474 



JOUKNAL OF HOBTIOULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ December 0, 1867. 



occaeiona shown birds bred by Mr. O'Grady, and in no instance 

 ■were they beaten. — A. B. U. 



BEES IN NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE. 



I HAVE been waiting to see the resnlts of the past season 

 stated by your various contributors. From what I have seen 

 and heard it seems to have been, taken as a whole, one of the 

 worst bee seasons that has occurred in England for several 

 years, with the exception, perhaps, of the heath districts. 

 My own experience confirms this, although I have had three 

 good supers this year. Before I describe them I must say that 

 my readers must bear in mind that they were in two instances 

 worked by exceptional stocks, and by an exceptional queen in 

 the third. A protracted and severe winter was followed by a 

 lengthened and cold spring, severe frosts and snow continuing 

 up to the '2.5th of May, at which time none of my stocks was 

 as populous as I have had them at the same date in April. 

 Strong stocks which were left last autumn, over 50 lbs. gross 

 weight, were starving in the first and second weeks of June, 

 whilst two were broken up about that time to make their combs 

 serviceable in other ways. 



Matters standing thus, I decided to super only three of my 

 best stocks. Two of these were Stewartons — Nos. 2 and 14 — 

 with seven-bar framed 14-inch square supers, the bars 2 inches 

 apart, with guides and waxed bars. These two stocks were the 

 same as mentioned in " our Journal" of December 11th, ISUfi. 

 They made similar progress, work not being begun in the 

 supers until the end of June ; but from thence to the 14th of 

 July honey was abundant, and those stocks that were of suffi- 

 cient strength gathered a large quantity. The two Stewartons 

 kept equal pace with each other ; by the latter date both were 

 full, and by the 2fith were sealed and taken off, the nett wiight 

 of No. 2 being 42 lbs. of pure honeycomb, and that of No. 14, a 

 square glass mahogany one, 43 lbs. of beautiful straight coTuhs, 

 all perfectly sealed— indeed, it is the best super 1 ever had 

 the good fortune to have, and this in one of the worst of 

 bee seasons. 



The other aupered stock was No. 3, a ten-framed Woocli'ury 

 hive, to which last autumn was given a hybridised queen. This 

 stock in the spring was one of my strongest, so I made an 

 artificial swarm from it in the last week of May lor the purpose 

 of inserting in it spare royal cells. It was then supered with 

 the others. Work commenced on the same day as in the 

 others, and progressed equally until the 11th of July when, 

 inspecting the super on that morning, I noticed several bees 

 with wax scales protruding from their abdomens, and thought 

 — What do they want with wax now that their super is full, 

 and only requires sealing over ? I left home for a few hours, 

 and on my return this stock had swarmed and alighted on a 

 ben-y bueh, which it completely covered. Sweeping the greater 

 part into a straw hive, I found them of the almost incredible 

 weight of near 9 lbs. Scarce satisfied, I examined all my 

 stocks of bees likely and unlikely to swarm, and found that 

 none had done so except this one. I then carefully weighed a 

 Woodbury hive, and let the bees run into it. In the course of 

 half an hour they were settled, and I then found their exact 

 weight to be 8 lbs. 12 ozs. The largest swarm I had prtvioasly 

 ever had was, I believe, about 6 lbs. In a fortnight's time 

 they seemed as numerous as before, and finished the super by 

 the end of the month. Its nett weight was 28 lbs. They then 

 had the courage to swarm again on the 31st, twenty days after 

 the issue of the first swarm, leaving one of those queens 

 spoken of by the " Lanabkshire Bee-keeter" a few weeks 

 ago. Her appearance was that of a worker, except having 

 longer legs. I removed her, and gave them a pure young Li- 

 gurian queen, artificially raised in June. 



From the above it will he seen that I obtained 113 lbs. of 

 super honey from three stocks and two swarms. In addition 

 to this, through reducing my apiary to seven stocks during the 

 past autumn, I obtained upwards of 100 lbs. of run honey 

 from over one dozen stocks, which I was compelled to destroy, 

 and of which one alone, an eleven-frame hive, yielded me 

 50 lbs. of honey. The rest yielded only as much collectively as 

 that mentioned. It was a strong stock last autumn ; but it never 

 swarmed, and by the end of August was full of honey through- 

 out, but with scarcely any brood. 



In addition to the two swarms mentioned above, I had 

 another irom a black stock on June 23rd, and cue from a Li- 

 gurian, after much manipulating, on the 14th of July. 



My stocks for the winter are fairly provisioned, but weak in 



bees. The honey season lasted up to the 25th of August ; but 

 that gathered so late in the season is always stored in the 

 centre combs, where the brood is hatching. Whether this has 

 come under the notice of others or not I cannot say ; but I 

 know that I have before observed it in the apiary of — J. B., 

 Bracken Hill. 



P.S. — I may state that I have heard of no supers being taken 

 near here above 10 lbs. in weight this season, nor many even 

 of these. 



FOOD FOR SILKWORMS. 

