176 



JOUBHAIi OP HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August £8, 1866. 



WOODBRIDGE POULTRY SHOW— A POULTRY 

 PROTECTION SOCIETY WANTED. 



Yodk correspondent " Egoitet" (page 132), has done well in 

 making public through your columns the uneourteous, and, 

 indeed, unjust, conduct of those who had the management 

 of the Woodbridge Poultry Show last May. I am one who 

 has suffered in the way he describes, not only receiving no 

 account of birds sent, but failing to obtain a reply to letters of 

 inquiry. I have received letters from others, too, who are in 

 the same case. 



I want to know whether gentlemen and amateurs who have no 

 doubt been repeatedly imposed upon, if not positively robbed, as 

 in my case, cannot form themselves into some sort of protection 

 association, and by the payment of an annual subscription 

 raise a fund for defraying the expenses of the process which 

 "Egomet" very delicately, though rightly, suggests as the 

 best. I had personally good cause to complain of some very 

 suspicious dealing on the part of a well-known name about 

 two years ago, and the same person has, I find, been acting 

 with other amateurs in a manner that is the reverse of straight- 

 forward. Will some of the readers of " our Journal " give me 

 the benefit of their opinion on the subject of a Mutual Pro- 

 tection Society against thieves, unfair dealers, and poultry 

 sharpers ? — Esohct. 



As one of the Committee in connection with the above- 

 named Show I beg to state that the Secretary has been applied 

 to many times to call a meeting to have all matters settled up, 

 and to know the reason the money-prizes and cups have not 

 been sent to those who are justly entitled to them. In a 

 financial point of view the Show was successful. The Secre- 

 tary has had all monies paid over to him ; if all the subscrip- 

 tions are not in hand it is his fault ; and now I leave you to 

 think who the party is that ought to have paid up all demands 

 upon the Society. — One op the Committee. 



[If the Secretary neglects his duty the Committee themselves 

 should take steps to satisfy those whose birds were either 

 prizetakers or sold. — Eds.] 



APPEARANCE OF LIGURIANS IN AN APIARY. 



Will yon kindly tell me what yon think of the accompany- 

 ing bees? They were taken from a stock hive which threw 

 one swarm early this year. I only discovered their presence 

 last night, not having had the most distant idea that any such 

 bees were in my apiary, which consists of fifteen stocks ; but 

 I have examined them this morning, and find that there are 

 great numbers in the hive referred to. 



I quite believe there ore no Ligurians within a distance of 

 three or four miles, and I refer to those kept by the writer of 

 the very interesting contributions to " our Journal " who signs 

 himself "Blaceheath'an," and whose apiaryl should much like 

 to see, and would, if he would honour me with a call, show 

 him mine, and this stock which contains the favours for which 

 I think I am indebted to him through the medium of his 

 drones. — Eowo. Fairbrotheb, y-t, Wellington Street, Woohcich. 



[The bees are well-marked Ligurians, and doubtless owe 

 their existence to the fact of the young queen of the stock to 

 which they belong having mated with an Italian drone, an 

 event which we have known to occur before at quite as great a 

 distance. We doubt not that " A Blackheath'an " will be 

 happy to exchange apiarian visits with you.]^ 



of bee-house. A pair of light doors might be fixed with hinges 

 to the two front posts of the shed, so as to form a screen in 

 front of the hives during snow or severe weather. 



Of course ordinary straw hives contained in a house of the 

 above description will need some further protection from the 

 weather, and it is upon this point that I am desirous of elicit- 

 ing the opinion of your experienced apiarian readers. A coat- 

 ing of cement has been recommended, and would certainly be 

 an effectual preservative from cold, but the effect would not be 

 pleasing, and the cement would add very considerably to the 

 weight of the hives for manipulation. Straw covers, again, 

 are liable to the objection that they harbour vermin. 



The neatest and best straw cover I have ever seen is one 

 which was recommended to me by a clever and successful 

 Lancashire bee-master. I do not know whether it may be as 

 novel to your readers, as it was to me, but here it is. Take an 

 iron hoop of about the same diameter as the hive. Place it on 

 the top of the hive, and having procured some long wheat 

 straw, take a handful, and draw it through the hoop, until you 

 have an equal length above and below the hoop ; then double 

 the straw back upon the hoop. Continue this process until 

 you have surrounded the hive with a double covering of straw. 

 Then take a hoop of larger diameter than that formerly used, 

 and push it down from the top over the other hoop and the 

 straw. Cut off the latter with a sharp knife just below the 

 floor-board of the hive, cut out an opening in the cover opposite 

 the mouth of the hive, and push the outer hoop as low down 

 as you can without bringing it over this opening. Flace an 

 earthen bowl over the top of the hive and the straw, and you 

 have then a cover which will defy the most severe weather, 

 and, withal, will not disfigure your apiary. You can feed yuur 

 bees at any time at the top of the hive by removing the bowl. 

