350 



JOUENAL OF HOKTICDLTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENEK, 



t May 20, 1869. 



the hand. As soon as the queen perceives the drones buzzing 

 about her, she usually in less than a minute soars into the air, 

 whence in from a quarter of an hour to an hour she returns 

 fertiUsed to the hive, in order, after three days, to commence 

 egg-laying.* 



As soon as the queen has fiown off we replace the combs 

 with such of the drones as are not come to full maturity in 

 their respective hives, which are then closed. 



In this way we have the fertilisation of the queen bee as 

 much under our control as horses, sheep, and cattle are in the 

 hands of their breeders. 



That it appears to be unnecessary even to place the comb on 

 which is the young queen close to the entrance of the hive, 

 and cause her to take flight from thence, is proved by the 

 following case, which is interesting also in other respects : — 



On the 10th of October, 18G7, I received from Mr. Vogel a 

 beautiful Italian queen, which I introduced to a strong stock. 

 I may remark, by the way, that I had separated the old queen 

 from her subjects on the 24th of August, forty-seven days pre- 

 viously, by confining her in a wire cage C inches long, and of 

 the size of the cork of a wine bottle ; that further, the bees 

 (as often happens late in the summer if the queen be left in 

 the hive), formed no royal cells ; that the queen remained in 

 perfect health after so long a confinement ; and that the bees 

 mourned her loss when she was removed, and for some days 

 refused to accept the Egyptian queen, which was at first con- 

 fined in the same cage. This stock inhabited one compart- 

 ment of a seebsbeuter,+ passed the winter well in our northern 

 climate in the open air, was strong in the spring, and by the 

 end of May, 18C8, consisted only of Egyptian bees and ex- 

 quisitely beautiful Egyptian drones. A comb containing drone 

 brood, taken from this hive, was on the 20th of June given to 

 a second swarm of common bees, from which, after a time, the 

 queen was removed. By the 6th of September I had neither 

 German nor Italian drones remaining, but only these Egyptian 

 drones, whilst drones had become extinct in the neighbouring 

 apiaries. Having raised several young Egyptian queens in 

 artificial swarms, it was not necessary at this time to imprison 

 them, as ia the height of summer, since, if left at liberty, 

 their fertilisation must perforce be equally pure. A queen was 

 hatched in one of these artificial swarms on the 20ih of August, 

 and her fertilisation was, therefore, due on the 27th or 28th ; 

 but from the 27th of August to the 5th of September the 

 weather was so rough that no drones were abroad. The Cth of 

 September was so glorious a day for the purpose, that I was 

 desirous of ascertaining whether the queen, now seventeen 

 days old, might not already have commenced egg-laying. The 

 box in which I proposed to hang the combs after examining 

 them, happened to be some eight paces distant from the swarm, 

 and being heavy, I preferred, instead of bringing it near the 

 hive, to carry the combs one by one to it, covering it carefully 

 during the intervals, so that stranger bees might not enter. 

 This box stood behind a strong-flying seebsbeuter, and was also 

 separated from the hive itself by a second seebsbeuter. Having 

 after a careful examination found no eggs, I commenced re- 

 placing the combs, and wliilst taking a second look at a comb 

 in the box, which, as stated, was eight paces from the hive, I 

 saw the queen, which, attracted by the drones buzzing in the 

 air, took wing the next moment, unaccompanied by any of her 

 bees. I now hurriedly replaced the remainder of the combs, 

 closed the hive, and set a trusty assistant to watch the entrance, 

 BO as to ascertain whether and when the queen returned. It 

 was now precisely three minutes after one o'clock. The assist- 

 ant dared not turn his eyes from the entrance for a single 

 moment without previously closing it. In about a quarter of 

 an hour we saw a little swarm of drones, among which the 

 qneen might have been, pass about 12 feet overhead and quickly 

 disappear. When three-quarters of an hour had elapsed with- 

 out her returning, I gave her up, supposing that she had missed 

 her hive, gone astray, and was lost. I regretted her the more, 

 as she was a very beautiful queen of a golden-yellow colour. 

 We now set about other work in the apiary, when towards two 

 o'clock an unusual degree of excitement was manifested by the 

 artificial swarm, the bees crowding home from the fields, al- 

 though the sky remained unclouded. We watched, thinking 

 the queen might be at hand, and soon perceived her hovering 

 in the air a few feet above the hive, where the next minute she 

 alighted, and into which she was escorted by a crowd of bees, 



• Haber says two days, and my experience goes to prove tliat he is 

 correct. — A Devonshire Bee-keepeb. 

 + A compouQd hive, built to accommodate six colonies. — A DEVoysHrRE 



BEE-K£EP£B. 



which received her in the moat joyfal manner. It was now 

 five minutes past two, and the queen had, therefore, been ab- 

 sent an hour and two minutes. On the I8tb of September, 

 twelve days afterwards, I found many large worms in the cells, 

 and on the 21st, fifteen days after, sealed brood, so that the 

 queen must have been fecund£.ted on the 6th. 



