110 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Mat 15, 1860. 
The Pigeons were a good class of many kinds; and so were 
the Babbits. In all 152 pens were exhibited, and most of them 
second to none in quality. 
A PECULIAR VARIETY OF THE HONEY BEE. 
Nothing is more puzzling and perplexing to the ordinary 
student of Nature, and often even to the scientific inquirer and 
renowned naturalist, than to account for the origin of the different 
species and variety of animal and vegetable life which now obtain 
throughout the world. Man himself, the highest in the scale of 
existence, has been subjected, apparently, to the same natural 
laws and influences which in all have produced such marked 
changes and characteristic differences. 
It is not my intention to enter into any discussion of these 
laws and influences, and to say how much may be ascribed to 
climate, food, education, cultivation, &c.; but this we all know, 
that Nature delights in variety, and sports in eccentricities. 
It has, accordingly, often occurred to me as a strange circum¬ 
stance that in this country we should only have one species of 
honey bee; and that in all Europe only two species are met with 
—viz., the Apis mellijica, which is cultivated in the British 
Islands, and which has extended itself over the greater part of 
the European continent, and the Apis Ligustiea , or Ligurian 
bee, which is cultivated with success in Italy. In all places where 
the Apis mellijica is cultivated—whether in this country or 
among the extensive wastes and prairies of North America, whore 
it has been successfully naturalised, it appears to preserve its 
complete identity, and to suffer no change in its physical cha¬ 
racters. A new variety, however, I think, has at last been dis¬ 
covered, and it has fallen to my lot to announce the fact, which 
is the object of the present communication. This variety is dis¬ 
tinguished by a peculiar grey or light colour; and the stock, 
which I obtained in 1857, is the only instance 1 have known 
where the difference in the appearances of the bee assumes a 
decided characteristic. Of its antecedents, unfortunately, I know 
nothing, and am unable to trace its history beyond the period of 
its coming into my possession. 
In the autumn of that year (1857), I had a colony of bees 
from a cottager a few miles distant from Edinburgh, which he 
dislodged from a hive previously to depriving it of its stores. I 
put this colony into a Huber leaf-hive, which had perished during 
the early spring. I at once noticed a peculiarity in the bee, 
which consists chiefly, as I have said, in the colour. The hairs 
covering both the worker and the queen being much more profuse 
and light-coloured than in. the ordinary bee, especially those 
which cover the head and thorax. The queen, moreover, is large, 
the characteristics before stated being more decidedly conspicuous 
in her case ; while the amount of golden colour which generally 
distinguishes the sovereign bee, is also more marked and brilliant. 
I raised artificial queens from this stock, and find that the 
distinction in the offspring is kept up and sufficiently marked to 
be easily identified. To a common observer the bee may not, at 
first sight, appear so very distinctive in its character ; but so 
well do I know it, that I can even identify it in the field and 
among a crowd of other bees. 
I am not to attempt a solution as to the cause of this phe¬ 
nomenon, whether it originated in a freak of Nature, or, more 
probably, from a different species of bee having been imported at 
some distant day, which, by subsequent amalgamation or inter¬ 
course with the ordinary variety, may have become so far dete¬ 
riorated and altered in its character as to bear that mongrel 
appearance which it now exhibits. 
To the naturalist, whose researches have been directed to the 
instinct and economy of the bee, the communication now made 
must necessarily be fraught with interest; and I conceive that 
the phenomenon, for the first time exhibited, of a peculiar variety : 
of the Apis mellijica is so important as to induce me to give it ! 
publicity in the columns of The Cottage Gardener, both for ; 
the information of apiarians and the lovers of natural science.— 
J. Lowe, Edinburgh. 
COMB-BARS IN HIVES. 
