December 31, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTURB AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



GOl 



diet. All grain or food that is left in the feed-caps should be 

 removed before putting in a fresh supply. 



After having breathed on the feed and muesed it over, the 

 Rabbit, who is a dtiiiity animal, will not eat it, uulesB compelled 

 by hunger. The feed-cups should be washed often, for clean- 

 liness is one of the indispensable adjuncts to success. The 

 same cup should not be used for both wet and dry feed unless 

 thoroughly cleansed and dried after being used for the former. 



Does with young should be more liberally fed, and with more 

 nourishing diet than others. A slice of bread dipped in milk 

 is a dainty treat for them, as well as being very nutritious. 

 Also, young Rabbits after being weaned should be well tended 

 to ; kept clean and warm with plenty of food, and success is 

 quite certain. 



The key to success in Babbit-keeping is -. — ■ 



1, Dry food mainly. 



2, Frequent change of diet. 



3, Regularity in feeding. 



4, Cleanliness. 



5, Warmth in the winter season. 



6, Large and well-drained hutches. 



— P. J. Kelleb. — {American Fanciers' Journal.) 



EFFECTS OF COLD AND DAMP ON BEES. 



Upon a due appreciation of this subject much of the success 

 of bee-keepers depends. IE we consider bees as we should 

 human beings, we should not err much in the treatment and con- 

 struction of their domiciles. With proper ventilation, Lang- 

 stroth, the great American apiarian, says, " No amount of cold 

 that we ever have will injure bees ;" and as he records the 

 temperature of January, 1857, at 30' below zero, which is 

 never reached in England, I do not think we need fear. Much 

 has been said and written about the superiority of this or that 

 hive-covering, whether it shall be wood, straw, carpet-rush- 

 matting, or what not, but least of all is said about no covering 

 at all more than shelter from the rain, and yet it is quite 

 possible that this may be the most successful way after all. 

 We all know a cold dry winter is more healthy than a mild wet 

 one, even though the temperature of the latter should be many 

 degrees higher, and a large airy bedroom with window open is 

 preferable to a small close one with sand-bags and appliances to 

 keep the cold out. It building a cow-house, stable, or fowl- 

 house, should we reduce the cubical space by putting up a 

 ceiling ? No ; on the contrary, we should appreciate the better 

 ventilation that the uncovered rafters would give, even at the 

 expense of a lower temperature. Langatroth cites a case where 

 twenty hives were in a row, one suspended 20 inches from the 

 ground, without a bottom board ; the others in the usual con- 

 dition for wintering. The whole got very wet; the nineteen died, 

 and the one survived. In discussing this subject lately with one 

 of our most succesoful apiarians, he mentioned that a hire which 

 gave him a super of 76 Iba. weight this year was wintered without 

 a crown board, but covered with an empty super, and, as the 

 result showed, with advantage to the bees. Many bee-keepers 

 have, at the recommendation of a well-known bee-master, this 

 winter thrown away their crown boards and substituted a square 

 of carpet, supplemented by what one disgusted bee-keeper 

 styles "pile of marine stores to complete the quilt ;" the result 

 proves what waa long ago discovered in America — -the whole, 

 from internal and external moisture, becomes a rotten mouldy 

 mass, neither good for man nor bees, and the followers of this 

 new fashion are fast discovering this. True it is that bought 

 experience is most appreciated, but it is a pity that payment 

 should be made by the lives of the poor bees. — JouN Hcntee, 

 Baton liise, Ealing. 



DEPRESSION OF HIVE FRAMES. 

 In reply to your correspondent " Peechione," who seems to 

 question the possibility of a depression of a long frame from the 

 weight of bees and their combs, I can only say that I have not 

 a few instances in which the sinking is at least double of that 

 upon which I based my calculations. Had the weather allowed 

 an examination I would have given ■' Peechione " the exact 

 measurements. By re-reading my letter he will find that I 

 made no prediction, but gave simjjly the data and results of a 

 calculation, which in itself would have been hardly suited to 

 your columns, since it involves a knowledge of trigonometry and 

 natural philosophy ; but should " Peechione " desire it he can 

 have it of me privately. The hives in which these depressions 

 have occurred take Quinby frames, and were purchased of Mr. 

 Abbott, but have top bars thinner and less stable than those of 

 his last pattern. From experiments made I think the diffioalty 

 I have indicated as extremely likely, but the fact that combs are 

 occasionally built to the floorboard, as " Peechione " admits, is 

 in itself an all-sulficient reason for retaining the bottom rail unless 

 some considerable advantage is to be gained by abandoning it. 

 The idea that the comb from its formation would tend to support 

 the top bar, as " Peechione " asserts, is utterly erroneous, since 



the comb is generally commenced in the centre, and continues 

 by its growing weight to increase the sagging as the work pro- 

 gresses. 



