376 



JOUENAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



r October SI, 1863. 



have supers on Woodbury hires as large as a standard stock box ? 

 as it occurs to me that by so doing, and using frames as in stock 

 box, they would be found invaluable in strengthening weak 

 stocks, &c. My No. 2 "Woodbury hive is a framed glass one. Is 

 it suiBcient to replace the glass crown-board by a wooden one 

 for the winter, or should I change the bees altogether to a wooden 

 one ? They are working in a dwelling-house through a four- 

 inch brick wall. Will it be too late to do so after the 1st of No- 

 vember ? How can I tell the difference between drone and worker 

 brood ?— W. W., IreUnd. 



[Your No. 2 Woodbury hive may possibly be queenloss, which 

 would account for its lack of strength. This doubt should be 

 set at rest by lifting out and examining the combs the first fine 

 day. Should there be no queen, and if you are unable to supply 

 the deficiency, the bees must be united to another stock. The 

 " pavilion" of your Nutt's hive seems to be a cube of 10 inches 

 inside. This is much too small, and we doubt whether the ad- 

 dition you have made on the top may turn out an efficient remedy. 

 Whilst making a new floor-board we may hint that we have 

 found it very convenient to divide it into three, in fact, a separate 

 floor-board to each box, and we should at the same time take the 

 opportimity of substituting a new pavilion, which, if wished 

 to take frames, might be 14 j inches from front to back, by 

 13 inches wide, and 9 inches deep inside. This would accommo- 

 date nine Woodbury frames, and would aiford the opportunity for 

 trying a frame hive worked collaterally. We advise a small 

 entrance being made to each of the side boxes, but shotdd use 

 them only in case of necessity. Woodbury hives, properly so 

 caDed, are fitted with what their inventor calls "compound 

 frames," in which the bars and frames are separate and distinct, 

 as delineated in page 1.5 of the fifth edition of "Bee-keeping 

 for the Many," published at this Oflice, price 4d. Although 

 hive-makers frequently omit this contrivance, it is in reality es- 

 sential to the carrying out of the Woodbmy system of bee- 

 keeping, in which, by its means, frames are tieed only in stock 

 hives and bars in supers, without forfeiting the advantages arising 

 from unlimited interchangeability of every comb in every hive 

 and super in the apiary. If you get the new "pavilion" read}- 

 by the month of April there wOl then be no difficulty in trans- 

 ferring to it both bees and combs, and if you cannot refer to 

 former Numbers in which directions are given for performing 

 this operation, we will repeat them if you make the inquiry, 

 describing at the same time your new box, early in March. 



It will be well to shift the bees from the glass box to a wooden 

 one before winter sets in ; but whether this operation can be 

 prudently attempted so late as November depends entirely on 

 the season. 



Drone brood is easily distinguished from that which will pro- 

 duce workers by the greater size of the cells in which it is de- 

 posited, as well as by their being elongated above the general 

 surface of the comb, and the great convexity of their covers.! 



EFFEE\^SCING CLARY "WTNE. 



To every gallon of water add 2 J lbs. of loaf sugar ; and one 

 quart (exactly) of Clary flowers (blue) gathered dry, not pressed 

 down. Boil the sugar in the water and let it cool ; then add the 

 Clary flowers and lialf an ounce of yeast to each gallon, and stir 

 a-day for a fortnight. At the end of that time add to each twice 

 gallon half a drachm of isinglass, melted in water. Bung up 

 very closely for three or four months. Bottle in champagne 

 bottles, using good corks, and keep the bottles upright on a cold 

 stone floor. Let the wine clear for a few hours in a vessel after 

 it comes from the barrel before bottling, and be careful that the 

 barrel has no taste, or it will spoil the flavour, which is very 

 delicate, and much better than that of ordinary champagne. 

 A little white brandy may be added if wanted to keep more than 

 one year. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Poultry Show in London. — " Are we likely to have a Show in London 

 this year, eitlitr at the Crystal Palace, or at the Agricultural Hall, 

 Islington, or at Alexandra Park? — I see none as yet advertised. — D.P. P." 

 [Can any of our readers Bend ns any information in reply to the above 

 query ? ) 



Feeding Game Fowls (F. iv.).— Game fowls for exhibition should be 

 fed on meat, pond barley, bread and ale, and white pens. Nothing im- 

 proves t le condition of a Game cock like raw yolk of epg. Black Game 

 are njt sufficiently numerous to take the Ksme standing us other colours : 

 but in open competition, if they had more merit than others, their colour 

 would be no bar to success. 



Ground Oats for Poultry {Percy Cross). — The ground oats you want 

 can be had of Mr. At^ate, Slaugham Mills, near Crawley, Sussex. He will 

 send them if you write to him 



Game Bantam Cock (A Young Shorcer).—\ Game Bantam cock should 

 be a Game cock in miniature in every particular. The head should be 

 very fine, and give the idea of a en^e. Such an one will always be pre- 

 ferred to a thicker-headed one. The smaUer he is the better. Under no 

 circumstances should he exceed 20 ozs. The lighter pullett? are prefer- 

 able, if they are equally good in other points. A most important part of 

 a Game cock is that he should carry his wings up and close to kis sides. 

 Many carrj- them too much Uke a Sebright. 



Warming a Poultry-house (Broml(y).~A Joyce's stove may be placed 

 in a hen-house as an experiment, but it will not be found' de.-Jirable. 

 Fowls do not need artificial warmth, and the result of it is to give them a 

 chill whenever they leave the house in sharp weather. Nature wants 

 very little help if we observe her conditions, and merely supply the food 

 birds would obtain in a natural state. The cold weather comes when the 

 plumage is new. and thick, and close ; able to repel all wintr>' attacks. 