 — F., Westmoreland. 



WINTER PROTECTION FOR HIVES. 



One of the disputed points among bee-keepers is as to the 

 utility of bee-houses. On the one side it is asserted that these 

 structures are simply nests for vermin, that they prevent the 

 free circulation of air, and so contribute to produce that damp 

 ■which is fatal to bees. On the other hand, there are expe- 

 rienced apiarians who consider that houses are essential to the 

 well-being of bees, that they shelter the hives from the scorch- 

 ing rays of the sun, and from the cold blasts of winter, and 

 help the bees to maintain an equable temperature in their 

 dwellings. Probably the truth may, as usual, be found in the 

 via media. A roof of some kind is certainly advantageous, as 

 it keeps hives dry, and shades them from the sun ; and I think 

 that an open shed, in the shape of a steep gable, to accommo- 

 date two hives, will probably be found the most desirable kind 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Cochins' Faces Swollen iMartyn). — We know not the cause of thG 

 disease you mention, but should not attribute much importance to it, afl 

 Cochins are subject to very few diseases. Your treatment was right ; 

 but we believe in such cases castor oil is the best medicine. Either 

 Spanish, Cochins, or Brahmas will suit you ; Dorkings will not. 



Buff Cochins' Tall and Flight Feathers iBuf Cochin). — The 

 black night is more objectionable than the black tail ; neither arc to be 

 desired. 



Black Fowls producing White Feathers {Game Bantam). — If it is 

 only after moulting and in your old birds that the spot appears, it is the 

 effect of age. If it appeai-s in chickens you must breed it out with a 

 strain as good as yours evidently is. We advise the formation of two 

 walks, one made up of the best of your own birds ; the other, some of 

 your perfect hens with the best cock you can obtain, and a pure black. 

 By this means you will probably breed your cross ; but if it should fail 

 >Mti will have your old strain unmixed to fall back upon. In birds of 

 this class it is often necessary to renew colour or points by means of 

 birds that have only these to recommend them. You are then obliged to 

 breed in and breed out. It is a certain process, and not difficult j but it 

 is 6low. 



Black Spanish and Cochins (.4. L. B.). — From one to two years old is 

 the best age to breed fine strong chickens from. 



Showing Turbits and Carriers iMartyn). — Turbit Pigeons may be 

 either eti Ih-headedor turned-crowned ; but for exhibition the pairs 

 thould match. Likewise the Black and Dun Carriers if shown separately 

 would be eligible for prizes, but if shown as a pair must both be of the 

 some colour. I do not know the value of Rosalies. — B. P. Brent. 



Dragon Pigeon Rotten-feathered {H. L. T.).— I fear little can be 

 done for your cock Dragon. Let him bathe freely ; rub the bare places 

 with sulphur ointment, reduce his condition, and give him pills of 

 1 grain calomel ; but if the complaint is constitutional, I fear it will 

 break out again. — B. P. Brent. 



Taming a Linnet (Mrs. C). — Y'our young pied Linnet may ho tamed 

 for exhibition by placing it in a cage with wooden back, top. am! 

 and hanging the cage low where persons are constantly moving about. 

 If, however, the bird knock himself about too much at first, paste a piece 

 of thin paper over the front of the cage, and tear it away by degrees. — 

 B. P. Brent. 



Straightening Combs (C. F. B.).~ Leave the bees as thev are nnti] 

 the end of April, when, in the middle of a fine day, they should be driven 

 into an empty hive, and their own hive being conveyed in-doors, all the 

 combs which are found to have beem built irregularly must be cut out, 

 straightened if necessary, and refitted into the frames, where they should 

 be kept in their places by such temporary support as may be most con- 

 venient. Return the bees to their own hive when this is effected, and two 

 days afterwards lift out the combs and remove all the temporary ap- 

 pliances by which these have been kept in their places. 



Smoking Bees (Gilbert Tweedie). — The honey will do excellently for 

 feeding your weak swarms. 



Taking Honey (Omrya). — Try driving the bees out of your supers ex- 

 actly in the manner described in page 59 of the fifth edition of "Bee- 

 keeping for the Many." We should cut out the best of the combs from 

 the partially-filled box, and put it on again for a few days to give the beeB 

 the opportunity of emptying the remaining combs. If they will not do so, 

 t;ike it off, bees and all, and leave it exposed in the midst of the apiary. 

 In the evening, when all the honey is cleared, and the bees departed, 

 convey it in-doors, tie it up, and put it away carefully until the spring. 



