404 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[September 25. 
APIARIAN’S CALENDAR— October. 
By J. H. Payne , Esq., Author of “ The Bee-keeper's Guide.” 
| The time has now arrived for deciding upon which slocks are 
to be set apart for standing through the winter, and which are 
to be driven and joined to other stocks in the manner given 
in the calendar for last month. Those set apart either for 
swarming, or working in glasses next year, should be rich 
both in bees and honey, weighing, at least, from twen to 
twenty-five pounds each ; those that are not so heavy must 
have a few pounds of food given to them immediately, as 
well as having the bees from weak stocks joined to them. 
Stands. —The pedestals on which they stand should now 
be carefully examined a few inches below the surface of the 
ground, and, if unsound, replaced with new ones. 
Coverinys. —The coverings, also, to the hives should be 
made secure against winds and rain. The milk-pan, I must 
still continue to say, notwithstanding its unsightly appear¬ 
ance, is, in my opinion, the best protection for a hive, and for 
the winter months more especially so. 
Writers on Bees. —The bee-keeping readers of The Cot¬ 
tage Gardener have, I doubt not, been both instructed and 
amused by the papers of the “ Henry Taylors ” which have, 
from time to time, appeared in its pages; for myself I can 
answer in the affirmative, and beg to thank them both; but 
' as doctors occasionally disagree, it will be well to say to our 
j apiarian readers, that Henry Taylor, of Newland, near Hull, 
I is not the author of the “ Bee-keeper’s Manual.” 
Bees with, a North Aspect. —Much has been said of late as 
to the advantages arising from placing bees with the hive’s 
entrance to the north, which the following letter from a 
gentleman in Devonshire tends very much to strengthen. 
He says:— 
“ In compliance with your wish, I visited B— yesterday, 
and, although not fortunate enough to find Mr. D. at home, 
I had a long conversation with his gardener, who alone 
appears to take any interest in apiarian matters. One 
wooden hive, brought by Mr. D. from Oxford, is placed 
behind a wall, through which the bees issue towards the 
south; another wooden hive is completely embedded in 
shrubs, but the entrance faces the north. There is a stock 
in a portion of a hollow tree, which was found when 
the tree was cut down, and removed to its present posi¬ 
tion, also facing the north, and a row of fifteen common 
straw hives have the same aspect. Thus, you will perceive 
that seventeen, out of a total of eighteen stocks, are kept 
permanently facing the north. The gardener states that 
he Iras preferred a north aspect during the last ten years, 
and that he gets earlier swarms and more honey than 
his neighbours. For two or three years previously, he 
kept half his bees facing the south, and half facing the 
north, and by weighing them in the autumn and spring 
(September and April), invariably found that those facing 
the south consumed ten times the quantity of food as 
compared with the others. For instance, if one consumed 
ten pounds, the other consumed but one! and if one lost 
fifteen pounds during the winter, the other would only dimi- 
[ nish a pound and a half! 
“ I should state that B— appears to me a first-rate locality, 
being close to an extensive heath, now in full flower. The 
gardener told me that not only had he no difficulty in main¬ 
taining second swarms, or casts, during the winter, but that 
lie considered them quite equal to the first, or prime, swarms. 
The row of straw-hives is sheltered by trees and shrubs 
i towards the south, but lays quite exposed to the north wind, 
I which the gardener considers most important, as he attri- 
; butes the diminished consumption in the winter to the cold 
j winds keeping the bees torpid. The above is all the informa- 
l tion I was able to glean during a long conversation, as no 
: kind of memorandum of any of the experiments lias been 
! kept, and in the hope that it may prove interesting, I 
] am, &c." 
Now, it must be remembered, that this has been done in 
j Devonshire, and it is not unlikely that climate may have to 
be considered as to aspect, and what may do in Devonshire 
might not answer so well in colder parts. It has frequently 
been recommended to give bees an aspect more or less 
southerly in summer, and a northerly one in winter; but 
there seems now to be the strongest reason to expect that 
I for all reasons the latter will bo found most suitable. 
