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JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I tmttt 6, U8t. 



champion bnll-dog " King Dick " has paid tlie debt of nature 

 nndcr rather peculiar and interesting circumstances. On 

 Easter Tuesday Ifr. Lamphier, of Handsworth, the owner of 

 the dog, died. After that event "Dick" exhibited the most 

 profound grief for the loss of his master. He would not rest 

 anywhere except on the chair upon which his master used to 

 sit ; and whenever he could get into the room in which he died 

 he gave expression to hia feelings in the most vehement bowl- 

 ings, broken by low growls and other vocal signs of sorrow. 

 He refused his food, and on Sunday lust lie followed his 

 much-loved master. In fact, the faithful animal may be said 

 to have died of grief. A rarer instance of canine aflection and 

 fidelity has seldom if ever been recorded." 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 



Having some bees, I wish to increase them. One hive I have 

 had eight years ; the other two years. Now, I have been very 

 unfortunate in my bee management, or, rather say, mismanage- 

 ment, not to have more than one addition in eight years. 

 Sometimes I do catch a swarm, and lose it in the winter, but 

 generally the swarms go off when they like, and I see them no 

 more. 



Late last .season some one wrote of artificial swarms, and 

 referred to a back Number. On turning to that Number I was 

 not much enlightened, for it only stated that the mode of pro- 

 ceeding was fully described in some remote Number, and not 

 having that Number by me, I did not obtain the information, 

 so I lost my bees. 



As swarming season is at hand, will you detail the process of 

 getting the swarms from the old cottage hive, without risk of 

 loss ? The information may suit some one else, as well as — 

 John Evekoreen. 



[Having two stocks you cannot do better than follow the in- 

 structions already given by Mr. Woodbury, the substance of 

 which we now repeat for your information. '• Selecting the 

 forenoon of a fine day, the whole of the inhabitants of one hive 

 should with their queen be driven into an empty skep. This 

 exodus having been effected, the swarm is formed, and the 

 bees in their new and unfurnished domicile should at once take 

 the place of the old stock. The original hive should also at 

 once take the place of the second stock, which must be removed 

 to a httle distance, not necessarily beyond the limits of the 

 apiary, but so far as to prevent absentees from readily dis- 

 covering it ; and it is well at the same time to disguise its out- 

 ward appearance as much as possible. In its new position the 

 stock -will remain apparently dormant for a few days, but in 

 about a fortnight will probably so far recover itself as to admit 

 of being again employed in a similar manner. The bees re- 

 tijming to the old spot and missing their queen, will at first be 

 in some confusion, but will ultimately settle down to their 

 task of forming royal cells to supply her place."] 



HARDINESS OF LIGURIAN BEES. 



I AM pleased to say that my twenty-six stocks of pure Ligu- 

 rian bees here have all passed through the winter in the best 

 of health. Some of them were swarms made late in the season, 

 and had only artificial food in the hive to live upon. None of 

 the stocks had an ounce of food given to them from September 

 to March. I did not lose a single stock here or in either of 

 my other apiaries, nor did I in the previous winter lose one stock 

 out of twenty which I then had here ; so I begin to think that 

 the Ligurian bees can stand our changeable winters better than 

 the common black bees. I had my first two swarms on May 

 2iird, which is very early with us, as I never had more than 

 one swarm cf black bees in May in this locality. 



The verj' severe frost («'J we" had on the night of the 29th of 

 April threw the bees backwards a fortnight, and on the nights 

 of May 14th and loth we had 5° of frost. — Wii. Cabe, near 

 UaHcltcsUr. 



Early Swabhs — Black Bees versus LiorniANs. — In the 

 kitchen garden of E. Koyd Rice, Esq., of Dane Court, in the 

 parish of Tilmanstouc, near Sandwich, Kent, there are three 

 stocks of bees, one of which sent out a swarm on the 8th of 

 last month, another on the 11th, and the third on or before 

 the 19th. In my own, and the neighbouring parishes Several 



swarms issued on the IGth, 17th, 18th, and l!)th, and again on 

 the '23rd, but the weather daring the whole month has been 

 most unfavourable for swarming, a strong easterly wind pre- 

 vailing, which occasionally reduces the thermometer to 32° at 

 night. — SiBERi-ox-TnE-\Vou>. 



A TREBLE SWARM OF BEES. 



