.Tnnunrj 1, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL Of MORTIOULTORE kWo OOl'tACJE GAEDENIEB. 



Eeturning to the subject of tho early history of a colony. 

 After the mother bee ha?, sometimes in a careless manner, 

 formed several cells, and fed the young larv.T assiduously, after 

 thoy h,<ive emerged, with honey and pollen until mature, she 

 assists tho young bees that are first ready to leave the pupa- 

 case to free themselves from tho envelope ; and these lend 

 their help to their brethren less forward. The neuters or 

 workers that have thus emerged, though they construct new 

 walls and cells, and also feed and nurture other brood, have 

 an unfortunate fancy for eating the eggs — so it is asserted — 

 which necessitates watchfulness on the part of tho mother bee. 

 The larva; of humble bees are grub-like in appearance, white 

 and plump, and of course quite unable to provide food for 

 themselves ; and it has been noticed that the males and 

 females have a singular plan of helping-on the development of 

 the pupa) by incubating the cocoons in which they are enclosed, 

 and the elevation of temperature in that part of the nest is 

 marked, according to Newport. The bees at first are soft, and 

 the down so moist that they cauuot fly ; in the course of two 

 or three days they are ready to leave the nest. 



Fi^. 2. — C lid fioni a Hudi'oIc Bee's Nest.'' 



The number of occupants of a nest {fi;/. 2) varies. Perhaps 

 the first brood of neuters may count forty or fifty. As many 

 as three hundred have been supposed sometimes to be in one 

 of these towards the close of a season. Mr. Smith found in 

 August, in one instance, 107 males, 6G females, and 180 workers. 

 A little difficulty in ascertaining is caused by the erratic habits 

 of some, who are given to the dissipated practice of stopping 

 out all night, reposing among the summer flowers. In the 

 autumn the males are the first to die-off, the neuters and the 

 bulk of the females following. It should be observed that in 

 some of their cells these bees store-up pollen and honey, the 

 cells being differently formed to the larval cells. 



Humble bees, like others of their brethren, have many para- 

 sites, some rather singular — not to speak of their personal enemy, 

 a species of Acarus, vidgo mite, which attaches itself persistently 

 to the plumage of the majority of them. What has been de- 

 signated the Bastard Humble Bee (Apathus vestalis), dwells 

 in the communities of the true humble bee, thriving there, 

 seemingly without toiling for its subsistence. The insects 

 nearly resemble each other, but the false humble bees have no 

 neuters or workers. A species of solitary ant is one of the 

 strange visitors iu the humble bees' nests, the larvK devouriug 

 that of the bee ; yet it is allowed by the rightful owners to 

 attain its full growth. A quadruped also, tho field mouse, is 

 a diligent destroyer of the combs and nests of humble bees, 

 and a modern naturalist asserts that it checks the multipli- 

 cation of the bees more than all other foes. — J. E. S. C. 



CINERARIA CULTURE. 



This old and famihar friend is a general favourite, and wel- 

 comed alike by rich and poor, as it appears in early spring in 

 groat variety of colour when flowers are rather scarce. It is 

 very useful for decorating conservatories, greenhouses, and 

 cottage windows, and when well grown yields a great quantity 

 of cut flowers. Like most other things it is easily gro'wn when 

 people know how to do it. 



March, April, and June are the mouths in which the Cine- 

 raria naturally flowers, but by sowing seed at various times it 

 may be had in bloom from the middle of August tiU the May 

 of the following year. It hkes a rich soil, firm potting, and 

 plenty of pot room. In about two pai-ts rotten sods and one 

 part rotten dung, well mixed and broken, it grows fast and 

 strong, and flowers abundantly. When leaf soil is used in the 



mixture, or instead of dung, the plants grow too " leggy," losing 

 their compact and beautiful form. 



