Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-08-20
From Our Regular Correspondent
London Letter.
LONDON. Aug. Sd, IS

LONDON, Aug. Sd, 1879.
The British bee keepers association,
which was established in 1874, commenced
on Tuesday and concluded on the oath
ult., its annual show at the royal horticul-
tural gardens. South Kensington. The
season has been as unfavorable to bees
as to the other workers dependent on the
seasons. The little almsmen of spring
bowers" have suffered like the flowers
themselves, and have been driven to eat
in one week the honey they had laid up in
the preceding. The exhibition of honey
is therefore extremely poor, but, on the
other hand. there is an excellent show OF
hives and appliances for bee manipulation.
The prize for the best hive for the pur-
poses of observation has been awarded to
Mr.. j. A. Abbott. the well-known bee
master of Southall, for a hive of very
simple construction, formed by putting
loose frames in box made of plate
glass. Very noticeable in this observatory
is the habit of the bees to cluster together
for warmth in one comb, leaving others
entirely deserted. For the best and most
complete movable comb hive, with cover
ing, stand, and facilities for storing sur
plus honey, the first prize is taken by Mr..
J. NJ. nooker, of Sevenoaks, with the
improved Alexandria hive, vast Ameri-
can hotel for bees. In the same class
Captain P. E. Martin, of Kings Somborne,
near Stockbridge, Hauts, shows the SIM
pie bar-frame hive which he calls L" The
Sailor s." used on large scale in Hamp-
shire to supply honey to the London mar
ket. The bee.keeper's association, which
was formed TO promote humanity to the
honey bee. has done its work so thorough
y that it is hardly necessary now to ex-
plain what is meant by depriving." 1t
is the essence of the modern system,
which, instead of killing the bees for
their honey when they have done good
work, and may do more, uses hives so
constructed that the bees can easily be
driven out and the combs taken. The
combs are then emptied of their honey,
replaced and speedily re-filled by the
exemplary workers. Above the hive
proper are often placed little boxes,
"supers," to be filled with Il convenient
quantity of honey by the bees. who are at
the right moment drummed out or induced
to go by admitting some vapor they de-
test The prize for "supers " was
gained by Mr. Steele, of Fowle's, near
Glasgow. Some American "supers "
shown are novelty. They are little
squares of one piece of wood nearly cut
through at three points, with enough
wood left to serve as a hinge, and NOR
ticed together at the fourth angle. They
are marvels of neatness and cheapness of
construction. Some of the American
"supers " cost only twenty-tour shillings
a thousand. There are three classes for
bees. Mr.. j. A. Abbott wins the first
prize for golden-banded Ligurians, Messrs.
Neighbor and Baldwin tie for the brown
English bees. In the general foreign
class Mr.. Neighbor shows Carniolans and
Mr.. j. P. jackson Cyprians, imported
from Cyprus by Corr, of Bohemia. No
one sends Egyptian bees, but there is an
Egyptian hive-a long shallow cylinder
rolled together out of Nile mud and
straw-in Messrs. Abbott's collection. The
prize for the largest and best harvest of
honey in the comb from one stock is
taken by Mr.. S. Thorne, of Baldock. 1t
consists of forty pounds gathered on the
border-land of Hertz and Cambridgeshire
from the blossom of fruit trees, from san
foin and clover. In the honey fair de-
lightful white American supers of honey
from Mr.. Ishams are shown by Messrs.
Thurber. In a tent in the grounds, where
the Horse Guards band played, keen
went on Tuesday for the
driving prize. The duty of inducing bees
to leave their hives while the honey is
extracted, or transferring them to new
hive, is that which most tests bee
skill. An important part of the
work is to find the queen, for the worker
bees will quickly follow her. NJ. Dennler
lost his queen altogether, and when his
time had expired she was found in the
grip of bee from foreign hive, who
had attacked her to assassnate her. Mr..
W. Martin, who won last year, let his
queen bee pass up unobserved. Mr..
Walton found the queen of his Italians in
three minutes forty-ive seconds, and
the driving in six minutes forty
seconds. He took the first prize.