NoTembcr 28, 1857. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAQE GABDENEB. 



415 



prizes ; Dncks three classes, anJ three prizes to each ; Geese ftnd 

 Turkeys each three prizes, and the prizes liberal, .l.'J, £2, and XI ; 

 lastly, asellinf^ class, price not to exceed 30.<.,and entrance fee 2g. CtJ. 



I have purposely omitted the single cock classes — Spanish, Dork- 

 ings (any variety) ; Cochins (any variety) ; Brahmas (any variety) : 

 Game fany variety), have each classes i^-ith three prizes, £'1, 20s. ^ and 

 10,^., for birds over one year, andior birds of 1,S67. Hambnrghs fany 

 variety) four prizes; Polish (any variety): Trench (any variety); 

 Bantams (any variety) each three prizes. There is also a class with 

 i'2, 30,s-., and '2().v. prizes, for the best single Game hen (any variety). 



Then comes a list of silver cups. One of teu gnineas is the gift of 

 the President, T. T. Knyfton, Es(j., for the best pen in the Exhibition. 

 Spanish, Dorkings, Brahmas, Cochins, and Game, have each the 

 chance of a silver cup value seven guineas, the Hamburgh cup being 

 five guineas. Another five-gniiiea cup is offered to the best cock or 

 cockerel in the single cock classes, down to Ilamburghs. Why should 

 Polish or any other single cock be cut out of this competition ? This 

 is a little oversight, I fancy. These cups are in lieu of tirst prizes, and 

 I may say of them the same as of the Northern Clab, It would bo 

 better cup or its value. 



Then come liberal classes for Pigeons, with '20s. and 10s. prizes, and 

 a silver cup for the best pen, value three guineas. 



Then, Weston has adopted the Birmingham sale regulations, a very 

 wise addition. This important regulation will, I am certain, prove 

 satisfactory to both exhibitors and the Association. 



The London and South Western, and the Bristol and Exeter Rail- 

 ways, have kindly undertaken to return nnsold birds free. The Mid- 

 land and Great Western liailways refuse this accommodation. I pre- 

 sume, therefore, all who can will avoid the latter two. — Y. B. A. Z. 



Kendal and North Wkstern Counties Poultry and Pigeon 

 Snow. — We have just seen the prize schedule of this Show. 

 No doubt 60 liberal a list will insure a first-rate Exhibition. 

 There are no less than fifty-six classes, to which twenty-live 

 pieces of plate, as cups, and a variety of other articles, will be 

 awarded. The money prizes are no less liberal, as three prizes 

 are to be given in most of the classes, and in a few even a fourth 

 prize. The Committee is now so well known for the care and 

 attention it annually devotes to the birds whilst in its pos- 

 session, that on that score, every exhibitor will repose the most 

 perfect confidence ; and the Albert Buildings, than which a more 

 satisfactory exhibition-room cannot be desired, are already en- 

 gaged for the purposes of the approaching meeting. 



Cdmrerland and North of England Poultry Show. — This 

 will be held at Whitehaven. The prize list is very liberal. 

 There are three prizes in each class, varying from £.3 down- 

 wards, and in addition there are nineteen pieces of plate to be 

 awarded to the best pens in various classes. The birds inmost 

 cases are to be exhibited in pairs. 



Wentworth Poultry Snow. — It will be seen that the date 

 of holding this poultry Show has been altered. The prizes are 

 liberal ; but to have only one class for Cochins and one class 

 for French I'owls is rendering the task of the .Tudges almost 

 hopelessly difficult, and must cause dissatisfaction. The birds 

 must all have been hatched in the current year. 



REVWIXG BEES. 



As l'^flG left me with ten stocks of bees, so 1S67 found me 

 with the same number. But, what weather ! Hives covered 

 with snow, and hard times with empty cupboards. However, 

 the first month passed with all its trials, and in the second 

 what lovely weather ! Now we can feed the hungry. Now their 

 music is beard, and all seem merry ; breeding is commenced, the 

 first load of pollen seen on the 1st of March, and then, oh, 

 dear ! a second winter. April comes, one stock has dwindled 

 away to a handful of bees. I broke it up, found a little honey 

 and a few bees just coming from their cells, and a few eggs, 

 two or three in each cell, and no grubs, and feed I had to. May 

 comes, no honey to be found ; last week of May no better, but 

 a wholesale slaughter of the drones and drone-brood. This 

 week I found a stock nearly starved to death, the bees being so 

 weak that they could only just move their wings a little. I 

 pulled some of the comb out and breathed on them, and finding 

 that there was life in them, and it being also a nice day, I 

 thought I would not give up, but made some syrup and poured 

 it warm between the combs all over the bees, and now it is one 

 of my best stocks. 



