July 3, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
19 
s'udied the physiology of the bee enough to enable me to say Avhether 
bees can be duped. I know that when they are provided at a con¬ 
siderable cost with dwellings they appear to have an idea that it is 
proper to resent any intrusion on their stores, and do not seem to 
think they are at all indebted to us for all the care we have over 
them. 
When the Ligurian bee was first introduced I found they possessed 
all the good qualities they were represented to have, amongst them 
that of great prolilicness. Amongst the first questions I put to myself, 
“Is this prolificness enduring?'’ I had to wait with patience for 
some years before I was assured of this, as I then had queens which 
were in ray possession for six years or seven seasons before they were 
deposed. This was gratifying, as it gave hopes and courage to per¬ 
severe with a race of bees of so great promise and properties. In the 
interim, however, I had many mishaps of queen-introduction, but 
which were not altogether loss, as on dissection I found even in but 
small queens large well-filled sperm sacs equal to those of large-sized 
queens of the common race. The next question was whether the 
ovum would be produced in a ratio equal to fecundated matter. The 
term of years these queens lived and produced eggs was the answer 
to the last question. 
Next came the Carniolian queens, possessing the same properties, 
with an additional one of extra hardiness and tenacity of life, and 
possessing great powers of flight. The Cyprians and Syrians followed. 
The latter I never proved beyond that the workers were very 
active, as one of the queens was stung while caged in consequence of 
two queens having been in the hive unknown to me. The second 
was unfertilised, and the third died of hunger. The bees, having 
nestled at a point furthest from the honey, were unable to reach it 
during cold weather ; hence the whole succumbed, leaving me with 
only the Cyprians, which, through Mr. Alfred Neighbour, I had had 
since 1876. These bees at once showed traits in their character 
different from others. Their fastidiousness regarding the sanitation 
of their dwelling, together with their pugnacity to stranger bees, was 
very apparent, while the great prolificness of the queen and compact¬ 
ness of the brood could not pass unobserved. This was all satisfac¬ 
tory, but not so when I found the sperm sac smaller than the Ligurian 
and Carniolian. I then dreaded the early deposition of these queens, 
which is as likely to occur at a season when the loss would be irre¬ 
parable as at the beginning of the honey season, the most favourable 
time for the loss of a queen, queen-rearing, and fertilisation. The 
unenduring character of the Cyprian queen has been proved this season 
by the loss of two Cyprian queens, one only eleven months old ; and 
though she has been wonderfully prolific and her progeny extraordi¬ 
nary workers, on dissection I found her sperm sac not wholly but 
almost exhausted. The other one is a queen two years and eight 
months old, and has never produced more bees during that time than 
would be an ordinary swarm, having been kept as nuclei. This 
queen, though not killed, ceased laying workers in April last, and 
produces nothing but drones now. I have other evidence that, though 
the Cyprians are very prolific, it seems that some of them are not 
enduring : it therefore becomes not only advisable but imperative 
that bee-keepers should not depend upon Cyprian queens other than 
young ones. Their early-failing fertility is the cause of Cyprian 
queens being so often and early deposed. 
It will never be known how many eggs a queen can lay and how 
many she can fertilise, because at all seasons many eggs are destroyed, 
particularly so when bees are stimulated to breed after August, 'i’his 
is a cogent reason why bees should never be fed after that time, as 
it impairs the queen so much that she may be deposed in March or 
April, which, had she been allowed her rest in the autumn, might 
have lived until May or June, a time her loss would have been repa¬ 
rable. Prolific queens, with proper hives, and a thorough knowledge 
of the former and proper management of the latter, insures the success 
and profit of bee-keepers. 
