72 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN* Mat 3, 1859. 
upon oats and barley, &c.; but again, out of tbe thirteen eggs 
only two contain ducks, and the rest have all yollcs, but nothing 
like the embryo ducklings. What can be the cause ? The drake 
is a magnificent bird ; and they have a nice large pond in which 
they delight to swim. Can you assist me to discover the reason 
for this failure ?”—A Dtjck Fancier. 
[We have not the least doubt the unproductive eggs were 
chilled. It is fair to expect in every sitting some will prove 
bad—it always is the case; but where eggs are all laid by the 
same birds, it cannot be that only two out of thirteen should be 
fecund. You need not be discouraged, as the changeable 
weatber and severe frosts of the last three weeks give an easy 
explanation of any failure. When an egg is chilled, the white 
becomes clouded, and there is a trifling mixture of the yolk with 
it, which precludes any possibility of hatching.] 
BEE-KEEPING IN DEVON.—No. IX. 
TABLE OF WEIGHTS—DIMINUTION IN WINTER—EEEEOT OP POPU¬ 
LATION ON CONSUMPTION—SINGULAR CONSTRUCTION OP COMBS 
•—PROBABLE PLURALITY OP QUEENS—BEE-KEEPING WITHOUT 
BEEHIVES—SUCCESSPUL EXPERIMENT — COUNTING THE COST 
-—POLLEN NOT POOD POR ADULT BEES—NEW MODE OP SPRING 
FEEDING. 
In resuming my sketches of apiarian proceedings, I would 
repeat that I shall be happy to reply to any inquiries from the 
correspondents of The Cottage Gardener, and that the Editor 
is welcome to give my name and address to any gentleman who 
may be interested in Devonshire bee-keeping; whilst it may not 
be amiss to remind the readers of The Cottage Gardener that 
my apiary now consists of four stocks ; three of them being 
swarms of last year, and the fourth formed by uniting the driven 
populations of four straw hives. These I shall briefly describe, 
and designate.as before Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4. 
No. 1 (8-bar dividing hive) has a queen probably two years 
old, and the population was doubled last autumn. 
No. 2 (7-bar hive), age of queen uncertain—not doubled. 
No. 3 (8-bar hive), supposed to have an old queen—doubled 
population. 
No. 4 (7-bar hive) contains the expatriated inhabitants of four 
straw stocks. 
The following table gives the net weights in each case from the 
7th January to the present time :— 
No 
. 1 . 
No 
.2. 
No. 
3. 
No. 
4. 
jjate. 
lbs. 
ozs. 
lbs. 
ozs. 
lbs. 
ozs. 
lbs. 
ozs. 
Jan. 
7 
15 
10 
_IF 
2 
16 
6 
10 
14 
Feb, 
3 
14 
8 
13 
4 
15 
2 
9 
4 
22 
13 
14 
12 
12 
14 
8 
8 
14 
Mar. 
14 
13 
10 
12 
8 
13 
12 
9 
10 
24 
13 
8 
11 
2 
13 
0 
9 
8 
April -1 
15 
2 
12 
10 
15 
6 
12 
8 
>> 
21 
13 
0 
9 
14 
13 
8 
10 
4 
By reference to the tables of weights formerly given it may be 
seen that, from Oct. 2, when tbe autumnal feeding of No. 4 was 
concluded, to Eeb. 22, when spring feeding bad commenced, the 
loss of weight was as follows :—No. 1 lost 5 lbs. 14 ozs.; No. 2, 
5 lbs. 12 ozs.; No. 3, 6 lbs. 8 ozs.; and No. 4, 7 lbs. 2 ozs. It 
would appear, therefore, that whilst numbers have some effect in 
increasing consumption, that effect is not nearly so great as might 
be expected ; since No. 4, with a quadrupled population, only lost 
1 lb. 6 ozs. more than the single colony No. 2. It will also be 
perceived that all the hives'gained considerably in weight during 
the genial weather with which we were favoured at the commence¬ 
ment of this month (April) ; which increase has, however, pretty 
nearly disappeared during the late wet weather and cold winds. 
Mr. S. B. Eox, in his interesting “Apiarian Notes,” has 
alluded to the singular manner in which the bees commenced 
comb-building in No. 4, constructing nearly full combs at the 
sides of their box, but leaving only half combs in the centre. It 
appears not improbable that this peculiarity may have arisen 
from the existence of two queens; for, at any rate, some days 
after the operation of transferring had been completed, and the 
bees, having formed separate clusters round each sovereign, would 
seem to have begun two distinct sets of comb, which gradually 
approximated, and ultimately united in the centre of the box. 
