August 31, 1871. ] 



JOUR^^AIi OF HOETICULTURH AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



171 



ToRBlTS.-iJfrf or Yillov:.-!. E. Horner (Red). 2. J. Fielding, jun.(Rea). 

 Aniiotlier Colour— 1,E. Horner, 2. A. Majnall. ;»;, J. Fieldins, jan. 



Ndnb —1 H YardlcT, 2. B. Bowden, Pleaamston Hall, Blacltburn. 



Jacobins.— Berf-l.'E. Horner. 2, T. WaddinKton. Jic, R. Fulton. Any 

 other Colour— T, E. Horner (Yellow), 2 and he. K. Fulton. , „ ^ „ 



Antwehps.-I, R, Brierley. 2, J. Stanley, he. W. H. MitolieU ; E. Horner ; 



FiNTAiLs'.— 1. J. Wallier. 2, J. H. Harvey, he, A. M. Yetts, Reading ; J. F. 

 3jOveraidcro, Newarli. t^. , . . 



DEiGooNS.-Biuf.— 1 and Medal, H. Yardley. 2, F. Graham, Birkenhead. 

 ;ic, H. Yariley: W.Massey. ^ni/ o(/ier Colour.— 1, R. Fnlton. 2, J- llolland. 

 7i(;, B. Fulton ; J. G. Dunn, Newca3tle-on-Tyne ; F.Graham (2); J. Holland; 

 W. H. Milchell. 



Trumpeters.— 1 and 2, E. Homer, he. R. Fulton. 



Magpies.- 1, W. Kitchen. 2, H. Yardley. he, E. Homer. 



Any othkb Variety.— 1, H. Yardley. 2, W. Kitchen. S, 0. E. Cresswell, 

 Hanworth Rectory. , „ , ,,, „ 



Selling Class.- 1, J. Fieldingr, jun. (Owls). 2, I. Bush, Bowden (\eUow 

 Barhs). he, E. Homer ; A. M. Yetts (Carriers) ; J. Walker. 



EABBlTg.— i02)-cn>v'<J.— Buc/;.- 1, A. H. Eastcn, Hull. 2, J. Boyle, jnn.. Black- 

 ■bum. he, Lewin & Robinson, Kettering. Doe.—l and 2, J. Irvins (Blue Tor- 

 toiseshell and Grey and \Vhite). ftc. E. Gravil, jun,, Thome. Sihter-Grey.— 

 a and /tc. S. G. Hudson. Hull. 2, S. Greenwood, Hobden Bridge. Himalayan, 

 — 1. B. S. Rothwell, Rochdale. 2, J. Butterworth, Broadley, Rochdale, he, J. 

 Boyle, jun. Aminra.—\, A. H. Easten. 2, J, Baron, Castlemere, Rochdale. 

 he, J. Taylor. Any other Variety.— \ and 2, J. Boyle, jun. (Belgian Hare and 

 Dutch), he, R. Leach. Selling Claas.—\, J. Butterworth. 2, J. Boyle, Jan. 

 he, A. H. Easten. 



Judges. — Poulfn/ : Mr. E. Teebay, Fulwood, Preston, and Mr. N. 

 Cook, Chowbent. Flr/eoiis : Mr. F. Esquilant, Bristou, London, and 

 Mr. T. J. Charlton, Bradford. Babbits: Mr. C. Kajson, Didsbury. 



PIGEON TRIMMING AT ALLERTON SHOW. 



As Mr. Yardley replies eqnivooally to the charge of trimming, 

 and oonsequent disijualification of one of his pairs of Nans at 

 tlie above-named slaow, allow me to remark that he says eor- 

 roctly the feathers were not " abstracted," but, then, they were 

 cut off close to the stump, most artistically, and in an unmia- 

 takeable manner ; and had it not been my rule to handle and 

 examine minutely all the varieties that are likely to be im- 

 proved by trimming, I should also have awarded them a first 

 position. With the exception ol the throats and crests, the 

 birds were in perfect feather, showing no signs of moult what- 

 ever. This was all seen by the Stewards of the department, 

 and those gentlemen commented upon it in no measured terms. 



As to the pair of Dragoons referred to, Mr. Yardley does 

 nothing to allay the " uneasiness " which he thinks was created 

 in my mind, and although the birds were young, the sex eon- 

 sequently diffi(!ult to determine at first sight (and he can see 

 I gave them the benefit of the doubt), yet he is very careful 

 not to declare them to be of the proper sexes. — E. Hutton. 



THE OPENING OF THE SEASON— WHITBY 

 CANARY SHOW. 



