October 21, 1869. I 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



333 



same causes, but I think this variety more nervous thaa the 

 rest. 



The PiTAOOKiANS I will now speak of as in some respects the 

 same — that is, as being a large animal, yet not at all the same 

 variety. They are at times spoken of as Flemish Giants, Earn 

 Rabbits, &c. They attain from 15 lbs. to 18 lbs. weight, 

 and are of two shades — grey, and the so-called cream shade. 

 The ears are long, and not decidedly either lops or erect, but 

 seem to hang loosely. The disposition of this Eabbit is kind, 

 and I have often seen a small Dutch buck chase a Patagonian 

 one round the enclosed court-yard and try to provoke the 

 " giant," compared to itself, to fight. The does are not the most 

 prolific, and I do not generally obtain from them more than 

 three litters in a year. The Belgian Hare Eabbit doe and 

 Patagonian buck produce some excellent specimens for the 

 table, and when kept for this purpose I know of no Babbits 

 more profitable. 



I shall, ere long, say a little about the Dutch, Himalayan, 

 and Silver Greys. — Chables Eayson, York Mmmt, Prestwich, 

 nfdr Jilaiichestfr. 



THE HONEY H^VT.VEST IN NORTHUMBERLAND. 

 Tnis year has been somewhat peculiar with respect to bees 

 in Northumberland. Swarming commenced in the end of May ; 

 such swarms going on rapidly threw off what we call virgin 

 swarms, several top swarms throwing off two and three each. 

 Here a virgin swarm is thought remarkable ; hence, this season 

 is considered an extraordinary one in this respect, and also 

 for fly-away swarms and queens which could not fly at all, and 

 yet we have not on the whole an average number of swarms. 

 A sudden change in the weather at the beginning of June 

 seemed to put a stop to swarming. Hence we have more than 

 an average number of old stocks nnswarmed, and many swarms 

 too late to do well, yet the flower honey harvest has been good. 

 Good supers have been taken oS non-swarmers and early top 

 swarms, and about an average number of hives were sent to 

 the moora at the end of July and beginning of August. Two 

 weeks of cold weather put an end to the weakest hives, and 

 considerably lightened the whole ; then for nine or ten days we 

 had a grand bloom on the heather and weather unprecedentedly 

 fine, but the time was too short, for the result is, that more 

 than half the hives on the moors are lighter than when taken 

 there, and ten per cent, of the bees dead. Those which have 

 entered the supers have mostly only a few leaves ef half-filled 

 and unsealed comb, emblematical of good intentions being cut 

 short by the rains which fell when the heather was in its 

 prime. I have heard of a few supers weighing 20 lbs. and one 

 30 lbs., nicely sealed. These I set down for the hives which, 

 being strong, filled their supers from the weak ones unable to 

 defend their scanty store. — Geoege Wilson, Wlialtmi. 



SPUPJOUS HONEY. 



I WAS glad to read in the number of October 14th the letter 

 from Mr. A. Petligrew, of Manchester, on " Spurious Honey." 

 I am sorry to say that the practice of filling up honeycomb for 

 sale and exhibition is very common, both in England and 

 Scotland. 



I have been a bee-keeper nearly twenty years, and I never 

 could accomplish the massive weights of supers and bell-glasses 

 that I see exhibited. The situation of my apiary is perhaps 

 as good as any in liincaehire ; it is on the borders of the river 

 Tame, and there is no better land in the county. I know a 

 person who exhibits honey, and who has taken several prizes 

 with large bell-glasses weighing upwards of 40 lbs., and sup- 

 posed to be gathered in a district which I consider one of the 

 worst in the county, and he presumes to make people believe 

 that bees can gather honey from land poisoned by the smoke 

 of large towns, and amongst manufactures of the most filthy 

 kind, such as chemical works, and where others to my know- 

 ledge have been compelled to remove their works owing to the 

 intolerable stench. I say if bees can do well in a locality 

 like that, they can do better than mine in a healthy neigh- 

 bourhood. My bees this season have made up my nine bar- 

 and-frame hives to about 30 lbs., and given me a bell-glass of 

 from 5 to 10 lbs. each. I could not get more from them. 



