110 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUSE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 3, 1876. 



should be drawn. Every active open-eyed apiarian seeking 

 profit goes beyond the A B C of his lessons and improves on his 

 own practice. As the hoaseleek feeds on its own substance, so 

 farmers, gardeners, bee-keepers, &c, grow stronger by feeding 

 on their own experience. There is no end to the variety and 

 modifications of management in the apiary. Within it3 limits 

 there is scope for unlimited operations and developments of 

 practice. A few hints may, perhaps, be gathered if we now 

 give a little of our treatment this season. 



We have turned out the bees from all our stocks and taken 

 their honey, which is excellent, and is being readily sold at 

 Is. 3d. per lb., comb at Is. 6d. This first harvest has been mode- 

 rately bulky — larger than any other early harvest we have had 

 for some years. The greatest yield has been from a hive con- 

 taining 3600 cubic inches of space — namely, 18 lbs. of pure 

 virgin honeycomb and 17 lbs. of ran honey, value £2 8s. The 

 two swarms from this hive are now filling hives containing 

 4200 cubic inches of space each. The cold weather of the spring 

 months was very unfavourable for both breeding and brood, 

 causing us to fear the beginnings of foul brood. In all the hives 

 taken we found foul brood to a small extent, which would cer- 

 tainly have spread rapidly and spoiled the hives for both keep- 

 ing and working if the bees had been allowed to remain in 

 them. Now, with two exceptions, our hives have sweet combs 

 not two months old and free from a cell of foul brood. Two 

 large hives with honey in them died in the spring. From these 

 we cut out all the centre combs and put swarms in them. The 

 outside combs containing the honey of these two hives are the 

 only combs that were built last year. The turning-out process 

 is very useful to us, for by it we rid our hives of combs stained 

 by use and cloyed with pollen. The hives yielded about 25s. 

 worth of honey on the average. The combs in most of them, 

 though only twelve months old, were rendered nearly useless 

 by a superabundance of bee bread. In some of the hives five 

 cells out of every six in the breeding combs contained pollen, 

 and made the combs about as solid as cakeB of gingerbread. I 

 cannot understand why anyone can recommend the use of pea 

 flour for bees. Why the bees accumulate such quantities of 

 pollen, and thus prevent healthy progress, is equally difficult to 

 understand. To witness the dissection of a hive as we dissect 

 ours would be enough to convince our readers of the superfluity 

 of pollen existing in hives. 



The best time for turning bees from stock hives is about the 

 twenty-first day after first swarming, for then the brood is all 

 hatched and the swarms have time to fill their hives with combs 

 and store up food enough for winter or for a second harvest. 

 When hives are in an unhealthy condition and not thriving we 

 turn their bees into empty hives, where they generally commence 

 house-furnishing with new zest and vigour. The progress of 

 one of our hives this season was so sluggish that I came to the 

 conclusion that the bees were discouraged by the presence of 

 foul brood. On examination I found it was so, and at once 

 turned the bees into an empty hive, in which they are now doing 

 well. 



Some late swarmers had queens from early swarmers, and 

 these queens began to lay before the brood in them was all 

 hatched. At the end of fourteen days we drove the bees into 

 empty hives, and thus sacrificed the unhatched brood for the 

 benefit of the swarms. By adopting the turning-out system of 

 management a bee-farmer has flower or clover honey in the 

 market very early, and this to us is a great advantage, for our 

 home customers are exceedingly fond of flower or clover honey ; 

 we therefore try to get as much of it as possible before the beeB 

 are removed to the heather. In honey seasons our swarms 

 become heavy before they are removed to the moors. Some- 

 times we use the comb knife and greatly lighten them before 

 removal. 



In unfavourable seasons for honey-gathering it is sometimes a 

 stroke of good policy to increase the number of stocks, and in 

 very favourable seasons to reduce their number by taking all the 

 honey possible. Within the laBt ten years we have had two 

 seasons remarkable for honeydew, which spoiled and discoloured 

 the honey, making it quite unsaleable. Wha ! . is called honey- 

 dew is simply the dirt of an insect, which when gathered by 

 bees is an abomination in hives. It is not healthy food for bees, 

 but they eat it. We take no honey for sale or from bees when 

 they gather honeydew, but increase our Btock of hives. On the 

 other hand, when all our hives rise to great weights the tempta- 

 tion to make hay while the sun shines (to use a common 

 expression) is very great. In such seasons it is a stroke of 

 good policy to run a great deal of honey into the money bag. 

