270 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



from " bee news " in the English journals, to be informed as to 

 the various names under which the old " bar-and-frame" hive, 

 invented, used, and patented some thirty years ago, has been 

 now introduced in England, France, Germany, and America, 

 as reference is made to a name well known in the bee world 

 — viz., Mr. Woodbury's. In what modification, then, does this 

 hive differ from the original ? Is it in length, or breadth, or parts 

 of an incb, or thickness of wood? Your correspondent "Bee- 

 Hive," asks for an opinion as to " the practicability and 

 utility" of "dummy frames." I venture to add, None, but 

 simply they would multiply the lumber arid apparatus of a bee 

 house, and go back to that false system where some imaginary 

 improvement is supposed to arise by the introduction of a frame, 

 a glass slide, or a thermometer ; for it strikes me bee-masters 

 have not yet given Up the charms of novelty, and anything that 

 promises a large harvest of honey, or some peculiar mode of 

 removing bees, either from above or below, the back or the 

 front, or the right or left of a hive. I believe, as the humane 

 system of saving the short lives of the worker bees has been 

 taught through the writings of the Rev. W. Cotton (see "My 

 Bee Book "), so we must discontinue these vain efforts of at- 

 tributing to a " system " of super, or nadir, or collateral, any 

 success in bee culture. I have exhibited honey made in a 

 hat in a favourable locality and good season. But are we 

 guided by the requirements of the bees themselves? Do we 

 study their instincts, or natural habitats ? The quotation from 

 Dr. Bevan's " Honey Bee," I venture to assert is a mistaken 

 passage, and the note also confirms my impression. Dr. 

 Bevan is peifecHy right, that during cold perisbing weather 

 the bees remain clustering around tbe comb, and only obtain 

 food through the internal passages which exist, or should be 

 formed, for the purpose before winter; but when the numbers 

 of the bees are reduced by death in the hive they can no longer 



generate the required warmth, then they drop and perish, but 



P, . , * . . ■ ' , , , . J ~ , \, . t\ \ Vi„ OQ under a rip on tbe earth. Choose a spot where they wiU get pome son, 



it requires damp, starvation, and cold to effect this. Doubtless ; andi if po( £ iWO) where there is gra?s . Let the chickens have pood beer 

 the " dummy frames " are suggested because they might give to drink. Feed on bread boiled in milk, hard egg chopped fine, grits, 



and oatmeal, a little boiled liver if you like. This, if adopted at once, 

 will save the survivors. 



Brahmas' Legs Scurfy (Oldham itc).— It is common but not contagious* 

 It lessens it to rub it with oil, but it is not curable. It generally makes 

 its appearance during or soon after heavy snow. 

 Pcllet Latino Small Eggs (H. D. K (.—You need not condemn the 



smallest she ever 



at fault. It may 



last throughout the laying, but there is no reason to suppose it will con- 



he ceases to be so in the January following. Such a bird as you describe 

 is not a cockerel, but a cock, and, if a bird three voars old. can only 

 benefit by the term by being sold in 1870 as a cockerel of 1 867, a " ci-devant 

 jeune homme." 



Poultry fop. Profit (W. H. P.).— You do not tell us enough. Before 

 we can advise you properly we require to know whether you seek profit 

 from eggs or table poultry; whether you purpose fattening and sending 

 to market, or whether you intend to sell to a higgler. If yon want a 

 rough and-ready useful fowl, keep the Brahma Pootrs, hardy to a proverb, 

 an excellent layer, good mother, and average table fowl, malting large- 

 limbed, useful young birds for a country district. If you think of pro- 

 lore delicate birds, keep the Dorkings. They are most excellent 

 table, good layers and sitters. They are not so hardy as the 

 Brahmas. If you put "your fowls in their house after dark, and let them 

 find food and water when they come out in the morning, they will not 

 stray. 



Spanish Cock Catarrhed [Constant Reader). — The most certain cure 

 will be a return to fine weather and the absence of the abominable east 

 wind. Many thousands of human beings can sympathise with yonr 

 Spanish cock. You must give him castor oil, a tablespooniul daily, till 

 relieved. Discontinue the maize. Feed on ground oats or barleymeal ; 

 give a pill of camphor the size of a garden pea daily, and a meal of 

 bread and ale night and morning till he be better. It is a severe cold. 



Fleas in a Poultry House [B.H. J.).— Your fowls lack the proper 

 dust bath. Ordinary dnst will not provide it; it must be either wood 

 aBbes or road grit. Mix some black sulphur with it, and put it where 

 it cannot be wetted; you will see your fowls burying themselves in 

 it, raising their wings, and throwing the dust into their feathers. This 

 is a cure. It is supposed the exertion of moving over and among the 

 particles of grit is do more comfortable to the parasites than used to be 

 a pilgrimage to a distant shrine with half a pint of hard peas in the 

 shoes, and they give in. Thoroughly clease your house, and lime-white 

 it thickly. 



Houdans vcrsu* Creve-Cceurs (A Working Man).— There is little dif- 

 ference between the birds. The Houdans are the hardier, but if kopt in 

 a small space they are apt to eat each other's feathers. The Creve-Ccenrs 

 lay a much larger egg. Both arc excellent fowls. They are good winter 

 layers, but lay late in the spring. 



