May 16, 1865. ] 



JOUENAL OP HOETICULTTJEE Am) COTTAaE GAEDENEE. 



391 



Tlie system requires a good supply of nutriment, and good 

 housing at night is essential. Some recommend that a few- 

 grains of Cayenne pepper, or a little bruised hempseed be 

 mixed with their food. The distinctive sexual marks once 

 fairly established, the young birds lose their names of 

 "chicks," or "chickens," and are termed "Turkey poults." 

 The time of danger is over, and they become independent, 

 and every day stronger and more hardy. They now fare as 

 the rest of the flock, on good and sufficient food. 



"With respect to the diseases of the Turkey, with them as 

 with all other poultry, prevention is better than cure. The 

 most important rules are. Let the chicks never get wet, and 

 encourage them to eat heartily by giving a good variety of 

 food, yet to beware of injuring the appetite by too much 



having swarmed, they afforded him so good a harvest as 

 an average of 35 lbs. each. But this quantity cannot be 

 considered as all gain, for he says that he had to feed 

 liberally. It is frequently the case when large supers are 

 taken from hives that have also thrown off swarms that 

 Uttle honey will be found stored in the stock hive. I have 

 more than once in my early bee-keeping days had to regret 

 the loss of a fine stock from this cause, it having succumbed 

 to starvation before I had realised the fact that a super of 

 honey, and plenty within the stock, did not always go 

 together. 



I quite agree with much that is said on this subject by 

 " A Eentrewshibe Bee-keepek." I always look upon the 

 issue of a swarm from any of my depriving-hives as a great 



pampering. Taking a pride in them is the great secret of j misfortune, and as a bar to the completion of any super 



success in the rearing of domestic poultry. — S. II. S. 



LWe heartily endorse the foregoing. Different climates 

 make different ti'eatments necessary. The heuin oui- change- 

 able atmosphere should be under her rip for five or sis weeks, 

 and for some time after that she should not be let out, if 

 there be heavy dew or white frost. She will start with 

 thirteen poults, through the wet grass, and leave them 

 behind one by one till only three or four remain ; she is per- 

 fectly satisfied with this remnant of her family, and heeds 

 not the distant and faint cry of those that are perishing in 

 the damp grass. An empty china crate, covered at the top 

 with straw is a good rip for a Turkey hen ; it allows her room 

 to move about, and the young ones can be fed in it without 

 their food being taken by the other poiUtry. A thatched 

 hiirdle is a better cover than anything permanent to put 

 over the crate.] 



HQACE^G- Alf AETIPICIAL SWAEIT ES" A 



STEWAETOIS^ HITE. 

 I HAVE just received a Stewarton-hive and I should like 

 to put an artificial swarm into it. I must, I suppose, di-ive 

 the swarm into a common hive, and having put two boxes 

 of the Stewarton together, all the slides having been 

 removed, dash the bees on the top. There is a bar of wood 

 in each of the boxes to help to support the comb — is it 

 advisable to retain these ? I should think the bar in the 

 honey box would be found very inconvenient when cutting 

 out the comb. Is there any objection to dahlias being grown 

 near an apiary ? I have heard that there is. — IX. S. 



_ [It will be better to leave the driven bees in the common 

 hive until evening, say an hour after sunset, when a cloth 

 may be spread on the ground, on which should be laid two 

 sticks about a foot apart ; then with a smart stroke dash 

 out the bees and instantly place the Stewarton-hire over 

 them, resting on the sticks. The bees will speedily ascend 

 into it, and when they have done so, the hive may be put in 

 the place of the old stock. If more convenient the removal 



which may have been commenced. I do not, however, often 

 return the swarms, never, I may say, except with fr-ame 

 hives, where the combs may be readily examined and the 

 royal cells removed. "Without such facilities, to return 

 swarms to storified stocks may involve a great deal of 

 trouble, ending occasionally in the loss of the hive or swarm 

 altogether. 



"J. E. B." quotes Dzierzon as an authority in support of 

 his opinion that a larger supply of honey will be afforded by 

 a hive permitted to swarm than from a non-divided stock. 

