THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 19, 1861. 
part with any of his surplus stock at the swarming season. 
The “old queens” alluded to in “B. AW.’s” last communi¬ 
cation to The Cottage Gardener are supposed to be the 
original queens purchased by him three years ago, when he re¬ 
commenced bee-keeping, as the hives have not been permitted to 
swarm. “ B. & W.” hopes to replace them (some of them at 
least) with young Italian queens in May or June should these 
come to hand before his bees swarm. The queen in our corre- 
375 
spondent’s hive (which hive is a swarm of 1859) will last two 
years longer in a vigorous condition. 
Bees whioh have not at least 5 lbs. of honey stored in their 
hives at this time will have to be fed yet this spring if the 
weather should be unfavourable for getting honey in the fields. 
“ B. & W.” Avill consider it safe to give each of his hives half a 
pound of sugar syrup (boiled in water) every week for the next 
six weeks.] 
THE RABBIT^ (Lepus cuniculus) : ITS HISTORY, VARIETIES, AND MANAGEMENT. 
(Continued from page 359.) 
THE HADE-LOP. 
This, the last variety of the Lop-eared Rabbit, like the other 
varieties derives its name from the carriage of its ears. 
The Half-lop variety may be divided into two classes, and, at 
1 east, with some benefit to the young fancier ; inasmuch as one 
variety almost invariably bespeaks impurity of blood, while in 
the other variety we may find numbers of the highest-bred 
animals descended from parents of the purest blood and great 
beauty. It is very difficult to breed a litter of young Rabbits 
from the most perfect specimens without one or two of them 
being of the last-mentioned variety of the Half-lop—at any rate, 
for some time or until the offending ear be brought to its more 
proper position by the use of the cap or stitch. 
In the first class the Rabbit holds one ear erect, while in the 
other both fall over one side. In the former case the ear will 
generally be found deficient in length ; while in the latter they 
will often turn out the longest-eared and best-lopped in the 
litter.—R. S. S. 
{To be continued.) 
BEES IN THE SEASON OF 1860-61. 
Death oe Bees. —Your correspondent the “ Devonshire 
Bee-keeper,” is not singular in his description of the mortality 
of his bees. All the accounts agree that the last has been the 
most fatal season for forty-five years ; 1816 being nearly similar. 
I regret to state that I have been a loser of several stocks, 
partly, I fear, from cold. On the 1st January we had a partial 
thaw and a hurricane of wind, which upset the “ milk-pan ” on 
one of my best hives, and rain commencing afterwards. The 
next day a frost of 25° under the freezing-point, and the rain 
having penetrated the top of my exposed hive, which was a fine 
swarm of the 18th June, 1860, I found the bees, when the frost 
was gone, all in a large cluster near the bottom of the combs and 
out of their usual place. There were a few ounces of honey in 
1 different parts of the combs. 
1 Hackles. —Although I have preferred earthen pans to hackles, 
i yet I am of opinion that if hackles are well looked after, shifted 
5 land examined twice ay ear, they form a good covering for bees, 
l They must not be allowed to get rotten, but as long as most 
) cottagers use straw hives, they (the hackles), will always be in 
I use, as the poor cannot afford to have wooden fancy hives. 
Bees Gathering Pollen. — One of your correspondents 
» mentions some Ligurian bees carrying pollen on the 27th January, 
i five days after the breaking up of the frost! These bees must 
it have had access to some greenhouse, a most dangerous trap for 
bees, as no flowers could possibly be in bloom so soon. I have 
]1 only seen the bee3 twice on the crocuses or Erica carnea, and 
5 that within the last week. The worst of greenhouses is, that 
bees frequently cannot find their way out, unless the windows 
are open ; hundreds of bee3 at this season are lost in large green¬ 
houses. My bees w r ere not on the croouses in my garden until 
the 16th and 17th February. I am pleased with the cheering 
account from the “ Renfrewshire Bee-keeper,” who seems to 
be located in some nice sheltered valley, as his bees were gather¬ 
ing pollen nearly a fortnight before mine. My present situation 
is exposed and very windy. 
Combs very Brittle after Frost. —On examining the 
combs belonging to the dead swarm of 1860 (June 18th), on 
touching them, not in the least roughly, they all broke off at the 
top excepting two. This I attribute to the severe frost; but as 
I have not for many years used cross-sticks in my hive, I began 
to think that there were good exceptions to the latter-named 
rule. I agree with-the “Renfrewshire Bee-keeper” most 
fully, that in such a season as the last a little more warmth 
than the mere covering of the milk-pan is necessary. The pan 
must not be looked on by me as infallible any longer. 
“ ‘ Par’ curat oves, sed non apes— interdum.” * 
—H. W. Newman, Hillside, Cheltenham. 
General Mortality among Bees.— Nearly all the 
bees in the soutli of England have died this year. A person in 
the New Forest who had one hundred and forty hives has lost 
every bee .—(Local Paper.) 
* “ Pan ” (the god) takes care of the sheep, but not the bees—sometimes. 
