180 Swarming of Bees. 



rainy weather, when they are always put on ; as, above all things, 

 a drop of rain is never allowed to fall upon the pots, for several 

 reasons. The first of these is, because rain is often very heavy, - 

 and washes the seed out of the pots ; secondly, the rain is often 

 too little, and only moistens the surface ; and, thirdly, after the 

 1st of October, rain is too cold, and chills the plants. I water the 

 plants with a very fine rose, and always twice over, but never until 

 they are upon the point of flagging ; and, after the 1st of Oc- 

 tober, I either warm the water, or use it out of the stove. I 

 remove the mignonette to the front of the green-house, about the 

 1st of November, for fear of damps. If a succession is wanted, 

 I cut down as many as may be necessary, about the middle of 

 December ; and these will make a better blooming and thicker 

 pot of mignonette, than a second sowing, and will save trouble. 

 In thining, I leave only six or seven plants in each pot ; five of 

 them about 1 in. from the rim, and one or two in the centre. 

 In order to show gardeners how wrong it is to let rain fall upon 

 their frame plants during winter, I had two pots of mignonette 

 put on the bare flue of an empty pit in November, giving them 

 no water and no covering; and, upon the 1st of February, 

 brought them into the green-house; and now (Feb. 5.) they are 

 looking well. This speaks volumes : if mignonette will stand 

 S0° of frost, merely because it is kept dry, what will cauliflowers, 

 lettuce, radishes, &c., not stand ? The above may appear a 

 simple story to many; but I am obliged to be more parti- 

 cular with winter mignonette in pots, than with the finest stove 

 plant. 



Dyrham Park Gaj-dens, Feb. 6. 



Art. VI. On the Swarming of Bees. By John Wighton, Gar- 

 dener to Lord Stafford, Cossey Hall Gardens, Norfolk. 



Much has been said and written, of late years, on the means 

 of preventing the swarming of bees ; but all the various plans 

 suggested have, I believe, proved ineffectual. I have had the 

 care of bees, on what is termed the " humane system," for eight 

 years ; but all my experiments to prevent their swarming have 

 failed. Want of room, and great heat in the hive, are held 

 by some to be the causes of swarming. Mi\ Nutt of Lincoln- 

 shire attempted to obviate these causes, by boxes of a peculiar 

 construction, provided with tubes of tin, made movable for the 

 purpose of ventilation. Mine are boxes of his making : but I 

 never could prevent the bees from swarming, by allowing them 

 plenty of room. Ventilation is not easily accomplished ; for the 

 bees are sure to seal up the smallest aperture. 



