Aognst 31, 1966. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



153 



eggs whilst hatching ; hut I have found tlint from 110' to 112" 

 for a short time will kill at least 75 per cent, of them. 



With regard to the keeping up of the proper temperature, I 

 may soy there is little difficulty in this. I recommend gas to 

 be used where it can he had, as a small rlame the si/.o of an 

 ordinary candle is sufficient to keep my incuhator at work, 

 and if the rlame be kept clear of the bottom of the boiler, there 

 is no dirt attending its use. I have used gas for the last few 

 months, and with the burner I employ have not found it 

 necessary to touch the tap of the gas during the whole time, 

 and my result has been most satisfactory. Oil is more trouble 

 and expense; but if the right temperature is maintained the 

 result is of course the same. 



With regard to the strength of the chickens hatched and 

 reared artificially, I can assure "A Spanish Breeder" they 

 are equally strong and healthy as those hatched and reared 

 naturally, and there is no reason why they should not be so ; in- 

 deed, I find they thrive better and grow faster without a mother 

 if they are looked after, well fed, and kept warm. The reason 

 of this is obvious ; they have not to wander about with the 

 old hen, but being confined to a small space can go about and 

 rest at will, and on wet and the colder days can be kept in the 

 artificial mother. There is no difficulty in bringing up chickens 

 withont a hen, as some people suppose. I find it a good plan 

 to hatch some Ducks, to come out at the same time as the 

 chicks, and these teach them to peck, and in a week they are 

 able to take care of and cater for themselves. — John Brindley. 



PRICE OF LIGURIAN BEES. 



I observe that some correspondents complain that the price 

 of the6e bees is high, not taking into consideration the cost of 

 importing them from either Italy or Switzerland. I imported 

 four hives ; two only survived the journey, and the whole cost 

 of carriage consequently fell on these hives. Some queens 

 which I obtained from Mr. Hermann cost me nearly 40.<. each. 

 As many of these bees, however, are sold along with their 

 hives, the price is not so much higher than that of the common 

 black bees. In this county (Durham), they ask from 35s. to 

 40s. for a common skep hive of black bees, and from 25s, to 

 30,i". for a swarm. 



I am glad to find that " A Devonshire Bee-keeper " has the 

 Egyptian bees, aud hope he will be successful with them. — 

 J. H. A. 



THE EGYPTIAN BEE.— Pabt IV. 



HOW I OBTAINED AND INTRODUCED IT INTO MY APIARY. 



(Continued from page 115.) 

 • As soon as I had ascertained the fact that the Egyptian bee 

 had actually reached Germany, I lost no time in putting my- 

 self in communication with Herr Yogel. to whom the Berlin 

 Acclimatisation Society had deputed the task of multiplying 

 and dissemiuating these interesting strangers, and in due 

 coturse received the following two letters from him, the first 

 being dated the 2nd July| 1865 : — 



" Mr. Woodbury, — I am very much honoured by the charge 

 given me of sending you a fertile aegyptian queen bee. . 



" It may be permitted to me to inform you previously that 

 I will despatch a very fine queen bee with its necessary com- 

 panions on the 15th of July. 



" The transport will be the happiest if the queen bee has 

 OBly few companions. Therefore, having received this letter, 

 I propose to you depriving a few populous bee-hive of its 

 mother bee, and destroying after nine days all mother-cells. 

 This bee-hive resting, deprived of its mother bee, you may 

 make rise of it to strengthen the new comers. 



" You wish being informed if the aegyptian bee (Apis fasciata) 

 coupled itself with the northern and Italian ! Apis fasciata is a 

 constant stereotype variety of Apis mellifica. Its temper is 

 very lively, and its voice higher than that of Apis mellifica. 

 Therefore the virgin queen bees of the aegyptian race flying out 

 choose regularly aegyptian males. It will be also easier to keep 

 this race genuine than the Italian bee (Apis ligustica). — Your 

 affectionate, addicted bee-friend — P. W. Yogel." 



The second letter was dated the 15th July, but did not reach 

 me until the 28th, and an examination of the Prussian post-mark 

 showed that it was not posted in Germany until the 25th. It 

 heralded the approach of an Egyptian queen in the following 

 terms : — 



" Mr.. Woodbury ! — You receive adjoined a fertile aegyptian 



mother bee. The aegyptian are covered with fair hair, and 

 have a yellowish shield on the breast-plate. 



