Handy Book of Bees

PRE F A C E

SOM E year s ago, I was induced by my respectedfr iend M r W . Thomson, then editor of

‘The Gar

dener , to contribute a ser ies of articles on bees forthat per iodical . M r Thomson heralded these ar

ticles with a few complimentary remarks. H e thensaid : W e had practical proof of the extraordinarysuccess resulting from M r Pettigrew

’

s system of bee

management when he was our foreman in the gar

dens at W rotham Park,Mi ddlesex, twenty-five years

ago . W e assure our r eader s who may peruse hisletters, that though he may recommend what may

clash violently with their present knowledge of the

subject, h e is, notwithstanding, a safe gu ide ; and

that where profit is the object, no writer that wehave ever read can be compared to him. W e predicate that his letters will be of far gr eater value to all

interested than the cost of the journal for many yearsto come .

”

M y father , James Pettigrew,was a labouring man,

and perhaps the gr eatest beekeeper that Scotlandever produced. H e was so successful and enthusi

astio in the management of his bees that he earnedU

0

vi PRE FACE .

and received the cognomen of The Bee -man and

by this name he was well known for thirty years in

a wider cir cle than the par ish of C arluke, Lanarkshire, in which he resided . The distr ict of the

par ish in which he lived when he kep t most hives,took then the name of H oney Bank, which it stillbears . W hile a common labour ing man he saved a

great deal of money from his bees ; indeed it wasrepor ted in the Glasgow newspapers that he realised£100 profit from them, one season . H is exampleand success have, twenty - five years after his death,not yet lost their influence on the successful beekeepers of C arluke, who say,

“ The old bee -man

taught u s all we know.

”The bee- man saved money

enough to purchase the Black Bull Inn of the village,and therein commence bu siness as a publican and

bu tcher . W hen his sons reached their teens,the

management of his bees was left in great measure to

them It was then that the foundation of what Iknow of bees was laid and though I left my nativevillage thir ty - five years ago , I am still known thereas

“the bee - man

’

s son . A s most readers of a booklike to know a little of the au thor

,I may be par

doned the egotism of saying, that at the age of eighteen I was apprenticed to the occupation of gardeningat C arstairs H ou se. In abou t four years afterwardsI went to London to pur sue my business. W hile anapprentice at C arstairs, and a journeyman in M iddlesex, I kept bees in h idden places in the plantations and shrubber ies and whil e acting in the

capacity of head gardener , managed the bees of my

PREFACE . vii

employers . N ow I have a small garden of my own,in which bees are kept for profit . Such is a br iefoutline ofmy history . The work before the reader

,

then, is a practical one, and wr itten by a practicalman. Indeed the book is simply an exposition of a

system of management practised by my father fo rfor ty years and profitably, for for ty years since hisday, by myself and others.

D r M‘Kenzie, in a small book on bees, says he

was induced to study the subject from the fact thatone of his two labour ing men,

having found a swarm

of bees in a hedge, and therewith commenced beekeeping, was enabled to go without his wages tillthey were earned . Previou sly,

both labourers gottheir wages in advance . The lift given to the one

man by the possession of this fugitive swarm was so

pleasing to the D octor , that he commenced to readworks on bees, and study their management both inthis country and on the C ontinent. This little ineident shows what a swarm or two of bees may dofor a poor labourer . Indeed there are few thingsmore profitable to cottager s living in the country oron the skir ts of towns, than a few swarms of bees, ormore easily managed

“ Bees, says C obbett, “are of

great use in a house, on account of the honey, thewax

,and the swarms they produce : they cost noth

ing to keep, and want nothing but a little care .

”

In beekeeping I reckon the question of profit isof first importance . Stings do not seem half so painful to the man whose annual proceeds of beekeeping amount to £10

,or £20, or £50. It is my desire,

PRE FA CE .

therefore, in this work to show how bees may bekept with both profit and pleasure. In addition to

the profits of bees, there is a fund of interest andenjoyment derived from keeping them,

uplifting inits nature and tendencies . One of the most pleasing sights on earth is that of a son of to il, after thelabour of the day is done, taking a child in his hand,and going to see his pig, or cow,

or bees in his garden Wh o has not seen hundreds of working mencharmed beyond descr iption in attending to theirbees or cows "I hold that all employers of labou r would do well

to encourage their servants to spend their leisurehours in a profitable way.

A . PE TTIGREW .

NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

THE au thor gratefully acknowledges the many favourable notices of the first edition of this book bythe press, and the kindly reception it met with fromthe bee - loving community .

M ore gratifying still are the statements and evidences of pr ivate letters to the au thor . Hundreds ofapiar ians

,in all positions of society, are now

‘

masters

of the art of bee - keep ing, and are‘

su ccessfully praotising the system of management unfolded in the

pages of this work .

H e tru sts that this edition will be found as u sefulas the first, in giving its reader s a firm grasp of the

subject and that it will encourage all who are seeking profit or honey from beekeeping, to carry into

practice most of its lessons.

A . PE TTIGREW .

SALE , C H E SH IRE ,

8th F ebr uary 1875 .

C O N T E N T S.

PART F IRST .

TH E N A TURA L H I S T ORY O F B E E S .

CHAPTER I.

PA GE

The queen bee ,H er shape and appearanceM o ther and monarch ,The age of queens ,H ow long in being hatchedThe food of princesses, .

The fert ilisat ion of queens ,Where fer tilisat ion takes place ,Somet imes lost on their marr iage

- tour , .

E gg- laying,

H ow many eggs la id dailyThe sexes of eggs ,

The ovar ies of queens ,The eggs of virg in or unm atedqueens

,

CHAPTER II.

Drones ,

H ow long in the ir cells

W hy so many

Their idleness ,Their sorrowful end,

CHAPTER III .

W orking bees,Imperfect females,

CHAPTER IV.

L igur ian or Italian bees,CHAPTER V.

Government of a h ive,

CHAPTER VH .

H oney

C rude and perfec t honey,N o two kinds of d ifferent plan tsyield honey

Possess five senses

Their indus try,Their ingenuity,Their courage ,H ow to tame and domest icatevicious bees,

Have bees a language"

CHAPTER VI.

Swarming,Prepar at ions made for i t ,The s ignal and the rushPiping,Second and third swarmsRoyal bat tles ,

CONTENTS .

CHAPTER VIII.

H oney-dew,

CHAPTER X.

B ee- bread ,

CHAPTER IX. Too much collected,The product of bees, CHAPTER XI.Howmuch honey is consruned

to make 1 lb. ofwax 30 Propolis and water

PART S E C O N D .

PRA C T I C A L M A N A G E M E N T.

CHAPTER XII.

The

How far should hives be ofi‘

the

ground

H ow far asunder "

Bee- houses,CHAPTER XIII.

The pasturage of bees,M uch honeyungathered,C an a par ish be overstockedA ll localities not equally good

Rich so il better than poor ,Exposed and sheltered pas tur e ,H ow far will bees go for honey "Short journeys

CHAPTER XIV .

Hives,Agr iculture and hor t icultur e,Apicultur e has lo i tered,Facts and figur es,Successful management at C arluke,

M r Reid’s let ters ,English bee-keepers far behind

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

C ross

The unicomb hive,CHAPTER XV.

Boards

The door of the

CHAPTER XVI.

C overs for h ives,CHAPTER XVII.

Stings,CHAPTER XVIII.

The materials of hives,Straw hives bestThe quackery of new invan

t ions,

Impr ovements and success,Shapes and sizes,The bar - fr ame hives,The Amer ican slinger

The advantages and disadvan

tages of bar -frame

C omb -knives,

B ar - frame hives should bemade

xii CONTE NTS .

The Ir ishman’

s secret ,Old cordur oy,

N o thing else necessary,CHAPTER XIX.

Swarming and non

C an swarms and honey be ob

tained from hives the same

season

Swarming sys tem bes t ,Reasons g iven,

Wh ich system yields mos t supers

G r eat success of M r Fox,

His magnificent supers,H is adjus t ing principle,

CHAPTER XX .

Supers and super ing,S traw,

wood, and glass supers,The art of super ing unfo lded,A ss ist ing bees to fill large supers, .

N o doors in supers,

C ut ting super s off,CHAPTER XXI.

Bet ter for get t inga gr ea twe ightof honey than supers,

They pr event swarming,CHAPTER XXII.

N adirs ,

Used when bo th honey and

s tocks are sought from the

swarms of the cur rent year ,CHAPTER XXIII .

Ar t ificial swarming ,

Probably invented by Bonner ,Invaluable ,

E as ily performed,Prevents was te of time,



C an be performed at any hour ,H ow to know when hives areready for swarm ing,

Wh ere to place swarms,Bee - bar r ow

,

Vacant thr ones,Successors pr ovided ,

A li t tle difficulty with secondswarms ,

Surplu s queens,Very useful in many ways'.

H ow to find the qu eens i n aswarm

CHAPTER XXIV .

N atur al swarming,T i me of swarming,Small hives clus ter before ,Large hives seldom clus terM iscarr iages ,Their cause

,

The hiving of swarms,Ar tificial thunder and ra inFugi t ive swarms,Canno t be stopped,Am er ican swarm - catcher

,

Third and four th swarmsC onfl ict of qu eensRegicidal kno ts,The loss of queensM aking good the lossVir gin swarms

CHAPTER XXV.

Tur nou ts,N ew honey,

CHAPTER XXVI.

FeedingB ad seasons

D isappo intment of beginners,Success is certain to the persevering,

Th e pr ofi ts ofbee- keep ing during the las t five years,

The au thor‘s profits since 1870,

CONTE NTS .

The impor tance offeedingwell ,Wh a t happens if not well fed,H unger

- swarms ,W ealt hymill - owners ofLance.

shir e,

Bes t ar t ificial food,In what proportionsM any ways of feeding bees,

Feeding - board , cistern,and

The expr essmethod offeeding,Feeding in winter ,Feeding at home ,

CHAPTER XXV'

II .

The diseases of bees

Dysentery,Foul brood,

H ow to dis cover its existence,Incur able

,

C HAPTER XXVIII .

Enemies of bees,Mi ce,

Snails,

Robbers,H ow bees know each

CHAPTER XXIX.

Transporting bees, .

G rea t care r equiredVent ilat ion ,

The value of cross- s t icks,CHAPTER XXX.

The selection and prepara tionof s tock- hives for ano theryear ,

Should be full or nearly full

of combs,

Should contain young queens ,The destruc t ion of swarms

condemned ,

W hat should be done with

On

xiii

CHAPTER XXXI.dr iving and un i t ing

Greater consumption of food

in populous hivesW ha t to do with very lighthives,Valu e of fresh combs to a

young swarm,

W ha t is to be done when all

the hives are too heavy forkeeping ,.

Sugar - syr up healthy winterfood,

H ow bees ar e dr iven,

H ow to succeed in cold wea

ther ,H ow to shake swarms ou t ,Often done in candle- light ,M in ted syr up and nu tmeg ,The hilar i ty of childr en and

bees,

CHAPTER XXXII .

On tak ing honey and wax ,

H ow to know the quant ity of

honey in a hive ,Th e pr ocess of takingThe Amer ican slinger has not

power to sling heatherhoney from comb ,

Is never likely to come intogeneral use amongst beefarmers

Taking wax,

CHAPTER XXXIII.On winter treatmen t ,The impor tance of keep ingbees warm,

Fresh air necessary in win

ter ,

M any destroyed for want of

sufficient attention,.

CONTE NTS .

Bad luck comes from bad

management,Can bees be wintered under

TH E C A LE N DAR.

M arch ,A pr il

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Wh en should bees be pur

chased"

July147 August,148 September ,

October, N ovember , and De

T H E

HANDY BOOK OF BE E S.

PART F IRST .

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BE E S .

IN every heal thy hive of bees there may be found, at certain seasons of the year , a queen or mo ther bee

,males or

drones,and working bees ; honey and wax

,bee - bread

and propolis .

Queen . W orker . D r one.

CHAPTER I .

TH E QUE E N B E E .

By looking at the representations of the different bees,the reader will see that a queen bee is less in size than a

drone,and larger than a working bee. In shape she is

2 HANDY BOOK OF BE E S .

more like a worker than a drone, but more genteel andbeau tiful than either . H er abdomen or belly is comparatively long, and gradually taper s to a point—giving heran appearance quite distinguishable from all in the hive .

She is really a queenly creature,modest and graceful in

all her movements.

Being mother and monarch of the hive, her life is veryprecious . The loyalty of her people, and the activity ofher body- guard, are r emarkable. N 0 human monarch wasever half so well attended to by his subjects as a queenbee is by hers. The life and prosperity of a hive dependon the presence of a queen—a queen moving and reigningin it—or in prospect— that is, in embryo ; for when a queendies, or goes with a colony or swarm

,she leaves behind

her some princesses in their cells— that is to say, in theirinfant state— or eggs which the bees hatch into queens.

If a hive lose its queen,and is without expectation of

getting another , all prosperity comes to an end— the con

tentment, loyalty, and indu stry of the bees depar t fr omthem their stores of honey are often undefended bythemselves, and stolen by the bees of prosperous hives.

T he Age of Queens .

They live about four years . In this the worth of theirlives to the community is seen . The working bees livebut nine months , and the drones are not permitted eitherto live or die they are destroyed. The climax of theirhistory is not a pleasing one. But queéns, generallyspeaking, live fOUI' years. Some die when they are thr eeyears old : very few die a natural death sooner .

Queens are four teen days in being hatched—that is tosay, perfect queens are produced on the four teenth dayafter eggs have been put into royal cells . To a thoughtful beekeeper the length of their days is not so great a

THE AGE OF QUEENS . 3

marvel as the shortness of time they are in their cradlecells . Only fourteen days for the process of developingsmall eggs into princesses of the blood " A worker istwenty- one days in the cell

,and a drone twenty- four days.

Queens are perfected in ten days less time than drones.

The mystery of this is beyond our depth ; but the factindi cates the value of the presence of the queens in theirhives. W hen a queen is accidentally killed

,or dies nu

expectedly, or is taken from a hive,as in artificial swarm

ing, the bees have the power to make another . Theytake an egg meant for a worker from a common cell ,

where, if undisturbed,it would be developed into a

worker in twenty- one days, and place it in a royal cell,and there convert it into a queen in four teen days. In

the royal cell the egg is developed into a bee - different insize and colour

,perfect every way, and perfect in seven

days’ less time than it would otherwise,have been if

left in a common worker - cell. This is an exceedinglyinteresting point in bee- history, and a wise provision of

nature. It is a fact established beyond dispute that beeshave the power of rearing queens from common eggs. Itmay be asked how they accomplish this

,and by what

means . The power seems to be in a substance termedroyal jelly, which has a milky, gelatinous appearance.

W henever an egg is set in a royal cell, the bees placearound it some of this milky- like substance, and soon

after a little worm o r grub may be seen floating on it, andby it this grub is fed. Wh at this royal jelly is, we do notknow- neither can we tell where incomes from. N o writer,we think

,has ventured to describe how or where it is manu

factur ed or obtained. If an analytical chemist would everlike to examine this substance, we would gladly furnishhim with a thimbleful of it at the swarming season—takingit,of cour se

,from the cells in which it may be deposited.

Seven days after eggs have b een deposited in royal

4 HANDY BOOK OF BEE S .

cells,lids are placed on them—which is technically termed

“sealing them up.

” Wh at takes place at the bir th of

queens will be explain ed when we come to the chapter onswarming.

F er tilisa tion of Queens.

This a very import ant affair— so important that a beekeeper should know all he can about it when and whereit takes place

,and what happens when it never takes

place at all. Queens are mated or take the drone whenthey are very young— viz .

,from two to ten or twelve days

old. If they are not mated before they are twelve daysold, they are wor thless for breeding purposes, and worthless for every purpose save that of keeping the

'

beestogether till they are worn out by labour or old age .

Wh en we consider the importance of the fertilisation “

of queens,the number of drones in a hive is not to be

wondered at,especially when we consider that cepula

tion never takes place inside a hive. If the weather beunfavourable for ten days after the b irth of a queen, sheis not mated. Some five - and—twenty years ago we caused

a hive to rear a queen in the month of September,after

all its drones had been killed. This was done with a

view to ascer tain how many days she left her hive to finda companion . The mouth of the hive was shu t

,so that

every bee going out had to pass through a narrow tube,

projecting two or three inches,before it took wing.

Though the way out was plain and easy, neither the

queen nor bees ever found their way back through thetube. For nine days the queen came thr ough the tube,though the weather was rather showery at the time, andwas invar iably found outside the hive about four o

’

clockP.M . , either nestled up in a cluster of bees near the door

,

or trying to find an entrance into the hive . Once she

came home and alighted on the flight-board in our pre

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8 HAN DY BOOK OF BE E S.

cells containing two or thr ee eggs. On another examination some time after

,the empty cells will be found all

filled. And often,when bees are building combs, eggs

are set on the foundations of cells— that is to say, as soon

as the bottoms of the cells are formed, eggs are placed on

them,and afterwards their sides are buil t up around the

eggs.

Some one may ask how it is known that a queen beelays 2000 eggs every day in the height of the season .

Some hives contain more than 2000 square inches of

combs each. Let us suppose that only one half of thesecombs is filled with brood, and the rest filled with honeyand beebread that is 1000 in ches of comb for brood ineach hive. One inch of comb has 50worker - cells in it

,25

on each side. Very well , 1000 inches of comb containyoung bees

,in all stages of development

,from the

egg up. These young come fr om one queen inthree weeks . D ivide the by 2 1

,and it will be

found that the average number laid per day for threeweeks amounts to some hundreds beyond 2000 per day.

W e have not yet seen a hive large enough to over task thelaying powers of a queen bee.

The Sexes of E ggs.

On this question there appeared in the first edition of

this work some very interesting and well -written lettersfrom the pen of the late M r W oodbury of E xeter

, who

held “ that eggs of queen bees when laid are of two sexes,

male and female,and that no after - treatment can alter

either sex . W e then were inclined to believe that all theeggs of queen bees in proper condition are of one kindonly, and convertible into queens

,drones, or workers .

M r Quinby, an able American wr iter on bees,held the

same opin ion, and argued thus “ If food and treatment

THE SEXE S OF E GGS. 9

would create or produce organs of generation in the female,by making an eg g destined to be a worker into a queen(a fact which all apiarians admit), why not feed and treatment make a drone"

” W e suggested some experiments,with the hope that they would be fairly and widely tried.

W e tried them ourselves,and in every experiment the

bees failed to hatch female eggs into drones, and drone

eggs into females . M r W oodbury,and all of his way of

thinking on this question, are r ight,and we were wrong.

As soon as we were satisfied on the question, we publishedour change of views in the columns of the ‘Journal ofH orticul tur e,

’and there gave an accoun t of the experi

ments which led to the change. A bit of dronecomb

containing eggs was placed amongst some bees which hadlost their queen ,

and were in a state of great commo tionand lamentation for their loss, running hither and thithin search of her . The hive contained no eggs of its own ,

as the queen lost was a virgin one. As soon as the beesfound the eggs , they commenced at once to erect royalcells around them,

and became as calm and con tented as

possible. The eggs became maggots in the royal cells,

and were covered with lids at the proper time . On the

sixteenth day after the royal cells were formed, they werecut out for examination . Only one of the maggots hadtaken the insect form : all were dead. The bees made

a great effort, but failed to produce queens . In variousways , and many times dur ing the las t few years , have wehad pro of that queen bees lay both male and female eggs,and that no trea tment by the bees can al ter the sex .

It has been stated by more than one wr iter that theovaries of a queen are never impregnated, the matter of

the male being stored in a distin ct vesicle called the

spermatheca, a portion of the contents of which is eitherwithheld from,

or communicated to , every egg as it pas sesthrough the oviduct—and this difference determines the

10 B a r my s o o n o r D E E S .

sex. If this is true, it appears to us all but impossible toaccount for the fact that impregnation makes a queenprolific

,causing her to lay a hundredfold more eggs than

a queen unimpregnated. If the fertilising matter of themale is simply lodged in a distinct vesicle, and does notaffect the productive powers of the queen, but merelytouches and femalises so many eggs in passing throughthe oviduct

,how comes it to pass that unmated queens are

nearly barren " W e think that the explanation given as

to the cause of some eggs being male and some female isnot satisfactory, and that the mode of fecundation may

be for ever veiled from the ken of mor tals. Also , how the

queen knows what kind of eggs she deposits— placingmale eggs in drone - comb and female eggs in worker - comb.

Th e eggs of virgin or unmated queens are male in

character .

C HA PTE R H .

D RO N E s

These are about the most idl e and unfortunate creaturesin existence. They are generally hatched in drone - combs,the cells of which are considerably larger than those of

worker - combs. These large cells,bu ilt up together , are

called dr one - comb . The less of drone - comb there is in a

hive, the better it is for breeding purposes for though thebees can r ear dr ones inworker - cells,theynever rear workersin drone- cells . D rone- combs are generally situated on theextreme outsides of the worker - combs

,but sometimes

they are found near the centre of the hive . It is theposition and numb er of drone- cells in a hive that determine the number of dr ones reared. If such cells are near

DRONE S. l l

the centre, dr ones will put in an appearance long beforethe hive is ready for swarming and if on the outside ofthe combs, the hive will be ready for swarming about thetime drones are first hatched. Their appearance in a hiveis therefore no safe guide as to its ripeness for swarming.D rones are twenty- four days in being hatched from

eggs—that is,they come to perfection in twenty- four

days, being three days longer in their cells than workers,and ten days longer than queens .

B ut why so many idle fellows in a community remarkable for indus try and activity" It is easier to ask thisquestion than to answer it. They are produced for a purpose, and that is the impregnation of the queens. W henthe impor tance of this impregnation is cons idered, theapparent want of economy in the production of so manyotherwise useless creatures will not be wondered at. The

time given for this fertil isation is limited to ten or twelvedays at most. Wh en weather is cold or wet, drones do

not leave their hives and even when the weather is fairand favourable, they do not all leave their hives at the

same time. As the reader is already aware that copulation takes place outdoors—it may be at some distancefrom the hive—he will more easily understand why so

many dr ones are usually produced. Better to have a

superabundance of drones than the queen fail tomeet one. The more drones— indeed, the more hives in a

garden— when a queen becomes marriageable, the morelikely is she to be seen and mated when she leaves on

that errand.Queens and drones, the produce of one mother, mate

without the least deterioration of blood. Ih - and- in breeding amongst bees for generations and ages does not in

the smallest degree produce bad results.The great characteristic of a drone bee is his laziness.

H e will die of want rather than work. Drones have


never been known to do “a hand’

s turn. In recentlyhived swarms, before any honey is stored up, drones may

be frequently seen stooping down to be fed by workingbees D rones wanting to be fed place their feedingtubes alongside those of workers

,and thus remain appar

ently motionless while the pumping process goes on .

But these idle gentlemen know the coun try geographically better than the working community. In fine weatherthey take longer excursions into the country for pleasurethan working bees do for food. If a hive be removed infine weather two miles, some few bees and a great many

drones return to the old place . If removed three or four

miles, a considerable number of drones return,but no

workers .

C omparatively useless in their lives, drones come to a

sorrowful end. What is termed the massacr e of drones

seems a strangely cruel process. W ell m ight a greatnatur alist exclaim,

The climax of drone—life is wonderful—a chapter of horrors, which clouds the harmony ofan otherwise beautiful system of insect- life.

About fourteen days after the queen of a hive has beenfertilised, or some days after she has begun to lay, the

working bees begin to haul and maul the drones abou t.D ay by day the bees become more anxious to worry thedrones . Inside the hive the drones are driven from the

honeycombs, and may be found in heaps on the boardfor days. Here they become weak from want of food ;and when they leave the hive many of them have savagetormentors on their backs . Some fall off the flight- boardso weak that they cannot fly but must die at a distance

,

being unable to return .

D uring weather unfavourable for honey- gathering,

drones and drone - brood are often destroyed. On the

appearance or prospect of hard times the bees destroythese comparatively useless creatures and cast them out of

14 HANDY BOOK OF BE E S.

queen in fourteen days,or into a working bee in twenty

one days. W h ether the queen is developed and made

perfect by special treatment in the cell, o r whether theworking bee is dwarfed and made imperfect by Specialtreatment

,is a question yet unanswered— and is, perhaps,

beyond the powers of human investigation.

It is a fact established beyond all doubt that bees can

procure a queen for themselves, provided they have larvaenot more than thr ee days old in worker - cells . Royalcells and a par ticular kind of food only appear necessaryfor the conversion of common larvae into queens .

The development of queens from worker - eggs or grubsis a most marvellous transformation

, and : comprehendsfar more than the development of the reproductive organsin queens, or the r epression of them inworker - bees . The

transformation alters the anatomical structure and in

stinctive propensities. Queens are different in form,

colour , and habit from,and live six times longer than,

working bees. They have more slender trunks and more

crooked stings than bees they have no downy brushesat the joints of their limbs

,or basket- shaped cavities on

their legs for holding bee-bread. Queens in numerou s par

ticulars are very different from the working bees. In thistransformation there is a world of wonders and mystery.Bees, like the human family

,possess five senses

viz. , sight, feeling, taste, hear ing, and smelling ; and a

very interesting and instructive chapter could be writtenin proof of their existence fand acuteness . W e musthasten to notice the industry

,ingenuity

,and courage of

bees.C

The Industry of B ees.

r

'

H ow few bee - keepers know the worth of their own ser

vants— the value of their own stock N o writer can getnear enough to touch the hem of the garment of the in

THE INDUSTRY OF BEE S. 15

dustry of honey- bees. Fancy a large and prosperous hivefull of combs, bees, and brood fancy little grabsin thishive requiring constant attention and proper food,and all receiving them in due season fancy the care anddiligence of the bees in mixing and kneading this foodbefore they give it to their young ; fancy of thesegrubs daily requir ing and receiving beautiful lids on theircells while they pas s in to the insect form and chrysalisstate ; fancy 800 or 1000 square inches of this broodbeing built up every three weeks. Try these combs inthe scales against a twenty- eight—pound weight and see

which conquers . Stand and look at that hive of bees,and remember that all therein goes on with unerr ing exsetness and withou t light : then think of the untiringenergy and perseverance of the bees outside the hiveranging fields and woods from morn till night

,gathering

up the sweets and the pollen of flowers, storing the

’

one in

sacks and the other in baskets,returning to their homes

laden as a donkey with panniers, in creasing their honeystores in weight from 2 lb . to 6 lb. per day ; and aftertheir honey has been twice swallowed and disgorged

, and

thus made into honey proper, they securely lock it up.

Yes think of all these things being done,'

together withcountless and nameless offices performed every hour

,and

methinks the reader will be dumb with amazement atthe industry of these wonderful bees Bonny wee creatures your own fanning wings will drive from yourhives scores of tons of the sweat of your labours are theimagination of the poet or the pen of the historian can

compass your indu stryW ithout any pretension to accuracy, and anxious ti)be

within the circle of facts, we may s tate that the daily

consumption and waste of a large and prosperous hive ofbees in the summer - time

, whil e honey is being gathered,is about 2 1h. To repair the waste of such a hive, upwards

16 HANDY 150011 o r B E E S .

of 2 lb. of materials have to be collected every day.

Beyond this there is often,in favourable weather, a great

accumulation of honey. W e have known a hive gain 20lb. weight in two days. This year, at Caimie, in Aberdeenshir e, M r Shearer had a hive that gained 10 lb. in

weight in one day.

The Ingenuity of B ees .

To mention half the instances of ingenuity seen in a largeapiary would fill a book. In the building of combs and formation of cells, design is str ikingly evident. Honeycombcells are made to dip to the bottom. If a piece of gu ideis put in wr ong side up, the bees adapt it as a commence

ment, but reverse the dip of the cells , so that they slantin the best direction for holding honey. The stays and

props so fr equently given to weak places and loose combsdisplay great ingenuity.W hen a swarm is put in to an empty hive which it can

only half fill, the bees, on commencing work, find thatthe way to the door by the sides of the hive is roundabout ; and to shorten the way, they let down two or

thr ee beautiful bee-r opes, on which to descend and ascend.

These ropes are made by one bee suspending itself toanother, each bee coming lower down till the board isreached.In spr ing months bees are anxious to hatch as manyyoung bees as possible, and therefore spread themselvesout as widely as they can. Sometimes the weather sud

denly becomes cold, caus ing the bees to have some fearsabou t their brood being chill ed In order to pro tect thebrood some bees gather thems elves in to a cluster in the

doorway, and thus prevent the cold fr om go ing into thehive or , as our more accurate friends would say, to keepthe heat in . Often is the door so closelywedged up—so

THE COURAGE OF BE E S . 17

nicely corked—that there is just room enough left for onebee to pass in and out. On the return of warm weatherthe protecting sandbag is removed.

The story of the dead snail in a bee - hive is worthmentioning. Snails are very fond of honey, and oftentake lodgings for months inside a hive. They eat bothhoney and wax . Bees attack and dr ive from their hiveevery enemy but snails and worms. These they

‘

will not

touch. It happened that a snail died in one, and was

more unpleasant to the bees after death than befor e but

they coul d not cast it out. Their ingenu ity was set to

work, resulting in a coffin of wax being built around thesnail.The ingenu ity of bees is manifest when they are at

work on a windy day. In calm weather they fly prettystraight on their journeys to and fr om the fields ; butwhen wind is high, they seek the shelter of houses,banks

,and fences. Often have we seen them flying at

great speed along open drain s and ditches,and in this

way escaping the violence of the wind . And when it

becomes necessary for them to leave their sheltered cour se,

they r ise like a rocket, and dive again into the mostsheltered way.

The Courage of B ees.

C owardice is not an element of their nature they fearno foe

,and shr ink from n o danger . A bee cannot be

cowed or dispir ited by knock- down blows from the handof man . If not stunned to inabili ty, it will r ise courageously to attack after being knocked down ten or a dozen

times . Bees are furnished with weapons of defence and

they know how to use them. W e say defence, for that isthe proper word for when they attack anybody or any

thing,it is owing to some molestation either received or

B


anticipated. The bees of hives placed near a peopledthoroughfare, or in a garden in which men ,

women, and

children are often moving about,become as quiet and

peaceable as cocks and hens. They become really domesticated, and will not annoy anybody if they are not firstannoyed. Human breath and sweat are very offensiveto bees

,and hence it is not wise to move amongst them

while in a state of perspir ation .

Butwhat about vicious bees and their courageous attacks"Al l bees born away from the haunts of human beings— thatis to say, in a lonely place— are very apt to attack people

going near their hives . Away from their own hives they donot attack anybody ; but on seeing strangers (men or cattle)approach their hives

,they anticipate molestation

,and

are no t slow to use their stings . Often have we proventhat bees once domesticated never become vicious . Beesthat are qu iet and peaceable in autumn are quiet andpeaceable in spring

,though they may not have seen any

body near their hives all winter . B ut bees that are bornin lonely places, and there fly about, will fearlessly attackboth men and beasts that go too near their habitations.

H ow to Tame and D omesticute Vicious B ees .

Though this properly belongs to the practical par t ofour book, we may be permitted to say here, that the wayto cure vicious bees is to make them acquainted with thesight and form of human beings. A scarecrow or two

(what the Scotch folk call “ po tato placed infront of their hives, soon make them all right. The scare

crows can be shifted from one position to another a few

times. Some years ago I bought a hive in the country,

and placed it amongst some others at home. The beeswould not let me go near their hive . A bogle was placedin front of it, and to me it was interesting to watch the

HAVE BE E S A LANGUAGE " 19

attack one or two of the savage creatures were seen eye

ing the face of the scarecrow,looking for a tender spot

on which to dart. In a few days they became as quietas the rest.

H ave B ees a Language "

To be sure they have. W ho has not seen a flock of

rocks or crows feeding quietly in a green or ploughedfield rise on wing as a black cloud on hearing the watchword sounded by a single bird

, which had seen apparentor possible danger near " So bees have a language wellunderstood by themselves and

, we might venture to say,

prettywell known by bee -masters of extensive experience.

There is the hum of contentment and the hum of

trouble—the hum of peace and the hum of defence—thehum of plenty and th e buzz of starvation—the hum of

joy and the roar of grief— the cry of pain and the musicof their dance—the buzz of the heavy- laden and the scream

of suffocation . The cry of pain from a bee at the door of

a hive affects the whole commun ity.W here is the bee -keeper who is not acquainted with

the sound of bees bent on mischief " They have not

stung him,but he knows they mean it. Often we have

let the bees of a weak hive have the honey of some

combs half empty. W hen no bees have been at work

outside, a morsel of comb has been taken to the door ofthe weak hive ; and as soon as four or six bees havebegun to feed on it

,they have been carr ied to stores or

combs to be emptied. As soon as these few bees have

got home with their booty, the whole hive seemed to bemade aware thatmore might be had, and hundreds of beesbelonging to this hive were soon busily carrying it home

,

before the rest of the hives have known that honey couldbe had. Bees have a language .


C HAPTE R IV .

LIGURIA N OR ITAL IA N B E E S.

A s our object in wri ting th is book is to guide inex

perienced beekeepers in a safe and profitable course, we

may be expected to say a few words about Ligurian bees,which were introduced into this country some few yearsago .

The principle of novelty is implanted in the humanmind

,and the weakest part of an E nglishman is hi s gulli

bility. A new style of dress,a C ochin - C hina fowl, a

Ligurian bee, if well puffed up and adver tised,will com

mand lots of customers . People are bewitched bynovelties .

But do you mean to say that the Ligurian sort of bees,which is so much praised, and sold at such high pr ices ,is not better than the common E nglish sort " Better forwhat" D o they fly faster " N o . D o they carry heavierloads " N o . D o they lay mo re eggs " It has not beenproven or tested to our kn owledge . D o their eggs becomeperfect bees sooner " N o . A r e they not earlier as tir inthe morning" N 0. D o they work la ter at night" N 0.

D o they gather more honey" N o . A re they not better inany sense N o neither in Great Bri tain nor America hastheir boasted Superiority been established. Still, amongstbee - fanciers they are fashionable . There is a gratificationar ising from the possession of what we like

, and to manythe cost of the gratification is of no importance. The

satisfaction derived from the possession of a swarm of

Ligurian bees to many gentlemen is an ample return forthe money paid for them. But to those who are more


then comes the dethronement of the old ones. Frequentlythe old queens are cast out alive . W e have known one

such crawl back into the hive four or five times. It wasa sad end to a useful life . But the bees mercifully ahstained from hur ting her . The welfare of. the communitydemanded her removal, and a worthy successor in her

place . H ence they cast her out, and reared another .

If they had let her die a natural death , it might havetaken place when there were no eggs in the hive, and thushave doomed the W hole colony to extinction .

In times of threatened poverty and starvation , a queenmay lay many eggs bu t the bees often w isely removethem

,rather than consume the little food left for them

selves in r earing brood. Frequently half- hatched broodis torn out of the cells and cast out of the hives by theworkers . C ommands are often given not to swarm,

afterarrangements have been made for swarming. W hen wecome to explain swarming

,it will be seen that it is by

,

the

will and au thority of the working bees that it does or

does not happen— weather not interfering.

C HAPTE R VI.

SWA RM I N G .

It is our intention to explain this more fully when wecome to the practical part of this work. Though it isone of the most in teresting parts of bee -history

, swarmingand all its adjuncts are very difficult to explain

,or put in

a tangible form . The building of drone- combs, and the

formation of royal cells,long before they are needed, indi

SWARM ING. 23

cate that swarming is a law amongst bees—it is an instinctof their being, and tends to their preservation.

In Spr ing months,hives, generally speaking, have not

much honey in them. The combs afford plenty of scopefor hatching brood ; and young bees are born much fasterthan they die. H ives soon become very full. Sometimes

clusters of bees, like bunches of grapes,hang outside .

They are ready to swarm. Preparations are made for theimportant event. The bees well know

,long before it

comes to pass,that the queen (call her the old or mother

queen)goes with the fir st swarm from every hive. W hatabout a successor to the throne " W hen the swarm shallhave gone

,there will be no queen, no fresh- laid eggs.

These wonderful creatu res know al l this,and therefore

never fail to set eggs in royal cells,and thus have young

queens on the way when the first swarm is sent off.

G enerally the eggs for young queens are set about fourdays before swarming takes place. Inclement weathermay prevent the swarm leaving at the usual time and

therefore the young queens may be nearly r ipe, and ready

to leave their cells,ere the old queen with the swarm

leaves the hive. Sometimes these young queens are tornout of their cells, by reason of wet or cold weather and

when this takes place, swarming is postponed for a week

or two . The weather may become favourable, and a

second time preparations be made for swarming. A s the

time dr aws near,scouts are sent to find a place for the

swarm to go to . L ike a queen wasp in spring, seeking apla ce to build her nest, th ese scouts may be seen goingfrom bush to bush, and along the hedgerows in the neighbourhood of their hives. W hen the spot is fixed on ,

there is, in some way or other , a consultation abou t it inthe hive, for messengers may be seen going straight toand from the place some shor t time before the swarm


leaves. It may, and sometimes does happen, that twoplaces are selected, half the swarm going to the one, andthe rest to the other place.

But let us return to the hive, and there we shall findsomething to excite our admiration . Thirty or fortythousand bees are abou t to leave the place of their birth,and comforts of home, never to return. Home- sickness isunknown to emigrant bees, provided they have a queenamongst them. The s ignal for departure will soon be

given,but not before these thousands of bees have well

filled their bags with honey. W hich gr eat bee givesthe signal to go will never be told, but unquestionably asignal is given, for in a moment the swarm begins to gushpell -mell

,like a flowing stream

, out of the hive. W hatan exodus What an interesting sight Talk about thePilgrim Fathers (and all honour to them)leaving theirnative land for the shores of America " Look at thesecourageous bees in the act of swarming, rushing forthto make the air ring with their cheers, rising into theatmosphere, and there roaring at the fullest pitch of

joy and gladness. The swarming of bees is like a

wedding, in this particular , that it seems to inspire all

spectators with a felt interest and enthusiasm in the

scene. Brave colonists "go and prosper,and multiply

exceedingly "Let us look into the mother hive. W hy so quiet now"

N o crowding, no suffocation,scarcely a sound is heard.

