56 i 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



[ December 28, 1876. 



I introduced their own queen, which was gladly welcomed. The 

 following morning in passing round the garden, and still preserv- 

 ing a kindly remembrance of my poor young queen, I thought I 

 would lite to look upon her remains. Nearing No. 5 I found a 

 single dead bee on the landing board as I had expected, and a 

 queen ; but on turning her over on the palm of my hand she 

 bore a striking resemblance to the old queen. In a trice the 

 cover was off and the frames raised, and to my great joy the 

 thrice-rejected was now the free and accepted reigning monarch 

 of my Stewarton hive. She still survives, and her numerous 

 progeny gleaned some of my finest supers the by-past season. — 

 A Benfbewshxbe Bee-keepeb. 



ANOTHER YEAR'S EXPERIENCE. 



In bee-keeping, as in other things, there is a connection 

 between cause and effect — management and results. In every 

 year's experience we find that the apiarian who attends to the 

 details of management and plays his part well is most success- 

 ful. Though bees require less attention and care than most 

 other creatures useful to man, they do need some attention at 

 certain times and seasons, and therefore should not be forgotten. 

 Stories are told of bees living continuously in the cavities of 

 trees and roofs of houses. That bees live occasionally in such 

 places a few years without attention from the hand of man I 

 can readily believe ; but having long doubted that honey bees 

 are natives (originally) of Great Britain, I have given but 

 little credence to the stories alluded to. That the cavities of 

 trees, &c, once occupied by defunct swarms are haunted by 

 bees and attractive to fugitive swarms seeking homes or habita- 

 tions we all know, and hence the likelihood of mistakes having 

 been made as to unbroken successions of occupation of hollow 

 trees and cavities by swarms. The fickleness of our climate 

 and seasons make it neces 3ary for the bee-keeper to care for and 

 attend to the wants of his little favourites. Bees need protec- 

 tion from wet and cold in winter, and must have food in times 

 of famine. Every year's experience goes to prove that bees out 

 of doors cannot be too well covered during the winter and 

 spring months. A certain amount of warmth is necessary for 

 the comfort of bees. In the absence of this warmth they cleave 

 and cluster very closely together and remain all but motionless. 

 In cold weather they are helpless creatures, often perishing in 

 clusters in the centres of their hives within 6 inches of their 

 own honey. Though bees should be well covered in winter, 

 they should not be stimulated and encouraged to breed then by 

 artificial feeding. If bees have not power to feed themselves 

 in cold weather how can they attend to their young ? Winter 

 feeding is attended with riBk and danger, inasmuch as it tends 

 to promote breeding; and if cold weather prevents the bees 

 from giving proper attention to the brood in the cells it becomes 

 foul. Besides, it is more natural for bees to rest during the 

 months of November, December, and January. In the sou;h 

 of England they may be encouraged to breed in February, and 

 north of Manchester March is soon enough in ordinary seasons. 

 In wintering bees in greenhouses we find that they -seldom 

 leave their hives when the mercury of the thermometer is 

 below 50°, and at 55° (temperate) they begin work on whatever 

 flowers they can find. 



In seasons early and favourable for honey-gathering I have 

 generally found that the swarming system of management gave 

 the best results in both honey and stock. By it more space is 

 occupied, more bees bred, more honey gathered, and fewer 

 swarms lost. In late unfavourable seasons those who repress 

 swarming have generally the greatest success. Those who acted 

 on the non-swarming principle this year reaped the largest 

 harvests. In considering this question of bee-keeping, the aims 

 of the bee-master, the pasturage around, and the markets for 

 honey have all to be remembered and compassed. In large 

 apiaries it is well to follow both systems of management. 

 Amateurs, too, who keep a few hives only, and want a supply 

 of honey every year, will seldom be disappointed if they manage 

 half of their hives on the non-swarming, and the other half on 

 the swarming, principle. 



