396 



JOURNAL OF HOETICDLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



[ November 21, 1807. 



of January respectively — i° and — 2°. All the canaries seemed 

 quite as hardy as other birds I had in the same aviary at the 

 time, which were nine bramblings, nine redpoles. five green- 

 finches, five chaiBncheE, two tree and six house sparrows, {our 

 doves, and several others. Five of the canaries are now alive, 

 and of those that are dead four or five at all events were killed 

 by a Bantam cock I put in a few weeks in the spring. — PniLir 

 Ckowley, Culverton House, Alton. 



SUPPLYING WiVX— EFFECTS OF \aBRATION. 



Would it assist bees in building their cells to give them 

 thin sheets of white wax ? JXy hives are situated about 40 feet 

 from the railway, but on a higher elevation ; I fear the vibration 

 from the trains constantly passing may cause the bees to 

 consume too much of their store before spring comes, as I 

 suppose they may be often roused from their dormant state. 

 What is your opinion ? I know of no remedy. — C. A. J. 



[It is doubtful whether bees would fabricate combs out of 

 plain sheets of wax, but if the rudiments of cells are embossed 

 upon them they are at the proper season readily accepted, and 

 are, probably, of some service in assisting the bees by provid- 

 ing them with wax for the formation of cells. We doubt whether 

 railway vibration will injuriously affect your bees, believing 

 that they will become used to it, and that they will then en- 

 tirely disregard it. ] 



LIGURLW BEES IN .JERSEY. 



Will you allow me to correct an error which your corre- 

 spondent, " C. B. Eduah," has fallen into, iu page 331, re- 

 specting my Ligurian bees? — an error which would easily be 

 seen by any one reading with attention what was said of them 

 at page 17. " C. B. Eduaii " says, " Mr. Tidey exhibited some 

 honey made this year by his Ligurian bees." This is true ; 

 but he goes on to say, " Which together with the octagon super 

 in which it was contained weighed 21 lbs., and he estimated 

 the whole hive to be ino lbs." This is not true. The honey 

 made by the Ligurian bees was in a half-size Woodbury hive, 

 similar to what that gentleman (Mr. W.), recommends as nuclei 

 for artificial stocks. Its weight of nett honey was li lbs. 



The correct statement respecting my Ligurians is this. In 

 18G6 I obtained a stock from Mr. Woodbury. In 1867 I find 

 myself in possession of three strong stocks without manipijat- 

 ing, averaging a weight in honey of more than 150 lbs., besides 

 the super above named, containing 14 lbs. of exquisitely pure 

 honey, in comb so fragile that the wonder is how it could con- 

 tain the weight unbroken. If this, with the three swarms of 

 bees, is not a satisfactory investment of money I do not know 

 ■what is. The most remarkable feature in this is, that the 

 super should be given by the second swarm or last, which issued 

 on the 9th of June, and which in the case of the common bee 

 my little experience has taught me it is bad pohcy to place by 

 themselves. 



Of course bars of honey could be spared from the stock 

 boxes ; but I prefer leaving them full, in the hope of being 

 able early in the spring of next year, if all go well, to try my 

 hand at manipulating, and I am having boxes made in accord- 

 ance with Mr. Woodbury's instructions in The Journal of 

 Horticulture for April last. 



With respect to the octagon super exhibited, I took this, 

 weighing 21 lbs. (.Jersey weight, which gives IJ oz. more in the 

 pound than the English), and a second honey box from below 

 it weighing 28 lbs. (also exhibited), from a set of four Stew- 

 arton boxes and an eke. The two stock boxes remaining on 

 the stance weigh fiO lbs., so that the whole would have weighed 

 109 lbs. This great weight was obtained by first putting two 

 good swarms together in two boxes, and by affording timely 

 increase of space to prevent swarming. 



I ought to mention that there is scarcely a stock of bees in 

 my apiary that does not contain more or less of the Ligurian 

 element ; but woe be to the black fellow that dares venture to 

 trespass on their landing board. — A. W. Tidey, Manor Collarir, 

 Noirmont, Jcrseij. 



POLLEN OR FLOUR. 

 I HAVE observed my bees of late years coming to their hives 

 covered over with white. I have but lately found out what 

 it could be ; the other day as I passed by a hardy kind of 



Balsam I found the bees very busy collecting honey from its 

 flowers, and all of them quite white. I then examined the 

 flowers, and found that the pollen on the upper part of the 

 flower is so situated that a bee cannot enter without being 

 covered by the white pollen. I enclose you some flowers and 

 seeds of this Balsam. The plant is hardy, and seeds itself ; its 

 height is from 3 to 6 feet, and it is very suitable for chimps of 

 shrubs, where I find it useful to fill up blank places. It is 

 very sweet and scents the air for a great distance, and bees are 

 very fond of it in autumn. I think if " T. H." and " C. F. G." 

 will examine the cottage gardens they will find this Balsam to 

 be the cause of their bees being white at this season — Hawkins. 

