5G 



JOUENAIi OF HOKTICGLTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 17, 1836. 



also, that it is the custom when any one of their owner's 

 family dies to tell them, or else they would die too. 



I langhed at his notions, thinking it was an exceptional case, 

 when next day another man told me much the same tale. I 

 asked him for a proof of his theory, for although he had told 

 his bees his father was dead, they all died. 



He said that if the bees settled on dead wood it was a sign 

 of some one in the house dying ; and that it brought bad luck 

 to sell the bees unless for gold ; but his father sometimes ex- 

 changed his bees for a small pig. 



To Mrs. A , an aged matron, I said, " You have more 



sense, I hope, than to think there is anything in telling the 

 bees if one of your family die ? " " Why, I should expect them 

 all to die," she replied, " if I did not do so." 

 _ Another man had two casts, and I recommended for them 

 liberal feeding. " Oh, he said, a small bit of lump sugar as 

 large as his finger nail would last them two or three days," 

 so he backed his own opinion, and gave them the " small bit." 

 His bees went to sleep in the winter, and he looked for their 

 waking again, but to no purpose — they were dead. — M. 



■P-S- — A super in my employer's apiary, 6 inches in circum- 

 ference, has brood comb in it this season. I have never seen 

 Buch a oase before. The hive is a flat-topped straw hive. 



FEROCITY OF INDIAN BEES. 



The following instance of the ferocity of the large Indian 

 honey bee, Apis dorsata, is related in a recent number of 

 "Kind Words :" — 



"Having failed to observe some nests of bee3 in the clump 

 of shady trees under which our camp was pitched, they were 

 disturbed by the smoke of a fire our servants had made to 

 cook by, and at once turned out bv swarms, attacking men and 

 animals, especially our horses that were picketed in a row 

 close to our tent. These poor beasts began to kick and plunge 

 fearfully, so, thinking to give them a chance of escape, I ran 

 towards them and cut their head and heel-ropes with my large 

 hunting knife, getting well stung while so doing. But the 

 horses, being now free, instead of at once running away as we 

 had hoped they would do, began to fight with each other in the 

 most fearful manner, being all, no doubt, perfectly maddened 

 by the stings of the bees (myriads of which were flying about), 

 they reared, bit, and kicked each other most desperately, till 

 at last, becoming entangled in the loose ropes by which they 

 had been tethered, all five horses were rolling on the ground 

 together, making a terrible noise and dust. The bees now 

 attacked me so badlyithat I was obliged to leave the horses 

 and run for it, which I did, followed by a swarm of bees, until 

 \l I '"PPecl me up, when they punished me fearfully, 

 although I had a soldier's great-coat on at the time. One of 

 our goats passed me crying piteously, with a swarm of bees 

 about it. This poor goat died then and there from the stints 

 after going a few yards further. We had next to catch the 

 horses. These poor animals were much swollen all over their 

 bodies for these wild bees are very large, and stung far worse 

 than the common English bee. When one nest is disturbed 

 the other swarms in the neighbourhood seem to also turn out 

 to their assistance. 



_ " On a very large tree, not far from this spot, we counted 

 eighteen bees' nests, each about 2 feet long by about 15 inches 

 broad. Up this tree were the marks of bears' claws distinctly 

 visible for bears are in the habit, at night, of climbing u P 

 after the honey, of which they are very fond. The blu-eli- 

 declared they had seen one, by moonlight, seated along a 

 branch clawing down these nests with both paws, and greedily 

 swallowing bees, wax, honey, and all, seeming quite proof 

 against their stings. It was very usual to find marks of where 

 bears had climbed trees on which were bees' nests, so this 

 account seems likely enough to be true. 



" The bees had disabled me, robbed me of my sight for a 

 time, and laid me on my back with fever." 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



j£ri r ' im J" r S0ITy some ot the following answers have been 

 delayed, having been accidentally misplaced ] <"">»™ nave D een 



na^perhaTs been «t^" l tW1C8 .i' 8 nat S al s "° as ^ Scribe. She 



Native hunters. 



Chickens Drooping (if. A. J?.).— Eemove your chickens to fresh 

 ground, provide them with heaps of dust or road grit, and mix n little 

 black sulphur with it. Feed them for a short time on stimulating food, 

 till they get over their troublous time. Growing the crown and tail 

 feathers are the " children's diseases " of chickens. 



White Creve Ccedrs (X Y. Z.).— We have not seen any white Creve 

 Cceur fowls, nor do we know of any. We therefore consider those yon 

 name a freak of nature. We are not surprised at it. There seems to be 

 a tendency in all black animals to throw white produce at times— Spanish 

 fowls for instance. As we sit writing we can see two hens with as much 

 white as black in their plumage. The young of the Silver-Grey Rabbits 

 are born black, yet in almost every litter there is a white one. All 

 breeders of black poultry know how common these freaks are. Black 

 Cochins " went out " because no one could obtain a really black cock. A 

 close examination of any cock of a black breed will almost always result 

 in the discovery of red, yellow, or white feathers. Iu the case of the 

 Creve Ccenr this circumstance is not so remarkable, as, although white 

 feathers are not desirable, they are not disqualifications. 



Swollen Crops (Old Subscriber but Younq Poultry Woman).— It is diffi- 

 cult to give the cause of the " hanging craw." It is common to all breeds 

 of fowls. We have Spanish, Dorking, Creve Cceur, and Brahma with it. 