M ore than half the bees ar e gone still there are enoughleft to rear and hatch the bro od. C omparatively fewhands can be spared now to gather honey ; but greatnumbers are born daily brood becomes popula tion,There is no queen to lay eggs. In a short time manycells will be empty, and an ample population

,all but free

from the duties of nursing, ready and willing to fill them

SWARMING . 25

with honey. In this transition state,while the brood is

passing into insect forms and living bees, there is con

siderable loss of weight. B ut what about second swarms

\Vell,we had intended to look into the hive after the

swarm had departed. On turning it up we find three,

four,or five royal cells have little maggo ts in them,

floating or lying in a white substance like milk. This milkysubstance is r oyal jelly : wher e the bees get it no one

knows. These little mag go ts grow uncommonly fast,and

become beau tiful prin cesses in ten days . If there is everanything like a regency in a bee - hive it is now

, for theiris no queen reigning, no queen born—still

, all goes on

well .

By- andby there are strange sounds made in that hive .

They come from a royal cell . One of the pr incesses hascome to matur ity, and intimates her intention to claimthe queendom of the hive. She calls Off, Off, off,

”which

sounds like the barking of a dog at a distance. Thesesoun ds she repeats several times and

,being unanswered

,

she leaves h er cell,and becomes the rightful sovereign of

the hive. She now commences to speak in anoth er tonguealtogether—u ttering sounds more sharp and shr ill . She

calls ,“ Peep

,peep

,peep

,

”or rather

,Pa - ay, pa

- ay, pa—ay,

”

e ight or ten times . The o ther young princesses come to

maturity, and commence to bark 011,off, off,”in their

cells . This barking provokes the r eigning queen very

much. W ith mur derous intent she runs up and down

the hive to find these barking queens . Again and again ,

every few minutes,is sh e heard calling “ Pa- ay, pa

—ay,”

sometimes in one part of the hive and sometimes in an

o ther . And the responses, “ Off, off, off,”come regularly

from the cells of her rival sisters . This calling of the

queens is termed piping.” W hat is it for " W ho can

tell " It goes on for thr ee days and three nights . The


reigning queen dur ing this time is seeking an opportunityof killing her r ivals, but the working bees ward off her

attempts to get at her sisters and they too are securelywatched and kept in their cells. If the weather be favourable on the fourth day after the piping began , a secondswarm will issue from the hive , taking with it the queenwhich called Peep, peep . N ow one of the princesseskept in confinement for thr ee days is permitted to takethe place of her sister . She in her turn calls Pa ay,

pa- ay and if the responsive bark of Off, off be con

tinned, a third swarm may be expected on the followingday, or , at latest, the day after that. Third and fourthswarms have been known to issue fr om a hive in one day.

Th ird and fourth swarms are not very common for th e

bees of most hives find that two swarms in a fortnightare enough to send off— and sometimes they cannot affordto do that. To prevent second swarms leaving, the beesadopt signal measur es . A s soon as the first prin cess isborn

,and commences to “ pipe,

”they hush her into silence

at once. Before she gets one pa- ay

”ha lf u ttered, the

bees prevent her from going on with it. In stopping her,

they make a sound like the word hush spoken by thehuman voice. The supernumerary princesses are killedand cast out of the hive.

It has been already said that the usual time of pipingfor second swarms is three days and nights but it oughtto be stated that when the weather prevents swarming

,and

the bees are bent on swarmin g, the piping will be con

tinned for some days longer . I have kn own it continuedfor seven days and during those seven days not one of

the pr incesses ever closed an eye in sleep. The piping ofthe qu eens, and their deadly hatred of one another

,are

two of the interesting and striking featur es of bee - history.Two old queens or two young ones—it matters not whether

H ON E Y . 27

they be mother and offspring, or sisters of the blood, orstrangers every way—will, on meeting

, rush savagely ateach o ther , and fight with greater fury than bull- dogs .

In every contest between two queens it is death or

victory. In some such con tests both die. I have knowntwo engc o

'ed in this deadly and violent struggle roll out

of the door of the hive,over the fl ight- board, and fight it

out on the ground . In this battle one was killed and the

other wounded. Once we saw two young queens meet onthe dight- board of a hive while a second swarm was issuing from it. They ran and embraced each other in furious combat but

,as we wished to obtain the second

swarm,we tore the combatants asunder and threw them

up in the air . Both went with the swarm . N ext morn

ing one was found dead in fr ont of the hive into whichthe swarm was put.

C HAPTE R VII .

H O N E x

This substance is found in the flowers of certain plantsin almost every country. D oubtless it is odoriferous and

hence the honey- bee, whose smelling power s are wonderfully keen

, can easily fin d it. The bee is furnished witha proboscis of some length, wherewith it can reach mostof the nectar ies of flowers in which honey is found. Ithas been said that at the point of the proboscis thereis a brush of exquisite softness, which is used for col

lecting honey, and thus enabling the bee to fill its ownbag.


The honey as it is collected in the flower and carriedto the hive is not honey proper . The nectar of flowers

is a thin sweet juice which may be properly called crudehoney. This is collected by bees into the hives, andthere converted into honey proper . Dur ing the day, thebees collect as much of this crude honey as they can, andplace it in open cells till night

,when they re- swallow it,

thus making it into real honey. In this process it becomes thicker and sweeter . Before it is swallowed a

second time,it readily runs out of cells whenever the

hive is turned up or held a little to one side ; but afterhaving been put twice through the stills of bees

,it is

not easily distur bed in the cells . Besides, the taste andquality of the honey are greatly improved by the changeeffected on being r e swallowed. D oubtless much water iseliminated dur ing the process.

C rude honey being thin and watery, will not keeplike badly- preserved fruit, it soon becomes mouldy and

sour ; but after it has been made into honey proper,it

will keep good for two or three years,if not for a longer

period of time.

The honey of one kind of plant is different in some

small degree from the honey of other kinds of plants—different in substance , colour , and taste. Fo r instance, thehoney collected from the flowers of gooseberry and syca

more trees is of a sea green colour , the flavour of whichcannot well be surpassed for excellence. It has beenoften said by others that the honey from wild thyme isricher than any o ther honey. W e have never livedwhere this plant gr ows abundantly, and have not tastedhoney from it. The honey collected from the flowers ofwhite or Dutch clover is clearer—more like spring-water—than any honey gathered from other flowers kn own inE ngland. It pleases the eye better than honey of ahigher

30 HAN DY BOOK OF BE E S .

liable to be attacked by the aphis which yields honeydew. A small quantity of it m ixed with pure honey discolours the whole, and makes it quite unsaleable. Itnever candies or crystall ises like good honey. Thoughbees gather and eat it in times of scarcity, it is improperfood even for them.

C H A PTE R IX .

W A X.

W ax is not gathered like pollen or propolis. The beeshave to manufactur e it at very great cost, both to themselves and their owners . As milk is manufactured in thebody of the cow, so wax is manufactured in the bodiesof bees. It is both a secretion and excretion of bees. In

collecting honey, bees carry it in their bags ; and whenthey wish to make wax and build combs

,some of the

honey goes into their intestinal canals,passes into the

juices of their bodies, and scales of wax ooze from,or are

excreted on the under sides of, the ir bellies. W ax,then,

is a homespun article,wholly made by the bees them

selves . D r Liebig,in the appendix to his great work on

‘A nimal C hemistry,’says that “ bees have to consume

20 lb. of honey to make 1 lb. of wax,and 1 oz. of comb

holds 1 lb. of honey.” W e do not vouch for the accuracyof Liebig

’

s calculations o r experiments ; but they are

stated merely to show that wax costs the bee - keeper a

great deal more than he gets for it in the market. But

we are not qui te sur e that 20 lb . of honey are consumed

in the manufacture of 16 oz. of wax. A swarm was put

into an empty hive. This swarm,hive

,and board would

W A X. 3 1

weigh about 17 lb. In seven days it weighed 45 1b . ,and

was filled with combs. These combs,pure and simple

,

would weigh about 2 lb. If 40 lb. of honey were con

sumed in their production, the gathering of this swarm

was enormous . Liebig’

s experiments were honestly made,and the results honestly recorded but no close observerof comb - building in bee-hives will admit that they are

,

or ever can be,conclusive in their character because the

experiments were made with about 10 oz. of bees—a

mere handful. Both the weather and the warmth of a

hive have a great influence in comb - building.D r Liebig says that it ta kes thirty - eight hours to

conver t honey into wax— that is to say, that the laminae,or thin plates of wax

,do not appear on the bellies of bees

till thir ty- eight hours after the honey has been taken intotheir intestines. This surely is not correct ; for bees thatare dr iven into a hive at Six o

’

clock of a summer eveningoften comm ence to build combs before six o

’

clock nextmorning. And if no combs be formed or visible then

,

there may be seen th e laminae or flakes of wax lying onthe board beneath the swarm. The making or secretingof wax is voluntary on the part of the bees and this isone of the secrets of bee—history that can never be fathomed, and mu st remain veiled for ever from the ken of

mortals . Bees do not secrete wax when their hives arefilled with combs ; but r emove the bees into an emptyone

,_and in less than twelve hours they build one or two

pieces of comb .

As honey fr om one kind of plant differs in taste fromthat of another kind of plant

,so wax differs in colour if

different kinds of honey are used in its manufacture.

W ax is made from treacle or syrup as well as fromhoney ; but the combs made from these are more br ittlethan those made from honey.In the covers or lids of brood- cells there will be no

32 HA NDY BOOK OF BE E S .

ticed this fact,that they are always like the cells they

cover : the cells of dark combs get lids of the same col

our, and white combs have white lids. D oubtless part

of the old combs are u sed in the manufacture of lids ;but why it is so used, or why bees will have lids and

combs of the same colour , has ever appeared a very remarkable thing.In Professor Liebig

’

s remarks on wax, ther e is anotherstatement which is not absolutely correct. H e sayscombs are never built in a hive unless the bees have thepresence or prospect of a queen. N ow we have seen

a second swarm that lo st its queen a day or two afterbeing hived

,half fill its hive with combs, chiefly of the

drone kind.

The question of wax-making and comb - building is a

very important and interesting one in the history of a

bee- hive, and at present,little is with certainty known

about it. In comb - building, bees are wonderq y frugalin the use of wax . W e guess that not more than 2 lb . of

it are u sed in the construction of cells . It is a

very inflammable substance, containing, as it does,more

than 80 per cent of carbon.

C H APTE R X

B E E—BREAD .

This is the pollen of flowers . Bees can with great easegather it, and carry it home in pellets sticking on theirhind- legs. Of course the colour of pollen is different indifferent kinds of flowers . A nciently it was consideredcrude wax

,and even now some novices think it is made

PROPOLIS AND W ATER. 33

into wax. It is used principally for feeding maggots intheir cells

,and hence it is termed bee - bread.

”

If it were used in comb - building,swarms put in to

empty hives would gather much of it ; but we find thatall such swarms do not gather any pollen for some days,o r till some combs are built to contain it . In most hivesit is stored in their centres where the young are hatchedand often there is stored far too much of it. Thoughsome seasons are remarkable for the abundance of bee

bread stored up, and though some hives have more thano thers

,it is never in Great Br itain a scarce article in

h ives of bees . The h ive that has fewest cells filled, orhalf filled with it, is generally the most prosperou s— all

other things being equal . Bees do not eat it,and will

die of starvation with a superabundance of it in theircombs.

CHAPTER XI.

PRO PO L I S A N D W A TE R.

Propolis is a kind of cement u sed in hives to fill up all

holes and cracks,and prevent unnecessary ventilation.

I t is a substance not absolutely necessary to the wellbeing of a hive ; but, doubtless, the bees derive benefitfrom using it, otherwise they would not collect it. It isa sort of r esin or gum,

sometimes called bee- glue, and iscollected from the buds of poplar and other trees. It isa harder substance than either wax or beebread.

Wa ter is largely used in the height of the breedingseason . It is used with beebread in feeding young bees.

It is collected in dewy mornings, and after showers, fromc


blades of grass and the leaves of plants . In the absence ofshowers and dew,

bees r esort to br ooks, rivers, and watertubs for it, often preferring the impurewater fr om manureheaps. The sight of bees seeking and sipping water, is aproof that br eeding is going on in their hives . D ur inginclement weather

,when not a particle of honey can be

obtained,bees often venture out for water .

PRACTICAL MANAGEME NT. 35

PA RT S E C O N D .

PRA C T I C A L M A N A G E M E N T.

W E now come to the practical part of our work and our

aim is to make the r eader unders tand everything necassary to the successful and profitable management of bees.This book is not wr itten for the benefit of the advancedstudents of bee- history and apiculture, but to instruct themost ignorant to manage bees intelligently and well. Itis C obbett who says that all books should be written forthe benefit of those who are ignorant of the subject ofwhich they treat. The reader is requested to remember ,that our stating certain facts and opinions will not make

him, or anybody else, an intelligent bee-master, unless hismind be fully convinced and held captive by the reason

ableness of such statements. A ll is to beweighed in thebalance of his own reason, and whatever is found lightand wanting should be cast aside. By the formation of

correct and comprehensive ideas in apicul ture, the readerwill be able to guide his own industry, and r ise to a

position superior to those who follow and imitate others.

Let all remember that those who follow are alwaysbehind.


C H APT E R XII.

THE APIARY OR BE E - GARDE N .

It is not which garden, but which place in the garden,shall the bees occupy" E very bee -keeper consults hisown convenience in the choice of a spot on which toplace his bee - hives. N ear the door , or in front of a window,from which the swarms can be seen

,is generally

preferr ed by cottagers ; fo r they have not much time tolose in watching for swarms leaving their hives . So far

as honey-

gathering goes, one corner of the garden willanswer as well as ano ther . It does not matter much, ifanything at all, whether the hives look east o r west, northor south. H ives placed in the centre of a wood or small

forest,where the rays of the sun never reach them, thrive

as well as those placed outside to bask in his smiles allday long.A sheltered corner , with an Open front

, and at some

distance from ponds or sheets of water,is perhaps the

best possible in any neighbourhood for bees. If hivesare placed in an exposed and bleak situation

,or near

sheets of water,high winds do some harm to their bees .

Bees with heavy loads are fatigued when they return totheir hives

, and therefore it is desirable to let them enter

as safely and speedily as possible. If driven to the

ground by the violence of the wind, they sustain a ruefulshock, and have to rest a considerable time before theycan rise

,perhaps to be dr iven down a se cond time . Still,

practically and experimentally considered, the advantages

of sheltered places are of small importance. If the pas

ture of the neighbourhood be good,bees will do well

wheresoever placed. On the housetop and bleak hills ide,


their hives, without hoisting them aloft on ugly single

posts.Hives should be placed as far asunder as conveniencepermits. W hen we come to the chapter on ar tificialswarming, it will be seen that 6 feet distance betweenstock- hives is little enough . M any reasons coul d begiven in favour of some dis tance being left between hiveand hive .

But where many hives ar e kept, would you place themall over the garden" N o

,if economy of space and '

com

pactness of appearance are objects aimed at. Besides, itis possible to place a great number of hives within small

compas s , and be free from all danger ofmistaken visits, or

molestation of any kind, from the bees belonging to each .

M any of our hives are removed, in spring,to cottage and

market gardens in the country. W e pay ren t for a small

space, and make it answer well . The following representa tion will show the reader how ten hives can be safelyplaced on a spot not much larger than a dining- roomtable.

H ere every hive is separate from the rest, and so placedthat there can be no mis takes made by the bees as to

their own hives but there is not room between them to

hold a swarm from each hive without risk.As there is a peculiar smell in each hive of bees, which

THE PASTURAGE OF BE E S . 39

appears to be the bond of union in the community of it,- bees knowing each o ther by smell—the intelligent beemaster will keep his hives as far asunder as he conveni

ently can, or sufficiently far to prevent the peculiarityfrom being lost. C lose proximity may destroy it.B E E - H OUSE S are very expensive and inconvenient. A ll

bee -masters of exper ience consider them a hindrance togood management, and objectionable in many senses. We

have nothing, to say in their favour , save that they helpto protect hives from the severity of winter storms . To

say more about bee - houses in a work on the profitablemanagement of bees would be a work of supererbgation.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE PA STURAGE OF BE E S .

I t is believed that a twenty- acre field of grass, well

spr inkled with the flowers of white clover,yields to bees

every fine day at least 100 lb. of honey, and stronglyscents the air as well and that twenty acres of heatherin flower yield 200 lb. of honey per day. If this cal

culation is correct (and we think it is), who will ven

ture to estimate and give the sum total of all the countiesof Great Britain and Ireland" W e r emember beingstartled at the statement of a citizen of M anchester , in a

paper which he r ead before the British A ssociation forthe Advancement of Science, when that A ssociation metin that city some years ago . I forget the title of the

paper,but the subject of it was the poisonous exhalations

of the town. The number of tons of carbonic acid gasconstantly passing off into the atmosphere was named—a


number great enough to quicken the attention of all

san itary reformers,and the movements of the C orpora

tion of M anchester . Bu t who can accur ately weigh or

number the mill ions upon mill ions of pounds of honeythat pass away (ungathered)into the atmospher e" Who

can estimate the millions of pounds’ worth of honey thuswasted on the desert airBut is it not possible to overstock a given locality or

parish with bees " Yes though we have never knownone overstocked. W e have seen from fifty to one hun

dr ed hives standing in one garden,the stronger of which

gathered from 2 lb . to 5 lb . each per day in fine weather .

But are all localities equally good for bees" N o

there is a gr eat differ ence. Some are very much more

honeyed than others and some are r ich at one period of

the season and poor at ano ther .

It is perhaps beyond the powers of the most observantand best- informed mind in the realm to name every plantin this country that yields honey. The number of su chplants is very great ; but as there are some of gr eatervalue to bees than others

,we will now mention those

which we consider the best for bees .

C r ocuses in early spr ing receive great attention from

bees . M uch pollen and some honey ar e collected fromtheir flowers.

In some places there are certain kinds of willow (sa lise),which bear yellow flowers in spring

,much visited by bees .

The border hyacinths of our gardens—the same sortthat are forced to decorate and scent our conservatoriesfurnish bees with many a sweet mouthful .

S ingle wa llfl owers— grown largely in some localities forcut- fl owers and seed— are excellent for bees .

The flowers of gooseber ry and p lum trees are superexcellent

,yielding honey of the finest quality in great

abundance .

THE PASTURAGE OF BE E S. 41

App le, p ear , and cur rant trees are of great value tobees

,furnishing them with r ich and large stores of

honey.A lmond, cherry,p each, and ap r ico tare also honey- yield

ing plants .

F ield-musta rd (S z'

nap z'

s ars enals), which is a weed,

superabounding in some distr icts, frequently cover ingour corn - fields with its yellow flowers , is an invaluablething for bees . In Yorkshire and D erbyshire this plantis called ketlock, in Lanarksh ire it is called skelloch, and inW igtown shire it is termed r anches. H ere

,in Lancashire

and C heshir e, it is called the yellowfl ower . It continuesa long time in flower , and the honey gathered from it isclear

,and soon crystallises. The flowers of turnip ,

cabbage,

and all the br assz'

ca tr ibe,like those of field-mustard, are

exceedingly tempting to bees .

The flowers offield- beans are about as r ich in honey asthey can be. There is some mystery as to the means employed to extract it from bean - fl owers, wh ich are tubularin shape, and of considerable thickn ess and depth. The

honey, of course, lies at the bottom of these— deeper thanthe length of a bee’s proboscis . The tubes are pierced or

tapped near their bottoms, and through the holes thusmade the bees extract much r ich treasure. It has beensaid that bees are unable to pierce the tubes of the

flowers,and that the holes are made by humble -bees,

which have greater powers . N o one can watch humbleor earth bees at work in a field of beans

,and remain in

doubt they do some work in this way. They push theirtrunks through the petals of the flowers with a view to

reach their honey ; but the question is , C an bees make

holes for themselves " W e have never seen a honey-bee

make a hole through the petals of a bean - fl ower but, from

the scar city of humble - bees in some neighbourhoodswhere the flowers of many acres of beans are found well


pierced, we believe that the “ jemmies of our own

friends are used for breaking through the thick walls ofbean - fl owers.

M ap le, sycamore (or p lane), and lime trees are of greatvalue to the bee - farmer . M aples are not so abundant inthis country as sycamores and limes . H oney is not distilled (does not drop)from the flowers of the sycamore, butit literally lies on them,

and is clammy and sticky to thetouch of human hands . It continues a long time in

flower, coming in to flower before apple- blossoms disappear ,and lasting till whi te clover is in bloom.

The strong scent of lime - trees in flower , and the musicof bees busy at wo rk on them

,indicate that an abundance

is collected from them in the month of July.Wimber ry, r asp ber ry, and br ambleber ry deserve honour

able mention as honey- producing plants .

B or age, mignonette, heliotr op e, buckwhea t, birds’

f oottrefoil (Lotus cornicu la tus), gorse, br oom,

and wild thyme,are all honey- plants

,and u seful in their day.

W hite or D utch clover is the queen of honey- plants.

It is widely cultivated in this country,and continues to

flower a long time. In Scotland the farmers u se more

clover - seed in laying down land in grass than the farmersof E ngland ; hence the clover - fields are, generally speaking, better there than here. The use of bone~dust and lime

as manure has a great infl uence in the production of

clover .

Pastures eaten bare by cattle are, of course, not so good

for honey as those less severely eaten . Sheep are fonderof clover than cattle

,and are more able to n ibble off its

young heads hence sheep - pasture is inferior in a honeypoin t of view to cow - pasture.

C lover is perhaps more uncertain in its yield of honeythan most other plants, inasmuch as it is more easilyaffected by cold nights. Some years ago, a stock- hive from

THE PASTURAGE OF BE E S. 43

which one swarm only was obtained,was weighed every

morning dur ing the hot weather of July. On the 17th

and 18th it gained 12 lb. in weight,next two days only

4 lh. , and on the following day it gained 4 lb. The dif

ference of the weight of honey gathered was attributedto the var iation of night temperatur e

,for one day was as

hot as the other .

H eather - blossoms, during the months of August andSeptember, yield a harvest of honey prodigiously and

marvellously large. This is so well known, that in Scotland and some par ts of the C ontinent

,there may be seen

cartloads of beehives going to grouse- land. Bee-mastersfind that there is an ample return for the trouble and

expense of taking bees to the moors,even though the

distance be thirty or forty miles.

On no spot of Scotland can it be said that heather isnot within easy distance of it

,so that all Scottish bee

keepers can avail themselves of the honey that is so

abundantly produced by its pinky- purplish blooms. To

me it appears wonderful that in E nglandwe have heatherenough for all the bees in the world. In Yorkshire thereare magnificent seas of it. On the hills of D erbyshireand C heshir e

,within twenty miles of M anchester

,we find

miles of heather excellent for bees. In both Stafl ordshir eand W arwickshir e

,heather in abundance may be found.

In the south,we find large tracts of heather in D evon,

Surrey, H ampshir e, and Sussex . In Ireland,W ales, and

the northern counties of E ngland, it is as abounding as itis in Scotland.

All plants grown on warm well - drained soils yield more

honey than those grown on cold heavy land. E ven in thecase of heather this is true. In ordinary seasons heatheryhills yield mor e honey than heathery swamps . And the

good sense of every bee-master will tell him that hillyexposed pastur es and distr icts are better in showery


seasons for honey than flat and sheltered ones . W e haveknown hives placed in hilly districts increase in weightin such seasons whereas those standing in low shelteredplaces could scarcely keep themselves, th e flowers therebeing hardly ever dry.

H owfar will B ees go for H oney "

This question we cannot answer with accur acy. O ur

experience in this matter goes dead against the wonderfulstories that are told in some books. W e read of bees flying four , seven,

and twelve miles for food Our bees will

perish and die for want of food within three miles of goodpasture. O ur bees here never find the hundreds of acres

of heather which cover C arr ington M oss within thr eem ilesof them . In fine sunshiny weather bees go far ther fromhome than they do in dark cloudy weather . B ut even inth e best and brightest of weather in June and July, veryfew

,if any, find their way h ome to their old stand if

removed thr ee miles off. M o reover , the return of some

bees does not prove that they travel three m iles in searchof food . It proves that some of them go a little more thanone m ile and a half from home

,and finding themselves on

known pastures within one mile and a half of the old place,

they retur n thither , forgetting, as it were, where they lastcame from. I am therefore of opinion that very few beesgo more than two miles for food.

It is very desirable to have bees near the pasture on

which they work. Short journeys are not only a savingof labour to bees

,but also a protection of their lives .

W hen compelled to fly far for honey they are often caughtby showers and destroyed. In warm genial weather

,wi th

a superabundance of honey in flowers, bees will have it .They go beyond the bounds of safety for it. Gentleshowers do not stop outdoor labour ers . Black clouds

46 HANDY s oon or BEE S .

‘

is somethingwhich hinders many bee - keepers from makingas much honey

,or money, as they ought. M ore than

twenty-five years ago we told them that all the books thatwere ever wr itten ,

and all that we could possibly say,would never put them on the highroad to the successfuland profitable management of bees unless they kept largehives.

W e are well aware that it is a difl‘icult matter to r emoveprejudices of long standing. W hen water cuts its own

channel it runs along it, year after year . To a large extentbee- keeping has done the same. W e are glad to see and

know that a great alteration is now taking place . The

adoption of large hives by many bee-keepers has enabledthem to double their profits, and given a gr eat impulse tobee- keeping in their neighbourhoods and counties. The

use of such hives by one or two bee -masters of intelligenceand ability in every county would, in process of time

,

r evolutionise apiculture throughout E ngland.

H aving far more confidence in the power of facts andfigures than in that of logic and argumentation for ‘

cou

vin cing men that large hives , well managed, are incomparably better than small ones, we have of late recorded theresults of bee - keeping in our native village,where hivesare of considerable dimensions. These records havealr eady stimulated the attention of many apiariansthroughout the country, and their pluck and energyare now in full play. If the weight of C arluke swarms

r ise up to 100 lb.,130 lh . , and 150 lb. each, according

to the season, why shoul d not swarms elsewhere r ise

to the same weight" In 1864,the weights of an old

hive and its two swarms,belonging to M r Robert Reid,

C arluke, were published in the H amilton Advertiser ’'

of

that year

H IVE S. 47

Old stock,or mother, was 92 lb. weight.

F irst swarm from it, 160

Second swarm, 7 6

Altogether,

328 lb . weight.

In the year 1865, the first swarms at C arluke weighedabout 90 lb . each while on the clover ; but after beingtaken to the moors many of them lost weight, owing tothe weather . being unfavourable for gather ing honey.The heaviest swarm of 1866 at C arluke was 148 lb.

The account of the success of 1868 came to us in a

letter from our friend M r Reid,part of which we shall

here quoteC ARLUK E , 25th Sep t. 1865.

M Y DE AR FRIE N D,—W e brought our bees home from

the moors the week before last the weather being fine,we thought they would be gaining weight, but werewrong. H enshilwood got his home about ten days beforeus . D uring that time ours lost each 8 lb. and 10 lb. in

weight. Our heaviest swarm was 1 12 lh .

— another abou t6 lb. lighter . Our best second swarm was 75 lb .

Robert Scouler had three first swarms, which wereabout 120 lb. each. H is best was 130 lb.

“ John Jack had two stocks in spring,which did better

than most. One first swarm weighed 161 lb.,another

104 lh.

,and a second swarm 68 lb. I have not heard of

the weights of the old ones, but he took 230 lb. of honeyfrom the produce of his two stocks.

“ Samuel D empster had two also in spring. His firstswarms weighed r espectively 110 lb. and 148 lb. H en

shilwood had one 168 lb. , and my brother one 130 lb.

P.S.—Scouler had two seconds

,one of which weighed

80 lb. and the other 90 1b.—Yours truly,

ROBERT RE ID.


M r Reid’

s letter containing some of the resul ts of 1869has already appeared in print, in connection with our ownbalance- sheet

,which appears annually

CARLUK E , 5th Oct. 1869.

M Y DE AR OLD FRIE ND,— I beg to be excused for not

replying to your note sooner , but I waited till I got mybees home from the moors

,and the honey taken from

them. I jar red it all up yesterday, and find that out often hives we have taken upwards of 400 lb . of honey.

The heaviest hive was 1201; lh. ,two or thr ee of them

about 90 lb . each,the rest from 60 lb . to 70 lb. each.

W e had thr ee boxes of honeycomb, which realised 27s ;and one second swarm,

80 lb. weight, was sold for £ 2 , 2s .

The above is the produce of six stockhives so you see

th e bees have done well with us this season — Yours

truly,

R. R.

”

In 1869,the heaviest swarm in the parish was 128

lb . And an old widowed aunt of the author got 250lb . of honey from four stocks.

These facts and figures are quoted with the view of

stimul ating th e attention of bee -keepers generally. W e

are of Opinion that agr icultural and horticul tural exh ibitions do more to advance the sciences of farming and

gardening than the teaching of books and periodicals ;and we fancy that example

,even in beekeeping

,is better

than precept. Wh en we resolved to write a book on beesfor publication, we sent the following three questions tobee—keepers in many coun ties : 1 . W h at is the generalsize of hives us ed in your county" 2 . W hat time does

swarming commence " 3 . In good seasons what weightare first swarms at harvest- time "O ur correspondent near N orwich

,in N orfolk, says

The hives here are rather smaller than usual the middle

HIVE S . 49

of M ay is a good time for early swarms and at the end

of the season a good stock may weigh only one stone .

This may surprise you, but some are not half thatweight ."

From Yorkshire, a gentleman at Hull answered the

questions as follows The size of hives used hereabouts contai n 1 300 cubic inches

,and swarm about the

first week in June . A s to the general weight, that depends on the management of them. The most I haveever taken from a swarm was 32 lb.

”f

From \Vycombe, in Buckinghamshire, we learn thatthe first week in June is the time of general swarming

the size '

of the hives about 12 inches deep and 12 wideand the weight of swarms at the end of the season dependson the summer . If not much rain to stop their work, agood swarm ought to weigh 30 1b .

”

O ur informant in C ornwall , near Launceston, says

In favourable and pleasant spots, bees begin to r isefrom the l 6th to the 20th of M ay but the time of general swarming is the first and second week of Jun e . The

size of hives in u se is, I think, about 14 inches diameterand 11 inches deep. The average weight in good seasonsis about 28 lh .

,hive and combs together ; the heaviest

I have ever known was 35 lb . Taking one year withanother

,the average produce of a hive is about one gallon

of honey. In the par ts of D evonshir e which I havevisited

,bees appeared to be treated much as we tr eat

ours,the hives being a little less, if anything .

”

In Lincolnshire, swarming generally takes place fromthe l 0th to the 20th of Jun e hives 12 inches diameterand 8 or 9 inches deep and the weight of good swarms

ranges from 30 lb to 45 lb.

W e think,

says our D evonshire correspondent, 25

lb . to 30 lb . a good weight for swarms in common hivesI have known some 50 lb but this is rare. I do not


think your figures could be approached in this countywith hives of any size .

”

W e happen to think differently of D evonshire, and believe that if large hives were introduced and properlymanaged in that splendid county, the honey harvestswoul d be enormous . Instead of swarms being rarely 50lb . each, they would often be 100 lh .,

and sometimes 150lb. each .

Let u s now go to N orthumberland, where we are toldthat the time of general swarming is the month of

June, but some early swarms are obtained about the 18thof M ay. The general size of the hive here is 15 inchesin diameter and 12 inches deep ; and the best hives at

the end of an average season contain from 25 lb . to 35

lb . of honey. N orthumberland is a long way in ad

vance of any other county south of the Tweed that hasresponded to our questions .

Ayr shire, Perthshire, W igtownshire, and M id-Lothian,are about on a par with N orthumberland. N 0 answers to

our qu estions came from Ireland and W ales .

N ow,come back to the parish of C arluke, and tell us

if you think that the great success of the bee- keepersthere is owing altogether to the use of large hives. N 0

,

not altogether . A great measure of their success comes

from good management. But good management, withou tlarge hives, will not end in great results— large hives being the bas is or foundation of success

,and good manage

ment the superstructure. They go hand in hand, thoughthey stand in the relation of parent and child and whenever the intelligent bee—keepers of this country adopt andu se large hives, they will be utterly astounded at theirformer blindness in th is matter .

A queen bee lays about 2000 eggs every day in the

height of the season . She lays as many in a small hiveas she does in a large one but in a small one there are

H IVE S . 51

not empty cells for 500 eggs a - day and therefore 1500eggs are destroyed in some way daily. The bees muste ither eat them or cas t them out. N ow

,suppose the bees

were allowed to set and hatch al l these eggs,how much

more numerous the population would be, how much morehoneywould be collected, and howmuch larger the swarmssent off would be too 1On former o ccasions

, when we have been trying tomake bee -keepers think

,we asked them to consider the

folly of a farmer ’s W ife expecting large eggs from bantamhens . A nd we ventured to predict that if Shetland poniesonly were used by farmers

,agriculture would speedily

collapse— nay, it never would have advanced to its pr e

sent state,commanding the energies of our best men .

\Vithout the muscle and strength of the fine horses of

the Suffolk,C lydesdale, and other breeds

,what would

agricul tur e have been" W ould it be worth the attentionof men of skill and energy " So it is

,and so it will be

,

with bees kept in small hives. They are hardly worththe attention they r equir e ; and the profits fr om themwill never call out that enthusiastic energy and latentpower wh ich

, put in play, make the most of everything.

Of cours e,apicultur e is a thing of trifling importance to

agricultur e ; but we hold that the general adoption of

large hives would br ing about a reform and revolu tion inbee-management, thatwould confer large and lasting blessings on the rur al populations of this and other countries .

But let u s r eturn once mor e to the h ives that weigh edfrom 100 lb . up to 168 lb . W hy, it wou ld take threeordinary E nglish hives, if not more

,to hold as much

honey as was in one of these hives—it would take thr eeor more of them to hold bees enough to gather as muchin the same space of time.

It is not necessary to say half so mu ch in favour of

large hives to minds unwarped and unpr ejudiced but as


almost all writers on bees, ancient and modern, have recommended for use hives unprofitably small

,we have the

hard and painful task to perform of nullifying, in some

degr ee, the influence of their opinions, ere we can success

fully recommend the general adoption of hives pr ofitablylarge .

The M ater ials of H ives.

Straw hives,well sewed with split canes or bramble

briers , are incomparably better for bees than any o therkind of hive yet introduced. N othing better is needed,and we believe no thing better will ever be found out .

On the score of cheapness and neatness, lightness and

convenience,su itability and surpassing wor th, we advise

all beekeepers seeking large r eturns in honey to use nothing but straw hives as domiciles for bees.

H ives made of wood, at certain seasons of the yearcondense the moisture arising from the bees

,and this

condensed moisture rots the combs . The walls of a

wooden hive are often like the walls of a very damp ornew- plastered house. The outside combs

,and sometimes

the inside combs too, perish befo re the wet walls of

wooden hives . They perish in this sense, that theirnature or adhesive power goes like mortar in walls, andbecomes as rotten as burnt paper . A ll such combs are

wor se than u seless in hives ; for bees cannot use them for

either honey o r brood,or even as the foundations fo r

fresh combs . They have to be taken down and new

ones put in their places. There is in this work of thebees a waste of both time and honey.B ut how can you account for the use of boxes as beehives in this country at all" W ell

,the great bulk of

straw hives of E nglish make are exceedingly small and

ill made ; they are unsightly,and comparatively not

worth one shilling a dozen. M any beekeepers,finding


one straw about our success after pocketing the fee of

successful humbuggery.

”

In making these quotations and statements, we knowthat the prejudices of some of our readers, and the selfish

ness of o thers,will be offended. W e are sorry for this ,

but we canno t help it.It is well known that in fine seasons for honey, there

are considerable profits der ived from the produce of smallhives ; but we wish the reader to know that in such

favourable seasons the produce and profits from largehives

,well managed, are incomparably larger . The

writer ’s father once realised £ 20 pr ofit from two hivesin one season

,and £9

,12s . from another

,held jointly by

him and James Brown of the same place. The profitscame from the honey gathered by the bees , not fromswarms sold at an exorbitant price, a practice common

in our day.

S ince the first edition of this work was published, wehave received some hundreds of letters from the mansionsof the r ich and the cottages of the poor

,intimating how

well its lessons have been learned, and the great successand satisfaction that have been realised from putting theminto practice. In the township in which we live (wemight venture to say the county), swarms were never

known to r ise beyond 40 lb. each till our teaching and

example were followed. The best swarms last year (1874,which was not a very good one) rose to 100 lb . eachquite equal to those of C arluke last year .

The adoption of large hives bymany of the bee—keepersof A berdeenshire and Banffshire put them last year in thevan of the advancing hosts . In a pr ivate letter whichlies before us, it is stated that the first swarms obtainedlast year about the 1st of July r ose to great weights .

One belonging to M r Gordon rose to 164 lb . Swarms

belonging to other beekeepers rose to 128 lh .

,126 lb.

,

THE MATERIALS OF HIVE S. 55

120 1b., 109 lb. , 104 lb. M r G eorge C ampbell got fourswarms from one hive their united weight (includingthe mother hive, which was 93 1h.)was 37 3 1h. The profitfrom this hive must have been very great.The question of sizes and shapes we now come to con

sider. Three sizes have been recommended : the first,20 inches wide by 12 inches deep, inside measur e ; thesecond

,18 inches by 12 inches deep and the third size,

16 inches wide by 12 inches.

The first size contains about 3000 cubic inches ; thesecond size, about 27 00 cubic in ches and the third size,about 2000 cubic inches . W e say about

,for hives are

sometimesmade convex or round in the crown ; andwhenthis is done, the cube measure will be lessened somewhat.It is not expected that bee—keepers will be guided to theadoption of hives corresponding exactly with the sizesgiven above, but it is hoped that they will adopt and use

hives after their own models,equal in dimensions to the

second and third sizes. W e use two sizes only in our

own apiary—viz. , the 16 and 18 inch hives—becausethree sizes necessitate a like number of boards and ekes,and our aim is to manage bees with the least possibleexpense and trouble. But in futur e our 16 and 18 inchhives will be made 14 in ches deep—that is

,nearly one

sixth larger than they are at present. In fine seasons

these hives will need to be enlarged by ekes or supers.

