126 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICTTLTTJEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ August 9, 1877. 



Pettigrew hive which I made myself, and they have now almost 

 filled it with comb. 



On the 22nd of Jane I resolved to turn them out, as I did not 

 get a second swarm, but they hung round the flight-board for 

 several days, and I thought they were doing no good. But here 

 arose a difficulty ; the hive they were in was so much smaller 

 than the one I wanted to transfer them to. The one they were 

 in was only about 14 by 12 inches, and the one I wanted to put 

 them in was a large Pettigrew hive 18 by 12 inches. At last I 

 thought of a plan. I had one of Mr. Neighbour's super covers, 

 which was just about the size of my stock hive. I then turned 

 the hive bottom upwards, put on the super cover ; then I had at 

 hand a round roller towel, which I bound tightly round the 

 j auction, and it anBweredthe purpose well. I then commenced 

 knocking the hive with the palms of both hands, and I kept on 

 for about twenty minutes. I then unpinned the towel and 

 lifted up the super cover, when I found all but a dozen or two 

 of the bees had ascended from the combs into the super cover. 

 I then turned up my large hive and poured the bees in like 

 shaking in a natural swarm. I then turned the hive np and 

 placed it on the stand where the old hive stood before, and they 

 took to the new hive well, and the nest day they started on at 

 work, and now they have more than half filled the hive with 

 comb. Afterwards I took out the combs from the old hive, 

 broke them up and ran out the honey into a pan, and when I 

 came to weigh it I found I had about 11 lbs., some of which I 

 sold for Is. and some for Wd. per pound. So I thought, taking 

 all things into consideration, I was very successful; then, if all 

 is well, my hive will be well filled with good clean combs for 

 the winter, and also the bees will be in a good roomy hive, 

 which I think must be much the best. 



I may remark that I tried the artificial swarming from one of 

 Neighbour's hives, and I managed to take a very good swarm of 

 bees; but I suppose I was not successful in getting the queen, 

 for they all soon went back, and I did not take them again, and 

 in a few days they came off naturally. 



I am now making another lS-by-12-inch Pettigrew hive, which 

 I want to fill with condemned bees if I can get any, and feed 

 them up with sugar syrup. But I wish many others would give 

 us the result of their experience in the autumn feeding as to 

 the feeding apparatus to use and the best way to feed, whether 

 on the top or at the bottom of the hives. No doubt a few hints 

 on these points would be useful to many others as well as my- 

 self. I fed at the top of the hive and used a cistern holding 

 three pints of syrup, with a trough 6 inches long, and placed 

 in a bos with a hole in the bottom, and stood it on the hive with 

 this hole just opposite the hole in the top of the hive, bo that 

 the bees could come up into the box and take the syrup down, 

 and no foreign bees could get near them as the cistern was shut 

 in the bos, but they did not take it very fast that way.— J. P. 



BEMOVING BEES TO THE MOOBS. 



As it is now time to remove bees to the moors to catch the 

 heather bursting into blossom, it may be well to remind your 

 readers that before removal the hives should be well ventilated 

 and their combs well supported. The closing of the doors of 

 hives prevents natural ventilation, and the disturbance^ of 

 removal cauBes commotion, and thereby greater heat inside, 

 hence the cases of suffocation and breakdowns we so often 

 hear about. Suffocations and breakdowns are avoidable. Hives 

 •full of bees need much fresh air while on a journey from one 

 place to another. By placing fly-proof wire over the doors and 

 crown holes of hives we let the bees have a current of air 

 through them that prevents overheating and suffocation. Cross 

 sticks to which the combs are attached keep all in their places 

 steady and secure, and thus prevent breakdowns. All hives 

 should be nailed to their boards or well tied down, and Eent off 

 in their natural position. To turn hives upside down and send 

 them off bottom upwards is a very foolish and dangerous process, 

 for in this position the dip of the cells is reversed, causing the 

 honey to run out of them more readily. Hives without cross 

 sticks should be turned up two or three days before removal, 

 and have two or three half corks placed between every two 

 combs with a view to keep all steady and firm. If the pieces of 

 cork are properly placed or wedged between the combs the beeB 

 fasten the combs to them in less than twenty-four hours, and 

 when thus fastened they are the best possible substitute for 

 cross sticks. 



