JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
374 
[ October 19, 1882. 
should he well supplied with liquid manure, keeping free from 
aphides by fumigation and from red spider by forcible syringings, 
applying flowers of sulphur for mildew. 
HE BEE-KEEPER. I 
lEii:-• 1 - ! - ! - I - 1 -_L - l - l - 1 - ■ • | . 1 ■ 1 - 1 . 1 . I . | | ■ J . 1 ^_1—1 
THE STEWARTON HIVE. 
Mu. Pettigrew says, in his article on the Stewarton hive, that 
an attempt is being made by the Bee-keepers’ Association to intro¬ 
duce the Stewarton principle on the straw hive. That has been 
done many years ago in Ayrshire, and is used by many bee-keepers, 
especially in the neighbourhood of Mauchline, where it was first 
introduced. This hive goes under the name of the Mauchline- 
Stewarton. The hive is circular, about a foot in depth, with bars 
the same breadth as those in Stewarton attached to a wooden rim 
15 inches in diameter and supplied with slides. The principle of 
working is similar to that adopted in the Stewarton, a swarm being 
hived into one of the skeps. A Stewarton super is placed on the 
top when combs in the body of the hive are nearing completion. 
The two side slides are withdrawn, and should honey be coming in 
plentifully the other slides may be drawn an inch. By only with¬ 
drawing two side slides of the hive you are certain of getting honey¬ 
comb uncontaminated by brood or pollen. 
In two instances when I assisted in removing a super when all 
the slides had been withdrawn, brood in the one case and pollen in 
the other was found. If the swarm is strong in bees and the 
weather is favourable other boxes may be placed over, first removing 
the lower super as soon as all the cells are sealed over. This may 
be known without raising super by merely drawing the shutters and 
looking through the window in front and behind. If all the cells 
are seen to be sealed it is ready to be taken away. If we wish to 
prevent a stock hive from swarming, as soon as the bees have tho¬ 
roughly occupied the super a hive is placed underneath.—W. F. 
PROGRESS OF APICULTURE IN THIRTY YEARS. 
During the last thirty years great discoveries have been made 
in the natural history and general management of bees ; and while 
the habits and instincts of the honey bee are the same to-day as 
thousands of years ago, the methods employed to develope and 
utilise their value and enable the bee-keeper to prosecute his 
business with intelligent oversight have been numerous and very 
valuable, because mainly practical in their application to the end 
sought—namely, the improvement of the stock; to acquire a know¬ 
ledge of the habits of the bee ; better to utilise their labour, hence 
greater profits, the latter mainly the greater desideratum of the 
Yankee mind. 
'the invention of the moveable-comb frame hive, introduced by 
Mr. Langstroth about 1S50, opened up a wide field of study; in 
fact it was the invention of the age as regards intelligent bee¬ 
keeping, and upon it has hinged most of the progress that has been 
made since. By its use we were enabled to go inside the hive and 
prove those things at which naturalists had hinted. It enabled us 
to practise artificial multiplication of swarms, or prevent natural 
swarming when desirable. That bees, deprived in any way of their 
queen, had the means to rear another one, had long been known, 
but till now the knowledge was of but little practical value. Now 
we are enabled to rear queens at will, to become acquainted with 
their good or bad qualities, and to breed and perpetuate the one or 
discard the other; and also if another race of bees is thought to be 
superior to the ones we are breeding, the moveable frame enables us 
to introduce foreign stock without loss. 
Science has also demonstrated that to elaborate and build comb 
causes bees much labour, and that it is at the expense of a large 
quantity of honey. Take an ordinary bee hive of 2000 cubic inches 
capacity, and to fill it with nice new combs requires labour sufficient 
to bring in 30 lbs. of honey, and the elaboration of wax to form 
material for the building of the combs requires 30 lbs. more. We 
find that GO lbs. at least of honey has been the cost of filling each 
hive. Enterprising bee-keepers sought to obviate in some measure 
this outlay, and the result has been the honey extractor, whereby 
the newly closed cells are uncapped and the frames with combs 
attached are taken from the hive, the bees brushed off and then 
placed in the machine and rapidly revolved, emptying the honey 
from the cells, and then the combs replaced in the hive to be refilled, 
and the process repeated when advisable. 
