46 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ January 14, 1875. 



I went on for some time in the old style nntil I saw a copy of 

 The Joursal of Horticulture, and then I found that bee- 

 keeping was carried out scientifically. 



I obtained an introduction to our late and lamented friend 

 Mr. Woodbury, and of course I must have some of his hives. I 

 then got hold of Nutt'a work on bees. Certainly my apiary would 

 not be complete without one of his hives, so I bought one with its 

 " pavilion of Nature." This led me to read Huber, for whom I 

 have the greatest esteem as a writer, and I must say that of all 

 the hives of wood I like the Huber the best ; but my Hu>ber hive 

 is somewhat modified, it is not the Huber proper. The little 

 alteration I have made I think an improvement. In the Wood- 

 bury there is sometimes a difficulty in drawing up the frames, 

 which there is not in the Huber ; and, again, when you take out 

 a frame of the W^oodbury you leave a vacant space, but in the 

 Huber you can contract or expand the hive at your pleasure to 

 what size you like. 



I have the Woodbury glass observatory hive with nine bars, 

 and I must coafess I would much rather have glass than wood ; 

 there is no moisture in it if you will take off the top and put 

 on the quilt to prevent the steam from condensing. 



I have also the globular-shaped hive, with which I took the 

 first prize at Manchester last year. I promised that I would let 

 the readers of The Journal of Horticulture know how it had 

 done this season. I think I told your readers that I put a swarm 

 into it last season, but it being late it did not do well, and was 

 not filled with comb when I took it to the Manchester Show. 

 It passed through the winter well, and I had a swarm from it 

 about the second week in June and a cast in eleven days after, 

 and it is now in first-rate order, very full of bees and liiely to 

 do well next year. So you see it is rather better than a toy and 

 only fit for exhibition purposes. 



I have now twelve stocks all right for the winter, but only one 

 of Pettigrew's 18-inch, which is very heavy and is the best 

 stock I have in my garden, and I shall not have any straws less 

 than IS inches. 



I still keep, and shall continue to keep, the Woodbury, Huber, 

 and Nntt's hives, but only for ornament, as I do my unicomb. 



I have had a good season both in honey and swarms, most of 

 the stocks having swarmed twice. I very seldom take honey out 

 of the hives, only use supers and leave the rest for the bees. _ 



Now that the show of bees, &c., at the Crystal Palace is a 

 thing of the past, I hope the success the managers have had will 

 induce them to go on. But I should advise them to remove the 

 show from place to place ; say in 187.5 let it be in Manchester or 

 Birmingham, or any place they think would take it up. The 

 Manchester people intend holding another next year upon a 

 much larger scale, but to make it attractive the bees should be 

 at work. I am glad to see that agricultural societies are now 

 beginning to take up the encouragement of bee-keeping. The 

 Manchester and Liverpool Agricultural Society, at their Show 

 held at Staleybridge last year, gave prizes for bees and honey. 

 The bees were at work three days in the show yard. — South 

 Lancashire Bee-keeper. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Broughtv Fkhry Poultey Show. — Mrs. \V. Chalmers, Hallyburton, 

 Conpar ADgus, iofonns as that Bhe was awarded the cup for the best Dorking 

 cock. 



Dorking Cock Dying Suddenly (J. E. Af.).— Blood- vessel mptured on 

 the brain. 



Fowls with Ducks (P(yrtcuUis). — One reason why Ducks and fowls do 

 better apart is that the former delight in elush, and fowls like a dry place. 

 Fowls like a hard surface, and Ducka like a soft muddy one. A Duck may be 

 as tiltby as possible iu appearance, but a few minuteH in the water enable it 

 to come perfect in plumage and perfectly clean. If a fowl gets its legs cased 

 in mud (especially if feather-legged), and the tips of wings and tail draggled, 

 it is a long process for it to get diy. Fifty fowls will drink from a vessel 

 without spilling a drop. Two Ducks will scatter the water all over the place. 

 We quite approve of giving the fowls part of the cow house. It is the only 

 artificial heat we would use. Your pullets will continue to lay. The hens 

 will lay in six weeks. The Ducks will not lay yet. Give them their liberty. 

 They only fatten when they are shut-up, and that is often followed by loss of 

 plumage. 



Price of Carriers and Almond Tumblers (A Novice). — We do not 

 thick it right to recommend by name those who have birds for sale, but the 

 best thing you can do is to write to some of those gentlemen who are famous 

 for taking prizes in these varieties, and whose advertisements appear in our 

 columns. 



What Bantams to Keep {A Suhifcrihfr). — "■Wiltshire Rector" is 

 much gratified that his remarks in his New Year's article have pleased you. 

