344 



JOTJENAL 01' HOETICULTURE AWD COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ Oaober 27, lSG3. 



Again, " I know of no writer who has, in my estimation, 

 satisfactoiHy accounted for the presence of foul 'brood in a 

 hire on the supposition of its being a disease." And, again, 

 " I am not disposed, therefore, to view the presence of foul 

 brood in a hive as a disease, properly so called, at all." And, 

 lastly, to prevent any misconceptiou of my views, I said, 

 " Let me here anticipate any objections which may be urged 

 to the evils in question being produced only artificially," and 

 went on to show that foul brood may be frequently produced 

 " from purely natural causes," and without any interference 

 or meddling whatever. 



These quotations wiU show that I repudiated the doctrine 

 of foul brood being considered as a disease at all. Indeed, 

 I was scrupulously careful not to designate it as such in 

 any of my papers, and, consequently, I must repeat that I 

 did not treat the subject on those principles. 



I can assiu'e Mr. Woodbury that I have no intention of 

 " withdi'awing from the discussion." — J. Lovte. 



BEE-KEEPING IN STAFFOEDSHIEE. 



I RECEIVED the following letter some time ago from a 

 gentleman in StafFordshii-e, to whom I am personally an 

 entii'e stranger, and upon my acceptance of his CKtremcly 

 liberal offer, it was followed by a truly magnificent stock of 

 bees. I, of coui'se, lost no time in returning my warmest 

 thanks ; and as my esteemed correspondent is pleased to 

 express himself indeljted to me for information on bee 

 management, I solicited and obtained permission to publish 

 his letter, which shows that although he has adopted my 

 hives and experimental system, he has entirely escaped the 

 evils which have been so erroneously described as the natui'al 

 consequence tif the experiments of — A Devoushike Bee- 

 keeper. 



"Dear Sir, — If a stock from a prosperous apiary is likely 

 to assist in stemming the downward toiTent, I shall have 

 great pleasure in presenting you with one of my swai'ms 

 containing a young queen which has proved herself very 

 prolific. 



" My own bees have done wonders, as the following state- 

 ment will show : — 



" May 9. — I made my first swarm. In ten-frame hive 

 nadired and bell-glass. 



" May 20. — Ditto second. In nadired ten-frame straw 

 Woodbury-hive. 



" May 23. — Thii-d swarm came off naturally. (This I will 

 send you.) Is nadh-ed in thii-teen-inch bai--hive. 



"May 26. — Fourth swarm came off naturally (my best 

 queen). Nadired and bell-gl^ss in Eevan-box, eight bars. 



" These are all from one hive, but the first swarm was 

 peopled by placing it on the stand of another hive. 



" June 24. — Swai-m of May 9th, sent out a strong swarm, 

 although it had beeu transposed on the 16th with swaa-m 

 No. 2, in laxge straw hive. 



" Jxily 3. — No. 1, of May 9th, sent out a large second 

 swaa-m. This I retiu'ned but had to nadir their hive to 

 prevent clustering, although they were in a ten-frame hive 

 and sxu-mounted with a large bell-glass. 



" July 10. — Maiden swarm of June 24th, sent off a 

 good swarm which was unfortunately lost, having taken 

 refuge in a chm-ch roof three-quarters of a m£e off. I had 

 transposed on or about the 7th this swarm with one from 

 a storified-hive of June 23rd, which began to cluster out- 

 side, and this made them swarm. By this transposal the 

 two swarms changed theu' working population almost en- 

 tirely, as they were hived within a day of each other, and 

 brood had matured in both hives. Notwithstanding this 

 misfortune both these hives are very populous, and I have 

 had to nadir the swarm of June 23rd containing the popu- 

 lation of the maiden swarm to prevent hanging-out. The 

 other hive, the maiden swarm, is weU filled with bees, and 

 if we have a few more honey days will stand the winter with- 

 out feeding. 



" I have thus unfortunately lost my two best queens from 

 last year. The one was cast out of her hive dead, and the 

 other, the mother of these numerous colonies, went off with 

 the maiden-maiden swarm. 



" I made a hole in the roof of the church and arrived 

 close to 'the cluster of bees, and having cut down the combs 



which they had constructed aft^r an occupancy of only three 

 days, BO as to fall on a shallow paper tray, drew them forth 

 in hopes of obtaining the queen, but she and the bulk of 

 the bees crawled higher up under the roof and liaffled my 

 attempts. I have made several unions this year in the 

 method recommended in The Joitenal of Horticulture 

 with the most perfect success and without the least fighting. 

