416 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AN3) COTTAGE GARDENER. [ Novembei 14, 1865. 



How is it the hive has not been filled? Why were the drones 

 Idlled off so late, and then so few? Should they still he fed? 

 .and as I cannot weigh the hive, how shall I know when they 

 are sufficiently fed ? I suppose my beginning with a late 

 swarm was a disadvantage; but will this still be a disadvantage 

 next spring? Will this fact interfere with their early and 

 vigorous swarming in the next spring ? — B. 



[A second or third swarm is rarely strong enough to fill its 

 hive with combs the first season. The reason of this is, that 

 after-swarms are later than first swarms, are seldom so nume- 

 rous, and being led by a virgin queen, breeding is more or less 

 delayed. 



Few drones might have accompanied the swarms in the first 

 place, and these would be destroyed immediately iipcn the queen 

 becoming fertile, whilst none would be bred by a young queen 

 at the head of a weak colony. 



If you cannot actually weigh the hive, you can surely lift it 

 in your hands, either ^^ith or without the floor-board, and thus 

 form some idea of its condition. 



The hive being stocked in the first place with a late swarm, 

 and being, therefore, only partially filled with combs, must 

 perforce be at a disadvantage next spring, as compared with a 

 strong colony in a well-filled hive, and is not so likely to swarm 

 early.] 



WOOD FOR HnrES. 



Israel Todd will find well-seasoned yellow pine much better 

 ihan red deal as a material for hives. The latter is too close in 

 its texture, and, consequently, too good a conductor of beat for 

 ihe purpose, whilst liees will frequently refuse to remain in 

 Mves made of red deal, owing to the strong smell of the tur- 

 pentine it contains. — A Devonshire Bee-keepek. 



[We used well-seasoned red deal for several years, and never 

 ^oimd the bees inconvenienced. — Eds.] 



STRENGTHENING A LIGURIAN CAST. 



What would you advise me to do with a cast of Ligurian 

 bees, which I had much trouble with in Retting them into a 

 Woodbury hive ? I sent them to the moors, but they came 

 Lome very little better of the journey ; indeed, the heather has 

 been quite a failure this season. I have been feeding them, 

 and this morning took off the cover to see what state they 

 "were in, and found that they were very weak as to combs, ttc. 

 They occupied the middle of the front of the hive ; the two 

 outside bars had nothing on them, and the others had combs 

 only about half way across, or hardly that. Now, I do not want 

 to join them to the others, which are very strong, but rather to 

 feed them, and save them through the winter, if possible. I 

 could put a frame or two in at the sides with empty combs, or 

 nearly so, and feed them till they had filled them up, and had 

 thus provided a good stock. Would it do to keep them in a 

 greenhouse during the winter, taking care to supply them with 

 plenty of food ?— G. W. 



[As stocks are found to winter better with the two outer combs 

 removed, you will do well to abstact two frames of worker comb 

 from your strong stock, brushing oS every bee, and leaving a 

 vacancy on each side. Insert these combs in the centre of the 

 iiive containing the weak colony, removing the two small side 

 ■combs, and feed liberally at once until it is sufficiently heavy 

 to stand the winter. 



A greenhouse might, probably, be a good shelter for a weak 

 stock, hut the bees should not be confined, and care must be 

 taken that there be no draught of air rushing in at the entrance. 

 They should not be fed in winter, and if the present position 

 of the hive be a little distance from the greenhouse, the removal 

 may do far more harm than good, owing to the loss of bees re- 

 turning to theii" old stance.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



FEEDns'G Brahma Pootras fok ExHiEiTn-'G (A. 0. W.). — Ground oats 

 Jorm the best food for any kind of poultry. They may be mixed with 

 water or milk. We do not advise you to shut up your Brahma cock 

 nnlesH you have a good-sized pen in which to put him, and if in company 

 with the hens to be shown with him, so much the better. Give him Urice 

 a-day, morning and evening, as much of the slaked Rround food as he 

 will eat. In the midday feed him on Idtchen scraps, the crumbs of the 

 breakfast and dinner-tables, and if soaked in the beer-bottoms it is no in- 

 jur>' to him, quite the reverse. Willow legs are admissible in Black 

 Game. You can have " The Pigeon-Book" from our office, free by post for 

 iwenty stamps. .^^^ 



Roup (J. C. M.). — Poultry have no disease called "croup." Cleanliness 

 and good fending prevent roup, which is what you mean. Baily's pills, 

 castor oil. camphor, and bread and ale, cure it in certain staples. It does 

 not occasion great mortality, except when the fowls are debilitated from 

 under-feeding or other causes. Among strong healthy fowls it is not 

 infectious, nevertheless, some will always take it, being predisposed to 

 it. It is not nearly as fatal as it was years ago. 



