38 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 12, 1864. 



the colour of the hen Pheasant, hut her tail had each year 

 become longer and longer, till the principal feathers reached 

 that of a male bird. They are peculiar, the shaft of the 

 longest feathers being somewhat depressed. 



A neighbour of mine had also a hen English Pheasant 

 that changed its feather in the same way, but to a much 

 greater degree, a few years after : indeed she, when living, 

 looked at first sight like a young cock. She, too, became 

 furious to other birds, and an inveterate egg-eater. When 

 I last saw her she was closely approaching a clear blotting- 

 paper colour, and had very slight markings on the breast, 

 towards the crop only. She, too, was an old-reared bird. 



From what I have now stated alone, facts seem to carry 

 out the supposition that all such birds are old birds, and in 

 several shot Pheasants of like character they were evidently 

 aged specimens. It is well here to mention, that in all cases 

 I ever narrowly examined, the ovary was much diseased, 

 though the bird showed well as to flesh or feather — in fact, 

 appeared like an expressly fatted fowl. But I must briefly 

 mention another case of a somewhat different character. 



I once hatched a young Pheasant that at her first moult, 

 long before she had arrived at laying time, became of the 

 questionable feather referred to ; but as she consumed every 

 egg within her reach, and was the worst of neighbours to 

 all others, as time drew on her last appearance was on the 

 dinner-table, devoid of all outward peculiarities. I also 

 have known the same fact in a fowl, a Sebright Gold-laced 

 Bantam hen, from whose eggs I for years reared many 

 chickens of excellent markings. At one moult she obtained 

 partial sickle feathers with a hackle and saddle feather that 

 would be held as abominable in this particular breed; yet 

 prior to this moult so perfectly feathered had she been, that 

 at three different Birmingham shows she figured in the 

 first-prize pen. Her spirit of ill-will was then similar to the 

 Pheasant's before named, and as I wanted eggs (though 

 she never laid after her change), and she ate all other eggs 

 at hand, I gave her to a medical friend, who, on examination 

 after he had killed her, found a diseased ovary, as I had 

 anticipated would be the case. 



In conclusion, it appears that all such birds are useless 

 and very expensive as hobbies if allowed the run with others, 

 and therefore it is expedient to put them aside as soon as 

 this strange freak is first manifested. — Edward Hewitt, 

 Eden Cottage, Sparkhrook, Birmingham. 



AETIFICIAL SWARMING. 



The following account of my first and successful attempt 

 at making an artificial swarm may, perhaps, interest some 

 of your readers, as it took place under peculiar circum- 

 stances. 



In May last I received a hive of Ligurian bees from " A 

 Devonshire Bee-keeper." Early in the morning of the 

 4th of June I found the queen hi a dying state on the 

 alighting-board, and the bees passing in and out over her 

 body with the most perfect indifference. On the 13th 

 several young queens were heard piping; but day after day 

 the weather prevented their swarming. On the 16th they 

 attempted to come off, but the high wind drove them back 

 again. The next morning I expected to find the super- 

 numerary princesses thrown out ; however, they were still 

 piping, and the weather was wet and cold, so I determined 

 to divide the bees. 



The stock which I shall call A was taken to an unfurnished 

 room, and placed at some distance from the window. An 

 empty hive, which I shall name B, was placed in the window. 

 Both hives are made on the Woodbury plan. I removed 

 the crown-board from A and puffed in some smoke ; then, 

 taking out a frame from the middle of the hive, I carried 

 it to the window and found it contained what I wanted — a 

 royal cell with a piping queen in it, and a fine young queen 

 at liberty on the comb. This young lady I captured and 

 returned to A. Having fixed the frame in B, and placed 

 the crown-board on, I proceeded to brush a sufficient number 

 of bees off the bars of A to keep the brood warm during 

 the night. Then I placed the crown-board on A, closed 

 the entrance, collected with a feather the bees which were 

 trying to get out of the window, and placed them at the 

 entrance of the hive. They all settled in before dark, and 



the hive was placed in the house which A had occupied, and 

 A conveyed to another part of the garden. The next day 

 was fine, and all the bees that left A went to B, which by 

 the evening contained a good swarm, and a sufficient number 

 of bees were left behind to carry on the work of the hive. 

