354 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTITRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



May 2, 1865. 



Before retiring for the night and ngain in the morning, I took 

 a cursory look at the formation of the combs, the silence of 

 death reigning. During the forenoon while raising the 

 hive with the view of commencing operations, did my eyes 

 deceive me ? Conld that be a slight quiver of vitality that 

 passed through thatbeeclosesttothewindow? Againrepeated, 

 there was no mistake. I at once ran in-doors and cai-ried the 

 hive to snug quarters just outside the hearth-rug. Called 

 away, on my return in half an hour how delighted was I to 

 hear a sweet little hum speaking unmistakeably of life, and 

 ■with it hope. The bung was withdrawn and a soda-water 

 bottle of food took its place ; with the increasing heat and 

 increasing vacant space above the food did the hum rise 

 louder, and yet more loud. With what delight I watched 

 the resuscitated separate themselves from the hopelessly 

 defunct mass on the board, and crawl slowly up out of sight 

 among the combs. How anxiously did I subsequently go 

 over this mass, and how relieved was I to find no queen. I 

 next cut off the eke with the suspended comb firmly at- 

 tached to the cross stick. On the following day the east 

 wind was gone; and the weather being now mild and 

 genial, I set out the hive on its board, carefully wrapped up, 

 and fed on cautiously. A few days more and I was delighted 

 to see pollen carried in. By-and-by the box became crowded 

 and the combed eke was restored, and ultimately my defunct 

 hive happily became one of the best storified colonies I ever 

 posesssed. 



The narration of the above old story was prompted by 

 hearing the other day of a bee-keeper in this neighbourhood, 

 who at the end of the season had set a fine hive, of which 

 he was not a little proud, in the window of a spare room, 

 there to work under his immediate observation. Chancing 

 to look at it one day during the recent severe weather he 

 found it, as he supposed, quite dead. He carried it into his 

 sitting-room, and chagrined as he was, he hastily broke it 

 up, consigning the bees and empty comb to the dunghill. 

 Some two or three workers that had dropped on the floor 

 during the demolition he afterwards picked up and threw 

 upon the hearth. He was more than astonished in a short 

 time afterwards, to hear them give unmistakeable evidence 

 of being " all alive," causing him to conclude that the work 

 of destruction had, to say the least of it, been premature, 

 thereby depriving himself of the accidental good fortune 

 that once befel — A Eenfuewshiee Bee-keepek. 



HONEY EEMAINING FLUID. 

 Can you give a reason why our honey will not harden ? It 

 is well-tasted, but as liquid as on the day when it was taken 

 from the super, in June, 18G4. — IsA. 



[Honey that has been clarified by heat will not again 

 solidify. If, therefore, yours has been exposed to a very 

 high temperature it will always remain fluid. Heath 

 honey has also, to some extent, the same property under 

 any circumstances.] 



ANTS IN A BEE-IIOUSE. 



1 AM much troubled with black anta, which are swarming 

 np my bee-house, an open one, and I have failed to discover 

 their nest. I liave tied rotten yarn round the legs of the 

 house or stand, but it does not stop them. la there any danger 

 of these insects making a lodgment within the hive? — B. li. 



[Try smearing the woollen yarn with tar. If this docs not 

 do nail a bit of sheepskin with the wool outwards round every 

 leg and smear the wool with tar. Ants are not likely to 

 effect a permanent lodgment in a bee-hive.] 



OUE LETTEE BOX. 



Fowr.« Trii«rAf«iMO (F. (7,).— Let jonr Molicitor write to your nr-iphhour, 

 civlDR >iini notice ttiDt If be doeii not kcr-p hia fowls at h<>tnc you will nuv 

 him for uurriHK^'i In tbu county court. U tm docii not littLiul to tbdt noilcc 

 sue b)m» as Tou save blm notice. Provo :i klxpcnny damai,'u liouc, iind Ihut 

 'Will render Mm liable tn till tbo cosU, You c.mnot Ic(;nlly t>boot tho fnwU, 



MALPottMr.D Koo {G. if.).— There U notbitif; uncommoa in eucb mulfurin- 

 ationn. Keep the ben on ratbcr lower diet lor a lime. 



