in any market. This is not an idea as Mr. Hunter 

 calls it, it is an old practice which I unfolded in the pages of 

 thiB Journal three or four years ago. In the interest of bee- 

 keeping, for the advantage of both amateurs and bee-farmers, I 

 ask that these experiments be widely tested. 



Experience after all is the best teacher, and sure am I that 

 thoEe who demur at my plans will yet believe in the possibility 

 of filling bar-frames with honeycomb artificially, and filling 

 them as easily with full combs as those at the Crystal Palace 

 first show were filled with tough black old combs. Notwith- 

 standing Mr. Hunter's present " positive negative," I believe he 

 will become a robust and able teacher of the practice. Beyond 

 this he and others will go and learn another lesson — namely, 

 that it is possible to prevent bees from carrying honey from 

 supers artificially given to them. At present they are not able I 

 to bear it. — A. Pettigrew. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Packing Honeycomb (J. G.).— Honeycombs cat from hives are not easily 

 packed for travelling. In cutting the combs oat they should be first laid on 

 some kind of wickerworkor basket lid, to let the honey from the broken cells 

 drain into a vessel beneath. In a couple of hours they could be packed in 

 boseB on their edges or in their natural position, touching and supporting 

 one another. We fill handled baskets thus for delivery by messengers. If we 

 were sending 40 or 50 lbs. in a box to a distance we Bhould pack the combs as 

 they are built in hives, throw a swarm of bees amongst them, and lid them 

 down for thirty-six hours. The bees would lick the comba dry, and fasten and 

 prepare them for travelling. " J. C.'s " own ingenuity will help him more 

 than anything we can Bay. 



Bee Management {E. M. E.).— You have a very correct knowledge of 

 the management of bees, and we are pleased to hear of yours doing so well 

 this season, which as a whole has not been a favourable one for honey-gather- 

 ing. As Nob. 1 and 2 of your stock are in hives inoonveniently large and 

 heavy for a lady, you may drive their bees out now and take tbeir honey. 

 The brood in them will be sacrificed, but by patting the Bwarms into smaller 

 empty hives and feeding them well for a few days fresh combs would be 

 speedily built and filled with brood. When the saper on No. 3 shall be filled 

 take it off and drive the bees of the hive into an empty one, and feed them 

 into a stock, or unite them to the bees of 1 or 2. No. 4 will be strong enough 

 without any extra bees — at least, stronger than any of the rest. Nob. 1 and 2 

 should be killing their drones now. 



Hiving a Swarm {Mrs. Elrington). — You oan certainly now drive the 

 sworm you speak of with safety ; only be careful in the act of driving, espe- 



cially if the weather be hot, as the combs will be more or less delicate and 

 brittle. Yoa will, however, at this time probably find a good deal of brood in 

 it. We should prefer waiting till S eptember. 



Taking Honey (Smallwood).— Your first attempt at taking honey from a 

 hive has not been very agreeable—perhaps not verv successful. After driving 

 the bees into an empty hive you should have destroyed the stragglers left 

 behind with sulphur or chloroform, then removed the hooey hive "indoors, 

 and there take the combs out one by one The operation is very easy, and 

 well understood by all the cottage clas3 of bee-keepers. Taking aud running 

 honey is never a pleasant occupation, but it must be done. We drive our 

 bees into empty hives, sulphur the few remaining stragglers to death, take 

 the honey hives without a living bee in them into a hothouse, and there 

 withdraw the cross sticks, remove the combs into m'lfcpaos, and then run the 

 honey. From the commencement of driving to the jarring-up of the honey 

 it takes aboui an hour to dj the work of a hive co learning 25 lbs. Though 

 unpleasant the work is simple and easy. The nearest bee-keeper will show 

 you how to doit. 



Wax Moth {Amateur). — Usually in this country a strong hive will success- 

 fully keep off the wax moth. We know no way of preventing the ravages of 

 these pescs except by personally watching for and destroying them whenever 

 they are seen ; also we carefully avoid leaving empty comb about. The only 

 way to destroy them in empty hives is to cut out aud destroy every comb or 

 part of a comb in which thsy have taken up their quarters. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



Camden Squabe, London. 



Lat. 51° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0° 8' 0" W-; Altitude, 111 feet. 



Date. 



9 A. al. 



In the Day. 







