u 



JOUEHAL OF HORTICULTOBE AND OOTTAQK GAKDENEB. 



( July IS, laes. 



everylluDg. If, llierefoie, he elop np Ibe enlrance to the tipper 

 hive, and tben blow wormwood emuke in at the bottom o( the 

 tree stamp, be will ver; likely tiod that the bees will ascend, 

 and, if be is lucky, the queen will be amongst those euteiiog 

 the straw bivo. Ue may, perhaps, expedite matters by boring 

 a hole about a foot above the entrance, when the bees have 

 ascended some diiit;iuce, and so fi>IInw tbem up, taking care to 

 keep in the nnr. At best he will find it a long ami troiible- 

 Eome operation, and, perhaps, it may not be Buccessful aftirall ; 

 bnt, at least, it bo then dectroy the tree stump, he will have 

 got rid of a good number of bees, for some are sure to ascend, 

 which will be as well fur him, as the operation will not make 

 Uiem good-tempered. 



If bo seoare his bees in a hive, be most not move tbem 

 away now, aukss he first send them for a fortnight two miles 

 c0, or they will almost all return to look for the tree stump. 

 Be might block np the entrance to the stump, and, cutting it 

 down to abont a foot, leave the hive there till, nay October, 

 otherwise, as I mentioned before, move them two miles r0. 

 He mnst also not forget that it is now too late this season for 

 the bees to gather their winter supply, so he must give it them. 



— USKBY DE BoMEBIIN. 



FAILURES IN BEE-KEEPING— SWARMING 

 \-ERsrs SUPERING. 



To reply to " A Kent BEE-KEErER " satitfactorily, one ought 

 to know much more about the locality, its honey harvest, &c., 

 than is possible for any stranger. I should say that his resi- 

 dence must be exceedingly unfavourable for bee-keeping. One 

 fact seems plain — viz., that the harvest is seldom good enough 

 to allow bim to share in it, in which case, probably, snpering 

 would be dangerous, unless in exceptional seasons ; and as 

 regards swarming, it seems as though he should turn all hie 

 endeavours to the attainment of early swarms, or none at all. 

 This sounds comfortless advice ; but there are places, happily 

 bat few, where bees never will furni&h much more than auiuse- 

 ment. Has "A Eidnt Bee-keeper" tried different positions 

 for his bees ? For there are sometimes subtle influences at 

 work which we hardly perceive, and which decimate bees very 

 <inickly. For instance, a draught of air, not tiispected till its 

 coDsequences were teen, has been known to destroy all the 

 hopes centred in a stand of bees. 



First swarms, as a rule, have an old queen, all others a y mng 

 one. The fact of the old queen gtiag with the swarm, of 

 couree makes a break in the breeding, but not suUicient to in- 

 jure a good hive. Later swarms, however, often do great mis- 

 cJiifcf. 



Lastly, as regards obtaining a succession of young queens, 

 it can only be done with certainty ifi a hive with moveable 

 frames, except by stupefjing or driving. — Henry de Bomesiin. 



STARLINGS WHITE. 



1 BAvj! caught in my garden, in Warwicksbire, two young 

 Starlings quite white. The parents, which are feeding tbem 

 in the cage where I have put them, are of the usual colour. Is 

 it not an unusual circumstance for these birds to be white ? I 

 cannot hear of any like them having been seen before. One of 

 tbem has, I am sorry to t^ay, met with an accidental death, and 

 I have sent it to be stutYed. The other seems well. I should 

 be glad of some hints about the proper food for it after the old 

 buds forsake it. — Oknituologist. 



fit is a very unusuiil circumstance, we knew only of one in- 

 stance of the kind. For food, give meat (raw beef is best) cut 

 in small pieces, bread snaked in water, small worms, and occa- 

 sionally bard-boiled egg chopped up, ka. — Ei>s ] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



BooR8.—TLe Poultry-keepers' ManUiil which you can bavo free by post 

 from our offic • Wr 7s. lOd. ; and " Bee-keepiog for the Mnny," price 4d, or 

 free by pObt, Hd. 



BocnAKs Vluckini} Bach Otuek (E.).— Are yoor fowb in confine- 

 ment? If thoy are, tbo t>lumaf{e its bciuR eaten by thcmbelves. Von will 

 be fortunate if the practice is in its Infancy, and you c»n check it by 

 removing the offender. We sh(<a1d consibn hiui or'her to the fctock-pot. 

