December 9, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
529 
admirable condition for lifting for forcing next autumn. It is useless to 
plant for this purpose those with strong flowering crowns, for after flower¬ 
ing the crowns divide, and in autumn the majority are too small for 
flowering and require another season’s growth. 
Dielytra spectabilis .—These should also be lifted and potted the same 
as Spiraeas. Any moderately rich soil will suit them. The roots with 
small crowns should be replanted for another season. If the stock of 
these is limited some of the stronger roots maybe divided, or those forced 
last year in pots. It is a good plan, when there is any uncertainty about 
sufficient stock for planting, to retain some of the plants that flowered 
late in pots. Such are valuable under the circumstances for lifting in 
autumn to be divided and planted for another year. When the stock for 
planting is ample these and Spirasas are conveyed to the rubbish heap 
directly they are past their best. 
Lily of the Valley. —Home-grown plants may be lifted and the 
flowering crowns selected, and either potted a number together in 5-inch 
pots or placed into pans or boxes. Replant the small crowns without 
delay on deeply dug heavily manured ground. Dibble them in singly in 
rows 4 inches apart, and about lor 2 inches from plant to plant; the 
crown should be about half an inch below the surface. It is surprising 
what large flowering crowns will be produced in two years by such simple 
treatment. 
l» 
HE BEE-KEEPER. 
HONEY EMPLOYED IN COMB-BUILDING. 
The whole subject of comb-building, the secretion of wax, 
the honey required to produce a certain quantity, together 
with the changes it undergoes during secretion, comb-build¬ 
ing, and after manipulation, covers a wide field for investiga¬ 
tion and research, both in a practical and scientific point of 
view and interesting in all its details. It requires an abler 
pen than mine to thoroughly describe it, not having, as I had 
expected, sufficient data at this time to give an accurate re¬ 
port, through accidents, how much honey it takes for the 
bees to secrete and build comb sufficient to produce 1 lb. of 
wax. 
So far as I have seen, “ Felix ” and myself stand isolated 
from those who believe and reiterate that bees require 20 lbs. 
of honey to produce 1 lb. of wax. We both seem to take the 
view that a swarm of bees placed in an empty hive during a 
honey glut will gather 20 lbs. less in a given time than one 
placed amongst fresh empty combs. It takes 20 lbs. of 
honey to produce 1 lb. of wax.” Is that the case ? I say, 
No emphatically. By the accidents that frustrated my 
designs in the experiments made this autumn for the 
purpose of informing the readers of this Journal, not only 
the amount of honey, but that of sugar as well, required to 
produce 1 lb. of wax, I have for a time been deprived of 
details that would have been an interesting narrative of facts. 
However, I have paid particular attention to the workings 
and progress of a number of fed swarms after being ex¬ 
hausted of any honey they contained. 
Although these swarms varied in strength, there has not 
been any appreciable difference in their productions. If the 
swarm was strong, more comb was built than by weaker 
ones, but these latter stored a greater weight. The summer- 
like weather we have had during October and November 
favoured the experiments (if they can be so called), as the 
mild weather permitted of no waste by the syrup being left 
untouched, as it often does for long when the temperature is 
low, and places strong and weak swarms on an unequal 
footing. 
The results, after feeding each swarm with 34 lbs. best 
cane sugar and 5 ozs. comb-foundation as a help, are—first, a 
hive is occupied with comb that if filled and sealed with honey 
would give nearly 3 lbs. of wax. I may here in parenthesis 
say that the seals of the combs contain the greatest elabora¬ 
tion of wax, and when we hear the advocates in favour of 
the extractor putting it, that the returned mutilated combs 
(italics mine) are equal to a saving of from 100 to 200 per 
cent., we know it is misleading. Not only must the lost 
time of repairing the mutilated combs be taken into account, 
but the seals as well, which, as every housewife who has the 
experience knows, are what swell the cake of wax, and with¬ 
out which the nectar as gathered by the bees is not honey 
proper as it is found in sealed combs. Heather honey is, to a 
certain extent, exempt from the deteriorating quality, though 
unsealed. Its greater consistency, together with its nature 
otherwise, seems to exclude both air and water, although not 
sealed, but which Clover honey is only freed from after 
sealing. 