I am very glad Mr. Pettigrew is exposing the system of sell- 

 ing sugar and water instead of honey. I have often doubted 

 the purity of large glasses, but I should be very sorry to charge 

 anyone with so dishonest an action. I should like the com- 



mittees of our poultry shows to offer prizes for bees and 

 honey ; their doing so would be the means of encouraging bee- 

 keeping, which would be a profit to the working man at a very 

 little outlay. Consider the tons of honey lost upon the heather 

 from the want of bees being taken to it to gather the pollen. I 

 know several working men who by their bees and honey make 

 the rent of their house and something to spare. At the 

 Middleton Show this year there were nine entries of bees and 

 honey, and this department of the exhibition was an attraction 

 to many. The first year I was judge of bees there, we had 

 only two entries, but the number has increased year by year. 

 The first prize this year was £3 for the best collection of bees 

 in the hive, and £1 for the best collection of honey, — South 

 Lakcashibe Bee-keepeb. 



PtEGICIDE. 



I WISH to ask my brother apiarians if they have ever met 

 with a similar misfortune to that which has just befallen me. 



Being about to join two hives of bees and wishing to select 

 the best queen of the two, I proceeded to find them. Having 

 secured No. 1, I placed her with a few workers in a small box. 

 I then found No. 2, and as I was taking her off the comb I 

 dropped her into the hive ; the bees immediately set upon and 

 killed her. I then, after an absence of only five minutes, 

 placed No. 1 on the alighting-board of her own hive ; she was 

 also seized upon, and although I at once got her away from her 

 disgraceful people, she also died in about ten minutes. 



The supposition might be, that I had changed queens, but 

 this I am quite positive I did not do, as queen No. 2 was just 

 over her own hive when I dropped her into it, and, of course, 

 had not left them half a minute. Can anyone account for 

 this ? Only a day or two back I introduced a Ligurian, kindly 

 sent to me by a friend, and she was at once accepted without 

 the slightest manifestation of resentment. Of course, after 

 this experience I shall never attempt to return a queen until 

 after a few hours' absence. — T. B. H. 



[We should fancy that in both these cases the regioidal 

 attacks were initiated by robber bees, which at this season seem 

 to be constantly on the alert for plunder the moment a hive is 

 opened, or an operation attempted. It is certainly very unusual 

 for bees to attack their queen after a brief absence. The only 

 similar instance which we remember to have seen recorded, 

 was related by Mr. Woodbury, in page 366 of the third voluma 

 of our new series.] 



QUEEN CELLS IN AUTUMN. 



I DROVE two stocks of boes a fortnight ago and put them 

 together, taking the best of the combs, and fixing the others 

 in a frame hive. I have since been feeding them to make up 

 weight, and the other day took off' the fastenings from the 

 combs, when to my surprise I found on one of them five queen 

 cells with young queens in all, but no brood in any other comb. 

 Is it not unusual at this time of the year ? — M. A. 



[The construction of royal cells at this season shows that 

 both queens were killed in uniting the bees. As no young 

 queen can now be impregnated owing to the want of drones, 

 the survivor must be removed and a fertile queen substituted, 

 or the stock will inevitably come to grief.} 



NEW PUBLICATION. 



The Animal World : A Monthli/ Advocate of Humanity. No. 1. 

 Oct. 1, 1869. Price Twopence. 

 We welcome most heartily the above new publication. It is 

 just to our taste, and likely to promote kindness to animals, 

 and prevent cruelty. " The Animal World " is published by 

 the Koyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 

 a Society which since its foundation in 1824 hns done an in- 

 finite deal of good by the prosecution of persons guilty of 

 flagrant acts of cruelty, and also has prevented iriuch e^il by 

 the fact of its existence being known, for it has been a terror 

 to the evildoer. The costermongers, the donkej-keepers, the 

 goat-drivere, have been taught that they cannot tteat ciuelly 

 their animals with impunity. But it is not enoiiuh to puni&k 

 the cruel, it is necessary to train the young to kinJness. A 

 child will tear off the wings of a fly ; a boy, or gill ains ! as we 

 have known, will torture young birds ; and thoroughly bad hoys 

 will ceaselessly pelt with' stones poor stray dogs. Then there 



