October 16, I860. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



305 



a nd tin' Cochins proved so indifferent, that a second prize was with- 

 held. Some very niee Golden-spangled Samburghs were shown, but 

 the Pencilled ones were sadly below par. In tho Bantams, all varieties 

 competing, the Black-breasted lied (lame Bantams secured all three 

 prizes. Strange to say, in a elass for Mixed breeds, any ago or colonr, 

 only two entries were made, though four premiums were offered in tho 

 prize schedule. The tirst-prize pen, Silver-spangled PbUmds, was 

 really good, but the other so far below excellence that the fourth prize 

 alone was allotted it. 



The class for Tinl-i ya was good, and that for GeCM not less so ; bnt 

 exhibitors must remember, in order to be successful, that an exhibition 

 pen of any poultry must match in feather. Better Aylesbury Ducks 

 than those exhibited are rarely seen. 



In Pige&na the prizes were offered to pens of three different varieties 

 shown together. This arrangement proved how difficult it is for one 

 exhibitor to show three perfect pens of Pigeons, a faulty pen being tho 

 order of the day in most of the trios. Single pens, on the contrary, 

 were numerous and excellent, and consequently it may be fairly said 

 tho Pigeons as a whole were a good collection. 



No doubt, with tho care that will he taken in future years as to the 

 time of holding the Show, the Peterborough Committee will obtain a 

 greatly enlarged Exhibition. 



Dorkinos.— First, J. Longland. Soeond, Mrs. II. Little. Chickens.— 

 First, R. Wood. Second, T. Hardv. Highly Commended, J. Longland : 

 R. Wood. 



Single Dorking Cocks.— First, J. Longland. Second, R. Wood. Com- 

 mended, T. Hardy. 



Single Game Cock.— First and Second, S. Deacon. 



Game (Any colonr). — First and Second, S. Deacon. 



Cochin-China (Any colour). — Prize, T. Hardy. 



Hamburghs (Pencilled).— First, Withheld. Second, J. Craig. 



Hambcrghs (Spangled). — Prize, J. F. Loveridge. 



Bantams (Any variety).— First and Second, Mrs. Edwardes. Third, S. 

 Deacon. Commended, A. Storrar. 



Mixed Breed (Any colour). — First, E. Fullard (Poland cock). Second 

 and Third, Withheld. Fourth, Mrs. Earl, Morhorne. 



Turkeys.— First, — Craig. Second, E. Fullard. Highly Commended, 

 — Craig. 



Geese.— First, S. Deacon. Second, J. A. W. Underwood. 



Ducks 'Any Breed).— First and Second,— Craig (Aylesbury). Third, 

 R. Wood (Rouen). Highly Commended, S. Deacon. Commended, S. Shaw. 



Pigeons.— First, J. Taylor (Powters, Fantails, and Short-Faced Kites). 

 Second, R. Payling (Black Carriers, Black Barbs, and Yellow Turbits). 

 Third, T. C. Marshall (Dun Carriers, Magpies, and Blue Antwerp). 



Extra.— Highly Commended, Mrs. H. Little (Two Swans, Two Cygnets) ; 

 Master H. B. Little (Three Rabbits). 



Mr. Edward Hewitt, of Sparkbrool:, Birmingham, was tho Judge. 



" B. & W.'s " APIARY IN 1866. 



(Continued from page 15G.) 



Kevtewing the proceedings of the year with regard to my 

 apiary, I find that most of my hives survived the winter in 

 good health and with every sign of vigour. The very late 

 spring, however, greatly tried some of them, so much so, that 

 aiany of the bees hatched in March were thrown out dead 

 before they came to maturity. Breeding, indeed, almost ceased 

 in one or two hives. However, they gradually recovered them- 

 selves, and were pretty strong again in April. 



My first swarm, a very large one. issued naturally on the 

 19th of May from M. I nearly lost it, as the bees took wing 

 Boon after they settled, and betook themselves to an old pollard 

 flm, less than a quarter of a mile distant. Their excision 

 was effected much after the manner in which I secured a stray 

 swarm la9t year; but in the present case the swarm, as ulti- 

 mately located in place of N in my fowl-house, became much 

 impoverished, inasmuch as in the unavoidable delay which 

 occurred before they could be finally settled, five-sixths of the 

 bees returned to their old hive, or were lost in the pollard. 

 The queen, however, a first-rate breeder, having been secured 

 with a sufficiency of bees, this swarm gradually recovered 

 itself, and is now a capital stock ; but it yielded me no honey. 

 A very fine second swarm issued from M on the 29th of May, 

 which took the place of G. It yielded me about 10 lbs. of 

 honey, and I obtained a few pounds from the parent stock. 

 Thus, M has given me two good swarms, plus about 13 lbs. of 

 honey, itself being now very strong in all respects. 