 [The specimen is some hardy species of Impatiens, but it 

 was too mutilated for identification.] 



To Preserve Cut Flowers. — In order to keep cut flowers 

 from fading, care should be taken not to put too many in the 

 glass or vase, and to remove the water every morning, picking 

 oS every decayed leaf as soon as it appears, and cutting off the 

 ends of the stems as soon as they show any symptom of decay. 

 If a pinch of nitrate of soda be put into the vessel every time 

 the water is changed, the flowers will retain their beauty for a 

 fortnight or more. Common saltpetre will have nearly the 

 same effect. — [Western Rural.) 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Cross Between DncKwiNO akd EtACK Bed Game {Game Cock). — 

 Duckwin^s are frequently crossed with Black Reds to keep up black 

 breasts and colour in the plumage. We have also known the Black and 

 Brown-breasted Reds to be intermixed. In both cases birds were pro- 

 duced of beautiful colour and apparent purity. In both cases also there 

 are occasional sports that po back to the *' mesalliance." 



Sending Fowls to an Exhibition {PalMine).—ln exhibiting nt Bir- 

 mingham we strongly advise you for every reason to send the cock and 

 pullets separately, it will prevent accident andmistnlics. The basket s 

 should be quite round to prevent brcalting tail feathers. It should be 

 high enough to allow the birds to stand up without even the cock's 

 comb touching the canvas with which it is covered. It should be close 

 all round to save the inmates from dangerous but not vicious curiosity 

 and from mischievous boys and people. The bottom should be well 

 covered with wheat- straw for large birds, and with oat-straw for smaller 

 Feed them on soft food before they start : give no whole com. 



Time for Selling Geese (JpnoranjKs).— Keep your Geese till Christ- 

 mas It they are young and fat, well fasted, and well killed, thev will 

 sell well at Leadenhall about the i9th or '20lh of December, or 2ist cr 

 22nd, according to convenience. Michaelmas is now but little observed, 

 BO far as Goose-eating is concerned. 



Crystal Palace Poultry Show {Sutton, Surrey). — We have not heard 

 that there is to be one ; therefore, we cannot state the date. 



Notes of Poultry Breeding. — " Lancashire " wishes that fanciers 

 would publish in our .Journal their experience iu breeding other varieties 

 than Game and Brahma, as done by *' Newmarket " and " Nemo." 



HoUDAN Pullet's Come iChemicm). — The leaning aside of a Houdan's 

 top-knot is not a disqualification, but it is a disadvantage. If we had to 

 choose between a shade of colour in plumage, or an irregularity in top- 

 knots, we should prefer the former. Uniformity is most essential in a 

 pen, but this is a question, and weighing of defects. Toji-knots are not 

 essential in Houdans as in Polands. 



Silver Grey Dorking Cockerel vmn Grey Dorking Pullets 

 (Idem). — You will breed Grey and Silver-Grey Dorkings. We do not 

 l)elieve that in any yard all the birds bred are Silver-Greys. It is a diffi- 

 cult colour to produce, as is always seen in the classes at Birmingham. 



Mignonette — Consumption of Honey — Protection (Ctirolus) — Bees 

 obtain both honey and pollen from mignonette. We cannot tell how 

 much honey per month is consumed by a hive of bees; but during the 

 winter of 185H-9 we carefully weighed four stocks, and found the average 

 diminution in weight from October 2nd, when autumnal feeding cetsed, 

 to February 2?nd, when spring feeding commenced, to be 6 lbs. 5 t zs. per 

 hive. This diminution was distributed as follows ;— October 2ud to No- 

 vember 13th, 2 Ibd. 8 ozs. ; November lyth to December 23rd, 1 lb. 5.J ozs. ; 

 December 23rd to December 29th, 4 ozs. ; December 29th to January 7th, 

 7^ ozs. ; January 7th to February 3rd, 1 lb. 3,4 ozs ; and February 3rd to 

 February 22nd, 8.j ozs. The additional protection afl'orded during winter 

 by covering hives with pieces of carpet or woollen stuff, will not tend to 

 increase, but rather to economise the consumption of food by the bees. 



Food for Pigs (.4. P.). — Indian meal mixed with the barle>-n:eal will 

 render it more fattening. We pive a Uttle peameal with the barleymeal 

 during the week before lulling time. 



Game is 



POULTRY MARKET.— NovEMnER 20. 



There is still a total absenre of trade. Poultry sells badly, 

 hardly saleable at all, and tbe market is very depressed. 



s d. B. d I s. d 



Large Fowls 2 to 3 Pbeasants 1 9 to i 



d 



i^malloT do 2 



Cbickens 1 H 



Geewo 6 fl 



Ducks 1 9 



Pigeons y 



2 h I Partridges 1 )> 1 



1 9 Grouse 2 2 3 



6 6 Hares 2 2 .", 



2 ! Rabbits 14 1 .". 



; Wi;ddo Ob !( 



