January 27, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENS R. 



79 



Has "DucKwrNG" ever had occasion to bite several inches off 

 the tails of his Himalayans, and to flatten the remaining 2 inches, 

 to make them look something like Rabbits, and less like nonde- 

 script mongrels ? It would not be far-fetched to say, that in all 

 probability the nature and habits of the Chinchilla would be to 

 some extent perpetuated in its posterity. For ins'ance, all 

 naturalists tell us that it will only breed two litters in the 

 year; but what Rabbit is more prolific than the Himalayan? 

 The Chinchilla, whenever it is possible, takes its food into its 

 fore paws, and sits up like a squirrel. Do we catch our Hima- 

 layans in that pretty position oftener than our other Rabbits ? 

 "Duckwing," however, has positively said that the experi- 

 ment has been proved in England, and it would only be kind in 

 him to let the dark out of some of our minds, by enlightening 

 us as to the how and the when the curious transformation took 

 place, when the tail, toes, fur, and other characteristics of the 

 Chinchilla became entirely and apparently for ever lost in the 

 Rabbit, and where he found out what very few have ever dreamt 

 of, and still fewer have believed in, when they found themselves 

 wide awake. — B. Hudson, 11, Brunswick Terrace, Hull. 



THE EXPERIENCE OF "ABEGINXF 

 INTRODUCING Liu JKIAN QUEE>;.:>. 



I STA.TED iu bit " Experience of a Beginner with the 

 Woodbury Frame Hive" (see vol. xvii.,page 354), that I had 

 ordered a L'guriau queen to put at the head of it, and I also 

 ordered one for a swarm that I purchased in June, and which 

 I hived in a Woodbury hive. All through the summer I kept 

 wishing that rny bees were Ligurians, but as wishing would 

 not make them so, what wis to be done? If I purchased 

 queens, could I introduce them successfully? First, I thought 

 not, for as yet I had never seen a queen bee ; then, again, I 

 thought I could, as other people seemed to manage it so easily ; 

 however, it ended in my wiiting to Mr. Woodbury asking him 

 if he had two to dispose of, and he replied, " I have just 

 despatched my last order to the Continent, and have included 

 two for you, have I done right ?" Thanks, again, to Mr. Wood- 

 bury for making-up my mind for me, for between writing him 

 and receiving his answer, I had come to the conclusion that it 

 required more skill than a beginner possessed to add the 

 queens successfully, but as he had ordered them for me I was 

 determined to try what I could do, fail or not ; and mentioning 

 the circumstance to my brother, who has also caught the " bee- 

 fever," he said he would help me the following day to try and 

 find the queen in one of the stocks, as this was the first thing 

 we should have to do. 



After blowing a few puffs of tobacco-smoke into the hive and 

 carefully removing the crown-board, we lifted each frame into 

 a spare hive close at hand, and though in our way we made a 

 most rigid examination of each frame, we failed in discovering 

 her majesty. " It's a sensible trick," says my brother, " to 

 order two Ligurians, and you cannot tell a queen bee when you 

 see one!" " Well," said I, not relishing the joke, "suppose 

 we replace the frames and again try to find her. I am sure 

 she must be very different to the workers, or else other folks 

 oould not discover queens so easily. But there are a lot of 

 bees in the hive, she may be with them ; perhaps we have 

 brushed her off the combs in looking for her." So, gently dis- 

 persing them with a feather, my brother called out, "Look! 

 look ! there she is, she has just gone under that lot of bees 

 there, I'm sure it was her." So, dispersing the cluster which 

 was on the side of the hive, no queen could we find. " Are you 

 sure you saw her, or was it a large worker?" I said. "I'm 

 sure it was no worker I saw, but a queen bee, and I'll swear 

 she is in this box," says my brother, and after searching care- 

 fully we ultimately discovered her. Yes, there she was and 

 no miftike, and as different from a worker as possible. We 

 watched her for some time before replacing the frames, and I 

 can assure you felt not a little proud of our success, and qaite 

 pleased to have seen a queen bee. 