Incubator (E. M.). — We will shortly give a di-awing or ample descrip- 

 tion of an incubator. W^e fancy your heat is not equally distributed. 



Sultan Fo^xs (F. B.).~lt may be that the crest of the Sultan cock 

 was cut off before he began his voyage. Many people when sending known 

 birds to connoisseurs divest them of every unnecessary feather, es- 

 pecially a crest or top-knot, as it is liable to get wet, and to incommode, 

 if not injure, the fowl. Nothing will accelerate the gi-owth, nor is it 

 necessary. If, however, the feathers have been cut off. and the quills or 

 stumps remain in the skin, they must be removed before others will 

 prow. All birds will eat bread, our ordinaiy Guinea Fowls eat meal 

 freely. On the continent they feed much with Indian corn and buckwheat. 

 It is difficult to distinguish between the sexes, but the cock is supposed 

 to have a larger hum and longer wattles than the hen. If by a preenish 

 colour in the Spanish fowls you mean a green metallic lustre on the 

 black plumage, it is not only correct but desirable. The plumage must 

 be black. There is more latitude in Creve Cceurs. They should be quite 

 black, but many of them have some coloured feathers. These last are 

 not of necessity impure, but the mixture is not desirable. 



Weight of Cochin-China Cockerel— Bills of Buenos Atrean 

 Ducks {Yorkshire Exhibitor). — Eleven and a half pounds is a capital 

 weight for a twenty-five-weeks-old Cochin cockerel; it is heavier than 

 common. The bill of a Buenos AjTcan drake should be like a green 

 yellow, washed with soot and water. 



Gooseberry Trees and Poultry (A. Z.). — We never heard that the 

 trees are injurious to poultry, and do not thiuk that they are. 



Fowl-killing Dog {W. L.). — Give the owner a written notice that Ms 

 dog does kill fowls ; after which, if he allows his dog to bo loost; and un- 

 muzzled off his own premises, he may be sued for any damage the dog 

 may do to fowls, whether youi'S or belonging to any one else. 



Disease in Pigeons.— Can any correspondent give me a receipt for 

 the disease in Pigeons, which I believe is called "Going light ?" The 

 Pigeons become thin, lose their appetite, waste away, and die. A great 

 many of my young ones have thus died this year at various ages, but no 

 old ones have as yet been attacked. Generally there is no other appear* 

 anee of illness, yet in a few it is accompanied with lameness in leg or 

 wing. In a few there is a curdly appearance about the mouth, as in a 

 feverish person, but it is not common ; others have diarrhoea, some die 

 soon, others linger for weeks. I have cured some with calomel and cod- 

 liver oil, but many die, and I sould be obliged if any one can tell mo of a 

 perfect cure.- B. P. Brent. 



Jacobins' Eyes (An Old Gardener). — Baldhead Jacobins frequently 

 throw young ones with dark or bull's eyes, which is a great blemish. All 

 peai-1 eyes are dark at first, but they assume their right colour before the 

 young birds are ready to pair.— B. P. Brent. 



Anatobiy of Birds {Delta).— Dr. Carpenter's "Animal Physiology" 

 will suit 5'ou. He gives a popular description of the^ structure of all the 

 parts of birds, and abundance of illustrations. 



DisTiNGUisHrsG THE Sex IN CANARIES (J^. W. B.). — The cock Canary 

 is bolder-looking, stands more upright, and sings louder. Though hens 

 sometimes sing their voice is less powerful, and theii* song shorter and 

 more disconnected. You wiU find the English Finches particularised in 

 the " Canary and British Finches," published at this office. You can 

 have it postfree for nineteen stamps. I do not know of any better book 

 on foreign cage than Bechstein's.— B. P. Brent. 



Woodbury Straw Htves {Fred. D. Mort\.~Wc do not consider venti- 

 lation during winter necessaiy, or even beneficial, in the case of straw 

 hives of any description. 



Cover for Exposed Hives (G. H. B.). — We use roofs and outside 

 cases of this description. Both are made of half-inch wood well put 



'' hill 'UiWAIililln 

 L — 11 1 iTiuiiininiiir 



together and painted a light g tone colour. The roof is moveable and fits 

 loosely on the square case, wh ich latter rests on the floor-board, and i 

 retained in its place by thefcwo -inch plinth fitting outside. 