E nlarging hives by ekes is mentioned nowwith a view tolet the reader see the wisdom of fixing on certain sizes forhis hives— at least the width of his hives—a o that enlargement may be easy when necessaryA hive 20x 12

,well filled,we ighs 100lb. one 18 x 12,

80 1h. and the l G- inch hive weighs about 50 lb. Thesefigures are meant to give the reader an approximate ideanot an accurate one— of the contents of the hives recom

mended. In the months ofM ay and June, the hiveswould


be at the swarming- point before they reached the weightshere mentioned and in the au tumn of favourable seasons

they would probably go from 14 lb . to 20 lb . beyond theseweights withou t the bees ever thinking of swarming.H ow much honey can they gather per day" That greatlydepends on the state of the atmosphere, the number of

empty cells in them, and the quantity of brood that requ ires attention. Soft warm winds from the south and

w est fill the nectar ies of flowers with honey, whereaswinds from th e east and north seem to stanch the fl owof honey completely. But on good pasture, and withfavourable weather , healthy 16- inch hives will gatherfrom 2 lb. to 4 lb . of honey per day, and the largersizes from 4 lb. to 7 lb. The hive that gained 20 lb.

weight in two days was placed in the midst of good pastur e,when it was 39 lb. weight. It rapidly rose in weight to109 lb . The traffic of bees going out and in of this hivewas gr aphically descr ibed as resembling the steam of a

tea -kettle going two yards from its mouth befor e vanishing amongst thin air. From 3 lb. to 5 lb . of honeygathered is a fair day’s work for a good hive.

But why u se the smaller sizes at all when we see thatthe larger size does more work of every kind " W e are

glad this question has been mooted, for it gives us the

Opportunity of saying that hives of two or three sizes areof great advantage to a bee—master who acts on a pr inciple, sound and natural

,and with his eye constantly open

to his own interests . Al l seasons are not alike favourable,

and all swarms are not equally large,and some are early

and some are late in leaving th e mother hives . The largersizes are used for large and early swarms : the smaller

sizes for small or later swarms.

The shape of hives may be rather conical at the top, orfiat- crowned. It is a matter of taste and convenience this.

Some bee -masters like one sort and some the o ther ; and

THE MATERIALS OF HIVE S . 57

some skep or hive makers can build hives each after hisown pattern only. W e have been accustomed to the use ofhives rather flat in their crowns, and we prefer them to

those with conical crowns.

1

H ere is a straw hive 18 inches by 12. Its sides are

nearly perpendicular ; its crown rather flat. It has an

opening 4 inches wide in the crown for a super , and a

lid to cover that opening when supers are not required.

The 16 - inch hives are made after the same fashion—all

with holes in their crowns for supers of honeycomb. A

well-made 18- inch hive weighs about 6 lh. , and a 16- inchone about 5 lb . when empty.

W hen an 18 - inch hive receives an eke— say, 4 inchesdeep— it will measure 18 x 16, and contain nearly 4000cubic inches of space. N ow

,tell us if a h ive of such

dimensions, well filled with combs,will over task the

laying powers of the queen bee" N 0 ; we have seen

larger hives as full of brood as the smallest hive in thecoun try.Before we leave the question of sizes, let us ask our

readers not to be too hasty in introdu cing the large sizesinto their apiaries . Begin with 16 - inch hives ; and

swarms from these will fill the larger sizes.


The B ar -fr ame Hive.

Amongst amateurs and bee- fanciers this hive is ratherpopular at present. Apiarians of this class do not keepbees for profit

,and they purchase every novelty. Traders

in beehives are constantly offering to the public hives ofthis sort

,containing th e latest improvements. Though

we think the bar - frame hive is very unsuitable for a beefarmer

,or for filling the markets of Great Britain with

honey, we sh all here descr ibe, for the sake of those whoprefer the hive, what we consider are its best and worstqualities .

It is termed “ the bar - frame hive because loose or

movable bar - frames are hung up inside of it. The beesare tempted often to build their combs in the frames 3 and

when they do this in a regular manner,the bar - frames are

filled with combs, and can be r emoved from the hive sep

arately. In artificial swarming with this kind of hive,half of the bees and half of the combs are put intoanother bar - frame hive. There are many ways of artificialswarming, but none more unnatural than this. In the

autumn,when these hives ar e filled with brood and

honey, some of the combs containing most honeyare takenand the others left. If the swarming system of management (which is very mu ch the best) be adopted

,the

combs containing most brood in both hives can be fixedin one

,thus making it a good stock for keeping the rest is

taken for honey. The Amer ican slinger was inventedto sling or cast out honey from bar - combs without destroying them. It was introduced in to this country recently

,

and has been but par tially tested . It can sling out

fl ower - honey from combs,but is quite unable to cast

heather - honey from them. The action andmerits of “ the

slinger will be considered when we come to the chapteron honey- taking.

THE BAR- FRAM E llIVE . 59

The advantages of the bar - frame hive are found inthe fact that the combs

,when accurately worked into the

frames,are movable. The disadvantages are manifold

l . Loose bars in hives of bees are both unnatu ral and

obstructive. Bees are better architects than their masters ,and better house - furnishers. Bar frames are

,in the

natur e of things, a hindrance to bees, by being in the

way of their operations . M an cannot teach bees anything,but he can hinder them by placing complications in theirhives. A ll other things being equal, the best hives are

those possessing the least complications and the best beemaster is he who takes the most hindrances out of theirway. The results from keeping bees in roomy but simplestraw hives have never

,to our knowledge, been approached

by any kind of complicated hives. One straw hive and

its swarms reached the gross weight of 328 lb .

,another

37 3 lb . This last one was in 1874.

2 . Bar - frame hives have no cross - sticks in them to

steady and support their combs. There will therefore besome r isk run in removing them to the moors

,where

strong hives gather from 30 lb. to 50 lb. of honey eachin favour able seasons .

3 . They cannot be eked or enlarged to prevent swarming. M ost bar - frame hives are ready for swarming beforethey are 50lb. weight apiece, and often bees swarm ratherthan go into supers. Advanced beekeepers

,whose swarms

in straw hives r ise to 100 lh .,120 lb .

,and 150 lb . each,

cannot well be tempted to try bar - framers .

But are the bar - frame hives not useful to the studentof bee -history" Yes

,very for he can take out a bar of

comb daily, or as often as he likes, to examine the broodin it. And this hive may be useful to those who want a barof honeycomb occasionally, though to us it would be easierto cut honeycomb from a common hive, than to unscrew

the lid and remove it from a bar - framer .


H ere are two comb - knives, which are useful on manyoccasions by using them

,we can cu t easily and speedily

honeycombs from common hives . The one with chiselend is u sed for cutting the combs from the sides of hives ,and splitting them elsewhere. The o ther is a small rod

of steel, not more than a quarter of an inch thick,with a thin blade at the end 1% inch long, both edgessharp

,for cutting the combs fr om the crowns of the hives,

or crosswise elsewhere. To those who have a preferencefor bar - frame hives, let us suggest the desir ability of

having them made of straw,neatly and firmly sewed to

the outer frames,and large enough to hold 13 or 14 bars

each. It would be no difficult matter to have hives ofthis kind made

,more pleasing to the eye, and much better

every way, than any we have yet seen . An accomplishedScotch skep -maker would produce hives that wouldeclipse those made in the sou th

,the straw of which is

simply laid in so thinly, that any one can put his fingerthrough it.The latest imp r ovement to the bar - frame hive consists

in the substitu tion of a guilt for the wooden top .

The inventor is of course a dealer,and till the invention

was completed, no one heard of the wooden tops being atfault. In the language of the inventor

,we shall now let

the reader have a description of the quilt. H e says For

all crown covers, it is the very best for winter use, becauseit permits the escape of all noxious vapours from the hive

,

as soon as they are generated. The quilt arrangementcompr ises a piece of carpet, or other material of hard tex


falls . W hen the wood and comb are thus cemented together

,the wood is nailed in the crown of an empty hive,

as a gu'

gle to the bees to bu ild their combs running from

front to back. W hen the combs are so built, the beescan see the door from the centre of the hive

,or anything

go ing in at the door , which they could not do if the

combs ran from side to side .

As soon as the guide - comb is nailed into an empty hive,we drive cross - sticks across the hive

,from side to side .

In a 16 - inch hive we u se four and five, and in an l 8 - inchhive we us e five and six cross - sticks.

A s soon as the combs are well started from the crown

of the hive,they ar e securely fastened to the top centre

stick and as they are enlarged they are cemented to theother sticks. The bottom sticks should be at least fourinches above the board for if less, the bees sometim es do

not close their combs round them . H ives thus stickedand filled with combs may be safely removed from one

end of the country to the other .

An other advantage of using sticks in hives is this,that

the bees, being great economists , use them for cross - lanes .

Wh ere the combs cross the sticks,and ar e fastened to

them,the bees leave little holes or doors in the combs,

which they us e as passages from comb to comb. Theythus shorten their journeys for indoor work. In hiveswithout sticks

,such byways and convenient passages are

very rare indeed.

B OARDS. 63

The Leaf or Unz'

comb H z

'

ve.

a

This may be called “ The Observatory H ive,

” fo r no

other hive can be compared to it for observation and itappears to us that no other is necessary. In this hiveevery bee

,and all it does, can be seen, as well as all the

movements of the queen and the attention she receives .

A square or round hive with glass windows is all but useless for observing what goes on inside. All that can be

seen in them are some combs and bees next the windows .

But when there is only one comb with glass on each sideof it, there is opportunity given for witnessing the internal operations of a bee—hive. A s the unicomb hive is notmeant fo r honey or profit

,we need say little abou t it.

To those engaged in the investigation of the habits ofbees, we strongly recommend the u se of unicomb hives .

C H APTE R XV

B O A RD S .

Boards should be about 1 inch wider than the hivesstanding on them. They are best when made of one

piece,without seam or junction . But whether made of

one piece or two , it is necessary to nail two bars of woodon the under side of each board, to keep it from warping ortwisting. The wood of which boards are made should beeither g or 1 inch thick.The flight - boards should be 7 inches in diameter .

Small fl ight- boards are objectionable, for bees returning

with heavy loads often miss them . This is not all ; for


bees require breathing - r oom at their doors, as well as a

broad landing- stage. A ll birds and insects fill their bodieswith air before they take wing. A pheas ant hops whilehe does this, and a pigeon does it by taking two or threedeep inspirations . If the pheasant is suddenly disturbed,and has to rise without h0pping a bit, he does r ise, butso heavily and slowly— with a gr eat cackling noise—thathe is often knocked down by the shot of the sportsmanere he gets a fair start.If bees have a broad fiight board they run in and out

quickly.

Two boa rds ma rked/or sawing out of a dea l board.

The D oor of the H £ve.

Some beekeepers have channels cut in the boards ford oors. W here this is done, the fl ight-boards are unevenand unlevel ; but the hives are uncut. W e prefer levelboards

,with doors 4 inches wide and 1 inch high cut in

the hives. Our system of feedin g, which will be mentioned hereafter , requires the fl ight- boards to be level.

COVERS FOR HIVE S . 65

CHAPTER XVI .

C O V E R S F O R H I V E S .

In summer as well as winter hives require protection . If

not shaded from the summer sun ,their combs are likely

to become softened at their fastenings,and drop down in

confused masses. And it is well when not a drop of raincan touch hives either in winter or summer . Of course,

rains in summ er that touch hives do less harm than thoseof winter

,inasmuch as the wetted par ts are sooner dried .

in hot weather . It may be stated as an axiom,that per

feet protection of hives, fr om both sun and rain , shouldbe aimed at in covering them.

Milk- pans are often used by cottagers in many parts .

W ith small hives they answer in summer,but are a most

unsu itable pr otection in winter . For cheapness and con

venience, anything at hand that will shed the rain ofi'

h ives is made use of. Three or four cabbage - blades

placed on a hive,and held there by a stone, are sometimes

used till something better turn up. W e now use felt

(sold at one penny per foot)largely as a covering for our

hives . It is imperviou s to water , and very durable

indeed we cannot say how long it will last. The covers offelt that we got eight years ago have been in constant use

,

and are still as good as ever they were,and apparently

will last for an indefinite length of time. These felt coverssu it also in this r espect

,that they are light

,soft

,and pli

able. W hen we r emove our hives to better pastur e or to themoors, the felt covers , being easily car ried, go with them.

The felt, when first bought, is stiff and hard, but can be

made as soft as flannel by holding it before the fir e for aminute or two . W hen warm and soft it sh ould be fittedon the hives. It becomes softer every year . It is rather


too thin for a burning sun hence it is wise to place somehay, heather , or rags between the felt and the hives .

Sods cut off peaty land and dr ied,are impervious to

water,and make excellent summer coverings. But straw

coverings are incomparably the best of all best forsummer as well as winter ; and they look better thananything else I have seen u sed as covers for bee - hives .

S tr aw C over s .

A r ow of well - thatched beehives, all nicely clipped,

standing in a cottage garden, conveys to themind of peoplepassing by the idea of comfor t and profit. W hen firstused the covers should be dipped in water

,then fitted on .

Thus they set and stiffen,and may be lifted off and on

like a man’

s hat. In another chapter the reader will beurged to use plenty of warm materials beneath the outercovering of hives in winter .

C H APTE R XVII.

S T I N G S .

If bees had not been furnished with weapons of de

fence, the probability is great that they would have been

destroyed centur ies ago . The treasures of a bee- hive are

STIN G S. 67

so tempting to men and brutes,birds

, and creeping things,that it was necessary to provide bees with a means of

defence—via , stings and bags of poison,which they can

use at will. \Vhen they receive or anticipate molestationthey are not slow to make use of their poisoned ar rowsand every arrow is barbed, so that, if inser ted, it sticksfas t—so fast that it drag s the venom- bag attached to itfrom the body of the bee. And after separation from the

bee,the sting is moved by a self- acting machinery, in

tended,no doubt, to empty the entire contents of the

venom- bag into the part stung ; hence the wisdom of

withdr awing a sting as soon as it is inflicted or inserted.

It may be stated here that bees cannot well inser ttheir stings till they get hold with their feet, and thu sapply a small amount of leverage . In many hundreds ofinstances we have saved our selves by destroying the beesbefore their levers could act.

Some people ar e much disfigur ed by being stung on

the face ; and the question has been asked,“ If these

people were frequently stung, would the stings continueto have as great influence " W e cannot answer thisquestion with certainty, though we have known men who

suffered great inconvenience in early life from stings,disregard them after a time ; the swelling or inflamm a

tory power of stings was comparatively lost on them.

Some people suffer more from the sting of a nettle thanof a bee . The sting of a nettle annoys u s for many hou rs,whereas the pain from a bee’s sting does not last morethan a m inute.

Those who are liable to swell much on receiving a

sting should wear a bee - dress when likely to be attackedby bees, or when do ing anything amongst them . A bee

dress is simply a piece of crape or muslin tied above thebrim of the hat, to hang over the face, and some inchesbelow the chin . The other parts exposed are the hands


only, which can be protected by gloves. For tunately wedo not swell on being stung, and never u se a bee- dress of

any description. W hen bees attack one,or mean to do

so, the hands should be spr ead in front of the face— or,

better still,a bush held before it— then walk qu ietly

away. W hen bees see the fingers or bush they are afraidof an ambu scade— as sparrows ar e kept from gooseberrybuds by the use of thread and str ing.The venom of a bee is so immediate in its action that

some injury is done, or pain felt,before any remedy can

be applied.

C H APTE R XVIII.

F UM I G A T IO N .

This is a grand invention . About seventy year s ago,

when selling honey in E dinburgh,my father me t an

Irishman,who undertook to teach him how to carry a

hive of bees,open and exposed

,thr ough the streets of

that city without receiving a single stong,”for a gill of

whisky. Far too tempting an offer this to be rejectedby my father . H e got the secret

,and, I presume

, the

Irishman got some whisky for it. The secret was wo rth allthe whisky in E dinburgh ; for ever since, we have been en

abled to do whatwe like with our bees without r isk or fear .

Smoke from the rags of fustian or corduroy, blown intoa hive

,is the secret bought from the Ir ishman . A few

puffs of smoke from a bit of corduroy or fustian rolled uplike a candle

,stupefies and terrifies bees so much, that they

r un to escape from its power . Tobacco - smoke is more

powerful still,but it has a tendency to make bees dizzy,

and reel like a drunken man ; besides, it is more expensive


C HA PTE R XIX .

WHE THER IS THE SWARM ING OR N ON - SWARM IN G SYSTE MOF M AN AGE M E NT TH E M OST PROFITABLE "

This question is of gr eat importance, and therefore willbe considered as fully as our space will permit. The

swarming system of management is not only more profitable, but, taking a run of years, is better every way, andmore natural, than the system that pr events swarming.One large apiar ian in this neighbourhood who uses

bar - frame hives, once said to us that honey and swarms

could not be obtained from hives in the same year .

” W e

ventur e to express a contrary opinion . D uring the lastfew years our best swarms have risen in weight to a

greater figure than his non - swarmers nay, our old stockhives have been as heavy as his, which never swarmed atall . All this has not been owing to their being allowedto swarm

,but par tly to the size of the hives and our

system of management.But after making many trials

, we can state that in fineseasons for honey

,good early swarms will, at the harvest

time, weigh more than hives that never swarmed at all.

A swarm put into an empty hive is doubtless placed ata great disadvantage, and apparently will never both fillits hive with combs and gather as much honey as an old

one— a non- swarmer — already full of combs, weighing30 or 40 lb . But wait a little the swarm which is farbehind during the fir st ten days of its separate existence, afterwards rapidly gains upon the old one

,and gene

rally overtakes it when both weigh about 70 or 80 lb .

each ; the young one n ow goes ahead, sometimes at the

rate of 2 lb. for 1 lb. W e have known many swarms

SWARMING AND NON - SWARM ING SYSTE M S. 7 1

go beyond 150 lb . the first season, butwe have never seenan unswarmed stock-hive approach that weight. And

,

besides the superiority of the first swarm over the hivewhich did not swarm,

there are the mother hive and pro

bably a second swarm from it,weighing by the end of

the season from 50 to 80 lb. each. Of course theseweights will not be gained in seasons unfavourable forhoney- gather ing ; and in very unfavourable year s, whenbees have to be fed

,the fewer hives we have the better ,

—as,in times of calamity or famine, or want of work, the

working classes of M anchester and o ther cities find itcheaper to give up house and take lodgings —two or

thr ee famil ies swarming into one hou se,instead of each

family paying rent for a whole house. But,even in

ordin ary seasons for honey- gather ing,the swarming system

is by far the most lucrative .

If asked to explain how it is that swarms put intoempty hives gather more honey and do better than hivesnot weakened by swarming

,we might not be able to do

so satisfactorily neither can we explain how it is thata spring- struck verbena plant grows more vigorou sly anddoes better than an au tumn - struck one. A s with verbenaplants so with bees : swarms do better

,and often run

ahead of stockhives .

H owever,we may venture to guess, or give our opin ion,

as to the r easons why good early swarms of the currentseason outdo those that never swarm at all .

l st,The stimulus of an empty hive makes the bees

work ha rder . In the absence of combs, all the eggs laidby the queen must be lost. C ombs must be built to holdboth eggs and honey. For the first two or thr ee days ,the greater part of the honey gathered is eaten by the

bees with a view to secrete wax for comb - building, whichgoes on with marvellous rapidity. Liebig thinks that ittakes 20 lb. of honey to make 1 lb. of wax ; but let us

7 2 HANDY BOOK OF BE E S .

suppose that 2 lb. of wax is manufactured from 20 lb . of

honey. N ow,in good - sized hives there are about 2 lb .

of wax . W e have known a swarm fil l,o r nearly fill , its

h ive with combs,and gain about 28 lb . weight in ten

days . W hat a stupendous amount of work these youngcolonists performed in ten days 12d

,The combs of swarms are sweet, and free from a

superabundance of bee - bread therefore the cakes of

brood will yield a young bee from almost every cell,

making the hatch of the swarm considerably larger thanthat of the old h ive . By the end of a favour able season

the swarm is mor e populous than the o ther which we are

comparing with it. E ven a second swarm,in honey

years, will sometimes pull itself abreast the stock or

mother hive, with a weight of 30 lb. to gain .

3d,By swarming we double and often treble the num

ber of our hives annually,and therefore have two or

three queens laying instead of one. By- and - by it will be

seen more clearly how invaluable these additional swarmsare to a bee-keeper

,and therefore the super iority of the

swarming system over the non - swarming one.

4th , By the adoption of the swarming mode of management we can change our stock of hives every year— thatis to say, we can set aside one of the swarms fo r stock, andtake the honey from the old one and other swarm, and

thus the combs of our stock-hives are full of new sweetcombs, and free from foul brood, which is a great advantage. H ives with old combs are objectionable for manyreasons .

Besides all these considerations,there is

,in the swarm

ing system well carried out, the C E RTA IN TY o r SUCC E SS in

beekeeping. On the non - swarming system,hives are

comparatively weak in bees in early spr ing whereas,on

the swarming system (as we r ecomm end it to be done),the hives are of gr eat strength

'

and power even in early

SWARM ING AND NON - SWARM ING SYSTE M S. 73

spring. And we maintain that ten strong hives will domore work than twenty-five weak ones . How does the

swarming system secure strong hives" In this way the

beekeeper has one, and often two , swarms to spare for,

and unite to,every hive he selects for stock in autumn .

The hive selected for stock gets the one or two swarms

from the honey - hive united to it, and thus becomesdoubly or trebly strong. H ives of such strength are wellable to face the difficulties of a severe winter— difficultieswhich often crush and kill weak ones and when» spr ingarr ives

,these strong hives gain weight fast, and are ready

to swarm a month earlier than those that had no additional bees given to them in autumn. If hives are weakin bees in spring

,they gain but little from fru it- blossoms,

which are so r ich in honey, simply because they are not

strong enough to do much work but when made strongin autumn by the addition of extra swarms

,they gain

daily off the fruit - blossoms, in fine weather,from 3 to

5 lb. per hive .

5th, On the non—swarming mode of management the

queens become old and die and at the time of the deathof a queen there is a great loss sustained. The hive inwhich a queen dieswill be withou t eggs for three weeksafterwards, or thereabouts for ordinarily the youngqueens are not matur ed till about ten days after the old

one dies, and it is ten days more before the young queenthat takes her place begins to lay. There is

,too

,the risk

of losing the whole for if the old qu een dies when she

is not laying, the bees cannot raise a successor .

In the swarmin g system,the bee - master may have

nothing but young queens in his hive, by destroying thequeens of the first swarm when the bees are united inthe autumn. W e hope thi s matter is made so plain and

simple that none will misunderstand our meaning.But some bee - keepers may say,

“ W e don’t want


swarms we want supers of honeycomb . It is not an increase of hives

, but a supply of pur e honeycomb we areseeking. And the question may be urged whether theswarming or non - swarming system is best for gettingmost supers of comb" A t present we could not answer

this question with any degree of certainty, for we havenot tested it by exper iment. And even if fairly testedby actual experiment in one season or locality, the same

exper iment in another locality or season may producediffer ent resul ts. W e are strongly inclined to believethat the swarming system will yield more supers and

more pure h oneycomb than the non - swarming one,if the

bee -master understands his work,and sets himself to the

task of getting all the supers possible. H ow would you

get supers and swarms too " W e would have all our

hives well filled with bees in autumn,as already de

scr ibed . They would be ready to swarm early in M ay

but befor e they were r eady to swarm we would put a

super to hold 8 or 10 lb . on each. If’

weather per

mitted, and the hives did not swarm,these supers would

be fill ed in abou t fourteen days . A fter cutting them off,

we would swarm all the hives artificially, and put theswarms in l 6 - inch hives

,which is the smallest size

we use. Th e mother or stock hives would be left fullof brood, with bees sufficiently numerous to hatch it .

On each stock- hive a super would be placed,for every

day the population of the hives would be augmentedby the brood coming to perfection. Probably no combswould be made in the supers for ten or four teendays, when second swarms may be expected to issue.

W hen second swarms are thrown off, the better way

is to cast them back on the front of the hives whencethey came

,a few hours afterwards . They creep into

their hives, and rarely come a second time. The hivesare now full of bees with no brood to attend to . A t this

SWARMING AND NON - SVVARM ING SYSTEM S . 75

time the bees generally gather a great deal of honey, andwill fill supers

,weather permitting. W e know an experi

cucad apiarian who thus obtains super s from hives not

weakened by throwing off second swarms . In aboutthree weeks fr om the time the first swarms were hived,they will be nearly full of combs, and ready for supering,if the weather has been favourable. They should havesupers placed on them before they are qu ite full. W ithbrood coming to perfection every day, these young swarms

will not be long in filling supers from the fields of whiteclover

,now at their best. H ere we see the likelihood of

having three supers of combs from one hive managed on

the swarming system . W ith two strong hives in the

middle of July, there is still left the probability, if notthe certainty, of getting a super of honey from each of

them before the season closes. In favou rable seasons all

this may be done under good management. Then therewill remain a hive of honey for further profit, the beesof which will be united to the o ther

,to be kept for

stock and this will be incomparably better for keepingthan one that has never swarmed at all.

The great difficulty in obtaining supers of comb is the

tendency of the bees to swarm ; and this difficulty isgreater by half in the non - swarming system of management—for it is as natural for bees to swarm once a - yearas it is for birds to bu ild their nests . In the hands ofinexperienced people, hives that have r eceived supersoften swarm befor e a bit of comb is bu ilt in them.

In certain seasons it is well known that a great deal ofpure honeycomb has been yielded

‘by hives managed on

the non - swarming mode. In 1863,M r G eorge Fox of

K ingsbridge, D evonshire, got from two hives two glass

boxes (or super s)of pure honeycomb , weighing respectively 1095 lb . and 1 12 lb .

,their gross weights being 123

lb. and 126 lb .,the empty boxes being 14 lb. each. These

76 HANDY BOOK or BE E S .

magnificent supers seem to throw into the shade all otherresults of beekeeping . B ut in the same year M r Fox

got an octagon box of fine white comb,"which weighed

93 lb. 4 oz., from a swarm of Jun e 28, 1863 . Here is

a. late swarm yielding a super 93 lb . weight. If theswarm had come off four or six weeks sooner

,which is

the usual time, the probability is very great that it would

have overtaken and ou trun those that never swarmed at

all . W ell might M r Fox say, as he does in a letter before us

, These glasses were exceedingly beautiful, butthe risk and fatigue of r emoving them were great; and as

I never like to ask assistance,in case of an accident

,I

had to exert myself too much.

”

S U P E R

H IV E

M r Fox’s supers were filled on the adj usting pr inciple.

The above sketch will enable the r eader to form a prettycorrect idea as to the way in which it is carried out

,and

how M r Fox succeeded in indu cing his bees to fill suchlarge glasses. The supers fitted or slipped over the out

sides of the hives, and were let down so far that theircrowns were not far from the crowns of the hives. The


tained and used. Those that hold from 6 to 12 lb. are

more readily sold than larger ones but for ornament orexh ibition

,the larger . they are the better .

It should be understood by all,that though supers

may be obtained from hives of all shapes and materials,some kinds are better than o thers ; and where the bestkinds are used

,both the bee -master and his bees are

C ommon H oney- Glass . Impr oved H oney Glass .

placed on vantage gr ound. For instance, large h ives are

incomparably better than small ones straw hives betterthan wooden ones and those of simple construction are

more easilymanaged, and give more freedom and scope tothe indus trious inmates

,than those that are complicated.

The position of the holes in the tops of the hives,

thr ough which the bees reach and fill the supers,is of

little importance. The holes in our hives are all in th e

centre of the crown,and measure 4 inches wide. Some

modern inventors object to centre holes because they areimmediately above the brood - combs

,where queens are

ever at work laying eggs, and may readily step into thesupers and there deposit some. To avo id this dangerthese inventors have the holes in their hives nearer or

over the outside combs, where honey is generally stored.

Both answer very well, for excellent supers of comb havebeen filled thr ough centre and also through side holes. W e

get supers weighing from 10 to 40 lb . filled over centreholes

, without a cell of brood or a speck of beebread inthem. The size of the hole is of some importance. W e

SUPERS AND SUPERING . 79

think there should be a good thoroughfare and plentyof room for travellers between hive and super .

The health and strength of hives should be our guideas to the time supers should be placed on them. N o rule

can be laid down. A bout a week after the bees coverthe combs of stockhives they may be supered. And as

soon as the hives of swarms are filled with combs theyshould be supered.

If the supers be made of wood or straw, two or threebits of clean white dronecomb, well cemented or waxed

to labels,should be placed in and nailed to their crowns

,

before they are put on hives . Such bits of comb temptthe bees to go into them at once and commence work.

F rom the crowns of the supers to the crowns of the hiveswe use ladders of wood about as thick as a child’

s finger .

On these the bees go up , and commence to build theircombs downwards . This is of great importance, for beesnatur ally build downwards ; and where supers are thusfilled

,the combs are squared- off and finished before they

tou ch the crowns of the h ives . W hen only half fil ledthey may be lifted and examined without injury. If

guide- combs be not used, the bees would probably com

mence to fill the supers from below and build upwards.

D rone - combs are u sed in supers as gu ides for this reason,

that dr ones are seldom— we might venture to say are never—br ed in supers of ordinary sizes. These supers of

dronecomb are invar iably fil led with pure virgin - honey.But if you had no dr one- comb at hand, would you use

bits of worker - comb instead 2” Yes,certainly, to induce

the bees to begin at the tops and build their combs in thenatural way. Thus the combs in the supers ar e at some

distance from the brood- combs, till they and the supersare nearly filled with honey. A t the season of supering

,

any beekeeper may lift one of his hives and cut out of it

a few pieces of drone - comb to be used for supering.'

In


deed,when we are bending our energies to get many and

fine supers of honeycomb, we cut out of ou r hives all thewhite drone - comb we can get. W e prefer it empty, so thatit can be easily fixed in supers befor e they are put on

hives. A s soon as such supers are put on ,the bees go up

amongst the empty combs,fix them more securely, and

begin to store honey in them and when su ch supers aretaken off

,it is found that the clumsy work of the bee

master has been hidden amongst the mor e perfect workof the bees. These supers are just 'as beautiful and sale

able as those that have never been touched and tinkeredby the hand of man .

One year we made a special effor t to get a gr eat numberof supers of comb . W hen all ou r straw and glass ones

wer e filled,we went to our grocer and bought some small

boxes which he had emptied of mustard and other things .

They were abou t 1 foot square and 3 inches deep— justwhat we wanted. H e charged 2d. each for them . A small

hole, 3 in ches wide, was cut in the bottom of each boxthen they were filled as full and as neatly as we could withcombs (wh ite and beau tiful) cut from large hives, andplaced on hives r eady to fill them with honey. Thusmo re than half th e work was done for the bees beforethey entered these supers.

In placing and fixing empty drone - combs in supersbefore bees enter them, the bee -master should not forgetthat there is a right and a wrong way of doing this. The

more closely we imitate nature, the more likely are we tosucceed. All honey- cell s dip to their bottoms they arenot hor izontal. A s combs are found and cut out of hivesthey shoul d be placed in supers . If they be turnedbottom upwards, the cells will slope the wr ong way, andbe much more difli cult to fill. W ell

,then

,let the combs

be properly placed and partially fixed in the supers. In

fixing combs in boxes we begin at one side and fin ish at


the other . The combs are kept apart by little bits of waxor wood ; the lids are put on before they are placed on

full hives . W hen filled with honey they are taken off,

and other empty ones are used in the same way and

placed on the same hives.

The reader is now asked to take another look at the

improved honey- glass . It is narr ow at bottom and widerhigher up . The lid is movable. It will be seen at once

h ow easy it will be to help the bees to fill this kind of

super . W hen one of these empty glasses is placed on a

full hive,we take the lid off and place at once some

empty pieces of drone - comb on the crown of the hiveinside the glass

,and hold them erect and in proper posi

tion by wedges or little bits of comb . The lid is put on,

and the super is thickly and warmly covered with cottonwool or woollen cloths . In a short time the bees adoptand fasten the combs thus put in . W hy, these combs

are 6 inches high to begin with, and the bees ar e bu ildingthem upwards In filling very large glass supers (nowcalled crystal palaces), to hold, say, from 50 to 100 lb .

of comb,we r emove the glass lids , and put in their places

wooden or straw ones,with combs attached and pending.

Thus the bees have combs artificially fixed from both topand bottom to unite and fill and

,wh en weather permits,

they do it with marvell ous dexter ity and rapidity . W henthese supers are filled, the most exper t apiar ian or dealer

in h oney could not detect a fl aw in them. Supers so

filled are perfect in every sense, and cannot be surpassedfor excellence by those which may be filled by bees man

aged on the old jog- tro t system .

W hen the combs are well united and the supers nearlyfull, th e wooden lids are cut off with a table-knife or bit

of fine wir e, and the glass ones put on . If the lids are

dome - shaped, with a cavity to fill, a few fpieces of nice

comb may be placed on the tops of those broken by theF


knife or wire, so as to fill the cavity. Then, finally, puton the glass lids.

If we have notwhite empty combs enough to half-fill orquarter -fil l a super of glass

,a gu ide—comb is sealed to the

wooden lid, and a ladder is given to the bees to go up andcommence building at the top. Bees can hold by roughwood and straw

,but not by glass ; hence the use ofwooden

lids and ladders. W h en the combs r each the sides of theglass

,the wooden lids may be cut off, and the glass ones

restored to their places .

W ith this art of super ing unfolded before the reader,he will be able to help his bees to fil l supers of any size,and almost in any season . Al l the honey of refuse combsand old hives may be given to bees when they are fillingsupers . The filters of bees are so perfect

,that not a speck

of impurity or a taint of pollen is carried from old combsinto supers. E ven honey mixed with flour, soil, or beebread, is well clarified when given to bees. A ll apiarianswho prefer to eat their honey in virgin - comb may thushave a superabundant supply of it. The introduction of

large pieces of unsoiled combs into supers (and feedingwith honey when weather is unfavourable)may be compared to travelling by express train . The other way, ofletting the bees do all the work, is travelling by theparliamentary one, which is longer on the road. W e

much prefer the speedier way of fil ling supers .

Let us here press on the attention of the reader the

necessity of cover ing glass supers warmly and thicklywith some material. If they are not warmly covered, thebees will not work in them and if not kept quite dark,the bees will try to shu t out the light by bespatteringwax on the inside of the glass.

There should be no doors in supers . All bees from the

outside world should go in by the doors of the hives. Ifoutside workers were permitted to go into supers with


soiled feet,their combs would soon be discoloured. The

housema ids only should enter supers .

W hen supers are full , they should be cut from theirhives by a piece of brass wire or small cord. If th e wirecut thr ough any honeycomb , the supers should be raisedabout half an inch by wedges, and left in this positionabou t one or two hours, to let the bees lick the honeyfrom the broken cells

,and make all clean and dry. In

thirty years we have had three supers only that hadbrood in them when cut off. The patches of brood werecut out, and honeycombs from other hives were fitted intheir places, when the supers were replaced on the hivesfor two or three days ; and, when finally taken off

,the

patchwork could not be discovered.

The only question now to be considered is how to

dr ive bees from supers after they are cut off. The smoke

from fustian rags vigorou sly blown into the tOp holes ofsupers is generally successful. Before this smoke the beesrun helter - skelter out of supers into their hives in a shorttime. In cold weather they are more difii cult to dr ive ,and on two or three occasions we have had to place a verysmall bit of brimstone rag amongst the fustian,

the fumes

of which frightened the bees out of the supers veryquickly. The smallest taste or sniff of it is enough tomake them run for their lives. But let u s warn the

r eader of the danger of using brimstone in th is work, for

the fumes of sulphur are destructive of bee life if not

given in the small est possible doses . And there wouldbe twenty times more difi

'

iculty in removing dead beesthan living ones from supers well filled with honeycomb.


C H A PTE R XXI.

E K E S.

C an bees be pr evented from swarming" Yes, by the use

of ekes and what are these 2 A dditions or enlargementsfrom below— that is to say, eked or lengthened. H ivesare eked by r iddle- r ims

,or hoops made of four or five r olls

of straw of the same description as those in a straw - hive, thesame width as the hives raised by them . These ekes are

fastened to the hives by nails or staples going into both,and the jun ctions covered with any kind of cement orpaste.

Straw ekes,like straw hives, are better than wooden

ones . The sides of an old hive make two ekes,if pro

perly cut and sewed a little.

A re ekes better than supers for getting a great weightof honey " Very much for bees can put more than3 lb . of honey into ekes for every 2 lb. they can pu t in tosupers . (This is another proof of the super ior ity of hivesof simple construction over th ose that are complicated.)Bees not only gather more honey

,but they breed more

by the use of ekes,and are thus prepared to do more work

for the future. The markets will determine whether ekingor super in g is the most profitable. If the pr ice of honeybe l s . per lb .

,and comb l s . 6d. per lb .

,the one mode of

enlargement will appear equal to the other for profit. In

the use of supers ther e is the r isk (in hot seasons verygreat r isk)of swarms coming off un expectedly and flyingaway. In the eking mode there is the trouble of extracting or running the honey and jarr ing it for sale.

But eking hives does not always prevent their beesfrom swarming" N ot always

,but in n inety—nine cases


hole, down to the board and in process of time the nadiris filledwith combs and brood, almost all the honey goingto the upper storey. A t the end of the season the top

one is taken off for honey,and its bees driven into the

bottom hive, which is kept for stock.

N adirs are most u seful for early swarms that become

heavy before the end of the season . By placing nadirsbeneath them,

both honey and a stock- hive may be oh

tained. Since the first edition of this work was published,we have had two stock - hives that swarmed with nadirsbeneath them,

though we never knew a case of the kindbefore.

