54 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[April 24. 
ing to long experience, it is tolerably safe to let them show 
their faces. If any friend should fancy he can get them 
earlier, hy an earlier display of their abilities above ground, 
he will, on the average of years, find himself mistaken, 
unless he use some artificial covering. Let no man fancy 
they are idle because out of sight; like the mole, they work 
well in the dark. 
Peas. —Get them well staked, keep down weeds, and plan 
some stolen crop, if possible, amongst them, or one to raise 
out of their ruins. 
Beans, the Broad. —Soil well up the stem, for fear of 
storms throwing them prostrate. Look out for the bean 
weevil and hand-pick. We have not space, or we would tell 
a tale about these rascals. We will one day bring some of 
their manoeuvres to light. 
Beans, the Dwarf or Kidney. —Not a cottager’s crop ; 
the runner ought to completely supersede them. There is, 
however, an idea afloat that the latter must have long strings, 
or ten feet stakes. When this idea is got rid of, runner 
culture will extend. What is more delicious than a piece of 
bacon boiled in the same pot with runners? A dish for 
Soyer, we should say. The dwarf beans merely require 
soiling up. Sow in the first week of May, in a warm nook, 
on light soil. 
Runners. —Planted the last week in April. They are so 
good natured, that they will climb twelve feet, or stay within 
three feet of home, which you please. If the latter, pray top 
them directly they are the desired height; and direct your 
urchins to pinch their heads off through the summer when 
their ambition is prompted “ to o’erleap itself and fall on 
t’other side.” Manure well, and water in dry weather. Do 
not suffer any more large pods to remain on these and the 
dwarf kidneys than you want for seed. Pluck them away, if 
you give them to the hog. 
About Broccolis, Cabbages, Lettuces, Leeks, Spinach, 
Onions, etc., we have said much in former advices; we 
must now conclude with a few general observations. 
A friend, and one of no mean repute, has this last week, 
per letter, reminded us of those rocks a-head—the filthy 
beer-shops. He says that allotments will never carry half 
the benefits so benevolently intended, if placed far away from 
the cottages of the holders, especially where beer-shops 
prevail. His remarks are, doubtless, founded on facts, and 
we shall not lose sight of such sound and sensible advice. 
In the meantime, if we have allotment friends and holders 
who must have their beer, let us implore them to resolve 
not to sit lounging their time away over it in the beer-house ; 
let them get their beer, if they will have it , and away to their 
work ; not by any means permitting themselves to sit down 
in such places. R. Errington. 
THE APIARIAN’S CALENDAR.— May. 
By ./. H. Payne , Esq., Author of “ The Bee-keeper’s Guide.” 
Although much has already been said as to the necessity 
of feeding bees, I fear that, from the dull and wet weather of 
March and the early part of April, many stocks, where a 
liberal portion of food has not been supplied, will be found 
to have perished. 
Barley-Sugar.— I am more and more convinced, by daily 
experience, that of all other kinds of food (where honey in 
the combs cannot be had) barley-sugar is the best, and not 
only the best and the cheapest, but the safest, and by far the 
least trouble; for when liquid food is used it is carried down 
by the bees immediately upon its being supplied and stored 
in the combs, and the proprietor has no means of knowing 
at what time the store is exhausted, and a fresh supply 
required; but it is not so with barley-sugar, for whilst a 
morsel remains, which may easily be seen, it is certain the 
bees will not die of want. The best method of supplying it 
is at. the top of the hives or boxes ; my plan is to tie a dozen 
' sticks of it together, and after opening the hive at top, to 
place the barley-sugar over the opening, and to cover it with 
! a garden-pan or a flower-pot, and just before it is all con- 
| sumed give a fresh supply in a similar way. Persons gene¬ 
rally are apt to imagine that as soon as afewblossqms make 
their appearance in the spring that their bees will not want 
any attention, which is a very great mistake, as many 
a young apiarian has this year discovered both to his cost 
and disappointment; for, during the months of March and i 
April (and this year far into May, I fear), greater care is 
required in feeding than at any other time, for the popu¬ 
lation is then rapidly increasing, and in a wet and cloudy 
season like the present, no supplies whatever can be obtained 
but by artificial means. 
