506 
■The  Yorkshire  Farm-Prize  Competition , 1883. 
BEE-KEEPING,  &c. 
The  Apiarian  department  was  thronged  with  interested 
visitors  throughout  the  week,  and  the  movements  of  the  “ busy 
bee  ” were  watched  very  closely. 
Report  of  the  Judges  of  Hives , Honey , and  Bee-keeping  Appliances. 
The  exhibition  of  Bee-Hives  and  Bee  Appliances  showed  a decided  advance 
upon  former  years,  many  of  the  Hives  entered  for  competition  being  ex- 
cellent in  construction  as  well  as  reasonable  in  price.  Bee-keeping  is 
extending  so  rapidly  in  every  part  of  England,  and  its  benefits,  not  only  in 
increasing  the  supply  of  food  raised  in  our  own  country  but  also  in  aiding 
the  fertilization  of  flowers  and  fruits,  are  now  so  generally  recognised,  that  the 
winner  of  a prize  at  the  Eoyal  is  certain  to  sell  a large  number  of  hives,  and 
the  competition  in  consequence  is  very  close.  The  amount  of  honey  ex- 
hibited was  not  so  large  as  it  would  have  been  had  the  Show  been  held  later 
in  the  season,  and  scarcely  afforded  an  index  of  the  large  harvest  that  has 
been  secured  this  year.  The  public  interest  in  the  various  Bee  Appliances, 
Manipulations  and  Lectures  in  the  Bee  Tent  was  very  great.  Many  persons 
had  travelled  long  distances  to  learn  all  they  could  about  bees,  and  remained 
in  the  Bee  Tent  almost  all  the  day.  Instances  are  becoming  common  of  tenant 
farmers  who  are  adopting  bee-keeping  as  a part  of  their  ordinary  occupation, 
particularly  if  they  grow  white  clover,  mustard,  or  other  plants  from' which 
the  bees  obtain  honey  in  any  quantity,  and  some  of  these  are  said  to  secure 
good  profits.  The  increase  in  the  supply  appears  to  be  creating  a demand, 
and  as  the  honey  obtained  under  modern  and  improved  methods  is  more 
attractive  and  more  marketable,  there  is  less  difficulty  in  securing  a sale  at  a 
remunerative  price. . The  assistance  rendered  by  this  Society  to  the  British 
Bee-keepers’ Association  enables  the  latter  to  bring  the  benefits  of  rational  and 
modernised  bee-keeping  before  a class  of  the  community  whom  otherwise 
the  Association  could  scarcely  reach,  and  in  this  way  the  agricultural  interest 
is  directly  benefited.  The  Addresses  delivered  during  the  Show  at  various 
intervals  each  day  by  experienced  lecturers,  and  their  practical  illustrations 
of  the  management  of  bees,  together  with  their  explanations  in  reply  to 
inquiries,  diffuse  an  amount  of  information,  and  moreover  create  an  interest, 
which  justify  the  hope  that  before  many  years  bee-keeping  in  England  will 
not  be  inferior,  either  in  skill  or  means,  to  the  art  as  practised  either  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe  or  in  America. 
Edward  Bartrum,  M.A. 
William  N.  Griffin. 
John  M.  Hooker. 
XXIV. — The  Yorkshire  Farm-Prize  Competition , 1883.  By 
THOMAS  Bell,  of  Hedley  Hall,  Gateshead-on-Tyne. 
The  area  of  competition  for  the  liberal  prizes  jointly  offered  by 
the  Local  Committee  and  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of 
England  for  the  best-managed  farms  in  the  district  of  the  York 
Meeting  was  confined  to  the  county  of  York.  This,  the  largest 
county  in  England,  is  by  no  means  a limited  area  ; it  is  as  large 
as  any  other  two  counties  in  Great  Britain  ; nearly  as  large  as 
