March 5, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
201 
again during the season. Care and judgment are needed in this opera¬ 
tion, for some Ferns are weak growers, and large pots would prove detri¬ 
mental. Strong-growing and free-rooting species may with safety he 
given liberal root space. Further, some are inclined to root deeper into 
their pots than others, and thu3 require less drainage. Others are merely 
surface-rooting, and to do them well they require to have the pots in 
which they are placed more than half full of drainage. For these varie¬ 
ties shallow pans are decidedly preferable, but each cultivator must in 
this matter be guided by the nature and condition of the plants. When 
Ferns are to be grown on it is a mistake to disturb and injure their roots 
by trying to pick out some of the old soil from amongst them ; the 
drainage only need be removed and the roots injured as little as possible. 
Davallias, and such Ferns that require potting but do not need larger 
pot*, may have portions removed from the outer edge, which will 
allow of fresh compost being added. The creeping rhizomes will soon 
reach the sides of the pots again and the plant be as large as ever. 
Adiantums and similar plants may have a good portion cut off them, or 
the roots split in two and potted in the same size pot. The plants will 
grow much more luxuriantly afterwards than if the ball was reduced and 
the roots seriously mutilated in order to place the plant again in the same 
pot. All Ferns that can be divided where an increase of the stock is 
needed may now be done with safety. These plants do well in a compost 
of fibry loam and peat with a liberal dash of sand and a little charcoal 
added. For strong-growing kinds a greater per-centage of loam may be 
used, and the reverse for those of weak delicate growth. The night tem¬ 
perature should now range about 60°. 
Ferns for Gutting .—Those that have been grown cool and the majority 
of the fronds used may now be trimmed, repotted, and placed in heat. 
Pots 5 or 6 inches in diameter are the most suitable size, and if the roots 
have filled the pots the plants can be divided and again potted in the 
sizes named. One of the best systems of growing Adiantums and Daval¬ 
lias for supplying fronds for cutting is to place a good number of plants 
in wire baskets 8 inches in diameter. It is often difficult to find stage 
room for as many Ferns as are required for this purpose, but when grown 
in baskets they can be suspended at the back of vineries, or in any posi¬ 
tion where shade from bright sunshine and free ventilation can be given. 
This is the best of all plans by which a bountiful supply of fronds can be 
produced with a minimum of labour and trouble. Adiantum Pacotti is 
an admirable variety for supplying fronds for buttonhole bouquets, and 
should be grown where Ferns are in demand for this purpose. The plants 
started some time ago should be grown without shade for the pr t sent, 
and as cool as possible to harden the fronds. 
Selaginellas .—Those grown in pans as specimens may be top-dressed 
or placed in fresh pans, as they will be likely otherwise to become bare 
and unsightly before the season is far advanced. To retain many of the 
denser forms in good condition they must be divided annually, while 
others should have a quantity of light soil worked in amongst them, so 
that they can start again and root freely upon the surface of the pans in 
which they are grown. This is a good plan with such as are employed 
for covering the ground amongst other Ferns planted out in rockwork, 
and saves the labour of replanting. Those that are divided must be 
shaded from strong sun until they are again established. They will soon 
commence root-action if damped with the syringe about twice daily. 
NOTES ON BEES. 
Before February 19th we had ten days of frost, the temperature 
sinking to 20°, but the wind then veered to the west. The bees felt 
the change, and were alert seeking for flowers, which are late and 
still unfolded. If it keeps mild the peameal will be taken advantage 
of, as already I observe some bees approaching the cylinder contain¬ 
ing it. On the 1st of the month I observed young bees, which 
proved, as I anticipated, that the queen had commenced laying soon 
after the shortest day. Quiet during winter is one of the best points 
for the preservation of bees, and this quality is to be found in a high 
degree in the Carniolians. For four months several hives of these 
bees have remained quiet and never attempted to fly. Some would 
say they are hybernating, but this is not so, as during the coldest days 
of winter I observed them through the feeder in motion ; besides, when 
the thermometer sank to 4° below zero during the severe winters, the 
colder it became the louder the hum. It is only when the atmosphere 
of the hive becomes damp that bees suffer from cold, provided there 
is no draught. If a hive is protected from rain and the crown well 
covered with meadow hay or sphagnum, it will endure the severest 
winter experienced in this country. If the atmosphere of the hive is 
kept dry the bees will keep up sufficient heat to protect them from 
the severest frost. If, however, it become sufficiently damp to lower 
the temperature and affect the bees, preventing them exercising their 
proper functions, then perspiration to a great extent ceases, and either 
disease or death ends their career. 