Placing small HrvES, Ac.—The time will soon arrive for 
removing all kinds of feeding apparatus from the tops of the j 
hives, and placing in their stead receptacles for tailing ; 
honey; but it is better not to do it until the stock-hive is full 
of bees, and want of room appears evident, the bees will then 
at once enter the small hive or glass, and commence their , 
work immediately, especially if the precaution of fixing guide- i 
combs be taken. 
Ventilation. —It has been my practice for some years to | 
give all the ventilation possible to my stocks in boxes by 
withdrawing all the slides about October, and keeping them 
open to the end of April; lor then no condensed vapour can 
injure either the combs or the bees, and then shutting them 
for a week or two before putting on the glasses, so that upon 
again opening them the bees immediately take possession of 
the sapers, and begin their work in them. 
Removing Bees from one Hive to another. —I am fre¬ 
quently applied to by beginners for the best plan of removing a 
stock of bees at this season from an old hive to some fancy one 
they have chanced to meet with, and I have,in all cases, said 
that it is a plan I have never either adopted or recommended. 
Let the bees remain in the old hive, and if it be too unsightly 
to be tolerated, have a tasty cover of wood or zinc made to 
fit it, and let them swarm, and put the swarm into the new 
hive. If a weak one, join the second swarm to it. If not, 
hive the second swarm in the usual manner, and then, in 
September, either by driving or fumigating the bees in the 
old hive, join them to the second swarm. 
Guide-combs are small pieces of worker-combs, say an 
inch deep, and two or three inches long, fastened to the top 
of the receptacle for honey before placing it upon the stock- 
hive. If it he of wood or straw, warming the comb a little, 
and pressing it carefully upon the post where it is to remain 
will be sufficient; if of glass, the glass itself must also be 
wanned. In selecting pieces for guide-combs it is always 
desirable to take the edges of the combs in preference to 
pieces cut out of the middle. 
THE YEARLY TRANSACTIONS OF THE HEN-YARD. 
A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR THOSE WHO MAY WISH TO KEEP A 
FEW FOWLS AND FIND THEM PROFITABLE. 
MAY. 
When the little chickens are first hatched, they are too 
delicate to be placed out upon the cool earth at once, ) 
especially if they are of a choice kind. It is better to put 
them and the mother in a good large hamper, with a bed of 
hay or straw weU rubbed. Place them out in the sunshine 
(if you are fortunate enough to have any) with the hamper 
lid up; thus the old hen can leave her chickens and stretch 
her legs for a few minutes after her long confinement, if she 
likes to do so. About the second day she should be put 
down with some dry dust for a quarter of an hour, that she : 
may have an opportunity of ridding herself of any vermin 
she may have got while sitting. Supply her often with 
food with which to feed her young family, I give mine 1 
groats, varied by barley-meal mixed with water, broth, or 
milk; the last must be given with caution, as it is relaxing | 
if cold, and too much the contrary if boiled. 
When the chickens are a few days old, the hen may be j 
placed under a coop. A gravel path is a good place for the 
coop, as the young brood can there easily pick up a sufficient j 
supply of the tiny stones so necessary to assist digestion. 
If the spot where they are set down is not laid with gravel, \ 
a small quantity should be spread under the coop. Take ' 
especial care that they are weU sheltered from cold wind, 
for a sharp easterly wind is as injurious to young chickens 
as to a consumptive patient. 
I very early discontinue the use of groats, which 
occasions some little discontent among the chickens at first. 
A correspondent to The Cottage Gardener, signing 
herself, H. L. K., speaks of them, with justice, as objection- 
