170 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 20, 1885. 
breakers as they were thieves. The whole of them in a very 
short time had reduced the slide of their doorway an eighth 
of an inch, while one of them actually pushed aside a board 
on the top of the frames 18 inches long by 5 broad and 
three-eighths thick, and made their escape, while another 
pushed a half inch slide mouthpiece aside and commenced their 
robbing and stinging with renewed vigour. Being sorry to 
see honest bees robbed by the brigands, I passed a new sen¬ 
tence and carried it into effect, and had them banished several 
miles from any hives amidst Clover fields, profuse in flower 
and aroma, and a paradise for both man and bees. On being 
released from their hive they attacked me again, which I 
would not have cared for but they caused a lot of workers in 
a hay field to make a hasty retreat, as I did myself to escape 
a reprimand and be a witness to seeing the whole of them 
being toppled into the rivulet from its brink on which they 
stand. Many of these Syrians were left behind which have 
entered other hives, and I am sorry to say these refugees are 
in no way altered, stinging and robbing as they did when in 
their own hives. Everybody concerned who experienced 
their stings believe they are banished for ever. The Cyprians 
I could manage, but the Syrians are unmanageable.—A 
Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
BEES TAKING TO AN EMPTY HIVE. 
In your Journal of September 25th, 1884, you inserted a letter from 
me, describing the entrance arrangements and positions of the hives in 
my bee-house. My hives are placed two together ; the one contains bees 
during the winter, and the other is placed on one side of it to receive the 
swarm or swarms which may come from it during the summer. The two 
hives are joined together in the autumn, and in this way I always keep 
the same number of hives in winter, and I make a point of keeping them 
very strong. 
All the hives except two have a south-east exposure. These two face 
the north-west. One only is occupied in winter. The bees having the 
south-east exposure swarm regularly about ten days earlier—-namely, about 
the middle of June. In the early spring the north-west hire is the 
strongest, and it certainly yields more honey in autumn. In 1883 it did 
not swarm at all. In 1884 it swarmed once, and in 1885 it threw off three 
swarms (two in one day), hut all returned back to the stock hive within an 
hour. 
My bees have not swarmed this year with the same vigour as usual. 
The swarms, though go^d, did not empty the stock hives in the same way. 
It was sometimes difficult to tell which hive had swarmed. The swarms 
generally were late ; the weather was cold and must have interfered with 
the breeding, but when the weather improved the bees recovered rapidly, 
and the district report is that this is an exceptionally good year for honey. 
My hive exposed to the norlh-west is, however, very strong, having all 
its bees in it. It has nearly filled a large super, but, in addition to that, 
a large part of its population, including a good number of drones, took pos¬ 
session of the adjoining hive night and day. They have made a good 
deal of honey and comb about 10 lbs., and have deposited in two of tbe 
frames a good deal of bee bread. The entrances to the two hives are 
2 feet 6 inches apart, and the entrance to the empty hive was partially 
obscured by long grass, which, had a swarm been in it, would have been 
kept short. 
The weather is now colder, and the bees at night are in the stock hive 
only, but are as busy as ever in the adjoining hive in the day. This pro¬ 
ceeding, as far as my experience goes, is very unusual.—A Dumfriesshire 
Bee-keeper. 
SUPERS v. SECTIONS. 
In your issue of this week “A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper” takes 
great trouble to prove that bees prefer ordinary supers to sections. This 
no experienced bee-keeper will deny; but when he tries to show that 
honey is more saleable in the supers I think most bee-keepers will dis¬ 
agree with him, and, in fact, the contrary is proved by the large increase 
in the number of sections sold by the hive dealers. In Ireland I know 
that sections will command Is. per lb. wholesale when large supers cannot 
be sold at all to dealers except at the same rate as skep honey, which is 
about 6d. to 8d. per lb. wholesale, and sometimes less, and many grocers 
deal in sections who would have nothing to do with supers or honey that 
would have to be cut up for sale.—Co. Wicklow. 
BEES—SHORT NOTES. 
My experience of bees extends to only a few months. I write this in 
anticipation of advice being given by your experienced correspondents. 
Why ie open driving, as recommended by “ Modern Bee-keeping,” 
superior to close driving ? I went to an agricultural show in which there 
was a bee tent, and an expert was there driving bees on the open system. 
