October 29, 1868. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTIOULTDRB AND COTTAGE QABDENER. 



331 



shop except coarse, ill-shaped birds, and I not unnaturally 

 bestowed no praise upon them. " Why, sir," said the man 

 in the shop, " what can you want ? I bought the whole flight of 

 a gentleman, and I'll warrant they will tumble well, and keep 

 ap for hours." " But," said I, " they have not even pearl eyes." 

 "As to that sir, nobody looks for pearl eyes now in Tumblers." 

 "But," said I apain, " look at their legs, they are partly 

 feathered." In fact, those wonderful Tumblers were most 

 probably bred from Kollers, with a mixture of the common 

 Eunt, and they retained the tumbling and that was all. True, 

 they wore tnmhiiri:, but though I consider that their first 

 property, yet others should be found in birds bearing that 

 name. Some years since I used to be able to obtain well- 

 coloured Tumblers with clean coral logs, neat heads, but with 

 no mixture of either Almond or UoUer blood. They flew high, 

 kept up well, and tumbled sufficiently, and their form was 

 symmetrical ; but now how rarely are these seen ! but in their 

 place a countless herd of coarse, patchy-coloured birds. I 

 should like fanciers to reject these and get birds pleasing to 

 the eye, fairly round-headed, full-breasted, neatly made, but 

 strong nevertheless. Feathers on the legs are wrong ; the 

 Tumbler-shape requires the neat, unfeathered, clean, coral legs 

 and feet. 



No Pigeon is more attractive than the Tumbler, and it 

 retains its hold upon the affections for years. It is a tame 

 bird, walking coulidently and confidingly among our feet ; 

 cooing and displaying its airs near you, while no eye can fail 

 to be pleased with its dapper little figure. There are other 

 things in their favour — they breed well, are excellent parents, 

 save the Short-faced ones, and they are very good eating. 

 " What ! eat your pets ? " " No, my dainty lady, 1 eat them 

 before they grow to be pets." There is always this advantage 

 in keeping Pigeons, that you can eat them and so get rid of the 

 faulty or the superabundant, unlike those who keep Doves, 

 who sometimes bore their friends in begging them to accept 

 pairs. One lady I knew who kept Doves, used to prick their 

 eggs so as to prevent their producing young. Anything to 

 stop the terrible fertility of her pets, for, oh ! the outlay 

 for cages, and the coaxing mammas to allow their young hope 

 fuls to accept a pair of Doves. Now, we Pigeon-fanciers are 

 never in such trouble. 



In common Tumblers I would include all the varieties that 

 are larger than the Short-faced birds. Thus I would take the 

 Baldheads and Beards, and if I must the Kollers, which seem 

 the lineal descendants of the Dutch Tumblers of the older 

 writers. The FkoUers, after the novelty is over, are not pleasing. 

 They seem to overdo and are falling, rather than tumbling, 

 head over heels. The House, Air, and Ground Tumblers must 

 be still worse, theirs is not a pretty gymnastic feat but a sad 

 misfortune. 



The best and truest-bred common English Tumblers that I 

 have ever known, have been either Red or Buff ; the latter are 

 charming pets, but look better on grass than on gravel. It 

 would not be ill-spent money to offer at all large shows prizes 

 for well-bred genuine English Tumblers. — Wiltshire Bectoe. 



P.S. — I beg to thank "A Foreigner" for his two excellent 

 articles entitled " Management of Pigeons in Health and 

 Disease," and " Some Notes on Pigeons." — W. B. 



LIGURLVN BEES AS HONEY-GATHERERS. 



The prolific character of the Italian queen has been abun- 

 dantly testified to in the Journal, but very little has been 

 advanced regarding the honey-gathering powers of her off- 

 spring. After four years' experience, it is my conviction that 

 a great return of honey is not to be expected from a pure 

 Italian colony. In this district the produce from Italians has 

 not been equal to that from black stocks, and it has fallen very 

 far short of that derived from hybrids ; in fact, the return from 

 pure Italians has been quite a failure. I hoped for great 

 results this last beautiful summer from a very strong stock, but 

 at the close of the season it had amassed very little more honey 

 than would suffice to carry it comfortably through the coming 

 winter. A very diiiferent state of things was presented by my 

 hybrid stocks ; they literally groaned with honey, and sent out 

 as many and as large swarms as hives of the purest-bred 

 bees. I would, therefore, recommend those parties who wish 

 a good honey harvest to have their stocks furnished with 

 "hybridised " queens. 



