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368 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURH AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Mar ^> leST. 



"WHY DID YE DIE?- 



On TisitiDR the apiary of a friend in the county of Dublin 

 this week, I was much disappointed to find that four very fine 

 stocks were completely uninhabited, every bee in them having 

 died. When I say fine stocks, I mean they were so at the com- 

 mencement of last winter when the autumnal feeding ceased. 

 At that period nothing could have been more prosperous than 

 their condition, both as regards population and winter stores 

 of feeding. All seemed to go on well during the winter, and 

 at the opening of spring they each showed the usual symp- 

 toms of health and prosperity. Food in moderate supplies 

 was then given to them, consisting of liquid honey and sugar 

 and barleysugar made exactly as directed by Payne in his 

 book on bees. My friend thinks the latter was the cause of 

 the disaster, and that the bees were poisoned by the vinegar 

 contained in it. Such, however, is not my opinion, though I 

 confess I am puzzled to accoimt for the sudden and rapid 

 mortality which took place. 



On opening and examining one of the hives, the appearance 

 at first did not strike me as extraordinary, a fair quantity of 

 honey in a perfectly pure state was still in store ; there was no 

 sealed brood-comb, but a number of brood-cells were open, and 

 occupied by young bees, which had apparently come to per- 

 fection. From the latter, and also from a number of old dead 

 bees clogged between the combs, a most offensive smell was 

 perceptible, very much like stale salt fish. I also observed a 

 white mouldy spot here and there, from which the odour I 

 have described emanated strongly. 



What do YOU consider the probable cause of the disaster ? A 

 stock of Ligurians adjoining the others are in a most flourishing 

 condition ; they had no barleysugar. — Squib, Co. Kildare. 



[We do not believe the bees were injiired by the barley- 

 sugar, and should refer the offensive smell and spots of mould 

 to the effects of decomposition after death. All the appearances 

 yon detail point to the conclusion that the stocks perished 

 from cold and starvation, although how this could take place 

 when the hives contained a fair quantity of pure honey ap- 

 pears almost inexplicable. We believe the fact to be, that the 

 vitality of bees frequently recedes to a low ebb towards the end 

 of winter, and in this way they often at that time succumb to 

 a degree of cold which would have done no harm whatever at 

 an earlier period, whilst the remaining stores of honey were 

 probably in remote parts of the hives, which in their enfeebled 

 condition they were unable to reach. We do not recognise in 

 your description any symptoms of foul brood, and should not, 

 therefore, be afraid to make use of the empty combs after 

 picking out all the defunct bees and larvtc.] 



THE GERMAN CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE, 



FOR EXTBACTING HONEY FEOM THE OOMBS WITHOUT INJURING 

 THEM. 

 Concerning this invention of Major von Erushka we find 

 the following in " The American Bee Gazette." " M. Rouvel 

 says, ' The whole secret is in making use of centrifugal force. 

 The honeycomb is laid upon a wire sieve hanging in a funnel 

 whose outlet is closed by a cork. The funnel has a handle or 

 bail (like that of a pail or kettle), to which is attached a 

 rope, by which it is swung round and round in horizontal 

 circles ; and after a short time the honey, if it is not too thick 

 or crystallised, can he drawn off out of the funnel perfectly 

 clear and free from particles of wax or pollen. For operations 

 on a larger scale a stationary apparatus with wheels for motive 

 power ia needed ; but for single combs any one can construct 

 his own rotary hand apparatus.' " 



Major Von Kruslika explained his " Honeycomb-emptying 

 Machine " at the meeting of apiarians at Bi iinn as follows : — 

 " The whole matter is very simple ; reminds one of the 'egg 

 of Columbus,' and is founded upon the use of centrifugal 

 force. Yon can convince yourselves very easily of this by 

 trying the experiment on a small scale. Take a wire pipe- 

 cover, place in it a little piece of unsealed honeycomb, tie a 

 string to it, swing it round and round in horizontal circles, 

 and you will see that the honey is very easily expelled from 

 the comb. Founded upon this idea, I have constructed an 

 apparatus whicli affords the most satisfactory results, and 

 offers many advantages to those who obtain honey in large 

 quantities. Among these advantages are— purity of the honey, 

 facility in obtaining it. and complete preservation of the combs, 

 which are often of such exceeding value to the apiarian. 

 " To give a general idea of this machine, imagine to your- 



selves a horizontal disc put in rotary motion by a wheel. Upon 

 the edge of this disc are eight small uprights surrounded or 

 connected by a wire sieve, and thus forming an octagon npon 

 the disc. If you now hang the unsealed combs with their 

 frames between these uprights on the inside of this wire 

 octagon, and put the disc in motion, so as to make about sis 

 revolutions per second, the combs will be emptied in one or 

 two minutes. The honey is caught in a circular tub surround- 

 ing the disc, and is drawn off at the bottom. With .such a 

 machine a labourer can easily empty in a day from 8 to 10 cwt. 

 of unsealed combs, which by continuing the rotary motion 

 long enough are emptied so thoroughly that they appear 

 perfeothj dry. The honey is much purer than that obtained by 

 the usual cold process ; has no pollen or other extraneous 

 particles mixed up with it, and, therefore, keeps much better. 

