528 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



[ December 26, 1872. 



utterly exhausted and effete, that the <( bee-science of the age 

 •was inadequate for such a purpose." "What purpose ? " To 

 compel our little favourites to augment their sweets." Com- 

 pulsory education is inapplicable to bees ; is^ it not their de- 

 lectation so to do ? The desiderata are increased facilities, not 

 to compel, but aid them to "improve each shining hour." 



"We apiarians of the present day are not surely to act out the 

 " rest and be thankful " spirit of that bee-keeper depicted on 

 that piece of antique china on which my eye rests while I 

 write, and who is stretched on a sloping bank sheltered by 

 umbrageous trees from the sweltering heat of the noon-day 

 sun, his hat, handkerchief, and cane by his side, an open book 

 on his knee, while his spirit is supposed to be solaced by the 

 Sweet music emanating from a row of bee hives, all snugly en- 

 sconced under the old orthodox straw hive and hackle. This 

 picture of contentment had its charms for us in childish days, 

 when we feasted our eyes between the sips of our (C sweet con- 

 tent "-from a grandmother's hand ; but can there be no improve- 

 ment on the old straw skep ? The agricultural mind is said to 

 be slow to move, is the apicultural slower still ? With the 

 " click, click " of the reaping machine in our ears, and reading 

 of such feats performed through its intervention the last back- 

 ward season, of -whole fields of wheat cut upon the Saturday 

 and safely secured in the barn-yard on the Monday, with 

 our honey-harvest in superabundance too to reap, are we to 

 11 compel " our little favourites to subdivide into little bands and 

 scatter over the harvest-field after the old rook fashion ? Better 

 far procure a " Stewarton " reaper, combine our forces, and 

 "make honey while the sun shines." 



"We denizens of this watery west coast are generally supposed 

 to know something of rain, but really the past season exceeded 

 all former experiences. A jocular farmer friend assured me his 

 very Ducks had got fairly tired of it, that he noticed regularly 

 at every fresh downpour as his workers hied-off to the steading 

 for shelter, so did the Ducks. We had intervals of fine weather, 

 however, for a few days now and then. 



Comparative results can be more fairly drawn from different 

 systems wrought side by side than from one district contrasted 

 with another. My apiary consists mainly of two descriptions of 

 hives — the Stewarton for the production of honey, with a few 

 common straw skeps furnished with imported Italian queens to 

 supply first-cross princesses for my strong non-swarming colo- 

 nies. In the beginning of July the weather dried-up for ten 

 days or a fortnight ; the inmates of the Stewartons at once took 

 to their supers, and were busy storing the pure nectar from the 

 white clover as quickly as the triple entrances to every colony 

 would admit ; while, on the other hand, the occupants of the 

 straw skeps wrought in an inverse ratio of speed, gathering out- 

 side in ever-increasing masses, and appearing to the uninitiated 

 as if they had joined the short-time movement, and were out 

 on strike. Certainly their appearance did not justify the sup- 

 position that they were compelled to augment but rather to 

 retard the collection of their sweets ; but off came my first 

 prime swarm at last, with a valuable as well as venerable 

 Como queen at its head, imported by the late Mr. "Woodbury, 

 and, scorning the new nice roomy straw hive provided, rose 

 high in the air, and embracing a favouring breeze, were soon 

 lost to sight. It was nearly a month before I tracked my run- 

 away yellow-jackets a mile or two over the hills "bee-line," 

 to an old manse garden, where in the combs of a defunct colony 

 they had, true to their instincts, augmented their store as 

 well as population much more rapidly than they could have 

 clone at home. 



Other swarms followed in abundance, but the autumnal ex- 

 amination in September showed that the honey collected by 

 them had been chiefly absorbed in comb-building, and that they 

 were all more or less light, having to be very liberally fed to 

 preserve them from speedy starvation ; whereas the strong non- 

 swarming Stewarton colonies never required a particle of food, 

 and yielded a couple of thoroughly sealed-out beautiful 20-lb. 

 supers a-piece, in the third super a little honey, while the fourth 

 contained only empty combs — most valuable, however, for the 

 coming season. One of the above supers in particular was for 

 straightness and massiveness of comb, with fineness of colour, 

 the best it has ever been my good fortune to possess. 



Having already transgressed too- much on your space with 

 these hurried remarks, I must reserve till another time further 

 details of the superiority of the Stewarton system. — A Een- 

 rEEWSHXRE Bee-keeper. 



THE AMERICAN HONEY HARVEST. 

 According to the census of 1850 there were produced in the 

 United States and Territories 14,853,790 lbs. of beeswax and 

 honey, while in 1860 there were 1,357,864 lbs. of beeswax, and 

 25,058,991 lbs. of honey, showing an increase of about 77§ per cent. 

 Mr. Quinby, in his circular for 1872, states that Mr. Hildreth, of 

 Herkimer, obtained in 1861 from thirteen hives 1500 lbs. of box 

 honey, and doubled his original stocks. He also states that Mr. 

 Underbill, of St. Johnsville, obtained from fifteen colonies six 



swarms, 1050 lbs. of box honey, and over 600 lbs. of extracted 

 honey. In his own apiary, he says, during the past year (1871), 

 of those swarms that he took the trouble to weigh, one filled 

 forty boxes weighing 5 lbs. each (200 lbs.); another thirty boxes. 

