JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 9, 856 . 
hives has to think twice before he gives Is. 6cl., the usual 
price of any simple, effective “ feeder.” He can easily ex¬ 
temporise one for himself. The way to do so has been so 
so often explained in this Journal that it is better to leave 
each bee-keeper to follow his own inclinations. So long as 
the feeder be easily manipulated, that it be so arranged as to 
give the bee-keeper control over the amount of food 
liberated, and that it be placed as near to the cluster of bees 
as possible, the material conditions are fulfilled. Means 
must be taken to prevent the spilling of syrup about the 
outside of the hive. Once robbing is brought about it is 
most difficult to cure, and its effects are invariably, if not 
checked, the destruction of the weaker stocks, and perhaps of 
the stronger stocks also. We recently had the very useful 
account of Mr. Abbey’s experience of the effects of robbing. 
It is better to give the syrup warm, and to wrap up the feeder 
so as to keep it warm as long as possible. 
Bees must be fed systematically, a proper account kept 
as to the quantity given to each hive, and the hives fed in 
rotation, otherwise mistakes will be made; and, of course, 
regularity in feeding is all-essential. The object to be kept 
in view is that of deceiving the bees into taking the food as 
a constant natural supply. When this is the case the queen 
will be impelled to expand her operations of egg-laying 
accordingly, and in time the hive may be made to be one 
great brood nest from end to end. As the feeding proceeds, 
so the gradual expansion of the brood chamber must be care¬ 
fully managed by the bee-master. The dividers must be 
drawn back and sheets of foundation—or, what is better, 
clean combs—given to the bees as they require more room, 
only keeping these supplied when the expansion is abso¬ 
lutely necessary. The more the bees can be crammed into a 
fewer number of frames the more will their numbers be 
augmented. Spreading the brood should be undertaken 
with the greatest caution, otherwise much mischief may be 
caused. Hot fine weather is the greatest help to success 
when the brood is at all spread out; but when this experi¬ 
ment is carried out by a clever and careful manager great 
results may be brought about in a very short time. 
It is useless to keep weak stocks for this season’s profit. 
The weakest of stocks may, of course, be built up into 
powerful and valuable colonies for the next year; but it is 
better to unite them, as well as queenless hives, to stronger 
ones. If they have queens they are better fed gently, and 
united late in the month; if without queens they will soon 
dwindle away unless utilised at once. 
Where there is a lack of natural pollen pea flower should 
be given sprinkled on clean shavings. In order to attract 
bees at once to this it is only necessary to give an old skep a 
good baking before a fire, then put in the shavings and flour 
and place it in a sunny sheltered situation. We find that a 
skep so furnished and placed in a garden frame near the 
bees is a favourite resort.—P. H. P. 
THE HONEY COMPANY. 
Your readers will see in your advertising columns an announce¬ 
ment of the first general meeting of the shareholders of the above Com¬ 
pany. The best answer to the candid criticisms of the Lanarkshire and 
Hallamshire Bee-keepers, and Messrs. Hewitt, Thomson, and others, is 
shown by the fact that over 5300 shares have been subscribed for, and 
that there are some 250 shareholders, and that every week brings in appli¬ 
cations for some 150 more shares. 
Some of your correspondents seem to think that the formation of this 
Company will depreciate the value of honey, and that it would he better 
to keep up an artificial price by a gigantic trades union of all bee¬ 
keepers, and that we should go out on strike if the public will not give us 
a shilling or eighteenpence per pound for honey, no matter whether the 
honey harvest is good or bad. It is a well-known fact in political 
economy that the amount of wages lost by strikes is infinitely greater than 
the increase of wages in those cases where the strikes have been 
successful 
But leaving the so-called dismal science—and never was a more mis¬ 
leading phrase coined—it may be taken for granted that an ounce of 
fact is worth tons of theories. 
Only a short time ago I received a letter from a large bee-keeper whose 
crop this year was over a ton in comb and run honey, offering to supply 
me with honey at 6id. per lb.; and having tastel some hundreds of 
samples and frequently acted as judge in the honey classes at South 
Kensington and many other shows, I had a very high opinion of the 
samples sent, and the honey was quite up to exhibition standard. 
