February 23, 18:8. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
161 
honey of a vastly superior quality, and at a much greater con¬ 
venience to himself. It saves the addition of a ripening machine 
to the already numerous appliances of the apiary, and has in fact no 
single drawback. Those who have experienced the toil and labour 
consequent upon frequent extracting in June and July will 
appreciate the comfort of having one busy time instead of con¬ 
tinual—almost daily—trouble in the apiary. It is, of course, 
necessary to have on hand a stock of empty combs ; but if these 
cannot be obtained full sheets of foundation may generally be used 
with advantage. In every case where it is possible to secure them 
it is in my experience preferable to have at least three sets of super 
combs to every stock which it is intended to work for extracted 
honey. Combs which have to be passed through the extractor 
must be well and firmly built; the more even they are, and the less 
time and trouble will be expended in uncapping and throwing out 
the honey. Each comb should be built well within the frame and 
fastened firmly to the bottom bar. 
The American wired foundation is very good for use in frames 
which have to pass through the extractor soon after being built. 
If such foundation is placed firmly in the frames and kept in posi¬ 
tion neat level combs will result. The frames must be carefully 
spaced, otherwise bulged and hollow combs will be constructed, and 
the bee-keepvsr who has to deal with either of these freaks—if they 
may be so called—of comb-building will have good reason to re¬ 
member in future that it is easy to uncap a level comb, but most 
difficult to perform the same operation on a comb which, like a 
Derbyshire landscape, is varied with numerous intervening hills and 
dales. If, however, a bee-keeper has the misfortune to possess 
such combs he should before replacing them in the hive cut away 
aU inequalities, and if the comb is not in the centre of the frame, 
place the frame of comb on a board, such as has been before de¬ 
scribed for use when fixing foundation, and press the comb into 
position, retaining it in its place if necessary by a few ties of tape 
or thin string—preferably the former. After a few days the ties 
may be removed, and if the combs are properly spaced equal and 
good combs will then be produced. —Felix. 
' (To be continued.) 
DIRECT INTRODUCTION OF QUEENS. 
Thebe have been, as most know, two systems submitted to the 
public to accomplish the above—viz., the “ Hallamshire law,” one of 
Nature’s undeviating truths, and Pond’s system, generally called in this 
country “ Simmins’ Direct System.” This latter, as explained by Mr. 
Pond, depends solely in giving the queen in such a way that she is not 
alarmed, and so does not excite the suspicion of her future subjects. 
To introduce a queen by this theory the old queen was removed in 
the daytime, and after dark when the bees were quiet the strange queen 
was given them alone. I have never doubted the success of this plan, 
as I had long practised uniting bees in accordance with the same theory, 
which I had arrived at from the following observations. When a 
strange bee with dishonest intentions tried to enter a hive it always 
hesitated about it, and if it did this it was at once set upon by a hive 
bee. This was kept up till dark, after which no guard was kept outside ; 
thus I concluded that at night bees would readily unite, as at this time 
they would treat each other as friends. Since then I have done all my 
uniting after dark, and never use scent, syrup, or anything. I have not 
always been successful, but by remembering the circumstances con¬ 
nected with these I have been enabled to trace the cause of failure to, 
at the time, unknown causes. 
This Pond’s system of introducing queens to stocks in normal con¬ 
dition the evening of the same day the other was removed seemed 
much better than my law, as I insist the bees must have been queen¬ 
less forty-eight hours, nor must they have had the means of rearing a 
queen during this time ; and as it was mueh praised—though singular 
to state most, if not all the reported successes, were with stocks that 
Imd been both queenless and broodless forty-eight hours at least—I 
determined to thoroughly test the matter last summer, and I now 
publish the result for the information and guide of all during the 
coming season. The plan or system has recently been described in the 
Journal by “ Felix,” therefore I need not repeat it. 