When is Whitby Show? I am often asked. It's always held 

 on the Tuesday before the St. Ledger. Not that there is any 

 connection between the two, only I have known instances where 

 it was thought that rite Doncaster was the most direct route 

 from Whitby to the north, and that Epsom lay somewhere 

 between Sunderland and Edinburgh. Be that as it may, and 

 far be it from me to dispute the fact, the two events always 

 come together ; and as the great Yorkshire carnival, big with 

 ao many hopes, falls on Wednesday week, " would it surprise 

 you to know " that the Canary exhibition season opens at 

 Whitby on Tuesday, September 12th? I admit that it is 

 .early, almost too early, but being held in conjunction with the 

 Horticultural Show, there is no alternative but to hold it at 

 the time mentioned. Still, those who made an early start will 

 have plenty of birds ready, and the recent summer weather will 

 have done much to forward the moulting of all ages — those 

 with many a prize attached to their names, and younger 

 aspirants for fame also. The Show deserves well of all, having 

 a liberal prize list and a low entry fee, and is under the most 

 experienced management. The town itself is one of the prettiest 

 watering-places in England, and the surrounding views simply 

 charming. There will be abundance of time between deliver- 

 ing the birds and the opening for a peep at the quaint little 

 place, and my advice is, make large entries, bring your birds 

 yourselves, and make an " outing " of the first Canary show of 

 the season. — W. A. Blakston. 



QUEENS LEAVING THEIR HIVES. 

 I THiuK the controversy may rest with regard to queen 

 mothers taking aerial excursions. The question is certainly 

 not "proved" one way or the other, and if your readers will 

 refer to my original notes on the subject, they will see that I 

 did not state the fact as proven, even by the remarkable case 



which I detailed. All I said was, it would "go to prove," by 

 which I meant no more than that in a case of uncertainty such 

 an incident in apiculture is worthy of note, an incident ap- 

 parently so clearly making in favour of the disputed but still 

 not disproved theory that mother queens do sometimes take 

 aerial excursions. 



Perhaps " R. S.'s " view is correct, although no such in- 

 stance of swarming into other hives has come under my notice. 

 That it is an " error " to put forth a suggestion like the one I 

 made, I must deny. Either I maintain it to be an overbold 

 assertion to say that motherqueens never take aiirial excursions. 

 It may be of rare occurrence ; I believe it is, but the fact itself 

 can never be placed beyond doubt. 



With regard to the circumstances I have detailed, I repeat 

 again they are absolutely correct. The stock contained a pure 

 imported Italian queen ; nor was there any royal cell in it. 

 The box was entirely denuded of bees after repeated drivings, 

 and every comb clearly exposed to view. Bat it is useless to 

 argue the subject farther. Let what has been written on either 

 side go for what it is worth. 



Mr. Lowe has touched upon a subject of great interest in 

 referring to the departure of Mr. Woodbury. It needs no 

 words of mine to express the sense of loss which all your 

 readers in common experience. I had the pleasure of a per- 

 sonal acquaintance with him for some ten or twelve years, and 

 can testify to the wonderful accuracy of all his knowledge. 

 Whatever he aimed or pretended to know, he knew thoroughly, 

 and his knowledge was only equalled by his courtesy and seU- 

 control.— B. & W. 



A BEE-KEEPERS DIFFICULTIES. 



DuMNO the latter half of June and the whole of July the 

 weather here was unceasingly wet. As a consequence, the bees 

 harvested little or nothing, but I believe increased in numbers 

 to an unusual extent. One ol my hives is an improved 

 " cottage." Early in the season I put a box on to prevent 

 swarming. This box is 14 inches by 8, and 6 inches deep. 

 Owing to bad weather the bees did not work in it, nor did they 

 swarm. On the return of fine weather at the beginning of 

 this mouth they clustered outside, mostly in a lump, under the 

 floor-board. Here they have made a comb (in the open air) 

 of the shape of a mitre inverted, about 10 inches long, and 

 about 5 inches wide at the base, where alone it is attached to 

 anything. A neighbouring bee-keeper has the same story to 

 tell — nay, more ; his bees made two combs hanging down from 

 the floor-board, and he cut away one last week full of honey, 

 and with nearly all the cells sealed. By procuring a Ligurian 

 queen, and having hived this cluster of bees (as large as an 

 ordinary swarm), by uniting her to the gentlemen of the open- 

 air movement, would it be very difficult to establish them and 

 keep them through the winter by plenty of food, &c. ? If so, 

 will you give suggestions for joining her majesty to her future 

 subjects ? — A Galway Bee-keeper. 



[We should advise you, particularly at this advanced period 

 of the season, not to attempt making an artificial swarm of the 

 bees hanging underneath the floor-board of your hive, either 

 by the addition of a Ligurian queen or otherwise. You may 

 now, as soon as yon please, cut away the comb, and as the 

 weather becomes cooler the bees will all be able to find room 

 within the hive. The building of combs in this manner is 

 not an uncommon occurrence, especially in bad honey years. 

 It is probable that if you had furnished your super with some 

 nice bits of some clean empty worker comb your bees would 

 have ascended, and have accomplished considerably more work, 

 even although they might not have succeeded in nearly filling 

 it. As you cannot obtain Langstroth's book through your 

 local bookseller, write to Messrs. Neighbour, 149, Regent Street, 

 London. The price is 10s. — Eds.] 



BEE INCIDENTS. 

 An occurrence which took place lately in my father's apiary 

 I think may be of interest to your readers. A swarm issued 

 from one of his hives on or about the 27th of June, and was 

 hived in the usual manner. A few minutes after a queen 

 rushed out of the entrance with some bees in hot pursuit. 

 She was captured and replaced under the hive, but she ran out 

 immediately, the bees apparently forcing her to do so. Con- 

 cluding there must be two queens in the swarm, he caught and 

 confined her under a glass in the house. At the same time 

 I there was a hive which had been clnstering out for five or six 