Twenty years ago, had some timid apiarist ventured to suggest 
the possibility of making artificial comb which the bees would 
readily accept and utilise the same as their own, he would have 
been a fit subject for a lunatic asylum ; but nearly as long ago as 
that the embryonian idea took rout in the brain of the late Samuel 
Wagner, and the result has been the production of foundation 
comb that can be attached to the frame and placed within the hive 
and as readily used by the bees for all purposes as their own. 
These are some of the wonderful results that have accrued by 
the application of certain principles in accordance with the no less 
wonderful instincts and habits of the honey bee. 
But while the results of the new light that has dawned upon the 
bee-keeper’s pathway has been to lead to grand achievements in 
summer management of the apiary, the successful wintering of bees 
has not yet come to be demonstrated by any set rules however care¬ 
fully observed. Comparatively speaking it is easy to successfully 
manage the apiary during the warm months, for success hinges very 
much upon whether the season is auspicious for honey-gathering; 
but during the winter and spring the hee-keeper often finds all his 
wisdom at fault. There are a few rules it is well to observe, and 
these when put in practical use are as near right as any we have 
tried. To be brief, for this article has already exceeded its proper 
limits, let us observe— 
1, Bees in the moveable-frame hive are not in their normal 
condition, hence some means should be adopted to prevent a low 
temperature within the hive. Such condition is best afforded by 
wintering in a dry cellar. 
2, The larger the mass of bees consolidated together the less 
susceptible are they to a low temperature ; hence by the 1st of 
November remove a frame and put the remaining ones farther 
apart, also cut passage ways through the combs to enable the bees 
to communicate freely through each sheet of comb. 
3, Quietness is essential to their prosperity, hence the hives need 
to be placed in a dark cellar, and if the cellar is used for other 
purposes put a partition across the room so the light may not 
disturb them. 
4, A current of air continually passing from beneath up through 
the hive is detrimental to the health of the bees; then contract the 
entrances and leave small spaces between the combs and bottom 
board; place quilts upon the top of frames, remove the caps from 
the hives and keep at a temperature of 40° Fahr.; higher than this 
will cause uneasiness, lower will do no harm. 
5, Be sure that each hive contains at least 15 lbs. of honey, dis¬ 
turb as little as possible until spring. These rules followed, your 
losses will be less than in any other way.—L. F. Abbott (in the 
American Bee Journal). 
FORMATION OF A BEE-KEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION 
FOR WORCESTERSHIRE. 
A meeting, convened by the Rev. J. Ross Barker and Mr. A. H. 
Martin of Evesham, was held in the Guildhall, Worcester, on Saturday 
last, to take into consideration the desirability of forming a Bee- 
Keepers’ Association for the countv of Worcestershire. There was a 
good attendance of persons residing in various parts of the county, 
including several ladies, who are desirous of spreading a knowledge 
of the improved methods of bee-keeping throughout the county. 
The chair was taken by Col. W. Stalland, the Mayor of Worcester. 
Mr. J. Huckle, Assistant Secretary to the British Bee-Keepers’ Asso¬ 
ciation, attended the meeting, and gave information as to the mode of 
forming an association and the means whereby the association would 
be enabled to carry out its work. 
It was resolved unanimously—“ That it was desirable to form a 
Bee-Keepers’ Association for the county of Worcestershire,” and that 
subscribers of 5s. and upwards be considered as members. Mr. A. H. 
Martin of Evesham was unanimously elected Honorary Secretary. 
Lord Beauchamp has signified his assent to act as President of the 
Association. 
Plants for Bees. —A correspondent of th e American Bee Journal 
states that his bees have gathered a large quantity of honey from 
the flowers of Rudbeckia fulgida, of which he states there were 
one thousand acres in his neighbourhood. Pentstemon Digitalis also 
grows abundantly in the district, and from these two a large portion 
of his honey is obtained. Both these are North American plants, but 
they are cultivated in this country. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED 
Ernest Riemschneider, Altona, Hamburgh, Germany.— List of Bulbs 
and Herbaceous Plants. 
S. Dixon & Co., Amhurst Nursery, Hackney, and Moorgate Street, 
London. —Catalogue of Chrysanthemums and Roses. 
Charles Turner, Slough.— Catalogues of Roses, Fruit Trees, and 
Florists’ Flowers. 
Francis and Arthur Dickson <fc Sons, The Upton Nurseries, Chester.— 
List of New and Select Roses. 
Edmund Philip Dixon, Hull.— Catalogue of Roses, Trees,and Shrubs. 
