February 17, 1876. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



lU 



you can give. Give an evening meal same aa morning 

 ihon have eggs. — Eds.] 



You will 



KENDAL AND NORTH-WESTERN COUNTIES 



SHOW OF POULTRY, &c. 



This was held on the 10th, lUh. ami 12th inst., when the 

 f jllowing awards were made by the Judges : — 



noiiKitiGS.- Coloured —Cup an! 3. J. Wdlker. 2. Mrs. T. W. L. Hind. vhCf 

 L. Pilkington. Silver-Greu.—l, Hon. Mrs. H>nvartl. 2, G. Maplea. 3, M. 

 Kaines Coloiired.—l, J. Walker. 2, Mrs. T. W. L. Hiod. 3, L. Pilkington. 

 .S'(7ycr-Grtfi/.—l. J. Walker. 2, W. W. Kuttledpe. 3, Hon. Mra. HowarJ. Br4HMa 

 PooTRAS.— Cocfc.— Cup.T. F. Ans'lell. 2, J. F. Smith. 3 and 5, M. Raines. 4, 

 F.E. Gibson, r/ic. C. Eayner. Uen.-l. Newnham & Mamly. 2, J F. Smith. 

 3, R. Rayner. 4, J. Purvea. 5. Mrs. Holchkin. Cocniss. — BuJ^—Cock.—Cnp 

 and 2. J. Walker. 8, G. H. Proctor, i-'k?, J. Cattail, //ch —1, J. Walker. 2. H. 

 Tomlinson. 3. J. O. Rigg. vhc, J. Hine, G. H. Proctor. J. Cattail. Any other 

 variety. —Cock.— I, H. Lacy. 2, H. Tomlinson. S. J. Booth Hem.-l, J. 

 Walker. 2, C. Bloodworth. 3, J. F. Clarkson. vhc, R. J. Wood. Game — 

 Black-hrcasted or other Reds.— Cock— \ and 2. J. R. Fletcher. 3, W. A H. 

 Adams. Cocke reL—Cn-p, S. Matthews. 2, T. Burgess. 3, J. Pennington. 4, R. 

 B. Hudson. Any vat ietu.— Cock.— \, V,. Hawkina. 2. J. R. Fletcher. 3, I>. 

 Harlev. 4, J. Nelson, r/tc, H. A. Clark. HcK.-l. C. W. Briorley. 2. J. Cock. 

 5t. E. Wimvood. 4. J. R. Fletcher. Black-hremted or other Rcds.—Cn^, S. 

 Matthews 2, W. Higgin. 3. E. Aykroyd. 4, W. Chambers. Spanish.— B/arA:. 

 —1, H. Beldon. 2, J. Leemins, 3, C R, Kay. Hamburoiis.— Go^if«-si>a;i(;i('rf. 

 —Cup and 2, G. & J. Duckworth. P, J. Buckley, vhc. T. Dean, Silvfr- 

 ^paiu!lcd.—l, A. Stirling. 2 and 3, J. Fieldin?. GoIdeD-jn-ncilU-d.—l, H. Beldon. 

 ■J. G. & J. Duckworth. S.J.Gilmour. Si/rcr prHC)»f(i.— l.R. W. Braeewell. 2, 

 H. Beldon. 8, J. Asbworth. Black.— \. H. Beldon. 2. R. h Garnett. 3, A, 

 Trickelt. Anv other Vai^ietv.— 1, A. &. W. H. Sylvester (Golden Polands). 2, 

 H. A. Clark, fl, H. Beldon. vhc, G. Woods (Cn-Te-Camrs). H. Robinson 

 (Houdans), W. Jackson (Cnl-veB). Selling Classbs.— CocA: or Hen or Drake 

 ami Duck.~l, G. Carlmei. 2, Mrs. T. Pvo. S. J. Cattal. 4. H. Yardley. 5, Mrs. 

 T. W. L Hind, t'/ic, W. Badger. Cock and Hen or Drake and Duck~l, G. 

 Cartmel. 2, J. D. Nicboltinn. 3, H. Yardlpy. 4 and 5, U L. Garnett. vhc,l}. 

 Gibson, A. Crostbwaite. H- Dean. Game BA^TAM^.—Black-hreanted and other 

 Beds ~Cock.-\, Mrs J. WinsbiU. 2, J. R. Fletcher. 8, W. F. Addie. 4, R. 

 Brownlie. iff n.— Cup, R. Braithwaite. 2. J. R. Fletcher. 3, H. J. Nicholaon. 

 4,W. F. Addie. Any othee variety.— Cock.— Cup, J. Barlow. 2, Bcllingham 

 and Gill. 8. G. Coulthard. 4. J. Cook. Hen.—\, R. Brownlie. 2, J. Wioskiil. 

