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JOUENAIi OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ Angusl 8, 1865. 



THE MASSACRE OP THE DRONES. 



[From the Qerman of Karl Enslin.] 

 By '■ A Devonshibe Bee-keepek." 



The insect monarch thus commands,* 



(Herself such idlers scorning), 

 " Let ev'ry drone at once depart. 



Nor look for further warning." 

 Her warlike amazons prepare. 



And from their tents proceeding, 

 With lances keen the mclfc join. 



No second order needing. 

 " Turn out, turn out, ye idlers aU ! 



We feed you now no longer. 

 The lazy ask in vain for food. 



Unless they be the stronger." 

 The sturdy di-ones themselves defend. 



Their heavy weight opposing ; 

 But yield at length to arms and skill. 



And numbers round them closing ; 

 Whilst those who on the battle field 



Their latest breath are sighing, 

 Are by the victors dragg'd away. 



The dead as well as dying. 

 The remnant at the frontier wait. 



In vain imploring pity, 

 Eemorselessly they're left to starve. 



And die without the city. 

 Now in the hive is sloth unknown. 



Of labour none are sparing ; 

 Some guard their home, some range the fields. 



Honey and wax preparing. 



T. W. Woodbury. 

 Mcmnt Badford, Exeter, 3rd Avgust, 1866. 



BEE-KEEPING IN SOUTH LANCASHIRE. 



I HAVE nothing new to tell my felloiy bee-keepers. I simply 

 write because it may be interesting to some of your readers to 

 know how " the busy bee " fares in South Lancashire, and be- 

 cause I want to ask you a question or two respecting the future 

 management of my hives. 



First, I ought to remind your readers that we are less 

 happily situated as bee-keepers hi this neighbourhood than our 

 friends in agricultural districts. Within a circuit of ten or 

 twelve miles five or six large manufacturing towns are included, 

 of which Manchester is one ; and then, also, our climate here in 

 the north-west is very much less favourable than in the south 

 or midland districts ; though this year I must own we have 

 had but little to complain of the rain, and fog, and dampness 

 for which Lancashire is famous. 



My apiary consisted at the beginning of the year of no more 

 than three hives, of which two (swarms of last year) seemed 

 pretty strong, the third, an old stock, quite weak. I intended 

 to allow the stronger hives to swai'm, and prevent the weaker 

 one, in which plan I did not siicceed. My first swarm, which 

 weighed upwards of 4 lbs., was hived on the 23rd of May, and 

 was the first of which I have heard in this neighbourhood. I 

 placed it in one of Neighbour's common cottage hives, and it 

 has twice fiUed the straw super with beautiful virgin honey, 

 and has made some comb therein, and stored a httle honey a 

 third time. The second swarm from No. 1 issued .June 7th, 

 and was given away. I hear that it has filled a good-sized 

 hive, and begun to work in a bell-glass. Hive No. '2, threw a 

 swarm of 4 lbs. qn June 6th, which I placed in a wooden-frame 

 hive. They have stored a good deal of honey in their hive, 

 and I have taken in bell-glasses aboxit 6 lbs. 



A second swarm from No. 2, weighing 3 lbs., was hived June 

 20th, and I think has done fairly, increasing in weight some 

 8 or 9 lbs. I put bell-glasses on No. 3, to prevent swarming, 

 but imfortunately without success. They stored 3 or 4 lbs. in 

 the glasses, and then on July Brd threw a swarm of 4i lbs. 

 Happily bad weather prevented a second swarm issuing. 



You wiU see that I have increased my stock from three to 

 seven hives, besides giving away a swarm, and have taken 

 18 or 20 lbs. of honey. Do you advise me to be greedy, and 

 try for some more, by sending my hives to the heather ? I 

 have done so three years in succession, and each year have 



* ThiB ie, of coarse, mere poetical license ; most persons are now aware 

 thil the queen or ratter iLOther-lee never really "commands" the 

 woriierB. 



received my hives no heavier than when I sent them, and this 

 has disposed me to keep them at home this year. Again, I 

 have been accustomed to drive two hives together on receiving 

 them from the moors. Can I do this if I keep them at home? 

 Will not the bees which have been di-iven retiun to the place 

 where their hive used to stand, instead of to their new hive? 



My last question is on a point on which I should like to 

 hear the opinion of some of your readers. We have had some 

 very hot weather this mouth, and, consequently, a good deal of 

 honeydew. Do the bees work on this ? Books tell us they do, 

 but I have never seen them do so, though I have watched pretty 

 closely the trees where there seemed most. I am anxious to 

 know if any bee-master has seen that which I have been unable 

 to see. — A South Lancashire Bee-keepee. 



