40O 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICUIiTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ Jane 10, 1860. 



part of the brood, if I adopt that plan ? There are many drones 

 io both hives, bat no signs whatever of swarming. I have also 

 one stock of Ligariane in a Woodbury hive which seems very 

 strong, but they have not begun to hang out yot. Is it, there- 

 fore, desirable to vyait for those signs before taking an artificial 

 swarm ? And thirdly, by placing the super on now, would that 

 prevent their natural swarming, or impair the swarm by delay- 

 * ing it until the super is lilled or removed ? My main object with 

 the Ligurians is swarms, not honey ; but as they will gather 

 honey as well aa breed, it seems very desirable to give them 

 ample space for both purposes, without which they must do 

 one tiling at the expense of the other. — Novice. 



[We can only advise you to " try again." It is certain that 

 when once you have by practice acquired the knack of " driv- 

 ing," almost any stock which you may choose to attack will 

 speedily succumb. Still even this rule, like almost every other 

 referring to bees, is not entirely without exception, as is proved 

 by the following incident wbich was recently related to us by a 

 gentleman who had resided in Germany for some years : — At 

 one of the great annual meetings of German beekeepers it was 

 thought desirable to afford such novices as might be present a 

 practical lesson in the art of " driving," and to this end anin- 

 babited hive was produced, inverted, and drummed upon in the 

 orthodox manner. To the dismay of the operator the bees 

 refused to budge, nor would they succumb even to the united 

 efforts of all the great " bee-fathers " then present, who tried 

 tlieir hands one after the other only to retire in confusion. 

 What was now to be done '> It would never do to allow the bees 

 to remain masters of the field. So the hive was finally cut to 

 piece?, the combs extracted, and in this way were the poor bees 

 nltiraatcly dislodged from the fortalice which they had so long 

 and so triumphantly held against all comers. Had the assembly 

 acted upon the advice given by Mr. A. Pettigrew in page 256 of 

 onr 15th volume, and poured half a pound of simple syrup over 

 the bees a quarter of an hour before the operation, the result 

 would probably have been different and more edifying to the 

 rising generation of Teutonic beekeepers. 



We do not know whether fungus smoke affects the brood, but 

 we believe that stupefaction by its means is injurious to the bees 

 themselves. 



Your Ligurians in a Woodbury hive may well be strong 

 enough to afford a swarm, although they have not yet "hung 

 oat." We should open the hive, look over the combs, and 

 jadge for ourselves. If you want swarms and mean to obtain 

 them artificially, a super will only be in the way.] 



RAPID INCREASE OF LIGURIANS. 



On retnrning home at the end of May, I found that a stock of 

 Iiigorians which I had from Mr. Woodbury had thrown off its 

 fburth swarm this year — all good large swarms, and all taken 

 Balisfactorily ! Is this not very unusual ? — E. W. 



[Four large swarms from one stock during May are an nn- 

 ■Qsually early and rapid rate of increase. We fancy the stock 

 most have over-swarmed itself, and that it would have been 

 better to have returned the last. The season is, however, so 

 little advanced that it may probably recuperate itself before 

 vinter.] 



SUPERS. 



The bees in one of my best snpered Woodbury hives alter 

 working faivly in the super, one-third filling it, swarmed yester- 

 day. Will you say whether you think it owing to my having 

 naed some drono comb for guide comb in the super? I have 

 used some rather fine pieces, and believing to have read some- 

 where that it is not good for supers, I shall be much obliged 

 6y early opinions from you. — A. B. 



[We So not think the use of drone guide-comb had anything 

 to do with the issue of the swarm. It is usually eschewed in 

 enpers because drone honeycomb is not so valuable for table 

 purposes. Had it been our own oa?e we should at once have 

 looked over the hive, removed the young queen, excised all 

 royal cells, and returned the swarm.] 



FOUL BROOD. 



I EEC to thank you for your advice as to getting rid of the 

 wax motb, and to tell you your conjecture that the colony was 

 suffering from foul brood was correct ; for on examining the 

 combs, several of them were found to be in a dreadful state, 



the cells full of a substance resembling thick cream, and oi 

 about the same colour. As to the history of the stock, it wag 

 purchased by my employer last October, of Messrs. Keighbonr 

 and Sons, to whom it has since been returned. It appeared to 

 be strong and flourishing all the winter ; it stood in a bee house 

 with some black bees in common straw hives. Do you think it 

 likely they will be infected by it ? They appear to be strong and 

 flourishing at present. One of them threw off a strong swarm 

 on the 10th of May, and the last on the 23rd, both of which 

 appear to be doing well. — S. S., Ware. 



[It this be really foul brood, it is very possible that it may 

 have communicated the infection to one or more ol your other 

 stocks. J 



OUR LETTER B(5x. 



TocLocsE Geese {Thrcc-i/eara Suhgcr!her).~Ton\ousc Geese are very 

 hardy, they are early layers, and lay large numbers of eggs. They do 

 uot sit. 



