K5 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY 
it with disgust at the end of a few years. Not to dwell 
| here on faults of management,, there are other causes 
' of failure, almost peculiar to this country, a lew of which I 
! may briefly enumerate. Yvhile in America or Australia * it 
! is almost incredible of how large an apiary one hive may 
become the parent in a very few years; in England a similar 
hive may stand year after year without change, apparently 
strong, yet unproductive in either swarms or honey, perhaps 
in both together. A stock, at the time of purchase, may 
have had a three or four-year-old queen (an evil which is 
seldom acknowledged, and still more seldom guarded against), 
who dies some time in our long winter before there is brood 
wherewith to replace her; the winter may be mild, and the 
spring cold and late, and no honey gathered till the end of 
May, whence proceeds the death from starvation of many a 
colony of bees (which might be saved by a judicious and 
timely supply of food), or its productiveness for the current 
season destroyed. A rainy summer, too, may follow, or a 
very dry one, neither of which yields much honey; in short, 
a thousand are the casualties to be feared in this fltful 
climate, with which the more fortunate bee-keeper of other 
countries is happily unacquainted. Say, then, whether it is 
reasonable to expect success in the face of these difficulties, 
where a considerable skill and much persevering watchful¬ 
ness are not present to meet and counteract them ? To be 
successful in bee-keeping there must be a sufficient ex¬ 
perience in bee-management, whether derived from a practical 
acquaintance with the subject, or from a diligent study of 
the best manuals of instruction in the matter; it is requisite 
to be thoroughly initiated in the mysteries of judicious 
feeding, and to understand somewhat of that improved 
system of bee-culture, by whose means the great honey 
harvests are secured at those rare but favoured seasons 
■when they occur, and the most is made of indifferent years; 
while at the same time the acquisitive propensity is kept 
duly in check, so that if much is taken as legitimate spoil, 
enough shall still be left to support the prosperity of the hive. 
Difficult, however, as unquestionably is the science of bee¬ 
keeping, it is not beyond the reach of attentive perseverance; 
and the very difficulties, as in most cases, only serve to 
enhance the pleasure and gratification of the patient bee- 
master. It has been judiciously observed, that ‘ no one -who 
pays a fair amount of attention to the management of those 
very interesting insects will willingly relinquish the keeping 
of them.’ Carelessness and indifference alone find the diffi¬ 
culties to which I have alluded insurmountable, and I take 
leave to say they deserve to do so.” 
Now, facilitating the acquirement of the advantages 
and overcoming the difficulties thus enumerated, 
we have long thought could best be promoted by an 
association of bee-keepers, and we beg to propose its 
foundation under the title of 
The British A'piarian Society. 
It should have for its objects the obtaining and 
diffusion of correct information relative to the habits 
and general natural history of bees, as well as the 
institution of comparative experiments to determine the 
relative merits of hives; and, indeed, to collect sound 
knowledge concerning their management generally. It 
would be quite possible to have the results of these 
experiments exhibited annually; and our opinion is not 
confined to this side of the Tweed, for a correspondent 
in Ayrshire writes thus:— 
“ An old friend of mine, a bee-keeper for upwards of 
thirty years, wonders if a society could be formed to 
consist of English and Scotch apiarians, who would 
subscribe a small sum each, and agree to send or take 
to some central place in England, by way of show, on a 
* “ In a late work on New South Wales I read the following astonish¬ 
ing account of the produce of a single stock of bees “ In the district 
Illawarra, near Sydney, one hive has been known to multiply itself to 
300 (! ! 1) in the course of three years ! " 
GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, April .14, 1857. 
day subsequent to the honey season, a portion of their 
finest produce, whether in glass, wood, or straw. 
“ My friend considers such a show would do much to 
enlighten all parties as to the best methods and hives; 
in fact, it would do as much good in the bee department 
as exhibitions have done in poultry concerns.” 
We will co-operate heartily in this design, and if 
parties willing to join such a society will oblige us by 
sending their names, we will, if sufficiently encouraged, 
take care that immediate steps shall be taken for its 
formation. 
MEETING OF THE HOEJTCULTUIIAL SOCIETY. 
April 7th. 
A sultry April shower about the time of “ taking the 
chair” (three o’clock in the afternoon), and the crowding 
of the Fellows and their friends, rendered the rooms in¬ 
sufferably hot and inconvenient, so that some of the 
ladies were obliged to make their escape before the 
lecture had hardly commenced. But this was only the 
beginning of troubles; the Chairman for the day, J. J. 
Blandy, Esq., said that we were so overwhelmed in the 
business of proposing, seconding, souuding, vouching, 
and certifying the merits of applicants for the honour of 
F.H.S., and in balloting so many new candidates at each 
Meeting, that, like the gallant Colonel Challoner, he, the 
Chairman, wished very much to ballot the whole in one 
lump, to give more time for the ladies to see the flowers. 
But no ; there was another “ lump ” present—a lump of 
the unleavened dough of which the ancient Council was 
baked. Dr. Henderson, F.Ii.S., is a ballot man of the 
first degree, and, like “ them there people,” was wonder¬ 
fully hard in the head. Ladies might faint by the dozen, 
or “in the lump,” but he would have no lumping of 
balloting; and the consequence was that the ballot- 
box had to go round four-and-twenty times that day. 
But they “did him as clean as a whistle” was soon 
whispered round the room; it was diamond cut diamond 
to a hair’s breadth, two doctors against one doctor ;f 
and a capital “chair” went on liustings-fashion with 
the other business of the Meeting and with the lecture 
while the balloting was going on; and if black legs or 
blue stockings wished to slip into the honours of the 
Horticultural they might thank Dr. Henderson for 
having unwittingly oiled the joints. Part of the lecture 
was about three young American ladies, and one of 
them was very handsome, and the excitement and 
attention to tell of and hear all about them were so 
intense that no one heard, or could hear, the name of 
any one of the new candidates for election, and all of 
them might be objectionable for anything we knew. 
But there was such a stir among the gardeners : twenty 
four new Fellows were thus balloted, making 114 since 
the turn of the wheel, and several new applicants put 
up their claims for admission at the next Meeting; but 
when the privileges of Fellows are better understood in 
the provinces I should not wonder in the least to hear 
of one thousand new members being added to the list 
in one year. I hope they will not come so thick, how¬ 
ever, till we get rid of the “ old house at home,” and get 
a room, or rather, some open place in London to put 
up a crystal house, one capable of containing thousands; 
then, with a perfect command over the ventilation, the 
most delicate health will not be affected for an hour or 
two. 
The show of fruit and flowers was good for the season; 
the room was not half large enough for a comfortable 
sight. The garden of the Society “ came out ” more 
t Hr- Roylc, Vice-President, sits on the right of the chair, and Dr. 
I.indley, Vice-Secretary, sits on the left, and gives the lecture. 
