120 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I February 6, 1800. 



the wbile-rumpcd birds because I bnve none other. I have 

 nearly equal uumbcrB of each, tbougb I believe tliere ie a 

 majority of those with the white badge, because, aa a rule, I 

 lind them the best for the reasons I have mentioned. 



I would a.sk Mr. IVrcivall, through your pages, whether he 

 would in a like mauuer discard the white-runiped Blue Owls, 

 Bunts, Antwerps, Powtcrs, ,tc. ? If so, I think this wholesale 

 expulsion of beautiful birds from our shows will make sad 

 havoc amongst their respective varieties. Even the Blue Rock 

 Dove would almost be extinct, if the same slaughter could be 

 made amongst them as he would make in thecultivateJ varieties. 



Mr. IVrcivall says that he exhibited a pair of Blue Dragoons 

 at the late Birmingham Show. I believe the pair he alludes 

 to claimed my special admiratiou, and were, in my opinion (as 

 expressed at the time) the best pair in the Show, though not 

 solely on account of their being minus tlio white rump. They 

 possessed other properties or points, which, to my mind, set 

 them above those they competed with. These, Mr. Percivall 

 says, were honoured with a very high commendation ; but, 

 upon referring to the catalogue of the Birmiugbam Show, I 

 find Mr. Percivall is credited with having taken the second 

 prize, and his brother, Mr. Jones Percivall, of London, with 

 the very high commendation. Is this a misprint ? How are 

 we to know to w bom the birds really do belong ? I know that 

 both entertain the same notion with regard to the white rump 

 being a defect ; and I must say, whichever it was who cxliibited 

 the pair taking the second prize, that it cither showed a great 

 want of judgment in pairing for exhibition two birds so un- 

 equally matched, one possessing a mark, as Mr. Percivall him- 

 self says, quite sufficient to exclude it from prizetaking. or else 

 it plainly evinced a scarcity of bluerumped Birds. Jlr. Per- 

 civall acknowledges the justice of this award, but goes on to 

 complain that the first prize was given to him for Ai-changels, 

 because unequally matched, one bird having pearl, and the 

 other gravel eyes. 



In conclusion I ask. Is it consistent for Mr. Percivall to rail 

 against the judging, or to set up a standard of excellence, when j 

 he, or his brother, or both, send for competition a blemished 

 bird in each ]ien, and expect to be rewarded upon the merits 

 of either? — \ Diugoos Br.EEDEr. 



then be well received by her whilom rebellious subjects, and, 

 no matter how furious the attack may have been, she will 

 be no more liable to a repetition of it than if it had never 

 occurred. 



Althoiigh the third class, in which young qneens are im- 

 prisoned before they have entered upon the duties of oviposi- 

 tion, appears never to have been v,itnes';ed by Mr. Lowe, it is 

 in reality by far the most common form of regicidal attack 

 among bees, and is, moreover, very frequently f;ital. In these 

 cases, also, I have found by experience that intervention on 

 the part of the apiarian may often be beneficially resorted to 

 whenever the danger is perceived in time. Although the 

 attack may be repeated more than once, it is not even then 

 necessarily attended with a fatal result ; and if by the assist- 

 ance of the apiarian, or by her own unaided tenacity of life, 

 the juvenile but distressed monarch can only last out until she 

 begins egg-laying, her subjects thenceforward appear as heartily 

 loy»l as if she had never teen incarcerated. 



In conclusion, I may observe, that whilst Mr. Lowe declares 

 himself unulile to indorse my opinion that the imprisonment 

 of a young ijueen by her worker sisters can be characterised as 

 a regicidal attack, he totally ignores the fact that I have sup- 

 ported this opinion by relating three several instances- whieh 

 have come under my own observation, and in which the incar- 

 ceration of such queens by their workers has been attended by 

 fatal resiUts, as well as by the evidence of my lUstinguished 

 German correspondent, who states that he has frequently had 

 young queens imprisoned and killed on their return from suc- 

 cessful wedding flights. According to Mr. Lowe's views our 

 verdict in all these cases should of course be " Killed by kind- 

 ness ;" but from this conclusion I for one must entirely dissent, 

 and would record my unhesitating conviction, founded on con- 

 siderable experience and many opportunities of judging, that 

 in all cases, and under all circumstances, whenever a queen, 

 either old or young, is imprisoned by workers, her life is in- 

 variably in great jeopardy, and that no such thing ever occurs 

 amongst bees as what may be termed the " friendly arrest " 

 of a queen. — -■V Devonshire Bee-keeper. 



* VitU Nos. 193 and 235 of " Our .Journal.'* 



PtEGICIDAL ATTACKS BY BEES. 



I .\M glad to see that Mr. Lowe has returned to this subject, 

 and, in the hope of assisting in the investigation of what still 

 appears to me a most extraordinary and very unsatisfactory 

 chapter in the natural liistory of our little favourites, I purpose 

 stating briefly the conclusions at which I have myself arrived, 

 pointing out. at the same time, in what respects my views either 

 coincide with or differ from those propounded by Mr. Lowe. | 



Regicidal attacks bj- bees may, I think, be divided into three 

 classes : — 



1st, Those in which a matron is imprisoned by her own 

 children. 



