370 



JOTTENAL OF HOBTICTTLTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ May 19, 1863. 



Lieut.-Col. von Wedell. — Take coarse blotting-paper, make it 

 into a pulp with hot water, and mix it well with clay. 



Herr Schindler. — One part of curd mixed with one part 

 buttermilk, then one part English cement, and two partB Bifted 

 sand are added. This is thinned with buttermilk or water so 

 that it just admits of being worked, and must be continually 

 stirred whilst being laid on. At the expiration of half-an-hour 

 another coat should be given, which forms a waterproof 

 covering of a grey stone-like appearance, and which becomes as 

 hard as stone when painted over with linseed oil, with which 

 any other colour may be mixed. Wood ought not to be planed, 

 and for roofs red lead may be substituted for sand. 



The President asked gentlemen to try these variouB composi- 

 tions and report the result. 



VII. What are the advantages and disadvantages of allowing 

 bees to build combs at their own will ? 



The discussion on this subject was confined to debating the 

 propriety or otherwise of allowing bees to build combs according 

 to their own fancy in the " honey-room " (which answers to our 

 supers), and presented little to interest or instruct English 

 apiarians.* 



This closed the first day's proceedings. At three o'clock two 

 hundred bee-keepers dined together at six tables under trees in 

 the open air, and the rest of the day was spent in viewing the 

 sights of Potsdam, which were thrown open to inspection. 



SECOND BAY. 



VIII. Of what importance is pollen in the preparation of food, 

 and in nourishing the three different kinds of individuals in the 

 bee-hive ? 



This query was introduced by Baron von Berlepsch, who 

 propounded the novel theory that honey contained nitrogen in 

 addition to carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen ; or if not, then the 

 modern doctrine of physiology that nitrogen is necessary to the 

 formation of animal bodies is untrue in respect to bees, since he 

 found they could paBs the winter in health, and rear brood 

 during that time on honey only. This doctrine was, however, 

 controverted by Pastor Dzierzon, Count Stosch, and otherB, who 

 upheld the correctness of the analyseB which excluded nitrogen 

 from the constituents of honey, and contended that bees must 

 have access to pollen in order to maintain them in health, and 

 to enable them to bring their young to perfection. 



IX. Can the diligence of bees be increased ? and, if so, by what 

 means ? 



Count Stosch said the bee is always as diligent aB she can be, 

 but not always as she could be if circumstances permitted. By 

 removing hindrances her industry is increased. The diligence 

 of bees in its nature of an impulse to work cannot be enhanced ; 

 the effect of that impulse may be increased, but not the impulse 

 itBelf. After referring to the loss of a queen decreasing their 

 activity, and describing the mode of remedying this evil, the 

 speaker said he considered the insertion of empty combs to be 

 one means of increasing the industry of bees. He also recom- 

 mended the artificial division of overBtrong stocks. Natural 

 swarming, he pointed out, diminishes their activity in a three- 

 fold manner — 1st, Bees work but little whilst preparing for 

 Bwarming ; 2nd, In the act itself, which is sometimes frequently 

 repeated, much valuable time is lost ; 3rd, The queen must limit 

 oviposition in order to be able to fly. large honey-stores may 

 diminish the activity of bees in the same manner as excess of 

 population and great heat. In these cases some honey or brood- 

 combs should be removed. Lastly, the most natural, the easiest, 

 the most indisputable, and the most effective means of increasing 

 the diligence of beeB is to improve their pasturage. The speaker 

 briefly mentioned three modes of procuring a harvest for bees 

 when nature does not offer any, and by means of which bees 

 have the opportunity of working when otherwise they must be 

 idle. These means are — Giving water in winter and early Bpring, 

 feeding with flour, and speculative feeding with honey. 



X. May worker and drone eggs recently laid in the combs be 

 safely sent away, and for how long a time ? 



Herr von Wedell related an instance in which worker eggs in 

 the comb had been safely sent to a distance, and afterwards 

 hatched, every egg being covered with a small portion of honey. 



Pfarrer Dzierzon doubted the fact, considering that the pre- 

 sence of honey in the Bame cells would cause the bees to destroy 

 the eggs when presented to them ; but Btated that eggs would 

 remain uninjured for a period of from eight to fourteen days. 



* Herr Schulze advised compelling bees to make thick combs which are 

 unfit for breeding, and recommended side communications. 



His experiments proved — 1st, That eggs may be transported by 

 land-carriage without becoming detached from the bottom of 

 the cells ; 2nd, That the vital principle remains latent in the 

 worker egg during a longer time when out of the hive than it 

 would do if left in it ; 3rd, That worker eggs are hatched earlier 

 in a high temperature than in a low one. 