On Saturday last, August 4th, three Manchester gentlemen 

 took their hives to the Glossop moors, and saw their bees at 

 work on the early blossoms of heather as soon as they were let 

 out. — A. Pettigbew. 



OUB LETTEB BOS. 



Bees — A correspondent asks if Mr. W. H. Attwood will oblige by stating in 

 what neighbourhood it is possible to obtain bees at Is. per hive, as mentioned 

 in his letter on page 86, and whether they could be easily transmitted into 

 Worcestershire. , . . .. 



Shifting Bees (Co! jit Sinclair).— You can easily drive jour bees it yon 

 use a similar hive, into which Aey will better move than into a square bos. 



As soon as they have gone up and are quiet you can dash them out upon the 

 ground by a sudden blow on the hive top, and if you set the square bos near 

 them with one side a little Raised they will quickly enter into it. You will 

 have to feed largely and continuously, and it would be better to wait till late 

 in August, when there will probably be but little brood. 



Htve Swashing without Dbones {A.).— It is asked whether " a hive 

 full of combs, but in which the cells are exclusively those of workers andnone 

 of drones, can or will send out a swarm." We have no experience to guide us 

 in a case like this, but we should expect to find small drones bred in worker 

 cells, as sometimes happens, in sufficient numbers far the wants of the swarms 

 which might issue. Mr. Ruddock does not seem to have made allowance for 

 the fact that brood does not always develope at the same rate. He is right 

 as to the rule, but in this, as in other cases, there is no rule without an ex- 

 ception. Our correspondent asks why it should have given pleasure to W. H. 

 Attwood to find there were uo young bees in his hive which had been driven 

 or bad swarmed. 



Canaet Unhealthy (TF.).— It is a natural consequence for Mrds to fall 

 into moult at about this period of the year, and such no doubt is the case 

 with your birds. Still from the description given your sufferer is affected to 

 a greater extent than birds generally are in the moulting sickness, and may 

 have taken cold. If it is no better give it a warm bath by immersing its feet 

 and stomach in water (blood heat), and afterwards absorbing with a soft cloth, 

 such as a pocket handkerchief, all moisture from the feathers, and gently 

 drying the bird before the fire. In addition to the ordinary food add daily a 

 little bread and milk. In the daytime keep the cage partly covered, and 

 wholly so at night, and out of all draughts. In about a week after the birds 

 have had the bread-aud-milk food let them have a little plain biscuit slightly 

 soaked with a few drops of sherry. Discontinue the sugar and replace it 

 with a little piece of salt, and keep a rusty nail in the water. 



Fox Teeriee {W. L.). — We know of no special management. Buy "The 

 Dog," written by " Idstone," and published by Messrs. CasseiL 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



Camden Sqoaee, London. 



Lat. 51° 32' 40" S. ; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, HI feet. 



Date. 



9 A.M. 



Is the Day. 









Hygrome- 



a . 



Orf^ 



Shade Tem-| Radiation 



.9 





ter. 



:5 a 



§3 = 



perature. 



Temperature. 



a 



Ang. 











In 



On 









Dry. 



Wet. 



So 





Max. 



Min. 



sun. 



grass* 







Inches 



deg. 1 deg. 





deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



In. 



We. 1 



29.862 



64 57.0 



N. 



672 



70.7 



57.3 



126.3 



57.4 



— 



Th. 2 



29.951 



60.0 , 52.9 



W. 



65.4 



67.9 



49.2 



118.2 



47.1 



012 



Fri. 3 



30.027 



61.1 ' 52.2 



N.W. 



