JOURNAIi aF HORTICULTDEE AND GOTTA&B GARDENER. 



( April 9, 1868. 



crushed hemp seed, mixing the whole and chopping it very fine. ] 

 After the first day or two the white may be added to the yolk. 

 Place this mixture in one of the egg tins in the cage, suspend- 

 ing it in the front near one of the perches by weaving-in a piece 

 of wire crossways, on which it will hang by a couple of hale 

 hooks attached to it. If placed in the door the hand need 

 never pass inside the cage at all, as the tin will always come 

 outside by the opening of the door. Stand the green food in a 

 Email jar of water on the bottom of the cage. The old birds 

 will at once commence feeding their infant brood, an operation 

 which they will carry on at short intervals till they can per- 

 form that necessary act for themselves, which will be in about 

 three weeks, more or less according to the attention which has 

 been bestowed on them by their parents. 



There is a great diversity of opinion as to the use of hemp 

 seed as a food for the Canary. One of our most eminent breeders 

 and most successful exhibitors, whose buffet is adorned with 

 more than one silver cup won at our AU-England exhibitions, 

 is very much prejudiced against it. He denounces it in very 

 strong terms. I shall not soon forget his raising himself from 

 a reclining position in his easy chair in his drawing-room 

 at his hotel in Sunderland, and while taking his cigar from 

 his mouth not to intercept the utterance of so important a 

 maxim, he gave me a smart slap on the knee as if to give still 

 greater emphasis, and said, "Elakston, don't let your birds see 

 hemp seed ! " On the other hand, one of the breeders in this 

 district brings up more young birds on it, and nothing else, 

 than others who discountenance its use. Each breeder speaks 

 most highly of that food which he has found most usefus 

 One man condemns groundsel as green food, another usef 

 nothing else, and the same remark applies to each and all ol 

 the various items which compose the bill of fare in the Canary 

 room. This diversity of opinion must in the majority of cases 

 result from pure ignorance, connecting certain results with 

 certain causes, without thought as to the conditions which may 

 have induced them. The lessons of our breeding season will 

 teach an intelligent man more than he will learn from listen- 

 ing a whole lifetime to the nonsense preached by a certain 

 school. — W. A. Blaestox. 



may in the absence of the apiarian, easily manage the whole 

 affair, removing the sheet from the old stock as soon as the 

 bees have entered the new hive. — L. L. LiNOSTEOTn, Oxford, 

 Biitler Co., Ohio. 



AN EASY MODE OF PEACTISING ARTIFICIAL 

 SWARMING WITH MOVEABLE COMB HIVES. 



Some of your readers may be interested in a method of 

 swarming which I have devised, and successfully pr&ctised for 

 the last few years. 



My queens have their wings clipped, and the hives are set 

 low, with a moveable board, one end of which rests upon the 

 ground, while the other slants against the alighting board of 

 the hive. When swarms may be expected, the hives for their 

 reception are placed near the full stocks, with frames, &c., all 

 ready for the use of the swarms. As soon as a swarm begins 

 to issue, the apiarian watches for the queen, which will soon 

 be found on the ground in front of the hive, vainly endeavour- 

 ing to join her emigrating family. Gently seizing her by the 

 wings or upper part of her body, he places her in a wire cage, 

 paper cone, or any convenient receptacle. In, a few minutes 

 the bees, missing her, begin to return to the parent stock, which 

 should now be removed from its stand, and the new hive put 

 in its place. As soon as the bees begin to enter, their queen 

 should be liberated at its mouth, and the bees compelled to go 

 in as quickly as possible, when it should be placed where it is 

 to remain during the season, and the old hive returned to its 

 former position. If the hives in the apiary resemble each other, 

 and are not placed too near to each other, there will be no ne- 

 cessity of removing the swarming stock from its place. When 

 the bees begin to return, a sheet may be thrown over it to con- 

 eeal it from them, and the new hive, with the cage containing 

 the queen, may be placed upon or close to the old one, to be 

 removed as soon as the bees are well hived. Should the swarm 

 issue while no one is watching the apiary, the bees will return, 

 and the queen will soon join them by crawling up the sloping 

 board to the entrance of the hive. 



_ Natural swarming may in this way be safely and easily prac- 

 tised in a large apiary without any fear of the swarms eloping, 

 with little risk of different swarms uniting while on the wing, 

 and without any necessity for ladders, saws, &c., or any of the 

 perplexities with which some of your readers are doubtless only 

 too familiar. The bee-keeper may thus, without any draw- 

 back, enjoy all the pleasing excitement of the swai-ming season. 

 Any one able to distinguish the queen, and to put her in a cage. 



FEEDING BEES. 



I HAVE lost many stocks through insufficiency of food in the 

 winter. Either I do not feed them with the proper mixture, 

 or the bees do not get at it in the best manner. Is it advisable 

 to put the food inside the hives ? I have done so, because in 

 the winter time it is not policy to disturb the bees or induce 

 them to come out into the cold to obtain it. 