 3, G. Coulthard. 4. J. R. Fletcher. Bantams, oteier than Game.— B lac /j.— 

 Cup, W. H. Shackleton. 2. J. Walker. 3, C. & J. Illingworth. Any other 

 variett/.—l, H. B. Smith. 2. H. Beklou, 3, J. Walker. 



Geese.-I, J. Walker. 2, T. W. L. Hind. Ti:--iKEr9.~l, W. Wykes. 2, J. 

 Walker. Ddckb.— iToHcu.- 1 and 2, J.Walker. 3. J. Brookwell. Aylesbury.- 

 Cup and 2, J. Walker. 3, W. Wallace. Any variety.— I and 3, J. Walker. 2,M. 

 Leno. 



Special Prizes for Local Exoiritobs.— jrr. E. H. Wilson's Piece of Plate 

 for the best Pen in Local Classes was awarded to T. J. Harrison. Dorkings. — 

 Chickens.— Cny. Hon. Mrs. Howard. 2 and 3, Mrs. T. W. L. Hind. BRAiiiiA 

 PooTRAS.— Chickens.— 1. P. Cartmel. 2. G. Carter. 3, J Somervell. Cociks- 

 China.— I, T. J. Harrison. 2, G. E. Cartmel. 3, R. Cornthwaite. Game.— 

 CocA-frc/.-Cup, J. W. &T Parker. 2, H. Leighton. 3, J. C. Parker. Pullet.— 

 Cup, H. I. Hindson. 2, H. Leighion. 3, J. W. Fawcett. Broton-breaated.—i, 

 H. Leighton. 2, Robinson & Braithwaite. 3, H.J. Hindson. Spanish.— BiacA:.— 

 Chickens.— 1, '2. and 3, C. R.Kay. HAiiBuriGns.— 1. T. Suart. 2, J. Foster. 3. 

 J.H.Mann. Ducks.— Cup, E. Cartmel. 2, B. S. Willison. 3, Mrs. WilHson. 

 Bantams.— 1, Smith & Davi?. 2 and 8. R. Braithwaite. 



Pigeons.— Ca7-nVrs.—l and 2, J. Walker. Pouters or Croppers.— \, A. T. 

 Byforl. 2, J. & W. Towerson. Antwerps.-l, 3. Stanley. 2, H. Yardley. 

 rjtmMers.— 1. H. Y'ardlev. 2, J Stanley. Otvls. — 1, A. Simpson. 2, H. Beldon. 

 Barbs.— 1 and 2, J. Walker. Fantails—l and 2. J. F. Loversidge. Turbits.—l 

 and 2, J. F. Loveraidge, Turhit'i.-l and 2. G. Richardson. Jacohins.—l, J. 

 Walker. 2. G. Richarilson. Varifty.-l, A. McKenzie. 2, G. Richardson. 



Cats. — Black, White, or Black-and-white.— 1, D. Brsde. 2, J. Moorhouse. 

 vhe, W. Wainwri^ht. Any other colour.— 1 and extra, E. Baxter. 2, 1. Tyson. 

 Foreign. — 1, G. Kirkbride. 2, J. Shaw. 



BYEWATS OF EXPERIENCE IN MANAGING 

 BEES. 



A SUGGESTED plan for securing the largest possible quantity of 

 honey which recently appeared in the American "Bee-keeper's 

 Magazine," recalls certain experiences of my own in past years, 

 which in a measure support the plan and induce me to scribble 

 off a few paragraphs on the subject. 



" The plan is simply to keep a very strong stock queenless 

 during the period of the greatest flow of honey." 



Everybody kno^va that there is a sort of rivalry going on in 

 every prosperous hive during the months of May, June, and 

 July between the queen bee and the common worker bees as to 

 which of them shall be the first to occupy any vacant cells that 

 may happen to be in the hive. Fer a time — I may say at different 

 times — during the summer, for a week or ten days together, the 

 queen has it all her own ^vay — that is, when there is no honey 

 in the flowers above the daily wants of the community ; then 

 the queen bee fills every available cell with eggs, and the whole 

 energy of the hive is devoted to rearing young bees. But no 

 sooner is there a superabundance of honey in the fields and 

 gardens than a change comes over the " spirit of their dream." 

 The young, it is true, are not neglected; but every bee that can 

 be spared for the work rushes oii in frantic haste to make the 

 most of the golden harvest which lies secreted in the million 

 flowers around, and every cell that can be laid hold of is quickly 

 filled with the precious nectar. It is at this time the rivalry I 

 have alluded to takes place between the queen and her subjects. 

 There is no doubt that the increased heat of the hive at this 

 busy time developes and quickens the natural functions of the 

 queen. Then it is she lays sometimes many thousand eggs in 

 a single day, and her impulse is to find a home for every egg in 

 a suitable cell. I have even seen her at such times, when none 

 are to be found empty, sit disconsolate on the edge of a comb 

 and lay her egga at random, only to be devoured by the atten- 

 dant bees. 



