274 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 16, 1880. 
which Abbott Brothers deal,” and in the same paragraph the 
Judges are certainly not complimented on their taste in making 
the award. In reference thereto, may I he allowed to state that 
the firm I represent do not deal in the said diagrams, that they 
never have had or seen other than the one set alluded to, and 
that they have never offered them for sale ? They were presented 
to me in 1877 by M. Rothschild of Paris, and so far from their 
being “ perfectly well known,” I have never heard of or seen 
anything like them except in the diagrams for which Mr. Cheshire 
was awarded a silver medal at South Kensington in 1879, and 
which have been since republished by the British Bee-keepers’ 
Association.— C. N. Abbott, Fairlanm, Southall. 
HOW TO ITALIANISE BLACK BEES. 
The following plan of the Rev. J. W. M’Niel, which we cite 
from the “American Bee Journal,” may perhaps answer the above 
question, which has been submitted to us by Mrs. Elvey :—“ When¬ 
ever anyone desires to italianise an apiary it is necessary to start 
right. The important matter first is to be certain to procure a 
pure Italian queen. When obtained and introduced into a hive, 
of which I will hereafter give my plan, then the work of raising 
queens from her may soon be commenced. The frame hive of 
some make is necessary in this work. Of whatever kind used, 
be certain to have all the frames of the same size ; this will obviate 
a great deal of trouble and loss of time, not only in the work 
of raising queens, but also in the general management of bees. 
After all the eggs of the black queen in the hive into which the 
Italian queen has been introduced have hatched and been capped 
in their cells, then the work of raising queens may be commenced, 
provided the Italian queen has been laying. This being sure, my 
plan is to remove a hive from its stand, placing an empty one in 
its stead, and in this place a frame of comb with eggs in it from 
the Italian queen, then return to the hive, having been removed 
from its old stand, and blow a strong draught of smoke into it; 
many of the bees will return to their old stand, and those, together 
with others out foraging, will enter this, making a nucleus—if 
not strong, still continue to agitate the bees or the removed hive 
until the nucleus is a good-sized colony. 
“ This nucleus will in a few days commence queen cells, making 
from three to fifteen. These must be closely watched, and from 
the day the first is capped allow only six or seven days to pass 
before all the queen cells except one are carefully cut out, and 
place one in each of the queenless nuclei. These nuclei may have 
been previously prepared by destroying a queen and dividing 
up the hive. Be certain that the nuclei have neither queens nor 
queen cells. In these introduce the queen cells into the combs 
into about the same position as those made by the bees. These 
queen cells will soon hatch, and after the queens are fertilised 
they can be introduced into hives of the common bee. 
“ It may be well to remark that the safest plan I have tried is 
to cage the young queens, destroy the black queens into whose 
hives it is desired to introduce the young queens. Suspend the 
cages about the centre of the hive, having placed a small piece 
of comb in the bottom with honey in the cells, upon which the 
queens can feed themselves. After the cages remain there about 
forty-eight hours take them out and cork them with a small 
piece of thin honeycomb, and suspend them again in the hives. 
The bees of the hive will encage the queens by removing the 
comb from the mouth of the cages. After suspending the cages 
thus the second time, do not disturb the hives in less than three 
or four days ; after which the hives may be opened, and, if the 
queens are alive, they can soon be found among the black bees, 
for the reason the Italian queens are of a bright golden colour. 
By the above plan anyone may in a short time displace all their 
black queens and place in their stead the Italian.” 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Duck Management (R. T.).— The food of Ducks and ducklings, and their 
digestive powers, seem to be of that happy character, so easy to find and so 
effectual when found, that we seldom expect to have much to say about them. 
We do not believe much in their weakness, unless they are impi-operly lodged or 
fed. No lodging is fit for them that has a brick, stone, or wooden floor. Either 
will produce cramp, and that will cause the staggering you speak of. Dry food 
is not good for them, nor is scrupulously clean food desirable. If they are kept 
tolerably clean, then add to their food a sod of grass put in the water. Give 
them Oats, oatmeal, Lettuces, and if you want them to grow and fatten quickly 
any scraps of raw moat you may have. 