 — A. Pettigkew. 



and not cared for in spare minutes or fed with refuse. Near a town there 

 is always a good demand for eggs; and wherever good poultry is offered for 

 sale tnere is always a demand for it. The calculation of die number of e»°s 

 sum re^ed en ° Ug ^ '° P * mm WOald not be difficult if we knew the 



altoSr" 3 ^ ATHE ? I! ' G B.iittT Wmafeur).--W8 disapprove your feeding 

 2* e J: ; , W f e . are almost tired of telling people they will only do well with 

 £?„ "?,? ^^ 'f 057 Mt f ?; We believe * n ° artificial foods, and 

 £„nl S 1 * " successfully kept you will never find any of them 

 Ine only good thing you have is lettuce; give them plenty of it Gi-e 

 wiTa fo°rk S ^ h b f e r eal £' ake 2 with . mUt Give them fresh earl-h move! 

 J^itJZt, The ' 00i you ha ™ b3en S"fr>S is heating, and the feathers are 

 dried up before tney are entirely formed. Do as we have told you and your 

 birds will soon be feathered. jvu auu jum 



f^ ^™ 8 Dr ? G [Leyland) -We do not consider your feeding good enough 

 ^,*' ota V5 d b T Ut ,-° r the belp th6y baTe Iua ^S ab ^t the garden more 

 Z ^ «Z" h ei J nd ' an „ meal ", ba3 ' V°*">**tog nothing but fatty matter 

 IJ, ,{. ? ^ 6 ? boa3 .?? d m ™*° "e wanted. Sharps are bad. Chickens 

 ™v« n eb ? s t°f overythingandif they are stinted when young they never 

 frtj P f l0i l Way \ At 4 fi r weeks old they should have bread crumbs, 

 ground oats, crusaed wheat, chopped egg, cooked meat scraps chopped fine 

 the mT, T^ "is oat ™ a i m '«a ™th milk. These can be diminished as 

 fond ^.r,fl f s f t " rolder - ^ the modern appliaaces in lieu of good wholesome 

 tlL ,1 *° 'T- 0t P °,7 er - , Fat is not ^rength, nor does bulk in chickens 

 S ™J%*, a ™ d ™S well,_ unless it is sure that it is the result of nourishing 



a SL P lwl° ' SD , Ch as w d3 get la a state o( natnre - » is feeding such al 

 yours that brings leg-weakness and other maladies. 



Caoss-BKEEDrxa Fowls (lire. P.) - 

 bred. 



-Houdans and Dorkings can he inter- 



„«?n DS P ? B , BcM fnrcHES (T. B. W.).-WaU directions for feeding them 

 are in our last number. Any grass seeds will do. 



H,^^,?^' H^*nd).--m>e sentence which you have quoted from 

 .vni.i ? 7 ■? ees r lsnot absolutely correct, and should have been 



!S w • V i .T'" m , 6an4 f0 C07er tbe " ndtlet of the bees before swarming 

 and undisturbed by enlargements. Drone cells are filled with brood in the 

 expectation of swarming, and often when weather blights the hopes of the 

 bees and threatens them with poverty they begin to cast out white drones! 

 S?„-X^T P ros P er "y before swarming, or when all is in an advancing con- 

 dition towards swarming, healthy white drones are not dragged from their 

 cells. Your hive has been doing weU, but since you have enlarged it oy 

 eking and supenng the weather has become much colder, causing the bees to 

 abandon the idea of swarming: hence they have commenced casting oat 

 their worthless young— a wise provision in the economy of a bee hive. To- 

 wards the end of the summer white drones are frequently cast out of heavy 

 full hives, and even during the mmmermonths one may see the bees drag-ini 

 out young drones that died in their cells before the time of hatching.— a! P. 