 Having a few years ago kept a number of silkworms, 

 which did remarkably well, and reading an article in the num- 

 ber for December 5th on the cultivation of the silkworm in 

 England, and the best kind of food, I write to say, that having 

 purchased some of the white mulberry trees, I found they 

 stood the hardest winter, and in a few years became very large 

 trees ; in fact, much too large for the space allotted them, 

 and were ultimately cut down. I found the worms preferred the 

 white mulberry to any other kind of food. — C. L., ll'urrini/PiH. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Comb of Silver-hpangled Hamburgh Cock {Kmland Bnron). — We 

 cannot speak as to the number of points that would be forfeited by the 

 defects you mention, not beinpr up in them. In any nrdinni-y competi- 

 tion the defective comb would at once throw your cocl; out of all hope of 

 distinction. It is almost a disrjualification. 



Plumage of Light Braiuia Pootrar (JWrm)- — Light Brabmna shonlil 

 be white, Biive a striped hackle, black fiitjbt, and black tail. Wash your 

 fowls by wiping the outside of the feather with soap and water put on 

 a piece of flannel, dry them as nearly ns may lie, and then put them near, 

 but not close to a fire, in a basket with soft oat straw till they are dry. 



Dark Brahma Pootra Cock (Doubtful).— We should not mind the 

 twisted toe. When you say he has some dark yellowisb feathers where 

 the silvery white should be, you are not sufficiently explicit. We pre- 

 sume they are on the wing. If so they are a common occurrence; many 

 have them. We should prefer breeding from a bird without them; but 

 we should hesitate before we discarded as good a bird as yon describe. 



Black Docks (F. S.I.— Labrador, Buenos Ayrean, and Black East 

 Indian Ducks arc identical. They do not iiair, and even if you get 

 another Duck yon must put away one drake. They will not only fight, 

 but it is very likely they will spoil your breeding season. 



Food FOR Swaks (Cj//yiu-i)-— Barley and oats are the best food. When 

 Swans will not feed, they require the com and some meal put in a shal- 

 low vessel, with sods of grass and gravel ; they will eat that. They want 

 very little care. (Err).— You must fet;d your Swans on oats and refuse 

 green vegetables. They will want little of the former if well supplied 

 with the latter. 



Young Exhibitors fG.H. S.).—We can easily enter into the feelings 

 of young exhibitors when they are anxious to see their names in print 

 among the most Buccessful. We are careful to print the prize list with 

 high and ordinary commendations in its full extent, and every name 

 figures there. This is especially true of the Game. It must be under- 

 stood when we speak in terms of commendation of a certain breed, it 

 includes cocks, hens, and pullets, but if we named all worthy of dis- 

 tinction, our report would be a simple repetition of the prize list. 



Houses for Dark Brahmas {Z. L.\—Yon require no straw for the 

 bottom of your house, even during the hardest weather. Of three daily 

 meals, two should be sott food. The midday repast should bo whole com. 

 They require no artificial heat. If you send us youi' letter to "Nemo" 

 in a stamped envelope ^ e will forward it. 



Protecting Bees in Winter (A'orZdriii).— The winter in England is 

 not so severe as to render it necessary or even advisable to remove bees 

 from their summer stmds. If, however, it is done, the same precautions 

 ehould be taken for their well-doing as are adopted in more inclement 

 regions, where they are placed in apartments from which every ray of 

 light is rigorously excluded. The complete darkness Mhich is thus pro- 

 duced keeps the bees from straying from their hives, which are inverted, 

 and left without floor-bnards in order to insure perfect ventilation. 

 Moveable comb hives only are not inverted, the same end being attained 

 by removing the crown-board. 



Mahogany Ef.e Hives —'*S. .-f." would be obliged by the "JIidlaxd 

 CoCNTiES Bef.-keeper" stating (he price of a set of collateral bee hoses, 

 in polished mahogany, and the address where Ihey can be seen. 



Rabbits for Weight (.( Constant .Sii?;,«f?ntfr).— We have seen rabbits 

 that weighed IG lbs. each ; rabbits of from 9 to Iti lbs. are Inrge. 



Rabbits (11. D.).— We think the Hare rabbits the most profitalle. The 

 Flemish Giant is Iho largest. 



Stuffing Bird.^ (Cra-oius).— There is a small volume called "Taxi- 

 dermy," which may be obtained through any bookselKr. 



POULTRY M.\EKET.— DFCEMniin 18. 



There i": the n-Jti.Tl lull that iireceiles Clir;sti)ios. ami trade is almost 

 nominal till the gieat day of consumption is five or six days oil". 



8 d. a. d 



Large Fowls s to 8 6 



Smaller do 2 6 3 



Chickens 1 9 2 



Geese fi G fl 



Ducks 2 o 2 () 



Pigeons f 11 



a. d II. d 



Pheasants 2 fi to 3 S 



Partridges 2 2 i! 



Grouse t) u 



Uares 2 6 r, n 



Rahbits 14 15 



Wild do 'J 10 



