JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
342 
[ October 7, 1880. 
_ » 
following her example, which would be fatal in mild winters, I 
nevertheless shall take a hint from this good woman’s practice, 
and I mean to prevent my bees from stirring abroad during all 
times of frost and snow and whenever cold and strong uncertain 
winds prevail. A simple block of wood the exact size of the 
entrance will be thrust in at dusk in the evening, with only a few 
tiny holes in the block covered with perforated zinc. Care, of 
course, must be taken to remove them on fine warm mornings at 
all times, and finally in the early spring according to the season. 
There are also many treacherous days during a continuance of 
stormy weather in March and even in early April, when they may 
be kept in for several days together, provided sufficient ventilation 
through perforated zinc is allowed them. At such times the loss 
of life in an apiary is very considerable. Thousands of bees have 
been blown away and chilled to death without a chance of their 
returning home. This accounts for the slow progress of hives in 
many a stormy spring time, and for the gradual dwindling away 
of many a weak stock, which could not nurture sufficient brood to 
make up for the daily loss of its population. 
I need only add that bees are best let alone in winter. The 
quieter they are kept the better. All that is wanted is to look 
at the hives now and then to see that all is right. Meanwhile, 
the bee-owner can get ready for the coming season—making his 
hives, and putting all that are empty into a state of thorough 
cleanliness and repair.—B. & W. 
Pit for Stable Manure (T. C. A .).—There is no necessity for a tank 
for in the event of making a covered dung pit the liquid manure will be absorbed 
if led into it, and will prevent the dung from getting too dry, and with 8 or 
10 inches of dry earth at the bottom the urine'will be absorbed, and all may be 
taken out together. The pit may be made 12 feet wide, 15 feet long, and 3 feet 
deep, but it may be sloped off at one end for a cart to back into on the removal 
of the dung, &c. The covering may be of galvanised corrugated iron on pillars 
7 feet up to the eaves, the covering to be 14 feet by 20 feet and spouted. The 
pit and covering may be made one-third less if the pit is cleaned out frequently. 
Various (I. II.). —1st, In strong land pastures lying flat, if there are no 
small rushes amongst the grass, underground drains may do injury ; only a sur¬ 
face trench or two would be sufficient. If, however, the strong land really 
requires covered drains, they should not be put in at a less depth than 3 feet 
and 2 rods apart, or perhaps placed at that depth, may answer by following the 
surface trenches if there are any, tiles not to be less than 2 inches in diameter. 
2nd, Earth floors for horses if properly laid with dry screened earth rammed 
down with an iron-headed hammer will become nearly as hard as stone in a box 
where the horse is loose, and if the litter and dung are removed every day the 
earth will then last for years without renewal. If, however, the horse is tethered 
in a stall with earth floor properly rammed down on a dead level, or with a 
little fall towards the manger, the urine will then spread over the floor, and 
sink in equally over the surface, but the horses’ shoes or feet will not disturb the 
surface ; uuder any circumstances the earth in stalls will have to be removed 
when it is fully saturated and gives off offensive odours in the stable. 3rd, 
Concrete floors for cattle will do very well without litter, but better with litter ; 
a pit behind the cattle with a sparred floor over will take everything away with¬ 
out inconvenience if swept daily and strewed with gypsum, but earth or ashes 
should be placed in the pit every few days for absorption and for deodorising 
the manure. 4th, The thatcher’s knife recommended is rather hook-shaped, and 
is used by them for cutting the eaves of thatch. A hay knife will not answer 
the purpose so well, unless the truss of straw is held down on a board to receive 
the edge of the knife after cutting through the straw. The articles in the 
Journal should be referred to for further details on these subjects. 
THE HONEY SEASON IN SCOTLAND. 
