220 



JOUKNAL OP HOKTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



C March 21, 1967. 



with a company of benB, and several nice trios to cross with 

 these, and by that means to avoid in-bre«ding for many years. 

 Besides unions among these families, I crossed with none but 

 imported birds, except in one instance, and the resnlt has been 

 that in fifteen years I have never had a faulty comb from my 

 own stock. 



In the one instance above named, I crossed two years ago, 

 with a good stock in England. Since that I have had now and 

 then, if not quite single, yet faulty combs, but in every case I 

 have been able to trace them to that recent cross, before which 

 I never had such a comb. 



Another fact that I have noticed in the Brahmas, is that the 

 pure-bred chickens do not attain an enormous size the first 

 year, but that they are only well-gi'own healthy chickens the 

 first year, growing and improving up to two or three years old. 

 In many instances Brahmas have been crossed with Dorkings 

 to give dark colour, and this early large growth. 



I admire the peculiar pea-comb as much as " Nemo," and 

 feel as anxious as he does to have it left intact. It rests in the 

 hands of breeders. Let all fowls which are the result of the 

 Dorking, or other crosses, for the attainment of size or other 

 supposed advantages, be set aside, and the pure breed adhered 

 to, and I believe variety in comb will no longer be complained 

 of. — E. Watts. 



down a few notes respecting the wintering of bees, as it may 

 afford information to others as well as to — A. B., Giieskire. 



It is not very unusual to find young bees taking wing from 

 strong stocks immediately npon the breaking up of a long 

 frost. Your ItaUan bees must certainly be hybrids, if any ol 

 the young ones are darker than " the old sort."] 



BEE GLOVES. 



Ix my first attempt at bee manipulation with frame hives 

 I put on a pair of kid leather gloves, but very soon found that 

 I could handle the frames much better without them. I there- 

 fore pulled off my gloves during my first operation, and have 

 never used them since. I have never experienced so much as 

 one sting on either of my hands, and as to indiau-rubber gloves 

 for apiarian purposes, 1 contend that it is much better to use 

 no gloves. The apiarian can handle the frames much better 

 without them, and if the frames are lifted carefully from the 

 hive there is no danger of being stung. The great secret is to 

 work quietly without any sudden jerk, and I have found that 

 this can be much better done with the bare hands than with 

 gloves of any kind. — Scdbuky. 



BREEDING IN SUPERS. 



Having read "Sudbury's" paper in page 98, upon "Breeding 

 in Supers," I shall be much obliged if he will kindly answer the 

 following questions : — I always find drone-comb in supers, al- 

 though I have used boards with different-sized slits. I should 

 like (if not too nmch trouble to take for an entire stranger), if 

 he woirld send me a very small piece of wood just with a slit 

 made in it the exact size he uses, then I would show it to the 

 joiner and have an adapting-board or two made ? 



Last summer I found in one super a large number of drones 

 dead, and the combs all yellow and discoloured. I should be 

 glad to have a cure for this ? 



Will "Sudbury" kindly tell me the price of the hives he 

 uses — " Pettitt's Collateral Hives?" I have one of " Nutt's 

 hives," but there is only a round bole in the top, no slits as he 

 describes. 



In the case of straw hives, of which I have some, with a 

 round hole in the top of each, what would " Sudbury " re- 

 commend me to do to exclude the queen and drones from any 

 super I might put on ? — J. H. Walkek. 



YOUNG BEES— SUCCESSFUL DRIVING. 



Sunday, January 27th, being a fine warm day, I saw a great 

 many young Italian bees come out npon the front board ; they 

 came out so numerously that the older bees had not time to 

 dress them, and many in attempting to fly fell to the ground. 

 I picked some off the ground, and examined them closely. I 

 found some very dark coloured, darker than black bees, the 

 old sort, as they are usually called. Perhaps some of the 

 Journal writers will be kind enough to say whether it is unusual 

 for young bees to come out so soon after such severe weather. 

 The hive alluded to stands in a bee-house fronting nearly south, 

 with communication behind at the north, and with little or no 

 protection. 



Last autumn I united two hives of driven bees, put them in 

 a common hive about one-third full of empty combs, and fed 

 them with syrup, chiefly made from lump sugar and water, 

 three parts of the former to two of the latter. Thanks to " our 

 Journal " for information respecting bottle-feeding at the top 

 of the hive. I find no way equal to it, as robbers have no 

 chance. I put two more hives of driven black bees iuto an 

 eight-bar Woodbury hive with three frames full of honey, but 

 no brood. These I did not feed, as I thought they had a suffi- 

 cient store to last them till spring. I weighed these two stocks 

 of driven bees on November 14th, and weighed the straw hive 

 above alluded to last Saturday, and found it 29 lbs. On No- 

 vember 14th last year it was 30! lbs., there being only two days 

 short of eleven weeks in the intervening period, yet but IJ lb. 

 of food consumed. I weighed them again today, Monday, 

 January 28tb, and they were just 29 lbs. The Woodbury eight- 

 bar hive weighed, November 14th, 28 lbs. ; to-day just 26 lbs. — 

 that is, 2 lbs. of food consumed in nearly eleven weeks. Cun- 

 sidering the mild weather before Christmas and the season 

 generally, I consider this very trifling. 