This bee-keeper could not dispose of his surplus honey ; he had sold 
some £25 worth, but had not received the money, though the sale took 
place some months ago. It is not the intention of the Company to 
interfere in the slightest degree with the retail sale of honey. If a bee¬ 
keeper, by means of the local grocer, honey fairs, or even the N.B.K.U., 
can get a farthing per lb. more for his honey than by selling it to the Com¬ 
pany I can speak for myself and I am certain also for the rest of our board, 
that our wish is that he should get the most he can for it; and it would' 
be most unbusiness-like on his part if hr did otherwise. 
Still, on the other hand, he may have overstocked his market, or his 
neighbours may have done so ; the Company then steps in and offers to 
take his surplus, be it 20 lbs. or 20 ton«, at a price which he need not 
accept unless of his own sweet •will. There is no compulsion in the 
matter, and some of your correspondents seem to have been under the 
misapprehension that there is, or might b?. 
Of course, in these days of co-operative stores and universal providers, 
there is a great outcry against the middlemen, and you hear constantly 
that they are doomed. Still, I can speak from experience that it has not 
been a success in the foreign trade, this trying to do away with the 
middlemen or merchants. 
The result of competition, however, has benefited the public, as the 
profits have been cut down to a low figure, and we do not hear so often 
of colossal fortunes being made in trade. 
So, when one of your correspondents talks of 3d. or 4 1. per lb. being 
necessary to pay the expenses of the Company he exaggerates, or is 
ignorant of what relation these amounts bear to the capital. A very small 
profit per lb. will pay all expenses and return a handsome dividend on 
the capital; the profit he talks about would return some 70 or 80 per 
cent., or even more than this if our capital were quickly turned over. In 
conclusion, it is useless to persuade anyone against his will, the true 
touchstone will be seen in the success or failure of the undertaking, and, 
with your permission, 1 shall be very pleased to write to your paper this 
time next year, and lay before your readers the result of our year’s 
experience as a company, the s f ate of British bee-keeping, which, as a 
doctor, I may hope will have passed Ihe crisis of its Honey Company 
disease (?). and will be more flourishing than in the ancient days.— 
George Walker, Wimbledon. 
ZINC FLOORS FOR HI YES. 
Would “ A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper ” kindly say what sized zinc he 
uses for the floorboards of his hives i I shall be glad if he will give the 
size of the holes, as I am not acquainted with the material by number, and 
I wish to order it and get the right size. Also will he say if 6 inches, 
8 inches, or 10 inches square in the centre of the floor will be sufficient 
for ventilating purposes ?—F. J. 
[Zinc for floors should be as wide in the perforations as to allow as 
large pieces as pos-ible of debris to fall through, but not so large as to 
allow the bees to thrust their heads through an l be caught like herrings 
in a net. The size I use has in the line of holes five holes to the inch, 
and across the lines six. That size answers the purpose very well, and 
a supply of it should always be at hand. For ventilating purposes 
6 inches, 8 inches, or 10 inches square would do fairly well, but the great 
object is to have every part beneath the combs perforated so that there 
will be no accumulation of debris on the floor, and to prevent all damp¬ 
ness, which is more or less present on every wooden floor at certain seasons, 
and is destructive to both bees and comb. A full zinc floor prevents all 
this. I have several nuclei of not more than a thousand bees which have 
wintered well on zinc floors, and the number of frames, large size, ten. 
I notify this to show there is no danger in its use.—A Lanarkshire 
Bee-keeper ] 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Henry J. Jones, Hope Nursery, Loampit Yale, Lewisham, S.E .—List of 
New and Good Plants and Seeds. 
Schlegel & Fottler, ‘Boston, Mass., U.S., America.— Catalogue of Seeds 
for 1885. 
Rawlings Brothers, Old Church, Romford, Essex.— Catalogue of Dahlias - 
All correspondence should be directed either to “The Editor * 
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expense. 