 He recommends you to get a sitting of Black Bantam eggs from some exhi- 

 bitor. As you already keep fowls you are sure to haye a broody hen in the 

 spring or early summer. Black Bantams are hardy and healthy, and lay well 

 and sit well. Then there is no cumb-cuttiug — dubbing as it is called — of the 

 cocks, as when Game Bantams are kept, and this dubbing always shocks 

 little girls. If yon breed the Bantams early in the spring they will naturally 

 be larger. But they are, in order to keep them small, bred in early summer. 

 The place you have and subsoil wuuld do well f^tr Blacks, or you might have 

 a little wooden house and wired- in run for them, near the house, as they 

 would be pets for a child, and are best near at hand and most enjoyed. 



Belgian Hare and Himalayan E-V-bbits {T. if. iV.).—Pntthem together 

 about four o'clock in the afternoon, and leave them together till the middle 

 of the nest day. The age is quite sufficient. We have no doubt this will be 

 found satisfactory. 



British Bee Association {K. TT.).— Write to the Secretary, Mr. J. 

 Hunter, Eaton Rise, Faling, London, W. 



BEE-KEEPING IN RUSSIA. 



[Translated from the German, "Itussia in the Nineteenth Century." By 

 Von Th. von Lengenteldt.] 



Bee-reeping is every where practised in Russia, more especi- 

 ally in Little Russia and New Russia. In the province of 

 Pultawa (population 2,000,000), there are 500,000, and in that of 

 Yekarterinoslaw (population 105,000), 400,000 hives. In Western 

 Russia it chiefly flourishes iu the province of Kowne where the 

 Tchmude tribe are principally engaged in bee-keeping; and in 

 Eastern Russia the Finnic tribes are enthusiastic bee-keepers. 

 In Siberia, the pursuit is mostly carried on about the Altai 

 Mountains, and in Caucasia by the tribes of the Meretinzes and 

 Grusinians. In South Russia artificial bee hives are used, 

 whilst in North Russia the bees are kept in a natural manner in 

 the forests. 



In former times Poland was celebrated for its bee culture, and 

 is still now to some extent in the province of Lublin, having 

 everywhere else fallen into decay. The reason why bee-keeping 

 is so industriously carried on in Russia is twofold. First, be- 

 cause the peasants use honey instead of sugar; and secondly, 

 because wax tapers to the value of 1,200,000 rubles (nearly 

 i,'l,825,000) are required for the churches. Buschen states the 

 quantity of honey annually produced in European Russia to be 

 600,000 to 700,000 lbs. (9,643 to 11,250 tons), and a proportionate 

 quantity of wax. — John Hunteb, 5, Eaton Rise, Ealing. 



TO OUR readers. 



The great length of the Lristol Show report and large 

 amount of other communioations compel us, although we 

 have doubled onr Supplement, to omit until next week reports 

 of Fakenham, Paisley, Baildon, Nenthead, and other Exhi- 

 bitions, which are already in type. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Camden Sqdabe. Londos. 



Lat. sr 32- 40" N. ; Long. 0' 8' 0" W. j Altitude, 111 feet. 



REMARKS, 

 fith. — A warm, bright, pleasant day throughout. 



7tii.— Bark in the morning, rather better in the middle of the day ; dark after- 

 noon, and wet night. 

 8th.— Rather foggy morning; dai'k and dull all day, though not very foggy, 

 yth.— Fair morning, and until noon, but then dull, though the night was 



fair. 

 10th. — Fair early, but very dark here all day, and especially so about noon. 

 11th.— Rather dark all day, except between 12 and 2 P.M., when there was a 



little sun. 

 12th,— a\ damp, dark, uncomfortable day, frequent slight showers, but not 

 much rain falling. 

 A rise of 8 in the mean 9 A.M. temperature, and of 10'" in the mean mini- 

 mum since last week. The weather, however, has been extremely damp and 

 uncumfortable.— G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— Januaey 13. 

 A FAIR supply but very little business doing among home productions. 

 Imports are large, including hea\-y supplies of Broccoli from the Channel 

 Islands and France. There is also a large arrival of fresh St. Michael I'iues, 

 and Shaddocks and Pommeloes from the ^Vest Indies. Potato trade dull, 

 except for superior qualities, which bear a small proportion to the bulk this 

 season. 



FRDIT. 

 d. B. d. 8. d 



B. d. 



Apples i sieve 1 Oto 1 



Apricots doz. 



Chemea %*lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 10 20 



CurrantH 1 sieve 



Black do. 



FiKS doz. 



FUberta lb. 1 1 



Cobs lb. 10 1 



Gooseberries quart 



Grapes, hothouse.... lb. 4 8 



Lemons **■ 100 8 12 



Melons each 10 8 



Mnlberriea ^ lb. Otoo 



Nectarines doz. 



OranRea ^100 4 



Peaches doz. 



Pears, kitchen doz. 2 



desaert doz. 2 



PineApples lb. 2 



Plums t sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb, 



Strawberries ^Ib, 



, Walnuts *.. bushel 10 



ditto ¥-100 1 



10 



