March 11. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
375 
the summer of 1810 which swarmed four times and returned, 
although hived twice. By all means change the hives, and 
have them well cleaned with boiling hot water and aired in 
' the sun. The bees are most capricious about the hives; 
| they dislike a fusty hive. 
In 1843, May being very wet, about the last day a swarm 
came off; it was cold and showery, therefore a most unlikely 
day, and the swarm took to the hive immediately. On my 
I looking at the stock from which they came, I found no less 
than two young queens standing at the entrance; after a 
few minutes they walked into the hive. On the ground I 
found about two hundred young bees, apparently not two 
hours old; they had attempted to take wing, but were so 
I weak that they fell near the hive; I firmly believe they be¬ 
longed to one of the queens above-mentioned. I collected 
nearly all these bees, and replaced them with my own hand. 
The weather continued so tempestuous until the middle of 
June that the other swarm never came off; indeed, I was 
obliged to feed several stocks to prevent their being starved. 
The custom of beating tin kettles, or pans, when bees are 
swarming, is the greatest piece of folly imaginable, unless to 
show the prescriptive right of the owner to follow them. The 
noise often drives the queen back. I never knew an instance 
of a swarm not settling first near the place, but beware of a 
second flight. When bees have settled, and they find no hive 
to ascend into, particularly if there be a scorching sun, they 
will soon look out for some old tree, or fly off, perhaps, a 
mile. Three years ago I saw a swarm which had flown 
nearly four miles, and they at last met with a vermin trap, 
and settled in it. They had made the trap full of combs. 
The reason so many swarms are lost is, that they swarm 
sometimes, and settle in some quiet corner, all in the space 
of four or five minutes. The owner comes into the garden 
just at the time when they are taking their second flight, and 
then, bon voyage , as the French say. He may ring his pans 
and kettles now to no purpose, if a constant watch be not 
kept. Every bush and tree, and green peas in rows, ought 
to be searched two or three times a day. I found a swarm 
one morning at 10 o’clock taking their flight from a row of 
peas, when they had been out all night, and followed them 
nearly a mile, and they got into a hollow tree, and were lost. 
It was a second or late swarm. 
There is no doubt that bees are most capricious. I hived 
a swarm on the 31st of July, 1843, for my friend Major 
Bridgham, in the Island of Jersey. On the next day I 
went to his garden to see how they went on, and I found the 
bees in a most irritable state. At length they swarmed 
agaiu, took a flight about three hundred yards, settling in 
the butt of an apple tree. On examining the hive they left, 
I found that the layers of straw had been sewed with tarry 
twine, and tlrny had deserted it. We were obliged to hive 
them in a common small packing box, having nothing else 
at hand. 
(To be continued.) 
YORKSHIRE ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
IMPROVEMENT OF DOMESTIC POULTRY. 
Poultry shows have hitherto been almost exclusively con¬ 
fined to the North of England. In Yorkshire, each town 
has had its separate society, and its annual exhibition. At 
Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, and Keighley, in 
turn, the neighbouring amateurs and breeders have met for 
competition. These meetings excite emulation, and the 
fancy has spread, and is spreading to such an extent, that a 
society has been formed for the whole county, to show once 
a year, at the principal towns alternately, and thus, as it 
were, to amalgamate forces, and bring into competition the 
stocks of all. 
The first show of this society was held at the Biding 
School, in Halifax, on the 12th and 13tli instant. The 
building is well lighted, and in all respects adapted for 
the purpose. Rows of good-sized pens were ranged around 
: the walls, and five parallel lines ran at equal distances from 
■ one end of the building to the other, with ample space for 
the spectators between. In these receptacles were exhibited 
between 300 and 400 lots of fowl, in the highest possible 
condition, and of every variety of breed, from the largest 
Cochin to the most diminutive bantam. The exhibition is 
admitted, on all hands, to have been most successful, and 
indeed to have become already second only to Birmingham. 
