6U 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICtrLTTJKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ December 29, 186S. 



Loew, in which the elaborate and intricate markings of the 

 wings of these insects were represented of a gigantic size. 



The President gave an account of an examination made 

 since the last meeting of the nest of the small Honey Bee 

 of New Holland, obtained from Queensland by Mr. Wood- 

 bui-y, and now belonging to the British Museum. On re- 

 moving the side of the box in which the nest was built, not 

 fewer than four or five hundred dead working Bees were 

 found. The cells were of an hexagonal form, built into 

 regular combs, and, like those of the common Wasp, with 

 the mouths of the cells downwards. This peculiai-ity of 

 position, unlike that of the colls of our common hive Bee, 

 was connected with the facts that the cells served only as 

 cradles for the brood, and that the honey was stored in oval 

 cups, or honey-pots, of which there were as many as two 

 hundred and fifty at the foot of the nest, as in our British 

 Humble Bees. Some account was given of the nests of other 

 species of Melipona; and Trigona?, from the writings of 

 Guerin-Mt'neville, and Gosse. The material of which the 

 cells and combs were constructed did not appear to be wax, 

 but rather a resinous kind of gum, which, according to Mr. 

 Woodbury, ignites instead of melts, as is the ease with com- 

 mon wax. 



Mr. Wilson, of Adelaide, South Australia, sent some spe- 

 cimens, accompanied with notes on the habits, of the larva 

 ajid perfect state of Calosoma C'urtisii, one of the most 

 beautiful species of the genus, which, unlike our northern 

 species, which are found in Oak trees, was generally met 

 with under cowdung. 



Mr. McLachlan read some notes of the type specimens of 

 the species of Phrygneidas, described by Fabricius, contained 

 in the collection of Sir Josejih Banks, now forming jjart 

 of the British Museum. 



WHICH IS THE BEST WAY OF HEATING 

 BEDS BY HOT-WATEE PIPES? 



I THINK this subject wiU be the better of a little 

 ventilation ; and, therefore, by your permission, I will place 

 it before yoiu- readers, in the hope that some of your 

 practical friends will answer the above question, and give 

 the result of their experience in your pages. 



We ai-e all aware that the use of hot-water pipes is 

 intended to dispense -with that of maniu-e or other de- 

 composing suljstances, the object being to raise the tem- 

 perature of the soil sirffieiently to induce seeds to germinate, 

 and to encourage the growth of plants at unnatural seasons. 

 Now what is the best position for the pipes to be placed in 

 connection with the bed which they are intended to heat ? 

 How should they be placed so that they may impai't the 

 greatest, and at the same time the most equable tem- 

 perature to the soil of the beds ? 



Tlie following are the modes generally used by gardeners : 

 Fu'st A. This appears the most general. 



® 



1 and 1 arc walls, between which is constructed a chamber 

 2, having two hot-water pipes 3. 3, which pass through it 

 without touching top, bottom, or sides; but are intended 

 to heat the cliamber sufficiently to impart warmth to the 

 bed 4, which rests upon the flag or slate flooring above the 

 pipes. This method has always appeared to me objection- 

 able because tliere is a great waste of power. A great 

 amount of heat must be expended on the side walls and 

 vacant space in the chamber. The idea is, that as heat will 

 rise it must pass through the bed. I grant that ; but I 



fancy that but little remains to rise after the work it has 

 first to do below. 



The next method is b, in which 1 1 are the walls, and it 

 may be considered better than A, inasuuich as the action 

 is more du-ect, but yet liable to a certain consumption of 

 heat by the surrounding ail-. 



c is a nearer approach to direct communication betweea 

 the pipes and the soil ; but a medium in the shape of a bed 

 of broken stones or bricks still stands Ijetween them ; and 

 it appears to me that they will absorb a considerable pvo- 

 portion of the heat before they will jjermit any to pass 

 without paying a heavy toU. It may be said that the 

 broken bricks or stones act as drainage for the bed above 

 them ; but if this is so, I question whether they would not 

 be more properly placed Ijelow the pipes, for in that posi- 

 tion they would have a tendeuC3- to draw the roots of the 

 plants above to that jjart of the bed, wliich, being nearest 

 the pipes, would be the warmest. I, therefore, raise the 

 question whether the best and proper place for the pipes is 

 not through the soil of the bed itself as shown in D. 



r^ 



Here in d we have direct action. Nothing but the soil 

 can absorb the warmth from the pipes. Nothing can retain 

 the imparted heat for so long a period as the heated soil, 

 and we dispense with the an'eney fee of any intervening 

 medium. Tliis appears to me to be the surest way of making 

 a hotbed : no one would ever think of heating a tank or 

 cistern by running the pipes through a chamber below it 

 instead of through it ; I may be told that it might injiu-e the 

 tender roots if they came in contact with the pipes. This 

 I venture to doubt, because in clearing out a bed recently, I 

 noticed that the roots of some plants had struggled to find 

 then- way to the warm pipes through a superincumbent mass 

 of rubbish. I have sufficient faith in nature to believe that 

 the roots wiU not willingly go into danger, and that like the 

 burnt child which ch-ea.ds tiie fii'e, they, if their feelers find 



