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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 25, 1864. 



other points equally important to success as the hackle in 

 the Silver-pencilled Haniburghs, all which have equally 

 strong claims on the attention of an arbitrator. 



"I myself very rarely expect to find positive perfection 

 even in a first-prize pen of birds if comprising three speci- 

 mens. The awards, it should always be borne in mind, are 

 made rather to the least defective than as an arbitrator's 

 guarantee of absolute faultlessness. • 



" As to the statement that a Rouen Duck's feet should 

 be black, I never before heard it propounded as indispensable 

 or a desideratum. The true type of the Rouen Duck, of 

 either sex, is admitted to be the Mallard and Wild Duck ; 

 size only always excepted. I myself never saw a Wild Duck 

 nor yet a purely-bred Rouen with black feet. At first, as 

 young ducklings, both breeds have dusky legs and feet, but 

 on the attainment of the second feather they always assume a 

 colour very closely resembling that of a Seville orange, sooty 

 on the webs ; and this hue they afterwards retain for life, 

 subject, as in all birds, whether aquatic or otherwise, to 

 becoming much lighter coloured during moulting time, and 

 after long laying. Again : the intensity of colour in all 

 waterfowls' legs and feet is greatly dependant on whether 

 they enjoy free access to water, or the contrary. No adult 

 purely-bred Wild Duck has black feet, nor am I aware of 

 any domesticated variety of Duck with black legs and feet, 

 except the East Indian, though several of the smaller wild 

 waterfowls are very closely approaching to it ; but not so 

 the true Wild Duck. 



" Tour correspondent has a considerable variety of books 

 on poultry to choose from. The original ' Poultry Book ' is 

 expensive ; then comes ' Dixon on Poultry,' and ' Nolan on 

 Poultry,' and a very cheap little work named ' Poultry Book 

 for the Many,' published at your office, and any of the others 

 can be obtained through a general bookseller. — Edward 

 Hewitt." 



COWS ROBBED OF THEIR MILE!. 

 In reply to your correspondent "J. J. T." and your an- 

 swer to his query, I beg your insertion of the following fact. 

 About eight years since I had a cow who somewhat suddenly 

 ceased to give more than the smallest quantity of milk. 

 After nights and days of watching, we found she was regu- 

 larly milked by two strong pigs, whose wonderful condition 

 at the time was a mystery to us. I do not know anything 

 about hedgehogs milking cows, and never heard of such 

 a thing. — Trent. 



UNITING- QUEENS to STOCKS— UNITING BEES. 



I have much pleasure in submitting to the apiarian 

 readers of The Journal of Horticulture the following 

 letter from the esteemed correspondent whose failure with 

 a Ligurian queen was related in page 225, and to whom I 

 sent a second queen in place of the one which met so un- 

 timely an end. — A Devonshire Bee-keeper. 



" Dear Sir, — I am glad to say that the queen and bees 

 arrived quite safely at Albrighton yesterday (October 10), 

 at 3.27, and also that I successfully united them to the 

 stock which had been previously prepared for their reception. 



" When the box arrived I noticed that it smelt strongly of 

 what seemed to me to be heather honey, and I feared that 

 the peculiar smell might render the strangers obnoxious or 

 distinguishable to my bees. So having removed the lid 

 I substituted a piece of perforated zinc, and after bringing 

 the queenless stock into the house inverted the small box 

 over the aperture in the crown-board, and allowed them to 

 remain in this position all night. In the morning I placed 

 the Italian queen with two only of her own subjects under 

 a small bell-glass, and admitted one bee from the stock. It 

 appeared not to take much notice of the queen, but having 

 just touched her a little with its antenna?, left her alone. 