During the months of September, October, and November of 

 this year I created more stocks by sugar-feeding than on any 

 former occasion. In this work I found that when the hives were 

 well rilled with bees comb-building went on rapidly, and that 

 when only about half filled with bees comb-building went on 

 more slowly; and towards the end of the season very little brood 

 appeared in the centre combs of these syrup-fed stocks. What 

 beautiful pure virgin combs were built ! What a temptation to 

 fill supers of comb thus for another year ! If I were going in for 

 a swarm of supers every year I Bhould utilise the bees of honey 

 hives in autumn in filling as many supers with comb as I could 

 by Bugar syrup. Not, of course, to sell the syrup for honey — 

 that would be fraudulent and dishonest, but simply for comb- 

 building. From 20 lbs. or 5s. worth of sugar a good swarm will 

 fill a super with comb, capable of holding at least 30 lbs. of 

 honey. But how could the syrup be extracted without injury 

 to the combs ? ThiB could be done by bees only, and experience 



would discover the best way of letting the bees do it. In ex- 

 tracting the syrup from one super they could and would build 

 combs in another, though not to the same extent. _ Thus the 

 syrup would be used again and again in filling with combs 

 additional supers. A word to the wise is enough. With plenty 

 of supers, filled or nearly filled with pure white empty combs, 

 a very great amount or weight of honeycomb could be obtained 

 from an apiary in a favourable season. This theoretical sugges- 

 tion will, I think, commend itself as practical to the bee-keepers 

 of England. lam not aware that any important discovery in 

 bee history or management has been made during 1876. The 

 introduction or notice of " sectional supers " deserves honour- 

 able mention. They doubtless will be found very convenient 

 for the retail sale of honeycomb. I commend them to the notice 

 of all who keep bees for the production and sale of comb. _ 



I regret that the season has passed without anybody in this 

 country coming to the front to prove the superiority of one kind 

 of bee over another. For four or five years I have done every- 

 thing I could to induce the patrons and advocates of Italian bees 

 to pit them against the common sort, and I am still willing to 

 do what I can to bring the matter to the test of a fair and satis- 

 factory trial. The fairest test I have ever seen reported took 

 place in America this year. In that case the blacks beat the 

 yellows, leaving them a considerable distance behind. I 

 earnestly hope that arrangements will be made for a trial of 

 strength next year in this country. The experiment is worth a 

 little sacrifice, and if several gentlemen will come forward with 

 their aid and advice a most interesting and profitable contest 

 will be the result. I have never uttered a word against Italian 

 bees, neither have I ever seen a shadow of proof of_ their 

 superiority. Having the greatest possible confidence in the 

 working and breeding powers of the common English bees, 

 their industry and hardiness, I can scarcely be expected to dis- 

 card them in the absence of satisfactory proof that a better kind 

 of bee exists. — A. Peitigbew. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



Camdek Square, Loxdok. 



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



Date. 



9" A.M. 



IK the Day. 





1876. 



II* • 



31 3 J 



Hygrome- 

 ter. 



^3 a 

 So 



c -* . 



Shade Tem- 

 perature. 



Radiation 

 Temperature. 



"5 



Dec. 



Dry. ] Wet. 



Max. 



Min. 



In 



sun. 



On 



grass 





We. 20 

 Th. 21 

 Fri. 22 

 Sat. 23 

 San. 24 

 Mo. 25 

 TU.-26 



Inches. 

 28 7S7 

 28.801 

 29.134 

 29.349 

 29.451 

 29.723 

 3J.180 



deg. ] deg. 



45.2 i 42 3 

 40.8 ! 39.0 



34.3 : 34.3 



83.7 ; 33.0 

 35.0 34.4 



34.8 ' 34.4 

 32.3 • 81.S 



s. 



S.W. 

 N.W. 

 N.N.E. 

 W. 

 N.E. 

 N.E. 



deg. 

 43.3 

 43.0 

 39.8 

 39.5 

 37.4 

 36 5 

 87.4 



deg. 

 47.8 

 44.8 

 40.4 

 36.5 

 36.4 

 86.8 

 85.0 



deg. 

 41.1 

 89.8 

 32.5 

 28.0 

 32.4 

 84.1 

 30.9 



deg. 

 54 3 

 5S.6 

 56.3 

 88.8 

 41.2 

 37.8 

 41.4 



deg. 

 89.2 

 36.3 

 28.4 

 25.4 

 31.8 

 31.9 

 8 ).2 



In. 

 0.542 



1610 

 0.133 



0.0:2 



0.317 



Means. 



29.347 



86.3 1 35.5 



1 S9.6 



39.7 



84.1 



46.2 



31.9 



2 689 



REMARKS. 

 20th.— Hazy early, raining forenoon, son shining through the rain at 1 p.m. ; 



rather heavy rain after; fair in the evening. 

 21st —Very fine day throughout, and starlight night ; wind rather cold. 

 22nd.— Slight frost ; splendidly bright about 1 p.m. ; very fine all day and 



night. . a r. 



23rd.— Fair but dull early, dull all day ; snow in evening, and very heavy 



snow and rain in the night and early moraing. . 



24th.— Snow thick on 5he ground at 9 a.m.; very dark and slightly thawing 



all day ; rain again at night. . 



"5th —Very dull, snow still oh the ground and falling again tor a short time 

 " ' about 10 a.m. ; very damp and cold till the evening, when it became 



26th.— Fair but dull, though frosty, and the air very nipping from the north- 



east ; rain and snow after 8.30 P.M. 



Mean temperature generally about 5= lower than during the previous week. 

 The special feature has, however, been the excessive fall of rain and snow.— 

 G. J. Simons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— December 27. 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes dozen 



Asparagus ¥" 10J 



French bundle 



Beans. Kidney & 100 



Beet, Red dozen 



Broccoli bundle 



Brussels Sprouts. -i sieve 



Cabbage dozen 



CarTots bunch 



Capsicums £* 1 



Cauliflower dozen 



Celery bundle 



Coleworts.. doz. bunches 



Cucumbers each 



Endive dozen 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs "... bunch 



Horseradish bundle 



Lettuce dozen 



s. d. s. 



OtoO 











1 



6 3 



9 1 



4 



2 



4 



6 2 



6 



6 2 



4 



2 



2 



3 



Leeks bunch 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cress punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley doz. bunches 



Parsnips.../ dozen 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes., doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Salsafy bundle 



Scorzonera bundle 



Seakale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach basbel 



Tomatoes 4 sieve 



Turnips bunch 



I Vegetable Marrows 



s. d. s. d 

 4 toO 