Last year our earliest swarm was taken off about thel 0th of M ay. By the end of four weeks it was full, andnearly ready for swarming. Instead of taking off a virginswarm

,we placed it on a nadir . A t the end of the season

we found that itweighed 70 lb . All the bees were dr ivenbelow, and th e top one taken . It weighed 5o 1b. , and

the nadir 20 lb . W e thus got nearly 30lb . of honey and

a stock- hive from a swarm of M ay. A few pounds ofr efuse honey were given to the nadir , which was a stronghive in the spring following.

W e consider nadirs inferior to ekes when weight ofhoney is the only object sought. W e use and recommend

them when both honey and stocks are sought fromswarms of the current year . For gaining great profitsin a favour able season ,

and for continued prosper ity for asuccession of years, the system of having strong hives andearly swarms is far before all the other systems of managing bees . Supers, nadirs, and ekes are u seful

,profitable,

and indispensable for hives that r equire enl arging later inthe season . The question of which is best

, the interestand aims of the bee -master must determine.

ARTIFlCIAL SWARM ING. 87

CHAPTER XXIII.

A RT I F I C I A L SW A RM I N G .

It does not pay to wait and watch for hives casting,and

it does not pay to lose swarms. The adoption of the in

valuable invention of swarming artificially saves the beekeeper from a world of anxiety and the loss of swarms .

Probably Bonner was the inventor of artificial swarming,

for he wro te a book about 80 years ago, which my fatherread at the time. Bonner ’s system (with some slightmodifications)was adopted by my father , and carr ied intopractice for forty years . H e swarmed his bees artificiallybefor e h e knew th e value of fustian smoke for stupefyingthem. After finishing his day’s work

,h e often swarmed

thr ee or four hives on an even ing. The only bee- dress

he ever u sed was a cabbage—blade hung over his face and

this was for ever cast away when he was taught by an

Irishman to u se the smoke of fustian rags.

The bother of bee - keeping would be too gr eat for us if

we did not swarm artificially. W e can easily take off

four swarms in an hour and with th e assistance of a lad

to drum a bit,we could take off six swarms

,place them

all in proper places, and cover them up in less than an

hou r . The pr o cess of artificial swarming is a very simpleaffair—so simple that no person can see it done withou tunderstanding it pretty well.It is more easily performed and sooner done than we

can describe it with our pen . Take a hive ready for

swarming, and a skep prepared to r eceive the swarm ;

another empty hive and a table - cloth or piece of calicoare requ ired. These are placed some yards— it does notmatter how many— from the old h ive to be swarmed.

A few pufis of smoke are blown into the hive,which is


then carried to where the empty hive and calico are. It isturned upside down— that is

,placed on its crown ; then the

empty hive is placed on and over it,and the calico rolled

round the jun ction of the two to keep all the bees in. The

hive to r eceive and contain the swarm for good is placedon the board of the old hive

,with a view to prevent the

bees flying about from going into other hives . The reason

why the hive with cross—sticks is not first placed on the

hive to receive the swarm ,is owing to the difficulty of

seeing the queen in it. The bees woul d hang in clusterson the sticks hence they are first dr iven in to an emptyhive, in wh ich th e queen is eas ily seen

,then shaken into

the other hive prepared to r eceive the swarm . N ow the

drumming or dr iving commences, which is simply done bybeating th e bottom hive with open hands for about fiveminutes. This drumming confounds the bees

,and causso

them to run up into the empty hive, and in nineteencases out of twenty the queen goes with the bees or

swarm so drummed up . But to be qu ite sure that thequeen is with the swarm

,we take the hive (now contain

ing the swarm)of the parent hive, turn it upside down,exposing the whole swarm to View

,in order to see the

queen . She is easily distinguished, and when we haveseen her , we take the swarm back to the old stand

,and

shake all into the hive ready for them,the calico mean

while being spread over the combs and bees in the old

hive. The swarm is now placed three,six

, or n ine feetto the right, and the mother hive as far to the left

,of the

spot or stand on which it stood before . H ow easy andsimple this work is 1 how soon over

,and how natur al it

appears " It is ju st abou t as easily done as shaking a

natural swarm from a branch into an empty hive. Lookat the advantages : the bees are not allowed to wastetheir time in cluster ing about the door of the hive befor eswarming and this clustering, in some cases and seasons ,


ment of bees, will by- and- by be felt i n his hands to bea very simple affair .But suppose the reader adopts this art of swarming,

h ow is he to knowwhen his hives are ready for swarming,and what size of swarms to take when they are ready "These questions are important. A little exper ience willgive more instruction than our pen can. Of course whenbees begin to clus ter at their doors they are ready forswarming. Large hives seldom cluster outside beforeswarming, and small ones almost always do . B ut byusing the smoke of fustian rags we can ascertain whenhives are ready for swarming— that is to say, full enoughfor swarming. When smoke is blown into a hive

,the

bees r un up amongst the combs and if the hive be liftedoff the board, there will be but a thin sprinkling of beesleft on it. W hen they so run up amongst the combs, thehive is not ready to swarm. B ut when ready

,the hive

is full of bees, so that the smoke drives them from the

door,but not up amongst the combs,which are pretty well

packed. W ell,on lifting this hive there wil l be found

a rope or r ing of bees on the board about as thick as a

man’

s wr ist and this rope of bees begins to run over theedges of the board, so that, when the hive is replaced,many bees are on the outside of it

,most behind. Of

course the number of bees on the board will be greater insome hives than others, according to their construction ,size, and ripeness. This is a far better test of the r eadi

ness of a hive for swarming than the appearance of dronesin it

,or even the heat or noise of it. A hive is often

r eady to swarm before drones are perfected in it ; and inunfavourable weather , it is often as full of bees as it canhold when there is neither much noise nor heat. The

examination should be made when the bees are all at

home.

The other question may be answered by saying that we

ARTIFIC IAL SWARM ING . 91

follow the rule of the bees themselves. W hen a swarm

comes off naturally,bees enough are left to cover the

combs barely or thinly,so that the brood of the hive may

be all hatched . In artificial swarming we leave the

combs of the old h ive as well covered with bees as in

natural swarming If too many have been driven up withthe swarm

,we put a few spoonfuls back and if too few

have gone with the swarm,we drum up a few more, and

unite them. A very little experience will make this mat

ter safe and easy to the hand and judgment of the r eader .

In bee- houses, and where many hives are standing closetogether

,there is some difii culty in placing the swarm and

mo ther hive aright,so as to prevent the bees of the one

going into the o ther . W h en each can be placed at leastfour feet from the old stand

,one to the r ight and the

other to the left, there is scope for successful action in

this matter . W e always succeed— though there may be

less than four feet on each side ; but then we have to u se

a little stratagem. The fr ont of the hives and fl ight- boards

have to be disfigured, so that the bees may not know or

dis cover the entrance of the old hive. W hen the doors

of the two are near each other,the bees of the swarm are

apt to go into the mother hive . This we prevent by so

al ter ing the appearance of the door for a day or two thatthe bees do not know it. A few pieces of broken br icksor stones or coals laid on the fl ight

- board up to the

entrance answer admir ably. A fter the swarm has been

at work for a day or two , the bees will not go back to

the mother hive.

The reader will remember our saying that the fartherhives are placed asunder the better ; and where the ar tificial system of swarming is pr actised, the wisdom of thatremark will be acknowledged . A r tificial swarms mustnot

,like natural ones

, he placed 12 , or 20, or 40 yards fromthe stands whence they were taken for if they are taken


so far, the bees will return to their old stands . Ifmovedone or two miles off

,they will be out of the influence of

their old home,and

,weather permitting, will do well

there. M y father being on good terms with all the

farmers of his par ish,was permitted to put his bees on

any convenient place on their farms . W ell, on an evening he often swarmed three o r four hives, put the swarms

on a light hand- barrow,and with the assistance of an

other carr ied them 1} mile off,placed them under a

hedge,or in an old lime - kiln or quarry, or in any odd

corner,where they remained unmolested till they were

r emoved to the moors.

B ee- B a r r ozo .

This barrow is simply made of six larch rails,thin and

light, not weighing many pounds —being held togetherby eight screws or nails. A s soon as the bees are placed,the screws are W ithdrawn

, the rails tied together,and

carried home. W e had an exceedingly light and con

venient barrow of this kind made of five pieces of bamboo - cane. W hen only two hives are removed

,a common

yoke ” placed across the shoulders— the hives hanginglike a couple of pails of water—is a safe mode of carriage.

It will be seen and understood that we take care to see

that the old queen goes with every first swarm. H ence

we look for her—and the way and time of doing so has

been already described. But it is not absolutely necessary to see the queen in every swarm

,or even to look for

her . Young beginn ers, mere’prentice hands in bee-man


royal cells,or o therwise royal cells built

,

around them,

become perfect pr incesses in four teen days, when the piping and barking begin, which was explained in a former

chapter . After three nights’ piping,second swarms may

be expected, if the weather be at all favour able for swarming. Second swarms are less par ticular than first onesabout having fine weather on the occasion of their leaving home as colon ists . But cannot second swarms be

taken off,as well as fir st ones

,artificially" Yes ; but it

is necessary to be a little more cautious while doing it,for such young princesses are apt to take wing during theOperation . O ld queens never take wing

,however much

they may be tossed abou t in swarming and uniting of

swarms. N ot so with these young unimpregnated queens .

H ence there is a little manoeuvr ing required in swarmingsecond swarms by art. A s soon as the queens are heardcalling and answer ing each o ther (piping), we turn up the

hive and cut two of th e royal cells out—those that havequeens in them— and wrap each up in a corner of our

handkerchief,separate

,and so that they cannot come out

of their cells . W e have got over the difficulty ; and inless than five minutes a swarm is dr ummed up into a

hive prepared for it the swarm is set on one side of the

old stand, and the mother hive on the o ther side. In th e

handkerchief there is a queen for each hive . W e generally take the lids off the cells, and let the beautiful youngcreatures run in at the doo rs. It

,

requ ires no masterstroke to do it ; any one who pu ts aside the mistrust ofhis own power s will manage this afi

'

air easily. Second

swarms generally come naturally on the day followingthe third night of piping. If piping ceases

,no second

swarm will be obtained.

If there are more than two queens in a hive —~and frequently there are four or five—we cut them all out, if possible

,on such occasions. But presently we shall come to

SURPLUS QUEEN S. 95

notice the use of these spare queens . H ives that yieldfirst swarms have sometimes small second swarms takenfrom them, and two of these united thus making one

good swarm— leaving the old ones strong in bees,and

scarcely feeling the loss of those taken from them . Let

us, by figures, show how this is done.

3 5 6 7

G O O G O Orst Swa r m. S tock. S tock. 2d Swa rm. S tock. S tock. rst Swa rm.

A t the commencement of the season,let us suppose we

have two stock - hives—standing at 2 and 6. W hen the

swarms are taken from them they are moved to 3 and 5,

and the swarms to l and 7 . 2 and 6 are blotted out for

th e present,and 4 r emains unoccupied. Suppose we

want one swarm more from the old stocks . Part of aswarm is taken from each and set at 4

,removing the old

ones back to their or iginal stands,2 and 6

,leaving 3 and

5 empty. If it be deemed advisable to take a secondswarm fr om each, and keep them separate

,their positions

will have to be ar ranged a little differently.

Surp lus Queens.

N ow we come to notice the uses of these surplus queens .

By using them aright, the bee-keeper does exercise some

master - strokes of policy and good management. They willbe welcomed into hives withou t qu eens, and in to hiveswith pr incesses unmatured

,if presented to them . Sup

pose we have one or two hives ready to swarm for the

first time when such queens are a vailable . W e hastento take swarms from them ; and as soon as the bees in

the old hives have discover ed the lo ss of their own

qu een s,we give them young ones instead . The hives

that thus get queens as soon as their own are taken from


them are lifted fourteen or sixteen days in advance of

those that do not get queens. For it would take themfourteen days

,at least

,to rear qu eens, even if the eggs

were set the hour on which they lost their old ones,

and the queens from such eggs were allowed to leave

their cells on coming to perfection . These transplantedqueens would lay abou t eggs in four teen daysthat is to say, before queens r eared at home could beginto lay at all. Of course

,the introduction of these sur

plus queens to h ives that have j ust swarmed,eith er natu

rally o r artificially, prevents all preparations being made

for throwing second swarms . The old hives are neverwithout bro od, for the young queens thus implanted be

gin to lay before all the brood is hatch ed . Such hivessoon become very strong

,and capable of doing a great

deal of work in variou s ways. In honey seasons theywill r ise to a great weight

,and fill a good super with

comb .

‘In the case of hives swarming late

,it is of vast import

ance to give them queens from early swarmers for , if leftto rear queens for th emselves

,the season is nearly over

before the eggs of such qu eens come to perfection . Let

u s see how long it is before young bees are matured fromsuch queens. Suppose a swarm be obtained on th e 15th

of June, the eggs will be matur ed into queens in fourteendays— ff. e.

,about the last day of the month . If th ere be

no days wasted in piping and pr epar ing to send off second

swarms,the young queen will take the drone in three

days, and commence to lay in about ten days after— sayab out the 1 2th of July. W ell

,the brood is three weeks in

th e combs, so that the month of July is nearly gone beforeyoung bees are hatched. F irst swarms have pregnantqueens , and generally do well, though they be not oh

tained till the end of June but it is otherwise with theold hives and second swarms. H ow manifest

,then

,is


C H A PT E R XX IV .

N ATURAL SWARM ING .

This has been described in the fir st part of this workbut as there are so many things in natural swarming thatshould be well under stood

,we trust we shall be excused

if we venture to examine br iefly a few of them .

The time or seas on of swarming depends on both thelocality and the management of the hives . Some placesare warmer and earlier than others . Some places havemore spr ing flowers than others . In the southern partsof our island, swarming in ordinary seasons shouldcommence in the beginning of M ay. M uch depends on

au tumn treatment. If hives kept for stock are well filledwith bees in autumn, they will be ready to swarm four

weeks sooner than those that ar e left to their own r e

sources. W e have already touched on this point, and may

return to it again .

W hen h ives are ready to swarm and mean to do so , eggsare set in royal cells generally abou t four days before the

swarms issue . The combs are well filled with brood fromthe egg up, in all stages. The hives are choke - full of bees .

There is much no ise,and the internal heat is very great .

They may or may not cluster ou tside. Usually small

hives do clu ster and large ones do not.

H ives, whether large or small,that have but little

honey in them,are mu ch better filled with bees than

hives containing a good deal of honey. Bees do not sit

closely on honeycomb , even on the eve of swarming.Those with little honey in them yield the largest swarms,and afterwards remain stronger in bees . F irst swarmsvary in weight from 4 to 8 lb . each ; second swarms,from 15 to 5 lb. The second swarms from small hives

NATURAL SWARM ING . 99

are hardly worth the price of the hives into which theyare often put.IVe have said that the eggs ar e generally four days in

royal cells before first swarms issue. B ut sometimes theweather prevents swarming till the young queens are

near ly matured. The time is therefo re uncertain. Some

times there is a miscarriage . The swarm goes withou tthe queen

,and soon returns. N ext day, probably, a suc

cessful attempt will be made,both swarm and queen go ing

together . Sometimes there are several miscarriages . The

swarm always returns. H ow is this " The queen cannotfly. In attempting to follow the swarm she falls over the

fl ight-board

,and may be found crawling on the gr ound .

The noise of the bees on their return to the hive attractsh er to it. This may happen ag ain and again hence thesem iscar riages. Such queens are old, and will soon die . If

a young queen (virgin) could be obtain ed anywhere, itwere wis e to un ite her to the swarm rather than car ry

the old one to it. If the old qu een found below'

the

fl ight- board be put in an empty hive

,and placed on

the stand of the old one fo r an hour till all the bees

return, the swarm may now be placed in any par t ofthe garden ,

and the o ld hive put back to its originalplace .

W hile a swarm is in the act of leaving the hive, theresometimes comes a sudden change of the atmosphere.

The sun is clouded,the air chill ed, and rain may fall .

The bees already on the wing cannot fly. They ar e full ofhoney, and come to the ground in thousands,— bees beingunable to carry such heavy loads in cloudy cold weatheras they do in the sunshine. If a shower follow,

thousandsnever rise. If the sun shine out warmly in the afternoon ,

o r even next day, many of the bees which fell will r iseand go back. The attempt to swarm at an unfavourablemoment is often disastrous . The skill of the beekeeper


can do little in such a case. If a small cluster reach theplace chosen by the bees, all should be brought back andthrown on the front of the old hive.

Swarm s generally alight on a branch of a tree or busho r hedge

,if these grow near their mother hives . W here

there are no trees o r hedges, they will settle on a stone,or

post of a fence,or clod

,or big weed in a garden. It is

w ise to have some bu shes near an apiary managed on the

swarming system ; for swarms can be easily hived frombranches that bend.

H iving is usually done by holding the hive prepared forthe swarm underneath it

,and then giving the branch on

which it hangs a sudden shake or jerk,when all the bees

lose their hold and fall into the hive. The hive is set onthe ground with its crown downwards

,and mouth and

swarm exposed. The board is instantly placed on and

over the whole, just giving the bees time to gather theirfeet and get hold of the sides of the hive (about half aminute) before it is inverted into its proper position .

Let it stand for a few minutes to gather in all the bees

that have not been hived— the noise inside speedily attracts them— and then let the hive be placed where it isto r emain. W hen a swarm goes into a thick hedge, or

settles on a stone or wood fence, the hive is placed over it,so that the bees

,can eas ily run up into it. If on the trunk

of a tree, the hive is tied on above it and when it settleson the branch of a tree far from the ground

,the branch is

usually cut and let down .

N othing should be put in hives intended for swarms

but cross- sticks and gu ide- combs. Ign orant people often

wet their insides with sugared ale or sugar - and-water, amost foolish practice .

Another foolish practice, and a widespread one,is to

make a great effort to induce swarms to settle by drumming on kettles and frying- pans

,thus producing artificial


awkward affair when two swarms unite,for to separate

them is rather difficult. Some of the extensive beekeepers of America u se swarm - catchers to preventsuch unions. These swarm- catchers are abou t 12 inchessquare at the end

,and 4 or 5 feet long. Four posts abou t

one inch thick,fastened as a frame and covered with

muslin or o ther thin cloth,may be termed “ the American

swarm - catcher,

”and is simply a squar e sack of thin

materials . W ell,when one swarm is half or wholly on

the wing,and another commences to issue

,the sack is

placed around the door of the hive,and the swarm rushes

into it,and may be hived as convenience dictates .

But two swarms united may be separated— that is tosay, the two queens may be caught and put into differenthives

,and the bees divided between them . There are

var ious ways of doing this,all of which will answer if

donewith a skilful hand. The man who can swarm beesar tificially has exper ience enough to divide and subdivideswarms as much as he likes . The man who has not

courage to do this will let both swarms remain together .

If separation be attempted,it shoul d be done as soon after

swarming as possible, otherwise one of the queens will bedestroyed.

W hen two swarms belonging to different people uniteand cannot be separated, th e one who retains the swarm

should allow the other about half value— say 103 . for a

20s . swarm,for it is of less value in its united state than

when separate and single.

In natural swarming, as has already been explained,

the old queen goes with the first swarm,and leaves be

hind h er in the old hive eggs or grubs in royal cells .

W hen these come to perfection,the piping commences

,

and lasts three days and n ights . If the bees determinenot to send off a second swarm

,the piping is stopped at

first,and all the surplus queens are kil led and cast out. If

NATURAL SWARM ING . 103

the piping continues, a second swarm may be expectedand if a second swarm issues

,and the piping continues

still, a third swarm may be expected on the day following . Third and fourth swarms have been known to come

off on the same day. It does not answer for queens topipe three days before third and fou rth swarms ; the

time for their impregnation has arr ived,and th ey cannot

wait with safety . In nor th -west Aberdeenshire a bee

keeper got four swarms from one hive in 1874. The

first swarm rose in weight to 124 lb. , the second to 75 lb .

,

the third to 45 lh . , the four th to 36 lh .

,the mother hive

to 93 lh .

—altogether , to 37 3 lb .

The year '

187 4 was a good one for honey in the nor thof Scotland. In o rdinary years it is not pr ofitable totake third swarms. In very favourable seasons theymay fill their hives, and weigh 40 or 50 lb. each . Two

swarms are sufficient to take from one hive in ordinaryseasons .

It is often not desirable to take second swarms from lateswarmers . B ut if they come when we do not want them,

what is to be done " H ive them,and let them remain for

a few hour s in their hives,and then throw them back on

the fl ight- boards of the hives that cast them off. In nine

teen cases out of twenty they do not issue a second time.

But is it not W ise to kill the queens of second swarms

before retur ning them " W e never do it when unitingswarms at the swarming season . W e have known one

instance only in which the conflict /

of two queens ended

in the death of both. The bees generally interfere to prevent a confl ict between two queens thus brought together .

In such cases one of the queens may be often found in thecentr e of a cluster of bees termed a regicidal knot.” In

such a knot the queen comes to gr ief.If the piping be heard after the second swarm has been

r eturned to the old hive, it will probably issue again,and


should again be thr own back but this, as we have said,seldom happens— for arter the second swarm has departed,all the queens but one are generally destroyed, and no

more swarming takes place.

There is in the history of swarming a critical time forold hives and second swarms . A day or two after secondswarms have left their mother hives

,the queens of both

go out to meet drones . The bees lbecome very uneasy iftheir qu een stay long away. Sometimes they never re

turn— have been lost on their marriage- tours. W hen thebees find that they have lost their queen

,theymake mani

fest their loss by their wild excitement and bewilderment .N o one can witness this excitement withou t seeing thatsomething is wrong. E very now and then the bees ar e ina state of wild commotion

,rushing hither and thither in

search of their lost queen . D ur ing these paroxysms of

grief every bee in the hive seems to be afi'

ected. Theyhave no eggs, and therefore are unable of themselves to .

make good their loss. W hat should be done with hivesthus bereft of their queens " If surplu s ones can be oh

tained, they should be introduced at once to these queen

less hives . If ripe queens cannot be obtained, probablyroyal cells containing infantile queens may be had. One

of these out out of its hive, and placed between two combsof the queenless one

,answers well ; for the bees soon

cement it to their combs,and bestow proper care on their

new infant and future queen . In the case of the swarm,

it is rather dangerous to turn the hive upside down ,with

a view to place a royal cell between its combs just beingformed, as they are apt to fall. E ven the smoke of ragsshould be gently blown into a swarm recently hived.

But if one person lifts the hive off the board, say 3 feetperpendicularly, and _ another person puts in the queencell

,the work may be easily and safely performed. And

if no combs at all have been formed before the queen has


the oldest queens. They are misnamed, but we have nodesire to give them a new name. In seasons remarkablefor earliness and abundance of honey, virgin swarms are

not uncommon. Indeed in one such season our stockhives began to send off a second ser ies of swarms. In suchfine seasons it is easy to multiply greatly the number ofhives but for profit

,we find that it is better to enlarge

hives than to take virgin swarms from them.

C H APTE R XXV .

T URN O UTS .

This is a name we give to swarms evicted or ejected fromparent hives three weeks after they sent off their firstswarms . Second swarms may have gone from them as

well as first ones but on the twenty-fir st day after the firstswarm leaves a hive

,th e combs are free from brood, save

a few drone - cells— dr ones being twenty- four days in beinghatched, and wo rkers twenty- one days. The eggs laid bythe queen on the morning of the day she left the hivewith the first swarm

,come to perfection on the twenty

first day after . The young queen that has taken her placehas not begun to lay, and therefore there is no brood inthe hive. Very well. Large hives gather a great deal ofhoney before they swarm. If the weather be fine whilefruit- trees are in blo ssom

,they generally gather from

2 to 5 lb. a day per hive. In fin e seasons, large hives,properly managed, contain from 20 to 30 lb. of honeybefore the end of M ay. N ew honey will

'

not be in the

4 market for a month or two after M ay, if we do not turnout or evict the bees from these hives. But we do turn

TURN OUTS. 107

them out ; and for sixty years at least,my father and

h is son have practised this mode of getting honey in gr eatquantity so early in

'

the season . Such honey is superexcellent

,having been gathered chiefly from fruit and

sycamore trees, and commands a high price and r eady sale.

“ re reckon l s . 3d. per lb. for run honey, and l s . 6d. for

honeycomb, a fair pr ice. If there be only 20lb. in a hive,we dr um the bees out of it into an empty one. In thisway

“

25s . worth of honey,and another swarm (the evicted

one), which we term “a turnou t

,

”are obtained from the

stock- hive, which has before yielded one or two swarms.

Thus we get two or three good swarms,and 20 o r 30 1h .

of honey from a stock- hive . These turnouts are generallya shade better than the second swarms from the same

hives ; and when no second swarms have been obtainedfrom the hives, the turnouts are very large swarms in

deed,and requir e large hives . By practising this mode

of taking honey from stock—hives three weeks after swarming, the apiary contains hives that are filled with freshyoung combs, fr ee from foul brood, and never everburdened with bee - bread. Then there is the encourag e

ment of profits alr eady in the pocket, and two months of

summer yet to come.

A hive should weigh 42 or 45 lb. weight to yield 20lb . of honey. Sometimes we pass sentence against hivesof less weight

,drum the bees out of them at the proper

time,and take the honey 5 and sometimes

,instead of tak

ing their honey, after the bees have been driven out,we

place them in a dry room till autumn and if we thenfind it will be advantageou s to keep them for stock

,and

take the honey from heavier hives, they are r efilled withbees taken from honeyhives, and placed in the garden.

The process of turning bees out is simply that of driving them into empty hives prepared for them . In the"

case of artificial swarming, we drum but a few minutes 5


but when we wish to dr ive all the bees out, we drum forfifteen or twenty minutes . W hen there is brood in a

hive, the bees are loath to leave it 5 but as there is no

brood at the time of eviction,the bees are easily dr iven

out.

It is understood that, if the spring months be unfavourable for honey- gathering, the hives will be too light foryielding much honey. In such a season it is unwise tohave turnouts

,unless it be to rid the apiary of old hives

and old combs .

But looking closely into this turningout system ,the

reader may say,“ It is not a wise and economical one ;

for by putting the bees into empty hives, you compel

them to make new combs,which cost them a great deal of

honey. Leave them in their own hives,and thus save the

consumption of honey necessary in the building of freshcombs.

”This remark is bo th logical and full of common

sense. N o sensible man will attempt to resist its force .

B ut nevertheless it is a system which has many advantages

,some of which are already mentioned. Stock- hives

that swarm early become too heavy in good seasons for

stocks . If they yield 25s . worth of honey each,and

swarms (turnouts) that will become excellent stocks byautumn

,as they often do, we thus realise both honey and

good stocks from old hives after they have done swarming.Another thing is this

,that a few pounds of sugar

,now

costing very little, given to turnouts, enable them to halffill their hives with combs. W e do not turn the bees outof all our stockhives. Our aim in this chapter has been topo int out the advantages and disadvantages of the system,

that the reader may be guided by his own judgment.

1 10 HAN DY BOOK OF BE E S .

about £4 per hive ; in 1865, about £ 3 ; in 1866,abou t

£ 2 ; in 1867,nothing ; in 1868

,between £ 3 and £ 4 ;

and in 1869,abou t £ 3 . Our own pr ofits altogether from

1870 to 1874 9‘ from bee—keeping are upwards of £ 220,

after deducting an annual expenditure of l os . per hive .

But years unfavourable for honey collecting may be

expected ; and when they come, our bees will r equireattention and feeding. W e do not care mu ch how beesare fed

, so that they get enough .

A s large h ives, well populated, gather more honey infine weather than small ones

,it sh ould be borne in mind

that they consume more in rainy weath er . S trong hiveslose 1 lb . in weight dur ing the night in summ er

,and no

one can tell how much food is consumed dur ing the daywhen the bees are at work. In a large hive there are

probably upwards of bees,and about the same

number in embryo in their cells . Both bees and br oodneed food

,and a great deal of it. H e is the best bee

master who feeds his stock liberally and judiciou sly inrainy summers

,for he will receive a return for all his

attention and liberality. If bees be well fed they remainstrong and healthy— the hum of prosperity and contentment is kept up— br eeding goes on— thousands are added

to the community ; and if fine weather come,they will

gather twice o r thr ice as much honey as those that havebeen bar ely kept alive . Bees that are kept on the pointof starvation instinctively cast out their young, and wiselyrefuse to set eggs . Their combs become empty of broodtheir numbers decrease ; their bankruptcy blights themfor a month, if not for a whole season . W e speak of

stock-hives in the months of A pril,M ay, and June .

Look at swarms lately hived. E very natural swarm

can live thr ee days on the food it takes from the motherhive . The bees of ar tificial swarms, being hurr ied out of

Four of these five seasons were considered unfavourable.

F E E D IN G . 1 1 1

their mother hives, have not all filled their bags so wellas those of natural swarms . If rainy weather overtakethese young swarms, and continue some days, they willstarve if not fed. Thousands of young swarms are ruinedfor want of feeding after being put into empty hives. Ifthey do not die right out, they never recover from the

blight and blast of hunger then undergone.

W e have known swarms starved out of their hives.

Having made a few pieces of comb,and being W ithout

brood,no eggs having been set in them, the bees, from

sheer want, cast themselves on the wide world. Theseare called hunger - swarms,

”and their name has a very

painful significance .

But if swarms are well and liberally fed in rainyweather

, after being hived, they rapidly build combs,and these combs are as rapidly filled with eggs frompregnant queens . A few pounds of sugar given to a

swarm will enable it to bu ild combs to its own circumference and size and these combs , as we have seen, willsoon be filled with brood, which will quickly come to perfection, and thus greatly add to the strength of the com

munity. During the cotton panic, and at other timeswhen no work was going on

,some of the wealthy mill

owners of Lancashire kept their machinery in order, and

even enlarged their premises so that when the dark dayhad pas sed away, and the sun of a brighter sky fell uponthem, they found themselves in possession of greaterpowers for active and successful work. So the skilfulbee-master is not inattentive to the mach inery and millhands of his factories when they are not working full

time.

” Idleness in a bee - hive is often the mother of

mischief. W hen weather forbids bees leaving their hives,it is a stroke of good policy to give them something to doindoors. A few pounds of sugar (made into syrup),wiselyadministered, keeps up the hum of health and prosperity,

1 12 HANDY BOOK OF BEE S .

promotes breeding, and prevents collapse and disaster .

O ften when feeding is not absolutely necessary, whenthere is plenty of honey in a hive

,a little sugar given to

it in dull weather is of great service in keeping up itstemperature

,and in promoting the laying and hatching

of eggs.

Loaf or refined sugar boiled in pure water , at the rateof one pound of sugar to one imper ial pint of water

,is

excellent food for bees . N o ar tificial food is so good forthem as this indeed it is better for them than heatherhoney. The mor tality of bees fed on heather - honey isgreater in winter than when fed on pure sugar - and-water

,

mixed and boiled as described above. Flower - honey, as

it is termed in Scotland, or clover - honey,is the best and

healthiest food for bees and,strange as it may appear

,

10 or 1 1 lb . of this honey lasts or feeds a hive as long

as 15 lb . of heather - honey. Brown sugar is relaxing,and

shou ld not be given to bees as winter food. On the score

o f cheapness it is often used in summer,and with safety.

now sold at 3éd. per lh. ,is nearly as

for feeding bees.

Some old- fash ioned gentlemen,doubtless fond of a glass

of good ale th emselves,like to give their bees sugar - and

ale instead of sugar - and—water '

; and some are so kind as

to give them wine mixed with sugar . Pure water mixedwith the sugar is better for bees than either ale or wine .

The elephant grows strong on water , the ox fattens on

water , the horse does its work on water, and bees want

nothing better .In mixing sugar and water for bees

,it is desirable to

present it to them sweet enough, and yet not too thickand sticky. W e have mentioned one pint of water toone pound weight of sugar

fi that is,nearly weight for

weight. W e wish to make ourselves well understoodhere for the E nglish and Scotch pints are very different.


end of the trough attached. The trough is about threeeighths of an inch deep and 12 inches long. The opening between the trough and cistern mu st be less in heightthan the edges of the trough,

in order to prevent the

F eeding-B oa r d .

syrup from running over , and the bees from go ing intothe cistern . As the bees empty the trough, the cisternfills it. It is generally used at nights—41a ,

when bees arenot flying about.The feeding- trough is an exceedingly handy thing. It

is used for giving syrup in small quantities. It holdsabout a. gill, but one could be made to hold more or less.A single troughful of sugar

-and—water,costing about one

halfpenny, given to a hive daily in dull weather , has a

wonderful influence for good, even if the hive is nothungry. For the feeding of bees in spring this littletrough is unsurpassed for excellence .

FE E D IN G . 1 15

In hives that are not full of combs,a common soup

plate or a flower-

pot saucer , answers well for feeding bees .

Some chips of wood or short straws are placed in thesesaucers. A fter being filled with the bee- food, they areplaced on the boards inside the hives. In times of combbuilding

,the hives should be lifted off their boards with

the greatest care, and withou t turning them in any way;

otherwise their combs might be jar red down. W e fre

quently use flower -

pot saucers for feeding swarms. Lifting the hive off the board, and gently placing it on theground for amoment or two, we put the saucer on the board,fill it with the liquid, and then lift the hive on the board.

In feeding bees we have always tried to do the worksimply and rapidly. Wh en we have one or two dozen of

stockhives needing food,we do not call to our aid feed

ing- troughs of any kind. W e simply pour the sugar - and

water amongst the combs and bees, and can easily give

20 lb. of sugar to fifteen hives in half an hour. In doingthis we dose a hive well with the smoke of corduroy,turn it up, and hold it with the combs in a slanting position to the left. From a pitcher or jug with a spoutthe syrup is now to be poured fir st along one comb andthen another

,till all are gone over then turn the hive

with the combs slanting to the r ight,and pour the liquid

on the reverse side of the combs in the same manner .

Owing to the slanting position of the combs, the syrupruns into the open cells before it reaches the crown of

the hive. Thus one hive after another is fed and if

necessary or convenient to give more,each hive can get

three or four such doses every day. The liquid thuspoured amongst the bees db es no harm whatever, as theylick it off one another quite clean in a fewminutes. The

syrup,as we mix it

,is not thick and sticky like treacle

or honey, and when admin istered as above, does not in

jure a hair on the body of a bee.


In the spring and summer months,when the weather

is unfavourable, constant feeding by small quantities is

the better way, because it keeps hives full of glee but in

autumn the more speedily it is done the better . By giv~

ing the food rapidly, 3 or 4 lb . a - day, th e bees store mostof it up, and then settle down into th e quiet of winterlife . If au tumn feeding be continued for days or weeks

,

the bees are kept in a state of excitement, and may con

sume as much as they sto re up and moreover , may be

induced to commence breeding at an untimely season .

Sometimes hives have not been fed enough at the

proper time in au tumn (September), and the bees in themmay be found in the dead of winter nearly starved to

death,so cold and hungry that they will not leave their

combs for food. W hat should be done to save them "Take them into a warm room or hothouse for an hour

,and

pour amongst them a very little warm syrup, which willrevive them in a few minu tes. I say

“a very little

syrup, for it is not W ise to wet much comb with syrup inwinter . Of course the door of the hive should be closed

while it is in the house,unless the place be in complete

darkness.

The practice of exposing refus e honey,or hives and

combs wet with honey, to all the bees in a garden or

neighbourhood, cannot be too strongly condemned .

H oney thus given to bees is like blood to a tiger theywill have mor e, and make earnest attempts to rob theirneighbours. And there is gr eat danger of making bees ofdifferent hives too familiar with one another in a mixedcongregation thu s brought together . Bees should be fedat home, and never tempted' to come in contact withthose of another family.

In presenting r efuse honey or combs wet with honeyto a hive , we put it in an empty hive, and place over ita board with nine holes braced through it. A t night the

1 18 HANDY BOOK OF BE E S.

it is so fully developed as to make the bees forsake theirhive, and will not hesitate to give the bees suffering fromit a clean hive as soon as he wisely can . F oul brood in a

bee- hive is as dangerous and destructive of health and lifeas foul air or choke - damp is in a coal- pit. W e are not

going to waste time and space in theor ising as to the

cause of this distemper in bee - hives,which is not under

stood. Long and elaborate essays on foul brood havebeen printed from the pens of great and distinguishedapiarians of both E urope and Amer ica during the lastfew year s, a careful peru sal of which will convince any

man of ordinary intelligence that the wr iters themselvesare not qu ite cer tain as to the correctness of their opinions.The best of them

,to say the most, are but good guesses .

”

But the last,and every attempt made to clear up the

mystery of foul bro od,indicates that the person who

makes it thinks that all who have gone before him havefailed in their attempts . Though we ar e unable to speakwith authority or certainty on this subject, we maybe excused for saying that we are yet to be convincedthat it is in its nature infections or self- communicating, orthat it is ever carr ied in honey from one hive to another .

That it spreads in an infected h ive of living bees, all willadmit ; but a satisfactory explanation of the law or pro

cess by which it spreads we have never seen . M any

single cells of foul brood, far asunder in a hive, often

appear . These cells are covered with lids,rather flat

,or

slightly concave or scooped, resembling in shape the lidsof honey- cells . The lids of cells containing healthy broodare slightly r aised or convex . The disease spreads— the

cells multiply, apparently not by contact,but sine and

separately all over the brood- combs, like berries of a bunchof grapes colour ing one by one.

A great deal has been said abou t chill ed brood perishing and becoming foul. The bees of a hive full of breed

THE DISE ASE S OF BE E S . 1 19

seem to dread the exposure of their combs to a cold,chilling atmosphere. In the spr ing months eggs are as

widely set as the bees can cover them ; but if severeweather overtake the hive, and compel the bees to creeptogether for mutual warmth

,some brood may be left nu

covered and perish. Some years ago , we placed a hive ina garden of gooseberry - bushes . A mischievous boy foundit and kicked it over for a lark. The hive remained inthis position some days . The boy had cast a stone intothe centre of the hive and bees, which we found on placing the hive on its board. In about four teen days after ,we took a swarm from this hive and gave it a youngqueen. In the au tumn we found foul brood in it, but asthere was but little of it, we cut it clean out, and put

pieces of healthy comb in the place of what was cut out.

