AujMt 3, 1878. J 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



109 



centre room as may be preferred. The topa of the nests are 

 hinged for convenience in collecting eggs and attending to sit- 

 ting hens. 



When the hen wishes to sit, the opening from the rnn to the 

 nest is closed, and the opening leading from the nest to the 

 centre room is opened, so as to allow the hen to feed and water 

 at pleasure, as in the centre room there iB fresh water and food, 

 &c, kept at all times. The object of such an arrangement is to 

 prevent other fowls from laying to your sitting hens. 



The roosts (i) are made of l-by-6-inch pine, placed 2 and 3 feet 

 from the floor, and so arranged that the droppings from the 

 higher roosts cannot fall upon the fowls on the lower, and so 

 far from the wall as to protect the plumage. The size of the 

 building is 20 by 20 feet ; the centre room is 8 by 8 feet ; the 

 outer rooms 6 by 8 feet ; the height of the storey is 8 feet ; the 

 windows (n) are 2 by 4 feet, and the doors (b) 2 by 7 feet. The 

 building is made of 1-inch pine boards, sheathed up and down 

 with battened cracks, and lined on the inside with heavy tarred 

 paper to prevent all draughts and cold in winter, and prevent 

 vermin from collecting in summer. The entire building has a 

 rough floor covered with sand, and is kept raked clean. The 

 runs (a) to each room are 40 by 40 feet, and adjoining a grass 

 run 80 by 100 feet for hens and chicks. The small house (l) for 

 hens and chioks has a floor placed 2 inches from the ground, 

 with an open run attached to allow the sun, and to prevent the 

 larger chickens from disturbing them while feeding. 



Instead of the door being in the outer end, it is in the end 

 leading to the oovered run, and hinged at the bottom so as to 

 lay down on the ground for small chicks to enter, and at night 

 it can be shut to protect from rats or vermin. One side of the 

 roof is hinged so as to open to attend to the hen and chicks. 

 After using this house for three years Mr. Storm considers it 

 the best and most convenient known. The house will accom- 

 modate fifty hens, and can be diminished or enlarged at pleasure 

 by changing the number of wings, and still retain all the con- 

 veniences. — (Prairie Farmer.) 



THE CUCKOO. 



Longleat, with its beautifully wooded park, is a favourite 

 resort for the feathered tribes — in fact, some of the kinds are 

 much too numerous, notably BullfincheB and Wood Pigeons; 

 but Swallows, Wagtails, Cuckoos, Hedge Sparrows, and other 

 inseot-feeders are ever welcome, for the good they do is incalcu- 

 lable. We generally have several young Cuckoos reared in the 

 neighbourhood. All that I have seen are reared by Wagtails, 

 though occasionally I believe they are found in the nest of the 

 Hedge Sparrow. 



Last year, as late as the beginning of August, three of them 

 were in the flower garden close to Longleat House, all tended 

 by Wagtails ; and their industrious foster parents had to work 

 exceedingly hard to appease the appetite of their gigantio babies, 

 who were quite strong on the wing, and looked large enough to 

 swallow half a dozen Wagtails at a meal. I noticed at last that 

 the Swallows became exceedingly jealous of them, fearing no 

 ■doubt that they would cause a famine, and they bullied them a 

 good deal, and I believe ultimately drove them away. 



This year we had two Wagtails' nests in Pear trees against 

 walls, each of which contained a Cuckoo's egg. One lot was 

 destroyed, probably by rats ; the other was hatched-out, and 

 the Cuckoo kept on the nest long after he was too large to 

 squeeze himself into it, and is now about the neighbouring trees 

 oarefully tended by his foster parents, who are evidently very 

 proud of their infant prodigy. Of course the life of the young 

 Wagtails which happen to be in the same nest with the Cuckoo 

 is very short, for from the moment the intruder emergeB from 

 his tiny shell his mouth is open for all the insects the old birds 

 can bring, so that if the young Wagtails are Buffered for a time 

 to remain in the neBt they are certain to be starved. The 

 Cuckoo's egg is very small for so large a bird, being but slightly 

 larger than that of the Wagtail; but as soon as hatched the 

 young bird grows at an immense rate. — Wm. Taylor. 



ABOUT BEES. 



The extraordinarily hot weather which set in with July, and 

 which had been growing in intensity up to Sunday the 16th nit., 

 where it has not dried-up the flowers, has been magnificent for 

 our bees. Happy those bee-keepers who, hoping againBt hope, 

 fed and nursed their hives through the very trying winter and 

 spring of 1875-6. Poor as my bees were in April and May, they 

 have picked-up wonderfully, and I had the pleasure (before 

 leaving home on the 10th), of taking off a large cuper weighing 

 33 lbs. net of excellent honeycomb from the hybrid Italian 

 stock, which also had given me a swarm. A curious thing oc- 

 curred in relation to this stock which I never recollect to have 

 observed before in my long experience as a bee-keeper. Al- 

 though this hive sent out a swarm early in June, of which 

 fully half returned to the parent stock owing to my having put 

 the swarm within a foot of it, and consequently the stock seemed 



as full as ever, there was no piping he ard at or after the usnal 

 time, nor, of oourse, was there any mor e swarming. On cutting- 

 out the honeycomb from the super I fo und several of the combs 

 had had brood, which was almost all hatched, and there were 

 about half a dozen royal cells torn open at the sides as by a 

 young queen. Had a second swarm iBsued, which I fully ex- 

 pected, it must have been a very large one. The surprising 

 thing is that there was no piping. 



