May 1, 1S66. ] 



JOITKNAIi OP HORTICULTOEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



3SS 



pick his way through the wooden bars that let the air in from 

 the top, and to tastefully select just the only pair of Pigeons, 

 that even Mr. Breut in his book believes to be almost of fa- 

 bulous origin. However, the unknown connoisseur did not 

 atop there. During the second week another box arrived, which 

 ought to have contained eight pairs of Pigeons, chiefly Hun- 

 garians and Siberian Ice Pigeons ; but in realitj' there were no 

 more than fifteen birds, one Siberian Ice Pigeon having taken 

 flight through the oak boards of the box, as I am led to believe. 

 Question, On which company to fix a claim for compensation? 

 The journey extended over six or seven different railways, 

 foreign and English, the birds having originally been entrusted, 

 and complete in number, to a royal post office. I suppose I 

 have to confine myself to grumbling, and to find consolation 

 in the well-known phrase " There is no help for it" Therefore, 

 now, when the gathering of the winged clans will commence, 

 exhibitors beware of." nimble hands ;" they are more real than 

 those which the Brothers Davenport ever made appear in the 

 window of their magic closet. 



The purpose of this communication, however, is not merely 

 to serve as a caution for the benefit of Pigeon fanciers, like 

 myself, but the motive is rather a selfish one, and shortly this : 

 I am, to the best of my belief, at present the only possessor of 

 Siberian Ice Pigeons in England, and I am equally sure that 

 nobody else has imported crested Pigeons of the variety named, 

 and, therefore, I should feel exceedingly obliged if managers of 

 Pigeon shows would kindly communicate with me as soon as 

 any other person may enter for exhibition birds answering to 

 the names given. — Fkancis Bboeilel, 2, Church Grace, Ladij- 

 loell, Kent. 



BEES IN THE HOLY LAND. 



My attention has been drawn to a note in your impression 

 of the 10th nit., by " A Devonshire Bee-keeper," correcting 

 a statement in my volume, " The Land of Israel," that the 

 bee of Palestine is Apis ligustica. 



I did not make the statement without the authority of emi- 

 nent naturalists, and in support of the opinion that A. ligustica 

 and A. fasciata are identical, I beg to forward the following 

 extract from a letter of Mr. Frederick Smith, of the British 

 Museum : — " The authority on which Apis fasciata is con- 

 sidered to be identical with A. ligustica is that of Gerstacker, 

 who has reduced the number of honey-bees of the genus Apis 

 to four. I have published my own opinion in the ' Trans- 

 actions of the Entomological Society,' and have more material 

 in hand on the subject which I hope to publish shortly." 

 There cannot be much higher authority than Mr. F. Smith. 



Though I have reserved the details of the fauna of Pales- 

 tine for my forthcoming work, under the auspices of the F»ay 

 Society, I have been careful in " The Land of Israel " never 

 to introduce scientific names without the best authority within 

 my reach. Your correspondent has rightly corrected me about 

 the yellow bands on the thorax, but the antenna) do appear 

 to me on comparison longer proportionally than those of Apis 

 mellifica. — H. B. Tristram, Grealham Vicarage, Stockton-on- 

 Tees. 



[As I most cordially indorse the opinion advanced by Mr. 

 Tristram that "there cannot be much higher authority than 

 Mr. F. Smith," I imagine he will at once accept the following 

 passage, which I quote from a letter just received by me from 

 that gentleman, as conclusively settling the point at issue 

 between ns. 



" Since I published my paper, you sent me such material as 

 at once settled the question of A. fasciata being abundantly 

 distinct. ....... I certainly could not reject Gerst.^cker's 



opinion eighteen months ago, but I am in a very different 

 position now, and I am quite as satisfied that A. fasciata is 

 distinct from A. ligustica as a species as I am of A. dorsata 

 being distinct from A. mellifica." 



I may state in elucidation of this last sentence that A. dor- 

 sata is the large and beautiful honey bee of the tropics, which, 

 in point of size and brilliancy of colouring, may well rival our 

 English hornet. The difference between this magnificent Apis 

 and the ordinary English honey bee, A. mellifica, is, of course, 

 so great that they may be deemed " wide as the poles 

 asunder." 



