162 



JOURNAL OP HOETIOULTUEB AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



t August 27, 1868. 



others were being carried into my neighbonr's garden, as if 

 that were considered a more suitable cemetery than my own. 

 This process went on during the whole day, till at length the 

 number of dead bees must, I fear, have exceeded the number 

 of the strangers, so that my hive is weakened rather than 

 strengthened by the transaction. In the 'Stewarton hive there 

 was not so much noise as in the other, but as far as I can 

 judge from appearances, all the strange bees have been turned 

 out, and, curiously enough, several wasps with them. 



Now, I should be very much obliged to you to let me know 

 the cause of my failure. Was it my fault or that of the bees ? 

 Was it that I made some mistake, or that they had not read 

 the right bee-book and did not know how good bees ought to 

 behave ? — H. 



[With regard to the bees which you attempted to unite to 

 the Stewarton hive, you appear to have followed correctly 

 enough the directions given by the late Mr. Payne, but have 

 unfortunately realised the truth of some remarks upon his 

 process which I published in " our Journal " in December, 

 1863, and wherein after quoting his words, I say — "Thus far 

 Mr. Payne, and ho may b.', and probably will be found to be, 

 right in a majority of cases ; but in many instances I have 

 known daylight reveal a sickening scene of slaughter, so ex- 

 tensive as to make it more than doubtful if suiBcient bees sur- 

 vived to render the attempted union of the slightest advantage 

 to the stock intended to be benefited thereby." Occoasional 

 catastrophes of this kind are, I believe, unavoidable where the 

 operator has to unite bees to a stock domiciled in a hive with 

 fixed combs, but they only occur in a minority of cases. 



With Woodbury frame hives the case is, however, very dif- 

 ferent, and failures are so rare when the operation is properly 

 managed, that I feel justified in ascribing your miscarriage to 

 neglect of the instructions which I gave in page 320 of the 

 last volume of " our Journal." Had you, as therein directed, 

 first captured the queen of the frame hive, and then driven the 

 bees upwards through the bars into the same hive with the 

 previously driven bee.-!, finally knocking out the conjoined 

 cluster on the top of the frames after temporarily deepening 

 the hive by placing an empty one on the top, success would, I 

 think, have been nearly certain. If you will but " try again " 

 and adhere somewhat more closely to my instructions, there 

 is no doubt ultimately that your perseverance will be rewarded 

 by complete success. — A Devonshire Bee-keeper.] 



DRIVING BEES. 



A NEionBODB has two hives of bees, and which he purposed 

 suffocating before taking their honey. He says he will give 

 tkem to me, if I will drive them. Do you think it possible, if 

 I unite the swarms, and put them in a Neighbour's Improved 

 Cottage Hive, to keep them alive by the greatest amount of 

 feeding? I only commenced bee-keeping this spring. A friend 

 gave me a swarm (a June one). I have fed it very liberally, and 

 it is now pretty strong. It is in a common cottage hive. Would 

 it be better to put one or both lots to this hive ? — P. G. C. 



[If you drive bees into an empty hive in the manner you 

 propose, they should at once be copiously fed by means of" an 

 inverted pickle bottle replenished regularly every evening, until 

 the nett weight of the contents of the hive reaches at least 

 15 lbs. Success by this means is, perhaps, possible, but by no 

 means certain. If, on the other hand, you adopt a frame hive, 

 and furnish it with such otherwise useless pieces of wirker 

 comb as you may be able to obtain from the driven £tock=i in 

 the manner detailed by Mr. Woodbury in his articles on " Uti- 

 lising and Uniting Condemned Bees," which commenced in 

 .January, and were concluded in April of the present year, 

 success is so probable that it may be considered tolerably 

 certain. 



You can if you please drive and unite the bees to your own 

 stock in the manner described in the articles to which we have 

 already referred, but the decision as to which of these two 

 courses you may adopt, must rest with yourself.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Game Fowls. — " The birds meutioned by Mr. W. H. Wheeler in fin 

 advertisement in your last number were never stated by me to be 

 * vahiable ' at all, as tbe price '.£2 158.) clearly shows; nor were they ever 

 my bii'ds at all, nor yet market birds. — Newmap.ket." 



Exchanges (An Amateur). — We cannot afford either space or time to 

 carry out tho suf^pestion. An advertisement is the legitimate mode of 

 effecting the pui-poie. 



Hartlepool Pocltrt Exixtbitiok.— " An Exhibitor " writes to ns : — 

 "It is my ojnnion that the judRes should not be appointed from the 

 locality in which the exhibition is held. This would give general satis- 

 faction to the exhibitors, whether they received prizes or not. Why not 

 appoint them from the south — pentlemcn who know the good qualities of 

 the birds ? For my part I am determined never to exhibit another bird 

 unless I can ascertain who are appointed judges." 



[Tho writer of the above is a clcrffymau, and took a prize. We quite 

 agree that judges ought to be obtained from among skilled men residing 

 at a distance from the show. Our correspondent quotes from a letter, 

 the j udgment of the writer of which would be demurred to by many,] 



Chelmsford Poultry Show.—" In pleasing contrast to the conduct 

 of the generality of poultry committees under the circumstances of loss 

 of specimens during an exhibition, I feel myself bound to acknowledge 

 the j-eceipt by cheque of two guineas, the price it cost me of a Satin 

 Fairy Pigeon, "accidentally lost at the Chelmsford Show. — Henry Yard- 

 ley, Market Sail, Bimiinghavi," 



Absence of Feathers on Pigeons t Pouter). — The feathers on yoni- 

 Pouters' crops will probably grow again during winter, when they will 

 have no young to feed. Our" Pouters are now in full moult, probably 

 yours are. Hempseed in the spring tends to make them lay. Now thev 

 ought to have done breeding, as the progeny of a moulting bird is not 

 likely to be strong. 



