334 



JODBNAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 30, 18C8. 



Death it and at the back of the tin. li they show in numbers 

 change the nest every morning, simply turning the yonng birds 

 from one to the other. As they grow and fill up the nest a 

 No. 2 must be substituted, affording more room, and if there 

 be four or five birds this must be followed by a No. 3. They 

 feather better, and are in many respects more comfortable in 

 the larger nest. 



It will occasionally happen that a hen will refuse to feed 

 her yonng, sitting very closely and "sweating"' them. This 

 unnatural conduct on the part of his spouse seems to distress 

 the cock exceedingly. He will sit on the edge of the nest, 

 apparently remonstrating with her, and using his most per- 

 suasive eloquence to induce her to allow him to perform the 

 duty she neglects, looking round and round the nest, anxiously 

 trying to discover if there be a little head peeping out from 

 underneath the hen. Should he be fortunate enough to find 

 one, with a gentle tap he reminds the half-starved thing of his 

 willingness to give it a meal, and in an instant the little mouth 

 is gaping wide to receive the choice morsels, which, after all, 

 are only too frequently swallowed by the cruel mother, whose 

 appeals he never refuses. There is no cure for this. It is the 

 result of a diseased condition. By driving the hen from the 

 nest at frequent intervals, and allowing the cock to feed them, 

 the little things may now and then be kept alive till the hen 

 is disposed to attend to them herself ; but by far the better 

 plan is to remove the neglected youngsters at once, and place 

 them under a nurse. It is very important indeed to have a 

 few hens, well-domesticated matrons, whose eggs you may not 

 hesitate to sacrifice in favour of more valuable stock. Many a 

 valuable nest is saved in this way, and I know nothing more i 

 trying to the patience than, after waiting for the chipping of a 

 choice nest, to find them apparently better than your antici- 

 pations, and yet dying off one by one from sheer want. They 

 may be assisted by hand, and are occasionally reared in this 

 way, an unusual amount of sympathy being evinced towards 

 the little unfortunates, receiving attentions which would at 

 another time be thought tedious. Feed with yolk of hard- 

 boiled egg, moistened with a little lukewarm water, given on the 

 end of a qoiU, the rule being, Little and often. — W. A. Blakstok 



THE HONEY BEES OF CEYLOX. 



I AM indebted to a gentleman engaged in the civil service at 

 Point de Galle for the following very interesting paper from the 

 pen of a native headman on the honey bees of Ceylon. 



The fijrst species described is probably identical, or nearly so, 

 with the very diminutive and harmless Apis florea ; the se- 

 cond and third I should imagine to be varieties of Apis indica, 

 the two kinds found in one hive at the same time being, of 

 course, drones and workers ; whilst the fourth would seem to 

 be the magnificent but bellicose Apis dorsata. an attack from 

 which proved fatal to Mr. Boddington, the unfortunate English 

 engineer who jumped into the river Nerbudda, and was drowned 

 in endeavouring to escape from his enraged assailants. It was, 

 I believe, a swarm of these bees which put the late lamented 

 Lord Clyde and his entire stafi to the most ignominious rout, 

 and thus inflicted the only defeat which that gallant officer sus- 

 tained during his final campaign against the Indian mutineers. 

 Another remarkable instance of their ferocity was related in 

 page 56 of our Journal ; and I am informed by Mr. F. Smith, 

 of the British Museum, that Dr. Jerdan states that he has 

 lost a valuable dog through an attack by these insects, and that 

 fatal accidents from the same cause are not unknown among 

 the natives. — A Detosshiee BEE-KEErzE. 



BE MtRKg BY JAMES DE SILVA, MOEA^T)CM, OF HISEDOOM PALTOO, 

 rs THE SOCTHERX PEOVISCE. 



In Ceylon there are four varieties of the bee kind yielding 

 honey. 



1. The Canemeetja ilasto. — These resemble the common 

 house flies, but are smaller. Hives are always formed in 

 hollows of trees, with an outer covering for the protection of 

 combs, which produce very little honey. It is of an agreeable 

 odour, tasting very sweet. Besides the honey there is an eat- 

 able substance of a yellow colour, called hackoroo (jagerry), in 

 taste resembling a mixture of sugar, flour, and an acid, which 

 is glutinous, and not very agreeable. When a hive is molested 

 this bee inflicts very little pain by the sting, but causes much 

 annoyance by attempting to get into the ears. 