All my hives being fitted with ventilating floors I do not require 
to clean them, but wherever solid floors are in use these should be 
cleaned now, and at intervals of about every two or three weeks until 
May. Heaps of woollen cloths on hives hold much damp, and should 
be removed and thoroughly dried, the process not only insuring health 
and comfort to the bees, but destroys eggs of moths. Long meadow 
hay is far superior to woollen for covering hives, as it carries off the 
damp caused by the perspiration of the bees. 
Queen wasps will in a short time be making their appearance, and 
as last autumn was very favourable for their increase and fertilisation, 
they are likely to be both numerous and capable of starting a new 
colony. The best way to keep wasps in check is to destroy them in 
spring ; the queens then are as easily caught as the workers are in 
summer. A bottle with buttermilk or beer will attract them, and a 
few empty hives or inverted barrels or boxes are great inducements 
to them. Last autumn I had some plants of Figwort, which lasted 
in flower a long time. Not a bee frequented these till near the last, 
but the wasps were never absent from sunrise till sunset. It occurred 
to me at the time, where gardeners are plagued with these making 
havoc amongst their fruit, would it not be a good plan to cultivate 
these Figworts at some point furthest from the fruit ? The wasps 
appeared so fond of these that they never attempted to attack either 
fruit or hives. For many years previous to last season wasps were 
not seen, but in all likelihood we shall have them plentiful enough 
now. 
PREPARING- OUR HIYE3 FOR SWARMING. 
My chief object now is to forward all my hives so as to be teem¬ 
ing with brood and with bees by the end of May. Those hives with 
good stores and bees will do this better than by any art of the bee¬ 
keeper ; but those not so well supplied must be attended to at once. 
With such I will give 8 or 10 lbs. of sugar as quickly as they will 
take it, for the following reasons. Hives with a paucity of bees and 
little meat when they begin to breed will not leave their brood to feed, 
and if the weather becomes chilly are sure to die. They will take 
food now more readily, and more brood will be put in than if fed 
under the stimulative system, and the bees become more restful. 
With weak hive3 care should be taken to keep the hive warm, and 
not expose it by opening at any time, while the doorway should be 
well contracted. By this glut of feeding the bees seal more brood 
than if given in small quantities, the bees are preserved, and after the 
first month increase more rapidly. 
Strong hives, if properly managed, never fill their breeding combs 
with honey so as to crowd out the queen, because they cannot. Weak 
hives are only liable to do this, and only inexperienced bee-keepers 
permit it. It is a good plan to have all swarms off two or three 
weeks before the great honey glut, and to have all non-swarming hives 
just beginning to overflow, when it appears then in both cases the 
bees will enter supers at once. Then as they advance add others, 
and when any become sealed remove them. Where supers are used 
there is little difficulty or labour in removing or adding to them. 
Sections are more difficult of management, but where the rack and 
crate are one they cause less trouble than when they are handled 
singly ; and where it is a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence 
the above plan will be found not only more expeditious but cheaper, 
as it requires neither separators nor glazing ; but cheaper and better 
still is the sectional super I previously explained. The regular and 
quick finishing of supers depends greatly upon the form of the hive. 
In a narrow hive with the bees crowded to its extremities they seal 
and fill more regularly and quickly than in those not crowded to the 
outsides. 
THE BATTLE OF THE HIVES. 
There is nothing in the bee world I am prouder of than that I 
shared in the discussion which continued so long in the columns of 
this Journal to prove what constituted the best hives. After much 
opposition many are gradually leaving their whimsical notions and 
adopting the tiering system. Even those who thought they had 
passed that system now say “ it is the most profitable as well as the 
most natural one.” Such cheering words give us hope that more of 
our plans will be adopted. 
EXTRACTING. 
I have failed as yet to see any evidence to support extracting as 
being superior in anything unless in the quantity, and I hold that 
quality is preferable to quantity in honey. Even on that point, how¬ 
ever, we want proofs that greater weight is obtained by the use of 
the extractor. So long as bees are judiciously managed and kept 
constantly at work night and day I think the difference will be very 
little. The quality of the honey is deficient, and many practise ex¬ 
tracting from combs that have been bred in, which taints honey, 
reducing the flavour sometimes so much as to disgust rather than 
invite the appetite. I have for many years discontinued taking honey 
from brood combs, selecting only those never bred in or from supers, 
and from those sealed only. As the extractor can only remove un¬ 
sealed or the thin kinds of honey it is of less value to the bee-keeper 
than if it did. An advocate of the extractor in a contemporary, 
while recounting his great success with it, cautioned his readers not 
