158 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



( Aagnst 19, 186l>. 



at the top. Tbe yonng ones die almost as soon as they leave 

 the old one. — E. G. D. 



Yonng Rabbits when eipht weeks old pass through a kind of 

 moalt, and to tiiem it is the mo°t critic<tl time of their lives. 

 They should be left with the doe nntil that event ia over — say 

 nine or ten weeks, then remove all but one of the smaller 

 ones to dry up ;he milk uf the doe, and feed the removed ones 

 upon bread and milk, with crashed oats as a dry food. A little 

 malt culms mixed with the oats will be beneficial. A few 

 common peas Eoaked for twelve hours are good — say twice 

 ii-week. All green food should be given dry, as the damp gives 

 the Eibbits the "rot." The hatches should be 2 feet from 

 tbe ground, dry and warm, and closed at ni<;ht, to protect the 

 Kibbits from the damp air. Clean the hutch well with a brush 

 and a solution of disinfecting powder, then sprinkle with saw- 

 dust and ashes mixed. Qat straw and old hay may he given 

 freely, bnt new hay is not good, as the Itabbits become swollen 

 after eating it. I have cared old Babbits of these convulsions 

 by giving half a grain of camphor crushed in a teaspoonful of 

 warm water. As a rule, most diseases may be prevented by 

 the feeding and care bestowed. — C. Rayson.] 



LIGURIANS IN JERSEY. 



Pekhaps the doings of my Ligorians in this island may 

 interest some of your readers. Last year I purchased of 

 Messrs. Neighb jur a black stock with an Alpine queen at the 

 head, this I brought over safely in Jane, the bees suffering bnt 

 little from their confinement for two days. Thus far I was 

 successful, but owing to the long drought they made very 

 little honey after their ariival, fcr they consumed about 11 lbs. 

 of sugar daring the winter, bat by careful feeding they survived, 

 and in May threw ofl' a very heavy swarm, which chose a flat 

 wall covered by a peach tree for its resting place. As many of 

 the bees got behind the branches it was a very difficult matter 

 to dislodge them ; however, they were safely housed in one of 

 Neighbour's improved cottage hives. The stock hive threw off 

 a second and third swarm, which were united and sold. In due 

 time Neighbonr'a hive was eupered, and after some hesitation 

 the bees began to work ; but my hopes of a good super were 

 soon disappointed, for they ceased to work, and on Jaly 'Jth 

 threw off a virgin swarm, weighing 5 lbs. As the hive was still 

 strong with bees it seemed belter not to return it,' so I hived it 

 in an old straw hive pro tern. 



I did not succeed in obtaining another kive for 6ve days, bnt 

 having secured one, I transferred the bees ; bat the Woodbury 

 did not suit their taste, for next day they decamped and settled 

 ia a neighbour's garden. Having hived them again, I fixed the 

 comb they had previously constructed iotothe Woodbury frames, 

 and in the evening put them in again, but next day they 

 decamped again. This time I put them into an improved 

 cottage hive, but this did not suit them, for they decamped out 

 of that and wett off to a deserted hive some 300 yards away. In 

 the evening I lifted it from the " stance " to bring it away, and 

 it then became evident that the wax moth was in it, so I deter- 

 u^ined to rout them oat of it. Accordingly, in conjunction with 

 another apiarian (one who can claim the honour of having first 

 introduced the Ligurians hert I, we took possession of the queen ; 

 we then caged ber on the top of the Vv'oodbury, so that she could 

 communicate with her subjects. This was done about noon, so 

 by evening they had quite settled down, as I thought ; but next 

 day they made two attempts to decamp, bnt finding the queen 

 was not with them they soon returned, and making a virtue of 

 necessity they set to work, so forty-eight hours after their last 

 attempt to decamp I let the queen loose. A second swarm 

 followed this most refractory one, but was returned to the 

 parent hive. The queen which headed the second swarm was 

 quite dark-coloured, whilst the mother is a beautifully-marked 

 Ligurian, and breeds pure Lignrians. Is this nsual ? — Cast.vd. 



DRIVING BEES. 



Mr. Fbascis Chapsias wishes to know, were he to drive bees 

 into empty hives during the present mouth, if Ihey would live 

 through the winter — that is, of course if they were fed : also 

 the best mode of feeding them. Tbe people in his neighbour- 

 hood give common brown sugar, and say the bees are fond of 

 eating little bird.i, such as sparrows, i^c. 



[You should drive the inhabitants of two or three hives into 

 one, and then feed them with simple sjrap made of lump 



sngar in the proportion of three parts sngar to two of water 

 (by weight), by means of an inverted pickle-botlle which must 

 be filled every evening, nntil they attain a nett weight of at 

 least 18 lbs. You may in this way form stocks from condemned 

 bees which will probably survive the winter ; but you would do 

 much better to utilise the refuse pieces of worker combs, as well 

 as the bees, by means of frame hives, in the manner detailed 

 by Mr. Woodbury in Nos. 35G, 357, 358, and 3G9 of oar JTew 

 Series. Brown sugar ia inferior to lamp sugar as food for beea, 

 and the idea of their being comivorons has. been completely 

 disproved.] 