 The young queen in B piped for about two hours, and the 

 piping continued in A until the next evening, when a fierce 

 slaughter of the drones took place, and continued until all 

 were lying dead on the floor-board, from which I swept 

 them the next day. The bees in A have not settled down 

 to their work as I could wish, and there appears to be a 

 nervous timidity about them. They seem afraid to leave 

 their hive, guarding the entrance against some foe, and 

 disputing the passage of their own bees into the hive. A 

 little pollen is carried in, but they leave off working early 

 in the afternoon. I do not think anything can be wrong 

 with the queen. I found two young grey bees on the alight- 

 ing-board yesterday morning, and some drones that appeared 

 after the great slaughter were worried. I think this ner- 

 vousness must have been occasioned by the unaccountable 

 desertion from their hive. Have any of your readers met 

 with anything similar to this ? The young queen in A is 

 much darker than her mother was, whom, no doubt, she had 

 slaughtered. 



If I ever perform an operation of this kind again I shall 

 provide myself with indiarubber gloves, as I was very much 

 stung through my dogskin. The moment I moved the frame 

 I was attacked most savagely, and my left hand was very 

 much swollen the next day. 



This is the second instance I have known of young queens 

 having been kept beyond three days. I once had a hive 

 that swarmed on a Monday early, having been kept back by 

 the weather on the evening when piping commenced, and 

 they piped until the next Sunday, when they swarmed. The 

 whole of the week was wet and cold. — J. L. 



[The cessation of honey-gathering in A is owing to all 

 bees of sufficient age for this purpose having deserted it, 

 and returned to the old spot. Time will . set this right. 

 The young queen will become much lighter when, as a matron, 

 she is expanded to her full size. "A Devonshire Bee- 

 keeper" says, "Apologise for having misled this lady so 

 much as to induce her to use leather gloves," and we do 

 apologise; and as bees do not sting us through our gloves, 

 we can only conclude that the skins of Editors are very 

 thick — and so they need to be.] 



FLOWEES FOE BEES. 



The following notes are published in reply to a correspon- 

 dent, " A Yotjng Bee-keeper :" — 



Borage is probably the best of all bee flowers. It flowers 

 in July (earlier if self-sown), on through the summer until 

 cut off by autumn frosts, and is an annual. It should be 

 sown in an open situation in beds 4 feet wide, and as long as 

 desired, sowing the seed broadcast, about an inch apart over 

 the surface and then throwing the alleys out over the beds, so 

 as to cover the seed with from a quarter to half an inch 

 deep of soil. A sowing made the first week in March, and 

 another the second week in April, will afford a supply of 

 flowers in most seasons from June until November. 



Mignonette. — Sow the seed the first week in April in 

 beds as described for borage, only it should be sown more 

 thickly, and be only just covered with light fine soil. It 

 flowers in July onwards through the season. 



Salvia nemorosa. — An herbaceous perennial with blue 

 flowers. It is readily increased by divisions of the root, 

 which should be taken off, or the old stools or plants divided, 

 in March, planting the offsets like Sage slips in rows 2 feet 

 apart and 1 foot from plant to plant in the rows ; or they may 

 be planted in four-feet beds with one-foot alleys between, and 

 three rows in a bed. It delights in a fight gravelly soil, but 

 will grow in almost all soils and situations. Planted on 

 sunny hedgebanks, and on the borders of woods it grows 

 well, being not only useful for bee forage but highly orna- 

 mental. It should have an open situation, and after the 

 stems decay they should be cut down to the ground, and a 

 little leaf mould or any waste vegetable refuse placed around 

 the stools between the rows, which should be neatly forked- 

 in in the April following. Beyond keeping clear of weeds 