Chickens Drooping (Devon).—You chickens are suffering from chill, or 
from roup, or from some weakness. When they are first attacked they should be 
freely fed with bread steeped in strong ale ; afterwards, both for cure and preven¬ 
tion, put citrate of iron or camphor in their water. The use of these two 
remedies will be found to save trouble, anxiety, and loss. Your fowls must 
have a grass run, and should be fed principally on soft food. Change of air, 
food, water, and above all of roosting, will often affect poultry. 
Diarrhoea in Pigeons (T. S.). —Give them three or four pieces of whiten¬ 
ing or chalk daily, each about the size of a pea, and feed them on old beans until 
the diarrhoea ceases. 
Food for Pigeons (N. 0.).—Tares, if old, are perhaps the best food for 
Pigeons. As to linseed, it has been found in Germany that after the linseed 
harvest Pigeons are frequently ill, and die of diarrhoea; so that we would advise 
you to give it with a sparing hand, and add a few handfuls of common dry rice 
to your compound of tares, linseed, Peas, and Barley. 
Bee Flowers (//.).—White'Clover, Saintfoin, Trifolium incarnatum. Buck¬ 
wheat, Heath, Lime, fruit trees of all kinds, Raspberry, Gooseberry, and Currant; 
Laurustinus, Borage, Mignonette, and Nepeta Mussinii. 
Driving and Uniting Bees {Busy ).—Your super, which is two-thirds 
filled with combs and honey, should be taken from the hive at once, as the honey 
season is over. After the super has been loosened from the hive drive the bees 
down into the hive by smoke applied at the top. If some few bees remain 
amongst the combs of the super, take it into an attic or cellar of the house 
with an open window, in order to let the bees fly out and home. If the supers 
were left in the garden, the bees flying about would soon find it and take all the 
honejn The books you have been reading contain instructions for driving. If 
your hives are not of equal width so that they cannot fit and rest on one another, 
roll a tablecloth firmly round the rim of the smaller hive and thus overcome 
your difficulty. First drive the bees which are to be surrendered into an empty 
hive, then feed the bees of the hive to receive them, and in about an hour after¬ 
wards place the empty hive (with the driven bees) on its crown and lift the full 
hive on to it. All the bees will run up without driving, but will run faster if 
driven. This process of driving and uniting is a very simple affair. All begin¬ 
ners like yourself lack courage and self-confidence. After you have done it once 
your success will qualify you for more difficult work in the apiary. After the 
bees have run up lift the hive on to its board. You are quite right in thinking 
that the seasons have of late been unfavourable for honey-gathering. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51°32'40” N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude,111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
• o 
a> c* c3_. 
Hygrome- 
P . 
Shade Tern- 
Radiation 
s 
1880. 
g-MCfl > 
ter. 
£ d 
O ‘rl 
perature. 
Temperature. 
CJ 
P5 
Sept. 
5 “ c 1- * 
££ 
In 
On 
S3" a 
Dry. 
Wet. 
So 
Max. 
Min. 
sun. 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sun. 6 
30.072 
70.8 
65.1 
s.w. 
65.8 
77.8 
64.2 
124.2 
60.0 
— 
Mon. 6 
30.104 
61.5 
58.7 
w. 
65.2 
74.3 
53.0 
116.4 
48.6 
0.090 
Tues. 7 
30.011 
62.4 
56.7 
N. 
64.3 
71.9 
53.8 
120.0 
49.9 
— 
Wed. 8 
30.< 48 
59.8 
55.3 
N. 
62.8 
68.6 
50.2 
99.0 
43.9 
0.010 
Thurs. 9 
29.877 
61.6 
58.2 
E. 
62.0 
65.9 
55.2 
81.3 
51.7 
— 
Friday 10 
29.760 
65.8 
62.0 
E. 
61.8 
79.8 
55.1 
127.4 
50.4 
— 
Satur. 11 
29.683 
67.2 
62.8 
E. 
62.7 
73.5 
60.8 
113.0 
55.4 
1-338 
Means. 
