188 



JOUKNAL OE 1 HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



[ August 30, 1877. 



FEED YOUR BEES. 



All the bees in this neighbourhood are on the border land of 

 starvation. I rode last Friday to the moor where mine are, and 

 found several white drones put out of my large hives. I then 

 went and examined the other hives in the vicinity of mine, and 

 found the ground covered with young drones and workers. I 

 called on the owners and warned them to feed at once, which 

 several did. We have scarcely ever seen the sun for two months, 

 and it has rained for four diys incessantly, and while I write it 

 looks as black as ever. All my hopes of honey for this season are 

 gone, and I shall be glad if I can keep my stocks alive. Everyone 

 should look to his hives on the moors and at home, and if he 

 finds young brood cast out no time should be lost in supplying 

 syrup, or they will have what I dread — that is, hunger swarms. 

 — Habdy of the Hills, Northumberland. 



ITALIAN versus BRITISH BEES. 



I contend that the Italian or Ligurian bee has not been 

 proved to be better than our native bee — that is, better for 

 honey-gathering, and the making of honey must be held to be 

 the grand object of bee-keeping. 



Ever since the discussion I had with my respected friend of 

 Tillinamolt, New Pitsligo, in 1873, on this subject, I have paid 

 special attention to the gathering of facts and theories from all 

 sources, including the Journal of Horticulture, the British Bee 

 Journal, and the American Bee Journal, with a view of adopt- 

 ing and keeping the be.-t breed. Well, without any known 

 bias to one species more than to the other, I have no hesitation 

 in saying that the preponderating testimony in favour of the 

 new kind appears to my mind to come from thoBe who have 

 them to sell. 



Some parties buy a swarm of Italians, or a queen, and the 

 first year they may or do excel our natives.- To this I answer 

 that the new queen is invariably introduced to the best hive in 

 the garden, and if it be a swarm it gets extra attention. 



Another person buys the new kind, and may have had them 

 a dozen years, and when he had the old kind he never had such 

 harvests of honey as tow. To this I answer that apiarian know- 

 ledge is increasing, and that party must be considered to be 

 much more advanoed as a bee-keeper than he waB ten or twenty 

 years ago. 



Various parties, forty or fifty miles distant, and at intervening 

 distances, have applied to me for swarms of Italian bees. I have 

 had to recommend these applicants to those who kept them. To 

 those, therefore, who want the Btrange bee in order to sell at a 

 big price, I say Get them, for therein appears to me the chief 

 advantage. To those who want the new kind for their novelty, 

 I say Get them ; to those who want them for variety, get them, 

 or for their beauty, get them, or who are careless for profit, get 

 them, or whose hobby is bees, get them ; but that tttey breed 

 earlier, swarm oftener, fly farther, or fly faster, or work earlier 

 or work later, or in colder or hotter weather, or are more docile, 

 or gather more honey, or better honey, or live longer, or, in fine, 

 are in every way more profitable, I do not at present believe. 



My convictions are thus that the Italian bee is not superior to 

 the British bee. To be candid, however, I have not learned 

 any particular inferiority that they have, unless that many of 

 those who keep them seem to have a deal ado with foul brood, 

 the very rinderpest of bees. My contention is, that no person 

 need be induced to pay a large price for Italians under the 

 belief that they will gather more honey than our native bee. — 

 James Sheabeb, Cairuie (in Banffshire Journal). 



Ipswich Show. — Tho Committee of this Show have decided 

 to offer an additional class (82a), for " Any variety of Long- 

 faced or Flying Tumbler," on my guaranteeing the first prize, 

 and that Class 82 should now read, " For any other variety of 

 Short-faced Tumbler." Entries close September 5th. Mr. C. H. 

 Croydon, IpBwiob, has kindly presented a special prize, value 

 £3 3s., for the winrier of most points in the Pigeon olasses. — 

 H. W. B. Bruno, Harwich. 



OUK LETTEE BOX. 



