248 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 22, 1861. 
•way taking the honey without the use of any vapour, or the 
killing of one little labourer for our benefit. The plate of glass 
on under hive is after replaced by a wooden panel, fitting tightly 
and kept so by a weight placed over it. If the under or external 
bive is required to have the honey taken from it afterwards, it 
may be done thus, at any time, without the escape or loss of one 
bee : We shut the entrance of hive, as before, in the evening, 
gently remove the corner of the opening under the hive in hive- 
stand, and place immediately beneath this opening the glass, 
which may contain about two ounces of good sulphuric ether, to 
be left so until such time as we cannot hear any noise or loud 
humming, &c., within the hive. We now cautiously remove the 
glass containing ether, shut the small panel over the opening, 
and, if the ether vapour has acted sufficiently, we will find on 
lifting the hive the space within the small frame on the hive- 
stand full of the insensible bees ; we now place a sheet of glass 
over this space, resting on the frame, and thus confine the bees 
as they recover. Now, we can either remove the honey from 
the hive and replace it again as before ; or, drawing slowly away 
the glass, allow the bees to creep up another new hive of the 
same construction. The bees will be found to take possession of 
this at once, and “forgiving and forgetting,” work again for 
those who spared them. If the hive is made to consist of three 
compartments instead of but two, the same management is 
followed. And I may here remark, that in this form of hive, if 
we have the inner compartment formed of glass, which can be 
easily done, we can at any moment, by raising it, have the 
pleasure of allowing our fair friends to view those “ fragrant 
bowers of the busy bee.” 
The reason I have recommended the use of good sulphuric 
ether in place of chloroform is, that I have found it equally 
effective in all cases as chloroform, and from my experience of 
chloroform leaching me to believe it at all times a dangerous 
plaything—rapid in its fatal effects, and often acting in a most 
unexpected manner. I do not mean to say that ether should not 
be used with caution also; we must regard it as the next 
anasthetic agent to chloroform, although not so rapid in its 
action on the system. The vapour of ether may be made to rise 
at once into the hive by the glass containing it being placed in a 
small quantity of hot water as it is placed under the hive. 
Now, to sum up all the advantages of the hive—A child can 
at any time prevent swarming from it whenever this may be 
caused by want of space ; and thus I believe, that if we had hives 
of this construction on a sufficient scale, we could prevent swarm¬ 
ing at our pleasure by thus allowing space, and thereby ever 
keeping with us an enormous number of those industrious insects 
engaged ; it completely prevents the necessity of the destruction 
of even a single bee; it permits us to remove any ordinary-sized 
hive full of honey without even the use of any vapour, ot the 
escape of one single lee about the party doing so ; it requires less 
time in its management, and less trouble than any other form of 
hive, and it also affords us an easy mode of feeding our little 
labourers in winter, without that exposure to frost, &c., which 
kills greater numbers of them than we can calculate. 
Thus, I would hope that the two great points as regards the 
management of bees are in some manner gained. We not only do 
not require to kill the bees, but we increase their numbers and 
keep them with us ; we do not alone save more honey, but we 
also save, in doing so, time and trouble to ourselves.—R. W. 
Medicus. —(Irish Farmers' Gazette.') 
PROTECTORS AGAINST TOMTIT. 
The unusual severity of our present winter, with its perpetual 
snow mantle, has brought our feathered tribes to the last ex¬ 
tremity. The Wood Pigeon forgetting her retiringness flits 
among the reddening laurels and hollies, watching with greedy 
eye her more favoured domesticated namesakes at their tempting 
repasts. The Water Hen leaves her frozen burn to return the 
summer visits of her old acquaintances, the Aylesburys, enjoys 
pot luck, fraternising with them openly in the yard. Even 
hardy Blackbirds have been found in our neighbourhood frozen 
to death sitting side by side upon the rails. Is it to be wondered 
at, then, during such an existing state of things, that that sly 
little marauder, the Blue Titmouse should be more than usually 
active in filling his rapacious maw with such delicious tit bits as 
our poor honey bees ? 
Your apiarian readers cannot be too much on the alert 
against the ravages of these, their inveterate enemies. In weather 
such as the present, it must be borne in mind, that it is not 
alone what they devour, but by their repeated tappings many 
bees are set in motion, leave the combs, encounter the chilling 
atmosphere upon the board, get numbed, and are frozen before 
reaching the entrance—abundant' proofs of which I see daily. 