Second, Five combs, or equal to five, are thoroughly sealed 
out, and which, according to measurement, contain exactly 
34 lbs. of sealed syrup, or what would be if it was honey, 
representing the same weight as was fed to the bees before it 
was converted into syrup by adding water. Paradoxical, no 
doubt; but that is not all. The bees brought forward about 
5000 cells, which all hatched, and many of these hatched 
cells were refilled with brood. Still another thing. One 
filled and sealed comb collapsed, which would at the least 
represent 3 ozs. wax, although the syrup was fed back to 
the bees, thus reducing the wax supplied to the bees to 
about 3 ozs. 
The foregoing facts show that the bees had 34 lbs. of sugar, 
from which they at the least have built combs that will if melted 
produce 2 lbs. of wax, produced at least 5000 bees, and have 
still 34 lbs. of syrup left—say 16 lbs. of sugar—and have 
lived two months upon the syrup as well, which we might 
say other 4 lbs., thus showing a loss of only 12 lbs. of sugar, 
which has been converted into wax. Six pounds of sugar to 
each pound of wax produced figures much under 20 lbs. But 
now comes the puzzle. We know that the scales of wax 
secreted from sugar are of a coarser-looking nature ; the 
combs are more brittle, and rot more readily than do those 
secreted from honey. But how are sugar and honey to be 
classed ? Is 1 lb. of honey to be classed with 1 lb. of dry 
sugar or 1 lb. of syrup after the sugar has been reduced ? 
If the latter, then we must allow the hive to have been 
fed 60 to 68 lbs. of syrup, which will show that it takes from 
10 to 15 lbs. syrup to produce 1 lb. of wax, but will it take 
the same weight of honey ? 
I am not prepared to answer that question accurately, 
but this I know—that bees fed with 20 lbs. of honey, when 
located in an empty hive, will build combs that three-quarters 
of a pound of wax might be extracted, and have 12 lbs. or 
more honey stored ; but I cannot give an exact statement of 
results. It is a subject, however, that we ought not to let 
slip until by experiments we can prove everything in a satis¬ 
factory manner, and be able to say with accuracy how much 
honey or sugar it takes to produce 1 lb. of wax, and to test 
thoroughly the relative producing qualities of honey and 
sugar so far as the production of wax is concerned. 
The bees sometimes drop large quantities of wax while 
they are in the act of building combs. This is a loss we 
cannot help, but we can by covering the hive properly, 
economise the heat so conducive to comb-building and pro¬ 
sperity of the bees at all times, thereby saving much that 
would be otherwise wasted.— Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
THE COTTAGER’S STRAW HIVE-HOW TO GET SECTION 
HONEY FROM IT. 
A slight mistake ha9 been made in the woodcut, fig. 65, page 463. 
It is very important tWlt the edge of the blocks at a (fig. 65) sh ould be 
chamfered off to the extent of about a quarter of an inch. If this is not 
done the foundation will stick more firmly to the block than to the section, 
and consequently be of no use. To experts this may seem a primitive 
mode of fixing foundations, but it is simple, and will answer the cottager s 
purpose very well. It will be observed that there is a space of about a 
quarter of an inch between the top of the sections and the lid of the box 
(fig. 66, page 463). This space is left for a quilt. These I make by 
taking two pieces of cheap calico, placing a layer of wadding between 
them, and stitching them together. When done with a sewing machine 
they are neat, and, what is of more importance, they are warm. 
In the accompaniog sketch (fig. 73) I have represented one of the 
small dome-shaped hives so often met with. They are generally made 
without any opening at the top, and are used by cottagers for late swarms 
to be destroyed in the autumn, or, what is better, the bees driven from 
them and united to other stocks. Even these small hives may be made 
more useful if a hole is cut in the top, and one of the boards referred to 
in a former paper fixed to it either by pieces of wire, as represented at a, 
or by three long screws passing through the board into the straw hive 
