496 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. r November 25, xeso. 
)\d. per ft. The gentleman sold 50 fts. more to an Italian ware¬ 
house in Manchester, and sent the other jar to me ; it was 
speedily sold as honey from Palermo Botanical Gardens. This 
consignment was called the first crop at the Gardens, and a 
second crop of 1000 fts. was predicted and expected. Well, the 
second crop has been reaped, the half of which—viz., 500 fts., 
arrived in Manchester on the 5th of this month. A sample was 
brought here for examination, the aroma of which was not quite 
so fine as that of the first crop. This made me think about the 
first crop of tea leaves being the best, and why the first blossoms 
yielded honey the most aromatic. I thought, too, of what an 
inviting place Palermo or Southern Italy is for bee-keeping, with 
its blue skies, warm climate, long summers, and rich pasture. If 
bees in Scotland properly managed can store 50 and GO fts. in a 
month on the moors, what would they not do amongst the Orange 
groves of Palermo ?—A. Pettigrew. 
BAR-FRAME HIVES. 
I am a very young hand at bee-keeping, with slight pretensions 
to scientific handling. I have kept them for many years, some¬ 
times getting a little honey—destroying the bees—but oftener 
obtaining nothing. A year or two ago they died out entirely. 
In the autumn of 1879 1 was aided by a bee friend. The result 
was that our local carpenter made me three combination hives 
(Abbott’s), and that my friend and I drove several stocks of bees 
“in very reduced circumstances,” and I fed away, and had thus 
my three hives peopled, each having about six bars. To one 
at the third attempt I succeeded in getting a Ligurian queen 
accepted, and the early part of 1880 season it did well ; but, as 
Mr. Pettigrew remarks, they, the workers, encased her at the 
onset with evil intent, and she was not accepted without damage 
—her wings were injured. This, it seemed to me, affected her 
well-being in the middle of the season, and by my bungling I lost 
her, so that this hive did not do anything like what it might have 
done, or what the two others did. In one of the others I found 
early in the spring a weakened hive and a damaged queen, and 
soon she was turned out dead. The remains, very small, I 
added to the Ligurian hive. To replace this I bought from my 
friend in March one of his well-stocked hives with a hybrid Ligu¬ 
rian at its head ; this hive was very strong, so I started the year 
still with my three stocks in combination hives. I must preface 
my results by stating that we are not here in a very grand honey 
country; probably I have done better than I otherwise should 
because so many bees died the previous year—1879, scarcely any 
person having saved bees who did not tend them very carefully. 
The hive bought from my friend swarmed on the 20th May—a 
monstrous swarm that filled a straw skep in which they were taken. 
They were placed in a box holding nine bars, and in spite of a large 
super capable of holding 25 fts. of honey being given them I had 
two swarms from them, both large. The hybrid hive sent out a 
second swarm on the 30th May, a pouring wet afternoon; and the 
swarm not being expected was left exposed, taken unsatisfactorily, 
syruped, and added to another stock. The 4th June saw yet 
another large swarm issue from this hybrid hive. Had I been 
more au fait with them I should have returned them to the hive 
and destroyed any other queens ; but the fact was that these bees 
were decidedly extra cantankerous, disdaining the soothing in¬ 
fluences of tobacco, and making it decidedly hot work for those 
who manipulated the hive, and I feel convinced that from them I 
have not obtained comparatively the same amount of honey. 
The other hive sent off two swarms ; in the second, after hiving 
I found a few bees on the board, and looking closer found it was 
the queen (as I thought) rather weak. She was placed inside the 
hive, and the following morning two dead queens were outside, so 
that there must have been three in the swarm. 
By driving and uniting I reduced my stocks in September to 
four for the winter—as many as I could conveniently manage ; and 
beginning with three stocks, I have taken over 197 fts. of clear 
drawn honey, nearly 50 fts. of which was super honey. I am 
quite aware that this is nothing to some persons, but here I have 
no Heather harvest, and with the Limes the chief source of 
supply is finished, and considering my ignorance and great want 
of experience I think I have done wondei's. 
Besides the honey, however, I have about a score of bars more 
or less filled with worker comb from which the honey has been 
removed by the extractor. Most of these have been made or 
started on the artificial comb foundation. Neither have I with 
care had much difficulty with this. I have ordered the carpenter 
in making the bar frames to run a narrow groove on the lower 
surface of the top of the bar ; into this I slip the comb foundation 
carefully cut to size as to the width, and then I fill this groove 
with the melted wax ; a drop to fasten the sides completes the 
business, and with me the bees have taken to it at once.— 
Y. B. A. Z. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Bees Deserting Hive (Constant Reader ).—The desertion of a hive under 
the circumstances you describe is very [difficult of explanation. It would pro¬ 
bably rest in some dissatisfaction witli the hive itself; and if the box weighing 
“ nearly 50 fts ” was a single one, it must have been little less than a block of 
sealed store, and most unfit for winter quarters. The bees have in all likelihood 
united themselves to some other of your stocks, for this is the habit of abscond¬ 
ing parties. Great weakness and queenlessuess will sometimes lead to the result 
you give. 
Draining Comb (Constant Reader ).—The honey from store combs can be 
very expeditiously obtained with no injury to itself, or, to speak more correctly, 
with less injury than is caused by the dust, exposure, and delay involved in 
draining, by placing it (care being taken that no pollen is present) in a vessel, 
(earthenware preferred), which is in turn placed over a saucepan boiling on the 
fire, or into a copper. The wax melts and rises, and may be removed after cool¬ 
ing, as fat is taken from broth. Should the honey be rendered cloudy by the 
presence of undiscovered pollen, the former must be placed in a warm position—a 
kitchen by example—for a month or two, when the pollen will subside. The 
honey may then be drawn off by a syphon, and the thick remainder, after being 
thinned with water, will make good feeding stuff if due care be taken to prevent 
robbing. With combs in which brood has-been raised the plan is quite inad¬ 
missible," aud the extractor gives the only good means of getting the honey. 
