October 11, 1864. ] 



JOTTRNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



301 



thirty-two out of the fifty classes of poultry, &c, which 

 formed the Show ; and among the classes numerically in- 

 ferior to the Light Brahmas were the four Hamburgh 

 varieties, and all the Game classes except the Eeds. In 

 single cocks the Brahmas stood second in number, being 

 surpassed only by the Game Bantams. These figures are 

 encouraging as to the future of the Brahmas ; for if, at the 

 first Show which recognises their right to division, they 

 make so creditable a muster, we may fairly count upon 

 increased numbers at future shows, when the ranks of the 

 Light variety will be swelled by the birds of those breeders 

 who, discontinuing to keep a breed so strangely ignored, 

 will gladly return to their old favourites, now that justice is 

 done to them. — Bkahma Pootka. 



SLLVEE-BUEF COCHIN-CHINA ; FOWLS. 



In your report of the TJttoxeter Show you say in your 

 remarks about Cochins, " Mr. Stretch here exhibited a most 

 excellent pen for size and general characteristics, but of 

 feather most difficult to describe." The description of birds 

 alluded to I have occasionally exhibited for several years, 

 and although I have seen them frequently described in your 

 columns as "' Silver-Cinnamon," I have always considered it 

 a wrong designation ; for, according to written authorities, 

 a cinnamon in Cochins is a reddish brown, or the colour of 

 wetted cinnamon, and the Silver variety has a cinnamon 

 hackle, and the body colour a sort of French white, or the 

 same mottled with cinnamon. Now, the birds in question 

 differ from the above, having a golden-coloured hackle, both 

 cocks and hens. The former have a buff ground colour, 

 most of the feathers edged with a silvery colour on the side 

 of the wings and backs ; and the latter, the body colour more 

 or less of a neutral buff. I have usually called them " Silver- 

 Buffs," and I think that is the correct designation ; for as 

 there are Cinnamons and Silver-Cinnamon varieties so called, 

 why not one of Buffs and another of Silver-Buffs ? — Thomas 

 Stketch, Ormsltirk. 



[" Silver-Buffs " we think is a good distinctive name for 

 these birds.] 



HEDGEHOGS. 



The man who has the care of my cows informed me, 

 to-day, that some milk had been taken from one of them at 

 night. From the moist state of the teat sucked he attri- 

 buted the loss to a hedgehog. Is it a fact that hedgehogs 

 have milked cows at pasture, or is it merely a vulgar error ? 

 —J. J. T. 



[All good authorities decide that it is an error to suppose 

 that the hedgehog sucks the cow when she is lying down at 

 pasture. If your cow had any milk taken from her, we 

 should conclude, without any hesitation, that it was by a 

 hand.] 



BEES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



An increased interest has recently been excited, which is 

 not likely to abate, in the propagation and preservation of 

 an insect whose instincts and labours clearly indicate that 

 it was intended for human appropriation and benefit ; and, 

 although a new branch of commerce has not been opened, 

 an impulse has been given to an old and neglected one, 

 which, in its aggregate results, may assume the character 

 of a tributary stream to the wide current of our national 

 prosperity. Let a comparison be instituted, first, between 

 the quantity of honey of foreign import and of home produc- 

 tion ; and, secondly, between that which is and that which 

 might be obtained from ample resources within our reach, 

 and the result will show that we are sending abroad for the 

 very article which abounds in our own rural districts, and lies 

 at our very doors ungathered. The extent of bee farms, — of 

 floral acreage, still unstocked, vastly exceeds that which is 

 turned to any profitable account. 



These considerations have an important financial bearing, 

 and point to a source of income which has not yet found its 

 way into the tax-gatherer's schedules, and can be assessed 

 only at the rate of ordinary skill and patient perseverance. 

