270 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 7, 1863. 



finding their owa home Bhut against them they would hare fra- 

 ternised with their next neighbours of B, and so strengthened that 

 hive. Not so, however ; most of them entered E, already strong, 

 on the Bhelf below them, and some were admitted into F. A 

 few were rejected and killed, but not many. What drone-brood 

 was formed in C was also inserted into B, and I am rejoiced to 

 Bee that it has been tended with care. 



Now as to future plans. In Easter week, by which time I 

 expect the young queen of B to be hatched, and the other hives 

 to have gained strength, 1 intend to proceed as follows : — 

 let, make a swarm of D by driving it into a box well stored with 

 comb and food ; 2nd, place D, when cleared of its adult popula- 

 tion, in the room of A, after driving or shifting into D the 

 Italian queen and population of A ; 3rd, put A with its Italian 

 brood alone in place of E, setting E over it after first catching 

 and destroying its drone-breeding queen ; 4th, make a swarm of 

 E by driving into a box well stored with comb, as in the case of 

 D above ; 5th, place E with its brood-comb under B. Here are 

 five distinct operations tending to equalise my stocks in point of 

 population, and to preserve two out of three of the drone-breeding 

 stocks which otherwise would have perished, by supplying them 

 first with the means of rearing fertile queens, and then with an 

 increased population to work with. In this way, too, I shall 

 turn the misfortune of drone-breeding to some profit. I may 

 mention that Beveral of the drones which I examined were well- 

 marked Italians. I also had a good view o£ the queen of A, 

 which is a moBt beautiful specimen of her race, and large and 

 vigorous also. This plan of mine, as detailed ahove, courts the 

 criticism of the " Devonshire Bee-keepee." He will at 

 least allow it to be an ingenious one. Can he suggest an im- 

 provement upon it ? if so, I shall be glad to hear from him. 



I cannot conclude without remarking upon the extraordinary 

 condition of the bees in this country. Deserted apiaries are to 

 be seen everywhere. I believe that nine-tenths or more of our 

 English bees have perished this winter or the previous autumn. 

 I venture to predict (and I was a true prophet last May), a fine 

 summer for honey, if only we have a dry and rather cold six 

 weeks before us. — B. & W. 



[Whilst disclaiming all pretensions to criticise the programme 

 of so accomplished an apiarian as " B. & W.," I can fully corro- 

 borate what he has stated with regard to the difficulty — in fact, 

 I may say the impossibility, of getting late-bred queens impreg- 

 nated last year. Nearly all of mine were slaughtered by their 

 own bees, whilst the only two that survived turned out drone- 

 breeders in the spring. This phenomenon must probably be 

 attributed to continued low temperature rather than the paucity 

 of the male sex. Dzierzon places the temperature required for a 

 Buccessful wedding flight at above 75°, and I am disposed to 

 think that not less than 70° to 75° will suffice. How few days 

 were there last year during which the thermometer stood so 

 high as this in the open air ! In one of my own hives a great 

 number of drones were in existence until quite late in the 

 autumn, when they were expelled by the workers in the ordinary 

 way ; and yet the young queen of this colony is at the present 

 moment incapable of breeding aught else than drones. I pur- 

 pose keeping her alive, if possible, for the sake of her male 

 offspring, recruiting the worker population by the insertion from 

 time to time of a sealed brood-comb : this course is, in fact, sub- 

 stantially the same as is proposed by "B. & W.," with respect to 

 the drone-breeder in hive B. 



In conclusion I may add, that most heartily do I wish my 

 esteemed apiarian friend a happy issue out of all his difficulties ; 

 and if I can in any way aid in the solution of the " Italian 

 question," the doing so will afford much pleasure to — A Devon- 

 shire Bee-keepee.] 



SPEING PASTTTEAGE FOE BEES. 



On a visit we recently paid to the Sawbridgeworth Nurseries, we 

 saw a large quarter of Salix caprea (as we thought) in full bloom, 

 forming a complete sheet of golden catkins, and peopled with 

 myriads of bees. The day was bright — one of those lovely sum- 

 mery spring days we have had so many of all this season, and 

 the lively hum of the busy throng made music in the air. This 

 was early in March, and there were the bees evidently revelling 

 in what appeared to be an unusually rich store at that season of 

 the year. What Btruck us particularly was the great, profusion 

 of bloom on trees so small. Some of them were not more than 



bushes 2 to 3 feet high, and every young shoot was a dense spike 

 of catkins. We had always regarded the Salix caprea as a 

 large tree when it bloomed ; and our curiosity being excited by 

 seeing so much on trees so small, we appealed to Mr. Rivers, who 

 informed us that this was a variety of Salix caprea, which pos- 

 sessed that peculiar property of flowering when very small and 

 young. He procured it some years ago from the north of 

 England, and has hitherto used it as a stock for grafting the 

 American Weeping Willow upon. What a treasure this would 

 be to bee-keepers, who might plant a few in proximity to their 

 apiaries, or in shrubberies where it would furnish abundant 

 pasture to bees at a season when they are frequently enticed out 

 by bright weather when there is really very little or nothing for 

 them to pasture upon. 



