JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 10, 1866. 



svening very few beea are clustered outside of eith»r No. 1 or 3, 

 but all are still unusually noisy. 



I am afraid that I have trespassed too much upon your 

 space, but perhaps others also may be benefited by the infor- 

 mation I seek upon the following points : — 



First, am I still likely to have second swarms, and, if before 

 the 7th of July, can I, by the help of a good season and judicious 

 feeding, hope to bring them safely through the winter ? 



Second, when I take the honey from the supers in No. 2 

 should I allow communication to the supers during the winter ; 

 also, what is your opinion of my No. 2 hive? 



Third, as I have been lately informed that the Ligurian bee 

 has been introduced into this district (the north of Ireland), and 

 are reported very favourably of, might I be able to preserve an 

 artificial swarm obtained — say at least before the middle of 

 July, and what would be a fair value for a swarm of Ligurians ? 

 I may add that I have this season put my swarms into hives 

 that allow of supering in future. — Alban Goodman. 



[Second swarms are not likely to issue after so long an inter- 

 val, but, should they do so, their probable preservation through 

 the winter is only a question of a few pounds of sugar judi- 

 ciously administered. When a swarm issues early in the 

 morning we always suspect its being the second, and fear, there- 

 fore, that the prime swarm from No. 3 may have escaped you. 

 Communication with supers should be closed during winter. 

 Your hive No. 2 is not one that we should prefer. Mr. Wood- 

 bury, of Mount Radford, Exeter, sent the Ligurians to Ireland, 

 and you had therefore better write to him direct for informa- 

 tion concerning them.] 



BEES DESERTING THEIR HIVES— ARTIFICIAL 

 SWARMS. 



Some extraordinary instances of bees deserting their hives 

 have come to my knowledge this season, and I am quite unable 

 to account for the great difference observable in the conduct 

 of bees at different times under similar circumstances. A 

 cottager lost his only hive last autumn ; the bees gradually 

 dwindling down to zero. The hive had swarmed, and the young 

 queen was probably lost on her trip, or killed on her return 

 by her own subjects. The hive was, however, filled with comb, 

 and well stored with honey, and I told the owner that I would 

 stock it with bees if he sent it up to my house. About three 

 weeks ago I introduced a good second swarm into the hive, and 

 kept them in my own garden for about a fortnight, that the 

 young queen might stand a chance of mating with one of my 

 drones ; I then allowed the cottager to take the hive home in 

 the evening. The following day the bees came out en masse, 

 and after being hived five or six times in an empty hive, ulti- 

 mately went off altogether, and were lost. The hive contained 

 a good deal of brood, proving that the queen was all right ; yet 

 these bees, either with or without a queen, (as she might, 

 though it is improbable, have been killed in the removal), 

 completely abandoned their hive, though it was well furnished 

 with both brood and honey. 



Again : another bee-keeper hived a prime swarm on the 2nd 

 of last month (June), the bees filled the hive with comb and 

 honey, and it also contained brood, yet they completely de- 

 serted the hive on one of the last days, leaving their brood and 

 stores behind. 



The great heat is the only cause I can assign for such ex- 

 traordinary proceedings. On the other hand, I have several 

 times had queenless stocks which have guarded their stores and 

 retained possession of their hives until the bees have nearly 

 all died off from old age. 



In forming swarms by driving it is no doubt a great advan- 

 tage to employ two stocks ; but I have been perfectly success- 

 ful, both this season and on former occasions, with only one 

 hive. Two-thirds, perhaps, of the bees were driven into an 

 empty hive at seven o'clock in the morning of a fine day, the 

 stock was replaced upon its old stand, and the swarm, after 

 it had been a short time in the empty hive, was knocked 

 out en masse, and induced to enter a unicomb hive in a different 

 part of the same garden, and nearly all the driven bees stuck 

 to their queen in the new domicile. I have made second 

 swarms in the same way, and find the driven bees adhere to 

 their new quarters nearly or quite as well as a natural swarm. 

 —J. E. B. 



[The satisfactory adherence of the artificial swarm to its new 

 domicile was probably owing to the bees having been compelled 



to run into it, a hint which was given some time ago by our 

 valued correspondent " R. S.," touching the removal of stocks 

 to short distances, and which, it appears, may also be very use- 

 ful in the formation of artificial swarms.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Feeding Poultry (J. h.).— The result would seem to prove your system 

 is not far wrong ; and the falling off in the last few days may be accounted 

 for by the change in the weather, constant damp, and absence of sun. 

 These most affect the youngest, and they are the sufferers. We will 

 give you our free opinion of the dietary. Some years since we tried 

 the Mark Lane sweepings, but did not think they answered : there is too 

 much dirt in them, and the corn, with the exception of the maize, was of 

 the thinnest description. We approve the oatmeal, but would rather 

 give whole corn than coarse middlings. Everything seems provided that 

 can be necessary for poultry. Your adults and forward chickens, with a 

 grass run and farmyard, want no pampering, but it is impossible to feed 

 young chickens too well. To enable you to " do " them as they require, 

 it is well to remove them with the hens from the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of the old and older birds. A dry sheltered spot for the hen, and a 

 newly mown grass run for the chickens, are desirable. When chickens 

 are failing, cooked meat chopped very fine is desirable food. 