I had a stock three or four years ago which I served in the 

 same way, only I took it to the side of the fire until the bees 



began to run outside and round the hive ; when they had to 

 shift their quarters, they did well, and I have them now. I 

 think many a stock could be saved if seen to in the same way. 

 But I know how it is, the bee-master catches up the hive and 

 thinks they are dead enough because they cannot move ; but I 

 say, Breathe on them, and if they only just move their wings 

 there is life, and there is hope if there be only a fair sprinkling 

 of bees. My first swarm, which came in the first week in June, 

 weighed G lbs. — A Eccks Bee-keei'KB. 



DZIERZON ON THE UTILITY OF ARTIFICIAL 

 SWARMS DURING THE YEAR Isr.G. 



The question whether it is more profitable to wait for the 

 natural increase of bees by swarming, or to effect it by arti- 

 ficial means, has already been much discussed. One party of 

 bee-keepers speaks unconditionally on behalf of the natural ; 

 another of the artificial increase. The truth is often found be- 

 tween the two. Artificial swarms are frequently of great service ; 

 but this is dependent on the season, and other circumstances. 



Artificial swarming as a mode of multiplying stocks of bees, 

 can evidently only be of use when an increase is desirable. In 

 bad or very moderate years in which undirided stocks amass 

 their winter store with difficulty, large artificial swarms are 

 often pernicious, whilst in good seasons, which are at the same 

 time good years for swarming, when natural swarms appear 

 early, and in sufficient numbers, artificial increase is at least 

 unnecessary. When, however, the season is generally a good 

 one, but by reason of want of moisture, or from some other 

 cause, natural swarms appear but sparingly or not at all, then 

 are artificial swarms of great use, and so also are they towards 

 the expiration of the summer. 



The winter of 18G.5-G, was the reverse of the preceding one. 

 Being very mild, the stocks were good in the spring, and in 

 May showed unwonted strength, but swarms in warm localities 

 were a rarity. The cause was the continuation of dry weather 

 which promoted the carrying in of honey more than the deposit 

 of brood. This was also aided by the unusual cold which oc- 

 curred after the 20th of May, so that for several days there was 

 not only frost, but tolerably strong ice. Stocks already able to 

 swarm were entirely discouraged, and began to tear out their 

 drone brood, so that with many Italian stocks which had the 

 superiority in respect of providing me with early drones, the 

 ground was covered an inch deep in drone brood. Only one 

 stock gave out a single swarm on the 23th of May, the day after 

 the last hard frost, and another did so in June. The weather, 

 however, soon changed for the better, and the bees had again a 

 rich pasture, but they had lost the desire of swarming for this 

 year, and busied themselves only with the collection of honey. 

 In due time I formed artificial swarms which made very ex- 

 cellent stocks. Those formed early have completely furnished 

 their hives, and have gathered far more than the necessary 

 quantity of honey. I have by this obtained more than a hun- 

 dred excellent stocks, and by this again filled up the gaps in 

 my apiary, which had arisen through the destructive weather of 

 18G.^. If the old stocks which have furnished bees and brood- 

 combs for the formation of the artificial swarms, have collected 

 somewhat less than if they had remained untouched, yet the 

 result will he far outweighed by the produce and value of the arti- 

 ficial swarms. It is accordingly proved by experience, that in 

 a good year — i.e., one in which the honey harvest is protracted, 

 a mother stock together with the swarms originating from it, 

 produces more than the same stock would have done had it re- 

 mained undivided. Dividing at the right time will, therefore, 

 produce more worker bees by the increased number of stocks, 

 and develope greater industry in the bees themselves than 

 when they are united in too great masses in one stock. 



Although it is advised by one party to make artificial 

 swarms only so long as the apiary is increasing, and then to 

 wait for natural swarms, it ia not easy to perceive why such 

 advice should he given. What brings profit with a small number 

 of stocks cannot possibly be disadvantageous with a greater. It 

 is not the number of stocks, but the weather and the pa.~turage 

 which must be the guide and measure. Also, no bee-keeper 

 will bind himself to a fixed number of stocks when it lies in 

 his power in the autumn to prepare as many stocks for winter 

 as he finds good. I would, on the contrary, advise the diligent 

 formation of artificial swarms in a well-filled apiary, in order 

 to divide the v.ork, and to prevent the flying together of too 

 many swarms ; for what work it gives in a large apiary when 

 duriug swarming time, after several unpropitious days, a swarm- 



