Jolr 4, 1867. 1 



JOUKNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



17 



intereeted in the habits of birds know the following ourioua 

 ease : — The gardener had loft in a newly-eown-out bed a nine- 

 inch pot turned upside down. Lilting it one morning he found 

 3 inches of moss below it, in which two tomtits' uesta were 

 embedded — one containing only one egg, the other nine ; to 

 which, however, a tenth hag since been added. The parent bird 

 has sinco been sittinR on the whole ten eggs. She has an access 

 only through the drainage-hole of the pot, which measures 

 exactly 1 inch in diameter. In at that hole (.he, or rather 

 they, must have taken all the moss. It will be interesting to 

 find how she will get her young ones out through tho hole. — 

 O. S. A., Ayrshire. 



AN IMPROVED PAYNES ni\Ti. 



I WAR much pleased to see in the Journal of May '2nd an 

 article on Ligurians in Ireland, showing that tho sharp little 

 foreigners are being domesticated 90 near home, and also up- 

 holding tliat superiority over their black ueighbcurs, claimed 

 by their tirst importer into IJritain, our master in apiculture, 

 the " DnvoNsirii'.K 15ke-keki'EK," to whom we owe an everlast- 

 ing debt of gratitude for his valuable oontribuliona to " our 

 .Journal " on a subject which particularly interests all who 

 keep bees. 



I have long been thinking of introilucine the Ligurian bee 

 into my apiary, but have been deterred by the reasons men- 

 tioned by " Hgirin." Those objections have, ho stales, been 

 removed" by Mr. Woodbury. I fear that, having what is con- 

 sidered here a large apiary and a populous ueiplibourhood (in 

 bees), I should find it dillioult, if indeed possible, after going 

 to the expense and trouble, t" keep the strain pure, as the 

 Ligurians cross so readily. There are, doubtless, many who 

 could, if they would, throw light on the subject, were they to 

 surmount tljfir bashfulness to rush into print, and which 

 deprives us of many valuable hints which might be learned 

 from their failure or success. 



When recovering from an illness I altempteJ hive-making, 

 and finding straw the only material I could manage (though 

 none can compare with the bar-autl-frnme), I fiiucied I suc- 

 ceeded in milking an improved form of Payne's hive, after this 

 fashion : — Tho roof is made separate fiom tho body of the 

 hive, and can he raised or fastened down. 

 The lower part, or body of the hive, has 

 a crown-board of pine pressed down, 

 which keeps tho straw circular. There 

 are three hoops formed of briars, tied 

 with fine wire at the joinings, on the out- 

 side, and one hoop ou tho lower part in 

 side ; these keep tho straw in its plao,. 

 and save stitching, which is at best but 

 tedious work. The straw is upright, hard. 

 and firm. The advantages in favour of 

 this plan are easilj' seen : the straw of 

 the roof being straight down, throws off 

 the wet better than the old plan of adome 

 roof ; the body has tho same advantage. 

 The straw being quite unbroken, not 

 being crushed or bent, it must form 

 a far better non-conductor of heat or cold than whtn the straw 

 in bruised, so the temperature must be more equable and ven- 

 tilation more perfect. The hive, too, must be ranch more 

 durable than (he old form, as the wet will not lodge about the 

 stitches, where tlie old hives fail first. The roof is stitched 

 with split briars, and the top bound round with tho same ; the 

 binding is painted with a mixture of ochre, resin, and oil ; alno 

 the ends of the straw of the body of the hive, as well as the 

 hoops. The whole looks much neater than the old cottage 

 hive, and needs no cap or hackle, the roof being perfectly 

 waterproof. 



Tills is a very backward season. I have no swarms as yet, 

 and there i.' little prospect of a good honey-hnrvfst. I siiall 

 think myself fortunate if I can carry siifely through withnut 

 having to feed up to weight in September next, or loifeit the 

 title of — Bee Fbicnd. 



THE HONEY HARVEST IN SOMERSETSHIRE. 

 My apiary is in a very poor way this year, owing to the miser- 

 able spring and late summer. I have not had a single swarm 

 or fi^n of cue jet (end of June). I have not sten a drone 

 out, nor a single cell sealed up with honey — -in fact, my bees 

 have been and are living from hand to mouth. Two hives 



died of starration in the middle of May, although I was feed- 

 ing them, and two others almost followed their fate, and ara 

 very weakly still. There seems to be no honey even now in the 

 dowers. Altogether, so far, this promises to be the worst bee 

 year in my pretty long experience, not excepting 18C1. — B. Sc 'W, 



LIGURIANS IN .JERSEY. 



