502 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 7, 1876. 



argument has yielded assent long ago. Of conrse I speak of the 

 rnle which may be said to regulate the proceedings of bees, for 

 since his day there have not been wanting instances of apparently 

 exceptional violations of the established customs and habits of 

 queens. For instance, no doubt it is almost invariable that 

 young queens mate with their drone lovers in the open air. 

 With all his attempts to find an instance to the contrary Huber 

 never had a single demonstration of exceptional conduct in this 

 respect on the part of the many young queens which he sub- 

 jected to trial. It is most interesting to read the story of his 

 experiments — with what patience he pursued them, taking 

 nothing for granted ; for, as he truly observes, " in observations 

 which are both new and delicate, and where it is so easy to be 

 deceived, I consider that a candid avowal of my errors is doing 

 the reader service. This is an additional proof among others 

 of the absolute necessity that an observer should repeat all his 

 experiments a thousand times to obtain the certainty of seeing 

 facts as they really exist." I cannot help here drawing the 

 attention of whoever it may concern to this modest statement 

 of this really great man — great in his peculiar line of study. 



But to proceed. Shall I assert that the first instance of supe- 

 rior knowledge in ns moderns allows us to supply exceptions to 

 Huber's rnle, to which he knew no exception? — namely, that 

 queens can be fecundated in the interior of the hive, and that 

 it is not necessary for them to leave it for the purpose. We 

 have heard it stated of late years, I think even in this Journal, 

 that it is not necessary for young queens to meet the drones in 

 the open air; but I cannot lay my hands on the evidence alleged, 

 and I must say that I have never been convinced that the data 

 were sound on which this evidence was presumed to be founded. 

 If any readers of this Journal can prove the fact from ocular 

 demonstration we shall all be interested in hearing of it. 



Have we anything to say to Huber's discoveries relative to the 

 curious fact which presented itself invariably to him, that if 

 for any reason the impregnation of the queen bee has been re- 

 tarded for twenty-one days she never can lay any but drone 

 eggs ? Again and again by a plethora of experiments this was 

 proved to be the rule, no exception presenting itself to his 

 notice. " My evidence," he says, "is demonstrative, for I can 

 always prevent queens from laying the eggs of workers by retard- 

 ing their fecundation until the twenty-second or twenty-third 

 day of their existence." Our lata excellent friend Mr. Wood- 

 bury devoted a great deal of attention to this matter, and detailed 

 instances which came under his own observation, which satis- 

 fied him that Huber's conclusion on this point, however his ex- 

 perience may establish a rule, cannot be considered as absolute 

 and final. He found that sometimes youn» queens which had 

 been unable to mate with drones till the thirtieth and even fortieth 

 day after their birth were still able to breed worker bees. Pro- 

 bably this is owing to influences of season and temperature, 

 which develope or retard the queen's physical powers, as we 

 know that in winter time the hatching of eggs is often checked 

 many days, as well as the issuing of the fall-grown insects from 

 the cell. We should, I think, be acting imprudently were we to 

 accept Mr. Woodbury's experience as otherwise than exceptional. 



The most real and marvellouB discovery which has been made 

 about bees since the days of Huber is the fact, which has been 

 proved to demonstration over and over again, that queen bees 

 do not remain barren even if they fail to mate altogether. To 

 Ton Siebold, a German naturalist, we are indebted for this sur- 

 prising discovery, and to Mr. Woodbury for drawing attention 

 to it in England. It is some years since the matter was dis- 

 cussed in the pages of this Journal, and I believe every person 

 disposed at first to doubt its truth ended by a full assent. The 

 fact is that unfecundated queen bees have the inherent power of 

 producing drone bees, but not (in any case known) those of 

 workers. This has been called parthenogenesis. — B. & W. 



BEES DURING THE PAST SEASON. 

 I send you an account of twenty-six of my hives — hives that 

 I have not assisted by feeding since the 1st of June. 



l. 



9. 

 10. 



11. 



1<. 



Lignrian, swarmed, nadired 



with bar hive 



Black, Bwarmed once 



Ligurian, swarm returned . . 

 Ligurian, swarmed once .... 



Black swarm 



Lignrian swarm 



Black swarm 



Lignrian, swarmed 



Black swarm 



Hybrid, swarm returned, na- 

 dired, with bar-frame nadir 



13. Black swarm 



14. ii .■ 



15. „ 



16. „ 

 17. 

 181 

 191 

 20. 

 21. 



23. 



24. 

 26. 



Accidentally no return : de- 

 stroyed. 



Black swarm 



Hybrid, swarmed twice 



Black swarm 



lbs - 

 45 

 44 

 50 

 50 

 55 



I have introduced during the months of October and November 

 twenty-four Ligurian queens; and as I have sixteen straw skeps, 

 all black bees, besides those I have numbered, I may make a 

 trial next year. 



My straw skeps are all small (12-inch), swarmed this vear and 

 weigh from. 30 to 40 lbs. each. I sent six to Manchester last 

 month, their average was 33* lbs. ; also one Ligurian, 39 lbs 

 £our ot them were broken on the railway. I shall not sell any 

 now to go that distance, but may do so in the spring, when the 

 risk is not so great— James Hale, Kedington. near Haverhill, 

 huffolh, 



OUE LETTEE BOX. 



Houdans I.B. E.).— There is no book devoted to them. 



Gluten (G. Fenn).— If wheat flour be kneaded into a paste with a little 

 water it forms a tenacious, elastic, soft, ductile mass. This is to be washed 

 cautiously, by kneading it under a small jet of water till the water no longer 

 carries off anything, but runs off colourless; what remains behind is called 

 gluten. 