 An essential condition for the successful operation is a tem- 

 perature of not less than 20' Reaumur (77° Fahrenheit) ; at 

 a less degree the honey would be too thick, and the wax, 

 especially new white wax, too brittle." 



Herr Kunze in describing the advantages of this apparatus, 

 declares that he hopcx that the honey-harvest will bo consider- 

 ably increased, as the bees will have less to build and more 

 cells to fill ; he knoirs that dealers prefer honey thus obtained 

 on account of its greater purity and clearness ; and believes 

 that it will take the bees less time to fill three empty combs 

 than to build one new comb. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Making a IIkn Broody (F. H. M.). — No kind of food renders a ben 

 broody. A hen of any sitting variety will not be broody until aho has 

 laid her clutch of efjps. If you kept two or three Cochin-China hens yon 

 would rarely be without one wishing to sit at this time of the year. 



Hens Eating theib Egos (Trotters). — When hens havetak^nto oating 

 their eg^'H it is very difficult to cure them. They begin because they 

 want the shell; they keep on because they like the flavour, especially the 

 yolk. Tlie only thing that seems to check them is to put some of the 

 composition egga that are hard as marble in their nests. We have done 

 80, and have many times, when we had a pen inclined to eat their own 

 produce, rolled one of these in their way, or put one in their nests. They 

 peck and peck with redoubled force ; they turn then, over and over, aud 

 try all in their power, till they are weary and give it up. This is not 

 always a cure, but it seldom fails. 



Pairing Canaries— Chickens Dead in the Shells [Idem). — It is not 

 too late to pair Canaries. Your chickens die from lack of moisture. Th» 

 eggs should be well sprinkled with water for a week before they batch. 

 If you neglect this you will always lose chickens. 



Game Cock's Tail Pulled Out (G. It. Smith).— It will take at least 

 nine or ten weeks for the cock to get his tail. Few birda begin moBiting 

 till July. 



Hfn with a Brood Laying (H. W.). — It is not an nncommon occor- 

 rence for a hen to lay whilst her brood, a month old, are with her. We 

 once had a hen which laid and sat before her previous brood had left her. 

 At night they rested in a circle round her nest. " Cocks' eggs," whether 

 round or oval, are merely abortive products of some hen or pullet. 



Blisters on Chickens (E, F. W.). — Your dietary scale is not good 

 enough. We cannot say that the bread and water diet causes the bladders 

 or swellings, but it is poor food, and poverty may have to do with the 

 disorder. We feed our chickens on curd, bruised com, chopped egg, 

 brend and beer, and meat scraps chopped fine. " All is fish that comes to 

 net" in the way of food for chickens; and with them, as with human 

 beings, a change is desirable. We had a few cases like those you mention 

 last year, and most of them recovered. Those, however, that we tried to 

 treat all died, especially those we punctured. 



CoLoiTR OF Game Hens' Combs (Idem. — Game hena should have well* 

 serrated, straight, and red combs. There are, however, some breeds that 

 have lead-coloured combs, and they are correct. 



Pheasants Hodpy (P. P.).— Remove them to a fresh spot where they 

 can have plenty of gi-ass. Give immediately a pill of camphor the size 

 of a pea. Repeat it in eight or ten hours. If the eyes are swoUeu and 

 closed, wash them with cold water and vinegar. Feed sparingly on stftle 

 bread steeped In strong old ale. 



Churn. ~.^n Old Subscriber wishes to know which is the best chom to 

 make from 2 to 12 lbs. of butter. We shall be obliged by some of our 

 readers stating their experience on the subject. 



Error.— Page 302, col. 2, line 29 from bottom, for " Bark " read " Dark." 



Beks in Neighbour's Hhe not Working in a Super iG. J.). — We 

 do not see what more you can do to induce yonr bees to ascend imless 

 you poUr a little liquid honey into the guide-comb. Little time, however, 

 is yet lost, since honey-gathering is at present quite at a stand. When 

 warm weither returns your bees may possibly take heart and set to 

 work in right earnest. The queen is certainly not dead. In 'driving 

 bees, the qu\en (as well as the bees themselves), is so frightened by the 

 continued rappiug that she forsakes her own well-furnished but inverted 

 dwelling, and runs for refuge into the empty one which is temporarily 

 placed over it. If you peruse the very lucid and full desciription of th« 

 whole process which appeared in No. 131.), we tbiuk you can scarcely fail 

 cl.aily lo understand it ; and you may, if you please, transfer your bees to 

 a frame hive in the manner dt-sciibed in page 319 of our present volume. 



Bees Destroying Drone Brood (An Isle of Wiftkt Subicnbtr).— lids 

 wholesale destruction of drone brood is owing to the recent unfavourable 

 change in the weather, which probably became perceptible to the bees a 

 day or two befnre you noticed it. The inhabitants of your Nutt's hive, 

 which is dijubtless made of wood, may also be on tliis account more sus- 

 ceptible to chriuges of temperature than those of the other hives. This 

 roi'ly is applicable to the case of " G. H.," but who, in addition, says that 

 the Ijeee are killing the adult drones. 