 The fowls might give it up for a time, bai we Lolicv« they would tahu to 

 it agoia, " On nrUnt toujour^ d eee pttmUrs autoars.'' Wo believe, how- 

 over disposed they niiiy secm lo bth«v»5 well, iheir conversion would bo 

 like that ol a Now Zealandcr, "teinpor.Try, very temporary " Wo have 

 one pen of Uondansalmo.t guiltless of feathers. They are epicures; aud 

 as one animal wishing another to nibblj nt s:>uic particular spot biles 



that spot on bis friend, so a lloudao hon will t tko Block of faer compinioB, 



and liiitljii^ A ]>roiuisirig yunoi^ fi:iither ou the bnck, she ^oes at it wHh ■ 

 rush, nnd, ha^int; tiwallowed it, [)at3 bcrsolf in position that her frle|kd 

 may do the aumc for her. 



Black Srisisii Hk.n's Chop bifixtsDED (T. W.).— We do not like year 

 fetdidg, Shut the hen up ; feed on oatmeal mixed etiff— very littlu at a 

 time. Kucd hor often. Lai horh^ve a amoll quautity of water throe timca 

 per d;iv. Sho must hive nouo by her. DUcontlauc abarps, bran, and 

 Inflinn raenl ; they blow the crop out. If you follow ibis vlon, bcr crop 

 will afebume its nsunl appearance in a few aaye. 



Indian Gamk Fowls (.Vofo). — Tho KcolinofeS of Iho leg^ is not in- 

 fecttunfl, bat wo bclicvo it incurable. Kl'l litm. It waa ftrbt introduced 

 into thfei country by the CochiQ«. Wo onty know tho Gallus gi^'anleub 

 by naiuf. Tho heaviest pure Juuftlo Fowl wo ever saw weiprhcd 5 lbs. 

 We have seen iSIalay fowls that wi^i^hcd from 10 Ibf. to 1'^ Ib^. each. Tbey 

 were not so handsome as the Jungle ; we do not think any galUixaceoab 

 bird can compare wilb it. 



Black East Indian Drchs (J/r-/*K\— These are Romr-timcs called tbc 

 Buenofi Ayruan, and even tho Labrador, and are Mack, with a Krccn metallic 

 lustre on tho feathers ; any brown or while fonthers ditniunlity ; even tht- 

 drake nirely attains to a weight of 5 lbs., and the Duck ia 1 lb. leas. Tbey 

 often pair, and 60 does tho Mu.'^k Duck, and this accounts for the complaint 

 of QiiftfTlili! cgps when two or more Ducks are pJnccd with a single drake. 

 The ti,';;8 are otUa smeared over with a slaty-coloured matter, buttbc egg- 

 shell is really u dull white ; they are thin-sbcllcd, and weigh about Sou. 



PiiEPAniNo Feathers {Il^nirij'f and .ffuiwciriyv). — " Whenever any 

 poultry ife to he plucked let thcpiuion and otherlarj»e featbfrs be separated 

 from those of the body; these latter are ti) be picked carefully, that sc 

 fle-h or skin may adhere to the roots of ihem, and are to bo put into the 

 appropriate bag, alter which tho Inrt^e ones are to he stripped from Ibc 

 qnills aud added to them. Ou the dity f llowinj; that ou ivhich the bread 

 oven may have bten used let tho hag of ftnthcrs ho placed in it to dry. 

 and kept there, always excepting, of cuur.ae, when the oven maybe wanted. 

 The bag it> to be occasionally burg out in the air on a tine windy day, 

 and beaten with a stick. As soou as there appears to be a sufficient 

 quantity of feathers for a pillow pmchase some ticking, aufi, having had 

 the case stitched round ou the wrong side with double * wbity brown ' 

