42 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
January  9,  1896. 
for  a  day  or  two  until  some  combs  are  built,  then  increase  the 
quantity,  taking  care  not  to  cause  the  bees  to  secrete  more  wax 
than  is  necessary. 
Where  feeding  has  been  neglected  till  too  late  candy  is  a  good 
substitute  for  a  time,  but  it  is  more  expensive  than  syrup,  which 
the  bees  will  take  if  contiguous  to  them  during  the  severest 
weather,  and  remain  healthy.  I  have  helped  to  put  candy  in  a 
•core  of  neglected  hives  in  November,  and  arrange  them  for  the 
winter.  The  bees  in  only  three  of  these  hives  lived  to  see  the 
spring,  the  candy  was  unconsumed,  though  had  from  a  famed 
maker. — Lanarkshire  Bee-keeper. 
(To  be  continued.) 
Enemies  of  Bees. 
With  reference  to  the  query  from  Mr.  J.  Hiam  (page  19)  I 
may  state  that  the  blue  tit  (Parus  coeruleus)  and  great  tit  (Parus 
major)  are  both  very  numerous  in  this  locality  (South  Yorkshire), 
owing,  doubtless,  to  the  many  acres  of  woodland  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood.  But  which  is  the  greater  culprit,  as  regards 
destroying  bees,  I  am  unable  to  say,  as  they  both  pay  close 
attention  to  the  hives,  and  will  readily  seize  any  stray  bee  that 
comes  in  their  way.  The  great  tit  would,  probably,  destroy  more 
than  the  smaller  blue  tit  on  account  of  its  size. 
In  trapping  them  I  have  caught  about  an  equal  number  of 
each,  but  strange  to  say  during  the  past  week  not  a  bird  has  been 
tempted  to  take  the  bait  exposed  in  the  traps.  Not  that  they  are  all 
annihilated,  bnt  during  the  mild  weather  food  has  doubtless  been 
more  plentiful,  as  a  close  observer  cannot  fail  to  see  how  active 
they  are  on  mild  days  in  searching  all  the  crannies  and  crevices  in 
old  walls  and  trees,  from  which  their  natural  food  is  obtained  ; 
and  doubtless  they  do  much  good  in  this  way,  as  they  never  inter¬ 
fere  with  the  bess  during  the  summer  months. 
But  as  a  bee-keeper  I  object  to  them  destroying  my  bees  by  the 
hundred,  and  I  may  say  the  thousand,  consequently  I  wage  war 
against  them  throughout  the  winter  months.  The  tits  are  evidently 
better  behaved  in  Worcestershire,  as  “  J.  H.”  mentions  their  being 
busy  picking  up  the  dead  bees  cast  out  of  the  hives.  If  they  only 
did  this  in  my  apiary,  and  left  the  live  bees  alone,  I  should  welcome 
them  as  friends,  instead  of  enemies. 
Bottom  Ventilation. 
It  is  interesting  to  learn  from  “  A  Howdenshire  Bee-keeper  ” 
(page  20)  that  he  approves  of  bottom  ventilation,  and  that  we  are 
both  working  on  the  same  principle.  Where  solid  floor  boards  are 
used  I  recommend  wide  entrances,  but  with  ventilated  floors  a 
narrow  entrance  should  be  given  throughout  the  winter.  I  fail  to 
see  the  difference,  as  in  both  instances  a  plentiful  supply  of  air 
will  be  introduced  into  the  hive.  Many  people  object  to  a  wide 
entrance,  owing  to  a  mistaken  idea  that  the  moisture  during  the 
prevalence  of  heavy  storms  will  be  driven  into  the  hives.  This 
does  not  happen  in  practice,  if  the  hive  (as  it  always  should)  slopes 
about  an  inch  to  the  front,  which  will  allow  any  moisture  that 
may  fall  on  to  the  alighting  board  to  at  once  drain  away  from  the 
hive. 
With  reference  to  the  question,  “  If  the  entrance  is  open  right 
across  the  hive  will  not  breeding  be  retarded  ?  ”  I  do  not  approve 
of  having  the  entrance  the  full  width  of  the  hive.  Mine  will 
average  from  6  to  8  inches  in  width,  this  allowing  ample  space  for 
the  bees  in  ordinary  seasons  ;  but  during  the  honey  flow,  should  the 
weather  be  excessively  hot,  the  hive  is  wedged  up  its  full  width. 