As to the super of honeycomb, I had hoped to exhibit it at 

 onr coming WeBton-super-Mare Show, but I was obliged to take 

 it before it was fully filled owing to my projected absence from 

 home, and the necessity of giving the bees ample additional 

 room. Owing to the lateness of the season all my calculations 

 and plans have been thrown out, and nothing remained but to 

 give all hives and swarms as much room as possible to avoid 

 late and lost swarms. Of late years my bees have chiefly 

 swarmed in July, and many of them have been loBt to me. Here 

 in North Wales, I find bees swarming too, but this, perhaps, is 

 the proper time amid the heather. — B. & W. 



MABKETABLE HONEY. 



Gkeat attention in America is being paid to sectional supers, 

 which are very neatly and cheaply made. The wood is cut by 

 circular saws, and with guide oombs attached are sold for less 

 than Id. each. This is cheap enough to be given away with the 

 honey, although being very light they are usually weighed and 

 charged to the customer like the sugar-paper of the grocer. 

 When the British bee-keeper learns wisdom enough to send his 

 honeycomb to market in fine saleable form there will he no need 

 to cry, " There is no market for honey." In case I am asked 

 what I call fine saleable form I answer, Each comb should be 

 distinot and full, in a frame or at least attached to a bar, cells 

 all sealed over, unbruised and uncontaminated by brood or bee- 

 bread ; weight not over 4 lbB. ; colour white or clear yellow. 

 Such honeycomb in London is sold retail at from 2s. to 3s. per lb. 

 according to the class of customer, and wholesale from Is. 3d. to 

 Is. &d. per lb. I had the pleasure of taking off this week two of 

 Lee'a supers filled with the above description of comb which a 

 west-end grocer bought without demur at Is. Gd. per lb., at the 

 same time telling me he could buy any quantity of full combs 

 cut out of hives at lOd. per lb., but the mess and waste was so 

 great he would rather be without it. 



Mr. Pettigrew's idea of filling small frames with such combs 

 and then giving them to the bees to clean and fix will be found 

 a failure. The bees' first and only idea would be to fill their 

 hive, and to do this they will very quickly empty the strange 

 combs. I have tried it and know it fails, although I gave them 

 a much better chance tban Mr. Pettigrew promises with his 

 unfurnished hive. I will cite two instances. Last autumn I 

 fed-up a 6tock with sugar syrup, and then when their combs 

 were apparently as fall as they would hold of brood and honey 

 I placed over them a Buper of damaged combs, which I propped 

 up and temporarily fixed where I wanted them to remain. The 

 super was at once taken possession of, but very little repairs 

 went on ; the wet honey was quiokly gathered up and carried 

 below, and I soon found that as fast as ever bees hatched out or 

 honey was consumed down went my super honey to fill up the 

 vacancy, bo that my combs were lighter day by day. 



Last week the honey harvest suddenly ceased with me, and 

 in a super over a strong stock I had two outside combs with 

 their corners not full. Careful watching convinced me that 

 some fresh cells were emptied every day, so I slung out some 

 honey from a neighbouring hive and gave 3 lbs. of it in a feeding 

 bottle for the bees to finish their super with. Now the bees 

 carried this all down through the super to the stock hive. Not 

 one ounce did they leave on the way ; and when the bottle was 

 quite empty, like little lunatics they tore open the oells and half 

 emptied two combs in twelve hours. This was too much of a 

 joke, so the remainder was at once taken away, and the spoil of 

 the thieves is awaiting a few turns of the extractor and my 

 leisure to increase my store within-doors. I thought I would 

 try what another stock would do ; and seleoting one where the 

 bees were crowding into a super but doing no work, I placed on 

 the frameB without the interposition of any crown board a set of 

 sectional supers, and over them two bottles of new honey. As 

 in the other hive the bees carried this all below, travelling over 

 a nice new empty decoy comb, wnich they left as empty as they 

 found it. I cannot help chuckling at the future disappointment 

 of the little rogues, for the honey is only lent ; ten minutes' 

 work of the extractor will bring it all back. — John Hunter, 

 Eaton Rise, Ealing, 



MODIFICATIONS OP MANAGEMENT. 



Circumstances alter cases. Necessity has no laws. 



The 



farmer considers the condition of his land and the markets 

 around ere he adopts a three or four-course rotation of crops. 

 The gardener has soil, climate, and the wants of the family of 

 his employer to consider. In bee-farming no hard-and-fast line 