About a month after this, one Thursday morning (October 

 28tb), I received a note from Mr. Woodbury saving that he 

 had just dispatched the two Italian queens, so again summon- 

 ing my brother we commenced operations as before, but this 

 time with more confidenco in ourselves. The first queen we 

 found on removing the Becond frame, the other whilst return- 

 ing the frames to their places. I discovered her between the 

 bottom of the comb and the frame as snugly hid as possible. We 

 transferred them to two small boxes, each with about a hundred 

 workers and a piece of sealed honeycomb, in case the Ligarians 



should meet with any accident. All day the bees were very 

 excited, and also on the Friday ; on the Saturday we selected 

 two of the best combs and placed the two Ligurian queens 

 upon them in wire cages (pipe-covers), and in pressing one of 

 the cages into the comb some honey was forced out, when one 

 of the queens plunged her proboscis into it and had a good 

 feed. " Glad to see your majesty help yourself and make 

 yourself at home," thought I, " though I cannot congratulate 

 you on your bashfulness, as you are in the presence of two 

 gentlemen, and in my drawing-room too." After seeing that 

 both cages were secure we put them in their respective hives, 

 and the effect was magical, the bees calmed down directly, and 

 in an hour were almost quiet. Sunday the same; so on the 

 Monday I again looked at them, and as there were not many 

 bees about the cages, and they did not look exoited, I gently 

 raised the cage of the first ; several bees entered and escorted 

 the queen out and along the comb in perfect peace, and as she 

 went along every bee paid her marked attention. Having 

 closed this hive, I did the same with the other ; the beeB 

 entered the cage as before and seemed very friendly towards 

 the queen, but surrounded her so closely that I did not see her 

 leave it, and I was afraid to disturb them, having read the 

 advice you gave to one correspondent who stirred them up 

 under similar circumstances with a piece of tarred string. As 

 the bees from the other hive were beginning to enter this one, 

 and I had been reading about regicidal attacks being initiated 

 by stranger bees, I thought that this should not prevent a 

 successful introduction, so I screwed on the crown-board, quite 

 confident from their quiet demeanour that they had peaceably 

 accepted her. 



I am looking forward to next spring with feelings of pleasure, 

 hoping to see the first Ligurian appear, and as a beginner, 

 thanks to your Journal and tbn Woodbury hive, I think I have 

 during the first season mastered the primary rudiments of 

 bee-keeping — viz., addition and subtraction. Having, there- 

 fore, purchased half-a-dozen more Woodbury hives and nucleus 

 boxes, I intend next spring to study multiplication and division, 

 and in the autumn hope to let you know the results attained 

 by — A Beginner. 



TYING COMBS IN FRAMES. 

 The bar frames in which I tied the combs were not Wood- 

 bury ones, but a contrivance of my own. If your correspondent, 

 "R. H.," of the 13th inst., will take two pieces of thin wood 

 and fasten the bar and frame together by driving a tack through 

 the wood into the frame, and another into the bar at each end, 

 this will hold the bar in its place on the frame. He will then 

 be able to tie combs firmly in the Woodbury " compound bar- 

 frame," by passing the string over the bar and under the 

 frame, and remove the string, Sea., again, when the bees have 

 done their work, without disturbing either bars or frames. — 

 J. B., Monton. 



THE EYES OF BEES- BEE-MANAGEMENT. 



Are bees blind ? At a lecture about bees given here this was 

 asserted, while from observation and information gained by 

 pretty extensive reading on their habits, &c, I query such 

 being the fact, as do some other persons here. 



The lecturer dwelt on the profit to be derived from bee-keep- 

 ing, and so do most writers on the subject in your Journal, 

 yet certainly it is the few among the multitude who can 

 tell of such success as is told of in books, lectures, &c. I 

 find cottagers are ever ready to sell first swarms for 10s., 

 minus hive. Trnly, if from experience they hoped to have 

 30 or 40 lbs. of honey from one in autumn, to say nought of 

 CO or 70 lbs., such would not be the case, as they can readily 

 realise Is. a-pound from families around, and Sd. at lowest from 

 the chemists, and that in any quantity. 



My experience on the poiut leads me to think establishing 

 an apiary a pleasurable thing, but not a very good investment. 

 Mine was set on foot with a splendid swarm in spring, two 

 good stocks the following autumn — much delight and much 

 hope. Four years have gone by, and with tolerable success I 

 might now own a flourishing colony of twenty hives, have 

 honey for home consumption, presents to friends, a margin 

 left for repayment of considerable outlay, and more than a 

 trifle over, the neighbourhood being a land of Goshen for the 

 little workers, but New-year's Day found me the crestfallen 

 yet oheerful, hopeful owner of but two hives, a strong swarm, 



