116 
Modern Bee-keeping. 
At present we believe that this fate does not happen to 10 per 
cent, of them ; even the peasant who has not so far advanced as 
to use the Movable Comb Hive, but still sticks to his straw skip, 
does not now kill his Bees. He lias learnt how to drive them from 
their Honey without the use of the Sulphur Pit, and the con- 
tamination of the Honey by its fumes. He now takes his 
driven Bees and unites them to his weak stocks. He knows 
well the value of a strong stock and gets through a bad winter 
with but trifling loss, whereas in the old time his colonies would 
be decimated. If, moreover, the summer has been bad, he both 
unites and feeds in the autumn. His Bees then come out well 
in the spring and are strong, and the swarming time is therefore 
early. Then, to avoid loss of his swarms and the trouble of 
watching, he makes his swarm artificially. To have accomplished 
all thivS work is highly creditable to the County Associations. It is 
true that at the present time they are, to an extent, resting on their 
oars, but there are various reasons for this. Their active aggres- 
sive educational work is, in great measure, finished, and Associa- 
tions are now doing more in the way of organising Shows for the 
exhibition and sale of the Honey they have taught their mem- 
bers to produce. 
The reproach that the Honey obtained is difficult to sell 
has often been heard at the Association Meetings. From long 
experience, however, we know that this is not the case, as we 
can call to mind many of our best and largest Apiarians whose 
produce is all bespoken year by year, they having diligently 
worked and so obtained a name for excellence of product. The 
Shows, however, have done a good work, for it is well known 
that the very finest goods are there displayed, and therefore the 
best houses send their rejDresentatives to Shows to buy — he^ice 
the very fancy prices we often see written on the sale cards at 
these exhibitions. 
The work of tlic Associations has furtlior been superseded 
by the greatly increased circulation of the Bee periodicals. The 
Bee Journal," in the hands of IMr. Abbott, was, to some extent, 
the organ of his own particular business, and Mr. Peel, judging 
that it would serv'e British Bee-keeping better as an entirely 
independent organ, purchased it, and it grew and flourished, 
amazingly. Its success caused otlier Journals to spring up, all 
of whicli were short-lived, with the exception of the " Eecord," 
which in the able hands of Messrs. Kaitt and Carr took a firm 
hold of the Northern and Scotch Bee Keepers. Wisely, we 
think, these journals were brought under the same management, 
that of Messrs. (Jowan and Carr, the one representing the scien- 
tific and the other the practical side of the industry. As almost 