FLOWKKifto CtJuitANT ( /firmm^/iam).— Tho fhad<; of the IiiihU will be 

 Kratefui lo }oar poultry, Ki.d ceriamly will not be lnJuriou» to Ihoin in uny 

 w»y. 



Pioeox'h Etes Watkkiko (a. if.).— Bathe the Pigcon'fi cycB with nomo 

 cooling lotion. Give ibo bird a rhubarb jiiU for two or three hucccsbIvo 

 momiiig>| and avoid hempiecd.— B. P. li. 



Prkservino Birds' Eggs (C. ITughes).~-ln sclec'injj egga for your 

 cabinet always ctinose tliose which aru nt-wly laid. Make a mediura-sizcd 

 hole at Ihe sharp end with a pointed instrument. Having: made the hole at 

 the sharp end iimke one at the blunt, and let this last hole be as small as 

 possible. Thle done, apply your moiuh to the blunt end, and blow the 

 contents throuRh the sharp end. If the yolk will not come freely run a pin 

 or wire up Into the eufj, and stir the yolk well about. Now Eot a cupful of 

 water, and, immersing' the Fharp end oi the shell into it, apply your mouth, 

 to Ihe blunt end, and Puck up some of th« water Into the empty shell ; then 

 put your flncer Hnd thumb upon the two holes, shake the water well within, 

 and after this blow it out. The water wi'l clear your epp of any remains of 

 yolk or of while which may stay in after blowinR. If one Buck-up of water 

 will not suffice make a second or third. An egg immediately after it is pro- 

 duced i>^ very clear and fine, but by staying in the nes', and coming,' in con- 

 lact with the feet of the bird, it soon assumes a dirty appearance. Tn 

 remedy thia wash it well in soap and water, and use a nail-brash to cet the 

 dirt off. Your egg-i^bell is now as it ought to be, and nothing ri mains to 

 be don ■ but tn prevent the thin white membrane (which is still inside) from 

 corrupting. Take a wine-glass, and fill it with the polulion of coitorIvb 

 aublinuite of alcohol ; then immerse the sharp end of the eft? ahell into it, 

 keeping your finger and thumb, as you hold it, just clear of the solution, 

 apply your month to the little hole at the blunt end and euck up Fomo of the 

 solution into the shell. You need not be fearful of getting the liquor into 

 your mouth, for, as soon as it rises in tbe shell, the cold will strike your 

 finger and thumb, and then you should cense sucking. Shake tbe shell just 

 as you did when the water was in it, and then blow the solution back into 

 the glass. If you wisli your egg to appear extremely brilliant give it a coat 

 of mastic varnish, put on very sparingly with a carael-bair pencil. Green 

 or blue eggs must be varnished with guai arable— the mastic varnish b apt 

 to injure the colour. 



Is Roup iNFRcrrous? (H. 5)— It ia a disputed point. If the fowls were 

 in robust health they might escape, though put into a roupy yard ; but if 

 they were at all out of condition they would catch it. Wo a'ivise you to 

 bavR it thoroughly lime-whitcJ, and the floor picked up, and freab-covered 

 with gravel ami earth. We know no meansof making u red deaf-ear white. 

 If shown against birds with white ones be would be beaten. Kgtjs, chopped 

 moat, l-eer, and white peas are all good for feeding-up Game fowls. 



Glaps in a Hkn's Crop {.A Ji. G.).—Wii have never seen so much glass 

 taken from the crop of a fowl, but we have often seen piect^t of to'vicco 

 pipe and of crockery taken from tbe crop. Their size and length pro- 

 vented them from parsing into the gizzard, If you moan that a^ the stomach. 

