142 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ February 17, 1876. 



thing produced by the mind and hand of man equal to a city of 

 wax — the habitation of a swarm of betB ? What else can be 

 compared to it for economy of space and materials, for beauty 

 and cleannees, and for adaptation of means to an end ? 



It should be borne in mind that the operations of bees are 

 accomplished in the absence of light. They need neither the 

 light of the sun by day or of the moon by night for indoor 

 labours. Inside a bee hive all is darkness, and yet with what 

 unerring exactness and exquisite finish everything is done! No 

 worker in the community needs to serve one minute of time as 

 an apprentice, for the youngest worker is as skilful and qualified 

 as the most aged and experienced. 



What an amount of work is done by a swarm of bees ! What 

 countless oiHces and services which cannot be named or clas- 

 sified are willingly and cheerfally performed by the workers 

 every hour I The heaviest work of the bees may be classed 

 nnder three heads, viz.,— 1, comb-building; 2, the rearing of 

 brood ; 3, the gathering and storing of honey ; and these go on 

 simultaneously. 



In honey weather a very large swarm put into an empty hive 

 will build and finish from 5000 to 10,000 cells a day. During 

 the first forty-eight hours some time is lost in laying the foun- 

 dations of the combs and getting some fairly begun. After- 

 wards comb-building goes on with great rapidity. Moreover, the 

 bees have to create the materials (the bricks and mortar) of the 

 combs. Wax is not gathered, it is a secretion of bees and costs 

 them mnch toil and honey. What industry is manifested by 

 our liliputian servants in ranjing fields and forests for honey 

 wherewith to find both food and " furniture" for their homes ! 

 And as soon as cells are constructed they are filled with either 

 honey, or brood, or pollen. 



Let us now think of the toil of nursing. Young bees need a 

 great deal of food and nursing before they are ten days old. 

 During these ten days food enough is put into their cradle cells 

 to rear them up to full-grown adult life. Every little grub (and 

 there are at least one thousand produced daily) requires food 

 enough to fill its cell before it is sealed up at the end of ten 

 days. How carefully the food is mixed and kneaded before it 

 is given to the young ! and all this is done by foster-mothers — 

 the working bees. The maternal duties of the queens (the real 

 mother bees) extend no further than the production and laying 

 of eggs ; and we lately have seen that in this work of pro- 

 duction the physical powers of queens are heavily taxed. The 

 industry of bees can never be compassed by man; his highest 

 conceptions fall far short of the reality. 



Let us now have a few words on the sagacity of bees. No bee- 

 master need rack his ingenuity to find evidence of the sagacity 

 of bees. It may be noticed in the shape and formation of their 

 cells, which dip or slant downwards. Cells are made for both 

 brood and honey, and of course answer admirably for cradles 

 and store-room. If for breeding purposes merely, they would 

 have been probably made quite horizontal, but if made quite 

 horizontal they would have been more difficult to fill with 

 honey ; but the bees have wisely given them a dip, so that they 

 are more easily filled with, and are better receptacles of, honey. 

 If a bit of guide comb be given to bees, with the slant running 

 upwards, they accept the comb but reverse the dip of the cells. 

 See also the ladders used by bees to shorten their journeys in- 

 doors. If a swarm put into an empty hive do not nearly fill it, 

 the bees let down two or three ladders or ropes of bees on which 

 the outside workers can more readily ascend to the store-rooms. 

 What thoughtful care is often manifested by the bees of full 

 hives in cold spring days and nights ! At this season bees are 

 instinctively anxious to multiply their numbers as quickly as 

 possible, and set eggs in as many cells as they can cover. If 

 the weather become very cold bees cluster in the doorways, and 

 thus make excellent sandbags to preserve the heat of the hives 

 and save the brood from being chilled. In going to and return- 

 ing from the fields what ingenuity is displayed in windy weather 

 by bees ! Theycannotfly against the wind. They will go round 

 the base of a hill, oven if it is a mile farther, than over it. In 

 such weather bees seek the shelter of banks and hedges, and 

 may be often seen flying at great speed along open ditches ; and 

 when there is no kind of protection to be found, they fly so 

 low that it may be said of them they are kissing the surface as 

 they fly along. The sagacity of beca is sometimes evident when 

 there is a scarcity of flowers in their neighbourhood, or a super- 

 abundance of bees for the honey flowers. How frequently have 

 we Been bees disappointed in going from flower to flower in 

 search of honey. They were too late ; others had secured the 

 sweets. After trying several flowers without success, we have 

 seen them rise like a rocket and go to another part of the field. 



