494 



lOUBNAIi OF HORTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ Jano 28, 1877. 



■whether most honey is carried up into them during the day or 

 during the night, feees are more apt to swarm with supers on 

 them than with nadirs under them. — A. Peitigkew. 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



We have practised two methods of artificial swarming in our 

 apiary. First, by removing one frame of brood with the queen 

 to an empty hive and filliugit up with empiy frames; then move 

 the hive which the queen was taken from to a new place, and 

 set the empty hive in its place. This should be done at a time 

 of day when the largest number of bees are away at worL As 

 they retnrn they will enter the empty hive, and, finding their 

 own queen, will remain. The old stand loses its queen and all 

 of the bees that have been flying out to work. It will have 

 brood and eggs and will raise another queen. 



I was amused last summer by hearing a novice in bee-keeping 

 telling of a visit that he had made to a neighbouring apiary, and 

 while there the proprietor made a swarm as described. When 

 he was through he said, "Now you see in what a short time I 

 made $10." We have never practised this method excepting 

 the first season that we kept bees, did so then by the advice and 

 assistance of a friendly bee-keeper. We do not thiLk highly of it, 

 as all the old bees are in the new hive, and all the young bees are 

 in the old one. A natural swarm has bees of all kinds, and of all 

 ages, from the downy infant to tbe old veteran with ragged wings. 



Second Method. — Take frames of brood and adhering bees 

 from different hives until the requisite number is obtained to 

 fill a hive. The bees will be so confused that they wiil not fight. 

 Care should be taken that no queens are taken from the hives. 

 All the bees that are old enough to work will return to their 

 former hives ; but as bees are all of the time gnawing out of the 

 cells enough will remain to care for the brood. Water should 

 be given in a sponge for a few days to the new swarms. If a 

 queen was given to them when formed it will soon be a prosper- 

 ous colony. If it has to raise its own queen it will have plenty 

 of means of doing so, for bees will raise one if tbey have eggs or 

 larvffl not over three days old. It is a very good way to increase 

 if one has worker comb to fill the vacancies in the different 

 hives, but if these are filled with empty frames the bees invari- 

 ably fill them with drone comb. — Mrs. L. Harbison, Peoria, III. 

 (in Prairie Farmer). 



ABUNDANT SWARMING. 



I HAVE an old German hive (reed and wood). It sent off a very 

 large swarm on Thursday, May 31st, but the bees retarned to 

 the hive. Swarms issued with similar results on Saturday and 

 Sunday, June 2nd and 3rd. A flue swarm safely hived on June 

 7th. June 10th, the hive threw off a good swarm at 8.15 am , 

 safely hived. Just now, 1130 a.m., a small swarm thrown off, 

 which has joined the swarm hived yesterday. I have been a bee- 

 keeper since June, 1832, but I never heard of so many swarms 

 being sent off from a parent hive in so short a time. I can 

 vouch for the above facts, as I was an eye-witness to each suc- 

 cessive swarm leaving the parent hive. — Adam Fitch. 



[We do not think your account of your bees at all extra- 

 ordinary. After all, though the hive appears to have thrown 

 off six swarms in ten days, for as the first three reiurned home, 

 you really obtained but three swarms between the 7th and 10th 

 June. It seems probabte that the queen was lost (as actually 

 happened to us in a like case), when the swarm issued on the 

 Slst for the first time. The subsequent issues were probably 

 led off by young queens in succession. — Eds.] 



TO PRESERVE EGGS. 



If yoa wish to keep eggs fresh for six months take 4 ozs. of 

 the best glycerine and 2 ozs. of the best olive oil, sbake well up 

 together and rub on the eggs. I had some eags for breakfast 

 that were put down last January in a cool cellar that were treated 

 with a coat of this egg-preserver, and packed the large ends 

 down in fine sand or salt, and you could not tell them from 

 freshly-Laid eggs. Out of twenty-four dozen that we have used 

 this month that were put down in that way in January and 

 February, five only were bad, and they only had a strong musty 

 Bmell. — [American Fanciers' Journal.) 



Honey Show at Edinburgh. — The Caledonian Apiarian and 

 Entomological Society having successfnlly memorialised the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland to teach a more 

 humane aod improved system of apiculture on a national basis, 

 tbe first conjoined Show will be held at Edinburgh on the 21tb, 

 25th, 2Gth, and 27th days of July; and from the ample accommo- 

 dation provided by the Highland Society on the meadows for 

 bees at work, hives, and all bee appliances, together with the 

 great beauty of the northern capital, it is to be hoped that such 

 attractions will cause all British bee-keepers to combine and 

 make the exhibition a truly international one. — R. J. Bennett, 

 Vice-PresidoU. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Stobino Eggs (A Segular Subscriber).— The mislnre yoa inquire Jor, 

 meDtioned in Mr. Wright's bo.,t, in which to store eggs is made as foliowa : 

 — io four gullons of boiliug water acid half a peck o( new Ume, stirring it 

 some httie time. When cold remove any hard lumps by a coarse sieve, add 

 10 ozs. of salt and 3 ozs. of oiesm of tartar, and mix the whole thoroughly. 