It seems very extraordinary that she should have been at- 

 tended by such a multitude of lees on her return, when, as I saw, 

 she took her departure alone. Where had they discovered her ? 

 Had they joined her while yet at a distance? or hid they re- 

 cognised her when near at hand, and then escorted her into 

 the hive ? Although she had been absent above an hour, I am 

 disposed to think the latter hypothesis the more probable. 



Supposing that the queen had not already learned her way 

 back through having made previous excursions,; her safe re- 

 turn, after taking flight from a spot eight paces distant from 

 her hive, may have been due to the large escort which met her 

 and conducted her home in safety. — Dr. Pr.Eusa, SanitiitJirath. 



< I have little doubt that she had done so.— A Devonshire 3ke-keepee. 



EARLY GREEN FOOD FOR COWS. 



I AM tempted to ask for information as to the name of the 

 plant of which I enclose a few leaves, stalks, and flowers. It 

 grows wild in our woods. The reason I trouble you about 

 what is probably a common wild plant is, that the very first 

 mild spring weather we have it seems to spring up as if by 

 magic, and forthwith I send out my men to collect it in bundles 

 for the cattle. Tliey greedily devour it, and it occurred to me 

 that if it could be brought into cultivation it would form a 

 most valuable early spring food. I never observed it growing 

 in open places, but always along hedgerows and under trees. 

 Possibly it would not succeed without shade. I have purposely 

 selected the smallest pieces for convenience of transit, but the 

 stems we gather for the cattle are H and 4 feet in height. When 

 they become older the cattle do not care for them, but when 

 young and fresh-grown, they never tire of them. — C. E. 



[The plant — a very common one in shady places — is known 

 to botanists as Chferophyllum sylvestre, and popularly as Wild 

 Cicely or Cow-weed. Ray says that it received the laot name 

 because it is highly relished by cows in the spring before it 

 becomes stalky. Others bear similar testimony, and one 

 authority says that in a pasture where it abounded they turned 

 cows in during early spring to eat-up the weed. Kabbits are 

 also very fond of it. The root is poisonous to the human 

 species. — Ens.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Making Fowls Take to a EooBTiNQ-PLiOE (Boho).~Yon will have 

 difficulty in making; your fowls go up-stairs. They object to it not on 

 account of the heiglit, for if they were put in a bam they would fly from 

 beam to beam till they were much higher, but they do not like a ladder. 

 If you will make them roost there, you must catch them for some even- 

 ings, shut them in, and let them remain for at least two hours after day- 

 light ; they may then take to it, but the experiment will try your patience. 



Feather-eating Fowlr (S. R.}, — We have tried everything we know, 

 and all we can hear of, yet our Spanish fowls eat their feathers. The 

 cocks are hideous, having only the tail and wing-feathers left. 



Exterminating Rats [Bantam^. — You impose a hard task upon cb 

 when you ask us how you can exterminate rats. We have been trying 

 unsuccessfully for years to accomplish it on our own premises. Hens, 

 chickens, and eggs disappeared, valuable Pigeons were destroyed daily; 

 we killed seventeen or eighteen per week, sometimes more — it seemed to 

 make no difference. We tried the professional rat-catcher, he caught a 

 great many, gave us a very high idea of his professional merit, and went 

 away. We had just as many in a Iday or two as we had before. Wherever 

 th^y can be put safely we put gins, at other places traps. Wherever 

 we pee a hole we fill up with loose gravel stones, not only the hole 

 itself, but above it and around. We believe this is the only way of dis- 

 couraging rats. They will overcome cement and glass bottles, but when, 

 every time they move a stone, another fall.'^ into its place, they give up 

 the attempt, they have no choice. We have six cats always prowling 

 about, and two terriers *' limbs for rats." With all these appliances, we 

 still have some, and are every now and then reminded to our cost that 

 our success has been only partial. 



Pigeon Portraits (.4 Subscriber]. — Wolstenholme's paintings and en- 

 gravings of Pigeons referred to recently by " Wiltshire Rector," can 

 be obtained from the artist, Mr. Dean Woistenholme, 8, Elizabeth Cot- 

 tages, Archway Road, Highgate, London, N. 



Scarlet Virginian Nightingale (S. V. W.I.— The food to feed the Vir- 

 ginian Nightingale on is canary and hempseed, and all kinds of fruit, such 

 as strawberries, apples, banana, d^c. ; the only green food to give it is 

 lettuce. If it be a fresh bird, it should be kept in a cage with a wire front 

 only, and kept in a secluded place, it being a very shy bird, but once it 

 gets used to its quirters, it becomes a hardy bird, and not delicate at the 

 moulting season but at this time a little saffron should he placed in 

 the water, and a little raw beef chopped fine, given to it twice a-week. 

 We have not known it sing by night. 



