304 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 21, 1863. 



will prevent this evil, while a continuation of the present cold 

 dry weather will be utter ruin to many weak hives still holding 

 out hopes of recovery. 



One of the reasons which I have above assigned for the ruin 

 of not a few hives this spring referB to the imperfect fecundation 

 of the queen. One form or manifestation of this abnormal 6tate 

 is alluded to by your correspondents " B. & W." and " A Deyon- 

 SHtEE Bee-keepeb" in the Journal of April 7, in the case of 

 such queens as produce only drone-brood. Whether we refer this 

 abnormal condition of the queen to the Dzierzonian doctrine of 

 "parthenogenesis " or the Huberian theory of " retarded impreg- 

 nation" is of little consequence bo far as results are concerned ; 

 for I suppose we are all agreed as to the UBelessness of such queens. 



I observe that both of the correspondents alluded to intend 

 to avail themselves of the drone-brood thus produced as helps 

 in the process of artificial queen-rearing. If I might pre- 

 sume to give an opinion in the matter, all I can say is that I 

 would have very little faith in such questionable helps. I do 

 not know what sort of droneB are produced in the apiaries of 

 these gentlemen by such conditioned queens, but those which I 

 have seen produced in like circumstances are generally extremely 

 puny and often malformed from being bred in small cells ; and. 

 if the followers of Dzierzon, like their master, look upon the 

 most perfect of the drone species, even as imperfect creatures, 

 "for the production of which," as Dzierzon Bays, " fewer con- 

 ditions and forces are necessary than for the production of the 

 more perfect beings the females," then certainly such puny- 

 looking things as are generally produced by drone-breeding 

 queens must be held as perfect monstrosities. But be this as it 

 may, I should not, I repeat, put much reliance upon their aid 

 in queen-rearing, and I Buspect that little benefit will result from 

 preserving them, if, indeed, they can be preserved so long; and 

 that experience will show that towards the attainment of the 

 object desired with respect to queen-rearing, there is something 

 more required than the mere presence of such suspicious-looking 

 and questionable agencies. 



I shall, perhapB, at some future time, enter more minutely into 

 a consideration of the three points I have mooted above as con- 

 stituting the three essential requisites of a good colony of bees. 

 Each of these is important in itself, and if the apiarian would 

 only properly appreciate the importance of each of these requi- 

 sites and foresee the evils the want of any one of them is sure 

 to produce, he could with greater reliance in the autumn set 

 apart such well-conditioned hives for Btock as would, in all 

 probability, not only survive the perils of the winter but the 

 greater and more trying perils of the spring. — J. Lowe. 



No. 6 .. 

 No. 7 .. 

 No. 8 ., 

 No. a .. 

 No. 10.. 



lbs. ozs. 

 . 19 8 

 .. 15 8 

 .. 35 8 

 .. 15 

 23 



UNITING BEES. 



I commenced bee-keeping last season, my Btock comprising 

 a Nutt's wooden hive (two years old), one square wooden box, 

 and one straw skep. The three hives being very heavy and full 

 of bees, by September my stock had increased to eleven, and on 

 the 8th of that month I weighed them, including the footboard. 



lbs. ozs. 



No. 1 51 8 



No. 2 32 



No. 3 32 



No. 4 30 



No. 5 40 



The Nutt's hive I could not weigh. The next morning I ad- 

 ministered chloroform (one drachm to each hive) to the five 

 weakest hives, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10, destroying the queen, and 

 placing the bees in an empty straw skep, with perforated zinc at 

 top, and coarse cloth at bottom, to allow the fresh air to revive 

 the bees, and at night placed each hive on the top of 1, 2, 3, 5, 

 and 8, having first smeared a little honey on the top of each of 

 the latter hives. There appeared no fighting, and I do not 

 think that I lost more than a quart of bees, and took from 

 20 to 30 lbs. of honey. 



Having been away from home, I have delayed weighing my 

 hives a iortnight later than I could have wished, but this is the 

 result this day. 



lbs. ozs. lbs. ozs. 



34 







dead 



26 



6 



31 







25 



8 J 



Showing a / 1 



No. 1 



No. 2 .;; 



No. 3 



No. 5... 



No. 8 "" !."!"".„ 



leaving me four hives (besides Nutt's) immensely strong, 

 proving the folly of destroying the life of these valuable insects. 

 —A Guildjobd Bee-xeepeb. 



