436 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE G.4IIDENEE. 



r November 'M, 1866. 



selection, forming a long and narrow hive. The aiTangement 

 of the comb is, however, far stronger evidence, — " honey above, 

 and brood below " and this, notwithstanding lack of rcom. If 

 a hive of, say, seven combs, with an overflowing population, is 

 transferred to a longer box, the additional comb will not be used 

 exclusively for storing honey, but will contain brood like the 

 rest ; whereas if the habits of the insect are in accordance with 

 the collateral system, we should expect to see the brood cells 

 carried upwards in the middle combs, while the side combs were 

 pure honey. It will be said that the side combs are generally 

 pure honey, but in a non-swarming stock where the space is 

 overcrowded, the side combs, if not already occupied, will 

 certainly be filled with brood rather than the queen will ascend. 

 As to the sa\'iug of labour to the bees, and the resemblance in 

 a storifled hive to a man carrying a load up two or three pair 

 of stairs, instead of depositing it on the ground floor, there is 

 an obvious fallacy. Men do not go on all sides, and bees do. 

 Bees like to ascend, and many persons fix their landing-boards 

 at a steep slope. Some of the American hvies have landing- 

 fcoards 8 or 9 inches square, and standing at a considerable 

 angle, so that the bees have almost the height of the hive to 

 climb before they enter it. Not having wings one cannot very 

 weU say, but it always seems to me that the bee carries her 

 load much easier eUmbing than flying, especially when the load 

 is pollen. The weight in flying seems out of the centre of gravity, 

 and to hang. The frequent exhaustion of the poUen-carriers 

 is some sort of evidence as to the great labour involved. But 

 certainly any time lost in storing the honey is more than made 

 up by the comparatively rapid building of the combs. 



Mr. Sedgley touches a real defect in Nutt's hive, when he 

 says, " Be sure to keep the ventilators closed in the sides boxes 

 till the bees have begun working in them for a few days." The 

 secretion of wax is mainly a question of temperature. Lower 

 the temperature, and the secretion becomes difiicult, lower it 

 still further and it becomes impossible. Has Mr. Sedgley any 

 notes showing the rate of progress in the collateral before and 

 after giving ventilation ? And also of his difficulties if he does 

 not pay very close attention to his thermometer ? I am only 

 seeking information, and suggest that a genuine record of results 

 would be very welcome to many bee-keepers. — F. H. Wesi. 



FEEDING AND TRANSFERRING. 



I HAVE a weak stock of bees, now weighing 16.' lbs., in a 

 common straw hive, which I have been feeding every night for 

 the last few weeks with a bottle at the top of the hive, to stimu- 

 late breeding (using 3 lbs. of loaf sugar to one pint of water, 

 simmered over a slow fire tUl dissolved), and when I go in the 

 morning to remove the bottle I always find a quantity of the 

 Byrup running out at the entrance of the hive, and some of the 

 bees looking as if they had been spotted with a whitewash 

 brush. I am at a loss to account for this, as it is not the case 

 with any of my other hives, and it has not been so with this 

 nntU lately. I think there is no fault to be traced to the bottle, 

 as I have used different bottles of various shapes and sizes, 

 with necks varying from 1 to 2i inches in diameter, and foimd 

 them all act in the same way when placed over this hive ; nor 

 do I think it is the fault of the perforated zinc, upon which I 

 place the inverted bottle, not ibeing perfectly horizontal, in 

 which case I should always find it empty in the morning, but 

 I do not. 



AViU it now be too late in the season to transfer the bees and 

 combs into a Woodbm-y frame-hive (I am a pretty good hand 

 at doing this), and then to give them one or two frames of 

 broodeomb from a very strong stock? or I can purchase a 

 stock, which is tob weak to survive the winter, from which I 

 can diive the bees, and unite them to the transferred bees, 

 instead of, or as well as, giving them the broodcombs. 



Will you teU me how long I may continue, or when to dis- 

 continue, feeding for the purpose of stimulating the queen to 

 breed ? — A. E. 



[The mystery of your bottle is a puzzling one, but some- 

 thing must evidently be wrong somewhere, as the food should 

 not even drop on the floor-board, much less run out at the 

 entrance. Test the bottle by filUng it with water, tying its 

 mouth over with net, and then inverting it in mid-air. Held 

 steadily in this position not a drop shoiUd fall after the first 

 lush is over. We are, however, inclined to think that in the 

 case in question the sponge is saturated, and will hold no more ; 

 or, in other words, that the bees, having filled their combs to 

 repletion, are too few to attempt to extend them, and in this 



event, every cell being already filled to ovei-flowing, continued 

 feeding cannot even promote breeding, which is thus rendered 

 impossible. We should, therefore, at once stop the supphes, 

 which appear to do more harm than good. 



It is too late in the season to transfer a stock of bees with 

 much probability of success. We cannot, therefore, advise a 

 course which is so hkely to end in total disappointment. 



Bees should now go into their winter quarters, and be dis- 

 turbed as little as possible. All feeding, therefore, had better 

 be discontinued forthwith.] 