 thread well waxed, lay it ou a tablo, and having procured some common 

 yellow bees' was (yellow soup will, however, be preferable), warm the wa:i, 

 and rub it all over the ticking on the ^^^ong title, in order to prevent the 

 dust and down of the feathers from coming through the fabric II 

 neither pillows nor bolsters should be required tho feathers can be pat 

 into a bed that may have become too emp'y. The Goose and Dack 

 fea hers should bo reserved for the best beds, and the 'cock and hen,' a$ 

 they are styled, are only tit for thoso that are inferior. It sometimee on- 

 ; furtunntely happens that feathers while in the bag contract a taint and 

 i putrid ?ct-nt; this proceeds from carelessness in plucking the poultry, 

 I whereby small portions of the flesh or skin are torn oflf, and adhere to the 

 I roots oi the quiUs. To remedy this uupleasant ciruumstance, and entirely 

 1 rej^t TC them to sweetness, let a copper of watt-r ho heattd, or to eave 

 trouble, make use of the soap wuter in which the clothes of a family 

 I wuBh have been boiled, and while the coppciis boiling dip the bag ol 

 I feathtis, tied tightly at tho neck, inloit; move them about with the 

 i clothes' slick to wash them thoroughly for about a minute: then with - 

 I draw the bag, squeeze it against the side by means of tho stick in order 

 ! to express the greater part of the water, and hung the bag in the ail', 

 i turning and shaking it sevtml times in the course of a few days. When 

 ; the f unthers f^el dry and light, and are free from scent, they may be re- 

 turned again to the oven, and kept aired for use." — {UouseXold EncycJo- 

 padia.) 



Sellitic, Honev (A Suhitcribcr).--Yon had better apply to Meesrs. 

 Neighbour & Sons, 127, High Uolbom, or uleeers. Fortnum & Mason, of 

 Piccadilly. 



Piping befobs the Ibsub op a Pbims Sv/abm [JVeit Si^folk Bet 

 kKcfirr) —Mr. Taylor ecems tot to have known that the old queen some- 

 times falls a victim cither to iin asHnult by a juvenile riva), or a regiddal 

 attack from her own subjects, in which case "piping" may well precede 

 tho i68\ie of a prime swarm. 



Dark Matter in Comu {J. R'. P.). — The dark matter in the cells of tjtit 

 bit of comb sent by yon is newly-gathered pollen, such as is to be found 

 abundantly in every prosperous hive. 



Uniting Bees (A Two-jicnr-olJ 5it6«cri6^r).— Hive the cast in an empty 

 skep in the usual manner, and as Foon as they are quiet, stand the bivi' 

 contaioiug the bees to which yua intend uniting them on a cloth spread 

 on tho sround, raising oue s-do an inch or two ty means of a stone or 

 block of wood ; then dash out the cluster of bees on the cloth close to thc 

 raiseil sideof the hive, into which they \t ill speedily run, nnd which eboold 

 he reslortd to its i>lace as soon as they have done so. You seem to ha\'>e 

 dime all that is possible to induce your bees to enter tho straw snper. 

 The middle of a t'lae day is the most favourable time for an examination. 

 Bees nre best imitcd in uutumu by being driven into thes-iiuc empty hive, 

 and Afterwards transferred to the furnished babltfttion, which they arc 

 .ntended permanently to occupy. 



Beer TonBiD (An Old SubKrlber). — Although we hardly profess U, 

 gtvo practical answers to such iiuestions, we bavo submitted your case to 

 a friend well versed in whut is c.iUcd homo brewing, aud h'j writes as as 

 follows :— " The prt-SL-ut spring bos been very prolific in thick beer ; some 

 entire brewings bavo refused to become clear, while in many instances a 

 cask or two have remained bo, aud the otbcrb became bnght. It is difil- 

 C-ilt to account for such a state of things, but it «ould appear that the 

 ex'erual wir must in somo way have hal greater acce?s to ttie contents of 

 iho casks thai arc tiubid, than to the others, and kept them in that cod- 

 ditioQ of muddiness in which they h f ' the vat. In gomial such beer 

 will come round of itself without much loss of qtiAlitT, provided acetous 

 fcrmcutatiou luis not get in : but if it has, I knuiv of «jo b.-tter way than 

 drawing it off, ad ling some boiU d sugar, returning it to th j cask, and in 

 a week or so patting in some finings, when it may be dri:^k off quickly, 

 but will then not be so good as the beer which turned c '., well at first. 

 D, howcv.-r, only vinous (cnneiiiution be going ou, the beer will come all 

 right i^nt after a lapse of three months ur more acetous fermentation has 

 probably taken pince. and I know of no belter remedy than the above. 

 The cause of the difference appears to bo a fori of mncUage left in at 

 ' the brewing, and which Is difficult to remove.'* 



