January 13,1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
pipes. Damp the floors and other surfaces at about 8 a.m. and 2 P.M., 
repeating it if sharp firing be necessitated in the early part of the 
evening. 
Figs .—See that the fermenting materials in the bed are replenished 
from time to time as necessary to maintain the heat of the material 
about the pots steady at 70° to 75°. The forward trees being now 
in active growth will require abundant supplies of weak liquid 
manure of the same temperature as the bed—viz., 75°, and should 
have a top-dressing on the surface of the soil of well-decayed manure. 
The night temperature may range from 55° to 50°, and GO* to G5° in 
the daytime artificially, commencing ventilating from G5°, increasing 
it with the rising temperature to 75°, keeping it between that and 
80°, and close the house at 65° to 70°. Trees planted out intended to 
afford ripe fruit about the end of May must now be started, keeping 
the temperature at 50° at night, 55° by day from fire heat, aird from 
60° to 65° from sun heat, allowing a free circulation of air above G5°. 
Strawberries in Pots .—Another batch of plants should be intro¬ 
duced to a Peach house or vinery where no special structure is at 
command for the forcing of the fruit to succeed those which were 
introduced in December, which will now he well advanced for flower¬ 
ing, and it is important that aphides should be subdued before the 
flowers expand. Until flowering a temperature of 50° to 55° is most 
suitable, and with an advance of 5 Q to 10° from sun heat, accom¬ 
panied with a free circulation of air, which is essential to the vigour 
of the trusses and blooms. It is also essential that the house have 
free ventilation whilst the plants are in flower with the temperature 
above indicated, and the blossoms kept dry, assisting fertilisation by 
liberating the pollen with a feather or camel’s-hair brush. When the 
fruit is swelling the temperature should be G0° to 65° at night and 70° 
to 75° by day, with 5° to 10° more from sun heat, maintaining a moist 
atmosphere, and feeding with liquid manure, continuing this treat¬ 
ment until the fruits change colour, when a drier atmosphere and less 
supplies of water at the roots will be necessary to ensure good flavour. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
r As there is little of an attractive character in this department it is 
of the greatest importance that the walks and grass be kept in the 
best possible condition by frequent sweeping and rolling, having the 
beds and borders neat. Lawns or grass verges that have an uneven 
surface should be attended to at once, as nothing is so offensive to the 
eye as an uneven lawn. Any alteration involving the relaying of 
turf should be proceeded with in favourable weather. The surface 
of lawns that are mossy should be well raked and top-dressed next 
month with a mixture of lime, wood ashes, and soot, in about equal 
parts, applied at the rate of a peck per rod. Shrubbery and herba¬ 
ceous borders should now be dug over as deeply as the roots and 
plants will allow, affording a top-dressing of decomposed refuse or 
old potting soil. The stronger-growing herbaceous plants, such as 
Phloxes, will be benefited by a good dressing of manure, and Hemero- 
callis, Irises, &c., outgrowing the space allotted to them may be 
re-arranged or reduced. Where it is intended to grow Ricinuses, 
Wigandias, Solanums, and Cannas a good dressing of manure must 
be given, and the ground trenched ; also for Dahlias, Hollyhocks, and 
other plants that require a deep rich soil. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Orchids .—Dendrobiums that are showing flower should receive a 
moderate supply of water at their roots, and will require an increase 
of heat to enable the flowers to grow, along with all the light possible. 
Care must be taken not to excite the general stock of Dendrobiums, 
nevertheless the plants must not be allow to shrivel; the same re¬ 
marks applying to Cattleyas and the majority of the Mexican 
Orchids. Cypripediums will require a plentiful supply of water, 
alternating occasionally with a little weak liquid manure. Onci- 
diums and Odontoglossums will be coming into flower, and must be 
well supplied with water, otherwise the pseudobulbs will shrivel. 