 The smell of the peppei-mint effectuaDy prevents the bees 

 from recognising each other, or diseiimiuating between 

 friend and foe. — J. E. B." 



AGE OF QUEENS. 



I AM afraid that "A Devonshire Bee-keeper" has beeu 

 rather too precipitate when he says that the one ease decides 

 the question as to the age of queens. 



For example, a number of years ago, while examining my 

 hives in autumn to ascertain then- state for stocks, my 

 attention was jiarticidarly drawn to two of them from the 

 immense quantity of brood they possessed, and which was 

 ajjparently in good condition and promising well for a futui'e 

 year, and. as a matter of course, carefully covered up for the 

 winter. Having passed inspection I looked no more after 

 them till spring, when I noticed a dwindling-away. My 

 suspicion was at once ai'oused that there was something 

 wi'ong. An examination of No. 1 took place, and thinking- 

 there was no queen from the fact of there being no brood in 

 the hive, I turned out the bees to satisfy myself; and to my 

 astonishment I foviud the very same queen that had already 

 proved herself so prolific the autumn before, actually pro- 

 ducing no eggs whatever though scarcely two years old, and 

 the worker bees paid no attention to her any more than if 

 she were an ordinai-y worker bee. No. 2 had also ceased to 

 produce bees. The only tilings in the shape of brood or 

 young in this hive were one di'one and one working bee, 

 and thinking there was some chance of their doing well, 

 I allowed them to remain; but ere many days they left 

 the hive, leaving nothing but the queen bee and drone in 

 the hive. This queen was three years old. Although this 

 appears to corroborate "A Hampship-e Bee-keepee's " 

 opinion, I am sure it is only an exception. — A Lanarkshire 

 Bee-eeepek. 



[This is almost the only case in which I cannot support 

 my opinions by my own experience. It does appear to me, 

 however, that Mr. Lowe's evidence, as well as that of " A 

 Lanarkshire Bee-keepek" himself, to say nothing of all 

 other authorities on the subject, prove most conclusively 

 that seven years is a very exceptional age for a queen bee 

 to attain — so exceptional indeed, that I am stUl inclined 

 to fancy it, in the language of om- police courts, " a remark- 

 able case of mistaken identity." — A Devonshire Bee- 

 keepee.] 



QUE, LETTER BOX. 



SrASlsH CocKEBEl, Moi'LTiNG {Subscriber).— The cause of the arpfar- 

 ance you name is a little we.iktiess at the time of moulting. The cure is 

 p:aieiice. If you leniove the false quill, or case, that covers any of the 

 leathers, you will fiml it peifectly formed "within. 



Accki.e:rati:jg Movlting WMcieJis).— Let the bird roost and he housed 

 as usual. Feed him well, hut not on stimulating food. Let him have 

 Krouiid oats mixed v.ith milk. Jf he has no grass run give Mm lettuce. 

 Avoid meat and hemiisted. 



DOKKiNos FOR Dir.JliKGHAM Suow ( ff. P.).— Ltt your Dorkings run 

 about. Feed them ^vell on soft food, bread sopped in milk, oatmeal, or, 

 failine tliat, harleymcal mixed with milk. Be sure they ate fed .it day- 

 break. If thcv have far to travel give them some thread and ale before they 

 Ko. Wash iht'ir legs ai:d feet before they go, and let them have some clean 

 straw at the bottom of their basket. 



Kourv TuKKETS (.1/. i?. i).;.— The disease your Turkeys are suflerinj: 

 from is roup, and the remedy you have adopted is for gapes. Give the 

 paticuts bread and ale freely. Let their faces be washed wiih vinegar and 

 cold water, and let ihau be kept in a dry place. Change their ground if 

 you can, and separate the unsound from the sound. Use Baily's pills.^ 



Spanish Cock's Cowb Piioopixg (Ji. A. (?.).— If the cock's comb was 

 quite erect before moulting, you may fairly hope it will be so again. We 

 cannot say as much for the chickens. It is useless ever to keep a Spanish 

 cockerel with a falling comb. He is useless fur exhibition, and worthless 

 tor sale. Fallin;^ combs have been remedied by being tied in an erect 

 position with silver wire, but few birds are worththe trouble and expense, 

 as no one would breed f'-om Bucli. 



Silkworm's Eggs [S. L. i.).— You can purchase them inCovent Garden 

 Market. They only require to be put into a box strong enough to avoid 

 being crushed during the voyage. 