" Is winter coming on, I advise to put the aegyptian bee-hive 

 into a quite dark room where they cannot freeze to death ; in 

 such room tho bee-races winter generally the best. 



" If the queen bee arrives dead, against all my expectations, 

 it may be permitted to me to send you another which is not 

 to be paid. — Your affectionate, devoted bee-friend — F. W. 

 Yooei.." 



The result of this correspondence was, that on the 30th of July 

 I received a somewhat weighty deal box, 12 inches long by 

 !M wide, and 8} inches deep, which, in addition to my address, 

 was ornamented with sundry printed labels, one of which 

 declared it to be " aus Zechin," and another " par Ostende." 

 There was also in one comer a rough pen-and-ink sketch of a 

 driuking-glass, meant, I suppose, to convey the intimation to 

 railway porters and all whom it might concern, that the con- 

 tents of the box were of a like brittle character, and under 

 this cartoon, for the edification of German as well as of 

 English readers, appeared in three lines, thus — 



i 



' 5rIT SOP.GFALT ! 



■ with cares! 

 ' aegyptian bee 



The two first lines being likewise repeated on the three remain- 

 ing sides of the rather large label which concealed fully two- 

 thirds of the box cover. 



On applying my ear to the wire cloth which covered an aper- 

 ture for ventilation, I was somewhat concerned at finding all 

 within as still as death, nor could I by tapping the sides of 

 the box elicit the slightest response from the little prisoners, 

 whose answering hum is usually so prompt and ready under 

 such circumstances. It was therefore with no littlo trepida- 

 tion and misgivmg that I sought for tools and set to work to 

 prise off the well-secured cover, which, like the box itself, was 

 made of wood nearly an inch in thickness, the latter being dove- 

 tailed together, and of such strength as might well have fitted it 

 for the conveyance of bullion from the Antipodes, instead of 

 merely the safe custody of a few hundred bees. On raising 

 the lid a small cluster adhered to it, having apparently re- 

 moved themselves as far as possible from a large square piece 

 of dark-coloured honeycomb, out of all proportion to their 

 wants, a portion of the contents of which having escaped had 

 so clogged and soiled the unfortunate little prisoners, that few 

 indeed were able to use their wings. On separating and care- 

 fully examining this cluster, I found it to consist of worker 

 bees so similar to Ligurians that I could not at that time detect 

 the slightest difference, two or three small but very handsome 

 drones, the whole being in a sad plight, and what seemed to 

 me to be a diminutive Ligurian queen in nearly as bad a case 

 as the rest. This certainly appeared extremely small change 

 for my outlay, and it was with no very pleasant feelings or 

 agreeable anticipations that I proceeded to make the necessary 

 attempt at placing my forlorn Serairamis at the head of a small 

 lot of Italians, which having themselves failed in the attempt 

 to raise a queen, appeared more likely than any others to 

 tender their allegiance to an alien monarch. I, of course, took 

 the precaution of presenting to them this aspirant to the 

 vacant throne in a queen-cage, through the bars of which her 

 future subjects were at liberty to make her acquaintance, and 

 well was it that I did so, for dire was the onslaught made upon 

 her bedraggled attendants which I added to the Ligurians at 

 the same time. "Italian Unity!" or whatever maybe its 

 apian equivalent, was at once vociferously buzzed forth, and 

 perseveriugly and relentlessly reiterated, as one by one the 

 unhappy Egyptians were dragged out, until their expulsion was 

 at last as absolutely complete as that of their fellow- Africans, 

 the Moors, from Spain by the warlike Ferdinand and Isabella 

 of Castile. 



This was in truth an unpromising commencement, but I 

 could do nothing to calm the strife which continued nearly 

 until the sun went down, and it was with gloomy forebodings 

 that I witnessed the massacre — contest it could not be called — 

 aud beheld the ground in front of the hive strewn with dead 

 and dying bees. Still I hoped that the animosity of the vin- 

 dictive Italians might be satiated with the slaughter of her 

 worker attendants, and that they might yet tender their alle- 

 giance to the captive Semiramis, whose dynasty might by their 

 means be perpetuated in Kreat Britain : nor were my favourable 

 anticipations entirely vain. On examining the interior of the 

 hive the next morning, I found the hostile demonstrations 

 of the fiei v Italians so far moderated and subdued as to induce 



