232 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AHD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 19, 1868. 



Ia2y than the old John Balls ? Are they very tenacious of cold ? 

 It is very tantalising to hear of their doing so well with other 

 people, and so badly with me, and they have been well treated. 

 They swarmed three times last summer, very weak swarms, 

 two of which are dead. — S. S., Tiverton. 



[You have omitted to state that you last year drove a large 

 artificial swarm from those well-treated (?) Ligurians at a time 

 when they were unable to provide themselves with food, and 

 then suffered them with the original and pure queen at their 

 head to perish miserably by starvation ! From this ill-advised 

 proceeding have arisen all the subsequent misfortunes of which 

 you now complain ; the stock, which was at the outset an 

 amazingly strong one, having been completely ruined by mis- 

 management. If it now possesses a fertile queen, something 

 may yet be done to promote breeding by the judicious ad- 

 ministration of food, but the recovery of a colony which has 

 once been reduced to so low an ebb can at the best be but slow, 

 and the ultimate result is extremely uncertain. 



To satisfy yourself that the present languid condition of the 

 Ligurians is entirely owing to paucity of numbers, and not to 

 their being susceptible of cold, you have only to recall to mind 

 their energetic activity at this season last year. It was unfor- 

 tunate tkat the stock should have swarmed naturally after the 

 forcible abduction and destruction of its ill-fated queen, and 

 the great bulk of its hapless population, but such swarms must 

 necessarily have been very weak and could scarcely be expected 

 to survive the winter. They should, indeed, have been at once 

 returned to the parent stock, which in this case might probably 

 have recovered from the effects of your previous ill-judged 

 manipulations.] 



BEES NEGLECTING ARTIFICIAL FOOD- 

 PRUNING COMBS, &c. 



Why do my bees refuse to feed now ? They have not much 

 honey — not more than 2 or 3 lbs. — and yet they are very 

 active, not at all weak in numbers for the time of year, being 

 almost as strong as they were at the commencement of winter. 

 I feed them with loaf sugar and water, and yesterday I smeared 

 the feeder with some peppermint water, thinking the smell 

 might attract them to it, but all to no purpose. Do you think 

 the bees can get any honey from the flowers yet ? We have 

 only the apricot trees in blossom, though pear trees are nearly 

 ready to flower. The bees carry also a good deal of pollen 

 into the hive, which I think they have from the elms. 



What do you think of the mode of cutting-out comb in the 

 spring as practised in llussia ? Do you think it is of any use, or 

 does it only give the bees extra trouble ? 



Can bees be placed near a house without causing trouble ? 

 Are they likely to come into the rooms ? 



Do bees thrive as well in an open space as under the pro- 

 tection of a wall or hedge ? — Cakolus. 



[The fault is not in the food, but in the mode of administer- 

 ing it. If you discard your present feeder, and adopt the 

 inverted bottle, your bees will speedily emulate our own, which 

 are now appropriating food in any quantity that we think fit to 

 indulge them with. Bees cannot as yet collect sufficient honey 

 to maintain themselves, although in exceptional seasons we 

 have known them build combs in March. It is so very seldom 

 advisable to prune combs in spring that it is better entirely 

 left alone. Bees rarely enter rooms, except by accident, unless 

 enticed to do so by the exposure of honey or other sweets. 

 There is no doubt that they thrive better in a sheltered than 

 in an exposed situation.] 



FORMING AN ARTIFICIAL SWAEM IN A 



UNICOMB HIVE. 



I HAVE an empty unicomb hive into which I wish to introduce 

 an artificial swarm : would you let me know how soon I can 

 set to work ? I wish to put apiece of brood comb for a Ligurian 

 hive into the unicomb hive, and place it on the old stance of a 

 black hive in order to make the black bees rear a Ligurian 

 queen, and after the bees are settled in the unicomb hive, and 

 the queen has been raised, I wish to remove the hive into the 

 conservatory. Do you think this plan will succeed ? — Alfred 



FiNDEISEN. 



[The proposed experiment is very unlikely to succeed, as a 

 nnicomb pure and simple is the worst possible hive for the 



operation. Tour best plan will be to have the unicomb hive 

 fitted with moveable comb-bars in the manner first invented by 

 Mr. Woodbury, get a box made to take these bars ranged side 

 by side in the usual way, and in this make your artificial swarm 

 early in May. As soon as the young queen begins egg-laying, 

 the combs and bees may be shifted to the unicomb. When 

 removing a brood comb from the Ligurian stock for the purpose 

 of forming an artificial swarm in the manner you describe, 

 you should take with it the adhering bees, but make certain 

 that the queen is not amongst them by first ascertaining her 

 presence on another comb. The box should also be furnished 

 with worker combs, for if any are built before the queen is 

 hatched they will be sure to be drone combs. " The Gardener's 

 Almanack," which contains Mr. Woodbury's Bee Calendar, may 

 be had post free from this office for thirteen stamps.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



BooKa (X>. WilUamt). — Brent's " The Pigeon Book." You can have it 

 free by post if you enclose twenty postage stamps with your address. 