From the favourable reports I have very recently received 
from persons who have tried a northern aspect, I am induced 
to adopt it myself, at least for a portion of my apiary, and 
several of my friends around me are about to do the same, 
so that its advantages, or disadvantages, will, I trust, be 
fairly tested. 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE HEN-YARD— October. 
After this long Cochin-China digression, we may once 
more take a peep at the hen-yard and its numerous cares. 
This time of the year is like the harvest home of the poultry- 
keeper. The roosts are well furnished with fine fat chickens 
ready for the table, and eggs are still abundant; for the 
mother hens, which have been long occupied in hatching 
and bringing-up chickens, having benefited by the superior 
feeding that they have enjoyed while cooped with them 
young families, are now in prime laying order. 
Especial care must be taken at this season that the hen¬ 
house and hen-walk does not become over-crowded, and, in 
consequence, foul. It would be well, before the year is fur¬ 
ther advanced, to take advantage of a fine, dry, warm day, 
for a final lime-washing, but the house should be afterwards 
well dried, with a stove if necessary, or the poultry may take 
cold, and thus get more harm than good. Kill the young 
cocks which are ready for eating, especially such as become 
troublesome among the other fowls, on account of a quarrel¬ 
some disposition, or from any other cause. When about 
four or six months old—I speak now of common fowls—they 
have all the delicacy of chickens, and are yet large enough 
to render the consumption of them advantageous with regard 
to economy. But if there is a danger of the hen-house 
becoming over-crowded, sacrifice them much earlier rather 
than allow this to be the case ; for if from crowding, or the 
want of constant cleanliness, it should either become infested 
with vermin, or attain an unpleasant smell, the fowls will be 
sure to become unhealthy, and some of the younger chickens 
probably lose their lives. 
While eggs still continue plentiful, the thrifty housekeeper 
should allow her egg-basket to become well tilled; for the 
period of moulting is approaching, when the well-worked 
hens, which have done us such good service for all these 
months, must be expected, and should he allowed, to take as 
long a holiday, in reason, as nature dictates. Various 
receipts have been given for preserving eggs for winter use; 
some persons arrange them in jars, and fill in all the inter¬ 
stices with salt, others immerse them in lime-water, whilst a 
third method is to grease them slightly all over with butter, 
lard, or mutton fat, thus filling up all the minute pores of 
the egg-shell. I believe all these different ways are good, 
but I prefer getting really new laid eggs in winter, by follow¬ 
ing out the treatment of the hens recommended in these 
papers for the early months of this year; by doing so, I find 
that I am very seldom without eggs, except during the few 
weeks of the moulting season, and even then two or three 
hens will frequently continue to lay until those which have 
become arrayed in their new feathers commence again. 
I need scarcely recommend to those who take an interest 
in their poultry, to those who have watched the gradual 
development of the little birds from the hour when the 
strong, though tiny, bill pressed up its entrance to this 
world of ours, until passing through the slow and somewhat 
ragged process of fledging, they reached the full maturity, 
and strut, and bounce, of cocks and hens; I need scarcely 
advise those who have so watched their favorities, to follow 
up their kindness to the last, and direct that they may be 
killed (according to the words of the author’s gardener) as 
comfortably to themselves as possible. A necessary act may 
yet be done with humanity. I do not consider it important 
to fast the birds intended for killing, for a long time; to 
deprive them of one, or, at most, two meals, I think quite 
sufficient. 
When the moulting arrives, most well-fed and clean -kept 
fowls will pass through it with no apparent inconvenience, 
and very little disfigurement. If some, however, should i 
appear languishing, or lose a great many feathers before the I 
new plumage is ready to take the place of the old, let such 
have generous and very abundant feeding. A little saffron- 
tea made into porridge may be good for them, as well as for 
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