Management of Guinea Fowls (Jtma F.). — The following is ex- 

 tracted from the " Poultry Book, which you can have free by post from 

 our office if you enclose seven postage stamps with your address ; — " They 

 pair, therefore an equal number of each sex must be kept. It is the hen 

 only which utters tbe peculiar cry of ' Come back.' The noto of the cock 

 bird is a kind of wail. To obtain a stock of them some eggs should be 

 hatched in tho yard where they are wished to remain. To buy fuU-growu 

 birds is almo.it hopeless ; for when turned down they depart, apparently 

 in search of their old home. They should be fed regularly at stated times. 

 They return at th se times punctually, find if one of the feedings is in 

 the evening they then roost at home. Their roost should be high from 

 the ground. They must be fed like other fowls, but in winter require 

 more animal food. Tho hen usually lays on a dry bank, and if the eggs 

 are taken from her nest never lays init again. They usually bring off 

 very large broods — twenty is not an unusual number. Chicks of the 

 Guinea fowl are so strong that they require food soon after they are 

 hntcbcd, and should have a constant supply by them until they are 

 allowed to be at liberty. Their troughs should be constantly supplied, 

 for they die if kept without food for three or four hours. Have the mother 

 under a coop in a warm corner of the garden, and facing the south. Egg 

 boiled hard, chopped very fine, and mixed with oatmeal is their best 

 food. At the end of six weeks, if hatched under a Bantam or Game hen, 

 they may be allowed to range with her. and be fed at the same time and 

 on the same food as other chickens. May is the best month for placing 

 Guinea fowls' eggs under a hen. Incubation requires from twenty-eight 

 to thirty days." 



Red-collared Eengalies During the Breeding Season {Whitei/ 

 Brown). — Place in a large cage the outer husk of the cocoa nut with a 

 hole at the end. They may be purchased of Mr. Hawkins, of Bear Street, 

 Leicester Square, also a breeding-box similar to what Canaries have, with 

 loose dry moss, and a net of the same material as Canaries have. Give 

 them Canary seed, millet of both kinds. Indian and French, likewise 

 green food, and when they have young give stale sponge cake. 



Butterflies (.Sop/iia).— Stainton's " Manual of British Butterflies and 

 Sloths." Lowe's book which you mention does not contain the descrip- 

 tions you need. 



Sale of Honey (J. BoSinsoa).— Messrs. Forlnum & Mason, Piccadilly, 

 are large purchasers of honey; but if they, like Messrs. Neighbour, are 

 full, we know not to whom to advise you to apply in London, although 

 it is probable that many of the Italian warehousemen at the west end 

 may be purchasers. If, you ^isit a watering place you may possibly find 

 a market there through some grocer or confectioner. Fine honey in the 

 comb ought to briug at least U. 3d. to Is. 6d. per lb. 



Honey Crystallising in the Comb (ri/cntl.— When honey crystallises 

 in clean combs, it is best treated by being melted in a water bath, which 

 may be readily improvised by a covered jar standing in a saucer-pan of 

 water. When cool tho wax may bo removed from the top in a thin cake, 

 leaving the honey underneath beautifully liquid and pure. 



Honey Imported and its Uses (H. B.).— It comes to us in largo 

 quantities from various parts of the world. The greatest amounts are 

 from Jamaica. Cuba, and Chili. In 1862 the total importation was 

 7,150 cwts.; in 1863,12,054 cwts.; in 1864,12,083 cwts. ; in 18C5, 4,519 cwts. ; 

 and in 1866. 13,521 cwts. The only uses of honey that we know are in 

 some pharmaceutical preparations, in malung mead and mum, and as an 

 article of food. We cannot tell;its usual wholesale price, but you might 

 ascertain it from Messrs. Neighbour. 



Hornets' Nest (B. TT.).— We cannot advise how to destroy the hornets 

 in their nest established in the wall of your house, not knowing the exact 

 position ; but any of the usual modes of destroying wasps in their nest 

 would succeed in" destroying hornets. Oil of turpentine in a bottle, and 

 the nozzle thrust into tho entrance of the ne^t, would probably suffocate 

 them 



The Weight of a Cobto Yard of Hay in a Stack (Sii6.scri6cr).— Mnch 

 depends on the solidity of the stack, as we have seen some so compact 

 from heating that a ton could be cut out of less than 6 cubic yards, while 

 as much as 16 cubic yards would be wautedon another occasion. A cubic 

 yard of hay may only contain 140 lbs., or it may contain nearly 40O. 



POULTKY MARICET.— August '2G. 



Large Fowls 4 to 4 



Smaller do SO 8 



Chickens 1 9 2 



Goslings 5 6 



Ducklings 2 



Pigeons 8 9 Grouse 



B. d s. d 

 Pheasants o to 



Guinea Fowls 



Hares 



Rabbits 1 





 

 4 1 