Odontoglossums that are growing rapidly should have a good supply 
of water at the roots. Keep a sharp look-out for insects, especi¬ 
ally aphides, and promptly destroy them by fumigation. The 
temperature, from which no injury will result by a deviation of a 
few degrees, should be, for the Hast India house, G0° at night and 
G5° to 708 by day; Mexican house, 55° by night and G0° by day ; 
cool or Odontoglossum house, 45° to 48® at night and 50° to 50? by 
33 
day. The necessary materials for potting Orchids may now be 
procured. A good supply of sphagnum is of first importance, and 
should have all the rubbish picked out of it, especially woody matter, 
as it encourages fungus. Peat will also be necessary, and crocks 
and pots should be washed clean. Material for baskets should also 
be procured, maple or oak and teak being most suitable. 
!§■ 
HE BEE-KEEPER. I 
_ 
SHOULD BEES BE BRANDY-BIBBERS? 
Your valued correspondent “ B. & \V.,” in giving in a recent 
issue some well-timed “ hints for safe wintering,” recommends 
that the syrup used in feeding should be <; fortified with a little 
gin or other spirit.” I so generally agree with the writer that 
he will, I am convinced, regard me as only working with him 
for the common good if I explain my views upon this matter, 
which are certainly in this case most pronounced and the exact 
opposite of his own. The question involved is one to which I 
have given some little attention, and my settled conviction is 
that no greater error could be committed than that of giving to 
bees alcohol in any form. But no man has a right to an opinion 
until he has earned it by studying the grounds upon which it 
should be based, so I ask the indulgence of “B. & W.” while I 
give the reasons for my position. 
Different kinds of sugar, such as sucrose, glucose, and lactose, 
agree in containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the latter two 
in the proportions in which they form water. This sugar becomes 
the heat-giver to the bee in the following manner :—Air contain¬ 
ing oxygen is taken in by the bees through the spiracles (the 
breathing openings) in the sides, of which there are fourteen in 
number, and this oxygen is by degrees united with the carbon of 
the sugar, which is beiDg carried about in solution in the fluids 
of the insect. The carbon thus becomes a part of a gaseous pro¬ 
duct-carbon dioxide, which is thrown out from the breathing 
tubes (tracheae) at every contraction of the abdomen. The union 
of oxygen and carbon is always attended with a great evo¬ 
lution of heat, and is, indeed, the sole cause of the fervour of a 
charcoal fire, and mainly gives intensity to one of coal. Heat, 
then, is developed within the bee’s body as this chemical union 
progresses, and during the winter each insect plays its part in 
keeping up the temperature of the cluster. It must be added to 
save misconception, that in certain circumstances the organised 
tissue of the insect may itself unite with oxygen and contribute 
to heat formation, but our argument will be made the clearer if 
this point be left out of view. 
We have now to consider the physiological effects of alcohol to 
ascertain whether the bee would be likely to be assisted by it in 
keeping out the cold, and here we must argue from its well- 
ascertained action upon men and some of the higher animals ; 
but in this we shall be justified, since morphia, strychnia, aconite, 
and some other drugs are well knovm to microscopists to influence 
creatures even so low in the scale as infusoria and rotifera after 
the same manner as they affect those with the most complex 
organisation. Numberless experiments upon men, dogs, and 
Pigeons have clearly shown that alcohol hinders the union of 
oxygen with carbon in the vital fluids, and in consequence a 
smaller amount of heat is produced during its presence in the 
blood, while it follows that less carbon dioxide is thrown out. 
Applying this to the bee, it would follow as a matter of course 
that it would be far less able to withstand the rigours of winter 
with it than without it. Those who know anything of the history 
of our arctic expeditions will recognise the complete corroboration 
which these give of the truth of this position. That alcohol 
produces a feeling of flush is well known, but the cause is the 
partial paralysis of the pneumo-gastric nerve, the duty of which 
is to hold in check the minute blood vessels. The check removed, 
the blood vessels stretch out under the pressure of the contained 
blood, and a general surface blush is the result ; but this no more 
produces warmth than would turning the hot inside of a manure 
heap to the surface warm it. Indeed it is an act of cooling, in 
which heat that before was deeply seated is made to display itself, 
but is at the same time lost by dissipation in the surrounding air. 
Those who care to look to the Lancet for August 25th, 18G6, will 
find details of some remarkable experiments tried in University 
College Hospital, putting this matter in the clearest light, and 
showing that alcohol immediately after the first flush is a most 
persistent and powerful depresser of temperature. But since the 
structure of the circulation of insects is very unlike our own, it is 