Failing this, draining is the best course, but in this a comparatively high tem¬ 
perature much quickens the process. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51°32'40’' N.; Long.0° 8'0 1 ' W.; Altitude,111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
1880. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32° 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Rain. 
Nov. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Sun. 14 
Inches. 
29.461 
deg. 
55.1 
deg. 
54.6 
S.W. 
deer. 
47.0 
deg. 
57.4 
deg. 
54.1 
deg. 
62.0 
deg. 
50.8 
In. 
0.227 
Mon. 15 
29.711 
40.8 
38.7 
N.E. 
47.8 
54.6 
39.6 
52.7 
37.3 
0.539 
Tues. 16 
28.854 
49.9 
46.6 
S.W. 
46.2 
53.3 
39.4 
89.3 
37.7 
0.014 
Wed. 17 
29.119 
38.8 
37.8 
w. 
45.5 
45.4 
34.4 
79.4 
28.5 
— 
Thurs. 18 
29.234 
30.4 
30.4 
E.N.E. 
43.1 
37.5 
26.9 
37.5 
22.8 
0.492 
Friday 19 
29.285 
30.7 
86.4 
N.N.VV. 
41.4 
42 8 
30.3 
72.5 
30.0 
> - 
Satur. 20 
30.122 
33.3 
31.0 
N.E. 
49.8 
40.3 
30.7 
67.3 
24.6 
— 
Means. 
29.398 
40.7 
39.4 
44.5 
47.3 
33.5 
64.5 
33.1 
1.272 
REMARKS. 
ltth.—High wind and rain in morning; stormy afternoon, with gleams of sun¬ 
shine ; rain again in evening. 
15th.—Fair morning ; dark at 11 A.M.; rain commenced 11.30 A.M., heavy during 
the afternoon, slight in evening. 
16th.—Very stormy day, high wind and heavy showers, occasional flashes of sun¬ 
shine ; bright moonlight night. At 2.30 P.M. barometric pressure only 
28.695 inches. 
17th—Fine, bright, colder day ; clear moonlight night. 
18th.—Cold foggy morning ; snow at 2.15 r.M.; latter part of the day wild and 
stormy, with rain and snow. 
19th.—Early morning dull ; fine, bright, and cold rest of the day. 
20th.—Very fine, with bright sunshine; latter part of afternoon hazy ; clear in 
evening. 
Great oscillations of barometer, and considerable range of temperature, the 
night between 13th and 14th being excessively warm (not below 54°), while 
there were sharp frosts on three other nights.—G. J. Symons. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.—November 24. 
OUR market is now very bare of home-grown fruit, American goods mono¬ 
polising the trade, though samples as a rule are reaching us in bad condition 
and making low prices, while sound parcels are in request at improved rates. 
Trade quiet. 
FRUIT. 
s. 
d. 
S. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
2 
6 
Melons . 
each 
2 
0 to 4 
0 
Apricots. 
box 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Nectarines. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
JS’ lb. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Oranges . 
& 100 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Chestnuts. 
bushel 12 
0 
16 
0 
Peaches . 
dozen 12 
0 
18 
0 
Figs. 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Pears,kitchen .. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Filberts... 
4fft. 
1 
6 
1 
8 
dessert . 
dozen 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Cobs . 
if ft 
1 
6 
1 
8 
Pine Apples .... 
49 1 ft 
8 
0 
4 
0 
Gooseberries .... 
4 sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Plums . 
1 sieve 
o 
6 
4 
6 
Grapes . 
49- ft 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Walnuts . 
bushel 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Lemons. 
4^100 12 
0 
18 
0 
ditto . 
W 100 
0 
0 
0 
0 
VEGETABLES. 
s. 
d. 
s. d. 
s. 
d. 
S. 
d. 
Artichokes. 
dozen 
2 
0 to 4 
0 
Mushrooms . 
dozen 
1 
Otol 
6 
Asparagus. 
bundle 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Mustard* Cress .. 
punnet 
0 
2 
0 
3 
Beans, Kidney... 
V ft. 
0 
0 
0 
6 
Onions. 
bushel 
3 
6 
5 
9 
Beet, Red. 
dozen 
I 
0 
2 
0 
pickling. 
quart 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Broccoli. 
bundle 
0 
9 
1 
6 
Parsley. doz. bunches 
6 
0 
0 
0 
Brussels Sprouts. 
J sieve 
1 
9 
2 
3 
Parsnips. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Peas . 
quart 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Carrots. 
bunch 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Potatoes. 
bushel 
8 
9 
4 
0 
100 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Kidnev. 
bushel 
4 
0 
4 
6 
Cauliflowers. 
dozen 
0 
0 
8 
6 
Radishes_ doz .bunches 
1 
6 
2 
0 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Rhubarb. 
bundle 0 
4 
0 
0 
Coleworts_doz. 
bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Salsafy. 
bundle 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Cucumbers. 
. each 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Scorzonera . 
bundle 
1 
6 
0 
0 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Seakale .•• 
basket 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Shallots. 
4? ft. 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Garlic . 
. V ft. 
0 
6 
, 0 
0 
Spinach . 
bushel 
3 
0 
0 
0 
Herbs . 
. hunch 
0 
2 
0 
0 
Turnips. 
bunch 
0 
4 
0 
0 
Leeks. 
. hunch 
0 
8 
0 
4 
Vegetable Manows 
each 0 
2 
0 
0 
