206 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 6, 1677. 



July. I thick I never remember so absolute a destruction at 

 this time cf year. Of course the population of my -various hives 

 was much diminished, and it became apparent that very little 

 comb — in some hives none whatever — had been constructed in 

 hive or Euper in the interval of my absence. Not only so, the 

 honey visible in the cells was greatly short in every case of 

 what it had been, while some populous hives appeared to have 

 no honey at all. One of the supers contained 7 lbs. of honey- 

 comb, which is the total amount of my harvest this year. An- 

 other was completely rifled of the honey it had contained even 

 in sealed cells. The same was the case with the sectional 

 supers, so that I have nothing to report as to my trial of them, 

 save only that in one case the bees had carefully followed the 

 artificially made guide combs attached to the sections, and in 

 the other had as carefully ignored them, building irregularly 

 curved combs and preferring to build combs at lesser distances 

 than the furnished guides. I cannot doubt, however, but that 

 the bees would have accurately followed the guide comb in 

 every case if only honey had abounded as in ordinary Eeasone. 

 This year the white clover harvest, as to honey, has proved a 

 total failure in these parts. No visible addition has been made 

 to their stores by the bees in all my hives since about the 12th or 

 15th of June, when scarcely any of it was in bloom this very 

 late Beason. 



Since my return home I have been diligently feeding more or 

 less copiously eight out of eleven hives, only two of which 

 appear to have sufficient stores to last till Bpring. The two 

 weakest have since been joined into one, after removing (by 

 driving) the queen of that which had the least distinctly marked 

 Italians. Sixty pounds of food have thus far been consumtd, 

 and they are still quietly storing away from 1 to 2 lbs. each 

 hive. Of course while this is going en the queens in every case 

 are laying eggs, and a good deal of pollen is being carried in. 



Being one of those who greatly admire the Italian sort I 

 have introduced two queens in place of two degenerate ones. 

 The reception in both cases was very welcome, and both hives 

 ook the queens through, a hole in the crown-board within eight 

 hours of the removal of their own queens. One of them is 

 breeding largely, the other not so evidently yet. 



Altogether I think my bees are strong in numbers, vigorous in 

 health; and in a week or two will be so well supplied with stores 

 that I am trustful for the future ; and as all have young queens 

 under two years old at most, and all are well housed in good 

 sized and clean hives, I am content. 



I may add that two or three sorts of contrivances for feeding 

 are in use, but I find none simpler than a wide-mouthed bottle 

 with one or two caps of leno tied over them and inverted upon 

 perforated zinc over a hole at the top of the hive. I find that 

 moBt of the hives will take down from 2 to 3 lbs. a-day. In the 

 open air I am careful to cover the bottles, so that robbers are 

 nowhere. — B. & W. 



BEE-KEEPING IN 1877. 



From all quarters comes a doleful cry from bee-keepers of a 

 poor honey harvest, not only in England but on the continents 

 of Europe and America; indeed in California, the paradise of 

 the honey bee, from where last year the principal bee-keeper, 

 Mr. Harbison, sent to market 100 tons of honey, has not now 

 honey enough to keep the beeB over the winter. Many persons 

 in California follow bee-keeping as a trade, and, being generally 

 men of no capital, the total loss of harvest threatens them with 

 ruin from their inability to provide food for their workers. A 

 writer in the American "Bee Journal" states that he has not 

 had a square foot of new comb built in his apiary this year, 

 when a year ago an ordinary swarm would fill its hive in ten 

 days ; and at the present time more than half the bees in his 

 county are in a starving condition, without an ounce of honey 

 or cell of brood. We may console ourselves in England that 

 things are not so bad as that, but yet in many instances food 

 must now be given for storage if we would Eave our bees. In 

 my own apiary not a single one of ten swarms has given me any 

 surplus, and more than half have been storing an artificial 

 supply for these three weeks past. The remainder have also 

 been Blowly fed to stimulate breeding, the result being_ that I 

 have an abundance of young bees to winter with — an item of 

 the utmost importance for spring success, as bees born before 

 September, queens excepted, will never live till April. 



From the very general tales of failure it is pleasant to turn to 

 a case of success, more especially aB the reBUlt may be fairly 

 ascribed to the intelligent appreciation and earnest desire for 

 advancement of a working man whom I may claim in some 

 measure as a pupil of my own. This man, whom a contempo- 

 rary styles " the Buckinghamshire Champion," came to me in 

 1874 to enter as an exhibitor at the Crystal Palace Show. He 

 told me he had about forty stocks, from which he cleared between 

 £5 and £10 a-year, keeping his bees in the old-fashioned style 

 of his neighbours. He was fairly successful with his exhibits, 

 and has been more to the fore every year since, thanks to the 

 numberless bees he has rescued from the brimstone pit of his 

 neighbours to strengthen his own stockB with, timely help to 



his favourites when needed, and an 6ver-readiness to adopt 

 anything in the way of mechanical assistance to his bees. At 

 Weston-super-Mare Show last month his prize awards in various 

 classes were five firsts, two seconds, one third, and silver and 

 bronze medals of the British Bee-keepers' Association ; at Sher- 

 borne five firsts, two seconds, and bronze medal; and at Dor- 

 chester two firsts, silver and bronze medals, and three extra 

 prizes ; and doubtless he will be heard of at other provincial 

 shows yet to come off. In such a season as this it is no little to 

 the credit of a working man that he is able to show over twenty 

 fine supers of honey, beating both gentle and simple wherever 

 he has competed. 