Supposing this theory to be correct, tbe circumstance reminds ; 
me of a peculiar system of bee-keeping, which obtains in some 
parts of America, and which consists of appropriating an entire 
room to the bees, which build combs and form distant colonies in 
the same apartment without using either hives or boxes. I have 
- never been able to learn any authentic details of this mode of 
management, which is, I believe, quite unknown in England, and 
should be glad if any of the readers of The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener could enlighten me on the subject. 
The experiment of forming a colony of deprived bees, and 
keeping them alive during winter by a copious supply of arti¬ 
ficial food, has proved quite successful. Very few deaths have 
taken place, and comb-building having been resumed in March, 
the stock at this time presents much the appearance of a strong 
swarm, which, having furnished its hive with comb, is now waiting 
more genial weather to enable it to store a goodly quantity of 
honey. As I gave it 12 lbs. of lump sugar in the autumn, and 
2 lbs. more in the spring, flavoured in each case with a certain 
portion of honey, its cost may be set down as follows :— 
s. d. 
14 lbs. lump sugar, at 6d. 7 0 
Honey and barley sugar (say). 3 0 
Total . 10 0 
If to this be added the expense of my trips to the heath to 
procure the bees, and to look after them whilst there, it may be 
considered rather a costly stock; but as this expense would 
appear to have been in no wise necessary to the success of the 
experiment, I am content to leave it out of the calculation, and 
deem myself repaid by the enjoyment of the trips themselves, as 
well as the pleasure of relating my adventures in the pages of The 
! Cottage Gardener. 
The success of this experiment after the failure of repeated 
I attempts of a similar nature with fumigated bees, appears to me 
conclusive as to the superiority of “ driving ” over “ fumi¬ 
gation,” for transferring stocks. It also demonstrates the fact, 
that pollen does not form a portion of the food of adult bees, 
but that Gundlach is probably right in thinking that “ they 
only swallow it in order, by mixing it with honey and water, to 
prepare the liquid food for the grubs.” There is no doubt, how¬ 
ever, that bees do “ swallow ” pollen, and I had ocular demon¬ 
stration of this fact on the 10th of April, when I saw a bee 
on the alighting board of one of my hives eat the pollen from the 
thighs of another bee, which remained quite still whilst the load 
on one thigh was entirely cleared, and the other about half 
eaten. 
The feeding of bees in early spring is sometimes a troublesome 
business, from their unwillingness to ascend into a feeding-pan 
placed on the top, which has also the disadvantage of robbing 
the hive of a certain quantity of heat, which, at this time, can 
be but ill spared. I have for some years fed bees in spring by 
means of a glass syringe,—such as can be procured at any 
chemist’s for a shilling,—with which I have injected food into 
the hive itself through the opening in the top, which is momen¬ 
tarily uncovered to such an extent as just to admit the point of 
the syringe. This should only be done in the middle of a fine 
day, when the bees are active, and generally one syringeful per 
diem will be found sufficient. In order to meet possible objections, 
I may state, that, in practice, very few bees are soiled by the food 
in its passage between the combs to the floor-board (which 
should, of course, be a clean one), and that these few are speedily 
cleaned by their companions. Before adopting this method, I have 
j saved a hive in a desperate condition by inverting it, and pouring 
a pound of food between the combs as advised by Mr. Golding 
in his “ Shilling Bee Book.” 
By the means now recommended, I have, however, carried the 
most destitute hives through late springs on sugar and water 
only, with very little trouble, and no risk either to myself or the 
bees; and, therefore, recommend it to the attention of apiarians 
generally, as having been successfully used by— A Devonshire 
Bee-keepeb. 
OUK LETTER BOX. 
Cock Blind from Fighting. —“I have a very valuable Golden-pen¬ 
cilled Hamburgh cock, which, unfortunately, had a fight with another 
about three weeks ago, and since which time he has been totally blind, 
though there does not seem to be anything the matter with his eyes. He 
keeps them wide open, and nobody would think him blind unless told so. 
I applied to a ‘ cock doctor ’ in this town, who advised me to put a little 
powdered loaf sugar into his eye every morning. I followed that plan for a 
week, but I am sorry to say he is no better.”— James Nicholes, Jun. 
[There is evidently a pressure upon the brain affecting the optic nerve ; 
the result of blows or over-exertion in the fray. Bathe the head frequently 
with cold water ; bleed freely from one of the veins under the wing; give 
soft food only; give a dessert-spoonful of castor oil twice a-week, and 
keep the bird quite cool and quist, Oblige us by informing us of the 
result.] 