Preserving Eggs {R. I. S.). — Pat them in Borne slacked lime jasfc stiff 

 enough to keep them in the position in which they are placed, then pour 

 slacked lime over them till they are covered. Leave it till it is hard. Go on 

 till the vessel (a hread or other pan) ia quite full. The eggs should be put 

 small end downwards. 



Chickens Cramped (J. LI.). — Give them bread Boaked in ale onoe daily, 

 and do not let them out until nearly mid-day. 



Linnet Feeding [Lady Sybella}. — Millet seed is too fattening. Canary 

 seed ia far better. Give occasionally chickweed, shepherd's purse, and plantain 

 seed. 



Babbit-Keeping {A Young RabMt-keeper).—Giv6 the bran dry, and 

 lettuce leaves. Buy our ''Rabbit Book;" you can have it free by post if 

 you enclose eight postage stamps with your direction. 



Boards Submerged [Salop). — A glue that will resist the action of water 

 is made by boiling lib. of common glue in two qaartB of skimmed milk. 



Buckwheat (8. W. T. K.). — The time for sowing is May, and it is usually 

 fit for mowing and thrashing in October. 



Bees under a Floor (E. R., York).— It will require the skill and courage 

 of a bee-keeper of experience to remove the two Bwarms that entered by the 

 air grids and settled between the joists of your chamber floors. If tbe boards 

 are taken up, be prepared to apply large doses of smoke fromfus'ian rags 

 wherewith to frighten and master the bees. Let the swarms be deluged with, 

 smoke, then cut all the combs from the boards and place the brood combs on 

 boards or pieces of calico with hives over them. The bees will soon find tha 

 brood combs and settle amongst them, when they could be removed to the 

 garden. All the air grids Bhould be closed for a month to prevent the bees 

 from returning to the house again. A few days after the bees have been 

 placed in the garden the Bwarms should be united in an empty hive, and fed 

 into a good stock. 



Driving Bees [Novice). — The advice already given to yon is all that is 

 needed. No b.tter can be given. The one hive driven has been found 

 worthless ; the other may not be so, and should be driven as per advice.— A. P. 



Uniting Bees ( W. B.). — In uniting the swarms it would be better to kill 

 the older qaeen, but if both BwarmB with their queens be cast together tho 

 bees will destroy one of the queens. You are quite right in fearing that the 

 bees, now 200 yards from your garden, would return in considerable numbers 

 if they were removed at the present time. Could you not fiad some place 

 about a mile further off, where they could be fed every night for a fortnight ? 

 After a month's absence from their present locality they could be sefely 

 placed in your garden, or they conld be fed into a stock in the cottager's 

 garden and remain there till January nesfc. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



Camden Square, London. 



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



Date. 



9 A.m. 



In the Day. 







.0 



Hygrome- 



a . 



° 18 -ii 



Shade Tem- 



Radiation 



a 



1877. 



oJ'JlJ 



ter. 







perature. 



Temperature. 



« 



Ang. 













In 



On 









Dry. 



Wet. 



So 





Max. 



Min. 



sun. 



grass- 

 deg. 







Inches. 



dag. 



deg. 





deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



In. 



We. 22 



29 592 



66 7 



61.3 



s.w. 



65.0 



72.3 



58.0 



124.3 



55.9 



0.010 



Th. 23 



S i.O 4 



58 6 



52.6 



N.W. 



62.9 



66 7 



47.6 



119.4 



45.6 



— 



Fri. 24 



80.194 



57.5 



50 3 



w. 



6LS 



68 8 



42.4 



99.8 



39.3 



0.020 



Sat, 25 



29 874 



59.5 



56.7 



S.B. 



61.3 



63.3 



54.2 



97.3 



52.6 



547 



Sun. 26 



29.610 



64 6 



60.8 



W. 



61.1 



68.3 



57.0 



108.5 



66 3 



0.275 



Mo. 27 



29.879 



65.4 



63.3 



S.W. 



