76 



JOUENAL OP HOBTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Jacoary 28, 1869. 



In ordinary winters a good liire of bees from September to Marcb will 

 consnme abont 15 lbs., and from Marcli to swarming the consumption 

 IS enormous..] 



3rd, How can bees be kept in their hives dming snow without in- 

 jm-ing them ? 



^ [In straw hives bees are not injured by having the entrances closed 

 with anything while snow is on the ground.] 



4th, What number of bees may be expected as a first swai-m from 

 so large, a stock hive, and in what mouth ? 



[This questiou has been already answered in part. The time of 

 farming depends greatly on the weather, partly on latitude, and partly 

 on the pasturage of the neighbourhood where the bee-keeper lives. 

 Under good management, in ordinary seasons and circumstances all 

 hives of bees should be ready to swarm in May, the earlier they swarm 

 the better. In late localities, and where the brimstone rag is used, 

 swarming does not generally commence till June. During the last 

 four years— at least in three out of the four years— fir.st swarms have 

 been far too heavy for keeping as stocks. Many of them have been in 

 weight upwards of 100 lbs. each, few below 80 lbs. each. It is the 

 smaller hives— those that are least in weight, that are "cucrally 

 selected for stocks. In September the bees of the larger hives are 

 driven out and united to the smaller ones, say 15 or lA inches wide 

 and 12 inches deep, weighing -10 lbs. or .10 lbs. Such liives cannot be 

 surpassed for excellence, for they are prepared for all Iveathers, and 

 tor heavy work early in spring. Such hives are not easily obtained. 

 Mow^can anyone obtain possession of three such liivos,? ' Simply by 

 purchasing sLx, putting all the bees into three of them, and taking the 

 honey^from the other three. When a hive tolerably fall of honey and 

 bees IS marked for keeping and receiving an additional swarm in 

 aiitumu, it is necessary to enlarge it for a mouth or two by au eke, 

 thus making room for all. Eaily in winter or in spring the eke is re- 

 moved.- -i. Pkttigeew, Brighton Gmr, MowhaUf.'] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



JSrOXICE! 



N'OTWiTHf,'TA>'Di.NT, oiir oft-repeated request that no private 

 letters te sent to any of our departmental writers. 

 :■ we regi'ct to hear that the commmiications some of them 

 ;^ receive, and particularly ■• Wiltshiiie RF.(?Ton," have 

 become so numerous, and the expense and trouble in- 

 curred in replying to them are so oreat. that we must beg 

 'of oui- readers to be mure considerate. All the gentle" 

 'men connected with this J<iurnal have vocations of their 

 own which demand their attention, and it is not fair that 

 they should be subjected to a .=~< "al private coiTespou- 

 dence with the public Kenerallj-" simply because tliey 

 give utterance to their views through tlie pages of this 

 •Joui'naJ. 

 We therefore give this notice, that no letters written pri- 

 vately to any of the departmental writers iwill be answered, 

 and those only will receive any attention wliich pass 

 through the oifice in the ordinary way.: 

 Peepahing a Game Cock for E.xiirDiTioN (r. J>.).— For a few davs, 

 say ten, before a Game cock is exhibited, it is well to confine him. His 

 very improveil and improving condition makes him pusnaciouB, and he 

 sometimes gets into trouble. Just at such a time a swelled face or a 

 broken sickle become lUsadvantages. You may feed on white peas, meat, 

 ground oats, and raw yolk of egg, a little at a time and oHen. 



Chaiiacteeistics op Silvek-pencilled Haoturshs (A Suhvnhcr).— 

 A black licjik would be a disqualification. Pullets should have clear 

 hackles, wel tpenciUed bodies and tails; no mossings ; smart tisht combs, 

 1 Ij,''™'''?' ",Dd. t"™ing up slightly behind; bli,^ legs. The cocks 

 Eliouid liave dark sickles and coverts, edged with silver. The cock's body 

 colour IS white. In both, the ear-lobe should be small, round, and ol 

 startling wblteness, 



=0™°.°? ^^Vv';*^^."'"'^? ''''^"- "''"■«««:<•'■),- Your 'fowls have access to 

 It^Jr ,- ' ^^T«= "»e taste to the eggs. Eggs maybe made to taste 

 01 man, garlic, omon, or anything else by feeding the hens upon them. 