Dr. Gerstacker himself declares that Apis fasciata is the form 

 of honey bee " wliich is most distinguished from all others by 

 its smaller size and light colour," and although he afterwards 

 states that " the identity of the ItaUan with the northern bee 



is demonstrated by the perfect mutual fertihty of the two 

 forms, and the African form approaches much more closely to 

 the Italian than the latter does to the northern bee," he sepa- 

 rately mentions A. fasciata and A. ligustica as two out of the 

 six principal varieties which he enumerates as being comprised 

 in one of the three perfectly distinct species into which ho 

 considers the genus Apis should be divided. How, therefore, 

 the idea originated that this distinguished German naturaUst 

 declares these two varieties to be absolutely identical I am 

 perfectly unable to discover. 



With regard to the supposed " very long antennjE " of A. fas- 

 ciata, I have carefully compared the antennie of this species 

 with those of both A. ligustica and A. mellifica, and find that 

 there is really no difference whatever in their length. — A 



DeVOMSHIBB Be£-K££FEB.] 



FERTILE WORKERS. 



Early this month (April), I missed a Ligurian queen which 

 I had placed at the head of a stock of common bees driven 

 from a cottager's hive last autumn. Notwithstanding her 

 apparent absence, there were a great number of eggs deposited 

 with the utmost regularity in the cells of one of the worker- 

 combs, the presence of which caused me many unavaiUng 

 searches after the missing sovereign. At the expiration of ten 

 days, however, all doubts were set at rest by the discovery that 

 the cells occupied in this manner were being elongated for the 

 accommodation of drone larvw. Finding, therefore, that the 

 hive was indeed queenless, I speedily united the remaining 

 bees to the stock which stood next to it, but deem the case 

 worth notice as an unquestionable instance of the existence o/ 

 fertile workers. — A Devonshire Bee-keeper. 



NEVER DESPAIR. 



For the encouragement of those inclined to despair when a 

 calamity of any sort befals their bees I write these lines. 

 During the heavy gales of last November one of my strongest 

 stocks was capsised. Those who love their bees may imagine 

 my surprise and horror. I was, as it were, thunderstruck and 

 helpless. There lay my splendid stock prostiate on the ground, 

 and I felt at the moment more inclined to rush from the garden 

 and leave the hive to its fate, than to do anything else. Shame 

 and remorse, however, for such a feehng soon rallied me, and 

 calling my man to my assistance, we set to work to replace the 

 hive on its stand. When this was accomplished the honey 

 poured out in streams, and with it the bodies of many be- 

 honied and half-smothered bees. I found then that the only 

 thing I couid do was to raise the hive an inch from the floor- 

 board all round, by thi-s means giving free egress for the honey, 

 and, above all, giving the bees an opportunity of collecting at 

 the top of the hive where they might clean themselves, and be 

 free from the broken combs. Having put saucers to catch the 

 running honey, I, with a low heart, left them till the next 

 morning. When I then went to them I found all the honey 

 had run from the broken combs, and so, gently raising the^ 

 hive, I discovered, to my dehght, the bees that were alive all 

 collected in a bunch at the top, and quiet. This gave me 

 hope that the queen had escaped with her life, and so it has 

 proved. 



The stock I write of was a last year's swarm, at least it 

 was two swarms joined, and, consequently, they were very 

 strong ; but, curiously enough, they bad begun working on the 

 floor-board, so that when I raised the hive there stood the 

 combs, except those parts that were broken, erect on the board, 

 and hardly a bit of comb left in the hive. I determined if 

 possible to save the stock ; so giving them a fresh floor-board, 

 I put them on it, set them in their place, filled a super with 

 about 10 lbs. of their honeycomb, and gave it them on the top 

 of the hive, did them up for the winter, and left them to their 

 fate. On the 1st of February I examined them, found them 

 alive and well ; gave them some more honey, as they had 

 nearly consumed the 10 lbs., and now they are working hard 

 making comb, and giving every promise of doing well. 



The weight of honey taken from the hive was 34 lbs. The 

 bees are in a wooden hive with a large glass window, and a hole 

 at the top for supering. Through the window I can see the 

 progress they are making with their comb, and as Goon as they 

 can rear a few young bees, no doubt the work will proceed more 

 rapidly, and the hive will soon be filled. 



