Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince Consort, with the Royal Children, were some time engaged in watching with deep interest the busy scene before them, and putting many questions relating to the habits and economy of the honey-bee.
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1862.
From the "Illustrated London News," August 16, 1862.
One of the most interesting and instructive objects in the Exhibition is a transparent hive, in which the bees may be seen at full work. Among the collection of bee-hives exhibited by Messrs. Neighbour and Son, is one of glass, stocked with a colony of Italian Alp bees. Here the queen-bee may be seen surrounded by her subjects, which pay the most deferential attention to their sovereign. Through an aperture cut in the wall, the busy throng of bees are continually passing and repassing. They go out at their pleasure into the open court, fly over the annexe into the grounds of the Horticultural Society and other adjacent gardens, and return laden with sweets.
From the "Journal of Horticulture," October 21, 1862.
G. Neighbour, and Sons, 149, Regent Street, and 117, Holborn, No. 2157, have a very handsome and complete stall, on ascending the steps of which we found a flourishing stock of Ligurians, apparently not at all ashamed of the public position which they occupied, and working vigorously in the full light of day. The queen, one of the largest and finest-coloured we have met with, was perambulating the combs and receiving the homage of her subjects, stopping frequently to deposit an egg in every empty cell. The hive itself was a "Woodbury Unicomb," handsomely got up in mahogany, invented, as its name implies, by our valued correspondent, "A Devonshire Bee-keeper," the construction of which will be readily understood by an inspection of the engraving at [page 102]. Its distinctive features are the adaptation of the movable-bar system to unicomb-hives, by which any colony in an apiary of "Woodbury hives" can be placed in the unicomb-hive in a few minutes, and the use of "outside venetians," or "sun-blinds," as they are called, instead of the usual impervious shutters. By this contrivance light is never excluded, so that when the hive is open for inspection, all its inmates continue their avocations with their accustomed regularity, and a quiet and orderly scene is presented to the spectator instead of the hubbub and confusion which ensues in ordinary unicomb-hives. On the left-hand side of the unicomb hangs a beautifully-executed drawing of a Ligurian queen-bee magnified, together with the queen-worker and drone of Apis Ligustica, of the natural size. Immediately under the drawing is placed a square glass super, containing nearly forty pounds of the finest honeycomb. On the right of the unicomb-hive is another super of the same description, containing nearly thirty pounds of the purest honey. These supers are, undoubtedly, by far the finest in the Exhibition, and are the first worked in England by Ligurian bees, being from the apiary of "A Devonshire Bee-keeper." In addition to these, the most striking objects, are shown Neighbour's Improved Single Box and Cottage Hives, Taylor's Bar-Hives, Woodbury Frame and Bar-hives, the new Bottle-feeder, and bee apparatus of every description. It will be apparent from the foregoing, that Messrs. Neighbour's stall is well worth inspection, although the various novelties it contains appear to have met with but scant appreciation by the Jury, who merely awarded to them that "honourable mention" so lavishly accorded to far less deserving objects.
From the "Illustrated News of the World" September 6, 1862.
One of the most interesting and instructive objects is the honey-bee at full work in transparent hives. In the International Exhibition, Class 9, Eastern Annexe, Messrs. Neighbour and Son of Holborn and Regent Street, exhibit, amongst a collection of the most approved bee hives and apparatus, a glass hive, stocked with a colony of Italian Alp bees. The hive is so constructed as to admit of easily seeing the queen surrounded by the working bees. Contrary to the long-established notion that the bees work only in the dark, this hive is completely open to broad daylight. The bees do not manifest the least dislike to the exposure, and they are not discomfited when light is occasionally admitted for inspecting them. It is obvious that a knowledge of this new feature must tend to a more general acquaintance with the habits and hidden mysteries of the bee than has hitherto been the case. The queen may be seen depositing the eggs in the cells; in this manner she goes on multiplying the species, the working-bees surrounding her, and paying the most deferential attention, with their heads always towards her. Not the least interesting part is to watch the entrance; facility is afforded for doing so, the sunken way communicating with the hive being covered with a flat piece of glass. The busy throng pass and repass through the aperture cut in the wall, so that the bees go out at their pleasure into the open court, fly over the Annexe into the Horticultural and other adjacent gardens, and return laden with crystal sweets gathered from the flowers. The novelty of being able to inspect living bees, and those of a new variety, as easily as goods in a shop window, will well repay the trouble of finding Messrs. Neighbour's stand. These gentlemen will no doubt cheerfully give any information that may be required.
From the "Gardener's Weekly Magazine," September 1, 1862, Conducted by Shirley Hibberd, Esq., F.R.H.S.