On the third or fourth day I invariably found queen cells, on the 
seventh or eighth day I found them sealed. If the queen was heavy 
with eggs, or in full laying when first given, she would always present 
the appearance of a non-laying queen, proving conclusively that the 
bees had not accepted her as the new mother. After the cells are sealed 
she was generally allowed to destroy the nymphs, and in about eleven or 
twelve days after her introduction she would begin to lay again. This 
was the rule, the exceptions were that the queen cells were protected 
right forwards. In one 1 tore down the nymph was fully matured and 
marched about in my hand, though the queen I h.ad given was quite, 
safe, but in many cases the queen introduced disappeared about the 
eighth day. Thus the system seems peculiarly one for queen dealers. 
I had much better success in removing the old queen by lamplight at 
night, and giving the new queen at the same time, without any prepara¬ 
tion whatever, but even in this case queen cells were always started. 
The person under whose name it is announced in this country (S, 
Simmins) admits in the British Bee Journal for June 23rd, page 2()7, 
that the bees .show signs of queenlessness and build queen cells, which 
in a preceding paragraph he denies are sealed. I am quite satisfied they 
are all first sealed before the new queen is allowed to destroy them ;■ 
therefore, considering such enormous loss in egg laying—ten or twelve 
days—I claim that my law puts all known systems in the shade. First, 
because it is absolutely safe, never a failure ; second, there is only a 
first loss of two days, or if the queen is not in laying order, then two 
days more. I have also discovered how virgin queens may be intro¬ 
duced equally as certain, but this I must reserve for another letter. 
In “ Felix’s ” letter on the subject he declined to enter into any con¬ 
troversy on the matter, or give credit to any person to whom one might 
feel indebted for its benefits. 
Now, as a matter of fact, we all like to know who benefited us with 
the great discoveries and inventions which adds to our everyday comforts^ 
and we like to honour them. But “ Felix ” is not consistent. He first 
said he would honour no man, then subsequently he honours Sir. 
Simmins instead of Mr. J. E. Pond, jun., of the U.S., who first published 
it in the British Bee Journal long before Simmins took it up, and this 
was long after he had published it in America.—A Hallamshire Bee¬ 
keeper. 
NOTES ON BEES. 
Since February the Ith, the first day the bees carried pollen from 
the Snowdrops, the weather has been wintry, with much snow. Our bees 
have not suffered from the snow, owing to their airing themselves so 
well during the previous mild weather. Nearly every one of our stocks 
has more bees now than in October. The bees never require stimulants 
to cause them to breed, and our great care with them is to have them 
well supplied with all that is necessary for the internal economy of the 
hive, having the crowns well covered with dried grass above a quilt of 
some sort. There is no fear of brood being chilled in such well-covered 
hives, and a properly made ventilating floor, in cold weather. 
Since the 9th of January, the first day the bees carried peameal, 
they have carried in about 5 lbs., and much water, a sure indication that 
breeding is going on well. In a previous article I described my float 
feeders, being the only method that float feeders can be used without 
killing bees, whether it be with sugar or water. One thing I neglected to 
mention—viz., when the upper side of the float is smooth and damp 
many bees are caught when they turn their back towards it, and die in 
a short time. To prevent this I buoy up the float with pieces of cork, 
and stretch a piece of calico on top of float; this contrivance is as effec¬ 
tive as it is simple.— Lanarkshire Bee-keeper, 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
W. & J. Birkenhead, Fern Nursery, Sale, near Manchester.— Cata¬ 
logue of Ferns and Selaginellas (illustrated'). 
J. R. Pearson & Sons, Chilwell, Nottingham.— Catalogue of Pelar¬ 
goniums, Chrysanthemums, ^'c. 
J. E. Dixon, Gainsborough.— Catalogue of Vegetable and Flower 
Seeds, 
•a® 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 un¬ 
avoidably. We request that no one will write privately 
to any of our correspondents, as doing so subjects them to 
unjustifiable trouble and expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions 
relating to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and should 
never send more than two or three questions at once. All 
articles intended 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 rejected communica¬ 
tions. 
Sowingr and Planting’ Asparagus (K. J, II.). —We forwarded 
your letter to Mr. Abbey, an^d have received his reply, but too late for 
