Kami 38, 1867. ] 



JOUENAIi OF HOBTIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



239 



Dis- 



jun., Bamick ; T. C. Taylor ; J. Campbell 



Second, W. E. Park. 



btdl, WbiirJcc ; J. Shiel 

 liD«i7. I>aiif,'hoIm. 



TimBiTS. — First, Sliss Crosbie, Gattonside. 

 Highly Commended.T. TurnbuU. Commended, W. R. Park. 



Owls. — First, .T. Fiililinp. jnn., Rocbdalo. Second, H. Yardley. Highly 

 UonxQended, J. Fielditi;;. Commended, Miss Crosljie. 



TOVBLEP.S. — First find Second, P. A. Renwick. Highly Commended, 

 R.Plitcrsoii ; H. Yardley: R. Ir^iu^. Lnngholni. 



Aht oTiiEn Variety.— First, H. Yardley. Second, -J. Campbell. Highly 

 Commended, R. Paterson : P. A. Renwiek ; J. .T. Wilson. 



Sklunc. Class. — First, Messrs. S. & R. Ashton (Barlis). Second, H. 

 Ynrdley. Highly Commended, R. Paterson (Fantails, and Dragons). Com- 

 mexded, R. Paterson (Red Barbs) ; W. R. Park (Fanlails) ; Miss Crosbie 

 (Torbits) ; Miss M. i-'coon, Melrose (Turtle Doves) ; T. C. Taylor (Carriers). 



H. Yardley, Pigeon Medal. Lord Binning, Countess of Flahault, H. 

 FScUfiS, iun., all equal for poultry medal. 

 CAN.A.RIES. 



BirrF Do:^. — Cocfc.— First, J. Kemp, Galashiels. Second, J. Trotter, 

 Slrirose. ilcn.— First, .T. Kemp. Second, W. Bogie. Melrose. 



Buff Fleckkd. — Cock, — First, J. Kemp. Second, R. Laurie. Highly 

 Commf-ndcd, J. Fairb:iirn, Melrose. Hen. — Second, J. Kemp. 



Cage Hibd (Any breedj. — First, W. Bogie (Yellow Don Cock). Second, 

 B.Iianrte. 



JoPGHs. — Toi'ff ri/ finU Pi'jeons : Mr. Bixon, Bradford ; Canaries: 

 Mr. K. Ballautyne, Hawick. 



L.1PWINGS, OR GREEX PLOVERS. 



As I know there are numbers of the readers of The Jouknai, 

 o» HoK'iicri.TrRE who feel quite as great an interest in the 

 keeping of nnusual pets as of poultry, I cannot refrain from 

 bringing before their notice domesticated Lapwings, as being 

 not oily a most interesting, but also in walled gardens a most 

 serviceable " hobby." 



The difficulty of getting young unfeathered Lapwings to live 

 is always a serious drawback, as by far the greater proportion of 

 tbem die within a few days of being taken, the newly-caught 

 adult birds are, on the contrary, exceedingly easy to keep, 

 and TDiy speedily become almost as tame and docile as though 

 tbey had been reared by hand ; in fact, I myself purchased a 

 few from Mr. Harrison, of Spalding, only a few weeks ago, that 

 are now so familiar as to come directly to bo fed the moment 

 they tear the voice of the person who usually attends to them. 



Tbat Plovers must be exceedingly beneficial when running 

 in a ■walled garden is evident on the most cursory inspection, 

 for iboagh they do not appear to take any notice whatever of 

 groTring produce, no worm, snail, or beetle ever escapes them, 

 and l>eiDg thus constantly on the look out for these destruc- 

 liveB, vshilst the birds themselves are so light and gi'aceful of 

 carriage as to do but little damage to crops, they speedily be- 

 come the useful favourites I have represented. They will eat 

 sopped-bread, corn, and small scraps of uncooked meat -with 

 avidity, and I find even boiled broken potatoes appear to them 

 bnk linJe less palatable. A good feature is, that not being able 

 to pert-b, if properly pinioned or even cut-winged, their escape 

 from Trailed premisua is impossible, whilst to spectators they 

 appear as if still enjoying unrestrained liberty. The beauty 

 of their plumage is no slight additional recommendation. — 

 Ebkaiu) Hewitt, Birmingham. 



FOUL BROOD. 



When- the apiary of my friend Mr. Woodbury suffered so 

 seiiocsly from the disastrous ravages of foul brood, my own 

 apiary, situated not many hundred yards distant, enjoyed per- 

 fect immunity from the disease. This was, to me, the more 

 snrpTising, as we had often interchanged bees and brood combs, 

 audbshad kindly supplied me with numerous Ligurian queens. 

 I saw enough, however, of the malignant character nt the 

 disease -which attacked and devastated the hives of Mr. Wood- 

 bnry, to regard with extreme apprehension the possibility of 

 its appearance in my own apiary. 