Having our bees home from the heather I am now in a position 
to inform your apiarian readers of the honey season in East 
Lothian. The year 1879 will be remembered by all bee-keepers 
as the most unfavourable that could occur. There were few if 
any skeps made as much honey as would keep themselves during 
the winter; in fact here we had to feed throughout the summer to 
keep the bees alive, and again to feed liberally this spring. Those 
who neglected to feed have lost the whole of their stock. Those 
who did feed have been well rewarded for the trouble and expense 
by a return from the Heather beyond the average of many years. 
A great number of supers have been secured, and the stock well 
supplied with honey besides. 
This spring was not at all favourable for bees ; though dry, it 
was often so cold that the bees could not work, and there was not 
much honey to be had from the flowers. At the end of June and 
in July we had a large supply of honeydew from the Pear trees on 
walls and from Oaks and Beeches, which gave a great impetus to 
breeding and made up the stocks with honey, but when it was 
stored in the supers it had to be taken out in many cases before 
they were sent to the Heather, its black colour injuring the sale 
of the Heather honey when mixed with it. Though the dark 
honey is good to the taste, we generally keep it here for feeding 
the bees in autumn and spring. Breeding had ceased in most of 
the hives before they left the Heather, as it had become rather 
cold. They are well stocked with bees, and most of them have 
begun breeding again since they were brought home owing to the 
fine warm weather we are getting. I don’t expect more than 
Is. Gd. per pound will be given to the bee-keeper for honeycomb 
in supers, the purchaser taking it away and selling it to the 
merchants. There is not much run honey sold here. Every 
endeavour is made to get them to put it into supers at from 10 fbs. 
to 15 lbs. of honeycomb in each ; better prices are given for it in 
that way than in any other.— Alexander Shearer, Tester 
Gardens, Haddington , N.B. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Incubators ( Chicken ).—'Write to Messrs. Thomas Christy & Co., 155, Fen- 
church Street, London. Our “ Poultry Book for the Many,” price Gpi., post 
free, contains concise and reliable information on the different varieties of 
fowls and their management. 
Fowls with Diseased Livers (.S'. The fowls are evidently suffering 
from disease of the liver, which at length kills them. This is often hereditary 
in poultry. Drive them out of the yard into the field. Keep them short 
of food, feed three times per day scantily. Let the food be ground oats 
or barleymeal, slaked with water, and scattered abroad on the grass. Kill all 
the old diseased birds. Save the healthy and promising hens and pullets. Do 
away with all the cocks running with them, and turn in fresh ones in December. 
This disease often arises from overfeeding, especially with meal. 
Spaces between Bars and Cover of Hives, &c. (Comber ).—Half an 
inch space is decidedly too much to allow. A quarter of an inch is ample 
distance, as the only object of any space at all is to prevent crushing the bees 
when manipulating the bar-frames. The quilt will not inconvenience the bees, 
they simply avoid it. We have seen a quilt removed with hardly a bee upon it. 
Keeping Honey (Idem ).—Glass supers more or less filled with honeycomb 
will be best preserved by covering the mouth with a bladder or paper dabbed in 
white of egg—anjdhing in short, that will keep the air from the contents. We 
have kept honeycomb in this way for a twelvemonth. 
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. 
Rain. 
1 
1880. 
Sept, 
Oct. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32° 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
gr^ss. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sun. 26 
30.165 
61.3 
59.0 
N.E. 
58.2 
06.2 
54.0 
87.7 
48.0 
— 
Mon. 27 
30.306 
58.5 
57.6 
S.E. 
58.2 
69.7 
5G.2 
99.0 
51.2 
— 
Tues. 28 
30.452 
54.3 
54.3 
N. 
57.9 
69.7 
5".4 
94.3 
45.2 
— 
Wed. 29 
30.489 
53.0 
52.6 
N.E. 
57.5 
65.7 
51.1 
101.0 
47.2 
— 
Thurs. 80 
30.405 
54.5 
53.4 
N. 
57.1 
62.0 
46.2 
68.0 
42.1 
— 
Friday 1 
30.271 
54.9 
53.9 
N. 