Instances of sagacity may be often witnessed in the prepara- 

 tions made for swarming — in the alterations of their programme 

 — by resolving not to swarm owing to unfavourable symptoms 



after preparations have been made, also in their attempts at 

 housebreaking and robbery. And what shall we say of bees when 

 they find that their hives and homes are lazar houses of foul 

 brood so unendurable that they abandon them to seek a home 

 elsewhere, and it maybe in a strange country ?— A, Pettigkew. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Enclosdke foe Fowls (S. C.).— A fence of strained wire netting, large- 

 meBlieii, G feet high, will answer your purpose (if one wing be cut), and 

 effectually con&ne your hens. The wings may be cut at once, and will not 

 require to be done again till after the next moult. The feathers should be 

 cut down to the quill, but not lower nor into it. You may choose among 

 Spani.sh, Hamburgbs, Iloudaus, and Crcve-Cu-urs. For ordinary purposes, 

 and for layers only, we prefer the two latter, and of those two the last. 



Deaf Ears of Hamburohs (J. D.).— However good the parents may be 

 in white d-'af ears, there will always be some chickens that are inferior, but 

 they will be very few. They fall off in moulting time. Thoy acquire a red 

 tinge if they are much driven about, but we have always found that if w6 

 bred from good parents we have had good birds. Our experience of faulty 

 ears is, that a httle failing in that respect is often overlooked for the sake of 

 other valuable properties, and the fact is forgotten that defects are mora 

 certainly transmitted than virtues. 



Wolverhampton Show.— Mr. J. Biddle informs us that his Dark Brahma 

 pullet won the fourth prize. 



Bahleysugar for Bees (iiozt^/to).— Barleysugar can best be given to 

 bees by thrusting a stick at a time in among the combs at the entrance of the 

 hive. Take care to leave the entrance unblocked by the barleysngar. 



Qdeen-raisino.— " ,;. C.E." in answer to a correspondent, says that full 

 directions are in Mr. Hunter's " Manual of Bee-koeping." 



METEOEOLOQIOAL OBSEBVATIONS. 



Camden Sqoare. London. 



Iiat.61°8a'40"W.; Long. 0' 8'0" W.; Altitnae, 111 feet. 



BEMABES. 



9tli. — 'White frost ; fair but very cold all day ; less windy towards night ; no 



fog here, but very thick and black in town. 

 10th. — White froat in morningj fiue all day : slight fog between 7 and 8 p.m., 



but soon cleared off. 

 11th. — Very dense fog all day, and at times very dark, but the snn seen plainly 



through it, so that it was not cloud but fog that made it so dark; in 



Loodon it was fearfully dark. 

 12th.— Rather foggy early, but a very fine bright day. though very cold. 

 13th. — Fog, but soon cleared off, a bright pleasant day; snow commenced a 



little b&fore 7 p.m., and ceased at 9; nearly 3 iuches deep fell in these 



two bourn. 

 14tb. — Fine morning, snow still on the ground ; a very fine pleasant day, but 



rain in the evening. 

 15tb.— Kain all the early part of the day; fiue afternoon; but rain again in 



the eveuing. 

 A cold week, especially the 11th, on which day the temperature did not rise 

 to freezing even by the sun thermometer. — G. J. Svmons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— February 16. 

 Prices of aH kinds of best fruit have an upward tendency, the supply 

 getting shorter. The market is well stocked with early-forced vegetables, the 

 Channel Islands sending gocjd samples of Ashleat Kidney Potatoes. 



Apples i sieve 1 



Apricots dozen 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 12 



Currants j sieve 



Black do. 



Figs dozen 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 



Gooseberries quart 



Grapes, hothouse.... tb. 3 



Lemons ^100 6 



Melons each 1 



Artichokes dozen 4 



Asparagus ^100 6 



French bundle 18 



Beans, Kidney..,. T^'-lOO 2 



Beet, lied fdozen 1 



Broccoli bundle 



Brusaela Sprouts j sieve 2 



Cabbage dozen 1 



Carrots bunch 



Capsicums *^^ lU J 1 



Caubflower 'dozen 2 



Celery bundle 1 



ColewortB.. doz. bunches 2 



Cucumbers each 1 



Endive dozen 1 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish bundle 4 



Lettuce dozen 



French Cabbage .... 1 



d. B. d. 

 0to2 



C 

 

 

 12 



Mulberries lb. 



Nectarines dozen 



Oranges ^100 6 



Peaches dozen 



Pears, kitchen.. ,. dozen 



deaecrt dozen 2 



Pine Apples lb. 1 



Plums.. 4 sieve 



Quinces bushel 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawbentes lb. 



Walnuts. bushel 



d. B d. 



OtoO 



ditto ^100 1 



VEGETABLES. 



0to6 

 10 



Leeks bnnch 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cress punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley.... doz.bunohea 



Parsnips dozen 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do... 



New lb. 



Radishes,, doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Salsaty, bundle 



Scorzoiiera bundle 



Seakale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes. dozen 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows. ..... 



B. d. e. d. 



4 too 



1 



