January 23.J 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
259 
looking labour-soiled, tired, and hungry; and our hearts 
ached for the poor fellows obliged to wait nearly an hour at 
least, till the potatoes were boiled at a gallop, and dished 
up wet, and sodden, and unwholesome. Fortunately no 
beer house was to be found within reach, and Martin is, 
besides, a sober as well as a quiet hard-working man; but 
such ways as these are very trying to a man, and have often 
changed a husband from a steady one into a drinker. 
On another occasion, calling at the same cottage, we 
observed a little child with his petticoats all burnt away on 
one side, and the tatters hanging dismally about him, like 
the sketches of Irish wretchedness which we sometimes see 
in illustrated newspapers. On inquiry, the mother said she 
j had been drawing water a few days before, when startled by 
the screams of her child, who had set himself on fire, while 
her back was turned. She very quietly said she had no 
other clothes to put him into, and it did not seem as if she 
had thought of mending and patching them, for the child 
was going about as if nothing was the matter. Only a few 
weeks ago, this very woman was caught in our own planta¬ 
tions, tearing off the larch boughs with a hook fixed to a 
| long pole, and teaching the same wicked practice to her son 
| who was assisting her. Upon my sister’s remonstrances 
with the parent , the child was in floods of tears of shame 
and grief, for he had always been an honest good boy in his 
| daily conduct. The pain of convicting a mother before her 
i child was severe, but in this case it could not be avoided. 
Thus, in very many cases, the day labour of the wife leads 
| to great evils. Her home duties are neglected, unthriftiness 
leads to want, want to dishonesty, and guilt and shame. 
Many are obliged to pay for needlework being done for 
them, to hire a girl to take care of the children, besides 
wearing out their shoes and clothes much faster than if 
they staid at home; and all these expenses fully swallow up 
the weekly gain. 
We have heard some labourers say that they will not 
allow their wives to work, on this very account; and-that 
they are even gainers by so doing. In one instance when 
this plan was followed for some time and then given up, the 
different appearance of the cottage was marvellous. We 
used to see the neat wife sitting at work, clean and quiet, 
when the house was in order, and the little one’s fed; 
whereas in the other case, when she was to be seen at home, 
she was running after her work as it were, with untidy dress, 
her cap at the back of her head, and her house full of dirt 
and litter, with screaming children, and a girl slapping and 
scolding them. 
These may seem trifles to write about; but to those who 
see and observe the internal arrangements of cottages, and 
who know how much domestic comfort has to do with the 
well-being of man, and how mauy evils arise from its neglect, 
they are not trifles, but matters of great moment. A happy, 
well ordered peasant’s family is, if possible, a more beauti¬ 
ful and gratifying sight than even among the upper classes. 
It seems to have more to do with England’s welfare and 
stability; and there is a simplicity and nature in all that 
concerns the poor, that is peculiarly refreshing and agreeable 
to the mind, when they are respectable and well conducted, j 
I and especially when they live in strict accordance with the I 
| life-giving doctrines of the Word of God. Whatever, there¬ 
fore, tends to this end, should be pointed out, and as much 
as possible encouraged; and I cannot but think, from my 
own observation in conjunction with that of others, that to 
be “keepers at home" applies to woman in every rank, when 
| she has become a wife and mother, and is essentially neces¬ 
sary to the personal, moral, and religious improvement of 
the peasant’s family. Lawless, untidy, unsettled habits arise 
from being constantly away from home; neglect of the pro¬ 
prieties of life comes on, and very soon a vital sin is 
committed by the desecration of the Sabbath ; for a woman 
who is never at home from Monday morning till Saturday 
night, except for an hour or two in the evening, will be 
strongly tempted to stay away from church and do many 
things for which she has no time in the busy week. 