 L,et the mixture stand to temper for a foitnight before use. The eggs are to 

 be pacted as closely as possible, and to be kept closely covered up. We do 

 not Jiuow where the bone dust for poultry food is to be had. 



Bees Filling Super with Brood (Brnj. CromjreU).~Ae you put a 

 super on the straw hive when you hived them, and fed them at the same 

 time, they naturally took to the super and began operations there; of course, 

 the combs as fast as made were occupied by the queen for brood immediately, 

 llad we been on the spot we should have advised you to replace the super till 

 the brood was hatched out. What you actually did with it you do not say. 



i SECTION4L Supers {Augustus Foster).— It you write to Messrs. Abbott, 



I l^ros., Fairlawn, Southall, near Loudon, and etite your -''-- " ■■ 



1 doubtlofs supply you with the larger kind of sectional i 



[ by '• B. & W." 



ArLANTDs Silkworm.— Wo are informed it may be had from Mons. Wailly, 

 T.^^w '.? '^^°*'° '^"Pi'ioP'era, HO, Clapham Road, London; also that Mr. 

 11. w. Marsden, of Kegent Street, Gloucester, supplies foreign silk-prodac 

 mg Bombyces. o f 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVlTIONS. 



Camden Sqoabe, London. 



Lat. 51° 82' 40" N. ; Long. 0° 8- 0" W. ; Altitude, 111 feet. 



-. ifhes they 



uper as recommended 



KE MARKS. 

 20th.— A very fine day, bat cocBiderably cooler than yesterday; cloady about 



Doon, aud a few clouds in the evening. 

 21st.— Bright in the moniiBg, bat cloaded thickly over in the latter part of 



tbe afternoon; threatening rain in tbe evening, and slight rain from 



9.S0 P.M. 

 22nd. — Dall in the morning, with one or two heavy showers and occasional 



glimpi^es of bright sunshine; brif^bt and line in the afternoon ; wtt 



again in the latttr part of the evening. 

 23rd.— Fine throughout. 



24th.— Fine throughout; sun very warm in the afternoon. 

 25th. — Fine in the morning ; rather cloudy in tbe afternoon, but fine again in 



tbe evening, and a beautiful moonlight night. 

 26th. — Cloudy and rather dull, bat with occasional glimpses of sunshine in 



tbe morning ; rain for about an hour at noon ; dull and cloudy in th& 



afteraoon, aud flue io the evening. 

 Mean temperature generally about 5'^ in excess. Tbe mean masimnm in 

 Bun is below that of la^t week, as might be expected from the dullness of the 

 early part of the week.- O. J. Symons. 



COVENT GAEDEN MARKET.— June 27. 



Business being somewhat quieter prices have not ruled so good during the 



past week, Peaches ak-ne being in full demand. Strawberries are now in, 



aud in the course of a day or two will be in full supply, tho west of England 



fruit having had a very poitr time of it. Outdoor vegetables are now plentiful, 



FRUIT. 



B. d. a. a 



each S 0to8 



dozen 12 a 30 



(H lOu 10 16 



dozen 8 SO 



dozen 



dozen 



lb. 2 5 



ieve 



lb. 



Apples i sieve 



Apricots dozen 1 6 



Cherries lb. 1 



ChLstiuita bushel 



Ciii-rants j tieve 



hhuk i sieve 



ri-s dozen 6 



tUbc-rta lb. 



Lobs lb. 1 



Gooseberries .. 1 bushel 8 G 



Grapeti,hothoucic lb. 2 



Lemons 'I*' lOJ B 



9. d 



Artichokes dozen 8 u 



Asparacus ^ lOJ 8 9 



Beans, JCitlney.. 1* IHO 1 U 



Beet Ked dozen 1 6 



Broccoli bundle 9 



Cabbage dozen 1 



Can-ots bunch C 



new bunch 1 o 



Capsicums .... ^lOO 1 6 



Caiiliflowera dozen 2 



Celery bundle 1 6 



Coleworts doz. bunches 2 



CncumberB each 6 



F nthve dozen I 



Funnel bunch 3 



GarUc lb. 6 



Herbi bunch 3 



Lettuce dozen 1 



Leeka bunch 4 



Mushrooms .... pottle 1 6 



Melons 



Mectarinea .... 



Oranges 



Peaches 



Fearo, Idtcben.. 



dcftbert 



Pino Apples .... 



Plums \ 



Faspberriea .... 

 Strawberries 



lb. 6 



1 6 



4 6. 



10 Walnuts bushel 



10 1 ditto ^►lOO 



VEGETABLES. 



8. d. B. d 



Mustard & Cress punnet fltoO 4 



Onions bubhel 



pickling quart o 



Parsley.... doz. bunches 2 



Parsnips dozen 



Pcaa quart 







G 



_ _ _. lb. 2 6 



Eartisbes.. doz. bunches 10 16 



i.bubarb bundle 6 10 



SaUafv buntUe 9 10 



tcorzonera .... bimdle 1 n 



Seakale basket 



Shallots lb. 8 6 



Spinach huvbel 2 G 4 



lumipa bunch 



new buucli 9 2 



Veg. Marrows .. each u O' 