I should be glad if some experienced bee-keepers would jot 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Poultry Disordered (H.I.— The coM weather and want of change of 

 food are the probable cause ',>f your fowls moping and dyinsj- Give them 

 soft food once daily, such as barleymeal, bread soaked in ale two or three 

 times a-weck, plenty of gi-een food, and under shelter a heap of sand and 

 ashes to busk in. 



Spanish Cock's Cojib Black (Whtterlnjirr].— It has been frost-hitten. 

 Rub it with camphor ointment, keep the bird in a sheltered run, and feed 

 bi'u liberally. 



GitiiUND Oats (A, H. 7>.). — They are not the same as oatmeal. They are 

 RTouud, but all the brnn left mixed with the flour. They cun be obtained 

 from Mr. Aj^ate, Slaugham Mills, near Crawley, Sussex. 



Lime fou Fowls [S.\ — Do not mix slaked lime with the food of your 

 fowls, it is corrosive: nor would we mix chalk or any other calcareous 

 matter witli their food. Let them have a good supply of bricklayers* 

 rubbish to ^o to voluntarily. 



Useful Poultry (.1 Younfi Hand]. — Brahma Pootra puUeta and a 

 coloured Dorking cock would answer your purposes. 



Pheasants in an Aviary iTrot1er!i).—V{e are strongly in favour of 

 three hens tn a cock. "We believe four may be put, but we do not agree 

 with those who put five nr six. Of course there are more eggs from five 

 than from three hens; but there is not the same proportion of poults to 

 eggs as when a cock has but thi'ee hens, or at most four hens with him. 

 One cock and four hens. They will not do well with Partridges. 



French Varieties or Poultry (J. Jf,}.— The La Fleche lay the largest 

 eggs, and we think the greatest number; but they are hard run by the 

 Houdans. which lay very freely. They do not sit. All three are good 

 table fowls, the greatest objection to them being their black legs. The 

 La Fleche is most esteemed in France. Very large experience in all 

 these breeds for some years causes us to place Houdnns first, on account 

 of their health and good constitutions. They never ail anything, and they 

 are good in all particulars. We put the La Fleche next ; they lay eggs 

 that are unrivalled by any other fowl. "While we speak thus we consider 

 them all valuable introductions. 



Brahma Pootra Eggs not Hatching {A. J. '■.—The eggs with chickens 

 " glued in " were too dry. They should be wetted every day for a week 

 i before the chickens come out. When the hen is off her nest dip your 

 hand in a basiu of water and wring your fingers over the eggs till they 

 are wetted. Failing this ireatment tb.e inner membrane becomes as 

 tough and dark as indian-rubber, and the poor little chick cannot work 

 his way out. 



Canaries among Rhodode'JDRONS [W.S.). — Leaves of the rhododen- 

 dron are not poisonous ; but at the same time they might possibly have 

 afiected the young birds, they being delicate ; but we are inclined to 

 fancy that your birds died through being withdrawn from their soft food, 

 and the old birds not allowing them to feed. A dead fir tree js the best 

 to place in a room for breeding, with breeding baskets or boxes hong 

 about it. 



Pettitt's Htve (Yonno So/d/cn.— Mr. Pettitt advertises in our columns. 

 If you write to him at Dover he will readily send you all particulars. 



Foul Brood.— In the second line of the reply to " B. B.," page 203, for 

 siocts read " stock." 



Employing Emttv Combs — Woodbdry Unicomb Hive (A. B.). — I 

 should not, if it were my own case, be afraid to use combs which I had 

 collected from apparently healtliy sources, although I should, nf course, 

 destroy every comb from the infected stock, and having purified the hive 

 to the utmost of my power, should let it lie by for a couple of seasons. 

 My unicomb hive is ii3 inches high, by 26^ inches wide inside, and accom- 

 modates six combs on bars (not frames). The outer ends of these rest 

 in notches cut in the sides of the liive, the other ends in the centre on 

 projections from a half-inch maiiogany upright, the lower end of which 

 is carried by a transverse bar of the same material and diameter. The 

 space between the glass surfaces is an inch and two-thirds, as recom- 

 mended by Dr. Bcvan, whose hive it resembles in its general features. 

 It has. however, the quadruple glass, with air-spaces between each sur- 

 face, first introduced into obtervator^- hives by Mr. Tegetmeier, and the 

 shutters are not opaque, but are veritable "sun-blinds," or "outside 

 Venetians," which admit light freely, whilst they exclude the direct rays 

 of the sun. — A Devonshire Bee-keeper. 