Their stratagems and perseverance are surprising. No farther 
gone than yesterday, annoyed at the effrontery of their attacks 
upon a row of four hives placed near each other, I put a period 
for a time to their proceedings, as I supposed, by stopping 
up tightly the entrances with pieces several plies thick of a 
newspaper I chanced to have in my hand, but master Titty wa3 
not to be so baulked of his breakfast. On passing this forenoon, 
how provoking to find the papers pulled out of three of the hives, 
and thrown over the landing-boards, to accomplish which feat 
must have required persevering tugging, while at the moment the 
little gentlemen w T ere, no doubt, snugly ensconced out of sight in 
an old yew hard by digesting, and enjoying the chagrin their 
success had caused. 
Last winter I thought for a time they were fairly checkmated, 
by tying a piece of net over the entrance cut in the straw thatch, 
and placing thereon numerous running nooses of horsehair. 
Numbers perished in the attempt to storm the citadel in front. 
Suddenly they ceased to be so trapped, and, on watching con¬ 
cealed, found the beseiged were again at their mercy, having 
been taken in the rear. They flew behind the hives underneath 
the long thatch, fluttering long on the wing till they made good 
a footing on the narrow ledge of the board, ran round on it to 
the entrance, and there feasted underneath my very guard. 
Recollecting the friendly hint of “ A Bedfordshire Bee¬ 
keeper ” in your columns last spring, I have recently given 
nux vomica a fair trial, but found it did not suit. Our pests 
being, perhaps, “ too far north,” to be so done here, giving 
always a decided preference to the bees, and leaving the poisoned 
dough to the more necessitous but innocent Redbreasts : I, 
therefore, discontinued its use entirely. Thinking I might also 
possibly lose through eating their carcases, some favourite 
tortoiseshell tabbies, my staunch allies in the Titmouse wars, I 
have hit upon an expedient by which to set my enemies at de¬ 
fiance. For the benefit of your readers permit me to describe it. 
Take a piece of i-incli pine board dressed 3J inches broad, 
divide it into as many 7-inch (or length from hive to end of 
landing-board) lengths as you have hives, draw a line from the 
one extreme corner to the other, and with a fine saw cut it in two; 
these placed on their straight edge, the bevelled being upper¬ 
most with the points outwards, form the two sides of the pro¬ 
tector. Set them as wide apart as the breadth of the landing- 
board will allow, and retain in position by nailing the top of 
the deep ends on to a bit of -j-ineh board 2 inches deep (this will 
leave 1| inch clear above the entrance). Through the last-named 
piece attach to the front of the hive with two small screws ; along 
the edges drive a number of stout sprigs, and on these stretch 
a piece either of hemp or wire net (f-inch or so mesh) to within 
three-quarters of an inch of the points, this to be left for an en¬ 
trance to the bees. The net had btter be raised on a mild day. 
By the use of this simple contrivance I hope you will hear no 
more of the Titmouse troubles of—A Renfrewshire Bee- 
keeper. 
THE RABBIT (Lepus cunicultts). 
ITS HISTORY, VARIETIES, AND MANAGEMENT. 
Coney is the name by which this animal is first mentioned in 
all our earliest records—a name evidently derived from some 
root common to most European languages. In Italian it is 
called Coniglio; in Spanish Conejo; in Portuguese Coelbo; in 
German Koniglein; in Dutch Konyn; in Swedish Kanin; in 
Danish Kanine; in ancient British Cwningen ; and in Latin 
Cuniculus. We are told by Yarro that this name was given to 
the animal by his countrymen on account of their dwelling in 
burrows— cuniculos (Be Be Rustic a, lib. 3, c. 12) ; but it might 
be that the burrows derived their name from that of their makers 
and inhabitants, which is sustained by AClian, who says (Be 
Nat. Anim. xiii. 15) that the name is of Spanish origin. 
Sonini says that the Rabbit was called in Greek dasypous —that 
is, hairy foot; but we have thought this applied to the Ilare— 
in Chaldee thapsa; in Arabic velar; in Persian lesangerah; 
in Illyrian craliJc , or TcroliJc; in Austrian kuniglhase ; in Flemish 
konyn; and in Russian and Polish krolik. 
The Rabbit will only thrive in a wild state in temperate 
climates. It will not live under any circumstances in very hot 