16 

 decrease 



in weight J 5 10 

 during the 9 

 7 months. U0 



DO LIGUEIAN BEES SUCK THE BED 



CLOVEBP 



I AM informed that it haa been Btated, that where the Italian 

 species of honey bee has been introduced, it has been found that 

 they suck the common red clover which, it is well known, is com- 

 monly neglected by the ordinary hive-bee. I shall endeavour 

 myself to determine the point during this season, but as red 

 clover is somewhat scarce in my immediate neighbourhood, I 

 shall be very glad of the assistance of other observers where the 

 LigunanB have been established. One caution is, however, 

 necessary, since it is stated that after the clover is cut the flowers 

 of the second crop are a little shorter than those of the first, 

 and, therefore, common bees can suck them ; also, the flowers 

 of the second crop (and, perhaps, those of the first), are very 

 often perforated near their bases by Humble bees, and they are 

 then sucked by hive bees, so that it is necessary to note whether 



the bees suck at the base or at the mouth of the flowers. A 



Devonshiee Bee-keepee. 



BEE FOOD. 



Could any of your correspondents inform me if ever they 

 have tried the feeding of their bees with infused hops ? I have 

 fed them these number of years with them, and consider it a 

 great improvement. The quantity I use is about i oz. to 1 lb. 

 of sugar. The bees take it readily, preferring it to sugar alone. 



— W. T. BLAMTrEE. 



Caeeot Soup. — To seven pints of soft water put one pound 

 of lean beef cut thin, half a pint of split peas, one large carrot 

 cut into pieces, one or two turnips, some celery, and a large 

 onion. Boil all together until the liquor is reduced to one-half 

 the quantity, then strain it through a coarse hair-sieve. Have 

 ready three or four large carrots, half-boiled and grated fine, 

 put this into the soup ; boil it with pepper and salt to your 

 taste. Just before it gets to the la6t boil, take a little fresh 

 butter, about the size of a walnut, rubbed in flour, and puc into 

 the soup. Serve it up with fried bread. If more soup is wanted, 

 all the ingredients must be doubled, with the exception of the 

 grated carrots ; and, if they are large, six will be found sufficient 

 lor a good-sized tureen. 



OUE LETTER BOX. 



Work: on Pigeons (3. F. B., Castleton).— Ton can have, free by post, 

 Brent's "Pigeon-Book" from our office if you send your direction with 

 twenty postage stamps. It fully describes the different kinds, and gives a 

 woodcut of most of them. 



Incubator (A Young Amateur). — Ton might obtain one, perhaps, by 

 advertising for it. We know of no maker now. Stable-manure varies very 

 much in the temperature to which it gives birth, and the duration of that 

 temperature. It is too uncertain for hatching purposes, as a regular tem- 

 perature of 105° or 106° is required. Tour Duck egg is probably double- 

 yolked, and the occurrence is not unusuaL 



Lameness in Ducks (/. B.).— We attribute the lameness principally to 

 the brick floor. It is bad for all animals with long nails at the end of their 

 toes. All Gallinaceae and Game straw does not help much. Do away with 

 it, and substitute loose gravel 4 or 5 inches deep. The run in grass is good, 

 especially when the dew is on it in the morning; but a thorough wash is 

 wanted at times. You need not make a large and expensive pond, but 

 you may sink a washing-tub, and that will give all the water that is 

 absolutely necessary. They cannot do without that. 



Dock Egg-bound [An Amateur Duck'breeder).—She is too fat, and the 

 egg-passage is inflamed. Give her nothing but mashed potatoes mixed 

 with a little barleymeal as food ; and a tablespoonful of caBtor oil, and a 

 pill containing two grams of calomel and one-sixth of a grain of tartar 

 emetic every second day, until the symptoms subside. 



Advertisement (Colchester). — The charge would be 3s. Gd. 



Purchasing Bees (F. Davis). — You had better buy a swarm of some 

 bee-keeper in your own neighbourhood. Prices vary considerably in 

 different localities. 



Roseli.e Paroquets neari-t Featherless (M. 67., Croydon).— If your 

 birds have neither cold, nor are too fat, nor have been fed on animal or 

 greasy food, the cause of their losing their feathers from the breast and 

 other parts is owing to their blood being overheated, which causes an 

 irritation of the skin, and consequently the birds nibble their feathers off. 

 We would recommend you to endeavour to wean them off the hempseed, 

 and give oats, soaked overnight, and canary seed ; also a little soaked 

 bread, with plenty of fresh watercress, but no animal or greasy food of any 

 description. Take care that the birds feed, as you will have some difficulty 

 in weaning them from the hemp, which should be done by degrees. With 

 a fine-rose-headed watering-pot give the birds a bath twice a-day when the 

 weather is mild, takinit care to have the water lukewarm ; ulso place a 

 pan of water in he cage. 



