October 110, 1868. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



341 



Skylarks- Prize, W. Walter. Very Highly Commended, .7. Judd. 



Woodlauk.— I'riv.c, K. Noyce, Southampton. Very Highly Commended, 

 W. Walter. 



Bdackhird. — Prize, if. vine. 



Sonh Thrush. Prize, W. Walter. Very Highly Commended, H. Vine j 

 G. Green, Southampton ; U. Bird, Southampton. 



Siskin OS Aberdevine. Prize, H. Vino. Highly Commended, W. 

 Walter. 



Any Deserving; Variety.— First, T. Alderton, Woolwich. Second, C. 

 P. Johnson. Third, II Browning, Southampton. Very Highly Com- 

 mended, T. Alderton; C. V. Johnson. Highly Cmmcuded, C. Bacchus. 

 Commended, R. W. Cross, Newport, I.W. ; W. Walter. 



Cockatoo (Any variety).— First, C. T. Bell. Second, F.. Harrison. 

 Very Highly Commended, A. Isaacs, Leicester Square. Highly Com- 

 mended, J. c. Winn, Southampton ; A. Isaacs. 



Paehots f Any variety).— First, Miss Bull, Southampton. Extra First, 

 A. Cantwell, Southampton. Very Highly Commended, Capt. O'Shea. 

 Hiahly Commended, W. Wallers ; W. H. Squibb. 



Lories (Any variety).— First, W. Walter. Second, J. Judd. Third, 

 A.Isaacs. Highly Commended, S. .Tones ; A. Issues. 



Love Birds (In pairs).— Prize, J. Judd. Very Highly Commended, 



Parakeets (Any variety).— First. J. Judd. Second, G. Waits. Extra 

 Second. -I. C. Winn. Very Highly Commended, G. Billett, Southampton. 

 Highly Commended, A. Isaacs ; G. Billett. Commended, W. Walter. 



•1 w.t Sparrows (In pairs).— Prize, H. Vine. Highly Commended, 

 W. Walter. Commended, J. Judd. 



Widau Bird.— Prize, G. H. Groombridge. Very Highly Commended, 

 W. Walter ; Mrs. Bailey. 



Cardinals— Prize, Mrs. Bailey. Commended, J. C. Winn. 



Bishops. — Prize, J. Judd. 



Waxdiels Any variety, in pairs).— Prize, J. Judd. Highly Commended, 

 G. Billett. Commended, A. Isaacs ; Mrs. Bailey. 



Foreign Birds (Any variety).— First, W. Walter. Second, A. Isaacs. 

 Third, J. 0. Winn. Highly Commended, A. Isaacs; G. H. Groombridge. 

 Commended, J. Judd. 



EXTRA STOCK. 



Commended, C. Colonutt, Rvde, Isle of Wight (Light Brahmns) ; Rev. 

 J. P. Bartlett (Creve Coeur Pullets) ; G. Warren, Southampton (Geese). 



Pigeons. — Commended, G. Beauclerk, Above Bar, Southampton 

 (Tumblers ; Yellow Balbpates) ; K. Wright (Jacobins). 



E. Hewitt, Esq., judged tho poultry and Pigeons ; and the same 

 dnty as to Pheasants and foreign birds devolred on_ W. Goodwin and 

 A. Willmore, Esgs., of London. 



THE EGYITIAN BEE. 



I Alt sure that I only express the sentiments of scientific 

 apiarians in general, ami of the bee-lovir.g readers of this 

 Journal in particular, when I say that we all owe Mr. Wood- 

 bury a debt of gratitude for the successful efforts which he has 

 made in importing from other countries, and thus bringing us 

 into personal acquaintance with, two of the most interesting 

 varieties of the genus Apis ; Apis ligustica being imported into 

 England from Switzerland in the autumn of 1S59, and Apis 

 fasciata from Germany, in July, 1865. 



These are important events in apiculture, and while they 

 show an amount of enthusiasm, energy, and enterprise hitherto 

 unsurpassed by any apiarian in this country, they are alone 

 sufficient, I think, to immortalise the name of " A Devonshire 

 Bee-keeper," and deservedly secure for him a permanent 

 nicho in the apiarian " Temple of Fame." 



In the spring of 1860 I had the pleasure, I believe, of first 

 announcing in Scotland, by a newspaper paragraph, the intro- 

 duction into England of Apis ligustica ; and in 1866, by a strange 

 coincidence, I have been privileged to introduce the first Apis 

 fasciata into ancient Caledonia, and the first imported Egyptian 

 queen, after a short sojourn in Exeter, to the far-north de- 

 nizens of modern Athens. 



To the very interesting series of articles on Apis fasciata 

 which have appeared in this Journal, it may appear a work of 

 supererogation for me to add anything. A wish having been 

 expressed, however, to this effect, I am very happy to comply 

 with it, although from my limited experience I can as yet form 

 no decided opinion as to its real value either as a swarming or 

 a honey,-gathering bee — two points as to which many, no doubt, 

 will be desirous of information. 