The h ive did well the following year . Foul brood is

often found in hives that have suffered more from heatthan cold ; those hives that are long on the point ofswarming

,and prevented from swarming by some cau se

o r other, oftener catch the distemper than tho se not so

full. In fact,the non - swarmers are oftener affected with

this disease than swarmers or their swarms and this isan argument in favour of the swarming system ofmanagement. By keeping young hives— that is to say, swarms

of the pr esent year— for stock, no beekeeper will suffermuch from foul brood, if he ever suffer at all. If hivescontaining older combs are kept as stock, they should becarefully examined twice a - year to see that they are fr eefrom diseased brood. The fir st examination should bemade from the 2 1st to 24th day after first swarms are

obtained . All the healthy brood is hatched, and the

young queen s have not begun to lay. The second ex

amination should be made at the end of the season whenbreeding has ceased. By blowing the smoke down

amongst the combs the bees will leave them, so that we


can see whether any cells have lids. If the cell s are all

apparently empty, th e hives are clean,and eligible to be

kept another year . If some cells have lids covering them,

a t once proceed to drive the bees out of such hives intoempty ones. If this happen at midsummer

,the bees will

do better in every way in clean hives. If the diseasedbrood be discovered in autuum ,

drive the bees out and

unite them to other hives . There can bel

no prosper ity ina hive containing diseased and stinking brood and to the

bee -master there will come from it loss and disappointment instead of profit.

C H APTE R XXV I I I.

THE E NE M IE S o r BE E S .

It has been said that swallows, sparrows, tomtits, frogs,and hens eat bees. W e have never seen them do so , or

even attempt to seize a living one we are therefore saeptical on this point.M ice often rob bees of their honey in the winter

months when they are sitting quiet and in little compass .

Indeed mice sometimes take up their winter quarters in a

bee - hive, which they find comfortable every way. M icedare not enter hives in summer when bees cover all theircombs . E xper ienced men contract the doors of theirhives about the middle of September

,and so contract them

that mice cannot enter . The doors of our h ives ar e about4 inches long and 1 inch high. W e cut pieces of woodto fit the doors, in each of which we cut a small doorwayabou t 1 inch in length and one - quarter of an inch inheight. The small doorways prevent the mice from goinginto h ives

,and allow the bees ample room for all the

1 22 HAN DY BOOK OF BE E S.

sisted. The r obbers,thus thwar ted, ins tantly let the

whole fraternity of their own hive know that theirgame was up

—that no more honey could be got fromthat quar ter . Often have we seen hives assaulted againand again with spirit and determination, and every assaultsuccessfully and spir itedly r esisted. These continuousand persistent attacks are probably owing to one or two

of the enemy having got access to the city, and escapedwith some spoil before the defender s were aware. It hasever been a marvel to witness the r esult of a few bees intimating to their companions that honey has been found ,and that more may be had. H ow the intimation is givenwe cannot tell but sometimes combined attacks are sud

denly made, and sometimes as suddenly ended . W hen

the bee -master sees any of his hives assaulted,and every

assaulting bee hurled back,he has little to fear and all

that he can do is to contract the door , and thus enablehis bees to defend their citadel. If robbers have no

mercy, neither have the defenders . E very bee defendingits hive is a qualified judge and executioner . If a robber

is caught, lynch- law takes its course.

Bees know each other by smell, and they know stranger sQ

in the same way. If robbers are not resisted,and kept

out of the hive attacked at first,there is no attempt made

to resist them after having been allowed to go in and out

for some time. They soon pillage the hive of all its treasur e. W hile this pillaging is taking place, the bees workearly and late, wet and dry. W eak hives are generallythe sufferers but sometimes strong ones are invaded and

robbed while busy gather ing honey.

E very exper ienced apiarian knows r obbers by theirstealthy manner of attempting to enter hives for plunder,and he knows them by the way they leave the hive ladenwith it. This knowledge cannot be obtained by reading,but is gained by observation .

TRANSPORTING OF BEE S. 123

C HAPT E R XXIX.

TRANSPORTIN G BE E S FROM ON E PLACE TO AN OTHE R.

E arnest men who keep large strong hives find it profitableto remove them to the neighbourhood of orchards

,clever,

and heather , when these ar e at some distance from theirown gardens . In some C ontinental parts, car ts are madeon purpose, shelf over shelf, to carry hives. In Scotland,the beekeepers

,generally speaking

, remove the bees tothe moors every year . In August, large hives in goodseasons will gather from 40 1h . to 60 lb . each off the

heather ; whereas, if they had no heather within reach ,

they would lose weight dur ing that month. W e removeour bees

'

far ther into the country every spring, bring themhome in A ugust, and take them to the Derbyshire moors—a distance of twenty-five miles. M any of the apiar iansof this neighbourhood are copying our example—and we

expect their number will multiply annually. There are

three seasons for honey—viz.,the fruit- trees yield honey in

A pril and M ay ; sycamore- trees,field-mustard

,beans, and

clover , &c.,in June and July heather in August. W ith

large hives bees will gather honey enough in one day to

pay the expense of removal from hereto D erbyshire andback. W e put fifteen hives on a green-

grocer’

s cart whichleaves here at 4 o

’

clock in the morning to catch the trainleaving M anchester at A .M . In less than an hourafter, they are dropped from the train at a station on

the edge of a moor skirted by the M anchester and Sheffield line of railway. In September the hives are broughthome in the same way.

Our mode of confining bees for removal is as simple as


it is safe. The doors of our hives are pretty large, andthe holes in their crowns are abou t 4 inches in diameter .

W e nail a piece of fly- proof wire over their mouths and

crown- holes,then tie the hives tightly to their boards

with strong str ing or cord, and dr ive three two - inch nailsthrough the bottom r olls of the hives into the boards.They are thus prepared to bear pretty rough handling.The fly

- proof wir e at the doors and on the tops secures

ample ventilation for hives as full as they can be indeedthis ventilation is so great that the heat of full hives isless at the end of th e journey than it was before theystarted and frequently the bees lessen the ventilation bywaxing up the wir e on the tops. If hives are not full orcrowded with bees, we do not always put wire on the

crown -holes. The wire at their doors, and a few thin

wedges or penny- pieces,slipped in between the hives and

their boards before they are tied together tightly with thestring

,prevent suffocation. They travel safely. The

nails are us ed to make all doubly secure. If hives travelover a rough road on a cart

,the jolting sometimes causes

them to move or slide on their boards,especially if the

bottom of the cart is not level. The nails through therolls of the hives, dr iven into the boards, prevent thehives from moving laterally. Of course hives are thusprepared for travelling either before they commence workin the morning

,o r after the outdoor labour of the day

has closed. In this way not a bee is lost ; and the coolof the day is the better time to transport and transplanthives. If the weather be cold or rainy

, and the bees notat work, they may be confined at any hour , and theirhives secured as already described. In fact, the colder

the weather is, and the less the bees are at work whenabout to be transpor ted and transplanted, the less dangerthere is , for in coldweather the bees need less ventilation.

This is our mode of ventilating and secur ing hives for

126 HANDY BOOK OF BE E S

hives in a strange locality on e fine day. If they havesuffered from being overheated by the way, the bees willnot go into full work for one or two days afterwards.

C H APTE R XXX.

THE SE LE CTION AN D PREPARATION OF STOCK - H IVE S

FOR A NOTH E R YE AR.

This is a very important matter in the pr ofitable management of bees, and bad luck is often the consequence ofinattention to it. W hen we see our hedgerows and thefruit trees of our orchards covered with blossoms in

spr ing, we should not forget that we are indebted tothe autumn’

s suns of last year for the beauty and abund

ance that meet our eyes. Tho se suns ripened the wood,filled the buds, and set the flowers before the cold andsnows of winter came. This year’s suns can developthose buds into blossom and fruit. So the autumn treatment of bees is to be considered of primary importance.

In selecting hives for keeping, one should have his eyeon many points .

H ives that are full of combs,well built, and as free

from drone- cells as possible, are to be preferred to thosethat are not full of combs or that contain much dronecomb. In the spring months, or in prospect of breedingyoung queens for swarming, bees do build too muchdrone - comb hence it is desirable to select hives inautumn that are filled with combs or nea

r ly so—it is thenumber of drone- cells in a hive that determines the number of drones bred in it.In this work of selecting hives for stock, the age of

STUC K - HIVE S. 127

queens must not be lost sight of or forgotten. All the

old queens will be found in the top or first swarms (if allthe hives have swarmed) and if any of these containingqueens more than two years old be selected for stock

,it is

desirable to remove and destroy their queens, and putyounger ones in their places . All parent hives, secondswarms, and turnouts have young queens. Second swarms

and turnouts with pretty and closely- built combs, weighing from 36 to 50 lb. each, make valuable stockhives .

If some of them have faulty combs, or are otherwise ob

jectionable, they are marked for honey, and the parenthives kept for another year .

First or t0p swarms in ordinary seasons are too heavyfor keeping

,and are therefore generally put down for

honey, but in rainy seasons they are often kept forstock.

N ow let us suppose a bee - keeper has twenty hives atthe end of August, ten for stock and ten for honey.Should he apply the br imstone to the ten for honey "N 0

,but dr ive the bees out of them, and unite them to those

selected for keeping. This is a cons ideration of primeimportance ; for hives thus plentifully furnished withbees in autumn are worth much more than those which,being o therwise equal

,r eceive no additions of bees.

H ives thus strengthened ar e well able to bear the severities and difficulties of cold winters : they swarm abou ta month sooner than others in spring ; and their firstswarms, in fine seasons, will have their hives fil led withcombs, and be nearly ready to swarm (virgins)themselvesbefore hives not so liberally and skilfully deal t with beginto swarm at all. N o words of ours can describe the valueof this hint. Let it go and be circulated widely withthat of large hives

,and the success of those who carry it

into practice will soon stimulate the attention of thosewho do not ; the awful br imstone- pit used to destroy


valuable lives will soon be considered as something belonging tb “ the dark ages.

”The way to unite swarms is

simple and easy, and will be explained presently.Let me here say that hives so well fil led with bees in

autumn requir e more food in winter than those not so

well fil led. A C ontinental wr iter,

a Swiss clergyman,

”

has broadly stated that two swarms united eat no more

honey than each does separately. This wild notion hasnow a pr etty wide and fr ee currency, having been quotedand repeated by one writer after another .

Some exper iments have been made to test the truth ofthis statement. The results

,as recorded

,seem to favour

the clergyman’

s opinion 3 but what str ikes one is the ex

ceedingly small quantity of honey eaten by the swarm,

doubled and tr ebled in the recorded exper iments . N eithersingle, nor double, nor treble swarms eat mor e than 7 lb .

of honey from September till M arch,whereas each of our

strong hives consumes 15 lb. of honey in the same spaceof time I W ho can r a tiona lly

“

account for the difference

between 7 lb. and 15 lb. consumed if numbers are not

considered" W e think the clergyman is wrong in his

statements and doctrines as to the food requ ired by beesin winter . It were easy to put bees enough into

'

a hiveto consume 7 lb . of honey in a few weeks in autumn .

F ifty thou sand bees r equ ire about as much honey in one

hive as they do in two .

In autumn s of rainy seasons,what should be done

with hives containing but little honey" The bees of

them should be united to others selected for stock. If

there be not more than 5s . wor th of honey in each hive,

it is better to let it remain in the hives and combs,and

be carefully preserved till the following spring for new

swarms,than to break up the comb for honey. A hive

of fresh young combs is worth 7 s . at least for receiving aswarm. Three years ago two good swarms came off on


a proportionate loss of honey by interfering with heavyhives before the season is over . Wh en two swarms are

thus united,the oldest queen should be destroyed before

the union takes place.

2 . The second"

way is to select the proper number of

stocks from these heavy hives, and greatly reduce themin weight by freely using the comb - knife in cuttingout 20 lb . of honey or more from each hive , and

uniting to them the bees of those that are wholly putdown.

3 . The other way of meeting th e difficulty is the best,though it causes a little more trouble to car ry it out.The bees are allowed to gather all they can in their ownhives till the season ends

, which is generally abou t thecommencement of September . Suppose we have twelveo r fifteen hives

,and wish to have six stocks. W ell, all

the bees are dr iven out of their hives into empty ones,and united in pairs in 16 - inch hives—that is to say, all

the bees of the twelve or fifteen hives are put into six

empty ones,with cross- sticks in them . If the swarms are

very large,these hives will hardly hold them in that

case they should be enlarged with ekes. N ow they areto be fed vigor ously, each to get 25 lb. of sugar boiled inits own weight of water . The feeding -boards are suitableinstruments to u se in giving large quantities of syrup forcomb - bu ilding and storing- up . The 25 lb. of sugar willmake abou t 50 lb. of syrup . All this should be given toa hive so filled with bees in ten, twelve, or fo ur teen days.

The door should be well contracted, and the hive keptwarm to promote comb—bu ilding . By the end of fourteendays, every hive so filled and fed will be nearly

,if not

quite, full of combs, and many of the combs well filledwith eggs and brood. The weight gained by the hiveswill be found to be equal to the weight of the sugar (orthereabouts) given to them. From 50 lb. of syrup, a

STOCK- HIVE S. 131

swarm can nearly fill its hive with combs and store up25 lb. of food.

W hen the bees creep together by reason of cold weatherthe ekes may be taken from them ; and if some combshave been built down into the ekes, they should be

shortened or pared to fit.These sugar - fed stocks are generally very prosperou s

ones in the following year , their combs being young andcontaining scarcely any bee

- bread. Almost every cell

yields breed in spring . But it should be understood thatcombs made from sugar are more brittle and easily brokenthan combs made fr om honey gathered in the fields . W e

have frequently known every hive in an apiary put downfor honey, and all the stocks made as now described. W e

think it was in 1864 when a cousin of ours r ealised £40profit fr om nine stocks . He found all his hives tooheavy for keeping

,hence he took all the honey, and

formed his stocks by feeding.In a year or two after, we found him forming stocks in

the same way. H e had his hives placed over holes or

pits in the ground about a foot square, and the syrup indishes at the bottom of these pits . The hives were wellcovered and in this novel and rustic way he succeeded

in furnishing his apiary with hives of surpassing worthand strength.


C HA PTE R XXXI.

ON DRIVIN G AN D SH ARIN G BE E S FROM H IVE S AND

UN ITING TH E M TO OTH ER SWARM S.

Though often mentioned before in other chapters of thiswork

,this matter deserves separate and distinct treatment.

Take a hive full of combs and bees, and an empty oneinto wh ich the bees are to be dr iven . A fter the full hivehas got a few puffs of smoke, it is turned upside down ,

the empty one placed on it, mouth to mouth, and a

table- cloth is tied round the junction of the two hives ,to prevent the escape of a single bee . The drumming ordriving now commences

,simply by beating the bottom

hive with open hands, or little blocks of wood. This

beating confounds the bees, and causes them to run up

wards . In running up into the empty hive the beesmake a great noise as in swarming

,and this noise facili

tates the work in hand. In hot weather all the bees,

or almost all,may be thus driven out of a large hive in

twenty minutes . The drumming should be continuedthe whole time

,for if the bees have time given them to

think, they will cease running, the noise will abate, andthose that are below will cleave to the brood- combs to

keep them warm. In dr iving bees the work shoul d bedone quickly, allowing no time for play or palaver .

In cold weather th is work is more difficult to accom

plish , the bees being then more disinclined to leave theirown comfortable habitations. But the work has to bedone

,and the bee-master ’s ingenuity will not forsake him

in a job of this kind. About ten minutes before hecommences to dr ive his bees in cold weather, he willremember to turn up their hive and pour about half a


them as descr ibed above. A few minutes after havingbeen fed

,they will be found moving lightly about over

their combs, when they may be shaken out readily in less

than half a minute . This expert express mode of

dr iving bees from light hives is useful to us for we havemany to dr ive

, and little time to do it. But the thing isso simple and

‘easily done, that the greatest novice in the

world in bee -management could, on seeing it once done,do it well . W e often perform this operation by candle

light, by feeding the bees about sunset, and taking theminto a room

, or barn,or hothouse for a short time. Say

in about half an hour afterwards, they may all be readilyshaken on to the floor of the ro om

,and a hive placed

over them 5 and often there is not a bee lost in doing it.Of course the hive containing the bees should be placedon its stand before they begin to fly next morn in g.H ives beyond 30 lb. are not so easily handled } A man

of ordinary strength is unable to pu t them in motionr apid enough to make the bees loose their foot- hold and

go forward.

The art of uniting swarms is a very valuable one,and

easily learned. The hive to receive the bees,or additional

swarm, is turned up, and some sugar - and-water

, stronglyscented with mint, is poured over the bees. In abou tfifteen minutes after they have been sprinkl ed

,the other

swarm (temporarily dr iven in to an empty hive)is shakenover the combs and bees, and some more syrup spr inkledover them. The hive is again placed on its board, and

the work is done. This minted syrup prevents the beesfrom discover ing which are strangers, and therefore prevents fighting. On the C ontinent the beekeepers havebegun to use nutmeg grated in the syrup, which theygive to swarms when uniting them. It is the same ideaand practice. If the nutmeg smells stronger than the

mint,it is better for this purpose. W e could unite a

DRIVING AND SHAKING BE E S. 135

hundred swarms successfully without the use of eithermint or nutmeg but these stronglyscented articles usedin the marriage- feast of two swarms tie the knot at once,and cement a union lasting as life. W hen swarms are

united about sunset, and plenty of unminted syr up isgiven to the bees

,they rarely kill each other . W hen

they do, the work has not been well done.

The immediate effects of placing sweets in the mouthsof young folk are very noticeable . A kind of intoxicationor hilar ity comes over their minds and when this takesplace, it is rather difficul t to make them cross- tempered.

All this kind of thing happens in a hive if the bees arewell fed with sugar . It is therefore wise to give them some

abou t fifteen minutes before the other swarm is shakenamongst them. A swarm may be divided between two

hives, or thr ee, as successfully as when wholly given to

one. W e are now speaking of uniting bees in au tumn.

The oldest queen of the two swarms should be killedbefore the union takes place. And it is necessary toremember that the hives standing against each other inthe same garden are the most eligible for being united, aseach swarm will be near its own stand.

W hen our hives are brought home from the moors, we

place the honey - hives in front of,or side by side with,

those marked for keeping,thus

Here the four stockhives get the bees of the two


honeyhives,and if there were four honey - hives the

stocks would get a whole swarm each .

But suppose a honey- hive is standing at some distancefrom those we wish to strengthen by its bees, how can

we act without r isk" There is some, if not great, difficulty in ar ranging such matters.

1 3 4 5 7 8

Suppose we want to get the honey from N 0. 2,and

strengthen with bees 7 and 9. If the bees of 2 were

to be put into 7 and 9 they would return to their old

stand, and probably be killed at the doors of l and 3 . In

such a case we drive all the bees out of 8 and un ite themto 7 and 9. Then we dr ive the bees out of 2

,and

throw them into 8,placing 8 on stand 2 . Thus the honey

is obtained,and all the bees preserved.

Sometimes it may be desir able to unite the bees of twoweak stocks in the winter season or in cold weather . This isdone bycandle - light in some r oom or house . The bees of the

hive to be surrendered are fed by sprinkling syrup overthem. In about fifteen minu tes after, they are suddenlyshaken into the o ther hive

,or otherwise on the floor and

the other hive placed over them. W e have never knownan unsuccessful effort made to unite bees by candle - light.Of cour se the candle must be speedily removed, as thebees on the floor would naturally fly or cr eep towards it.Before daylight next morning the un ited bees shouldbe placed where they have to stand. A little self- confi

dence, and a fair share of celerity, will enable any bee

keeper to accomplish all he wishes to do in his apiary.


to certainty for all practical purposes . A fter deductingthe weight of hive

,board, and bees, we reckon 5 1b . of

honey for every 7 lb. weight. Suppose a hive weighs 60 lb.

The hive and board may weigh 10 lb. jointly,and the

bees 8 lb.,leaving 42 lb. In this case there are 30 lb.

of honey,and 12 lb . of refuse combs. An other hive may

weigh 100 lb .

,the hive

,board, and bees of which may be

2 1 lb .-leaving 7 9 lb. A ccording to our standard

,there

would be 57 lb. of honey and 22 lb . of refuse. In the case

of hives containing old combs, the yield of honey is less

in proportion to weight than it is in young or virgincombs . Again, if the brood be all hatched, there will beless refuse and more honey. And we need not add thatthe yield of poor lean hives will be found wanting and

that in the yield of very fat ones, and those beyond 100lb . , there will be found a surcharge of honey.But let us now come to the process of taking honey.

A s soon as the bees are driven out of honey - hives, theyshould be carr ied into a warm room, and not allowed to

cool,for it is very difficult to impart heat to honeycomb

without melting their wax . The sticks crossing thecombs are withdrawn by a pair of pincers, the combs re

moved from their hives, and the honey portions of themcarefully cut off and placed on a flat dish or milk -

pan,standing near the fire

,but not so near as to melt the

combs. Any pure white comb may be set aside for sale

as it is,and all the rest containing honey broken up with

a knife, and then put into a bag of cheese - cloth or thintowelling to drain off into a vessel placed underneath.The honey thus drained is as pur e as it possibly can be,if the beebread in the cell has not been broken by theknife. A s many of the cells contain both bee - bread and

honey,there is great danger (in taking honey)of having

its flavour tainted by bee - bread. In this school we our

selves are but pupil- teachers. W e disapprove of hand

TAKING HONE Y AND WAX. 139

squeezing and yet where there is much pollen amongstthe honey, we have found the squeezing process safer andbetter than that of cutting the combs with a knife. In

the case of heather ~honey some pressur e is absolutelynecessary

,for it will not run without it.

W e have seen instruments for pressing honey fromcombs. Though small and imperfect

,they did their work

well, but the process was slow and tedious. W e earnestly

hope that the ingenuity of somebee keeperwill soon furnishus with an instrumentwhich will enable apiarians to takehundredweights of honey from combs e asily and speedily.

Have you never seen the American machine called

the Slinger "” Yes, we have seen several of them, and

tried one here that was highly commended at the apiarianféte that came offat the C rystalPalace in September 1874.

W e regret that its trial here was disappointing ; for thoughit cast the clover - honey from the combs by the action of

centrifugal force,it could not cast or sling off the heather

honey in the same way. H eather - honey is beyond thepower of the Amer ican Slinger ,” or honey- extractor.The Slinger is intended for use with bar - frame hivesthat is to say,by apiar ians who adopt the movable- combsystem of management. W hen honey is wanted, thebars of combs are taken from the hives, the lids are cutoff the honey portions of the comb with a knife, two areplaced in the Slinger, the revolving action of the instru

ment slings the honey from the cells,and then the

combs are replaced in the hive. It casts the clover -honeyout prettywell but

,aswe have said, heather - honeywill not

go at the command of this American instrument, howeverfast it revolves . The value of this ins trument,we are told,is that it takes the honey withou t destroying the combs,and thus saves the bees fr om wasting much honey inbuilding more combs. In much that is said about theSlinger by its patrons and advocates (who are chiefly


traders in bar- frame hives), there is the ring of common

sense which always captivates . But do you think the

Slinger is likely ever to come into general use in thiscoun try" The present instrument

,we think, will never

su it the bee -farmer whose object is profit, and thereforewil l not come into general use. Some are, we are told,endeavouring to improve the Slinger by making it moreefficient in action

, and smaller in bulk. W e sincerelyhope they will succeed. Those who keep bar - frame hivesmay find the instr ument useful in taking “honey in small

quantities from their hives, but there ar e many objections

that could be offered to the use of the Slinger .

1 . H oney and brood are generally found in the same

combs ; and it appears to me that the whirling of the

machine will cast out unsealed brood as well as honey.

If it does, the honey will be impure. The breeding sea

son was over when we put the instrument to the test here.

2 . The Slinger is used to preserve combs two years old.

Young combs are too tender to stand the whirling of themachine . N ow we think combs quite old enough at theend of their second year . A t that age they are black and

tough, and moreover they are pollen - bound— that is tosay, their centre parts are clogged with beebread . The

bees cannot find empty cells in such combs for the eggslaid by their queens . W e hold that the preservation of

old combs in hives is neither wise nor profitable . Beesthr ive better and gather more honey in combs young andsweet than they do in combs two years old. A swarm

put into a good straw hive in M ay will fill it with combsand gather more honey in a good season than any kind ofhive managed on the non - swarming system.

3 . The combs of a large hive yield about five shillings’

worth of wax . This sum would nearly buy sugar enoughfor a large swarm

,which, if properly given, would en

able the bees to fill an ordinary bar - frame h ive or a 16


CHAPTER XXXIII.

O N W I N T E R TRE A TM E N T.

D octors differ in their opin ions as to the treatment beesshould receive in the win ter months. One says, K eepthem warm another says

,K eep them rather cold. One

suggests a nice warm spot facing the south and anotherrecommends all hives to face the north

,lest the warm

rays of the sun tempt the bees to come out when the

atmosphere is too chilling. One prefers to winter beesin the garret another has bru'ied them in cavities underneath the ground. In America

, some large bee—keepershave erected large houses on purpose to hold their hivesduring winter . These houses are meant to pro tect beesfrom the severity of American winters. In Great Britainsuch houses are quite unnecessary here bees can be keptsufficiently warm without anything of

,the kind.

W ould you keep bees warm,then, in winter" Yes ;

as warm as possible out of doors, so that they get freshair enough to breathe. The importance of keeping beeswarm in cold weather cannot be magnified too much .

They are easily benumbed by cold—eas ily chilled to death.W hen a bee drops into snow

,it seems to die sooner there

than if cast into a hot fire. Though bees apparently dieon touching soft snow, they are not quite dead ; for ifspeedily gathered and carr ied to the heat of a fire, theyrecover their powers. W hen snow is on the ground,especially if the wind blows from Lthe south or west,all hives should have their doors closed

, so as to pre

vent bees leaving them.

In cold weather bees creep close together, but some

of them must necessar ily be more exposed to the cold

W INTER TREATMENT. 143

than the rest. Those on the outside of the mass as it sitsamong the combs suffer most. Sometimes they becomebenumbed

,and lose all power of motion. The rest creep

closer together,leaving the others to perish in their help

less condition . M any hives are thus weakened for wantof sufficient protection in cold winters. W eak hives are

often killed outright by cold. Bees need extra coveringin winter

,and they cannot well get too much of it. Be

neath the outer cover ing plenty of o ther materials shoul dbe used. Soft dry hay, two or three inches thick, orwaste cotton

,or tailors’ clippings, old carpets, or grassy

sods,properly placed around hives

,are a great protection

to bees in winter .

The seeds of consumption,and other diseases of the

human frame, have been sometimes sown at a date moreancient than we think about 5 and so the “ bad luckmany bee - keepers in the summer time could be traced totheir bad management dur ing the winter season . W armthas well as dryness for bees is of prime importance inevery apiary in which profit is sought.A bout the end of September

,when all stocks have

received some additional bees,and feeding, if necessary,

they should be neatly plastered to their boards with somekind of mortar

,and then covered up as described. The

doors of the hives are to be contracted at this tim& N 0

more attention is necessary for five or six months,save

that of keeping the bees inside their hives when snow is

on the ground. But here let us say that bees breatheand require fresh air in winter as well as summer , and

that they prefer to go abroad to evacuate ; fhence care

and thoughtfuln ess are requir ed in closing their doors tokeep them in. Bees in wooden hives soon perish if theirdoors be closely shut. Bees in straw hives will be suf

focated too if their doors be closely shut for some time,

if they have been crowded in autumn by the addition of


extra swarms. During long storms, the lives of bees invery weak hives may be preserved by taking them intothe r oom of a dwelling- hou se . Bees have been winteredbeneath the ground in Amer ica. It has been found thatthey consumed as much honey below as they did above

ground. The dampness of the air below ground,as might

be expected, rotted their combs .

C H APTE R XXXIV .

WHE N SH OULD H IVE S BE PURCHASE D "

W e think September is the best time to purchase hivesfor stock

,for then almost every bee -keeper has some to

par t with— viz.,those which he has marked for honey.

If he can get the value of the honey, hives, and board, hewill readily sell them ,

and thus save himself the troubleof running and selling the honey. The taking of honeyand wax is the most di sagreeable thing in bee - keeping

,

and we would much rather sell our hives than put themdown for honey. This month is the cheapest time

,too 5

for hives that have weathered the winter are higher inprice, because all danger is over

,and they are nearer the

time of multiplying their numbers . But bee - keeping canbe commenced at any tim e

,— with stockhives in spring

,

au tumn,and winter 5 and with swarms in M ay and June.

A nd those who keep bees largely will readily sell at anyseason.


h ives ar e benefited by the bees taking an occasional air

ing in mild weather during the winter months, the inmates of healthy hives sit more closely and qu ietly together than those of unhealthy ones . On turning up a

hive infected with foul brood, we invar iably find the beess itting very loosely in it, and that they begin to spreadthemselves over the combs r apidly.Sometimes bees, in coming out for an air ing, take so

much honey that they cannot fly. They become benumbedoutside, and cannot return to their hives . This is veryevident when a great number of hives are standing neareach o ther , and especially when the bees are living onheather - honey. The gr ound amongst th e hives becomesthickly strewed with chilled bees . W hen this happensthe bees should be swept together , gathered into small

super s or boxes, and well warmed before a fire or in a

half- cooled oven . The heat soon restores them,and when

let go , enables them to return to their hives.

Though September is the best month for feeding beesfor win ter , some bee -keepers fail to give enough then, andcontinue to feed afterwards for months. This late feedingcannot be too strongly condemned. There is :often greatdifficulty experienced in getting bees to take food duringco ld weather . If necessary (from past forgetfulness)tofeed bees in January, let the food when given be warm,

say or blood - heat. If the bees will not take it, letthem be brought into a warm room or hothouse

,and there

fed with warm food, keeping them in their hives whileindoors.

The smallest door possible afi'

ords bees in straw hivesventilation enough, but those in wooden hives are benefited by ventilating- holes in them . Such holes help tolet the moisture escape, which otherwise would condense

on their sides and rot the combs . Their crown - holesshould be left Open, but covered with wir e to keep

CALENDAR. 147

mice out. If wooden hives have no crown-holes, one or

two dozen of small holes bored through their sides and

crowns with gimlets or small brace- bits will tend to ridthem of moisture.

It has been said by some one that bees die in a tem

perature of 34°— that is to say, when the mercury falls to

within 2“

of the freezing- point inside a hive,bees cannot

live. I have not yet put this to the test of exper iment 5but if it is a fact

,the importance of cover ing hives well in

win ter cannot be too strongly insisted on .

C ottagers who make their own hives should get themready du ring the long evenings of winter 5 and amateurs

,

too,should prepare beforehand for an increase of swarms .

F ebru ary. This month is one, generally speaking,

of inactivity amongst bees. A s the days lengthen,the

hopes and enthu siasm of beekeepers are awakened,and

some pr eparations ar e made for future events. The

seasons from 1870 to 187 3 inclusive were unfavourableones for honey- gathering. 187 4

,though not one of the

best seasons for bees, was very favourable in the monthsof Jun e and July

, enabling good swarms to r ise in weightto 100 lb. each. In the north of Scotland some rose to

120 lb. and upwards .

W hen the weather is mild, queens generally begin to

lay this month : in the south, early in February 5 in thenor th, not till the end of the month. In this neighbourhood, which is about half-way between London and

E dinburgh, I once saw young bees on the w ing on the

15th of February. The queens that year commenced

to lay in January. About four y ears ago we had a verylate spring. The first batch of brood that year was nothatched till the middle of April. An open early Spr ingand

'

a warm early locality ar e advantageous to bees, fortheir lives are of short duration, nine months but


many of them do not live so long. If a hatch of brood ben ot obtained in M arch to fill up the ranks thinned bydeath

, many hives become so weak in bees that thesehave a hard struggle to live . In a cold spring and latelocality, I think it is desirable to stimu late bees by artifi

cial feeding,and thus cause them to breed earlier than

they otherwise would do 5 but great care is necessary inthis work. Better be a little late in beginning it thantoo early ; and when once begun, continue feedingtill the bees can work out of doors . It should be bornein mind that spr ing feeding is merely to stimulate and

keep alive. H alf a pound of sugar and half a pint ofwater , boiled, will make four or six doses for a good hiveduring this month . A s a rule

,M arch is soon enough to

begin feeding bees .

This month all the boards of hives should be wellscraped or cleaned. If the bee -master wishes to changethe position of his hives

,he may venture to do it this

month, for bees come out but seldom now 5 and when theydo come out, it is for a winter dance and purposes of

cleanl iness,and they never then go far frqm home. In

times of honey-

gathering, bees leave their hives and go

straight to field or orchards,and may not discover that the

position of their hives has been altered (if altered it hasbeen)till they return to the old stand. In summer

, hivesshould be removed from one par t of a garden to anotherby short stages— say one or two yards every day. Thismonth they may be removed from one side of a garden toanother without much r isk. W hen this is done

,all the

hives should go at once 5 for naturally some bees wouldreturn to the old place

,and if they found a hive near it,

they would seek a home there instead of going to theirnew position .

M ar cia - By examining hives at the commencement of


brood put in them. This goes on till the extremitiesof the combs are covered .

By using the smoke of fustian,and by examining his

hives often,any young apiar ian may become in a shor t

time —say, three months—a master of the mysteries of

bee - keeping, and an exper t in the manipulation and

management of his hives.By one calm examination of a hive this month, the position and shape of royal cells , and the difference betweenworker - comb and drone - comb , may be well understood.

A s bees increase in number,and move more actively

about,more food is consumed in a hive. If ar tificial

feeding is necessary, more should be given at the end of

this month. W hatever is wo rth doing, should be donewell . And when progress and prosper ity begin

,they

should be encouraged. H ives should have plenty of warmcovering for two months after breeding commences .

Ap r il— N ow the populations of hives multiply very

fast, and every fine day a grea t quantity of pollen is collected. H oney is now gathered from the flowers of

gooseber ry, plum,and other trees. Strong hives rapidly

increase in weight, and eggs are set as widely as possiblethat 13 , as far as the bees cover their combs. The fertilityof queens, and the indu stry of bees

,are marvels in the

history of bee - hives. W hen all the combs of a hive are

covered with bees,and filled with eggs and brood

,it is

,

in ordinary seasons and circumstances,within three weeks

of being r ipe for swarming . In examining a hive at thistime

,to ascer tain if the bees cover their combs

,no smoke

is used 5 the hive is simply raised high enough to let ussee the bees in their natural position.

If swarms are notwanted early,or at all

, supers shouldbe put on hives shortlv after all their combs are coveredby their bees. If the reader will once more read over

CALE NDAR. 151

the chapter on Supering, he will see that it is importantto induce the bees to commence to fill supers at or fromtheir tops or crowns, and that this is done by the use of

guide - combs. A few pieces—the larger the better —ofwhite dronecomb, fixed in a super , induce the bees of

the hive on which it may be placed to commence to fil lit at once.

Both on the swarming and non- swarming systems of

management, drones will appear in strong hives aboutthe end of this month or beginning of next. E arlydrones, it is said

,indicate early swarms 5 but this is not

invariably the case 5 for we have known hives possess a

superabundance of drones for weeks before they wereready for swarming, and we have known hives send off

colonies before a drone was hatched in them.

In the case of small hives used for supering,it is desir

able to enlarge them by ekes, and wait till the ekes are

nearly filled with combs before supers are placed on them.

They will thus be enabled to breed more bees and do

more work than they could do without the ekes .

M ay.—M ay and June may be deemed the most inter

esting and busy months in the apiary. N ow all is activ

ity. The bees go abroad early,and carry in water for the

day while dew is on the grass, and before honey can be

obtained from the flowers . Almost from sunr ise to sunsetbees may be found return ing to their hives with water ,or pollen

, or honey,and frequently with both pollen

and honey. It is a time of activity too for the owners

of large apiar ies. The time of multiplication is at

hand. Swarming commences this month. The bee

master should examine his hives internally every weekto ascertain their state and r ipeness . W e have seen thatif a hive is not ready for swarming, the smoke blown

into it drives the bees up amongst the combs,and few


are left on the board when the hive is turned up . The

swea t of the bees of such a hive lies in drops in the doorway in the morning. But when ready to swarm

,the heat

of the hive is so great that the sweat or condensed moistur e at the door is dried up or dr iven ou t two or threein ches beyond the door . The noise of the hive is greatin fine weather , and many bees have to work hard at the

door to temper the excessive heat of the domicile 5 andthis is done by the rapid motion of their wings, wh ichincreases the circulation of air inside . Abou t four daysbefore first swarms issue from th eir hives

,eggs are placed

in royal cells,and very often these may be seen on ex

amination when many of the bees are abroad seekinghoney. H ives, with queens set in them,

should be care

fully watched in fine weather ; and if the owner or his

family have no time for watching, swarms should betaken from such hives artificially, as already described.

Swarms that come off natur ally should be hived as soon

as possible, and placed on a stand (where they have toremain)befo re the bees begin to work.Sometimes swarms declin e to stay in their hives, and

leave it to cluster again on the branch of a tree . In suchcases they act from caprice 5 and this should be r emem

bered, for if r eturned to the same hive, they would probably leave it a second time. They may readily acceptanother hive 5 and another swarm as readily accept theone that was capr iciously deserted . E king, supering, andnadir ing, may be practised this month according to theaims and notions of the bee-master . If feeding be nocessary this month, every strong hive should get not less

than a pound of sugar dissolved in a pint of water. Bothbees and brood require much food dur ing this month.

June.—If the weather dur ing last m onth has been

154 HAND Y BOOK OF BE E S.

swarmers,we put queens in them, or royal cells with

royal inmates (cut from earlier swarmers). To give lateswarmers perfect queens as soon as their own have leftor been taken fr om them,

is one of the master - strokes ofbee -management. They are thus helped by getting perfeet queens long before they could rear them. By givingqueens in this way to late swarmers, second swarms willnot be obtained from them ,

if the introduction of queensfrom other hives has been successful.