 ^^^j^'^-H ™ A, StraiEss Small Space (Phnorn!s).-Vfe' c'annot hold ont 

 ^?lSnf i?^ iVS'^f?^!' CWckens want sunshine,, and will not thrive 

 jm;vitV M''•"-''l"■?^r" '^° ™7TveU. Two fucE Uoadans as you 

 a escribe should weigh 15 lbs. ;, ; ,,i! ' 



_ DoRKMe Fowls (B.H.FX-We advise you to keep- Dorkings. The 

 best birds we have of that breed are reared on the SijSBe.'t, clays and in 

 l^ancabbire. la such a place as you describe they mil do weU. They 

 il'fi ^/ '" '?,'' table, they fatten more easily than any other, they 

 are good foragers, they are good layers and mothers, tuey, are not great 

 cateis. There IS no objection to an iron trough. The water should be 

 fa;tV;!°" ,•., ' '9. most injurious for them to drini stagnant and 

 rain water, yet they will prefer it to all other. 



nS-WmMf/J-^- ^",- ?• ^•»-T'?^™<^I' being with other, hens, as 'well as 

 aiJ^'^ , X'V^L^^'"^ "" "ifluonce over the chickens produced from 

 ine eggs of the latter. ' 



L'^^''^'^^ PooLTRY 8H0W.-We are informed that the C5:tra pri.'ie given 

 'a?,. Ro.r-=7/'"' '^™' awarded to Mr. P. Sale's JJagpies, Ind not to 

 T^.' ??°i? ' Bragoons; and that in Archangels Mr. P. Sale was first, and 

 r„rfI»J„;7''^rn™"''''"'<' "°t as was stated last week, Mr. Yardley first 



K.frrSP''- ^^'^"^^ ""''^ "^ "'<'='' °f *!■« °'fi'=i'^l P"^e list, not ours. 



National Psristero nic Societt's E.^mEjTioN.-We thank several 



gentlemen for their notes upon this excellent show of Pigeons, but we 

 think those of " Wiltshire Rector," which we published last week, 

 embody all that need bo said. 



Liverpool Pocltry Snow Ure^j-Ziitrtor).— You must sue the railway 

 company, and prove that the cockerel was delivered with the pullets. 



Oldham Poultuy Show.—" The Committee of the Oldham Show pro- ; 

 pose to pay me 7s. 6d. in pound upon the premiims I gained there.! 

 Please inform me whether thcv are liable for the full amount of the 

 premiums they offered.— C. Siegwick, RiidiUtsdi n Hnll. Keiuhley.' 



[We consider that the Committee are liable for the full amount of the 

 prizes they olfercd, and by offering a composition they have acknowledged 

 their liability.] r 



Pigeon Portraits {W. C.),— Write to Mr. ^\oI6tenholme, 3,EU2;abeth 

 Cottages, Archw.ay Road, Higbgate. 



Pigeons Diseased (Kdo) — Your Pigeont have the oH, nud. to young 

 birds especially, very fatal disease called caDk^-r. Eomove the lamp with 

 a knife or thin piece of wood, and apply the solid point of luuar caustic. 

 Keep your loft very clean, and not too m.any birds in it ; change their 

 food, and, if possible, let them fly, sepiirating the healthy from the dis- 

 eased birds. 



Canary Losing its Feathers (C. G.).— Try a little linseed in place of 

 the hemp, with a little hard-boiled egg once or twice a-week. 



Breebing Goldeinch Moles (E. C.).—" There will bono ditacnlty ia 

 breeding Goldfinch and Canary Mules from the Golilflnch ben that laid 

 last year without having a mate, if the Canary is introduced about the 

 middle of May. Much depends upon the part of country where vou 

 reside as to the time when the hen is likely to go to nest, as .there is a 

 difference of a week or two in different temperatures ; but about the 

 middle of May will bo a good time. Supply the birds with an ordinary 

 nest box and material (moss and soft doe hair), and the hen will con- 

 struct her nest and go through the whole process of incubation, and pro- 

 duce, in all probability, dark Goldfinch Mules. I say dark ones, as in the 

 only similar case which has come under my notice the young ones were 

 .aU dark. The hen I refer to was the property of G. Shiel, Esf]., of Sun- 

 derland, and a more attentive mother I never saw. She had several 

 nests in the season, but I believe brought up one lot only. Tbo Moles 

 were rather longer than those bred in the usual way, and much more 

 like the Canary about the head. I should endeavour, if possible, to get 

 her off hemp seed. She may do well on it for a while, but it is apt to dis- 

 agree with Goldttnches if too freely supplied. However, there are difler- 

 ences of opinion on thi^ point. At any rate, mix canary seed and 

 summer rape with the hemp, and gradually increase the one and decrease 

 the other.- W. A. Elakston." 