HA&rBUROB Fowls (T. M. L.). — No. 3 of yonr poaltry alone appears in 

 health ; she will, doubtless, lay again directly, if she has not done so 

 for the Inst two months. It may be she lays now, but 4hat her eggs are 

 oaten by herself or by some other. No. 1 is suffering from chronic cramp, 

 and will die. KoB. 2 are sufiering from the same in an early stage, or 

 from eating poisonous food. If they roost in a house with a brick, 

 wooden, or stone floor, that is the cause. Remove it, or cover it at least 

 inches deep with dry earth, gravel, or grit. 



Hen- Dying Suddenly {M. K, EiirhwootD.—TaT woul i not kill tiie 

 fowls. Some people give tar pills, but the bird sent has died suddenly — 

 that is, whatever caused death was of short duration, and produced con- 

 gestion. The crop contained no grass, hat a large quantity of what 

 appeared to be Indian meal. The gizzard was full of food, ond the intes- 

 tines loaded. Either she was unable to digest any food, or was stricken 

 for death just after a hearty meal. There were no other indications of 

 sickness, and the body was well nourished. If, as wo suppose, the bird 

 has been kept on Indian meal, it may afford some clue, as that has such 

 a tendency to produce internal fat. that all tke functions of the body are 

 first impeded and tlien stopped. Wo believe that to be the present case, 

 and if the food be continued all will die or become useless. Feed for a 

 few days sparingly, and then give oatmeal, whole barley, and barleymeal 

 alternately. Give them camphor in their water freely ; and until the 

 comlis become ruddy again, give them bread steeped in strong ale. 



Poultry Hocse (J. D.). — In the "Poultry Book for the Many" are 

 some plans. You can have it free by post from our otilce if you enclose 

 seven postage stamps with your address. 



Bantam Cock Dvixg (.4 Subscriber). — You lost your bird most Ukely 

 from roup caused by the damp and cold weather. Another time give 

 bread soaked in beer, and get a box of Baily's roup pills. 



Golden Pheasants (T. P., Seti Hoiwc).— Y'our Pheasants want lime or 

 something of the same kind to form the shell of the egt^. Give them a 

 basketful of bricklayers' rubbish, thrown down in their pen. Let them 

 have growing grass and fresh mould. 



YouKG Pigeons Dying (A Suh^cribrr). — Your birds either died from the 

 fault of the old ones ceasing to feed them too soon, or from the late cold 

 cheerless we.ather, and perhaps your loft is not perfectly dry. Our young 

 Pigeons are doing much bettor now that the weather ia waruier and drier. 

 Pigeons for an Aviaey iB. B.).— Any of the non-flying varieties do 

 admirably for an aviary, such as high-class Tumblers, Jacobins, Fantails, 

 A-e.. whereas it is half cruel to keep any of the Carrier variety, or Owls, 

 or flying Tumblers so contiued ; Antwerps particularly dash about, and 

 are %\ith their power of wing sadly cramped. Of all varieties, perhaps, 

 Fantails are most suited, as thoy neither can fly, nor wish to attempt it. 

 We have some perfectly tamo aviary ones. You should read Mr. Brent's 

 " Pigeon Book," and follow his aivice as to green food, condiments, &c.r 

 in order to keep Pigeons that are aviary birds in health. 



Food for Wrens (SuhHcriher and Constant Render). — Boiled rice, 

 boiled potatoes and carrots, hard-boiled egg, bruised hempseed, maw 

 seed, and scraped meat mixed together. 



Breeding Meal Worms {Ident).~'I]ic3G can be bred by pntting_ a 

 quantity into a good-sized earthenware-pan, three-fourths filled with 

 bran and meal, small pieces of cloth and flannel, a small piece of fat, and 

 several common wine corks ; the iian to be tied over with brown paper 

 perforated a httle, and kept in a warm place. 



Changing the Water for, and Feeding Gold Fish {Idem) — Once 

 everj- alternate day" is sutflcient to change the water for fish. It 

 should be entirely fresh, but not filtered, as the insects in the water serve 

 the fish for food. 'They should have, occasionally, small blood worms, or 

 scraped meat and little pellets of bread or biscuit given them. Dip a 

 small piece of stale bread or biscuit in tlie water, and make pellets about 

 the size of a barley corn, aud drop them iu the water in front of the fish. 



Wo&DBrrRY Hives (E. J.).— Instructions for inducting swarms into- 

 Woodbury hives are given in page 82 of " The Gardener's Almanack,'' 

 published at this office, price Li. The frames will not shift if these in- 

 structions be followed, nor will they be afterwards fi.xed by the bees. 

 Frame hives can be more conveniently manipulated when placed singly 

 than when in a beehonse, and under these circumstances require the 

 protection of roofs aud outer cases such as are described and figured in 

 pages 18 and 19 of the seventh edition of " Bee-keeping for the Many." 

 The wooden block will be speedily fixed by the bees, but can be removed, 

 and perforated sine substituted at any time, when upward ventilation 

 may be deemed desirable. The long openings which you describe as 

 existing in the adapting board are all right. The plan of restricting the 

 communication between stock hives and supers by means of very naiTow 

 slits has not yet been suflieiently tested to induce us to reeouimeod its 

 general adoption- You had better vsTite direct to Mr. Woodbury, Moimt 

 Radford, Exeter, fur information as to prices, Ligurians, Ac. 



Payne's Improved Cottagers' Hives (L. if S. W. Jf.}.— You can obtain 

 them of any of the hive laakers who advertise in this Journal. 