29.945 
64.2 
59.8 
63.5 
73.1 
56.0 
111.6 
51.4 
1.433 
REMARKS. 
6th.—Morning fine with sunshine ; afternoon cloudy ; warm day and windy. 
6th.—Fine with sunshine for short time before noon ; dull, very cloudy after¬ 
noon with rain, which gradually increased from 6 p.m. 
7th.—Dull morning; afternoon very fine and bright; starlight evening. 
8th.—Fair pleasant day, but good deal of cloud. 
9th.—Cool fair day, no sunshine. 
10th.—Foggy in early morning ; fine bright hot day; strong breeze. 
11th.—Dull close morning ; rain at 2.30 P.M., but not heavy until 4 P.M., from 
which time it fell at the rate of more than a tenth of an inch per hour 
until 1.30 A.M. of the 12th. 
The absolutely rainless period of twenty-eight consecutive days ended on the 
afternoon of the 6th, but the amount was unimportant until Saturday 11th, when 
the heaviest fall of the present year occurred.—G. J. SXMONS. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— September 15. 
We are still fairly supplied with Apples and Plums, both being sufficient for 
the demand, and prices firmer. Good Peaches are in demand, while Grapes 
remain the same as last week. Kent Cobs and Filberts are short. 
FRUIT. 
Apples. 
i sieve 
s. 
2 
d. 8. 
6 to 4 
d. 
6 
Melons . 
each 
8. 
2 
d. 8. 
0 to 4 
d. 
0 
Apricots. 
box 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Nectarines. 
dozen 
2 
0 
8 
0 
Cherries. 
1? Ib. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Oranges ..... 
p 100 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Chestnuts. 
bushel 12 
0 
16 
0 
Peaches . 
dozen 
3 
0 
10 
0 
Figs. 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Pears,kitchen .. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Filberts. 
plb. 
1 
6 
1 
9 
dessert . 
dozen 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Cobs. 
p lb 
1 
6 
1 
9 
Pine Apples .... 
P ib 
1 
0 
3 
0 
Gooseberries .... 
i sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Plums . 
i sieve 
2 
6 
4 
6 
Grapes . 
P lb 
0 
9 
3 
0 
Walnuts . 
bushel 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Lemons. 
%>100 12 
0 
18 
0 
ditto . 
p 100 
0 
0 
0 
c 
dozen 
s. 
2 
VEGETA 
d. s. d. 
0 to 4 0 
BLES. 
Mushrooms . 
dozen 
S. 
d. s. 
Oto 1 
d. 
G 
Asparagus. 
bundle 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Mustard & Cress .. 
punnet 
6 
2 
0 
3 
Beans,Kidney .... 
P lb. 
0 
0 
0 
6 
Onions. 
bushel 
3 
6 
5 
0 
Beet, Red. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
pickling. 
quart 
0 
0 
0 
9 
Broccoli. 
bundle 
0 
9 
1 
6 
Parsley. doz. bunches 
6 
0 
0 
0 
Brussels Sprouts. 
i sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Parsnips. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Cabbage . 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Peas . 
quart 
0 
9 
i 
0 
Carrots. 
hunch 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Potatoes . 
bushel 
3 
9 
4 
0 
Capsicums. 
3? 100 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Kidney. 
bushel 
4 
0 
0 
0 
Cauliflowers. 
dozen 
0 
0 
3 
6 
Radishes_ doz.hunches 
1 
6 
2 
6 
Celery . 
bundle 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Rhubarb. 
bundle 0 
4 
0 
0 
Coleworts_doz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Salsafy. 
bundle 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Scorzonera . 
bundle 
1 
6 
0 
o 
Endive. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Seakale . 
basket 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Fennel. 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Shallots . 
p lb 
0 
s 
0 
Garlic . 
Ik lb. 
0 
6 
0 
0 
Spinach . 
bushel 
8 
0 
0 
Herbs . 
. bunch 
0 
2 
0 
0 
Turnips. 
hunch 
0 
4 
0 
Leeks....: . 
bunch 
0 
0 
4 
Vegetable Marrows 
each 
0 
2 
0 