This  affords  the  bees  more  room  in  passing  in  and  out,  and  will  also 
cause  better  ventilation.  Of  course  this  cannot  so  easily  be  done 
unless  loose  boards  are  used. 
I  have  not  found  breeding  retarded  under  this  treatment,  as 
stocks  worked  on  these  lines  have  invariably  come  out  strong. 
Note  was  made  of  this  fact  last  spring,  when  every  colony  came 
out  strong  and  healthy.  All  had  bottom  ventilation  as  stated 
above.  The  hives  stood  in  the  open  exposed  to  all  weathers, 
the  thermometer  going  below  zero  on  more  than  one  occasion. 
This  shows  the  practical  side  of  the  question,  and  is  in  marked 
contrast  to  some  bees  in  this  neighbourhood  that  were  kept  in  close 
moist  hives  and  utterly  collapsed. 
Feeding  Bees. 
I  agree  with  “  H.  B.  K.”  that  all  stocks  should  be  fed  up  for 
winter  by  the  first  week  in  September,  but  there  are  many  bee¬ 
keepers  who,  through  various  causes,  neglect  doing  so  at  the  proper 
time.  Some  will  start  when  it  is  too  late,  and  the  weather  is  too 
cold  for  the  bees  to  take  the  syrup  offered  ;  others  leave  them 
to  chance,  and  at  midwinter  will  find  their  stocks  short  of  stores, 
and  on  the  verge  of  starvation,  so  what  is  to  be  done  ? 
Syrup  is  not  suitable  then,  in  fact  very  often  bees  will  not  take 
it  ;  but  properly  made  soft  candy  I  have  found  quite  suitable  given 
them  at  that  time  of  the  year.  It  may  not  be  their  natural  ' 
food,  but  they  will  enjoy  it  all  the  same.  If  it  is  laid  on  the  top  of 
the  frames,  over  the  cluster  of  bees,  and  well  covered  with  several 
thicknesses  of  warm  material,  no  draught  will  be  caused,  neither 
will  any  dampness  arise  from  it,  and  should  the  following  season 
be  favourable,  they  will  repay  the  bee-keeper  a  thousandfold.— 
An  English  Bee-keeper. 
Entrances  to  Hives — Bottom  Ventilation. 
When  I  wrote  my  first  letter  it  was  on  wide  versus  narrow 
entrance.  My  experience  differs  from  “  An  English  Bee-keeper.’' 
I  am  a  strong  believer  in  perforated  zinc  floors  with  the  entrance 
one  inch  in  width  through  the  winter,  increasing  the  width  as  the 
bees  increase  in  the  spring.  My  bees  have  passed  the  winter  better 
in  that  way  than  when  they  had  wide  entrance  and  solid  floors. 
“  An  English  Bee-keeper  ”  thinks  the  cause  of  the  bee-keeper  I 
mentioned  losing  his  stocks  would  be  either  the  roof  or  sides  of 
hive  at  fault,  but  that  is  not  the  case.  The  man  is  a  builder,  who 
makes  his  own  hives,  and  surely  he  could  have  found  a  faulty  place 
had  there  been  one,  even  if  I  had  overlooked  it.  We  both  searched, 
but  found  the  hive  waterproof.  The  expert  paid  his  visit  in  the 
spring  and  pronounced  the  bees  doing  well  from  what  he  could 
see  by  taking  off  the  quilt,  but,  being  a  cold  windy  day,  he  could 
not  take  out  the  bees. 
My  experience  is  this  :  the  combs  nearest  to  the  entrance  are  the 
first  to  become  mouldy,  through  wet  being  driven  in  by  the  wind. 
The  corners  are  first  filled  with  debris  which  draw  and  hold  damp. 
The  second  winter  there  is  a  greater  accumulation  of  debris ,  which 
extends  further  in  the  hive,  when  damp  increases  and  the  stock  is 
doomed.  With  perforated  zinc  floors  there  is  nothing  of  that 
known,  to  say  nothing  of  the  labour  required  and  loose  boards  to 
be  kept  for  changing  in  the  spring.  It  must  take  two  to  lift  the  hive 
while  a  third  changes  the  floors,  whereas  with  zinc  floors  one  can 
do  each  in  three  minutes,  and  often  less. — R.  A.  C. 
