136 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 14, 18GG. 



A DETHRONED QUEEN. 



TnE old qneen in my six-frame observatory hive has been 

 quietly dethroned, and a youthful sovereign welcomed as her 

 successor ; and as the proceedings were carried on of the bees' 

 own free will, without any intermeddling on my part, I will 

 narrate what came under my observation ; and when I state 

 that for nine days the aged and youthful queens, without any 

 manifestations of antipathy, paced the combs, I think even close 

 observers may find somewhat to interest them in the details. 



I observed on the 14th of July a sealed queen cell in the above- 

 mentioned hive ; it struck me at the time as a rather singular 

 circumstance, no swarms being contemplated, as a large amount 

 of space in the hive remained unoccupied by comb or bees. 

 As the royal brood approached maturity I looked for symptoms 

 of antipathy on the part of the queen, but no excitement was 

 manifested either by her or her attendants. On the 21st the 

 cell was opened, and as I watched the queen performing the 

 functions of the hive, and an examination of the exterior of 

 the hive failing to reveal a discarded princess, I presumed the 

 effort to raised another queen had been abortive. On the 22nd, 

 however, I was surprised to see a beautiful young queen at- 

 tended by a delighted and attentive circle, and upon the same 

 comb my old queen also surrounded by a portion of her subjects. 

 This state of affairs of course afforded a fine opportunity for in- 

 stalling a youthful sovereign in lieu of the three-years-old queen, 

 but as the interest in watching the hive would be diminished 

 I left them entirely to their own devices. Affairs remained 

 in much the same position during the next two or three days, 

 when marked inattention was evident towards the old queen, 

 indeed one or two discontented bees even pulled her by a leg or 

 wing ; and this soon was followed by an entire disregard of her 

 presence as she wandered uneasily from place to place, not on 

 the comb so much as over and through the clustering bees ; at 

 the same time an increased, na}-, energetic attention was paid 

 the youthful queen, who, I had reasons to believe, had made a 

 trip and safely returned to her hive. This was verified on the 

 29th, as she was then laying. I need not say how anxiously I 

 looked for a battle royal, but in this was disappointed, for 

 although I saw the two queens in close proximity they mani- 

 fested no enmity towards one another. Upon the 29th the old 

 queen was brought out, but whether she had been encased, or 

 whether the two had met in deadly embrace I cannot say. These 

 two queens having lived together for nine days, and the remark- 

 able instinct and forethought in the bees in raising a young 

 queen to take the place of the old one, and then quietly dis- 

 posing of her, has been, perhaps, as interesting a circumstance 

 in the economy of the bee as ever came under my observation 

 during a period of bee-keeping of about twenty-three years. — 

 Geokge Fox, Kingsbridge. 



TRANSFERRING BEES. 



Four years ago a swarm of bees settled on a fence in my 

 garden. I was wholly unprepared for such an unexpected 

 visit, and had to put them in a large box 17 inches in length, 

 12 inches in height, by 10 in width. They have swarmed but 

 twice in the four years, and they are now so numerous that 

 they cannot find room in the box, and, after filling a glass 

 super, have taken possession of. a space between the top of the 

 box and a sack suspended 6 inches above it for the purpose of 

 shade and to prevent the dashing rains heating into the entrance. 



I know very little about bees, but enough to be aware that 

 some better accommodation ought to be afforded. I have, 

 therefore, had a new box hive made for them, but am wholly 

 ignorant as to how and when I ought to set about getting them 

 into it. I have two acres of clover just coming into flower close to 

 the hive, and were they in their new quarters, this, I think, would 

 enable them to make some provision for the winter. — H. S. 



[It is too late in the season for bees to make provision for 

 the winter if left unassisted in an empty hive, although it is 

 quite possible to transfer them to a new domicile filled with 

 either bars or frames, one or the other of which, however, is 

 indispensable. Should you determine on doing this, our re- 

 p'ies to " G. J." and John J. Smith, in pages 113 and 115, may 

 perhaps sufficiently enlighten you. If not, write us again, 

 stnting upon what points you require information, and we will 

 endeavour to supply it.] 



The Honey Harvest in Oxfordshire. — A correspondent, 

 who writes from the neighbourhood of Banbury, informs us 



that " It has been an unusually favourable summer for bees 

 in Oxfordshire— a more abundant blossom of Dutch clover in 

 the pastures than has been known for many years. Many 

 hives have attained heavy weights." 