Before we leave this subject, let us give the reader an :

other idea (a little bit of our own peculiar pr actice), whichhe may find in future years to be of some importance.

In bee-keeping, practice must vary with the season . A

man with open eye and active brain will not always beguided by rote and rule 5 he improves upon his own

practice and the teaching of o thers. In most seasons

large bee - keepers have early and later swarmers . Some

seasons hives contain but little honey three weeks afterswarming. In such seasons we do not get much honey atth e first harvest ; but still occasionally we turn the beesout of hives when they do not contain much honey, andput them into empty hives 5 and immediately take swarms

from later stocks to repeople those hives from which thebees have been dr iven. W hy" Because the queens inthese hives are just born, and will not commence to layfor ten or twelve days ; whereas the queens in the laterswarmers are laying two thou sand eggs daily. The bees

have thus an oppor tunity of setting the eggs laid by theirqueens, and filling their hives with brood from side toside ; and the turn outs put into the empty hives havetime to make combs befor e their queens commence to lay.

It is not necessary to wait till the twenty -first day beforethe bees are turned out

, if their hives are repeopled immediately afterwards, for the swarms imported to them hatch

CALENDAR. 155

the breed that may have been unhatched at the time of

turning out. This practice is of considerable importance,for late swarms are thus made equal to early ones. And

by turning the bees out of hives as soon as piping com

mences, or as soon as queens are born in them,there is

no fear or danger of los ing second swarms from them.

The turnouts of large hives that have not yielded second

swarms are valuable, because they are large and haveyoung queens.

A s to the first harvest of honey, which generally begin sin June

,we have to ask the reader to consult the chapter

on Turnouts .

”If early honey be specially wanted

, or

bees transferred from one kind of hive to another withoutsacrifice

,the bees of parent hives should be turned out of

them about three weeks after first swarming, and put

into empty hives . But when the turningout system is

not adopted,the hives of early swarmers will requir e

supers or ekes before the honey season ends.

In about four weeks after first swarms have been put

into empty hives, they should be examined to see whetherthey r equ ire enlarging. If they are full or nearly so , andthe weather be favourable, they should be enlarged bysupers

,ekes

,or nadir s, as their owner may determine.

If not enlarged, preparations will be made for swarming 5and swarms from swarms of the current year are termed“ virgin.

”The seasons are exceptionally fine when it is

profitable to take vir gin swarms.

July—In writing a calendar

,one is constantly beset

with the difficulties and differences of early and late seasons, as well as early and late localities. In 1868

, beeswere gathering great stores from heather on the 24th of

July. Some three years later the heather was just bursting into blossom about the 20th of August. A firm hold of

156 HAND Y BOOK OF BE ES.

principles will do more for the reader than an enumerationof details of management for after all that can be said,much must be left to the judgment and experience of

every apiarian.

July is perhaps th e best month for honey, taking onecounty with another . W h ite clover is the principalhoney- plant this month.

Swarming is permitted by many exper ienced beekeepers till the middl e of this month; but where bees arenot removed to the heather

,swarming should be pre

vented after the first week in July by eking and supering.Late swarmers are generally heavier when they swarm

than those that swarm ear lier,and therefore often contain

a great deal of honey thr ee weeks after swarming. Byputting all their bees into empty hives

,their honey may

be obtained. This is the system advocated in the chapter on Turnouts.

”Late swarms and turnouts should be

well attended to dur ing the first ten days of their separateexistence, for then they have a passion for combbuilding.A few half- pounds of sugar given at this time enable thebees to build comb rapidly and fill them with brood.This branch of bee-management is less attended to thanmany others. Indeed all should be kept in a state of

progress this month. Breeding should be encouraged andpromoted to the uttermost in all hives intended to bekept for stock another year, for hives filled with brood inJuly and August will be strong and populous during thefollowing winter and spr ing.Parent hives or turn outs and second swarms should be

carefully noticed about ten or fourteen days after theirqueens are born 5 for, as we have already seen

,young

queens sometimes never return from their marriage tours.Swarms which thus lose their queen are seized with fitsof grief in which they may be found making a great noise,


they are moved 5 for in moving them by cart or railway,all natural ventilation is stopped. Fly

- proof wire on the

doors and crowns of hives will give the ventilation neces

sary. If the combs of hives be not fastened to cross

sticks, it is exceedingly difficult to remove them in h ot

weather without shaking the combs down .

If the weather be favourable for honey- gather ing whilethe bees are on the heather

,it is often necessary to en

large hives even in A ugust. W e have had supers of 30lb. each filled by swarms while on the heather . The ao

cumulations of honey is often so rapid in hives on the

moors,that they hang outside in clusters soon after they

are placed there.

A s bees do not sit on honeycomb, it will be under

stood that the more honey a hive contains,the less room

it has for bees . E king and super ing may have to be

continued til l the end of this month.

W hen honey- gathering ends,hives lose in weight very

fast. B ut the honey the bees eat then is generally in thebrood- combs 5 and for some days after outdoor work ends

,

the bees remove some honey from centre combs to o therpar ts of the hive. The beefarmer will not sustain muchless by letting his hives remain a week on the moors

after the honey has gone from the heather . The hivescool and their combs harden by being left for a time before they are brought home.

Before hives are taken to the moors they should beexamined with a view to select and mark those to bekept for stock. If too heavy for keeping

,10 or 20 lb .

of honeycomb may be cut from each of them. Thosemarked for honey should be supered or eked before they

Sep tember .—In apiculture this is the month of general

CALENDAR. 159

harvest—and honey- taking is the most unpleasant workthe beekeeper has to perform.

Before the honey is taken, another examination of

every hive should be carefully made— and hives prettyfull of well - formed worker - combs selected for stocks .

From 40 to 50 lb. each is probably the most eligibleweights for stockhives in September . But their weightsmay range f rom 20 to 60 lb. each. Strong stockscause no anxiety to their owners, and will yield as muchprofit as twice or thr ice their number of weak ones.

And now is the time to make stocks strong for ano theryear . The bees of the honey - hives should be dr iveninto empty ones and united to those selected for keeping. Thu s every hive may be made strong in bees .

Those who know better than destroy valuable hives inthe brimstone - pit

,should beg the cottagers to preserve

their bees, instead of suffocating them with sulphur .

Those who have no bees of their own to strengthenhives

,shoul d drive the swarms of cottagers, and give 2s .

6d. per swarm for them . For years I have bought condamned bees in September at l s. per lb. 5 but now thereis great difficulty in finding cottagers in this locality whowill part with their bees . The sulphur - pit will soon bea thing of the past. Those who use bar - frame hivesmay strengthen their stocks by taking some honey- barsfrom their stocks and putting brood - bars from honeyhives in their places. The brood that is hatched in

August and September lives till spring ; and hives withplenty of brood in them now will be in good conditionin M arch and April. Six sheets of brood now indicatefive seams of bees in M arch ; and five seams of bees, aslarge as the crown of a man

’s hat, in a cold morn ing in

M arch,indicate that the h ive is one of great strength.

If any queens in an apiary are three years old, they


should be destroyed,and young ones put in their places,

and when all the bre ed is hatched, a careful and thoroughexamination of every hive should be made to see if foulbrood exists

, and if any be found the hives contain ing itshould be put down for honey.

This month is the time for au tumn feeding—for givingto stockhives enough to keep them till M arch or April.Swarms put into empty hives now,

and fed well, makecombs and store up honey enough for themselves. W e

prefer two swarms in September for one hive to be filledby sugar alone . Instr uctions have been given in one of

the chapters how the sugar has to be given.

A s soon as the bees have been driven from honeyhives,their sticks should be withdrawn by a pair of pincers, andthe combs placed befor e a fir e . W hatever process beadopted for extracting honey, it should be put in operation as soon as possible after the bees have been drivenfrom the combs . W e have always believed that a verysimple instrument will be invented and used for pressinghoney from combs.

In taking honey from hives, the combs with brood inthem may be placed in an empty hive, mouth upwards, ina natural position, and held upr ight by wooden pins orwedges. A s soon as the hive is pretty well filled withcombs of brood, a swarm of bees should be cast amongstthem

,and a board placed over all . The bees hatch all

the breed in the combs thus roughly pinned in, and withthis swarm doubled in population by the birth of so manyyoung bees

,a bee -mas ter can strengthen many of his

hives. Under careful, good management,bo th the bees

and brood of honeyhives can be u tilised with great advantage in an apiary of large hives kept for profit.By putting a swarm into an empty hive with a small

straw or wooden super on it, the bee-master may getmany


bees from going out till the snow be thawed.

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L ines of L ord Castler eagn and S ir Cna r lesS tewa r t, S E C ON D A N D TH IRD M ARQUE SSE S O F LO N DON D E RRY. From the

O riginal Papers O f the Family, and o ther sources , emb rac ing a full

A ccount of the C ampaign o f 1 8 1 3 and 1 8 14 in G ermany and France, and

o f the C ongresses of V ienna , Laybach , and Verona . By Sir Ar chibald

Alison, Bar t , 3 vols . 8vo , g 2 , as.

Pr inciples of tne Cr imina l L aw of Scotland .

By Sir Ar chibald Al ison, Bart , D.C .L. 8vo , 1 85.

Pr actice of tne Cr imina l L aw of Scotland .

By Sir Ar chibald Alison, Bar t . L. 8vo , clo th boards, 1 85 .

Tko Pr inciples of Popula tion ,

A N D TH E IR C O N N E CT ION W ITH H UM A N H APPIN E SS. By Sir Ar chibaldAlison, Bart , D.C .L. 2 vols. 8vo , 305 .

Ou tlines of H uman Pnysiology .

By W illiam Pul teney Alison,M .D .,Professor of the Institu tes of M edicme

in the Univers i ty o f E d inburgh, &c . &c . 8vo , 1 2 5 .

Ou tlines of Pa tfiology and Pr a ctice of M edicine.

By W illiam Pul teney Alison, M .D. 8vo , 1 8s.

On tlce M anag ement of tne Poor in S cotland,

A N D ITS E FFE C TS ON TH E H E A LTH O F THE GRE AT T OW NS . ByW illiamPulteney Alison, M l ). C rown 8vo , 55. 6d.

A ag ler’

s Dia ry,

For Reco rd ing the Quanti ty o f F ish K illed, &c. 8vo , bo und in green

lea ther , 4s.

WILLIAM BLACKW OOD AN D SON S. 3

Poetica l Works of Tnomas A ird.

Four th E d i tion, Fcap. 8vo , 65.M r A ird is a poet of a very high class, and in tha t class he occupies no mean

o r middling place . H is imag ina tion is lofty, his invention fertile, his sentimentshero ic, and his language generally clear and forcible .

”—Scotsman .

Ta O ld B acnelor in tae Old Scottisn Villag e.

By Thomas Aird. Fcap. 8vo , 4s.

T he bo ok is full,

o f a quiet susta ined humour , genu ine pathos, s impleunafi

'

ected poetry, and d isplays no t only fine imaginative power, but a hear tysympa thywi th na ture in all her aspec ts , and with the simple tas tes and pleasuresof rus tic life. A more delightfu l book we canno t imag ine .

"—M anclzester

A dver tiser .

A ncient Classics for E ng lislt Reader s .

E d i ted by the Rev. W . Lucas Collins, M .A . In 2 0 vo ls . , 2 5 . 6d . each .H OM E R

'S ILIAD . By Rev. W . L . PLINY. By Rev. A . C hu rch, M .A . ,

C o llins,M .A . and Rev. W . J. Brodr ibb , M .A .

H OM E R’

S O DYSSEY. By the Same . E URIPID E S. ByW . B . Donne , M .A .

H EROD OTUS . By G . C . Swayne , M .A . j UVE NA L. By E . W alfo rd , M .A .

C IE SAR. By Anthony T ro llope . ARIS’

I‘

O PHAN E S . By the E d ito r.V IRG IL . By Rev.W . L . C o llins , M .A . H E SIOD . ByRev. ]amesDavies, M .A .

H ORA C E . By T heodo re M ar tin'. PLA UTUS&T E RE N C E . E ythe E d i to r.E SC HYLUS . ByR. S . C oples ton, B .A . TA C ITUS. By W . B . D onne, M .A .

XE N OPHO N . BySir A lex. G rant, Bar t. LUC IA N . By the E d itor.C IC E RO . ByRev.W . L . C ollins, M .A . PLA TO . By C lifton W . C o llins.

SOPHO C LE S . By C . W . C o llins , M .A . GRE E K ANTH OLO GY. ByLo rd N eaves .

A lso in I O Vo ls, wi th C alf o r Vellum Back, £2 , r os.

fnter ludes .

By Alfred Austin, Autho r of ‘The Season ,

’ “The Go lden Age, &c.

Fcap. 8vo , 55 .

E nough has been wri tten and quo ted to Show tha t M r Austin is no t a mererhymster , spinning lines withou t beau ty and devo id even o f sense . H e is ho t,impulsive, generous , and tho roughly poetical. H e has something to '

say, andhe says i t inwo rds tha t dwell in the m ind . He has songs to Sing , and he singsthem with a sweetness and melody tha t are rarely found .

”—S cotsman .

L ay s of til e Scottis/c Cava lier s , and otner Poems.By W . E dmondstoune Aytoun , D.C .L. , Professo r o f Rheto ric and Belles

Le ttres in the Univers ity of E d inburgh . Twenty- second E dition. Fcap .

8vo , 7 5 . 6d .

M r Aytoun'

s'Lays

'are truly beautiful, and are perfec t poems of their

d as s , pregnant wi th fire , with pa trio tic ardour , wi th loyal zeal, wi th exqu isi tepa thos , with noble pass ion. W h o can hear the Opening lines descriptive 01

E d inburgh after the grea t ba ttle of Flodden, and no t feel tha t the minstrel'ssou l has caught the genuine inspira tion" —M orning Post.

“ Professor Aytoun's Lays o f the Sco ttish C avaliers —a volume of verse

which shows tha t Sco tland has yet a poet. Full of the true fire, i t now s tirsand swells like a trumpet - no te—now sinks in cadences sad and wild as the wa ilof a H ighland dirge .

"

Qua r ter ly Review.

4 LIST O F BO OKS PUBLISH E D BY

Aytoun’

s L ays of té e Scottis/z Cava lier s .

A n Illustr a ted E d ition. From designs by Sir J. N oel Paton and W . H .

Pa ton, R. S .A . E ngraved by John T homson,W . J. L inton, W .

T homas,W hymper , C o oper, G reen,

D alziels, E vans, &c. In small

Quarto , pr inted on T oned Paper , bound in g ilt clo th, 2 1 5 .

The artists have excelled themselves in the engr avings which they havefurnished . Se izing the Spir i t o f M r Aytoun

’

s Ballads’

as perhaps no ne but

Sco tchmen could have seized i t , they have thrown their who le streng th Into thewo rk with a hear tiness which o thers wo uld do well to imi ta te . W hoever theremay be that do es no t know these Lays

'

we recommend a t once to make theiracqua intance in this ed i tion , where in autho r and ar tist illustra te each o ther askindred spir i ts should .

"—S tanda rd .

E otnzvell A Poem .

ByW . E dmondstoune Aytoun, D. C .L. Third E di tion . Fcap . 8vo , 7 5 . 6d .

A noble poem, healthy in tone and pu rely E nglish in language, and closelylinked to the histo r ical trad itions o f his na tive co untry.

"—_7'olzn B u ll.

Pro fesso r Aytoun has pro duced a fine po em and an able argument , andBo thwell ’

will as suredly take its s tand amo ng the classics o f Sco ttish L iterature.—l e Pr ess .

Ta B a llads of S cotland.

E d ited by Professor Aytoun. Fourth E d i tion . 2 vo ls . , fcap . 8vo , 1 2 5 .

N O country can bo ast o f a richer co llec tion o f Ballads than Sco tland , and

no E d ito r fo r these Ballads cou ld be found mo re accomplished than Pro fesso rAytoun. H e has sen t fo r th two beau tifu l vo lumes which range wi th Percy’sReliques —which, fo r completeness and accu racy, leave little to be desired~which mus t hencefo rth be considered as the standard ed itio n o f the Sco ttishBallads , and which we commend as a mo del to any among o urselves who maythink of do ing like service to the E nglish Ballads.

”The Times.

N orman S incla ir .

By W . E dmondstoune Aytoun , D.C .L. 3 vols . po st 8vo , 3 1 5 . 6d .

F irmilian ,or tne S tudent of B adaj os .

A SPA SM OD IC TRA G E DY. By T. Percy Jones (Professor Aytona). In

small 8vo , 55.

H umour of a kind mo st rare a t all times , and especially in the present day,runs through every page ; and pas sages o f true poe try and delicious versificationpreven t the continual play of sarcasm from becoming ted ious .

"—Liter a r;yGazette.

M emoir of William E . Ay toun , D . C .L .

Au tho r o f‘

Lays O f the Sco ttish C ava liers,’ &c . By Theodore M artin.

W i th Po r tra it. Post 8vo , 1 2 5 .

This b iography is qu i te a model in its way. and a delightful relief aftermuch tha t has been done o f la te years in a similar line . G ood tas te, r ightfeeling , and a generous bu t seldom excessive appreciat ion of the subject, markthe wo r - M anclzester Gua rdian .

6 LIST o r BOOKS PUBLISH ED BY

B lackwood’

s S tanda rd N ovels.

Uniform in Size and legibly pr inted. E ach N ovel complete in one Volume.

F lorin S er ies, Illustr a ted Boa rds.

Torn C r ing le’s Log . By M ichael Sco tt.

C ruise of t/re M idge. By the Au thor of T om C ringle's Log .

’

Cyr il Thorn ton. By C apta in H amilton.

A nna ls of the Pa r ish . ByJohn Galt.The Pr ovost, and otlzer Ta les. By John Galt .S ir A ndr ew Wylie. ByJohn Galt.l e E nta i

'

l. ByJohn Gal t.Reg inald D a lton. ByJ. G . Lo ckhart.Pen Omen. By D ean H ook.

A dam B la ir . ByJ. G . Lo ckhart.Lady Lee

’

s W ido'wnood. By C o l. H amley.

S a lem Cli apel. By M rs O liphant.l e Perpetua l C ur a te. By M rs O liphant.M iss M a rjor ibané s. By M rs O liphant.

Or in C lot/z B oa rds, 2 s. 6d .

S l u'

llz’

ng S er ies, I llustr a ted Cover .

TheRector and tfie D octor's Family . By M rs O liphant.

The L ife (y'

M ansie Wauglt . By D . M . M o ir .

Peninsula r S cenes and Sketches. By F . H ardmari.

Sir F r izzle Pumpkin, N ights at M ess, &c.

The S uba ltern.

Life in tlze F a r W est. By G . F . Ruxton.

Va lerius : A Roma n S tory . ByJ. G . Lockhart.O r in C loth Boards, rs . 6d.

OTH ER W ORKS IN PRE PARAT ION .

B lackwood’

s M aps of tne Counties of S cotland.

In C lo th C ase for the Pocke t, rs. each.T he same Strongly bound in leather , in one vol. post 8vo , 105 . 6d.

Tke M a id of Sé er .

ByR. D. Blackmor e, Au thor of ‘Lorna Doone,’

&c . O r ig inally publishedin Blackwo od

‘

s M agaz ine, ’ A N ew E di t ion. C rown 8vo , 7 s. 6d .

H is descriptions are wonderfully vivid and natural, al though he loves topaint nature in her most extravag ant freaks . H is pages are b rightened everywhere with quiet humour ; the quaint dry turns of thought remind you occas ionally oi F ield ing .

- Tz'

rnes .

‘A wo rkwhich reads in some parts like the famous au tob iographies ofD efoe ,

and in o thers conta ins descriptions of natural beauty worthy of K ingsley, andnau tical adventures no t inferior to the best things in M arrya t. —A tlzena>um.

But le t fac t o r fiction begin o r end where they will, the book is exceed ingable , and s trikingly o r iginal. —S aturday Review.

" M r Blackmore’

s book is in o ur Opinion a genu ine success, one of the few

good novels tha t have been wri tten for many years. and one which will live.

Stecta tor .

W ILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SON S. 7

L ilias L ee, and other Poems.

By James Ballantine, Author o f ‘The Gaberlunzie's W allet ,‘ &c. Fcap.

8vo , 53 .

B attle of D or hing . Reminiscences of a VolnnteerFrom ‘Blackwo od

'

s M agazine.

’

Second H undredth Thousand, 6d.

B elief Wha t is itO r , The N ature of Fai th as D etermined by the Facts of H uman N atureand Sacred H istory. 8vo , 7 5.

Tahles for Tr aveller s .

A dapted to the Po cke t o r Sextant- C ase . C ompiled by Admir al Bethune.C .B . , and C lo th , 35 . 6d.

The B oscohel Tr acts .

RE LATING To TH E E SCA PE O F C HARLE S TH E SE C OND AFTER TH E

BA TTLE onW ORC E STE R, A N D H IS SUBSE QUE N T A DVE NTURE S. E d itedby .l

'

. Hughes , E sq. , A .M . A N E W E D IT IO N , with add itional N o tes and

Illustra tions , including C ommunica tions from the Rev. R. H . Barham,

Au tho r of the Ingoldsby Legends .

’In O ctavo , with Engravings, 165.

‘The Bo scobel T rac ts ’is a very curious book, and abou t as good an

example of single subject historical collections as may be fo und . O rig inallyundertaken, o r a t least completed, a t the sugges tion of the late B ishop C opplestone , in 1 8 2 7 , i t was carr ied out with a degree of judgment and tas te no t alwavsfound in wo rks o f a. similar char ac ter .

”—Spectator .

M emoir s of the L ife a nd Times of Henry Lord

Brougham. W ri tten by Himself. 3 vols. o ctavo , £2 , 85. The Volumes

ar e sold separa tely, 1 65 . each.

The For esterA Practical T reatise on the Planting , Rearing , and General M anagement

of Fo rest- trees. By James Brown, W o od - Surveyor and Nurseryman,

S tirling . Fourth E d ition. Royal 8vo , wi th E ng ravings, £1 , 1 1 5 . 6d .

In preparing the present E d ition, the Au tho r has carefully t e -wr i tten the

book, and added nearly one hundred new sec tions upon impo rtant subiects,which were necessary to bring it up to the advanced S ta te o f the times; and tomake i t in all respec ts wor thy of continuing in public favour , as a comple ted irec to ry in all ma tters connected wi th the improved sta te of Aboriculture at

the present day.

W ha t we have often stated in these columns we now repeat, that the bookbefore us is the mo s t useful gu ide to good arbo r iculture in the E nglish language.

—Review of Third E dition in Ga rdener s’

Chronicle by D r L indley.

Beyond all doub t this is the best work on the subject of forestry extant.‘

7anf anl of H or ticu ltur e.

8 LIST O F BOOK S PUBLISH E D Bv

The B ooh of B a llads.E d ited by Ben Gaul tier . E leventh E d i tion, wi th numerous Illustra tionsby DOYLE , LE E CH , and C ROW QUILL . G ilt edges, post octavo , 85 . 6d .

Family Recor ds of the B r uces and the C umyns .

W i th an H isto rical Introduc tion and A ppend ix from authentic Publicand Pr ivate D o cuments . By M . E . Cumming Bruce . Quarto , clo th,£2 , r o s . L ARG E - PA PE R E D IT ION , med ium quar to , clo th, 5 3, ms.

yessie Camer on A H ighland S tory .

By the Lady Rachel Butler . Second E d i tion. Small O c tavo , with a

F rontispiece . 2 5 . 6d .

H andy B oo/e of M eteor ology .

By Alexander Buchan, M .A ., F .R. S. E . , Secretary of the Sco ttish M eteoro logical Soc iety, &c . A N ew E d it ion, be ing the T hird . [In thepr ess.

In this E D IT ION the C harts o f the D istribu tion o f A tmospher ic Pressure ando f T e rrestr ial T empera ture will be revised ; the Rela tions of T empera ture toA tmospher ic Pressu re and W inds will, with the aid o f Illustra t ive C harts, bemo re fully d iscussed , and the ‘pr inc iple will be applied in explanation of un

usually H ot and C o ld Seasons, as well as Seas ons o f excessive D rought o rexcessive Rainfall ; C harts will be g iven showing the D istribut ion of Ra in over

the C ontinents o f the G lobe , and its connec tion with the d istribu tion of a tmospheric pressure and tempera ture , and with preva iling winds, will be po intedou t the Preva iling W inds over the G lobe will be represented on C harts and

o therwise the book will be revised throughou t.

Intr oductory Text - B ooh of M eteor ology .

By Alexander Buchan, M .A . , A u thor o f‘H andy Book o f

M e teo rology, ’

&c . C rown 8vo , with 8 C o loured C harts and o ther E ugr avings, pp . 2 1 8 . 45 . 6d .

A handy comp end ium o f M e teo rology by one of the mo st competentau thori ties on this b ranch of sc ience.

—Peterma nn'

s Geogr aphische M itthez‘

l

W e can recommend i t.

as a handy, clear , and sc ientific intro duction to thetheo ry o f M eteo ro logy, written by a man who has evidently mas tered his subjc et . —La ncet.

An exceed ingly useful volume .—A thenceum.

M emoir of the Politica l L ife of the Right H on

our able E dmund B urke, wi th E xtrac ts from his W ri tings . By the Rev.

George Croly, DJ). 2 vo ls . post 8vo , x8s.

H andhooh of the M echanica l A r ts

C oncerned in the C onstruction and A rrangement o f Dwelling~H ouse5 and

o ther Bu ild ings ; wi th Practical H ints o n Road -making and the E nclo singof Land . By Robert Scott Burn , E ng ineer. Second ed ition

, crown 8vo .

65 . 6d.

I O”LIST O F BOOKS PUBLISH E D BY

A utohiog r aphy of the Rev. D r A lexander Car lyleM inister of Inveresk. C onta ining M emo r ials o f the M en and E vents 0his T ime. E d ited by John H ill Bur ton. In 8vo . T hird E di tion, wi tiPortra i t,This book contains by far the mo s t vivid picture o f Sco ttish life and man

ners that has been given to the public s ince the days o f Sir W alter Sco tt. Ir

bestowing upon i t this high pra ise , we make no exception, not even in favoui

o f Lord C ockburn'

s M emor ia ls— the bo ok which resembles i t mos t, and whiclranks next to i t in interest.”—E dinhmg h Review .

A more delightful and graphic pic ture of the everyday life o f our ances tor:i t has never been our good fo r tune to mee t wi th . ”—N ationa l Review.

A Tr easury of the E ng lish and G erman L ang uages .

C ompiled from the best Au thors and Lexicographers in bo th Languages .

Adapted to the Use o f Schoo ls , S tudents , T ravellers , and M en of Businessand fo rming a C ompanion to all Ge rman- E nglish D ic tionar ies. By JosephCauvin, LL.D. St Ph .D., o f the Univers i ty o f Gottingen, &c. C rown avo .

7 5 . 6d . , bound in clo th.An excellent E nglish- G erman D ictionary, which supplies a real want.

Saturday Review.

“ T he d ifficult of transla ting E nglish into G erman may be greatly alleviatedby the use of “ is cepious and excellent E ng lish - German D ic tionary, whichspecifies the different senses of each E ng lish wo rd ,

and g ives sui table Germanequivalents . It also supplies an abundance o f id ioma tic phraseology , wi thmany passages from Shakespeare and o ther au tho rs aptly rendered in German.

C omparedwi th o ther d ic tionar ies, i t has dec idedly the advantage .—A thenceum.

Captain Clu tter huch’

s Champag ne.

A W E ST INDIA N RE M IN ISC E N C E . Po st 8vc , 1 25 .

W e can consc ientious ly commend C aptain C lu tterbuck's C hampagne toall who like a rea lly o riginal s to ry wi th no nonsense in it.

"—Press.

The Punj ah and Delhi in I 857BE ING A N ARRAT IVE on T H E M E A SURE S BY WH IC H THE PUNJAB WA SSAVE D A N D D E LH I RE C OVE RE D DURIN G TH E IND IAN M UT INY. By theRev. J. Cave-Br own, C haplain of the Punjab M ovable C olumn. W ithPlans of the C hief S ta tions and of the d iff erent E nga gements , and Portraitsof Sir J. Lawrence , Bar t. , S ir H . E dwardes , Sir R. M ontgomery, andBrig -G en. J . N icho lson . 2 vo ls . po st 8vo , 2 1 5 .

This is a wo rkwhich will well repay the tro uble of perusal. W r itten byone who was himself presen t at many o f the scenes he narra tes, and who hashad free access to the papers of Sir J. Lawrence , Sir R. M ontgomery, and SirH . E dwardes, i t comes with all the we ight o f official authori ty, and all thevividness of personal narra tive .

—Pr ess.

Coguet-Dale Fishing S ong s.

N ow first collected by a N orth - C ountry Angler , with the M us ic of theAirs. svc , 55.

Spor ting Days .

By John Colquhoun, Author of ‘The M oor and the Loch, ‘&c. C rown

8vo , 55 .

Rochs and River sO r , H ighland W ander ings over C rag and C orre i, “ Flood and Fell. ByJohn Colquhoun, Author of Spo r ting Days. ’ 8vo , 6s. 6d.

Sa lmon - Casts and S tr ay Shots.

Be ing Fly- leaves from the N o te - Book of John Colquhoun, E sq. , A uthor of‘The M oor and the Loch, ’ &c . Second E di t ion, fcap. 8vo , 55.

The Coming Race.N inth E d i tion, crown avo , 6s.Language , li tera ture , and the ar ts , all touched on with admirable veri

similitude , are impressed into the service of his thesis and often, in read ing ofthe delights o f this underground U topia, have we s ighed for the refreshingtranquillity of that lamp - lit land.

~ A th eneeum.

Its kindly satire, its gentlemo ralisings, its healthy humour , and its extensiveknowledge well applied, comb ine to separ a te i t from the mas s of ephemeralpublica tions, and g ive evidence of lite rary Skill very rarely to be met with inbo oks wr i tten fo r the circulating librar ies .

—E xaminer .

The book is wellwr i tten, and ingeniouslyworked out. —Saturday Review.

Venus and Psyche,W ITH OTHE R PO E MS . ByRichard Crowley: Fcap. svc , 55.M r o C rawley writes verses through which there runs an abundant ve in O t

genuine poetry. M uch, very much, o f M r C rawley'

s poe try is perfectly o rig inal—the creation of his own fancy

—which is eminently near akin tothe vis ion and the facult d ivine, and is equally powerful in pa inting scenes of

terro r and tenderness. is mino r poems are mo st of them beau tiful, and someof them exquis i te pieces of piercing 5a tire.

"—E vening S tanda rd .

The Genesis of the Chu r ch .

BY the Right Rev. Henry Cotterill, D.D., Bishop of E d inburgh.Demy avo , 1 65.

The book is str ikingly orig inal , and this o rig inality is one of its grea tcharms—the views of an able and cul tiva ted man whom long study has mad efullymaster o f his subject . —Scottish Gua rdian.

In D r C o tterill'

s volume a book of grea t ab ili ty has been presented to theworld .

—E dinburgh Cour ant.H is book breathes the spiri t and is stamped with the char ac ter of thepresent age. It requires, and will amply repay, the most ca reful and a ttentive

read ing ; and it is likely to carry convic tion to many a mind which hasO

been

merely repelled by the ordinary quo ting of texts or appeals to C hurch H istoryto prove th e existence of the three O rders, and the necessity of the aposto limlsuccess ion.

—L iterary C ha r t/man.

1 2 LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHE D B Y

Chr onicles of Car lingfor a’.

S a lem Chapel. as. in boards, o r 2 5 . 6d. in clo th.The Rector , and the D octor

'

s F amily . 1 5 . in boards, or rs. 6d . in clo th.The Perpetua l C ur a te. as. in bo ards, o r as . 6d. in clo th.M iss M afl on

'

hanks. 23 . in boards , o r 2 5 . 6d. in cloth.

Cor nelius O’D owa

’upon M en and Women ,

AN D OTHE R TH INGS IN G E N E RAL . 3 vols. crown 8vo , 105 . 6d. each.The flashes of the au thor's wit must no t blind us to the ripeness of his wi

dom , no r the general playfulness o f his O'

D owderies allow us to fo rge t thample evidence tha t undernea th them lurks one of the most ear nest and 01:

servant Spir its of the present time .—D a ity Review.

The Fa ther hood of G oa’

C ons idered in its General and S pec ial Aspects, and par ticularly in relatio

to the A tonement ; with a Review o f Recent Specula tions on the SubjeeBy Thomas J. Crawford, D.D. T hird E di tion, revised and enlarged , wit

a. Reply to the S tr ictures of D r C andlish. 95.

T he plan of this wo rk is comprehensive and yet defini te. It embodit

much o rig inal thought, and the au tho r ‘

s hab i ts of searching inquiry and careii

arrangement stand him in good stead . W ha tever difference o f o pinion themay be on sundry topics, it would be idle to question the great ab ility shoby the learned Professo r. A s the subjec ts treated of have been and are 5

much d iscussed , it will be sat isfac to ry to many to rece ive a bookwhich expo undso fully, and ma inta ins so forc ibly, and on a S criptural bas is, the views of or

so well qua lified to speak.—yourne t of S acr ed Liter atur e.

The Doctr ine of H oly S cr iptur e r e¢ecting thA tonement. By Thomas J. Crawfor d, D .D Professo r o f D ivinity in t}Univers ity o f E d inburgh . 8vo , 1 2 5 .

This addi tion to the lates t contr ibu tions to the elucidation of the do ctrii

of the a tonement mus t inevitably take a high rankamong them. It co lla tes aranalyses the teachings, no t only of the apo stles , but of all Scriptural au tho rsthe subjec t. T he wo rk is done in a cr i tical, tho rough, exhaustive manne r , at

g ives us an exhaus tive thesaurus ofScriptural do ctrine on the subject. " —Pr im

The M y ster ies of Chr istianityBy T. J. Crawford, D.D., C rown 8vo , 7 s. 6d .

Desca r tes .

O n the M e thod ofRightly C onduc ting the Reason, and Seeking T ruth ithe Sc iences, and his M ed i ta tions , and Selections from his Principles 0

Philo sophy. In one vol. pos t 8v0. 4s. 6d.

£4 LIST O F BOOKS PUBLISH E D BY

Worhs of Georg e E liot. L ihr ary E dition .

A dam B ede. 2 vo ls. , fcap . 8vo , 1 2 5 .

The M ill on the F loss . 2 vo ls . , fcap. Svo, 1 2 5.S cenes of C ler ica l Lef t. 2 vo ls . , fcap. 8vo , 1 2 5.S ilas M a rner . Fcap. 8vo , 6S .

F elix H olt. 2 vo ls . , fcap. 8vo , 1 2 5 .l

’Vorhs of Georg e E liot. Cheap E dition .

A dam B ede. 35 . 6d .

The M ill on the Floss. 3 s . 6d .

S cenes of C ler ica l Life. 35 .

S ila s M a rner . 2 5 . 6d .

F elix H olt. 3s . 6d .

A dam B ede. 2 5 . 6d .

M iddlema r ch A S tudy of E ng lish Pr oo incza l

Life. By George E liot . C heap E d i t ion. C rown 8vo , 7 s. 6d .

The L egend of 7 uha l a nd other Poems .

By George Eliot . 2 d E d ition. Fcap . 8vo , 6s.

The Syanish Gypsy .

By George E liot . Fo urth E d i tion, crown 8vo , 7 s . 6d.

It is emphatically a g rea t poem, g rea t in conception, g rea t in execution.

’

B lackwood'

s M ag azine.

She is a g reat wr iter, and in the Spanish Gypsy '

She has achieved a grea

wo rk. Times .

“ It is impo ss ible , indeed ,to Speak too highly o f the intellec tual conceptio

a t the bas is o f the po em, and the finish and power with which it is wo rked ou

and ado rned .—Specta tor .

Wise, Witty, and Tender S ay ing s ,In Pro se and Verse. Selec ted from the W o rks of G eorge E lio t. B

Alexander M ain. H andsomely printed on T oned Paper , bound in g iltclo th. 2 d E d ition

,65 .

But undoub tedly G eorge E lio t is the only woman o f Our time whose wr i tings would be remembered fo r their humour alone , o r whose sayings , jus t noco llected into a volume by themselves , ar e at all like ly, like Shakespeare '

s saying s, to p ass into the substance of the language .

—Specta tor .

T his little vo lume , which is everything tha t could b e des ir ed in the way 0

get- up , brings G eorge E lio t‘s we ightier thoughts and reflec tions, which 11“

scattered througho u t her books, conveniently near ; and busy read ers ma

eas ily repa ir the results of inevi table has te by frequently devo ting to i t a spa rhalf- hour . It is a book to have beside one, to be o ften taken up and laias ide again ; fo r every page supplies food for med i ta tion, and some thing , to otha t is well ca lcula ted to be helpful in the conduct of life.

—N onconj brmist.

A M emoir of yohn E lder ,

E ngineer and Shipbuilder. By W. J. M acquorn Rankine, wi th Po rtraitC rown 8vo . 2 s. 6d.

W ILLIAM BLA CKWOOD AN D SONS. 1 5

The E duca tion (Scotland)A ct, 187 2 .

W i th Introduction, Explanatory N o tes. and Index. By Alexander CraigSeller , Advocate, Secre tary to the Lo rd Advocate of Sco tland. PriceA no thqr E d i tion—the Text only—pr ice 6d .

E ssays on Socia l Suhj ects .

O rig inal ly published in the‘

Saturday Review.

’

A N ew E di tion. Firs tand Second Series. 2 vols. , crown 8vo , 65 . each.Two remarkable volumes o f occas ional papers, far above the average of

Such miscellanies. They are the produc tio n o f a keen and kindly observer o fmen and manners , and they d isplay a sub tle analysis Ofmharacter , as well as ab readth o f observa tion, which are remarkab le. W i th much of occas ional fo rce ,these E ssays have suffi cient so lid ity to make a book and while they recall thewit o f M ontaigne and the playfulness o f A dd ison, they are anima ted by a

be tter mo ral tone , and cover a larger range of experience.

