600 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ December so, isso. 
Carr-3tewartons, and some Pettigrews. To my mind the best 
hive for quantity of honey, either in the comb or in supers, is the 
large straw hive. I have visited every show of the British Bee¬ 
keepers’ Association, and have so far failed to find any hives 
better adapted for the profitable management of bees than the 
Petti "Tew hive.” From it, he says, “he has taken considerably 
morethan the returns from any other hive on the same ground 
and under the same treatment.” It distresses me to quote such 
a passage as this in which my own name is mentioned, but I do 
so now°in the interests of the bee-keeping community. So far 
as my readin" and observation extend there is very little room 
for the assumption of superiority. Two years ago Mr. Raitt in¬ 
formed me that he had made £40 from twelve hives, and about 
a quarter of this sum was taken from one of them. His profits 
or income was at the rate of £3 Is. per hive. The same season 
some apiaries of straw hives at Carluke made or yielded £4 6.?., 
and two bee-keepers made at the rate of £5 per hive. Probably 
Mr. Haiti increased his stock. 
In closing these remarks I thank Mr. Anderson for the record 
of the Stevvarton hive at Arran, and Mr. Raitt for the report 
of the bar-frame hive at Blairgowrie. Most of all I thank Mr. 
Rennie for what he has told us. His few words contain the best 
teaching of all successful schools. If the readers of the Journal 
have any of the three hives in their gardens, and if they carry 
the simple lessons of Mr. Rennie into practice with energy, it 
is certain that they will become successful apiarians. The chal¬ 
lenge of Messrs. Raitt and Mann will be noticed by-and-by.— 
A. Pettigrew. . , „ , . T * T 
P s —In justice to Mr. Rennie and the straw hive I confess i 
forgot to state he told me in his letter that the weight of his hives 
was taken before the end of the honey-gathering, and that as some 
hives gained G and 8 lbs. each afterwards he ihinks his sum total 
would have been 20 lbs. more if he had had time to weigh them 
again.—A. P. __ 
CONGRESS OF GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN BEE¬ 
KEEPERS. 
The Exhibition being now complete I will attempt a description of 
some of the more prominent exhibits. At No. 1 in the catalogue was 
a list of a natural history collection belonging to Dr. tollman ot 
Bonn, who for years past has followed the excellent idea of fitting 
ud a bee cabinet which enables the visitor to follow and to study a 
colony from its cradle to its grave. In this cabinet nothing which 
concerns bee-keeping and bee life seemed to have been omitted. All 
the enemies of bees which endanger their life or interfere with then 
work were there. Near the above interesting display was the stand 
of Mr. Aloys Anton Schlosser, of Ehrenfeld near Cologne, well known 
as an able bee-master as well as a cultivator of Apples and other 
t ru it. This gentleman exhibited about 1000 lbs. of extracted honey m 
137 "lasses, gathered from White Clover, Buckwheat, and blue Coin- 
flower. In addition to this he exhibited bee furmturh he has had in 
use in his apiary for the last twenty years j also a cake of.beeswax 
weighing 70 lbs., and a comb-holder with honeycomb. In the garden 
Mr.'Schlosser exhibited four double or twin hives which have been in 
use for years inhabited by colonies of G-erman, Carmolan, Iluhan, 
and Cyprian bees respectively, which were much admired. 
The' exhibits of Pfarrer Daniels of Troisdorf were both numerous 
and tastefully arranged. What particularly struck visitors were his 
beautiful casts of wax. His assortment of honey, perhaps one of the 
largest in the Exhibition, comprised honey gathered from the Corn¬ 
flower, the Bird Cherry tree, White Clover, Seradella Rape, Goose 
berries, Lime trees, Heath, and other flowers. The samples of honey 
shown by Mr. Urban Weissweiller, schoolmaster of Dransdoif neai 
Bonn were also very good. Mr. Carl Regener, mechanical engineer 
of Bayenthal near Cologne, exhibited an observatory hive containing 
four combs placed vertically with a colony of Cyprian bees headed by 
a fine young queen. This was the only hive with living bees m the 
hall and very closely resembled those commonly exhibited in this 
country. The bees found exit to the garden through a hole in the 
window-pane, a long tunnel covered with glass enabling the visitors 
to watch the labourers passing out and in. Mr. Regener had other 
beautiful objects—a splendid assortment of honey, m the midst of 
which is a crystal bowl of very fine honey taken from the comb by 
means of the extractor. He also showed a large quantity of bee 
^Almost all the hives shown were of straw and had small frames. 
These frames are generally placed across the entrance; the back 
opens so that they are drawn out either with the hand or with a pan 
of pincers constructed for the purpose, and are considered by German 
bee-keepers easy of manipulation. There were a great number of 
them very similar in form. There was, however, one frame hive of 
wood exhibited by Mr. F. Koester of Simburg of very ingenious con¬ 
struction. It was something like a large Huber frame hive, and the 
frames were kept close to each other by means of _ two iron rods 
screwed tight with bolts. This gentleman had been living m America, 
and returned to his native country embued with inventive ideas, or 
he also produced a honey-extractor of novel construction, the motive 
power being simply friction. By drawing a long piece of wood 
against the wheel great rapidity and ease of motion were obtained. 
Mr. L. Eylenfeld of Franfurt had a very ingenious hive tenanted by 
living bees in the garden, very much like Gravenhorst’s, with the 
dome-top frames. These drew out bodily at the side, and run on rollers 
very smoothly, and the frames are easily drawn out and returned. -Dr. 