I have often recommended the Stewarton hive as the best hive 
for producing the finest and greatest quantity of honey. So tho¬ 
roughly convinced am I of this that it will take more than words 
from the novice to alter my conviction of the fact. Some object to 
the Stewarton because, though the bars and frames are moveable, 
they are not interchangeable—a very little fault. To meet these 
objections and serve my own purposes I contrived and made a hive 
on the Woodbury compound frame principle, which I consider is the 
best form a hive can be so far as saving of bee life and profit is con¬ 
cerned, with more advantages than can be found in any other frame 
hive. Certain bee-keepers who use shallow broad hives tell us that 
the bees store their honey in the lower cells and carry it up during 
the night, which is questionable, and which the bees themselves dis¬ 
prove, as, if watched and marked when entering the hive, will be 
observed depositing their load of honey in the highest super. With 
shallow broad hives bees often die during winter, because of the bees 
and honey being separated, Avhile the extreme sides and corners are 
always damper and colder in wide hives than in narrow ones ; then 
the honey in broad hives draws damp and is spoiled, injuring the 
bees. That is not the case with narrow hives. Then in narrow hives 
supers are purer and more quickly filled than those on wide and 
shallow hives, while robbers do not gain an entrance so readily, nor 
does the glare of the sun during the winter months strike the bees so 
strongly as in shallow hives, and when breeding commences there is 
no danger of the brood being chilled. Less food is consumed by the 
bees at all seasons in narrow hives than in broad ones, which keeps 
the bees more quiescent, and consequently more healthj^ 
The hive I refer to is approved of b}'^ all who see it or that give 
it a trial, and it was awarded two silver medals in 1880 as extra 
prizes at the Caledonian Society in connection with the Highland and 
Agricultural Society. To avoid the tiering system and give the bee¬ 
keeper full control of his hive without removing an upper box before 
reaching the bottom one, and to prevent the combs collapsing during 
heat and in transit, I made the frame inside measure 17 inches deep 
by 12 inches wide, dividing the former space by an intermediate bar. 
Thus there are two spaces 12 by 8|^. The top bar and under one are 
the same length, so that they will interchange with one another. The 
bottom rail of the frame is all that holds it together, which is half 
an inch square. The ears of the frame are seven-eighths square, 
which allows them to be firmly nailed and checked so as to form the 
quarter space at the ends of the frames. A flat staple, the one end 
passed into the ear and the other into the bar, prevents the frame 
spreading, holding it rigid and the bar secure in its place. The staple 
is sunk level, so as to allow the lateral slide to work freely. This is 
the most simple and cheapest hive made, while the many advantages 
it possesses over others make it the best frame hive. In addition to 
the advantages named the overloaded combs at the top can be removed 
without encroaching on the empty ones or those containing pollen or 
young bees, while for queen-rearing it is all that can be desired. The 
little space it occupies is also of great moment when in transit. Such 
a hive may either be double or single-walled to suit bee-keeper’s 
accommodation. The number of frames of the above size need not 
be more than eight, so that by allowing half an inch at each side 
more than the frame requires to insure the comb being extended and 
honey stored in the outside of outside frame, which is often not done 
in hives when the frame is too close to the side or divider, will 
measure 12^ inside, the space between the inner and outer case well 
filled with some non-conducting material. Have the floor of perfo¬ 
rated zinc, the top of the frames covered with meadow hay or straw, 
which is preferable to woollen cloths during winter, and a piece of 
corrugated iron as a roof, which allows a free current over the covering 
and insures perfect dryness, is cheap and lasting.—A Lanarkshire 
Bee keeper. 
*All correspondence should be directed either to “The Editor’’ 
or to “ The Publisher.’' Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or 
members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. AVe 
request that no one will write privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions relat¬ 
ing to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and should never 
send more than two or three questions at once. All articles in¬ 
tended for insertion should be written on one side of the paper 
only. We cannot reply to questions through the post, and we 
do not undertake to return reiected communications. 
Address (J. A. H .).—The address you require is H. S. Holmes Pegler, 
Esq., Ilemel Hempstead. 
Topping Scarlet Runners {J. L.). — We cannot tell you “how many 
times ” you should cut off the twiners. The rows you say are 3 feet apart; 
walk between them as often as you see a tendency of the plants reaching 
across the space, and with a sharp hand-hook prevent them intertwining. 
That is all you have to do, and it should be done, as if the rows are permitted 
to grow together the result will not be satisfactory. 
The Celery Maggot {H. G. B .).—If syringing the plants every evening 
with a mixture of petroleum and soapsuds will not prevent the attacks of 
the Celery fly, we do not know what will. Half a wineglassful or a little 
more of the oil to each gallon of the soap solution will be about the right 
strength to apply. Some persons, we believe, have found rags dipped in 