GoLDl-iNCH Yiole:;t in His Cage (A Taulcf-hearted Laihi).—" I am 

 afraid you have been imposed on by some unscrupulous dealer ; but 

 there is a great difference in the character of Goldfinches. Some seem 

 to submit to captivity, as if they had accepted it as a necessity, taking 

 possession of their cage as though they had known all about it from 

 their Infancy, going to their seed-box and water in a business-like, 

 methodical, matter-of-fact fashion, and sitting quietly on the perch with 

 a kind of stoical indilTerence to chanpo of circumstances, which it is 

 amusing to witness. Others seldim rest, except at long intervals ; but 

 nearly an soon lose that wild, frantic fluttering about the cage, that hope- 

 less struggle for liberty which they make on being first captured. By 

 newly caught,' we understand fresh from the nets, or very recently 

 caught, and the bird in question is most likely one of this description, 

 and will, in all probability, soon quiet down and become resigned to its 

 condition. But ' newly caught ' is also sometimes used in distinction 

 to a bird moulted in the house, not a moulted grey-pate or nestling, but 

 a year-old bird which has been kept in confinement and there moulted. 

 The one iseasily distinguished from the other, as the 'flourish' round the 

 beak loses its brilliancy and assumes a brownish tinge, and the leas 

 change from black to almost white in the house-moulted bird, whUe the 

 wild, fresh-caught specimen has black legs and a brilliant crimson blaze 

 round the beak. There is no fear of its companions molesting it it set 

 ■free, nor do I think they would even if by any freemasonry it could con- 

 , Wy to them the sad stoiy of its captiv.ty.— W. .i. Elakston." 



Bbeecing from Year old Canaries.— '" C. A. j: answers his own 

 query as far as regards the pi-actioabiiity of breeding from young birds, 

 inasmuch as he has already done so. I had above twenty pairs 'up' 

 hist season, and I think I had only three old cocks among them, and 

 must certainly say, tor tnc author quoted to lay down for the guidance 

 of breeders, that the cock ought to he ' two years old' and the hen a 

 ' httle older,' is nonsense. If the cook be two yeai-s old and the hen a 

 httle older,' she must he three years old at the least, cilculating as birds' 

 ages are calculated. By all means breed from young birds. Their 

 instincts .and physical capabilities speak for themselves. As an abstract 

 question as to whether the progeny of young or old birds is most Ukely 

 to inherit the parents' good qualities, I can only say, as a matter of ex- 

 perience (and hearsay shouM never enter a practical treatise), that I 

 never noticed any ilifference in my own.— W. A. Elakston." 



Tin: Stewarton Hive (J. Bi'nonl — "It is 14 inches wide by 6 deep; 

 honey and body or breeding boxes (the latter 4 indies deep), being ahke 

 fm-nished with seven fixed bars Ji inch Iroad, and the latter having a 

 ftrui cross-stick for the support of the combs, as Ayrshire bee-keepers 

 generally transport their stocks from earlier to later white clover districts, 

 and complete the season by giving them a trip across the Frith of Clyde 

 to the heath-clad hills of the island of Arran; three body and two honey 

 boxes being reckoned a set for the recepion of a single colony. Ey way 

 of improvement I have all my hives made in Stewarton increased in 

 depth to 7 inches, in conformity with my square hives, and have in- 

 creased the number of bars to eight, the six central ones being 11, re- 

 taining the Ij-inch ones merely for the broadside honeycombs. These 

 are all moveable and retained in their places by half-inch brass snuf s, and 

 are in addition provided with the Woodbury rib, while tbe greater num- 

 ber of my boxes have frames attached to the bars, in which case the rib 

 IS better omitted, and, of course, have no cross-sticks. You had better 

 write to Mr. Eaglesham, Stewarton, Ayrshire, for a set of boxes- printe 1 

 instructions usually accompany as to management; or you could oid^r 

 merely one body and one honey box as a pattern ; but you will find no 

 carpenter in your district can compete with Stewartoh-makers' prices. 

 The 6-inch box with cross-sticks will suit best. The Stewarton hive offers 

 such facilities for supering and nadiring, that under judicions manage- 

 ment swarms never emerge save in rare exceptional cases, which I have 

 yet to meet with. By restricting the accommodatiop, swarms come away 

 as readily as from any other hive.— A RENFRE-.vsniRE Bee-keeper." 