XI. Sow can bad honey be purified ? 



Herr Blume said good honey can be easily purified by clarify- 

 ing it with albumen and straining through a fine wire sieve or a 

 coarse cloth ; bad honey can only be purified by means of tannic 

 acid or carageen moss, which is done in the following manner : 

 — To 15 lbs. of honey are added 30 grains of tannin dissolved in 

 water. The whole is thinned by the addition of one-third to 

 one-half part of water, and boiled. After this it is slowly poured 

 through a vessel with a perforated bottom covered with bone 

 charcoal and waBhed quartz, care being taken that it does not 

 run down the sides. When filtered in this manner the honey is 

 fit for making mead or wine. Bad honey may, however, be 

 entirely restored in the following manner : — To 20 lbs. of inferior 

 honey (heath honey for example) add a drachm of carrageen 

 moss ; when this is stirred until thoroughly mixed it must be 

 boiled in a water bath, and all impurities will rise to the sur- 

 face. The pure honey underneath i3 then carefully drawn off 

 through a tap inserted near the bottom of the vessel, and will 

 be found perfectly clear and bright. 



XII. Sow can a stock be compelled to swarm early ? 



Eor this purpose keeping strong stocks and feeding was re- 

 commended ; but with regard to the size of hives a difference of 

 opinion prevailed. 



Baron von Berlepsch said, I have never found — 1st, That bees 

 with a queen of the current year made many drone-combs ; 

 2nd, That a queen of the current year laid many drone eggs ; or 

 3rd, That a queen of the current year has led off a swarm. 



The thirteenth question, " What important discoveries have 

 been made in bee-keeping during the past year ? " was not 

 debated for want of time. — A Devonshire Bee-keefeb. 



OUR LETTEE BOX. 



Cochin-China Cocks Paralysed (M. A. C.).— The usual cause of these 

 birds losing the use of their legs, is the rupture of a small blood-vessel on 

 the brain. ThiB, generally, is occasioned by the birds being too fat. A 

 table-spoonful of castor oil, and a diet of soft food, chiefly boiled potatoes, 

 abundance of lettuce leaves, and freedom from excitement, whether from 

 fright or other cause, is the best treatment, but it requires perseverance, 

 and there is no certainty of success. 



Hen Egg-bound {A. JV.).— Tour Golden-spangled Hamburgh hen is 

 probably over-fat. Give her a dessertspoonful of castor oil; feed her on 

 boiled potatoes and a little barleymeal mixed with them, and let her have 

 plenty of lettuce leaves. Continue this until she lays regularly, and then 

 be careful not to give her food that is too fattening. 



Illness of Cochin Cock {Inquirer). — There is something that offends 

 in the inside of the Cochin cock, and he will not be better till it is removed. 

 This can only be done through purging. You must at once give a table- 

 spoonful of castor oil. Being as weak as you say, it is more than likely he 

 will require to be kept up a little. You must give him bread steeped in 

 strong ale, and you may give him the yolk of an egg now and then. It 

 should be given raw, and be poured down his throat. When his excrement 

 is firm and figured— dark brown tipped with white — he will be well. The 

 purging must be continued till no more green slime comes away. 



Ducklings Dying (Oatlands). — As they seem to die without a cause, and 

 you do not state a single symptom, how is it possible for us to divine the 

 source of death ? Forty-five out of fifty-five dying thus unaccountably, 

 suggests that something is eaten by them that is poisonous. They are not 

 difficult to rear. When first hatched curd is the best food for them ; and 

 when three or four weeks old ground oats mixed in water with a little fine 

 gravel in it, and whole oats occasionally for a change. If the ducklings are 

 in a confined space they should have sods of growing grass in their water. 



Incubator.— "We hear from a correspondent, that an incubator is to be 

 sold on very reasonable terms, and that full particulars may be had from 

 "Mrs. Beatty, Heathfield, Wexford, Ireland." 



Book on Bees (E. it. £.).— In a few dayB we shall publish a new edition 

 of " Bee-keeping," very fully illustrated. Payne's hives are the cheapest 

 and simplest. They can be had of Messrs. Neighbour. Your other questions 

 we will find room for next week. 



LONDON MAEKETS.— Mat 18. 



POULTRY. 



There is still a good supply of poultry, especially of small chickens, 

 consequent on the mild winter we have had. Trade is dull, and the demand 

 very small for the season of the year. 





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