IRISH GARDENING 



79 



I 



The Insect Book. By W. Perieral Westell, F.L.S. 

 Illustrated with photographs by R. B. Imirson. Lon- 

 don : John Lane. Pp. 120. Price, 3s. net. — In this 

 attractive and excellently printed volume Mr. Westell 

 lias succeeded in giving much interesting information 

 about our common native insects in a small compass. 

 After an introductory chapter, in which life-history and 

 bionomics are much more prominent than structure, the 

 author deals with insect study as it may be pursued in 

 the garden, by the water-side, in the woodland, among 

 meadows and lanes, and in the dwelling-house. This 

 topographical treatment of the subject is well advised, 

 and the insect types likely to occur in each locality are 

 brightly described. The chapter on garden insects 

 contains notes on green-fly or aphids, and the predaceous 

 insects that keep them in check. For an elementary 

 lesson on the living' creatures that he turns up in his 

 daily work the gardener could not do better than turn 

 to this chapter. A special word of praise is due to the 

 photographs, which are excellent and well repro- 

 duced.— G. H. C. 



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Bee-keeping. 



By T. MAGUIRE, The Orchard, Enniskillen. 



F not already done, spring' cleaning' should be 

 attended to at once. In last month's issue, by a 

 compositor's error, the opening- paragraph on bee- 

 keeping read as if spring cleaning were intended merely 

 for the purpose of uniting weak stocks, which, ofcoiirse, 

 would be absurd Every hive should be carefully 

 washed and scraped, free of propolis, both the strong 

 and the weak, and the bees will work with renewed 

 vigour afterwards besides living' under more healthy 

 conditions. 



May is probably the most critical month in the bee- 

 keeper's calendar. Unless the weather be fine, feeding' 

 must be regular and liberal. Tlie stock, growing in 

 stT'englh, require an increased amount c">f food ; the 

 quantity consumed by a full-sized colony is surprising. 

 Some people last year, when they saw their stock unusually 

 strong, relraiiied from feeding in the bad weather, and 

 were surprised afterwjirds to find that the larger stocks 

 had suffered most severely. This, however, is alwa}'s 

 what happens in such cases. The stronger the colony, 

 the more feeding it will require, if there is no honey flow. 

 Liberal feeding in May will pay for itself many times over. 



Strong stocks will soon become pressed for room, and 

 will swarm unless allowed ample space. As soon as the 

 entire frames are crowded with bees, supers should be 

 prepared. As a rule, the proper time to put on a super 

 is when the bees have begun to draw out the tops of the 

 combs with new white wax to provide additional storage. 

 Other signs are, that honey is coming in in quantil\- at 

 the same time, and it is necessary that the weather be 

 sufficiently warm to avoid danger of chill from the 

 increased space provided. In the case of an excessively 

 strong colony, it may be necessary to super before the 

 flow comes merely to prevent swarming. It is a great 

 mistake, however, to put in supers before the stocks are 

 strong enough, as the increased space may chill the 

 hive so much as to stop breeding in case the weather 

 turns cold. 



If a stock has built queen cells in anticipation of 

 sw'arming, advantage may be taken to rear a young 

 queen without splitting up the stock into nuclei. This 

 can easily be done by moving the frame containing the 

 best queen cell behind the dummy, w'ith two other frames : 

 one of brood and one of honey. A small entrance 

 and flight board must be provided at the back. The 

 frames can be replaced by sheets of foundation in front, 

 as space allows (hives taking thirteen frames are best 

 for this operation), and care must be taken that the queen 



is left in front. If a strip of excluder is placed on the three 

 frames at the back, that portion of the stock can be 

 allowed to work in the supers w^ith perfect suc- 

 cess, and a young queen will be duly raised and 

 mated. The process was fully described in last June 

 number of Irish Gardening, and is for amateurs 

 probably the simplest and most convenient method of 

 queen raising. 



Swarming: time is the best period to g'et rid of foul 

 brood. The diseased stock should be worked up to 

 swarming- point and an artificial swarm made, hiving' the 

 bees in an empty box on the old stand forforty-eig-ht hours, 

 or seventy-two hours if the weather be cold ; at the end of 

 that time the swarm having used up all the diseased honey 

 it carried can be put into a proper hive with full sheets of 

 foundation, feeding with medicated syrup until established. 

 The hive containing the old combs should be moved to 

 another stand. After twenty-one days all the young bees 

 in it will have hatched out, and a young queen probably 

 will be in possession. This stock can then be shaken out 

 into a box for forty-eight hours, and after that hived on 

 sheets of fbiuidation like the first swarm. 



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Window Boxes. 



Towards the end of this month the window boxes for 

 summer display will need attention, and h. few hints, 

 especially to town dwellers, may be useful. 



To those who have never started window gardening, 

 we would advise that they begin straight awa\'. The 

 expense is not g'reat and the trouble is trifling. The 

 pleasure w-hich results from it well repays both. It is 

 an easy matter to get or make the boxes, and paint 

 them a dark green. Care should be taken to secure 

 them well to the wall to avoid any disaster. The best soil 

 to fill them with is one made of turfy loam mixed with 

 well decayed farmyard manure. The mixture should be 

 lightened by a little sand. 



The boxes must have holes at the bottom, and before 

 putting- in the soil these holes must be covered with 

 crock (pieces of broken flowerpots) to prevent the holes 

 being stopped up. Fill the boxes to a short distance 

 from the top. 



You can now plant whatever your fancy or melius 

 direct, having an eje to the colour scheme and the 

 var\-ing heights of the plants you ma}- decide to use. 

 The following may be sug-gested : — 



1. An old and very common one — perhaps the com- 

 monest in towns, but certainly effective — white Mar- 

 guerites at the back, scarlet geraniums towards the 

 centre and blue lobelia to the front. 



2. Carnations — Plants to be well staked at the back. 

 Care must be taken not to show the stakes. The plants to 

 the front should be left free so that they fall over the 

 front side of the box. This can be done in various 

 colour schemes with great effect. 



3. The one I myself intend to follow this month in 

 windows facing- south is a one-colour scheme. Scarlet 

 begonias with an edging of scarlet Tom Thumb Nastur- 

 tiuni to fall over front face of box. — E. A. 



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SEAKAi.t;. — If you wish to force these plants into 

 early use in the open ground it is necessary to give them 

 artificial heat by covering the crowns in autumn with 

 pots or boxes and heaping over them a mixture of leaves 

 litter and manure. About Jainiary a further layer of 

 hot manure is added, when from four to six weeks after 

 "sticks" should be ready for cutting. After cutting 

 they may be'ag-ain covered with leaves, &c. , until they 

 again start growth. A little manure may be forked 

 round the plants. Do not allov/ them to flower. The 

 process may be repeated for several years. — Answer io 

 " Glin." 