Lot us at once notice the simple mode of propagating and 

 growing the Cineraria. When tho plants are done flowering, 

 say in May, they should be cut-down level with the soil iu the 

 pots, and planted-out in a rich shaded corner of the garden, 

 where they should be allowed to grow or ppring-up like her- 

 baceous plants. About .July they will be ready to be propa- 

 gated by slips, a great number of which may be taken from 

 each stool or plant. A few rootlets may be seen growing from 

 each slip. When tho young roots are about the size of cat's 

 teeth the slips should be taken off, potted singly in small pots, 

 and placed iu a shaded frame. I say singly, for if two or more 

 off-shoots are potted together they seldom do well, but if potted 

 singly they will soon fill their small pots and require larger 

 ones. Let them have shifts into .5-inch and 7-incli pots as 

 soon as needful ; and about tho end of September let them 

 have their final shift into their flowering pots. It grown in a 

 span-roofed house they should be placed near the glass on the 

 north side of it, for Cinerarias do not thrive so well under the 

 direct rays of the suu. Plants thus treated, and fairly dealt 

 with in other respects, will be respectable specimens of good 

 culture, commanding the attention of all who come near them. 



Now for seedling Cinerarias : I have generally for out-door 

 display sown seed at the beginning of February, and treated 

 the seedlings like some kinds of bedding plants, for instance 

 Lobelias ; and I have frequently used Cinerarias and her- 

 baceous Calceolarias as bedding plants. A bed of Cinerarias 

 looks well for a short time, but unfortunately flowers of this 

 plant out of doors run to seed very soon. 



For autumn and winter-flowering plants I sow seed at the 

 beginning of May, and grow the plants out of doors on the 

 north side of a hedge or wall during the summer months. — 

 A. Petiigeew. 



THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



What is to be tlie upshot of all the agitation that is going 

 on in the horticultural world, or rather amongst those con- 

 nected with the Royal Horticultural Society? — a question that 

 must be occurring to many besides myself, and one that re- 

 quires careful consideration. 



If we are to believe what report says, tho Society is in a 

 complication of difficulties of long standing, and there are 

 evidently a variety of schemes afloat for setting it to rights, 

 but without either unanimity of purpose or action. In fact, it 

 would appear that there are a number of cliques, each agitat- 

 ing on its own account for something, and as regards several 

 of them, it is by no means apparent what that something is. 

 We are weekly made aware of the existence of Mr. G. F. 

 Wilson's clique, proposing the reduction of the Fellows' sub-, 

 scription to a guinea as a certain restorative, also, I believe, 

 advocating removal from South Kensington ; but Mr. Wilson 

 does not state where ho would take the Society to. According 

 to Mr. Wilson's statement there is a clique of " competent 

 horticulturists iu London engaged in the work of reconstruc- 

 tion." Eeconstruction of what ? for I am not aware that any 

 London society has as yet actually fallen to pieces, therefore 

 what does this reconstruction mean '? Perhaps this clique 

 meditates turning the present Council out in February, and 

 the reconstruction means putting themselves in their places. 

 If so, it would be well to know who these " competent horti- 

 culturists " are, and what their subsequent policy would be. 



Then there is the vote-by-proxy clique, who, I believe, have 

 requested the Council to summon a meeting of the Fellows. 

 To do what ? Why, " to make a bye-law to give the power of 

 voting by proxy." Now, if I read the charter aright, the 

 Fellows do not possess the power of making a bye-law at all; 

 consequently the meeting will be a futile one, independent of 

 the fact of a similar proposal havmg already been negatived 

 once this year. 



A clique of horticulturists which existed a short time since, 

 called the " Horticultural Defence Committee," took upon 

 themselves (iu conjunction with another clique I believe) to go 

 as a deputation to Her Majesty's Commissioners, at least so 

 the Defence Committee's report stated ; but query, did they 

 not merely go to Her Majesty's Commissioners' oflice ? How- 

 ever, be this as it may, what did they go to do ? Nothing but 

 mischief, for they possessed no power to make arrangements 

 with Her Majesty's Commissioners, even if they met them ; 

 nor had they any authority from anyone to attempt to do so. 

 In fact this movement on their part looked to me very like the 