 The object is the same m every instance: the gizzard requires stones or 

 equally hard substances to grind the food which passes in'O it from the 

 crop. Tlie hiids pick up stones if ihey can find them— failing that, they 

 take anything they can get to iict as stones for the mill. An overloaded 

 stomach, or the presence in it of food they cannot digest, leads iheui tu 

 pick up every and anything. In thin instance there is no doubt tho 

 presence of the glass in the delicate passages causes exquisite pain. Iler 

 reeling backwards wa« an elfoit to escape from it. The crop may be opened 

 easily in this way— p'ck off the feathers down the front abnut half an inch 

 wide, with a sharp knile cut it open 1.^ inch in length ; introduce the finger 

 and wiihtiraw all it contains. As solui hs it is empty sew it up, and when 

 that is done rub the fetiches with plain healing ointment ; then wew up the 

 outer skin. This is the part of the operation that requires the most care. 

 The crop is quite distinct from the outward skin, and if the operator is 

 nervous, or the fowl fiiigetty, it sometimes happens the two are sewn 

 up together. It is a fatal ndstako-the outer suture should be sewn closely, 

 and then rubbed with pure grease or ointment, so that every opening is 

 filled up. The bird should then he put in a quiet and dai kish place, and fed 

 only on gruel for a few days. If tho putient goes on well, ten days, or at 

 most a fortnielit, genemlly make a cure. _ ,, c r^ 



Salvia kkmorosa Seed {J. r. /.).-Thls bee-flowev is a native of Oer- 

 many, and nut of PutRcient beauiv to be cuUivatod as a cardon ornament. 

 Perh.ps Messrs. Carter, Uolborn/or some otbor of the large seedsmen ol 

 London could oblain it. . . .. ,, , 



Painting Uivks (/. ^.).— Either wooden or straw hives, i otherwise 

 efficiently protected, are, we believe, decidedly tho worse tor being painted 

 on the outside. ^- ■ • *. 



Cbloboform for Ber-sti PEFYiNn (Jcr!iey).—YouT correction is incorrect, 

 the Number of i-aeh Journal is at the boitom of its first page, and is HOf 

 removed with thu ndvertiscments when the volume is bound. Several or 

 our Gorri'spond^ntK have tried chloroform for Btuptfylug bees, and all a^ree 

 in declaring the re^u'ta very unsutiefaclory. 



TuANScEiunNQ Bf.es (5imo?0.— Transferring a stock Is, under any cir- 

 cumstances, far too difftcult an opnrntlnn for a novice, and can only be 

 satisiact rily performed when the new domicile is fitted with either oats or 

 frames, convpHlences which are entlrelv unknown in Nutt s biye<^. Messrs. 

 Neighbour, 149, Keg- nt Street, and 127, Holborn, publish such u catalogue 



^^HvlVa^Tl' Stock {/?cr/). -Putting on a small glass will not prevent an 

 early swarm. Aftt-r swunnlng the remaining bcos will ruroly work In a 

 super during the same Hoi.son. If you obtain a sirong and early swarm 

 you may super it with every prospect of success. Should the season turn 

 mu a good one you may reasonably exprct it to Icavo you in possuSHion of 

 two colonies of bees and .i moderate honey hwrvci^t. , •„ 



liuviNo Bkks {Yorkshire Subscriher).— Tho be^t time for purcbasinR 

 stocks of hec-- Is in tlu. spring, as soon as iho dangers o winter are nant. 

 SwarmH may be arrc.-d for beforehand, hived in yourown hivea, and should 

 bo brought home in the evening of tho day on which they i«Bue. Swarms 

 vary in price from W's. to 20s.; stocks from 2U». to 40*., according to tho 

 locality and other circumstances. 



LONDON MAEKETS.— Mat 1. 

 POULTRY. 



Wc have but u poor supply, and poultry Is conecquently dear. 



Large Fowls 'I 



StiuiUor do. 3 



Chiekons 2 



floHlings 7 



DiicklinKH 4 



^ Guinea i'DWlri 2 



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