"—Chr istian Remembr a nt er .

E uchologion or , B oot: of Pr ayer sBe ing Fo rms ofW orship issued by the C hurch Service Socie ty. A N ew

and E nlarged E d i tion, 65 . 6d .

W e know of no bookwhich could be recommended as likely to be of greateruse to the clergyman, especia lly to the young and inexperienced, than thissecond edi tion of E ucho log ion.

‘ —S cotsman .

The Cr own and its A dviser s ;O r , Queen, M inisters, Lo rds, and C ommons . By Alexander Charles

Ewald, F.S.A . C rown 8vo , 55 .

W e may congra tula te M r E wald on the possession of a popular style anda clear me thod .

-H is obse rva tions o n everything connec ted with theusages o f Parliament are sound , and calcula ted to be very useful to the class

o f persons he is address ing . A commendable a ttempt to explain insimple and popular language the machinery of the E ng lish G overnment. "Pa ll M a ll Gazette.

M aybe regarded in some respec ts as a C ons titutional M anual. T S tandar d.

Institu tes of M etaphysicT he Theory of Knowing and Be ing . By James F . Ferrier , L B . Oxon. ,

Professo r of M oral Philosophy and Poli tical E conomy, St A ndrews .

Second E d ition . C rown 8vo , 1 05 . 6d .d

L ectur es on the E a r ly G r eeh Philosophy ,

A ND OTH ER PH ILO SOPH IC RE M A IN S O F PROFE SSOR FERRIE R on ST

A NDRE WS . E d i ted by Sir Alexander Grant and Professor Lushingt on.

2 vo ls. post 8vo , 245 .

T hese lec tures, in so far as they trea t o f G reek philosophy down to Plato ,have been carefully elabora ted , and are O fmuch value—o f higher value , indeed ,than any wri tings on the same subjec t in the E nglish language ; and in pomto f clearness , depth, and reso lu te search after truth, and tenacious ho ld o f it

when found, we doub t if they a re surpassed in any language. For

our par t, we do no t know any philosophical wr itings so fas c inating to a youngs tuden t of philosophy as these early pages .

—Scotsman.

B

1 6 LIST OF BOO K S PUBL ISH E D BY

Field—M ap , L othians H unt ;wi th L ist o f the M eets and D is tances from G eneral Po st- O th ee, E d inburgha nd from the neares t Ra ilway S ta tions . Bound in leather , 55.

H istory of G r eece under For eign Domination .

By George F inlay, LL .D , A thens . 7 vo ls . 8vo—viz .

G r eece under the Romans . 1 46 to A .D . 7 1 7 . A H isto rical V iew 0

the C ondition o f the G reek N a tion from its C onquest by the Roman:u ntil the E xtinc tion o f the Roman Power in the E as t. Second E d i tion1 65 .

H isto ry of the Byzantine E mpir e . A D . 7 1 6 to 1 2 04 ; and o f the G reci

E mpire o f N icaea and C ons tantinople , A .D . 1 2 04 to 1 453 . 2 vo ls

£ 1 , 7 5 . 6d .

M ed ie va l Gr eece a nd T r ebz'

zona’

. T he H isto ry o f G reece, from its C onquest by the C rusade rs to its C onquest by the T urks , A . D . 1 2 04 to 1 566

and the H isto ry o f the E mpire o f T reb izond , A . D . 1 2 04 to 1 46 1 . 1 2 5 .

G r eece under O tl wma n a nd Venetian D omina tion . A .D . 1 453 to 1 82 1

r o s . 6d .

H istory cy’

the Gr eek Revolu tion . 2 vo ls . 8vo , £ 1, 45 .

The Philosophy of H isto ry in E u r ope.

Vo l. I. , conta ining the H isto ry o f tha t Philo sophy in France and GermanyBy Robert Flint , Professo r o f M o ra l Philo sophy and Po li tical E conomyUniversi ty of St A ndrews . 8vo ,

15s.

Flower s f r om Fa ther la nd in E ng lish S oil.T ranslations from the G erman by John Pitcairn Tr ot ter ; A . M erce

Adams , M .D . ; and George Coltman, M .A . C rown 8vo , 6s .

‘A vo lume o f transla tions tha t may be hear tily recommended fo r the ir rar

excellence .—Lona'on Qua r ter ly Review .

‘T his is a ve ry elegant vo lume o f poems . The transla tions are good imo st cases. Spiri ted o ften, and readable a lways . A nd i t is as gr a tifying as i t ias to nishing to mark the ease and elegance wi th which some o f H e ine '

s perfec

gems are placed in their E nglish se tting .—I llustr a ted London N ews .

The Campa ign of G a r iéa ldi in the Two S iciliesA Perso nal N arra tive . By Charles Stuar t Forbes, C ommander , R. N

Po st gvo , with Portra i ts, 1 2 5 .

A vo lume which conta ins the best ske tch hitherto publis hed o f the campaigwhich pu t an end to Bourbon ru le in the Two S icilies . It is accompaniewith plans o f the chief ba ttles ; and its honest unexagge ra ted reco rd con tras tvery favour ably with the strained and showy account o f the G aribald ians juspublished by M . Dumas .

—E x a nziner .

Geolog ica l and Pa lwontolog ica l M ap of the B r itisIslands , includ ing T ables o f the Fo ssils o f the d ifferent E po chs , &c . &c .

from the Sketches and No tes ofProfessor E dward Forbes . W i th Illustrative and E xplana to ry Le tterpress . 2 1 5 .

‘

r8 LIST O F BOOK S PUBLISH E D BY

The Pr inciples and Pr actice of the L aw of Tr ustand T r ustees in S cotland , with N o tes and Illustra tions from the Law 0

E ngland . By Charles For syt h , E sq. ,Advo ca te and Bar rister- at - Law

8vo , 1 8s.

Idy lls and Ly r ics .

By William For sy'

th, A u thor o f K elavane,’&c . C rown 8vo , 55 .

This is a little volume o f unpre tend ing bu t genu ine poetry.—S tanda rd .

Good poetry is no t so common a commod i ty nowadays tha t It shouldpassed over wi thout spec ial ma rk. W hen found , i t should be brought to lighthat it may be admired . It is fo r this reason tha t special a ttention 15 here ca llecto a li ttle vo lume of Idylls and Lyr ics , ’

by M r W illiam Forsyth. M

Fo rsyth is a poet. There is genu ine mus ic in a lmo s t every line he writes . H t

sees wha t mo s t men fa il to see ; he hears wha t mo s t men_fa il to hear ; and li t

wri tes wi th a felic i ty o f s tyle tha t few men can equal. In all this vo lume thenis scarcely a page which does no t teem w i th beau ties—all the mo re beautlfutha t while theywant no t in vigo ur and in fineness o f perception, they are simpland clear to every reader .

—S cotsman .

I ntr oductory A ddr essesD elivered at the O pening o f the Univer sity of Glasgow, Session 1 870- 7 1

W ith a Prefato ry N o tice of the new Build ings by Professor Alla"Thomson, M .D. ; and Pho tog raph of the Universi ty. Small 4to , 4s. 6d.

small Paper E dit ion witho ut Pho tog raph , 2 5 . 6d .

The Suba lter n .

By G. R. Gleig, M .A .

, C hapla in - G eneral of H er M ajesty's Forces

O rig inally published in‘ Blackwo od

’

s M agazine .

’

L ibrary E di tionRevised and C o rrected , wi th a N ew Prefa ce . C rown 8vo , 7 s. 6d .

O r ig inally published in Blackwoo d'

s M agaz ine '

in 1 82 5, i t was at oncr

received wi th favour , and the presen t genera tion o f readers will no doub t en.

dorse the verd ic t of the ir fa thers , and find pleasure in reading M r G leig'

s fa i thful and picturesque accoun t of his boyish campaign . T he volume , though asinteresting as any novel, is in all respec ts the ac tual reco rd of its autho r 's owr.experience ,

'and i t is in fac t the d ay- to - day journal o f a young o fficer wht

embarked at D over wi th his ba ttal ion in 1 8 1 3 , jo ined Lo rd W elling ton'

s arm)a few days before the s torming o f San Sebas tian, jus t as the French , undeiSoult.were being driven back through the Pyrenees on to the ir own so il, anc’had his share o f the fighting on the Bidassoa . W e mus t not omit tcno tice the new preface which g ives an addi tional in terest to the present issueo f

‘T he Subaltern,

‘

and which re counts the prese nt - day as pect o f the trac t 01country where were fought the las t ba ttles o f the Pen insular W ar . T here issome thing touching in the o ld clergyman thus go ing over the g ro und he trods ix ty years ago as a young so ld ier , - full o f mili tary ardour , and recognis ingthe c ities and the so il on which were ac ted the glo rio us and unfo rgo tten scenesin whi

ph he bore a hero '

s part .—The Times.

On the I nfl uence exer ted hy the M ind over theBody , IN TH E PRODUC T ION A N D RE M OVA L O F M ORBrD A N D ANOM '

A LOUS C ON D IT ION S o r THE AN IMA L E C O N OM Y. By John Glen, M .AC rown avo , as. 6d.

W ILLIAM BLACKWOOD A N D SON S.’‘

19

G oethe'

s Fa ust.T ranslated into E nglish Verse by Theodore M ar tin. Second E di tion,post , 8vo , 65 .

C heap E d ition, fcap . , 35 . 6d .

‘T he best translation of Faus t ' in verse we have ye t had in E ng land .

Specta tor .

M r T heodo re M ar tin'

s translation is unquestionably the best in the lan

guage , and will g ive to E nglish readers a fa ir idea of the g rea test o f modernpoems .—Pr ess .

Q Q

Poems a nd B a llads of G oethe. Q

T ransla ted by Professor Ayton and Theodor e M artin . Second E d ition,

fcap . 8vo , 65.0

T here is no doub t tha t these are the best translations o f G oethe '

s marvlously

- cu t gems which have yet been published .—The'T 1 77285 .

A W a lh acr oss Af r icaO r , D omestic Scenes from’

my N ile Journal. By James Augustus Grant,C apta in H .M . Bengal A rmy, Fellow and G o ld M edallist o f the RoyalG eographical So c iety. 8yo , with M ap , I55 .

C apta in G rant's frank, manly, unadorned narrative .—D a z

'

ly N ews.

C apta in G ran t 's book will be doubly interesting to those who have read

C apta in Speke '

s. H e g ives , as his spec ial contribution to the s to ry o f the irthree year s 'walk acro ss A fr ica, descriptions of b irds , beas ts, trees , and plants ,and a ll tha t concerns them , and o f d omes tic scenes throughou t the variousr g ions . T he b ook is wr itten in a pleasant , qu iet , gentlemanly style , and is

chara c ter ised by amodest tone . T he whole wo rk is delightful reading . G lobe.

e

M emoir s ana’Acl’oentu r es of S ir W illiam K ir ha la’

yof Gr ang e, G overno r o f the C as tle of E d inburgh fo r M ary Queen o f Sco ts.By James Gran t . Po st 8vo , ro s . 6d .

It is seldom ,indeed ,

that'

we fipd histo ry so written, in a style at o nce

vigo rous , perspicuous , and picturesque . T he au tho r 's hear t is thoro ughly wi thhis subjec t . —B 1a ch'wood '

s xV/agtzine.

M emoir s and A dventu r es of S ir yohn H ephur ig,

M arshal o f France under Lo uis xrrr. , &c. By James Grant . P6

8vo , 85.

M emor ia ls of the Castle of E clinhurg h .

By James Grant . A N ew E d ition. In crown 8vo , with 1 2 E ngravings,2 5 .

O f the d ifferent books of this nature that have fallen in our way, we do notremember one tha t has equalled M r G rant's M emorials of the C as tle o f E dinburgh . ’ —Specta tor .

SymholismOR,

M IN D , M A TT E R, A N D LAN GUAG E A s TH E N E C E SSARY E LE M E NTO F T H IN K IN G A N D RE A SON ING . By James Haig , M .A . C rown svc

r zs .

T he b ook is in reali ty a popular expo si tion o f philosophy and philo so phiessystems expressed in the clea re st lang uage. T he au tho r o ccasio nall

d isplays cons iderab le o r ig inality and ingenu ity in his investiga tions .

H e seems to suggest tha t philosophy and theo lo gy shou ld go hand In hanc’

H ere we must take4leave o f

_this sturdy thinke r wi th some admiratio

O f his bold ideas and careful research. T he general reader wi ll ga thewi th li ttle tro uble from his pages some o f the flowers of philo sophical litera ture.

—E x aminer . r

W ena’er ho lme

A STORY O F L A N C AISH IRE A N D YORKSH IRE LIFE . By Philip Gilbe0 H amert on, Authgi

‘of ‘ A Pa inter 's C amp, ’

&c . 3 vo ls. po s t 8vcg I , 1 1 5 . 6d .

L ectu r es on [M etaphysicsBy Sir William H amil ton, Bar t , Pro fesso r o f Log ic and M etaphysics ithe Un iversi ty o f E d inburgh . E dited by the Rev. H . L. M ansel , B .D.

LL .D . , D ean of S t Pau l'

s ; and John Ve i tch , M .A . , Professo r o f Log iand Rheto ric , G lasgow. F ifth E d ition. 2 vo ls . 8vo ,

L ectu r es on L og ic.

By Sir W illiam H amil ton, Bar t . E di ted by Pr ofessor s M ansel an

Veitch . Second E d i tio n . In 2 vo ls. , a4s .

Discussions on Philosophy ana’ L iter a tu r e,

E DUCA T ION ,A N D U N rVE RsrTY RE FORM . By Sir W illiam Hamilton

Bar t . T hird E d ition . 8vo , 2 1 5 .

M emoir of S ir William H amilton,B a r t

,

Pro fesso r o f Log ic and M etaphysics in the Universi ty o f E d inburgh . B

Professor Vei tch o f the Univers ity o f G lasgow. 8vo , with Po rtrait , 1 83 .

N o bette r piece o f philo sophical b iography has hi therto been produced ilib is country .

—N or th B r itish Review .

Pro fessor Vei tch has succeeded in blend ing the domestic with the intelectual life o f S ir W . H amilton in one g raphic pic ture , as b iographers ra re]d

uoagucceed .— S a turday Review .

H am ilton '

s was a hero ic life , and Professo r Ve itch has to ld it affectiona te]truly, and well. —Pa ll Ill/a ll Gazette.

A nna ls of the Peninsu la r Campa igns .

By Cap tain Thomas Hamil ton. A N ew E d ition E d i ted by F. Hardin8vo , 165 . A tlas of M aps to illustra te the C ampa igns , 1 2 5 .

The Position on the A lma .

In Seven Sketches from the F ield on the D ay after the Battle . By 001. E

Bruce Hamley. C lo th , 55.

A N ew Seal

and an O ld L andBeing Papers suggested by a Visit to E gypt at the end of 1 869. By Gene.

ral W . G. Hamley. 8vo , wi th co loured Illustrations, 105 . 6d .

Such are the contras ts the b ook deals wi th , handling them in a style tha'

is no t onlypleas ant but picturesque and those who care to have ancient E gyp ’

made easy will atta in their objec t wi th the smallest possible expendi ture atemper and trouble by placing themselves under his gu idance .—S a turday

Review.

H andy B ooh of L aws 5

C H IE FLY A FF E CT ING SC O TLA ND . A br idged and pla inly stated for gene'

ral use. By an E x- Sher if - Snbstitute. Sewed , 6d.

The H andy H o r se- Pooh ;O r, Prac tical Instruc tions in Riding , D riving , and the G eneral C are and

M anagement of H orses. By“ M agenta .

”A N ew E d ition, wi th 6 E ngravings, 4s . 5d.

As cavalry ch‘icer , hunting ho rseman, coach- propr ietor , whip , and steeplechase- rider , the au tho r has had long and va r ious experience in the managemento f horses, and he now g ives us the cream o f his info rmation .

”—A thena zzm.

H e propounds no theor ies, bu t embod ies in s imple untechnical languagewhat he has learned practically.

—S,oor ting Gazette.

A G lossa ry of N avig a tion .

C onta ining the Defini tions and Pro posi tions o f the Science, E xplana tion ofT erms , and Descr iption o f Instruments . By the Rev. J. B . Harbord,M .A

A ssistant D irector of E duca tion, Admiralty. C rown 8yo . Illustrated withD iag rams, 6s.

Definitions and Diag r ams in A str onomy andN aviga tion. By the Rev. J. B . H arbord, M .A . rs . 6d.

Shor t S ermons for H ospita ls and S ieh Seamen .

By the Rev. J. B . Harbord, M .A . Fcap . 8vo , clo th , 4s . 6d.

Scenes and A dventu r es in Centr a l A mer ica .

E d ited by Fr eder ick Hardman. C rown 8vc , 65 .

Poems . By the L ady Flo r a H a sting s .

E d i ted by H er S ister , the la te M ar chioness of Bute. Second E di tion.wi th a Po rtra i t. Fcap. , 7 5. 6d .

W or hs of D . R. H ay , F R.S .E .

A N omenclatur e of C olou r s applicable to the A r ts and

N a tural Sc iences, to M anufac tures , and o ther purposes o f General

U tili ty. 2 2 8 examples of C o lours, H ues, T ints, and Shades . 8vo , £3 , 35 .

The Laws of H a rmonious Colour ing . A dapted to Inter io rD ecora tions ; wi th‘ O bservations on the Prac tice o f H ouse - Pa inting .

Po st 8vc , 6s . 6d .

The Geometr ic B eauty of the H uman f ig ur e D efined. T o

which is prefixed a System of [E sthetic Propo rtion. Applicable to

A rchitecture and the o ther Fo rma tive A rts. 16 Plates. Royal 4to , 305 .

The H a rmonic L aw of N a ture applied to A rchitec turalD esign. 8 Pla tes . Royal 8vo , boards , 2 5 . 6d .

The O r thog r aphic B ea u ty of the Pa r thenon referred to a Law

o f N a ture . 1 2 Plates . Royal 8vo ,sewed , 55 .

The N a tu r a l Pr incip les of B ea uty , as'

developed in the

H uman F igure . 5 Pla tes. Royal 8vo , sewed , 55 .

The S cience of B ea uty , as developed in N a ture, and applied

in A r t . 2 3 Pla tes. Royal 8vo , clo th , 1 05 . 6d .

The N a tur a l Pr inciples and A na logy of the H a rmony of F orm .

1 8 Plates and numerous W oo dcu ts . 4to , 1 55 .

Pr ofior tion, o r the G eome tric Pr inciple of B eau ty analysed .

1 7 Pld’

tes and 38 W o odcu ts . 4to , 2 55 .

O r igina l Geometrica l D iaper D es igns . A ccompanied by an

A ttempt to develop and eluc ida te the tru e Pr inc iples of O rnamental

D esign , as applied to the D eco rative A r ts . 57 Pla tes and numerous

W o odcu ts. Oblong fo lio , 42 5 .

The Pr inciples of B ea u ty in C olou r ing Systema tz'

sed . 14 C 01

o ured D iag rams . 2 d E d i tion. 8vo ,r55 .

F ir st Pr incip les of Symmetr ica l B ea uty . 100 Pla tes . Po s t8vo , 65 . 4‘

O n the S cience of tho‘

se Pr opor tions by which the H uman

H ead a nd C ountenance, as r epr esented in a ncient Gr eek A r t,a r e dis

tingu z‘

shedfr om those of ordina ry N a tu r e. 2 5 Pla tes . Royal 4to , 365 .

The W orhs of the Right Rec . B ishop H ay ,

o f E d inburgh . B ogether wi th a M emo ir of the Au thor , and Portrai teng raved from the Painting at the C o llege o f Bla irs . E d i ted under the

supervision o f the Right Rev. B ishop S train. A N ew E d ition, in 5

vo ls . C rown 8vo , 2 1 5 .

Able and o r ig inal wo rk.—Lona’on S cotsman .

T here is a go od deal o f o rig inal thought in this wo rkn There isha rdly a chapter which does no t contain something tha t may be termed sug

gestive.—

_7 ohn B u ll.

3 4 LIST O F BOOKS PUBLISH E D BY

B ishop H ay on M ir aclesThe Scripture Doctrine of M iracles D isplayed ,

in which they are impar tiallexamined and expla ined , accord ing to the L ight o f Revela tion and th

Pr inc iples of Sound Reas on By the Right Rev. Dr George Hay, B ishoof E dinburgh. 2 vo ls . crown 8vo , 105 . 6d.

The Poems of Felicia H emo ns .

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T he same 6 vols. bound in 3, 1 2 5 . 6d . , o r clo th , extra g ilt edges, 1 5s .

The following W orks o f M rs Hemans are so ld separa tely, bound in c lo tl

g ilt edges , 45 . eachRE C ORDS O F W OM A N . DRA M A T IC W ORKS .

FORE ST SA N CTUARY. T ALE S A N D H IST ORIC SC E N E S .

SONGS O F r ns A r r acr roN s. M ORA L A N D RE L IG IOUS PO E M S .

S elect Poems of M r s H ema ns .

In O ne Vo l fcap. 8vo , 3s .

M emoir of M r s H emans .

By her Sister . W i th a Po rtra i t, fcap. 8vo , 55 .

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A B ooh a hout Roses ,

now To GROW A N D SH OW TH E M . By S. Reynolds Hole , A utho r o fL i ttle T our in Ireland .

’

Four th E d i tion, E nlarged. C rown 8vo , 7 s . 6d .

It is the pro duction o f a man who boas ts o f thirty ‘

all E ngland’

cupwhose Roses a re always looked for anxiously a t fl ower- shows , who took t}lion 5 share in o r ig ina ting the first Rose - show pu r et simple, who se as sis tantas judge or amzcus cur iae is always cou rted at su ch exhib i tions . Such a ma‘o ught to have something to say wo rth hearing to those who love the Roseand he has sa id —Ga rdeners' C h ronicle.

W e co rdia lly recommend the bo ok to every ama teur who wishes to groRo ses as at once the pleasantest and the best yet wr i tten on the subject. "

A very captiva ting bo ok, containing a g rea t deal of valuable info rmantabo ut .the Ro se and its cu lture , g iven in a style which canno t fa il to please .

7 01m m] of H or ticultur e.

The S ix of ,SpadesA Book about the Ga rden and the G ardener . By the Rev . 8 . ReynolHole. Autho r of ‘

A Bo ok About Roses, ‘ &c . C rown 8vo , <5 .

The L aw of Cr eeds in S cotla nd.

A T reatise on the Legal Relation of C hurches in Sco tland , E stablished annot E stablished, to the ir Doc tr inal C onfessions. By A . T. Innes. 8vc

clo th, 155.

H istor ica l Recor d of the 7oth Reg iment of F ootOR C AM E RON H IGHLA N DE RS . By Cap tain Robert Jameson, H . I

D epo t Battalion, la te Quar termas ter 79th H ighlanders . C rown 8vc

7 5 . 6d .

The M other’

s L eg acie to her Unhor ne' Childe.

By M rs E lizabeth Joceline. E d i ted by the Very Rev. Principal Lei

C lo th, g ilt edges , 32mo , 4s . 6d . A lso in mo ro cco antique, 8s. 6d .

T his beau tiful and touching Legacie .—A thenaeum.

A delightful monument o f the pie ty and high feel ing o f a truly nobl

mo ther. —M orning A dver tiser .

The S cots M usica l M useum .

C onsist ing of upwards of Six H undred Songs, wi th proper Basses for thPianofor te. O rig inally published by James Johnson ;and now accompanie

wi th C opious N o tes and Illustra tions o f the Lyr ic Poetry and M usicSco tland, by the late W illiam S tenhouse ; wi th additional N o tes an

Illustrations, by David Laing and C . K . Sharp . 4 vols. 8vo , Roxburgh

b inding , £2 , 1 2 5 . 6d .

The Roya l A tlas of M oder n Geog r aphy .

In a Ser ies of entirely O r ig inal and A u thentic M aps. By A . Keit

Johnston, F.R. S.E . , RR.G. S. , A u tho r of the Physical A tlas , ’ &c. W it

a complete Index of easy reference to each M ap , compr is ing nearly 1 50 ,

Places contained in this A tlas . Imper ial F o lio , half- bound in russ iamo rocco , £5, rss . 6d . o r wi th G eneral Index in a separate volume , 8vbo th half-bound moro cco , 6 , 1 05 . E ach Pla te may be had separa te)with its Index, 35 . Ded ica ted by Spec ial permission to H er M ajesty.

O f the many noble a tlases prepared by M r Johnston and published I:M essrs Blackwood and Sons, this Royal A tlas will be the mo st useful to tipublic, and will deserve to be the mo s t popula.r .

"—A thene um.

W e know no ser ies ofmaps which we can mo re warmly recommend . T laccuracy, wherever we have a ttemp ted to put i t to the test, is really astOnisling .

"—S a turday Review .

“ The culmination of all attempts to d epic t the face of the wo rld appearsthe Royal A tlas , than which it is impo ssible to conceive anything mo re perfec t—M orning H er a ld.

“ This is, beyond question , the mo st Splend 1d and luxurious, as well as timo st useful and complete, of all existing a tlas es .

—Gu a rdian .

" A n almo st dai ly reference to , and comparison o f, i t wi th o thers , S1nce tipublication of the first par t some two years ago until now, enables us to se

wi thout the slightest hesitat ion , tha t this is by fa r the most complete an

authentic a tlas tha t has yet been issued .- S cotsman .

W ILLIAM BLAC KWOOD AN D SON S . 2 7

The H andy Roya l A tlas .

45 M aps clearly pr inted and ca refully coloured, with G eneral Index. ByA . Keith Johns ton, &c . Imp. 4to , £2 , 1 2 5 . 6d . ,half- bound mo ro cco .

T his wo rk has been co nstructed fo r the purpo se of plac ing in the hands ofthe pub lic a useful and thoroughly accurate A TLA S o f M aps of M odern G eo

g raphy, in a convenient fo rm, and at a moderate pr ice . It is based on the

‘ROYA L A T LA S , ’

by the same A u tho r ; and , in so far as the scale permits , i tcomprises many o f the excellences which its pro to type is acknowledged topo ssess . T he aim has been to make the book str ic tly what its name implies , a

H A N DY A T LA S—a valuable substi tu te fo r the Royal,'

where tha t is to o bulkyo r to o expens ive to find a place , a needful auxiliary to the junio r branches offamilies , and a vaa’e mecum to the tu to r and the pupil- teacher .

T his is M r K ei th j ohnston’

s admirable Royal A tlas d iminished in bulk andscal e , so as to be , perhaps, fa irly enti tled to the name of H andy, bu t still no tso much d iminished bu t what it constitu tes an a ccura te and useful general

Atlas fo r o rd inary households .- Specta tor .

T he H andy A tlas is tho roughly deserving of its name . N o t only does i tconta in th e la test info rma tion , bu t its size and arrangement render i t perfec tas a book o f reference .

"

K eith yohnston’

s S chool A tla ses .

A tlas of Gener a l and D escr iptive Geogr aphy . A N ew and E nlarged

E d ition,suited to the bes t T ext - Books with G eographical info rma tion

b rought up to the time of publica tion . 2 6 M aps , clearly and unifo rmlyprinted in co lo urs , wi th Index. Imper ial 8vo , half- bound , 1 2 5 . 6d .

A tlas of Physica l Geogr aphy , illustra ting , in a Series o f O r ig inal D esig'ns,the E lementa ry Facts of G E OLO GY, HYDROGRA PHY, M E TE OROLOGY,and N ATURA L H IST ORY. A N ew and E nla rged E d i tion, conta ining4 new M aps and Letterpress . 2 0 C o loured M aps . Imperial 8vo , ha lfb ound , 1 2 5 . 6d .

A tla s of A str onomy . A N ew and E nlarged E d i tion , 2 1 C o loured Pla tes .

W i th an E lementary Survey o f the H eavens, designed as anaccompani

ment to this A tlas, byRobert Gr ant, LL .D , &c . ,Pro fessor ofA stronomy

and D irec tor o f the Observa to ry in the Univers i ty o f G lasgow. Imper ial8 v0

, half- bound, 1 2 5 . 6d .

A tla s of C lassica l Geog r aphy . A N ew and E nlarged E d ition . C onstructedfrom the best ma terials , and embodying the results o f the mo st RecentInvestigations , accompanied by a complete IN DE X O F PLA C E S , in whichthe pro per quanti ties are g iven by T. Harvey and E . Worsley. MM .A .

Oxon. 2 1 C o lo ured M aps . Imper ial 8vo , half- bound , 1 2 5 6d .

This ed i tion is so much enlarged and improved as to be vir tually a new

work, surpassing everything else o f the kind extant, bo th in u tili ty and beau ty.

"

—A thene um.

E lementa ry A tlas of Gener a l and D escriptive Geogr aphy, fo r the Use of

j unio r C lasses ; including a M AP O F C A NA AN and PALE ST IN E , with,G E N E RA L IN D E x . syo , half—bound, 55.

4“

2 8 L IST OF BOOK S PUBLISHE D BY

Kei th Johnston’s School Atlases—OPIN ION S OF THE PRE SS.

QT hey are as super io r“ to all Schoo l A tlases wi th in our knowledge , as wer

the larger wo rks o f the same Au tho r in advance of those tha t preceded them.

—E duca tiona l Times .

“ D ec idedly the best Schoo} A tlases we have ever seen .

—E ng lish 7 ournaof E duca tion .

The Physica l A tlas seems to us particu larly well execu ted .

T he las t genera tion had no such help to learning as is affo rded in these exceller:e lemen tary M aps. T he C lassica l A tlas is a g rea t improvement on wha t husually gone by tha t name ; no t only is i t fuller , but in some cases it gives th

same country mo re than once in different periods of time . T hus it appro achethe spec ial value o f a histo rical a tlas . The Gener a l A tlas is wonder

fully full and accura te fo r its scale . Finally, the A str onomi ca l A tla

in which M r H ind is responsible for the sc ient ific accura cy o f the maps , supphean admitted educa tional want. N o be tter companio n to an elementary astronomical trea tise could be found than this cheap and convenient co llec tion c

maps .

" —S a turday Review.

“ T he plan of these A tlases is admirable, and th e excellence o f th e plan 1

rivalled by the beauty of the execu tion. T he best security fo r thaccuracy and substantial value of a S cho o l A tlas is to have i t from the hands ca man like our Au tho r , who has perfected his skill by the execu tion o f muc

larger wo rks, and ga ined a charac ter which he wi ll be careful no t to j eopard'rs

by a ttaching his name to anything tha t is crude, slovenly, or superfioral.

K eith 7 ohnston’

s H and A tlases .

B eing the M aps o f the Schoo l A tlas es on Large and Thick Paper , bounin half-mo ro cco . Imperial quar to , 2 55 . each,—viz. .

Gener a l and D escr iptive Geog r aphyPhysica l Geogr aphy .

A str onomy.

C la ssica l Geogr aphy .

K eith yohnston’

s Tour ists’

M aps .

(From the Royal Atlu ), each wi th Index, in clo th cas eSco tland , two Shee ts,I talyftwo sheets,Swi tzerland, one Sheet,T he Shores o f the M ed iterranean, one sheet,T he C anadas , two sheets ,A us tria , two shee tsPruss ia, one shee t,Amer ica two shee ts ,A mer ica (South), two sheets,A ustralia, one shee t,B e lg ium and the N etherlands, one sheet,C hina andJapan, one sh eet,E ngland. two shee ts,Ind ia , two sheets,Ireland , one shee t,Palestine, one shee t,Spa in and Po r tuga l. one sheet ,Sweden and N o rway, one shee t,

for the pocket78

4

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30 LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISH E D BY

yohn K nox’

s L itu rgyTH E BOOK OR C o ririe N ORD ER, A N D TH E D 1RE C TORv FOR PUBLIC

W ORSH IP o r THE C HURC H O F SC OT LA ND . W ith H is to rical Intro ductions and Illus tra tive No tes by the Rev. George W . Sprott , D.A . , and the

Rev. Thomas Leishman, D.D. H andsomely pr inted , in imi ta tion o f the

large ed i tions o fAndro H art, on toned paper, bo und in clo th, red edges ,85 . 6d .

W e heartily recommend M r Spro tt's Introduction to the Bo oko f C ommonO rder

'

to every one who wishes honestly to get the truth , and the who le tru th ,about the histo ry, so far as Sco tland is concerned. concerning a devo tiona lfo rmulary which has had so cur ious a d estiny. T his Introduction is fu ll o flearning , used with a candour tha t deserves a ll honour . In read ing i t we c an

no t nud whether the au tho r is a suppo r ter or an opponent of a fo rmu lary ofwo rship—he has undertaken the histo ry o f one book of tha t kind , and he tellsi t fa irly o ut. —S cotsman .

On Pr ima ry I nstr u ction in Rela tion to E duca tion .

By Simon S. Laur ie, A .M . Au tho r o f Philosophy of E thics, &c . C rown

8vo , 4s . 6d.

The Rur a l E conomy of E ng land, S cotla nd , a ndI r eland

,B y Leonce do Lavergne . T ransla ted from the French . W i th

N o tes by a Sco ttish Farmer . In 8vo , 1 2 5 .

O ne of the best works on the philo sophy of agriculture and of ag riculturalpolitical economy that has appeared.—Specta tor .

L ectu r es on the H istory of the Chu r ch of S cotla na’

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FRO M THE RE FORM AT ION To TH E RE VOLUT rO N S E TTLE M E NT . By the

la te Very Rev. John Lee, D.D. , LL.D , Pr inc ipal of the Un ivers ityo f E d inburgh . W i th N o tes and A ppend ices from the A utho r’s Papers .

E d i ted by the Rev. W illiam Lee, D .D. 2 vo ls. 8vo , 2 15 .

The Physiology of Common L ife.

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C O N TE N TS Hunger and Thirst—Fo od and D r ink D igestion and Ind igestion—The S tructure and Uses of the Blood—The C irculation—Resp iration and Suffocation—W hy we are warm, and how we keep 50Feeling and T hinking—The M ind and the Brain—Our Senses and

Sensa tions—Sleep and D reams—T he Quali ties we Inheri t from o ur

Pa rents—L ife and Dea th.L inda Tr essel.

By the Autho r of N ina Bala tka .

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D ouhles and Quits .

Bv Laur ence Lockhart , la te C apta in gad H ighlanders. W ith Twelve Illustrations . In 2 vols. po st 8vo , 2 1 5 .

W ILLIAM BLACKW OOD AN D SON S. 3 ]

A N ovel. By Laurence W . M . Lockhart, Author of Doubles and Quits.

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N ew E d i t ion in 1 vo l. po st 8vo , 6s.

The Days of the S on of M an

A H rSTORv OF THE C HURCH 1N THE T IM E OF OUR LORD . ByW illiam Lee, D.D. C rown 8vo , _

6s. 6d .

D eserves high commenda tion. F irst , for the reverent common- sense whichcharacterises its judgments ; next , to r the extensive and careful read ing of the

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comple teness , presents us wi th a full view of the ministry of our Lo rd, its conditions, character istics , and results , in so smal l a compass . A s a

manual fo r family and schoo l use the book '

is , we think, the very best that hascome under our no tice .

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tit/r Quar ter ly Review.

Iz'istory of the Rise and Pr og r ess of Fr eemasonryIn S cotland . By David Mur ray Lyon, one of the G rand S tewards Of theG rand Lodge of Sco tland H ono rary C o rrespond ing M ember of the

Vere in D eu tscher Friemaurer ,"Leipzig , &c . &c . In small quar to .

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Kch elm Chilling ly .

His Adventures and O pinions. By the Autho r of ‘The C axtons ,’&c.

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CompleteL ihr a ry E dition of L or d Lytton’

s N ovels .

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Spohen and Unspohen Speeches .

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The Pa r isians .

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By Robert Lord Lytton, Au tho r o f Poems by Owen M eredi th. ’

2 vols.

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Wa lpole ; or , E very M an ha s his Pr ice.

A C omedy in Rhyme . By Lord Lytton. Fcap. SW , 55.

The B oa tm‘

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Life of 7 0h): K nox . C onta ining Illus tra tions of the H istory of the Refo »

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Life of A ndrew M elville. C onta ining Illus tra tions of the E ccles iastiand L iterary H is to ry of Sco tland in the S ix teenth and Seventeenth C ertut ies. C rown avo , 65 .

H istory of the Pr ogr ess and S uppr ession of the igeformation in Ita ly in t).

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34 L IST O F BO O KS PUBLISHE D BY

M axims of S ir M organ O’

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The L ife and L ahour s of the Apostle Paul.A continuous N arra tive for School and B ible C lasses . By Charles M ichit

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B iog r aphies of E minent S oldier s of the last F ouC entur ies. ByM ajor - General John M itchell, Au thor of L ife ofW allenste in,

’ 'The Fall o f N apoleon,

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’ —E xamz'

u er .

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e

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W ILLIAM BLACKW O OD A N D SON S . 35

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&c . , D irecto r - General of the G eolog ical Survey o f G rea t B rita inand Ireland and James N icol , E R.S .E . , F.G. S. , Professor ofN atural H isto ry in the Univers ity of Aberdeen. C onstruc ted by Alex. K eith j ohnstonF .R.S .E . , &c. , G eog rapher to theQueen, A utho r of the Phys icalA tlas , ’

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Ca ta logue of the Coleopter a of S cotlandBy Andrew M ur r ay of C onland , W .S . ,

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Lord N eaves'

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"—Pa ll M a ll Gazette.

The Uses of L eisu r eAn A ddre ss delivered to the S tudents of the School o f A rts, E d inburgh.Bv the Hon . Lor d N eaves , President of the Schoo l. Sewed , 6d .

On Fiction a s a M eans of Popu la r Teaching .

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The N ew E xamen ;O r , An Inquiry into the E vidence o f certain Passages in M acaulay

'

s H i

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concerning the Duke o f M arlbo rough, the‘

M assacre

G lencoe, the H ighlands o f Sco tland ,V iscount Dundee, W illiam Pen

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A M anua l of "oology ,

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Pro fesso r o f N atural H isto ry in the Universi ty o f T o ron to . T h ix

E dit ion. C rown 8vc , pp .