Chests of Black Polands (E., Westmoreland).— The crest of your 

 chickens will come white, except just in front, if they are pure bred. We 

 could speak more positively if you had named their age. 



Chickens Dying (W. S. P.).— The "attempt to swallow," that you 

 mention is generally the result of a disease called the " gapes," and is 

 caused by the presence of worms in the windpipe. The birds gape in the 

 vain effort to get rid of the intruders. From their position they are hard 

 to get at. There are divers cures and operations, but wherever the 

 disease appears some chickens always die. A hen's tail feather stripped 

 within an inch of its extremity and dipped in turpentine, put down the 

 windpipe, not the gullet, until it reaches the worms, kills them, and the 

 operation causes the bird to sneeze and throw them up. The operation 

 is a nice one, as a mistake is often made, and the feather put down the 

 gullet, which is useless. The best remedy we know is to give camphor 

 freely in pills about the size of a pea, and to give water strongly impreg- 

 nated with it, in fact, what our grandmothers used to call " camphor 

 julep." After a time the whole body of the bird is imbued with camphor, 

 and it kills the worms. It is thought, and we agree with it, that these 

 parasites are gained by drinking bad water. All fowls prefer drinking 

 from a puddle of dirty rain water to any vessel of clean spring water. 

 The opportunity should not, therefore, be afforded to them. Old birds 

 do not catch this disease. Chickens recover if they can outlive the 

 worms ; but as they never do so unassisted, it is well to feed liberally 

 on bread and ale in order to keep them up. There has, however, been a 

 disorder among chickens which has caused blindness and death in a few 

 hours, the eyes being closed by a thick gum. We have watched it closoly, 

 and it is not akin to roup. It is, however, very fatal ; but if taken early 

 and treated with beer and camphor, two-thirds of those attacked recover. 



Ducks where Water is Deficient {Commercial). — Rouen Ducks are 4 

 we believe, the best to suit you. Aylesburys are preferable if you have 

 hens under which to put the eggs, as they are non-sitters, as they lay 

 very many eggs, and fatten easily. Rouen and Aylesbury are the desir- 

 able breeds on account of their size. 



Inflamed Vent in Chickens IJ. A. C). — We have seen no cases of 

 epidemic such as you mention. Redness and inflammation of the vent 

 almost always arise from a disordered stomach, when the evacuations 

 get slimy and sticky, and part always adheres to ,the vent, causing pain 

 and inflammation. Pea and beanmeal will cause this, and when the 

 vent gets entirely closed, death soon follows, every evacuation helps to 

 close the vent, just as each piece of mud helps to form a swallow's nest. 

 As it is impossible to treat a whole yard as you would a few cases, we 

 advise such food as would be likely to meet the case — ground oats mixed 

 slack, and given three times per day in moderate quantities, and as much 

 lettuce as you can give. The latter is the cure for it, and if the lettuces 

 have gone to seed and stalk so much the better. We know no more valu- 

 able poultry medicine than this last. 



Hens Disordered (J. R.). — They are evidently very much out of order, 

 digestion impaired and egg-organs inflamed. Give each a dessert-spoon- 

 ful of castor oil ; feed on soft food only — mashed potatoes with a little 

 oatmeal added, and abundance of lettuce leaves. Let them have a heap 

 of coal ashes and limy rubbish to bask in. 



Incubators (J. A. C). — If properly managed any one of those advertised 

 will hatch the eggs placed in it. The difficulty begins as soon as the 

 chickens are produced. Hatching is easier than rearing. 



Strengthening a Ligurian Stock {A. T„ Jersey). — CombB of common 

 brood added to a Ligurian stock strengthen the colony, and although 

 the bees thus produced will not turn to Ligurians they will, owing to the 

 brief life of worker bees at this season, rapidly disappear without leaving 

 any permanent stain on the purity of the Italians. 



Preventing Swarming [D. R., Rochdale). — Withdrawing slides and 

 thereby giving access to glasses cannot always be relied upon to prevent 

 swarming. The rise of temperature in the interior of a hive prior to 

 swarming is probably owing to the crowded state of its population. 



Value of Second Swarms (D. Roes).— A second swarm is not con- 

 sidered so good as the first, nor is it so likely to survive the winter. The 

 price of swarms varies so much in different localities that it is difficult to 

 offer an opinion, but we have often purchased good first swarms for the 

 sum you mention. 



Transferring Artificial Swarm from a Nucleus Box to a Wood- 

 bury Hive (A. B.). — An artificial swarm formed in a nucleus box on the 

 31st of May, may now be shifted into a full- sized hive, but it is well first to 

 ascertain that it possesses a fertile queen. We find the average time for 

 the production of a queen to be fourteen days from the formation of an 

 artificial swarm, and a similar period usually elapses befora sho com- 

 mences egg-laying. 