The American comb foundation has this year been tried by 

 most of our leading bee-keepers who ueo frame hives; and if I 

 except Mr. Cheshire, who has a. rival snangement of his own. 

 everyone pronounces it an unqualified success. With these wax 

 sheets there need be no more crooked combs nor undue quantity 

 of drone comb. These two thingB are under the absolute con- 

 trol of the bee-master, and the start the bees get at a time when 

 most needed is wonderful. I have just sent to America for 

 another 100 lbs. of the prepared sheets and a machine to mske 

 them with here, although I doubt if they can be produced in 

 England so cheaply as they can be imported, which is under 

 2s. 6d. per lb. — little more than the price of wax. The season 

 closes without the great metropolitan meeting of bee-keepers 

 that has taken place each of the three previous years. Many 

 persons regret this, and we hope the Association will be enabled 

 next year to announce a great bee and honey show at the Crystal 

 Palace once again. — John Hcxteb. Eaton Sise, Ealing. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 

 Cahden Square, London. 

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



Date. 



9 A.M. 



In the Day. 





1377. 



2g« • 



Hygrome- 



a . 





Shade Tem- 



Radiation 



a 

 '3 



Aug. 





ter. 



^3 a 



OCC'H 



perature. 



Temperature. 



and 



1 







In 



On 









Dry. ; Wet. 



So 



Eh 



Max. 



Min. 



sun. 



grass- 







Inches. 



deg. ! deg. 





deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



In. 



We. 29 



29.96S 



66.1 59.S 



N.W. 



61.4 



72.7 



55.4 



124.9 



51.7 





Th. SO 



29 855 



62.9 57.2 



S.W. 



61.0 



688 



54.0 



116.6 



50.1 



0.09O 



Fri. 31 



29.885 



59.6 i 53 9 



w. 



59.8 



67.7 



4S9 



120.8 



45 3 



0.040 



Sat, 1 



S0.118 



55.8 i 51.0 



N.W. 



58.2 



66.4 



43.0 



117.2 



39.1 





Sun. 2 



29.988 



57.4 ' 4S.2 



s. 



57.S 



66.8 



45.1 



113.7 



41.5 



0160 



Mo. 3 



29.664 



54 7 53.2 



N. 



57 8 



60.7 



48.8 



95.0 



43.4 



C.27S 



Tu. 4 



30.271 



52.8 ! 49.3 



N.W. 



56.3 



64.7 



46.0 



114.6 



45.6 



13.2 





Means 



29.967 



58.5 ! 53.2 





58 9 



66.8 



48.7 



114 7 



0.565 



RE MARES. 

 29th.— Fair but rather dull morning, bat fine bright daj afterwards throughout. 

 30th. — Fair and fresh, but rather windy morning; rain before noon, but fin& 



afternoon and evening 

 31st. — Fine fresh morning, some showers, but on the whole a pleasant day. 

 1st — Very bright fresh day throughout. 

 2nd. — "Very bright and fine, but rather cool in the morning, and so continued 



all day, except a few drops of rain about 4 p.m. 

 Srd. — A very showery day, the Bhowers at times veiy heavy, and the air very 



cool all day. 

 4th. — Beautifully bright and fine all day, with nice fresh breeze. 

 Moderately fine autumnal week. The rain here has no6 been heavy. — 

 G. J. SyaioNS. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— Sept eitber 5. 



Trade remains as before— quiet. 



Apples 



Apricots ... 

 Chestnuts . 

 Currants... 



Black ... 



Figs 



Filberts 



Cobs 



Gooseberries .. i 

 Grapes, hothouse" 

 LemonB 



i sieve 



dozen 



bushel 



$ tieve 



i sieve 



dozen 



lb. 



lb. 



bushel 



lb. 



^100 



Artichokes dozen 



Asparagus ^ 100 



Beans, Kidney. . bushel 



Beet. Red dozen 



Broccoli bundle 



Brussels Sprouts $ sieve 



Cabbage dozen 



Carrots bunch 



Capsicums ^100 



Cauliflowers. . . . dozen 



Celery bundle 



Coleworts doz. bunches 



Cucumbers .... each 



Endive dozen 



Fennel bun ch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Lettuce dozen 



Leeks bunch 



6toS 



6 











6 











4 







6 



i> 10 



6 











5 6 

 7 



6 

 U 

 6 

 



VEGETABLES. 



Melons each 8 



Nectarines .... dozen 4 



Oranges v 100 10 



Peaches dozen 3 



Pears, kitchen., dozen 



deBeert dozen 1 



Pine Apples lb. 5 



Plums j sieve 



Fas-pberries lb. 



Walnuts bushel 5 



ditto ^100 



d. s. 

 0to8 

 IS 



d. s. d. 

 0to6 

 





 6 

 



3 



1 



2 



9 



2 



4 



2 



4 



9 



2 















2 







Mushrooms 



Mustard & Cress 

 Onions 



pickling 



Parsley.... doz. 



Parsnips 



Peas 



Potatoes 



Kidney 



Badihhes.. doz. 



i hubarb 



Salsafy 



Scorzonera .... 



Seakale 



Shallots 



Spinach 



Turn ns 



Veg. Marrows.. 



pottle 

 punnet 

 bushel 

 quart 

 bunches 

 dozen 

 quart 

 bushel 

 bushel 

 bunches 

 bundle 

 bundle 

 bundle 1 

 basket 

 lb. 

 bn-hel 2 

 bonch 

 eaett U 





 







S 



S 











8 







d. s 



6 to a 

 2 





 4 

 

 



16 (' 

 24 