At that time I had a stock hive in a straw skep I wished to take the 
honey from, so on arrival home I commenced driving on the system just 
seen. I was beating from 7 P.M. to 9.30 ; then I placed the driven 
bees on thg old stand. The next day they did not seem to be settled, and 
it was quite evident the queen was not there, so I inverted the stock 
again, and recommenced driving, and was beating for more than an hour, 
when a brother bee-keeper came in, and told me to place the edges of the 
two hive9 together, and then beat. In about ten minutes I carried the 
upper hive to its old stand, the bees went rapidly into it, therefore I con¬ 
cluded tbe queen was in. Does not this show that close is superior to 
open diiving f at any rate, it is in saving time. As to seeing her majesty 
going up, is it of much consequence if we can judge fairly correctly if she 
has gone up, by the scarcity of bees in the lower hive ? 
I half emptied the above skep of comb and honey, and I am now 
giving 4 lbs. of sugar made into syrup by boiling with one quart of water 
and a little salt and vinegar. Will that quantity be sufficient to last 
them safely through winter, together with what they gather from 
August 7th in this, a pastoral district, with no Heather 1 What kind of 
sugar is the most economical to feed them with ? 
I have a strong swarm of June 4tb, 1885, in a nine-bar frame hive. I 
have fourteen 1 lb. sections on the comb is worked out in them 
(August 11th). I intend taking them off on September 1st, together with 
one bar from each side of body of hive j the dummies, one on each side, 
will then be drawn close to the seven remaining bars, leaving 1£ or 
2 inches between them and the sides of the hives, which space wilt be 
filled with sawdust. Is it probable that the bees will winter well on the 
few remaining bars without feeding ? Here is another question. I have 
seen bee-keepers use cushions made of chaff, &c. Surely they cannot be 
so warm (or rather non-conducting) as hives packed with loose material, 
as chaff, corkdust, &c., for when made into cushions they are of a form 
which favours a circulation of air around them, therefore losing a great 
deal of heat.—A Yorkshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Ant. Roozen & Son, Overveen, near Haarlem, Holland .—Catalogue of 
Dutch Bulbs for 7885. 
Yiccars Collyer & Co., Leicester .—Catalogue of Floral Gems. 
*** All coiTespondeuce should be directed either to “The Editor” 
or to “ The Publisher. 1 ' Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or 
members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. We 
request that no one will write privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions relat¬ 
ing to Gardening and those on Bee subjecls, and should never 
send more than two or three questions at ouce. All articles in¬ 
tended 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 communications. 
Boxes for Chrysanthemums (N. F.). —We have received your letter 
and the subject shall not be overlooked. 
Seedling Plum (A. C.). —If this is known to be a seedling recently 
raised it is too much like the Denbigh Plum to be cultivated as a distinct 
variety. 
Removing Greenhouse Lights (E. T.). —If we understand the case 
rightly we think the lights must remain, as they could not be taken away 
without damaging the property of the next owner of the estate. The case, 
however, is peculiar, and before proceeding in tbe matter you had better 
consult a solicitor. It is a great pleasure to us to learn that you find the 
Journal so satisfactory after having read it for so many years. You rank 
among the oldest of our subscribers, and we thank you for your appreciative 
letter. 
Destroying Ants (E. B.). —Your plan is not so “ new and novel ” as you 
suppose it to be, for some years ago a correspondent wrote :—“ I accidentally 
placed an empty flower pot over an ants’ track, where it remained a fortnight. 
On moving it I found a complete nest full of eggs, ants, and earth, which I 
put in a pail of hot water and destroyed the whole, repeating the process 
with equal success.” As you also have found the plan good we repeat the 
exp rience of our old correspondent, and new ones may easily try this simple 
method of eradicating ants. 
Mahonia Aquifolia ( W. S.). —The berries sent are those of the above- 
named plant, which make an excellent preserve, that some have highly 
praised in sore throats ; but whether that be the case or not, it is as excellent 
and palatable a preserve as is made of any fruits in this country ; and the 
fact only requires to be generally known, that all who cultivate this beautiful 
shrub—and there are few who do not—may be enabled to apply to such 
domestic use the abundance of beautiful purple berries which this plant 
annually produces. The preserve is made in the same way as that of Black 
Currants, Plums, or other fruits which are applied to similar purposes. 