Carbolic  Acid  versus  Smoke. 
I  HAVE  not  tried  calico  with  carbolic  acid,  but  ehould  think  it 
would  not  soak  up  the  acid  like  brown  paper.  Neither  could  calico 
be  used  between  the  bars  with  ease  ;  whereas  brown  paper  cut  the  same 
size  as  the  bars,  as  recommended  by  “  A  Lanarkshire  Bee-keeper,”  can 
be  used  anywhere,  with  comfort  to  both  operator  and  bees.  I  have 
never  known  bees  to  leave  the  hive  through  using  acid,  although  I  have 
used  it  freely  in  some  cases,  and  have  the  same  papers  that  I  used  nine 
years  ago,  which  are  as  good  now  as  then. 
A  gentleman  in  this  district  who  has  kept  bees  many  years  was 
about  to  take  off  one  crate  of  sections  and  put  on  another,  when  his 
bees  became  so  spiteful  that  he  could  do  nothing  with  them,  although  he 
used  smoke  freely.  He  sent  for  me,  and  I  found  they  had  two  entrances, 
the  second  in  the  side  of  the  hive.  The  roof  inside  and  out  was  covered 
with  spiteful  bees.  Smoke  was  of  no  use  then,  but  a  little  acid  at  each 
entrance,  with  three  pieces  of  paper  with  acid  on  placed  under  the  roof 
of  the  hive  had  the  desired  effect,  and  the  remaining  work  was  done 
with  comfort. 
Had  the  lady  I  mentioned  before  known  of  carbolic  acid  and 
used  it  she  would  have  had  more  control  over  her  bees,  and  I  think 
carbolic  acid  should  be  used  in  every  apiary  and  smoke  abolished. 
An  “  E.  B.  K.”  asks  if  my  bees  had  foul  brood  ?  They  had  not,  as  I 
said  before  I  sent  comb  to  this  Journal,  and  mentioned  the  numbers  where 
all  the  information  may  be  found  concerning  them.  I  destroyed  the 
comb,  put  foundation  in  the  same  bars,  and  used  the  same  hive  fed  up 
with  syrup.  Unfortunately  the  hive  was  blown  over  during  the  winter, 
all  the  combs  being  destroyed  but  one.  Two  others  I  tied  up.  The 
few  remaining  bees  were  wintered  on  them,  and  made  a  strong  stock  the 
following  summer.  They  could  not  have  done  that  had  they  been 
affected  with  foul  brood. — R.  A.  CLARK,  Flaneswood. 
TRADE  CATALOGUES  RECEIVED 
Barr  &  Son,  12,  King  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London. —  Vegetable 
and  Flower  Seed  Guide . 
G.  Bunyard  k  Co.,  Maidstone. — Home-Grown  and  Genuine  Seeds. 
H.  Cannell  &  Sons,  Swanley. — Chrysanthemums. 
J.  Carter  &  Co.,  237,  High  Holborn,  W.C. — Chrysanthemums. 
Dicksons,  Limited,  Chester. — Select  Vegetable  and  Flower  Seeds. 
Dicksons  k  Co.,  Waterloo  Place,  Edinburgh. —  Garden  Seeds. 
W.  Drummond  &  Sons,  Dublin. — General  Seeds. 
H.  Allen  Davi9,  Linkfield  Corner,  Redhill.  —  Vegetable  and  Flower 
Seeds. 
H.  Eckford,  Wem,  Shropshire. — Sweet  Peas  and  Other  Seeds. 
Harrison  &  Sons,  Leicester. — Seeds. 
Hogg  &  Robertson,  22,  Mary  Street,  Dublin. — Seed  List. 
Kelway  k  Son,  Langport,  Somerset. — Kel way's  Manual  for  1896. 
Kent  &  Brydon,  Darlington. — Garden  Seeds. 
W.  Leighton,  89,  Union  Street,  Glasgow. — Seeds  and  Bulbs. 
W.  Paul  k  Son,  Waltham  Cross. — Seeds  and  Sundries. 
Ant.  Roozen  k  Son,  Overveen,  Haarlem,  Holland. — Spring  Catalogue. 
R.  Sydenham,  Tenby  Street,  Birmingham. —  Unique  Seed  List. 
W.  G.  Tidy,  Manager  Brockhampton  Nurseries,  Havant.  Hants.— 
Chrysanthemum  Catalogue 