 "Prom one we extracted 220 lbs. Very many others furnished 

 as much more, but were not weighed." In 1870 one hive 

 furnished 361 lbs. of extracted honey. The yield in one week, 

 the last of June, was 83 lbs. — {American Live Stock Journal.) 



OUR LETTER BOX. 

 N.B. — Owing to having to go to press two days earlier this week, 



we are under the necessity of omitting two or three Poultry 



Shows of which we have received reports and prize lists. 



Chepstow Poultry Show (E, C. Stretch).— Give notice that you will 

 sue in the County Court if the money you ask is not paid. The correspondence 

 renders the Committee liable, and your claim is equitable. 



Secretaries (E. Terry).— One lives at "Wolverhampton, and the other at 

 Northampton. 



Royal Dublin Society's Show.— Mr. W. G. Mulligan informs us that he 

 had first prize for Light Brahma chickens and first for old Dark Brahmas. 



Feeding Pigeons (B. C. Z>.). — Your loft seems suitable, and the two 

 varieties, Fantails and Archangels, ai-e a nice contrast. We are glad you can 

 give your birds full liberty. As to feeding, go on as you do ; feed the old ones 

 liberally as now, out of the loft, and they will take care of their young. It is 

 one pleasant thing connected with Pigeons, that, the old birds feeding the 

 young ones, there is no trouble personally to the fancier with the latter. 



Feather- rot in Pigeons {V. S.). — We have ourselves never had a Pigeon 

 cured, but they have gone on from bad to worse, though often breeding excel- 

 lent-feathered young ones. We have known sheep ointment (blue with 

 mercury) tried, and have seen cures advertised. Still, as the cause must be 

 constitutional, the remedy ought to come from within. We believe it like 

 wing disease — a fomi of scrofula, and a change of strain the best method to 

 pursue. 



Scarborough Bird Show (Fringilla canaria). — We have no information 

 on the subject, you had better apply to the Secretary. 



Cheltenham Bird Show. — Mr. Watson denies that his bird's cap was 

 tiimmed. We can insert no letters on the subject ; those who consider them- 

 selves injured must appeal to the Committee. 



Moving a Hxve, &c. (B. S. H.).— You cannot at any time move your bees 

 a distance of 50 feet at once without subjecting them to much loss and injury. 

 Wait until the spring, when the bees are vigorously on the wing, and then 

 shift the hive gradually a foot or so at a time, allowing between each removal 

 a clear day of good working weather to elapse. On the first occasion of taking 

 the hive out of the bee-house, stand it exactly in front of its previous entrance, 

 eo that the bees may become accustomed to its appearance out of the shed ; 

 after which, shift to the right or left, and a little backwards or forwards as 

 the case may require. By these precautions you will lose few if any bees, but 

 by attempting to move the entire distance at once the loss of bee-life will be 

 very great. We know of no effects that honeydew produces, except directly 

 or indirectly to increase the prosperity of the bees. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET. -December 23. 



We are not in a position to report more favourably of the transactions here 

 as an abundant supply of foreign goods amply compensates for the deficiency 

 of our own produce, of which, however, thejsupply of Apples and Pears has by 

 no means been so short as was represented by the growers. Upwards of two 

 thousand barrels of American Apples were sold under the hammer during the 

 past week. Hothouse Grapes and Pines are more than sufficient for the 

 demand. 



FRUIT. 





i sieve 



per lb. 

 bushel 

 4 sieve 



s. 

 3 

 

 



12 

 

 

 

 1 

 1 

 

 3 

 6 

 1 



B. 

 6 

 

 2 

 

 1 

 

 1 

 2 

 

 2 

 1 

 2 

 

 

 2 

 

 

 

 3 

 

 



1. s. d. 

 0to5 

 0' 

 

 20 

 

 

 

 10 

 2 

 

 6 

 10 

 ft 3 



VEGET 



d. s. d. 

 0tol2 

 

 3 

 

 3 

 9 16 

 16 

 3 

 6 

 4 

 6 2 

 6 4 

 9 2 

 

 



8 

 6 

 3 

 4 

 2 



9 10 







B. 

 

 

 4 

 

 1 

 2 

 8 

 

 

 

 



16 

 2 



B. 

 1 

 

 2 

 





 

 3 

 

 

 1 

 1 

 1 

 1 

 1 

 2 

 

 2 



1 

 

 



d. B. 

 OtoO 

 

 10 

 

 8 

 4 

 6 

 

 

 

 

 30 

 2 



d. s. 

 OtoS 



2 

 4 

 6 

 8 

 9 1 

 

 6 6 

 

 

 1 

 2 

 1 

 2 

 1 

 3 



3 

 3 

 2 

 3 

 



a 







s 







n 





Pears, kitchen. 





a 





















,,,. lb. 











n 



Grapes, hothouse 







lb. 



n 





1Mb. 







11 







II 







iBLES. 

 Mustard & Cres6. .punnet 

 Parsley per doz. bunches 



a 



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Asparagus 



. . . IrHOO 

 bushel 



a 







a 



n 





bundle 







n 





...¥►100 



n 



Coleworts.. doz. 



bundle 

 bunches 







Radishes., do 



Savoys 



Scorzonera.. .. 



.bunches 



^ bundle 

 doz. 



^+ bundle 





 

 6 



n 







6 





.... lb. 



(1 





Vegetable Marrows., doz. 

















 











/ 



