THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
245 
July 17.] 
I 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
MR. TAYLOR’S BOXES, SCREENS, AND BURYING BEES. 
Mr. Taylor’s observations in your 143rd number call for 
a few remarks from me, which I hope may find a place in 
your paper. With reference to his bar-liivcs, whether single 
or double, I have little to say. I can only state my con¬ 
viction—a conviction which grows with my experience—that 
boxes uncased, or with a shell or covering of wood fitting to 
them almost closely, ought not to be exposed to the sun 
under any circumstances. If Mr. Taylor objects to the old- 
fashioned bar-slied, that it “ retained the sun's heat as in an 
oven," which was yet “ open in front,” with how much greater 
reason may the same objection be raised against his double 
bar-hives, which have but the interspace for air of an inch 
all round! The bees are inconvenienced, the delicacy of 
the honey-comb spoiled, and the bee-owner’s profit dimi- I 
nished, in proportion to the exposure of a hive to the sun’s 
influence. Mr. Taylor will acknowledge this as much as I 
do; and does he not know how poor a remedy against these 
evils is even lj-inch stuff, as a material for the boxes ? My 
remarks on bis hives (the construction and plan of which is 
admirable, as I have allowed) have been made with no other 
object than by way of caution to the apiarian ; and I have 
seen no reason to alter my opinion, unless it be that I am 
disposed more strongly to reiterate my advice, under no 
circumstances to locate boxes in the open air unprotected by 
a substantial roof. Under a veranda (as the boxes are to 
the right of the frontispiece in “The Bee-keeper’s Manual”), 
or beneath a thatched covering, or overhanging tree, no 
hives will do better than Mr. Taylor’s ; but let them not 
stand exposed, as they are seen to the left of the same 
frontispiece. 
With respect to the winter protection of bee-hives from 
the sun’s influence, to which allusion is made, let the public 
decide between the method proposed by me and that so 
strongly advocated by Mr. Taylor. I allow, that if my screen 
were loosely fixed, and badly arranged, it would want but a 
faint gust to blow it down; but, really, Mr. Taylor must be 
joking to suppose that I suggested any arrangement of this 
kind ! However, let him who cannot fix my screens properly 
by all means adopt Mr. Taylor’s. Only let him place them 
at such a respectable distance from the hives, that, should 
the wind mistake them for weathercocks, they may not in 
them gyrations strike the hives, and alarm the bees during 
their winter's rest. Should anybody, however, deem my 
method not so bad after all, I would advise the screen to be 
erected about a yard distant from the hives, to be constructed 
of stout posts, not too far apart, well fixed in the ground, to 
which strong lines of cord are secured ; on this, by the 
simplest contrivance, the matting, or sail-cloth, may be 
fastened; and I defy the strongest wind, short of a hurricane, 
to knock it over. It need not stand very high, especially if 
the hives are well-covered and roofed over, but just sufficient 
to ward off the sun from the lower part of the hives 
throughout the short winter day, when it is low on the 
horizon. As to its proving a hindrance to the bees in 
returning home when so placed, Mr. Taylor must permit 
me to say the objection is puerile. Let it be fixed on a 
mild day early in November, when the bees are about, and 
they will soon accustom themselves to the slight obstruction. 
But let the apiarian public accept or reject the suggestion 
as they please ; it is a matter not worth contending about. 