 It is not by any means desirable, but neither does it detract from their 

 utility. It shows only at this time of year, when the plumage has become 

 old and scanty. The treatment is to feed sparingly, and to confine the 

 birds where they can bo kept from all water, except a little, which is 

 absolutely necessary, three times per day, when they should be allowed 

 to drink a little, but the water should not bo left within their reach. 



Chickens with Drooping Wings and Blind ( W. T.).— Your chickens 

 have been suffering from that which wo must call the epidemic of the 

 season. Our chickens have had the same, but it has not been fatal. We 

 have washed the heads, eyes, and nostrils with vinegar and water, and we 

 have given camphor internally, and have put it in their water. We have 

 not lost one in twenty, and many cases which we thought hopeless, and put 

 away in what wo term our hopeless ward, have entirely recovered. The 

 chickens that are visited with this complaint, seem to grow only in the 

 head, which becomes, or appears to be, too large for the body ; the beak 

 appears long and sharp, and the eyes large, but after a time they go on 

 and almost recover the lost ground. 



Imparting a Taint (if. 11. B.).—\ Cochin-China cock cannot taint a 

 Cochin-China hen from his having been with hens of another kind. 



Gapes (A. J. P., Si/JcrtsuvM}.— Your chickens seem to have the gapes. 

 Treat them as directed for that disease in our last week's Number. 



Rattling in the Throat or Chickens (Cochin).— If it arises from 

 excess of mucus, as it probably does, a diet of soft food only, with bread 

 soaked in ale once daily, and abundance of lettuce leaves, will remove 

 the annoyance. 



Turkey Cock Paralysed (W. H. P..).— The bird must be well and 

 thoroughly purged. He must be kept clean, and when the evacuations 

 become natural— that is, white and green, vou mav then resort to stimu- 

 lants—bread steeped in strong ale, and camphor both iu the food and 

 water. 



Value of Peacocks (J. M. J.).— Peacocks have varied much in value 

 of late. At present, as they will be moulting, they are worth little— 

 perhaps about las. each. They will be worth more in the winter. Hen3 

 are not saleable at present. Chicks ar« too voung to sell at a fortnight 

 old. When a little older they are table poultry. Write to Baily, 113, Mount 

 Street, Grosvenor Square. If your Pea Fowls are not of the common sort 

 they are at any time saleable. Baily will buy them. 



I se of the White and Yolk in Fop.ming the Chicken (J. S. I*.). 

 —Both are essential for the formation of the chick, and the process of 

 the formation is thus epitomised in '• The Poultry Book," fir.,t edition. 

 " The yolk is lighter than the albumen, and hence it always floats to that 

 part of the egg which is uppermost ; and the lightest part of the yolk is 

 that ..ccupied with the cicatricula. From this circumstance the germ is 

 always near the warmth of the old birds. To keep the germ from coming 

 in contact with tho sheU, and to prevent its being bruised, there is, on 

 each side, a tough, spiral, and highly elastic filament, which is attached, 

 at one extremity, to the membrane covering the yolk : it then passes 

 through the white, and is fastened at the other to the membrane of the 

 albumen. These are called chalazes. These cords allow a layer of albu- 

 men to lie between the germ and the shell. During incubation, the al- 

 bumen disappears before the yolk. The reason of this is very interesting. 

 About four days after incubation has commenced an admixture takes 

 place between the two. In the hen to the thirteenth day, in aquatic 

 birds a few days longer, a part of the albumen lies at the bottom of the 

 shell, in a gelatinous thick state. This is opposite to the chick, and more 

 or less attached to the yolk. About the fourth day of incubation the 

 yolk changes colour, becomes paler, and alters in shape. If the contents 

 of the shell be examined carefully, by being turned out. a white circular 

 line will be found at the lower part of the yolk. The space within this 

 circle becomes pale, thin, and undulated, and it is finally ruptured. 

 Through this opening the white enters, and mixes with the yolk. The 

 dense albumen spoken of before closes up the opening as a" valve, by 

 which mgress alone is allowed. This may be best seen about the four- 

 teenth day. Afterwards the epening gets smaller and smaller, as the al- 

 bumen decreases, and is finally closed. Around this "penii:',' is arranged 

 a wreath of blood-vessels." 



Sending Blackbirds and Threshes to New Zealand (John Stuart). 

 —Take the young birds from the nest when they are tolerably feathered, 

 but not so old but that they will open their mouths to be fed. Make a 

 paste of ground oats with water, add a little sharps to prevent its being 

 sticky, also a little cheese mashed up. This food can be made fresh 

 every day, and will do to rear them on, and to feed them with during the 

 voyage. A dozen pairs would require a cage 6 feet long bv 3 feet high, 

 and IS inches wide ; but if the birds were kept very clean and allowed to 

 wash their feathers, they would do with less room. The perches should 

 not cross each other, nor overhang. A little fine gravel for them to peck 

 at occasionally would be useful, as well as a few grocer's currants for the 

 Blackbirds. Cochin and Brahma eggs if taken a long vovago should be 

 packed quite fresh in air-tight jars. Wool, I should think", would be the 

 best packing, as it would resist the changes of temperature, as the egg3 

 should not be allowed to get too hot nor too cold. The box should be 

 hung up in a cabin, not put into the hold. We do not know what has 

 been the result of any trials of hatching after so long a voyage. Perhaps 

 some correspondent may be able to inform us.— B. P. Brent. 