 Where there is a little limit to the number of hives that can 

 be kept by one person I have no doubt that a larger profit 

 can be obtained by allowing the bees to swarm extensively; 

 but any bee-master who has reached the limit to which he 

 can retain his apiary will do well to work at least half of his 

 hives on the non-swarming principle. I have no hesita- 

 tion in asserting that if any one can keep only a limited 

 number, say of ten hives, he would be able to obtain much 

 larger supplies of honey by preventing swai-ming from the 

 majority of them. One or two swarms might be permitted 

 for the purpose of keeping up the stock. These, and what 

 would be likely to come without permission, would be sufS- 

 cient for supplying deficiencies and securing the desired 

 number of strong and well-furnished colonies. 



In respect to aifording additional room to supers I cannot 

 quit* agree with our friend "A Eekfeewshike Bee- 

 KEEPEB." The whole system of my management of late 

 years has consisted of the very plan he reprobates as bad 

 practice. So soon as the fii-st super is nearly filled with 

 combs a shallow eke is slipped in between the super and the 

 stock, followed by another, if needed. It is in this way that 

 all my large supers have been obtained. Tery rarely have 

 I succeeded in getting a super filled which was placed above 

 one already nearly completed. I can only recall one such 

 case. Perhaps I have not tried very often, as I considered 

 the prospects of success about on a par with expecting a 

 good yield of honey in a box worked as a nadir. I consider 

 slipping in an eke which has neither top nor bottom to be 

 very different fr-om raising the first super on a complete bos 



may be deferred till early the nest morning, but should j with small apertures for communication. If this latter plan 



be effected before sum-ise, and precautions must be taken 

 against any rain which may fall in the meantime. "We 

 should remove the transverse bai-s, which are only useful in 

 supporting the combs when travelling. "We believe there is 

 no objection whatever to growing dahlias near an apiary.] 



SWARMZN^G TEEsrs STOKIFTIXG — 



EjStlaegeme^'T of SUPEES. 



A EEW observations have appeared lately relative to the 

 subject which forms the heading to these remarks. Our 

 friend " J. E. B,," with whom I have had the great pleasure 

 of becoming personally acquainted within the last few days, 

 at page i-l-i has expressed his belief that a larger harvest of 

 honey wiU be obtained from hives that are permitted to 

 swarm than from those which are worked on the non-swarm- 

 ing principle. I cannot agree with him in the conclusion 

 at which he has arrived from what may be reckoned as ex- 

 perience gained from two exceptionally prolific honey years. 

 In the majority of seasons he would obtain little or no 

 honey by following his plan. If 'J. E. B." had worked the 

 same three hives without allowing them to swarm, or had 

 succeeded in preventing their doing so, I think his supply 

 of honey would have been nearly, if not quite, doubled, if. 



is followed the apiarian certainly runs a risk of finding the 

 contents of the first super to be more or less removed. I 

 have, however, taken off good boxes of honey under 

 such circumstances, but do not recommend this mode of 

 enlargement. 



The bee-master must be guided in his judgment as to 

 whether his super need enLargement or not by the time of 

 the season and the appearance of the honey harvest. It is 

 certainly preferable to have a moderate-sized super well 

 and completelj- filled to a large one indifferently so. It is 

 frequently advisable when a depriving-hive becomes very 

 crowded with bees to follow " A Eexfketvshiee Bee- 

 eeepee's "* advice, and raise stock hive and super on a nadir. 

 The super will usually be completely filled, and if the bees 

 work in the nadir, which is doubtful, it can be removed at 

 the close of the summer, and the combs made available the 

 following year. I have more often than not found that a 

 nadir supplied to a crowded hive, with a large super par-tially 

 filled, is not at all used by the bees for comb-buOding. The 

 bees cluster thickly from the top, and the great pressure 

 of numbers in the super being removed, work in it will be 

 proceeded with more rapidity. I fully endorse the senti- 

 ments of "A EE^TKEWSHrKE Bee-keepek," that all cor- 

 respondents should be fr'ee to express their opinions, and 

 even criticise the plans and proceedings of any of the 