 w^w y?™. HE "> /""ST Fsatheeless <T»«fal.— Bed S and is the 

 S °?' 5.'" 1 ' he wa ;t of it would not cause the bird's head to be bare of 

 leathers. If, where the feathers are off, there should appear any scurf, 

 gently rub or anoint the part affected with oil of sweet almonds, or lar J, or 

 fresh butter. Give the patient a drop of castor oil twice each week during 

 illness. Discontinue the use of apple, and so much green food. A little" 

 lettuce or watercress every other day will suffice. Let canary seed form its 

 mam food, giving still less hemp and rape, and by aU means scald the latter 

 oeiore usmg it. If you c-onld devote a spare room or spacious fly to the bird 

 re™ 5 "t ? SeaS ° D ' BnpplTing a bath *aUy,perchanceyourpet would 



METEOBOLOGICAL OBSEBVATIONS. 



CAMDEN SQUARE, LON-DQN. 



Lat. 51° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0" 8' 0" TV.; Altitude, 111 feet. 



Date. 



9 A.M. 



Is the Day. 





1876. 



i« a . 



Hygrome- 



S-J 



i° = o 



Shade Tem- 



Radiation 



a 



•a 

 a 



July. 

 Aug. 



P (3 > 

 23 -w - 



ter. 



QO 





perature. 



Temperature. 



Dry. 



! Wet. 



Mas. 



Min. 



In 



sun. 



On 



grass 







IncheB. 



deg. 



deg. 





deg. 



deg. 





deg. 



deg. ! In. 



We. 26 



3\051 



65.9 



59.8 



s.w. 



6'.7 



S1.0 





130.1 



Th. 27 



30 02S 



62.6 



53.4 



N.W. 



69.4 



73.2 



55.9 



123.5 







Fri. 28 



29.73S 



63.0 



57.9 



S.B. 



63.6 



69.4 



57.5 



90 3 







Sat. 29 



29 935 



62.3 



54.3 



S.W. 



653 



73.2 



61.0 



125 3 







Sun. 30 



30196 



681 



59.1 



N.W. 



659 



76.5 





122 8 







Mo. 31 



29.636 



63.3 



61.2 



S. 



66.3 



69.9 



58.6 



115.0 







Tn. 1 



30.021 



58.8 



51.7 



s. 



63.9 



69.7 



46.7 



117.4 



41.5 — 



Means. 



59.951 



63.4 



56.8 I 





66. 



73.7 



54.4 



117.8 



51.6 j 0.593 



26th.- 

 27th.- 



and 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Poultry- keeping Extensively (H. R. B.l.—We do not believe you will 

 get a liviDg by selling eggs or by keeping poultry in confinement. If you 

 have a farm of thirty acres, affording your fowls a good range, and enabling 

 you to grow the food, and thus get it at the lowest cost, you will find poultry 

 a great help ; but like everythiog else that is intended to pay an-1 contribute 

 to o, living, or it may be eomethi-jg more, they muit b« well attended to, 



KEMAKKS. 

 A bright fine day, with a oool breeze, especially at morning 

 evening. 



■Rain for short time in early morning, very fine at 9 A.M. ; a beautiful 

 day with pleasant breeze. 

 28th,— Rather dull morning; rain began at 1 p.m., and there were frequent- 

 showers during the rest of the day. 

 29th.— Very bright and pleasant day after the rain of the preceding one. 

 80th. — A very bright pleasant day and night. 

 8l3t. — Rainy morning, fine forenoon, bat heavy showers in ihe afternoon- 



peculiarly storm-like sky at sunset, though it was a very bright cne. 

 let. — A very fine day but rather cool. 



Like the preceding week, that just closed ha* gradually decreased in tem- 

 perature, the maximum in Ehade which was 92.6° on July loth was only 69.7° 

 on the 1st of August. The total fall of rain in July was only 0.815 inches, 

 being less than half the average. — G. J. Syjioms. 



COTENT GARDEN MARKET.— August 2. 

 A brisk business has been doing during the past week, and nearly all 

 o'asses of goods have been easily cleared owiuj to the f-illing-off in the 

 supply of solt fruit. 



