^^16 



JOOESAL OF HOBTICUI.TCBE AND COTTAGE GAEDBNEB. 



C DucemitfiT )9.t8Sfi. 



who haTe always regarded npward Tentilation in winter as in- 

 jurious to their stocks, to learn that where this is giveji the 

 bee-entrance may be bo nearly closed that, on the whole, the 

 bees will be as wann as with the larger entrances wliich are 

 necessary when no siicb ventilation is used. 



At some future time I will detail some experiments which 

 will more fully establish the truth of an assertion made by a 

 German writer, one hundred years ago, when stating the ne- 

 cessity of upward ventilation in wooden hives, that it- is not 

 eold, but cold and dampness, tiat Irill the bees. r- 



To secure in the best manner this upward ventilation in 

 wooden hives, I advise your readers to remove at once the 

 boajd or cover which is over the bars or frames, replacing it 

 with a straw mat or a piece of an old blanket, or any condemned 

 woollen garment, contracting tho bee entrance to half an inch. 

 If the hives are exposed to the weather, I take it for granted 

 that a tight box cover will be put over them. 



At page 37 of Mr. Neighbour's excellent treatise on bees, a 

 cut is given, of a straw hive designed by Mr. Woodbury, in 

 which bees would probably winter weD, but by adopting the 

 kind of winter-ftover over the frames, or bars, recommended 

 above, it will be found that bees will winter almost if not quite 

 as well in wooden as in straw hives, thus enabling the apiarian 

 to dispense with a material not only in itself too perishable, 

 but vei-y apt to become musty and to harbour vermin. The fop 

 cover is, after all, the essential point, as a strati liive with a 

 wooden cover, on the cold surface of which the moisture from 

 the bees will freely condense, is far inferior to a wooden hive 

 with a straw or woollen cover. 



1 cannot close this article without expressing to Mr. T. W. 

 Woodbury my thanks for the warm welcome he gave me to 

 •yonr columns. Having had an opportunity, quite recently, of 

 reading more carefully his communications to your Journal 

 since 1859, I find that to him, no less than to Mr. S. Bevan Fox, 

 I am indebted for a generous appreciation of my apiarian 

 labours. — L. L. Lasgstkoth. 



In J I, 



hh 



Cbwl/I „i, :REGICrDE AMONG BEES. 



''■''' 'WbEh'^'R. S." first mooted the theory, that reglcidal attacks 



■ were initiated by stranger bees entering the hive unperceived,' 



■ I stated that I deemed the suggestion well worth attention, and 

 have since been on the watch to detect, if possible, any circum- 

 Etauoe which might tend to confirm the accuracy of his con- 

 jecture. So far. I am boimd to say, that with the exception of 

 the occurrence related by me at page 395, t I have never wit- 



i, nessed anything of the kind, and, therefore, still venture to 

 doubt the accuracy of his conclusion. I have, moreover, 

 another reason, and that is, that keeping, as I have been accus- 

 tomed to do, bees of different species or varieties side by side 

 in my apiary, I have become aware of the fact that there is far 

 more of intermixture between neighbouring famihes of bees, 

 than apiarians generally have had any idea of. To such an 

 extent, indeed, does this intermixture take place, that it appears 



-, to me the species must rapidly diminish, and even ultimately 

 become extinct, if the chance meeting of a wandering stranger 

 with the queen of the hive into which it had acccidentally 

 strayed, were, as "E. S.'' supposes, sufficient to set on foot the 

 regicidal frenzy, 



I have never seen, any theory published by the Germans re- 

 specting regicide among bees, with the exception of Dzierson's 

 statement, that if a queen wanders beyond the "brood-nest," 

 she is liable to be stung to death by the workers ; but in the 

 course of a correspondence v.hich I have recently had with 

 another distinguished Gei-man apiarian, I incidentally men- 

 tioned the subject, and was informed by him that he had fre- 

 quently had young queens imprisoned and killed on their 

 return from successful wedihng flights, and that he attributed 

 it to the presence of the well-known sign of impregnation com- 

 municating to the unfortunate queen a pecuhar odour', which 

 prevented her being recognised, and caused the workers to treat 

 her as a stranger. It is, of course, apparent that this hypo- 

 thesis fails to account for the numerous instances in which 

 princesses are imprisoned and killed prior to a successful cx- 



* Vide JoDENAL OF HoRTicrLTrKE, Vol. ^^., page 67. 



+ 1 may here remerk that " R. S." is mistaken in believing that the 

 bees in this case were in a frenzy of concern for the safety of their qnetc. 

 They were anqaefitionably thrown into much coufuyion by the attacks of 

 nHiraudcrs irhilst they were being fchifted into another hive : but they 

 cave no indication whatever oi having mif ped their qneen (whose absence 

 from among them was rcarcely more than momentary), ©r of being under 

 any concern about her. 



cm-sion, as well as for those in which matronly queens fall 

 victimB ■t»'the seemingly insensate fury of their own offspring. 

 In reply to the concluding query of " K. S.," I may stat« 

 that the partial, and sometimes even the entire, interchange of 

 combs is so often resorted to for various reasons, that it ia con- 

 stantly occurring in my apiary all through the season, and that 

 no effect of a regicidal character arising from this cause hoe 

 come under the observation of — ^A DevoN'SBUie B£e-iu:epeb. 



.l.WJ,r,-iH ! 



1 



J,J-1- 





OUR LETTER BOX. 



Book (J. W., Sristol).—" The Poultry-keeper's Manual." It -Ma b«'ptl»- 

 lished at our office in about a week. The price will be advortised. 