2. The Jjandooicella Masio (flies), resemble the bee, with an 

 additional greenish streak lengthwise on the body. The hive 



consists of a single round comb on some slender twig of a tree, 

 and the honey is scarcely different from the bee honey. 



3. The Bee. — Of this there are two varieties, the one of s 

 brown colour and smaller than the other kind, with little 

 honey ; the other blackish and of larger size, with honey 

 always in combs, though there is very little when out of sea- 

 son. Some, however, say there is only one species : the black 

 colour and large size are to be ascribed to the bees being well 

 fed, or they are the latest brood, which latter, I presume, to be 

 correct, as both kinds are to be found in one hive at the same 

 time. 



When bees have remained for several years in one hive a 

 species of winged insect, like a beetle, appears, which is a sure 

 sign of the bees abandoning the hive. 



Some people are very expert in finding out bee hives. They 

 observe early in the morning a tree in blossom which bees fre- 

 quent, and the uninterrupted arrival and departure of the bees 

 guides the individual to the hive. I know an instance in which 

 a man followed a hive of bees for two days (returning home in 

 the evening), till be reached the hive. 



In hives near the sea there is scarcely any honey, which, 

 perhaps, arises from the want of substance to form honey, and 

 the sting is more painful. 



4. The Bambaroo. — This is about twice the size of an 

 ordinary bee, and forms only one comb in the hive, which is 

 to be found in some branch of the loftiest tree in the forest. 

 As regards the colour of the body, the haU near the sting is a 

 deep black, the other half inclines to brown. The honey is 

 thinner and more transparent than the bee honey, but not so 

 sweet. 



The mode of procuring it is to smoke the hive, when the 

 masso rise to a great height in the air. During this short 

 space of time, before the bees return, the party must be off, for 

 if found they will be stung to death, and I know an instance 

 where a party of sis individuals was pursued more than a mile, 

 and was obliged to dive under water, the Bamberas hovering 

 all the while till they saw a head above water. Some of them 

 are so tenacious, that although a hive should be burnt they will 

 not quit it. 



The quantity of honey found in the largest bee hive to my 

 knowledge is one and a half gallon. In the Bambaroo I am 

 unable to state the quantity, but it must be very considerable. 



Bees form hives in vessels kept for the purpose, and no other 

 kind would sit in an artificial place. The sting or point of the 

 Bambaroo is so sharp that it would cut through the thickest 

 cloth. 



SUPER LEFT ON A HTVB. 



Last summer I found the super on a hive to be but partially 

 filled with honey. Thinking my bees might starve in the 

 winter, I left it. Ought I now to remove it, or leave it ? If I 

 leave it, can I put another super at the proper time by the 

 side of the other, instead of at the top, making a commu- 

 nication at the back ? — T. T. 



"The super may now remain, but we doubt if the bees will 

 take possession of another en the same level, unless direct 

 communication be afforded with the stock hive.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Selling Boh-ed Eggs (Cefiria, and many offt^rs).— Our correspondents 

 all complain in no measured terms that ** J. L. L." has not published the 

 name of the vendor ; but there are many considerations requiring atten- 

 tion before such a course is adopted, " J. L. L.," at all events, has put 

 purchasers on their guard. 



Eggs Feetiused {Lemon BujT).— Two days are sufficient if the cock 

 takes to the hens. 



ApLiRiiS Societies (.V. if. C..— We know of no such societies, and 

 believe that none exists. 



Wooden Htves Smelling op TrRPESTrsx (J. Bri/onl.— Expose the 

 hives as much as possible to the sun and air before using them, bat avoid 

 dressing them wiUi anything. 



Buckwheat as a Eee Flowee {T. .B.).— There is no doubt that it yields 

 a large harvest to bees. Germans are exhaustive on all subjects they 

 examine, and one of them estimates that an acre of buckwheat yielded 

 14 lbs. of honey daily. Single hives gathered 3 lbs. on favourable days. 



Hen Canaet whilst Sitting (C. A. J.).—'' I do not allow my hens the 

 use of the bath while sitting, because I am of opinion that at such a 

 time it is well to hold out as little inducement as possible to leave the 

 nest. So far as regards any injury which might result to the eggs from 

 the hen giving herself an occasional wetting, I should have little fear. 

 1 use open drinking vessels. I do not recommend tbem, but having a 

 stock make use of them ; and it will often happen, on replenishing the 

 water, that a hen will wash as freely as she can through the water hole, 

 and quite well enough to thoroughly saturate her breast, but I have never 

 known any evil resalts to ioliow.— W. A. Blab.stos." 