Upon the 22nd of May last, a communication was sent to me 

 from Mr. Woodbury, to the effect, that as he could not attend 

 to the propagation of both the Egyptians and Italians, and as 

 the former turned out decidedly more irascible than the latter, 

 he had made up his mind to " stick to his old love," and ac- 

 cordingly offered the stock to me. This communication, I con- 

 fess, took me somewhat by surprise, and I was struck with the 

 strange resolve. What can be the matter ? " Decidedly more 

 irascible." A rather ominous character, no doubt. But Apis 

 mellifica has been described as more irascible than Apis ligus- 

 tica, and, therefore, Apis fasciata might, I thought, just be on a 

 par in this respect with the former. Besides, Dr. A. Gerstaeker 

 describes Apis fasciata as " the most valuable form for Europe, 

 partly on account of their beauty, and partly of their un- 



willingness to use their stings, which is common to all African 

 bees." I thought no more of the matter, therefore, and on the 

 morning of the 7th of June the interesting foreigners arrived 

 at my house, per rail from Exeter. With screwdriver and 

 chisel in hand, I immediately went to work to set free the im- 

 prisoned captives, and to examine thoir condition, and undo 

 tho various fastenings ; and then it was for the first time that 

 the Egyptian, alias the Holy Land bee, appeared before me. I 

 could not but admire its agile little form, with its light pu- 

 bescence, and its distinctly-marked zebra-like abdominal bands 

 of bron/.y yellow and silvery white — well termed Apis fasciata. 

 A few minutes' admiration over, I then proceeded with un- 

 covered hands, as usual, to lift out the frames. Drawn lances 

 glistened in hundreds, and for the first time I was wounded by 

 an Egyptian. Thistles and thorns must be handled cautiously, 

 however, and I proceeded to act accordingly. The immense 

 number of drones adhering to each frame astonished me. A 

 drone-breeding queen here, verily ! What gaudy fellows to bo 

 sure, beautifully marked and banded — the Italians cannot com- 

 pare with them — silvery white, and golden yellow — meet in- 

 habitants truly of a tropical clime ! But where is her Egyp- 

 tian majesty ? Oh, there she is, gay and graceful like her pro- 

 totype Cleopatra of old, sparkling in all the radiance, and 

 adorned with all the lustre of eastern royalty. Yes ; safe and 

 unscathed fortunately, amid the sad havoc among her female 

 subjects, which now unveils itself, caused by a too crowded 

 captivity during an extra long journey in the heat of summer. 

 Prodigious havoc, truly. Full five thousand workers dead and 

 dying lay piled above each other on the floor-board, a sad 

 sight, and sadly to be regretted. Removing these, cleaning the 

 interior, and putting all right, I replaced the frames, and trans- 

 ferred the colony forthwith to my apiary. 



Four thousand of these dead bees I weighed, and found them 

 only 8} ozs. ; each thousand thus weighing over 2 ozs. 



For some days after I placed the hive in my apiary little 

 work was done, and I had reason to know subsequently that 

 few eggs had been deposited. The loss of so great a number of 

 bees operated as a great check, and partially paralysed both 

 workers and queen. The drones, not one of which perished by 

 the way, alone seemed to enjoy both the catastrophe and 

 change, reeling each day at noon in thousands, choking the 

 very entrance almost with their numbers, and making such a 

 noise, as they danced about the hive, as literally to awe the 

 inmates of neighbouring stocks. The loss of so many workers 

 was, as I stated, a sore discouragement, and, consequently, 

 some little time elapsed ere the colony recruited, and my plans 

 regarding it were thus in some measure altered. All the combs, 

 I was informed by Mr. Woodbury, were constructed either by 

 A. ligustica or A. mellifica, so that the Egyptians reared in 

 them were as yet abnormally large. It was my intention, 

 therefore, to drive the bees, and use the combs for queen- 

 rearing purposes. In this way the cells formed in the new 

 domicile would approximate more nearly to the normal standard 

 to which subsequent shiftiugs would ultimately bring them, 

 " the cells of the Egyptian bees (according to Herr Vogel) 

 being one-tenth narrower than the cells of our northern bee, 

 so that ten Egyptian cells, including the partition walls, are 

 equal in width to nine cells of our bees." The immense loss 

 sustained in bees during the transit, however, caused me to 

 alter my intentions, and I resolved simply to confine myself to 

 the rearing of a few queens. Some interesting phenomena 

 niati i lasted themselves in the course of my proceedings, a nar- 

 ration of which, however, with other details, I must reserve 

 for another communication. — J. Lowe. 



In reply to Mr. Woodbury's challenge. I may say, like Can- 

 ning's knife-grinder, " Story ! Bless you, sir, I have none 

 to tell ! " Or, at least, it is only the echo of the story told by 

 Mr. Woodbury himself, and which, after the manner of echoes, 

 is sure to sound very feeble after the vigorous original. 



However, on the 27th of last April I received a small box 

 containing the population of one of Mr. Woodbury's hives, but 

 too late to do anything with it that night. Early the next 

 morning I furnished a five-frame box with two full combs of 

 brood, and three empty combs, and then, placing the box over 

 tho opening in the top, I had the satisfaction of seeing the bees 

 I in a few minutes, and appear at the entrance, the satis- 

 lied murmur within showing that all was right. Indeed, within 

 half an hour they were carrying out particles of broken comb, 

 and were evidently setting their new house in order. 'I hey 

 were so subdued by the journey, that the night before I thought 

 them the gentlest and most docile little creatures to be found 