Should these remarks meet the eye of the cottager, I 
would recommend him to consider them; and if he is in¬ 
duced to try the plan, by allowing his wife to give up, for a 
time, weekly labour, where they have a family, and should 
find the comfort and advantage arising from it, in a cleaner 
house, well-mended clothes, better order, well-behaved 
I children, and more comfortable ways, I shall rejoice most 
truly, and hope that others may do the same. But in this 
case as in every other, I must observe, that whatever is 
undertaken and carried on without the blessing of God, 
without a daily and hourly dependance upon His Grace and 
help, however good it may be in fact, will never prosper. It 
may for a time look fair to the eye, but a canker is within; 
and in an hour when we are not prepared for it, our bright¬ 
est prosperity will be clouded over, and our fairest hopes 
wither and die. Let us all consider this. 
HISTORY OF AN APIARY. 
Once more I resume the thread of my last year’s apiarian 
reminiscences, after the long interval that has occurred,— 
! thanks to the intrusion of other matters of apiarian interest 
on our attention, since I acquainted you with the success of 
my three first stocks. 
On referring to page 203 of vol. iii. of The Cottage 
Gardener, you will find mention of “ two very rich hives ” j 
which “ I purchased in October, each weighing over 30 11), 
with a view to carrying out several interesting experiments 
in the spring.” One of them, which was a prime swarm of 
the current year (1849)—as, indeed, each of them was— 
turned out a lamentable failure, and disappointed me. Last 
February saw it as active a stock as any in the apiary—the 
bees having well survived the winter, and continuing in 
vigorous health till the second week in March. From that 
date, however, -and during the remainder of the month, a 
marked change in their deportment was perceptible. They 
now flew listlessly about, coursing in lazy- circles around 
the hive when the sun shone warmly ; but I am not aware 
that half a thimbleful of pollen was carried into the hive in 
all that time. I suffered them, however, to remain in this 
condition till the 5th of April, indulging the hope that they 
might yet recover themselves, though I might have reflected 
that this was an impossibility so early in the year, if, as 
turned out to be the case, the queen was dead; for even if 
the bees had reared a queen artificially out of brood left by 
the old queen at her death she could have come to no good, 
as no drones would have anywhere appeared till nearly seven 
weeks later, at the very earliest (i.e., dating from the 7th of 
March, at which time, or before, I suppose the old queen 
must have died), by which time all the surviving bees would 
have paid the debt of nature, and the hive have perished for 
want of a succession of youthful inhabitants. Be this as it 
may, getting tired at last of then 1 indolence, I resolved to 
fumigate the hive, and at the same time to inspect its 
internal condition, so as to ascertain, if possible, whether my 
conjectures were right, and the queen were really dead. 
Having accordingly procured some of the Racodium cellare 
which Mr. Taylor recommends, and satisfactorily tested its 
power the evening before on about fifty bees taken out of 
another hive, I proceeded, towards six o’clock p.m., on the 5tli 
of April—armed with the Oxford fumigator and a pair of 
bellows (see Mr. Taylor)—to the scene of operation. 
Several friends were present to witness the process, and to 
assist if necessary. After inserting the tube of the fumi¬ 
gator, and puffing awhile (the hive, be it observed, stood on 
its board as usual), a great buzzing was first heard, then 
followed a profound silence. After a few smart raps on the 
roof of the hive, to dislodge as many bees as possible, it 
was lifted up, while about 1000 bees, more or less stupified, 
which covered the floor-board, were swept into a large bell- 
glass, and covered up with a piece of muslin. On looking 
up into the hive a great many bees still appeared clinging 
to the combs, which we in vain tried to bring down. As they 
came very quickly to life again, the hive was re fumigated; 
but finding we could not dislodge more than about 300 of 
the remaining insects, drum away as we might (these, how¬ 
ever, were saved as the others), I proceeded to cut out the ' 
combs one by one. The bees which were swept off these 
combs on to the ground were obliged to be massacred as 
they fell, as they came to life far more speedily than was 
agreeable, and not one of us was armed against them. 
The result of this operation did not tend to reconcile me 
to the process of hive-fumigation, of which I had had no 
pleasant recollections before. There was much honey drop- 
i ping about, defiling everything with which it came in con- 