The utmost pains were taken by the committee and their 
indefatigable Honorary Secretary, Mr. H. W. Heaton, to give 
eclat to the first exhibition of their society, and we congratu¬ 
late them on the success of their labours, and hope that it 
will lead to increasing excellence in their future shows. 
Our readers will, no doubt, expect some account of the 
different classes, and will not be surprised to find that they 
varied somewhat in point of merit. In the Cochin China 
class, which we may probably say has now become the 
fashionable breed, there was a numerous entry, and some 
very fine specimens were shown. As a proof of the in¬ 
creasing favour deservedly bestowed upon these fine fowls, 
we may state that several pens were claimed, and others sold 
at high prices. There were birds of all colours, from the i 
purest milk-white to black, and we never saw so numerous a 
class containing so few indifferent birds, although un¬ 
doubtedly none of them were quite equal to the best pen 
shown at Birmingham. 
In Dorkings, some very beautiful and very fine birds were 
exhibited, and they were quite sufficient in numbers to shew 
that this most useful breed of poultry has its admirers 
among the amateurs of Yorkshire. 
The Spanish class was undoubtedly the cream of this ex- ' 
hibition. That at Birmingham was not to he compared to 
it, either in quality or quantity, and it is not too much to say 
that such a display of a class of poultry, at once useful and 
ornamental, was never before got together. 
The good old English game fowl, although no longer kept 
for the brutal purpose of cock-fighting, have still their ad¬ 
mirers, and were well represented at Halifax. For beauty, 
variety, and closeness of plumage, and neatness of appear¬ 
ance, there are no fowls which beat the game, and them 
utility is equal to their beauty. 
The feathered fowl, here called gold and silver pheasants, 
and Cliittaprats, or Bolton Greys, are emphatically the York¬ 
shire breeds. They are kept alike by rich and poor, and 
many excellent specimens may be seen running about the 
cottages of the mechanics and artizans at the outskirts of the 
different towns. As “ poor men’s fowls,” they claim our best 
attention, and we are always glad to see a goodly number of 
them exhibited. In each class there were some first-rate 
pens, and we should suggest to the society that, at their 
future exhibitions, they might well permit labouring men to j 
exhibit gratuitously. The Malays struck us to be the most 
indifferent class of all. 
There were some curious birds exhibited in the mixed 
class, which is always interesting to the amateur and 
the naturalist. The pert and saucy little bantams were of I 
every variety; black and white, gold and silver spangled, 
Nankins, and silk fowl, all were here, and some of them, let 
us add, sold for a good price. 
The turkies and geese were few, but good, and the ducks 
were a numerous and very excellent assemblage. 
In the class of “ extra stock,” some of the finest fowls in 
the building were exhibited, although of course not for com¬ 
petition. 
We regret to have to add, that this very successful exhibi¬ 
tion was not patronised by the public so well as it deserved. 
There were amateurs in plenty, but the general company 
was by no means so numerous as might have been expected. 
It is possible that the committee made a mistake in not 
having fixed their first meeting for some of the larger towns, 
but, whatever be the cause, we hope it will be otherwise for 
the future, and that a society, which has got up so interest- I 
ing an exhibition and is calculated to do so much good, will 
receive ample support, as well from the public as from 
amateurs. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Ceonothuses ( Queen Mab). — Ceonot/ius diuaricatus and papillosus 
are believed to be quite bardy for the open shrubbery in the south of 
England, but unless your situation is very favourable “ four miles north 
of London,” a very hard winter will kill them down to the ground. We 
have had them both so killed, but the plants were very young. They are 
excellent for a north wall, and we would give them a slight protection 
the first few years, and try them without a wall. Iiibes Gordonianus is 
as hardy as a black currant. It is a fine cross-bred plant by our contri¬ 
butor, Mr. Beaton. It is very rare, and a bad sign for a Glycine, or 
Wistaria sinensis to flower the first three years after planting. It is 
only when young plants of this are in a bad condition that we recommend 
them to be cut low down. If you cut about two feet from the tops it will 
do. The Mule Pink is certainly more easy to propagate from layers than 