Bees in the New FobeSt. — A great quantity of Mead — 

 medu — is still made here, and it is sold at much the same value 

 as with the Old-English, being three or four times the price of 

 common beer, with which it is often drunk. The drones are 

 here named " the big bees." Bees are never said to swarm, but 

 "to play." The caps of straw put over the "bee-pots" to 

 keep them from wet, are called "bee-hackles," and "bee-hakes." 

 About the honeycombs or " workings," as they are commonly 

 called, there is this rhyme : — 



" Sieve upon herder, 

 One upon the other ; 

 Holes upon both sides. 

 Not all the way, though ; 

 What may it be ? See if you know." 



The entrance to the hive is called the " tee-hole." An eke for 

 raising the hive and giving more room is called " the rear."— 

 (Wise's New Forest.) 



OTJE LETTEE BOX. 



Foottey Dying Suddenly (J. Price).— You should have told us the 

 symptoms. The appearance indicates long-continued constipation and con- 

 sequent inflammation of the bowels ; but the same appearance may have 

 arisen from the birds eating something poisonous. If the birds are con- 

 stipated give each a dessert-spoonful of castor oil, and do not feed exclu- 

 sively on barley. Soft food, such as barleymeal mixed "with mashed boiled 

 potatoes, should be given once a-day. 



Bantams (Novice).— We believe you have some Bantams bred between 

 Game and common ones. You will probably find them very good sitters, 

 and useful fowls for all purposes. 



Diaeehcea in Bantams (0. J).).— We do not believe the lump you speak 

 of in the Bantam's abdomen is painful. Fomentation with hot water is 

 beneficial, but if it does not increase we advise you to let it alone. The lump 

 is sometimes a cheesy deposit under the skin, and in that case it is only 

 necessary to make a slight incision, and to squeeze the back of it, when it 

 will slip out. This must he ascertained ; because if it be, as they are some- 

 times, a blood-tumour, cutting is worse than useless. 



Points in Tuebits (Inquirer).— The most important points in Turbits are 

 the following :— They should be small and neat, large coarse birds being 

 particularly objectionable. The head in a good Turbit is peculiar, being 

 flat and somewhat frog-like ; the beak should be short, but not turned 

 down like the beak of an Owl or Barb. The shoulders should be without 

 white splashes, and of a sound uniform colour, whether red, black, or 

 yellow ; if silver or blue, with the black bars well and distinctly marked ; 

 the less colour on the thighs the better, though it is very d.fflcult to breed 

 them without any; the entire plumage ;of the body, flight, and tail feathers 

 pure white. With regard to the turn-crown, some prefer a mere point of 

 recurved feathers, others a broad shell ; and prizes have been awarded by 

 good judges to plain-headed birds. It is indispensable, however, that the 

 pair must match accurately. As a rule we should think that the turn- 

 crowns would beat the plain-headed under all judges, other things being 

 equal. It is an additional property, and one of some importance. 



Window Aviaey (H. B.).— The window is in a very good aspect for an 

 aviary, and the size you mention would hold from fifteen to twenty small 

 birds. The following would stand the cold and agree very sociably together 

 —viz., the Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Bramble Finch, Bullfinch, Grey Linnet, 

 and Redpoll, and as the season advances the Canary, Java Sparrow, and 

 Averdevine might be added. A small fir tree in the centre would add to 

 the appearance, and the birds would enjoy it. 



Driving Bees {Sutton).— If you place a strong stock upon an empty box, 

 and compel the bees to work through the latter, they will ultimately- take 

 possession of it, and when they have adopted it as their breeding-place, 

 the original hive may be removed. No precise period of time can be 

 named for the completion of the transfer, which is open to the double 

 objection — that if successful, no swarm can be expected this summer, and 

 so great a proportion of drone-comb is apt to be built under these circum- 

 stances as injuriously to affect the future prosperity of the colony. After 

 driving bees into a straw hive, you may readily transfer them into a box, 

 by knocking the cluster out on a cloth, and standing the box over them, 

 supported on wedges or a couple of sticks an inch thick. As soon as all 

 the bees have ascended they should be put in the place they are intended 

 permanently to oc«upy. Whilst replying to your inquiries, we rhould 

 strongly advise you to eschew either of these operations and trust to natural 

 swarming. 