Equally troubled iu their different way at such times are the 

 worker bees themselves. The sudden iuflu-t of honey which 

 follows upon a favourable change of weather at the favoured 

 moments, few and far between, which our fitful climate gives 

 us, often finds the hive totally unprepared to garner with efii- 

 ciency the precious harvest. Every cell ia full of young bees, 

 and the queen is roaming about watching her opportuniiy to 

 re-occupy the cells as fast as they are untenanted by the exit of 

 the adult young. At night time she is mistress of the situation, 

 and makes the most of the enforced cessation from honey-gather- 

 ing on the part of the workers. 



It will thus be evident that, however fast the bees make fresh 

 comb in supers or elsewhere, there are times not seldom occur- 

 ring when a heavy loss in honey is sustained owing to the great 

 fertility of the queen, which prompts her to anticipate the workers 

 and overfill the cells with brood. 



The question arises — it has often suggested itself to my own 

 mind— Can we in any way meet this difficulty and check the 

 proceedings of the queen, so as to give full opportunity to the 

 bees ? I believe this can be done, and there are several ways 

 of compassing this desirable object. One way is that which I 

 have referred to above in language quoted from an American 

 source. My own experience as a bee-keeper leads me to believe 

 that the removal of a queen from a vigorous hive at the com- 

 mencement of good houey-gathering weather will usually be 

 followed, if the thing be well managed, by a marked and unusual 

 increase in the harvest of honey as compared with other hives 

 in the same apiary not so treated, even though they may be 

 more popuious and strong. 



Scarcely a year has passed in my experience which does not 

 recall some instance in which a hive that has lost its queen (no 

 doubt unawares to the bees, as not unfrequently happens) has 

 been found heavier and to contain purer honey than more active 

 and stronger hives in which the queen has been in full activity. 

 How many are the instances, too, in which hives have been 

 found in the late autumn to contain a large quantity of recently 

 collected honey while absolutely tenantless ; and this iu many 

 an instance doubtless owing to the same cause — the queen bad 

 died or been lost unperceived by the bees, who themselves died 

 away almost suddenly iu large numbers at the last. The removal 

 of a queen is the difficulty. It may, however, be easily done at 

 swarming time, by which means the swarm, returning to the 

 hive, will generally have several days of uninterrupted honey- 

 gathering before the development of the next queen and the 

 issue of the swarm again. In this case, of course, plenty of room 

 should be given in supers or elsewhere to allow the bees full 

 opportunity for collecting and storing honey. 



I should never advise any violent treatment of the hive, as by 

 driving or fumigating with a view to secure the person of the 

 queen; more harm than good would result from it. A queen, 

 however, may often be seen and caught in a super with glass 

 windows, without the bees discovering her loss for many days, 

 in which time much honey may be collected, as also afterwards 

 during the long period that must elapse before the development 

 of the young queen, in the case of their subsequent discovery of 

 their queenless state. 



Another way of securing the same object is to entrap the 

 queen in a super, which may then be placed over an adapting 

 board on the hive with passages so narrow as to prevent the 

 queen from descending, while the worker bees have just space 

 enough to pass up and down. A third plan for meeting the 

 case is to put the queen into a " queen cage," and confine her in 

 the very heart of the hive or in a super as long as may be 

 thought necessary. In this case she could be restored to her 

 subjects by being set at liberty on the cessation of the honey- 

 gathering period.— B. & W. 



THE WONDERS OF A BEE HIVE.— No. 5. 



In my last letter I took a hasty glance at the idleness, suft'er- 

 ings, and sorrows of drone bees, and their melancholy end ; I 

 now come to notice a more pleasing theme— viz., some of the 

 habits and characteristics of working bees. There is really so 

 much that is interesting and instructive iu their history that one 

 hardly knows how or where to begin, and it is likely that when 

 a commencement is made a greater difficulty will be found in 

 making a finish. 



Though poets and historians of all ages have sung and written 

 about the works and ways of bees, the subjects on which they 

 delighted to dwell are still as fresh and novel as ever they were. 

 The things that are seen and approachable in bee history are 

 quite as marvellous as those that are unseen and unapproach- 

 able. Yes ; notwithstanding all that has been written about 

 bees in bygone ages, and all that may be written for ages to 

 come, all thoughtful students of bee history during the nest 

 century will find a world of wonders and mysteries to engage 

 their attention and excite their admiration. 



What a wonderful manifestation of industry do we find in a 

 bee hive ! What architectural skill is displayed in the formation 

 of cells and the structural arrangements of combs I Talk^about 

 a palace of marble or a city of granite, where shall we find any- 



