178 



JOURNAJi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 24, 1876. 



amateurs the Stewarton hive will be found far the most easy to 

 manage, and will also afford the most satisfactory results. At 

 any rate, with it stocks can be kept within the number desired, 

 and a large amount of super honey made sure of, and the 

 breaking-up of stock hives with all its abominations avoided. 



I will now ask the " Eenfkewshire Bee keeper " if he will 

 kindly enlighten us on some points of the Stewarton hive and 

 its management 1st, Is the Stewarton hive generally managed 

 on the swarming or non-swarmiDg system, or on both ? By both 

 I mean — Is the non-swarming system aimed at, and the other 

 of uniting several Btocks only resorted to when the stocks swarm 

 against the will of the owner ? 2nd, Does the " Renfeewsstbe 

 Bee-keepeb" think the ordinary octagon Stewarton hive, or 

 some modification of it, the most useful? 3rd, "What is the ob- 

 ject or advantage of having the stock boxes in parts each 6 inches 

 deep, instead of in one whole 12 inches deep ? "Would not one 

 stock box 12 inches deep, with a 6-inch nadir in case additional 

 room was required below for breeding and for uniting, answer 

 equally well ? 4th, What is the object of having the supers 

 only i inches deep ? oth, What is the advantage of placing the 

 additional super when required on the top of the partly filled 

 super instead of underneath it, it being a common opinion that 

 bees prefer working downwards, and are more eager to fill an 

 interval of space, whereas they frequently refuse to ascend into 

 an empty super.— 0. B. 



HONEY RECIPES.— No. 2. 



HTDBOMEL, OB DBINK MADE FROST HONEY. 



It is more or less sweet according to the proportions of the 

 honey. Different kinds are distinguished by the names of light 

 hydromel and winey hydromel. The light hydromel is the 

 produce of the washing of the wax and of the vessels which have 

 served to run the honey. It is called Miaute iligandelle and 

 Ragouillet in France. The Poles call it Miod, the Germans 

 Meth, the Russians Caproskaa, and the English Metheglyn. The 

 light drink is made thus : For 11 lbs. of honey take from 26 to 

 52 pints of water, according to the strength you wish to give the 

 drink; boil it in a copper saucepan for an hour or two on a 

 moderate fire ; take off the scum as soon as it forms. Remove 

 from the fire, let it cool, and pour it into a clean barrel, which 

 must be quite filled, and place it with the banghole open in a 

 dry wholesome place having a temperature from 60° to 68° Fah. 

 At the end of two or three days fermentation takes place. If 

 long in fermenting add a little yeast. It will be active enough 

 in a few days. Take care to fill the cask with liquid out of a 

 bottle previously filled for that purpose. In a month or six 

 weeks the cask may be closed and put in a cellar. The liquid 

 clears, and is soon fit for drink. 



To make it from the refuse wax it must be macerated. Bottle 

 it and pour the liquid into a vat ; the next day bottle it and pour 

 it into a cask. It will not be long in fermenting. The wax can 

 be steeped in cold water, but the saccharine matter is not so 

 well extracted. 



For the fabrication of sweet hydromel take three pints and a 

 half of water to 5J lbs. of honey, and boil it until it is reduced 

 to nearly a quarter. More than three pints and a half of water 

 may be taken for this quantity of honey, and boiled longer for a 

 greater reduction. It may also be left Ibbs time on the fire ; 

 then the liquid is less reduced, and consequently weaker. The 

 longer it is boiled the better quality it is. When old, hydromel 

 gathers a crust which greatly augments its value. Old hydromel 

 is a most exquisite and highly renowned wine. There was some 

 time ago at Korowno in Poland a well-known establishment. for 

 the manufacture of hydromel, which was sold there, from twenty 

 to thirty years old, at five ducats the bottle. This old and 

 very sweet hydromel was especially sought for the use of sick 

 persons. 



Fruit Wine with Honey. — Take ten pints and a half of ripe 

 fruit, which may be either gooseberries, currants, raspberries, 

 blackberries, cherries, plums, or sloes; pound them in twenty- 

 one pints of water, let them steep for four days and then pour 

 off the liquid. Press the skins between the hands and add 

 twenty-one pints of water ; let it stand six hours, squeeze the 

 skins hard, pour off the liquid and throw away the refuse. Mix 

 the two liquids together, add 9 lbs. of honey, mix well, put it 

 into a cask which must be entirely filled, and place it where the 

 temperature is from 59° to 68° Fah. The liquid will soon fer- 

 ment as it works out of the bunghole, which should be left open. 

 The cask should be constantly filled up with some of the diluted 

 juice reserved for that purpose, and when fermentation has 

 nearly ceased the cask may be securely bunged up. It has a 

 particular aroma, becoming better as it grows older, and is more 

 valuable as a drink than most wines sold by merchants. 



Instead of squeezing the juice out of the fruit at first it may 

 be broken in the same way as grapes, then add the water and 

 honey, and let it ferment in the vat until all the sweet matter is 

 transformed into spirit ; then press the liquid, put it into a cask, 

 and place it in a cellar. Honey wines keep better in a dry than 

 in a cold or damp cellar. The quantity of fruit may be lessened 



or augmented as it is more or less sweet, and the ame with the 

 honey as the wine is wanted more or less alcoholic. 



The above are translations of recipes for some famous French 

 honey liqueurs. — John Hunter. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Portsmouth Show Phizes (Walter Harris*. — Your remedy is easy in the 

 Connty Court, for the prizes not paid. 