"Peechione" asks me how the bottom rail assists ventila- 

 tion. The cluster in winter, if a bottom rail be used, does 

 not extend down to the floorboard, so the entering air passing 

 under the whole mass percolates through it, as it warms and 

 attains ascensive power. In full skeps and in the hives in ques- 

 tion the bees commonly touch the floorboard, and so would 

 obtain new supplies of air on the side of the cluster only. It 

 would take far more time and apcce than are at my disposal to 

 prove the disadvantage of this ; but ai I have already said, " ex- 

 perience has shown that good venti'ation beneath the oornbs 

 greatly aids in wintering," and all who are acquainted with 

 American bee literature wiU bear testimony to the corrobc ration 

 which this statement has received. 



" Peechione " puts a construction on the latter part of my 

 letter which it cannot be made to bear, and then informs me I 

 am in error ; but even had I stated what he seems to have sup- 

 posed the error is his, for he is evidently not aware that my 

 hive to which was awatded first prize, a most complete bar- 

 frame hive, at Crystal Palace Show, had at the time the Show 

 occurred been made twelve mouths, and that a swarm of beea 

 had built in it during the summer. They and their combs were 

 displaced in order that their house might be exhibited. 



" Peechione's " concluding sentence fairly puzzles me. He 

 says, " Strange to say his has the bottom rail." It appears to me 

 that it would be passing strange if it had not.— F. Cheshike. 



THE HONEY EXTRACTOR OR SLINGEE. 



I HAVE never bought, sold, owned, or used a slinger, but in the 

 hands of acquaintances I have seen the combs of a large franie 

 hive taken out, emptied, and replaced, without fuss or mess, in 

 a very few minutes; and at intervals during the three -days 

 Show at the Crystal Palace the operation was performed with 

 satisfaction before the gaze of thousands ; indeed it was wit- 

 nessed at the Palace by the gentleman to whom the instrument 

 used by Mr. Pettigrew belongs, who bought it then and there 

 for home use. I presume he would not have done this unless he 

 had been more satisfied than Mr. Pettigrew. I give the latter 

 gentleman credit for good faith in testing fairly, as far as the 

 materials at his command and the time of year would allow, but 

 these very conditions made the trial essentially a most unfair 

 one. No maker or inventor of extractors, so far as I know, has 

 ever claimed for this machine that it could work successfully 

 on old honey that had been allowed to get set, or with satisfac- 

 tion on the loose combs cut from straw skeps. It is essentially 

 an adjunct to frame hives, and with honey in the gluey con- 

 dition of that re-Uquified by Mr. Pettigrew I am not surprised 

 at failure. With regard to the extracted honey being full of 

 small pieces of comb, this was evidently froin want of dexterity 

 in manipulation, and would be avoided with more practice. 

 Moreover, it should be remembered that there are three or more 

 patterns of extractors in the field ; and that used by Mr. Petti- 

 grew, although I agree with him in saying is a good one, is not 

 every one, nor the one which gained the prize at the Show. 



The idea and principle of the honey extractor I look upon as 

 valuable, but the machine as at present made is a bulky, clumsy 

 affair, putting one in mind of a garden engine. I hope to find 

 the old maxim, "out of small things springtth great" reversed, 

 and some day to see a small thing from the f-reat; and indeed, I 

 hear it whispered, of an extractor in hand equally efficient that 

 may be stood upon the table, occupying little more than a foot 

 of surface. When we get something Uke that, I have no doubt 

 it will be in general use where frame hives are in vogue. Where 

 is Mr. Pettigrew's authority for saying " The patrons of the 

 slinger tell us that swarms spend their first year in fiUing the 

 barframes with comb ? " X neither think the inexperienced or 

 the experienced bee-keeper would think this either reasonable 

 or inviting. — John Hhnter, Eaton liise, Ealing. 



TRAINING SQUIRRELS. 



The squirrels must be young, or else aU attempts to train 

 them will be fruitless. Judging from your description of their 

 tameness that they are young, as old squirrels, and old ground 

 squirrels especially, seldom become tractable, we will proceed 

 to give directions for teaching them a few simple tricks ;— 



First, accustom them to your whistle, and teach them to 

 corn's immediately to you whenever you call or whistle for them. 

 This can be done by reducing the quantity of their food, not so 

 as to starve them, but only so as to sharpen their appetites. 

 After they have been dieted for a few days you will notice how 

 much spryer and brighter they have grown. Hold a nut kernel 

 or a grain of corn in your hand, and give a sharp distinct whistle, 

 at the same time showing them the food. With a leap they will 

 come to get the food; give it to the one who first reaches you. 

 Repeat this lesson until they become familiar with the meaning 



