lie 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 29. 
last month’s calendar are applicable to the present 
one. 
Ducks and Geese. —For the present treatment of 
these, see last month’s observations also. 
THE BEE-KEEPER'S CALENDAR.— Dec. 
By J. H. Payne, Esq., Author of “ The Bee-Keeper s 
Guide” Sc. 
The good old reformer (Luther) when asked which 
wss the first and greatest of all the Cliristian graces, re¬ 
plied, “ Humility!” and upon being again asked which 
was the next, replied, “Humility !” the question hav¬ 
ing again been put to him as to w]iifih in his opinion 
would be the third, replied again, “ Humility!” Now, 
somewhat in a similar manner to which this good 
man replied to these most important questions would 
I reply to a request of a very different nature so often 
put to me, as to what is the chief thing to be ob¬ 
served in constructing a bee-hive either of straw or 
wood, and in the establishment of an apiary gene¬ 
rally; and say, Simplicity—simplicity—simplicity! I 
have very recently been favoured with descriptions 
and drawings of some newly-invented hives; they 
are very clever, ingenious things, and in the hand of 
their inventors I doubt not may be made to answer 
exceedingly well; but I would venture to say that in 
the hands of other persons they would prove a failure 
in nine cases out of ten. There is too much compli¬ 
cation and machinery about them, which, in bee 
management, is always attended with much trouble 
and inconvenience. 
I am happy to inform my apiarian friends that 
Mr. Taylor has made a further improvement in his 
“amateur’s bee-hive;” that is, he has simplified it. 
It will be called “ The Improved Amateurs Bee-hive.” 
It is more simple, more useful, and easier to work ; 
uniting, at the same time, economy and better ap¬ 
pearance than his “ amateur’s bee-liive ” figured at 
page 306 of vol. i. of The Cottage Gardener. There 
are also glasses adapted to it, for those who prefer 
their use. Perhaps at some future time I may give 
a drawing and description of it. 
I have just learned from an apiarian friend, who 
is living in a rural district, that that little destroyer, 
the blue titmouse {Pams major, of Linnieus), which 
I mentioned in my last calendar, is beginning to 
resort to the hives, and to commence its work of 
slaughter. Every possible means should now be 
used to thin their numbers, both by shooting and 
trapping, or in any other way that may be found 
most effectual, for the life of a bee is doubly valuable 
at this season of the year. 
Let the floor boards of each hive be again cleaned 
in the same manner as directed for last month, and 
let the hives be well examined, that they are free 
from mouldiness and dampness ; that the coverings 
be all sound, and that no rain be admitted through 
them. Select for this examination a fine clear day, 
but without frost. On no account let the hives be 
removed during a frost. 
The population of the hives will now be found to 
be very much reduced, but alarm for their safety, on 
that account, need not to be entertained. It has 
been frequently said to me, “ What becomes of the 
bees managed on the depriving system, if they are 
never suffered to swarm nor are destroyed ?” To 
which my reply has been, that it is well known to 
those who are conversant with the care of bees, that 
their numbers decrease greatly in autumn, not only 
by the destruction of the drones, but also by the un¬ 
avoidable deaths of many of the workers, owing to 
' the thousand accidents they meet with in the fields, 
and owing to age. A much less space, therefore, is 
required for them in the winter than was necessary 
in the summer months. Mr. Purchas, who was a 
very careful observer, says, in his treatise on bees, 
published in 1657, “ It is manifest that the honey¬ 
bees are but yearly creatures; they live but a year 
and a quarter at most; for those bees that are seen 
in May, lusty, full, brown, smooth, and well-winged, 
will, by the end of July following, begin to wither, 
become less, look gray, and have their wings tattered 
and torn, and be all dead before the end of August.” 
MY FARM-YARD. 
Gloomy, dreary November is passing away, and 
December is approaching nearer and nearer, and 
with it all the numerous preparations for Christ¬ 
mas—that time of bustling and rejoicing, as well as 
of thankfulness and liberality. And, as I know 
most of my readers will be busy too, I think I cannot 
employ my pen better than in telling the “ gude 
wife” how to proceed wheu her husband has brought 
in the pig, “ killed and scalded,” that they have 
fatted with so much care. Well, in the first place, 
you must remember that every part of the pig is 
“ good for man.” Directly it is killed, take the inside 
to the pump; clean it thoroughly; then cut it into 
bits, and fry it with onions, parsley, and any other 
herbs you may have. This, with potatoes, will 
make a capital dish for a large family. The blood 
of the pig should be put, whilst warm, to the roots 
of some favourite fruit-tree. Some people make 
“black puddings” of it, but I jirefer using it as 
manure. For the second day’s dinner, you can have 
the lights; they make an excellent dish baked, with 
a common crust over them, and well seasoned with 
herbs. Then there is the liver, which, unless you 
are a large party, will last two days: this you will 
fry plainly. With this arrangement, you have a 
good wholesome dinner for three or four days, 
according to the size of your party. When your pig 
is cut up sprinkle it well with salt, and let it hang a 
day; then place it in your salting-tub, and rub it 
well with salt, which you must do every day for at 
least three weeks; the harder you rub it the better 
it will be. Do not let the pork soak in the brine, 
but pour whatever liquid there may be in the tub 
away every third day ; at the end of three weeks, 
or, if the meat is thick, a month, wipe the salt 
off, and, if you burn wood, hang it up your chimney 
to dry. If you cannot manage that, you must be 
content with laying it along the ceiling of your cot¬ 
tage. If you follow these directions, 1 can promise 
you as nice a piece of salt pork for your Christmas 
dinner as you would wish to have; and, when your 
neighbours wish you a “merry Christmas,” you need 
not turn away with a heavy heart as you think of 
the empty cupboard and bare table; for, although 
you may not sit down to a dinner of “ roast beef and 
plum-pudding,” yet, let me tell you, those iVho “ fare 
sumptuously every day” would not despise a dinner 
of home-cured bacon, home-made bread, and home¬ 
grown potatoes. How much more, then, will the man 
who has worked hard all day be pleased, when, on 
reaching home, he sees the clean cloth laid, and on 
it steaming the produce of his own industry! Add 
to this, a smiling wife, and children, to welcome him 
home, and the picture will be complete. 1 wish such 
a sight were more common; and it would be, if more 
gardens were cultivated, more pigs kept; for then 
the wife and children would have constant occupa- 