Dead Hive (Senex Conjcius).— We do not trace iu your account of the 

 mishap of your deserted hive any of the known symptoms of " foul brood " 

 Tour bees have succumbed probably to natural decay after the loss of their 

 queen from whatever cause. We know weU the sort of mildewy condition of 

 the pollen as described. It merely resulted from damp causing its decay. It 

 would be likely to occur in an empty hive during such a warm damp autumn as 

 the last. The hornets were probably queens which found the empty hive a 

 snug place for hybernation. ™ 



Peefoeated Zinc (iT.J.).-You can obtain the -4-inch perforated ziuc at 

 any ironmongers. Mr. Phillips says, " The great beneSt obtained by usin" it 

 is the prevention of the queen from ascending into the super, whilst the per- 

 forations are large enough to permit the ingress of workers without pollen in 

 their baskets. The sheet of zinc, of course, intervenes between super and 

 stock. * 



Wheee is the Honet Found ?— Will those apiarians who obtain large 

 honey harvests have the kindness to give, for the beneBt of less experienced 

 bee-keepers, a short topographical description of the country, and the kind 

 and quantity of the principal honey flowers contained within a circle two 

 miles in diameter, having their apiary for the centre ? — P. B. P. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



Camden Squaee, London. 



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



Date. 



9 A.M. 



In the Dat. 





1876. 

 Nov. 



2£ a • 



Hygrome- 

 ter. 



S a 



■ «"£ 



Shade Tem- 

 perature. 



Radiation 

 Temperature. 



'3 

 a 



and 



Ssl^ 











In 



On 





Dec. 



Dry. 



Wet. 



ho 



H 



Max. 



Min. 



sun. 



grass 







Inches. 



deg. 



deg. 





deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 





In. 



We. 29 



29 556 



37.0 



36 8 



W. 



43.7 



45 8 



35.0 



75 



32 2 





Th. 30 



29 699 



36.9 



86.7 



N. 



41.6 



48.2 



31.4 



51.8 



28 1 



0.243 



Fri. 1 



29.424 



52-4 



51.0 



S. 



43.0 



56.2 



36.8 



77.0 



36.2 





Sat. 2 



29.?87 



51.9 



50.3 



"s.w. 



45.8 



55.4 



50.3 



62.0 



45.7 





Sun. 3 



29.046 



53.2 



50.4 



s. 



46.4 



56 6 



51.4 



64 2 



46.2 





Mo. 4 



28.398 



49.3 



46.S 



s. 



47.3 



52.8 



49.4 



54.6 



45.8 





Tn. 5 



28.927 



51.6 



49.1 



s. 



46.1 



52.2 



47.2 



52.4 



41.8 



0.272 



Means. 



29.191 



47.5 



45.9 





44.9 



52.5 



43.1 



62.4 



S9.4 



1.672 



BE MARKS. 

 29th. — Slight frost, but fine morning; splendid forenoon, and fine all day. 

 SOth. — Very dark and thick in the morning, dull all day, and wet night. 

 Dec. 1st. — Very fine morning, dull afternoon, and wet evening; -wind high at 



night. 

 2nd. — Fine till near noon, and very warm ; rain in the afternoon and in the 



evening. 

 Srd. — Rainy morning, raining at intervals more or less all day, very heavily 



for a short time about noon, barometer falling rapidly. 

 4th.— High wind during the night and till the afterpart of the day, when it 



lulled a little ; starlight at 3 p.m., lunar halo at 10.55 p.m. 

 5th. — Boisterous, dark, and rainy nearly all day. 



A week remarkable for an extremely low mean barometric pressure, and for 

 excessive rainfall. The pressure at 11 a.m. on (be 4th was only 28.364 in., 

 being with two exceptions the lowest reading for fifty years. Bain has fallen 

 on every day, the amounts being large but not excessive.— G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— December 6. 

 Business is so very quiet, and the weather so bad, that there is no report 

 to make. 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes dozen 



Asparagus ¥" 100 



French bundle 



Beans.Kidney ^100 1 



Beet, Red dozen 1 



Broccoli bundle 



Brussels Sproats..^ sieve 8 



Cabbage dozen 1 



Carrots bunch 



Capsicums ^ l'JO 1 



Cauliflower dozen S 



Celery bundle 1 



Coleworts.. doz. bunches 2 



Cucumbers each 



Endive dozen 1 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish bundlo 4 



Lettuce dozen 



d. 



R. 



d. 



OtoO 



n 







II 







II 



II 



n 



II 



1 



6 



6 



» 



i' 



9 



1 



6 



II 



4 



II 







2 



II 



4 







H 



fi 



a 



(i 



II 



« 



II 



6 



a 



II 



II 



4 



(1 



n 



l 



(1 



ii 



2 



II 



3 



n 



II 



6 



n 







B 



n 



II 















s. d. 8. d 



Leeks bunch 4to0 



Mushrooms pottle 1 6 2 Q 



Mustard & Cress punnet 2 



Onions bushel 5 



pickling quart 4 



Parsley.... doz. bunches 2 4 



Parsnips dozen 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 2 6 4 6 



Kidney do. 3 5 



Radishes. . doz. bunches 10 16 



Rhubarb handle 3 9 



Salsafy bundle 9 10 



Scorzonera bundle 10 



Seakale basket 16 3 



Shallots lb. 3 6 



Spinach bushel 1 G 2 n 



Tomatoes j sieve 



Turnips bunch 4 6 



Vegetable Marrows o 