'

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It isahe best manual of zo o lo yet published ,no t merely in E ngland , b

in E urope .

"—Pa ll M a ll Gazette,al l] 2 0 , 1 87 1 .

‘T he bes t treatise on "o o logy in moderate compass tha t we possess.

La ncet, M ay 1 8 , 1 87 2 .

BY TH E SAM E AUTHO R.

E lementa ry Tex t - B ooh of "oology for S chools . Secon

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Intr oduction to the S tudy of B iology .

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volumes. Seldom indeed do we find such ubjects trea ted in a ,style at o n

so popular and yet so minutely accurate in sc ientific deta il. "—S cotsman .

A M anua l of Pa ld ontology,

For the Use ofS tudents. ByHenry Alleyne Nicholson, M .D . , &c . C ro

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The pic ture of G ood So cie ty - meaning thereby the so cie ty of men a

women ofwealth o r rank—c onta ined in this bo ok, const itu tes its chief metand is remarkable fo r the po int and vigour o f the au thor 's style .

—A theue uT he real interest of Picc ad illy '

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"—Pa ll M a ll Gazette.

K a tie S tewa r t A T r ue S tory .

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1 7 s. 6d . , o r separa telyS tr ay L eaves f r om an A r ctic 7 ou r na l;

o r , E ighteen M onths in the Po lar Reg ions in Search o fSir j ohn Franklin'

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TheD iscovery of a N or th W estPassag e by H M .S . Investiga to rD ur ing the years 1 850 51 52

-

53-

54 . E d ited from the Logs andJournalo f C A PTA IN ROBE RT C . M ‘

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1 , 1 1 s . 6d .

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C aledonia 's Bard from the pompous ignorance o fJohnson, the enviou s spito f Pinke rton , the co ld incredu lity o f La ing , and even the self- asser ting vani tof M acpherson, than any champion tha t h as yet appear ed .

—Glasgow M a il .

The Conqu est of S cinde.

A C ommentary . By General Sir James Ontram, C .B. 8vc , 1 85.

W ILLIAM BLA‘

CKWOOD AN D SON S. 39

The M etamorphoses of Ovid.

T ranslated in E nglish Blank Verse. By Henry King , M .A Fellow of

W adham C ollege , O xfo rd, and of the Inner Temple, Barrister - at- Law.

C rown svc , 1 05 . 6d .

Turning to M r K ing‘s vers ion of the poet’s M etamorphoses, we have verymuch to say in its praise. H e has given us by far the mo st elegant and trustwo rthy version of the M etamorphoses in the E nglish language .

C o rdially do we commend this vers ion of Ovid's M etamo rpho ses to our readersas by far the best and purest in our language .

—Gr aphz’

c.

An excellent transla tion.

”—A thena um.

T he execu tion is admirable. It is but scant and inadequate praiseto say o f it tha t it is the best transla tion of the M etamo rpho ses which we have.

Observer .

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Land and W a ter .

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The Past and Pr esent L if e of the Glohe. .

W i th numerous Illustra tions. By David Page, LL.D. C rown 8vo , 6a

The Cr ust of the E a r th

A H andy O utline o f Geo logy. By David Page, LL.D. S ixth E d it ion, 1

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A dvanced Tex t-Pooh of Physica l Geog r ayhyBy DavidPage, LL.D. Second E d i tion, wi th E ngravings. 55.

A thoroughly good Text- Bo ok ofPhysicalGeog raphy.

"—SaturdayRer'z'

By Sir J. Noel Pa ton. Fcap . , clo th , 55 .

Poems hy a Pa inter .

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—A thene um.

The S cience of Finance.

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no tes, Professor Baynes has rendered good service to logical stud ies in thicountry ; for if the student des ires to unders tand some thing of the r a tiona lethe rules laid down in o rd inary text s, he co uld no t have reco urse to a be ttework.

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On the Pr iory of I nchmahomeN OTE S , H ISTORIC AL AND DE SCRIPT IVE wi th Introducto ry Vei-ses, anan Appendix of O rig inal Papers . By the Rev. Wm. M

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Two L ectu r es on the G enius of H andel,A ND J

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H E D ISTINCTIVE C HARA C TE R o r 11 15 SA CRE D C OM PO S IT IO N :

Delivered to the M embers .o f the E d inburgh Philoso phical Institution. B

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A n H istor ica l View of the L aw of M a r itimCommegce. By James Reddie, E sq. A dvocate . 8vo , 14s.

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Late Professor of Geography in the Univers ity of Berlin. By W . L. GagC rown 8yo , 7 s . 6d .

W ILLIAM BLA CKWOOD A ND SON S. 43

L ife of the la te Rev. 7 ames Roher tson, D .D . ,

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ro s. 6d .

T his is a beautiful record of the life of a true man. M r C harterishas d ischarged the du ty of b iographer wi th fidelity and candour, wi th rare goodtas te , and an affec tiona te reverence. T he memo ir is wo rthy o f its subject, andsupplies one of the mo st interesting b iographies which has seen the light fo rmany a day.

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the C oal- F ields o f N o rth America and G rea t Br ita in. By ProfessorHenry Darwin Roger s, Professor o f N atural H isto ry inthe Univers i ty of G lasgow. W i th Seven large M aps, and numerous Illustra tions eng raved on C opper and on W ood . In Three Volumes , Royal4to , £8, 85.

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The W a r fo r the Rhine Fr ontier , 1 8 70 :

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A s to the transla to r , be.bas perfo rmed his task in a thoroughly satisfacto ry and

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,A theneeum.

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Published yearly, price r s. 6d .

L or d S t L eona rds’

H andy B ooh on Pr oper tyLaw. E ighth E dition. Revised and E nlarged , 55 .

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collection and‘

arrangement o f the material o ut of which the various memo irsare fa shioned , and the vigo rous and sometimes pic turesque statement whichrelieves the dr ier narr ative por tions , place it high above the o rdinary range o f

b iog raphical reference books .—F ortnightly Review .

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W estminsterReview.

S tephensO r , Illustra tions of Parliamentary O rato ry. A Poem. C ompr ising

— Pym

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A Discour se on E thics of the School of Pa ley .

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rON . z . ATHE L

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Poetica l War/es of Ca r o line B owles S ou they .

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The B ir thday,and other Poems .

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‘

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Your na l of the Discovery of the S our ce of the N ile.

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"

imes .

“ C apta in Speke has no twr i tten a noble book so much as he has done a nobledeed . T he vo lume which records his vas t achievement is but the m inor fac tthe histo ry o f his d iscovery, no t the d iscovery itself : yet even a s a literary perfo rmance i t is wor thy Of very high pra ise. It is who lly free from the traces of

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—A thenaeum.

Villa Res idences and Fa rm A r chitectur eA Ser ies of D esigns . By John Star forth , A rchitec t. 102 E ng ravings .

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9 o Lanark .

Berwick 8 6 L inli thgowBute 21 3 o N a irnC a ithness 4 6

C la ckmannan 3 6 Peebles

Dumbarton 6 0 Per th1 6 6 Ro ss and6 o

2 1 o SelkIrk

1 5 o

8 6 S tirling1 1 6

W igtown 55. 6d .

The B ooh of Fa rm - B uilding s ;TH E IR ARRA N GE M E NT A N D C O N STRUC T ION . By Henry Stephens ,

A u tho r of ‘T he Book of the'

Farm and Robert Scott Bur n.

Illus tra ted wi th 1 045 Plates and E ngravings . In 1 vol. , large 8vo , uniformwith The Book of the Farm,

’

&c. £ 1 , 1 1 5. 6d .

D

Q» L 1 3 1 U R‘"

D U U A D r u b L a L U D I

The B ooh of the Fa rm,

D etailing the Labours o f the Farmer, Farm- S teward, Ploughman, ShepherdH edger, Farm Labour er, Field - W o rker , and C a ttleman . By Henr

Stephens , Illustrated with Por tra i ts of An imals painted frothe life ; and with 557 E ng ravings on W o od ,

representing the pr inc ipF ield O pera tions, Implements , and animals trea ted o f in the W o rk.

N ew and Revised E d i tion, the third , in grea t pa r t Rewri tten. 2 vols .

large 8vo , £ 2 , r os .

T he best practical book I have ever met wi th . —Pr ofessor yohnston .

W e assure agr icultural students tha t they will derive bo th pleasure an

profit from a diligent perusal of this clear d ire cto ry to rural labour .

W e have thoroughly examined these vo lumes but to g ive a full no tice o f thevar ied and valua ble contents wo uld o ccupy a larger space than we can con

veniently devo te to the ir d iscussion ; we the refore , in general te rms , commenthem to the carefu l study of every yo ung man who wishes to become a goopra c tical farmer .—Times .

The B ooh of Farm Implements and M a chines .

By J. Slight and R. Scott Burn,E ngineers. E d ited byH enry Stephens

A u tho r o f The Bo ok o f the Farm ,

’

&c . In 1 vo l. , large 8vo

unifo rm wi th The Book O f the Farm,

’

£2 , 2 5 .

Ca techism of Pr actical A g r icu ltu r e.

By Henry Stephens, E R.S. E . , A utho r o f ‘The Bo ok of the Farm.

’

W it

E ng ravings . I S.

A Concise H ehr ew G r amma r ,

with the Pronunc ia t ion, Syllab ic D ivision and T one O f the W o rds, an

Quantity of the Vowels . By the Rev. Duncan Stewar t, RA . avo , clo thlimp, 3s.

A dvice to Pu r cha ser s of H orses .

By John S tewart , V.S. Autho r of S table E conomy.

’

2 5. 6d .

T o the farmer,the spo r tsman , and a ll interested In o bta in ing a sound an

well cond i tioned animal, calculated ei ther fo r wo rk o r pleasure, this wo rk wilbe found to be eminently useful. It Is the result of the experience of a first ratautho r i ty on the subject.

S tahle E conomy .

A T rea tise on the M anagement of H o rses in relation to S tabling , G room

ing , Feed ing , W a ter ing , and W orking . By John Stewart, V.S. Sevent

E d i tion,fcap . 8vo , 65 . 6d .

The A ng ler’

s Comfianion to the Rivers an

Lochs of S cotla nd . By T. T. Stoddart . W i th M ap Of the PishinS treams and Lakes of Sco tland . Second E d i tion. C rown 8vo , 35. 6d

H andhooh of H a r dy H er haceous and A lpinF lowers, FOR GE N E RAL GARDE N D E C ORA T ION . C ontaining Descrit ions , in Pla in Language , of upwards of 1 000 Spec ies of O rnaments

H ardy Perennial and A lpine Plants, adapted to all classes of Flower - Gar

dens. Rockwo rk, and W a ters ; along wi th C onc ise and Plain Instructionfor their Propaga tion and C ulture . By W illiam Sutherland, Gardener tthe E arl o f M into ; fo rmerly M anager of the H erbaceous Depar tment aK ew. C rown 8vo , 7 s. 6d .

T his is an unpre tend ing but valuable wo rk, well adapted to furnish informa tion respec ting a clas s o f plants certa inly r is ing in po pular es tima tion.

W e co rd ial ly recommend his book to the no tice o f our readers, as likely to befrom a gardening po int o f view. the s tandard work on H erbaceous Plants.

Gardener s'

Chr onicle.

“ T he bes t book o f its class ava ilable fo r E nglish readers. —GardenersM agazine.

L ays of the Deer For est .

W ith Sketches o f O lden and M odern D eer - H unting , &c. By JoinSobiesln

'

and Char les E dward Stuar t . 2 vo ls . post 8vo, 2 1 5.

The f er usa lein Deliver ed of Torgua to Tasso.

T ranslated by Col. Alex. Cunningham Robertson. C rown 8vo, ros. 6d.

Tar a A M ahr a tta Ta le.

By Captain M eadows Taylor . 3 vo ls. po st 8vo , £ 1 , r rs. 6d.

A picture of Indian life which it is impo ssible not to admire. W e have nthesitation in saying , that a mo re perfec t knowledge of India is to be acqu ire :from an attentive perusal and s tudy of this work, than could be gleaned from a

whole library.-Pr ess.

The Gr eeh G r amma r of Thier sch .

T ransla ted from the German. with br ief Remarks. By Sir Daniel K.

Sandford, M .A. Pro fessor of G reek in the University of Glasgow. 8vo ,

1 65.

H our s of Chr istian Devotion .

Transla ted from the G erman of A . T holuck. D .D Professo r of T heo logjin the Univers i ty o f H alle , and C ouncillo r o f the Supreme C onsistory,

Pruss ia . By the Rev. Rober t M enzies. D.D. W i th a Preface wr i tterfor this T ransla tion by the Au thor . C rown avo , 95.

T o many of these medi ta tions fo ur o r five gr ea t texts are prefixed, antthe reader feels that the gentle pressure o f a powerful hand has crushed thesesacred fru its, and hand ed him the frag rant w ine o f the kingdom in a golder

goble t. The abundance and variety o f the ma ter ial furnished in thevolume fo r qu iet pondering render farthe r charac ter isa tion d iffi cult. W e anthankful for the introduction o f this wise , thoughtful, helpful book in this darksad seu on.

—B r itz'slz Qua r ter lyReview.

H andy- B ooh of the Flower - Ga r den

Being Practical D irections fo r the Pro pagation, C ulture and A rrangement

o f Plants in Flower -G ardens all the year round . Embrac ing all classes o f

Gardens, from the largest to the smallest . W i th E ngraved and C oloured

Plans, illustra tive o f the var ious systems of G ro uping in Beds and Bo rders.By David Thomson, G ardener to his G race the Duke of Buccleuch , K .G

a t D rumlanrig . A N ew and E nlarged E d ition, crown 8vo , 7 s . 6d.

Its author is entitled to great praise for the s imple and clear manner in

which he has expla ined the cultural d irections , which , if carefully compliedwi th , will enable the non ro fessional floriculturist to g row plants as well asany gardener .

"—~Ga ra’ener Chr onicle.

A Pr actica l Tr ea tise on the Cu ltu r e of the PineApple. By David Thomson. 8vo , gs .

T he name o f the au tho r , one of the very best gardeners in the Br itishIslands , guarantees tha t this vo lume conta ins no d irec tions tha t are no t soundand tes ted by expe r ience . of H or ticu ltu r e.

The best wo rk extant upon this impo rtant subjec t. — Ga r a’ener s

'

M agazine.

A Pr a ctica l Tr ea tise on the C u ltioa tion of theG r ape Vine. By William Thomson , fo rmerly G ardener to h is G race the

D uke o f Buccleuch, K .G . , D alke i th Park. Seventh E d ition,E nlarged ,

8vo , 55 .

W e canno t too strongly recommend M r T homson'

s trea tise as a tho roughlypra c tical and sure gu ide to the cultivation of the vine .—j7ourna l of H orticu l

tu r e.

“ W e urge our readers to pro cure the wo rk, and they will get so clear aninsight into vine—g rowing tha t a vinery will become one of the necessar ies of

exis tence .

A C OM PA N ION VO LUM E TO THE'H A N DY- BOOK O F T HE FLOW E R- GARDE N .

’

The H andy- B ooh of Fr u it Cu ltu r e under G lass .

Be ing a ser ies of E labo ra te Practical T reatises on the cultiva tion and

fo rc ing o f Pines, V ines , Peaches , Figs , M elons , S trawberr ies, and C ucumbers . W i th E ngravings O f ho thouses, &c . , mo st suitaBle fo r the cultivation of and fo rc ing o f these fru i ts. By David Thomson, autho r of

‘H andy—Bo ok of the Flower - G a rden,

’ “A Prac tical T reatise on the C ul

ture of the Pine- A pple, ’

&c . , in crown 8vo , with E ngravings , 7 s. 6d .

Intr oduction to M eteor ology .

By David P. Thomson, M .D . O ctavo , wi th E ngravings, 1 05

N otes on thePecunia ry I nter ests of H eir s of E ntail.W ith C alcula tions regard ing su ch Interests in reference to the A cts of

Parliament affec ting E nta ils, and T ables showing the values of L iferentInterests . By W illiam Thomas Thomson ,

Fellow o f the Institute o f

A c tuar ies , M anager o f the S tandard L ife A ssurance C ompany. 8vo , ros.

52 L IST O F BO OK S PUBLISH E D BY

County L aw,a Pr actica l Tr ea tise on theFunctions

Qua lifi ca tions and D uties of C ounty Ofi cia ls, Lor ds- Lieutenants, an

C onvener s of C ounties , C ommissioner s of S upply , C lerks of S upply , Er e

é r’c. W ith special reference to the A c ts o f Parliament which they administor as members of Road T rusts, Prison Boards, Po lice C omm i tteesLo cal Au tho ri ties, &c . By John Comrie Thomson, E sq. , in I vo l.

[In the Pr ess

Ra lph Da r nell. A N ovel.By Captain M eadows Taylor . 3 vo ls. post avo , £ 1 , u s. 6d .

The Company and the Cr own .

By the Hon. T. J. Hovell - Thurlow. Second E d i tion, co rrected an

revised . 8vo , 7 s . 6d .

Those who wish to understand what our work ac tually is in Ind ia , and hoi t is be ing done , will find an abundant sto re of info rma tion, bo th abou t personand things , in M r T hu rlow's interesting pages .

—Times .

The E leg ies of A thins Tihu llus .

T ranslated into E nglish Verse, wi th L ife of the Poe t , and Illustra trv

N o tes. By James Cranstoun, D.A . , Au thor o f a T ranslation c

‘C a tullus.

’

In crown 8vo ,65 . 6d .

W e may cong ratulate M r C ranstoun on having o ccupied a place for whichis poe tical skill, no less than his manifest classical training and acqu irementsabundantly fits him.

“ S a turday Review .

H e comes nearer the o rig inals than any of his predecesso rs that we a

acqua inted wi th. T he no tes are scholarly and real ly illustrative .

"

E xaminer“ By far the best o f the few vers ions we have of this swee t and gracefupoet. —S tana'a rd.

Tom Cr ing le’

s L og .

A N ew E d ition, with Illustrations. C rown 8vo , or extra g ilt, giledges, 7 5 . 6d.

E verybody who has fa iled to read‘T om C r ingle’s Lo g" should do so a

once . The ‘

Quarterly Review ’went so far as to say tha t the papers co rnpo s ing it , when i t first appeared in ‘ Blackwood ,

’

were the mo st brillianseries o f the time , and tha t time one unrivalled for the number o f famoumagazinists existing in i t . C o ler idge says in his 'T ab le T alk

’ tha t this most excellent : and these verd icts have been ra tified by genera tion

O f men and boys, and by the manifesta tion of C ontinental approval , which ishown by repeated transla tions . The engravings illustrating the present issuare excellent. —S tanda rd.

The B uchanites fr om Fir st to L ast.

By Joseph Train. Fcap . 8vo , 4s .

Your na l of A g r icu ltu r e,A N D TRAN SA C T IO N S O F TH E H IGHLA N D A N D AGRIC ULTURAL SO C IE

o r S C OTLA N D . O ld Series, 1 82 8 to 1 843 . 2 : vols . bound in clo th , £3 , 3N ew Series , 1 843 to 1 865.

54 LIST O F BO O KS PUBLISH E D BY

The { E neid of Virg il.T ranslated in E nglish Blank Verse by G . K . Richards , M .A . , and her

Raveneworth . 2 vo ls . fcap. 8vo , r o s.

M r Richards has done good service to the non - clas sical public by the faitl:ful and beautiful version of Virg il’s [E neid now befo re us , and he has enhancethe boon by a preface of Spec ial value , as se tting fo rth fa irly and conclusivelythrespective meri ts of previous transla tions , and the special quali ties of Virgil aa poet. "—S tanda r d'.

0

Lo rd Ravensworth’

s success and streng th are to be found , not so much 1his verbal force as in the V irgilian Spir i t which brea thes throughou t bus linesN o E nglish reader can well miss their poetical grace and vigour ; no scholawill deem unfaithful the clean cut , dec is ive lines of this mas terly vers ion.

"

E vening S tanda rd .

The Wonder S eeher,

O r the H istory of C harles D ouglas . By M . Fraser Tytler , Author 0‘Tales of the G reat and B rave , ’

&c . A N ew E d ition. Fcap . , 35. 6d.

M emoir s of the Confeder a te Wa r for IndependenceBy Home Von Borcke, la tely C hief of S taff to General ]. E . B . S tuar t.vo ls. post 8vo , wi th M ap , 2 1 5 .

Worhs of S amuel Wa r r en, D . C .L .

L ibrary E d i tion.

The D iary of a la te Physician . In 2 vo ls. fcap., 1 2 5 .

Illustrated E dition, in crown 8vo , handsomely printed, 7 5 . 6d.

Ten Thousand A - Year . T hr ee vo ls . fcap., 1 85.

N ow and Then . F cap. , 65 .

M iscellanies . 2 vols . c rown 8vo , 2 4s.

The L ily and the B ee. F cap. 8vc , 55 .

S amuel Wa r r en’

s W or hs .

People's E d ition, 4 vols . crown 8vo , clo th, 1 85 . O r separatelyD ia ry of a late Phy sician . 3s. 6d.

Ten Thousand A Yea r . 55 .

N ow and Then . Lily and B ee . Intellectua l and M or a l

D evelopment of the Pr esent Ag e. 1 vo l. , 45. 6d.

E ssays, C ritica l, Imag ina tive, and Yur ia’

z’

ca l. I VOL, 55.

The M or a l, S ocia l, and Pr ofessiona l Du ties ofA ttornz

'

es and S olicitor s . By Samuel Warr en, E sq., of the InnerTemple. Barrister- a t- Law. Fca p. 8vc , gs .

W ILLIAM BLA CKWOOD A N D SON S. 55

E ssays Wr itten for the W elling ton Pr ize.

Selected for Publica tion, by H is G race's desire, from those speciallymen

tioned by the Arb i ter . 8vo , 1 2 5 . 6d . 0

List of A uthor s .

I. By L ieut.J. T . H ILDYARD , 7 r st H ighland Light Infantry.II. By L ieu tenant Sr AmaRW A LLE R, Royal E ng ineers.

111. By C aptainJ. C . RUSSE LL , ro th Royal H ussars.

IV . By C olonel S ir GARN E T J. W O LSE LEY, C .B

V . By G eneralJ. R. C RAUFURD .

V I. By L ieutenant C . C OOPE R K ING , Royal M arine A rt illery.

The E ighteen Chr istian Centur ies .

By the Rev. James White, Au thor o f ‘The H istory of France.

’Seventh

E di tion, po st 8vo , with Index, 65 .

H e has se ized the sal ient po ints—indeed , the governing inc ident"—in eac

century, and shown the ir rece ived bear ing as well on their own age as on theprog ress of the worlds V igo rous ly and br iefly, often by a single touch , has bemarked the tra its of lead ing men ; when needful, he touches slightly the ir biogr aphical caree r . T he sta te of the country and o f so ciety, of arts and learning;and , mo re than a ll, o f the mo des o f living , are graphical ly ske tched , and , uponthe who le , wi th mo re fulness than any o ther d ivision.

—Specta tor .

H istory of Fr ance,FROM TH E E ARLIE ST

‘

T IM E S . By the Rev. James White, Au thor o f‘T he E ighteen C hr istian C entur ies.

’

F ifth E d i tion, post'8v8, wi th Index,65

Ar cha olog ica l Shetches in Scotland—K inty r e.

By Captain T. P. White, R.E . , &c . , of the O rdnance Survey. W i th 1 38Illus tra tions . Folio , 2 , 2 5.

Thr ough B u rmah to Wester n ChinaBe ing N o tes of a Journey in 1 863 , to E stab lish the Practicab ili ty of a

T rade- Rou te between the Irawadd i and the Yang- tse - K iang. By Clement

W illiams , formerly Assistant- Surgeon in the 68th L ight Infantry, and FirstPolitical Ag ent at M andalay to the C hief- C ommissioner of Bri tish Burmah.C rown 8vo , with Two M aps and N umerous E ng ravings, 65 .

The E oer Victor ious A rmy .

A H isto ry of the C hinese C ampaign under L ieu t. - C ol. C . G . G ordon, and

of the Suppression of the T ai- ping Rebellion. By Andrew W ilson ,

A u thor of E ngland’

s Policy in C hina ; and formerly E d ito r ofthe

l C hina M a il. ’

In 8vo , wi th M aps , 155 .

In add ition to a good deal o f informa tion respecting C hina and its recerr

histo ry,this vo lume conta ins an interesting account o f a brilliant passage in the

m ilita ry career o f an E nglish o fficer o f remarkable.

promise , and o f the impo rtant results o f his skill and hero ism. It bnngs out clearly the eminentquali ties o f C o lonel G ordon,his iiitrcpidity and resources as a military leader,

his rare apti tude fo r a d ifficult command, his dauntless courag e, calmness, andprudence , his lofty character and unsullied honour .” T imes.

56 LIST o r BOO KS PUBLISHE D BY

Worhs of Pr ofessor Wilson.

E di ted by his Son - in- Law, Professor Perr ier . In Twelve Vols. C ro

8vo , 2 , 85.

The N octes A mhr osiane .

ByProfessor Wilson. W i th N o tes and a G lossary. In Four Vols. C ro

8vo , r6s .

Recr ea tions of Chr istopher N or th.

By Professor Wilson. In Two Vo ls . N ew E d i tion, wi th Po rtra i t, 85.W elcome , r ight welcome, C hristopher N o r th ; we cordially gree t thee i

thy new d ress , thou genial and hear ty old man, who se ‘Ambro sian n ightshave so often in imagination transpo r ted us from solitude to the so cial c i rcleand whose vivid pictures of flood and fell , o f lo ch and glen, have carr ied us ithoug ht from the smoke, din. and pent- up o pulence of London, to the rushinstream o r tranquil tam of those mounta in—ranges,” &c.

—Times.

E ssays , Cr itica l and Imag ina tive.

By Professor Wilson. Four Vo ls . C rown 8vo , 1 65.

By Professor Wilson. C ompris ing ‘The L ights and Shadows of Sco t tisL ife ;’ ‘T he T rials of M argare t Lyndsay and The Foresters .

’

In On

Vol. C rown 8vc , 4s. , clo th. C heap E d i tion. Fcap. 8vc , as. 6d .

Pr ofessor Wilson’

s Poems .

C onta ining the Isle o fPalms,’

the C i ty of the Plague,‘ ‘Unimore,’an

o ther Po ems. C omplete E d i tion. C rown 8vc , 4s.

H omer and his Tr ansla tor s , and the G r ech Dr amaBy Professor Wilson. C rown 8vo , 45 .

Poems“

and Song s .

By DavidWingate. In fcap. 8vo , 55 .

It conta ins genuine poetic o re , po ems which win for the ir au tho r a plaamong Sco tland '

s true sons of song , and such as anyman in any co untry mighrejo ice to have wr i tten.

—London Review .

“ W e are delighted to welcome into the bro therhood of real poets a countryman o f Burns, and whose verse will 0 far to render the rougher Border Sco ttisa class ic d ialect in our litera ture .

"

ai mB ull.

A nnie Weir , and other Poems .

By DavidWingate. Fcap. 8vo , 55 .

For the Use of O fficers in the A rmy, and Readers of M ilitary H isto ry. B

Lieut. H . Yule, Bengal E ng ineers . 8vc , wi th numerou s Illus tra tionsr o s . 6d .

An excellent manual : one of the best works of its class. —B rz'tz'slz A rmD es/la tch .

58 A N C IE N T CLA SSIC S

List of the Volumes published.

—H O M E R : T H E lL lA D.

By T H E E D IT O R.

W e can confidently recommend this firs t vo lume of Anc ient C lassicsfor E nglish Readers to all who have fo rgo tten their G reek and desireto refresh the ir knowledge of H omer . As to those to whom the ser iesis chiefly addressed , who have never learnt G reek at all, this lit tle bookg ives them an oppo rtuni ty which they had no t before—an opportuni tyno t only of remedying a wan t they mus t O ften have felt, but of remedying i t by no pa tient and irksome to il, but by a few hours of pleasantread ing .

”Times .

II.—H O M E R ' T H E O DY S S E Y.

By T H E E D I T O R.

M r C ollins has gone over the O dyssey wi th loving hands, and hetells its eternally fresh Story so admirably, and picks ou t the best passages so skilfully, that he g ives us a charming vo lume . In the Odyssey,

’

as treated by M r C o llins , we have a sto ry- book that might charm a

child o r amuse and instruc t the wisest man .- S cotsnzan.

ML—H E RO DOTUS .

By G E O RG E C . SW A YN E , M .A .

This volume altoge ther confirms the highes t anticipations that wereformed as to the workmanship and the value of the series. —D a ilyTelegr aph.

IV.—THE C O M M E NTARIE S O F C /E SAR.

By A N THO NY T RO LLOPE .

W e can only say tha t all admirers of M r T ro llope will find his‘C z sar

'almost, if no t qu i te , as a ttra c tive as his mo st popula r novel,

while they will also find tha t the exigenc ies of fa i thful translation haveno t been able to subdue the charm o f his peculiar s tyle . T he o r ig inalpar t of his little bo ok—the introduc tion and co nclus ion—are admirablywritten, and the who le wo rk is qu i te up to the standard of its predecessors, than saying which, we can g ive no higher pra ise .

”Vanity F a ir .

V.—V I R G I L.

By TH E E D ITOR.

Such a volume canno t fail to enhance the reputa tion of this promising series, and deserves the perusal o f the mo st devo ted La tinists, not1

355 than o f the E ngli sh readers fo rwhom i t is designed .

—Contempor a ryew e

'w.

It would be difiicult to descr ibe the [E neid ’better than i t is donehere , and still mo re d ifficu lt to find three mo re delightfulworks than the

Iliad,'the Odyssey,

’and the V irg il ' o f M r C o llins.

FOR E NGLISH RE ADERS . 59

VI.—HO RAC E .

By THE ODORE M ART IN .

Though we have ne ither quo ted i t. no r made use of i t, we have nohes i tation in saying tha t the reader who is who lly o r fo r the most par tunable to apprec iate H orace untransla ted , may, wi th the ins ight hega ins from the lively, br ight, and , fo r its size, exhaustive li ttle vo lumeto which we refer , account himself hereafter familiar wi th the manysided charms of the Venus ian , and able to enjoy allus ions to his life andwo rks whichwould o therwise have been a sealed book to him.

”—Qua rfer ly Review .

W e wish , after closing his book, to be able to read it again fo r thefirs t time ; i t is su i ted to every occasion ; a pleas ant travelling companion ;welcome in the lib rarywhere H o race himselfmay be consulted ;welcome a lso in the intervals O f bus iness, o r when le isure is abundant ."—E a’inburg lzReview.

In our judgment , no vo lume (o f the series)hither to has come up tothe s ingu lar excellence o f that now under considera tion. The secre t O fthis is, tha t its au tho r so comple tely pu ts himself in H orace

'

s place , scansthe phases O f his life with such an ins ight into the po et’s character andmo tives , and leaves on the reader

'

s mind so li ttle O f an impression tha the is fo llowing the a ttempts of a mere modem to realise the feelingsand express ions Of an anc ient . Real genius is a freemasonry, by whichthe touch o f one hand transmi ts its secret

‘

to ano the r and a capital proofo f this is to be found in the skill, tac t, and fellow- feeling wi th which M r

M artin has execu ted a task, the mer it and value of which is qu i te o uto f propo rt ion to the s ize and pretensions of his volume .

—S a turdajrReview .

VII.—/E S C HYLUS .

By RE GINALD S . C OPLE STON , B .A .

A really delightfu l li ttle vo lume . TIze

T he au thor wi th whom M r C'o'pleston has here to deal exemplifies

the advantage O f the me thod which has been used in this ser ies.

M r C oples ton has apprehended this ma in princ1ple , as we take It to be ,

o f his wo rk has wo rked i t out with skill and care, and has g iven to thepublic a vo lume which fulfils its intention as perfectly as any O f the

ser ies .—Specta tor .

Vlll.—XE NOPHO N .

By S IR A LE XAN D E R GRANT , Bar t.,Principal of the Univers ity Of E dinburgh .

" Sir Alexander G rant tells the story of Xenophon’

s life wi th mucheloquence and power . It has evidently beenwith him a labour o f love ;

while his wide read ing and accura te scho larship are manifes t on nearly

every page .

"—I 'lze E xaminer .

60 A N C IE NT C LA SS IC S

IX .—C I C E R O .

By TH E E D ITOR.

N o charm of s tyle , no fac ili ty and eloquence o f illustration, is

wanting to enable us to see the g rea t Roman advo ca te , sta tesman, and

o ra to r , in the days o f Rome'

s grandeur , in the time of her first fa talhas tening to her decadence, with whom fell her liber ty two thousandyears ago . T he first lines of introduc tion to this fascina ting bo ok a re

full of help and light to the s tudent o f the classica l times who has no t

mas tered the clas sical li tera ture , and in who se interests this bo ok isdone, simply to perfection.

”—Sa u7zder s' N ews - Letter .

X.—S O PHO C LE S .

By C LIFTON W . C O LLIN S , M .A .

“ Sophocles has now been added to the acceptable and singularlyequal ser ies O f 'A nc ient C lassics fo r E nglish Readers .

’M r C o llins

shows grea t skill and judgment in ana lys ing and d iscr iminating theplays of the swee t s inger o f C o lonus .—Gua rdz

'

an .

XI.—PLINY'S LE TT E RS .

By the Rev. A LFRE D C HURC H , M .A ., and

T he Rev. W . J . BRODRIBB , M .A .

T his is one o f the bes t vo lumes o f the ser ies called A nc ient C lassrcsfo r E nglish Readers .

’

T his gracefu l li ttle vo lume will introducePliny to manywho have hither to known no thing o f the S ilver A ge .

”

A thene um .

M r Lucas C o llins’s very useful and popular series has affo rded a fi toppo rtunity fo r a ske tch of the life and wr i tings o f the younger Pliny ;and the wr i ters O f the vo lume before us have contr ived , o ut o f the irintima te and comple te familiar ity wi th the ir subject, to place the man ,

his tra its O f charac ter , his friends , and h is surro und ings so vividly befo reus , tha t a hither to shadowy acqua intance becomes a d istinc t and realpersonage .

” —S a tur a’ay Review.

X | I.—E U R I P I'

D E S .

By W . B . D O N N E .

This is the twelfth instalment of this admirably conducted series , andOne Of the very best tha t has yet appeared .

”—B ell’s W eekly M essenger .

XIII.—JUV E N,A L.

By E DW ARD W ALFORD , M .A .

This is one o f the best execu ted vo lumes o f the who le series o f‘Ancient: C las sics.’ and exhib i ts M r W alford

’

s cr i tical powers in a veryfavourable light."—Pa ll M a ll Gazette.

X IV .

—A R | S T O PH A N E S .

By the E D ITOR.

T here has been no wo rk yet published which brings the G reekcomedian be tter wi thin the comprehension of the average E ng lishman.

”

G E O L O G Y.INTRODUC TORY T E XT B OOK O F G E OLOGY. By D avid

Page, LL .D . &c .

A DVAN C E D T E XT B OOK O F G E O .LOGY By the same,

E C ON OM IC G E O LOGY ; o r , G eo logy in its rela tions to

the A rts and M anu fa c tur es . By the same , 7 5 .

T H E C RUST O F T HE E ARTH . A H andy O u tline o f

G eo logy. By the same ,

T H E G E O LOG IC A L E XAM INATOR. E y the same . Sewed,HAN DBOOK O F T E RM S IN G E OLOGY AN D PHYS IC AL

G E OGRAPHY. By the same,

." O O L O G Y.T E XT BOOK OF "OO LOGY. By H . A lleyne Nicholson,

M .D .,&c . 6s .

IN TRODUC TORY T E XT - B OOK O F "OO LOG Y. By the same, 2 5 .

O UTLIN E S O F N ATURAL H ISTORY. By the same, I s .

M ANUA L O F '"OO LOGY. By the same, I zs.

E XAM IN AT ION S IN N ATURA L H ISTORY . B eing a Pro

g ress ive Series ofQues tions adap ted to the’A u thor '5In troduc to ry and A dvanced T ext - B o oks and the

S tuden ts ’

M anual o f"oo logy. By the same, I S .

PHYS /GAL GE OGRAPHY.INTRODUC TORY T E XT - B OOK O F PHYS ICAL G E OGRAPHY.

By D avid Page, LL .D ., &c ., as .

ADVAN C E D T E XT - BOOK O F PHYSIC A L G E OGRAPHY.By the same, 55 .

E XAM INATION S IN PHYSIC AL G E OGRAPHY. By the

same. S ewed,RITT E R

’

S C O M PARA TIVE G E OGRAPHY. T ransla ted byW . L . G age ,

A TLA S OF PHYS IC A L r G E O GRAPHY. By A . Keith&c . H alf- bound, I 2 S .

PH YS I O S.

E LE M E NTARY HANDBOOK O F PHYS IC S . W i th 2 10

D iagrams . By W illiam Rossiter, &c . , 55 .

E N GLI S H LAN GUA GE .

E TYM O LOG ICAL D IC T ION ARY O F TH E E NG LISH LAN

GUA G E . C rown 8vo , 7 5 .

TH E S C HOO L E TYM O LOG I-C A I;D ICT ION ARY AN D W ORD

BOOK . Fcap. 8vo , pp . 2 54,H AN DY SC H OOL D IC TIONARY, I S .

E NG LISH PROS E C O .M POS IT ION ByRev. J . C urrie, M .A . I s .

A M A NUAL O F E N GLISH PRO S E LIT E RATURE . D e

signed mainly fo r the A ssis tanc e of S tuden ts In

E nglish C ompo si tion. By W . M into , M .A . ,

C HARA C T E RISTIC S O F E N G LISH PO E TS , from Chaucer toShir ley. By the same . C rown 8vo ,

PROGRE SS IVE AN D C LA SS IF IE D SPE LLIN G - B OOK . B yM ISS Lockwood,

6d.

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