LIGURIAN BEES. 

 I POSSESS three hives of Ligurians, one of which has, bow- 

 ever, nnfortunately, become hybridised. The original Ligurian 

 qaeen is still alive, but as she is at the head of a swarm which 

 came off lately, and one which has given me mnch trouble to- 

 settle, I am afraid to disturb the bees by taking her away ; 

 moreover, it is too late in the season to deprive a hive of its 

 queen. The hvbridised stock is in a Woodbury hive, so there- 

 would be bat little difficalty in introducing a pure queen if I. 

 could procure one. If the hybridised stock be left alone, I am 

 afraid of the hybridised drones next year uniting with the porfr 

 queens from my other stocks. — Cantab. 



[If the hybridised queen be, as we imaginr, pnre-bred, she 

 will breed pure drones in spite of the cross. Mr. Woodbury, of 

 Mount Kadford, Exeter, will, upon application being made to 

 him, put you in the way of obtaining pure Italian queens at a 

 cheap rate in the autumn.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Nettles akd Yocsg Tcckets (E. R. P.).— Wo do not believe Btiogiog 

 nettles are iitjarions to any Itiod of pooltry; we encourage tbem as 

 ebelter for our chicken-?, and they live among tbeoi. In many p-irtB they 

 give nettles chopped up and luised with meal, wbich i3 an excellent 

 food. 



Black Hasetbchs {Black Bamhurnh). — We consider the birds pnre. 

 We can only add, we advise yoQ to breed from the fanUless birds only. 

 Tijere is, says an old proverb, " a skeleton in every hou-e," and tho&e who 

 know tbe secrets can tell you if they will, that the uniformity of a yard is 

 seldom or never attained without persevering slaughter of the offendtrs io 

 colour. 



DouBLX Feather i^ Faktail's Tail tFrank Diron). — A double feather 

 is not uncommon in the centre of the tail of a Fantall PiReon. We have 

 seen several, and bredoue so ornamented last season. This double feather 

 is less common in other Pigeons ; but we have seen a Pouter cock with 

 one. It ie no recommendation, though not a diBqualincation in a prize 

 Ust. 



Castle Eden Pocxtet Show (tv. J. JFitlon).— It often happens that 

 awards have to be corrected, and that prize cards are wrongly afiOxod. 

 You had better write to the Judge. Our report was sent in manuscript 

 by a private correspondent. 



SiLKwoBMS (A Searmtrtsa). — Unless you Lave a pood quantity of silk 

 reeled as required in commerce, it is useless to try to sell it ; but if yea 

 have cocoons unreeled I will bid yon a price for them if of good qna'aty. — 

 Leonard Habman, jcn.. Old Ca«on, A'yrirttr/i. 



Dn-miio A Stock fA Ti/ro).— There arc not two qnecos ; and if yon 

 attempt to make two stocks out of one in the manner proposed you will 

 certainly be disappointed. 



Weight op Coub {H. A.). — A sqttare foot of new and clean worker comb 

 of medium thickness weighs when empty about S\ ozs. The quantity of 

 actual wax in a comb does not increase with age. The yellow dust wbich 

 falls from your combs consisla of Acari or mites, wbich prey on the pollco 

 which they contain. We have often used comb infected with these mites, 

 and never found them produce any injurious effects. Wo should not, 

 therefore, be afraid to stoca the hive with driven bees. 



Bees not Usixo Scpers (filtiir.ton) — Wo cannot tell why your bees 

 refused to worl: in the supers, unless you put them on too l.ite, or pcseibly 

 did not wrap up the glasses sufficiently to keep them warm. At any rate 

 it is now quite too late to expect them to be occupied. We find that 

 there is stiU a good deal of brood in our hives, and wo preaume also in 

 yoTirs. which it seems a great pity to destroy ; on the other band, we have 

 little doubt that the storo of honey is rapidl'y dirainisbiiig. There will t»e 

 less risk of a quarrel if you drive the inhabitants of both hives one after 

 the other into an empty one, and then induct tbe whole into the hive 

 which they are permanently to occupy. 



POULTRY MARKET.— AuorsT IH. 



We are falling into tbe sere and yellow leaf of au'uran, and the fra<lo 

 is becoming nominal, while tbe supply increases. Wo ahall have sorry 

 returns for some time to come. 



L^rpe Fowls S 



Smaller do 2 



Chickens 1 



Qoslings 



Dncks 2 



Grouse 



d t. a 



C to 3 6 



Geese 6 



Pigeons 



Ouinea Fowls 



Hares 



Rabbits 1 



Wild do 



d s. 

 to 6 

 8 

 