Dzierzon exhibited an Italian queen, which was priced at 12s. The 
bees were in a small glass case, and covered only one side of the 
comb. They were bright-coloured bees, and the .queen, a fine one. 
Herr Vogel "had two cases of Caucasian bees with distinctive marking. 
These be'es, like the Carniolan, are valued for their docile character. 
The show of honey-extractors was large ; some of them of novel 
and ingenious construction. Many wire masks to protect the face 
whilst manipulating found places on the table, also perforated zinc 
with three-sixteenths of an inch openings in considerable quantity, 
as well as cages for imprisoning the queen when the honey-gathering 
season is in full force, so that the cells may not be filled with brood, 
but with nectar. This mode of checking the queen in. using her 
great functions of egg-laying is occupying much attention in Ger¬ 
many, and will no doubt also claim the increased attention of English 
bee-keepers. By a judicious regulation of the vast multiplying 
powers of the queen sufficient bees may be in the hive to keep up its 
strength, and at the same time not become so overpowering in num¬ 
bers as to swarm or crowd and hang at the entrance, thus to impede 
the working of the bees, which in the ordinary course is.so nequently 
the case. In German apiaries run or extracted honey is more gene¬ 
rally produced than super or comb honey. This, no doubt, is so 
because honey in June is the more marketable article. 
Although bee-keeping in the district of Cologne is said to be very 
much neglected, nevertheless many excellent things were to be met 
with from this neighbourhood. Even envious tongues could not but 
speak well of the glass bell on stand, filled with honeycomb, of the 
samples of wax, the honey in glass jars, and the tasteful arrange¬ 
ments of the exhibits of Mr. Henry Beckers of Cologne.. The same 
remark applies to the produce of bees and the bee furniture of^ Mr. 
Nicholaus Assenmacher, jun., likewise of Cologne. The latter ex¬ 
hibited also under glass, hermetically closed, as a specimen a comb 
containing foul brood. I might further mention the following.ex¬ 
hibitors—Mr. Von Der Goo, schoolmaster of Steinfield in the Eifel, 
heath honey in large combs ; Mr. George Bosch of Harxheim near 
Mayence, a very large glass bell of fine honeycomb ; Mr. Otto Schutz 
of Buckow, a large quantity of comb foundation, very well manufac¬ 
tured, and some was on wood. Many other exhibits might be 
mentioned, but perhaps the above will suffice to illustrate the 
general character of this interesting exposition of bees and the 
apparatus connected therewith. , 
The articles I exhibited were those well known as manufactured 
and sold by my firm ; our safety smoker, Mr. Cheshire s rakes . for 
fixing comb foundation in frames, with dozen elegant American 
section of honeycomb from Mr. Cowan’s apiary, were among t e 
collection which attracted much attention as illustrative of English 
appliances in bee-keeping, and for which I was awarded a silver 
medal.— Alfred Neighbour. 
(To be continued.) 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
°32 
DATE. 
9 A.M, 
1880. 
Dec. 
i 9 
D <N c3_ 
2 > 
£ 01 
a ^ £*-3 
® "A 
H (J 03 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
I Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 1 foot. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Sun. 19 
29.515 
40.8 
37.8 
W. 
41.8 
Mon. 20 
21.479 
35.9 
35.8 
N.E. 
41.2 
Tnes. 21 
29.850 
30.8 
35.4 
N.W. 
40.1 
Wed. 22 
29.838 
41.0 
40.0 
IS. 
38.8 
Thurs. 23 
29.571 
49.8 
47.8 
S.W. 
41.2 
Friday 24 
29.154 
45.7 
45.1 
s.w. 
43.0 
Satur. 25 
29.483 
31.2 
29.3 
w. 
41.9 
Means. 
29.55G 
40.2 
38.7 
41.1 
IN THE DAY. 
Shade Tern- 
Radiation 
3 
perature. 
Temperature. 
c3 
« 
In 
On 
Max. 
Min. 
sun. 
grass. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
44.2 
35.6 
61.4 
34.2 
0.455 
41.1 
34.2 
41.0 
34.2 
0.242 
39.5 
32.1 
62.1 
28.8 
0.188 
52.2 
29.5 
51.4 
25.8 
0.405 
54.0 
40.4 
71.4 
38.4 
0.028 
52.0 
45.3 
80.0 
41.0 
0.010 
39.0 
29.7 
67.8 
25.8 
— 
41.7 
35.3 
62.1 
32.6 
0.328 
REMARKS. 
19 th,—Stormy with slight rain early part of the morning; fine after 11 A.M., 
with bright sunshine; overcast evening. . . . 
20th._Rain during night; snow commenced at 0.45 and continued until 3 r.M., 
damp and cold rest of the day. 
2 ist.—Fine, bright, and cold ; slight fog in evening. 
22nd.—Overcast with steady rain until 5 p.m. ; fine starlight evenm = . 
23rd.—Very fine and mild ; rain in evening. . „ . 1A . .. 
24th.—Fine early; rain from 8 till 9.30 a.m. ; very bright and fine , from 10 A.M. 
till 2 p.M. overcast and very dull for an hour ; clear and bright till 4 P.M., 
then heavy shower; fair but damp evening. . 
25th.—Fine, bright, and clear throughout; almost uninterrupted sunshine fiom 
A wet week 6 and “rather cooler than the previous one, but still slightly above 
the average temperture.—G. J. Symons. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.—DECEMBER 29. 
TnE holidays have completely checked business, nothing of any note taking 
place in our market. The prices remain the same as last week. 