To be brief with the others, E swarmed on the 3rd of June 

 (swarm taking the place of defunct B), and again on the 16th. 

 The latter swarm, however, was returned after cutting out all 

 the royal cells and destroying the young queen found in E. 

 The old stock subsequently yielded about 20 lbs. of honey. I, 

 swarmed naturally on the 8th of June, and was lost in the act 

 of hiving, to my great vexation, the queen being an Italian of 

 my own rearing. Fortunately, before the queen rose I had 

 hived most of the bees, which, therefore, returned to the parent 

 hive and strengthened the second swarm, which issued on the 

 iilst, and was subsequently given to a friend. A succession of 



swarms from I aftor this annoyod me much, and rendered tho 

 best stock in my apiary totally unproductive this year. 



Out of Q, I also lost a swarm on the 23rd. They were securely 

 hived and remained with me a couple of days, but for some 

 unaccountable reason they deserted their hive and esscaped me. 



My last swarm this year issued from in my absence from 

 home during the first week in July. It was put into a large 

 straw hive, H, and stands now by the side of M. Its queen 

 is the Italian with which Mr. Woodbury supplied me thiea 

 years ago. I was wishing this queen to swarm naturally 

 this year, in tho hopo that her successor in C would run less 

 risk of being impregnated by a foreign drone. I do not per- 

 ceive, however, that the bees bred by the young Italian mother 

 are any purer than those raised by me in former years out of 

 brood taken from this hive and the old queen. 



On the whole, as to the honey harvest — about 200 lbs. weight 

 — I have no right to complain, although, hut fof the tendency 

 of my bees to swarm in spite of room given to them, I should, 

 doubtless, have harvested more. My strongest stock, K, in the 

 fowl-house, gave me 45 lbs. in three boxes. Six other stocks 

 equally strong ought to have done as much — namely, C, D, E, 

 F, M, and I. 



The present arrangement of my apiary for the winter is as 

 follows :— 



BEE-nOUSE. 



A. 13. C. 



Pure Italian queen. Italian queen. Italian queen. 



Born 1865. From Mr. Bred 1864. Very strong. Born 1866. Out of H 



Woodbury. Very strong. Out of H (late C). (late C). Very strong. 



D. E. F. 



Italian queen. Hybrid queen. Italian queen. 



Bom 1866. Bred bv Born 1866. Out of B Bred out of H (late C) 



myself out of A. Strong. (late E). Very strong. 1865. Very strong. 



UNDER COVES. 



G. 



Hybrid queen. 



Bred 1866, out of M. Strong. 



GARDEN. 



L. 



Hybrid Italian. 



Very strong. Age of queen unknown. 



H. M. Q. I. 



Italian queen Hybrid queen. Hybrid queen. Hybrid queen. 



from Mr. Wood- Born 1866. Very Born 1866. Very Born 1866. Very 



bury, 1862. Very strong. strong. strong. 



strong. 



FOWL-HOUSE. 

 P. O. 



Hybrid queen, 1865. English queen. 



Bred out of H (late C). Born 1865. Strong. 



Very strong. 



K. N. 



Degenerate queen. Italian queen. 



Born 1865. Bred out of H Hate C), 1861. 



Very strong. Very strong. 



Thus I close the year with a stock of sixteen hives, all in 

 excellent health and strong. I may add that the young queen 

 of D has not only made her appearance, but proved herself an 

 excellent breeder, and the mother of beautifully marked Italians ; 

 but as to her purity of breed I shall not be able to judge till 

 next year. — B. & W. 



THE EGYPTIAN BEE —Part VI. 



HOW I PROPAGATED IT, TESTED IT, AND FINALLY OUT BID OF IT. 



(Concluded from page 252.) 



Without entering into particulars, which may, however, be 

 ascertained by referring to No. XXVI. of " Bee-keeping in 

 Devon," which appeared in No. 241 of " our Journal," I may 

 briefly state, that during the latter end of August and the first 

 week of September, seven more young Egyptian queens were 

 hatched out, whereof six were fecundated in due course, whilst 

 one fell a victim to a regicidal attack made upon her by her 

 worker sisters. It is a remarkable fact, that whatever might 

 have been the case with the first queen, the whole of the last 

 six were unquestionably fertilised by small Italian drones bred 

 in worker cells, the last few full-sized drones that I possessed 

 having been destroyed about the middle of September. 



The remainder of the autumn was devoted to strengthening 

 the Egyptian element in my apiary, which now consisted of the 

 first stock, with the original queen, and seven young colonies, all 

 the produce of the solitary queen which, having been received 

 so late as the 30th of July, alone survived the massacre of her 

 attendants, and was placed at the head of a small nucleus on 

 her arrival. 



The spring of 18CG was, of course, looked forward to with 



