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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



anti*|iiar\ having any interest in their resuscitation. We have nothing 

 hut praise for Lady Rosalind's most careful and diligent research; we 

 only wonder whether it might not have been bestowed on a more useful 

 subject. Still, antiquarian gardeners (if there be such folk) will revel in 

 her not.-, and it will always form an excellent book of reference on the 

 subject. 



•• The Book of the Honey Bee." By C. Harrison. (John Lane, 

 London.) 2s. 6<1. 



There are few branches of rural industry that possess so extensive a 

 Literature as bee-keeping. From Columella and Virgil to Cowan and 

 Maeterlinck innumerable writers have dealt with the different aspects of 

 bee-k< > ping ; but so numerous have been the improvements in apiculture 

 in recent years, and so great the increase in the number of bee-keepers, 

 thai there is ample room for further literature. Mr. Harrison's work is 

 of a practical nature, being intended specially for the guidance of beginners 

 in the craft, and the style in which it is written is so clear and concise that 

 am <>ne who reads it carefully cannot fail to understand the main principles 

 underlying modern bee-keeping. It is not overstating the case to say 

 [hat b( -keeping yields a larger return for the capital invested than any 

 other rural industry ; but modern bee-keeping requires learning, like any 

 other occupation, and those having no previous experience of the subject 

 cannot do better than obtain a trustworthy guide-book such as the one 

 before us. The general arrangement of the book is practical, and some of 

 the illustrations, especially those from photographs, are more likely to 

 convey an accurate impression to the novice than most similar illustrations 

 to be found in bee-books. The photograph on p. 66, showing the unsealed 

 brood, is the best of the kind that we have seen ; but there is no reference 

 to it in the text, nor is it included in the list of illustrations. As a matter 

 of hisi " ical accuracy, we may remark that Prokopovitsch was the name 

 of the Russian frame-hive pioneer. 



Perhaps the section on bee appliances and their uses is the one most 

 open to criticism. While the hive selected, the W.B.G. hive, is no doubt 

 the best now in use, and the working drawings for its construction will 

 prove exceedingly useful to amateur hive-makers, yet the frame illustrated 

 i i m ol he considered as up-to-date. The split top bar is not only a source 

 of weakness, but the groove thus formed is found in practice to harbour 

 moth larva' and other vermin. The method of wiring the frames as 

 described is not practical, because wire on the outside of the frames 

 • uroi i ra •_'«•«< propolisation and is an obstacle to the scraping of the frames, 

 h. ridea obstructing the bee-wav. Nor is the section rack illustrated the 

 most suitable for the purpose ; there should be " followers "' on two sides 

 in order fco keep the Bections close together. The wax extractor shown 

 and described is more suited for a large apiary than for one of average 

 -i/e. and do mention is male of that extremely useful and cleanly 

 appliance for the small bee-keeper, the solar wax extractor. Even 

 daring the late cloudy summer solar extractors have worked satisfactorily, 

 with a minimum of Double to their owners. Another very useful adjunct 

 to the apiary, namely, the celluloid quilt, has also been omitted. To the 

 l-ginncr (specially this is invaluable, as it enables him to inspect the 