Spring Chickens— Fowls {Geor^ie). — Spring chickens should be about 

 twelve weeks old when killed, fowls from sixteen to eighteen weeks 

 when put up to fatten. Fowls will grow more and become more mature 

 in fourteen weeks in the spring and summer than in eighteen in the 

 winter. 



Cre\'E-C(eubs t^Younfj Beginner). — Fowls without beards are not Crtve- 

 Coeui'S. They should be square, short-legged birds, ^vith top knot and- 

 beard, and small comb in front, resembling somewhat a cloven heart.- 

 They take their name from it. 



Marking Fowi,s— Buckwheat for Podltry (Tyro). — The best plan 

 of permanently marking fowls is to perforate the web of the wing with a 

 red-hot iron. Buckwheat is not good food for fowls, nor do they like it. 

 They like nothing of an oleaginous nature. Asphaltum is a very bad 

 thing for the flooring of a poultry house and yard. Birds will never do 

 well upon it, nor will they be healthy, 



HATCniNG Geese— Kerry Cow [Z.). — A hen would hatch a Goose's 

 eggs, although she would have to incubate nearly a week longer than if 

 sitting on her own eggs. They ought to be sprinkled with water daily. 

 A Kerry cow would repay you, if you have the convenleucea and keep 

 needful for a cow of any kind ; bui; you should keep two. 



Ulcerated Intestines tCanker). — What is called in StafTordehire 

 " cjinker " in fowls, is an ulceration of the intestines and other viscera. 

 There is no medicine known to cure the disease. When a fowl mopes 

 about, the only chance of saving it is by giving bread soaked in ale to 

 keep up the bird's strength. If the ulcers become numerous there is no 

 hope. 



BrcKwHEAT {A Constant Header). — Buckwheat may be purchased of 

 any of the principal seedsmen who advertise in our columns. It is sown 

 in May. 



Fowls very Fat (Trotters). — Poultry if kept too fat will not lay, and, 

 perhaps, the introduction of a young and lively cock in perfect health, 

 about two years and a half old, would give a good supply of eggs. Giving 

 fowls too much barley is as bad as giving them too little. Give them a 

 change of food — oats, barleymeal, and green food, such as lettuce, boiled 

 carrots, and parsnips : also scraps of animal food about twice a-week.. 

 Mashed potatoes mixed with a little bran are good as a change of diet. 



Pouter Breeding. — We have received Mr. Velckman's reply to Messrs. 

 Ure and Stunrt. but through pressure of other matter we are unable to 

 insert it in this number. It shall appear next week. 



Pigeons (J. Spcnce). — You will see in our columns by degi-ees the in- 

 formation yuu need. If you consult "The Pigeon Book," which you can 

 have from our office free by post if you enclose twenty postage stamps,, 

 you will find what you require about Jacobins. 



Parrot with Tumour (H. T. Toy).— Sot the IParrot having a tumour 

 under its eye we fear there is no immediate remedy. It may be from cold, 

 or through the bird having pecked the brass of the cage, or that the feed- 

 ing boxes have not been properly cleansed. Give it some bread and milk, 

 scald the bread first, also a few chilies, and if it will not eat them 

 sprinkle a small quantity of Cayenne pepper amongst the seed. Touch 

 the parts of the eye and* tongue affected with warm water two or three 

 times a-day, using a camel's-hair brush, and about an hour afterwards 

 with a little cold cream (which is to be had at any chemist's), not suffi- 

 cient for it to swallow. Give it also a piece of bread soaked in very weak 

 rum and water ; also try a little warm tea, and give plenty of fresh water. 



Canaries Singing (Trovers).— Cock Canaries hatched f'n July last 

 ought now to be getting into song, if they have been kept in a room with 

 other singing birds, but if they have been kept by themselves they would 

 only twitter a little. The throat of a cock swells when he twitters, but 

 that of the hen very little. 



POULTRY MARICET.— March Is. 



Our supply of poultry becomes daily less. The winter birds are getting 

 hard. The birds of this year are not forward enough. We hear good 

 accounts of the early broods. 



Large Fowls 4 



Smaller do f 



Chickens 3 



Goslings *? 



Ducklings 4 



Pigeons 