Hiving Bees Settled in a Flue. — Your correspondent 

 "W. P." (page 95), will find the bees which have settled in 

 the chimney may be hived as follows. Place a prepared hive 

 securely at the top of the flue, and surround it with a thick 

 blanket, so as to close every aperture, then fix a bell at the 

 bottom of the flue (all this must be done at night when the 

 bees are resting within), and set it ringing. The bees will 

 wake up with the din, and rise gradually into the hive. This 

 will be traced by the buzzing. When they have all risen, stop 

 the bell, and they will settle in the hive. After giving them 

 time to become comfortable, the hive may be carefully re- 

 moved to its stand, which should be as remote as possible from 

 the flue.— D. J. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Eggs not Hatching— DoRnrNG'sToEsfEboracHin). — You arc singularly 

 unfortunate, but the same might not hnppen again in twenty years. Wo 

 can give no guess at the cause of failure in hatching, but we know four- 

 clawed chickens will sometimes come; not, however, so frequently as 

 formerly. You are right in thinking the five toes indispensable. The 

 birds you have hatched are useless for stock or exhibition, unless you 

 use them only for tho table. It is more than likely these four-toed birds 

 would breed five-toed chickens ; but it is running a risk to use them. 



Cross-bred Cochins (Idem).— The crosses of Cochin fowls are legion 

 in number, and curious in description. Thus, the cross between the 

 White and Buff is said to have produced the Blacks that were in vogue 

 some years ago ; but although the pullets were black the cocks had white 

 feathers, and the under feathers were nil white. We ourselves, from 

 good and apparently pure Buffs, have bred the Emu fowls, covered with 

 buff hair instead of feathers. Many of tho Buffs are heavily crossed 

 with the original Silver Cinnamon Cochins of Dorsetshire. They sported 

 sometimes, and produced white birds with yellow stripes and spots. 

 This would account for the White. The pencilling* of the hackle aud 

 the dark tail would easily come from the Dorking. The first is common, 

 almost general, in Dorking hens, and tho last a desideratum in the cocks. 

 Both are imperative in the Silver-Grey class. Dorkings are so mixed in 

 colour, that any can be had from them, and indeed may be expected. 



Hamburghs running with a Game Cock (Silver-spangled).— If you 

 take away the cock you will breed pure chickens. 



Prevention of Disease in Pigeons (Senwife). — "We have heard of 

 no disease among Pigeons. Have the lofts or houses thoroughly cleaned 

 and lime-whited. Let the birds have pure water frequently changed, and 

 rock salt always within reach. Change their food. 



Feeding Chickens (P. H. G.).— For the first fortnight chickens are best 

 kept upon alternate feedings of Indian meal, bread-crumbs, and eggs 

 boiled hard, chopped fine, and mixed with a little crushed hempsecd. 

 The Indian meal should be only so far moistened as still to remain 

 crumbly. After the first fortnight, and until large enough to feed with 

 the older fowls, give them daily, in addition, a feed or two of either braised 

 wheat, or bruised grits. From the very first days of their life continue, 

 without fail, to give them daily fresh green food. Cabbage and lettuce 

 leaves, and mowings of grass are best. Remember, above all things, that 

 a little food given often — every two hours is not too frequently— is the 

 chief rule for chicken-rearing. 



Bee Hive (G. Sinclair).— The identical hive is figured, and its manage- 

 ment (also identical), described in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth 

 editions of Taylor's Manual, under the name of the " Improved White's 

 Hive." So also is the mode of working two common hives side by side 

 in the exact manner figured and described by you, with the exception of 

 B alight point of detail, in which we think Mr. Taylor has the advantage. 

 This latter is also figured and described in "A Short and Simple Letter 

 to Cottagers, from a Bee-preserver," (by the Rev. W. C. Cotton I, which is 

 published at a cheap rate by the Society for Promoting Christian Know- 

 ledge, and which we should fancy would meet your views with regard to 

 a cottager's bee-book. The practical objections to the "transposing 

 system " are the instinct which leads the qun n to depict 1 1 *■■ i ■ » 



the entrance, causing the added box to become the main if not the only 

 seat of breeding; so that if it be taken away the whole, or nearly the 

 whole, of the brood is destroyed, and comparatively little honey obtained, 

 and that much contaminated by pollen, &e. ; whilst if the original hive 

 be removed it is filled with old comb, the contents of which are of little 

 value, and the remaining box or hive is liable to contain so large a pro- 

 portion of drone-comb that the colony can never again become x^osperous. 



Canary Mules Breeding. — We have a communication for "W. B. II.' ' 

 which we will forward if he will send his address. 



POULTRY MARKET.— August 13/1 



Trade is almost extinct, and there is not sale for all the poultry that 

 comes to market. 



s. d. 



s. d. s. d 



Largo Fowls 2 to 2 



smaller do 1 9 „ 2 



1 owll „ 



Chickens 1 3 „ 1 



Geese 5 G „ 6 



Ducklings 1 9„ 2 1 Pigeons. 



6- Guinea Fowl3 to 



i. Partridges „ 



(l Hares n „ 



fi I Rabbits 1 4 „ 1 5 



u Wild do H 



8 . 