At the recent show of the Jersey Itoyal llortioultura] Society, 

 some Ligurians were exhibited under glass in juxtaposition 

 with the common black bee, and, being the first of this beauti- 

 ful variety of hive bee which have been seen in this island, they 

 attracted much attention. We extract the following particulars 

 from the printed description which was laid ou tho table with 

 the bees. 



" ToK LioCRi.vN (Apis ligustica), on Yellow It.vliax Alt 

 Bee. — This beautiful variety of bee is a native of the Alps. 

 The merit of introducing it to EuKland is due to Mr. Wood- 

 bury, the eminent " DEvoNsiiiiiE Bke-keei-eii," who obtained 

 it from Monsieur 11. C. Uermann, of Switzerland, on the I'Jth 

 of July, 1859, since which time it has become known both far 

 and wide. 



" Their superiority over tho black bee consists in — that they 

 are less sensitive to cold ; that their queens are more prolific ; 

 they swarm earlier and more frequently ; they are abundant 

 honey collectors ; and are more courageous and active in self- 

 defence. 



" Mr. Tidey, of Manor Cottage, Noirmont, obtained a stock 

 of those bees direct from the apiary of Mr. Woodbury, and they 

 arrived in Jersey on tho "iOlh of June, 18G(), in tho most perfect 

 order, and headed (Mr. Woodbury assured him), by a jierfeotly 

 pure and beautiful queen ; and her majesty has begun the sea- 

 sun by issuing ou the let of last Juno witli tho largest swarm 

 Mr. Tidey has ever witnessed. This was followed on the 9th 

 by a second swarm, to all appearance equally large. These 

 t«o natural swarms Mr. Tidey has secured in Woodbury bar- 

 frame hives ; ho therefore trusts they are now safely established 

 in tho Island." 



QUEEN'S EXCURSIONS. 



I NOTICKD in one of my hives to-day at 2 r.M. tho qneen came 

 out, and took a flight for about two minutes, and came back 

 again. The bees that were upon the alighting-board seemed 

 amazed at it, but upon her return were delighted, and followed 

 her in, fanniug with delight. What seemed strange to me, it 

 was the queen of a swarm that I hived la'<t iSaturduy — a first 

 swarm — aud they have been working well since they were 

 hived, aud commenced carrying pollen the day afterwards. Is 

 the above an uncommon occurrence ?• 



I may also state that the young queen, impregnated by the 

 Ligurian drone last season at the distance of five miles, is doing 

 well, and throning out good-marked bees. — South LiAKCAsmaE 

 Bee-keeper. 



[We have no doubt that the queen was a young one, and that 

 her flights have been continued. The old queen is sometimes 

 deposed, and the first swarm issues under a jouug queen. 

 Tours is very probably a case in point.] 



ACCLIMATISATION AT THE ANTIPODES. 



I AM indebted to Mr. Edward Wilson, tho original BrcsidGnt 

 of tho Acclimalisation Society of Yiutoriu, tor a copy of the 

 fifth annual report of the proceeding of this, probably the 

 most prosperous, and certainly the most valuable of all the 

 assooiations which have been formed for the purpose of accli- 

 matising, in different countries, useful plauts and animals not 

 originally indigenous to or which had not been before intro- 

 duced into the country or colony which is the bcene of the 

 Society's labours. 



The Report states that the great achievement of the Society 

 during the past year has been the introduction of a flock of 

 ninety-three Aug..ra goals, which there is every prospect of 

 speedily establishing in the country, as, since the arrival of the 

 flock, its increase has been sixty, whilst only two have died. 

 The average weight of the fleece of these guats is about 4 lbs., 

 and as the niaiUet price is generally Is. a-pound higher than 

 good shetps' wool, the value can readily bo calculated. The 

 demand for the wool is practically unlimited, so that no fears 

 need be entertained of over-stocking the moiket. Some wool 

 ^horu from tho goats, whiuh have been for some years at the 

 Royal Paik, was sent to England by the Council, to Messrs. 