 A second bee was then admitted, which, marching up to her 

 majesty, at once seized her by the root of the wing. I 

 instantly interfered, and crushed the hostile bee, still ad- 

 hering tenaciously to the queen. I then thought I would 

 try the effect of peppermint-scented syrup ; and having taken 

 the hive to its accustomed stand, blew a few whiffs of tobacco 

 smoke underneath the crown-board, and sprinkled ^the bees 

 bountifully with the scented syrup, and, replacing the crown- 



board, allowed them ten minutes to lick up the syrup and 

 settle themselves. At first I thought of sprinkling the 

 Italians also with the syrup, and then slowly admitting the 

 bees from the stock to the queen and bees altogether ; but 

 on consideration, thinking it would then be difficult to see 

 what the disposition of my bees might be towards the person 

 of the queen, I determined to make a second attempt as 

 before. The result was most satisfactory. The bees at once 

 acknowledged the queen (whom I also had daubed with 

 scented syrup), so that in about one hour I felt justified in 

 allowing the queen to descend into the hive. Subsequently 

 I sprinkled the Italian workers, and allowed them to enter 

 at the doorway of the hive. No fighting ensued, but a per- 

 fectly harmonious union was effected. I have just united 

 the discarded hybrid queen to a stock of black bees. Had 

 the second bee used its sting instead of its teeth a repetition 

 of the previous tragedy would have occurred. 



" I think sprinkling bees with scented syrup is a good pre- 

 paration both for uniting queens and bees to strange stocks, 

 and for this mode of proceeding I am indebted entirely to 

 you. I have effected many unions with bees in this way 

 with invariable success, no fighting taking place in the 

 hive ; but a little (not much), has sometimes occurred on 

 the following day, owing to the hesitation with which the 

 strangers alight at the entrance. If adjoining hives are 

 united, and the conjoined bees are placed between the ori- 

 ginal sites, both being equally puzzled, fighting has not 

 ensued. — J. E. B." 



VARIATION IN LIGURIAN BEES. 



I have a hive of Ligurian bees, the queen of which is 

 breeding differently-coloured workers. Some of them are 

 brilliantly marked, while others are quite dark, the orange- 

 coloured stripes being scarcely visible. Will you tell me 

 whether this is a common occurrence, or the result of a cross 

 with a black drone ? — A. N. B. 



[The queen of your Ligurian stock has been hybridised by 

 a black drone, which is no very unusual occurrence. Tou 

 have yourself accurately described the mongrel breed, which 

 results from the cross between the two varieties.] 



BEES CARNIVOROUS. 



" I am very jealous," Dr. Cummmg observes, " for my 

 bees ;" and so am I, sir, and I do'nt relish the idea of their 

 being flesh-eaters, any more than that of my honey having 

 been brought home in the same " sac " with horse beef. 

 Alas ! for our old-fashioned notions ; how they go one after 

 another, as the world grows wiser! Why, I should have 

 fancied, sir, that the turkey drum-stick which "Ruby" 

 saw inside a hive covered with bees, was undergoing the 

 process of mandible-scraping as a sanitary precaution ; or 

 that it might be destined, like the " Bee-master's " snail, 

 to receive propolitan sepulture. 



Before I saw the article on this subject in your Journal, I 

 would as soon have believed in a hybrid between a wasp 

 and a bee, as in the carnivorous propensities of the latter. 

 I wonder, by-the-by, whether "Pojby's" bees had any 

 peculiarity either in the cut or colour of their coats, which 

 would at all countenance the notion that there might be a 

 dash of vespan taint in that hive. Since reading the article 

 alluded to, I have tried my own bees with flesh, and some 

 that were hungry, too, but they turned away from it with 

 disgust. I took care to have it dressed with the " gravy 

 in," and no salt, but they recoiled from it, with, as I thought, 

 surprise and annoyance. Mutton, beef, rabbit, hare, it 

 matters not, they will not even touch it. One or two old 

 fellows made a rush at it, at first, and after giving it a few 

 raps with their antennas, turned round and eyed me full in 

 the face, as if in contemplation of an " odd fish," for which 

 I suspect they took me for my pains. However, if they do 

 not know the value of "fibrin" in imparting strength to 

 the constitution, I mean to teach them, and I mean, sir, 

 to adopt this system, at least, I offer it as a suggestion, 

 subject to your approval. I shall make some strong beef 

 tea, thickened with calves' feet jelly, and flavoured with 

 " Scotch ale." 



The idea of a patent food for bees has crossed my mind 