63.2 



68.7 



46.4 



122.0 



44.1 



0.030 



Sat, 1 



30.055 



60 6 53.9 



N.W. 



63.0 



72 8 



51 6 



122.3 



50.1 





bun. 5 



30-932 



67.3 59.6 



W. 



64.0 



79.3 



53.8 



116.7 



50.2 







Mo. 6 



29.9S! 



72.8 61.0 



S. 



64.9 



8J.0 



57.0 



124.0 



50.9 



0.19O 



Tu. 7 



29 65S 



69 5 63.6 



S. 



65.5 



71.7 

 73.0 



61.0 

 53.3 



106.3 



57.4 

 51.0 



0.193 



Means 



29.915 



65.0 57.2 





647 



120 S 



0.425 



RE MARES. 

 1st. — A very fine pleasant day, much, cooler than yesterday, rather cloudy 



towards the evening. 

 2nd. — Fine morning, but rather cloudy and stormlike before 11 a.m. ; a very 



pleasant day though showery ; one sharp shower for a short time about 



4p.m., afterwards fine and a starlit night. 

 3rd. — Fair but rather cold and doll ; rain at 6 pjut,, and again in the evening. 

 4th. — Dull in early moroing, very fino by noon ; fair all day, but at times 



heavy and stormlike. 

 5th. — Very fine all day ; much warmer and more cloudy toward night. 

 6th. — Fine day, but close and stormlike towards evening; rain after 9p.ii., 



and during tha night. 

 7th. — Fine and pleasant till noon, then showery till nearly 9 p.m., after that 



time starlight. 

 Mean temperatures during the week very similar to those of the one pre- 

 ceding, but more equable. — G. J. Sysions. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— August 8. 

 The bulk of the soft fruit is now to hand, and a good Bupply of Apples is 

 reaching us. There has been scarcely any alteration in prices since our last 

 report, with the exception of hothouse fruits, all kinds of which are ex- 

 periencing a considerable fall owing to the finish of the London season ; all 

 classes of vegetables have likewise receded in value. 



a. d. s. d. 



Apples £ sieve 3 Oto 4 6 



Apricots doz. 16 3 



Cherries lb. 4 1 o 



Currants £ sieve 3 4 6 



Black | sieve 4 5 



Figs dozen 2 9 



Gooseberries....* bushel 3 6 4 6 



GrapeB, hothouse".. lb. 1 So 



s. d. s. d 



Melons each S Oto S 



Nectarines doz. 4 IS 



Oranges &1L0 10 16 



Peaches doz. 3 20 



Pine Apples.... lb. 2 5 



Raspberries lb. 6 10 



Strawberries lb. fi 1 6 



Walnuts bushel 5 8 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes dozen 3 



Asparagus 3*100 u 



Beans, Kidney., bushel 4 



Beet, Red dozen 1 G 



Broccoli bundle 9 



Brussels Sprouts i sieve 



Cabbage dozen 1 



Carrots bunch u 6 



Capsicums ^ 100 1 6 



Cauliflowers — dozen 2 



Celery bundle 1 6 



Coleworts doz. benches 2 n 



Cucumbers .... each 3 



Endive dozen 1 u 



FeDnel bunch 3 



Garlic lb. 6 



Herbs bunch a 



Lettuce dozen 1 



Leeks bunch 4 



d. s. d. 



Oto 6 

 

 



Mushrooms .... 

 Mustard & Cress 

 Onions 



pickling 



Parsley doz. 



Parsnips 



Peas 



Potatoes 



Kidney 



Radishes., doz. 



Ehubarb 



Salsafy 



Seorzonera .... 



Seaknle 



Shallots 



Spinach 



Turnips 



Vejr. Marrows.. 



pottle 



punnet 



bushel 



quart 



bunches 



dozen 



quart 



bushel 



bushel 



bunches 



bundle 



bundle 



bundle 



basket 



lb. 



buehel 



bunch 



each 



s. d. s. d 

 1 6to2 u 

 