1 tt rt, 



Hygrome- 



S-5 





Shade Tem- 



Radiation 



a 



187S. 





ter. 



P 



a °-. 



perature. 



Temperature. 



M 



Aug. 









In 



On 







Dry. ] Wet. 



Q° 



in 



Max. 



Mia. 



sun. 



grass 







Inches. 



deg. deg. 





deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



In. 



We. 2 



SO "97 



61.2 57 8 



S. 



62.6 



73.9 



46.6 



121.8 



43.3 



0.108 



Th. 3 



29.45S 



6 .8 61.8 



S. 



64.0 



71.9 



58.1 



122.1 



55 1 



0.110 



Fri. 4 



S 017 



61.0 1 58.0 



S. 



62.6 



72 3 



53.3 



123.3 



49.2 



0.424 



Sat. 5 



30H9 



63.7 ' 58.8 



N.W. 



62.4 



74.8 



55.4 



125 4 



54.7 



— 



Sun. 6 



80 293 



64.5 | 60.0 



w. 



62.2 



741 



51.4 



1S5.1 



48 9 



— 



Mo. 7 



30.164 



67.4 64 



w. 



63 5 



82.0 



58.3 



124 8 



551 



— 



Tu. 8 



30.172 



66.8 63.8 



N.W. 



65.5 



83.5 



55.8 



124 4 



53.0 



— 



Means. 



80.016 



64.3 | 60.6 





63.3 



76.1 



54.3 



123.8 



518 



0.642 



REMARKS. 

 2nd, — Very fine day throughout, but barometer falling rapidlj. 

 3rd. — Wet morning, but Boon clearing off, and followed by a very fine day. 

 4th.— Dull though fair in the morning; very showery all the after part of the 



day; at times the showers were rather heavy. 

 5th. — Fine throughout the day, though looking rather stormlike about 6 p.m. ; 



very fine night. 

 6th.— Fine day, rather cloudy at times; rain at a distance at 7.30, and a very 



slight shower here. 

 7th. — Rather dull early, but very fine after 9 a.m., and a splendid day, but 



very hot, though there was a very pleasant breeze. 

 8th. — Another very hue day, and very close in the evening. 



No feature calling for special notice, unless it be the uniformity of the 

 maximum in sun — viz , within 1° on four consecutive daysj and within less 

 than 5° throughout the week. — G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— August 9. 

 Prices of soft fruit are somewhat lower this week, buyers being pretty 

 well full, aud all samples showing signs of the finish. The demand for hot- 

 house fruit is also falling off, while the supply seems as plentiful now a3 any 

 time during the season. The first Kent Filberts have arrived. 



Apples $ sieve 



Apricots dozen 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 



Currants 4 sieve 



Black i do. 



Figs dozen 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 



Gooseberries quart 



Grapes, hotbouse lb. 



Lemons ^100 



Melons each 



s. d. s. d. 



6 to 5 

 6 3. 



Mulberries lb. 



Nectarines dozen 



Oranges ^ 10 J 



Peaches dozen 



Pears, kitchen .... dozen 



dessert dozen 



Pine Apples lb. 



Plums i seive 



Quinces bushel 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries lb. 



Walnuts bushel 



ditto ^100 



d. s. d. 

 OtoO 

 21 

 12 



20 







VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes dozen 



Asparagus V 100 1 



French bundle 



Beans, Kidney.... ^lb. 



Beet, Ked dozen 1 



Broccoli bundle 



Brussels Sprouts £ sieve 



Cabbage dozen 1 



Carrots bunch 



Capsicums *> 100 1 



Cauliflower dozen 1 



Celery bundle 1 



Coleworts.. doz. bunches 2 



s. d. s. d. 



4 to 6 



6 6 



Cucumbers each 



Endive dozen 



Fennel... bunch 



Garlic lb. 



HerbB bunch 



Horseradish. ... bundle 



Lettuee dozen 



French Cabbage .... 



Leeks bunch 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & CreBB punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickling quirt 



Parsley.... doz. bunches 



Parsnips dozen 



Peae quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes . . doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Salsafy bundle 



Scorzonera bundle 



Seakale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes dozen 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows 



a. d. s, 

 4 toO 

 10 2 

 2 

 2 

 

 2 

 