61.5 



63.4 



57.2 



8 .4 



66 2 



035 



Tu. 2S 



29.747 



61.1 



59.0 



S.W. 



61.7 



72.6 



60.3 



118.0 



69 8 

 52.2 



02O 



Means 



29.843 



61.9 



57.7 





62.1 



68.6 



53.8 



106 8 



0.907 



REMARKS. 

 22nd. — Rain in night and early morning; fine at 9 a.m., some showers, bufc 



on the whole a pleasant day, the air so fresh and cool ; a most splendid 



moonlit night. 

 23rd. — A fine fresh morning, very bright day though much cooler ; scarce any 



cloud at night, so the eclipse seen very well from first to last. 

 24th. — Fine bright day, but not quite so fresh-feeling as yesterday ; slightly 



hazy at night. 

 25th. — Rain more or Ie3s all day and night; rain at times, heavy thunder 



storm about 2p H.,andacother in the evening, the lightning vei7 vivid. 

 25th. — Calm grey and warm morning, fair but dull all day; rain after 10 p.m. 

 27th. — Regular wet night, morning, and forenoon; fair but dull afternoon 



and evening. 

 28th. — Wind and rain in the night, rain till nearly noon ; after that time 



bright and fine. 

 A great fall of rain during the week and absence of sun has lowered the 

 temperature considerably, making rather more than 7° below that of last 

 weak, and in the mas. in sun 17°.— G. J. Symons. 



COYENT GARDEN MARKET.— August 29. 



The only home produce now arriving of any consequence is Apples aud 

 Nuts, for which there is a fair demand, otherwise the market remains very 

 dull. 



fruit. 



s. d. s. d. 

 2 6 to 3 6 



4 



Apples J sieve 



Apricota dozen 2 



Chestnuts bushel 



Currants i tieve 3 3 



Black j sieve 6 6 7 



Fisrs dozen 2 6 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 4 



Gooseheiries ..A bushel S 6 4 



Grapes. hothouse lb. 1 6 6 



Lemons W 100 6 10 



Melons 



Nectarines .... 



Oranges 



Peaches , 



Pears, kitchen., 



dessert 



Pine Apples .... 



Plums , 



Raspberries ... 

 Walnuts 



ditto 



eaoh 

 dozen 4 

 & 100 10 



s. d. 8. (I 



dozen 



dozen 



dozen 1 



lb. 5 



A sieve 



lb. 



bushel 5 



.#■100 



0to8 











I 



18 

 16 

 20 



VEGETABLES. 



dozen 

 ^ 100 



bushel 

 dozen 



bunole 



Artichokes 



Asparagus 



Beans, Kidney.. 



Beet Red 



Br-..* .mU 



Bruoaola Sprouts i sieve 



Cabbage dozen 



Carrots bunch 



Capsicums ^ 100 



Cauliflowers.... dozen 



Celery bundle 



Coleworts doz. bunches 



s. d. s. d. 

 3 0to6 



each 

 dozen 

 bunch 

 lb. 

 bunch 

 dozen 

 Leeka ,,. bunch 



CucumberB 

 Endive 

 Fennel., 

 Garlic . . 

 Herbs .. 

 Lettuce . 



2 

 



Mushrooms .... 

 Mustard & Cress 

 Onions 



pickling 



Parsley.... doz. 



Parsnips 



Peas 



Potatoes 



Kidney 



Radishes., doz. 



Khubarb 



Salsafy 



Scorzonera .... 



Seakale 



Shallots 



Spinach 



Turnips 



Veg. Marrows.. 



pottle 1 



punnet 



bushel 



quart 



bunches 2 



dozen 



quart 



bushel 



bushel 



ranches 



bundle 



bundle 



bundle 



basket 



lb. 



bushel 



bunch 



each 



d. s. d 

 6to2 



a o 4 





 6 

 







1 

 

 7 

 1 

 1 

 1 

 

 

 

 4 

 ii 

 



