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SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[July 20, I? 



with him that there is little or no need of it on the part 

 of those who superintend the work of labourers and 

 artificers. The need for this will vary somewhat in 

 different trades, but in all we think it most desirable 

 that the masters, the managers, and the leading foremen 

 should have a technical training, which will not only fit 

 them to direct and improve the work done under them, 

 but enable them to understand and appreciate new or 

 improved methods of attaining the ends required which 

 may be brought to their notice. As we once before took 

 occas : on to remark, this is the crux of the whole ques- 

 tion, and it is because our managers and superintendents 

 have so neglected this part of their training, that the 

 better trained foreigners have in many instances over- 

 taken them. If the foremen, or heads of departments, 

 are to be merely improved or extra-skilled labourers, or 

 artificers, as Lord Armstrong leads us to suppose, it 

 cannot be expected that they will benefit much from 

 technical education. We trust, however, that the time 

 will come when it will be necessary for those who are to 

 take charge of workshops and factories to have learnt the 

 science of their work, i.e. (to borrow Mr. G. J. H. Lewes's 

 admirable definition) the systematic classification of 

 experience, as well as the mere manupulative skill. At 

 the present time, in Germany, superintendents often 

 know more of the theory than of the practice of their 

 work, but this, of course, is going to the other extreme. 

 We only ask for a fair proportion of both theory and 

 practice. Lord Armstrong has no faith in saving our 

 commerce from the effects of foreign competition by a 

 wide diffusion of technical knowledge. He thinks that 

 cheapness of production and superiority of quality will 

 decide the victory in the race of competition. This we 

 think also, and we also agree with him that we shall 

 improve our chance of maintaining a foremost place by 

 the development of the mental and bodily faculties of 

 our workpeople. At the same time we must remember 

 that cheapness of production and superiority of quality 

 will largely depend on the supervision of the works being 

 in charge of persons who have received a good theoretical 

 and practical training. 



The Book of Bee-keeping; a Practical and Complete Manual 

 on the Proper Management of Bees. By W. B. 

 Webster, First-class Expert, B.B.K.A. London : 

 L. Upcott Gill. 

 We well remember inspecting with no small pleasure 

 the exhibits of the British Bee Keepers' Association at 

 the " Healtheries." We were then strongly impressed 

 with the conviction that bee-keeping, or, as it is now 

 more learnedly called, "apiculture," might be carried on 

 to a much greater extent in this country than it has yet 

 ever been. In all rural, and even surburban districts, 

 there must be multitudes of flowers which are never 

 made to yield their tribute of nectar to any hive. We 

 are, therefore, much pleased at the appearance of the 

 volume before us, written specially, as the preface tells 

 us, for amateurs, beginners, cottagers, and others who 

 are desirous of keeping two or three hives of bees. Mr. 

 Webster writes so simply and plainly, and from so evi- 

 dently practical a point of view, as to be intelligible to 

 all. 



The profits of bee-keeping, when conducted in an in- 

 telligent manner, are shown to be much greater than an 



unobservant person would imagine. The author men- 

 tions two cases of working men who in this way cleared 

 ^29 and ^25 in one season. We are glad to learn 

 that, in addition to the supply of honey and wax, the value 

 of bees is beginning to be recognised by gardeners and 

 fruit-growers as promoting the fecundation of blossoms, 

 and consequently increasing the crop. Says the author : 

 "A widow woman in Hertfordshire, who depended in 

 a great measure upon her cherry orchard for a subsis- 

 tence, was obliged to obtain a fresh supply of bees after 

 she had sold her original hives, as her orchard was not 

 nearly so productive; this quickly righted itself after 

 the introduction of the bees. Such facts speak for them- 

 selves." Most lovers of nature, though they may never 

 have had any experience in apiculture, regard the 

 mellow hum of bees over the garden beds as quite one 

 of the enjoyable features of a summer day. The fear 01 

 being stung is very needless, unless we go out of our 

 way to disturb a hive. It must, however, be remarked 

 that some persons give off a specific odour imperceptible 

 to our duller senses, which the bees recognise and 

 resent. The nicety of smell and taste in bees is 

 remarkable. Eminent chemists — the wish being, per- 

 haps, father to the thought — tell us that beet-sugar and 

 cane-sugar are the same thing. The little bee knows 

 better. She will not touch the beet-product if any of 

 the genuine tropical article be within reach. It is much 

 to be regretted that tons of spurious honey, consisting of 

 glucose, manufactured by the action of sulphuric acid 

 upon potatoes or maize, have long been imported into 

 England, and have done no little towards bringing honey 

 into disrepute. 



Of the different varieties of bees the aulhor recom- 

 mends the Ligurian strain. In productiveness they 

 beat the common black bee by quite 25 per cent., and 

 in addition they beat off robber insects in a more syste- 

 matic manner. The Cyprian is said to be an excellent 

 honey gatherer, but extremely irritable. 



Beginners are advised to read some plain modern 

 treatise on bee-keeping, and inspect some of the exhibits 

 of bees to be seen at horticultural shows. The hive 

 purchased should be one with the standard Association 

 frames, which are all easily interchangeable. The stock 

 purchased should be pure Ligurians. 



In describing the method of hiving a swarm, the 

 author declares that the old style of beating a " tom-tom " 

 on pots, frying pans, and kettles, may amuse the beaters 

 — it is a duty for which boys always readily volunteer — ■ 

 but it has no effect upon the bees. 



The reader will find, in short, that every point in the 

 practice of bee-keeping is very clearly explained. We 

 may recommend this little manual to all intending bee- 

 keepers, and we hope it may induce many persons who 

 live in suitable places to try what they can do in api- 

 culture. 



The Land of the Broads. A Practical and Illustrated 

 Guide to the Extensive but Little-known District of 

 the Broads of Norfolk and Suffolk. By Ernest R, 

 Suffling. London : L. Upcott Gill. 

 A pleasant, open-air book, fraught with the imageries 

 of woodland and stream and open fields and skies inno- 

 cent of smoke ! It would, of course, have been more to 

 our taste had the author been a naturalist, able to tell 

 us something 'more about the fauna and flora of the 

 district. He writes, indeed : " To the entomologist, 

 ornithologist, and botanist I would say, By all means 