56.8 
63.3 
50.2 
98.0 
48.3 
— 
Satur. 2 
29.939 
58.3 
54.7 
W. 
56.6 
66.3 
51.1 
48.4 
46.2 
0.072 
Means. 
30.290 
56.4 
55.1 
57.5. 
66.1 
51.3 
92.3 
.47.0 
0.072 
REMARKS. 
26th.—Very misty, canopy of cloud all day ; calm and close. 
27th.—Hazy, good deal of cloud, but some bright sunshine in forenoon ; calm 
and warm. 
28th.—Fog in morning, afternoon clearer w 7 ith sunshine ; fine evening. 
29th.—Misty early, fine bright warm day ; misty again in evening and cooler. 
30th.—Fair calm day, wich good deal of haze. 
1st.—Misty morning ; fine blight day. 
2nd.—Early morning fine and bright, cloudy after 10 A.M., rain and wind after 
3 p.m. 
Temperature very similar to the previous week, but the air damper, although 
there was little actual rain.—G. J. Symons. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET— OCTOBER 6. 
OUR market is now very quiet, prices remaining without any alteration. The 
supply of Pears from the Continent is short, though values are somewhat lower. 
There are large arrivals of American Apples this week. 
FRUIT. 
s. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
Apples. 
i sieve 
2 
6 to 4 
6 
Melons . 
each 
2 
0 to 4 
0 
Apricots. 
box 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Nectarines. 
dozen 
2 
0 
8 
0 
Cherries. 
IP ft. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Oranges . 
IP 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. 
IPtb. 
1 
3 
1 
6 
dessert . 
dozen 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Cobs.... 
IP lb 
1 
8 
1 
6 
Pine Apples .... 
IP lb 
i 
0 
8 
0 
Gooseberries .... 
& sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Plums . 
i sieve 
2 
6 
4 
6 
Grapes . 
IP lb 
0 
9 
3 
0 
Walnuts . 
bushel 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Lemons. 
IP100 12 
0 
18 
0 
ditto . 
IP 100 
0 
0 
0 
0 
T 
VEGETABLES. 
S. 
d. 
9. 
a. 
s. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
dozen 
2 
0to4 
0 
Mushrooms . 
. dozen 
1 
0lo 1 
6 
Asparagus. 
bundle 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Mustard & Cress . 
punnet 
0 
2 
0 
3 
Beans,Kidney.... 
IP lb. 
0 
0 
0 
6 
Onions. 
bushel 
3 
6 
5 
9 
Beet, Red. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
pickling. 
quart 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Broccoli. 
bundle 
0 
9 
i 
6 
Parsley. doz 
bunches 
6 
0 
0 
0 
Brussels Sprouts.. 
i sieve 
1 
9 
2 
3 
Parsnips. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Cabbage . 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Peas . 
quart 
0 
0 
0 
0 
bunch 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Potatoes. 
bushel 
8 
9 
4 
0 
100 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Kidnev. 
bushel 
4 
0 
0 
6 
Cauliflowers. 
dozen 
0 
0 
8 
6 
Radishes_ doz.bunches 
i 
6 
2 
0 
Celerv. 
bundle 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Rhubarb. 
bundle 
0 
4 
0 
0 
Coleworts_doz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Salsafy. 
bundle 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Cucumbers. 
each 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Seorzonera . 
bundle 
i 
6 
0 
0 
Endive. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Seakale . 
basket 
0 
0 
0 
0 
bunch 
0 
8 
0 
0 
Shallots. 
IP lb 
0 
8 
0 
0 
Garlic . 
IP lb. 
0 
6 
0 
0 
Spinach . 
bushel 
3 
0 
0 
0 
Herbs . 
bunch 
0 
2 
0 
c 
Turnips. 
bunch 
G 
4 
e 
0 
Leeks. 
bunch 
0 
8 
0 
4 
Vegetable Marrows each 
0 
2 
§ 
0 