Egg of the Moa, or Dikobsis. — ^Wehave been requested by 

 Mr. Stevens to draw attention to the sale of a nearly perfect 

 egg of this extinct bird, which is to take place at his Rooms on 

 Friday next, tlie 24:th. According to the Wellington (New Zea- 

 land) papers, it appears that a man at Kai Koras was digging 

 the foundation of a house, when on the side of a small mound he 

 suddenly came upon the egg in question, and the skeleton of a 

 man, supposed, of course, to be a Maori. The body had evi- 

 dently been bm-ied in a sitting posture, and the egg must have 

 been placed in the hands, as when found the arms were ex- 

 tended in such a manner as to bring it immediately opposite 

 the mouth of the deceased. This, it is assumed, was in ac- 

 cordance with the Maori custom, and was done for the purpose 

 of giving the individual who was buried an opportunity of 

 sustaining himself if he thought proper, or if, in the course of 

 things, he required sustenance. Between the legs of the skele- 

 ton were found numerous tools, cut from green stone, including 

 a spear, axe, and several implem.ents. The egg itself is about 

 10 inches in length and 7 in breadth, the shell being of a dirty 

 brownish colour, and rather better than the thickness of a 

 shDling coin. The inside is perfectly clear and free from all 

 traces of decayed matter. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Mextjing a SiCKlE Feather (J. C'.).—lt the mending of the feather is 

 detected, as it most likely will be, the bird will be disquahfied. We 

 believe you joined the feather that brolie off to tlie stump from which it 

 came, but if this were once admitted, less scrupnlous persons wonld 

 break off a white and substitute a black siclde feather. It is not very 

 unusual for a Toulouse Goose to lay now. There is no limit to their 

 laying. 



Cochts-China Cock (A Subscriber, Hastings). — As yon have tried with- 

 out benefit bread and ale, and other stimulating food, to strengthen the 

 bird and promote his moulting, we fear that he has ulceration of sooie of 

 the chief viscera. Do not give castor oil ; cod-liver oil might benefit him. 

 and so might four grains of citrate of iron daily, mixed up with the bread 

 and ale, which you had better continue. 



Chickens Cramped ( Coiisiant Subscriber). — Keep them in a warmer and 

 drier place, give them bread soaked in ale, and one grain of citrate of 

 iron each daily. 



Heatisg Incubator {T. M. L.). — .\8 you cannot have gas, try one or 

 two argand oU lamps. They require abundance of air to support their 

 combustion. 



Ulcers in Rabbits {R. i?.). — You cannot do bettjer than to open them 

 when nearly suppurating. Then wash the wound with warm water, and 

 apply acetate of lead ointment. Tlie hair should be previously shaved 

 otf. so that the ointment may be applied to the skin. 



Rabbits {Rabbit Breeder). —We recommeud you to adopt the Silver 

 Greys — they are good for table, and theii" skins valuable. Look in oar 

 advertising columns, or apply to any of the dealers in birds, &c., in St. 

 Martin's Lane and elsewhere. 



Native Hives. — We have a letter directed to " M. D." which we will 

 forward if he sends us his address. 



Pre^'enting Honey Candying (W. H. P.). — We cannot tell how to pre- 

 vent honey becoming c;indied during winter, but it may even then be 

 readily rendered available for feeding-purposes, by subjecting it to a 

 moderate degree of heat, and adding, at the same time, a little water to 

 render it more fluid. It is only in cases of absolute necessity that we 

 should resort to feeding so late in the season, and, therefore, unless in 

 such a case, would advise its being deferred until the spring. 



Uniting and Sihftixg Stocks ildem). — There is no reason why stocks 

 should not even now be successfully united, but, if they require feeding, 

 no time should be lost about it, as the ultimate success or faUm-e of the 

 experiment must, in this case, depend upon the state of the stocks when 

 winter sets in. Do not move your hives at this season, when the 

 slightest doubt or hesitation on their return home must be fatal to mul- 

 titudes of the tired and half-chilled little foragers. Gradual shifting 

 should be practised onlv when bees are in full activity, with sufficient 

 health .and strength to remain on the wing nntil they can find out their 

 home in its new position. 



ParthenogenesisiB'. CaiT).— VonSiebold's experiments were repeated 

 fnd verified by Mr. Woodbury, as related by him in page 77 of the second 

 volume of The Journal of Houticulture. 



LiouRlAN Bees— Trifolium incarnatum (S. E. B.). — Write to T. 

 Woodburv, Esq., Mount Kadford, Exeter, respecting Ligmians. We do 

 not believe the Ligurian has a longer tongue than the common bee, 

 and, therefore, d lubt its ability to collect honey from any flowers in 

 which it is out of the reach of the ordinary hive bee. Trifolium incama- 

 tum is a first-rate bee-flower. Its increasing cultivation in this coimtry 

 has, we believe, not been without its effect on the excellent honey 

 harvests of late yen rs. 



Entomology (O. IT.).- The "Journal of Entomology" is publisued 

 monthly by Messrs. Taylor & Francis. 