 Artificial warmth only induces them to open their feathers. Let your 

 house be free from draughts, your perches low, and your food generous. 

 The colder the weather the better the food. 



Sunflower Seeds— Wood Pigeons Robbing (Wunblym). — Since we 

 last wrote we have made inquiry about sunflower seeds as food for 

 poultry. Many tell us they are very fond of them. A very good corre- 

 spondent of ours, and an old sportsman, tells us, "My fowls Uke the 

 seeds much, but my Pheasant'^ are greedy after them. There is, however, 

 this difference — they infinitely prefer them in the flower. They seem to 

 like to knock them out, and eat them with greater relish than when they 

 are thrown down. They prefer them to any other food." The sunflower 

 requires a good soil. The only way to prevent the Wood Pigeons from 

 eating the Pheasants' food is to feed them from hoppers. If these are 

 made of zinc they do not warp or injure by exposure to any weather. 

 The food can only be got at by the bird jumping on a treadle there is in 

 front. The weight of the bird opens it and shows the food. Being 

 weighted for a Pheasant, a Pigeon will not open it. They can be had at 

 Baily's in Mount Street. 



Hens how long Profitable ? {D. P. P.), — Hens may be kept profitably 

 till they are four or five years old, and sometimes older. They have been, 

 known to live twelve years. The origin of Dark Brahmas is involved in 

 mystery. We are. however, in a position to say that the first were im- 

 ported from the United States.— B. 



Basket for Poultry (G. R. B.).— The first requirement of a poultry 

 basket is, that it be round, high enough for the birds to stand upright in 

 it, and that the top be strong canvass, so that if the birds fly or jump up 

 they will not injure their heads. It should be close all round. The 

 basket should be 30 inches hish. 28 inches in diameter for four fowls, 

 22 inches for three, made of ordinary wickerwork, and as close as possible. 

 There is no necessity for any contrivance fur food. ForPigeonsa similar 

 basket, 15 inches high and 12 inciies in diameter, would be suflicient. 

 We cannot name any price. A basket-maker in your neighbourhood 

 could make them. 



Profit from Poultry (A'.).— If you want eggs, keep Spanish. La 

 Fleche, or Creve Cceur. If you want hardy useful fowls, keep Brahmas 

 or Cochins. If you .want ch(»ice table poultry, keep Dorkings. Begin 

 operations at once. Start with fifty hens and six cocks. 



Cockatoo with Broken Wing (A Ten-years Suhncribcr). — We advise 

 you to let the bird remain as quiet as possible. It ie useless to try to 

 bandage the wing, as it would soon pull the bandage off. The feathers 

 ought to have been cut ofiF short at the time of the accident to lighten 

 the wing ; but as the injury has been done some days we would not 

 advise disturbing it unless it is seen to be quite loose at the broken part, 

 and as it were dangling at the bird's side; then you may resolve upon 

 cutting away the feathers. 



Magpie Pigeons (J. li. J.). — Magpies as usually bred in this country 

 are only Toys, and would not be eligible as Tumblers, unless they really 

 tlid tumble; then, of course, they would be entered asMagpied Tumblers. 

 — B. P. Brent. 



To Make Tumblers Fly (Highjlyer). — Put your Pigeons in a basket 

 and send them out by some one, at first a quarter of a mile daily, in- 

 creasing the distance till they ^vill come home three c^r four miles. Con- 

 tinue this for a month, when you will find them in flying 'condition ; but 

 there will be some difficulty to keep them off their favourite resting-place. 

 Send them out hungry, so that they may go in directly they come home, 

 and keep them in for the rest of the day. They will then, in a measure, 

 forget the places they used to settle on. When you begin to fly them at 

 home it would be as well, if you could do so, to hoist a flag on that place, 

 or put a boy there to drive them away till they entirely forget it, but 

 unless they are of a good flying sort it will only be lost trouble. Better 

 kill them and buy some trained high-flyers, and do not let these acquire 

 bad habits.— B. P. Brent. 



Chbysalis of Death's-head Moth. — It may help to the solution of 

 "C. P.'s " query in your last Number, page 343, if I inform him that n. 

 chrysalis of the Sphinx Atropos was brought to me from a potatu field 

 on ihe 2gth of September last, and that the moth emerged on the 10th of 

 October.~W.. Forest Hill, Oxon. 



Native Hives.— Mr. M. Smith, R, Pelbam Place, Holland Road, Brixton, 

 wishes to write to " M. D." about these hives. 



SuPERiNG a Common Straw-hive {A Young Subscriber, C). — There is 

 no difficulty whatever in cutting a three or four-inch hole in the crown 

 of a common hive with a sharp penknife, but it will be better to leave 

 doing it until spring, unless it be required at once for feeding. 



Carrying Bees to a Distance {J. Alexander). — Confine the bees by 

 tving the hives up in pieces of cheesecloth, and then passing a cord 

 tightly round each about 2 inches from the bottom. Steadily invert the 

 hives, and secure them in that position by carefully packing them roimd 

 \^'ith either hay or straw. Employ a light vehicle, hung on good springs, 

 and drive slowly. Select a sheltered position, antj let the stocks face any 

 point from south*east to south-west that may be most convenient. 



Photographs — Ventilating (A South Lancashire Bee-keeper). — The 

 cartes of the principal contributors to our various departments, and 

 among them that of the '"Devonshire Bee-keeper,"' are published at 

 this office, price Is., or free by post for thirteen postage stamps. Wo do 

 not ourselves ventilate our hives, but it is practised and recommended by 

 many good bee-keepere, and the present is about the time for caii7ing 

 it out. 