[We can scarcely advise you with regard to sending your 

 hives to the heather, but after failing three years in succession 

 we should be rather inclined to give it up. You need not 

 hesitate about uniting your stocks by driving, merely taking 

 care to " mari-y " those that are nearest to each other. Hives 

 increase very rapidly in weight during honeydews, but bees 

 are so seldom seen collecting the sweet deposit or exudation, 

 that we ourselves have witnessed the fact but once.] 



Unpleasajjt NEiGHBonRS. — In the garden of the Rev. Arthur 

 Roberts, Eector of Barkham, Berkshire, is a rustic and move- 

 able dovecot, in which are domiciled a considerable family of 

 beautiful white Fantail Pigeons. In one of its compartments 

 may be seen a hen Pigeon sitting eloselj' on her eggs, and in 

 the compartment, immediately beneath her, a large swarm of 

 hornets busily engaged from morning till night constructing 

 their nest or comb. — {The Age Tl'e Live In.) 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Leg Weakn-ess (W. B. FeU).~ln addition to the treatment so jndi- 

 eiously recommended by " our Editor," I would advise yon to mix with 

 the soft food, two or three times a-day, five or six grains of phosphate 

 of liine, which you can obtain at any chemist's. — Y. B. A. Z. 



Age at which Hens Cease to be Profitable (7.m). — By laying, we 

 miderstand the production of eegs iiTespective of breed. For such a pur- 

 pose we would not licep hens after their tiiird season, but if the hen were 

 valuable on account of her breed or beauty, or if she always bred good 

 chickens, we would not hesitate to lieep her for five or six years. 



DORKJNGS Dying Suddenly (IT. W.). — If this is a common occurrence, 

 you will, we think, find there is something poisonous about the place. If 

 it has only occun-ed to two or tlu-ee. it is merely one of those curious 

 things we cannot explain. Your feeding is judicious and cannot cause it. 

 Put some lumps of camphor in the water they have to drink. 



Points of Kocen Docks (E. M. Z>.). — Size is a most essential point in 

 Rouen Ducks ; and they must be as nearly as possible the wild Duck in 

 plumage of both sexes. The points in which exhibitors fail most, is 

 in the colours of the biUs. Blue, leaden, and green are disquaUlications 

 in the Ducks. That of the drake must be a mistiure, as though the 

 foundation were gamboge washed over with a light tea-green so lightly 

 as to show the yeUow through the green. 



PoLANDS Losing their Topknots (G. J. N.]. — It is more than probable 

 the birds pick the young feathers out of each othei-"s topltnots. They 

 commonly do so, and the patient seems to like the operation. Rub the 

 heads with compound sulphur ointment. If that does no good, you must 

 separate them till the feathers are sufficiently gi-own to hide the skin, you 

 will have little difficulty afterwards. When the topknots are very large, 

 and in damp and dirty weather, it is a good plan to confine them with an 

 elastic band. 



Colour of Dorkings' Eggs (/'. If.). — In a yard full of the purest Dork- 

 ings in England, we find every shade from dark cream, almost br cwn, t 

 dazzling white. We know not the cause. The condition of the shell is 

 entirely subject to the state of body and health of the bird. The same 

 hen mil sometimes lay soft eggs, and at others good hard shells. 



Golden-spangled Hahburghs iScotchmon), — A Golden-spnngledHam- 

 burgh to have any pretensions to be a prizetaker. must have a white 

 deaf-ear. There are aU sorts of fowls in Yorkshire and Lancashire, 

 offshoots of Hamburghs, that are called by all sorts of names ; but if a 

 man advertises " Golden-spangled Hamburghs," he is bound to sell them, 

 and not " Moonies." 



Treatment op Fowls Before Exhibition (Eboracum). — Fowls for 

 exhibition should, with the exception of Spanish, be allowed to run. 

 They should be well fed on gi'ouud oats slaked with milk, whole com 

 occasionally, scraps of bread, refuse of cooked meat from the table, &c. 

 Spanish should be shut up in a pailially darkened place for a week before 

 being exhibited. AU birds should be scrupulously clean when they are 

 exhibited. The basket iu which they are packed should be large enough 

 to prevent the feathers from being broken. The light Cinnamon cock 

 would not spoil the chickens for cTdiibition. 



Taking Bees from a Roof (Bolton). — Yours is just one of those cases 

 reiiuiring the services of a sldlled bee-master fertUe in resources, who 

 would modify and adapt his proceedings to the exigencies of the moment. 

 Speaking generally, we should say that the best plan would be to use only 

 sufficient smoke to intimidate the bees, and then cut o'.it and remove the 

 combs one by one with the bees adheiing to them. If, however, the 

 queen should escape and the Bw.ann return to the old s^ot in conse- 

 quence, they might possibly be induced to take possession of a box or 

 small hive that would enter the aperture and might then be removed iu 

 the evening. 



Average proddce of a Condemned Stock and Swarm (B. B.).—1S they 

 average "21) lbs. of honey from each we think they will do vei*y well. 



