September 28, 1871. ] JOUBNAL OF HOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



251 



with similar markings to the Satinette, but of a much lighter 

 and more delicate oolonr, there being no black or bluish cast, 

 such as is seen in the Satinette, but in general appearance they 

 present a regularly dappled marble aspect. These birds show 

 all the excellencies in form, carriage, &c., but the markings are 

 not so strong and conspicuous. The Satinette proper has a 

 plain head, but there are some of the variety that have crested 

 heads, and they, too, are very attractive, and by many would 

 be chosen in preference to the Satinette. Those peaked or 

 crested are now all the fashion in Smyrna. They have, no 

 •doubt, been raised by judicious crosses between the Satinette 



and the Pencilled Tnrbit of the same country, which is scarcely 

 less beautiful, . ,,..,,, 



We could say much more in praise of the Satinette, but with 

 a few words as to food we will now conclude. The climate of 

 Turkey is excessively hot ; in consequence the birds there feed 

 on hemp seed alone, but fanciers of the breed in this country 

 must not follow out that as a staple food. Occasionally hemp 

 seed is useful and necessary, but to feed on that alone m this 

 country will result inevitably in death. Vetches, small Indian 

 corn, buckwheat, and old English wheat, with an occasional 

 sprinkling of hemp seed, will be found to suit the constitution 



of the Satinette very well. Care must, of course, be taken to 

 prevent an over-gorge ; never sufier food to remain unconsumed 

 from one meal to another ; keep your birds with a keen appe- 

 tite, or the sudden change from greasy hemp to the more sub- 

 stantial grain may prove too much for their digestive powers'; 



feed moderately ; give clean water daily, and keep the birds 

 warm and dry always. If these precautions are adopted we 

 see no reason why the Satinette may not be in profusion 

 amongst us. — Bieminoham Columbaeian Society. — J. W. Lud- 

 low, Secretary. 



LIGUKIANS IN JERSEY— THE HONEY HARVEST. 



I DO not purpose now to give any account of what my stocks 

 have done this season, but I wish to bring before the notice of 

 your readers a somewhat curious circumstance in connection 

 with my bees. 



Out of four stocks of bees I have two pure Ligurians, and 

 these are, as far as I know, the only stocks in the island. What 

 was my astonishment, then, on going to drive a hive about a 

 mile distant, to discover a number of Ligurians living peace- 

 ably with the blacks. I looked to see if any of the adjoining 

 stocks were Ligurians, thinking I might possibly have lost a 

 swarm without knowing it, for I was absent from home when 

 my bees swarmed ; but a close scrutiny proved that this was 

 not the case. 



A few days afterwards I went to drive another hive, distant just 

 two miles in a bee line ; again I was surprised to find a con- 

 siderable number of Ligurians living in it in company with the 

 black inhabitants. In this case also I looked to see if any of 

 the adjoining stocks were Ligurians, but they evidently were 

 not. Since this an apiarian friend went to drive a hive some- 



where else, and found Ligurians in that also. It would seem 

 as though all the black stocks within two miles of mine have 

 Ligurian bees in them, all of which must evidently have 

 deserted from my hives. All these hives were either in the 

 midst of or near to the heather, but I am distant about a mile 

 from it. 



The honey harvest here has been decidedly good, better than 

 for several years past, though up to the end of June the bees 

 had made little or no honey. Yesterday I weighed a hive 

 tenanted by a swarm of this year; it contained at least 45 lbs. 

 of honey, and this is a fair sample of what strong stocks have 

 done here this year. This is strange, as the honey harvest has 

 been so bad elsewhere ; but in the summer of 1868, so favour- 

 able in many places, stocks here grew lighter after the middle 

 of June instead of getting heavier. The honey, however, owing 

 perhaps to the wet season, seems much thinner than it was 

 last year. Can any of your correspondents tell me if the 

 neighbourhood of Bishop Auckland, Durham, is favourable for 

 bee-keeping ? — D. N., Cantab. 