Cheap Books (Anxious Gardener). — The information you desire might 

 be obtained by consulting a catalogue of published books. MeEsrs. Hard- 

 wicke & Bogue, publishers, London, ■would no doubt inform you as to the 

 coat of worts treating on taxidermy, and (as we suppose you mean) petrology 

 — concerning rocks— and not " petrodology," as you have specified the latter. 

 If we mistake not, a work on taxidermy by Mrs. Ward is published at 7s. Gd. 



Canary Fanciers (Idem). — You ask for the names and addresses of two 

 Canary fanciers in Loudon. From many others named in the last Crystal 

 Pa'ace Bird Show catalogue we may refer you to Mr. J. Waller, Taberoacle 

 Walk, Finsbury; or Mr. J. Price, No. 90, Fentiman Road, Clapham Read, 

 Lambeth. 



Bees Dying (B. H. T.).~ Your want of success with your bees has come 

 from misfortune, not from mismanagement. Last winter was very severe 

 on bees everywhere in Great Britain. The cold protracted spring of this year 

 prevented bees from breeding early, and perhaps the half of the hives in 

 England were lost from sheer want of bees. You are not alone in your loea, 

 and what you think has been a failure should not discourage you. Last year, 

 too, was an unfavourable one for bees. In answer to your questions we have 

 to say that it is of no importance which way hives look or face. For years 

 we bave had many hives facing every quarter, and have discovered no ad- 

 vantage in either south or north, east or west. You did well to cover your 

 hives warmly in winter. We examine our hives often during the working 

 season, and advise all bee-keepers to do the same, and let them alone from 

 beginniug of October till the beginning of March. We advise you to remove 

 the supers from your hives now and drive the bees of the old stock hive into 

 an empty one and feed them well. The combs in this hive are too old for 

 keeping, and the bees will do better in fresh hives. If the swarm is not more 

 than 50 lbs. weight afser the super has been removed it may be desirable to 

 keep it as a first-rate stock hive. If it be about 60 lbs. weight you could either 

 cut out about 10 lb3. of honeycomb, or drive all the bees at once into an 

 empty hive and feed them into a stock. Hives that are not on the heather 

 ■will not increase in weight now. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



Cahdbn Square, London. 



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



Date. 







9 AH. 









In the Day. 









i & 





H 





Shade Tem- 



Radiation 



9 



1876. 



aSJh 



3 a-" > 



ter. 







perature. 



Temperature. 



K 













In 



On 







- ^ ~~ 



Dry. 



Wet. 



Oo 



H 

 deg. 



Max. 



Min. 



bdh. 



grass 







Inches. 









deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



In. 



We. 16 



29 992 



73.0 



67.7 



N. 





86.1 



63.7 



123.5 



69 7 



— 







69.8 



63 7 



N.W. 





S6.0 



58.2 



126 4 



bb.a 



0.010 



Fri. IS 



29.983 



63 8 





N.W. 





73.2 



65.8 



86.8 



61.1 



0199 



Sat. 19 



•29.833 



69.7 



663 



N. 



66.9 



76.4 



61.4 



107.7 



53.1 



0.310 





29.718 



65.4 



6>.8 



S.E. 



71.8 



61.3 



114 8 



69 5 



0.C9T 



Mo. 2L 



29S9S 



62.3 



61.7 



N. 





79.2 



55.0 



122.6 





— 



Tu. 22 



29SS3 



63.2 



61 5 



N.W. 





77.9 



57.3 



U6.6 



547 



57.2 



— 



Means. 



29.S94 



67 5 



68.9 





67.8 



60,4 



112.6 



0.61S 



EEMAEKS. 

 16th.— Hot morning, though there was a little wind; thunder about 1 p.m.; 



evening oloudy. 

 17th. — Cooler but a very oppressive day; windy at night. 

 ISth. — Thunder and lightning at 5 A.M.; dull day, frequent showers, very 



damp and close, but no Bun, 

 19th. — Rain in the night, but fiae morning ; rather dull at times during the 

 day; fine evening; lightning in the S.W. at 9 p m., and a heavy 

 thunderstorm by midnight. 

 20th. — Damp morning and showery day ; fine evening and night. 

 21st.— Thick h.ze tarly, not clearing off till 11 A.M. ; very dark at times all 



day ; 6tormlike about 5 p.m. 

 22nd.— A very pleasant day, though with very little sun; a fine solar halo 

 between 6 and 7 p.m. 

 The temperature has fallen rapidly during the week, although at this station 

 the rainfall has been slight.— G. J. Symohs. 



COYEST GARDES MARKET.— AUGUST 2S. 



Prices remain the same, business being quiet. Supplies of Apples are fair, 



but Plums and Pears are making their appearance in short quantities. 



Foreign importations consist mainly of Gages, Plums, Pears, Peaches, and 



Nectarines. 



FECIT. 



b. d. s. d. 



Apples 1 sieve 1 6to5 



Apricots dozen 1 6 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 



Currants 1 sieve 



Black * do. 



Fi<*s dozen 3 



Filberts ■. lb. 6 



Gooseberries quart 



Grapes, hothouse lb. 



1 



s. d s. d 



Nectarines dozen 8 ttol2 



Oranges f 10J 24 



Peaches dozen 3 12 



Pears, kitchen dozen 



dessert dozen 1 6 



Pine Apples lb. 



I Plums i seive 



1 Quinces bushel U 



0'i Raspberries lb. 



6 i strawberries lb. 



















Lemons '..¥"100 12 18 Walnuts bushel 



Melons each 2 Oi 



ditto ¥-100 











3 



6 



6 10 