I WAS pleased, in your publication of the 1st inst., to observe 
that your correspondent “A Devonshire Bee-keeper,” had 
turned his attention to the subject of an improved comb-bar ; for 
having frequently witnessed the strange vagaries of the bees in 
laying the foundations of a comb, I had been led to think that 
we have not yet acquired a knowledge of its proper formation 
according to some defined rule, to be discovered only by experi¬ 
ment. At present it is mere accident whether the comb is or is 
not placed in a central right line upon the bar; for both the 
guide and a line of wax are often set at defiance. Hitherto the 
form of the bar has been a flat surface, usually one inch and one- 
eighth wide, and half an inch thick. The “ Devonshire Bee¬ 
keeper ” proposes a deviation by cutting the underneath side of 
the bar, so as partly to resemble in form the letter T. Allow 
me to suggest to bun the desirableness of trying other variations 
of pattern; for, as he observes, an angular edge appears to be 
liked as a foundation rather than a plane. Having arrived at 
this knowledge, why not find out the proper angle, and the mode 
of forming the bar accordingly ? Suppose, then, we cut the 
underneath side of the bar variously as to pattern, allowing the 
bees to make their choice; and I submit the following forms, in 
addition to that proposed by your correspondent; the bar on the 
upper side remaining as usual, but in thickness, perhaps, it would 
be well to increase it a trifle. Now there would be no difficulty 
in trying more than one variety of pattern in the same hive; and 
if wax is thought essential, it should be confined to the central 
portion of the bar. Guide-combs, of course, would be undesirable 
in making the experiment; and I am inclined to the opinion that 
the proper angle once discovered, no other guidance would be 
needed, and much trouble avoided. There need be little pains 
bestowed in good workmanship, as the bees prefer a rough surface 
to a smooth one in attaching their combs.—T. 
SUBSTITUTES FOR POLLEN. 
Your corx-espondent “A. T.,” at page 94, confirms the uni¬ 
versal complaint that the present spring, from its extreme back¬ 
wardness, has not allowed the means of collecting pollen by the 
bees at the very time when a supply is essential to their welfare. 
A reference to two communications from me in your publications 
of 6th and 13th March will show a recommendation to provide a 
substitute for pollen, which has been found to answer in Germany 
and elsewhere by placing within, or near, an apiary a portion of 
the flour of rye or wheat. So far as all the experiments that have 
recently come within my own knowledge extend, this practice has 
been attended with success, the bees gladly availing themselves of 
it, no doubt for feeding the young. It would confer a public 
benefit if such of your correspondents as have adopted the plan 
would state the result.— An Old Apiarian. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Poultry for a Small Space {A Town Poultry Fancier).— It you 
require them chiefly for eggs, none will suit you better than the Golden 
Iiamburghs, either Spangled or Pencilled. 
Powteus Crushing their Young (F. T. TT.).—Powters which kill their 
young ones by sitting too heavily on them, should have their eggs reared 
by other and better nurses. They may have a pair of eggs to sit on, and 
at the seventeenth day should he provided with a young one about a week 
old to feed off their soft meat, from which cause they are now, probably, 
suffering. I am not able to state a remedy, but think a tea-spoonful of 
castor oil might be beneficial. I usually administer it bv means of a large 
quill, which I fill by sucking out the air, and then putting the end down 
the Pigeon’s throat blow out the oil.—B. P. B. 
Damage by Sewage Contractors (A Young Apiarian ).—We presume 
that the contractors entered your garden to lay the main drain under the 
provision of some Act of Parliament, and, if so, that Act will contain 
clauses showing how, and under what circumstances, you can claim 
compensation. You had better consult some legal friend upon the point. 
If you can prove damage, we have no doubt you have a remedy. 
LONDON MARKETS.— May 14 . 
POULTRY. 
There is still a dearth of good poultry ; and although the demand is not 
great, yet prices are not only maintained, but in some instances have rather 
advanced. 
Each— s. d. s. d. 
Large Fowls. 7 0 to 8 0 
Smaller Fowls. 5 0 „ 6 C 
Chickens . 4 0 „ 5 0 
Geese. 0 0 ,, 0 0 
Goslings . 6 0 „ 6 6 
Ducks . 0 0 „ 0 0 
Ducklings. 3 C ,, 4 0 
Each— s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
Turkeys. 
0 
to 
0 
0 
Guinea Fowls 
. 3 
0 
3 
6 
Pigeons . 
8 
0 
9 
Haros. 
0 
0 
0 
Leverets. 
6 
4 
0 
llabbits . 
4 
1 
5 
Wild ditto. 
8 
Jt 
0 
9 