Chickens in a Boiler House (A. J. W.).— We cannot admire the 

 spot you have chosen for your chickens. We fancy it has either a stone 

 or a brick floor. If it has, that will account for the cramp of which yonr 

 chickens died, and will die. Remove the hen and the survivors, put her 



warmth, but this is a fallacy. Bees in their natural habitats — 



in hollow trees, rocks, &c, do not require this, bo Umg as they 



are free from draughts and damp above. This is the essential 



of a well-constructed hive, and it is found alone in the hive- 



withiu-a-hive, or bar frames with a box hive ; for the combs 



upon each separate frame are complete, and can be examined I pullet. The first clutch of eggs laid by a fowl 



or removed when and how the bee-master pleases. The bees ! [ rod " c ^ ^ ovi( 



always cluster on the outer edges of the combs, leaving the two t ?^ ue afte?ward 



outer combs to act as the dummy combs ; and the space | PoCTER Lo sing Secondary Wing Feathers (D. G.).-You did not 



also serves as the exercise ground when milder weather prevails, enclose a feather ; do so, and we can then better answer your query. 



and they are not tempted out of the hive. Bat can anyone Birds' Skins for Stuffing (J. 0.).— We must ref^ryouto "Waterton's 



Btate the number of bees that are bred in a comb 9 inches by 12 , Wanderings." Mr. Waterton was one of the best of bird- s tuff ers. Mrs. 



deep? Can anyone state how the bee grub is fed daily, and I Lee ' s "Taxidermy is also good. 



are the ages of workers and queens clearly ascertained ? I look, 



therefore, for an answer in "our Journal."— W. A. X. COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— April 0. 



[There is no doubt whatever that the rudiments of the business remains much the same, and there is no alteration either in 

 modern frame hive are to be found in the curious and ingenious supply or demand that is worth notice. Some good new hothouse Grapes 

 contrivance patented so many yearB ago by Major Mann, under I are offered, but will not yet entirely displace the retarded ones New 

 , , *1 1 ., , . t J *i • ,, m, i. i A'tc ~ nn Potatoes from Malta, aud early frame Potatoes from Jersey, are in fair 



the name of the " bar-and-frame hive." The actual difference request at former prices, 

 between the two can, however, be much more readily dietin- fruit. 



guiehed by comparing both side by side than by any written b. d. a. d i b. d. b. d 



description. The great advantage of frame hives in giving to | Apples jsieve 3 6to 



the bee-master the most perfect control over his bees is un- 

 questionable, but beyond this we cannot go, and are disposed 

 to regard the vaunted superiority in other respects of what has 

 been fancifully called " the hive-within-a-hive " as so much 

 tall talk best suited to the vendors of such hives, who may 

 naturally be deemed desirous of praising their own wares.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Yellow Duckwtng Bantams (C. Drake).— We cannot aid you. If you 

 refer to the lists of prizetakers at the various large shows you will see 

 who are keepers of the variety. 



Light Brahmas (J. L.).— Mr. Pares ; the others, Mr. H. Beldon. 



Brahma Pcllet Leg-weak (S. T. G.).~- If the pullet has shown no 

 symptoms of giddiness or other affection of the head, we do not think her 

 resting on her hocks arises from paralysis. Give her bread— brown bread 

 is best— soaked in ale daily, lettuce leaves, and access to limy rubbish. 



Hardy Table Fowls— Poultry-keeping Extensively (G. W. D.). — 

 Pure Brahma3 are hardier and easier to roar than any cross-bred birds. 

 We know no bird so hardy, and few so useful. We believe the 

 reason why the Company ceased was that their losses were enormous. 

 Thousands were spent there without yielding a profit. The same will 

 happen to you if you follow the same system. There is no hope of 

 Buccess from keeping a multitude of fowls confined near together. 



What is a Cockerel? (T. 0. J.).— There are many names, as stag, 

 and cockerel, and so on. A cockerel is a bird of the year. Thus, a bird 

 hatched in January is still a cockerel in December of the same year, but 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries lb. u 



Chestnuts bushel 10 



Currants j sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 



Mulberries quart 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges 1^100 4 



Peaches doz. 



Pears, kitchen doz. 4 



dessert doz. 4 



Pine Apples lb. 8 



Plums isieve 



Quiuces doz. 



" i' ' \lA -!-]■..■! n< ■. I'. I' 



20 ! Strawberries oz. 1 



10 I Walnuts bush.-l lii 



I do W00 1 



VEGETABLES. 



ns, Kidney do. 



Broad bushel 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brussels Sprouts.. Je'eve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums V 100 



"100 5 12 



Carrots bunch 4 



Cauliflower doz. 3 



Celery bundle 1 6 



Coleworts..doz. buncheB 3 



Cucumbers each 9 



pickling doz. 



Endive doz. 2 



Fennel bunch 3 



(Jarlic lb- 8 



Herbs bunch 3 



Horseradish .... bundle 3 



Leeks bunch 4ti 



Lettuce doz. 1 



Mushrooms pottle 2 



Mustard & Cress., punnet S 

 3 Onions bushel S 6 



1 6 pickling quart 4 



Parsley sieve 3 6 



2 Parsnips doz. 9 



* Peas quart 



8 I Potatoes bushel 2 



6 Kidney do. 3 6 



2 Radishes .. doz. bunches 1 



6 Rhubarb bundle 1 



2 I Savovs doz. 1 6 



I Sea-kale basket 2 



Shallots lb. 6 



' Spinach bushel 8 



j Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips bunch 4 



5 I Vegetable Marrows., doz. 