2nd, Those wherein the regicidal frenzy is set on foot 

 Ihi'ough the introduction of stranger bees by the apiarian. 



3rd, Those in wliich a juvenile monarch is attacked by her 

 worker sisters before she commences egg-laying. 



Instances of the first class, in which a matron is assailed by 

 her own children, seem to be comparatively rare, nor do they 

 often come under the direct observation of the apiarian ; when 

 they do occur, however, they appear to be inevitably fatal. A 

 queen may possibly survive several initiatory attacks, but 

 these are repeated at uncertain intervals, imtil at last she 

 succumbs. In such cases, and in such only, can I indorse Mr. 

 Lowe's conclusion that a queen once imprisoned forfeits all re- 

 gard from her subjects, and that, therefore, interference on the 

 part of the apiarian can scarcely lead to any good result. 



Cases of the second class, in which the regicidal frenzy is set 

 np by the introduction of stranger bees through the manipula- 

 tions of the apiarian, are. of course, equally rare in well- 

 managed apiaries, but, when such instances do arise, ex- 

 perience justifies me in declaring that the best results may be 

 hoped for from prompt and judicious intervention ; • since, if 

 the hapless queen can but be kept alive in a queen-cage within 

 the hive itseli until the regicidal m.ania has abated, she will 



" Mr. Lowe's mistinp with bis Li^rian qneon is a sufficient w.irBmg 

 against too rashly lilHTalinu iiiiiiriMoiied royjUty iu the open air. As 

 stated by mc in "our .Tonniiil " of tlie 26th of September last, a number of 

 out>i(UTS may be previouvly dismissed, but the iiual release should only 

 be ventured upon wHhin-doors. where the quccu may be readily recap'- 

 tured in the event of her t:ikiug wing. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Incubator (J. L. 5.).— That which you first name we heljeve is Ihe 

 best ftt present in use. There is no book on the subject. Directions are 

 lumished with each incubator by the makers. 



DisTiNGiTsniXG Aylesbcry Drakes (J. CK— The drake bas always ii 

 curl in the tail when iu full plumapc ; but as it maybe pulled onl, we 

 will (jive you another means of knowing the sex. The drake is generally 

 larger tlmn the Duck. There is no doubt of the four Ducks doing well 

 with the drake ; but we do not think you will be pleased with the cross 

 between the Aylesbury and Houen. Both breeds are very handsome 

 when pure, and give undoubted proof of being a defined species ; but the 

 cross produces only a pied,brown-r.ud-white, common-looking bird, with 

 nothing to distinguish it from the ordiuary Duck of a farm-yard. 

 Ducks do not like roosting in a house of any kind : it is against their 

 nature. Wild Fowl roost on the water, and tame Ducks like to sit on the 

 bank, or in a farm-yard to take up their own quarters. You may ascer- 

 tain the bcx of Ducks by taking the bird by the iiinion of the wing; the 

 Duck quacks, the drake gives a kind of hoarse hiss. Sometimes they 

 are long before tliey will make any noise. It then becomes necessary to 

 bold them off the ground. If you pers^evere in this, with a little patience, 

 you will always succeed. 



Hens not L.^yino — Becojiisg Bald {CurlnoV — Your hens will not lay 

 so early this year as last. They were then pullets ; and such by oarHe'r 

 the first year than afterwards. V»'e do not think the breed has so much 

 to do with early as with late laying. The non-sitters lay much later in 

 the year than those that have reared their broods. They will lay as many 

 eggs without a cock as with one ; but they never do so well, and gene- 

 rally take to all sorts of fancies, as in the present instance. Wo l>clieve 

 they eat each other's feathers. They arc healed, and you will do well if 

 you allow them to run in the garden evei-j- day. The scraps of green food 

 and the insects they pick up will do them good. Let them have a good 

 heap of dr>' dust and another of bricklayers* rubbish in their house. By 

 dusting in the first they destroy parasites, which often iuduco them to 

 pick their feathers ; the second supplies them with shell for the eggs. 

 Nothing is better for them than some road scrapings or grit. We think 

 that if you will do this, and rut a cock with them, they will do better. 

 Do not depend too much on potatoes for food, they arc not favourable to 

 egg-producing. They should now begin to lay. The hen that layaduublc- 

 yoiked eggs, uud that did so la-t year, will probably always do it. Such 

 are never long-lived birds. It often cures such >\ visitation as you com- 

 plain of, if the first appearance of a hare spot i^ rubbed with comiMnnd 

 sulphur ointment. 



BcTTERMiLK FOR PiGS {li. T. C). — Buttcnnilk is given to pigs with 

 advantage iu ever>- instance that we know of except one, and that was 

 where the practice was to salt the cream, and of cmrse it w.*s unfit for 

 use until mixed with meal and given to the pig.s in that condition alter- 

 nately with other food. We do not recollect of the couplet you mention 

 being repeated in any of the dairv' districts that wc have been in; h'lt 

 there is one very like it, to the etfect that " Whey will starve a dog, n-Tiile 

 it will feed a hog," and we have some faith in the truth of the axiom. 

 Buttermilk is fireely partaken of by the working classes in tJic westom 

 cheese coouties. 