 Let those who can, keep bees. Of course a given extent of 



country can only maintain a certain number of hives. If I 

 may hazard a conjecture, I should say that for every 100 

 acres throughout our midland district we might apportion 

 two hives. This is merely a rough guess, and probably 

 below the mark. This estimate, I am convinced, is on the 

 safe side. If I were asked for absolute data on which to 

 base an opinion, my estimate would assume this shape : — 

 For capital invested take each stock-hive at ,£1 value, then 

 £10 would be the amount of capital required for a bee-farm 

 of 1000 acres. Taking the average of good and bad honey 

 seasons, we may assume, and that quite within the mark, 

 that each hive will yield, one year with another, 10 lbs. of 

 honey. Reckoning the value of this at Is. a-pound, we have 

 .£10 sterling as the interest of a capital of ,£20, a return of 

 exactly 50 per cent. 



If I am, as I believe to be the case, within the mark, what 

 can be a better or safer investment than a few full bee-hives ? 

 Our cousins across the Atlantic — Heaven help them to their 

 senses and the pursuits of peace ! — keenly appreciate the 

 value of an apiary, and know how to manage it. "We are 

 indebted to them for some new forms of hive-construction, 

 which promise to be of great utility, and in the science, no 

 less than the practice of bee-farming, they are, I suspect, in 

 advance of ourselves. 



Let me now proceed to the discussion of a few facts and 

 suggestions culled from the mass of correspondence with 

 which I have been almost overwhelmed : — First, as to the 

 best aspect for an apiary. Get as much unobstructed sun- 

 shine as possible from the S.E. to W., and as much shelter 

 as you can obtain from every other point. The intervention 

 of a low wall or fence as a screen from the S.W. prevalent 

 wind will be an advantage, provided it does not interfere 

 with sunshine from that quarter. 



I have a range of open hives with a S.E. aspect, sheltered 

 and shaded from every other point but that included between 

 S.E. and S.W., while my apiary has an aspect which embraces 

 the points from S.S.E. to W. 



The open hives receive the sunshine first, and part with it 

 soonest. The effect is curious and instructive. The bees in 

 the open hives are the soonest on the alert ; those in the 

 apiary continue their work the longest. "With respect to 

 the quantity of honey collected in a given time, I cannot 

 note any difference. In Holland it is said that bee-hives are 

 generally placed with a north aspect, in which they thrive 

 remarkably well {Tide Cottaqe Gabdenek, vol. v., p. 76). 



I have not sufficient confidence in the result to try the 

 experiment myself, nor do I know of any one who has. I do 

 not like hives to be enclosed in bee-houses ; they are better, 

 in my opinion, exposed to the free currents of the external 

 atmosphere. A warm blanket of stagnant air often proves 

 a wet one. Bees will bear the lowest winter temperature 

 unhurt, but a moist hygrometric condition is fatal. A sudden 

 increase of atmospheric temperature causes a deposition of 

 moisture within a bee-house, which affects the health of these 

 insects more than anything else. Place the hives in an 

 open shed, the darker the better in winter, and let the wind 

 blow around them. 



Secondly, as to swarming, my advice is to learn its indica- 

 tions, which have been described in the Times, and may 

 be read in any manual of bee-keeping. See, if possible, 

 a swarm hived, and remember that the object is to secure 

 the queen. I have found that, as a rule, it is only in very 

 warm weather that bees invariably hang out. I have mostly 

 (this May was a partial exception) no other warning than a 

 sudden cessation from their work, the bees spreading them- 

 selves in numbers of forty or fifty on the alighting-board an 

 hour or two before the queen comes out. When the nights 

 are cold, and the hives are full, the great increase of tem- 

 perature in the interior shows itself in a long broad streak 

 of deposited moisture at the opening of the hive, commonly 

 called sweating. When this is seen keep a sharp look-out 

 on the morrow, if fine, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If the bees 

 be perceived holding intercourse with their " antennee," in 

 groups of ten or twelve on the front board, and labour 

 slackens, you may expect a swarm. 



I have frequently seen a swarm on the point of taking a 

 flight kept back by the passage of a cloud across the sun. 

 When the anxious moment comes, and the melodious and 

 unmistakeable hum of 15,000 or 20,000 bees proclaims them 

 on the wing, let the watcher retire to a respectful distance, 