Again, does Mr. Taylor, alias “ An Old Bee-master” (for, 
apiarian reader, are they not one and the same person ?), 
sneer at our hive-burying experiment during the past 
winter. Had he advanced any facts based on his own 
experience which made against it, to counterbalance the 
success of Drs. Bevan and Dunbar (not to mention other 
cases), and the remarkable experience of Dr. Lindley’s 
“ trustworthy” correspondent (alas ! for the accuracy of the 
Old Bee-master’s “ investigation,” which resulted in proving I 
fact to be “ fiction ”—See The Cottage Gardener, vol. v., \ 
pages 118 and 234), we should, probably, not have now to be 
laughed at for our simplicity. However, as it is, I am glad 
to think that a doubtful matter is set at rest. Mr. Taylor 
may ridicule as he pleases ; but, fellow-victims of credulity, I 
we may console ourselves with the thought that posterity j 
will do us justice—that they will laud the magnanimous 
sacrifice we have made of so much hope of golden sweets 
out of a pure love for scientific truth! No Bonner, or 
Bevan, or Richardson, will now, even hesitatingly, suggest 
that bees have been buried and disinterred, safe and sound, 
after a five-months’ imprisonment, and so half-reeommend 
a trial of the same. We have the satisfaction of knowing 
that a step of some importance has been gained in apiarian 
lore : we have done for ever with under-ground and leaf- 
burying, either with or without a ventilating apparatus; 
let us now see if we cannot discover some other plan of 
wintering bees better than that which our “ ignorance ” still 
adheres to as the best. Mr. Tayne, in the same number 
which contains Mr. Taylor’s critique, has stated his belief 
that our bee knowledge is still in its infancy ; and though I 
have not yet dared to say so, I believe it also. 
I esteem it fortunate that the winter of 1851 was of so 
mild and damp a character, for it has tested to its utmost 
the interment of bees. Had it been severe, we might in 
general have succeeded, and an erroneous impression in 
favour of it might have gone forth to the world; whereas, 
now we are assured, that whosoever buries his bees does so 
at their peril.—A Country Curate. 
SAYINGS. 
We all know how difficult it is to save money, and the 
poor especially feel this. The husband may be as hard¬ 
working as he likes, and the wife as saving as it is possible 
to be, and yet, when the end of the week has arrived, the 
wages are all gone, and there is nothing put by for the rent, 
or for that day of sickness which must some day overtake 
us all, even the healthiest and strongest in our parishes. 
There are many who live merely for the present hour, 
enjoying that as much as they can, but never preparing 
themselves against a “ rainy-day.” This (as all thinking 
people will agree), is not as it should be, and I hope those 
who have not thought about the matter, will be glad to hear 
of a few plans, in order to lay by a little hoard for sickness 
and for health, for happiness and for misery, for old age 
and for death. There are two ways of proceeding in order 
to secure this “ little hoard ; ” but these two ways must be 
followed together, or my plan would not be completed. I 
mean, you must lay up a store of holiness, “ without which 
no man can see the Lord,” and you must put by your money 
for your bodily wants. The holiness that will be of comfort 
to you in sickness, in misery, in old age, and in death, is 
not merely that of works, but that holiness of thought, 
which enables us to say in all our distresses, “ It is the 
Lord, let him do what seemeth him good.” Of ourselves 
we are unable to obtain this, and thus we are shown that 
there is another duty to be performed—whicli is prayer. 
Nothing can be had without asking. If you want work, do 
you not seek for it ? If you require assistance from a rich 
neighbour, do you not ask it ? and surely you cannot 
imagine God will bestow his precious gifts to those who do 
not seek them ; “ ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall 
find,” is his own counsel and promise. You may, for a 
time, appear prosperous and happy, without having sought 
God’s assistance, but depend upon it the day will come 
when you will see the weakness of your own fancied strength, 
and the “ vanity and vexation of spirit ” of your former life. 
God grant that you may not see it too late! And now, 
having advised you to “ seek first the kingdom of God,” I 
will tell you a few plans for saving your money. 
There are very few cottagers, I suspect, who do not dread 
rent-day coming round. Now, as it is not pleasant to live 
with a weight on one’s mind, I always recommend two 
additions to their gardens, which prove “ friends in need.” 
These are a pig and bees. You can get the former up to a 
very fair size, by feeding him regularly on the produce of 
your garden, and the wash from the house. Do not, as so 
many do, begin by giving meal and pollard, but keep the 
“hard feeding” until he is more than half fat; and then 
buy some oats (the quantity, of course, must depend on the 