On the 20th of Jlay, three first swarms belonging to a cot- 

 tager in this neighbourhood (Taunton), all came off, pitched 

 together, and were all put into a largo ordinarj- straw hive, 

 with a hole in the top. Upon lifting the hive in the evening 

 we found it more than full of bees, so that in placing it on the 

 stand, many were compelled to crawl outside. The owner was 

 much alarmed, and knew not what steps to take ; but after a 

 little persuasion, I induced him to dress another hive, remove 

 the stopper from the other, and place the newly-dressed hive 

 upon it. I visited them on the following day, and several 

 times since, when I fully expected to have seen large numbers 

 killed, instead of which I have not been able to discover one 

 dead bee, but find them all working well together, and in a 

 few weeks hope to remove the super well tilled with new 

 honey. — Lcice Tlllet. 



TOMTITS EATERS OF BEES. 



The question as to whether the tomtit, alia-t the " Hamp- 

 shire bee-eater," is an eater of bees or not, having been dis- 

 cussed for some weeks in your columns, I beg to submit to 

 your notice my own experience. In the beginning of the pre- 

 sent spring, or rather when the weather became hot enough 

 for the working of the bees, a tomtit was constantly lurking 

 about the bee-liives, andfeedingupon those unfortunates which 

 had become entangled in some old spider webs, or from some 

 accident were lying on the ground. It is, therefore, my opinion 

 that the tomtit is only an eater of bees while they are in a 

 helpless state. — Willum C. Anderson. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Wine from UsitiPE Grapes (ir. /i.l.--Bruise nnd press the Grapes, To 

 every gallon of the prape jiiice add a gallon of pure water. Take the bruised 

 pTftpes from the press and restore them to the mash-tub, and bmiso 

 thoroughly aijain ; then add as much water as you got pure juice from it 

 at the first pressing; let it stand for an hour or two and press again; 

 then put the Uquid into your cask with the first pressing and the water 

 which you have added to it. To every gallon of thim mixture add three 

 pounds of the best white sugar; let this be dissolved in the water before 

 you add it to the grape juice, and give it a thorough fermentation. Keep 

 your cask full, if potisible, and let the yeasty substance work over at the 

 bung, for this is the best way to get rid of the excels of mucilage, takiDg 

 care to fill up the cask frequently with the must saved for that purpose. 

 If, however, you have not a sufficient quantity of must to fill your cask 

 and supply the waste from the bung, the following method may bo 

 adopted ; — Take strips of cotton cloth, half an Inch wide and 12 or 10 

 inches long, wet them and dip them in flowers of sulphur, light them at 

 one end and put them into the cask, one end being secured at the bong; 

 when the ca&k is filled wth the vapours of the sulphur, i>i)ur in the must 

 until the cask is about one-third full; put in the bung and roll the cask 

 until the vapour is thoroughly mixed with the wino : repeat the process 

 until all the must is in the cask ; this will throw down the mucilage and 

 colouring matter in which is contained the ofTensive taste and odour ; «^ 

 soon as this takes place, which will be in two or three days, draw oflf 

 tho must carefully, clean out the cask, replace the wine, and proceed 

 with the fermentation as above. 



Unfertile Spanish Eggs (A Daunted B»'/7innT).— Yon are having 

 neighbouTB* fare. We have twenty instances of the same failure, and 

 cannot account for it. There is nothing wrong in the ages of your fowls. 

 Spanish have done worse than any other fowls this vear ; but as one egg 

 of your hens was good, others should havo been the same. They may 

 have been chilled. Your fowls which peck off each other's feathers arc 

 feverish. Give them lettuce leaves, and remove for a time the cockwfaoB* 

 face is pecked. The size of the egg has nothing to do with the size of 

 tho chicken. 



POULTRY MARICET.— Jink 4. 



Wk have Iftlcly had the worst trade on record : nnd altbongb the 

 supply is by no inennR larce, prices are hardly maintained. Our young 

 poultry is evidently ail sulTcring from the cold easterly wind. 



8. d. 8. d 



8. d. 8. i. 



Large Fowls 4 to 4 6 Gninea Fowls OtoO 



Smaller do S „ S 6 i Partridges U 0„0 



Fowls 0„0 I Hares 0„0 



ChickenB 1 9„ 2 I Rabbits 1 4 „1 5 



GosUng,s 6 0„6 6 I WUd do 8„0 !t 



Ducklings 2 ., 2 6 ^ Pigeons 8 „ » 