Btff Cochin-China Fuoht FBArBBBS (H. G. B. C).— Light-coloured 

 flight feathers are only ft defect, Ziot ft disqualiflcation. Your birds 

 sneezing shows that they have bad colds. Ooohins Ere not subject to 

 roup. Feed them liberally ■with bread and ale twice every day. 



EitAHMA PooTRAS (.4. O. W.). — "We believe the light Brahmas stand 

 quite an equal chance with the datfk, if they are equ.<illy good. It is 

 necessary to notice one thing — tha fact.ot nut beifljs dark docs not make 

 a Bght one ; these latter are birds of f^tjur... Jf an^ oi tke dark ones in 

 the single class 'were not only perfeiit i^ feather, thjey were vary large 

 and well sj.aped. "We do not kjiow that'your bird was faulty ; W6 only 

 epeftk generally. 



Sebiugbt Bantaxs (A'.).— The Sebright Dantam is a composite l»ird. 

 and for thia reason will sometimes throW hack to its forefathers, m&ny c t 

 which were single-combed birds. Many good breeders of these run them 

 together and breed both colour's. We n^\e done it ourselves ; the result 

 bus been to make the silver creamy in colour instead of dead white. As 

 it is very necessary to introduce fresh blood continually, w-e recommend 

 you to make yonr walk nest year of the salver cock, two tti tho pnlef^t of 

 his daughters, and two fresii silver hens. Yotr should take caro of the 

 cock, as many of this iireed are not stock-getters. 



Game and Malay Ceoss IW. J. D. PA. — The cross between the 'Dtfftlay 

 and the Game makes a very hardy and exceedhcgly ^uarreisomo bird. 

 They are good eating if killed very yo^ng, 



Spanish Cock's Face Statned Red (ir. E.).—Ji Ihe cock in question, 

 having only a red patch on his face, is pxtt to a thoroughly perfect hen, 

 yon may, and probably -mU, breed some good chickens, but wo beldeve it 

 is hopeless to try fur perfect produce from imperfect parents. No other 

 qualities would induce us to keep a cock with red in his face or over the 

 eye. A brown tinge on the body of a Brahma ia a very serious defect. 

 It is not a disqualification. 



Cochih-China Pdi.i,ets(!V.).— Our Cochin and Brahma pullets seven 

 months old have been laying some time, and alwftys do lay before seven 

 months. We have Spanish now laying at that age. We know they do 

 lay irrespective of weathw, but not irrespective of condition, and unless 

 they are and have been in good condition, they may, though seven 

 months old, be not more forward'than ft pullet half their age. 



CocHrN-CHiNA Chickens (Brt/tnuer). — Your mistake was to keep your 

 chickens in a room. It is not, however, so much the rocjii that is c( 

 fault as the flooring. It is impossible to rear chickens at this time of 

 year on a wooden floor. It is damp and cold, and gives the chickens the 

 cramp, of which they die. Put them in a barn, loose box, or any covered 

 place with a floor covered with loose gravel, sand, or road-gi-it, and feed 

 as you have fed. 



VOLTUKE-HOCKED CocHm-CHINAS {Inquirer).— X fowl is said to be 

 " vultnre-hockod" whgn the feathers of the thigh oome to a point, and 

 project as a kind of canopy beyond the hock or knee of the bird, as those 

 feathers do in the vulture and others of the Accipitres. „ 



GriNEA Fo-rn-s fN. C, Ncnaghy.— There is no certain mode of determin 

 ing the sex until they begin to utter their usual cries. " Come-back " is 

 the cry of the ben only. The note of the cock is a kind of wail. 



Black Cocein-Chinas (Ti/ro).— The plumage should in both sexes be 

 tmifoi'mly black ; but we can scarcely recollect of having ever seen a pen 

 of adult birds of this variety in perfect feather, the cocks being almost 

 invariably stained with red or copper feathers. 



Incceatok (H. R. Hilcp). — We saw a gentleman connected with the 

 company who have patented the incubator we have repeatedly men- 

 tioned, and he said that it would be made public in a few days, but we 

 can give no fm'ther information. 



Canary ceased Singing ( ).— Yonr Canary is either asthmfttical 



or too fat from eating hemp and rape seed ; gradually leave off both the 

 hemp and rape seed ; do not give any sugar or cake ; feed on canary seed, 

 millet, and oat grits, with a little chickweed and groundsel. For a change 

 be may have a little piece of bread soaked in milk, or a little piece of 

 boiled carrot ; and if his breathing is diflicnlt. put some Spanish liquorice 

 in his water. By following this course I have little doubx that he will re- 

 gain his v/)iffi, jOi^ Biug aa sweetly as ever as the spring advances.— 

 B. P. B. ', 



LONDON MAEKETS.-^DEeEJjB^B.IxB,'- ;,; , I 



POTTLTKY. 



Frssh-, cool weather has caused our markets to look up again, and has 

 given a stimulus to trade, which, coupled with the ajjproach of Christ- 

 mas, has caused a cheerful tone. It is hardly possible to quote any 

 price for Turkeys. As a rule,- good quality being given, they are like 

 roast beef, the more they weigh the more they ai'c worth. There ia the 

 appearance of a good market. 



Lfijge Fowls S 



Smaller do 2 



Chickens 1 



Geese 



Ducks ....„..,....,.„...', [0, 



d. s. 

 0to3 

 „ 2 

 6 „ 1 

 ., 



„ 



,.2 



Q 



, 1 



, 2 



i-.'iwl-'t; 



Grouse ... 



Partridges, ,, 



Hares ...,'. 



Rabbits .Ji 



Wild do... ixi.. ..«.,.. 



ngeoDS '..,,. •.^.".... S 9„0 10 



s. d 

 2 

 2 

 2 R 

 1 5 

 lU 