These views may not be entertained by many, but they 

 accord with what has come under my own observation. 



The pure Italian bee cannot endure such a lengthened con- 

 finement in its hive as either the black bee or the hybrid. It 

 consumes more honey, and is more susceptible of cold. In a 

 low temperature I have often seen it fly out, never to return, 

 when blacks and hybrids found their way back to their homes 

 with comparative ease. But with all its defects I greatly ad- 

 mire the Italian bee, and would bo the last to discard it from 

 my apiary. At the same time there is no reason why its merits 

 should not be canvassed, and I shall be glad to hoar what 

 Mr. Lowe, with his forty pure stocks, or others, have to say on 

 the subject. 



The idea of feeding a hive of bees previous to driving it, aa 

 propounded by Mr. Pettigrew, is very good, and should not ba 

 lost sight of. Late in autumn, when the weather is cold, it is 

 often extremely diflicult to dislodge bees. Perhaps the end 

 aimed at by Mr. Pettigrew would be speedily attained were the 

 stock hive, on being turned up, to be sprinkled with a little 

 lukewarm syrup immediately before covering it with the empty 

 skep. — li. S. 



THE NATIVE HONEY-BEE OP MEXICO. 



In the hives of the domesticated bees of Mexico we meet 

 with a structure altogether pec^iliar. They exhibit little of the 

 regularity of construction which characterises the hives of the 

 bees of the old continent, and are far inferior in this respect to 

 the habitations of wasps. In one particular they approximate 

 to the nests of the European humble bees ; the honey which 

 they contain is deposited in large bags distinct from the common 

 cells. It is somewhat singular that so interesting a point of 

 natural history has never been particularly noticed ; our pre- 

 vious knowledge scarcely extending beyond the facts, that some 

 of the bees of America form nests, like those of wasps, attached 

 to or suspended from trees, and covered by an outer case con- 

 structed by themselves ; while others, incapable apparently of 

 forming this outer crust for their hives, seek cavities ready 

 formed for their reception, and in them construct their habita- 

 tions. Instances of each of these kinds of hives are mentioned 

 by Piso in his Natural History of both the Indies ; and Her- 

 nandez, in his History of Mexico, states that the Indians keep 

 bees analogous to ours, which deposit their honey in the hollows 

 of trees. Little information beyond that furnished by these 

 older writers is contained in more modern works ; and even the 

 Baron von Humboldt, to whose acute observation science is 

 indebted for so many discoveries respecting the New World, 

 appears not to have noticed with his usual care the peculiarities 

 of its bees. Had that distinguished traveller directed his atten- 

 tion to the habits of the species which he collected during his 

 memorable journey, M. Latreille would doubtless have given 

 to us the necessary details in his excellent Monograph of the 

 American Bees, included in the " Observations Zoologiques " of 

 M. Humboldt. In the valuable essay prefixed to this Mono- 

 graph, M. Latreille has collected from authors numerous state- 

 ments relating to the habitations of bees, and especially of 

 those of America ; but has added to them no new facts as 

 regards the hives of the New World. The subject may, there- 

 fore, be regarded as altogether novel, and as requiring some 

 little detail in its explanation. 



In the domestication of the bees of Mexico but little violence 

 is done to their natural habits. Inhabitants, in their wild 

 state, of cavities in trees, a hollow tree is selected to form their 

 hive. A portion of it of between 2 and 3 feet in length is cut off, 

 and a hole is bored through the sides into the hollow, at about 

 its middle. The ends of the hollow are then stopped np with 

 clay, and the future hive is suspended on a tree in a horizontal 

 position, with the hole opening to the cavity directed also hori- 

 zontally. Of the hive thus prepared a swarm of bees speedily 

 take possession, and commence their operations by forming 

 cells for the reception of their larva, and sacs to contain the 

 superabundant honey collected by them in their excursions. 

 Two such hives, completely formed and occupied, were brought 

 to England, safely packed in recent hides. One of these was 

 forwarded to M. Huber, eminently distinguished for his highly 

 interesting observations on the manners of bees ; the other 

 was presented to the Liniiean Society. The latter was care- 

 fully divided longitudinally, so as to expose its interior. 



The eye of an observer accustomed to the regular disposition 

 of the comb in the hive of the European bee, is at once struck 

 with the opposite directions assumed by it in different parts of 

 that of the Mexican. Instead of the parallel vertical layers of 

 comb, we have here layers, some of which assume a vertical, 

 while others are placed in a horizontal direction ; the cells of 