XJntil last spring I considered I had good reason to rejoice 

 that, so far, my apiary had been perfectly free from any 

 ooranrence of the malady ; but at the end of March I discovered 

 a yery bad case of foul brood in one of my best and most 

 valued stocks. A strong colony was blown over in one of the 

 freqnent gales with which we were favoured in the early part 

 of 1866. The hive was reinstated in its proper position, but a 

 violent attack by the other bees of the apiary was made on it, 

 erery particle of honey was quickly taken away, and the bees 

 disappeared. I now found six of the combs almost filled with 

 abtative brood, chiefly of the previous summer, presenting an 

 unmislaieable case of foul brood. No other hive in my apiary 

 has, since then, exhibited the slightest signs of the disease, 

 iiotwith.^taBding that many stocks must have partaken of the 



spoils when the affected hive was robbed. It would seem, 

 therefore, that foul brood is not always of the extremely viru- 

 lent and contagious character of that which devastated Mr. 

 Woodbury's apiary, and has been so often experienced by 

 German and American bee-keepers. I have had accounts from 

 two 'or three individuals, who also state that they have dis- 

 covered exceedingly bad cases of foul brood, which, notwith- 

 standing the bees of their other stocks have had unhindered 

 access to the supplies contained within, has remained entirely 

 confined to the hives first affected. 



The only way in which I can account for my own hive 

 being attacked by this disease, is that during extremely hot 

 weather in the preceding summer, when the hive was teeming 

 with an abundant population, it was removed a distance of 

 three miles, which involved confinement of the bees for many 

 hours with some amount of shaking and other disturbance. 

 Early in June, 186.5, the hive, which was filling a large super, 

 was transported into the country, the bees having been shut 

 in the evening previously. The cover was removed from the 

 super — a very large one on the adjusting principle — a sheet of 

 perforated zinc being substituted for it, the wide entrance be- 

 neath being also closed with the same material. I considered 

 the ventilation would have been ample, but on arriving at their 

 destination I perceived that the bees were greatly excited. 

 Few, if any, deaths took place in consequence, and the bees 

 appeared to work with tolerable briskness, but their labours 

 resulted in less success than the majority of the stocks in the 

 same garden. 



On the occasion of a cursory examination in the early part 

 of the spring the bees appeared rather numerous but somewhat 

 inactive ; at the time of the destruction of the hive I found on 

 two or three combs little patches of healthy larvaj and eggs, 

 surrounded on all sides by foul brood. I believe it to have 

 been impossible for the hive to have thriven, and have reason 

 to be thankful that what at the time appeared to be a most un- 

 lucky and untoward accident, was doubtless a most fortunate 

 one in its results for me. As it was, this hive, from its pecu- 

 liar construction, would have been unexamined, and left alone 

 until the time of putting on the adjuster super, consequently 

 the presence of foul brood would have been totally unsuspected, 

 and perhaps as hotter weather prevailed, its effects might 

 have become more virulent, and its spread among my other 

 stocks more certain and general. 



With the exception of the last few sentences the foregoing 

 paper has been written, and has been kept lying by for the 

 pages of this Journal, for many months previous to the ap- 

 pearance of the letter of "A Lanakkship.e Bee-keepek" on 

 January 8th, and of "A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper" on 

 February 21st of this year, so that it will be seen that I have 

 not in the slightest degree been influenced by the remarks of 

 those observant, reliable, and valuable contributors to apiarian 

 science. I had previously acquainted Mr. Woodbury with my 

 conviction that foul brood might be occasioned, and in my case 

 certainly was originated, from excessive internal heat and un- 

 due excitement consequent on the confinement and removal of 

 the bees during a period of great heat and of great activity in 

 working. The quantity of abortive brood was so great that the 

 principal mortality could only have occurred during the height 

 of the breeding season. The six combs affected contained 

 sealed brood to their very edges, the small portions tenanted 

 by healthy larvie, and eggs having been apparently cleared out 

 for the purpose. Prior to the final accident and subsequent 

 robbery, there was a large quantity of sealed honey in the side 

 combs and at the tops of the six affected ones, so that there 

 could be no suspicion of starvation having had any influence 

 on the condition of the colony. — S. Bevan Fox, Exeter. 



HIVES QUEENLESS, AND QUEENS UNFERTILE. 



The following may, perhaps, interest some of your apiarian 

 readers. 



On Wednesday, February 20th, taking advantage of a very 

 fine warm day, I overhauled four of my hives to ascertain the 

 condition of their respective queens. A, B, and G were sup- 

 j-ilied with royal cells from a pure Italian hive, which came to 

 maturity on or about August 24th. These hives were examined 

 several times in the autumn, but from the agility of the queens 

 in A and B, and an entire absence of brood, I came to the con- 

 clusion that the continued unsettled weather had prevented 

 the queens from taking a successful wedding trip ; although 

 the drones, which were very numerous in both hives, were 