WUl wheat flour do as well as rye meal to provide pollen for 

 the bees in the spring ? I have tried the former, and find it 

 will not answer. — C. B. 



[If you give your bees a sufficient quantity of food in October 

 in the manner and of the kind described in pages 72 and 86 of 

 " The Gardener's Almanack," they will do just as well on arti- 

 ficial food as on honey. They should, however, never be fed 

 in winter. We have kept twenty-five stocks through the past 

 winter on artificial food without losing one, and do not believe 

 that they possessed on an average 1 lb. of honey to each stock. 



Bees can always get sufficient pollen in this climate at all 

 seasons whenever they are able to fly out. We therefore con- 

 sider both wheat flour and rye meal worthless as substitutes 

 for pollen in England, however valuable they may be in Ger- 

 many.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Ducks' Eggs foe Hatchixo ( W. D. J.).— Your eggs will be useless ; it 

 is necassary for breeding purposes that the Ducks should be in water now 

 and then. It is not required often. 



Brahma Pootra Chickens' Twisted WnJGS (L.B.\. — Your food is very 

 good, add thereto some meat, cooked and chopped fine, and bread and 

 milk, any other change will be beneficial. It is impossible to say how 

 many of your chickens will be fit for exhibition ; but if you have two out 

 of six you will be favoured. The Dark Brahma chickens hatched the end 

 of March will be fit to show at the end of July. Fowls that belnnj^ to 

 large breeds, and are well managed, and have never had a chect, should 

 at six months old, weigh 6 lbs. Twisted wings are caused by contraction 

 of the last joint of the wing, which draws the end feathers of the flight 

 under the others, through which they pass and project. 



Silver-pencilled Hamburghs (A. £. r. K).— It is impossible you can 

 be correct, you might as well expect them to remain small chickens 

 always, and to cease growing, as to attain the age of twelve months with- 

 out.laying. They certainly lay, and their eggs are either eaten, or they eat 

 them. 



Checking the Growth of Chickens {L. S. D.). — We know no means 

 of checking the growth of chickens \vithout injury to the birds. Ex- 

 posure to cold, deficiency of food, or want of quality in it, all check 

 growth. Give your fowls some bricklayers' rubbish. 



Eggs with Thickened Skins (A.I.P.\. — Your eggs want moistpjiing 

 before the hatching time comes. They should be wetted every day for 

 five or six days before hatching. The second skin is merely the lining 

 membrane, which hardens from heat and drought, and which the chicken 

 cannot pierce. If the eggs were wetted, this membrane would be soft 

 and easily penetrated. / 



HouDAN Chickens (A. C). — Hondan chickens require no particular 

 food or treatment. Feed them as you would others. 



Mis-sHAPED Eggs {Osborne i.—\ouv statement is a remarkable one. 

 There is little doubt that purgative medicines would restore her laying 

 properties ; but you should^save and preserve the very curious abortions 

 you mention. 



Food fok Dccks (J. W. E.).—Vfe cannot guess at the food, that is 

 required by six Rouen Ducks, having a grass rim. The best way is to 

 feed them yourself for two or three days. Worms given in very large 

 quantities are bad food, and frequently kiU Ducks. 



Indian Game Fowl's Plumage (A^orice).— The Indian Game are smaller 

 than the English, and much more brilliant in coloui-. They difi'er in the 

 spur, comb, and gill. On the hackles and saddles every feather has a 

 tip of " light " at the extremity. 



Cochin-China Cock's Head Swollen (C. L.). — Wash with a strong solu- 

 tion of alum ; purge freely with castor oil, and feed entirely on bread and 

 ale. We know of no better treatment. 



Sex of Guinea Fowls {A C'omtaiit Sithseribcr). — Only the hen utters 

 the peculiar " cock-elark " cry. The male utters no other cry than a 

 wailing whistle. 



Annie and Dora are informed that we will find next week, if possible, 

 " X children's comer " in the Journal, for" the verses paj^a has made about 

 one of their broody bens, to amuse them, and for their inBtruction too, he 

 says, and which verses they think (and so we think) might .amuse some 

 otiier children as well, who, like themselves, are fond of poultry." 



Artificial Swarming {Carotm). — Artificial swarming, when attempted 

 by an unpractised hand, possessed only of common hives, is so uncertain 

 in its results, that we hardly like to advise it, nor is it even eertain that 

 it will prevent natural swarming. If you decide on trying the experiment, 

 the stock will probably not require a super at all, certainly not directly 

 afterwards. Your bees may be very strong and very busy, but they are 

 not likely to take to a super so early in the season. Bees obtain honey 

 from all the bushes and trees you mention. 



Bees Falling [A. F. Newman). — Your bees which feed freely, but 

 drop near the hive, seem to be suffering from either dysentery or dropsy. 

 If from the former, this fine weather ought speedily "to restore them; if 

 from the latter, we know of but one mode of cure, and that applicable 

 only to stocks in moveable comb hives. Write again if thb disease does 

 not* abate, and state what kind of hives you use. Bees can now maintai2> 

 themselves, and need not be fed. 



